25 aol 2005 / An Indian mathematician makes an astounding advance in number theory / Flats for Sale in Sharjah, from 165,000 /

Going beyond Fermat's last theorem
T. Jayaraman
An Indian mathematician makes an astounding advance in number theory

Prof. Chandrashekhar Khare in Mumbai. - Photo: Paul Noronha
MUMBAI: An Indian mathematician, Chandrashekhar Khare, is poised to make a
significant breakthrough in the field of number theory: with his solution of
part of a major outstanding problem in algebraic number theory.
In a paper posted on the Mathematics Arxiv on the web in April 2005 and
subsequently sent for publication to a leading mathematics journal, the
37-year-old mathematician based at the University of Utah has proved what is
known to specialists in the field as the `level-1 case of the Serre
conjecture.' In earlier work done with the French mathematician, J.P.
Wintenberger, in December 2004, Dr. Khare outlined a two-part general
strategy to prove the Serre conjecture fully. The present result is a first
key step.
According to Professor Dipendra Prasad of the Department of Mathematics at
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, the result is
"one of the outstanding results in recent times in this field." He added
that before the joint work of last year and Dr. Khare's current result, "it
was unclear to the experts in the field that the conjecture would become a
theorem in the near future." Before he moved to the United States in 2004 to
take up a position on the University of Utah faculty as Associate Professor,
Dr. Khare was on the TIFR faculty for nearly a decade.

---

Flats for Sale in Sharjah, from 165,000
www.manazil-uae.com
Manazil Tower" is located in Al-Nadd (Al Qasimia) Area, which is new area in
city center and known for its proximity to the important shopping centers
and souks, which include Sharjah Islamic Mall, Mega Mall, Gold Center, Fish
& Vegetable Markets, etc. (5- 10 minutes from the tower). Also you can reach
the Universities and Airport!within 15 minutes of drive.

Dubai City and its International Airport, the hub of the U.A.E business
activities and developing future world trade center, can be reached within
20- 25 minutes by car.

Sharjah city is the preferred place for Expatriate community due to its
simplicity of living and natural beauty.

---

Fw: FW: Hi

 

----- Original Message -----

From: nam

To: nam

Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 6:20 PM

Subject: Fwd: FW: Hi

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Narendran, Sailan

Date: Apr 26, 2005 4:19 PM
Subject: FW: Hi
To:


Hi
You know how to shift Taj Mahal from Agra to Pune? Please check the
attachment..

Thanks & Regards,

Vacancies in Saudi Arabia

Required for a reputed international consultancy:

1. Architectural Inspectors for Riyadh

2. Structural Engineers / Inspectors for Riyadh

3. Civil Engineer for Riyadh

4. Senior Structural Engineer for Jeddah

5. Structural Engineer / Inspector for Jeddah

Interested may fax (no. 419 1134) or email : varghese@burohappold.com their
CVs.

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24 Apl 2005 _ Do we finally have a people's PC_ _ Expatriates Can Apply for Citizenship_VACANCY- where are we??

From: Varghese Yohannan
Date: Apr 24, 2005 10:06 AM
Subject: WANTED SECRETARY
To: naamhs@gmail.com

Dear Nam,

Would you please announce the following through your network (as a matter of
urgency):

"Urgently required an experienced and smart secretary to work with a British
boss for a prestigious organization in Riyadh. Interested may contact
Mr. Varghese Yohannan, Tel: 050 296 84 34 or 419 0221"

Regards

Varghese

+++

Do we finally have a people's PC?
Anand Parthasarathy

BREACHING THE BARRIER: The Xenitis Apna PC...a quick seller

BANGALORE: Eastern India is not generally perceived as the hotbed of
Information Technology innovation; yet recent weeks have seen a
Kolkata-based company fan out to virtually the whole country, selling what
is possibly the first workable personal computer for the home, priced below
the hitherto unbreachable `Lakshman Rekha' of Rs.10,000.

Xenitis, started by a group of young professionals in Kolkata set up its own
PC unit in 2004 and since then its budget PC brand ``Aamar PC'' (``Our PC''
in Bengali) has been a quick seller on its home turf. This has encouraged
them to go national - and in recent months, the company has embarked on an
aggressive road show in other parts of the country: with cannily renamed
brands: ``Apna PC'' in the North, ``Amchi PC'' in Maharashtra and - as of
last week - ``Namma PC'' in the South.

The key selling pitch remains the same: a workable home PC below Rs. 10,000.
For this price Xenitis provides a machine fuelled by a Cyrix 1 gigahertz
chip, with 128 MB of main memory; a 30 gigabyte hard disk drive; a 52x CD
drive, a floppy drive and a 15 inch colour monitor.

The software is RedHat's Enterprise 3 professional version of Linux, which
comes on 9 CDs that include the ``Open Office'' suite, database, e-mail
tools and a browser. It is a reasonable configuration for any one who
wants an affordable entry into the PC world - but a modem card that would
cost only a couple of hundred rupees more is a curious omission. Buyers
would need to install this before they can exploit the browser and e-mail
tools.

---

Expatriates Can Apply for Citizenship From May 23
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 24 April 2005 - The much-awaited executive bylaw of the new
Naturalization Law is out and qualified expatriates can apply for Saudi
citizenship from May 23. Application forms will be available at the Civil
Affairs Department from next Saturday.

"The new bylaw came into effect on Friday, when it was published in the
official gazette," Nasser Al-Hanaya, undersecretary at the Interior Ministry
for civil affairs said.

He said some articles of the existing naturalization law were amended to
meet job work requirements and realize the interests of the Kingdom and its
citizens, adding that professionals like doctors and engineers would be
given preference.

Many of the Kingdom's six million expatriate workers have been waiting for
the 35-article bylaw since the Cabinet approved the newly amended
Naturalization Law, hoping that it would realize their dream to become
Saudi.

---

Sponsors must pay medical bills of staff

By Shireena Al Nowais, Staff Reporter

Abu Dhabi: Sponsors who fail to pay the medical bills of their employees
will be prosecuted, a health official said yesterday.

Hassan Al Keim, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, told reporters
that employers who refuse to pay the medical bills of their staff will face
legal action.

His comments followed the recent cabinet decision to start charging patients
for surgical procedures in all government hospitals in Dubai and the
Northern Emirates from May 1.

Al Keim said the new fees were enforced to help reduce the load on
government hospitals.

---

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: nahad
Date: Apr 24, 2005 1:16 PM
Subject: Fw:

WHERE WE ARE ??????!!!!!!!

20 apl 2005 / Membership can be restricted to a religion' / The world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics have a new Pope /

Membership can be restricted to a religion'
Legal Correspondent

Cooperative society not a State: Supreme Court
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a.. Plea filed by Zoroastrian society
a.. Cautious approach needed
a.. Does not fall under Article 12
a.. Membership not fundamental right
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has held that a co-operative society can
restrict its membership to a class of persons or to a community or religion
and that such restriction is not violative of the provisions of the
Constitution. The court said that in secular India it might be somewhat
retrograde to conceive of co-operative societies confined to a group of
members or followers of a particular religion, a particular mode of life or
a particular persuasion.

A Bench, comprising Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan,
pointed out that the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution were
normally enforced against State action or action by other authorities who
might come within the purview of Article 12 (State) of the Constitution.

---

a..

VATICAN CITY: The world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics have a new Pope,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, who will be known as Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Ratzinger, 78, known for his conservative views, who was Dean of
the College of Cardinals and one of the closest collaborators of the late
John Paul II, was chosen as the world's 265th Pope by his peers on Tuesday.
Cardinal Ratzinger was the only cardinal not appointed by Pope John Paul II.

In the first words he spoke to the crowds in St Peter's square, the new Pope
paid homage to his predecessor. "Dear brothers and sisters, after the great
Pope John Paul II the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble
labourer in the vineyard of the Lord," he said.

Conservative views

The new Pope is known for his uncompromising views on church doctrine and
his election will come as a disappointment to those who have been placing
the accent on greater devolution of authority and collegiality within the
church. Cardinal Ratzinger, considered a great theologian who is greatly
respected for his learning, intelligence and integrity, may not find favour
amongst those hoping for reform and decentralisation within the Church.

He has in fact, as part of the Roman Curia, been responsible for some of the
most hard-line doctrinal positions the church has taken on subjects as
diverse as contraception, celibacy, the marriage of priests, euthanasia,
abortion and other thorny issues that have tended to divide the church.

He has rejected the ordination of women and marriage for priests, and also
opposes homosexuality and communism, and he has never been afraid of
upsetting political sensibilities.

---

chat abbreviations & their meanings

Abbreviation Meanings
AAP Always a pleasure
AAR At any rate
AAS Alive and smiling
ADN Any day now
AEAP As early as possible
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
AKA Also known as
AISB As it should be
AOTA All of the above
ASAP As soon as possible
A/S/L Age/sex/location
AT At your terminal
ATM At the moment
AYEC At your earliest convenience
B/F Boyfriend
B4 Before
B4N Bye for now
BAK Back at keyboard
BAU Business as usual
BBIAF Be back in a few
BBIAM Be back in a minute
BBL Be back later
BBS Be back soon
BC Because
BCNU Be seein' you
BF Best friend
BFN Bye for now
BLNT Better luck next time
BM&Y Between me and you
BOL Best of luck
BRB Be right back
BRT Be right there
BTA But then again
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way
CMIIW Correct me if I'm wrong
CMON Come on
COB Close of business
CU See you
CUA See you around
CUL See you later
CUL8R See you later
CWYL Chat with you later
CYA See ya
CYO See you online
D/L Download
DEGT Don't even go there
DIKU Do I know you?
DQMOT Don't quote me on this
DTS Don't think so
EBKAC Error between keyboard and chair
EMA E-mail address
EOD End of day
EOM End of message
F2F Face to face
FBM Fine by me
FISH First in, still here
FOMCL Falling off my chair laughing
FITB Fill in the blank
FRT For real though
FWIW For what it's worth
FYEO For your eyes only
FYI For your information
G/F Girlfriend
G2G Got to go
G2R Got to run
GA Go ahead
GAL Get a life
GB Goodbye
GBU God bless you
GFI Go for it
GG Gotta Go or Good Game
GIAR Give it a rest
GIGO Garbage in, garbage out
GL Good luck
GL/HF Good luck, have fun
GLNG Good luck next game
GMTA Great minds think alike
GOI Get over it
GOL Giggling out loud
GR8 Great
GR&D Grinning, running and ducking
GTG Got to go
GTRM Going to read mail
HAGN Have a good night
HAGO Have a good one
HAND Have a nice day
HF Have fun
HHIS Head hanging in shame
HOAS Hold on a second
HRU How are you?
HTH Hope this helps
IAC In any case
IANAL I am not a lawyer
IB I'm back
IC I see
ICBW It could be worse
IDK I don't know
IDTS I don't think so
IG2R I got to run
IIRC If I remember correctly
ILBL8 I'll be late
ILU I love you
ILY I love you
IM Instant message
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
INAL I'm not a lawyer
IOW In other words
IRL In real life
IRMC I rest my case
IUSS If you say so
IYKWIM If you know what I mean
IYO In your opinion
IYSS If you say so
JAC Just a sec
JIK Just in case
JJA Just joking around
JK Just kidding
JMO Just my opinion
JP Just playing
KISS Keep it simple, stupid
KIT Keep in touch
KOTC Kiss on the cheek
KNIM Know what I mean?
Abbreviation Meaning
L8R Later
LD Later, dude / Long distance
LMAO Laughing my a** off
LOL Laughing out loud
LTM Laugh to myself
LTNS Long time no see
LYLAS Love you like a sis
M8 Mate
MorF Male or female?
MoS Mother over shoulder
MUSM Miss you so much
MYOB Mind your own business
n00b Newbie
NBD No big deal
NFM None for me / Not for me
NIMBY Not in my back yard
NLT No later than
NM Nothing much / Never mind
NMH Not much here
NOYB None of your business
NP No problem
NRN No response/reply necessary
NW No way
OIC Oh, I see
OMG Oh my God
OMW On my way
OO Over and out
OOH Out of here
OOTD One of these days
OP On phone
OTB Off to bed
OTL Out to lunch
OTOH On the other hand
OTTOMH Off the top of my head
OTW Off to work
PDQ Pretty darn quick
PLMK Please let me know
PLZ Please
PMFI Pardon me for interrupting
PMFJI Pardon me for jumping in
POAHF Put on a happy face
POS Parent over shoulder
PPL People
PRW People/parents are watching
PTL Praise the Lord
PXT Please explain that
PU That stinks!
QIK Quick
RL Real life
RME Rolling my eyes
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
RSN Real soon now
RTFM Read the f***ing manual
SICNR Sorry, I could not resist
SIG2R Sorry, I got to run
SLAP Sounds like a plan
SMHID Scratching my head in disbelief
SIS Snickering in silence
SOMY Sick of me yet?
SOTMG Short of time, must go
SPK Speak
SPST Same place, same time
SRY Sorry
SS So sorry
SSDD Same stuff, different day
SSINF So stupid it's not funny
STR8 Straight
STW Search the Web
SUITM See you in the morning
SUL See you later
SUP What's up?
SYL See you later
TA Thanks a lot
TAFN That's all for now
TAM Tomorrow a.m.
TBD To be determined
TBH To be honest
TC Take care
TGIF Thank God it's Friday
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks in advance
TIAD Tomorrow is another day
TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
TMI Too much information
TMWFI Take my word for it
TNSTAAFL There's no such thing as a free lunch
TPM Tomorrow p.m.
TPTB The powers that be
TSTB The sooner, the better
TTFN Ta ta for now
TTTT These things take time
TTYL Talk to you later
TTYS Talk to you soon
TU Thank you
TY Thank you
TYT Take your time
TYVM Thank you very much
UGTBK You've got to be kidding
UKTR You know that's right
UL Upload
UR Your / You're
UV Unpleasant visual
UW You're welcome
WAM Wait a minute
WAN2TLK Want to talk
WAYF Where are you from?
W/B Write back
WB Welcome back
WIIFM What's in it for me?
WK Week
WKD Weekend
WOMBAT Waste of money, brains and time
WRUD What are you doing?
WTF What the f*ck
WTG Way to go
WTH What the heck?
WU? What's up?
WUCIWUG What you see is what you get
WUF? Where are you from?
WWJD What would Jesus do?
WWYC Write when you can
WYLEI When you least expect it
WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
YBS You'll be sorry
YGBKM You gotta be kidding me
YMMV Your mileage may vary
YW You're welcome

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18 April 2005 / 1955: Albert Einstein dies / Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton may have suffered from a type of autism / FM radio on comeback trail?

ON THIS DAY in history

1955: Albert Einstein dies
Albert Einstein has died in hospital in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 76.
The eminent scientist and originator of the theory of relativity was
admitted to hospital three days ago with an internal complaint.
In recent years Dr Einstein had lived a secluded life although he was still
a member of staff at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton
University.
In a statement issued following the scientist's death, US President Dwight
Eisenhower said: "No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of
the 20th century knowledge.
"Yet no other man was more modest in the possession of the power that is
knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom is deadly.
"To all who live in the nuclear age, Albert Einstein exemplified the mighty
creative ability of the individual in a free society."
Einstein and Newton 'had autism'

Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton may have suffered from a type of autism,
according to experts.
Einstein was a notoriously confusing lecturer
Researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities believe both scientists
displayed signs of Asperger's Syndrome.
Many people with Asperger's are often regarded as being eccentric. They
sometimes lack social skills, are obsessed with complex topics and can have
problems communicating.
This latest research suggests that Einstein, who is credited with developing
the theory of relativity, and Newton, who discovered the laws of gravity,
had these traits to varying degrees.
According to the researchers, Einstein showed signs of Asperger's from a
young age.

---

FM radio on comeback trail?

THE HUMBLE FM radio seems set to make a comeback in India, despite all the
noise generated by the latest technology in the Indian entertainment
industry like digital technology and multimedia.

Reeling under a license fee regime, radio stations such as Radio City
Lucknow, Radio Mirchi Pune and Win 94.6 Mumbai closed down in 2004 due to
mounting losses. Out of the 40 cities that bid in May 2000, a total of 21
stations in 12 cities remain and all of them are in the red, according to a
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study on the Indian entertainment industry.

Figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
indicate that FM radio suffered a loss of Rs. 122 crores in 2003-04 against
a loss of Rs. 118 crores in the previous year.

However, that could all change in the near future. International players too
have evinced keen interest in the FM radio industry with the Richard
Branson-owned Virgin Group having signed a memorandum of understanding with
Hindustan Times, although the industry feels that the foreign direct
investment (FDI) limit of 20 per cent will not have any immediate bearing on
the industry.

---

17 apl 2005 / NRIs send over $23 bn, beat IT revenues!

NRIs send over $23 bn, beat IT revenues!

Press Trust of India


Washington, April 16: Indian workers' remittances to the country from abroad
have soared considerably over the years to touch $23 billion in 2004,
according to World Bank statistics.

According the latest Global Development Finance report prepared by the World
Bank, India received $17.4 billion in 2003 from the workers living and
working in other countries.

The latest figures place India much ahead of China and other developing
countries like Mexico and Brazil.

At the exchange rate that prevailed in 2003, the inward remittances amounted
to about Rs 84,000 crore, which was more than double the amount that
government collected as income tax during the financial year.

The actual remittances may be much higher as flows through informal
channels, such as hawala, are not captured in the official statistics but
are believed to be quite large, the report points out.

At the same time the large communities of working and investing Indians in
the GCC generate substantial transfers of wealth to India. According to
incomplete IMF statistics, workers' remittances from the GCC states are
currently at least US$ 18 billion per year. If a complete accounting could
be made, the total would probably exceed US$ 30 billion per year. It would
be a reasonable assumption that Indians account for about a quarter of all
remittances - say US$ 7 billion to 8 billion per year.

---

THIS DAY  in history
 
1961: Exiles invade Cuba at Bay of Pigs
Reports from Cuba say the island has been invaded by counter-revolutionary forces trying to overthrow the country's leader, Fidel Castro.
The only news coming out of Cuba is broadcast by the government-run radio station. All other communications with the island have been cut.
THe first landing is reported to have taken place in the early hours of this morning.
Broadcasts from Cuban government radio appealing for medical help indicate that the raiders have successfully penetrated 25 miles (40km) inland.
They appear to have come ashore on an area of the coast known as the Bahía de Cochinos, or Bay of Pigs, south-east of the capital, Havana.
There is no indication as to the size of the invasion force, but Dr Castro, in a speech on Cuban government radio, said they are supported by aircraft and warships.

 

Fidel Castro himself led the counter-attack against the Bay of Pigs landings

HAPPY VISHU [Vishu Falls on the first day of Malayalam month Medam (April), which is the astronomical New Year Day when the sun crosses the equator]

 

google in malayalam

 

google is trying to do it in malayalam also.

 

see a sample at http://services.google.com/tcbin/tc.py?cmd=edit_language&project=gws&langcode=ml

 

12 apl 2005 / Court admits plea on casting `negative vote' / World-class shipbuilding hub for Kochi / Tonesex: mobile interrupts coitus

Court admits plea on casting `negative vote'
By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 11. The Supreme Court today admitted a petition seeking a
right for the voter to cast a "negative vote" in an election by pressing the
"none of the candidates" option in the electronic voting machine.
A Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti, and Justice G.P. Mathur,
admitted the petition from the People's Union for Civil Liberties seeking
such a right and posted the case for final hearing after the summer
vacation.
Counsel for the Election Commission, S. Murlidhar, produced documents to
show how this negative option was prevalent in other countries and in what
manner the system was working there.
The Attorney General, Milon Banerjee, said he would produce some more
materials on this issue. Senior counsel for the PUCL, Rajinder Sachar,
wanted the matter to be heard expeditiously.
The Bench posted the case for hearing after summer vacation.

---

World-class shipbuilding hub for Kochi
By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, APRIL 11. The Shipping Ministry has proposed the setting up of two
shipbuilding hubs, including a Rs. 2,100-crore world-class facility in Kochi
contiguous with the special economic zone proposed on land owned by Cochin
Port Trust.
The Union Minister for Shipping, T.R. Baalu, told a press conference here on
Monday that the Hindustan Shipyard in Visakapattinam and the Cochin Shipyard
had been asked to prepare plans to expand their current facilities and to
set up green field building facilities.
The Kochi facility is expected to come up on the land owned by Cochin Port
Trust and possibly within the proposed special economic zone, said Mr.
Baalu. He was in Kochi to perform the steel cutting for India's first
indigenous aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy at CSL.
---

Tonesex: mobile interrupts coitus
It's the ringtone of dread. Coitus interruptus has found it's way onto the
cellphone.

A recent global survey has found that nearly 20% of cell phone users have
interrupted their sex act to answer their phones. Does it mean that users
are ready to throw away their phones to save their sex life? Not if you go
by the response of 52% of those surveyed who say that they use the hand-held
device to flirt.

The survey - 'Wireless Works: Exploring New brand Connections' - was
conducted by BBDO and Proximity, both subsidiaries of the Omnicom Group.

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08 apl 2005 / WHO worried about India's maternal mortality rates / Coca-Cola firm gets nod for drawing groundwater

WHO worried about India's maternal mortality rates

New Delhi, April 8. (PTI): India has been placed among the countries which
are "slow progressors" in terms of improvements in mother and child health
in a new WHO global report which says that globally one woman dies every
minute due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth.

The 'World Health Report 2005 - Make Every Mother and Child Count', which
had a global launch here, says that 10.6 million children die in a year
before their fifth birthday globally while about 530,000 women die during
pregnancy or childbirth.

"More than 50 per cent of all child deaths occur in just six countries -
India, Pakistan China, Congo, Ethiopia, and Nigeria," it says.

Later, addressing a joint press conference with several other officials,
WHO's Deputy Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said India was among
51 countries which had shown slow progress in maternal and child health.

---

Coca-Cola firm gets nod for drawing groundwater

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, APRIL 7. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today held that
the Coca-Cola company will be entitled to draw 5 lakh litres of groundwater
a day from its plant at Plachimada in Palakkad without any right for
accumulation in case of non-use.

The Bench comprising Justice M. Ramachandran and Justice K.P. Balachandran
made it clear that the restrictions imposed for the company's consumption
would not be applicable when water is drawn for additional requirements such
as supply of water to people in the area. The court directed that the
company should involve in community development projects such as healthcare
and supply of water for people in the area.

The court was of the view that since the general public was apprehensive
about water shortage, it became an essential duty of the company. Water
supply should be undertaken before June 30.

---

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02 apl 05 / Let's build the world's largest free trade area, Beijing to New Delhi / Gmail doubles email space to 2 GB / SAVARKAR'S MERCY PETITION

Let's build the world's largest free trade area, Beijing to New Delhi
Wen visit: 'Create synergy between world factory & office'

PRANAB DHAL SAMANTA

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1: Exploring ways to raise the level of India-China
relationship during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao next week, China
has proposed to develop a free trade-area between the two countries. If this
comes through, Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi said, it will be largest
free-trade area in the world.

The proposal is among the 30-odd documents under discussion between various
ministries on both sides as diplomats work overtime to set it all up for
Jiabao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take it forward. But the FTA is
one proposal that, Sun believes, could do wonders in taking forward the idea
of combining economic forces between the two most populous countries of the
world.

''China has a large manufacturing base. I believe it is the world's factory.
And India with its development in software and other areas, I feel, is the
world's office. What I am suggesting is to bring together the factory and
the office,'' said Sun at a media interaction ahead of Wen's visit.
With a trade that exceeds $13 billion-an increase of 79.1 per cent
registered in 2004 alone-there is a promise that future holds for both
countries. It is this dynamic that has made both countries to work towards a
settlement of the historical boundary question.
Yuxi said there were no immediate solutions in the offing, but there could
be an agreement reached on some ''political parameters'' and ''guiding
principles'' this visit. This will be finalised by Special Representatives M
K Narayanan and Dai Bingguo who will meet ''before or during'' the visit.
Foreign secretary Shyam Saran and Chinese Vice-Minister Wu Dawei recently
concluded a meeting of the joint working group on the boundary issue at
Beijing, where it was agreed that the Special Representatives would meet
soon for this purpose.

---

Gmail doubles email space to 2 GB

SAN JOSE: A year after unveiling a free e-mail service with a full gigabyte
of storage, Google is doubling the capacity of each account and plans to
keep bumping up the limit in the future.

Once the upgrade takes effect on Friday, Gmail users will be able to store
up to 2 gigabytes of e-mail and attachments for each account. Even more
capacity will be made available after that as it becomes feasible, the
company said.

"Our goal is to make sure storage is no longer an issue for Web mail users,"
said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products.

The announcement was made on the first anniversary of the Internet search
engine's launch of Gmail, which surprised many users with its generous
storage allotment and prompted rivals Yahoo and Microsoft to boost the
capacity of their own free Web mail services.

---

SAVARKAR'S MERCY PETITION
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2207/stories/20050408001903700.htm
A.G. NOORANI

THOUGH every record leap to light, he never shall be shamed, goes an old
saying. In V.D. Savarkar's case, every record disclosed exposes his deceit,
venom and addiction to murder. He died in 1966. The next year, Gopal Godse,
brother of Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram, and his co-conspirator, revealed in
his book Gandhi Hatya Ani Mee ("Gandhi's murder and I") the close
relationship between Savarkar and Nathuram which both were at pains to
conceal at the Gandhi murder trial. Savarkar was acquitted by the Sessions
Judge, though the approver Badge's evidence was found to be completely
reliable, only because the law required independent corroboration. That came
in 1970 in the report of Gandhi's assassination by Justice J. L. Kapur, a
former Judge of the Supreme Court. He found a "conspiracy to murder by
Savarkar and his group". Savarkar's bodyguard, Appa Ramachandra Kasar, and
his secretary, Gajanan Vishnu Damle, did not testify in court. They spilled
the beans before Justice Kapur only after Savarkar's death. He had, besides,
a mass of other evidence which was not available to the court.

---

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29 Mar 1971: Calley guilty of My Lai massacre

On this Day in History

 
1971: Calley guilty of My Lai massacre

Lieutenant William Calley has been found guilty of murder at a court martial for his part in the My Lai massacre which claimed the lives of 500 South Vietnamese civilians.

The 27-year-old commander could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment after the massacre which saw US soldiers open fire on civilians in My Lai and neighbouring villages in central Vietnam in March 1968.
Lieutenant Calley was in charge of Charlie Company, a unit of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade, who were on a mission to root out the communist 48th Viet Cong Battalion fighters.

Brutal killings

The Viet Cong were not in the village and instead more than 500 unarmed civilians were brutally killed in an unprovoked attack by US troops.

Lieutenant Calley will be sentenced in the next few days after the verdict was announced at Fort Benning, Georgia today.

The jury of six army officers spent 13 days weighing up evidence from a four month trial.
They rejected his claim he was merely following orders in a military chain of command instilled in him since joining the army.

Lieutenant Calley faced four charges:
the murder of at least 30 "oriental human beings" at a junction of two trails
killing 70 others in a ditch
shooting a man who approached him with his hands raised begging for mercy
killing a child running from the ditch where the 70 died.
He was found guilty on the first three charges, although the number of the first was slashed from 30 to one because of conflicting evidence, and the death toll in the second charge was reduced to 20.

The final charge was reduced to assault with intent to kill a child of which he was found guilty.

Three of Lieutenant Calley's senior officers will be tried on charges arising from the massacre, two men junior to him have already been tried and acquitted and charges against 19 others have been dropped.

Charges came after the army commissioned an investigation into the cover-up of the massacre which became known as the Peers inquiry.

In Context

The massacre came to light a year after it happened after investigative media reports.
The crimes included murders, rape, sodomy, maiming and assault of civilians.
The Peers inquiry recommended charges should be brought against 28 officers and two non-commissioned officers involved in the concealment of the massacre.
Lieutenant Calley was the only one to be convicted and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Within three days he was out of prison, pending appeal, on the personal instructions of President Richard Nixon.
He spent the next three years under house arrest at Fort Benning in Georgia.
Freed on bail in 1974 his sentence was then cut to 10 years but he was paroled later that year after completing one third of his sentence.

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28 mar 2005

The Word of the Day for Mar 27 is:
Byzantine \BIZ-un-teen\ adjective

1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient city of Byzantium or
the Eastern Roman Empire
2 : of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church
*3 often not capitalized : intricately involved and often devious

Example sentence:
Rosa's novels vividly depict a Byzantine world of scheming and intrigue.

Did you know?
Today, the city that lies on the Bosporus Strait in Turkey is named
Istanbul, but it was once known as Constantinople (a name given to it when
it became capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire), and in
ancient times, it was called Byzantium. Its history is exotic - filled with
mystics, wars, and political infighting - and the word Byzantine (from Late
Latin "Byzantinus," for "native of Byzantium") became synonymous with
anything characteristic of the city or empire, from architecture to
intrigue. The figurative sense of labyrinthine deviousness first appeared in
the late 1930s. It was popularized by its frequent use in reference to the
Soviet Union, whose secrecy and despotism were equated by Westerners with
what went on in the old Byzantine Empire.

24 mar 2005

Iraq action 'crime of aggression'

Lord Goldsmith has denied being 'leaned on'

The Iraq war amounted to a "crime of aggression", the former deputy legal
adviser to the Foreign Office has said. Elizabeth Wilmshurst made the
claim before war in her resignation letter, obtained by the BBC News
Website. But part of the letter has not been released. A report on
Channel 4 claims it shows the attorney general changed his mind on the
legality of the war. The attorney general's spokesperson said Lord
Goldsmith's independent view was that action in Iraq was lawful.

'Professional privilege'

Ms Wilmshurst resigned from her post on the eve of war because she did
not believe military action in Iraq was legal.

In her resignation letter, Ms Wilmshurst says military action in Iraq
was "an unlawful use of force" which "amounts to the crime of aggression."

"Nor can I agree with such action in circumstances which are so
detrimental to the international order and the rule of law," she says.

The letter was requested by the BBC News Website's World Affairs
correspondent Paul Reynolds under the Freedom of Information Act - but part
of the letter was not revealed.

The Foreign Office said the missing part was covered by exemptions
relating to the professional privilege applying to a law officer in the
formulation of government policy.

According to Channel 4 News, the missing piece refers to legal advice
Lord Goldsmith gave to the government.

'Legitimacy'

Channel 4, without giving a source for the information, quotes Ms
Wilmshurst as indicating that the attorney general changed his mind at the
last minute, giving approval for the war after having previously opposed it.

---

Parents 'could pick babies' sex'

Parents could be permitted to select their baby's sex
Parents undergoing IVF could be allowed to select the sex of their baby
under proposals put forward by MPs.
A Commons Science and Technology Committee report said more decisions about
fertility treatment should be made by patients and their doctors.
The MPs also called for the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Authority, to be disbanded.
And they said "taboo" research, such as implanting human cells into animals,
should be considered, with regulation.
It makes a number of bold and challenging recommendations

---

23 mar 05

'Prevent child marriages'

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The Supreme Court has asked Collectors and Superintendents of Police to prevent mass child marriages. This is in view of the thousands of child marriages every year during festivals such as "Akshay tritiya," "Akha Teej," "Ram Navami," "Basant Panchami" and "Karma Jayanti." — PTI
---

Shabana Azmi in NIC

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The Centre today appointed the actor, Shabana Azmi, and the Congress leader, Syed Shahabuddin, members of the National Integration Council (NIC).
The NIC was reconstituted last month under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, a spokesperson said.
The names of Ms. Azmi and Mr. Shahabuddin were under the category of Eminent Public Figures, he said.
---

`Only doctors with 5 years experience can perform sterilisation'
By J. Venkatesan
NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The Supreme Court, expressing serious concern over deaths caused by unregulated sterilisation methods in the country, has directed all States and the Union Territories to permit only those doctors with five years of gynaecological experience to conduct sterilisation programmes.
A three-Judge Bench, comprising Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice C.K. Thakker, passed the order on a petition from Ramakant Rai and another person seeking guidelines for sterilisation procedures.
The Bench said several States had filed affidavits on the steps taken by them to regulate sterilisation procedures. However, it was apparent that there was no uniformity in the procedures and norms for ensuring that the guidelines framed by the Centre were being followed.
The Bench directed all the States and the Union Territories to introduce a system of having an approved panel of doctors with five years of gynaecological experience to carry out sterilisation. The panel might be prepared State, district or region-wise.
---

Woman Leading Friday Prayers Condemned
Arab News
 
JEDDAH, 23 March 2005 — The Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, has strongly condemned as “religious heresy” the recent incident of a woman leading Friday prayers in New York City.
“This is a misleading heresy and sedition,” the academy said about the incident in which Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led prayers for a mixed-gender group.
“The incident is a clear violation of Shariah as it does not allow women leading prayers for men or delivering Friday sermon to them or mingling of men and women at prayers,” said the academy’s statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

---

Wolfowitz Dating Muslim Woman Causes Stir
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News
 
Shaha Ali Riza 

WASHINGTON, 23 March 2005 — Here’s a bit of news that had Washingtonians choking on their coffee this morning: President Bush’s neoconservative hawk Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon’s architect of the US invasion of Iraq, is dating a Muslim!
While battle lines have hardened over President Bush’s nomination of Wolfowitz to become president of the World Bank, what many say is really fueling the controversy is concern within the bank over Wolfowitz’s reported romantic relationship with Shaha Ali Riza, an Arab feminist who is the acting manager for External Relations and Outreach for the Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank.

---

Guest Worker May Lose Digits, Toes After Being Tied Up in Bathroom for a Month
Hassan Adawi, Arab News
 
JEDDAH, 23 March 2005 — A 25-year-old Indonesian woman who came to Saudi Arabia as a guest worker will have several of her fingers, toes and part of her right foot amputated because of gangrene after being tied up for a month in a bathroom by her Saudi sponsor, who also apparently beat her severely, injuring her eye and knocking several of her teeth out.
The reason given was that the woman, who worked as a maid, had not finished cleaning the house. The Indonesian government is demanding justice as Riyadh police continue to investigate this disgusting crime.

---

Man offers 1 mn for place in Pak cricket team!

Asian News International
Islamabad, March 21, 2005

A London-based Pakistani millionaire has offered the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) an amount of nearly one million pound for giving him an opportunity to play for Pakistan against India in the ongoing series.
M Jamshaid, a Pakistani national living in London, made this offer through e-mail to the PCB.
"We have received an e-mail of this millionaire who boasts of his game skills and wants to play for the country," The News quoted a PCB official as saying.

---

Malappuram duo wanted in US

KOZHIKODE, MARCH 22: Two village school dropouts from Malappuram have allegedly pulled off a Rs 50-crore investment scam in New York, swindling scores of NRIs and native Americans. They were running an ethnic restaurant there.
Kerala police have decided to seek the Interpol’s help to crack the case.

The Crime Branch has arrested 35-year-old Mohemmed Ali alias Mohemmed Kutty, a green card holder. They are looking for his senior partner, 45-year-old Shefin Syed Mohemmed Abdullah.
Police say the suave Kutty had gone to school for only four years and was a labourer in Malappuram before migrating to the Gulf 16 years ago.
Abdullah was a cook in Nilambur and was known for his special biriyani. He, too, had gone to the Gulf and had eventually managed to get himself a sponsor to the US. Kutty tagged along and by 1993, the duo had rented floor space from a Chinese landowner in Queen’s Village, Hollid Town, to set out with their small 15-guest restaurant, the Malabar Palace.
The restaurant was an instant hit with the local NRI community, and soon began drawing others as well. Over the years, it grew in size and its owners gained in stature. ‘‘This restaurant was a favoured haunt for many politicians and VIPs going to New York, with Kutty and Shefin playing eager hosts. This increased their credibility in the largely Indian expatriate community,’’ says P. Abdul Hamid, a Circle Inspector investigating the case.
A few years ago, they began advertising in local and community publications in New York, seeking investment to expand the restaurant. And money poured in. ‘‘They roped in all kinds of NRIs — from nurses to software geeks to traders to even daily wage earners — and a whole lot of native Americans too,’’ says Hamid.
The duo even issued stamped receipts to investors and told them the money would be deposited in two New York banks — Citibank and Northfort Bank. Then, in 1993, Shefin and Kutty handed over the restaurant to a Malayalee crew to run it till they came back from vacation, and took a flight home. They never returned.
Tired of waiting, six of their victims, led by Islamuddin Khan — an NRI from UP who had handed them $1,60,000 — petitioned the Kerala DGP recently, who later asked the Crime Branch to probe. Kutty, who the police say was staying in Indian cities, was caught two days ago in his village.
‘‘After word of Kutty’s arrest reached US, we are now being flooded with scores of petitions and phone calls, from New York and even other US cities. It would be sometime before we get an accurate picture, but it (the scam) already appears to be worth upward of Rs 50 crore,’’ police said.

 

---

 

 

Air India Express 21 03 05

----- Original Message -----
From: Dilumon Poulose
To: Sanjiv Varghese ; nam@falcond.com
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 9:19 AM
Subject: FW: Air-India Express flight

Frequently Asked Questions

Booking Queries
How do I book my flight?
Do I receive a ticket when I book a seat on an Air-India Express flight?
Can I purchase an open Air-India Express ticket?
What do I do if I have to fly Air-India Express within the next 24 hours?
How do I pay for my booking?
Can I change my reservation (route, date and time changes)?
Is an Air-India Express booking valid for travel on other airlines?

How do I book my flight?
You can make a new booking by any of the following methods: -
Buy a seat online at www.airindiaexpress.in
Walk into any of Air-India Express's airport or city offices to
purchase over the counter.
Visit one of our appointed Travel Agents. The list is available with
our city and airport offices.
Once your payment has been made, you will be issued an Itinerary
receipt for your reference .

Do I receive a ticket when I book a seat on an Air-India Express flight?
Air-India Express issues Itinerary Receipts instead of conventional
tickets. The itinerary receipt is available online for web-based
bookings or can also be handed over to you by the airline office or
the travel agent once payment has been made for your reference.

Can I purchase an open-dated Air-India Express ticket?
No. All the chosen sectors must be booked and paid for at the same time.

What do I do if I have to fly Air-India Express within the next 24 hours?
Should you need to travel within the next 24 hours then -

Bookings can be made upto 90 minutes prior to flight departure through
Airport office, City office, Travel Agent and website
www.airindiaexpress.in. It may be noted that Check-in counters close
60 minutes prior to flight departure.
Call Air-India Express's Reservation office and make payment through
your credit card up to 6 hours prior to flight departure during office
hours.
Once your payment has been made, you will be issued a PNR Number and
an Itinerary receipt will be handed over to you at the airport
/airline office or by the travel agent for your reference. Please
carry this receipt with you when you report for the flight.

How do I pay for my booking?
There are four ways to pay for your Air-India Express booking:
Online booking via the Internet using credit cards.
Pay for flights booked through the Air-India Express's reservation
office by credit card.
For seats purchased at Air-India Express's walk-in city or airport
offices we accept:
i) cash
ii) credit cards
For seats purchased with one of Air-India Express's preferred travel
agents, kindly refer to the individual agent for details.

Can I change my reservation (route, date and time changes)?
If you wish to change the date and time, you must inform us of your
requirement at least 12 hours before the scheduled departure of your
flight. Changes to your booking will incur a fee of Rs. 250 or
equivalent local currency per passenger per sector and this can be
done at the point where you have bought the ticket, i.e. if you have
made the booking through a travel agent you can get your itinerary
changed through that particular travel agent only.

However, our Reservation offices, Airport and City offices would be
able to help you in making changes in your itinerary, irrespective of
from where you purchased the ticket.

Change of route is not permitted in any case.

Is an Air-India Express booking valid for travel on other airlines?
No, all the bookings are solely for travel on Air-India Express.
Tickets are non-endorsable to any other airline.

Baggage Queries
How much baggage can I check-in on Air-India Express flights?
How much hand luggage (unchecked baggage) can I bring onboard
Air-India Express flights?
With upgraded security on aircraft what items am I not permitted to
carry onboard the aircraft?

How much baggage can I check-in on Air-India Express flights?
Each passenger (excluding infants) is allowed, depending on the
destination, some baggage free of charge, subject to the regulations
of the airline. Checked baggage in excess of free allowance is subject
to excess baggage charge and space availability on the aircraft.
(Unless otherwise specified). Infants are entitled to 10 kilos baggage
free of charge.

How much hand luggage (unchecked baggage) can I bring onboard
Air-India Express flights?
Each passenger (excluding infants) is allowed to carry one small
piece of hand luggage (unchecked baggage), which must not exceed 7
kilos. If your hand luggage exceeds the stated limits it will have to
be checked in. In the event that your total checked-in baggage exceeds
the free allowance, an excess baggage charge will be incurred. It is
recommended that all valuable articles are only carried in your hand
luggage.

With upgraded security on aircraft what items am I not permitted to
carry onboard the aircraft?
Recently, there has been an increase in the level of security
onboard all aircraft. Passengers are not allowed to bring any sharp
objects onto the aircraft. This includes nail clippers, scissors,
razors, blades, bulbs, batteries or any other object that may be
considered dangerous. The airline will not be held responsible for any
such item, which is taken over by security agencies.

Lost Baggage & Refunds
What should I do if my baggage has been lost during my flight with
Air-India Express? Am I entitled to compensation?
Can I get a refund for a seat that has not been used?

What should I do if my baggage has been lost during my flight with
Air-India Express? Am I entitled to compensation?
In the event of loss or damage to baggage the airline's liability is
limited to USD20 (or equivalent local currency) per kilo for
checked-in baggage, provided, loss of baggage has been reported to the
airline, prior to leaving the customs enclosure and if not traced
within 7 days.

Can I get a refund for a seat that has not been used?
Please refer to Air-India Express's cancellation and refund policy.

Check-In
When do I check-in?
How do I check-in without a ticket?
Is there any advance seat reservation facility?

When do I check-in?
Air-India Express check-in counters open 3 hours prior to scheduled
flight departures. Kindly proceed to the check-in counters assigned to
Air-India Express. Check-in counters close 1 hour before the scheduled
departure.

How do I check-in without a ticket?
The check-in process is the same as with a conventional paper
ticket. Simply bring your Itinerary Receipt and your valid passport
and visa to the check-in counter. For domestic travel a photo-Id i.e
driving license, credit card, Pan card, etc. is required.

Is there any advance seat reservation facility?
No. Seat numbers will be assigned at the time of check-in.

Delays and Cancellation of Flights
What is Air-India Express's procedure for delayed flights?
What is Air-India Express's policy if a flight is cancelled?
Am I entitled to a refund if I cancel my flight?
In the event that I miss my onward flight as a result of my first
flight being delayed, will Air-India Express put me on the next
available flight or refund my ticket?

What is Air-India Express's procedure for delayed flights?
In the event of a delayed flight we make every effort to contact
passengers in advance to inform them of the rescheduled departure.
Passengers are requested to provide their local telephone contact in
order to advise them regarding delays.

What is Air-India Express's policy if a flight is cancelled?
Air-India Express has 2 options available to passengers in the event
that a flight is cancelled.

Passengers can be transferred to the next available Air-India Express
flight without any additional charges subject to seats being
available.
Fare can be refunded.

Am I entitled to a refund if I cancel my flight?
Please refer to the Air-India Express cancellation policy.

In the event that I miss my onward flight as a result of my first
flight being delayed, will Air-India Express put me on the next
available flight or refund my ticket?
No, Air-India Express operates on a point-to-point basis and will
not be held responsible for the consequence of any delays experienced
while flying Air-India Express.

Traveling with infants, expectant mothers and travelers with special needs
How does Air-India Express classify an infant, a child and an adult?
How do I book for an infant?
What should I do if I need special assistance?
What is Air-India Express's policy regarding unaccompanied young
passengers?
What are the regulations for expectant mothers traveling on Air-India
Express?
Can I request for special assistance for disabled passengers?
How do I make a request for specific seats?

How does Air-India Express classify an infant, a child and an adult?
An infant is classified as one below 2 years of age, a child is
classified as between 2 and 12 years of age and an adult is anyone
over the age of 12 years. All infants must be accompanied by an adult
passenger in the ratio of one infant to one adult.

How do I book for an infant?
The same procedure has to be applied as is applicable for booking an
adult. However, the date of birth is mandatory. Infant must be booked
with the accompanying adult .

What should I do if I need special assistance?
Should you require any special services while you travel with
Air-India Express please call our Reservation Offices and inform our
staff of your requirements and they will do their best to accommodate
your needs.

What is Air-India Express's policy regarding unaccompanied young
passengers?
Air-India Express will accept unaccompanied children between 5 years
and 12 years of age.

What are the regulations for expectant mothers traveling on Air-India
Express?
Expectant mothers may travel up to and including the 27 weeks of
their pregnancy, and will be accepted between 28 to 35 weeks if they
are in possession of a doctor's certificate confirming the stage of
their pregnancy and stating that they are fit to fly. Expectant
mothers above their 36 weeks will not be allowed to fly on Air-India
Express.
Can I request for special assistance for disabled passengers?
Upon reservation we will make every effort to ensure that any
special services you may require are provided to you.

How do I make a request for specific seats?
Seats are only assigned at the time of check-in. The earlier you
check-in, the better chances you have to request for your preferred
seat.

General FAQ
Does Air-India Express provide any food or drinks onboard?
Where does Air-India Express fly?
What type of aircraft does Air-India Express fly?
Does Air-India Express offer any special offers such as a frequent
flyer program?

Does Air-India Express provide any food or drinks onboard?
Air-India Express will provide pre-set meals in addition to soft beverages
.

Where does Air-India Express fly?
To start-off Air-India Express plans to fly to 4 international
destinations  Dubai, Abu dhabi, Muscat and Salalah, with service from
5 Indian cities  Calicut, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and
Delhi.

What type of aircraft does Air-India Express fly?
Air-India Express will operate a B737-800 new generation aircraft in
economy version.

Does Air-India Express offer any special offers such as a frequent
flyer program?
No, Air-India Express does not offer a frequent flyer program.

If you have any more questions, please contact us
Delhi / Mumbai / Kerala - 1412
For passengers from Rest Of India call ( 011) -1412 for Delhi
(022) -1412 for Mumbai
(0471) -1412 for Trivandrum

19 mar 05

From: rvarma
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 23:13:26 -0800
Subject: The real looters

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14: Maharashtra, which houses Mumbai, the financial
capital of the country, accounts for the highest amount of corporate loan
defaults in the banking sector. Corporates in the state owe a whopping Rs
37,396 crore as dues to banks and financial institutions as on March 31,
2004.

Delhi is a distant second in the defaulters' list with Rs 13,399 crore
outstandings. The total amount of bad loans in the banking sector stood at
Rs 96,084 crore at the end of 2003-04, of which the largest chunk - Rs
52,101 crore - was with public sector banks, followed by private and foreign
banks with stressed assets of Rs 22,357 crore.
Banks and FIs have already filed suits for recovery of Rs 62,639.54 crore of
the outstanding amount. Though they have been successful in recouping
substantial dues, fresh non-performing assets are being added up
simultaneously. According to Reserve Bank of India's list of defaulters
released by the All Indian Bank Employees Association, companies in Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal with unpaid dues of Rs 10,755 crore, Rs
6,542 crore and Rs 5,822 crore respectively also feature in the list of top
five.
"The NPA level is huge and it needs to be immediately cleaned up before
allowing foreign money into the sector," CH Venkatachalam, secretary, AIBEA,
told FE.
The biggest defaulters include well-known names such as DCM Ltd, Lloyds
Steel, Core Healthcare, Prakash Industries, Malvika Steel, IG Petro and
Pyrites Private Ltd.
Mr Venkatachalam also said the validation of the Sarfaesi Act by the Supreme
Court did not have any wholesome effect on reducing the non-performing
assets. The Act empowers the banks to recover the outstandings but they are
largely unable to exercise the option due to the Debt Recovery Tribunal Act
provision mandating withdrawal of all cases before the tribunals prior to
recovery.
Meanwhile, unions have also demanded that Securitisation Act must empower
banks to take over personal assets of the top management of defaulting
companies.

---

The Word of the Day for Mar 18 is:
capricious \kuh-PRISH-us\ adjective

: governed or characterized by sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated
ideas or actions : unpredictable
Example sentence:
Given his capricious nature, Irving is more likely to go wherever the road
takes him than follow any scripted plan.
Did you know?
The noun "caprice," which first appeared in English in the mid-17th century,
is a synonym of "whim." Evidence shows that the adjective "capricious"
debuted about sixty years before "caprice"; however, it's likely that both
words derived via French from the Italian "capriccio," which originally
referred not to a sudden desire, but to a sudden shudder of fear.
"Capriccio" in turn derives from the Italian "capo," meaning "head," and
"riccio," the word for "hedgehog."

---

From: rvarma
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:08:12 -0800
Subject: Air Arabia

DUBAI: UAE-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia LLC announced on Thursday the
commencement of daily flights to Mumbai from March 26, with the fare of a
one-way ticket from Sharjah to Mumbai starting from nearly Rs 3,000.
The fare of the one-way ticket excluded government taxes and surcharges and
similar return fares will also be available, Air Arabia said, adding its
fares will be at least 15-20 per cent lower than other airlines.
Also, the airliner's fare structure is based on supply and demand and fares
increase as more seats are booked on a particular flight. Flights will
depart Sharjah International Airport daily at 16:40 hrs and arrive in Mumbai
at 21:00 hrs local time.
From Mumbai, flights will depart every day at 21:45 hrs and arrive in
Sharjah at 23:25 hrs local time. The latest destination grows the airline's
reach to 12 countries and 16 destinations within the Middle East, North
Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
" I would like to thank the Indian government and civil aviation authorities
for their role in facilitating our operations and their invaluable
cooperation in making this possible," said Mr Adel Ali, Air Arabia's CEO. -
PTI

---

New Patents Bill introduced amid protests

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 18. The Patents (Amendment) Bill, 2005, was introduced in
the Lok Sabha today amid protests with a majority of members from across the
political spectrum, including parties supporting the Government, objecting
to the adoption of the ordinance route.

The introduction of the Bill - replacing the Patents (Amendment) Ordinance,
2004, promulgated on December 26 last year to meet the January 1, 2005,
deadline to move over to a new patents regime - by the Union Commerce
Minister, Kamal Nath, saw the Left parties on the side of the Opposition
along with the Samajwadi Party protesting the move.

---

Woman Leads Friday Prayers in New York City
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 19 March 2005 - In a historic first in New York City yesterday,
a group of American Muslim activists broke with convention and had a woman
lead the Friday prayers, in order to "send women from the back to the front
of mosques."

According to the Progressive Muslim Union, which organized the event, Dr.
Amina Wadud, professor of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth
University, was the first woman to lead public, mixed-gender Friday prayers.
She also delivered Friday's sermon.

Dr. Wadud, the author of "Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a
Woman's Perspective," believes Muslim women should be able to lead in
prayers.

The Muslim world and the American Muslim community generally believe that
women cannot lead mixed-gender prayers. It is only over the centuries, they
say, Muslim women have lost their place as intellectual and spiritual
leaders.

"I have no objection to this salah, even though I disagree with it. It is a
matter of opinion, it is not a fixed law that women cannot lead the salah,"
Imam Mohamed Al-Hanooti, the grand mufti of Washington metropolitan area,
told Arab News.

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16 mar 05

'Da Vinci Code' blasted by top cardinal

By Philip Pullella
Wednesday, 16 March , 2005, 03:01

Rome: A top Catholic cardinal has blasted The Da Vinci Code as a "gross and
absurd" distortion of history and said Catholic bookstores should take the
bestseller off their shelves because it is full of "cheap lies."
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an interview with the Milan newspaper Il
Giornale, became the highest ranking Italian Churchman to speak out against
the book, an international blockbuster that has sold millions of copies.

"(It) aims to discredit the Church and its history through gross and absurd
manipulations," Bertone, the archbishop of the northern Italian city of
Genoa and a close friend of Pope John Paul told the paper in its Monday
edition.
"This seems like a throwback to the old anti-clerical pamphlets of the
1800s," he said.
The central claim of the book, written by U.S. author Dan Brown, is that
Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. The Bible says Jesus never
married, was crucified and rose from the dead.
Bertone's comments were significant because until the Pope named him
archbishop of Genoa in 2003 he was for years the number two man at the
Vatican's most powerful department - the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith.
"You can find that book everywhere and the risk is that many people who read
it believe that those fairy tales are real," he said. "I think I have the
responsibility to clear things up to unmask the cheap lies contained in
books like that."
HOLY GRAIL
A central storyline of the book is that the Holy Grail is not the cup which
Christ is said to have used at the Last Supper but really the bloodline
descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Bertone calls this idea "a
perversion".
Bertone is so incensed about the novel that he will be the key speaker at a
roundtable in Genoa on Wednesday night attempting to dismantle the book,

'Date of birth in horoscope not conclusive proof of age'
By Our Legal Correspondent
NEW DELHI, MARCH 15 . The Supreme Court has held that the date of birth
(DoB) entered in one's horoscope cannot be taken as conclusive proof for
determining the age if the DoB recorded in the school register is different.
A Bench, comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia, giving
this ruling said: "Horoscope is a very weak material to prove age of a
person." But "where no other material is available, the horoscope may be
considered but subject to its authenticity being established." For a
horoscope to be treated as evidence in terms of Section 32 (5) of the Indian
Evidence Act, it must be proved to have been prepared by a person having
special knowledge as regards to the authenticity of date and time mentioned
therein. The school records have more probative value than a horoscope for
determining the exact date of birth of a person, the Bench said allowing an
appeal of the Punjab Government against a High Court order ruling in favour
of a person who had relied on the horoscope for proving his DoB.
---

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ravi Varma"
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 11:09 AM
Subject: Tally

Building brand 'Tally'

The story of an Indian software package that has made global reach

SRINIVAS R
Posted online: Saturday, March 05, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

Tally, one of the better known software packages developed in India,
is making silent strides in spreading computerisation among the small
business establishments and charted accountants, not only in India but
in 88 countries across the world.

Tally-the package and the brand- has been built over 19 years and
developed by a businessman (not a software whizkid!). For sheer
numbers, today Tally has over 1.8 million users outside India. In
India, over 35 lakh small establishments and a bulk of 80,000
professional chartered accou-ntants use Tally accounting solutions.

Meanwhile, the company is looking at making full use of the
opportunity in the VAT regime. "Business people need to adopt VAT
structure from April 1. We have introduced specific packages in
Singapore and the UK, where VAT has been in use," said Tally Solutions
president Bharath Gopalakrishnan.

The company has launched Tally 7.2 version with state-specific tax
structures to facilitate filing of statutory returns by businessmen.
"A businessman will be required to provide the raw data, and all the
reports according to VAT requirement will be generated by our
software," he added.

With changes in the tax regime, even Tally is looking at having a
different marketing strategy to sell its products more aggresively.
"According to various industry studies, over 16 million business
establishments are present in India today. Of this, eight million
establishments are too small (like paan shops), which are not looking
at adopting computers as of now. The remaining eight million, already
four million are computerised. We see a huge potential in the rest and
are looking at selling around a million packages in the next few
months," he said.

In order to reach out to these business establishments, the company
has signed up with over 25,000 hardware resellers in the country to
market its product. "Along with our 100 direct dealers, we have signed
up with over 25,000 hardware resellers," said Mr Gopalakrishnan.

There is another reason for the company to sign up with hardware
resellers. As Mr Gopalakrishnan puts it, in the last 18 years though
millions are using the Tally package, only 1.5 lakh are registered
users. "Piracy is over 90%. We are providing training to all the
resellers about the value proposition that Tally offers them if they
sell the package to the customers," he said.

Moving forward, Tally plans a channel presence of over 50,000 hardware
and software resellers who will be enabled and trained by Tally
Solutions to act as Value Added Resellers. "In the next four quarters,
we are introducing pay-roll package, Tally on Microsoft and Linux
platform and also in multiple languages. In the first quarter, we plan
to export our product to the Middle East and South-East Asia," said Mr
Gopalakrishnan.

The company gets 90% of its business from the domestic market and 10%
from exports. The Tally package is priced at Rs 4,950 for single users
and Rs 13,500 for multiple user licenses in India.

--

The Word of the Day for Mar 05 is:
indigence \IN-dih-junss\ noun

: a level of poverty in which real hardship and deprivation are suffered and
comforts of life are wholly lacking
Example sentence:
"It is a fine thing, reader, to be lifted in a moment from indigence to
wealth." (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre)
Did you know?
Is your vocabulary impoverished by a lack of synonyms for "poverty"? We can
help. "Poverty," "penury," "want," "destitution," and "indigence" all
describe the state of someone who is lacking in key resources. "Poverty"
covers the range from severe lack of basic necessities to an absence of
material comforts ("the refugees lived in extreme poverty"). "Penury"
suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money ("illness condemned him to
years of penury"). "Want" and "destitution" imply extreme, even
life-threatening, poverty ("they lived in a perpetual state of want") ("the
widespread destitution in countries beset by famine"). "Indigence," which
descends from a Latin verb meaning "to need," implies seriously straitened
circumstances and usually connotes the endurance of many hardships and the
lack of comforts ("she struggled through the indigence of her college
years").

---

Violent eruptions in Wisconsin and Georgia: the pathology of a society in
crisis

The bloody incidents last Friday and Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia and
Brookfield, Wisconsin have dominated the American media for the past week.
And with reason: the killing of seven people at a Wisconsin church service
and four people in and around an Atlanta courtroom are the latest
expressions of an increasingly common and troubling phenomenon in America:
eruptions of apparently random and self-destructive violence.
The media coverage provides no understanding of the social meaning of these
events. On the contrary, it obscures it, treating the two gunmen, Brian
Nichols in Atlanta and Terry Ratzmann in Wisconsin, as isolated cases,
individuals driven solely by their own pathologies rather than products of a
society that is increasingly dysfunctional, crisis-stricken and brutal.
In Atlanta, the media focus has been on the evident failure of courthouse
security. Nichols, a 210-pound former athlete, was able to overpower a
female sheriff's deputy, take her gun, kill three people, and then escape
from the Fulton County Courthouse, where he was on trial for rape, facing
life in prison if convicted. He later killed a fourth person and took his
car, before surrendering to police.
Ross owed over $18,000 in unpaid credit card debts. He was forced to sell
his home and rent it back, then was evicted and lived in his minivan during
the last weeks of his life.
If Ratzmann and Nichols had killed "only" one victim and then themselves,
their actions would have drawn scarcely any notice. Such tragedies take
place on a daily basis in the United States. Far from being isolated
events, the killings in Georgia and Wisconsin highlight a pattern of
behavior which must have deeper social roots.
According to a 2002 report by the Violence Policy Center, at least 662
people died in murder-suicides in the United States over a six-month period
the previous year-an average of nearly two murder-suicides each day, every
day. Seven states had more than 10 murder-suicides during the study period:
Florida (35), California (29) and Texas (29), Pennsylvania (17), New York
(14), Virginia (12), and Ohio (11).
No more recent figures are available. Due to political pressure from the gun
lobby and other right-wing groups, no government agency compiles centralized
statistics on either suicides or homicides involving firearms. According to
the VPC, however, more US firearm deaths are suicides than homicides (16,599
compared to 10,828 in 1999).
Three-quarters of murder-suicides involved "intimate partners," the study
found, and of these, 94 percent involved men killing women and then
themselves.

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