India take on Sri Lanka in tri-series final

COLOMBO: The situation for the final of the Tri-series between India and Sri Lanka on Monday is anything but ideal. Indian skipper MS Dhoni,
Dhoni
after their loss to Sri Lanka on Saturday said that it is difficult to judge the strength or weakness of a team based on the performance of the day/night encounters here where toss plays such a crucial role.

"Winning the toss itself tilts the balance 50% in your favour. And if you can put something around 230 or 250 on the board, it grows to 80%. It is not an ideal situation but that's the way it is," said the skipper.

"Conditions are like that here and you have to play. Having said that, I would like to add that one has to bat well after winning the toss. But I still say that the toss is crucial in these conditions," he added.

Coach Gary Kirsten reiterates that the Indians are too good an outfit to lose a match with the toss itself, but the way the team crumbled against the Lankans chasing 307 belittles that. Kirsten and Co can't do much about the toss. But the way the middle order slumped, once Rahul Dravid departed, during the last league game is something they tried working on during the optional practice session here on Sunday. Only five players - Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar and Amit Mishra - turned up for the session with Kirsten, bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and the support staff.

And Kirsten marked Yuvraj for a special session. Yuvraj has back-to-back failures in the two league matches. And he is India's key player in the middle. When on song, he is one of the most stylish players in world cricket who makes batting look easy and effortless. He also has this ability to play a long innings if he gets going. So whether India are chasing or batting first, a lot depends on how the southpaw fares.

Lasith Malinga exploited his lack of foot movement early on the other night. So Kirsten was virtually trying to make his feet move by throwing balls a little fuller than good length from 15 yards and making him drive on the front foot. After about half an hour, Yuvi was ready for another round - this time with the tennis ball served hard at him at different lengths again from 15 yards away. He was defending well, driving with poise and leaving a few with elegance.

When asked if India are going into the final with the same combination, Kirsten said: "Haven't decided yet. I am yet to talk to the captain."

Sri Lanka too had an optional net session after their win the previous night. Their lone worry was the form of Sanath Jayasuriya. But now, even that is taken care of. Though off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan didn't play the last two games, because of a groin injury which he suffered during the Test series against New Zealand, he looks fit for Monday's final.

Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara however remained non-committal on Murali, saying: "We don't want to rush him with the Champions Trophy coming."
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Clijsters wins US Open women's title

NEW YORK: Belgian Kim Clijsters crowned her remarkable comeback by beating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 to win the US Open women's
Kim Clijsters
title on Sunday.

Clijsters, playing her third tournament after taking more than two years off to start a family, clinched her 93-minute victory with a forehand winner and dropped to her knees in celebration, visibly sobbing.

The 26-year-old Belgian climbed up to the family box to hug friends and kiss her husband, Brian, after adding a second grand slam triumph to her 2005 US Open victory.

It took a while for Clijsters to find the range with her groundstrokes against the ninth-seeded Dane, who was appearing in her first grand slam championship match.

By the end, Clijsters was cracking winners off both wings and registered 36 winners in all to just 10 for the defensive-minded Dane.

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Amazing shot sends Federer to US Open final

NEW YORK: Hitting the greatest shot of his amazing career on the penultimate point, Roger Federer advanced to the US Open final on Sunday by
Federer
defeating Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 7-5.

World number one Federer will play for his sixth consecutive US Open title and record-stretching 16th career Grand Slam crown on Monday against Argentine sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro, who is 0-6 lifetime against Federer.

But the moment everyone will be talking about from Federer's semi-final triumph will be the back-to-the-net, between-the-legs running forehand which the Swiss superstar swatted past the stunned Serbian for an astounding winner.

"I do (practice) them a lot actually but they never work," Federer said. "That's why I guess it was the greatest shot I ever hit in my life."

Viewing a television replay moments after the match, Federer exclaimed, "That's unbelievable."

Djokovic was serving at 0-30 and lured Federer to the net, then lofted a lob to the back line that sent Federer dashing to run it down.

With no chance to spin, look back or otherwise set himself, Federer leaped above the ball, brought his right hand down the middle of his body and smacked the ball between his legs, just over the net and into the empty part of the court.

"I was in a difficult position. I had nothing to lose," Federer said.

The crowd roared its approval and Federer won with a forehand winner on the next point to end it after two hours 34 minutes.

"In these moments he comes up with some great shots," Djokovic said. "That shot. You heard the crowd. What can you say? You say well done. Too good. What can you do?"

Djokovic was broken only in the last games of the second and third sets and lost the tie-break by dropping five of the last six points.

Federer, trying to match the all-time US Open record of six titles in a row by Bill Tilden from 1920 through 1925, stretched his US Open unbeaten streak to 41 matches and will play for the 1.6 million-dollar top prize.

Federer, in the semi-finals for a record 22nd Grand Slam event in a row, completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open crown in June and set a record with his 15th career Slam title in July at Wimbledon.

Not since Rod Laver's 1969 Grand Slam sweep has anyone won three Slams in a row in the same year.

Djokovic was denied a third career Slam final after his 2007 US Open final loss to Federer and his 2008 Australian Open title run. Federer, 28, also beat Djokovic, 22, in last year's US Open semi-finals.

The rain-delayed final marks the first time in 40 years that back-to-back men's titles will be decided on Monday, Federer having captured last year's final over Britain's Andy Murray a day later than usual thanks to rain.

Federer, 9-4 all-time against Djokovic will make a 21st Slam finals appearance and his 17th in the past 18 Slams, missing out only at the 2008 Australian Open, when he lost to the speedy Serbian in the semi-finals.

Djokovic saved a break point in the 11th game of the first set to hold for a 6-5 lead despite losing an ace to an incorrect overrule by umpire Norm Chryst.

Djokovic won a review challenge on the line call overrule but was given only a first serve not an ace even though lunging Federer appeared to have no hope at hitting it.

"My serve was a winner," Djokovic argued.

"I thought he had a chance to get it," Chryst replied. "I thought he had a play."

Federer won five of the last six points tie-breaker points to take the set, two on errant Djokovic backhands and three on his own winners, the last on a drop volley.

In the second set, Djokovic won a review challenge to get credit for a forehand winner and hold serve to 4-4.

Djokovic made five stabbing volley returns in a row during an amazing point in the 11th game, answering Federer with lunging forehands and backhand until just turning his back and bending over, unable to handle the frenzy of shots.

Federer seized command by breaking Djokovic in the 12th game to win the set. Federer won the penultimate point off a net cord, Djokovic unable to backhand volley the ball over the net, and hit a forehand winner to take the set.
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India drops to third in ICC ranking

DUBAI: Their defeat against Sri Lanka in the tri-series followed by Australia's win over England in the fourth One-dayer resulted to India
India
dropping to third place in the ICC ODI rankings list.

India were displaced from the top spot within 24 hours of gaining it after their morale-shattering 139-run defeat against the hosts Sri Lanka
.

After India's defeat, Australia defeated England by seven wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the seven-match series, which pushed India to third.

Both India and Australia have 125 points each but the latter are ahead when points were calculated upto decimals, according to the ICC website.

South Africa occupy the top slot. India will take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series on Monday in Colombo.
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3 nabbed for big arms supply racket

BANGALORE
: If we’ve reconciled to the horrific truth of Bangalore’s brush with terror, here’s
more.

The city crime branch police have busted an arms racket that points to a full-fledged manufacturing module in a north Indian state. Without giving any specifics, police commissioner Shankar Bidari said three persons, including a moulvi, have been arrested. “Considering the gravity of the case, we’re proposing that the CBI take over the probe,” Bidari said.

Hussainsab from Gadag, Nawab Barkathulla from Bihar, and Mohammed Siraj from Jharkhand were picked up from a Chitradurga madrasa. Four .32-calibre revolvers, one 9-mm pistol and 32 rounds of ammunition have been seized from them. The weapons are marked ‘made in USA’, but were manufactured in North India.

Hussainsab, a jobless undergraduate, joined a madrasa at Idayathpur in Chitradurga district two years ago and started supplying arms. Nawab, a moulvi in Nagina, UP, came to Bangalore four years ago. While collecting contributions for madrasas, he came in contact with Hussainsab, then shifted base to Idayathpur and joined in arms dealing. Siraj joined the duo in March 2009.

The CCB sleuths got wind of the racket two months ago. They heard of a group manufacturing arms in North India. The arms were available for a price of Rs 2 lakh.

“The arrested persons only procured the arms from the manufacturers and sold them here. Their customers include underworld gangs and extremists. They have sold hundreds of weapons. We are tracking them,” Bidari said.

Recently, an organised gang began procuring the arms and selling these to gangsters and extremists. The police have traced similarity between the arms confiscated from the three with those used in a shootout involving the underworld in Mangalore.
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Swine flu vaccine may have side effects

A vaccine which produces a robust immune response at one go might make swine flu
easier to handle, but authorities in India feel any such
Swine flu vaccine

immunisation needs intensive testing as it may compound any side effects the vaccine might have.

According to Director of Indian Council of Health Research (ICMR), V M Katoch, any vaccine which is introduced in India will have to be tested on the Indian population as any side effects which the vaccine might have will be compounded.

Katoch's remarks came in the backdrop of reports of a single shot vaccine which is expected to be welcomed by health authorities because it means more people can be protected as quickly as the vaccine becomes available.

A recent study by researchers at CSL Ltd, a global vaccine and plasma protein company with its headquarters in Australia, showed that a single jab fo vaccine might be enough to produce strong antibodies in the body to fight the disease.

The researchers report early results of an ongoing trial that is evaluating a two-dose vaccine in healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 64 at a single site in Australia.

The study was published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings suggest that one dose was enough to produce an immunogenic response, with "mild to moderate" side effects.

They also reported that the vaccine appears to have side effects similar to seasonal flu vaccines

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Andhra tangle may take a bit longer to resolve

NEW DELHI: The Andhra tangle may take longer to resolve even as the Congress high command seems keen to ensure that its views prevail in bringing
about a "peaceful" resolution to the leadership issue in the wake of Y S Rajashekhar Reddy's death in a chopper crash.

After a meeting on Sunday evening between YSR camp leader K V P Ramachandra Rao and Congress's chief trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee, it was felt that negotiations would proceed after party chief Sonia Gandhi returned from a tour of Mumbai and possibly another visit out of Delhi.

While no formula has emerged -- both top central leaders and the YSR camp denied any proposal had been tabled -- sources said the process would see more discussions. It is understood that KVP, as Rao is better known, made the case for YSR's son Jagan Reddy as CM. The Jagan camp claimed the high command did not seem "averse" to the proposal.

Yet, the time being taken to arrive at a decision indicates the high command's hesitation over Jagan's candidacy as well as the need to make him party to any resolution. In the immediate context, it does raise the possibility of K Rosaiah continuing as CM. The Congress leadership seems keen to ensure that a smooth succession takes place and this could mean a place for Jagan in the central ministry.

The Jagan camp has also made it amply clear that it is not contemplating any split or rebellion. "We are all loyal Congressmen. We are not going against the high command," said a leader. This could mean that Jagan's embassy to Delhi will do its best to press his case. But in case this does not work out, there will be a fallback plan to negotiate.

Sources also ruled out any proposal that could see KVP as CM. It is understood the MP has ruled out such a proposal. The high command is keen to ensure that its Andhra unit remains stable. Involving Jagan in state politics at the government level may not allow this to happen.

A one-day session of the Assembly is expected to be held this week to pay condolences to YSR. It is felt that there will be no legislative issues involved if Rosaiah is not formally elected CLP leader before the session. As CM, he would move the resolution of condolence.

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Jet offers 50% fare discount

MUMBAI: Last week, Jet Airways
chairman Naresh Goyal called his protesting pilots ‘‘terrorists’’ and they in turn were unperturbed by
the airline’s $8 million losses per day thanks to their agitation. But now it’s bonhomie again.

‘‘We have reached an amicable settlement on all issues,’’ said executive director of Jet Airways, Saroj Datta at 2.20 am on Sunday formally announcing the end of their strike that lasted for five days.

‘‘There was some misunderstanding in the family, but now the love has come back. We are the same loving family again,’’ said Capt Girish Kaushik, president of the National Aviators Guild (NAG). Capt Sam Thomas, one of the dismissed pilots, read out an MoU signed by the two parties. It included the airline’s demand of forming a consultative committee with five members from the airline — its chief executive officer, two representatives from flight operations department — and five from the pilots’ side.

The second important clause was status of National Aviators Guild, the pilots’ union. It was decided that the registrar of trade unions will review his earlier order — to register NAG — and with this the matter would stand concluded.

Hours later, on Sunday morning in a press conference, the Jet top brass read out Goyal’s statement to his employees. ‘‘The past few days, when we have stumbled, have been the most challenging our Jet Airways has ever faced in our 16-year old history.....,’’ it read. ‘‘Let us get back to where we were headed — the No.1 slot in the world. From Sunday, the 13th of September, let us write a new chapter in our proud history.’’

Last week, Jet’s ticket bookings fell from 23,000 a day to 7,500. ‘‘Bookings are coming back at a ferocious pace,’’ said Sudheer Raghavan, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, on the sidelines of the press conference.

The airline has also thrown flyers a bait by offering a ‘‘50% discount on total fare (economy class)’’ on all domestic flights across Jet Airways and Jet Konnect for travel valid up to September 18.

Raghavan expects flight operations to be normal by Monday or latest by Tuesday morning. On Monday, the airline pilots and management are scheduled to meet the regional labour commissioner, the conciliation officer for the dispute. He will be informed that ‘‘on the personal intervention of the chairman the four pilots whose services had been terminated shall be restored back to service with immediate effect’’.

The stand-off has proved costly for the airline — a loss of over Rs 200 crore ($40 million). A grim executive director Saroj Dutta revealed to mediapersons on Sunday afternoon that on an average the airlines is patronized by nearly 24,000 passengers daily across its network spanning domestic and international sectors.

‘‘On an average, our daily revenues are in the range of $8 million (Rs 40 crore), so you can calculate how much we stand to lose for the past five days,’’ he said.

However, he pointed out that there were minor savings on certain variables, like aircraft turbine fuel (ATF) since the flights did not operate.

Moreover, during the past five days, the airline made attempts to transfer nearly 60% of the passengers to other airlines and a small number even to its sister airline, JetLite.
Source:: timesofindia

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Construction by Chinese army across Karakoram: J&K report

LEH (J&K): The Chinese army has done some construction activities along the international border across Karakoram ranges in Ladakh sector for
the first time since the 1962 stand-off between the two countries with a report of Jammu and Kashmir government saying that they have been taking "land in inches and not in yards".

The Chinese Army - PLA - has been engaged in construction activities across the Karakoram ranges which could be used for either stationing of additional personnel or mounting a camera for monitoring Indian troop movement, official sources said.

The Karakoram pass falls precisely on the boundary between India and China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, marking northern end of Sino-Indian border, known as the Line of Actual Control.

It also plays a major geographic role in the dispute between Pakistan and India over control of the Siachen Glacier area immediately to the west of the pass.

This situation arose from the Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 between India and Pakistan, when the treaty failed to specify the last 100 km of ceasefire line from end of the Line of Control to Karakoram Pass. The West of the Pass is also referred as China-Indian-Pakistani tripoint.

While Army tried to downplay this development, they, however acknowledged that some digging activity had been noticed. "There has been no report of concrete huts being built across Karakoram Pass. However, some digging has been noticed well inside Chinese territory," an Army spokesman said in a written reply to PTI.

In a related development, the report of Jammu and Kashmir government highlights the Chinese incursions into various parts of Ladakh.

"They (Chinese) have threatened the nomadic people who had been using Dokbug area (in Ladakh sector) area for grazing since decades long, in a way to snatch our land in inches. A Chinese proverb is famous in the world - better do in inches than in yards," the report filed by a former Sub Divisional Magistrate (Nyoma) Tsering Norboo said.

Norboo had been deputed by the state government to probe incursion of Chinese Army in Dokbug area and threatening the local shepherds to leave the land as it belonged to them. The area has been used by the shepherds to graze their livestock as the area is warmer compared to other parts of Ladakh.

The SDM pointed out that it was another attempt by Chinese to claim the territory as disputed in the same fashion as they had taken Nag Tsang area opposite to Phuktse airfield in 1984, Nakung in 1991 and Lungma-Serding in 1992.
Source:: timesofindia

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Commonwealth Games chief plans to send 'SoS' to PM

NEW DELHI: Raising serious questions over the ability of the 2010 Delhi Games Organising Committee to hold the mega event, Commonwealth Games
Federation president Michael Fennell said he would seek Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to try and save the Games from becoming a fiasco.

In a damning letter sent on Sunday to the executive board of the 2010 Games Organising committee (OC), which is headed by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi, Fennell said he was worried over the OC's ability to stage the event to standards set by the last two editions of the Games, in Manchester and Melbourne.

"With only a year to run until the Games, I feel I must personally brief the Prime Minister of India on the lack of preparations and to seek his input in developing an appropriate recovery plan," Fennell wrote in the letter, a copy of which is with TOI. A report by CAG pointing out several loopholes had been published by TOI in its edition dated August 20.

"As you know, I have asked the chairman of the Organising Committee (Kalmadi) to facilitate such a meeting on my return to Delhi in early October for our General Assembly," added Fennel, who was in the Capital only last week for a board meeting.

Fennel's fear seems to have come in the wake of a damning evaluation report by the CAG. It has been also learnt that Fennell was not quite happy with the responses he was getting from the OC regarding the preparations for the Games. Various arms of the government have been worried by the progress, or lack of it, in the Games' preparation. PMO has been keeping a close tab and so has the sports ministry.

While Kalmadi was not available for comment, the MP has consistently insisted that preparations were on track. But his claims might now be in for much closer scrutiny with less than a year to go for the prestigious event that will be a showpiece for not just Delhi but the UPA government as well.

The CAG observed that in at least 13 of the 19 sporting venues, the work shortfall was between 25% and 50%. Fennell also called for a significant change in the management culture and operation of the organising committee without which "the games will fail from an operational perspective."

"The vast majority of functional areas are considerably behind schedule, the procurement processes within the Organising Committee are stagnant and the lack of empowerment of functional area management is retarding process."

The CGF president said that though he was supportive from a public point of view, but in reality "the federation (CGF) has consistently expressed serious concerns to the OC on preparations for the Games."
Referring to the CGF's Coordination Commission report, which as issued to OC in June this year, he said his federation was yet to receive a formal response.

"Whilst there's no doubting the commitment of the various stakeholders involved in the delivery of the Games, our main concern relates to the capacity of the OC to deliver operationally, as I said at the board meeting the preparations for the Games are significantly behind, so much so, that the CGF is extremely worried about the OC's ability to deliver the Games to any comparable standard to that of the last two editions," he wrote.

"The government of India has committed significant resources towards the operational delivery of the Games (Rs 1620 crore) and as I said at the meeting it would be irresponsible and negligent of the Federation not to share its concerns openly with the government."

Several calls to Kalmadi went unanswered and OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot said he was unaware of any such letter coming from Fennell. "As of yesterday we had received no such letter. So I am not in a position to say anything about it to you."
Source:: timesofindia

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BSF finds fifth rocket fired from Pakistan

ATTARI: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday discovered a huge crater left by another rocket in a Punjab village even as it was probing the
source of the four shells fired from across the border two days back. The crater with a radius of six metres was ringed by charred crops in a paddy field in Dalake village near Attari, which was hit in Friday’s attack along with three other villages.

‘‘The splinters from the rocket fired on Friday night had snapped overhead electric cable in Lakhwinder Singh’s paddy field in Dalake village,’’ BSF DIG Mohd Aquil said.

BSF officials said they were not ruling out the possibility of finding more shells in the area. Three rockets, which were fired in quick succession from Pakistan, had exploded in Dhanoe Khurd, Rattan Kalan and Modhay villages on late Friday night. Another shell was also found in Dalake village. The attack triggered retaliatory gunfire by BSF.

A similar offensive had been launched from across the border on July 4, when Dhandae, Bhairwal and Konake had come under projectile attack. India has erected an electrified barbed wire fence on its side of the 553-km India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

There was no damage or casualty on the Indian side. Pakistan Army has denied it was involved in the attack.

Sources said terror group LeT, whose armed men now operate in the Pakistani state of Punjab, could be behind the rocket attacks. The 107 mm rockets were fired towards India from multi-barrel rocket launchers, which are mounted on carriages unlike shoulder-fired rocket launchers
that could be concealed, the sources added.
Source:: timesofindia

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US clears Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for India

NEW DELHI
: The US government cleared yet another high technology system for India, the ‘‘futuristic’’ shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft
for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and battle management.

The clearance has been described by diplomatic sources as a fallout of the ‘‘successful’’ visit of secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the signing of the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) of military equipment being supplied or sold by the US to India. Like the Boeing P 8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft (MMA), of which the Indian Navy has already ordered eight aircraft, the Hawkeye E-2D is the very latest and is yet to be delivered to the US Navy.

India is the second country, after the UAE, to be cleared by the US state and defence departments for sale of this sophisticated system. The US navy has sanctioned $432 million for trials of the aircraft, currently underway at the naval air station Patuxent River in Maryland. The naval systems command based there provides engineering and testing support for new naval systems and weapons.

The Hawkeye E-2D has been under the US government’s consideration for India for some time. In fact, in 2007, Pentagon sources in Washington indicated the aircraft was being cleared, but apparently the previous version, Hawkeye E-2C, was eventually offered to which the Indian navy said ‘‘no’’ in informal discussions.

The aircraft is being manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a leading US player in aerospace, warships, missiles, combat radars and electronic warfare systems.

Northrop Grumman’s programme manager for international business development Tom C Trudell told a magazine that the aircraft has ‘‘just been cleared by the US government for India’’ and that a presentation was made to the Indian navy in August in New Delhi.

Indian navy officers had witnessed the capabilities of the Hawkeye E-2C but told the US officials that as the equipment India buys would be used for years, it must be the best and the latest with future capability insertion potential.

Future aircraft carriers of the Indian navy would also have to be equipped with catapult launching systems, for which it is already looking around.
Source:: timesofindia

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'Helpless' BJP waits for Raje to recover

NEW DELHI
: A week’s “sick” leave is looking like a case of AWOL now. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje came to Delhi on August 30
for a “final” round of discussions with senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu with regard to her resignation as leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.

On September 1, Naidu waited for Raje to turn up but to his chagrin, received word that she had taken ill and her son, Jhalawar MP Dushyant Singh, would be coming along. Singh reported his mother was down with viral fever. Left with few options, Naidu and Singh had lunch and the party said it would wait for Raje to get better.

But now, almost a fortnight later, there is no word of what has transpired. Such is the disarray in the BJP central leadership that no one is prepared to say when Raje will be asked to accept the decision of the BJP core committee, reached in mid-August, that the former CM should be asked to step down as leader of Opposition. On her part, the leader is keeping a low profile while sources close to her briefly said she was still unwell.

BJP president Rajnath Singh had announced that there was “no timeframe” being set for her to announce resignation, but he had been keen to ensure that Raje quit her post. But Raje’s arrival in Delhi coincided with the RSS intervening in BJP matters in an effort to map out a change of guard. With the leadership distracted, the former CM seems to have calculated that she should avoid handing over her resignation.

Now Rajnath seems to be facing a dilemma. After the core group decision, he had sought to assert his authority and get Raje to quit. But other central leaders had become lukewarm to the idea with BJP veteran L K Advani seen to be not averse to Raje continuing.

The gamble may well have worked. When asked, party leaders ducked the question and insisted that they would wait till Raje recovers. The helplessness of the party leadership is clear as it is believed to have tried to get messages across to Raje through her “personal” friends in the party over the last one month.
Source:: timesofindia

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UID security concerns legitimate: Nilekani

New Delhi, Sept. 13 There is “legitimate concern” about the unique identification number’s database being secure from possible hacking and free from any misuse, head of the ambitious project Nandan Nilekani has said.
“That is a very legitimate concern. We are looking at the design as to how to make it secure,” Mr Nilekani, the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, said during a TV programme.
He was replying to a question on how it can be ensured that the database will not be misused and result in an invasion of privacy. On possible misuse by hackers, he said that it is again a legitimate concern but in every system there will be people who will try to hack on it. “Some are impenetrable, some are not. We will have to design it as good as possible. We can certainly create checks and balances. The important thing is — is the risk of hacking and privacy large enough not to do this project? The project has so many significant benefits for the poor in making it inclusive and in giving them a chance to participate in the country’s progress that it is worth it,” he said.

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Babus to face tougher laws for graft

New Delhi
Sept. 13: The Union law and justice minister, Mr M. Veerappa Moily, indicated on Sunday that the government was going to take another look at laws that stood in the way of prosecution of corrupt government officials, and said he was already pursuing the matter with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
This comes a day after Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan’s strong remarks on the government delaying sanction to prosecute corrupt officials. The Chief Justice had stressed the need for statutory provisions to help confiscate the assets of officials convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Speaking at a seminar, “Fighting Crime, Related to Corruption”, here on Sunday, Mr Moily said: “There is no gainsaying that the provisions of Article 311 have come in the way of bringing corrupt civil servants to book. Article 311 would require a re-visit. I am pursuing the matter with the Prime Minister and the government.
“We need to redefine and revisit the criteria to obtain sanction for prosecution against top officials.”
The Santhanam Committee report on prevention of corruption had said that Article 311, as interpreted by the courts, had made it difficult to deal effectively with corrupt civil servants, he added. Even after Article 311 was amended, the panoply of safeguards and procedures still available was interpreted in a manner so as to make the proceedings protracted, and therefore effete in the ultimate analysis, Mr Moily said.
“The state anti-corruption organisations and the CBI have to be made functionally autonomous and independent by removal of provisions such as pre-inquiry permissions, prosecution sanctions and power to file appeals. The law ministry is working on it.” He added that the requirement to seek sanction for prosecution should not be mandatory in all cases. There are 9,310 cases of the CBI pending before various courts and more than 2,000 cases are pending for more than 10 years. A large number of these cases are against dishonest and corrupt public servants.
Source::DC

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Pawar keen on alliance

New Delhi
Sept. 13: The NCP supremo, Mr Sharad Pawar, on Sunday said his party is yet to receive a “specific proposal” from the Congress on next month’s Maharashtra Assembly polls, but made it clear that he does not want the alliance to break up for the sake of a few seats.
“I do not want the Congress-NCP alliance to break for two to four seats. Both the parties want to fight the Assembly elections together as it is in their interest and in the interest of the state,” Mr Pawar said after returning from Mumbai on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters, he said, although leaders of the two parties were discussing the issue (pre poll alliance) informally, they have not discussed sharing of seats.
When his attention was drawn to the statements of some leaders that both the Congress and NCP are preparing to contest all the 288 Assembly seats, Mr Pawar said, there was nothing wrong in it.
He further said every political party has to prepare for all the seats at stake till the issue of an alliance is finalised.
Asked whether the Congress was pushing for taking into account the new ground realities after the recent Lok Sabha polls, he said, “at least no one has talked to me.”
Asked whether the alliance will break, Mr Pawar said, “Let us hope there is understanding.”
In a related development, the defence minister and AICC pointsman for Maharashtra, Mr A.K. Antony, and the Congress president’s political secretary, Mr Ahmed Patel, met Mrs Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening. But they sped past waiting newsmen outside Mrs Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence without talking to them.
If insiders are to be believed, a formal decision on the alliance would be taken only after Mrs Gandhi returns from Mumbai on Monday night.
Source::DC

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Mega telecom deal hits roadblock

New Delhi

Sept. 13: The South African government taking a cautious stand on the proposed deal between Bharti-Airtel and MTN, underlined the challenges which Sunil Bharti Mittal may face in clinching the deal.
The South African communications minister, Mr Siphiwe Nyanda, told the Johannesburg based weekly Sunday Times that MTN was a “South African company with a footprint in Africa and we are interested that it should remain (here).” He said government would only look at the deal when it was concluded “because it would still have to come to (us) for ratification or support”.
The state-owned pension fund Public Investment Corporation is the largest shareholder in MTN with 21 per cent stake. South African’s consider MTN as a jewel in their crown. MTN is South Africa’s second largest mobile operator, which is still owned by the natives.
“What we have said is that we will not support any agreement that does not take South African interests into consideration and this is a general statement for anybody who wants a (local) company and a (local) brand to give away its South African-ness,” Mr Nyanda was quoted by the newspaper.
He said that the deal could have benefits for the country. But, in a veiled warning, he emphasised that MTN, “through government help”, had expanded in Africa.
The South African government’s stand over the Bharti-MTN deal is quite different from Indian government’s which has supported it. The Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had said that the deal “has added a new dimension to our South-South cooperation.”
Bharti and MTN revived merger talks in May, a year after previous talks broke down over who would control a merged entity.
Source::DC

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CBI gets clues on Raju mystery

New Delhi, Sept. 13: The CBI will soon file a second chargesheet against former disgraced chairman of Satyam Computers, B Ramalinga Raju, as it claimed to have unearthed more financial frauds like siphoning off money from the company, which may have caused loss to the shareholders.
Sources in the CBI said that Raju’s confessional statement after the scam came to light earlier this year was an attempt by him to divulge only what he wanted to, while keeping other alleged financial frauds under wraps. The sources said the investigators had found some more clues of alleged financial frauds of siphoning off money from Satyam and re-routing it to other front companies floated by the accused.
The agency, on April 7, had filed a chargesheet against Raju and eight others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery.
The CBI had submitted 1,532 original documents of bank transactions and 65,000-pages of other documents, which included the statements of 432 witnesses in the case along with the chargesheet.
The sources said a close scrutiny of the documents showed siphoning of money to some tax haven countries and later re-routing it back into the country. The agency is also probing the role of a prominent stock broker for alleged management of funds of the firm, which necessitates further investigation. In a related move, a team of the US capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission has completed in India its probe into the multi-crore fraud case. The SEC team had detailed discussions with the CBI, specifically on the role of auditors in the scam.
During the discussions, the SEC team looked into particular details about the way accounts were allegedly fudged and at the role of the accounting firms.
The SEC team had come to India following filing of over a dozen class action lawsuits in the US against the promoters and managers of the IT firm on behalf of investors, who purchased ADRs of the company between January 6, 2004 (the listing date in the US) and January 6, 2009
(the day before Raju’s letter)
Source::DC

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Gold price to hit Rs 18,000

New Delhi

Sept. 13: Gold could touch Rs 18,000 per 10 grams in the coming festival season, according to Assocham.
The industry body said that gold is the only commodity which has seen a huge built up in the exchange traded funds (ETF) in the last few weeks and will gain further momentum in view of the festive demand and low international production.
The bullion is likely to see a spurt in its prices and stay around Rs 18,000 per 10 grams by Diwali from current levels of around Rs 16,000, said Assocham.
“This is due to the fact that more and more investors are flocking to take refuge in gold as an asset class as it happens to be the best bet against rising inflation,” said Assocham, president, Mr Sajjan Jindal.
As per Assocham analysis, stock valuations which are around one year’s high, appears to be overstretched and investors are fleeing to precious metal as they are losing confidence in the global economy
with Shanghai stocks hitting a three months low this week.
“There is strong feeling among investors not to expand and increase their exposure to this (equity) asset class,” said Assocham.
The industry chamber said that if a consumer plans to invest in gold, he should not make the mistake of buying gold jewellery — which
has a high cost and lacks purity.
The consumer should not buy pure gold from banks (you will pay about 25 per cent higher than the market price).
“The best way to buy gold is directly from Singapore or Dubai in the form of bars. Again, buy 999 purity gold and not 9999 purity gold because you pay a premium for the latter (which you may find it difficult to realise in India),” said Assocham.
Gold ETF is another option, “particularly if you are a resident Indian and don’t have a friend or relative in the Gulf willing to bring gold for you. In normal times about five per cent of your investment should be in gold, but these are abnormal times so have about 10 per cent to 15 per cent in gold,” advised the industry body.
Source::DC

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