Month: August 2009

Four Tajiks jailed in first al Qaeda trial

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Dushanbe, August 31: Tajikistan’s Supreme Court has handed down long prison terms to four men found guilty of terrorism, in the ex-Soviet state’s first trial of al Qaeda members, its security service said on Monday.

Tajikistan, an impoverished mountainous nation, counts on investment from former imperial master Russia, but has also been courted by Washington as a key transit route for U.S. troops fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

It secured the extradition of the four Tajik nationals from Afghanistan.

US shuttle Discovery homes in on space station

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Washington, August 31: The US shuttle Discovery was closing in on the International Space Station
to deliver food, a lab freezer and a treadmill to the orbiting outpost.

As the shuttle sped toward the ISS, the astronauts conducted a routine inspection of Discovery’s heat shield by manoeuvring a sensor on a robotic arm to look for possible damage.

Pilot Kevin Ford and mission specialists Patrick Forrester and Jose Hernandez took turns at the controls of the sensor system to inspect the shuttle’s nose cap and its right and left wings, NASA said.

Mission to Mars to be between 2013-15: ISRO

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Panaji: India’s mission to Mars will take place between 2013-2015, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G Madhavan Nair said on Monday.

“We have given a call for proposal to different scientific communities. Depending on the type of experiments they propose, we will be able to plan the mission,” he told reporters.

The mission is at conceptual stage and will be taken up after Chandrayaan-2, Nair said.

“Once in two years you get an opportunity for the mission,” Nair said.

ISRO Chairman is in Goa to host the eighth international conference on low cost planetary missions.

Safina leads women’s rankings from Williams sisters

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Hamburg, August 31: Dinara Safina continues to be the top ranked player ahead of the Williams sisters Serena and Venus in the women’s tennis rankings issued on Monday by the WTA.

Safina leads the standings with 9,810 points from Serena Williams, who is on 8,907 points, while Venus is third with 6,865 points.

The only upwards mover in the ranking was Caroline Wozniacki, who won her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title on Saturday when she beat Elena Vesnina at the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

The Dane swopped places with Belarussian Victoria Azarenka.

Rare butterfly species found

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Kokrajhar, August 31: A rare species of butterfly, believed to be extinct, has been sighted and documented in Assam’s Kokrajhar district.

Researcher Kushal Choudhury who spotted the Yellow-Crested Spangle (Papilio elephenor), last sighted hundred years ago, photographed and documented it at Phipsu in the Ripu-Chirang reserve forest in the district.

This is the first-ever photograph of the live species to be taken in the world after it was first recorded by naturalist C T Bingham in 1907, confirmed Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Wildlife Division, Sonali Ghosh.

Suicide bomber named

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Riyadh, August 31: The Ministry of Interior confirmed Monday the identity of the suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Prince Muhammed Bin Naif, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, Thursday as 23-year-old Abdullah Hassan Tali’ Asiri.
The ministry said Asiri was on its list of 85 most wanted militants.
Asiri died in the attack. The Prince suffered slight injuries.

Four Turkish soldiers killed in rebel attack

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Istanbul, August 31: Four Turkish soldiers died in fighting with militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in south-eastern Turkey, reported the Turkish military on Monday.

The soldiers had been investigating illegal activity by the PKK in the Hakkari province when they were attacked, according to the online announcement reporting the incident which happened Sunda.

The PKK fighters had launched a hand grenade, according to media reports.

‘Australia to compensate students facing racist attacks’

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New Delhi, August 31: The Australian government would ensure that student victims of racist attacks either get a seat in a different college or are refunded the entire college fee, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said here Monday.

Gillard, who is on a five-day visit to India, was interacting with students of the Lady Shri Ram College.

Sensex down 225 points in opening trade

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Mumbai, August 31: Snapping a seven-session winning streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell over 225 points in opening trade on Monday on emergence of profit booking by funds and retail investors amid weak Asian markets.

The BSE-30 share benchmark Sensex, which had gained nearly 1,112.73 points, or 7.5 percent in the past seven sessions, fell by 225.68 points at 15,696.66 points in opening trade with most of the sectoral indices falling up to 1.65 percent.

Thackeray take a dig at Advani

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Mumbai, August 31: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today took a dig at senior BJP leader L K Advani, saying an ”iron man” like him must be hurt that people have accepted Manmohan Singh, whom he had termed as a ”weak” Prime Minister. “Till yesterday you were prime ministerial candidate and you were referring to Manmohan Singh as weak prime minister but people rejected an ”iron” man like you and accepted a ”weak” Prime Minister like Manmohan Singh so you must be feeling hurt,” he said in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ”Saamana”.

Sushma Swaraj meets Jaswant Singh

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New Delhi, August 31: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj Monday met expelled leader Jaswant Singh at his residence here.

Sources close to Jaswant Singh said Swaraj, the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha had sought an appointment in the morning, but refused to divulge details of their meeting.

Jaswant Singh, 71, was expelled from the party Aug 19, two days after the launch of his book ‘Jinnah: India – Partition – Independence’ that eulogised Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

NMDC to sell limestone to steel companies

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Shimla, August 31: Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Monday said the National Mining Development Corporation (NMDC) will sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with steel companies to sell limestone mined in Himachal Pradesh.

“The NMDC will soon sign MoUs with end-users, especially steel plants, as the limestone to be extracted in the Arki region is a vital raw material for making steel,” Singh told reporters.

He said the limestone would also be used by state-owned steel plants.

Chargesheeted Karnataka minister likely to resign

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Bangalore, August 31: Karnataka minister D Sudhakar, chargesheeted by CBI in an alleged cheating case, is likely to put in his papers as suggested by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. The Social Welfare Minister, who has been chargesheeted for cheating a bank, is likely to resign before Yeddyurappa leaves tomorrow on a foreign tour.

The Chief Minister said he has already spoken to Sudhakar and advised him that “under the circumstances, it is better to resign”. Yeddyurrapa said Sudhakar”s re-induction can be considered after he comes out clean in the case.

Economy recovers; GDP grows 6.1% in Q1

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New Delhi, August 31: The country managed a reasonable economic growth of 6.1 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal despite the global financial crisis impacting manufacturing and certain services like hotels.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate during April-June 2009 at 6.1 percent was higher than 5.8 percent in the previous quarter, though it witnessed a decline when compared to 7.8 percent economic expansion recorded during the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

Tax sops in FTP to cost exchequer extra Rs 2,200 crore

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New Delhi, August 31: Tax concessions to exporters announced in the new Foreign Trade Policy will cost the exchequer an extra Rs 2,200 crore.

“Our analysis (of FTP’s implications on indirect taxes) is Rs 2,200 crore for (this fiscal),” Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman V Sridhar told reporters on the sidelines of a CII function.

The new Foreign Trade Policy announced a slew of tax concessions to boost exports, which have been on the downslide since October 2008.

Containing inflation a challenge: RBI

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New Delhi, August 31: With food price inflation in double digits, the Reserve Bank is faced with the daunting task of keeping inflation in check, the bank Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty on Monday said.

Concerned over the rising food prices he said, “The food price inflation is already around 10 percent. Our key challenge is how to keep the inflationary pressure low.”

Speaking at an event of the Institute of Banking, he dwelt on a range of issues from drought to interest rates to government borrowings and said the country would continue to grow at 6 percent-plus.

Former US vice presidential candidate Palin to speak in Hong Kong

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Hong Kong, August 31: Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is to give her first speech outside North America at a Hong Kong conference in September, government radio announced Monday.

Palin, ridiculed for her lack of knowledge of world affairs during her 2008 candidacy, will give a keynote speech at the 16th Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA) Investors Forum, Hong Kong’s government-run radio station RTHK said

Federer reigns at top of unchanged tennis rankings

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Hamburg, August 31: Roger Federer stayed well clear of an unchanged top 10 in the ATP men’s tennis rankings published Monday.

Federer, who faces a rookie in the first round of the US Open in American teenager Devin Britton, leads with 12,040 points from Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.

The only player to increase his points during the week was the tenth-ranked Fernando Verdasco, who won his first ATP World Tour title on Saturday when he beat Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-6(6) in the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

Japanese industrial output up 1.9 % in July

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Tokyo, August 31: Japanese industrial production rose a stronger-than-expected seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in July from the previous month, up for the fifth straight month, on robust output in the auto and steel industries, Tokyo said on Monday.

The index of output at mines and factories stood at 82.4 against the base of 100 for 2005, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report.

The ministry maintained its basic assessment of the country’s industrial output, saying, “Developments for a recovery can be seen.”

22 months of US recession, 1st year of Lehman demise

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Washington, August 31: Weathering the worst ever financial storm in nearly 80 years, the US economy in September, will not only be in recession for 22 consecutive months but the month also marks the first anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ failure.

Unlike last September, this time around, the financial conditions have improved and the pace of GDP contraction is slowing down.

A slew of unprecedented measures including mammoth stimulus packages and near-zero interest rate seem to have helped in bringing the nation’s economy on stabilisation path.

‘London Dreams’ promos disappoint Asin

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Mumbai, August 31: ‘Ghajini’ fame actress Asin has disappointed with the promos of her upcoming film ‘London Dreams’.

Asin is not happy with the fact that Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan were feature in the promos prominently while she was having a blinking appearance.

“When Asin learnt that she was hardly a part of the first theatrical promo of the movie, then she was very much eager to see the response of the audience, especially since it is her first release after ‘Ghajini’ which was the biggest hit last year.”

ATM inaugurated in RSP

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Rourkela, August 31: The second ATM of State Bank of India (SBI) was inaugurated inside Rourkela Steel Plant premises.

The Executive Director (Material Management and Personnel Administration), S S Mohanty inaugurated the ATM today by making the first transaction.

Earlier, a banking facility was opened by the SBI in the administrative building premises of the steel plant on July one, 2009.

—Agencies

Four run over by lorry

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Coimbatore, August 31: Four persons, including a woman and a two-year-old child, were killed on the spot when a water tanker lorry mowed them down at Kannappan Nagar here today.

All the deceased were standing at a bus stop when the lorry ran over them after the driver lost control of the vehcile while taking a turn, police said.

—-Agencies

US envoy rules out opening its Consulate in Bangalore

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Bangalore, August 31: The United States today ruled out opening its Consulate in the IT capital, but assured to step up facilities in its mission at Chennai to attend to visa seekers from Karnataka.

“There is no prospect of opening a Consul General office in India after the one opened in Hyderabad last year”, Andrew T Simkin, U.S. Consul General in Chennai, told reporters here after calling on Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

Mukerjee new AOC-in-C of SAC

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Thiruvananthapuram, August 31: Air Marshal Sumit Mukerjee will be the new Air Officer Commanding-in-chief of the Southern Air Command here and will assume charge on September 1.

Mukerjee was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1972. An alumni of the National Defence Academy, he has flown over 3,700 hours on a variety of fighter aircraft. He is a qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader, an official press release here said.

Mukerjee is the only pilot in IAF’s history to have commanded units with the Mig-21, Mig-23U, Mig-25, Mig-27 and Mig-29 aircraft.