Bhubaneswar: Nine jawans of Orissa's elite anti-Maoist force Special Operations Group were killed instantly when Maoist rebels exploded a landmine in Koraput district blowing up the vehicle they were travelling.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (south-western range) Sanjib Panda said the jawans were on their way to Govindapalli from Baipariguda in Koraput as part of their duty to clear the road when the landmine exploded at about 11 am.
Fiften other personnel in the vehicle were also injured. The impact of the blast was so severe that the vehicle was blown up by several feet up in the air.
The jawans were just 14 km away from their destination when the incident occurred.
Additional forces and medical team with ambulance had been sent to the spot for carrying out combing operation in the area and providing necessary assistance to the affected jawans, said officials.
This is the the first maor casualty suffered by the police forces in the State after Operation Greenhunt was launched in Malkangiri and Koraput district of Orissa along Chhatisgarh border last week by the central paramilitary forces and State police.
India to cut satellite launch cost by half
Bangalore: India plans to cut satellite launch cost by half with the heavy-lift rocket that it is developing, a senior space department official said.
GSLV-Mk III that ISRO is developing now would bring down the satellite launch cost at least by half, at present, the launch cost is pegged at around USD 20,000 per kilogram, he said.
GSLV-Mk III, which would have the capability to launch satellites of four tonne class, nearly twice the mass that ISRO can currently carry to space, is expected to be operational in next two-three years.
Delivering the inaugural lecture of IIScAA (Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association) here last evening, he said India currently has 211 communication transponders, including 195 operational.
India in no mood to hand over Kasab, Ansari to Pakistan
NEW DELHI: India on Sunday virtually ruled out handing over Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught during the 26/11 strikes, or his associate Fahim Ansari to Pakistan as it emphasised that "justice" was taking its course in this country in the Mumbai attacks case.
"We are trying Kasab and others here in India following the Mumbai terrorist attacks," foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said when asked to comment on Pakistan approaching Interpol for arresting Kasab and Ansari for trial in that country.
"The case against Kasab has proceeded over the last few months. Verdict is expected by May 3 in all likelihood," she said, adding "justice is taking its course in India on this subject."
Pakistan's Special Public Prosecutor Malik Rab Nawaz Moon, during trial in the 26/11 case in Rawalpindi on Saturday, said Interpol had been approached to issue Red Corner Notice for arrest of Kasab and Ansari.
Kasab was one of the 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. While nine terrorists were killed during 60-hour gun-battles, Kasab was arrested.
Ansari is accused of having conducted recce for the Mumbai attacks and prepared maps for the same.
Pakistan has arrested seven terrorists, including LeT operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in connection with the Mumbai attacks. They are being tried at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The Lahore High Court has said the trial of the seven terrorists arrested in Pakistan could not be separated from that of Kasab and Ansari and they should be declared as proclaimed offenders or fugitives.
At this point, the defence lawyers said Kasab and Ansari were not fugitives as they were under custody of Indian authorities.
To a question on reports that the land of a temple in Karachi had been grabbed, Rao said the government has sought details from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
Ayesha's father files FIR against Shoaib Malik
HYDERABAD: Mohammed Siddiqui, father of Ayesha, the Hyderabad girl who claims to be Shoaib Malik's wife, filed a complaint of cheating with the city police against the Pakistani cricketer on Sunday.
Siddiqui, in his complaint, accused Shoaib of cheating, cruelty to woman and criminal conspiracy, Banjara Hills Police Inspector Iqbal Siddiqui said.
"We received the complaint and we have not booked any case so far. We are verifying the facts," the police official said.
Earlier in the day, Shoaib had confirmed that he would go ahead with his marriage with Sania Mirza on April 15 here but refused to clarify his version on his alleged marriage with Ayesha saying that his lawyer will deal with the issue.
The move came after the Shoaib-Ayesha controversy turned murkier with the Pakistani cricketer claiming he was emotionally forced into the 'nikahnama' with the Hyderabad girl but said the marriage was invalid as her family had cheated him and ruled out divorce.
On a surprise visit to the city days before his marriage to tennis star Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik distributed a press statement and also took a few questions from a battery of mediapersons outside Sania's house in posh Jubilee Hills.
28-year-old Shoaib will tie the knot with 23-year-old Sania on April 15 and a reception will be held at the Taj Krishna the same day.
No more statues and portraits in Parliament
New Delhi: A decision has been taken to disallow further installation of statues and portraits in the Parliament to maintain its neat and spacious look.
A high powered committee of Parliament headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has recommended that no more statues could be installed in Parliament in future holding the view that it is already over-crowded with high profiled figures.
The Committee on Installation of Portraits, Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex, has in its recently held meeting took the stand for "no more statues in Parliament House."
However, there is a caveat. In rare cases, the permission for the same could be given but in such cases proposals would have to be sent to the Heritage Committee of the Parliament and it could go further only after the committee's nod.
Somalian pirates free one more vessel with 11 sailors
Ahmedabad: One more vessel, carrying 11 Indian sailors, which was hijacked by Somalian pirates last week, has been released today, president of Kutch Vahanvati Association (KVA) Kasam Ali Bholim said.
The vessel Al-Kadri was near Oman coast and on way to Dubai, he said.
"We came to know about the release of the vessel after captain of Al-Kadri, which was hijacked by Somalian pirates on March 28, contacted his family members in Mandvi (Kutch)," Bholim said.
"All the 11 sailors are from Mandvi taluka in Kutch, while the boat owner is from Mundra taluka," he added.
Bholim said that the pirates looted all the navigation equipment of the vessel and other valuables before releasing it early today.
"They were near Oman coast and would be reaching Dubai soon," he added.
Business News
Foreign investors prefer smaller cities
New Delhi: Small Indian towns score over metros and big cities when it comes to being the destination of choice of foreign investors.
Foreign investors prefer smaller Indian towns to big cities for setting up manufacturing facilities, thus establishing linkages with suburban and rural regions of the country, a government-sponsored study has found.
"A significant proportion of FDI-enabled manufacturing plants are located in Class-3 cities," the study done by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said.
The study covered 1,273 plants of 401 FDI-enabled manufacturing companies located in 294 cities of which 54 per cent were in small cities.
According to classification by Population Census-2001, Class-3 cities are towns with a population of less than five lakhs.
"It is assumed that these cities and towns are sub-urban and closer to the rural areas of the country," it said.
Mkt extends weekly gains for 8th week
Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex continued its northward journey for the eighth straight week ending higher by 48 points at 17,793.01 points on weekly basis after sustained buying by foreign funds.
Buying was seen mainly in capital goods, consumer durables, metal and realty stocks, while IT companies suffered sharp losses following higher rupee values which touched an 18-month high against the dollar.
Foreign funds made heavy purchases in the last month.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought stocks worth more than Rs 19,000 crore in March 2010.
The 30-share Sensex resumed the week higher at 17,639.18 points and immediately touched to a two-year high at 17,793.01. It declined afterwards to 17,488.75 before ending the week at 17,692.62, a net rise of 47.86 points, or 0.27 per cent. The key index had ended at 17,824.48 on March 28, 2008, after hitting an intra-day high at 17,921.51 on the same day.
The rupee rallied to a fresh 18-month high of 44.89 against the greenback, affecting the profit margin of IT firms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports, especially to the US.
The BSE-IT index declined sharply by 159.41 points, or 2.89 per cent.
D-Street may remain volatile: Analysts
New Delhi: The Dalal Street is likely to trade in an range this week as absence of any major trigger would keep markets volatile after posting a long stretch of weekly gains, analysts said.
"We expect the Monday market opening to be on a positive note. However, the market would remain choppy for the rest of the week as it needs a breather after eight weeks of gains," Bonanza Portfolio Assistant Vice-President, Research Equity, Avinash Gupta said.
Marketmen said firm global cues and higher capital inflow from the overseas investors on the back of strong rupee will keep the market somewhat in the green, though profit booking may emerge at higher level.
"The markets would be volatile during the week. FIIs are bullish about the Indian markets and the inflow will continue in the stock market," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Research Head Alex Mathews said.
Over the week, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex gained 0.27 per cent to settle at 17,692.62 points, stretching the weekly gaining streak to eight on the back of sustained buying by FIIs since early February.
"Risk appetite is coming back in the Indian stock markets as FIIs are gradually investing in equities. If the buying spree continues, the market will move ahead in coming trades," Gupta added.
Foreign funds have put in over Rs 20,600 crore (USD 4.54 billion) in the Indian stock market so far this year, with a majority of the chunk coming in the last month.
Analysts cautioned that markets may witness some selling pressure during the coming period and in absence of domestic trigger, Indian shares would follow global cues.
Over the week, Indian currency has further strengthened against the greenback and touched a near 19-month high of Rs 44.89/90 against a dollar.
Sectors such as banking and metals will be in demand, analysts said. Although IT stocks are expected to trade in range ahead of the bellwether Infosys' result due next week.
"The markets have been range bound for past few trades.
It is expected to be in a range with a downward bias," SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannathan Thunuguntla said.
Over the weekend, the global markets closed firm with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling higher by 0.65 per cent to 10,927.07 and S&P 500 ending up by 0.74 per cent to 1,178.10.
In Asia, China's Shanghai closed with a gain of 0.33 per cent, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.37 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.40 per cent.
Sports News
Delhi Daredevils elect to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore
NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL clash at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.
For Delhi, Daniel Vettori comes in for Andrew McDonald and Rajat Bhatia is also brought back and Umesh Yadav has been replaced by Pradeep Sangwan.
Bangalore have rested Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar and Manish Pandey and Ross Taylor, Abhimanyu Mithun and KP Appanna get their first games in IPL 3.
Delhi had bounced back in the tournament with a 17-run win over Bangalore on March 25 and then won two more matches to bring their campaign back on track. They currently lie third on the points table.
Delhi Daredevils' batting prowess have been the talk of the town, especially after their last match against Rajasthan Royals where they benched players like AB de Villiers and Tillakaratane Dilshan and still went on to win the match.
In Virender Sehwag, Delhi have someone who can rip apart any bowling attack on his given day and Kedar Jadhav has also shown some spark.
Bangalore, on the other hand, were flying high with four wins on the trot and the semifinal berth was well in sight before Delhi brought them back to ground and they would look to settle the score this time.
After losing to Delhi, Bangalore succumbed to another loss to Chennai but Anil Kumble's team bounced back with a six-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab.
Last year's runners-up RCB have benefited from sterling performances by top-order batsmen led by South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is the current orange cup holder and Robin Uthappa.
Jayawardene ton helps Punjab win over KKR
Kolkata: Mahela Jayawardene cracked an unbeaten 59-ball 110 to power Kings XI Punjab to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in a high-scoring Indian Premier League match.
Jayawardene's unbeaten century, the fourth in IPL III, overshadowed a 42-ball 88 from Kolkata Knight Riders' opener Chris Gayle after the home side opted to bat first at the Eden Gardens.
The Sri Lankan, who was sent out to open with Manvinder Bisla, was though dropped when on 51.
Yuvraj's Singh's cameo of 16-ball 36, which was laced with two fours and three sixes, gave the final push in the run chase of Kings XI who notched up 204 for two in 18.2 overs.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with a 22-ball 38.
Earlier, a hurricane 42-ball 88 from Chris Gayle powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 200 for three, their highest IPL III total.
With today's win, Kings XI snapped their harrowing four-match losing streak and recorded their second win in nine matches though their semifinal hopes were virtually over.
For KKR, it was their fifth loss in nine matches, though they are still in contention for a semifinal spot.
With Jayawardene was at his best, Kings XI Punjab began the run chase without any pressure.
He found boundaries and sixes with ease and never really seemed to be bogged down by pressure both from the high required run-rate and the boisterous Eden crowd supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Home team captain Sourav Ganguly kept on rotating his bowlers but without any luck. There was a difficult chance in the fourth over off the bowling off rookie pacer Jaydev Unadkat when Bisla edged one but it was out of reach of Wriddhiman Saha's dive.
Bisla however did not last long as he was bowled by Murali Kartik in the very next over. Punjab were 51 for one after 4.5 overs then but Jayawardene remained undeterred as he along with captain Sangakkara kept scoring at a healthy run-rate.
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