Mizoram earlier this week been visited by a four-member World Bank team in various parts of the State. The World Bank officials are strongly pushing for a free trade regime in the region and keen to provide technical and financial support for infrastructural projects,” a Mizoram Public Works Department (PWD) official informed reporters.

The World Bank team was led by the Bank’s South Asia Region Senior Operations Officer, Diep Nguyen-Van Houtte.

The PWD official said: “During their visit, the team visited the Champhai-Zokhawthar border area (in eastern Mizoram) and other international trade points of the State. The visit is essentially linked to providing funding for the Mizoram State Roads Project Phase II under its Roads Infrastructure Development Programme”.

The Rs 2,000 crores project was earlier approved by the Central Government under the externally aided projects component, according to the officials.

“The project includes trade infrastructure, including roads linking all existing border trade points with Myanmar and Bangladesh”, the official disclosed.

Lack of financial assistance by banks and other financial institutions and logistical infrastructure as well as absence of coordination with the neighboring countries has stunted the growth of the border trade and other commercial hubs.

The much expected Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project to link the sea route in Myanmar with Mizoram under India’s Look East Policy is scheduled for completion in 2014 the official said.

Earthwork for Widening of National Highway-154 (Bilkhawthlir to Bairabi) to double lane standard has been completed already and widening of National Highway-54 (Kawnpui to Aizawl) is in progress.

Construction of the high level double-lane bridge over river Tut and River Tlawng are in progress, and expected to be completed somewhere soon in near future. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Minister’s Village Road Projects), the work is being undertaken to improve and upgrade a good number of roads.

Industry-starved Mizoram is a special category State with a population of little over one million and, like most small states, constrained by deficient infrastructure in most of the areas.

Metropolitan Magistrate M P Paaghe handed over Meiyappan’s custody to the crime branch after it said his further custodial interrogation was needed to unravel the the alleged IPL betting racket.

In its remand application, the police said Meiyappan, the Team Principal of the Chennai franchise who was arrested last night, used to place “huge bets” on IPL matches and was even divulging team’s strategy to bookies.

The remand application said the crime branch intended to investigate Meiyappan’s relation with controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, who was allegedly in touch with bookies.

One of the bookies was alleged to have left a ‘parcel’ with actor Vindoo Randhawa, also arrested in the case, to be handed over to Rauf, who by that time had left India. Vindoo had allegedly facilitated the escape of the bookie to Dubai.

The crime branch application said it also wanted to find out the financial arrangement between Vindoo and Meiyappan, who is son-in-law of BCCI Chief N Srinivisan.

The two, it said, exchanged phone calls when IPL matches were underway.

“Guru made calls to Vindoo when matches were underway. Vindoo then called bookies with information,” it said.

Also, police said that they needed to seize four mobile phones used by Meiyappan from Chennai.

Citing these reasons, public prosecutor Wajid Shaikh sought seven days’ police remand of the 35-year-old CSK honcho.

Opposing the prosecution’s prayer, defence counsel Abad Ponda described as “illegal” Meiyappan’s arrest, saying if a person appears before the police pursuant to summons, he cannot be arrested.

“Moreover, there is no wrongful gain and nobody was cheated. In fact, Gurunath Meiyappan lost money,” he said.

He also said the remand application was silent about Meiyappan’s involvement in spot-fixing or match-fixing.

However, the magisterial court granted Mumbai crime branch Meiyappan’s remand till May 29 for further questioning.

Meiyappan was arrested at midnight by the crime branch after intense grilling for several hours that continued till early this morning.

]]> http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/sports/meiyappan-police-custody-accused-colluding-bookies/feed/ 0 http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/business/chidambaram-visit-dubai-tomorrow-woo-investments/ http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/business/chidambaram-visit-dubai-tomorrow-woo-investments/#comments Sat, 25 May 2013 11:36:43 +0000 Admin http://www.jaintv.com/?p=35995 New Delhi: With a view to seeking foreign investments Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will be visiting Dubai tomorrow to sell India’s growth story to sovereign wealth funds.

The Minister is scheduled to meet his counterpart in Dubai and also hold bilateral consultations with the SWFs (Sovereign Wealth Funds) during his day-long visit to the Gulf nation, an official source said.

The visit is part of Chidambaram’s global tour to attract foreign investments. He has held similar investor meets in Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe (including Germany), Japan, Qatar, Canada and the US to attract foreign investment into India.

Chidambaram has been emphasising that India offers “unlimited” investment opportunities in the infrastructure sector and the country is looking at spending around $1 trillion over five years in areas such as roads, airports and seaports.

During his latest tour, the Finance Minister told investors and the Government there that there is a huge opportunity in India, especially in infrastructure.

India is betting big on foreign resources to finance its current-account deficit (CAD) which had widened to 6.7 per cent in the October-December quarter of 2012-13.

In his earlier meetings with the investor community, Chidambaram had expressed India’s commitment to economic reforms.

He also highlighted the measures proposed in Budget 2013-14 for investments and markets to help the economy grow at 6.1-6.7 per cent.

]]> http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/business/chidambaram-visit-dubai-tomorrow-woo-investments/feed/ 0 http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/politics/arvind-kejriwals-aap-announces-shortlisted-candidates/ http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/politics/arvind-kejriwals-aap-announces-shortlisted-candidates/#comments Sat, 25 May 2013 10:38:24 +0000 Admin http://www.jaintv.com/?p=36004 New Delhi: All set for its electoral debut in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced the names of 44 shortlisted candidates for 12 constituencies. 

After recommendations of grass root level workers and selection committee the final 12 would be selected with proper consultation and debate among them,” AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal informs reporters here while announcing the list of shortlisted candidates.

He said the candidates were selected by screening committee co-chaired by Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Prominent among the shortlisted candidates are media personality and AAP member Shazia Ilmi from R K Puram and Sisodia himself from Patparganj.

Asked about the funds collected by the party to contest the elections, he said “we have received around Rs 2 crores in last two months through internet banking and anybody can visit our website to see the list of donors. “We don’t accept any amount from those who want to remain anonymous,” he said.

A proper selection procedure like screening, interviewing and verifying about their criminal antecedents and popularity among locals was followed for the aspirants.

“Our focus was to ensure that candidates do not have any criminal case against them, they are honest, having clean image and there should not be two persons belonging from same family. Similarly, we have tried to discourage nepotism and dynastic politics,” Kejriwal added.

In last Assembly Election, Congress and BJP had 19 candidates with criminal cases like kidnapping and murder while BSP had 15 such candidates, he said, adding further “our attempt is to bring people with clean image and prevent persons with criminal antecedents from entering politics”.

“We had received a total of 106 applications from advocates, journalists, engineers, former defence officials, resident welfare association’s office bearers, social activists and supporters from other political parties like Congress and BJP”, Kejriwal disclosed.

He claimed one of the candidates was with Congress for 25 years while another was active with BJP at divisional level.

The man, Thamim Ansari, was arrested in September 2012 and charged with the allegations of spying, but he was subsequently given bail by Madras High Court. Ansari has claimed he was commissioned by Amir Zubair Siddiqui — a Pakistani diplomat who is currently an acting counselor (visa) at Islamabad’s mission in Colombo — to provide pictures and videos of strategic sites and installations in Tamil Nadu.

According to the website of the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka, Siddiqui joined the Colombo mission in 2009-10.

The Tamil Nadu Police Special Branch arrested Ansari, a 36-year-old exporter of vegetables, as he was about to board a flight to Colombo. He was tracked down following intelligence inputs, and a DVD with pictures, video and sketches related to security aspects at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Ooty, the Karaikkal and Nagapattinam harbours, and the Mallipattinam naval base was recovered from him.

Officials close to the investigation uttered Ansari’s laptop and e-mail accounts had revealed a trail of several e-mails sent to Siddiqui.

Following consultations between the Home Ministry and the Tamil Nadu Government, the case was transferred to the Hyderabad unit of the NIA.

“Former railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal reduced the licensee on catering contracts from 15%  to 10% applicable for several trains (Rajdhani, Shatabdi etc) in a clandestine manner in order to favor contractors. It has resulted into heavy losses to the railways,” BJP Executive Committee member, Satya Pal Jain told disclosed before reporters here today.

“Earlier, contractors used to pay Rs 15 lakh as license fee on sale from train of Rs 1 crore, now they pay Rs 10 lakh, which spairs their Rs 5 lakh,” alleged Jain.

Ex-MP from Chandigarh further alleged that the contractors were given Government land at throwaway prices by the railway Ministry under the charge of Pawan Kumar Bansal with a clear aim of giving financial benefits to them.

“The Pakistan Army started firing at Indian positions in Tutmarigali in Kashmir along the Line of Control at 19:15 hours and Indian troops also retaliated in equal measure”, the sources disclosed here.

The Pakistani Army also used mortars and small arms to target the Indian posts, they further informed.

India and Pakistan were engaged in a major stand-off in January this year after Pakistani troops along with their Special Forces and LeT terrorists intruded and mutilated the bodies of two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj and beheaded both of them.

After the incident, there was tension along the LoC especially in the Krishna Ghati Sector at Jammu where the incident took place and the situation was de-escalated after talks between the two Director Generals of Military Operations.

The arrest of its management official M Gurunath, who is the son-in-law of the team owner and BCCI President N Srinivasan, on the suspicion of betting would have surely dented the morale of the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side.

It will be a huge challenge for the players and their skipper to cope up with the situation and play their natural game against a team, which is keen to win that elusive trophy.

Chennai have been a part of four consecutive, five overall, finals but it is the best chance for Mumbai to take a good shot at the title, avenge their 2010 final defeat.

Also, they would want to win it as a gift to senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar. It is the one trophy that is missing from the cabinet of the milestone man of Indian cricket. He had a heartbreak as Mumbai Indians captain in 2010 when the team lost to Dhoni’s men by 22 runs.

It was CSK’s first IPL title and since then Dhoni’s team has grown in stature.

On paper, it’s a battle of equals with both Chennai and Mumbai boasting explosive Twenty20 specialists in Michael Hussey, Dwayne Smith, Ravindra Jadeja and Kieron Pollard.

Both teams have a penetrating pace attack with Albie Morkel and season’s find Mohit Sharma doing a tidy job for Chennai, while Mitchell Johnson, Lasith Malinga and Pollard make a terrific trio in the Mumbai ranks.

]]> http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/sports/huge-challenge-csk-overcome-controversy/feed/ 0 http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/sports/clt20-it-dravid-ipl-future/ http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/25/sports/clt20-it-dravid-ipl-future/#comments Sat, 25 May 2013 08:26:51 +0000 Admin http://www.jaintv.com/?p=35990 Kolkata: Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who provided inspirational leadership to the beleaguered Rajasthan Royals this season, has decided to call it quits from the IPL with the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 being his last assignment for the franchise.

“At 41, 12 months is a long way away. Luckily we have qualified for the Champions League (in October) which is a few months away. You know, I think that would be it,” the 40-year-old said after RR went out of the IPL following a four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier on Friday.

Dravid enthralled his fans showing some great agility and a new-found aggression in leadership especially at a time when his team was battling spot-fixing allegations, which led to the arrest of its three players. The arrested trio included, India Test player Sreesanth.

Starting out as a dark horse, Rajasthan Royals enjoyed a fairytale run as it challenged all the big teams, had a dream eight out of eight home wins and almost made the final before losing to Mumbai Indians in a nail-biting penultimate ball finish here last night.

“It’s always disappointing when you lose a game. It was a close game, one of those which could have gone either way. Unfortunately we ended up on the losing side. But all the boys should be proud with the way we fought today and ended our campaign.”

“You’ve to deal with the challenges. If you completely throw away the tournament, it’s like throwing away the baby with the bath water,” Dravid said after RR’s ouster from the IPL following a four-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier last night.

“We need to sort the issue out rather than make big statements like cancel the IPL. Because there’re some real good positives that have come out of it.”

The former India skipper, who retired after 16 years of International cricket, further said the menace of fixing has been there in the past as well.

“We don’t stop International cricket because of that. If that yardstick was used, we should stop all cricket. It’s a question of correcting some of the challenges. An issue of betting is not only about the IPL. We have seen in the past that the issue has been there in International cricket,” Dravid said.

“The cricket is great. There is no doubt about it. I’ve always said the IPL is a fantastic tournament. There are a lot of positives about it. But there are challenges in the IPL as well as we’ve seen in the last week or 10 days. Not only this, there are other challenges that come up from time to time and that need to be dealt with.

“Truth always sets you free. I really hope that in anything you just get to the truth and get to the bottom of it. Whatever and however painful maybe.”

The spot-fixing scam came to surface after the arrest of Royals trio of S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and it opened a can of worms.

Dravid said IPL was a “unique” experience for him but he hoped cricket will come out winners tomorrow.

“This tournament needs a great final. We had a great game today and it went down to the wire. After all that has happened, as long as we get a great game of cricket irrespective of whoever wins, hopefully cricket will come out winning,” Dravid said.

Dravid said it was a difficult phase for his team, something which it had not experienced before.

“It was unique in that sense. You plan for a lot of things… you plan for failing, you know how to deal with that. But when stuff like this comes up you don’t know…,” he said.

“It was quite challenging. But I was lucky to have good support staff and good spirit in the team. While it was a challenge I’m happy to get over it in someways.

However, he said it would take some time to get over the shock of what has happened.

“We had to get ready and play this game but after we go back to our houses, the whole thing will take some time to get used to.”

The loss of Chavan and Chandila hurt the team’s cause as it struggled to put up a formidable attack on turning Eden and Dravid said the side missed a wicket-taking spinner.

“As you saw today, having spinners in the middle does make a big difference. Unfortunately we did not have that wicket-taking spinner today,” Dravid conceded.

Dravid refused to predict his favourites for tomorrow’s final between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians and said it would be an evenly-contested duel.

“Both are really very good sides and evenly-balanced. Mumbai Indians have a couple of good spinners so is Chennai. It’s a hard one to pick. CSK have done over the years — with five finals. They know how to play in finals. They play really well. But Mumbai Indians have some match-winners as well. It’s a tough one to call. I just hope that we have a great game.”

Lagarde was questioned for a total of 24 hours by prosecutors working for a court that probes cases of ministerial misconduct over her 2007 handling of a row that resulted in 400 million euros ($ 515 million) being paid to controversial business figure Bernard Tapie.

“My status as assisted witness is not a surprise,” she told reporters as she left the Paris courthouse late yesterday.

“I have always acted in the best public interest and in accordance with the law,” said Lagarde, 57, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

“My explanations came as a response to the doubts that had been brought up regarding the decisions I had taken at the time,” she added.

While Lagarde avoided being placed under formal investigation — the closest equivalent in French law to being charged — her “assisted witness” status means she could still face further questions — and possibly charges — at a later stage.

Lagarde said she would now return to Washington and report to the board of the International Monetary Fund, which again expressed confidence in its first woman leader after learning of the court’s decision.

The chic Lagarde, considered one of the world’s most powerful women, won respect as France’s first female Finance Minister for her no-nonsense attitude, intellect and style.

Criminal charges against Lagarde would have been an embarrassment for the IMF, after her predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also from France, resigned in disgrace in 2011 over an alleged assault on a New York hotel maid.

“The board will be briefed again in the coming days,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement yesterday.

“The Executive Board has been briefed on this matter several times and on each occasion expressed confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties,” he added.

The investigation concerns Tapie, a former politician, who went to prison for match-fixing during his time as President of French football club Olympique de Marseille.

Prosecutors working for the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) suspect he received favourable treatment in return for supporting Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 Presidential Election.

Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was till recently referred to as Chennai Super Kings CEO before being disowned by the franchise, was yesterday arrested for alleged involvement in betting.

The development has left Srinivasan cornered and there is a growing clamour for his removal from the top post. But the Tamil Nadu strongman has not given any indication of stepping down on his own despite the growing crisis.

Rattled by his continued defiance, some top board officials have started the process to oust him by getting him suspended and using the services of his predecessor Shashank Manohar, who has a clean image.

According to a top BCCI official, Manohar has agreed to take up the position on an interim basis till elections are held for a new President.

When contacted, no BCCI official was willing to come on record on this development.

Srinivasan’s term will end in September 2014 as per a new amendment in board’s Constitution, which provides for a 2+1 tenure for the President.

It is learnt that four top BCCI officials have already spoken to Manohar on this proposal.

“Manohar has agreed to be the interim President till all the problems are sorted out but he doesn’t want to occupy the position for long. He would take it up only in a caretaker capacity,” the top official said on condition of anonymity.

The top brass of the BCCI is getting in touch with the state units to start the process. As per the requirement, 2/3rd of the state units have to write a letter to the BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale to convene an emergency meeting.

The special General Body Meeting will then have to pass a resolution with a 2/3rd majority to suspend Srinivasan and appoint an interim President.

Many of the top BCCI officials are already in Kolkata where the IPL final between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians is scheduled tomorrow.

“Since most of the top board officials are gathering here for the IPL final, it will be easy to begin the consultation process,” the official said.

The board is particularly concerned about the credibility crisis the IPL has suffered because of the spot-fixing scandal, which led to the arrest of three cricketers, including India Test pacer S Sreesanth and a large number of bookies with underworld connections.

The board officials feel that Gurunath’s arrest has made Srinivasan’s position untenable and his reluctance to step down has made it even more embarrassing.

In Jharkhand, according to a speculation that the Congress is in favor of exploring ways to form a Government with the support of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), but opinion within the party is reportedly divided on this.
Jharkhand was placed under President’s Rule in January this year, and this ends in July.

Mr. Gandhi also reviewed the party’s prospects in Odisha too. Congress State unit chief Jayadeva Jena presented a roadmap of political activity, including an aggressive campaign against the “misrule and corruption” of the ruling BJD Government ahead of the 2014 General Elections and a party membership drive over the next three months.

“We’ve bought a lot of planes but we’re still short, we’re still leasing planes at the moment, so I was right buying these planes, and we may have to put in another order…fifty or something like that,” Mr. Fernandes told  in an interview.

AirAsia plans to launch an airline in India in partnership with the Tata Group to cash in on rising demands for domestic air travel among India’s expanding middle class. It would start with planes already on order but potentially trigger new orders.

Mr. Fernandes also said that the affiliate, AirAsia India, was recruiting to be ready to launch in the fourth quarter, subject to final clearances.

Wockhardt is the latest Indian drug producer to come under FDA fire.

As Wockhardt comes under FDA lens, soon after Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to poor manufacturing practices and agreed to pay $500 million as penalty, the global repute of India’s generic drug producers may have taken a hit. But even the big brand name companies (Big Pharmacy) like GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim and Hospira are not immune to being investigated and issued warnings or even compelled to sign consent decrees by the FDA if they are found guilty of not following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) under US laws.

The consent decree approach is taken only after a drug company has received repeated FDA warnings concerning GMP observations and deficiencies, and if these repeated offences have not been corrected. It is a voluntary agreement that is signed by the firm’s top official, a US attorney and a US District Court, under which the company undertakes to take remedial measures and allow the FDA to visit its plants.

So if Indian companies heed FDA warnings and promptly amend their ways, they don’t have to fear having to exit the lucrative US drug market, which is the world’s largest one.

According to the sources party patriarch LK Advani advised to BJP president Rajnath Singh suggesting his predecessor Nitin Gadkari be asked to head the party’s election committee ahead of Assembly elections in five crucial States. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the BJP’s ideological mentor, has indicated for months that it would like to see the Gujarat Chief Minister in that upcoming role.

Only few months ago, LK Advani was Chief among those instrumental in stalling an unprecedented second term for Mr Gadkari as Party President. Then, he had vociferously argued that with Mr Gadkari being named in a corruption scandal, the BJP would shed serious equity if he continued to be party Chief.

Now, Mr Advani has reportedly told Rajnath Singh that the party needs a cohesive effort to fight the State Elections in the next few months and that Mr Gadkari is the man to do that.

Although marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite through what stoners call “the munchies,” the new research which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a dual relationship to weight.

Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to become obese, having a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.

For “The most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers”, discloses Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. “Their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level”.

The research included over 4,600 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2010. Among them, 48% smoked marijuana at least once in their lives, and 12% were current cannabis smokers. The authors controlled for other factors like age, sex, income, alcohol use, cigarette smoking and physical activity that could also play vital role in diabetes risk.

Speaking at the conference of Ministers and Secretaries of States/UTs in-charge of sports and youth affairs, Jitendra said transparency was the key to preventing corruption whether in cricket or any other game.

“We are talking about ways to bring about transparency in all sports. We have a long-term plan and we will use this opportunity with the ministers as well as the Secretaries of States to work out some sort of plan to try and curb this menace,” Jitendra said.

Indian cricket was shaken to the core after Test pacer S Sreesanth and two other players were arrested for spot-fixing in the IPL.

The scandal is now knocking the doors of BCCI president N Srinivasan, whose son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan has been summoned for questioning by the Mumbai Police.

Asked if Srinivasan should resign taking moral responsibility, Jitendra said, “These are all moral issues that they have to think about themselves. My ministry has no control over BCCI or IPL but we need to think about the bigger picture.”

“Rather than pointing fingers at individuals we need to think of a long-term plan,” he added.

On whether betting should be legalised to prevent corruption, the Minister said, “As per the Constitution, this comes under the state list and that is the reason why I want to speak to the state ministers and secretaries and the law ministry.

“We have to take all these stakeholders into consideration but we will all do it together,” he added.

Jitendra once again emphasised on the need for a solution-seeking approach to the problem.

“We are all ashamed, we are all worried and it is not just me, the players and the citizens of this country are ashamed. Hence, we will have to try and figure out a solution together,” he said.

Chennai: Mr Srinivasan has denied having any information on his son-in-law’s alleged betting activities.

Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, on being asked whether Mr Srinivasn should step down, today answered diplomatically, “these are moral issues and the individual needs to think himself”.

Mr Srinivasan, apart from being BCCI President is the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of India Cements, which owns Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings sources today disclosed that Mr Meiyappan has no formal designation in the team and that he knew Vindoo through his film world links. Mr Meiyappan is also known to be part of the AVM family, which owns one of the oldest studios and production business of south India.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in June rose by Rs 47, or, 0.18 per cent, to Rs 26,487 per 10 gm in business turnover of 1,926 lots.

Similarly, the yellow metal for delivery in August traded higher by Rs 41, or 0.15 per cent, to Rs 26,685 per 10 gm in 415 lots.

Earlier, the BSE-30 share index, Sensex, opened smart at 19,765.32 points on heavy buying in metal and capital goods shares.

But bouts of volatility led the Sensex to trade down 19,597.72 before quoting 19,620.51 points at 1030 hours.

Khurshid’s visit, from May 24-27, would be the first by an Indian External Affairs Minister in the last five years. In 2008, then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited the Gulf Kingdom.

“Today Arun Jaitley, who is a BCCI vice-President and the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee and me met Law Minister Kapil Sibal and requested that the strongest possible law should be made to crack down on match-fixing,” Shukla told reporters after the meeting.

“We welcome the initiative. The strongest possible punishment should be given. We want a law to be enacted as quickly as possible because in the absence of a law, these people are taking advantage,” he said.

“We will soon meet the Sports Minister (Jitendra Singh) because he also wants a strong law. We will request him that a law should be made,” he added.

Indian cricket has been thrown into disarray because of the IPL spot-fixing scandal which led to the arrest of three players, including Test pacer S.Sreesanth, and several bookies with underworld connections.

The scandal has reached the doorstep of BCCI President N.Srinivasan with the Mumbai Police summoning his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings owner Gurunath Meiyappan for questioning after his name cropped up during the interrogation of betting suspect and Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh.

Asked if  Srinivasan should resign owning moral responsibility, Shukla said, “The (BCCI’s) Ravi Sawani Committee is already investigating. Let him submit a report. The Disciplinary Committee will take a final view on it.”

“Let the Mumbai Police submit its report on the matter,” he added.

The Chief Minister said the Government would give ex-gratia payment of Rs.16,000 each to the 168 employees of the two channels for the month of May.  To acquire the two channels Ms. Mamata Banerjee will have to pass an ordnance or a legislation which will need the signature of the President of India.

The Left has called it a “waste of public money” and has added that the move raises legal and ethical questions.  “We don’t think the State Government has the legal right to acquire private TV channels. Moreover, how ethical is it to acquire an assets of a company which is being probed for a scam, and especially when the matter is sub-judice,” Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said.

According to sources, Sibal will spell out outlines of the law he proposed earlier this week in response to the ongoing disclosures of spot-fixing in  IPL. Sources also said that Attorney General G E Vahanvati who had been asked for his suggestions on whether the Center can legislate on the issue or not — for sports being the responsibility of States — gave his opinion to the government on Thursday.

Mr. Sibal told the press on Monday that the legislation would seek to incorporate a separate provision in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to deal with both match-fixing and spot-fixing. The Minister said that “the absence of a specific provision it is being exploited by bookies, adding that none of those responsible for the subversion of  the game has been prosecuted because it is difficult to “satisfy the essential ingredients of Section 420 of the IPC”.

Mr. Upadhyay was uttered as saying that everybody who is born, dies – a generalized, motherhood statement – when asked by reporters about the reason why the Sonbhadra man killed self along with his three children. Later on his part, he blamed the TV channels for playing up an off-the-record statement.

A 1977-batch IAS officer from the Manipur-Tripura cadre, Mr. Mathur is the front runner to get the two-year tenure as the Defence Secretary. “But the procedures and formalities are yet to be completed. So, for now, he has been given additional charge,” according to an official.

He said till now, Youth Congress quietly heard whatever saffron leaders said about Rahul or the PM or Sonia Gandhi, but not anymore. “Now, if Sushma Swaraj says something baseless, we will go to her office to tell her she is wrong”.

The intent marks a break from a prolonged period for Rahul Gandhi initiated “democratization” of youth outfits which coincided with the insiders say “the most peaceful period in their history”.

Party men were astonished as the outfit this month registered protests the activities in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh while storming the BJP headquarters in the Lutyens’ Delhi.

The modest beginning has raised hope in Congress that the party can still bank upon the youth cadre to supplement its political troubles.

Youth Congress and NSUI were traditionally the “fighting arms” of the parent party, specializing in street battles for several years. The zealousness often led to lumped behavior but seen as par of the course.

Youth’s complete disappearance was setback for Congressmen, especially for the last two turbulent years when youth of BJP and BJP Sr. repeatedly laid siege to the Government over corruption and security issues. Party leaders lamented that the frontal outfits had lost focus to “democratization”.

The sense of weariness was read in Congress, the Chief Sonia Gandhi last month addressing a gathering of NSUI said “Why should we allow our opponents to get away with propagating negative impressions” and this was seen as a cue from the leadership.

Satav said the process of transformation slowed things down but it would be back to normal soon. “BJP was lying all this and we were not answering back. We will not resort to hooliganism but we will tell the truth, visiting to their office, again and again,” he uttered, adding, “We will come forward whenever it is needed”.

The IYC President Rajiv Satav claimed “democratization” had changed the organization with “performance” replacing nepotism as the tool of assessment. “Earlier, whoever was close to the IYC chief would move up, others would languish. Now, there is performance evaluation of all office-bearers”.

But, he was quick to add, “India’s deterrence capabilities have also matured and have been given concrete shape” in last few years. The country already has the Agni series of ballistic missiles and fighters jury-rigged to deliver nuclear weapons. Moreover, it will finally complete its nuclear weapons triad when nuclear submarine INS Arihant — slated to begin its sea trials soon — becomes fully operational by end-2014.

The Indian PM also stated that India is now also better equipped to deal with non-conventional threats, especially in the cyber and space domains. “We are implementing a national architecture for cyber security and have taken steps to create an office of a national cyber security coordinator”.

Noting that the world was witnessing change on a scale and speed rarely seen before, Mr Prime Minister said this was more pronounced in Asia, which was facing multiple security challenges due to the “intersection of fragile states, internal conflicts, proliferation of arms and terror groups”.

“The nature of conflict and competition are being changed at the same time, national boundaries are being blurred by deepening global integration or globalization. Therefore, while defending and securing our homeland, we also have to be prepared to preserve India’s expanding international assets,” he added.

“These multiple challenges notwithstanding, we must be conscious of our strategic opportunities. India’s security has never been stronger than it is today and our international relationships have never been more conducive to our national development efforts,” the PM said.

With the Government hit by a series of scams, including those related to arms deals, the PM said the Government was being guided by the objective of making arms acquisitions transparent, smooth, efficient and less vulnerable, to unethical practices. “We will continue to seek the highest standards of probity in defense acquisition,” he further added.

Khare added such incidents took place due to the lack of interest in information security expenditure. “This expenditure has not been in tune with the ever-rising threat that global hackers pose. We need to be equipped better. It’s like a police officer with his duty pistol fighting a terrorist having an automatic rifle”.

He adds that only sensitive facilities like airports, financial services, defense sector and companies that have been attacked in the past deploy advanced information security operation centers. “It is like a ticking time bomb”.

The tetra pack designed by Arushi can hold 350ml of safe drinking water and has a separate, empty slot to hold 50ml of medicinal fluid. It has a large, separate inlet that could be flipped open to add ORS. By shaking the pack, the salts are mixed with water and this way, a safe solution could be administered to children in the remotest corners of the country and world. Aarushi smartly has already applied for a patent.

On May 7, she was awarded by the International Telecommunication Union. Her school too nominated her design for CSIR National Innovation Award for School Children 2013.  Now  Arushi is planning to tackle the midday meal scheme. “India’s record in eradicating malnutrition is worst among 31 countries in sub-Saharan region. WHO has a pack of nutrients that can be added to our midday meals. I’m working on that,” she shows confidence by saying that. “Some 12.5 crore children can be benefited by this”.

A museum elaborating the journey of Indian Cinema,  National Film Commission and digitalization of yesteryears’ Indian movies will be in place as the country celebrates the centenary, he said.

The museum of Indian Cinema would be housed on the campus of Films Division in Mumbai, in the heritage building ‘Gulshan Mahal’, he disclosed.

The Ministry is also looking at another building on the Films Division Campus to showcase past, current and future of Indian Cinema.

An amount of Rs 1,200 crore has been earmarked in the current financial plan for digitization and preservation of films from the past, the secretary stated.

“We want to preserve it as our legacy,” he said. The Ministry has also agreed for the National Film Commission, which will provide single window clearance for the foreign filmmakers wanting to shoot in India.

“The idea is to create a board represented by concerned Ministries,” he further added.

Salman although busy in the shoot of his upcoming home production but apparently the actor is spending good amount of time with his love interest Lulia and accoding to a close source Salman is considering marrying the Romanian TV anchor Lulia.

As source says, “Salman Khan is extremely serious about his new ladylove and she has been in his life for around two years now but no one had got any wind of it. He is now being open about the ongoing relationship with her and people who are close to him are aware of her existence in his life for a longer time.

Insiders also say that it would be no surprise if Salman finally announces Lulia’s presence in his life. The actor apparently met her during one of his trips abroad.

“We have addressed this with an injection in his hand said a hand and wrist specialist. He is currently under rehab and is progressing well. The normal recovery time for this injury is around 3 weeks, however rehab results in the past 9 days have shown reasonable improvements and we are hopeful to get him back in action soon,” according to the statement.

Nadal because his return to the tour in February has shaken off the heartbreak of missing the Olympics, as well as the US and Australian Opens, to collect six titles from eight finals.

Super-charged by that astonishing performance, Nadal now has the opportunity to genuinely confirm himself as one of the greatest of the sport.

No man has ever collected more than seven titles at the same major up till now.

“It is very shameful. As a young person, as a sports fan, as the Sports Minister of the country, my head hangs in shame today,” Jitendra told reporters.

“There should be some mechanism so that it doesn’t take place again. And it is not only about cricket. We are talking about cricket because of this expose but there are other sports as well,” the Minister disclosed.

The Law Ministry is mulling a new anti-fixing legislation to deal with the menace after the latest scandal in which three Rajasthan Royals cricketers were arrested. In fact, several other murky details of the betting racket are tumbling out everyday with police conducting country-wide raids to nab bookmakers, who have underworld connections.

“We are in touch with the Home Ministry and the Law Ministry to work out on the law. “We will consult the Attorney General before moving forward,” said Jitendra.

“It is necessary that there is a law as a deterrent. There is no guarantee that this is not happening in other sports. Who knows it might have started in other sports as well,” the Sports Minister cautioned.

Sathwik, of Massachusetts, correctly answered Chimborazo as the mountain in Ecuador that represents the farthest point from the Earth’s center – even farther than Mount Everest for the Earth bulges at the equator – and clinched the title. He answered all five questions right in his one-on-one duel with the runner-up, 13-year-old Conrad Oberhaus from Illinois.

Sathwik got ahead of Conrad on the second question, correctly answering Baotou as the largest city in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is home to one of the world’s largest deposits of rare-earth elements. While Conrad didn’t miss another question, Sathwik never relinquished the lead.

It was Sathwik’s first appearance in the National Geographic Bee finals – but he might have made it earlier if not for his 15-year-old brother, Karthik, who beat him twice in the Massachusetts State bee. Karthik finished 5th in the National Bee in 2011 and sixth in 2012.

“I’m just shocked,” Sathwik said. “I didn’t think I could win. I thought I would end up somewhere in the top 10″.

Since  her sons were in elementary school, Sathwik’s mother, Rathma Karnik, had them play games with an atlas instead of some other general games, asking them to be the first to find a city, body of water or landmarks.

Rathma and her husband, who both work in software industry, emigrated from near Mangalore, India, in year 2002. Indian-American children have dominated both the Geography Bee and the Scripps National Spelling Bee in recent years. The boy’s father said the trend can be attributed to coming from a country of 1.2 billion people where the competition has a higher levels.

Sarnaik’s rise has been charismatic. Son of a proof-reader with a popular Marathi daily, the 48-yearold Sarnaik is a first generation politician-businessman who has dabbled in many small self employments like vending omelettes and scrambled eggs in Dombivli in the late 80’s to being a construction contractor for a short period of time.  His busin e s s e s bloomed drastically as soon as stepped up the political ladder. The Sena MLA is at present Chairman of Vihang Infrastructure which has stakes in constructing high-end residential and commercial properties in Thane and surrounding area. Boasting with a turnover in crores, Sarnaik’s firm, named after his elder son and Sena corporator Vihang, is also in the hospitality business and owns the glitzy Vihang Inn hotel along the Ghodbunder road. Locals estimate that Sarnaik earns close to a million rupees a month from just the lease rent of commercial buildings and shops located in the city’s core commercial area.

Japanese Government told the press that it has decided in favor of having such an agreement with India also because of the faith New Delhi has shown in Japanese nuclear technology despite the all odds at Fukushima. The decision by the Japanese Government has paved the way for formal resumption for negotiations.

“It is Japan’s responsibility to contribute to strengthening nuclear safety worldwide by sharing with the world its experience and lessons obtained from the nuclear accident”, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Masaru Sato added.

“Hilal Molvi of LeT was killed in an encounter with police in Narparistan at Fatah Kadal area of Old Srinagar city,” Syed Ashiq Bukhari, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar disclosed.

Three police officials – one sub inspector and two constables – were injured in the fire exchange exercise.

The shootout started in the early hours of Thursday,  police surrounded a residential house in the densely populated area on receiving specific information about the militant’s hideout there.

“The militant started firing from his automatic weapon on our boys after he was asked to surrender. The fire was returned, in which Hilal Molvi is reported killed. He belonged to Palhalan, Pattan town of Baramulla District and had been active since last four to five years”, the SSP said.

The Srinagar District Police Chief confirmed there was no damage to civilian life or property during the gunfight.

The Indian company, Appin Security Group, which figures in the report, has rubbished the claims, stating it “totally false and very imaginative”. The company pointed out that the report itself mentions “we are not implicating or suggesting inappropriate activity says Appin. Maybe someone has tried to hurt Appin’ image by false  evidence to implicate them. Maybe some rogue agent within Appin Security Group is involved, or maybe there are other elements”.

Appin also pointed out a report by the Data Security Council of India questioning the credibility of the Norwegian report.

The report said the Indian cyber attack infrastructure “has likely been in operation for over three years, primarily as a platform for surveillance against targets of national security interest that are mostly based in Pakistan and possibly in the United States. It is also used for industrial espionage against the Norwegian telecom corporation Telenor and some other civilian corporations. Evidence points to professional project management and outsourcing of key tasks, including some of them by freelance programmers”.

Coming from a party which is close to many Bollywood stars including the Amitabh Bachchan clan, Yadav’s loose remarks have left the film bugs and actors-turned-politicians fuming.

Ramgopal was addressing a Muslim gathering in Etawah this week when he spoke about the increasing cases of crime against women that film actresses these days are more responsible for spreading vulgarity in the society as compared to the bar dancers. Though the Congress Government in Maharashtra has banned dance bars, there is no word on the obscenity in films and the advertising industry, Ramgopal said while criticizing the Maharashtra Government for showing double standards.

“Thousands of bar dancers who were in the profession to earn their bread and butter have been rendered jobless and struggling to spare two square meals a day for themselves and their families,” he added, “But nobody questions the film actresses, who charge up to Rs five crore to perform a five-minute item song” he said.

The 53-year-old actor, who was moved to high-security jail in Pune from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail last night, has been kept in a separate cell. It was earlier rumored that he will be kept in the “Anda cell” – an egg shaped structure considered one of the most secure cells in the prison, half of which is sunk into the ground.

Sanjay Dutt, who has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for illegal possession of weapons, is no stranger to this Pune jail. He has served his term twice here. But unlike the last two times, he is a convict now and not an under-trial. The actor will hence have to wear the jail uniform this time. the vehicles changed five times while shifting to the latest jail in Pune.

Not only there are differences on who should be the party’s presumptive Prime Minister in the next general elections, but senior leaders seem to be speaking in different voices even about the very process, how that leader will be chosen. Sushma Swaraj, seen as a contender for the top post, said today that the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance it leads will be consulted on who will be the party’s face for 2014 if at all someone is projected.

Whether we will have a Prime Ministerial face or not and if we decide on who it will be, these issues will be decided by the BJP Parliamentary Board in consultation with NDA partners, Ms Swaraj cleared the air.

‘Aawaz – speak up against sexual violence’ is a music project from Eastern Fare Music Foundation to generate awareness about sexual violence and atrocities on women they bear in every walk of life.

‘Aawaz’ is composed by an Assamese musician Jim Ankhon Deka. The lyrics are penned together by Jim and singer Ritwika Bhattacharya. Antara Nandy, the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs (2009) finalist from Kolkata has rendered her vocals to this cause along with Ritwika and Queen Hazarika (a familiar face in the music scenario of Assam).

The song aims to sensitize people of various social evils such as sexual violence, child abuse and marital rape. The core idea behind the song is to encourage people to speak up and not hush up matters like this. 

The video is directed by script-writer and film-maker Parmita Borah. The song is recorded at Eastern Fare Music Studio, Madcat Music Studio, Sargam Audiocraft and Centerstage Studio.

After a better start at 20,220.35, the 30-share index fell by 49.37 points, 0.25% to 20,062.24. It had lost 174 points in the last two days.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell below the crucial 6,100 level by losing 19.60 points, 0.32%, to 6,094.50.

The bye-election will take place for three Zilla Parishad members, one Up-pradhan, 19 Panchayat Samiti members, 26 Sarpanch, 24 Up-Sarpanch and 278 Panch, which fell vacant on March 31 this year, according to secretary of the State Election Commission Ashok Kumar Jain.

Notification for holding the election will be issued on May 24.

The CPI(M) also accused the Congress-led coalition of “match-fixing” with the principal Opposition BJP to disrupt Parliament proceedings.

“The UPA, which started four years ago, is not the UPA today. It doesn’t have a majority in Parliament.

By studying proteins thrombospondin-1 and prosaposin, a Trans-Atlantic research team has identified a five-amino acid fragment of prosaposin that significantly reduces metastatic spread in mouse models of prostate, breast and lung cancer.

The findings suggest that a prosaposin-based drug could potentially block metastasis in a variety of cancers, says a report.

The research team, led by Randolph Watnick Children’s Hospital in Boston, Vivek Mittal from Weill Cornell Medical College, and Lars Akslen from the University of Bergen, released their findings in the May issue of the journal Cancer Discovery.

The main cause of cancer mortality is not the primary tumor itself, but rather its spread — metastasis — to other locations in the body and subsequent organ failure.

Watnick believes the findings offer a window of therapeutic opportunity toward the efforts going on throughout the world.

‘If we can trigger monocytes recruited by pro-metastatic tumors to produce thrombospondin-1, like those recruited by non-metastatic tumors, we will be able to hijack the mechanism by which tumors create metastasis-permissive sites to close the door on those sites,’ Watnick disclosed.

Cancer is a group of over one hundred diseases characterized by abnormal, uncontrolled cell growth. In a healthy body – cells grow, die and are replaced in a very controlled way. Damage or change in the genetic material of cells by environmental or internal factors result in cells that don’t die and continue to multiply until a massive cancer or a tumor is developed. Most cancer related deaths are due to metastasis, malignant cells that penetrate into the circulatory system and establish colonies in other parts of the body. Great advancements have been made but cancer is still leading cause of death for people under age of 85.

Actress Jennifer Aniston reportedly cried after reading about her former husband Brad Pitt’s current partner Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy.

Jennifer Aniston was upset after she learnt that Jolie had both her breasts removed after finding out that she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer.

“She was moved beyond belief reading Angelina’s story. It really took her by surprise how brave she is. To go through such a major thing for all her family has made Jen realize that regardless of how they hooked up, Angelina does really love Brad and their six kids.

Aniston had split from actor-husband Brad Pitt in 2005, after which Pitt started dating Jolie.

The source added: “Sure, Jennifer got hurt when Brad left her and the pain dragged on for years, but she’s over it now, and wants to extend an olive branch to Angelina”.

Aniston 44, has been a campaigner for breast cancer and has friends who have been affected by it, including singer Sheryl Crow and actress Christina Applegate.

“Jennifer was a major rock for Sheryl, who had seven weeks of radiotherapy when a lump was found after a standard mammogram. Jennifer will never forget how brave she was. That’s why she knows very well what an enormously brave decision Angelina has made”, the source added.

The couple was caught in the act of kissing by Taylor Swift.

A backstage camera, which filmed the kissing scene, shows Swift sticking her tongue out in response to the quick kiss, as reported.

The ‘Beauty and a Beast’ singer seemed unhappy to be shot by the TV crew and ordered his security guards to block the camera.

Justin Bieber was honored with three awards at the event that was hosted by the US music magazine to pay credit to the top artists.

New York: Lars von Trier’s hardcore erotic film Nymphomaniac will feature Shea LaBeouf’s porn body double for un-simulated sex scenes, according to Louise Vesth the producer of the film.

She told the press that the team filmed the actors pretending to have sex and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and will digital-impose the two, according to the sources report.

Vesth disclosed that above the waist it will be the star and below the waist it will be the doubles.

Vesth ruled out previous rumors about the film that LaBeouf and his castmates would be having sex for real in the movie.

LaBeouf told MTV News that anything that is illegal will be shot in blurred images.

The actress also interacted with the sex workers of the area to spread awareness among them about various sex related diseases.

Accompanied by her co-star Rajan Verma while promoting her up-coming film, the star looked stunning in a revealing red top and denim hot pants.

The bold and raunchy Ms. Malik, who features as a sex worker in the film, was also seen striking sultry poses for the cameras throughout the event.

The movie, produced by Ramgopal Productions, will hit the theaters on 24th May as the schedule.

“The Holy Father did not intend to perform any exorcism”, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi gave statement, after the claims came in light by TV 2000, which is owned by the Italian bishops’ conference.

“As he often does with sick and suffering people who are brought to him, he simply intended to pray for the suffering person,” Lombardi disclosed.

The channel quoted exorcists saying there was no doubt the Pope was either reciting a prayer for freeing from the devil or performing an exorcism.

The footage recorded by Vatican television shows the pontiff briefly laying both hands on the boy’s head on the sidelines of a Pentecost ceremony on Sunday.

The boy is seen shaking opening his mouth as if screaming for a few seconds.

TV2000 director Dino Boffo issued an apology on Tuesday, saying “I unconsciously gave ‘the go ahead for the publication of a piece of news that was true but only partly’ so, because the Pope denies having performed an exorcism.

On the contrary the Vatican’s former chief exorcist Gabriele Amorth said on Sunday that Francis’ act “was an exorcism alright and if Father Lombardi denies this, he clearly does not have a clue.”

“That was a real exorcism and what is more, the boy the pope exorcised came to me today,” Amorth said in a radio interview quoted in La Stampa daily’s Vatican Insider inserts.

“His name is Angelo and he is possessed by four demons. I performed a long exorcism on him,” he added.

Amorth insisted that the pope’s gesture “does qualify as an exorcism because an exorcism is also performed by placing one’s hands on a person’s head and praying, without resorting to written exorcisms”.

TV2000, which has previously aired claims that the Pope’s predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI also exorcised the devil, is to broadcast a special programme on Friday devoted to “the pope’s struggle against the devil and his seductions”.

Exorcism is an ancient practice of driving out demons from a person or place, and exists in several religions including in Roman Catholicism, where it is treated with huge scepticism by many believers.

Potluri Kanti alias Bhabani alias Kavita (35), was arrested in Guntur district by a special police team from here with the assistance of Andhra Pradesh police yesterday and brought here today, they said.

The woman rebel, active in Maoist cadre since 2005, was involved in the attack on security force camp at R Udaygiri in 2008, said a senior police official associated with anti-Naxal operation.

She was also involved in the attack on aluminium major Nalco’s bauxite mines at Damanjodi in Koraput district in 2009 in which about 10 CISF jawans were killed, he said, adding the woman ultra had played a role in the killing of two persons in a Kalimela tribal village in 2011.

Involved in several other offences including abduction, the woman naxal was earlier arrested by Andhra police in 2011 and lodged in Vishakhapatnam jail. She was released on May 18, 2013.

After getting information from Andhra police, a special squad of Malkangiri police went to Guntur and arrested her from her house.

Native of South Goa’s Velim, Ms. Andrea Colaco has not only earned a graduate and master’s degree, and later earned one of the most-sought after doctorate seats at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT), but has earlier this month won the MIT $100K entrepreneurship competition for her innovation which provides real-time, millimeter accurate 3D gesture sensing on devices like mobile phones.

“What is the next interface for cell phone devices? It is gesture recognition. Every cell-phone-device manufacturer is scrambling to bring gesture-recognition into their devices. This is an immediate and unaddressed market,” Andrea said.

The innovation was presented at the competition as ’3dim’ solution, set up by Andrea with co-founder Ahmed Kirmani. It achieves high-quality 3D sensing by employing patented signal processing methods invented at MIT by the co-founders.

“Now with the prize money, 3dim will go full steam. We will develop the technology for customers-smart-device manufacturers-who have already expressed interest in the product,” she said.

The Goan’s business idea made the most financial sense for the panel of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, scientists and industry professionals judging the eight finalists of the over 3,000 participants.

Andrea’s success though had seemed certain from the early years. The student of Fatima Convent High School had ranked second at the Goa board Class X exams in 2001 and two years later topped the Class XII with 96.17%. Her record of cent percent score in physics, chemistry and biology remains unmatched till date.

“The need for power-hungry, specialized hardware has kept such technology from mobile devices-problem that has now been rectified,” Colaco, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab said during the winning pitch at the competition to a packed auditorium.

She said her prototype only demands a few milli-watts of additional power from the phone-about one-seventh of the amount used by a standard smart phone camera.

“I am thrilled for Andrea and her recent win in the MIT $100k entrepreneurship competition. I had been talking with her over the past few weeks and knew about the preparation involved. While she said her competitors were strong too, I was confident the final would be hers. She has always been an ambitious person with attention to detail,” her mother Ms. Antonette, a homemaker, said. Ms. Andrea’s parents are presently based in Doha, Qatar, where her father, Mr. Aldavid Silverio, is an assistant finance manager with a French company.

Andrea’s older sibling Gresner is an IT engineer and is based in Cincinnati USA.

The youngster’s passion also lies in promoting hands-on design and prototyping skills in undergraduate programmers in India and she has organized and taught at two such workshops in India, at Pune and New Delhi.

Ms. Andrea is a recipient of the Goa scholars award 2010 and has a master’s degree in media technology from MIT in 2010, after completing her undergraduate degree programme in electrical and electronics engineering from BITS, Pilani in 2007.

JD(U) leader Yadunandan Chauhan died after a speeding truck rammed into his motorcycle near Odhanpur village on NH-31 under Mufassil police station area this morning, they said.

The victim was a member of the district’s 20-point programme committee and a former JD(U) president of Nawada block, they said.

Girish is making his debut with Ramaiya Vastavaiya, opposite South actress Shruti Hassan. The film is produced by his father Kumar S Taurani, the Managing Director of Tips Industries Limited.

Apparently, director Prabhu Deva was signed close to three years back to launch Girish.

“Acting was always on my mind. I started working on this film one and half year back. He did my screen test for scenes and dance. He liked me in both the areas. He wanted me to be more open as the character was bubbly and loud,” Girish said in an interview.

“The journey of becoming an actor was too long for me but I do believe things happen at a right time. The timing was correct when I see the trailer. I feel happy when people appreciate. I feel the wait was worth as I did wait for a good quality film,” he said.

Though Prabhu liked his performance, the actor felt that his quality was not up to the mark.

“He selected some songs and gave it them to me so that I could practise upon them. He also appointed a few choreographers who worked with me,” Girish said.

Girish was also overweight and had to take up a fitness regime during his three years’ training session. A trainer from South Africa was brought on board to keep a check on his physique.

]]> http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/22/bollywood/journey-long-newbie-bollywood-actor-girish/feed/ 0 http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/22/bollywood/highway-special-film-alia-bhatt/ http://www.jaintv.com/2013/05/22/bollywood/highway-special-film-alia-bhatt/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 09:01:04 +0000 Admin http://www.jaintv.com/?p=35824 New Delhi: Newbie Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, who is currently shooting the final league of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s road romance ‘Highway’, says the film is special to her.

Bhatt, 20, is paired against Randeep Hooda in the flick, which will hit theatres on December 13.

“Dec 13 guys !! Shooting for the last few days of ‘Highway’ in Delhi. Cannot believe this film is coming to an end.. Now time for yoga.

On the fourth anniversary of UPA-II, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley said they would limit their critique to the second innings of the Congress-led coalition, which has witnessed “mindboggling” scams that hit the common man the hardest.

“UPA-II has seen more corruption than UPA-I. There have been mindboggling scams which were not seen by any previous government,” Swaraj told a press conference here with Jaitley.

Noting that coalition politics was the order of the day, Swaraj said such governments require “special leadership qualities”.

“Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister but neither a leader of the country nor the leader of his own party. Singh’s colleagues sit with him in the Cabinet and look towards the UPA Chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) for directions. Such split leadership is the biggest failure of UPA,” she said.

Echoing Swaraj, Jaitley said, “UPA has devalued the Prime Minister’s post. Singh’s Cabinet colleagues look towards UPA chairperson for policy directions and somewhere else for future leadership.”

At the same time, the BJP leaders parried questions on Narendra Modi’s projection as NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate by a section within the party.

“Whether we will have a (Prime Ministerial) face or not and if we decide to have a face, who it will be, these issues will be decided by the BJP Parliamentary Board in consultation with NDA partners,” Swaraj said.

Jaitley said UPA’s fourth anniversary was being celebrated in an environment of “gloom, pessimism, cynicism and negativism”.

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum pulled up the bank saying that HSBC’s act was not only “motivated by commercial gains”, but also by a “malicious mind” to “settle scores” with the complainant, who was a former employee, for challenging his termination in a labour court.

“In our considered view, opposite party (HSBC) has not only been motivated for its commercial gains, but also by a malafide malicious mind to settle scores of litigation in labour court over his challenge of termination,” a bench presided by C K Chaturvedi said.

“We are totally shocked at the behaviour of HSBC in its commercial dealings with a customer, who once happened to be its own employee. Such attempts in unfair trade practices should be dealt with iron hands…

“We hold it guilty of atrociously and maliciously deficient in services to complainant and tormenting the complainant for reasons foreign to commercial dealings,” Chaturvedi said.

The forum directed the bank to refund the amount it had charged from Delhi resident Naduthodi Janardanan as interest by keeping his loan account open from 2001 to 2008 and also ordered HSBC to pay him Rs 5.5 lakh as compensation and cost of litigation for the harassment caused to him.

In his complaint, Janardanan had alleged that HSBC kept his loan account outstanding despite he having settled it after leaving the bank’s employment.

Janardanan had also alleged that he was being targeted in this manner as he had challenged his termination in a labour court.

HSBC in its defence had refuted the allegations and contended that the complainant had not settled his loan and had instructed them to deduct payment towards it from his accounts with the bank.

The forum rejected the contention saying the bank acted “contrary to the instructions” of Janardanan.

Tariff value is the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing.

Till last week, the tariff value of gold was at $466 per ten grams and silver at $761 per kg.

The notification in this regard was issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), an official release said.

However, the import tariff value of different varieties of vegetable oils, brass scrap and poppy seed has been kept unchanged.

Government has reduced the import tariff value of gold keeping in view the weak global prices of precious metals. In Singapore market, gold and silver prices are ruling down at below Rs 1,385 per ounce and $23 per ounce, respectively.

Similarly, gold in the national capital is costing around Rs 27,000 per ten grams and silver at Rs 44,200 per one kg.

India, the world’s largest gold consumers, is estimated to have imported 215 tonne of yellow metal in January-March period of this year. The demand for gold is expected to be robust in the coming months, as per the World Gold Council.

Li will be reaching at Islamabad on a two-day visit after his official visit to India. The state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued a formal notification to all cellular companies to shut the services until 1 pm local time.

Pakistani officials say that terrorists routinely use mobile phone for planning and implementing attacks. The authorities have taken security measures for the Chinese Premier along the main road from the Nur Khan military airbase near Islamabad and the Presidency, where the guest will have a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari immediately after his arrival.

People say they are facing difficulties due to mobile service suspension. The authorities now regularly close down mobile services in view of threats and on occasions like  important days and events.

The rupee opened higher at 55.35 per dollar as against the previous closing level of 55.41 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It slightly moved up to 54.34 in early deals, before quoting 55.45 per dollar at 1100 hrs, down by 4 paise over its last close.

The rupee hovered between of 54.34 and 55.49 per dollar during late morning trade.

In international market, the US dollar slipped against basket currencies on investors cautiousness ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s views in Joint Economic Committee meet over state of US economy as well as Fed’s current easing programme.

 Meanwhile, the BSE-30 share barometer Sensex was trading higher by 66.62 points or 0.32 per cent to 20,175.84 at 1105 hours.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has received an application seeking approval for the proposed Jet-Etihad transaction.

“We are looking into the deal,” a senior CCI official said.

Forging a strategic alliance, Jet Airways has decided to sell 24 per cent stake to Etihad Airways for about Rs 2,058 crore.

“We have shown consistency and loyalty in team selections. Moreover, the composition of our side and the kind of mix we have. The combination of selection policy, quality of players, their maturity and above all a good franchise, everything has been fantastic,” said Fleming.

“We have been lucky to have had the same team for six years and have played only finals and semi-finals. We have been conservative in our approach and often been criticised for being boring. But in a tournament where results can be emotionally driven, we have had a solid base,” he added.

Chennai Super Kings entered the final of the Pepsi IPL for the fourth straight time with a thumping 48-run win over Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier here last night.

Fleming said that introduction of Ravindra Jadeja was a `Game Changer` as the left-arm spinner got rid of the dangerous Dwayne Smith, who hit a blazing 28-ball 68.

“We were a little bit on the backfoot as the bowling came under a bit of pressure from Smith. We needed to quickly turn around things. Bringing in Jadeja was the right move as it turned out to be the Game-Changer,” said the coach.

Asked how Dhoni approaches a particular match-situation, Fleming said, “Dhoni is a captain who always has an open plan and I back his judgement.”

Fleming paid rich tributes to veteran Mike Hussey for his phenomenal success, having scored 732 runs in IPL-6 so far.

“It`s been unbelievable. He (Hussey) is also in a little bit of shock as to how good he has been. I used to pull his legs, calling him “too old and traditional” to play some innovative shots. But now that he is concentrating solely on T20s, he is exploring ways to get better. He has been an absolute delight this season,” Fleming said.

The former Kiwi captain said that his choice of opponent for the final will be the side that is more “emotionally drained” after two tough matches.

He was asked for the umpteenth time about whether he would like to coach a national team, and Fleming was quick to dismiss the idea yet again.

“I have a young family with three kids. As of now the balance between IPL and family works fine for me as I have been on the road for the past 20 years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma termed the performance as “one bad day when the plans didn`t click”.

Are MI becoming proverbial chokers in the league, Rohit replied, “I don`t agree as we have won 11 out of 16 games in the league phase. The bowlers have done a tremendous job till now and it was one day they couldn`t make it happen.”

Asked about the areas where MI were found wanting, the young skipper said, “There are a few areas like changing pace and bowling back of the length on this track with short boundaries which didn`t work. It was a huge score and we got tremendous start but lost a lot of wickets in the middle.”

He finally sent his resignation letter to the club boss Churchill Alemao yesterday.

It is learnt that Bhowmick, who guided Churchill Brothers successfully to win the I-League crown for the second time, had alleged differences with Alemao during the I-League matches.

Milan, a central midfielder, started his career with East Bengal and joined the Pailan Arrows in 2010. During his association with the Arrows, he had scored six goals in 31 appearances.

After a successful run with Pailan Arrows as the key player in their previous I-league seasons, he was handed the captaincy of the team for the 2012-13 season and he went on to score five goals for his club.

Arvind Narayan, Libero Sports Partner and FIFA Licensed player agent of Milan Singh said, “Milan is a quality player and will support Shillong Lajong’s ambitions of creating a title challenging squad.

Karthik admitted to the Level 1 offence (Article 2.1.3) of showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during the match at Ferozeshah Kotla Ground last evening.

For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.

Myanmar eves rode on their two first half goals from Naw Phaw and Khin Moe Wai in the 5th and 26th minute, respectively to beat India comfortably at the Faisal Al Husseini stadium here last night.

“I can never believe that he is involved in any way. Let investigations take place, Vindoo will come out clean,” Amrik Singh told reporters at the airport here before leaving for Mumbai.

Virendra Dara Singh Randhawa alias Vindoo, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, was yesterday picked up from his suburban Juhu residence in Mumbai. He was later arrested for his alleged links with the bookies, who were already arrested by the crime branch.

He said many people know Vindoo, winner of reality television show Bigg Boss season 3, as he is a known figure in Mumbai.

“Almost whole of Mumbai knows him. But that does not mean there is anything criminal… Moreover, by the grace of God, we have everything and we don’t need anything from anyone,” Amrik said.

Amrik, who lives in an upscale residential area of Chandigarh, said the family will extend full cooperation to the investigating agencies.

“We have nothing to hide,” he added.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was on Wednesday shifted to high security Yerwada jail in Pune from Mumbai, as a jail official disclosed.

“Sanjay Dutt was taken  to Pune jail at about 4 am from Mumbai,  there were three police vans that took him to the Pune jail”, the official said.

He was secretly shifted to the Pune jail early in the morning due to security reasons and to avoid media glare.

The 53-year-old Bollywood star was earlier lodged in the ‘anda’ cell as he was brought to the Arthur Road jail on May 16 following his surrender before the expiry of the Supreme Court-set deadline to serve his remaining sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Dutt has to serve 42 more months in jail following his conviction in the 1993 case being upheld by the Supreme Court, which, however, reduced his sentence by one year which is to five years from six previously  in March this year.

Dutt would be kept in a high security cell in Yeravada jail, according to the sources. Importantly Sanjay Dutt was feeling suffocated in the high security “anda cell” and it was pleaded to send him in normal cell by his lawyer.

L oyal H. Lall

A bench of justices Mr. S Ravindra Bhat and Mr. G P Mittal would pronounce its decision in the afternoon in the case in which the High Court had taken suo motu cognizance and questioned the prosecution as to how the witnesses became hostile during the trial.

Jessica was shot dead in April 1999 by Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Congress leader Venod Sharma after she refused to serve a drink to him at a late night party at socialite Ms. Bina Ramani’s restaurant Tamarind Court at Mehrauli in South Delhi.

The High Court, which reversed Trial Court’s verdict on December 18, 2006, awarded life imprisonment to Mr. Manu Sharma.
New Delhi: May22, 2013 11:05 IST

Mr. Munshi, who had lodged the FIR in the case, had pleaded to the Court not to prosecute him saying, “He cannot be termed hostile as even the Apex Court had used part of his deposition in convicting the accused”.

Mr. Munshi, the complainant in the case, had disowned the complaint during the trial, saying he did not understand Hindi.

The prosecution urged the High Court to refer 19 out of the 31 hostile witnesses, including Mr. Munshi, to the Magisterial Court for their trial on charges of perjury.

It had pointed out that out of total 31 witnesses, only 19 were available for trial as three had died while the court had itself discharged 10 of them earlier on the ground that there was no major deviation between their statements to the police and later to the Court.

The 19 persons, whose fate will be decided on Wednesday for turning hostile, include socialite Mr. Andleeb Sehgal, ballistic experts Mr. Roop Singh and Mr. Prem Sagar, electrician Mr. Shiv Shankar Dass and eyewitness Mr. Jagannath Jha.

The Apex Court, upholding the High Court’s ruling in the case in April 2010, also endorsed its findings on the issue of perjury.

D-Link, a networking solutions provider is planning to set up a testing labs in India in the second half of this year to ensure better localization, according to the chairman A P Chen.

Presently D-Link has testing labs in South America, China, Taiwan and Russia  which was its biggest market until recently.

The testing lab will first be set up in Goa. Besides the lab D-Link will have its own service center and support system for repairing in the Goa. “We also have plans to serve markets like Sri Lanka, Australia and Singapore from the Indian testing lab”, Chen disclosed.

The company is also evaluating possibilities of establishing a software development center in India within a year.

However, there is no immediate plan to start manufacturing in India, at present India accounts for about seven to eight per cent of D-Link’s global revenue and is growing at more than 20% annually. “We may look at setting up a production unit here in the future if there is a certain scale”, the chairman A P Chen said.

Prashant Bhushan, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Supreme Court lawyer, flayed the appointment of Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma as the new Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India terming it as illegal, unconstitutional and likely to be challenged in Court of Law. Mr. Bhushan said that he would seriously consider it and would challenge the appointment himself.

Mr. Bhushan’s main contention was that Sharma had in the last 10 years held several sensitive positions in the Defense Ministry that dealt with significant procurements and appointing him as Comptroller & Auditor General would mean a conflict of interest. The SC lawyer added that the appointment was in violation of the principle of institutional integrity that had been raised by the SC while quashing CVC P J Thomas’s appointment.

Noting that there is no formal system for appointment or selection of CAG of India and Government can appoint anybody, Mr. Bhushan demanded setting up of a “transparent system” for appointments to such watchdog posts.

Described as a “highly important document”, the two-page handwritten Will on folio paper is priced between 30,000 Pounds and 40,000 Pounds and will compete with a fragment of Mahatma Gandhi’s blood on a microscopic slide, priced between 10,000 to 15,000 Pounds.

While the blood sample may be sacred for some, the Will is an extremely important historical document. It is hand-written in Gujarati and has signature on by Gandhi,” Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical documents expert for Mullock’s auctioneers.

The slide of Mahatma Gandhi’s blood dates back to 1924, the prominent non-voilence leader of India’s freedom movement was in convalescence from an appendectomy near Mumbai. He is believed to have donated the blood to the family he was staying with at the time.

It is an important and rare artifact but we also have Gandhi’s Shawl and Sandals, which are expected to attract a lot of attention, Westwood-Brookes added in reference to other key items that will go under the hammer today.

The hand-woven linen shawl, made from material spun by Mahatma Gandhi himself, is estimated to fetch up to 20,000 Pounds.

His leather Chappals, heavily worn and in fairly poor condition, are likely to attract up to 15,000 Pounds, same as his wooden prayers Beads.

Another important Signed Document includes Mahatma Gandhi’s power of attorney to his son dating back to November 1920, with various stamps of the Bank of Baroda and Bank of India. It is also expected to attract some fierce bidding and could fetch as much as 40,000 Pounds.

The government’s tenure came in for close scrutiny at the BJP’s Parliamentary Board meeting which was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the first time since being made a member of the highest decision-making body on March 31.

As part of its strategy in run up to the next Lok Sabha polls, it was decided that week-long agitational programmes will be undertaken across the country from next Monday to highlight the “failures” of the UPA government which completes nine years tomorrow.

Modi, who is being projected by some in BJP as its Prime Ministerial candidate, pushed for greater use of social media to reach out more effectively to the people, especially the youth.

“We discussed the nine years of UPA rule. This government has failed on all fronts be it price rise, internal and external security or the economic situation. BJP will launch a jail bharo (court arrest) programme from May 27 to June 2,” the Board’s Secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters.

The top brass also discussed the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Jharkhand to be held later this year.

This was the first meeting of the Board after Singh allocated responsibilities to BJP office-bearers on May 19.

The Parliamentary Board also discussed issues related to the upcoming meetings of BJP National office-bearers and executive to be held in Goa from June 7 to 9, Kumar said.

The party is likely to pass two resolutions in the National Executive Meeting. The political resolution would discuss the political situation prevailing in the country and the threat to safety and security. An Economic resolution on the issue of price rise and other issues will also be moved.

Yadav, who was picked up from Delhi yesterday and questioned for his links with arrested player Ajit Chandila, has been placed under arrest, police sources said.

It was Yadav who allegedly introduced Chandila to bookie Sunil Bhatia, who is already arrested, they said.

Cardiff City’s Malky Mackay was named Championship Manager of the Year for leading his side to the first-ever promotion to the EPL, while Gary Johnson of Yeovil Town was honoured as League One Manager of the Year, at the LMA awards dinner yesterday.

Police conducted searches at the house of the alleged kingpin Prashanth and recovered some mobile phones and laptop besides some documents and cash. Police did not elaborate on the seizure but said they would seek his custody for further interrogation.

Searches were also conducted at the houses of two other ‘absconding’ bookies, they said.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Murugesan said it will fix the matter for hearing tomorrow after Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra, appearing for Sports Ministry, apprised the court that a similar petition was listed for hearing before the apex court.

The PIL, filed by NGO Association for Social and Humanitarian Affairs, has also sought a direction that Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) be taken over by the Sports Ministry.

The NGO, which moved the court through its President Kuldeep Singh Bhogal, has also sought judicial supervision of the investigation into the IPL spot-fixing scandal case in which 18 people — three IPL players, four former players, 11 bookies and their assistants — have been arrested so far.

“The IPL’s model seems to be designed specifically to suit the requirements of the mafia to quickly and efficiently churn huge sum of money using the routes of hawala,” the petition, filed through advocate Rahul Raj Malik, alleged.

“The strategic time out of two to three minutes while the game is being played is misused, as being the only opportunity, for interactions between the players and the bookies to influence the result of the match and session and thereby cheat the nation…,” it alleged, adding that the whole nation has been “cheated” by some unscrupulous players, bookies and others.

The petition also quoted various newspaper reports to say that the bookies are operating from Karachi and Dubai.

Since the ugly revelations of the spot-fixing Scandal followed by the arrests of three of its players, including India international S Sreesanth, cricketing matters have taken a backseat for the champions of the first edition of the IPL.

One can expect the Sunrisers to be overwhelming favourites as they don’t have to deal with the demons of an ugly controversy that has shaken the cricketing establishment.

For Rajasthan Royals and especially their skipper Rahul Dravid, it will be a challenge to go out in the field shedding inhibitions and perform to the best of their abilities.

For the Royals and their loyal band of supporters, a good performance at least can help them deflect the unwanted attention that is on them for the time being.

But there is no denying the fact that the team is under immense pressure. The two foundations of a good team: self belief and confidence in each other’s abilities has been hit badly after the controversy.

Will Rahul Dravid have the same confidence when he hands over the ball to a particular bowler? Can he change the batting order randomly without having a crease on his forehead? These are question that will only be answered tomorrow.

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that the Royals management decided to have their last practice session ahead of the ‘Eliminator’ in Jaipur.

Since Jaipur-Delhi is less than an hour’s flight, the squad will only arrive here in the evening. This ensures that media will be busy covering the high-profile first Qualifier between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

Doctors at Shaukat Khanam Hospital here said the cricketer-turned-politician was fitted with a specially designed brace or spinal support this morning and he walked unaided for over 300 metres.

President Barak Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest US tornado since the storm killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri two years ago.

Emergency crews were desperately searching the wreckage of school that took a direct hit from the tornado on Monday afternoon, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamba described to CNN.

There was an outpouring of grief on the school’s Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: “Please find those little children”.

Elementary school, homes and a hospital were among the buildings leveled, leaving residents of the town of around 50,000 people stunned at the devastation and loss of life.

The Oklahoma medical examiner said 20 out of the 91 expected to have been killed were children. The office had already confirmed 51 dead and had been told by emergency services to expect 40 more bodies found in the debris, but had not yet discovered them.

At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, the local hospitals authority said.

“We thought we died because we were inside the cellar door … It ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead to be honest”, Ricky Stover said while looking at the devastated remains of his home.

Moore town was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.

Rescuers were searching for survivors throughout the swath of devastation in the early hours of Tuesday morning, while the dangerous storm threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters. Severe weather was expected through the night from the Great Lakes south to Texas.

“Expanding its footprint in the rapidly growing deodorant market in India, ‘Engage’ marks the Personal Care Business’ foray into deodorants,” ITC said in a statement.

ITC Ltd Chief Executive Officer, Personal Care Products Business, Sandeep Kaul said deodorants as a segment in personal care is experiencing swift and dynamic growth.

“1000 cusec of water would be released today for the second time. Shortage of water in Delhi-NCR is expected to be reduced by May 22,” said AK Gupta, chief engineer of the Irrigation Department.

Delhi and its 18 neighbouring districts in Uttar Pradesh have been going through a severe water shortage for the last few days after the upper Ganga Canal was shut for repairing of a breach at Khatoli.

Despite the release of water on Sunday, farming in the districts of UP remained adversely affected.

Farmers in western part of the state including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahar still have to depend upon expensive private sources of water like tubewell, pumping sets to irrigate their fields.

“1000 cusec of water would be released today for the second time. Shortage of water in Delhi-NCR is expected to be reduced by May 22,” said AK Gupta, chief engineer of the Irrigation Department.

Delhi and its 18 neighbouring districts in Uttar Pradesh have been going through a severe water shortage for the last few days after the upper Ganga Canal was shut for repairing of a breach at Khatoli.

Despite the release of water on Sunday, farming in the districts of UP remained adversely affected.

Farmers in western part of the state including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahar still have to depend upon expensive private sources of water like tubewell, pumping sets to irrigate their fields.

New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi met senior BJP  leader LK Advani and termed the meeting as “wonderful”.

Modi, who is in New Delhi to attend the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting ahead of the party’s National Executive meeting in Goa on June 8 and 9, also met former BJP president Nitin Gadkari at his residence.

“In Delhi today. Had a wonderful meeting with Advaniji on arrival at Delhi. Now heading to meet Nitin Gadkariji,” Modi said on Twitter after his 40-minute meeting with Advani.

The party’s Parliamentary Board, the top decision making body of BJP, which is headed by Advani, will meet today to discuss the forthcoming BJP National Executive and National Council meeting at Goa.

Modi was recently inducted as a member of the Parliamentary Board by party president Rajnath Singh.

Manzarek died on Monday at Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. She said the musician’s manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died of being stricken by bile duct cancer.

The Doors’ original lineup, which also included drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger, was only together for a few years and in that period they made six albums. But the band has retained a large and obsessive following decades after Morrison’s death in1971. The Doors have sold more than 100 million records such as Light My Fire and Riders On the Storm are still “classic” rock favorites. For Doors admirers, the band symbolized the darker side of the Los Angeles lifestyle.

Next to Morrison, Manzarek was the most distinctive-looking band member, his glasses and wavy blond hair making him resemble a young English professor more than a rock star, a contrast to Morrison’s Dionysian glamour – his sensuous mouth and long, dark hair. Musically, Manzarek’s spidery organ on Light My Fire is one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in the history of rock.

But he seemed up to finding the right touch for a wide range of songs – the sleepy, lounge-style keyboards for Riders On the Storm; the liquid strains for The Crystal Ship; the barrelhouse romps on Road house Blues. The Doors always considered themselves “more” than a rock band and Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger often managed a flowing rapport that blended rock, blues and jazz behind Morrison’s self-consciously poetic lyrics.

“There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words,” Densmore said in a statement. “Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother”.

The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Their records have been reissued frequently and the band was the subject of a 1991 Oliver Stone movie, The Doors, starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and Kyle MacLachlan as Manzarek, who complained that the film stereotyped Morrison as a hopeless drunk and also omitted calmer, more humorous times.

The Doors’ fame has hardly faded despite they’re one of the few groups not to allow their music to be used for commercials, a source of great tension among surviving members. Manzarek and Krieger reportedly supported licensing the songs, and Densmore has resisted. The group also feuded when Krieger and Manzarek formed a new group, Doors of the 21st Century. Densmore objected, and Krieger and Manzarek performed under various names.

Other The Doors albums included The Soft Parade, ‘Waiting for the Sun and their last record with Morrison, L.A. Woman.

Manzarek briefly tried to hold the band together on the albums Other Voices and Full Circle, neither of which had critical or commercial success. He played in other bands over the years, working with X and Iggy Pop among others. He also wrote a memoir, Light My Fire, and a novel, The Poet In Exile, in which he imagines receiving messages from a Morrison-like artist who had supposedly died.

Born and raised in Chicago, Manzarek studied piano as a child and for some time also considered a career in basketball. After graduating from DePauw University, he headed west to study film at UCLA. A few months after completing graduation, he and Morrison met in 1965 on Venice Beach in California. As Manzarek would often recall, Morrison read him some lyrics – Let’s swim to the moon/Let’s climb through the tide/Penetrate the evening that the/City sleeps to hide” – that became the start of Moonlight Drive.

“I’d never heard lyrics to a rock song like that before,” Manzarek told Billboard in 1967. “We talked a while before we decided to get a group together and make a million dollars”.

In 1966, they had been joined by Krieger and Densmore and were a sensation, especially during the theatrical, Oedipal epic, The End. They were the house band at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles before being signed by Elektra Records and releasing a self-titled album in 1967, the most talked-about debuts in rock history.

The fourth annual Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study states that UAE has gained the most of the private capital inflow (43 per cent) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The study, which looks at the evolving asset management industry in the GCC, shows that the private capital flow entering the UAE is from emerging markets including 15 per cent from India, 10 per cent from Russia and 7 per cent from China.

The study reveals that capital inflow from emerging markets, most notably from India, Russia and China has overtaking those from developed markets.

Merely 13 percent of private capital is flowing in from developed markets including UK, Continental Europe and North America while over a third (35 per cent) of capital into the UAE came from the wider ‘Middle East and North Africa’ (MENA) region and nine per cent from the other GCC countries.

This inflow trend is supported by national statistics that highlight a 9 per cent net increase in bank deposits during 2012 and a 17 per cent annualised growth rate in UAE property prices over the same period, both indicators of increasing capital flow.

According to a third of participants, the key factor bringing private capital into the UAE is its relative political stability compared to the Mena region.

“This is a consequence of continued regional instability — not just in Syria but in Egypt and other parts of North Africa,” according to the study.

The second important factor for 29 per cent of participants is the local investment opportunity. “This is the overriding reason for Indian, Russian and Chinese markets investing in the region — an example of ‘South-South’ trade in action”.

“Our 2013 study provides a strong indication of a structural shift in the UAE’s fortunes. It seems to be showing signs of developing a leading position as a regional hub between Europe and Asia,” said Nick Tolchard, Head of Invesco Middle East.

While capital is flowing into the UAE, overall capital in remaining GCC markets including Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar appears to be exiting home markets, making the UAE the key focus for capital flowing into the region, he added.

The rupee opened higher at 54.97 per dollar as against the previous closing level of 55.11 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It gained further to 54.95 in early deals, before quoting 55.

The 30-share index, which had lost 62.14 points in the previous session, rose by 35.41 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 20,259.39 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 8.85 points, or 0.14 per cent, to trade at 6,165.75 points.