Srinagar:On a day of high drama, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tendered his resignation to Governor N N Vohra asking him to go into a senior PDP leader's allegation of his involvement in the 2006 sex scandal and accept it if he was guilty.
The Governor is reported to have observed that he would be able to consider Omar's resignation only after being fully informed about the details of the allegation against him and verifying its basis.
The Governor has asked Omar to continue to discharge his responsibilities as Chief Minister till a final decision is taken, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said in a statement.
Vohra, who was on his way to the airport to leave for Delhi to attend to certain engagements, deferred his departure on receiving a message that the Chief Minister wanted to meet him urgently.
The spokesperson said Omar requested the Governor to inquire on a time-bound basis into the allegations made against his moral character by former Deputy Chief Minister Muzzafar Hussain Beigh, a PDP MLA, in the assembly on Tuesday and to "immediately accept his resignation in case the Governor is satisfied that there is any basis therein."
An emotional Omar drove to the Governor's residence at 3 PM shortly after announcing in the assembly that he will submit his resignation and stay out of office till his name is cleared, refusing to yield to pleas by National Conference and Congress MLAs not to step down.
"Those who lead must not only be clean but also look to be clean. At the end of the day one has is one's personal credibility and self respect. Both of these Mr.Beigh tried to snatch from me through the charges he levelled," Omar said in his resignation letter.
Gas row: Anil Ambani says petroleum ministry biased
MUMBAI: Reliance Natural Resources chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday accused the petroleum ministry of being biased in the legal dispute with brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries over the price of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin.
Addressing shareholders of the company, he also said the government would not lose a single rupee even if the gas from the fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast were to be supplied to his company at the originally contracted price of $2.34 per unit.
"The gas price of $2.34 per unit was not decided by two brothers on the dinner table," Anil Ambani said, adding the price was based on the prevailing global oil scenario and legitimately approved by the Reliance Industries board in 2005.
Last month, the Bombay High Court had asked Reliance Industries to supply 28 million units of gas to Reliance Natural Resources for 17 years at $2.34 per unit, after assigning 12 million units to the state-run power utility NTPC.
Reliance Industries challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, which heard the case July 20 and fixed Sep 1 as the next date of hearing. It also asked all the parties to file their replies on the government position on the matter by then.
Anil Ambani said his Reliance Natural Resources was not claiming ownership of the gas assets as was being made out by the petroleum ministry but only staking the legitimate claim over the supplies, based on a corporate agreement.
According to him, if the government so desired, it had ample leeway to even take over the gas assets. He also sought to bring to light what he called were questionable actions by the oil ministry ever since changes were made at its top level in 2006.
"For the record, I want to emphasise that the government does not stand to lose even a single rupee even if Reliance Industries sells the gas at lower than approved valuation price to any party," he contended.
"If Reliance Industries gets a higher sale price from us based on the price of what the petroleum ministry wants to fix for the first few years, 99 percent of all revenues and profits will go to Reliance Industries," he said.
"Only a measly 1 percent will accrue to government of India."
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said he could not comment on the scathing accusations levelled against his ministry by Anil Ambani as the matter was subjudice.
Anil Ambani said Reliance Industries, founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, was misusing its power as India's largest company and the near monopoly it enjoyed over natural gas production.
"It is unfortunate that Reliance Industries has tried every trick in the book, and apparently several outside the book, to back out of its solemn, legal and contractual agreement."
Metro mishap: Gammon India faces 2-year ban
New Delhi: Delhi Metro blamed "deficiency" in design and material for the Zamrudpur site mishap which killed six people and decided to issue a show-cause notice to contractor Gammon India asking it to explain why it should not be blacklisted for two years.
Making public the details of the three-member probe panel that went into the collapse of an under-construction bridge in Zamrudpur, DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan said the board of directors of the organisation have "accepted the probe report in total".
The DMRC also placed two deputy engineers, who were responsible for design and material, under suspension.
"We have accepted the report in total. The unfortunate incident took place due to design deficiency and material deficiency. The cantilever design was not adequately taken care of and provision of steel at different points were not adequate," he told reporters in New Delhi.
"The committee found out that there was a deficiency in the design of the cantilever arm and that the concrete did not have adequate strength due to lack of (its) adequate curing," Sreedharan said.
"We have decided to issue a show-cause notice to Gammon India asking it to explain in 21 days why it should not be blacklisted on the Delhi Metro contractors list for two years. We will be sending the notice shortly," the DMRC chief said.
He said a "major penalty chargesheet" has been issued to Chief Engineer (Design) Rajan Kataria "which could even mean his termination from service."
Oz to crack down on migration scams targeting Indians
Melbourne: Australia promised to crack down on migration scams targeting Indian students in the country with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith saying the government will tighten regulation on migration agents.
Smith said the scams about ripping off foreign students would be looked into by immigration and education authorities and dealt with "no tolerance".
Speaking from Singapore, Smith told ABC channel "Of course it's very concerning on both fronts."
"On the migration front, when we were in Opposition we did express significant concerns about the regulation of migration agents, and as a consequence we've recently seen a migration regulatory authority come into existence to regulate that industry better," Smith said.
"But any of these abuses, of course, we won't tolerate and don't tolerate. And the cracking down, so far as the migration agents' regulatory arrangements are concerned, will assist in that process," he said.
On Monday night, ABC's 'Four Corners' programme reported that hundreds of private colleges in Australia were offering courses such as hairdressing and cooking, luring Indian students with false promises of permanent residency in the country.
The programme said migration agents told the reporter she could buy a fake English language certificate needed to gain residency for between USD 2,400-4,100.
The expose were the latest to hit Australia's USD 14.2 billion international student sector -- the nation's third largest export earner -- after a series of violent attacks on Indian students in cities like Melbourne and Sydney.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the attack on an Indian-born journalist who had exposed the scam while working undercover for the 'Four Corners' programme.
Indian Business News
Banks have scope to reduce lending rates: RBI
Mumbai: Reserve Bank Governor D Subbaro said there is scope for banks to lower lending rates further.
"Banks say that the demand for credit is picking up on the back of investment in projects...Banks have scope to reduce the lending rates," Subbarao told in his customary post-credit policy press conference, justifying the bank's decision to keep the key rates unchanged.
The RBI governor said bankers informed him that the demand for credit in certain segments like home and retail is picking up, which was a welcome sign.
Subbarao said he saw visible signs of economic recovery. However, he said, there are certain risk factors in the economy, especially in the farm sector, given the uncertainty over the monsoon.
He expressed concern that the performance of farm sector could have a spill over effect on the industrial sector as well.
Subbarao also felt that exports have not picked up, recording a slowdown for the last eight months. Though exports form only 15 per cent of the GDP, it could pose risks to the economic revival, he said.
Harsh Lodha moves Calcutta High Court
Kolkata: The late R S Lodha's son Harsh Vardhan Lodha questioned whether shareholders' right to elect a chairman could be curbed while moving an application in the Calcutta High Court challenging a Company Law Board order on Birla Corporation's AGM.
Appearing before Justice Aniruddha Bose challenging the CLB interim order that he could not be elected Chairman for the AGM, Lodha's solicitors Fox and Mandal also questioned whether the board could interfere with convening a company's AGM in accordance with the Companies Act.
Lodha, however, did not seek any interim order and Justice Bose directed the Lodhas and the Birlas, who are fighting several court cases over the assets of the M P Birla group, to argue their cases.
The court admitted appeals by both Lodha and Birla family-controlled Rameshwara Jute Mill against the CLB order and directed that it would hear Lodha's appeal first.
The Supreme Court had on Monday refused to stay the AGM of M P Birla group flagship Birla Corporation and asked Lodha to seek relief from the Calcutta High Court.
Birla Corporation Director Pracheta Majumdar, chairing the AGM, had adjourned the meeting till August 24.
Time Warner buys back Google’s 5% stake in AOL
New York: Media conglomerate Time Warner has purchased back Google’s five per cent stake in ailing internet firm AOL for USD 283 million, a price much lower than what the search engine major paid for buying the shareholding in 2006.
Three years ago, Google snapped up the five per cent stake in AOL for USD 1 billion.
“On July 8, 2009, Time Warner repurchased Google’s five per cent interest in us for USD 283 million, which included a payment in respect of Google’s pro rata share of cash distributions to Time Warner by AOL attributable to the period of Google’s investment in us,” AOL said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
Time Warner has bought back the stake as part of its efforts to spin off AOL into a separate entity from itself.
Following the buy back of the five per cent shareholding, AOL has become a 100 per cent subsidiary of Time Warner.
Going by the filing, the alliance with Google has been beneficial for AOL and has generated good revenues over a period of time. The revenues associated with the Google relationship stood at USD 677.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.
During the same period, AOL’s total revenues touched USD 4.17 billion.
In May this year, Time Warner unveiled plans for complete legal and structural separation of AOL from the group. Once the spin off is complete, AOL would be an independent, publicly-traded company.
Indian Sports News| Sports News
Bowlers these days are lazy, says Akram
Tuesday , Jul 28, 2009: Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram, in Delhi on a two-week trip as a bowling variation and strategy coach at a new pace academy, admits that he lacks the patience to work full-time. At the same time, he has a lot of patience while speaking on a subject that is close to his heart. In an interview with The Indian Express on Monday, Akram spoke at length about the nuances of pace bowling, how mastering swing is harder than reverse swing, and on how bowlers, of late, have become lazy. Excerpts:
There’s a raging debate on Twenty20 eventually pushing out ODIs, and Test cricket losing spectator appeal. Do you endorse these views?
• I think ODIs will be phased out. The power plays have somewhat stretched the interest levels but even then, the middle overs are a bit boring from the spectator’s aspect. Having quit the game, and watching from outside, I realise how boring it can be to watch a one-day match. I get bored even commentating during a one-dayer. However, I can’t understand the fuss behind protecting Test cricket. You don’t need anyone to save Test cricket. The format is still revered by cricketers, and if you provide good tracks, people will watch it. I watched the Ashes, one match went so close and other was such a fascinating win. Contests like these will take care of Test cricket.
Flintoff reveals fitness regime to keep his Ashes dream alive
London: Andrew Flintoff has revealed the intensive fitness regime that he hopes will allow him to lead England to Ashes victory over Australia.
Flintoff has been struggling with a persistent knee problem which has already forced him to announce his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes series.
It had been reported that the Lancashire star may not even be able to finish the series but, with England leading 1-0 with three Tests remaining, Flintoff has no intention of quitting now.
In an attempt to be ready to take part when the third Test starts at Edgbaston tomorrow, he has been sleeping with a special compression machine on his troublesome joint.
"After the Test match at Lord's last week my knee was a bit sore but I've been icing it and getting treatment from Lancashire physio Dave Roberts," he told talkSPORT.
"I've been in the gym and have to prove my fitness at training on Tuesday. After every session I've been icing it and now I have this machine that I put on the knee every night.
"It gets in the way a little bit. It wraps around my knee and it compresses it, half an hour on, half an hour off, throughout the night. Last week I bowled in some discomfort. But I managed to bowl my overs and get through. I managed to bowl at a decent pace so I'll hopefully prove that I'm fine and hopefully the weather will keep away on Thursday at Edgbaston."
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