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US backs Musharraf on uniform issue but wants free, fair polls
K J M Varma
Islamabad, June 17 (PTI) The US has left on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf the decision to give up his uniform but wants the General to hold "free, fair and transparent" elections due by the end of the year.
"It is up to him (Gen Musharraf) to decide when to take off his uniform but we do want free, fair and transparent elections scheduled for this fall or early next year," US Deputy Secretary John Negroponte said after his meeting with Musharraf yesterday leaving no one in doubt that Washington would back the General on the dual post issue.
Musharraf has already stated that he would get re-elected by the existing assemblies as President while remaining as Army chief between Sept 15-Oct 15 and then hold general elections, perhaps by January next year.
To a question, Negroponte said the US is not making any particular demand on uniform but supports the political process in Pakistan.
"We think it is important that these (elections) be carried out successfully and transparently, which I am confident will be the case," he told reporters.
Negroponte also gave a call for more progress towards democracy in Pakistan. He had discussed with Musharraf "the importance of Pakistan's continued progress toward democracy", he said.
Negroponte's endorsement of Musharraf's plans for re-election has however caught Pakistan's opposition parties by surprise as they were hoping, till now, that Washington would press the General to give up his uniform.
The opposition parties are now expected to finalise a strategy at an all-party conference in London next month. PTI
Prez poll;SP hints at maintaining equi-distance from UPA, NDA
New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI) Virtually pouring cold water on NDA's hopes, Samajwadi Party today indicated maintaining equi-distance from both UPA and NDA and hinted at abstention as a possibility in the Presidential elections.
After a two and half hour meeting of the party, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said the SP was formed not only to oppose communal forces but to wipe them away.
A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had consultations with Amar Singh seeking SP's support for the UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil, the party National Executive authorised party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to take a final decision on the issue.
"The sentiment of the National Executive is against both, UPA and NDA. With only 1.10 lakh votes, we (Third Front) do not have strength to field a candidate on our own. But a decision whether to abstain or field a candidate will be taken at a Front meeting in Chennai tomorrow", party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters.
Asked if there was any possibility of supporting Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, he said several leaders spoke at length and expressed their mind on the issue and unanimously authorised Yadav to take a decision on the matter.
However, he made it clear that though Shekhawat's record as chairman of Rajya Sabha has been "unbiased", his roots are in RSS. "He has been BJP chief Minister of Rajasthan state. He became Vice-President of India as BJP nominee".
Ram Gopal, the younger brother of the former U.P. Chief Minister said "we have neither compromised with communal forces and nor will we do so".
The third front comprising parties like TDP, AIADMK is meeting in Chennai tomorrow to finalise their stand on the presidential election.
AIADMK Chief Jayalalithaa has ruled out support to Congress candidate and had talked about two other options of either absention or support to a candidate who has already expressed his intention to contest, issues that will come up for discussion at tomorrow's meeting. PTI
LeT man escapes from custody; caught after two-hour chase
Hyderabad, June 17 (PTI) An alleged operative of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba today escaped from police custody here but was caught after a two-hour long chase in Secunderabad, police said.
Nayeem alias Sameer was brought here on June 7 from Mumbai on a transit warrant in connection with the May 18 Mecca Masjid bomb blast and a fake passport case. He was in judicial remand.
Sameer, who was kept in Mahankali police station after his custody for interrogation in the explosion case, went to answer nature's call early this morning but gave policemen a slip by jumping over a wall, police said.
Policemen chased him for two hours in lanes and by-lanes and finally caught him at Boiguda area.
Sameer was one of the four suspected LeT cadres apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) near the Bangladesh border in April last while they were trying to sneak into West Bengal.
Later, he was handed over to Mumbai Police for his alleged involvement in the July 11 train blasts. During a narco-analysis test Sameer reportedly told Mumbai Police that he had transported RDX to Hyderabad.
He is also facing charges of trying to secure a fake passport from the city. One of his associates, Shoaib Jagirdar of Maharashtra, is now in judicial custody for trying to help him get a fake passport. PTI
Reduce Central government ministries from 53 to 40: ASSOCHAM
Chennai, June 17 (PTI): Advocating cost cutting on all fronts, ASSOCHAM today demanded downsizing of the Central government by reducing the number of ministries from 53 to 40.
ASSOCHAM president Venugopal N Dhoot told a press conference here that some ministries should be merged with others for operational efficiency and better functioning. The money saved through the exercise could be utilised for infrastructure development, he said.
"When the country attained Independence, there were only 18 ministries. As time progressed, the number multiplied, with costs to the national exchequer escalating to a whopping Rs 75,000 crore every year," he said.
Appreciating Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's concern over 'vulgar display' of wealth by industrialists, he said this should be banned. "The wealth generated by them should be used to eradicate poverty in the country," he said.
Dhoot said that FDI in retail trade should be allowed in stages so that those involved in it could prepare themselves for some other profession.
On the demand for reservation in the private sector, he said it should be voluntary and not mandatory.
He said the Tamil Nadu government should take efforts to set up a 'Singapore corridor' as a number industrialists from Singapore had evinced interest in shifting their units here due to low costs. "Tamil Nadu can attract an investment of Rs 15,000 crore through this corridor," he said.
Dhoot, who is also chairman of Videocon, said his company was interested in setting up a plasma TV manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu, provided the state government offered more concessions. PTI
Over 47 lakh shares in ICICI Bank owned by top nine employees
Mumbai, Jun 17 (PTI) ICICI Bank's top management, including managing director K V Kamath, enjoys stock options worth Rs 435 crore by way of 47.5 lakh shares granted under ESOP scheme till March this year.
Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOS) of ICICI Bank allows a maximum of 0.05 per cent of issued shares in stock option to any employee in a financial year, according to the draft prospectus filed by the bank for its public issue with SEBI.
The aggregate of all such options was a maximum of 5 per cent of total issued equity shares. Thus, ICICI had option to allocate shares worth Rs 4,041.5 crore in stock options as per bank's market cap of Rs 81,660 crore on last Friday.
Indian investors own 28.87 per cent shares in the bank, while foreign investors have 71.13 per cent stake.
The bank had 40.37 million shares worth Rs 3,665 crore granted in stock option under ESOS to employees at the end fiscal 2007 as against a total of 90.28 crore shares issued.
Managing Director and CEO K V Kamath had stock options granted of 12.75 lakh shares worth Rs 116 crore, based on the bank's closing share price of Rs 908 on June 15.
However, Kamath and other employees held only half of the shares granted in stock options and remaining half were outstanding in their name. The employees held 22.38 million shares and had the option to go for additional 22.80 million shares as on March 31.
Other senior employees with more than five lakh shares in stock options were Joint MD Kalpana Morparia (8.05 lakh shares), Deputy MD Chanda Kochhar (6.30 lakh shares) and Deputy MD Nachiket Mor (6.27 lakh shares). PTI
FDI cap in commodity bourses, PSU refineries may go up to 49%
New Delhi, June 17 (PTI) A comprehensive proposal to review the foreign investment norms will soon be taken up by the Cabinet for approval, seeking to raise the investment cap to 49 per cent in commodity exchanges and PSU oil refineries.
"The Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy is preparing a note in this regard, which will be soon sent to Cabinet for clearance," official sources told PTI.
The note is likely to peg foreign investment cap in commodity exchanges to 49 per cent with limit on FDI at 26 per cent and FIIs at 23 per cent, similar to the ceiling in stock exchanges, the sources said.
But an individual entity is likely to be allowed to pick only up to five per cent in commodity exchanges, they said.
This means foreign investors like New York Mercantile Stock Exchange will be allowed to buy up to five per cent stake in bourses like Multi Commodity Exchange and NCDEX.
The sources said those foreign investors which already have more than five per cent in commodity exchanges would be given some time to bring down their stake to five per cent.
Goldman Sachs picked up seven per cent equity in NCDEX for 23.1 million dollar from ICICI Bank in July last year.
They added once the government gave clearance to FDI limit in commodity exchanges, the Reserve Bank might issue guidelines for allowing foreign investors to pick up stake in the country's commodity exchanges. PTI
Awareness on benefits of NAIC should be created: FM
Sivaganga, June 17 (PTI): An awareness should be created among farmers on the benefits of the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, so that they could cover themselves against production losses, finance minister P Chidambaram said today Speaking after handing out claims worth Rs 5.48 crore under the NAIC scheme to banks, he appreciated the initiatives taken by the Agriculture Insurance Company of India in bringing out the scheme.
The amount will be handed over by the banks to farmers of Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, Madurai, Erode and Vellore districts Chidambaram said a 'weather insurance scheme' would be introduced soon on an experimental basis to insure farmers from the vagaries of the weather. PTI
Canadian co ties up with Mumbai Gold Cabs for CNG conversions
Mumbai, June 17 (PTI) Advanced Technologies and Fuels Canada Inc (ATFCAN), which designs and delivers clean energy projects in international markets, has tied up with Mumbai Gold Cabs Pvt Ltd for conversion of 250 vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
As part of ATFCAN's CNG India project, around 200 new units of Maruti Esteem and 50 Tata Indigo Marina vehicles of Mumbai Gold Cabs will be fitted with compressed natural gas kits from ECO Fuel Systems of Canada, ATFCAN President and CEO Rodney Semotiuk said in a release.
The ARAI-certified kits comply with Bharat III emissions levels standards and will be installed by ACE Gas Conversions Pvt Ltd of Mumbai, in collaboration with ECO Fuel Systems, he said.
Fuel consumption, mileage, and levels of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the converted vehicle will be monitored over a period of time. PTI
BSNL paying price of being PSU; fast losing mkt share
New Delhi, June 17 (PTI) Marred by delays in executing the equipment order, BSNL is fast losing to the private sector in terms of adding new subscribers as if the telecom monolith is paying the price of being a PSU.
"We are adding only 3-4 lakh subscribers every month as against our plans to add 15-20 lakh, which is why our market share is eroding slowly," BSNL CMD A K Sinha told PTI in an exclusive interview but exuded confidence that his company would soon bounce back.
The reason the company has not been able to increase its subscriber base as planned is delay in executing the order for expanding capacity of 60 million GSM lines at an investment of over Rs 20,000 crore.
BSNL is yet to place the order, even after 15 months of its tendering process.
"After the court gave us clearance to go ahead with placement of order, we are processing the technical conditions ... Still some more details are being worked out before placing an Advanced Purchase Order (APO) to the two lowest bidders Ericsson and Nokia," Sinha said.
Swedish equipment giant Ericsson had emerged the lowest bidder to get 60 per cent of the order, followed by Finish company Nokia, that had cornered 40 per cent.
Ericsson had quoted a price of about 107 dollar per line while Nokia's was about 160 dollar a line.
Asked whether the PSU has any arrangement to ramp up its capacity during the interim period, he said it is in-built in the tender of 60 million GSM lines.
"Once the APO is placed, we can get additional capacity in the interim period as execution of fresh capacity will take about 8-10 months for installation," he added. PTI
Blair committed troops in Iraq knowing US had no post-war plan
London, June 17 (PTI) Prime Minister Tony Blair committed British troops to fight in Iraq inspite of full knowledge that Washington had no post-war reconstruction plan for the violence-torn country.
Blair's key aides and friends have revealed that Blair repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.
He also agreed to commit troops to the conflict, even though US President George W Bush had personally said Britain could help "some other way", The Observer reported today.
The disclosures, made by Blair's close allies in a two-part Channel 4 documentary, will raise questions about Blair's assurances to his party at the time of the war in 2003 that he was satisfied with the post-war planning.
Peter Mandelson told the channel that the Prime Minister knew the preparations were inadequate but said he was powerless to do more.
The documentary to be broadcast next week is presented by Andrew Rawnsley, who is also The Observer's chief political correspondent.
"Obviously more attention should have been paid to what happened after, to the planning and what we would do once Saddam had been toppled," Mandelson told Rawnsley in an interview.
"But I remember him saying at the time: 'Look, you know, I can't do everything. That's chiefly America's responsibility, not ours.'" PTI
Lankan professor dies during inspection of a spy plane
Colombo, June 17 (PTI) A Sri Lankan professor died while he was on a visit with a military delegation to Israel to buy a spy plane for the air force, police said.
Amith Munindradasa (41), head of the electronics and telecommunications department of the University of Moratuwa, took ill and died in Tel Aviv while trying to test the plane which the air force wants to buy.
The autopsy report indicated that the professor died of pneumonia, but his family suspects foul play in the death and called for an investigation, they said.
A judge allowed the body, which was flown back over the weekend, to be buried today. However, a judicial inquiry would continue.
The Sri Lankan delegation returned without concluding their tests. PTI
China commemorates 40th anniv of first hydrogen bomb test
Beijing, June 17 (PTI) Chinese scientists today commemorated the 40th anniversary of the country's first test of a hydrogen bomb, calling for greater self-confidence and self-reliance in the development of new hi-technologies.
China tested its first hydrogen bomb in the desert of northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region on June 17, 1967.
The successful test startled the world as it took only two years and eight months for China to develop the hydrogen bomb after it tested its first atomic bomb in October, 1964, former head of the general office of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, Li Yingxiang said.
Wang Jingheng, former head of China's first nuclear weapons research and production base in northwest Qinghai Province, recalled the tough conditions at the base more than 40 years ago.
More than 10,000 people worked at the base and natural disasters in other parts of the country in the early 1960s made it difficult to get enough food for his crew, Wang, now 70, recalled.
"We lived in cave dwellings, ate qingke barley (a highland barley grown in Tibet and Qinghai), and our only vegetable was cabbage. When there was not enough food, we had to search for edible wild herbs to feed ourselves," Wang was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Li urged today's Chinese leaders and scientists to have the same confidence as those working on the bomb did four decades ago.
"Remembering the history of developing the first hydrogen bomb is of great significance to today's scientific research," Li said. PTI
Obama campaign offers explanation on document on Hillary
Dharam Shourie
New York, Jun 17 (PTI) After deriding Hillary Clinton for her Indian connections prompting angry reaction from Indian- Americans, the campaign of Barak Obama, her Democratic party rival in the US Presidential race, has launched a major damage control exercise by expressing "regret" and offering explanation.
The move is seen as an attempt to assuage the feelings of the influential community, which is becoming a major contributor to election campaigns.
A paper circulated by Obama's campaign among the friendly political correspondents, denigrating Clinton's Indian connection with the understanding that they will not reveal the source, became a major embarrassment and a public relations disaster at a time when strenuous efforts are being made to set up "Indians for Obama" chapters -- on the lines of "Indians for Hillary" chapters-- across the country.
Confronted by the paper, the Obama campaign expressed regret and asserted that he has been a "long-time friend" of the Indian-American community.
"Our campaign is fortunate to have strong support of the Indian-Americans across the country," campaign manager David Plouffe said.
"The intent of the document was to discuss the issue of outsourcing but we regret the tone that part of the document took," he said.
But the community leaders in New York and elsewhere were still discussing the intent of the Obama's campaign especially its apparent attempt to malign major contributors to and organisers of Hillary Clinton's major fund-raisers, including leading hotelier Sant Chatwal. PTI
Write right if you want to be on the right !
New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI) The next time you submit your cv for a job or are called for an interview, don't be surprised if the panel gives a hard look to your signature.
Graphology, an old science that claims to 'read' the handwriting of a person to know his or her personality is increasingly being used by companies to know more about the person before recruitment.
Your hand-writing tells everything about your personality and character. Your sincerity, integrity, attitude, aptitude, motivational level, aspirational and inspirational level- almost all characteristic traits are there in your hand-writing. The amount of pressure, slant, size of letters, margin etc are actually indicators of your personality traits, and Graphologists- who practice the art of knowing a personality through the handwriting- can tell you about all these with 95-100% accuracy, says graphologists, say graphologists.
After getting its hold in west, Graphology has started making its inroads in India too. A large number of MNCs and other private companies in India are now hiring graphological services for recruitment, assessment of the employees, solving certain cases and increasing the efficiency.
"We tell you that much of our services go to MNCs "says Manikant, President, Handwriting Analysis India, Vishakhapatnam and a well known graphologist . "Almost 75% our sevices go to HR department of the companies" he adds while pointing out that he works for as consultant for some MNCs. PTI
Digest of domestic stories for week June 9- June 15
Saturday New Delhi: A fortnight after being embroiled in a drug abuse case, former cricketer Maninder Singh suspected to have attempted suicide and admitted to a hospital here with cuts on his wrists.
On Board PM's Special Aircraft: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says some "tough negotiations" will be required between India and the US to hammer out an agreement on the nuclear deal and both the countries are determined to overcome "some difficulties".
Sunday New Delhi: At least 21 heat-related deaths were reported, the highest in a day this season, as people in North and central India continued to reel under scorching conditions with the toll this summer rising to 74.
New Delhi: Four more Indians have died in the devastating cyclone that hit Oman early this week, taking the toll of Indians to six even as six others remain missing.
Tuesday Thiruvananthapuram: Efforts to contain the outbreak of viral fever in Kerala intensifies with defence medical teams stepping in to help the state health authorities and medicines and preventive kits being flown in to the state from the Army Depot in Mumbai.
Chandigarh: Two persons killed and 13 injured when the roof of the city's biggest vegetable market collapses while at least 50 persons had a narrow escape.
Wednesday New Delhi: Ramchandra Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, found dead in a room at the India International Centre (ICC) here. PTI
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