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Election News

CD could get Chandrababu Naidu in EC trouble

Tuesday April 14, 2009, Hyderabad:Two days before the first phase of elections in Andhra Pradesh, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu could be in some serious trouble with the Election Commission.

An audio CD made available to NDTV and now with the Election Commission claims to contain recorded conversations of Naidu with his party candidates. The voice on the tape apparently tells them to go all-out and spend money in order to win in the elections"

"I am telling you again and again, this time all have to spend money. I have never said this before in any election. First time, I am insisting. Because we need to win. To win, you must get together all your resources and spend money, mobilise money. Then systematically organise the spending. Money should reach upto the booth committee. In the next 16 days, in 2-3 instalments or 3-4 instalments, money should reach every booth.''

The audio CD was handed over Andhra's Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao on Tuesday. It is claimed to be a recording of a teleconference the TDP president held with his party functionaries on the first of April.

Says Rao: "Chandrababu Naidu is said to have spoken about spending and distributing money. We have got two complaints. We will examine them and send our report to the EC for further action.''

Naidu has neither denied nor confirmed that it is indeed his voice on the tape but says it is a doctored audio CD.

That political parties spend large amounts of money on elections is an open secret. The ceiling for spending for a parliamentary constituency is 25 lakh rupees and for an assembly it is 15 lakh rupees. There are no amounts mentioned in Naidu's so called teleconference. So how much he is referring to and whether it will invite EC action is anyone's guess?

Last day of campaigning for Phase I of Lok Sabha polls

Tuesday, April 14, 2009:It's the last day of campaigning today for the first phase of polling on the April 16 and making a last ditch effort to reach out to undecided voters are Sonia Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab where he will be holding his first rally.


Priyanka Gandhi in Amethi, Mayawati in Jaipur and Narendra Modi in north and central Gujarat.

Rahul's rally will be at Talwandi Sabo where Raninder Singh, son of Captain Amarinder Singh is facing a tough fight from the Badal family.

In the first phase, polling will be held in 17 states. One-twenty four of the 543 seats in Parliament will be decided in this phase.

The states going to the polls in the first phase include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and some seats in Orissa in the east, Jammu and Kashmir, 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Bihar, 6 in Jharkhand in north India, 13 seats in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh in the west and Andhra Pradesh, Kerala Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep in the south.

Manmohan, Advani face-off in Parliament House

New Delhi:

The effect of the war of words between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition L K Advani was evident as they came face-to-face in Parliament on Tuesday at a function to commemorate the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.

The two leaders shook hands briefly but the warmth was clearly missing as Singh went about his business greeting others and later paying floral tributes to the portrait of Ambedkar.

Singh was seen chatting with Vice President Hamid Ansari with a bemused looking Advani sitting between the two leaders.

Advani has been attacking the Prime Minister calling him a "weak leader" in his campaign speeches for the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh took a swing at Advani saying that the BJP "iron man" was was quick to melt when held to the fire during the Kandahar hijacking incident.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said Congress did not do justice to Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar and ignored the late leader while nominating the members for the Constituent Assembly.

"I believe, Congress did not do justice to Dr Ambedkar," Advani said in a function to celebrate birth anniversary of the Dalit leader in New Delhi.

"Today, we know that he was the maker of the Constitution. But this did not happen naturally. When Congress nominated around 290 members for the Constituent Assembly, his name was not there," Advani said.

Taking on the Congress for the episode, Advani said that when a leader from Bengal saw that his (Ambedkar's) name was not there in the list, he offered his seat.

Congress-BJP fight gets bad, bitter, boorish

Tue, Apr 14, 2009New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani have become the focus of a nasty argument between their parties. Each party claims its leader is stronger, and the argument is getting discourteous.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that Singh had pampered terrorists. "What was the Congress doing during the Indo-China war of 1962? I want to ask the Prime Minister who is saying that Advani was wringing his hands. What was the Congress doing with their hands then? Today also thousands of acres of Indian land is with China," said Modi at a public rally in Balasinor town of Kheada district on Tuesday.

"Even today half of Kashmir is occupied by Pakistan, what kind of strength does it show? I want to ask if the Prime Minister is kneeling down due to helplessness of Congress or is it part of your habit?" asked Modi.

Modi alleged that Singh had fed terrorists who had sieged the Charar-e-Sharif shrine in Srinagar in 1995.

"I today allege that under the Narasimha Rao government, when Manmohan Singh was finance minister, the Congress had given safe passage to five terrorists in Charar-e-Sharif of Kashmir after providing them a feast of chicken biryani for seven days".

The Chief Minister also did not spare Home Minister P Chidambaram.

"Instead of attacking Pakistan what they did was made a CD of TV footage of Mumbai attack, made a file of newspaper cutting, put them in a box and the home minister took it to the US. There they cried that our neighbour has beaten us, please help us," Modi said. "This is perfect example of helplessness of the government,” Modi said.

Business News

Tech Mahindra joins top tier with Satyam

Mumbai:

Tech Mahindra won a bidding auction for a majority stake in fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd, edging out Larsen & Toubro, seen by some analysts as the favourite bidder.

Tech Mahindra's shares surged by a quarter, before trimming gains.

Before Satyam's scandal was disclosed in January, Satyam was ranked India's fourth-largest outsourcing firm and Tech Mahindra was sixth-largest so the combined firm, even allowing for overstatement of accounts by Satyam, is expected to be the top-tier outsourcer.

The Satyam buy will help Tech Mahindra, in which Britain's BT Group holds about 31 per cent stake, diversify its services by reducing its reliance on the telecoms industry.

The sale should help restore confidence in the local industry at a time the economic downturn has already slowed growth. So, the sale is supportive for leading Indian outsourcing rivals Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro.

Leading IT companies have always maintained Satyam was a one-off, not a reflection of the broader industry.

Tech Mahindra gets more than half its revenue from Europe, and the Satyam purchase would help it significantly expand its presence in the United States.

Tech Mahindra played the bid well, being most publicly reluctant to commit and continually expressed worries over Satyam's liabilities.

It has been three months and one week since India's biggest corporate scandal

broke, and the government has been keen to limit the impact of the scandal. The decision comes just days before month-long voting in national elections starts.

Tech Mahindra to pay $351 million for 31 per cent preferential allotment of new shares, then to make open offer for further 20 per cent at 58 rupees a shares, valuing the company at about $1.1 billion on paper.


Microsoft’s free training for jobless

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp announced that it would be giving away more than 30,000 vouchers over the next 90 days to help unemployed people in Wash

ington state get new computer skills.

The vouchers will entitle them to take computer classes for free -- either in person or online -- and take Microsoft certification exams at no or low cost.

At a news conference in Seattle, Gov. Chris Gregoire commended Microsoft for stepping up to the challenge of helping the nation come out of the recession stronger.

"When this downturn ends, we will need more skilled workers ready to enter the job market. Microsoft's generosity will provide thousands of men and women the skills they need to work with the software that runs our businesses," Gregoire said.

Washington's WorkSource job centers across Washington started giving out the vouchers on Monday. Washington state had the 17th highest unemployment rate in the country last month with a jobless rate of 8.4 per cent.

The vouchers are part of a new national programme Microsoft announced at the National Governors Conference in February. Elevate America hopes to offer job training to as many as 2 million Americans over the next three years.

Sue T Carter of Bellevue picked up one of the first vouchers. She said she has been working part time for more than two years and really needs to find a job that will help her pay her rent, because she is less than a month away from eviction.

Carter earned several college degrees years ago and has picked up most of her computer skills on her own, but she knows companies seek employees with professional training.

"Knowledge is power and I'm willing to do anything to make myself a more viable candidate in the workplace," Carter said. "It always makes you more viable if you've got more skills to offer."

She expressed enthusiasm that the training programme is not costing taxpayers anything. Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel, said the company also is excited about the public-private partnership because it will help both people and businesses.

"This programme is all about equipping people with the new skills they'll need to get a job in the changing economy," Smith said.

The free training will be for Microsoft software, from basic technology literacy to intermediate-level courses on programmes such as Excel and PowerPoint.


IPL Cricket News

Confident Dhoni the best skipper: Laxman

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 (Hyderabad):He has played under Sourav Ganguly and four other captains but stylish batsman VVS Laxman rates current Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the best, saying he is calm and exudes a lot of confidence.

"Dhoni is one of the best captains I played under," said Laxman, who debuted under Sachin Tendulkar and then played under Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

"He is so calm and composed. He exudes a lot of confidence. It's a great feeling to play under him," he said in an interview on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old right-hander also lauded opener Gautam Gambhir, who was adjudged man-of-the-series in India's Test series win over New Zealand.

"Gautam really played well. Especially, in the second innings of Napier Test. Batting for more than 10 hours requires a tremendous effort. It was great. He carved and then paced his innings well and played his natural game. It was a very important knock during that match.

"I always call him 'run machine'. He has the appetite for runs. He was consistently doing well in domestic circuit and it was really pleasing to see him start performing at international level."

Laxman felt in the Delhi duo of Virender Sehwag and Gambhir, India were "lucky to have a great openers who demoralise the opposition bowlers."

The elegant Hyderabadi batsman also gave credit to coach Gary Kirsten and his support staff for creating a good atmosphere in the Team India dressing room.

"Also the way Gary (Kirsten) is coaching, credit should be given to him and the support staff (Paddy) Upton, (Venkatesh) Prasad, Robin (Singh), all of them have been a great help to all the players," he said.

Laxman, one of the architects of India's historic win in New Zealand, said the epic Kolkata Test of 2001 was the inspiration for the side when it was forced to follow on in the second Test against the Kiwis in Napier.

Laxman said when India was following on after being bowled out for 305 in reply to the Kiwi's 619 in Napier, they recalled the Kolkata Test against Australia and Gambhir went on to score 137 in a marathon 10-hours 43-minute innings.

Laxman himself remained unbeaten on 124 to help India salvage a draw in the match. India's series triumph in New Zealand was the team's first in 41 years.

"There's obviously a lot of similarities. We always remember the Kolkata Test in such circumstances. It (Eden Test) was a historic one that continues to inspire and give confidence whenever you're in trouble," Laxman, who had scored a career best 281 to turn the table on Australia in the Eden Test, said.

The wristy batsman said India -- now on the third spot with 118 rating points in the ICC rankings -- were close to becoming the number one side in the world.

"It was very satisfying for all of us to be a part of history. More importantly, the win gives more confidence now. We are very close to becoming number one in Tests which is our main aim. We are consistently winning Tests abroad," Laxman said.

Laxman said India actually picked up confidence to defeat big teams after their epic 2-1 Test series triumph over Australia, who had won a record 16 Tests on the trot.

"It started changing in (March) 2001 after our historic win in the Eden Test. In fact, that series in totality was a turning point for the Indian cricket. Since then whenever we travel abroad, we have been doing very well.

"After that my first overseas tour was Zimbabwe and we won there. We won another Test in the West Indies... then in England in 2002. Slowly we started winning abroad. Thereafter, we were all very keen do well abroad."

Laxman, who rose to 15th spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, said: "I am very pleased to see my performance. I contributed especially in both the innings (in Napier). I relish performing under pressure. It was one more good knock. Really glad that I could able to contribute for the team's success it makes one happy."

Another reason for success in New Zealand, Laxman said, was the pre-conditioning camp ahead of the Test series.

"It was good that we landed there almost 15 days before the start (of Test series). It was a huge help for most of us. How much you practice in Indian conditions, it's difficult to adapt overseas. We got an opportunity to play first class matches there and it really helped us."

With India's next Test series -- against Sri Lanka --more than four months away, the Deccan Chargers batsman in the Indian Premier League said he was looking forward to the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

After IPL II, Laxman will play for English county Lancashire.

"My county stint for the next four months will keep me actively involved playing cricket till our next series against Sri Lanka," he signed off.

SRK apologises to Gavaskar, stands by Buchanan's theory

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 (Mumbai):Bollywood superstar and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL team Shah Rukh Khan, who had criticised Sunil Gavaskar on the issue of multiple-captaincy, has now apologised to the legendary batsman.

"I have not said anything against Gavaskar. I just wanted to have a breathing space to try something new. I have sent him an apology letter if he felt so because he was in America that time," Shah Rukh said before his departure to South Africa, last night.

He said, "due to the wonderful methodology that television applies, that comment was for people who don't understand cricket and are still telling me how to run the team."

"If Gavaskar asks me to walk on my head and run the team, I would. Any thing that Gavaskar says that has to do with cricket, if he mentions, should be followed," the actor said.

The apology comes in wake of Shah Rukh's criticism of Gavaskar, who had lashed out at KKR coach John Buchanan for his proposal to have multiple captains in the team.

Shahrukh said the controversy had hurt him.

"People are making comments without understanding what the concept of multiple captaincy is," he said.

IPL perfect platform to prepare for T20 WC: Gambhir

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 (New Delhi)The Indian Premier League T20 tournament in South Africa will provide India the perfect platform to prepare for their title defence in the World Twenty20 Championships in England in June, feels charismatic opener Gautam Gambhir.

Gambhir said getting the opportunity to play some quality Twenty20 cricket during the IPL would definitely act in favour of the defending champions ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup.

"It's a blessing in disguise for us to play IPL in South Africa before the Twenty20 World Cup. We hardly get to play Twenty20 matches. But to get the chance to play 14 to 15 games in IPL against world class players will definitely help us in our preparations for defending the crown," he said.

Gambhir, who has been in dream form in the recent past and was adjudged player of the tournament during India?s historic New Zealand tour, feels any player's success in the international arena depends on his security in the team.

Meanwhile, Gambhir's Delhi Daredevils teammate and opening partner Virender Sehwag feels the bouncy South African pitches will not only assist fast bowlers but batsmen too can derive benefits from them.

"Pacers will undoubtedly have an edge in South Africa because of pace and bounce but that's good for batters too as they can play their shots on such conditions," Sehwag told reporters last night during a send-off event of the Delhi Daredevils team.

The swashbuckling opener, however, rued the opportunity of missing home crowd during the second edition of the IPL in South Africa, which was shifted out of the country this year as it clashes with the general elections.

"We will miss Delhi crowd in South Africa but hopefully, there will be sufficient support for us in South Africa."

Asked about the Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan's controversial? multiple captaincy? theory, Sehwag, who is also the vice-captain of the Indian team, said "No comments."

Interestingly, his team-mate and leg-spinner Amit Mishra ridiculed the concept and said a team should have one skipper for a series.

"There should be one captain for a whole series and I'm happy that we have captain in Viru (Sehwag)," he said.