New Delhi: Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s candidature as the ICC vice president appears to have run into rough weather with the BCCI apparently being reluctant to back him in the executive board meeting tomorrow.

BCCI is drawing up its strategy for the ICC executive board meeting where Howard’s nomination will come up for discussion.

BCCI former president Sharad Pawar is also set to take over as the ICC president, becoming the only second Indian after Jagmohan Dalmiya to occupy the coveted post, after the meeting on July 1.

Although there was no official word on the BCCI’s stand, it is learnt that the Indian Board is not too keen to support Howard’s candidature because of his past record and statement.

The BCCI top brass is currently in Singapore for the meeting but a source said that such a development is very much a possibility.

The Pakistan cricket board had sought the advice of the government on the matter, which gave it full autonomy to decide on the issue and sources said PCB would follow their Asian counterparts when the ICC decides this week.

If India does go against Howard, it is likely that they will mobilise support from the other Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which will make the former prime ministers task all the more difficult.

Howard needs seven out of the 10 votes to win the election but has few friends among the members.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have openly opposed the nomination of Howard for the Vice President’s post and the former Australian premier recently visited Zimbabwe in a bid to garner support for his nomination.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka don’t support Howard’s nomination as according to them he is a politicized candidate who has made several disparaging and controversial remarks in the past against cricket playing nations.

Howard’s candidature was jointly put forward by Australia and New Zealand following a drawn-out selection process.

The ICC vice-president serves a two-year apprenticeship before becoming president of the game’s governing body, meaning Howard would be the top administrator of cricket in 2012 if he succeeds in two days’ time.

Cricket Australia has already told their Zimbabwean counterparts that if they do not support Howard’s bid they would not host the bilateral A-series next year that would help the African nation re-enter top level Test cricket.

Raipur: A day after Maoists carried out yet another daring and deadly attack killing 27 security personnel in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region, a top-level emergency meeting has been called by state Chief Minister Raman Singh to review the situation.

Top state government officials as well as senior CRPF officials, including Director General Vikram Srivastava, will attend the meeting. Srivastava has already reached state capital Raipur and will also survey the attack site in Narayanpur district, some 400 kms from here. Top police officials and military advisors, including Additional Secretary (Naxal management), are accompanying the CRPF DG.

While condemning the Naxal attack, Raman Singh said their sacrifices will not go in vain.

"The Naxals have carried out a cowardly act… The extremists lack moral courage to engage in a direct fight with our brave security forces," he said, vowing to end the Maoist menace in the state.

The Naxals have meanwhile called a bandh in five states – Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh – as well as in their strongholds of Gadchiroli and Bhandara in Maharashtra, and Chandrapur and Balaghat districts in Madhya Pradesh.

In the attack yesterday, 25 personnel of 39th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), one state policeman and a Special Police Officer (SPO) were killed.

About a dozen CRPF personnel were also injured in the attack, state Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said.

The bodies of all those dead has meanwhile been brought to Raipur for post-mortem. The CRPF personnel’s bodies will later be sent to Delhi and then to their respective families.

"A joint contingent of over 70 men, mostly comprising CRPF troopers and some state police personnel, was ambushed by Maoists in a forested stretch in Narayanpur," an official at the police headquarters said.

He said that dozens of Maoists had positioned themselves on the hilltops and opened fire on the security personnel who were on foot.

According to police sources, the attack took place at around 3.30 pm when a joint team of the CRPF and the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police were on their way for a search operation.

The rebels ambushed the group, leading to a fierce gunfight that lasted for over three hours. An assistant commandant was among those killed. The incident took place just three kilometers from a CRPF camp.

According to the sources, the Maoists had taken the arms of a killed policeman but it was not known which weapon it was.

Union Home Secretary GK Pillai told reporters that the Maoists had attacked a "road opening party" of the CRPF.

He said all others in the CRPF party of 63 had been accounted for and had returned to their camp.

The 40,000 sq km Bastar region that is made up of five districts - Narayanpur, Bastar, Kanker, Bijapur and Dantewada - is the nerve centre of the Maoists since the late 1980s.

Rebels carried out the biggest ever attack on security men on April 6 and massacred 76 CRPF men in a forested hamlet in Dantewada district. Tuesday’s was the third major Naxal attack in the state in as many months.

Johannesburg: Brazil swept into a World Cup quarter-final showdown with the Netherlands after a clinical and uncompromising 3-0 victory over Chile at Ellis Park.

Bert van Marwijk`s Dutch side saw off Slovakia 2-1 earlier in the day, with star winger Arjen Robben marking his first start of the tournament with the opening goal.

The sides will meet in Port Elizabeth on Friday, in a repeat of their 1998 semi-final encounter in France, which Brazil won on penalties.

The Selecao went on to lose to the hosts in that year`s final, but they look on track to capture a record-extending sixth World Cup title after handing Chile the fate of the first South American side to be eliminated from the competition.

Chile had charmed neutrals with their enterprising play in the group phase, emerging from Group H as runners-up behind Spain.

They took to the field against Brazil with the same sense of endeavour but were undone by goals in the 34th and 38th minutes and never recovered.

Roma centre-back Juan put Dunga`s men in front when he rose to convert Maicon`s corner with a thumping header, before Kaka adroitly set up Luis Fabiano to round Claudio Bravo and tap the ball into the unguarded net for his third tournament goal.

Marcelo Bielsa`s side continued to attack gamely but they were undone once again in the 59th minute when Ramires`s dribble opened up the Chile defence and Robinho curled home in masterful style from the cusp of the penalty area.

"We have to improve in all sectors of our play, but it was a nice game against Chile," said Dunga, who captained his country to World Cup glory in 1994.

"We know the Netherlands are a very difficult team to beat and they are very able technically, they play their football like South Americans."

Two-time finalists Holland have reached the last eight despite failing to hit top gear in any of their four matches to date.

Robben set them on their way in the 18th minute against Slovakia in Durban, cutting inside and unleashing a low shot that flew past goalkeeper Jan Mucha, and the Dutch always looked superior to the team that sent champions Italy packing.

But the match-clinching second goal did not arrive until six minutes from full-time when Dirk Kuyt pulled the ball back for Wesley Sneijder to score his second goal of the tournament.

Robert Vittek converted a penalty with the last kick of the game to become joint leading scorer beside Argentine Gonzalo Higuain on four goals.

"I`m not yet at my top level, but I was pretty confident," said Robben.

"It was a very difficult match. We didn`t play our best game today, but it`s about winning and going through. We`ll save our best game for when we need it."

Off the pitch, the fall-out from two high-profile exits rumbled on, with England coach Fabio Capello admitting to uncertainty about his future and Jean-Pierre Escalettes resigning as president of the French Football Federation.

"I have a contract and I refused a lot of opportunities to be the manager of important clubs because I want to stay here," said Capello, who admitted that the Football Association would be taking two weeks to review his position.

England crashed out after a 4-1 mauling at the hands of old enemies Germany in the last 16 on Sunday and flew back to London on Monday evening.

Escalettes stepped down after France were dumped out in the group phase amid a player revolt over the FFF`s decision to send striker Nicolas Anelka home after he fell out with coach Raymond Domenech.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon tennis champion Roger Federer was dragged into the row over FIFA`s reluctance to introduce goal-line technology and video reviews in the aftermath of Sunday`s controversies.

England`s Frank Lampard had a perfectly good goal ruled out against Germany while Argentina`s Carlos Tevez was in an offside position when he scored in the game with Chile.

"To me it seems like it`s just crying for a change," said Federer, whose own sport has embraced technology to solve line-calling disputes.

On Tuesday, the last 16 is completed when Paraguay face Japan in Pretoria while European champions Spain take on Portugal in Cape Town.

New Delhi: Gearing up for monsoon, the MCD today unveiled a road pothole repairing machine, claimed to be the first such initiative in India, and asked citizens to approach its round-the-clock control rooms with water-logging and other rain-related complaints.

Leader of the MCD House Subhash Arya launched the machine at Moti Nagar crossing in west Delhi and said its advantages will be ensuring "smoothness and compactness of the road surface, opening traffic on repaired surface after 30 minutes and less consumption of time in repair work."

The MCD dubbed it as "India's first" pothole repair machine in which infra-red rays will be used for giving the road surface treatment of 200 degree C.

Arya said the machine cost approximately Rs 1.10 crore and was purchased from the UK through private firm Transmetallite India Ltd. This will help repair the patches or potholes on MCD roads with hot bitumen mix.

"MCD has purchased this machine as a pilot project and if the success rates are higher then it will buy more machines. The manufacturer of the machine will operate and maintain the machine for two years as part of warranty," he said.

Officials said the machine has an infra-red hot plate of size 2mX1m to cover the pothole. It will take around 8-10 minutes to heat-up the road surface. The road will be then dug up and by adding bitumen and other mix and it will be laid over the patch. Heating is done by liquefied petroleum gas.

On an average, the machine can lay 16 patches of 2mX1m in eight hours.

The MCD also issued an appeal to citizens and Residents Welfare Associations to join its in its efforts to make the ensuing monsoon season a "trouble-free experience".

"They are requested to lodge any complaint pertaining to water-logging, fallen trees, manhole covers, sanitation, repair of potholes, dangerous buildings at MCD's control rooms," the civic agency said.

The control rooms have been geared up to attend to public complaints at the earliest and provide redressal, it said.

"The control rooms are functioning 24X7. With voice logging facility, your call will be recorded with all particulars for effective monitoring and follow-up," it said.

Tegucigalpa (Honduras): Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya accused the United States of being behind the 2009 coup that ousted him, in a letter released on the first anniversary of his ouster.

Zelaya, who now lives in the Dominican Republic, has given conflicting accounts on what role the US allegedly played in the coup, in which Honduran soldiers hustled him out of the country on June 28, 2009.

He has alternately praised the policy of the US government on the issue, and also criticised Washington for not pressing harder for his reinstatement.

But yesterday's letter said flatly: "What we suspected at the beginning has now been confirmed. The United States was behind the coup."

The US Embassy in Honduras did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zelaya's letter did not offer any specifics of what the US allegedly did. He cited what he called "the public support the United States wound up giving to the coup."

The United States refused to recognize the government of interim president Roberto Micheletti, froze US aid to the regime and pressured Honduras to allow Zelaya to return to office.

But Zelaya claimed "the Honduran people are faithful witnesses to the role that the economic interests of the United States played in this tragic event."

The United States is the largest source of foreign investment in Honduras and accounts for much of its trade.

Singapore: Himalayan river basins in China, Bangladesh, India and Nepal will face a massive water depletion within 20 years, leading to a decline in food and mass migration, a research group warned Monday.

Due to natural reasons like glacial melting, the four countries would lose almost 275 billion cubic metres of annual renewable water in the next two decades, more than the total amount of available water in Nepal at present, India-based Strategic Foresight Group said in a report.

"What we are looking at here is a major catastrophe ... going to happen in 20, 25 years," the group's president, Sundeep Waslekar, told a seminar at the Singapore International Water Week.

Water scarcity and effects like desertification and soil erosion would bring rice and wheat yields in China and India down by as much as 50 percent by 2050, the report said.

"China and India alone will need to import more than 200 to 300 million tonnes of wheat and rice," it said.

"This will create havoc in the global food market ... for people everywhere, because the prices will go up substantially," Waslekar said.

Water depletion in the river basins would displace millions of people in the four countries by 2050, he said.

"We are looking towards a disaster of more than 100 million migrants," he said, "and conflicts within and between countries."

The report called for more cooperation between the four nations in the management of the river basins.

The basins of the rivers, including the Yellow River and the Yangtze in China and the Ganges in India, are home to 1.3 billion people.

Amritsar: Starting the 100-day countdown to this year's Commonwealth Games, the Queen's Baton Relay arrived in India from Pakistan through the historic Wagah Border here today.

Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi, received the baton from Pakistan Olympic Association President Lt Gen Syed Arif Hassan at the international border, where the Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell was also present.

The QBR, which was launched by Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace in London on October 29 last year in the presence of Indian President Pratibha Patil, will now start a 100-day national tour which would culminate in New Delhi for the Games from October 3 to 14.

With this, the baton is nearing the end of its 190,000-km journey, covering 71 nations and territories across the world.

"It's a great day for sports in India. The baton has gone 170,000 kms all around the Commonwealth. We have received it in a very big manner," Kalmadi said after passing the baton to a host of dignitaries including CGF CEO Mike Hooper and Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh.

"It's a big day for India and Pakistan. It is because of Pakistan's efforts that India got the Games and it shows that our relationship with Pakistan will improve if we concentrate on the sporting angle," he added.

Among those to whom the baton was passed on being received at around 0930 hrs at the border, were four-time world champion woman boxer M C Mary Kom.

Kalmadi once again allayed fears about the delay in infrastructure construction that have marred the build-up to the Games.

"I am grateful to Mr Fennell and Mr Hooper, who have been supporting us. This also happens to be 100 days before the Games. Let me tell you that everything is in place, including the infrastructure. Everything is on track," he said.

POA chief Hassan said the Games would help in getting rid of the hostilities between India and Pakistan.

"It's a historic moment for us. It would get rid of the hostilities of the past," he said.

Among others who were present at the relay included Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and a host of top politicians and bureaucrats.

Islamabad: Bridging the trust deficit between India and Pakistan and finding the elusive common ground in efforts to tackle terrorism will top the agenda when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao meets her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir for talks here on Thursday.

Rao, the first senior Indian official to visit Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and Bashir have been tasked by Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani to find ways to bridge the trust deficit and prepare the ground for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers on July 15.

Terrorism, particularly India's concerns about Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashker-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be among the issues that will be raised by Rao during her meeting with Bashir at the Foreign Office tomorrow at 11 am, diplomatic and official sources said.

New Delhi: A special exhibition train to promote Commonwealth Games will be flagged off by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee here Thursday.

The Commonwealth Express comprising 11 coaches will leave for Amritsar to coincide with the arrival of Queen's Baton in the country from Pakistan on June 25.

The special exhibition train, a joint venture between the Railway Ministry and the Information and Technology Ministry, will travel to each state and have about 50 stoppages at selected stations across the country.

Besides Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and officials from the Organising Committee, Railway Ministry and IT Ministry are expected to attend the flagging off ceremony.

Commonwealth Express with its colourful coaches will be carrying detailed exhibits of Commonwealth Games.

Railways' contribution to sports and its achievements in the sports arena will be showcased in the train.

While railways will have five coaches, IT will showcase its achievements in six coaches.

"We have prepared the schedule of the train keeping the Queen's Baton journey in the country. There will be stoppage at those stations where the baton will also reach," said the official.

The baton is expected to return the capital on September 30.

Railways is the lead partner of the Common wealth Games. IRCTC, a PSU of railways is the official ticketing agency of the Games.

The train will carry the Commonwealth Games logo along with that of Indian Railways.

Railways will publicise the detailed schedule of the train movement and its timings so that people can visit and see the exhibition.

Durban: Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored second half goals to give Australia a 2-1 victory over Serbia on Wednesday but the victory was not enough to stop the Socceroos from going out of the tournament.

Serbia, who beat Germany 1-0 in their last match, lost their chances of advancing and finished bottom of Group D.

Cahill, who missed his side's last match after being sent off against Germany, headed home a Luke Wilkshire cross from the right flank in the 69th minute to give Australia the lead against the run of play.

Brett Holman then added a second with a fine long-range strike in the 73th minute.

Serbia poured forward in the last few minutes and pulled a goal back in the 84th minute. A long range shot from Zoran Tosic was spilled by Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, leaving Marko Pantelic with the simple task of tapping in the rebound.

Two minutes later it looked as if Pantelic had equalised but his effort was ruled out for offside.

Serbia also had a strong claim for a penalty as the game wound down with Cahill appearing to handle the ball. Another Serbian goal would have put them through to the second round.

"The referee, including the fourth official, did not want to see a foul that was quite obvious..We are angry when it came to this decision," Serbian coach Radomir Antic said.

"We did not get fair treatment, we deserved more than we did get and we have to go home now. The ref had a black day when it came to Serbia," he added.

The Serbians had dominated the first half but failed to take their opportunities.

Milos Krasic squandered their first chance, rounding Schwarzer in the Australian goal after 12 minutes before skewing his shot wide and high.

Schwarzer produced a fine reflex save to block a close range effort from Branislav Ivanovic midway through the half, and 10 minutes later the giant figure of Nikola Zigic should have scored when left unmarked inside the box, but glanced his header well wide of goal.

The pacy Krasic, who was a menace on the Serbian right flank all evening, slipped though the Aussie defence after 38 minutes and squeezed the ball under Schwarzer into the net, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The Aussies revived in the second half and Mark Bresciano finally tested Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic with a long-range shot after an hour.

With time running out, Australia coach Pim Verbeek threw on two substitutions and it seemed to give the Aussies the lift they needed.

Islamabad: A Pakistani court has reportedly ordered a ban on nine leading websites, including Google and Hotmail, for allegedly posting blasphemous material though officials today said they had not received any instruction to block the sites.

Media reports said the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore High Court yesterday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to immediately block nine websites, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Bing and Amazon, for publishing and promoting sacrilegious and blasphemous material.

Justice Mazher Iqbal Sidhu issued the order while hearing a petition filed by a man named Muhammad Sidiq who claimed these websites were publishing sacrilegious material.

The judge also ordered the PTA chairman to appear in court on June 28 with relevant materials.

Sidiq, in his petition, sought a ban on the websites for publishing blasphemous materials and twisting facts about the Quran.

Aslam Dhakkar, head of a local bar association, was quoted as saying that the court had given a historic decision.

He said the legal fraternity in Bahawalpur would observe a strike today to protest the publication of blasphemous material by the websites.

However, officials of the PTA told that they had received no instructions to block the websites.

They said they had only seen media reports about the court's order. Wahaj-us-Siraj, a spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said his organisation had not received any directions from the PTA to block websites.

Pakistani authorities had blocked popular social networking website Facebook in May over the holding of a competition on blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.

The access to the website was later restored on the orders of the court.

Cape Town: Already-qualified Netherlands will be at full strength against out-of-contention Cameroon in their final Group E match on Thursday in a bid to avoid a hat-trick of early knockout exits after fielding weakened teams.

In the 2006 World Cup and at Euro 2008 the Dutch qualified after their first two group games. Both times then-coach Marco van Basten rested big names for the final match and in both tournaments they were beaten in the first knockout round.

This time, on six points after wins over Denmark and Japan, there is still top place to play for as a defeat by Cameroon coupled with a healthy win for either of the other sides who meet in Rustenburg could relegate them to second place.

Coach Bert van Marwijk is not taking any chances. "I don't plan to make many changes," he told reporters, saying he wanted to maintain the team's rhythm.

"It will be a different story when players are not completely fit and we also have to see when Arjen Robben is ready to play. It could be that he plays Thursday."

Robben has been on the sidelines so far as he recovers from his latest injury, this time a hamstring problem, but he has hardly been missed as the Dutch started strongly against Denmark and looked even more clinical against Japan.

"Every match is a step to a higher target," said holding midfielder Mark van Bommel. "That is why we can't let it go against Cameroon as the next match will be the knockout phase and then you have to be ready again."

Cameroon have nothing to play for but pride after defeats by Japan and Denmark meant they had got through to the knockout stage only once -- in 1990 when they lost to England in the quarter-finals -- in six appearances at the World Cup.

"We cannot afford to participate in a big tournament like the World Cup and go back without a point," said goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou. "It will be the worst in our country's history. We cannot let this happen.

"We are going to give all our energy, we're going to give our best to show that Cameroon remains a great football nation. The Lions can still roar."

The statistics tell a harsh tale because Cameroon contributed greatly to an entertaining game against Denmark and could easily have had more goals.

Coach Paul Le Guen, widely criticised even by some of his own players, for controversial selections against Japan, brought back the likes of Alexandre Song, Geremi and Achille Emana.

He also moved leading striker Samuel Eto'o from an unaccustomed wide position back to the middle from where he scored the opener in the 2-1 defeat.

Those players should keep their places although there may be other changes. Rigobert Song, Aurelien Chedjou and keeper Carlos Kameni could come in while defender Gaetan Bong, striker Eric Choupo-Moting and midfielder Joel Matip are also in contention.

London: In a new research into impact of melting ice on sea level, scientists have found that thinning ice in Antarctica is contributing nearly 10% of sea level rise and Pine Island Glacier is the major source.

Using Autosub, an autonomous underwater vehicle, researchers led by the British Antarctic Survey have captured ocean and sea-floor measurements, which revealed a 300 metre high ridge on the sea floor.

Pine Island Glacier was once sitting atop this underwater ridge, which slowed its flow into the sea. However in recent decades it has thinned and disconnected from the ridge, allowing the glacier to move ice more rapidly from land into sea.

This also permitted deep warm ocean water to flow over the ridge and into a widening cavity that now extends to an area of 1000sqkm under the ice shelf. The warm water, trapped under the ice, is causing the bottom of the ice shelf to thaw, resulting in continuous thinning and acceleration of glacial melt.

Lead author Adrian Jenkins said, "The discovery of the ridge has raised new questions about whether the current loss of ice from Pine Island glacier is caused by recent climate change or is a continuation of a longer-term process that began when the glacier disconnected from the ridge."

New Delhi: A special exhibition train to promote Commonwealth Games will be flagged off by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee here Thursday.

The Commonwealth Express comprising 11 coaches will leave for Amritsar to coincide with the arrival of Queen's Baton in the country from Pakistan on June 25.

The special exhibition train, a joint venture between the Railway Ministry and the Information and Technology Ministry, will travel to each state and have about 50 stoppages at selected stations across the country.

Besides Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and officials from the Organising Committee, Railway Ministry and IT Ministry are expected to attend the flagging off ceremony.

Commonwealth Express with its colourful coaches will be carrying detailed exhibits of Commonwealth Games.

Railways' contribution to sports and its achievements in the sports arena will be showcased in the train.

While railways will have five coaches, IT will showcase its achievements in six coaches.

"We have prepared the schedule of the train keeping the Queen's Baton journey in the country. There will be stoppage at those stations where the baton will also reach," said the official.

The baton is expected to return the capital on September 30.

Railways is the lead partner of the Common wealth Games. IRCTC, a PSU of railways is the official ticketing agency of the Games.

The train will carry the Commonwealth Games logo along with that of Indian Railways.

Railways will publicise the detailed schedule of the train movement and its timings so that people can visit and see the exhibition.

Beijing: China is likely to go ahead with its decision to "finance" the construction of two 650 MW nuclear power plants in Pakistan disregarding the concerns raised by India and the United States.

It is expected to announce its decision at the Nuclear Security Group meeting being held in New Zealand tomorrow.

"China will likely go ahead with financing the construction of two nuclear reactors in Pakistan despite concerns from other countries," state-run China Daily today quoted Chinese experts as saying.

"China is expected to announce its plans to build the reactors in Pakistan's Punjab province at the 46-member NSG meeting in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the United States, with heavy lobbying from India, is reportedly raising doubts over the legitimacy of the deal," it said in its report.

The report in the official daily is regarded as a sort of an official announcement as Chinese Foreign Ministry so far has declined to say anything directly concerning China's plans to build new reactors in Pakistan. It only said that its cooperation with Islamabad concerning the civil nuclear is for peaceful purposes and being carried under the safeguards and supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA).

The write up in the daily comes after the recently concluded visit of Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani during which Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie announced that "China would join hands with Pakistan to bring military relations to a new high".

China's plans to build two nuclear reactors came to light when state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced in April this year that it will export nuclear power reactors to Pakistan in a USD 2.375-billion agreement.

This is in addition to two nuclear reactors built by China at Chashma in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Zhai Dequan, deputy secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, defended China's plans to build new reactors saying that China has been helping Pakistan with reactors earlier.

"This is not the first time China has helped Pakistan build nuclear reactors, and since it will be watched by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the deal is not going to have any problems," Zhai said, adding the US will not pressure China too much as it previously struck a deal with India.

The US last week asked China to clarify the details of the deal, but stopped short of publicly opposing it, the daily said in its report.

In 2008, the NSG - which represents the 46 countries that control the world's atomic trade - made an exemption allowing Washington to sell civil nuclear technology to New Delhi.

Lucknow: A gangster wanted in over 20 criminal cases was gunned down early Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district even as his two aides escaped, police said.

Radhey Harijan, 34, who carried a reward of Rs.50,000 for his capture, was shot dead by the police in Bankathiya village, some 250 km from Lucknow.

"He had over 20 criminal cases, including murder, abduction and other heinous crimes, pending against him in Uttar Pradesh," Inspector Rahul Singh told reporters in Ghazipur.

"We got a tip-off that Harijan was going towards Azamgarh district along with his two accomplices to execute some criminal activity. We carried out an operation with the assistance of the Special Operation Group and gunned him down after half-an-hour of gun battle," he added.

Police have constituted teams to nab the two associates of Harijan who managed to escape during the firing.

New Delhi The metro rail service on the New Delhi-Gurgaon route started Monday morning, ending the long wait of commuters for an effective transport system connecting the national capital and its satellite town.

The first metro trains began from Qutub Minar in south Delhi and the HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon simultaneously at 8 am.

Staff of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and some passengers were seen on the 14.47 km stretch metro.

With this, Gurgaon will become the second satellite city to get Metro connectivity after Noida, where it reached last November.

No formal function was held because the trial runs on this section were launched with much fanfare by Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar Metro station to Central Secretariat Metro station from 6.15 am to 11.45 pm.

Once the entire section (HUDA City Centre-Central Secretariat) becomes operational, passengers can hope to reach the millennium city in around an hour from Connaught Place.

Initially five trains will run on the corridor that will connect Gurgaon with south Delhi, which will run at a frequency of 12 minutes, a DMRC spokesman said, adding that the number of trains will be increased gradually.

The mood is already jubilant in the satellite city with people deciding to commute through metro to reach Delhi.

Shweta, who works in an IT firm in south Delhi, says she will not take her car to office.

"I have decided not to take my car since metro connectivity will be there. I don't want to get stuck in traffic," she says.

New Delhi: Gurgaon's long wait for Metro connectivity will finally end on June 21 when the DMRC will throw open its much-awaited Gurgaon-Qutub Minar corridor to the public.

However, there will be no formal inaugural function and revenue train services will commence simultaneously from Qutub Minar and HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon at 8 AM on Monday.

DMRC sources said no formal function will be held because the trial runs on this section were launched with much fanfare by Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

They said a formal function is likely when the remaining section -- Qutub Minar-Central Secretariat -- of the corridor is inaugurated in July.

People of the Millennium City have been waiting for an effective transport system to travel to and from Delhi and the launch of Metro services is likely to ease some pressure on road traffic.

DMRC will initially put five trains on the 14.47-km corridor that will connect Gurgaon with south Delhi which will run at a frequency of 12 minutes, a DMRC spokesman said, adding that the number of trains will be increased gradually.

The decision to inaugurate the line comes five days after the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) R K Kardam gave the mandatory no-objection certificate for the opening of the line after his two-day inspection last week.

Once the services start, Gurgaon will become the second satellite city to get Metro connectivity after Noida, where it reached last November.

The ten stations on this elevated section are Qutub Minar, Chhattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni, Arjangarh, Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, MG Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre.

The trains will not stop at the Chhattarpur Metro station initially as this station is likely to be opened for the public by August.

"The construction work of the station was delayed as the land for the building of the station was not available with DMRC till October last year. The DMRC is now constructing the station in record time using pre fabricated steel structures," the spokesman said.

The remaining part of the corridor from Qutub Minar to Central Secretariat is expected to be open by the end of July. Ultimately, the line will be integrated with the existing Line 2 (Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat).

Once the entire section becomes operational, passengers can hope to reach the millennium city in around an hour from Connaught Place in the heart of Delhi.

The Central Secretariat-HUDA City Centre line, built at a total cost of Rs 3,720 crore, is expected to add over 3.4 lakh people to the Metro system by 2011.

Washington: Scientists have found Moon's minerals may have at least 100 times more water than previously indicated by remote sensing data from the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 and other lunar sample analysis.

In March 2010, a US space agency NASA radar experiment aboard Chandrayaan-1, India's first lunar spacecraft launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, found thick deposits of water-ice near the Moon's north pole.

Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington now estimate that the volume of water molecules locked inside minerals in the Moon's interior could exceed the amount of water in the Great Lakes on the US-Canada border that hold 20 percent of the Earth's surface fresh water.

New NASA-funded research determined that the water was likely present very early in the Moon's formation history as hot magma started to cool and crystallise, the agency said Monday asserting "This finding means water is native to the Moon."

"For over 40 years we thought the Moon was dry," said Francis McCubbin of Carnegie and lead author of the report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"In our study we looked at hydroxyl, a compound with an oxygen atom bound with hydrogen, and apatite, a water-bearing mineral in the assemblage of minerals we examined in two Apollo samples and a lunar meteorite."

McCubbin's team utilised tests which detect elements in the parts per billion range. Combining their measurements with models that characterize how the material crystallized as the Moon cooled during formation, they found that the minimum water content ranged from 64 parts per billion to 5 parts per million.

The result is at least two orders of magnitude greater than previous results from lunar samples that estimated water content of the Moon to be less than 1 part per billion.

"In this case, when we talk about water on the Moon, we mean water in the structural form hydroxyl," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This is a very minor component of the rocks that make up the lunar interior."

The origin of the Moon is now commonly believed to be the result of a Mars-size object that impacted the Earth 4.5 billion years ago. This impact put a large amount of material into Earth's orbit that ultimately compacted to form the Moon.

The lunar magma ocean that is thought to have formed at some point during the compacting process, began to cool. During this cooling, water either escaped or was preserved as hydroxyl molecules in the crystallising minerals.

The identification of water from multiple types of lunar rocks that display a range of incompatible trace element signatures indicates that water may be at low concentrations but ubiquitous within the Moon's interior, potentially as early as the time of lunar formation and magma ocean crystallisation, scientists said.

Mumbai: Heavy rains in Mumbai and adjoining areas Wednesday claimed nine lives and disrupted normal life in the city where road, air and rail traffic was disrupted.

With incessant rains continuing to lash the city since last night, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a high tide alert for today. BMC has put its staff on alert and has deployed lifeguards and firemen at the beaches to avert any untoward incident.

Eight persons were killed and four injured when a wall collapsed on hutments in Thane district following heavy rains. In a separate incident, one person died after a wall collapsed at LBS Marg in Mumbai's Mulund suburb this morning.

The boundary wall erected by a construction company came crashing down on the hutments at Dnyaneshwar Nagar in Thane, trapping over a dozen people. Four injured were rushed to Kaushila hospital in Thane.

According to Thane Municipal Corporation officials, the wall caved in a stretch of 80 feet. The remaining part was demolished to prevent further damage.

Residents alleged the company, Dosti Constructions, had recently dumped large quantities of soil on their side of the wall, creating a mound. Heavy rains over the last three days triggered the collapse, they said.

Heavy rains continued to last the metropolis since the last 24 hours, disrupting road, air and rail traffic.

The civic body issued an advisory, warning of a high tide of 4.07 metres at 1421 hours and another of 4.70 metres at 1521 hours.

"This year, luckily we do not have a tide of five metres and above like last year. A tide over 4.5 metres is considered as high tide and if it is coupled with heavy rains, will be a matter of concern," Joint Municipal Commissioner (Disaster Management Cell) S S Shinde told reporters here.

The weather bureau forecast heavy rainfall with strong winds and thundershowers in parts of city and suburbs over the next 24 hours.

Between June 13 and 17, there will be tides measuring between 4.58 metres and 4.73 metres, the civic body said.

From 0830 hours to 1130 hours, the island city recorded 19.22 mm rainfall, eastern suburbs 18.92 mm and western suburbs 9.80 mm of rainfall.

Train services on the Western line were running late by 10-15 minutes whereas on the Central line, trains were delayed by 15-20 minutes, railway officials said.

Five flights were diverted, including an Air India flight from Chennai which was diverted to Ahmedabad, airline sources said.

There was also an average delay of one-and-a-half to two hours in flight operations due to heavy rains, airline sources said, adding, "The start-up delay is around one-and-a-half to two hours due to congestion caused by heavy rains and strong winds."

Water logging has been reported at Dadar in central Mumbai, Cadbury Junction, Hind Mata and other areas, civic officials said.

New Delhi: The Indian Army has started preparing for the possibility of being called upon to tackle the growing Naxal threat in the country.

As per a report in a English daily on Thursday, the Army Headquarters has decided to train 50,000 soldiers so that they are in "ready-to-deploy" condition, for operations in the Naxal dominated area if and when the need arises.

The government, however, has ruled out the use of military against the ultras, for now.

Clearly, the Army doesn’t want to be caught unawares if it is suddenly called in for operations as the approach for operations in the jungles of central India are radically different from the lessons imparted to Army men for conventional warfare.

As per the report, the Lucknow-based Central Command has been the task of designing a special training plan which would, besides focusing on jungle warfare techniques, would also help the soldiers understand the topography of the operational areas, and ways to fight an enemy that is adept in blending into the tribal population.

Clearly, the Army’s approach is different from the current tactics being employed by the paramilitary forces -random raids deep in the jungles, an approach fraught with risks. As against this, the Army, if and when called in, plans to create a security grid –isolating the civilian population – so as to minimise collateral damage and maximise operational success, the report said.

In fact, as per the report, as a prelude to actual deployment, the Army has already started to focus on intelligence gathering in the Naxal belt.

1 | 2 |

Dambulla: Gautam Gambhir played a sedate but mature knock of 82 to power India to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second league match of the Asia Cup on Wednesday.

Despite losing two quick wickets after Sehwag’s departure, Gautam Gambhir did not lose his composure and gave India a solid platform for victory, which they completed with 19.2 overs to spare. Gambhir made 82 off just 101 balls with the help of 6 boundaries.

India suffered a little hiccup in the middle when they lost two quick wickets after Sehwag’s departure. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed to capitalize on the opportunity and got out for an identical score of 11. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan claimed both the wickets.

But Gambhir, in company of captain MS Dhoni, took the onus on himself and helped India start their Asia Cup journey on a positive note.

MS Dhoni played a typical circumspective knock of 38 and remained unbeaten to help India clinch an easy victory.

Chasing 168 for victory, India’s most trusted opening pair, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, gave India a good start, taking their team to 37 for no loss after umpire decided not to take the break despite Bangladesh being skittled out for 167.

But, Sehwag played one lose shot off Mortaza, only to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim for a quickfire 11 off 14 balls.

Earlier, Indian spinners performed brilliantly to bowl Bangladesh out for a paltry 167 runs in their first match of Asia cup on Wednesday.

Virender Sehwag bowled brilliantly as he took four wickets for just 6 runs. He took three wickets in his last over to wrap up Bangladesh’s innings in just 35th over.

Despite getting a superb start through their openers, Bangladesh fumbled as soon as they lost opener Tamim Iqbal. Iqbal, along with the other opener Imrul Kayes, took the Bangladesh score to 35 in just 2.5 overs before Kumar induced him into a false shot that landed safely in the hands of cover where Suresh Raina took a smart catch.

Praveen Kumar gave India the first breakthrough when he removed dangerous looking Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal for 22. Iqbal slammed 2 fours and a six during his short but entertaining stay at the crease.

Mohammad Ashraful again promised much, only to disappoint the Bangladeshi fans. Ashraful, considered to be the most talented batsman of his country, played a casual looking shot off Ashish Nehra only to be caught at long-leg boundary. Ashraful made only 20 off 37 balls.

After Ashraful’s departure, Bangladesh lost two quick wickets in opener Imrul Kayes and captain Shakib Al Hasan.

Kayes was removed by Ashish Nehra for 37 while Shakib was brilliantly bowled by Harbhajan Singh for 7. Kayes played a good knock of 37 off 35 balls. His innings consisted of 7 fours.

Mahmudullah, along with stumper Mushfiqur Rahim, tried to build the platform for his team with a 55-run stand, but he was removed by left-armer Ravindra Jadeja for 23, leaving Bangladesh in a spot of bother.

Immediately after Mahmudullah took the long walk back to the pavilion, Bangladesh lost another wicket in the form of well-set Mushfiqur Rahim, who was playing really well for his 55-ball 30.

Earlier, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the Asia Cup league match on Wednesday.

India had left out Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Saurav Tiwary.

Teams

: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni(w/c), Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra

: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul Islam, Naeem Islam, Syed Rasel

Draguignan: At least 20 people have died in floods in southern France, officials said, and there were fears the toll could rise as rescue workers kept up the search for the missing.

Helicopters airlifted survivors, sometimes from the roofs of their homes, in the wake of heavy storms that triggered flash floods in the Draguignan area near the Mediterranean coast.

Nearly 2,000 rescue workers were rushed in to help hundreds trapped in their vehicles, houses or on rooftops.

Emergency teams also moved 436 inmates from a flooded prison in Draguignan where the water covered the first two floors, transferring them to nearby jails.

"I fear the (death) toll will go higher," said Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, who visited the area to see for himself the extent of the damage.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said he would visit the area early next week.

Sarkozy issued a statement expressing condolences for the victims' families and support for rescue teams who are "mobilising non-stop to provide aid and find those still missing."

Meteorologists stressed the exceptional nature of the flooding, which they said were the worst there since 1827. Police meanwhile warned people not to try to take out their cars because more bad weather was expected.

And the grim search for the missing continued.

"We are looking for people, we check that there is nothing under the remains of the cars," said the deputy prefect for Draguignan, Corinne Orzechowski.

Heavy rains on Tuesday caused water levels to rise swiftly, preventing many people from fleeing to higher ground and forcing some to seek shelter on the roofs of their homes.

Around 1,850 firefighters, soldiers and police officers and 11 helicopters have been mobilised, officials said, adding that 1,500 calls for help had been received.

The disaster reached the popular seaside resort of Frejus where more than 1,500 people were taken to safety, many in inflatable boats or by helicopter airlift, to four shelters.

Up to 200,000 homes were left without electricity during the rainstorms and by late Wednesday power had been restored to only around half of those, officials said.

The rising waters also trapped a high speed train travelling from Nice to Lille with 300 passengers on board.

SNCF rail authority halted train service between Toulon and Nice until Friday, and several other secondary routes were impassable.

The head of the emergency operation, Corinne Orzechowski, said more than 30 centimetres (12 inches) of rain had fallen since Tuesday, causing water levels to rise to alarming levels in the streets of Draguignan, a town of some 40,000 residents.

"This morning, we woke up to find a city that was devastated, extremely battered with overturned cars floating in the streets, collapsed roads and gutted houses," said Orzechowski.

"We are still in the rescue phase before moving on to the cleanup," she said, adding that makeshift shelters were opened to welcome families left homeless by the floods.

Water levels on Wednesday had dropped slightly in Draguignan but rains were still battering the nearby towns of Roquebrune and Frejus, not far from the Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez, officials said.

Washington: The United States has put allies Singapore and Thailand as well as Vietnam on a human trafficking watch list, accusing them of failing to prevent women from being forced into prostitution.

The move yesterday opens the way for the US to cut off some civilian assistance, although it usually functions as a way to pressure countries to take action.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made women's and children's rights a signature issue, called human trafficking a "terrible crime" as she presented the State Department's annual report.

"All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end," she said.

The report estimated that 12.3 million people were the victims of trafficking in 2009-2010, although it said there has been progress over the past decade.

The State Department added a number of Asian nations to its watch list: Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Bangladesh, China, India, Micronesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka stayed on the list, unchanged from a year earlier.

North Korea, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea remained at the bottom level of countries that do not even meet the minimum standards on human trafficking.

Explaining the downgrade for Singapore, the report said that some women from China, the Philippines and Thailand are tricked into coming to the city-state with promises of legitimate employment and coerced into the sex trade.

Rustenburg: Striker Wayne Rooney and left-back Ashley Cole joined defender Ledley King on England’s lengthening list of training absentees and added to manager Fabio Capello’s selection problems on Monday.

The highly-rated duo, and King, took part in a squad meeting with manager Fabio Capello on the pitch at England’s first training session following Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with the United States but swiftly departed when the remaining 19 players began work.

Although England officials played down their absences, they could not erase the fact that Capello has problems with his goalkeeper, his central defence, possibly his outstanding raiding full-back and one of the tournament’s most highly-rated strikers, not to mention a lack of midfield craft.

Like King, who suffered a first-half groin tear in the opening Group C fixture, Rooney and Cole did not stay on the field and instead went swimming while King went for treatment and into the gym.

An England spokesman said King was going to “remain under close observation” this week and had not been ruled out of possible selection for Friday’s clash with Algeria in Cape Town.

Capello, in a comment on the England website (www.thefa.com), said King’s injury did not look too serious and he could possibly play against Algeria.

“He has just a little problem,” explained Capello, who did not speak to reporters on Monday.

Rooney was rested after being kicked on an ankle but Cole’s absence was not explained. Reporters were told that he was too tired to train and needed an additional day’s rest to recover.

Earlier spokesman Mark Whittle said that stories suggesting King was unfit to play for three weeks, at least, and therefore out of the tournament, could not be confirmed.

King was drafted into Capello’s team after former captain Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury suffered in their first training session.

The absence of all three, even if not due to serious injuries, added to Capello’s dilemmas following goalkeeper Robert Green’s schoolboy howler on Saturday which gifted U.S. an equaliser in the 1-1 draw when an innocuous shot squirmed through his hands.

The manager appeared unruffled, however, as his squad -- who took a day off on Sunday, when many, including Green, played golf -- reassembled amid debate over his selection.

“I didn’t make mistakes and I’m not worried for the future,” Capello told reporters on Saturday when asked if he regretted picking Green, King, who has a chronic knee injury, or midfielder James Milner, who was withdrawn after only half an hour.

“We played a good game and, for me, the most important thing was to see the spirit of the team and also the physical condition of the players.”

Capello refused to be drawn on whether he would keep faith with Green and gained support for his stubborn policy on team selection from Jamie Carragher.

The 32-year-old defender, who replaced King for the second half, said he considered Green to be the main England goalkeeper because he had been picked most in the last year.

“It is up to the manager, he picks the team,” he said. “I think he has played in nearly all 12 games, bar a couple, so he is pretty much the first-choice.

“And, yeah, he seemed fine to me yesterday -- we all make mistakes. You just have to get over them and he handled it well.”

If King is unfit, he could be replaced again by Carragher or uncapped 26-year-old Tottenham Hotspur player Michael Dawson.

Midfielder Gareth Barry, recovered from injury, is expected to return against Algeria in a holding role that will give Gerrard and Frank Lampard more licence to create and attack.

New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta today accused Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of creating an "Emergency-like" situation by slapping a legal notice against him over hoardings put out by the party against her government's policy on power tariff.

Dikshit, who sent a legal notice to Gupta for alleged defamation yesterday, had sought an apology from him, but the BJP leader said the Chief Minister should herself apologise to the people of the state for "making their life miserable".

"A notice was served at my home at 10 pm on a Sunday. What is her intention behind sending the legal notice? Who is to decide whether the hoardings violated any Supreme Court- approved policy?" he asked.

Terming the pulling down of BJP's hoardings that highlighted the power tariff issue as a 'Tughlaqi order', Gupta said he did not believe there was anything in the advertisement that should have elicited such a "hue and cry".

"The government is trying to create an Emergency-like situation in the state against those who try to take up the cause of the common man and is trying to embroil us into legal tangles to divert attention from the main issues," Gupta told reporters here.

Gupta also accused the government of siding with the power discoms while overlooking the cause of the common man.

"She has asked me to apologise, but on the contrary she herself should apologise to the people for siding with power companies at their cost, for sitting on the file of a terrorist (Afzal Guru) for four years and for failing to establish accountability over the issue of shortage of water and power supply in 11 years of her rule," he said.

Gupta said BJP activists will tomorrow meet Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna and submit to him a "chargesheet" against the Chief Minister.

The BJP today held demonstrations at 15 different places in the capital to protest the holding back of the new power tariff for 2010-11.

"We held jan panchayats, demonstrations and chakka jams at different places," he said.

"We want the government to stop acting as an agency of the power discoms and we want the new rates as recommended by the regulator to be implemented," Gupta said.

The legal notice was slapped against him for defamation and for allegedly conspiring to malign the Chief Minister's reputation and image.

The notice asked Gupta to tender an unconditional public apology within three days and withdraw all false allegations levelled in advertisements on hoardings across the city.

Gupta, however, said no democratically elected government would respond to criticism in such a way.

Paris: Companies in Japan, Iceland and Norway are developing whale-based products ranging from drugs to cosmetics to animal feed, banking on the resumption of global trade, according to a report.

Ahead of a key meeting of the 88-nation International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Agadir, Morocco next week, debate on the use of hunted whales has centered on the consumption of meat, especially in Japan.

But the three countries harvesting the marine mammals despite a 1982 global moratorium also exploit whales in other ways and are laying a foundation for future commercial applications, said the report prepared by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and released late Monday.

Thousands of approved patents list whale oil, cartilage, and spermaceti -- a wax-like liquid found in the head cavities of sperm whales -- as ingredients in goods as diverse as golf balls, hair dye, "eco-friendly" detergent, candy, health drinks and bio-diesel, investigators found.

"It is clear that whalers are planning to use whale oil and other whale derivatives to restore their hunts to long-term profitability," said Sue Fisher, who heads the WDCS's whale campaign.

"Iceland, Japan and Norway are betting heavily that the commercial whaling moratorium will be lifted."

These new applications could ultimately dwarf the value of whale meat, whether sold domestically or exported, she said.

Profit-driven whale hunting has been banned for 25 years, and international trade in whales or whale parts is forbidden under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

All three nations however have used loopholes in the moratorium -- which went into effect in 1986 -- to continue tracking and killing the animals.

During that time the IWC has been paralysed, split between pro-conservation and pro-whaling interests.

But a proposal on the table in Agadir could break the stalemate, leading to a compromise deal that all parties can live with, if only barely.

The whaling states would each be granted annual kill quotas through 2020, totalling nearly 12,000 specimens, in return giving up the right to invoke unilateral exemptions, as do Norway and Iceland, or to hunt for "scientific" purposes, as does Japan.

Conservationists would finally see what they regard as rogue nations brought into the IWC fold and the creation of a DNA-based monitoring system, but at the cost of thousands of whale lives.

The 10-year deal is designed to create a pressure-free zone for hammering out a durable agreement.

But anti-whaling groups fear it will legitimate commercial hunting and provide an incentive to push for an overturn of the ban once the decade-long deal expires.

"We anticipate they will use these new pharmaceuticals, animal feed and personal care products to soften global opposition to whaling and challenge the ban on international trade," said Kate O'Connell, a WDCS trade analyst.

Already today, the report shows, Japan uses whale cartilage to manufacture chondroitin to treat osteoarthritis, collagen for anti-inflammatory treatments and beauty products, and as a common food additive called oligosaccarides.

Norway, the world's top exporter of fishmeal and oil for livestock and aquatic farming, has conducted research on how to integrate whale products in to the manufacturing process.

Norwegian scientists have also researched the use of whale oil for pharmaceutical and health supplements such as omega-3. And at least one clinical trial is testing its efficacy for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

In Iceland, the government recently recommended the creation of an industrial park in Hvalfiroi where fin whales could be transformed into meat, meal and oil.

New Delhi: Victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have written to US President Barack Obama seeking extradition of former Union Carbide Corp CEO Warren Anderson to India.

Rejecting, the position taken by the White House that Bhopal gas tragedy was India’s “internal matter”, Abdul Jabbar, Convenor, Bhopal Gas Victims Women Forum, said that the victims want that Anderson, a US citizen who lives in New York, be brought to justice.

“We have also written a letter to US President Barack Obama appealing him to help us with this case,” Jabbar said.

Anderson, one of the main accused in the horrific tragedy that left thousands dead on the night of December 2-3 1984, had arrived in India on December 7, just four days after the tragedy.

He was booked by the police under the stringent Section 304(B) of the IPC but under mysterious circumstances was granted bail and flown out of Bhopal the same day by the then Madhya Pradesh government.

A Bhopal court, last week, had delivered its judgment in the gas leak case sparking outrage among the victims and across the country as the seven accused former Union Carbide officials were sentenced to only two years imprisonment, besides a fine of Rs 1 lakh each for negligence. All the convicts are now out on bail.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is hardening his stance against British Petroleum for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and is squarely holding the British oil major responsible for the disaster.

He is also pushing BP to set up an USD 20 billion escrow account to pay damage claims by individuals and businesses hurt by the oil spill disaster.

This compared to the pittance amount of USD 470 million paid by the US company Union Carbide to the thousands killed in world’s worst industrial disaster.

Obama- if he wishes to – has a lot to answer.

For the record, the United States has said it would "carefully evaluate" any request from India to bring Warren Anderson to justice.

"...if the government of India makes such a request of us, we will carefully evaluate it," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today served a legal notice on city BJP chief Vijender Gupta, asking him to tender an "unconditional apology" within three days for alleging that she had ordered removal of hoardings put up by the party across the capital to "expose" the government on the ongoing power tariff issue.

In the notice, Dikshit also asked the BJP leader to withdraw all "false allegations and derogatory statements" made by him against her failing which he would face strict legal action.

Yesterday, Gupta had alleged that the hoardings put up by the party at 30 places, mainly at DTC bus stops, "to educate people about exploitation being committed by power distribution companies" were removed at the behest of the Chief Minister.

BJP said it had paid money to concerned agencies to put up the hoardings.

The BJP has been attacking Dikshit for stalling the planned announcement of the annual power tariff by power regulator DERC, apparently coming under pressure from the private distribution companies who have been demanding a hike in tariff.

The DERC, after receiving the Government order, had indicated that it was planning for a substantial cut in tariff as discoms were having healthy surpluses.

An official in the Chief Minister's office said that the Government did not give any order to remove the hoardings and the BJP-ruled MCD had removed them for violating the outdoor advertisement policy approved by the Supreme Court.

The official said the MCD had framed guidelines for putting up hoardings and those guidelines were approved by the Supreme Court.

Rejecting the allegations, a statement from Chief Minister’s office said, Dikshit is held in "high esteem by people of Delhi because of her untiring efforts to make Delhi a better place to live as well as setting high standards of integrity and moral conduct".

The statement said that the hoardings and advertisements issued at the behest of Gupta are in fact part of a "conspiracy to mislead people and besmirch the reputation of a popular Chief Minister who has returned to power successively three times."

Gupta has also been asked to disclose the names of his "co-conspirators" in this slanderous campaign.

Two basic reasons were given for issuance of the notice -- one the protection of high moral and ethical standards of public discourse and secondly to vindicate the honour and reputation which has been recklessly tarnished and maligned for serving selfish political interests?.

As per the legal notice, served by Diskshit’s advocate Mehmood Pracha, the allegations and actions of Gupta and other conspirators constitute a penal offence under the provisions of Indian Penal Code and are also actionable in Civil law as court.

Seoul: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak stressed on Monday the need to bolster military readiness and sternly respond to North Korea over the deadly sinking of a warship, or risk more such provocations.

South Korea has taken a slew of punitive measures against North Korea, including resuming propaganda operations, after blaming Pyongyang for torpedoing the South Korean warship Cheonan in March. Forty-six South Korean sailors died.

North Korea flatly denies the allegation and has warned any retaliation would trigger war. The country's military said on Saturday it would launch an all-out strike against any propaganda facilities South Korea used at the border and could even turn Seoul into "a sea of flame”. The North has made similar threats in the past.

Today, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak renewed calls for a strong response.

"If we fail to sternly respond to North Korea's wrongdoing in cooperation with the international community and build up solid military readiness, a second and third provocation like the Cheonan incident can occur anytime," he said in a nationally-televised speech.

Lee also said he would revamp and strengthen South Korea's military and hold some officers responsible for the sinking.

Lee didn't name any top officers but his comments came a day after his top military officer offered to retire amid criticism over alleged negligence ahead of the sinking. The Cheonan attack occurred along the disputed sea border, where three bloody sea battles have been fought.

Chicago: In what can be seen as a major victory for India, Lashkar-e-Toiba operative David Headley has told National Investigating Agency (NIA) sleuths that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by the Lashkar-e-Toiba under the "guidance" of Pakistan's ISI.

As per a report published in a English daily Thursday, David Headley has told the investigators that serving Pakistani Army officers were involved in the 26/11 terror mayhem in Mumbai, and one of them was "on the other side of the telephone line" with the terrorists during the 2008 attack.

The report further reveals that Headley has provided details about the terror network that operated to execute the deadly strike in India’s financial capital. He has also identified the Pakistani handlers: Sajjid Mir, Syed Abdur Rehman Syed and Pakistani army intelligence agents Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali.

Regarding the actual planning done by the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Headley named Mohammed Illyas Kashmiri, a top ranking al Qaeda commander, was the man behind the plot.

Headley has also confessed ISI wanted Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to disown the 26/11 attacks in order to divert the global attention towards the al Qaeda, adding that Pakistan’s intelligence agency had 4-5 al Qaeda names ready to be projected as the conspirators of the Mumbai attacks. But the ploy could not be played out as Lashkar leader Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, one of the 26/11 masterminds, refused to play along.

The 49-year-old Pakistani-American also admitted to the NIA that he was a member of Lashkar during his initial days, but later drifted towards al Qaida under the influence of Major Abdul Rahman Saeed.

Saedd is supposed to have served with 6 Baloch Regiment of Pakistan. He left the Army in 2002 to in order to join al Qaeda.

New Delhi: Clear skies and a rising mercury level paved the way for a hot day in the capital on Thursday.

According to the met department, while the minimum temperature was below average, the maximum temperature will be higher than the day before.

"The minimum temperature recorded this morning was three degrees below average at 25.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 38 degrees," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The humidity level was recorded at 54 percent.

On Wednesday, the minimum and maximum temperatures were recorded at 22.2 and 36.3 degrees Celsius respectively.

New Delhi: Under attack for holding back announcement of annual power tariff for the year 2010-11, Delhi Government today indicated that it would like to see no increase in the rates till completion of the Commonwealth Games in October.

However, they also maintained that the city government does not have a say in the matter as DERC has the sole discretion to decide on power tariff in the national capital.

A top source in the government said "the issue was very complex and the government feels the current rates should be allowed to continue till completion of the mega sporting event as that will not offend the discoms."

The government also seems to be confident about the rates not being changed before the Commonwealth Games as there is an apparent division among the members of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) about announcing the new tariff.

The official said the discoms would not be upset if rates are not tinkered with as they were strongly opposing any cuts.

The government, taking a sympathetic view towards the discoms' demand for tariff hike had yesterday said that the "regulatory uncertainty" arising out of DERC's indifference to their grievances could affect power supply during the Games.

The Government had also accused the regulator of creating bottlenecks in ensuring uninterrupted power supply in the capital by refusing to look into the grievances of the private discoms.

Although Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium has already held that the government has no powers to restrict the DERC from announcing its tariff order, the regulator is yet to take a decision on the issue apparently due to diverse opinion among its members.

Washington: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed concern on Thursday that hope was waning for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

The concept of a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security "I fear is beginning to erode”, Abbas told an audience at the Brookings Institution a day after meeting President Barack Obama.

"The world is starting not to believe, to distrust, that we are able to reach this solution," Abbas said.

Slogans were appearing in the West Bank calling for a single-state solution, something both sides would reject. "This is something we do not accept and Israel also does not accept," he said.

Abbas was visiting Washington amid an international backlash against Israel over the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists killed when Israeli troops boarded a Turkish aid ship headed toward the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been due to visit Obama on June 01, the day after the incident, but scrapped his trip due to the crisis. He is working to reschedule a White House meeting by the end of the month, US and Israeli officials said.

Abbas told the think tank's audience he had urged Obama to support an international investigation of the ship raid. He said they also discussed the issue of when to move from proximity talks mediated by US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell to direct negotiations.

The Palestinian leader said he was prepared to go to direct talks with Netanyahu if the two sides could find common ground on two key points.

"We would like to reach a solution on the two initial issues, meaning the borders and the security," Abbas said.

He said the Palestinians had given their position on the issues to Mitchell to discuss with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu agreed with the groundwork approved by prior Israeli governments, "then we could start direct negotiations to compete the remaining issues”, Abbas said.

"We must not forget the other issues. The final status issues: the settlements, the refugees, Jerusalem, water, and we added another item, which is the prisoners, the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails," Abbas said.

He said Obama, who launched his peace effort when he took office last year, expressed hope for signs of progress in the talks by the end of the year.

Pretoria: Argentina coach Diego Maradona said that Carlos Tevez will start the team's opening World Cup clash against Nigeria on Saturday and described the Manchester City striker as an "idol".

"Carlitos cannot be left out of the team. He is an idol of the people, more than me and Lionel Messi, so I read," Maradona told TyC Sports television.

Maradona also insisted that Barcelona star Messi, who is key to the team's chances in South Africa, is fit and ready to play despite some doubts expressed in the Argentine media that he has looked jaded in training.

"Everything is good with Messi. There are no problems," said Maradona.

Pretoria: Argentina coach Diego Maradona said that Carlos Tevez will start the team's opening World Cup clash against Nigeria on Saturday and described the Manchester City striker as an "idol".

"Carlitos cannot be left out of the team. He is an idol of the people, more than me and Lionel Messi, so I read," Maradona told TyC Sports television.

Maradona also insisted that Barcelona star Messi, who is key to the team's chances in South Africa, is fit and ready to play despite some doubts expressed in the Argentine media that he has looked jaded in training.

"Everything is good with Messi. There are no problems," said Maradona.

New Delhi: Residents of Delhi are likely to see a hot and humid Friday with the day temperature hovering around the 42 degrees Celsius mark, the weather office said.

The capital recorded a minimum of 26.9 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.

Met department officials have forecast a hot day ahead with no rains expected in next few days.

"Skies will mainly be clear with maximum temperature hovering around 42 degrees Celsius," an India Meteorological Department official said.

The capital Thursday recorded a maximum temperature of 39.8 degrees Celsius.

Vienna: The U.S., Russia and France have replied to a proposal by Iran to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel, effectively dismissing the idea hours before an expected U.N. Security Council vote Wednesday on new sanctions against Iran, diplomats said.

Three diplomats familiar with the replies say they contain a series of questions that in effect stall any negotiations on the issue.

The U.S., Russia and France have said the swap proposal negotiated by Brazil and Turkey would leave Iran with enough material to make a nuclear weapon. And they note that Iran intends to continue a new program of enriching uranium to a higher level.

The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because their information was confidential.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday called the proposed new U.N. sanctions against Iran's suspect nuclear program the toughest ever, telling reporters in Ecuador's capital that there is strong support for a fourth resolution penalizing Iran for its refusal to prove its nuclear program is peaceful and defying international demands to halt uranium enrichment.

"I think it is fair (to say) that these are the most significant sanctions that Iran has ever faced," Clinton said at a news conference with Ecuador's president. "The amount of unity that has been engendered by the international community is very significant."

She declined to predict the outcome of the vote in the 15-member Security Council, but U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in London said the measure would pass and pave the way for tougher additional measures by the U.S. and its allies.

"The strategy here is a combination of diplomacy and pressure to persuade the Iranians that they are headed in the wrong direction in terms of their own security, that they will undermine their security by pursuit of nuclear weapons, not enhance it," Gates said.

In the final version of the U.N. resolution, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, sanctions would be tougher than previous penalties but still far short of crippling economic punishments or an oil embargo.

The sanctions would ban Iran from pursuing "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons," bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining, and prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons including attack helicopters and missiles.

Annexes to the resolution, agreed to Tuesday, would target 40 new Iranian companies or organizations, including 15 linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

One person was added to the previous list of 40 Iranians subject to an asset freeze, Javad Rahiqi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran's Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center.

The sanctions list also includes 22 companies or organizations involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities and three entities linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. If the resolution is approved, the number of entities under sanctions would more than double from 35 at present to 75.

New Delhi: A 55-year-old principal was today found murdered in his accommodation in the premises of an east Delhi school with police suspecting his servant who is missing.

J S Chauhan was found dead with injuries inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon at his two-room first floor accommodation in the premises of Sanjay Public School in East Vinod Nagar at around 1:30 pm by the cleaning staff.

He was staying there alone while his family is in Mamura village in Noida.

It was his adopted son Tushar who found him dead at around 1:30 pm. He had come to the school to meet Chauhan, a senior police official said.

A doctor with whom Chauhan used to take morning walk had earlier in the day telephoned Tushar informing him that he had not seen his father.

"He was staying in the first floor of the school. Tushar gave a call to police at around 1:30 pm, soon after they discovered the body of Chauhan," the official said.

Chauhan's domestic help, whose identity is yet to be established, is missing and police suspect his role in the murder.

"Robbery appears to be the reason behind the murder. We are probing all angles," the official said.

A case has been registered and the body has been sent for post mortem.

Washington: NASA next week launches its first dedicated oceanographic research mission to study the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, officials have said.

The "Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment" mission, or ICESCAPE, will put to sea on the US Coast Guard icebreaker, The Healy, on June 15.

More than 40 scientists will spend five weeks at sea on board The Healy, sampling the physical, chemical and biological properties of the ocean waters and sea ice, to try to determine how changes in the Arctic are affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem.

Last year, a study using data from a NASA satellite showed that Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thick older ice shrinking by the equivalent of Alaska's land area.

Arctic sea ice is now "just a thin veneer five to 10 feet thick that is really susceptible to climate change," Don Perovich, one of the chief scientists on ICESCAPE, said yesterday.

One of the key efforts of the ICESCAPE mission will be to see how changes in the Arctic could be altering the ocean's ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is a leading cause of global warming, and to be able to predict future climate change, scientists need to know how the carbon cycle works in different parts of the world.

ICESCAPE will concentrate on the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska, which scientists say are particularly vulnerable to global warming.

An automated microscope on The Healy will take continuous digital photographs of phytoplankton cells to observe how many different species are in the Arctic waters and ice.

Floats with near-real time satellite communication will be placed in the ocean to measure temperature and biological and optical properties, and the scientists will work on the sea ice several hundred meters from the ship, studying the condition of the ice and sampling the ocean ecosystem.

New Delhi: Sports Minister M S Gill visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and S P Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex here to review the progress of the construction work at both the Commonwealth Games venues.

During his visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the opening and closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, the CPWD engineers briefed Gill about the status of the ongoing civil and electrical works in the weightlifting complex as well in the main stadium.

He also took a round within the complex and inspected the ongoing work. The Sports Minister complemented the engineers for the completion of the complex work of roof installation.

The engineers also informed the Minister that the turf will be laid from in the main stadium.

Gill also directed the engineers to work faster so as to complete the stadium within the schedule time-frame.

Later in the day, he also visited the S P Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex and reviewed the on-going construction progress there.

Rae Bareli: The Chief Judicial Magistrate of the special court hearing the Babri Mosque demolition case has been transferred following which July 12 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.

"As CJM Gulab Singh, who was hearing the case has been transferred and a notification nomination new magistrate is yet to be issued by the High Court, July 12 has been fixed as the next date of hearing," CBI counsel K P Singh said. The date has been fixed by court officials. 

Senior IPS officer, Anju Gupta, who was deployed as personal security officer of BJP leader L K Advani on December 6, the day when the Babri mosque was demolished in Ayodhya, is currently being cross examined by the defence counsel.

Bangalore: The conjoined twins of a Nigerian couple were successfully separated on Monday after an 11-hour long surgery at a private hospital here, ending a prolonged wait and bringing unbounded joy to the parents. 

Eight-month-old 'Peace' and 'Patience' "are stable as of now and are in the ICU. We have to monitor their progress," Dr Ashley D'Cruz, General Pediatric surgeon at Narayana Hrydayalaya said. 

New Delhi: A Delhi Court Tuesday awarded three years jail term to a sitting Congress MLA and three others in a seven-year-old attempt to murder case. 

Additional Sessions Judge V K Bansal also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 each on the convicts including Congress MLA from Rajouri Garden Dayanand Chandila. 

The court, however, granted them bail on furnishing a personal and surety bond of Rs 30,000 each. 

It had on Friday convicted the accused-- Chandila and Nawab Singh, Meghraj and Manoj under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and other provisions of the IPC. 

An FIR was registered with Tilak Nagar Police Station on December 11, 2003 on a complaint by Sudesh Chandela alleging that the accused had tried to kill him. 

According to the complaint, the accused had attacked Chandela following a quarrel over lending money to a man.

Dubai: Flamboyant Virender Sehwag maintained his number one position in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen and India also held on to its top spot in the latest chart.

Sehwag is leading the list with 863 points and is followed by South Africa`s Hashim Amla (842) and Sri Lanka`s Mahela Jayawardene (836).

Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir (824) and batting great Sachin Tendulkar (805) are the other two Indian batsmen in top-10 at number six and seven positions respectively.

VVS Laxman (14) and Rahul Dravid (16) also had their rankings unchanged. 

In the bowlers list, India have two players in the top-10 with paceman Zaheer Khan placed at number six followed by spinner Harbhajan Singh. 

In the teams` list, India are at the top with 124 points followed by South Africa (120) and Australia (119).

Sydney: The location of the largest World War II battlefield between Australian and Japanese forces in Papua New Guinea has been discovered after 68 years, a senior Australian Army official has said. 

Known as the "Lost Battlefield," the site was hidden on a remote plateau, 1000 meters west and 450 meters above the village of Eora Creek, in the Owen Stanley Ranges. 

Found along the Kokoda Track, the site has been touted as the most significant WWII discovery in the 21st century. 

"Significantly, the discovery of the Lost Battlefield will enable Australian and Japanese Veterans' services to begin the process of identification and repatriation of dozens of lost soldiers," former Australian Army Capt Brian Freeman, who runs a Kokoda Track trekking company, said in a statement. 

Freeman has spent years researching battle maps and diaries in an attempt to discover the illusive site and was assisted in his search by the local Alola people who live close to the battlefield. 

The site falls within the hunting grounds of the Alola tribe, but villagers have avoided the area because they believe the spirits of those killed there still inhabit the area. 

Australian and Japanese forces clashed on the Kokoda Track during WWII and 6,500 Japanese soldiers were killed in the jungle-covered mountains.

Washington: Crocodiles ride ocean currents for ocean travel, a new Australian research reveals. 

The study conducted by a group of Australian ecologists has finally solved the mystery of how the estuarine crocodile - the world's largest living reptile - has come to occupy so many South Pacific islands separated by huge stretches of ocean despite being a poor swimmer. 

The study appears in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology. 

The estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is a semi-aquatic reptile, living mainly in rivers, mangroves and estuaries. 

Its geographical range extends over 10,000 km of the South-East Pacific, from East India to Fiji and from southern China to North Australia. 

Many anecdotal accounts exist of large crocodiles being sighted far out to sea, but this is the first study to show - using underwater acoustic tags and satellite tracking - that estuarine crocodiles ride surface currents during long-distance travel, which would enable them to voyage from one oceanic island and another. 

The results explain why, despite occupying such a large range, species diversification of the estuarine crocodile has not occurred. 

Working in the remote Kennedy River in North Queensland, Australia, Dr Hamish Campbell from University of Queensland and colleagues from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Australia Zoo tagged 27 adult estuarine crocodiles with sonar transmitters and used underwater receivers to track their every move over 12 months. 

During that time they recorded 1.2 million data packets and found that both male and female adult crocodiles undertook long-distance journeys, regularly travelling more than 50km from their home area to the river mouth and beyond into open sea. 

The data showed that crocodiles always began long-distance travel within an hour of the tide changing, allowing them to go with the flow, and that they halted their journeys by hauling out on to the river bank when the tide turned against them. 

The team - which included the late Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter") - also re-analysed archival data from the few crocodiles that have been satellite tracked whilst undertaking ocean travel. 

By overlaying the crocodiles'' movements with surface current estimates they found that ocean swimming crocodiles showed a similar behavioural strategy when at sea. 

One satellite-tagged crocodile - a 3.84 metre-long male - left the Kennedy River and travelled 590 km over 25 days down the west coast of Cape York Peninsula timing its journey to coincide with a seasonal current system that develops in the Gulf of Carpentaria. 

A second crocodile - a 4.84 metre-long male - travelled more than 411 km in only 20 days from the east coast of Cape York Peninsula through the Torres Straits to the Wenlock River on the west coast of Cape York.

The Torres Straits are notorious for strong water currents, and when the crocodile arrived the currents were moving opposite to its direction of travel. 

It waited in a sheltered bay for four days and only passed through the Straits when the currents switched to favour its journey. 

According to Dr Campbell, "The estuarine crocodile occurs as island populations throughout the Indian and Pacific Ocean, and because they are the only species of salt-water living crocodile to exist across this vast area, regular mixing between the island populations probably occurs. 

"Because these crocodiles are poor swimmers, it is unlikely that they swim across vast tracts of ocean. But they can survive for long periods in salt-water without eating or drinking, so by only travelling when surface currents are favourable, they would be able to move long distances by sea. This not only helps to explains how estuarine crocodiles move between oceanic islands, but also contributes to the theory that crocodilians have crossed major marine barriers during their evolutionary past."

 Imphal: Office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Ukhrul district of Manipur was set ablaze by some miscreants, reports claimed Thursday. 

Some miscreants set afire the (ADC) office yesterday, reports said. 

They said police would investigate whether the incident was connected with some organisations which had called for indefinite blockade on national highways and against the elections to Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in Manipur hills.


The two phase ADCs election (May 26 and June 2) concluded yesterday, sources said adding that in spite of boycott call given by some Naga organisations, the turnout was recorded more than 90 per cent. 

In spite of opposition from Naga organisations, elections to six ADCs -- Ukrhul, Tamenglong, Chandel, Senapati, Churachandpur and Sadar Hills districts -- ended without any problem, reports said. 

They said All Naga Students Associations Manipur had called indefinite economic blockade on National Highway 39 (Imphal-Dimapur) and 53 (Imphal-Silchar) about two months ago against the ADCs elections saying enough monetary power was not given to ADCs, a charge strongly denied by the state government. 

 New Delhi: The national capital was unusually warmer on Thursday with a dust haze clouding everything and the minimum temperature at 34.7 degrees Celsius, seven notches above the average for this time of the year. 

The low was higher than Wednesday's 34 degrees when it broke a five-year record. 


"Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius Thursday which was seven degrees above normal for this time of the year," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. 

The city also experienced duststorm in many parts. 

"The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 41 degrees Celsius with the possibility of dust and thunderstorm followed by a little rain in some parts," the official said

 Washington: In a special gesture, President Barack Obama will attend a reception to be hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her Indian counterpart S M Krishna here, during which he will highlight opportunities for increased bilateral cooperation in areas like defence, trade, energy and climate change. 

Setting aside protocol, Obama will drive down from the White House to the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department to attend the reception to be hosted for the External Affairs Minister and other members of his delegation, who are here for the first Indo-US Strategic Dialogue. 


The President will be going to the State Department, where the Strategic Dialogue is to be held, "given his personal interest in further strengthening our bilateral partnership," US National Security Council spokesman, Mike Hammer, said. 

At the conclusion of the Strategic Dialogue, Obama would personally speak to members of visiting Indian delegation led by Krishna and those of his administration. 

"The President will use the opportunity to speak to the Indian and US delegations to highlight the potential and opportunities of increased close cooperation, including in the areas of defence, trade, energy and climate change," Hammer said. 

Obama's gesture to attend the reception tonight for the External Affairs Minister is being considered as rare on the part of the US President. 

US officials say Obama, despite having to spend much of his time on pressing issues like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, the Middle East and Korean peninsula, has shown personal interest in building strategic relationship with India. 

On Tuesday, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, said like the previous two Presidents, Bill Clinton and George W Bush, Obama has laid a strong and consistent emphasis on the enormous stake that the US has in India's emergence as a global power. 

"When he invited Prime Minister Singh to the White House last year for the first State Visit of the new administration, the President called the US-Indian relationship one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," he said at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

In a new National Security Strategy released last week, Obama underscored that expanding partnership with India will remain one of his highest priorities. 

Notably, Obama has also called India an indispensable partner. 

"Obama Administration attaches great importance to our relations with India, and as President Obama himself has said, this will be one of our signature partnerships in the 21st century," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said. 

"That was shown by the President's decision to invite Prime Minister Singh (for his Presidency's first State Visit). 

It's shown by the huge number of dialogues that we have. It's shown even more by the huge private sector component to our relations and all of the people-to-people contacts that we have. 

"If anything, in our case, it's the governments who are catching up to the people in terms of all of the many, many ties that exist at so many levels of our two countries," Blake said.