Indian Latest News

Chavan's 'climbdown' on taxis decision irks Sena, MNS

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan's latest remark that taxi permits would be given to those knowing any local language including Hindi and Gujarati, has evoked sharp reactions from Shiv Sena and MNS.

"The chief minister should be firm on his stance," MNS chief Raj Thackeray said, reacting to Chavan's remarks, a day after the Congress-NCP government decided to give new taxi licenses to only those persons who are well-versed in Marathi and have resided in the state for at least 15 years.

The government had, however, clarified that existing taxi drivers, who hold a valid license, would not be affected by the decision.

Chavan said, "cabinet has gone by the Maharashtra Motor vehicles rules which were framed in 1989. As per that rule, for a person to have a permit, 15 years of domicile is compulsory. And the second rule says that for a taxi badge for a driver, working knowledge of local language is necessary."

"How can Chavan change the collective decision of the cabinet," Raj told reporters.

Terming Chavan's 'about turn' as a sign of 'lachari' (haplessness), Raj said, "the chief minister does not have the capability of abiding by the cabinet decision."

"All states take such measures for benefit of their people," the MNS chief said.

If the government does not give permits to Marathi people for the 4000 new taxis, MNS party will not allow these taxis to move on the road, he said, adding, "those who want to treat this as threat can do so."

Targeting Chavan for climbing down from the cabinet decision, Raj said, "he (Chavan) did not become CM on his own merit but was put into the chair. He always thinks, what will Madam (Sonia Gandhi) say".

"He should do a part-time job in the home of a chief minister of southern state, only then will he know what is self-respect," the MNS chief said.

Raj also demanded that the government check earlier taxi permits. "Do these drivers know the local areas... where is Pune, Mumbai and Nashik? They need to ask passengers about location," he said.

Condemning the chief minister for the 'climbdown' on the cabinet decision, Shiv Sena said Chavan had devalued the CM's post.

"By making the latest remarks, Chavan has shown that he is under pressure," a Sena leader said.

Sena had on Wednesday welcomed the Maharashtra cabinet's decision to give new taxi permits to only those persons who are well-versed in Marathi and have resided in the state for at least 15 years.

"We welcome the decision. In fact, the Sena had made the demand in the last session of state Legislature," senior Sena leader Subhash Desai had said.

Now, Kasab chooses Marathi to answer questions

MUMBAI: In his latest antic, Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab chose to answer in Marathi most of the questions put to him by the trial court as he continued to deny his involvement in the 26/11 terror attacks.

" Mee bagitla nahin " (I did not see) and "mala mahit nahin sahib (I do not know sir) were his replies to the questions asked by Judge M L Tahaliyani.

To a question, Kasab said he was not aware that DNA samples retrieved from the blood-stained clothes of deceased constable Tukaram Ombale and traces of blood found on bullets (removed from Ombale's body) were of the same person.

It is the prosecution's case that Kasab had shot Ombale when he was grappling with him at Girgaum Chowpatty as a result of which the latter was fatally injured.

Kasab said he did not know that DNA report had stated that sweat on a handkerchief found in Skoda car (used by terrorists) was of slain terrorist Abu Ismael.

The lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 siege said he was not aware that an Israeli cap found from Nariman House had matched with the DNA sample of slain terrorist Abdul Rehman Chhota. He also feigned ignorance about a jacket found at another targeted site had matched with slain terrorist Abdul Rehman Bada.

To a question, Kasab said he was not aware that five cell phones had been shipped from China to Pakistan by a Karachi firm. Asked if he was aware that a mobile phone had been recovered from a slain terrorist at Hotel Oberoi, Kasab said " Mee bagitla nahin " (I did not see).

Indian Navy boosts its air fleet in $1.5 billion deal

NEW DELHI - The Navy has started a $1.5 billion overhaul of its ageing Soviet-era fleet of aircraft, seeking to boost its air power in an Indian Ocean region where a growing China is threatening its traditional dominance.

The investment is one of the biggest the Indian Navy has made in recent years and reflects New Delhi's urgency to modernise its military, a move that rival Pakistan says could spark an arms build-up and destabilise an already roiled South Asia.

India plans to buy 16 new MIG-29 fighter jets, half a dozen light combat aircraft, unmanned patrol planes and multi-role helicopters.

The Indian Navy is also upgrading its Sea Harrier fighter jets, IL-38 maritime anti-submarine warfare planes and acquiring five Kamov KA-31 patrol helicopters.

"We are acquiring new fighters and helicopters to ... supplement a new aircraft carrier we are getting soon," Commander PVS Satish, the navy spokesman said in New Delhi on Thursday.

Analysts said the upgrade of the Navy was long due.

"It is almost a matter of time before ships from China arrive in India's backyard," said Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research.

India and China are locked in a battle to lead Asia. New Delhi fears China is creating an arc of influence in the Indian Ocean region, bolstering claims over what has traditionally been seen as India's backyard.

Indian officials said Pakistan, too, was modernising its navy.

Pakistan's National Command Authority (NCA), which oversees the country's nuclear weapons, said last week India's arms modernisation plans could destabilise the regional balance.

India's patience thinning, Pak must act against terror: Antony

New Delhi: India on Thursday asked Pakistan to take "strong, convincing" action against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, saying unless they were brought to book, it will remain impatient.

It also asked the US to advise Pakistan to dismantle the terror infrastructure and to stop use of its soil by terrorist groups to carry out attacks inside India, adding the government and the people did not want any confrontation with the neighbouring countries, but it would be difficult to move forward unless Pakistan acted.

"Unless Government of Pakistan takes action against the involved in the heinous acts of 26/11....strong, convincing action to dismantle the terrorist outfits across the border, Indian people will be always impatient," Antony told reporters on the sidelines of the NCC Republic Day Parade Camp here.

He was responding to queries regarding US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' remarks that it would "not be unreasonable to assume that India's patience will be limited were there to be further attacks" such as the 26/11 and if such patience would wear out in case of another terror attack.

"What he told yesterday, I also told him that our people are becoming impatient. So you please advise Pakistan. They must act against those involved in terrorist activities such as 26/11 and also almost all these terrorist outfits operating across the border...they are still very active," he said.

Antony said after 26/11, there were many attempts to "create turbulence, tension" inside India from various quarters and that the government was aware that more attempts would be made in the future too.

Pawar blames media, says no proposal on milk price rise

New Delhi: Blaming media for creating a confusion on milk prices, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Thursday the Centre has no proposal before it for increasing milk rates.

"We have no proposal before us on milk prices. This is all media creation," Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a rural development conference here. Seeking to set the record straight, Pawar said despite being the world's largest producer, per capita availability of milk does not even match that of other developing countries, leave aside the rich nations. "That is what I had said."

He said 4 per cent growth in the milk production was larger than that of agriculture output. Pawar's remarks yesterday that the states need to take a decision on the demand for hiking milk prices triggered a sharp reaction from political parties protesting food inflation hovering close to 17 per cent.

On UP Chief Minister's demand for removal of Pawar, the Union Agriculture Minister said the Centre finding a way out of the ban on imported raw sugar would have irked her.

"The UP government had put restrictions on processing imported raw sugar. The Centre has found the way (to process outside UP), I think she must have got angry," Pawar said.

Mayawati had threatened if Pawar was not removed, she would not attend the meeting of the Chief Ministers called by the Prime Minister on price rise. Milk prices in Delhi range between Rs 28-32 per litre.

Draw a line between govt, private events: India to Pak

New Delhi: Rejecting Pakistan's charge that its players were snubbed for IPL at the behest of India, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Thursday said it should draw a line between government programmes and private events.

"Government has nothing to do with IPL, on selection of players and various exercises that are connected with it. So, Pakistan will have to draw a line between where Government of India is connected and where Government of India is an actor," he said.

Krishna said this when reporters sought his comments on Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's remarks that the manner in which the players were "insulted" showed that India was not serious about the peace process.

The Minister's remarks also come in the wake of Pakistan's move against sending any parliamentary delegations to India to protest the 'treatment meted out' to the country's cricketers in the auction for the Indian Premier League tournament.

Twenty20 champions Pakistan was stunned after none of the country's 11 players, including current Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi who had played for Deccan Chargers in the first season, were signed up during the IPL auction on Tuesday.

Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza had said that her country will not send parliamentary delegations to India after the main opposition PML-N said its members will boycott all official visits to India to protest the perceived snub of the Pakistani cricketers.

"India or any other country that does not give respect to Pakistan will be treated the same way by us. If there is a desire to improve Indo-Pak friendship, respect should be given to Pakistani sportspersons," Malik said.

Indian Business News

Sensex sheds 423 pts, Nifty below 5,100

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex plunged 423 points to hit a one-month low on Thursday as funds resorted to heavy selling in blue-chip stocks led by capital goods, power and PSUs, weighed down by fears of China further tightening its monetary policy.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer, which had lost 166 points in the last two trading sessions alone, plunged further by 423.35 points to 17,051.14, marking its biggest fall this year.

Followed poor Wall Street and Asian cues, the Sensex opened with 123 points down and touched the day's low of 17,025.26 during the day. This is the third consecutive fall for the market this week.

The wide-based NSE Nifty 50 too broke two key levels of 5,200 and 5,100 points and closed with a hefty loss of 127.55 points to 5,094.15. It dipped to 5,085.45 in the session.

With a 5.15 per cent fall to 13,501.46 points, the sector that suffered the most was capital goods, spooked by the poor Q3 results by L&T. The engineering and construction giant tumbled 6.85 per cent following the results.

The second biggest fall was in the power index, which was hammered by 3.47 per cent 3,100.60 points. Tata power was the worst performer with a 4.46 per cent fall. All the Sensex indices ended with heavy to moderate losses. The PSU index shed 2.98 per cent, realty 2.78 per cent and pharma 2.65 pct.

The World Bank statement that the Asian economies face the risk of asset bubbles or overheating as the region’s growth outpaces the rest of the world this year, also weighed on the market.

China set to be world's 2nd largest economy

Beijing: The Chinese economy grew by stunning 10.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, which may see it replacing Japan as the second largest economy in the world.

Bolstered by massive stimulus measures and improving domestic output, China clocked an economic growth rate of 8.7 per cent in 2009, even as many developed nations are still grappling with recession blues.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China today said the national economy grew 10.7 per cent in the December quarter, much higher than 2009 third quarter expansion of 9.1 per cent.

"The gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2009 was 33,535.3 billion yuan (about USD 4.91 trillion), up by 8.7 per cent at comparable prices...," National Bureau of Statistics' Commissioner Ma Jiantang said in a statement.

Bogged down by the financial meltdown, Japan has seen sluggish growth in recent quarters. World Bank has projected that the Japanese economy would shrink 5.4 per cent in 2009, which implies that its GDP would come down to USD 4.66 trillion.

According to World Bank, China's GDP was USD 4.33 trillion in 2008 while that of Japan was USD 4.91 trillion.

Nokia to offer free navigation in 74 countries

Helsinki : Nokia will follow Google, offering free maps on its cellphones, in a move to boost handset sales but one that will hit other satnav players, the 'San Francisco Chronicle' reported on Thursday, citing the Finnish company.

"Nokia used to charge for navigation packages that included turn-by-turn directions. That all goes away now. Now you can get turn-by-turn directions covering 74 countries in 46 languages," the report said.

A spokesman for Nokia declined to comment. The firm is scheduled to hold news conferences related to its services offering around the world from 0930 GMT onwards.

In 2008 Nokia bought for $8.1 billion digital mapping firm Navteq -- a rival to navigation specialist TomTom's Tele Atlas unit.

Analysts said free navigation could enable Nokia to support its flagging position in the global smartphone market. It still sells more smartphones than any of its rivals, but it has lost ground to Apple and RIM.

"Nokia wants to maintain a high market share in devices, and this is one way of doing it, by linking them to services," said Nordea analyst Martti Larjo.

"Navigation originally was one of the services they thought they could get money from, but Google is coming (with turn-by-turn navigation), as are other competitors, so they have to do it," he said.

Google started in late 2009 to offer free navigation on Motorola's Droid model smartphones in the North American market.

Nokia offering free navigation on some 20 million smartphones is set to hurt key players on the global navigation market, including TomTom and Garmin.

Indian Sports News

India beat Bangladesh by 113 runs

Chittagong: India clinched the first cricket Test against Bangladesh with an emphatic 113-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series here on Thursday, despite a rollicking century by wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim that delayed the inevitable.

The Indians, who needed to pick up eight wickets on the last day, took just about two sessions to wrap up the game and make amends for their disappointing batting show in the first innings.

Chasing an improbable 415-run victory target, the hosts resumed on 67 for two and rode on Rahim's gutsy 101 and Tamim Iqbal's gritty 52 before folding for 301 in 75.2 overs. Amit Mishra (4/92), Ishant Sharma (3/48), and Zaheer Khan (2/90) struck at regular intervals to bowl out the hosts at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

The baby-faced Rahim threw his bat at everything hurled at him but that was merely a desperate attempt by a number seven batsman to delay the inevitable. The diminutive stumper-batsman took 112 balls to hit his maiden Test ton -- also the fastest by a Bangladeshi batsman -- and was the last man out.

Both the team now moves to Mirpur for the last Test starting on Sunday.

Rahim, who came in just before lunch when his side were 135 for five, took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck, hitting 17 fours and a six.

With this win, India maintained their unbeaten record in Bangladesh. They have now won five out of six matches in Bangladesh, including a drawn Test in 2007. The Test, which began with a war of words between the two sides after India's stand-in captain Virender Sehwag had described the hosts as an ordinary side, was also a memorable one for opening batsman Gautam Gambhir who became the only fourth batsman to have scored five successive Test tons.

Dues issue: Women hockey players wear black bands

Bhopal: They don't plan to go on strike like their male counterparts but the Indian women hockey players protested the non-payment of their dues nevertheless by wearing black armbands during the training session of a Commonwealth Games preparatory camp here on Thursday.

"The Indian women's hockey core group comprising 40-odd players today participated in the three-hour long practice session wearing black arm bands," the team's chief coach M K Kaushik said.

"As of now they have no plan to refrain from playing in the preparatory camp," he added. Kaushik said his wards want facilities akin to their male counterparts.

When asked if the non-payment of dues to the women players will affect their performance during the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cup this year, he said he would try his best to prevent such a scenario.

"I am trying to keep them in good spirits and ensuring that the dues problem doesn't hit their performance in the upcoming mega events," Kaushik said.

The core group had got an assurance from the HI over their dues payment, sources close to them said.

The players have not received their dues since April 2008, and hence the core group decided to sport black bands in protest. The team has also opened a bank account and asked fans to supprt their cause.

Bhupathi out of doubles, Paes and Sania advance

Melbourne:Mahesh Bhupathi's reunion with Max Mirnyi began on a disappointing note as the fourth seeded duo made a stunning first round exit from the Australian Open even as Leander Paes and Sania Mirza notched up facile wins with their respective partners here on Thursday.

Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy were the first to take the court and the third seeds didn't have much trouble in sailing past Czechs Leos Friedl and David Skoch 6-3 6-1 in the first round of the men's doubles event.

Paes and Dlouhy will next take on Lucas Arnold Ker of Argentina and Romania's Horia Tecau. But the newly-formed combination of Bhupathi and Belarusian Mirnyi disappointed with a 4-6 4-6 loss to the unseeded German-Finnish pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen.

It was with Mirnyi that Bhupathi won his last Grand Slam men's doubles trophy when they triumphed at US Open in 2002. Bhupathi ended his partnership with Bahamas' Mark Knowles after playing 2009 US Open.

However, 10th seeds Sania and her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual ensured that India ended the day on a high with a comfortable 6-4 6-2 triumph over the unseeded Indonesian-Japanese duo of Yayuk Basuki and Kimiko Date Krumm. Sania and Pascual will face Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and Tathiana Garbin of Italy in their second-round match.

Indian Latest News

Telangana: 45 injured as violence breaks out at Osmania University

HYDERABAD: Violence broke out at the Osmania University campus here today when police stopped students from staging a march with the the body of

a youth who committed suicide by immolating himself apparently due to delay in formation of a separate Telangana state.

Police said at least 30 students and 15 policemen, including Kachiguda ACP K Ramchander, were injured as the premises turned into a battlefield with students throwing stones and torching police vehicles.

Police burst teargas shells and fired rubber bullets and used water cannons to disperse them. Some mediapersons were also hurt during the clashes.

The violence broke out over shifting the body of K Venugopal Reddy, a 23-year-old final-year MCA student who set himself ablaze yesterday at the university, which has been a focal point for the youth demanding Telangana.

The students planned to take out Venugopal's body in a procession towards Gun Park near Andhra Pradesh state assembly from the Arts College premises where the body was kept since yesterday. Hundreds of students gathered at the Arts College premises to pay their respects to Venugopal.

But police stopped them from taking out any procession saying it may aggravate the situation in view of the bandh being already observed in the city in support of Telangana.

'India may lose patience in case of another 26/11'

New Delhi: Despite the great restraint shown by India after the Mumbai attacks by Pakistan-based militants, New Delhi could easily lose patience if there were a repeat attack, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

"I think it's not unreasonable to assume Indian patience would be limited were there to be further attacks, Gates told reporters on a trip to New Delhi."

Gates' comments highlight widespread fears among many diplomats that a second attack could provoke India to retaliate against Pakistan, further destabilising the region and putting US plans for peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan in jeopardy.

Gates said that terror groups working together around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border benefit from each other's success and pose a threat to the entire region.

He listed several terror groups that are operating under the umbrella of al-Qaeda, including LeT, blamed for last year's deadly attack in Mumbai, and the Taliban.

"LeT is operating in league with Al Qaeda as part of a syndicate of terror groups," Gates said. "The syndicate is dangerous for the whole region."

Gates said that when one group succeeds in carrying out an attack, all of them gain in capability and reputation.

Gates also said that India and Pakistan should cooperate against a threat that affects them both but remarked that "it would be unreasonable to assume that India have unlimited patience in case it faces a 26/11 type terror attack."

Attacks on Indians in Australia not good for ties: Krishna

New Delhi: Continued attacks on Indians in Australia do not "augur well" for bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Wednesday.

The minister was reacting to the latest attack on an Indian in Melbourne which was the fifth such assault on Indian cabbies within a week.

Krishna said he was expecting a report from the Indian High Commissioner to Australia on the incident.

"I have just heard the news. I am expecting a report from our High Commissioner and after getting the report perhaps I must have something to say.

"But it is very unfortunate that they keep repeating, which does not augur well for our bilateral relationship," the minister said.

Krishna has already indicated a possibility of Government advising Indian students not to go to Australia if the attacks on them, which has claimed one life so far, continued.

Pilot error cause of YSR helicopter crash, says probe report

NEW DELHI: The helicopter crash which claimed the life of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy was caused by the error of pilots who lost control over the chopper and were engrossed for vital six minutes trying to locate a flight manual, the probe report said today.

The report, submitted to the government by the four- member inquiry committee, said the "probable" cause of the accident was that it "occurred due to loss of control resulting in uncontrolled descent in the terrain at a very high rate of descent due to entry into severe down draught".

The crew flew the helicopter under the instrument flying condition even though their flight plan was cleared for Visual Flight Rules (VFR), it said.

The crew noticed a snag and "was engrossed for vital six minutes before the impact in searching for the relevant checklist from the Flight Manual".

"This distracted their attention from the prevailing poor visibility weather conditions thus leading into the loss of situational awareness," the report, prepared by the Committee headed by Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited chief S K Tyagi, said.

Reddy, his special secretary P Subramaniam, Chief Security Officer ASC Weseley, and the two pilots Grp Capt S K Bhatia and Capt M S Reddy, were killed when the Bell 430 helicopter of the state government crashed in dense jungles of Nalamalla hills on September two last year.



Govt taking steps to tame inflation: FM

The Government said the current high inflation, which crossed 7 per cent in December driven by costlier food prices, is a matter of concern and it is closely monitoring the situation. "It (high inflation) is a matter of concern, no doubt ... Certain steps are going on. Situation is constantly under review," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said. Wholesale price-based inflation shot up to more than a year's high of 7.31 per cent in December on higher food prices, mainly sugar, pulses and potato. The December numbers have already overshot RBI's full fiscal forecast of 6.5 per cent. Mukherjee said the Government has already liberalized imports to meet the shortage of essential commodities. Most of these items are duty free, he said, adding, "We have also ensured availability of wheat and rice at different places through offloading and open market sales scheme by Food Corporation of India." Amid the Government trying hard to keep prices from rising, food inflation eased a bit to 17.28 per cent during the week ended January 2 from 18.22 per cent a week ago. The Government last week allowed duty-free white sugar imports till December, eased raw sugar processing norms and announced plans to off load 2-3 million tonnes foodgrain in the open market.

Latest News India

Kabul 'under control' after brazen Taliban assault

Kabul: Taliban gunmen launched a brazen assault on targets in the centre of Kabul on Monday, with suicide bombers blowing themselves up at several locations and heavily armed militants fighting a pitched battle in a shopping centre.

The insurgents failed in an apparent attempt to seize government buildings, but demonstrated their ability to cause mayhem at a time when US President Barack Obama is trying to rally support for an expanded military mission to fight them.

It was the worst attack on the city in nearly a year. Gunfire and loud explosions shook the city and a huge column of smoke towered over its centre, pouring out of the shopping centre where gunmen battled security forces for hours.

After more than four hours of gunbattles, President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that "the security situation is under control and order has once again been restored."

The Taliban said 20 of their fighters were involved in the attacks, which they said targeted the presidential palace, justice ministry, ministry of mines and a presidential administrative building, all clustered in the centre of town.

When the attacks began outside Karzai's sprawling palace compound, he was inside swearing in new members of his cabinet.

"As we were conducting the ceremony of swearing in, a terrorist attack in a part of Kabul close to the presidential palace is going on. This is just one of the dangers," Karzai told ministers. "The danger that could harm Afghanistan is sowing national discord among Afghans."

U.S. envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke, who had left Kabul hours earlier for New Delhi, said: "The people who are doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will they succeed, but we can expect this sort of a thing on a regular basis. That is who the Taliban are."


All terrorists who stormed Taj hotel were Indians: Kasab

MUMBAI: Continuing his flip-flop, Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday told a special court trying the 26/11 attacks case that all the four terrorists who stormed Taj hotel were Indians.

Kasab, whose statement is being recorded by the court on evidences adduced by the prosecution, told Special Judge M L Tahaliyani that while one of the terrorists of the Taj hotel siege was a Kashmiri, another was from Gujarat.

Kasab claimed the third terrorist at Taj was Abu Ismail from Mumbai. According to prosecution, Ismail was gunned down at Girgaum Chowpatty by the police in an encounter when he along with Kasab was trying to escape. He, however, did not elaborate on the identity of the fourth terrorist at the Taj.

The Pakistani terrorist has been making conflicting statements in the court. While at one point Kasab confessed to his guilt and admitted having shot people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with Abu Ismail before being captured at Girgaum Chowpatty, he later denied any involvement in the terror strikes.

Kasab's claim came when Judge Tahaliyani wanted to know if he had anything to say about the slain terrorists who had been identified by eyewitnesses.

When the Judge asked how he knew that Abu Ismail was from Mumbai, Kasab said, "I can make out from his face". To this Tahaliyani asked in a light-hearted manner "Did he look like a Marathi manoos?"

After having initially confessed to his guilt, Kasab had recently denied involvement and told the court that he had come to India from Pakistan by Samjhauta Express several days before the 26/11 carnage and was picked up from Girgaum Chowpatty by police a day before the terror attacks.

Later, speaking to reporters outside the court, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam described Kasab's claim as "absurd and concocted".

"Kasab's claim is absurd and concocted. He has been taking frequent U-turns and this is one of those. This will in no way weaken the prosecution's case against him," Nikam said.

China tried to hack India's computers: Narayanan

LONDON: Chinese hackers have tried to penetrate computers in the offices of national security adviser MK Narayanan, a British paper on Monday quoted him as saying.

Narayanan said his office and other government departments were targeted on Dec 15, the same date that US defence, finance and technology companies, including Google, reported cyber attacks from China.

"This was not the first instance of an attempt to hack into our computers," Narayanan told The Times in an interview, adding the would-be hackers sent an e-mail with a PDF attachment containing a Trojan virus.

The virus, which allows hackers to download or delete files, was detected and officials were told not to log on until it was eliminated, Narayanan said.

"People seem to be fairly sure it was the Chinese. It is difficult to find the exact source but this is the main suspicion. It seems well founded," he told The Times, adding that India was cooperating with the US and Britain to bolster its cyber defences.

The Chinese government has denied any role in the attacks, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying: "Hacking in whatever form is prohibited by law in China."

Narayanan said that while he expected China to be an increasingly high security priority for India, the main threat still came from militants based in Pakistan.

He said Islamabad had done nothing to dismantle militant groups since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and criticised Britain for accepting its excuse that such groups were beyond its control.

"The British are still blinkered on this. We believe Pakistan's policy of using terror as a policy weapon remains," Narayanan said, adding India is anxious to prevent an attack from Pakistan during the Commonwealth Games in October.

"From Pakistan's point of view, it's important to disrupt the Games so you can claim that India is not a safe place," Narayanan said.

Centre to derecognize 44 deemed universities

NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it has decided to withdraw the "deemed" status to 44 universities in the country alleging these were being run as family fiefdoms rather than on academic considerations.

However, to avoid jeopardising the future of nearly two lakhs students enrolled in these universities spread over 13 states, they would be allowed to revert back as affilated colleges of their original universities, the Centre said in an affidavit.

The affidavit filed by the HRD Ministry said the government has accepted the recommendations made in this regard by the high-powered P N Tandon committee and the Special Task Force set up to suggest measures to tackle the problem.

"The Review Committee came across several aberrations in the functioning of some of the institutions deemed to be universities. It found undesirable management architecture where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning of institutions," the affidavit said.

According to the Centre, most of the 44 erring deemed universities were offering post-graduate and undergraduate courses that are "fragmented with concocted nomenclatures" and seats "disporortionately" increased beyond the actual intake capacity.

Hearing on Rathore's bail petition adjourned till Jan 25

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday adjourned till January 25 the hearing on the anticipatory bail petition of former disgraced Haryana DGP SPS Rathore and his plea for quashing of the charge of abetment to suicide in the Ruchika molestation case.

The hearing was adjourned by Justice Sabina after hearing arguments of 67-year-old Rathore's lawyer-wife Abha on certain technical issues.

On January 12, the court, while giving no relief to Rathore, had posted for today arguments on the petitions of the former IPS officer while asking CBI, which is probing the case, to give its response to the cases tomorrow.

The CBI also took over the probe into the three fresh FIRs against 67-year-old Rathore, who got away with a lighter sentence of six-month imprisonment awarded by the CBI court.

Justice Sabina had issued notice to CBI regarding stay in the event of Rathore's arrest after the investigating agency had sought a week's time to file its reply on his anticipatory bail plea in the two fresh FIRs accusing the former top cop of serious criminal charges in the Ruchika case.

Rathore also sought quashing of a third FIR which charges him with abetment to suicide of the girl, three years after she was molested on August 12, 1990.

Mourners throng Basu's residence, party HQ to pay homage

Kolkata: A stream of mourners lined up before the CPI-M headquarters and the Indira Bhavan, official residence of Jyoti Basu, in Kolkata to pay their last respect to the departed leader as West Bengal observes a two-day state mourning beginning Monday.

A holiday has been declared in the state government offices as a mark of respect to the veteran communist leader.

A portrait of Basu has been placed on a pedestal in front of the party headquarters on Alimuddin Street to enable mourners to pay floral tributes.

Mourners with bouquets and garlands also gathered in front of the Indira Bhavan at Salt Lake.

Basu's body has been kept at the private funeral parlour 'Peace Haven' from where it would be taken tomorrow in a procession first to the state secretariat, then the Assembly building and finally to the state-run SSKM Hospital for handover to the hospital authorities.

Across the state silent mourning processions were taken out today with placards reading "Jyoti Basu Amar Rahe". CPI-M flags were flown in half mast in different party offices across the state.

CPI-M sources said that Nepalese Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may visit the city to pay their last respects to Basu.

"We are also yet to get confirmation of the arrival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to attend the Marxist leader's last journey," they said.

Sources said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to arrive on Tuesday and so is veteran BJP leader L K Advani. Basu's body will be kept for four hours at the state Assembly on Tuesday to enable mourners to pay respect.

Indian Business News

Led by banks, Sensex gains 87 pts

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex rose 87 points on funds buying in blue-chip counters led by banks and PSUs.

The Sensex after a weak start, bounced back to close higher by 86.75 at 17,641.08 after hitting a high of 17,712.60 and a low of 17,505.50 during the session.

The largest software major TCS surged to all-time high of 816.40 in early trade after it beat street expectation on Friday with an over 33 per cent jump in profit. The stock closed at Rs 799.60.

The third-biggest lender HDFC Bank climbed Rs 76.55 to Rs 1,767.55, after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to "overweight" from "equal-weight," saying lower credit-cost estimates are boosting earnings forecasts.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty 50 rose by 22.65 to 5,274.85, after moving between 5,292.50 and 5,228.95.

Even as the stock markets in Asia remained weak, a better opening in Europe pushed the local markets in the last hour of trade.

Among the 30 Sensex counters, 19 gained while other 11 ended with losses. The bank and finance company stocks gained the most with the banking index rising 2.41 per cent on expectations of better third quarter earnings. The second biggest gainer was PSU index with a 1.91 per cent jump.

The auto index rose by 1.70 per cent, consumer durables by 1.37 per cent, IT index by 0.59 per cent, and Tech index by 0.59 per cent to 3,418.11. However, the upsurge was checked as stocks in healthcare, oil and gas, metal and power sectors closed with losses.

Timing of policy exit a challenge: RBI

Goa: he timing and sequence of exit from an easy policy is still a challenge, Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Monday.

Subbarao, who was speaking at a conference in Goa, also said the challenge was to support growth without compromising price stability.

The Reserve Bank of India will review monetary policy on Jan.29.

Wholesale sugar prices have dipped: Pawar

New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said that wholesale sugar prices have fallen 10-12 per cent in the past two to three days and the effect would be felt in the retail prices in some time.

Talking to reporters here, Pawar said: "There is a drop in wholesale but not in retail yet. Our past experience of many years... whenever there is drop in wholesale, it takes about 10-15 days in retail so we hope that the process will start soon."

He said wholesale sugar prices had fallen to Rs 37-38 per kilogramme from Rs 42.

Pawar also said cold weather in northern India was beneficial for the wheat and rapeseed crops, and an instruction for the selling of wheat and rice in open market has been sounded to the officials.

"We have given instructions for the sale of wheat and rice in the open markets of the FCI (Food Corporation of India) branches. Its effect will be felt in some time and I hope the state governments will help us in this," Pawar added.

The government last week had announced a slew of measures such as duty-free sugar imports and enhanced allocation of rice and wheat to check prices. Indian inflation jumped to a one-year high of 7.3 percent in December, driven by high food prices.

Indian Sports News

1st Test: Indian pacers rattle Bangladesh

CHITTAGONG: Indian pacers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did the early damage to put Bangladesh under pressure in the opening Test on Monday.

Bangladesh were well placed at 53/0 before slipping to 59/3 at stumps on the second day in reply to India's first-innings total of 243, with Zaheer taking two wickets in successive overs and Sharma one.

Raqibul Hasan was unbeaten on one and Mohammad Ashraful had yet to open his account when play was called off due to bad light. Only 24.5 overs were bowled because of poor weather on Monday.

Sachin Tendulkar earlier scored a superb 105 not out under pressure for his 44th Test century to boost India's total. He cracked two sixes and 11 fours in his 166-ball knock.

Bangladesh then got off to a sound start, with left-handed openers Tamim Iqbal (31) and Imrul Kayes (23) playing some attractive shots against the Indian strike bowlers.

Iqbal was initially more aggressive, scoring 21 in the opening four overs before his partner opened his account.

Kayes outscored Iqbal after lunch, hitting left-arm seamer Zaheer for two boundaries in an over and then driving S Sreesanth for a four.

Zaheer broke the partnership when he removed Kayes, who was trapped leg-before while playing across the line. He then bowled Iqbal in his next over with a delivery that kept low.

Sharma's lone victim was Shahriar Nafees, who was caught by VVS Laxman at second slip after contributing only four.

India posted their lowest-ever total against Bangladesh despite Tendulkar's century. Their previous lowest in a completed innings was 429 in Dhaka in 2000.

India, reeling at 213/8 on Sunday, lost their remaining two wickets in less than eight overs in the morning, with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan and paceman Shahadat Hossain finishing with five wickets apiece.

Shakib grabbed 5/62 for his sixth haul of five or more wickets in Tests and Shahadat took 5/71 for his third.

Tendulkar, who had only tail-enders Sharma and Sreesanth for company, went for shots early in the morning in pursuit of his century.

Resuming on his overnight score of 76, he pulled Shahadat for a four in the first over after play started 90 minutes late due to fog, and then hoisted Shakib over long-on for a six.

Tendulkar was on 93 when last-man Sreesanth joined him and completed his century with two successive fours off Shahadat.

NRAI bows down to Abhinav Bindra's pressure

New Delhi: After creating a furore by threatening to quit, Abhinav Bindra had his way with the shooting establishment agreeing to consider the Olymic hero's international scores for inclusion in the team for the third and fourth World Cups to be held later this year.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), however, made it clear that Abhinav's inclusion in the first and second edition of the mega-event and the Commonwealth Shooting Championships was out of question as the squads for the three events have already been approved by the Sports Ministry.

NRAI has also requested the Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi to intervene and sort out the issue, which created a flutter after the Beijing Olympic Games gold-medallist expressed his desire to quit.

"Being the IOA president, we have asked Mr Kalmadi to talk to Bindra and settle the matter. We have called his father A S Bindra for a meeting tomorrow and asked him to bring Abhinav's international scores alongwith him," NRAI secretary-general Baljeet Singh Sethi told reporters.

"But Abhinav's selection in the first and second World Cup and Commonwealth Shooting Championships is impossible. We will consider his international scores for the next two World Cups.

"The teams have already been selected and the government has also given its approval, so we can't make any changes right now," he added.

Just 12 slots to fill at third IPL auction

Mumbai: An interesting mix of players, including Indian Cricket League returnees, would go under the hammer at the third Indian Premier League auction during which the franchises would choose from a list of 66 to fill just 12 available slots in Mumbai on Tuesday.

"Well there are a lot of buy-outs which are still in progress. I expect no more than 12 slots at the maximum to be available unless there are a few last moment surprises," said IPL's Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman ahead of the auction that is to be held at a suburban hotel in Mumbai.

A buy-out means paying a contracted player his dues before the expiry of the contract in order to free him of his obligations towards the team.

Each franchisee has USD 750,000 at its disposal for buying new players at the auction featuring cricketers from all nine Test-playing countries.

The players bought would be contracted for only one season, specifically till December 31 of 2010, and that includes the Champions League Twenty20.

"In the first year we devised a three-year contract. We had said that at the end of three years, with the addition of franchises, the entire process would change. The changes will be effected after this season of IPL," the IPL official has said.

Raman reckons exciting West Indian talents - hard-hitting batsman Kieron Pollard and fast bowler Kemar Roach - would be among the most sought after.

"Some of the Pakistani players are interesting and of course, the Australian players add to the excitement. I would like to see a lot of them playing the IPL this season," Raman said.

Nadal advances to Australian Open second round

MELBOURNE: Defending champion and second seed Rafael Nadal wore down Australian Peter Luczak to begin his Australian Open campaign with a Nadal advances to Australian Open second round straight sets victory on Monday.

The Spanish world number two, bidding for his seventh Grand Slam title, overcame the 78th-ranked ranked Luczak 7-6 (7/0), 6-1, 6-4 in two hours 34 minutes.

Nadal, who is working his way back to full fitness after injuries blighted his last season, will next play either Argentina's Leonardo Mayer or Slovakia's Lukas Lacko with a potential quarter-final looming against Andy Murray.

Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in a gripping five-set final last year, has not claimed a title since winning on the Barcelona clay last April.

He encountered a spirited opening from Luczak, cheered on him by his home crowd in Rod Laver Arena, and lost his service in the eighth game before breaking straight back in the next game.

The opening set went to a tiebreaker but Nadal stormed through without dropping a point to seize the initiative.

Luczak appeared to lose steam after the loss of the first set and Nadal broke him twice to wrap up the second set in 33 minutes and broke him again in the opening game of the third to control the match.

Nadal dominated the points, hitting 35 winners to Luczak's 29 and broke the Australian's service a total of four times to dropping his own serve just once in the first set.

Indian Latest News

Frustrated Abhinav Bindra contemplates quitting

New Delhi: Annoyed at being treated like a "Mr Nobody" by the national federation, India's first and only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra is planning to quit shooting.

The 27-year-old world champion, who clinched the historic Olympic gold medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Games, is tired of being at loggerheads with the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI).

"He is annoyed that his point of view is not being taken properly by the national body and he is being treated like a Mr Nobody. He needs space to do his training and prepare himself for this year's Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games the way he prepared for the Olympics," Abhinav's father A S Bindra said in Chandigarh.

Abhinav has defied NRAI in the past as well, openly criticising its functioning, and the latest standoff has been provoked by the body's insistence on his presence at national level trials.

"He has been asked to undergo trials and he even agreed to it. He came all the way from Germany for some trials on December 18 but to his dismay, the trials were postponed. He has requested that he be exempted from such trials not once but twice. He can't be harassed like this," Bindra Senior said.

"His emotional state is very low. He is planning that if 'I am subjected to such harassment then it's better to quit then confront'," he added.

The NRAI, however, dismissed Abhinav's allegations and said the body never misinformed him about the trial schedule.

Australian bar turns away three Indians

Melbourne: Three Indians were among a group of six South Asians who were denied entry by a bar in Melbourne in what is being described by them as "a case of racism", amid a slew of attacks on students from the community in Australia.

"We had gone to the bar to throw a farewell party for one of our friends, Abhishek Aggarwal, who is about to leave for India" on Wednesday, said Sujan Pathak, a Nepalese citizen who was part of the group.

However, he said the youths, all in their mid-20s, were turned away by the Melbourne Centre Lion Hotel bar without giving any explanation.

The group of friends -- three Indians and three Nepalese -- just wanted to know the reason for this and contacted police who refused to help them on the issue, Pathak said.

All bars here display a notice outside that they can turn away any customer without giving any explanation.

"We tried to get into the bar, There were so many guys in front of us and right behind us as well in the queue. They denied us (entry), said 'you guys can't get in'," Aggarwal told NDTV over phone after the late last night incident.

"We were not drunk, we were carrying our age proof, we were properly attired. But still they said 'you guys can't get in'. They didn't give us any reason. We waited there for 10 minutes. All other guys were getting in... but we were not allowed to go inside.

Basu's vital organs unstable, on maximum ventilator support, say doctors

KOLKATA: The condition of CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu turned extremely critical on Saturday with all his vital organs affected and "there is little hope of any good result".

"All five vital organs -- heart, lungs, kidney, brain and liver -- are not functioning properly," Dr Ajit Kumar Maity, Basu's personal physician and a memberof the medical board at AMRI hospital, where he is admitted, told PTI.

Asked about the chances of recovery of the 95-year-old leader, Maity said, "At this age and the complications he is suffering from, there is little hope of any good result. The doctors are doing their best."

He said Basu, who was put on Slow Low Efficiency Daily Dialysis (SLEDD) at noon has taken it well. "It will continue for eight hours if there is no problem," he said.

When a patient is unable to withstand normal dialysis, SLEDD is resorted to.

Basu was admitted to AMRI Hospital with pneumonia on January one and put on a ventilator on January six.

Meanwhile, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, who visited Basu in hospital said, "He continues to amaze me. He is such a fighter. I hope he will be able to fight this also. He is in a critical state. Let's see if he can complete the dialysis."

Asked if he was satisfied with the treatment being given to the party veteran in the hospital, he said, "He is being given the best in treatment. The procedure and manner in which he is being treated is the best."

Earlier, the medical bulletin said that Basu's condition was extremely critical and his blood pressure and urine output had dropped. The former West Bengal chief minister suffered multi-organ failure on Friday evening.

According to doctors, the level of carbon dioxide in Basu's body increased, after which he was given more ventilator support.

"He is now under round the clock medical observation," the medical report added.

The communist icon was hospitalised after a pneumonia attack and admitted in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU) of the Salt Lake-based private hospital Jan 1.

Born 1914 in Kolkata, Basu became chief minister of West Bengal in June 1977. He stepped down voluntarily on health grounds in November 2000.

'India faces threat of another 26/11, likely to act militarily'

Washington: Facing the "undeniable" threat of another Mumbai-type attack by Pakistan-based terror groups which may act under al-Qaeda's direction, India is most likely to retaliate militarily in such a scenario, according to a prominent US think tank.

"The threat of another Mumbai-type attack is undeniable; numerous Pakistan-based groups remain motivated and able to strike Indian targets," said Daniel Markey of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in his latest paper 'Terrorism and Indo-Pakistani Escalation.'

Many of these Pakistan-based terror groups have incentives to act as spoilers, whether to disrupt efforts to improve Indo-Pak ties or to distract Islamabad from counter-terror crackdown at home, said Markey, a known South Asia expert.

"Thus the immediate risk of terrorism may actually increase if New Delhi and Islamabad make progress on resolving their differences or if Pakistan-based terrorists are effectively backed into a corner," he said in his 11-page contingency planning memorandum of the CFR.

While traditionally Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are the two terror groups that have proven themselves the most capable and motivated to carry out attacks in India, this time al-Qaeda could don the mantle, he said.

"Al-Qaeda has historically focussed its efforts outside India, but if the group's leadership feels threatened in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border areas, it might direct and assist regional proxies to attack India as a way to ignite a distracting Indo-Pakistani confrontation."

Other regional terrorist groups, including those based in India, are improving their capacity to inflict mass-casualty violence, but because these outfits lack clear-cut connections to Pakistan-based organisations, their attacks are far less likely to spark another crisis between India and Pakistan, Markey said.

4 suspended including Allhabad DRM for Kalandi train accident

New Delhi: Railways on Saturday suspended four persons including Allahabad Divisional Railway Manager and senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer after the fourth accident in a fortnight.

Allahabad DRM S K Aggarwal, senior DME Vinit Singh and two drivers of Kalandi Express have been placed under suspension pending an inquiry into the incident, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

The two drivers are Ram Prakash and Satpal Singh Yadav who were injured in the accident that killed three persons were killed and injured 17 near Tundla this morning. Kalandi Express rammed into stationery Shram Shakti Express in dense fog.

Earlier, ten persons were killed and 45 injured in three train accidents on January 2 in Uttar Pradesh.

Railways also issued revised safety guidelines after a review meeting held by the Chairman Railway Board S S Khurana.

As per the fresh guidelines, the driver has to stop the train for five minutes instead of two minutes at the red signal before driving at 8 km per hour speed in foggy condition.

The fresh guidelines issued to all railway zones highlighted the fact that drivers and staff must adhere to the precaution and speed restriction during the fog, said the official.

Indian Business News

Monitor rampant credit growth: President

New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil cautioned the RBI against unrestrained credit growth that may lead to bad debts, but at the same time asked it to ensure loans to productive sectors of the economy.

The Indian economy, the President was confident, will grow by over seven per cent.

"If there is a lesson that can be drawn from this (global financial) crisis is that there cannot be unbridled extension of credit. The Reserve Bank must continuously ensure that banks have proper guidelines for risk management," Patil said after releasing a commemorative stamp on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the RBI.

The President's words of caution to the RBI came amid bankers expressing apprehensions that their non-performing assets may rise.

On January 11, the country's largest bank, SBI, Chairman O P Bhatt had said loan defaults would continue to rise for the next six months.

It may be remembered that the global financial meltdown basically emerged from defaults in the housing loans.

However, the President said, "While indiscriminate grant of credit must be avoided, credit policies should definitely not deny finance for productive enterprises."

The funding requirements of productive sectors is expected to increase with the rebound in economic recovery.

Patil expressed the hope that the economy may witness over seven per cent growth next fiscal.

"Though we did see a fall in our growth rate initially we have now risen close to 7 per cent growth rate, justifying the correctness of our policy stance. Our growth trajectory is expected to be higher in the coming year," she said.

Centre taking steps to arrest price rise: PM

Kolkata: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday assured a Congress delegation here that the Centre would take steps to arrest the rise in prices of essential commodities, according to WBPCC working President Subrata Mukherjee.

Mukherjee, who was among a 37-member PCC delegation which called on the Prime Minister at Raj Bhavan, said Singh had informed them that steps would be taken for dehoarding.

A meeting of Chief Ministers had been called to discuss the price rise issue, Mukherjee said quoting Singh.

Mukherjee, the state INTUC President, said he had also sought the Prime Minister's intervention into the month-long strike in the jute industry.

"The Prime Minister assured to take up the issue with the Union Textiles Minister."

The delegation also highlighted the law and order situation and alleged spurt in political violence in the left-ruled state.

TCS to hire 8,500 trainees in Q4

Mumbai: IT major Tata Consultancy Services is looking at hiring 8,500 trainees and around 3,000 laterals in this quarter, a top company official said in Mumbai.

"We have already employed 8,703 trainees in Q3 and expect to add 8,500 more trainees in Q4 FY 10. We have also hired 3,000 laterals in Q3 and given the growth we may continue to hire in Q4 as well," TCS Vice-President and Head, Global Human Resources, Ajoyendra Mukherjee, said in Mumbai.

During the third quarter, TCS had a gross addition of 12,854 employees, which includes a net addition of 7,692.

"We have had significant employee additions in Q3 and still have increased our talent utilisation to industry leading levels. We remain prepared to meet the growth in demand," Mukherjee said.

The company is also continuing to hire people at its development centre in the US, he said.

The attrition rate in Q3 was at 11.5 per cent with attrition in IT services at 10.8 per cent and BPO at 18.3 per cent, Mukherjee said.

Indian Sports News

Frustrated Abhinav Bindra contemplates quitting

New Delhi:Annoyed at being treated like a "Mr Nobody" by the national federation, India's first and only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra is planning to quit shooting.

The 27-year-old world champion, who clinched the historic Olympic gold medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Games, is tired of being at loggerheads with the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI).

"He is annoyed that his point of view is not being taken properly by the national body and he is being treated like a Mr Nobody. He needs space to do his training and prepare himself for this year's Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games the way he prepared for the Olympics," Abhinav's father A S Bindra said in Chandigarh.

Abhinav has defied NRAI in the past as well, openly criticising its functioning, and the latest standoff has been provoked by the body's insistence on his presence at national level trials.

"He has been asked to undergo trials and he even agreed to it. He came all the way from Germany for some trials on December 18 but to his dismay, the trials were postponed. He has requested that he be exempted from such trials not once but twice. He can't be harassed like this," Bindra Senior said.

"His emotional state is very low. He is planning that if 'I am subjected to such harassment then it's better to quit then confront'," he added.

The NRAI, however, dismissed Abhinav's allegations and said the body never misinformed him about the trial schedule.

India need win to thwart threat on number one Test spot

CHITTAGONG: Aware that the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings can change hands after every series, top ranked India would settle for nothing more than a victory when they take on lowly Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series starting in Chittagong on Sunday.

Top ranked India will go into the first Test without their charismatic captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been ruled out because of a back injury.

Dhoni, who has been in very good form, will sit out of the match because of back spasm, leaving Virender Sehwag with the task of leading the team.

Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik will replace Dhoni in the team which is looking to retain its number one position in the ICC Test championship by clinching the two-match series 2-0.

With India playing not many Tests this year and other teams -- including South Africa, Australia and England -- closely behind them, Indian team will have to get maximum result from the Bangladesh series.

India are expected to maintain their world number one status if they win the series against Bangladesh 2-0 as South Africa, engaged in a Test series against England at home, is left with no chance of toppling the Dhoni-led side.

Even though some of the Indian players, who were part of the just concluded tri-series squad, would be a bit low in morale after losing the final to Sri Lanka, they will have to get over the disappointment and concentrate at the job in hand.

Notwithstanding the unimpressive start in 50-over format, the Indians would be aiming to begin with a bang in Test cricket.

The complexion of the team has also changed after six players, including stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, joining the touring squad.

A full strength India are the overwhelming favourites over Bangladesh who are ranked ninth in the world.

History also favour India as Bangladesh had never won a Test against their western neighbours out of the five they have played between themselves, the last one at the same venue being a drawn affair with rain severely affecting the game.

The Indians have won by an innings in three matches while the fourth one was won by nine wickets.

For some big names in Indian cricket, it would be a perfect platform to get into the Test mode ahead of the big Test series against South Africa at home next month.

For dashing Virender Sehwag, who has scored just 23 runs in the two innings against Bangladesh, it is a great opportunity to come up with a big knock and continue his good form after his 293 against Sri Lanka last month.

Sehwag can easily demoralise the inexperience Bangladesh bowlers with his early assault but he will have to play cautiously in the first hour if India bats first as there will be some moisture at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury cricket stadium.

Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir would want to begin the year in Test cricket with a good performance after a phenomenal 2009 while Tendulkar, who scored a century in the drawn match at this venue in May 2007, is just 30 runs away from achieving another milestone of 13,000 runs.

Laxman is another batsman who has a poor record against Bangladesh having scored just 41 runs in two innings in his first tour in 2007.

But the stylish right-hander would be eyeing to become only the fifth Indian Test cricketer to complete 7000 runs as he is just 83 runs short of that mark.

Zaheer Khan, who is the third player along with Tendulkar and Dravid to have played all the five Tests against Bangladesh, would also want to make amends for his poor record against the home team having taken just 10 wickets against them.

While the top five batsman of the formidable batting line-up -- Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman automatically select themselves in the playing XI, the bowling department will be spearheaded by Zaheer and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The toss up for the second spinner's position would be between Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha, while S Sreesanth is likely to partner Zaheer in the new ball department as he enjoys an edge over Ishant Sharma and Sudeep Tyagi.

The Kerala pacer had done comparatively well in the Test series against Sri Lanka last month although he bled runs in the just-concluded tri-series.

But it is India's bowling department could be a matter of concern, especially after their inconsistent showing in the tri-series and Zaheer and Co. will definitely be eager for an improved performance in the Test series.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, are a confident lot after their Test series victory over the West Indies last July though it was a depleted Caribbean side which they beat.

Their captain Shakib Al Hasan has already said that a drawn series would make his side proud considering the prowess of Indian batting line up.

Bangladesh, however, would be much weaker in the bowling department with the unavailability of Mashrafe Mortaza due to injury though batsman Mohammad Mahmadullah said the home side still has a good attack at its disposal.

"Had Mortaza been available our bowling would have been strengthened but we still have a good bowling attack which we hope would do well against India," he said.

The home team will also hope that key batsman Mohammad Ashraful regain his touch after a poor 2009 and indifferent form in the just concluded tri-series.

Squads (from):

India: Virender Sehwag (Stand-in Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, S Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Ishant Sharma.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (Capt.), Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Zunaed Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Roqibul Hassan, Mahmudullah, Shahriar Nafees, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Enamul Haque (Jr.), Mahbubul Alam, Shafiul Islam.

Cue sports need image makeover: Pankaj Advani

Bangalore: Charming cueist Pankaj Advani reckons cue sport desperately needs an image makeover and it's time to bid goodbye to the traditional bow tie dress code.

"Cue sports need to attract more eye-balls," the ace cueist said.

The first logical step should be a change in the dress code -- from very formal to more dapper, casual and funky, says Advani, only the second cueist, after Malta's Paul Mifsud, to have won both the billiards and snooker world titles.

"While the waistcoat can remain, the bow tie definitely needs to be given a go-by. The waistcoat can be funky and we can have printed shirts which are colourful and vibrant," prescribed the 24-year go-getter who is most comfortable in his jeans and T-shirt.

Cue sport also needs better marketing and visibility and like most other disciplines, all national sports federations need to take a leaf out of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's book on how to promote a game.

Advani said since he got "hooked on" to the sport when he was just six, things have changed over the last three to five years in the way people perceive a sportsperson.

Achievements of champion sportspersons are finally being noticed now, he pointed out.

"However, the understanding that a Vishwanathan Anand works as hard as a Sachin Tendulkar still needs to seep in," he quipped.

An alumnus of the Frank Anthony Public School here, Advani was an all-rounder who was not only a good student but also dabbled in sports like cricket, table tennis and basketball as well.

Somdev fails to cross last hurdle

MELBOURNE: Somdev Devvarman missed out on a chance of featuring in his second successive Grand Slam singles main draw after losing the third and final round of the Australian Open qualifying event in straight sets to 12th seed Blaz Kavcic.

The 27th seed tried his best to make a comeback into the match but eventually lost 3-6, 6-7(4) to his Slovenian opponent, ranked 126 in the ATP chart.

Somdev had last year qualified for the US Open and reached the second round of the singles main draw.

In Saturday's two hour 22 minutes contest, Somdev broke his rival thrice including twice in the second set and dropped his serve twice in each set.

Yuki Bhambri and Prakash Amritraj had also made it to the singles qualifying draw but lost in the first and second round respectively.

Yet again, Sania Mirza will India's lone challenge in the singles when she competes in the women's main draw.

Indian Latest News

Food prices will fall in 8-10 days: Pawar

NEW DELHI: The soaring prices of essential commodities will start coming down in 8-10 days, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday,adding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called a meeting of the chief ministers here on Jan 27 to discuss the issue.

"With the measures we have taken, the prices of essential commodities are expected to start coming down in eight to 10 days," he told reporters here after a meeting of the cabinet committee on prices chaired by Manmohan Singh.

Pawar said the prime minister would also discuss the implementation of the Essential Commodities Act with the chief ministers.

Pawar also said that state governments were not lifting the wheat and rice stocks made available to them by the central government.

"We have made sizeable allocations of wheat and rice to the states but sufficient ammounts have not been lifted," he pointed out, adding that of the two million tonnes of wheat that had been allocated, only 159,000 tonnes had been lifted, while only 209,000 tonnes of the one million tonnes of rice that had been allocated had been lifted.

"After assessing the situation, the prime minister felt there should be a meeting with the chief ministers where he would appeal to them to lift the stocks that had been allocated," Pawar said.

He added that states had been told to take stern action against hoarders of food. "This will also be reviewed in the conference of chief ministers."

Additionally, steps will be taken to check smuggling of sugarcane and sugar from India to Nepal, he said.

Pawar also announced a major relaxation of norms for the import of raw sugar, saying it could be refined anywhere in the country and not only by the mill that had imported it.

"To expedite the refining of raw sugar and improve availability in the market, the government has relaxed the central excise rules to enable its processing in mills in any state," he said.

"Today, the import (of raw sugar) at zero duty is done under the name of a particular mill. It is supposed to be processed only in that mill. If it is processed elsewhere, then duty has to be paid. This measure has been waived," Pawar said.

He said the waiver had been granted as "a number of sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh had imported raw sugar for processing. However, the bulk of the sugar is still lying in Kandla and Mundra ports in view of restrictions by the Uttar Pradesh government on the movement of raw sugar.

"We have repeatedly requested the state government to lift the restrictions but to no avail," Pawar pointed out.

The government has already permitted the import of raw sugar at zero duty up to Dec 31, 2010. This facility has now been extended for the import of refined sugar.

"In order to ensure continuous availability of sugar in the market, refined sugar will be allowed to be imported at zero duty up to Dec 31, 2010. There will be no quantitative cap on imports," Pawar said.

Hockey crisis resolved, players to resume practice

Pune: The crisis in Indian hockey was on Wednesday resolved with Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi brokering a compromise deal between the game's administrators and the striking players, who have been promised an immediate disbursement of Rs one crore.

Kalmadi, who flew in here this morning to hold negotiations with the protesting players, said that a full settlement has been reached and "everybody is happy about it".

"Hockey has been our national game. It can never be a national shame. It will be our national pride. The players all feel that they want to bring up Indian hockey. I assured them of full support," Kalmadi told a press conference after his meeting with the players.

Kalmadi, who is also Chairman of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said that the Rs one crore given by sponsors Sahara India will be disbursed among the players within a week and all other issues would be settled in due course of time.

The settlement of the crisis, which has dogged Indian hockey for the last five days, paves the way for the players to rejoin the World Cup preparatory camp from tomorrow.

Kalmadi also said that a Players' Welfare Development Fund will be created and former Indian captain Dhanraj Pillay who also played a key role in resolving the crisis has been put in charge.

Kalmadi also made it clear that no player will be targeted in future for boycotting the camp. "No player will be targeted. They have done it within the decorum. I will also tell the next HI president to agree to the players' demand."

CBI files chargesheet against Buta's son and three others

Mumbai:CBI on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Sarabjot Singh, son of National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman Buta Singh, and three others in a case of alleged corruption.

The 31-page chargesheet was filed against Sarabjot alias Sweety, Anup Begi, Madan Solanki and Dhoop Singh Chauhan in a designated CBI court here, official sources said.

While Sarabjot and Begi have been booked for corruption and hatching the criminal conspiracy, the two others face charges under money laundering act for being allegedly involved in Hawala racket, they said.

However, there was no mention of the statement of Buta Singh in the chargesheet for which the agency had fought a prolonged legal battle to record his statement. The sources said that they were not relying on his statement.

Buta had moved the Delhi High Court challenging CBI's move to question him but withdrew the petition later when the agency informed that he was being summoned only as a witness.

Sarabjot was arrested on July 31 last year for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs one crore from Nashik-based contractor Ramrao Patil for closing a case pending against him before the Scheduled Castes panel headed by his father.

Though Solanki and Chauhan have been named as accused in the case, they can later turn approver if the court allows, the sources said.

The chargesheet includes telephonic interceptions involving Sarabjot, Patil and other accused bargaining for the bribe amount.

I'll smile even more in adversity, learnt it from Nehru: Rathore

CHANDIGARH: Taking the media head on, disgraced ex-Haryana DGP SPS Rathore on Wednesday taunted newsmen telling them he will smile more if they succeed in doing more "harm" to him and said he has learnt from Jawaharlal Nehru to smile when one is facing adversity. ( Watch Video )

Chiding the media for "talking too much about his smile" after the smirk on his face on getting a lighter six-month sentence in the Ruchika molestation case drew the ire of various groups, the 67-year-old former Haryana top cop also said he will not "destroy" the judicial system like the way the "media was doing."

Hounded by newsmen for his reaction as he walked out of the District and Sessions Court to his car after getting bail in the molestation case, Rathore did not hide his apparent dislike for the media in the wake of his submissions in open court that he was being subjected to a media trial.

"I will not speak anything about the subject of inquiry but certainly if you want I can speak about the smile you have been talking too much...I learnt from Prime Minister His Excellency Jawaharlal Nehru to smile when you are in adversity. I will smile more. If you succeed to harm me more I will still smile more," Rathore said.

Rathore did not take any questions with regards to the ongoing case, saying the matter was sub judice. "I will not speak anything on this subject," he added.

Before reporters could ask him further questions, he went on to explain the reasons behind the "secret of his smile" and added he had learnt to smile when one was faced with testing times.

Pictures and video footage of a "smiling Rathore" last month after the trial court verdict on December 21 last had drawn widespread criticism from different quarters.

Claiming it to be a mockery of not only the too little punishment awarded to him but also modesty of the deceased, several feminist groups had publicly condemned the act.

"We were shocked to see no remorse on his face for having forced a young girl to take such a step. It was this gesture that made me more determined to get him his due punishment," Anand Prakash, who fought the case, had said.

Rathore had avoided all questions from the media after his previous court appearances except for one occasion when he mocked at newsmen saying, "The day you can satisfy me that you are a constitutional power on judicial matters, I will speak to you."

No change in LAC with China: Antony

New Delhi: Downplaying reports of India losing territory to China in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said there was "no change" in the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Antony said the issue was raised at a meeting he had with J&K government officials and Army officers in Jammu yesterday, where the Army Corps Commander for Ladakh had categorically reported that there was not much change in the situation along the LAC.

"Yesterday, in the meeting, this subject was also raised. In the meeting, the Corps Commander (of Ladakh) reported that as far as they are concerned, there is no change in the Line of Control. There is not much change in the situation," he told reporters here.

However, he said there were troop movements "here and there" because of the differing perceptions (of the LAC).

"Because of differing perceptions, our people are going there, their people are coming here. Generally there is no change in the atmosphere and no change in the LAC. This was explained by the Army commander. I told them to further study this in detail," he said.

An official report had recently stated that the area along the LAC with China had "shrunk" over a period of time and India had lost "substantial" amount of land in the last two decades.

Indian Business News

Prices to come down by Jan-end: Montek

New Delhi: Describing the food inflation a "temporary phenomenon", the Planning Commission has said that the prices of various food items will decline towards the month-end and that the economic growth during the year would exceed 7 per cent.

"The food price inflation is a worrying problem, but in my view the food price inflation strictly on vegetables etc. is a temporary phenomenon... they (prices) will go down further," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in an interview on ‘CNBC TV-18’.

With the coming of the rabi (winter) crop, he added, "you will see a drop in cereal inflation compared to what it is now ... wait for the end of January... on the foodgrain front there will be ample available".

Driven by rising prices of pulses, potato, onion and other vegetables, the food inflation soared to decade's high of about 20 per cent in December before sliding marginally.

About the country's economic growth prospects in the current fiscal, Ahluwalia said it "would definitely be 7 per cent or a little more is quite likely".

The Commission, which had projected a growth rate of 6.5 per cent for 2009-10, he said, would revise it upwards, especially in view of the robust 7.9 per cent GDP recorded in the second quarter (July-September). Economy grew by 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.

Govt allows duty free sugar imports till Dec end

New Delhi: The government allowed import of refined sugar at zero duty up to December 31 this year in the wake of sweetener prices nearing Rs 50 a kg in the retail market.

The Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) also decided to permit UP mills to process imported raw sugar outside the state due to restrictions there.

Two-three million tonnes of wheat would be released in the open market in the next two months to check prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said after the meeting.

Import of white sugar was allowed till March 31 this year earlier.

Expecting states to play more active role in containing rising food prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will review the situation with the Chief Ministers later this month.

Food inflation has reached near 20 per cent while sugar is inching near Rs 50 a kg in the retail market.

The Prime Minister would also review the implementation of the Essential Commodities Act for reining in the food prices, Pawar said.

The Mayawati government does not allow the mills to process the imported raw sugar in Uttar Pradesh despite repeated requests from the Centre.

Indian Sports News

Mirpur: Suresh Raina smashed a brilliant 106 as he single-handedly lifted India to 245 all out after a top-order collapse in the cricket tri-series final against Sri Lanka here on Wednesday.

Put into bat, the famed Indian batting line-up, bolstered by the return of opener Virender Sehwag, produced a spineless display as the top half was back in the hut by the 11th over before Raina did the rescue act on a batting track at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The left-hander, who struck 10 fours and a six in 115 balls for his third ODI hundred in 87th match, shared a 106-run sixth wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (38) to revive the innings which eventually folded in 48.2 overs.

The Indian innings ended without a final flourish after Raina was out in the 46th over with Harbhajan Singh (11), Zaheer Khan (16) and S Sreesanth (4) returning in quick succession as the tail failed to wag.

For Sri Lanka, pacers Nuwan Kulasekara and Chanaka Welegedara, who damaged the Indian top-order, took four and three wickets respectively. Coming at the fall of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni when his side was tottering at 47 for four in the ninth over, Raina kept one end intact grafting for runs initially before opening up later.

Jadeja also did the right thing, staying put at the crease and giving company to Raina for 23.4 overs. While their illustrious colleagues, with the exception of Sehwag (42), fell cheaply to loose shots, the duo played the balls on merit and waited for a final flourish at the slog overs which though did not come. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh were out for ducks while Dhoni and Kohli could contribute 14 and two respectively.

Latest News India

21 Indians detained in China, India seeks consular access

BEIJING/NEW DELHI: 21 Indians have been detained in the Shenzhen region of China for alleged diamond smuggling.

The detentions were made on Friday last and the Chinese authorities are moving to press charges of diamond smuggling against them, sources said.

Indian embassy in Beijing immediately took up the matter with the Chinese government and sought consular access to them, they said.

The consular access has been granted for Thursday. In New Delhi, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said a report has been sought from the embassy in Beijing.

"I am aware that some Indians have been taken into custody by the Chinese authorities in Shenzhen. I have asked our ambassador in Beijing for factual report on this matter," she said.

Rao said Ambassador S Jaishankar "is in touch with the Indian consular general in Guangzhou, which covers Shenzhen and we are awaiting the full facts from the Ambassador."

Chinese media claim that the diamond smuggling racket was busted by Shenzhen Custom's officials. The ring is said to have sourced diamonds in Hong Kong and hired Indians and local carriers to smuggle them into Shenzhen before distributing them to factories, which, in turn, sold them on the open market.

The incident comes at a time when Chinese nationals working on various infrastructure projects in India have complained of a host of problems, including issues relating to their visas.

Three Chinese engineers were arrested in Korba town in Chhattisgarh on Monday for chimney crash in the Balco plant in which 41 workers were killed in September last year. The Chinese were on Tuesday shifted to a district hospital in Korba town after they complained of health problems.

A day after assurance, another Indian beaten in Australia

MELBOURNE: A 28-year-old Indian man living in Australia for more than a decade on Tuesday claimed that he was beaten up by a group of locals on a beach in Sydney.

The man, who refused to be named apparently due to safety reasons, said that he was kicked and punched by the group near Coogee beach on Monday.

He said he had been living in Australia for the past 11 years and had never experienced such a thing before.

Police arrived 40 minutes after the incident and caught one person, he told PTI.

While the man did not receive any external wounds, he said he was having severe pain in his neck, back and head. He did not give any other detail.

However, police have not issued any statement on the attack.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said that India and Australia shared an "excellent relationship" and did not want the issue of attacks on Indians, mostly students, here to disturb the ties.

Smith said he rang up his Indian counterpart S M Krishna yesterday after returning from holidays to brief him about the investigations.

"We both agreed this was an issue we did not want to disturb or get in the way of what the External Affairs Minister (Krishna) described as an excellent relationship," he was quoted as saying by AAP today.

"I undertook to keep him (Krishna) informed of any developments in the investigation. I relayed to him personal condolences on the death of the Indian student (Nitin) Garg and ... to Garg's family," Smith said.

He said he told Krishna that the Victorian police continued to treat the case as one of "its highest priorities" and outlined the steps that had been taken by authorities in terms of community policing.

Garg, a 21-year-old student, was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants earlier this month while he was walking towards a restaurant, where he worked part-time.

"Minister Krishna and I agreed India and Australia have an excellent relationship following on the Prime Minister's (Kevin Rudd's) visit last year to India, when we increased the level of our relationship to a strategic partnership. We agreed we have an excellent relationship," Smith said.

Crisis deepens, HI issues fresh ultimatum to players

PUNE: The crisis in Indian hockey on Tuesday deepened with the striking players walking out of an inconclusive meeting with Hockey India officials, prompting the establishment to serve a fresh 48-hour ultimatum to the players to resume training or get axed from the World Cup squad.



While HI said it did not have the required money to pay the players, who are demanding Rs 4.5 lakh each apart from a graded contract system, the campers were in no mood to relent at the meeting which ended with no immediate signs of an early settlement to the payment dispute.

HI president AK Mattoo said it was a sad development that the players chose money over national colours at a time when the February 28 - March 13 mega-event is knocking at the door.

"Any player who is in the complex has to train but it seems for them (players) money is more important than playing for the country," Mattoo said.

"No one has been thrown out of the camp. The players have been given 48 hours time to resume training. If they decide not to attend the camp within 48 hours then the camp will be shut," he said.

Mattoo said a new set of players will represent India in the forthcoming World Cup if the revolting players did not report to the camp within the stipulated deadline.

"We are not saying that we are sacking or suspending them but they will not be able to take part in the World Cup," the HI chief said.

"I am not suspending the camp, I am closing the camp for the time being and restart it after some days.

"India will participate in the World Cup irrespective of the fact that whether they play or not. We will look for fresh players from across the country and train them under Jose Brasa and Harender Singh to make them fit for the World Cup. The technical people will look into this matter," he added.

He said that the players refused to budge from their stand despite the assurance that their grievances would be looked into after the HI elections scheduled for February 7.

"I told the players that I have 'X' amount of money in my hand. If I give it to you, I have to give it to the women's as well as junior team. I told them their all demands we will take it forward to new body and see what we can do best for them," Mattoo said.

"We pleaded with them. Tony (FIH vice president Antonio von Ondarza) even told them nowhere in the world a player plays for money but unfortunately our pleads were not heard," Mattoo said.

"They said unless their demands were met they will not train. Its not done anywhere. I told them you get into the field and we will see what we can do for them now and for their future as well.

"There is no question of salary. They are not paid employees of HI. We offered them Rs 25,000 each which we can afford right now but they refused. I have invested so much time and effort on these boys, so I would like to see them play in the World Cup," he added.

Mattoo also said that as per promise HI would be giving away Rs 25,000 each to players of women's team and Rs 15,000 to the junior side.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) vice president Antonio von Ondarza expressed shock over the development and said with just six weeks left for the World Cup, the players should concentrate on training instead of indulging in pressure tactics.

"I came to India to finalise the alleged discrepancies in Hockey India's election process and I'm happy to say that we were able to solve that yesterday. The news of players' strike shocked me. HI officials asked if I would be interested to talk to the players and I said 'why not?".

"I heard allegation from both sides. It's really a very sad story. If you come to a negotiation and refuse to move, it's not going to succeed," Ondarza said.

"Hockey India has just come into being and it's an interim body. How can it commit for future? That would be a fraud thing to do. With just 10 weeks to go before the World Cup, players should not put pressure on HI. They should concentrate on their training," he added.

Ondarza, who is also the FIH-appointed observer for HI polls, said it was sad to learn that the present set of Indian players prefer money over the nation.

"They went out of the meeting and when they returned, I asked what is more important for them, the national shirt or the money. They said money was more important to them. It's very sad. I myself have played the game and representing the country was above everything else for us," he said.

The FIH vice president said that hockey is not a cash-rich sport like cricket or football and with time it will grow in stature.

"The players have to remember that hockey is not like cricket, basketball or soccer where dollars roll in. I explained them that situation is improving and we have a new product," Ondarza said.

"This is an unfortunate scenario but I'm hopeful that India would field a strong team in the World Cup. It was not right on the players' part to come out all guns blazing against HI. HI can't do any thing more than it has promised", he said.

"India must be having more than 22 players. Even if some of the best players are not ready to play and don't feel obliged to don the national shirt, you have to find youngsters who would be keen for the honour. They may not win medals but at least they can be competitive. Whatever team represents India, has to play their heart out, he said.

The players are indefinitely boycotting the World Cup preparatory camp demanding their match dues, incentives, a graded payment structure among other things.

The standoff is likely to have a bearing on the preparation for the World Cup to be held in Delhi from February 28 to March 13.

Ruchika case: High court denies Rathore interim bail

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday did not allow interim bail to disgraced former Haryana state police chief SPS Rathore and slated the hearing of his anticipatory bail for Jan 18.

While taking up Rathore plea for anticipatory bail and his petition to quash fresh cases registered against him, the high court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its reply in this case on Jan 18.

Justice Sabina, in whose court the petition was heard on Tuesday, did not allow Rathore interim bail against arrest till the next hearing. Rathore was convicted last month by a CBI court here for molesting teenaged tennis player Ruchika Girhotra Aug 12, 1990, in Panchkula town.

This means that the CBI, which has taken over the case involving Rathore and re-registered three fresh first information reports (FIRs) against him on Monday evening, can any time arrest the former Haryana director general of police (DGP).

CBI counsel told the high court that the investigation agency had taken over the case only on Monday evening and needed to study the material before it states its opposition to Rathore's plea for anticipatory bail and quashing of the new FIRs.

Appearing on Rathore's behalf, his counsel and wife Abha Rathore sought anticipatory bail for him and the quashing of the three fresh FIRs, saying that these had been registered due to media pressure.

Meanwhile, the district and sessions court in Chandigarh on Tuesday also admitted Rathore's appeal against his conviction by a CBI special court here on Dec 21 in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.

The case will now be heard on Wednesday as Rathore did not appear before the court Tuesday, saying he was not well.

Major fire breaks out in Kolkata slum

KOLKATA: A major fire broke out in a northeast Kolkata slum on Tuesday, police said.

All the shanties and huts in the slum were on fire, with the leaping flames reaching up to about 15 feet from the ground.

A television channel said the sound of gas cylinders exploding could be heard from the area, close to the Bidhannagar station.

Three fire tenders have reached the spot after much delay, as the approachway was blocked by auto-rickshaw drivers, who have been agitating against insufficient LPG centres in the city.

There are no reports of any casualty.

Two Telangana ministers withdraw resignations

Hyderabad: The two Telangana ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and D Sridhar Babu withdrew their resignations from the Andhra Pradesh Council of Ministers.

The two had remained adamant on their resignations even after 18 of their colleagues withdrew their resignations after the Centre called an all-party meeting on the contentious Telangana issue on January 5.

However, following a fresh directive from the Congress high command, Venkat Reddy and Sridhar Babu relented.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee President D Srinivas prevailed upon them to withdraw their resignation in line with the high command's directive.

Accordingly, the two announced their decision to take back the resignations and fight for achieving statehood to Telangana while "staying in power".

"We have confidence in the Centre and hope it will go ahead with the process of formation of Telangana in tune with its December 9 announcement," they said.

Indian Business News

‘Indian stocks becoming less interesting’

New Delhi: Indian stocks are becoming "less interesting" as their valuation vis-a-vis other markets in the Asian region have declined considerably, Swiss banking major Credit Suisse said in a report.

"We believe India is becoming less interesting from valuation perspective," Credit Suisse Research Analysts Sakthi Siva and Kin Nang Chik said.

In March 2009, India traded at a 40 per cent discount to the region (Asia), while currently that discount is just 2 per cent. The consensus EPS (earnings per share) revisions in India are also lagging in the region, the report added.

Though India is currently trading at a 2 per cent discount, it still looks favourable for the stocks compared to the 20 per cent premium the country traded at during the strong growth years from 2005-07, the report said.

Credit Suisse has, however, maintained an "overweight" status on the Indian market.

The benchmark index Sensex, which opened at 9,647 points in 2009 closed the year almost double at 17,464, up 7,817.50 points (81 per cent) from the year ago level.

The Sensex witnessed a historic 81 per cent rally last year, boosted by the UPA victory in May 2009 on expectations that the new government would introduce measures to boost economic growth. Another reason for the rally was the sooner-than-expected economic recovery of the country.

The year 2009 also saw Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) flocking in and buying Indian equities worth a whopping over Rs 80,000 crore after their flight away from the market previous year (2008).

Credit Suisse further said," in March 2009, India was the third most undervalued market in the region after Indonesia and Thailand. Currently, it is the sixth most undervalued." Elaborating further, the report said the EPS estimates for Indian companies were raised 1 per cent, 0.8 per cent and 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2009, while for other markets in the Asian region it was 3.4 per cent, 4.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent over the same period.

SBI to hire 20,000 clerical staff in FY11

Mumbai: State Bank of India will hire 20,000 clerical staff in 2010/11 and another 5,000-5,500 probationary officers in 2010, a top official said.

"We will need these people to drive our growth. We are looking at an average growth of 25 per cent both on credit and liability side," Anup Banerji, deputy managing director, head of national banking, said on the sidelines of a banking event organised by Indian Banks' Association and SBI.

The country's largest state-run bank had hired 28,000-30,000 clerical staff in FY10.

Banerji added that out of 5,000-5,500 probationary officers, 2,000 will be recruited for rural business.

SBI also intends to add 1,000 branches in 2010/11, Banerji said.

"Till now in FY10 we have added 550 branches, and we will take it to 800 by end of February".

The bank is also planning to launch a wealth management division to take care of high net worth individuals' needs, he said.

IIP to be much better in 2009-10: Montek

New Delhi: The Planning Commission said it expected industrial production to beat last year's growth and attributed the revival to various stimulus measures.

His comments came after latest government data showed that factory production grew 11.7 per cent in November last year.

"Industrial growth this year is going to be much better than last year....whether it will be 11.3 per cent for the next six months that is difficult to say", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth during November was robust compared to the dismal 2.5 per cent in the year-ago period. IIP grew by 2.6 per cent in 2008-09.

Attributing high industrial growth rate to stimulus provided by the government to combat the impact of the global financial meltdown, Ahluwalia said, "We have been saying that concerted action taken by the government will lead to revival".

Following the global crisis triggered by the collapse of America's iconic investment banker Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the government has provided stimulus packages that entailed a burden of Rs 1.86 lakh crore for the exchequer.

The overall economic growth during the second quarter of the fiscal (July-September 2009-10) recorded a growth of 7.9 per cent, much more than anticipated by any analyst or think tank.

Indian Sports News

Strange that my first big test will be against SA: Simons

Johannesburg:India's newly-appointed bowling consultant Eric Simons said it was strange that his first big assignment with the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side was against his own country South Africa.

"It will be a bit strange that my big test will be against my own country," Simons told the Afrikaans daily Beeld.

"But that's how it goes in professional sport these days. (Fellow South African) Gary Kirsten is already with (the Indian team) for a while now and even Andy Flower of Zimbabwe coaches England," said the former South African coach, who was yesterday named as India's new bowling consultant for the two Tests against Bangladesh and the subsequent home series against South Africa. Simons said everything happened very quickly last week before the BCCI signed him up yesterday, adding that he would first see how things panned out before considering a more permanent appointment.

Present South African coach Mickey Arthur said Simons' appointment would "add a very interesting dimension" to his side's tour of India next month.

"Although we can share a couple of beers in India, we certainly can't use Afrikaans calls now too much," Arthur jested.

Sehwag resumes practice after break

Mirpur (Bangladesh): Vice-captain Virender Sehwag is back in action after skipping team training for the last few days as he turned up for practice today ahead of the cricket tri-series final against Sri Lanka here tomorrow.

Sehwag, who was rested for India’s last two matches, did not join practice on Saturday and was not seen with the team on Sunday and Monday but turned up today for an optional net session along with four other team-mates.

On his absence, he said he had got permission from the team management to rest but will play tomorrow’s final.

“I was given rest by the team management and I enjoyed my it (at team hotel),” he said after having around two-hour net session at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium indoor facilities along with Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

“I will play in the final and I hope I will do well to win the series,” said the dashing opener who has scored 47 and 9 in the two matches he had played so far.

Sehwag did not agree that India’s bowling woes would affect their chances in the summit clash.

“We have been playing against Sri Lanka with these bowlers in the past two-three months and they have done well.

I think they will do well tomorrow with Zaheer Khan returning and he was brilliant in that match against Sri Lanka (on Sunday).” On Virat Kohli’s fine run in form, Sehwag said the youngster should not be put under pressure.

“He is in fine form. A century and a 71 and 91, but we should allow him to enjoy his game. He is young and we should not put him under pressure,” said Sehwag.

Karnataka-Mumbai Ranji final hangs in balance

Mysore: Tooth for a tooth, Nail for a nail. That is how the fast bowlers in the Karnataka and Mumbai ranks fought fire with fire on a lively deck in the Ranji Trophy finals at the Gangotri Glades here on Tuesday.

Bowled out for a modest 233 in the first innings, Mumbai came out blazing their canons to skittle Karnataka for a paltry 130 in the first innings.

Having conceded a decisive 103-run lead, Karnataka hit back to have the Mumbaikars in a tizzy at 51 for five.

But, as in the first essay, Abhishek Nayyar (batting 32) and Daval Kulkarni (batting 35) pulled Mumbai out of the woods, posting 57 runs for unbroken sixth-wicket. At draw of stumps on Day Two, Mumbai had made 108 for five. In effect, Mumbai are 211 runs ahead with five wickets in hand.

Given the life in the hard and bouncy wicket and the determination of a pack of exciting fast bowlers, the five-day final is unlikely to last its course.

As many as 14 wickets tumbled in the absorbing contest between bat and ball today, with Avishkar Salvi, who produced his season's best figures of 5 for 31, and Abhimanyu Mithun producing outstanding spells with the cherry.

Mithun's second innings burst (4 for 30) saw him share the honour of being the season's highest wicket-taker with R Vinay Kumar. Both have bagged 44 wickets each.