Saddam Hussein played down Babri Mosque incident

NEW DELHI, Apr 13: Unlike many other Arab countries, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who cherished good relations with India, played down the Babri Mosque incident in 1992 and let off India's envoy to Baghdad with a "mild" rebuke, a new book has revealed.

"We expected that there would be large scale demonstrations against us as had happened all over the Gulf. We began to make preparations, thinking that there might even be some violence. We also issued advisories to all Indians to be careful...," Ranjit Singh Kalha, who was Ambassador to Iraq during the tumultuous years from 1992 to 1994, says.

"However, much to our surprise, nothing actually happened. There were no demonstrations. It seemed nothing has happened," Kalha says in his new book -- 'The Ultimate Prize' -- which narrates the sordid events in Iraq and the quest by the West to control Iraq's massive oil wealth.

"At last, on 12th December, a good six days after the event (destruction of the Babri Mosque), I was summoned to the Foreign Office," for a meeting with a "fairly junior level" Iraqi diplomat, who was "mild". During the meeting, it was also hinted that this was so as a result of "instructions from the very top," meaning Saddam.

"Saddam had always been good to India," Kalha says, adding that Baghdad then went on to issue a "mild" statement on December 14, criticising the pulling down of the mosque and "requested" that it be rebuilt.

"We heard no more after that on the subject," he says while hailing the general warmth and feelings of goodwill that the Iraqis had for India.

Iraq "invariably supported" India's position on Kashmir, he writes, adding that at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meetings, Baghdad played a "constructive role." (PTI)

British troops kill over 7,000 Taliban insurgents in 2 years

LONDON, Apr 13: British troops killed over 7,000 Taliban fighters in the last two years in Afghanistan, but are now planning to scale down the attacks as heavy casualty only adds to the popularity of the insurgents among the locals.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, the paratroopers of 16 Air Assault Brigade killed at least 1,000 Taliban during their first deployment to Helmand province in 2006. Since then another 6,000 Taliban insurgents have been killed by British troops, the report said quoting sources.

The paratroopers' commanders hope they can cut the deaths, which they fear are a boost for the Taliban when fighters recruited from the local population are killed, as the dead insurgent's family then feels a debt of honour to take up arms against British soldiers.

The resultant fighting raises the profile of the Taliban and enhances their reputation in the local community.

"We aim to scale back our response to incidents to avoid getting sucked into a cycle of violence among local tribesmen," said one officer. "This way we aim to continue the process of reducing the Taliban's influence in Helmand."

According to the report, more than 1,000 American troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit will take control of the border between Helmand and Pakistan later this month.

They will concentrate on providing the firepower to kill Taliban leaders as they cross the border from their base in the Pakistani city of Quetta. (PTI)

NASA prepares for lunar dust exploration mission in 2011

NEW YORK, Apr 13: NASA is preparing to send a mission to the moon in 2011 to assess the lunar atmosphere and the nature of dust lofted above the surface.

Called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), the aim of the mission is to gather detailed information about conditions near the surface as well as the environmental influences on lunar dust, the NASA said.

According to the agency's scientists, an understanding of these influences will help in getting a view of how future exploration would shape the lunar environment and how the environment may affect future explorers.

Director of NASA's Ames Research Centre in California S. Pete Worden said: "LADEE represents a low-cost approach to science missions, enabling faster science return and more frequent missions.

"These measurements will provide scientific insight into the lunar environment, and give our explorers a clearer understanding of what they'll be up against as they set up the first outpost and begin the process of settling solar system."

The total cost of LADEE, the small spacecraft to be sent, is expected to be approximately USD 80 million. Ames will manage the mission, build the spacecraft and perform the mission operations.

In fact, LADEE will fly to the moon as a secondary payload on the Discovery mission called Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), which is designed to take ultra-precise gravity field measurements of the moon.

LADEE will take approximately four months to travel to the moon, then undergo a month-long checkout phase and begin 100 days of science operations.

LADEE is one of many activities to support lunar exploration planned by NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Last year, NASA also established a lunar science institute at Ames. (PTI)

Pak boys stray across Barmer border

BARMER, Apr 13: A 10-year-old Pakistani boy and his elder brother, who apparently dug the earth below a barbed wire fence on the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan to slip across, have been caught by the BSF and were being questioned.

Athar Ali (18) and Jaib Ali, the two cousins hailing from Munwasar town of Pakistan, were apprehended by a border patrol in Gadra Road police station area here last evening.

They apparently crossed the barbed wire fence by digging the earth below it and slipping through it into the Indian side, a police official said.

Athar and Jaib told interrogators that they ran away from their home after being scolded by their parents.

The BSF handed over the boys to the police and they have been taken to Barmer district headquarters for further questioning.

Straying of people along the Indo-Pak border, including in Rajasthan, is quite common but data on such incidents were not immediately available. (PTI)

Legal battle over who first thought of Harry Potter

LONDON, Apr 13: Movie giant Warner Bros has initiated a legal battle with a director who claims he devised an earlier version of the Harry Potter character.

John Buechler was behind a little known film called Troll, released in 1986, which featured a young boy called Harry Potter Jnr.

Now, 49-year-old Buechler says he intends to create a 20 million pound remake but lawyers for Warner Bros have warned him they will defend their rights to J K Rowling's character.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Buechler is beginning a search today for a boy to star in his remake.

His partner, Hollywood producer Peter Davy, said "In John's opinion, he created the first Harry Potter. J K Rowling says the idea just came to her, John doesn't think so. There are a lot of similarities between the theme of her books and the original Troll. John was shocked when she came out with Harry Potter."

But Rowling has always vigorously defended any suggestion that her Harry Potter was not an original creation and she maintains that she has never seen Troll.

Warner Bros spokesman Scott Rowe said "If these producers intend to remake Troll they'd better tread carefully not to infringe on our rights." (PTI)

Sistema to launch services by April 09; aiming more M&As

MOSCOW, Apr 13: Russian telecom giant Sistema, which recently acquired a controlling stake in India’s Shyam Telelink, today announced launching its nation-wide mobile services by April 2009.

It also said that a capital investment of Rs 4,000 crore (one billion dollars) will be made during the current fiscal on rolling out the network.

Sistema-Shyam is the first company among the new players to get CDMA spectrum in 13 circles and it hopes to get the radio frequency in remaining ones soon to become a pan-India operator.

Sistema also announced its plans to participate in the auctioning of 3G spectrum as and when the process starts.

The 9.6-billion-dollar diversified group is considering to increase its stake in Shyam Telelink to the maximum permissible limit of 74 per cent in the next two months, its First Vice President (Strategy and Development) Anton Abugov said.

"We shall be starting 3G mobile services as and when radio frequency was allocated," he said.

The company had earlier paid over 58 million dollars to take a 51 stake in Shyam, which has fixed line and CDMA mobile services in Rajasthan under the brand name of Rainbow.

Sistema has set an ambitious target to register its name among the top five players with 60 million subscribers by 2017 and in the process it may look for acquiring stake in more companies, Abugov said, adding that "we are aiming to become (among) India’s top-5 mobile telecom operator organically and via mergers and acquisitions". (PTI)

Betting big on India, Soros terms Ambanis' growth spectacular

NEW YORK, Apr 13: In their bid to outdo each other after dividing their family empire, two Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- have created India's most spectacular growth story in the recent past, believes one of the world's most renowned investor George Soros.

Putting India on a higher trajectory than China in terms of an investment destination, the legendary investor says in his latest book that the economic growth rate has more than doubled since his visit to India in late 2006, with the rise of Ambani brothers emerging as the most spectacular one.

"The most spectacular has been the rise of the Ambani brothers. When their father (Dhirubhai Ambani), the founder of Reliance Industries, died, the brothers divided his empire among them and are now trying to outdo each other," he says.

The book, titled 'The new paradigm for financial markets: The credit crisis of 2008 and what it means', is available in electronic format and print edition would come out on May 19.

Talking about the two Ambani brothers, Soros says that the two groups are present in businesses ranging from oil refining, petrochemicals, and offshore natural gas production, to financial services and cellular telephone.

"Mukesh Ambani is using the cash flow from its oil and gas business to set up Reliance Retail, bringing food directly from the grower to the consumer," Soros notes, while terming it as a "bold project that seeks to cut the differential between consumer and producer prices by more than half".

Incidentally, Soros has invested in about half a dozen ADAG firms, but none of the Mukesh-run companies are known to have any such investments.

The investment in various ADAG firms is estimated to be worth about USD one billion and is said to account for over half of the total for all Indian companies. MORE PTI BJ RAMBetting big on India, Soros terms Ambanis' growth spectacular

New York, Apr 13 (PTI) In their bid to outdo each other after dividing their family empire, two Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- have created India's most spectacular growth story in the recent past, believes one of the world's most renowned investor George Soros.

Putting India on a higher trajectory than China in terms of an investment destination, the legendary investor says in his latest book that the economic growth rate has more than doubled since his visit to India in late 2006, with the rise of Ambani brothers emerging as the most spectacular one.

"The most spectacular has been the rise of the Ambani brothers. When their father (Dhirubhai Ambani), the founder of Reliance Industries, died, the brothers divided his empire among them and are now trying to outdo each other," he says.

The book, titled 'The new paradigm for financial markets: The credit crisis of 2008 and what it means', is available in electronic format and print edition would come out on May 19.

Talking about the two Ambani brothers, Soros says that the two groups are present in businesses ranging from oil refining, petrochemicals, and offshore natural gas production, to financial services and cellular telephone.

"Mukesh Ambani is using the cash flow from its oil and gas business to set up Reliance Retail, bringing food directly from the grower to the consumer," Soros notes, while terming it as a "bold project that seeks to cut the differential between consumer and producer prices by more than half".

Incidentally, Soros has invested in about half a dozen ADAG firms, but none of the Mukesh-run companies are known to have any such investments.

The investment in various ADAG firms is estimated to be worth about USD one billion and is said to account for over half of the total for all Indian companies. (PTI)

Windows 'could soon power your glass house

MELBOURNE, Apr 13: If scientists are to be believed, people could soon live in glass houses and look at the world through rose-tinted windows while reducing their carbon emissions by 50 per cent.

A team of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are developing transparent solar cells that will act as windows as well as generate energy in houses or even in commercial buildings.

According to lead researcher Professor John Bell, the solar cell glass would make a significant difference to home and building owners' energy costs and could, in fact, generate excess energy that could be stored or onsold.

Professor Bell said the glass was one of a number of practical technologies that would help combat global warming. "The solar cells have a faint reddish hue but are completely see-through. The solar cells contain titanium dioxide coated in a dye that increases light absorption.

"The glass captures solar energy which can be used to power the house but can reduce overheating of the house, reducing the need for cooling," Prof Bell explained. (PTI)

SKorea confirms fourth deadly outbreak of bird flu

SEOUL, Apr 13: South Korea's Agriculture Ministry says a recent outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

The ministry today said that Government tests have confirmed the H5N1 strain was what had infected chickens on a farm in Yeoungam, about 380 kilometres southwest of Seoul.

The ministry says it was the fourth confirmed outbreak of H5N1 in the country.

The South Jeolla provincial Government says quarantine workers have culled 470,000 chickens and ducks at 20 farms within a 3 kilometre radius of the site of the outbreak. (AGENCIES)

Lakshmi Mittal keen to take over brother's ailing steel plants

LONDON, Apr 13: NRI steel tycoon, Lakshmi Mittal is keen to take over ailing steel plants owned by his younger brother in Bulgaria and Nigeria.

Quoting sources close to the family, The Sunday Times, today reported that Lakshmi Mittal, the world's biggest steel baron, plans to buy his younger brother, Pramod Mittal's plant in Bulgaria, for up to 50 million euros less than he believes it is worth.

Pramod's firm, Global Steel Holdings, bought Bulgaria's Kremikovtzi Steel company for 72 million euros in 2005, and had been hoping to sell it to a Russian company for 150 million euros.

According to the report Bulgarian investors had become increasingly alarmed by Pramod's stewardship of the company and issued a default notice on a 320 million euros bond which has forced him to sell the plant.

In a separate development, Global has run into problems, with a steel investment in Nigeria, where it is threatened with prosecution.

The report quoting friends said, Pramod had been reluctant to sell to his older brother. They said Lakshmi Mittal had made approaches to the Bulgarian government - which holds a 25 per cent stake - to buy the plant for less than 100 million euros.

Last week, as bond trustees and Nigerian officials circled, Pramod cracked and appealed to his brother to help him, the report said.

It also said Pramod last week denied there had been any agreement to sell to his brother, and insisted he had no intention of abandoning his Nigerian operations.

"We're family, there's nothing to discuss. We're not fighting, but it's our private life," he was quoted as saying.

The report quoted an Arcelor Mittal spokeswoman as saying the company is interested in buying Kemikovtzi. "Lakshmi Mittal has a very good relationship with his brother," she said, adding that any suggestions that they had a rivalry were "harsh and untrue". (PTI)

Co-education better 'as girls calm boys in class'

NEW YORK, Apr 13: Parents, please note -- co-educational schools are better as the presence of girls in classes restrains boys from indulging in unruly behaviour and improves their academic performance, a new study has revealed.

In fact, a higher percentage of girls not only lowers the amount of classroom disruption but also fosters a better relationship between students and their teacher, the Israeli researchers have found in their study.

"Being with more girls is good for everybody. We find that both boys and girls do better when there are more girls in the class," according to lead researcher Analia Schlosser of Tel Aviv University.

In the study, the researchers investigated girls and boys in mixed classrooms in the elementary, middle, as well as high-school grades of the Israeli school system. They found that classes with more than 55 per cent of girls resulted in better exam results and less violent outbursts overall.

Boys with more female peers in their classes showed higher enrolment rates in both advanced mathematics and science classes, but overall benefits were found in all grades for both sexes.

"It appears that this effect is due to the positive influence the girls are adding to the classroom environment," the 'ScienceDaily' quoted Prof Schlosser as saying. (PTI)

Obama doing damage control after calling working class bitter

NEW YORK, Apr 1: Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who labelled struggling working-class voters as 'bitter', is in a damage control mode as he conceded using wrong words after party rival Hillary Clinton and her supporters pounced on him for his "derogatory remarks".

Referring to the job loss in the small towns when industries move out, Obama had said "it is not surprising then that they (working-class voters especially in Pennsylvania where the crucial primaries are to take place soon) get bitter, they cling to gun or religion or antipathy to people who are not like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiments as a way to explain their frustration."

Coming under intense pressure, Obama conceded that he had chosen wrong words to describe their mood.

However, during a rally yesterday, he stated that "I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana ... Who are bitter."

"They are angry. They feel like they've been left behind... That's a natural, natural response."

Though Obama campaign does not expect that the remarks would do a major damage to his standing, analysts say the orchestrated criticism could have the effect of small town undecided voters turning to Clinton in a state where she still has some advantage in the polls.

Addressing a campaign rally yesterday, Clinton said she was taken aback by the "demeaning remarks" Obama made about the people of small town America.

"Senator Obama's remarks are elitist and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know - not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York," she said. (PTI)