NEWS 24*7: 09/07/09

Monday, September 7, 2009

Salman hopes for a hit now

Salman is definitely the most ‘wanted’ Khan of Bollywood now. His film Veer, directed by Anil Sharma is being touted as one of the biggest films ever made in India and the first rushes of the movie have already left industrywallahs spellbound. Khan is also making news for his other project, Boney Kapoor’s Wanted, which is attracting eyeballs right now.
Salman is hoping that this will mark the turnaround of his box-office fate. “Sallu bhai has often been accused of being laidback in terms of his career, but he is aware that his films haven’t done well recently and is now doing his best to set things right,” said a Khan camper.
Salman is making sure everything goes right with his upcoming films and has been giving ample time to his makers to work on their projects. The actor often sits down with Boney Kapoor and his team of publicity agents to chalk out a campaign and is planning to go all out to promote the film. Salman is also having many meetings with Anil Sharma to discuss the strategy to sell their film. Sallu wants Veer to be the film that sells at the highest price ever and breaks all the records.

China beats India in gold purchase

Mumbai

Sept. 6: India has lost its position as the largest gold consumer to China. During the first half of 2009, the gold consumption in India was down by 35 per cent at 122.7 tonnes compared with 189.1 tonnes during the first half of 2008
While during the period, the gold consumption in China rose by four per cent at 161.6 tonnes against 155.3 tonnes during the same period in 2008.
Ms Monica Bonar, an analyst of Fitch Ratings, said: “Traditionally, India has been the largest gold consumer but the high gold prices resulted in consumers choosing to exchange or sell old jewellery rather than make fresh purchases. Along with India, the demand from all other major gold consumers like the Middle East, Turkey and the US has fallen in the range of 20 to 50 per cent during the first half of 2009.” Due to the declining Indian gold demand, China has become the largest consumer of gold, she added.
Added, Mr Suresh Hundia, the president of Bombay Bullion Association, “In the last four years, China has stocked more than 1,000 tonnes of the gold. On the other hand, due to the rising prices the Indian demand is declining. In spite of the subdued demand, the gold prices in India are expected to stay firm on the strong global cues.”
Mentioning that China is stocking many commodities like gold, metals and crude oil, Mr Pramit Brahmbhatt, the CEO of Alpari India said: “Taking advantage of the huge domestic demand, China is playing up with the market. Though it’s unpredictable what China will do, it is in a position to boost prices of commodities by huge buying or they may even sell the commodities that would cause a correction in the commodity prices. Apart from China, the other global institutional investors would offload gold stocks to invest in other asset classes if the world economy recovers. That would resurrect the gold prices in the medium term.”

Two Indian students in Oz charged wtih sexual assault

Melbourne: Two Indian students have been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl as she slept on a train from Melbourne.
Sukhjinder Singh, 22, and Amarjit Singh, 28, are accused of attacking the girl in her seat as the train travelled through southern New South Wales, police said adding that the two have been refused bail.
The girl woke up as the men began to restrain her about 3am on Wednesday on the Melbourne to Sydney train.
"The girl was then allegedly sexually assaulted before she broke free and sought assistance from rail staff," police said in a statement.
Rail staff contacted police, who met the train at Goulburn railway station. The two Indians, who are in Australia on student visas, did not enter a plea during the brief hearing, but police said they had been charged with aggravated sexual assault.
The matter was adjourned until September 16, when they are expected to apply for bail.
The girl, from Gosford on the NSW Central Coast, received treatment at Goulburn Hospital and had been offered counselling, police said.

Keanu Reeves to star as Ram?

London, Sept. 6: Bollywood actor Aamir Khan might play the much revered Hindu deity, Hanuman, along side actor Keanu Reeves who is set to play Ram in the Hollywood version of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
The Speed actor has been approached to play the character of Lord Ram in the movie based on the mythological character ‘Hanuman’ and talks are on to cast Aamir Khan in the title role, reported BBC.
The film to be directed by Chuck Russell of The Mask fame, will be produced by NRI producer, Uru Patel, who came up with the idea of making a film based on Hanuman.
The Dark Knight actor, Gary Oldman, has reportedly been approached to play the evil Ravana in the movie. Actor Shilpa Shetty was approached to play the role of Sita, but reports suggest that she has already opted out.
Search is still on to find an international face to act as the female lead opposite Keanu Reeves. Shooting is reportedly expected to start towards the end of this year in Rajasthan.

Rajapaksa told Pak PM SL terrorists funded plan

Islamabad, Sept. 6: The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, on Sunday said the Sri Lankan President, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, had told him the terrorists involved in the attack on his country’s cricket team in Lahore were funded from elements in the island.
Mr Gilani said he had asked Mr Rajapaksa to share more information about the funding so that Pakistan can send a team from the interior ministry to go into the issue further.
“In Libya, the Sri Lankan President told me that they have clues that the attack on the Lankan team was funded from Sri Lanka. I told him that if he was willing to share these clues, we could send our officials from the interior ministry,” said Mr Gilani after visiting the minister for religious affairs, Mr Hamid Saeed Kazmi, at a hospital here.
Six players and 20 others were injured when the convoy of the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by a group of terrorists outside a stadium in Lahore on March 3.
Mr Gilani also said his government was pursuing a long term and multi-pronged strategy to root out terrorism from the country.
After the successful military operation in Swat and Malakand, the government is working on an exit strategy, he said. “The army will stay in the area till peace is completely restored. The option of building a cantonment in Swat is also on the table,” he said.

Osama introduced Sharif to Saudi royals: Official

Lahore

Sept. 6: Osama bin Laden introduced Nawaz Sharif to the Saudi royal family in the late 1980s and during a meeting the former Premier had asked the Al Qaeda chief to provide employment to Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja claimed on Sunday.
Mr Khwaja, who was close to Sharif in the late 1980s and early 1990s, made the claim in an interview with PTI here.
“During his first visit to Saudi Arabia as chief minister of Punjab in the late 1980s, no one from the royal family had given Sharif importance,” he said.
“Thereafter, on Sharif’s request, Laden introduced him to the royal family and that helped him in getting closer to the Saudis,” said Mr Khwaja, who was a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force before joining the ISI.

5 dead, 60 missing as Philippines ferry sinks

MANILA

Sept. 6: A ferry carrying nearly 1,000 passengers sank in the southern Philippines early on Sunday, leaving at least five dead and more than 60 missing.
The Superferry 9 began to list before dawn about 15 kilometres off Zamboanga del Norte province, rousing terrified passengers from their sleep and sending many jumping into the water, Coast Guard Chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.
Rescuers transferred 900 of 968 passengers and crewmen to two nearby commercial ships, a Navy gunboat and a fishing boat, he said.
A search was under way for more than 60 people who remained missing, Mr Tamayo said, adding that they may have drifted with their life jackets or have been rescued but were not yet listed as survivors.
“We really hope they’re just unaccounted for due to the confusion,” Mr Tamayo said.
Navy ships were deployed and three military aircraft scoured the seas, defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.
American troops providing counter-terrorism training to Philippine soldiers in the region deployed a civilian helicopter and five boats, some carrying paramedics, to help, US Col. William Coultrup said. Mr Teodoro said two men and a child drowned during the scramble to escape the ship. The bodies of two other passengers were later plucked from the sea by fishermen, the Coast Guard said, adding that three passengers were injured.

N.Korean ship is clean: Experts

New Delhi, Sept. 6: The North Korean ship, which was detained by the Coast Guard after a chase in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the week first week of August, had no traces of chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear material, two nuclear scientists said on Sunday in their final report.
After critically examining the ship M V Mu San at Kakinada port a team of scientists from Kalapakkam there were concluded there found no “CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear) traces” from the ship official sources said here.
The report was handed over to authorities on Sunday.
Though the preliminary search of the ship at Andaman had raised suspicions in this regard, the security agencies, however, wanted a thorough investigation of M V Mu San by bringing the vessel to Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh to find out whether there was any CBRN consignment.
Searches were conducted with sophisticated equipment after offloading the entire cargo of 16,500 tonnes of sugar from the ship in nearly three lakh gunny bags.
The North Korean vessel dropped anchor off Hut Bay island in the Andaman islands on August 6 without permission and was detained by the Coast Guard after an over- six-hour chase.

Chandrayaan made substantial gains

New Delhi
Sept. 6: The Chandrayaan-II is now in the offing, as Dr K. Kasturirangan, member, Planning Commission, and former Isro chief, has stated that even with the failed previous moon mission, much technology and scientific gains have been achieved for the successful launch of second such satellite by India.
Claiming that Chandrayaan-I was a successful mission, the scientist-turned policymaker said, it helped mapping 50 per cent of the moon surface and 90 per cent of the mineralogy of the celestial body.
Dr Kasturirangan was of the view that the mission was complete as far as infrared coverage and radiation monitoring dosage was concerned.
For the first time a satellite could come as low as 100 km from the moon surface, he said, adding that the earlier missions could reach up to 200 km.
“This gave us the opportunity to monitor every aspect of the moon surface,” he said.
Even the failed mission gave scientists substantial knowledge to take corrective steps for the next mission to get the broadest of achievements.
Dr Kasturirangan, however, claimed that the quality of imagery gathered from Chandrayaan-I is comparable with best in the world so far achieved.
“In a period of 5 to 10 years the country has a plan to go aggressively in space sciences,” Dr Kasturirangan said.
“Altogether 30 small satellites are in the pipeline and one or two large satellites are in the process of launch,” Dr Kasturirangan added.
The Chandrayaan-I, launched on October 22, 2008, from Andhra Pradesh, was the first such scientific and space mission for India.
This spacecraft was launched with PSLV-C-11, the indigenously developed launch vehicle.
The proposal to send this mission was approved by the government in November 2003 and about Rs 386 crores was spent on the mission from the conception to the execution stage.
The design life of this spacecraft was two years, meaning it was expected to remain in the orbit at least up to October 2010.

Pro-Jagan cry at YSR condolence meeting

Hyderabad
Sept. 6: A condolence meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, the APCC headquarters, to pay tribute to the late chief minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, was marred by party activists. They displayed placards of Mr Reddy and his son and Kadapa MP, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, and interrupted the speech of the PCC chief, Mr D. Srinivas, by raising slogans like “YSR amar rahe!”, “Jagan-CM”, “DS (PCC chief) down, down” and “DS go back”.
They created such a din that Mr Srinivas found it difficult to continue, and abruptly ended his speech and announced that the meeting was over.
The Chief Minister, Mr. K. Rosaiah, Union minister Mr. Jaipal Reddy, former chief ministers Mr. N. Janardhana Reddy and Mr. N. Bhaskara Rao, and the former PCC chief, Mr V. Hanumantha Rao, followed the PCC chief and left the venue.
When the meeting began around 11.15 am, the leaders seated on the dais offered floral tributes to the portrait of the late chief minister placed on the stage. This was followed by multi-religious prayers.
The party general secretary, Mr Anand Bhaskar, then read out the condolence motion and at his request a two-minute silence was observed.
Immediately the party activists gathered at the venue raised slogans like “DS go back”, “DS down down” and waved placards demanding that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy be made chief minister.
Sensing trouble, Mr Srinivas announced that one or two speakers would speak on the motion and thereafter the meeting would be over. He then went to the podium and started speaking.
This only aggravated the situation. The party workers stood up on their chairs and shouted more slogans against him. This prompted the PCC chief to end the meeting.
Rajya Sabha member and longtime friend of the late chief minister, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, appealed to the workers to restrain themselves and remain calm. “I, as a close friend of the late YSR, appeal to you all and you must listen to me. Rajasekhar Reddy often used to say that ‘though we are two persons, we are one meaning thereby of a unified soul’. You should not resort to such activities.” His words had some effect and the audience settled down.
Mr Ramachandra Rao continued with his speech in a choked voice and said, “You are doing harm to the late YSR’s ideals and also to your wish (of making Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy chief minister). This is not proper, this meeting is intended for passing a condolence motion, but your acts are not in the interests of the party. We all know Sonia Gandhi will go by the popular voice and take decisions accordingly, please be calm.” After this, the meeting passed the motion for a second time.

Central funds for city may dry up

Hyderabad

Sept. 6: Senior officials in the municipal administration and urban development department are apprehensive after the death of Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
They opine that the funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for infrastructure projects in the city may dry up after the former chief minister’s death. The projects are worth several crores of rupees. Crucial infrastructure projects like the master plan for execution of storm water drain network, sewerage lines and improvement of drinking water distribution network, all estimated to cost over Rs 10,000 crore are in the pipeline for JNNURM funds.
The phase-I of the Godavari drinking water project will cost at least Rs 3,300 crore and the state government had submitted a proposal to the Centre to accept it as a national project and fund it through JNNURM. Out of the 70,000 flats to be constructed for urban poor, the GHMC had taken up construction of 30,000 flats with money from JNNURM. It needs more money if the remaining houses are to be completed.
Moreover, the state has still not submitted utilisation certificates to the Centre. This is mandatory to draw subsequent instalments of sanctioned amounts for projects in progress.
During a public function, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had requested the Union urban development minister for Rs 10,000 crore to complete various projects in the
city.

CID team to grill airport, ATC men

Hyderabad

Sept. 6: CID officials probing the crash of the helicopter carrying then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy will record statements of the Shamshabad and Chennai Air Traffic Control officials as well as the security staff at Begumpet Airport where the copter was kept for more than two months.
The CID will be taking the help of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is conducting a parallel probe, by collecting documents and record books related to the condition of the copter and the persons linked to its maintenance and air traffic control.
The investigation will be focused on the efforts, if any, made by ATC officials to track the helicopter after it went missing on September 2 as well as the allegations that the ATC did not inform the government when they could not establish contact with the copter.
The officials will also talk to officials in the airport meteorological department to find out whether they had issued weather warnings to the pilot. They will also interview the agencies involved in refuelling the copter.
The CID additional DG, Mr A. Sivanarayana, said, “The investigation is in the preliminary stage. All the persons linked to the copter will be examined and statements recorded.”
CID will also be looking into whether the set of drills were followed before the Chief Minister took the copter. All security lapses will be looked into.
Meanwhile the autopsy report of the crash victims said they had died due to multiple injuries.
Forensic experts on Sunday collected decomposed body pieces of the victims from the Pavuralatippa hillock near Atmakur in the Nallamala forest where the copter crashed.
Forensic doctors said they did not take any samples from the bodies for DNA fingerprinting.
“There was no need for DNA fingerprinting as the bodies are identified with facial features,” said Dr M.S.R.K. Prasad, who led the autopsy team. Even viscera of the pilots were not collected, he added.
The officials collected soil and other debris to conduct chemical, physical and ballistic analysis. A team, led by Mr Venkateshwarlu, had visited the spot on Sunday.
The officials had sent a bomb disposal squad on Saturday to check the site. The bomb squad had confirmed that helicopter had not been struck down by explosives.

China draws Red border in Ladakh

New Delhi/Leh
Sept. 6: The People’s Liberation Army of China has been making incursions into Indian territory across the Line of Actual Control in the Ladakh region and has been leaving “tell-tale signs” behind, such as painting boulders red in the remote region and inscribing “China” on them, well-placed defence sources in New Delhi have confirmed.

Reacting to news reports from Leh (Ladakh) that the PLA had entered about 1.5 km into Indian territory near Mt. Gya in Ladakh and that there was an incursion along the Zulung La pass on July 31, defence sources said there have been periodic incursions by the PLA in Chumar area of Ladakh, but didn’t give dates.

However, the sources said they did not have information of any incursions by the Chinese across the international border. “India and China have differing perceptions of the demarcation of the LAC. So when Chinese border patrols conduct their patrols on the basis of their perception of the border, they do leave tell-tale signs such as painting boulders red and inscribing “China” in Mandarin on these,” defence sources said. “Other tell-tale signs include leaving food items or small equipment behind,” said a source.

A Chinese military helicopter had intruded into Indian airspace in Ladakh in June. Army Chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor had stated that such incursions are taken up by the Army at regular border meetings between the two armies

Diggy brings Sonia word

HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI
Sept. 6: The Congress asked state leaders to quieten down as the clamour to make Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of the late chief minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, intensified on Sunday, even as the pro-Jagan camp decided to lobby with the party leadership directly and the man in the centre of the storm appealed to his supporters to await the decision of the party president.

In a letter, Mr Reddy stated, “The high command knows, and more particularly, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, respects the public perception and the feelings of lakhs of Congress party workers. She knows too well what is good for all of us, for the state and for people.”

Party sources said the high command had indicated that it would not be intimidated by the pressure tactics of state leaders into making a rash decision. Some Congress leaders had to be persuaded to take oath as part of the Rosaiah cabinet for fulfilling a constitutional obligation on Sunday. Also, Jagan supporters had shouted slogans demanding that he be made Chief Minister at a condolence meeting for Rajasekhar Reddy.

The Congress leader and AP in-charge, Mr Veerappa Moily, met Mrs Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence and briefed her about the situation. Perceiving Sunday’s incidents as open defiance, the high command sent a strong message through the AICC general secretary, Mr Digvijay Singh, who is in Hyderabad to convey his condolence to the bereaved family. Highly placed Congress sources said that he had been asked to do some tough talking with state political leaders.

According to one minister, the high command has already “received signals” that “some things” have happened that are contrary to the traditions being followed in the Congress. To avoid giving the impression that it was in confrontation, the pro-Jagan group has decided to shift the action to New Delhi.

Mr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, MP and incharge of the operation to make Mr Reddy the Chief Minister, will go to Delhi where he is scheduled to meet Mrs Gandhi on Tuesday. Mr Rao will also meet core committee members of Congress Working Committee to impress them the importance of appointing YSR’s son as his successor. He will be accompanied by some party MPs. The high command is expected to begin formulating the procedure to be adopted to put the Congress government in order. The mourning period would be over on September 8 and the Congress core committee is expected to attend to the issue of a new chief minister for the state.

In case the high command decides to continue with the existing arrangement, the Congress Legislature Party will meet to elect Mr Rosaiah as its leader. The CLP resolution to the effect will be submitted to the Governor, Mr N.D. Tiwari, to give validity to his invitation Mr Rosaiah on September 3. If that is the case, there is no need for another swearing-in ceremony.

If the high command decides upon Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, or any other leader, the CLP will meet and elect him as its leader. The resolution to this effect, along with the resignation of Mr Rosaiah, will be handed over to the Governor.

He will then invite the new leader of the CLP to form government. The same procedure will be followed if the high command decides on another leader as Chief Minister.

Pak state actors’ role in 26/11 possible: PC

New Delhi
Sept. 6: Stepping up pressure on Pakistan ahead of his visit to the US to discuss the investigation into the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and greater cooperation on tackling terrorism, the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said on Sunday that India had never ruled out involvement of Pakistani “state” actors in the Mumbai attack despite Islamabad’s claims to the contrary. He also called Pakistan’s decision to let off Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed “atrocious”.

“What they told common friendly countries, what they told our Prime Minister, is that they will spare no effort to prosecute and punish the perpetrators. In the light of that, letting off Hafiz Saeed is unacceptable,” he said.

His four-day visit to the US starts on Tuesday.
Source::Deccan Chronicle

Wada clause: Support for BCCI gets louder

KOLKATA: The strong stand taken by the BCCI against Wada's contentious 'whereabouts' clause has found a groundswell of support, with the cricket
BCCI
boards of six other Test-playing nations, including Cricket Australia
, indicating to the ICC that they see merit in the concerns raised by Indian administrators.

According to TOI's sources, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland set the ball rolling with a missive to ICC stating that the "objections" raised by the BCCI were "genuine" and the same should be discussed at the next executive board meeting to be held in Johannesburg
next month, where all member countries will be represented. Sutherland also suggested that the five-member special committee, formed by the ICC to discuss BCCI's stand, be disbanded.

CA probably felt that the panel was too India-specific with three Indians members in it. The boards now want to get involved in deliberations over the issue and thus want the executive to mull it rather than a just small panel.

The change of heart on the part of Cricket Australia, which itself is Wada-compliant, appears to have stirred other boards as well, with the likes of England (ECB), South Africa (CSA), New Zealand (NZC), Sri Lanka (SLC), Zimbabwe (ZC) and Bangladesh (BCB) also joining the chorus and asking ICC to "rethink Wada's 'whereabouts' clause methodically". The stand of the Pakistan and West Indies boards is not known because of internal flux.

The ICC, which itself is under the Wada umbrella, was taken aback when the BCCI summarily rejected Wada's clause last month. The ICC became further apprehensive when India's attorney-general GE Vahanvati opined that the 'whereabouts' clause did infringe on the cricketers' right to privacy as guaranteed by the country's constitution.

To the ICC's credit, it recognized the merit in Vahanvati's observation and promptly called off the two-day meeting of the special committee slated in Dubai on September 5 and 6. The decision was internally conveyed to all ICC constituents. Whether the committee from India - which includes IS Bindra (principal advisor to ICC), N Srinivasan (BCCI secretary) and Anil Kumble (players' representativel) - has been disbanded or whether it will meet at a later date is not known.

Meanwhile, the ICC has requested Wada to formulate a cricket-specific code. It remains to be seen whether Wada will oblige.

Sania stumbles in mixed doubles of US Open

NEW DELHI: After women's doubles, Sania Mirza stumbled in the mixed doubles when the Indian tennis ace was crashed out of the US Open in the
Sania
second round on Sunday.

Sania, partnering with Daniel Nestor of Canada, was beaten by Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott of USA in a straight of 6-1, 6-4.

Sania is already out of the US Open in the singles and women's doubles. Sania and Francesca Schiavone of Italy failed to deliver at crucial points to lose 2-6, 6-1, 5-7 against the unseeded duo of Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Shahar Peer of Israel in the second round match.

Although Sania is out of the US Open, India's presence is still strong. On Saturday, Indian aces Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes breezed into the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event with their respective partners following straight set wins over their opponents in the US Open tennis tournament
Source::TimesOfIndia

Clijsters stuns Venus at US Open

NEW YORK: Former champion Kim Clijsters stunned third seed Venus Williams 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 in a dramatic fourth-round clash at the US Open on
Kim Clijsters
Sunday.

In just her third tournament back after two years away during which time she gave birth to her first child, Clijsters held her nerve to win a topsy-turvy encounter to book her place in the last eight.

"It was unbelievable," a jubilant Clijsters said in a courtside interview, having enjoyed the bulk of the crowd support. "I don't really know what to say.

"It was such a weird match. After I lost the second set 6-0 I was just like, okay, just start over and fight for every point."

The Belgian wildcard, who does not even have a ranking yet, played an almost flawless first set as she romped through it in 27 minutes.

Williams, the winner at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, again sported heavy strapping around her left knee and was struggling on her serve from the start.

Clijsters came out firing, though, and she crunched a series of flashing winners to race away with the first set.

Just as quickly, though, the match turned and Williams cut out her errors and stepped up the power on her serve.

Clijsters, the 2005 champion, went off the boil and with her forehand misfiring, Williams broke serve three times to force a decider.

The Belgian bounced back at the start of the third set and it was Williams who felt the pressure as a double-fault handed Clijsters the break in the third game.

Games stayed on serve through to 5-4 but the tension was ramped up when three mistakes gave Williams two chances to get back on level terms.

But Clijsters saved both with some courageous play and then snatched victory with a service winner.

Li Na of China will be her opponent in the last eight and Clijsters said she expected a difficult encounter against the 18th seed.

"I've had some really tough matches against her in the past," she said. "She has a good serve and a big forehand and I think it will a tough match physically but I have a day off so hopefully I will be fine."

2nd ODI: Australia expose lack of power in England batting

LONDON: Australia exploited England's lack of power hitters at Lord's on Sunday to beat the hosts for the second time in three days and take a
Australian team
2-0 lead in the seven-match One-day series.

England steadily fell off the pace chasing Australia's modest 249 for eight and were bowled out for 210 with 23 balls remaining to give the world 50-overs champions victory by 39 runs.

A robust 43 not out off 23 balls from Mitchell Johnson revived the Australian innings but their total still looked well within England's reach when Andrew Strauss and Ravi Bopara put on 74 for the first wicket.

But four wickets then tumbled in 31 deliveries, starting with Bopara's dismissal lbw for 27.

Matt Prior was caught behind for one off an airy waft, Strauss (47) hit a soft return catch to spinner Nathan Hauritz and Owais Shah (12) was once again involved in a run-out after confusion with Paul Collingwood.

By coincidence or not, three of the wickets fell soon after a Lancaster bomber flew across the ground to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the date the Royal Air Force returned Lord's to its original authorities after taking over the ground as a recruitment centre during World War Two.

Collingwood fought a dour battle to score 56 from 84 deliveries but neither he nor his partners could lift the run-rate sufficiently to seriously challenge the Australians.

Callum Ferguson, man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 71 in Australia's narrow win in the opening match at the Oval on Friday, again impressed with 55 from 58 balls after Strauss elected to field first for the second time.

Ferguson added 69 from 86 balls for the fourth wicket with the aggressive Cameron White (42) after Australia had lost three wickets in 11 balls following a brisk opening stand of 62 between Shane Watson (34) and Tim Paine (26).

The victims included captain Michael Clarke, who was out for four when an attempted hook off Tim Bresnan resulted in a thin edge to Prior behind the stumps.

Graeme Swann bowled Michael Hussey for eight and dismissed James Hopes lbw for 11 during a probing eight-over spell of off-spin which cost only 31 runs. James Anderson bowled Ferguson.

Australia slumped to 208 for eight with 4.2 overs remaining after Brett Lee was caught for a duck before Johnson ensured his team posted a competitive total. He struck five fours, including a delicate flick down the leg-side which raced to the boundary.

Johnson added 41 from 28 balls in an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership with Hauritz (10 not out). Eighty runs came off the final 10 overs which included a fielding powerplay.

Buddhadeb not planning to quit: CPM

NEW DELHI: Absence of West Bengal
chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan dominated CPM’s politburo
more than the discussion on rectification document and the current political situation.

Party sources said rumours of Buddhadeb planning to step down was a figment of imagination. “He has not been keeping well. Doctors have advised him rest,” West Bengal state secretary Biman Bose said.

“Buddhadeb has been down with viral fever which has relapsed. Problem is that he is not taking off. Even the party has advised him to take rest,” another leader said. He is now likely to go to a hill station in the state for three-four days. “There is no question of any leadership change,” the leader added. The party said Buddhadeb would attend the next politburo meeting scheduled on October 10 and central committee meeting from October 23 to 25.

The larger issue, party sources said, was the relentless attack on CPM cadre in West Bengal. Bose presented a detailed report on violence in the state and steps being taken by the party. “The spree of killings by the Trinamool and Maoists have not stopped after the Lok Sabha elections. In the Lalgarh area, the Maoists continue to indulge in targeted killings of CPM cadres and supporters,” the party said.

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