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India has staked claim for non-permanent seat of UNSC: Govt
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) India has staked claim for non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the two-year term beginning 2011, the Government told the Rajya Sabha today.
The claim has been staked from the Asian group, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply.
Government is taking necessary steps to mobilise support for India's candidature, he said.
Mukherjee, however, denied that this would dilute India's chances for a permanent seat. PTI
MCD announces time-bound desealing plan
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Providing succour to capital's traders who have faced the brunt of court-ordered sealing drive, MCD today announced a time-bound desealing plan for units which have been shut down but come under the purview of authorised use under the new Masterplan for Delhi.
Chairman of MCD Standing Committee Vijendra Gupta, who was unanimously elected today, announced the formation of two separate committees at the zonal and headquarters level which will look into the applications made by traders for desealing their units.
Traders can submit their applications before the zonal committees, which will be headed by the area Deputy Commissioner and have a Senior Engineer and an Assistant Town Planner as its members, Gupta said.
The zonal committee will have to go through the applications within two days of their submission and forward it to the headquarters which will in turn forward the case on merit to the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee for approval.
The headquarters committee will be headed by the Additional Commissioner (Engineering) and Superintendent Engineer (Buildings) and Senior Town Planner would be among the members.
"It will be mandatory for headquarters committee to forward the applications to the court-appointed monitoring committee withing 24 hours, thus the whole process should be completed within five days," he said.
According to Gupta, the decision to develop a time-bound programme for desealing was taken keeping in view the problems being faced by traders whose properties are fit to be desealed. PTI
Railways setting up 100 budget hotels across India
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Railways are setting up 100 budget hotels across the country to cater to the growing demand of passengers.
The hotels are being built through public-private partnership using the open tender and competetive bidding system, Minister of State for Railways R Velu told Lok Sabha.
Tenders for budget hotel locations at Madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Ooty have been finalised and awarded to successful bidders, he said.
"No target have been fixed for completion of these budget hotels," Velu said.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation runs two Rail Yatri Niwas at New Delhi and Howrah stations. In addition, retiring rooms are available at about 490 stations, Velu said. PTI
Shoaib wants his fitness issue sorted out once and for all
Karachi, May 3 (PTI) Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said he wanted to get his fitness problems sorted out once and for all during the lean cricketing season to come back tougher for the home series against South Africa in September.
Shoaib, who has not been named even in the probables for the Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka, said he would make full use of the gap.
"I'm fit. I never said I was unfit. I had a knee injury before the World Cup but I just need a little bit more time to get fitter and get myself sorted out properly once and for all," he was quoted as saying by 'The News'.
Shoaib, who has played only few One-dayers before the dope controversy during the Champions Trophy last year, said his prolonged absence would give opportunity to trial fast bowlers from the domestic scene.
Abdul Rauf and Mohammad Irshad may get a chance in the series and there might even be a return for Mohammad Khalil.
"This is the right time to invest some time in myself and let the youngsters go out there and show something that they can do. It'll be nice to see some youngsters come through, do well for the country. It's a healthy sign," he said.
Shoaib said he was not keen to become the captain but just wanted to focus on serving the team and support skipper.
"Captaincy and all these things do not matter to me. You have probably seen it now that a lot of other people are interested in being captain. I never said I wanted to be because right now I want to focus on just serving the team and my country...
"I'm not one of those guys who creates problems. I never have and I never will. He will be fully supportive and we will help him to win because ultimately that is what matters." PTI
India to play Proteas in Ireland
London, May 3 (PTI) India will play South Africa in a three-match limited overs cricket series to be held in Ireland in late June and early July.
"The Irish Cricket Union (ICU) is proud that two such great cricketing nations as India and South Africa are coming to Ireland to play each other and against Ireland," ICU chief executive Warren Deutrom said today.
"Following last year's hugely successful match at Stormont between Ireland and England, the ICU is delighted that top-class cricket continues to come to Ireland, in the first-ever matches between full Test cricket nations here," he said.
India and South Africa will warm-up with matches against hosts Ireland on June 23 and 24 respectively before the three-match series in Belfast, a statement on the ICU website said.
The three-match series will take place on June 26, June 29 and July 1.
Ireland, who made their debut at the World Cup in the Caribbean recently, scored a shock win over Pakistan to knock the former champions out in the first round.
Their upset World Cup win over Bangladesh earned them a entry into the main International Cricket Council limited overs rankings. PTI
Farcical end took gloss off World Cup triumph: Ponting
Melbourne, May 3 (PTI) Australian captain Ricky Ponting today admitted that the farcical finish to the cricket World Cup took a bit of the gloss off his side's third consecutive triumph.
Australia's win in the final against Sri Lanka was marred by some poor officiating.
With the Sri Lankan batsmen accepting an offer for bad light, the Australian team started celebrating their victory before the umpires incorrectly said the match was not over and made them complete the last three overs in near darkness.
"We were running around like lunatics thinking we'd won, when (umpire) Aleem Dar came over and told me, 'well no, actually the game wasn't over yet'," Ponting told 'Sydney Morning Herald' on his return from the Caribbean.
"To be honest, I really thought he was joking," Ponting continued. "We get on pretty well, Aleem and I, and we like to have a joke now and then, but I thought this particular one was extremely poorly timed," he said.
"I'd actually planned the bowling so that Glenn McGrath could bowl the last over of the match and his career, so I guess we were denied that opportunity as well," Ponting said.
"I think they've learned their lessons there and I am sure next time they officiate in big games like that they'll know the rules inside out." Ponting and his team-mates were welcomed by a small group of family and friends and a sizeable media contingent at the airport.
The skipper said the team had celebrated long and hard since claiming the World Cup for a third straight time.
"(I am feeling) more refreshed than I was two days ago, that is for sure," he said. PTI
Delhi chess festival to begin on Sunday
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) A month-long Delhi State Chess Championships will start at Kulachi Hansraj Model School, Ashok Vihar on Sunday.
The competition will be played in the Under-10, Under-15 and Under-19 age group categories and the individual events will be held in various categories starting from Under-7 categories and going up to the senior level.
Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi, Woman Grandmaster Tania Sachdev and International Master Sriram Jha would be conspicuous by their absence in the event which will end on June 5 in the Amity International School, Saket. PTI
Nokia targets sale of 4 bn handsets by 2010
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) World's largest handset maker Nokia today said it is expecting its sales to cross four billion mark by 2010 with half of it coming from the Asia Pacific region, including India.
"We shipped one million mobile handsets globally last year and we expect this number to touch four billion by 2010," Nokia Senior Vice President - Entry Business Unit (Mobile Phones) - Soren Petersen told reporters here.
Half of this growth would come from emerging markets, including India and China, and to grab this opportunity, the company is focusing on reducing the cost of handsets, he said.
To tap the 800 million potential users across the world, the company today unveiled seven entry level mobile handsets aimed at first time users.
The mobile phones, which would be available in second and third quarter of 2007, has been priced in the range of Rs 2240-4800, excluding taxes and subsidies.
"India is among the top three markets for Nokia and the company's brand is also among the top 10 most recalled brand in the country," Petersen added. PTI
Mittal Steel moving toward completing Arcelor takeover
London, May 3 (PTI) Mittal Steel Company NV, which acquired Luxembourg's Arcelor SA for 38.3 billion dollars last year, today said it would complete the transaction in a two-step merger this year.
According to a merger agreement signed yesterday, Mittal Steel would merge into an ad hoc subsidiary -- Arcelor Mittal -- subject to approval of shareholders. The share swap ratio for the exercise has been fixed at 1:1.
The two companies would soon submit documents relating to the merger to the relevant securities regulatory authorities, Arcelor Mittal said in a statement.
In the second step, Arcelor Mittal will be merged into Arcelor and the new entity would be known as Arcelor Mittal.
"The exchange ratio of Arcelor Mittal shares for Arcelor shares has not yet been determined. It will be announced once approved by the boards of directors of the two companies.
"The companies are actively working to implement the two mergers as promptly as possible in the course of 2007," the statement said. PTI
Govt to read direct, indirect stake together to determine FDI
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Wiser from the Hutch-Vodafone experience, the government is now thinking of clubbing both direct and indirect overseas investment to determine the extent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in a company.
"There is a thinking in the government that both direct and indirect foreign holding in a company should be taken in to account to find out whether a company is complying with FDI limits in its area of operations," a source familiar with the development said.
This view emerged during the course of review of a whole gamut of issues surrounding direct and indirect holding on the advise of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
The suggestion was made after complexities surrounding the shareholding pattern in Hutch-Essar caused the Board to defer approval to UK-based Vodafone's acquisition of controlling stake in the Indian mobile operator for over a month.
In case of Hutch-Essar, the board had treated investment in the company by Essar through its Mauritius-based subsidiaries as FDI.
Once all issues regarding direct and indirect holdings is defined, it would leave no scope for ambiguity and plug all loopholes ensuring that FDI caps in various sectors was not crossed. PTI
Reliance Money forays into gold retailing
Jaipur, May 3 (PTI) Reliance Money, the investment product distribution arm of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is now foraying into retailing of its own brand of gold coins, which would be made exclusively by Swiss precious metal refining major Valcambi.
The company today announced here a partnership with Switzerland's Valcambi SA as well as the launch of the gold coins, while becoming the first non-banking private sector company to retail gold coins in India.
"Gold has always been an important element of Indian tradition. Even today, it is an important financial investment. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world and we feel that it is important to add this to our portfolio of existing products and services," Reliance Money CEO Sudip Bandyopadhyay told reporters.
The 24 carat 999.9 pure gold coins, with a purity certification from the Swiss company, would be sold in the denominations of 5gm and 8gm at the Reliance Money as well as Reliance World outlets of Reliance Communications.
Reliance Money has already opened 2,500 outlets in the country.
The company said that the coins would be sourced with highest purity from Valcambi through the tie-up with the Swiss firm.
"We are happy to partner with Reliance Money for precious metals and would continue to offer high quality of precious metals to Indian consumers through this partnership," Valcambi SA Managing Director Michael Mesaric said. PTI
Britian stops Lanka aid over rights abuses
Colombo, May 3 (PTI) Britain has frozen its aid to Sri Lanka in an effort to pressurise the island government to improve its human rights record, diplomats said today.
The British government had promised 5.9 million dollars to pay Sri Lanka's debt to the World Bank this year, and half of it had already been released. But, the balance will not be given unless the killings and abductions stop, diplomatic sources said.
The aid freeze announcement was made in the British House of Commons yesterday during a lengthy debate on the deteriorating security situation Sri Lanka, diplomats said.
The British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development Gareth Thomas said half of Britain's financial assistance to Sri Lanka was being withheld.
Britain's decision to pay thus far only half the outstanding debt relief tranche was a message to Sri Lanka, Thomas said.
"We believe that that sent a clear message to the Sri Lankan Government about our concerns. The outstanding payment will be made only when consultations have concluded with the Sri Lankan Government.
"Those consultations will, in particular, involve discussions about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka," Thomas said.
Britain was also critical of the Tamil Tigers, who are banned in the United Kingdom since 2001. However, the British government wanted engagement with the Tigers to help bring them back to the negotiating table.
The Sri Lankan government today blocked a visit to the rebel-held north of the island by a group of British diplomats who had wanted to discuss the future of the troubled peace process with the Tigers. PTI
PML-Q members resigns in support of Bakhtiar
Islamabad, May 3 (PTI) Several women members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q have resigned to express solidarity with Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar, who quit as the party's women's wing president apparently after criticism from hardliners.
Bakhtiar, who incurred the wrath of radical clerics here for hugging a male French paratrooper, resigned from the post on Saturday without assigning any reason.
Several members have submitted their resignations to Bakhtiar to protest what they termed as her "forced removal" and threatened to hold countrywide rallies unless the party president Shujat Hussain explained why she had been removed, a report published in the Daily Time said.
They also protested appointment of women's welfare minister Sumaira Malik as head of the women's wing. However, Bakhtiar returned their resignations. PTI
CIA "failed" to "detect" Indian nuke tests in 1998: Tenet
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, May 3 (PTI) Former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet has written in his new book that the "failure" of the United States intelligence to "detect" the Indian nuclear tests in 1998 was one of the "mistakes" of his tenure which he cannot "stop remembering" even now.
"Unfortunately when you run a place like CIA, its the low lights that stand out in the media - the mistakes, the gaffes - things everyone can see and no one, can resist commenting on. For many of those I would like to turn back the clock and erase them. Some,I can't stop remembering," Tenet writes in his book "At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA".
Commenting on the tests by India, he says, "We knew both countries (India and Pakistan) had nuclear desires, intent and capabilities and we knew the risks all too well. The India-Pakistan border is one of the most contentious in the world maybe even more than the border that divides Israel and the Palestinians. Unleashing nuclear weapon on the sub continent could kill literally millions".
"That said, the timing of the tests caught us by surprise," he says.
When Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee Chairman Richard Shelby wanted to know what had happened in India, Tenet said, "Senator we didnt have a clue". Shelby announced on television later that it was a "colossal intelligence failure" on the part of CIA.
Disagreeing with Shelby's remark, Tenet writes, it was an intelligence failure "no doubt" but "Colossal is in the eye of the beholder". PTI
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