Obama wanted to talk, says PM

On Board Air India One, Nov 11 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said US president-elect Barak Obama wanted to speak to him after his electoral win but could not because of his (the Indian leader's) visit to the Gulf.

Asked by a reporter why Obama telephoned other world leaders but not him, Manmohan Singh clarified late Monday that this was not true.

"President Obama wanted to talk to me day before yesterday, we could not establish the contact because the time that was suggested was too short for me to interact," Manmohan Singh told reporters as he flew home after visiting Qatar and Oman.

"Since then I have been travelling for the last two days," he said, adding he would talk to Obama after returning to New Delhi.

Manmohan Singh said he had "a very warm letter" from Obama even before he was elected the president.

"I had myself written to him a very warm letter and I got from him a warm and detailed (letter), spelling out his approach to India, his approach to international affairs.

"Therefore, I have every reason to believe that India's relations with the US under President Obama will become stronger than ever before.

"I also condoled his grandmother's death and he immediately acknowledged that letter."

I am waiting to be arrested: Thackeray dares Kamat

Stating that Shiv Sena was ready to provide the best lawyers to defend Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested in connection with Malegaon blast, Sena Chief Bal Thackeray today ridiculed Congress MP Gurudas Kamat who has demanded his arrest for backing her. "Whenever Congressmen have feats of Muslim appeasement, they dream of my arrest" Thackeray said in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Speaking at a function held here recently to felicitate Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on his government completing four years in office, Kamat had said Thackeray should be put in jail for supporting the sadhvi. "Even Deshmukh must have squirmed when Kamat made this demand," the octogenarian Thackeray, whose son Uddhav now virtually manages Sena affairs, said.

The blast case is being probed under pressure and attempt is being made to brand people as 'Hindu terrorists', Thackeray, who had last month demanded that troops be sent inside mosques to flush out Islamic militants, said. Stating that he had never been afraid of being arrested, Thackeray asked the government to clarify whether he would be arrested for supporting Hindus in 'Hindustan' or for thwarting danger to the Marathi pride in Maharashtra.

Thackeray recalled when late Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik had got him arrested and sent to Pune's Yerwada jail, there was arson in Maharashtra and he had to appeal for peace. "Is it not your simple calculation that Hindutva forces would be crushed and your Muslim vote bank would be strengthened if you arrest me in connection with the sadhvi case," Thackeray said.

India thrash Aus by 172 runs to regain Border-Gavaskar Trophy

S S Ramaswamy Nagpur, Nov 10 (PTI) India today gave ample proof of its status as a dominant force in world cricket as they thrashed Australia by 172 runs in the fourth and final cricket Test to regain the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy after a gap of four years here today. After settting the visitors a daunting target of 382 for victory, the Indians exploited a turning fifth day track to skittle out the Aussies for 209 just before the tea break to wrap up the four-match series with a 2-0 margin.

It turned out to be a perfect gift for Sourav Ganguly by his teammates in his farewell Test as they knocked out the Aussies in just about two sessions of play on the last day. Only Matthew Hayden stood bravely amidst the ruins with a 93-ball 77 as the Indian bowlers ripped through the batting line up to bring an end to the Australian innings rather quickly.

Leg spinner Amit Mishra (4/64) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3/27) were the main destructors for the hosts who made amends for losing the home series 1-2 in the 2004-05 series.

At 58, I am still very young to retire: Mittal

The richest Indian and steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal may have worked hard to create the world's biggest steel entity, but says he's not tired and is not yet ready to hang his boots.

"Today, I feel very young at 58," Mittal said in a telephonic interview a short while after he along with his son Aditya Mittal addressed the global financial press on Arcelor-Mittal's performance in the quarter ending September 2008 that saw the company's net profit surging 29 per cent to USD 3.8 billion.

Mittal, who turned 58 in June this year, was responding to a query if he was looking for a succession plan and passing on the baton of his empire that controls over 10 per cent of global steel output.

"Yes, Sure" was his reply to another query on whether he would be heard and seen in future also.

Indian student killed in US, 5th such crime in 1 year

A woman student from Andhra Pradesh was found murdered in the US by unidentified persons in the fifth case of a young post-graduate student from the state being killed under mysterious circumstances in that country in the last one year.

Arpana Jinaga (24), student of MS at Seattle, was killed in the early hours (IST) of Saturday, family sources said.

The incident came to light after three days and an investigation has begun, they said.

The cause and circumstances of the murder were not immediately known.

Jinaga completed her engineering from a city-based private engineering college in 2005.

She was working as a software engineer and simultaneously pursuing MS. She is among top-20 professionals of embedded systems in the world, the sources said.

Jinaga's father, B C Jinaga, is a professor with the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University here and heads the School of Information Technology.

The murder of Jinaga came close on the heels of a string of murders of NRIs from Andhra Pradesh.

While A Srinivas, a PG medical student, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both PhD students, were killed last year, T Soumya Reddy and her cousin Vikram Reddy were killed in September, 2008.

India will play integral role in keeping US economy competitive, say Indian Americans

Virginia (USA), Nov.4 (ANI): Indian Americans residing here are of the view that India can and will play an integral role in keeping the American economy competitive, despite the ongoing meltdown on Wall Street and its impact on global economies.

While they are in agreement with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's views on what ails the economy and what solutions need to be applied to ensure a quick turnaround, they also warn that Obama will face the reality of the American economy's competitiveness once he enters the White House on November 5.

"Obama, when he becomes the President, is going to face the reality of the competitiveness of the American economy. And, India plays an integral role to keep it competitive," said Sanjay Puri, the Chairman of the U.S. India Political Action Committee.

"What candidates sometime say during the campaign and when they look at the reality of the world vis-a-vis the competitiveness of the United States, I think, it's the whole different discussion," he told ANI.

Puri also felt that Obama, as president, might opt for a different approach to developments in South Asia as opposed to the Republican strategy of the past eight years. He suggested that the Democratic administration in Washington would pursue a proactive policy towards both New Delhi and Islamabad.

"Well I think he (Obama) is going to have a very strong policy towards India in the conversation that I have had and from everything we have seen. He has very strong feelings and regards for India. The one difference is he obviously has a very proactive approach towards Pakistan and that's something that's going to be different form what you see with other Democratic candidates as well as other Republicans like John Mc Cain," Puri said.

Pradeep Ganguly, Director, Department of Economic Development, Montgomery County, Maryland, said that most Indian Americans and Americans were searching for answers and solutions to end the meltdown, as also answers to where their country was headed. He suggested that there is an image of America in place that needed to be changed. In this year's elections, the Americans were not being driven by political affiliations, but by issues, and that is why so many more of them were coming out to vote as opposed to trends in the previous two elections (2004 and 2000).

"American people want to rebuild the economy. America was blessed with the strong economy for many years. Now, the economy is the biggest question mark in the minds of every voter," Ganguly told ANI.

"The biggest issue in the minds of the many voters of Indian American origin for example, is where our nation is going? We used to be the most beloved country of the world. Now, in the last eight years or so, we have become more of a gun-toting, immigrant bashing country. And, that image needs to be changed. And there got to be a new image a new direction for this country," he added.

"And, I think, you can see the numbers that people are voting, I think they are driven by these issues. I think, we need to be more caring, energetic, more technology oriented, forward oriented and a leader of the world. We need to regain the strength and respect we had in the global economy. So that's what the next four to eight years is going to do," Ganguly added.

Voters have made it clear they want change. When asked what they are looking for in a candidate, most say someone who can "bring about needed change".

Nearly half of the American population (49 percent) says the economy will be the most important issue in deciding their vote for the 44th president. That is a large part of what makes this race an uphill battle for John McCain, as more voters trust Obama to handle the economy by an 11-point margin (52 percent - 41 percent).

Obama bests McCain on which candidate people trust more to handle all the domestic issues -- by 17 points on health care, by 11 points on energy independence, and by seven points on taxes. McCain is preferred on handling the war on terrorism by eight points and by a slim three-point margin on Iraq. Voters also think McCain would respond better than Obama to a "test" by foreign governments or terrorists in the first six months of his presidency. By Smita Prakash

Dhoni to lead India in Nagpura Test

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain India in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Nagpura later this week and is therefore expected to be confirmed as the skipper in the longer version of the game besides being the one-day captain.

Chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth told journalists at the end of the drawn third Test match on Sunday that Dhoni will lead the Indian team in the next match starting on November 6.

He said Dhoni would also captain the team in seven ODIs against England later this month and a decision will be taken on the two-Test series against England before it starts.