NEW DELHI: Wary of further slippages in the capital's preparations, the Commonwealth Games Federation has decided to form an independent monitoring panel for the 2010 edition of the Games and bluntly reminded the Organising Committee that time was the "biggest enemy".
In a subtle message to the organisers, the CGF president Michael Fennell said that an independent technical panel will monitor the capital's progress so that it meets all the new deadlines, though Delhi could still host a successful Games event next year.
"I have no doubt that the 2010 Games can still be great Games, provided all corrective measures are taken and there is no further slippage," Fennell told reporters here.
“Every single CGF delegate is impressed with India's hospitality. We feel that the venues will be ready in time, but there cannot be slippages,” said Fennell.
He welcomed the decision to get more foreign experts on board but made it clear that the Organising Committee would be strictly monitored in their final year of preparation.
"The CGF Executive Board has decided to establish a high-level, independent, technical review panel, that will monitor the progress. This panel will comprise of Chairman and other members who will be experts in their field. They would give us monthly report on in an open, transparent fashion," said Fennell, who has been critical of the capital's tardy preparation.
The Commonwealth Coordination Commission would also maintain its monitoring, he said. M"The Commission will continue its visit and they would come next on December 14 to address all key areas and all operational areas," Fennell said.
Reminding that time was running out fast, Fennell said, "Two years before the Games, I had told the OC that time was not your friend and now one year before it, I say time is your enemy. But together, we can defeat it."
Fennell said a Chef-de-Missions meeting would take place in March next year where the head of the missions would take stock of the progress and return home accordingly.
The CGF chief identified infrastructure and security as two important areas and sounded confident with both.
"A great deal has been discussed and achieved. Despite lagging behind, we feel the venues would be ready in 2010 well before testing events. That remains a top priority because venues cannot afford anymore slippage and it should be ensured that the new deadlines are met.
"We fully acknowledge the strong commitment of the Indian and Delhi government to complete the venues and Games Village on time and with due diligence, this can be done," he said.
On the safety aspect of the Games, Fennell said, "During the visit, we also witness the commitment of security. Everyone here for the CGF General Assembly felt they have been operation in a safe and secure environment and this can be extended to the Games itself.
Pak court dismisses FIRs against 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed
Pakistan's Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed the FIRs lodged under anti-terrorism act against JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed, who is the main
accused in the 26/11 terror attacks.
“Anti-terror law does not apply to Saeed,” the high court said while dismissing the two cases adding he could not be charged under the act as his outfit was not banned in the country.
A two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court issued the order in response to a petition filed by Saeed last month in which he had challenged two First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against him by police in Faisalabad city of Punjab province under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief is the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 in which more than 170 people were killed.
Saeed’s lawyer A K Dogar has all along claimed the case against his client was weak. Dogar told the court that his client was a "law-abiding" citizen. Neither Saeed nor the JuD is involved in any illegal activities, he claimed.
Pakistani police had registered the two FIRs under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Saeed for making speeches last month in which he incited people to wage jehad against infidels.
The cases were filed in connection with Saeed's visit to Faisalabad on August 27 and 28. While addressing the gatherings, Saeed reportedly highlighted the importance of jehad and incited his followers to wage war on infidels. "Saeed had also sought donations from the gatherings for jehad," a source in a law enforcement agency said.
During the hearing, the counsel for the Punjab government acknowledged that the JuD was not in the list of banned terrorist groups. He said the JuD was only included in the government's watch list after the UN Security Council declared it a terrorist organisation last year.
Saeed was placed under house arrest in December last year after the JuD was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council. He was freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court in June.
Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik has said on several occasions that the JuD had been banned, but official sources have said that no formal notification has been issued so far to proscribe the group.
India has been insisting that Pakistan should take action against Saeed for his alleged role in masterminding the Mumbai attacks but Islamabad has said the evidence provided by New Delhi against the JuD chief is not adequate for arresting or prosecuting him.
I have no faith in Indian court: Kasab
MUMBAI: After facing trial in the Mumbai attack case for nearly six months, the lone surviving Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab today said he had "no
faith" in Indian court and made a dramatic plea for transfer of the case to an international court.
But Judge M L Tahaliyani rejected 22-year-old Kasab's plea saying "it is misconceived".
"I have no faith in Indian court and this case may be transferred to an International court", Kasab said in an application to the court. He had moved the application written in his own hand in Urdu.
The application was filed through jail authorities who translated it into Marathi and produced before the court.
The judge asked Kasab whether he had written the application and he replied "ji huzoor" (Yes, Sir).
The trial of Kasab, whom police formally charged in February with several offences including "waging war" against India, began on March 23 via a video link with his Arthur Road prison in Mumbai. Kasab and other suspected Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives killed 166 people in a three-day rampage in the city on November 26 last.
In another development, the judge also rejected the plea of co-accused Fahim Ansari to stay the proceedings on the ground that he had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of the 26/11 case to some other court alleging that the recording of evidence was incorrect.
"This is yet another attempt by the accused to delay the trial", noted judge Tahaliyani while rejecting Fahim's plea to stay the proceedings.
J'khand-Bihar bandh: Maoists blow up rail tracks, telecom tower
Ranchi: Maoists on Monday blew up railway tracks and torched three trucks in Jharkhand and blasted a tower of a private telecom firm besides blocking roads in Bihar during a two-day shutdown called by them in protest against the Centre's decision to crackdown on naxals.
In Jharkhand, Maoists blasted railway tracks at Jharandih in the Coal belt Industrial Chord section in Dhanbad which led to the Shaktipunj Express and local trains being held up at various points, Senior Public Relations Officer of Dhanbad Rail Division Amrendra Das said.
A group of 12 armed Maoists also set fire to three trucks in Giridih district's Isri area and blocked the Dumri-Giridih road with felled trees, Giridih Superintendent of Police Ravi Kant Dhan said.
They also partially damaged a road bridge connecting Dumri to the Grand Trunk Road using explosives, the police officer said, adding gunshots were heard being fired in the area.
In Bihar, armed Maoists bombed a tower of a private telecom firm with dynamite at Salaiya village and dug roads in Aurangabad district, officials said.
They also dug up a 15 metre stretch of a road at Chanda village in the district disrupting traffic between Deo and Dhibra on Monday morning.
The Maoists left behind pamphlets claiming responsibility for the attacks, the sources said.
Indian Business News
Mumbai: Billionaire Anil Ambani's call to end a bitter feud with his elder brother Mukesh over the split of the Reliance business empire is unlikely to lead to a quick resolution before a hearing in a feud over gas supplies.
Shares in firms controlled by the brothers rose on Monday, on hopes for a resolution after Anil Ambani on Sunday made an impassioned call to end the impasse, but analysts said the gains may be short lived.
"The rise is just a knee-jerk reaction to Anil's comments yesterday," said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP-Paribas Financial Services.
The Reliance empire, which spans energy, telecommunications and financial services, was split between the brothers in 2005 following the death of their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, a legendary Indian business tycoon who built Reliance from scratch.
The siblings have since been involved in several disputes, the latest over a deal for Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries to sell gas to Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources at below-market rates as agreed in a 2005 family settlement brokered by their mother, Kokilaben.
RCom may have inflated revenues
New Delhi: A government appointed auditor is understood to have found inflation of revenues by Rs 2,915 crores by Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications in 2007-08, besides evasion of Rs 315 crore in licence fee -- findings termed as "biased" by the company.
When contacted DoT sources confirmed receipt of the report by auditors Parekh and Co and said that it is yet to examine the findings. DoT would ask for RCom's response later.
"RCom is in full compliance of licence terms and conditions," a company spokesperson said, adding that "Auditors' alleged comments are biased and appear instigated by corporate rivals... Premature leakage of confidential report to media reflects the Special Auditors' prejudice/bias.
"All revenues for FY'07 and '08 are correctly reported in RCom's audited account. Alleged comments of special auditor do not reflect any under-reporting of revenue... licence fees."
The special audit committee report that has been submitted to the DoT found that for FY'08 actual wireless revenue earned by the company was only Rs 12,298 crore as against Rs 15,213 crore reported to the shareholders, which is an over reporting of Rs 2,915 crore.
It also found that RCom evaded licence fee and spectrum fee to the tune of Rs 315 crore.
DoT is awaiting the report of four other companies namely Tata Teleservices, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea from the respective auditors appointed by it and the government, if warranted, will take necessary action after examining the reports.
Sources, quoting the report, said that the telecom firm may have also violated TRAI and DoT rules.
Indian Sports News
New Delhi: Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell says many of the reports on Delhi's tardy preparations for the 2010 Games are "not quite accurate" and the government of India is paying full attention to hosting the event successfully.
"We are coming here in the midst of many adverse reports about Delhi, reports that are not quite accurate," Fennell, who has been quite critical in his assessment of Delhi's preparedness in the past, said while inaugurating the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in New Delhi.
"But one conflicting fact is that attention is being paid by the government of India through (Sports) Minister M S Gill, who has given qualified assurance that all the resources that are necessary to ensure the successful celebration of the Games in 2010 will be provided by the government," he added.
Fennell, who has inspected various venues including the Games village in the past couple of days, had shot a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month expressing concerns about the preparations.
Meanwhile, Sports Minister M S Gill also sought to assure the CGF of Delhi's preparedness, saying the capital would host the Games successfully and the city should not be compared to previous hosts like Melbourne.
"This is not Melbourne. This is not Glasgow. This is 15 million people in one of the greatest cities in India. We are Team India and the government of India is in total support without hesitation," he said at the CGF General Assembly inauguration," Gill said.
"This (organising ) committee has been given a renewed and expanded mandate that it will take all steps and all decisions as necessary to see the Games are ready and complete and properly done for the good name of India," the minister added.
Stung by Cobras, RCB and Otago to fight for survival
Bangalore: Both smarting from their defeats at the hands of Cape Cobras in their tournament openers, local favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore and New Zealand's Otago Volts would be desperate to put their campaigns back on track when they meet in their second group C match of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament here on Monday.
Anil Kumble's Royal Challengers and Craig Cumming's Otago Volts were both stung by South African side Cape Cobras in their respective opening matches, leaving them with no other option but to raise their game if they are to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the league stage of the tournament.
The Royal Challengers lost to Cobras despite a good batting performance and it was a mixture of poor bowling and JP Duminy's batting pyrotechnics that did them in. Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor have shown that they are in good nick and any batting order that includes the likes of Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher is bound to keep their opponents sleepless nights.
But for the Bangalore side, bowling remains their biggest chink in the armoury and their inability to defend a 180-run target against the Cobras expose the frailties of their leather-flingers. Praveen Kumar has been among the wickets but could not stem the run flow while Vinay Kumar, Roelf van der Merwe and even Kumble looked clueless against Duminy.
The IPL runners-up might still prevail over their Kiwi opponents tomorrow since Otago's was a worse performance against the Cobras. The side Craig Cumming allowed the Cobras to post 193 and chasing the target, folded for 139 in 17-odd overs.
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