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BJP headquarters, Hindu Munnani office attacked in Chennai
Chennai, Sep 23 (PTI) The BJP headquarters and Hindu Munnani office in the city were attacked today by alleged DMK supporters protesting the reported 'fatwa' by former BJP MP Ramvilas Vedanti against DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
The houses of BJP's Tamil Nadu unit President H Raja and his father-in-law were also attacked allegedly by DMK men at Karaikudi in neighbouring Sivaganga District late last night.
Hundreds of alleged DMK workers today ransacked the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit headquarters in the city while staging a demonstration against Vedanti's reported 'fatwa' against Karunanidhi for his remarks against Lord Ram.
They pelted stones and damaged vehicles parked inside the office complex and broke the flag mast of the party after ransacking the office and breaking the window panes.
State general secretary of the party, Tamizhisai Sounderrajan, and some other workers were injured in the stone pelting. A policeman also sustained injuries in his leg.
The attack comes a day after senior DMK leader and state Electricity Minister N Veerasamy took strong exception to the reported 'fatwa' by Vedanti for beheading Karunanidhi and said he would hold black flag demonstration in front of BJP offices in the state if the remarks are not withdrawn.
Veerasamy had also asked the party volunteers to give a fitting answer to those who had fixed a price for their leader's life.
The issue gains more importance in the wake of the Vinayaka idol immersion procession in the city today. Hindu Munnani sources claimed that the "DMK supporters who attacked our office said they would not allow us to carry on with the immersion procession." PTI
Railway tracks blasted, station blown up in Jharkhand
Palamu (Jharkhand), Sept 23 (PTI) Railway tracks were blasted and a station blown up in Jharkhand during bandh called by CPI(Maoists) in three states today heavily damaging railway property and disrupting train services.
The Maoists blew up the Kajarat Nawadih railway station on Garwah Road-Sonenagar railway route under Mugalsarai in naxal-hit Palamu district last midnight, Railway sources here said.
The employees were evacuated before the Maoists exploded can-bombs damaging the station including the walls and roof, DIG (Palamu) Nandu Prasad said.
Several trains on the route were either cancelled or diverted in view of the bandh called to protest against the arrest of their top leader.
The ultra left activists blasted the rail track at Chengro on Dhanbad-Gaya section under East Central Railway last midnight, railway sources said.
The Divisional Railway Manager (Dhanbad) A K Gupta said the Maoists abducted the gateman on duty before blowing up the track but set him free half an hour later.
Train services on the route was badly disrupted following the incident.
However, normal services were restored on the up track from 6.30 am and on the down track from 10 am, sources said.
The Howrah-Indore Sipra Express had arrived at Parasnath station and was about to leave for its onward journey when the blast took place. The train was delayed.
A police and paramilitary forces have been deployed to keep the situation under control. PTI
Vedanti denies issuing fatwa against Karunanidhi
Ayodhya, Sept 23 (PTI) Senior VHP leader Ram Vilas Vedanti today denied having issued any 'fatwa' against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for the latter's comments on Lord Ram and claimed the media had "twisted" his remarks.
"I never said that anyone beheading Karunanidhi will be weighed in gold by the saints of Ayodhya...I had simply quoted the religious books and Bhagwat on the punishment prescribed for blasphemy," the former BJP MP told PTI here.
Vedanti had reportedly said on Friday that anyone beheading Karunanidhi would be weighed in gold by the saints of Ayodhya.
"The religious books and Gita say that a person indulging in blasphemy should be sentenced to death and his tongue should be cut off and I still stand by it," he said.
"The media twisted my remarks...I have been a member of the Lok Sabha and swear by the Indian Constitution...I can never say anything which is against the Constitution," Vedanti said.
He referred to the fatwa issued by former Uttar Pradesh minister Haji Yaqoob Qureshi against the Danish cartoonist who had caricatured Prophet Muhammad and said no hue and cry was made then.
"Why is now such hue and cry when there is a reaction in the Hindu society and the saints?" Vedanti questioned.
Terming Karunanidhi as a descendant of the demon king Ravana, Vedanti said "no one had the right to question the existence of Ram".
He also challenged Karunanidhi to a debate on his claims about Lord Ram. PTI
Pak greats back their team to land Twenty20 title
Karachi, Sep 23 (PTI) Pakistan's cricket greats are backing their team to win the Twenty20 World Cup title by beating arch rivals India in tomorrow's final in Johannesburg.
Be it Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, Rameez Raja, Rashid Latif or Aaqib Javed, they all believe Pakistan has the spirit and potential to beat India.
"This team has a lot of self belief and confidence and they have got into the habit of winning matches. In my book, they are favourites," Akram said.
He pointed out that Pakistan's biggest strength was that captain Shoaib Malik was leading from the front which had a positive effect on players.
Pakistan has never beaten India in four World Cup matches and was hammered the last time they met in 2003 at Centurion.
It also lost in the preliminary round in the ongoing tournament via a bowl out.
Akram himself featured in the three World Cup matches Pakistan lost to India in 1992, 99 and 2003.
"But now things have changed and this is a different side. Also Twenty cricket is different from normal cricket," the fast bowling great said.
Rameez noted that Pakistan had the perfect combination for Twenty20 cricket.
"But I think more than the skills, a Pakistan and India match has always been about which team keeps its nerves. Our players will have to remain calm and composed to beat India," the former captain said. PTI
ICL is too small to challenge BCCI: Shah
Rajkot, Sep 23 (PTI) The rebel Indian Cricket League was too small an entity to challenge the authority of BCCI, Board secretary Niranjan Shah said today.
"ICL is too small to challenge (BCCI), it is very small against the BCCI," Shah said.
He said the BCCI initiative to start the Indian Premier League would benefit young and upcoming cricketers.
"IPL is formed to benefit players. The league wants more and more young and talented players and it will obviously benefit the players," Shah said.
He also sought support from private enterprises and said they should come forward to help make the concept successful.
Shah expressed hope that Rajkot would host a Test match in the near future.
ICC match referee Alan Hurst had recently inspected Rajkot, Jaipur and Vishakhapatnam to find out if they could be upgarded from ODI centres to Test match venues. PTI
ICL postponed until mid-November: Kapil Dev
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) After the BCCI's multi-million dollar Twenty20 championship stole the thunder from the Indian Cricket League, "teething problems" have forced the rebel series to be postponed until mid-November.
ICL Executive Board chairman Kapil Dev said the tournament, originally scheduled for October, has been moved to November as cricketers would be free from international duty by that time.
"We all sat together and felt mid-November is the right date, because at that time international cricketers should also be free to play," Kapil told CNN-IBN in an interview.
"I can give you specifically -- November 17 is the target date but still let us wait till it is officially announced," he added.
The former skipper admitted that there were "teething problems" but denied that money had anything to do with the postponement.
"I think if there was no money they would not have started. I think business people know and I hope they have a deep pocket and I hope they are ready to spend and they are spending the way we are expecting," he said.
"...We have already made most of the chart, which we will come out with in a very short time. (The chart will have details about) where the tournament will be played. The camp is already in progress in Chennai and all the 50 young guys are attending the camp," he added. PTI
Hussey doubtful for India tour with hamstring injury
Melbourne, Sep 23 (PTI) After Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson, Mike Hussey became the third Australian to break down with a hamstring injury which makes him doubtful for the tour of India later this month.
Hussey picked up the injury during Australia's semifinal loss to India in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
In the previous two matches, it was Ponting and then Watson who picked up injuries. Ponting, however, has been given the green signal for the India tour even though the Australian captain is certain to miss the initial games of the seven-match series.
Watson, however, has been altogether ruled out of the series.
An Australian Associated Press (AAP) report quoted team physio Alex Kountouris as saying that even the duo of Brad Hodge and Brad Haddin came close to being rendered hamstrung.
"They're hanging by a thread," Kountouris said, adding Hodge would have been doubtful had Australia reached the final of the Twenty20 World Cup. PTI
Full-time coach to be appointed before Pak series: BCCI
Rajkot, Sep 23 (PTI) India will play under an interim coach in the ODI series against Australia and a full-time coach would take over before the home series against Pakistan, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said here today.
"We (BCCI) have received some applications for the job of coach which would be reviewed during the board's Working Committee meeting to be held at Bangalore on September 29," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI.
However, he did not disclose the name of any of the applicants.
Shah said full time coach would be available only before the Pakistan series and India will have to play against Australia with an interim coach.
Showering praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led the Indian team in the final of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup in South Africa, Shah dubbed him as the future captain of India.
"Dhoni is India's future captain in ODI and is likely to be in Test matches also. This decision, however, would be taken by the selection committee", he added.
Reacting on Rahul Dravid's decision to quit captaincy, Shah said there was no differences between Dravid and the selection committee.
"Dravid is an experienced player and he himself has taken the decision to quit the captaincy and BCCI respects his decision", he added. PTI
DMRC records 15 pc increase in operational profit in 2006-07
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has earned a profit of Rs 398.69 crore during 2006-07, an increase of 15 per cent over the previous year.
The Corporation, which began commercial operations in 2002-03, had profits of Rs 346.53 crore in 2005-06, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said here today.
In 2006-2007, the company generated a total revenue of Rs 542.78 crore from operations, real estate, consultancy and other incomes. After meeting all the expenditure (except interest and depreciation), an operating profit of Rs 398.69 crore was generated, Dayal said.
Noting that DMRC has one of the lowest fare structures in the world other than the Kolkata Metro, he said the company has extensively harnessed its resources other than operations to keep fares at a low level.
"These include lease rentals and property development," Dayal said.
Of the 135 Metros world wide, only four make an operating profit apart from Delhi -- Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Tokyo, he said.
DMRC has added 10 train sets this year and will procure another 15 next year to meet the requirements of the growing number of passengers, Dayal said. PTI
CIL to begin coal import shortly to meet domestic demand
Kolkata, Sept 23 (PTI) For the first time, Coal India Ltd (CIL) is contemplating import of coal to meet the production-demand gap for the domestic market.
A top CIL source told PTI that import of coal would be a reality in the near future for the first time by the coal behemoth and the Centre was backing the move for several reasons.
"Centre will allow CIL to import coal after it announces the new coal sale policy expected this week," he said.
The current total demand-supply gap of coal is between four and five per cent out of which half of which is coking coal.
"Our import would be around 10-15 million tonne. The total shortfall in supply is about 30-35 million tonne and coking coal is 20 million tonne," the CIL official said.
"The new coal sale policy will put additional responsibility on CIl to meet the demand. And, we can only put more coal up for sale than production by import in the short run as the coal production enhancement programme would take some time to bear fruit," the source said.
With the economy booming, demand for coal was rising sharply. CIL was facing problems in land acquisition for mining in places like Jharkhand and under these circumstances import was vital, CIL officials said.
CIL would focus on import of non-coking coal for power, sponge iron and the cement sector. Steel companies import coking coal on their own. PTI
Rupee rise to hurt gems, jewellery export: Assocham
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) An appreciating rupee is likely to impact India's export of gems and jewellery as the rising Indian currency would make these exports less competitive in key markets like the US, Hong Kong and UAE.
Export of gems and jewellery would be adversely affected if the rupee appreciation against the dollar is not arrested, Assocham said in a study on the 'Gems and Jewellery Pattern' in the country.
Sops announced by the government should be implemented to arrest a possible decline in gems and jewellery exports including those of cut and polished diamonds.
"It also needs to be ensured that exporters do not lose their edge in markets of US, Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, UAE, Singapore, Thailand and Switzerland," it said.
Of the 12 diamonds set in jewellery worldwide, 11 come from India.
Exports of jewellery from India, the world's largest producer, grew 24 per cent for April-August period of the current fiscal to 7.75 billion dollars. India's export of gems and jewellery rose three per cent to 17 billion dollar in 2006-07 from 16.6 billion dollar a year ago.
While rupee rise is hurting exports, the domestic market for gems and jewellery is witnessing healthy growth.
Changing lifestyles and rising income levels even in Tier II and III cities will lead to a surge in demand for jewellery, which is expected to reach 20 billion dollar by 2010 and 30 billion dollars in 2015. The sector also holds the potential to generate additional employment for three lakh people annually, Assocham said. PTI
Bharti Airtel gets DTH licence; to invest Rs 150 cr in Phase I
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) Bharti Airtel today said it has got licence to start Direct-To-Home services in the country and announced an investment of Rs 150 crore in the first phase to launch nation-wide operations, a move that would bring in much required competition in the DTH segment.
"We have received the licence and plan to launch pan-India services by the first quarter of next financial year," N Arjun, head of DTH operations, Bharti Airtel, told PTI.
Company officials said Bharti would be investing Rs 150 crore in the initial phase on infrastructure for which its has chosen Tendberg Television, a subsidiary of Sweedish telecom equipment major Ericsson.
Bharti Telemedia, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, handling DTH operations, will use a range of Tandberg Television's solutions including the iSIS 8000 IP head-end and MPEG-4 AVC standard definition encoders, Arjun said.
The system is one of the first and finest satellite DTH platforms in the world enabling increasing transponder capacity and potentially doubling the amount of available channels, he said.
The DTH services will be launched nationally across India and Bharti is setting up a state-of-the-art infrastructure near Gurgaon (Haryana) for the purpose of uplinking and broadcast.
By using the latest MPEG-4AVC video compression, and IP tenchnologies, Bharti can cost-effectively deliver more channels in less bandwidth, while still maintaining high quality pictures, officials said. PTI
Centre wants 500 small airports to come up: Patel
Kolkata, Sep 23 (PTI) The Centre wants at least 500 small airports to come up all over the country to facilitate growth of regional airlines, the future of domestic aviation industry, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.
"The government is promoting regional airlines. That is where the traffic is ... The US has 5,100 operational airports. Why can't we have at least 500?" Patel said after laying the foundation stone for developing infrastructure for an airport at the Behala Flying Club in south Kolkata.
Patel, however, did not specify by when the government expected to have all the 500 airports in place, but said the number of operational airports in the country have grown to 80 from 50 in 2004 when he became the Civil Aviation Minister.
The civil aviation sector was expected to generate 30 lakh jobs in the next 10 years, he said adding, within the next three to five years, the number of commercial aircraft in the country would go up to 1,000 from 350 now.
"This means that we will need more pilots. There are 1,000 pilots from abroad working in India now. We do not have enough pilots from India. It is good that a flying training institute has been set up here. We need similar institutions elsehwere as well," he said. PTI
China set to produce 8.5 million autos in 2007
Beijing, Sept 23 (PTI) China is expected to produce 8.5 million automobiles in 2007 and the booming auto industry's contribution to the GDP is also rising, a top economic planner has said.
By the end of 2006, output value of China's auto industry accounted for 3.7 per cent of China's gross domestic production (GDP), vice minister of National Development and Reform Commission, Zhang Guobao said.
Meanwhile, employment in auto and auto-related industries accounted for one-sixth of the nation's total workforce, he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
In 2006, China's auto output and sales increased by 22 per cent and 23 per cent to 4.5 million and 4.4 million units respectively.
China produced 5.75 million motor vehicles in the first eight months of this year, up 23.6 per cent over the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Official statistics show that China exported 294,000 autos in the first seven months this year, up 70.3 per cent from the corresponding period last year. Auto exports may exceed 500,000 units for the whole year.
China's auto industry has developed vigorously to withstand challenges posed by the country's entry into the WTO in 2001 and even overtook Japan to become the world's No.2 auto market.
China's auto industry was able to withstand the pressures due to three factors: the country's sound economic environment, its solid industrial foundation and sharpened competitive edge in the global market for improved product quality, industry experts said. PTI
Indian diplomats in Russia deprived of VAT exemption
Moscow, Sept 23 (PTI) In a gross violation of mutual relations between the two countries, Indian Embassy in Moscow and its diplomats have been deprived of exemption from the Value Addition Tax (VAT) and other cesses, a facility still availed by the Russian diplomats in India.
A letter signed by the Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has excluded India from the list of 40 countries, diplomats of which are entitled to avail 18 per cent of VAT exemption from August 17, 2007, sources said.
The Indian embassy was not informed of the move, which came as a bolt out of the blue, when it was asked to pay VAT along with the hotel bill of Chief of Army Staff Gen J J Singh during his visit here last week.
The hotel authorities produced a copy of the letter signed by Kudrin and Lavrov, when the Indian embassy claimed VAT exemption.
The Indian diplomats, who so far failed to avail the benefits, are planning to urge the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi to withdraw similar facilities for the Russian diplomats in India with effect from August 17, 2007, sources said. PTI
IAEA meet successful: Kakodkar
Lalitha Vaidyanathan
Vienna, Sep 23 (PTI) India received recognition as the most advanced nation in nuclear fuel cycle technology at the IAEA meet and there was greater awareness of the "larger role" of nuclear power in meeting global energy needs, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said today.
Kakodkar, who attended the UN atomic watchdog's 51st General Conference, remained mum on whether there were any discussions with the IAEA on the India-specific safeguards agreement, a pre-requisite for the operationalisation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
"I will not say anything on that," Kakodkar said shortly before his departure when asked about his informal discussions with IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei.
India also has to secure changes in the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) to gain access to nuclear commerce.
Left parties, which have been stoutly opposing the deal, have demanded that its operationalisation be put on hold for six months failing which the UPA government will have to face "grave" consequences.
Describing the week-long IAEA meet as "successful", Kakodkar told PTI it was so particularly this year because of the "greater awareness of the larger role of nuclear energy in meeting the global energy needs".
He said the meet was important for several reasons "particularly India's recognition as the most advanced nation in nuclear fuel cycle technology by the world leaders". PTI
Lankan govt asks LTTE to return to negotiations
Colombo, Sept 23 (PTI) Sri Lankan government today extended an olive branch to the Tamil Tiger rebels by offering to halt the military operations against them if they return to the negotitating table for the peace talks.
"The decision is theirs (LTTE's) and I believe they wouldn't reject the opportunity," Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said in an interview to "Sunday Island' newspaper.
Asking the rebels to make a "genuine" effort at the negotiating table, Gotabhaya, brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, said the government would not exploit "an environment conducive for further military action" if the rebels opted for peace talks.
His comments came ahead of the Sri Lankan President's scheduled address the 62nd United Nations Summit in New York on September 25 in which he is expected to mention his initiatives to solve the ethnic problem.
Sri Lanka's civil war that flared up in 1983 and went into a brief lull after a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire in 2002, has led to deaths of over 5,000 people in a new wave of fighting, including assassinations and airstrikes over the past 22 months.
"The LTTE determinedly pressed for an over-whelming military victory in the northeast. Had they succeeded, they would have been in a position to call the shots. As they no longer had the wherewithal to regain the battlefield initiative, they should strive to seek a peaceful settlement", the Defence Secretary said.
The LTTE's website Tamilnet said the rebls were still confining themselves to a defensive war and maintaining "patience". PTI
Ram Sethu controversy set to get more intense
Chennai, Sep 23 (PTI) The ongoing Ram Sethu controversy is set to get more intense with the Centre insisting that there is no scope for any alternative alignment for implementation of the Sethusamundram project.
DMK Chief M Karunanidhi had recently stated that he had no objections for any alternative alignment for early implementation of the project, reviving hopes of an early execution.
When asked if he was ruling out scope for change in alignment, Union Shipping Minister and DMK leader, T R Baalu told reporters "Don't put your words in my mouth. I will wait for the apex court orders and then chalk out the future course of action,".
He said his leader's remarks were out of anguish to clarify that the party's intention was to carry out a developmental project and not to demolish the Adam's bridge.
"We are going ahead with the project and my ministry will endeavour to complete it by December next year. There is no need for any rescheduling, though there has been a minor setback to the project," he said.
Karunanidhi's remarks that there was no proof for existence of Lord Ram and the Ram Sethu was only man-made drew widespread protests from Sangh Parivar outfits.
His remarks made a former BJP MP Vedanti to issue a fatwa for beheading him, which in turn sparked off protests from the DMK and its ally PMK. While senior DMK leader had announced that he would lead a picketing programme in front of the BJP office here if the fatwa was not withdrawn, the PMK founder described it as "barbaric". PTI
Orkut rules, followed by dating, matrimonial websites: survey
New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Though Indians continue to use internet primarily for emailing, online dating, and matrimonials along with social networking are gaining prominence, says a survey.
"With almost half the online urban Indians (48 per cent) undertaking it, online matrimonial search has established itself as a 'mainline' online activity. Twelve million online urban Indians are using online matrimonial search, making it the 13th most popular online activity. It has also been one of the biggest 'gainers' in users among the online activities in last one year," says India Online 2007, a survey conducted by JuxtConsult, an online research solutions consultancy firm.
The survey conducted to understand the internet users in the country adds, " Almost 60 per cent of users of both the online activities are common, i.E. 37 per cent of all internet users undertake both online matrimony and online dating/friendship.
"This is significantly higher than last year when only 9 per cent of all internet users undertook both the activities. In comparison to matrimony, dating/friendship is a more popular online activity with 51 per cent net users undertaking it and it ranks 10th in terms of popularity." The latest entrant, social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook among others have already rallied up 44 per cent of the internet time with over 11 million Indians getting hooked to it.
Giving a demographic profile of internet users in the counrty, the survey points out that South India leads the online activity with 39 per cent of all net users coming from South. PTI
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