Uri, October 12, 2005:

~~~ Line of control breaks ~~~

Responding to a Pakistani call for help, Indian troops on Wednesday crossed the LoC and pulled out six armymen trapped in a bunker

The Indians — who had earlier crossed the Aman Setu (peace bridge) when test runs were held for the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service — had been requested to "cross the bridge and rescue Pakistani troopers trapped in a caved-in bunker".

Defence sources told HT that on Wednesday afternoon there were shouts from Pakistani army officers, urging the Indian troops to send men across and help rescue the trapped soldiers. "Please cross over and help," was the Pakistani plea.

The Indian response — notwithstanding the need to cross the damaged Aman Setu — was swift. The troops managed to pull out one Pakistani officer and five jawans trapped in the bunker.

The Aman Setu connects J&K and PoK and is used by passengers of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus to cross the LoC.

The incident came against the backdrop of Pakistan ruling out joint relief operations with India in earthquake-affected areas. (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had reiterated the Indian offer on Tuesday during his visit to J&K.) Later, however, it had allowed 25 tonnes of relief material to be airlifted from India to Islamabad.

On Wednesday, an IAF aircraft loaded with 15,000 blankets, 50 tents, plastic sheets, mattresses, food items and a variety of medicines and medical supplies landed at the airport in Islamabad. Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Menon and senior Indian diplomats formally received the relief supplies and handed them over to Pakistani officials.

India had also offered to help in badly-affected places along the LoC on the Pakistani side which are easier to access from J&K.

Thursday October 13 2005:

NEW DELHI: In yet another incident of gangrape in a moving car, a 25-year-old woman was allegedly criminally assaulted by four parking attendants of a metro station in North-East Delhi, on Wednesday.

The accused Raju Singh, Bharat Singh, Subhash and Sonu, aged 18 to 25, have been arrested, police sources said.

They were travelling in a car with the woman when police intercepted them near the Shastri Park metro station this morning.

The accused initially claimed that they were friends of the woman but when probed further by the policemen, they gave conflicting replies, the sources said.

The woman, a mother of two, knew only Bengali and the policemen did not understand what she was saying.

Suspicious, the policemen asked the men to come with them for questioning. On this, two of the accused ran away from the scene while the others were immediately arrested. The two absconding men were later picked up.

The victim later gave a statement through an interpreter that she had been raped. A medical examination confirmed this and a case was registered at the Shastri park metro police station.

All the accused work for a parking contractor at the station, the sources said. This is the third rape case involving car-borne assailants in Delhi in the last few months.

Mumbai/Delhi: The grounded Air Sahara aircraft bled airlines all over the world right through its three-day stay by the tarmac.
They burnt up crores as their flights flew in towards Mumbai, then hovered above the airport for a place to land and finally headed for other cities with airports.
A Boeing 747 guzzles US 3,500 gallons of fuel every hour of flying; that translates into Rs 1.54 lakh an hour. That cost gets multiplied if it flies low-altitude (that was what all the circling flights do). But an A-320 requires Rs 58,000 worth of fuel for an hour of flight.
Airlines, on an average, spent multiples of lakhs every time their flights came to Mumbai looking — unsuccessfully — for a berth. The airport at Mumbai usually has about 250 landings every 24 hours. The total money the additional fuel that flights guzzled up over the last 72 hours would not be less than Rs 10 crore, officials estimated.
Monday, the day immediately after the evening when the Sahara flight did a ‘deep landing (missing touchdown point)’, was the worst; there were 24 diversions that day. There were five more on Tuesday and about four on Wednesday.
For a Boeing 747-400 with a full load of 430 passengers, the cost would work out to about Rs 20 lakh for every diversion. Rs 2000 for accommodation in a hotel for each passenger, Rs 6 lakh for additional fuel burnt, Rs 5 lakh forroute-navigational expenses, landing and parking charges and handling. But what airlines are more worried about is the loss of goodwill; that is intangible, say officials of every airline.
But airlines say they still pick up passengers, bringing them to the airspace over Mumbai and then take them somewhere else because cancelling flights makes even less sense. A Boeing comes at $ 300,000 a month. Besides, in-flight attendants and stewards get, on an average, around Rs 8,500 a day and pilots get Rs 5,000 for every hour of flying they clock above 70 hours in a month. The revenue an airline earns, if a Boeing flies with 400 people, is Rs 18 lakh.

October 12, 2005:

The tumultuous events at the power-centres of Indian cricket may take another twist on October 13, when the national selectors meet to choose the captain for the forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka, beginning on October 25.

With Sourav Ganguly missing the Challenger Trophy with an injury, it remains to be seen if the selectors stick with him as captain, assuming he will be fit enough, or decide to choose Rahul Dravid instead.

The timing of Ganguly's return to competitive cricket leaves him very little time before the series against a strong Sri Lankan side, currently ranked No.2 in the ICC one-day table. Advised to rest his elbow till October 17, Ganguly is set to play for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy game against North at Rajkot, from October 20 to 23 and, should the game last the distance, will be left with just one day to gear up for the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Nagpur. Whether that is good enough preparation for an international clash, not only as a captain but also as a player, is a choice the selectors have to make.

All this may mean that Dravid may have to face the possibility of another stop-gap arrangement as captain, just like he experienced during the Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka at the beginning of the season. If Dravid is indeed the choice, it will be interesting to see if the selectors go with this temporary quick-fix solution or appoint him for a longer term.

The selectors will announce the squad for the seven-match series the following day (October 14). With a few players staking a strong claim in the Challenger Trophy, they will have some tricky choices to make in that meeting as well. The decisions taken could also well reveal just how much of an influence Greg Chappell has over the selection panel.

October 12, 2005:

Three days after the Boeing 737 of Air Sahara overshot the runway at Mumbai airport, efforts are still being made by the Airport Authority of India to tow the aircraft from the soft land to the tracks as inbound and outbound flights were delayed by about 30 minutes to one hour on Wednesday, airport sources said.

Despite the main runway being rendered operational, the flights of most airlines continued to be delayed as the grounded aircraft of Air Sahara continues to be positioned on the soft land, the sources said.

Meanwhile, efforts are being made to tow the aircraft to a remote bay and once that is accomplished, the airlines may take it to some place where the aircraft could be serviced, the sources said.

Airbags are placed beneath the aircraft to lift it from the soft land and bring it on the tracks, the sources said, adding that a 160-metre road has been freshly laid to the same spot where the aircraft was positioned. Attempts made on Tuesday to tow the aircraft did not materialise.

Air Sahara's Kolkata-Mumbai Boeing 737 missed touchdown by several metres while landing on October 9 and overshot the main runway which was closed immediately and secondary runway was made available.

Meanwhile, Director General of Civil Aviation is probing the incident involving Air Sahara's Boeing 737 mishap, which resulted in closure of main runway for long time, the sources added.

India A v India B, Challenger Trophy, Mohali : October 12, 2005

India B 264 for 3 (Uthappa 116) beat India A 260 for 8 (Laxman 110, Raina 97) by 7 wickets with 11.1 overs to spare 

Robin Uthappa's scintillating century propelled India B to the finals © Getty Images

A sensational hundred from Robin Uthappa, filled with youthful exuberance and joyous audacity, steered India B to a thumping victory in the final league game at Mohali and took them to the final, where they will meet India Seniors tomorrow. A record third-wicket stand between VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina had set India A up, and taken them to 260, but lack of a boost in the final overs and the cracker of an innings from Uthappa left them gasping.

What do you do when you're at the top of an inexperienced batting order, chasing a daunting target under lights, in a must-win game against a varied bowling line-up? Play the innings of the tournament, of course. And how? Start steadily, build a partnership, up the rate after the fifth over, race along after the tenth, shift gear after the 15th, go berserk in the 16th, set the stadium ablaze in 17th, make it rain boundaries in the 18th, reduce the asking-rate drastically and walk off.

What Uthappa had in the drinks break, after the 15th over, needs to be bottled. Until then he had made 51 off 56 balls, had shown glimpses of fearlessness and, along with Shikhar Dhawan, given India B a steady start. A flicked four off Lakshmipathy Balaji and a slapped cut of Shanbaz Nadeem, the rookie left-arm spinner, ignited the fire. Rudra Pratap Singh reappeared. Edge, drivel, slash, carve. Raina appeared. Four, four, four six. Ninety seven off 76. Tewari appeared and with an air of nonchalance, Uthappa stood still, delivered a majestic straight lofted four, turned around to his dressing-room, held both hands aloft, beamed a cherubic smile, and took a bow. He was forced to leave the field owing to cramps, returned for a brief cameo and left with his side all but sure of victory. Many might have forgotten the superb 66 off 48 balls in a losing cause in the only Challenger Trophy game last season but this game will surely be remembered as Uthappa's match.

He managed with a little help from his friends. Shikhar Dhawan kick-started the chase with some classical cuts before he was unlucky to be backing up too far when a forceful drive from Uthappa ricocheted off the bowler's arm onto the stumps. And Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Mongia added 77 in a controlled fashion, with hardly any pressure to deal with, as India B made the target look inadequate.

The total had been made possible owing to Laxman's fabulous century and Raina's power-laden 97. The openers had fallen cheaply - Dheeraj Jadhav missed an imcoming delivery in the second ball he faced while Gautam Gambhir glided one, from Sreesanth, straight into the hands of Parthiv Patel behind the stumps. Laxman, though, tended to the early wounds and carried on from where he had left off in the first game. It is tough to imagine how bowlers feel when good deliveries are tenderly brushed around with hardly any follow through, and absolutely no anger. When Laxman bats with such majestic poise, the quality of bowler, type of delivery and the situation of the match don't usually matter. Drives flowed, cuts thrilled, pushes took the breath away as Laxman seamlessly eased to his half-century, off 51 balls. The second half was less breezy as he and Raina solidified the team's position, but there was no let up on the suppleness with which he found the angles. He opened up once he reached his century, unleashing two pulls off Sreesanth but fell in the 42nd over while trying a slash over the covers.

His partner at the other end was all power. When Raina burst on to the scene two years back, a few experienced bowlers who faced his onslaught were reminded of a young Yuvraj dismantling attacks. Today he capitalised on the bowlers' errant line, doling out a large share of wide deliveries, as he slashed with stinging venom. Field placements were rendered redundant with Raina finding gaps at will and packing his strokes with far too much power for anyone to have a chance. He was unlucky to miss out on his century, falling to a moment of impetuosity while trying to loft Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, over long-off, and left the rest to cash in on the momentum.

The last five overs, though, produced just 27 runs as India A partly frittered away a great chance to reach 300 but Uthappa's blitz might have made any total look paltry. Just one stat warning before the final: the last seven Challenger Trophy matches at Mohali ending in victory for the chasing side, neither captain might want to bat first tomorrow.

How they were out

India A

Dheeraj Jadhav lbw b Bhandari 2 (2 for 1)

Missed one that swung in

Gautam Gambhir c Patel b Sreesanth 10 (30 for 2)

Edged while trying to glide one past the slip cordon

VVS Laxman c Shukla b Sreesanth 110 (217 for 3)

Slashed one straight to the cover fielder

Dinesh Karthik c Shukla b Bhandari 11 (233 for 4)

Holed out to long-off

Suresh Raina c Patel b Chawla 97 (233 for 5)

Danced down the track and skied it to the wicketkeeper

VRV Singh lbw b Chawla 0 (233 for 6)

Missed a straight one while trying to sweep

Manoj Tewari c Chawla b Bose 9 (255 for 7)

Holed out to long-on

Lakshmipathy Balaji c Uthappa b Bose 4 (260 for 8)

Attempts a pull but the top edge flies to long-on

India B

Shikhar Dhawan run out (Tewari) 40 (148 for 1)

Backed up too far and was run-out after the ball ricochet off the bowler

Dinesh Mongia lbw b Nadeem 44 (235 for 2)

Missed a straight one while sweeping

Robin Uthappa c Jadhav b VRV Singh 116 (254 for 3)

Chipped on straight to mid-on while going for the big hit

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is staff writer of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

** Rotary Bangalore Southwest: Classification talk by Rtn N B Mohan, Director - Vocational Service, Suchitra Film Society 9th Main, BSK 2nd STage, 7.45 pm.

GENERAL:
** Mahaveer Eye Hospital: Warming ceremony of new Lasik Laser Centre, G C Surana Drishti Eye Centre, 2, Sirur Park Road, Seshadripuram, 10.35 am.

CULTURAL:
**Percussive Arts Centre: Inauguration of silver jubilee year by H P Ramachar, followed by Laya Lahari, percussion ensemble of Ayyanar College of Music, Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali premises, 492/A, 1st Main, 8th Block, Jayanagar, 5.30 pm.(Ph 26550452)

**Prakruti Creations: Exhibition of wildlife photography, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Kumara Krupa Road, 10 am.

** Cinnamon: Exhibition of Vivek Narang?s fashion collection, 11, Walton Road, Off Lavelle Road, 10.30 am. (Ph 22229794)

**Sri Bangalore Navarathri Utsav Mandal: Prize distribution to the winners of final competition of Gujarati traditional Raas Garba and Dandiya, Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister, participates, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Millers Tank Bund Road, Vasanth Nagar, 10.30 am.
Directorate of Kannada and Culture: Bharatanatyam by Dwaritha Vishwanath, Nayana, J C Road, 6.30 pm.

RELIGIOUS:
** Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue: Dr Stanley Samartha memorial lecture on ?Courage for Dialogue? by Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Metropolitan, St Marks Cathedral, 1, M G Road, 5.30 pm.

** Sri Sai Samaj: 87th Mahasamadhi day celebrations, 377, Sri Shirdi Sai BAba Mandir Road, Someshwarapuram, Ulsoor, 8 am.

** Sri Vyasa Madhwa Samshodhana Pratishthana: Discourse on Vijaya Dashami by scholar Vyasanakere Prabhanjanacharya, Pajaka, 67, 50 ft Road, Hanumanthanagar, 6.30 pm onwards.

NAVARATHRI:
** Sri Sringeri Shankara Math: Vocal recital by Subbalakshmi Krishnamurthy and party, Sharada Peetha, Shankarmath Road, Shankarpuram, 7 pm.
** Shantala Arts Academy: Bhajans by Mahalakshmi and Troupe, Sri Raja Rajeshwari English School, behind Petrol Bunk, 1st Main Road, Yeshwanthpur, 6 pm.
** J P Nagar Sri Vinayaka Seva Mandali: Violin by Nalina Mohan and party, and party, Vinayaka Swamy Temple, ITI Layout, J P Nagar 1st Phase, 6.30 pm.
** Sri Chowdeshwari Charitable Trust: Devaranama by Padmashree and party, 1st A Cross, HMT Layout, Mathikere, 6 pm.
** Sri Mahayaga Kshetra Sri Gayathri Temple: Talavadya by Layataranga troupe, Temple premises, Yeshwanthpur Circle, 6.30 pm.
** Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam: Vocal recital by M S Vidya and party, 28, 5th Main, 11th Cross, Malleswaram, 6 pm onwards.
** Sri Krishna Kalakshetra: Bhajans by Saptagiri Bhajana Mandali, Sri Radha Krishna Mandira, West of Chord Road, Rajajinagar, 6 pm.
** Sri Padmavathi Kala Niketan: Clarionet recital by Pt Narasimjulu Wadvati and party, 161/B, 2nd Cross, behind SBM, Mathikere, 6.30 pm onwards.
*8 Malleswaram Arya Vysya Sangha: Veena recital by C Nagaraj and party, Sri Kanyakaparameshwari Temple, 8th Cross, Malleswaram, 7 pm.
** Banagiri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Mandali Trust: Devotional songs by Rukmini Gupta and party, 100 Ft Road, 7th Block, 4th Phase, BSK 3rd STage, 6.30 pm.
** Kamat Yatrinivas Private Limited: Vocal recital by Mallur R S Venkatesh and party, Kamat Bugle Rock, Bull Temple Road, Basavanagudi, 8 pm (Ph 26605734)
** Sri Sai Spiritual Centre: Devotional music by Ajay Warrier and party, Centre premises, Vasanthapura, 6.30 pm.

Wednesday October 12 2005

BANGALORE: Navratri, the longest festival comes to a grand close with the Vijayadashami or Dassera.

But the ten days of festivities do not just mean celebration, but remind us that we need to respect women.

“It reminds us that any house or nation, if women are unhappy will be in chaos. In Treta Yuga, Sita was humiliated and in Dwapara Yuga, Draupadi was dishonoured.

“In both the cases, those who ill-treated them, were punished,” Mathur Krishnamurthy, Director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan says.

Dasara celebrates the “Stree-Shakthi,”(Power of Woman) in the Goddesses Saraswathi, Durga and Lakshmi. Even the Protector Brahma, Destroyer Vishnu and Preserver Maheshwara pray to Goddess Lalitha.

Students worship Saraswathi seeking knowledge, warriors worship Durga seeking strength and courage and businessmen pray to Lakshmi for the wealth.

The day of Vijayadashami is the most auspicious day. It is auspicious for all the zodiac signs.

The day prior to Vijaydashami is Ayudha Pooja. Warriors used to worship their weapons so that it protects them and brings victory.

The Kshatriya kings used to begin any war on Vijaydashami seeking Goddess Durga’s blessings.

But now, people worship vehicles, “Vehicles are treated like living beings and worshipped. They are an integral part of our lives and they protect us,” he says.

Dasara also means celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

Chief Minister N Dharam Singh will be presenting Sangeeth Vidwan-2005 award to renowned flutist Vidwan S Mahadevappa at Mysore Palace on Wednesday at 6 pm.

Tourism Minister D T Jayakumar will be the chief guest and District in-charge Minister Tanveer Sait will preside.

Hailing from Kollegal taluk, the vidwan has won several awards including the state award and Chowdiah Memorial award in recognition of his contribution to the field of music.