BEIJING: China on Tuesday tried to be deliberately subdued in its reaction to the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese foreign ministry restricted itself to expressing strong dissatisfaction with India on the issue.
Indian foreign ministry officials were expecting a stronger reaction from the Chinese government after the state-run media accused New Delhi of orchestrating the Dalai Lama visit. The local media quoted an expert with a government-run think-tank saying the visit was organized by the Indian government to further strengthen its case on the border dispute.
"The Indian side allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed eastern section of the China-India border regardless of China's grave concerns, and China is strongly dissatisfied with this," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at the briefing.
Qin said China firmly opposed the Dalai Lama's visit to the region. The visit "fully exposes the Dalai Lama's separatist nature." Qin said. "His attempt will not succeed," he said.
The recent meeting between Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is believed to have had a positive impact on Beijing’s approach towards India, sources said.
The subdued statement is also the Chinese way of expressing appreciation for New Delhi’s decision to disallow foreign journalists from covering the visit. By doing this, India has shown it was not interested in defaming China on the global scene and Beijing took the hint, sources said.
The Chinese foreign ministry waited for the routine briefing on Tuesday instead of reacting to the visit on Sunday. This is a significant show of patience after weeks of angry statements from Chinese officials denouncing the Tibetan leader’s plans for visiting Arunachal Pradesh.
China also wants to give the impression it is able to manage its relationship with India at a time when US president Barrack Obama is due to visit Beijing later this month, sources said.
Control over naxal-infested areas in 2-3 years: PC
New Delhi: Making it clear that the Maoists would not be allowed to have a free run, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said control over the naxal-infested areas would be regained in the next two to three years.
"I am confident that in a period of two to three years we will be able to gain total control over these (naxal-infested) areas," he said in an interactive session at the India Economic Summit here.
Chidambaram said since he took over as Home Minister, the states have got involved in tackling the naxal menace and "there is now co-ordinated action against the CPI(Maoists)".
The CPI(Maoists) believe in armed liberation struggle and want to expand their area of influence, he said adding that a democratic republican government cannot allow this. "We have to assert our authority," the Home Minister said.
Chidambaram said it was wrong to think that India was more vulnerable in the "crosshairs of many groups" and asserted "we have the capacity to thwart any attack should there be any attack".
He said the government has the capacity to contain naxal menace in a "swift and decisive manner".
Noting that states are now taking counter-insurgency measures against naxals, he said, "we have had significant successes and we have suffered some casualties too".
Chidambaram said the government had also offered to hold talks with the naxals provided they abjured violence.
He sought to assure the business community about the security situation in the country saying "We are no more vulnerable than any other country in the world.
Indian-origin student among 4 South Asians stabbed in London
LONDON: Four people suffered stab wounds after a mob of white and black youths set upon Muslim Asian students - including at least six of Indian origin - near the prestigious City University in north London, police and student groups said on Tuesday.
Three students and a passerby who tried to intervene had to be hospitalised with facial and head injuries when a 30-strong mob armed with knives, metal poles, bricks and sticks attacked South Asian students Thursday, police said.
A spokeswoman for the university, which is ranked among the world's top 500 and has a large number of international students - including many from India - said the university did not have the "record of nationalities from the police incident report".
Asked to check the nationalities against their names in the university records, she said: "I do not think that would be appropriate."
However, a spokesman for a nationwide body of Muslim students told IANS those targeted by the mobs included at least six students of Indian origin.
"We are trying to find out if any of them are Indian nationals," said Qasim Rafiq of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS).
Apart from the stabbing victims, two other men were also beaten in the violence, police said, adding three teenagers had been arrested so far.
Although the attackers were said to include blacks as well as whites, the incident comes amid a surge in violence instigated by white extremist groups in urban areas with large non-white populations, including London, its suburbs and Manchester.
Police said that earlier in the week, racists shouted abuse at a student going to a prayer room at the university, and later attacked him and other students escorting him to the underground train station.
One student suffered a fractured skull in the incident.
Detective Inspector Trevor Borley of the local Islington force said police patrolling in the area had been increased and "we are taking this matter very seriously".
Rafiq said: "We believe these attacks involved the same group but there have been sporadic attacks at other universities over the last year," adding the gang repeatedly shouted out "Get those Muslims" and "Paki".
City University Acting Vice Chancellor Julius Weinberg said: "We're shocked and saddened that some of our students have been the victims of an attack near the University," but added that London is "on the whole a safe, friendly and welcoming city".
Jessica Lall murder: Manu Sharma's parole party ends, returns to Tihar
NEW DELHI: Manu Sharma, convicted in the Jessica Lall murder case, returned to Tihar jail before expiry of his parole following mounting criticism that he violated parole norms. This had prompted Delhi government to ask police to investigate the allegations.
Sharma, 32, whose two-month parole was to expire on November 22, reported at the jail around 11.45 am, a top jail official said.
Sharma, who was released from jail on September 22 on ground of his mother's illness, was reportedly spotted in a nightclub in a hotel here on Saturday night. His mother was seen addressing a press conference in Chandigarh last week.
Actor Arjun Rampal, who co-owns a bar in a city hotel, confirmed that Manu was spotted there.
The reports triggered a major controversy with legal experts and opposition BJP alleging that he was granted parole under "political pressure" by the Delhi government, a charge strongly denied by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who said it was done within the ambit of the law.
Following criticism, the Delhi government asked the city police to investigate whether Sharma violated the parole norms by moving out of Chandigarh and paying a visit here.
Sharma should not have been present in Delhi as he was given parole under the condition that he will visit Chandigarh to meet his "ailing" mother, a top Delhi government official said.
"We have sought a detailed report from Delhi Police about whether Sharma visited the city," he said.
BSP wins 5 of 11 assembly seats, big blow to SP
Lucknow: Handing defeat to Samajwadi Party, the BSP on Tuesday succeeded in making deep inroads into the SP bastion. The blow was severe for the Samajwadi Party, as it not only lost from its stronghold of Etawah and Bharthana, but was also handed over defeat by the Congress from Firozabad parliamentary constituency.
Congress candidate Raj Babbar triumphed over Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of SP supremo by over 85,000 votes in Firozabad, where polls were necessitated after the seat was vacated by her husband Akhilesh Yadav.
The party's dismal show in Bharthana, the seat vacated by Mulayam Singh Yadav has put a big question mark on his hold in his home town. SP also faced major reverses in Haiser Bazar, Powayan and Isauli assembly segments, with the party candidate losing his deposit in Isauli and securing a third spot in Haiser Bazar.
The party had put everything at stake in Firozabad Lok Sabha seat by pitching Dimple Yadav and going all out to seek votes for the "bahu of the constituency."
Firozabad, the city of bangles had been one of the party's bastion primarily because of its sizeable Yadav population and also being adjacent to Etawah, the home district of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Samajwadi Party had camped in the constituency and had also pumped in "star power" summoning all the film stars associated with it to challenge the glamour quotient of not only Babbar, but also his Bollywood friends.
Party's national general secretary Amar Singh asking the electorate to teach a lesson to "traitor" Raj Babbar had a little impact, as the electorate showed a clear shift from SP to Congress in just six months time with Babbar winning hands down by a margin of over 85,000 votes.
Indian Business News
AI pays a month initiatives to pilots, may scrap PLI tomorrow
NEW DELHI: Faced with a strike threat by its pilots, Air India paid a month's incentives and allowances to its 30,000 employees as it prepares for a crucial meeting of its Board tomorrow to decide on major cost-cutting initiatives.
The Board, which would meet in Chennai, is likely to take a decision on a proposal to scrap the productivity-linked incentives (PLI) paid to its top managerial cadre, and adopt the financial accounts for 2008-09.
"The main agenda is adoption of accounts for the previous financial year," sources close to the development said. The Board is also likely to discuss route and capacity rationalisation as part of the cost-cutting proposals.
However, the pilots, who have warned of a strike from November 24 if their demands are not met by November 20, seem to be in no mood to relent.
"We have received our PLI/flying allowance, but it is only for August. The payment for September and October is still pending. We had given the management November 10 deadline to meet all our demands, but it has not," Capt V K Bhalla, who had led the five-day executive pilots agitation in September, said.
While the original strike notice given by the non- executive pilots is effective from today, the management was asked by agitating pilots, at a meeting with Central Labour Commissioner here yesterday, to decide on their demands by November 20 to avoid the strike.
Sensex snaps four-day rally to end lower 58 points
MUMBAI: Snapping a four-day rally, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday declined over 58 points on profit-selling even as the government said stimulus measures would continue till robust global economic recovery
The Sensex, which had gained 1,094.78 points in past four trading sessions, fell down to end with a loss of 58.16 points at 16,440.56 profit-selling at existing higher levels. Brokers said a steep rise in share prices in the past four days attracted profit-booking by traders.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 16.70 points at 4,881.70.
Marketmen said sentiment for profit-selling was so strong that even finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's positive remarks on stimulus measures did not boost the sentiment,
"There is need of generating strong domestic demand till robust recovery takes place all over the world, particularly the developed economies", Mukherjee said.
A higher trend in Asian and European stock markets also failed in support the market, they added.
In the 30-BSE Sensex-linked stocks, 8 shares, including Reliance Industries, closed higher while 22 ended in negative zone led by Infosys Technologies.
Sensex heaviest RIL gained 1.39% to Rs 2,052.60 while the second heaviest Infosys Technologies lost 0.71% to Rs 2,218.20.
Realty, teck, IT, capital goods, power consumer durable, auto and FMCG sector stocks declined.
RNRL accuses govt of changing stands
New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani firm RIL told the Supreme Court that the family MoU of 2005 was irrelevant for arriving at a suitable arrangement for the supply of gas to brother Anil Ambani's RNRL.
On its part, RNRL filed a fresh affidavit before a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, accusing the government of changing its stand on the gas row.
Continuing his arguments in the high-voltage case, RIL's counsel Harish Salve contended that for arriving at a suitable arrangement, the family MoU was irrelevant and the price of the gas has to be approved by the government.
However, RNRL in its affidavit objected to the involvement of Government in the gas dispute and alleged that the stand of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was "dishonest and collusive."
RNRL opposed the stand of RIL that the supply of gas from K G Basin at US dollars 2.34 per mmBtu was not feasible. It also questioned the increase in the capital expenditure (Capex) approval by the government to RIL from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 36,000 crore for enhancing gas production from 40 to 80 mmscmd.
RNRL said the approval by the managing committee, including Director General of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal, for the increased Capex was under CBI investigation.
"It is thus evident that even RIL's inflated Capex will result in a per mmBtu cost of 1.28 dollars. RIL is, thus, making tremendous profit even at US dollars 2.34," the affidavit stated, adding the fertiliser and power industries which are reeling under recession can ill afford to pay a higher price to fill RIL's pockets.
Indian Sports News|Sports News
Sreesanth surprise pick, Zaheer returns for Lanka Test series
MUMBAI: Temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, whose on-field antics have often landed him in trouble, was on Tuesday surprisingly included in India's 15-member squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka starting on November 16 in Ahmedabad.
Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan expectedly returned to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury, which had kept him out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the ensuing Champions Trophy in September.
The team to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni also includes Tamil Nadu players opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman S Badrinath, while pacers Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel were ignored.
Nehra did reasonably well in the ongoing One-day series against Australia, but failed to find a place in the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection panel here.
The selection of Sreesanth raised eyebrows as the Kerala pacer has not really done anything significant in the domestic circuit since recovering from a back injury.
The selection seems all the more baffling given the fact that the bowler, who has a history of disciplinary indiscretions, was only last month given a final warning by the BCCI to mend his ways.
The 26-year-old Sreesanth will return to the Test fold after more than a year having played his last Test in April 2008 against South Africa in Kanpur.
India last played a Test match in April this year against New Zealand and the players to miss out from that squad are pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and Dhawal Kulkarni.
Batsmen Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Praveen Kumar, who are playing in the ongoing series against Australia, were not considered for selection for the three-match Test series.
As expected, the veteran batting duo of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retained their places.
Barring Sreesanth's comeback, there were no major surprises in the squad, which has eight specialist batsmen, three pacers, three spinners and one wicket-keeper in Dhoni.
Zaheer's return will bolster the pace department which also has an off-colour Ishant Sharma, who has been retained despite his indifferent performance in last few months.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will lead the spin attack with leg-spinner Amit Mishra and young left-armer Pragyan Ojha supporting him.
While Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir will open the innings, Murali Vijay has been picked as reserve.
The middle-order has a stable look with Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Laxman and Yuvraj Singh forming a formidable line-up.
The Indian play the first Test in Ahmedabad followed by two more Tests in Kanpur (November 24 to 28) and Mumbai (December 2 to 6).
After the Test series, the Sri Lankans will play two Twenty20 matches and five One-dayers.
Team:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth and S Badrinath.
Pankaj Advani finally accepts Eklavya award
Bangalore: Two years after he had turned down the honour, reigning World Professional Billiards Champion Pankaj Advani on Tuesday accepted the Eklavya award, the highest recognition for a sportsperson in Karnataka.
He was presented a cheque for Rs 10 lakh at a function by State Home Minister V S Acharya.
Twenty four-year-old Advani, a Padmashree awardee, is the reigning IBSF World Billiards Champion (Time and Points Format).
The Bangalore sportsman, who had been conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2006), Arjuna Award (2004) and Rajiv Gandhi Award (2004), had earlier declined to accept the Eklavaya award in 2007, alleging the state government had adopted a discriminatory attitude to the sport.
"I had declined the award then because I felt that the government had not treated the sports on par with others. But I guess I do not like to hold grudges. This government has been proactive and recognised my achievements and I thought I should respond and accept the award", he said.
"I thank the state government for appreciating my efforts", he said.
"It has not been my own individual effort but a combination of small efforts by my family, coach, KSBA.
They have supported me throughout my career".
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