Siliguri (WB): Top Gorkha leader Madan Tamang, who recently fell out with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) over the issue of Gorkhaland, was today stabbed to death by unidentified men during clashes by rival Gorkha groups in the hill town of Darjeeling.
West Bengal Urban Development minister and CPI-M leader Asok Bhattacharya accused GJM of being responsible for the brutal attack on the All India Gorkha League(AIGL) president while a top GJM leader Roshan Giri denied the allegation that activists of his group were involved.
Tension gripped Darjeeling after the attack and shops and markets were closed down. Security reinforcements were also being rushed to the tourist town.
Tamang, who is in his late 50s, was overseeing arrangements for a meeting of his party when he was attacked with kukris and swords near the Planter's club in the morning, Darjeeling district magistrate Surindra Gupta said. Kukri is a long knife used by Nepalis.
The killing in the northern town of West Bengal - 40 km from Siliguiri--in full public view occurred around 9.30 AM during violent clashes between AIGL supporters and activists of the GJM opposed to the meeting. The police fired five rounds to disperse the clashing groups.
The West Bengal government has ordered an inquiry into the killing and directed the hill administration that the assailants be arrested quickly.
Inspector-General of Police (North Bengal) K L Tamta said 11 people had been arrested in connection with the killing.
Bhattacharya, who is also the MLA from Siliguiri said, "Madan Tamang was killed by the hooligans of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. He is the first martyr for the struggle for democracy."
Giri, the second-in-command in GJM and its general secretary, rejected allegations that his group was involved.
"This is not the handiwork of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. It s a baseless allegation that GJM is involved in the attack and murder of Madan Tamang. The allegation is absolutely alse," Giri said. Giri said a few of his supporters ere injured in the clashes and one suffered bullet injuries.
Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharhee held an emergency meeting with state Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen, Home Secretary Samar Ghosh, DGP Bhupinder Singh and Asok Bhattacharya at the state secretariat and reviewed the situation in the hills.
Tamang was opposed to the GJM's stand on an interim set-up for Darjeeling hills pending setting up of a separate state and demanded Gorkhaland.
Tamta said two companies of Indian Reserve Battallion and one company of RAF are being sent to maintain law and order in the Darjeeling town. He said he was also rushing to the place after orders from the chief minister.
Tamta said AIGL initially decided to hold the meeting at Darjeeling Chowrasta, but later shifted the venue due to opposition from GJM. Tamang had earlier levelled corruption charges against GJM chief Bimal Gurung in response to which the GJM had threatened to "banish" him from the hills.
Maoists threaten to blow up Rail Bhawan in Delhi
New Delhi: The Railway Headquarter in New Delhi has received a letter purportedly written by Maoists threatening to blow up Rail Bhawan along with some other vital railway establishments in Delhi, prompting authorities to step up security measures.
The letter, claimed to have been written by Maoists, threatened that vital rail establishments, like the Rail Bhawan which is located next to Parliament and the Baroda House situated near India Gate, would be blown up, the source said.
While the letter is being examined for its authenticity, "precautionary measures" have been taken at these establishments, the source said.
A top official of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), which is responsible for security of railway properties, said Delhi Police has been informed about the letter and "necessary measures" were being taken.
He did not rule out the letter being a hoax.
Maoists have been off and on targeting railway property, like trains and tracks, in various states including Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Defiant Soren challenges BJP
Jharkhand appears to be headed for another spell of political uncertainty with a defiant Chief Minister Shibu Soren refusing to resign and a frustrated BJP saying that state has become a ‘theatre of the absurd’.
"I have formed the government for five years, and shall complete the tenure. Who will remove me?" Soren asked while backtracking on his own announcement on May 18 that BJP and JMM will share power for 28 months each.
Echoing growing resentment in the BJP top brass over JMM's flip-flops, senior party leader M M Joshi told reporters in Delhi that the state "has become a theatre of the absurd. I would not like to say anything more on this."
Several members of the BJP Parliamentary Board including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, were in favour of withdrawal of support to the Shibu Soren government in the tribal state.
Under the JMM-BJP power-sharing deal, BJP's Arjun Munda will lead the coalition in the first phase. The BJP-led government under him was to be sworn-in on May 25.
Soren, who had agreed to the arrangement, told reporters in Bokaro there was no deadline for his resignation.
"The question of a change of government comes if there is no development. But now development is going on."
Jharkhand had plunged into a political crisis last month when Soren voted against the BJP's cut motion in the Lok Sabha.
Soren will have to step down in a month's time if he fails to get elected from any assembly seat since the six- month period.
But the chief minister has also not ruled out contesting a bypoll to enter the house by June 30 by when the six-month period to get elected from the day he assumed charge of the post, gets over. He will have to step down if he doesn't get elected within this period.
Soren's son Hemant, the JMM legislature party leader, who made an offer to the BJP to head the government in the state after it had announced its decision to withdraw support on April 28, said, "The party has to abide by whatever decision the president (Soren) has taken or will take."
Soren today presided over a meeting of the JMM legislators in Bokaro. JMM and BJP have 18 MLAs each in the 82-member assembly.
Munda, who has been entrusted by the party leadership to deal with the crisis, refused to speak to the media.
BJP now seems to have set a final deadline for May 25.
"BJP will hold a Parliamentary Board meeting on May 25 at 3 pm to discuss the Jharkhand issue," a party leader said.
Sources said the meeting has been scheduled as a back-up plan in case the JMM doesn't stick to the agreement.
If JMM goes back on its word, BJP is likely to withdraw support to the Shibu Soren government by evening, sources said.
Munda and Soren had on May 18 announced the agreement to share power on a rotational basis with the BJP to take over for the first 28 months.
The BJP threatened to withdraw from the coalition but refrained from doing so when he offered the CM's job to the party. Since then Shibu has been saying yes and no to going with the BJP, putting the saffron party in a quandary.
Home ministry to decide on Afzal's mercy petition: CM Dikshit
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said Union Home Ministry will decide on the file
pertaining to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition.
"The Home Ministry will decide on the issue...We have sent the file to Lt Governor for further action," Dikshit told
reporters when asked about the next course of action regarding Guru's mercy petition.
She said the Lt Governor will put his view on the mercy petition and then the file will be sent to Home Ministry.
On Wednesday, Delhi government had sent the file on Guru to Khanna, unambiguously backing the capital punishment for the convict.
But at the same time, the city government had asked the Centre to take care of the law and order situation while
carrying out the execution here.
The city government, whose opinion on the mercy petition was sought by the Union Home Ministry almost four
years ago, had sent the file to Khanna on Monday but the LG had returned it on Tuesday seeking more clarifications.
After Facebook and Youtube, Pakistan blocks Twitter
ISLAMABAD: After blocking Facebook and Youtube, Pakistani authorities on Friday further widened the crackdown on websites with blasphemous contents by restricting access to popular social networking website Twitter.
Pakistani users were unable to log into Twitter after internet service providers blocked access to the site.
When users tried to log into site, there browsers displayed a message that said "this site is restricted."
Over the past two days, Pakistan telecommunication authority has blocked websites like Facebook and Youtube, citing "sacrilegious contents" on the websites as the reason for the action.
The crackdown began after the Lahore High Court issued an order for blocking Facebook over a page hosting a contest for blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammad.
Over 450 URLs have been blocked so far by the authorities.
Pakistan telecommunication authority (PTA) on Thursday said that YouTube had been blocked due to "sacrilegious contents" but did not point to specific material on the website that prompted the authorities to block it.
The government acted against both Facebook and YouTube after it failed to persuade the websites to remove the "derogatory material," the statement said.
Business News
Uncertainty drove up 3G sale price: Bharti
Bangalore: Policy uncertainty, apart from the fact that it is a scarce resource, drove up prices in the 3G mobile licence spectrum auction, a top Bharti official said on Friday.
These two factors drove up prices on the "higher side", Bharti Enterprises' Vice-Chairman & Managing Director and Group Lead Director of Bharti's Wholesale and Retail Business, Rajan Bharti Mittal, said on Friday.
Asked to comment on the "uncertainty" that he referred to, he said: "There is (are) only three slots today... When is the next slot going to come... When will the release happen... When more spectrum will happen... Will we get more spectrum on 2G. I think these are the issues still to be addressed."
With regard to the industry's concerns on recouping the investment made on bagging the 3G licence, Mittal said: "Allow us to roll out on 3G, then you can talk about it."
The auction concluded on Wednesday, generating a revenue of Rs 67,710 crore for the UPA government, almost twice the expected amount.
Rupee slips to 47.10; at 6.5 month low
Mumbai: The rupee fell to its lowest in six-and-a-half months early on Friday, weighed down by lower domestic shares and weaker Asian currencies.
At 9:07 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 47.10/14 per dollar after hitting 47.12, its weakest since Nov. 5, 2009. It had closed at 46.81/82 on Thursday.
Most Asian currencies were weaker compared to the dollar.
Equities fell 2 per cent early on rising foreign fund withdrawals in the wake of the euro zone debt woes and sliding world markets.
Data from the exchange regulator showed foreign funds had pulled out $1.3 billion from the stocks so far in May, reducing net inflows for the year to $5.3 billion.
Abbott to buy Piramal unit for $3.7 bn
Mumbai: After multiple denials, Piramal has announced that it has sold its healthcare business.
Takeover speculation had swirled around Piramal, with media reports highlighting Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer Inc, and GlaxoSmithKline as possible buyers.
Abbott said it will pay $2.12 billion up-front and make annual payments of $400 million for the next four years, beginning in 2011. The U.S.-based company said the deal will make it the largest drugmaker in India.
Global demand for generic drugs from Indian drugmakers such as Ranbaxy Laboratories and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the top two players by sales, and local rival Cipla, is booming as governments battle rising healthcare costs.
Emerging markets, where cheaper generic medicines form the bedrock of sales, are the new battleground for the world's top drugmakers as sales stall in Western markets.
Piramal has got good money for the business, said Sarabjit Kour Nangra, an analyst with Angel Broking in Mumbai. Now their growth will depend on how they scale up the residual business.
Shares in Piramal, which the market values at roughly $2.6 billion, fell as much as 9 percent to the day's low but pared losses later and were down 0.8 percent. Abbott India shares rose 7.4 percent.
Piramal's pharma solutions business makes and sells cheaper versions of patented drugs and the unit accounts for more than half of its revenue. Piramal's other interests include manufacturing for third parties and pathology laboratories.
Abbott said the combined sales force would be the largest in the industry in India, and forecast sales in India of more than $2.5 billion by 2020.
CANNY BUYER
The deal underscores Abbott's reputation as a determined but canny buyer of smaller pharmaceutical businesses. Last September it snatched the drugs unit of Belgium's Solvay for 4.5 billion euros -- a price that disappointed Solvay investors who had been looking for more.
The Solvay deal gave Abbott a better foothold in emerging markets in eastern Europe and Asia, where the U.S. company has limited sales. The Piramal deal now takes it deep into the key Indian market, which is viewed as a springboard for wider drug distribution in developing economies.
This month, Abbott entered into a licensing agreement to commercialize products of India's Zydus Cadila in 15 emerging markets, in a bid to accelerate Abbott's growth in emerging markets.
Industry forecaster IMS Health predicts leading emerging markets will show annual pharmaceuticals sales growth of 14 to 17 percent through 2014, against just 3 to 6 percent a year for developed markets.
Abbott was advised by Morgan Stanley.
Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo's $4.2 billion takeover in 2008 of Ranbaxy, demonstrates the possibilities but also the potential pitfalls that global players face when linking-up with Indian rivals.
On Wednesday, Piramal Healthcare denied media reports the founders were selling a stake in the drug maker.
Abbott plans to fund the deal with cash on its balance sheet and said the transaction would not change its earnings outlook for 2010.
Sports News
Asif called Watson 'bloody white' in Australia
Karachi: Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif called Australian all-rounder Shane Watson a ‘bloody white’ during the team's tour Down Under and got away with it, according to the then team manager Abdul Raquib.
"On the second day of the Test, Asif called Watson a 'bloody white'," Raquib is heard saying in a leaked video recording of the inquiry committee proceedings.
"In the evening Australian manager Steve Bernard contacted me and informed me that captain Ricky Pointing planned to hold a press conference. I reminded him that under ICC code of conduct such matters could not be discussed in public," Raquib told the committee members.
He said he kept the whole incident confidential as it would have created more problems for Pakistan cricket and Asif as the Australians could have gone after the player for making what they felt was a racist remark.
"You tell me what sort of comment is this. Thankfully Steve (Bernard) was cooperative after I reminded him that the series was being played in good spirit and sledging did take place on both sides," Raquib said.
The Pakistan manager narrated how the matter was closed when Asif agreed to go and shake hands with Watson after he had discussed the whole issue with Bernard outside the team hotel.
Raquib is heard lamenting the lack of education and common sense among Pakistani senior and junior cricketers narrating experiences of his stint as manager of the Pakistan under-19 team.
"They were members of the under-19 team who were asking for whisky on the flight," Raquib said.
He is also heard advising the inquiry committee members to have a system where players are penalised for poor performances.
"If Mohammad Aamir can get a lakh rupees for taking wickets why should he not be penalised for dropping a catch?" Raquib said.
He also thanked ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle for his handling of the controversy stemming from Shahid Afridi's crazy ball-biting during a one day match in Australia.
"There could have been greater penalties for Afridi but Madugalle had advised me to tell Afridi to accept that he had made a mistake," Raquib said.
Somdev qualifies for French Open
Somdev Devvarman became the first Indian in 13 years to qualify for the men's singles event of the French Open after scoring a 6-4 6-1 win over Adrian Mannarino.
It took sixth seed Somdev one hour and 25 minutes to quell the challenge of his French rival in the third and final round and seal one of the 16 main draw spots up for grab.
Leander Paes was the last Indian to play in men's singles event of the French Open in 1997 when he made the second round of the clay court Grand Slam.
This is for the second time that Somdev has qualified for the men's singles of a Grand Slam tournament. He first played in a tennis Major at the US Open last year and had reached second round.
Somdev's victory means India will not go unrepresented in the singles event of the second Grand Slam of the year since Sania Mirza is giving a miss to women's singles event.
Last year, Somdev had stumbled on the last hurdle here as he had lost the final round.
Somdev had to work hard to take first set from Mannarino, ranked 170 spots below him at 289, as the local fought tooth and nail.
There were numerous breaks as Somdev lost his serve thrice and Mannarino twice. However, after 58-minute tussle, Somdev succeeded in grabbing the lead.
The second set though belonged to the Indian as Somdev broke his rival twice and sealed the set for the loss of one game.
HC revives IHF, KPS Gill back
The Delhi High Court revived the Indian Hockey Federation which was de-recognised and disaffiliated by the Centre and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in 2008 after its secretary K Jothikumaran was caught on camera in a sting operation accepting bribe to select a player.
Paving the way for reinstatement of former cop KPS Gill as the head of the sporting body, the Court rejected the plea of Centre that revival of IHF would result in a "chaotic" situation as Hockey India had already been formed and Commonwealth Games is round the corner.
"It would be unfair to the Federation, which has succeeded in showing that both the orders of disaffiliation and consequent de-recognition are wholly illegal, to be denied relief for over two years on the ground that such order might jeopardise India's participation in a sporting event," Justice S Muralidhar said.
"It is not as if IHF's term is about to expire or that chaos would result with its revival. The Commonwealth Games are still a few months away. It will be for the MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports) to decide how best to go about the matter," the court said.
The court set aside the Centre's decision to de-recognise IHF and the IOA's disaffiliation of the federation, noting that proper procedure was not followed by them to take such punitive action and sporting body was not given chance to refute allegations levelled against it.
"The decision dated 28th April 2008 of the IOA placing the IHF under suspension and the decision dated 10th May 2009 of the IOA disaffiliating the IHF are hereby quashed.
"The decision dated 12th May 2008 passed by the Ministry temporarily withdrawing the recognition of the IHF and the subsequent order dated 10th/11th August 2009 passed by the Ministry de-recognising the IHF are also hereby quashed," the court said.
The Court passed the order on a petition filed by the Federation through its chief Gill challenging the decision of Centre and IOA to disband it.
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