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Left concerns to be looked into: no renegotiation of n-deal : Sibal
Kolkata, Sept 6 (PTI) The UPA government today said it will take into account the concerns of the Left parties before operationalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal but there was no area to renegotiate it.
Asked whether the Centre was going ahead with the deal, Sibal, Union Science and Technology minister told newsmen here, "nobody said we are stopping the deal.
"We will take into account the concerns of the Left parties before operationalising it but there is no area to renegotiate it," he said.
"The Left should not stop us. They should sit across the table and understand that we don't want the Left to be left out. They should be right in," Sibal, who is a member of the key committee on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal said.
"When the whole world is moving forward, why is the Left pulling India back?" he said. PTI
Consequences to follow if Left concerns ignored: Bardhan
Visakhapatnam, Sep 8 (PTI) Sending out a strong message to the UPA, the CPI today said "consequences will follow" if the government ignores the Left parties' concerns that may be expressed in the UPA-Left committee set up to resolve the differences over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"If they accept, well and good. If they don't, consequences will follow," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said in reply to a query at a 'meet the press' organised here ahead of the Left rally in protest against the multi-nation naval exercises being held off the coast of this port city.
"What will happen if the government does not take it (committee) seriously and does not listen, is a matter we will discuss among the Left parties later on," he said.
"We have been successfully making the government realise that our objections have to be discussed. They cannot be brushed aside. You cannot bulldoze. You will have to pause. You will have to consider our objections. That's why that committee was set up," Bardhan said.
Asked how long the Left will continue to support the government, he said, "We will think of it".
Replying to a query whether a mid-term poll can be expected, the CPI leader said, "much of that whether there will be a mid-term poll or not depends on the party which is running the government." PTI
Beleaguered Dungarpur attends BCCI meeting as special invitee
Mumbai, Sep 8 (PTI) Raj Singh Dungarpur today attended a meeting of the office bearers of the Cricket Board as a special invitee and the BCCI's former President but not as the Cricket Club of India representative.
Others who attended the meeting, chaired by BCCI President Sharad Pawar, as special invitees were Arun Jaitley, I S Bindra, Farooq Abdullah and Prasun Mukherjee.
BCCI Vice presidents Chirayu Amin, Shashank Manohar, Lalit Modi and Dayanand Narvekar, Joint Secretary M P Pandove and treasurer N Srinivasan were also present at the meeting.
A media relase issued on behalf of Dungarpur, facing allegations of irregularities committed by him during his 14-year reign as President of CCI, claimed that the BCCI had ignored CCI's communication barring its ex-chief from attending BCCI's meetings.
The BCCI "completely ignored the communication of CCI dated 29th August, 2007 barring Mr Raj Singh Dungarpur from attending the BCCI meeting" and invited the former BCCI chief as a special invitee to the meeting of the Board today, the release issued on behalf of Dungarpur said.
"BCCI did not invite Mr I M Kadri, the President, CCI, or any representative of the CCI to its meeting today totally disregarding the communicaton of CCI," it said.
Clarifying things BCCI's CEO Ratnakar Shetty told PTI "Mr Dungarpur was invited to attend the meeting of the office bearers today as one of its former presidents and not as the representative of the CCI." PTI
Indian cadets claim two gold, a silver in World Championship
New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Indian pugilists put up their best ever performance at the World Cadet Boxing Championships, clinching two gold and a silver medal in the sixth edition of the event at Baku, Azerbaijan today.
Vikas Yadav (48kg) and Vipin Kumar (50kg) bagged the gold, while Umesh Yadav (46kg) settled for the silver as India ended its brilliant campaign at the Baku Sports Hall this afternoon.
Umesh started the proceedings today but faltered at the final hurdle where he was outscored by local favourite Elvin Isayev. The Indian trailed 6-21 before referee stopped the contest in the second round.
However, Vikas and Vipin soon brought back the cheers by claiming the top honours in their respective categories.
In 48kg finals, Vikas, won a closely contested bout against Romanian Ciprian Apodaresei to clinch the gold.
The former sub-junior national champion opened a 9-2 lead in the first round before Apodaresei fought back to narrow it to 12-9 in the second round.
The decider, however, belonged to Vikas as he came through 20-14 after four out of the five judges ruled in favour of the Indian. PTI
India elects to bat, Flintoff fit for NatWest Series final
London, Sep 8 (PTI) Indian skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat in the NatWest Series one-day cricket final against England, who are boosted with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff being declared fit to play at the Lord's here today.
Flinotff passed a late fitness test to be declared fit to play in the final.
The 29-year-old Flintoff will replace Alastair Cook while Luke Wright will retain his place in the team.
India have made only one change to their team, which won (rpt) the series levelling sixth ODI at the Oval, by replacing paceman Ajit Agarkar with Rudra Pratap Singh.
Teams: England: Paul Collingwood (capt), Matt Prior, Luke Wright, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh. PTI
SAIL-Posco forms joint working group to shape alliance
Kolkata, Sep 8 (PTI) Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Korean steelmaker Posco have formed a joint working group with four officials each to give final shape to their alliance.
The alliance, first of its kind in the domestic steel industry, was signed between the two steel majors in August.
The South Korean company is building a 12 million tonne steel plant in Orissa at a cost of Rs 52,000 crore.
SAIL Chairman S K Roongta said today the alliance would involve exchange of resources along with joint marketing, warehouses and service centres in India and overseas.
Through the alliance Posco would get a strong marketing network in India, while SAIL could benefit from the South Korean firm's global presence.
There would be exchange of engineers, technicians and other professionals. Subject to further discussions, both companies would also cooperate in joint R&D and other mutually-agreed projects.
Meanwhile, Roongta speaking about the ailing Kulti works in Burdwan district said that some engineering shops there were being considered for revival. He, however, did not clarify whether it was SAIL's decision not to reopen the entire Kulti plant.
Recently, the Centre had cleared a proposal by SAIL to invest Rs 8,871 crore in the re-opening of the facility. PTI
Gold touches seven month high on global cues, increased demand
New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Gold prices surged to seven months high level in the bullion market today on increased stockists buying ahead of festivals amid firming global trend and closed higher by Rs 90 at Rs 9,390 per ten gram.
Trading sentiment remained bullish on reports the precious metal in the US markets continued to rise to record levels on weakening dollar and rising crude oil.
Traders said strong fundamentals, including good physical demand, mainly pushed up gold prices in the US markets which further caused ripples in the Asian region, catapulting gold prices in domestic markets here to record levels.
December gold rose further by 5.10 to 709.70 dollar an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange at late night. Comex December silver also rose by 22.7 cents to 12.76 dollar.
Standard gold and ornaments maintained their upward march and touched a seven-month high by gaining another Rs 90 each at Rs 9,390 and Rs 9,240 per ten grams respectively. These levels were last seen on March 7. Sovereign followed suit and gained Rs 25 at Rs 7,750 per piece of eight gram.
A similar trend was extended in white metal as silver ready rose further by Rs 50 at Rs 17,250 a kilo while silver weekly-based delivery was up by Rs 30 at Rs 17,470 per kilo.
However, silver coins hovered around previous level of Rs 23,600 for buying and Rs 23,700 for selling of 100 coins. PTI
Domestic buyers contribute more to fashion business: FDCI
New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Despite the hullabaloo created by the International buyers at the fashion weeks, it's the domestic buyers who contribute more to the business of the designers.
"The foreign buyers are important but most of the designers' business comes from the burgeoning domestic market," Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) executive director Sumeet Nair told PTI.
Foreign buyers do place large orders with the designers but the continuity is lacking in them, merchandising agent Sunil Sethi said.
After the last winter edition, US - based buyer Anthropolgy placed orders with designer Rina Dhaka and Rana Gill worth Rs 50 lakh each.
"They would be selling the desinger collections through 100 stores abroad. Now can a domestic buyer sell through 100 stores at a single go? Thats why the foreign buyers are important, Sethi added.
So, how many foreign buyers have placed their orders with the designers this season? "Well, foreign buyers do take time to zero in on the designers, they sometimes take months to place orders," he said.
Foreign buyers are usually more interested in the Winter collection than the Spring Summer collection. However, nearly 10-15 foreign buyers were spotted in the venue on the first three days of the fashion extravaganza. PTI
US, Indonesia ask China and India to prod Myanmar
Sydney, Sep 8 (PTI) The United States and Indonesia today urged Asian economic giants China and India to use their influence on Myanmar, where military junta has been accused of rights violations.
US President George W Bush and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who met on the sidelines of the APEC summit here, admitted international pressure had so far failed to produce any change in Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters.
Myanmar is one of the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
US Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey confirmed that Bush had raised Myanmar issue with Yudhoyono.
Bush has called on all countries attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit "to deal with this pressing human rights problem", Jeffrey told newsmen.
"Likewise also the West, they admit that the sanctions and pressure approach do not work. So we are all frustrated," Wirajuda, who was present in the meeting between the two leaders, said.
During the talks, the Indonesian president told Bush that "it's important to work with China and India to help encourage Myanmar to change" since they are its two biggest neighbours.
"Bush agreed that we should talk with China and India," Wirajuda said. PTI
Crucial meet to seal republican agenda of Nepali Congress
Kathmandu, Sep 8 (PTI) The ruling Nepali Congress is set to hold a crucial convention this month to formally endorse its decision to withdraw its traditional support for the country's embattled monarchy and campaign for a republic in the November Constituent Assembly elections.
The Nepali Congress will officially stand for a federal republic in the coming constituent assembly polls if the convention ratifies the decision of the Central Working Committee to switch to the republican ideology.
Home Minister Krishna Sitoula has said that the struggle between the democratic forces and the monarchy has reached a final stage.
The party's senior leader Arjun Narsingh K.C. Has said the Central Working Committee has decided to switch to the republican ideology.
However, the idea has to be formally endorsed during the party's general convention slated for September 22-23 in Kathmandu, he said.
Urging the parties to declare a war against the institution of monarchy, Sitoula wanted them to convert the CA election into a single agenda poll to decide the fate of the king.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress and its break away faction Nepali Congress (Democratic) led by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba are holding a crucial round of talks today for an attempted unification of the two outfits.
The meeting will be crucial in forging unity between the two parties and the unification is likely to be announced on Sunday, Narsingh K.C. Said.
Political observers here believe that the unified Nepali Congress will help consolidate the democratization process in the Himalayan nation ahead of the polls.
The elections, planned for November, will vote for a body to rewrite the constitution and decide the fate of the unpopular king. PTI
Pak for cooperation in energy sector among SAARC nations
Islamabad, Sept 8 (PTI) Pakistan has called for intensifying cooperation in the energy sector among the eight nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Pakistan's Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon told SAARC Secretary General, Chenkyab Dorji, here that member countries should cooperate with each other in the energy sector for their mutual benefit.
Dorji praised Pakistan's efforts in this connection. PTI
Digest of domestic stories for the week Sept 1- Sept 7, 2007
Saturday
Allahabad: Curfew is clamped in six areas of the old city here and educational institutions ordered closed after a mob attacked a police station and damaged several vehicles over the alleged desecration of a holy book inside a place of worship.
New Delhi: Amidst the uneasy truce between the Government and the Left parties, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has strongly batted for the Indo-US nuclear deal saying it is in India's "long term interest" and that the nuclear defence programme has not been undermined in any way.
Sunday Sriharikota (AP): After initial hiccups that delayed the blast-off for two hours, India successfully launches its latest communication satellite, development that will boost the Direct-to-Home services and digital networking in the country.
Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri wins an assembly bypoll that gave ruling BJP majority on its own in the 70-member state assembly.
Monday New Delhi/Hyderabad: Bangladesh police detains Mohammed Sharifuddin, a key suspect, in connection with twin blasts and Mecca Masjid explosions in Hyderabad and two of his associates would be put to narco test which could provide key inputs about the masterminds of the three terror attacks.
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who is involved in a turf war with AIIMS Director P Venugopal, is directed by the Delhi High Court to put his signature on the certificates of medical graduates and others within 24 hours.
Tuesday New Delhi: A 15-member UPA-Left committee to go into the concerns raised by the government's outside allies on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee who will be its convenor.
Chennai/Kolkata: The Left parties ask the government not to go to the IAEA for follow-up talks on the Indo-US nuclear deal till a proposed committee comes out with its findings as they hit the streets to oppose a multi-nation naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal also involving American warships.
Kalpakkam (TN): India says it was the "duty" of the US to convince the Nuclear Suppliers Group under the civil nuclear deal to provide it with nuclear fuel and light water reactors and ensure "clean, unconditional exemptions" for trade in the atomic field with New Delhi.
Wednesday Hyderabad: A key suspect in the Hyderabad blasts Kaleem alias Rafeeq is understood to have revealed during narco analysis test that he had supplied mobile phone SIM cards to the operatives of terror outfits from Bangladesh.
New Delhi: Rejecting the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the Indo-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee says the government was ready for a discussion in Parliament.
Thursday Mumbai: A Mumbai businessman, who mowed down seven labourers in drunken driving here last year, was given an enhanced punishment of three-year jail term by the Bombay High Court which said he "doesn't deserve sympathy".
New Delhi: Government hits back at BJP and other parties demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the nuclear deal with the US telling them bluntly that the UPA was in power not because of their support but because of the Left backing. Friday Udaipur: At least 72 pilgrims are killed and over 130 injured when a truck carrying them fell into a gorge near Desuri Ki Naal village in Rajsamund district, about 150km from here.
Hyderabad: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Janardhan Reddy and his wife N Rajyalakshmi, a minister in the state, escape unhurt while three Congress workers are killed when Maoists triggered a landmine attack in Nellore district.
Jammu: Major irregularities are exposed in procurement of eggs for the Army's units in Jammu and Kashmir following which explanation has been sought from 52 Colonel-level officers. PTI
Toons in action
Soma Chakraborty
New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) Animation film market in India is growing, making inroads into the commercial arena as well. After 'Hanuman', 'Shiva' and 'Krishna', the latest on the Indian animated feature front is 'Icy n Spicy'.
"Animation films in India can be successful. Take the examples of 'Hanuman' and 'Shiva', they have done a good business," says Anil Goyal, producer and director of the film Icy n Spicy.
'Icy n Spicy' is the first 3D mainstream animation film in the country. According to NASSCOM, Indian animation industry is forecast to reach USD 869 million by 2010. The number of professionals employed by the Indian animation industry in 2006 is estimated at 16,500. This figure is forecast to exceed 26,000 by 2010.
Talking about the animation scenario in the country, Goyal says, "Animation is a universal language. But in India it is still a nascent industry. If big banners invest in animation films, it can emerge as one of the most successful money-spinning formula." The movie which is "for all age groups and especially for children", costs Rs 15 crore to make it. "This 15 crore budget is nothing if we compare it with that of Hollywood. There they invest about 100 crores in a single animated movie," he says.
Animation films may never equal live-action movies, but animation stories are getting into the genre of family entertainment in India.
Singer-actress Vasundhara Das, who rendered her voice in the movie 'Icy n Spicy' feels that animation industry in India is set to grow "with the production of more and more animated films". PTI
When Sanjay could only offer jail coupons to sisters on Rakhi
New Delhi, Sept 6 (PTI) Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, currently out on bail after having been sentenced for six years of RI had nothing but jail coupons to offer to his sisters when they visited him on Rakshabandhan in 1994, while he was in jail.
"I have nothing to give you both, but I have saved these coupons for you. This is all I have," Sanjay said. "He had saved those Rs 2 coupons for us and we still have them. It was an extremely emotional moment and it was the first time we saw Dad break down and cry," Congress MP and Sanjay's sister Priya Dutt recalls in a forthcoming book.
Jointly written by Priya, Namrata and some contribution by Sanjay also, the book, 'Mr and Mrs Dutt, Memories of our Parents' is scheduled to be released by Roli Books later this month.
Recalling the traumatic days after Sanjay's arrest in 1994 in connection with the 1993 bomb blasts, the book says while he was in prison, "We had some support at first, and then slowly people started drifting away. We were on our own till help came to us from an unlikely quarter. Balasaheb Thackeray made a public declaration saying he didn't believe any member of the Dutt family could be anti-national."
The sisters recall the days when on his return from Mauritius Sanjay was whisked away by the police from the airport and how a devastated Sunil Dutt ran from pillar to post worrying how the situation could be resolved. PTI
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