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PM to visit Mumbai on Wednesday

       Mumbai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Mumbai on Wednesday to address Congress workers, elected representatives and trade and industry representatives there in view of the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly polls. This will be his first visit to the city after becoming Prime Minister in May. According to official sources, Singh will arrive in the city at 11.30 a.m. and address party workers at Ravindra Natya Mandir in central Mumbai around noon. He would then hold a press conference at the Cricket Club of India at 1.30 p.m. and have lunch with media persons. He would then proceed to meet industrialists, senior editors, representatives of NGOs and other eminent citizens of the city at Taj Hotel between 4.30 and 5.30 p.m., the sources said.

Rebel NDFB is ready to hold talks with Centre (Go To Top)

       Guwahati: The rebel National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFD) is ready to hold talks with the Centre to achieve its goal of sovereignty, its spokesman, S Sanjarang, has said in a press release here. Sanjarang said that NDFB president D.R. Nabla had clearly told the cadre on Sunday that the NDFB is seriously considering the cease-fire offer made by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and would convey their decision within a few weeks. He further said that Nabla had also appealed to all cadres of the NDFB and Bodo people to prepare for talks and secure freedom either through peaceful and democratic means or through a prolonged struggle.

Mirage aircraft crash-lands at Mauritius airport (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: An Indian Air Force's Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft crash-landed at Mauritius airport after taking part in an air show in Port Louis on Monday but the pilot escaped unhurt. The aircraft, which suffered damages, was being repaired and would be flight-worthy shortly, an IAF spokesman said here today. According to sources, the aircraft suffered damage as the pilot had not lowered its undercarriage. The Mirage was part of a team of six aircraft flying home from South Africa after taking part in a joint exercise. The airshow in Port Louis attracted some 25,000 spectators.

Terror warnings give Bush's approval ratings a boost (Go To Top)

         Washington: An article published in the 'Current Research in Social Psychology' journal has revealed that when the US government issues a terrorist warning, presidential approval ratings jump by leap and bounds. Robb Willer, the assistant director of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell, tracked 26 instances of federal agency report that showed an increased threat of terrorist activity in the United States between February 2001 and May 2004. Simultaneously he also tracked the 131 Gallup Polls in the same period, and found presidential approval ratings quite positive in relation to the warnings on terror. "Results showed that terror warnings increased presidential approval ratings consistently. They also increased support for Bush's handling of the economy. The findings, however, were inconclusive as to how long this halo effect lasts," said Willer. Willer pointed to the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States as an example of the tendency. After Sept. 11, 2001, approval of Bush's job performance jumped from 51 percent on Sept. 10, 2001, to 86 percent on Sept. 15, 2001, in a Gallup Poll. Similarly, approval for Bush's handling of the economy jumped from 54 percent on July 11, 2001, to 72 percent on Oct. 5, 2001.

       Willer said that the findings are consistent with social identity theory, which postulates that individuals tend to identify with a specific group to the extent that they see themselves as more similar to the members of the group than to its most significant out-group. "Once individuals identify with a group, they develop significant biases toward their group, which help them maintain high self- esteem as members of their group. From the perspective of social identity theory, threats of attacks from foreigners increase solidarity and in-group identification among Americans, including feelings of stronger solidarity with their leadership," explained Willer. "This research suggests that individuals may respond to reminders of their mortality, like terror warnings, by supporting their current leaders," he concluded.

New Zealand PM to visit India after 20 long years (Go To Top)

      Wellington: The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark is all set to visit India later this month, the first New Zealand Prime Minister to do so in almost 20 years. According to the New Zealand Herald, she will leave on October 13 for the trip that will also include Hungary and Singapore. She will first visit Hungary for the Progressive Governance Summit and then come to India. "There hasn't been an official visit to India by a New Zealand Prime Minister since David Lange's official visit in 1985. Our ties with India really do need to be updated," she was quoted as saying.

Hush-hush Hoon `drops in' on Pak and India (Go To Top)

       Islamabad: British Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon has reportedly completed a surprise visit to New Delhi over the weekend and his scheduled to arrive in Pakistan today for two days in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties in the defence sector. Official sources here told the Daily Times that Hoon's surprise visit would include meetings with his Pakistani counterpart Rao Sikander Iqbal on Tuesday and meetings with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday. Hoon had arrived unannounced in New Delhi on Saturday and left for Islamabad on Monday. A British High Commission spokesman said Hoon is scheduled to return to New Delhi on Wednesday for possible talks with Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

BCCI appoints Gavaskar as consultant for India-Australia series (Go To Top)

       Thiruvananthapuram: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named former Test captain Sunil Gavaskar as the consultant to the Indian team for upcoming India-Australia Test series, said a press release here. According to the release signed by BCCI secretary S K Nair, the Board had invited Gavaskar to be the consultant after due consultations with the team management. There will be no overlapping of responsibilities with that of coach John Wright and yet, the Indian team would be able to utilise the rich experience and technical expertise of the Little Master, it said. Gavaskar would be joining the team today.

Tendulkar to miss first test match against Aussies (Go To Top)

      Bangalore: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will miss the first test against Australia starting on Wednesday due to an elbow injury, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly announced today. "Obviously, he is a great player and we will misss him. We will miss him with the bat and the ball. We can't help the injury. We expect him to get well for the second test," Ganguly told a news conference after unveiling the TVS trophy here. Tendulkar has been out of action since the Asia Cup final in August because of a tennis elbow. He returned to the nets last week but said his arm was still very weak. Australia may swap their usual aggression for a more patient approach, stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist said on Tuesday. Australia have dominated world cricket for nearly a decade but an Indian victory has eluded them since 1969-70. "We are an aggressive team, it's in our nature. But it was a huge part of that aggression which left the door open for India in the last series here in Calcutta. Since that time we have had a lot of time to ponder those decisions we made that day. I'm sure we are much the wiser for the experience. We are much better planned to do what we think is the right approach this time around," Gilchrist told newsmen.

MTNL to roll out 4 million GSM lines for 'Dolphin' (Go To Top)

        New Delhi: The long awaited Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) cellular network expansion finally starts, with MTNL all set to roll out four million new GSM lines for its 'Dolphin' cellular service by October 15. The objective of MTNL is to catch up competition by adding new lines to its current capacity of 2.25 lakh lines to 4 lakh lines, each, at Delhi and Mumbai. The new network will have features of GPRS for high-speed data transmission. It will also have various value added services like MMS, colour logos, polyphonic ring tones, and message to roamers.