Future of one-dayers hangs in a balance

New Delhi

Sept. 17: While the Champions Trophy continues to remain a big-ticket event for the International Cricket Council that can pull both fans and advertisers in droves, the game’s shifting landscape from ODIs to Twenty20 has started a debate the world body isn’t too pleased with.
By the ICC’s own admission, this edition beginning next Tuesday could be the final one, having faced a lot pressure from other national cricket boards questioning its relevance.
Salvaging what it can of the ODIs’ declining popularity is the least the ICC hopes to achieve. “We are putting all our money on it. The one-day format has certainly taken a bit of a hit with the England board scrapping its domestic 50-over tournament and the South Africans mulling the same. We have tweaked the Champions Trophy format to make it shorter and sharper. The event’s success will give us an idea over which way to move ahead as far ODIs are concerned,” said ICC commercial general manager Campbell Jamieson at the sidelines of an event here on Thursday.
The ICC is considering a trial of splitting the one-day matches into two innings of 25 overs for each team — an idea mooted by Sachin Tendulkar. However, the final decision will be only be taken when the cricket committee gets together next May.
Till then, experts feel, the format should not be tinkered with. “The fate of ODIs hangs in the balance, but we should give it a year or so and then take a decision. It has been hugely successful concept and to change it, the ICC has to give it a lot of thought. When you plan to alter such a successful product, you have to be careful,” said former India middle-order star Sanjay Manjrekar.
“The coming few days will give a fantastic opportunity to the administrators to prove that the shorter version of the game can survive,” he added.
Ex-Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram reckoned that splitting ODIs into four innings would not go down well with cricketers. “Despite the perception, most cricketers like playing in ODIs more than T20 since it involves more skill. If the format has to change, the ICC should try it at the club or domestic level and see how it goes before trying to implement it at the international level. Else, it could do more harm than good,” said Akram.
Source::DECCAN CHRONICLE

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Gauti declared fit, joins squad

Mumbai, Sept. 17: Indian cricket team heaved a sigh of relief as opener Gautam Gambhir cleared a fitness test on Thursday to join his teammates who will leave for South Africa early on Friday to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Gambhir had sustained a groin injury during the BCCI Corporate Trophy. Even though the left-hander travelled to Sri Lanka with the team for the tri-series there, he returned home after he had aggravated the injury.
He underwent a fitness test on Thursday before being cleared for the Champions Trophy starting September 22.
Gambhir edged out teammate Virender Sehwag on Thursday to be named the Castrol Cricketer of the Year 2008 at a glittering function in Bengaluru. He received Rs five lakh and a trophy. Harbhajan Singh was named the best bowler of the year while Sehwag and India skipper M.S. Dhoni were declared the Test and One-Day cricketers of the year.

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Men in Blue gear up for CT

Mumbai
Sept. 17: Team India took the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings in Sri Lanka though for just a day. Now ready for their South African sojourn to take part in the ICC Champions Trophy starting next Tuesday, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says he’s under no pressure to regain the number one spot.
“We are not under any pressure. We don’t think about rankings or ratings, personally as well as collectively as a team and just try to enjoy our game. We look to give our best and that’s what the game plan would be this time as well,” said Dhoni at a press conference in Mumbai ahead of the team’s departure for Johannesburg on Friday.
The team are elated over the return of opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the Sri Lanka tri-series with a groin injury. “It is good for us that Gambhir has regained fitness because he will have to take the responsibility at the top of the order. We have seen that whenever we get a good start, we score big runs,” said the Indian captain.
Dhoni reckons that the team need to improve on their fielding standards in an important tournament like the Champions Trophy.
“Whenever there is a slip-up as far as fielding is concerned, we have seen that it proves costly. We have not fielded well consistently with quite a few missed run-out opportunities and dropped catches,” Dhoni said. “These could prove to be crucial in a big tournament like the Champions Trophy. We are putting loads of effort to improve our fielding standards,” he added.
The skipper admitted that Rahul Dravid had brought experience to the team. “It’s good to have a player like him batting at the number three especially in South Africa where conditions suit fast bowlers. We have quite a few stroke players lower down the order and it’s important to give them a platform where they can launch their innings,” Dhoni said.
Dhoni emphasised that since South African pitches were favourable to fast bowlers, there was room for improvement for Ishant Sharma and Co. “I feel we also need to do well in the bowling department, especially in the middle and slog overs. But when the bowlers are not up to the mark the batsmen need to take the responsibility,” he added.
“It is very difficult to say which teams are the favourites because if one batsman has a good day he can take the game away from you. So it would be wrong to take any team lightly. I would not like point out to any team and say that they would or would not do well,” he said.

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Firing continues at Indo-Pak border

There was firing again on Friday morning at the Border Security Force (BSF) post on the India-Pakistan border near Jammu where two BSF troopers had been injured late on Thursday.

A senior BSF official said there was firing again from the Pakistan side on the Nikowal border post, about 30 km west of this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

The firing on the post began late on Thursday when two BSF troopers were injured. The Indian side had retaliated after the first bullet hit the post. "After last night's lull there was firing again at the same post to which we have again retaliated," said the official.

He said the BSF was trying to ascertain the source of the firing. It was unclear whether the firing was from militants trying to sneak into India or from Pakistani Rangers, the border guards of that country.

"The preliminary assessment points more to militants trying to infiltrate to this side," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He added that the BSF had carried out a check of the three-tiered barbed wire fence from a distance and "there appears no breach, which scales down the possibility of the infiltration having succeeded. But there will be a closer look at the fence once we are sure that firing has stopped. If it was fire from Pakistani Rangers, then it can be termed as yet another ceasefire violation."

India has erected a barbed wire fence inside Indian territory to check cross border infiltration along the 220-km international border in the Jammu region as well as 720 km of the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. The BSF guards the border while the army is deployed along the LoC.

The security around the post under fire has been increased, and checkpoints erected at various points leading to this city. "We cannot rule out the possibility of militants having infiltrated. There are reports of militants stepping up infiltration and planning strikes around the festival season," said a senior police officer in Jammu.

The Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is on Monday while the Hindu festival of Navratra starts on Saturday. Both bring thousands of people out on the streets.

Senior BSF and police officials have been camping in the Nikowal area since Thursday evening.

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Parents die as stalker attacks girl with knife

Rajahmundry
Sept. 17: A stalker attacked a teenaged girl with a knife and stabbed to death both her parents when they tried to protect her. The girl, Anusha, 16, suffered a stab wound on her neck.

The incident occurred at Lalitanagar of Rajah-mundry in East Godavari at around 8 pm on Thursday. Anusha is the eldest of the three daughters of Mr Narla Srinu, 37, an autorickshaw driver, and Mrs Satyavathi, 35, a housewife. The stalker, Matta Rajesh Kumar, 18, who works for a courier agency, had been harassing her for the last six months.
Though she spurned his advances and pleaded with him not to trouble her, Rajesh continued to harass her.

Unable to bear the teasing, Anusha lodged a complaint with the three town police station on May 28. The police arrested Rajesh on eve teasing charges and he spent four days in prison. But he came out on bail and continued to harass Anusha.

On Thursday, at about 8 pm, he jumped the wall of Anusha’s house, barged into her bathroom, whipped out a knife and attacked her. The terrified girl screamed even as Rajesh stabbed her on the neck. Her mother, Mrs Sathayavathi, flung herself between the assailant and her daughter. An angry Rajesh then stabbed her several times, wounding her heavily.

Anusha’s father, Mr Srinu, also rushed in hearing the commotion. Rajesh then turned towards him and stabbed him several times. As blood gushed out, he ran away from the spot. A wounded Anusha alerted neighbours who immediately summoned the 108 ambulance which shifted Sathyavathi to the Government General Hospital which was nearly five kilometres away. But she was dead by the time the ambulance reached the hospital.

The hapless and wounded girl took her heavily-bleeding father to the GGH in an autorickshaw. There was nobody to help her. But he too succumbed to his injuries as doctors tried to give him emergency treatment. Anusha was admitted in the hospital and is said to be out of danger. However, she had not been told about her parents’ death.

“Rajesh has been troubling me for a long time and had threatened to kill my father and molest my mother if I did not marry him,” said the injured girl. “I want him to be hanged publicly as a lesson for others.”

“She sustained a knife wound on the neck but her condition is stable at present,” said the GGH chief medical officer Dr Nagesh. Several women’s groups arrived at the GGH and sharply condemned the incident. “The boy should be hanged publicly for this heinous act,” said the AICC member, Ms Jakkampudi Vijayalakshmi.

The East Godavari superintendent of police, Mr Y. Nagireddy, said police had earlier arrested the boy on charges of eve teasing but was given bail by the court. “It would be best to conduct speedy trials and award punishments in eve teasing cases so that such offences do not take place,” he said.

“Rajesh’s parents admonished him and tried to prevent him from teasing the girl but he did not listen to them,” said a neighbour, Mr K. Ramana Murthy. “After police arrested him, his family was also forced to vacate the house in which they were staying.”

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Tharoor tweets under attack from Congress

New Delhi

Sept. 17: The minister of state for external affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, is under the Congress scanner. Questions are being raised in party circles about the young minister’s “sense of responsibility.”
The question that is being asked, as one source put it, is “how a minister in a high-profile and sensitive ministry can Twitter all the time?”
Some Congress leaders are also apprehensive that the BJP and other Opposition parties might exploit the minister’s “attitude” to gain political mileage. Some of Mr Tharoor’s alleged misadventures are now being openly discussed in party circles, which range from his “sitting on the chair reserved for the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha” to calling the Indo-Pak joint statement at the Sharm el-Sheikh NAM summit “not a legal document,” as well as his rejecting accommodation at New Delhi’s Kerala Bhavan as the state guesthouse “did not have a gym and did not offer privacy.”
A senior Congress leader said, “It has been indicated to him that being a Union minister he has to be responsible enough.” Mr Tharoor, he added, “should also remember that he is a minister in India and not in any other part of the world.”
The Congress is worried that the BJP might try to gain advantage.

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Organ swap to be legal

New Delhi
Sept. 17: Finding that trade in human organs has thrived despite having a regulatory mechanism, the government on Thursday approved amendments to the Organ Transplantation Act-1994 to make the law stricter by enhancing jail term for wrongdoers from present five years to 10 years, along with a monetary fine of Rs 5 lakh from the current Rs 10,000.
The decision to approve amendments to the Act was taken at a meeting of the Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
Announcing the decision information and broadcasting minister Ms Ambika Soni said, “The Cabinet approved the proposals of the ministry of health and family welfare to amend the provisions of the Act and also for imposing stringent penalties on persons or hospitals violating the provisions.”
Among the proposed changes in the Act is one that will allow organ swapping, which is prohibited under the existing Act. “Two persons can give each others their different organs in case they agree to the swap,” the release added. To meet the high demand of organ, amendments also propose to expand the definition of “close relatives” for organ donation by including grandchildren. But minor will not be allowed to donate organs.
“An offence under the Act will attract a minimum imprisonment from existing five years to 10 years and the term ‘Rs 10,000’ shall be substituted by term ‘Rs five lakh’,” a Cabinet release said.
Among the proposed changes in the Act is one that will allow organ swapping, which is prohibited under the existing Act. “Two persons can give each others their different organs in case they agree to the swap,” the release added.
The minister said the decision had been taken, as despite putting in place a regulatory mechanism for transplantation of human organs, there has
been reports about “thriving” human organ trade in India and the consequential exploitation of economically weaker sections of society. The objective is to prevent commercial dealings and make the system “transparent and patient-friendly”, Ms Soni added.
The transplantation of the Human Organs Act was enacted by Parliament in 1994 and came in to force on February 4, 1995 in the State of Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
It was later adopted by all states except Jammu and Kashmir, where the Central legislations have to be endorsed by the state Assembly.

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2 in Karna, 3 in Pune die of swine flu

With two new swine flu deaths reported from Karnataka, the death toll due to H1N1 virus in the state has reached 75, while three more have died in Pune due to the virus, taking the toll in the city to 52, said reports.

In Karnataka, both the deaths were reported from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) in Bangalore.

While Pushpa, a 28-year-old woman died at RGICD on September 12, 55-year-old Renuka died at the same hospital on September 13.

However, reports confirming that both the victims tested positive for the virus was received only on September 17, a health official said.

Out of 75 death reports, 55 were registered in Bangalore and rest from other parts of the state.

As a part of the ongoing H1N1 virus surveillance programme started in Bangalore by city's municipal corporation Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in association with the health department, around 50 final year students from Bangalore Medical College (BMC) will assist experts.

"This is a mammoth task of visiting people door to door and checking people. We need qualified people to help experts in controlling the epidemic. Students are best suited for the job," said BBMP surveillance officer Manoranjan Hegde.

"The medical students will mostly create awareness about H1N1 influenza in the city. The students will also check for people with flu-like symptoms and provide them medical assistance," he added.

The surveillance will start September 22 and have students in teams of two. They will carry out the survey in K.R. Market and surrounding areas for two to three days.

Meanwhile, 22 more patients tested positive for the H1N1 virus in the state on Thursday. Out of these, 19 were reported from Bangalore, two in Chitradurga and one in Bagalkote.

With this the number of positive cases in the state has reached 829.

Meanwhile, the three who died late on Thursday in Pune in different hospitals were Prabhakar Gawde (38), Naresh Bhatia (35) and Sagar Bhalerao (7), hospital sources said.

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EU summit targets India, China on G20 climate financing

The European Union (EU) has challenged rising powers India and China to brake their soaring greenhouse gas emissions in return for Western financial support.

"We need to make a credible financial commitment to the developing world. The equation is straightforward: no money, no deal, but if there are no actions, no money," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at an informal EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Next week, the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations are set to meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with international funding for the fight against climate change high on the agenda.

According to estimates from the commission, the EU's executive, it will cost around 100 billion euros ($147 billion) per year by 2020 to fight climate change in developing countries.

Thursday's informal EU meeting echoed that estimate and a further call for quick-start money of 5 billion to 7 billion euros in aid to poorer countries per year up to 2012.

But in a clear challenge to rising powers such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, EU leaders stated that "this estimate presupposes appropriate mitigating actions by developing countries, especially those that are economically more advanced".

Moreover, "all countries, except the least developed", should help pay the world's poorest states to fight climate change, the EU summit statement said.

That is a clear tightening of early drafts of the document, which only called for "ambitious mitigation reductions" around the world, without singling out any state or region.

The high-level EU and G20 meetings come in the countdown to a critical United Nations summit in Copenhagen, which is intended to seal a new global deal on fighting climate change.

EU leaders on Thursday were at pains to point out the urgency of finding a deal in December.

"The climate is changing much faster than expected. ... This underlines the urgent need to reach a global, ambitious and comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen," the joint statement said.

"The world has a fever: we need to stop the acting and start the action," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

With just 80 days to go until the Copenhagen summit, there are 2,500 negotiating points that world powers still have to agree, said Reinfeldt, who will represent the EU in the Danish capital.

EU officials say that it will only be possible to reach a deal if the United States, historically the world's largest polluter, agrees to legally binding greenhouse-gas emission targets.

But US leaders have long maintained that they will only agree to such caps if the major developing powers pledge to brake the growth of their own soaring greenhouse-gas emissions.

The EU is therefore keen to bring the two sides by proposing a "global key", which would define rich and poor nations' responsibilities and calculate how much money each country should pay to the worldwide fight against climate change.

"You cannot move forward unless the world moves together. We have to bring in not just the old G8 (group of the world's leading developed economies): this involves all the countries of the world," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

A week ago, the commission said that European taxpayers should pay from 2 billion to 15 billion euros per year toward the global fight against climate change by 2020, depending on whether the bill is calculated according to the EU's current wealth or greenhouse gas emissions.

Using the same formulae, the US would pay up to 12.6 billion euros per year, Japan 4.4 billion euros, China 7.9 billion euros and India 2 billion euros.

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Blast kills 16 in Kabul

KABUL

Sept. 17: A suicide car bomber attacked an Italian military convoy in the heart of Afghanistan’s capital on Thursday, killing six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians.
The fourth major attack in the capital in five weeks, it was the latest reminder that even heavily guarded Kabul is vulnerable in a guerrilla war that has grown far beyond Taliban strongholds in the south.
The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into two Italian military vehicles about midday, Italian defence minister Ignazio La Russa said in Rome. He said six of those aboard were killed and four wounded.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in a text message that one of their militants carried out the suicide attack against Nato forces.
The explosion shattered windows in buildings about half a mile away and shook offices and homes throughout the central Afghan neighbourhood that houses a number of embassies and military bases.
Charred vehicles littered the area around the blast site — a road just off a main traffic circle that leads to the airport. An Associated Press reporter saw at least six vehicles burned, including an Italian Humvee, and two burned bodies that were later covered with plastic sheets.
The interior ministry said 10 Afghan civilians were killed and 55 wounded.
Shopkeeper Feraudin Ansari said he felt the blast in his store about 50 yards from the site. Windows were broken in all the shops on the street. He said he was angry at Nato forces for patrolling in downtown areas.
“Why are you patrolling inside the city? There is no Al Qaeda, no Taliban here,” 25-year-old Mr Ansari said.
“My shop is destroyed and my head hurts from the blast.” Violence has increased as the US sent thousands more troops to push back the resurgent Taliban and bolster security for last month’s presidential election.

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Karzai defends integrity of polls

Kabul

Sept. 17: President Hamid Karzai on Thursday flatly denied major fraud in Afghanistan’s troubled elections and urged foreign allies not to interfere in probes over irregularities that could slash his clear lead. Afghans went to the polls in August to elect the President for only the second time in history with a Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion replaced the Islamist regime with Western-backed rule.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has been accused of bias towards Mr Karzai, has released results in an agonisingly slow process alongside mounting claims of massive vote-rigging in favour of the President.
On Wednesday, the final preliminary vote put Mr Karzai on track to be re-elected with 54.6 percent but recounts at more than 2,500 polling stations could yet tip the balance and force him into a run-off with his rival Abdullah Abdullah.
Addressing reporters publicly for the first time since the eve of the August 20 poll, Mr Karzai played down allegations of fraud and said he would respect investigations by the IEC and UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission.
“Media has reported major fraud. It wasn’t that big. If there was fraud, it was small — it happens all over the world,” Mr Karzai told a news conference at his heavily fortified palace in the Afghan capital. But the President, whose nearly eight-year rule has been marred by worsening violence and cooling ties with the West, has been on a collision course with his international backers over fraud-tainted election.

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No FDI in multi-brand retail in offing

Stockholm, Sept. 17: India is unlikely to allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail in the next couple of years, a top industry ministry official said.
“It’s a sensitive sector. I don’t see it happening, certainly not in one or two years,” the department of industrial policy and promotion, joint secretary, Mr Gopal Krishna, said during his interaction with Swedish industry captains.
India does not allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail, although it does permit 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the single brand segment. The world’s biggest furniture retailer IKEA of Sweden recently dropped its $1 billion investment plan to set up single-brand retail outlets in India after New Delhi showed no inclination to allow FDI beyond 51 per cent in that segment.
“Retail is the second largest employer in India and there is a fear that opening up the sector for FDI will bring in extreme form of competition and the fears are not unfounded,” Mr Krishna said.
The commerce and industry minister, Mr Anand Sharma, along with officials from his ministry were in the Nordic country for a two-day visit. They were accompanied by the Indian industrialists led by the CII. However, he said 90 per cent of sectors are open including the entire manufacturing sector with the exception of defence.
He said the insurance bill which awaits the report of the Parliament Standing Committee is likely to be taken up by the Centre in the next six months

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BHEL bucks economic slowdown

Hyderabad
Sept. 17: Despite the economic slowdown, power equipment maker BHEL has recorded an all-time high turnover of Rs 28,033 crore in the fiscal 2008-09, a growth of 31 per cent over the last fiscal.
Addressing the 45th annual general meeting of the company on Thursday, the chairman and managing director, Mr K. Ravi Kumar, said the PSU major’s exports have increased by a whopping 41 per cent at Rs 3,265 during the year.
“Despite an unprecedented increase in the raw material costs, the company has sustained its profitability and recorded its highest ever net profit of Rs 3,138 crore in 2008-09, which grew around 10 per cent over the previous fiscal,” he said. BHEL paid Rs 832 crore — 170 per cent of the paid-up capital — towards dividend to its shareholders during the year under consideration.
BHEL secured orders worth Rs 59,678 crore — the highest ever in a single year — including utility orders of 17,020 MW. The company has got Rs 13,320 crore orders in the fiscal and the order book has touched Rs 1,17,000 crore at the end of 2008-09.
BHEL has increased its manufacturing capacity to 15,000 MW annually and is planning to achieve 20,000 MW by 2012.
Outlining the trends in the global and domestic economies, the chairman said that the year 2008-09 has been a year of great turbulence “economically and politically and saw the economies of many countries on the brink of collapse with growth figures of many economies being revised downwards.”
He added, “The Indian economy grew by 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.”
Even in such an adverse business environment, he said that the company’s inherent strengths coupled with the Centre’s increased focus on building infrastructure continued to be a source of growth and competitive advantage.

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Rangarajan sees ray of hope next year

Hyderabad
Sept. 17: Observing that globalisation spreads both prosperity and distress, Dr C. Rangarajan, the chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the country could recover from the economic slowdown in the second half of 2009-10 and in 2010-11.
“It (globalisation) cuts both ways. We will see definite signs of recovery in the second half of 2009-2010 and the economy will grow between six per cent and 6.5 per cent (2009-2010). The fiscal 2010-2011 will see a distinct improvement in growth and the economy will grow between seven and eight per cent,” he remarked. He added, “I believe, to achieve nine per cent growth, we have to wait for the world economy to improve and world trade to pick up. Interest rates may harden by end of this fiscal year.” The shock waves produced by the financial crisis would have its own repercussions on the structure of capitalism. Acceptable capitalism would require more regulation. Future discussions would centre on the nature and scope of such regulation, he said.
“Run-a-way financial innovations that are dysfunctional do more harm than good. These are the lessons that we can draw from the current financial crisis,” the veteran economist said.
Dr Rangarajan said that the accommodative policies of the Reserve Bank of India and the government may have to be slowly withdrawn. “There should not be a premature withdrawal unless there are signs of recovery,” he said. Later speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the International Conference on Global Economic Meltdown: Challenges and prospects organised by Disaster Management, Infrastructure and Control Society, Dr Rangarajan said he did not see RBI withdrawing its accommodative policy. Credit off take shows signs of recovery and this would pick up on demand.
He said stimulus packages were good and would continue till March next. “Inflows are improving. Disinvestment should be done at an appropriate time when the market is doing well,” he said.
Stating that the world was passing through a difficult time, he said the industrially advanced countries are now officially in recession. “This will be perhaps the deepest recession in the post-second world war period. We will see signs of recovery in India and rest of the world,” he predicted. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, who was the chief guest, said the state’s revenues had grown at 18 per cent per annum during the last five years and as a proportion to GSDP, it was the highest for any State in the country.

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KCR praises Nizam, kicks off row

Hyderabad
Sept. 17: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, kicked off a controversy by praising the Nizam on the occasion of Hyderabad Liberation Day.
“If Sir Arthur Cotton is for you (people of coastal area), Nizam is for us,” he said.
The TRS chief’s comments have been controversial in the past but he remains unrelenting. Hyderabad Liberation Day is celebrated for merger of Hyderabad state with Union of India against the fascist Nizam rule and atrocities by Razakaars. Intellectuals have objected to the TRS chief praising Nizam in the past.
“When they can praise Sir Arthur Cotton for constructing a barrage across Godavari, why not Nizam for taking up Nizam Sagar which provides irrigation facilities for three lakh acres. When they can treat Cotton as a demi God why can’t we do so with the Nizam?” he asked.
“Why should some people continue to distort history? If they can praise a British born Cotton for his achievement, why not we do the same for Nizam? How long we should take diktats from others,” he said. The TRS chief said there was limit for everything and if some people still try to insult us, people of Telangana would not keep silent. The repercussions would be serious, he warned. The TRS chief said when he made a similar comment in the past it became a sacrilege.
“We are not backing Nizam on all accounts, but we certainly have to give credit to him if he deserves it in some cases. Whether the king is a Hindu or Muslim, if he had done something good for the people he should be given the credit,” he added. “Hyderabad Liberation day is not officially celebrated due to arrogance of present rulers,” he said.
Source::DC

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State seeks Rs 9,000cr aid

Hyderabad

Sept. 17: The state government will seek a Central assistance of Rs 9,000 crore for drought relief measures.
The state government has already declared drought in 981 mandals. The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Thursday asked the district collectors to send a mandal-wise update on the the drought situation so that more mandals can be added to the list if need be.
According to the information obtained from various departments, the state government will seek assistance of Rs 3,500 crore for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NGERS), Rs 390 crore for agriculture and input subsidy, Rs 450 crore for both urban and rural drinking water, Rs 350 crore for animal husbandry, Rs 150 crore for horticulture and Rs 80 crore for integrated child development scheme.
The government will also seek assistance of Rs 4,500 crore under the Prime Minister Package for drought relief. The state had got Rs 1,900 crore in the early days of the Congress regime in 2004. That grant was utilised on agriculture and irrigation.
Sources in agriculture department said crop in about nine lakh hectares of land was damaged due to drought-like conditions.

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Rosaiah forgets he is CM

Hyderabad
Sept. 17: The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, is still to come to terms with the fact that he is now the head of the state cabinet.
This was evident from the video conference he held with district collectors in which he made several remarks as if he was still the finance minister and the final decision had to be taken by the ‘Chief Minister’.
For instance, while referring to the emptying of the existing stocks with rice millers to accommodate the produce in the coming kharif, Mr Rosaiah said the Chief Minister and civil supplies minister would immediately look into the matter. Then he corrected himself and said, “We would look into the matter.”
Likewise, while talking about Rajiv Arogyasri, he said the Chief Minister had developed a fool proof system to extend the benefit of the health insurance scheme to all the needy. Then he added that he meant the late Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
Surely, Mr Rosaiah alone cannot be blamed for all this since his ministers have not made him feel so far that he is their Chief Minister.

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Congressmen on fast to make Jagan CM

Ongole
Sept. 17: The Prakasam district youth Congress president, Mr K.V. Ramana Reddy, on Thursday locked the district Congress office seeking the elevation of Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as the new Chief Minister of state.
He added that Congress activists have started fasting in 56 mandals of the district which will continue till their demands are met.
Mr Ramana Reddy requested the Congress High-Command to organise a meet of the legislature party to appoint Mr Jagan Mohan as the new Chief Minister.
He added that only the welfare schemes initiated by the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy resulted in victory of the Congress in the recent elections.
So, AICC should select Mr Jagan to continue those popular schemes.
He vowed that they will continue fasting before the district congress committee office and will not open the office till any action is taken.
Meanwhile, the Union minister of state for steel, Mr A. Saipratap, reiterated the demand to make Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy the Chief Minister while withdrawing a eleven day hunger strike by Congress activists in Nandalur in Kadapa on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that he would sacrifice his life for Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s family and said that he was associated with the former Chief Minister for the last 30 years.
He opined that no other chief minister developed the state like YSR who helped the downtrodden, farmers and widows in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the Rajampeta legislator, Mr Akeypati Amarnath Reddy, said: “The Congress high command has to keep in mind the public opinion and make Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy the next Chief Minister.”

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2 divers in UK find relic headed for city

London, Sept. 17: Two British divers made a remarkable discovery off the Sussex coast when they scooped a memorial plaque from a wrecked ship that was carrying it to Mumbai in 1912.
The plaque was due to be erected in Secunderabad, in a memorial ceremony to commemorate the soldiers who had died of cholera while stationed there.
The two divers from Tunbridge Wells Sub Aqua Club, Mr Jamie Smith and Mr Geoff Mulligan, were diving off the coast of Eastbourne when they came across a brass memorial plaque. “We cleaned it up to see what was on it and contacted the Receiver of Wreck at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to help identify it,” he added.
“I spotted the edge of the plaque and bagged it up to be sent to the surface for closer inspection. I didn’t realise it would be such an interesting and unusual find,” said Mr Smith.
It has since been discovered that the plaque was aboard the Oceana, a P&O liner heading to Mumbai from Essex.
It reached the Sovereign Shoals, near Eastbourne, on March 15, 1912, where it hit a steel vessel, Pisagua. It was too late before the liner noticed the vessel and she sank.
The Sherwood Foresters Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment were stationed there between 1819 and 1836, reports from Kent said.
Mr Smith said: “I’ve been diving with the club in Tunbridge Wells for over 15 years now and this is my first major find.”
Mr Mulligan said: “When we first found it I thought it could be a commemorative plaque for lost souls on the wreck but then we realised it was destined for Bombay and the significance of it.”
Mr Smith did not want salvage rights, but wants the plaque returned to the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum in Nottingham, ending its 97-year journey.

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