Indian GP: Vettel is historic first winner!

Greater Noida, (AFP): Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel admitted he had "mixed emotions" about his emphatic Indian Grand Prix victory on Sunday after two tragic deaths left motorsports in mourning.
India's Formula One debut started with a solemn minute's silence, and several drivers wore tributes to IndyCar's Dan Wheldon and MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, who both died in races this month.
Vettel took time out from his celebrations to remember the two, whose deaths gave drivers a stark reminder of the risks involved in their sport. "For everyone who is a fan of motorsports it's been a hard time we had to go through," he said.
"On one hand I'm very happy and proud... but on the other hand you have to pay a certain respect to those two guys who lost their lives and our thoughts are with them, especially with their families. We should never forget those two very young, committed race drivers."
McLaren's Jenson Button, a rival of Wheldon's from the age of eight when they were both racing go-karts, dedicated the event to the memory of the two racers. "It's been a tough weekend for everyone in motorsport," said the Briton, who wore a black armband. "It's been very, very difficult especially with Dan."
"I think we should dedicate this first Indian race to Dan and also to Marco, another super-talented youngster who was the most amazing guy to watch on a bike."
Wheldon died in a fiery, multi-car pile-up on October 16, before Simoncelli veered into the path of two rivals at Malaysia's Sepang circuit a week later.
"You pray that every time nothing happens but sometimes you get reminded, and it's the last thing you want to see," Vettel said. "It's a bit mixed emotions and our thoughts are with them at this moment."
Vettel, who has already sealed the championship, won his 11th victory of the season with Button second and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso third.
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Gaddafi was 'killed in crossfire'

Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi was killed in crossfire after being captured in his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.

Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said he had been shot in the head in an exchange between Gaddafi loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters.

He confirmed that Col Gaddafi, who had been taken alive, had died before reaching hospital.

Nato's governing body, meeting in the coming hours, is expected to declare an end to its Libyan bombing campaign.

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that with the death of Col Gaddafi "that moment has now moved much closer".

"After 42 years, Col Gaddafi's rule of fear has finally come to an end," he said. "I call on all Libyans to put aside their differences and work together to build a brighter future."

Wild scenes of celebration continued late into the night in towns and cities across Libya at news of the colonel's death.

Groups of young men fired guns in the air, and drivers honked their horns in celebration.

In the capital, Tripoli, cars clogged the city centre.

Golden gun

Mr Jibril, number two in the National Transitional Council (NTC), held a news conference in Tripoli to confirm the colonel's death.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," he said.

Video footage suggests Col Gaddafi was dragged through the streets.

Continue reading the main story
At the scene

Rana Jawad

BBC News, Tripoli

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Residents swarmed the streets of the capital, waving flags and cheering from the windows of their cars.

Tripoli's myriad of streets in various districts has been gridlocked for hours.

People and fighters manning checkpoints shouted out "God is Great", as some distributed mints and biscuits - later dubbed "revolutionary treats" - to passing cars.

There are many who will be wondering "what next?" for Libya as it embarks on a new era unobtainable for almost half a century.

But for many Libyans tonight, it is a time to rejoice.

Wild celebrations across Tripoli
It is unclear from the footage, broadcast by al-Jazeera TV, whether he was alive or dead at the time.

Later, Mr Jibril told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds after he had been captured and driven away.

"When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head," he said, quoting from the report.

"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces."

Earlier, some NTC fighters gave a different account of the colonel's death, saying he had been shot by his captors when he tried to escape.

One NTC fighter told the BBC that he found Col Gaddafi hiding in a hole, and the former leader had begged him not to shoot.

The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.

Arabic TV channels showed images of troops surrounding two large drainage pipes where the reporters said Col Gaddafi was found.

US President Barack Obama said it was a "momentous day" for Libya, now that tyranny had fallen.

He said the country had a "long and winding road towards full democracy", but the US and other countries would stand behind Tripoli.

Col Gaddafi was toppled from power in August after 42 years in charge of the country.

He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.

Nato air strike

A body officials identified as that of Mutassim has been shown on Libyan TV.

A reporter for the Reuters news agency described how the body of Mutassim -- the former national security adviser -- had been laid out on blankets on the floor of a house in the city of Misrata, while local people jostled to take pictures of the corpse with their mobile phones.

The body of Col Gaddafi was also taken to Misrata.

There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam.

Acting Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi told the AP news agency Saif al-Islam had been captured and taken to hospital with a leg wound.

But another NTC official said his whereabouts were unknown.

Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it had carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte.

He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel.

Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among fighters, and then broadcast by international news channels.

The first images showed a bloodied figure presumed to be Col Gaddafi.

Later, video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive.

None of the video footage has been independently verified

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Hillary Clinton :Learn from India, put economics in foreign policy

New York, Oct 15 (IANS) The United States should take a cue from the leaders of emerging powers like India and Brazil who put economics at the centre of their foreign policies, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged policymakers.

'When their leaders approach a foreign policy challenge -- just as when they approach a domestic challenge -- one of the first questions they ask is, 'how will this affect our economic growth?'' she told the Economic Club of New York Friday in what was billed as a major economics and foreign policy speech.

'We need to be asking the same question -- not because the answer will dictate our foreign policy choices, but because it must be a significant part of the equation,' she said declaring she is updating US foreign policy priorities to include economics 'every step of the way.'

The United States must position itself to lead in a world 'where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors -- as well as on battlefields,' Clinton said noting 'We have seen governments toppled by economic crisis.'

The United States is 'modernising (its) agenda on trade, investment and commercial diplomacy to deliver jobs and growth for the American people,' she said. But Washington cannot compete if it is frozen in domestic political fights.

'Washington has to end the culture of political brinksmanship -- which, I can tell you, is raising questions around the world about our leadership.'

Asked how corporate strength could be used to benefit the creation of jobs and enhance economic growth in the United States, Clinton acknowledged 'It's not as though American companies go invest in China or India or Brazil and there's no benefit back home. there is.'

'But the quality of the benefit, the amount of the benefit, and the durability of the benefit depend upon decisions we make here as to how we think about our competitive stance in this new challenging environment.'

The world's 'strategic and economic centre of gravity is shifting east', she said and the United States is now focusing more on the Asia-Pacific region.

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Telangana shutdown Monday, rail blockade cut short

Train services were disrupted for the second consecutive day across Telangana but the JAC decided to cut short the blockade.

After a meeting of JAC steering committee, its leader M. Kodandaram told reports Sunday night that there would be no "rail blockade" Monday but appealed to people to make the shutdown a success.


Following the JAC's decision, the railway officials said train services would be restored in the region from Monday. However, MMTS or local train services in Hyderabad were cancelled in view of the shutdown.

Kodandaram said the shutdown was to protest "police excesses" during "rail roko", large-scale arrests and implicating the protesters in false cases.

He claimed that despite the government's "high-handed attitude and misuse of power" to suppress the protest, the "rail blockade" was a success. He alleged that police showed utter disregard to all directives of the Supreme Court and kept women protesters in the police stations.
"There were more policemen than passengers in some trains forcibly run by the railways," he said

Unlike the first day of "rail blockade" when largescale arrests were made, there were only sporadic protests in the region, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad.

Director General of Police S.A. Huda said 715 protesters were arrested on the second day of the blockade. Police booked 54 cases against the protesters. More cases under Railway Act were booked against Kodandaram at two police stations in Hyderabad.

As many as 126 trains remained cancelled for the second day though the authorities operated 20 trains as scheduled and restored a couple of trains cancelled earlier.

Monday's shutdown is likely to hit normal life in the region even as buses returned on the roads Sunday after nearly after a month.

Auto rickshaw drivers have also decided to go on 24-hour strike from Sunday midnight.
Acting tough, the police Saturday arrested over 3,000 people including 10 MPs and several legislators for participating in rail blockade.

Congress MPs Ponnam Prabhakar and S. Rajaiah were sent to judicial custody in Karimnagar and Warangal districts.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vijayshanti, who was also sent to jail Sunday morning, was later released on bail by a railway court in Secunderabad.

TRS legislators Harish Rao and E. Rajender and dozens of others were also sent to judicial custody.

Following appeals from parents of students, the government teachers Sunday decided to call off their strike. Telangana teachers' Joint Action Committee said the teachers would resume classes Tuesday.

The teachers, however, would not sign in the register and would not take salaries as a mark of protest over the delay in formation of a separate Telangana state.

Over 120,000 teachers in Telangana were on strike for a month as part of the "people's strike" called by Telangana JAC.

The teachers of private schools also decided to resume their duties. The private schools and colleges also decided to re-open from Tuesday.
The decision came after the government threatened to de-recognize those who failed to do so. School Education Minister K. Partha Sarathi said that the government would wait till Tuesday in view of the shutdown.

As many as 10,000 buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) returned to the roads of the Telangana region after 28 days.

All 60,000 employees returned to work here and in nine other districts of the region following the Saturday night decision by their leaders to defer the strike.

The decision brought immense relief to those who travel on buses. There had been virtually no public transport for 28 long days in the sprawling region.

According to APSRTC, the strike caused a daily loss of Rs.7 crore.

Government employees, teachers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries are on strike for the last 34 days.

Coal production was badly hit in Singareni, impacting power generation and supply in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Though JAC said only APSRTC was exempted from the strike, the decision of the teachers appear to have come as a blow to the movement.

The management of Singareni is also scheduled to hold talks with striking coal workers Monday. The government is hoping that its employees and Singareni employees would also end their strike soon.

JAC, which comprises groups fighting for separate statehood, now plans to target ministers and legislators, especially those belonging to the ruling Congress, for not quitting to press the demand for separate state.

JAC is also expected to soon finalise the date for a march to Hyderabad to keep the movement alive.


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Rail roko in Telangana begins, KCR's son, daughter in detained

Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao, his daughter Kavitha and several other pro-Telangana activists have been taken into preventive custody even as the three-day rail roko campaign across the state began today. Reports say Congress MP Rajaiah has been arrested in Kazipet.

Some protesters have also been detained for trying to block the tracks at Hyderabad's Sitafal Mandi station, according to reports.

TV reports said that about 124 trains have already been cancelled.

Telangana Congress MPs on Friday asserted that they would participate in the 'rail roko' scheduled to be held in the region for three days from Saturday in support of the separate statehood demand, despite appeals from the party not to do so.

"We are participating in the rail roko," Congress Lok Sabha member G Vivek said.

He demanded that the state government postpone the Group-II examination for recruitment of various posts in the state government and stop the arrests of Telangana agitators.

Earlier, some Telangana Congress MPs met state home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and complained about the tough talk of state DGP to take action against those who crossed the limits during the rail blockade.

The comments of the DGP are provocative, Congress MP M Jagannath alleged.

The state ministers should also take active part in the agitation, Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud said.

State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana on Saturday appealed the Congress MPs not to take part in the 'rail roko'.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao has submitted his resignation from the post in support of the Telangana demand.

Meanwhile, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that the ministers quit in support of the separate statehood goal, party sources said.

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Andhra Pradesh CM to sack government staff agitating for Telangana

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to sack its employees agitating for the separate statehood to Telangana. Government employees in Telangana have been on strike for the past 30 days and the authorities are now ready to crack the whip.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has apparently received hints from the Congress high command that there is no possibility of the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh being settled in near future. And since the employees are hellbent on continuing the strike till the government announces a separate state of Telangana, the Centre is learnt to have asked the CM to deal with the protesters with an iron hand.

Sources said the CM has prepared the blueprint of an action plan to deal with the employees on strike after getting a green signal from governor ESL Narasimhan. As per the strategy, the government would take disciplinary action against Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee leaders K. Swamy Goud, C. Vithal, Srinivasa Goud and Telangana RTC union leaders Ashwathama Reddy and Thomas Reddy. They would possibly face charges of violating service rules, staging a revolt against the government and obstructing the employees from discharging their duties.

The leaders would be first arrested and then sent to judicial remand, which enables the government to suspend them immediately. After that, they would be expelled from service as per the government service rules.
The ongoing strike in the Telangana region has not only affected educational institutions, public transport and government administration but also the judiciary.

For the past two days, judicial employees of different courts have been on strike, forcing adjournment of all pending cases.

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Anna hits back at Congress, BJP; no to joining politics

Anna Hazare tonight hit back at Congress leader Digvijay Singh saying the charge of RSS support to his anti-corruption campaign was an attempt to defame him and ruled out joining politics or becoming a Presidential candidate.

"I know very well that people throw stones only at those trees which bear fruits. People see the world in the colour of the glasses they wear. I think that the colour of your spectacle is wrong and you should change it," he said in his eight-page letter.

The 74-year-old Gandhian has sought to puncture the points raised by Singh in his two letters in which the Congress General Secretary had claimed RSS was backing Hazare's Lokpal campaign and that he was surrounded by associates who are anti-Congress.

Hazare told Singh that if the government brings Jan Lokpal bill in the winter session of Parliament and strives to bring the Lokayukta Act in each state, then there was no need to agitate or to tell people not vote for Congress.

Referring to Singh's allegation that BJP was planning to make him a candidate in the Presidential elections next year, Hazare said "I neither have the capacity nor the desire to become the President of India and wonder why Congress and BJP were talking in the air".
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Pak to give India Most Favoured Nation status

New Delhi: Pakistan has, in principle, agreed to give India Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, a basic international trading procedure that has been languishing on the margins for the last two decades, but which will now allow both countries to conduct normal trade with each other.

The trade concession is likely to see the day when Pakistan commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim comes to Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma in September. A letter from Sharma inviting Fahim to Delhi was carried by India's high commissioner to Pakistan, Sharad Sabharwal, when he returned to Islamabad last week after the conclusion of the foreign minister-level talks between SM Krishna and Hina Rabbani Khar.

Perhaps it was the stardust that Khar threw in the eyes of the media during her visit to Delhi, which caused both sides to miss the seminal reference to MFN status hidden deep inside the joint statement, issued at the conclusion of the bilateral conversation.

The Indian and Pakistani media seemed so overcome by the designer memorabilia adorning Khar -- Roberto Cavalli sunshades, Birkin bag and South Sea/Mikimoto pearls -- that it failed to comprehend the fundamental nature of the shift that seems to be taking inside Pakistan today.

Clause number 12 of the joint statement, then, refers to both ministers agreeing that an increase in trade and economic engagement between the two countries would be mutually beneficial.

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IIT students' satellite 'Jugnu' to be launched into space

A satellite built by students of IIT Kanpur, 'Jugnu', was launched with the latest version of India's indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.

The satellite designed by a group of students and teachers from the institute in collaboration with scientists from the ISRO scientists is one of the smallest satellites built till date.

Students, felt that they were given a golden opportunity to work on a project and got a chance to look at India's space research programme closely.

It took the team three years to give the satellite 'Jugnu' its final shape.

"This was a good experience for everyone. All of us got to learn a lot of things in the last three years. We got to meet with the scientists of ISRO, the chairman and the director as well," said Shantanu, a student.

"Apart from being knowledgeable, it was also a fun experience for us as we all worked together as a team. All of us performed as a team," he added.

Team Jugnu was upbeat about the fact that such a small satellite has been made with some of the latest technologies available.

"This satellite is of about three kilograms in weight. This satellite functions in just three watts of power. There are two small computers implanted into the satellite," said Professor Vyas, project head of 'Jugnu'.

"There is also an infra-red camera, a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit, an inertia measurement unit and also other things which have been put into a satellite for the first time, that too in such a small satellite. It is a complex system and it is a good platform to test small and micro technologies," he added.

Apart from 'Jugnu', the PSLV carried two other smaller satellites for launching into the orbit. This was ISRO's third rocket launch from India in 2011.

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Congress core group discusses Telangana

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) The Congress core group met here Tuesday evening to discuss political developments, including the volatile situation in agitation-hit Telangana region, party sources said, adding that more consultations will be held before a decision on the vexed issue.

The meeting, held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P.Chidambaram and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.

In a move to reach a decision on the demand for separate statehood to Telangana, the prime minister and Mukherjee had held a series of meetings with party leaders from the state in the past few days.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao also met Manmohan Singh here last week.
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Pentagon to test Indian’s next-gen chip

Raj Dutt, an Indian-American, IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, has developed a next-generation energy-efficient computer chip that has caught the attention of the Pentagon, which is testing its application in the ambitious F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The breakthrough technology by Dutt, Chairman and CEO of privately-held APIC Corp and Photonic Corp, helps computer processors consume up to 90 per cent less energy and run up to 60 per cent faster.

"The significance of the technology is that information transfer on the semiconductor chip as well as between components, will now be done using light photons instead of just electrons," Dutt told PTI.

There are many advantages in size, weight and especially power consumed, he explained during his recent trip to Washington, where he met visiting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Photons do not generate heat, thus thy do not need to be cooled. For electronics, cooling is one of the largest cost components.

"Photonic interconnects do not generate heat and use less size than electronic copper interconnects, so more transistors can be put onto a chip. Most significantly, we have figured out how to do this using the same economical process used in manufacturing semiconductor chips today, enabling them to be stamped out by the millions," Dutt said.

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LK Advani to begin 38-day long yatra today

Advani, who is slated to cover around 300 km a day in his special rath or modified bus, said the yatra will mobilise public opinion on electoral and judicial reforms, black money and scams faced by the UPA government.

The campaign begins on Tuesday from the birth place of Jayaprakash Narayan at Sitab Diara village on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border.

On questions about his yatra being linked to the prime ministerial sweepstakes in the BJP, Advani did not give a categoric yes or no.

"Who will be Prime Minister, the party will decide when the time comes. Three years are still left for the elections. However, the (UPA) government has been run in a way that it can fall anytime. People are tolerating it," Advani said.

"There is no dearth of leaders (in the BJP capable of being prime minister)," he said.

Attacking the government, Advani said the leadership given by the UPA had made people unhappy and angry.

"The anger among people has been increasing due to price rise, corruption, black money. Deficiency in leadership by UPA government has led to lack of faith in the political leadership. The damage that the country's democracy has suffered during UPA, it had never suffered earlier," Advani said.

Attacking the UPA for cash-for-votes scandal of 2008, he said it was a "turning point" in the image of the country's democracy.

"There has been ethical decline in UPA's conduct of government... It has been principal reason for anger among people and scepticism about politics itself," he said.

Advani, who was flanked by party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, said his yatra will focus on "clean politics and good governance".

Noting that he had raised the issue of black money during the campaign for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Advani said it will be a major issue during his yatra.

He accused the government of suppressing details of those holding accounts in Swiss banks "to save embarrassment" to a few individuals and demanded that their names be made public.

Advani alleged that facts regarding Swiss accounts have been held back even from the Enforcement Directorate, and that the Income Tax department has been asked to quietly deal with the issue to bury it.

Advani said while judicial reforms should be aimed at efficiency, elimination of arrears and appointment of men of highest integrity, there was a need to curb excessive use of money power in elections and criminalisation of politics.

On the remarks of Anna Hazare's associate Arvind Kejriwal about supremacy of the individual over parliament, Advani said: "Parliament is the highest representative to people."

Dismissing Congress leader Digvijay Singh's statement that the BJP intends to put Hazare as its presidential candidate, Advani said there had been no discussion on the issue in the party.

He denied reports of rift with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and said he will take part in the yatra.

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CBI raids on Maran brothers '2G SCAM'

Stocks of Sun TV tanked 7 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in early trade on news of raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) across homes and offices of the Maran brothers. Sun TV Network is owned by former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran's brother Kalanidhi Maran.

The raids are being conducted in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. The CBI has also registered a first information report (FIR) against the Maran brothers.

There have also been raids at the premises of Suneeta Reddy of the Apollo group, though she has not been named in the FIR. Ms Reddy holds 26 per cent stake in Maxis. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises stocks were down nearly 1.5 per cent on the BSE.

Mr Maran is being investigated for allegedly pressuring the former owner of Aircel to sell his company to T Ananda Krishnan, an industrialist from Malaysia when he was the Union Telecom Minister. Mr Ananda Krishnan is known to be close to Mr Maran and his brother, Kalanidhi. The CBI says that after he bought Aircel, the entrepreneur invested crores of rupees in Kalanidhi Maran's company, Sun Networks.

Dayanidhi Maran was forced to step down as Union Textile Minister in May this year after the CBI implicated him. Last month, the investigating agency told the Supreme Court that it planned to file a formal case soon against Mr Maran for misusing his office when he was Telecom Minister.

The complaint against Mr Maran was filed by C Sivasankaran, the former owner of Aircel, who alleges that as Telecom Minister, Mr Maran delayed the sanction of licences critical for his business and coerced him to sell Aircel to Mr Ananda Krishnan in 2005.

Sources have told NDTV that the CBI has evidence of criminal misconduct against Mr Maran, and has found evidence of quid pro quo in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

Mr Maran was replaced by A Raja as Telecom Minister, who is now in jail for selling mobile network licences and spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008 to companies that were ineligible.

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Mumbai stun Bangalore in CLT20

With all the injuries and replacements at the start of the tournament, one wouldn't have given Mumbai Indians a chance of getting to the knockouts at the Champions League, let alone winning it today.

On a slow wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium with just 139 runs to defend, Harbhajan Singh led Mumbai astutely. He took 3-20 and Royal Challengers Bangalore were crushed by 31 runs in a low-scorer.


Bangalore started the chase strongly with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle adding 38 in four overs. In the next 10, they made 39-5. Harbhajan and Chahal choked the runs dry on a wicket that seemed considerably slower than earlier.

Mumbai raised their fielding a notch, took the catches that mattered. By the end, Bangalore had fallen so far behind the required rate, it's hard to tell looking at the scoreboard that they were ever in the chase.

Harbhajan gambled by giving Lasith Malinga a third over in his first spell. Malinga delivered with his first ball. Dilshan swung across the line and missed. Gayle fell to a dubious LBW to Harbhajan when his front leg was a long way down the wicket. Mumbai had a foot in the door.

Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli, still feeling the effects of batting on the Chinnaswamy belter, didn't last long and were caught in the deep slogging slow turners. Arun Karthik and Mohammad Kaif fell the same way but they were under considerable pressure from the mounting run-rate.

Three run-outs dented Mumbai before they could steer the innings to substantiality. It wasn't sensational fielding but Mumbai's sloppiness. Opener Sarul Kanwar was ball-watching at the non-striker's end when he ignored Aiden Blizzard's call and got him out.

Suryakumar Yadav was promoted above Kieron Pollard and batted usefully for 24. Then he backed up too far and Vettori ran him out in his follow-through. The big wicket was James Franklin's (41) and some lazy running with Pollard cost him his wicket.

In the next over by Vettori, Mumbai fell apart. Pollard strange half-hearted loft couldn't clear mid-on. Harbhajan Singh was given not-out by Kumar Dharmasena to plumb LBW first ball. But he was given LBW to a faster delivery next ball which clearly seemed heading down the leg-side.

This loss extends Bangalore's poor run in T20 finals. They had lost IPL finals in 2009 and 2011.
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India signs historic pact with Afghanistan; to train, equip Afghan security

India came out of its Afghan closet this evening, when it promised Afghan President Hamid Karzai it would assist in the “training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan national security forces”.

The line, tucked away inside the strategic partnership document signed by Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is significant because it enhances India's role in the Af-Pak region by several notches, that too at Afghanistan's request.

While Delhi has been training Afghan police and even army jawans in recent years, these have been in small numbers and very much behind a cloak of reticence.

But 10 years after US forces threw out the Taliban from Kabul, Delhi seems to have finally emerged from its reticence, by promising to deliver what Afghanistan wants.

This, combined with the $2-billion aid that Delhi has already promised during the PM's recent visit to Kabul, makes India one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan.
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A Decade of Greenpeace in India

Although Greenpeace has been actively campaigning in India since 1995, it was only in 2001 that the international non-governmental environmental organization was formally registered in Chennai, India. Greenpeace has offices in over 40 countries and is run by an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Greenpeace first stretched its wings in India in 1996 with a campaign against toxic waste trade imports, pressuring the Government of India to sign and ratify the Basel Convention and to ban the movement of hazardous toxic waste from developed industrialized nations to developing countries. In 1997, Greenpeace attempted to register itself in India but failed. Recent Greenpeace campaigns, most memorably the organization’s strident and colorful protest against genetically modified BT Brinjal, have gained much visibility and compelled the government to reverse its initial decision. This exclusive slideshow chronicles the significant campaigns carried out by Greenpeace during its eventful decade in India.

Blowing hot over nuclear disarmament
A Greenpeace balloon with the slogan ‘Nuclear Disarmament Now!’ floats above the Taj Mahal in a protest against nuclear testing in India in 1997. Greenpeace was denied entry into India following this protest.
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No promise from PM, Telangana agitation to intensify: TRS

New Delhi/Hyderabad, Oct 3 (IANS) After failing to get any assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a separate Telangana state, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao Monday rejected his appeal to call off the strike and decided to intensify the agitation.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told reporters that he may also go on a 'fast unto death' to intensify the movement for a separate state.

'The strike will not be called off under any circumstances,' he told reporters after meeting the prime minister in New Delhi. 'The strike would continue till there is a roadmap for separate Telangana,' he added.

The public agitation called by Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) to press for a Telangana state in Andhra Pradesh entered its 21st day Monday.

'We are not satisfied. The prime minister did not give any assurance. We will continue to fight,' said the MP, who was leading a delegation of JAC leaders.

The delegation urged the prime minister to direct the state government to pay salaries to striking employees on humanitarian grounds. It also complained that the government was deliberately resorting to power blackouts for farmers in Telangana and using repressive methods against the leaders of Telangana movement.

The TRS chief, who also met Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan, accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy of misleading the people on the issue.

The prime minister's meeting with the TRS chief comes amidst talk in political circles that the Congress is diluting its position on the half-century old dispute and may move towards a solution without losing political face.

Earlier, the prime minister met a delegation of Congress MPs and legislators from the Andhra Pradesh region but did not give any assurance to them.

During the 30-minute meeting, the Congress delegation told the prime minister that the central government should announce a time-frame for arriving at a decision on the issue, an MP, who was in the delegation, told IANS.

Manmohan Singh told the Congress MPs that his government will make all efforts to find a solution to the long-standing demand.

He said that he would talk to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and place their demands before the Congress core committee.

The delegation is also learnt to have complained against Andhra Pradesh chief minister's hostile stand to the Telangana demand.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, had Friday submitted a detailed report on the volatile situation in the state to Sonia Gandhi.

The report had recommended further consultations on the Telangana issue. That was endorsed by the Congress core group, which met Friday.

The TRS chief, who has been camping in Delhi, Sunday held a sit-in at Rajghat here in support of his party's demand for the creation of a new Telangana state.

He also questioned the government's stance to hold 'further consultations' on the issue

In Andhra Pradesh, pro-Telangana activists forcibly stopped vehicles moving from coastal Andhra towards Hyderabad and hurled stones at private buses, damaging at least 20 of them in Nalgonda district, police said.

Some activists were injured when police hit them with batons at Nakrekal while one police official sustained critical injuries in stone pelting by the mobs. There were no reports of injuries to the passengers. Demanding separate statehood to Telangana, activists also damaged a police vehicle.

Meanwhile, the chief minister warned that the leaders of the Telangana movement would be responsible for any crop damage due to electricity shortage, citing the ongoing general strike for a separate Telangana.

The chief minister singled out the TRS chief and Telangana JAC convener M. Kodandaram for his attack.

'If crops are damaged, Kodandaram and KCR will be responsible,' he said, urging the people of Telangana to strongly oppose them.

The indefinite strike in coal mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries as part of the general strike in Telangana has affected coal production and hit electricity generation at thermal power stations.

Authorities have imposed power cuts on domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors. A one-hour blackout has been imposed on farmers, who earlier got seven hours of free electricity every day.

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India debuts world's cheapest tablet computer at $35 tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The world's cheapest tablet computer, which will be unwrapped on Wednesday, will go on sale in India starting December, the maker of the device has said.

Created for use by students, the tablet will first be made available to colleges at Rs 1,750 apiece ($35) although it costs Rs 3,000 to produce. The difference will be subsidised by the government as part of an ambitious plan to make information and communication technologies an integral part of education.

The tablet, will run on Google's Android platform, with WiFi connectivity for internet access and cloud storage. It will have 256 MB of RAM, a 2GB SD memory card, a 32 GB expandable memory slot and two USB ports.

A Canadian of Indian descent, Suneet Singh Tuli, the chief executive of the company making the device, declined to disclose its retail price, but said it will cost as much as "a vegetarian meal for two at a five-star hotel in Delhi".

Tuli is the founder of Datawind, a UK-based company which also makes the PocketSurfer, a handheld device to surf the web.

"We wanted to show the world when China can break price points, India can do it better," Tuli said.

The cheapest tablets available globally are at about $99 for an HP TouchPad and $199 for Amazon's Kindle Fire. In India, tablets currently start from $99 for Pepper, a tablet launched last month by Devraj group of companies. The Wespro ePad is available at Rs 7,000.

From Laptop to Tablet

HCL Pad based on Android sells for about 10,000. Bharti Airtel and Reliance have also launched tablets priced about 10,000 and 13,000, respectively.

The so-called $35 tablet being made by Datawind is a brainchild of human resources minister Kapil Sibal and a team of technologists from IIT Rajasthan.

The device is being launched two years after it showed off a $10 computer, which turned out to be little more than a storage device.

The $35 device was earlier slated to be a laptop, but it changed its form over the three years it was being created.

The tablet will be assembled in India and the government will waive duties to help minimise the cost of production. One lakh tablets have been ordered initially and about a million pieces will be produced in the next stage if the pilot works well.

The low internal memory, at 256MB, may make the tablet slow in accessing the already slow speeds of internet in Indian colleges. Only about half the 25,000 colleges have been linked to the internet under the government's National Mission of Education. Out of these, less than 15% of the colleges have broadband with speeds of at least 512 kbps.

Earlier, the government had invited an expression of interest from Indian companies, but the tender was issued afresh as earlier vendors were not being able to deliver at the price point which the government wanted.

Gartner analyst Vishal Tripathi said it will be difficult for others to meet the price of $35 for retail sales. "The tablet is largely subsidised. We will wait till launch to give a verdict," he said.

HCL Infosystems first won the tender to make the tablets, but the deal fell through after the company realised that it could not meet the price expectations of the government. India debuts world's cheapest tablet computer at $35 tomorrowCheck out Brand Equity's Most Trusted Brands List 2011


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Russia vows to scrap chemical weapons soon

"The Russian Federation puts the highest priority on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...We will continue to put maximum effort into the fulfillment of this labour-intensive and technically complex task in as short time as possible," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention banning the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical arms in 1993, and ratified it in 1997. The country has so far destroyed about half of its chemical weapons arsenal, which totals 40,000 tonnes.

"At the same time, there is still a large amount of work on destruction of remaining chemical weapons arsenals ahead of us, and for that purpose we are continuing to increase the capacity of existing destruction facilities...and search for additional resources," the statement said.

Moscow has allocated $7.18 billion from the federal budget for the implementation of the programme, and has built six chemical weapon destruction plants across the country.

According to previous reports, Russia aims to finish all the remaining work under the project, including decontamination and equipment dismantlement, by 2016-2017.


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Pak is major source of makeshift bombs in Afghanistan: report

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Pakistan is a major source of makeshift bombs being used by terrorists in Afghanistan, a media report said.

More than 80 per cent of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are homemade explosives using calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer produced in Pakistan, according to Navy Captain Douglas Borrebach, Deputy Director (Resources and Requirements) at Pentagon''s Joint IED Defeat Organization, ''The USA Today'' reported.

"The border is a sieve. You can do your checkpoints, but that''s not going to help stem the supply," Borrebach told The USA Today.

Top American Senator Robert Casey, who travelled to Pakistan in Afghanistan, has met top Pentagon officials in this regard, urging them to press Pakistan take action against such IEDs.

"From June through August, US troops detected or were hit by 5,088 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the most for any three-month period since the war began in 2001," the report said.

Choking off the source of fertilizer is critical, Borrebach said.

"How do we work with Pakistan to be able to reduce the amount of calcium ammonium nitrate coming across the border? That''s the key to this," Borrebach said.


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Festive beat begins with people flocking to pandals

JAIPUR: The four days of Durga Puja began on Sunday -- the sixth day of the full moon that follows Mahalaya and ends with the Vijaya Dashami. According to Hindu scriptures, Durga, wife of Lord Shiva, emerged when evil forces threatened the very existence of Creation.

Durga killed the powerful demon Mahishasur. Durga Puja is celebrated with joy all over the nation especially in eastern India. Pink City joined the celebration of triumph of good over evil with pomp and splendour on Sunday -- blending seamlessly into the local Navratri celebrations at various pandals.

Artisans from distant Paschim Banga (West Bengal) have come to this city to make the images or idols - the focus of worship for the four days.

One such artisan is Amit Pal who has been in the profession of making idols for past 25 years. He is the second generation in his family involved with this art. After rendering his services to many famous clubs in Kolkata he moved to Jaipur and has been coming regularly since 2002.

"Sawapanda, who is now president of Durga Bari Association, sent someone to Kolkata to find a good artisan. I was chosen as the lucky one and was blessed with the opportunity to make the pratima (idol) in Jaipur for the association," recalls Amit.

Today, Amit Pal and his team have earned a name and now are making idols for many clubs in the state capital, including Raja Park and Vaishali Nagar.

"It is the blessing of the Almighty my association with this city, which started with one club and has now reached four. It's not just about numbers, but the trust that Bengali community in Jaipur has shown me and my colleagues and that teaches us to be humble," says Amit.

Idol-making is an intensive art and involves many stages till the complete "statue" is prepared. Every year Amit along with his team comes to Jaipur two months ahead of the Puja. Pinto Pal, younger brother of Amit, says "It takes at least a month to complete an idol. First, we make a structure of bamboo which is then filled with dry grass. Once it is done we start pasting it with wet clay. After it is dry we paste it with another layer of fine clay followed by painting and decoration. To complete on deadline we even have to work for 15-16 hours a day".

Interestingly, to make idols for clubs in Jaipur everything, from clay to paint comes from Kolkata. Amit says, "This year we brought 1,200 kg of fine clay from the banks of Ganga. Even paint and decorating materials are brought from kolkata. It helps us as we are used to that type of soil and also that it has special properties which other clay lacks".

In times of competition, when every pandal works hard to attract crowds, making idols for more than once club in the same city demands lot of creativity. "We have not repeated a single design in our work in the past eight years and every 'statute' made by us is different from the other. Thinking for the next year's design will start just after two or three months. All clubs now leave everything on us to decide," says a proud Amit.

Talking about this year's theme at Durga Bari, Amit said it is based on the Dokra art which originated some 300 years ago at a place between Bardhaman and Bankura district in West Bengal. "Dokra art is known for its metallic finish though it started with making sculptures from bamboo. With time artisan innovated and started using clay".

When artisans all over India are going global and making money, Amit feels the real satisfaction is in when art gets appreciated. "Everyone wants money to survive and we are no exception. However, the real joy is when people like our work and appreciate our concept. With work we have build a faith and I feel Durga Bari is my second home. I consider this to be my greatest reward".

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Andhra on boil

As TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao brought the Telangana issue to New Delhi, holding a sit-in at Rajghat, and as the shutdown in Andhra Pradesh entered the 20th day, the Congress was veering around to the idea of bifurcating the state.

While it was earlier not willing to consider anything more than the Srikrishna Committee’s suggestion of a statutory Regional Council, it now believes “things have gone much beyond”. Even making Hyderabad a joint capital for 10 years or more is reportedly on the table.

As per the party’s assessment, if Telangana is denied, the legislators who have quit, along with Jagan Mohan Reddy loyalists, could force the Kiran Reddy regime out.

On the other hand, if Andhra is bifurcated, the Congress believes, Reddy could survive and the party could also come to power in the new state with the TRS.

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