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January 2004
India pays tribute to Mahatma on his 56th death anniversary
Saturday, January 31, 2004
NEW DELHI: President A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led the nation in paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial here on Friday on the occasion of his 56th death anniversary. Despite an early morning drizzle that chilled the Indian capital, hundreds flocked the Rajghat memorial on the banks of the river Yamuna where he was cremated after his assassination on January 30, 1948. The weather clearly did not deter people from paying tributes to the Mahatma, who has become an enduring icon of peace and non-violence the world over. Amid tight security, top politicians, including opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, attended the ceremony at the black stone memorial, where a flame burns eternally in the great man's memory. The chiefs of the army, the air force and the navy offered the traditional military salute to the Mahatma, who led India to freedom from British rule. Parliament met at noon on Friday, an hour behind the usual opening time, as a mark of respect to the apostle of peace. Once the VIPs departed from Rajghat, hundreds of men and women made a beeline with flowers - or simply with a silent prayer on their lips. On the memorial is inscribed "Hey Ram" (Oh God) -- the last words the Mahatma uttered before he fell to shots from the gun of a Hindu fanatic who blamed him for the country's partition. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, on October 2, 1869. A frail and simple man of firm principles, he showed this vast country the way to independence through a non-violent campaign. Nathuram Godse pumped three bullets into Gandhi at 5.17 p.m. on January 30, 1948, just as the Mahatma came to offer his regular all-religion prayer at Birla House in New Delhi.
India, UK sign pact on illegal immigrants
Saturday, January 31, 2004
NEW DELHI: India on Friday signed an agreement with Britain for quicker return of Indian immigration offenders. The two countries also decided to join forces to counter terrorism and share intelligence. After signing the deal with his British counterpart David Blunkett, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani indicated an early decision on the release of British citizen Peter Bleach jailed for Purulia armsdrop. ``I am very, very pleased. This would improve my reputation back home as I am known for sending and keeping people in prison ... I am very pleased that the minister is prepared to let one out,'' Blunkett said. ``We have decided to set up an institutional framework for counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing which will be formalised soon,'' Advani said. Calling it the ``first agreement of its kind'' to be signed by India with any country, Blunkett said it was ``an indication of tremendous strides taken together in counter-terrorism operations''. Blunkett revealed that the two sides had also agreed to ``a joint meeting to explore the opportunities for further increasing cooperation on policing issues'', adding that both countries were ``sending signals'' by signing such a major accord. Ø ``Our cooperation has been very close on all issues including terrorism. Our commitment to democracy makes us fight terrorism jointly,'' Advani said. On funds being raised in the UK to finance terror groups, the British Home Minister said immediate action would be taken against such activities if any information was passed on to it. Blunkett also supported the Indo-Pak peace process. ``We are keen to provide moral support...Britain is extremely supportive of the initiatives taken in this regard as also the specific initiative taken by the deputy Prime minister on Kashmir.''
India for peaceful relations with neighbours: PM
Saturday, January 31, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 31 Asserting that India always believed in having peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with all its neighbours, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said that in the same spirit, Government is trying to resolve all the outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue. "India has never been an aggressor nation, a colonizer or a hegemon in her long history. In modern times, we are alive to our responsibility to contribute to peace, friendship and cooperation both in our region and around the world", Vajpayee said inaugurating the Global Convention on Peace and Non-violence here. He said that the Islamabad SAARC Summit was a major step forward in regional cooperation. Strongly advocating that the countries in the region have to work to change South Asia's image and standing in the world, he said "India always believed in having peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with all her neighbours". Recalling his speech at the Summit that the countries must make the bold transition from mistrust to trust, from discord to concord and from tension to peace, he said "it is in the same spirit that my Government has been trying to resolve all the outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue".
Cong-DMK reach seat-sharing pact for Lok Sabha polls
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Chennai, Jan 31 Congress and DMK today reached an agreement on the number of seats that the former will contest in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu and the details will be announced this evening,AICC General Secretary Kamal Nath said here today. Speaking to reporters after a nearly two hour meeting with the DMK election team and DMK leader M Karunanidhi, Kamal Nath said "We have almost reached an agreement including on the number of seats and identification of constituencies." Refusing to disclose the details, he said "by this evening we will make the announcement. All the modalities including election campaign, seat identification and various other aspects of the alliance will be announced jointly by DMK and Congress in the evening," he said.
Preity woman turns 30
Saturday, January 31, 2004
January 31 is not just another day for Preity Zinta she of the dial-a-joke variety. Because today, this actress with the dimpled smile and plus-size attitude wi-ll blow out 30 candles on her birthday cake. Of course, for the eternally youngat-heart Preity, life begins at 30. "I'm more than satisfied with the kind of films I am doing now. Let's see in which direction the wind blows," she says. And the way the wind is blowing, the air is abuzz with talk of Lakshya. "We shot at an altitude of 17,800 feet and dared the extreme heat in Delhi for the film. I'm glad I did Lakshya," says Preity. Life is cinema for this actress,whose upcoming films include Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha and an untitled film by Yash Chopra. "It is important for me to take up different roles." Like a BBC assignment she has taken up. "I have been asked by the channel to write anything I feel like. Let's see how things work out." Knowing her Dil Se spirit, things will work out fine. Specially when there 30 reasons to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Preity Zinta!
"I am not going to Hollywood. Hollywood is coming to us ...!"-Aishwarya
Friday, January 30, 2004
Aishwarya: "I am not going to Hollywood. Hollywood is coming to us ...!" OMAR QURESHI INDIATIMES MOVIES Aishwarya Alert!!! This is not an interview!!! It’s just a ‘conversation’ with Ms Rai. Before she grabs me by the neck and her green eyes ask me why, I must confess that this is merely the mild reproduction of a telephonic chat with the lovely lady. And this alert is simply because Aishwarya has promised, as she always does when it comes to an interview with me, I have to do a long winding, serious one-on-one with you. No phoners here. You better come and meet me, that’s the only way you will do justice, so there! But even as that meeting remains to materialize in the fog of Mumbai’s mild January winter, I take the liberty to jot down what Ash and I chatted about. And with the ‘disclaimer’ out of the way, (note the Ash alert again) I can share the views of the girl who is continuously voted more and more beautiful by a world at large. The latest in a long series of eternal endorsements is the vote by UK’s top entertainment magazine, ‘Hello!’, which has voted Ms Rai as the topmost beauty in the world above even such names as Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet and Catherine Zeta Jones. That’s a high, even for those of us used to the intoxicant called Ash. But as usual, she is level headed about it. What can I say? It is the love and support of my fans and my well-wishers which has made this possible. And I am thankful and grateful to them all. I hope they continue supporting me in the same vein. With the legions growing, even westwards, the support could only multiply manifold. Now it was the USA, which the beauty was set to conquer (eat your heart out Columbus). I’m glad that India and Indian culture and beauty is being recognized beyond South Asia. It’s spread to most of Asia, Europe and now, hey, welcome America. India is big and getting bigger in the world marketplace. And that’s great news for all of us. They are now looking at us not only in areas of IT and technology, but also cuisine, couture and culture. Isn’t it amazing? also looking ‘east’ (at Aishwarya’s Bandra home, perhaps?). Talk was that after signing up alongside Meryl Streep in ‘Chaos’, there was also a Brendan flick on the cards? Where does everyone get all their news? She laughed that musical tinkle, using it to neatly sidestep the question. Maybe talks are on but nothing is final as yet. In fact, a lot of talks are on. So lets wait and watch what happens. Don’t take the surprise away now, come on. Who? Me? Surprised? Naaa! I tried to act as nonchalant as I could, but then I couldn’t resist asking about talk of her not wanting to do the ‘Bond gal’ role (if offered) in case it required her to do hot scenes with Mr Brosnan. Again that laughter. What a delightful bit of news. Where did it first come out? … Anyway, let me say here again that with nothing on the anvil as yet, I cannot comment. Once we’re past the discussion stage and something is finalized, I may be able to shed some light. Right now, ‘my lips are bonded’, oops sealed! Ha ha ha! Clever, very clever, but then it was that quality of brains over beauty (which, as we all know was quite considerable to begin with) that set Ash apart from the rest the also-rans (hate to say that about Nicole, but hey ..). And she did have the final say in this ‘conversation’, Just yesterday Raj ji (Rajkumar Santoshi) asked me, ‘I hope you are not leaving us for Hollywood. What are al these rumours I keep hearing?’ And my reply was, ‘No Rajiji, I am not going to Hollywood. Hollywood is coming to us. I guess the world has realized our potential. They are now valuing our culture and our sense of understanding. And they are looking eastwards. So, I guess they will be adapting to our requirements with respect to our culture. And that’s a big leap for all of us Indians. Right? Could I even begin to argue? I guess I will save that for the actual interview. Right Ash?
Paap
Friday, January 30, 2004
Apart from its original, mostly made-in-Pakistan musical score, Paap adds nothing new to India’s century-old cinema tradition. The film, by Bhatt’s own admission, is a remake of sorts of a Mahesh Bhatt production, Sadak, made in 1991. And that isn’t the only source the film quotes from: Paap is also ‘inspired’ by the Harrison Ford starrer, Witness. Paap marks Pooja Bhatt’s debut as director, where she has arrived via modeling, acting and production – a bit too soon, one might argue. Escaping life as we know it – or at least being forced to – is Kaya (Udita Goswami), the beautiful daughter of Dr. Mohan Agashe, who plays a grieving husband devastated by the death of his wife and adamant that his daughter will be spared the pain of losing a loved one. He retreats with her to a monastery to prepare his daughter for a life of asceticism. But Kaya’s yearnings are more worldly. Her longing for love finds expression in rather bad free verse, for Kaya is a closet poet who dare not confess her paap to Papa. Fate’s on her side and she finally finds herself in a real-life situation. Cut to the mean streets of Delhi, where Kaya is in the midst of a murder investigation, headed by John Abraham’s sexy supercop, Shivain. If you want to know the rest of the story, rent a video of Witness - if you haven’t seen it already. The monastery is the perfect replacement for the Amish community, with their rejection of violence and a simple ascetic existence. Spiti doesn’t have the drama of Ladakh, but is fresh and reasonably stunning. John Abraham and Udita Goswami look pretty enough, but can they act is the three-crore-rupee question. The answer, sadly, is ‘no’! The little details which make the difference between a good effort and an excellent one are also missing. Nail polish, for instance. How does Kaya have manicured and painted talons when her life in Spiti is a series of household chores from dawn till dusk? And more surprising, given that one expected more from Ms. Bhatt, is how a beautiful sequence of Kaya swimming underwater in a pristine lake set amongst scenic mountains shows her wearing underwear that one couldn’t possibly have acquired in downtown Spiti. Had this scene happened post her trip to Delhi, I would have given Bhatt sartorial license. Now for the good news. What sets Paap apart from its other unimpressive peers is the musical score. Not Anu Malik’s ‘Intezaar’, with which the film opens -- a highly unremarkable ballad, and a very bad choice as the opening sequence for the film. I’m talking about songs like ‘Mann Ki Lagan’ by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and ‘Garaj Baras’ by Ali Azmat (of Junoon). Not standard Bollywood film music, this. During her recent trip to Karachi, where she premiered Paap, Bhatt said she believed music could make or break a film. Let’s hope Pakistani pop can save Paap from bombing at the box office.
Transplanted! Pooja settles for Silicon Valley!
Friday, January 30, 2004
INDIATIMES MOVIES They say marriage settles you and binds you to one place, but this long-legged lady has been going places ever since she tied the knot in 2003. It seems like she's been on the top-list of frequent fliers - she hops between America and India like the two countries were literally next door neighbours. She was here some time ago to wrap up portions of Akbar Khan's 'Taj Mahal' and, of course, we spotted her with hubby Sonu attending parties, hobnobbing with people and making the rounds of various social dos. And now Pooja is unsettled again. Don't jump to conclusions already! Pooja is married, very married indeed, and soaking in marital bliss. It's just that she's moved location, from the electrifying city of New York to the picturesque locales of Los Angeles. Her better half has found himself better job-prospects in L.A, hence the couple has packed their bags and moved to their new home in L.A. Pooja says, "I am still settling down in this new city, but I do miss the buzz of New York, too!" She still misses being in good 'ol Mumbai, she confesses - but, after all, home is where the heart is.
18 new trains to be introduced
Friday, January 30, 2004
New Delhi: Railway Minister Nitish Kumar today announced introduction of 18 new trains in the Interim Budget for 2004-05. The new trains, which will be named ''Sampark Kranti Express,'' will provide quicker connectivity from a particular state to the national capital with value-added features such as non-stop run beyond the state, dedicated staff throughout the run and public address system. The first train in the series, Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express, from Delhi (Nizamuddin) to Bangalore (Yashwantpur) will be introduced on February 8 this year. Initially, it will run as a tri-weekly train and later from October 2, it will be made daily. The other trains in the series are: * Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Guwahati. * Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi (Nizamuddin) to Secunderabad. * Bihar Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Samastipur. * Chattisgarh Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi (Nizamuddin) to Durg. * Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Ahmedabad. * Jharkand Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Ranchi.
No change in railway fares 12:45 pm IST
Friday, January 30, 2004
NEW DELHI: Union Railways Minister Nitish Kumar announced a slew of consumer-friendly measures in the interim Railway Budget and said there would be no change in railway fares. Nitish announced that 17 new fast trains - on the lines of Rajdhani Express - would be started to connect all state capitals with New Delhi. The Railways Minister also announced introduction of e-ticketing, which would allow reservation of passenger tickets through mobile phones too. Seventeen new trains linking states to the national capital Delhi and 14 safety projects have been approved in the interim railway budget presented today by Union Railways Minister Nitesh Kumar. Karnataka Samparak Express, the first of the series of new trains, will run between Bangalore and Delhi. This service will begin on February 8. SRSF outlay has been increased from Rs 2311 crore to Rs 2351 in the Revised Estimates. The unreserved ticketing system has been extended. A pilot project of e-ticketing will be started on the Shatabdi Express. Train reservation through mobile phones is to be introduced.
Tehelka returns as a weekly newpaper
Friday, January 30, 2004
After a gap of two years, Tehelka is today making a comeback as a weekly newspaper with promises of more hard-hitting stories. Fans, friends and supporters of Tehelka got together to celebrate the group's relaunch. "I have come from Hissar for this and my neighbours also wanted to come along," said a supporter. After its famous sting operation two years ago which shook the government, Tehelka was forced to closed down. Their finances dried up and their employees were charged with various crimes, simply because they dared to expose the corruption in defence deals. In its new avtaar, Tehelka has made a conscious effort to be financially independent. It has raised funds entirely by advance subscriptions. Fourteen thousand people have already paid up, 173 of them are founder-subscribers who have given Rs 1 lakh each. All this money poured in when Tehelka was still being conceived. Many believe that Tehelka has made a promising start. In its inaugural issue, the cover story for the people's paper is on US President, George W Bush's conversion agenda for India.
US warns India, Pakistan of "dirty bomb" threat
Thursday, January 29, 2004
WASHINGTON, Jan 29 India and Pakistan are "very vulnerable" to the "dirty bomb" threat and any such attack has the danger of scuttling South Asian peace moves, a US Senate Committee has been told. Terrorists could steal some of the vast stocks of unsecured radioactive material in India and Pakistan to launch a "dirty bomb" attack which could scuttle South Asian peace moves, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard yesterday. "The first act of nuclear terrorism will be a momentously bad event," political analyst Michael Krepon, told the Committee. "In tense regions like South Asia, the detonation of a 'dirty bomb' could scuttle a peace process and generate severe pressures for escalation," he said. Krepon, founder of the Henry L Stimson centre think tank, warned the committee in a hearing on India and Pakistan, that the two countries were "very vulnerable" to the dirty bomb threat, as was the US, and urged Washington policymakers to help both nations secure radioactive materials. Senior US Senator Joseph Biden said he was also concerned about the impact of any "dirty bomb" attack in South Asia, and said Washington should be "extremely proactive" in offering help to New Delhi and Islamabad. The stakes in South Asia, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, have become too high to risk a return to military confrontation or creation of new sources of Islamic terrorism. pti
Reliance Infocomm to touch 7-8 mln subscriber base this fiscal
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Mumbai, Jan 29 Reliance Infocomm Ltd will notch up a subscriber base of around seven to eight million by end of the current fiscal, banking on its launch of CDMA pre-paid services, even as the telecom entity is expected to record net profit by March 31, 2004. "We are planning to launch our CDMA pre-paid cards soon and this will ramp up subscriber base to around seven to eight million," Reliance Industries Vice Chairman and Managing Director Anil D Ambani told reporters here today. The company has been field-testing pre-paid cards for the last couple of months and was slated to launch the services by mid-January or early February. Reliance Infocomm is also planning to launch its broadband-based services in the country shortly, he said adding launching fixed services, apart from a host of new services, were also on the agenda. However, he did not disclose the date for launching of the pre-paid services. Ambani also said the company, which has already posted a cash break-even, is being projected to record a net profit by March 31, 2004. He said there was no impact on the license fees and the telecom business, like other businesses of the company, was "doing well".
BSNL announces intl roaming on cell, slashes SMS charges
Thursday, January 29, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 29 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd today announced internatinal roaming on its cellphone services and slashed SMS charges for its post-paid cellular subscribers to 40 paise per message from the existing 60 paise. "BSNL will offer international roaming in 164 countries from February 1," company chairman and managing director V P Singh told a news conference here. The company announced free talk-time for its post-paid cellular subscribers as part of which the subscriber of Plan 325 will get a free talk-time value of Rs 75 per month and customers of Plan 525 will get free talk-time value of Rs 150 per month. The free talk-time value for the post-paid subscribers as also the reduced SMS charges will be effective from February 1, 2004. The SMS tariff for BSNL's pre-paid subscribers will remain unchanged. Sinha said BSNL will introduce two new lower denomination recharge coupons from February 15. The lowest denomination recharge coupon of Rs 70 will have a talk-time of Rs 38 and validity of 7 days. The Rs 150 recharge coupon will have a talk-time of Rs 85 and a validity of 15 days. BSNL has also revised tariffs for its WLL subscribers which would be effective from March 1. As part of this, the rental for WLL, which was Rs 200 per month, has been brought at par with basic telephony rates of Rs 120, Rs 180 or Rs 250 per month depending on the exchange capacity. The company will now be offering 50 free calls per month to WLL subscribers. Presently, no free calls are offered on WLL phones.
Azharuddin disqualification: AP court notice to BCCI President
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Hyderabad, Jan 29 Andhra Pradesh High Court has issued notice to former BCCI President A C Muthaiah in an appeal filed by former cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin against his disqualification from participating in test cricket following the match-fixing scandal. A Division Bench comprising Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice T Gopala Kirshna on Wednesday issued the notice to Muthaiah. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on March 9.
Maruti rolls out 'Baleno' variant; cuts price
Thursday, January 29, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 29 India's biggest carmaker Maruti Udyog today launched a variant of premium mid-size sedan 'Baleno' and announced a price cut on its existing versions. The new version, 'Baleno LXi', has been priced at Rs 5.60 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), a company statement said. The 'Baleno', which has a relatively high import content, will now be cheaper by Rs 25,000. MUL has decided to pass on the benefits of the cut in customs duty to customers, it said. The prices of the two existing variants of 'Baleno' - 'VXi' and 'Altura' - have been reduced by Rs 25,702 and Rs 25,000. The 'VXi' will sport a price tag of Rs 6.29 lakh while the 'Altura' has been priced at Rs 6.78 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The new variant retains the 1,590 cc engine with 94 brake horse power (BHP) and has features like anti-submarine seats, tilt steering, central locking and electrically adjustable outside rear view mirrors. Cumulative (April-December 2003) sales of the 'Baleno' grew by nearly four times over the same period in the previous year.
SC orders CBI probe into 'warrants' issued against Prez, CJI
Thursday, January 29, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 29 The Supreme Court today ordered a CBI probe into the alleged issuance of bailable warrants against the President, Chief Justice of India, a Supreme Court judge and a senior advocate of the court by a metropolitan magistrate in Ahmedabad. A Bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia asked the agency to submit its report by February six, the next date of hearing. The Court also issued notices to the Centre, the State of Gujarat, Registrar General of Gujarat High Court, the "erring" metropolitan magistrate Brahm Bhatt and Suresh Jethalal Sanghvi, who purportedly filed a false complaint and on that basis the warrants were issued. The Court also issued notices to three advocates -- Iqbal Katia, Narender Chaudhary and Harish Bhawaniwala -- who acted as middlemen between the complainant and the magistrate.
New virus infects PCs, whacks SCO
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
A mass-mailing virus quickly spread through the Internet on Monday, compromising computers so that they attack the SCO Group's Web server with a flood of data on Feb. 1, according to antivirus companies. The virus--known as MyDoom, Novarg and as a variant of the Mimail virus by different antivirus companies--arrives in an in-box with one of several different random subject lines, such as "Mail Delivery System," "Test" or "Mail Transaction Failed." The body of the e-mail contains an executable file and a statement such as: "The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment." "It's huge," said Vincent Gullotto, vice president of security software maker Network Associates' antivirus emergency response team. "We have it as a high-risk outbreak." In one hour, Network Associates itself received 19,500 e-mails bearing the virus from 3,400 unique Internet addresses, Gullotto said. One large telecommunications company has already shut down its e-mail gateway to stop the virus. Once the virus infects a Windows-running PC, it installs a program that allows the computer to be controlled remotely. The program primes the PC to send data to the SCO Group's Web server, starting Feb. 1, a virus researcher said on the condition of anonymity. The SCO Group has incurred the wrath of the Linux community for its claims that important pieces of the open-source operating system are covered by SCO's Unix copyrights. IBM, Novell and other Linux backers strongly dispute the claims. The company's Web site was slow to load on Monday afternoon, a SCO spokesperson acknowledged, but the site was still accessible from the World Wide Web. SCO's Web site was taken offline by denial-of-service attacks a handful of times in the last year, none of which had been initiated by a virus. In the past, the company has blamed Linux sympathizers for at least one of the attacks. Antivirus companies were scrambling on Monday afternoon to learn more about the virus, which started spreading at about noon PST. The virus affects computers running Windows versions 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. "A lot of the information is encrypted, so we have to decrypt it," said Sharon Ruckman, a senior director of antivirus software maker Symantec's security response center. Symantec has had about 40 reports of the virus in the first hour, a high rate of submission, Ruckman said. The virus installs a Windows program that opens up a "back door" in the system, allowing an attacker to upload additional programs onto the compromised device. The back door also enables an intruder to route his connection through the infected computer to hide the source of an attack. The virus also copies itself to the Kazaa download directory on PCs, on which the file-sharing program is loaded. The virus camouflages itself, using one of seven file names, including Winamp5, RootkitXP, Officecrack and Nuke2004. Variations in the body text include: "The message cannot be represented in 7-bit ASCII encoding and has been sent as a binary attachment." Early data indicated an epidemic several times the size of the Sobig.F virus, which caused widespread infections last summer, said Scott Petry, a vice president of engineering at e-mail service provider Postini. "At its current run rate, we will trap almost 8 million in a day," Petry said. The company quarantined only 1,400 copies of Sobig.F in its first day and 3.5 million copies of the virus during that epidemic's peak 24-hour period. Mail systems that remove executable files from e-mails can stop the program from spreading. (CNET News.com)
Australia beat Zimbabwe by 13 runs
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Adelaide, Jan 26 Australia beat Zimbabwe by 13 runs in the triangular one-day international series cricket match here today. Brief scores: Australia 279 for 7 in 50 overs (R Ponting 63, M Bevan 75, M Clarke 36, A Symonds 34). Zimbabwe 266 for five in 50 overs (G Flower 94, S Ervine 33, A Blignaut 31, B Williams 2- 38, A Symonds 2-47) pti
Artistes perform 'Tiranga' in London as part of R-Day celebration
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
London, Jan 27 A near capacity gathering at the 3,000-seat Royal Festival Hall here last night gave a standing ovation to India's five top artistes as they participated in a unique concert, 'Tiranga,' a salute to the Indian flag on the occasion of the 55th Republic Day celebrations of the country. Bollywood Lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar read out poems he had specially composed eulogising each of the three colours and the Ashoka Chakra even as leading vocalist of North Indian Hindustani Music Pandit Jasraj, Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Mandolin Wizard Vidhwan U Shrinivas and world famous percussionist Ustad Zakir Hussain performed thereafter holding the gathering spell-bound for over an hour. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Ronen Sen was the Chief Guest. The concert, presented by Asia House, the premier pan Asian Organisation in Britain, was sponsored by Amas Investments and Projects Services Limited, a member of the Hinduja Group, HSBC, Unilever, Air India, Bagri Foundation, Tata Consultancy Services and Sky News. Durga Jasraj, daughter of Pandit Jasraj and producer of the concert, said the concert was held in aid of Asia House and Pratham, UK, a charity supporting the education of children in India.
Russia for result oriented ties with India: Alyoshin
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Moscow, Jan 27 Russia is for developing result-oriented multifaceted strategic ties with India, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Alyoshin has said. Cooperation in defence, energy, machine-building and cutting-edge technologies would be the priorities in developing bilateral strategic interaction, he told reporters at the Republic Day reception hosted by Indian Ambassador K Raghunath yesterday. "This year we have plans for intensive exchange of visits to further advance our strategic partnership in priority spheres," he said. Alyoshin, who looks after Russia's defence industries, science and technology, has been appointed Co-chairman of Indo-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC). From the Indian side IRIGC is co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. Concurrently, Alyoshin is to co-preside over the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, headed by Defence Minister George Fernandes. Both commissions are scheduled to meet later this year in New Delhi ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's India visit, he said.
Sangma, Pawar factions of NCP approach Election Commission
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 27 Three days after its split, tussle has begun between Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma factions of the NCP with the two leaders approaching the Election Commission today for deciding rival claims over the party's symbol and flag. Sangma, who parted ways with Pawar on January 24, moved the Commission claiming the NCP's symbol of 'Clock' and its flag contending that party ideology seeking bar on persons of foreign origin occupying high posts was "100 per cent" with his faction. As part of its efforts to show that his faction was the "real and original NCP", Sangma also claimed that an "overwhelming" majority of party office bearers including MPs, MLAs were with him. In a pre-emptive move, a delegation from Pawar group led by party General Secretary Pitamber Master filed a caveat with the Commission to thwart plans of Sangma to seek the party symbol and flag. General Secretary of Pawar faction Tariq Anwar has already assailed Sangma's move, saying that the former Lok Sabha Speaker did not have the support of party MPs, MLAs and Working Committee members. NCP suffered a three-way split last Saturday with Sangma 'replacing' Pawar as party chief at a convention of rebel partymen and Chhattisgarh leader V C Shukla announcing that he would be floating a regional outfit.
Advani reviews post-ceasefire situation along LoC in J-K
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Jammu, Jan 27 Making his first visit to the forward areas, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today assessed the militancy situation after India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire and also monitored the progress of the ongoing fencing work in Rajouri-Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said here. Advani, who arrived here early this morning along with a high level team of Union Home Ministry, was recieved at the technical airport by Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, Director Genreal of Police Gopal Sharma and state Chief Secretary Sudhir Billoria besides senior officers of the army and Border Security Force, the sources said. Soon after his arrival, Advani, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, DGP and other senior army officers flew to Bhimbergali forward area in Rajouri-Poonch sector, they said. Advani visited various forward posts and locations and monitored the progress of border fencing work, and ground situation in the post-ceasefire period along the LoC, the sources added. The Deputy Prime Minister later reviewed with top army and civil officials the situation with regard to security, infiltration and militancy after the ceasefire.
India to launch Brazilian satellite
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Bangalore, Jan 27 India plans to launch a Brazilian micro satellite for atmospheric studies and set up a ground station in Brazil for receiving remote sensing data from its remote sensing satellite RESOURCESAT-1, Indian Space Research Organisation said today. ISRO said it also would conduct joint research in space and atmospheric sciences and exchange of proposals for remote sensing applications with the Brazilian space agency AEB. A framework agreement for cooperation in the field of outer space was signed on Sunday by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Brazilian External Relations Minister Celeo Amorim. The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ISRO said in a statement here. Besides the framework agreement, a pact on the programme of cooperation between the two space agencies was also signed by ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair and AEB President Luiz Bevilaequa. ISRO and AEB had signed a MoU in March 2002 to provide an umbrella for cooperation between the two countries in the area of space. Several discussions have been held for identifying areas of mutual interest. The new framework agreement was expected to strengthen the ties already established under the MoU and demonstrate the support of both governments, ISRO said.
Rahaman's Setback In Bollywood
Friday, January 23, 2004
For the first time in the last 6 years A.R.Rahaman is having a setback in the Hindi film industry cassette-rating chart. In the Cassette rating chart of Bollywood A.R.Rahaman’s cassettes have not been included. In the last 6 years after 1997 the chart shows the names of top 15 music directors who have created a record by selling the most number of cassettes and Rahaman’s name is not in this chart. The reason for this is that Rahaman spent most of his time last year in London and other foreign countries. He had been concentrating on Andrew Lloyd Weber’s music play and an English film of China Warriors of Heaven and Earth . It’s because of this that he didn’t do much in Bollywood. But in 2004 the films he is working in Bollywood are Lakker, Meenakshi Your, 1857:The Rising. Apart from this he is also working in Subash Ghai’s and Shekar Kapoor’s films.
IT industry could touch $15.5 bn in 2004: Nasscom
Friday, January 23, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 23 Indian IT industry could touch a total revenue of 15.5 billion dollars in 2004 against 12 billion dollars last year, according to the Nasscom outlook for 2004. Total revenue of the IT software and service industry is estimated to be 15.5 billion dollars in the current year, Nasscom said in its outlook for 2004. Software and services exports are projected to achieve 26-28 per cent growth which translates into 12 billion dollars and the ITeS-BPO segment is projected to touch 3.6 billion dollars, an estimated growth rate of 54 per cent. In 2003, software exports were around 9.5 billion dollars and ITeS-BPO sector revenue was 2.3 billion dollars. IT services, products and technology services are projected to grow by 17 per cent to touch revenues of over 8.4 billion dollars in 2004. In 2003, it was 7.2 billion dollars. Software exports provided employment to 6.5 lakh people in 2003 while ITeS-BPO segment employed 1.71 lakh people, Nasscom said. Share of software exports to India's export revenue is around 20.4 per cent at present, taking into account 2003 software export revenues.
Asia Cup cricket in Sri Lanka in July
Friday, January 23, 2004
Colombo, Jan 23 Sri Lanka will host the long-awaited Asia Cup limited-overs cricket tournament in July, Cricket Board officials said here today. "Sri Lanka has agreed to host the tournament after touring Zimbabwe, but we don't have the exact dates confirmed as yet. We are working on it right now," an official said. The six-nation Asia Cup, Asia's permier cricket tournament has not been held since May 2000 because of tensions between India and Pakistan. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan in April soon after India's tour to Pakistan starting in March. But the idea was dropped after India said it had a commitment to play a Test series in Bangladesh soon after the Pakistan trip. The four Test-playing nations in the region -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- alongwith qualifiers Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates will contest in the Asia Cup. India has won the tournament three times, Sri Lanka twice, and Pakistan once.
South African activist insists she was raped
Friday, January 23, 2004
Durban, Jan 23 The South African AIDS activist who withdrew the rape charges against a prominent compatriot judge Sirajuddin Desai today insisted that her accusations of sexual misbehaviour were true. The alleged rape victim's lawyer Gabriela Palacios said her client "never said that her complaint of rape was untrue. She only said she is withdrawing the charges to put an end to the matter." Palacios claimed that the media had distorted the original statement issued last evening because her client had not in any way said she had "unconditionally" withdrawn the charges. The 27-year old woman claimed that she was raped by a South African High Court judge in a hotel room in Mumbai during the recently concluded World Social Forum. The woman was yesterday quoted as saying "I hereby wish unconditionally to withdraw the allegation of rape against Mr Desai."
Plan to target Republic Day foiled; militant arrested in Delhi
Friday, January 23, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 23 Amid high alert in Delhi ahead of the Republic Day, police today claimed to have foiled a major terrorist strike in the national capital by arresting a Hizb-e-Islami militant and recovering 3.5 kilogram of high explosives from him. Ayaz Mohammad Shah, who had allegedly planned to strike in the capital to disturb the Republic Day celebrations, was nabbed near Welcome Metro Railway Station in north-east Delhi yesterday, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh told. Singh said police also recovered three lakh rupees from Shah who hails from Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah is considered to be close to the outfit's chief Sarfaraz and was in his direct contact, Singh said, adding he had been instructed by Sarfaraz to reach Delhi and carry out the strike. The accused is being interrogated to know about his exact plans and efforts were on to establish whether he had some more associates in the national capital, the official said. Police sources said Shah was suspectedly planning to strike at a VVIP target or some public place.
Satyam outperforms market expectations
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Hyderabad, Jan 22 Surpassing its own forecast and market expectations, IT major Satyam Computer Services Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 145.87 crore during the quarter ending December 31, 2003, registering about 25 per cent increase over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The NYSE-listed company has earned a revenue of Rs 662.70 crore during the quarter, well above its earlier guidance of Rs 620 crore to Rs 630 crore, accounting for 26.89 per cent increase over the corresponding quarter in the last financial year. The Earnings Per Share (EPS) for Q3 stood at Rs 4.63, which is again well above the guidance range of Rs 4.05 to Rs 4.15. Guided by strong volume growth and price stability, the company has posted a 10.73 per cent sequential revenue growth in Q3 with the manufacturing, insurance and healthcare sectors contributing substantially to the company's growth. "Companies like Satyam continue to be strong in major markets despite a more visible outcry from certain quarters against offshoring," company Chairman B Ramalinga Raju said. Satyam added 20 new customers during the quarter, including six Fortune 500 companies.
Huge opportunity" for Indo-US cooperation : US
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Washington, Jan 22 Increased cooperation between India and the US in the fields of high technology, space, and nuclear energy programmes figured prominently in the meeting between External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and the US House International Relations Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the Capitol Hill here. Republican Congressman Ed Royce said both sides felt there was now a "huge opportunity" for Indo-US cooperation. "Most of our discussion focused on the announcement of increased cooperation in space, high-technology, and nuclear energy programs", Royce said. "This latest agreement between the United States and India shows that the interests of the world's two most-populous democracies are increasingly converging. We both agreed that this is very promising -- a huge opportunity for India and the United States," Royce, a senior member of the House Committee, said yesterday. Having previously authored a legislation to lift the sanctions placed on India in 1998, Royce played an active role in having these burdensome sanctions lifted in 2001. "I have been pushing for increased cooperation between the US and India in these areas for sometime - it is great to see words turned into actions," said Royce, who chaired the meeting of House members with Sinha.
Crucial talks between Centre, Hurriyat begin
Thursday, January 22, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 22 The first-ever crucial talks between the Centre and the Hurriyat Conference begin today with the separatist amalgam adopting a two-pronged strategy which includes a step-by-step approach for resolution of the vexed Kashmir issue. While the Centre would be represented by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at the talks, the five-member Hurriyat delegation would be led by its Chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari. Union Home Secretary N Gopalaswami and Centre's interlocutor on Kashmir issue N N Vohra are likely to assist the Deputy Prime Minister in the parleys with the separatist group. The other Hurriyat members are Abdul Gani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Bilal Lone and Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi. Ceasefire with militant groups and release of political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir besides facilitating return of some expatriate Kashmiri leaders are some of the issues that are likely to figure in the talks. The Hurriyat Conference, which ignored threats from various militant groups to take part the talks, will be adopting a two-pronged strategy for the talks--steps towards resolution of Kashmir issue and bringing some "relief" to the people of Jammu and Kashmir from violence. "We will be adopting a two-pronged strategy--discussing resolution-oriented steps for finding solution to the vexed Kashmir issue and bringing some relief to the people of the state," former Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said here.
Sparkling Tons by Laxman And Yuvraj
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Sydney:22 Jan A record breaking 4 th wicket partership of 213 between The Aussie Tormentor V V S Laxman and the Exubarant One Day Prodigy Yuvaraj Singh helped India to pile up a mammoth 296 for four in 50 overs in a game without their Master blaster Sachin and his Clone, Shevag. India made a pathetic start in the morning as Captain Ganguly fell in the very second over and without Sachin and Shewag not in the ranks every one expected The Wall to come good once again. But Dravid also departed after scoring just 12. With India stuttering on 80 for 3 after 15 overs with Sachin, Shewag , Dravid and Ganguly in the pavallion , it looked a bad day forthe Indians in the office. But Very Very Special Laxman and Young Turk Yuvaraj had different thoughts.They build up the innings patiently and sensibly during the trying situations and once in the driver's seat, they tormented the Aussie bowling as it was the case all this tour . Yuvaraj departed after a belligerent 139 in jus 125 balls in the very last over of the innings just after a murderous over , the 49 of the innings in which he scored 22 runs which included two magnificient sixes and and two superb boundaries. He piled up 16 fours and 2 sixes altoghether while Laxman played a very mature innings which included only just 5 fours in the 106 not out made in 130 balls. Meanwhile Yuvaraj had made his second one day hundred while Laxamn scored his fourth. All his four centuries has come against the world champions and this one was the second successive ton in back to back matches. In reply Aussies started in the only way they know, with Gilchrist taking the lead. They were cruising 73 for 1 at in 9.2 overs at a rate of 7.82 per over with Gilchrist on 48 in just 29 balls and ponting on 13 in 20 balls when heavy torrential down pour spoiled the fun. Aussies need another 224 runs in 40.4 overs with 9 wickets in hand at an asking rate of 5.51 per over. Who will have the last laugh?????
Pak to continue with ban on Indian channels despite thaw
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Islamabad, Jan 20 Notwithstanding the thaw in relations with India, Pakistan continues to stubbornly refuse lifting the ban on Indian television channels. "The government would not lift a ban on the Indian channels," Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told the Pakistan upper house Senate yesterday. The Minister did not provide reasons for continuation of the ban but his defence of the "performance" of the state- run PTV and claims of plans to grant licenses to 11 more Pakistan private channels reveals the mindset of the Pakistani government that airing of Indian channels by cable operators in the country would pose a threat to both PTV and the emerging private channels. Ahmad in the past has defended continuing the ban on Indian channels as well as cable operators showing Indian films for reasons of country's security as well as fears by new Pakistani private channels that they would be swamped by jazzy Indian channels.
India, Russia sign deal for aircraft carrier
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 20 India and Russia today signed the much awaited over 1.5 billion dollar deal for the purchase of 45,000 tonne aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov." According to Defence Ministry statement, the deal also covers the related purchase of equipment and systems for the carrier which was approved by the Cabinet Committee of Security on January 17. The agreement was signed by Defence Minister George Fernandes and his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov here.
Tatas in association with Star group
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 20 In a major initiative Tatas today announced a joint venture with Star group for providing DTH services in India, a venture that is estimated to involve an investment of over Rs 300 crore. The joint venture between Tata Sons and Star TV, a Rupert Murdoch controlled company would be third entity to enter the DTH arena after Prasar Bharti and Subhash Chandra's Zee TV. Although neither Tatas nor Star group gave any investment size in which the Indian corporate giant will have 80 per cent equity, sources associated with the industry said the venture would involve investment of over Rs 300 crore. Tata said the venture is subject to requisite government approvals and did not specify how many channels the platform would carry. Star CEO Peter Mukerjea could not be contacted for comments. The Tata group said the initiative is expected to build the counrty's largest digital television platform and offer a range of channels including exclusive channels with interactive features and services.
Triangular series: India beat Zimbabwe by 24 runs
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Brisbane, Jan 20 India beat Zimbabwe by 24 runs in a day-night match of the triangular cricket series here today. Chasing 256 for a win, Zimbabwe were stopped at 231 for nine in the 48th over. Opener Mack Vermeulen had retired hurt and did not come out again to bat. Brief Scores: India 255 for 6 in 50 overs Zimbabwe 231 for nine in 47.1 overs (Sean Ervine 39, Dion Ebrahim 39; Ganguly 3/55).
Preity in 'Mantra'
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Here's some vital info on the Shekhar Kapur-produced film MANTRA, to be directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The makers have signed Preity Zinta to play a pivotal role in the film. Incidentally, Preity is Shekhar's discovery - he had signed her for TA RA RUM PUM PUM much before she bagged Mani Ratnam's DIL SE. Shekhar, who had seen MAQBOOL at the Marrakech Film Festival, had struck up a friendship with Vishal and both were seen walking through the streets of Marrakech late at night discussing cinema. Apparently, Shekhar mooted the idea for MANTRA in a small teashop in Marrakech. Vishal was so taken by the idea that the deal was struck immediately over a glass of mint tea! Shekhar fished into his pockets and pulled out all the Dirhams he had and gave them to Vishal as a signing amount. Vishal immediately took the money and gave it all to a kid who had been asking them for money.
India can emerge as super power: Advani
Monday, January 19, 2004
Ludhiana, Jan 17 Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said given the upturn in the economy and other "fast changes" taking place in the country it was possible for India to emerge as a super power in the 21st century "The 20th century may have belonged to the West, but this century definitely belongs to India. We will prove this and make the world see that it is quite possible for India to emerge as a super power," he said, inaugurating the 24th edition of Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran' here. The Indian economy has taken a turn for the better and things were changing fast in this country, Advani said. He said when he heard people referring to India as a developing or an under developed nation, it pained him. Advani said India has been traditionally a tollerant society. Tolerance for varying points of view, especially in matters related to religion, had helped India to emerge as the largest democracy in the world. "Except for a dark period of 19 months of Emergency in the country imposed by the Congress government, Indian democracy has always maintained a continous, glorious path of development and growth," the Deputy Prime Minister said. Referring to his imprisonment along with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during Emergency, Advani said "this day in 1977 was a memorable day for me as we were released from Bangalore Central Jail." All democratic institutions in the country had grown to size with the passage of time, he said, adding the media which had always played a vital role in preserving and flourshing of these democratic institutions had generally been free and fair. "Only a free and fair media can ensure the success of democrcy."
BJP to contest LS polls in UP on its own
Monday, January 19, 2004
Bangalore,Jan 18 BJP President Venkaiah Naidu today said the party would contest the coming Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh on its own "as of now" and did not see any possibility of an electoral tie-up with Samajwadi Party. "I do not see any possibility of BJP and SP coming together. We will contest on our own in Uttar Pradesh. That is the situation as of now", Naidu told reporters after the BJP Karnataka unit's State Council meeting here.
DA may be hiked by 4%, gross salaries to go up
Monday, January 19, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 18 After the give-aways to industry and agriculture, a 4.0 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance and merging 50 per cent of DA with basic salary is likely for government employees ahead of the elections. The proposed DA hike and the resultant rise in gross salaries by about 10 per cent would cost the Exchequer about Rs 1,000-1,500 crore during 2003-04, official sources said. Top Finance Ministry officials are keeping mum before a final decision is taken by the Cabinet at its next meeting. "DA of government employees is normally hiked in January and July every year. It was last increased from 55 to 59 per cent in July 2003. So, it is likely to be increased this month by another 4.0 per cent," official sources said. Government also plans to merge 50 per cent of the DA with the basic salary, sources said. This would be in line with the recommendation of the Fifth Pay Commission, which had suggested that DA should be merged with basic after it crosses the 50 per cent mark. The remaining 13 per cent of the DA, along with 30 per cent House Rent Allowance (HRA) and other allowances linked to basic, would be calculated on the combined figure of basic. This would mean about 10 per cent rise in the gross salaries of government employees, sources said, adding there was no proposal for setting up another Pay Commission. "Government intends to carry out these measures (merging DA and a hike by 4.0 per cent) so as to stump out the possibilities of formation of the Sixth Pay Commission," sources said.
India pull off a thrilling 19-run victory
Monday, January 19, 2004
Brisbane, Jan 18 India scored its first one-day win over Australia on their home soil after more than 12 years beating the world champions by 19 runs despite a highly depleted bowling attack in the triangular one-day cricket series match here today. After posting a record 303 for four, mainly built around a heroic unbeaten 103 by VVS Laxman, the Indian bowlers stuck to their task admirably to stop the world champions at 284 in 49.4 overs despite a brilliant 109 by Matthew Hayden in a high-scoring floodlit encounter. Apart from Laxman's 113-ball 103, Sachin Tendulkar defied an ankle injury to score 86 and Rahul Dravid hit a quickfire 74 to provide the foundation for a rare Indian victory over the hosts who kept losing wickets at regular intervals to suffer their first defeat in the tri-series. With the cushion of a huge total, the Indian bowlers kept their nerves in the dying stages to not only fashion a remarkable victory but also make amends for their 18-run loss in the opener at Melbourne.
Foreign exchange reserves touch record
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Mumbai, Jan 17 Foreign exchange reserves surged ahead by a record inflows of over US dollar 1.7 billion to touch USD 103.82 billion during the week ending January nine, 2004. The reserves grew by US 1,721 million due to inflows, foreign exchange remittances, dollar revaluation vis-a-vis other foreign currencies and stood at USD 1,03,824 million, according to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement released here today. The foreign currency assets also rose by USD 1,721 million to stand at USD 99,606 million, the RBI said. Gold reserves and Special Drawing Rights were static at USD 4,215 million and USD three million respectively during this period. India's Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) with the International Monetary Fund grew by another USD 10 million to USD 1,326 million, the central bank said adding the RTP may change from time-to-time due to India's transactions with the IMF as well as changes in SDR exchange rates vis-a-vis rupee and dollar. Loans and advances to central government continue to be at a nil balance while that to state governments increased by Rs 1,867 crore to Rs 7,743 crore during this period, it said.
Aircraft carrier Gorshkov deal to be inked
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Moscow, Jan 17 The much-awaited deal on the acquisition of 44.5-thousand tonner aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy is to be inked next week in New Delhi during Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov's three-day visit beginning on Monday. The 1.5 billion dollar deal includes the retrofitting of the ship and delivery of MiG-29K carrier-based fighters, according to Interfax. Russia is also to train the crew and technical staff of the aircraft carrier. Besides his talks with Defence Minister George Fernandes, Ivanov is scheduled to hold parleys on bilateral and strategic issues with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other top Indian officials. Ivanov is also scheduled to visit 50th Para Brigade base at Agra.
Julia Roberts and Arnold coming to India!
Friday, January 16, 2004
Julia Roberts and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been invited by Dr. A.A. Paul, the founder of the Global Peace Initiative (GPI), to come to India in his private jet later this month. However, the two stars will not come to Mumbai. They will, instead, stop over in Hyderabad for a bit. (Bollyvista.com)
Sriram Raghavan
Friday, January 16, 2004
Sriram Raghavan He always wanted to make something unusual. And now Sriram Raghavan has gone the whole hog with the thriller Ek Haseena Thi . The film has no songs, has an antagonist as its hero and is about vendetta, Raghavan said in an interview. Getting your first film seems to have been easy for you? Actually Ek Haseena Thi isn't my first. I've earlier done a short feature film called Raman Raghav . When I met Ram Gopal Varma we clicked. I earlier did television. But only enough to pay my bills. My brother Sridhar is far more prolific on television. I stayed away from direction until now because most of the offers were to direct remakes of Hollywood films. I never wanted to do the usual. Your film looks bloody interesting. Is it? We tried to make the thriller realistic without being drab. Ek Haseena Thi is realistic but also very stylish. In that sense it adheres to Hollywood's rules of moviemaking. But it's not ripped off from any Hollywood film. Certainly not from Double Jeopardy , as some people seem to believe. I personally don't want to rip off any Hollywood films. I love them. But I love Hindi films equally. I grew up on Alfred Hitchcock as well as Vijay Anand. I want to make my own films. I feel Hindi films have become too adaptive. Right now there's hardly a film in the theatres I'd queue up to see. What about Ek Haseena Thi ? Ha ha. I'd love to see long queues for it. It isn't a very complicated story. It can be divided into three main sections. The first part is the love story, the second a prison story and the third part is the settling of scores. For the women's prison section I watched all the films of the genre, from Bimal Roy's Bandini to Rahul Rawail's Anjaam . I must say many prison dramas taught me what not to do Ek Haseena Thi . I wanted to keep intact the horror of a middle class Maharashtrian girl going to jail. Like I said, Ek Haseena Thi is realistic, though in a cinematic way. Kaante was realistic and stylish. But somewhere the story was lost. I've tried to measure up to Hollywood standards without copying them. It was very important for me to give every scene a riveting spin. Why Urmila Matondkar? I was actually working with my producer Ram Gopal Varma on another project, when he gave me the script of Ek Haseena Thi to read. On my own I'd have never chosen a film with a female protagonist as my debut. I was lucky to get a subject that I immediately liked. Urmila was my first choice. But she took her time to say yes. Once she said yes she plunged into her character wholeheartedly. As for Saif Ali Khan, I hope after this film producers will sign him for mature roles. I'd love to see him play Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking . But not with me. I don't want to do Hollywood remakes (laughs). Saif has got so much more in him than the light-hearted dude's role he has been doing. The film's hero is the antagonist? Well... this isn't a hero-heroine kind of film. It's different. But at the end of the day it's a vendetta film. The incidents, situation and characters are really novel. I feel a lot of influences that I've picked up since childhood come into play. There's a sequence where Urmila goes to buy a gun. I could've done it in a straightforward way. But the way I've done that scene makes it illustrious of my influences. Does your thriller have songs? No, though we've used a beautiful track by Pandit Jasraj in the promos, there're no songs in Ek Haseena Thi . They'd have broken the flow of the narration. I love songs and music and would love to make a musical some day. But not this time. You and your brother, the scriptwriter Sridhar Raghavan, both seem to be taken up with suspense thrillers? Yes, Sridhar makes his debut as a screenwriter in Khakee a week after Ek Haseena Thi . Both of us tried to do something together in movies for five years. It didn't work out. I don't think he wants to be a director. He's not a people's person. Now I'm doing another film with Varma. We're discussing a couple of ideas. More at http://www.erosentertainment.com
Happy to be Sexy"-Priyanka Chopra
Friday, January 16, 2004
After making her launch in the film 'Tamizan', she had totally given up Tamil and Telugu films to concentrate wholly on Hindi. IN all these films, she had done very glamorous roles. And, she believes that glamour is her strength. 'I'm still young. There's nothing wrong in showing your sexiness if you have the looks. Not many have it. I shall be proud if someone tells me that I'm sexy. Last year, I had two good films. But, this year, I'm not going to give priority to glamour alone. I'm going to do some character roles too," says this sexy girl. More Cinema News
Sheen
Friday, January 16, 2004
Ashok Pandit's Sheen promises to hit where it hurts the most. The film with its tag line 'Refugees in their own country', takes a hard look at the life of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. "Nine to ten people are cramped in a room measuring not more then ten feet. What worsens their conditions is the lack of basic facilities. There is no water. There are no toilets. There are no proper drainage systems. People pay scant attention to their problems," he said. He added, "The bad conditions of living have increased stress levels. A 40-year-old man looks 70-year-old. Most of them suffer from high blood pressure. Sheen is an attempt to awaken the society about their problems. It is an attempt to bite their conscience and not ignore it just because such things have not occurred in their lives."
Rinkie Khanna
Friday, January 16, 2004
Rinkie Khanna is one actress who has slowly but surely made a mark for herself as a competent performer. After a long hiatus, she was seen on the screen in a cameo in Chameli. Kunal Shah speaks to her about her role and her life after marriage. Q. You were seen on screen after a long time... Any specific reasons why you agreed to do a cameo in Chameli? A. My character in the film was small, but it had some relevance to the entire film. Having done Jhankaar Beats with PNC, there is a certain comfort level between us as far as the working atmosphere is concerned. I had lot of fun doing it and I knew that they would present me well and it was relevant, so I did the cameo. Q. There is a lot of confusion about you wanting to do more films after marriage? A. It is just a misconception that I am not open to doing films after marriage. I am pretty comfortable doing films now, but the characters must have some substance. Q. Why didn’t the offers come your way even after Jhankaar Beats and Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye? A. I did get some offers after Jhankaar Beats, which was a film that touched people in some way or the other. Not all of them have materialised though. Maybe because I don’t fit in the framework of commercial run-of-the-mill heroines. People can’t visualise me that way. But to be frank, I have no clue why the offers have not come in as expected. Q. Do you think, that you playing a sister in Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai worked against you? A. I don’t think so. If that would’ve been the case, I would have been offered the same kind of role over and over again. But the fact that it didn’t happen proves otherwise. Q. Are you open to doing negative roles or off-beat roles? A. I have acted in off-beat and crossover films like Mango Soufflé and Jhankaar Beats. Yes, I would love to do a negative role... something vampish. I think it would be a challenge. I would love people to hate me in some film... let’s see if I get the opportunity. Q. It is believed that you are planning to venture into some other creative business like your sister Twinkle? A. Yes, I am toying with the idea. But it will take some time before I decide on something. For the moment, I am busy with my film Ek Din Anjaane Mein and I promise you it’s something to watch out for.
Karan Johar's next film has no songs!
Friday, January 16, 2004
Can you imagine a Karan Johar film without music? Just when you thought it was an impossibility, Johar has announced his latest production, a songless thriller to be directed by one of his assistants, Soham Shah. The tentative cast, according to indiafm.com, is Ajay Devgan, John Abraham and Shahid Kapoor. But Johar clarifies that none of the actors have heard the script yet. Unlike his earlier superhit production, Kal Ho Naa Ho, where he penned the script, the script for the thriller has been written entirely by Shah. While on indiafm.com, another snippet claims that after Samir Karnik's Kyon...! Ho Gaya Na, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi will team up together for another film. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, the film is titled Timbuktu. It will be based on a novel, Pas de Quatre, penned by Australian writer IAR Wylie. Meanwhile, Bharadwaj's upcoming film Maqbool is slated for a January 30 release. The film stars Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Irfan Khan and Pankaj Kapur. Hamari Lucy Ball Sridevi! After delighting audiences for almost three decades, Sridevi returns to the spotlight with Sahara Television's Hamari Bahu Malini Iyer. The serial will see her do a Lucy Ball, as she plays a South Indian married into a Punjabi family. According to b4utv.com, the actress said she could easily identify with the character because she was a South Indian herself. It is directed by Satish Kaushik, who has earlier directed her in Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, costarring Anil Kapoor. The serial will air on Indian television from January 19 every Monday and Tuesday at 0900 hours. Mandira Bedi's Divorce After signing husband Raj Kaushal's (Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi) second venture Shaadi Ke Laddoo, Mandira Bedi has bagged a Hindi film, Divorce. Bedi, who became famous overnight following the Extra Innings show during the cricket World Cup 2003, had acted in Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. According to mid-day.com, Bedi claims that she plays a television journalist in Divorce. Sonu Sood plays her husband. The film also stars Jackie Shroff.
LoC bombs, but Dutta escapes
Friday, January 16, 2004
NEW DELHI: After Kaizad Gustad's disastrous venture, Boom , J P Dutta's LoC is the biggest example of mismatch between hype and delivery in 2003. After opening to almost full houses in the first weekend, the film's collections dropped drastically. By the second week, the writing was on the wall, as collections dropped to 40 per cent of the capacity. Most trade experts blame it on the high price (Rs 3 crore per territory) the film was sold at to distributors. Now, while the distributors take stock of their losses, Dutta has something to grin about. Trade insiders believe Dutta has made a decent profit on the film by not spending much and selling it at a very high price. Though Dutta has been widely quoted pegging the film's budget at Rs 40 crore, the industry has reservations about the figure.
The underrated but deadly Dutt
Friday, January 16, 2004
In the year 2000, when the Filmfare Best Actor Award was announced, it took a while for the winner to find his way up to the glittering stage, and that too with many fumbles. Reason? The winner was Sunjay Dutt for Vaastav . Why so? Because he was comfortably seated somewhere in the middle of the star melee in the nominees enclosure, cracking jokes, laughing, enjoying himself, but least expecting to win. Which is why it took a while for it to sink in. The look on his face was worth a million dollars, turning from surprise to sheer joy, as he turned to wife Rhea and gave her a big bear hug. Then he ambled over under the spotlight for an emotional acceptance speech. He told me later that he was totally astounded and delighted to win his first ever Filmfare Best Actor; "I was sure Aamir would get it for Sarfarosh , but it feels great to win it!" he couldn't stop gushing.Ever since, the deadly Dutt has gone from strength to strength. It's the indefatigable spirit within him that does that. Makes him a fighter. Refusing to get cowed down or defeated by any situation/role. Be it his drug situation when he was given up as a lost cause; which he returned to conquer with a literal punch on the faces of the critics. Or something as trivial a statement as Dutt cannot dance. That made him do the trickiest of steps in Thanedaar in the famous Tamma Tamma song. Even the accusation that the tough guy was just an action hero and couldn't act was refuted with masterly performances in Naam , Sadak , Saajan and Khalnayak . And they kept getting better. Culminating in the Award for Vaastav .
Zimbabwe take on mighty Aussies
Friday, January 16, 2004
Hobart, Jan 15 After two consecutive defeats, Zimbabwe need to come with a really inspired performance against Australia in the triangular one-day cricket series match here on Friday to have any chance of stopping the winning ways of the mighty World Champions. The Zimbabwean team has suffered due to poor batting in the two matches and will need good knocks by their top order batsmen to pose any sort of problem to the strong Australian side. Australia are clearly the favourites against their rivals who have excelled in fielding but the batting and bowling departments have left much to be desired. The Aussies currently lead the points table with 11 points from two outings and will be keen to garner the maximum six points at the picturesque Bellerive Oval which will stage its second match in three days. The Indians are in the second position with seven points from two matches while Zimbabwe are yet to open their account. The Australians have made two changes from the team that defeated Zimbabwe by 99 runs in Sydney, recalling the tearaway fast bowler Brett Lee and spinner Brad Hogg in the playing XI in place of Jason Gillespie and Ian Harvey.
Share prices dive dramatically
Friday, January 16, 2004
Mumbai, Jan 15 Stocks crashed dramatically after a strong start and sent the sensex reeling down to close with a whopping 130 points fall on the Stock Exchange here today on heavy sell-off by foreign hedge funds. The sudden sell-off was largely attributed to reports that the decision on a proposal to hike FDI limit in Telecom sector to 74 per cent has been deferred by the Union Cabinet. Shooting up past 6200-level to the intra-day high at 6248.81 at early stages, the BSE Benchmark 30-share Index later crashed like a pack of cards to end the day at 6063.91 as against yesterday's close of 6194.11 netting a fall of 130.20 points or 2.10 per cent. Despite the government's decision to raise FDI limit in petroleum sector to 100 per cent, foreign hedge funds led by led by a leading US-based fund Templeton resorted to selling in a number of blue chip counters. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were the principal driving force behind the market for the first eight sessions of the year and have pumped in Rs 1837 crore in the current month till January 12. The broad-based BSE-100 Index also dropped sharply by 58.14 points to 3206.43 from previous close of 3264.57. Heavyweights like RIL, BHEL, Tisco, Tata Motor, Satyam Computers, Infosys Tech, SBI, Wipro, BSES, L&T, Grasim, GACL, HPCL, MTNL and Bajaj Auto suffered a sharp setback. However, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank, Federal Bank and a few others showed sharp gains on buying support by operators as well as local funds.
India, Pak resume rail links
Friday, January 16, 2004
Attari, Jan 15 Opening a new chapter in Indo-Pak ties, a green and yellow Pakistan Railways Lahore-Attari Samjhauta Express reached here this afternoon marking the resumption of rail links between the two neighbours which were severed over two years back. The train, carrying 65 passengers, chugged to the Attari railway station at 1255 hours.
Ajit Jogi granted bail
Friday, January 16, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 15 Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi was today granted bail by a Delhi court in a case registered by CBI for allegedly using forged documents to tarnish the image of the Centre and the Intelligence Bureau. Metropolitan Magistrate Shahabuddin granted bail to Jogi on furnishing a personal bond of Rs.10,000 and a surety of like amount. The court fixed February 24 as the next date of hearing.
Cong-NCP alliance to fight Lok Sabha polls
Friday, January 16, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 15 Decks were tonight cleared for an alliance between Congress and NCP with its President Sharad Pawar saying the "process" to jointly fight the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls has begun. "The process (to contest the elections jointly) has begun," Pawar told reporters after an hour-long meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi had with him at his residence over tea. Replying to a question whether Gandhi's foreign origin which had led to the birth of NCP, had been resolved, Pawar said "that issue is not there. We are discussing an alternative to the NDA Government." A smiling Gandhi was standing next to Pawar when he was fielding questions from reporters.
Hurriyat delegation to talk to Advani
Friday, January 16, 2004
Srinagar, Jan 15 Hurriyat Conference today announced a five-member delegation headed by its Chairman Maulana Mohammed Abbas Ansari to hold talks with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on the Kashmir issue. Besides Ansari, the delegation would include Abdul Gani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Bilal Gani Lone and Fazal Haq Qureshi. While Ansari, Bhat, Mirwaiz and Lone are all members of the powerful Executive Committee of the Hurriyat, Qureshi, a General Council member, played a key mediatory role in the abortive talks between the Centre and Hizbul Mujahideen in July 2000 when the militant outfit announced unilateral ceasefire and desire for talks. Briefing reporters at the end of a three-hour joint meeting of Hurriyat's Executive Committee, General Council and Working Committee here, Bhat said "the talks will be exclusively centred around Kashmir. We will never discuss weather ... And Kashmir is what it is." Bhat, a former chairman of the amalgam, said talks with the Centre were just an initiation of the dialogue process which may lead to a resolution of the dispute acceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris. "We have said we will be talking to both India and Pakistan. After we talk to Delhi, we will be talking to Islamabad as well," he added.
Hurriyat meets to discuss talks with Centre
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Srinagar, Jan 15 Amidst tight security arrangements, a crucial meeting of the Hurriyat Conference started at the conglomerate's headquarters here this morning to discuss the Centre's invitation for talks. The three powerful bodies of the separatist amalgam -- executive committee, working committee and general council -- are meeting to give shape to the composition of the delegation of the Hurriyat for the meeting to be held in New Delhi on January 22, Hurriyat sources said. Hurriyat chairman Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari, former chairmen Abdul Ghani Bhat and Mirwaaiz Umer Farooq and Bilal Ghani Lone -- all executive committee members -- reached the headquarters at Rajbagh around 11 am for the meeting. A strong contingent of police and paramilitary forces was deployed around the Hurriyat headquarters following threats from the militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen to kill the leaders of the amalgam if they entered into a dialogue with the Central Government.
Indian team to start Pak tour from March 7
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Islamabad, Jan 14 The Indian team is likely to open its historic tour against Pakistan with a three-day match in Karachi from March 7 after the two Cricket Boards decided to defer the trip by a few days. According to the itinerary proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board, India would play their first Test on Pakistan soil in 14 years at the National Stadium in Karachi. "Though the itinerary is yet tentative, it has been decided that the Indians would play the first Test at Karachi followed by Tests at Lahore and Faisalabad," a Board source was quoted as saying in 'The News'. "The first two one-day internationals would be held in Lahore followed by matches at Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Karachi," he said. The itinerary has already been sent to the Indian Cricket Board for consideration. Karachi and Peshawar were the two venues which were rejected by South African and New Zealand cricket teams on their tours to Pakistan this season due to security concerns. But the board official said Karachi had been given special place in the coming series and the Indian team would arrive and exit from this city.
India beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Hobart, Jan 14 India beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the triseries one-day international cricket match at the Bellerive Oval here today. Brief scores: Zimbabwe 208 for six in 50 overs (S Carlisle 36, H Streak 59 no, S Ervine 48 no; V Sehwag 2-40, I Pathan 1-30) lost to India 211 for three in 37.4 overs (V Sehwag 90
Sonia Gandhi meets Mayawati on her birthday
Thursday, January 15, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 15 Congress President Sonia Gandhi today met BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and wished her on her 47th birthday. Gandhi visited Mayawati's residence here and wished her a happy and successful life. Presenting a bouquet to Mayawati in the presence of a large number of mediapersons, Gandhi said she came here to wish the BSP chief on her birthday. Asked if the two leaders discussed political issues, she said they did not. Mayawati said the Congress leader's visit on the occasion should not be given any political meaning. Asked if the issue of a tie-up with Congress would be taken up at the national executive meeting of BSP on Friday, Mayawati said "Definitely. We will discuss the matter. It would be the main agenda of the meeting."
India tests surface-to-air missile
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Balasore India Wednesday successfully tested a medium range, surface-to-air missile for the second consecutive day from a range in coastal Orissa, defence officials said here. The Akash missile was fired from the integrated test range at Chandipur at 2.08 p.m. The Akash, part of India’s integrated guided missile development programme, was successfully tested Tuesday. The missile has a range of 25 km and carries a warhead of 50 kg. Indo-Asian News Service
India take on Zimbabwe on Wednesday
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Hobart, Jan 13 India take on Zimbabwe in the second match of the triangular cricket-series here on Wednesday hoping to garner full points, having choked on a nearly-won match against Australia earlier. The team will be looking for more useful knocks from their tailenders who have so far failed to contribute much to the score. The performance of the lower-order batsmen has been a worrying factor for the team right through the tour and captain Sourav Ganguly has already made it clear that his tailenders need to show more character. The Indians lost their last six wickets for just 13 runs in the opening match against Australia to blow away a winning opportunity at Melbourne after being comfortably placed at 257 for four at one stage to lose the game by 18 runs. Ganguly was livid with the pathetic batting display and the team will be determined to make amends for the defeat at the MCG against a team which does not have enough firepower to counter the Indians. The Indian top order has been firing on all cylinders and the team could definitely gain a lot if the tailenders also chip in with some runs. The Indians were expected to bring in left-handed batsman Hemang Badani in place of Sanjay Bangar who failed to make much of an impression in the first match at Melbourne.
Outsourcing backlash a minor issue, Shourie
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Hyderabad, Jan 13 Seeking to allay fears over the outsourcing backlash, Union Communications and IT Minister Arun Shourie today said India's strengths in talent, skill and costs in software service would make it imperative for the US companies to outsource to India. "It (outsourcing backlash) is a minor issue. The combination of talent, skill and cost which India offers, is making it necessary for those firms to outsource to India, otherwise they will become uncompetitive," Shourie said on the sidelines of the second Asian IT Ministers' conference. He said informal networking with the US officials and Senators would go a long way in helping the Indian software companies in tackling the backlash. "Do it low key. Contact the individual Senators, Governors and secretaries in those eight states of the US where anti-outsourcing bills have been tabled, and trade unions in the UK in a low key manner. That's what we have been doing for one year and the result is, in eight states legislations have been introduced but not passed," he said.
Govt to sell remaining 26 pc stake in IBP
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
New Delhi, Jan 13 Government will sell its remaining 26 per cent stake in IBP Co. Ltd through a public offer this fiscal besides offloading 10 per cent equity in Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Gail (India) Ltd to raise Rs 150 billion. "Government would be offering 10 per cent stake in ONGC and GAIL each, and 26 per cent in IBP to the public in the next two months," Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said at the inauguration of the 5th Oil and Gas Conference here. The stake sale, he said, will improve the liquidity in these stocks. "The Government expects to raise around Rs 15,000 crore (3.2 billion dollars) from the stake sale in these companies," he said. Though Naik did not elaborate on the proposed public offers, senior officials said the draft prospectus for sale of 5.7 million shares in IBP will be filed this month and the public issue may open next month. State refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) had two years ago bought Government's 33.6 per cent equity shares in IBP to take control of the petro retailer which has 5 per cent market share of the 17 billion dollar a year oil retailing market. The mega public issues for sale of Government's 10 per cent equity in gas transmission monopoly Gail (India) Ltd and country's largest exploration firm ONGC will hit the market on February 23 and March 2 respectively, the officials said.
Pak for "MFN-Plus" trade partner status to India
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Islamabad, Jan 13 Pakistan proposes to accord "MFN-Plus" trade partner status to India under the recently signed South Asian Free Trade Area treaty to grant more privileges to New Delhi than under the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, media reports said here. Under the new MFN-Plus Partner status, which would be discussed by the officials of the two countries in coming weeks, both the countries would accord benefits to each other on par with the benefits being accorded to their most friendly countries, reports in several newspapers quoted local officials as saying. Pakistani officials propose an arrangement under which India and Pakistan could accord maximum benefits to each other. Indian and Pakistani officials will soon hold negotiations for finalising a list of sensitive items that were not to be traded between the two sides. They would also discuss the amount of revenue losses each side would be incurring due to trading at the lowest possible duty rates and even after removal of duties and taxes on several items, the reports said. The issue of granting MFN status to India remained a contentious issue for a long time as Pakistan linked trade ties with India to that of progress on talks on Kashmir. But Pakistan changed its stand during last week's SAARC summit and signed the SAFTA treaty promising to open its markets to India under the SAARC process if not directly under bilateral process.
India, China border talks enter second day
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Beijing, Jan 13 The high-level political talks between India and China to find a solution to the protracted boundary dispute entered the second day here today even as both sides were tight-lipped about the progress of negotiations. "Talks are continuing", sources said. National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who is holding the second-round of talks with Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo is also expected to call on other senior Chinese leaders later today to derive an early political solution to the vexed issue which could lead to a qualitatively new relationship between the two countries. Ahead of the meeting, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had expressed the hope that the two sides could "positively explore" the framework of resolving the boundary issue at the second round of talks. As per an understanding reached between Beijing and New Delhi, the details of the talks between the two special representatives would be kept secret.
India, US to cooperate
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Washington, Jan 13 Taking US-India ties to a new high, US President George W Bush has announced that the two countries would step up cooperation in non-military nuclear activities, civilian space programmes and high-technology trade and expand dialogue on missile defence. In a statement released on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, on Monday, Bush said "cooperation in these areas will deepen the ties of commerce and friendship between our two nations, and will increase stability in Asia and beyond." Bush said the proposed cooperation would progress through a series of reciprocal steps, including expanded engagement on nuclear regulatory and safety issues and missile defence, ways to enhance cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology and steps to create the appropriate environment for successful high-technology commerce. "The expanded cooperation launched today is an important milestone in transforming the relationship between the United States and India. "The vision of US-India strategic partnership that Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and I share is now becoming a reality," Bush said. He said the two sides would tighten restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Bush termed the expanded cooperation as "an important milestone in transforming the relationship between the United States and India. That relationship is based increasingly on common values and common interests."
CanadianDesi - starting a new chapter!
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Toronto, January 12, 2004 CanadianDesi - a leading community website for South Asians (known as Desis) living in Canada - has organized its first get-to-gather on January 10, 2004. Almost no members have met each-other face-to-face before this meeting, but they knew each-other quite well! The reason was everybody participated on the CanadianDesi\'s on-line discussion forum! The participation was more than excellent even though the Windchill was below minus 40 degree Celsius on that day! Massood, an immigration lawyer, flew from Vancouver just to attend this meeting. He is providing free consultation to the members of CanadianDesi on immigration related issues. According to him, CanadianDesi gave him an excellent opportunity to make friends. He enjoys advising people from around the world and keeps answering while traveling whole world, sometimes from the remote areas using very slow dial-up internet connection and using his mobile phone. Jacob, another user from Montréal and expert graphic artist, came to attend this meeting with his family. He is a regular user of the site and pioneer behind starting Arts and Culture Sections on the site. Raj, a recent immigrant, has been visiting CanadianDesi when he was at India. After the meeting he said, \"CanadianDesi is the First forum where I saw so many Desis. So many people willing to help free! This is unique because in Canada nothing is free! Canadiandesi.Com is a wonderful site for Indians immigrating to Canada. I could not find a site equal to it. I could not find a site that gives such information about New Zealand, Australia, or UK and what is the ground reality there, how much people struggle, how much earn, how much they spend, etc.\" He is still looking for job in the field of Medical Transcriptions, he hopes his new contacts at CanadianDesi might help him to get job faster. Suchi and Milan, a new immigrant couple, appreciated CanadianDesi for its high valued content for any immigrant or to-be-immigrant. They knew that the life if going to be tough and was prepared for worst - thanks to the eye opening articles on CanadianDesi from successful as well as un-successful immigrants. Santosh, another new immigrant, was wondered when his friend first told him that he booked an apartment in Toronto even before migrating to Canada using CanadianDesi. Since than he has been a regular user of the site. Nishit, an international student, was more than happy to see fellow Desis. He wrote, \"It took me two hours in a GO train, street car, TTC subway, TTC bus and a long walk to reach there but it was worth it. I was always missing my family in Canada. I was missing a guide and a mentor but now I have them. It was a great networking opportunity especially for a person like me who wants to get into the Desi circle. I would say the history is being created which will make the experiences of Indians better in future\". Experts from various fields like Accounting, Graphics, Computers, Software Programming, Hardware and Networking, Auto Insurance, Mortgage Consultants, Real Estate, Tax Consultants, Immigration Laws, Chemical Engineering, Biophysics, Hindi Teaching, Finance, Human Resources, Export/Import, Banking, Web Hosting, Immigration, etc. attended the meeting. It was not an entertainment meeting - the goal was to extend the reach of CanadianDesi beyond the web pages to the personal level where already successful and well settled people come forward to help new immigrants. The members identified following areas where they can volunteer: - Airport pickup - Initial stay, help with all requirements during first few days in Canada - Insurance helps and awareness - Mortgage help - Computer and Hardware help, selection of proper computer and peripherals - Business Start-up - Professional Engineering Registration guidance and help - CGA Preparation help - Help with Human Rights Issues - Resume writing - Interviewing Skills Development - Computer Classes - Study Guidance for young kids and students coming from India to Study Canada - Export/Import - First time Income Tax Return. CanadianDesi is relatively new site. A new immigrant started CanadianDesi two years ago. Being an immigrant himself, he realizes a need to create an on-line web platform for all Desis to share information. Having expertise in the field of software, database, and web development, it was not difficult for him. The cold winter days helped him to stay at home and focus on creating this website. Just within two years, it reached over 1 Million hits a month! Today it is definitely leading community website for Desis not only in Canada but also all parts of the world. CanadianDesi can be accessed using http://www.canadiandesi.com and http://www.canadiandesi.ca. To know more about the site please send an email to info@canadiandesi.com.
Get educated to 'fight' India, says Blair
Monday, January 12, 2004
Tony Blair has controversially named the Indian threat to British jobs and economic growth as the main reason he is pushing ahead with fiercely resisted plans for English university funding reform, despite indications the proposals might finally and humiliatingly sink Blair and Blairism . Though no one is calling it the backlash to Indian outsourcing just yet, Blair said the proposals were right for a Britain whose workforce was increasingly being challenged by highly-educated, high-growth India and China. "Look at India, China and the United States. Look at India and China, the top countries in the world are already putting 50% of their people through university," Blair said early on Sunday, as he argued the two Asian giants would take away more UK service sector and manufacturing jobs if Britons remained poorly skilled and under-educated. He said, "The only way we are going to survive is more and more people getting top quality education ... and you cannot do that unless you get a sustainable system of funding." Blair's government is controversially piloting plans through parliament for the UK's under-funded universities to charge thousands of pounds a year from British undergraduates. He says it is his government's "flagship" proposal because it is so "important for a country (faced with the Indian-Chinese giants)".
FIIs record net purchases of Rs 11.228 billion
Monday, January 12, 2004
Mumbai, Jan 11 The foreign institutional investors recorded net purchases of Rs 11.22 billion (US dollar 246.7 million) in equities while netting sales of Rs 25 million (USD 0.5 mn) in debt during trading week ended January nine, which saw the sensex cross record high mark of 6,200 points. The mutual funds (MFs), however, were more active in debt market to register net inflows of Rs 8.96 billion. In equity market, the MFs were net buyers at Rs 125.9 million, according to data available with Securities and Exchange Board of India. The FIIs were net buyers in equities for all the trading days and recorded their highest net inflow of the week at Rs 5.00 billion (USD 110 mn) on January five followed by Rs 2.16 billion (USD 47.6 mn) and Rs 1.55 billion (USD 34.2 mn) on January six and eight respectively. In debt market, the foreign funds netted sales of Rs 149 million (USD 3.3 mn) on January six and Rs 20 million (USD 0.4 mn) on January eight. MFs were net buyers in equities for two trading days - Rs 723.1 million on January six and Rs 827.5 million on January eight, the data showed. They also netted sales of Rs 1.01 million on January seven in equity market. Referring to debt instruments, MFs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3.37 billion (Jan 5), Rs 2.62 billion (Jan seven) and Rs 1.79 billion (Jan six). The BSE sensex ended the week at new all-time closing peak at 6119.59 as against last weekend close of 6026.59, a net rise of 93 points or 1.54 per cent.
Manipur assembly session from February 6
Monday, January 12, 2004
Imphal, Jan 12 The next session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly will begin from February 6 with an address by Governor Arvind Dave. Assembly sources said today that a formal notification to this effect would be issued soon by Speaker T N Haokip. Apart from introducing some government bills, sources said the session was likely to be stormy as opposition Democratic People's Alliance (DPA) would raise issues concerning deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The failure of the government to arrest or identify killer of eight-year old Lungnila Elizabeth, daughter of state General Administration Minister Francis Ngajokpa and subsequent disclosures of identity of killers by separatist United National Liberation Front (UNLF) last week would also dominate the session, sources said. The session which was earlier scheduled to begin from December 28 last had been postponed due to differences of opinion among leaders of Congress-led Secular Progressive Front (SPF) ministry, SPF sources said.
Rupee strengthens further against US dollar
Monday, January 12, 2004
Mumbai, Jan 12 The rupee continued to strengthen against the US currency early today, backed by sustained strong foreign fund inflows and export proceeds with sentiments remaining positive for further gains. In moderately active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market here, the rupee is currently quoted at Rs 45.41/42 per dollar, sharply higher from last Friday's finish of Rs 45.4450/4550. The rupee opened on a distinctly firm note at Rs 45.4250/4350 per dollar, driven up by heavy bunched-up weekend dollar supplies and a lingering weak dollar overseas. Robust trade and capital inflows continued to drive the rupee to new highs while dollar demand from corporates and importers remained negligible, a forex dealer said. Meanwhile, sentiments remained upbeat due to sustained rising forex inflows and NRI remittances. Record inflow of over $ 1.5 billion further led India's foreign exchange reserves to cross a new high of $ 102.1 billion for the week ended January 2, 2004. The reserves rose by $ 1,513 million due to inflows, foreign exchange remittances, dollar revaluations vis-a-vis other foreign currencies and stood at $ 1,02,103 million, according to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistics. Meanwhile, in cross currency trades, the Euro was at Rs 58.35/38, Pound Sterling at Rs 83.85/88 and Japanese Yen (100) at Rs 42.62/67.
BJP executive to decide on early LS polls
Monday, January 12, 2004
Hyderabad, Jan 12 The BJP National Executive is today expected to take a decision on early polls to Lok Sabha on the basis of what it calls a "feel good" factor on political and economic situation in the country. On the concluding day today, the Executive is widely expected to push for a fresh mandate and authorise Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take a decision in this regard, a step already taken by the National Democratic Alliance, which he heads. Vajpayee is scheduled to speak at the valedictory session of the meet here before he leaves for the capital where he is expected to give his views on the subject. At the public meeting here yesterday he gave indications of "approaching polls". Though he did not not directly say anything about advancing the elections, he said "sankranti" and the "sankraman", when the Sun enters uttarayan, will usher in a message of "change". Party sources also dismissed as speculation media reports that there was rethinking in the party on going for early polls saying there was unanimity among the state units on seeking a fresh mandate. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who did not not address the public meeting yesterday because of sore threat, is also expected to speak at the Executive today.
Indo-Pak breakthrough took 2 years of work: Powell
Monday, January 12, 2004
Washington, Jan 12 Describing the decision by India and Pakistan to resume composite dialogue as "historic", US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the breakthrough was the result of two years of work by his country and it had offered its "good offices" to furthur improve their relations. "The work we have been doing with the Indians and the Pakistanis" produced a breakthrough over the last several days "but there is more work to be done, and we have offered our good offices to the Indians and the Pakistanis over the last couple of days," Powell said in an interview to the 'US News and World Report' during the weekend. "We have been working with the Indians and the Pakistanis for almost two years, from a period of 'We're going to nuclear war this weekend' to, you know, this is a historic change. And so I think a lot of these seeds that were planted are now germinating and you'll (see) us harvesting crops," he added. During the SAARC Summit in Islamabad, India and Pakistan decided to resume composite dialogue on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
Major administrative reshuffle in Bihar
Monday, January 12, 2004
Patna, Jan 12 Amid BJP's plan to hold early Lok Sabha poll, the Rabri Devi ministry has effected a major administrative reshuffle transferring around 90 officials, including District Magistrates of 12 districts. State government has transferred 17 IAS officials, including the District Magistrates, besides 67 Sub-Divisional Officers, two Additional District Magistrates and four Executive Magistrates. A notification to this effect was issued by the state Personnel and Administrative Reforms department here late last night, official sources said. The state government posted new DMs in Katihar, Banka, Vaishali, Munger, Araria, Khagaria, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Kaimur and Sitamarhi districts. While Sudhir Kumar would be new DM of Katihar, Rashid Ahmed would take charge of Banka, H S Meena of Vaishali, Radheshyam Bihari Singh of Munger, Amrendra Narayan Singh of Araria, Shivnandan Ram of Khagaria and Anand Kishore of Nalanda. Safina A N, Heera Lal, H R Srinivas, B Rajendra and A Prasad would be new DMs of Sheikhpura, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Kaimur and Sitamarhi respectively.
BJP's raising foreign origin issue reflects its "fear": Sonia
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jan 11 Turning on the heat ahead of Lok Sabha polls on the second day of her virtual campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said it was "certain" that BJP would not rpt not return to power at the Centre and said the saffron party's raising her foreign origin issue reflected its "fear." "Yeh baat tai hai ki BJP ki sarkar nahi banegi (It is decided that the BJP will not form the government at the Centre)," Gandhi told reporters in Meerut. Asked to react to BJP making her foreign origin a poll issue, she said "I ask them why are they afraid of one woman. I don't care.... all I care for is the people.... the poor and the farmers." Gandhi said the forthcoming polls were a challenge for her party and "we are preparing for it." "The Congress workers, as you can see, are charged up (utsahit hai) and ready to face any situation," she told reporters at Dhirkhedi village. Gandhi accused the the BJP-led government of "failing" on every front. Hitting the dusty roads in western Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi's mass-contact programme on its second day took her from Bulandshahr to Muzaffarnagar with the Congress chief stoping and several places and interacting with the local populace.
Congress led alliance not acceptable: CPI(M)
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Ranchi, Jan 11 The CPI(M) today said its main goal was to help form a secular government at the Centre but to achieve this it would not join any alliance led by the Congress. "As there is every possiblity of early polls, we are already in the motion, and our thrust will be to prevent communal forces from retaining power," CPI(M) Politburo Member Sitaram Yechuri told a news conference. "But we will not join any alliance or front led by the Congress because we disagree with many of its policies," the CPI(M) reiterated here. In the post-poll scenario, he said, the CPI(M) would support a non-BJP government. But remained non-committal asked whether that meant supporting the Congress too. Though Yechuri preferred seat adjustments with non- Congress secular parties wherever possible to prevent "division in secular votes", he "refused to allot" any seat in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala.
No direct indication of polls from PM
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Hyderabad, Jan 11 Without directly giving any indication about the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said polls are coming which should be fought with dignity and mutual respect and attacked Congress for aligning with DMK after accusing the party for having been responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Elections are coming. India is the biggest democracy in the world and parties should fight the elections with dignity and mutual respect," Vajpayee said addressing a huge rally here in the midst of the meeting of BJP's National Executive called to discuss early elections. He did not give any other indication that elections are coming shortly. In his first comments on NDA's former ally DMK aligning with Congres in Tamil Nadu, Vajpayee, whose address in Hindi was simultaneously translated in Telugu by BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu, said this is an unprincipled alliance. Congress, he said, is aligning with a party against whom it had levelled allegations that it had a role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. "We will not enter into any unprincipled alliance. We align with parties which believe in democracy, nationalism and unity and intergrity of India," the Prime Minister said.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: Centre for NRIs, PIOs to be set up in Delhi
Friday, January 9, 2004
New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced that Indian corporates will be permitted to make overseas investments up to 100 per cent of their networth and go global in the agriculture sector. The government has also decided to set up a Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi, for which a seed grant of Rs 25 crore and suitable land would be given, Vajpayee said in his inaugural address at the second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conference in New Delhi on Friday. In yet another announcement, the Prime Minister said children of Indian workers in the Gulf and South East Asia would be provided one-third reservation out of the 15 per cent supernumerary seats across different disciplines in educational instutions. Further, children of NRIs in the Gulf would not be required to pay NRI fees. They would be treated on par with resident citizens, he said. "I am happy to announce that Indian corporates will hereafter be freely permitted to make overseas investments up to 100 per cent of their net worth, whether through an overseas joint venture or a wholly owned subsidiary," the Prime Minister said. Consequently, the current restrictions including a ceiling of 100 million dollars, are being removed. Similarly, the government has decided to permit and encourage Indian corporates to go global in the agriculture sector. Accordingly, the existing restrictions on Indian corporates to undertake agricultural activities abroad, whether directly or through an overseas branch, will be removed. This will enable Indian companies to take advantage of global opportunities and also to acquire technological and other skills for adoption in India, he said. The centre for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) is being set up on the recommendation of the high-powered committee, headed by Dr L M Singhvi, who is chairman of the organising committee of the conference. "I have heard many of you say that there should be a permanent centre to deal with the multifarious needs of the disasporic community," Vajpayee said while addressing the 1,500-strong gathering of NRIs and PIOs. Accordingly, the government has decided to set up a Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi, which will be run by an autonomous body, which will also raise additional resources from members of the Diaspora, Vajpayee said. The government has also decided to install commemorative plaques at ports and places from where significant number of Indians left for foreign lands.
Govt announces major cuts
Friday, January 9, 2004
New Delhi, January 9: In a virtual mini-budget ahead of a possible Vote-on-Account and early Lok Sabha elections, Government on Thursday slashed customs duties on various non-agricultural goods, cell phones, IT and electronics items and abolished domestic and foreign travel tax. The concessions in indirect taxes were announced in a press note by Government and would come into effect from Friday. Government reduced the customs duty on non-agricultural goods by five per cent to 25 per cent, abolished four per cent special additional customs duty and cut customs duty on IT and electronic products. The customs duty on cellular phones has been reduced from ten per cent to 5 per cent. Excise duty on computers has been slashed by half to 8 per cent. Excise duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel has also been cut to eight per cent from 16 per cent. The 15 per cent Inland Air Travel Tax (IATT) and foreign travel tax of Rs 500 have also been abolished. Regarding direct taxes, Government has simplified procedures dispensing with filing of income tax returns for employees having a salary upto Rs 1.5 lakhs. This new procedure will be implemented from April. Pensioners will be exempt from the purview of 1/6 scheme, indicating that pensioners, who don't have taxable incomes, need not file returns. Government has also reduced customs duty on power transmission and distribution projects to 10 per cent from 25 per cent, while that on electricity meters has been cut to 15 per cent from 25 per cent.
Infosys in China
Friday, January 9, 2004
Bangalore, Jan 9 Software major Infosys Technologies said today it had incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in China, at Shanghai, with a capital outlay of five million US dollar. Infosys Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd would be capitalised at five million US dollar and Infosys had transferred one million dollar as initial capital, the company informed the Bangalore Stock Exchange. The subsidiary will employ 200 professionals and offer end-to-end software services to domestic as well as multinational companies operating in China. "It will also serve as a hub for software services in the Asia Pacific region," it said. Infosys said the acquisition of Expert Information Services Pty Ltd in Australia was completed on January 2; the acquired company has been renamed 'Infosys Technologies Australia Pty Ltd'. "We are working towards a seamless integration. This will accelarate our market penetration in Australia and provide enhanced value to our clients," S Gopalakrishnan, Infosys Director and COO, said.
Australia opt to bat against India
Friday, January 9, 2004
Melbourne, Jan 9 Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat against India in the opening match of the triangular one-day cricket series here today. India went to the match with a three-pronged pace attack -- Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji -- with Anil Kumble handling the spin department. Rahul Dravid will keep wickets for India. The home side, consisting of several all-rounders, picked pacers Jason Gillespie, Brad Williams and Andrew Bichel while ignoring speedster Brett Lee. Teams: India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Laxmipathy Balaji. Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Michael Clark, Michael Bevan, Andrew Symonds, Ian Harvey, Andrew Bichel, Brad Williams, Jason Gillespie. Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WI) and Simon Taufel (Aus) Match referee: Clive Lloyd.
Infosys net up 28 per cent in third quarter
Friday, January 9, 2004
Bangalore, Jan 9 Software major Infosys Technologies has reported a net profit of Rs 328.14 crore for the third quarter ending December, a growth of 28.02 per cent over Rs 256.31 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. Revenues during September to December 2003 increased to Rs 1,235.26 crore, a growth of 28.86 per cent over Rs 958.64 crore reported in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Concert in London to celebrate Republic Day
Friday, January 9, 2004
London, Jan 09 Five top Indian cultural artistes will feature at a concert at the prestigious 3,000-seat Royal Festival Hall here to celebrate India's Republic Day on January 26. The concert, aptly named Tiranga, meaning Three Colours, will bring on a single platform Bollywood Lyricist Javed Akhtar,leading vocalist of North Indian Hindustani Music Pandit Jasraj, Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Mandolin Wizard Vidhwan U Shrinivas and world famous percussion artist who brought the table to world music Ustad Zakir Hussain. Asia House, the premier pan Asian organisation in Britain, will present the concert sponsored by Amas Investments and Projects Services Limited, a member of the Hinduja Group, HSBC, Unilever, Air India, Bagri Foundation, Tata Consultancy Services and Sky News. The Deputy High Commissioner for India in the UK Satyabrata Pal told reporters here last evening that it would be a spectacular event and a very moving experience. Stating that it would be a "stunning production", Stefan Kosciuszko, Chief Executive of Asia House said: "We are delighted to bring this one-off event to a UK audience after rave reviews in India."
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