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Pak not cooperating in IC-814 hijack case: Govt
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Pakistan is not cooperating in extradition of militants associated with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines plane IC-814, government told the Lok Sabha today.
In a written reply to a question, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the matter was being pursued with the Pakistan government, including through the joint anti-terrorism mechanism and the Home Secretary-level talks on terrorism under the composite dialogue.
Five terrorists hijacked the plane during flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi on December 24,1999.
The aircraft, with 157 people on board, was commandeered to Kandahar in Afghanistan and the hostage crisis ended after seven days when India released three hardcore terrorists, all of whom went to Pakistan.
The freed militants included Masood Azhar, who later founded the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit. PTI
National sports policy being finalised: Govt
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Government is in the process of finalising a comprehensive national sports policy which will impress upon the National Sports Federations (NSFs) to reform and modernise themselves to meet the challenges of modern day sport.
The policy will also entail establishment of an independent sports arbitration and mediation mechanism based on international best practices, to resolve disputes between or within the NSFs or between an individual NSF and the players, Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said in reply to questions in the Lok Sabha.
The NSFs are autonomous bodies having their own Memorandum of Association and Articles of Associations and the government does not interfere with the internal working, Aiyar said.
He, however, said that the Sports Ministry reserves the right to suspend or withdraw the recognition of NSF in the event of serious irregularities being detected in their internal functioning.
"In case the government feels that the federation is not functioning in the best interest of development of sport for which it was granted recognition, the government may withdraw the recognition granted by it to the federation," he said. PTI
Corruption: India ranked at 72nd position among 180 countries
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Noting that India is presently ranked at 72nd place among 180 countries by the Transparency International in its latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the Centre today said it has taken several measures and is "moving progressively" to eradicate the menace.
"Government is fully committed to implement its policy of Zero tolerance against corruption. It is moving progressively to eradicate corruption by improving transparency and accountability," the Minister of State for the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri said in Lok Sabha.
"Measures for strengthening the Anti-Corruption Bureau in various states are taken by the concerned governments while the Centre has decided to strengthen the CBI and departmental vigilance organisations," he told the lower house.
"This include modernisation and upgradation of infrastructure of the CBI, appointment of CVOs on the recommendations of the CVC, formulation and implementation of annual action plans for vigilance activities through pro-active involvement of various ministries and departments, issuance of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering and contacting processes by the CVC," Pachuri added. PTI
Anand shocked by Leko, squanders lead
From Our Chess Correspndent
Nice (France), Mar 19 (PTI) World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Peter Leko of Hungary in the rapid game of the fourth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament here.
The loss proved quite costly for Anand as he lost his lead position in both rapid section and combined standings.
As things stand, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria share the lead with 5 points each in the combined standings and Anand is now sole fourth on 4 points.
In the rapid section, Aronian overtook Anand after beating Magnus Carlsen of Norway and is now sole first on 3 points.
Anand shares the joint second spot in this section on 2.5 points along with Topalov, Leko, and Ivanchuk.
It's a four-way lead in the blindfold and Ivanchuk, Carlsen, Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia are at the helm on 2.5 points each. With 50 per cent score here, Anand is joint fifth on 2 points.
Things did not go as planned for Anand in the rapid game. Playing the black side of a Sicilian defense, Anand was under pressure when Leko went for an ultra sharp variation and won in just 28 moves.
Earlier, the blindfold game between the two featured a Caro Kann defense where Anand played white. Leko was apparently satisfied with his result from the opening that gave him a reasonable position and Anand decided to repeat moves to split the point. PTI
Fear of being banned has also calmed me: Sreesanth
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Ayurvedic treatment may have played its part in calming down S Sreesanth, but the mercurial Indian pacer says another factor that has helped him control his infamous temper is the threat of an ICC ban that may be imposed if he crosses the line the next time.
"Ayurvedic treatment and yoga is helping me stay calm. And besides, if I mess up the ICC may ban me for at least three Tests and I keep this thing in mind when I take the field," Sreesanth, who was here to launch a scholarship programme for kids, told reporters today.
"That is one of the reasons that has made me 'shanth' (quiet) now. Even my name says santh," he quipped.
The flamboyant pacer, who has a history of being involved in on-field spats with rival teams, said he has finally learnt to draw the line.
"For instance in Australia, I told myself that there is a very thin line between foolishness and bravery. So everytime I got angry over something, I just rushed back to my run-up to calm myself," he said.
In fact, the tour Down Under was uncharacteristically quiet for Sreesanth where neither his temper nor his bowling could put him in spotlight but the Kerala bowler said he did have his moments despite coming back from an injury layoff.
"I couldn't do all that well in Australia because I was coming back from a shoulder injury and had very little practice going into the series," he explained.
"But I did play my role at crucial junctures and hopefully I will do better in the upcoming series against South Africa," he added. PTI
Woolmer remembered by Pakistanis
Karachi, Mar 19 (PTI) Pakistan's former coach Bob Woolmer must have been remembered by many former and current players with fond words on his first death anniversary but his predecessor Javed Miandad preferred to remind that the South African made little contribution to the country's cricket.
Miandad, who was replaced by Woolmer after a home series defeat to India in mid 2004, said while one always must try to remember a departed soul with good words, the facts must also not be hidden.
"Woolmer might have been a good human being and I have no doubt about that. But when you talk about his contribution to Pakistan cricket than the bottom line is he didn't leave a very big imprint behind," Miandad told PTI.
"If you look at his tenure he didn't achieve much with our players and the way we went out of the World Cup it was very disappointing. It was sad the way he died. But the fact is his contribution as a coach to Pakistan were not much," he said.
Miandad said it was strange that other local players had done more for Pakistan cricket but the Board did not acknowledge their contribution while talking about how much Woolmer had done for the game in the country.
Woolmer died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in Jamaica, just a few hours after the Pakistan team's unexpected elimination at the hands of Ireland in the World Cup. PTI
Ailing Sania out of Pacific Life Open
Indian Wells (USA), Mar 19 (PTI) Ailing with wrist pain, Sania Mirza has faltered against defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in their pre-quarterfinal match at the USD 2,100,000 Pacific Life Open WTA championships here.
After a miserable first set, Sania tried to put up some resistance in the second set, stretching it to a tie-breaker but lost 6-1 7-6 (7/4) to the fifth seeded Slovak yesterday.
Sania was rendered helpless in the first set as Hantuchova saved all eight break points. It looked like a similar story in the second set as well as Sania was trailing 0-5 the but the Indian rallied to level scores 5-5 and made it 6-5 but Hantuchova snatched her lead back and the match went into tie-breaker.
Hantuchova will meet former champion Maria Sharapova of Russia in the quarterfinals.
Sania, seeded 21st, said she played in pain as her recurrent wrist injury had flared up.
"It's very, very painful. I don't know how I was playing out there as the ball was just flying out because I couldn't move my wrist," the Indian said after the match.
Sania also said the windy conditions here had aggravated her problem by affecting her timing of shots.
But Sania is hoping to be in shape for her doubles match after some treatment. "I still have a day. It could be fine by tomorrow morning. It just depends on the day." Hantuchova said she was expecting a tough match against Sania but felt great to win without losing a set.
"I thought it was a great match. Sania is a great hitter. I was expecting really a tough one, and just being able to be in the quarters without losing a set feels really great." PTI
Six core infrastructure sectors grew by 4.2 pc in Jan
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Poor performance in almost all the core areas of the infrastructure sectors, including crude oil production power, cement and coal, has led to a steep fall in six core infrastructure industries to 4.2 per cent in January, against 8.3 per cent in the same month last year.
During April-January 2007-08, the growth rate of these core industries declined to 5.5 per cent, against 8.9 per cent during the same period last fiscal.
According to official data released today, the crude oil production registered a negative growth of 0.2 per cent in January, compared to 4.7 per cent last year.
Growth in coal production also declined to 4.8 per cent as against 9.9 per cent in 2007.
Meanwhile, the electricity sector witnessed a growth of 3.3 per cent in January, against 8.3 per cent last year and cement sector registered a growth of 5.2 per cent, compared to 7.2 per cent.
Crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished carbon steel form the core infrastructure industries group, accounting for 26.7 per cent weightage in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP), seemed to fall due to low demand, high interest rate and slowdown in economic growth.
"The six core infrastructure performance is the reflection of economic slowdown as these sectors contribute to the growth. IIP numbers already reflects the growth," Crisils' Principal Economist D K Joshi told PTI.
"There is not much impact of the US economy slowdown on this, Joshi said.
Earlier, Industrial growth slipped to 5.3 per cent in January, compared to 11.6 per cent in the same month last year as growth in all major sectors comprising manufacturing, electricity and mining declined. PTI
ICICI Lombard to tie up with UnitedHealth Group
New York, March 19 (PTI) ICICI Lombard, India's second-largest health insurer, is partnering with US-based UnitedHealth Group to provide health insurance products to Indians traveling to the United States.
Through this initiative, ICICI Lombard's 1.6 million policyholders traveling to the United States, who are covered by the insurer's Overseas Travel Insurance or Student Overseas Medical Insurance, will have access to the US-based healthcare firm's programmes and services.
Sudhir Menon, Head of Travel Insurance of ICICI Lombard, said, "This partnership is an innovative benefit for Indians, who are increasingly traveling abroad for both occupational and educational purposes." "We look forward to leveraging the assets of UnitedHealth Group to deliver the best in service and resources to our customers throughout their travels to the United States," he said.
UnitedHealth International CEO Ori Karev said, "Our new partnership with ICICI Lombard is an important step in making access to cross-border health care more seamless for consumers, a model we are exploring in multiple markets." ICICI Lombard is a 74:26 joint venture between ICICI Bank Ltd, India's second largest bank with 79 billion dollars in assets, and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, a Canada-based financial services provider. PTI
Rupee improves further against US dollar in late morning deals
Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) The Indian currency today improved by another seven paise to 40.44/45 against the US dollar in late morning deals on the back of sharp recovery in equity markets and expectations of fresh capital inflows after US Federal Reserve interest rate cut last night.
In quite trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened remarkably higher at 40.36/38 a dollar from yesterday's close of 40.51/52 a dollar.
Dealers attributed rally in the rupee to sharp surge in Asian equity markets. The Indian benchmark Sensex was up by over 632 points in morning trade while most of the Asian indices were up by 2.0 to 3.0 per cent this morning.
Later, the rupee was quoted slightly lower but still up at 40.44/45 in late morning deals.
The US Federal Reserve yesterday slashed the interest rate by 0.75 per cent to boost the sagging economy and both top US investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, announced better-than-expected quarterly results which mainly helped to revive the stock markets.
Expectations of fresh foreign fund inflows in equity markets due to US rate cut also helped the rupee surge. PTI
Sensex surges 620 points in early trade
Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 620 points in early trade today on heavy buying by funds after the US Federal Reserve cut further interest rates last night.
The 30-share index, moved up by 620 points to 15,453.46 in the first five minutes of trade as most of the heavy weight stocks recorded notable gains.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange's index, Nifty, also spurted by 182 points to 4,715.00 points as blue chip shares led by Reliance Industries, Infosys technology and many other banking shares rose smartly.
The buying activity picked up after the US Federal Reserve cut interest by another 75 basis points last night.
An upsurge was also noticed in overseas market, where foreign funds remained aggressive buyers.
Hong Kong share prices opened up 3.8 per cent today, following the Wall Street rally.
The US Federal Reserve's decision to trim interest rates by 75 basis points, and better-than-expected results from the US banks like Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, drove sentiments, marketmen said. PTI
Candidate for Pak PM finalised: senior PPP leader
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Mar 19 (PTI) Amidst the continuing suspense over the PPP's nomination of Pakistan's new prime minister, a senior party leader today said a candidate had been finalised even as vice chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim indicated he was still a candidate for the post.
Fahim, who had offered on Monday to withdraw from the race for premiership in favour of Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, said "No official announcement has been made. Yusuf Raza Gillani (another contender) is my brother and my friend, there are no differences between us.
Wait till the official announcement is made by the PPP." Political observers have said that Fahim's chances of becoming premier have been further weakened by the PPP's decision to nominate a candidate from Sindh province for the position of Speaker and a candidate from the North West Frontier Province for the slot of Deputy Speaker.
They said it was unlikely that Fahim, who hails from Sindh, would be nominated as the PPP is expected to name a candidate from Punjab for the premiership.
However, Fahim dismissed these suggestions, pointing out that during PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif's tenure as premier, the President, Prime Minister and provincial chief minister had all hailed from Punjab. "There is still a lot of time (for nominating the prime minister). No hurry, no worry," he said.
On the other hand, senior PPP leader Nabeel Gabol, a close aide of Zardari, said the party had "approved and finalised" its candidate for premiership and the nominee's name would be announced shortly. PTI
Pak set to have first woman Speaker
Islamabad, Mar 18 (PTI) Pakistan's newly elected lawmakers have started assembling in Parliament today to elect a new Speaker and Deputy Spesaker.
Four MPs are vying for the two posts, with the PPP's nominee Fahmida Mirza expected to become the country's first woman Speaker in Parliament.
The secretary of the National Assembly or lower house yesterday accepted the nomination papers of the candidates -- two each from the treasury and opposition benches -- for the two posts. The elections will be held through secret ballot later in the afternoon.
The new Speaker will take charge as custodian of the House after the election today.
The Pakistan People's Party has fielded Fahmida Mirza and Faisal Karim Kundi as its candidates for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. If she is elected, 51-year-old Mirza will be the first woman Speaker in Pakistan's history.
The opposition PML-Q and its allies, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and PPP-S, have nominated Sardar Muhammad Israr Tareen and Khushbakht Shujaat for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
The PPP's candidates are expected to win as the party and its allies -- PML-N, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -- have a majority in the National Assembly.
Mirza is a medical graduate and comes from a political family of Sindh province. She is the wife of Zulfiqar Mirza, a member of the Sindh provincial assembly and a close aide of PPP co-chairman Zardari. PTI
I want to make movie on my dreams: Jhanu Barua
Soma Chakraborty
New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Following the footsteps of the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, ten times national film award winning director Jahnu Barua wants to make a film based on his dreams.
"Just like Kurosawa, may be someday I will also give shape to my dreams in the form of cinema," says director Jhanu Barua of 'Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Mara' fame.
Kurosawa's 'Dreams' (1990), which was a much critical acclaimed movie, was based on eight of Kurosawa's dreams. The movie dealt with subjects including terrors of childhood, parents who are as Olympian as gods, the seductive nature of death, nuclear annihilation and environmental pollution.
"My dream", Baruah says, "is to make northeast an united and a peaceful region." Though he admits it to be a difficult one, but he says, "my experiences of life has made me realise that nothing is impossible." "I am a dreamer and I considered myself to be a lucky one," he says.
The turmoil through which the northeast is presently going can be ended, feels Barua.
"All the human tragedies which the region is facing at present can be avoided. We should learn from our mistakes and stand together without losing one's identity," says Baruah.
Terming Northeast as the "best socio-cultural" part and the people there as "most humane", the filmmaker says, "leaving behing all the differences, the northeast should compete with the world as one united team." PTI
Manipur may re-impose Armed Forces Special Powers Act
Imphal, Mar 18 (PTI) Alarmed by heightened militancy the Manipur government has warned that it may re-impose the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Imphal municipal area if the law and order situation did not improve.
The AFSPA (1958) was withdrawn from seven assembly constituencies in municipal area following a series of agitations after the alleged rape and killing of a Manipuri woman Th. Manorama by security personnel in 2004 although the Act is still in force in remaining 53 assembly segments in the state.
"The government may even go to the extent of recommending re-imposition of the AFSPA in the seven assembly segments in the municipal area," Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh said recently.
"If such incidents like the bomb attack on the Manipur assembly continue, there is no guarantee that the APFSA 1958 (which empowers security personnel to 'shoot any suspect even causing to the death') would not be re-imposed in the Imphal municipal area," Sing said.
Official sources say there has been sharp increase in the activities of the different militant groups particularly in four valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishenpur and Thoubal in the past some weeks.
They say looting, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, killings of persons by militants have shown increase in recent weeks.
Manipur was also cut off from the rest of the country for about a week early this month as transporters cancelled all passenger bus services between Manipur and neighbouring states protesting against huge extortion demands by some militants.
Some militant outfits allegedly were demanding between Rs 500 to Rs 1000 per month per shop. PTI
Second shaadi: a hope for second timers
Ashwini Shrivastava
New Delhi, March 17 (PTI) While finding a spouse a second time might never have been easy to accomplish, people looking out for partners after having failed to find conjugal bliss in their first now have a reason to smile.
With matrimonial websites finetuning their services to provide personalised assistance to men and women looking to tie the knot yet again, finding partners a second time has just got easier.
Matrimonial websites are now offering their services exclusively to help widows/widowers, single, seperated and divorced individuals wanting to start a second innings anad are getting good response.
"We help people to overcome social, cultural and intra-personal apprehensions and start a new life. Our efforts are to eliminate the taboo associated with second marriage in India," says Ankur Warikoo,managing director secondshaadi.Com, a matrimonial website exclusively developed to help people in getting married for second time.
Revealing that as many as 35,000 people were already registered, Ankur says the website was drawing tremendous response across the country.
Considering the demand and need of the members, the website provides advanced search options that allows its members to search for suitable match using 19 different search criteria, so that the search can be specific, say the promoters.
"We also have counsellors to give personalised service round the clock to our members," Ankur says. PTI
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Sensex: 14994.83, +161.37
The sensex closed at 14994.83, up 161.37
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1 U.S. $ = 40.435 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.4087 INR
1 British Pound = 80.755 INR
1 Canadian $ = 40.492 INR
1 Singapore $ = 29.318 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 11.009 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 10.797 INR
1 Euro = 63.489 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 11.109 INR
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