23 July 2009, 06:23pm IST: On Board Special Aircraft: India on Thursday asked Pakistan to "show the same force" in fighting anti-India terrorists on its soil as it has done in combating the Taliban and other anti-West militants.
"Pakistan has taken certain steps like fighting the Taliban in the Swat valley," external affairs minister SM Krishna told journalists when asked if Islamabad was showing commitment in fighting terrorists who target India.
"We expect Pakistan should go after the terrorists, who are targeting India, with the same force," he added.
He was interacting with journalists while returning from the Thai island resort of Phuket, where he participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting.
Asked about Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed, suspected to be a mastermind of the Nov 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Krishna said Pakistani authorities had made an appeal in court against his recent release. "The law should take its course," he said.
"Pakistan should take action against any head of a terrorist organisation working against India," he added.
Kasab's 'confession' accepted on record, 26/11 trial to continue
MUMBAI: On a day of drama, Mohd. Ajmal Amir Kasab's lawyer decided to withdraw from the 26/11 terror attack case but later retracted even as the special court on Thursday ordered that the trial of the Pakistani gunman will continue.
Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi told the court that he would like to pull out of the case as his client has lost confidence in him but later said he will continue to represent him.
Special Judge M L Tahilyani, hearing the case in the high security Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai, said the trial will continue as Kasab has confessed to the basic offence but not pleaded guilty to 86 charges slapped on him.
The judge told 22-year-old Kasab, "Aap ke khilaaf 86 charges frame kiye the. Apne sab nahin kabool kiye hain, lekin gunaah kabool kiya hai. Isiliye court ne decision liya hai ki yeh case chalega. (There were 86 charges framed against you. You have not pleaded guilty to all of them. You have confessed only to the basic offence. That is why the court has taken the decision to continue with the trial)."
To this, Kasab just said "theek hai "(okay). Taking everyone by surprise, Kasab had on Monday pleaded guilty to his involvement in the attacks at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and other locations. The terror strikes by Kasab and nine others in Mumbai had left 183 dead.
In his order, the judge said the court has come to a conclusion that Kasab's statement should be taken on record and considered at an appropriate stage as evidence.
The court instructed the prosecution to continue with the trial and produce witnesses.
"The prosecution's stance is totally vindicated by the order of the court," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the court.
"The court has accepted our contention that Kasab has not pleaded guilty for the entire incident and did not confess to all the charges. The court has said that his admission of guilt can be taken on record and will be considered at a later stage," Nikam said.
The prosecution had argued on Wednesday that Kasab's confession be taken on record but the trial should be allowed to continue since the gunman had not admitted to his guilt in all the offences in which he was involved.
However, the defence lawyer had argued that Kasab should be sentenced if his plea was accepted. Else, the court should reject it and not take the statement on record at all.
As the hearing commenced, Kazmi said, "Sir, I feel I should withdraw at this stage. He (Kasab) does not take me into confidence and I will recuse myself."
The judge then explained to Kasab in Hindi that his lawyer has gained an impression on his having no confidence in Kazmi and hence wants to withdraw.
"Maine aise kuch nahin kaha hai (I have not said anything like that)," Kasab said.
The court then told Kasab to speak with his lawyer and clear any misunderstandings between them. "It appears he has certain misunderstandings. Your duty is to clear it and I do not think it is a big issue," the court said.
India denies receiving ‘counter terror dossier’ from Pak
New Delhi: India denied having received any dossier from Pakistan about its alleged involvement in terrorist acts there, including one on the Sri Lankan team, a day after media reports in Islamabad claimed that a dossier was given to New Delhi on the issue.
"We have not received any such dossier," sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in New Delhi.
The Dawn, a leading Pakistani English daily, had claimed on Wednesday that Islamabad has handed over to New Delhi a dossier containing "comprehensive evidence" of Indian involvement in several terrorist acts on its soil, including the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March.
The dossier with proof of "India's involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan" was handed over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during their recent meeting at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the newspaper claimed quoting sources as saying.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor described the charges of India's involvement in terrorist acts as "preposterous" and said "it is not wise for us to react to media reports.
"But we don't believe that deflecting responsibilities for things that are happening in the disfunctioning of the state to their neighbours who have conducted themselves very differently is a very healthy practice."
Denying that India has received any dossier from Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said, "No such dossier was given in Egypt...It is entirely wrong."
Asked if the government sees these charges as a game, she said it was not good on Pakistan's part to do anything like this if they want to take the relationship with India forward.
I was treated like a terrorist in jail: Rita Joshi
Lucknow:Accusing the Mayawati government of foisting false cases on her, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said on Thursday that she was treated like a terrorist in the jail.
"I was implicated in false cases and was treated like a terrorist in the jail. Torching of my house (in the state capital) was also state-sponsored," she told reporters in Lucknow.
Joshi said she was not settle anything less than a CBI probe into the arson incident at her house on July 15, adding without such an inquiry, "real culprits cannot be nailed".
The state Congress chief had moved a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the attack on her house. It will come up for hearing tomorrow.
The Congress would launch statwide protests, including fill the jail stir, from August one if the demand for a CBI probe was not met by then, the UPCC chief said.
Nilekani takes over as head of UIAI
NEW DELHI: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Thursday took over as head of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) which has been tasked to create a national database of identity details of citizens.
Nilekani said the first set of database will be ready in 12 to 18 months time as announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech.
"We will be issuing the first set of identification numbers in 12 to 18 months," he told reporters here.
Nilekani said Ram Sevak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, will take over as Secretary and CEO of the organisation.
Nilekani, who was appointed as head of UIAI on July 13, said it will take few weeks for them to "get the team together"
"We will use biometrics....but we still have not decided what that set will be," he said.
"It will take us few weeks to stabilise and figure out the team size. It will take us few weeks to get our thoughts together," he added.
Indian Business News
Talks on with MTN on deal: Bharti
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd said it is still in talks with South Africa's MTN over a deal which could see a merger of the two telecom giants with a combined revenue of 20 billion dollar.
The two companies would be in exclusive talks till July 31.
"Talks are going on between Bharti Enterprises, the parent of Bharti Airtel, and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. to form a global business combination," Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and MD, Bharti Enterprises, said.
Gupta didn't elaborate any further.
Bharti Airtel and MTN had in May revived talks over a complex USD 23 billion combine that would create one of the 10 largest companies in the mobile telecom sector. Their merger talks last year had fallen apart as they could not reach an agreement on a management structure.
If successful, the combined wireless group will have more than 200 million subscribers and a combined revenue of USD 20 billion.
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The Indian telecom major is exploring a potential transaction whereby it would acquire 49 per cent in MTN, and in turn, MTN and its shareholders would acquire approximately 36 per cent economic interest in Bharti.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has exempted MTN from making an open offer to Bharti shareholders.
The market regulator, however, said the open offer would be triggerred only once the global depository reciepts (GDRs) are converted into local shares with voting rights.
Sensex closes above 15k, adds 388 pts
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex spurted nearly 388 points on Thursday on aggressive buying by funds, triggered by better-than-expected corporate earnings and firming Asian markets.
Market players covered pending positions amid reports of good quarterly earnings by blue-chip stocks and this further supported the rally.
The Sensex, which had lost 220 points in the previous day's trading, rebounded to end with a gain of 387.92 points at 15,231.04 as 28 stocks among the 30 in Sensex gained and two settled with losses.
The key index moved between 15,264.84 and 14,997.75.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 124.85 points to 4,523.75. It touched the day's high of 4,532.40 and a low of 4,405.95.
Brokers said the rally on other Asian equity markets with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rising by 2.96 per cent and encouraging quarterly earnings by blue-chip companies mainly buoyed trading sentiment.
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They said sentiment turned bullish on steady news of good quarterly earnings by pivotals led by ITC Ltd, and positive economic data boosted trading sentiment.
Major gainers that supported the Sensex were Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank, ITC Ltd and Maruti Suzuki. All the five carry nearly 34 per cent weight on the index.
Indian Sports News|Sports News
Colombo: Sri Lanka face an uphill battle to save the third Test against Pakistan after closing on 183 for three chasing a huge 492-run victory target on Thursday.
The hosts started their chase positively with an opening stand of 83 either side of tea, but lost the wickets of Malinda Warnapura (31), Tharanga Paranavitana (73) and Mahela Jayawardene (two) in the final session.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara, dropped on 40 by Younus Khan, was unbeaten on 50 at the close with Thilan Samaraweera on 20.
The biggest challenge for the hosts will be the leg spin of Danish Kaneria, who followed his first innings five-wicket haul with two for 56 from 16 overs.
Kaneria found sharp turn and bounce on the dusty-dry pitch, snaring the left-handed Warnapura at leg slip and finding the outside edge of Jayawardene's bat with a big leg break.
Off spinners Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik also applied pressure, the latter claiming the wicket of Paranavitana caught at short leg.
Pakistan set the hosts a daunting target when they declared shortly after lunch on 425 for nine having added 125 runs during the day.
Pakistan resumed on 300 for five and Sri Lanka struck early with Jayawardene taking a fine diving slip catch off a thick outside edge to remove Kamran Akmal, who had scored a brisk 74 from 80 balls including seven fours and a six.
The breakthrough ended a punishing 133-run sixth-wicket stand between Akmal and Shoaib Malik.
Malik top-scored for Pakistan, riding his luck in the morning as Sangakkara missed a catch and stumping, with 134 from 240 deliveries including 13 fours and two sixes.
S.Africa to World Cup fans: enjoy, then go home!
Johannesburg: As South Africa gears up to host next year's football World Cup, it is taking steps to make sure the fans go home when it's over. South Africa, the strongest economy on the continent, has an estimated 3 million to 5 million undocumented African immigrants in a population of 47 million, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations, and their presence has already sparked bloodshed.
Now some are predicting eased entry procedures for the monthlong tournament will make things worse. George Khola, 36, a Ghanaian who sells fruit and vegetables at a Johannesburg market, is sure that the migrants numbers will soar with the approach of the games. "This is the chance," he said. "The whole of West Africa will come."
Others say that with or without the World Cup, the migrants will keep coming in search of jobs, or as refugees from persecution and poverty. "We know that South Africa is a magnet for migration on the continent," said Morne Fourie of the government agency that regulates immigration. Dr. Darshan Vigneswaran, a migration expert at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand, says they'll keep coming because entry is easy enough by paying a bribe at the border.
The government says it is working on ways to balance welcoming the fans and making this an event for the whole continent, without compromising borders. "This is Africa's World Cup, not just South Africa's," Fourie said.
South Africa is spending nearly $145 million to streamline entry for the games. It is the first World Cup host to offer an "event visa" for visitors from countries lacking visa-free arrangements with the host government. They will have to show a purchased match ticket, an address while in South Africa and a return ticket home. Immigration officials will run spot checks on the addresses and deport overstayers. But finding them could be difficult. Once inside South Africa, it should be easy to melt in among the illegal immigrants already here.
Hodge left out as Australia name 30-member CT squad
Melbourne: With a view to build a team for the 2011 World Cup, Australian selectors included three new faces while leaving out batsman Brad Hodge in the preliminary squad of 30 for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in September in South Africa.
Tasmania wicketkeeper Tim Paine, Victoria spinner Jon Holland and New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques figured in the probables' list for the September 22 to October 5 tournament. The squad must be trimmed to 15 players by August 23.
The squad does not include controversial all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who was sent back home from England on disciplinary grounds just before the start of Twenty20 World Cup besides scrapping his Cricket Australia contract.
Fast bowler Brett Lee, who suffered a side-strain injury just before the first Ashes Test, and injury-prone all-rounder Shane Watson also made the cut.
National Selection Panel Chairman Andrew Hilditch said the squad was picked with a view to rebuild a side for the 2011 World Cup as well as to make it strong enough to defend the Champions Trophy title which they won in India in 2006.
"The Australian side is currently in a rebuilding phase as we prepare for the 2011 ICC World Cup, following the loss of so many important players from the 2007 World Cup-winning team.
The ICC Champions Trophy is a key event in international cricket and a very important one for Australia as we look to lift our ODI performances to retain this trophy," Hilditch said.
"The squad recognises the performances of our proven one-day international players, the strong performance of the Australia A side in the recent one-day series against Pakistan A and the performances of our interstate players in the Ford Ranger Cup. The squad sees the inclusion of several exciting young players who we see as potentially very important to our future including Phillip Hughes, Callum Ferguson, Moises Henriques, Jon Holland, Tim Paine and Clinton McKay," Hilditch said.
Test cricket not dying: Ganguly
London: Refusing to paint a gloomy picture of Test cricket, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said the five-day game poses no serious threat from other formats and for a player it will always be the ultimate form of cricket.
With the ever-growing popularity of T20 cricket, there is growing fear that the traditional format of the game is in danger of dying a silent death, but Ganguly would beg to differ. "Test cricket will survive and other cricket will also survive because Test cricket has to survive," Ganguly told reporters today at Oxford, where he is attending the ICC's History Conference. "Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket and I know for sure players will be remembered with what they do in Test matches," he added.
Ganguly praised current Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said the side has what it takes to be at the top of world cricket. "India is a fantastic team at present. If they keep performing as they have in the last two or probably three, four, five years, in future they will definitely be the number one in the world," said India's most successful skipper. Ganguly had some special word of praise for Gautam Gambhir, who recently rose to the number one spot in ICC Test batsmen rankings. "Gambhir and Dhoni are fantastic players. I am particularly very happy to see Gambhir getting there, being the number one Test batsmen because that's what complete batting is all about," Ganguly said. "I have seen him young, he is a left-hander and it is great to see him do good for India," he added.
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