Times Chennai E-paper March 18, 2009

VOL: 2 ISSUE 58

March 18, 2009

BJP tries to woo Vijayakant's DMDK Chennai, March 18, Amid intense efforts by Congress to bring Vijayakant's DMDK into DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu, BJP has also held discussions on a possible tie-up with the actorturned-politician for the Lok Sabha polls.

and is perceived to be a significant player in the Parliamentary polls. The state politics, of late, has already seen the two major regional party DMK and AIADMK becoming part of UPA

invitation to the DMDK and blamed a section of media for such reports. Mr. Ganesan said DMDK could retain its 'identity' as a party opposed to the two Dravidian parties if it aligned with BJP.

Parkava Kula community raising its head in TN Chennai, March 18: The Parkava Kula community comprising Moopanars, Nainars and Udayars is

Motherland Pictures Kovaithambi. Addressing the media, Mr. Pachamuthu

Having over one crore voters belonging to their community in the state the Sangam seeks

Photo S. Mohan

The BJP, which is without any allies in the state so far, has held "some preliminary talks" with DMDK, BJP state president L Ganesan told reporters here. Mr. Ganesan, however, declined to attach much importance to the talks with the party, which polled eight per cent of the votes in the 2006 Assembly elections

the newly made third front respectively. Congress has openly expressed its desire that DMDK should be part of the DMK-led front and reportedly stepped up efforts to woo Vijayakant's party. But, Tamil Nadu CM and D M K c h i e f M Karunanidhi had denied having extended any

"DMDK will lose its identity by aligning with either of the (Dravidian) parties, but can retain it by aligning with BJP," he said. Mr. Ganesan said parleys were also held with the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK), led by actor R Sarathkumar. -Agencies

just raising its head after a century of its existance. The 100-yearold Tamil Nadu Parkava Kula Sangam, which claims that the community has over 65 lakh voters, is proposing to float the party with a view to striving for the welfare and growth of the community. Chairman of the SRM group of insitutions, T R Pachamuthu, who also heads the Parkava Kula Sangam's parliamentary board (High Level Committee), is the key person behind the move. who is ably s u p p o r t e d b y

said that continuously their community is denied the opportunities by major political parties in Tamil Nadu. Hence to make their voice heard at the state level and at the central level their community is organsing a massive rally on March 29 at Kallakurichi near Villupuram and that wil show our strength to the political parties. It may be noted that the Parkava Kula Community is the decider in almost 40 assembly constituencies of the State and that the parties woo them in every election.

sufficient representation as a Sangam in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. At a later date is likely to become a political outfit said Lawyer Rajan who is also a high level committee member. Talking on the sidelines of the meeting Mr. Pachamuthu said we want our requests to be acceded by the political parties and we would support them in toto. W i t h t h e rejuvenated Parkava Kula Sangam outfit taking shape Tamil Nadu is all set to see another caste based party in the near future. -Staff Reporter

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Times Chennai E-Paper

March 18, 2009

Ramadoss postpones alliance decision Chennai, March 18 : So now we have to wait for some more days to know which way the PMK swings. The party’s general body meeting,

scheduled for Wednesday to decide on pre-poll alliance, has been called off, according to party sources. “Till Monday, we were of the impression that the meeting would be held on Wednesday but since we have not been informed about it even by late Tuesday evening, they must have called it off,”

said a district-level leader, and member of the general council. The eleventh hour cancellation of the general body has been attributed to differences among the top brass of the party over the issue of alliance. It is said that Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, favours the D M K Congress combine, while senior leader Kaduvetti Guru wants the party to go with the AIADMK-Left combine. However, more than the individual preferences of the leaders, the larger question appears to be the ability to win and longterm political survival.

Party founder S Ramadoss fears that the cadre might crossvote and undermine the party’s chances of winning as many seats as it won in the last elections. He is also concerned over the party losing its credibility if it were to go back to the DMK after the verbal duels between Ramadoss and CM M Karunanidhi. According to party sources, Anbumani Ramadoss feels that the PMK vote bank has shrunk and it would be safer to sail with the VCK. On the other hand, an AIADMK alliance would make it difficult for the party to win seats, as the AIADMK and MDMK do not have a strong base in the northern districts. So it may need the DMK and Congress to win seats in the region, considered a PMK bastion. -Agencies

HC orders notice on IIT Registrar appointment Chennai, Mar 18 : The Madras High Court has ordered notice on a quo warranto petition questioning the legal validity of the appointment of Mr K Panchalan as Registrar of IIT-Madras. Admitting the petition filed by IIT SC/ST Employees Welfare Association general secretary V Neethinathan, J u s t i c e V Ramasubramanian

yesterday directed the IIT administration and the Centre to file counter within two weeks. Seeking to know under what authority Mr Panchalan was holding the post, the petitioner sought to restrain him from functioning as registrar. The petitioner further submitted that the advertisement for the post of registrar issued in

August 2007 had stipulated several conditions tailor-made for Mr Panchalan. Describing the selection process as mockery, the petitioner association wanted the authorities to recover the salary from the terminal benefits of the registrar, scheduled to retire from service this month. -Agencies

Plus 2 exam blues: Economics paper hoodwinks Chennai March 18 Language bloopers and conceptual questions dismayed the Class XII students writing Economics paper of the State Board Examinations, here on Tuesday . T h e m o s t common complaint was the question number 78, which was on the elasticity of demand. It required students to explain the methods of measurement of price elasticity of demand in detail whereas the Tamil question was worded differently and did not mention that a few aspects of the question had to be answered in detail, said an Economics teacher at a Government Higher Secondary School in city. But another Economic teacher said the question number 78 was more explicit in English than in Tamil. The students of Tamil medium attempted the question in detail only

because it was for 20 marks, but the language blooper had resulted in confusion for the examinees, he said. Janaki Raman, an Economics teacher at the Corporation Higher Secondary School, CIT Nagar, said six one-mark questions were not as per the blueprint rules given by the Department of G o v e r n m e n t Examinations. He also said the exam paper should carry questions only from the back of the book but this exam contained questions which were conceptual and not exactly those given at the back of the books. There was a huge gap between the questions given in English and Tamil with no exact translation, he said. It just confused the students and a lot of time was wasted in

understanding the question, he added. According to Suganti Rajaraman, an Economics teacher at a State Board Syllabus School in T Nagar, the students were baffled as they attempted the onemark questions first with the general assumption that they were not very difficult. C C h a n d r a s h e k h a r, a Class XII student admitted that the question was indeed confusing but most of his friends had attempted it somehow. However, students of private schools said that they encountered no such problem while attempting the paper. There are a total of 81 questions in t h e e x a m p a p e r, including three 20-mark questions. -Agencies

Take action against lawyers, cops Chennai, March 18: The Tamil Nadu Press Photographers Association on Tuesday urged the City Police Commissioner K Radhakrishnan to initiate

action against the advocates who were allegedly preventing them from doing their duties and also assaulting them. The association members

met Radhakrishnan at the commissionerate office and complained against the advocates who reportedly assaulted the Tamil daily photographer. -Agencies

Tamil Nadu Land Reforms Amendment Act upheld Chennai, Mar 18 : The Madras High Court has upheld Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Second Amendment Act, 1994. Dismissing a batch of writ petitions by R Sivashanmugam and others challenging the constitutional validity of the amendment Act, Justice K Chandru, citing rulings, said it was clear that the legislature had the power to enact a retrospective legislation for the purpose of clarifying certain ambiguities. The present amendment did not make a new amendment to section 22, but only gave a statutory backing to the interpretation given by the Supreme Court in a case, the judge said. According to the

statement of objects and reasons, the amendment was to make the section in consonance with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court and to make it clear that if any transfer or partition, had the effect of reducing the extent of surplus land in excess of the ceiling area, such transfer or partition whether bona fide or not, should be construed as defeating the provisions of the legislation. It was also to make provisions for validating all acts done or proceedings taken by the authorised officer and to reopen the past cases, based on the apex court's judgment. The Judge said if an Authorised Officer had given an order in favour of any of the

petitioners ignoring the legal provision, such an order could only be a nullity as it had not taken note of the true legislative meaning as well as the intent and purport of Section 22. The provision as amended by the impugned Act had restored the correct meaning and the spirit of the Act. The Judge said the petitioners had no vested right in making a transfer to defeat the very purpose of the legislative injunction over such transfers. F u r t h e r, t h e amendment itself had put an embargo by prescribing a limitation for reopening the issues beyond five years from the date of the gazette notification. -Agencies

March 18, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper News You Can Use

Mission Netaji contests Italian envoy's views on his death Mumbai, March 18: An organisation researching Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death on Tuesday criticised Italian ambassador Alessandro Quaroni's remarks that there was no point in continuing research on whether Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945. In a statement, Mission Netaji, the research unit said, there is a historical evidence which held Netaji did not die in a plane crash. Mr. Quaroni at the 112th birth anniversary of Netaji in Kolkata recently said, "I don't see any point in continuing with the research on whether he

died in a crash or not." Mr. Quaroni is the son of diplomat Pietro Quaroni who helped Netaji escape to Moscow in 1941. Mission Netaji cited reference to a note preserved in the Princeton University Library which clearly q u o t e s M r. P i e t r o Quaroni as saying that he did not think the news of Bose's accidental death was true. The Mission's statement also refers to a note written by Mahatma Gandhi's biographer Louis Fischer who met Mr. Pietro Quaroni in Moscow in November 1946 and quoted him

saying it was possible "that Bose is still alive". Mr. Pietro Quaroni had told Mr. Fischer that Netaji "did not want the British to look for him so the false rumour of his death was circulated and he may be biding his time for a return to India." V . P. S a i n i , convenor of the Netaji Subhas Kranti Manch, which is also researching Netaji's death has asked the Italian Prime Minister, in a letter, whether the ambassador was speaking on behalf of Italian government. - Agencies

Discovery docks with space station Washington, March 18: The space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday for a construction mission that will allow the station to double its crew. The Discovery will deliver the fourth and final solar panel that will enable ISS to double the size of its crew to six astronauts. Three spacewalks are planned to install the solar panels and conduct other construction p r o j e c t s . T w o

spacewalkers will put the panels in place on Thursday with help from the station's robotic arm. "Welcome to the Space Station, Discovery. We're glad you're here," the ISS crew said as the two craft made contact at 2120 GMT above Australia. The mission will also deliver Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is to officially join the permanent crew on the orbiting space station l a t e r T u e s d a y. I n recognition of the

Japanese crew member, the first permanent ISS resident from that c o u n t r y, D i s c o v e r y astronauts awoke Tuesday morning to Radio Exercise, a song used by Japanese school children to exercise, and performed by the Tokyo Broadcast Children's Choir. The shuttle launched Sunday after weeks of delays caused by concerns about hydrogen fuel valves and a later leak in a fuel vent. -Agencies

'Visit India Year 2009' Berlin, March 18: In an effort to reverse the decline in international tourist arrivals in the country after Mumbai terror attacks, India has launched a new tourism promotion campaign to woo the foreign visitors. T h e n e w

campaign 'Visit India Year 2009' has been launched at the current International Tourism Exchange in Berlin to present the country as an attractive destination for the holidaymakers. The campaign is a joint initiative by the government and the tourism industry to win back international visitors who have stayed away since the terror attacks in Mumbai last November, said Secretary for Tourism Sujit Banerjee, who launched the campaign at a conference of international media and travel trade representatives. India's tourism industry has to cope with global terrorism and global economic downturn, which

are threatening to put a break this year on a decade of phenomenal growth in international arrivals, driven by the successful 'Incredible India' marketing campaign and steady improvements in the tourism infrastructure, Banerjee said to a news agency. International tourist arrivals in India continued to grow last year even after the financial crisis began to unfold in some major tourism markets such as the United States and Britain, but the Mumbai attacks dealt a severe blow to foreign tourist travelling to the country, he said. International arrivals have been falling since November and this trend gained momentum this year, Banerjee said. "Therefore, the government has joined hands with leading airlines, hoteliers, holiday resorts and tour operators in this ambitious marketing campaign to bring back foreign tourists by offering them a wide range of incentives and bonuses during the period between April and December, 2009." According to the

estimates of the India To u r i s m O f f i c e , international tourist arrivals in India slumped to around 5.6 per cent in 2008 to 5.37 million visitors after averaging 10 per cent up to S e p t e m b e r. T h e i r number dropped to more than 17 per cent in January, 2009. The decline in international tourist arrivals comes after India achieved a 14.3 per cent growth with arrival of 5.08 million tourists in 2007. A similar growth was registered in 2006 when over 4.45 million foreigners visited the country. Between 2003 and 2007, the number of international arrivals in India went up from 3.09 million to 5.37 million. The airlines participating in the campaign, Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines will offer a "companion free ticket" for every ticket purchased for international and domestic flights. Connecting flights to the departing airports are included in the final travel costs. The Indian Travel Agents' Association (IATO) offers holiday-makers a free sightseeing tour in a city of their choice.

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KISS' therapy for infertile women Washington, March 18: British researchers claim that hormone kisspeptin shows promise as a potential new treatment for infertility. The study, led by Dr Waljit Dhillo from Imperial College London, has shown that giving kisspeptin to women with infertility can activate the release of sex hormones, which control the menstrual cycle. According to researchers, the study could lead to a new fertility therapy for women with low sex hormone levels. Kisspeptin is a product of the KISS-1 gene and is a key regulator of reproductive f u n c t i o n . Animals and humans lacking kisspeptin function do not go through puberty and remain sexually immature.

Dr Waljit Dhillo and colleagues have already shown that kisspeptin treatment leads to the production of sex hormones in fertile women. Now, they have extended their research to look at the effects of kisspeptin in women whose periods have stopped due to a hormone imbalance. In this study, a group of ten women who were not menstruating and infertile, were injected with either kisspeptin or saline. Blood samples were then taken to measure their levels of luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), two sex hormones essential for ovulation and fertility. T h e researchers found that kisspeptin led to a 48-fold increase in LH and 16fold increase in FSH,

when compared to the control treatment. This is the first study to show that kisspeptin can stimulate sex hormones in women with infertility and presents kisspeptin as a potential new therapy for human infertility. Dhillo said: This is a very exciting result and suggests that kisspeptin treatment could restore reproductive function in women with low sex hormone levels. Our future research will focus on determining the best protocol for repeated kisspeptin administration with the hope of developing a new therapy for infertility." The research is being presented at the annual Society for Endocrinology BES meeting in Harrogate. - Agencies

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National

Times Chennai E-Paper

Costs for vandalizing properties to be imposed on offenders: SC New Delhi, March 18: Angry over growing incidents of damage being caused to properties by politicians and hooligans, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would frame suitable guidelines on Monday to recover the cost from offenders and pay it to the victims. "Why should the poor taxpayer pay for the fault of these elements?. There are instances where public properties worth crores of rupees are damaged and at best the offenders may be in jail for six months," the apex court said. A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Asok Kumar Ganguly said the guidelines would be in force until Parliament makes suitable amendment to the Public Safety Act, 1984. The guidelines would be framed on Monday next after the Solicitor General G E Vahanvati and amicus curiae Rajeev Dhawan submit their suggestions on the issue. The apex court's decision assumes significance as at present under the Prevention of Damage to Public Safety Act, a maximum of six months imprisonment is imposed on arsonists damaging public and private properties, but there is no civil liability in

the form of compensation to the victims.] I n c i d e n t a l l y, counsel of various states present in the court said they have no objection to such a step and assured that they would abide by the directions of the court. The decision by the apex court was taken while dealing with the violence during the 2007 Gujjar agitation in which properties worth several crores of rupees were destryoed in several parts of north India by arsonists. The apex court at that time took suo moto cognizance of the arson and sought explanation from the Centre and the states to tackle such recurrent problems. The bench felt that fixing civil liability has become inevitable as the sentence of six months imprisonment has not deterred arsonists from damaging public and private properties during agitations like the Gujjar community stir and bandhs called by various organisations and political parties. According to the bench, though offenders are jailed in certain cases, properties damaged runs into several crores of rupees for which it is ultimately the tax payer who has to

foot the losses. P r i v a t e properties like cars, buses and houses are also damaged for which there is at present no compensation to the victims, the bench pointed out. In such a scenario, since it would take considerable time for Parliament to make amendments to the existing Act, the apex court will frame guidelines for recovering compensation from the offenders and those behind the instigation, the apex court said. In an apparent bid to ward off criticism that courts cannot usurp the legislative power, the bench hastened to add that the guidelines will be in force until Parliament makes suitable amendments to fix civil liability on the offenders. The bench cited the earlier precedent set by the apex court in the historic 1997 "Visaka" case wherein despite there being no law, the apex court framed a rule that it would be mandatory for all e m p l o y e r s private/government in the country to constitute inhouse mechanism to check sexual harassment of women at work place. -Agencies

Army orders departmental probe into activites of Purohit Mumbai, March 18: The Army has ordered a departmental inquiry by a three-member team led by a brigadier-level officer into the activites of Lt Col S P Purohit arrested for his alleged involvement in Malegaon blasts. "The inquiry is in the form of an internal audit that would identify and

pinpoint the lapses and lacunae in the existing system to enable suitable measures to be instituted to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," an official statement issued by the Army stated. "The inquiry would run concurrent to the investigation already underway by the ATS and

the custody of Purohit had not been sought by the Army," it said. Purohit was a m o n g 11 p e r s o n s arrested for his alleged involvement in the September 29 Malegaon blasts in which six persons were killed. -Agencies

BrahMos Aerospace chief gets 'Level A Project Directorship' New Delhi, March 18: DRDO's distinguished scientist and BrahMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai on Tuesday received a 'Level A Project Directorship' certificate for his contribution to and expertise in project management. The certificate was awarded by the International Project Management Association (IPMA), Switzerland -- a body of 44 national Project Management associations

across the world, at DRDO Bhawan here. Pillai, DRDO officials said, is the first Indian to receive this certification for his leadership at BrahMos. With over 40 years of experience in project management at ISRO and DRDO, Pillai holds a Ph.D in T e c h n o l o g y Management from Harvard Business School. Under his leadership as the Chief

Executive Officer of BrahMos Aerospace, India and Russia have in a short span of time completed the design and development of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile family. BrahMos has been successfully inducted into the Indian Navy and the Army and now the future versions of BrahMos are being developed. -Agencies

March 18, 2009

India wants Pakistan to act fast in Mumbai case New Delhi, March 18 Four days after India responded to Pakistan's 30 questions in connection with the Mumbai attacks, New Delhi Tuesday asked Islamabad to act fast in bringing the perpetrators of the carnage to justice

and underlined that it will do everything it can to encourage this process. "Certainly, we would hope that those things (bringing perpetrators to justice and dismantling terror infrastructure) would happen and happen as soon as possible and we will do everything we can to encourage that process," Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters

here. " W e w i l l continue down that road with whoever is willing to help us to achieve our goal," Menon said, while adding that India had replied March 13 to 30 questions posed by Pakistan to enable it to prosecute the terrorists behind the M u m b a i mayhem. H e added that Pakistan understands what India expects it to do and the responses New Delhi has received from authorities in Islamabad "represent the first step in the direction for meeting those goals". "We will do what we can to encourage them to do the right thing. But I cannot say that everything has happened yet and perpetrators have either been brought to justice or there has been credible action against the infrastructure

of terror in Pakistan," Menon said. Alluding to the volatile political situation in the neighbouring country, Menon said Pakistan has shown ability to address the issues. "We would wish them well and we hope, as we have often enough, for a stable democratic Pakistan, which is at peace with itself." The Pakistan g o v e r n m e n t Tu e s d a y handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) replies to 30 questions by India for "further examination and necessary legal action". The Indian replies were reviewed at a meeting chaired by Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik and attended by Interior Secretary Kamal Shah and FIA Director General Tariq Khosa. The meeting agreed that any further response to the Indian authorities would be "conveyed through diplomatic channels in due course of time", officials said. -Agencies

No end in sight to Jaitley-Rajnath spat New Delhi, March 18 Even as senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley's high-voltage spat with party chief Rajnath Singh over the appointment of c o n t r o v e r s i a l b u s i n e s s m a n Sudhanshu Mittal hogged attention, the party approved some candidates for Bihar including former actor Shatrughan Sinha from Patna Sahib. While Sinha has been pressing hard for the Patna Sahib seat, his far-from-subtle pressure tactics of openly liaising with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh have left a bitter taste in the mouth for some BJP leaders. They feel the party has succumbed to the bluster and bullying of the ex-actor who has largely been an absentee from the Bihar scene. The other strong contender was BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad who was keen to contest the seat. But with Jaitley not attending meetings of the election committee, a consensus may not be possible on a large

number of seats that have come to the BJP's share. Under the seatsharing formula, BJP will contest 15 to JD(U)'s 25 seats. Though he is keeping out of the election committee meetings, Jaitley has b e e n p a r t o f consultations aimed at narrowing down probables for Bihar, a state he is in-charge of. The consultations had continued through Monday night till 1 am on Tuesday. It is expected that a sub-group will be formed on Bihar headed by Advani whose discussions will be attended by Jaitley. T h e embarrassing stand-off between Jaitley and Singh has not been resolved even after some RSS leaders tried to mediate. T h e i r e ff o r t s have borne no fruit as Jaitley has ruled out withdrawing his objections to Mittal being named as co-incharge of northeastern states. The Delhi businessman has been described as a

"wheeler-dealer" who has been able to work his way by offering the use of his apartments and fleet of cars to leaders looking for creature comforts. As things stand, Singh has allied with Mittal to play the faultlines in the BJP as well as within the RSS. Though the RSS has been seen as a final arbiter in the past, its current leadership seems unable to take a concerted view on the latest crisis to hit the BJP. Aware that his tenure as BJP chief would not last long without Sangh backing, Singh has strenuously wooed RSS brass. Party sources point out that Singh has worked the wires within RSS to try and ensure that he does not get pushed aside when his current tenure ends later this year. The possibility of Advani campaign succeeding does not suit his interests as this means being definitely sidelined. On the other hand, he is also keen to avoid having to step down as M Venkaiah Naidu did after the NDA defeat in 2004. -Agencies

World

March 18, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

Shaky Pakistan situation opening door for extremists: US Washington, March 18: Political uncertainty in Pakistan is fuelling a sense of chaos and opening the door for Islamist extremists intent on destabilising the country, warns a leading US analyst. "The situation in Pakistan was already fraught with challenges for US policymakers, and the current political crisis will add one more layer of uncertainty," said Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow in the Asian Studies Centre at the Heritage Foundation. "Instability in Pakistan has become a major source of international concern, especially since Pakistan is one of a handful of countries that possess nuclear weapons," she said in a paper released by the Washington think tank. "The current political turmoil will certainly distract the government from dealing with the multiple

challenges facing Pakistan, including spreading Talibanisation in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP),"Curtis warned. Even before the political crisis, the government and the military had failed to deal decisively with Taliban forces gaining ground across the semiautonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan and in parts of the settled areas of the NWFP, she noted In the Swat Valley, for example, the government recently struck a peace deal with pro-Taliban elements that had been terrorisng the locals by bombing girls' schools and viciously murdering opponents. The Pakistan government insists that the establishment of Islamic courts in the region will not usurp state authority, but many analysts believe the

situation in Swat Valley eerily resembles that in Afghanistan under harsh Taliban rule in the late 1990s. Early reports of the Pakistan military vacating posts, while released militants roam the streets freely and demand families provide one son to the Taliban, reveal that Swat may be a terrorist safe haven in the making, Curtis said "Al Qaedabacked extremists are salivating at the prospect of more political uncertainty and will exploit fissures in the system and discontent among the people," she said. "Although the Army is loath to reinvolve itself in politics, it will not stand by idly if the political situation deteriorates into violence and chaos," Curtis warned. -Agencies

Japan to ready defence against North Korea rocket: Kyodo Tokyo, March 18 : Japan will clear the way for the deployment of ballistic missile interceptors as it prepares for the possibility of a planned North Korean rocket launch falling onto its territory, Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday. Japanese law allows it to shoot down any dangerous object falling t o w a r d s t h e c o u n t r y, excluding aircraft, although the planned North Korean rocket would not hit Japanese territory if it follows its expected path. North Korea has given notice to global agencies of its plans to launch a satellite between April 4 and 8, presenting a

challenge to U.S. President Barack Obama and allies who see the launch as a disguised missile test. Japan's cabinet plans to approve preparatory steps to destroy the rocket if it falls onto Japanese territory, Kyodo said, citing government sources. C a b i n e t approval, which may come by the end of the month, would clear the way for defence minister Yasukazu Hamada to order the deployment of ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors, Kyodo said. Cabinet approval is required in Japan, where

military activity is strictly limited under its pacifist constitution. A defence ministry spokesman declined comment. Japan is also considering deploying two high-tech Aegis-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 ballistic missile interceptors, one to the Sea of Japan and the other to the Pacific Ocean, Kyodo added. Pyongyang has said the first stage of the rocket would splash down in the Sea of Japan, while the second stage would splash down in the Pacific Ocean. -Agencies

FARC rebels in Colombia free Swedish hostage: Official Bogota, March 18: Colombian rebels have released Swedish citizen Erik Roland Larsson who was kidnapped in 2007 by the leftist FARC guerrilla movement, a Colombian intelligence spokesman has said. "We know that he was set free by his captors," the spokesman told reporters yesterday, adding that the Swede was set free near Monteria, 790 kilometers northeast of Bogota. The 69-year-old engineer was snatched by guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

(FARC) in May 2007 along with his partner, who escaped four days later and publicised his fate. I n F e b r u a r y, Sweden's ambassador to Colombia appealed for his release and recalled that he was the only Swedish hostage in the world. According to the Colombian intelligence agency, FARC guerillas had demanded five million dollars for Larsson's release. Larsson's health "is fragile" and is being reviewed by a

medical team in Monteria, said the intelligence spokesman. The junglebased FARC have fought a four-decade long struggle against the Colombian government, but are classed as a terrorist organisation by Washington and the European Union. The group -thought to consist of up to 10,000 fighters -- is believed to hold more than 700 hostages, actions which have heavily eroded public support for the organisation. -Agencies

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Iran is 'test case' for nuclear co-operation: Brown London, March 18 : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday urged Iran to 'make the right choice' in its current stand-off with the West over its nuclear

programme and said Tehran could become a 'test case' for cooperation between atomic nations and nonnuclear states. Brown, in a speech in London, said Iran remained a "critical proliferation threat" while it continued to enrich weapons grade uranium and risked severe sanctions. However, if the government in Tehran decided to opt for an exclusively civil nuclear programme the benefits and rewards in the form of international

assistance would be substantial, Brown told diplomats and scientists in his speech. "I urge Iran, once again, to work with us rather than against us upon this. The opportunity to do so remains on the table and the choice is theirs to make. I think they will make the right choice," said Brown. He argued that Iran could be a test of how nuclear nations c a n w o r k together with non-nuclear states to equip them with sources of new energy. "We have to c r e a t e a n e w international system to help non-nuclear states acquire the new sources if energy they need," said Brown. His speech, though reiterating the Western offer of technological assistance if Tehran chose to go down the route of civil nuclear power, was described by diplomats as "important" because of its timing. Brown wanted

to "get on with opening up the dialogue with Iran" ahead of the planned Afghanistan conference in The Hague later this month which will be attended by representatives from Iran, said one diplomatic observer. "He (Brown) wants to give a strong signal to Iran not to drop the ball, but to pick it up," said one analyst. Along with the current review of US policy towards Iran Brown's appeal could mark the beginning a process that would "unravel 30 years of discord" with Iran and bring the country back into the international fold. Brown described Iran as a "test case" of a country which had the "right to develop nuclear power" while being made fully aware that the development of atomic w e a p o n s w a s "unacceptable". "Continue in this way and face further and tougher sanctions - or change to a UN -overseen civil nuclear energy programme that will bring the greatest benefits to its citizens," said Brown. -Agencies

France to return to NATO Paris, March 18: As expected, lawmakers in the French National Assembly voted late Tuesday in favour of a measure that effectively approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to return France

t o N AT O ' s m i l i t a r y command structure. By a vote of 329 to 238, the deputies passed a vote of confidence in the foreign policy conducted by Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his government, including the decision to return to full NATO membership. In 1966, thenpresident Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the alliance's military command and evicted US bases from French soil. Tuesday's vote in favour of the

government was a foregone conclusion, because Sarkozy's UMP party and its centre-right allies hold a substantial majority in the National Assembly. However, the d e b a t e w a s l i v e l y. Opposition deputies accused Sarkozy of avoiding a direct confrontation over the issue by linking the NATO measure with a vote of confidence in the government. "This debate is decisive, but the decision has already been made," former prime minister Laurent Fabius said. E v e n conservative lawmakers had complained about the ploy. " W e ' r e condemned to vote for it," UMP deputy Georges Tron told the daily Le Parisien. "The executive is telling us: Push the nuclear button or shut up." Socialist Party head Martine Aubry said that the return to NATO's military command would be an obstacle in the construction of a

European defence. That argument was dismissed by Fillon, who told lawmakers during the debate that Europeans do not want to have to choose between NATO and their own, independent defence capability. In defending his decision, Sarkozy said earlier this month that France's return to full NATO membership would strengthen European defence capabilities by giving Paris a say in the alliance's mission strategies and planning. "Now we have soldiers deployed on the ground ... but no influence on the missions in which they participate," Sarkozy said. "We have excluded ourselves." France currently is the fourth-largest contributor of troops to NATO and has some 2,800 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. France will now officially be re-admitted to t h e i n t e g r a t e d N ATO military command structure during the NATO summit during April 3-5, held jointly in the cities of Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany. -Agencies

Page 6 Times Chennai E-Paper

Business

Pay Subhiksha's remaining PF dues: EPFO to ICICI Ventures Chennai, March 18: The Subhiksha saga has taken a new turn. The Employment Provident Fund Office (EPFO) in Chennai is learnt to be asking ICICI Ventures to pay Subhiksha's remaining PF dues. Sources say EPFO believes ICICI Ventures controls the retailer's business. However, ICICI Ventures maintains that it only holds a minority stake in the company, and so is not liable. "Under the Articles of Association it seems you were having the

ultimate control over the affairs of the company and hence you are requested to remit the amount by adjusting the already remitted amount." E a r l i e r Subhiksha MD R Subramanian offered to pay PF dues from his PF account. EPFO sources said that Subhiksha MD's PF account attached; holds Rs 73 lakh. Sources also say that Subhiksha owes over Rs 1 crore in employee PF dues. EPFO is asking ICICI Ventures to pay

balance dues.It is learnt that EPFO has written to ICICI Ventures after verifying Articles of Association (AoA). Subhiksha's AoA spells out powers vested with ICICI Ventures. ICICI Ventures, on the other hand said it only has a minority take in Subhiksha and has no control over the company. It further said that it will make suitable response to EPFO's intimation. -Agencies

Trivitron Commences Production For Chennai Manufacturing Facility Chennai, March 18 Aloka Trivitron Medical Te c h n o l o g i e s P r i v a t e Limited, a medical equipment manufacturing company formed with the joint venture between Aloka Japan and Trivitron Healthcare, announced the commencement of the production of Aloka SSD 500, portable black and white ultrasound scanner. This is the first production from the manufacturing facility of the company located at Poonamallee, Chennai, which aims to roll out world class medical equipments at effective costs to national and international customers. Aloka SSD 500 is multi-purpose diagnostic ultrasound system providing excellent image q u a l i t y w i t h comprehensive function in truly portable body. Aloka SSD 500 is a world premier portable model now being produced

in India with international quality standards. Said Dr GSK Velu, Managing Director, Trivitron, "We are proud to commence the first production of portable black and white ultrasound scanner Aloka SSD 500 from our manufacturing facility at Chennai. The aim of the Aloka, Trivitron JV is to offer products of high quality suited to developing countries needs on a most cost effective basis.Apart from meeting the needs of the Indian market, the products manufactured by the JV will be exported t o s e v e r a l developing/developed countries across the world." The core vision of Trivitron Healthcare is to bring world-class medical technology within the reach of

medical professionals all over the world. It also aims to set up advanced facilities in joint collaboration for manufacture of laboratory reagents for routine and special diagnostics testing in JV with Bio-systems, Spain and operation theatre lights, a JV with Brandon Medical, UK. T h e manufacturing facility at Chennai will adhere to all international standards such as ISO 9000-2001, ISO 13485 for medical product manufacturing and will also be compliant with requirements for CE, US FDA and Japan MITI certifications. An array of indigenous products from electronic e q u i p m e n t t o consumables will be introduced under PRIDE SERIES. -Agencies

India's growth rate slowing dramatically: IMF Washington, March 18: India's economy is slowing dramatically and uncertainty surrounding the outlook is unusually large, the International Monetary Fund said. The IMF forecast on Tuesday that India's gross domestic product growth would slow to 6.3 percent in the 2008-09 fiscal year, ending in March, and to 5.3 percent the following year. That would be well below the 9 percent growth rate in the 2007-08 year. "Policy measures to stimulate the economy and a good harvest should support domestic demand," the IMF said. "The uncertainty surrounding the forecast is

unusually large, with significant downside risks. The main upside risk stems from a largerthan-anticipated impact of the stimulus measures that the authorities have already implemented." The Fund cautioned that India's debt as a percentage of GDP was already high, so a big expansion of the deficit could raise concerns about fiscal s u s t a i n a b i l i t y. A n y additional stimulus should be focused on " h i g h - q u a l i t y infrastructure and poverty-related spending" or to recapitalize banks if needed. The IMF said

given the budget constraints, monetary and structural policies would have to do the heavy lifting. But directors were split on whether there was scope for more interest rate reductions or if a waitand-see approach was preferable. They supported India's flexible exchange rate policy, and said currency market intervention "should be consistent with the goal of ensuring sufficient domestic liquidity." IMF staff concluded that India's exchange rate appeared to be close to its equilibrium level. -Agencies

March 18, 2009

Ban on edible oils export extended till March 2010 New Delhi, March 18: The government on Tuesday extended the ban on the export of edible oils by one year, till mid-March 2010, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply. The one-yearold ban, imposed in March last year, was to expire today. The ban will be applicable till March 16, 2010, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification. Earlier in November 2008, the government had eased restriction on the

shipment of edible oils by allowing exports of such oils in branded consumer packs of up to 5 kg, subject to a limit of 10,000 tonnes till the end of October 2009. The notification further said that the extension of the export ban, however, would not be applicable to the relaxations allowed earlier. Before the ban was slapped last year, India used to export mainly groundnut oil and coconut oil. As per industry estimates, vegetable oil

imports in India rose 48 per cent in February to 7.62 lakh tonnes. I n d i a h a d imported 5.6 million tonnes of edible oils in 2007-08. The country, which is the largest buyer of vegetable oils after China, consumes over 12.5 million tonnes a year. India's edible oil import bill in the first nine months of the fiscal was Rs 10,943 crore, 29.7 per cent more from that of Rs 8,440 crore in the year-ago period. -Agencies

Bourses pay crores to chiefs; business take hit Mumbai, March 18: It pays literally in crores to head the entities facilitating trading in stocks and commodities, although the economic downturn seems to have forced investors to fly away from the markets. An analysis of remuneration paid to the business heads at various national stock and commodity exchanges in the country shows that most of them were paid crores of rupees in the last financial year and were mostly awarded a considerable increase in their compensation from the previous year. However, with the economic downturn weighing down on the investors' sentiments, the business has taken a hit at stock exchanges, although the commodity bourses have managed to grow their turnover in non-agricultural products.

Leading the r e m u n e r a t i o n t a l l y, National Stock Exchange (NSE) gave its Managing Director Ravi Narain a total payout of Rs 3.34 crore in 2007-08. At the same time, the bourse's deputy Managing Director Chitra Ramakrishna was paid a remuneration of Rs 2.16 crore. Not far behind, BSE paid a total remuneration of Rs 1.18 crore to its MD & CEO Rajnikant Patel in 200708, which more than doubled from about Rs 52.3 lakh in the previous year. Patel had, however, resigned from BSE and in November 2008 joined as President-Exchange Business at Anil Ambani group firm Reliance M o n e y, w h i c h h a s entered the commodity exchange business through a stake purchase in National

Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE). The average daily turnover at Asia's oldest stock exchange and the country's largest in terms of listed companies, Bombay Stock Exchange, more than halved to about Rs 3,500 crore in January this year, from over Rs 8,000 crore a year ago. Similarly, at NSE, the country's second largest stock exchange in terms of number of companies listed there, has seen its average daily turnover falling to close to Rs 9,500 crore from about Rs 19,500 crore in a year. At commodity bourses, the total turnover till January this fiscal grew by over 31 per cent, but it was mostly due to a surge of about 81 per cent in bullion trading. The agricultural commodity turnover actually fell by about 32 per cent in the same period. -Agencies

BSNL to launch BlackBerry services by April New Delhi, March 18: State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will launch BlackBerry services by April, a top official said here Wednesday. "We have got the required approvals from the government and will launch BlackBerry services by next month," BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of a conference. At present, four telecom operators -

R e l i a n c e Communications, Airtel, Vo d a f o n e a n d Ta t a Te l e s e r v i c e s - a r e providing BlackBerry services. BlackBerry phones offer a host of services, including allowing users to access their e-mail on the move. BlackBerry devices, manufactured by the Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), had earlier come under scrutiny after Indian security agencies expressed concern that the data being

transmitted through the device could not be intercepted due to the high encryption codes being used by the company. H o w e v e r , Canadian Minister of of Industry Tony Clement, after a meeting with Communications Minister A. Raja in February, had said the security concerns over the BlackBerry phones had been "resolved as far as possible". -Agencies

March 18, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

Business

3G auction unlikely before polls’ New Delhi, March 18: It is unlikely that auction of the spectrum for third generation (3G) telecommunication applications will take place before the Lok Sabha elections, telecom secretary Siddharth Behura said Wednesday. "We cannot talk about 3G spectrum auctions since it is election time and nothing seems to be feasible currently," Behura told reporters on the sidelines of 17th Convergence India conference here. The government had constituted a 10member group of ministers (GoM) in March, led by External Affairs Minister

Pranab Mukherjee, to look into the auctions of the 3G spectrum. The GoM was alos supposed to take a decision on the number of players allowed to offer 3G services in each telecom circle. In January, the Department of Telecom had proposed a reserve price at Rs 35.4 billion (Rs 3,540 crore) per telecom circle for the 3G auctions. E a r l i e r, t h e Finance Ministry had suggested a base price of Rs 40.4 billion (Rs 4,040 crore), while the DoT had wanted to keep it at Rs 20.2 billion (Rs

2,020 crore). When asked about status of release of 15 mega hertz (Mhz) of spectrum from defence forces, Behura said: "There is no fixed date for it. It may happen anytime." T h o u g h Communications Minister A. Raja had said in February that 3G spectrum auctions can happen this fiscal, the government in the Interim Budget 2009-10 said that the auction process will take place only in the next fiscal. -Agencies

DLB to open 80 new branches and 500 ATMs Thiruvananthapuram, March 18 Dhanalakshmi Bank, one of the traditional old-generation private banks based in Kerala, has worked out plans to expand its business base and open 80 branches across India, a top bank executive has said. "At a time when all the talk is about recession and retrenchments, DLB is on a recruitment spree and plans to take in nearly 1000 professionals in the coming days," Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh

Chaturvedi told reporters here on Tuesday. Of the 80 branches, 63 would be in other states. The approval from the Reserve Bank of India for opening new branches was expected by this week, he said. The Bank planned to increase its capital base by Rs 400 crore through bond issues and had already received necessary sanction of the same, he said. On the bank's

performance, he said the business volume had surpassed the target for the current fiscal. Deposits would touch Rs 4,700 crore by this month end, an increase of Rs 1,300 crore this year. Similarly, advances would touch Rs 3,000 crore during the year, he said. T h e N R I deposit was around Rs 300 crore, he said. -Agencies

PNB sees credit growth of 25-26 per cent New Delhi, March 18 Punjab National Bank, the country's second largest public-sector lender, on Wednesday said it expects a credit growth rate of 2526 per cent in the current fiscal. "Credit growth now is 30 per cent and we see the growth at 25-26 per cent in fiscal year 2008-09," PNB Chairman and Managing Director K C Chakrabarty said.

The bank also expects net interest margin at 3.5 per cent this fiscal. "Our goal is to reduce non-performing assets (NPA). Gross NPA should be around two per cent and net NPA should be around 0.4-0.5 per cent," he said. Current gross NPA of the bank is around Rs 32,000 crore, the bank's CMD said at a CII

function here. On whether PNB would slash rates, Mr.Chakrabarty said, "There is no room to cut lending rate." In the fiscal FY'10, the bank expects profit growth of 20-25 per cent. Further, he said that PNB Gilts is to be merged with the parent bank next fiscal. -Agencies

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Page 7

'Leading Jewellers of the World' (LJW) launches India operations Mumbai, March 18 : The 'Leading Jewellers of the World' (LJW), involved in marketing, branding, training and quality control of top independent jewellery players in the US, has launched its operations in India. Membership to the LJW will be open to the leading 70 independent jewellers in the country for an annual fee of Rs 3,00,000. LJW, in return, will provide a host of services, including marketing, branding, quality control, public relations and event management. ''Our focus is on leading independent jewellers, depending on their turnover, store spread and location, and

integrity of their product. We believe our services will cut down their marketing and advertising costs, especially in times of downturn,'' LJW Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Paresh Das said here Tuesday. He said that membership drive should be completed in four-six months. LJW will provide a platform for jewellers to collaborate and cooperate on events, joint marketing and brand enhancement ventures, Mr Das said. LJW is also promising radical changes that will benefit buyers. F o r o n e , members of LJW will offer uniformity and

transparency to customers. ''Many jewellers mix their products with certified jewellery and uncertified ones. Our members will give guarantee to customers on quality and price. There is a need for such a service as customer awareness has also gone up,'' he said. LJW members can also avail of training for staff on product knowledge, customer service and quality control. ''We are also holding talks with leading fashion designers to get them together on a similar platform, and LJW will open the market for segments like the NRI,'' he said. -Agencies

Page 8

Times Chennai E-Paper

Sports

March 18, 2009

Kiwis post 279; India 29/0 at stumps on Day 1 Hamilton, March 18: India wrapped up a fine display of Test cricket with the openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir ending the day at 29/0. The visitors didn’t lose any wicket in the short duration that they played for, giving them an upper hand in the match. New Zealand were wrapped up for a total of 279 runs by the Indian bowlers. The main action emanated from the first and the last sessions, while a major bulk of the scoring was done in the post-lunch session for the hosts. Daniel Vettori and Jesse Ryder were the saving grace for the hosts on the first day as both slammed fine centuries to k i c k s t a r t t h e i r Te s t campaign in style. For India, Ishant Sharma came up with a brilliant display of pace

bowling as he notched up four wickets for his efforts. His counterpart, Munaf Patel was not far behind as he too got a bag full of wickets (3), a welcome change for him on his comeback in the Test squad. Munaf rocked the Kiwi camp with a thunderous over post tea as he claimed the all important wicket of Daniel Vettori and then followed it up with Kyle Mills’ scalp. New Zealand captain Vettori had led from the front and smashed his 3rd Test century. The dynamic duo of Ryder and Vettori had steered New Zealand out of a possible catastrophe after the hosts lost six wickets in the first session of play. The efforts of the two

batsmen helped NZ register 162 runs for the loss of six wickets at tea time. The Indian new ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma played their part perfectly as the former notched up two wickets while the latter took three crucial scalps in the form of Tim McIntosh, Ross Taylor and James Franklin. The post lunch session didn’t yield any positive results for India as the bowlers went wicket less as a few edges flew past the fielders with no catches collected. On the spin front, Harbhajan Singh kept a tight line and length even though just a wicket came his way. -Agencies

Score Card: New Zealand 1st Innings T McIntosh c V Sehwag b I Sharma 12 MGuptill c R Dravid b Z Khan 14 Daniel Flynn c M Dhoni b Z Khan 0 Ross Taylor b I Sharma 18 JRyder c VVS Laxman b I Sharma 102 JFranklin c M Dhoni b I Sharma 0 BMcCullum c VVS Laxman b M Patel 3 DVettori (c) c M Dhoni b M Patel 118 Kyle Mills b M Patel 0 Iain O'Brien st M Dhoni b H Singh 8 Chris Martin not out 0 Extras: b - 0, w - 0, nb - 3, lb - 1 4 Total:(279 for 10 in 78.2 overs) 279 Run Rate: 3.56 Fall Of Wickets 1/17 (Martin Guptill, 6.5 ov.), 2/17 (Daniel Flynn, 8.2 ov.), 3/40 (Tim McIntosh, 16.2 ov.), 4/51 (Ross Taylor, 20.4 ov.), 5/51 (James Franklin, 20.6 ov.), 6/60 (Brendon McCullum, 23.1 ov.), 7/246 (Daniel Vettori, 70.2 ov.), 8/246 (Kyle Mills, 70.3 ov.), 9/275 (Iain O'Brien, 77.1 ov.), 10/279 (Jesse Ryder, 78.2 ov.)

Bowling: India Zaheer Khan 16 3 70 2 Ishant Sharma 19.2 4 73 4 Munaf Patel 18 4 60 3 Harbhajan Singh 22 7 57 1 Virender Sehwag 3 0 18 0 India 1st Innings Gautam Gambhir batting 6 Virender Sehwag batting 22 Yet to bat Rahul Dravid Sachin Tendulkar VVS Laxman Yuvraj Singh Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c)(wk) Harbhajan Singh Zaheer Khan Ishant Sharma Munaf Patel Extras: b - 1, w - 0, nb - 0, lb - 0 1 Total:(29 for 0 in 7 overs) 29 Run Rate: 4.14 Bowling: New Zealand Chris Martin 4 1 9 0 Kyle Mills 2 0 18 0 Iain O'Brien 1 0 1 0 .

Day 1 in Pictures

Ishant Sharma knocked the top order

Daniel Vettoti acknowledeges crowd after slamming his third Test century.

Yes he `Khan`...Zaheer provided India early breakthroughs, as India wrested early advantage

Advantage India after Day one of Hamilton Test

Jesse Ryder is all smiles after scoring his first ever Test ton. He scored 102.

The Patel Rap` left Kiwis dancing to Munaf`s tunes on the opening day of the Hamilton Test.

March 18, 2009 Times Chennai E-Paper

Loss against New Zealand disappointing: Jhulan Sydney, March 18: With their chances of qualifying for the finals of the ICC Wo m e n ` s Wo r l d C u p almost over after losing to N e w Z e a l a n d , disappointed India skipper Jhulan Goswami said her team will have to lift its spirit in the remaining matches

to salvage some pride by finishing third. "It is very difficult to lift your spirits after you know you have been knocked out of the title match. But yes, we have to motivate ourselves and try to win matches against the West Indies and Australia so that we could finish, at least, third in the tournament," Julan said at the post match press conference. Jhulan was emotional and almost in tears after the loss as it virtually shattered their chances of making it to the last four. "It is a very disappointing day. We worked extremely hard for the World Cup but all has gone down the drain because of one bad performance. It is a devastating blow to all of us as the next World Cup will be after four years and who know who will be there by

then," she said. Meanwhile, lauding her teammates for their impressive performance in the last two matches of tournament, a jubilant Kiwi skipper Haidee Tiffen said today`s victory has enabled her side to

settle scores against the Indians against whom they lost in the last edition of the event. "I am really pleased with the way the girls lifted themselves after the defeat against England. I saw India`s last game against Australia and had a fair idea how to take them on.” "I suppose we took the match as a semifinal and came hard at India. I am happy to know that we achieved something which no other team has achieved in the tournament to date (successfully chase a target of 200 or more).” "I am also happy that we were able to avenge for previous World Cup`s defeat (when India beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the semi-final)," she said. -Agencies

No use of flood lights during India-New Zealand Test series Hamilton, March 18: The ICC Match Referee Allan Hurst on Wednesday ruled out 12 noon start in the last two Tests of threematch series between India and New Zealand as both the teams are reluctant to play under flood lights. Hurst advised Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Daniel Vettori that lights will not be available after New Zealand and India indicated they prefer not to use them. The series playing

conditions allow the use of lights where available but only if agreed by the teams. The Seddon Park, venue for the first Test in Hamilton and McLean Park, Napier venue for the third Test from March 26 have the flood lights facility. New Zealand Cricket had also stated on Tuesday they will stick to the original start time of 1100 hrs (local time). -Agencies

Sports

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Safina edges closer to world number one spot Indian Wells, March 18: Top seed Dinara Safina took a step closer to becoming the world number one when she beat American Jill Craybas 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round of the WTA event in Indian Wells. The Russian again struggled for top form but saw off the world No 102 in two tight sets to advance to a quarter-final against eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva and

ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki will meet in another quarter-final after straight-set victories. Craybas had upset Serbian Jelena Dokic and 16th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain on her way to the fourth round and showed plenty of spirit against Safina. Safina, who will replace Serena Williams at the top of the rankings should she reach the final, let slip an early lead but broke in the 11th

game and served out for the opening set. In the second set, Craybas recovered an early break to level at 4-4, but Safina broke in the next game and then held her nerve to take her place in the last eight. Azarenka edged out unseeded Israeli Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4 while Zvonareva continued her smooth progress with a 6-4, 6-4 win over China's Li Na. Ninth seed Wozniacki overcame Urszula Radwanska of

Poland 7-5, 6-3 to set up the clash with Zvonareva, who has not dropped a set during the tournament, but said she was determined not get carried away. "There are going to be some mistakes and I'm going to make them probably over and over again," she said. "It's tennis. It's the game. But I accept this and I'm just trying to concentrate on the next point and try and take it one point at a time." -Agencies

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Times Chennai E-Paper

Medley

Neelam Kapoor set to be youngest PIB chief New Delhi, March 18 Neelam Kapoor is set to be the youngest chief of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), a position that will make her the principal

spokesperson of the Government of India. The information and broadcasting ministry has cleared the appointment of the 51year-old Ms. Kapoor, a 1982 batch Indian Information Service officer, who is currently director general of the Directorate

of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP). Her appointment is, however, yet to be approved by the A p p o i n t m e n t s Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). Ms. Kapoor is expected to take charge of the PIB as the principal director general April 1, sources in the ministry said. I f h e r appointment is approved by the ACC, she could hold the position for the next nine years, which will make her the longest-serving spokesperson of the government. However, there is nothing that prevents the government from appointing another senior officer from other allied services if it chooses to, but it will have to find credible reasons for doing so,

reliable sources said. M s . K a p o o r, who will replace Umakant Misra, a 1973 batch IIS officer, will get the top job in the PIB largely due to a quirk in the recruitment process in the late seventies. Between 1974 and 1982, there was a freeze on recruitment to the IIS due to court cases involving direct recruits to the IIS promotees to the services. The freeze in those years has made Ms. Kapoor the seniormost IIS officer and, therefore, a natural choice for the top position in the PIB that is equivalent to the rank of special secretary in the Government of India. In the much-coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS), an officer of 1979 batch has yet to be promoted to the rank of additional secretary. -Agencies

Computer makers turn to mobiles for the next big thing Washington, March 18: Taking a cue from Apple's success with its iPhone, many personal computer makers and chip companies are now into the mobile-phone business, promising devices with the power of standard computers but in palm-size packages. T h e n e w smartphones promised by PC companies will, among other things, handle the full glory of the Internet, power t w o - w a y v i d e o conferences, and stream high-definition movies to your TV. I t i s a development that spells serious competition for established cellphone makers and phone companies, reported the N e w Yo r k Ti m e s o n Monday. Apple was the first to spot a sleepy industry, shaking up the handset category two years ago with the iPhone. Until recently, the handset makers were the ones reacting to the iPhone - and then with me-too products. W i t h smartphones and PCs taking on many of the same functions, there is certainly a fear among PC makers that if they do not get into cellphones, cellphone makers will start building PCs. Acer, the big PC manufacturer, has gone from offering no cellphones

to selling eight new models, with more to come this year. Dell has also worked on prototype phones but has not committed to making a new product. And Asustek, the company that was first to market ultra-portable laptops known as netbooks, has new smartphones coming. " T h e smartphone market is the natural direction of our long-term mobile strategy," Gianfranco Lanci, chief executive of Acer, a Taiwan-based company, said as he announced the products at last month's World Mobile Conference in Barcelona. "We're just taking on another dimension." The suppliers to the PC industry have also started shifting to the new market. Intel announced a deal to supply the cellphone maker LG with chips for new mobile devices. Nvidia, the PC graphics-chip titan, signed a deal to provide three smartphone makers - which supply handsets to brand-name manufacturers and carriers - with its new Tegra processor. "This is a once in a lifetime deal where a huge market changes the

things that are important to it," said Michael Rayfield, the general manager of Nvidia's mobile business unit. T h e convergence of the two devices has long been predicted, but it took a confluence of industry changes for it to begin in earnest. For decades chip manufacturers rushed to leapfrog one another with faster processors, and computer makers scrambled to squeeze more functions into smaller boxes. But everfaster chips eventually become impractical. Their blazing speed requires vast amounts of power and cooling. Both Acer and Nvidia have promised very lowcost smartphones, threatening the most lucrative part of the cellphone makers' business. At the same time, the phone market has been bombarded with operating systems from Microsoft, Google and Intel. This gives companies like Motorola and Nokia an entirely new set of problems besides falling sales and shrinking margins. "It's cataclysmic for the phone guys, who were used to playing golf on Wednesday afternoons," said Roger Kay, ood

March 18, 2009

Angry heart can be deadly London, March 18 Angry heart can kill, suggests a study, which found that rage and hostility are significantly linked with a high risk for coronary disease. According to the research, which appears in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, anger and hostility was harmful to the heart, especially among men. "Anger and hostility were found to predict a 19 percent and

24 per cent increase in coronary heart disease (CHD) events among initially healthy people and those with preexisting CHD, respectively," says Yoichi Chida of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College, London, UK. "The harmful association of anger and hostility with CHD events in healthy people was greater in men than women. This suggests that the accumulation of

stress responses in daily life might have a greater impact on future CHD in men," he stressed. The authors extensively reviewed the literature on the longitudinal associations of anger and hostility with CHD events, and identified 25 studies of initially healthy populations and 18 studies of patients with CHD, the Science Daily online reported on Tuesday. -Agencies

Comedians are shy, says study Washington, March 18 : Introversion isn't the first quality associated with comedians, but a fascinating study has suggested that those in the profession of funny business are shyer than most other people. Gil Greengross, an anthropologist at the American University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and his colleague Geoffrey Miller, gave standardised personality tests to 31 professional comedians. The 60-question test gauged the "big five" classic personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, e x t r o v e r s i o n , agreeableness and neuroticism. Revealing a flip side of comedy, the study found that comedians had lower scores on a v e r a g e f o r conscientiousness, agreeableness and extroversion, compared president of Endpoint Te c h n o l o g i e s Associates, a research firm. "Those times start to look pretty good now." Not that such a move will be easy for the PC makers. The PC industry has a spotty record for expanding into consumer electronics. Dell stumbled with its MP3 player, and Hewlett Packard's line of televisions failed to catch on with consumers. Both products have been discontinued. Perhaps most critically, traditional phone and mobile chip companies have expertise in making phones that work. "It has to be a good cellphone first," said Ed Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research. "This is about as far away from PCs as raising elephants." -Agencies

with 400 university students and 10 humour writers. The personality tests indicated that those in the profession of funny business tend to be more restrained than their onstage performances suggest. "I guess the stage gives them the opportunity to be what they want to be and may not necessarily represent their daily-life p e r s o n a l i t i e s , " M r. Greengross was quoted as saying by the New Scientist on Tuesday. "The fact is that a lot of the time they spend by themselves. That might explain why they do have introverted personalities," stressed Mr. Greengross, who performed the study as part of a dissertation on the evolutionary value of humour. Robert Provine, a developmental neurobiologist at the .

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and author of the book Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, agrees with Mr. Greengross and Mr. Miller's findings. However, he points to another feature of comedians that is even more noteworthy — their sex. The vast majority of all professional comedians are men, he notes, adding that both women and men tend to laugh more at male speakers than female. Some researchers speculate that this is because humour is an adaptive trait that helps women assess the fitness of a potential mate, New Scientist reported. In another paper, he and Mr. Miller found that men and women see selfdeprecating humour as an attractive trait in potential wives or husbands, it said. -Agencies

Minimum use of cars needed to fight climate change: Scientist New Delhi, March 18: A combination of an effective public transport system and minimum use of cars is the cure for climate change in cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, according to a noted British scientist. "We should strive for minimum use of cars and give more emphasis on building an effective public transport," said David Banister, Professor of Transport Studies in Oxford University while delivering a lecture on transportation systems and climate change on Monday. About 40 per cent of the world's cities are located on sea shores and these cities,

such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Colombo or Bangkok, are under threat due to global warming, he said. "Fifteen of the 20 mega cities lie on the coast. Asian mega cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Karachi and Bangkok are under risk of flooding if the temperature increases by another two degrees," Mr. Banister said. In this situation, "Priority should be given to high quality public transport, cycling and walking. The role of the car in the city may be limited to ultra clean electric or plugin hybrid vehicles powered by renewable energy," the scientist said.

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