Chennai Super Kings Winner of IPL 2010 Champions

Kings are actually the kings. Achieving victory over Mumbai Indians by 22 runs Chennai Super Kings proved their mettle.

Sunday night brought the privilege for Chennai Super Kings when they won the title of IPL 3 Champions. After winning the toss, Chennai decided to bat first and raised 168 runs for Mumbai to chase.

Raina’s invincible 57 runs was first step they put towards their victory. And second was left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati who made 2 for 26 while Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan and Suresh Raina took one wicket each.

Earlier, Raina got a lifeline when Mumbai dropped his catch twice tahts results in Raina’s 57 not out studded with three sixes and three fours.

If Raina and Dhoni won’t lead their partnership to 72 runs they won’t be able to settle with such a high score.

Other batsmen in Chennai like Matthew Hayden and Murali Vijay scored 17 and 26.

After creating a handsome score Chennai constrained Mumbai to 146 runs on 9 wickets and won its IPL title at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai.

Though Chennai became conscious at the time Kieron pollard was playing. He single handedly threatened Chennai till he was declared out in the penultimate over.

Mumbai made it for the first time in finals while it was second time for Chennai to play in finals. Earlier it was runner up to Rajasthan Royals in 2008.

Being the most consistent team of this tournament by winning 10 of their 14 tournament games Mumbai just failed in the final. Captain Sachin Tendulkar who got his hand injured still declared that he is fit to play in Grand Finale scored 48 on 45 didn’t got much support from his batting line.

Mumbai opened its batting line with Shikhar Dhawan who got bowled out by Bollinger in the very second over even without scoring a single run.

Till fifth over when Sachin and Nayar stroked two fours each off Ashwin game turned promising for them. After second power play Sachin again studded Albie Morkel’s over with two fours.

While Muthaiya was bowling Nayar turned lucky when Hayden dropped his catch. Thereafter, he hit two sixes and took Mumbai’s score to 58. Later he got run out on 27 on 26.

In the 15th over when Tendulkar got out all hopes were crushed at the Mumbai’s side. Then Saurabh Twari went on duck by Raina and Jakati.

Then arrived Kieron Pollard who all alone took the accountability and scored 22 runs in 18th over by Bollinger.

In the last two overs when Mumbai needed 33 runs to win Rayudu got run out in penultimate over following him Kieron got out on the next ball. And Mumbai dreams shattered then and there.

For Mumbai, Dilhara Fernando came out as the booming bowler with 2 for 23 while Zaheer Khan and Kieron Pollard managed one wicket each.

For Mumbai, Captain Sachin Tendulkar winning the man of the series award came as to only contentment.

IPL boss Lalit Modi suspended: BCCI

MUMBAI: Lalit Modi was suspended as the IPL commissioner and issued a show-cause notice capping two weeks of raging controversy over financial wrong-doings in the hugely popular cricket tournament.

The action by BCCI was taken minutes after the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the third edition of the tournament past midnight on a day of dramatic developments when decided to attend and chair the IPL Governing Council meeting on Monday morning.

Following is the text of the show cause notice, sent by BCCI president Shashank Manohar to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.

"The events of the last few days have thrown up lot of sad and unfortunate developments. While we rejoice and celebrate the great success of IPL season 3, the alleged acts of individual misdemeanors of Lalit K Modi, chairman IPL and vice president BCCI have brought a bad name to the administration of Cricket and the game itself.

"I have waited for the IPL 3 - 2010 to conclude in order to respond to the situation as I did not want the event to be disrupted in any manner.

"Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the secretary, BCCI, N Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Lalit K Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

"Simultaneously in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Lalit K Modi from participating in the affairs of the board, the IPL, the Working Committee and any other Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India."

MCI boss Ketan Desai arrested

CBI has arrested President of Medical Council of India Ketan Desai and two others for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs two crore to grant recognition to a medical college in Punjab.

Desai was arrested late last night after the CBI conducted searches at his office here following information that he along with his associate Jitender Pal Singh was allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs two crore to recognise a college in Punjab, CBI spokesperson Harsh Bahal said on Friday.

Bahal said that Desai along with Singh and another associate Dr Kanwaljit Singh of Gyan Sagar Medical College in Punjab have been arrested by CBI on corruption charges.

The spokesperson said that the three were being interrogated and searches were going on at six other places in Delhi and outside.

The CBI laid a trap after receiving a complaint and caught Singh allegedly with Rs 2 crore which was to be delivered to Desai.

The agency also conducted raids in Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat to trace Desai's other associates. The main objectives of the Medical Council include maintenance of uniform standards of medical education and recommendation for recognition/de-recognition of medical qualifications of medical institutions of India or foreign countries.

Sri Lanka's new prime minister sworn in

COLOMBO,  (Xinhua) -- Senior Sri Lankan politician Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne was sworn in here as the 20th prime minister of Sri Lanka Wednesday evening, government officials said.
Officials from the presidential office said Jayaratne was sworn in by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the auspicious time of 6:06 p. m. local time (1236 GMT).

Jayaratne, 79 succeeded Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and heads the government in the new parliament to be convened on Thursday.

The new cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in later Thursday following Wednesday's announcement of the final result of the parliamentary election held on April 8.

Jayaratne entered parliament in 1970 and has held several senior ministerial positions.

Analysts said that President Rajapaksa had recognized Jayaratne 's loyalty to Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the dominant party in the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in opting for him over several others including the president's brother Basil Rajapaksa.
The post of prime minister is largely symbolic in the island's executive presidential system of government

The swearing in came after the UPFA won 144 of the 225 seats in the first parliamentary election held after the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels.

The main opposition United National Party won just 60 seats while the Democratic National Alliance led by former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka won seven seats.

The main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance won 14 seats while winning three former Tamil Tiger districts of Jaffna and Wanni in the north and Batticaloa in Eastern Province.
The ruling UPFA won the rest of the 19 districts.

The parliamentary election was held on April 8 but the final result was delayed until Tuesday's re-poll in two districts because of malpractice in the initial poll.

56 Indian companies among Forbes' Global 2000 list

NEW YORK: As many as 56 Indian companies, including Reliance Industries and State Bank of India, have been named among the world's 2,000 most powerful listed companies, according to US magazine Forbes.

The 'Global 2000' list of the biggest and most powerful companies worldwide has been topped by US banking giant JPMorgan Chase and is followed by General Electric, Bank of America and ExxonMobil.

Among Indian high performers, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries leads the pack and has been ranked at the 126th place in the global list.

Other Indian companies named in the list include State Bank of India (130), ONGC (155), ICICI Bank (282), Indian Oil (313), NTPC (341), Tata Steel (345), Bharti Airtel (471), Steel Authority of India (502), Larsen & Toubro (548) and HDFC Bank (632).

The global rankings span 62 countries, with the US (515 members) and Japan (210 members) dominating the list as usual, although the number of companies from developing nations in the Global 2000 is fast increasing.

This year, the countries that gained the most ground are mainland China (113 members), India (56 members) and Canada (62 members), the magazine said.

Forbes' ranking of the world's biggest companies used an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets and market value to rank companies according to size and this year's list reveals the dynamism of global business.

"In total, the Global 2000 companies now account for USD 30 trillion in revenues, USD 1.4 trillion in profits, USD 124 trillion in assets and USD 31 trillion in market value. All metrics are down from last year, except for market value, which rose 61 per cent," Forbes said.

Two companies from the Anil Ambani Group, Reliance Communications (742) and Reliance Infrastructure (1,702), have also made it on the list.

Other Indian companies named on the list include state-owned Punjab National Bank (695), Tata Consultancy Services (741), HDFC (783), Infosys (807), DLF (923) and Hero Honda Motors (1,571).

Brazil's capital celebrates 50th anniversary

BRASILIA: Brazil's futuristic capital is celebrating its 50th anniversary. But a famed architect who designed the city's main public buildings says Brasilia has disappointed him.

Oscar Niemeyer tells the Folha de S Paulo newspaper the city went downhill after politicians arrived.

Niemeyer says that once Brasilia was inaugurated, "The men with money came and everything changed."

The architect designed the city along with urban planner Lucio Costa. He says he is saddened that Brasilia displays the same stark economic inequalities of other Brazilian metropolises.

Some 200,000 people were gathered yesterday in Brasilia's centre for a celebratory parade and marathon. Fifty air force skydivers landed near the National Theatre.

China admits to Brahmaputra project

NEW DELHI: After several years of denying the existence of any river project on the Brahmaputra, China has finally admitted to India that they are indeed building a hydropower project on the river.

The admission, made for the first time by Chinese officials to India during the recent visit by foreign minister S M Krishna to Beijing, has brought a measure of transparency between the two countries, but also focused Indian interest in China's river activities, particularly Brahmaputra.

Satellite pictures had picked up the construction of a dam in Zangmu, in the Lhokha prefecture of Tibet, but even as late as 2009, China denied that such a project was underway. However, the qualitative improvement of ties between Beijing and Delhi as a result of some unprecedented cooperation during the Copenhagen climate summit appears to have cleared the air across the Himalayas.

This time, China said it was constructing a hydropower project in Zangmu -- there will be four more -- on the Brahmaputra. But this would not involve storage of water and was a run-of-the-river project, all inside Chinese territory. China also made it clear that they didn't really have to share their plans with India, but they were doing it out of a sense of "trust". The 510 mw project is being built by Gezhouba, one of China's biggest dam-building companies.

India and China have no water-sharing agreements, so it will be a first, when next week, Indian and Chinese water experts ink an "implementation plan" to share hydrological data on the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers. These agreements were signed in 2005 and 2008, but China had refused to share anything because there was no "plan". The first lot of data will flow from China to India later this year.

There have been reports that these projects are the beginning of a much bigger plan by China to divert the waters of the Brahmaputra to feed its parched northeast, an ambitious and technically challenging plan, called the Western Canal, that many Chinese reports say will be completed by 2050.

However, China has officially clarified that such reports aren't "consistent with facts". Answering questions on this in Parliament on Wednesday, Krishna said, "In November 2009, the foreign ministry of China clarified that China is a responsible country and would never do anything to undermine any other country's interests."

While India will celebrate the improved trust quotient with China, in reality, it cannot make a huge hue and cry over these projects of an upper riparian state. As an upper riparian state on the Indus itself, India is building similar hydropower projects which has Pakistan screaming blue murder and threatening terrorist action.

JD(S) targets Reddy brothers

BANGALORE: The JD(S) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is gearing up to raise the issue of alleged illegal mining by Reddy brothers in the Parliament.

JD(S) state president and MP H D Kumaraswamy told reporters here on Wednesday that they had already sent a notice to the Speaker seeking an opportunity to raise the issue. "We will submit all documents pertaining to illegal mining in the Parliament. The TDP has also supported us. The Reddys are looting state's wealth," he said.

It's soul searching time

The JD(S) held a meeting with the winning and loosing candidates of the recently-concluded BBMP polls to deliberate on the party's pathetic performance. The meeting was chaired by Kumaraswamy and party city unit president Narayana Swamy. Echoing similar sentiments, the defeated candidates said the BJP had spent huge money and the administration supported them in a big way.

Kumaraswamy admitted that they had erred in selection of candidates in some wards. It also dawned on the leaders that traditional voters failed to support them.

To energize its cadres for the gram panchayat elections, the party is holding a meeting of its leaders and office-bearers from across the city on Thursday at Palace Grounds.

World Economy Has Recovered Better Than Expected

The world economy has recovered better than expected from its deepest recession in six decades and emerging economic powerhouses like China will likely continue leading the way, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday.

The IMF painted a more sobering picture for wealthier countries, which remain saddled with high unemployment rates, unsustainable budget deficits and face a "sluggish" economic recovery.

In a semi-annual report on the world economy, the IMF said the recovery was gathering steam as financial sectors were healing and trade flows were rising. It predicted global growth of 4.2 per cent in 2010, up slightly from a January forecast of 3.9 per cent. Its 2011 growth prediction remained steady at 4.3 per cent.

Much of the growth is because of developing economies, which together will climb 6.3 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent next year. Advanced economies by contrast will grow just 2.3 per cent in 2010 and 2.4 per cent the following year.

Wealthier countries may never catch up, the result of "lasting damage" from a 2008 financial crisis that has devastated the wealth of households and forced many to spend money more cautiously.

While the crisis may have started in the United States, the world's largest economy is recovering faster than that of Europe and Japan. The US economy is predicted to grow by 3.1 per cent this year, compared to 1 per cent for the eurozone and 1.9 per cent for Japan.

A recovery may have taken hold even in the industrial world, but much of the growth over 2009 was the result of a massive injection of public funds into the economy. There were "few indications" that private sectors in the US, Europe or Japan could fill the gap and fuel a strong recovery, the IMF said.

Moreover, governments in wealthy economies had mostly run out of room to prop up their private sectors with public cash. That risked "leaving these fragile recoveries exposed to new shocks" in the coming year, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report.

The financial crisis caused the entire global economy to shrink 0.6 per cent in 2009. Yet the recovery picture is far different for emerging powers, which if anything faced a risk of their economies overheating in the coming years.

China's economy was projected to grow 10 per cent in 2010, India's by 8.8 per cent and Brazil's by 5.5 per cent, according to the IMF.

Developing powers have benefited from a sudden flow of investment out of struggling Europe and the US, but the IMF has warned that this carried its own risk of causing the same asset bubbles that sparked the credit crisis in the wealthy world.

Osama Bin Laden's facebook profile disabled

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s profile on social networking website Facebook has been shut down, after a security expert raised the issue with the website’s U.S. owners.

According to reports, Osama had a Facebook page named “The leader of the Mujahideen, Osama bin Laden”, and he used it as a platform to show videos and speeches to Islamic militants.

Talking about the decision, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said that the company could not ascertain if the profile belonged to Osama or was fake.

“People often attempt to register fake accounts under the name of famous or infamous people, and we have a number of technical measures designed to prevent this behavior,” Fox News quoted Noyes, as saying.

“Sometimes these fakes do get through, but there is no evidence to suggest that the account in question or the other dozens of people who have tried to present themselves as Osama Bin Laden have any relation to the terrorist. As is our standard practice, we have disabled the account,” he added.

The account became active less than a month ago, but had already attracted nearly 1,000 extremists, and although the language used was Arabic, messages in English had started to appear.

Internet terror expert and author Neil Doyle said: “Bin Laden, via his supporters, is clearly taunting his pursuers.”

Since 2001, Osama and his organization have been major targets of the United States' War on Terror.

There is a 16 million pound reward for his capture, and he along with other al-Qaeda leaders are believed to be hiding near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Australians to become minority int their own country

Outnumbered by a surging wave of migrants from Europe and Asia, especially from India and China, Australians will become a minority group in their own country within 15 years, Australia-based 'Daily Telegraph' reported quoting figures from demographic consultants Macroplan Australia.

It said most migrants came from Britain (14.2 per cent), followed by New Zealand (11.4 per cent), India (11.2), China (10.5) South Africa (5.3) and the Philippines (4.1).

"Figures from Macroplan Australia show record overseas migration and an ageing population mean migrant families will overtake the number of locally born residents by 2025 - far sooner than previously imagined," the newspaper reported.

According to 2006 census data, 40 per cent of Australia's population was either born overseas or had at least one parent who was born abroad. With the current immigration levels that proportion will jump to over 50 per cent by 2025.

The newly-appointed first Population Minister Tony Burke now faces the task of managing the influx of migrants, which is expected to swell the population from 22 million today to 36 million by 2050.

In a survey of 3,000 people conducted after Burke was sworn in, 70 per cent of Australians said they do not want a bigger population. Fewer than a quarter favoured immigration as the main contributor.

But experts said a migrant majority will be healthy for Australian culture and attitudes.

"It all adds to the cosmopolitan nature of modern Australia," KPMG demographer Bernard Salt said.

"It means our views become less blinkered, and we become more tolerant, confident, engaged, opportunistic and optimistic because we are open to new ideas, not obsessed with keeping things the same."

Macroplan Chief Executive Brian Haratsis said Australians tended to "stare at our shoes and say we're the best in the world".

"While immigration needs to be managed with better infrastructure, we also need high immigration for sound economic reasons - if we don't, we'll all end up paying higher taxes."

Bob Birrell, co-director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research and reader in sociology at Monash University, said the ratio of foreign-born residents was already higher in Sydney and Melbourne because they were the two most popular destinations
for new arrivals.

"We're getting lots more Indian and Chinese immigrants coming to study, but many of those will end up settling here," Birrell said.

The Federal Government estimates that cutting immigration from 280,000 to its target of 180,000 will result in a population of 36 million by 2050.

But it also means the number of working taxpayers will halve in relation to the number of people aged over 65. Salt said there would be more Iraqi and Afghan migrants.

Pakistan signs $65 million deal for US warship

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has signed a $65 million deal with the United States for the "hot transfer" of refurbished American frigate USS McInerney by August 31.

The contract for the "hot transfer" of the USS McInerney, a Perry-class guided missile frigate, was signed by senior officials of the two countries here on Tuesday. Under the agreement, the Pakistan Navy will take over the vessel on August 31.

The sale of the frigate, which would be inducted into the Pakistan Navy as PNS Alamgir at a ceremony in the US, was approved by the United States Congress in September 2008.

Commissioned in 1979, the frigate would be handed over after a refurbishment that includes anti-submarine capability that has been paid for with the foreign military aid provided by the United States to friendly countries. On completion of the refurbishment in January next year, the vessel will sail to Pakistan to join the country's naval fleet.

Pakistani officials described the deal to acquire the warship a major "milestone" towards further strengthening the wide-ranging Pakistan-US relationship.

"The successful completion of this contract will pave the way for acquisition of more vessels of the same class for the Pakistan Navy to raise a squadron of eight Perry-class frigates," a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy said.

"This will greatly enhance the operational readiness of the Pakistan Navy," he added. In the last couple of years USS McInerney has been mainly involved in successful counter-drug operations.

Pakistan plans to raise a squadron of eight Perry Class Frigates.

The frigate is being transferred under the Foreign Assistance ACT and the Arms Export Control Act in which Pakistan is considered a major non-NATO ally and is able to receive older unneeded US military equipment.

Huge vacancy of faculty in IITs, IIMs

NEW DELHI: The IITs and IIMs are facing huge vacancy of faculty despite having attractive pay structure, good accommodation and other perks, Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.

IIT Kharagpur is facing maximum vacancy of 299 faculty, followed by 222 in IIT Bombay, 194 in IIT Roorkee, 138 in IIT Madras, 78 in IIT Delhi, 69 in IIT Kanpur and 65 in IIT Guwahati, Minister of State for HRD, D Purandeswari, said in a written reply.

In fact, the number of vacancy increased from 877 in the seven old IITs in 2008-09 to 1,065 in 2009-10, she said. The vacancy in these institutions in 2007-08 was 971.

The government has started eight more IITs in the last two years and in these centres' the number of vacant posts stood at 280, Purandeswari said.

Similarly, there are 95 vacant posts in the seven IIMs. IIM-Bangalore has maximum vacancy of 35 posts followed by 29 in IIM-Ahmedabad.

"Recruitment of faculty is a continuous process and all out efforts are made by the institutes to fill up vacant posts. Institutions have been employing suitable strategies to attract and retain quality faculty which include attractive pay structure, provisions of good residential accommodation, medical facilities, initial research grants etc," she said.

Pak panel asks to grant India 'Most Favoured Nation' status

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government should consider granting India the 'Most Favoured Nation' status to exploit the huge trade potential as free trade relations with it will enable the country to achieve higher and more equitable GDP growth, an official panel has recommended.

The recommendation was made by the Panel of Economists, constituted by the Planning Commission, in its final report.

The report said as a first step, trade relations between the two countries should be normalised by trading on the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status.

As a second step, policymakers should address problems related to information exchange, trade facilitation, banking, non-tariff barriers, visas and communication.

The third step is to enable environment for investment has to be created so that India and Pakistan can enter into joint ventures, the Business Recorder daily reported today.

The panel asked the government to allow the import from India of raw materials not available locally.

"It is essential to move from a positive list approach to a negative list approach. It is important for the two countries to have a common Harmonised System of Codes and greater transparency," the panel's report said.

"The current DTRE scheme whereby quotas are fixed for raw material imports from India meant specifically for exports suffers from red-tapism and graft. A better solution is to open up raw material imports across the board," the report added.

The panel also recommended the opening the Attari-Wagah border to allow transportation of goods by road at the earliest as this link is already operational for movement of passengers and asked the government to consider allowing India-Pakistan joint ventures.

"Currently, there are no India-Pakistan joint ventures. As several Indian companies are showing interest in having joint ventures in Pakistan, it is important to understand the nature of such investments and provide timely facilitation," the report said.

The report noted that payments through formal channels assume a greater role as there is evidence of anonymous transactions between trading partners. Currently, the payments system is formalised through the Asian Clearing Union, which is inefficient as payments are often delayed.

Shoaib-Sania to be Pak welfare brand ambassadors

Lahore, : Cricketer Shoaib Malik and his Indian wife Sania Mirza are to be declared as brand ambassadors of Pakistan's population welfare ministry, it was announced here on Wednesday.

Population welfare minister Firdous Ashiq Awan made the announcement while speaking to reporters before leaving for India on a five-day official visit, during which she will also attend the newly-married couple's wedding reception.

She expressed the hope that the pair would play their role in controlling the high birth rate in both India and Pakistan, Online news agency reported.

Responding to a question, the minister said the marriage of Shoaib and Sania would help to revive the stalled sub-continental peace talks.

She said a “historical reception” would be accorded to Shoaib and Sania on their arrival in Pakistan.

Speaking about her engagements in India, Awan said she would be meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and sports and youth affairs minister M.S. Gill.

Awan is visiting India at Mr Azad's invitation.

Volcano casts cloud over European economy

 The cloud of ash from an Iceland volcano is casting a shadow over the nascent economic recovery in Europe as the cancellation of flights in key markets entered its fifth day.

By the end of the day on Sunday, a total of 63,000 flights had been canceled in the four days since ash from a volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland closed the airspace of a large swath of Europe, according to air traffic authority Eurocontrol. The air travel and freight disruptions are costing airlines at least $200 million a day and perhaps billions more to the affected economies, one industry group warned.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso ordered formation of a group to study the impact of the volcanic ash cloud on the European economy. "The volcanic ash cloud has created an unprecedented situation," Barroso said in a statement Sunday. "I have asked Vice President Kallas to coordinate the Commission's response and fully assess the impact of the situation created by volcanic ash cloud on the economy, and the air travel industry in particular."

The Eurozone -- the 16 European nations united under the euro currency -- is in the midst of a shaky recovery. After shrinking 4 percent last year, the Eurozone is expected to grow only 1 percent this year, according to a forecast by Ernst & Young released last Friday.

"The key is how long this eruption and the disruption last," said Frederic Neumann, an HSBC economist in Hong Kong. "If it's just a couple weeks, from a macroeconomic standpoint it's just a blip on the radar ... if it lasts for months and months, then it's a different story."

Right now, how long it will last is anyone's guess.

"Each day we've gone to check out Virgin (Atlantic Airlines) and each day they just tell us to keep checking on the Internet," said Andy Loftus, who is stranded in New York. "But when we check the Internet, the Internet doesn't tell you anything. So you have to keep going back to the airport."

The last time the volcano under Eyjafjallajokull glacier blew was 1821 and continued for two years. The amount of ash and its concentration over European flight paths is constantly changing due to geological and meteorological forces.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said Sunday if the ash cloud continues "moving as it moves, then tomorrow almost 50 percent of European [Union] space will be risk free." That would allow more flights to resume, he said. "But we'll see [Monday] what the picture shows."

The ash cloud is delaying key talks on the issue most troubling the Eurozone -- Greece's mounting debt woes. The Greek Finance Ministry issued a statement that talks with European officials and the International Monetary Fund over details of a $40 billion bailout for Greece is delayed at least until Wednesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Meanwhile, the air industry in Europe -- already battered by the financial crisis and labor disputes such as strikes at Lufthansa and British Airways this year -- is putting on pressure to reopen the skies.

"This crisis is costing airlines at least $200 million a day in lost revenues and the European economy is suffering billions of dollars in lost business," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association. He told CNN on Monday that if flight restrictions continue, some small and medium-sized airlines could be put in jeopardy.

IATA criticized European governments "for their lack of leadership in handling airspace restrictions" and "urged a re-think of the decision-making process" for closing European skies.

British Airways, whose CEO Willie Walsh has called the UK's blanket airspace ban unnecessary, has said it expects financial assistance from the European Union to help it cope with the impact on its profits.

"To assist us with this situation, European airlines have asked the EU and national governments for financial compensation for the closure of airspace," it said in a statement.

"There is a precedent for this to happen as compensation was paid after the closure of US airspace following the terrorist events of 9/11 and clearly the impact of the current situation is more considerable.

Even airlines based far from the ash face a financial knock-on effect: Thai Airways, based in Bangkok, estimates the cloud is costing the airline $3 million a day and has stranded 6,000 of its passengers.

Two key air travel groups issued a joint statement pushing authorities to ease flying restrictions. Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, a group that represents airports, and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said they question "the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed." Both KLM and British Airways conducted test flights over the weekend and reported the conditions were safe to fly.

"While safety remains a non-negotiable priority, it is not incompatible with our legitimate request to reconsider the present restrictions," said Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe. Airports have lost close to 136 million euros ($184 million U.S.) so far. More than 6.8 million passengers have been affected, he said in a statement, adding that the effect is worse than after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, train, bus and seafaring companies in Europe can expect an increase in business as a result of the flight disruptions, analysts said.

The butterfly effect of the Iceland volcano cloud is stretching from stranded flyers in Hong Kong to spoiling food in Africa. About 200 tons of produce sit aging at a warehouse in Kenya awaiting export to Europe. "I've seen severe floods, severe droughts -- I haven't seen anything like this before," said Edward Karanu, manager at Vegpro Ltd. in Kenya. "This is a catastrophe ... because it doesn't have an end time."

Exporting horticulture is Kenya's highest foreign exchange earner -- more than $1 billion, according to analyst estimates.

"What will I do. What will I have in my house?" said Lucy Wanjiku, who fears she may be out of a job if the planes don't take off soon.

In Hkolvollur, Iceland, farmer Olafur Eggertson's 2,500 -acre farm is covered in ash -- a mucky, muddy ash that blankets the field where he was about to plan his wheat and oats, and covers the red roofs of his house and barn.

The farm has been in Eggertson's family for 104 years. The volcano had been quiet for 189 years.

"This has been in my family for three generations," he said. "Me, my father, my grandfather. That's why it hurts so much.

Eggertson said he and his family always knew the nearby volcano could hurt them.

They just hoped it would be quiet for another century or two.

IPL’s ‘black money’

New Delhi: After forcing exit of Shashi Tharoor from the external affairs ministry, non-UPA members on Monday mounted an attack on IPL, demanding its ban and sought a joint parliamentary committee probe into its source of funds.

The IPL controversy has snowballed into such a proportion that Opposition protests had disrupted the Parliament since it reconvened last week after a month’s recess, delaying debate over key financial matters and a special vote on the Budget that will force the government to resign if it loses it.

Left parties, BJP, RJD, SP, JD(U) and BSP raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and demanded that IPL be taken over by the government.

The Left members alleged betting and laundering of black money through IPL.

As soon as the House met for the day, Lalu Prasad (RJD), Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) and Sharad Yadav (JD-U) were on their feet demanding that government ban the IPL which according to them has become a “betting and gambling ring”.

Amid calls from Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the Question Hour, Sharad Yadav, said, “The moot question is the IPL and not Tharoor.”

Prasad wanted the government to take over the IPL and the BCCI. He alleged that IPL tournament involved black money.

Later in the Zero Hour, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta raised the issue. He said he welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s step of taking resignation of Tharoor but the main issue related to IPL.

Alleging that the game involves “laundering of black money” and “white-washing of black money”, he said it was an “aberration” taking place “under the nose of Finance Ministry”.

He criticised this form of 20-20 game, saying it was a “caricature” of cricket which was sending a wrong message to budding cricketers that they turn to it to earn money.

“Players are bought like vegetables. Betting is taking place openly. It is not cricket but organised gamble,” Dasgupta alleged, adding it involved huge amounts of money in a country which is poor in resources and has so many jobless people.

He said there were reports that large amount of money for IPL was coming from Mauritius and “dubious sources” in Dubai and black money in Swiss banks was being laundered into white money through this form of cricket.

“Politicians play cricket in bedrooms, corporates play in the boardrooms,” the CPI leader said.

He demanded that IPL should be banned and JPC probe ordered to find out where the money is coming from.

The Opposition had attacked the government on charges that former junior foreign minister Tharoor had lobbied to win a lucrative cricket league franchise that had a woman, identified by media as his girlfriend, among its owners.

Tharoor, who denied the woman was his proxy for the stake said to be worth $15 million, resigned on Sunday.

“The government strategy is very clear, we want the house to function and we want the business of parliament to function,” said Manish Tewary, Congress party spokesman.

There is no immediate threat to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government, despite losing two allies over a bill to reserve seats for women in legislatures that has left the coalition at its weakest since it was re-elected last year.

With its energies spent on marshalling allies, the Congress party is unlikely to push for contentious reforms. The government has deferred introducing a bill to fix liability of 

private nuclear reactor operators in case of accidents.

Also set to be delayed are the passage of other bills, such as those to allow foreign universities to open local campuses and to cut stake in top lender State Bank of India.

Shashi Tharoor resigns, PM accepts

NEW DELHI: Shashi Tharoor tonight resigned as Minister of State for External Affairs after the high-level Congress Core Group decided that he should quit in the wake of controversy over the IPL Kochi franchise, capping a week-long drama that threatened to suck the government and the party into it.

54-year old Tharoor, a newcomer to politics from international diplomacy, was summoned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his residence late tonight and asked to tender his resignation.

"Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs has submitted his resignation from the Council of Ministers to the Prime Minister today. The Prime Minister has forwarded his resignation letter to the President with a recommendation that it be accepted," PMO spokesman said tonight.

President Pratibha Patil has accepted the resignation of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor from the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson, "The President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of Shashi Tharoor, MoS in MEA from the council of ministers with immediate effect."

The resignation of Tharoor was sent to the President in Pune where she is on an official visit.

Tharoor, a writer and a former Under Secretary General in the United Nations, earns the dubious distinction of becoming the first minister in the UPA-II to go under the cloud of corruption charges.

The continuance of Tharoor, a first time MP from Thiruvananthapuram who courted controversies throughout his 11-month stint, became untenable in the government ever since the IPL controversy exploded.

He got into serious problems after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar had equity stakes in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), heading the consortium that owns the Kochi team.

It was later disclosed that Pushkar got sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crore RSW following which the opposition has been gunning for his removal on the ground that it was misuse of office for pecuniary gain.

That Pushkar today offered to surrender the sweat equity and to quit RSW failed to convince the Congress top brass which met at the residence of the Prime Minister in the evening to finalise its strategy before Parliament resumes tomorrow after the week-end.

Singh, who met Gandhi one-on-one before the Core Group discussions, consulted her again before recommending the resignation to the President.

Tharoor's meeting with the Prime Minister in the night was the second during the day. He met him at noon to explain his side of the story.

Indications that he was on his way out came when Tharoor went to the Prime Minister's residence at night in a private car without the beacon light. Throughout the day, he avoided the media.

The Core Group meeting discussed continuance of the minister in the wake of the controversy over allotment of sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crore to Pushkar by the IPL Kochi franchise.

First Gandhi met Singh one-on-one before the Core Group discussions. Tharoor, whose removal has been demanded by the Opposition on grounds of corruption, had met Singh at noon to give his side of the story.

The decision came a day after the Prime Minister returned from his eight-day visit to the US and Brazil where he had said that he would take necessary action after getting all facts of the controversy.

Tharoor made an attempt to clear his name by denying the allegations that he had any role in getting equity stakes for Pushkar. He also made a statement in Parliament but opposition would have none of it.

That the Congress also was not convinced with his explanation finally forced his exit. In the last two days, Tharoor had met Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony separately in a bid to convince them about his innocence.

The Congress leaders are understood to have given their views at the Core Group meeting that sealed his fate in the ministry.

Party sources said Gandhi was unhappy over the entire development and leaders felt that Pushkar's offer to return the sweat equity amounted to admission of guilt.

The Core Group is also believed to have discussed the damage wrought by the controversy to the government and the party and that a decision should be taken in a way the party could face Parliament.

Parliament was paralysed on Friday with the opposition demanding his resignation. It had also given enough hints that it would continue to rock Parliament on the issue if Tharoor was not sacked.

Airtel to lay undersea cable linking Asia, US

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecom service provider, along with a global consortium Tuesday announced it would set up a high-bandwidth undersea cable linking Asia with the US at a cost of about $300 million. The new cable system would be known as Unity, and is aimed at meeting the increasing demand for bandwidth capacity due to the rapid growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the US.

Besides Bharti, the consortium includes Global Transit of Malaysia, US-based Google Inc, KDDI Corp of Japan and Pacnet and SingTel of Singapore.

“This investment is in line with our strategy to extend our international footprint across the globe to provide seamless connectivity to our customers through partnerships with leading global companies,” David Nishball, president of Airtel Enterprise Services, said in a statement.

“The Unity cable system will address the demand for increased bandwidth between Asia and the US as more and more services migrate to an online environment. This partnership will also provide alternate routes to meet the demands of our customers for increased levels of network resiliency and redundancy.”

The Unity cable system will provide connectivity between Chikura, located off the coast near Tokyo, to Los Angeles and other West Coast places.

At Chikura, Unity will be seamlessly connected to other cable systems, further enhancing connectivity into Asia, the statement said.

Earlier this month, the company had announced the construction of another submarine cable system called the ‘I-ME-WE Cable System’ linking India to France via the Middle East, also in collaboration with international players.

BRIC declares 2010 deadline for World Bank, IMF reform

Brasilia: The declaration issued by the BRIC nations at a summit meeting here — their second since 2009 — shows a collective assertiveness in world economic matters that is bound to make leaders and bankers in the West sit up and take notice. With a confidence borne of their successful role as a caucus at G-20 meetings over the past year, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China on Thursday demanded the commitment to reform the Bretton Woods financial institutions that the advanced economies made at Pittsburgh during the G-20 summit be completed by this year itself.

“The IMF and the World Bank urgently need to address their legitimacy deficits,” the BRIC summit declaration says. “We call for the voting power reform of the World Bank to be fulfilled in the upcoming Spring Meetings, and expect the quota reform of the IMF to be concluded by the G-20 Summit in November this year.”

Selection method

And in an attack on the “jobs for the boys” approach of the West to the two international financial institutions, the BRIC document calls for an open and merit-based selection method, irrespective of nationality, for the heading positions of the IMF and the World Bank. “Moreover, staff of these institutions need to better reflect the diversity of their membership. There is a special need to increase participation of developing countries.”

Addressing reporters at the end of the summit — hurriedly held to allow the Chinese President to leave for home in the wake of Wednesday's devastating earthquake in Qinghai — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said BRIC — the name was coined by Goldman Sachs in 2003 — was not borne out of a crisis but was an act of long-term faith in our people and in our economies. “However, the global economic and financial crisis has created a new relevance for BRIC.”

The Brasilia summit was evidence that he and President Lula da Silva of Brazil, Dmitri Medvedev of Russia and Hu Jintao of China are clearly enjoying their newfound relevance. Their declaration ranged from advocating the need for restructuring the global economy, to evolving common positions on climate change, energy, trade, terrorism, agriculture and reform of the United Nations.

On U.N. reform, Russia and China — both permanent members of the Security Council — baulked at endorsing the specific demand India and Brazil have made for permanent seats. But the declaration reaffirmed the need to make the world body more effective and representative. “We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations,” they said.

The four rising powers also took on board a suggestion Mr. Medvedev made in the run-up to the summit, declaring that in order to facilitate trade and investment, “we will study feasibilities of monetary cooperation, including local currency trade settlement arrangement between our countries.” Recognising that such talk might weaken the position of the dollar and adversely affect their own holdings, the leaders also underlined the importance of maintaining relative stability of major reserve currencies.

While expressing satisfaction at the emergence of the G-20 as the “premier forum” for international economic coordination and their own “significant contribution” to that group, the four leaders said much more remains to be done to create a reformed and more stable financial architecture for the world. Their declaration also made a pitch for “a more stable, predictable and diversified international monetary system.”

Climate change

On climate change, the BRIC leaders said the upcoming negotiations in Mexico should be more inclusive and transparent. The Cancun talks should produce an outcome that is fair and effective, “while reflecting the principles of the U.N. Framework Convention,” especially the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.

Volcanic ash grounds flights across much of Europe

The European air safety organization said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for 6 months if the eruption continued.

Even if the disruption, which has also affected transatlantic flights, is short lived, the financial impact on airlines could be significant, a consultant said.
The International Air Transport Association had said only days ago airlines were slowly coming out of recession.

The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. It hurled a plume of ash six to 11 kilometers (3.8 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere, and this spread south east overnight.

Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock that can damage engines and airframes and an Icelandic volcanologist said on Thursday the eruption was intensifying.

Britain barred flights in its air space, except in emergencies, until at least 0600 GMT on Friday, with a flight returning soldiers from Afghanistan having to be held in Cyprus.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was forced to cancel a trip to Russia's Arctic town of Murmansk on Thursday. "The cloud has covered the entire region," said Putin's spokesman.

John Strickland, director of air transport consultancy JLS Consulting, saw possible broader hazards.

"Iceland sits right on one of the key routes between Europe and the USA and... depending on meteorological conditions it could also affect flights from Europe to Asia so there are two big international flows which could be affected by this."

GROUNDED
A spokesman at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, said 840 out of 1,250 flights on Thursday were affected, disrupting about 180,000 passengers. More than 120,000 other passengers were affected at Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow airports.

David A. Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of America, said its member carriers had halted over 100 flights between the United States and Britain on Thursday.

It was the first time within living memory that a natural disaster had caused such a halt, a spokeswoman for Britain's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) said. Even after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Britain did not close its air space.

Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations at Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental air safety organization, said the disruption was already unprecedented:
French authorities said airports across northern France, including Paris, would be closed by the end of Thursday.

Brussels, Amsterdam and Geneva airports said they had canceled a large number of flights and Eurocontrol spokesman Brian Flynn said the problem could persist for a further 48 hours.

Frankfurt, Europe's third busiest airport, had not notified any plan to close, but authorities were reviewing the situation, while Berlin would close at 2 a.m. on Friday and Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover would be closed until 8 a.m.
How soon they reopened would depend on the volume of ash.
Finland was closing all airports from midnight on Thursday.

"UNPREDICTABLE"
The Association of British Insurers said volcanic eruptions were not always covered by travel insurance for cancellation and delay. But some airlines issued statements confirming they would refund fares or change flights.

Airline staff at Stansted airport, north-east of London, told customers it could be closed until Sunday, said stranded passenger Andy Evans.
"People just don't know what to do," he said. "There are hundreds of people in the queues at the sales desks."

"There is a big financial impact on the airlines," said Strickland of JLS consulting. "We are now looking at least a day's business wiped out for the airline business ... even if things were meteorologically fine to fly tomorrow by that time the airlines will have all their aircraft and crew out of position so they have no choice but to cancel further flights."

In 1982 a British Airways jumbo jet lost power in all its engines when it flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, gliding toward the ground before it was able to restart its engines.
The incident prompted the aviation industry to rethink the way it prepared for ash clouds, resulting in international contingency plans activated on Thursday.

Scientists said the ash did not pose any health threat because it is at such a high altitude.
Bill McGuire, professor at the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Center, said if the volcano continued erupting for more than 12 months, as it did the last time, periodic disruptions to air traffic could continue.

"The problem is volcanoes are very unpredictable and in this case we have only one eruption to go on," he said. "And a lot depends on the wind. I would expect this shutdown to last a couple of days. But if the eruption continues -- and continues to produce ash -- we could see repeated disruption over six months or so."

Powerful volcano blast sends ash raining over Iceland, Europe

REYKJAVIK (AFP) – A violent volcanic eruption in Iceland spewed clouds of ash into the air for a second day Thursday, blanketing large parts of the Nordic country in the potentially toxic dust and disrupting air traffic across northern Europe.

"This is an explosive eruption. That means there's lots of volcanic ash," volcanologist Armann Hoeskuldsson of the University of Iceland told AFP.

"The situation is critical," he said, pointing to massive flooding and the danger of ash poisoning for animals in the surrounding area.

 

Iceland's second eruption in less than a month under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in the south of the country began at around 1:00 am (0100 GMT) Wednesday.

Between 700 and 800 people were evacuated from their homes in the remote area 125 kilometres (75 miles) east of Reykjavik, as melted glacier water caused severe flooding.

All evacuees had been allowed to return home by Thursday, local police chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP, adding that authorities had however "encourage people who live near the eruption to wear masks to prevent them from breathing in volcanic ash and dust."

"Everyone is now back home and the rescue centre has been closed," he said, adding that no people or animals had been hurt.

As the ice and water mixed with the hot magma, plumes of ash and smoke stacked more than 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) into the sky.

Strong winds then swept a massive cloud of ash over the southeast of Iceland and onto norther Europe, forcing most of northern Europe to shut its airspace Thursday because of the risk from volcanic ash, which can damage aircraft engines as well as cut visibility.

"I have never seen anything like this!" 86-year-old retired farmer Vilhjalmur Eyjolfsson said of the thick layer of ash that now covers his home near the small village of Vik, to the southeast of the volcano.

"There is gray ash all over and it is like a heavy snow of ash," Eyjolfsson told AFP.

People calmly left their homes.

"They said they had practiced so many times leaving their homes, that their suitcases were always packed, due to the volcano risk," said an AFP photographer at the scene, describing how a "humungous waterfall gushed from a hole in the glacier" when the flooding began.

According to experts the eruption under Eyjafjallajokull could last anywhere from a few days to over a year.

"It is very variable how long these eruptions last," Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil protection advisor, told AFP.

"Judging from the intensity of this one, it could last a long time," he added.

Thorsteinn Jonsson of the Iceland Meteorological Office said one eruption about 100 years ago lasted for a whole year and the latest one could be the same, while adding: "It could also stop in two or three weeks, like a few other similar eruptions have."

Kjetil Toerseth, who heads up the regional and global pollution division at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, agreed.

"Historically, most eruptions (in Iceland) don't last forever," he told AFP.

"This one had a very slow start and had a stronger eruption and I would assume that in the days to come it would fall back to a lower level," he said, stressing that he was not a geologist.

Last month, the first eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier forced 600 people from their homes in the same area.

That eruption, the first under that glacier since 1823 and Iceland's first since 2004, gushed lava for more than three weeks and ended Tuesday, hours before the second one occurred.

The eruption in March "was an effusive one. It was just lava flow and beautiful to watch, and steady," volcanologist Hoeskuldsson said.

"This one is explosive, spewing ash and practically impossible to watch ... since it's in the ice and you can't approach it ... It's heavily dangerous," he explained.

On the bright side, he said the eruption was "stable" and would last "hopefully not more than two or three days."

Jonsson of the Iceland Meteorological Office meanwhile said flight disruptions across Europe would likely last "at least 48 hours."

"The winds will be turning from the North during the weekend, so that should bring the ash clouds further south, so it will probably be better in Scandinavia but the problems might persist in Britain and Ireland Saturday and Sunday," he told AFP.

However, Iceland's main airport Keflavik, to the west, "and all other airports in Iceland are open today," Hjordis Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic Airport Authority told AFP.

"It's amazing really," she said.

Iceland Air spokesman Gudjon Arngrimsson said that at least "afternoon flights to the US will be on schedule."

Road traffic around the volcano remained heavily disrupted.

"The main road to Reykjavik is cracked and there is no traffic at the moment, but hopefully it will be reopened today," Gudmundsson said. Roads to the east were "all blocked due to thick ash. You can't see."

ISRO statement on GSLV's failure

 

Sriharikota: India's GSLV-D3 powered by homegrown cryogenic engine for the first time failed in its mission as the rocket carrying a communication satellite deviated today from its path and went out of control shortly after its lift-off from the spaceport in Sriharikota today.

"The mission objectives are not met fully. There are indications that the cryogenic engine ignited but the vehicle was tumbling and controllability lost," Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

The 49-metre tall three-stage Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle blasted off at 4.27 pm at the end of a 29-hour countdown but minutes later Isro said it had stopped receiving data.

"We saw the vehicle tumbling uncontrollably and it developed deviation. Two vernier engines would not have ignited," Radhakrishnan, for whom it was the first mission after taking over as Isro chief, told mission scientists as gloom descended on the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

He said details of the flight data would be analysed to find out what went wrong.

Radhakrishnan said performance of the vehicle was normal upto the "burn out" of the second stage.

In the crucial cryogenic stage, indications were that the onboard computer had given signals to burn and the cryogenic engine had ignited. However, "we saw the vehicle tumbling."

"We neeed to go a long way and do that (launch the mission successfully) within the next year," Radhakrishnan told the scientists while complimenting them for their "18 years of hard work" to develop the complex cryogenic technology.

Underlining ISRO's commitment to carry on with cryogenic stage rocket programme, he said the next flight will be carried out within a year.

"It was an event of 18 years working with complex technology. Upto the level of carrying (the vehicle) is a major accomplishment," he said.

The GSLV flight was to have placed the 2,200 kg advanced communication satellite GSAT-4,into Geo Transfer Orbit.

The GSAT-4 is a state-of-the-art satellite that carries communication and navigation payloads.

Isro had invested Rs 330 crore for the prestigious mission whose succesful would have placed India in the elite club of space faring powers US, Russia, China, Japan, and Europe which possess the cryogenic technology.

India began developing the cryogenic engine as its answer to technology denial regime as the US not only refused the technology but also put pressure on Russia to backtrack on its commitment to New Delhi.

Earlier GSLV flights were powered by the ready-to-fly cryogenic engines supplied by Russia.

Cryogenic engines, giving additional thrust, help in launching heavier satellites into geo-synchronous transfer orbits (GTO) at an altitude of 36,000 km over the equator.

The engine uses liquid hydrogen at -265°Celsius as fuel and liquid oxygen at -240°C as oxidiser and cryogenic development is considered complex as involves very low temperatures of the propellants.

The countries which had mastered the "highest level" of propulsion technology had kept it closely guarded.