VOL: 3 ISSUE 1 Chennai, July 22, 2009

Chennai, July 22: The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century cast a shadow over much of Asia on Wednesday, plunging hundreds of millions into darkness across the giant land masses of India and China.

A n c i e n t superstition and modern

commerce came together in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which could end up being the most watched eclipse in history, due to its path over Earth's most densely inhabited areas.

While the well-heeled took to the skies to watch the phenomenon from specially chartered planes, others took to holy waters to purify themselves as the sun's rays were snuffed out from Mumbai to

Shanghai.T h e c o n e -

shaped shadow, or umbra, created by the total eclipse first made landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30 am (0100 GMT).

It then raced across India, blacking

out the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, squeezing between the northern and southern tips of Bangladesh and Nepal before engulfing most of Bhutan, traversing the Chinese mainland and slipping back out to sea off Shanghai.

M o n s o o n clouds in India and bad weather over eastern China spoiled the party for millions who had got

up early to watch the solar blackout.

I n M u m b a i , hundreds of people who trekked up to the Nehru planetarium clutching ec l ipse sung lasses f o u n d t h e m s e l v e s reaching for umbrellas and rain jackets instead.

H e a v y

overnight rain turned torrential just as the eclipse was due to start.

"We didn't want to watch it on television and we thought this would be the best place," said 19-year-old student Dwayne Fernandes.

"We could've stayed in bed," he said.

"Maybe, we'll just tell people we did see i t , " s u g g e s t e d h i s classmate Lizanne De

Silva.A total solar

eclipse usually occurs every 18 months or so, b u t W e d n e s d a y ' s spectacle was special for its maximum period of "totality" -- when the sun is wholly covered -- of six minutes and 39 seconds.

Such a lengthy

duration will not be matched until the year 2132.

S u p e r s t i t i o n has always haunted the moment when Earth, moon and sun are perfectly aligned. The daytime extinction of the sun, the source of all life, is associated with war, famine, flood and the death or birth of rulers.

Desperate for an explanation, the ancient Chinese blamed

a sun-eating dragon. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its light and causing food to become ined ib le and water undrinkable.

In the run up to Wednesday's eclipse,

some Indian astrologers had issued predictions laden with gloom and f o r e b o d i n g , w h i l e superstition dictated that pregnant women should stay indoors to prevent their babies developing birth defects.

A gynaecologist at a Delhi hospital said many expectant mothers scheduled for July 22 caesarian del iveries insisted on changing the date.

For others it was an auspicious date, with more than one million Hindu pilgrims gathering at the holy site of Kurukshetra in northern India, where bathing in the waters during a solar eclipse is believed to further the attainment of spiritual freedom.

Those who could afford it grabbed seats on p lanes char tered by specialist travel agencies that promised extended views of the eclipse as they c h a s e d t h e s h a d o w eastwards.

Travel firm Cox and Kings charged 79,000 rupees (1,600 dollars) for a "sun-side" seat on a Boeing 737-700 aircraft that took off before dawn from New Delhi for a three-hour flight.

I n S h a n g h a i , hotels along the city's famed waterfront Bund packed in the customers with eclipse breakfast specials.

"The clouds move in and out, then all of a sudden you see it," said Glenn Evans, 46, a US executive with a cosmetics company who lives in Shanghai and was viewing the eclipse from a rooftop bar along the Bund.

Eclipse not visible in Taregna

An overcast sky disappointed hundreds of those gathered here to watch the longest solar eclipse of the century early this morning.

Solar eclipse spreads cloak of darkness over Asia

Contd. from page 2

Times Chennai E-Paper July 22, 2009Page 2 Tamil Nadu

Chennai, July 22: The extended Budget session o f t h e Ta m i l N a d u

Assembly was adjourned sine die on Tuesday.

The House which met on June 17, adjourned after passing demands for g r a n t s f o r v a r i o u s departments.

On the last day, the House passed as many as 30 Bills, including the Tamil Nadu appropriation Bill. The Tamil Nadu Police Bill, moved by Deputy Chief Minsiter M K Stalin was, however, referred to the select committee after

members of Congress and Opposition parties suggested that it be

referred to the se lec t commit tee, before being passed in the House.

During the session, the House passed Bills, m a k i n g registration of marriages compulsory a n d proh ib i t ing government and a ided schools from c o l l e c t i n g

exorbitant fees in the guise of providing quality education.

A U n i o n m i n i s t e r t r y i n g t o influence a Judge of the Madras High court in an anticipatory bail plea case of a Doctor and his MBBS s tuden t son rocked the House , leading to the enmasse eviction of the AIADMK led opposition MLAs.

The Sri Lankan government decision to send back a vessel,

carrying relief materials, s e n t b y Ta m i l s i n European countries to the Lankan Tamils, also d o m i n a t e d t h e proceedings.

Following the intervention of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the relief materials were shifted to a cargo vessel, which was then sent to the affected Lankan Tamils.

D u r i n g t h i s session, Mr M K Stalin occupied the third seat as Deputy Chief Minister after Chief Minister and Finance Minsiter and leader of the House K Anbazhagan.

M r S t a l i n replied to the debate on the demand for grants for police department on behalf of the Chief Minister.

A f t e r t h e presentat ion of the Budget for the year 2009-10, on February 17, the House was adjourned on February 26 in view of the Lok Sabha elections, it may be recalled.

It met from June 17 to take up the demand for grants for various departments.

Extended Budget session of Tamil Nadu House adjourned sine die

Bangalore, July 22: The Tiruvalluvar statute to be inaugurated in Bangalore in first week of Aug. was postponed due to EC's refusal to grant permission since bypoll is being conducted

around that time and the model code of conduct is in force. Hence the EC has refused permission.

The Karnataka Chief Minister has in turn announced that the inauguration will be held

at the convenience of Tamil Nadu chief Minister Dr. M . Karunanidhi after Aug. 18. Accordingly the statue of Sarvagna to be installed in C h e n n a i i s a l s o postponed.

Tiruvalluvar statue inauguration postponed

Chennai, July 22: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Tuesday withdrew a privilege motion moved against t w o c o m m u n i s t legislators who had a l l e g e d l y m a d e derogatory remarks a g a i n s t t h e s t a t e assembly speaker.

The motion was m o v e d a g a i n s t Sivapunniam of the Communist Party of India

( C P I ) a n d K . Balabharathi of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). The chief minister said the charges are of general nature and that such mot ions were brought by the previous AIADMK government against a DMK member and newspapers.

This brought the AIADMK members to their feet who walked out

p ro tes t ing the ch ie f minister's remark.

The motion was moved by Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veeraswami Monday after the two members allegedly made derogatory remarks a g a i n s t S p e a k e r R . Avudaiappan to reporters July 17 about his style of conducting the assembly proceedings.

No privilege motion against two Tamil Nadu legislators

Chennai, July 22: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday advised members of the ruling DMK and its allies to avoid sycophancy wh i le p lac ing the i r requests.

T h e C h i e f Minister made this clear in the assembly, when Mr P N Periannan (DMK), r e p r e s e n t i n g P e n n a g a r a m constituency, hailed Mr Karunanidhi as the hero of 'Golden rule' in the s t a t e a n d a

phi lanthropist, whi le seeking solatium to the family of a woman killed in a fire mishap in his constituency.

''There is no need to shower praise on me and the members need not be sycophants to seek such reliefs'', he s a i d , a d d i n g t h e members should not be under the wrong notion that they could get things done by shower ing sycophancy.

He sa id the members were given

very little time to participate in deba tes o r ra ise questions and they should not waste their time by being sycophants.

Mr Karunanidhi advised the members not to praise him or his ministerial colleagues.

Replying to Mr T Velmurugan (PMK), the Chief Minsiter said the government would take serious steps to abolish usury and 'Kangaroo courts' (''Kattapanchayat'') in the state.

Don't praise me sky high: Karunanidhi tells DMK members, allies

Chennai, July 22: A judicial Commission has pinpointed "communal ill feeling" and lapses by three police officials as reasons for the clash between two groups of students at a college here last year, which led to grievous injuries to four of them.

The Justice P Shanmugam Commission, that probed the clash at Dr Ambedkar Law College here on November 12 2008, found existence of "communal ill-feeling" in the hostel.

T h e Commission 's repor t , tabled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday, also faulted three police officials for 'lapses' in preventing the caste clash, despite prior intelligence.

" I n t h e D r Ambedkar Government Law College, enmity based on communal ill feeling between two groups of students exists...Hostel students function as a group. In the college, the Mukhulathor community also functions as a group", the Commission observed.

The report said both groups celebrate the birthdays of Dr Ambedkar and Thevar Jayanthi (birth

and death anniversaries o f f r e e d o m f i g h t e r Muthuramalinga Thevar, revered by the Thevar c o m m u n i t y ) respectively".

T h e d a y scholars allegedly pasted posters in and around the college for celebrating Thevar Jayanthi on October 30, where the word Dr Ambedkar was repo r ted l y om i t t ed , which, the Commission said, triggered the clash.

This act had led to a verbal duel between the two groups on November six, 2008, resulting in the alleged assault of hostel students the next day. The other group reta l iated on November 12. W h i l e A s s i s t a n t C o m m i s s i o n e r K Narayanamoorthy and Inspector Sekar Babu were suspended, then C i t y P o l i c e Commissioner R Sekar was transferred.

T h e Commission concluded that the police team posted before the law college "failed to take steps to prevent the c l a s h . " D e s p i t e intelligence reports over a possible clash and entry of students, police did little to prevent it.

Not only did police not enter the premises , bu t a lso 'suppressed' a written complaint and also phone requests from the then College Principal requesting assistance, when they appeared before the Commission.

T h e C o m m i s s i o n r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t departmental action be initiated against them. As for the Law college, the Commission called for banning any caste-based associations in the hostel, among other steps.

Commission submits report on Chennai Law students clash

To advertise in this paper mail to:

adsales@timeschennai.com

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi were among those who had come to this subdivisional town, 30 km from Patna, which is one of the best places for viewing the eclipse.

Incidentally, it was at Taregna where anc ient as t ronomer A r y a b h a t t a ( o r Aryabhatha, 476-550 A D ) s t u d i e d t h e movement of stars.

Astronomers, s c i e n t i s t s , t w o representatives from NASA were present as also the members of Mumbai-based NGO SPACE. The VIPs were gathered on the rooftop of a two-storey hospital.

Some of the viewers also brought t r i p o d - m o u n t e d telescopes to witness the rare event.

S P A C E representative Amitabh Pandey said that the eclipse was not visible

because of cloud cover.A report from

Siliguri in North Bengal said that the sky was overcast there too with rains since last night.

I t w a s a l s o r a i n i n g h e a v i l y i n neighbouring Jalpaiguri from where the total eclipse would have been visible.

T h e I n t e r University Centre for A s t r o n o m y a n d Astrophysics, North B e n g a l U n i v e r s i t y Coordinator told PTI that rains marred the chances of viewing the eclipse at Jalpaiguri and Siliguri and in the rest of north Bengal.

I n C h e n n a i people thronged the Birla Planetorium and viewed the Solar Clipse. Over 4000 people converged in and had a glimpse of the century's marvel. Dr. Iyyamperumal Director Science City said that this is the longest ever

Solar Eclipse of the Century and similar one will appear on June 13, 2132. which is almost after nearly 123 years. Our Tirunelveli staffer adds : The Sun was eclipsed by the moon to nearly 40% and this was shown to the students who thronged the Science Centre with the help of the telescope.The eclipse which began at 6.35 ended at 7.15. Science Centre staffers Gopa lak r i shnan and Jebarajan made elaborate a r r a n g e m e n t s a n d explained in detail the elcipse and its effects to the students who had assembled there.

The last total solar eclipse was on August 1 last year and also crossed China.

The next will be on July 11, 2010, but will occur almost entirely over the South Pacific, where Easter Island -- home of the legendary moai giant statues -- will be one of the few landfalls.

Solar eclipse spreads cloak . . .Contd. on page 1

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 22, 2009 Page 3

Chennai, July 22: The Madras High Court has made it clear that Dowry P r o h i b i t i o n O f f i c e r s (DPOs) should ensure full compliance with the rule in the Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Rules which makes it mandatory on their part to conduct surpr ise checks and discreet enquiries and take appropriate action.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Justice D M u r u g e s a n w h i l e disposing of a writ petition said i t was common k n o w l e d g e t h a t a l l i n s t a n c e s o f d o w r y harassment may not come to light and in such cases, discreet enquiries should be conducted to find out the truth. Whenever, the

DPO came across such instances, they should take necessary action.

The petitioner submitted that while dealing with information a b o u t m a t r i m o n i a l disputes arising from dowry offences, the current practice in Tamil Nadu was that all the accused were arrested w i thou t p re l im inary investigation and without any attempt to bring r a p p r o c h e m e n t o f parties. Procedural right that safeguarded a party in litigation was a natural human right. Deprivation or denial of the right was destruction of justice system.

The pe t i t ion was filed to ensure that the provisions of Dowry

Prohibition Act and the rules were implemented. It sought a direction to the Tamil Nadu Government t o e n f o r c e t h e performance of DPOs w i t h i n d e p e n d e n t charges to them as directed by the Supreme Court in a case, to attempt reconciliation a n d c o n d u c t investigation under the rules.

T h e government informed the court that DPOs had been appointed in all districts. Upon receiving specific complaints, they p roceeded to t ake necessary action as contemplated under the rules.

DPOs should follow Dowry Prohibition Rules strictly: HC Chennai, July 22 : Three

people, including a four-

year -o ld boy, were charred to death and five others injured in a fire

which gutted about 50 huts at J J Nagar in

s u b u r b a n Korukkupet a r e a i n N o r t h C h e n n a i l a t e l a s t night.

Police s o u r c e s said a short circuit was said to be the reason

for the fire, which took place around midnight.

A majority of

people, living in hutments, were fast asleep when the fire broke out killing Mary (26), Sanjay (four) and Anandan (50) on the spot.

Five others, who sustained burns, were admi t ted to K i l pauk Medical College Hospital.

More than half a dozen fire tenders and metro water tanker battled hard to bring the fire under c o n t r o l . C h e n n n a i Corporation Mayor visited the spot and met the fire accident victims today

3 killed, 5 injured in fire mishap

Chennai, July 22: The Madras High Court has granted an interim stay on an order of the Second Additional District Munsif at Coimbatore as confirmed b y t h e P r i n c i p a l S u b o r d i n a t e J u d g e , Coimbatore, in a case relating to provident fund contributions from NEPC Airlines and two sister concerns, NEPC Textiles and NEPC Tea Garden. Just ice S Palanivelu granted interim stay and ordered notice on an appea l f i l ed by t he Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

In its complaint before the Sub-Judge, Coimbatore, the company submitted that provident fund contributions had been effected in respect of its employees with the EPFO. The airline division

of NEPC Airlines had suspended its operation.

Meanwhile, it came to learn that as per a Central government notification of March 2001, provident fund was applicable to aircraft es tab l ishments and airlines other than aircraft and airlines owned or c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e

C e n t r a l a n d State governments also with effect from April one, 2001. The companies submitted that the EPFO could not recover any amount from them prior to that date.

In view of the n o t i f i c a t i o n , t h e organisation was not entitled to retain the employer’s contribution i n r e s p e c t o f t h e employees of the airline c o m p a n y o n a n y

grounds.But the EPFO

w a s a t t e m p t i n g t o recover the alleged dues o f R s 9 0 l a k h a s e m p l o y e r ’ s a n d employees’ contribution from the other two c o n c e r n s w i t h o u t r e f u n d i n g t h e P F contribution to the airline company.

The prayer was to restrain the EPFO from recovering Rs 90 lakh from the two concerns. On an appeal by the EPFO, the Principal Subo rd ina te Judge confirmed the lower court’s order.

C h a l l e n g i n g this, the provident fund authorities preferred an appeal, filed by counsel S Vaidyanathan, before the High Court.

HC grants interim stay

Chennai July 22: Rejecting the opposition view that the bill for regulating collection of fees by private schools should be referred to a select committee of the Assembly, the DMK government on Tuesday got the law passed through voice vote, but promised to amend it from time to time, if necessary.

When the Tamil Nadu Schools (Fee Regulation) Bill, 2009 w a s t a k e n u p f o r consideration, allies as well as the opposition expressed doubt that the legislation could be misused and argued that there was a need for certain amendments in the draft bill to ensure proper implementation. Initiating the debate on the bill, Congress whip Peter Alphonse said a road laid with good intention should not lead to hell. The committee to determine the fee in pr ivate schools, as

envisaged in the bill, would have a retired high court judge as chairman, but otherwise it would be packed with bureaucrats, with no academician or school management representat ive. The absence of stakeholders could result in misuse of p o w e r s , h e a p p r e h e n d e d . T h e d i s t r i c t commi t tees vested with powers to inspect any school had n o t e a c h e r s o r p a r e n t t e a c h e r association members, he said, highlighting the possibility of politicising the provisions to act a g a i n s t m i n o r i t y institutions by future governments as judicial powers have been v e s t e d w i t h t h e committees.

Former school education minister C V Shanmugam pointed out that both the inquiring o f f i c e r s a n d t h e punishing authority were the same, and this could lead to complications. A

clause in the bill had watered down the penal provisions by granting the judiciary the right to reduce the term of imprisonment to below three years. As according to the bill, those convic ted for hav ing contravened the provisions of the Act, would be p u n i s h a b l e w i t h imprisonment for a term not less than three years and extending up to seven years, the loophole in the bill had to be rectified, he said.

PMK floor leader GK Man i asked the government to place the bill before the public for debate and consult academicians to improve on it. Admitting that a law to send shivers down the spines of school managements that fleeced parents was the need of the hour, he urged the Speaker to refer it to a select committee to make it fool-proof. CPM, CPI and MDMK al l urged the government to forward the bill to the select committee. In reply, school education m i n i s t e r T h a n g a m Thennarasu said the government was very clear in its objective of enacting a tough law to end extortion in the name of fee in schools. As the Supreme Court has ruled in a case that fee structures should fixed by a committee headed by a retired high court judge in private educational institutions, he was confident of regulating fee in private schools, he said.

A s t h e government wanted to send a strong and clear m e s s a g e t o p r i v a t e schools, the minister asked the members to pass the bill and not delay it. Changes, if necessary, could be incorporated at the time of making rules to operationalise the bill’s provisions, he appealed. The House passed as many as 31 bills by voice vote.

Tamil Nadu Schools (Fee Regulation) Bill, 2009 passed

Chennai July 22: The Class of ’84 of Madras Christian College will revisit the college next month to participate in the batch’s silver jubilee reunion, keeping up a tradition begun in August 2006 by the Class of ’81. Around 150 alumni of the b a t c h h a d b e e n

contacted and were expected to visit the college on August 14. To register for the event contact Edwin on 94441 70048 or the Alumni and Public Relations Officer a t 2 2 3 9 7 7 3 1 / apro@mcc.edu.in, a press release said.

MCC Class of ’84 to revisit college

Chennai , July 22: Chenna i Corpora t ion Council, which met today, witnessed unruly scenes with members of the PMK and DMK screaming and throwing water bottles at each over the issue related to alleged grabbing of land b e l o n g i n g t o t h e Th i rumanga leeswarar Temple at Koyambedu. . During a call attention motion at the meeting, PMK floor leader Jayaraman raised the land- grabbing issue by saying that a pr ivate company had obtained permission from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to build a complex o n 4 2 . 3 1 a c r e s o n Jawaharlal Nehru Salai at Koyambedu.

T h e H i n d u

Religious and Charitable E n d o w m e n t s Department contended that a portion of the land, measuring 3.03 acres, belonged to the temple.

At that juncture, a drinking water bottle was seen flying from the DMK Councillors’ row, which created a ruckus and PMK Councillors rose from their seats to walk out. Later, the PMK members raised the issue, which led to h e a t e d a r g u m e n t s between Jayaraman (PMK) and Floor leaders Saidai P Ravi and N Ramalingam.

I n t e r v e n i n g , Corporation Mayor M Subramanaian said that on the basis of a CMDA’s p l a n p e r m i t , t h e

Corporation had given approval for the building work.

He also said that on perusal of the application for building permit, the earlier owner of the land had sold 1.26 acres to the Central P u b l i c W o r k s Department many years ago but the application ment ioned only the remaining 1.77 acres, which was disputed.

‘ W h e n t h e CMDA gave its approval, it had stipulated that there should be no construction work on the disputed land’, he said, adding that the approval was based on the guidelines of the Second Master Plan.

The Mayor also

r e c a l l e d S t a t e Information Minister and CMDA chairman Paruthi Ilamvazhuthi’s speech in the Assembly recently that as mentioned in the

Supreme Court order, the construction could be taken up on those portions of land other than the disputed portion.

Chaos at Corporation council meeting

To advertise in this paper mail to:

adsales@timeschennai.com

Times Chennai E-Paper July 22, 2009Page 4 National

New Delhi, July 22: A day after the country expressed shock and anger over the frisking of former president APJ Abdul Kalam by Continental Airlines, the US based airliner tendered an apology to India’s Missile Man.

The airline in a statement said that it has tendered a formal apology to Dr Kalam.

“We apologise to any inconvenience caused to Dr Kalam. Our intention was never to offend the sentiments of Dr Kalam,” Continental said in its statement.

H o w e v e r, t h e a i r l iner cont inued to reiterate its commitment to comply with the rules.

T h e i s s u e

New Delhi, July 22: In a tacit admission that the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement could be a case of "bad drafting", F o r e i g n S e c r e t a r y Shivshankar Menon on Tuesday said its meaning was clear and that India will not budge on the issue of terrorism.

"With Pakistan it is not a T-20 match," the Foreign Secretary said in a lecture here attended by Parliamentarians.

"One can argue how good or bad the drafting was...you can say it is bad drafting, but the meaning is clear," he said responding to criticism of the joint statement issued from Egypt after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Mumbai, July 22: Tata Consultancy Services M D a n d C E O S Ramadorai, whose name was doing the rounds for joining board of crisis-ridden Air India, today said the Civil Aviation M i n i s t r y h a s n o t approached him in this regard.

When asked whether the Ministry had

concerns an April 24 incident when in a clear breach of protocol and an insult, Kalam was frisked and a lso asked to remove his shoes for checks by Continental at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The apology, it seems was necessitated, by the government’s move to order to file an FIR and issue a notice to Continental Airlines for its "wilful violation" of Indian laws, saying that the f r i s k i n g o f f o r m e r President APJ Abdul Kalam was "absolutely unpardonable".

The FIR was also lodged by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) against

M e n o n s a i d India's attempt with Pakistan has been three-fold, one of which is to "bring it back to the fundamental issue of terrorism". "Our intent is clear. We are not going to budge ( o n t h e i s s u e o f terrorism)," he added and referred to the Prime Minister's statement in P a r l i a m e n t o n t h e document.

S i n g h h a s made it clear that the dialogue cannot go forward unless Pakistan takes credible action to d i s m a n t l e t e r r o r infrastructure and stop Pakistani soil from being used for terror acts against India.

"We said no, and made it quite clear that the issue is terrorism

a p p r o a c h e d h i m , Ramadorai said, "No".

H e w a s interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a fe l ic i ta t ion funct ion organised by the Indo-American Society here in which he was honoured with 'Commander of the Order of the British Empire'.

Earlier, it was

the airl ine staff for c a r r y i n g o u t p r e -embarkation body check of Kalam, which is in gross violation of a BCAS circular which exempts specified VVIPs/VIPs from security checks.

Yesterday, the airline had justified its action, saying that it has done no wrong as their staffs was only following the standard US security procedures and that no e x e m p t i o n s w e r e a l l o w e d i n s u c h procedures.

The incident had also created uproar in the Parliament, with the MPs cutting across party lines demanding strict action against the erring airline.

and we are not going to start any composite dialogue without that," Menon said responding to Pakistan's stand of linking the resumption of the composite dialogue with the action against terrorism.

" I n d i a a l s o conveyed to Pakistan that just because there is no composite dialogue, they cannot stop action against terror," he said. On the inclusion of Ba loch i s tan i n t he communique, Menon said, "Pakistan has been saying this for long. We said we have nothing to hide."

On Arunachal, he said India has been maintaining that China has no claim over it.

r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e G o v e r n m e n t w a s contemplating appointing independent directors on board of Air India and had been considering the names of Ramadorai along with National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda for these positions.

Frisking case: Airline apologises to Kalam

AviationMin hasn't met me for AI Directorship: Ramadorai

‘Jt-statement may be bad drafting, but meaning clear’

New Delhi, July 22 : The UPA Government which came under attack from the Opposition on its agreement a l lowing inspection by the US of defence installations, was also cautioned by its own ally DMK, which said the concerns raised were "genuine".

"Apprehensions (of Opposi t ion) are genuine," DMK leader in the Rajya Sabha Tiruchi S iva sa id , seek ing

clarification on External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's statement on E n d - U s e r d e f e n c e agreement with the US. C a u t i o n i n g t h e government, Siva said the conce rn a rose because the country (US) getting into this agreement with India is also friendly with the neighbouring nat ion (Pakistan), which is "unfriendly with us".

S i v a s a i d ,

"Without any compromise, our sovereignty must be upheld". It is not the first time that D M K h a s s h o w n apprehension over the UPA Government's policies.

Rajya Sabha MP and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi had e a r l i e r o p p o s e d disinvestment of PSUs located in her state.

DMK says Opposition worries "genuine" on defence pact with US

New Delh, July 22: The Sup reme Cou r t on Tuesday expressed its anguish that not a single state in the country is keen on implementing the slew of police reforms d i r e c t e d b y i t i n September 2006.

" W h y s o m e states, not a single state government is willing to cooperate. What can we do?," a three-judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan said.

T h e b e n c h made the remarks while dealing with a plea made by counsel Prashant Bhushan for inititiating

contempt action against UP, Gujarat, J& K, A n d h r a P r a d e s h , Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for not showing even a modicum of interest in implementing the directions passed by the apex court.

The apex court had among other things directed that senior po l i ce o f f i cers l i ke Director Generals of Police should have a min imum tenure to ensure that they are free f r o m p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e f e r e n c e , transparency in postings etc.

However, t i l l date none of the states

had complied with the directions though some of them have come out with promises of enacting suitable legislations to implement the orders. But some of the above states had not even bothered to file proper compliance r e p o r t s a n d h e n c e contempt proceedings should be intiated against them, Bhushan argued before the bench.

But the bench felt that let alone the states mentioned by him none of the others was cooperating i n i m p l e m e t i n g t h e judgement. The bench then posted the matter for further hearing to August 27.

SC anguished over states' indifference to police reforms

Mangalore, July 22 : The United Forum of Bank U n i o n s ( U F B U ) h a s threatened to go on a two-day nationwide strike next month to press for their demands, including a hike in pay scales.

The UFBU, an umbrella organisation of nine unions in the banking industry, decided to protest against the negat ive attitude of the Indian Banking Association (IBA) and the government and threatened to go on a nation-wide strike on August six and seven, All Ind ia Bank Off i ce rs ' Confederation (AIBOC) General Secretary G D

Nadaf told reporters here.

D e s p i t e t h e robust performance in business, growth and profits par excellence by all banks, the employees and off icers' salary revision, which was due from November one, 2007, was kept in cold storage by the IBA and government, he alleged. Unfortunately, the IBA at the instance of the government has reduced its earlier offer on salary revision from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent, he said.

The 17.5 per

cent offer of IBA was also rejected by the UFBU as it was far below our expectations, he added. The working class was totally unhappy about the 2009-10 Budget as it was corporate-oriented and "AAM AADMI " was neglected, he alleged.

Passing on the burden of Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) on employees from employers was a retrograde step, he opined.

UFBU to go on nationwide strike on Aug 6, 7

Read Times Chennai

E-PaperToday and every day

The complete half yearly magazinefor professional Education

for details call

99400 24556

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 22, 2009 Page 5National

New Delhi, July 22 : A 22-year-old labourer was killed when an iron girder fell on him at a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) c o n s t r u c t i o n s i t e Wednesday, police said.

The incident took place at 6 am near Ram Bagh at Punjabi Bagh in west Delhi. The chain of a crane lifting the girder snapped and it fell on the ground, critically injuring

Vicky Singh. S i n g h , a r e s i d e n t o f U t t a r Pradesh, was rushed to the Maharaja Agrasen hospital where doctors declared him dead on a r r i v a l , D e p u t y Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Agarwal said.

" T h i n g s a r e completely normal in the area. There was no traffic

disruption following the accident," said Agarwal.

This is the third such accident in the past 10 days. On July 12, six people were killed after an elevated section of the Delhi Metro that was under construction in south Delhi collapsed. A day later, five people were injured in another accident at the same site.

Another Delhi Metro accident, one killed

Mumbai, July 22 : The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed amendments in the Development Control (DC) rules to allow private buildings to set up helipads following the directives of U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t Department.

Business tycoon Ani l Ambani 's earl ier proposal of setting up a helipad at 'Sea Wind', his Cuffe Parade residence, was not approved in the absence of provisions for construction of helipads on private buildings.

According to the proposed amendments, the helipad can be built on r o o f t o p t e r r a c e o r cantilever structure and should be as per the directives of Civil Aviation Ministry and Director General of Civil Aviation.

Permiss ion is also required from the

Maharashtra Pollution Con t ro l Board and E n v i r o n m e n t Department for setting up a helipad.

A s t r u c t u r a l audit of the building will b e m a n d a t o r y t o determine its strength. Also, the helipad area should be fireproof and have necessary fire fighting measures, civic official said.

However, there will be no provision to fill fuel in the chopper and the helipad can be used only for landing and taking off. The helipad should be at a height of 4.5 meters above the ground and not result in any kind of air pollution.

Civic officials will invite suggestions and objections from citizens and after which the BMC will prepare a draft and sent it to the

State Government for final nod.

S e v e r a l applications seeking permission to construct hel ipads on private buildings, including those from industrialist Mukesh Ambani and builder Vicky Oberoi, are pending with the BMC, the civic officials said. Permiss ion fo r the construction of a helipad depends on the height, safety features and structural stability of the building on which it is proposed to be built, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e amendments.

A b u i l d i n g situated in a congested neighbourhood cannot have a helipad. The convenience of people s tay ing o r work ing around the building, is an important factor to be considered, they said.

Mumbai civic body mulls allowing helipads on private buildings

Kurukshetra, Haryana, July 22: It was a sea of humanity that arrived in this Haryana town to take a d i p i n t h e 'Brahmsarovar' on the occasion of the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century on Wednesday.

T h e administration here said that nearly 15 lakh were expected to arrive for a h o l y d i p a t t h e 'Brahmsarovar' (Pond of Lord Brahma — the Hindu god considered the c rea to r o f the u n i v e r s e ) o n t h e

occasion. People started

thronging the holy pond s i n c e 3 a m o n Wednesday even though the eclipse was expected to take place three hours later.

Kurukshet ra , the land of the Hindu mythological epic battle of Mahabharata, is considered a holy place. The town is 110 km from Chandigarh.

Thousands of people from all over the country started arriving here since Tuesday for

the solar eclipse even though the eclipse here is expected to be only about 80 per cent.

E l a b o r a t e security arrangements have been made by the Haryana government, including nearly 10,000 police personnel and volunteers, to manage the devotees during the day.

Special buses and trains were run on Tuesday and Wednesday to ferry people to and from this town.

Millions throng Kurukshetra for holy dip during solar eclipse

Kolkata, July 22: The e a s t e r n m e t r o p o l i s witnessed 91 per cent of the total solar eclipse despite a cloudy sky on Wednesday morning.

The sun looked like a crescent as the moon's shadow passed between the sun and the earth for a few minutes

from 6.20 am. P e o p l e

gathered on rooftops and at vantage points to have a glimpse of the celestial event, though the eclipse was partially visible here.

Hundreds of people descended on the Hooghly river ghats to have a dip during the

eclipse. Several NGOs,

a n d s c i e n t i f i c organisations organised viewing of the event b e s i d e s t h e B i r l a M u s e u m w h i c h organised a projection of the eclipse on screen for viewers.

Kolkata witnesses 91 per cent eclipse

Varanasi, July 22 : A woman died of suffocation at the heavily crowded Dasaswamedh ghat here on Wednesday morning triggering a stampede that left 13 others injured in the holy city where thousands had gathered on the occasion of solar eclipse.

D i s t r i c t Magistrate Ajay Kumar

Upadhaya said an 80-y e a r - o l d w o m a n collapsed due to the heavy rush of devotees at the ghat while another woman fainted following which people panicked and started running helter-skelter.

In the melee, thirteen people were injured, police said. An

e s t i m a t e d 6 0 , 0 0 0 -70,000 people had gathered at the ghat to take the dip, they said.

The stampede occurred due to the heavy rush of pilgrims at the ghat, DIG P.C. Meena said.

T h e i n j u r e d have been rushed to hospitals.

Woman killed, 13 injured in stampede in Varanasi

Mumbai, July 22 : India bagged three silver and two Bronze medals at the 5 0 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) which concluded on Tuesday at Bremen, Germany.

A total of 108 countries participated in the prestigious world e v e n t f o r y o u n g meritorious students in mathematics.

I n d i a w a s represented by a six

member team of which three students -- Akashnil Dutta from Kolkata, Ananth Shankar from Chennai and Samir Wagh from Pune -- received silver medals.

S u b h a d i p Choudhury of Midnapur, West Bengal and Gaurav Patil from Pune got two bronze medals. Another student Akshay Mittal from New Delhi had received honourable mention at the Olympiad,

according to a release here.

The team was led by C R Pranechar of the Mathematical Olympiad Cell at the Homi Bhabha C e n t r e f o r S c i e n c e Education. Zafar Ahmad of BARC was the deputy leader of the team and S A Katre of the U n i v e r s i t y o f P u n e accompanied them as an observer.

India bags five medals at International Math Olympaid

Mumbai, July 22 : Lone surviving 26/11 terror ist Mohammad A j m a l K a s a b o n

We d n e s d a y t o l d a special court that his decision to admit his guilt was not to seek mercy or escape death penalty.

K a s a b t o l d spec ia l judge M.L . Tahilyani that he had not made the confession seeking any mercy or to escape death penalty.

"Agar k is iko aitraaz hai...agar kisi ke dil mein shak hai ki main phansi se bachne ke liye

yeh kar raha hoon toh beshak phansi ki saza dijiye. (If anyone feels that I am confessing to escape the death penalty then the court may without doubt hang me)," Kasab said.

T h e prosecution had earlier sought the court to verify

whether Kasab was aware of the consequences of his confession.

Judge Tahilyani said the court had t a k e n a l l p r e c a u t i o n s t o ensure that the confession made was voluntary and without external influence.

The cour t a l s o noticed that on July 20 Kasab had said, . "Ma ine dun i ya mein yeh kiya hai t o h s a z a b h i duniyawalon se hi m i l n i c h a h i y a . Khuda se nahi. (I have done this in the world so I should be punished by people and not God)."

Defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi alleged that Kasab was menta l l y tortured in the jail due to which he confessed.

The Pakis tan i g u n m a n , h o w e v e r , disagreed with his counsel on torture charge and said, "Aisa koi masla nahi hai.

Not confessing to escape death; hang me if you want: Kasab

Times Chennai E-Paper July 22, 2009Page 6 World

Bangkok, July 22: On her second trip to Asia as US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton is carrying a no-nonsense message about American intentions.

"The Un i ted States is back," she

declared Tuesday upon arrival in the Thai capital. By that she means the administration of President Barack Obama thinks it's time to show Asian nations that the United States is not distracted by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and intends to broaden and deepen its partnerships in this region.

C l i n t o n w a s t rumpet ing tha t l i ne W e d n e s d a y i n a n a p p e a r a n c e w i t h a prominent TV personality before flying to a seaside resort at Phuket for two days of internat ional meetings to discuss North Korea, Myanmar and a range of other regional issues.

Clinton says she would, as previously announced, sign ASEAN's seminal Treaty of Amity a n d C o o p e r a t i o n , a commitment to peacefully resolve regional disputes that has already been signed by more than a dozen countries outside the 10-nation bloc.

The U.S. signing will be by the executive authority of Obama and d o e s n o t r e q u i r e congressional ratification, s a i d a s e n i o r administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the move publicly.

T h e administration of President George W. Bush had decl ined to sign the document; Obama sees it as a symbolic underscoring of the U.S. commitment to

Asia. On her arrival

here Tuesday, Clinton r e i t e r a t e d O b a m a administration concerns that North Korea, already a threat to the U.S. and its neighbours wi th i ts history of illicit sales of missiles and nuclear techno logy, is now d e v e l o p i n g t i e s t o Myanmar ' s m i l i t a r y dictatorship.

Clinton held out the possibility of offering North Korea a new set of incentives to return to negotiating a dismantling of its nuclear program if it shows a "willingness to take a different path." But she admitted t h e r e is little immediate chance of that.

A Clinton aide said the United States and its allies are looking for a commitment by North Korea that would i r revers ib ly end i ts n u c l e a r w e a p o n s program. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. government deliberations, said there is no sign that North Korea intends to make such a move, keeping the U.S. focus on enforcing e x p a n d e d U . N . sanctions.

In her remarks a b o u t a p o s s i b l e Myanmar-North Korea connection, Clinton did not refer explicitly to a nuclear link but made clear that the ties are disconcerting.

"We know there a r e a l s o g r o w i n g concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma which we take very seriously," she said at a news conference in the Thai capital.

"It would be destabilizing for the region, it would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbours," she said, adding that as a treaty ally of Thailand, the United States takes the matter seriously.

Later, a senior administration official said that Washington is concerned about the possibility that North K o r e a c o u l d b e c o o p e r a t i n g w i t h Myanmar on a nuclear

weapons program, but he added that U.S. intelligence information on this is incomplete. The o f f i c i a l s p o k e o n condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

T h e U n i t e d States, in a joint effort with South Korea, Japan, China and Russia, is attempting to use U.N. sanctions as leverage to compel North Korea to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear

p r o g r a m . A major element of the international concern about North Korea is the prospect of nuclear proliferation, which could lead to a nuclear arms race in Asia and beyond.

Clinton spoke to reporters after meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the outset of a three-day visit to Thailand.

Clinton sharply criticized the military rulers of Myanmar for human rights abuses, "par t icu lar ly v io lent actions that are attributed to the Burmese military c o n c e r n i n g t h e mistreatment and abuse of young girls."

She said an Obama administration p o l i c y r e v i e w o n Myanmar is on hold pending the outcome of the trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of violating the terms of her h o u s e a r r e s t .

T h e N o b l e Peace Prize laureate faces up to five years in prison if convicted, as expected.

In Washington, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to renew sanctions aimed a t p e n a l i z i n g t h e country's ruling junta. The resolution approving the reauthorization of the sanctions now goes to t h e S e n a t e f o r consideration.

The resolution r e n e w s s a n c t i o n s targeting imports from Myanmar and a l so maintains a ban on importing jade and other gems from Myanmar. The legislation was first enacted in 2003.

US 'is back' in Asia: Hillary Clinton

London July 22: A 73-year-old Indian origin p h i l a n t h r o p i s t h a s d o n a t e d £ 9 0 , 0 0 0 collected after an 800 km fund-rising walk for bowel cancer research here.

Balwant Singh Grewal, popularly known as 'Bobby Grewa l ' handed over to the money to St. Marks Hospital Foundation after his 800-km marathon walk last year.

M r. G r e w a l , born in Punjab and migrated to Britain in 1 9 5 8 , h a d e a r l i e r donated £80,000 to the Foundation after his walk from Scottish Parliament building to the House of Commons in London.

He had earlier a l s o w a l k e d f r o m Amritsar to Kanyakumari

in India raising £50,000 f o r b o w e l c a n c e r research.

At a function organised on Tuesday to celebrate the success of his walk, Mr. Grewal, president of the India Association, said "I feel like walking to the summit of Mount Everest, across the Sahara from Morocco to Egypt and to Antarctic to raise funds for the charity.

"My dream will be a reality soon," he added.

T h e s e p t u a g e n a r i a n ' s ambition is to raise £1 million for research into bowel cancer and other bowel diseases for the St. Mark's Hospital, Harrow, only specialist bowel disorder hospital in

U.K. Bowel cancer

refers to cancerous growth of cells in parts of large intestine, appendix and rectum.

A k e e n sportsman, Mr. Grewal at the age of 68 ran the London marathon in just over five hours in 2004. He also completed a walk covering 4,000 km across India from Amritsar to Kanyakumari to raise funds.

P r o m i n e n t among those present on t h e o c c a s i o n w e r e Baroness Sandip Verma, Dr Rami Ranger, leading NRI entrepreneur, Dominic Grieve, QC, MP, Shadow Justice Secretary and Prof. Colin Green, Professor of Surgical Science at St. Marks Hospital.

U.K. based NRI donates £90,000 for bowel cancer research

Washington, July 22: US President Barack Obama welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the White House

on Wednesday hoping to p u s h f o r s t r o n g e r reconciliation efforts in the confl ict-wracked country.

It will be the first meeting between Maliki and Obama since US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June, a milestone in Iraq's rehabilitation since t h e 2 0 0 3 U S - l e d invasion.

M a l i k i a l s o arrives in Washington hav ing overseen a c o n s i d e r a b l e transformation in his country from when he took office three years

ago amid sprawling interfaith violence.

The leaders, who met in Baghdad in April, "will have frank

conversations and we will have discussions on the need to keep the political process going (to avoid) any back-sliding or deterioration," said a senior administration off icial on Tuesday, s p e a k i n g o n t h e condition of anonymity.

T h e U n i t e d States "will not dictate the solutions to the Iraqi government," stressed the official, but will offer to s u p p o r t B a g h d a d ' s "e ffor ts to address political issues and build national unity."

Over the course of his visit, Maliki is also set to meet all of the top players in Obama's administration, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury S e c r e t a r y T i m o t h y

G e i t h n e r , D e f e n c e S e c r e t a r y Robert Gates, and the D e m o c r a t i c H o u s e Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"This visit is a

sign of a comprehensive and long term partnership between Iraq and the United States; it goes b e y o n d s e c u r i t y cooperation, we are not just looking at the short term, this is the beginning of a long-lasting, normal bilateral relationship with the sovereign nation of Iraq," said the official.

Maliki is hoping to drum up investment for a country in dire need of rebuilding after years of sanctions and war, and his v is i t wi l l inc lude an investment conference at the US Department of Commerce.

T h e P r i m e Minister's visit "is an oppor tun i ty to make progress on questions (regarding security), and to d i s c u s s e c o n o m i c , industrial and education c o o p e r a t i o n , " A l i Moussawi, one of Maliki's advisors, said in Baghdad on Monday.

Maliki is keen to stress the early success of his country's security forces since the US pullback just weeks ago, although relations with Washington have hit a bump over Baghdad's failure to improve relations between its Shiite, Sunni and Kurd communities.

On a trip to the Iraqi capital earlier this month, Biden urged Iraqi leaders to make more progress on reconciliation between the Shiite, Sunni and Kurd communities. But the Iraqi government at the time refused a US offer to intervene, describing the process as an internal matter and warned that outside interference could cause additional problems.

Obama, Iraq's Maliki set for landmark Washington meet

London July 22 : For France's First Couple, £660 seem to be a meagre a m o u n t — N i c o l a s Sarkozy and his ladylove Carla Bruni spend the money everyday to buy flowers for each other.

T h e extraordinary sum was revealed in a public audit of the presidential accounts for 2008 — Sarkozy's first full year in office, during which he made Bruni his

third wife. In fact, the figures were part of the first state audit of French leader's spending since the reign of Louis XVI.

The couple also used taxpayers' money to settle £3,000 of fines for late payment of electricity and gas bills.

But, it is their annual payments to florists to supply Elysee Palace which has caused the most astonishment,

The Daily Telegraph reported.

At £241,000 per year, the sum is even greater than spent by Elton John, who was revea led to spend around £460-a-day on flowers in 1997.

Apart from Mr. Sarkozy, the former I ta l ian supermodel - turned-pop singer is particularly fond of fresh flowers, and is frequently

pictured arranging huge vases full of them inside the Elysee.

W h e n contacted, an Elysee Palace spokesman told the British newspaper the floral bill was being reduced, and that the 2008 f i gu res were welcomed as a move towards "transparent government".

Love blossoms: Sarkozy, Bruni spend £660 on flowers!

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 22, 2009 Page 7Business

Mumbai, July 22 : IT firm Tech Mahindra on Wednesday said it will allot 24,500 equity s h a r e s u n d e r i t s employee stock option plan (ESOP).

The compen-sation committee of the company's board has approved the stock option of 24,500 shares at an exercise price of Rs 813 per share, Tech Mahindra said in a filing

to the Bombay Stock

Exchange.

The allotment wou ld be made to "certain employees and o r i t s ho ld ing and subsidiary companies, under Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) 2006 of the company," the filing added.

Shares of Tech Mahindra were trading at Rs 805 on the BSE, down 0.78 per cent from its previous close.

Tech Mahindra to allot 24,500 shares under ESOP

New Delhi, July 22 : The government wil l seek cabinet approval to dilute stake in State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, a top official said on Wednesday.

"The government will have to take the

approval of the cabinet to reintroduce the bill in parliament," Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said on Wednesday.

"The bill said the government's stake may be lowered up to 55 percent in SBI," he said.

T h e government holds 59.41 percent of the bank and its chairman OP Bhatt said in January the bank may need to ra ise between USD 2 billion to USD 4 billion in equity during 2009/10.

Govt to seek cabinet nod for SBI stake sale

New Delhi, July 22 : Optical storage media maker Moser Baer India on wednesday said it has settled a patent and licence dispute with the global electronics giant Philips, fuelling its shares to surge by 5.68 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

" P h i l i p s a n d Moser Baer have entered i n t o a c o n f i d e n t i a l sett lement agreement ending a series of disputes in multiple jurisdictions pertaining to recordable

compact discs (CDs) and DVDs," Moser Baer said in a statement to the BSE.

The settlement provides resolution of all c l a i m s a n d counterclaims without any admission of liability of wrongdoing by either party, it further said.

"This is a strong and healthy development for the optical media industry and will help us at Moser Baer reduce our b u s i n e s s r i s k a n d conso l ida te marke t

position," Moser Baer Executive Director Ratul Puri said.

The amicable settlement paves the way fo r Moser Baer to maintain and strengthen its market leadership as a leading maker of optical media storage products, the company said.

" W e a t t a c h great importance to IPR-related issues, which are critical for the growth of t h e o p t i c a l m e d i a industry," Puri added.

Moser Baer settles patent dispute with Philips

New Delhi, July 22 : The Centre's net direct tax collection grew by just 3.65 percent to Rs 59,465 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal year-on-year, as tax authorities gave much higher refund.

"Lower growth in net tax collection was mainly on account of higher tax refund outgo," an official statement here said.

Tax payers got of Rs 17,600 crore, representing a 52.01

percent growth over Rs 11,578 crore given in the first three months of last fiscal.

Collection from direct tax comprising c o r p o r a t e t a x a n d personal income tax stood at Rs 57,373 crore during April-June, 2008.

T h e C e n t r e mopped up Rs 35,709 crore from corporate tax, up 3.31 percent over Rs 34,566 crore against the corresponding period last year.

P e r s o n a l

income tax collection grew by 4.38 percent to Rs 24,564 crore against Rs 22,782 crore recorded last.

Fringe Benefit Tax, which is proposed to be abolished in the Budget recorded a negative growth of 7.56 percent at Rs 1,031 crore against Rs 1,115 crore.

S e c u r i t i e s Transact ion Tax also declined by 9.90 percent at Rs 1,462 crore against Rs 1,623 crore, representing decline in value of trade in stock market.

Direct tax collection up 3.65% on higher refund

New Delhi, July 22 : The Rai lways have generated Rs 13,766.83 crore in revenue from freight during April-June 2009 as compared to Rs 13,218.62 crore during the corresponding period

last year, registering an increase of 4.15 per cent.

R a i l w a y s carried 213.09 million tonnes of freight traffic during April-June 2009 as compared to 203.00 million tonnes during the corresponding period last

year, registering an increase of 4.97 per cent, according to an official release.

Out of the total earnings of Rs 4,551.64 crore from freight during June 2009, Rs 1787.72

c r o r e c a m e f r o m transporting 31.82 million tonnes of coal, followed by Rs 591.63 crore from 10.25 million tonnes of iron ore for exports, steel p l a n t s a n d o t h e r domestic users.

R a i l w a y s

earned Rs 430.50 crore from transporting 7.80 million tonnes of cement, Rs 232.34 crore from 2.33 m i l l i o n t o n n e s o f foodgrains and Rs 288.60 crore from 3.32 million tonnes of petroleum oil and

lubricant. T h e

PSU earned Rs 300.47 crore from transporting 2.63 million tonnes of Pig i r o n a n d finished steel f rom steel plants and other points, Rs 263.24 crore from 3.68 million t o n n e s o f fertilizers, Rs 80.05 crore f r o m 1 . 0 8

million tonnes of raw material for steel plants except iron ore, Rs 232.07 crore from 2.99 million tonnes by con ta iner service and Rs 345.02 crore from 5.63 million tonnes of other goods.

Railways' freight earnings up by 4.15%

Mumbai, July 22 : Market regulator SEBI has asked the stock exchanges to immediately bar listed

companies from issuing shares with superior rights

in terms of voting or dividend compared with the rights on shares that are already listed.

"It has been d e c i d e d t o a m e n d t h e Equity Listing Agreement to prohibit listed companies from issuing shares with superior r i gh ts as to v o t i n g o r dividend vis-à-vis the rights on equity shares that are already l is ted," SEBI s a i d i n a

statement. The Securities and

Exchange Board of India said the amendment will come into force with immediate effect.

T h e amendment inserts the clause: 'The company agrees that it shall not issue shares in any manner which may confer on any person, superior rights as to voting or dividend vis-a-vis the rights on equity shares that are already listed'.

It has further a s k e d t h e s t o c k exchanges to inform the regulator about the status of implementation in the next monthly development report.

SEBI bars listed cos from issuing shares with superior rights

other transaction or source.

D i v i d e n d stripping happens when a mutual fund declares a tax-free dividend for unit-holders, who after taking the dividend exit the scheme. The net asset value of the scheme declines and unit-holders are able to show a capital loss. As a result, the exchequer misses a chance to tax capital gains.

However, the unit-holder gets the dividend and the mutual fund earns the entry and

exit load. According to the

petition, these agents resort to dividend stripping as they know that after the dividend is declared, the net asset value (NAV) of the MF decreases.

Brokers purchase units at a higher price and sell them immediately after the declaration of dividend, knowing that the sale of such units would result in a loss, which they could adjust against the profits derived from the sale and purchase of shares and securities, it added.

New Delhi, July 22 : The Supreme Court will decide whether mutual fund brokers can resort to a process (dividend stripping) of creating a short-term loss to avoid tax.

A B e n c h headed by Justice S H Kapadia has issued notice broking firms on a batch of petitions filed by t h e i n c o m e - t a x department challenging the Bombay High Court judgment that a broker was entitled to have his/her loss set off against income from any

SC to decide on 'dividend stripping' by mutual funds

Times Chennai E-Paper July 22, 2009Page 8 Business

Chandigarh , July 22 : The time lag between booking and delivery of the Nano is leading to a few

cancellations in Punjab. " S e v e r a l

customers who were selected for the delivery of the Nano earlier are getting their orders cancelled saying they cannot wait for months to get their car," Rajan Katyal of Garyson Motors, a dealer of Tata Motors in Ludhiana said.

S o f a r , 1 0 customers have cancelled their bookings for the

Nano, Garyson Motors said.

"Almost 5 to 8 of our customers have

cancelled their bookings who were scheduled to get the delivery in the mid o f n e x t y e a r , " Chandigarh-based Tata Motors dealer Joshi Auto zone's Sales Manager Gaurav Mishra said.

" I a l w a y s wanted to own the Nano, which carries a price tag of Rs 1 lakh...that is why I have booked the car...but when I came to know

through the allotment letter that the car will be delivered by February 2010... I decided to cancel the booking as I cannot wait for such a long time to own the car," said Janak Raj Sachdeva of Ludhiana.

Sachdeva has even agreed to forego the interest portion, which he had to bear after getting the car financed.

Dada Motors' Managing Director Rishi Dada, however, said that n o t e v e r y b o d y i s w i t h d r a w i n g t h e i r applications, "but a few are because of the long gap between booking and delivery."

In addition to it, some of the customers whose names did not figure in the list of the first 100,000 allottees are also not in favour of r e t a i n i n g t h e i r applications, he said.

Tata Motors had announced the selection

Impatient customers cancel booking of Nano in Punjab

New Delhi, July 22 : Promising to recast the board of Air India in a month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful P a t e l on Wednesday said the government cannot help t h e c a s h - s t r a p p e d national carrier "beyond a point" and asked it to change its work culture.

"Air India will be restructured financially, organisationally. I am very sure it will start making profits soon and we will silence all the c r i t i c s , " Pa te l t o l d reporters on the margins

of an aviation industry conference.

"The airline's operations will have to be streamlined," he said, adding: "The government also will not interfere into its problems beyond a point. The management has to address the problems. I am hopeful the carrier will be able to c o m e o u t o f i t s problems."

The minister said the government was now looking at hiring skilled professionals for the national advisory board of the carrier, with the hope that this would help turn the airline around with some new ideas.

"There has to be change in the ethos and the work culture of the airline. The government will be happy to help them but we expect equal amount of enthusiasm from Air India."

The carrier is in a financial mess with

losses expected to have topped Rs.5,000 crore ($1 billion) last fiscal, forcing Patel to seek a Rs.10,000-crore (about $2-billion) bailout package for the beleaguered carrier from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Air India is also raising a $1-billion loan from overseas to fund its f l e e t e x p a n s i o n programme. The 11-year loan is expected to be guaranteed by the US Export-Import Bank.

Asked about full-service carriers like Air India proposing to turn themselves into low-cost airlines in a bid to tide over one of the worst crises in the global aviation industry in recent years, Patel said: "More such things will occur in a year or two".

T h e n a t i o n a l carrier, for example, had announced recently that its low-cost arm, Air India Express, which mainly flies to the Gulf sector, will start domestic flights this year.

Air India board to be recast within a month: Patel

of the first 100,000 owners of the Nano out of over 2 lakh applications.

The delivery of the vehicle has started from July and the first 100,000 deliveries are e x p e c t e d t o b e completed by the last quarter of 2010.

Times Chennai E-Paper Page 9SportsJuly 22, 2009

Pune, July 22: The felicitation of former India captain Chandu Borde on his 75th birthday here saw batting maestro Sachin

Tendulkar reminiscing his 1 9 8 9 d e b u t t o u r o f Pakistan where Borde, as the coach, introduced him to the cricketing world.

" C h a n d u S i r guided me through the difficulties a 16 year old was expected to undergo on his first appearance on a

foreign tour. He told me how to improve upon m i s t a k e s w i t h o u t disturbing my natural game technique and

instincts," Tendulkar said l a s t n i g h t , i n a n o v e r w h e l m i n g expression of gratitude to Borde, who served Indian cricket in various capacities.

T e n d u l k a r r e c a l l e d B o r d e ' s con t r i bu t ion to h i s

shaping as a cricketer on the debut tour and said the gentle way in which the former all-rounder gave him useful tips in the nets boosted his confidence.

"What Chandu Sir did for me then came from his passion for the g a m e . H e n e v e r expected any public acknowledgment of what he did for me or wished for anything in return," s a i d i n t e r n a t i o n a l cricket's most prolific scorer.

T h e m a s t e r blaster further went on to recount the more recent stint of Borde, one of the m o s t v a l u a b l e a l l -rounders of the Indian Test squad from 1958 to 1970, as an administrator when he accompanied the Indian team as manager for the 2007 tour of England.

A grateful Tendulkar praises 'Chandu Sir'

Chennai, July 22 : The famous BSNL Sports Quiz a i r e d b y N a t i o n a l Broadcaster Doordarshan in its Podhigai Channel has entered into the Limca Book of National Records for the longest running weekly quiz show on television in India.

The l ive quiz b e i n g a i r e d o n a l l Saturdays between 2210 hrs and 2300 hrs, has captivated viewers across the globe.

Anchored by Dr Sumanth C Raman, a well known paediatrician, the quiz had completed 373 episodes on July 18 last week.

T h e p r e v i o u s record was he ld by Doordarshan Jaipur when it successfully hosted 270 episodes of ''Prashnottari'', a f o r t n i g h t l y q u i z programme, hosted by Bureaucrat Mehendra Surana from July 23, 1993 to December 31, 2005.

T a l k i n g t o reporters here last night,

Doordarshan Chennai Head of Programmes S Meganathan and Creator of the Programmes P S Parameswaran along with Dr Sumanth, said the show was started as a four week show in June 2002 to coincide with the FIFA World Cup.

Once cricket content was added to it, the programme took off to amazing heights.

The popu la r show, over its seven-year course, has received calls from over 30,000 participants, around 4.5 lakh SMSs and also 2000 e-mails per show on an average.

A p a r t f r o m Indian cities and remote villages, viewers from as far as Oman, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, Latvia and Estonia have par t i c ipa ted in the programme, a testimony to the t remendous viewership response.

D r Suman th acknowledged the team-

work that had gone into the production of the q u i z - s h o w, s a y i n g anchor ing was the ‘easier job’ while the p r o g r a m m i n g a n d engineering teams and the technicians handle the tougher aspects of it.

He said the programme brought to light the amazing talent that exists everywhere, r i g h t f r o m c o l l e g e students, youth, women, e l de r l y popu la t i on , among others.

' ' W e h a v e r e c e i v e d a m a z i n g answers ever f rom remote villages.

A s i z e a b l e audience are of women and retired personnel,'' he added.

Doordarshan Chennai Superintending Engineer N Thyagarajan and BSNL Principal G e n e r a l m a n a g e r Shanmugasundaram were among those who spoke on the occasion.

BSNL Sports Quiz' enters Limca Book of National Records

London, July 22: After a week-long speculation about his fitness for the third Ashes Test, Kevin Pietersen has finally sur rendered to h is chronic achilles injury and would not be a part of E n g l a n d t e a m a t Edgbaston but hopes to play the final two Tests of the five-match series.

However, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has vowed to battle his t r o u b l e s o m e b o d y through the rest of the Ashes series and would look to repeat h is splendid bowling effort in the next Test.

''Pietersen told management last night he will have to rest the injury next week and miss the third Test. He hopes to play in the final two at Headingley and the Brit Oval,'' reported the 'Daily Mail'. ' ' I a n B e l l , t h e Warwickshire batsman, will play on his home

ground in Pietersen's place, batting at five with P a u l C o l l i n g w o o d promoted to No 4.

''England are also expected to recall Monty Panesar to join Graeme Swann in the two-spinner attack used in Card i f f . Graham Onions would give way but his omission would be as much down to a troublesome elbow injury as a selection issue. Steve Harmison may be in the squad but Panesar is the more likely to play,'' the daily added.

Flintoff, who will retire from Test cricket after the Ashes, would continue to fight the discomfort and was looking ahead for a week-long rest before he sets his sights on another good show at Edgbaston.

''I was in a bit of discomfort but I've played most of my career in discomfort, so that's nothing new. I've felt

good apart from a couple of little twinges in the knee. I'll rest up this week, get back up north and prepare for a Test match at Edgbaston,'' said the burly all-rounder.

England captain Andrew Strauss also u n d e r s t a n d s t h e importance of Flintoff in the team and said, ''If the top batsmen in the world were asked to give you a list of the three fast bowlers they'd least like to face, Fred would be in that list if not at the top.'' The five-wicket haul from Flintoff forced the Austral ian skipper Ricky Ponting to admit the all-rounder's prowess with the ball.

''He's one of the best quicks in the world,'' he said adding, ''He's a great competi tor and when there's a game on the line he's the one who always wants the ball. We heard with his retirement that he'd be giving his all and he certainly did that.''

KP set to miss third Test, Flintoff vows to play full Ashes

New Delhi, July 22: H a v i n g b e i n g recommended for this year 's Dronacharya

award, an elated Pullela Gopichand said he was highly honoured and believes that winning the award will bring more responsibility for him.

The former All-Eng land badmin ton champion, who is all set to become the first Indian to win all the national

sports awards, said he still holds the awards, which he has been feted with as a player, very

close to his heart and it would still take time to sink in the feeling for the honours that he has been given.

''With most of the awards which I have won, the gravity has yet to sink in. What I have always tried is to win the tournaments that I have

played in. But I am very happy to have won those,'' Gopichand said.

''For me winning the Al l England was important. During the Arjuna awards, the feeling sank in much later. But today when I look back at the Arjuna award and Khel Ratna, I feel very proud. It i s s a m e w i t h t h e Dronacharya, It is a huge honour, ' ' t he fo rmer Badminton star said on the sidelines of the draw ceremony of the World B a d m i n t o n C h a m p i o n s h i p s l a s t evening.

''It's a big honour for me and winning the a w a r d b r i n g m o r e responsibility for me,'' he added.

Gopichand won the Arjuna award in 1999. Two years later, he was feted with the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award after he won the All-England Open badminton Championships in 2001.

He had also won the Padma Shri in 2005.

Dronacharya award will bring more responsibility: Gopichand

Ostia, July 22: Keri-Anne Payne led virtually from start to finish to take gold in the women's 10 kilometres open water race at the world championships.

Payne repelled a challenge from the chasing pack in the closing stages to power home in two

hours, one minute and 37.1 seconds ahead of R u s s i a ' s E k a t a r i n a Seliverstova and Italy's Martina Grimaldi.

The 21-year-old, a silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics last year, also recovered after briefly surrendering the

lead to Spain's Yurema Juarez Requena around the hour mark in the Tyrrhenian Sea at the Ostia beach resort near Rome.

R u s s i a ' s Olympic and eight-times world champion Larisa Ilchenko, who had to

settle for silver in the 5km on Tuesday after coming b e h i n d A u s t r a l i a ' s Melissa Gorman in a photo finish, retired with an injury to her left leg just after half way.

Payne's gold medal is Britain's second in two days after 15-year-old Tom Daley became h i s c o u n t r y ' s f i r s t

individual world diving champion on Tuesday in the men's 10m platform.

The open water competitions at the Rome s h o w p i e c e h a d t o rescheduled after storms bat tered the beach facilities.

T h e m e n ' s 10km race takes place later on Wednesday.

Payne powers to 10km open water gold

Read Times Chennai

E-PaperToday and every day

Times Chennai E-Paper Sports July 22, 2009Page 10

Melbourne, July 22: Former Australian captain Allan Border has thrown his w e i g h t b e h i n d be league red cu r ren t

skipper Ricky Ponting who has drawn flak from past stalwarts for his decisions in the first two Ashes Test.

After failing by just one wicket to win the f i rst Test at Cardi ff ,

Australia played some dreadful cricket at Lord's to lose by 115 runs, and Ponting had to face criticism of his bowling

changes in b o t h t h e matches.

H o w ever, Border, w h o l e d Australia a record 93 times, feels P o n t i n g ' s c a p t a i n c y continues to be unfairly maligned.

"When Ricky took over with the l i k e s o f ( S h a n e )

Warne and (Glenn) McGrath , the team wasn't all that different and he kept the ball r o l l i ng a f te r S teve Waugh," Border said.

" T h e

challenges came for him in 2005 in England when he didn't have a fit McGrath and it became more difficult. I think he's learnt from that and become a really good leader.

The boys really like playing for him. That's all you can do, really," he said.

Border insisted a captain was often only as good as his bowlers.

"The rest of it is down to what sort of cattle you've got at your disposal and how they're playing. The decisions you make on field are not really rocket science a lot of the time.

" I t ' s t h e environment you create. If you've got a good environment you can get the best out of your players," he was quoted a s s a y i n g b y T h e Australian. "

Ponting's criticism unfair: Border

Georgetown, July 22: West Indies ' leading players on Wednesday ended their strike over pay d i s p u t e a f t e r t h e i r representatives and the cricket board (WICB) agreed to resolve the issue through an arbitrator, after a meeting here.

T h e p l a y e r s a g r e e d t o m a k e themselves available for international duty following the appointment of former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal as arbitrator.

The WICB and the West Indies Players' Association, which is n e g o t i a t i n g o n t h e cricketers' behalf, agreed to resolve the impasse by mediation at a meeting convened by Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo at the request of WIPA.

Jagdeo is the current chairman of the 15-

nat ion t rading b loc Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).

T h e m o v e towards mediation came hours after the board named a 14-man squad, which excluded the striking players, for the first two of three one-day internationals against Bangladesh, on July 26 and 28.

"It was agreed that, in light of the mediation agreement the parties expect to lead to t h e r e s o l u t i o n o f outstanding issues, all the players will make themselves available for selection," WIPA and WICB said in a joint statement.

"The mediation team, with assistance f r o m t h e C a r i c o m secretariat, would begin work immediately. Both

parties have taken this step, mindful of the i n t e r e s t o f t h e i r respective organisations but conscious also of their wider responsibility to the people of the West I n d i e s a n d t h e international sport of cricket," they said.

T h e m e m o r a n d u m o f unde rs tand ing was s i g n e d b y W I P A Pres ident D inanath Ramnarine and WICB President Dr Jul ian Hunte in the presence of Jagdeo.

The d i spu te erupted two weeks ago, when 13 of the leading West Indies cricketers m a d e t h e m s e l v e s unavailable for the first Test against Bangladesh in St Vincent, citing pay and contract issues.

Windies players end strike, to return to national duty

Chandigarh, July 22: Beijing Olympics gold medal winning shooter Abhinav Bindra will be the first Indian baton bearer of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and will receive it from Queen Elizabeth II in London in October.

"It is indeed a great honour and pride for India," Bindra said.

T h e Q u e e n ' s Baton Relay is a curtain r a i s e r t o e v e r y

Commonwealth Games since 1958. The baton relay will take off from London on October 29 and will cover 70 nations.

On arrival at the opening ceremony in Delhi, the baton would have t rave led over 190,000 km over 340 days and this will make the Baton Relay one of the longest in the history of the Commonwealth Games.

The relay will conclude with the final baton-bearer entering the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium dur ing the Opening Ceremony of the Games on October 3,2010.

I n d i a n President Pratibha Patil has a l so accep ted Queen Elizabeth II's invitation to grace the Queen's Baton for XIXth Games in London.

Bindra to receive Commonwealth Games baton

K a r a c h i , J u l y 2 2 : Pakistan on Wednesday left out Shoaib Akhtar f r o m t h e 3 0 - m a n

preliminary squad for this y e a r ' s C h a m p i o n s T r o p h y a f t e r thecontroversial pacer failed to prove his fitness last week.

The 33-year-old was also omitted from a 16-man One-day squad for a five-match series against Sri Lanka starting next week.

A k h t a r w a s withdrawn from the World Twenty20 squad after c o m i n g d o w n w i t h "genital warts" and failed

to pass a fitness test conducted last week.

B u t a n o t h e r controversial fast bowler,

Mohammad Asif, was included as his one-year b a n e x p i r e s o n September 22, the start of the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The ban was imposed after the 26-year-old failed a dope test in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League last year.

As i f w i l l be e l i g ib le to p lay i n Pak i s tan ' s open ing match against the West

Indies on September 23. T h e b i e n n i a l

Champions Trophy will be held in South Africa from September 22 to October 5, having been moved out of Pakistan over security fears.

The top eight countries -- Australia, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan, the West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand -- are due to take part in the Trophy, which was first held in 1998.

P a k i s t a n ' s preliminary squads will be trimmed to 15 next month.

Squad: Younis Khan (Captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Azhar Ali, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Umer Akmal, Sheharyar Ghani, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naveed, Yasir Arafat, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz A h m e d , U m a r G u l , Mohammad Aamir, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Tanveer, Rao Iftikhar, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, A b d u l R e h m a n , Mohammad Hafeez.

Pakistan omit Shoaib Akhtar from Champions Trophy squad

New Delhi, July 22: Out of all the names received by the Arjuna Awards selection panel, there was one that

should've caught the attention of the men and women deciding the list of national sporting honour, but unfortunately did not.

For a man who has many firsts to his n a m e , N a r a i n K a r t h i k e y a n h a s surprisingly once again missed the Arjuna bus. Karthikeyan's resume is as impressive as they come. He is only Indian to have driven in Formula One, to win races in A1GP, Formula Three and to have participated

in the popular Le Mans series. In earlier years, the factionalism within the I nd ian mo to rspo r t s

c o m m u n i t y was the main reason why motorsports was neve r given priority. B u t t h a t obstacle is no l onge r t he reason.

T h e Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is recogn ized a s I n d i a ' s official ASN b y t h e F e d e r a t i o n

I n t e r n a t i o n a l e d e l'Automobile (FIA) and a lso by the Ind ian government. Moreover, F M S C I h a s b e e n a f f i l i a t e d t o t h e International Olympic Association (IOA) since 2005.

T h i s y e a r , FMSCI sent three names - Karthikeyan, GP2 driver Karun Chandhok and biker Dilip Roggers - but according to sources on the panel, these names did not even come up for discussion.

"We did what

was required of us. We sent the dockets with all the informat ion that was needed, though Narain's list of achievements was received a couple of days late. It was upto the panel to recommend the names. I think the profile and image of the sport works against it. It's not an Olympic sport and it's not cricket. I can o n l y h o p e t h a t t h e government takes our sport seriously in the future," Rajan Syal, chief executive, FMSCI told TOI on Tuesday.

Karthikeyan, who is training in Austria cu r ren t l y to se t h i s dislocated shoulder right, was rightly disappointed and at a loss to explain the miss. "A lot of people think that I've already got the a w a r d b u t i t ' s j u s t disappointing to not get it this year again. Getting a n a t i o n a l a w a r d , t h e recognition from your own country, is so important for a n a t h l e t e , f o r a sportsperson. I've been at the forefront of my sport for years. Hopefully, next year they will consider me worthy of the award," he said.

May be, next year sports minister MS Gill would like to set the wrong right.

Narain Karthikeyan gets the Arjuna snub again

Times Chennai E-Paper EntertainmentJuly 22, 2009 Page 11

New Delhi, July 22: National award winning actress Raveena Tandon, who essayed a variety of roles in movies in her nearly two decade-long Bol lywood career, is

excited about playing a lawyer for the first time in her forthcoming movie "Chassni".

"It's for the first time in 20 years that I'm getting to play a lawyer in a f i lm and I 'm exci ted because this is going to be my comeback f i lm , " Raveena told IANS in an interview.

The film is being d i rec ted by Revathy Sharma and also stars

veteran actress Jaya Bachchan, Ayesha Takia and Urvashi Sharma. "Chaasni" is a remake of the Tamil film "June R" a n d s t r e s s e s t h e importance of adoption of

those who are old. It is Sharma's homage to elderly people.

Raveena, who m a d e h e r Bollywood debut with "Patthar Ke Phool" in 1991, is returning to the arc lights after a four-year hiatus with the movie and says she was "hel l nervous" when she gave her first shot for the movie.

"The first day of s h o o t i n g f o r

'Chassni ' was very encouraging. I gave my first shot and the entire unit started clapping. I felt like - 'This is where I am meant to be'. I delivered one dialogue in one take and Revathy said 'Okay' and my day was made," said the actress who took a sabbatical after tying the knot with Anil Thadani in 2004.

Raveena also

said that she wishes to do only such roles in her new innings in the industry.

"I'm very glad t ha t I 'm mak ing a comeback with the kind of roles that I want to do now - the kind that challenge me more than I can cater to. I do see a lot of scripts, but I'm now inclined to roles like I p l a y e d i n ' S h o o l ' , 'Daman' and 'Satta' - something more evolved and something that suits my personality now," she said.

The actress is a l s o j u d g i n g k i d s ' comedy show "Chhote Miyan - Chapter 2" on Colors channel. She enjoys her stint on the small screen, but says that she doesn't wish to sign too many films right now.

"I want to take it (movies) slow. I'm doing one film and one TV show. My kids are quite young and I don't wish to overwork and then not be able to spend time with them. I will take things easy as far as films are concerned because they need more time," said the mother of two.

Raveena Tandon excited about playing lawyer

Chennai, July 22 : Recently while addressing

the media, gorgeous Nayanthara denied any kind of affair with Prabhu Deva, 'I am not in love with anyone. I love only the films I act.'

Further replying to media’s inquiry about her silence on the same, the actress said, “There is no necessity for me to reply to anyone about these silly things. I have no time to

e x p l a i n a b o u t t h e rumours spread about

me. The only people I should explain to; are my parents. They have faith in me and have given me full freedom. I will not take advantage of this.”

N a y a n t h a r a also spoke about the wedding photos of her w i th Prabhu Deva, “Those were graphic generated images. I was totally upset seeing these

pictures. In fact I lost my balance.” About her recent meeting with Simbhu, Nayanthara clarified, “we have met recently only to discuss about a story. There is no o ther reason . Th is meeting was purely professional and not personal. I am not in love with anyone.”

I am not in love with anyone says Nayanthara

Chennai, July 22 : Over these years, yesteryear actress Radha proved her excellence in various roles.

N o w , h e r d a u g h t e r K a r t h i k a follows her mother’s footsteps, as she makes debut in Telugu film ‘Josh’. The film has Nagarjuna’s son Naga Chaitanya in lead role and Vasu Varma has directed the film. With audio recently launched in Hyderabad, the film is slated to hit the screens

shortly in August.Radha and her

sister Ambika were the reigning actresses of S o u t h I n d i a n F i l m Industry during 80s.

They had acted with almost al l the leading actors including Superstar Rajnikanth, K a m a l H a a s a n , Vijayakanth, Prabhu, Karthik, Mohan and Sivakumar. Specifically

R a d h a h a d acted in more than 200 films in Tamil, Telugu, M a l a y a l a m a n d

Kannada. Later, she got married to a restaurant e n t r e p r e n e u r R a j a s h e k a r a n a n d settled in Mumbai.

Although, there were more offers for Radha’s daughter in Kollywood, she was waiting for a big banner and good script.

Well, Karthika believes that soon after the release of ‘Josh’ she will be approached with more offers.

Actress Radha's daughter makes debut

Chennai, July 22: Actor Shaam of ten termed as 'Chocolate

Boy' of Kollywood had to face continuous flops in Tamil film industry.

H o w e v e r ,

Telugu Movie ‘Kick’ offered him a great turning point in his career.

Now, he has been signed for the Tamil remake of this film featuring ‘Jeyam’ Ravi in lead role.

Remake rights have been acquired by Ravi’s father Editor Mohan

and his elder brother Raja will direct the f i l m . A c t o r S h a a m performs the role of a cop who’s on the hunt of a wild thief. The Tamil version is yet to be titled and shooting will hit the floors by end of August.

Thamannah has been signed for the role of female lead while rest

of the cast and crew are yet to be finalized.

'Jeyam' Ravi and Shaam together in 'Kick'

C h e n n a i , J u l y 2 2 :Producer Kalaipuli S Dhanu makes an official

announcement about his 'Kandasamy' to be finally released on August 15.

The film starring ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram and Shriya Charan in lead role was completed a long time back. The film was in post-production, a s D i r e c t o r S u s i

Ganeshan spent a long time in an attempt to give his f i lm a f ine look. Recently, actor Vikram finished dubbing for both the versions in Tamil and Telugu (Telugu version titled as ‘Mallanna’) at Trinity Studios.

‘ K a n d a s a m y ’ happens to be one of the ‘Big Tickets’ of this season produced a an astounding cost of Rs.60 Crores. The film is directed by Susi Ganeshan who earlier made ‘5 Star’ and ‘Thiruttu Payale’. Devi Sri Prasad has tuned peppy numbers w i th V i k ram h imse l f crooning 4 songs.

This is the first ever Superhero film made in South Indian Film Industry. Kalaipuli S Dhanu will release the film on I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y weekend over 900 screens in both the versions.

Vikram's Kandasamy releases on Independence Day

Chennai, July 22 :Sri Lakshmi Super Good Films is dubbing the Telugu hit flick Drona in Tamil with the title Enaka Mani Unaka which has P r i y a m a n i , N i t h i n , Seetha, Mukesh Rishi, Babu Anthony and Rakhi Sawant in the cast.

T h e f i l m i s d i rected by Karuna Kumar. The film revolves around the hero who is indicted for robbing Nizam’s jewellery. The cops as well as the villains are after him. He is back after 10 years with a different identity. But his girl friend Priyamani who comes to know the fact

helps him out. Both of them somehow trace t he N i zam ’s j e w e l s a n d r e s t o r e i t . National award w i n n e r Priyamani has done a dare-bare act in bikini in this flick. She was reportedly skeptical about the skin show in t h a t t e e n y -weeny piece, but later agreed and told the director not to release pictures until movie hits

the theatres.

Drona in Tamil

Owned Edited and Published by S. Raghunathan Editorial and Advertisement Office: F 5 and 6 1st Floor, Leo Complex, New No: 41, Madley Road, T.Nagar, Chennai 600 017. Ph: 42867771, Fax: 42867772

Times Chennai E-Paper July 22, 2009Page 14

Washington, July 22 Researchers have raised concerns over increasing exposure to second-hand smoke among college

students. "It is well-known

that there are some serious health issues surrounding secondhand smoke," said Dr Mark Wolfson, lead author on the study, professor and section head for the Section on Society a n d H e a l t h i n t h e Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy.

" W h i l e s o m e college campuses are smoke free, others have virtually no restrictions on smoking, not even in the residence halls.

" T h e r e i s a g r o w i n g n a t i o n a l movement to move away from that, but it still very much varies by campus. In

this first study to evaluate SHS exposure among college students, we were really kind of floored to see how many, and

h o w f requent ly, students are exposed to it," he added.

During the study, the researchers s u r v e y e d 4 , 2 2 3 undergraduate co l lege students of w h i c h 8 3 p e r c e n t r e p o r t e d

having been exposed to SHS at least once in the seven days preceding the survey. The study showed that 6 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e exposure happened at a r e s t a u r a n t o r b a r, f o l l o w e d b y 5 5 p c t exposure at home or in the same room and 38 percent in car. Daily and occasional smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to report exposure, perhaps not surprising given that they are more likely than other students to have friends who smoke and to f requent or l ive in locations where smoking occurs, according to the

study. S i m i l a r l y ,

students who binge drink were more likely than other students to report exposure to SHS.

Other factors that appeared to be a s s o c i a t e d w i t h increased exposure to SHS included living in res idence locat ions w h e r e s m o k i n g i s allowed or locations associated with smoking, such as Greek houses and off-campus housing, being female, of white race, having parents with higher education levels and attending a public versus private school. SHS contains at least 250 chemicals that are e i t h e r t o x i c o r carcinogenic and is, i tself , considered a human carcinogen.

"We were really shocked to see that 83 percent of students reported at least some exposure during the previous week," Wolfson said.

"That said, we d o n ' ' t k n o w i f t h e exposure was at a nuisance level or at a level that might influence heal th . E i ther way, knowing what we know about SHS, lowering the rates of smoking is

Second-hand smoke exposure rising among college students

Dubai, July 22 : Dubai's Al Nassma, the world's first brand of chocolate made with camels' milk, plans to expand into new Arab markets, Europe, Japan and the United Sta tes , i t s genera l manager said Tuesday. Martin Van Almsick said the United Arab Emirates company planned to enter Saudi Arabia first, followed by Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United States within the next few months. The company plans to enter the Saudi market in a month through a pa r tne rsh ip w i t h a J e d d a h - b a s e d distributor, said Van Almsick, adding the company plans to deliver the first ton of chocolates to Saudi Arabia soon.

Al Nassma is also in talks with British department store Harrods and San Francisco's C h o c o l a t e Covered to s e l l i t s products. Al Nassma was formally established in October last year and a i m s t o produce 100 t o n s o f p r e m i u m camels' milk chocolate a year. In par tnership wi th A u s t r i a n c h o c o l a t e m a k e r M a n n e r , A l Nassma manufactures the end product at its Dubai facility. With 3,000 camels on its Dubai farm, the company sells chocolates through its farm-attached store as well as in luxury hotels and private airlines. It plans to launch an online shopping facility within a month, Van Almsick said. The farm is controlled by the Dubai government. The company is set to open its second store in the UAE in one of Dubai's large malls and is in talks with mall operator Majid Al Futtaim and others, he said.

"We aim to be the Godiva of the Middle East," Van A l m s i c k s a i d i n a n

interview. "It's a luxury product, so we will never be in supermarkets. The plan is to be in one mall in each UAE city." Al Nassma is also looking at the possibility of setting up a store in Japan, where demand for the product is high, he said. A l l c h o c o l a t e s a r e p r o d u c e d w i t h o u t preservatives or chemical additives with a range of locally popular spices, nuts and honey, the company says. Camel milk contains five times more vitamin C than cow milk, less fat, less lactose and more insulin, making it a good option for diabetics and the lactose intolerant, Van Almsick said.

World's first camel-milk chocolates going global

definitely something we should be ser iously looking at on college campuses," he added.

T h e a u t h o r s suggest that colleges should consider looking at ways to take steps to reduce smoking and concomitant exposure to S H S a m o n g t h e i r students.

The f ind ings appear in the journal Nicot ine & Tobacco Research.