Times Chennai, E-paper, March 17, 2009

VOL: 2 ISSUE 57

March 17, 2009

Litigents present their case in person in T N Courts Chennai, March 17 : Even as the advocates have carried on with their agitation of boycotting the courts, a large number of

litigant public thronged the High Court, appeared before the respective courts, argued their cases as parties-in-person and obtained interim orders in their favour, on Monday. and also today. They argued their cases in Tamil and the judges, who gave a patient hearing, also spoke in Tamil. The court officers assisted the litigant public in representing their cases. The family

members of the accused in bail and anticipatory bail cases were also seen in the court halls. After going through the papers, the judges passed interim orders on merit. In some other cases, they adjourned the hearing. I n some cases, where there w e r e procedural or technical discrepancies, the petitions were returned with an advice to the litigants to correct them and file afresh. In one such case, R Senthil K u m a r, r u n n i n g a n electronic shop in Madipakkam, argued his case and Justice K Mohanram ordered notice to the authorities concerned, returnable in two weeks. His grievance was that the local

Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajamanickam and his subordinates harassed him in a case, which was purely civil in nature. He prayed for a direction to transfer his case against the police personnel to the CBI. In another case, over 40 students, mostly women, appeared before Justice V Ramasubramaniam, and got the stay order already granted last week, extended till March 30. They argued that they were denied appointment as assistant agricultural officers, as the institution from which they received the certificates, was not an approved one. On Tuesday two women presented the case of their sons bail, which they were granted after going through the merits of the case on a personal surety of Rs. 10,000/The women in tears

Matriculation exams from tomorrow Chennai , March 17 A total of 1,16,787 students f r o m Ta m i l n a d u a n d Puducherry will appear for the Matriculation Tenth board exams which begins tomorrow. . According to a press release issued by Directorate of Government Examinations here on Monday, there has been an increase of 10,864 students appearing for the Matriculation exams this year with 6,399 of them boys and 4,465 girls. In Chennai alone, 16,369 students would sit for the exams with 8,537 of them boys and 7,832 girls. Similarly, 4,697 students will appear for the Anglo-Indian Board examinations beginning tomorrow. Compared to

last year the number of students appearing for the examinations has increased by 108. Of the 4,697 students, 1925 are boys and 2,772 are girls. In Chennai alone, 2,148 students will sit for the exams with 897 boys and 1,251 girls. The SSLC and OSLC board exams will commence from March 25. As many as 8,42,350 students from Tamilnadu and Puducherry are appearing for the exams. Of them, 4,16,512 are boys and 4,25,838 girls. Compared to last year, this year has been an increase of 59,125 students. The number of girls appearing for the

examination has increased to 29,916 and boys have increased to 29,209. In Chennai alone, 19,697 students are appearing for the examination which includes 37,779 boys and 18,082 girls. A total of 1,361 students will appear for OSLC exams. Of them 608 are boys and 753 are girls. The above exams will conclude on 8 April. The exams will be held at 2,788 centres across the State. Flying squads will be formed and strict action would be taken against students if they are found copying during the examinations, the release said.

presented the petty crime and told the judge that their wards were in jail for the past two months. The agitating advocates set up free legal aid service centres

in three places on the High Court premises, including the one near the Family Court manned by women advocates, and offered assistance to the litigant public in filing petitions and arguing the

cases as parties-inperson. Meanwhile the advocates of the Saidapet Court burnt the report of Justice Srikrishna Commission expressing their protest.

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Times Chennai E-Paper

Star power crucial for ticket seekers in AIADMK Chennai, March 17: Star power will be a guiding factor in deciding the fate of AIADMK leaders seeking party tickets in Ta m i l N a d u i n t h e upcoming general elections. Sources in the party said AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, who interviewed the aspirants, asked them to submit their horoscopes too. T h e y s a i d Jayalalithaa is determined to win all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the union territory of Puducherry and is leaving no stone unturned.

"She does not want to take any chances this time and wants all her candidates to win. One's star power plays an important role in each person's life and hence we asked the aspirants to submit their horoscopes. There is nothing wrong in it," the sources said. Jayalalithaa, known for her strong belief in astrology and n u m e r o l o g y, a l w a y s chooses auspicious time even to visit her party office. She is also said to have her own team of astrologers whom she consults before taking

important political decisions. In the first round of screening of applications, those who lacked financial capability t o s p e n d o n electioneering were eliminated. In the second round, the selection is based on the applicant's educational qualification and loyalty to the leadership. But, ultimately the aspirant having a strong star power will be the clincher, sources said.

March 17, 2009

Apollo, Chennai Introduces Advanced Cyberknife Chennai March 17 : Apollo Speciality Hospitals, Chennai has introduced CyberKnife Robotic Radio Surgery S y s t e m , t h e revolutionary treatment of cancerous and non cancerous tumours. Said Dr Prathap Reddy, Executive Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group,

patient is breathing. Tumors in the spine, particularly metastatic tumors are challenging to treat with surgery because of the proximity to the spinal cord. The CyberKnife System can track tumor and the patient's spine movement during the treatment, hence

"In our continuing endeavor in providing the best treatment for cancer, we have brought to the latest in South East Asia, and most advanced technology CyberKnife Radiosurgery System." Hitherto inoperable or highly challenging conditions today have a chance of treatment with the robotic radiosurgery system the CyberKnife. For instance, lung cancer could not be treated with traditional radiation techniques due to high risk of radiation damage to the surrounding healthy tissue as tumours in the lungs move as the patient breathes. CyberKnife system follows the lung tumor accurately while the

minimising the risk of damage to surrounding tissues. CyberKnife systems have also shown promising results in treating prostate cancer. "The CyberKnife is a noninvasive alternative to surgery. The source of the therapeutic x-ray (the Linear Accelerator) is mounted on a computer controlled robotic arm. It can aim a pencil like beam exactly at the target from any direction of the space. This flexibility results in a 'never seen before precision with which beam target reach and destroy the lesion. It's successful in the treatment of cancerous and non-cancerous

Bank penalised for deficiency in service Chennai, March 17: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (North Chennai) has directed the Standard Chartered Bank in Parrys Corner to pay within six weeks, a compensation of Rs 50,000 to a customer for deficiency in service. The forum comprising its president P Roasiah and members T Kamalakannan and M Sheela gave the direction while passing orders on a complaint from E Vijay Anand, an advocate practising in the Madras High Court, praying for a direction to the bank to pay Rs 2 lakh towards compensation. According to Vijay Anand, he opened a savings bank account with the bank and was provided with a debit card and he

maintained the minimum balance of Rs 10,000. W h e n h e attempted to withdraw Rs 5,000 through an ATM in Royapettah on January 30, 2005, the equipment displayed that the account was frozen. When approached, the bank official told him that since he was not operating the account for two years, it had been frozen and advised him to deposit some amount to activate it. The complainant deposited Rs 10,000 and the total balance was 31,800. He issued a self-cheque for Rs.31,800 on February 1, 2005 but the same was returned with the endorsement that `restricted account’. Hence, the present complaint alleging

deficiency in service on the part of the bank. In its counter, the bank submitted that since the complainant had not operated his account for about two years, the same was declared `dormant’. The selfcheque was returned as the signature mismatched with the original, it added. Rejecting the submissions, the forum observed that the action of the bank was against the rules. It had not i n f o r m e d t h e complainant that his SB account would be treated as dormant if the debit card was not used for two years. ``On perusal of the documents, we are of the view that there is deficiency in service on the part of the bank.’’

Actor Radha Ravi to join DMK Chennai, March 17: Veteran character artiste and former AIADMK MLA Radha Ravi is all set to join the ruling DMK soon. As a prelude, the actor called on the party chief and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence here on Monday. R a v i w a s accompanied by his family members. When contacted, Radha Ravi said that he had been sidelined by the AIADMK high command for quite a long time though he had a very good rapport with the party cadre. The actor said he had sent 25 letters to the AIADMK supremo but without any response. AIADMK sources said the actor had fallen out

of the grace of the party leader a couple of years ago. Ravi, who was the sitting MLA from Saidapet, was not given party ticket to contest again from the constituency during the 2006 Assembly elections. For the past one year, the actor had not been invited for the public meetings of the AIADMK. In this backdrop, Ravi met Karunanidhi, while giving funds for the Sri Lankan Tamils a couple of months ago. Ravi said a fortnight ago that when his mother passed away, Karunanidhi had sent a condolence message and Local Administration Minister MK Stalin met

him and conveyed his condolences. Further, the CM has directed the DMK cadre not to engage in birthday celebrations for Stalin in and around the areas where my residence is located...I was moved by this gesture,” Ravi said and added that he would join the DMK very soon. Ravi was elected as MLA from Saidapet constituency in 2001 and held the post till 2006. It may be recalled that Actress Radhika, Radha Ravi’s sister, was expelled from the AIADMK in 2006, just six months after her joining the party along with her husband Sarathkumar

tumors anywhere in the b o d y, i n c l u d i n g t h e prostate, lung, brain, spine, liver, pancreas and k i d n e y, " e x p l a i n e d Romesh Kaul, President and CEO, Advanced Medical Systems group PTE. Developed by Dr Jophn.R.Adler, Professor of Neurosurgery and R a d i a t i o n oncology at S t a n f o r d University Medical Centre, the CyberKnife R o b o t i c Radiosurgery System is the first system in t h e w o r l d designed to treat t u m o r s anywhere in the body with submillimeter accuracy. Many o f t h e complications associated with other conventional cancer therapies are minimised or eliminated by the CyberKnife system. “During a CyberKnife procedure, a patient lies comfortably on the treatment table, which automatically positions the patient. Anesthesia is not required, as the procedure is painless and noninvasive. The treatment, which generally lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, typically involves the administration of between 100 and 200 radiation beams delivered from different directions, each lasting from 10 to 15 seconds," elaborated Dr P M a h a d e v, S e n i o r Consultant Radiation Oncologist.

HC advances hearing on petitions filed by advocates Chennai, March 17 : The First Bench of the Madras High Court today advanced the hearing on a batch of petitions filed by advocates, seeking action against police officials in connection with February 19 violence inside the court complex from March 26 to March 18. S e n i o r advocates N G R Prasad, Ms R Vaigai, Ms Shantha K u m a r i a n d Prabhakaran, mentioned before the bench

comprising Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Justice F M Ibrahim Kalifulla to take up the cases immediately. The first bench posted the matter along with suo-motu cases in connection with the February 17 and 19 incidents, in which Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy was attacked by a group of lawyers inside the court hall and the policeadvocates clash in the court premises

respectively taken up by a bench headed by former Acting Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhya. J u s t i c e Mukhopadhaya, who underwent a treatment in the Apollo hospital in the city from March 6, was discharged from the hospital on March 15. J u s t i c e Mukhopadhaya is likely to resume work from tomorrow. -Agencies

March 17, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper News You Can Use

Discovery of new micro-organisms in the stratosphere Bangalore, March 17: Three new species of bacteria, which are not found on Earth and which are highly resistant to ultraviolet radiation, have been discovered in the upper stratosphere by Indian scientists. One of the new

create a cryopump effect. These cylinders, after collecting air samples from different heights ranging from 20 km to 41 km, were parachuted down and safely retrieved. These samples were analysed by

The balloon carrying scientific payload which discovered new micro-organisms. Discovery of new micro-organisms in the stratosphere. Photo: Courtesy ISRO

species has beennamed as Janibacter hoylei, after the D i s t i n g u i s h e d Astrophysicist FredHoyle, the second as Bacillus isronensis recognising the contribution of ISRO in the balloon experiments which led to its discovery and the thirdas Bacillus aryabhata after India’s celebrated ancient astronomer Aryabhata and also the first satellite of ISRO. According to Mr. B R Guruprasad, PRO, ISRO, the experiment was conducted using a 26.7 million cubic feet ballooncarrying a 459 kg scientific payload soaked in 38 kg of liquid Neon, which was flown from the National Balloon Facility in Hyderabad, operated by t h e Ta t a I n s t i t u t e o f Fundamental Research (TIFR). The payload consisted of a cryosampler containing sixteen evacuated and sterilised stainless steel probes. Throughout the flight, the probes remained immersed in liquid Neonto

scientists at the Center for Cellular and M o l e c u l a r B i o l o g y, Hyderabad as well as the National Center for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune for independent examination, ensuring that both laboratories followed similar protocols to achieve homogeneity of procedure and interpretation. The Analytical findings are summarised as follows: In all, 12 bacterial and six fungal colonies were detected, nine of which, based on 16S RNA gene sequence, showed greater than 98% similarity with reported known species on earth. Three bacterial colonies, namely,PVAS1, B3 W22 and B8 W22 were, however, totally new species. All the three newly identified species had significantly higher UV resistance compared to their nearest p h y l o g e n e t i c

neighbours. Of the above, PVAS-1,identified as a member of the genus Janibacter, has b e e n n a m e d Janibacterhoylei. sp. nov. The second new species B3 W22 was named as Bacillus isronensis sp.nov. and the third new species B8 W22 as Bacillus aryabhata. T h e precautionary measures and controls operating in this experimentinspire confidence that these species were picked up in the stratosphere. While the present study does not conclusively establish theextraterrestrial origin of microorganisms, it does provide positive encouragement to continue the work in our quest to explore the origin of life. This multiinstitutional effort had Jayant Narlikar from theInter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune as Principal Investigator and veteran Scientists U.R. Rao from ISRO and P.M. Bhargava from Anveshna supported as mentors of the experiment. S. Shivaji from CCMB and Yogesh Shouche from NCCS were the biology experts and Ravi Manchanda from TIFR was in charge of the balloon facility. C.B.S. Duttwas the Project Director from ISRO who was in charge of preparing and operating the complex payload. This was the second such experiment conducted by ISRO, the first one beingin 2001. Even though the first experiment had yielded positive results, it was decided to repeat the

Female robot to hit Japan catwalk Tsukuba, Japan, March 17: A new walking, talking robot from Japan has a female face that can smile and has trimmed down to 43 kilograms to make a debut at a fashion show. But it still hasn't cleared safety standards required to share the catwalk with human models. Developers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, a government-backed organisation, said their "cybernetic human," shown today, wasn't ready to help with daily chores or

work side by side with people - as many hope robots will be able to do in the future. "Technologically , it hasn't reached that level," said Hirohisa Hirukawa, one of the robot's developers. "Even as a fashion model, people in the industry told us she was short and had a rather ordinary figure." For now, the 158 centimetre tall blackhaired robot code-named HRP-4C - whose predecessor had weighed 58 kilograms will mainly serve to draw and entertain crowds.

Developers said the robot may be used in amusement parks or to perform simulations of human movement, as an exercise instructor, for instance. HRP-4C was designed to look like an average Japanese woman, although its silver-and-black body recalls a space suit. It will appear in a Tokyo fashion show - without any clothes - in a special section just for the robot next week. -Agencies

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Top 10 ''inventions'' London, March 17: Credit cards, trainer shoes, social networking sites, and GPS technology have made it to the list of things that have changed the world. To m a r k t h e National Science and Engineering Week, a panel of 20 experts from the British S c i e n c e Association have drawn up a list of the top 10 things that have changed the world, reports The Telegraph. Here is the list in full: 1 . G P S Technology Originally developed as a navigation system by the United States military, the Global Positioning System is now used in cars, aircraft and boats. 2. The Sony Walkman In 1979 Sony spawned the era of wearable technology with its iconic personal stereo. The Walkman quickly changed listening habits and became hugely popular as jogging culture took the 1980s by storm. 3. The Bar code The boring sets of black and white lines can now be found on almost every single item bought from a shop. Norman Woodland first developed an early form of the bar code in 1949 by combining ideas from movie soundtracks and Morse code to help

him speed up store checkouts. And now stores can instantly access product details, prices and stock levels with a sweep of a laser. 4. TV Dinners Convenience food really took off in the 1970s and transformed the way families ate meals, the high-street, the countryside and national h e a l t h . Traditional family dinners around the t a b l e disappeared a n d p r e packaged "ready meals" eaten on the sofa became the norm. 5. PlayStation Although games consoles had been around for some time, Sony's PlayStation took gaming out of spotty teenager''s bedrooms and into adult living rooms when it was released in 1994. 6. Social Networking Everyday, more than three billion minutes are spent by computer users on Facebook. Along with other social networking sites such as MySpace a n d Tw i t t e r, i t h a s completely changed the way we interact and who we interact with. Millions of people now communicate tiny details of their professional and personal

lives by poking, twittering and posting. Online social networking has allowed people to rekindle friendships with friends they lost touch with years ago. 7. Text messages Text messaging has created a new vocabulary and new grammar that is almost incomprehensible to those who do not use it. LOL and FYI have now passed into everyday English. 8. Electronic Money Credit cards gave us greater convenience for spending, greater security and the ability to spend money anywhere in the world. 9. Microwaves M i c r o w a v e s electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging between 1 millimetre and one metre - are used by mobile phones, wireless broadband internet and satellite television. They also gave us a new way of cooking food while the US military has developed a "less-than-lethal" weapon that can blast victims with a heat wave. 10. Trainers Trainers changed fashion and the feet of generations ever since the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company first used a new manufacturing process to meld rubber to cloth in 1892. With the help of celebrity endorsements by sporting superstars such as basketball legend Michael Jordan, trainers turned from being purely practical clothing for sport into a fashion item.

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Times Chennai E-Paper

National

Rift grows within BJP; Jaitley skips CEC meet New Delhi, March 17: The rift within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified on Tuesday, with senior leader Arun Jaitley skipping a second meet of the party’s Central Election Committee.

Reports said party vice president Venkaiah Naidu failed to convince Jaitley to attend the meeting. Jaitely is unhappy with party president Rajnath Singh over the appointment of businessman Sudhanshu Mittal as BJP's coconvenor of Northeast region. Sources said Jaitley has made it clear to the party that he would not accept anything less than Mittal’s removal. However, Rajnath has indicated that he is in no mood to accede to the demand, and even held a meeting with Mittal on Monday night to drive home the point. The CEC is likely to become the first casualty

of the growing divide, with sources saying prior to the meet that the party was thinking of winding up the Committee today itself if Jaitely failed to show up yet again. He had also skipped the first meet of the CEC last week, and indicated on other occasions too that he was in no mood to relent until and unless Mittal was removed. The BJP’s parent organisation, the RSS has also intervened to make sure that the RajnathJaitley stalemate does not hurt the party before the Lok Sabha polls. RSS general secretary Suresh Soni called up Jaitley on Saturday night to find a solution to the stand-off, sources said. Senior leaders Venkaiah Naidu and Ravi Shankar Prasad also said efforts were underway to find a solution. Rajnath also had a meeting with BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani last night where the stalemate is understood to have figured. Advani has insisted there was no rift in the party. "This issue

may make a good story for you but there are no differences within the party," he told reporters. If the BJP decides to wind up the CEC today, it would authorise Advani to finalise the party's remaining Lok Sabha candidates. Roughly 100 nominees are yet to be declared. Party sources said the authorisation could be given to Advani along with Rajnath and the meeting would be held at Advani's residence. Advani had to convene a separate meeting at his residence on Friday to finalise candidates of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as Jaitley kept himself away from the CEC meet. Mittal however attended a key meeting of the party at the BJP headquarters to decide upon the seats for Assam. The meeting chaired by Rajnath was also attended by Northeast convenor SS Ahluwalia among others. When asked if he could offer to resign in the wake of the stand taken by Jaitley, Mittal said, "I am ready to jump into a river, if the party asks me to do so. I will do everything that I am told to do." -Agencies

LS polls: Lalu, Paswan agree on seat-sharing in Bihar New Delhi, March 17: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP leader Ramvilas P a s w a n o n Tu e s d a y sealed a seat sharing accord for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. As per the seat sharing agreement, the

RJD will contest on 25 seats while Paswan’s party will try its luck from 12 seats out of the total 40 seats in the state. Elaborating more details about the seat sharing arrangement between the two parties, Lalu said, “We have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls together to prevent the rise of secular forces in the interest of nation and the state of Bihar.” In what would not go down well with the Congress, looking to regain a foothold in the

crucial state, the two regional parties left only three seats for the biggest constituent of the UPA. “We have left three seats for the Congress”, Lalu said. Addressing a joint press conference in the national capital both Lalu and Paswan reaffirmed that they are part of the UPA led by the Congress party and will remain with the same. “We are with UPA and we have nothing to do with the Third Front.” Lalu said. The Lok Sabha constituencies from where the RJD will field its candidates include Balmiki Nagar, Motihari, Bhagalpur, Siwanganj, Chapra, Patna Sahib, Gaya, Jehanabad, Thagadia, Kishanganj amongst others. While LJP will field its candidates from Hazipur, Samastipur, Newada, Aara, Begunsarai, Purnia, Katihar, Supol, Betia, Nalanda and other seats. On the deal that has been worked out, Lalu said that both the

two parties will have the right to field any candidate, which they find suitable for a particular Lok Sabha constituency and there will be no interference from the either side. On his turn, jubilant Paswan told reporters that his party had actually staked claim on 16 seats but finally settled for 12 seats keeping in view the national interest. The two leaders also said that they are actively looking at having a similar pre-poll tie-up in Jharkhand too. The present seat sharing agreement between the two parties marks a major concession on Lalu's part, as well as a reflection that RJD chief he is finding himself on a weak turf. In view of the changed political environment in Bihar with the rise of Nitish Kumarled NDA, Lalu seems to have been forced to accept the conditions laid down by LJP to prevent the emergence of the NDA as the winner.

March 17, 2009

Varun Gandhi says CD showing his speech was tampered with Pilibhit (UP), March 17: Under attack for making alleged inflammatory remarks with communal overtones, a BJP candidate in the Lok S a b h a p o l l s Va r u n Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that the CD containing his speech has been tampered with. "I know it has been (tampered with)," he told TV channels while replying to a question. "All I want to say is that tomorrow I will be addressing a press conference in Delhi and I will be clarifying my stand on every single issue.... I

will be addressing from a proper party forum," the grandson of Indira Gandhi said. At a recent election meeting in Pilibhit from where he is being fielded, Varun had allegedly made some remarks against Congress party's 'Hand' symbol. "This is not a 'Hand' (Congress symbol), it is the power of the 'Lotus' (BJP symbol). It will cut the head of....... Jai Shri Ram," Gandhi said in a raised voice at a recent election meeting in Pilibhit from where he

is being fielded. Continuing in the same vein, Indira Gandhi’s grandson told another meeting: "If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand." Taking note of the inflammatory remarks, the Election Commission has already slapped a notice against Varun gandhi. -Agencies

BJP advises candidates to exercise caution in speeches New Delhi, March 17: With its Lok Sabha c a n d i d a t e Va r u n Gandhi's alleged antiMuslim speech leaving the BJP embarrassed, the party has advised all its nominees for the polls to "practice caution" in their speeches. "We have advised all our candidates to practise caution and restrain in their speeches," party spokesperson Siddarth Nath Singh told reporters. Asked if his party would initiate any

action against its candidate from Pilibhit for his alleged inflammatory speech, Singh said "that is to be seen but we do not subscribe to such views and this is sure." Va r u n h a d faced criticism from his own party yesterday for the alleged comments, with BJP Vice President Mukthar Abbas Naqvi saying his remarks were a manifestation of his Congress past. At a recent election meeting in Pilibhit from where he is being fielded, Varun had

said "this is not a 'Hand' (Congress symbol), it is the power of the 'Lotus' (BJP symbol). It will cut the head of ....... Jai Shri Ram." Continuing in the same vein, the grandson of Indira Gandhi told another meeting "If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand." -Agencies

Amend IPC to make ragging a punishable offence: netizens New Delhi, March 17 With the brutal death of young medical student Aman Kachroo shocking the nation, a movement is gradually gaining m o m e n t u m i n cyberspace to make ragging a punishable offence under Indian Penal Code. An online petition hosted by stopragging.org, appealing to the Prime Minister to amend the IPC to make ragging an offence, has received nearly 200 signatures within three days of its opening, with outraged netizens slamming the so-called "tradition" of harassing and assaulting freshers. The Supreme Court has clearly laid down directives to launch criminal prosecution in cases of ragging, but the IPC does not have a separate section specifying it as an offence.Kachroo, a 19year-old first-year medical student from Gurgaon, died allegedly due to severe thrashing during ragging by his seniors at a government medical college in Tanda in Himachal Pradesh on March 8. "While this is a murder case, matters

would not have reached this level had Aman been able to use an antiragging law to approach the police," the petition argued. It also demanded that all the 50 recommendations of the R K Raghavan Committee on ragging should be seriously looked into by the Central government. The organisers say they will collect signatures till May 7 before posting the letter. S e v e r a l communities have also come up in social networking site Facebook demanding justice for Aman while tributes for the vivacious teenager and demands to stop the practice of ragging are pouring into various blog sites. "This senseless act of brutality, carried out in the name of relationship building with freshers, has to be stopped at once and in its all forms," a post at stopragging.org says. "This is the stupidest 'tradition' if you will," feels a netizen while another says "this happened because we tend to brush issues under the carpet." While the Aman case has hit the

headlines, many other similar incidents go unreported every year or receive very little media attention, says Harsh Aggarwal from the antiragging group Coalition to Uproot Ragging (CURE). According to CURE, which compiles yearly records of ragging incidents reported in English-language media, there were 11 deaths or suicides due to ragging and another five attempted suicides between July 2007 and June 2008. "When we made a detailed analysis, we were shocked to find that 89 cases of severe ragging were reported in this period, almost double of the five-year average of 46 cases," Mr. Aggarwal, a former consultant to Raghavan Committee, says. Maintaining anonymity of the complainant, sensitising the media and society are the key, he feels, but is sceptic about how deterrent the provision of criminal prosecution will be. "A fresher will be extremely fearful to use the provision of FIR and get involved in a court case. Gathering evidence has also been always very difficult," he says.

March 17, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

National

FIR filed against Varun for communal remarks New Delhi/Pilibhit, March 17: Acting swiftly on the E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n ’s directions, the district magistrate of Pilibhit in UP on Tuesday filed an FIR against BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate Varun Gandhi over his alleged communal remarks. The action comes after the Election

Commission directed Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Election Officer to file a case against Varun and issue notice to his party for the communal remarks against a particular religion. The FIR has been filed under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal code which pertains to spreading enmity between two communities and is non-bailable. Varun is in the eye of a storm for making inflammatory remarks with communal overtones which

saw the Election Commission slap a notice on the young Gandhi and his party the BJP. "This is not a 'Hand' (Congress symbol), it is the power of the 'Lotus' (BJP symbol). It will cut the head of....... Jai Shri Ram," Gandhi (29), son of late Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka, said in his rabid vitriolic against members of a minority community in a raised voice at a recent election meeting in Pilibhit from where he is being fielded. Continuing in the same vein, the grandson of Indira Gandhi told another meeting "If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand." Congress, headed by Varun's aunt Sonia Gandhi, was quick to condemn the remarks as "unethical and against law".

" I t i s condemnable.... He (Varun) is associated with a party which has this ideology (anti-minority) and culture," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in Delhi. BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi snubbed Varun, contesting his maiden election, saying the controversial speech is a manifestation of his family's past Congress culture and that his outbursts did not reflect BJP's traditional culture. B u t Va r u n , whose mother is also a BJP MP, denied the charge in his reply submitted to the District Magistrate MP Agarwal. On a complaint from the Congress party, Varun was slapped with a notice by the Election Commission charging him with violation of the model code of conduct for elections for his alleged communal remarks during a rally held on March 6 in Pilibhit. "Notices have been issued to BJP candidate from Pilibhit and state unit president for

their alleged communal remarks. They have been asked to submit their replies," election officials in Lucknow said here. The DM said that a complaint was received from the Congress against Varun on which an inquiry had been ordered. He said that the inquiry would be conducted by SubDivisional Magistrate Bisalpur M S Akhtar. " M a k i n g communal or casteist remarks amounts to violation of the model code of conduct," officials said. Varun Gandhi is contesting from Pilibhit seat from where Maneka was elected in the last general election. Maneka is contesting from Aonla p a r l i a m e n t a r y constituency this time. BJP leader Chandan Mitra said the Election Commission has to take cognizance of the remarks. " I f t h e Commission comes to a conclusion that he (Varun) had indeed said it and it does violate the election code of conduct then obviously, the laws of the land must take precedence," he added.

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EC nod to Railways plan to start summer specials New Delhi, March, 17: The Election Commission has given its nod to the Indian Railways, which plan to announce the start of a series of summer special trains originating from Delhi. After the model code of conduct came into effect, the Northern Railways had sought permission from the EC to start 32 special trains and publish them for general public information. "The permission was granted recently," a senior Railway Ministry official said.

These special trains — mostly Uttar Pradesh- and Bihar-bound — will cover hundreds of trips during the season to ease the passenger rush. Destinations of the trains, which would start operations from April onwards, will include Lucknow, Chandigarh, Udhampur, J a m m u Ta w i , P a t n a , Darbhanga, Varanasi and Gaya. Summer special trains will also run to places includingHowrah, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai), Ahmedabad and Guwahati.

Meghalaya govt wins trust vote Shillong, March 17: The Donkupar Roy led MPA govt survived Tuesday's trust vote in state assembly with Speaker Bindo Lanong casting his vote in the government's favour. The spectre of President's rule had loomed large over Meghalaya after assembly Speaker Bindo Lanong near midnight on Monday issued "interim suspension" orders on five legislators for withdrawing support to the ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government ahead of

Tuesday's trial of strength in the House. The Speaker had barred the five legislators former ministers Advisor Pariong and Paul Lyngdoh, deputy speaker Sanbar Shullai, and two independent MLAs Ismail Marak and Limison Sangma from entering the House via ruling late last night. The decision had come less than 12 hours before the MPA government was to face a crucial floor test following withdrawal of support by the five legislators.

Page 6 Times Chennai E-Paper

Business

Indian banks' NPAs to go up: ING Vysya Mumbai, March 17: Indian banks' may face rising non-performing assets in next fiscal in the face of economic slowdown, financial services major ING Vysya feared on Monday. "We expect the NPA levels of Indian banks to go upto 3.5-4 per cent levels in the next financial year as against 2.5-3 per cent expected in this fiscal," ING Vysya Bank's Economist, Financial Markets, Deepali Bhargava told reporters here. Indian banks have witnessed a sharp increase in their badloans, especially in consumer and credit card loans in the last one year on account of the impact of global financial crisis in the domestic economy. Sectors that are likely to witness a surge in sticky assets are real estate, textile and garments and consumer loans, Bhargava said.

Banks are likely to be risk averse to vulnerable sectors in FY 09, which may moderate the credit growth further to 17-18 per cent in FY 10, she said. On the otherside the deposit-base of Indian banks are likely to grow by 16.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis, Bhargava said. Noting that a low demand and lagged impact of aggressive monetary tightening of Reserve Bank could slow down the GDP growth, Bhargava said the country's GDP is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in FY 09 as c o m p a r e d t o Government's projection of 7.1 per cent. GDP growth in 2009-10 is likely to be in the range of 5.3-5.5 per cent, she said. India's WPIbased inflation, now below 3 per cent, may go

below zero by April leading to a state of deflation in the economy, Bhargava said, adding, "this (negative inflation) may continue for a period of 5-6 months." "India could see deflation by April, which can last 5-6 months. This would be a more statistical issue than a structural one...for a g r o w i n g e c o n o m y, deflation is not going to be a problem," Bhargava said. The Reserve Bank, which cut rates aggressively since October, might reduce its cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.5 per cent in the near future to provide cushion for a sagging economy, she said. In a bid to infuse sufficient liquidity into the market, the RBI cut its CRR and repo to 5 per cent and reverse repo to 3.5 per cent in the recent months.

Bank Muscat to sell entire holding in HDFC Bank Dubai, March 17: Bank Muscat on Tuesday said it has sold 40 per cent of its stake in India's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank and would offload the entire holding over a period of time. At the current market level, the shares sold by Bank Muscat, which held 2.13 per cent in HDFC Bank as on December 31, 2008, would be worth about Rs 300 crore. "Till date the bank has disposed around 40 per cent of its stake and the gain on realisations will be

reported in our first quarter results," Bank Muscat said in a regulatory filing with Muscat Stock Exchange. Oman's biggest lender did not disclose financial details of the share sale. "In line with our annual report disclosures in our chairman's statement, we decided to sell our stake in HDFC Bank, India over a period of time," Bank Muscat said further. For the quarter ended December 2008, Bank Muscat held 9,051,724 equity shares of HDFC Bank and 40 per

cent of shares held by the Oman bank would be worth around Rs 305 crore at yesterday's closing. Shares of Bank Muscat were trading down by 7.20 per cent at 0.503 Omani Riyals after it said it is likely to post losses. "We could have RO 4 million to RO 7 million of losses in the first quarter results," Bank Muscat said in the filing. Shares of HDFC Bank were trading lower by 1 per cent at Rs 836.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

March 17, 2009

Nokia to slash 1,700 jobs New York, March 17: The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia will be trimming its workforce by 1,700 employees worldwide, as part of the company's cost cutting efforts. The firm in a statement today said actions would be taken at its devices and markets units as well as in the corporate development office and global support functions. "... these plans will affect approximately 1,700 employees g l o b a l l y. W h e r e applicable, Nokia will start consultations with e m p l o y e e representatives about these plans," Nokia said. The cell phone maker noted that it intends to scale sales, marketing and technology management to match the pruned portfolio and

government and the onus of conducting the market borrowing in a non-disruptive manner would lie with the central bank, Sonal Varma, economist at Nomura, said in a note. The government could consider privately placing the bonds with the central bank as an option, while issuance of shorter-term dated bonds and treasury bills to reduce risk duration for banks would also help, she added. "At a time when banks are wary of taking additional interest rate

risk on their balance sheets, the RBI may have to fill the gap by expanding its own balance sheet through deficit financing," Varma said. Nomura also expects the government to announce an additional 0.6 percent of GDP of planned expenditure at its final budget in June/July. "On the fiscal policy front, little is likely to happen until after the May elections because the election code of conduct," Varma wrote. N o m u r a

consumer

According to the company, these measures are part of its previously announced plans to adjust business operations and cost base in accordance with market demand and safeguard future competitiveness. " N o k i a continues to seek savings in operational expenses, looking at all areas and activities across the company," it added. Earlier this month, the firm announced a voluntary departure package aimed at bringing down its headcount by as many as 1,000 employees. It noted the package would lessen the need for " i n v o l u n t a r y redundancies" and also help in cutting costs.

The Finnish entity which is listed in the US, had said that the global mobile phone market is expected to shrink by 10 per cent this year in the wake of the financial meltdown. "The voluntary resignation package will be open for application from March 1 until 1,000 employees have applied, closing at the latest on May 31, 2009," Nokia had said in a statement. When contacted, a company spokesperson had said that voluntary departure package would not impact its India operations. In fact, the company is still recruiting in India. Meanwhile, direct labour and senior executives are exempted from applying for the voluntary resignation package.

'L&T in talks for Satyam bid' Mumbai, March 17: Larsen & Toubro is talking to private equity firms such as Blackstone and The Carlyle Group to jointly bid for Satyam Computer Services, a news report said on Tuesday. G o l d m a n Sachs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Singapore's Temasek are also involved in the discussions with L&T, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation. "This is purely speculative," a spokesman for Larsen told reporters, without elaborating. The news report said Goldman Sachs -one of the firms appointed by Satyam's board to help find an investor -- and KKR were also evaluating the option of making individual bids.

'Fiscal deficit seen at 10.3% in FY'10' Mumbai, March 17: India's combined fiscal deficit is likely to narrow slightly to 10.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product in the fiscal year starting April 1, from 10.8 percent in 2008/09, Nomura said in research note on Tuesday. T h e government's gross market borrowing is seen at USD 83 billion in FY10, compared with the government's estimate of 3.62 trillion rupees (USD 70.1 billion). Funding such a large deficit would be the key challenge for the

global demand.

expects the central bank to further reduce its key short-term interest rates by 100 basis points each in tranches of 50 bps between April and June. "We judge that the reluctance of banks to cut rates and lend, and a heavily geared government are diluting the transmission of stimulus to the economy," the note said. "The bottomline is that the policy action is nearly o v e r ; p o l i c y effectivemenss is now the key," Varma wrote. -Agencies

L&T, which owns 12 percent of Satyam, is among a clutch of firms that have expressed interest in the outsourcer damaged by India's biggest corporate fraud. Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju quit in January saying profits had been overstated for years and assets falsified. New York-listed Satyam said on Friday that Indian and international firms, including private equity companies, had registered to bid for a controlling stake. US outsourcer iGate Corp has tied up with a private equity firm to bid for Satyam, whose government-appointed board is looking for an investor to help restore confidence among both clients and staff. S o f t w a r e s e r v i c e s f i r m Te c h Mahindra and diversified Spice Group are among those registered as potential bidders, who must submit detailed expressions of interest by Friday. Contract termination Separately, the media report said around 46 customers of Satyam had moved their outsourcing contracts to rival firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, IBM and Accenture since the fraud was uncovered. Clients such as Applied Materials Inc, Telstra Corp, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Sony Corp had either moved out their projects or were in the process of shifting to other outsourcers, the paper reported, quoting a

person familiar with the developments. A S a t y a m spokeswoman told media the company would not comment on client specific issues. A N i s s a n spokeswoman in Tokyo said the automaker's North American unit continues to do business with Satyam and has no plans at the moment to terminate its contract with the Indian outsourcer. Satyam won a multi-million dollar deal in 2006 to manage Nissan's business applications for the North American market. A S o n y s p o k e s m a n i n To k y o declined to comment on the report, while a Telstra spokesman said decisions about arrangements with IT services providers would not be announced to the media by Australia's largest phone company. Satyam allots 10,511 equity shares under stock option IT firm Satyam Computer on Tuesday said it has allotted 10,511 equity shares under its stock option plans. The board approved the allotment of the shares on March 13, under the stock option plans of the company, Satyam said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Pursuant to the allotment, the paid-up share capital of the company stood at Rs 1,34,77,89,584 up from Rs 1,34,77,68,562, the filing added. Shares of Satyam were trading at Rs 44.25, down 2.21 per cent, on the BSE.

March 17, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

Business

'Indian IT industry capable of surviving economic crisis' Hannover, March 17: India's IT industry is wellplaced to weather the global economic crisis despite decline in exports of such services including computer software for the first time over the years looks inevitable this fiscal. I n d i a n I T companies, which participated in the CeBIT 2 0 0 9 i n H a n n o v e r, expressed confidence that innovative skills of the software engineers and IT professionals along with their ability to adapt to the rapidly changing situation in the markets around the world will help cushion the impact of the global economic meltdown on the industry in India. Most of the Indian exhibitors in the CeBIT, the world's largest IT and computer fair, were upbeat about continuing their existing business and forging new partnerships by offering their clients new solutions and services. "The impact of the economic crisis on India's IT industry so far has been minimal and the industry has the resilience to withstand the crisis for some more time," Additional Executive Director of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) D P Gupta, who coordinated India's participation in the CeBIT, told reporters. Gupta said if the economic downturn in major markets like the US, Europe and Japan continued for a longer period, then it could have far-reaching affects on the industry. At present, many small and medium-level IT companies have been hit hard by the crisis because they are not in a position to diversify their products or to find new markets, he said. "However, one silver lining for the industry is that Indian IT and computer software companies are designing

and developing high-end solutions and services and therefore clients around the world will continue to require their products to remain competitive," Gupta said. The ESC has already scaled down its growth target for computer software and IT enabled services exports for the current financial year from 25 per cent to 15 per cent. But Indian IT companies feel they are already laying the groundwork for the industry to bounce back to its growth course when the global economic situation stabilises. "The present crisis is both a challenge and an opportunity for Indian companies to consolidate their existing business and to find new partners," Executive Director and CEO of Pune-based e-Zest solutions Devendra Deshmukh said. "Our message to our clients and potential partners at the CeBIT is that they can continue to count on the technical competence and expertise of Indian IT professionals in developing various packages and solutions to cope with the crisis," Deshmukh said. "We are trying to preserve and nurture o u r c u s t o m e r relationships by offering them cheap solutions and services and by remaining loyal to them," Deshmukh added. In spite of the crisis, world-wide demand for computer software and IT enabled services in areas such as h e a l t h c a r e , manufacturing, publishing, education, etc will continue to grow and Indian companies can benefit from that, he said. Bankruptcy management and legal process outsourcing

have gained new significance as areas holding great potential for business in the wake of the economic and financial crisis. Jayanthra Jayachandran, CEO of Coimbatore-based Angler Technologies, said that the customer loyalty and better services are the right strategy to fight the recession. He said his company was less affected by the crisis than many other Indian IT companies because of its diversified customer base and products, but it had to postpone some of its expansion plans. India's IT services and computer software continued to generate strong interest among the trade visitors at the CeBIT and Indian exhibitors received many business inquiries and established new business contacts, Gupta said. The overall response received by Indian companies was not as great as in previous years, but considering the present doom and gloom in major markets in North America, Europe and in Asia, it was more than anticipated, he said. About 25 Indian companies, mainly small and medium-level enterprises, presented the latest India has to offer in the areas of computer software, IT enabled services, electronics hardware and telecommunication equipments. India's exports of computer software and IT enabled services reached a record level of USD 31.17 billion during 2007-2008 when they went up by 28 per cent over the level of USD 24.27 billion in 20062007, according to the ESC.

PNB introduces CBS in its regional rural arm New Delhi, March 17 : Haryana Gramin Bank, sponsored by state-run lender PNB, has introduced Centralised Banking Solution (CBS), which would enable customers to carry out banking at locations convenient for them. "In view of numerous advantages, which had been derived by implementing CBS at commercial banks; it was

felt that CBS should also be implemented in Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)," PNB Chairman and Managing Director K C Chakrabarty said. W i t h t h e implementation of CBS, customers would be able to provide IT-enabled financial inclusion and serve the customers in an effective manner, he said in a statement. Other benefits

that customers may derive by this new initiative taken by PNB include low-cost ATMs for anytime banking, point of sales terminal transaction and financial inclusion of unbanked and under-banked people, he added. At present, PNB has six RRBs, having a network of 1,354 branches spread over six states and 67 districts.

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'Layoffs in IT needed' Bangalore, March 17 Strongly defending job cuts, the State's former information technology secretary Vivek Kulkarni said it is natural in times of recession to stay afloat. "When there is no business, companies have to react; otherwise nobody will survive. Either you have to reduce everybody's salary, or you have to let some people go and move on with that," Mr. Kulkarni told PTI here. "Because, if you do not have labour flexibility, you can't do business well," Kulkarni, who is currently the Chairman and CEO of knowledge process outsourcing firm Brickwork India, added. He admitted that IT companies have resorted to various ways to lay off their staff. S o m e companies are forcing their managers to give a "lower-rate" to their employees so that they can be removed, citing "non-performance". M r. K u l k a r n i said he knows a company that lost an account of 6 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e ( s t a ff

working on an outsourcing contract). "What will you do (when that happens)? So, there will be temporary dislocation; no permanent harm," he said. In times of recession, layoffs are quite natural. He said companies, which have lost big accounts and are operating from huge facilities after signing multi-year lease contract, are reducing and rationalising staff. M r. K u l k a r n i said the year 2009 is going to be challenging for freshers in the IT sector and it would be tough for them to get jobs, but exuded confidence that hiring would restart in the first quarter of financial year 2010-2011. On the impact of US recession on the Indian IT firms, he said while large players such as Citi Bank and Goldman Sachs "who have received government money (bailout package) will behave based on government directions", there are other US

companies, which would be keen to outsource to India for the first time. "For what I am finding is that for the rest of the companies (US companies who have not received Government aid) to survive, they have to do business (they would benefit if they outsource to India)," he said. According to him, Indian IT companies are increasingly looking at the domestic market. "Because our economy is big. Our companies can, instead of doing it for Citi Bank, they can do it for SBI. So, we can do work for our companies and that's picking up. I see that Indian IT companies now focus on domestic sector a lot," he said, adding, "We are a c o u n t r y. . . w e a r e b i g enough. We may not need help from foreign countries (outsourcing) all the time to grow." Mr. Kulkarni said: "If we have the right government, if they are able to come up with some policies, we should be okay by September or October of this year." -Agencies

Sensex snaps three-day winning streak Mumbai, March 17 Three-day old pull-back rally in Indian benchmarks came to an end Tuesday as profit booking set in after sentiments in global

markets turned bearish on concerns of credit card defaults in the US. European markets were under pressure following decline in commodities and banking stocks.

Bombay Stock E x c h a n g e ’s S e n s e x closed at 8861.86, down 81.68 points or 0.91 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 8801.79 and a high of 9024.12. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 2756.95, down 20.3 points or 0.73 per cent. The broader index touched a low of 2738.70 and high of 2805.60 in trade so far. BSE Midcap Index ended 0.22 per cent lower and BSE Smallcap Index edged 0.44 per cent higher. Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE IT

Index was down 1.81 per cent, BSE Bankex fell 1.64 per cent and BSE Oil&gas Index declined 1.34 per cent. Ta t a M o t o r s (4.4%), Hindalco Industries (2.58%), Maruti Suzuki (1.72%), ITC (1.29%) and NTPC (1.08%) ended with gains. Tata Consultancy Services (-4.87%), Jaiprakash Associates (4.4%), State Bank of India (3.93%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (-1.99%) and Reliance Industries (1.85%) were the biggest Sensex losers. Market breadth remained positive on BSE showed 1332 advances against 1138 declines. (All figures are provisional)

HDFC Mutual Fund hikes stake in Patni Computer Mumbai, March 17 Domestic mutual fund house HDFC Mutual Fund has raised its stake in IT services provider Patni Computer Systems to 5.18 per cent by acquiring additional 50 lakh shares for about Rs 55 crore. Patni Computer Systems, in a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that HDFC Mutual Fund has

acquired 50 lakh shares, representing 3.9 per cent stake in the company, through open market transactions. P o s t acquisition, HDFC Mutual Fund holds a 5.18 per cent stake in Patni Computer. The acquisition of shares was made on March 13, 2009, it added. Calculated on the closing share price of

Patni Computer on March 13, the value of shares is worth about Rs 55 crore. Before the acquisition, HDFC Mutual Fund had a 1.28 per cent stake in the company. Shares of Patni Computer Systems were quoted at Rs 11 4 . 2 0 o n B S E i n afternoon, up 4.87 per cent over the previous close. -Agencies

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Sports

Times Chennai E-Paper

NZC sticks to 11am start time for first Test Hamilton, March 17: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s concern about the unconventional 12 noon start to the first Test against the Kiwis has

that play will start at the scheduled time of 11am at Seddon Park, here tomorrow. "It will be very different for us. Playing at

been put to rest by New Zealand Cricket, which has decided to stick to the original start time of 1100 hrs (local time). NZC confirmed

night it seems like. It will go on till don`t know what time. That will be definitely difficult. I have not played any Test that starts at 12. It is definitely

a bit of concern," Dhoni had said at the pre-match media briefing. NZC and their Asian broadcast partner Sony discussed the s c h e d u l i n g arrangements, including the possibility of adjusting the start time to grab more eyeballs at a later time zone in India. A f t e r discussions with Sony, and with the teams and match officials, it has now been confirmed that the start time will remain at 11.00 am. The start times for the second and third Tests at Napier (March 26-30) and Wellington (April 3-7) are expected to be confirmed in the next few days.

blindfold and rapid chess tournament. Anand lost the blindfold game with white pieces and did not get a chance to recover in the rapid. With this defeat, the Indian slipped in the standings and stands joint sixth in combined, joint fifth in rapid and joint sixth in blindfold. A l e x a n d e r Morozevich of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia

retained the joint first position in the combined standings after settling for a 1-1 draw with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Gata Kamsky of United States respectively. W h i l e Morozevich signed peace in both games against Radjabov, Aronian and Kamsky shared a win each to reach the tied score. Morozevich and Aronian took their tally to four points apiece and are now followed by Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Carlsen who all have 3.5 points. Anand shares the next spot along with Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine and Peter Leko of Hungary on three points and this bunch is a half point clear of Radjabov and Kamsky. With eight rounds still to come, Wang Yue of C h i n a a n d Va s s i l y Ivanchuk of Ukraine are currently sharing the last spot with two points apiece.

It's a three-way lead in the blindfold with Kramnik, Carlsen and Topalov having 2.5 points each while in the rapid Morozevich is in lead on 2.5 points. After he had beaten Anand in their blindfold game, Carlsen flashed his best smile and said, "Yes, this was a special game for me. I was very focused and it's nice that I managed to beat him for the first time with black." The Sicilian Rosslimo by Anand was fairly new for Carlsen. Contrary to what happens in the sharp Sicilian battles, white was castled king side and gained space while Carlsen found a safe haven for his king on the other flank and began to like his position after Anand went for a an erroneous plan in the middle game. By the 20th move itself Carlsen stood much better and slowly increased his advantage to post a big win in 34 moves. -Agencies

Paes, Bhupathi out of Indian Wells Indian Wells, March 17: Indian challenge at the BNP Paribas Open ended after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lost their respective second-round doubles matches at the USD 4.5 million tennis tournament here. Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth,

went down 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5) to Argentines Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian. In another match, the third seeded pair of Bhupathi and Bahamian Mark Knowles were stunned 6-7 (2), 4-6 by the unseeded IsraeliBelarussian duo of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram.

Dhoni expects Sehwag fireworks in Test series Hamilton, March 17: After demolishing the New Zealand bowling attack with consummate ease in one-dayers, explosive opener Virender Sehwag will once again be crucial for India to dominate New

He is not the kind who gets out in 30s or 40s; 50s or 60s. If he gets going, he gets big scores." With India chasing an elusive Test series victory in New Zealand, something they

Zealand in the Test series s t a r t i n g t o m o r r o w, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. Speaking to reporters on the eve of the first Test, Dhoni said he wants Sehwag to play his natural game. "We want him to play the way he wants to play, because that is his natural style. We all know if he gets going he can dominate the bowlers and all of a sudden you see the bowling attack rattled," the 27-year-old said. "We have seen if he plays for two hours or three hours, he is a batsman who is capable of getting big scores.

haven`t achieved in 41 years, Dhoni knows the importance of an in-form Sehwag up the order. The righthanded batsman can change the course of the game in one session by pulverising any bowling attack into submission. "We don`t want individuals to change their game. That is the strength, because of which they are part of the Indian team. Definitely in between you may want them to curb your natural game, but more often -– about 80 per cent of the times -– we want them to play their natural game," Dhoni explained. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman

-Agencies

Carlsen beats Anand at Amber Nice France, March 17: World Champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen and went down 0.5-1.5 in the third round of Amber

March 17, 2009

The twin losses rounded off a disappointing Indian campaign at the hardcourt event, where Sania Mirza couldn't go past the second round in women's singles and crashed out of doubles in the first round itself. -Agencies

also made it clear that the team`s success over the last 18 months wasn`t based on individual performances alone but depended largely on a collective effort. "We don`t rely on individuals. If you see our record in the past one and a half year, we don`t really depend only on batsmen. The bowlers have come out with plenty of aggression on flat tracks. They bowled the right lines and have got the best batsmen out because of their consistency and execution of plans. We don`t rely on just batsmen or bowlers, we have been good totally as a team." Speaking about the three-match Test series, the India captain said he expects New Zealand to come back hard after losing the oneday series 3-1. "New Zealand lost the one-day series, but that doesn`t mean they are not a good side. They are a very competitive team, especially when it comes to exploiting the conditions out here. We expect tough cricket over the next 2025 days," Dhoni said.

-Agencies

High Court reserves order in BCCI-Sony case Mumbai, March 17: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reserved its order in the BCCI-Sony case and directed BCCI not to sign new contracts for IPL broadcast rights. The ruling came after TV broadcaster Sony TV took the IPL organisers to court over discussing telecast rights with other broadcasters. Sony had got an injunction to stop the IPL from discussing telecast rights with other channels. The injunction order was given to IPL on

Saturday night. With the IPL already in a fix over schedule problems owing to the upcoming General Elections, Lalit Modi is trying every trick in the book to salvage the multi-million dollar T20 tournament. T h e tournament has already run into rough weather after the Home Ministry asked the organisers to redraw the schedule as it was not feasible to hold the matches under the existing fixture for security reasons. Lalit Modi and

CEO Sundar Raman, who reached the Capital from Mumbai, have been in meetings to find a way out of the entanglement. The Bangalore police earlier declined to provide security cover for the IPL till May 3 and advised the organisers to hold all matches after May 4. The Ministry’s directive came on Friday after eight states, where matches are to be held, said they might not be able to provide security in view of the General Elections. -Agencies

March 17, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

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Crisis a chance to tackle climate change’ New organic material may boost Internet speed Singapore, March 17: Measures to help ease climate change should be integrated into massive stimulus packages aimed at fighting the global economic crisis, environmental groups and government officials said. There are fears some countries may backslide on commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they focus on reviving their recession-hit economies, but the two objectives can go hand-inhand, they said. Investments in clean energy and other environment-friendly projects can eventually create millions of "green collar" jobs and help cushion the impact of retrenchments in older, polluting industries, they added. " W e a r e confronted with a massive opportunity to recreate our economies in a way that will lay the foundations for strong, sustainable growth in the future," Greenpeace I n t e r n a t i o n a l spokesperson Stephanie Tunmore said. "World leaders have a perfect opportunity to develop stimulus packages that cut greenhouse gas emissions and create green jobs." Some countries have taken the lead, including the United States under President Barack Obama. Clean energy is a major component of Obama's USD 787 billion economic stimulus package, with the US leader vowing to pump USD 15 billion a year into developing technologies such as wind power and solar energy. He plans to double the country's supply of renewable energy in the next three years. There is also funding for training workers in the new fields. I n A s i a , governments have rolled out spending measures worth at least USD 1.1 trillion since October, many of them focused on infrastructure, help for companies to access capital, and dole-outs to boost consumer buying. Economists are urging a second round of spending packages, and environmental groups hope these would include measures to protect the environment. "A global 'green' stimulus package could deliver immediate economic benefits, reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change and reduce sources of global instability such as energy insecurity and resource competition," Tunmore of Greenpeace

said. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has incorporated a green component in its USD 6 billion stimulus package, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said. Among other measures, the government has accelerated a mandatory requirement to have biofuels take up five percent of the national energy mix, she said. "It's a green objective and there's a tax incentive as well built in," she said in an interview. "It also creates demand for our palm oil at a time when external markets are declining." British Minister for Trade and Investment Gareth Thomas said clean energy offers vast overseas opportunities for local businesses. The British government is helping companies with expertise in renewable energy and constructing energyefficient buildings to expand abroad. "We want to encourage British businesses to see the huge changes that are coming down the line from the worldwide shift that is going to be towards low-carbon economies," he said during a recent visit to Singapore. Ta l k s a r e underway for a new global climate change treaty scheduled to be signed in Denmark in December, with rich and developing nations trying to reach a compromise on emission targets to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. H o w e v e r, workers in industries such as steel and manufacturing fear strict caps will raise production costs and lead to massive job losses. S o m e d e v e l o p i n g countries also say drastic emission cuts could compromise their economic growth, but environmental groups argue otherwise. "Contrary to perceptions by some, climate change solutions are more labourintensive than conventional energy and have been proven in many countries as a jobs creator and a good way to stimulate the economy," said Rafael Senga, Asia Pacific manager for energy policy at the World Wildlife Fund.

Greenpeace cited a report by the UN Environment Programme which estimated that at least 2.3 million jobs are currently available in the renewable energy sector, and the number is likely to rise to more than 20 million by 2030. Improving energy efficiency in buildings alone could create 3.5 million jobs in Europe and the United States by 2030, the report said. Environmental groups warned of dire consequences if world leaders allow the economic crisis to weaken their resolve to tackle climate change. "Unlike the economic recession that can be solved in a few years' time, the impact of climate change on the planet's life support systems and the global economy will be permanent if we fail to act urgently," said Senga of the WWF.

Washington, March 17: Take two bricks out into a snowfall and place them side by side. In a few hours, the snowflakes will fill every vacant space between and around the bricks. The same phenomenon could hasten the day when the Internet works at superfast speeds. Ivan Biaggio, physics professor at Lehigh University, says that using the same principle at the smallest of scales on an integrated optical circuit, scientists are hoping to achieve a major leap in velocity by designing circuits that rely solely on light-waves process data. Biaggio is part of an international team of researchers that has developed an organic material with an unprecedented combination of high optical quality and strong ability to mediate lightlight interaction. H e h a s engineered the integration of this material with silicon

technology so it can be used in optical telecommunication devices. The material, which is composed of small organic molecules, mimics the behaviour of the snowflakes covering the bricks when it is deposited into the slot, or gap, that separate silicon wave guides that control the propagation of light beams on an integrated optical circuit. Just as the snowflakes, being tiny and mobile, fill every empty space between the two bricks, Biaggio says, the molecules completely and homogeneously fill the slot between the wave guides. The slots measure only tens of nanometres (nm) wide; one nm is a billionth of a metre, or a dozen carbon atoms wide. "We have been able to make thin films by combining the molecules into a material that is perfectly transparent, flat, and free of any irregularities that would affect optical properties,"

said Biaggio. The slot between the wave guides is the region where most of the light guided by the silicon propagates. By filling the slot, say Biaggio and his collaborators, the molecules add an ultra-fast all-optical switching capability to silicon circuitry, creating a new ability to perform the lightto-light interactions necessary for data processing in all-optical networks. T h e nanophotonic device obtained in this way, says the group, has demonstrated the best alloptical demultiplexing rate yet recorded for a siliconorganic-hybrid device. Multiplexing is the process by which multiple signals or data streams are combined and transmitted on a single channel, thus saving expensive bandwidth. Demultiplexing is the reverse process, said a Lehigh release. A description of this material was published on the Nature Photonics website.

Artificial life within 5 years? Washington, March 17: Scientists are on track to develop artificial life "within five years",

Discovering - or engineering - a second genesis wouldn't just broaden our view of life.

claimed US researchers, who suggested that laboratories across the world are drawing close to the threshold of a "second genesis".

Alternative life forms c o u l d s u p p l y biotechnologists with fresh molecules and new functions that they could apply to practical

problems. David Deamer, a biochemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has argued for three decades that scientists would create synthetic life in "five or 10 years". Finally, he might actually be right. " T h e momentum is building," he said. "We're knocking at the door," he was quoted as saying by the New Scientist online today. L a b s a r e closing in on a "second g e n e s i s " - a n achievement that would be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. A synthetic, made-to-order living system could produce everything from new

drugs to biofuels and greenhouse gas absorbers, the report said. The finishing line could be in sight after geneticists Professor George Church and Dr Michael Jewett, of Harvard Medical School, informed a synthetic biology conference in Hong Kong that they had synthetically created part of a cell, called a ribosome, New Scientist reported. The breakthrough offers hope that they could develop an entire cell. "There's nothing you'd expect to go wrong - the way we expected things to go wrong with the a s s e m b l y, " P r o f e s s o r Church said. -Agencies

New study links diabetes to Alzheimer's risk Washington, March 17: Diabetes can hurt the heart, the eyes and the kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes. Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It

now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar. In fact, the lines are blurring between what specialists call "vascular dementia" and scarier classic Alzheimer's disease. Whatever it is labelled, there is reason

enough to safeguard your brain by fighting diabetes and heartrelated risks. "Right now we can't do much about the Alzheimer's disease pathology," those sticky plaques that clog patients' brains, says Dr Ya a k o v S t e r n , a n Alzheimer's specialist at Columbia University Medical Centre. But, "if you could control these

vascular conditions, you might slow the course of the disease." The link has staggering societal implications: More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, and cases already are projected to skyrocket in the next two decades as the population ages.

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