Hugo Chavez in 'best moment' since surgery, VP Nicolas Maduro says

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in his "best moment" since undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba 45 days ago, the vice president said on Saturday, adding Chavez has made important economic decisions to strengthen exports.

"He's got a smile that's filled with light, his thoughts are illuminated," said Nicolas Maduro in televised comments just after midnight after returning from a visit with Chavez.

The normally garrulous president has not been heard from since a complex operation on December 11. Official statements in recent weeks have sounded upbeat about his condition following rumours that he is gravely ill.

The communication minister on Saturday is scheduled to provide more details about Chavez's condition and treatment.

Maduro's comments about economic policy come amid widespread speculation that Venezuela is preparing a devaluation of the bolivar currency that would improve state finances by providing more bolivars per dollar of oil exports.

Devaluing would make exports more competitive by lowering local production costs, and spur domestic industries by making imports less competitive with respect to local goods.

"We're going to develop our economy's capacity to export," Maduro said.

Business leaders have for weeks said a devaluation is necessary to ease periodic product shortages that have resulted from a scarcity of dollars.

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Telangana issue: US cautions its citizens about developments in Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD: Agitations related to the demand for separate Telangana state have prompted the US state department to caution its citizens in Hyderabad to be careful till February 4.

A statement issued by the consulate general of USA here said there could be also demonstrations/protests on the arrest of Owaisi brothers of MIM, that may lead to disturbances.

Following a statement by Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde last month that the decision on Telangana would be taken within a month, political parties and civil society groups opposing or supporting the statehood have stepped up their activities in Andhra Pradesh.

"Multiple events associated with upcoming religious and national holidays, a possible decision on the Telangana statehood issue, and recent arrests of local political leaders may result in large gatherings or demonstrations throughout the city through to February 4, 2013. These events could potentially lead to civil disturbances, traffic congestion, and bandhs (strikes) that disrupt routine services," the Consulate statement said.

"Please avoid the areas where demonstrations are occurring and exercise caution if within the vicinity of any large gatherings. Please stay current with media coverage of local events, be aware of your surroundings, and practise personal security awareness at all times," it advised.

The latest update on the US state department's website also highlighted Telangana issue. "Until the issue is resolved definitively, there may continue to be tension, especially in the Telangana Region of Andhra Pradesh," it said.

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Hundreds of Iraqis gather to mourn protesters killed by soldiers

FALLUJAH: Hundreds of Iraqi protesters have gathered in a western city for the funeral of protesters killed during a shooting by army troops on Friday.

Mourners hoisted caskets and waved Iraqi flags while shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or God is great. The Saturday funeral procession took place in central Fallujah, not far away the city's cemetery.

Iraqi soldiers opened fire on Friday on stone-throwing demonstrators near the city of Fallujah in the predominately Sunni province of Anbar, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, killing at least five, according to local authorities.

The violence is likely to exacerbate tensions between the Shiite-led government and minority Sunnis angry over perceived second-class treatment and what they see as unfair policies targeting their sect.

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Harvard University students plan India-Pakistan peace vigil

CAMBRIDGE (Massachusetts): In the wake of tensions between India and Pakistan, South Asian students of Harvard University have planned a 'global vigil' Sunday for peace between the two countries.

Sponsored by the South Asia Centre, Boston, and the Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia, the vigil at Harvard Square is aimed at voicing the students' concern over ceasefire violations at the LoC and the war hype being built up by "sections of the media and politicians in India that threatens peace in the region."

Condoling the loss of lives on both sides and "condemning any kind of mutilation or beheading of human bodies," the organisers called for independent investigations into these reported incidents so that the truth is known. They also asked the students to join in the effort at maintaining harmony and accord between the two countries and in the region and suggested they bring a poster or placard reflecting that spirit.

Appreciating that India and Pakistan have reiterated their commitment to continue the dialogue process, the sponsors said dialogue between the two countries must be uninterrupted and uninterruptible.

"Any deviation from this process will only encourage and strengthen extremist, hawkish and fanatical elements on both sides who want to derail the peace process," they said.

Urging India and Pakistan to stay the course and continue with the progress made towards normalising relations, the organisers said: "A prosperous and well-connected South Asia is our best response to these divisive factions."

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Rajasthan must act against Nandy for casteist comments: Mayawati

NEW DELHI: BSP leader Mayawati on Saturday demanded that the Rajasthan government take strong action against social scientist Ashis Nandy for his comments linking OBCs, the SCs and the STs to corruption and that he be told to leave the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Talking to reporters here, Mayawati said Nandy's comments were "wrong, baseless and unfortunate" and reflected casteist mindset.

They were made as part of a thought-out conspiracy to defame people from these communities, said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo.

"Hence, the Rajasthan government should take strong action against him without delay," Mayawati said.

She said the organisers should also immediately "throw out" Nandy from the festival for his "casteist remarks".

Asked if the BSP will raise the issue in the budget session of parliament, she said the party will take into account steps taken by the Rajasthan government, the organisers and the "kind of apology" tendered by Nandy.

Nandy stirred up a row at Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday, saying most of the corrupt in the country were people from the other backwards classes (OBC), the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

"It will be an undignified, even vulgar statement. But it is a fact that most of the corrupt come from the OBC, the Scheduled Castes and now increasingly the STs and as long as it is the case, the Indian republic will survive," he said at a session titled "Republic of Ideas".

"I will give an example. The state of least corruption is West Bengal. In 100 years, nobody from the backward classes and SC and ST have come anywhere near power in West Bengal. It is an absolutely clean state," he said.

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Maruti Suzuki Q3 net profit surges over two-fold to Rs 501.29 crore

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Jan 25, 2013, 02.18PM IST

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki Ltd, India's biggest carmaker by sales volume, said its third quarter profit more than doubled, its first increase in 18 months after a torrid period marked by a strike, plant shutdowns and a demand slowdown.

The small car champion, which two years ago produced every other new car sold in India, outperformed a miserable market during the quarter to end-December, bouncing back after a deadly factory riot in July led to a $250 million production loss.

Maruti, controlled by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said profit for the Oct-Dec quarter was 5.01 billion rupees, up from 2.05 billion rupees in the same quarter of 2011. Sales rose 46 per cent to 109.57 billion rupees.

Analysts had expected profit of 5.24 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

At 2:36 p.m., shares in the automaker were up 3.5 per cent at 1593 rupees, outperforming a Mumbai market that was up 0.80 per cent.

Maruti sold 27 per cent more cars in the quarter, helped in part by strong sales of a cheaper and more fuel-efficient version of its Alto, the world's best-selling small car, during India's October-November festival season when people typically make big purchases.

The growth in profit was primarily due to higher sales and a positive consumer response to new car models like utility vehicle Ertiga and Swift DZire low-cost sedan, Maruti said in a statement, adding that cost cuts also boosted profit.

Car sales in India so far this fiscal year are down on the previous twelve months and are on track to post their lowest growth in nine years, according to the Society of Indian Automakers (SIAM), an industry lobby group.

High interest rates, rising fuel prices and slowing economic growth is hurting India's car market, once the toast of the global industry, tempting a slew of carmakers to invest billions of dollars setting up plants.

Analysts expect Maruti to cut its capital expenditure by about 12 per cent in the next 12 months, which would be the second biggest cut among 40 top Asian automobile firms, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine's SmartEstimates.

SmartEstimates accords greater weight to recent forecasts from historically more accurate analysts.

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China urges Japan to cooperate in resolving islands dispute

BEIJING: Chinese Communist Party Chief Xi Jinping said on Friday that China's position on a series of islands disputed with Japan is clear and consistent and urged Japan to cooperate in resolving the issue.

Japan should respect the feelings of the Chinese people and "correctly handle" historical problems, Xi told Natsuo Yamaguchi, a visiting lawmaker and head of the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition.

"The Japanese side ought to face up to history and facts, take practical step and work hard with China to find an effective way to appropriately resolve and manage the issue via dialogue and consultations," Xi said, according to a statement on the foreign ministry's website.

The islands are called the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku by Japan. Relations between the countries are at a low after the Japanese government bought three of the islands last year, sparking widespread, violent anti-Japan protests across China.

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UP's laptop scheme to give jobs to 2000 hardware engineers

LUCKNOW: Close to 2000 engineers will get a job under UP government's endeavour to distribute laptops to students in the state.

The government, which cleared the rules for procurement of laptops earlier this week, is expected to distribute some 25000 laptops in the first phase stating sometime next month.

Sources in the government said that a pre condition for awarding of contract to company to supply bulk order of laptop is to set up service centers in important tehsils. As a part of the same, 331 service centers are to come up.

Each service centre is expected to appoint five engineers. And to run these centers the company will need around 2000 engineers. It has been decided that the contract would be awarded to Hewlett Packard and the memorandum of understanding would be signed very soon.

Meanwhile, secretary, secondary education department, Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma has asked the district magistrates to furnish information needed to roll out the scheme. the points include availability of warehouses to store the laptops at tehsil level among others.

The laptop scheme is a flagship programme of the Akhilesh government and the Samajwadi Party had promised to distribute laptops to youth in their poll manifesto.

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Jaipur literature festival to lose money, sponsors exit

JAIPUR: The sixth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival is running on a negative budget of over Rs.1.5 crore (approx $278,000) with several sponsors pulling out in the last three weeks citing financial constraints, said organisers.

"Our budget for this year is between Rs.5 crore-Rs.6.8 crore but we managed to garner only Rs.4 crore in sponsorships," festival producer Sanjoy K. Roy told IANS.

He said they had covered the budget for this year through sponsorships. "But in the last three weeks, many pulled out. And by that time, it was too late find new sponsors."

"Looks like we will lose money," he said, adding that they had last year managed to recover the cost of the event, billed as the largest literary festival in the Asia-Pacific region. He said his entertainment company Teamwork Production would have to foot the unrecovered bill.

Festival co-director and writer Namita Gokhale had also said in her opening speech that they were "Rs.1.5 crore behind budget".

"It is a bad financial year," she said.

Asked if the negative balance will affect the festival plans next year, Roy said: "We have to find new ways to get money."

He said it was hard to downsize the festival. "People come with big expectations. The festival has become one of five largest in the world. We have no choice."

According to estimates till Thursday, he said, the footfall at the event was likely to cross 97,000. The five-day festival ends Monday. The 2012 edition had seen 120,000 footfalls.

Over 280 authors from across the world are attending the festival this year. Entry to all the venues is free.

Asked if sponsors seek presence of celebrities at the festival for more crowds, Roy said: "It's not about celebrities anymore."

People came anyway because of the event's popularity, he said.

On adding naming of the sponsors to session venues, he said: "They want returns! Since they cannot get tangible returns, like real sales, but only brand returns, so we try to invent new branding opportunities."

He said one sponsor wanted to have a session on arts or an English newspaper wanted a session on international relations or another on language writers. "We have to understand the needs of the sponsors. They are not doing charity. They have to get something out of it and we have to meet their requirements."

The two consistent sponsors of the event continue to be infrastructure company DSC Ltd and Diggi Palace, the heritage resort in this Rajasthan capital that has been hosting the literary carnival. The other big sponsors are Tata Steel, Google, Airtel and Coco-Cola.

DSC group's Surina Narula said in her speech Thursday that "financially they (organisers) were not getting much" but "the company will continue to support the fest as long it was open to public and people kept coming".

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875 police personnel awarded on Republic Day; CRPF tops list

NEW DELHI: A total of 875 police and para-military personnel have been decorated by the President for gallantry and outstanding services on Republic Day eve with CRPF topping the list.

Constable Daler Singh (posthumous) from Jammu and Kashmir is the lone recipient of the President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) this time, a Home Ministry statement said today.

Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) has been awarded to 115 personnel, President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service to 88 officials and Police Medal for Meritorious Service to 671 personnel.

"37 personnel have been awarded Correctional Service Medals- President's Correctional Service Medals for Distinguished Service to five, Correctional Service Medals for Meritorious Service to 29 and President's Correctional Service Medal for Gallantry to three persons," the statement said.

The CRPF-- country's lead force for conducting anti-Naxal operations, has emerged as the lead organisation with 95 medals under all categories.

The force also got a maximum of 32 gallantry medals, majority of them in anti-Maoist operations domain.

Personnel of Jammu and Kashmir police have been awarded 21 President's medals for gallantry.

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