Obama asks world to lock down nuclear material

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama warned that terror groups like al-Qaida were trying to acquire nuclear material for weapons posing one of the "greatest threats" to global security and pitched for concrete collective steps to deal with this challenge.

Addressing the Nuclear Security Summit here, Obama said the world would need "a new manner of thinking and action" to deal with the real problem facing the world peace and stability.

"Terrorist networks such as al-Qaida have tried to acquire the material for a nuclear weapon. And if they ever succeeded, they would surely use it.

"Were they to do so, it would be a catastrophe for the world, causing extraordinary loss of life and striking a major blow to global peace and stability," he told a gathering of leaders from 47 countries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, assembled to discuss ways to prevent terrorists gaining access to nuclear material and know-how.

He said it was increasingly clear that the danger of nuclear terrorism is "one of the greatest threats to global security, to our collective security."

Now, Tharoor aide slams Modi on Twitter

Shashi Tharoor's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Jacob Jospeh has now joined the tweet war, going straight for Lalit Modi's jugular.

Jacob has posted a link to a recent newspaper article that alleged that Lalit Modi was convicted of possessing drugs, kidnapping and assault in the US during his days as a university student.

The conviction, the article says, came after Modi confessed to committing the offences before a US court.

The article quotes Modi's lawyers as saying that he did not serve the two-year jail sentence as he was let off on probation, and the county court did not give a final decision on his sentencing for drugs possession.

According to the newspaper report: "In 1985, General Court of Justice, Durham County, had charged Modi with kidnapping, assault and possession of 400 grams of cocaine, court documents show. He then entered a 'plea bargain', which is permitted under the US law and allows a reduced punishment without a trial if the accused confesses to his or her crimes."

The article points out that Modi's position as a cricket official has been challenged in the Supreme Court by a man, Kishore Rungta, who lost when Modi was elected president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. The petitioner has pleaded that rules do not permit anyone convicted of a criminal offence to hold the post of an office-bearer.

Modi's appointment as Vice President of the BCCI was also challenged in 2007 in the Bombay High Court on the same grounds - that he had been convicted of drug trafficking in the US in 1980. Though the High Court had dismissed the petition, it had come down hard on Modi and the BCCI saying it was not proper for the "BCCI to become a tool of musclemen, merchants and power brokers."

The board, the court had said, should not become a centre of power politics and internal politics was destroying the gentleman's game.

The court even asked the BCCI if it could find no one else to be the BCCI Vice President?

Car Models in India

In earlier days there were a few car models available in India. Ambassador and Fiat were the only two models that were manufactured in India and rest of the models had to imported. In 1980s Government of India launched Maruti in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan. Maruti revolutionized Indian car industry in a big way. But the main push for Indian automobile industrycame after 1991 in the post liberalization era. Industrial guidelines and investment climate was made more investor friendly. This prompted all the big automobile players such as Hyundai, Mitsubishi, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes et al. to invest in India and today most of the car models that are available elsewhere are also available in India.



Audi India
Audi A4Audi A6Audi A8Audi Q7
Honda India
Honda AccordHonda City ZXHonda CR-VHonda Civic
Fiat India
Fiat 1.6 Sport AdventureFiat Grande PuntoFiat PalioFiat Petra
Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra BoleroMahindra ScorpioMahindra IngenioMahindra Renault Logan
Ford Motors
Ford EndeavourFord FiestaFord FusionFord IkonFord Mondeo
Bentley Motors Limited
Bentley ArnageBentley AzureBentley BrooklandsBentley Continental Flying SpurBentley Continental GT
Hindustan Motors
Ambassador CarMitsubishi iCarMitsubishi LancerLancer CediaMitsubishi Pajero
Mercedes India
Mercedes Benz C-ClassMercedes-Benz CLSMercedes Benz E-ClassMercedes Benz SLK-ClassMercedes-Benz SL-500
General Motors
Chevrolet AveoChevrolet Aveo U-VAChevrolet ForesterChevrolet OptraChevrolet SparkChevy SRVChevrolet TaveraOpel CorsaOpel Corsa Sail
Hyundai Motors
Hyundai ElantraHyundai AccentHyundai GetzHyundai Santro XingHyundai Sonata EmberaHyundai TerracanHyundai TucsonHyundai Verna
Tata Motors
Tata IndicaIndica V2 XetaTata IndigoTata Indigo MarinaTata Indigo SXTata SafariTata Sumo Victa
Skoda Auto India
Skoda FabiaSkoda LauraSkoda Laurin & KlementSkoda OctaviaSkoda Octavia CombiSkoda Superb
Toyota Motors
Toyota CamryToyota CorollaToyota InnovaLand Cruiser PradoToyota Lexus LS 460
Lamborghini India
Lamborghini GallardoLamborghini Gallardo SpyderLamborghini Murcielago LP640
Porsche
Porsche BoxsterPorsche Carrera GTPorsche Cayenne
BMW India
BMW 530iBMW 760Li
Maruti Udyog
Maruti 800Maruti AltoMaruti BalenoMaruti EsteemMaruti Grand Vitara XL-7Maruti GypsyMaruti Omni
Maruti SwiftMaruti Suzuki SX4Maruti VersaMaruti Wagon RMaruti ZenZen Estilo
Sports Cars
Ferrari 248 F1 Racing CarFerrari F1-2000Ferrari F2001 Racing CarMcLaren F1 Racing CarMcLaren SLR 722Porsche Boxster
Porsche Carrera GT Porsche Cayenne Lamborghini Gallardo Gallardo Spyder Murcielago LP640
Nissan Motor
Nissan X-Trail
Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Reva

Smita Thackeray set to join Congress

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray may soon join Congress
, a Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"Smita Thackeray is on way to joining the Congress," MPCC Spokesperson and former minister Hussain Dalwai told PTI.

Asked when would Smita, a film producer and social worker, join Congress, Dalwai said, "I cannot tell exactly when she would join but she is on way to joining the party".

Forty eight-year-old Smita is reportedly peeved at being "marginalised" in the Thackeray household and feels that the Sena is being "unfair" to Maharashtrians with its parochial politics.

The MPCC spokesperson said, "The fact that Smita is on way to Congress shows that after Bal Thackeray there is no one in Sena whose leadership people trust."

A member of Thackeray joining Congress is a significant development, he said.

"Anyone who is ready to abide by the ideology of the party and has faith in leadership of Sonia Gandhi is welcome in the party," Dalwai added.

Infosys net profit rises 2.2% to Rs 1,617 crore

IT major Infosys on Tuesday said that its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010, rose to Rs 1,617 crore from 1582 crore in the previous quarter.

During the quarter, Infosys’ revenue rose 3.5 per cent to Rs 5,944 crore from Rs 5,741 crore in the previous quarter.

An NDTV poll of analysts estimated the fourth-quarter net profit at Rs1,602 crore and sales at Rs.5,886 crore.

For FY10, Infosys reported a net profit of Rs 6,270 crore.

For FY11, Infosys forecast a revenue growth in the range of 16 per cent to 18 per cent in dollar terms.



During the fourth quarter Infosys and its subsidiaries saw a net addition of 3914 employees.

“We have been able to take advantage of the oppoertunitie4s of the in the market and grow faster due to our investments in capacity and capacity building even during the economic downturn,” said S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD.

The company's cash and cash equivalents stood at $3.5 billion at the end of March 31, 2010. "We maintained our margins in one of the toughest years for the industry. The currency volatility continues to be a concern for the industry. We have an active hedging programme to minimise its impact on our margins," Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said.

The board has declared a final dividend of Rs 15 per share for the fiscal on every share of Rs 5 held. Infosys, which has Goldman Sachs, BT Group and BP Plc among its clients, added 47 clients during the quarter.