Times Chennai E-Paper, March 12, 2009

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VOL: 2 ISSUE 55 March 12, 2009

hennai, March 12:E l e c t i o n

ommission on Thursdaypressed confidence onganising "free, fair andansparent" Lok Sabha

e c t i o n s , w h i c h i sheduled between April and May 13.

"We aim for free,i r and t ransparen t

ections in the country, letone a state, there is nooubt about it," Chiefection Commissioner

signate Navin Chawla,ho is here to hold revieweeting with the state'shief Electoral Officer, toldporters.

H e w a sswering a query onported comments ofndhra Pradesh DGPa i s i n g t h e r u l i n g

ongress in that state, andhether free and fairections were possiblee r e u n d e r s u c hcumstances.

Chawla assuredat the EC was taking alleps to ensure free andr elections such as video

cording of requiredoceedings and deployingicials to monitor them.

"In the recent sixate Assembly elections,e f ound s u r roga tendidates contesting asdependents, using all thecilities given by the EC inod faith," he said, addingat strict action would be

taken against suchpersons in the upcomingelections.

With a view topreventing excess use of

money, Chawla saidofficials from the IncomeTax will be posted on pollduty who will report to theEC.

Highlighting theEC's efforts in thisregard, Chawla recalledthe recovery of Rs 40

crore in cash and other' f r e e b i e s ' d u r i n gKarnataka Assemblyelections, which wereal legedly meant forvoters.

On the issue ofAndhra Pradesh DGPallegedly praising theruling Congress, Chawlasaid he would look intothe matter during hisrev i ew m ee t i ng i nHyderabad scheduledlater in the day.

Responding toa query, he said themodel code of conductwas in place and the EC

had circulated a list of"Dos and Donts" to ther e s p e c t i v e s t a t egovernments.

Q u o t i n g h i smeeting with the ChiefElectoral officer (CEO)ofthe state, Chawla saidissuing of 97 per cent ofElectoral Photo IdentityCards (EPIC) was over in

T a m i l N a d u a n ddescribed it as "highestpercentage in India by allstandards."

The rest wouldbe issued in the nextcouple of weeks, he

added. Chawla is said tohave instructed the CEOto give priority to the"landless poor" as wellas the "urban poor" inthis regard, "since theymay not have other

forms of identity" (proof)."Multiple forms

of identification," couldbe furnished by voterswho did not get theirEPIC, Chawla said. Pollofficers and poll staff

have been instructed tostrictly register all forms ofidentity proof.

H e w a r n e dagainst "defacement ofpublic property" in the formof posters or graffiti.

Confident of organising free andfair polls: CEC Navin Chawla


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Times Chennai E-Paper March 12, 2009ge 2

Chennai, March 12: Rejecting pleas

by agitating advocates toimmediately hear their

p e t i t i o n r e g a r d i n galleged police excessesin the court premises onFebruary 19, the MadrasHigh Court has askedthem to return to work.

When senior

lawyers T V Ramanujumand R Krishnamurthy

y es te rday p l eadedb e f o r e a B e n c hcomprising Chief Justice

H L Gokhale and JusticeF M Ibrahim Kallifulla thatthe matter be taken upimmediately, they weretold their petition wasbeing heard by a three- judge Bench headed by

J u s t i c e S JMukhopadhaya.

"When a Bench isseized of the matter it is notp rope r f o r i t t o bewi thdrawn f rom thatBench," Justice Gokhalesaid.

The advocatesthen argued that JusticeM u k h o p a d h a y a w a s

indisposed. The chiefjustice replied that JusticeMukhopadhaya couldcome to the court any day,adding it was not the firsttime that a judge wasunwell and the mattercould wait.

Advocates havebeen boycotting work eversince February 19 whenthey clashed with policewithin the high courtpremises after 13 lawyersw e r e a r r e s t e d i nconnection with the attackon Janata Party chiefSubramanian Swamy in

the court on February 17.-Agencies

Chennai lawyers clash: High Courtrejects striking lawyers plea

h e n n a i , M a r 1 2 AIADMK General

ecretary J Jayalalithaaday said she wouldsure that the fundssed during her fast onarch 9 reached theffering Tamils in Sri

ank an t h rough t heernational Red Crossvercoming all obstaclest in the way'' by Tamil

adu Chief Minister andM K P r e s i d e n t M

arunanidhi.Reacting to Mr

arunanidhi's statementsterday in which heiculed the former Chiefnister's claim that Indiashed medicines andedical equipment toolombo only afer sheserved a fast in supportthem, Ms Jayalalithaa

id his statement only

showed that he wanted tostop the funds raisedf r o m r e a c h i n g t h esuffering Lankan Tamils.

In a statementhere this morning, theformer Chief Ministers a i d t h o u g h s h eobserved the fast onM arc h 9 , s he hadannounced the agitationon March 5, givingenough time for theC e n t r e t o m a k earrangements to sendthe medical relief toColombo.

Assailing theC h i e f M i n i s t e r f o rremaining silent whenNew Delhi was sendinga r m s a n d m o d e r nDefence equipment to SriLanka to fight the rebelsand giving training to theisland nation's Defence

forces, Ms Jayalalithaasaid he had no right totake up the issue of SriLankan Tamils.

Ms Jayalalithaaalso said the people ofTamil Nadu were bracingto teach Mr Karunanidhia befitting lesson for hisalleged cooperation indes t roy i ng Lank anTamils.

Her reactioncame as Mr Karunanidhiwondered i f i t waspossible to send 25tonnes of medicines andmedical equipment in aday after the AIADMKleader observed a fast insupport of the Sri LankanTamils.

-Agencies

Jaya flays CM on Lanka fast comments

hennai, March 12A t w o d a y

em i na r on ro l e o fn g u a g e i n h i g h e r

ducation got underway at

e SRM University onhursday. The seminaras inaugura ted byo m o n o r i M I N O W Ao n s u l , C o n s u l a t eeneral of Japan athennai.

Speaking on thecasion, Dr. T P Ganesano Vice Chancellor, said,

n all the magnificentprovements and gradual

evelopments of mankind,mmunication plays theost significant role. Frome primitive age to theodern era, this universeas been relying onf f e r e n t m o d e s o f

communication.oday, any progressiveation needs to maintainernational co-operation

n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g .nglish stands as annmatchable language toeet this demand.

T h e m o d e r n

English teacher assumesmore significant roleunl ike the previousgenerations, they have toprepare the students in

d e v e l o p i n g t h e i rcommunication skills toget them ready to facethe challenges ahead ofthem when they are outof the college in the jobm a r k e t . T h e i rp o t e n t i a l i t i e s a n dcapabilities are judgedby their communicationabilities. Hence the taskof the language teacheris becoming more andmore important, difficultand complicated, headded.

M r . M i n o w astressed the importanceof learning a foreignlanguage especial lyEnglish which haschanged his lifestyle ando p e n e d u p m o r eopportunities.

M r . PManiDirector RegionalInstitute of English,South India emphasized

the need for a curriculumi m p a r t i n gcommunication skills andimprove vocabulary thangrammatical instructions

in higher education.The present

conference will focus onidentifying new methodsin the realm of languageteaching and learningand thereby improvingthe language skills of thestudents to cater to thepresent would whereknowledge explosiona n d t r e m e n d o u sc h a n g e s a r econt inuously tak ingp l a c e i n a nunprecedented level inall the fields such aseducation, industry,c o m m e r c e ,communication and theentire gamut of othersocial and environmentscenario.

E a r l i e rUniversity Registrar Prof.Sethuraman welcomedthe gathering.

Redefining the role of languageseminar gets underway

Chennai, Mar 12:Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh todaytelephoned Tamil NaduC h i e f M i n i s t e r MK a r u n a n i d h i a n denquired about his healthand wished him speedyrecovery.

Dr Singh called

Mr Karunanidhi, who wastak i ng res t a t h i sresidence after spinalsurgery on February 11and wished him completerecovery and return tooffice soon, an officialrelease here said.

Thanking DrSingh, the Chief Minister

also enquired about thePrime Minister's healthfollowing a recent heartsurgery.

T h e P r i m eM i n i s t e r t o l d M rKarunan idh i he waskeeping good health andresumed official work, therelease said.

PM calls CM, wishes speedy recovery


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Times Chennai E-Paper March 12, 2009age 4 National

arnataka), March 12:Launching the

ird force', the Left andajor regional parties onhursday joined hands to

ke on the Congress ande BJP in the upcomingneral elections, sayingth of them had failed to

d d r e s s p e o p l e ' sevances.

Add res s i ng aassive rally here, leadersthese parties announcedat they had comegether to provide a "newernative" to the votersead of the Lok Sabhalls.

This is a historice t t o g e t h e r o f a l lmocratic, secular andft parties in the country toclare that we are all

o m i n g t o g e t h e r t onstitute a third force inis country," CPI(M)eneral Secretary Prakash

Karat said.He said the third

force stood for theinterests of the vastmasses for the firm

defence ofsecularisma g a i n s tcommunalforces. Theplatform, hesaid, wouldf i g h t f o rs o c i a l justice fort h eoppressedsections.Joined byCPI leader AB Bardhan,

T D P c h i e f NChandrababu Naidu andformer Prime Ministerand JD(S) chief H D DeveGowda among others,

Karat said, "Today wehave come togetherbecause the countryneeds a new alternative."

Recalling theformation of the UnitedF r o n t g o v e r n m e n theaded by Gowda 13years ago, Karat saidpeople came to know in1996 that "the future ofthis country does not lieeither with Congress orthe BJP."

He said the UFthen compr ised a l lsecular, democratic and

regional parties, alongwith the Left to provide ana l t e r n a t i v e t o t h eCongress and BJP.

He said evena f t e r 6 0 y e a r s o findependence, both themajor parties had "failedto fulfil the aspirations ofthe people.

R e b u t t i n gCongress claims of anine per cent economicgrowth rate, Karat askedas to what it meant for thecommon people and saidt h e c o u n t r y s t i l lwitnessed the "shamefulspectacle" of farmerscommitting suicide andpeople facing the brunt ofhigh unemployment andrising prices.

" L i f e i sunbearab le fo r theordinary people," the

CPI(M) leader said,adding that on top of this,the global economiccrisis had led to loss ofmillions of jobs and thecrash of the wor ldfinancial system andbanks.

T h o u g h t h echiefs of AIADMK andBSP, J Jayalalithaa andMayawati, skipped thef u n c t i o n , t h e i rr e p r e s e n t a t i v e s VMaitreyan and SatishChandra Mishra werepresent.

Left, key regional partieslaunch Third Front Ettawah, March 12: Samajwadi Party chief

Mulayam Singh Yadavhas landed into troublefor alleged poll codeviolation, as his party

members were seendistributing money topeople dur ing Hol i

celebrations here onWednesday.

E l e c t i o nCommission has orderedthe District Magistrate tosubmit a report on intoallegations of violation ofelection code.

W e h a v esought a report fromt h e d i s t r i c tmagistrate in thisr e g a r d C h i e f

Electoral Officer, AKBishnoi said.H o w e v e r ,

refuting the charge,Mulayam Singh saidt h a t a l l t h eallegations are falseand he is ready fora n yinvestigation.

T h e n e w sr e g a r d i n gd i s t r i b u t i o n o fmoney at a "HoliMilan" programme inM u l ay am S i ngh

Yadav's native Saifai inEtawah district was aired

by some news channels.Some persons,

allegedly SP workers, wereshown distributing Rs 100notes to the peopleassembled for the holimilan programme.

Alleging that bothSP and BSP were floutingthe model code of conduct,BJP state Vice PresidentHriday Narain Dixit said hisparty would register aformal compaint in thismatter with the EC.

"Yadav is habitualoffender of model code ofc o n d u c t a n d t h eC o m m i s s i o n s h o u l dimmediately take actionagainst him. The way inwhich money is openlydistributed in his presenceat Safai should not betolerated", Dixit alleged.

He added that thevideo of the programmew a s a v a i l a b l e a n dCommission could easilyverfiy the facts.

-Agencies

SP accused of 'cash distribution'

ew Delhi, March 12:Thirty years after

ey killed a man, theu p r e m e C o u r t o nhursday let off twoccused holding that theyere entitled to acquittal ase act was committed inxercise of self-defencehich is permitted undere law.

A person can kill anotherhen there exists a

asonable apprehensionat his adversary is goingcause him/her grievous

jury even though height not have actuallyflicted any, the Supremeourt ruled.n that event he can go thextent of causing thetter's death in the

xercise of the right ofivate (self) defence evenough the latter may notave inflicted any blow orury on him," a bench of

ustices Dalveer Bhandarind H S Bedi observed.he bench passed theling while dismissing an

ppeal filed by the UPovernment challenginge acquittal of Gajeyngh and Rajpal Singh in

murder case tha tccurred on January 27,979 in Meerut townllowing an old enmity.

In this case, Lakhi Ramalong with a few othershad gone to the place ofGajey and Rajpal wherea scuffle took place andthe duo was assaultedwith sharp weapons.In retaliation, Rajpal at

Gajey f ired a shotresulting in the death ofRam.The trial court convictedthe duo for murder and

sentenced them to lifeimprisonment, but theaccused were acquittedby the Allahabad HighCourt which held thatthey committed the act inself defence.Aggrieved by the HighCourt's verdict, the StateGovernment appealed inthe apex court.Interpreting Section 100of the IPC, the apex courtsaid the law justifies thekilling of an assailantunder the "right of privatedefence" which wasrightly exercised byGajey and Rajpal.According to Section 100of the IPC, killing ofanother person is not anoffence, if the same wasdone in the exercise ofself-defence.In the instant case, theapex court said that there

was sufficient evidence toindicate that Ram and hisaccomplices had come tothe house of the accusedand assaulted them withsharp weapons resultingin grievous injuries toboth of them."In such a situation,accused persons couldhave a reasonab leapprehension of death orat least of grievous hurt. It

was a case of single gunshot which was notrepeated.Therefore, it cannot besaid that the accusedpersons had exceededtheir right of privatedefence in any manner,"the bench observed.

Killing another in self-defence isone's right: Supreme Court

Thrissur, Mar 12:Close on the

heels of the auction ofM aha tm a G andh i ' smemorabilia, a 68-year-old teacher here hasclaimed that he has a'charkha ' (sp inn ingwheel) used by the fatherof the nation during his

historic Dandi March.A r e t i r e d

teacher and antiquec o l l e c t o r , A n t o n yChittatturaka said heobtained the pricelessarticles from Gandhi'sdisciple Raghavji.

Antony said hehas a pinch of blood-soaked sand taken fromthe spot in Delhi whereGandhi fell to NathuramGodse's bullets andletters and post cardspenned by the Mahatmaw i t h s i g n a t u r e s

appended to them.He also has agramaphone record ofGandh i ' s speechesdelivered at his prayermeetings.

Though therehave been enquiriesfrom various quarters

about these articles,Antony said that hewould not give thema w a y u n d e r a n ycircumstances. "Theymight bring me a bigsum.

But I don't wantto part with them so longas I am alive since their

emotional value is muchhiger than materialvalue," he said.

O f t h e t e nletters Antony has in hispossession, two werewritten on post cards.

The post cards,sent by Gandhi toRaghavji, carry the datesof February 2 and July 6,1931.

The charkhaand the letters weregifted by the Mahatma tohis disciple NaduvilpattRaghavan Poduval, an

inmate of the SabarmathiAshram, from whomAntony obtained them.

The foldablecharka was used byG andh i du r i ng h i sfamous Dandi Yatra. Itwas also believed thatthe same 'charka' was

carried by Gandhi when hehad gone to attend theRound Table Conference inLondon, according toPoduval, popularly knownas Raghavji, Antony said.

A n t o n y m e tRaghavji in 1965 when hewas a teacher at the GandhiSeva Sadan School near

Ottapalam in Palakkaddistr ic t . At that t imeRaghavji was staying in aGandh i Ashram nearShornur.

The pinch of sandsoaked by Gandhi's bloodwas collected from P PNambiar of Thalassery, aretired subedar, who was onthe spot when Gandhi wasshot dead by NathuramVinayak Godse on January30, 1948.

Nambiar was partof the contingent guardingthe residence of then British

Governor General LordMountbatten.Shocked by what

he had witnessed, Nambiarcollected the pinch of soilwhere Gandhi's blood hadspilled.

Teacher in Kerala has Gandhi'scharkha' in his collection

New Delhi, March 12: With Pakistan

plunging into politicalturmoil, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh onThursday took stock ofthe situation at theCabinet Committee onSecurity (CCS), which hechaired for the first timesince his bypass surgeryabout seven weeks back.

T h e C C Sa s s e s s e d t h e

implications of politicalinstability in Pakistan,particularly on cross-border terrorism which

affects India directly,sources said.The meet ing

was also attended byExternal Affairs MinisterP ranab M uk he r j ee ,Defence Minister A KA n t o n y a n d H o m eMinister P Chidambaram.Pakistan is witnessing

political crisis leading tospeculation that therecould be a change ofg u a r d w i t h a r m y

assuming greater role.M u k h e r j e ed e s c r i b e d t h ed e v e l o p m e n t s i nPakistan as its "internalmatter" but said Indiaw a n t s t o s e e t h egov e rnm en t i n t heneighbouring countrystable so that it can tackle

terrorism emanating fromthere.

We do hopethese issues wil l be

resolved by their ownsystem and by their ownmechanism," Mukherjeetold reporters after theCCS meeting when askedto c om m en t on t hedevelopments in Pakistan.

-Agencies

Pak turmoil: Manmohan Singh reviews situation at CCS


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amabad: March 12:Pakistan Prime

nister Yousuf Razalani and chief of armyaff General Ashfaqarvez Kayan i have

ached a compromisermula, in an attempt toddress the growinglitical turmoil, Pakistanie d i a r e p o r t e d o nursday.

Gilani, reportsid, is contemplating aries of actions to addresse political crisis.

T h e p r i m e

nister is preparing forese actions following

another one-on-onemeeting with Kayani.

The situation inPakistan has alreadycaused serious concernin Washington where US

President Obama'sadmin is t ra t ion i sincreasingly worriedt h a t P a k i s t a n ,

bec aus e o f t h i spolitical turmoil, is fastlosing focus from thewar against terrorism.

G i l a n i w a smade aware of thisconcern in Londona n d W a s h i n g t o nwhen the Uni ted

States and the Britisha m b a s s a d o r s i nIslamabad met him.

G i l a n i i sdevising a strategy thatcan make way to reversegovernors rule in thePunjab. The PM is alsol o o k i n g i n t oConstitutional action toundo the Supreme Courtd isqua l i f i ca t ions o f

Nawaz and ShahbazShar i f and op t ionsavailable to reinstateJ u s t i c e I f t i k h a rMuhammad Chaudhryand other judges.

Gilani is bitterthat though he didn'tapprove the idea ofgovernors rule in Punjabt h e p r e s i d e n t i a lp r o c l a m a t i o n f o rg o v e r n o r s r u l em en t i oned h i m asadvising the president forthis action. Pakistanarmy is backing the PMsi n i t i a t i v e f o rreconciliation on road toestablishing strong trustbase for democratici n s t i t u t i o n s a n dleadership. Gilani ish o p i n g t h a t P P Pparliamentarians seeingsurvival of democracyand continued PPP-ledgovernment in theCentre would back him inthe Parliament.

-Agencies

Pak PM Gilani, army chiefKayani reach compromise

Beijing, March 12 :The Second

Session of the 11thNational Committee ofthe Chinese People'sPolitical ConsultativeConference (CPPCC)c o n c l u d e d h e r eThu rs day m o rn i ng ,

pledging efforts to helpmaintain steady andrelatively fast economicdevelopment in 2009.

J i a Q i ng l i n ,chairman of the CPPCCNational Committee whopresided over the closingmeeting, described theannual session as asuccess in boostingc o n f i d e n c e a n dstrengthening unity forChina's development.

"This year iscrucial for us to bravegrave challenges both athome and abroad andachieve new progress,"Jia said.

He urged thepolitical advisors tos h o u l d e r t h e i rresponsibilities, keep inmind the people's well-being, and contribute tothe national effort tomaintain steady andrelatively fast economicdevelopment.

The meetingadopted the work reportof the 11th CPPCCNational Committee'sStanding Committee

over the past year, and ar e p o r t o n h o ws u g g e s t i o n s a n dproposals from CPPCCmembers were handledsince the last session.

A total of 1,987members of the 11thC P P C C N a t i o n a lC o m m i t t e e h a ds u b m i t t e d 5 , 5 7 1proposals on economicd e v e l o p m e n t ,government building,democracy and the legalsystem, among others,by 2 p.m. on March 8.

According to

the report on the handlingof proposals, politicaladvisors attached greatimportance to issuesrelated to people's well-being.

They raised 551proposals on maintainingeconomic growth, callingfor ef for t to boosteconomic restructuringand expand domesticdem and unde r t hebackdrop of the globalfinancial crisis.

Their proposalsalso include 603 on

farmers and agriculturaland rural development,632 on employment, 301on social security, 657 oneduc a t i on , 426 onmedical services andhealth care, 146 on foodsafety, and 294 onpromoting democracyand the rule of law, says

the report.The Committee

for Handling Proposalsof the CPPCC NationalCommittee called twospecial meetings duringthe 10-day annua lsession, focusing onemployment of returned

migrant workers andstimulation of domesticdemand for steady andrelatively rapid economicgrowth.

Major officialsfrom key governmentdepartments such as theNational Developmentand Reform Commission joined in discussionsabout how to handle theproposals at the twomeetings.

According tothe report, the CPPCCNational Committee willhold a meeting on March24, when the proposalswill be transferred to 168g o v e r n m e n tdepartments and unitsfor further handling.

A p o l i t i c a lresolution also adoptedat the closing meetingh a i l e d C h i n a ' sachievements over thepast year, saying that theCommunist Party ofChina (CPC) CentralCommittee had ledpeople of all ethnicgroups in advancingsocia l is t economic,

political, cultural andsocial development andecosystem preservationd e s p i t e m a j o rchallenges rarely seen inhistory.

"Ma in ta in ingsteady and relatively fasteconomic developmentwas the principal task inthis year's economicwork in China," says theresolution, calling onCPPCC members toper fo rm the i r du tyearnestly to help mitigatethe impact of the globalfinancial crisis on the

country.It urged political

advisors to continuer e s e a r c h e s o nm a c r o e c o n o m i cregulation, agriculture,expanding domesticdemand, indus t r ia lrestructuring, export,education and socialsecurity, in order top r o v i d e i m p o r t a n treferences for the CPCand government in thepolicy making process.

The resolutionalso urged pol i t ical

advisors to give priorityto social harmony. Themembers from the ethnicminority and religiouscircles in particular wererequired to work hard topromote unity among alle thn ic g roups andharmony among peoplewith different religious

belief.Hailing the major

breakthroughs made in therelations across the TaiwanStraits over the past year,the resolution called formore efforts to help expandeconomic cooperation andpersonnel and cultural

exchanges across theStraits for new progress inpeaceful development ofcross-Straits relations.

"We also supportCPPCC members fromHong Kong and Macao towork actively in the localsocial and political affairsand encourage them tocontribute to the country'sdevelopment and socials t a b i l i t y , " s a y s t h eresolution.

The year of 2009marks the 60th anniversaryof the founding of NewC h i n a a n d t h eestabl ishment of theCPPCC, and CPPCCmembers should upholdthe unique role of thepolitical organization andcontinue to improve thesystem of mul t ipartycooperation and politicalconsultation under theleadership of the CPC, itsaid.

The CPPCC is apatriot ic united fronto rgan i z a t i on o f t heChinese people, serving asa key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and

political consultation underthe leadership of theCommunist Party of China(CPC), and a majormanifestation of socialistdemocracy.

Members of theC P P C C a r erepresentatives of the CPCand non -C om m un i s tpa r t i e s , pe rs onageswithout party affiliation,and representatives ofpeople's organizations,ethnic minori t ies andvarious social strata.

The CPPCC alsohas the representation of

compatriots of Hong Kong,M ac ao and Ta i w an ,r e t u r n e d o v e r s e a sChinese, and speciallyinvited people.

Top CPC andstate leaders Hu Jintao,Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao,Li Changchun, Xi Jinping,Li Keqiang, He Guoqiangand Zhou Yongkang werepresent at the closingceremony.

T h e C P P C Cannual session ran parallelto an annual session ofChina's to legislature, the

N a t i o n a l P e o p l e ' sCongress (NPC). TheC P P C C N a t i o n a lCommi t tee memberslistened to the work reportsof the government alongwith deputies to the NPC.

-Agencies

CPPCC session concludes, vowsto help develop economy

innenden, March 12: Germany was in

ourning on Thursdayer a teenage gunmann amok at a school ande local area, killing atast 15 people and finallymself in a shootout withlice.

Seventeen-year-d T i m Kre t s c hm erednesday burst into hisrmer secondary school innnenden, a picturesque

wn in southern Germany,d opened fire, leaving

ne pupils aged between5 and 16 and threeachers dead.

Another threeystanders also diedring a massive manhuntvolving hundreds ofmed police commandosd snipers in black bodymour , ass is ted bylicopters and dogs.

Less than threeurs after the killing spree

e g a n , t h e g u n m a nventual ly turned hiseapon on himself aftering injured in a fire-fightth police, bringing the

ath toll to 16.A visibly shakenngela Merkel, Germany'shancellor, described ther i m e a scomprehensible".

"It is a day ofourning for the whole ofermany. Our thoughts got to the families and theends. We are thinking ofu and we are praying foru," she added.

Interior Ministero l f g a n g S c h a u b l edered f lags acrossermany to be flown at halfast Thursday as a mark ofspect for the slain.

hurch services took placeednesday in the town,hich has a populationound 27,000.

The s laughterarted at 9:30 am (0830MT) when Kretschmertered the school he left

st year, pulled out hisne-millimetre pistol andgan his bloody rampage.

" H e w a sconstantly reloading hisweapon," local policechief Konrad Gelden toldreporters.

"He just openedthe door, pulled out hisg u n a n d s t a r t e dshooting," one pupil saidon German television." O n e p e r s o n s a wsomeone shot in thehead."

"My brother wasin the classroom in whichi t happened, " sa idanother. "He was sittingnext to his girlfriend andshe was shot."

K r e t s c h m e rwent into classroom 10dthree times, the Bild dailysaid on its website,hissing on the third visit:"Aren't you all dead yet?"A teacher threw herself infront of a female pupil --and was shot by thegunman, Bild said.

All but one ofthe nine pupils killed atthe school were girls, andthe three teachers werewomen, said Heribert

Rech, interior minister ofthe southern state ofBaden-Wuerttembergwhere the slaughter tookplace.

"I don't want tospeculate too muchabout this at this point ...The pupils sitting nearestthe door were girls," hesaid.

H o w e v e r ,officials said the killerapparently had no motivefor the bloodbath andthere were no indicationsthat he held a grudgeagainst the school.

"The gunmanwanted to destroy anentire school," Rech toldreporters. "He wasc o m p l e t e l yunremarkable."

Kretschmer hadachieved "average"marks in his school-leaving certificate andthen enrolled in a courseto be a salesman, Rech

said. He also regularlyworked out at the gymand belonged to a sportsclub.

The s c hoo l ,which has 600 pupils,was part of a complex ofseveral other schoolswith a total of 1,700students aged from six to19.

Wednesday 'smassacre was one of theworst school shootings inGermany in recent years.In April 2002, 19-year-oldRobert Steinhaeuser, adisgruntled student fromE r f u r t i n e a s t e r nGermany who had beenexpelled, killed 16 peoplebefore turning the gun onhimself.

In November2006, a former student ata vocational school inL o w e r S a x o n y i nnorthwestern Germanywent a shooting spree int he es tab l i s hm en t ,injuring 37 people beforekilling himself.

The Germanschool shooting came

just hours after a gunmanwent on the rampage inthe southern US state ofAlabama, ki l l ing 10people before a lsoturning the gun onhimself.

I n t h e l a t eafternoon, eight hoursafter the first shots werefired, the town, bathed inweak sunl ight , s t i l lseemed to be in a state ofshock.

Only policemenin green uniforms werestill on the streets, thecommandos in blackcamouflage long sinceback in their barracks.

A f t e r t h escreams and pol icesirens that had brokent h e c a l m o f t h i spicturesque southernGerman town, silencereigned.

Bureau Report

Germany mourns after school shooting


6/9

Times Chennai E-Paper March 12, 2009Page 6 Business

angalore, March 12: Fraud-hit Satyam

omputer Services closesgistrations for potentialdders on Thursday,cking off a process to sell

majority stake in thempany caught in theuntry's biggest corporateandal.

Some firms areely to put in expressions

interest, attracted byatyam's strong clienta s e a n d i t s l a r g eorkforce, but final bids willepend on clarity onatyam's finances andgal liabilities.

S a t y a m ' sovernment-appointedard is keen to bring in anv e s t o r t o r e s t o r e

onfidence among itsughly 50,000-strong staffnd more than 600stomers, which includeeneral Electric andantas Airways.

"We will see manympanies registering theirerest by the end of the

eadline today, but itmains to be seen howany of them will stay theourse after the due

igence," said Tejasoshi, head of research atombay-based Sushi lnance.

Satyam has saidwould provide shortlisteddders access to certainsiness, financial and

gal information." U n l e s s t h e

atyam board makesvailable enough dataased on which a buyern put a value to thempany, I don't think therell be many left in the finalages of bidding to take a

shot in the dark," Doshisaid.

Sa t y am hasbeen struggl ing forsurvival since foundera n d C h a i r m a nRamalinga Raju shockedinvestors in January,saying Satyam's profitshad been overstated fory e a r s a n d a s s e t sfalsified.

T h egovernment intervenedquickly and appointednew board members ands t a t e - r u n f i n a n c i a lc o m p a n i e s h a v eprovided funding to thebeleaguered firm. Raju,the managing directorand the chief financialofficer quit and were laterarrested.

Satyam, whoseshares jumped nearly 40percent in the previoustwo sessions, eased 1.9percent to 47.8 rupees by

0815 GMT on Thursday.The company's marketvalue has plunged to$630 million from $7billion last May.BIDDERS

A spokesmanfor the top engineeringfirm, Larsen & ToubroLtd, which controls about12 percent of Satyam,said it would submit itsinterest to acquire thecompany.

Bidders need toregister their interest byend of Thursday to buy a51 percent stake inSatyam. They will beasked to submit adetailed expression ofi n t e res t and s howavailability of at least 15bill ion rupees ($290

million) by March 20.Analysts say

g l oba l I T s e rv i c escompanies are unlikely tojoin the race for Satyam.

C a p g e m i n i ,E u r o p e ' s l a r g e s tcomputer consultancy,has no interest in buyinga stake in Satyam, aspokesman said onWednesday. Earl ier,sources said IBM wasunlikely to be interestedin bidding.

A n o t h e rp o t e n t i a l s u i t o r ,d i v e rs i f i ed H i ndu j aGroup, said it had not yetdecided whether tosubmit its bid interest.

M e a n w h i l e ,T e l e c o m s o f t w a r ecompany Tech Mahindrat o d a y s a i d i t h a sregistered its expressionof interest (EoI) forpart ic ipat ing in theb idd ing p rocess o f

S a t y a m C o m p u t e rServices.

" O n c e t h ecompany receive theR F P ( r e q u e s t f o rproposal) it will evaluateand conclude on nextstep," the company saidin a statement.

R e g i s t e r i n gdoes not essentiallymean any companywould appear in the finalbidding process.

Shares of TechMahindra were quoted atRs 267.55 at BSE inafternoon trade, up 1.71pe r c en t ov e r t heprevious close.

Satyam's boardhad appointed KPMGand Deloitte in January torestate accounts.

Satyam sale process underway;bidders face deadline

ew Delhi, March 12:Inflation fell for

e sixth consecutiveeek, to 2.43 percent, thewest in over six years, asices of food items like

ulses, dairy products anddible oil softened further the last week of

ebruary.Even the prices of

anufac tu red i tems,cluding iron and steel,xtiles, chemicals and

atteries, declined duringe week ended February8.

W h o l e s a l eices-based inflation is

ow at a level seen in June002, by fa l l ing 0.6ercentage points from03 per cent a week ago. Itas 6.21 percent duringe corresponding week a

ear ago.T e r m i n g t h e

ecline below 3 percent onx p e c t e d l i n e s ,c o n o m i s t s e x p e c t

flation to reach zero ine next couple of months." T h i s i s o n

xpected lines. It wasuring last February andarch that inflation spiked.he prices of commodities,r i m a r i l y o i l a n do o d g r a i n s , h a v eoderated," said Chief

Statist ician of IndiaPronab Sen.

According toICRIER Director RajivKumar, "It is no surprise.In fact, we should nowbegin to start worryingabout deflation. We couldsee zero inflation in 2-3months."

D u r i n g t h e

week, the prices of maize,a r h a r a n d m o o n gdeclined by one per centeach. Dairy products fellby about 2 per cent whileedible oil also fell byabout one per cent.

A m o n gmanufactured products,prices of textile items likenylon f i lament yarndeclined by two per centwhile sacking bags fell byone per cent. At the sametime, steel ingots werecheaper by as much as13 percent and batteriesprices softened by threeper cent.

The fuel indexremained unchanged atits previous week's levelof 323.5.

D u r i n g t h eweek, prices of fruit andvegetables and bajrawere expensive by twopercent each whi lebakery products and

masur prices firmed up byone per cent each.

E l s e w h e r e ,c e m e n t a n d s o m einorganic chemicalsprices also firmed up.

The declininginflation has also raisedhopes of further cuts inthe benchmark rates bythe Reserve Bank to spur

the economy as industrialproduction declined forthe second month in arow to 0.5 per cent inJanuary 2009.

Crisil PrincipalEconomist D K Joshisaid, "I believe therecould be a cut of 50 basispoints in both the repoand reverse repo ratesnext month."

Last week, theRBI slashed the short-t e r m l e n d i n g a n dborrowing rates -- therepo and reverse repo --by 50 basis points toa r r e s t e c o n o m i c

slowdown with India'sGDP growth falling toover a five-year low of 5.3per cent in Q3.

Inflation for theweek ended January 3,2009 , w as rev i s edupward to 5.33 per centfrom 5.24 per cent in theprovisional estimates.

-Agencies

Inflation dips to 2.43%

New Delhi, March 12:Industrial output

showed negative growthfor the second month in arow, the decline being 0.5percent in January,highlighting that stimuluspackages failed to perkup manufacturing as well

as mining so far.This is the first

time in 16 years thatindustry shrank for twoconsecutive months.

As such, thepar t ia l recovery inNovember proved anaberration in recentmonths with industrialgrowth turning negativein October, Decemberand January.

Manufacturingoutput, having a weight ofaround 80 per cent in theIndex o f Indus t r ia l

Production (IIP), declinedby 0.8 per cent andmining production by 0.4per cent in January,leading to negativeindustrial growth againsta 6.2 per cent growth ratein the same month of2008.

H o w e v e r ,electricity generation

rose, thoughat a slow paceof 1.8 per centagainst 3.7 percent a yeara g o . T h i sc l e a r l yshowed thats t i m u l u sp a c k a g e shave not givenindustry thedesired boost." A l l t h r e e

stimulus packages have

not p icked in. Theindustrial productionfigures would not reflecttheir impact," ChiefStatistician Pronab Sensaid.

T h e f a l l i nindustrial production inDecember was not assteep as initial estimatesshowed last month. Therevised figures show thatproduction contracted by0.63 per cent against the

earlier estimate of 2 percent. This gives some hopefor January figures toogetting better.

"Given the lastthree-four months' trends, it(January figures) couldr e s u l t i n u p w a r d(movements) after revised

estimates come," Sen said.In te rms o f spec i f i cindustries, 12 out of 17sectors showed decline ingrowth in January.

The highest fall inproduction, 16.1 per cent,was witnessed in foodproducts, followed by woodand wood products (15.2per cent) and transportequipment and parts (13.4per cent).

Among those thatshowed positive growth,t h e p r o d u c t i o n o fmachinery and equipment

other than transport was up17.5 per cent.W i t h f i s c a l

packages failing to propelindustry, economists arenot sure whether only theRBI's measures to easeliquidity will push updemand as there is a modelcode of conduct for theGovernment restricting theannouncement of any moresuch measures.

-Agencies

Industrial growth turns negativeagain, contracts by 0.5 percent in Jan

Ingolstadt (Germany),March 12:

Tata's small carNano may not be able toenter Europe due tostringent safety andemission norms, leadingGerman luxury carmakerAudi said joining the list ofauto players, who aresceptical about theprospects of the world's

cheapest car.N a n o h a s

always elicited sharpreactions from rivalcarmakers, includingMaruti Suzuki, about itscompatibility with safetynorms, which Tata GroupChairman Ratan Tata has

been challenging."Entering (byany model) the US andEuropean market is verytough due to verystringent security andconsumption regulations.Many Chinese carmakerhad earlier tried to enterEurope, but could not as

they faced problems,"Audi AG Member of theBoard (Finance andO rgan i s a t i on ) Ax e lStrotbek said.

Asked if Nanocould also face suchdifficulties in entering intoEurope, he said: "Yes ... Idon't think it will comehere."

Axel said that

safety, fuel efficiency andemission norms are veryi m p o r t a n t f o r t h eEuropean customers," w h i c h I a m v e r yapprehensive of gettingin this price (Nano'sprice)".

L a s t w e e k ,

India's largest automaker Tata Motorsunveiled the Europeanversion of Nano at theGeneva Motor Show andreceived huge applausefrom car enthusiasts. Thecompany plans to launch'Nano Europa', loadedwith additional safety

features and complyingwith Euro V emissionnorm, by 2011.

Nano would belaunched in India on March23, booking for whichwould start from thesecond week of April. Itwas original ly to belaunched in the second-half of 2008, but wasdelayed after the companywas fo rced to sh i f tmanufacturing base fromSingur in West Bengal toSanand in Gujarat.

The company'swebsite featuring Nano

has registered 30 millionhits or visits since the car,with a base-price tag of Rs1 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 , w a s f i r s tunveiled. The companyhad announced the low-cost car project in 2006.

The hatchbackcar features a 624-ccpetrol engine and thecompany claimed thatNano would give a mileageof 20 km per litre. Its engineis located on the rear andthe boot space in the front.

Tata Motors chiefRatan Tata had last yearsaid that he would retainthe pr ice tag at Rs

1,00,000 (for the basemodel) despite input costsshooting up. But sincethen, steel prices haveplunged by up to 40 percent from early 2008 levelsand overall demand in thee c o n o m y t o o h a switnessed a slump.

Nano may find it tough to enter Europe: Audi


7/9

Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 12, 2009 Page 7Business

umbai, March 12:T h e B o m b a y

t o c k E x c h a n g eenchmark Sensex onhursday gained over 183oints amid investorsdulging in catching upth the rise in the USock markets and inflationeclining to over a six-yearw.

After the marketpened after two holidays,e Sensex surged to439.71 before windingp at 8,343.75, revealing aain of 183.35 points.

The rally was ledy Reliance Industries,fosys Technologies andICI Bank, which carry

early a 27 per cent weightthe index. Inflation fell to

early a seven-year low of43 per cent for the weeknded February 28.

The 50-shareational Stock Exchangedex Nifty rose by 44.30

oints to 2,617.45, afteruching the day's high of646.50 points.

A steep fall in

index-linked Bharti Airtelstocks by 6.37 per cent toRs 550.30, after reportsthat the company CEOsold his entire holding,trimmed market gains.

A weak openingat the European stockmarkets this afternoonfurther checked theupsurge in the domestic

stock prices and evenreduced gains.T h e o v e r a l l

shape of the market wasbet te r as Re l ianceIndustries, with theheaviest weight in theSensex, surged Rs 4.1per cent to Rs 1,201.95on reports that thecompany resumed crudeoil production from itsMA-I field in the eastcoast block this week.

The second-l a r g e s t t e c h - m a j o rInfosys Technologiesrose by 2.54 per cent to

Rs 1,227.15.Banking stocks

led by ICICI Bank andHDFC Bank surged,

c o i n c i d i n g w i t h aw o r l dw i de ra l l y i nfinancial companies asJPMorgan Chase andCitigroup said they wereprofitable this year. TheUS Dow Jones IndustrialAverage recorded ahandsome gain of nearly7 per cent in the last twosessions.

ICICI Bank, thesecond-largest lender,rose for the first time inseven days, climbing 8.1per cent to Rs 284.25,and Axis Bank by 8.35per cent to Rs 304.35.

The rebound inbanking stocks led therally even as industrialproduction declined intwo consecutive months,for the first time in 16y e a r s . O u t p u t a tfactories, utilities andmines fell 0.5 per cent inJanuary from a yearearlier after a 0.6 per cent

drop (revised figure) inDecember.

The auto indexwas the front-runner,

Sensex up 183 pts, closes at 8,343surging 3.70 per cent to2 ,695.27 , fo l l ow ingreports of vehicle salesrising in February. Thebanking index was thesecond-best performer,rising 3.33 per cent to3,754.22, followed by theoil and gas index, whichrose 3.21 per cent to5,814.64.

The metal indexgained 2.87 per cent to4,566.46, the IT index2.38 per cent to 2,073.53,the FMCG index 2.25 percent to 1,843.27, thecapital goods 2 per centt o 5 , 5 6 2 . 4 7 , t h ehealthcare index 1.23 percent to 2,549.78, the PSUindex 1.06 per cent to4,725.20, the powerindex 0.54 per cent to1,623.83 and the realtyindex 0.44 per cent to1,309.41.

However, theconsumer durable indexfell 1.30 per cent to1,452.44 and teck indexby 0.09 per cent to1,634.12.

New Delhi, March 12: The Hinduja group has decidednot to participate in the bidding process of SatyamComputer.

We have not put in any expression of interestfor Satyam," Hinduja group CFO Prabal Banerjee said.

Asked about the reason for not participating, hesaid, "As the bidding process has started, as aresponsible corporate citizen we would not like to divulgethe reason for our decision.

-Agencies

Hinduja group opts out ofSatyam bidding process

Mumbai, March 12: Public sector lender Central Bankof India has frozen lending rate on new housing loans upto Rs 20 lakh at eight per cent for a period of one year.

The bank has targeted to disburse anadditional Rs 500 crore of home loans by April end withthe introduction of the new scheme, a statement saidhere on Thursday.

Lending rates for loans between Rs 5 lakh andRs 20 lakh would now be offered at eight per cent asagainst 9.25 per cent earlier, the bank said. After oneyear, this rate would be reviewed according to theprevailing market situations, a Central Bank official said.

Customers who have been sanctioned loansbetween March 12 and April 30, 2009, can avail thebenefit of the scheme, the bank said.

In February, Central Bank had reduced itslending rate on home loans up to Rs five lakh from 8.5per cent to eight per cent. State-owned banks startedcutting their home loan rates after the country's largestlender, State Bank of India, froze its new home loan ratesat eight per cent for one year recently. -Agencies

Central Bank freezes homeloan rate at 8 pc for one-year


8/9

Times Chennai E-Paper March 12, 2009Page 8 Spo r t s

ew South Wales (ust ralia) March 12:

India survived aare against Sri Lankafore a completing a 35-n win that guarantees it a

ace in the Super Six

s t a g e o f t h e I C CWomens World Cup.

V i c e -c ap ta i nAmita Sharma led amuch improved bowlingperformance after a poorbatting display had leftIndia in all kinds oftrouble.

Mithali Raj (75

not out) was again thekey player for India, oneof only three Indianplayers to register doublefigures, as it struggled toreach 137-7 off 50 overs.

But i t wouldhave been relieved to getto that total having at onestage been 35-4 and then78-7, as some disciplinedand consistent bowlingrestricted one of the pre-tournament favourites.

C h a m a r iPolgampola took 2-17,

Udeshika Prabodanirecorded figures of 2-20and Suwini de Alwisachieved 2-34 in a fineall-round bowling display.

A s l o w b u tsteady first-wicket standof 37 between Dedunu deSilva (21) and ChamariP o l g a m p o l a ( 1 2 )

provided a good platformfor Sri Lanka to chase itstarget, but once again apoor batting effort was toprove costly.

On ly Eshan iL o k u s o o r i y a ( 2 0 )provided any kind ofresistance in a total of102 all out, as AmitaSharma (3-19), RumeliDhar (2-10) and GouherSultana (2-16) led a greatbowling performance.

-Agencies

India survives scare to moveinto Super Six stages

uckland, March 12:Injury concerns

ave forced New Zealandricket selectors to leave-rounder Jacob Oram

ut of the squad whilecluding uncapped paceowler Brent Arnel for thest Test against India inamilton from March 18.

Oram, who haseen plagued by injury,as left out since it was felte was not fit enough fore first Test. The all-under, who has five

undreds and 60 wickets

his kitty in 31 Tests, wasp l a c e d b y J a m e sanklin.

Oram played ine one-day series againstdia but has been foundanting with his fitnessnce returning from a calfuscle strain.

"He has madeo o d p r o g r e s s i ncovering from injury, but

acob is not yet fullynfident that his body

ould stand up to thegours of a five-dayame," NZC selectionommittee chief Glenn

Turner said.O r a m w i l l

instead play first classcricket and could beconsidered for later Testsin the series, Turneradded. The second Teststarts in Napier fromMarch 26 and the thirdw i l l b e p l a y e d i nWellington from April 3.

Returning frominjury was opening fastbowler Chris Martin.

The selectorsalso decided to rewardMartin Guptill for his

impressive performancein the one-dayers with acall up to the Test squadfor the first time.

G u p t i l l h a sscored 391 runs at anaverage of 48.87 in 11one-day internationalssince making his ODIdebut in January.

A r n e l ' s f i n eperformance for NewZealand A against theEngland Lions saw himbeing included in thesquad for the HamiltonTest.

He's bowled

well consistently over aperiod of time, and hasthe advantage of havingdone quite a bit ofbowling in recent four-day matches," Turnersaid about the 30-year-old Arnel.

Franklin, whohas been suffering from aknee injury, earned arecall to the Test sideafter his good showingwith the bat for the Ateam.

New Zealand,who have already lost the

f i ve-match one-dayseries 3-0 with thesecond abandoned dueto ra in , named anunchanged side for thelast ODI in Auckland onSaturday.

Squad for firstTest: Daniel Vettori(captain), Brent Arnel,Daniel Flynn, JamesFranklin, Martin Guptill,Tim McIntosh, BrendonMcCullum, Chris Martin,Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien,Jeetan Patel, JesseRyder, Ross Taylor.

-Agencies

Kiwis leave out injury-prone

Oram of first Test against India

Melbourne, March 12:Uncapped Ben

L a u g h l i n w a s o nThursday included in theAustralian squad and all-rounder Brett Geeveswas rewarded for hisperformance againstBangladesh as the

National Selection Panelannounced teams for twoTwenty20 and five one-d a y i n t e r n a t i o n a l sagainst South Africa.

Laughlin andGeeves will replace BenHilfenhaus and PeterSiddle, who are beingrested from the SouthAfrican one-day seriesas part of their workloadmanagement to preparefor key upcoming events,including the WorldTwenty20 and the Ashes.David Warner and ShaneHarwood have also been

brought in the squad butthe duo will return toAustralia after the twoTwenty20 matches, NSPC h a i r m a n A n d r e wHilditch said.

"Both Peter andBen had signif icantinjuries during the 2008o f f - s e a s o n . S i n c ereturning to cricket theyhave had a demandingand heavy Australianseason and will havecompleted three back-to-back Test matches inSouth Africa," Hilditch

said in a statement." T h e

recommendation of thecoaching and fitnessstaff was that they havetime off now to allowthem to recuperate andt h e n c o m m e n c e as t ruc tu red t r a i n i ng

p r o g r a m i n i d e a lpreparation potentiallyfor the World Twenty20and the Ashes.

" T h i srecommendation is fullys u p p o r t e d b y t h eNational Selection Panelas an app rop r i a t estrategy leading into keytournaments and inparticular the Ashes," hesaid.

Hi ldi tch saidGeeves had impressedin Bangladesh, whileLaughl in was beinglooked as a 2011 World

Cup prospect."With this of

c o u r s e c o m e so p p o r t u n i t y . B r e t tGeeves performed wellin the Top End Seriesagainst Bangladesh forAus t ra l i a and hascontinued to perform welldomestically. In additionto his bowling he is apotentially explosivebatsmen and fielder andadds to the versatility ofthe one-day side.

"We also takethe oppo r t un i t y t o

introduce Ben Laughlin toAustralian cricket. Ben hashad an extremely goodsummer for Queenslandand was instrumental intheir one-day final victory.Ben wi l l add to theversatility of the Australianbowling line up as we

continue to look at optionsprogressing forward to the2011 World Cup," he said.

On absence ofShaun Marsh, he said "Itw as no t c ons i de redappropriate to rush himback into one-day cricketfor Australia".

" S h a u n i sr e c o v e r i n g f r o m asignificant hamstring injury.He is recovering well, butfurther testing of hamstrings t r e n g t h i s b e i n gundertaken and he has notbeen match tested at all.We would expect Shaun to

be available for selection inthe Pakistan one-dayseries," he added.

The squad: RickyPonting (c), Michael Clarke(vc), Nathan Bracken,Callum Ferguson, BrettGeeves, Brad Haddin,Nathan Hauritz, JamesHopes, David Hussey,Michael Hussey, MitchellJohnson, Ben Laughlin,Adam Voges, CameronWhite, David Warner,Shane Harwood.

-Agencies

Australia squad: Hilfenhaus,Siddle rested; Laughlin included

Melbourne, March 12H a v i n g

salvaged the team'spride when everyone hadwritten off his young andinexperienced brigadeagainst South Africa,Ricky Ponting feels he isin a unique phase of hiscareer as the Australiancaptain.

Pont ing hasguided his team to 2-0

unassailable lead in thethree-match Test seriesagainst South Africa tosecure the team's topposition in the ICCrankings.

"It's certainly aunique phase in mycareer as a captain.

T o h a v e anumber of debutants,a n d a n u m b e r o finexperienced guys, it'ssomething I haven't beenaccustomed to," he said.

"When thesechallenges came up andthis transitional phasefirst started, I looked at it

as being one of the mostexciting little phases ofmy career.

"It's even moreexciting when guys likePhillip come in and fareso well right from thestart. All these guys havecome in, put their handsup and put their heads up

u n d e r v e r y t r y i n gcircumstances. That'swhat makes me proud ascaptain of a youngerteam," he told Australianmedia.

Australia wasplaying with its mostinexperienced side in 20years in South Africa butrecorded two thumpingwin to retain the world No.1 ranking.

Ponting, whoseteam was strugglingsince losing in a Testseries in India and then athome against SouthAfrica, admitted Aussiesdominated after a longtime and it was a greatachievement to managethe series-clinching winover South Africa inDurban. To win the waywe have here, against aside that no one thoughtwe could beat, makes thea c h i e v e m e n t v e r yspecial.

"World Cupsare great, to win the

Ashes 5-0 in 2006-07w a s a n a m a z i n gachievement, but this isjust as good. There'd be alot of people around theworld who didn't think thiswas achievable," he said.

" T h i s i s a shappy as I've been in mywhole career as an

Australian player. It's justvery satisfying. I'm veryproud of this group ofplayers, that we've beenable to play at this level.We played some amazingTest cricket here a levelof cr icket everybodyoutside our dressing roomthough t w e w e ren ' tcapable of.

"That's been themost satisfying thing for

me. We played our bestcricket for long periods oftime. We dominated, wedidn't give an inch. This is agreat achievement," headded. Ponting said healways believed that histeam could win heredespite starting as theunderdogs.

" I a b s o l u t e l ythought the team could winh e r e . D e e p d o w n ,something inside me justsaid we could competeagainst South Africa.

"You've alwaysgot different personalitiescoming into the side, but

this time we've had five orsix at once. Being on anoverseas tour makes iteasier. You get to know theguys, what makes themtick on and off the field.We've bonded over here,gotten to know each otherand taken that onto thefield.

I'm in a unique phase of my careeras captain: Ponting

olombo, March 12:Sri Lanka has

med Kumar Sangakkaracaptain for the World

wenty20 tournament inngland later this year,hile Muttiah Muralitharans been appointed hisputy in the provisional

5 - m e m b e r s q u a dnounced by the nationallection committee.

The 31-year-oldangakkara, vice-captainr three years, has played tests and 246 one-dayt e r n a t i o n a l s . H e

u c c e e d s M a h e l aa y a w a r d e n e , w h oepped down as captain ate end of the two-testries in Pakistan which

as abandoned last weeker terrorists attacked theam's bus in Lahore.

Sri Lanka do notave any internationaltures until the World

Twenty20 tournamentwhich begins on June 5.Their first match is

against Australia on June8 at Trent Bridge.

-Agencies

Sangakkara takes over Sri Lankan captaincy

Mumbai, March 10:The opening ceremony of the high-profile

Indian Premier League`s second edition on April 10would be bigger and more colourful than last year, itsChairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said today.

"The 2009 opening ceremony (to be held atthe D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai) would bespectacular and better than last year. It will be a 30minute visual extravaganza," Modi said whilelaunching the new season of the T20 leaguerechristened as "DLF IPL" here.

The organisers have planned various culturalitems like "Drums of India", featuring the drummersfrom the five zones of the country, besides showcasinga top international roller skating duo, acrobats and firedancers, among others.The closing ceremony, on May24, will also be held at the same venue, Modi declared.

-Bureau Report

IPL opening ceremony will bebigger and better: Modi


9/9

Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 12, 2009 Page 9

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