MUMBAI: Heavy rains on Tuesday lashed Mumbai inundating low lying areas and paralysing normal life as river Mithi crossed the danger mark prompting authorities to evacuate people in coastal Kurla area.
A red alert has been issued after the river touched 2.8 metre, which is point one metre above the danger mark. Residents along the river coast in Kurla were shifted to nearby schools, civic officials said.
Three persons were injured after a tree was uprooted due to gusty winds in suburban Powai, police said.
Air, rail and road traffic were badly hit due to water logging in several places including suburban Andheri, Dadar, Hindmata, Juhu, Khar, Bandra, King Circle and Sion.
With forecast of high-tide of 3.89 metres, suburban rail services particularly in the Harbour and Central were stopped till further notices as there was waterlogging all along the tracks from Kurla in central Mumbai to CST in south Mumbai.
Western railways were running late by 40 to 45 minutes, officials said.
State authorities were in constant touch with disaster management cell and had discussions with naval authorities to gear up for emergency situations.
The Met department recorded 293.1 mm rainfall in the Santacruz observatory and 152.4 mm at Colaba in south Mumbai in last 30 hours.
Suburban Santacruz observatory recorded 145 mm of rainfall in six hours since 8.30 am, Met officials said.
The crucial Andheri and Milan
subways in the western suburbs were under 2 to 3 ft water and closed for traffic, civic officials said.
Roads leading to airport witnessed massive traffic jam with water logging at several places.
As many as 120 water pumps have been deployed to clear water from low lying areas. Ward officers have been deployed particularly along the banks of Mithi river, the officials said.
Several schools were closed and attendance was thin in offices with local train and bus services being affected by heavy rains.
The visibility at the airport was 600 metres. Incoming flights were delayed by 20 minutes while their departure up to an hour. Goa airport was also affected due to the heavy rainfall, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson said.
Swine flu scare shuts Google office in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Google India has had to shut down one of its offices in Hyderabad after one of the employees was confirmed to be suffering from the H1N1 flu virus.
Of the 250 employees in this particular office of Google, 95 were sent to the AP General and Chest Hospital on Tuesday to undergo the swine flu test. Of these, seven employees showed swine flu symptoms and were quarantined even as Google office shut its office for two days for its premises to be sanitised.
The Google employee who tested positive is part of the swine flu cluster of seven that was reported in the city on Monday. Each case in this cluster was infected by a techie who flew to Hyderabad from Houston on July 5. The Google employee had visited the techie at his residence last week.
"When this techie (who had flown from Houston) tested positive on Sunday, the Google employee got himself admitted at Chest hospital. He tested positive on Monday," said Dr K Subhakar, the H1N1 Influenza nodal centre coordinator. Dr Subhakar then contacted Google HR to find out if the employee had visited the office in the last couple of days after coming in contact with the infected techie. As it turned out, he had been to office on two days. "We then asked Google to screen the close contacts of this employee and send them to Chest Hospital," Dr Subhakar said. This resulted in 95 people visiting the hospital to undergo the test. While some were sent by the company, others were generally worried about having contracted the infection.
An official statement released by Google said that one of its contractual workers in Hyderabad had been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and was hospitalised. "As a precautionary measure, we have closed the concerned office in Hyderabad for two days, 14th and 15th July, and are taking all necessary steps, including sanitising of common areas, to protect our employees.
However, Dr Subhakar said that there was no need for any company to shut down. "They just have to screen people, be proactive and send only those with symptoms to the hospital," Dr Subhakar said, who is currently handling calls from various IT firms seeking his appointments for a video-conference with their employees on swine flu awareness.
Meanwhile, three more tested positive for swine flu on Tuesday, taking the Hyderabad's statistic of the infection to 34. These cases include a35-year-old woman, a software professional who flew down to the city from Florida on Sunday, a 29-year-old techie who came to the city from Sydney and a 28-year-old businessman from Hyderabad had gone to Thailand for work.
The results of 21 more suspect cases are still awaited.
Pause in talks will only benefit terrorists: Pak to India
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he would hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the margins of the NAM summit in Egypt with an "open mind" as he believed any "pause" in bilateral dialogue would benefit terrorists.
"If talks were on pause, that benefited the terrorists," Gilani told reporters in Islamabad before embarking on a four-day visit to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
He said he would approach his parleys with Singh with an "open mind".
"Both countries were moving in the right direction but because of the Mumbai incident, there has been a pause in the composite dialogue," Gilani said.
He said his talks with Singh on the sidelines of the NAM summit were aimed at restarting the stalled peace process. More interaction between the two countries will prove beneficial, he said.
The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries will hold talks on Tuesday in Sharm el-Sheikh to chalk out the agenda for his meeting with Singh, he said. Singh and he would also decide on "the issues to be discussed" when they meet, Gilani added.
Pakistan believes in cordial relations with all countries, particularly its neighbours, he said. Gilani also said his visit to the NAM summit was "extremely important" as he would meet several world leaders.
This will be the second meeting between Gilani and Singh. They earlier met on the sidelines of a SAARC summit in Colombo.
India put the composite dialogue on hold in the wake of last year's Mumbai attacks. It has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, for planning and carrying out the attacks that killed nearly 183 people.
India honoured by France as Maratha Regiment leads parade
Paris: In a rare honour, an Indian Army regiment marched down the famed Parisian boulevard of Champs Elysses on Tuesday as PM Manmohan Singh received the honour of being the first foreign leader to be chief guest at France's national day parade.
India was the focus as France celebrated 220 years of being a republic - when the storming of the Bastille prison signalled the uprising of modern nation states around the world.
Singh, who became the first Indian leader to be the Chief Guest at the French celebrations, said this reflects the friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries and the cordial ties between their armed forces.
His remarks follow an impressive military parade which was opened with a detachment of 400 soldiers from the three defence services of India, who were attired in ceremonial uniforms and marched to the tunes of 'Saare Jahan Se Achchha' and 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Jaa'.
"The magnificent parade we have witnessed dramatises its strength and dynamism of this great nation," the Prime Minister said in a statement after the event, which was held amid tight security and witnessed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni and other top dignitaries.
"It was an honour for India to have a contingent representing all three services of our armed forces leading the parade," Singh said, adding he was delighted to be participating at the National Day of France.
"It normally rains every July 14," said a local queuing up to watch the parade while another added that the sky had been overcast for the last week.
But there was not a cloud in the sky as French President Nicholas Sarkozy drove down from an open jeep from the Arc de Triomphe waving to the crowd lined up on either side of the road to begin the celebrations.
While the skies roared with jets trailing flumes of blue red and white - France's colours, the street below followed the same pattern. Only this time, it was the Indian contingent that led the march.
Beginning what the French called dismounted troops parade were the red turbaned men of the Maharashtra Light Infantry who began the march from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was decapitated after the revolution.
Then came the Indian Navy in the snow-white uniforms followed by the squad of the Indian Air Force in the familiar blue. The band of the Indian armed forces struck familiar tunes, ringing the sound of India far away as they marched towards the saluting dais where waited Sarkozy and Manmohan Singh -- who with this visit reaffirmed the warmth of the relationship between the two countries
Kambli denies making remarks against Sachin
MUMBAI: Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli on Tuesday denied having accused his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar of not helping him enough and Kambli denies making remarks against Sachin said such reports had left him and his family shattered.
Kambli, who studied with Tendulkar in the 'Shardashram' school, said he had never spoken anything against Tendulkar in a reality TV show and termed the report as "completely baseless".
"I have never said anything against Tendulkar. He is my friend for 26 years, people should know that I will never say such a thing against my friend. He is currently in London and I will meet him soon," Kambli told reporters.
The 37-year-old former batsman apologised to Tendulkar for the inconvenience cause to him and his family by the report.
"We share a very good family relationship
and I and a lot of my friends are shattered by this. My family is also shattered by this," he said.
Asked from where such a report emanated, Kambli said "I don't know but its is completely baseless. I condemn it. I don't do anything for publicity. I know people love me and I have fans who love me. I will not do anything for cheap publicity.
Kambli is reported to have said that Tendulkar did not help him when he was on decline. "We are very close... We were very close. He could have done a little more, but he didn't," Kambli is quoted as saying by a newspaper.
Indian Business News
Economy showing signs of recovery: FM
New Delhi:The Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said on Tuesday the economy was showing signs of recovery and the government has to borrow more in the fiscal year to March 2010 to meet its spending needs.
Pranab Mukherjee also said higher investment was needed to return the economy to a higher growth path.
"But at the same time I do believe it is not possible to maintain this level of borrowing unless we have higher growth, higher income," he told parliament.
Indra Nooyi named CEO of the Year
New York: Beverages major Pepsico's India-origin Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi has been named as 2009 CEO of the Year by Global Supply Chain Leaders Group (GSCLG) for promoting socially responsible business practices.
The CEO of the Year award recognises industry leaders who have made extraordinary contributions in responsible corporate citizenship, the combat against global warming, involvement in social causes and creating jobs in America in a globalised economy.
Nooyi's key contributions include promoting and supporting socially responsible business practices, including climate change, the GSCLG said in a statement.
US-based GSCLG is an association of senior supply chain executives, magazine editors, selected consultants and other supply chain thought leaders who come together to share and enhance their rich intellectual capital for the benefit of its members and their organisations.
Further, Nooyi was also instrumental in the company's efforts to provide a wider portfolio of nutritious foods and beverages and her commitment to global citizenship was evidenced by her multi-year growth strategy, it said.
The award is presented to the individual who receives the highest aggregate ratings in leading, developing and maintaining sustainable, responsible business practices in its global operations.
Govt bailout on cards for Air India: Praful
New Delhi: Government is contemplating capital infusion by way of equity and soft loans for the cash-strapped Air India which has deferred the future aircraft delivery in the backdrop of mounting losses of Rs 7,200 crore.
"....An equity infusion and soft loan by the government as a measure of softening the adverse financial situation (of Air India) is contemplated," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Rajya Sabha.
Responding to a Calling Attention Motion on Air India, he said the airlines has adopted various measures to improve its financial position.
These included rescheduling/cancellation of future aircraft delivery, rationalisation of routes, manpower and incentives of employees, he said.
The airlines, which was forced to defer payment of June salary to majority of its staff, has piled up a loss of Rs 7,200 crore as on March 31,2009. For the fiscal 2008-09, it is estimated to have incurred a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore in a difficult global aviation market.
Air India has placed orders for a total of 111 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus for its fleet replacement and expansion programme.
Observing that the national carrier had adopted several measures to improve its financial bottomline, Patel said decision to reschedule or cancel future aircraft deliveries had also been taken.
It was planning to return its leased planes at the earliest, he said, adding that rationalisation of routes to cut losses on traditionally loss-making ones has been done.
Noting that Air India's equity base was only Rs 145 crore, the Minister said "the government, in the past, has never assisted Air India unlike governments in other countries that have assisted their airlines in similar difficulty."
Indian Sports News|Sports News
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 7 wickets, win series
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka clinched their first home series against Pakistan after the temperamental tourists suffered a spectacular collapse in the second Test on Tuesday.
Pakistan, sitting pretty at 285-1 just before lunch on the third day, crashed to 320 all out after the break to leave Sri Lanka
a victory target of 171 for a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka cruised home by seven wickets with two days to spare, skipper Kumar Sangakkara leading the way with a fluent 46 after opener Malinda Warnapura made 54.
Of the previous five series between the two nations on Sri Lankan soil, Pakistan had won three and drawn two, but the tourists had only themselves to blame for allowing the hosts to re-write history.
Pakistan's meek surrender against the second new ball came after debutant opener Fawad Alam hit a superb 168 and shared a record stand of 200 for the second wicket with skipper Younus Khan (82).
The partnership was Pakistan's highest for the second wicket against Sri Lanka, surpassing the 151 by Mohsin Khan and Majid Khan at Lahore in 1982.
The 23-year-old Alam batted for more than six hours to amass the highest score by a Pakistani batsman on Sri Lankan soil, surpassing the 151 by Salim Malik at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo
in 1997.
But Pakistan lost their last nine wickets for 35 runs, their third successive collapse in the series that highlighted their reputation as one of the most unpredictable sides in modern cricket.
Pakistan had seen eight wickets fall for 46 runs on the fourth morning of the Galle Test when just 97 more were needed to win the match.
The tourists then crumbled for a paltry 90 in 36 overs on the first day of this Test after electing to bat on a wicket that provided assistance to the seam bowlers.
Sri Lanka did not feel the absence of star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, out of action with a knee injury, as left-arm slow bowler Rangana Herath claimed 5-99 and seamer Nuwan Kulasekera took 4-37.
Skipper Younus himself triggered the collapse just before lunch when he gifted his wicket, top-edging an ambitious reverse sweep off part-time spinner Paranavitana to the wicket-keeper.
Sangakkara's gamble to hand the new ball to spinner Herath, man of the match at Galle, paid off handsomely.
Herath trapped veteran Mohammad Yousuf leg-before with his second delivery as the batsman missed the line of a straight ball after making six.
Kulasekera had Misbah-ul Haq leg-before for three before Herath ended Alam's long vigil at the crease by having him edging an easy catch to Warnapura at short-leg.
Kulasekera caught Kamran Akmal plumb in front of the wicket and Herath bowled Shoaib Malik after the former Pakistan captain had smashed the previous delivery for a six.
The last three batsmen were leg-before in quick succession.
The dramatic collapse undid Pakistan's remarkable fightback in the match after they had fallen for 90 on the first day.
The bowlers, led by Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, had hit back to dismiss Sri Lanka for 240 before Alam and Younus made light of a first innings deficit of 150 runs.
The third and final Test starts at the Sinhalese sports club on July 20.
Muscle injury forces Jeev to pull out of British Open
TURNBERRY (Scotland): A nagging muscle injury forced Jeev Milkha Singh to take the painful decision of pulling out of the British Open on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old Indian, who has played 10 Majors in his career and made the cut in six of them including a top-10 at PGA Championships last year, came to Turnberry hoping he had recovered from the inter-costal muscle injury which has dogged him since the European Open almost two months ago.
But after hitting balls Monday and Tuesday, Jeev found that he was still way off full fitness.
And Tuesday he decided that he was not "upto the desired fitness levels" and therefore took the "agonising decision" to pull out of the year's third Major.
"It is always a tough call, but one that had to be taken. Last month when I struggled at the US Open in Bethpage, I had decided that henceforth, I would not tee up in a less than 100 per cent fit state in a Major. I am sticking to it. There is no point in aggravating the injury," Jeev said.
"I am going to rest and then try and get fit for the WGC and the PGA Championships," added Jeev, who was paired with South African Rory Sabbatini and Englishman Anthony Wall.
Another Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar was looking confident of making his Major debut. The 20-year-old Indian has made rapid strides since he turned professional at the end of 2006 after winning a team silver at the Asian Games in Doha.
"I am looking forward to my first Major. This was the Major I always dreamt of since I was young. I want to make my first visit a memorable one," Bhullar said.
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