Times Chennai, E Paper 27 July 2009

VOL: 3 ISSUE 5

Chennai, July 27, 2009

All 3 accused convicted in 2003 Mumbai blasts case Mumbai, July 27: A special POTA court here on Monday convicted all three accused in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts case that killed 52 persons and injured 100 others.

module of the Lashkar-eToiba (LeT) outfit. . Revealing the details of the case, Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said that one of the co-

belonged to Hyderabad, was absconding and later shot dead by the police in an encounter. Given further details of the plot to terrorise India’s financial

death penalty, Nikam only said that they will ask for harsh punishment and as the accused have been convicted under Sec 302 of IPC they will

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T h e c o u r t convicted Ashrat Shafique Ansari (32), Mohammed Hanif Sayed (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) for murder and conspiracy under Sections 302, 307, 427 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code besides being found guilty under Section three of POTA. H o w e v e r, t h e court will announce the announcement of quantum of punishment on August 4. The trial in the case carried on for six years and today’s judgment is the biggest in a terror-related case in Mumbai after the conviction of 100 accused in the 1993 serial blasts case by a special TADA court in 2007. On August 25, 2003 two blasts had rocked the Gateway of India and the busy Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai. The blasts were carried out by a terror

c o n s p i r a t o r, w h o s e identity has been withheld, had turned approver and his deposition was clinching in the court. The approver had spilled the beans about the conspiracy and the way in which the crime was committed. The other key prosecution witness was the taxi driver whose vehicle was used to plant the bomb at Gateway of India. Police had claimed that it was the driver who led them to the residence of the accused. Nikam said, “The initial criminal conspiracy was hatched in Dubai by a LeT mastermind, accused Haneef, Nasir and the approver.” O f t h e conspirators, apart from Haneef and the approver have been tried in the court, while Nasir, who

capital, Nikam said that the accused had first planted a bomb in a bus on December 2, 2002 but it turned out to be a failure. Then on July 28, 2003, they planted another bomb in a BEST bus that exploded in Ghatkopar killing two. “But they were not happy with such low intensity explosions so they carried out the twin bomb blast on August 25 that left 52 dead and more than 100 injured,” Nikam said. Nikam also pointed out that this is the first case in India in which husband and wife and their children were involved and convicted for such a crime. However, the child was not prosecuted under the POTA Act as it was underage. On whether, the prosecution would ask for

get either life imprisonment of death. Other two accused – Mohammed Ansari Ladoowala and Mohammed Hasan

Batterywala – were discharged at the fag end of the trial following a clean chit given to them by the POTA review committee last year.

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Tamil Nadu

Iqbal Singh sworn in as Lt Governor of Puducherry Puducherry , July 27: Iqbal Singh was today sworn in as Lt Governor of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Chief Justice of Madras High Court H L Gokhale administered the

Ramachandran were among those present at the ceremony. Mr. Singh later inspected a guard of honour by the Puducherry Police and hosted a tea for all the

Tourism infrastructure should be further improved to make Puducherry a most sought after destination," he said. Asserting that Puduchery is at the

July 27, 2009

Mettur dam to be opened on July 28 Chennai, July 27: The Tamil Nadu government as announced earlier will be opening f the Mettur Dam on July 28, on the occasion of Aadi 18, the day of Tamil month Aadi when farmers worship river Cauvery for its benevolence. W i t h t h e monsoon rains slush in Karnataka Mettur has been getting copious inflow following filling up of Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar resevoirs in Karnataka. The level has risen to 92 ft and the

PWD authorities are confident of opening the

dam tomorrow sources said.

IICPT signs MoU with Manitoba University

oath of office to him at a function at the Raj Nivas. Iqbal Singh (64) is the 20th Lt Governor of Puducherry after it became part of Indian Union through de jure transfer of power from the French in 1962. Ta m i l N a d u Governor Surjit Singh Barnala has been holding additional charge of Puducherry since April this year after the demise of Lt Governor Govind Singh Gurjar on April 6. Union Minister of State for Planning, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture V Narayanasamy, Chief Minister V Va i t h i l i n g a m a n d h i s cabinet colleagues, S p e a k e r R Radhakrishnan, Deputy Speaker A V Sreedharan, leader of the opposition A M H Nazeem and former Speaker M D R

invitees. Hailing from Jalandhar, Mr. Singh served as Rajya Sabha member between 1992 and 1998. He was also an AICC observer in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, besides being AICC secretary for 12 years. In a message to the people, Mr. Singh said that Puducherry, with its peaceful and exotic location, is emerging as a favourite destination for domestic and international tourists. "Puducherry, with its peaceful and exotic location, is fast emerging as a favourite destination for domestic and international tourists.

forefront in education, health care and welfare sectors, the new Lt Governor said that the union territory had attained "a high level of human development indices with peaceful civic life". He said the uniform floor rate of tax is posing a challenge to trading sector. Mr. Singh said his priority would be to cooperate with the elected representatives and accelerate economic growth with equitable opportunities to women and weaker sections. "It will be my endeavour to make the U n i o n Te r r i t o r y o f Puducherry a model of inclusive growth," he said in his message.

Youth injured after loading a gun Tiruchirapalli, July 27: A 21-year-old youth received bullet injuries when a country made gun went off accidentally, while loading a t s u b u r b a n Keelamangalam near here yesterday. Police said the injured Sathishkumar and his friends Karthkeyan (24), Muthukumar (23),

who went for hunting in the nearby area, where Sathishkumar started loading the gun with explosive materials, but while doing so, the gun went off accidentally and caused bullet injuries to him. Based on the information, police rushed to the spot and

arrested Karthikeyan and Muthukumar for possessing an unlicenced country made gun and for providing false information the police over the incident. The injured was admitted to a private hospital in the city, police added.

Two arrested for murdering a woman Karur, July 27: Police arrested two persons for allegedly murdering a 70year-old woman for the sake of money at Pasupathipalayam here yesterday. Police said the accused Sathish Kumar and his friend Praveen

went to the grand-mother Kunjammal of Sathish Kumar and demanded money from her to purchase a two-wheeler. Ms Kunjammal, however, refused to give money. The enraged duo, strangulated her to death and escaped from

the scene with as many as five soverigns of her gold ornaments. Based on the information, police swung into the action, nabbed the duo and recovered jewellary from them, police added.

Thanjavur, July 27 : Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT) here has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with University of Manitoba, Canada, for taking up collaborative research programmes. A IICPT release said here today, the MOU was signed by K Alagusundaram, Director of IICPT, and Digvir Jayas, Vice President (Research), University of Manitoba, in

New Delhi recently in the presence of Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai, Secretary Ashok Sinha and Joint Secretary Ajit Kumar. The tie-up would facilitate collaborative programmes of research, training, curriculum, i n s t i t u t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t , i n f o r m a t i o n dissemination, and exchange of faculty, students and staff.

University of Manitoba is an important educational institution in the Central Canada with as many as 25,000 students pursuing courses in arts and science, engineering, health and law. IICPT is a pioneer in research and development. The Institute is also addressing post-harvest processing and preservation problems, the release added.

Four-cornered contest in Tamil Nadu by-polls Chennai, July 27 : The forthcoming by-elections for five assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu is set to be a fourcornered fight with the DMDK deciding to contest on its own. Now the state's ruling DMK-Congress combine will cross swords with the DMDK, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the two Communist parties -Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). Earlier the major opposition party AIADMK and its allies -- MDMK and PMK -- had decided to boycott the by-polls next month, alleging that the elections would not be free and fair. AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa has asked her party cadres to not vote in the elections. T h e constituencies for which by-polls are to be held Aug 18 are Bargur, Thondamuthur, Cumbum, Illayangudi and Srivaikundam. The ruling DMK will contest in Bargur, Illayankudi and Cumbum and has named its candidates while its ally

Congress will field its candidates for Thondamuthur and Srivaikundam seats. The Communist parties will contest only four seats and support a friendly party in the fifth one. While the CPI-M will contest in Thondamathur and Cumbum constituencies, CPI will test its strength in Srivaikumdam and Bargur. According to a BJP official, the party will be going it alone in the elections in all the five seats unlike in the Lok Sabha polls where it partnered with a clutch of small parties. "In two days the candidates will be announced," he added. According to reports, DMDK party officials were in favour of boycotting the polls like AIADMK. But the party leader, actor-turnedp o l i t i c i a n Vi j a y k a n t , Sunday decided to test the party's strength. In the 2006 assembly elections the party went on its own and only Vijaykant emerged victorious. Disagreeing with the AIADMK's poll

boycott decision, political commentator Cho Ramaswamy told IANS: "The boycott will enable Vijayakanth's DMDK to improve its vote share." But Ramaswamy does not think the DMDK will gain any permanent advantage. "The advantage for DMDK will be of transitory appearance as everybody knows that AIADMK boycotted the polls. Vijaykant has a good chance of improving his vote share," he said. T h e D M D K contested in all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry on its own in the recent Lok Sabha polls. In Tamil Nadu it secured over over 2.9 million votes out of around 30 million votes polled, thereby getting around 10 percent of the vote share. The party came third in 29 seats out of the 40 it contested. Though the DMDK has increased its vote share marginally over its 8.33 percent in the 2006 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, it has fallen far short of its initial expectations. Eight DMDK candidates got over 100,000 votes and a couple of them got over 90,000.

July 27, 2009

Times Chennai E-Paper

Plastics banned on Marina Chennai, July 27: Corporation Mayor M Subramanian on Monday

Labour Statue, the Mayor said that the thinking ability of children was

beautification of Chennai, wall paintings depicting the culture of

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ATM near police station robbed Chennai: July 27: Robbers broke open into an ATM near Sembium Police Station and decamped with cash. The theft came to light this morning after the chief manager of the bank Ramasamy visited the ATM and found it

broken open. He alerted Deputy Commissioner of Police Bhaskaran and Assistant Commissioner Kingsley who along with a posse visited the scene of the crime. The police said there was no security

man at the ATM centre but there was CCTV camera. So, they said they could find the culprit after going through the TV footage. However, the amount stolen would be known only after the technicians open the ATM.

Exnora, Velammal launches campaign on global warming

said that a ban would be imposed on sale of eatables, tea, coffee and other food stuff packed in plastic materials that are being sold and used on the Marina Beach. The ban would come into effect from Aug. 15. At an interaction session held near the

affected because of plastic products. The use of plastics could cause cancer and affect the nervous system, so people should completely avoid using plastic, he said. Subramanian also said that as part of the

Chennai, July 27: Buoyed by the success of the '88888' Lights out campaign last year, ExNora International, a NGO in the field of Environment protection, in association with

NGOs and the media participated in the function by joining hands to fight against global warming. During the function, a list of 60 mega events to be conducted in

A pledge to protect the Mother Earth and to save it was taken at the function. Saluting the Mother Earth, people took oath stating ''Mother Earth you have been taking care

Velammal Educational Trust on Sunday launched the 99999 Lights out campaign to save the ''Mother Earth'' and create an awareness on Global Warming. The 'Save the Earth 99999 Lights out' campaign is to switch off lights for nine minutes at 2100 hrs on the ninth day of ninth month (September) of the ninth y e a r o f t h i s millennium(2009). People from different walks of life, including legal fraternity, educational institutions, Film, TV, Radio, Trade Unions, Bank, Industries,

the run-up to the September 9 campaign, was released. Speaking on the occasion, ExNora founder M B Nirmal and Velammal Educational Trust CEO M V M Velmurugan said the aim of the ''99999 Lights out'', was to sensitise the people about the causes, consequences and solutions of global warming. ''Mother Earth is taking its biggest blow, as the consequences of global warming have started to unleash, posing a major threat to humanity,'' they added.

of us. Now Time has come for us to take care of you...We salute you''. Among those who participated in the function, included well known advocate Ms Nalini Chidambaram, film actor Prashanth, actress Swarnamalya, Radio Jockey Dheena, Madras High Court Additional Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah and All India Bank Employees Association General Secretary and Chief Coordinator of All India 99999 Lights out C a m p a i g n C H Venkatachalam.

Tamils were being done on 50,000 square feet of space on Anna Salai. He added that restrictions would also be imposed on pasting of posters and graffiti on the flyovers and subways. C o r p o r a t i o n Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni also spoke.

Power shut down tomorrow Chennai, July 27: Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on Tuesday July 28 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm for maintenance work The Supply will be resumed earlier if the works are completed before 5.00 pm says a TNEB release Periamet Area: V K Pillai street, Venkatachalam Street, Arani Muthu Street, Maddox street, Lee Chengalvarayan Street and BT Mudali Street. Cooks Road Area: Tank Bund Road 1st and 2nd Street, Brislin Lane, Century Flower Mill, A N Jothi Nagar I & II, New Vazaima Nagar.

Otteri Area: Y e m i S t r e e t , Venkatathiru Street, New Manikkam Street, Erran Street, Kandasamy Kovil S t r e e t , Ve n k a t e s a n Street. Chepauk Area: Bells Road, Mosque Street, OVM Street, Krishnappa Street, CNK Road, Mohamed Abdullah I & II lane. JJ Nagar Area: Mugappair East and West, Eri Scheme, JJ Nagar Industrial Estate, Moorthy Nagar, Krishna Nagar and a part of Nolambur. Mandaveli Area: R K Mutt Road, Pillaiyar Koil Thottom, Vaithiyar Anna Malai

Street. Toll Gate Area: W h o l e o f N e w Washermanpet, a part of V O C N a g a r . Madipakkam Area: Madipakkam, Moovarasampet, Medavakkam main road, Iyyappa nagar, Swamy Nagar, West Velachery, Balaiah garden, Keelkattalai, Karthikeyapuram, Puzhudivakkam. Perumbakkam Area: Medavakkam, Perum-bakkam, J a l l a n p a t t a i , Nookampalayam, Arasankeni, Sithalapakkam, Pallikaranai, Nanmangalam, Kovilambakkam, Okkiyapalayam.

Sharjah-bound flight makes emergency landing in Chennai Chennai, July 27 : A Sharjah-bound aircraft, with 128 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at the Anna International

terminal here on Monday morning following a technical snag. Airport officials said the pilot noticed the technical snag soon after

takeoff and made an emergency landing at around 9.30am. All passengers are safe and have been taken to a hotel, they said.

Thoor dal, urad dal move down Chennai , July 27 : Prices of thoor dal, urad dal moved down while gram dal, sugar and wheat edged up. All other commodities remained unchanged in the wholesale foodgrain market here today.

Thoor dal moved down by Rs 100 per quintal to Rs 8,700 from Rs 8,800. Urad dal slid by Rs 50 per quintal to Rs 5,850 against the previous week's rate of Rs 5,900. Gram dal went

up by Rs 50 to Rs 2,900. Both sugar and wheat edged up by Rs 20 each to Rs 2,500 and Rs 1,700 against previous rate. Moong dal, maida and sooji prices unaltered from their previous level.

Speed up probe, appeals SAMS college management Chennai, July 27: The management of the SAMS College of Engineering and Te c h n o l o g y, a s e l f financing institution in Tiruvallur, on Sunday called for a speedy police inquiry into various charges levelled against it by an advocate VSS Ramkumar and his brother Sidharth Selvakumar. The college had

recently come under the scanner of the marine mercantile department and the AICTE after a secretly filmed CD containing the proceedings of an incamera inquiry conducted by shipping ministry officials with students about lack of basic amenities on campus last year was presented by Ramkumar. At a press conference in

Chennai, college secretary M Jayaraman described the episode as fallout of an internal family feud. Ramkumar and Sidharth are the brothers-in-law of Jayaraman. “I urge the cyber crime police to speedily investigate the matter and probe how the CD was produced, who filmed the proceedings of the incamera inquiry and from whose spy camera this was filmed,” he said.

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Times Chennai E-Paper

National

Congress backs the Prime Minister on Indo-Pak joint statement New Delhi, July 27: After over a week of diffidence, the Congress on Monday came out openly backing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement in Egypt that has come under a lot of criticism. "The Congress is confident that when the Prime Minister speaks in Parliament on July 29, he will set at rest all the q u e s t i o n s , a l l apprehensions and speculation relating to the Indo-Pak joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt," AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told PTI. A s e n i o r

Congress leader had indicated on Saturday that it will back Singh on the issue clearing reported doubts over the party's attitude towards the government on the matter. His remarks were significant as they came a day after a crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group attended among others by Mr. Singh and Congress President Sonia Ga n d h i a g a i n st th e backdrop of reported murmurs in the party on the joint statement. The party was seen as shy of openly

backing the government in the context of inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement which also delinked terrorism from the Composite Dialogue Process. The Congress leader's statement had also come close on the heels of the Prime Minister dismissing as "media creation" the reports of differences between party and the government over the issue of the joint statement. The Prime Minister is set to spell out the government's stand in Parliament on July 29.

Cracks develops on pillars of metro tracks connecting Noida New Delhi, July 27: Cracks have been noticed on two piers with cantilevers on the newly constructed Yamuna BankNoida Metro line during an inspection of all Metro structures, a move taken up after the July 12 mishap which claimed six lives. The cracks have been noticed at a time when the DMRC has begun trial runs on the much-awaited Yamuna Bank-Noida line, which is set to be opened for public by the end of August. Shirish Patel and Associates, a consultant

appointed to check Metro structures especially cantilevers on all the under construction Phase II lines, noticed the cracks on Saturday. Following the consultant's report, DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan visited the site yesterday. The cracks were spotted and Piers 10 and 14, which are located near the Indian Oil building in Sector 14 of Noida, and Sreedharan said the crack on Pillar 14 was superficial, while he

order a thorough inspection into the pier 10. The Noida stretch was constructed by Gammon India, which is also contractor of the Central SecretariatBadarpur where the mishap occurred. The trial runs on the 13.1-km-long Noida line have only been started on the Yamuna Bank-New Ashok Nagar stretch for now and will be extended to Noida City Centre Sector 32 after 10 days.

Orissa closes down another relief camp in Kandhamal Bhubaneswar, July 27 : Authorities in Orissa have closed down one more relief camp in Kandhamal district that saw communal riots last year, officials said Monday. "The relief camp at Tikabali village was shut down on Sunday and about 100 people, who were in the camp, returned to their respective homes," District Collector Krishan Kumar told IANS. Kandhamal district, about 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad

(VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23 last year. More than 25,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs, who held Christians responsible for Saraswati's killing although police blamed Maoists for the crime. At least 37 people were killed, most of them Christians. T h e administration had provided shelters to the

riot victims, setting up 13 relief camps in the district. "Eleven of them have now been closed down," Kumar said. He said nearly 700 victims are, however, still taking shelter in two relief camps -- one at Mandakia and another in Tiangia village, though no violence has been reported in the region since October last year. "Efforts are on to send the remaining people back to their homes soon," the official said.

Rahul Gandhi's visit to Puducherry cancelled Puducherry , July 27: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's Monday's visit to Puducherry has been cancelled, a party spokesman said here on Sunday.

A senior police official also confirmed that Mr. Gandhi was not visiting Puducherry on Monday as scheduled earlier. Mr. Gandhi was scheduled to address a

youth convention and supervise the process of election of the functionaries of the Youth Congress committee here.

July 27, 2009

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti throws microphone at J&K Speaker Srinagar, July 27: There was ruckus in the

Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Monday with legislators of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) stalling the proceedings by shouting slogans against the government over the Shopian murders. The PDP legislators gathered near the speaker's podium

and Mehbooba Mufti even tried to fling a micropho ne at the Speaker. T h e incident occurred after PDP leaders started raising slogans over the Shopian incident in which two women w e r e raped and murdered in May. Led by p a r t y president Mehboob a Mufti, PDP legislators started shouting slogans like "Produce the killers of Shopian" as the assembly session began. After repeated requests by the Speaker failed to restore order, he ordered the dismissal of the PDP MLAs from the

floor of the House. The MLAs, however, refused to leave and police officials had to forcibly escort them out of the assembly. Pandemonium continued in the assembly till the PDP legislators were taken out of the House. Mehbooba Mufti said, "I took on the Speaker as he was ordering PDP MLAs out." "We did nothing wrong. Speaker was at fault, she added. PDP MLAs led by Mehbooba Mufti are now staging a sit-in dharna outside the assembly. Meanwhile, the bail applications of J&K police officers Javed Iqbal Mattoo and Rohit Baskotra, arrested in connection with the sensational Shopian murder case, will come up for hearing on Monday at a court in Shopian. The pleas of the two officers were moved on Sunday before the sessions court by senior Supreme Court lawyer Asim Mehrotra who flew into Srinagar to argue the case on behalf of Mattoo and Baskotra.

Monsoon revives in Assam after being declared drought-hit Guwahati, July 27 : The monsoon has finally revived in Assam during the past 48 hours, barely a day after the state was officially declared drought-hit. Since Saturday most of the state has received rainfall and monsoon activity has become normal after weeks of unprecedented dry spell. According to t h e R e g i o n a l Meteorological office, there would be more rain the coming days.

E a r l i e r, t h e Assam government had announced that droughtlike situation in the state had affected over 5.87 lakh hectares of crop land and the dry spell could result in as much as 50 per cent deficit in rice production. The affected areas include 9,080 villages involving 12,30,771 families of farmers. Revealing this, Agriculture Minister, Pramila Rani Brahma told mediapersons a few days ago that poor

irrigation coverage was complicating the situation but the department was working on a war footing to mitigate an impending disaster to the extent possible. ''However if rainfall occurs within a week, then the situation would improve,'' she said. The state had witnessed a 34 per cent rainfall deficit since June to July 22 this year, prompting the Government to declare all the 27 districts of the state as hit by a droughtlike situation.

SC declines to hear PIL on EVM functioning New Delhi, July 27: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a PIL, questioning the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and seeking a direction to the Election Commission to withhold using them till the machines are made tamper proof. A B e n c h headed by Chief Justice

K G Balakrishnan while declining to hear the PIL, directed the petitioner, V V Rao, to make a representation before the Election Commission in connection with the matter. Rao, in his petition, said several experts and election watch groups have claimed that EVMs could be manipulated. They

have analysed electronics results of several constituencies and indicated that there is something drastically wrong with the EVMs, it said. The existing EVMs are vulnerable and should not be used for any election till the time the machines are made tamper proof, Rao claimed in his petition.

SP's special convention at Agra from August 19 Lucknow, July 27 : Samajwadi Party has convened a special three-day national convention at Agra from August 19 during which the issue of withdrawal of s u p p o r t t o U PA government would be the main point of discussion. E a r l i e r, t h e

convention was to begin from August 25. T h e convention, to be chaired by SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav, would discuss the postLok Sabha polls scenario and the future strategy of the party.The issue of withdrawal of the support

to UPA would be in focus during the party convention. According to state party spokesperson Rajendra Choudhury, the date of the special convention had been changed due to the start of Ramzan from the last week of August.

July 27, 2009

Times Chennai E-Paper

National

Carbon emission: India not to succumb to pressure, says Govt New Delhi, July 27 : India will not succumb to any international pressure on committing to a legally binding agreement on cutting carbon emissions but will deal with climate change issues as per its own plans, Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Monday. "Under no international agreement, will we accept legally binding mitigations," he said, replying to questions in Rajya Sabha. H e s a i d Parliament will be taken into confidence on measures drawn by New Delhi. At the recent meeting of four of the eight industralised nations (G-8) in Italy, India made no commitment to cutting emissions, he said. The G8 declaration sets an aspirational objective for 2050 and "there is no mention of pressuring developing countries like India to cut emissions." "India will not come under any pressure," he said. "We will not commit to any law or agreement that will hinder our progress and development," he said. The minister said, "We accept our responsibility but we will

not accept any agreement which legally binds us to cut emissions." M r. R a m e s h said India has categorically stated that its per capita carbon emission will at no stage exceed the per capita ca rb o n e m i s s i o n o f developed nations. India, Mr. Ramesh said, has taken several steps to tackle ozone depletion and the phasing out of ozone depleting chemicals was on schedule. Carbon di-oxide emissions are not only a danger to India but to the world, he said adding most of the carbon dioxide emissions come from coal-based power plants. The Minister said in 2003, the first macro assessment of climate change on India was done but no clear impact was seen. A second comprehensive assessment is being carried out to find the impact of climate change on monsoon, glaciers, mountains, environment, health, irrigation and agriculture among others. T h e

assessment will be completed by December 2010. Based on the first assessment, "there is conclusive scientific evidence to suggest that climate change was impacting monsoon," he said. "After the second assessment, we will be able to say with some authority on how climate change is impacting monsoon, glaciers and mountains." The Intergovernmental Plan on Climate Change in its 4th Assessment Report published in 2007, human beings are exposed to climate change through changing weather partners and indirectly through changes in water, air, food quality a n d q u a n t i t y, ecosystems, agriculture and economy. "However, no direct link has been established between human induced climate change and mortality," he said adding climate change projections indicate increased risk of more intense, frequent and longer lasting heat waves, summer dryness and greater risk of drought.

Govt mulling higher stake in NFDC, says minister New Delhi, July 27 : The Government is mulling on raising its equity in the N a t i o n a l F i l m Development Corporation (NFDC) in an attempt to revive the premier film making institution, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said on Monday. Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, she said Rs 20 crore working capital loan was extended to NFDC in 200506 and 2006-07. Further, Rs 6.5 crore was given in 2008-09. "We are thinking of increasing equity (in NFDC)," she said.

Soni said her ministry has written to other ministries and chief ministers to use NFDC facilities for making publicity films. "We are trying to source work (for NFDC) so that NFDC's talent can be used to its optimum capacity," she said and denied any move to shift its head office from Mumbai to Delhi. P o w e r : Government is confident of achieving the 78,000 megawatt electricity generation capacity target for the XIth Five Year Plan, Minister of State for Power

Bharatsinh Solanki said to another question. "We will be reaching very close to the target," he said adding the Government was in favour of setting up more ultra mega power projects. According to the report of the Expert Committee the projections for energy requirement under various GDP growth rates and elasticity scenarios range from 521 to 570 million tons of oil equivalent for 2011-12 and 684 to 807 million tons of oil equivalent for 2016-17.

658 pilgrims leave for Amarnath cave shrine Jammu, Jul 27 : A fresh batch of 658 pilgrims, including 382 men, 6 children and 191 sadhus, today left for Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security cover, an official spokesman said. A caravan of 19

vehicles, including 15 State Road Transport Corporation buses, one private bus, a LMV and one motorcycle left the Yatri Bhawan here at 0500 hrs and 0505 hrs, the spokesman added. Two-month amaranth pilgrimage

started from shorter Baltal route on June 15, after a week delay from the schedule, while the traditional PahalgamChandanwari route was opened for yatris on June 26.

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Woman's stripping shows bad law and order situation in Bihar: RJD New Delhi, July 27 : The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) today strongly condemned the stripping of a woman in broad daylight in Patna recently and said the 'shameful incident' indicated the serious law and order situation in Bihar. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, RJD leader Rajniti Prasad said the woman was dragged out of a hotel

and in the presence of hundreds of people, including some traffic policemen and some TV channel cameras, she was stripped and nothing was done to stop it even though a police station was nearby. Pointing out that the previous RJD Government was criticised for ''jungle raj'' by the present JD(U)BJP Government which claims to have brought

''sushashan'' (good governance) in the state, he said this incident has revealed their false claim and the serious law and order situation in the state. What was more shameful was that a Minister in the state government defended the incident on the ground that the victim was of loose character, he said and wondered whether the Government was endorsing such incidents.

Life disrupted, train movement stalled due to JDP's 12-hour bandh Kolkata, July 27 : Life was affected in several south Bengal districts today following a 12-hour statewide bandh called by the Jharkhand Dishom Party (JDP) to demand immediate withdrawal of the combined security forces carrying out the antinaxal operation in Lalgarh. JDP state president Abhiram Besra told UNI, ''We have called the bandh to press for our 13-point charter of demands, including immediate withdrawal of the flush-out operation at Lalgarh, stopping the atrocities being

committed on Adivasis and taking up steps for their development.'' A report from Purulia said life came to a standstill in the Jungle Mahal areas, including Sarenga, Bandwan, Bagmundi and Balarampur, in response to the bandh call. The Maoist-dominated areas of Bankura were also disrupted due to the bandh. However, it did not have much impact on the town and urban areas. Several interstate passenger bus services had to be cancelled as the bandh supporters raised blockades on important

roads. Shops and business establishments, schools and educational institutions in the Maoist-affected areas remained closed while attendance in government and private offices was thin. Train movement on several divisions of Eastern Railway (ER) was disrupted by JDP activists to enforce the bandh. Five short distance trains were obstructed on HowrahBardhaman chord line since 0600 hours while three and two trains respectively were obstructed on BandelBardhaman main line and Seoraphulli-Tarakeswar section.

Times Chennai E-Paper

Page 6

World

Musharraf advised to delay his return to Pak: report Islamabad, July 27: With

his tenure as President of

Pakistan coming up for scrutiny by the country's highest court, Pervez Musharraf has put off his return here from London for the time being as advised by his close aides. Mr Musharraf, who had consulted legal luminaries to represent him in the Supreme Court in his defence, has made a sudden about turn to d e fe r h i s r e tu r n to Pakistan, fuelling speculation whether he would come back to the country to face trial. The Supreme Court had last week asked Mr Musharraf to

appear before it and explain his action of imposing Emergency in 2007 and sacking of 60 judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary. T h e Newsreported on Monday that Mr Musharraf was advised by his aides to delay his return as they feel that his adversaries may drag him to court on various counts and also because some extremist groups have become active in the wake of speculation regarding his coming back to Pakistan.

Suu Kyi trial enters final phase in Myanmar Yangon, July 27: The trial of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final phase M o n d a y, w i t h t h e prosecution scheduled to deliver its closing arguments, a government

official said. Suu Kyi, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five years in prison. Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win said he expected the verdict to be delivered in two to three weeks. The official, who demanded anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the lawyer for American John W. Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, will also give his final arguments. Two female companions of Suu Kyi were to present statements before the court. Diplomats from the United States, Singapore, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia were allowed to attend the session, one of the diplomats told reporters. Washington, which has posted no ambassador to Myanmar, is represented by the deputy chief of mission, Larry Dinger. Ye t t a w w a s charged with criminal trespass, which carries a maximum jail term of three months. He also faces a

municipal charge for swimming in a nonswimming area and is accused of immigration violations. Ye t t a w h a s pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. ``I will try my best to defend my client. I will argue that he did not v i o l a t e t h e restriction order and I will try my utmost to get him lesser punishment,'' Khin Maung Oo, Yettaw's lawyer, said over the weekend. Tried on the same charges as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate are Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma, who have long been Suu Kyi's companions during her house arrest. Both are members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her behind bars through elections planned for next year. At an AsiaPacific security forum last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered Myanmar the prospect of better relations with the United States, but said that depended in part on the fate of Suu Kyi. Myanmar state media rejected the criticism, accusing Clinton and others calling for Suu Kyi's release of ``interference.'' The trial started May 18. The court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of which 14 took the stand. Only two out of four defense witnesses were allowed.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. Suu Kyi's opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Myanmar's generals refused to relinquish power. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.

July 27, 2009

Senate warns against concessions on nuclear treaty Washington, July 27: The Senate is making it clear to the Obama administration that it will look askance at concessions, particularly on missile defense, that the United States might make to conclude a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. In several resolutions included in a defense budget bill passed late Thursday, the Senate went on record endorsing a missile defense system being considered for Eastern Europe that Russia detests, and warning against any arms treaty with Russia that puts limits on that system. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meeting in Moscow earlier this month, set a goal of reducing strategic warheads by about a third, to a range of 1,500 to 1,675. The intent would be to come up with a nuclear arms reduction pact to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expires Dec. 5. But treaties must be ratified by 67

Sarah Palin steps down as Alaska governor Fair Banks, July 27: Sarah Palin stepped down on Sunday as Alaska governor to write a book and build a rightof-center coalition, but she left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid. In a fiery campaign-style speech,

Ms. Palin said she was stepping down to take her political battles to a larger if unspecified stage and avoid an unproductive, lame duck status. ``With this decision, now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right, and for truth. And I have never felt that you need a title to do that,'' Palin said to raucous applause from about 5,000 people

gathered at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Her first order of business as a private citizen is to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. She also wants to campaign for political candidates from coast to coast, and continue to speak her mind on the social networking site Twitter, one of her favorite venues to reach out to supporters. Free speech was a theme of her farewell speech at a crowded picnic in Fairbanks, as the 45year-old outgoing governor scolded ``some seemingly hellbent on tearing down our nation'' and warned Americans to ``be wary of accepting government largesse. It doesn't come free.'' She also took aim at the media, s a y i n g h e r replacement, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, ``has a very nice family too, so leave his kids alone!'' And she told the media: ``How about, in honor of the American soldier, you quit makin' things up?'' She didn't elaborate, but Ms. Palin said when she announced her resignation July 3 that she was tired of the media focus on her family and felt she had been

senators or two-thirds of those present, giving the Senate's 40 Republicans, with their traditional advocacy of a strong nuclear deterrent, rare leverage. Sens. Jon Kyl, a Republican from A r i z o n a , a n d J e ff S e s s i o n s , a Republican from Alabama, won voice approval Thursday of a non-binding ``sense of the Senate'' resolution that the START followon treaty not include limits on ballistic missile defense, space capabilities or advanced conventional weapons. It also called on the president to report on the administration's plans to enhance the safety, security and reliability of U.S. nuclear weapons. On another voice vote, the Senate endorsed a resolution by Sessions and Sen. Joe Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut, expressing support for a groundbased midcourse missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Alternative sites should be considered only if they are equally capable of protecting the United S t a t e s a n d Europe from future longrange Iranian missiles, it said. Lieberman said the resolutions ``are our way of sending a message both to the administration and to the Russians.'' He said he is open to options other than Poland and the Czech Republic as sites for a missile defense system, including missile defense cooperation with Russia, but ``not at the cost of in any way diminishing our security.'' Obama has made no final decision on proceeding with the Poland-Czech plan, proposed during the administration of President George W. Bush. Russian leaders

unfairly treated by reporters and bloggers. L a t e r o n Sunday, Ms. Palin posted her final message on her official Alaska account on the social networking site Twitter. ``Thank you Alaska!'' she wrote. ``I love you. God bless Alaska. God bless the U.S.A.'' Lt. Gov. Parnell, 46, of Anchorage, was sworn in on Sunday as the state's new governor. ``I'm firmly convinced that Alaska's greatest days are ahead,'' Lt. Gov. Parnell said in pledging to continue Palin's policies, which he said ``put Alaska first.''

say deployment of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe is a direct threat to t h e i r c o u n t r y. T h e y suggested that progress on an arms agreement could hinge on the U.S. giving up

its missile defense plan. Sessions said he was concerned that the Obama administration was pursuing alternatives to the Poland-Czech proposal ``as part of a grand strategy to reset relations with Russia and conclude a follow-on to the START nuclear reduction agreement.'' He said he was baffled by Russian ``bluster.'' ``Perhaps this is a way they think they can extract concessions from the United States as a bargaining chip,'' Sessions said. Conservatives would not be overly concerned about the numbers in a new arms reduction treaty if the administration doesn't look like it is abandoning missile defense and other areas such as weapons development, said Stephen Flanagan, an international security specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Another factor is that the urgency Cold War arms talks had no longer exists, said Gary Schmitt, director of advanced strategic studies at the American Enterprise Institute. ``The Obama administration can overestimate how much momentum there is for doing anything in this area,'' Schmitt said. Schmitt said senators will question any treaty that comes to them before the Pentagon c o m p l e t e s a congressionally mandated Nuclear Posture Review. That report on nuclear threats and deterrent capabilities is due by the end of 2010. In 1999, during the Clinton administration, the Senate rejected the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after its supporters couldn't muster even a simple majority. S e n a t o r s contended the treaty, which the United States informally abides by, lacked adequate means of verification. Obama has expressed interest in trying to get it ratified by the Senate.

July 27, 2009

Times Chennai E-Paper

Business

Porsche plans to sell 50 units of Panamera this year Chennai, July 27 : German car maker Porsche plans atleast 50 units of its premium luxury sedan Panamera to be driven on the Indian roads

three years ago. However, 65 per cent of the sales came from the 'Cayenne', he said. "In 2007, we sold around 168 units

operations contribute a small percentage to the global sales while the US, Europe, China and the Middle East are the 'big' markets, he said.

Page 7

Talks on to resolve strike in Hyundai Motors Chennai, July 27 : Discussion are on b e t w e e n t h e management and workers of Hyundai Motor India Limited, who went on strike Thursday, and company officials are hopeful of a amicable solution Monday. "Discussions are on between the management and the union and we hope an amicable solution is arrived by the end of the d a y, " H y u n d a i ' s c o r p o r a t e

communications head Rajiv Mitra told IANS. W o r k e r s belonging to Hyundai Motor India Employees Union (HMIEU), struck work Thursday evening protesting against a wage agreement signed b e t w e e n t h e management and a rival workers' committee. Ta l k s b e t w e e n t h e management and the union ended in a stalemate Saturday night. The employees

union chief said they will meet Tamil Nadu labour minister. " T h e management is in d i s c u s s i o n s w i th th e officials of labour department. Once that gets over we may meet the state labour minister and the department officials," A. Soundararajan, honorary president of HMIEU and general secretary of Centre for Trade Unions (CITU), told IANS.

HCL partners with eBaoTech Corp for insurance management solutions this year. The Panamera range of luxury sedan cars are set to hit the Indian markets by October 3 and will cost between Rs 1.4 crore to Rs 2 crore. H o w e v e r , bookings for 13 cars has been completed in India, Precision Cars India MD Rod Wallace told PTI here. Precision Cars India, which is the official importer of the Porsche range of cars and sells the popular SUV Cayenne in the country has sold around 650 cars since it entered the Indian market

while in 2008 it was 150. However with the Panamera we hope to reach 225 over the next 12 month period", he said. He said the company had set up a new plant in Germany exclusively to manufacture about 20,000 units of the Panamera range of cars. The total production at its German plant has declined from 98,000 units (in 2008) to 80,000 units this year due to recession, he said. The Indian

To a q u e r y, Wallace said Mumbai was the biggest market for the company which contributes 60 per cent to the company's sales in India, followed by Delhi with 30 per cent, while the remaining 10 per cent comes from the rest of the country. The company currently has two dealers each in New Delhi and Mumbai. It would be opening three more dealerships each in Chennai, Hyderabad and Cochin.

Bank of Baroda Q1 net zooms 85 pc at Rs 685 cr Mumbai, July 27 : Public sector lender Bank of Baroda on Monday reported a jump of 85 per cent in its net profit for the first quarter ended June 30 to Rs 685.38 crore, over the same period a year ago. The bank had a net profit of Rs 370.86

crore during the June quarter last financial year (2008-09), the bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Total income also rose to Rs 4,735.15 crore during the AprilJune quarter of current fiscal (2009-10) from Rs 3,806.37 crore of the

corresponding period a year earlier. During the quarter, it earned an interest of Rs 4,032.11 crore, up over 22 per cent compared to Rs 3,293.82 c r o r e o f t h e corresponding quarter last year.

SC refuses relief to Lodha; directs Calcutta HC to hear matter New Delhi, July 27: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to offer relief to Harsh Vardhan Lodha, who had sought a stay on a Company Law Board interim order that barred him from chairing the Birla Corp annual general meeting (AGM). The AGM was slated for today. The Supreme Court also directed the Calcutta High Court to hear petition by Lodha and Birla

camps tomorrow. Lodha had moved to the Calcutta High Court challenging the CLB interim order on the AGM of the Birla Corp, to which Harsh's father R S Lodha had staked claim to citing the

purported 1999 will of Priyamvada Birla. Some Birla family members have contested the Lodha family claim on Rs 5,000 crore M P Birla estate.

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New Delhi, Jul 27 : Software services firm HCL Technologies Ltd today said it has formed an alliance with eBaoTech Corporation, software services provider for the insurance industry, to jointly provide webbased insurance process management solutions.

As per the deal, HCL will work with eBaoTech to identify fitment of eBaoTech products in select geographies. ' ' W e a r e pleased to collaborate with HCL to leverage HCL's strong capabilities i n b u s i n e s s management, IT

outsourcing, and program management. Together, we will help insurance carriers and intermediaries adopt innovative IT solutions that would allow them to gain better process efficiencies in a cost effective manner,'' e B a o T e c h Corporation CEO Woody Mo said in a statement.

Chinese chocolates banned in India: Anand Sharma New Delhi, July 27: India has banned import of chocolates and chocolate products from China, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told the Lok Sabha on Monday. India had banned import of milk and milk products from China in September last year and the ban has been extended to chocolate and chocolate products, he said during Question Hour. Sharma said the ban was imposed after it was found that some dairy products imported from China contained melamine, consumption of which is harmful for humans. He sought to assure the House that international food standards were being "rigidly" adhered to while importing food products from all countries, including China. Similar action was taken on import of toys, which contained high lead content, he said. "Only those toys that meet

international standards are being allowed to be imported to India," he said.

Sharma said China had raised the issue of Indian restrictions on import of Chinese toys at the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee in March and June this year. China had mentioned that these restrictions on import of Chinese toys were discriminatory and in breach of the WTO rules, he said. India had clarified that it had

imposed a ban on Chinese toys on grounds of health and safety of children. On concerns raised by members on Chinese mobile phones flooding Indian markets, Sharma said there is a ban on sale of handsets that do not have the International M o b i l e Equipment Identification (IMEI) number. "Already , imports of mobile phones that do not have IMEI number have been banned," he said. Sharma said the ban on mobiles that do not have the IMEI number was imposed on July 16 this year.

Read Times Chennai E-Paper Today and every day

Page 8

Times Chennai E-Paper

SPORTS

Gavaskar returns to MCA fold after a decade; to head CIC Mumbai, Jul 27 : Former captain master Sunil

Gavaskar has returned back to his cricketing alma mater after being named to

head the Mumbai Cricket Association's Cricket I m p r o v e m e n t Committee. Gavaskar was named as the chairman of the CIC, dealing with all cricket matters i n c l u d i n g t h e appointment of coaches and various selection panels, at the MCA's Managing Committee sitting here last evening. ''Gavaskar had been sounded out (on the issue of including him on the committee) by Sharad Pawar (MCA President),'' said MCA sources who added that 20 sub-committees were also chosen at the meeting.

The only time the former India skipper had been associated officially with MCA after his playing days was a decade ago in 1998 when he was co-opted as a vice president to fill in the spot vacated by exTe s t f a s t b o w l e r Ramakant Desai after the latter's death. Among other members of the CIC, that also deals with plans for Mumbai cricket for the season, picked yesterday were former Mumbai Ranji Trophy skipper Milind Rege, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Sanjay Manjrekar, b o t h f o r m e r Te s t cricketers.

Sania wins Challenger title in USA, rises in WTA rankings New Delhi, July 27 : Competing in only her

second Challenger event,

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza clinched the USD 50,000 ITF title in Lexington, USA after an upset win over top seed Julie Coin. The Indian, who was seeded second in the event, defeated France's Coin 76 (5) 6-4 yesterday. The last time Sania competed in a Challenger

event was way back in 2003. There was more good news for Sania, who recently got engaged. The 22-yearold rose three places to 80th in this week's WTA singles rankings. However, she dropped 10 spots to 49th in the WTA doubles list. In the ATP rankings, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi held on to their sixth and eighth spot respectively in the doubles list.

Phelps off to winning start at worlds Rome, July 27: Michael Phelps and the Americans got the best of France again in the relay. And just like Beijing, the world's greatest swimmer owed a big hand to his teammates

on Sunday. Phelps led off the 400-meter freestyle relay, his first event of the world swimming championships, but he was only third when he turned it over to Ryan Lochte. Lochte hung tough against France's hulking Alain Bernard while surprising Russia also

surged into contention. Matt Grevers did his part on the third leg, and Nathan Adrian pulled it out for the U.S. with a blistering down and back, overtaking the Russians and holding off the heavily favored French to win in 3 minutes, 9.21 seconds. Phelps pumped his fists on the pool deck, then leaned over to congratulate Adrian -whose closing act was reminiscent of Jason Lezak's amazing final leg at the Olympics, when he somehow chased down Bernard to keep Phelps on course to win a record eight golds. ``When we come into a meet we have a goal to win all three relays, and I think this is a perfect way to end day one,'' Phelps said. ``Relays are raced as a team, and I think all four guys swam a great race.'' ``Coming in to this relay, to be honest, I felt like a child among men,'' Adrian said. ``All of these guys have made a great name for themselves, they've won

individual medals at the Olympics, and they threw me on the last leg, so I had a little bit of pressure on myself.'' He handled it just fine. Call him Lezak Jr. This time, France didn't even get the silver. The Russians touched second in 3:09.52, while the French -- who sent out four of the world's fastest sprinters, at least on paper -- were relegated to the bronze at 3:09.89. N o n e t o o pleased, they blew off a news conference for the three medal-winning teams. ` ` T h e Americans have a real culture of swimming the relay. That makes the difference. They've got the relay in their blood,'' French men's coach Lionel Horter said. ``Even when they have a little problem, like for example, Phelps didn't swim really well tonight, they still swam better than us.'' Indeed, Phelps had the slowest split among the Americans, 47.78. Lochte

July 27, 2009

PCB to seek ICC assurance on govt. permission to play in World Cup Home Mumbai, July 27 : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt will meet ICC president David Morgan on Tuesday to discuss the possible solutions to a scenario in which the Pakistan cricket team is not allowed to play its 2011 World Cup home matches in India or if the Pakistan Government does not allow its team to play in India. According to sources, the visa issue for Pakistani fans wishing to travel to India to see the World Cup matches is also likely to come up for discussion.

Butt may also press for a review of security assessment in all nations, which are hosting the 2011 World Cup matches, said PCB lawyer Taffazul Rizvi. Speaking from Lahore on Sunday, he said, "As per the host agreement signed by all nations hosting World Cup matches, the PCB chairman will brief again (to David Morgan) all points before deciding the fate of the hosting rights." PCB''s Londonbased lawyer Mark Gay in his first letter to the ICC also highlighted the

necessity of re-assessment of security in all nations, The Nation reports. The general perception in Pakistan is that the last edition of the IPL matches were shifted to South Africa for security reasons and not due to elections in India. Busy with the PCB''s legal issues (Shoaib Akhtar and Gadaffi Stadium property tax), which are to come up for hearing on this week, lawyer Taffazul Rizvi is unlikely to accompany the PCB chairman on the Dubai trip.

More players could quit Test for cash-rich T20 league: Kirsten New Delhi, Jul 27 : India coach Gary Kirsten feels that more players could

follow England allrounder Andrew Flintoff and would quit the Test cricket to play ODI and Twenty20 internationals to fetch more money. ''It's a natural

progression that the guys are then going to say 'I'm not interested in bowling 25 overs in a day when I can bowl four overs in a six-week period and earn three times as much','' Kirtsen was quoted as saying by the 'Cricinfo'. ''The worrying side that I'm seeing is that a guy like Andrew Flintoff, a high profile cricketer, has now made the decision to leave Test cricket, because he feels that he can get more out of his body and earn much more money by moving away from Test cricket and playing ODIs

and Twenty20 cricket. He's perfectly right in his decision. Why not?'' Flintoff will quit Test cricket after the ongoing Ashes series and the English all-rounder blamed the decision on his injuryravaged body. Former South Africa opener Kirsten further said if countries wanted Test cricket to remain as the number one format then priorities had to be sorted. ''India plays six Tests this year. Is that sufficient or are there other priorities? I don't know.''

I can intimidate England with bounce: Clark Melbourne, Jul 27 : Right-arm pacer Stuart Clark feels that he also has the potential to do for Australia what Andrew Flintoff had done for England in the second Test of the ongoing Ashes series. ''I get the ball to bounce a little bit more being a little bit taller. That's probably my biggest weapon. If you can get the ball to bounce, sped through the water in 47.03, Grevers put up a time of 47.61 and Adrian _ who won the 100 free at the U.S. national championships this month _ closed it out with the best time of anyone in the pool, 46.69. ``The best thing about this relay was they carried Michael,'' said Bob Bowman, Phelps' coach and also in charge of the U.S. men's team. ``That's what we need. We need the other people to step up. It was great.''

as we saw with Freddie (Flintoff in the second Test at Lord's) you can be a handful,'' Clark was quoted as saying by 'The Australian'. T h e right-arm pacer also believes that he is closer to a Test recall after being Australia's best bowler during the second day of a three-day tour match against English county s i d e Northampton. Clark claimed two Northampton wickets as he bowled with great control and consistent movement in his 14 overs. ''It's always nice to get a few wickets,'' Clark said after play. ''I was probably a little bit rusty to start, but it was a pretty good day.

''I probably bowled better in Worcester (during a tour match before the first Test) after playing

two games in a row, but this wicket was a little bit more conducive. ''Sometimes your results get based on how many wickets you get and whether you bowled well or not is irrelevant,'' he added.

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