Iceland's most active volcano starts erupting

May 22 , 2011

Reykjavik: Iceland's most active volcano has started erupting, scientists said on Saturday - just over a year after another eruption on the North Atlantic island shut down European air traffic for days.

Iceland's Meteorological Office confirmed that an eruption had begun at the Grimsvotn volcano, accompanied by a series of small earthquakes. Smoke could be seen rising from the volcano, which lies under the uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland.

6.1 magnitude quake strikes near New Zealand

May 22 , 2011

Wellington: The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 6.1 earthquake has struck near a group of South Pacific islands. There are no reports of damage or risk of tsunami.

A statement by the USGS says the quake struck Sunday 12 miles (19 kilometers) under the Kermadec Islands, a New Zealand group with no permanent population that lies 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of the city of Auckland.

Qaeda's new chief vows to avenge Osama's death

May 22 , 2011

London: Al Qaeda's new chief Saif al-Adel has vowed to launch a devastating terror attack on London to avenge Osama Bin Laden's death, prompting authorities in London to step up security at city's vital installations.

Al-Adel, 51, who was once bin Laden's security chief is determined to make Britain and the US pay for the killing of his dead boss, Taliban chiefs revealed on Saturday. He is ordering his followers to 'crush' the city.

Pakistan says wants China to build naval base

May 22 , 2011

Islamabad: Pakistan said on Saturday it wanted China to build it a naval base, in the latest sign of moves to strengthen ties with Beijing as relations with Washington falter.

The announcement from Pakistan's defence minister came a day after Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani returned from a four-day visit to China, Islamabad's biggest arms supplier.

Japan, China, South Korea hold summit in Tokyo

May 22 , 2011

Tokyo: The leaders of China and South Korea agreed on Sunday to bolster efforts to aid Japan's disaster recovery as they met with the Japanese prime minister to smooth over differences on Tokyo's handling of its post-tsunami nuclear crisis.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan hosted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Sunday's summit. Japan hoped the meeting would present a unified front after Beijing and Seoul criticized its response to the nuclear crisis, and that it would lead to an easing of restrictions on the export of Japanese produce.

Bin Laden made recording shortly before his death - CTV News

Bin Laden made recording shortly before his death - CTV News

JNU student arrested over sex scandal

May 22 , 2011

New Delhi: The prime accused in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) MMS scandal has been arrested. The accused, 22-year-old Janardan Kumar had allegedly recorded a video-clip involving himself and a girl he shared an intimate relationship with.

He had then allegedly circulated the video after their relationship strained. Authorities had expelled Janardan and another fellow mate earlier this year after the incident came to light.

DCP (South), Chhaya Sharma said, "This case was registered and further investigation have led to now the arrest of Janardan who had gone to a place called Nawada in Bihar and was running a coaching center there."

As police launched its investigation, they found that Kumar had intimate relations with the girl whom he knew for some years, and had recorded an obscene video clipping involving the two.

The videography was then converted into a video file with the help of his friend Balbir and circulated in the campus when Kumar's relations with the girl had strained.

Police said further investigation is on to recover the laptop, camera and other accessories used in the incident.

Following the JNU internal inquiry, Kumar and Balbir were expelled while another student Rahul, whose room was used in the episode, was suspended in February.

JNU also filed an official complaint with the police while submitting a report of their own inquiry. 

'New Al-Qaeda head vows to avenge Osama’s death'

May 22 , 2011

LONDON: Al-Qaeda's new chief Saif al-Adel has vowed to launch a devastating terror attack on London to avenge Osama Bin Laden's death, prompting authorities here to step up security at city's vital installations.

Al-Adel, 51, who was once bin Laden's security chief is determined to make Britain and the US pay for the killing of his dead boss, Taliban chiefs revealed yesterday. He is ordering his followers to 'crush' the city.

Soon after being officially appointed caretaker chief of the terrorist group, al-Adel vowed to avenge the death of his former boss, Mail online reported.

"Our new leader has asked for a big plan for London," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said. "He believes the UK is the backbone of Europe and must be crushed."

A poster released by the FBI shows a photo of Saif Al-Adel, one of America's most wanted terrorists.

Infosys to invest in a new campus in Shanghai

May 22 , 2011,

New Delhi: The country's second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies on Sunday said it plans to invest between $125-$150 million in its new campus in Shanghai, China.

"Infosys plans to invest between $125-$150 million in the new campus, one of the largest investments in China by a software company," the company said in a statement.

Infosys on Sunday laid the foundation stone for the new campus, which will be spread over 15 acres and will be developed over a period of three years.

With an overall seating capacity for 8,000 employees, the campus will have facilities for software development, labs, data centres, training facilities, food courts, a 1,500-seater auditorium, gym, and other recreational facilities.

The Shanghai campus will be the largest overseas software development centre of Infosys adhering to the highest environmental standards, it said.

"As the second largest economy in the world, China will lead the world in economic growth in the future and we see exciting times ahead. This large investment is a testimony to Infosys' commitment to China," Infosys Chief Mentor and Chairman of the Board NR Narayana Murthy said.

"We will use our enhanced capacity here to deliver high quality consulting and software services to the global markets as well as to our clients in China," he added.

Infosys Technologies (China) CEO Rangarajan Vellamore said with this investment and enhanced capability, the company aimed to lead service capability out of China to global and local markets.

"When this campus is completed we expect to have over 10,000 employees in Shanghai alone," Vellamore added. Infosys China was incorporated in 2004 and had revenues of over $78 million in fiscal year 2011.

The company has invested in development centres in Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiang HiTech Park, Hangzhou Binjiang HiTech Park, Beijing China Oversea Plaza, a sales office in Hong Kong and a global education centre in Jiaxing Science city.

Infosys China employs over 3,300 people in China and has already invested $23 million in capital and has office space for 4,200 people in China, the statement said.

Iceland volcano erupts, officials eye flight risks

May 22 , 2011

celand's most active volcano erupted on Saturday, hurling a plume of ash and smoke far into the sky, which aviation officials were closely monitoring after another volcano shut European airspace for days last year.

Authorities banned flights close to the Grimsvotn volcano but an official said the eruption was not expected to affect European airline traffic at least for the next 24 hours.

The plume from the Grimsvotn volcano shot 20 km (12 miles) into the sky. The website of newspaper Morgunbladid said the eruption was more powerful than its last in 2004.

"We have closed the area until we know better what effect the ash will have," said Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, spokesperson for the Isavia civil aviation authority which has imposed a flight ban of 120 nautical miles (222 km) around the area.

Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull caused chaos when it erupted in April last year. Authorities halted flights due to fears that dust and ash would get into aircraft engines and cause accidents after the cloud was blown into European air traffic lanes. Grimsvotn lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe. When it last erupted in 2004 trans-Atlantic flights had to be re-routed south of Iceland, but no airports were closed.

Gudmundsdottir said the winds in the area were strong and that Isavia and the Icelandic meteorological office were coordinating with Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAAC), which advise airlines about the movement of clouds of volcanic ash. There are two VAACs near Iceland, in London and the French city of Toulouse.

"It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," Icelandic Met Office geologist Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson told Reuters, referring Eyjafjallajokull.He said the plume from Grimsvotn was going to the north and that the office's forecast for the next 24 hours was that ash would not affect European airline traffic. The volcano could erupt for several days, he added. One positive factor for air traffic was that the ash from this eruption was heavier, whereas the ash last year was lighter and so drifted further.

Domestic airline Icelandair said no traffic had been affected. "We do not expect the Grimsvotn eruption to affect air traffic to and from the country in any way," said Icelandair communications director Gudjon Arngrimsson.

Pictures on local media websites showed a thick cloud of white smoke like a mushroom cloud over surrounding mountains. "Grimsvotn is a very powerful volcano, so we're monitoring it closely, even if the last few eruptions have been harmless," University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson was quoted as saying on the website of Morgunbladid. "We do not expect this to be a big one as it's coming from the same crater as the last three eruptions, which were all small," he added.

Japan quake reconstruction to cost $ 184 bn

May 22 , 2011

Tokyo: Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Sunday the government may need to spend 10 trillion yen to 15 trillion yen ($184 billion) for reconstruction from the devastating earthquake that hit the country's northeast in March.

The government may need to issue bonds to meet the costs but should not do so without coming up with ways to pay for redemption, Yosano said, signalling that some form of tax hike would be inevitable.

"I understand those who say we need to issue bonds for quake (reconstruction). But we shouldn't borrow recklessly without thinking about how to pay the money back," Yosano told a television programme.

"If we were to issue bonds for reconstruction, we need to decide in how many years we would pay the money back and how. That's important in maintaining market trust in Japan's fiscal state," he said.

Japan is reeling from the triple disaster of an earthquake, tsunami and prolonged nuclear crisis, with the government struggling to find ways to pay for the biggest reconstruction effort since the aftermath of World War II.

Damage from the quake pushed Japan into recession with the economy shrinking much more than expected in the first quarter and set to contract again in April-June as power shortages and supply chain disruptions hit factory output.

The government earlier this month passed through parliament a 4-trillion-yen first extra budget to meet immediate disaster relief costs. It plans to compile a sizable second extra budget for reconstruction, although lawmakers are divided on how to pay for the spending.

Japan's public debt, at double the size of its $5 trillion economy, is the biggest among major industrialised economies, limiting room for additional fiscal stimulus.

But lawmakers are hesitant of raising tax, particularly the politically sensitive sales tax, for fear of scaring voters away, even as the cost of quake reconstruction adds to the huge social welfare spending for a rapidly ageing society. Yosano, regarded as a fiscal hawk, has said that raising tax is crucial for Japan to meet ballooning social welfare costs and fix the country's tattered finances.

  

Banks lost Rs 2,017 cr in fraud in 2009-10: CBI

May 22 , 2011

New Delhi: Over Rs 2,000 crore was lost by the country's banking sector in frauds during 2009-10 with more than 200 of these incidents involving deception of above one crore each, CBI Director A P Singh has said.

The CBI chief has warned the banks of latest trends emerging in banking frauds in areas like electronic payments, technology-related payments like RTGS, credit cards, ATM, cell banking, internet banking among others.

"Banking Sector has lost as much as Rs 1,883 crore and Rs 2,017 crore during 2008-09 and 2009-2010, respectively. These include over 200 frauds of above Rs one crore during each year," he said during the 'Third Conference of Central Vigilance Officers of 31 Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions' at the CBI headquarters here.Singh said CBI's role was to investigate the criminality in bank frauds and it does not interfere in cases of prudent commercial judgement, even if such decisions involve risks or have resulted in losses to banks.

He called upon banks to adapt to changing technology and to sensitise its officers to new areas of fraud being used by scamsters.

Singh stated that involvement of banking officials in guiding investigating officers in scrutiny of financial statement, credit appraisal has enhanced the professionalism of CBI in detecting bank frauds. 

India’s real GDP growth likely to grow by 8.8 p.c.: CMIE

May 22 , 2011

 India’s real GDP growth is expected to grow by 8.8 per cent in FY’12 after having grown a tad faster, at 9 per cent in FY’11, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said.

“In FY’12, the Indian economy is projected to grow at a brisk 8.8 per cent. The agricultural and allied sector is projected to grow by 3.3 per cent in FY’12, on top of the 5.4 per cent growth estimated in FY’11,” the city-based think-tank said in its monthly review.

Growth and inflation would remain high in FY’12, it observed.

Inflation has remained high long enough for even those who were the proponents of growth against low inflation till recently to start worrying about inflation. The Government has effectively backed RBI’s 50 basis point interest rate hike on recent policy. This was the seventh hike in interest rates by the Central bank in 11 months.

Inflation climbed down from its peak of 16 per cent year-on-year in January 2010, but it remained in double-digits till July. It has not fallen even much thereafter. Between August 2010 and March 2011, WPI-inflation was between 8.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent.

The Government has expressed fears that high inflation and high crude oil prices may hurt growth. They have therefore expressed solidarity with RBI’s hike in interest rates to rein in inflation.

According to analysts, inflation is influenced much more by global commodity price trends and by higher employment caused by new capacities than by the levels of interest hikes announced by the RBI.

We see significant new capacity additions in FY’12. Its corresponding new employment and higher wages is expected to drive capital formation and consumption growth in FY’12, CMIE noted.

The industrial sector, including construction, is projected to grow by 9.4 per cent during FY’12, as compared to 8.5 per cent estimated in FY’11. The growth in industrial production will be driven by a rise consumption and investment demand. Consumption demand will be driven by a rise in wages and fresh employment generation, it said.

Investment demand is expected to remain buoyant, as more and more projects move into the implementation stage, the leading research outfit said.

Projects worth Rs. 8 lakh crore are scheduled to be commissioned in FY’12 as compared to Rs. 2.7 lakh crore in FY’11. This is expected to push up activities in the construction sector. The sector is projected to grow by 10.5 per cent during the current fiscal, as compared to an estimated 9.8 per cent in FY’11, it stated.

The growth in the services sector and its segments is projected to marginally moderate in FY’12. The sector is projected to expand by 9.9 per cent as compared to an estimated 10.2 per cent in FY’11.

Private final consumption expenditure is projected to grow by a healthy 7.5 per cent and gross fixed capital formation by 14.6 per cent in FY’12 in real terms, CMIE said.

West Bengal: New CM, new work culture

May 22 , 2011

Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee was on foot again to the Writers' Buildings - and this time she caused a flutter by turning up for work on a Saturday - something the staff at the state secretariat are not used to.

Apart from holding meetings with her ministers, Banerjee utilised the day touring the different blocks of the building and seeing things for herself at the State's power citadel.

The West Bengal chief minister said, "If you do the work well, others will follow you. But you must know how to work. Political affiliations often pose hurdles in government's work."

Taking cue from Chief Minister, ministers who have just been allotted portfolios also tried to create an impression. They attended to guests, accepted congratulations and made seemingly tall promises…

Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, "The facilities that Londan has and the way it is maintained, we have to build Kolkata in the same way."

Sports Minister Madan Mitra said, "I will speak to the corporate companies, the corporate sector to promote and sponsor four sportsmen in each field of sports." Irrigation Minister Manas Bhuinya said, "I have talked with the additional chief secretary of my department, all officers… I have told them I will not mean who you are but I will mean what you are doing." Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu said, "The interference of college unions during admissions must stop. Unions can do their politics after admissions are over."

A significant start, many would say even as doubts prevailed among Banerjee's well wishers about her ability to sustain the effort.

"The bustle behind me suggests that Saturday is like any other working day for the new government of West Bengal. And if morning shows the day, the Babus of Writers' Buildings will have to re-plan their weekends from now on. 

Kanimozhi innocent, we will win: MK

May 22 , 2011

CHENNAI: Asserting that his daughter DMK MP Kanimozhi was completely innocent as far as the money transfer relating to Kalaignar TV went, DMK president M Karunanidhi on Saturday described her arrest as the resultant effect of a plot created by those who had been nursing animosity against his family.

Indicating that the DMK cadre should get ready for an araporattam (struggle), Karunanidhi, in his letter to the party cadre said “in the end we will win”.

“I am writing this letter at a time when the DMK had faced big electoral loss... I don’t want to go into the question as to who was responsible for this defeat... whether the number of constituencies received by exerting pressure or the Election Commission that adopted extraordinary conditions in Tamil Nadu”, he said.

Karunanidhi revealed that Kanimozhi became a stakeholder in Kalaignar TV only upon his insistence.

“Apart from becoming a shareholder, Kanimozhi has not committed any mistake”, Karunanidhi said and added that despite the argument  made by a senior advocate that the shareholders of a company need not be held responsible for the day-to-day affairs as well as the company’s financial issues, the court had arrested Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV’s CEO Sharad Kumar.

When Dayalu Ammal withdrew from Sun TV, she got Rs100 crore and after deducting the income tax, she got Rs 77.5 crore and of this, Kanimozhi got Rs 2 crore. It was only with this money, that Kanimozhi became one of the shareholders of Kalaignar TV, he said.

Observing that he had been born into a wealthy family in Tirukkuvalai village, Karunanidhi said that during his long public life, he had donated crores of rupees earned from his work in the film industry to charitable activities.

Besides, the DMK chief reiterated that he had never adopted any fraudulent means to amass wealth.

UPA-II turns two: a reason to celebrate?

May 22, 2011

New Delhi: The Prime Minister will host a dinner for the Congress allies on the occasion of the UPA-II's second anniversary. But with scams and controversies refusing to die down, the question is whether there is actually much to celebrate.

In these two years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have been busier defending their government in the face of scams and controversies, leaving little time for governance. But as it completes two years, it hopes that its report card will present a brighter side.

It began on a bad note when the Prime Minister was forced to take A Raja as the telecom minister under pressure from the DMK and it was this pressure which has dented the Prime Minister's image. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was pulled up by the court, questioned by the CAG, attacked by the BJP and was forced to make a statement in Parliament, and with attack being the best form of defence, the Prime Minister lashed out at Advani.

The Government was forced to agree to a Joint Parliamentary Committee not before a washout of the winter session and loss of face.

What is even worse is that its ministers have been seen as non performers and even the mini Cabinet reshuffle saw no fresh faces, following which the Prime Minister faced flak and promised a real reshuffle soon.

The Commonwealth Games brought more embarrassment, caught in controversies even as it was on. Many of its key organisers like Suresh Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot are now behind bars.

One may question why does the UPA want to come with a report card, but government sources say that it hopes that a list of its achievements could help erase the controversies.

Sources have said that the report card, apart from mentioning its achievements, will not shy away from talking about corruption.