Times Chennai E-Paper, March 09, 2009

8/14/2019 Times Chennai E-Paper, March 09, 2009

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VOL: 2 ISSUE 52 March 09, 2009

hennai, March 09Launching a day-

ng fast to expresslidarity with the Sri

nkan Tamils, AIADMKader J Jayalalithaa ononday slammed theentre and the DMKvernment in Tamil Nadu

for not having any"genuine concern" for theTamils in the islandnation.

" T h e U P AG o v e r n m e n t f a i l e dm i s e r a b l y b y n o tdespatching immediatehumanitarian aid. Why

did not the Governmentsend relief material suchas food, medicines andclothes? The Centre, as

well as the ruling DMK(which is a constituent ofthe UPA) have nogenuine concerns for the(Sr i Lankan) Tami l

people," she said.J a y a l a l i t h a a

said though the fast,aimed at pressuring theCentre to use its goodoffices with Sri Lanka todeclare an immediateceasefire in the islandnation, "would not bringrelief to the "hunger-

struck Tamils," it would,however, convey the"sentiments and anger ofthe people of Tamil Naduagainst the State and

Central governments."Announcing that herparty would collect fundsfor the Sri Lankan Tamils,she made the f i rs tpersonal contribution ofRs five lakh.

Describing theCongress and DMK'sdecision to continue their

alliance as "borne out ofa b s u r d c o u r a g e , "Jayalalithaa, who hadrecently made a vain bidto woo Congress by

urging it to leave the "DMKquicksand," said thep e o p l e w i l l g i v e a"drubbing" to the alliance inthe elections.

Besides partyleaders and hundreds ofworkers, AIADMK ally andCPI state Secretary DPandian also joined thefast being observed nearthe Chepauk cr icketstadium.

- Agencies

Sri Lankan Tamils issue

Jayalalithaa goes on fast; Slams Centre, DMK

hennai, March 09Justice Hemant

axman Gokhale was ononday sworn-in as thehief Justice of the Madrasgh Court.

The Tamil Nadu

overnor Surjit Singharnala administered theath of office to Mr. Justiceokhale at the Raj Bhavanere.

M r . J u s t i c eokhale, who was Chiefstice of the Allahabadgh Court, had been

transferred to the MadrasHigh Court in place ofCh ie f Jus t i ce A KG a n g u l y w h o w a selevated as a SupremeCourt judge in Decemberlast year.

Those presenta t the swear ing- inincluded Acting ChiefJ u s t i c e S JMukhopadhyaya, other judges of the high courtand representatives ofvar ious advocates 'associations.

F i n a n c eMinister K Anbazhgan,Local AdministrationMinister M K Stalin, ChiefSecretary K Sripathy,Home Secre ta ry SMalathy, DGP KP Jain

a n d C i t y P o l i c eC o m m i s s i o n e r KRadhakrishnan werealso among those whoattended the function.

- Agencies

Justice Gokhale sworn inChief Justice of Madras High Court


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Times Chennai E-Paperarch 09, 2009 Page 3

hennai, March 09:Mr Justice H L

okhale, who was sworn inthe new Chief Justice of

adras High Court, todayid the legal fraternity in

amil Nadu was passingrough a difficult phase.

eplying to felicitations ate welcome ceremony ate Madras High Court, hea i d t h e c i t i z e n s 'xpec ta t ions on thediciary has increased.

''We have to meete expectations of themmon litigants'', heded.

Without directlyferring to the February 19a s h b e t w e e n t h evocates and the police in

the court campus, MrJustice Gokhale said thelegal fraternity waspassing through difficulttimes.

''The Bar had agreat role to play in thiscourt'', he said and

quoted a couplet fromTamil epic 'Thirukkural'a n d a p p e a l e d t oadvocates to follow it.

E a r l i e r ,A d v o c a t e G e n e r a lMasilamani welcomedhim and said Mr JusticeGokhale has assumedoffice as the 43rd ChiefJustice of the MadrasHigh court.

G o v e r n m e n tAdvocates, and officer-

bearers o f var iousAdvocates Associationsunder the banner of JointAction Committee (JAC),par t i c ipa ted in thewelcome ceremony.

A lawyer UdayaBanu, belonging to the

C o n g r e s s S C / S TAdvocates wing, createda flutter when he came tothe function sporting ahelmet.

When askedabout it he sarcasticallysaid since he fearedattack from the police, hewas wearing it as aprecautionary measureto protect himself.

-Agencies

New CJ reminds HC Bar ofits responsibilities

hennai, March 09The last date for

nding nominations fore Tamil Nadu Youngomen Scientist Award-

008 and the Lifetimechievement Award for

Women-2008 has beenextended up to March31.

A press releasefrom Science City saidthat the application formis available on its website

www.sciencecitychennai.com.

Scientists mayalso call Science Cityoffice on 24454054 or24454034 for furtherdetails.

Last date for sendingnominations extended

hennai, March 09Besides ladies

nd gen t s , pub l i cvatories in Chennai mayon offer a third option r transgenders. Theh e n n a i M u n i c i p a lorporation has set asides 45 lakh for a pilot project bu i ld th ree such

vatories for transgendersthe city.

W h i l e t h enstruction is expected to

egin after the polls, theficials have alreadyentified areas with a

nsiderable transgenderopulation in south andntral Chennai. The firstll be built in Saidapet,here it will cater to thoseving in Kothamedu,heedeer Nagar andhuma Nagar.

Each lavatory,th both male and femalenals for those who have

ndergone sex change asell as those who are yet too so, is estimated to costbout Rs 12-15 lakh.uncipal Commissionerajesh Lakhoni said thatore such toilets would beilt, depending on thesponse.

For the moment,e response has beenther mixed. While theree some who have

elcomed the move, manyel that it would lead toore isolation of the

transgender community.I dont agree with this.We want to mingle withthe mainstream. Wed o n t w a n t t o b eseparated like this, saidA a s h a B h a r a t h i ,president of the TamilN a d u A r a v a n i g a lAssociat ion. Usingseparate toilets will opent h e w a y f o rdiscrimination. We wantto be considered asfemales. In our hearts,we are women.But Lakhoni countered

that the move was aimedat extending recognitionto the community andmainstreaming them.Pointing out that thescheme was announcedin the budget last month,he said a survey revealedthat 99 per cent of therespondents did not wantto use the same toilets astransgenders.S u p p o r t i n g t h egovernments decision,R o s e V e n k a t e s a n ,Indias first transgenderTV host who anchorsIppadikku Rose, said itwas a good start. One ofthe most basic needs istoilets. It is a big problem,because not everyonehas undergone a sexchange. This is a goodidea, but in the long run, Isee a society where thereis no difference and all

use the same toilets, shesaid.Venkatesan uses theladies toilets. She hadissues when she was stilltransitioning from male tofemale, but her celebritystatus ensured that shef o u n d a c c e p t a n c equickly.However, Dr Lakshmibai,associated with the TamilNadu AIDS Initiative thatworks with over 15,000transgenders in the state,denounced the move.On the one hand, we are

try ing to get themaccepted as women andmainstream them, butt h i s c r e a t e s m o r eisolation. If they have touse separate toilets,there are more chanceso f t h e m g e t t i n gvictimised, she said.With a population ofa b o u t 3 0 , 0 0 0transgenders, TamilNadu has implementedseveral schemes forthem, including thecreat ion of wel fareboards, separate voteridentification cards andration cards and free sexcorrection operations.Recently, the stateGovernment allocatedRs 1 crore for a grouphousing project for thecommunity

-Agencies

Civic move on toilets fortransgenders sparks off debate

Chennai, March 09 :V. Vignesh and

N Keerthivasan fromG K M C o l l e g e o fE n g i n e e r i n g a n dTechnology emerged asthe winners at the firstedition of 'Design ACE-2009 ' , S ta te Leve lEngineer ing DesignContest conducted byB a r r y - W e h m i l l e rInternational Resources(BWIR), concluded onMarch 7 , 2009, i nChennai. The contestr e c e i v e d a noverwhelming responseof more than 100 entries,out of which 15 teams gotthrough to the finals.

The valedictoryfunction was presided byDr. R. Radhakrishnan,Vice Chancellor, AnnaUniversity Coimbatore.

The 3 monthlong con tes t i s an

endeavor by BWIR topromote and encouragedes i gn c apab i l i t i e samong the engineeringstudents.

The contestantsof 'Design ACE-2009'submitted one innovativedesign and a businessproblem design alongwith a short write-up. Thef i n a l i s t s g o t a nopportunity to presenttheir models in front ofjury for 15 minutes.

The w innerswere awarded a cashprize of Rs. 30,000. B.M a n o j a n d K .Ramkumar, PSG Collegeof Technology won theSecond Prize of Rs.25000 while K.Y Balajiand S.Suganesh ofS o n a C o l l e g e o fTechnology stood thirdwinning Rs. 20, 000. Thetop three teams, in

addition to the cash prizeswere of fered a paidinternship at BWIR to workon real-time projects andlicenses of SolidWorks.

In addition to this,BWIR announced its planso f B W I R A c a d e m i aInitiative Program 'Seedingnew Talent Pool, for aninnovative tomorrow'.Announcing this innovativei n d u s t r y - a c a d e m i acol laboration, Senthi lKumar, Vice President andS e n i o r P a r t n e r -Operations, BWIR said"This is our first step tobridge the divide betweenthe industry practicalitiesand academic curriculumswhich would address theg r e a t d e m a n d f o rindigenous specializedengineering talent".

-Agencies

GKM College of Engineering andTechnology Win 'Design ACE - 2009

Chennai, March 09Pay Rs 18,000

and reach Tirupati in 30minutes from Chennai.This and many similar journeys will now bep o s s i b l e w i t h t h eChennai- based Indra AirPrivate Limited (IAPL) allset to launch coptercharter services to selectpilgrimage centres insouth India.

On March 12,the company will launchits charter service toTirupati, according to W TS David, the generalmanager (commercialand operations), IAPL.

Soon, the serviceswould be extended toThiruvannamalai andSabarimala, he said.

I A P L h a simported the Enstrom480B helicopter from theUS. The aircraft, whichc a n c a r r y f o u rpassengers, can flywithout refueling forthree hours, said David,pointing out that thef l y i n g t i m e t oThiruvannamalai is 20minutes, while Tirupati is30 minutes away andSabarimala is two hoursaway.

David said that

company plans to buymore aircraft soon, addingthat a twinengine, seven-seater Bell 407, a six-seater Agusta 109 and a1 2 s e a t e r - C e s s n aCaravan will be added tothe companys fleet.

T h e f i n a n c econtroller of the company,C A Padmine, said politicalparties have shown greatinterest in chartering thecopter for electioneering.A demo was done inHyderabad for politicalparties last week, shesaid.

-Agencies

Now reach Tirupati in just 30 minutes

Chennai, March 09 :Call it a turn

back to the days of theRaj when India wascalled a land of the snakecharmers but a privateschool here has hit upona novel idea of removingexamination blues fromthe minds of students ofClass X with the help ofthe very same reptiles.

The authoritiesa t t h e E v e r w i nMatriculation HigherSecondary School ats u b u r b a n K o l a t h u rbrought snakes to theschool premises with thehelp of the staff of theGuindy Snake Park toremove examinationblues.

More than 3,600s t u d e n t s , f r o mKindergarten to Class X,had the experience of alifetime to learn aboutsnakes whose very

mention sent shiversdown the spine.Billed as ''Stress

Buster Regime'' ahead ofC l a s s X B o a r dExaminations, beginningon March 18, the SnakePark staff displayedabout 14 types of snakes,both poisonous and non-poisonous, and allowed

the students to handlethem.

''Defeat the fearbefore fear defeats you isthe mantra behind thisnovel initiative to preventstress from taking a tollon the performance of thes t u d e n t s i nexaminations,'' SchoolP r i n c i p a l BPurushothaman andsenior Vice-PrincipalKalaiarasi told UNI.

Though Yogaand pran ic hea l ingsessions had becomeorder of the day inschools to beat exam-related stress, this wasfor the first time a livedem ons t ra t i on w i t hsnakes, snake-related j ok es and ' ' Snak eAasana'' were organisedin a school. There wasnever a dull moment inthe nearly three-hour-long demonstration as

t h e S n a k e P a r kauthorities led by DrKannan, EnvironmentEducat ional Off icer,exhibited various types ofsnakes and patientlyanswered a volley ofquestions raised byenthusiastic students.' ' I t ' s a l e a r n i n gexperience as well for the

students as the event isa l s o a n a w a r e n e s scampaign to remove themyths and misgivingsabout snakes and snake-bites,'' they said.

' T h o u g h t h es tuden t s hav e beenpreparing for the boardexams for the last one-and-a-half-years (learningStandard X portions fromthe s ec ond t e rm o fStandard IX), they are bitw o r r i e d a b o u t t h e i rperformance in the exams.''A live-in demo with snakeswould help them not only toremove exam fear but alsolight up their mind andmake them stress-freew h e n t h e y s i t f o re x a m i n a t i o n s , M rPurushothaman said.

T h e s t u d e n t sw e r e a l s o t a u g h t''Bhujangasana'' (cobrapose), a form of Asana, torelieve the stress. The idea,

mooted by the schoolmanagement, had goned o w n w e l l w i t h t h estudents, and the schoola u t h o r i t i e s o o z e dconfidence that the Class Xstudents would come outwith flying colours byscoring good marks in theboard exams.

- Agencies

Playing with snakes for studentsto move up the ladder


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Times Chennai E-Paper March 09, 2009age 4 National

ew Delhi, March 09:The end of the 11-

ear-old alliance betweene BJP and the BJD mayove to be a lot more

ostly for the saffron partyan Naveen Patnaik'srissa-oriented regionalutfit.

To start with, the

JP move to withdrawpport to a governmentat has already completed tenure is nothing morean an exercise in futility,ccording to politicalnalysts.

The step is alsoot likely to achieveesident's Rule in theate ahead of the Lokabha polls as Patnaikeems all set to win theust vote in the 147-

ember assembly onarch 11.He has garnered

e backing of one MLAach from the CPI(M) andPI, two from the NCP, fourom the JMM and sevendependents, besides 61om his own party toobble together a strength

76, two more than thequisite number.

Wh i l e a t t heational level, the BJD'sapping ties with BJP is

eing seen as a blow to L Kdvani's prime ministerialspirations, at the state

vel, Patnaik by dumpinge saf f ron party is

xpected to improve hisecular credentials which

took a beating after theanti-Christian riots inKhandamal, the analystsfeel.

Given that the2008 Khandamal civicpoll results indicated thatthe BJP had lost popular

ground, the BJD's pullingaway seems to be lessa b o u t s e a ts h a r i n gdifferences andm o r e a b o u tensuring that itcan come topower againwith the help ofsecular alliessuch as the left,NCP, JMM andothers.

At thenational level,the snapping ofBJP-BJD ties

does seem tobe a "gamechanger" - thet e r m t h a t

CPI(M)'s Prakash Karathas used to describe theOrissa development. Atone go, it may not helpBJP's plans to emerge asleader of the largestc o m b i n a t i o n p o s t -elections, while makingthe "Third Front" projectlooks a lot more real thanwhat it seemed earlier,the analysts say.

The BJD's lurchtowards the Left mayseem to be an alliancemade on the rebound, butit would certainly not havedone so if it was notconvinced that the costsof a tie-up with the BJP ispossibly more than thebenefits.

The a l l i anceh a d y i e l d e d r i c hdividends to both theparties in all the assemblyand Lok Sabha electionsthat the two had foughttogether in the past, sothe break up is certainlynot because of some

minor differences of oneor two seats here orthere, they feel.

The Biju Janata

Dal was formed onDecember 26, 1997 afterthe demise of Orissastrongman Biju Patnaikin April 1997 and thealliance with the BJPcame into being inFebruary 1998 throughthe efforts of the latePramod Mahajan, who issurely being missed nowby the saffron party.

While the BJD-BJP alliance contestedLok Sabha elections in1998, 1999 and 2004,they went to assemblypolls jointly in 2000 and2004.

In the 2004assembly elections, theBJD got 61 seats whileBJP won 32, togetherobtaining a comfortablemajority of 93 membersin 147-member Orissa

Vidhan Sabha.The story was

even better in the 2000assembly polls whentogether they bagged106 seats with BJDwinning 68 and the BJP38.

In Lok Sabhaelections too, the allianceh a s y i e l d e d r i c hdividends for both partiesas together they have awon a majority of the 21seats in the state all threetimes.

In 2004, BJDgot 11 while BJP won inseven constituenciesleaving only two seats tothe opposition Congress.JMM had won one seat.

The al l iancealso proved fruitful forboth the parties in 1999Lok Sabha polls whenCongress could win onlyone of the 21 seats.The analysts say thatgiven this track record,the BJD's decision to gofor a divorce is muchmore deep rooted than itis willing to admit.

- Agencies

Break up may prove morecostly for BJP than BJD

um ba i , M arch 09 : M o h a m m e d

mal Amir Kasab, the lonerrorist arrested in theumbai terror strikes case,likely to participate in

ourt proceedings ononday through videonferencing following a

e i g h t e n e d t h e a terception about hiscurity.Kasab, arrested onovember 26, has neveren produced in open

ourt due to securityncerns. He is presentlydged in a high securityarrack of the Arthur Road

jail in central Mumbai.As Kasab is required tobe present for courtproceedings, but couldnot be brought to thecourt house in southMumbai due to securityc o n c e r n s v i d e oconferencing will be

arranged, sources said.The Mumbai police hasfiled its chargesheetagainst Kasab and twoothers, Faheem Ansariand Sabauddin Ahmed,f o r t h e i r a l l e g e dinvolvement in the terrorstrikes in which over 160persons were killed.

The prosecution todaywill be seeking the caseto be committed from themagistrate's court to thespecial court which hasbeen created to conductthe trial.The magistrate will alsopass orders on a plea by

Ansari and Ahmed,alleged Lashkar-e-Taibaoperatives, to receivecopies of the 11,000page chargesheet inUrdu. The original copiesare in Engl ish andMarathi.

- Agencies

Kasab's trial via video conferencing

Gorakhpur, March 09:A day after the

S a m a j w a d i P a r t yv i r tual ly ended the

possibility of an alliancewith Sonia Gandhi'sparty, the Congress onMonday said it will wait tillthe last moment for anamicable seat sharingarrangement with the SP

for the 80 Lok Sabhaseats in Uttar Pradesh.

"Doors wi l lremain open till the lastmoment though we areprepared to contest fromall seats. Yet, we willthink on how many seatswe can allot them (SP)like they have decided to

leave us 6," Congressgeneral secretary andUP in-charge DigvijaySingh said in a pressconference here.

Yesterday, SPsupremo Mulayam SinghYadav had pulled theplug on any alliance byannouncing that his partywould contest all but sixseats in UP.

However, theC o n g r e s s g e n e r a lsecretary today said thathis party would make

every effort to keepcommunal forces at bay inUP and elsewhere and forthat it would again seek theSP's support to check thedivision of votes during thecoming elections but itwould not compromise onits self-respect.

He said his party

was thankful to the SP forcoming to its aid during thetrust vote in the Lok Sabhaafter the Left withdrewsupport on the nuclear dealissue.

Maintaining thatUP would decide whowould come to power at theCentre after the elections,he said there was noalternative to the Congressif a secular governmenthas to be established.

- Agencies

Congress will wait till last momentfor pact with SP: Digvijay Singh

Hyderabad, March 09:C o m m u n i s t

Party of India (Marxist)Politburo member andAndhra Pradesh unitSecretary B V Raghavuluhas demanded that theCent re immedia te lycome out with a Rs fivelakh crore relief packageto aid people in thesetroubled times.

"The globaleconomic recession hasleft a tremendous impacton our economy as welland left lakhs of peoplejobless. The food securityof the people has alsobeen threatened. It ish igh t ime tha t the

government come outwith a massive reliefpackage," Raghavulutold a press conferencehere on Monday.

T h e U Sgovernment had beenimplementing a massiverelief package while theChinese governmentannounced a Rs 25 lakhc ro re pac k age , hepointed out while askingthe Union government toannounce a Rs 5 lakhc r o r e p a c k a g e f o rIndians.

"Schemes likethe C as h T rans fe rScheme mooted by theTelugu Desam Party are

needed in this time of crisis.S u c h s a f e t y n e tprogrammes are veryessential. The Centreshould in fact releaseg ran t s t o t he s t a tegovernments to implements u c h s c h e m e s , "Raghavulu said.

T h e C P MPolitburo Member alsowanted the Centre torelease funds to the stateroad transport corporationsto purchase new buses."This will revitalise theautomobile industry andprovide more jobs," hesaid.

- Agencies

Release Rs 5 lakh cr recession aid

to people: CPIM to Centre

New Delhi, March 09: The Supreme

Court has held that ana c c u s e d c a n b econv ic ted even ondeficient evidence aslong as the same wascredible and cogent.

"It is the duty ofcourt to separate grain

from chaff. Where chaffcan be separated fromgrain, it would be open tothe court to convict ana c c u s e dnotwithstanding, the factthat evidence has beenfound to be deficient, or tobe not wholly credible," abench of Justices ArijitP a s a y a t a n dMukundakam Sharmaobserved. The apex courtpassed the ruling whiledismissing the appeal ofMani alias Udattu Manand six others convictedand sentenced to lifeimpr i sonment by asessions court in Tamil

Nadu for the murder ofo n e P r a b h a . T h edeceased was hacked todeath by the accused dueto previous enmity. Eventhough seven of theprosecution witnessestu rned hos t i l e , thesessions court convictedthe accused on the basis

o f t h e e y e w i t n e s saccount of Murugammal,mother of the deceased.However, one of theaccused was acquitted ofthe charge.The MadrasHigh Court confirmed thesentence following whichthe accused appealed int h e a p e x c o u r t .

Incidentally, the accusedwere acquitted in thee a r l i e r m u r d e r o fP r a b h a ' s y o u n g e rbrother Babu.

In the appealbefore the apex court,Mani and the otheraccused took the pleathat as seven of thewitnessess failed tosupport the prosecution'stheory and one of theaccused had beenacquitted, they too wereentitled to acquittal underthe maxim "falsus in unofalsus in omnibus" (if partof the ev idence isunbelievable then the

rest should also bediscarded)." The samemaxim is employed insome of the advancedcountries, they argued.Rejecting the argument,the apex court observedthat the maxim has noapplication in India andthe witness/ witnesses

cannot be branded as liars.According to the

apex court, the maxim hasn e i t h e r g e n e r a lacceptance nor hasoccupied the status of ruleof law in the country. It ismerely a rule of caution. Allthat it amounts to, is that insuch cases testimony may

be disregarded, and nott h a t i t m u s t b ed i s r e g a r d e d . T h edoctrince merely involvesthe question of weight ofevidence which a courtmay apply in a given set ofcircumstances, but is notwhat may be called am a n d a t o r y r u l e o fevidence," the benchobserved. Evidence ineach case has to beappraised as to whatextent it is worthy ofaccpetance, the apexcourt said.

"Merely becausein some respects the courtconsiders the same to be

insufficient for placingreliance on the testimonyof a witness, it does notnecessarily follow as amatter of law that it must bed i s r e g a r d e d i n a l laspects," the benchobserved, while upholdingt h e c o n v i c t i o n a n dsentence.

- Agencies

Conviction can be based even ondeficient" evidence: Supreme Court


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Times Chennai E-Paper Page 5March 09, 2009 World

lamabad, March 09:The threat of

nother coup is loomingver Pakistan, with Army

hief General Ashfaqervez Kayani reportedlysuing a warning toesident Asif Ali Zardari

emanding restoration ofder in the country.

R e p o r t sppearing in the Pakistaniedia on Monday claimedat Zardari has been givendeadline of March 16 by

Kayani to get things backon track in the country,especially in the NorthWest Frontier Province

w h e r e t h egovernment recentlysigned a peace dealwith the Tal ibanimposing Sharia inlarge parts of the

area, including thepicturesque SwatValley.

K a y a n i w a sfo r c ed t o i s s uewarning to Zardari atthe behest of the

United States, which isbelieved to be upset withthe President, reportss t a t e d . T h e U Sadministration is of theview that Zardari is busysettling personal scoresw i t h f o rm e r P r i m eMinister Nawaz Sharif,who has also upped thea n t e a g a i n s t t h e

President following theS u p r e m e C o u r t selection ban on him.

The March 16d e a d l i n e h o l d ssignif icance as theOpposition is planning along march in thenational capital againstthe government on that

day.The warning to

restore comes just daysafter the attack on thevis i t ing Sr i Lankancricket team in the heartof Lahore. While theattackers have yet to beidentified, speculationhas been r i fe thatelements in the Pakistanimilitary could have beenbehind the incident tofurther destabililse thecivilian government.

-Agencies

Kayani warns Zardari as Pakslips deeper into chaos

Islamabad, March 09:Indicative of the

growing clout of theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)despite an apparentc r a c k d o w n b y t h ePakistani authorities, USsecurity experts believethat the terror group and

no t A l Q aeda hasemerged as the mainthreat and could wellstage the next majorattack on the Americanmainland.

"We are andshould be concernedabout the threat LeTposes, given its globalnetwork," Juan Zarate,deputy national securityadviser for counter-terrorism in the Bushadministration, told theChicago Tribune in aninterv iew publ ishedSunday.

According toZarate, the FBI and otherUS intelligence agencieshad been focussing onthe LeT as the next bigthreat to US securityeven before the Nov 26-29, 2008, Mumbai terrorattacks.

The Tr ibunequoted US authorities assaying that the LeT wasin many ways a biggerthreat than the Al Qaeda,whose leadership was onthe run from numerousPredator strikes in the

Pakistan's northwesterntribal areas.Z a r a t e ' s

remarks come amidstreports that the LeT hadg o t a n e w s e t o fcommanders to replaceZakiur Rehman Lakhviand Zarrar Shah who thePakistani authoritiesde ta i ned a f t e r t heMumbai carnage thatIndia has blamed on theterror group.Pakistani investigatorsinitially pointed to an LeT

hand in last week's attackon the Sri Lankan cricketteam in Lahore but laterascribed it to the AlQaeda.

"We are andshould be concernedabout the threat LeTposes, given its global

network," Zarate told theTribune."It doesn't just

reside in South Asia. It isan organisation that haspotential reach all overthe world, including theUS," he added.

Bruce Riedel,chairman of the Obamaa d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' sPakistan-Afghanistanstrategy review team,said he believed such a" g l o b a l j i h a d i s tsyndicate" of disaffectedyoung Pakistanis was themost likely mechanism

for launching an attackon US soil.

The Mumbaiattacks, according toRiedel, was only thelatest of several such bysuch militants on softtargets frequented byAmericans, includinghotels in Kabul andIslamabad.

The Mumbaimayhem had claimed thelives of over 170 people,including 26 foreigners -six of them Americanc i t i z e n . I n d i a h a dsubsequently given theFBI access to Ajmal AmirKasab, the sole terroristcaptured alive during thecarnage.

I n d i a s a y sKasab and nine otherLeT operatives, all ofwhom were killed duringthe attacks that lasted forover 60 hours, hadstaged the assault.

India had alsoasked the FBI to examineevidence collected fromfive GPS phones used for

coordinating the attack,requesting the FBI toanalyse the data. The FBIestablished that the attackwas mounted from the sea.

The Tribune saidthat Washington wantedPakis tan to not onlydismantle LeT but also

o ther s im i la r g roupsfounded during the Afghanwar or later to participate inthe insurgency in Jammuand Kashmir.

Quoting US andallied intelligence sources,the report claimed thatp o t e n t i a l l y t e n s o fthousands of Pakistanishad been trained in theLeT's guerrilla camps inPakistan, many of whomhad gone on to fight for theAl Qaeda.

This includes asmal l number of USresidents, some of who are

believed to have returnedhome. Nearly a dozenAmericans, including manymembers of the so-calledVirginia Jihad Network,have been convicted in UScourts of training at LeTcamps and conspiring toprovide material support tothe group.

The US is alsoconcerned about thethousands of disaffectedWesterners and Pakistanisin Br i ta in and o thercountries in Europe whot r a v e l f r e q u e n t l y t o

Pakistan, the newspapersaid.Citizens of these countriesdo not need a visa forcoming to the US.An unknown number ofthose have trained in LeTcamps, and after getting"indoctrinated in its hatredof the West and returninghome, they were free totravel to the United Statesw i t h v i r t u a l l y n obackground check", theTribune said.

- Agenices

'LeT replaces Al Qaedaas biggest threat to US'

ntrim, N Ireland, March:

B r i t i s h P r i m enister Gordon Brown

sited troops in Northerneland on Monday after apublican splinter groupled two British soldiers ine worst attack in theovince in a decade.

Police ramped upe hunt for the killers of theo soldiers who were shotad late on Saturday asey collected pizzas at the

tes of an army base nearntrim, a commuter towntside Belfast.

"You never stoodchance, gunned down bywardly scum," read onewreaths of flowers laidtside the barracks.

B r o w n h a somised to "bring theurderers to justice" and Monday visited the armyse where the attack took

ace. The soldiers weree first British troops to beled in the province since97.

A caller to theubl in-based Sunday

ibune newspaper onu n d a y c l a i m e dsponsibi l i ty for theooting in the name of the

outh Antrim brigade of theeal IRA.

A splinter groupat left the main Irishepublican Army (IRA), theeal IRA wants a unitedeland and the withdrawalall British troops from theovince.

F o r m e r f o e sross the sectarian dividewed the killings wouldt plunge the provinceck into violence seen

fore a 1998 peace dealded 30 years of conflict,own as "The Troubles,"

hich killed over 3,600ople.

The IRA, whichught British rule forcades and drew support

om the minority Romanatholic community, and

pro-British Protestantguerrilla groups agreedto ceasefires under the1998 deal.

D e s p i t e apower-shar ing pac tbetween IRA ally SinnFein and pro-BritishDemocratic UnionistParty in 2007, whichcemented the 1998a c c o r d , s p o r a d i cviolence has continued.

"A vast majorityof people in Northern

Ireland want to stick withthe peace, want to stickw i t h t h e p o l i t i c a lprocess," British HomeSec re ta r y ( I n t e r i o rMinister) Jacqui Smithsaid on Monday.

"It's extremelyimportant that thathappens as well as wecatch these people,"Smith told station GMTV.

The weekendshooting fol lowed apolice warning last weekthat the threat from IRAsplinter groups was againhigh.

The Real IRA

carried out the deadliests i ng l e bom b i ng o fN o r t h e r n I r e l a n d ' ssectarian violence in themarket town of Omagh in

August 1998. Twenty-nine people were killed.

At the end ofJanuary police defused a300-pound (140 kg) carbomb been le f t bydissident republicans in aNorthern Irish village.

" A n yresumption of violence inNorthern Ireland willc a u s e i n e s t i m a b l edamage to the peaceprocess, prevent foreigni n v e s t m e n t a n d

contr ibute to r is ingunemployment," theDublin-based Irish Timeswrote in a editorial.

"There shouldbe no return to the darkdays of the past," it said.

British troopsstood down in 2007 aftert h e i r 3 8 - y e a r r o l esupporting police in theprovince, ending theirlongest military operationever.

A maximum of5,000 military personnelas part of a "peacetimegarrison" is stationed inNorthern Ireland. The two

soldiers who were killedwere in their 20s and dueto fly out for duty inAfghanistan.

- Agencies

Brown visits troops in N Ireland post attack

Beijing, March 09:C h i n a s a i d

Monday it had deployedextra soldiers alongTibet's border as part oframped up secur i tymeasures ahead of the50th anniversary of af a i l ed an t i -C h i nes euprising.

Residents in theH imalayan reg ion 's

capital, Lhasa, alsoreported seeing armedsecurity forces patrollingthe city, as tensions roseahead of Tuesday's faileduprising that forcedTibetan spiritual leaderthe Dalai Lama into exile.Chinese state mediarepo r t ed a p ro tes t

involving dozens ofpeople in a Tibetan-populated region ofnorthwest China, whichsaw small handmadeexplosives damaged apolice car and firetruck,but not killed anyone.

The report byXinhua news agency didnot specifically identifyt h e p r o t e s t e r s a s

Tibetans, and locala u t h o r i t i e s w e r eunavailable for comment.H o w e v e r T i b e t a nauthorities made it clearthey were bracing forpotential widespreadunrest for Tuesday'sanniversary.

" T o p r o t e c t

stability in Tibet, we havedeployed military troops tostrengthen controls atentry points and on keyroads a l ong T i be t ' s(international) border," saidFu Hongyu, a top bordercontrol official.

"We will go all-outto maintain security andstabi l i ty," Fu said incomments carried by

Xinhua. C h i n a h a spreviously warned thatexiled groups may seek todestabilise Tibet fromacross the border in Nepalor India.

- Agenices

China deploys extra troopsalong Tibet border

Beijing, March 09:Small explosive devices on Monday hit a

police car and a fire truck following a protest in aTibetan area of western China, state media reported,adding there were no fatalities.

The protest in Tibetan-populated Gologprefecture of Qinghai province involved dozens ofpeople and was triggered by anger over police stoppinga resident at a road checkpoint for an identity check,Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua did not identify the protesters asTibetans.It came amid high tensions in Tibet andTibetan-populated areas of western China, such asGolog, ahead of Tuesday's 50th anniversary of a faileduprising against Chinese rule.

-Agencies

'Protest in China,police targeted'


6/10

Times Chennai E-Paper March 09, 2009Page 6 News You Can Useews You Can Use

o l k a t a , M a r c h 0 9 : P a k i s t a n ' s

ossession of nucleareapons prevented Indiaom attacking that countryer the terror strikes inumbai and the attack onarliament, former army

h i e f G e n S h a n k a roychowdhury has said." D o n u c l e a r

eapons deter? Of course,ey do. Pakistan's nucleareapons deterred Indiaom attacking that countryer the Mumbai strikes," told a seminar here onuclear Risk Reductiond Conflict Resolve.'

ew Delhi, March 09:

At a time when USesident Barack Obama isming down heavily on

u t s o u r c i n g , g l o b a lancial firm Moody's hasid India will remain a toptsourcing destination.

"India will remaint o p o u t s o u r c i n g

estination because of itsch-savvy and English-oficient urban workforcehose wages are muchwer than their westernounterparts," Moody'sconomy.com economisth e r m a n C h a n t o l dporters.

Sherman furthera i d t h a t I n d i a ' stsourcing industry willrtainly be hurt by thisoba l downturn , as

It was due toPakistan's possession ofnuclear weapons thatIndia stopped short of am i l i t a r y r e t a l i a t i onfollowing the attack onParliament in 2001,Roychowdhury said.

Stressing then e e d f o r n u c l e a rdisarmament, he said in1988 the then PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhihad proposed a 20-yearplan for it.

Commissionerin the Weapons of MassDestruction Commission(WMDC) Lt Gen V R

demand for IT support or

t e l e m a r k e t i n g h a sweakened significantly inrecent months.

However, it willrecover well after theg l o b a l e c o n o m yrebounds, though therecovery is expected tobe gradual as businesseswill remain cautious withinvestment plans, sheadded.

I n h i s f i r s taddress to the jointsess ion of the USCongress last month,Obama had stated hisadministration would endt a x b r e a k s f o rcorporations that ship theUS jobs overseas.

O n a s k e dwhether increase in

R a g h a v a n s a i dPak i s t an ' s nuc l ea rweapons were in safehands.

" B y a l lindications, Pakistan'snuclear weapons, are insafe hands and under

tight control. But nobodycan say what will happenif the system breaksdown. There is concernin the West aboutwhether the system inP a k i s t a n c a n b esustained only throughaid," Raghavan said onSaturday.

- Agencies

protectionism of the

domestic industry in theUS and the developedcountries is hitting theIndian outsourcing badly,Sherman said, "I don'tthink businesses leaveIndia mainly because ofprotectionist sentiment.""A more likely reason isthat activity is beingscaled back in the light ofa s l o w i n g g l o b a leconomy," she added.

The USD 40-billion Indian softwareand BPO export industry,m a i n l y d r i v e n b youtsourcing, draws 60per cent of its revenuesfrom the US.

- Agencies

'Pakistan's Nuke-bomb preventedIndia from attacking it after 26/11'

India to remain among topoutsourcing destinations: Moody's

Washington, March 09:Loose soil piled

against the northernedge of a low plateaucalled "Home Plate" hasblocked NASA's MarsExploration Rover Spiritfrom taking the shortest

r o u t e t o w a r d i t s

southward destinationsfor the upcoming Martiansummer and followingwinter.

The rover hasbegun a trek skirting atleast partway around theplateau instead of directlyover it.

However, Spirithas also gotten a jumpstart on its summerscience plans, examininga silica-rich outcrop thatadds information about along-gone environment

that had hot water orsteam.

E v e n acircuitous route to thedestinations chosen forSpirit would be muchshorter than the overlandexpedition Spirit's twin,Opportunity, is making on

the opposite side of Mars.Both rovers landed onMars in 2004 for whatwere originally plannedas three-month missionsthere.

Sp i r i t s pen t

2008 on the northern

edge of Home Plate, aflat-topped deposit aboutthe size of a baseballf i e ld , composed o fhardened ash and risingabout 1.5 meters (5 feet)above the ground aroundit.

T h e r e , t h en o r t h - f a c i n g t i l tpositioned Spirit's solararrays to catch enoughsunshine for the rover tosurvive the six-month-long Martian winter.

The scientists

and engineers whooperate the rovers choseas 2009 destinations asteep mound called "VonBraun" and an irregular,45-meter-wide (150-foot-w i d e ) b o w l c a l l e d"Goddard."

These side-by-

side features offer apromising area to examinewhile energy is adequateduring the Martian summerand also to provide the nextnorth-facing winter havenbeginning in late 2009.

Von Braun andGoddard intrigue scientistsas sites where Spirit mayfind more evidence aboutan explosive mix of waterand volcanism in the area'sdistant past.

They are side-by-side, about 200 meters, oryards, south of where Spiritis now.

In January andFebruary this year, Spiritdescended from HomePlate and drove eastwardabout 15 meters (about 50feet) toward a less steepon-ramp.

"Spirit could not

make progress in the lasttwo attempts to get up ontoHome Plate," said JohnCallas of NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory,Pasadena, Cal i fornia,project manager for bothrovers.

"Alternatively, weare driving Spirit aroundHome Plate to the east.

Spirit will have togo around a couple of smallridges that extend to thenortheast, and then seewhether a route east of

H o m e P l a t e l o o k straversable. If that routep r o v e s n o t t o b etraversable, a route aroundthe west side of HomePlate is still an option," headded.

- Agencies

NASA's Mars Rover changes route

London, March 09: Researchers in

London have discovereda way to stop cancer cellsfrom spreading, whichmay prevent about 90percent patients.

Scientists atthe Institute of CancerResearch, a constituentcollege of the Universityof London, say thatrather than concentratingo n s t o p p i n g t h eformation on tumours,they focussed on singlingout the enzyme thatallows cancer to spreadthroughout the body.

T h eresearchers say thattheir groundbreakingstudy led to the discoverythat an enzyme calledL O X i s c r u c i a l i npromoting the spread of

the disease throughout apatients body.

L e a dresearcher Dr. JanineErler said called herteams discovery thecrucial missing piece inthe jigsaw we have beensearching for.

She claimedthat her team was thefirst to have identified anysuch key enzyme.

This discoveryprovides real hope thatwe can -develop a drugto fight it. If we caninterrupt the bodysability to prepare newlocations for the cancerto spread to, we canprevent metastasis, theDaily Express quoted heras saying.

While studyingbreast cancer in mice,

Janines team have foundthat in the absence of theLOX enzyme, full namel y s y l o x i d a s e , n e wenvironments in the bodywould be too hostile for thecancer to grow.

The researchgroup, which includesscientists from StanfordUniversity in America, areconfident that it will applyto humans and othercancer types.

Janine and hercolleagues now plant touse their findings todevelop drugs that canblock this enzyme.

She hopes thatthis discovery will lead to apotential new treatment forcancer within five years.

- Agencies

Cancer cure may be within 5yrsWashington , March 09:

It has been usedIndia for centuries to

e a t w o u n d s a n dfect ions. And, nowientists in the US havescovered that "holy

owder" turmeric cana k e h u m a n c e l lembranes behave fortter health.

A t e a m a tchigan University, led bydian-origin researchery y a l u s a m y

a m a m o o r t h y , h a saimed that curcumin actss a d i s c i p l i na r i an ,serting itself into cellembranes and makingem more orderly, a moveat helps improve cells'sistance to infection andalignancy.

I n f a c t , t h eientists have foundrcumin regulates the

action of membraneproteins "indirectly", bychanging the physicalp r o p e r t i e s o f t h emembrane.

" T h emembrane goes frombeing crazy and floppy tobeing more disciplinedand ordered, so thatinformation flow throughit can be controlled," ProfRamamoorthy wrote inthe 'Journal of theAmerican ChemicalSociety'.

In their study,the scientists used atechnique called solid-state NMR spectroscopyto reveal atom-leveldetails of these importantmo lecu les and themembranous milieu inwhich they operate.

"Probingh i g h -resolution intermolecular

interactions in the messymembrane environmenthas been a m a j o rchallenge to commonlyu s e d b i o p h y s i c a lt e c h n i q u e s , "Ramamoorthy said.

The team is nowplanning to study avariety of curcuminderivatives, some ofwhich have enhancedpotency.

"We want to seehow thes e v a r i ousderivatives interact withthe membrane, to see ifthe interactions are thesame as observed. Sucha study could lead tod e v e l o p m e n t o fcompounds to treatinfect ion and otherdiseases," he said.

-Agencies

'Holy powder' makesmembranes behave


7/10

Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 09, 2009 Page 7Business

hennai, March 09Keeping with its

ention to lead innovationthe scooter segment forung girls, TVS Motor

ompany today unveiled

l new "sty l ish andturistic" TVS Scootyreak and signed on

ennis sensation Saniarza as ambassador.

Add res s i ng aess conference here, MrDileep, Vice President

Marketing) said the Scootyreak, taking the popularcooty brand to the next

level, would be a nocompromise option forgirls as it provided theright mix of performance,style, convenient andcomfort.

"This is themost stylish scooter foryoung girls. The LiTechengine makes the ScootyStreak light, zippy andthe most fuel efficientbike in its class," he saidadding Scooty Streak willbe available in fivecolours and priced at Rs36,480 (Ex showroom) in

the city.It comes with

broad anti-skid tyres thatprovide enhanced wetbraking stability and ise q u i p p e d w i t h a nexternal fuel fil at the rearfor refuelling.

The Companyhas signed on Tennisstar Sania to endorse theScooty Streak" as she

emanates the brandattributes of being selfsufficient and is a youngachiever," Mr Dileepsaid.

This was thefourth offering fromScooty and with this,TVS o f f e r s , u rbancommuters, the widestchoice for an easy, safea n d f u e l e f f i c i e n tcommute in the gearlessscooter segment, headded.

Answering aquestion, he said theglobal meltdown has not

affected the two-wheelersector as it had affectedthe other sectors.

The growth didcome down from 15 percent to five per cent, butwe are doing good," hesaid.

-Agencies

TVS unveils 'Scooty Streak'

Mr. R. Dili p, Vice President Sales, TVS Motor Companywith t he newly launched Scooty Streak

Mumbai, March 09I T m a j o r

Satyam Computer onMonday started thecompet i t ive b iddingprocess for selling a 51per cent stake to aninvestor while HindujaGroup and engineeringmajor Larsen & Toubro

reiterated their interest inthe company.

The company,which recently got SEBIapproval to sell up to 51per cent, on Mondayissued an expression ofinterest, according towhich there is no floorprice for the bidders andthe interested investorwill have to register withthe company by March12.

The bidders willhave to submit detailedEoIs, along with proof ofavailabilty of funds of at

least Rs 1,500 crore, by

March 20, Satyam said ina statement.

T h ee n g i n e e r i n g a n dconstruction firm Larsen& Toubro, the largestsingle shareholder in theIT firm, said it will take adecision on bidding forSatyam before March 12.

"We will take a decisionbased on the guidelinesthat have been issued.We will decide beforeMarch 12," a companyspokesperson said..

T h e S p i c eGroup Chairman B KModi said his companywil l bid for SatyamC o m p u t e r , w h i l econglomerate HindujaGroup said it is looking atbidding for the troubledfirm but yet to take adecision.

"We are lookingat that (bidding for

Satyam) ... we have to

take a decision," HindujaG r o u p C F O P r a b a lBanerjee said.

Mr. Modi saidSpice Corp will have noproblem in submitting cashproof of Rs 1,500 crore asthe company has gotenough funds in the bank.

"It is a good start

and we will bid beforeThursday," Mr. Modi said.Satyam said that based onthe submitted EoIs, eligiblebidders will be short-listedand given access to certainbusiness, financial andlegal diligence material ofthe company provided theysign a non-disclosure andnon-solicitation agreementwith Satyam.

The process ofstake sale involves 31 percent fresh equity sharesand 20 per cent via openoffer.

-Agencies

Satyam starts bidding process;L&T, Hindujas show interest

ew York , March 09 :The World Bank

aid that the g lobalonomy will shrink thisar for the first time sinceorld War II and that theobal financial crisis willake it tougher for poord developing nations tocess needed financing.

Trade is forecastfall to its lowest point in years in 2009, asonomic hardship ripplesross the globe, the bankid. The most drasticade s lowdowns arepected in East Asia,

here growth had beenbust, the bank said in aaper prepared for a

meet ing of f inanceministers and centralbank officials next week.

The impact onthe poorest countries willbe severe, the bank said,predicting that a group of129 countries face ashortfall of $270 to $700billion this year. Thebank, which offers low-interest loans and grantsto developing nations,warned internationalfinancial institutions willnot be able to cover eventhe low end of thatestimate. Only one-q u a r t e r o f t h o s evulnerable countries willbe able to ease the

economic downturnthrough job creation or"safety net" programs,the bank said yesterday.

T h eramifications of thegrowing financial crisison the world's poorestnations will likely remainfor some time, the banksaid. Because richernations are borrowingmore, developing nationsare being squeezed outand many f inancia lorganizations that haveprovided financing tolower-income countries" h a v e v i r t u a l l ydisappeared."

-Agencies

World Bank says global economywill shrink in 2009

Ahmedabad,March 09 :The first Nano -

the world's cheapest car -is expected to roll out oft h e T a t a G r o u p ' sRs.2,000 crore ($3.86billion) Sanand plant inGujarat by end 2010,company officials said onMonday.

Work is on at full

swing at the project site inSanand, about 45 kmfrom Ahmedabad, withthe construction of plantbuildings using pre-

e n g i n e e r e d s t e e ls t r u c t u r e s f o r t h eancillary units spread inan area of 65,000 squarem e t r e s a l r e a d yunderway.

Ahm edabad -based pre-engineeredsteel structure buildingmanufacturer Phenix

Varco Pruden had beengiven the Rs.50 crore($9.66 million) contractfor constructing the paintshop and the ancillaryplant buildings. Theentire work is targeted tobe completed by end ofthis month (March 2009),the officials said.

Nearly 4,000

tonnes of steelc o m p o n e n t swould be usedi n t h econstruction ofthe buildings,w h i c h a r edesigned with ah e a v y l o a db e a r i n gcapacity with am a i n f r a m es t r u c t u r esupporting the

entire load. The ancillaryplants would be ofvarious sizes as differentunits would have specifickind of requirements, the

officials said.The work of

shift ing the variouscomponents o f theunfinished plant at Singurin West Bengal wouldtake almost a year giventhe the distance involvedand the complex nature

of the machinery and theplant components to bedismantled from the Singursite where the companyhad invested close toRs.1,500 crore ($2.9billion), the officials added.

T a t a h a dannounced shifting of theNano project site fromWest Bengal October2 0 0 8 f o l l o w i n g t h ecampaign launched byMamata Banerjee-ledTr inamoo l Congressagainst the setting up ofthe small car project atSingur. The Tata Groupfinally zeroed on Gujarata f te r eva lua t ing thepossibility of setting up theplant for the small car inM a h a r a s h t r a ,Uttarakhand, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh.

The NarendraM o d i g o v e r n m e n tallocated 1,100 acres ofland at Sanand, close tonational highway number

no.8 which goes to theKandla, Mundhra andDholera ports. The Nanop l an t i n Sanand i sexpected to produce250,000 cars per annum.

-Agencies

First Nano to roll out ofGujarat plant by end 2010

u b a i , M a r c h 0 9J o u r n e y f o r

assengers from India anduwait is set to get easierth Jet Ai rways on

onday announcing newrect flight between theab nation and Mumbai.

The airlines willperate new flight aboard aate-of-the-art Boeing37-800 aircraft from

arch 29, a statementaid."Jet Airways has

ready established itselfs a formidable brand ine intensely competitivedia-Gulf sector in alatively short period of

me, on account of thearmth of its service and

quality of its in-flightproduct," CEO of JetA i r w a y s , W o l f g a n gProck-Schauer, said.

" W e a r econfident that the newMumbai-Kuwait servicewi l l prove s imi lar lyp o p u l a r w i t hpassengers," he added.Informing about theschedule, the statement

said that flight 9W 572 willleave Mumbai at 1900 hrsand reach Kuwait at 2030hrs. Flight 9W 571 willthen depart from Kuwaitat 2130 hrs and land inMumbai at 0400 hrs.

The flight wouldbe the airline's seconddaily service to Kuwait

f r o m I n d i a ,c om p l em en t i ng i t ' sexisting Kochi-Kuwaitservice. In addition toKuwait, the airways alsoflies daily from India toBahrain, Muscat, Doha,Dubai and Abu Dhabi inthe Middle East.The ai rways, whichcurrently operates over370 flights daily, operates

a fleet of 87 aircrafts to 63destinations includingNew York (both JFK andN e w a r k ) , T o r o n t o ,B r u s s e l s , L o n d o n(Heathrow), Hong Kong,S i n g a p o r e , K u a l aL u m p u r , C o l o m b o ,Bangkok, Kathmanduand Dhaka.

Jet introduces daily flight betweenMumbai-Kuwait

New Delhi , March 09 :I n d i a n

a u t o m o b i l emanufacturers sold 1.04

mi l l i on veh ic les inFeburary, up 10.61percent from 942,955units sold in the sameperiod last year, officialdata showed on Monday.

The Society ofI n d i a n A u t o m o b i l eManufacturers (SIAM)

said passenger vehiclesales (excluding exports)during the month ofFebruary were 145,019,

up 15.02 percent from126,077 vehicles sold inthe same period in 2008.T o t a l c o m m e r c i a lvehicles (domestic) soldin the period underreview were 31,069,down 31.68 percent from45,478 units sold in the

year-ago period.Domestic two-

wheeler sales in Februarytotalled 836,926 up 12.66

percent from 742,856 unitssold in the correspondingperiod last year.

Three-wheelersincluding goods carrierssold 29,989 up from 5.06percent from 28,544.

-Agencies

Indian auto sales up 10.61 percent


8/10

Times Chennai E-Paper March 09, 2009Page 8 Spo r t s

hristchurch, March 09:N e w Z e a l a n d

opped paceman Tim

outhee and drafted in allunder Ewen Thompson

the 12-man squadnnounced for the fourth

cket one-dayer againstdia to be played at theeddon Park, Hamilton.

Southee paid thece of becoming New

ealand`s most expensiveowler by conceding 0-105 India raced to 392 forur in the third one-dayersterday.

Thomson, whoade his international

debut in the Twenty20series against the WestIndies in December,

replaced injured IanButler.

Butler, who hasbeen laid low by a thigh

strain, will be availablefor selection for the fifthODI to be played inAuckland (March 14).

Chairman of theselection panel, GlennTurner, said: "Ian Butlerwas omitted due to injury,after suffering a thighstrain during last night`sODI at Christchurch. Buthe is likely to be available

for consideration for thefinal ODI in Auckland onSaturday. The squad forthat game would ben a m e d a f t e r t h eHamilton match."

Skipper DanielVettori, who missed the

match to be with his wifefor the birth of their firstchild, will also rejoin theteam in Hamilton.

P e t e rMcGlashan has beenr e t a i n e d a swicketkeeper whi leBrendon McCullum willcontinue to play as abatsman.

India lead theseries 2-0, with onematch being washed outat Wellington.

T h e s q u a d :

Daniel Vettori (Captain),Grant Elliott, MartinG u p t i l l , B r e n d o nM c C u l l u m , P e t e rMcGlashan, Kyle Mills,Iain O`Brien, JacobOram, Jeetan Patel,Jesse Ryder, RossTaylor, Ewen Thompson.

-Agencies

New Zealand drop Southee,recall Thompson Hamilton, March 09: Indias bid to seal the ongoing ODI

s e r i es aga i ns t N ewZealand at Hami l tonsuffered a jolt when battingmaestro Sachin Tendulkarpulled out of the fourth ODI.

Tendulkar wasforced to retire-hurt mid-way during his fabulousunbeaten 163 run-knock atChristchurch on Sunday

after pulling his abdominalmuscles.

He had sufferedthe injury during thesecond ODI.

-Agencies

Tendulkar ruled out of Hamilton ODI

F o r m e r N e wealand cricketer Martinrowe said India hasoined Pakistan as annsafe country to tour dueterror strikes on its majorties like Mumbai andelhi last year. We ateecric bring to you thexcerpts:

"The time hasome for the cricketingorld to accept that touringakistan is an absolute no

o zone ever again. Whilead for their talented topicketers, Pakistan is

ompletely unsafe andontemplation of playingere again has got to stop.ut they are not alone.

"In May last year,st 24 hours before I flewi t h t he IPL R oy a lhallengers to Jaipur for aothing Twenty20 match,ght bombs went off three-inutes apart killing over00 civilians and tourists as

ripped through the

owded Pink Palace,"rowe wrote in a localaily.

"We were forcedplay the match a day

ter in front of an emptyadium and 3000 soldiers.was a joke to be told to

play and an affront to thefamilies of those killed,"he said.

"That `s whyyou can`t just isolatePakistan. Lives havebeen taken on a regularbasis from terror attacksin India over the last yearin major ci t ies l ikeMumbai in November theworst Bangalore in Julyand Delhi in September.These were significant

and show it`s happeningalmost monthly," Crowesaid.

"Having touredall around India with theIPL, the worst andscariest aspect is thatwhen you leave yourhotel you have no furthercontrol on anything.Once you start travellingby road you are at themercy of every little tuk-tuk, every intersectionand every traffic jam,"Crowe added.

The former Kiwicaptain admitted thatterror attacks werepossible anywhere in theworld but said probabilitywas much higher in thesub-continent.

M a y b e ,

though, someone, eventhe most famous of all,Sachin Tendulkar, mightget severely hurt ordisabled from a flyingpiece of shrapnel orglass.

"Yes, it couldhappen in London, orParis, or Madrid, as it didin the most alarmingmanner of all in NewYork. But the reality isthat the odds and the

feeling of those oddsshortening are againsty o u i n t h e s u b -continent," he said.

Crowe vowednever to return toPakistan in the wake ofthe terror attack on SriLankan p layers inLahore, saying he couldno longer trust "anyone"in the strife-torn country.

"Bottom line isthat never again willanyone trust anyone ora n y t h i n g i n t h a t

environment. There isno longer a thing called a"guarantee". That`s nowhogwash," he said.

-Agencies

Even India is unsafe

Buenos Aires, March09:

Argentina's toptwo players Juan Martindel Potro and DavidNa lband ian w i l l be

recalled for the DavisCup quarter-finals aftermissing this weekend'swin over the Netherlands,team captain ModestoVazquez said.

"Del Potro andNalbandian said that theywould be present if wequalified for the quarter-finals and obviously theyare confirmed becausethey are the two mostimportant players wehave," said Vazquez.

"In the next few

weeks, we will decidewho will complete theteam."

N a l b a n d i a npulled out of the tie with aviral infection while Del

Potro asked not to bepicked, decl in ing asecond request to playafter Nalbandian hadwithdrawn.

D e l P o t r o ' sabsence came amidspeculation the pair hadfallen out during lastyear's 3-1 final defeat toSpain and Vazquez told anews conference hewould to try to set up ameeting between them toclear the air.

Juan Ignacio

Chela, who played againstthe Netherlands, agreedtha t a meet ing wasneeded.

"I wasn't in thet e a m l a s t y e a r b u t

obviously something brokedown and it has to befixed," he said.

A r g e n t i n a ,beaten finalists twice in thelast three years, took anunassailable 3-0 lead overt he N e the r l ands onS a t u r d a y a n d w o nSunday's reverse singlesto complete a 5-0 win.They visit the CzechRepublic for their quarter-final.

-Agencies

Argentina to recall Nalbandian


9/10

Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 09, 2009 Page 9Medley

ndon , March 09:One in five British

ults reckon it is all right ifman physically abuses

s wife or girlfriend, a newrvey has revealed.

A c c o r d i n g t oem, it is acceptable if sheere ly wears ' ' sexyothes'' in public.

The survey found

percent reckon blokese justified in lashing out ifpartner is ''nagging or

oaning''.And 10 per cent

lieve it is ok for them toa lover who flirts with

other man.The figures has

merged in a Governmentrvey on domes t i c

olence - which quizzedth men and women.

T h e y f i g u r e sve revealed that 50rcent of the public think a

oman is at least partly at

ult for being raped if she

does not clearly say''no''.

A third believeshe is partly responsibleif she is drunk and aquarter think she shouldtake some of the blame ifshe wears sexy clothing.

H o m eSecretary Jacqui Smithwas ''shocked'' to see the

findings, according to theofficials.

They come ass h e l a u n c h e s agroundbreaking crusadeto stop violence againstwomen.

A register ofabusive partners, to bemonitored by police,could be set up.This will allow cops towarn women who startdating thugs with ahistory of violence.

GPs wil l beasked to do more to spot

s i gns o f dom es t i c

violence when they seewomen patients. Andschools will teach pupilsabout the problem.

Ministers arealso looking at powers toban abusive partnersfrom the home for twoweeks.

" V i o l e n c eagainst women and girls

is unacceptable. We'vea l ready made rea lprogress, with domesticincidents more thanhalving in the past 12years. But I want to starta national debate onwhat more we can do,"the Sun quoted Smith, assaying.

The survey alsorevealed that a third ofpeople know a womanw h o h a s s u f f e r e dviolence from a man sheknows.

-Agencies

Brits think it's ok to slap wife

hennai , March 09: Majority of young

omen in the countryefer arranged marriagesth parents' consent whilely less than one fourthts for the "love" route tooose their life partners, arvey said.

The survey of

omen in the age group of-30 carried out in variousies, including the foure t r o s , b y l e a d i n ga t r i m o n y p o r t a l

haratmatrimony, alsovealed that 59% of thespondents considerrent's decision the most

mpor tan t p r io r i t y i nalising marriage.

Only 20% of thespondents felt that

profession was the mostimportant aspect infinalising their life partnerwhile ten% said castewas the most importantpriority and 11% saidfamily nuclear or jointfamily - was the mostpreferred.

A b o u t 4 9 %

pre fe r red a r rangedmarriage while 33 percent 'arranged lovemarriage' and a meagre18% of the respondentsfavoured 'love' marriage.

T h e s u r v e yt i t l ed "Woman andMarriage" was conductedby ahead of the Women'sD a y a n d 1 , 0 5 8r e s p o n d e n t s w e r ecovered in Chennai,

Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,Hyderabad, Bangalore,Pune, Madurai, Mysore,T i r u c h i r a p p a l l i ,Coimbatore and Jaipur, arelease said here today.On the right age for awoman to get married,about 71 per cent said 21-24 was the ideal age for

marriage.Interest ingly ,the survey said that about93% of women wereinterested to study orwork after marriage.

The survey alsosaid that about 55%women prefer to searchlife partners throughcontacts via friends andrelatives.

-Agencies

Indian women preferarranged marriage: Survey

anpur, March 09:

Come summersd markets would see the

unch of a new soft drinkade from cow's urine,hich is considered sacredparts of the country.

Media reports sayat a hard line Hindu outfit,own for its opposition toorrupting" Western foodports, is all set to launchs soft drink.

Reports say thate bovine beverage isdergoing laboratory tests the next two to three

onths and the specific

te for its commercialease is not known as yet.N o r a r e t h e

ferent flavours known ast, but manufacturers saide liquid produced by cows

be ing mixed w i thoducts such as aloe verad gooseberry to fight

seases such as diabetes

and cancer.

"This soft drinkhas been made from cowu r i n e . O n e b o t t l econtains around five tosix milliliters of cow urine.We have used otheruseful herbs also. Thissoft drink not only hascooling properties, butalso cures various otherdiseases," said RamanujMishra, In charge,r e s e a r c h a n ddevelopment of the cowurine soft drink.

Many Hindusconsider cow urine to

h a v e m e d i c i n a lproperties and it is oftend runk i n r e l i g i ousf e s t i v a l s . T h eorganization said it hadnot decided on a name ora price for the drink.

Purushottam,an officer-in-charge oft h e s o f t d r i n k

manufacturing unit in

Kanpur said the productwill be sold nationwideand that it will beat othersoft drinks like Pepsi andCoke.

"We are surethat this will sell like hotcakes. This soft drink isbeneficial for everybody.The MNCs that areselling various soft drinkscaution customers aboutvarious ingredients. Butour soft drinks has onlybenefits to offer and weare sure people will buyit," said Purushottam.

Many H indugroups feel that foreignimports such as Pepsiand Coca Cola in thepast, have a corruptinginfluence and see theseproducts as a tool ofWestern imperialism.

-Agencies

Coming soon: Cow urine soft drink

London , March 09:A n a v e r a g e

married couple has twoarguments a week, whichresult in the silenttreatment for two hoursand 14 minutes eachtime, a new UK poll hasshown.

The surveyshowed that couples

spend almost ten days ayear not speaking to eachother after domesticrows.

And the topreasons behind the coldwar were saying thewrong thing and takingeach other for granted,the study found.

C h r i s t i n eNortham, a counsellorwith Relate, said the paceof modern life meantc o u p l e s w e r eincreasingly prone torowing.

" I t d o e s n ' t

surprise me that peoplespend this amount of timenot speaking to eachother because life is sobusy nowadays that thepressures on moderncoup les a re p re t tyh o r r e n d o u s , " T h eScotsman quoted her, assaying.

"It's very easy to

snap at one anotherwhen you're stressed andespecially if you live in abig city, where you neverget peace.

"Couples haveto be very disciplinedabout spending timetogether at the weekendsand planning bits of theirlives together so theyd o n ' ' t b e c o m eoverwhelmed by choresand work.

"Communication is the key to it. Lots ofcouples I work with don't

h a v e t i m e t o

communicate or they're sotired that they just veg outin front of the telly and don'tspeak to each other, sheadded.

S o m efundamental issues toomade it to the list like disagreements over childrearing, being shunned inthe bedroom, jealousy over

friendships and nevergoing out as a couple.

A spokesman formarket research companyO n e p o l l . c o m , w h i c hsurveyed 3,000 marriedpeople, said silence cansometimes be best for bothparties.

"It's better to giveeach other the silenttreatment than have araging row as it gives you achance to calm down andthink about things," hesaid.

-Agencies

Couples don't talk for 10 days/yr


10/10

Times Chennai E-Paper March 09, 2009Page 10

hennai, March 09

Tamil Nadu Chiefnister M Karunanidhiday accused AIADMKenera l secre tary Jayalalithaa of observingst, not to express

lidarity with the suffering

ankan Tamils, but tounch an attack againste DMK government andhieve political mileagethe run up to the May 13

ok Sabha elections.On placards put

p at the fasting venue,dec ry ing t he DM Kovernment and inefficienth ie f M in is ter ' ' , Mra r u n a n i d h i , i n aatement here, said thisearly showed that Msayalalithaa and herartymen have gathered

express their angergainst him and the DMKovernment and notgainst the killings of theankan Tamils.

''Their anger isot against the killings ofe Lankan Tamils, theankan government ,h i c h l a u n c h e d a nfensive against the

amils or the Centre, butgainst me and my

overnment,'' he alleged,dding Ms Jayalalithaa'sention behind calling fore fast was exposed ate fasting venue itself.

On collection ofnds by the AIADMK, byeping Hundis in thesting venues, the DMKader said, when theovernment collectednds, through cheques

nd released the list ofontributors on dailyasis, Ms Jayalalithaa had

c c u s e d h i m o fuandering the moneyr his family.

However, whene issued a legal notice,arning a defamationase against her, she beat

hasty ret reat and

quoted what peoplewere saying, he said.

O n M sJayalalithaa's statementbefore launching herfast, accusing the Centreand State governments

of failing to providehumanitarian aid tothe Tamils and that theManmohan Singhgovernment at theCentre and the DMKgovernment in theState had no genuinec o n c e r n f o r t h eT a m i l s , M rKarunanidhi said thiswas in total contrast tothe stand she hadtaken earlier.

He pointed outthat in her statementon October 15, 2008,she had described the

attack on Tamils by theL a n k a n f o r c e s a sinternal affair of SriLanka and India had noright to intervene.

I f I n d i aintervened in the internalaffairs of Sri Lanka, therewas scope for othercountries intervening inIndia's affair and theworld would not accept acountry interfering with

the affairs of othercountries, he said.

Ms Jayalalithaahas now made a volteface and launched anat tack aga ins t theLankan government asthe Lok Sabha electionswere round the corner,he claimed.

On CPI leader AB Bardhan accusing theA I ADM K leade r o fembarassing both theCongress and the DMK

by extending indirecti n v i t a t i o n t o t h eCongress by asking it tosevere ties with theDMK, Mr Karunanidhis a i d , w h i l e M sJayalal i thaa deniedhav ing inv i ted theCongress, the Left Partyleader said she hadextended an indirectinvitation.

However, MsJayalalithaa's invitationembarassed neither theCongress nor the DMK.

''The real embarassmentis only for Mr Bardhan asthe AIADMK leader hadextended the invitation,after finalising alliancewith the Left Parties,'' MrKarunanidhi said.

Agencies

Jaya's fast only for politicalmileage: Karunanidhi

New Delhi March 09 : T e l e c o m

regu l a to r TR AI onM o n d a y s l a s h e dtermination charges by33 per cent, a movewhich would result inbringing down the mobiletariffs for consumers.

T e r m i n a t i o ncharges are paid by one

Chennai, March 09P l u s T w o

students of Tamil Nadustate Board, who sat forthe Physics examinationtoday complained to theirt e a c h e r s a b o u t aquestion, awarding fivemarks, being asked froma lesson which was ''out

operator to another onwhose network the callends.

The regulatorh a s r e d u c e d t h etermination charges onlocal calls to 20 paise aminute from existing 30paise.

T h e n e wope ra to r s s uc h as

of portion'' and said thepaper itself was ''tough''.

A f t e rc o m p l e t i n g f o u rlanguage papers, thestudents started facingthe ''litmus test''. But theyhad a n i gh tm a r i s hexperience in the firstexamination itself.

TRAI lowers termination charges; mobile tariffs to come downD a tac om , U n i t ec h ,Shyam-Sistema andLoop Telecom amongothers were demanding0-10 paise per minutete rmina t ion chargewhereas the existingGSM operators wereopposing any reductionin the charges, fearingthere revenue would take

The three markand five mark questionswere tough, though theone mark and ten markquestions were relativelyeasy, they contended.

Atleast one ofthe five mark questions,w h i c h h a d t o b eanswered compulsorily,was asked from a topic

a hit.The international

calls made overseas toIndia are going to becostlier as the regulatorh a s i n c r e a s e d t h etermination charge forincoming international callto 40 paise from existing 30paise per minute.

-Agencies

which was ''out of portion'',they said.

The textbook saidthe compulsory questionwould be asked from threelessons in particular But itwas asked from ''out ofportion'', the students said.

'The three markquestions are also vague'',they complained.

Students find Plus Two physics exam "tough

Documents

Times Chennai E-Paper, March 09, 2009