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The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile, blasted off at 10.52 am from a fixed platform with the help of an auto launcher in the launch complex-4 of the ITR, located about 72 km from here, defence sources said.
The sleek missile vertically roared into the clear sky leaving behind a thick column of white and yellow smoke, eyewitness accounts said. PTI
LS by-polls: Shiv Sena ahead in Ramtek, BJP in Jalgaon
Nagpur, Apr 12 (PTI) Shiv Sena candidate was leading in Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency, while BJP was ahead of its nearest rival in Jalgaon in the early rounds of counting for the two by-elections.
Prakash Jadhav of Sena was leading by 6,388 votes over his nearest rival Subodh Mohite of Congress at the end of the third round of counting at Ramtek near here.
In Jalgaon in North Maharashtra, BJP's Haribhau Jawale was leading by 7,120 votes at the end of five rounds over his nearest rival Arjun Bhangale of the Congress. Jawala has recieved 77,890 votes and Bhangale 70,770.
The voting for the by-polls was held on April 9 and the counting was taken up today. Besides Jalgaon and Ramtek, the Erandol Lok Sabha constituency also went to the by-poll.
The Ramtek seat fell vacant due to the resignation of the sitting MP Mohite, who left Sena to join the Congress, which nominated him for the seat.
The Jalgaon and Erandol by-polls were necessiated due to expulsion of sitting MPs, both of the BJP, in the `cash-for-query' scam. PTI
Meerut: where religion is tied to voting patterns
Meerut, Apr 12 (PTI) Full-page advertisements in newspapers here show pictures of a candidate who last year triggered a nationwide furore by offering a reward of Rs 51 crore to anyone who would kill any of the European cartoonists who drew the blasphemous images of Prophet Mohammad.
Yaqoob Qureshi, a former Haj minister of Uttar Pradesh, aims to unseat the BJP in Meerut, a predominantly Muslim constituency, as the UDF candidate.
His campaign advertisements also carry pictures of former prime minister V P Singh, Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan and Jan Morcha leader Raj Babbar.
A staunch critic of Western powers, especially the United States, Qureshi declares freedom fighter Hakimuddin as his role model.
His main rival is the BJP, a party that called for his arrest and dismissal as state minister after he placed a bounty on the European cartoonists during a rally here last year.
Meerut, the scene of severe strife between Hindus and Muslims from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, has not witnessed any major incident of sectarian strife for over a decade. It will go to the polls on April 13.
Flush with new high-rise shopping complexes and apartments, it has seen a boom in construction business over the past few decades. Also, it has become the country's largest manufacturer of musical instruments and is one of the largest suppliers of sports goods, especially its famous cricket gear. (MORE)
Pakistan cops join Woolmer case
Kingston, Apr 12 (PTI) Two Pakistani policemen have joined the investigation into Bob Woolmer's murder as Jamaican police were not able to make any breakthrough even three weeks after the coach's mysterious death.
Pakistani sleuths -- Mir Zubair Mahmood and Kaleem Imam -- joined four Scotland Yard investigators and two forensics experts from Interpol, the France-based international police agency, who have been aiding in the probe into the death of Woolmer.
The Pakistani police have arrived here in a bid to accelerate the investigation, said Gilbert Scott, Permanent Secretary in Jamaica's Ministry of National Security.
"They will be here for as long as it takes," Scott was quoted as saying in the media here.
Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy police commissioner, said the Pakistani investigators would help with DNA analysis and would examine theories that Woolmer, Pakistan's coach since 2004, may have been poisoned before he was strangled while authorities are still awaiting toxicology reports.
The 58-year-old Woolmer died on March 18, a day after his side had been shocked by Ireland and knocked out of the cricket World Cup. PTI
England limps to the finishing line
Bridgetown (Barbados), Apr 12 (PTI) England had almost dug its own grave before limping to the finishing line with four wickets in hand against Bangladesh in a low-scoring World Cup Super Eights match here.
Set in to score a paltry 144 runs to keep their hopes alive for a semifinal berth, England had made a mess of the run-chase before an unbeaten stand by Paul Collingwood (23) and Paul Nixon (20) thwarted giant-killer Bangladesh's another sensational turnaround.
Nixon hit a four off Mortaza with five overs still to go and brought relief to England dressing room.
England next plays South Africa and West Indies and will have to win both to fancy any chances of a semifinal berth. Bangladesh's dream World Cup performance might not take them to the last four stage anymore but nevertheless, they have done themselves proud with their achievements.
Earlier, England invited Bangladesh to bat on a track that was a refreshing change from the slow and low pitches so far. The Kensington Oval, hosting its first World Cup match was fast and bouncy and England did not think twice in giving their pacers the first chance.
James Anderson (2-30) and Sajid Mahmood(3-27) lapped up the conditions on offer before Monty Panesar (3-25) joined the party. Bangladesh batsmen surrendered in just 37.2 overs with Saquibul Hasan (57 not out) hitting a gritty half-century but ran out of partners at the other end.
But the never-say-die attitude of the young Bangladeshi side brought them right into the match. They played with a big heart and looked like the dictating team in the middle. Their dismal performance with the bat had no bearing as they bowled and fielded like tigers. PTI
Vaughan calls his side to raise their game
Bridgetown, (Barbados), Apr 12 (PTI) England skipper Michael Vaughan today said that his side will have to improve their game to nurture any hopes of going further in the cricket World Cup.
"There are areas of the game that we are going to have to improve upon," Vaughan said after England managed an ugly run-chase to beat Bangladesh by four wickets and stay in hunt for reaching the last four stage.
England goes into a must-win game against South Africa on April 17 to keep their hopes of a semifinal berth alive.
"The game against South Africa is gearing up like a quarterfinal of the World Cup. We are in a position where if we win the last two games we reach the semifinal but our performance will need to improve from today," Vaughan said.
England restricted Bangladesh to a meager 143 but kept losing wickets during the chase to give Bangladesh a chance to sniff victory.
Vaughan gave credit to Bangladesh for fighting it out with such a small total to defend.
"Its a sort of total which sometimes get quite difficult to chase. But are happy to get over the line and two points," said Vaughan. They are a good team. They had beaten India and South Africa," Vaughan said.
"We bowled reasonably well today. The pacers --Sajid and Anderson--bowled really well," he said. PTI
Sensex falls by 152 points
Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI) Tracking the global trend, the benchmark Sensex tumbled by over 152 points in early trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on heavy selling by funds.
The 30-share index lost by 152.37 points at 13,030.87 points in the first ten minutes of trading. Similarly, the wide based National Stock Exchange Index Nifty fell by 51.40 points at 3,811.25 points The market turned weak in line with a fall in trend in other Asian stock markets like Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Bucking the trend, the metal stocks remained better on fresh buying by general investors. PTI
Filing time for O and P non-immigration visas extended in US
Washington, April 12 (PTI) In a welcome development for Indians seeking to work in the US, the Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced the extension of filing time for "O" and the "P" non-immigrant visas from six months to a year ahead of an event.
The "O" category provides admission to persons with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics, or those persons with extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television production.
The "P" category is for those entertainers and athletes who cannot qualify under the extraordinary ability standard for the "O" category.
Petitioners can now file "O" and "P" petitions under normal processing procedures up to one year before a scheduled event, competition or performance. USCIS is making the change through a final rule that was transmitted to the Federal Register today for publication on April 16, 2007.
Before the change, employers and agents were only allowed to file petitions six months in advance of their events. The short filing period often meant that case processing wasn't completed until or after the date the individual was needed.
"The decision to extend the timeline results from comments received after USCIS first proposed the rule in April 2005. Those comments, from performing arts organisations, educational institutions, the sports industry, members of Congress and the general public, overwhelmingly supported the proposal to extend the petition filing time from six months to a year," the agency has said. PTI
Lupin set to widen its base in paediatric market
Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI) Pharmaceutical firm Lupin today said it has received US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval for Suprax Cefixime, an antibiotic, which would help in increasing its share in the paediatric market.
USFDA has approved the company's application for Suprax Cefixime for oral suspension 200mg/5ml and the commercial shipments of the product have commenced, Lupin informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
This is the company's 19th Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval till date, Lupin added.
"The approval of our Cefixime for oral suspension 200mg/5ml product enables the launch of this important line extension to our brand Suprax in the US and allows us to increase our share of the cephalosporin oral suspension paediatric market," Lupin Managing Director Kamal Sharma said.
This market is currently valued at 625 million dollars (as per IMS, December 2006). The incidence of respiratory infections is high in children and physicians need products that offer greater patient convenience and compliance, Sharma added.
This novel formulation of Suprax is a line extension Lupin's flagship anti-infective brand Suprax Cefixime for oral suspension 100mg/5ml. This higher concentration formulation allows parents to administer fewer teaspoons per dose of the antibiotic to their children. PTI
L&T eyes USD one bln from electrical biz; to ramp up capacity
Coimbatore, Apr 12 (PTI) Anticipating over two-fold jump in its electrical business to touch USD one billion revenue mark by 2011, construction major Larsen and Toubro today said it will invest an additional Rs 120 crore in ramping up switchgear and valve manufacturing capacities over the next three years.
"We expect our electrical business to contribute one billion dollars to our overall revenues in the next four years. The electrical business is growing rapidly and 25 per cent of the projected one billion dollar revenues from it would come from the overseas market," L&T President operations and Director A N Mukhija told reporters here.
The company today inaugurated its fourth switchboard manufacturing facility here and has initially invested Rs 35 crore in the facility. It also inaugurated the fourth manufacturing facility for its 50:50 joint venture company, Audco India Ltd (AIL). AIL is a 50:50 joint venture between US-based Flowserve and L&T.
The company would invest an additional Rs 120 crore in both the manufacturing facilities over the next three years to ramp up the capacity.
"We plan to achieve a switchboard production capacity of 13,000 panels per annum by 2009 which would be further increased to 17,000 panels by 2010. Presently, the company produces 7,000 switchboard panels per annum," Mukhija said.
L&T operation incharge for AIL's Coimbatore facility said the company plans to manufacture valves worth Rs 1,600 crore by 2010 and newly-inaugurated facility would manufacture products worth Rs 300 crore by then. PTI
Hasina delays return after murder charge
Dhaka, Apr 12 (PTI) Faced with murder charge, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to postpone her return home from the United States with her party claiming that she has done so on the advise of the interim government.
"She has agreed to postpone her schedule for immediate return after a highly placed person in government talked to her and me by telephone and assured us that necessary steps would be taken to protect her honour and image besides neutral investigation into the case," Awami League (AL) General Secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters here last night.
Jalil said the official, whom he did not name, requested her to delay her return. She was scheduled to return home later this month.
The development came hours after Hasina was charged for killing six persons in a political clash on November 28, 2006, the day when Prime Minister Khaleda Zia relinquished power in favour of a caretaker government.
AL sources said party leaders held an emergency meeting late last nigh and advised Hasina to accept the proposal to delay her return.
Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, the main partner of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four party alliance, filed the case in which Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil was also accused of involvement in the incident.
The murder charges came days after Hasina, who also heads the 19-party opposition alliance, was accused of extortion of 30 million taka (USD 434,000) by a Bangladeshi head of a Malaysian-owned firm. PTI
US pays USD 32 mn compensation to Iraqi, Afghan civilians
New York, Apr 12 (PTI) The United States military has paid more than 32 million dollars as compensation to civilians for non-combatant related killings, injuries and damage in Iran and Afghanistan, a report said today.
However, the figure does not include condolence payments made at a unit commander's discretion. There is no way to know immediately whether disciplinary action or prosecution has resulted from the claims, it added.
The claims, according to the New York Times, provide a rare window into the daily chaos and violence faced by civilians and troops in the two war zones, and are part of roughly 500 claims that the Army recently disclosed to the American Civil Liberties Union, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
They are the first to be made public.
The claims, many of them paid in person in 100 dollar bills, represent only a small fraction of those filed by civilians in Iran and Afghanistan.
The report said that the paperwork provides unusual detailed accounts of how bystanders to the conflicts have become targets of American forces grappling to identify who is friend, who is foe.
Of the 500 cases released, 204 or about 40 per cent, were apparently rejected because the injury, death or property damage was deemed to have been "directly or indirectly" related to combat, the Times said.
Of the claims approved for payment, at least 87 were not related to combat, and 77 were condolence payments resulting from incidents the Army judged to be combat-related. PTI
Hasina delays return home
Dhaka, April 12 (PTI) Former Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed has postponed her return home from the United States to face two criminal charges after requests from the interim government, her party said today.
"She has agreed to postpone her schedule for immediate return after a highly placed person in government talked to her and me by telephone and assured us that necessary steps would be taken to protect her honour and image besides neutral investigation into the case," AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters here last night.
The government leader, Jalil said, requested her not to come back early, changing her earlier schedule to return home later this month.
The development came hours after Hasina was charged for killing six persons in a political clash on November 28, 2006, the day when Prime Minister Khaleda Zia relinquished power in favour of a caretaker government.
AL sources said party leaders held an emergency meeting late last nigh and advised Hasina to accept the proposal to delay her return.
Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, the main partner of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four party alliance, filed the case in which Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil was also accused of involvement in the incident.
It was not clear what role Hasina played in the killings. PTI
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