Today's Breaking News of India

I'm ready to own Babri demolition: Uma

BHOPAL: Bhartiya Janshakti Party president Uma Bharti has said that she is ready to own responsibility for the demolition of the disputed Babri mosque at Ayodhya and has no problem even if she is hanged on the issue.

Reacting to the submission of the Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of the mosque, Bharti told reporters at her residence "like a good commander, I am ready to own the responsibility of the Babri masjid's demolition and I have no problem even if I will be hanged on the issue."

"The report which was submitted to the Prime Minister after 17 years of the constitution of the Commission is an attempt to appease Muslim community," the former MP chief minister said.

"The UPA government led by Congress was unable to find a single person responsible for the massacre of 20,000 Sikhs at the behest of Congress after the death of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," she alleged.

"By doing so they deliberately wanted to term us culprits with an intention to divide Hindus and Muslims for political gains," the former firebrand BJP leader said.

She also appealed to the BJP leaders not to apologise for the demolition of Babri mosque as they themselves invited large number of people at Ayodhya for starting the 'Karseva'.

'Excessive protests' by BJP shows guilty mind: Cong

New Delhi:Congress on Tuesday said "excessive protests" by BJP even before contents of the Liberhan Commission report are out show a "guilty mind". "Excessive protests by the BJP in advance reflects a guilty mind," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said reacting to BJP's statements after the Liberhan Commission probing the Babri mosque demolition in 1992 submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

Senior party leader and AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Digivjay Singh said that there was a conspiracy to bring down the Babari mosque and the entire world has seen who all were involved. "Government will place the report before the people. A conspiracy was hatched... the entire world has seen on television that BJP leaders were involved...What is there to prove," Singh said and took names of BJP leaders Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Murli Manohar Joshi and Lal Krishna Advani and Kalyan Singh as those accused in the case. Singh alleged that the entire emotion (leading to the demolition of the mosque) was whipped up by Advani's Rathyatra. Singh said that the then UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has already got punishment from the Supreme Court and he had also apologised for it. "Advani ji claims that he was shedding tears when the mosque was demolished but the BJP leaders say that it is a matter of pride for them. This is double-faced character of BJP," Singh added.

Another party spokesperson Manish Tewari said that the Government will take appropriate action on the report of the Commission. "The Commission has submitted its report. Government will now study the report and take appropriate action," party spokesman Manish Tewari said. He added that the Government will "apply its mind" and come to "appropriate conclusions". Welcoming the submission of the Commission report, another party leader Shakeel Ahmed said, "the country will come to know the truth behind the incident of the mosque demolition when the government takes the next step".

Yemeni plane crashes in Indian Ocean, 153 on board

MORONI: An airliner with 153 people on board belonging to Yemeni state carrier Yemenia crashed into choppy seas as it came in to land on the Yemeni plane crash archipelago of Comoros on Tuesday, officials said.

"The plane has crashed and we still don't know exactly where. We think it's in the area of Mitsamiouli. There were 153 passengers on board," Comoros vice-president Idi Nadhoim said from the airport at the main island's capital Moroni.

A Paris airport spokeswoman said a Yemenia flight left Paris on Monday morning before landing in Yemen and then taking off for Moroni.

Ibrahim Kassim, a representative from regional air security body ASECNA, said the plane had probably come down 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) from the coast, and civilian and military boats had been mobilised to start searching.

"We think the crash is somewhere along its landing approach," Kassim said. "The weather is really not very favourable. The sea is very rough."

ASECNA -- the Agency for Aviation Security and Navigation in Africa and Madagascar -- covers Francophone Africa. The town of Mitsamiouli is on the main island Grande Comore. "There is a crash, there is a crash in the sea," said an unnamed official who answered the phone in the Yemenia office in Moroni. He declined further comment. An airline official in Yemen declined to comment.

COMING TO LAND
Interior minister Hamid Bourhane said the army had sent small speedboats to an area between the village of Ntsaoueni and the airport.

"At the moment we don't have any information about whether there are any survivors," he said. A medical worker in Mitsamiouli said he had been called in. "They have just called me to come to the hospital. They said a plane had crashed," he said.

A United Nations official at the airport, who declined to be named, said the control tower had received notification the plane was coming into land, and then lost contact with it. Yemenia, which is 51% owned by the Yemeni government and 49% owned by the Saudi Arabian government, flies to Moroni, according to flight schedules
on its website. Yemenia's fleet includes two Airbus 330-200s, four Airbus 310-300s and four Boeing 737-800s, according to the site.

The Comoros covers three small volcanic islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, in the Mozambique channel, 300 km (190 miles) northwest of Madagascar and a similar distance east of the African mainland. A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the sea off the Comoros islands in 1996, killing 125 of 175 passengers and crew.

Toddler rescued from Yemenia plane crash

SAN'A, Yemen:A toddler has been rescued alive from the Airbus 310 that crashed off Indian Ocean island with 153 people on board early Tuesday as it tried to land during heavy wind on the island nation of Comoros, a Yemeni aviation official said.

Bodies were spotted floating off the coast and a Comoros police official said three had been recovered so far.

Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief Mohammed Abdul Qader said there were 142 passengers and a crew of 11 Yemenis on board when the plane, which had set off from the Yemeni capital of San'a, went down before landing in Moroni, on the main island of Grand Comore.

The majority of the passengers were from the Comoros islands, returning home from Paris, he said. Those on board included families with children and there were at least three babies on board, he added.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that 66 of the passengers were French. He said French aviation and naval support was heading to help in search operations at the Comoros government's request.

Abdul Qader, the Yemeni official, said bodies have been spotted floating off the archipelago and that a rescue and search effort was under way. He said Yemeni, French and Comoron officials were coordinating to investigate the plane crash.

"They spotted an oil spill 16 or 17 miles in the Ocean off the (Moroni) airport," Abdul Qader said, adding that three Comoron boats are searching for the debris and bodies. "The wind speed was 61 kilometers per hour as the plane was landing."

TRAI issues draft for Mobile Number Portability

New Delhi:Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued draft regulations for introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in the country.

The draft regulations describe the rights, obligations and duties of both the telecom operators (donor and recipient) for the "porting" (changing) of mobile number, TRAI said in a statement.

MNP allows a user to change his/her telecom operator without changing the mobile phone number. The draft suggests that a mobile subscriber shall be eligible to make a request for "porting" (changing) his mobile number upon expiry of a period of ninety days from the date of activation of his present mobile connection.

The recipient operator, within five days of receiving a written request, has to carry out subscriber verification according to the guidelines for acquiring a new user.

Upon verification, the request is to be forwarded to the donor operator (to whose network such mobile subscriber number currently belongs) for seeking its clearance.

Upon receipt of the porting request, the donor operator shall verify and communicate the details to the MNP service provider within two working days.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued guidelines for MNP service license in August last year and its envisaged geographical division of the country into two Number Portability Zones, each consisting of 11 licensed service areas.

Subsequently, one MNP service provider in each zone was selected -- Syniverse Technologies (in north and western India) and MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions (for east and southern India). The licenses were granted in March this year.

The MNP service provider would be responsible for establishing, operating and maintaining the MNP Clearing House and the Number Portability Database.

Adobe in one-week US shut down

SAN FRANCISCO: Adobe Inc, the world’s biggest maker of graphic-design software, shut down North American operations this week, part of a plan to cut operating costs as the recession crimps sales.

Adobe told employees in March it would impose one-week closures in the second, third and fourth quarters, and asked staff to take paid vacation time, the company said today.

“These are in addition to the normal holiday shutdown” between Christmas and New Year’s Day, San Jose, California-based Adobe said in an e-mail.

The company has frozen salaries, trimmed bonuses and variable compensation plans, and curbed travel expenses, Chief Executive Officer Mark Garrett said in an April interview. In December, the company fired about 8 percent of the workforce to help rein in costs during the economic slump.

Second-quarter sales fell 21 percent as customers held off upgrading to the latest version of Adobe’s Creative Suite programs, which account for about 60 percent of revenue. Sales in Europe trailed expectations, the company said on a June 16 conference call.

Adobe advanced 62 cents to $28.62 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have gained 34 percent this year.

Worldwide spending on information-technology products will shrink 9 percent this year as the economy contracts, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

British bank Lloyds says it is cutting 2,100 more jobs

London:Britain's state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group said on Tuesday that it would cut 2,100 more jobs over the next three years as the embattled company seeks to streamline its operations.

"LBG is announcing today a number of organisational changes within its group operations and wholesale divisions," it said in a statement.

"These changes follow careful and detailed reviews by the group and will result in the bringing together of a number of functions."

Lloyds, which is 43-per cent owned by the government after a huge bailout, added that it has already cut 700 roles "through the natural attrition process" and the release of contract and agency workers.

"Following these changes, up to approximately 2,100 roles will be affected over the next three years. This number is mitigated by the creation of approximately 350 new roles in the wholesale division."

According to trade union estimates, the bank has now slashed around 7,000 jobs since its creation in January, when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS in a government-brokered deal.

Indian Sports News|Sports News|Wimbledon News

Fedex eases into quarters, Murray sweats it out

London:Heatwave conditions heralded the start of Wimbledon's second week on Monday as the surviving 32 men and women in the singles draws chased quarter-finals slots. With the mercury shooting past 30 degrees as Elena Dementieva polished off fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to become the first player into the last eight, fans grabbing spots near Henman Hill's huge video screen in advance of the Andy Murray show later sizzled in the sunshine.

Defending women's champion Venus Williams, looking for a third consecutive title here, was able to conserve vital energy, the American third seed strolling through to the quarters when tearful Serbian opponent Ana Ivanovic retired after losing the first set 6-1. Like the third round of a golf major, nicknamed moving day, when the top players begin to rise up the leaderboard, Wimbledon's second Monday is traditionally the moment when the main title contenders turn it up a notch.

Men's favorite Roger Federer, seeking to reclaim the title he has won five times, has not been absent from the second week of Wimbledon since 2002, the year before his domination of the grasscourt slam began. Federer, on course for a record 15th grand slam title, was scheduled first on Center Court for his fourth-round match against Robin Soderling, the Swede he beat in the French Open final earlier this month. At times during the first week Federer appeared to be playing exhibition tennis, so untroubled was his progress, Soderling's grass scorching serve and the baking temperatures should make the cool-as-a-cucumber Swiss break sweat.

Murray puts faith in coach's superstition to win Wimbledon title

London:Andy Murray's coaching team are leaving nothing to chance in his quest to become the first British player since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon. The Scot on Sunday revealed the superstitions of his coach that dictate the court on which he practices at the All England Club.

The world No3, who faces the No19 seed, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the fourth round on Monday, exuded such confidence during the first week that it is hard to imagine his coach, Miles Maclagan, seeing the need for lucky charms or favoured routines. But Murray said the man he hired in 2007 to replace Brad Gilbert was “a bit weird". "My coach is very superstitious so I just go along with his stuff," Murray told channelbee.com. "He always wants me to practice on a specific court, Court Three, before my first match. If I am playing at 2pm, then he will make me practice in the same place I practiced the day before. He's a bit weird like that."

Having beaten Robert Kendrick, Ernests Gulbis and Viktor Troicki in the opening week, the 22-year-old will be third on Centre Court today to face the Swiss Wawrinka, a man he has beaten four times in seven matches but has never played on grass. "There is quite a lot of psychology in tennis but you will rarely see it. John McEnroe has said that he used psychology as a sort of tactic. I wish there was more of it going on, as it makes it more interesting to watch,” said Murray.

Michael Vaughan retires, leaves a rich legacy behind

Edgbaston:Tired of battling poor form and a nagging knee injury, England's most successful Test captain Michael Vaughan announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect.

"After a great deal of consideration, I've decided that now is the right time to retire from cricket," the 34-year-old Yorkshire batsman said in a statement.

Vaughan departs leaving a rich legacy, having won 26 of the 51 Test matches he was in charge of. His achievements include leading England to their first Ashes victory against Australia in 18 years in 2005, something he described as the defining moment of his captaincy.

"I'd like to wish Andrew Strauss and the current England team success in this Ashes series. I know they have the drive, ambition and abilities to repeat the success from 2005. Winning that series was most definitely the highpoint of my career," said Vaughan, whose exit was just a matter of time after the right-hander was excluded from England's pre-Ashes squad.

Vaughan said time was ripe to leave the scene and pave way for the youngsters. "It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country and this is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make.”

"Having played almost non-stop for sixteen seasons, I feel that the time is right for the focus to shift to the next generation," Vaughan said.

"We have some fantastic talent coming through the English counties and, with the next Ashes series upon us, now is the time for the younger players to rise to the challenge of building on the success achieved in English cricket in the last few years," he added.

Latest Breaking News of India

Michael Jackson death still unsolved after autopsy

LOS ANGELES: Doctors conducted an autopsy on the body of Michael Jackson on Friday but could not immediately determine what killed the "King of Pop," amid reports he had been injected with a narcotic painkiller shortly before collapsing.

Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at his rented mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, with his personal physician trying desperately to revive him.

The 50-year-old pop superstar was rushed to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead without regaining consciousness.

"The cause of death (determination) has been deferred, which means that the medical examiner has ordered additional testing such as toxicology and other studies," Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey said. "Those tests we anticipate will take an additional four to six weeks."

Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the coroner's office, Harvey said, "There was no indication of any external trauma or indication of foul play to the body of Mr. Jackson."

Police said they were seeking to question Jackson's personal physician, identified by news media as Houston-based cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray.

Jackson's body was moved to a mortuary at the family's request on Friday night, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter told reporters. He did not disclose the location and there was no immediate word on when Jackson would be laid to rest.

Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with an unidentified "close member" of the Jackson family, reported the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest.

Daily shot of Demerol?

TMZ, citing family members, said Jackson received a daily shot of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, and that the family believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug.

Detectives searched Jackson's home and impounded Murray's Mercedes from the driveway, saying it might contain evidence.

An unidentified man called a 911 emergency phone line from the mansion at 12:21 p.m. local time, saying Jackson was unconscious and not breathing.

In excerpts from the call released by authorities, the caller said the physician was the only other person present and was frantically performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the unconscious Jackson without results.

"He's pumping, he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything, sir, please," the man said.

A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that Jackson was "heavily addicted" to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol.

Lawyer Brian Oxman, a Jackson family spokesman, said he had been concerned about the prescription drugs Jackson took due to injuries suffered while performing.

"I do not want to point fingers at anyone because I want to hear what the toxicology report says and the coroner says but the plain fact of the matter is that Michael Jackson had prescription drugs at his disposal at all times," Oxman said.

Fans and fellow pop stars revived memories of Jackson's musical genius, tarnished over the past decade by accusations of child molestation and eccentric behavior.

US President Barack Obama called Jackson a "spectacular performer" but said he believed aspects of his life were "sad and tragic," the White
House said.

Jackson feared dying like Elvis, says ex-wife Presley

LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson told ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley he feared dying young like her "King of Rock 'N' Roll" father Elvis.

In a blog on her MySpace page titled "He Knew", Lisa Marie, who was married to Jackson for just under two years between 1994 and 1996, said her ex-husband had once confided his fear of dying suddenly.

"Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general," Presley wrote.

"I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Father's Death. At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.'"

Jackson's sudden death Thursday from an apparent cardiac arrest triggered an outpouring of grief that has evoked comparisons with the 1977 death of Elvis at the age of 42.

Presley also used her blog to hit out at the constant swirl of rumor and speculation surrounding her marriage to Jackson, which some critics derided as a public relations stunt designed to burnish the star's image after 1993 allegations of child abuse.

"I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once," Presley said.

"Our relationship was not 'a sham' as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a 'Normal life' found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much," Presley wrote.

"I wanted to 'save him' I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened."

MJ asked Rahman to compose another 'We are the World’

Mumbai, June 27: The untimely demise of Michael Jackson has left a deep void in the global music scene. Indeed, Michael Jackson was the ‘King of Pop’, who ruled the music industry for decades with his foot-tapping numbers and astonishing dance moves. Remembering the legend of pop, Indian music prodigy AR Rahman extolled Michael Jackson and described him, “one of the greatest musicians of our time.”

For Rahman, Jackson was an exceptionally gifted musician who catapulted pop music to unbelievable heights during 80s and 90s.

Remembering his recent meet with Michael Jackson post the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, Rahman said that Jackson “Loved India and the people of the country. He told me that he heard good things about me and he was praising the chord progression of ‘Jai Ho’s’ chorus.”

For Rahman, Jackson was a rare musical prodigy who was the reservoir of talent. “He told me that every dance move he did, came from his soul,” said Rahman. Recalling Jacko’s dancing abilities, Rahman said that he was mesmerized by Jacko’s five second-demo as “It was a stunning example…like a lightning striking.”

Indeed, Jackson was an enlightened person who was concerned about greater issues such as war and global warming. “He asked me to compose a unity anthem on the lines of ‘We are the World’ for him. I nodded in awe,” said Rahman.

In Los Angeles, Jackson introduced Rahman to his kids and when the latter wished him luck for his upcoming concerts, Jackson politely said, “God bless you.”

Expressing disbelief on Jackson’s sudden death, Rahman said, “It took me time to believe that he is no more.”

Recollecting how his crew drew inspiration from the star performer, Rahman maintained, “I remember, my late sound engineer Sridhar brought me a video of the premiere of ‘Remember the Time,’ when I was recording ‘Kadal Rojave’ for my first film ‘Roja’. We were all so inspired that afternoon. Now, there is no Sridhar and no Jackson anymore. I hope all of us value people’s existence more and respect them when they are alive. Life is short. Artists and their art live forever. Jai Ho, MJ! We love you for your music, regardless of all the controversies.”

Kashmir was near resolution in 2001, claims Musharraf

Islamabad:Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has claimed that the Kashmir problem was near resolution during his regime and dismissed accusations that the powerful army did not want the settlement of the issue.

Musharraf claimed he and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had, during the 2001 Agra summit, even agreed to the draft of a joint declaration under which all issues, including Kashmir, could have been resolved.

"But the Indian leadership changed their mind at the last minute and did not support the joint declaration, saying that the Cabinet had not approved it," Musharraf said in an interview to 'Dunya News' channel.

Accusations that the Army does not want a resolution to Kashmir issue are ‘vicious propaganda’ and the need for the Army would remain even if the problem is resolved, he said.

Musharraf said he held talks with all stakeholders in the Kashmir issue, including the Hurriyat Conference and the leadership of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, for the resolution of the issue "but no one could guide me in the right direction."

He also said he had convinced the entire leadership in Kashmir, except hardliner Ali Shah Gilani, about his four-point formula which envisaged de-militarisation and joint control of the region.

Maoists flee as security forces capture Ramgarh

Ramgarh (WB):Security forces captured key Maoist stronghold of Ramgarh as they launched a two-pronged attack to reclaim areas in West Midnapore district under control of Left-wing ultras who offered stiff resistance by detonating landmines and opening gunfire.

Maoists also torched an office of the Leftist trade union AITUC when they were refused sanctuary in the building shortly before the security forces entered Ramgarh.

Security forces headed from Lalgarh in the south and Kadasole, which was secured yesterday, in the north towards Ramgarh this morning, a senior CRPF officer said.

"We have secured Ramgarh. We will establish a police outpost and a camp. The police will restore normalcy. The operations will continue," IG CID (Special Operations Group) Siddhinath Gupta said.

Three landmines exploded as 10 companies comprising 1000 men of the CRPF, the India Reserve Battalion and Rapid Action force set out from Kadasole, braving heavy rains and reached Mohultol, with the Maoists also firing at them.

The security forces retaliated with AK-47s, mortars and rocket propelled grenade launchers overcoming the resistance swiftly, the officer said.

In the south, 11 CRPF companies comprising 1100 men reached Boropelia village, the home of the agitating People's Committee Against Police Atrocities leader Chhatradhar Mahato.

They were attacked by Maoists at Pathardanga where two landmines were detected. But the naxals retreated after retaliatory action.

People came out in droves to greet security forces as they arrived. The locals offered drinking water to the fatigued troops.

"We are smiling after many months. We were waiting for the security forces to arrive. They must have faced great difficulty in reaching our village," a resident said.

‘Govt to monitor crude oil prices before fuel price hike’

Panaji:The Government said that it will watch the situation on international crude oil prices before deciding on the petroleum price hike.

"Unfortunately the international crude oil prices have gone up. We are watching the situation," Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora told reporters in Panaji.

He said the government will wait for little more to check whether the prices stabilise. "The cabinet will discuss the crude oil prices before deciding on the matter," he added.

The minister was in the state to participate in the conclave of oil companies. Deora along with Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada met Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat and other state government officials.

The Union Minister said the Congress-led-government is fully aware that poor people suffer due to price hike and hence had cut down the prices when international prices are reduced.

Air India offers special monsoon fares

MUMBAI: After private air-carrier, Jet Airways, it is now the turn of national airline, Air India, to offer monsoon special fares to customers on select destinations on its domestic network.

Tickets under this offer can be purchased between June 27-July 3 for travel up to September 10, a company press release said here.

Under these special fares, travel from Mumbai to Delhi/Chennai/Bangalore/Hyderabad would cost Rs 2,479 all inclusive except user development fee, the release said.

Similarly, the fares for Mumbai-Kolkata would be Rs 2,729, whereas fares for Delhi to Mumbai and Kolkata would be Rs 2,479. it said.

However, the fares for travel from Delhi to Chennai, Kochi, Guwahati and Goa would be Rs 2,729, the release said, adding, fares on short sectors will be Rs 1,979 only.

Indian Sports News| Sports News |Indian Cricket News

Yuvi's ton helps India draw first blood

Kingston:A merciless 131 in 102 balls from Yuvraj Singh helped India to a 20-run victory over a battling West Indies in Jamaica on Friday in the first in a series of four one-dayers.

Singh's powerful hitting helped India amass 339 for six, the second highest one-day international score at Sabina Park, but the determined hosts ran them close as they were bowled out for 319 in the 49th over.

Chris Gayle (37) and Runako Morton (42) put on 65 inside 10 overs for the opening stand before Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and an aggressive Shivnarine Chanderpaul (63) kept West Indies up with the run-rate.

The home team needed 25 to win off the last three overs with two wickets remaining but Rudra Pratap Singh bowled Sulieman Benn for seven.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who had kept the flame burning with a smart 29 in 26 balls, was then caught by Harbhajan Singh off Ashish Nehra.

Before Friday's game only Pakistan, against Zimbabwe in the 2007 World Cup, had managed to surpass 300 in an ODI at Sabina Park.

West Indies's total was a second-innings record at the ground.

After WC win, Pak players seek 'revised' IPL contracts

Karachi:Pakistan captain Younis Khan has advised his fellow players to revise their contracts with the Indian Premier League following the team's Twenty20 World Cup victory.

"After all, these players are now World champions and highly marketable. There is more value on their performances. Why should they keep on having contracts with the IPL franchises on same old contracts," Younis said.

He pointed out that top players like Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul Haq had signed contracts for USD 100,000 or less with the IPL when it was launched in 2008.

"But now the scenario is different. These players should talk to their agents in India and ask them to go for a hike in price from the IPL franchises," he said.

Pakistani players could not take part in the IPL second season which was shifted to South Africa from India due to security reasons.

They were advised against travelling to India for the IPL because of the strained relations between the two countries after the Mumbai terror attacks.

But IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said after Pakistan's World Cup win that he saw no problems in Pakistani players returning to play for their franchises in the IPL next year provided the Pakistan government gives them permission and the Indian government also clears them to play in India.

Younis said any money earned by the players from the IPL would be beneficial for them and for Pakistan as the money would come to Pakistan.

"I am happy if any of our players can be better packages in the IPL for next season," said Younis, who ended his contract with the Rajasthan Royals before the second season of the IPL.

Bhupathi faces Prakash in Wimbledon doubles’ pre-QF

London:Mahesh Bhupathi and Prakash Amritraj set up a pre-quarterfinal clash of the Wimbledon championships against each other after winning their men's doubles second round matches along with their respective partners in London on Friday.

Qualifiers Prakash and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi quelled a late challenge from Australian Rameez Junaid and Philipp Marx of Germany to carve out a 7-5 6-4 6-7(3) 6-7(3) 8-6 win.

Earlier, fourth seeds Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles defeated Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in their second round match.

Prakash and Aisam were crusing comfortably and a straight set looked on card but Junaid and Marx staged a brilliant comeback and almost toppled their rivals.

However the Indo-Pak pair got their act together, held nerves and eventually triumphed after four hours and 18 minute struggle on the court.

Bhupathi and Knwoles wrapped up the first set under half an hour, converting one of the two breakpoints that came their way.

Murray marches on, Hewitt back to best

London:Andy Murray made light work of a tricky tea-time assignment at Wimbledon on Thursday while Lleyton Hewitt, the man who has already lifted the trophy the Scot so cherishes, rolled back the years to cause a big upset.

In front of 15,000 Centre Court fans and thousands watching the match on Henman Hill's giant screen, Murray devoured Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2 7-5 6-3 to clear another hurdle towards becoming Britain's first men's singles champion in 73 years.

Murray was joined in the third round by dogged Australian Hewitt, the 2002 champion, who produced a vintage display to dispatch fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.

Women's third seed Venus Williams, who along with her sister Serena has collected sackfuls of silverware here, powered past Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko to remain firmly on course for a hat-trick of singles titles.

The American five-time champion, who played with a strapping on her left knee, powered into the third round with a 6-3 6-2 victory and was joined in the last 32 by Russia's world number one Dinara Safina and French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.

DAZZLING MAURESMO

On another day of record-breaking crowds mercurial Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, champion here three years ago, also progressed, dazzling the sun-roasted fans on Court Three with a comfortable defeat of Kristina Kucova.

Argentina's Del Potro, occupying the place in the draw vacated by injured champion Rafael Nadal, was given a lesson in grasscourt play by Hewitt who posted a 6-3 7-5 7-5 victory.

Hewitt, backed by a vocal section of Australian fans decked out in yellow and green, moved his opponent all across the court and even flicked some lobs over the towering 20-year-old.

Venus keeps knee status a mystery at Wimbledon

Wimbledon (England):Venus Williams ambled onto sun-splashed Court 1 at Wimbledon, a slight hitch in her step and an odd-looking wrap around her left knee. White tape here, brown tape there.

Good thing the five-time Wimbledon champion didn't need to run to hit serves, huh? Powered in part by her big-as-can-be deliveries, Williams overwhelmed 73rd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2 in the second round to stretch her All England Club winning streaks to 16 matches and 27 sets.

Afterward, Williams was coy about the bandaging, saying it was "just for support." "I really hate tape - like, hate. But I just needed it this time. I accepted that, and I realise that this is Wimbledon. So since it was Wimbledon, I taped," said the American, trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive titles at the All England Club.

Asked why she needed help for this match after not wearing anything on that leg in the first round Tuesday, Williams said: "Well, what happened was, I needed some support, and then I went and got the support, and then I wore it in the match. ...I mean, I think all the players might start wearing it, because it's so supportive."

At last month's French Open, where Williams lost in the third round, her father, Richard, said she had pain in her left knee. Her mother, Oracene Price, wouldn't offer an explanation on Thursday after watching Williams hit six aces at up to 191 kph Bondarenko, saying only, "Maybe she'll tell you. I'm not going have her screaming at me."

Paes-Dlouhy crashes out, Sania in doubles second round

London:In a major upset, French Open champions India's Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic crashed out of the Wimbledon men's doubles even as Sania Mirza and Chia-Jung Chuang battled hard to make it to the second round in women's doubles, here Thursday.

Paes and his Czech partner went down to the unseeded US pair of James Blake and Mardy Fish 4-6, 4-6, 3-6 that brought an end to their campaign in the first round itself.

However, there was some cheer for India as Sania and her Chinese Taipei partner defeated Americans Jill Craybas and Carly Gullickson 6-4, 6-2 following a 79-minute battle.

Lot was expected from Paes and Dloughy after their triumph in the French Open early this month.

However, the third-seeded Indo-Czech duo failed to match their American opponents and went down in one hour 49 minutes.

The third-seeds paid for 11 double faults and 12 unforced errors compared to their rivals' one.

They also converted just three of the 19 breakpoints while Blake and Fish's converted six of the 12.

Sania and Chuang faced stiff competition from unseeded Craybas and Gullickson in the first set.

The 15th seeded Indo-Taipei pair had to wait till the eighth breakpoint of the fourth game to get their first break.

The Americans saved seven back-to-back breakpoints but the effort wasn't enough against their equally unrelenting rivals.

However, the compliment was returned in the next game as Americans converted their second chance.

Sania and Chuang were, however, unfazed and broke their rivals at love in the sixth game to get back the lead.

Pop star Michael Jackson dies at 50

LOS ANGELES: Pop icon Michael Jackson has died, a Los Angeles County Coroner's office spokesman confirmed on Thursday.

Lieutenant Fred Corral said Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm (2126 GMT) local time after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.

"I can tell you at this time that we were notified by West Los Angeles Police Department detectives that Mr Jackson was transported ... to the hospital, and upon admitting, he was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at approximately 2:26 this afternoon," Corral said.

Corral said an autopsy would "most likely" be carried out on Friday but would not speculate on the exact cause of death.

"Everything is still ongoing. We will be responding to the hospital to move Mr Jackson to our facility where he will be examined to determine the cause of death," Corral said.

"As far as I'm aware, we were notified by LAPD detectives that Mr Jackson was brought in by paramedics to the hospital in full cardiac arrest and then he was later pronounced dead."

"At that point, as I said, there's no further medical history until we get and review the medical records."

Tears flowed outside a hospital as hundreds of Michael Jackson fans gathered to mourn the loss of the music legend, stunned by his sudden death at the age of 50.

"Right today I can't believe we might have lost the best entertainer this world has ever seen," sobbed Lana Brown, 49, from Dallas, overcome with emotion as she struggled to come to terms with the news.

Brown, who described herself "as the biggest Jackson fan ever" was on holiday with her family in Los Angeles when her friend phoned to tell her that Jackson had collapsed and was being treated at the UCLA hospital.

Like hundreds of others, she made her way to the hospital, hoping against hope that Jackson, whose music and dance thrilled generations of fans, would pull through.

"I left my office. Everyone should. It's so shocking. Because you think someone like Michael Jackson will live forever, like Peter Pan," Yoshiko Plair, clasping a sunflower for her icon, said.

The 49-year-old real estate agent heard the news, like so many others, via a text message on her phone when she was in the bank.

Dropping her business, she rushed home, put on her "Thriller" T-shirt and hustled her sister and two children to the hospital to stand vigil.

"He changed music, he's the reason all that black music is on MTV now," Plair said. "I followed him from that first song. I'm going to mourn him today and probably for the rest of my life."

She added she was going to stay until the hospital officially announced Jackson's death. "I want to hear with my own ears, I can't believe it until I hear it myself.

Student Ashley Leon, 20, also decided to come after hearing of the news of Jackson's collapse.

"I called my room mate who is the extreme Michael Jackson fan because, you know, this is one of the biggest things we'll live through in our lives. We all grew up with his music."

The crowd swelled through the afternoon in the bright summer sunshine waiting for news of their hero.

And most of them brushed off the past scandals that had blighted Jackson's life, after he was charged with and then acquitted of child-molestation.

"You know Michael Jackson has his stuff going on. You knew he's crazy. But he's Michael Jackson," said Leon.

While Brown was more emphatic saying: "All of that did not matter to me because I knew it wasn't true."

Jackson was preparing to make a keenly anticipated concert comeback in London, his first series of shows in more than a decade and the first since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges.

However those concerts -- billed as the "final curtain" -- had been thrown into doubt after Jackson pushed back the opening dates last month.

Organizers of the concerts at the time stressed the delay was not linked to Jackson's health.

In a press conference from the United States broadcast over the Internet, AEG Live president Randy Phillips was asked about Jackson's health and said: "I would trade my body for his tomorrow. He's in fantastic shape."

While Jackson reigned as the "King of Pop" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career had been overshadowed by his colourful public behaviour, his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse.

Jackson lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges including child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.

Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar struggled to recover.

Four years later, Jackson is still worshipped by fans for revolutionizing music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success.

The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery -- which he denies -- his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations.

Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves
.

By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label.

The Jacksons produced seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS's Epic Records in 1976.

Despite the early success, Jackson was to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act broke up, as Jackson went solo.

In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.

They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson's breakthrough album as a composer and co-producer, "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.

Latest News India

Sibal unveils 100-day plan, makes Class X boards 'optional'

New Delhi:In far-reaching reforms, Government proposed making 10th board examination optional and setting up of a single school board at the national level for a uniform examination for class 12.

A new scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans for professional courses by economically weaker students will be launched in the first 100 days of the UPA government, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi.

"We must detraumatise education. It cannot be traumatic for parents and children. This is unacceptable," the Minister said unveiling the education agenda.

Government will also introduce a system to replace the present assessment procedure of giving marks with grades which will reduce stress, he said.

The single board would replace 33 boards in the country including CBSE and CISCE and hold a uniform examination for all students on the pattern of combined law admission test being organised for admission to law institutions.

"By appearing in a single board, a student can decide which university he wants to go. It is happening in the law (courses). The aim is to reduce the trauma," he said adding that states would be consulted on the issue.

Taking note of students and their parents complaining of sleepless nights at the time of board examinations, Sibal said the government wants to make 10th examinations optional for students wishing to continue in the same school.

"If a student wants to go for pre-university course, he may appear for 10th board exam. But in case of a student pursuing the course in the same school, he need not appear in the class-10 exam for promotion to class-11," Sibal said, adding that an internal assessment would suffice.

Bhakra cuts water supply to North Indian states

Chandigarh:In the wake of delayed monsoon, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on Thursday decided to cut the supply of water for irrigation to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan by 6000 cusecs till July 10. After holding a crucial meeting with representatives of all these states, BBMB has decided to supply 22,000 cusecs against the current supply of 28,000 cusecs, a move that would raise the water level in Bhakra reservoir which has been fast depleting due to lack of rains.

"All the states of Punjab, HP, Haryana and Rajasthan have agreed to our decision (of supplying 22,000 cusecs) and this decision will remain enforced till July 10," BBMB, Chairman, U.C. Misra told reporters here today after holding the meeting this afternoon. Misra said, "Although states were demanding 28,000 cusecs of water in view of paddy sowing season but when we pointed out the grim situation they all agreed to receive 22,000 cusecs of water supply."

However, he made it clear that in case, there are no rains till July 10, the release of water would be further curtailed. "We want that our water level in Bhakra reservoir should raise because from June till September are filling period for us and we want to store maximum level of water in this period," he said.

Misra further informed that because of snow melting in mountain areas, the availability of water inflow has improved to 32,000 cusecs from 22,000 cusecs and water level in Bhakra reservoir has increased by half feet. "Yesterday our water level in Bhakra was 1504.5 feet and now it has increased to 1505 feet with increased inflow of water," he informed.

Blood collection scam: MCI suspends degree of 4 doctors

Jaipur, June 25: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has suspended MBBS degree of four doctors in the alleged blood collection scam, a government official said here on Thursday.

MBBS degrees of Girish Agarwal, Rajgirish, H N Singh, and Nawab Singh (all doctors) have been suspended for six months, the Karuali district collector Neeraj K Pawan told PTI on telephone.

These doctors would not be able to practice during this period, he said.

These practitioners, affiliated to two private run hospitals, were allegedly found indulged in forcible blood collection by luring children in the Hindon city for a couple of years.

The four doctors were arrested in mid June and the clinic they operated from closed by police.

Further probe is on in the case.


Another Indian student attacked in Australia

Melbourne:In yet another attack on Indian students in Australia, a youth from the community was assaulted and robbed in Gold Coast, taking to 17 the number of such incidents within a month.

The attack which occurred last week came to light today when the victim identified as Sachin sent an e-mail to the Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA).

“I am a student of Southern Cross university TweedHeads Gold Coast. I have been attacked and robbed ... near Coolangatta police station,” he said in the e-mail.

“They took my money, ATM card, phone, gold chain. And I got five stitches on my face,” he said, adding a case has already been filed, but that he was “not satisfied” with the police action.

The student sought FISA's advice on what he should do next despite the Australian authorities vowing to provide maximum security to foreigners pursuing education here.

FISA founder Gautam Gupta said that they had been receiving five to seven such e-mails everyday wherein victims were seeking help.

“We have been receiving ... such e-mails everyday stating they have been robbed, bashed, verbally abused or thrown out of the house,” Gupta said. STUDENT-ATTACK 2 LAST Gupta said there was an urgent need for the Indian High Commission to build trust among students to directly report such incidents.

He said FISA was working with the High Commission in this regard.

Facing flak for the recent spate of attacks on Indian youths, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday pledged to provide “maximum” security to foreign students.

Indian Business News

Nilekani quits Infosys, to join Govt

New Delhi:Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's No 2 outsourcer, has resigned from the company's board to join the government, the company said on Thursday.

Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, has been invited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to head government agency Unique Identification Authority of India in the rank of a cabinet minister, Infosys said in a statement.

Nilekani, a former chief executive of the company, was not involved in active management since becoming co-chairman in 2007.

Shares in Infosys, which has a market value of about $21 billion, were up 0.7 percent at 1,771.25 rupees at 0849 GMT in a Mumbai market down 0.5 per cent.

All about Nilekani’s UID project

The government has set in motion the process of providing a Unique Identification Number to India's citizens and has appointed Infosys Technologies co-chairman Nandan Nilekani as head of the authority for this purpose.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Nilekani to become chairperson of the new organization. Nilekani will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister, and will also cease to be board member of Infosys, the company he founded along with NR Narayanmurthy and six others in 1981.

Here’s looking into what UID project is all about.

Satyam to cut jobs if orders languish

BANGALORE: Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s 8,500 employees placed on a so-called “virtual pool” may have their positions eliminated in six months if the company fails to find them work, Executive Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said.

“We are hoping that this doesn’t happen, that things will pick up, but yes, there is a possibility,” Nayyar, former chief executive officer of Satyam’s new owner Tech Mahindra Ltd., said in a telephone interview.

Satyam will release a reorganisation plan to cut costs and help retain customers after a stock collapse prompted by founder Ramalinga Raju’s admission in January that he overstated assets by $1 billion.

Raju’s disclosure triggered India’s biggest corporate fraud probe and a distress sale of the Hyderabad-based provider to Tech Mahindra in April to prevent an exodus of clients and employees.

Satyam, which said it had about 48,000 employees at the time Tech Mahindra agreed to buy it, has 8,500 employees on a “virtual bench” because of a lack of orders, Chief Executive Officer Chander Prakash Gurnani said.

Indian Cricket News |Indian Sports News|Sports News

India seek redemption in West Indies series

KINGSTON: India start their campaign on Friday to put the bad memory of their failure in the World Twenty20 behind them, when they face WestIndies in the first One-day International of the four match series.

India and their opponents settle back down to the bump and grind of 50 overs-a-side matches, following a heavy diet of Twenty20 cricket for several of the players in the form of the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa, and the World Twenty20 in England.

But it's the World Twenty20 which is still fresh on the minds of the Indians.

They entered the competition as defending champions, and finished empty-handed, much to the chagrin of their legions of supporters at home and around the world.

They were humiliated, when they exited the competition following three defeats in the Super Eight stage, including a seven-wicket loss to the West Indies.

Tiredness and injuries were some of the factors advanced for India's demise, but they have had close to two weeks to relax and recharge the batteries.

Against this backdrop, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has asked his players to come forward and be truthful about their fitness ahead of the series.

"For me, it's the team first and then the individuals and I'd hope it's the same with everyone else in the group," Dhoni said.

"If rest is the cure for an injury, a cricketer ought to opt for it rather than let fatigue or niggles become a major setback to him and to the team.

"If anyone wants to take a break from the game, they should let me know or the BCCI."

India have also had time to beef-up their personnel for the four-match series to mitigate against the injuries which have robbed them of star batting duo Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the latter of whom was sorely missed in the World Twenty20, plus Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina.

However, the new recruits have encountered a few difficulties with getting visas to travel through Britain.

Now ranked as the third-best ODI side in the World, India will see this as a chance to leapfrog Australia, and take aim at chart-toppers South Africa, setting the stage for another invigorating series.

India hasn't played an ODI series since they prevailed in New Zealand in March, but they have lost only three of their last 18 matches, and have emerged as one of strongest ODI sides over the last year.

But they face a West Indies side with their own demons to exorcise, following a miserable Test and ODI series against England.

The home team, however, marginally redeemed themselves with a semi-final place in the World Twenty20 in which they beat England to reach the final four.

They enter the series however, as strangers in their own land, since India have been in the Jamaica capital getting down to business since last Friday, and the West Indies players - including a few fresh faces - only started arriving on Tuesday.

West Indies coach John Dyson will instruct his side to play aggressive cricket to push the Indians to the limit.

"We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency," said Dyson.

"We always look at the opposition and try and determine who the key players are for the opposition and think of ways that we may combat those key players.

"What we don't know, of course, is from the lower-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that's something we have to monitor as the series progresses.

"(Winning) - it depends on the sort of pitches we're playing on, the conditions of the day, and the form of our own players, and the opposition players."

The short ODI series against India is part of a busy home programme for West Indies, who also host Bangladesh for two Tests, three ODIs and a T20 International in July and August.

Squads:

West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin, Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.

Saina in quarters; Arvind, Jayaram out of Malaysian Open


Johor Bahru, Malaysia:Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her dream run and reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a gruelling three-game win over Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand here on Thursday. Second seed Saina rallied to outlast Intanon 18-21 21-12 21-18 in a 46-minute clash to set up a quarterfinal with Chinese qualifier Xin Wang tomorrow.

Xin thumped sixth seed Japanese Ai Goto 21-14 21-14 in the other pre-quarterfinal. Intanon played better from the nets and scored from her smashes but could not get past Saina, who recovered well from a game down to get the better of her Thai rival. In a see-saw battle, Intanon had the upper hand when she overcame Saina in the first game. Even though Saina played well, the game slipped through her fingers.

With her back to the walls, the world number eight Indian switched into an aggressive mode in the next game and raced to a 9-6 lead before pocketing it comfortably at the end. At 1-1, the decider turned out to be a perfect pot-boiler as fortunes fluctuated with the two involving in a tooth and nail battle. Saina raced to a 10-5 lead but the Thai soon reeled off four straight points to claw back and reduce the gap to 10-9 before Saina changed gears and eventually sealed the issue.

However, it was curtains for Arvind Bhat and Ajay Jayaram in the men's singles.

Ninth seed Arvind was thrashed by Chinese Long Chen 5-21 11-21 in just 27 minutes, while Ajay went down to Yun Hu of Hong Kong 15-21 14-21 within half an hour.

Prakash-Qureshi beat 16th seeds, advance to 2nd round

London:The unseeded Indo-Pakistani duo of Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi stunned 16th seeds Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins in a see-saw five-set battle to enter the second round of the Wimbledon men's doubles event, here on Wednesday.

Amritraj and Qureshi scripted a sensational 6-4, 6-7 (12) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph after slogging it out for close to four hours in a match that spanned two days. The two teams were locked 2-2 yesterday and Amritraj and Qureshi finished it off in their favour today.

The 16th seeded Australian-Brit pair of Huss and Hutchins were in for a tough fight. After losing the opening set, Huss and Hutchins battled it out for 70 minutes in the second to clinch it 14-12 in the tie-breaker.

Sharapova ousted, Federer strolls on

London:Maria Sharapova was heading for the airport after losing at Wimbledon on Wednesday while another former champion Roger Federer sauntered through to the third round in glorious sunshine after a clinical display.

Sharapova struggled on the Centre Court where she made her name in 2004 by beating Serena Williams to win the women's singles title as a 17-year-old. The Russian looked a pale shadow of the player who once looked set to dominate the game.

Bedevilled by shoulder problems since losing in the second round here last year, the 24th seed ran into inspired Argentine Gisela Dulko, falling 6-2 3-6 6-4 to a player she had dropped just three games against in their two previous clashes.

Sharapova lost the opening set in 35 minutes and despite some typically tenacious resistance to win the second from 0-3 the booming weapons that used to blast the Russian to safety in such situations failed to function at crunch time.

ABSORBING SCRAP

Dulko eventually prevailed on her fifth match point when Sharapova, who was bumped up the seedings from a world ranking of 60, fired a forehand long to end an absorbing scrap.

"It took me a while to get going," former world number one Sharapova told reporters. "It's a little too late to start picking yourself up when you're down a set and 3-0."

Referring to Federer as a former holder of the Wimbledon title he won five years in a row still takes some getting used to but his form in a 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez suggests he will soon reclaim his throne.

Sania crashes out of Wimbledon singles

London:Sania Mirza's singles campaign at the Wimbledon championships ended with a 4-6 4-6 second round loss to Romanian 28th seed Sorana Cirstea here on Wednesday.

Unforced errors proved costly for the Indian in the one-hour-22-minute contest as she yet again failed to move beyond the second round here.

Sania played mostly from the baseline but struggled to keep her booming strokes within the court.

The inability to win points on serve added to the woes of the unseeded Indian against an opponent ranked as high as 27th in the world.

Sania had the first opportunity to get a break but Cirstea denied her friend the favour.

Sania then committed a double fault in the fifth game to hand the Romanian a break chance.

Sania saved four breakpoints in that game but another double fault undid all the good work.

That one break proved costly for the Hyderabadi as the next four games went with serve with Cirstea claiming the first set.

The second set too started on an ominous note as Sania dropped her serve in the very first game. Though she managed a double break – second and fourth games -- to take a 3-1 lead, the unrelenting errors allowed the Romanian claw her way back.

Sania will now look to put up a better show in doubles where she and her Taipei partner Chia-Jung Chuang will take on Americans Jill Craybas and Carly Gullickson.

Todays Latest News

Centre declares Maoists a terrorist organization

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday banned the CPI (Maoist) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, calling it a terrorist organization.

Home ministry sources said the decision was taken at a high-level meeting.

"The decision has been taken to ban CPI (Maoist) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as a terrorist organisation," they said.

CPI (Maoist), which is the main Naxal group in the country, has been bracketed with 34 other organizations including LeT and SIMI who are in the list of banned outfits.

West Bengal's ruling Left Front on Monday said it was against banning the CPI (Maoist) and will counter such outfits politically, days after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stated that his government will give a serious thought to proscribing the Naxals.

"We have decided that such outfits, which follow misguided politics, cannot be countered by banning them. It is important to counter the activities of these outfits politically," Left Front chairman Biman Bose said.


Air India to cut employee costs by up to Rs 500cr a year

NEW DELHI: Air India is working on plans to reduce its expenditure on employees by Rs 500 crore per annum, with a newly formed committee re-examining wage and other agreements in consultation with the unions.

The cash-strapped airline's employee cost currently is over Rs 3,000 crore annually, a company spokesperson said, adding that the airline was now targeting a reduction in employee cost to the tune of Rs 500 crore per annum.

At present, the merged carrier has around 31,000 employees.

One of the six panels set up recently is the Cost Rationalisation Committee, comprising officials of HR and finance departments.

The committee has been directed to discuss cost rationalisation and reduction of wasteful expenditure with employees' unions and submit its report by July 15.

The spokesperson said that the committee would examine the wage agreements, including those relating to flying allowances and productivity-linked incentives.

The five other committees that have been formed are the Committee on Integration, Committee on Green Initiatives, Committee on Safety, Committee on Customer Feedback and Route Rationalisation Committee.

The management has held at least two rounds of talks with various Air India
employees unions in this regard, with the union leaders coming up with several suggestions to cut costs.

The spokesperson said the company was looking at improving productivity of employees, eliminating restrictive work practices and reducing wasteful expenditure.

He said the airline would maintain its normal schedule of flights and appealed to passengers to continue to book for their travel "as usual".

The unions are, however, sticking to their agitation plan that began today with employees on duty wearing black badges to protest the decision to delay the payment of this month's salary by a fortnight. The management has also asked the airline top brass not to take their July salary.

At his meeting with them here yesterday, AI CMD Arvind Jadhav sought the employees' cooperation in reviving the airline which was reeling under a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore.

Assuring their cooperation with the management to cut costs, leaders of Air Corporation Employees' Union (ACEU), Aviation Industry Employees' Guild (AIEG) and Indian Aviation Technicians Association (IATA) suggested that many staffers wanted to be transferred to the low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, with lower salaries, while others were ready to accept leave without pay for two years.

The national carrier has approached the government for infusion of funds by way of equity, soft loans and a grant. The airline has started making payments on aircraft deliveries which are part of its orders for 111 planes worth about Rs 50,000 crore.


Al Qaeda threatens to use Pak N-weapons against US

Dubai:If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired on Sunday.

Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda's Taliban allies in the Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands.

"God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda's in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

Abu al-Yazid was responding to a question about US safeguards to seize control over Pakistan's nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters came close to doing so.

"We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated (in Swat) ... and that would be its end everywhere, God willing."

Asked about the group's plans, the Egyptian militant leader said: "The strategy of the (al Qaeda) organisation in the coming period is the same as in the previous period: to hit the head of the snake, the head of tyranny -- the United States.

"That can be achieved through continued work on the open fronts and also by opening new fronts in a manner that achieves the interests of Islam and Muslims and by increasing military operations that drain the enemy financially."

The militant leader suggested that naming a new leader for the group's unit in the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Basir al-Wahayshi, could revive its campaign in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.


30 terrorists killed in Pak, rebels attack Army bases

Islamabad, June 22: Pakistani security forces have killed over 30 militants in fresh fighting in Swat and the Waziristan tribal region, where the security forces carried out retaliatory air strikes after the Taliban launched attacks on several military bases.

Reports from North and South Waziristan said about 20 militants and two women were killed in attacks by fighter jets that were carried out after the Taliban struck at four military bases overnight.

Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said 14 militants were killed during the past 24 hours in fighting in Malakand division, which includes Swat valley.

Militants fired rockets and mortar shells at an Army airport, a residential colony and a fort manned by security forces in South Waziristan last night. Ten rockets were also fired by militants at a military base in North Waziristan, TV news channels reported. There were no reports of casualties in these attacks.

The security forces responded by targeting militant positions with air strikes and artillery barrages. Reports said a training camp was among the militant positions that were targeted.

Abbas told a news briefing that the military was engaged in positioning forces and preparatory manoeuvres before launching an operation in Waziristan against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud and his network.

Indian Business News

Govt may hike petrol price by Rs 2 a litre, diesel by Re 1

NEW DELHI: Government may increase petrol price by Rs 2 a litre and diesel by Re 1 per litre unless excise duty on the two fuels is cut to neutralise the impact of firming international oil rates.

State fuel retailers Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum lost Rs 135 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and their annual revenue loss for current fiscal is estimated to be at Rs 38,700 crore.

The basket of crude oil India imports has averaged $70.49 per barrel in the second fortnight of June against the May average of $58, sending alarm bells ringing, a petroleum ministry official said.

China Mobile denies deal with Reliance Communications


BEIJING: China Mobile Ltd., the leading mobile telecommunications operator in China, has clarified that it has no plans to invest in the Indian market.

It denied a report in an Indian newspaper, which was later circulated by an international agency that the company is in talks with Reliance Communications Ltd. about a strategic partnership.

"Currently, China Mobile has no plans to invest in the Indian telecom
market," the company’s spokeswoman Rainie Lei told TNN on Monday.

"I have seen the news report in India and checked. There is no deal," she said referring to a report that said the two companies had preliminary talks of 5-6% equity partnership.


"We have to act to save our PSU," he said. "The burden (of rising global oil prices) has to be shared equally between the companies, the government and consumers."

PSUs lose Rs 2.96 a litre on diesel and Rs 6.08 per litre on petrol. "One-third of this or Rs 2 per litre on petrol and Re 1 on diesel can be passed on to consumers," he said.

The rest of the losses would be covered by issue of government bonds to the retailers and subsidy sharing by upstream firms like ONGC.

"If the finance minister Pranab Mukhejree cuts excise duty on the two fuels, consumers can be spared from price hike," he said. Petrol attracts an excise duty of Rs 11.35 per litre and diesel Rs 1.60 a litre. Besides, Rs 2 a litre road cess is levied on the two fuels.

Google India not liable for material on blogger, it tells HC


Mumbai:Google India, the Indian subsidiary of US-based software giant, on Monday contended in the Bombay High Court that it does not control the publication of content on blog-hosting website 'blogger', and is not liable for the same. Blogger, popular blogging service, is owned by Google Inc.

Earlier, a single judge of High Court had restrained Google from hosting any blog containing defamatory material about Dr Aswhin Mehta, a city-based cardiologist.

Though the offensive blog-posts were removed, the Google India has now filed appeal against this order before division bench, saying that blog-hosting company can not monitor what is posted on blogs all the time.

Secondly, Google India, the Indian subsidiary, is not responsible for defamation through blogger, said its lawyer Iqbal Chhagla.

"Blogger service is provided by Google Incorporation (based in US). We (Google India) are not a party to agreement between Google Inc and those who use blogger... We have no liability or responsibility for content of blogger," he argued.

Chhagla further argued that unlike the publishers in print media, the blogging service, which facilitates publication of a blog, can not control what is being posted all the time.

"Google only provides a platform", he aruged, adding that because of single judge's order, it will be held in contempt if any fresh offensive blog about Dr Mehta is comes up. The matter will be finally heard on July 7.

Indian Sports News|Sports News


Pakistan erupts in celebration after Twenty20 triumph

Karachi:Pakistan erupted in celebration last night as Younis Khan and his men won the Twenty20 World Cup defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets at Lords, London. The city of Karachi reverberated with fireworks as people thronged onto the streets to celebrate the national team's victory in the Twenty20 World Cup, a rare moment of joy for Pakistani citizens amid continuous blood bath.

Heavy fireworks went off as soon as the last run was scored with people chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad' and 'Pakistan cricket team zindabad' as the national team won its first World title after 1992. "It is a historic moment for all of us. Younis and his boys could not have given the Pakistani people a more appropriate gift at this time," former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said.

The victory comes at a time when Pakistan is struggling to cope with rising militancy and terrorist attacks with a full scale military operation against the militants going in the Swat valley and some other tribal areas. "We have been waiting for two long years for this sweet moment. It was heartbreaking when we lost to India in the last final. Today our players have given us lot to celebrate about," Abdullah, a pan shop owner said here as sounds of firecrackers reverberated all around.

Youngsters attired in green T-shirts and holding posters of Shahid Afridi poured onto the streets with many of them using motorbike horns to express their delight. Since the start of the match, the streets remained deserted as people were glued to the television either at home or private clubs, parks, restaurants, elite coffee shops and tea stalls as people remained engrossed in the action with every wicket and boundary being cheered loudly. "It is a big step forward for Pakistan cricket. To win the World Cup at a time when Pakistan cricket has also been hit by security issues is a big tribute to our players. Younis Khan deserves a lot of credit for uniting the team into a fighting unit," former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said. Cellular companies said their SMS and call services had been flooded after the final with people exchanging congratulatory calls and text messages. "Our lines are choked but we expecting this," said Shahzad a customer services officer at a cellular company.

Afridi may become Pakistan's next T20 skipper


Karachi:Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who after guiding Pakistan to the Twenty20 World Cup title in Sunday's final expressed willingness to lead the national team atleast once before calling it quit, may soon get the opportunity. The dream of Afridi, who cracked an unbeaten 40-ball 54 to help Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets at the Lord's, may come true after Younis Khan stepped down as the T20 skipper.

Having regained his sublime touch with the bat and his bowling already being a potent weapon, Afridi is now most likely to succeed Younis as the T20 skipper. "For the time being Shoaib Malik is ruled out of contention for captaincy at any level and the way Afridi has performed and handled new found responsibilities as a senior player, he is certain to become the Pakistan captain for T20 cricket," one Pakistan Cricket Board official said.

If Afridi comes at the helm of country's T20 squad, his first assignment will be the one-off match against Sri Lanka on August 12 during their tour to the island nation. And indications are that Afridi will also be taking over as Pakistan's ODI captain if Younis decides to play the Test matches only. "That might be far off as Younis has his eyes set on the 2011 World Cup," the official said.

While asked about his desire to captain the team, Afridi earlier told a leading Urdu daily, "That is my ambition because it is an honour to lead your country." Afridi also admitted that at one stage when he was not scoring runs during the last two years, was so frustrated that had seriously thought about ending his career. "But it was my bowling that kept me going because my bowling had improved and was a big plus for the team that is why I hung on. I am happy that I have finally found my batting form in this tournament," he said. "I told Younis I wanted to bat higher up because I was not getting enough time to settle down and play long innings. There was too much pressure on me to go and just start hitting out. He said if I had confidence I should bat higher up," Afridi added. Afridi is now destined to a hero's welcome back home when he returns to Karachi on Monday.


No Indian in ICC T20 squad for men

London:Reflecting their failed title defence, not a single Indian cricketer made it to International Cricket Council's special team of the Twenty20 World Cup for men announced on Monday. The ICC special women's team, however, included Indian pacer Rumeli Dhar in it. A five-member panel picked the 11-member men's team, led by Pakistan captain Younus Khan.

The team, including 12th man Lasith Maligna, contained four players from Pakistan, three each from South Africa and Sri Lanka and two from the West Indies. The women’s team, led by England skipper Charlotte Edwards, included five players from the winner, England, four from beaten finalist New Zealand and one each from Australia, India and Sri Lanka.

Both teams include the respective players of the tournament, Tillakarante Dilshan of Sri Lanka and England’s Claire Taylor. The men's team was chosen by a select group of experts, including former England pacer Jonathan Agnew, cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop, Twenty20 World Cup Tournament Director Steve Elworthy, ICC Match Referee Alan Hurst and Indian journalist Sharda Ugra.

The women's team was selected by ICC Match Referee Chris Broad, former England captain Clare Connor, Steve Elworthy, commentator Alison Mitchell and journalist Jenny Roesler. Teams (in batting order): Men: 1. Chris Gayle (West Indies), 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), 3. Jacques Kallis, (South Africa), 4. AB de Villiers (South Africa), 5. Younus Khan (Pakistan, captain), 6. Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), 7. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), 8. Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, wicketkeeper), 9. Wayne Parnell (South Africa), 10. Umar Gul (Pakistan), 11. Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka); 12th man: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)


Co-hosts unwilling to let Pak host 2011 WC matches

Karachi:Sri Lankan cricket committee chairman, Somachandra de Silva has made it clear that co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh doesn't want Pakistan to host any of the 2011 World Cup matches.

In an interview to the 'Jang' newspaper, De Silva said that at the meeting of the representatives of the World Cup joint host countries, this had been made clear to the Pakistan board Chairman, Ejaz Butt.

"We also don't agree to Pakistan's proposal of them hosting their share of matches at neutral venues," he added.

Silva said the host countries felt that only countries who were joint hosts of the World Cup should have the right to organise the matches and not anyone else.

"We have offered Pakistan that they would be paid the full hosting rights fees nearly USD 1.1 million even if they don't host the matches. The countries that host their (Pakistan's) share of matches would forego the hosting fees for these matches," he said.

De Silva revealed that Pakistan had first insisted on hosting the World Cup matches at home.

"Pakistan then proposed hosting their matches at neutral venues. Both proposals were rejected by the other host nations," he added.

De Silva said now the dispute over the World Cup matches would have to be resolved at the annual ICC meeting.

However, he ruled out any possibility of the host countries accepting Pakistan's proposal to shift the World Cup to Australia and New Zealand and have the 2015 tournament in south asia. "The World Cup will not be shifted out of Asia at any cost," he said.