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UPA-Left Commt to discuss implications of Hyde Act
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) The UPA-Left Committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal today decided to discuss the implications of the Hyde Act on the 123 agreement and on self-reliance in India's nuclear sector.
The first meeting of the committee, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, decided to frame the broad issues to be taken up for discussion later.
Besides the implications of the Hyde Act, the 15-member panel also decided to discuss the implications of the deal on foreign policy and security cooperation, Mukherjee told reporters after a meeting.
The next meeting of the committee would be held on September 19, he said.
Apart from Mukherjee, the meeting was attended by leaders of the four Left parties -- Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury (both CPI-M), A B Bardhan, D Raja (both CPI), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc) and T J Chandrachoodan (RSP).
Mukherjee's cabinet colleagues representing the Congress-led coalition -- A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Saifuddin Soz, Prithviraj Chavan, Lalu Prasad of RJD, T R Baalu of DMK and NCP chief Sharad Pawar -- were also present. PTI
Govt cannot continue to subsidise commercial use of water:PM
New Delhi, Sept 11 (PTI) Highlighting drawbacks in providing free power to farmers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said government cannot continue to subsidise the economic and commercial use of water.
"Providing free power to farmers has encouraged excessive use of pump sets and excessive drawing of ground water. If there is economic pricing of power, there would be some incentive for conserving ground water," he said inaugurating the National Congress on Ground Water here.
Water conservation and management could be better served through appropriate incentives and penalties, Singh said adding "we cannot continue to subsidise the economic and commercial use of water." "There are related policies that must be corrected to ensure water conservation, especially ground water," he told a gathering which included Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, water experts and planners.
Observing that human kind has not done enough to replenish, conserve and safeguard the sources of water supply, he said "on the contrary, given the threat of climate change and global warming, we face the real prospect of reduced supply of water." "This threat is of particular concern to us in India since we have, since times immemorial, depended on glaciers for our water supply in this part of our sub-continent," he said.
Soz said over-exploitation and contamination of ground water in some areas has led to apprehension about its sustainability. PTI
Congress leaders devise strategy for UPA-Left meeting
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Ahead of the first meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Congress members of the panel today held discussions to decide their strategy for the crucial talks.
The meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was attended by party leaders and Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Saifuddin Soz.
"The strategy is being worked out. Talks are on," said a Minister emerging from the meeting.
The meeting of the Congress leaders has come at a time when the Left parties have toughened their stance on the nuclear deal, saying nobody can convince them that the Hyde Act will have "no role or effect" on the bilateral agreement.
The Government has, meanwhile, indicated that it might go ahead with the Indo-US deal, but would take into account the Left parties' concerns before operationalising it.
"Nobody said we are stopping the deal," Sibal, who is the designated spokesman of the Government to articulate its stand on the deal, had said in Kolkata late last week.
He, however, said, "We will take into account the concerns of Left parties before operationalising it" and added "there is no area to renegotiate it". PTI
BJP seeks apology from Vaghela for remarks on farmers
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) The BJP today demanded an apology from union textiles minister Shankersinh Vaghela for his remarks that debt-ridden farmers of Vidharbha region of Maharashtra were lazy.
BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar also flayed Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for his comments that farmers, who were committing suicide because of heavy debts, should rather face challenges.
"We want unconditional apology from Vaghela and Deshmukh for their anti-farmer comments. To say that they are lazy is like adding insult to injury. They have no right to humiliate the farmers of Maharashtra who are buried in debts because of the failed agricultural policy there," he added.
On Sunday, Vaghela said in the Akola district of the state that unlike Gujarat farmers, farmers in Vidarbha were lazy.
"In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, farmers suffer because of no proper irrigation. That's not the case in Gujarat," Javadekar said. PTI
18 killed in Pak suicide blast
K J M Varma
Islamabad, Sept 11 (PTI) At least 18 people, including two police men and a soldier, were killed and several others injured today when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mini-bus as police tried to search him for explosives in a northwest Pakistani town.
The incident occurred in Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province when security personnel tried to search the bomber who was acting suspiciously, area Superintendent of Police Khaled Mohammed told TV channels.
He said the bomber had alighted from a bus, which came to the town from Tank - a city in the troubled South Waziristan tribal agency near Afghan border, and ran towards another passenger coach to escape the approaching security personnel who wanted to search him.
Police also entered the mini-bus following which the bomber exploded, causing casualties among security personnel and passengers, he said.
Area police chief Haji Habib-ur-Rehman said two police men and a paramilitary soldier were among the 18 people killed in the blast while 15 others injured.
He said the bomber, a teenager, wanted to carry out a suicide attack somewhere else. PTI
Lankan navy destroys three suspected LTTE ships, 45 killed
Colombo, Sept 11 (PTI) Sri Lanka's navy today claimed its biggest success against the LTTE saying it had virtually wiped out the group's ability to smuggle arms into the country after sinking three gun-running vessels and killing up to 45 rebels.
Navy Chief Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda said he believed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were bringing three light aircraft, artillery and a bullet proof vehicle in the ships sunk some 600 kilomtres off the island's south-eastern coast.
"This is the biggest success for the navy so far," Karannagoda said, adding the rebels' smuggling operations will be severely affected as they are left with just one ship.
The navy has so far destroyed a total of nine Tiger ships, he said.
The navy chief estimated the number of rebels killed at up to 45 and said the navy did not suffer any casualties or damage to their crafts despite the Tigers retaliating with mortar bombs.
The rebel vessels were marked "Mayoshi", "Seishin", and "Koshi". However, officials believe they were fictitious names.
The Tigers were not immediately available for comment.
In a similar incident in March, the navy sank two cargo ships believed to be smuggling weapons and explosives for the LTTE.
Another rebel vessel was sunk on February 28. PTI
Pak says Sharif chose to leave, party says preferred to be arrested
London/Islamabad, Sept 11 (PTI) Pakistan government and Nawaz Sharif's party clashed today over the circumstances behind his deportation with a Minister claiming he chose to leave to avoid prosecution while a party leader said the former premier had in fact "offered his wrists".
Pakistan's deputy information minister Tariq Azim said Sharif chose to go back into exile to avoid being detained and standing trial. Sharif was flown to Saudi Arabia amid high drama within hours after he landed in Islamabad yesterday from a seven-year exile.
Giving a new twist to Sharif drama, Azim in an interview to BBC denied that Sharif had been deported, saying he chose to leave Pakistan to avoid prosecution on corruption charges.
"It was a choice given to him that either he goes to a detention centre and be detained and tried, or he goes and completes his 10-year (exile) agreement that he has signed with the Saudi government," Azim said.
"We have not deported him," Azim said. "He has been returned to Saudi Arabia to stand out the rest of the three years that he had agreed to spend outside." Azim also said the government did not block Sharif from entering the country. "No hindrance or obstacle was placed upon his entry into Pakistan. He came here and he was given every assistance," Azim said.
He said the government has obeyed the Supreme Court ruling in this regard.
In Islamabad, Azim's claims were countered by Sadiq ul-Farooq of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party calling them a "baseless concoction" and that he had volunteered to be arrested by police at Islamabad airport after he was served a warrant.
"He offered his wrists to them," ul-Farooq said. PTI
Deportation of Sharif "internal affair" of Pak: China
Beijing, Sept 11 (PTI) Describing the deportation of former Premier Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan's "internal affair", China today hoped the neighbouring country would maintain social stability and economic development.
"This is the internal affair of Pakistan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, said when asked to comment on the volatile political situation in Pakistan following Sharif's return and subsequent deportation to Saudi Arabia yesterday.
"We believe that Pakistani government can continue to maintain social stability and economic development," she said in a brief response at a regular biweekly news briefing.
He remarks came as the US, in its reaction, yesterday said the deportation of Sharif was contrary to the ruling by Pakistan's Supreme Court, which had allowed him to return home after a seven-year exile, but insisted it was for Islamabad to resolve its internal matter. PTI
Sensex ends with losses led by IT sector
Mumbai, Sept 11 (PTI) The benchmark Sensex failed to hold on its early gains and lost over 54 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on selling by funds in blue-chip stocks led by software exporters following weakening dollar.
The Sensex, which opened with a gain of nearly 102 points, fell back to close with a loss of 54.06 points at 15,542.77 as most of the technology stocks declined after the rupee rose to its strongest in a month, cutting the local value of dollar-denominated earnings.
The key index touched the day's high of 15,698.98 and a low of 15,506.10 points, showing a wide swing of 192.88 points.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty ended with a loss of 10.80 points at 4,497.05, after touching a high of 4538.60 and a low of 4,487.15.
While the IT sector index suffered the most by losing 100.33 points at 4,470.56, the metal sector index stayed away from any major loss and rose by 166.17 points at 11,691.44.
Bank index fell by 62.30 points at 8,038.07, teck index by 50.98 points at 3554.38, auto index by 33.24 points at 4867.13 and healthcare index by 16.99 points at 3703.82.
However, capital good index, PSU index and FMCG index remained in positive zone and extended support to the market. PTI
SC allows Reliance Energy to bid for Mumbai Trans Harbour Proj
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court today allowed Anil-Ambani controlled Reliance Energy Ltd to bid for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Project.
A bench headed by Justice S H Kapadia, while setting aside the High Court order, directed Reliance Energy to submit its financial bid for the project within three months. PTI
Rupee touches 5-week high of 40.55/56 vs US dollar
Mumbai, Sep 11 (PTI) Rupee today appreciated against the US dollar and touched a five-week high of 40.55/56 in morning trade on sustained FII inflows buoyed by positive trend in the Asian equity markets.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the local currency resumed firm at 40.61/62 a dollar from yesterday's close of 40.67/68 a dollar and later jumped to nearly five-week high of 40.55/56 a dollar in late morning deals.
Firm equity markets and weak dollar overseas are the main factors for the rupee surge, forex dealers said.
Gradually picking up inflows after a FII pull-out during August and expectations of increased portfolio inflows into equity markets also aided the rupee sentiment, they added.
There was stray demand from oil refiners despite rising global oil prices, which virtually touched the previous record high. Global crude prices were quoted near USD 78 a barrel in Asian trade.
The domestic BSE benchmark, Sensex, today jumped 93.01 points to touch 15,698.84 points. PTI
Blue Dart to invest Rs 1,000 cr on expansion in 5-8 years
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Integrated express courier and package distribution firm Blue Dart Express Ltd today said it plans to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in the next five to eight years to expand its infrastructure and ground services.
"The company would invest Rs 1,000 crore over the next five to eight years to expand its aircraft fleet, add material handling equipment and ramp up ground handling facilities" Blue Dart Managing Director Anil Khanna told reporters here.
Blue Dart also launched a new ground express service 'Surfaceline', which would expand its coverage to 17,500 locations from 14,600 locations at present.
"The company has a market share of 5.8 per cent in the ground segment but aims to take it to 20 per cent in the next five to eight years to achieve market leadership in the express industry," Khanna said.
The company's expansion plan would be funded through internal accruals, he added.
"The Tier-I and Tier-II cities offer increasing opportunities for Blue Dart's surfaceline. The growth of organised retail in the country, emergence of SEZs, IT parks also provide prospects for our new service," he said.
The company also plans to open 58 new warehouses across the country by 2010.
"The company has already invested Rs 22 crore in infrastructure building this year," Blue Dart Senior Vice President Tulsi Mirchandaney said.
Blue Dart is a part of the DHL group and currently has a 41.7 per cent market share in domestic air express segment. PTI
Competition Commission seeks four-fold increase in staff
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) A day after Parliament approved a bill to strengthen the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the panel today said it has asked the government to expand its staff by at least four times to make it fully operational.
"We have already submitted an IIM-Bangalore study to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and want the government to immediately sanction additional post of 60 officers to gear up the Commission to discharge greater responsibilities in the days ahead," CCI member Vinod Dhall told PTI.
The CCI's demand for more staff assumes importance in view of the government decision to fully operationalise the Commission by mid-2008 following approval of Competition (Amendment) Bill 2007 by Parliament yesterday.
The Commission, which is only partly functional since its constitution in 2003, has only 14 officers and one member.
The IIM-Bangalore study on the future structure of the Commission, conducted earlier in the year, has recommended that CCI's staff strength be increased to 480 over a period of five years, he said.
The CCI also wants the government to constitute a selection committee comprising Chief Justice of India or his nominee, one representative each from ministries of corporate affairs and law and two experts from the field of finance, accountancy and law to select chairman and members of the panel.
"We also want the government to notify the amendments and frame rules as early as possible," Dhall said, adding that the Bill will have to be approved by the President before entering the statute books. PTI
Allah ne chaha to wapas aunga: Kaif
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Sweating it out in practice sessions, seeking tips from seniors, finetuning technique -- Mohammad Kaif has tried everything and is now banking on divine intervention for a comeback into the Indian cricket team.
"Allah ne chaha to wapas aunga (God willing I will comeback)," Kaif told reporters at the Ferozeshah Kotla here today.
Kaif leads India 'A' in a four-day match against South Africa 'A' starting here on Thursday and the cheeky Uttar Pradesh cricketer said though comeback remains on the back of his mind, he is not putting himself under any pressure.
"I have not set any goal or time-frame for a return. I'm just trying to relax and enjoy my game. Yes, a comeback is always there in my mind but you know there is a process for that. God willing, I'll be back to national team again," said Kaif, who played his last ODI against South Africa in November 2006.
Since then, Kaif has been working on his technique and doing everything else to ensure he returns a better cricketer.
"The last 7-8 months allowed me to work on these areas. I sought technical help from a few people, including my father who also played this game at the Ranji level. Hope things would soon fall in place." Asked if he had spoken to some of his former teammates, Kaif said, "I'm not going to reveal the names." PTI
Tania beats Huang Qian, jumps to sole lead
Tehran (Iran), Sep 11 (PTI) Grandmaster norm holder Tania Sachdev downed second seed Huang Qian of China to emerge as sole leader after the end of eighth and penultimate round of Asian Women chess championship here.
Tania took her tally to six points out of a possible eight and was also aided by some favourable results on other boards to be on the top.
The Delhi-based almost assured her of figuring amongst medal and a berth in the next World Women's cup after her fine triumph.
In other important games of the day, top seeded Lufei Ruan of China was held to a draw by Le Thanh Tu of Vietnam. Both Ruan and Thanh are now joint second in the premier Women event of Asia along with another Vietnamese Nguyen This Thanh An on 5.5 points.
It was a fine effort by Tania with her last white in the event that saw Huang falling hook line and sinker. Playing the queen pawn opening, Tania faced the Grunfeld defense and exerted pressure along the center even as Huang equalised in the middle game.
Putting continuous pressure Tania made her opponent crumble as Huang blundered a piece and the rest was child's play.
"I don't think I was too much better but her blunder came as a welcome relief for me," Tania said after the game.
The last round has some interesting pairings as Tania will be up against Chinese Ju Wenjun looking for her maiden title here. Chinese Lufei Ruan will face Atousa Pourkashiyan while it will be a all Vietnamese clash between Nguyen and Thanh Tu. PTI
Subroto Cup football tourney kicks off on Friday
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Over 66 school teams, including six from overseas, would vie for honours at the Subroto Cup football tournament, starting here on Friday.
United Arab Emirates would participate for the first time in the tournament, which will also feature teams from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Malaysia.
"We are working closely with All India Football Federation to get a school team from Brazil to play against the champion team in exhibition match," said J N Burma, Air Marshal and air officer-in-charge administration.
The tournaments would be played in two categories, junior (Under-17) and sub-junior (Under-14) level.
Prize money has also been doubled for this year's tournament.
"The champion team and runners-up in the junior category would get Rs one lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively and teams under sub-junior category would get Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively," Burma said.
"A selection committee will select around 30 outstanding players from both the categories and scholarships of Rs 10,000 and 5,000 will be awarded to them," he added. PTI
Hotels hiring foreign chefs to attract discerning clientele
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) How Chinese is the 'Chinese' cuisine? Many may have often wondered over the genuineness of 'foreign food' dishes that are on offer in restaurants.
To bring about a sense of culinary veracity to their menus, restaurateurs are hiring chefs from the country of origin of the food to titillate taste buds.
"Foreign chefs are finding India a hot destination for their profession as Indian hotel industry is at boom. Occupancy levels at most hotels today average at around 80-85 per cent through the year, thanks to the host of conferences and trade shows beings hosted in the country. And the future only looks brighter," says Rajesh Mishra, Chairman, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI).
"Indian chefs are incomparable but hiring a foreign chef adds glamour to the restaurant in attracting guests. In fact, many of Indian chefs are doing a great job in US and Europe and are in great demand overseas. Still, hiring authentic chefs, usually from the land from where the food originates, helps in the certification of food," he adds.
Shobha Mishra, Deputy director, FICCI, says the globalosation and easy visa rules have helped the Indian hospitality industry to add diversity in the chef profession.
She adds that it is worth noticing the demand of the Indian chefs is increasing by the day and the number of foreign chef in the country is still very small.
"They are more skillfull and efficient professionally and add more authenticity to the dish. In spite of the language and cultural barrier they understand the psyche of the customer better and if you are a connoisseur of good food and want to eat Chinese or Italian food the way Chinese or Italian do, a authentic chef is a must," says Ajit Sharma, Senior General Manger, Jaypee Siddharth. PTI
Indian handlooms, making inroads in world markets
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Indian handlooms are going global in a big way and have found support in the designer community, with ace labels like Manish Arora, Rohit Bal and Rajesh Pratap Singh figuring among 14 designers from the country, who are set to showcase their clothes and accessories, at the upcoming London Fashion Week beginning September 15.
The initiative is spearheaded by the UK based Conran Shop, which has picked up the 14 designers, including five who specialize in textiles, to travel to Conran Shops in London, Paris, New York and Tokyo.
"Handlooms represent not just an industry but the cultural heritage of India. It needs to chart out a road map for itself. Designers can play a major role in promoting handlooms. However, so far we have not been able to utilize our own resources to cope up with the changing lifestyles and aspirations. The handloom industry and the fashion designers should work in coordination to initiate yet another 'swadeshi' movement," Rathi Vinay Jha said at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week held in the capital recently.
Sunil Sethi, CEO Alliance Merchandising company says, "I see a lot of new designers following the trend of handlooms. Major international stores like UK -based Crate and Barrel, the Habitat all brand leaders abroad -are selling stuff by our designers.
"I have done atleast Rs 1,000 crore export in handlooms. This only goes on to prove that if we design our product right then the handloom industry has tremendous scope," he says. PTI
Rumours of my affair with Raj Kapoor were his creation: Vyjantimala
New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) Gossip about her alleged romance with Raj Kapoor made her quite unhappy as, while the showman enjoyed the subsequent publicity, the media never sought her opinion, says the yesteryears actress Vyjantimala Bali.
"...During and after the release of Sangam, the fact of the matter was that RK was far too enamoured of getting publicity and grab the headlines. And the included the rumours that I was romantically involved with him.
"It was all the manipulative doing of RK banner's PR Drive and unnecessarily this nonsense spread like a wild fire...," she shares in her autobiography, 'Bonding...A Memoir'.
"No body from the media bothered to seek my point of view. This was absolutely baseless and made me angry," she writes.
"It hurt him and me in equal measures as like others even his family thought it to be true. But as far as my clean image and reputation was concerned, it remained untouched." Recalling another such instance she says, as far as publicity of a film was concerned RK was "very self centred". "He would go out of the way to hype it to the hilt, which was good for the film but not for me. The RK bandwagon even went to the extent of saying that I was somehow related to the Maharaja of Mysore. What nonsense!" Talking of RK's reputation of being a lady's man was an outcome his publicity stunt only. "I had observed during those four years of the making Sangam that RK was not obsessed about women, like he was made out to be. PTI
Orissa will pave way for industrial revolution: Minister
Bhubneswar, Sep 9 (PTI) Orissa will soon come out with a SEZ policy keeping the social and business interests in mind.
"SEZ is a very complex word involving lot of issues. Nevertheless one just cannot ignore the benefits of having SEZs in the state. At the same time, there are some issues to be sorted out. The earlier SEZ policy of the centre had many shortcomings and hence we would come out with a policy which would be acceptable to all," Biswabhusan Harichandan, Minister, Industries told a group of visiting journalists.
With incidents of Singur and Nadigram in West Bengal along with Kalingnagar in Orissa where there were large scale of protests by landowners whose lands were being taken for various industrial projects bringing the government's rehabilitation policy into question, the minister added that steps are being taken so that no such incidents take place in future.
"The incidents had reached such a grave stage because of the handiwork of certain political parties. Taking genuine grievances into account, we have also brought out a special rehabilitation package," the minister added.
Senior officials looking after the rehabilitation process added that dialogues were undertaken with local people and hence every major son within a family would be treated as a separate family and unmarried women above the age of 30 would also be regarded so. They added one member from each family would be given jobs at the factory for which their land have been taken after giving appropriate monetary compensation for land. PTI
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1 U.S. $ = 40.545 INR
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1 Euro = 55.999 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 11.139 INR
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