Raikkonen leads Ferrari one-two in France

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen [Images] won the French Grand Prix on Sunday, leading Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa [Images] in a Ferrari [Images] one-two to end McLaren's winning streak.

McLaren's 22-year-old British rookie Lewis Hamilton [Images] was third but extended his lead over team mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso [Images] to 14 points with his eighth podium finish in as many races.

Spaniard Alonso salvaged some precious points and showed all his fighting spirit by clawing back to seventh place after starting 10th due to a gearbox failure in Saturday's final qualifying.

The victory, from third on the starting grid, was Raikkonen's second of the season and 11th of his career.

It was also Ferrari's first one-two since Germany [Images] last July, and Sunday marked a return to form for a team that had struggled to match McLaren's pace in the last three races.

"Finally the start worked for me," said a relieved Raikkonen, who started with three laps more fuel than Massa and won the race in the pitstops after seizing second place from Hamilton into the first corner.

"I think we are back where we expected to be."

The impassive Finn had not been on the podium in his last four races and was a hefty 26 points adrift of Hamilton going into what could be the last Grand Prix at the Magny-Cours circuit.

He took the chequered flag 2.414 seconds ahead of Massa, who had started on pole position.

"I lost the race today because of the traffic," said Massa. "I was so disappointed with the traffic in the second stint."

Hamilton now has 64 points to Alonso's 50. Massa, who conceded the lead definitively after his second pitstop on lap 43, is on 47 with Raikkonen fighting back into contention on 42.

HAMILTON CONFIDENT

"I didn't get the best start, all I saw was Kimi come flying past," said Hamilton, who was seeking his third win in a row.

Instead, he crossed the line 32 seconds behind Raikkonen after being overtaken for the first time in his Formula One career.

"But I've got good points for the championship, which is the key and I still think we can take it to them at the next race," added the Briton, who made three stops to the Ferrari drivers' two.

"You can't win every race, the important thing is to be consistent."

Poland's Robert Kubica, returning after a big crash in Canada [Images] last month forced him to miss the U.S. Grand Prix, finished fourth for BMW [Images] Sauber.

The Pole slipped ahead of Hamilton as the McLaren driver came out from his second stop but the Briton forced his way back in front in impressive fashion.

Kubica's German team mate Nick Heidfeld was fifth, ahead of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella for champions Renault in sixth.

Briton Jenson Button [Images] scored Honda's first point of the season with eighth place, a relief for the 27-year-old who can look forward with greater optimism to his and Hamilton's home race at Silverstone next weekend.

Bihar: Nine killed, weapons looted by Naxals

Nine persons, including five policemen, were killed and as many were wounded as CPI- Maoist rebels carried out simultaneous attacks on a police station and an outpost in Bihar's Rohtas district and fled with arms and ammunition.

Superintendent of Police N H Khan said around 200 Maoists simultaneously attacked the Rajpur police station and Baghaila outpost at midnight on Saturday and blew up the structures with dynamite.

The rebels fired randomly at the policemen, killing five constables, a chowkidar and three civilians, Khan said.

They looted four self-loading rifles, eight .303 rifles, two INSAS rifles, three carbines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition during the hour-long audacious attack.

Nine others, including four policemen, were injured in the incident.

While some are being treated in Sasaram, the critically injured were sent to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

The Naxalites left several handbills at the scene that claimed the attacks were launched to protest against the alleged naming of their comrades, including Barun, in 'false cases'.

The deceased have been identified as Phulchand Munda, Shivdayal Ram, Ghoran Mandal, Mahavir Ram, Vimal Toppo (all policemen), Rajbali Singh (chowkidar), Bittu, Hardayal Ram and Dwarika Mishra (villagers).

Khan said police had engaged the attackers in a fierce battle at a place close to the scene and raids were now continuing at different places in Aurangabad and Rohtas districts to apprehend them.

The attack came close on the heels of the two-day economic blockade by the proscribed outfit from June 26 against the economic policies of the Centre including creation of Special Economic Zones and alleged torture of their comrades in police custody.

Meanwhile, police recovered six handgrenades and two rifles from a place near Obera police station in neighbouring Aurangabad district after a fierce encounter with the rebels who, however, managed to flee later.

Police fired more than 1,000 rounds in reply to hundreds of rounds fired by the Naxalites during the encounter which lasted for over three hours, official sources said.

Maharashtra rains: 45 dead, 5,000 evacuated

Torrential rains claimed 45 lives, including 14 of two families on Sunday in Maharashtra while 5,000 more people were evacuated to safer areas.

This was done even as intensity of the showers weakened and flood waters receded from low-lying areas of Mumbai where life limped back to normalcy.

The rains also battered several parts of Gujarat, claiming four lives, and Madhya Pradesh where normal life was thrown out of gear and Indore-Khandwa road blocked.

Fourteen persons, including women and children, drowned in an over-flowing river at Kalamand village of Amravati district when they were wading through its water, police said, adding 12 bodies have been recovered.

Rains destroyed 2,080 mud-built houses across 96 villages of the district and people residing there have been evacuated to temporary shelters, they said.

Around 40 people who were marooned in a building due to heavy flooding in Daryapur town of Amravati district, have been evacuated by sending boats, Relief and Rehabilitation Secretary Ramesh Kumar told PTI in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna told reporters that 45 people were killed by rain-related incidents over the weekend. He said over 5,000 more people were reloacted to safer areas.

Since the onset of monsoon, 155 people have been killed in the state due to rains, police said.

Rainfall decreased all over the state on Sunday and life is slowly returning to normalcy, Kumar told PTI.

Flood water receded from low-lying areas of Mumbai and all transport services in the metropolis were restored as the intensity of rains declined.

Though light showers continued throughout Sunday, flood waters started receding from low-lying areas of Mumbai and rail, road and air services, which were disrupted following heavy rainfall on Saturday, were completely restored.

Suburban rail services are running but behind schedule, railway sources said adding the delay is not causing much problems as the number of commuters are very few on Sunday.

Traffic was sparse across the city and movement of vehicles in low-lying spots like Milan Subway and Western Express Highway was fully restored after the waters receded.

A complete respite from rains is unlikely as the meteorological department forecast intermittent rain and thundershowers with strong gusty winds for the city.

6.1 mm of rainfall was reported from Colaba in South Mumbai while the north west suburb of Santacruz received 21.3 mm of rain, a met official said.

On Saturday, the city had received 288 mm rains while the scale stood at 944 mm in the devastating rains on July 26, 2005.

Meanwhile, the body of a 45-year old woman Vijaya Landge, who was missing since Saturday was found near the Kalpana theatre in Kurla on Sunday morning, police said adding there were no other rain-related casualties in the day.

"Pune and the Konkan divisions were the worst affected along with some pockets in Vidarbha. Districts in Pune division received over 200 per cent of annual rainfall in the last two days," Kumar said.

Over 1,500 people in Kranti Nagar area on the banks of Mithi river were evacuated to safer places, Krishna said. He said the army has been kept in readiness to help out he civil authorities in case of any eventuality.

Iranian vessel struggles in Bangladesh water

Iranian crew with help from Bangladesh navy, were struggling on Sunday to keep their ship afloat in the Bay of Bengal after it started taking water, port officials said.

Bangladesh navy vessels prompted a rescue operation after the Iranian flagged vessel Mir Damad, a container ship with 18 crew members, sent a distress signal.

"Several machines have been put in operation to pump out water and efforts are being made to seal the crack in the bottom of the ship," said an official of the B.S. Cargo Limited, the local agent of the ship.

The vessel, bound for the Indian port of Kolkata from Bangladesh's main Chittagong port, was some 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Mongla port.

The rescuers were also trying to reignite the engine of the ship after it went out of order following a crack in the bottom. The cause of the crack was not immediately known.

"The ship is taking water and started sinking slowly," a Mongla port official said earlier.

Cargo ship sinks off Cochin port

A cargo ship, carrying 3,800 tonnes of iron products has sunk around 10 km from the Cochin port.

The ship was travelling from China to Albania, Cochin Port officials said Sunday.

It started sinking Saturday evening. All 15 crewmembers including ten from India and five from Albania were rescued.

Two tugs of the Cochin Port Trust removed the ship from the site because it was on the international shipping route, Captain C.P. Jerry of Cochin Port told reporters.

After conducting an aerial survey, navy officials reported that the ship has fully sunk and there is no risk of environmental pollution. The reasons behind the mishap are not known.

But local reports said oil has spilled around the place of the shipwreck.

Indian scientists designing thorium reactor

A team of scientists at a premier Indian nuclear facility has made a theoretical design of an innovative reactor that can run on thorium - available in abundance in the country - and will eventually do away with the need for uranium.

But the success of the project largely depends on the US playing ball.

The novel Fast Thorium Breeder Reactor (FTBR) being developed by V. Jagannathan and his team at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai has received global attention after a paper was submitted to the International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems (ICENES) held June 9-14 in Istanbul.

Power reactors of today mostly use a fissile fuel called uranium-235 (U-235), whose 'fission' releases energy and some 'spare' neutrons that maintain the chain reaction. But only seven out of 1,000 atoms of naturally occurring uranium are of this type. The rest are 'fertile', meaning they cannot fission but can be converted into fissionable plutonium by neutrons released by U-235.

Thorium, which occurs naturally, is another 'fertile' element that can be turned by neutrons into U-233, another uranium isotope. U-233 is the only other known fissionable material. It is also called the 'third fuel'.

Thorium is three times more abundant in the earth's crust than uranium but was never inducted into reactors because - unlike uranium - it has no fissionable atoms to start the chain reaction.

But once the world's uranium runs out, thorium - and the depleted uranium discharged by today's power reactors - could form the 'fertile base' for nuclear power generation, the BARC scientists claim in their paper.

They believe their FTBR is one such 'candidate' reactor that can produce energy from these two fertile materials with some help from fissile plutonium as a 'seed' to start the fire.

By using a judicious mix of 'seed' plutonium and fertile zones inside the core, the scientists show theoretically that their design can breed not one but two nuclear fuels - U-233 from thorium and plutonium from depleted uranium - within the same reactor.

This totally novel concept of fertile-to-fissile conversion has prompted its designers to christen their baby the Fast 'Twin' Breeder Reactor.

Their calculations show the sodium-cooled FTBR, while consuming 10.96 tonnes of plutonium to generate 1,000 MW of power, breeds 11.44 tonnes of plutonium and 0.88 tonnes of U-233 in a cycle length of two years.

According to the scientists, their FTBR design exploits the fact that U-233 is a better fissile material than plutonium. Secondly, they were able to maximise the breeding by putting the fertile materials inside the core rather than as a 'blanket' surrounding the core as done traditionally.

'At present, there are no internal fertile blankets or fissile breeding zones in power reactors operating in the world,' the paper claims.

The concept has won praise from nuclear experts elsewhere. 'Core heterogeneity is the best way to help high conversion,' says Alexis Nuttin, a French nuclear scientist at the LPSC Reactor Physics Group in Grenoble.

Thorium-based fuels and fuel cycles have been used in the past and are being developed in a few countries but are yet to be commercialised.

France is also studying a concept of 'molten salt reactor' where the fuel is in liquid form, while the US is considering a gas-cooled reactor using thorium. McLean, Virginia-based Thorium Power Ltd of the US, has been working with nuclear engineers and scientists of the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow for over a decade to develop designs that can be commercialised.

But BARC's FTBR is claimed to be the first design that truly exploits the concept of 'breeding' in a reactor that uses thorium. The handful of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) in the world today - including the one India is building in Kalpakkam near Chennai - use plutonium as fuel.

These breeders have to wait until enough plutonium is accumulated through reprocessing of spent fuel discharged by thermal power reactors that run on uranium.

Herein lies the rub.

India does not have sufficient uranium to build enough thermal reactors to produce the plutonium needed for more FBRs of the Kalpakkam type. The India-US civilian nuclear deal was expected to enable India import uranium and reprocess spent fuel to recover plutonium for its FBRs. But this deal has hit a roadblock.

'Jagannathan's design is one way of utilising thorium and circumventing the delays in building plutonium-based FBRs,' says former BARC director P.K. Iyengar.

Meanwhile, India's 300,000 tonnes of thorium reserves - the third largest in the world - in the beach sands of Kerala and Orissa states are waiting to be tapped. The BARC scientists say that thorium should be inducted into power reactors when the uranium is still available, rather than after it is exhausted.

But the FTBR still needs an initial inventory of plutonium to kick-start the thorium cycle and eventually to generate electricity. A blanket ban on India re-processing imported uranium - a condition for nuclear cooperation with the US - could make India's thorium programme a non-starter.

Iyengar has one suggestion that he says must be acceptable to the US if it is serious about helping India to solve its energy problem.

'The US and Russia have piles of plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons,' Iyengar told IANS, adding: 'They should allow us to borrow this plutonium needed to start our breeders. We can return the material after we breed enough.'

(K.S. Jayaraman can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com)

Bihar temple gets its first Dalit priest

Winds of change are blowing across Paliganj. The 300-year-old the Ram Janki temple in this Bihar village, which has always had Brahmins as pujaris, is all set to get its first Dalit priest. Janardan Manjhi, who gets the honour, comes from the Musahar community.

Janardan Manjhi the priest says, “I was asked if I was from a Dalit family. I told them I was.”

"Wherever there is discrimination, we want to raise the status of those discriminated against, “Bihar State Religious Trust Administrator Kishore Kunal says.

The decision means a lot to the people of Musahar community, who are still not allowed into temples at many places in Bihar. Manjhi has become the new face of Dalit empowerment.

Former state minister Ashok Chaudhary says, “He has tried to unite society. This is a historic day for all Dalits.”

“He has been made a priest so that we can get rid of untouchability, “a villager Bachi Devi says.

The government now needs to ensure that Manjhi's anointment doesn't become another exercise in tokenism.

Bangladesh are stagnating says assistant coach

Bangladesh's innings defeat against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Colombo prompted the side's assistant coach, Sarwar Imran, to admit that Bangladesh were still quite far from being competitive at the Test level.

"Nothing has changed in our approach to Test cricket because we are making the same old mistakes," Imran told AFP. "We have a bunch of talented cricketers but I think we are not mentally tough to sustain at this level."

Bangladesh have lost all but one of their last 11 Tests - the exception being a rained-off game against India at Chittagong earlier this year. Since their debut in November 2000, Bangladesh have won only a single match - against Zimbabwe at home in January 2005 - losing 41 and drawing five out of a total of 47. Doubts over Bangladesh's worthiness to play Test cricket resurfaced after their worst-ever defeat - by an innings and 234 runs against Sri Lanka - last month.

But Habibul Bashar, the former Bangaldesh captain, did not agree with claims that the team has made no improvement in Test cricket. "I am not frustrated with what happened at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground," Bashar said. "We have two more Tests to go and this is a chance for us to show that we are not as bad as people are making us out to be," he added.

"There is no shame in losing to such a strong team like Sri Lanka, but we have to learn from the mistakes and try and bat longer," he said. The second Test starts on July 3 in Colombo while the third Test from July 11 to 15 is at Kandy. The Tests are followed by three one-day matches in Colombo.

Nayantara is thrilled about Billa

Eagerly expecting the release of Billa is not only Ajith, but also Nayantara. Hoping that the film will turn a new leaf in her career, Nayantara anticipates that more offers would come in her way once Billa gets released.

“Billa is the best crew that I have worked so far. Everything was organized and planned. Director Vishnuvardhan was always cool and good at extracting work from others. It is like a picnic for me since this is one of my longest abroad schedules”, says Nayantara, when asked about Billa.

On dancing in Balelakka with Superstar Rajnikanth in Sivaji, the actress says, “My mobile is continuously ringing after the release of Sivaji as my friends and fans are complimenting me for sharing screen again with Rajnikanth”.

“It’s only for Kamal’s friendship” - Jayapradha

‘Ninaithale Inikkum’ was a superhit film of yore directed by Iyakkunar Sigaram K Balachander which had super star Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Jeyaprada in the lead roles. This threesome combination worked wonders at the box office and music played a major role in the success of the film.

After many years, this famous trio came together on the stage for the launch of P Vasu’s Thottal Poo Malarum and were reminiscing their good old days with pleasant nostalgia. During such an informal chat, Kamal was reportedly heard asking Jeyaprada if she would feature in his upcoming Dasavatharam. This was a pleasant shock to this beautiful actress who has the unique distinction of being called the ‘Classical Beauty’ by none other than the doyen of Indian cinema Sathyajit Ray.

Not wanting to refuse Kamal, Jeyaprada has immediately agreed and plays a meaty role in his Dasavatharam. The moment film world smelt of Jeyaprada’s reentry, she has been flooded with offers from Telugu and Tamil films, but the Samajwadi MP has politely declined all the offers. She was alleged to have told that it is only because of the friendship that she shares with Kamal, she had agreed to smear the grease paint once again but otherwise, her heart lies completely with social service and active politics only.

Kamal to be torchbearer of Vijay's victory

Vijay-starrer Pokkiri will be soon be celebrating its victory in a grand way. And why not? With the movie crossing the 175th day mark, the team is gearing up for the silver jubilee function. Pokkiri, which was released on January 14, 2007, was the first directorial venture of Prabhu Deva in Kollywood.


The event will be held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on July 8th. K. Balachandar would be the chief guest and Kamal Hassan is also expected to grace the occasion with his presence.

Well-informed sources say that dance master Kala’s troupe, along with Namitha and Malavika, will be performing their mind-boggling dance sequences during the function

Hong Kong celebrates 10 years under Chinese sovereignty

President Hu Jintao on Sunday led China in celebrating 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's peaceful return to Chinese sovereignty, promising Beijing's [Images] full support to the former British colony's continued economic growth, social stability and development of democracy.

"The central government will fully support Hong Kong in promoting economic development, improving well-being of the people and developing democracy," Hu said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the third-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Hong Kong's exchanges and cooperation, and particularly its business ties, with the mainland have grown increasingly closer.

With stronger support from the mainland, Hong Kong serves as an important window and bridge for China's economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchanges with the rest of the world, Hu said.

Hong Kong's success over the past 10 years shows that people are fully capable of managing Hong Kong well and sustaining its growth, Hu, also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China said.

He noted that during the past decade, Hong Kong has maintained its capitalist system and way of life and fully exercised executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including the power of final adjudication as mandated by the Basic Law (Constitution).

The former British colony has steadily expanded its relations with other parts of the world. It has remained a free port and an international financial, trade and shipping centre.

It has been consistently rated as the most open and free economy and one of the most dynamic regions with the best business environment in the world.

"Hong Kong, an international metropolis, is thriving as never before," Hu said.

The principles of 'Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong' and a high degree of autonomy have been turned into a living reality, Hu said, adding late Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping had creatively initiated the concept of 'one country, two systems'.

Deng personally oversaw China's negotiation with Britain on Hong Kong and the drafting of the Basic Law of the HKSAR, thus breaking a new ground in striving for China's peaceful reunification.

Hong Kong embraced Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997 as per the 'one country, two systems' formula under which Beijing promised not to change the existing capitalist social and economic systems in the territory.

"To ensure stability and development in Hong Kong, a society of diversity, it is important that its people set aside differences, be inclusive and work together to promote their common interests," Hu said on Saturday during a welcome dinner.

In his speech on Sunday, the Chinese President did not dwell on the sensitive issue and left it to the Chief Executive of HKSAR, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who pledged that his government will be committed to adhering to the principle of people-based governance.

"We will build a government that is more open. The public will not only be the focus of our policies, the public will be our partners in devising them," Tsang said at the swearing-in ceremony.

China on Saturday presented two more giant pandas to Hong Kong as goodwill gifts.

Hu also attended a flag-raising ceremony in Hong Kong during which the five-star national flag as well as that of Hong Kong were raised by ceremonial guards from the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Indo-Bangla train service by July

The first ever train service between India and Bangladesh is expected to begin by next month with the inter-country 'Moitree Express' ready for operations, officials said on Saturday.

The train has already made several trial runs within Bangladesh with a speed of 150 km per hour after it was fitted with modern facilities, Railway officials said adding it was expected to start operation from next month.

Passenger carriages of the train were imported from Indonesia but they were assembled in Saidpur Railway Workshop to run between Dhaka and Kolkata, the officials were quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

The engineers said the cost of each carriage varied from taka 1.80 crore to 3 crore (local currency) according to the facilities available as the service comprises chair coaches of economy class, air-conditioned first class and air-conditioned sleeping class along side a power car, one buffet car and a prayer car.

Bangladesh Railway officials earlier said there would be three categories of fares of $8, $12 and $20. Bangladesh will keep 78 per cent of the revenue while India will get the rest, as the distance between Shialdaha and the Bangladesh border is 120 kilometres while the length of the rail track in Bangladesh territory is 418 km.

A 10-coach train with the capacity of carrying a total of 760 passengers is expected to commute everyday and it would start at 0745 am from Bangladesh towards India and at 0700 am from Shialdaha to Bangladesh while it would take nearly 11 hours to reach the destinations including the time for immigration checking.

The train will run between Dhaka Cantonment rail station and Kolkata of West Bengal via Darshana without any break, officials said.

"We expect the train service between Dhaka and Kolkata to be launched by mid July," communication secretary Mahbubur Rahman told reporters earlier this month.

Britain on high terror alert

Britain was on Sunday on its highest level of terror alert following an attack on the Glasgow airport and foiled car bombings as four persons were arrested for the incidents and police searched for more suspects in the Scottish city of Renfrewshire.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain 'will not yield despite a sustained threat from people associated with Al Qaeda' [Images] as police said the attack on the airport was believed to be linked to the three car bombs found in London [Images].

The country moved to its highest level of terror alert -- critical -- after a burning car crashed into the airport and the government's emergency response unit, Cobra, was to meet to review the situation.

The critical threat level indicates terror attacks are 'imminent'.

Four persons have been arrested in connection with the attack at Glasgow. Two men were arrested at the airport after their Jeep Cherokee crashed into the main doors and burst into flames.

Two more arrests were made on the M6 motorway in Cheshire on Saturday night.

One of the suspects in the airport attack suffered severe burns and was in a critical condition in hospital.

Police searched several houses in Renfrewshire in connection with the attack on the airport.

'As part of the ongoing enquiry into the incidents at Glasgow airport and London, a number of houses in the Renfrewshire area are being searched', a police statement said.

Brown told BBC, it was 'clear that we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with Al Qaeda'.

"It's obvious that we have a group of people-- not just in this country, but round the world-- who're prepared at any time to inflict what they want to be maximum damage on civilians, irrespective of who the religion of these people who are killed or maimed are to be," Brown said.

Counter-terrorism police made the two arrests from the M6 motorway hours after Strathclyde police said they believed the attack in Glasgow was linked to the events in London.

Chief Constable Willie Rae said, "There are clearly similarities, and we can confirm that (the Glasgow attack) is being treated as a terrorist incident."

All flights to and from Glasgow airport were suspended after the attack.

The airport was being reopened in phases and flights from Orlando and Ibiza had arrived.

A number of other airports stepped up security, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester and Blackpool.

Security has also been tightened at airports across the US. Police in London are checking CCTV footage in their investigation into the planting of the two car bombs.

Shiv lingam at Amarnath has melted: Official

The naturally-formed ice Shiv lingam at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir [Images] has completely melted, chief executive officer of Shree Amarnathji Shrine Board Arun Kumar said on Sunday.

The ice Shiv lingam has melted down owing to the rise in temperature, Kumar, who accompanied Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to the cave on Sunday, told PTI.

"It is a normal phenomenon. Weather affects the shape and size of the ice Shiv lingam," he said. However, Kumar said two other ice lingams, representing Ganesh and Parvati, have not melted, though their size has reduced.

Anti-helmet rally held in Pathanamthitta

In protest against Government move

---

150 motorcyclists, scooter riders participate

Association alleges commercial interest behind decision

---

PATHANAMTHITTA: The All-Kerala Two-Wheeler Users’ Association (AKTWUA) district unit organised an anti-helmet rally in Pathanamthitta town on Saturday afternoon, protesting against the Government decision making helmet compulsory for two-wheeler riders.

As many as 150 motorcyclists and scooter riders participated in the rally without wearing helmets. The State Volley Ball Association district president, George Philip, flagged off the rally from St. Peter’s square. A public meeting was held later at central junction.

Addressing the meeting, AKTWUA district president Salem P.Chacko alleged that the Government decision was aimed at satisfying the commercial interests of certain helmet manufactures.

He alleged that majority of helmets available in the market were ‘duplicates’ of popular brands, with fake ISI marks printed on them. Government has sidelined more important road safety aspects while deciding to make helmets compulsory, he added.

There were also reports of helmets causing neurological problems to a large number of motorcyclists, not to speak of the inconvenience it caused elderly people, Mr Saleem said.

“How can the Government direct the people to wear helmets in order to protect their heads when a majority of the roads, including State Highways remained heavily pot-holed, making them veritable death traps ?,” he asked.

Municipal councillors Mr K.Anilkumar, Mr C.K.Arjunan and Mr M.S.Abdul Salam, also spoke.

Results of boat race withheld

Photo finish as three boats vie for honours in Champakulam Moolam race

The 400-year-old Champakulam Moolam Boat Race, which marks the beginning of the boat race season in the State, was mired in chaos, as the event ended without the winner being announced here on Saturday.

A hasty declaration by the commentators and the alleged crossing of tracks by one of the contesting boats marred the finale of the event, which otherwise encapsulated the spirit of boat races with photo finish preliminaries, roaring crowds on both banks of the Pampa River, colourful processions, banners and electrifying music.

The action-packed final moments of the race had three prominent boats — Cheruthana, Sri Ganesh and Jawahar Thayankari — crossing the finishing point with the lead barely visible to the naked eye. With no facilities for the judges to take a decision through video replays arranged at the venue, chaos prevailed as one of the commentators announced Sri Ganesh as the winner before the official declaration.

Contestants and the public rushed to the judges’ pavilion, and as the situation threatened to snowball into mayhem, the organisers announced that the winner would be declared after a meeting between the District Collector and captains of the three boats at the District Collectorate on Monday.

Later, Coir and Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran distributed prizes to the winners in other categories. Earlier, Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy inaugurated the ceremonies while Kuttanad Tahsildar A.M. Najeeb flagged off the boats. Prominent boats such as Champakulam, St. George, Nadubhagam and Ayaparambu Valiya Diwanji could not qualify for the finals. Travancore Devaswom Board president C.K. Gupthan, K.C. Venugopal and K.K. Shaju, MLAs, were also present.

Calling it quits is never easy: Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh has dismissed the notion that sportspersons knew when their time was up and said that he experienced a raging mental conflict in his final days wearing the Baggy Green cap.

"People say you'll wake up and you'll know when you want to retire. I don't think it happens like that," the former Australian captain said.

"Most people juggle with it. I spoke to one or two people when I was thinking about it and it is natural for your emotions to go up and down," Waugh was quoted as saying in 'The Age'.

"Some mornings you're going to wake up and think 'Geez, I love playing for Australia and I want to be here every day'.

"Other days you'll think 'Geez, I miss the kids and my form's not too good, am I really doing the right thing," he added.

Waugh, who holds the record for captain with most number of Test wins, saw his career come to an end much against his wish in 2003-04 at the close of Australia's home series against India.

Waugh, 39 then, felt he still had a few years' cricket left in him then but the Australian board was determined to blood youngsters.

Two years before that, the Australian board had stunned the cricket world by bringing down the curtains on Waugh's one-day career.

Waugh was part of the World Cup winning teams in 1987 and 1999 - as skipper on the second occasion, but his successor Ricky Ponting [Images] made history by leading the side to back-to-back triumphs in 2003 and earlier this year.

Waugh, in his motivational speech to the Australian football team at their Asian Cup training camp in Singapore, sympathised with Socceroos skipper Mark Viduka.

He said Viduka's vacillation over his retirement was "natural" and said he must be allowed to weigh up his future without being judged.

The Newcastle striker had decided to quit international football two weeks ago, only to make a late back flip and link up with the Socceroos' Asian Cup campaign.

While he will lead the side to the Asian Cup, he remains unsure whether he will continue playing for his country towards the 2010 World Cup.

Waugh spent three days with the Socceroos on an invite from coach Graham Arnold, a former Sydney grade cricket teammate.

He challenged the Socceroos to use the Asian Cup and upcoming World Cup campaign to push cricketers for the mantle of Australia's No.1 sporting team.

"That's a message I'll be telling this side. Get out there and take on the other sides - try to be the premier sporting side in Australia.

"The cricket guys are up there and they're obviously the number one at the moment.

Rossi wins Dutch MotoGP

Former world champion Valentino Rossi [Images] won the MotoGP at the Dutch Grand Prix after a 15 lap battle with overall leader Casey Stoner on Saturday.

Rossi took the lead three laps before the end after moving up from 11th place to win in 42 minutes 37.149 seconds ahead of Australian Stoner and Honda's American rider Nicky Hayden.

Australia's Chris Vermeulen, who started from pole position for the third time in his career, came 16th after a crash with France's [Images] Randy de Puniet with 15 laps to go.

Ford was offered 3-year contract: Pawar

Almost three weeks after Graham Ford turned down the offer to coach the Indian cricket team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India added a new angle to the embarrassing episode with Board president Sharad Pawar [Images] disclosing that the South African was offered a 3-year contract.

It was widely speculated that Ford had spurned the job because he was unhappy with the one-year contract offered to him but Pawar's revelation has given a new dimension to the entire saga.

Pawar said Ford's contract was to be confirmed after the first year of his tenure but surprisingly BCCI had not made it public till date.

"He was offered a three-year contract, which was to be confirmed after the first year," Pawar told PTI after attending the International Cricket Council annual meeting in London [Images].

Smarting from Ford's snub after he declined the job to continue his stint with Kent County Club, Pawar said the board would be more careful in handling these matters.

"In future, we will see that these issues are handled carefully," Pawar said.

The BCCI found itself in an embarrassing situation when Ford, who was chosen ahead of John Emburey, turned down the offer and decided to stay with Kent.

"Unfortunately, the person we selected didn't join. We asked him if he was ready to join. He said it was just a matter of 'when' and not 'whether' he can join us. He said he wanted to talk to his county and consult them on when he can join us and then he did not join," Pawar said.

"Anyway, we have discussed it among ourselves and took suggestions from former players like (Sunil) Gavaskar and (Ravi) Shastri," he said.

Tendulkar 1st to reach 15,000 ODI runs

Sachin Tendulkar [Images] became the first player to reach 15,000 runs in one-day internationals while steering India to a six-wicket win over South Africa in the Future Cup in Belfast on Friday.

The 34-year-old from Mumbai thumped 93, sharing an opening partnership of 134 with Saurav Ganguly [Images] (42), to help India reach their target of 227 with five balls to spare and level the three-match series 1-1.

Tendulkar bludgeoned 13 fours and two sixes before he was bowled by spinner Thandi Tshabalala as his side slid from 134 for nought to 142 for four.

But Yuvraj Singh [Images] (49 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (32 not out) shared a stand of 85 to clinch victory.

"As long as the team are winning, everything else is secondary," Tendulkar told reporters.

"It is obviously a very happy feeling especially when we ended up on a winning note. But after playing for 18 years, I feel it (the milestone) is just one of those things."

Tendulkar said he particularly enjoyed his alliance with Ganguly.

Junior days

"He is a fabulous player, I've seen him play since junior days," said Tendulkar.

"I enjoy playing with him. He plays wonderful shots and it's a treat to watch him."

Earlier, opening batsman Morne van Wyk top-scored with 82 and Mark Boucher [Images] made an undefeated 55 as South Africa chalked up 226 for six in 50 overs.

Yuvraj was the pick of India's attack, taking three for 36 in nine overs.

South Africa captain Jacques Kallis [Images] paid tribute to Tendulkar.

"It was an unbelievable knock he played," said Kallis. "Unfortunately we went past the edge a few times and things didn't quite go our way.

"You need things to go your way when you've got a world-class player like that. On his day he's very dangerous."

Former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma is dead

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma died on Saturday in a road accident in Alwar district of Rajasthan, nearly 165 kms from Jaipur.

Additional Superintendent of Police (rural) P C Nyola said the mishap took place at around 1430 hrs (IST) when the car in which Verma was travelling collided with a mini-truck near Khandura crossing.

Verma (64), along with three others, was immediately rushed to the Shahjahanpur Government Hospital where the former Delhi CM, his driver and another person travelling in the same car were declared brought dead, the addl SP said.

His security officer sustained serious injuries and was undergoing treatment at the hospital, police said.

The driver of the truck was also injured and has been admitted to a local hospital.

Verma was returning to Delhi from Neemka Thana in Sikar district when the mishap took place.

Verma is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

Born on March 15, 1943, in Delhi's Mundka village, the former teacher rose from the ranks of a councillor in the Metropolitan Council of Delhi in 1977 to become the Union

Labour Minister in 2002.

His stint as the Chief Minister of Delhi was marked by his running feud with arch-rival in Delhi politics Madan Lal Khurana.

The Jat leader had replaced Khurana as Chief Minister in 1996. His tenure was marked by skyrocketing onion prices and water and power crises and he was replaced by Sushma Swaraj in October, 1998. Verma was accommodated in the Union Cabinet.

The Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi Lok Sabha constituency was given charge of the labour ministry.

Described by some senior bureaucrats as the "bull in a China shop", Verma openly reprimanded them for expressing reservations about his decision to stick to the 9.5 per cent interest rate for employees provident fund contributions.

Verma began his political career as a RSS Pracharak and was made the Delhi Education and Development Minister in 1993.

He had a doctorate in library sciences and was much respected among the teaching community.

BJP leaders express shock

Senior BJP leaders expressed shock at the death of Sahib Singh Verma and mourned his demise, recalling his contribution to the cause of labourers and farmers.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh said it is an irreparable loss.

"He was not only popular in Delhi but in many parts of the country because he championed the cause of the farmers, labourers and the unorganised sector," Singh, who rushed to the accident scene, said.

Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha said, "It is very difficult to believe that he is no longer with us. I would not be able to recover from this shock for a long time. He will be missed not only in Delhi but all over the country as he was a national leader."

Senior party leader Ravishankar Prasad described Verma's death as a great loss to the party.

"We are very disturbed. This is very ghastly news," Prasad said.

Blazing jeep crashes into Glasgow airport

A blazing jeep crashed into the main terminal building in Glasgow airport in Scotland on Saturday and a terror angle is not being ruled out with the incident coming a day after car bombing attempts were foiled in London [Images].

A Strathclyde police spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether today's incident was terrorism-related.

Two people had been arrested in connection with the incident, media reports quoted police as saying.

Eyewitness said two Asian men drove a Cherokee Jeep at speed towards the building with flames coming out from underneath.

The two men - one believed to be on fire - staggered out of the jeep and became involved in a fight with passers-by and police.

The flames were put out with a fire extinguisher but smoke continued to billow out from the side of the airport. Passengers were cleared from the terminal building amid fears that this was a terrorist attack.

Holidaymaker Phil Jones told Sky News: "As I was coming out of the airport I saw a Jeep Cherokee which tried to drive into the main door.

"As I was coming out the Jeep was already on fire. Then there was a pop which I thought was the fuel tank."

BBC News executive Helen Boaden, who was at the airport, said she had spoken to a man who claimed to have witnessed what happened.

"What he says he saw is a Cherokee jeep drive into the glass frontage of the airport," she told BBC News 24.

Rains ravage Maharashtra, 16 feared dead

Heavy rains pounded Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra on Saturday killing at least 16 people in separate incidents and thousands had to be evacuated to safer places following flash floods.

The country's financial capital recorded an average rainfall of about 288 mm, the highest this monsoon, with some suburban regions like Vikhroli recording upto 389 mm of rainfall since early Saturday morning, city civic authorities said. The situation could worsen with the meteorological department predicting heavy rains on Sunday.

Several areas in the commercial capital and other parts of the state were waterlogged severely disrupting road, suburban and long distance rail and air traffic for most part of the day, with army and navy teams having to be pressed into service in the city and the Konkan region. Some trains were also cancelled or rescheduled.

At least five persons were killed here, three of whom were washed away in the floods, while neighbouring Thane reported three deaths - which two died due to electrocution.

Asia's largest slums in Dharavi in the city were submerged while there were reports of several wall collapses.

Officials also said there had been four deaths each in Ratnagiri and Satara districts.

About 1,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes in suburban Mumbai from near the banks of the Mithi river as the water rose to dangerous levels, and even the state social justice minister Chandrakant Handore was not spared with his office in suburban Chembur being submerged.

Evacuations were also carried out in the Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sangli districts in western Maharashtra with over 550 persons shifted from their homes.

Secretary for relief and rehabilitation, Ramesh Kumar said, "flood waters across the state including the city were receding, except in parts of Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha."

Rail networks in the city were thrown out of gear with the suburban lines bearing the brunt of the monsoon rains.

Services on the suburban Central Railway and harbour lines came to a halt early Saturday morning after flooding of tracks at several locations.

Railway authorities said that at least 17 outstation trains from the city, including the inter-city trains, had to be cancelled and many rescheduled.

Services on the Western Railways were also affected with trains running up to an hour behind schedule and outstation trains being rescheduled.

Air traffic in the city was suspended for a little over an hour due to poor visibility.

"Most flights operated with a delay of up to 30 minutes in their schedules," a spokesperson for the airport said, adding that authorities had distributed food packets among travellers who were stranded at the airport.

Road traffic in the city was minimal with most office goers preferring to stay at home following warnings by authorities not to venture out unless required.

City municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak said that about 1000 Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai staff were on the streets to deal with the situation, adding that they had also faced a staff shortage after their employees were unable to reach their workplaces on account of rail services being affected.

Severe water logging was recorded at 26 locations in the city including the suburbs of Chembur, Kurla, Bhandup and some parts of central Mumbai and western suburbs.

North western suburbs between Andheri and Borivali also saw their electricity cut-off after power supplier Reliance Energy [Get Quote] decided to shut down the supply as a precautionary measure, Phatak said.