Pak Taliban executes couple in public for 'adultery'

Islamabad: A man and a woman accused of committing adultery have been gunned down by the Taliban in restive northwest Pakistan, showed a chilling footage of the public execution that surfaced just two weeks after a video of a teenage girl being flogged by the militants sent shockwaves across the country.
The new video, sent to the Dawn newspaper on Friday by unidentified persons, shows a Taliban firing squad killing the man and woman, both apparently in their forties, after accusing them of having committed adultery.
The two persons were gunned down in the presence of their relatives. The newspaper quoted its sources as saying that theincident took place in Hangu district of North West Frontier Province a few days ago.
In the video, the woman is heard appealing to the Taliban for mercy. "Have mercy on me, please have mercy. The charges against me are false and no man has ever touched me," she is heard saying.
The Taliban militants first pumped several bullets into the woman's chest and then fired a burst from assault rifles at her and the man. As the woman was apparently still alive after being shot, some Taliban are heard shouting: "She is alive, kill her."
Pakistani political leaders and rights activists had condemned the public flogging of teenager Chand Bibi in the restive Swat valley after the emergence of the earlier two-minute mobile phone video.
That video showed the burqa-clad 17-year-old girl being held face down on the ground by three men while a fourth whipped her repeatedly. A large crowd of men watched the flogging, which reportedly occurred in the Matta area of Swat some weeks ago.
Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an inquiry into the matter and Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took suo moto notice of the issue and sought fortnightly reports from the government on its inquiry.
However, federal interior secretary Kamal Shah told a news conference at Saidu Sharief in Swat on Friday that an investigating team had concluded the earlier video was fake.
The team, headed by a senior police official, had submitted a report on its probe that will be handed over to the apex court, he said.
The team had also concluded that no incident of flogging had occurred, Shah said. The team and the judge of an Islamic court had recorded the statements of Chand Bibi and her husband, and they had both denied the incident.
Shah said he had visited the area in compliance with the directives of the apex court, which had asked him to go to Swat to inquire about the incident.

BJP to act against tax havens in 100 days, says Advani

New Delhi: Throwing up a serious issue of unaccounted Indian wealth stashed in secret banks and tax heavens across the world, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has promised to act on the menace within the first 100 days of the party forming the government.
L K Advani, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate who released the recommendations of a task force on the road map to bring the estimated $500 billion (Rs 25 lakh crore) to $1.4 trillion (Rs 70 lakh crore) of Indian money lying in Swiss banks and other tax heavens around the world, back to the country, also pledged to use the said money for public welfare and infrastructure projects.
The report was prepared by a panel comprising former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval, S Gurumurthy, Dr R Vaidyanathan from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani.
Releasing the panel’s “interim recommendations” in Mumbai, Advani said that the Congress was taking the issue lightly though the Western nations, led by Germany and the US, had launched a virtual crusade against the Swiss banks and 50 other tax heavens after discovering that secretly stashed funds were even being used by terrorists. The BJP, he said, would send the report of the task force to US President Barack Obama, German leaders as also to the leaders of various political parties on the country.
Taking a veiled dig at the Congress, Advani said most of the money from India had been taken to the tax havens in the times of the Nehruvian socialist regime which had imposed high taxes. He alleged that later, the Indian money reaching these tax havens came from the kickbacks in various defence and other deals between the government and the firms.
The task force recommended that the government make tough domestic laws against the Indian clients of the secret banks. India must play a proactive role in the global efforts to coerce the governments of the tax haven countries to end secrecy in banking, Advani said.
More importantly, the panel seeks raising a strong public opinion on the issue, which could force the government to act against the operators of illegal monies. The report cites the example of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who, due to public pressure, had to reverse his stand against acting on tax havens in the Berlin G-20 meeting.
The BJP, which has made the Indian money in tax haven a key issue in its media campaign and the party manifesto, has decided to launch opinion polls on this in states ruled by the party. Gujarat has already launched it.
Advani today wondered why the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not ask the German government to provide the details of the Indian names from the LGT bank’s secret records, which Berlin had managed to get. The BJP, if voted to power, would send a special emissary to Germany to get details of Indian names in the LGT bank’s secret records, he said.
The BJP leader also criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not “joining the protocol than raising this key issue from Indian perspective’’ at the recent G-20 meet at London.
The report has also asked the government to appoint a special ambassador with adequate knowledge of tax havens and secret banking issues to work with the G-20 specifically for framing India-friendly rules. It says unless New Delhi joins the global initiative to prove its seriousness on the issues, no country would help it get its money back.

Five killed in Pakistan explosion

Islamabad: At least five persons were killed and as many injured in an explosion at a security check post in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province on Saturday.
Initial reports suggested that a suicide car bomber might have targeted the check post in Doaba area of Hangu district, TV news channels reported.
Witnesses were quoted as saying that five persons were killed and as many injured.Security forces cordoned off the area after the powerful blast. There was no official word on the incident. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians outclasses Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings

‘Mumbai Indians’ outclassed ‘Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ‘Chennai Super Kings’ by 19 runs on Saturday in the opening match of the Indian Premier League tournament which commenced here today.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. The decision that looked the right one till halfway through the innings as Chennai bowlers not only managed to get the wicket of the master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya (26 runs off 20 balls), they also managed to restrict Sachin Tendulkar to 59 off 49 balls. The latter remained unbeaten.

Mumbai Indians looked in trouble when they lost Shikhar Dhawan (22) who edged the ball up in the air for Chennai skipper Dhoni to take the catch at mid-wicket. Shortly, JP Duminy (9) mistimed a pull straight back to Gony where he managed to collect the catch despite a fumble. Dwayne Bravo (5) fell to an impressive catch by Matthew Hayden while pulling to deep square leg.

Tendulkar, who remained not out till last, however, was supported by some late order hitting by Abhishek Nayar, who smashed a fine knock of 35 of 14 deliveries. The latter hit three sixes in one over by Andrew Flintoff before mistiming a slow delivery from Jacob Oram by hitting it to long-off for Thilan Thushara to collect his catch.

Mumbai Indians managed to score a respectable score of 165 for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs.Meanwhile, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings got off to a poor start when they lost Parthiv Patel on the second ball while taking a run . Suresh Raina (8) was the next to fall.

Andrew Flintoff, IPL’ most expensive player, was looking to hit over mid-wicket, but edged it high up in the air for Harbhajan to take a simple catch in front of mid-off. He hit a six and two fours in his 24-run knock that came off 23 deliveries.Matthew Hayden, however, played some fine shots and scored 44 runs off 35 deliveries.

Skipper Dhoni tried his best to bring his team out of danger. But he failed to rescue it fully, as his team lost to Mumbai Indians by 19 runs, scoring only 146 runs in 20 overs.Sachin Tendulkar was declared ‘Man of the Match’ for his brilliant innings.

The heat is on: Maruti's 7th small car rolls out this May

Mumbai: Maruti will add a seventh small car to its portfolio this May.
The heat is on! Maruti Suzuki will add yet another small car to its range this summer and to add to the rising temperatures, the company decided to jet off to sweltering Malaysia to put together its commercial campaign for the new car. Back in India, the company was busy rolling out the first of its K12M engines that will power the new addition to its portfolio. In most countries it is called the Splash, but in India it will feature the Ritz moniker.
Based on the Swift platform, the Ritz is just 3.7 metres long. Designed to replace the Wagon-R in European markets, the Ritz is about 18 centimetres longer. The design of the car is in line with the current range of Suzukis and despite the tall boy approach, it looks less top heavy than the boxy Wagon-R. With the extra length, it has managed to liberate more interior room and this makes it a better environment to be in. Like always, there are bits and pieces of the Swift that can be found on the inside, but the overall quality is better than the Wagon-R.
With near similar underpinnings and the option of a petrol engine to begin with, the Maruti Ritz will take on the likes of the Hyundai i10 Kappa with its new K12M engine. This 1197cc four-cylinder uses a DOHC configuration just like the Kappa, but produces even more power. Rated at 84 bhp@6000 rpm, the power figure is just as impressive as the torque — at 11.4 kgm@4500 rpm. So how come Maruti have managed to pull it off? Well, they’ve adopted an all-aluminium engine with an innovative rocker-less DOHC camshaft, a distributorless ignition system, lighter pistons and nut-less conrods and a new silent timing chain to reduce NVH.
To assemble this marvel of an engine, Maruti Suzuki has localised most of the engine components to keep costs in check. This means when the engines roll out from Maruti’s Gurgaon drivetrain facility, they will be priced competitively enough to ensure the Ritz stays in the hunt of its competition. While the car is also available internationally with the 1.3-litre DDiS engine, we won’t get it for now, until Maruti can satisfy the demands of the Swift and Swift Dzire with its limited production capacity.
While Maruti is tight-lipped about prices just yet, we think it’ll be priced around the i10 Kappa, which puts it in the Rs 4.25 to 5.25 lakh range. Given its slightly larger dimensions and better interior room, it could be a probable winner in the Indian market when it rolls out in May. A sizzling battle for your wallets is in the offing.

Varun tapes not doctored, have more hate content: EC

New Delhi: Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami has said that the tapes of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Varun Gandhi were "definitely not doctored" and the hate content of his speeches was "more virulent" than what was aired.
In an interview to different television news channels, ahead of stepping down as poll panel head April 20, Gopalaswami defended the commission's action against the BJP's Pilibhit candidate as it felt that a "strong message" had to be sent over the incident.
"We had watched the entire tape (of the speeches)... it was more virulent," he said. "We felt very strongly. The virulence was such that we had to go beyond what we had set as our limit...," he said. To a question on whether the commission felt the tapes were doctored, as Varun Gandhi has been claiming, Gopalaswami said: "The tapes were definitely not doctored."
"We felt a strong message must go (in the Varun Gandhi case)," he said, adding that the three-member panel was "absolutely unanimous" on the matter of the action taken. The Election Commission had issued a notice to Varun Gandhi and the BJP over the speeches and also issued an advisory to the party asking it not to field him as candidate.
Gopalaswami defended the commission's advisory to the BJP, saying: "Issuing an advisory is the duty of the commission. We conveyed our displeasure." Varun Gandhi was arrested March 28 and slapped with charges under the National Security Act by the Uttar Pradesh government for the campaign speeches vilifying Muslims purportedly delivered by him.
He was released from Etah jail in Uttar Pradesh Thursday after being granted a two-week parole by the apex court. Gopalaswami did not elaborate on his row with Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who is to succeed him, saying there was "no more discussion at any level" on the issue. He also wished Chawla well for conducting the 2009 general elections.
On the rise in the number of poll code violations, he said that more cases were being detected due to the many television news channels. "The number of television channels has increased. We also go for video tracking (the speeches and activities of the candidates and politicians)," Gopalaswami said. He admitted that the commission had failed to tackle the problem of money power in the elections.

Lashkar warns of suicide attacks during polls

Srinagar: Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Saturday threatened to launch suicide attacks during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, asking people to participate in the poll process "at their own peril".
"We will launch fidayeen (suicide) attacks during the poll process," LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said in a statement to Srinagar-based media outlets.
Warning the people against participating in the elections, the spokesman said "if people vote they will be doing so at their own peril".
The terror outfit, which is allegedly behind the Mumbai attack last year, said New Delhi was trying to make stronger its "illegal occupation" of Jammu and Kashmir.
During the November-December state assembly elections, the terror group, which largely has foreign mercenaries fighting in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu, had said it would not interfere in the poll process.
However, the large turnout during the assembly polls has baffled militant groups and also the hardline faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference led by pro-Pakistan Syed Ali Geelani.
The LeT threat comes close on the heels of United Jehad Council (UJC) and Geelani's diktat earlier this week asking people to boycott the Lok Sabha elections.
Syed Sallahuddin, chief of the UJC, an amalgam of 13 militant organisations, has threatened to disrupt the poll process.
The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said the election is a non-issue. De-linking electoral politics from the "Kashmir issue", the moderate Hurriyat said it was for people to decide whether they should vote or boycott the polls.
"These (elections) are for day to day governance and development. For us in the Hurriyat Conference holding elections is a non-issue," acting Hurriyat chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari said.

The stunning new Delhi airport

On February 26, 2009 the new domestic departure terminal '1D' was inaugurated. Commercial operations will commence from April 19.
Image: Entrance to terminal 1D

On May 03, 2006 Delhi airport was handed over to joint venture company Delhi International Airport Limited or DIAL.
Image: A glimpse of the new terminal

On September 29, 2006 DIAL submited Master Plan for modernisation and restructuring of Delhi airport.
Image: View of the international terminal

On November 1, 2006 upgradation works of terminal 2 (international terminal) commenced.
Image: Wash basins in the rest room of the international terminal.

On November 7, 2006 Supreme Court of India rejected a plea filed against the privatisation process.
Image: Passenger waiting lounge in the international terminal.

On December 11, 2006 DIAL awarded design and construction contract of Delhi airport to Larsen & Toubro.
Image: First class passenger lounge in the international terminal.

On November 15, 2006 DIAL awarded license for Duty Free shops to Alpha- Pantaloon consortium.
Image: Duty Free shop in the international terminal.

On December 19, 2006 DIAL announced absorption policy for Airports Authority of India employees.
Image: Visitor's lounge in the international terminal.

On May 7, 2007 Airbus A380, world's largest passenger aircraft, made its maiden landing in India at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Image: Gate number 1 of the international terminal.

On October 11, 2007 DIAL was awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2000 quality certificate for Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Image: Check-in counters at the international terminal.

On April 24, 2008 Delhi Airport went hi-tech - state-of-the-art Airport Operations and Command Centre went live.
Image: Security check-in area of the international terminal.

On May 03, 2008 DIAL completed two years of operations.
Image: View of the arrival lounge of the international terminal.

On Jun 30, 2008 modernisation works of the international terminal of IGI airport completed.
Image: Domestic departure lounge.

On August 21, 2008 inaugural flight lands at the new runway at IGI Airport.
Image: Kingfisher check-in counter of the domestic departure lounge.

On September 25, 2008 IGI airport's third runway opened for commercial operation.
Image: The domestic departure lounge.

Terminal 1A - Air India, Kingfisher & MDLR
Terminal 1B - All other Domestic Airlines
Terminal 1C - Domestic Arrivals
Terminal 2 - Departures - Upper Level
Arrivals - Lower Level
Image: Visitors' waiting area.

Total passenger traffic in 2007-08 was 23.97 million. It is the 2nd busiest airport in India.
Image: Tourist information centre in the arrival lounge.

DIAL is a joint venture consortium of GMR Group (50.1 per cent), Airports Authority of India (26 per cent), Fraport and Eraman Malaysia (10 per cent each) and IDF (3.9 per cent).

Terminal with an area of 500,000 sqm is likely to be completed by March 31, 2010.
Image: Interior view of Terminal 3.

Plans are also there for Terminal 4 (to be completed by 2016) and Terminal 5 and 6.

Congress must be blamed too for Babri demolition: Lalu

In controversial remarks, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has said the Congress too was responsible for the demolition of the Babri mosque as it did nothing to prevent it.
"Babri masjid was razed to the ground and Congress too is responsible for it as it did nothing to prevent it," he said, addressing an election meeting at Manhgachi in Bihar's Darbhanga district on Friday.
"If anyone continue to talk nonsense, I will reveal more," he said, without elaborating.
Lalu, who had recently been chastised by the Election Commission for his 'crush-under-the-roller' remark against BJP candidate Varun Gandhi [Images], described the saffron party as 'Bharat Jalao Party'.
"The BJP is Bharat Jalao Party. It wants to see that India is up in flames," he said.
Accusing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of calling up district magistrates and commissioners -- pressurising them to recommend cancellation of voting at polling stations in areas of influence of RJD, Lalu said: "I am least worried. The more they will try to harm me, the more votes I and my allies will get."
A wave is blowing in favour of the alliance of RJD-LJP-SP, he claimed.

IPL Gala event( Images)

Australian Shane Warne (C), captain of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals greets pupils at the Alexander Sinton High School on April 17, 2009 in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa. Several captains, senior players and Bollywood celebrities attended today�s launch of the DLF IPL's major 8 million rand education project in South Africa.

Shane Warne of Rajasthan Royals, Preity Zinta the owner of Kings XI Punjab and captain Youvraj Singh attend a school to launch the IPL 'HEAT' initiative at Alexander Sinton College, Athlone, on April 17, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Rajasthan Royals captain Australian Shane Warne (L) and Bollywood actress and share holder of the Kings XI Punjab Preity Zinta (R) laugh as they sit on stage at the Alexander Sinton High School on April 17, 2009 in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa. Several captains, senior players and Bollywood celebrities attended today's launch of the DLF IPL's major 8 million rand education project in South Africa.

Shane Warne of Rajasthan Royals, Preity Zinta the owner of Kings XI Punjab and captain Youvraj Singh attend a school to launch the IPL 'HEAT' initiative at Alexander Sinton College, Athlone, on April 17, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

IPL(Indian Premier League) chairman Lalit Modi(R) and Bollywood actress Preety Zinta(L) pose with a cheque from the IPL at Alexander Sinton High School on April 17, 2009 in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa.Several captains, senior players and Bollywood celebrities attended today's launch of the DLF IPL's major 8 million rand education project in South Africa.

IPL(Indian Premier League) chairman Lalit Modi(L) and Bollywood actress Preety Zinta(R) arrive at Alexander Sinton High School on April 17, 2009 in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa.Several captains, senior players and Bollywood celebrities attended today's launch of the DLF IPL's major 8 million rand education project in South Africa.

Banglore Royal Challengers cricket player Kevin Pietersen arrives on April 17, 2009 for the IPL (Indian Premier League) Gala at the 'one and only' hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

Kings XI Punjab cricket player Brett Lee waves to photographers as he arrives on April 17, 2009 for the IPL (Indian Premier League) Gala at the 'one and only' hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

Rajasthan Royals team's player Shane Warne waves to photographers as he arrives on April 17, 2009 for the IPL (Indian Premier League) Gala at the 'one and only' hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

Deccan Chargers cricketer Adam Gilchrist talks to the press as he arrives on April 17, 2009 for the IPL (Indian Premier League) Gala at the 'one and only' hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

ICICI Bank to announce top mgmt changes on Apr 25

The country's largest private-sector banking conglomerate, ICICI Bank , is in for a major top-management shake-up with two business heads private equity arm's Renuka Ramnath and life insurance unit's Shikha Sharma likely to put in their papers soon.
Sharma is reportedly looking to join private-sector lender Axis Bank as its chief, while Ramnath could look at starting her own private equity venture. The board of Axis Bank, which is meeting on April 20 may announce the name of the new chief executive officer (CEO) as the current chairman and managing director PJ Nayak's tenure is coming to an end in June.
Ramnath, ICICI Ventures' managing director and CEO, is believed to have expressed her intention to quit and might submit her resignation to the company's board at a meeting to be held April 25.
These developments come days ahead of Chanda Kochhar taking over as CEO and MD of ICICI Bank on May 1 from K V Kamath, who would then assume the role of an non-executive chairman.

'India must be cautious on FTAs'

India should not follow a protectionist path in terms of expanding bilateral trade agreements even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) feels that signing more bilateral agreements could harm the domestic financial sector as well as come in the way of multilateral liberalisation.K Rangarajan, head of the Kolkata centre of the International Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and also responsible for strategic formulation of FTAs (free trade agreements), told FE that adopting a protectionist measure would tantamount to restricting the country's industrial growth.
"We have to tread the path of bilateral trade agreements carefully and cautiously calculate the benefit of doing trade with a country. But that does not mean we have to adopt a protectionist policy and become averse to bilateral trade negotiations," Rangarajan said.
The RBI has been holding discussions with finance and commerce ministry officials to explain that more bilateral trade agreements would force the Indian banking sector to compromise with the goal of developing a liberal banking system.
The RBI has argued that under the FTAs, partner countries would be treated more favourably in terms of getting banking licenses and this would nullify the purpose of a multilateral system, under which all countries were supposed to get equal treatment from the Indian banking and financial sector.
According to Rangarajan, a way has to be found to strike a balance between the RBI objectives and trade agreements.
In a meltdown year, says Rangarajan, India should look for trade relations with sub-groups of Asean rather than moving aggressively to implement the FTA with Asean. For example, he says trading with smaller countries like Cambodia and Laos would be beneficial at present rather than trading with Asean as a whole group. "In foreign trade at present there is the risk of currency but Indian rupee is comparatively stronger in the Asean context," Rangarajan said.

Netherlands, Kenya, Canada book World Cup berths

Kenya, Canada and the Netherlands have joined Ireland in qualifying for the one-day World Cup to be staged in South Asia in 2011.
Ireland topped the league standings in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers in South Africa, where the top four nations will join the 10 full-member countries in the 14-team event, to be hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
On Friday, Pakistan was stripped off its World Cup hosting rights by the International Cricket Council due to security concerns in that country.
Afghanistan, which finished sixth in the league phase of the eight-team qualifiers, earned their one-day status while Scotland preserved theirs by finishing among the top six.

McCullum will do a good job as KKR skipper: Ganguly

Kolkata Knight Riders' Sourav Ganguly has said that New Zealander Brendon McCullum will do a good job as captain in the first match.
Speaking to Times Now in an interview, Ganguly said he had no clue about why controversies followed him.
"I do not know how it happens. I think god has given me good things. I played for India for so long and also captained India for a long time. So god's been kind," Ganguly said.
On KKR owner Shahrukh Khan saying he is the 'best captain in the world', Ganguly said: " I thank him for the compliment and hopefully we do well for the Knight Riders. I' sure McCullum is going to do a good job. He's young and he is a dynamic player. He is a good Twenty20 player so hopefully we will all do well." e also said that the team would try and do well in the second edition of the IPL.
"The team is in good shape. We had a training session in Bloomfontaine for about 10 days. I've been a part of the camp for nearly a month now starting from Kolkata. We have worked hard for it and now it is time to really do it," he said.

Johannesburg will host IPL semi-final and final, after all

The second semi-final and the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg after all, following an agreement reached between the tournament organisers and the Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB) over the sharing of suites.
In the run-up to the 37-day tourney there were fears that the semi-final and the final would be moved out of Johannesburg due to the dispute between IPL and GCB, owners of the Wanderers, over the sharing of VIP suites.
IPL wanted the GCB to hand over all the suites while the local association was adamant that their suite holders had some contractual rights over them.
But GCB has reached an agreement with most of their suite holders, who are ready to release all their suites to the IPL to meet the increasing demands from Bollywood stars, leading Indian businessmen and politicians who are expected to attend the games.
'We are optimistically cautious that we can now host (IPL games) at the Wanderers,' GCB Chairman Barry Skjoldhammer told the Afrikaans daily Beeld Saturday.
'Most suite holders have agreed to the IPL compensation offer of free (preferential area) tickets and entertainment areas, but we still have to consult with other suite holders. We will negotiate individually with those suite holders who do not want to release their suites.
'The IPL has already indicated that this agreement is acceptable to them, but we will have to tie down an agreement by Sunday night,' he added.
The dispute between GCB and the IPL has been going on for several weeks after the IPL requested all 59 suites at Wanderers for the semis and the final of the IPL.

Indian American Rajiv Shah to head Obama's agro-research

President Barack Obama has named Rajiv J. Shah, an Indian American scientist managing a programme at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help the world's poor lead healthy and productive lives, to a key post.
Obama intends to nominate Shah as under secretary for research, education and economics in the Department of Agriculture, the White House announced Friday.
Shah is currently the director of agricultural development in the global development programme for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he manages the foundation's agricultural development programme with the goal of helping the world's poor lead healthy and productive lives.
His work includes grant-making portfolios in science and technology, farmer productivity, market access, and policy and statistics.
Shah joined the foundation in 2001 and previously served as its sirector of strategic opportunities and deputy director of policy and finance for global health.
In these roles, he helped develop and launch the foundation's global development programme and the international finance facility for immunisation - an effort that raised more than $5 billion for child immunisation and hopes to save more than five million lives around the world.
Prior to joining the foundation, Shah was the health care policy advisor on the Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign and a member of Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell's transition committee on health.
Shah is the co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. In addition, he has served as a policy aide in the British parliament and worked at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Currently, Shah serves on the boards of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Seattle Public Library and Seattle Community College District.
He earned his MD from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and Master of Science in health economics from the Wharton School of Business.
He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the London School of Economics (LSE)and has published articles on health policy and global development.
In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Two ICICI power-women in exit mode

It could be the end of an era at ICICI, with high-profile exits coinciding with the impending retirement from executive position of Managing Director K.V. Kamath at the end of this month, when CFO Chanda Kochhar takes over the baton at the financial giant. Two senior ICICI Bank Group officials, Shikha Sharma, the Managing Director and amp; CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, and Renuka Ramnath, the Managing Director and amp; CEO of ICICI Venture, the private equity firm, are set move on from the group, banking sources said, though there was no official confirmation yet.
"I am not resigning and I have nothing to say on newspaper reports (on my exit)," Ramnath told Hindustan Times. "There is no truth in all the reports in newpapers and I am not resigning," said Sharma.
Given their long years at the group, it was not clear if there were semantic details distinguishing an early retirement from resignation. While Ramnath, a 20-year veteran at ICICI group, is considering setting up a private equity venture of her own, Sharma is said to be moving after nearly three decades at the banking group, with no news on her next stop.
Sharma is widely talked to be joining Axis Bank, which had considered her candidature for the post of CEO after the incumbent, PJ Nayak, retires in July 2009. "It is natural to have career growth aspirations," said a senior ICICI Bank official on the changes at the top.
"Not always are these met in a large organisation like ICICI and hence the turnover." A senior official from another subsidiary company of ICICI Group said, "Renuka is on her way out.
" ICICI Bank has had to change its management plan with the likely exits of Sharma and Ramnath. Earlier, the bank planned to have two Deputy or Joint Managing Directors.
But with one of its Executive Directors, V Vaidyanathan, expected to shift to head the life insurance company after Sharma's exit, the bank is considering not to have these positions. Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, and former CFO of the bank, is expected to move to ICICI Venture to fill the void that Ramnath's exit would create.

Kasab defendant says he was tortured into confessing

The lawyer for Ajmal Aamir Kasab told a special court on Friday that his client's confession to the Mumbai terror attacks was forced and he wanted to retract it. Defence attorney Abbas Kazmi said Kasab wanted to retract the confession as it was made under duress.
The court will examine witnesses to the confession today, to determine if it had been forced. Kasab could face the gallows if found guilty.

Sanjay Dutt booked for Mayawati remarks

Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary and Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt was Saturday booked for allegedly making disparaging remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati during an election rally in Pratapgarh district, police said.
'Sanjay Dutt was booked under Section 294 (obscene acts and songs) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) this afternoon,' police inspector M.K. Singh told IANS over telephone.
Dutt had allegedly said 'Main Mayawatiji ko jaadu ki jhappi aur pappi dono doonga (I will give both a hug and a kiss to Mayawati)' at a public meeting Thursday at K.P. Coleege in Pratapgarh, about 150 km from here.
The case against Dutt was registered on the directions of the district administration that had earlier in the day had slapped a notice on him.
'The show cause notice against Sanjay Dutt was issued this morning for making derogatory comments against the chief minister at a rally,' said Vipin Kumar, the sub-divisional magistrate.
'Sanjay Dutt must reply to the notice within three days of receiving it or else further action will be taken against him,' he added.

IPL 2009 - Match 1: MI vs CSK Images

Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL, tosses the coin during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Andrew Flintoff of Chennai bowls during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

JP Duminy of Mumbai hits out during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Sachin Tendulkar of Mumbai hits out during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Andrew Flintoff (L) of Chennai looks on as another ball goes to the boundry during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

A dog strays on to the field during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Sri Lankan cricketer Lasitha Malinga (C) of Mumbai Indians celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket during the IPL Twenty20 league match at The Newlands Cricket Stadium in Cape Town on April 18, 2009. Mumbai defeated Chennai by 19 runs.

Cheerleaders perform duirng the during their IPL Twenty20 league match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Superkings at The Newlands Cricket Stadium in Cape Town on April 18, 2009. The Mumbai Indians scored 166 runs for the loss of seven wickets during their innings.

Andrew Flintoff of Chennai hits out during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

65,000 H-1B visa cap still not exhausted

NEW DELHI: The demand for H-1B Visas to work in the US has eased as concerns mount about a possible wave of protectionism, but the scene is for those with advanced American degrees who are eligible for 20,000 visas over and above the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually.
The United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) is yet to receive enough applications to exhaust the total number of H-1B visas, which are capped at 65,000 annually. However, the agency has crossed 20,000 petitions already in the advance degree category and is still accepting applications as a lot are rejected every year in this section.
“The slowdown and job losses in the US and the Employ American Workers Act, which makes it difficult for companies that have received funds under the US government’s bailout package to hire H-1B workers are the reasons behind fewer takers for H-1B visas. However, students with masters degrees and above from the US are still attractive for US employers who are finding the right kind of skills that they require. Many of these students have also interned with US companies who are now sponsoring them for their H-1Bs,” says Sudhir Shah, an immigration lawyer based in Mumbai.
Education consultants feel that US companies still need certain specialised skills and will have to hire H-1B workers and Indian students already in the US could become the first choice.

Dr Vijaya Khandavilli, international educational consultant: “Many Indian students go to the US for masters courses and PhDs in specialised areas and when they finish their employability factor is very high. Most of them have very high qualifications and because of having lived in the US, they are globally employable. It is no surprise that US employers are deciding to sponsor them for H-1B visas.” While it is too early yet for trends to emerge on the impact of the slowdown in the US on the number of students going to study there from India, the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar may hit the plans of some.
“There may not be the same kind of phenomenal growth in numbers of Indian students going to study in the US this year. While the slowdown in the corporate sector could actually provide a good opportunity for many to study further, the decline of the rupee against the dollar will make US education unaffordable,” says Ajit K Motwani, India director of Institute of International Education, the organisation that publishes Open Doors, an annual report on foreign student enrolments in the US.

Recession will be long and severe: IMF

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that the current global recession, the worst after World War II, is likely to continue for a longer duration and the recovery would be sluggish.
However, strong countercyclical policy action, combined with action to restore confidence in the financial sector, could improve prospects for recovery, the IMF said as it released the World Economic Outlook.
"The analysis suggests that the combination of financial crisis and a globally synchronised downturn is likely to result in an unusually severe and long lasting recession," said the IMF report, released at its headquarters in Washington.
Observing that this combination is historically rare, and inferences should be drawn cautiously, the IMF said: "Nonetheless, the fact that the current downturn is highly synchronised and associated with deep financial crises suggests that it is likely to be persistent, with a weaker-than-average recovery."
A typical recession, according to IMF, persists for about a year, while an expansion often lasts more than five years. Recoveries from recessions are strong, reflecting the presence of a bounce-back effect.
However, recessions and expansions in the advanced economies have changed over time -- since the mid-1980s, recessions have become less frequent and milder, while expansions have become long lasting.
The IMF said macroeconomic policies can play a valuable role in reducing the severity of recessions and bringing forward recoveries. Monetary policy has typically played an important role in ending recessions and strengthening recoveries, although it is less effective during financial crises.
Fiscal policy, the report said, appears to be more reliable in these episodes, consistent with evidence that fiscal policy is more effective when economic agents face tighter liquidity constraints. Fiscal stimulus is also associated with stronger recoveries; however, the impact of fiscal policy on the strength of the recovery is found to be smaller for economies that have higher levels of public debt, the IMF said
Dealing with the current global recession, the World Economic Outlook 2009 said, will require coordinated monetary, fiscal and financial policies.
"Aggressive monetary and fiscal policy measures are needed to support aggregate demand in the short term. Even with such measures, one of the most important lessons from episodes of financial crises is that restoring confidence in the financial sector is critically important for macroeconomic policies to be effective and for recovery to take hold," it said.
he report further said that a coordinated policy response by advanced and emerging economies is required to prevent further escalation and spreading of financial stress.
"Reducing individual country vulnerabilities cannot insulate emerging economies from a major financial shock in advanced economies," it said.
As stronger current account and fiscal balances do little to mitigate the transmission of financial stress from advanced economies in periods of financial crisis, the IMF said they may, however, help dampen the impact on the real sector of emerging economies and help re-establish financial stability and foreign capital inflows once financial stress subsides.

IPL-2 kicks-off with grand parade in SA

Two days before the actual action gets underway, the second Indian Premier League got off to a rousing start in Cape Town on Thursday, with some of the best cricketers and Bollywood stars lending sheen to the gala event.
A colourful tableaux of eight IPL franchisees passed the city centre, with fans lining up either side of the roads to get a glimpse of the cricket and entertainment glitterati converged in South Africa for the 59-match carnival, starting on Saturday.
Having arranged the logistics in just three weeks' time after the event was shifted out of India, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said he was happy to have overcome the challenge.
"It was a huge challenge but we turned it into an opportunity. The South African government and the cricket board went out of their way to help us and made it a national event," a beaming Modi said.
"We got approvals in minutes, not even in hours. Everything went extremely smooth and it's amazing to put everything in place in such a short time," he said.
Celebrity team owners Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders ), Preity Zinta (King's XI Punjab) and Shilpa Shetty (Rajasthan Royals ) raised the glamour quotient of the carnival while the players seemed thoroughly impressed.
Delhi Daredevils' new recruit David Warner was amazed by the reception. The explosive Australian said he cannot not wait to get going.
"It's an amazing city with amazing people. This is completely unbelievable.
"For me, this is a golden opportunity to play with people I looked up to and I can't wait for it to start," he said.
Former South Africa Test player Jonty Rhodes , now a fielding coach with Mumbai Indians , said the entire country is looking forward to the event.
"As a South African, I'm really excited that IPL is taking place here. A great deal has been happening in the country and we all are looking forward to it," he said.
Mumbai Indian pacer Zaheer Khan too shared his enthusiasm and said, "I can sense there is a lot of excitement here and it's always great to play in a different country."
Sourav Ganguly , who led Kolkata Knight Riders last year, said it would be difficult to match last year's frenzy but felt people would come in large numbers to watch the matches.
"It would have been altogether different had it been in India but I think people will come in good numbers for one month of entertaining cricket," said the former India captain.

60 per cent voting in first phase of LS polls

In the first phase of the five-phased Lok Sabha polls, an estimated 60 per cent of the 14.30 crore voters exercised their franchise in 124 constituencies across India on Thursday.
Simultaneous elections to assemblies in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa also drew about 60 per cent voters' response with the polling today covering more than half of the constituencies in the two states.
"Considering the complexity and the challenges, the Election Commission is totally satisfied with today's polling," Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters in New Delhi while briefing mediapersons about the voter turnout.
Balakrishnan said that 1.85 lakh polling stations were involved in today's exercise, of which 76,000 polling stations came under some degree of Naxal threat. Across the regions which went to polls today, voting was disrupted at 86 polling stations, 71 of them by Naxals, he said, adding that the election was 'largely peaceful'.
Noting that most of the Naxal-affected areas were kept together in the first phase, he said that the EC was aware of this particular challenge and kept a close watch on the polling. He said the polling percentage ranged from 46 per cent in Bihar to 86 per cent in Lakshadweep.
Balakrishnan said the tentative polling percentage was 65 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 62 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, 62 per cent in Assam, 48 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir , 60 per cent in Kerala , 54 per cent in Maharashtra, 68 per cent in Manipur, 65 per cent in Meghalaya, 52 per cent in Mizoram, 84 per cent in Nagaland, 53 per cent in Orissa, 50 per cent in Uttar Pradesh , 51 per cent in Chhatisgarh, 50 per cent in Jharkhand and 62 per cent in Andaman and Nicobar.
He said the polling percentage is likely to increase as the voting was in progress in some places and the polling parties were yet to return in some others. A decision on re-polling will be taken in consultation with the observers.
Balakrishnan said 201 people were arrested including two legislators and a candidate from Bihar. He informed that polling in the Jammu parliamentary constituency and in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh was incident-free.

India's rebel league threatens legal action

Backers of an unsanctioned Twenty20 competition which rivals the Indian Premier League are threatening legal action against the International Cricket Council unless their tournament is granted official recognition.
Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel Group that challenged the Indian cricket board's authority by launching the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) two years ago, said he expected the tournament to be officially sanctioned during a meeting of the ICC's executive board that begins Friday in Dubai.
"We're hopeful of receiving official recognition at the ICC executive board meeting, failing which we will pursue legal options," Chandra said in a statement Thursday.
The ICC considered a similar application by the ICL last year and asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which runs the IPL, to meet ICL officials in a bid to resolve conflicts between the rival leagues.
But discussions between BCCI and ICL officials quickly broke down, thwarting the privately promoted league's hopes of securing recognition. The meeting was the first time the non-sanctioned ICL held discussions with the Indian cricket board, which has imposed life bans on all Indian players participating in the rebel competition.
The BCCI's firm opposition to the ICL had also forced several other national cricket boards to impose bans on players who are contracted to the rebel league.
The second season of the IPL starts Saturday in South Africa and the five-week tournament will feature many of the world's leading players who're contracted to the eight franchises.
The IPL was moved to South Africa due to concerns over security in India because of a clash of dates with the general elections.

Watson, Symonds, Lee all Aussies missing from IPL

With last year's player of the tournament absent due to national commitments, and two others who're among the highest-paid stars also missing, Australia's contingent at the start of the second IPL season will be more notable for who's not playing than those who make the trip to South Africa
There'll still be retired spin bowling great Shane Warne leading the way as captain and coach of the defending champion Rajasthan Royals, but Warne will be missing a key ingredient from last year, player of the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 season Shane Watson.
The 26-year-old Watson, who scored 472 runs at an average of 42 in the IPL last year, has returned from injury and was named in the Australian limited-overs squad for a series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi beginning next Wednesday _ four days after the IPL starts.
Also missing will be troubled allrounder Andrew Symonds, who was been out of the Australian lineup for several months until his recall for the Pakistan series, and fast bowler Brett Lee, who was initially named in squad to play Pakistan but was later ruled out and replaced by Doug Bollinger.
Lee, at least, will continue to train in South Africa with his Indian Premier League franchise, Kings XI Punjab, to further his rehabilitation from ankle and foot operations. But if he's cleared to play, it's expected that will be for Australia before he sees any action for his IPL franchise.
Symonds would have been the fourth-highest salary earner at $1.35 million with Deccan Chargers in the IPL this season (behind England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff and India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni).
Lee was set to make $900,000, which would have put him at No. 10 in the 2009 earnings list.
Salaries are paid on a pro-rata basis for the foreign stars, so the more matches they play, the more they earn. The Australians on national team duties will get a chance to return to the IPL later in the tournament.
Also among the absent Australians is test skipper Ricky Ponting, who is being rested to prepare for the Ashes campaign against England in two months.
Australian Michael Hussey will also not play in this year's IPL in order to rest for the Ashes. Hussey would have been available for only the final two weeks of the IPL, which ends with the final on May 24 in Johannesburg.
Michael Clarke, who will captain Australia in Ponting's absence against Pakistan _ that series ends May 7 _ and pace bowler Mitchell Johnson, will also miss this year's IPL. Clarke and Johnson did not play in the inaugural IPL and did not nominate for the player auction earlier this year.
Ponting is expected back as skipper for Twenty20 World Cup in June and the Ashes.
"Right at the moment I feel like I need to get away and have a bit of a break, so that's the way it is," said Ponting, who was given a release for the 2009 season by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise which is coached by ex-Australia coach John Buchanan.
Lee, a 76-test veteran, is pushing to reclaim his place in the Australian attack for the Ashes series. So IPL's loss might be Australia's gain for the crucial series against England. He joined the Kings XI Punjab squad in South Africa to practice because wet whether in Sydney was limiting his time in the nets.
"Now that he's here in South Africa with his IPL team, when he is ready to bowl again there'll be no excuses for weather or anything," Ponting said of Lee. "He should be able to get a lot of bowling done and when he's fit enough and ready to play, hopefully he'll be playing for us because that's what he wants. We need to see him back in Australian colors."
The eight-team, 59-match IPL tournament, switched to South Africa from India due to security concerns because of clashing dates with the general elections, begins Saturday.

Indian Richest politicians

A lean bare man on the banks of a river near Champaran, his eyes moist with sadness, letting go of his shawl for a poor woman downstream to cover herself and her child. This poignant moment from Richard Attenborough's biopic on Gandhi is perhaps the most eloquent image of selfless politics.
The gentle giant loved as Bapu and revered as the Mahatma epitomised the philosophy of public service as one who gave up everything to be one among the huddled millions. Nearly a century later there is little evidence in reel or real life of the high moral ground once straddled by that generation.
The brazen parade of the Prada Prado set zipping across cities in cavalcades, appropriating security funded by public money is evidence that politics has since morphed into a largely self-serving enterprise. The pretense of khadi and Gandhian values went out of vogue with the Gandhi cap long before the Gucci generation stormed the political arena in the 1980s.
The transition is best described by Rajiv Gandhi who said at the Congress Centenary in Mumbai in 1985 that politics has been reduced to brokers of power and influence, who dispense patronage to convert mass movement into feudal oligarchy . Yes there are those who enter politics to serve the public cause but they are exceptions rather than the rule. Entering public life is now an investment of time and effort for dividends to be earned from political entrepreneurship. A joint study by INDIA TODAY and EmpoweringIndia.org (an initiative of the Liberty Institute) of the reported assets of our elected representatives reveals a startling contrast between the rulers and the ruled.
In a country where over 77 per cent of the populace, or an estimated 836 million people, earn an income of Rs 20 per day and over 300 million are living below the poverty line, nearly half the Rajya Sabha members and nearly a third of those from the Lok Sabha are worth a crore and more. Just the top ten Rajya Sabha members and the top ten Lok Sabha members have reported a cumulative net asset worth Rs 1,500 crore. The 10 top losers in the last Lok Sabha polls including Nyimthungo of Nagaland who reported total assets of Rs 9,005 crore is Rs 9,329 crore. Members of legislative assemblies seem wealthier than many MPs. The top five MLAs across the 30 states are worth Rs 2,042 crore. Of these 150 crorepati MLAs, 59 don't even have a PAN card.
1. T. Subbarami Reddy
Indian National Congress
Rajya Sabha, Andhra Pradesh
Total Assets: Rs 239.6 cr
2. Jaya Bachchan
Samajwadi Party
Rajya Sabha, Uttar Pradesh
Total Assets: Rs 214.3 cr
3. Rahul Bajaj
Independent
Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra
Total Assets: Rs 190. 6 cr
4. Anil H. Lad
Indian National Congress
Rajya Sabha, Karnataka
Total Assets: Rs 175 cr
5. M. Krishnappa
Indian National Congress
MLA, Vijay Nagar, Karnataka
Total Assets: Rs 136 cr
6. MAM Ramaswamy
Janata Dal (Secular)
Rajya Sabha, Karnataka
Total Assets Rs 107.7 cr
7. Anand Singh
BJP
MLA, Vijayanagara, Karnataka
Total Assets: Rs 239 cr
8. Anil V. Salgaocar
Independent
MLA, Sanvordem, Goa
Total Assets: Rs 91.4 cr
9. N.A. Haris
Indian National Congress
MLA, Shanti Nagar, Karnataka
Total Assets: Rs 85.3 cr
10. Mahendra Mohan
Samajwadi Party
Rajya Sabha, Uttar Pradesh
Total Assets: Rs 85 cr
And don't look for a correlation between the state of the state and the wealth of the legislators. Uttar Pradesh boasts of the largest number of people 59 million or over a third of its population living below the poverty line. Not only is Mayawati the richest chief minister in 30 states, the state also boasts of 113 crorepati MLAs. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh which has over 25 million of the 60 million people living below the poverty line boasts of 80 crorepati MLAs. The Marxists are the stark exception in this study too. The CPI(M) has 301 MLAs across 10 states but has only two MLAs with declared assets of over Rs 1 crore. Of the 537 candidates who contested on a CPI(M) ticket, only seven had assets of over Rs 1 crore, of which five lost in the elections.
As the old maxim goes, power begets power and money attracts riches. Clearly, it pays to be in power. Take the last round of Assembly elections which afforded the study an opportunity to compare the increase in wealth. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where the BJP was in power, the average assets of candidates increased by five times.
In Karnataka too where the Congress ruled in rotation with Deve Gowda's JD(S), Congress candidates reported a fivefold rise in their assets. Mercifully, wealth doesn't always ensure success. In all, 365 crorepatis contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2004; 88 lost their deposits, and 114 came second.
Last December in Delhi the Congress learnt this important lesson again when they found that Congress candidates who lost in Delhi were on an average richer than those who won. But wealth clearly does matter, all other things being constant.
The caveat emptor here, as with all matters concerning transparency in public life, is that we are going by what the political class has chosen to declare. After all, the statement of assets filed by candidates is at best a confession of sorts mandated by two Supreme Court judgements of May 2002 and March 2003.
There are several gaps in the information available. Of the 542 Lok Sabha members, details of assets are available for only 522. Similarly in the Rajya Sabha, only 215 members have filed details of assets.
There is no institutional mechanism to cross-check facts, nor is there a requirement for candidates to declare the source of wealth, or the increase in wealth of candidates in subsequent declarations. In Mizoram for instance, none of the 10 top candidates have reported possessing a PAN card even though their wealth is in excess of Rs 1 crore.
What is worse is that although MPs who are ministers file annual statements of their assets, the information is not available to the public. This virtually negates the concept of scrutiny that would prevent misuse of position of power and enrichment. Indeed, what should be openly available is denied even under the Right to Information Act.
It is tragic that the Office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has been described as integrity personified has been made party to this decision to deny the information. Again, while Central ministers are required to file a statement of assets, there is no such requirement for ministers in states.
The adulterous cohabitation of power and pelf is conspicuous across the political spectrum. The chasm between the declared and perceived reality is all too obvious to be missed. Contrast the wealth reported and wealthy lifestyles of those elected to high office.
Clearly the tip of the benami iceberg has not even been touched. In a country with a stark asymmetry in opportunities and ability, political power enables bending and twisting of policy, converting politics into the elevator politicians ride to reach the pot of gold. Living room conversations in middle and upper middle class homes are dotted with whose son, daughter or son-in-law is raking it in using the benami route to accumulate property and assets.
Television footage of currency notes being waved in Parliament during the last trust vote, the airborne campaigns witnessed during the polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, money spent in fielding dummy candidates, funding of party offices, travel in Toyota SUVs costing over Rs 75 lakh each and private charters that politicians avail of to fly within the country are all pointers that are hard to ignore.
Bankers and brokers talk in not so hushed tones about the role of politicians in corporate scams. There is also speculation about the real beneficiary and benami ownership of at least two airlines, several real estate ventures, pharmaceutical units and infrastructure companies. The corporate concept of 'sleeping partner' has a whole new connotation in the political world. As long as the real incomes, wealth and funding of politicians remain opaque, governance will continue to suffer and democracy will be rendered more often on the liability side in the balance sheet of development.
Television footage of currency notes being waved in Parliament during the last trust vote, the airborne campaigns witnessed during the polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, money spent in fielding dummy candidates, funding of party offices, travel in Toyota SUVs costing over Rs 75 lakh each and private charters that politicians avail of to fly within the country are all pointers that are hard to ignore.
Bankers and brokers talk in not so hushed tones about the role of politicians in corporate scams. There is also speculation about the real beneficiary and benami ownership of at least two airlines, several real estate ventures, pharmaceutical units and infrastructure companies. The corporate concept of 'sleeping partner' has a whole new connotation in the political world. As long as the real incomes, wealth and funding of politicians remain opaque, governance will continue to suffer and democracy will be rendered more often on the liability side in the balance sheet of development.
with Sangram K. Parhi and Shyamlal Yadav
Empowering India www.EmpoweringIndia.org has diligently tried to compile over 45,000 affidavits of candidates who contested for state assemblies and Lok Sabha seats, in the past five years. In this process of digitisation, there are possibilities of errors. We will greatly appreciate if the readers point out any mistakes that come to their notice. For authentic copies of affidavits, please consult the web site of Election Commission of India.

Now slipper thrown at Advani

A former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office-bearer Thursday created a sensation by throwing a wooden slipper at senior party leader L.K. Advani when the latter was going up on stage to address a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh.
The man, identified as Pawas Agarwal, threw a 'khadaun' or slipper made of wood at Advani, saying he was 'a fake iron man' and did not deserve to be the BJP's prime ministerial aspirant. The incident took place in Katni district, 350 km from here.
The slipper missed Advani, but he became the latest victim of a series of 'shoe-throwing' incidents in the country. A former Katni district president of the BJP, Agarwal was taken into custody by police.
He said the BJP should project some other leader as its prime ministerial candidate.
Agarwal told mediapersons that Advani was 'nakli Lauh Purush' (a fake iron man). 'He has no ideology. On the one hand he asks for votes in the name of Ram and on the other hand pays obeisance to (Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali) Jinnah,' he said.
On why he did not raise the issue at a party platform, Agarwal said: 'None of the party leaders had the courage to communicate these feelings because they too were not allowed to speak.'
Rival Congress was quick to react. Party general secretary Arvind Malviya said in Bhopal: 'It was the result of the BJP's double speak and its intention to exploit public sentiments in the name of religion.'
Earlier this month, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and then Congress MP Naveen Jindal were also targeted by people who wanted to express their anger by throwing footwear at these politicians.

Supreme Court releases Varun Gandhi for two weeks

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi on parole for a period of two weeks after it received an undertaking from him that he would not indulge in communally sensitive and hate speeches.
The apex court, however, said that Gandhi would have to give a new undertaking to the District Magistrate of Etah.
Gandhi was booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for an alleged hate speech delivered in his parliamentary constituency of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh last month.
The release of Gandhi came even as the Uttar Pradesh Government, which is headed by Chief Minister Mayawati, said that it would go ahead with a hearing of the NSA case against Gandhi. The State Government said that it has instructed an advisory board to take the matter up. The advisory board is scheduled to meet on April 18.
The BJP welcomed the Supreme Court order. Party spokesman Balbir Punj said that imposing the NSA on Gandhi was a blatant misuse of the law and government by the BSP administration in the state.
On Wednesday, a lawyer representing Varun Gandhi revealed that his client has given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that he will not make any more hate speeches, raising prospects of his early release on bail from the Etah District Jail where he has been lodged under the National Security (NSA) Act.
According to the lawyer, an affidavit has been submitted to Etah District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal in this regard. The affidavit will be forwarded to the Supreme Court that had adjourned the hearing of Varun's bail plea till April 16.
Varun had moved the Supreme Court seeking relief to allow him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Pilibhit, and according to Dayal, has promised not to give provocative speeches that violate the Constitution or lead to any law and order problem.
"In his affidavit Varun had promised that he will not deliver any hate speech and that he will follow the model code of conduct," news reports quoted Varun''s lawyer Prashant Singh Atal, as saying.
The apex court had said on Monday said Varun''s plea for bail could be accepted only if he comes out with a promise that he will not make provocative speeches during his campaign.
Varun''s affidavit also states that his actions were not in violation of Constitution and that he has obeyed the law.

Sikhs in Pakistan pay Rs.20 mn to Taliban

Pakistan's Sikh community has been forced to pay Rs.20 million as 'jizia' (tax) to the Taliban so as to return to their homes and resume business, a newspaper said Thursday.
The minority Sikh community Wednesday met the Taliban demand in return for 'protection' in Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the Daily Times reported.
The Taliban then released Sikh leader Sardar Saiwang Singh and vacated the community's houses. The militia announced that the Sikhs were now free to live anywhere in the area.
'They also announced protection for the Sikh community, saying no one would harm them after they paid jizia. Sikhs who had left the agency would now return to their houses and resume business,' an official said.

PM keeping options open for tie up with Left

New Delhi: Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appeared to be keeping Congress options open for a tie up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario, saying he has had a good experience working with all of them.
However, he expressed confidence that the Congress would be able to form the government with its allies. At an interaction with the members of the Editors Guild of India here, he was asked whether Congress would take support of the Left parties in forming the next government.
"We will cross the brige when we come to it. As of now I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government (with allies). I have dealt with the Left parties, MulayamSingh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar."I have dealt with Jayalalithaa, DMK andPMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb (PDP leader). I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces," he said.
Asked whether he would like doing business with the Left, Singh said "well, I think circumstances will decide. But I was quite happy when as government we were dealing with the Left." The prime minister said the Left parties had strong views on the nuclear issue and they had to leave.
"But it was a matter of great privilege (working with them)."When asked whether the Congress would support the Left in forming the government as CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat had said the Communists will not support a Congress government, he said "we will deal with this question after the election results are out.
But the fact is the present arrangement has worked well."A questioner reminded himabout his statement in November 2007 that if the nuclear deal did not go through he would live with the disappointment and his recent statement that he would have resigned in such a case and asked him what made him put his government to risk.
The government had negotiated the deal with the US for three years. It was also an issue that was being negotiated with countries like Russia, China and seeking the support of all 45members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said adding "we had resolved all issues to India's satisfaction."
"If after all this I go and tell them 'no, thank you' we as a government would have looked foolish. People would have got an impression that it was a waste of time (of doing business with India).India's honour was at stake. It would have been disastrous. I thought this must be avoided.

Rajasthan Royals axe Kaif, seven others from IPL 2 squad

The Rajasthan Royals, which won last year's inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, has axed former Test player and Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammad Kaif and seven other players from the squad that will do duty in the second edition.
They will now fly back to India. Kaif was purchased for a hefty 675,000 US dollars at the auction last year, but didn't have much of a role during the victorious campaign.
Kaif had played all the matches last year, but could manage only 176 runs at an average of just 16. He didn't make a single half century, largely because he was shunted lower down the order. The 28-year-old Kaif has played 13 Tests and 125 one-dayers for India so far, reports said

India rise to No.2 in ODI rankings

India rose to the second spot in International Cricket Council's ODI rankings following Australia's loss to South Africa in the fourth One-dayer at Port Elizabeth.
South Africa beat Australia 4-1 in the away series and have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series at home. Their seven victories in nine ODIs have consigned Ricky Ponting's side to its lowest ranking since the listings were launched in October 2002.
South Africa lead the table with 127 points while India are on 122 points and Australia on 121.
Remarkably, out of a total of 79 months since October 2002, Australia held the top spot for 69 months, including 52 straight months.
India's placing is the highest it has achieved in the ODI rankings and complements its third place in the Test rankings.
Australia, which moved to the top of the table after a 141-run victory in the first game of the series in Durban, will regain the No.2 position if they win the final ODI at The Wanderers.
If South Africa win Friday they will finish the series on 128 ratings points while Australia will head off to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan in a five-match ODI series in third place on 120 ratings points, trailing India by two.