A car bomb exploded on Thursday in a campus parking lot at a university in northern Spain, wounding 17, in an attack that officials said followed a warning from the Basque separatist group ETA.
The explosion happened at the University of Navarra in the city of Pamplona at around 1000 GMT, a member of staff at the university said.
"There were other small explosions after the fire set off the fuel tanks in the parked cars nearby," Bernardino Leon, a University of Navarra professor, told the Antena 3 TV channel.
Some 400 people were evacuated from nearby buildings after the explosion, although the rest of the campus continued to function as normal, said the university's director of communication Jesus Diaz.
The blast comes two days after the arrest of four suspected members of armed Basque separatist group ETA, three of whom were picked up in Navarra.
Spain's interior ministry said the group "were ready to carry an attack, probably in Navarra."
The university said they had received no warning before the blast but the regional traffic department (DYA) said they got a call at 0853 GMT from a man claiming to represent ETA and speaking in Spanish.
"We had a call in the name of ETA to say that a car was going to going to explode at a university, but without specifying whether it was in Navarra or in Pamplona," a DYA employee said.
Calls to DYA have traditionally been used by ETA to warn of imminent explosions in the Basque country.
Among other demands, radical Basque separatists want to include the separate autonomous region of Navarra in Basque Country.
More than 30 years after a man was arrested for allegedly committing a murder, the Supreme Court has acquitted him due to lack of evidence and inconsistent statements by the eyewitnesses.
The apex court took the view that non-examination of the investigating officer and the doctor who performed the autopsy of the victim would be justification enough for discarding the prosecution's claim and gave the benefit of the doubt to the accused.
The apex court upheld the Kirandeo Prasad's acquittal ordered by the Patna High Court which had reversed a session court's decision to sentence him to life imprisonment.
The murder which occurred on the "holi festival" on March 25, 1978, was alleged to have been carried out with the help of a gun and other lethal weapons in Bihar's Nalanda district.
A bench of justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma also concurred with the view of the High Court that there were inaccuracies in the statements made by the eyewitnesses and the failure of the prosecution to examine the investigating officer and the autopsy doctor.
In this case, Prasad along with others accomplices allegedly murdered Sukhu Mahton, which according to one version was a sequel to the failure of the deceased to attend a "Satyanarayana Swamy vrath" held at the house of the accused.
Motorola Inc announced that it was cutting its global workforce by 4.5%, or some 3,000 employees, and delaying the spinoff of its troubled cell phone unit.
Motorola, the largest US mobile phone manufacturer, announced yesterday the job cuts just hours after reporting a quarterly net loss of nearly USD 400 million and said more than two-thirds of the layoffs would be in the handset division.
The Schaumburg, Illinois-based company said it suffered a net loss of USD 397 million in the third quarter of the year after reporting a net profit of USD 60 million for the same period last year.
Motorola lowered its forecast for the remainder of the year but said its cost-cutting moves would result in annual savings of some USD 800 million next year.
The ailing company had 66,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2007 and the latest job cuts bring the total number of layoffs since January 2007 to 13,000.
It said separation of the struggling mobile phone unit from the rest of the company was now "targeted beyond 2009."
"While our strategic intent to separate the company remains intact, we are no longer targeting the third quarter of 2009," Sanjay Jha, Motorola co-chief executive and head of its mobile devices division, said in a statement.
Jha, who took over the mobile devices unit in August, attributed the delay to "the macroeconomic environment, stresses in the financial markets and the changes underway in Mobile Devices.
"As part of our plan to rebuild Mobile Devices, we have announced significant actions to accelerate the consolidation of our product platforms and refocus our investment and market priorities," he said.
The economic and financial summit called by the US president George W Bush on November 14-15 will focus on coming to conclusions on the best analysis of what has happened in the global financial system, a top administration official has said.
Bush has called for a leadership summit of Group of twenty (G20) nations in Washington DC where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to participate on November 15. US president Bush and first lady Laura Bush will host a working dinner on November 14 at the White House.
"... There are a couple of goals. The first would be to identify what the causes of the problem have been so that we understand them and become able to structure some effective solutions" said Ed Lazear, chairman of president's economic advisors.
"And then the solutions, to my mind, would take the form of a list of principles that we would want countries to adhere to. And those principles would have one thing in mind as the primary focus. And that would be that countries would not do things that would undermine the policies of the other countries" he added.
"That's a very big factor. It's a very big factor within Europe in particular because those countries are so closely linked to one another. And we want to make sure that we cooperate with each other so that we don't undermine the process of others" Lazear said.
"We all have ideas on the causes. I think I know the causes but I'm sure that the French think they know the causes as well. And I'm not sure we necessarily agree. So, this is a meeting to try to come to some conclusions on what we think are probably the best analysis," the top White House official said at a briefing.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking to hire about 480 former employees to assist in winding down its business, according to court documents on Thursday.
Lehman said that during the first few weeks of its bankruptcy case it has been inundated with inquiries from traders, prime brokers, hedge funds, and others for information on their transactions, but its "current workforce is too small to manage this process without incurring unnecessary expenses and delay."
Barclays, which bought the company's core US assets last month, has continued the employment of more than 9,000 Lehman workers.
Barclays and Lehman have a transition services agreement whereby former employees of the investment bank will help it wind down its business.
But Lehman said in court documents on Thursday that those employees are unable to devote the time and resources necessary to help Lehman wind-down its businesses.
Also if Barclays chooses to reduce the size of its work force acquired from Lehman, or the transition services agreement expires, Lehman said it would lose access to those employees.
"If the debtors and their advisors are going to preserve and maximize the value of the assets and transactions, they need employees who are dedicated and have an interest in preserving and maximizing values," Lehman said in the filing as it sought approval to hire the workers.
As of October 24, Lehman said its workforce was comprised of about 140 employees and a team of about 125 from restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal.
One of the firm's founders, Bryan Marsal, is serving as chief restructuring officer of Lehman. Lehman said it needs to hire workers quickly to avoid the risk of losing information that would help it unwind thousands of complex derivative transactions.
Lehman said it was seeking to hire former Lehman workers because the tasks to unwind the business require specialized knowledge.
At a hearing earlier this month, Lehman's lead bankruptcy attorney Harvey Miller warned the court that it may request higher payment schemes for these employees than bankruptcy courts are used to.
The "transactions involved necessitate the employment of individuals with very specific skill sets, and preferably, former Lehman employees who possess the expertise and experience necessary to efficiently administer and wind-down the Debtors' businesses and the subject transactions," Lehman said in court documents.
Lehman said the total base salary for 620 employees, including an additional 480, would increase to $96 million, and that the employees would be eligible to earn a bonus.
It said the total amount of bonuses to be issued would not exceed $110 million. It also asked for approval to set aside severance benefits of $22.5 million for employees that are involuntarily let go.
It said employment contracts would have initial commitment periods ranging from three to 24 months.
British bank Barclays Plc is close to raising about £6 billion ($9.8 billion) from a number of potential investors and could announce details on Friday, a person familiar with the matter said.
Barclays has been in talks with a mix of existing and new investors, the source said, but declined to identify them.
Existing investors expected to invest more in the bank are likely to include Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, after it invested in the summer.
Libya is not expected to invest, the source said.
The Financial Times reported on Friday the Libyan Investment Authority was likely to be an investor. Barclays declined to comment.
Earlier this month, it said it would raise capital but would raise the funds privately rather than take government cash.
Rivals Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and HBOS are all taking billions in taxpayers' funds to help weather the financial crisis.
Barclays said when the government's recapitalisation plan was announced that it planned to raise about £6.5 billion, with about half from preference shares and half from the sale of ordinary shares.
The bank has lost billions of pounds from credit-related asset writedowns and is faced with a sharply slowing UK housing market and economy, but it has fared better than many rivals. It has raised funds from investors in China, Singapore and Japan as well as Qatar.
The bank expects to gain a competitive advantage by raising capital privately, while RBS and others will have the government as a major shareholder
Stumped by terrorists who get away with sending e-mails about blasts using open Wi-Fi networks, the government has set up an inter-ministerial panel to find ways to beat them.
In three months, terrorists hacked into open Wi-Fi networks of individuals twice to send e-mails about blasts in Ahmedabad and Delhi to the media, which has prompted the Home, IT and Communications Ministry to look at strengthening the law to book offenders who misuse wireless internet networks to send terror messages.
The committee is headed by Adviser (Telecom), DoT and the members are from, Telecom Engineering Centre, Ministry of Home, Intelligence Bureau and Department of Information Technology.
It will examine various international practices and enforceable ways and means to detect the actual user in a Wi- Fi network and suggest any amendments to the existing policies and licences for internet services and associated issues.
DoT officials, however, admit that the march of technology cannot be halted but its misuse certainly has to be checked. A senior official of DoT said the report is expected to be submitted by November third week and most likely the existing ISP licences would be amended to incorporate penalty and punishment for the ISP and the mail sender respectively for an open Wi-Fi network.
An official of the cyber security wing of DIT Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said the ISPs should provide all these features of password and password protection.
The open network and open password make it quite easy for anyone to access another person's network. The most widely used and default password for Wi-Fi open network is 1234.
Lower prices of industrial fuel and manufactured items helped push inflation below the 11 per cent mark after over four months to 10.68 per cent, giving RBI enough room to cut key rates to spur economic growth.
The wholesale prices-based inflation slipped 0.39 per cent in the week ended October 18, while it stood at 3.11 per cent in the year-ago period.
Analysts believe that the declining trend in rate of price rise could lead to easing of monetary policy by either cutting short-term lending rate (repo) or lowering of CRR, the mandatory deposit banks are required to keep with RBI.
Crisil Principal Economist D K Joshi said RBI could slash CRR by 100 to 150 bps, depending on the liquidity condition. "However, I don't see any immediate decision on the rate cut."
Echoing similar view, HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua said since inflation is on a decline, there could be a CRR cut of 50-100 basis points in the next few weeks.
"The RBI could also slash the repo rate by 50 basis points in the next few weeks. I expect single digit inflation figures by the middle to end of December," Barua said.
During the week, prices of food articles like pulses fruits and wheat declined. However, prices of vegetables rose by 2.3 per cent and spices by half per cent.
Inflation, which was 8.75 per cent as of June first week, suddenly jumped to two-digits after the government hiked the administered prices of petrol, diesel and LPG owing to high international crude oil prices.
Crumbling crude oil prices in the recent weeks, however, has led to fall in prices of some industrial fuel including furnace oil, which was cheaper by six per cent while prices of light diesel oil declined by three per cent.
In its mid-term review of the credit policy last week, RBI said inflation is expected to reach seven per cent by the end of this fiscal.
It would be the central bank's endeavour to bring down inflation to a tolerable level of below five per cent at the earliest, while aiming for convergence with the global average inflation of around three per cent in the medium-term, RBI had said.
Joshi said inflation is coming down sharply, more than expectations, mainly due to the sharp correction in global crude prices.
Softening crude is having its impact on the manufactured products as well. The category which has the highest weightage in inflation, declined by 0.1 per cent.
Among the group, prices of imported edible oil fell by four per cent, oil cakes by three per cent and groundnut oil by one per cent. However, khandsari and gur were dearer by four per cent and one per cent respectively.
Elsewhere, prices of texturised yarn were cheaper by four per cent, pvc resins by 14 per cent, benzene by two per cent, zinc by 11 per cent, basic pig iron and foundary pig iron by three per cent.
Besides, prices of zinc ingots metal bars and rounds softened by two per cent each and steel sheets by one per cent.
Meanwhile, inflation for the week ended August 23 was revised to 12.76 per cent from the provisional estimate of 12.34 per cent.
10 p.m. that night, Dr. Mishra was in his office furiously trying to explain something to the person on the other side of the phone line. “But you don’t understand… it was a strange sensation… and Jessica… her feet, don’t you get it… David, you have to investigate… there was a bright flash of light… and I saw her levitating… no, I’m not hallucinating… please David…” and the line went dead. Desperate and hopelessly tired, he mumbled “come in” unwillingly two minutes later, when the FBI official came to question him about Ms. Jessica Heltings’ bruises and cuts. Very rudely and suspiciously was the question “there was only one person in the cave with her, isn’t it Dr. Mishra?” put to him. This was the umpteenth time he had answered “yes, but if you would please listen… there was this thing and she… and then…” He was always interrupted and his explanations left unconsidered. The campus was buzzing with the rumours of the injuries done to Jessica, by the cruel, even criminal Dr. Mishra. The close relationship between them was talked about like a known fact, though Mishra never remembered confiding his truly pure feelings to anyone. The look on the official’s face said he was not very pleased with the interruption caused, when the campus nurse busted in hurriedly, and said “she is conscious again and is wishing to talk to professor Mishra.” “She is not to be over stressed gentlemen, or I will cut the meeting short,” were the warning words with which the nurse allowed Dr.Mishra with the official into the room. Jessica’s lovely face was heavily bandaged and serious damage was done to the soles of her feet. Dr. Mishra could vividly remember what had happened. His flash light had blown itself. Jessica was flying few feet above the ground and then she collapsed. The steel spikes beneath her shoes were bent and charred, burning her shoes and the soles of her feet. He had carried her out though the narrow opening during which his inexpert handling caused the bruises and cuts on her face and hands. He regretted ever agreeing to go on the trip. Though hurt and weak she managed a small smile at Mishra and rendered him innocent by explaining that despite of Dr. Mishra’s warnings she had ventured alone into the inner chambers of the cave which they had visited earlier. She said that within a particular chamber her flash light had exploded and she foolishly hit her head somewhere. Then she remembered awakening one for a second or so on the ground above, apparently rescued by Dr. Mishra. The official bowed curtly to Jessica and shook hands with the professor. Jessica’s statement was half lie but if the victim isn’t interested there was nothing the officer could do.
David was sitting in an armed wooden chair near the fireplace. His house keeper had placed a deliciously smelling soup on the table which remained untouched. His brain was racing through the conversation he had few minutes ago with his former college mate Mishra. Mishra had spoken about some hocus-pocus that happened in the premises. Something about levitation had caught his attention but then was it possible…… David Cris Bright was the senior investigator in FBI. He was a workaholic whose hair was already thinning. He was not bothered about being bald but he sure wanted to know what was going on with Mishra. His brown gray eyes reflected fire burning in the fireplace but had concern for Mishra. He was used to Mishra’s unbelievable views about the extra-terrestrial and was getting frustrated with him. He believed nothing like that was even near possibility of discovery. On his desk was a report about the same cave and a victim who had died due to over exposure of some unknown kind of radiation. He would not have considered Mishra’s talk serious if it had not been the scared tome of his voice and this report. The victim in the report was a student of the campus who was in the cave for some fun time with his friends. David considered the report spurious and wanted to open the investigation again suspecting death due to some prank, until his talk with Mishra. There seemed to be something going on in this cave and it was required to keep the people safe. David got up quickly from his reverie and knocked off the soup bowl. “Mr. Bright, I was just retiring for the night and now this mess. Won’t you ever be careful…” growled his housekeeper. David hurried to make a call and then went to bed. At 8 a.m. the next morning he was seated in Mishra’s office with a ceaseless flow of explanations from him. It seemed like Mishra had never had the chance to explain the situation properly. After the meeting, David had at least 5 pages of very detailed and interesting notes. Dr. Mishra seemed to be content and less afraid that David was taking this seriously. Mishra had warned him against radiation but David wanted to have first hand experience in the cave. He went through the opening of the cave and slowly looked around the hall. He took out a small torch light and a magnifying glass from his inner pocked and moved slowly to the chamber entrance mentioned by Mishra. He was not startled when his torch bulb exploded suddenly due to prior warning. He had already taken keen note of one of the symbols on the rocks and decided to look it through. Back in his office he browsed the web rigorously after giving instructions to his secretary not to disturb him for anything else that day. By the time it was dark, he had nothing but earth’s heightened magnetic activity in some caves as an explanation for the events. This he considered very vague and decided to go back and explore more. By the time he was at the cave’s entrance think blue-black clouds covered the sky in a peculiar way. The thing that caught his eye was a thin sliver of moon light that fell on the cave’s entrance in spite of the clouds. He stepped into the hall again few minutes later. While he was rummaging for his magnifying glass he heard some footsteps. He listened more carefully and identified the source of the muffled steps as the chamber. He cautiously proceeded towards its opening. The place seemed as rocky and dark as before. It was creepy but he did not falter back. This time he lit a candle that he had thoughtfully brought with him. Going further in, into the round chamber he noticed that some symbols on the rocks were of the same design. He touched one of these symbols cautiously. Nothing happened. So he proceeded to the other rocks. Suddenly one of the symbols glowed like radium in the dark. To watch it more carefully he blew off his candle. He then touched another one and it grew dark again. The first symbol had stopped glowing. This reminded him of memory games. Getting interested he touched the first symbol again. Carefully observing he found three other symbols with the same pattern. He touched one of these and it protruded forward from the rock wall. Suddenly he heard an unearthly screech from somewhere inside. He stopped and thought of going back but then a golden light caught his eye. It slowly moved towards the second symbol starting at the first. He stood rooted to the spot. He startled when a loud unplugging noise issued suddenly and he stood gazing at a stainless steel room with a machine that stood at its centre and a floating figure working at it. The sliver of moon light was falling on the figure and then disappeared without any trace. David’s brain got clogged with questions. All he wanted to do was know what it was and if it was not his own mind playing tricks on him. The floating figure had not noticed him somehow, thank god, even though the opening of the entrance should have given the person a warning. His feet moved rapidly and silently without his brain’s coordination and he reached Mishra’s living quarters.
A sting operation showing Chiranjeevi of the Prajarajyam Party sharing his intimate views with IT professional recently sent the fledgling party into a tizzy.
The nine-minute video clip of a closed-door meeting Chiranjeevi had with IT professionals was telecast by local news channels on Wednesday. The clip was also uploaded on the internet.
The video showed Chiranjeevi interacting with the IT professional on different issues like political corruption, SEZs, weavers' deaths, etc. During the interaction, Chiranjeevi asked the participants to be wary of politicians willing to join PRP.
He went on to observe, "It may be inevitable for the party in some places because of their experience but they don't bring in freshness." "The change we want to bring in will not be achieved if we open the floodgates to politicians," he added.
Chiranjeevi was also seen saying that PRP rank and file should mingle with their counterparts in other political parties and be friendly with them so that they can find out the developments there. "Some kind of spying," he told them, chuckling. In the same breath he advised them to be cautious lest they should land in trouble if they betray their real intentions.
Soon after the telecast of the video clipping, the bloggers were busy posting comments for and against the episode. It is not clear as to who is behind this sting operation and its purpose.
What baffled the party leadership was how the meeting held within the four walls of the party office was reported in the media. PRP sources say that an important file went missing from Chiranjeevi's office recently and they suspect that it is an insider job.
Following this, Chiranjeevi has kept the keys of his office with one of his most trusted secretaries, party sources added.
It may be recalled that party spokesman Parkala Prabhakar recently said that he had a strong feeling that their telephones were being tapped. He said the suspicion was strengthened since the discussion that had taken place between Allu Arvind and TRS MLA T Harish Rao was reported in toto by the media.
Lobbying hard for liquidity infusion and rate cuts by RBI, industry association Assocham on Wednesday said that India Inc may slash workforce by a painful 25% as companies scramble to sustain operations amid the global economic turmoil.
Assocham in a survey said the layoffs would be in seven key industrial segments — steel, cement, IT-enabled services/BPO, financial and brokerage services, construction, real estate and aviation — "to begin with." The chamber also said the negative sentiments could be turned around if RBI "discontinues with its tight monetary policy" and slashes rates for bringing in more liquidity in the market "which in turn would create lot of economic activities for creation of job opportunities."
"The promoters are no longer in a position to sustain their operations with existing manpower strength," said the chamber that based its "analysis" on "direct interaction with players concerned in identified sectors." Experts, though, doubted the chamber's pessimism.
Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said HR heads of a majority of companies in the badly-affected segments had drawn up "conclusive plans" to curtail workforce by 25-30%, "announcements for which is likely in next 10 days or so." It said the layoffs could have come earlier, but companies did not want to give pink slips before Diwali.
"Employers have no other alternative as part of their corporate strategy... for sustaining their operations with squeezed margins (even) after drastic cost cutting measures," Jindal said, quoting from the chamber's analysis. Companies had already denied bonus and ex-gratia to employees, Assocham added.
The analysis said, "... majority of non-performing working force with little productivity, punctuality and efficiency knows that (the) axe is going to fall in view of the current economic negativity and therefore corporates are not anticipating any resistance in executing their conclusive restructuring and downsizing measures."
Five persons were on Thursday arrested in connection with the murder of an Uttar Pradesh migrant in a suburban local train in Mumbai, a senior officer of the Government Railway Police (GRP) said. ( Watch )
"We questioned many people yesterday and based on information and eyewitness accounts, five persons have been arrested today," GRP commissioner A K Sharma said.
Sharma, however, refused to comment on whether the five arrested persons were affiliated to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray.
They are likely to be produced in a court later today.
On Wednesday, the GRP, which takes orders from the railway ministry, detained 20 people in connection with Tuesday’s violence.
The Maharashtra government has tried to downplay the lynching of the UP labourer, saying it wasn’t a hate crime against north Indians, amid reports that some of them could be from Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The victim, Dharamdev Rai (25), was on a Victoria Terminus-bound local train from Khopoli along with his three friends on Tuesday when a group of 10-12 Marathi-speaking youths attacked them. The four were on their way to catch a train home to UP for the Diwali holidays.
As the incident — coming close on the heels of Mumbai cops gunning down Patna man Rahul Raj in a BEST bus — increased pressure on the Maharashtra government to stop violence against north Indians , deputy CM R R Patil said initial reports suggested there was nothing to indicate that the attackers targeted the men for being north Indians.
”When we catch the culprits, we will find the real reason for the murder. But initial reports suggest that nobody shouted any slogan in support of Marathis or any outfit or any leader,’’ said Patil. He, however, announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the victim.
A suicide attack inside a government ministry conference room in the Afghan capital Kabul Thursday killed at least five people and wounded several others, police said.
"There was an explosion inside the press conference room of the ministry of information and culture," deputy Kabul police chief Alishah Ahmadzai said.
"We can confirm at least five people martyred and another five wounded."
Serial blasts rocked Guwahati and Upper Assam on Thursday morning. The blasts took place on Dispur Road, Pan Bazaar, Ganeshguri and Fancy Bazaar.
More bombs exploded in Upper Assam, in Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Bongaigoan and Tinsukia districts. The bomb at Ganeshguri was planted in a car.
One of the bomb blasts took place about 100 meters from Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's official residence.
The blasts took place almost simultaneously at about 1130 hrs IST at crowded marketplaces.
An official said that several people have been injured though he refused to give any figures. Unofficial estimates say that at least 32 people have died in the blasts - seven people have died in the Fancy Bazaar blasts and 15 people have died in the Kokrajhar blasts.
In pics: Serial blasts rock Assam
Live TV: Serial blasts rock Assam
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Intelligence sources have told CNN-IBN that the 'Bravo Company' of the 28th battalion of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) could be behind the blasts. Two companies of the 28th battalion of ULFA - Alfa and Charlie - have already signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of Assam. ULFA therefore finds itself decimated completely.
However, other officials suspect All Tripura Tiger Force, who trained along with the ULFA.
These two groups are the only ones which have the capability of organising such coordinated blasts.
Gogoi has called for an emergency meeting in Guwahati.
In June this year, a powerful blast injured at least 10 people, two of them critically, in the eastern Assam town of Naogaon. The blast had taken place near a railway station in Naogaon, 130 km from Guwahati.
The police had then blamed the outlawed ULFA for the blast.
In March this year, one person was killed and over 20 injured, including policemen, in a powerful bomb blast in upper Assam's Dhemaji district. The ULFA was blamed again.
Official sources said the bomb exploded in an open field where a local festival Ali-Aie-Lrigang was being celebrated near the telephone exchange at Jonai.
The launch of diesel Nano has been postponed due to demand slowdown and capex crunch owing to the shift from Singur to Sanand. According to auto i ndustry sources, diesel Nano, which was scheduled to rollout sometime in 2009, has now been delayed with the focus on first launching the gasoline version in the first quarter of the next calendar year.
A company spokesman said: “Tata Motors has consistently said that Nano will be launched with a gasoline engine. (Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata) had said (at the Auto Expo) that Nano will be launched with a gasoline engine, and added that we would also work on other engine options, including diesel, CNG, etc. There is no departure from that plan. But the car will be launched with a gasoline engine.”
At its Auto Expo unveiling in January this year, Mr Tata had indicated that the company was planning diesel and hybrid versions of Nano. “By and large we’ve always been a diesel company, so we will have a diesel version that will follow this variant soon after,” Mr Tata had said. At that time vendor sources had indicated that diesel Nano would come to the market by July-September 2009.
As late as September, Tata Motors shared variant and feature details with dealers as part of a product familiarisation and training programme to prepare them for Nano launch. It informed dealers that Nano is set to roll out in three petrol variants—standard , deluxe and luxury. And when the diesel version comes, it too would sport the same three variants.
Vendor sources say the financial and time loss due to the shift from Singur has hit the Nano project. The current liquidity crisis and demand slowdown haven’t helped either. The diesel delay is the result of this double whammy.
The scheduled launch of gasoline Nano in the last quarter of this calendar is likely to be pushed back to the first quarter of next calendar year, say sources. The diesel version will face a domino delay . The delay in shifting the mother plant, the resultant financial loss and the current market turbulence has pushed back both the petrol and diesel launch date, say sources.
Vendor sources say work on the world’s smallest CRDi diesel engine had progressed to an advanced stage. Tata Motors is planning to strap on a diesel engine developed by German powertrain maker FEV on Nano. According to auto industry sources, the small diesel engine will have fuel injection systems developed by Bosch, but the rest of the platform is being developed by Tata Motors and FEV, an independent engine and powertrain systems research, design and development company, based in Aachen, Germany. Sources say the 800cc, turbo-charged , CRDi diesel engine will be twocylinder and crank out at least 30% more mileage compared to 800cc petrol cars.
Second-hand car sales move north
The intense liquidity crunch appears to have come as a blessing in disguise for the pre-owned car business, reports Sutanuka Ghosal & Debjoy Sengupta from Kolkata. With auto-financiers shying away from giving loans for new cars, buyers are now going in for second-hand purchases.
Cars, which are typically one-to-two-years-old , are available at attractive prices. Small cars like Santro, Alto, Zen, WagonR, Indica, Maruti 800 have lately become the choicest picks in the pre-owned car category. Maruti Suzuki’s second-hand car business, in fact, has jumped 27% during the first half of the current fiscal.
It has received 22,000 serious queries through its website during the same time. “In October, sales have increased by as much as 22% over the previous corresponding period,” Maruti Suzuki chief GM (sales support ) Ravi Bhatia, also in charge of Maruti True Value, told ET. “For the first time, the number of cars Maruti TrueValue sold in September 2008 has been more than the number purchased.”
Following selling by stockists, sparked off by a weakening trend in the global market, gold prices fell by Rs 200 to Rs 12,010 per 10 gram in the national capital on the eve of Diwali festival today.
While the selling pressure gathered momentum, silver coins, used most during the festival, remained neglected and tumbled by Rs 1,000 per 100 pieces.
Precious metals turned extremely weak in last few sessions in line with a falling trend in international markets where gold fell from USD 849 an ounce to USD 711, as dollar gained against the leading currencies.
Marketmen said fresh selling by stockists influenced by weakening trend in global market mainly led to fall in the precious metal prices.
They said the demand for the Diwali festival was negligible amid fresh arrivals.
Jewellery demand from overseas buyers weakened because of a weaker rupee and further influenced trading sentiment, they said.
Standard gold and ornaments lost Rs 200 each at Rs 12,010 and Rs 11,860 per ten gram, respectively, while sovereign was down by Rs 50 to Rs 10,450 per piece of eight gram.
Silver coins plunged by Rs 1,000 to Rs 27,000 for buying and Rs 27,100 for selling of 100 coins on poor off-take by coins makers. Silver ready fell by Rs 500 to Rs 16,400 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 470 to Rs 16,280 per kg.
The Central and Bihar governments have reacted sharply against the Mumbai police killing a young man who allegedly fired shots and shouted slogans against Navnirman Seva (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray in a bus in Mumbai on Monday.
Police claim 23-year-old Rahul Raj, a resident of Patna who was visiting Mumbai, was mentally unstable and was gunned down when he refused to surrender or throw away his gun.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is visiting Delhi, condemned the Mumbai police for killing Raj. ''From the TV clippings it seemed that he could easily have been overpowered and arrested by the police instead of shooting him down,'' said Kumar.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Shyam Rajak, general secretary of the state opposition Rashtriya Janta Dal party, also condemned the police.
The Central government has asked the Maharashtra government to send it a report on the incident, said Union State Home Minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal.
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In pics: Gunman, cops face-off in Mumbai bus
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil rejected allegations of police excess. ''We will not allow mad men with guns in hand to have a free run. We will take stern and quick action against them,'' he said.
The dead man’s father alleged in Patna the police had murdered his son in a ''fake encounter''.
''My son was never involved in politics and he didn’t have any grudge against Thackeray,'' said Kundan Kumar, a schoolteacher.
Kumar said Raj had a diploma holder from the Indian Institute of Health Education in Patna and had gone to Mumbai alone for a job. He claimed Raj spoke to him on Sunday and was ''in a perfect frame of mind''.
Raj allegedly shot and injured the conductor of a bus and threatened passengers in the northeast suburb of Kurla.
Sadanand Date, Additional Commissioner of Police, said his officials were forced to shoot down Raj. "We were forced to retaliate. There were several witnesses to incident," said Date, who claimed an unlicensed pistol had been recovered from Raj.
A plain signpost marks out the international boundary between India and Nepal.
On one side is Bihar, on the other Nepal's Terai region. The 1751-km-long border is largely unmarked, unguarded, porous, and smuggling is as easy as cycling across the border with illegal goods.
The desperately poor people of the border smuggled essential commodities for years but increasingly a new and dangerous kind of contraband is making its way across from Nepal to India: fake Indian currency.
Birganj, the biggest town in Nepal's Terai region, has become a transit point for almost all the fake currency entering India. The smuggling is so widespread that Birganj’s Superintendent of Police Yogeshwar Rom Khami can produce produces hundreds of fake notes on asking.
“We have confiscated more than Rs 400,000 in fake notes. People from both sides (of the border) are involved in making these notes,” says Khami. And behind the fake currency racked is India’s traditional enemy Pakistan.
ISI imprint
Pakistani intelligence agents are using the porous border to push hundreds of crores of counterfeit Indian currency from Nepal to India. Their objective is to fund terror and sabotage the Indian economy.
The Raxaul-Birganj border crossing is where over 80 per cent of India's legitimate trade with Nepal is conducted. The border market is busy with national boundaries hold little meaning. It is also a very corrupt place.
On the Indian side agents for the police collect bribes from almost every traveller. Raxaul is one of the most corrupt customs posts on the Indian border and a place were several hundred crores of fake currency pass into the country.
On the Nepal side of the border the corruption is even more brazen. Nobody stopped the CNN-IBN team from filming border officials extorting money from people entering Nepal. No questions are asked, no fingers pointed.
A man carrying hundreds of fake Indian notes in a bag cycled past Nepalese customs and within minutes he was in India. Hundreds of couriers surreptitiously bring bundles of fake currency into India every day, neatly packed and hidden in small consignments of smuggled goods or personal belongings.
Fake currency dealers and couriers in Nepal told CNN-IBN that Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is pushing crores of fake currency every month into India from Nepal. They also said that by 2010 nearly Rs 10,000 crore of fake currency would be in circulation in India.
A fake currency dealer who works for ISI showed CNN-IBN wads of counterfeit Indian money and alleged the Pakistan Embassy in Kathmandu is the nerve centre for fake currency operations.
The ISI agent told us that Khalid Mehmood, a senior ISI officer working in the Embassy's Education Department, runs the network with the help of another ISI officer called Jamil Alam.
With Nepal still dealing with its transition from monarchy to democracy, the ISI has lost no time in setting up a country-wide network, aided by gangster Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company.
Superintendent of Police Khami hinted at ISI’s involvement but refused to blame it outright. “Certainly there are some nations and agencies behind this operation. A common person can’t identify which is fake money and which is real. I can't say anything sitting on this chair,” said Khami.
Nepalese law enforcement sources gave CNN-IBN photographs and information about some of the ISI's key operatives in Nepal. Sheikh Jikar Ullah is a known criminal and an agent of India’s most wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Lal Mohammad, another Dawood aide Kathmandu, is used by the ISI to ferry fake currency from Bangladesh and Thailand to Nepal on international flights.
Intelligence sources say Lal Mohammad has a direct link to Mufti Abdul Hannan, the chief of the terror outfit, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islam.
An emergency official said a helicopter crashed during a test flight in central Russia and killed four of the five people on board.
Regional emergency spokesman Andrei Rodygin says the Mi-8 craft went down around on the outskirts of Kazan. The city is about 700 kilometers east of Moscow.
Russian news reports said one of the pilots managed to parachute from the falling craft and was hospitalised in serious condition.
The Mi-8 is a workhorse helicopter used widely in civilian and military aviation in the former Soviet Union. Crashes occur frequently and are blamed on poor maintenance and aging equipment.
Two suspected terrorists killed in a shootout in Kashmir earlier this month were from Kerala and belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terror outfit, the Jammu and Kashmir police reiterated on Saturday.
Based on the election identity cards found on them, their fingerprints and other evidence, the men were identified as Abdul Rehman and Muhammad Fayaz, belonging to Kannur and Malappuram districts of Kerala respectively.
The two militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir Kupwara district on October 7 by security forces.
"A senior police officer from the special branch of Kerala's CID who arrived here to identify the slain militants has confirmed that both of them were from Kerala," Uttam Chand, senior superintendent of police Kupwara district, said.
After the shootout, a senior police official here had claimed that both the terrorists, who were code-named Fayaz and Yasin and carried Malayalam literature with them, belonged to Kerala, but the Kerala police had refuted the claim.
"The investigation into the identity of the slain militants had become necessary after the denial by the police in Kerala. The relatives of the slain militants in Kerala have now been informed about the incident," the official said.
The Kerala government had on Tuesday confirmed that the two slain men belonged to the state.
In another sign of deepening financial crisis, Stearns Bank will acquire the failed Georgia-based Alpha Bank and Trust, making it the 16th American bank to fall this year.
On Friday, the US authorities seized the operations of Alpha Bank.
"Alpha Bank and Trust, Alpharetta, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named receiver.
"To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Stearns Bank, National Association, St Cloud, Minnesota, to assume the insured deposits of Alpha Bank & Trust," the FDIC said in a statement yesterday.
The statement noted that Alpha Bank is the 16th FDIC-insured institution to be closed this year and added that the cost to its Deposit Insurance Fund would be $158.1m.
In a separate statement on Friday, Stearns Bank's Chief Executive Norman C Skalicky said the current capital position of the bank is about $250m.
"We have over 23% capital in our banking system today. This is three times the average capital of all commercial banks in the United States, four times what is considered being well capitalised, and almost ten times what some of the investment banks have or had."
"We have a very sound and diversified asset portfolio spread between six different financial products. We are pleased to bring the safety and soundness of Stearns Bank to the former depositors of Alpha Bank & Trust," Norman C Skalicky said.
Minnesota-based Stearns Bank has more than one billion dollars in assets
• 2nd Ings: Australia 195/10(64.4) Prev Ings : Aus 268/10 Ind 469/10 Ind 314/3 Match Report | Pictures | Videos
• SMS CRI to 58888 for latest scores • l • SMS SUB CRI to 58888 for cricket alerts Batting R B 4s 6s S/R Matthew Hayden lbw Harbhajan Singh 29 20 4 0 145 Simon Katich c Sachin Tendulkar b Harbhajan Singh 20 26 4 0 76.92 Ricky Ponting (C) b Ishant Sharma 2 11 0 0 18.18 Michael Hussey lbw Harbhajan Singh 1 4 0 0 25 Michael Clarke c Sachin Tendulkar b Amit Mishra 69 152 9 0 45.39 Shane Watson lbw Ishant Sharma 2 22 0 0 9.09 Brad Haddin (W) b Zaheer Khan 37 105 6 0 35.24 Cameron White c MS Dhoni b Zaheer Khan 1 3 0 0 33.33 Brett Lee b Zaheer Khan 0 1 0 0 0 Mitchell Johnson c & b Amit Mishra 26 44 4 0 59.09 Peter Siddle Not Out 0 4 0 0 0 Extras: 8(NB-4, WB-0, LB-0, Byes - 4, Penalty-0) Run Rate:3.02
Total Score: 195/10 (64.4)
Bowling O M R W NB WD E/R Zaheer Khan 15.0 3 71 3 1 0 4.73 Ishant Sharma 13.0 4 42 2 0 0 3.23 Harbhajan Singh 20.0 3 36 3 1 0 1.8 Amit Mishra 11.4 2 35 2 2 0 3 Virender Sehwag 5.0 2 7 0 0 0 1.4
Fall of Wickets 1-49 (Matthew Hayden 7.2), 2-50 (Simon Katich 7.6), 3-52 (Michael Hussey 9.5), 4-52 (Ricky Ponting 10.2), 5-58 (Shane Watson 16.3), 6-142 (Brad Haddin 46.6), 7-144 (Cameron White 48.2), 8-144 (Brett Lee 48.3), 9-194 (Mitchell Johnson 62.6), 10-195 (Michael Clarke 64.4)
India Team Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra
Abbreviations : ( R - Runs, B - Balls, 4s - Fours, 6s - Sixes, S/R - Strike Rate, NB - No Balls, WB - Wide Balls, LB - Leg Byes, O - Overs, M - Maidens, W - Wickets, E/R - Economy Rate)
The Artificial Pull Chapter 1 “The flash lights don’t work either professor,” replied Jessica. Dr. Mishra had asked her this from behind the wall that hid her, after noticing that his compass had gone crazy. They were in an alienated world. The ground was all rock though covered with slippery moss, the air smelled damp and unhealthy. The cave was more than 500 feet into the earth, recognizable by only a two foot wide fissure in the earth’s outer crust. Jessica, a bio-engineering student of Dr. Mishra in the University of Illinois was in her final year and pleased with her accomplishments in the subject, Dr. Mishra had agreed to take the trip to a nearby cave located in the woods adjoining the campus, for any new finding that can help her with her final paper. In fact, Dr.Mishra, in his late 40’s and unmarried, adored the intelligent but pretty 22 year old student. Both were experienced, though amateurs in cave exploring and so the trip was fixed to the cave, which though not famous was inhabited and provided with live subjects of study. The cave’s hall, standing at only 57 feet deep, was wide enough to pace when in anxiety and this was exactly what Dr. Mishra was doing. Jessica had entered into a chamber that had an opening from the hall and had screamed loudly in awe. The walls of this chamber were so fragile that her scream had brought them in and now a solid wall of rock and sand stood between them. After a few panic strokes, Jessica had regained her calm and was now examining the chamber. The chamber was small and round. There were peculiar signs on the walls which she felt with her hand. The darkness in the chamber was deep but slowly her eyes adjusted to the feeble light coming from the crevices in the fallen rock wall. “This is strange”, she murmured musingly and then shouted “Dr., there are small marks in these walls and each are carved above what look like the openings to some storage areas”. “What do you mean?” asked professor Mishra, trying very hard to keep the anxiety out of his voice. His foremost thought now was to get them out safely back into the sun lit world. He still had a working flash light with him but two other compasses and another flash light were with Jessica. Their trip was meant to start at dawn and end at dusk and the sky visible above him through the small fissure seemed to be darkening. He attributed this to the clouds as his wrist watch still read 2:32 p.m. He asked, “Have your compasses gone haywire too or is it just the flash lights and my compass?” Jessica now felt for the compass she had been using. She found it lying on the floor, its glass broken and stamped upon by her. So she took the spare compass from her back pack and saw that its needles, which were peculiarly bent, were rotating out of control. “The one unbroken compass is totally out of order, professor…… Sir, do you think it safe to venture further?” she said. “No” came the answer, prompt and commanding. Jessica obeyed and kept her curiosity under control. After a little more pacing during which time he tried calling for some help from his cell phone (disconnected), he decided to clear the debris themselves and suggested this to Jessica. Both started to scrape for a while and small rocks began to get loose. Slowly a hole large enough for Jessica to crawl out was created. “You have to take a look at this, professor before we leave” she pleaded. Though adamant at his decision of getting them out of there safely first, his curiosity got the worst of him and he peeked through the hole. In the dim light he could not see much so he squeezed his hand, holding the flash light into the hole. A second scream and there was a bright flash of light. Will be continued....
NRI entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Baxi, founder of a recycling firm that has emerged as one of the top companies in Europe, has won the prestigious 'Asian of the Year Award'. Baxi, Chairman of J and H Sales (International) Ltd, the company he founded, received the award at a glittering ceremony organised by 'Asian Who's Who International', a publication about leading Asians in the UK, at the Dorchester Hotel here last night. Matthew Amroliwala and Riz Lateef, the BBC News presentation team, handed over the award to 56-year-old Baxi, who is also President of the European Division of the World Punjabi Organisation. Lord Swraj Paul, NRI industrialist and winner of the first Asian of the Year Award in 1987-88 who was the Chief Guest at the event, lauded the achievements of the Asian community because of their family values and hard work. According to the citation, Baxi's company has grown to become one of Europe's leading fibre recycling exporters, operating across the USA, Europe and the Far East. In 2001, the company received the Queen's Award for Enterprise (International Trade). Baxi was recently appointed President of the Paper Division of the Bureau of International Recycling in Bruxelles, a trade federation representing the recycling industry in over 70 countries. Teji Singh, founder of international communications agency Sterling Media, bagged the Asian Leadership in Harmony Award while Kamel Hothi, Asian Marketing Director - Corporate Markets, Lloyds TSB Group, received the Asian Leadership in Diversity Award.
Courses offered: Admission for Second Semester 2008 – 2009 Integrated First Degree Programme: a) Programmes Offered at BITS, Pilani - Pilani Campus: B.E.(Hons.), B.Pharm.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Tech.) b) Programmes Offered at BITS, Pilani - Goa Campus: B.E.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Tech.) degree c) Programmes Offered at BITS, Pilani - Hyderabad Campus: B.E.(Hons.), B.Pharm.(Hons.) , M.Sc.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Tech.) 2. Higher Degree Programmes (At BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus) (Normally four semesters.): M.E. in Chemical; Civil (with specialization in Structural Engineering/Transportation Engineering): Communication Engineering; Embedded Systems; Computer Science; Mechanical; Software Systems; M.Pharm; M.Pharm. (with specialization in Pharmaceutical Chemistry), Master of Public Health (MPH). 3. Doctoral Programmes leading to Ph.D.: Applications are invited for institute’s Ph.D. programme in all areas of Engineering and Science disciplines. Eligibility: 1. For Integrated First Degree Programme: Only candidates who have appeared and obtained valid scores in BITSAT – 2008 test conducted during May – June 2008 are eligible to apply. The merit position of the candidates for admission will be based on score obtained by the candidates in BITSAT – 2008. Candidates should have passed the 12th examination of 10+2 system from a recognized Central or State board or its equivalent with Physics, Chemistry, and Biology or Mathematics and adequate proficiency in English. The candidate should have obtained a minimum of aggregate 80% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics subjects (if he/she has taken Mathematics in BITSAT) or a minimum of aggregate 80% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects (if he/she has taken Biology in BITSAT) subjects in 12th examination, with at least 60% marks in each of the Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics / Biology subjects. For Higher Degree Programmes: Candidates obtaining a minimum of aggregate 60% marks in the qualifying degree examination. Input Qualification: i) Chemical; Civil; Computer Science; Mechanical: Integrated first degree of BITS in the same discipline or its equivalent. ii) Embedded Systems - Integrated first degree of BITS in Electrical & Electronics/ Electronics & Instrumentation / Computer Science or its equivalent. iii) Communication Engineering - Integrated first degree of BITS in Electrical and Electronics / Electronics & Instrumentation or its equivalent. iv) Software Systems -Any Integrated First degree of BITS or its equivalent with specific prior preparation. v) M.Pharm; M.Pharm. (with specialization in Pharmaceutical Chemistry) - Integrated first degree of BITS in Pharmacy or its equivalent. vi) MPH -Any integrated First degree of BITS or its equivalent, M.B.B.S., B.D.S., M.Sc.(Nursing), or their equivalent. For Doctoral Programmes: Any Higher Degree of BITS or its equivalent. Employed professionals working in Industries and R&D Organizations and having long experience and proven competence aspiring for Ph.D. programmes will be considered under the Ph.D. Aspirants scheme and will be allowed to pursue their research at their own locations of work. Candidates holding any of BITS degree or working in an organization collaborating with BITS will normally be considered under this scheme. Application procedure: Interested and eligible candidates should apply through the prescribed application form available online at http://www.bitsadmission.com/ and take the printout of the filled form. The completed application form along with the prescribed fee in the form of a crossed Demand Draft should be sent to Admissions officer, BITS, Pilani-333031. Demand draft should be drawn in favour of Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani Payable at State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Pilani (Code: 10398) or UCO Bank Vidya Vihar, Pilani (Code:0150) or State Bank of India, Pilani (Code: 11309) Application Fee: Rs.200/- for Integrated first degree programmes, Rs.1000/- for Higher degree programmes and Rs.800/- for Ph.D. programmes. If the Demand Draft is payable at any other branch (or) bank in India, an additional amount of Rs. 100/- should be added towards collection charges. Email : admnoc@bits-pilani.ac.in Further details can be taken from: Tel: 01596-242205 Fax: 01596-244183 Website: http://www.bitsadmission.com/ Address: Pilani-333031 Last date of submission of Forms: 5.00 P.M. on 29th N0vember 2008. Note : Admissions to Higher degree Programmes except MPH are based on the performance of the candidates in the computer based online test conducted by BITS followed by interviews of shortlisted candidates. The tests will be held at Pilani & Goa. The tests will have objective type questions (multiple choice) only and will be conducted during 20th - 21st December 2008. Further short listed candidates will be asked to come to Pilani for interview at their own cost and the final selection is based on the performance in the tests and interviews. The details of test and syllabus for the test are available at the BITS website: http://www.bitsadmission.com/ Admissions to MPH are based on the performance of the candidates in a written test, Group discussion and interviews all to be conducted in Pilani on 3rd January. 2009.
