Tamil Nadu rediscovers Hindi, makes history

Tamils began protesting against Hindi as early as 1938. The Congress, which had come to power in the then Madras Presidency under C Rajagopalachari, had made Hindi compulsory in schools. Tamils saw this as a cultural invasion that could render their mother tongue a secondary language on their own territory. Life has come full circle for Tamils. Today, Hindi is the most popular third language for the younger generation to learn across the state.

Budget unlikely to reduce MAT: Experts.

The forthcoming Budget is unlikely to reduce the minimum alternate tax (MAT), which is the minimum tax that companies pay on book profit, according to leading tax experts.

India clinch a thriller; beat SA by 1 run
A nail-bitting, nerve wrecking first one-dayer came to an end with India grabbing a 1-run victory against South Africa on Sunday.

Fighting inflation govt's top priority: President

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday said providing relief to 'aam admi' from higher food prices will remain its top priority and expressed confidence the economy would grow by 7.5% in 2009-10 and at an even higher pace of 8% in the coming fiscal. "My government continues to accord the highest importance to ensuring relief to the aam admi on food prices..." President Pratibha Patil said in her address to the joint session of Parliament. Attributing rising food prices to shortfall in domestic production and high prices of rice, cereals and edible oils in the international market, the President said, "My government is committed to bringing forth a legislation to ensure food security." The country's food inflation touched a decade's high of about 20% in December before moderating to around 18% in February. As regards the economy, the growth in the current fiscal was likely to be 7.5 % against 6.7% a year ago she said on the opening day of the Budget session. The President said while the government was able to avert any threat to the country's food security, "there has been an unhappy pressure on the prices of food grains and food products." She said higher food prices, to some extent, were also a reflection of government schemes involving increased procurement prices to farmers. The Congress in its election manifesto had promised to enact a law to provide 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at highly subsidised rate of Rs 3 per kg to families below the poverty line. Referring to growth prospects, Patil said the economy during 2009-10 is expected to grow by 7.5%, slightly more than what has been projected by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) earlier this month. The CSO in its advance estimates projected a growth rate of 7.2% for the current fiscal against 6.7% in 2008-09. Patil attributed the economic recovery to stimulus provided by the government to cushion the impact of the global economic crisis and the failure of the Monsoon in large parts of the country. In the next fiscal, Patil said the government would target over 8% growth rate. "My government will aim at a growth rate above 8% in 2010-11 and seek to achieve 9% growth in 2011-12," she added.

“I kept my word on zero tolerance”

Maintaining that the government was committed to a zero-tolerance policy on human rights violation, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said he had delivered on the promise. He was referring to the identification of a BSF jawan responsible for killing Nishat, a Srinagar youth, on February 5.
After chairing the Unified Headquarters meeting, Mr. Chidambaram said that after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah brought the matter to his notice, he promised to identify the accused within 48 hours. He kept his promise. “The accused BSF personnel was suspended and handed over to the State police. The commandant has also been suspended. It is now up to the investigating agency to find out who is responsible,” he added.
Mr. Abdullah said the investigation was going on and, when required, the commandant would be also questioned.
“There is no hold-up or roadblock in the matter,” he said, responding to a comment that the Ministry was creating obstacles to handing over the suspended BSF commandant. “So far, we have not made any request to the MHA [Ministry of Home] to hand him over.”
During the two-hour Unified Headquarters meeting and the subsequent meeting with administrative Secretaries of the State government, issues relating to security, construction of tenements, creation of jobs, vacating the buildings by security forces, etc., came up for discussion, the Minister said. “There has undoubtedly been progress on these matters.”

ANSHU KUMAR

PGDM 2 sem

2nd Test: India beat SA to level series, retain No.1 spot

NEW DELHI: India beat South Africa by an innings and 58 runs in the second Test to level the 2-match series and retain their number one Test ranking at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Scorecard Amla, who made 114 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 127 runs but could not deny India a victory on Thursday. Earlier at tea, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took three wickets in a sensational 13-over spell, with eight maidens and conceding just nine runs, to leave South Africa struggling at 250/7. Harbhajan dismissed overnight batsman Ashwell Prince for 23, JP Duminy for six and Dale Steyn for one in a spell that destroyed South Africa's middle-order after the tourists resumed on 115/3. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra took his third wicket of the innings when he had AB de Villiers lbw for three just before lunch. Indian spearhead Zaheer Khan did not take the field in the morning after straining his quadricep on the fourth day when only 34.1 overs had been possible due to rain and bad light. The overnight pair of Amla and Prince stuck out 26.4 overs before Harbhajan struck when the off-spinner had Prince playing loosely to be caught at mid-off. Mishra had de Villiers leg before with a googly and Harbhajan fired out left-hander Duminy and Steyn leg before in quick succession after lunch.

SONAM KUMARI GUPTA

PGDM IInd sem

'Dubai police chief 99% sure Israel behind Hamas killing'

Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he is 99 percent sure Israel was involved in the January killing of a Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a Dubai luxury hotel, according to a report published Thursday in an Emirati newspaper. "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al-Mabhouh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," Tamim told The National newspaper. Haaretz earlier Thursday learned the identities of two Palestinians arrested in Jordan in connection with the January 20 killing at a Dubai hotel.
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Ahmad Hasnin, a Palestinian intelligence operative, and Anwar Shekhaiber, an employee of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, were arrested in the Jordanian capital Amman. Jordan on Tuesday confirmed it had extradited the two to Dubai. The two were residents of the Gaza Strip until Hamas seized control there in 2007, a Hamas source told Haaretz. Both moved to Dubai, where they were employed by a real estate company belonging to a senior official of Fatah, the political faction headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A third man, a Hamas security operative, is under arrest in Syria on suspicion of having assisted the hit squad, the British daily The Guardian reported late Wednesday. Palestinian sources in the Gulf said Nahro Massoud was in detention and under interrogation in Damascus, the Guardian reported. Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal has denied the allegation, according to the report, saying "It is not correct at all". But Palestinian sources insisted Massoud was being questioned amid speculation that potentially senior Palestinian defectors may have been involved in the plot. Dubai to hand retina scans to Interpol' Dubai police said Wednesday investigators had successfully recreated a detailed picture of the operation. The official Web site of the Dubai police featured the suspects' pictures and personal information in an effort to locate the assailants. According to Palestinian news agency Ma'an, Dubai police said Wednesday that they hold retinal scans of the suspected assassins, which they plan to publish through international police intelligence service Interpol. Airport officials carried out routine retinal scans on 11 suspects sought by Dubai when they entered the country in the days before the hit. An unnamed Dubai official said on Thursday that the investigation has now widened, with police seeking a further seven members of the assassination team - making 18 in all. Dubai police also identified Austria as the "command center" for the assassins, after mobile phone data showed at least seven numbers originating there, the Guardian reported. Dubai police speculated members of the group communicated using "encrypted" messages, and that contact was maintained via several Austrian mobile phone Sim cards. Austria has confirmed its officials are investigating the claims

SATYESH KUMAR
PGDM-2nd sem

TATA STEEL NEWS

Tata Steel: European operations turn around
Vishal Chhabria/Mumbai - Feb 18,2010 00:31 AM
Led by a better-than-expected consolidated results for the December 2009 quarter, Tata Steel's stock jumped 6.37 per cent to close at Rs 584.90 on Wednesday. Although lower realisations and output resulted in net sales falling 21 per cent (to Rs 26,202 crore) and net profits by 42 per cent (to Rs 472.65) on a year-on-year basis, the market is happy about the improvement at its European operations. This in turn helped the company churn profits in the December quarter after three consecutive quarters of losses.
The biggest worry for Tata Steel Europe is easing now, as it reported a profit at the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) level. Ebitda of $37.4 per tonne was registered this quarter, partly aided by cost-reduction initiatives, as compared to a loss of $52 per tonne in the September quarter. Higher capacity utilisations of 81 per cent compared to 75 per cent in September quarter, along with better realisations, also came to the rescue of European operations (that accounts for 65 per cent of consolidated revenues). With the company planning to mothball its loss-making Teesside operations this month, its expects further improvement in Ebitda.
Here on, the performance will be driven by its European operations, as cost pressures are increasing due to higher cost of raw materials along with mild recovery in the steel demand in Europe.
Although, the company has completed the feasibility study for mining iron ore in Canada and is also likely to start coking coal production in Mozambique by end-2011, benefits will only be felt in the long run. Also, its high debt-equity of about 1.6 times (gross debt of $12.9 billion) will be among the key things to watch.
Considering the net loss of Rs 4,443 crore for nine months ending December 2009, analysts are not expecting a significant improvement in 2009-10. However, they estimate an EPS of Rs 80 for 2010-11 and Rs 120 in 2011-12, which values the stock at a PE of 7 and 5, respectively. Considering that analysts have put a price target of Rs 700-750 for Tata Steel, there seems to be room for upside.
Additional reporting with Sunaina Vasudev and Jitendra Kumar Gupta

LALIT KUMAR BHATNARIA
PGDM IIsem

Aamir's Peepli Live applauded at Berlin

Bollywood star Aamir Khan's production venture Peepli Live, a strong satire on farmers' suicides in India, received a hearty reception at the press screening during the ongoing Berlin International Film Festival.
Directed by Anusha Rizvi, the film, screened in the Berlinale Special section - part of the official selection of the Berlin festival - will also be screened at the Cinema Paris here.
"It feels great to be selected for the prestigious Berlin film festival. I went to a screening this morning and the audience was fabulous. They are so dedicated to film, they're just something else! I can't wait for my screening," Rizvi told IANS.
She plays down how she got Aamir to produce her first film: "Oh, I just sent him an e-mail and he read my script and said yes," she said.
Tom Luddy, co-director of the Telluride film festival, lauded the film as "a splendid film from India that reminds me of Billy Wilder's 'Ace in the Hole'."
The film has arrived in Berlin after being screened in the competition section at the Sundance Film Festival.
Rizvi's debut film mounts a savage attack on the media and politicians' response to farmers' suicides. In this, it has resonances of Oscar winner Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land, but it is powerfully rooted in Indian reality.
The film boasts a strong script, great performances by Raghuvir Yadav and a largely local cast and razor sharp editing. There is no doubt that 2010 is seeing an explosion of cinematic talent and Rizvi's film is proof of that. It is also significant that a Bollywood actor would produce a small budget arthouse film without stars and dances.
The story focuses on two poor farmers, Natha and Budhia, who are at the end of their tether, unable to pay their debts. When the local politician refuses to help, they learn that they could benefit from a government scheme that would pay compensation in case a farmer committed suicide.
They sense that a dead farmer is more use to the family than a living one. A journalist overhears their discussion, and this triggers a vicious media frenzy with live streaming news and polls as to whether or not Natha will commit suicide. The film tackles caste, class, politics and media in an explosive cocktail.
Rizvi, who has a television background, sharply etches the politics of TV media, their rivalries, the hierarchy between English and regional media and how urban journalists exploit rural journalists.

SURBHI SINGH

PGDM IInd sem

TTSL Leads in New Subscriber Additions in January, for the Sixth Consecutive Month

The upcoming meeting between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will be a “standalone” affair aimed at building a climate of trust for future talks between the neighbours, top government sources said on Thursday.
The sources said India was being “realistic” in going ahead with the meeting, as beyond a point, putting off talks was likely to yield diminishing returns. “However, this talk is not aimed at resolving outstanding issues. We are fully conscious of the complexities involved in the process and are therefore adopting a nuanced approach to the dialogue.”
The sources reiterated that terrorism directed at India remained “our core concern”, indeed that the terror strike on Pune had put this concern in sharper focus. New Delhi was in fact clear that the talks did not signal the resumption of the composite dialogue put on hold following the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack: “The Indian focus during the talks would be on terror. If Pakistan has other concerns, we are willing to address them. However, the future course of the dialogue would depend on how they respond to our concerns.”
The sources said there had been legitimate reasons, including a sharp domestic reaction, for suspending talks in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack. While this strategy had paid good dividends, today the situation had reached a stage where “not talking” could become counter-productive, more so given Pakistan’s own vulnerability in dealing with terrorism.
Pointing to the volley of provocative statements from across the border, among them the February 5 warning of Abdur Rehman Makki that Pune could be a future target, the sources stressed the importance of dialogue in cooling tempers and restoring normality. “We need to be sensible in the way we approach each other as we are both victims of terror. If anything, we need CBMs (confidence building measures) on terror,” the government sources said

RAVI NANDAN VERMA

PGDM-2nd sem

YOU CAN'T COME UP BY RUNNING DOWN COLLEAGUES,GADKARI TELLS PARTYMEN

INDORE: Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday warned party workers that they could not hope to climb the political ladder even as they hit out at others.
In a strongly worded message to his colleagues, at the National Executive Committee meeting here, Mr. Gadkari said one should not try to gain something for oneself at the expense of others. While trying to get something for oneself, one should never attempt to put down a colleague: Apni rekha badi karo, doosron ki chhoti nahin.

Quotes Vajpayee
He quoted a poem by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to drive home the point that small minds could not achieve greatness and those whose will was broken could not stand on their feet: Chhote manse koi badi baat nahin hoti, toote manse koi khada nahin hota. It was in this context he said there was no reason for the BJP to be in despair though it had lost two successive Lok Sabha elections. After all, the party was running governments on its own or with allies in nine States.
Mr. Gadkari attacked the Congress for being “soft on terrorism,” especially AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh’s visit to “villages of terrorists in Azamgarh[in UP],” spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad quoted the BJP chief as having said, although he admitted that the party’s approach to security issues and terrorism had not paid off in both 2004 and 2009, with the BJP crying hoarse over the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act brought in by the Vajpayee government. But “we cannot stop talking about national security [just] because we lost the election,” Mr. Prasad said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Gadkari began his day in Madhya Pradesh with a visit to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s birthplace in Mau, a signal that he would try and woo the Scheduled Castes back to the party. Especially in Uttar Pradesh, where the party has not only lost whatever support it may have had among Dalits but is also wary of the upper castes moving towards the Congress.
In his address at the National Executive, Mr. Gadkari said fighting untouchability was not a matter of vote-bank politics for the BJP, but one of social commitment to egalitarianism.
With the recent Pune terrorist strike and naxal violence in West Bengal as reference points, Mr. Gadkari focussed on security, talking about the “red corridor” from Pashupatinath in Nepal to Tirupati in south India.

Quota for women
Earlier, the former BJP president, Rajnath Singh, talked about the ups and downs of the party during his tenure and mentioned that it was the only party which reserved 33 per cent of all posts for women, from the mandal level to national office-bearers and the National Executive Committee (the move was made during his term). He thanked all colleagues for their cooperation while wishing Mr. Gadkari the best. Mr. Gadkari returned the compliments and pointed out that he had begun his association with the BJP as a small-time worker pasting posters.

SURBHI SINGH

PGDM IInd sem

Cardiovascular disease lowers IQ

IQ is among the strongest predictors of cardiovascular disease and is second only to cigarette smoking in large population study, a new research

Cardiovascular disease lowers IQ (Getty Images)

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has found.

The study, funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, has discovered that lower intelligence scores are associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality.

The findings of the study have appeared in the February issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.

These conclusions have been derived from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, a population study designed to investigate the influence of social factors on health.

The present analysis was based on data collected in 1987 in a group of 1145 men and women aged around 55 and followed up for 20 years. Figures were collected for height, weight, blood pressure, smoking habits, physical activity, education and occupation; cognitive ability (IQ) was measured using a standard test of general intelligence.

When the data were applied to a statistical model to quantify the associations of nine risk factors with cardiovascular mortality, results showed that the most important was cigarette smoking, followed by low IQ. Similar results were noticed when the health outcome was total mortality.

The relative strengths of the association were assessed by an 'index of inequality', which summarised the relative risk of a health outcome (cardiovascular death) in the most disadvantaged (high risk) people relative to the most advantaged (low risk). This relative index of inequality for the top five risk factors was found to be 5.58 for cigarette smoking, 3.76 for IQ, 3.20 for low income, 2.61 for high systolic blood pressure, and 2.06 for low physical activity.

The study team noted 'a number of plausible mechanisms' whereby lower IQ scores could increase cardiovascular disease risk, particularly the application of intelligence to healthy behaviour (such as smoking or exercise) and its correlates (obesity, blood pressure). A further possibility, they added, "is that IQ denotes 'a record' of environmental insults" (eg. illness, sub-optimal nutrition) accumulated throughout life.

The study's principal investigator Dr David Batty said, "From a public health perspective, there is the possibility that IQ can be increased, with some mixed results from trials of early learning and school readiness programmes. It may also be worthwhile for health promotion campaigns to be planned with consideration of individual cognition levels."

Nitika Darmoli
PGDM-4th sem

Fuel price hike

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday started consultations with political parties, including UPA’s partners, ahead of taking a proposal to increase fuel prices to the Union Cabinet, possibly tomorrow.

Mr. Deora met A. Raja, Telecom Minister and senior leader of UPA’s ally, DMK, this morning as part of efforts to build consensus for freeing petrol and diesel prices, and marginally increasing kerosene and LPG rates.

Sources said Mr. Raja was non-commital on the proposal and is believed to have told Mr. Deora that a position on the proposal will be taken by his party’s leader M Karunanidhi.

The Congress core group is meeting later in the evening where the implementation of Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel pricing reforms may be discussed.

Sources said the Petroleum Ministry is likely to go with the Kirit Parikh panel’s recommendation of freeing petrol and diesel prices, but wants the hike proposed for LPG and kerosene moderated.

The Kirit Parikh Committee had suggested an increase of Rs. 6 a litre in kerosene rates and a Rs. 100 per cylinder increase in LPG prices.

Sources said the Ministry will push for a minimum of 50 per cent increase in the hike suggested by Kirit Parikh Committe at the meeting on Wednesday.

Nitika Darmoli

PGDM-4th sem