'Waxing' praise for Tendulkar's genius

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has captured the imagaination of the entire cricketing world ever since he made his international debut as a 16-year-old against Pakistan 20 years back. Tendulkar was earmarked for greatness almost as soon as he broke on to the scene, and the Master Blaster, has surpassed all expectations of him in his stellar career.

Tendulkar already holds many cricket records including being the highest run-scorer in Tests and one-day cricket, as well as having the maximum number of centuries in both those formats of the game. Off-the-field, Tendulkar was a one-stop brand ambassador for many prominent companies for quite a while, and his star status in India has left behind every Bollywood superstar, with the exception of Shah Rukh Khan.

The cricket maestro is all set to add another feather to his long list of achievements when he becomes the first-ever Indian sports personality to be portrayed at the internationally-renowned Madame Tussauds in London in April. Tendulkar will join fellow cricketing legends Brian Lara and Shane Warne to have their wax figures as part of Tussaud's A-list line up.

Tendulkar's legend has only grown with time, and with the addition of his wax statue at Madame Tussauds, his story will be told over and over as generations of cricketing fanatics get up, close and personal with the maestro long after he is gone. It is a bit too early to start writing Tendulkar's cricketing obituary, because he does have a couple of years more left in him.
But, if one were to attempt to list his achievements, it would be one endless exercise for sure. Tendulkar has seen the most number of cricketers come and go in one's international career as he has seen cricket undergo a sea-change during the 20 years of his stint with the Indian cricket team. But, what hasn't changed is the passion and love that he has for the game and the country. For a man who has achieved so much, Tendulkar still has the same hunger and intensity when he takes the field, and is as equally disappointed now as he was at the start of his career when things didn't go his way.

Any other sportsperson would have buckled under the expectations and scrutiny of more than one billion people whenever he set foot on the field, but Tendulkar has taken this as a driving force and has touched such heights that many of them will probably remain untouched for eternity. Tendulkar is and has always been a role model, inspiration, mentor and guiding light to his teammates as well as to the legion of his adoring fans. Therefore, it is only fitting that the legend's wax statue at Madame Tussauds will only assist in telling his story to the generations who haven't been fortunate enough to watch the second-best batsman in cricket's history play the game.

To borrow a line from the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, 'Jai Ho' Tendulkar and keep entertaining us with your genius for as long as you can, and the audiences world over will soak in the magic for however long it continues.

US govt to control 36 % of Citi; Pandit keeps his job

Washington: The US government Friday announced a deal with Citigroup that will give it control over as much as 36 percent of its common stock and replace a majority of its independent directors. But Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit and Chairman Richard Parsons will retain their positions at one of America's three largest bank holding companies.
In a call with investors, Pandit said the decision was difficult because of what it would do to current investors, but that the bank had little choice.
"In the end, our business is about confidence," he said. "We wanted to take definitive steps to put all capital issues aside."
Pandit also insisted that Citi management would continue to be in charge, not the federal government or federal regulators, and that decisions would be made to maximise profits and shareholder return, rather than public policy agenda.
"For those people who have a concern about nationalisation, this should put those concerns to rest," he said.
The deal will convert preferred shares that Treasury already holds in Citigroup for common shares, a shift that is designed to improve the embattled bank's capital base, which in turn will hopefully allow it to increase its lending.
The US government has already given Citigroup $45 billion for which it received preferred shares and warrants in the company.
The new deal Friday did not give the bank any additional taxpayer dollars. But the government is taking on a greater risk by assuming more volatile common shares. The market price is well below the $3.25 per-share conversion price the government is paying.
Taxpayers will also lose roughly $2 billion in dividends, because the preferred shares they are giving up paid eight percent dividends. Citi suspended its common share dividend as part of the agreement.
In the deal, Treasury will convert up to $25 billion of preferred shares, matching dollars that Citigroup is able to bring in from other investors, such as sovereign wealth funds. Shares of Citigroup, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, have plunged about 90 percent in the past year.
With the large dilution of existing share value, Citi plunged another 40 percent in pre-market trading after the announcement. Still the bank hopes that the move will eventually help rebuild its battered share price.

Shilpa's 'Big Brother' win manipulated: Jade Goody

Cancer-stricken British reality TV star Jade Goody has penned her doubts about Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty's 2007 win in " celebrity Big Brother" show in her autobiography "Jade: Catch A Falling Star". She says the win was orchestrated.
Infamous for her racist spat with Shilpa on the show, Goody has written that once she was inside the house, she began to have suspicions that Shilpa was getting special treatment from the producers, reports thesun.co.uk.

"I got the impression that the producers jumped through hoops for Shilpa Shetty. This was magnified in my mind because in the house she informed us of certain things (obviously none of this was screened, though)."

"Shilpa specifically told us all she had insisted on certain clauses in her contract. One was that if she went into the diary room and asked for something (within reason) she would get it,'" the autobiography further read.

Tension however built in the show when Goody spat out the phrase "Shilpa poppadom" for the Indian actress that resulted in the infamous "racist" controversy.

"Yes, I said those things and they are nasty, but I am not a racist... I shouldn't have done that," she apologised.

After exiting "Big Brother", Goody was diagnosed with depression within a month and was admitted to rehabilitation centre The Priory, where she woke to a text that made her once again question the motives of the producers of the show and their apparent bias towards Shilpa.

"You okay, Jade? Standing here at the final. Shilpa's won. The crowd is booing. But on TV everyone can only hear cheers," Goody's bodyguard had texted her after the finale results were announced.

The furore surrounding the spat however subsided and both actresses made peace. The mother-of-two even participated in "Bigg Boss", the Indian version of "Big Brother", which was hosted by Shilpa.

Goody was informed about her illness on the sets of "Bigg Boss". She has only months to live.

India's role in the Great Game in Afghanistan

The ongoing battle in Afghanistan, recognised as the Great Game, is going to dominate 2009. America, China, Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Iran, Russia and India are considered the main players in the battle against Al Qaeda and Taliban that nobody thinks is easy to win.
The US is sending 17,000 more troops to Kabul and the battle will be intensified. After America's invasion on October 7, 2001, India has in a major way taken up a non-military role in rebuilding Afghanistan by helping build roads, hospitals, schools and training bureaucracy and police. India's investment in the battle-torn country has already crossed $1.2 billion (about Rs 6,000 crore).
Pakistan has serious reservations about it because it wants strategic depth in Afghanistan and finds India's presence unnerving. Many Western scholars and many important players of President Barack Obama's administration have started believing that Pakistan's concerns vis-a-vis India needs to be addressed before Pakistan can plunge whole-heartedly in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. India has obviously, rejected such thinking.

India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad has a daunting task in Kabul to keep up the momentum in Indo-Afghan bilateral relations where Pakistan�s security concerns are increasing pressures and America's grand designs in this part of the world is fraught with risk.
Prasad was educated at Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. After lecturing on modern Indian history for two years at St Stephen's College he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976. He made his presence felt as head of the American division in New Delhi. He has served as India's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, as ambassador to Algeria, he has also served in the Indian mission in the European Union in Brussels, UN and Paris.
On a brief visit to New Delhi, Prasad spoke exclusively to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt on the bilateral relations, India's role in development of Afghanistan and in combating terrorism and on Pakistan's concerns over India's overwhelming presence in Kabul.

Is the Obama administration ignoring India?

India's non-inclusion in United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first overseas trip to Asia has elicited diametrically opposite views from two South Asia experts.
While one argues that China's inclusion in Clinton's itinerary is a clear indication that for the Obama administration, New Delhi is not in the same league as Beijing ,the other contends that her itineraries are not illustrative of the priorities that the administration attaches to particular countries.
Besides China, Clinton's trip to Asia included visits to Japan ,Indonesia and South Korea.
Stephen P Cohen, who heads the South Asia Programme at the Brookings Institution, told rediff.com, "I think this administration is not quite sure about their map of Asia and India doesn't seem to be part of it."
"There are a lot of signs, which are quite, I won't say alarming, but, interesting," he said, and added, "The way in which they have put India in the National Security Council under China. The same guy who is in charge of matters concerning China also looks at Indian issues, even though he is from East Asia, not South Asia."
Jeff Baden, a specialist on China, heads the Asia Division in the NSC. So far, no one has been appointed as the director for South Asian affairs in the White House.
Cohen acknowledged that including India on Clinton's trip to Asia would have had a significant symbolic value. "It is really impressive that India doesn't seem to figure at all in the American foreign policy," he said.
"They certainly don't seem to have taken any special interest in India, as compared with the Bush administration," he added.
Cohen pointed out that so far, "Nobody has raised the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal with India. It sort of has simply vanished from the screen. So we'll see what happens. But I am not encouraged by the first couple of weeks."
When reminded that the administration's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, had also visited India during his trip to South Asia, Cohen retorted, "He went there because of Afghanistan and Pakistan (to include India in any regional agreement), not because of India."
Dismissing the argument that America's relations with India were on track and didn't need immediate attention, he said, "You can make that argument but they (the Obama administration) are worried about their immediate priorities. India doesn't seem to be able to help them out in Afghanistan or Iraq and certainly not in the case of Pakistan."
"India is not making trouble, but I think that's the way it's going to be -- that India is unable to help America in the short-term, in its short-term strategic objectives," he analysed.
Cohen added that Clinton visiting China and not India clearly proved "China's growing power -- and so much for Chindia! India was overblown by the advocates and now it's going to be undersold."
"The Chindia metaphor didn't correspond to reality," he argued, adding that, "In terms of economy, military power etc, China is miles ahead of India."
However, former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs in the Clinton administration, Karl F Inderfurth, who was a foreign policy adviser on South Asia to the Obama campaign, disagreed with Cohen's views.
He stressed that absolutely nothing should be read into the fact that India was not included in Clinton's Asia itinerary.
Inderfurth, who is currently a professor of international relations at George Washington University, told rediff.com, "You can only do so much at one time, and this trip has a certain coherence and consistency to it."
When queried if India's exclusion in Clinton's itinerary meant that it had been relegated to the second tier in Asia for the Obama administration, Inderfurth asserted, "Absolutely not."
"I don't think one can judge the itineraries of secretaries of state as being definitive statements about the priority countries have in terms of foreign policy," he argued.
"I believe this was a good opportunity for her to travel to Asia. Clearly, her first stop in Japan was to send a signal to those who have sometimes been of the view that Japan is sort of dropping in order of importance to the United States. This was meant to reinforce the importance of Japan as an ally of the US in Asia."
He reiterated, "There is absolutely no reason for India to feel slighted. This administration will not need to be reminded of the importance of India because Hillary Clinton knows that directly from her own experience as First Lady, as Senator and the role that President Bill Clinton had in getting this new relationship going in the right direction."
"So, I look forward to seeing her in South Asia and India many times. I know that this is one region of the world that she has been fascinated with," he said.
Inderfurth's views were echoed by US Ambassador to India David Mulford, during an interaction at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, with a few select journalists, think-tank analysts and scholars, diplomats from the subcontinent and some mid-level administration officials.
Taking strong exception to the contention that India is being ignored by the administration, Mulford said, "The new administration understands the importance of the US-India relationship."
He said, "It is quite clear to me that India will be every bit as important a priority to them as it was to the previous administration."
Mulford acknowledged, "That doesn't mean they'll handle every issue the same way. But there's no doubt about the fact that it's important to them."
He added, "You have to give some space to the Obama administration because it's a new administration. They are very challenged, they are very busy, they have got a lot of other things to do. The fact that they haven't done some things first with India may reflect the fact that they think the relationship is in such good shape that they don't have to address it immediately."
Mulford assured his audience, "I have no doubt that the relationship will be every bit as important, and I wouldn't really worry about that -- I wouldn't think it's worth speculating about really."

More mass graves discovered in Dhaka

The brutality of the mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles soldiers continued to unfold on Saturday with the discovery of two more mass graves containing bullet-riddled bodies of army officers at its headquarters in Dhaka.
The two graves were unearthed by rescuers, a day after the first one with 42 bodies of massacred officers, including BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed, was found in the premises of the force's headquarters in Pilkhana area in the
The death toll before the discovery of the new graves stood at 67. It was not immediately known how many bodies were there in the graves, even as over 70 army officers were still believed to be missing.
"We have discovered two new mass graves as we resumed our searches today morning," a Fire Brigade spokesman said.
Aided by sniffer dogs, security forces resumed the frantic search for more victims of the two-day revolt, which came to an end on Thursday with the surrender of the mutineers.
The Bangladesh government has announced that it will constitute special tribunals for quick and 'exemplary punishment of the culprits involved in the barbaric and gruesome killings of army officers' during the rebellion, despite an earlier promise of general amnesty.
"General amnesty does not mean that those (rebel BDR soldiers) who were involved in killings, rebellion, arson and other heinous activities will be forgiven," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Principal Staff Officer Lieutenant General Mohammad Abdul Mubin said in a nationwide televised statement shortly after midnight.
He promised fast track trial of culprits involved in the killings of army officers during the rebellion. "They (culprits) cannot be pardoned and will not be forgiven either," Mubin vowed.
Earlier, emerging from the meeting with the premier around midnight, army chief General Moeen U Ahmed renewed the military's loyalty by saying, "Armed forces are always subservient to the government".
"It's a national crisis... we will have to overcome it," the army chief said.
Bangladesh has announced three days of national mourning from Friday, as the slain officers were buried with full state and military honours.

Taliban could take over Karachi: Report

Taliban militants have established secret hideouts in Karachi and it 'could take the city hostage at any point', according to the Pakistani police.
The Special Branch of police has highlighted the presence of Taliban in Karachi in a report submitted to the Sindh government and the provincial police chief.
The Taliban have 'huge caches' of weapons and ammunition, the report said.
The report provides details about secret Taliban hideouts and their presence in areas like Sohrab Goth and Quaidabad. Besides living in small motels in these areas, the Taliban are hiding in the hills of Manghopir and Orangi town and in other low-income areas and slums, the Daily Times newspaper quoted the police report as saying.
The daily also quoted sources as saying that the deputy chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban, Hasan Mahmood, was hiding in Karachi. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is part of the coalition government in Sindh province, has often warned authorities that the Taliban had established a presence in Karachi.
The Daily Times said the Special Branch report had 'terrified' police and security personnel.

No objection to separate Telangana, but consensus needed: Sonia

Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday said here the party had no objection to carving out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh but was trying to evolve consensus on the issue.
Addressing a massive public meeting, she merely reiterated the party's stand on the issue, leaving Telangana supporters disappointed.
'As far as the demand for granting separate statehood to Telangana is concerned, the Congress party, in principle, does not have any objection to it. But there are problems and concerns associated with it and they can be solved through talks with all the people concerned,' she said.
Gandhi, who launched the party's election campaign by addressing a public meeting in Khammam district on Friday and was on a two-day trip to the state, claimed that the global economic slowdown had no impact on India thanks to the vision of late prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
She said while Nehru chose mixed economy for the country, Indira Gandhi took up nationalisation of banks. 'Even in this crisis, India is in a better situation than other countries,' she said.
Seeking the mandate of the people in the coming elections, she said the Congress party was not after power but was committed to serving the country.
'Elections are the time to decide who wants to take the country and state on the path of development and who wants to use your vote only to reach the seat of power,' she said while listing out the development and welfare programmes taken up by Congress-led UPA government at the centre.
'I am confident that this time also the Congress' hand will get your support and we will together take Andhra Pradesh and our country to new heights,' she said while showering praise on the state's Congress government.
Earlier state Congress president D. Srinivas said there was no need for any doubts on the fact that the people of Telangana were with the Congress party. 'The huge turnout of the people today is a testimony to this,' he said.

2002 Gujarat riots: Missing persons to be declared dead

With the expiry of the seven years' stipulated time, authorities are set to declare 228 missing in the 2002 post-Godhra riots as dead. The move would take the death toll in the communal carnage to 1,180 from 952.
"We have prepared a list of missing people and sent it to the revenue department, which would declare the missing persons as dead," Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Balwant Singh told PTI. The State Revenue Department would send the details to the district collectorates for the subsequent process. Ahmedabad collector Harit Shukla said the final list of missing people from the police is awaited.
"Once we have the list, we will start the process of declaring them as dead, inform the civic authorities to prepare their death certificate and subsequently, compensation claims will be processed," he added. In the aftermath of large scale communal carnage, total 413 people had disappeared of which 185 people were found while 228 are missing.
The 228 missing people also includes 24 children and 27 women. "As per the procedure of law, we will have to revise the final figure of 2002 riots as missing persons are presumed as dead after seven years," a senior official said.
The official said that the process in this regard will be completed in the first week of March as most of the people went missing from February 27 to March 5, 2002.

Pakistan Navy chief retracts Mumbai remark

Karachi: Pakistan's navy chief Saturday distanced himself from his controversial remarks that there was no evidence of Ajmal Amir Kasab taking the sea route to India to launch the Mumbai terror strikes, saying he had not contradicted the interior ministry's findings on the carnage.
Admiral Noman Bashir "clarified that there are no differences between Pakistan Navy and the interior ministry with regard to the report about the (Mumbai terror attack) case", the official APP news agency reported.
Referring to his remarks Friday, he told the media here that he can only speak as the naval chief and that he was not the government spokesman.
Bashir said the Pakistan Navy was not investigating the Mumbai attack and as such he has no knowledge about this.
"The interior ministry is investigating the case and we at Pakistan Navy have no differences with the ministry regarding their report in connection with such a case," the APP quoted Bashir as saying.
Bashir said 1,000-mile Pakistan's coastline could not be manned everywhere and there were holes in its security.
"So any such possibility cannot be denied out rightly. But what I do not know I cannot comment on because this would complicate the situation further."
"(The) Pakistan Navy has no evidence but that does not mean that the Ministry of Interior also does not have evidence," he said.

Filmfare Awards for Rahman, Asin, Imran and Farhan

Here are the results of 54th Idea Filmfare Awards announced so far:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (MALE): Arjun Rampal - Rock On!!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (FEMALE): Kangana Ranaut - Fashion

BEST DEBUTANT (Male): Imran Khan - Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na Farhan Akhtar - Rock On!!

BEST DEBUTANT (Female): Asin - Ghajini

BEST STORY: Abhishek Kapoor - Rock On!!

BEST SCREENPLAY: Yogesh Vinayak Joshi & Upendra Sidhaye - Mumbai Meri Jaan

BEST DIALOGUE: Manu Rishi - Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE: A. R. Rahman - Jodhaa Akbar

BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR: A. R. Rahman - Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

BEST LYRICS: Javed Akhtar - Jodhaa Akbar - Jashn-e-Bahara

R. D. BURMAN AWARD: Benny Dayal - Yuvvraaj - Meri Dost Hain

BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE): Sukhwinder Singh - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - Haule Haule

BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE): Shreya Ghoshal - Singh Is Kinng - Teri Ore

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Bhanu Athaiya
BEST SCENE OF THE YEAR: Aditya Chopra - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Longines Fernandes - Pappu Can't Dance Saala (Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na)

BEST EDITING: Amit Pawar Mumbai Meri Jaan

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Vandan Kataria & Monica Angelica Bhowmick - Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

BEST ACTION: Peter Hein - Ghajini

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS AWARD: John Deitz - Love Story 2050

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE: A R Rahman - Jodhaa Akbar

BEST COSTUMES: Manushee Sharma - Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason West - Rock On!!

BEST SOUND DESIGN: Baylon Fonseca & Vinod Subramanyam - Rock On!!

Pak navy denies Kasab used sea route

Pakistan was back in denial mode today with Navy Chief Admiral Noman Bashir claiming there was no proof that Ajmal Kasab took the sea route from this country to carry out the Mumbai terror attacks.
"We have seen no evidence that confirms he went from Pakistan to Mumbai," Bashir told reporters here.
The Navy Chief's contention contradicts Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik's admission two weeks back that the Mumbai attacks were "partly" plotted on Pakistan soil and launched from its shores for which it has arrested six persons.
"The evidence that I have doesn't show" that the terrorists went from this country. "This is India's claim from day one. Even before the Mumbai incidents had ended, India was saying that the terrorists have used sea route," he said.
The Navy chief wondered how the terrorists could have escaped the tight vigil of the Pakistan navy guarding its coastline.
"If they have evaded us and the Indian navy which is ten times bigger than our navy and cheated them along with the Coastguard, which is 12 times bigger than our Coastguards, what shall I say," he said.
Bashir said they were lot of questions that still needed to be answered about the Mumbai terror attacks.
"I don't want to make anymore comments on this until I have seen some evidence and if Kasab and others reached Mumbai via our waters, the question is what was the Indian Naval and Maritime forces doing?
If this was true, it showed the failure of the Indian Navy and the Coastguards, he said.
He said Pakistan was committed to stopping terrorism emanating fro the sea route. "Whatever lapses were there, we have tried to mend them. But to say that it has been 100 per cent perfect, is not possible., neither for Pakistan nor for India.

Kylie Minogue in Mumbai, has lunch with Akshay

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue arrived here Thursday morning and one of her first appointments was lunch at Bollywood star Akshay Kumar's residence.

"Kylie and some of Akshay and Twinkle Khanna's close friends from the industry, plus the 'Blue' crew were invited for lunch by the actor on Thursday afternoon. This is supposed to be his way of making her comfortable in Mumbai," a source close to Akshay told IANS.

Kylie has recorded a song for Akshay's underwater thriller "Blue", which is being directed by Anthony D'Souza and produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.

The source said: "If Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne went all out to make Barbara Mori comfortable in Mumbai, why not Akshay and his wife?"

Akshay apparently had decided to do some of the cooking himself for the special guest.

Ashtavinayak invited the entire army of television cameras to cover the 'private' lunch at Akshay's home making you wonder how comfortable our foreigner guest would feel on her first outing in Mumbai with cameras recording every munch and slurp.

India's GDP growth drops to 5.3 % in third quarter

New Delhi: The growth of India's gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 5.3 percent in the third quarter ending Dec 31 last year, compared to a growth of 8.9 percent in the same period the previous year.
The economy, usually equated to the GDP, had grown by 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this fiscal.
Growth of the manufacturing sector fell 0.2 percent for the third quarter compared to 8.6 percent in the same period, a year ago. The government had earlier estimated the economy would grow by around 7 percent in 2008-09. The mining sector grew by 5.3 percent as compared to 4.3 percent in the same period last year.

Speak in one voice on Mumbai attacks: India to Pakistan

New Delhi: India Friday urged Pakistan to speak in one voice on the Mumbai terror attacks, with two ministers saying flip flops on the carnage were best avoided.
"I am sure somebody else will refute him tomorrow," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said at a press conference here when asked to comment on Pakistani Navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir's statement that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured during the Nov 26-29, 2008 carnage, and the nine other terrorists who had attacked Mumbai had not used the sea route to reach the port city.
"Pakistan has often spoken in different voices (on the Mumbai carnage)," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said at a press conference that preceded Chidambaram's.
"This multiple speak, duplicity and denial has created confusion. They (the Pakistani leadership) have to decide to speak in one voice," Sharma maintained.
"Once having accepted a fact, it is better to take that to its logical conclusion," Sharma added.
Asked to comment on Bashir's statement that the Mumbai attacks pointed to the failure of the Indian Navy in maintaining vigil, Chidambaram said: "I don't need certificates or appreciation from the Pakistani Navy.
"I have said in parliament there have been lapses and these will be plugged," the home minister added.
Pakistan had earlier this month accepted that part of the Mumbai conspiracy had been planned on its soil. The country's Federal Investigation Agency has also registered cases against eight people, including Kasab who is in the custody of the Mumbai police, for their role in the terror attacks.

Govt to acquire Gandhi's personal belongings from New York

New Delhi: The government today decided to ensure Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings, including his famous metal rimmed glasses, do not go under the hammers in the United States next month and bring them back to the country.
There are five personal belongings of Gandhi in the list of auction proposed to be held on March 4-5 at the Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York including sandals, a pocket watch and some utensils.
"Whatever can be done is being done to ensure that articles are not auctioned by involving all concerned stakeholders," Union Culture Minister Ambika Soni told PTI.
The Culture Ministry has arrived at the decision to intervene after extensive consultations with the Ministries of External Affairs, Home, Law and Finance.
"Our embassy in Washington and Consulate in New York have been told to actively pursue the matter", said a senior Culture Ministry official.
As per the action plan, government has devised a three-pronged strategy to acquire these articles from the US.
"We are approaching the owners not to auction these articles and requesting to offer them to the government on the basis of honour and due acknowledgement," said the official.

Mukesh Ambani's two Reliance companies to merge

Mumbai: The $34.5-billion Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector company, Friday announced that it will consider a proposal next week to merge another group company into itself to bring in operational efficiency.
The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries and its oil refining and export-oriented subsidiary Reliance Petroleum, have both informed the stock exchanges of their boards' agenda to consider the merger.
"The board of directors of the company will consider and recommend the amalgamation on March 2," the identical statutory filings by the two companies with the stock exchanges said. The deal is expected to also lead to Reliance Industries acquiring the 5-percent stake that US oil major Chevron holds in the company's subsidiary, a company official said. "The merger is being considered for achieving operational efficiency."
Reacting to the announcement, the government said it did not see any immediate issues with the merger proposal. "There should be no legal issues," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said in New Delhi.
"The merger will not affect the export-oriented unit status of Reliance Petroleum," Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai added.
Reliance Petroleum has claimed an annual crude processing capacity of 580,000 barrels per day, making it the sixth largest refinery in the world. The parent is a Fortune Global 500 company and largest private sector entity in India.
The Reliance group, which also has interests in oil exploration, petrochemicals, life sciences and retail trade, says its petroleum complex at the port town of Jamnagar in Gujarat is the largest grassroots refinery in the world.
The merger was announced after the close of trading hours on Indian bourses, where the Reliance Industries scrip fell 1.97 percent to Rs.1,265.05, while that of Reliance Petroleum also dropped 1.23 percent to Rs.76.20.
Reliance Industries holds a 70.38-percent stake in Reliance Petroleum, while Chevron holds another 5 percent. The rest is widely held, including those by financial institutions and the public.
The promoters of Reliance Industries, which was founded by legendary industrialist, the late Dhuirubhai Ambani, hold a 49.03 percent stake in the company as on Dec 31.

McCullum leads New Zealand to win over India

Brendon McCullum hit a single off the last ball to lead New Zealand to a thrilling five-wicket win over India in the second Twenty20 international at Wellington on Friday to seal the series 2-0.
McCullum held his nerve in a nailbiting final over from Irfan Pathan to guide New Zealand past India's total of 149-6, finishing with an unbeaten 69. The home team finished on 150-5.
New Zealand's chances of winning looked slim when they needed nine runs off the last three balls but McCullum kept his cool, smacking two successive boundaries to level the scores before chipping the final delivery over the infield to seal the win.
McCullum, who also made an unbeaten half-century in New Zealand's seven-wicket win over the Twenty20 world champions in Christchurch on Tuesday, produced another great innings when his team needed it most.
The wicketkeeper-batsman faced 55 balls and struck eight boundaries and a six. The only other New Zealanders to pass 20 were opener Jesse Ryder (26) and Ross Taylor (27).
Yuvraj Singh top-scored for India with 50 off 34 deliveries, featuring three sixes and three fours, but received little support apart from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (28 not out) and opener Virender Sehwag (24).

Suspected al Qaeda operative charged in U.S. court

Suspected al Qaeda operative Ali al-Marri has been charged with conspiracy and material support for terrorism, shifting him into the U.S. legal system after 5-1/2 years at a military prison in South Carolina, according to court documents unsealed on Friday.
The Obama administration's decision to move the Qatari national into the U.S. court system represented a significant shift in policy from the Bush administration, which had argued that Marri could be held indefinitely without being charged.
Marri is the last of three terrorism suspects who had been held by the military in the United States without charges as an "enemy combatant." He has a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging his indefinite imprisonment.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois, on Thursday and unsealed on Friday charged Marri with two counts of providing material support or resources to al Qaeda.
Marri could face up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Obama sets Iraq deadline, unveils new strategy

President Barack Obama said on Friday he would end U.S. combat operations in Iraq in 18 months but leave up to 50,000 troops there to provide stability, a decision that riled Democrats who favored a larger withdrawal.
"We are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending this war," Obama said in an address to Marines almost six years after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in a vain hunt for weapons of mass destruction.
Congressional Democrats who fought the Bush administration for two years to bring home U.S. forces home expressed disappointment, with Senate leader Harry Reid saying 50,000 troops was "higher than I had anticipated" and Representative Lynn Woolsey calling it "unacceptable."
"Such a large number can only be viewed by the Iraqi public as an enduring occupation force," Woolsey said. "So long as the U.S. is viewed as an occupier, the Iraqis will be unable to achieve the necessary unification, reconciliation, and further democratization efforts that will be required for them to bring long-term stability to the country."
The 18-month timetable marks a historic juncture in a war that has been enormously costly to the United States and defined the presidency of George W. Bush. It has been a huge drain on the Treasury, cost the lives of 4,250 U.S. soldiers and damaged the U.S. standing in the world.
Winding down the Iraq war will allow Obama to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, which he has declared the central front in the U.S. fight against terrorism. He hopes it will also help him slash a ballooning $1.3 trillion budget deficit.
"I have chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months. Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said to scattered applause from an audience of about 2,000 Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The United States now has 142,000 troops overall in Iraq. Obama said 35,000 to 50,000 troops would stay to train and equip the Iraqi forces, protect civilian reconstruction projects and conduct limited counterterrorism operations.
He stressed he intended to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2011, in line with a deal signed with Iraq last year, and he underlined to the Iraqi people that the United States "pursues no claim on your territory or your resources."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would favor a modest U.S. military presence in Iraq even after the end of 2011 to assist Iraqi security forces if requested by Baghdad.
"My own view would be that we should be prepared to have some very modest-sized presence for training and helping them with their new equipment and providing perhaps intelligence support," he told reporters.
PURSUING DIPLOMACY
Obama said Washington would pursue a regional diplomatic strategy, help resettle millions of Iraqis displaced by violence, and try to help Iraq's leaders resolve divisive political issues.
"The United States will pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria," he said.
Washington has accused Iran and Syria of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs, a charge they deny. The Bush administration pursued talks with Tehran on stabilizing Iraq but they petered out in the midst of mutual accusations.
Obama said the U.S. troop drawdown sent a "clear signal that Iraq's future is now its own responsibility."
"We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars," he said.
For many Americans, the Iraq war has been overshadowed by a deep recession that has left many struggling to make ends meet and millions jobless.
Obama's decision to leave a sizable force to bolster stability was welcomed by congressional Republicans, notably former presidential candidate Senator John McCain, while some Democrats were concerned too many troops would remain in Iraq.
"Overall it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it," said McCain, who had argued Obama was naive on national security and criticized his 16-month withdrawal plan.
Obama, who accused the Bush administration of becoming distracted by the Iraq war and allowing security to deteriorate in Afghanistan, briefed Bush on his speech on Friday.
In an effort to stem rising violence in Afghanistan, Obama ordered 17,000 more troops, including Marines from Camp Lejeune, to Afghanistan last week.

Aid to Pak should be stopped till it dismantles terror: India

A day after US proposed a hike in military aid to Pakistan, India has indicated that it wants all nations to suspend assistance to that country until it dismantles the terror infrastructure on its soil. "Any country shouldn't be giving military aid to Pakistan until it works effectively in a demonstrative manner to dismantle the terror infrastructure," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters here.
He said the terrorists operating from Pakistani soil were a greater threat not only to the region but also the entire world. On reports suggesting that New Delhi had asked Islamabad to submit Letters Rogatary in connection with the queries it had on the dossier on Mumbai attacks, Sharma merely said that the government would take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time.
He said Indian security agencies were looking into all the legal aspects regarding the questions raised by Pakistan. Sharma said if Pakistan accepts the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police in the terror attacks case it would add to Islamabad's credibility.

Sachin to join sporting legends at Madame Tussauds

Cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar will be the latest sporting great to be featured at the internationally-renowned Madame Tussauds in London when a new wax figure of the Mumbai-born batsman joins the A-list line up in April.
Tendulkar follows in the famous footsteps of Bollywood greats Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan and will join other cricket legends Brain Lara and Shane Warne to become the very first Indian sports personality to be portrayed, the waxworks museum said in a statement Friday.
The cricketing legend has already had a sitting with the Madame Tussauds studios team who last week travelled to Mumbai to capture a catalogue of reference photographs and hundreds of precise measurements.
The information they collected at the two hour session at the Taj Lands End Hotel will prove invaluable as the sculptors and hair and make up artists get to work on his figure.
'We are delighted to confirm our next Indian superstar is going to be Sachin Tendulkar; his achievements on the cricket pitch are phenomenal and he is one of the biggest names in international sport,' says Liz Edwards, Madame Tussauds PR manager.
'The Bollywood stars we have included over the past ten years have proved enormously popular with Asian guests and film fans from all over the world. We know Sachin will be just as popular for sports fans from home and abroad and are looking forward to introducing the real Sachin to his wax double soon.'
Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians Captain will be featured in typical celebratory 'on the pitch' pose after another century marked in the scorebook.
He will be dressed in his cricket whites which he has donated.
The figure will be created at Madame Tussauds studios in West London at a cost of 150,000 pounds.
The cricket star will join the ranks of sporting greats, including David Beckham, Mohammed Ali, Tiger Woods and Jesse Owens, in Madame Tussauds interactive Sports Zone.
There will also be a cricketing challenge around the introduction of the figure, where guests can test their cricketing skills against the 'masterblaster'.

Lot more action needed on 26/11, India tells Pakistan

Colombo: Holding a secretary-level meeting with Pakistan for the first time after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, India Thursday urged its neighbour to do more to bring the perpetrators to book and "take credible action to dismantle the resources of terrorists".Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on the sidelines of the 36th session of the SAARC Standing Committee in Colombo. He conveyed India's firm stance with regard to the Mumbai attack and insisted on the need for "some positive results".
This is the first time after the Mumbai attacks in November last year - in which over 170 people were killed and which India blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists - that secretary-level talks have taken place between the two countries on bilateral ties.
"We have recognised what Pakistan has done, but there is a lot more to be done. We need to see them moving forward," Menon told Colombo-based Indian journalists.
"They should bring the Mumbai attack perpetrators and take credible actions to dismantle the resources of the terrorist in their own county," he said.
Pakistan's Federal Investigative Agency has filed charges against eight men suspected to be involved in the Mumbai attacks. Six of them have been arrested. The seventh is Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the terror strikes, while the eighth is still at large.
"We need some positive results. It is not an easy situation. We will judge (Pakistan) by what they do," he said.
Asked whether the foreign ministers of both the countries would meet in Colombo on the sidelines of the Inter-Summit Sessions of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers' meeting, Menon said: "Nothing has been decided so far".
He said India knew that Pakistan has started a legal process, while India has started one on its own, stressing that India has no problem with the people of Pakistan.
"We are obviously in a new phase of relationship after Mumbai attack, though we kept our dialogue going. For us the Mumbai attack has changed the situation entirely," he said.
"There is a civilian government and they need to demonstrate," Menon said.

Tata's Nano to go on sale in April, 7 mths late

The Nano, slated to be the world's cheapest car at under $2,000, will finally go on sale in April after months of delay caused by problems at its main production plant.
Tata Motors, India's largest vehicle maker, said on Thursday it would formally launch the Nano on March 23, and buyers could start ordering the model by the second week of April.
"The cars will be on display at Tata dealerships from the first week of April," the company said in a statement.
The Nano, expected to be priced at around 100,000 rupees, was unveiled with great fanfare at the Delhi autoshow in January 2008, and should have gone on sale in October.
Violent protests by farmers unhappy with a compensation offer for their land had forced Tata Motors to stop work on a main plant in West Bengal state, and switch production to Gujarat state.
"We expect only limited quantities to be produced now -- maybe about 3,000 a month -- so the waiting period could be long," said Surjit Arora, autos analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher.
Tata Motors' new Nano plant in Gujarat, in western India, is not expected to be ready until the year-end.
The company has said it would make the first Nanos at one of its two existing plants in Pune, about 170 km north of Mumbai, and at Pantnagar in northern India.
Tata Motors, India's leading producer of trucks and third-biggest car maker, last year bought Ford Motor Co's Jaguar and Land Rover brands for $2.3 billion.
The tiny Nano is expected to battle for a share in the local market for small cars that is dominated by Maruti Suzuki.
"This will give tough competition to the smaller cars of Maruti, like the 800 and the Alto and high-end motorcycles," said Arora.

Govt sensitising US authorities on H-IB visa issue

NEW DELHI: In the wake of US putting restrictions on American companies hiring H-IB visa workers, the Government today said it is constantly
to sensitise authorities there that any protectionist policy would hurt the interests of their companies.
"In our regular interaction with the US, we have been conveying that employment protectionism does not help the US or any other country, neither it is good for the global economic order," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee informed the Lok Sabha during the question hour.
The minister noted that the government was "fully committed" to protecting the interests of Indian professionals working in the US. Noting that the US has imposed restrictions on hiring H-IB visas by US firms receiving bailout money, he said "any protectionist policy would hurt the interest of the US companies the most".
He said India has been sensitising the US authorities about the fact that India happens to be the largest contributor of highly skilled workers to the US economy.

No more tax sops for outsourcing firms: Obama

American firms will no longer get any tax breaks if they move their jobs to India and elsewhere in the world as President Barack Obama has decided to "restore a sense of fairness" to the US Tax Code.
" . . . We will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas," Obama said in his first address to the joint session of the US Congress.
About 1,000 American firms, which have moved their jobs abroad, are expected to be affected by the proposed move to do away with a particular provision of the country's tax code that allows them to pay lower taxes for profits repatriated from foreign shores.
The opponents of the tax code, mostly comprising of Democrats, have been demanding to abolish this provision for a long time, saying it was encouraging the companies to ship jobs aboard and eliminate the local positions.
According to various estimates by economists, corporate tax code may account for up to 3 million jobs abroad.
Back in 2004, the US Congress had allowed a one-year repatriation tax holiday which reduced the 35 per cent tax rate on foreign earnings of American companies to just 5.25 per cent.
Among the major companies which have shipped jobs to foreign countries such as India include General Electric, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Pepsico, Honeywell [Get Quote] and IBM.
Earlier this month, two senators had expressed concern over lobbying by multinational corporations to allow firms with offshore funds to move their money back to the US at a discounted tax rate.
"In 2005, over $300 billion in offshore funds were brought back and were subject to a 5.25 per cent tax rate instead of the normal 35 per cent rate, which means Uncle Sam missed out on billions in needed tax revenues," the Senators had said in a letter.
They also added that "such tax holidays not only reduce US tax revenue in the long run, but create new incentives for US multinationals to send more jobs, funds and facilities offshore".
In their election campaigns, both Obama and Hillary Clinton, who is now the US Secretary of State, had said that tax break was encouraging companies to outsource American jobs to foreign countries.
A recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service showed that out of the 12 top repatriating companies, 10 cut jobs even before the recent economic downturn, the Senators said.
Going by estimates, foreign affiliates of American firms created nearly 1,00,000 jobs on an average in low-cost developing nations during the period from 1992 to 2005.
In 2004, the then Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry had rallied against companies which were exploiting the tax system to ship jobs to low-wage countries, including India.

Second edition of Indian Premier League schedule

Apr 10: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils, Jaipur

Apr 11: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers, Kolkata; Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers, Chennai

Apr 12: Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab, Delhi; Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai

Apr 13: Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings, Hyderabad

Apr 14: Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore

Apr 15: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians, Mohali

Apr 16: Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils, Hyderabad; Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Chennai

Apr 17: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers, Mumbai

Apr 18: Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers, Mohali; Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Darevils, Kolkata

Apr 19: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai; Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore

Apr 20: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata

Apr 21: Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians, Delhi

Apr 22: Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers, Jaipur

Apr 23: Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab, Bangalore

Apr 24: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai

Apr 25: Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers, Delhi; Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab, Chennai

Apr 26: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Jaipur; Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians, Vizag

Apr 27: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers, Mohali

Apr 28: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai

Apr 29: Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals, Mohali; Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai

Apr 30: Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers, Vizag

May 1: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils, Chennai

May 2: Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers, Mumbai; Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata

May 3: Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, Mohali; Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils, Bangalore

May 4: Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals, Hyderabad

May 5: Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings, Delhi

May 6: Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab, Jaipur; Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, Kolkata

May 7: Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers, Bangalore

May 8: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata

May 9: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians, Jaipur; Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils, Mohali

May 10: Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Hyderabad

May 11: Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals, Delhi

May 12: Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai; Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers, Chennai

May 13: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers, Kolkata

May 14: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, Jaipur; Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers, Delhi

May 15: Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians, Bangalore

May 16: Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhil; Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab, Hyderabad

May 17: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers, Jaipur; Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians, Chennai

May 18: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Mohali

May 19: Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings, Bangalore

May 21: Semifinal 1, Chennai

May 22: Semi Final 2, Chennai

May 24:Finals, Mumbai

Bangladesh's troopers end violent revolt, four dead

Dhaka/Kolkata: Thousands of Bangladesh border guards ended a revolt over poor working conditions and agreed to return to the barracks Wednesday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced an amnesty, ending several hours of fierce fighting with the army in the heart of Dhaka that reportedly left at least four people dead and the country shaken.
Gunbattles raged through much of the day in the heart of the capital as the army tried to storm the headquarters of the 67,000-strong Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) after its troopers mutinied demanding better pay and an end to frequent transfers, throwing up the first major challenge to the month-old government of Sheikh Hasina.
The BDR headquarters and the area around it on Dhaka's outskirts turned into a war zone as the troopers took on the better equipped army soldiers who encircled the complex, exchanging gun and mortar fire in the capital.
Thick smoke billowed and military helicopters hovered overhead, firing shots into the compound. Thousands of rounds of gunshots and mortar firing were heard.
At least four army officers deputed to the BDR were killed, claimed one protester. There were also reports that a rickshaw puller had been killed by a stray bullet.
Some officials believe the death toll could be much higher as the soldiers were seen firing weapons in all directions. A fire also raged at the BDR headquarters earlier in the day.
According to a television channel, heavy weapons like cannons were used to damage some buildings. Soldiers driving armoured vehicles were shooting to prevent the Rapid Action Battalion and the army from overwhelming them. The army quickly deployed anti-tank weapons outside the BDR headquarters.
The crisis that began at 7.30 a.m. continued till late in the evening when Hasina announced amnesty for the mutinous troopers and they agreed to return to the barracks, reported the Daily Star Online.
After a 14-member BDR team met the prime minister at her residence, BDR Deputy Assistant Director Touhid told reporters that they would surrender arms and go back to their barracks. "We had talks with the prime minister and we agreed to return to barracks," he was quoted as saying.
Rebellious troopers claimed there were over 20,000 of them at the BDR headquarters. At one time, they declared that they were ready to take on the army.
"We want to tell them that we need freedom. Everybody knows how miserably we live. We cannot work independently. We don't have a department of our own," a trooper who was part of the delegation that met the prime minister said.
BDR, which guards over 4,400 km long border with India and Myanmar, is headed by an army general. The BDR personnel have always resented the army dominance.
The troopers said Major General Shakil Ahmed, director general of BDR, was unhurt, putting to rest rumours that he had been killed.
But before the revolt ended, there were many panicky moments.
"We are under siege, try to save us!" pleaded a BDR official to a journalist before hanging up. When another journalist called another BDR official at the headquarters, which was ringed by armed and masked BDR personnel, he did not speak, and the journalist could hear screams.
Sources inside the headquarters said the firing began in the morning when senior officers, mostly drawn from the army, were at an annual conference in which the soldiers were allowed to vent their grievances, media reports said.
But instead of just complaining, the enlisted men shouted at the army officers and held them hostage. Several hundred troopers then took control of the artillery and other heavy weapons inside the compound.
There was no inkling of the storm brewing. Only a day earlier, the prime minister had taken salute at a ceremonial parade and addressed officers and men at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana.
An apprehensive India put its frontier guards on maximum alert along its 4,095 km border with Bangladesh.
An Indian Border Security Force (BSF) official said troops were put on high alert and additional reinforcements rushed to sensitive border areas along the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam.
"A high alert was sounded with senior officials asked to station themselves in the border outposts," A.K. Singh, a BSF spokesperson said.

Pakistan Army may be linked to Mumbai attacks: police

Mumbai:The Mumbai police Wednesday said two Pakistanis with military background were involved in last year's Mumbai terror attacks.
The names of two Pakistani army men have surfaced during the probe and it is being investigated "whether they are serving army men or are in the hierarchy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba", Joint Police Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria told the media in the evening after filing of the charge sheet in the Nov 26 terror attacks.
"Whether they belong to (the) Pakistan Army or the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is being investigated," he asserted. The word "Lashkar" also means army.
Maria said the police have also established the role of the marine wing of the LeT in the attacks and the help provided by two Indian LeT activists, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed.
"We have prepared a very strong case against the terrorists covering all aspects of the 26/11 attacks. So far, we have identified a total of 47 accused, including 35 who were trained for terror activities in Pakistan," Maria asserted.
The police filed a single comprehensive charge sheet, running into over 11,000-pages, against the 38 accused, including Ansari and Sabahuddin and the lone captured terrorist from Nov 26 attackers, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab.
The charge sheet, filed by Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam before metropolitan magistrate 19th Court M.J. Mirza, has listed another 35 persons as "wanted absconders".
According to Maria, there are over 2,200 witnesses in this case so far, but he declined to identify how many were from India or the number of foreign nationals in view of strict witness protection norms prevalent abroad.
Maria said Fahim and Sabahuddin have been charged with conducting reconnaissance of the terror attack targets, providing detailed maps and other minute details about the attack sites which enabled the 10-member group of terrorists, including Kasab, reach Mumbai.
The police have also detailed transcripts of the telephone and satellite phone conversations between the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan, as also details of money transfer operations for the attacks.

Mumbai police files first charges in 26/11 attacks

Mumbai: The police Wednesday charged the lone captured terrorist in last year's Mumbai attacks, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, with "murder and waging war" against India, filing the first charge sheet in the terror strikes that killed over 170 people.The voluminous charge sheet, running into over 11,000 pages, also names 37 others, including Indians and Pakistanis, for planning and abetting the attacks, a top law officer said.
The document was filed at the metropolitan magistrate's court in south Mumbai.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said the charges have been filed against Kasab and two other Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) activists Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed of India, and 35 others whom he declined to name.
The names and nationalities of other accused, listed as "wanted absconders", were not known.
Kasab, a Pakistani national, is being held in the Arthur Road Jail since he was captured during the attacks, nearly three months ago.
The lone captured terrorist had not been formally charged so far. Nine other terrorists were killed during the 60-hour carnage inside luxury hotels and a Jewish centre in Mumbai. The formal filing of charges now paves the way for Kasab's trial.
If found guilty, Kasab and those charged with waging war with India could face the death sentence.
"The trial will be conducted in the Z-security special court to be presided over by special judge M.L. Tahilyani inside the Arthur Road Jail precincts," Nikam said.
"Special security arrangements are being made there. We are making efforts to complete the trial within the next three to six months," he said, shortly after stepping out of the metropolitan magistrate's court.
While Fahim and Sabahuddin were present along with their lawyers, Kasab was not brought to the court on security grounds.
"However, we informed the court that Kasab will be given a copy of the charge sheet in jail and his acknowledgement will be submitted to the magistrate," Nikam said.
The accused have been framed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosives Act, Terrorist Act, Customs Act, and several others.
The offences listed are serious ones like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, conspiracy of terror, trespassing, damaging public property, waging war against the nation and unlawful activities.
The law officer moved an application before magistrate M.J. Mirza seeking permission to file a supplementary charge sheet since more investigations are required to be carried out given the magnitude of the case and the gravity of the offences. The magistrate agreed.
Magistrate Mirza also extended the judicial custody of Kasab, Fahim and Sabahuddin till March 9, the next date of hearing for the case.
The charge sheet, which includes the detailed investigations dossier handed over to the Pakistan government, will be later committed to special court headed by judge Tahilyani who will preside over the terror attacks trial.
However, the confessional statement of Kasab was not attached to the charge sheet since the Mumbai police has not received it from the magistrate.
Even the so-called "30 questions" raised by Pakistan about the Mumbai terror attacks probe were not included since the police did not get those questions.
In an unusual occurrence, the charge sheet was filed in English, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu.
Investigators into the case have said that the names of some of the "wanted absconders" figuring in the charge-sheet include LeT operatives like Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Abu Hamza, Zarar Shah and more, believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
It has recounted in detail the entire terror conspiracy from the time it was hatched in Pakistan till its culmination in the brutal attacks in Mumbai lasting nearly 60 hours between Nov 26-29 last year.
The charge sheet provides details of the terrorist and arms training provided to Kasab and his nine associates who were gunned down during the combined security operations.
The terrorists killed in the operation according to the police include: Hafeez Arshad alias Bada Abdul Rehman, Javed alias Abu Ali, Shoaib alias Abu Soheb, Umar (all shot dead in Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower); Abdul Rehman, Fahad Ullah alias Abu Fahad (both shot dead in Hotel Trident-Oberoi); Nasir alias Abu Umar, Babar Imran alias Abu Akash (eliminated at Nariman House) and Ismail Khan alias Abu Ismail (killed near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus).
It also reconstructs in detail how the terror journey started in a ship from Karachi Nov 22, the incidents on the high seas, the hijacking of an Indian fishing vessel Kuber, till they landed in a motorised rubber dingy at the small fishing jetty opposite Badhwar Park in Colaba, south Mumbai that day.
Documents from the dossier include items like arms, ammunition, communication equipments and explosives recovered from the dead terrorists and Kasab, reports of the forensic lab, and the DNA reports of articles of daily use, analysis reports of debris from Nariman House, Wadala and Vile Parle, which will help the prosecution fortify it case.
The police has also provided transcripts of taped conversations of the terrorists with their handlers in Pakistan which were intercepted, video-tapes of the terror attacks from the targetted locations, the details of cash and credit cards and other items found from them.

NZ beats India by 7 wickets in 1st Twenty20

Brendon McCullum made 56 not out and shared an unbroken 60-run partnership with Jacob Oram to lead New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India on Wednesday in the first of two Twenty20 cricket internationals.
McCullum fashioned a restrained half century from 48 balls with three sixes and two fours to steer New Zealand past India's total of 162 for eight with seven balls to spare. New Zealand was 166 for three in the 19th over when Oram (29 not out) struck the game's 41st six to clinch the win.
India's innings, highlighted by an unbeaten 61 by Suresh Raina, included 13 sixes, one fewer than the record for a single innings in a Twenty20 international. When New Zealand peppered the short boundaries at AMI Stadium with 11 more sixes, delighting a crowd in excess of 16,000, it established a record for most sixes in an international Twenty20 match.
India appeared to have posted a competitive total after losing the toss and being sent in on a slow pitch which occasionally confounded batsmen with low bounce.
Raina played a steadying hand in an innings which progressed in fits and starts with alternate clutches of sixes and wickets.
Virender Sehwag opened the innings explosively with three sixes from the first three balls he faced before he was bowled by Tim Southee for 26.
Later, Yusuf Pathan smashed three straight sixes from the first three balls bowled by rookie off-spinner Nathan McCullum _ brother of Brendon _ and was caught on the boundary by Oram attempting a fourth.
Raina hit two successive sixes to raise his 50 from 38 balls. His innings lasted 43 balls and included five sixes and two fours.
McCullum hit two sixes and a four from three balls to raise New Zealand's hundred as the home team carefully but relentlessly chased down the Indian total.
"It was a really pleasing win," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said. "In all aspects we played well. India put us under real pressure and to still get up and win was a good effort."
McCullum cleverly guided the New Zealand run chase, opening the innings and batting through all of its 18.5 overs. He lost his opening partner, Jesse Ryder, with the total at two but was helped by Martin Guptill (41) to revive the innings with 54 runs for the second wicket.
Ross Taylor made a valuable 31, guiding New Zealand to 106 for three, then old heads McCullum and Oram steered New Zealand home.
India skipper M.S. Dhoni said the manner in which New Zealand went about its innings was educational.
"We got off to a good start but we failed to approach it as a 20-over match," he said. "There are 20 overs and people fail to realize its a decently long game.
"Nobody took responsibility to stay there in the middle and bat through because it's important to have wickets in hand at the end.
The second match is at Wellington on Friday. The tour also involves a limited-overs series and three test matches.

The amazing anti-India syllabus of Pak madrassas

"India was part of Pakistan before 1947.

In the 1965 war, Pakistan conquered several areas of India and staring at a certain defeat, New Delhi requested the United Nations to arrange for a ceasefire.

During the 1971 war, the Pakistan Army demonstrated great courage and valour and inflicted humiliating blows on the Indian forces on both the Eastern and Western fronts."
This excerpts may puzzle you, but according to some madrasas in Pakistan, it is nothing, but history. Ten year olds in those madrassas are injected with such and more distorted 'facts', says a confidential Intelligence Bureau report.
Besides the impressionable minds are further indoctrinated with a textbook called 44 ways to support Jihad, written by Anwar-al-Awalaki.
The IB report, which is based on textbooks from madrasas and the interrogation of several arrested terror suspects including those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks ,says that the number of such "anti-India madrasas" is on the rise.
The report says that a typical text book for Class 111 starts with chapters on culture before moving on to subjects like the wars with India.
With the context set, and India painted as the enemy, the textbooks swiftly move on the importance of jihad and martyrdom.
The curriculum also lays a bit of emphasis on English. A chapter teaches the letters of the alphabet with examples like: B for bandook, k for knife, R for rocket, T for tank, and S for sword.
Studies on these madrassas also show that these outfits glorify violence. Even the games the kids play involve shooting practice with air guns and war games.
On culture and history, the textbooks, which are not available in the market and are distributed directly in the madrassas mostly run by the Jammat-ud-Dawa, teach how Muslim saints reformed Hindus and helped abolish their superstition and wrong practices.
A chapter on Muhammad Ali Jinnah states that he saved Muslims from being enslaved by the Hindu Congress party, which encouraged slavery.
A select group of children from these madrassas are then inducted into terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba ,whose group of children is called the 'White Falcons' ,which begins grooming children for jihad right from when they are 10.
The report says that there are around 6,000 madrasas in Pakistan, most of which, an official said, are rooted in such a culture of hate.
"At least half of the madrassas in Pakistan adopt the Lashkar's curriculum and at present there are around 5,83,000 students studying in such madrassas."
"Though most students are from Pakistan, there are also around 16,000 Afghan children and some 18,000 foreign students," the official said.
The report says that outfits like the LeT are very choosy about the induction into such schools.
"They pick and chose children from very poor families. Till, the education is complete, they are taken care of and the families are given some money each month," the officer said.
The report says that some students realise that they are unfit to take up any vocation after a stint in these schools and by the time they reach Class X decide to join other legitimate madrassas which also teach mathematics, science, medicine and other subjects.

'US no longer sees India through prism of Pak'

The US no longer looks at India through the "prism" of Pakistan, according to outgoing US Ambassador to India David Mulford, who describes "de-hyphenating of India-Pakistan obsession" as a major accomplishment of his four-year tenure.
"One of the accomplishments has been to de-hyphenate the India-Pak obsession that was present when I got here. We set out to do that," he told PTI in an interview, his last as the American envoy in India.
He sought to dispel apprehensions that the Barack Obama administration may not be as "warm" towards India as the previous Bush government, saying the new dispensation in Washington realises India's importance and would be "extending" the bilateral relationship that has seen tremendous growth over the last five years.
"The Obama administration shares the view that India is very important country to the US. There is very high regard for India and Indians living in the US. I think the Obama administration is fully aware of this and will seek to extend the relationship. I don't think there is any doubt about it," the outgoing envoy said.
The comments assume significance since there have been apprehensions that the Obama administration would not be as warm and friendly to India as the Bush regime, which went all out to firm up the civil nuclear deal and expanded ties in other areas.
Mulford emphasised that US-India relations should be about India and the US and India's vision for future without having to be "obsessed with every single issue to be looked from the prism of Pakistan and vice versa. That would hold India back from realising its vision."
As he looked back, he identified 2003 as the year that marked "beginning of new phase of relationship that moved forward" and now covers all aspects. Mulford, whose tenure saw significant growth in Indo-US ties marked by landmark nuclear deal, said the two countries are in the process of creating a relationship that will become over time "the or one of the most important relationships" the US has in the world.
"I believe the relationship created during the last five years will be durable, will be sustained and will not move backwards. It will remain a pre-eminent relationship," he underlined.
He emphasised the point that the Indo-US relations, which had not been up to their potential for over five decades despite "affection", have lately undergone a major shift in terms of content.

Indian professionals slam new UK visa curbs

London: A forum representing Indian and other non-European Union professionals Tuesday strongly criticized the new visa restrictions proposed from April to ensure that existing jobs in Britain were first offered to local workers here.
Terming the changes announced by home secretary Jacqui Smith on Sunday as a 'knee-jerk reaction', the highly skilled migrants programme (HSMP) forum alleged that the new curbs showed that the Labour government was 'out of touch' with realities.
Smith announced that from April, the basic requirements to enter Britain under the Tier 1 category of the points-based immigration system will be raised. Over 25,000 people, including many from India, entered Britain under Tier 1 last year.
Also, the qualification and minimum salary levels for Indian and non-EU professionals are to be raised to masters degree and 20,000 pounds from the current requirement of undergraduate degree and 17,000 pounds.
The new restrictions are likely to halve the number of Indian and other non-EU professionals entering Britain every year, according to Smith.

Ambanis break bread together on mother's 75th b'day

Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil today gave their running feud a break as they joined a harmony feast on their mother Kokilaben's 75th birthday celebrations. Mukesh, his wife and children and Anil's family joined the celebrations at Sea-Wind, the Ambani family residence.
Their two sisters and brothers-in-law and children too were present. The family get-together also triggered speculation that this could lead to a rapprochement between Mukesh and Anil, who went their separate way in 2005.
The day started with prayers to god and would end with a vegetarian feast for the about 200 people that includes extended family and friends. Close friend and banker K V Kamath could not take part in the celebrations as he was away in London but friends from various walks of life including from political circles were among those present.
The family was tight-lipped about the get-together. There have been reports now and then about a possible reunion between the Ambanis ever since they shook hands at an industrialists' meet convened by Opposition Leader L K Advani at his residence in the national capital late last year.
The family reunion at Sea-Wind is the third time the siblings have come face-to-face in as many months. It was in Sea-Wind that Kokilaben had hammered a truce deal between Mukesh and Anil in June 2005, after they took their ownership issues to the public domain.

Lok Sabha nod for two percent cuts in excise, service tax

The Lok Sabha Tuesday approved 2-percent cuts in excise duty and service tax proposed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who said resilience of the India economy which grew by an average of 9 percent annually in the last three years will help it overcome the current crisis.
Replying to the debate on the interim budget in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, Mukherjee said the government had taken steps in the past two months to lift the economy and that such steps will bear fruit soon.
He proposed that the 4 percent cut in central value-added tax (Cenvat), announced in December to 12 percent, be extended beyond March 31, while proposing that the excise duty be further reduced from 10 percent to 8 percent.
The foreign minister also proposed that naphtha imported to generate electricity be fully exempted from customs duty, and service tax on taxable services be cut from 12 percent to 10 percent.
In the case of cement, he proposed the excise duty at 8 percent ad valorem or a specific duty of Rs.230 per tonne, whichever was higher, resulting in a gain of Rs.3.50 per bag.
The house later passed by voice vote the interim budget, including the vote-on-account, to help fund the government expenditure till the regular budget is presented by the next government after elections, and passed by parliament.
'I express satisfaction on our overall performance for five years,' Mukherjee said, summing up the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government since it took office under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh May 22, 2004.
During his speech, the foreign minister - who had also tabled the interim budget, since Manmohan Singh, who holds the finance portfolio, is convalescing from a heart surgery - made comparisons with the achievements of the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
'Never in the history of this country we can find a period of three consecutive years of sustainable growth of 9 percent,' he said, adding: 'And the allegation is we have destroyed the economy!'
He said under the NDA regimes, which lasted six years till 2004, the average growth was 5.8 percent, while under the UPA regime, the overall gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by an average of 8.6 percent.
He said, on every count - fiscal deficit, revenue deficit, tax-to-GDP ratio, or the savings and investment rates - his government had turned out much better performance.
At the same time, the revised budgetary estimates during the past five years had always turned out a much better performance compared with what had been budgeted for, said Mukherjee, who was himself finance minister in the 1980s.
'And you call it dismal performance?'
The veteran politician said all this had been achieved despite the high average cost of crude oil in the past few years, when it even touched $147 per barrel last year, as opposed to $27 per barrel during the NDA government.
'Let us have some self-confidence in ourselves,' he said. 'I have expressed deep concern on the impact of the global meltdown. Any responsible finance minister has to express this concern,' he said.
'But I said I have confidence on the resilience of the Indian economy.'
According to the foreign minister, it was because of parliamentary etiquettes that he did not unveil new measures in the interim budget, as he thought it fit for the next government to present a regular budget after elections.

Oscars 2009: On the Red Carpet

The biggest event in Hollywood, the 81st Annual Academy Awards, is underway, and all its biggest stars turned up.
In the midst of all the glamour was the Slumdog Millionaire team: Freida Pinto, Irrfan, Oscar nominee scriptwriter Simon Beaufoy, Madhur Mithal, Christian Colson, Anil Kapoor, Oscar nominee A R Rahman and Dev Patel.
Take a walk down the red carpet.

Freida Pinto makes blue her own, and makes it look good.

Singer Seal arrives with his gorgeous supermodel wife Heidi Klum.

The Slumdog Millionaire children -- Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Tanay Chheda, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Rubina Rafiq Shaikh and Mohammed Azharuddin -- bask in the limelight.

Sean Penn, who has been nominated for his work in Milk, arrives with his wife. The actor has won before for his work in Mystic River.

Anne Hathway, 26, gets her first Oscar nomination, for her work in Rachel Getting Married. In the Oscars' opening act, Hathway sang a duet with host Hugh Jackman, as they introduced nominated film, Frost/Nixon. And they did a fab job!

Oscar nominee Amy Adams (Doubt) embraces her fiance Le Gallo on the red carpet. The actress, however, lost out to Penelope Cruz.

Will Mickey Rourke take home an Oscar today? The actor has been nominated for his work in The Wrestler.

Is blue the winning colour? After Freida, Kate Winslet wears blue. The actress has been nominated in the Best Actress category for The Reader. This is her sixth nom.

Fifteen time nominee Meryl Streep looks radiant on the red carpet. The actress has bagged a nom this year for her work in Doubt.

Penelope Cruz looks stunning in white. She was the first winner at the awards show, bagged an Oscar for Best Supporting Award for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Oscar nominee Marisa Tomei has a laugh while her The Wrestler co-star and nominee Mickey Rourke stands in the background.

India conquers the Oscars

'Chakh le, chakh le, yeh raat shehed hai, chakh le,' loosely translated as 'Taste it, taste it, this night is nectar, taste it.' They're words that embody the way the Slumdog Millionaire team must currently feel on this wildly successful Oscar night. They're words, or course, from the Oscar-winning Jai Ho, words penned by Academy Award winner Gulzar .
Hell, it feels incredible to write a sentence like that. Indian cinema has gone from winning two Oscars in all its lifetime -- a lifetime achievement Honorary Oscar for Satyajit Ray ,one for Bhanu Hathaiya for Costume Design in Gandhi -- to adding three more in the same day. Wow.
Danny Boyle ,that blessed blessed genius, deserves every bit of applause along with his masterpiece, doubters be damned. I loved Slumdog Millionaire the minute I saw it (five stars, et al) in New York City in January. My heart burst with pride as the entire audience of an arthouse theatre rose jubilantly to its feet and stayed there all through during the end credits, revelling in every second of the glorious Jai Ho finale. You can't deny this film its heart. And it captured mine, as this unshamed love letter confessed, while asking random detractors to grow up.
The 2009 Oscars have been swept by an independent British film, and while it's ridiculous for us to appropriate Slumdog Millionaire as our own in any way, it's inevitable that we get goosepimply with excitement for its largely Indian crew.
For AR Rahman ,most incredible of indian composers , who will surely be composing music for the Coppolas and the Cronenbergs of the world. For resul pookutty , the modest yet masterful sound engineer who picked up a statuette for Best Sound Mixing. For Gulzarsa'ab, for being such a rockstar and Bollywood's greatest poet, and writing songs that tell us it's okay to burn your fingers as long as you're reaching for the stars.
For Mumbai chica Freida Pinto ,who walked arm in arm with the legendary Liam Neeson to give out an Oscar, a star after her very first film. For Anil and Irrfan Khan ,who, along with co-director Loveleen Tandon and the film's incredible kids, joined producer Christian Colson as the film's entire crew assembled on stage to accept cinema's most widely acknowledged honour, the Best Picture Oscar.
For India, which proved that its talent -- its technicians, its musicians, its actors -- are world-beaters on every level.
And this even as smile pinki , a documentary based in India, beat out The Final Inch, another documentary based in India, to win Best Documentary Short Subject. We've always known we were the land of a billion stories, and now the world wants to just tap into that magnificent sea.
Outside of India, the awards were dull and predictable. Sean Penn in Milk edged out Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler to win Best Actor, and while debatable (I'm in Mickey's corner all the way for an extraordinary performance), this really wasn't an upset. Kate Winslet finally got her Oscar, that insanely talented actress getting nominated for six trophies over the years, and this when she's just 33. Benjamin Button won unsurprisingly for Best Makeup, and Heath Ledger was celebrated for his now iconic turn in The Dark Knight . So yeah, outside of India the Oscars were dullsville.
But then they were hardly ever outside India, innit? Slumdog won 8 out of 9 possible categories, while Smile Pinki won 1. Freida Pinto got to present the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. And Ben Kingsley, the actor routinely mistaken for Mahatma Gandhi by Indian newspapers every year, stepped up on stage during the Best Actor presentation. This was as Indian as the Oscars could possibly be without a Daler Mehndi performance and Hugh Jackman in a dhoti.
(Aside: it was also a pretty fun night for a comicbook geek. Wolverine hosted the Oscars, Marv from Sin City almost won, Iron Man deserved to win but the Joker stole his award away. Par for any crossover-filled comicbook annual, heh.)
It's been an incredible night for India, and AR Rahman carried our baton in spectacular style, breathlessly delivering knockout performances of his nominated songs seconds after picking up his first Oscar for Best Score.
Many years ago, in one of his most iconic performances, Amitabh Bachchan had boasted of all his possessions, of his bungalow and car and much more, and asked what his brother possibly had to match it all. Now, with Bachchan critiquing the film -- one that celebrates him like crazy -- vociferously since before he even watched it, AR Rahman used the same words that were used to shut the legendary actor up in the classic film.