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India, China to hold joint military anti-terrorism manoeuvres
A K Dhar
New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Seeking to bring their military to military relations to a new high, India and China may soon hold their first-ever joint military exercise-- an anti-terrorism manoeuvre, Army Chief General J J Singh said here today.
"I am going to propose the holding of such manoeuvres," Army Chief told PTI on the eve of his departure for Beijing on a week-long visit as the head of a tri-service delegation.
Though the Indian and Chinese armies have held border bonhomie meetings, this would be first time that the two armies, which have almost been locked in an "eyeball to eyeball" confrontation all along the 3,000km long Sino-Indian Himalayan border for over four decades would be holding Joint Exercises.
"In principle, the Chinese have agreed to holding of such an exercise," the Army chief said, "but during the visit, we hope to work out the details and whether such a first-ever exercise would be held on Chinese or Indian soil". PTI
Hindu organisations say Dera head should apologise
Chandigarh, May 19 (PTI) Various Hindu organisations, including VHP and Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti, today demanded that the head of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda apologise for having worn a dress similar to the one worn by 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.
Samiti General Secretary Swami Hans Dass said at a press conference that various Hindu organisations had discussed the stand off between followers of the Dera and different Sikh organisations in Punjab at a meeting in Haridwar.
These bodies felt that Dera Head Sant Gurmit Rahim Ram Singh had done wrong by wearing the dress and administering Amrit (nectar) to his followers hurting the sentiments of the Sikhs, he added.
He should not only apologise for his actions, which had hurt the Sikhs and people of other communities, but also assure that he would not repeat such an act in future, Dass said.
He said that the Hindu organisations would appeal to the people of various sides, including Sikhs, Hindus and Dera followers not to do any such thing, which can vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in Punjab, which had already gone through 15 years of turmoil in eighties. PTI
Hyderabad blast: Decision on CBI probe after police investigation
Hyderabad, May 19 (PTI) The Centre today said it had no difficulty in ordering a CBI probe into yesterday's blast at Mecca Masjid here but a final decision would be taken after conclusion of the ongoing investigation by Andhra Pradesh police.
"If the state government wants it and if it is necessary, there will be no difficulty to hand over the case to CBI," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters here after visiting the blast site and the hospital where the injured are undergoing treatment.
He said the state and Central governments would "sit together" and decide on entrusting the case to CBI.
Earlier, Patil suggested to Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy that the ongoing investigations be taken to their logical conclusion before considering handing over the case to the CBI.
"We are not saying no to CBI inquiry. But, if you send every case in the country to CBI, there will be delay in concluding the probe," he said.
The Chief Minister, who was also present at the press conference, said his government had no objection for "either a CBI inquiry or judicial probe or both." "We are considering various options. After completing preliminary inquiry, we will take a decision," Reddy said. PTI
Nawaz Sharif to return home before June 30, says party
Islamabad, May 19 (PTI) Notwithstanding President Pervez Musharraf's persistent denials on the possibility of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's return before the elections, the exiled leader's party has said he will arrive in Pakistan before June 30.
Sharif would return to country before June 30, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Sheikh Aftab Ahmed told reporters here at Hassanabdal yesterday.
Ahmed said that country was passing through its "worst ever crisis" since 1971 and only Sharif "has the capacity to get the country out of the internal and external threats".
Musharraf had yesterday emphatically ruled out the return of exiled former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Sharif to the country before general elections due by year-end.
"No, they (Benazir and Nawaz) cannot return before elections", the General told a television channel.
Earlier, reports said that Sharif planned to return home on May 28 prompting an unnamed senior Pakistan official to warn that Sharif and his family will not be allowed to land and will be sent back to Jeddah, where they were exiled in 2000 for 10 years.
Sharif's family had three years to go as part of the deal before they can return home, he said. Sharif's brother Shabaz was bundled up and sent back when he tried to return to Lahore in 2005.
Attacking the Musharraf regime, Ahmed said the worsening situation along the Afghan border, in tribal areas and in Balochistan as well as ruining the various pillar of state including judiciary and media were the gift of the present rulers during their seven-year rule.
He declared that "regime change is inevitable". PTI
Bangla cricket test: Late strikes peg back India
Sirshendu Panth
Chittagong, May 19 (PTI) Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar cracked centuries but Bangladesh pegged India back by picking up three quick wickets on the rain-truncated second day of the first cricket Test here today.
The two ageing stars achieved personal milestones but could not consolidate the team's position as they fell immediately after reaching the landmark to leave the visitors at 384 for six at close.
Resuming at 295 for 3, the Indians added 89 runs in 110 minutes of play that was possible during the day at the Bir Sreshta stadium, with M S Dhoni (36) and Anil Kumble (1) remaining unbeaten at the crease.
Ganguly (100) and Tendulkar (101) delighted their fans by reaching the three-figure marks, but both perished soon after, trying to accelerate the pace of scoring.
The duo stitched together a 189-run stand for the fourth wicket, in the process overhauling the previous highest partnership of 164 for India against Bangladesh which they themselves had made in 2004-05.
Ganguly, who had made his last hundred in Zimbabwe's Bulawayo in 2005, was the first to reach the three-figure mark with a single off pacer Shahadat Hossain.
This is Ganguly's 13th ton in 92 Test appearances and came off 163 balls in 221 minutes.
The left hander perished without scoring another run, attempting a pull against Mashrafe Mortaza and giving a high catch to Mohammad Rafique at mid off. PTI
Separate teams for Ireland, England: BCCI
Sirshendu Panth
Chittagong, May 19 PTI) Cricket Board (BCCI) Secretary Niranjan Shah today said two separate teams will be picked for the ODI series in Ireland and the bilateral visit to England, but denied any specific instruction had been given to the selectors.
"There will be two teams selected for the series in Ireland and the tour of England," said Shah, who arrived here today as part of a Board delegation headed by its President Sharad Pawar.
The teams are expected to selected before June 10, the date by which Shah said a new coach was likely to be appointed.
A five-day camp was to be held at Bangalore before the players depart for Ireland on June 20.
Shah had created a furore when he wrote a letter - mentioning the Board's decision at a Working Committee meeting to develop youngsters - to chief of national selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, in the lead up to team selection for the ongoing Bangladesh series.
Asked whether the seniors would rested for the ODI series in Ireland, Shah said, "that is for the selectors to decide depending on the number of games we play and the stress on the players." PTI
BCCI to name new coach by June second week
Chittagong, May 19 (PTI) The BCCI today said the final decision on appointing a new coach for the Indian team would be taken by the second week of June by a seven-member committee formed for the purpose.
BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, who arrived here as part of a four-member Board delegation headed by president Sharad Pawar, said, "The final decision will be known by the first or second week of June. The coach selection committee will meet in Bangalore on June 4 and within the next four-five days, things will be finalised." Shah denied that that the Board's top brass had come here to talk to outgoing Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, but said he was open for a discussion if the Aussie so desired.
"If he wants to meet me, I am open to it. There is no problem." Shah, who is slated to return to India tomorrow, said the BCCI officials were here on an invitation from the Bangladesh Cricket Board and not to negotiate with Whatmore.
"We have come here on an invitation from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to watch the game. We had come here hoping to see Sourav (Ganguly) and Sachin (Tendulkar) score a century. We have not come here to talk to Whatmore." About the urgency of coach selection, Shah said this was because the team was due to leave for Ireland on June 20.
"That's the reason we plan to complete everything by June 10 and then have a camp for five days in Bangalore before going off for the trip." PTI
Sania-Vania pair reaches Morocco Open final
New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Sania Mirza is just one step away from winning her first WTA title this year after the Indian and her American partner, Vania King, got a walkover to reach the Morocco Open final at Fes.
The top seeded Sania-Vania duo will take on second seeds Andreea Ehritt-Vanc (Romania) and Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) in the final.
Sania and Vania were supposed to face off against Camille Pin and Milagros Sequera but the match did not take place after the French-Venezuelan pairing pulled out complaining of sickness.
"Vania and I were supposed to play against Sequera and Pin, but after they played their singles quarterfinal they were both very sick. I think the heat really got to them - hopefully they're better soon," Sania said.
The Indian ace, who is out of the singles competition following a shock first-round defeat, said she was expecting a tough final against the experienced second seeds due to the hot weather conditions.
"It'll be pretty hot and dry at that time, which will be tough. I've never played Andreea; I've played Anastasia a few times but she wasn't with the same partner. They are both very experienced players though and have both been around a long time," she said.
"They've also been playing together a lot this year, whereas Vani and I are playing for the first time, so it should be interesting. We'll just have to play our game and not worry about them. I'm just very excited," she added. PTI
Sensex ends 13-week high at 14,303.41
Mumbai, May 19 (PTI) Stocks: A spate of positive factors lifted the benchmark Sensex to close the week at 13-week high at 14,303.41, up by a whopping 3.68 per cent and the Nifty registered its weekly closing above 4200-mark for the first time in the history of the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Good corporate Q4 earnings, strong global cues, reports of early onset of monsoon, passing of State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill, 2006, by the Lok Sabha and top heavyweight RIL's discovery of gas mainly boosted the market sentiment, dealers said.
Banking stocks led the rally as SBI announced excellent growth of over 75 per cent in the net profit for the fourth quarter and Lok Sabha passed State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill, 2006.
The Bill allowed SBI to reduce its stake in seven subsidiary banks to 51 per cent, which will enable SBI to raise additional capital to meet new international risk provisioning norms and growth plans.
The top heavyweight and petro-chem giant, Reliance Ind Ltd (RIL), remained the hot stock and touched an all-time high during the week on news that the company has struck natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin and Gujarat-Saurashtra basin on May 12.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index, Sensex, gyrated in a range of 14,352.98 and 13,885.46 before concluding the week at 14,303.41, a steep rise of 507.25 points over the last weekend's close of 13,796.16. PTI
Controversial modified rice gets clearance from US regulators
New York, May 19 (PTI) A controversial modified rice - which will have protein often found in breast milk - has got clearance of American regulators and is expected to planed in Kansas State.
This is among the first food crops containing genes that produce human protein to gain approval of the United States Department of Agriculture, Nature reported today.
But many other pharmaceutical genetically-modified crops are already grown indoors or in inedible plants such as tobacco. The rice strains, made by Ventria Bioscience in Sacramento, California, produce lysozyme, lactoferrin and human serum albumin, commonly found in breast milk, in their seeds, it said.
Lysozyme and lactoferrin are proteins with anti-bacterial, viral and fungal properties, the report said.
Ventria says they aim to use the rice to create drinks that can combat diarrhoea, and dietary supplements to help reverse anaemia. Diarrhoea, which often stems from gastro- intestinal infection, is a major killer of children worldwide.
Many further regulatory hurdles involving other agencies would need to be passed before products made from this rice could be sold to consumers, Nature said.
The crop, which has been tested in Peru, was given preliminary approval in March, and the USDA then opened the proposal up for public comment, it said, adding of the more than 20,000 comments they received, only 29 were positive, although many of the negative comments consisted of form letters. PTI
Microsoft acquires aQuantive for USD 6 bn
Silicon Valley, May 19 (PTI) Software giant Microsoft announced the biggest acquisition in its history by buying digital marketing firm aQuantive for USD 6 billion in an all-cash deal.
"The advertising industry is evolving and growing at an incredible pace, moving increasingly toward online and IP-served platforms, which dramatically increases the importance of software for this industry," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
The acquisition, the largest deal in the advertising industry, continues the frenzy of interest in online advertising as companies try to corner a bigger piece of this lucrative market that is expected to continue to grow, said CNET News.
The acquisition, yesterday, comes a day after WPP bought 24/7 Real Media in a deal that valued the group at USD 649 million. Earlier, Google snapped up DoubleClick for USD 3.1 billion and Yahoo acquired the RightMedia advertising exchange outright for USD 680 million.
The aQuantive acquisition enables Microsoft to strengthen relationships with advertisers, agencies and publishers by enhancing the company's advertising platforms and services beyond its current capabilities to serve MSN.
"It is a big bet on advertising monetisation for the long-term growth of the company and this is a significant step forward," president of Microsoft's platform and services division Kevin Johnson said in a statement.
He said the online advertising market would be worth USD 40 billion this year and was growing at 20 per cent a year.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of Microsoft's fiscal year 2008. PTI
CAG pulls up Railways for detention of rolling stock
New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up Railways for detention of rolling stock beyond the permissible period resulting in loss of earning capacity of Rs 326.27 crore.
Suggesting effective measures for "optimum utilisation" of available stock, the CAG in its report for the year ended March, 2006, pointed out instances of heavy detention of coaches, wagons and locomotives during periodical overhauling, repairs and loading/unloading operations in yards, sidings and workshops leading to a loss of Rs 326.27 crore.
While the CAG suggested optimum utilisation of available stock for earning maximum revenue, it highlighted many instances of Railways failure to overhaul and repair the coaches, wagons or locomotives within the time prescribed period disagreeing with the explanation of Railways behind the delay and detentions.
The CAG pulled up railways for delays in sending the rolling stock for repair/overhauling as well as unnecessary detention of wagons not due for overhauling due to improper segregation.
Referring to periodical overhauling of coaches, it said that as per Indian railway maintenance manual for broad gauge coaches, the POH should be completed within 18 days, but noted that different workshops on zonal railways have fixed their own time schedules for completion. PTI
NRI body condemns Hyderabad blast
New York, May 19 (PTI) An organisation of non-resident Indians has strongly condemned the "ghastly" bomb blast at the historic Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad in which several people were killed, describing it a "cowardly act." "Terrorism is not only a crime against humanity but also an ultimate evil which is absolutely anti-national," a statement issued by the Non Resident Indians for Secular and Harmonious India said.
The spokesperson of the organisation, Najma Sultana, said in the statement that the blast was apparently meant to disrupt the progress that the country was making and aimed at destroying the secular structure of the Indian society.
"Our prayers are with the wise people of this great city (Hyderabad) and our heart reaches out to the victims and their families," she said.
Her organisation, she said, is confident that the government would be able to bring the culprits of the "ghastly" and "cowardly" act to justice.
Terror struck during Friday prayers at the Mecca mosque in Hyderabad yesterday when a powerful bomb ripped through a gathering of thousands, leaving 14 people dead, including some killed in police firing during subsequent protests. PTI
Nepal to beef up security along India border
Kathmandu, May 19 (PTI) Nepal is set to beef up security along its porous border with India to check criminal activities and clamp down on smuggling.
Thakur Mohan Shrestha, Nepal's Armed Police Force (APF) DIG at the divisional headquarters, said the quota for establishment of border security office (BSO) has been approved and the plan is now in its final phase.
He said BSOs in all the five districts of the eastern Terai region bordering India would be established by May 29.
Nepal has already decided to establish BSOs in 16 districts of the Terai region to guard the border, control crime and trans-border smuggling and take care of border pillars, the APF headquarters said.
The APF eastern divisional headquarters is establishing the first BSO in eastern Terai's Saptari district on May 20, The Himalayan Times online said.
The government plans to establish BSOs at Chandragadhi of Jhapa district, Budhnagar of Morang, Inaruwa of Sunsari, Itahari-Bisanpur of Saptari and at Gaurishankar Rice Mill in Siraha. The division headquarters has already established one security post each in 38 of the 49 constituencies in the eastern region.
Nepal's top watchdog, the Commission of Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), had directed the authorities to beef up security along the border with India to check smuggling, particularly the increasing incidence of red sandalwood from India to China.
The authorities have seized at least 80 tonnes of red sandalwood meant for the Chinese markets in the last few months. Red sandalwood in China is used in traditional medicines and is believed to cure many diseases. PTI
Bangla to witness emergence of new party: Reports
Dhaka, May 19 (PTI) Emergency-ruled Bangladesh is expected to witness soon emergence of a new political party as efforts were underway by the military-backed interim government to rope in "competent and honest" leaders to launch a new political order.
"Behind the scenes initiators of a 'new political order' have set about expediting the process of forming a new political platform and are trying to rope in politicians from both sides of the partisan divide," the 'New Age' newspaper reported quoting anonymous sources in major parties.
The Manovjamin newspaper supplemented the report saying a "talent hunt" exercise was nearly completed as the military-backed interim government was selecting relatively young, popular, competent and honest leaders to entrust them with the task of organising the new organisation at the district level.
According to the reports a number of former youth and student leaders belonging to former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and her archrival ex-premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League were approached to break with their present parties to join the new political process.
There were reports earlier that local and international pressures were mounting on the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed to stage elections at the quickest possible time lifting a ban on politics. PTI
Indian students threaten stir against Aussie varsity
Melbourne, May 19 (PTI) Indian students have threatened a stir against the Melbourne campus of Central Queensland University, accusing authorities of offering inadequate facilities.
The university has more Indian students enrolled here than from any other country.
A student, who did not wish to be named, said yesterday that the university had changed the way students were able to prepare for exams in several subjects leading to high depression and hopelessness among pupils in the lead-up to final exams in June, The Age reported today.
For many, the June exams will be the last of their degrees. She said the changes, including less exam advice, fewer multiple-choice questions, fewer sample questions and fewer chapter lists from recommended textbooks, meant more students would fail and therefore re-enrol.
"This place is hell on Earth. They keep putting up platforms to fail more students," she was quoted as saying.
In March, 60 Indian students sat on a hunger strike claiming that they would have to pay thousands more to finish their degrees after being examined on material they were not taught, leading to a very high failure rate.
Since last year, the students have been protesting against inadequate facilities and have accused the university authorities of treating them as "cash cows".
Most students pay about USD7000 per semester and are often enrolled directly by agents in India.
However, university spokesman refuted all the allegations. PTI
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