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G-20 ministerial meeting begins in New Delhi

     New Delhi: A two-day meeting of the G-20 countries began here today to work out the strategy of developing nations ahead of the trade negotiations with the developed countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meet later this year. Developing and developed countries are at loggerheads on farm issues as developing nations feel that their farmers need protection as they don't have level playing field against the corporates of developed countries who are pressing for access to their markets. The G20 -- including influential developing countries such as China, Brazil and South Africa-is pressing rich countries to slash farm subsidies, which they say distort global trade.

     "The task before us in the negotiations in the WTO is complex. In order to fructify our aspirations for development and to bring to our people peace, prosperity and higher standards of living and to harness a creative spirit of enterprise, we will have to confront with determination and resilience the challenges thrown in our way," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said in the preliminary meeting ahead of the inaugural address by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "We will be focusing primarily on agriculture but we will also have a brainstorming session on linkages with other areas of the Doha development agenda - NAMA (Non-Agricultural Market Access), services, development issues, all these have a bearing on our fortunes. And I am sure we can benefit from each other's views as well as sensitize ourselves to each other's concerns of these issues," he added. India maintains that farmers in developing countries do not have a level playing field because they are confronted by the huge subsidies for farmers in rich countries. Analysts say the stance of India would be important for global trade talks even if it has a paltry 0.8 per cent share of global trade as it has come forward to voice the views of developing nations in strong words. Several developing country alliances such as the G33, the Africa- Caribbean-Pacific countries, the Africa group, the Caribbean community and least developed countries are also participating in the G20 meeting.

India on 133 for 3, Sachin misses ton again (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: India were 133 for 3 on the third day of the second test match being played at the Eden Gardens at Kolkata when the game stopped due to bad light. India, earlier in the day, put up a much better bowling performance to bowl out Pakistan for 393 to gain a slender margin of 14 runs. The top order batsmen then consolidated the advantage as they reached 133 for three at close, an overall lead of 147, at close on the third day at the Eden Gardens. Rahul Dravid was batting on 54, with skipper Sourav Ganguly at the other end on four. While Sachin once again failed to covert his half-century into his milestone 35th century today when he went back to the pavilion for 52. Brief Scores: Pakistan: 393 in 113.1 overs (Younis Khan 147, Yousuf Youhana 104, Inzamam-ul Haq 30; A Kumble 3-98, L Balaji 2- 81, I Pathan 2-90, Harbhajan Singh 2-94.) India: 407 and 133 for 3 in 33.3 overs (S Tendulkar 52, R Dravid batting 54, Ganguly 4 batting).

Five-year-old girl creates national swimming record (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: A five-year-old girl has created national swimming record by swimming a distance of 35 kilometres non-stop in eleven hours and forty minutes here. Sainika Todankar swam from the Dharamtar creek to the Gateway of India to claim the title of being the youngest to accomplish this feat. Sainika is the youngest Indian to cover the distance, way ahead of her 11-year-old predecessor. Introduced to swimming by her parents, it was Sainika's coach who noticed that she had the endurance to swim over long distance. "When we enrolled her for swimming coaching, we would joke with her to break this record, but when her coach discussed this with us, we started taking steps to encourage her for it," said Samruddhi Todankar, Sainika's mother. However, the accolades have not been easy coming as the young Sainika had to sacrifice many pleasures for the gruelling practice sessions that would begin each day as early as 5.00 a.m. Earlier in the year she also swam from Elephanta Caves to Gateway of India, covering a distance of 12 kilometres in four hours 32 minutes.

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