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The 'Lord' rules (Go To Top)

          Los Angeles: It swept every category in which it was nominated, including the Best Picture. That was the magic of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' at the 76th Academy Awards here on Sunday night/. The epic journey of a raggedy gang of humans, hobbits, wizards, dwarves and elves hoisted the fantasy genre, winning a record tying 11 Oscars. The Best Director Oscar went to Peter Jackson, ... (Contd)

ODI team for Pak tour (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Monday announced a 15-man squad for one-dayers for Pakistan tour. The Test team will be announced a March 22. The ODI squad includes Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Hemang Badani, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar and Ashish Nehra. Mumbai spinner Ramesh Powar is the surprise inclusion in the squad. Leg spinner Anil Kumble and fast bowler Ajit Agarkar have, however, been ruled out of the one-day matches due to injuries.

Secretary-level talks after polls (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: Dates for the next round of foreign secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India will be announced only after Indian general elections, informed sources here told the Nation. The sources said the talks would take place in New Delhi as per an agreement reached between the two sides on February 18. The dates for this interaction would be worked out through diplomatic channels, though one unnamed senior Pakistan Foreign Office bureaucrat was quoted as saying that it would probably be during the last week of May. Elections in India are to be held on April 20, 26, May 5 and 10 and the results will be known on May 13.

          At present, Islamabad and New Delhi are preparing the groundwork for this month's talks on reopening the road and rail link between Khokhrapar in Sindh and Munabao in Rajasthan (March 9 and 10) and for starting a bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar (March 28 and 29).

Mulayam, Ajit Singh are pals again! (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: It's friendship time in Uttar Pradesh again. The state's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) today forged an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has a significant say in western UP dominated by the Jat community. The state's Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, flanked by RLD supremo and former Union Cabinet minister Ajit Singh, said that his SP would contest 70 seats while the RLD will contest the remaining ten seats in U.P. Both leaders said it was forged keeping the larger interest of the farmers in mind, adding that their parties would explore possibilities of contesting jointly outside Uttar Pradesh.

         Yadav also urged the Congress to reconsider its decision on an alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections, saying such a combine will not only decide the future polity in Uttar Pradesh but the entire country. "The doors of my party and the alliance are open in the fight against communalism," he said. He said that his alliance with the RJD had the potential to decide the future polity in Uttar Pradesh and the rest of country. "The purpose is not to form a government but to address issues of minorities, farmers and others," he added.

          Refusing to comment on the reports of the Bahujan Samaj Party- Congress alliance, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said he considered the BSP and the BJP as "one" and any party extending support to either was "communal". He, however, was non-committal on the issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister, saying, "You should ask this question after the polls."

HC order to recover arrears from MPs (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today instructed the Election Commission of India to seek affidavits from candidates, including members of Parliament, on the arrears due from them for use of facilities like telephone, electricity, water, accommodation and travel and to give this information "full publicity." Observing that "an informed voter is the foundation of any democracy", a two-judge bench of the high court said: "The Election Commission shall take effective steps to publicize at least in two local dailies the information furnished by candidates with regard to government dues to be recovered from them." Delhi High Court Chief Justice BC Patel and Justice BD Ahmed passed the order.

          The court, however, clarified that the candidates would not be required to obtain a "no dues" certificates from the departments concerned and produce the same before the returning officer while filing their nomination papers. It also issued notices to the Secretaries-General of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha asking why the arrears vis-a-vis telephone, electricity and water bills of sitting and former parliamentarians had not been deducted from their salary, allowances and pension as per the relevant rules.

          Meanwhile, in a related development, the EC has ruled out the release of further Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme funds till the completion of the electoral process. This order was forwarded to the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories. The same rules will also apply to Legislative Assembly members and others holding elected offices.

DMK announces first list of candidates (Go To Top)

          Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party on Monday announced its first list of candidates for the April-May general elections. The election commission on Sunday announced that voting would be held in four stages from April 20 to May 10, with counting and results on May 13. DMK dropped three of its lawmakers who were in the dissolved Parliament to bring in new faces.

          The party has fielded Dayanidhi Maran, son of late Union Minister Murasoli Maran and Karunanidhi's grandnephew from Chennai central constituency while Radhika Selvi, widow of a backward community leader would be contesting from Thiruchendur, a lower-caste dominated area. Besides Selvi, the party is fielding two more women for the elections. Former Union minister TR Baalu and A Raja have been re-nominated.

          The state, which sends 39 members to Parliament, will vote on May 10. The DMK, which was earlier part of the NDA, pulled out of the coalition citing differences on the implementation of a tough anti-terror law. DMK chief M. Karunanidhi defended his party's decision to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA. The DMK has agreed on seat sharing with the Congress party, which is contesting in 10 constituencies.

Political parties rush for last-minute alliances ahead of polls (Go To Top)

          New Delhi/Patna: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday sewed up an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a day after the Election Commission announced dates for the general elections. UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav announced the alliance with RLD. "Out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats, RLD is contesting in 10 seats and the Samajawadi Party will be contesting from 70 constituencies. No matter, how many of these will be won by us, but we are sure that this would be the most powerful and feasible alliance in Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said. Meanwhile, a senior Congress party leader continued to keep the media guessing about her moves.

          Media reports said Deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptullah, could join the ruling BJP after she criticised the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Meanwhile, the BJP leaders claimed that all sections of the society had benefited during the almost five-year-rule of the ruling coalition. "The farmers are optimistic because what Congress and other parties could not do in 50 years, the Vajpayee-led Bharatiya Janata Party government did in these few years. Farmers are very confident that the BJP-led government wants to do something and they are doing something for them," Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters in Patna. Singh was in Patna to campaign for the party.

          BJP and its regional ally Janata Dal (United) has 23 seats to the Lok Sabha from the state which is ruled by the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal for almost a decade. The state sends 40 lawmakers to Lok Sabha. The BJP has been aggressively campaigning on the plank of the economic growth. But the Congress party ridiculed the Central government's claims of achievements. "It is an old habit of the NDA and the BJP to promise something and actually achieve something less. I just looked at their 1999 manifesto and the BJP has not been able to fulfill any of their promises," Abhishek Singhvi, spokeperson of the Congress party, said in New Delhi.

CBSE exams begin (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Class X and XII Central Board of Secondary Examinations began on Monday across the country. The Board conducts the All-India Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination for Class XII and All-India Secondary School Certificate Examination for Class X. This year over 900,000 students are appearing for the exams. Students at an examination centre were seen making last-minute preparations moments before taking the examination. At the centres, the teachers gave their blessings to the students, an annual practice.

          Shashank, a student, said regular studies throughout the year does not create pressure. Counselling centres have sprung up over the years in the cities to help the students cope with the exam tensions. "I do not need any kind of counselling because if you study the whole year then you do not need them. There is not much of stress if you practise regularly then it's no problem and if you have great teachers then no problem," he said. "If you study there is less of stress but yes there is a bit of confusion on how will be the paper and who will check it," said Roshni, another examinee.

          Besides the All-India Board, the CBSE conducts other examinations, like the Delhi Board for locally affiliated schools in the national Capital and the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) for a small bunch of mostly convent schools. Each of the 29 states and six Centrally administered Union Territories also have their own school examination boards following different textbooks and courses including some compulsory regional languages, where millions of students take the examinations very year.

Fourteen people wounded in Srinagar grenade blast (Go To Top)

          Srinagar: Fourteen civilians were wounded on Monday when militants lobbed grenades on a busy market in Srinagar. "I was near the site, I was buying some stuff when suddenly there was a grenade blast and I fell down," said Abdul Wali, an injured recovering in a local hospital. Kartar Singh, another eyewitness, said his two daughters were injured in the blast. "I was nearby when I heard the grenade blast. Somebody told me two girls had been injured...I rushed to the hospital. They were my daughters," said Singh. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Elsewhere, a soldier of the paramilitary Border Security force was attacked by unidentified rebels in south-west of Srinagar.

          India accuses Pakistan of fomenting separatist violence in Kashmir by arming and training Muslim guerrillas. Pakistan denies the charge. The two countries last month held talks for the first time in nearly three years and announced a "basic roadmap" to end their enmity.

M-P village tense after cow slaughter (Go To Top)

          Datia (MP): The slaughter of a cow has sparked tension in a village in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh, where the ban on cow slaughter is in place. The newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government last month banned cow slaughter and slapped stiff punishment on those disobeying the order. Police officials on Sunday said they were investigating the killing of the cow by an unknown person and the motive. Body parts of the cow were found strewn in an agricultural field, raising concerns that the slaughter was intended to incite violence among Hindus and Muslims.

          "Yesterday night we got information that a cow has been slaughtered. When we reached the spot, we found some body parts of the cow. We have recovered a cycle, some clothes and a knife from the spot," Rajesh Sharma, the area police incharge, said. No arrests have been made so far. Villagers say this is not an isolated incident and complained that the ban was not being implemented properly. "There has been a sudden fall in the number of cows in the village. Merely 25 percent of cows are left in our area...we have reported this to the authorities but nobody pays heed to our complaints," Bansi Lal, a villager, said.

          India's Hindu majority reveres cows and their slaughter has always been a sensitive issue, often provoking violence. Hindu hardliners have for long been campaigning for a country- wide ban on cow slaughter but only a few states, including Uttar Pradesh, have implemented it. Anyone found guilty of the crime can be sentenced up to seven years and fined.

A 10 feet high Tazia in Bikaner (Go To Top)

          Bikaner: The Muslims across the country are taking out processions to observe the holy month of Muharram, which marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Not to be left behind, a community of the Shia sect in Bikaner town in Rajasthan have crafted an impressive 10 feet high and 5 feet wide Tazia (a replica of Imam Hussain's tomb at Karbala city in Iraq), which will soon be taken out in the Muharram procession. The "Usta" or gold-inlay decorated Tazia took sculptor Mohammad Ali and his team of 40 labourers over three months to erect.

          "We have spent 1.5 million rupees in making, painting, gold work on this Tazia. And this kind of work done on Tazia cannot be found anywhere in Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country. This is one of its kind and an example of Usta art," said Ali. The tazia makers' families sustain on the one month Muharram sale of Tazias till the next season arrives.

          Every year, Muslims across the world mourn the tragedy of Karbala on the tenth day of the month of Muharram. It was on this day in the 13th century that Imam Hussain was killed by the army of Yazid, who was said to be an usurper of the Caliphate or a self appointed successor to the Prophet. Imam Hussain was killed in the battle of Karbala alongwith 72 of his relatives, friends and supporters. But his sister escaped alongwith some children from settlements set on fire by the army of Caliph. The "martyrdom" day of Imam Hussain is marked by prayers, processions and self-flagellation by mourners.

US troops to enter Pak to hunt for Bin Laden (Go To Top)

          New York: US troops will be allowed to enter Pakistan territory to hunt down Osama bin Laden. This is as per a deal signed between Pakistan and the US in return for Washington's support over President Pervez Musharraf's pardon of nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan, the News quoted an article in the New Yorker magazine as saying. As per the deal, thousands of US troops will be deployed this spring in Pakistan's tribal areas where Osama is believed to be operating, the paper said.

          "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with Khan. It's a quid pro quo," a former US senior intelligence official said. Claiming that Musharraf had also offered help in Osama's hunt, the official said: "Musharraf told us, We've got guys inside ... the people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats for Osama and his al-Qaeda followers." The article added that some of the most highly skilled US Special Forces units would be shifted from Iraq to Pakistan. Special Forces personnel have been briefed on their new assignments and in some cases have been given "warning orders" - the stage before being sent into combat, according to a military adviser.

India's Phalcon deal will accentuate strategic SA imbalance: Pak (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Israel's decision to approve the sale of three Phalcon airborne early warning radar systems to India would accentuate the strategic imbalance in South Asia, Masood Khan, spokesman of Pakistan's Foreign Office, said on Sunday. "The sales of sophisticated weapons to India will accentuate strategic and conventional imbalance in South Asia. Such transactions undermine the spirit of peace and stability being pushed by Pakistan, India and the international community in the region," the News quoted Khan as saying.

          Earlier in the day, the Israeli security cabinet had approved a 1.1-billion-dollar deal consisting of avionics from state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries fitted onto Russia-manufactured Ilyushin aircraft. Under the terms of the agreement, Israel would buy Ilyushin-76 cargo aircraft from Uzbekistan, which would then be sent to Russia to be fitted with new high-powered engines. After structural modifications, the aircraft would be sent to Israel to be mounted with the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar system and the complete aircraft would be delivered to India.

Kaps is India's bowling coach (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev has been requested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to train the bowlers touring Pakistan. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here that the decision to induct Kapil Dev was taken after a meeting with Indian team coach John Wright and Captain Sourav Ganguly. "Kapil Dev was approached and he has consented to take up the assignment," Dalmiya said. The training assignment will be for a period of three days and will start on March 7 and end on March 9. Dev, who has taken 434 Test wickets, has previously been a coach of the national team before alleged bribery charges were levelled against him. He has reportedly been called in because of the vast experience he has acquired during various matches against Pakistan between 1978, when he made his international debut, and when he retired in 1994.

Tendulkar's salvo: No sheen to Pak bowling (Go To Top)

          Karachi: Pakistan's bowling attack is not fresh and is slowly losing its sheen, Indian master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has said. According to the News, Sachin felt that Pakistan's pace attack could not be termed as vibrant or lethal, as international players had successfully faced up to the likes of Shoaib Akhtar for around five years, Mohammad Sami for three and Shabbir Ahmed for five or six years.

           "But their attack seems more experienced than ours," he, however, added. On Akhtar, Tendulkar said: "He is an attacking bowler. Every time he comes in to bowl he is going to perform - does not matter if he goes for runs. He obviously makes the game exciting with his speed. If somebody can bowl that fast consistently, he is not easy to play." Making some interesting observations about the Pakistan team, he said: "There's a lot of talk about how they are concentrating on fitness. It is a good pace attack and have done well in New Zealand."

Pindi's bookies, policemen get cracking for series (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Bookies and policemen in Rawalpindi have reportedly begun spreading the word that they are ready for their pickings in the run-up to the Pakistan-India series that starts from March 11. An incognito survey carried out over the weekend indicates that bookies in the city are expanding their networks in almost every corner.

          Station House Officers (SHOs) of different police stations who were taking Rs.10, 000 per month as bribe, are also demanding huge amounts for what they termed "is a historical cricket series," a bookie based at Rawalpindi's Committee Chowk was quoted by the Nation, as saying. According to him, Pakistan was being touted as the favourites to wrap up the series. When asked about the big gamblers in the city, the bookmaker said that the biggest gamblers were the local politicians and businessmen, whom he refused to name.

          Prominent areas that are actively involved in this business are Tench Bhata, Bhabra Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Bohar Bazaar, Moti Bazaar, Raja Bazaar, Banni Market, Kartar Pora, Shah Nazar Pul, Dhoke Dalal, Dhoke Ratta, Dingi Khoi, Dhoke Khabba, Mukha Singh State, Committee Chowk, Commercial Market, Dhoke Kashmiriyan, Liaqut Bagh Market, and Moti Mahal Plaza. By installing extra phone lines, the bookies take the rate of teams from Karachi, the country's biggest gambling center, and then give them to the locals.

Irked by Pepsi India, PCB chairman cancels commercial shoot (Go To Top)

          Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan last week took strong reservation against Pepsi India's bid of `directly' approaching four Pakistani players for a commercial that was to be shot in Mumbai for the upcoming series against India. Irked at Pepsi India's move, Khan reportedly threatened its main sponsors Pepsi Pakistan with a unilateral cancellation of the existing sponsorship contract, besides assuring that the four players - Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Moin Khan - didn't fly to Mumbai.

          According to a report in The News, the foursome had even managed to get visas for visiting Mumbai. They were reportedly to be paid 50-70 thousand dollars each for the commercial shoot. Khan reportedly said that Pepsi India bypassed proper channels in doing so. The report said that Khan was "very upset" on learning that Pepsi India had, without clearance from its sister organization in Pakistan or the PCB, approached the four players directly and asked them to appear in the commercial shoot. Quoting a PCB source, the paper said: "Shaharyar believes that this move by Pepsi India could have spoiled the team spirit in the Pakistan team by approaching only four players directly during the national camp and promising them lucrative sums to shoot the ad before such an important series," a Board source said.

          The source reportedly said: "He (Khan) has spoken to the Pepsi regional Director and country managers for India and Pakistan in the last 48 hours and made it very clear to them he didn't like this move to upset the Pakistan training camp and spirit of the team." "Shaharyar has also told Pepsi that the money promised to the four players should be paid to them now and Pepsi India can shoot the commercial in Karachi or Lahore; and if this is not possible then they should give some compensation to the players. Basically, Shaharyar also has to ensure that the four players don't develop this feeling that the Board is standing in their way of earning some decent money which is why he has insisted on the players being compensated," the source added.