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Younis was aghast at the way the players were treated after their return from the West Indies where Ireland knocked them out of the event.
Younis confirmed that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Dr Naseem Ashraf had offered him the captaincy with full powers.
"But I told them 'thank you for the offer but I am not interested, specially after the way the team has been treated after the World Cup'," Younis told PTI today.
Visibly upset and angry, Younis said he had still not recovered from the shame and stress of seeing people burning effigies of the players and staging mock burials.
"Losing and winning is part of the game but when your family is not spared and gets threatening calls and people abuse and insult you on returning to the country, then the captaincy is not worth it," he said.
Younis also said that he was thinking about quitting one-day cricket and concentrating on playing Test matches which he considered the real cricket and challenge.
"I love test cricket it is the real sport for me. In the next few months, I will inform the board about what I have decided." Younis said he was very unhappy at the way the people, former players and media had reacted to the team's poor performance in the World Cup. PTI
Ponting wants Watson back for semis
Melbourne, Apr 13 (PTI) Unwilling to rely on part-timers as his fifth bowling option in the World Cup semi-finals, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is contemplating bringing injured all-rounder Shane Watson back into the side without any match practice.
Ponting said Watson was crucial to Australia's cricket World Cup plans and he was willing to take the risk of having him back in the team without a fitness test.
"He is such a crucial part to the set-up and balance of our side that maybe bringing him back in for the semi-final is not such a big deal after all," Ponting said.
"It's something we have to talk about this week - if and when the actual cut-off time is going to be, if there is going to be such a thing. We have said for the last two weeks that it's going to be before that New Zealand game - hopefully he is right for that," he added.
Watson picked up a calf injury during the Super Eights match against Bangladesh but the all-rounder is now well on course to recovery and even had a net session yesterday.
"He feels really confident within himself," Ponting was quoted as saying by 'The Australian' today.
"He had his first run yesterday, he went for a jog in the afternoon. He had a bat today. He was telling me that all the weight-bearing stuff he is doing, he has no issues with. It looks like he is coming along very well," Ponting said.
Watson's absence has reduced Australia's bowling options and Ponting has had to make do with the part-time spin of Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke as the "fifth bowler". PTI
Infosys results powers 270-point rally on BSE
Mumbai, Apr 13 (PTI) IT bellwether Infosys Technologies' impressive fourth quarter earnings and paring inflation figures powered a strong rally on the stock market, which today ended 270 points up on across-the-board buying interest.
Shares of Infosys Tech jumped 2.15 per cent after the company announced a higher-than-expected earnings of Rs 1,124 crore for the January-March quarter -- which was up 69.27 from Rs 664 crore in the year-ago period.
Infosys hit a high of Rs 2,121 during the day but later profit booking pared the gains and it closed at Rs 2,087.60.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) opened firm at 13,163.02 and later surged to the day's high of 13,421.05 before ending the day at 13,384.08, a net rise of 270.27 points or 2.06 per cent over yesterday's close of 13,113.81.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also flared up by 87.50 points or 2.28 per cent to close at 3,917.35 from last close of 3,829.85.
IT shares hogged the limelight following the impressive results of Infosys, while bank stocks surged to a strong finish as inflation fell below six per cent after more than two months and stood at 5.74 per cent in the last week of 2006-07.
The fall in inflation at the last financial year might ease pressure on the central bank to tighten monetary policy.
Initially, the market reacted to weak Asian cues and tasted a low of 13,119.88.
Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan indices ended in negative territory. PTI
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches equity fund
Bangalore, Apr 13 (PTI) Birla Sun life Mutual Fund today announced the launch of a three-year closed-end equity fund that will mainly invest in small and mid-cap companies.
The Birla Sun Life Long Term Advantage Fund Series-1 would invest predominantly in equity and equity related securities of small and mid-cap companies, Bala Subramaniam, Chief Investment Officer of the fund house, told reporters.
The performance of the fund would be benchmarked against the BSE 500 Index, he said.
An investment for any three-year period in the last 27 years of Sensex existence had generated positive returns 80 per cent of the times, he said. On the other hand, investments for one-year period would have generated positive returns only 63 per cent of the times, he added.
He said Birla Sun was managing Rs 24,000 crore, including offshore funds, with an investor base of over 11 lakh. PTI
Inflation falls to 5.74 pc; average at 5.18 pc for 2006-07
New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) Inflation fell below six per cent after more than two months and stood at 5.74 per cent during the last week of 2006-07 against 6.39 per cent a week ago despite rise in prices of major food products as well as some fuel and manufactured items.
This resulted in average inflation standing at 5.18 per cent for 2006-07, within RBI's projection of 5-5.5 per cent. Inflation had averaged 4.46 per cent during 2005-06.
The fall in inflation during the week ended March 31 might ease pressure on RBI to tighten monetary policy. But price data to be released next week would play a crucial role in RBI's annual monetary policy review slated for April 24.
Wholesale prices-based inflation had stood at 3.98 per cent during the corresponding week of 2006.
Inflation for the last week of 2006-07 softened despite increase in all major indices, except for manufactured items, which remained unchanged. This meant that prices did rise in major categories, but the increase was not so steep as witnessed in the previous week.
While prices of pulses, 15 lakh tonnes of which are slated to be imported in next 6-8 months, rose along with pork, ragi, bajra, milk, masur, gram, vegetables, raw rubber and soyabean; those of condiments, spices, fish marine, castor seed, copra, cotton and coconut oil declined.
The decline in inflation would also give some respite to the government, which has been struggling hard to bring down inflation within RBI's projection of 5-5.5 per cent. Rising prices have become a political scoring point in ongoing polls to Uttar Pradesh assembly and was also partly blamed for the Congress defeat in elections for Punjab and Uttarakhand assemblies and Delhi's local bodies. PTI
Sensex up 278 points, Infosys surges on strong Q4 earnings
Mumbai, Apr 13 (PTI) The country's key stock market index climbed over 278 points at 1130 hours today on widespread buying by funds after software major Infosys Technologies posted strong fourth quarter earnings.
The 30-share BSE index, Sensex, which had lost over 69 points yesterday, staged a strong comeback to quote 278.13 points, or almost 1.95 per cent, higher at 13,391.94 thanks to a significant rally in IT, banking and metal sector stocks.
In likewise manners, on the wide-based National Stock Exchange, Nifty was up 79 points, or 1.93 per cent at 3,908.85.
Stock observers said better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings by Infosys buoyed the trading sentiments. The software giant's scrip was up Rs 71 at Rs 2,120.
Infosys today reported 69.27 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,124 crore for the quarter ended March 31, as compared to Rs 664 crore for the year-ago period.
Other major gainers which lifted the Sensex were TCS, Satyam Computer, Wipro, Reliance Industries, Reliance Capital, State Bank of India and Tata Steel. PTI
Salman Rushdie short-listed for Man Booker International prize
London, Apr 13 (PTI) Controversial India-born author Salman Rushdie is among the 15 writers short-listed for the second Man Booker International Prize.
The biennial award of 60,000 pound, an offshoot of the main Man Booker Prize presented to the UK and Commonwealth writers only, was first won by Albanian novelist Ismael Kadre in 2005.
Rushdie has won both the Man Booker and the Booker of Bookers for his novel "Midnight's Children." Less well-known figures contending for the prize include Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Philip Roth and Don DeLillo of the US, Carlos Fuentes of Mexico, one of the trailblazers of the Latin American "boom" of the 1960s, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munro of Canada, Harry Mulisch of Holland and France's Michel Tournier.
The award, designed "to highlight one of writer's continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage," is presented to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is available in English translation.
The award will be announced in June.
The Judges' List was announced by the chairman of judges, Professor Elaine Showaiter in Toronto. PTI
Pak lawyers protest suspension of judge
Islamabad, April 13 (PTI) Hundreds of lawyers and opposition party activists today staged demonstrations outside the Supreme Court here to show solidarity with suspended Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudry as he attended the hearing on the misconduct charges against him.
Lawyers from different parts of the county as well as activists of opposition parties like moderate Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Islamist Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA) gathered in large numbers around the apex court where the government has deployed security forces in large numbers.
Crowds mobbed Chaudhry as he came to attend the trial by the Supreme Judicial Council headed by Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas.
An hour after the hearing started, MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed was quoted by television channels as saying that the SJC has agreed to Chaudhry's demand for an open trial.
However, there was no official word on the development.
Ahead of today's hearing, opposition parties alleged large scale preventive arrests from different parts of the country.
Chaudhry, who was suspended by President Pervez Musharraf on March 9 on changes of misconduct and misuse of power, has questioned the composition of the SJC and demanded an open trial. PTI
UN completes arms registration of Nepal Army
Kathmandu, Apr 13 (PTI) The UN has completed the registration and storage of weapons of the Nepal Army here as part of the world body's assistance in the implementation of a peace deal between the government and the Maoists.
The United Nations Mission In Nepal (UNMIN) locked up 2,855 weapons, including machine guns, rifles, pistols and mortars as per the arms management agreement. The same number and types of arms of the former rebels were locked up in seven cantonments last month, the UNMIN said yesterday.
Meanwhile, police confiscated six weapons and arrested five persons for possessing illegal weapons in different parts of the country after the government's week-long deadline to surrender illegal weapons ended yesterday.
Home Ministry said two Maoists, Sambhu Sharma and Amrit Kumar Mehta, were arrested in Biratnagar with weapons. Two people were also arrested from Saptari with a Chinese weapon, ministry sources said yesterday. PTI
Health care, global warming - important issues for US women
New York, Apr 12 (PTI) While health care is the most critical issue affecting American business women today, nearly two-thirds of them also believe that global warming and environmental changes will affect them professionally and personally, a survey has found.
The result of a national survey of women business owners was released today by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the nation's largest bipartisan women's business group.
"What Business Women Want" is an annual poll conducted by WIPP to gain insight on issues affecting women-owned businesses.
Concern about energy costs ranked as the second most critical issue at 52 per cent. More than half of all businesses (52 per cent) said they have plans to alter business practices to either conserve energy or become more environmentally friendly.
Two-thirds of the respondents believe global warming and environmental changes will affect them or their businesses, and 45 per cent want to see the government use both incentives and regulations to encourage conservation.
While this was the fifth year that health care concerns were ranked number one, in a significant shift from previous surveys, half of those surveyed did not believe that business should be the main provider of health care.
"Women entrepreneurs have a unique perspective on national issues because they have their finger on the pulse of both the business and the family wallets," said WIPP President Barbara Kasoff. PTI
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