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5 killed in Hyderabad mosque blast
Hyderabad, May 18 (PTI) Five persons were killed and eight others, including two children, were injured when a powerful bomb exploded during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca mosque in the Charminar area of the old city here.
Two live bombs were also detected from the spot soon after the explosion and were defused.
The bomb exploded when thousands of people were gathered in the mosque for Friday prayers, DCP, South Zone, Kanta Rao, said.
The injured, some of them bleeding profusely, were rushed to Osmania and other hospitals by the worshippers in whatever modes of transport they could arrange.
The explosion created such a panic that those gathered for the prayers started running towards the exit gate of the mosque, said to be over 400 years old and considered sacred by Muslims in and outside the state.
A large posse of police personnel, who arrived on the scene, faced an angry crowd, who pelted stones at them and the shops in the vicinity. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
Chief Minister, Rajashekhar Reddy, who rushed back to Hyderabad from Delhi, said five people have died and 7-8 others were injured in the explosion.
He said only one bomb exploded while two other live bombs were defused on the spot. The situation, he said, was under control. PTI
Denigration of Sikh Gurus unacceptable, says Badal
Chandigarh, May 18 (PTI) Terming as "big provocation" the newspaper advertisement of Dera Sacha Sauda head, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said denigration of Sikh Gurus by anybody was not acceptable to the people.
He claimed the situation in the state was well under control and appealed to all political parties and religious organisations to maintain peace and tranquillity.
"It's a big provocation (Dera Sacha Sauda's head purported appearance in the attire of 10th Sikh Guru in an advertisement in some newspapers)... Everything is acceptable, but the denigration of the Gurus of Sikhs by anybody is unacceptable to the people of the community as also to members of other religions and faiths," he said.
He was talking to reporters here after chairing a Political Affairs Committee meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the wake of clashes between followers of the Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Sikhs.
Flanked by other key party leaders, including MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, the chief minister said, "What has happened in the past few days is very unfortunate and sad." "With such a big provocation, anything bigger could have happened ... But there were only few incidents of violence," he said.
Badal asked the media to exercise "restraint" in reporting the incidents. PTI
Blast caused by crude bomb: Shivraj Patil
New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) The explosion in the historic Mecca mosque in Hyderabad was caused by a crude bomb, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said today.
Apart from that, there were two live bombs recovered from the spot and defused, he told reporters here after he spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy.
"So far we have information that there have been five deaths following a crude bomb explosion. We have already put the Rapid Action Force stationed in Hyderabad at the disposal of the state government," Patil said.
Investigations have already begun and "we have rushed a forensic team to the blast site," he said.
The priority now was to provide immediate relief to those injured and to the kin of the deceased, Patil said. PTI
Essar wins oil block in Nigeria
New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Ruias-led corporate house Essar group has won an offshore oil block in Nigeria with reserves of up to 80 million barrels.
Essar Energy Holdings Ltd, a unit of Essar Global, has bagged a shallow water offshore exploration Block 226 in the African country, industry sources said.
Nigeria had offered 45 exploration blocks in its latest licensing round, to which no Indian company except Essar had responded.
Of the total 45 blocks, 11 were in deep water offshore, 10 shallow water on the continental shelf, 13 onshore in the Niger Delta and 11 in inland basins.
When contacted, an Essar official said: "We have submitted a bid and are awaiting an outcome." ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd, the joint venture of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp and NRI steel tycoon L N Mittal, had preferential bidding rights over one block, but chose to stay away over doubts about the block's prospects.
Indian Oil Corp-Oil India Ltd combine, which earlier planned to submit a bid, also stayed away, the sources said, adding a total of 16 companies bid in the round.
The last date for submitting the bid was May 2.
ONGC-Mittal had won preferential rights after promising to invest two billion dollar in the country's infrastructure.
OMEL was given right of first refusal on Block 250 in return for a pledge to carry out a feasibility study into a new railroad, the sources said. PTI
India 295 for 3 at stumps on Day 1
Chittagong, May 18 (PTI) Electing to bat, India made 295 for three on the opening day of the first cricket Test against Bangladesh here today.
Brief scores: India: 295 for 3 in 77 overs (D Kaarthick 56, R Dravid 61, S Tendulkar 80 batting, S Ganguly 82 batting). PTI
Tendulkar named vice-captain
Chittagong, May 18 (PTI) The Indian cricket team's vacant post of vice-captain was filled today with Sachin Tendulkar being appointed as Rahul Dravid's deputy for the two Tests against Bangladesh.
"Tendulkar has been made the vice-captain," said Surendra Bhave here on the opening day of the first Test.
The national selectors did not name a vice-captain when they announced the squad for the series which also featured a ODI series which the visitors won 2-0.
The India squad for the one-dayers, however, did not include none of the stalwarts - Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
Tendulkar was the vice-captain on the tour of South Africa and also at the World Cup. PTI
Donald interested in coaching England bowlers
London, May 18 (PTI) Keen to work with the like of Steve Hermison and Andrew Flintoff, South African Test great Allan Donald has shown an interest in joining the "high-profile" England coaching team as bowling coach.
"I would love to do that job - it's a very high-profile job. With all the talent there is in England, around England, it will be fantastic to work with that," Donald was quoted as saying by the BBC today.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has indicated that a bowling coach could be recruited to allow Kevin Shine to focus on the national academy.
ECB's director of England cricket John Carr said "when the Board recruited Kevin in early 2006, it was always intended to be a largely Loughborough-based role (at the academy) leading the ECB fast bowling programme.
"Kevin had indicated at the start of the winter that at the end of the World Cup, he wished to revert to the important role that he was originally recruited to perform." Donald, who took 330 wickets in 72 Tests and 272 in one-day internationals during his illustrious playing career, would undoubtedly strengthen the team around England's head coach Peter Moores.
Donald, who spent several seasons with Warwickshire during his career and has coached their young bowlers, applied for the job when Shine was appointed.
"I don't come in with a lot of coaching badges, but I do have lots of experience and passion for the game," he had said at the time.
Donald has already appointed former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower as his assistant. PTI
Inzamam hits back at probe committee
Karachi, May 18 (PTI) Inzamam-ul Haq today hit back at the probe committee for describing him as an "autocratic" captain and said he was being made the scapegoat for the Pakistan cricket team's World Cup debacle.
The former captain said he was surprised at the way the three-member probe committee blamed him for everything that went wrong in the World Cup in its report made public yesterday.
Inzamam also said that he respected all the members of the probe committee but the fact was none of them had any experience of leading the national team.
"How they can comment on captaincy without having experienced it, is beyond me? "I am no dictator. Neither was I ever autocratic as a captain. I always took decisions after consulting the other senior players and team management," Inzamam told PTI.
"The strange thing is that when the team was doing well under my captaincy no one said anything. More strange is the part that former players have criticised me in the past for being too easy-going on the field and not showing more authority as captain. And the committee says I was a dictator," he said.
Inzamam said he was the latest victim in Pakistan's blame game.
"The sad fact is that in Pakistan cricket, after every big defeat blame has to be laid on someone. This time it is me. But why do people forget how well the team did in so many matches. We had one bad tournament and I accept responsibility for that. But to brand me all these things has hurt me," he said. PTI
Sensex at three-month high, closes above 14,300-mark
Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) The stock markets ended flat after a see-saw ride between positive and negative territories with the benchmark BSE Sensex gaining a mere 3.7 points to settle above the 14,300-mark for the first time in three months.
Auto and metal shares declined, led by Bajaj Auto which dropped 8.5 per cent on demerger concerns. But a rally in heavyweight Reliance Industries, which touched a record high of 1,705, and upsurge in bank stocks supported the Sensex.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index, opened lower at 14,261.47 and continued to veer in and out of positive terrain in a range of 14,337.06 and 14,201.01.
It later concluded the day at 14,303.41, a gain of 0.03 per cent over yesterday's close of 14,299.71.
Today's close is the highest since February 19, when the index ended at 14,402.90 points. The Sensex had touched its highest peak of 14,723.88 points on February 9.
The broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), however, ended slightly lower by 5.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 4,214.50 from previous close of 4,219.55.
Dealers attributed the two-way movements to alternate bouts of buying and selling on the last day of the week.
Auto-major, Bajaj Auto suffered a sharp setback for the second successive day after approval of a demerger scheme yesterday, splitting the group into three separate entities. Other auto shares like Tata motors and Maruti also ended weak.
Metal shares also were at the receiving end following a fall in metal prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday as copper hit 3-month low. PTI
Federal Bank Q4 net up 96 pc; recommmends 40 pc div
Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) Federal Bank, one of the oldest traditional lenders in the country, today reported 95.6 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 99.25 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, as compared to Rs 50.73 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Total income of the lender rose 38.38 per cent to Rs 636.63 crore for the three months ended March 31, as against Rs 460.04 crore for the same period in 2006, Federal Bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The Board of Directors of the bank has recommended a dividend of 40 per cent on equity shares.
For the year ended March 31, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 292.73 crore, up 30 per cent, as compared to Rs 225.21 crore for the 12 month period ended March 31, 2006.
Total income also increased by over 27 per cent to Rs 2,104.04 crore as compared to Rs 1,653.48 crore in 2006, it said.
Shares of the Federal Bank were last trading at Rs 276.85, up 2.42 per cent on the BSE. PTI
Mittal loses Nigeria refinery bid
New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) India-born billionaire Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, who wants to make it big in oil after forming the world's largest steel empire, has lost a bid for taking over Nigeria's biggest oil refinery.
Mittal offered lesser than the 561-million-dollar winning bid by a consortium of three Nigerian indigenous companies for acquiring 51 per cent of government stake in Port Harcourt refinery, industry sources said.
The winning Blue Star consortium comprises Zenon Oil, Dangote Oil and Gas and Transnational Corp, which belong to close associates of outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Blue Star emerged winner of the refinery in an open bid conducted yesterday by the Nigerian privatisation agency - Bureau of Public Enterprises in Abuja.
Two other bidders, local fuel marketer Oando and the Sahara/Refinee PetroPlus, were disqualified for not providing bank drafts to cover 50 per cent of their bid amount.
The sources said Mittal had originally planned to bid for the 2,10,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt refinery with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) but in the end went alone.
"When we gave Mittal a 49 per cent stake in our proposed 3.3-billion-dollar Bhatinda refinery, he had envinced interest in teaming up with HPCL for Port Harcourt bid. We did our due diligence and decided against the investment," a HPCL executive said.
Indian Oil Corp, India's biggest refiner, was also invited by the Nigerian Government to participate in the refinery auction but it too decided against making an offer.
Mittal has joint ventures with Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for oil business but bid for Port Harcourt refinery alone. PTI
Tata Motors Q4 PAT up 26 pc; declares 150 pc dividend
Mumbai, May 18, (PTI) Tata Motors today reported a 26 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 576.72 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 against Rs 458.11 crore in the corresponding period previous year.
The revenues (net of excise) for the quarter was at Rs 8,267 crore, a growth of 20 per cent over Rs 6,869.65 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year, a company statement said.
The total sales volume for the March quarter was at 1,72,355 units, a rise of 16 per cent over 148,343 units sold in the corresponding period a year ago.
The board of directors has declared a 150 per cent dividend of Rs 15 on shares of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2006-07, subject to approval of the shareholders.
Tata Motors revenues (net of excise) for the financial year ended March 31 were at Rs 27,535.24 crore as against Rs 20,653.49 crore in the previous year.
The PAT for the year was Rs 1,913.46 crore, an increase of 25 per cent over Rs 1,528.88 crore last year. The total sales volume (including exports) for 2006-07 was at 5,80,280 units, over 4,54,129 vehicles sold last year.
Sales of commercial vehicles in the domestic market increased by 39 per cent to 2,98,586 units, the highest ever.
The consolidated Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year ended March 31, after adjustments was Rs 2,169.99 crore compared to Rs 1,728.09 crore, a growth of 26 per cent over the previous year.
The consolidated gross revenue of the company for the year ended March 31 was Rs 36987.82 crore in 2006-07, a growth of 36 per cent compared to Rs 27263.73 crore in 2005-06. PTI
Museum to showcase Indian heritage to open in Toronto
Toronto, May 18 (PTI) A USD 25 million museum designed to showcase India's rich heritage and contribution to the world civilisation is set to be opened here in July.
Located on a seven-hectare site, the 1,800 square metre museum is part of the Swaminarayan complex, which includes a Hindu temple and Haveli (meeting hall).
The museum will include exhibits on the contributions of Indian civilization to the world in areas such as science, mathematics, medicine, art and language.
It is designed to showcase and preserve the heritage of nearly one million Canadians who trace their roots to the Indian subcontinent, The museum will also serve to chronicle the history and the migration of the Indian Diaspora to Canada via Africa, the Caribbean and Fiji.
The aim is to educate the broader Canadian society, as well as enhance a sense of pride in Indo-Canadians in their heritage, said Naresh Roy Patel, a trustee of the complex.
"The message is one of pluralism, unity in diversity, which will have great importance for all Canadians," he said.
Construction of the museum, which began in April 2005, is based on Vedic engineering principles, without using steel or nails, Pate said. PTI
Karachi violence a conspiracy: Altaf
Islamabad, May 18 (PTI) Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has claimed that the violence in Karachi on May 12, in which at least 40 people were killed, was a conspiracy to pit liberal and democratic forces against each other.
Facing severe criticism for escalating the May 12 violence after the MQM went ahead with a pro-government rally in Karachi on a day when the supporters of suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar M. Chaudhry was to address a meeting of lawyers, Hussain said he had no objection to the lawyers' struggle for the supremacy of the judiciary.
He said his party held the judiciary in high esteem and that the MQM had no conflict with the lawyers.
The MQM leader in a statement issued from London, where he lives in exile, said his party had appealed to the government to ensure that there were no obstacles in the way of the suspended top judge addressing members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA).
Hussain claimed that the MQM believed in the independence of judiciary and his only concern was that the lawyers' campaign should not be hijacked by political parties.
Meanwhile, the MQM Coordination committee met in London and Karachi and deliberated on the May 12 violence, and claimed that it was the handiwork of the forces that were not happy with the "rising popularity" of the MQM.
It rejected the criticism of the party as "misleading and without any foundation" and termed it a propaganda aimed at isolating the MQM.
The Coordination panel maintained that if the party could not provide security to the people and its own cadre, it could even think of opting out of the government. PTI
Pak seeks more funds from US to fence border
Islamabad, May 18 (PTI) Pakistan has sought more funds from the United States to fence and mine its border with Afghanistan and stop cross-border movement of militants on the ground that it does not have enough resources.
The request for funds was made during US special envoy Ambassador Ronald Neumann's talks with Pakistan's National Security Adviser Tariq Aziz and Prime Minister's Adviser on Federally Administrated Tribal Areas Sahibzada Imtiaz two days ago here.
The US envoy was told that it would be too much to expect Pakistan to control the over 2,000-km-long border with Afghanistan on its own and that too without fencing or mining the most-used crossing points - something Kabul and Washington oppose, Dawn quoted officials as saying.
Neumann promised more US financial and technical assistance for strengthening border control but urged the Pakistani officials to take Kabul's objections into account and NATO and allied forces into confidence on its fencing project.
Neumann was keen to strengthen the Frontier Constabulary for which US has already announced funding. The US envoy was also told that Pakistan has already fenced its border at about eight points along Pak-Afghan border and some more important areas needed to be fenced.
The US envoy was informed that there was also a need to "revitalise and reorganise" levies to maintain law and order within the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas agencies besides enabling them to effectively discharge their duties. PTI
Two killed, over 22,000 affected in avalanches in Tibet
Shanghai, May 18 (PTI) At least two people were killed and over 22,000 isolated from the rest of China after days of rain and snow triggered avalanches and mud-slides in two remote countries in eastern Tibet.
Three people digging caterpillar fungus were buried by a sudden avalanche near a highway in Zayu County of Nyingchi Prefecture. An 18-year-old woman was killed but the other two were rescued.
Another avalanche in Baxoi Country, Qamdo Prefecture also killed one and injured another on Wednesday morning. Twelve villages in the country have been affected by snowfall and avalanches.
More than ten avalanches on Wednesday and Thursday cut traffic in the Niutagou section of No.318 highway linking Tibet and neighbouring Sichuan province. But no casualties were reported.
Avalanches and mud-slides also blocked the only highway connecting Zayu Country, isolating more than 22,000 people.
"The extent of damage to villages and towns is not clear as communication between the country seat and those places has been severed," an Xinhua official who declined to give his name said.
Zayu has received more than 140 millimetres of rainfall since Monday, more than half the county's monthly average for May, the official said. PTI
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