Steve Davis rolls back the years to complete epic 13-11 victory over defending champion John Higgins

Steve Davis, who won the last of his six snooker world titles 21 years ago, inflicted one of the biggest upsets the tournament has ever seen by defeating defending champion John Higgins at The Crucible.
Golden oldie Davis, 52, rolled back the years with a vintage performance in Sheffield to stun Higgins and keep alive his hopes of a shock seventh crown.

Tight: Davis (above) completed a momentous win over the defending champion
Davis, a 400-1 outsider to win snooker's world championship before the tournament began, saw his odds slashed to 28-1.
He led 9-7 overnight and held his nerve to clinch a breathtaking 13-11 win as 34-yearold Higgins crumbled under the pressure.
Davis said: 'I was shaking like a leaf, that's such an amazing victory.
'I had a little tear in my eye when I won the match, it was such an emotional feeling.
'I cannot believe I played well enough to beat John; the inner belief grew as I got closer and closer.

Frustration: Defending champion Higgins reflects on a missed red as Davis makes his way to the table
'But the nerves started to kick in then. I had my chance in that last frame we played and I thought, "This is my moment". I said to myself, "Just go to it".
'I had such a good start against him. John is such a great champion, he wished me all the best. You couldn't beat a nicer bloke.
'There were times, when John came back at me, when I could have dropped my head, but I kept my competitive resolve and it has worked.'
His stunning victory made Davis the oldest Crucible quarter-finalist since Australian Eddie Charlton reached this stage of the competition in 1983, also at the age of 52.
If Davis were to go all the way this year, he would become the oldest-ever winner of the famous Crucible crown, eclipsing Welshman Ray Reardon, who holds that distinction after winning the title in 1978 aged 45 years 203 days.
But despite capturing the imagination by seeing off Higgins yesterday, Davis stressed that contemplating his first Crucible title since 1989 would be a big mistake. 'I'm not looking at winning the tournament, that's a recipe for a sporting disaster.
'If I look too far ahead that's a big mistake,' added Davis, who will play Australian Neil Robertson in the last eight.
'All of a sudden I've inspired myself.
'The crowd were fantastic and that spurred me on.'
Higgins was disappointed with his second-round exit, but the three-time champion was full of admiration for veteran Davis, his boyhood idol.
'I really struggled at some points during that match, but take nothing away from the great man,' he said.
'He's the greatest in my eyes.' Read more:

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Akki-Ash to do lock & key act

Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replayy’ is a film that’s going to replay the old acts and lives, through Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai. The film, which is based on a time machine saga, includes a song that gives tribute to seventies’ on-screen romantic couples. While planning the song the director thought of jodis like Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra-Hema Malini and Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz. But he somehow missed out the ‘Bobby’ pair Rishi Kapoor-Dimple Kapadia, who created sensation then.
So now it seems Shah is serious to include the jodi in the song and seriously working out an alternative. Sources reveal that the filmmaker is planning to insert the lyric of the song “Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho” from ‘Bobby’. And for that Shah is trying to get permission to shoot the song in Gulmarg where the song was shot in the 70s – something which the director is excitedly looking forward to shoot.
Aha now that would be really interesting to watch na… but will Akshay and Ash able to replay the classic innocence that Rishi and Dimple portrayed… Lets wait and see....

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Brilliant Bangalore in Champions League

Mumbai: A peerless show by the Royal Challengers Bangalore saw the Deccan Chargers being thrashed by nine wickets at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. With this emphatic win, Bangalore book their spot in the Champions League to be played in September later this year. The Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings have already made it, by virtue of being the finalists of this year's IPL.
It was a sorry tale for the Deccan Chargers in their last appearance this year as the Royal Challengers bowled them out for 82. Only two batsmen from the Deccan innings reached double figures while as many as five batsmen made no score. Chasing the small 83-run target, Bangalore reached home in the 14th over.
Rahul Dravid (35 not out off 30) and Kevin Pietersen (29 not out off 21) ensured there were no miracles by the Chargers on a tricky surface. For the most part of their chase, a Test-like field was set with Deccan searching for wickets but Bangalore batsmen were too experienced to fall into any sort of trap.
Jacques Kallis (19 off 32) now has a two-run lead over Sachin Tendulkar for the race to the Orange Cap. The Mumbai skipper will have a chance on Sunday to seal the Orange Cap in case he plays in the final against Chennai.
Anil Kumble was the hero for the Bangalore with the skipper taking four wickets for 16 runs in 3.3 overs. Praveen Kumar and Jacques Kallis picked two wickets each.
Anirudh Singh was the only bright spot in the Deccan innings as the youngster sparkled with a gritty 39-ball 40 in a pressure situation. Had it not been for Anirudh's endeavour, Deccan could have had a worse embarrassment in store for them.
After electing to bat, when Adam Gilchrist (four) smashed Kumble's first ball for four, it looked like the Deccan skipper might write a different script after failing for 15 games on the trot. But two balls later, he smashed a regulation full toss down the fine-leg's throat and it was all over for Gilchrist. Deccan collapsed from there as poor shot selection and sharp bowling accounted for an insipid batting performance.
Praveen trapped Monish Mishra (zero) and Rohit Sharma (zero) as Deccan were in tatters at 15-3. Praveen could have had his third straight wicket, that of Andrew Symonds but Dale Steyn dropped a sitter on the ropes. However, the South African redeemed himself by picking up the wicket of Symonds (two) in the next over.
When Dwayne Smith (five) was the outfoxed by a Kumble googly, Deccan had lost half their side for just 35 runs on the board in the ninth over. Venugopal Rao along with Anirudh brought some sanity to the innings by attempting a recovery. But Kallis came to the attack to snare Anirudh.
Nayan Doshi, making his IPL debut for Bangalore, hammered the final nail in the coffin when he sent back Rao for 24.
Kumble came back into the attack to finish the Deccan innings clinically.

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Tharoor has a stake in Kochi IPL team: Lalit Modi

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Saturday fired another salvo at Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. In a no-holds barred interview to Headlines Today, Modi said, Tharoor is lying, and he is sure that Rendezvouos Sports have a hidden agenda. He cast aspersions on Tharoor saying, "He (Tharoor) is a liar. Why was Tharoor so keen on the bidding process? He has a stake in the Kochi IPL team." Modi described the entire IPL controversy and the Income Tax raids as a minor issue. He sounded supremely confident, insisting he will just swat the problem away and move ahead. Following a bitter spat between Modi and Tharoor, the income tax department recently grilled Modi. Modi said, "I'm a victim of my own success. I-T raids are a minor issue. We have seen bigger challenges. We have nothing to hide. We will co-operate with I-T." He also said, "I-T has the right to know how our process works." Modi said, "The IPL bid is a secret process. I can't decide."

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Ancelotti backs Spurs for title push

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti says Tottenham will challenge for the Premier League title next season as he prepares for Saturday's trip to White Hart Lane.

Spurs are gunning for a top-four finish along with Manchester City and they could halt Chelsea's charge towards a Premier League and FA Cup double with victory over Ancelotti's side.

Tottenham bounced back from last weekend's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Portsmouth with a hard-earned victory over north London rivals Arsenal in midweek. It is that lack of consistency that has prevented Spurs making a title push this season, but Ancelotti has already tipped them to be a real force next term.

"Harry Redknapp is doing a very good job at Tottenham," said the Italian.

"He did a very good job winning the FA Cup in 2008 at Portsmouth.

"Tottenham haven't played with continuity, but have played football with very good quality.

"They are a team that likes to play. They have very good players with a lot of quality. They could challenge next season - they can fight for the title."

Ancelotti promised that Chelsea would take the same attacking mentality to White Hart Lane that saw them defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Chelsea are four points clear of United at the summit and a win tomorrow would go a long way towards sealing their first title since 2006.

But while United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists that a draw would be good enough for Chelsea, Ancelotti disagrees.

"I don't think so," added Ancelotti.

"A draw wouldn't be a good result.

"We want to maintain a good philosophy against Tottenham and try to win the game. That would be the best thing. I don't know if it will be possible. I was surprised at their performance against Arsenal because they reacted well after the Portsmouth defeat and played a strong match.

"We want to put pressure on them immediately. I don't know if it's possible because Tottenham will want to do the same. But that is the right way to get a good result."

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18 killed in Thailand violence

Fierce clashes between Thai troops and protesters in Bangkok claimed at least 18 lives and injured 807, government sources said on Sunday.

Among the dead were 14 civilians, including one Japanese photographer working for the Thomson Reuters news agency, and four soldiers, the latest report from the government's Narenthorn Medical Centre said. A tense standoff between government troops and anti-government demonstrators continued on Sunday in the two main protest sites, Phan Fa Bridge in the old part of the capital, and at Ratchaprasong, a posh shopping and hotel district in modern Bangkok. On Saturday the government, which placed Bangkok and surrounding provinces under emergency law, moved to enforce the decree by sending troops to clear out tens of thousands of supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) from Phan Fa Bridge. The move sparking bloody clashes as the protesters refused to budge and fought back with sticks, Molotov cocktails, grenades and rifles. The UDD, also called the red shirts, has been staging protests at Phan Fa Bridge for almost a month, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold new elections. In their efforts to increase pressure on the government to meet their demands, the red shirts April 3 occupied the Ratchaprasong intersection, an upmarket shopping and hotel district. On Wednesday, they attacked Parliament building, forcing legislators to flee and prompting Abhisit to declare emergency law, a decree that bans gatherings of more than five people and provides broad immunity for officials involved in cracking down on dissent. The red shirts defied the emergency decree Friday with the seizure of the ThaiCom Satellite station, to force the People Channel TV back on the air. The channel, their main media outlet, had been cut by the government. On Saturday, the government decided to get tough and clear the protesters from Phan Fa, and thereafter Ratchaprasong. But the troops ran into stiff resistance, especially at Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, where protesters lobbed grenades at the troops, injuring more than 20. The soldiers reportedly responded with live bullets, causing casualties. In most encounters the troops used water cannon, tear gas, batons and rubber bullets. By 9 pm (1400 GMT), with injuries mounting on both sides, the government agreed to withdraw its troops from Phan Fa and sued for truce negotiations, which the UDD leadership initially refused. UDD chairman Veera Muksikpong Saturday night called on Abhisit to "dissolve parliament and leave Thailand." But Abhisit has shown no inclination to step down. "The government and I are duty-bound to resolve the problems, restore peace and maintain justice for the country," he said in a televised broadcast Saturday midnight. He promised to set up an independent body to determine the cause of deaths and injuries.

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PM-Obama talks to focus on nuke liability bill, Pak, Afghan

The controversial nuclear liability bill, US arms supplies to Pakistan and situation in Afghanistan are expected to figure prominently at the meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have with President Barack Obama here.

Singh, who is here on a four-day visit to attend the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit, will hold talks with Obama at Blair House tonight, their second meeting in four months. They had last met here on November 24 during Singh's State Visit.

The Prime Minister is expected to inform Obama that the nuclear liability bill is going through democratic processes in India and he hopes it to be passed by Parliament at the earliest, sources said.

The Civil Nuclear Liability Bill, whose passage is crucial for implementation of the historic Indo-US nuclear deal, has got caught in a political quagmire with opposition parties strongly objecting to certain aspects of the proposed legislation.

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'Indian education doesn't allow critical thinking'

370)this.width=370">Sumita Vaid Dixit

Raju Narisetti, managing editor, The Washington Post, began his professional career by selling cheese and butter for a dairy cooperative but soon realised that his calling lay elsewhere: in journalism. His first full-time job was with the American newspaper, the Dayton Daily News, which, Narisetti says, 'became the real foundation of all my future journalism'.

In a frank interview with Sumita Vaid Dixit, Narisetti talks about the state of Indian education, media's role in improving journalism standards, relationship between advertising and editorial amongst others...

Tell us a little about your growing up years in India?

I grew up with newspapers, books and conversations about language and journalism as my father was a journalist and my mother was a professor of English. A favourite game for my sister and me was to sit and look at the vast number
of books my dad had in bookshelves and try to name a fragment of a book title that the other could spot or complete.
And I would dash off lots of letters to local newspapers on various topics.

So, a journalist is what you always wanted to be...

I didn't necessarily think of journalism as a career. In fact, I went to Institute of Rural Management, Anand, (IRMA), to get my two-year MBA equivalent in Rural Management, after which I worked as regional sales manager for AP
Dairy, the producers of Vijaya brand of dairy products. But some two years into that, it dawned on me that selling butter and cheese wasn't how I want to spend the rest of my life and that I wanted to really become a journalist.

Were you a good student in the conventional sense?

I barely passed my 10th grade Hindi exam because I hated the subject and never put effort into it but that event
was such a shock to me that it forever changed my thinking on education. Not only did I score very well in Hindi later but never ever got myself into a situation where I didn't sail through my exams.

Why Indiana University and not an Indian university for journalism?

I got a Post Graduate diploma from The Times School of Journalism (TSJ), back in the late 1980s, the best journalism
education you could get.

Meanwhile, the journalism degrees you get from Indian universities are, even now, not worth the paper they are printed on -- most of the faculty wouldn't know what to do in a newsroom if they woke up in one. The biggest problem in India still is that journalism education is so terrible and the pipeline from a couple of better institutions is so narrow.

It is a challenge that I hope India media organisations, those who believe in maintaining vibrant democracies and free speech, and those who really want to impact the quality of Indian media in a positive way, will rise to one of these days.

How was education in the US different from India?

I realised that good teachers are ones that make your mind open to multiple possibilities and challenge you to find
answers. David Pritchard, Indiana University professor, taught me the value of rigour and ethics in journalism. I owe Indiana University a great debt of gratitude for making me think. With the exceptions of IRMA, Anandhi Natarajan, my English schoolteacher, and Thomas Oommen, my journalism teacher at TSJ, I never found education in India to be about allowing you to become a critical thinker. It is a pity that so many years of school and college
were, in a way, wasted on me.

You seem to suggest that there are fundamental flaws with Indian education...

The focus on year-end exams, the static nature of testing based on rarely updated textbooks, the unwillingness to formally recognise and reward intra-year two-way conversation in a course between students and teachers, the fixed
set of subject pairs you can take rather than being able to build your coursework, teachers who aren't measured by
their ability to attract students to willingly attend classes, teacher education that is ancient in its focus on curriculum development and teaching methods -- the list is endless and yet something that can be fixed because it isn't rocket science.

Coming to your experience at Mint, there were some turbulent moments...

In general media organisations, their owners and top editors, don't pay enough attention to the issues I found problematic, such as inadequate journalism training, lack of newsroom standards -- both the presence and enforcement,
to name a few. And I have never personally dealt with as many external ethical issues in my career as I dealt with in my three years of planning, launching and managing Mint.

It doesn't mean good, honest journalism can't happen or even thrive in those conditions and, in fact, I would point to Mint as a place where Indian journalists continue to succeed in doing good, honest journalism even now, long
after I am not involved with it. So to succumb is a matter of choice -- for editors and owners -- and not a given for
Indian media.

The point you make about ethics also extends to a few Indian educational institutes that thrive at students' expense...

The veracity of claims of institutes such as IIPM has been questioned by many, including Mint, and more recently by your publication. Mint, under me, drew a bright line between news and advertising and through well-researched
pieces, by experts such as Premchand Palety, raised a lot of unanswered questions about such educational institutions
and their claims. Just as the advertising department couldn't tell News what to do, I believed it wasn't up to News to tell Advertising as long it met whatever guidelines the business side had on such advertising.

It is not the role of the media alone, nor can it be held accountable for ending questionable practices. Our job was to shed light and hope that those responsible for enforcing India's laws would also take appropriate action.370)this.width=370">

Before we end, tell us what do you like to do when you are not working?

In the last few years, I haven't spent enough time with my daughters, Leila (8) and Zola (4), so am trying, even if
not entirely successfully, to make some amends on that front when I can. I am a walking cliche in the sense I love journalism and the business of journalism. While it was a 15-hour job before, these days with both print and online responsibilities, and with tools like Blackberry, it has morphed into a near 24-hour responsibility. And I would be lying if I said I don't enjoy that!

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BJP's 30th anniversary event held sans Sushma, Advani

New Delhi

: The 30th anniversary celebration of BJP held here on Tuesday was a dull affair with two of its most prominent faces -- Parliamentary Party Chairman L K Advani and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj -- keeping away from the event despite being present in the city.

While Advani, who returned yesterday from a trip to Uttarakhand, stayed at home during the programme, Swaraj kept herself busy in other engagements though she had been invited.

Even BJP President Nitin Gadkari rushed in from the airport quite late in the programme.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was the main speaker who took on Home Minister P Chidambaram for "playing politics" on the issue of Naxalism.

"I can use the language of the Home Minister and say that the buck stops with the Home Minister's chair. But I don't think this is necessary," he said, adding, "He can politicise the issue from Lalgarh."

Chidambaram had said in Naxal-infested Lalgarh on Sunday that when it came to law and order in West Bengal

, the buck stops at the Chief Minister's table.

Jaitley said some groups in the country were functioning as "overground faces" of the "underground movement".

"Democracy is under threat in India

. More than 200 districts in the country are affected by Naxalism. This means one-third of the country," he said.

Jaitley said the "Red Corridor" has spread from "Pashupati (Nepal) to Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh)".

"Ninety of the Naxal-affected districts are such where the writ of Maoists runs more than that of the administration. There aim is to overthrow Parliamentary democracy. Here power flows through the barrel of a gun," he said.

Jaitley insisted that during the rule of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, which was guided by a "nationalist inspiration", the presence of Naxals was only symbolic but there was a spurt in their numbers during UPA-I regime.

The senior leader maintained that BJP was the only "India first party" and had never engaged in votebank politics.

Two minutes' silence was observed at the beginning of the programme for the CRPF personnel martyred at the deadly Naxalite strike at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh today.

Gadkari attacked the Congress-led UPA government, alleging it was soft on terror which had resulted in incidents like the one in Dantewada that has claimed 76 lives.

He also referred to his recent visit to Assam and the infiltration of Bangladeshis in the state.

"Bangladeshi infiltrators have entered Assam in big numbers. While the natives face problems in getting their papers (like ration cards, voters' I-card) made, the Bangladeshis get them with ease. The natives are living there as tenants," Gadkari said.

He accused political parties, especially the Congress, of indulging in appeasement politics for vote bank. Gadkari insisted that China had made incursions into Indian territory in 147 places but the Indian army only showed them banners, saying "this is our land" and asking them to go back.

He also accused the government of allowing foodgrains to rot as this could then be used for making liquor.

"I ask the Prime Minister to come clear on how much of rotten foodgrains are supplied to distillers for making foreign liquor," Gadkari said.

In his speech, Jaitley alleged that government's "soft" policy and Article 370 had resulted in Jammu and Kashmir turning from "a separate state to separatism".

"Now terrorism from across the border has local modules and sleeper cells in the country," he said.

Jaitley also referred to the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik case and said even in a country like Pakistan has started moving towards progressive laws since 1961 but this has not been the case in India due to minority appeasement.

BJP supports imposition of a Uniform Civil Code in the country and removal of Personal Laws as it considers them regressive.

BJP general secretary Thawar Chand Gehlot, who is also the scheduled caste face of the party, spoke against the Ranganath Mishra report and said any move to give reservation to "converted Dalits" is a "big conspiracy" that would lead to a "flood of conversions".

PTI

New Delhi: The 30th anniversary celebration of BJP held here on Tuesday was a dull affair with two of its most prominent faces -- Parliamentary Party Chairman L K Advani and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj -- keeping away from the event despite being present in the city.

While Advani, who returned yesterday from a trip to Uttarakhand, stayed at home during the programme, Swaraj kept herself busy in other engagements though she had been invited.

Even BJP President Nitin Gadkari rushed in from the airport quite late in the programme.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was the main speaker who took on Home Minister P Chidambaram for "playing politics" on the issue of Naxalism.

"I can use the language of the Home Minister and say that the buck stops with the Home Minister's chair. But I don't think this is necessary," he said, adding, "He can politicise the issue from Lalgarh."

Chidambaram had said in Naxal-infested Lalgarh on Sunday that when it came to law and order in West Bengal, the buck stops at the Chief Minister's table.

Jaitley said some groups in the country were functioning as "overground faces" of the "underground movement".

"Democracy is under threat in India. More than 200 districts in the country are affected by Naxalism. This means one-third of the country," he said.

Jaitley said the "Red Corridor" has spread from "Pashupati (Nepal) to Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh)".

"Ninety of the Naxal-affected districts are such where the writ of Maoists runs more than that of the administration. There aim is to overthrow Parliamentary democracy. Here power flows through the barrel of a gun," he said.

Jaitley insisted that during the rule of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, which was guided by a "nationalist inspiration", the presence of Naxals was only symbolic but there was a spurt in their numbers during UPA-I regime.

The senior leader maintained that BJP was the only "India first party" and had never engaged in votebank politics.

Two minutes' silence was observed at the beginning of the programme for the CRPF personnel martyred at the deadly Naxalite strike at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh today.

Gadkari attacked the Congress-led UPA government, alleging it was soft on terror which had resulted in incidents like the one in Dantewada that has claimed 76 lives.

He also referred to his recent visit to Assam and the infiltration of Bangladeshis in the state.

"Bangladeshi infiltrators have entered Assam in big numbers. While the natives face problems in getting their papers (like ration cards, voters' I-card) made, the Bangladeshis get them with ease. The natives are living there as tenants," Gadkari said.

He accused political parties, especially the Congress, of indulging in appeasement politics for vote bank. Gadkari insisted that China had made incursions into Indian territory in 147 places but the Indian army only showed them banners, saying "this is our land" and asking them to go back.

He also accused the government of allowing foodgrains to rot as this could then be used for making liquor.

"I ask the Prime Minister to come clear on how much of rotten foodgrains are supplied to distillers for making foreign liquor," Gadkari said.

In his speech, Jaitley alleged that government's "soft" policy and Article 370 had resulted in Jammu and Kashmir turning from "a separate state to separatism".

"Now terrorism from across the border has local modules and sleeper cells in the country," he said.

Jaitley also referred to the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik case and said even in a country like Pakistan has started moving towards progressive laws since 1961 but this has not been the case in India due to minority appeasement.

BJP supports imposition of a Uniform Civil Code in the country and removal of Personal Laws as it considers them regressive.

BJP general secretary Thawar Chand Gehlot, who is also the scheduled caste face of the party, spoke against the Ranganath Mishra report and said any move to give reservation to "converted Dalits" is a "big conspiracy" that would lead to a "flood of conversions".

PTI

He accused political parties, especially the Congress, of indulging in appeasement politics for vote bank. Gadkari insisted that China had made incursions into Indian territory in 147 places but the Indian army only showed them banners, saying "this is our land" and asking them to go back.

He also accused the government of allowing foodgrains to rot as this could then be used for making liquor.

"I ask the Prime Minister to come clear on how much of rotten foodgrains are supplied to distillers for making foreign liquor," Gadkari said.

In his speech, Jaitley alleged that government's "soft" policy and Article 370 had resulted in Jammu and Kashmir turning from "a separate state to separatism".

"Now terrorism from across the border has local modules and sleeper cells in the country," he said.

Jaitley also referred to the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik case and said even in a country like Pakistan has started moving towards progressive laws since 1961 but this has not been the case in India due to minority appeasement.

BJP supports imposition of a Uniform Civil Code in the country and removal of Personal Laws as it considers them regressive.

BJP general secretary Thawar Chand Gehlot, who is also the scheduled caste face of the party, spoke against the Ranganath Mishra report and said any move to give reservation to "converted Dalits" is a "big conspiracy" that would lead to a "flood of conversions".

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Water theft: MNS workers beat people

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers are on a rampage once again. Making a mockery of the Ashok Chavan government's law and order machinery, groups of MNS activists have been going around the state capital beating up people for allegedly stealing water.

Mumbai's water woes have become a political plank and parties are trying to outdo each other to hijack it. Parties are sending out vigilante groups to hunt down anyone fetching water illegally.

Taking the law into their hands, Raj Thackeray's party workers have been conducting raids at several places. Late on Wednesday night, they attacked people in Kalbadevi and chased them through streets before beating them up.

Justifying its act, the MNS claimed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was not taking any action against people stealing water.

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Two Army troopers held for raping teenager in Pune

A teenaged girl has been allegedly raped by two army jawans when she went to a remote spot in Pune to meet her boyfriend, a week after a married women was gangraped by three people in the city suburb.

The jawans, who allegedly beat her boyfriend and committed the crime on Wednesday night, were arrested this morning and remanded to police custody till April 15.

The 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped when she had gone to meet her boyfriend at a remote spot near a military ground in Sangvi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahesh Patil said.

Her boyfriend, who was to see her at the spot as per a rendezvous arranged between them, was late in reaching there as he ran out of fuel and dragged his motorcycle along the road, she said in the complaint filed at Sangvi police station.

As the girl walked towards the boy, the two accused beat up her boyfriend, took away ignition key of the bike and later allegedly raped her in the adjacent ground, Patil said.

She, later, filed a complaint following which the police identified the accused and arrested them on Friday morning, he said.

The accused, Rajneesh Kumar of Mirzapur in UP and Sumendersingh of Rajasthan [ Images ], were later produced before a court which remanded them to police custody till April 15.

The latest episode came close on the heels of the alleged gangrape of a 25-year-old married woman here last Friday at Hinjewadi, a Pune suburb.

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Apple's iPad unearthed: Samsung, LG appear

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - Luke Soules was one of the first on the planet to get his hands on an iPad. And he wasted no time taking it apart.



After staking out three locations in the Eastern United States, Soules -- co-founder of teardown firm iFixit -- cracked the device open on Saturday to unearth NAND flash memory by Samsung Electronics, an LCD display from LG Display and microchips from Broadcom Corp, Texas Instruments Inc and NXP Semiconductor.

Soules and his outfit provide and advise on components in Apple gadgets -- and also identifies them. The work of teardown firms such as iFixit may prove crucial in identifying which manufacturer gets its parts into a device expected to sell upwards of 5 million units in 2010 alone.

Soules had slept overnight in the parking lot outside an Apple mall store in Richmond, Virginia. He was the first to walk out of the store, moments after the outlet opened at 9 a.m., iPad in hand.

Store employees clapped and gave him high-fives. He grinned, but moved quickly. There was work to do.

Without a second's dawdling, Soules hopped in a waiting car and raced a few short miles to the house of a friend, where he had his tools of destruction ready to go. He barely paused to admire the iPad out of the box. He didn't even turn it on.

The secretive Apple is famous for designing sealed-up devices intended to discourage nosy gadget heads from poking around in them, and the iPad was no different.

The iPad had no screws. But working with a tool called a spudger, it took Soules only 10 minutes to separate the iPad's handsome, 9.7-inch facing from its silver-backed casing.
He surveyed the iPad's design, a maze of parts that would be utterly inscrutable to most people.

"That's very, very nice," he said almost reverentially.

IPAD'S SOUL

Teardown firms are hired by an array of clients, their data used for competitive intelligence, in patent disputes or to keep current on industry benchmarks.

By 9:30 a.m., Soules had turned the iPad inside out and was sharing its secrets with the world.

There is strong competition to be first to tear open Apple devices and reveal the design, chips and components within and iFixit has gained a measure of fame for their work.

Months of anticipation had built ahead of the iPad launch and -- at least in technology circles -- almost as much excitement about what's on the inside of the device.

Within 45 minutes, iFixit had left the iPad -- the gleaming symbol of Apple's technological wizardry -- in tatters, its various parts naked against a crisp white backdrop.
Soules moved at a rapid clip, narrating as he took pictures and streamed to colleague Kyle Wiens and others in California, who were posting them online and helping identify parts.

IFixit's near-live teardowns have become staples for gadget fans during Apple product launches.

As a veteran of many previous efforts, Soules was prepared for any tricks Apple might throw his way, but the iPad didn't prove to be too enormous of a challenge to take apart, as some of previous devices have.

Soules had removed the main circuit board of the iPad by 10 a.m. The 4-inch long, 1-ounce board was covered by an electromagnetic interference shield, and underneath were all the microprocessors that make the device tick.

"The vast majority of the brains of the iPad are on this little board. It's amazing what they can fit into such a small space," Soules said.

DEVIL IN THE DETAILS

One of first identifiable parts was the NAND flash memory, which was made by Samsung, which has supplied components for other Apple devices. Soules also quickly noted chips from Broadcom, Texas Instruments.

There were also at least three chips carrying Apple branding. Apple is known to hide the identities of some chipmakers in its products by having them stamp an Apple logo on their parts. The main iPad chip is an Apple creation; its very own A4 processor controls the iPad's programs.
IFixit determined that Samsung is manufacturing the A4 chip for Apple.

After removing the circuit board, Soules dug in further using a Torx screwdriver to manipulate the minuscule screws inside THE iPad. His fingernails gingerly pried open casings.

"The teardown process is bit easier if I keep my fingernails on the long side," he said.

Soules discovered the iPad's battery is not soldered into place, which means that replacing it is possible for the do-it-yourself crowd. IFixit promotes device repair as a way to cut down on electronic waste.

Apple requires users to mail iPad units back to the company, which will change the battery for a hefty fee.

By 10:45 a.m. Soules was cautiously fiddling with the iPad's display, the most expensive component.

While he was unable to determine who made the display on his unit, another iFixit teardown at a different location revealed one from LG, meaning Apple could be using displays from more than one supplier.

Besides Richmond, iFixit had also ordered iPads at addresses near Indianapolis and Orlando, Florida. The company had people in both areas, home to FedEx shipping hubs.

IFixit thought it might be able to get a few hours jump on the competition by staking out the FedEx hubs the morning of the launch, to intercept one of the devices.
But that didn't pan out, so they resorted to standing in line -- at the head of the line actually -- in three cities.

The Federal Communications Commission also managed to steal at least some of iFixit's thunder. Bloggers discovered on Friday that the FCC had posted pictures of the insides of pre-production iPads on its Web site, despite the fact that Apple had requested that they keep them confidential.

IFixit spent much of the night identifying the parts, which were not necessarily the same as those in real iPads.

By noon on Saturday, the bulk of the iPad teardown was done. But there will be at least another week of analysis, using sophisticated equipment that can cut into components to determine how they were made, and who made them.

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India imports 3 mn tonnes of sugar so far this season

India, the world's largest sugar consumer, has imported over 3 million tonnes of the sweetener in the first six months of the 2009-10 sugar season, ending in September.

"Sugar mills and private traders have contracted to import 3.1 million tonnes in the current season till March 25," a senior Food Ministry official told PTI.

Of the 3.1 million tonnes, white sugar shipments were at 0.64 million tonnes, while that of raw sugar at 2.44 million tonnes, he said.

"About 2.7 million tonnes of sugar has already landed at ports here," the official added.

The government has allowed duty-free import of sugar (both raw and white) from April 2009 to meet the domestic shortage and curb rising prices. The duty-free import is allowed till December 2010.

The National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) Managing Director Vinay Kumar pointed out, "Going forward, India need not import sugar if the country's output rises to 18 million tonnes in the 2009-10 season (sugar season runs from October to September)."

The total availability of sugar is likely to be over the estimated demand of 23 million tonnes this season if you take into account the likely sugar production of 18 million tonnes plus the carry over stock of 3 million tonnes from the last season and the current import of 3.1 million tonnes, he said.

Recently, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had also indicated that sugar output may exceed the earlier estimate of 16 million tonnes this season.

According to official data, the country is estimated to have produced 16.7 million tonnes in the first six months of the current season.

Currently, the sugar prices in the retail markets have cooled down on reports of higher supplies and government's measures like stock limit order on bulk consumers.

In Delhi, the retail price of the sweetener has declined to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 48 in January.

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Liberty Shoes to add 60 outlets this fiscal

Footwear firm Liberty Shoes plans to open 60 outlets, including 10 overseas stores, this fiscal, a top company official said.

"We plan to open 50 outlets pan-India, primarily in Tier II destinations which will take our network-strength to 550 by end-this fiscal. Besides, we plan to open 10 outlets overseas as well," Liberty Group's CEO Adesh Gupta told PTI in Mumbai.

Within India, the company will focus primarily on Tier II destinations while overseas it plans to set up shops in South Africa, Singapore, the Middle-East and Kuala Lumpur, he said.

Domestically, with demand for the company's shoes growing and the company clocking a healthy sales in Tier I cities, Liberty now plans to target Tier II destinations, he said.

"We are growing and doing very well in the country and especially so in Tier I cities. Now, our focus will increasingly be on other markets," Gupta said.

The footwear major has pegged the investment for its domestic expansion at Rs 10 crore.

To keep pace with its expansion, Liberty plans to up its head-count and will hire between 300-500 professionals this fiscal, he said.

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IIM-Calcutta hikes fees by 50 per cent

The Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) has decided to hike fees for its flagship post-graduate course, but reduced its intake of students citing lack of infrastructure . The IIM-C board of governors at a meeting decided to raise the fees for the two-year post-graduate diploma in management programme from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 13.5 lakh from the current session (2010-12). The hike was necessary to cope with the increased expenditure in infrastructure, greater faculty allocation and spending in research related activities, board chairman Ajit Balakrishnan told reporters. The hiked fee would be at par with that of IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore. Balakrishnan said the additional funds will also be utilised to give fee waiver to more students. The institute offers fee waiver to around 10 per cent of students who fail to arrange the funds for the course. The board also decided to reduce the student strength for the programme to 375, though the institute had initially planned to accommodate 462 students. Dinesh Verma, the institute's chief administrative officer, said the number of students have to be reduced this year due to lack of infrastructure. "With the addition of the under construction new campus, this problem will surely be solved," he assured. Three years back, the institute used to take 300 students for the course, but it decided to increase the intake in a phased manner to 462 to accommodate the 20 per cent other backward classes (OBC) quota.

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