Infosys cites poor performance, fires 2,100 employees

With companies keen on maximum utilisation of employees and low tolerance to poor performance in the backdrop of global economic turmoil, nearly 2,100 employees in software firm Infosys have faced the axe.
"Some of these employees have been asked to go while some have left on their own," V Balakrishnan, CFO of the Bangalore-based company, told PTI on Saturday.
Prior to asking the employees to leave, they were put on a performance improvement course and those who showed no improvement were asked to leave while some others quit, he said.
"Tolerance to poor performance is very low given the current economic scenario," said Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan.
Usually, the employees who showed poor performance were given some more time to improve themselves, but this time there had been no such consideration, he said.
Both the officials said the sacking was part of annual routine, which usually formed five per cent of the total number of employees but this time it was much lower.
Some of the employees had been "outplaced", Kris said, which refers to the firm hiring the services of placement agencies to help the employees to get placements in other firms. Infosys has a workforce of 105,000, including trainees.

PM lacks authority; Sonia lacks accountability: Advani

New Delhi: Reiterating his charge that Manmohan Singh is a weak prime minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani said Manmohan Singh had "voluntarily abdicated authority".
In an interview to CNN-IBN TV channel, Advani said: "You have a situation in which the prime minister holds office but has no authority, while the person who wields the authority has no accountability", hinting at Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
"This is not a democracy," said Advani, adding that Manmohan Singh had "voluntarily abdicated authority".
He also said Manmohan Singh's weakness as prime minister was "patently" visible and "very clear".
"I have known cases where the prime minister has proposed some course of action but he is not able to implement it unless he gets clearance from the Congress party president," Advani said.
The BJP leader said: "I described him as a weak prime minister in the context of the fact that I have seen prime ministers earlier who had the support of only four MPs in the house and yet they were never at a disadvantage."
"I have seen Chandrashekar, I have seen H.D. Deve Gowda," Advani added.
His comments come a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during an interaction with women journalists in New Delhi, said he did not wish to have a television debate with Advani as he did not want to accord Advani the privilege of being "an alternative prime minister".

I look at the world through the eyes of the poor: Rahul

Raipur: Replying to opposition parties that criticise him for his brief speeches, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said Saturday evening that he would rather reach out to people and understand them.
"The opposition says I don't give long speeches. That is true as I don't have the habit of delivering speeches for two-three hours. I give brief speeches because I try to understand and reach out to you people," Gandhi said at a public meeting at Rajim in the Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency, some 45 km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.
Pointing at the gathering, the Congress MP said: "I need your trust. I look at the world through the eyes of the poor but the opposition does not, that is why they treat my stay at poor people's houses as drama.
" Gandhi said the Congress party's biggest fight is "against the poverty".
"If India will rise, everyone will progress included the poor, Dalits and tribals. But the opposition does not talk about poor people's problems.
"They talk about terrorism though the fact is that parliament was attacked and an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked and taken to Kandahar during their (the Bharatiya Janata Party-Led National Democratic Alliance's) regime," Gandhi remarked in his barely 10-minute speech.
He said that during the five years of its rule, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government focused on pro-poor schemes and launched several welfare initiatives including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
This was Gandhi's third visit of the state in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections. Chhattisgarh has 11 Lok Sabha seats and goes to polls in the first phase, April 16.

Here is how Bush spends his retirement in Texas

Eight years after serving as the 43rd President of the United States, George W Bush loves to lead the simple life in Dallas, Texas.
Bush almost always arrives at his Dallas office by 7:30 a.m., a few minutes before many of his employees. He works on his book with the help of a speechwriter, leaves for a late afternoon bike ride and spends his evenings reading or watching televised golf or baseball.
Neither he nor Laura like to cook, so they have relied on food brought by friends or prepared meals from EatZi's, a local market.
Their 1.13-acre property -- valued at about 2.4 million dollars -- is cocooned by 40 acres of private land and a trout-filled lake.
Two oak trees shade the front yard. The Secret Service occupies a house next door. A barrier of orange cones, two police cruisers and four Secret Service agents who scan the perimeter with binoculars restricts entrance into the cul-de-sac. The Bushes plan to install a permanent gate outside the cul-de-sac later this year.
He spends most of his weekends with his wife Lauraat their isolated ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he likes to wake up early, roam the 1,600 acres with a chainsaw and cut new bike trails.
Most of his weekdays are spent 95 miles north, in Preston Hollow, an upper-class section of Dallas where he lived for seven years before becoming governor of Texas in 1995. He has declined to give interviews, except to discuss baseball or his book, and neighbours remain silent so as not to violate his privacy.
About once each week, Bush travels to give a speech or raise money for his 300 million dollar presidential center, but he always moves inside an insulated bubble.
On a trip to Calgary last month, he flew into town on a private jet and ate in a private room at a restaurant with three friends and the Secret Service. Eighty police officers provided extra security.
Bush works with a dozen aides from his administration, socializes with friends he has known for decades and lives in a conservative neighbourhood that voted for him -- both times -- by a ratio greater than 2 to 1.
He dismisses analysis of his presidency as premature, regrets little and refrains from engaging in the snippety back-and-forth between the Obama administration and Bush loyalists such as Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.
Bush feels content with his presidency, friends said. Now he will try to explain his two terms by writing a book and building a presidential center at Dallas's Southern Methodist University, so that history will have the means to judge him fairly

Pakistan claims to arrest Indian planning terror attack

The authorities claim to have arrested an Indian national and five Pakistanis who were said to be planning a terror attack on a police academy near the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi.
While the Indian national was arrested Friday morning, the other five were arrested later in the day on the basis of information provided by him, Dawn News channel said Saturday.
It said the group was planning to attack the police college at Sihala that lies within the Islamabad federal capital territory.
'The Indian was wearing five thick shirts and a belt,' the channel quoted a a police official as saying, adding that he was arrested on suspicion after being seen in the area.
An investigation team has been set up to question him, deputy inspector general of police and college commandant Fateh Sher Joyia told DawnNews.
Maps of important Pakistani cities along with some phone numbers were recovered from his possession, Joyia added.
'Sources said the alleged Indian spy admitted that he and others were planning terror attacks on the police college,' the channel said.
Officials declined to give the name and other information on the Indian, saying details could be shared only after the investigations had been completed.
Curiously enough, no further details are available about a blast followed by firing late Friday near the Manawan police training academy on the outskirts of Lahore.
Gunshots were heard half a kilometre from the academy, an eyewitness said.
Heavily armed gunmen had attacked the academy March 30, holding some 400 trainees hostage for nearly eight hours before the security forces recaptured the complex. Eight trainees, an equal number of attackers and two civilians were killed in the assault.

Only Congress can provide stable government, strong PM: Sonia

Ridiculing the launch of various alliances ahead of the general elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Saturday only her party was capable of providing a stable and efficient government and termed Manmohan Singh a strong prime minister.
Gandhi targeted senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani for terming Manmohan Singh a weak prime minister.
Gandhi pointed out that when Advani was home minister, India witnessed a number of terrorist attacks - from the one on the parliament complex to that on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar - and his cabinet colleague Jaswant Singh had accompnied a group of terrorists to Afghanistan, setting them free in return for the passengers of a hijacked airliner.
'Advani should think all this before blaming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,' she said in her address at an election rally in the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, about 200 km from here.
It was her first election meeting in Bihar ahead of the first phase of polls on April 16 for 13 of the state's 40 seats.
She praised Manmohan Singh for his successful diplomatic response to terrorism that 'exposed and isolated Pakistan' before the world.
'Only the Congress party is capable of providing a stable and efficient government with a strong prime minister,' Gandhi said.
Without naming either the Third Front or the 'fourth front' - which comprises Congress allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Gandhi said no party except the Congress was in a position to lead a front ahead of elections and, if necessary, afterwards.
She also told the people not to be misled by such political fronts and their leaders. 'Jitne morcha, utne neta aur utne PM candidates (a lot of fronts, as many leaders and as many prime ministerial candidates),' she said in Hindi.
She also reiterated that the Congress is committed to overall development and prosperity of all without discriminating on the basis of caste and community.

UP Govt justifies NSA against Varun

The Uttar Pradesh government and the Pilibhit District Magistrate on Saturday responded to the Supreme Court's notice seeking to know the basis for invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi.
The state government, in its 35-page response to the apex court has denied Varun Gandhi's charge that he was booked under the NSA due to a political conspiracy.
The state government and the District Magistrate of Pilibhit justified their decision of invoking the NSA against Gandhi by saying that the speech made by him in an election meeting in Pilibhit on March 6 had "communal overtones."
They also accused Varun Gandhi of creating "chaos" while surrendering before a court on March 28.
The state government said that the inflammatory anti-Muslim remarks made by Varun and the inappropriate manner in which he surrendered amount to the breach of public order warranting invocation of the National Security Act against him.
On April 2, Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan had sought an explanation for slapping of the NSA against Varun Gandhi.
Varun Gandhi had earlier moved the Supreme Court challenging the UP Government's decision to slap the NSA against him.
Gandhi said the decision of invoking the NSA against him for his alleged hate speeches in Pilibhit was passed with political motivation and without following due procedure.he petition filed through advocate Sandeep Kapoor said: "The entire attempt is a combined effort of the District Magistrate of Pilibhit and Uttar Pradesh Government to ensure that he (Varun Gandhi) is not able to contest and campaign for general elections scheduled for next month so as to sabotage his electoral debut".

Advani promises zero-tolerance policy on terrorism

Citing the example of the US, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Saturday the party would adopt a 'zero-tolerance policy' on terrorism if voted to power.
'The United States did not face any terrorist attack after the 9/11 terrorist strike only because it adopted a tough approach and policy against terrorists. The BJP too will adopt a tough attitude and adopt a zero-tolerance policy if voted to power,' the party's prime ministerial candidate said at a rally at the Gandhi Maidan late evening.
He appealed to the people to vote for 'a nationalist party - BJP - because if BJP wins in this elections, India will win'.
'If you give us an opportunity at the centre, I will prove that the 21st century belongs to India just as the 20th century was dominated by western countries,' the veteran leader told the well-attended rally.
He said the states governed by the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners have set an example of good governance, security and development including in Bihar.
Advani showered praises on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh for bringing in development in the state, which was created in November 2000 by the BJP-led government at the centre, and termed him a good administrator.

I objected to Tytler, Sajjan's candidature: Pranab

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said he had objected to the nomination of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as Congress candidates for the Lok Sabha polls when the issue of the 1984 ani-Sikh riots again came to the fore.
'I had objected when the issue came to the fore. Some said we should ignore it. I said that's not right,' Mukherjee said during an interactive programme on Bengali news channel Star Ananda.
Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, originally named as Congress Lok Sabha contestants from Delhi, were pulled out of the race after a journalist Jarnail Singh hurled his shoe at union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in protest against the clean chit given by the Central Bureau of Investigation to Tytler in a 1984 riots case.
Both have been accused of having incited mobs to attack Sikhs in the riots that followed then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
Both have denied their involvement in the riots, which left more than 3,000 Sikhs dead.
Jarnail Singh's action triggered massive agitations by Sikhs in Delhi and Punjab demanding the denial of tickets to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
Asked whether the party had any inkling of the strong reaction that their candidature would evoke, Mukherjee said: 'It's not that we didn't have any such inkling. But we thought since they have been Lok Sabha MPs for the last five years, the discontent against them had died down.'

No alliance will reach 272 mark: Poll survey

None of the political alliances will make it to the magical figure of 272 required to form the government after the Lok Sabha elections, even as the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will get 203 seats, according to a survey conducted by TV channel Star News.
A statement by the channel Saturday said both the UPA and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would have to look for partners outside their respective coalitions.
The survey, conducted jointly with pollster Nielsen, gives 191 seats to the NDA and 104 to the Third Front comprising the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and others.
The survey predicts that the Congress, on its own, would win 155 seats followed by the BJP with 147.
The statement said the so-called fourth front consisting of Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) would get 39 seats, while others would win six.
The survey, conducted March 26-April 3, took a sample size of 50,400 voters spread over 224 constituencies across all the states.
This was the second opinion poll by Star-Nielsen. The first had predicted that the ruling UPA coalition would get 257 seats, including those won by the Samajwadi Party, RJD and LJP, who are now going to the polls independently of the Congress.
The earlier survey gave the NDA 184 seats.

Alert in Pakistan, US embassy shuts operations

Islamabad: The United States' Embassy in Islamabad suspended visa and routine consular services on Friday due to "heightened security', a spokesman said.
The embassy will provide emergency consular services for Americans and the routine operations will resume on Monday. The US consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar would be open today, the spokesman said.
The spokesman did not give details about the security concerns but the move appeared to be linked to heightened security across Pakistan on the occasion of Good Friday.
The Pakistani capital has also been targeted in a recent series of terrorist attacks, with a suicide bomber killing eight security personnel at a paramilitary camp in the heart of the city on April 4.
A statement issued by the US embassy said staff should be careful while travelling to public places, restaurants and hotels due to "serious security threats" to American citizens.
Offices of several international donor organizations in Islamabad would also remain closed today due to security threats, reports said.

Mega mania over Nano: Tata raking in interest-free cash

After selling forms like hot cakes, Tata Motors is now geared up to book as many passengers for Nano which will help it to tide over the credit crunch caused by the Jaguar-Land Rover acquisition.
Tata Motors started bookings for the small car on Thursday which will continue till April 25. The automobile major has signed deals with 18 banks and financial institutions offering loans for the car. A customer willing to book a car will have the option to make a payment between Rs 95,000 to Rs 1,40,000 depending on the car's model or take a loan from one of the financial institutions. It is not guaranteed that every one booking the car will get delivery in the first phase of booking it as deliveries will be based on a lottery.
If the company gets bookings for two lakh cars from self-financed applicants, it will be able to garner over Rs 2,300 crore as booking amount. This is interest-free for almost a year. In the first phase, one lakh lucky applicants will get delivery of the car and they will be sold the car at the price as declared during the time of launch. Those not selected through the lottery will have to pay the prevailing market price at the time of delivery.
However, the applicants not taking a bank loan (self-financing the booking amount) and not getting the car in the first phase will not only have their money blocked for almost a year, they will also not be paid any interest during the waiting period. Those taking a loan will have to foot the interest charged by the financial institutions without being able to enjoy the Nano ride till their names are announced in the second or the third phase. It is during this interest-free period that Tata Motors will have access to the moneys and will be in a position to use it as they feel suitable. It is improbable that more than one lakh will be delivered before March 2010 so the company will have access to the interest-free cash till then. "This year we will produce 50,000 cars from the Pantnagar facility and, as the Sanand facility comes onstream by the end of this year, we will be able to produce 2.5 lakh cars which can be ramped up to half a million per year," the company's managing director Ravi Kant had said at the car's launch.
The Nano project had to be shifted from Singur to Sanand after vehement protests by the Trinamool Congress demanding the company return to farmers the land on which the project was to start. The company spent around Rs 2,000 crore on the Nano project. Within 60 days of closure of bookings on April 25, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 1,00,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries through a computerised random selection procedure. The sale of application forms for the Nano started on April 1 and the response has been "very encouraging", the company said in a statement.

Tendulkar to launch his wax figure on April 13

Mumbai: Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will launch his new wax figure, flown directly from Madame Tassaud's museum in London, on April 13 at a Mumbai hotel.
Tendulkar is the first Indian sports personality to be featured in the famous Madame Taussad's museum.

Incidentally, it is also the first time that a Madame Taussad figure will be launched overseas.

The museum decided to flew Tendulkar's wax figure 7000 kms to Mumbai just for a meeting with the cricketing legend.

The wax figure has taken only three months to create and is dressed in the master blaster-donated white cricketing jersey.

IPL could have been held in India in two parts: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram reckons the Indian Premier League could have been held in India in two parts if the organisers had taken into account the security concerns and not put pressure on the state governments.
"We could have done it, but only if they (IPL officials) had reflected on the concerns of the police and not try to pressurise the (state) chief ministers," Chidambaram said.
"I am not letting out any secret by that. If they had only listened to the concerns of the police, this tournament could have been played in two parts. First the league part and then give a break for the critical three or four week period and then the knock-out part," he told CNN-IBN news channel.
IPL, which coincided with the general elections in the country, was shifted to South Africa after the government expressed reservations on providing security for the tournament. BCCI President Shashank Manohar had cited "the attitude of government" as the reason for shifting the IPL to South Africa.
"But they (IPL organisers) were trying to be too clever by putting the pressure on chief ministers and ultimately the police told the chief ministers that 'sorry, we cannot provide security'," he said.

India can beat anyone anywhere, says Harbhajan

Fresh from a rare test series victory in New Zealand, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes India have what it takes to beat the best in the world on their home soil.
India's test series win in New Zealand this week was their first in four decades. It was also their third successive test series victory since beating top-ranked Australia in November.
"This team is capable of winning anywhere," Harbhajan told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"If we play to our potential, stick to the basics and focus on the job, we have the team that can beat anyone anywhere."
India defeated Australia and England in back-to-back series at home last year and are once again considered a true force in world cricket.
India have yet to win a test series in Australia, although they squared a close series 1-1 in 2004 and lost a controversial test series 2-1, before winning a tri-series last year.
India won their first test in South Africa in 2006 and emerged surprise winners of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup there two years ago.
The 28-year-old bowler said winning matches overseas has made a big difference.
"The guys are confident, confident of performing in any conditions," said Harbhajan, the side's main spinner since Anil Kumble retired last year.
"I think this team can win anywhere -- South Africa, Australia -- we have got the ability to exploit any conditions."
Harbhajan is his country's second most successful spinner and emerged the highest wicket-taker in New Zealand with 16 wickets.
BEST YET?
Their success streak, including a 1-0 win over England, has triggered debate in the cricket-mad country as to whether the current side are the best yet.
India are ranked third behind Australia and South Africa in the test rankings and the batting-heavy team has found a potent new ball pair in the wily Zaheer Khan and quick Ishant Sharma.
The pair have played a significant role in the last three series victories and are regarded as the best new ball pair in the business.
"Zaheer has bowled beautifully to give India early breakthroughs," Harbhajan said of the left-armer. "Ishant is still raw, and he needs to be focused. He is a talented bowler."
Harbhajan, who has taken 330 test wickets and over 200 one-day wickets, did not get drawn into the debate of whether the team is India's best yet.
"I won't want to compare between eras," said Harbhajan.
"But a batting like up of (Virender) Sehwag, Gautam (Gambhir) ... (Rahul) Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, (Vangipurappu) Laxman, Yuvraj (Singh)... I'd say it is one of the best. It's an exciting team."

Shoe thrown at Navin Jindal in election rally

In what appears to be a fast-catching trend, a retired schoolteacher today hurled a shoe at Congress MP Naveen Jindal during an election rally in Kurukshetra constituency, from where the industrialist is contesting the Lok Sabha polls. While throwing the shoe at Jindal, Ram Kumar, the retired teacher said he is doing so in protest of the policies of the Congress.

Serious threat to disrupt polls: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said there was a 'serious threat' by terrorists to disrupt the coming elections in India and admitted his government had failed to ward off terror attacks.
'There is a serious threat. There is no doubt that terrorists have not given up the evil design to destabilise our country to interfere with the poll process. The successful poll process in Jammu and Kashmir has not been liked by some forces abroad,' Manmohan Singh said during an interaction with women journalists at the Hotel Taj Palace here.
'Every effort is being made to disrupt the poll process through infiltration. We are alert and have to be alert to deal with the menace,' he said to members of the Indian Women's Press Corps.
Referring to the terror attacks that occurred in the country in the past few years, Manmohan Singh said: 'Let me be candid. We have not been successful in warding off terrorist attacks. This requires greater attention.'
'Under the new home minister, we have come out with a new document - which sets out our strategy. There is no way but to strengthen intelligence, state police forces and to strengthen our ability to deal with these terrorist attacks, to ensure that the fallout is minimal,' he said.
'You must remember India is country of one billion people. I cannot discuss in public how the US deals with terrorism and Indian cannot.
He said India could not emulate some of the 'draconian' methods that the US used to deal with terrorism, he added.

PM takes on Advani, keeps door open for Left

New Delhi: Less than a week before the elections, a combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he did not want to accord Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani the status of an "alternative prime minister", kept open the door for Left support and lauded the Congress party decision to drop Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as poll candidates.
In a rare interaction with about 100 women journalists at the Taj Palace Hotel, the prime minister was in a campaign mode, questioning Advani's own record when he was in power, made light of his challenge for a TV debate and asserted he had been a decisive prime minister in the last five years.
Attacking Advani for repeatedly calling him a weak prime minister, Manmohan Singh retorted: "I am not used to abusive language. That is the culture inherited from parents, from teachers and the concept of what Indianness is."
"Using harsh language does not solve any problem and accentuates conflict," he said in his interaction with members of the Indian Women's Press Corps.
Alluding to Advani's challenge to him for a American-style nationally televised debate, Manmohan Singh said that I can't match "Advaniji in public speaking or asserting things.
"I am not a good speaker, but I take decisions.
"I believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating," he asked.
"The BJP has not allowed parliament to function. The BJP shied away from all these discussions and now Advani wants to come and debate with me. And I don't want to give him the privilege that he is an alternative prime minister," he said.
He then went on to question the record of Advani when the NDA government was at the centre. "What is the record of Advaniji? He was present at the time when Babri Masjid was demolished. If he was a strong leader, he would have staked his reputation in preventing the carnage".
Singh said that as per the BJP's manifesto in 1999, the first priority after coming to power would be to have a white paper on ISI. "He completely forgot that promise in five years of BJP government," he said.
He then pointed out that the BJP government had to send its foreign minister to talk to the Taliban in Kandahar and referred to the Gujarat riots which took place during the tenure Advani as home minister.
Manmohan Singh also took on Advani for taunting him for not contesting Lok Sabha polls. "There have been PMs from Rajya Sabha. Advani has to amend the constitution to ensure that his wishes prevail. Indira Gandhi had been one for one and half years, H.D. Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral too," he replied when asked whether he was planning to contest Lok Sabha polls. Speaking if he will take Left support in a post-election scenario to form the government, the prime minister said: "I have successfully led a coalition government. For four and a half years, Left was quite happy."
"Only one issue, on the nuclear issue, they parted ways. I have great regard and respect for my Left colleagues. I have repeatedly said that I greatly regret their leaving," Manmohan Singh said.
"As for the future, who can judge. We will cross that bridge when we go there," he added.
He felt that the Left parties or the "so-called Third Front" cannot form the government on their own and were merely helping to strengthen the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"I sincerely believe that by themselves they (Left parties) cannot form the government (after the election). They can only divide the secular vote," Manmohan Singh said.
"Witting or unwittingly, Left parties are strengthening the BJP," he added.
A day after Congress withdrew the candidatures of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from Delhi, Singh said his party is sensitive to the feelings of the Sikh community.
"That the decisions have been reversed shows the sensitivity of the Congress party to the Sikh community. Der aaye durust aaye (Better late than never), therefore compliment the Congress party," he said.
An emotional Manmohan Singh had apologised in parliament on behalf of the country for the death of over 3,000 Sikhs in the riots that followed former prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.
Manmohan Singh also denied the charges that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report was manipulated in favour of Jagdish Tytler.
"I was not informed or consulted. When I came to of it (about the clean chit), I spoke to the CBI director. He said it was routine report made in connection with court case. Any charge that we have manipulated the CBI report is totally false."

Pakistan claims Indian hand in Lahore attack; India, Sri Lanka rebut

Lahore/New Delhi/Colombo: Lahore's police chief sprang a surprise Friday, suggesting an Indian hand in the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the city last month, a suggestion that New Delhi and Colombo promptly trashed.
"With the help of the security agencies, we have made much progress and our investigations are continuing. But one thing I can tell you is that there is strong evidence of an Indian hand," Lahore police chief Pervez Rathore told reporters in Pakistan's cultural capital.
India rubbished the charge. "It's a red herring and does not serve any purpose," was Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma's immediate riposte in New Delhi.
"Nobody has ever accused India of such things. Rather, we are the victims of attacks from Pakistani soil. They should put their own house in order," Sharma added.
Sri Lanka too said there was no change in its position that India was not involved in the terror strike.
"Our Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama had clearly said last month there was no Indian involvement in the attack on our cricketers in Lahore. We continue to main that position and there is no change in that," a Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry official told IANS in Colombo. Rathore's claim is surprising, since an investigation report Pakistan had submitted to Sri Lanka on the March 3 attack does not mention any Indian involvement.
On March 3, a group of 12 young terrorists sprayed bullets and fired rocket propelled grenades at the coach carrying Sri Lankan players to Lahore's Gaddafi International Stadium for the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan.
Six players and the team's assistant coach were injured. Six Pakistani police officials escorting the bus, as also two civilians, were killed in the attack, which shook the entire cricketing world. The Sri Lankan government immediately canceled the tour and flew the team back home. Addressing a media conference in Colombo March 9, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Bogollagama had firmly ruled out suggestions of Indian hand in the attack and said Colombo had "conveyed this position to Pakistan".
Pointing out that India has been helping the island nation in the fight against terrorism, Bogollagama, however, said the involvement of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the attack could not be ruled out.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani media, too, has deprecated the government tendency to suggest an Indian hand in the attack.
The "flurry of charges" linking India to the attack "make no sense at all", an editorial in a leading English daily said March 5, while another cautioned that such finger-pointing would only widen the India-Pakistan rift.
"The flurry of charges from the media and members of the government that our neighbour to the east may have had a hand make no sense at all - given that the gunmen have not been apprehended and no other evidence points in this particular direction," The News said in an editorial headlined "No closer to the truth".
On its part, the Daily Times referred to the "planting" of a police report that apparently warned that India's spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was planning to target the Sri Lankan cricketers and said it was meant to "widen the rift between India and Pakistan and bring relief to the terrorist elements under pressure from the Pakistan army in the tribal areas".
The editorial was headlined "Reaching out for denial again".

Agencies will cover IPL tournament in South Africa

London: The Associated Press will cover this year's IPL cricket tournament in South Africa after organizers dropped unacceptable conditions on media outlets covering the event.
The AP and major international news organizations Reuters and Agence France-Presse had sought to persuade Indian Premier League organizers to change their minds about terms and conditions imposed on media coverage of the five-week long Twenty20 competition, starting on April 18.

The News Media Coalition, an association that represents a worldwide collection of news organizations, said it agreed to the deal with IPL chief executive Lalat Modi.

"The outcome allows us to provide coverage of what promises to be a newsworthy spectacle. We are grateful for the time that the IPL's officers have put into our successful dialogue," NMC spokesman Andrew Moger said.

Modi said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the global news media industry."

The main sticking point, a clause that barred news organizations from distributing news and photos to specialized cricket Web sites, has been removed following negotiations.

"It's a great outcome," said Dave Tomlin, the AP's associate general counsel. "Cricket is big news and we want to cover it. Now we can."

The world's major news agencies declined to cover last year's inaugural tournament because of similar issues. This year's tournament has been switched to South Africa because of security concerns in India.

The tournament features most of the world's leading cricketers signed on for eight Indian team franchises. It includes Australia captain Ricky Ponting as well as England's Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

Somali pirates negotiate with US Navy over hostage

In a dramatic Indian Ocean standoff Thursday, Somali pirates held the captain of a US-operated vessel hostage on a stranded lifeboat and were negotiating with US Navy officials who arrived on a destroyer.
The USS Bainbridge, part of a coalition naval force sent to combat piracy in the region, arrived early Thursday morning and had made contact with the lifeboat, according to a spokesman for Maersk, the company that operates the Maersk Alabama cargo ship.
The Alabama, whose crew fought off Wednesday's attack, has steamed away from the area and was headed toward its original destination of Mombasa, Kenya.
But captain Richard Phillips, who was snatched by the hijackers in the struggle, was still held on a lifeboat the attackers took from the Alabama. The lifeboat is out of fuel, US officials said, meaning it has no getaway options.
'We are monitoring the situation obviously very closely,' US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Washington. 'The safe return of the captain is the top priority.'
President Barack Obama was getting regular updates on the hostage situation, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Pirates Wednesday boarded and seized the Maersk Alabama, with 20 US citizens on board.
The event was a watermark in the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa for two reasons: it was the first time a ship with a US crew had been seized, and the first time seamen have successfully fought back against the Somali pirates.
The 17,000-tonne Alabama, owned by the Danish firm Maersk, was taken in the Indian Ocean, around 500 km off the Somali coast, and is carrying food supplies and aid for three African countries.
Maersk spokesman Kevin Speers said when the ship makes port, 'the crew can be repatriated to the US and reunited with their families'.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was helping the Navy negotiate the captain's release. Navy forces are reluctant to storm ships to free crew members being held hostage, instead concentrating on preventative measures.
Somali pirates have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks after a brief lull. The Maersk Alabama was the sixth ship to have been seized since Saturday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, called for a stronger and increased international naval presence off the Somali coast.
He said the increasing incidents of piracy were 'an insult to international legality' and that these 'acts of criminality must not be allowed to follow the same path of impunity of the past'.
The 32,000-tonne British-owned Malaspina Castle, flying a Panama flag, was seized Monday along with its crew of 24 from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and the Philippines.
Taiwanese fishing vessel MV Win Far was taken on the same day near the Seychelles. Its crew of 30 is from Taiwan, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A French yacht, a Yemeni tugboat and a German container ship were also seized over the weekend.
Pirate gangs in 2008 seized dozens of vessels and earned tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, prompting the international community to hurriedly send warships to the region.
Around 15 warships from the European Union, a coalition task force and individual countries such as Russia, the US, India and China patrol an area of about 2.85 million sq km.
However, the pirates are now going further, venturing into the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Somalia, to avoid the patrols.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the military was working with its allies to see how to develop a broader plan to deal with piracy in the region.
'This is an old scourge,' she said. 'We will be consulting closely and widely to determine ... what further steps the international community believes should be taken.'
The United Nations and African Union, together with the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the European Union were to meet April 23 to discuss the security situation in Somalia.

Taliban website used US host, says Washington Post

Taliban website used a US-based host for over a year to boast of attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan before the deception was uncovered and the account was pulled out, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The Houston-based web-hosting outfit said it simply rented cyberspace to the account holder and had no clue about its Taliban connections.
For more than a year, the militant group used the site, claiming to be the voice of the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan', to rally its followers and keep a running tally of suicide bombings, rocket attacks and raids against the US and allied troops. The cost of the service: roughly $70 a month, payable by credit card, the newspaper said.
The Taliban's account was pulled last week when a blogger noticed the connection and called attention to it, the Post said.
However, the odd pairing of violently anti-American extremists and US technology companies continues elsewhere and appears to be growing, it added.
Intelligence officials and private experts cite dozens of instances in which Islamist militants sought out US internet firms - known for their reliable service and easy terms that allow virtual anonymity - and used these to incite attacks on Americans.
In some cases, the complaints come from governments.
Pakistan has been complaining to US officials about militants' use of North American internet services since late last year, when investigations into the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, which involved Pakistanis, revealed that the attackers had communicated using Internet phone calls routed through another server based in Houston.
The newspaper quoted US and Pakistani officials as saying the issue had raised tensions within diplomatic and intelligence circles in both countries and had reignited a high-level internal debate over the legality and efficacy of shutting off or restricting access to such services.
A senior Pakistani official said repeated requests to Washington to shut down controversial sites have gone unheeded and that the seeming reluctance of US authorities had become 'an irritant.'
The official said Pakistani intelligence experts are convinced that Washington prefers to keep the sites running for intelligence purposes.
Under the federal eavesdropping laws passed last year, US intelligence officials can legally monitor communications between foreign groups without a warrant, even if the transit lines pass through the United States.

Advani vows to bring back money from Swiss banks

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday said if voted to power, his party would bring back the Indian money stashed in the Swiss banks.
"The BJP will bring back the huge Indian wealth stashed in the Swiss bank and other tax havens abroad and the money will be put to use for the development of the country," he added.
Advani claimed that no government could be formed in the country without the support of either the BJP or the Congress.
"Don't take formations like the Third Front seriously," he added

CIA closes secret prisons for terrorism suspects

The US will no longer hold terrorism suspects in secret prisons and plans to shut down any facilities still in operation, CIA Director Leon Panetta has said, marking the latest reversal of terrorism policy by the new administration.
President Barack Obama has already ordered the eventual closure of the controversial prison camp in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and repealed some of the harsh interrogation tactics used under president George W. Bush.
The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) secret prisons in foreign countries came under sharp condemnation from human-rights groups for treatment of Al Qaeda terrorist suspects. A report leaked last month from the International Committee of the Red Cross said the CIA's interrogations amounted to torture.
'CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites and has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining sites,' Panetta said Thursday in a letter to staff that was released on the CIA's website.
Panetta said the CIA still reserved the right to hold suspects for a brief period before handing them over to military authorities.
Bush in 2006 first acknowledged the existence of the secret prisons, which were used to hold high-profile suspects including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks on Sep 11, 2001.
The prisons' existence caused problems for some governments in Europe and Asia who allegedly were aware of the facilities. A European Union report in 2007 singled out Poland and Romania for allowing CIA prisons on their soil from 2002-05, but both denied any knowledge.
Panetta said that the CIA had already stopped all of the so-called 'enhanced interrogation' practices in place during the Bush administration.
'CIA will continue to honour the law as we defend the United States, as we have done since the beginning of this programme,' Panetta said.
In the first week of his presidency in January, Obama issued executive orders to close Guantanamo within a year and to ensure that the US 'does not torture'.

Congress has admitted 1984 riots guilt: Akali Dal

The Congress move to drop Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as its Lok Sabha poll candidates over their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots Thursday drew sharp reactions from leaders in Punjab, the only Sikh majority state in India.
Ruling Akali Dal president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the 'much belated cancellation of tickets of butchers of thousands of Sikhs was direct acceptance of guilt by (the) Congress of their active role in organising the riots'.
'The real face of the anti-Punjabi Congress got exposed with the deliberate design of clean chit to Tytler and tickets to both architects of anti-Sikh riots,' Badal said in a statement.
Sikh organisations had blocked rail traffic Wednesday to protest clean chit to Tytler and Kumar whose names have figured in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Radical Sikh groups like the Dal Khalsa demanded strict action against Tytler and Kumar.
'Just taking back the tickets is not enough and our struggle for justice will continue till we see the culprits behind bars. The incident of 1984 was not riots, it was a Sikh massacre and the Congress is solely responsible for it,' Kanwarpal Singh, Dal Khalsa convener, told IANS.
'We are still doubtful about a free inquiry in the case. There are many proofs against these tainted leaders and it is very disappointing the Congress is trying to shield them.'
'Their leaders have also unscrupulously interfered in the inquiry of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation),' Kanwarpal Singh added.
'The withdrawal of Congress ticket is not the conclusive end and it has come only as an interim relief,' said former Punjab deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh.
'It is only a political decision taken due to the widespread upheaval in the Sikh community and because the Congress did not want to face public wrath in Punjab.'
Kiranbir Singh Kang, president of the Youth Akali Dal, said the 'political gimmick' by the Congress to withdraw the candidature of Tytler and Kumar was a 'useless exercise'.
Former president of Akal Federation Kanwar Pal Singh Dhami said: 'The government has to take stern action against the leaders to suppress the increasing frustration among the Sikh community in the state. Just cancelling their tickets will not work. We want our judiciary to take strict action against them.'

Pak Taliban fighters uniting to take over Islamabad: Reports

Taliban fighters from Pakistan's restive Swat valley have begun extending their influence to other areas even as a top militant commander said that the rebels would also take over the federal capital.
Some 400 to 500 Taliban militants from Swat have taken over two villages near Buner, 100 km northwest of Islamabad, after two days of clashes with a 'lashkar' or tribal militia formed to stop their advance, TV channels reported on Thursday.
Militant commander Rizwan Bacha told Dawn News channel that Maulana Fazlullah, chief of the Taliban in Swat, had ordered them to remain in Buner despite calls from tribal elders for militants to leave the area. The Taliban have set up a base in Buner after torching several houses.
A group of clerics is mediating with the Taliban and tribal elders after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in Buner. At least eight militants, two members of the lashkar and three policemen died in clashes that erupted after the Taliban moved into Buner on Monday.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Taliban commander Mullah Nazeer Ahmed said various militant factions had united to take over the federal capital.
"The day is not far when Islamabad will be in the hands of the mujahideen," he said in an interview with Al Qaidas media arm, Al-Sahab.

Inflation approaches sub-zero mark, hits 0.26%

New Delhi: India's annual rate of inflation fell marginally to 0.26 percent for the week ended March 28, from 0.31 percent the week before, official data showed Thursday.
The inflation had declined for eight consecutive weeks to 0.27 percent for the week ended March 14, but marginally rose to 0.31 percent for the week ended March 21.
Between March 21-28, the index remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 227.3 (provisional), data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.
Among the three main commodity groups, the index for manufactured products rose 0.2 percent, while that for primary articles declined 0.3 percent.
The index for fuel, power, light and lubricants remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 320.9 (provisional).
Economists, who have already warned of a deflation in the Indian economy, contend lower inflation rate does not necessarily mean that prices have fallen. Lower inflation rate only means the rate of rise in prices has come down, not the actual prices.
Deflation is a decline in the general price level. It is caused by factors such as low money supply and credit, and a curb in spending by households, industry or government. The lower demand during deflation often leads to a rise in unemployment.

Swat peace deal collapses

A deal between the Pakistan government and the Taliban to restore peace in the Swat Valley on Thursday collapsed with a radical cleric withdrawing from the pact he helped broker, reports said
"Maulana Sufi Mohammad announced his withdrawal from Swat peace deal on Thursday," Geo TV reported.
The cleric had helped broker the deal between the North West Frontier Province government and the Taliban under which the militants had agreed to lay down their arms in return for the imposition of Sharia laws in the area.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who had given the go-ahead for the deal, had said he would ratify it only if peace returned to the picturesque valley, once a popular tourist destination.
Zardari, however, has been under immense pressure to turn down the deal, particularly after the emergence last week of a video depicting a 17-year-old girl being publicly flogged over an alleged illicit relationship. Though the incident was denied, it sparked universal outrage.
The deal with the Taliban had attracted international condemnation as it was seen to be bowing to the militants.

Varun says he will not campaign against Sonia, Rahul

They may be on the other side of the political fence but when it came to family matters BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi made it clear that he had high regard for his aunt Congress president Sonia Gandhi, his nephew Rahul and would not campaign against them.
The fact about Varun’s affection for his aunt and nephew and that he would not campaign against them in Amethi and Rae Bareily in the Lok Sabha polls was revealed to journalists by Tejbhan Singh, member of BJP’s National council.
Singh told media persons that last month he had met Varun and requested the BJP leader to campaign for party candidates. “He (Varun) had clearly stated that he would not campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, BJP candidate from Amethi, Pradip Singh who was also present in the press conference, alleged that the Gandhi family had been befooling the people of this region and the present state of affairs of roads and the condition of other basic amenities was a clear evidence.
Singh said that only BJP could provide an alternative, which the people of Amethi are looking for
.Questioned on the point that the Ram temple issue is always raked up at election time by the BJP, Singh said that it had always been the agenda of the party.
“The mosque was pulled down when there was a majority government of the party in the state and Ram temple would be constructed when a majority government comes to power again”, he added.

Reliance, SBI among 47 Indian firms in Forbes Global 2000 List

Washington: With $34 billion in sales from its oil and gas operations, Reliance Industries tops 47 Indian companies that figure in the Forbes list of the world's biggest 2,000 companies.
Ranked 121st, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance also makes it to the list of top 200 companies with two other Indian entities, State Bank of India (150) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (152), in the list compiled by the US business magazine.
However, five Indian companies - scam-hit IT firm Satyam, realty firm Unitech, Suzlon Energy and two Anil Ambani group firms - Reliance Power and Reliance Capital - have been dropped from the Forbes 'Global 2000 List' this year.
Four Indian companies - Hero Honda Motors, Sun Pharma, Indian Bank and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd - are the new entrants to the list.
The top 10 Indian companies are: Reliance Industries (121), State Bank of India Group (150) Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (152) Indian Oil Corporation (207) NTPC (317), ICICI Bank (329), Tata Steel (463), Bharti Airtel (508), Steel Authority of India (582) and Reliance Communications (689).
"This year's list reveals the dynamism of global business," Forbes said, noting the rankings span 62 countries, with the US still dominant at 551 members, but 200 fewer than in 2004, when Forbes first published the global list.
This year, China has 91 members, south Korea 61, and India 47. Even Kazakhstan is now a Global 2000 member. Also gaining a significant presence on the Forbes list are corporations from Arab countries: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each have at least 10 entries on this year's list.
In total, the Global 2000 companies now account for $32 trillion in revenues, $1.6 trillion in profits, $125 trillion in assets and $20 trillion in market value.
"The Global 2000 continues to amass revenue and assets, but lately, that has not translated into wealth creation or profits," the magazine said. In the past year, combined profits were down 31 percent while market value was down 49 percent.
Forbes said an analysis of the Global 2000 shows that despite the turmoil in the banking industry, banks still dominate, with 307 companies in the 2000 lineup, thanks in large measure to their asset totals.
The oil and gas industry, with 126 companies, scores high in sales, profits and stock-market value, yet these sectors were not the leaders in growth over the past year.
Drug and biotech companies (up 59 percent) led all sectors in sales growth, while the leaders in profit growth were telecom service firms (up 51 percent).

Zardari ready to cut down President's sweeping powers

London: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his readiness to trim the sweeping powers of the Presidency and return to the 1973 Constitution.
"The package of constitutional reforms will be introduced and ... shall be passed with the support of the requisite majority in both Houses of Parliament," Zardari, who has faced severe criticism from the opposition over the issue, said.
He said the Constitutional package his government has proposed to political parties not only entails eliminating the president's power to sack democratically elected government but also restored to the government all powers that had been usurped by military dictators in the past. Zardari said he had outlined the proposals in this regard to the National Assembly recently. "I once again reiterated my commitment to return to the basic structure of our 1973 Constitution. I fully understand this entails giving up very significant powers of my office," he said.
In a wide-ranging interview to The Independent, Zardari claimed that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies were "behaving responsibly" and respecting the sovereignty and legitimacy of the elected government.
He also sought to blame the international community for many of the ills besetting his country, saying the world had been slow in funneling assistance to Pakistan.

I've been a loyal Congress worker, asserts Tytler

New Delhi: Dropped as the party candidate for the Lok Sabha poll from Delhi, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler said Thursday he was a loyal party worker and would campaign for the party if asked to.
He also said that the protests against his candidature for the Delhi Northeast constituency were politically motivated.
"I have been a loyal worker of the party," Tytler said, minutes after the party high command announced they were dropping him and Sajjan Kumar as candidates in the wake of widespread protests over their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Tytler said the Congress party would decide his role in the party, adding that he would campaign for any party candidate if asked to

Army faces stiff resistance in LTTE pockets; 21 rebels killed

Colombo: At least 21 Tigers were killed in fierce clashes in Sri Lanka's north as government troops advanced to capture the last areas held by the LTTE and destroyed a rebel battlefield fortification in the face of stiff resistance from them.
The LTTE fighters sustained heavy damage in bitter clashes against the troops in Amapalavanpokkanai area in Mullaittivu, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said today.
In search operations conducted in the Pudukudirippu area yesterday, troops recovered four decomposed bodies of LTTE cadres along with war material, it said.
The troops, now advancing beyond the eastern limits of Pudukudirippu, also had day-long clashes with the LTTE.
"The soldiers withstood stiff resistance from the LTTE desperately trying to hold their positions on tactically vital northern bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon and inflicted heavy damage to the enemy," the defence ministry said.
Infantrymen attacked and destroyed a battlefield fortification of the LTTE yesterday. Two bodies of slain LTTE cadres, along with three T-56 rifles and 50 pistol ammunition were recovered from the battlefield.
Later, troops confronted with a group of LTTE cadres moved further close to the Nanthikadal lagoon.

Taliban eye Islamabad, threaten to pull out of Swat peace deal

Islamabad: After consolidating their position in a vast swathe of the country's restive northwest, Taliban militants now seem to be eying this Pakistani capital, even as they threatened to walk out of a peace deal in the Swat valley if the federal government doesn't play ball.
A large group of Taliban fighters has moved into the Buner area, an otherwise peaceful district just 100 km northwest of Islamabad, despite local elders asking them to stay out, and sparked fears that they could next move on to the federal capital.
"The day is not far when Islamabad will be in the hands of the Mujahideen," The Nation Thursday quoted Taliban commander Mullah Nazeer Ahmed as saying.
"Tense calm prevailed as armed militants expanded their activities to Bagra and Kalabatt areas of Buner despite repeated calls by the Quami Jirga (elders' council) to vacate the district," Dawn News channel said Thursday.
Meanwhile, uncertainty loomed Thursday as a radical cleric who had brokered a peace deal with the Taliban in Swat shut down his camp in the area after accusing the federal government of insincerity in ratifying the pact.
Speaking to reporters in Swat, Maulana Sufi Mohammad of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz e Shariah-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) said he was not pulling out of the deal but was only shutting his peace camp in the area.
Initial reports said the cleric had withdrawn from the deal inked Feb 16 between the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government and the TNSM, which is aligned to the Taliban, on imposing Sharia laws in seven districts of the province, including the picturesque Swat Valley that was once a popular tourist destination.
Sufi Mohammad had subsequently held talks with local Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, who is also his son-in-law, on the militants laying down their arms.
The cleric also said that while the NWFP government was sincere in implementing the pact, the federal government was dragging its feet on ratifying the accord.
He maintained that peace could not return to the region unless Sharia laws were in place. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who had given the go-ahead for the deal, has said he would ratify it only if peace returned to the area.
Zardari, however, has been under immense pressure to turn down the deal, particularly after the emergence last week of a video depicting a 17-year-old girl publicly receiving 38 lashes over an alleged illicit relationship. Though the incident was denied, it sparked universal outrage.
The president's approval is necessary because the provincial government cannot amend its laws without his nod.
The deal with the Taliban had attracted international condemnation as it was seen to be bowing to the militants.
The Taliban-TNSM's main demand was the replacement of regular courts with Islamic courts. There are reports that over 70 Sharia Courts have already been established in Swat.
Protracted fighting between the Pakistani security forces and the Taliban has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee Swat. Estimates vary, but human rights monitors believe that up to 800,000 of the valley's 1.8 million people may have left.

Nokia launches gaming for India

Nokia India on Wednesday announced the launch of its online gaming platform N-Gage, in line with the company's strategy from moving beyond being just a handset maker to becoming a content provider as well.
The N-Gage platform is a part of Ovi, Nokia's online service store that includes a music shop, a gaming service, and other image sharing and navigation-based services.
"It is not about voice anymore. Once 3G is launched, we expect non-voice revenues to improve significantly," D Shivakumar, vice-president, Nokia India, told visiting reporters in Chennai, where the Finnish giant has a manufacturing plant.
Retail presence will be key to Nokia's services strategy in India. The company has tied up with Oxigen Services, a mobile payment company, to facilitate users to pay both for game downloads on N-Gage online or alternatively buy vouchers available at Nokia and Oxigen outlets.
"Retail presence is important for us as Internet penetration in the company is still low and the scenario is unlikely to change soon," Shivakumar said. Users who do not have Internet access on their mobile devices can expect to be able to pay for and download games through dedicated kiosks at Nokia stores at a later stage.
Nokia has partnered with publishers like Electronic Arts Mobile, Gameloft and Indiagames and there are 30 gaming titles to begin with that will be priced between Rs 49 for a day's licence and going up to Rs 299 for an unlimited period licence.
This is slightly costlier that computer games or those sold by independent content providers like Hungama but Nokia insists there is a quality difference. "The days of independent growth are over," said Shivakumar. The company is also considering similar industry tie-ups with Internet service providers and operators for its other services like email.
Nokia also announced that it will launch some of its Life Tools services targeted at rural markets in India by June. Reuters Market Light is the content provider for Life Tools that includes services like crop price updates and information about seeds and other farm goos.

Brisk start as Tata Motors opens Nano bookings

Bookings for Tata Motors Nano got off to a brisk start in Mumbai on Thursday, with a steady stream of prospective customers queuing up to be one of the first to own what is billed as the world's cheapest car.
The profile of customers was varied from first-time buyers to those already owning more than two cars. Their reasons for buying also varied: curiosity value, love of cars, affordability and ease of manoeuvrability on India's crowded roads.
In some cases children were looking to buy the car for their elderly parents, some of whom had never owned a car before.
But they couldn't actually drive away on Thursday. Rather, they were putting in an application to be among the first 100,000 owners, an order block that is expected to take more than a year to fill.
Sixty-three year-old Vijay Jadav, a retired government employee, wants to buy a Nano to add to the Tata Indigo sedan he already owns.
"It's cheap, it's small and it's good for short journeys for a small family like ours," said the head of the family of four from Alibaug, about 150 kilometres south of Mumbai.
Elavia H.M., 67, has never owned a car before and wants to buy the Nano for her son, who commutes to work in a taxi now. "It is so cheap and ...it looks comfortable," she said.
The Nano, at 3.09 metres in length, is smaller than the Maruti 800 but is 21 percent more spacious. It gets 23.6 kilometres to a litre of fuel, and its small turning radius of just 4 metres makes it easy to handle, especially in small parking lots and on narrow roads.
"I have experienced other foreign small cars, they are expensive to maintain and consume a lot of fuel. But look at Nano's mileage and we know Tata cars are cheaper on maintenance," said Denis Quadros, 42, who owns a Maruti Wagon R.
This year and next will see a host of small cars being launched in India, starting with Honda's Jazz later this year and General Motors small compact car, scheduled to be launched towards the middle of the year.
Volkswagen, Ford and Skoda are also planning to launch small cars for the Indian market starting in 2010.
Shares in Tata Motors were trading up 1.6 percent, having earlier hit their highest in almost six months.

Congress drops Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar

The Congress announced Thursday it had dropped Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as its Lok Sabha candidates in the wake of protests over their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters that the party had decided that 'they will not be Lok Sabha candidates' from Delhi in the general elections set to start April 16.
Dwivedi added that both Tytler and Sajjan Kumar had opted out of the contest so as not to vitiate the atmosphere ahead of the April-May polls.
The announcement came on a day of Sikh protests in New Delhi and Punjab against their candidature. Both have denied involvement in the killings of Sikhs after then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.

US, Iran to discuss nuke program

The United States has said it would start negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
The decision is has being seen as a further step toward the direct engagement with Iran that US President Barack Obama has promised.
It followed an invitation to Iran to join in a new round of talks, which would include Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. It also coincided with an unusual expression of conciliation toward the United States by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, reports the New York Times.
Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in a speech in Isphahan that his government would welcome talks with the Obama administration, provided that the shift in American policy was "honest."
The Obama administration's decision is the latest in a series of gestures to Iran, ranging from Obama's videotaped New Year's greeting to the Iranian people three weeks ago to an impromptu encounter last week between an Iranian diplomat and a presidential envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke.
The decision to negotiate with Iran was presented Wednesday to the other countries at a meeting in London by William J. Burns, the State Department's third-ranking diplomat, who represents the United States in these talks.
He also briefed them on the administration's broader Iran policy review, which is nearing completion, the State Department said.
By showing a readiness to engage Iran, American officials said, the administration is trying to build support among allies like Germany and France, and more skeptical players, like Russia, so that if diplomatic efforts fail, it can marshal support for tougher sanctions against Tehran.

200 million rupees unaccounted money seized in Andhra Pradesh

Police have seized over 200 million rupees unaccounted money in Andhra Pradesh in a drive against splurge of black money and free liquor by politicians and their cohorts in the run up to general polls.
"Similarly, more than 20 crores of rupees are under verification which have been seized during the course of checking. The assistance of the income tax department is also being taken on verification of the tax," said A.K Mohanty, Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh.
He said that over 11,000 cases have been registered and about 9,000 suspects detained. Most of the cases include circulation of liquor in unauthorised manner.
The police have set up check posts to check illegal transfer of money, liquor, weapons and explosives.
"Drive against anti-social elements are being continued on a very consistent manner through check posts, surprise checks, checking and frisking, " saidohanty.

India's winning streak triggers 'best team' debate

India's third successive test series victory since defeating top-ranked Australia in November has triggered a debate in the cricket-mad nation as to whether the team is the country's best yet.
India won their first test series on New Zealand soil in four decades 1-0 on Tuesday after rain spoilt their chances of winning the third and final test at the Basin Reserve.
India's test and one-day triumph capped a spectacular streak for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men over the past six months in which they overpowered Australia 2-0 and England 1-0 in back-to-back test series to be regarded as a powerhouse in world cricket.
"Absolutely, this is the best team India has ever produced," former India captain Ajit Wadekar told Reuters on Wednesday.
"We have never had a more balanced team. We have the best batting line-up in the world and a bowling attack that can exploit all conditions," added Wadekar, who led India to their first test series wins in England and West Indies in 1971.
'UNMATCHED'
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has ranked India on par with Australia and South Africa while former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, in a newspaper column on Wednesday, described the team's batting depth as "unmatched in world cricket today."
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar said performances away from home had made this team particularly impressive.
"They have played consistently well over the past few years and have won more often abroad," he told Reuters.
"Winning tests and one-dayers abroad makes all the difference," added Vengsarkar, a former chief selector. "The past teams won more often at home."
Although India are yet to win a test series in Australia, they squared a close series 1-1 in 2004 and lost a controversial test series 2-1 before winning a tri-series last year.
In 2006, India won their first test series in West Indies in 35 years and in the following year recorded their first test series victory in England in over two decades.
India also won their first test on South African soil in 2006 and emerged surprise winners of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa two years ago.
"I think it is one of India's best ever sides of all time. I have no doubt that this side will enjoy more success in the future," Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who led India's to their first overseas series win, in New Zealand in 1968, told Mumbai tabloid Mid Day.

Bookings for Tata Nano begin Thursday

Tata Motors were set to accept the application forms for the world's cheapest car, the 624-cc jelly-bean shaped Nano, from Thursday in what will be the steepest booking fee charged in India for an automobile.
Over the next 17 days, prospective buyers can buy application forms for Rs.300 each and apply with an upfront payment of around Rs.95,000 - or Rs.2,999, if they wish to get it financed, company officials said.
That alone will not assure them the car, which group chairman Ratan Tata had promised to deliver at Rs.100,000 ($2,000) at factory gates - and which he had managed to keep amid awe and admiration of the global automobile industry.
The company, which had to shift its upcoming Nano factory out of Singur in West Bengal last October after some protests over farmland acquired by the state government for the project, has earmarked just 100,000 vehicles for the first phase.
So a lottery will decide the lucky ones who will drive out the Nano - the result of a Rs.20-billion investment, and five years of research and development by a 500-member team, which even fetched them 34 patents.
'We have already sold 50,000 forms at our dealerships. This figure does not include the sale at our Westside apparel stores and Croma appliance outlets,' said an official with Tata Motors in Mumbai.
'State Bank of India will begin the sale of forms from tomorrow,' the official said, adding some 1,350 branches of the commercial bank in 850 cities would assist the booking process.
'We have sold some 500 forms at our three showrooms in Delhi and the figure is likely to go up next week as the submission process begins to hot up,' said Ravi Bhattacharya, Nano sales manager with Autolink Delhi.
He said that ever since the car was commercially launched, his outlets received at least 100-200 unique enquiries daily. His firm has decided to deploy additional salespeople to handle the expected rush for the bookings.
Tata Motors - part of India's largest industrial house, the $62.5-billion Tata group - also has on offer online bookings for the Nano, the first such option in India. An online application will cost Rs.200.
Along with the provision to retail co-branded Nano merchandise such as watches, T-shirts and phones on the Internet, the dedicated website for the 'people's car' has a section to apply online, with a secure payments gateway.
Bhattacharya said most customers were looking at getting their Nano financed. 'Majority of the clientele is wary of the huge booking amount and is hence enquiring about the financing options available for the car.'
Tatas have also tied up with 15 national banks such as Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Dena Bank to facilitate the easy disbursement of loans for its vehicles.
Winners from the draw of lots would be announced 60 days after the bookings close April 25 and customers can drive the Nano out of showrooms from July.
The first set of cars is being manufactured at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand and Pune in Maharashtra.
Eventually, it will roll out from the new project site at Sanand in Gujarat, some 45 km from the state's commercial capital Ahmedabad. This site will initially produce 250,000 cars, going up to 500,000 units by the end of next year.

Osama hiding in Pak's tribal areas: US

Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, are hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas, where the US is fighting a war on terror, Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.
"In the FATA, the western part of Pakistan in the mountains on the Afghan border, that is a war on terror. That's where al-Qaeda lives. That's where bin Laden is.
That's where the most radicalised part of the Taliban is," Biden told Wolf Blitzer of the CNN in an interview. "The situation we have as it relates to problems that exist in other parts of the world, they aren't all related to terror," he said in response to a question if the Obama Administration has stopped use of the phrase "global war on terror".
Biden asserted there is a war on terror. "Terror is a legitimate threat. It is a threat that comes from al-Qaeda and those organisations that have morphed off of al-Qaeda, but there are other interests we have beyond merely - for example, the situation in the Middle East is not a global war on terror.
it matters to us mightily whether or not we end up with an accommodation between the Israelis and the Palestinians," he said.
The Vice President said Obama Administration is concerned that al Qaeda has been able to reconstitute itself under the Bush administration in the mountains regions on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Up till now there has been no targeted policy that has as its goal the elimination of that element of extremism in the world directed at the United States of America," he said.
However, Biden observed under the rubric of a global war on terror, the Obama Administration has ended up a series of policies that made no sense and made the US weaker, in his view and that of Obama.
"And so, what we decided to do is look at things in their discrete - as discrete problems. Here you have a situation. It is not a global war on terror in Iraq.
The problem we have in Iraq now is leaving behind a government where Sunnis, Kurds and Shia get along, where they can share power and be stable, not a threat to their neighbours and secure in their own boundaries," he argued.

US will not mediate between India and Pakistan: Holbrooke

New Delhi: President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that the US could not mediate between Pakistan and India, and that the two neighbouring countries would have to solve their long impending issues between themselves bilaterally.
Addressing media persons in Islamabad before emplaning for New Delhi, Holbrooke said: "Washington cannot negotiate between the two countries, they should normalise mutual ties."
Terming the November 2006 Mumbai terror attack as 'strategic terrorism', he said the strikes were an attempt to destabilize both countries.
"The terrorists tried to ignite a war between Pakistan and India but failed," The Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying.
Holbrooke noted that Pakistan had the majority of its military stationed along the Indian border which it started moving towards the Afghan side to prevent militants from spilling over, but the process has been hindered following 26/11.
He said that the Pakistan's Army is a traditional force and lacks the ability to fight militants.
Hoolbrooke said the US is ready to help train the Pakistan armed forces to make them an effective force against extremists.

Is shoe-hurling a democratic right?

A rare quality that the Americans possess, and the Indians lack, is the capacity to laugh at themselves. When two shoes were flung at former US President George Bush by an Iraqi journalist at Baghdad, Bush took the insult in his stride, telling the other journalists: "If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw". Commenting on how he evaded the two shoes flung at him, Bush said: “You know, I’m a good dodger” .
Chidambaram was not as jovial as Bush in dealing with Tuesday’s shoe incident. He was visibly annoyed by the questions from Jarnail Singh on the clean chit given by CBI to Gagdish Tytler and at one point asked the journalist to stop arguing. But after the shoe incident, Chidambaram was more magnanimous than Bush in asking his party colleagues to take Jarnail away `gently’ and later forgiving him.
Is the minister’s pardon the end of the Delhi shoe episode? Hurling of shoe by a journalist at a minister at an official press conference is the height of professional misdemeanour and a crime under the laws of the land. Why was Jarnail not booked under IPC for his shoe attack on the minister? Why did Dainik Jagran management, which employs Jarnail, not publicly own up the responsibility for his professional misconduct and summarily dismiss him from service? Why didn’t the chatterati , which went eloquent after the shoe incident , demand exemplary punishment for the offence committed by the misguided journalist . Do they think that end justifies the means?
The issue sought to be highlighted by Jarnail—the government’s injustice to the 1984 riot victims- is one thing and the means he adopted to focus on the issue is quite another. While everyone sympathises with Jarnail’s cause, no one, not even Jarnail himself, approves of the means adopted by him.
Look at the way similar incidents were treated by other countries. The Iraqi court sentenced Al-Zaidi who threw shoes at Bush to three years’ imprisonment (sentence was later reduced to one year) and the offender is now serving his jail term . Martin Jahnke, a German student who threw a shoe at Chinese premier Wen Jiabao during a speech at Cambridge University on February 2, 2009, is facing prosecution for a public order offence in a British court.
Those countries didn’t treat the insults heaped on foreign heads of states lightly and allowed the laws of the land to take their course, even if the offenders had a just cause to highlight.
Chidambaram and the Congress leadership may have political axes to grind in pardoning Jarnail. They cannot afford to antagonise the media or the Sikh community when the elections are round the corner. But what about the long-term implications of the shoe incident? Letting Jarnail scot-free would send wrong signals. Except a hardcore section of the Sikh community, the nation largely is anguished by the TV footages of his public insult to an outstanding representative of the government of India. Large sections of the Indian media hang their heads in shame at the misconduct of a member of their profession. If Jarnail is let off with no questions asked and a section of the media and the Sikh community lionising him for his shoe attack, where is the security for the national leaders who thrive on conducting press conferences day in and day out? The Delhi episode can be re-enacted in any part of the country. Are we to take shoe-throwing at a public figure or a government functionary as freedom of expression or a democratic right? That way, can we condone those who throw rotten eggs or granades at speakers at public functions? Can we have different standards for Varun Gandhi who is in jail for his objectionable comments on the minority community and for Jarnail Singh who apparently committed an equally grave or bigger crime? Respect for law is what distinguishes a civilised society and let’s not lose it for the sake of political expediency.

Rakhi Sawant plans her 'swayamvara' on reality TV show

She is known for her shock value and Rakhi Sawant is now planning her 'swayamvara' - picking a groom and tying the nuptial knot with the chosen one - on a reality TV show.
Rakhi will choose from among 15 grooms on NDTV Imagine's new show 'Rakhi Ka Swayamvara' and and will take the help of viewers to decide on her perfect man. The timing of the show hasn't been announced yet.

The first of its kind show will trace Rakhi's journey from selecting a groom to the marriage ceremony.

Commenting on her decision to marry this way, Rakhi said: "I want to solemnize my marriage in the presence of all my fans who have been supportive of me throughout and what better way than getting married on national television?"

"I am looking for a companion who is warm, affectionate, someone who can dance a little bit, who respects women for who they are, and above all who is punctual. Even Sita had her Swayamvara? so why not me?"

Rakhi says this is the right time for her to settle down.

"Every young woman dreams of a perfect marriage. There is a right time in your life to get married to become a wife and a mother. I'm a cultured Indian woman with good values and I have reached a stage where I need a companion with whom I can share my love, joys, sorrows and success. For me that time is now," she said.

Rakhi has mostly hit headlines for her outspoken ways. Though she has played bit roles in films like 'Main Hoon Na' and done item songs in films like 'Krazzy 4' and '1920', she is best remembered for the controversy involving Punjabi singer Mika when she accused him of kissing her forcibly after she had pecked on his cheeks on his birthday.

She was also seen on reality show 'Bigg Boss' where, again, she was in the spotlight for all the wrong things. On the same show, she had declared she was dating dancer-actor Abhishek Awasthi. But they split towards the end of 2008.

Over the duration of the show, the prospective grooms will be brought together under one roof and put through a series of challenges that will test their personality, character, physical fitness, talent and also their compatibility with Rakhi.

All through the series, viewers can help Rakhi decide, by voting for or against the prospective grooms and the final week will present the wedding celebrations.

The show is being produced by SOL Productions Private Limited.

"We are very proud of Rakhi for taking such a bold decision and we hope that she will find happiness at the end of the show," said Fazila Allana of SOL Productions Pvt. Ltd.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Mumbai: Congress candidate Priya Dutt, who is contesting Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-Central constituency, is worth Rs 37 crore, according to the affidavit submitted by her while filing her nomination here on Thursday.
Milind Deora, also of Congress, who filed his nomination from Mumbai South, has assets of Rs 17.18 crore while his rival for the seat and Shiv Sena candidate Mohan Rawale has assets worth Rs 1.17 crore.
BJP nominee Kirit Somaiya who filed his papers from Mumbai North-East seat, declared assets worth Rs 5.19 crore.
Dutt filed her nomination form at the Collectorate office in suburban Bandra while Deora and Rawale filed thier nominations at the south Mumbai's Collectorate office.
The movable assets of Rs 5.31 crore declared by Priya, include her own and those of her spouse and dependents.
The assets include cash, bonds, debentures, LIC, four motor vehicles, jewellery and other valuables.
Priya's immovable assets are worth Rs 31.77 crore that include agricultural lands, commercial and residential buildings, houses and apartments in suburban Bandra.
Her liabilities are Rs 1.47 lakh which include loans from banks and financial institutions.

Baitullah Mehsud is a great danger to Pak: Holbrooke

New Delhi: Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud is a "terrible man" who is a "great danger" to Pakistan and Afghanistan but doesn't have the resources to attack the American homeland, a top US diplomat said Wednesday.
"Mehsud is a terrible man. He is a great danger to Pakistan and Afghanistan," Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said.
He was addressing a joint press conference here with Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, after talks with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.
"His threats against the US are not backed up but he is bad as any bad actor can be," Holbrooke maintained.
Mehsud had claimed responsibility for the April 3 assault at an immigration centre in upstate New York in which a 42-year-old gunman of Vietnamese origin had opened fire, killing 13 people.
Holbrooke and Mullen were here on the concluding leg of a five-day swing through the region that has already taken them to Afghanistan and Pakistan as they seek to take forward US President Barack Obama's new Af-Pak strategy on the war against terror.
Apart from Menon, Holbrooke and Mullen also met National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and the prime minister's special envoy S.K. Lambah for "terrific talks", as the envoy put it, on regional and security issues.
Mullen separately met Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who is also the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, to discuss issues relating to maritime security.
Asked whether he feared a "spillover" of the Taliban, who had taken over large parts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, including the Swat Valley, Holbrooke spoke feelingly of his meeting with former residents of the region.
"We met with people from the region to learn more (about what is happening). It is very difficult for the people. It has stunned the people of Pakistan," the envoy said.
Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper, in an editorial Wednesday, said: "An emirate has been set up in South Waziristan by Baitullah Mehsud with sway over some other agencies disposing vast sums of money as his budget which he augments through kidnappings."
Mehsud is also suspected of staging the Nov 27, 2007 gun and bomb attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi that claimed the life of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Tytler issue snowballing: Massive protests in Punjab

Chandigarh: Members of a conglomerate of radical Sikh organisations blocked rail traffic in several places in Punjab on Wednesday to protest against CBI's clean chit to Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
The activists of Sant Samaj, which includes organisations like Damdami Taksal and Dal Khalsa, squatted on rail line at Gyaspura village near Ludhiana, Beas and Dakoya in Jalandhar, official sources said in Chandigarh.
According to the Punjab Government Railway Police (GRP), the blockade will last for four hours between 11 am to 1500 and most of the trains pass through the state either in the morning or in the evening.
"Most of the trains will not be affected by the blockade," a GRP official said, adding that some of the passenger trains had been stopped at railway stations as a precautionary measure.
The trains that have been affected due to the blockade, include Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi express, Malwa express and Paschim express, the GRP said.
Sant Samaj convener Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma said the protest was successful and peaceful.
The clean chit to Tytler has generated much heat in the already charged up political season as the Punjab Congress is on defensive while the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has left no stone unturned to make it an election issue.

What's the Swiss money hullabaloo all about?

Indian money stashed in the Swiss Bank has become a major plank for Lok Sabha elections, after the Leader of Opposition and the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani raised the issue. If elected, the BJP has vowed to bring the black money back home. Though the Congress dismissed the idea, the Swiss bank issue has become a hot election issue. What's the Swiss money hullabaloo all about? The Swiss financial hub is one of the largest in the world. It is sometimes accused of harboring dirty money due to its bank secrecy. Swiss bankers are under obligation to keep any information about you or your account strictly confidential.This bank secrecy is among the strictest in the world and stems from an age-old historical tradition.
Taking advantage of the secrecy clause, affluent sections from across the board, including politicians, artistes, professionals and politicians, stash huge amounts of unaccounted money in Swiss banks. Even the money generated from gun smuggling, dug trafficking, etc reportedly flow into Swiss banks.
With recent changes in the Swiss bank secrecy regime, other states such as Singapore have attracted depositors seeking privacy and protection. Having taken steps to make its banks more attractive, Singapore strengthened penalties for violators of bank secrecy (and now imposes steeper fines and longer jail sentences for offenders) and modified its laws on trusts and inheritance.
There are presumably more than 70 tax havens in the world. Indian wealth could be more in Switzerland and various British /US islands. Kickbacks from major defense/civilian contracts, smuggling of gold and illegal money, transactions done abroad and not reported in India, hawala funds, funds earned by artists/entertainment industry /sports people, etc are believed to have been stashed abroad.
Unofficial estimates suggest that Indian money deposited secretly with banks could run to about $1,400 billion (Rs 70,00,000 crore)
It goes to the credit of NDA's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani to turn the spotlight on the issue of getting back the Indian money stashed in swiss banks.
Adding to his list of pre-poll promises, Advani said he would bring the Indian money deposited secretly in Swiss banks and other tax havens across the world back, in case his party got a chance to rule the country after the Lok Sabha elections.
He said the return of Indian money deposited secretly with banks abroad would be a key issue in the BJP’s campaign.
The BJP’s idea is to link the plank of “Indian money in foreign banks” with its agenda for development during the campaigning. The BJP points out that estimated Indian wealth in foreign banks is enough to relieve the debts of all farmers and the landless; is sufficient to lay highways and roads across the country; provide Rs 4 crore to each of the 600,000 Indian villages, etc.
To emphasise the BJP’s seriousness on the issue, Advani even announced his proposal to set up a national task force which would be entrusted with the task of outlining an action plan for seeking return of the Indian money from abroad. The proposed task-force would comprise R Vaidyanathan of IIM-Bangalore, S Gurumurthy of the Sangh Parivar, lawyer Mahesh
Jethmalani and former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval.
The Congress camp hit back at BJP leader L K Advani who claimed of receiving an "evasive" reply to his demand on bringing back money stashed in foreign banks, saying the saffron leader's charge was "farther from truth".
In a signed statement, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said he himself had written to Advani in his capacity as Finance Minister in 2008 informing him about the steps taken by the Government on the matter.
"Nothing can be farther from the truth. When Government noticed a news report datelined Berlin/Frankfurt on February 26, 2008, the Ministry of Finance wrote to Federal Central Tax Office in Germany on February 29, 2008 seeking information relating to Indian taxpayers who may have accounts with Lichenstein's LGT bank.
"Since then, the matter has been pursued diligently by the Ministry of Finance," the statement said, adding "my reply (to Advani) was direct, clear and unambiguous. As anyone can see, there was nothing 'evasive' about my reply".
Chidambaram said the finance ministry had taken up the issue with the Federal Central Tax Office, Bonn, in February last year and the matter was pursued diligently since then. "I understand that the matter continues to be pursued diligently by the ministry of finance with the German authorities," he added.
The government apparently has no clues about the legal procedure for getting back the black money deposited in foreign banks. Even countries like United States, Germany and France which are keen to fight the recessionary blues, could not make much headway in tracking the money deposited in foreign banks.With the largest Swiss bank UBS AG in a showdown with the U.S. government over wealthy American tax evaders, Switzerland's federal government has been dealt the unenviable task of avoiding sanctions abroad while gently burying the myths at home it has helped create about confidential banking. "I cannot imagine how we could abolish banking secrecy," Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz said. "It's part of the social idea, the mentality of our country. It's the protection of privacy. I don't see any reason why we should give up banking secrecy", Merz said a day after a U.S. Senate committee blasted UBS for evasive answers on about 50,000 American-held accounts Washington is interested in. Switzerland has yet to decide on a strategy for dealing with US investigators or equally impatient authorities in Europe.
The best that India can do is to put the issue on global agenda. It has to vigourously pursure the matter with internatinal organisations such as G-20 and IMF.
Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon claims that India is working for greater transparency in the functioning of foreign banks in dealing with secretive bank accounts. "I can say that we are working for greater transparency in these cases. But I don't think we have come to a final decision yet on how to do it or which is the best way to approach it," he said.

Former cricketers rate India side among the best

Former India cricketers were all praise for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side for winning the Test series in New Zealand and rate the present side as one of the country's best ever.
India dominated the three-match series, though they won 1-0. They won the first Test at Hamilton by 10 wickets and should have made it 2-0 if only the elements had not come in the way in the third at Wellington Tuesday.
It was India's first series win in New Zealand since the 3-1 victory under Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in 1968.
'This team is much better than ours. I think, it is one of India's best ever sides,' Pataudi said.
'They were impressive throughout the series and they have played consistently over the past few years at home and abroad and in all forms of the game. This side will enjoy more success,' he said.
India came back strongly on the tour to New Zealand after losing both the Twenty20 matches. They then won the ODI series 3-1 and the Test series.
The New Zealand Test series win comes close on the heels of their splendid performance in the last three series which they won on the trot, against the world champions Australia and England. India have won six of their last nine Test series.
'The team has performed exceptionally well in the last couple of years. This victory will give them more confidence. Gautam Gambhir has been a revelation in all formats of the game,' said former Test star Gundappa Vishwanath.
He said that senior batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman - have maintained their great form.
'The bowling has acquired greater teeth in recent times and Zaheer Khan is easily the world's best left-arm seamer. Harbhajan Singh has done well to step into Anil Kumble's shoes,' said Viswanath.