Iran celebrates 30th Islamic Revolution

Agencies

Tehran: Ten days of fastivities began in Iran Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of Islamic revolution and the homecoming of the country's revolutionary father Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after 15 years of exile.

School bells across the country rang Saturday morning to mark the return of Khomeini who led the revolution to overthrow the shah, who ruled Iran for almost four decades, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Trains, ships and factories also sounded their whistles in the morning precisely at 9:33 a.m. to pay tribute the the glorios home coming of Khomeini on this day in 1979.

Khomeini actually returned to Iran oOn Feb 1, 1979, but his return is being celebrated on Jan 31 this year because it is a leap year in the Iranian calendar.

On the occasion, a large number of schoolchildren in different parts of the country performed various cultural and artistic programmes.

Education Minister Ali-Reza Ali-Ahmadi rang the bell of a secondary school in southern Tehran this morning to begin the celebrations that will run for ten days.

Addressing at the school, the minister said the leadership of the Imam Khomeini and vast presence of people in all aspects of life led to the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in the country.

'Today, the Islamic Republic is free and independent and follows the Islamic values and principles,' he added.

'The Iranian nation, through unity and solidarity, managed to neutralise the enemy's conspiracies in the past three decades following the victory of the Islamic Revolution,' he added.

According to media reports, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Amadinejad along with his cabinet and military commanders gathered at Khomeini's mausoleum in southern Tehran and paid tribute to the revolutionary leader.

Islamist leader sworn in as Somalia Prez

B D Narayankar

MODERATE Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was sworn in as Somalia'''s president on Saturday even as he had a tough job cut out to reunite Somalis.

After the fall of Somalian dictator Mohammad Siad Barre in 1991, the country has been under the grip of civil war and has witnessed 15 futile attempts in the past to reunite the countrymen.

With residents firing anti-aircraft missiles into the sky in celebration after a long vigil in front of the television or next to radios, there seems to be some signs of hope in Somalia's capital Mogadishu after Ahmed was elected president.

Ahmed had fled the country and set up the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) with Islamist allies, while insurgents in the country began fighting to remove the Ethiopian troops, who finally pulled out this month.

Al Shabaab, which is on Washington's list of foreign terrorist groups, said just before the vote that it would start a new campaign of hit-and-run attacks on the government -- whoever came to power.

Some regional leaders and Western diplomats say al Shabaab is made up of little more than clan-based bandits using the banner of religion to justify their crimes.

In the past two years, more than 17,400 civilians have died during the insurgency, a third of the population now relies on food aid and some 2.5 million have been driven from their homes, a Somali human rights group said on Saturday.

The Islamist leader will fly on Sunday to the very country that booted him from office, as a president attending an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

HMM expects sales growth in hard time

Agencies

Mumbai: Hero Honda Motors Ltd expects sales to continue to grow in the 2009/10 fiscal year, in spite of economic slowdown.

Hero Honda, 26-percent owned by Japan's Honda Motor Co, expects revenue growth to slow in the fourth quarter of the 2008/09 fiscal year, from 11 percent in April-December to "high single digits" for the full year, Managing Director and Chief Executive Pawan Munjal told Reuters.

The firm is looking to maintain growth and continue to gain market share in the fiscal year starting in April by focusing on the rural market and continuing to carry out an aggressive marketing campaign, Munjal said.

One of the biggest problems Hero Honda faces is banks' unwillingness to lend to people who purchase two-wheelers, Munjal said.

"This is a big one for us. The banks are very, very risk averse," he said, noting that whereas two years ago around 50-60 percent of its sales were on credit, that proportion had fallen to 30-40 percent, he said.

Hero Honda reported a forecast-beating 7.1 percent rise in net profit for the December quarter, helped by falling commodity prices, a cut in excise duties and sales in rural areas.

"I think we'll be maintaining a pretty healthy margin," Munjal said, declining to give a full-year profit outlook.

The company does not plan to cut staff or, conversely, to invest in new capacity, Munjal said.

It will continue to target rural markets, he said.

"I believe that's where more of the growth is going to come from. The government's policies over the last couple of years have been to grow the agricultural sector, to take infrastructure into the rural areas, so there is money getting to the rural consumer."

15 weather forecasting units in India soon

Agencies

Madikeri: In the backdrop of growing porportion of farmers committing suicides across the country, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to establish 15 weather forecasting units by next month at a cost of 20 lakh rupees.

Meteorology Programme Director of ISRO T G K Murthy said ISRO is searching for a suitable place where the units could be set up to help farmers in the district monitor daily weather through a satellite.

ISRO owns 750 forecasting units across the country and 600 units have been set up by the central government.

However, Murthy still expressed the need for 3,000 more weather forecasting units.

Bail for all accused in pub attack case

Agencies

Mangalore: All 27 persons arrested in connection with the Sri Ram Sene attack case in a Mangalore pub, including Pramod Muthalik were released on bail on Saturday.

The accused have been told to report to the Mangalore North police station once a fortnight.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) also questioned Muthalik on Saturday for his alleged link to the Malegaon bomb blast in 2008.

Muthalik, however, said he had no link to that incident.

Sri Ram Sene Vice-President Prasad Attavar said the outfit is happy with the incident because of the countrywide publicity it attracted.

Bear escapes from Bhopal's Van Vihar

Agencies

Bhopal: A sloth bear escaped from the Van Vihar National Park here on Friday after pushing through a weak link. The forest officials so far have failed to trace the wild beast.

The bear was lodged at the park's Bear Rescue Centre run by Wildlife SOS, an NGO, under an agreement with the forest department.

The Van Vihar has a six-feet wall with a six-feet chain link fencing that forms a boundary around the park.

Most of the staffers were at home on their weekly off Friday, and had to be rushed to the park on hearing about the incident, but their night-long efforts to trace the bear bore no fruits.

The park has 37 bears - 18 males, 14 females and five cubs - rescued under the Wildlife Protection Act from the custody of their nomadic masters, better known as Kalandars or bear trainers who make the animals perform tricks. The animals were kept in the rescue centre run by Wildlife SOS, which has hired special caretakers and a veterinary doctor to look after the animals, most of them Himalayan sloth bears.

Van Vihar Assistant Director AK Khare said the park staffers could not he held responsible since the entire responsibility of managing the bears is with Wildlife SOS.

This is the third time a bear has managed to escape from the rescue centre. However, on the previous two escapes, the bears were caught by the park's rescue squad.

Naxals kill 4 before Chidambaram's visit

Agencies

Ranchi: Hours before Home Minister P Chidambaram's visit to Ranchi, Naxals shot dead four persons in neighbouring Khunti district on Friday night.

Although the police reached the site on Saturday morning, the deceased were yet to be identified. Even the motive of the crime which is suspected to have been committed by the People's Liberation Front of India, a breakway faction of the CPI (Maoist), was not known.

Chidambaram,accompanied by a battery of officials including the Union Home Ministry's Special Secretary Raman Srivastava and the CRPF IG P.N.Nair, is slated to hold discussions with the state's senior officials at the Raj Bhawan during the forenoon.

Before he returns to New Delhi in the afternoon, he was expected to hold the press conference.

Nagpur HC acquits President's spouse

Agencies

Nagpur: The Nagpur High Court bench has dismissed a criminal revision and a criminal case against Devisingh Shekhawat, husband of President Pratibha Patil, relating to abetment of suicide by a school teacher.

A single judge bench of Justice Arun Choudhary, while allowing application of Devisingh Shekhawat and three others under section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), has quashed the judgment passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Khamgaon in Buldana district on February 7, 2007.

The Khamgaon court had dismised their criminal revision and confirmed issuance of process against them on July 22, 2005 by a trial court in Jalgaon Jamod.

The High Court has also dismissed a criminal case pending against the three, including Shekhawat, at Jalgaon Jamod court. Mangala, widow of deceased Vijay Dhage, who was employed as teacher in a school run by Shekhawat's Vidya Bharti Shikshan Mandal in Amravati district, committed suicide, had filed a case against Shekhawat and three others for allegedly instigating Dhage to commit suicide on Nov 15, 1998.

Mangala filed a complaint against Shekhawat and three others before a court in Jalgaon Jamod where she lived.

BJP pitches for Chawla's removal

Agencies

New Delhi: Fearing unfair elections, BJP has demanded Election Commissioner Navin Chawla's removal from election commissioner's post.

BJP's General Secretary Arun Jaitley said due to Chawla's closeness with Congress, it wouldn't be conducive to hold free and fair elections this year.

Jaitley also alleged that Congress was favouring Chawla as was indicated in the refusal of PMO to forward MPs memorandum to the chief election commissioner smacked off favouritism.

Jaitley added that a person prima facie indicted on the ground of political bias cannot conduct elections.

"Free and fair elections are the hallmark of India's parliamentary democracy. The Election Commission is a politically detached constitutional authority, which is entrusted with the responsibility of conduct of free and fair elections, and a person suffering from political bias is not suitable to conduct the elections," he said.

Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami had confirmed reports that he had sent his report and recommendations on the Chawla issue to the President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

The Congress has said that such issues should not be politicised, as it involves several intricate issues of law that need to be looked into.

Serena wins Australian Open singles title

B D Narayankar

Serena Williams swept her fourth Australian Open title and hijacked the world number one ranking after defeating Dinara Safina.

It just took 59 minutes for Williams to maul her Russian challenger 6-0, 6-3 to join an elite club of players to have won at least 10 grand slam singles titles.

The Australian Open is Williams' most successful slam. She also has three US Opens, two Wimbledons and a French Open crown. Her haul places her seventh in the list of women's grand slam title leaders, but some way behind Australian Margaret Court with 24.

Had world number three Safina defeated Williams in the title clash, she would have instead claimed the world number one slot, but that wasn't to be.

Williams raced through the opening set in only 22 minutes. Safina managed to win only eight points in the opening set.

Williams rolled through the next three games to stretch into a 4-1 lead as Safina threw plaintive looks to her coach in the crowd.

Safina held to trail 4-2 and the Williams took to the service line again. She hammered down an ace to open before rolling her shoulder like a boxer loosening up.

It was not long before she delivered the knockout blow.

India set to reject Pak probe claim

Agencies

New Delhi: India is all set to reject any claims made by Pakistan that the Mumbai attacks were not planned from its territory. This might flare more tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

The declaration of intent followed the reported claim of Pakistan's ambassador to the UK, Wahid Shamsul Hasan, that the Mumbai attacks were not planned in UK or Pakistan. Pakistani media had indicated for the past few days that Pakistan was not yet ready to come out of denial.

Veteran Tamil comedian Nagesh dies

B D Narayankar

YESTERYEARS Tamil film actor and comedian Cyril K Nagesh died here on Saturday afternoon. He was 77.

Nagesh was suffering from diabetes and a heart ailment.

He is one of the few actors who starred with filmstars of yesteryears MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and contemporary artists, including Kamalhassan and Rajnikanth.

Nagesh also acted in Hindi films - Farz starring Jeetendra and Babita in 1967 and Jewel Thief starring Dev Anand and Vyjayantimala.

Born as Gunddu Rao in a Brahmin community, Nagesh was born to Kannada-speaking Brahmin Madhwa parents. He walked out of his house telling his parents that he would be back only after establishing himself in some career.

In Chennai, he stayed in a one-room bed-sit at West Mambalam (then a remote area) with lyricist Vaali and veteran actor Srikanth. He found a small-time job in the Railways, but he was not satisfied.

One day, he saw a Tamil play '''Kambar Ramayanam' enacted by his colleagues, and felt he could do a good job. He persuaded the secretary of the Railways cultural association to give him the role of a man suffering from stomach pain.

MGR, then chief guest, seeing this play, in his speech praised Nagesh for his performance. From then onwards, Nagesh played small roles in various drama troupes and kept himself busy.

It was producer Balaji who spotted him and gave him his first break in films. The most memorable performance of Nagesh out of the 1000 odd films he has acted in, is his role in Thiruvilayaadal in which he speaks a soliloquy that is one of the most memorable scenes in the film. In this movie, he played a poet who had fallen into bad times. When Sivaji who played Siva in the film saw it he asked the director to retain it in full without a cut.

Kamal Hassan used to say that he was very jealous of Nagesh. Apparently when Kamal Hassan used to work with Balachander, at instances when he found it difficult to bring the emotions in front of the screen, KB used to say "had this scene been done by Nagesh, he would have done this in the first shot". This lets us know what a great actor Nagesh was.

On the personal front Nagesh was one of the few comedians to have acted with both MGR and Sivaji and he has prudently invested his money in real estate. Later on, he had a fallout with MGR and it led to his removal from many films. He became an alcoholic and began to slide down in his career. Nagesh theatre owned by him in Chennai was on the verge of getting seized for non-payment of dues but he met MGR and was bailed out.

Though financially he was saved, his career had become a thing of the past and he then moved on to character roles after getting himself cured of alcoholism. He has had to face many sorrows in his personal life the greatest tragedy being when he drove down to see his mother in his new imported car stacked with money and found his mother's last rites being performed on the banks of Amravathi.

His son Anand Babu known for his dancing prowess made an impressive start as a hero but soon lost out and is now said to be hitting the bottle. For having married a Christian, Nagesh was kept out of his family.

Chawla refutes being close to Congress

Agencies

New Delhi: Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, whose removal has been recommended to the Government by CEC N Gopalswami, refuted allegations that he was partisan towards Congress.

Chawla said the EC has conducted "flawless" elections for the past several years. "We will continue to do so."

"The dignity of the Commission is paramount," said Chawla on being asked about Gopalswami's recommendation to the Government seeking his removal based on BJP's petition which had complained of his "partisan" functioning.

Asked whether he contemplated quitting, Chawla said "I am not even aware of the CEC recommendations. I do not want to say anything."

The controversy has erupted nearly two months before Gopalaswami's tenure ends. Chawla, the senior-most Election Commissioner, was considered as the natural choice for the top post when Gopalaswami demits office on April 20.

Gopalaswami recommends Chawla's removal

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami has recommended to the government removal of the other Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the "partisan" functioning of Chawla. Gopalaswami said that "he had only done his job."

The Chief Election Commissioner's recommendation ahead of the general elections brings to the fore the differences among the three-member body which has often been marred by clashes over crucial decisions.

The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the "partisan" functioning of Chawla.

The BJP meanwhile demanded "firm action" on the issue saying the "credibility" of the poll panel is "at stake". "The credibility of the Election Commission is at stake with the CEC asking for the sacking of one of its members to the President," said BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

He also demanded firm action on the issue, saying the development poses a threat to the democratic fabric of the country. "The Election Commission is now mired in controversy. In absence of a firm action, the fairness of the Commission would become a suspect, posing a threat to democracy and Constitution," he added.

Only last year, Chawla had raised serious objections to the holding of the Karnataka assembly elections in May but was overruled by a 2-1 division in the Commission.

India contradicts Pak claims on dossier

PTI

New Delhi: India today said Pakistan has given no official response to the dossier on Mumbai attacks.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee contradicted claims by his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi that Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik had given the update when he met Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday.

Qureshi had yesterday claimed that Malik had provided an update on the probe by Pakistan. "We have also seen media reports about certain statements by various Pakistani officials on their ongoing investigations, including a certain reported clarification by the Pakistani Prime Minister (Yousuf Raza Gilani)," Mukherjee said.

"I would like to underline that we have so far not received any official Pakistani response to the Indian dossier or official information on the outcome of their investigations. These are awaited," he said.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK Wahid Shamsul Hasan yesterday claimed that Pakistani probe had concluded that the Mumbai attacks were not planned in his country but somewhere else. Soon after, Gilani said Hasan cannot comment on the issue which is the job of Interior Ministry.

India feels Pakistan is deliberately giving out confusing signals as it wants to "hide" the truth about involvement of ISI in the attacks.

Parliament must probe EC's power: CPI

Agencies

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation for the removal of his colleague Navin Chawla has created suspicions of political motive and demanded that Parliament should now examine the power and functions of the Election Commission.

"The very timing of such a recommendation smacks of political motive, if at all. ... Time has come to examine the appointment and removal, powers and functions of the EC by Parliament," CPI National Secretary D Raja said from Tamil Nadu.

The CPI leader said the CEC knew that he was going to retire in three months and also that the country has to go for general elections in almost the same time.

"And at this time, he makes such a recommendation on the basis of a BJP complaint. He understands it could have serious constitutional and political implications," Raja said, adding that this leads to "serious suspicion about the political motivation."

Time has come for Parliament to discuss the power and functions of the EC as it has done in the matter of judges and their impeachment, he said.

Lalu meets Sonia on alliance confusion

Agencies

New Delhi: A day after the Congress Working Committee ruled out a national level alliance for the Lok Sabha polls, RJD leader Lalu Yadav rushed to seek a clarification from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

He was of the view that his party wanted UPA allies to fight the elections together, including Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP in Bihar. "Paswan is part and parcel of the UPA and is not an untouchable,'' Lalu said.

He also urged Sonia to call a UPA meeting for seat sharing talks.

Court adjourns SEBI's plea to grill Raju

Agencies

Hyderabad: A judge of a trial court in Hyderabad has adjourned to February 9 the hearing of petition of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to grill Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam Computer Services.

The court said it would not pass an order without hearing from Raju and his brother B Rama Raju.

"As far as permission to interrogate in concerned, I pressed for an interim order but the court said it would not like to pass such an order without hearing them. So he said that aspect will also be considered on February 9," said Goolam E. Vahanvati, Solicitor General and also counsel for SEBI.

On January 7, B Ramalinga Raju confessed to fraudulent manipulation to the tune of rupees 7,136 crores over several years by inflating the company's profits and assets.

Although the Satyam scandal, India's biggest corporate fraud, has shattered global confidence in India's corporate governance, the other IT companies have assured the rest of the world that all relevant services are professionally and ethically in order and as such there should be no room for any doubt about the professional integrity of Indian companies.

Credibility of EC is at stake, says BJP

Agencies

New Delhi: With Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of his colleague Navin Chawla for being close to Congress, BJP has demanded stern action on the issue saying the credibility of the poll panel is at stake.

BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the EC was mired in controversy and in the absence of a firm action, the fairness of it would become a suspect, posing a threat to democracy and Constitution.

Gopalaswami has recommended the removal of the other Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to the government. The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the "partisan" functioning of Chawla. The BJP had alleged that Chawla was close to the Congress party.

There's no difference between BJP, British

Agencies

New Delhi: Congress general secretary and scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty Rahul Gandhi said BJP was pursuing "divisive politics" as was done by the British in pre-independence days. "There is a need for Gandhiji''s politics, the politics of allaying fears and strengthening the social and communal bond," he said.

Addressing Congress party workers from all over the state on the last day of a month-long 'Abhay Udaan, Bharat Mahaan' programme, he said divisive politics was based on "spreading fear, which is used to divide the people and create schism in various sections of society".

Rahul said it was the Congress, which had been practicing the politics taught by the Mahatma.

He expressed the hope that the 'abhay udaan, bharat mahaan' programme - aimed at fostering national unity post-Mumbai attack and mobilising party workers ahead of the Lok Sabha polls - will unite the people and realise the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, who wanted to see people from different communities living in peace and harmony.

Rahul, who was projected as the topmost leader of the party by slogan shouting Congress leaders and workers, said India being a nation of over 100 crore people need not fear anyone. "It will stand on its own feet and lead the world," he said," adding "But not with the support of any politician, but with the contribution and support of its poor, downtrodden, villagers and city dwellers."

The audience applauded his comment by shouting slogans 'Rahul Gandhi tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain (Rahul Gandhi you move forward, we are with you)'.

He also spoke on the increasing distance between the common people and politicians in this age of technology, adding that when there was no television and Internet, Gandhi remained connected with the people by writing lakhs of letters.

But the gap between the leaders and the people increased when Internet and television became available everywhere, he said. He stressed on the need to remove the gap, and said that leaders must mix with the people to know the basic issues and find out a solution for them.

He said that some people referred to him as a "child", and some called him "inexperienced" and others said "I am a young man." He added: "But whenever I confronted a problem and failed to find an answer, I consulted a book of Gandhiji's quotations kept on my reading table and always found the right answer. So, Gandhiji is my guide."

He praised Gujarat's contribution to the nation, saying that the state gave Mahatma Gandhi who secured the country's freedom.

Later, Rahul administered oath of patriotism and determination to fight terrorism to the Congress workers. He also felicitated several Gujaratis who had excelled in their respective fields. They included Naishal Shah, who had topped the all India chartered accountancy examination, world billiard champion Rupesh Shah, Sufiya Sheikh, who swam across the English Channel and actress Pranchi Desai.

Among others who addressed the function were state Congress president Siddharth Patel and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil. Ahmedabad city Congress president Pankaj Shah presented a vote of thanks.

Pub culture: Ramadoss joins Yeddi, Gehlot

Agencies

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday joined Karnataka Chief Minister and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot when he said that pub culture was against Indian ethos and National Alcohol Policy could help to curb it.

Addressing a conference in the national capital, Anbumani Ramadoss, said: "We definitely condemn the incident, where women were attacked, but the pub culture must stop. It is because of this that youth in the country have taken to drinking in a big way."

Ramadoss termed pub culture as a hindrance in country's progress and also referred to Indian culture being against such a new-age culture. "It is not our culture. If it goes this way I don't think India will progress."

Ramadoss said pubs were responsible for many road accidents.

He said: "In India, 40 percent of road accidents are alcohol-related. Youngsters are not only putting their lives on danger but are also a threat for other on the road".

Ramadoss informed that in the last five to six years, there has been an increase of 60 percent among the youths who have taken to drinking.

Kanieria fetches highest price among Pakis

Agencies

Mumbai: Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has fetched the highest base price among his compatriots for the IPL second edition players' auction to be held on February 6.

Kaneria has been given a base price of USD 100,000 in the players auction, the highest among the five Pakistani players who will feature in the auction in which 111 players from all over the world will be up for sale for the eight franchises that play in the IPL.

The leg spinner was not recommended by the Pakistan Cricket Board last year for the IPL auction.

"There can't be a bigger platform then the IPL to prove oneself against the best players in the world. Let us see what happens but right now at least I have been recommended by the IPL," he said.

Pakistan's other players in the IPL auction include batsmen Yasir Hameed and Asim Kamal and allrounders Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Hafeez.

Legally entangled Modi appoints panel

Agencies

Jaipur: Rajasthan Cricket Association President Lalit Modi has appointed a three-member arbitration tribunal to look into the contentious issues raised by some district associations against him.

The bench of arbitrators comprises retired Supreme Court Chief Justice R C Lahoti, retired apex court Justices Kuldeep Singh and Justice A R Lakshmanan.

Modi is in danger of being stripped of absolute powers he was enjoying as the RCA President as about 24 of the 32 district units, including that of Secretary Subhash Joshi, handed a memorandum to Registrar of Societies.

The district associations are also pressing hard to revert to RCA's old constitution as Modi, with the backing of then Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, had managed to bring a 'Sports Ordinance' in the state in 2005.

Yuki in Australian Open boys' final

B D Narayankar

INDIAN sports, it seems, is moving towards better days. First it was the great show put up by our shooters and boxers at Olympics, now it's the turn of tennis players. Mahesh Bhupathi has stormed into the finals of both mixed doubles and doubles in the Australian Open. This is a rare distinction.

Not far off, and probably gone unnoticed or probably not much discussed, is the sterling performance scripted by Yuki Bhambri who breezed into the boys finals of the Australian Open.

Top seed Yuki swept aside seventh-seeded France's Adrien Puget 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam final where he meets Germany's Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas who pulled off a shock 6-4, 6-4, win over second seed Julen Uriguen of Guatemala.

"It was a tough match, I was 1-4 down in the second set. It was pretty hot out there, but I stuck it out to win. It is yet to sink in that I am in the final," Yuki said.

Yuki's doubles campaign with Chinese Taipei's Liang-Chi Huang, however, came to an end when they lost 3-6, 1-6 to Russia's Mikhal Biryukov and Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama.

Aus loses number one spot to SA

B D Narayankar

Perth: This was in the corners and it eventually came, for Australia is right now going under transformation period after the departure of Glenn MacGrath and Shane Warne.

The going has been tough for them as the downslide of the Aussies began when India thrashed them on their soil in the one-day series last year.

Today, in the fifth and final one-day match against South Africa played at SCG, Australia lost by 39 runs and thus losing their number one position as well. The coveated place has now gone to the Proteas.

The ODI series triumph 4-1 follows South Africa's 2-1 win in the Test series and though Australia remain the number one team in the longer version of the game, the Proteas return home with the new-found tag of being the top team in one dayers.

India remained the third-placed ODI team with 120 points while South Africans have five points more. Australia also have 125 points but were pushed to the number two slot as they were found fractionally behind the Proteas when decimal points were calculated.

Australia needed 289 runs for a win to remain the number one side but 249 was all they managed before folding in 49 overs with Michael Hussey (78) and Brad Haddin (63) making futile efforts with the bat. Earlier, Hashim Amla (97) and AB de Villiers (60) steadied South Africa with a 118-run stand and then JP Duminy (60 not out off 42 balls) provided the late burst as South Africa posted 288 for six wickets.

Australia faltered early in the chase and could not really recover from the early setbacks. The hosts needed a strong start from Shaun Marsh (5) and David Warner (22) but debutant South African Lonwabo Tsotsobe rocked the Australian boat with early double strikes and Ricky Ponting's men could never really recover from that.

Pawar may ask more seats from Cong

B D Narayankar

Pune: The gaining strength of NCP over the years and its confidence of winning seats after delimitation exercise may prompt party chief Sharad Pawar to stake more seats from ally Congress to contest Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

In 2004, the Congress had contested 26 seats, while the NCP had contested 22.

Meanwhile, both Congress and NCP have been holding internal parleys to review the changed political situation in Maharashtra's 48 constituencies stemming from delimitation exercise.

Pawar had camped in Mumbai for three days from January 22 and met district presidents, elected representatives and office-bearers of the party to review the situation in various constituencies.

"There is a possibility of exchanging some seats with the Congress considering the delimitation," NCP's state president R R Patil said. "We reviewed almost all constituencies in the three-day deliberations. The remaining ones will be discussed on February 6 in the presence of Pawar saheb."

The NCP, which is in conflict with its alliance partner -- the Shiv Sena -- in the Pune Municipal Corporation, has asked its local cadres to sort out the issue.

"Our stand is very clear. Let the local people decide what to do. They were responsible for creating the Pune pattern," general secretary and spokesperson Madan Bafna said. The Pune pattern of politics, in which the NCP and Sena had formed an alliance to wrest power from the Congress, had resulted in the NCP inviting the wrath of the Congress for violating the alliance "Dharma".

Yeddi to present budget by Feb end

Agencies

Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddiyurappa said Friday that the 2009-2010 budget will be presented during the third week of February.

Yeddyruppa said that the date for the budget's presentation will be finalized after discussions with State Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar.

The Chief Minister also assured that the annual plan size for the state will have no cuts, despite the economic recession.

The state had a plan size of about Rs 25,953 crore in 2008-09.

Rajnath Singh's tenure may be extended

Agencies

New Delhi: The National Executive and National Council meeting of the BJP is likely to decide on partry chief Rajnath Singh's extension till December 2010.

This decision will be taken in the event of ensuing Lok Sabha elections due this summer. "A presidential election in the party is a one-year- long process. It starts with the membership campaign followed by the series of organisational polls starting from the block level till the centre," party sources say.

A proposal for extension of the tenure could come up during the National Executive meet on February six in Nagpur and would be ratified during the two-day National Council to be followed for the next two days, sources added.

Some senior leaders, however, are of the view that no separate ratification of the extension is required as according to the party constitution Rajnath can continue as the chief till organisational elections are held. "The one year addition is due to procedural delays.

The party organisation is concentrating on the general elections. The president can continue till someone else is elected after due process," another general secretary said.

BJP to announce its new allies

Agencies

New Delhi: BJP will soon come out with the new allies' names for Lok Sabha elections.

Party spokesperson here on Friday said the names would be announced soon as BJP was in talks with some regional satrap leaders.

Talking about cricketer Anil Kumble's possibility of getting a party ticket to contest general elections from Karnataka, he said: "Any respected citizen of the country is welcome to join us and it is yet to be decided whether he will be given a ticket. We are yet to declare candidates for Karnataka," Javadekar said.

Harassment case against Adnan

Agencies

Mumbai: Mumbai Police on Friday registered a case against popular singer Adnan Sami for harassing and abusing his wife, Sabah Galadari, at their Lokhandwala residence here.

The case was filed at the Versova Police Station on Thursday night, Sabah claimed that Adnan had hurt her with a cigarette butt.

"Sami's wife approached the police on Thursday night and complained that her husband had harassed and abused her," senior police inspector Kiran Sonone said.

Adnan was called for questioning and warned not to engage in such activities.

A non-cognisable offence has been registered against Sami.filed a counter-complaint, saying that a friend of Sabah was interfering in their personnel

Sania, Bhupati enter mixed doubles' final

B D Narayankar

Melbourne: Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi sailed into the Australian Open mixed doubles finals for second consecutive year as they overwhelmed Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets here today.

The Indians sealed the first set in 54 minutes after they were trailing 1-3.

They will play with the unseeded French-Israeli combine of Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram in the title clash.

Both Sania and Bhupathi were in great nick with dropping just one set enroute to the semifinals. They continued their dominance in the second set and broke their rivals thrice.

The win makes it a double delight for Bhupathi, who along with Bahamas' Mark Knowles, has also made the men's doubles finals to be played tomorrow.

Bhupathi has six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles under his belt with different partners. His last mixed doubles Grand Slam was incidentally the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis.

Sania, however, would be aiming for her maiden Slam title.

Afghanistan to go for poll in Aug

Agencies

Kabul: Afghanistan will hold presidential elections on August 20, the head of the election commission said on Thursday.

It is the second time in the history of the troubled nation that democratic polls will be held to choose a head of state.

The Independent Election Commission decided on the date, which comes just before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, after consulting with Afghan and international security forces.

Hillary's appointment challenged

PTI

Washington: Former first lady Hillary Clinton's appointment as US Secretary of State has been challenged by an American diplomat, who has filed a lawsuit arguing that emoluments of the Secretary of State increased three times during her term as the US Senator.

Under the "Emoluments" or "Ineligibility" clause of the US Constitution, the lawsuit argues that no member of Congress can be appointed to a civilian position within the US government if the "emoluments" of the position, such as the salary or benefits paid to whoever occupies the office, increased during the term for which the Senator or Representative was elected.

The lawsuit has been filed yesterday by 'Judicial Watch' A Washington-based watchdog group on behalf of David C Rodearmel, a US diplomat working in the State Department.

The lawsuit maintains that Clinton is constitutionally ineligible for the post and as such Rodearmel cannot be forced to serve under her, as it would violate the oath he took as a Foreign Service Officer in 1991, said a statement issued by the Judicial Watch.

The Congress attempted to evade this clear constitutional prohibition with a so-called "Saxbe fix" last month, reducing the Secretary of State's salary to the level in effect on January 1, 2007, the lawsuit charged.

TN villagers express ire over Jallikattu ban

Agencies

Madurai: Hundreds of villagers in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu have expressed ire over Supreme Court's ban on Jallikattu, the traditional bullfight during Pongal.

Alanganallur town panchayat president N Alagu Umadevi said people could not accept the ban on 'Jallikattu,' which was part and parcel of Tamil Nadu's rural society.

Protests also were aired by Palamedu and surrounding villagers across the district.

The Tamil Nadu government last Sunday moved the Supreme Court seeking lifting of the stay on holding 'Jallikattu.'

In the application seeking modification of Friday's order, the state government said that failure to hold 'Jallikattu' may lead to law and order problems.

'Jallikattu,' also known as 'Yer Thazhuvudhal,' which involves taming of bulls, is a traditional adventure sport, said to have originated about hundreds of years ago as a sport of kings and landlords.

The sport is normally held on the day of 'Mattu Pongal' (January 16) in scores of villages across 11 districts of southern Tamil Nadu during the four-day Pongal festivities, starting on January 14.

SC temporarily bans TN bullfight

Agencies

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday banned Tamil Nadu government from granting permission to hold Jallikattu bull fight during Pongal till February 13.

A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam suspended the conduct of the sport on a plea by the Animal Welfare Board, which said that 21 people have died and over 1,600 people have been injured in this sport in the month of January alone.

The bench termed it as 'barbaric' and 'uncivilized.' It, however, allowed "Rekhla" race ie bullock cart race under supervision of the local administration.

Senior counsel TR Andhyarujina, who appeared for the state government, said Jallikattu was a 400-year-old event and sentiments of people were attached to it.

Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi welcomed the court's order terming it as "wonderful" and a progressive step towards the fight against cruelty to animals.

No truck with others in LS polls

PTI

New Delhi: Congress, which heads the central ruling coalition Government, ruled out truck with any party in ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

The decision was taken at the Congress Working Committee meeting held here where it was resolved that the party will work in close tandem with its state units where the party is sharing power with other political parties.

Obama keen on speaking PM

PTI

Washington: President Barack Obama is looking forward to speak to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as soon as he gets well.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at the White House on Wednesday said in his message on India's Republic Day, Obama had wished Singh speedy recovery.

Asked about relationship between the US and India under the Obama Administration, Gibbs said: "Without getting into a lot of specifics, I think that the President believes that, obviously, the US and India are natural friends and natural allies,"

Obama also said the Indian people "should know that they have no better friend and partner than the people of the US".

Noting that the two "nations have built broad and vibrant partnerships in every field of human endeavour," he then said: "It is our shared values that form the bedrock of a robust relationship across peoples and governments."

"Those values and ideals provide the strength that enables us to meet any challenge, particularly from those who use violence to try to undermine our free and open societies," he added.

Manmohan may be discharged tomorrow

PTI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating after a coronary by-pass surgery, would be discharged tomorrow, if everything goes right, a senior doctor attending on him said here on Friday.

"If not, we might consider to extend his stay to Sunday," Dr Vijay D'Silva of Mumbai-based Asian Heart Institute said.

Silva, an ICU specialist, said a decision to extend his stay in the hospital would be taken by the team of doctors led by his personal physician Dr K S Reddy and AHI surgeon Dr Ramakant Panda.

The PM began his day by reading newspapers followed by some basic exercises, a walk in the corridor after which he had his breakfast.

Singhr, who underwent a complex coronary bypass surgery at AIIMS on January 24, was moved out of the ICU January 28 and all his monitoring devices have been removed.

Maha Guv calls on Raj for varsity attack

B D Narayankar

Mumbai: Though both Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray maintained silence over what went on between them, sources claim that the former called on the later to discuss the ransacking of Mumbai University premises by MNS student activists.

Jamir, in his capacity as chancellor of universities in the state, had summoned MNS chief to discuss the attack on Mumbai University.

Raj was accompanied by key associates including spokesperson Shirish Parkar and was at Raj Bhavan for around an hour.

Earlier this week, leaders of the MNS' student wing had vandalised properties at the universty's South Mumbai campus after allegedly being denied permission to hold talks with the vice chancellor.

MNS wanted to raise objections over the inclusion of social sciences and languages - Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and other languages - for students pursuing Bachelor of Arts. Six leaders were arrested following the vandalism.

Uphaar tragedy: Ansal brothers get bail

ANI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted bail to Ansal brothers - Sushil and Gopal - who were earlier convicted and sentenced to a year's imprisonment in connection with the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case, in which 59 people were charred to death.

The bail was sanctioned after both furnished a personal bond of Rs. 10,000 each.

The apex bench, headed by Justice S B Sinha, issued notices on the appeals against the one year sentence filed by the Ansal brothers and Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT).

While the Ansal brothers have complained against their imprisonment, the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy had appealed for extending the mere one-year sentence further, as the grave offence fell under the purview of section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)

The high court had previously reduced the imprisonment from two years to a year.

Rajnath's relative, friend in BJP's poll list

B D Narayankar

New Delhi: BJP president Rajnath Singh may have been pressurised by Shatrughan Sinha for contesting Lok Sabha polls from Patna Sahib, but he didn't seem to have found any obstacles when he included his chioce of men in the Lok Sabha poll list.

Singh has included his doctor's and relative's name in the list. Ace shooter Jaspal Rana is the brother-in-law and a close friend of Rajnath's son Pankaj Singh, and Dr Mahesh Sharma is Singh's doctor working for Kailash Hospital in Noida.

Jaspal will be contesting from Tehri in Uttarakhand and Dr Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar. Sharma is considered very close to some RSS pracharaks loaned to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh like Rakesh Jain.

Ananth Kumar, Sadanand Gowda and Manoj Sinha are other prominent names included in BJP's list.

Bhumihar leader Manoj Sinha will contest from Ballia. Sinha, who has a mass base in UP, is known to be a powerful orator. Ramakant Yadav, who had threatened to "create a mini-Gujarat in Azamgarh" during a bypoll last April, will re-contest the Azamgarh seat. Lallu Singh will contest from Faizabad.

BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar, meanwhile, will contest Bangalore South, while Karnataka BJP president V Sadanand Gowda will contest the Udupi-Chikmagalur seat.

With Thursday's lists, the BJP has declared candidates for 99 seats for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections so far. The number, however, falls way short of the expected 200 figure that the party had hoped to reach by January-end. States like Bihar and Maharashtra, where the BJP is in alliance with other parties, have posed problems in identification of seats, a reason why the exercise may get further delayed.

The Chief Ministers of various BJP-ruled states met the NDA's prime ministerial candidate, L K Advani, here on Thursday to discuss the agenda for good governance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

It was suggested that Advani conclude his Vijay Sankalp Yatra by mid-March, by when the election schedule would have been made public. Some Chief Ministers, particularly Narendra Modi, will be roped in to campaign outside the state. Modi will also accompany Advani for his Vijaywada rally in the first week of February.

"The Chief Ministers were asked to highlight the achievements of the previous NDA regime and expose the failures of the UPA Government. Terrorism, rising prices, plight of farmers and growing unemployment will be the relevant poll issues. The river-linking project launched by the then prime minister A B Vajpayee will be started again if NDA comes to power. Other achievements of the NDA like increasing road connectivity through the National Highways project and improving tele-density and connectivity will also be publicised," said former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu after the meeting.

He said that the focus on first-time voters, aged between 18-25 years, would continue. "Our programme to facilitate such voters will be held across the country," said Naidu. He claimed that the NDA had handed over a "resilient economy" to the UPA in 2004 but "now it had reached a stage where even daily commodities were not available at affordable prices".

Summing up the discussion at Advani's residence, Naidu said: "The Congress had said that it was with the common man. But this is hardly the case. While the UPA government played divisive politics, we are committed to good governance, delivery, development and welfare of the people."

Yediyurappa announces Rs 3,500 crore development project for Karnataka

B D Narayankar

Bangalore: The state government has announced development projects worth Rs 3,500 crores for Northern Karnataka.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said in New Delhi on Thursday that the government would set up border area development authority to implement developmental projects, especially in border areas of Belgaum. "We plan to build Suvarna Soudha - the second legislature house in Belgaum," he added.

The government would also set up a veterinary college in Gadag and upgrade district hospital in Bidar, he said.

The project inclues the upgradation of mental and district hospitals in Dharwad and Belgaum respectively, he said.

Yediyurappa also added that deemed university status would be given to Sri Dharmasthal Manjunateshwara Educational institution group.

The project includes development of 5,500 kms km stretching across the state, Yediyurappa said.

Apart from forming Sri Renuka Yellamma Development Authority, the government would also develop a park on the lines of KRS Dam at Hidakal Reservoir, he said. "We will construct western canal under Hipparagi Irrigation project in at Athani taluk," the chief minister added.

Other developmental works to be taken up:

* Implementation of Karimasuti East Canal and Shapur Branch Canal lift irrigation project

* Building of circular ring road, heritage park and underground drainage system in Belgaum

* Setting up of foundry cluster near Machhe village in Belgaum taluk

* Starting center for climatic change and research at Dharwad Agricultural University

* Setting up silver jewelery manufacturing complex at Mangur village in Chikkodi taluk.

* Setting up Spice Park at Byadagi in Haveri district

* Establishing Auto Park at Basava Kalyana

* Establishing Steel Park in 10,000 acres in Koppal

* Implementing 600-crore drinking water scheme to cater to 848 fluoride affected villages in Northern Karnataka

* Implementing irrigation project worth Rs 2,193 crores to provide lift irrigation facility to 87,000 hectares land belonging to Indi and Bijapur taluks

* Modernization work of a total of 22,600 kms of road comprising of 10,000 kms of State Highway and District Roads and 12,600 kms of Rural Roads

* Developing 66,000 kms of road across the State under public-private participation (PPP) basis

CPI disappointed with Pranab's SL visit

B D Narayankar

CPI has expressed disappointment over External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Sri Lanka by saying he failed to put pressure on Sri Lankan government to end its army offensive against the LTTE.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said a plea to expand the safety zone for Tamils is no guarantee for safety of life.

Mukherjee should have made a serious effort, persuading and pressurising the Sri Lankan government to end war," Bardhan stated.

Bardhan also criticised the Centre for not respecting Tamil Nadu's sentiments in this issue.

If there was a "serious effort" from Colombo to end war, the LTTE "has to respond" and cannot "deliberately endanger lives of people by insisting on fighting," he said.

Outlining his party's stand for a united Sri Lanka, Bardhan said there should be a certain "degree of autonomy" for Tamils in Northern and Eastern parts of that country which according to him would "end discrimination".

Responding to the suicide of a 26-year-old man, allegedly to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils, Bardhan urged people to "refrain" from such ways of expressing their feelings, saying they won't solve the problem.

BJP releases 23 more candidates list for LS polls

PTI

New Delhi: BJP on Thursday released a list of 23 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, taking the number of its contestants announced so far to 71.

The names were finalised at a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee held at the party headquarters under the chairmanship of its president Rajnath Singh.

Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani also attended the meet, BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters here.

The list has four candidates from Uttarakhand, one each from Goa and Andaman and Nicobar Islands and 17 from West Bengal.

The contestants include two women, three Scheduled Castes (SC) and one Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates - all from West Bengal. The party has named its candidate for an SC seat in Uttarakhand.

The party also announced a candidate for a by-election for the Bishnupur West assembly seat in West Bengal.

BJP MLA arrested for graft

B D Narayankar

Bangalore: As the BJP was cooling off its heels by arresting Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik for plotting Mangalore pub attack, it faced yet another embarrasment when one of its MLA Y Sampangi was arrested by Lokayukta police for allegedly accepting bribe from a businessman to close a police case relating to a land dispute.

This is the first time in the history of Karnataka Lokayukta that an MLA has been nabbed for accepting graft.

A trap was laid on a businessman's complaint and Sampangi, who represents Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) constituency in Kolar district, was caught while allegedly accepting the bribe amount of Rs five lakh (Rs 50,000 in cash and cheque of Rs 4.5 lakh) at the legislator's home here, Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde said.

The MLA was arrested under Section (7) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. As required, Lokayukta has informed Legislative Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar of the arrest, Hegde said.

Lokayukta needs the sanction of the Speaker for filing the charge-sheet.

Hegde said businessman Hussain Mueen Farook lodged a complaint to the Lokayukta that Ilias, Nayaaz and Khana Fiaz had prepared forged documents and attempted to trespass a plot belonging to him. Farooq approached Andersonpet police station sub-inspector, who refused to register the case.

Then the complainant approached the Superintendent of Police, on whose intervention a case was registered against the three persons. Meanwhile, Ilias' wife also lodged a complaint against Farook, claiming the site's ownership. Both cases were being investigated.

Meanwhile, police sub-inspector and circle police inspector suggested to Farook that he meet Sampangi in connection with the cases. Samangi allegedly demanded Rs five lakh from Farook to get the police case against him closed, Hegde said.

Asked whether he was confident of getting a sanction to file a chargesheet against the ruling party MLA, Hegde said: "In view of public reaction, I have no doubt that a responsible government will give sanction".

He said the two police officers who suggested to the complainant that he approach the MLA have also been made accused in the case.

Stimulus packages have started to work: Pranab

PTI

New Delhi: The two stimulus packages given by the government to boost the economy have started working and the economic growth in the current year is likely to be seven per cent, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also holding the charge of the Finance Ministry, said here.

That has been reiterated by the Reserve Bank Governor while announcing the (third-quarterly review of the) credit policy," Mukherjee said after his first meeting with Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal and senior officials of the ministry at North Block.

Mukherjee took charge of the Finance Ministry as the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was looking after the finance portfolio, is recuperating from a heart surgery at the All-Indian Institute of Medical Science.

The minister was briefed by the senior officials of the finance ministry on various issues, including preparation for interim budget which is to be presented in Parliament next month. As regards economic growth, Mukherjee said, "though the economy will not grow at 8.9 or 8.8 per cent, it will grow around 7 per cent.

There is no doubt about that .

Indian economy is sound and will bounce back ".

The RBI in its review of the credit policy projected a growth rate of 7 per cent for the current fiscal, down from 7.5 to 8 per cent estimated earlier. On his priority as in-charge of the Finance Ministry, Mukherjee said, "My first priority is to get the vote on account passed.

That is the top most priority and it is also a constitutional requirement."

Federer, Williams steam into finals

B D Narayankar

Melbourne: Roger Federer moved into the final of the Australian Open here on Thursday after defeating America's Andy Roddick in 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in an enthralling encounter.

This is Swiss maestro's 18th grand slam final and fourth one in the Australian Open.

Earlier Serena Williams also advanced into the finals, trouncing Elena Dementieva. She will face Dinara Safina in the summit clash.

Federer set up a sterling performance under the stars. He played an unbelievablely precision tennis. For Roddick it was simply a nightmare.

Williams kept her cool, though, and cruised past an opponent who had won their previous three meetings.

Victory over Safina in Saturday's final will vault Williams back to world number one but the ranking is secondary to her.

Williams has nine grand slam singles titles to her name and is desperate to hit double figures.

Another Russian Safina ousted Vera Zvonareva 6-3 7-6 in the other semifinal.

Aus Open: Bhupathi enter doubles' final

B D Narayankar

INDIA's Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles gatecrashed into their first Grand Slam Australian Open doubles final on Thursday.

The third-seeded Bhupathi and Knowles trounced Polish Lukasz Kubot and Austrian Oliver Marachm 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes

The Indo-Bahamian pair will play American No 2 seeds and two-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan, who in a repeat of the 2007 US Open final stopped Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy from winning their first Grand Slam together.

Leander Paes' campaign in the mixed doubles had ended in the second round itself.

In the boys singles, top seed Yuki Bhambri overcame a late fightback from German Richard Becker 6-1, 7-5 to move into the semi-final in an hour and 12 minutes.

Yuki, who reached the semi-final in the last edition here, will play seventh seed Adrien Puget of France who beat Mikhal Biryukov of Russia 6-4, 6-2.

If Bhupathi clinches the Australian Open men's doubles title, he will win all four Grand Slams. He has a 4-3 record in Grand Slam finals, winning in 1999 and 2001 at Roland Garros, in 1999 at Wimbledon and in 2002 at the US Open.

Knowles won the Australian Open title in 2002 with long-time partner Daniel Nestor, with whom he also reached the final in 1995 and 2003. In addition to his win in Australia, he won the title in 2004 at the US Open and at Roland Garros in 2007.

Bindra surprised at Padma discrimination

B D Narayankar

New Delhi: India''s Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra expressed surprise at Beijing Games bronze medal winners Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar being left out of the list of Padma awardees.

"I have no idea what the criteria are (for the Padma awards) but we as a nation need to support our Olympic athletes whether in victory or defeat because they will only bring us the global recognition in the field of sports," he said. "We need to encourage our Olympic athletes," he added.

In Beijing, Indian contingent for the first time won three Olympic medals. Vijender won the first ever boxing medal for the country while Sushil was only the second Indian grappler after Kasaba Jadhav (bronze in Helsinki Olympics) to fetch a medal in wrestling.

Pawar-Rane meeting stirs hornets nest

B D Narayankar

Pune: The secret meeting between Narayan Rane and Sharad Pawar on Monday in Pune has stirred a hornets nest in political sphere.

Sources say that the meeting was about creating a ground for Rane''s sons - Nitesh and Nilesh.

It is being said that Rane's elder son Nilesh is likely to contest for Lok Sabha from Sindhudurg constituency in Konkan, where his father has strong hold, and Nitesh would fight it out from a constituency in Mumbai.

The political aspirations of Nilesh and Nitesh are not hidden. In recent times, both were seen with their father in Swabhiman rally held in October last year in Mumbai.

Nilesh had reportedly said in the rally that there would not be two power centres and one would see political upmanship between him and Nitesh.
On the other hand, Nitesh is busy establishing his roots through Swabhiman Sanghatana, a social organisation. The three-year old organisation has presence in all the 35 districts in the state. Last Sunday, Nitesh inaugurated one of its offices in Pune too.

The function drew a sizable gathering of youths from the cross section of the society. The gathering saw Nitesh training his guns against the MNS without taking any names. "Pune is an education hub and students from outside will come to the city for higher education. We should welcome them. If anyone tries to disturb them, my volunteers will stand by them," he said.

When contacted, Nitesh said Swabhiman was purely a social organisation and had nothing to do with politics. "We will be initiating one youth - one vote campaign in every district. We will be going to college campuses in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha polls and appeal the youth to cast their vote," he said. "There are other programmes too like career guidance, traffic issues and unemployment. The whole idea is to motivate young people for better tomorrow," he added. Nitesh however refused to comment on the Pawar- Rane meeting.

"It was just a courtesy visit," Pawar on Wednesday said that suspended Congress leader Narayan Rane had given a courtesy visit to him on Monday evening, but ruled out any political discussion. "Rane was in Pune and just gave me a courtesy call. We did not have any political discussion," he said. However, the NCP chief said his guess is that Rane is mentally not prepared to go elsewhere and will stay in Congress. "It is good for the Congress-NCP alliance contesting the Lok Sabha polls," he said.

Won't allow pub culture: Karnataka CM

B D Narayankar

Bangalore: Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa is mulling ban on pub culture in the state and taking stringent action against those taking law in their hands.

"Pub is not a part of our culture and in fact, this was the reason for the outrage in Mangalore," he said. The pub incident was unfortunate, but has been blown out of proportion

Asked whether he would ban Sri Ram Sene, he said that the banning of an organization will not solve the issue. "We need to take appropriate measures to prevent these incidents from occuring in future," Yediyurappa said.

If necessary, Karnataka would consider invoking Goonda Act for taking action against the identified accused who had beaten up women in a Mangalore pub, Yediyurappa said.

Responding to yet another query, the chief minister rejected opposition Congress''' demand for the resignation of State Home Minister. "In fact there is a larger conspiracy to tarnish the image of BJP in Karnataka," Yediyurappa said.

Meanwhile, arrested Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muttalik has lambasted BJP for taking action against Hindu organizations. "BJP has come to power on Hindu agenda and I urge BJP not to sacrifice Hindu outfits to protect the government."