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Complete shutdown in Srinagar after killing of youth
Srinagar, July 7 (PTI) The city observed a complete shutdown today as a mark of protest against the killing of a youth in clashes between security forces and a group of people protesting against the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, police said today.
Sixteen-year-old Muntizar Ahmad Khan was killed after police lobbed teargas to quell protestors who had turned violent yesterday, official sources said.
They said shops and business centres in Nowhatta, Bohrikadal, Khanyar, Naidkadal, Rajouri Kadal, Baba Demb, Saraf Kadal, Gojwara and adjoining areas remained closed as a mark of protest against the killing of the boy.
They said the public transport remained suspended in these areas as a group of youth pelted stones on passing vehicles in the morning.
Meanwhile, several separatist leaders visited the residence of Khan to express condolences to the bereaved family at Naidkadal. PTI
India to maintain highest standards of non-proliferation: PM
New Delhi, July 7 (PTI) Seeking a neighbourhood of peace and prosperity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India does not wish to engage in an arms race with any one and would continue to maintain the highest standards of non-proliferation controls.
At the same time, he sounded a note of warning on the prevailing "uncertain international security environment", saying "we are therefore obliged to create adequate defence preparedness to manage any potential challenge to our security and vital interests".
Describing India as a "responsible" member of the international community, he told defence scientists "we have a stake in the evolution of a stable and rule-based international system".
The Prime Minister, who presented the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) awards to defence scientists and institutions here, said India sought a "neighbourhood of peace and prosperity as a vital pillar of our national security. We do not wish to engage in an arms race with any one.
"As a possessor of advanced technologies, we will continue to maintain the highest standards of non-proliferation controls." Singh's remarks came a day after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee voiced apprehensions over Government constituting a task force to review the policy on disarmament and non-proliferation, contending that the move was aimed at conforming to the US Hyde Act which governs the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. PTI
Surrender or die, Musharraf tells Lal Masjid militants
K J M Varma
Islamabad, July 7 (PTI) In a blunt warning to hundreds of radical students and militants holed up in the Lal Masjid, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said that they must surrender failing which they would all be killed.
During his visit to Balochistan to oversee relief work for flood-affected people, Musharraf said those holed up in the radical mosque in the heart of Islamabad "must surrender or else they will killed".
"No compromise would be made on peace and writ of the law will be ensured all over the country at all costs," Dawnnews TV quoted him as saying during visit to provincial capital, Quetta.
The militants headed by the deputy administrator of the mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi should surrender of face death, the General said. PTI
Nokia, Motorola mobile phone batteries fail safety tests
New York, July 7 (PTI) Cell phone batteries manufactured by leading companies Nokia and Motorola have failed latest safety tests which showed they are prone to explode under certain conditions, according to a US daily.
Chinese regulators in the southern Guangdong Province, one of the world's biggest electronics manufacturing centres, were quoted by the International Herald Tribune as saying that they had found Motorola and Nokia mobile phone batteries which failed safety tests and were prone to explode under certain conditions.
The batteries were said to be manufactured by Motorola and the Sanyo operation in Beijing, and were being distributed by companies based in the Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong, the paper reported.
But Motorola and Nokia -- two of the world's biggest mobile phone makers - immediately denied links to the distributors of the problem batteries, suggesting that they were counterfeit, the report said.
"All the batteries tested were not Motorola genuine batteries. They were fakes," Yang Boning, a spokesman for the company in Beijing, was quoting as saying.
"Those companies are not our suppliers," Boning added.
Nokia executives, the Tribune reported, were investigating the case and trying to determine whether any of the substandard batteries affected Nokia phones.
They said they did not manufacture batteries in China and that the company had no business ties with the Chinese distributors named in the safety tests. PTI
Executive stock options - an incentive to cheat
Seema Hakhu Kachru
Houston, July 7 (PTI) Employee stock options offered to executives as part of their compensation package increase the risk of company officials misrepresenting financial outcomes to rig share prices, says a new study.
If the company's stock rises, holders of options experience a direct financial benefit, thus giving employees an incentive to behave in ways that will boost the company's stock price, according to a new study in Organization Science, the publication of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
"Stock options offer a strong incentive to raise the stock price above the strike price; indeed, the stock price must rise above the strike price for executives to profit from their options.
"This incentive motivates some executives to misrepresent financial outcomes to raise the stock price," say Jared Harris of Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, and Philip Bromiley of Merage School of Business, University of California, in their study titled "Incentives to Cheat: The Influence of Executive Compensation and Firm Performance on Financial Misrepresentation." According to the authors: "Our results demonstrate two factors substantially increase the likelihood of financial misrepresentation: extremely low performance relative to average performance in the firm's industry, and high percentages of CEO compensation in stock options." PTI
Key indices scales new peaks, Sensex breaks 15K milestone
Mumbai, July 7 (PTI) Stocks: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex crossed the psychological 15K mark for the first time ever, bolstered by sustained FII inflows into the fast-growing economy.
In the week under review, both the key indices Sensex and Nifty hit all-time intra-trade highs and also ended the week at new closing peaks on the back of expectations of robust first quarter earnings and easing concerns about rate hike.
The BSE barometer breached 15,000 mark to touch a new trading high of 15,007.22 before ending the week at 14,964.12, a net rise of 313.61 points or 2.14 per cent over last weekend's close of 14,650.51.
Similarly, the broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) hit a life-time trading peak of 4,411.00 and closed the week at 4,384.85, netting a hefty gain of 66.55 points or 1.54 per cent over last weekend's close of 4,318.30.
The market discounted a small rise in inflation, which rose to 4.13 per cent in the week ended June 23 from 4.03 per cent in the preceding week, was well below the central bank's tolerance level.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were the principal driving force behind the market, which has been creating new records after surpassing 10,000 level in February 2006, riding high on foreign investments in equity.
FIIs pumped in about USD 7.9 billion in the calendar year 2006 and USD 6.4 billion so far in the current calendar year. The inflows amounted to Rs 9,089 crore (including provisional number of July 6) in six days between June 29 and July 6. PTI
Billiton project in Orissa to be scrapped
Bhubaneswar, July 6 (PTI) The proposed world-class alumina refinery project by the Australian mining major, BHP Billiton in Orissa is unlikely to materialise as the state government was not keen about the venture, official sources said.
The government's impression on the world's largest mining company came to the fore after BHP Billiton's India chairman M S Ramachandran made a presentation on the proposed project before the chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy last week.
The company has proposed to establish only an alumina refinery which does not ensure full value addition to bauxite, said a senior official who attended the presentation session.
According to Industries Secretary Ashok Dalwai, the government wanted value addition to the raw material down to aluminium metal and also secondary processing in downstream industries like transport, construction and packaging.
He said maximum value addition would ensure more employment generation as well as extra revenue generation for the state.
Sources said the company couldn't affirm on the value addition to the raw material when the senior officials of the state asked about it during the presentation.
As such the government's policy says that the investor which agrees for value addition to the raw material only would be provided with captive mines. We could not have two policies, said an official. PTI
India elect to bat against Sussex
Hove, Jul 7 (PTI) Indian skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat against Sussex in their four-day opening match of the England tour here today.
The Indians included both VVS Laxman and Yuvraj, who are fighting for the last specialist batsman's slot in the Test squad, while Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were rested.
Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Kaarthick opened the batting and was to be followed by Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni besides Laxman and Yuvraj.
The bowling attack comprised Anil Kumble as the lone spinner with S Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh and Ranadeb Bose, who was playing his maiden international.
Teams: India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Kaarthick, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, S Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Anil Kumble and Ranadeb Bose.
Sussex: Michael Yardy (captain), Richard Montgomerie, Chris Nash, Carl Hopkinson, Michael Thornely, Andy Hodd, Robin Martin-Jenkins, Ollie Rayner, Saqlain Mushtaq, Richards Kirtley, Jason Lewry. PTI
Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly opt out of Twenty20 World Cup
Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) India will have a new captain at the Twenty20 cricket World Cup in South Africa with Rahul Dravid today opting out of the inaugural edition of the tournament, alongwith seasoned campaigners Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, to make way for youngsters.
The three stalwarts, in their 30s, made their decision known to the Cricket Board before the national selection committee met to choose a list of 30 probables, which included out-of-favour players such as Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif.
Suresh Raina and Munaf Patel, who have also been out of the team for some time now have been named among the probables announced by the BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah here.
Yousuf Pathan, brother of Irfan, has also found a place in the preliminary squad for the September 11 to 24 event.
While most of the current India players have expectedly found a berth in the provisional squad, the national selectors also included a number of young players who have performed consistently at the domestic level.
Gujarat batsman Neeraj Patel, Punjab opener Karan Goel, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (Bengal), batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara of Saurashtra and S Anirudha of Tamil Nadu, all rounders Niranjan Behera of Orissa and Praveen Kumar of Uttar Pradesh were some of the youngsters chosen in the list.
The final squad for the championship would be selected on August 6 or 7, Shah said. PTI
India start Twenty20 campaign on Sep 13
Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) India, grouped with arch-foes Pakistan and minnows Scotland in Group D, will commence their campaign in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup at Kingsmead in Durban, South Africa, on September 13.
India, who did not include their top three players - Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly - in the 30-strong preliminary list of probables today after the trio opted out of the event, will take on Pakistan in their concluding Group D tie the following day.
The groupings: Group A: A1 South Africa, A2 West Indies, Bangladesh Group B: B1 Australia, B2 England, Zimbabwe Group C: C1 New Zealand, C2 Sri Lanka, Kenya Group D: D1 Pakistan, D2 India, Scotland The schedule: Sep 11: South Africa v West Indies, New Wanderers, Johannesburg Sept 12: New Zealand v Kenya, Kingsmead, Durban Sept 12: Pakistan v Scotland, Kingsmead, Durban Sept 12: Australia v Zimbabwe, Newlands, Cape Town Sept 13: West Indies v Bangladesh, Wanderers Sept 13: Zimbabwe v England, Newlands Sept 13: India v Scotland, Kingsmead Sept 14: Australia v England, Newlands Sept 14: India v Pakistan, Kingsmead Sept 14: Sri Lanka v Kenya, New Wanderers Sept 15: South Africa v Bangladesh, Newlands Sep 16-20: Super 8 stage Sep 22: Semifinals, Newlands and Kingsmead Sep 24: Final, New Wanderers. PTI
Asia cup to be held in Chennai from Sept 1-9
Chennai,July 7 (PTI) The Asian Hockey Federation has allotted the 7th Men's Asia Cup to India which will be held here from September one to 9.
The significance of this Asia Cup is that the FIH will take this tournament for World Ranking, a release from the Indian Hockey Federation said here today.
All the matches of the Tournament will be played under FIH tournament regulations, governing two pool competition with the classification matches.
FIH/AHF approved the following pools for the Asia Cup.
Pool-A: Korea, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Pool-B: India, Japan, Bangladesh, Hongkong and Thailand. PTI
Sangakkara on the rise in LG ICC Player Rankings
Dubai, Jul 7 (PTI) Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara has risen to a career-high third position in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after hitting an unbeaten 200 against Bangladesh.
The stylish left-hander, playing as a batting specialist after starting as a wicketkeeper-batsman, scored his fifth double hundred, which lifted him above Australia's Michael Hussey and Kevin Pietersen of England.
Now only Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan and Australia captain Ricky Ponting are ahead of him in the list.
Sangakkara already has the highest-ever rating by a Sri Lanka batsman in Test cricket, something supported by his average of 52.17 from 66 matches. No Sri Lanka batsman to have played 10 or more Tests has a better average than that.
Sangakkara's rise is the most notable feat inside the top 20 batting and bowling places but outside those select groups, Bangladesh captain Mohammed Ashraful has climbed to a career-high listing.
The dashing right-hander scored a defiant unbeaten 129 spread over more than five hours to delay Sri Lanka's victory celebrations, which propelled him up 15 spots to 45th.
Star spinner Muttiah Muralidaran - who took five wickets - has been unable to extend his lead at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers but he remains well clear of South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.
Third-placed Anil Kumble of India is some distance behind these two but the leg-spinner can close the gap with some good performances in the upcoming Test series against England.
Chaminda Vaas, who has been released to return to county cricket ahead of the final match of the series, consolidated his fifth place in the all-rounders' list, headed by Jacques Kallis of South Africa. PTI
Indian medical staff face racist treatment after UK terror plot
Natasha Chaku
Melbourne, July 7 (PTI) Patients at an Australian hospital have refused to be treated by several of the Indian-trained medical staff after two Indian doctors employed there were questioned in connection with the UK failed terror plots.
Gold Coast Hospital staff including medical registrars and residents released a statement in support of one of the two doctors, Mohammed Asif Ali, who was released by police without charge after questioning. The second doctor, Mohamed Haneef, is in police custody since Monday night.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, doctors at the hospital said patients had refused to be treated by several of the Indian-trained medical staff, accusing them of having some connection to terrorism, the 'Australian' daily reported.
Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson said only a few of the hospital's staff had been subject to the racist treatment, which he condemned.
"They're pretty bruised," Robertson said. "There is a sensitivity among some of those overseas-trained doctors that they may be subject to racism. I'm hoping that won't be the case. It's not the Australian way." While Robertson defended Ali, he refused to pass comment on Haneef, saying his case was a matter for the Australian Federal Police.
Ali drove terror suspect Mohamed Haneef to Brisbane airport on Monday night, where the latter was arrested, and had his colleague's laptop. PTI
Nearly 60 pc voters believe US ready for Black Prez: Poll
Silicon Valley, Jul 7 (PTI) Despite more than 90 per cent of people saying that they are willing to vote for an African-American in the US Presidential polls, only 59 per cent believe the country is ready for a Black President, according to a latest poll.
Similarly, the Newsweek magazine poll yesterday said, 86 per cent of voters say they would vote for a female Commander in Chief, but only 58 per cent believe the country is ready for one - up from 40 per cent in a 1996 CBS poll.
Two thirds, 66 per cent, of voters said there was at least some chance they would vote for Senator Barack Obama, a Black lawmaker.
About as many, 62 per cent, said there was some chance they would vote for Senator Hillary Clinton. In a head-to-head race, though, Clinton dominates Obama 56 to 33 per cent.
When asked about a possible Hispanic candidate, 81 per cent said they were ready to vote for one, but only 39 per cent said the country was ready for a Hispanic president. That represents bad news for the only Hispanic candidate so far in the race, Democrat Bill Richardson.
The idea of a Mormon candidate - such as former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who is seeking the GOP nomination - is even more polarising. Just over a third of voters think the country is ready to elect a Mormon; 50 per cent do not.
The Newsweek magazine poll was conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International on July 2-3 among 1,002 persons at least 18 years of age.
The US presidential election will be held in November 2008. PTI
US expects Musharraf to continue reform process
Washington, July 7 (PTI) Against the backdrop of the attempt on the life of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the US has said it stood by him and Washington believed that he should continue the reform process in the country.
"I'll leave it to the Pakistani officials to talk about what did or did not happen regarding President Musharraf.
President Musharraf faces threats from extremists within his own country. That's not new. His prescription for dealing with this threat is to put Pakistan on a different course, with greater political reform, economic reform, social reform. He's started that process. We think it's importance (important) that he continues," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said in his regular briefing.
He said the US had confidence that Musharraf is committed to that course and he would deal within the confines of Pakistani law and the Pakistani constitution any problems that may arise.
"We're a good friend. We're a good partner. We stand with him. But the solutions to whatever challenges may face the government are going to come from within Pakistan itself," McCormack said. PTI
Digest of domestic news for the week June 30-July 6
Saturday
Mumbai: Heavy rains pound Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra killing at least 16 people in separate incidents and thousands had to be evacuated to safer places following flash floods.
Jaipur: Senior BJP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma dies in a road accident in Alwar district of Rajasthan, nearly 165 kms from here.
Tinsukia: Four persons, including a woman, were killed and 65 people injured in four serial bomb blasts triggered by militants in Assam's Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts.
Sunday Srinagar: The annual pilgrimage to Amarnath, which was held up due to bad weather, begins with nearly 13,000 devotees heading for the cave shrine where the ice 'lingam' of Lord Shiva completely melted due to rising temperatures.
Ahmedabad: A police inspector, wanted by the Gujarat CID in connection with the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter, surrenders to the agency.
Sasaram (Bihar): Nine persons, including five policemen, were killed and as many were wounded as CPI-Maoist rebels carried out simultaneous attacks on a police station and an outpost in Bihar's Rohtas district and fled with arms and ammunition.
Monday Nahan (HP): At least 19 passengers, including eight women and one child, died and 25 injured when a private bus in which they were travelling rolled down into a 1,000-feet deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district.
Guwahati: The banned ULFA says it is ready for an "honourable, peaceful and political" solution of the decades-old insurgency problem in the northeastern state if the Centre showed "sincerity". Ahmedabad/Bhopal: Rains continue to wreak havoc in many parts of the country, including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, with 20 more deaths reported even as life in Mumbai returned to normal after days of chaos and destruction.
Tuesday New Delhi: The Supreme Court dismisses a petition seeking cancellation of nomination papers of UPA-left nominee Pratibha Patil for Presidential election, saying there was no sufficient document to substantiate allegations against her.
New Delhi: India and Pakistan set up three sub-groups to go into contentious issues like terrorism and extradition and deportation of wanted criminals sheltered in each other's territory.
Wednesday New Delhi: Taking forward their confidence-building measures, India and Pakistan agree to set free all fishermen in each other's custody by August 15, release prisoners who have completed their sentences and finalise a liberalised visa agreement soon.
New Delhi: With involvement of two of its nationals being suspected in the failed terror plot in the UK, India says it would extend any assistance if asked for by investigators but cautioned against reaching any conclusion if anyone was merely detained or questioned.
Thursday New Delhi: In a bid to take advantage of the emerging nuclear fusion technology to meet India's enormous energy needs, government decides to spend an estimated Rs 2,500 crore to participate in the prestigious International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.
New Delhi: The election for the post of Vice President will be held on August 10 to elect a successor to incumbent Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
Srinagar: Nine militants were killed and five securitymen injured after an infiltration bid foiled in Jammu and Kashmir, where two teenaged boys lost their lives in an explosion and a Hizbul Mujahideen militant arrested.
Friday Jaipur: In a tragic culmination of a 50-hour ordeal, a six-year-old boy, who fell into a borewell while playing at a village 35 kms from here, was pulled out but found dead.
Bangalore: The family of Sabeel Ahmed, one of the Indians detained in connection with the failed terror plot in Britain, was questioned by police here for the second consecutive day.
New Delhi: Government put the figure of people suffering from HIV/AIDS in the country at 2.5 million, a drastic reduction of around 50 per cent from last year.
New Delhi: Allowing the extradition of Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, accused of raping and murdering British teenager Hannah Foster, the Delhi High Court modifies the order passed by a local magistrate, saying it can only be held that there is prima facie evidence against him. PTI
Newsletter Meghalaya: returning to normalcy after Khasi stir
Shillong, Jul 6 (PTI) With the release of the jailed Khasi Student Union leaders, Meghalaya is now slowly limping back to normalcy after last month's agitations of the student bodies, NGOs and other social organisations.
Normal life in the state, particularly in the east, west and Ri Bhoi districts were affected due to a series of Khasi Students' Union agitational programmes of office picketing, bandhs and night road blockades to protest the proposed mining by the Uranium Coporation of India Ltd (UCIL) in Kylleng Pyndeng Sohiong at Mawthabah area in West Khasi hills district.
Bowing to the demands of women demonstrators, who had taken up the issue of the arrest of 17 KSU activists, five KSU members, belonging to the East Khasi hills district who were arrested under the MPDA were formally released on Thursday and two other KSU members belonging to the west Khasi are expected to be released very soon.
Fourteen other KSU members who were arrested in connection with last month's ban have been released on bail.
Around 150 women demonstrators were held for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC while trying to force their way into the state secretariat to press for the release of Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activists.
Deposits of uranium were discovered in various parts of Meghalaya way back in 1984. The atomic mineral division of the department of atomic energy conducted excavation and assessed the uranium deposits in Domiasiat and Mawthabah in West Khasi hills and in Dawki area near the Indo-Bangladesh border. PTI
Book: Passion Quotient-makes all the difference
New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) Ever wanted to know about your passion quotient (PQ)? Well if not, go for it as even as 20 per cent increase in PQ can act like virtual energy and work wonders for corporates, students and professionals alike, says a new book.
"IQ or intelligence quotient comes more like a hard wired DNA bonanza which you cannot really improve upon, whereas you can raise your PQ threshold and become more creative by making some conscious efforts," author Virender Kapoor writes in "The Greatest Secret of Success: Your Passion Quotient".
He says people with high IQ but low passion and drive have rarely made it to the top. "The fire in the belly ie., passion contributed more to Albert Einstein's success than his high IQ." Human emotions cannot be measured accurately. PQ cannot be assigned a number or figure as in the case of IQ. "But PQ is notional, indicative and representative in nature." Kapoor also relates passion with creativity. "In fact passion generates creativity and creativity needs passion. Passion can fire up that creative genius which all of us to some degree possess." Passion becomes the propelling force for professionals, entrepreneurs, musicians, actors, lawyers, pilots, writers, scientists, fashion designers and almost every conceivable human profession.
It gets linked directly to the inner motivation which is a guiding spirit for self-motivated successful people. It is also the most important ingredient for leadership.
(About the Book: "The Greatest Secret of Success: Your Passion Quotient"; Author: Virender Kapoor; Publishers: Macmillan India Ltd; Price: Rs 285; Pages: 258). PTI
The nutty industry takes another leap
Snehesh Alex Philip
New Delhi, Jul 04, (PTI) With fitness freaks stressing on fat-free healthy diet, dry fruits like cashews, almonds are in for stiff competition from the new variants popularly known as the 'healthy nuts' or 'healthy dry fruits'.
"Researchers and nutritionists across the world have proved that it is wrong to stay away from nuts because of the presumed fat and cholesterol. No, doubt, nuts indeed give you fat but then hazelnuts gives you good fat," says V N Dalmia of Dalmia Continental Private Ltd (DCPL) which is all set to market Leonardo Hazelnuts in India promoting it as a 'healthy nut'.
Exports and importers dealing with dry fruits agree that new varieties of 'healthy nuts' are giving a strong competition to what was traditionally dry fruits in India namely, cashews, almonds and raisins.
"The lifestyle trend is such that everyone wants to go in for healthy variants so why should dry fruits be any different. Now, we see that slowly traditional dry fruits like cashews are taking a backseat while new exotic dry fruits and nuts like macadamia from Australia and mulberries among other like dry cherries, dried plums and prunes gaining higher demand," says Sanjiv Obhrai, Director, Chocolatiers the Chocolate Boutique in the capital.
"The market is growing for such dry fruits," he adds. Even DCPL, which recently launched packed hazelnuts in the market is very bullish with market expectations.
"We expect sales of 60 tonnes which amounts to roughly Rs 3 crores in the first year and are looking at a compounded annual growth rate of 75 per cent per annum for the next five years," DCPL added. PTI
Pressure on Zoramthanga government mounting
H C Vanlalruata
Aizawl, Jul 04 (PTI) With the election to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly only a year away, pressure had mounted against the Mizo National Front (MNF) government led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga from many fronts.
Opposition parties are launching scathing attacks against the state government by repeatedly urging the centre to impose president's rule and end the 'misrule' of Zoramthanga regime.
The three opposition combine - the Congress, the Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) and the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) are crying for the blood of the MNF government alleging nexus with insurgent groups, failure of law and order and rampant corruption.
Allegations of the government nexus with Chakma and Hmar insurgent groups had been thrown thick and fast inside the state legislature and outside while processions were taken out and bandhs imposed by the opposition combine.
The plethora of allegations leveled against the state government prompted state Home Minister Tawnluia to propose constitution of a House Inquiry Committee which was implemented by the Assembly Speaker Lalchamliana.
Saikapthianga of the Mizoram Congress Party (MCP) a breakaway group of the state PCC and junior partner of the ruling MNF was appointed as chairman of the seven-member Inquiry Committee.
Opposition parties, however, were not happy with the Speaker's decision and demanded that the Inquiry Committee should be headed by an opposition member, preferably former Chief Minister and Congress legislature party leader Lal Thanhawla. PTI
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