Facebook ownership lawsuit: Another lawyer leaves

SAN FRANCISCO: The New York man claiming half of Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg's lucrative stake in the world's largest social networking company is replacing his main lawyer for a third time, a court filing showed.

Paul Ceglia, the plaintiff, asked US Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio in Buffalo, New York to delay his case for three weeks after allowing his lead lawyer, Jeffrey Lake, to withdraw from the case.

According to the Monday evening filing, Lake said Ceglia is in the "final stages" of obtaining a new lawyer, and is in talks with "several" lawyers who are "diligently coming up to speed with the facts and proceedings" to represent him.

Paul Argentieri, another lawyer for Ceglia, will remain on the case, Monday's filing showed. Lake did not give a reason for his withdrawal.

A call to Lake's office in San Diego was not answered, and Lake did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. Argentieri did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Facebook declined to comment.

The filing marks the latest twist in a year-old case over the authenticity of a 2003 contract under which Ceglia said he hired Zuckerberg, then a Harvard University freshman, for multiple projects, one of which eventually became Facebook.

The company calls that contract a forgery, and said an "authentic" contract found on Ceglia's computer does not concern Facebook.

Lake withdrew after Facebook asked Foschio to punish Ceglia and his lawyers for their failure to turn over email accounts and passwords, as the judge had directed in an August 18 order.

In an October 7 court filing, Lake had written that he had told Ceglia about the order, but that "Mr. Ceglia instructed me not to comply with this provision" and to raise the issue before a different judge.

A week later, Facebook said Ceglia's lawyers had a duty to resist their client's alleged effort to break the law, and might have violated state ethics rules by revealing what he said in an effort to protect themselves.

"If they fail to persuade their client to change direction, their proper course is to withdraw," Facebook lawyers wrote.

Lake had in June replaced the law firm DLA Piper as Ceglia's counsel. That firm previously replaced a different lawyer.

Earlier on Monday, Foschio had scheduled a November 2 hearing to consider whether to force Ceglia to comply with his August 18 order, which also gave Facebook access to computers and files and required Ceglia to describe the content of missing materials. That timetable is now in doubt.

Facebook is based in Palo Alto, California, and may be worth $68.2 billion, according to SharesPost Inc, which tracks valuations of private companies.

Many analysts expect Facebook to conduct an initial public offering as soon as next year. Zuckerberg is worth $17.5 billion, Forbes magazine said last month.

Ceglia is a wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York, and now reported to be living inIreland.

The case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg et al, US District Court, Western District of New York, No 10-00569.

Vijay Mallya's white house in the sky

BANGALORE: Mumbai can boast of Mukesh Ambani's $1 billion Antilla, Delhi has its Lutyens' patch, and now Bengaluru gets a billionaire's wonder - a White House in the sky.

Kingfisher Towers-Residences at UB City, the new home of India's flamboyant business tycoon, Vijay Mallya, as well as other billionaires is under way and will be completed in the next three years.

TOI, in its July 11, 2008, edition, was the first to break the news that Vijay Mallya was razing down his ancestral home on Vittal Mallya Road to make way for a ultra-high end 34-storey millionaires ' paradise on top of which he would have a penthouse.

Now, TOI gets you the first-ever visuals and details of Vijay Mallya's 'White House in the sky'. In all probability, Mallya will be the only man in the city who can boast of having a 1-acre parcel of land that's situated in the sky, and not on the ground below.

ABODE OF MILLIONAIRES 

Situated in the heart of Bangalore city, Kingfisher Towers has around 82 apartments split in three blocks, of which only 72 are for sale. Of the saleable units, 30 are Mallya's and the rest are with Prestige. The remaining 10 unsold units are to be spilt among members of Mallya's family.

There are five points of entry to the apartments, but to begin with, only two will be used. While the millionaire residents will be using the Kasturba Road Cross entry, Mallya has a separate entry from Vittal Mallya Road, which incidentally, is the same entry as that of his old house. The separate entry, which is adorned on one side by a 39,000 sqft private garden, leads Mallya to his personal lobby, a home-office, and a private lift to the penthouse. Each of the other apartments is 8,000 sqft and begins at Rs 20 crore. The apartments begin only from the 5th floor, and as one goes higher, the price increases. The first four floors, along with two floors in the basement, have been reserved for car parking. While each resident would be getting around 3- 5 car parks, Mallya gets to have a car park area that can accommodate around 100 cars. Mallya will also have a designated area where he will be showcasing his collection of vintage cars.

Initially, the project was to have around 100 units in three different sizes, but the plans were changed to have apartments of one size of 8,000 sqft. It is learnt that many of the millionaire buyers didn't like the idea of there being different apartment sizes as such a scenario would result in ego clashes among them.

TOI has learnt that while Prestige have sold out their share of the apartments, Mallya has just begun the process of selling. Kingfisher Towers might well be the only apartment building in Bangalore, where maids would get their own personal lift and lobby area, which would lead in to their private living quarters.

The luxury project has a 6,000-sqft clubhouse and garden on the 5th floor, a similar sized swimming pool area on the 10th floor, a badminton court on the 15th floor, and party hall and terrace garden on the 25th floor. There is also a 25,000-sqft common garden area for residents that is situated along the entry.

MALLYA'S PENTHOUSE 

Situated on the 33rd and 34th floors of the building, Mallya's penthouse sits on one-acre, which is supported by the three blocks 32 storeys high. The penthouse, split in two levels, will have a built-up area of around 40,000 sqft, and would boast a wine cellar, an indoor heated pool, an outdoor infinity pool, a gym, a salon and a spa, to name a few. The roof of the penthouse will have a helipad and, of course, the stars above.

RECAP

In 2008, Vijay Mallya, chairman, UB Group, decided to raze down his 4.5-acre ancestral home to make way for a luxury high-rise, on top of which he would build a penthouse for himself. But, the project was kept under wraps, and Mallya had denied to TOI that such an idea was even being conceptualized.

Once upon a time, the entire land parcel, which now houses UB City, and the upcoming Kingfisher Towers, comprised a brewery which belonged to the UB Group. The land parcel in front of UB City on which the J W Marriott hotel is being built was also part of the brewery.

In September 2009, while briefing shareholders at the 93 rd annual general meeting of United Breweries (holdings ) Limited, the parent company of the UB Group, Mallya had said, "We have got permission to develop an additional 500,000 sqft of space in UB City. This has come about due to changes in the zonal regulations of the area, which has resulted in an increase in the floor area ratio (FAR)."

While Mallya didn't comment further on the subject, UB Group CFO, Ravi Nedungadi, had then said, "There are plans of building a highend apartment."

Then in 2010, while declaring the fourth quarter results of United Breweries Holdings, Mallya himself announced that he had "executed a joint development agreement with a developer on 26 th April 2010, for the development of a luxury residential building in the available land in UB City". The developer was none other than Prestige Group. He also mentioned that the joint development would be in the ratio of 55% to UB and 45% to Prestige.

Meanwhile, Prestige Group, which owns the Oakwood Premier Prestige Serviced Residences in UB City, began renovation work on 46 serviced apartments, situated on the top two floors of the hotel, which would be the temporary address for Mallya and his family, until Kingfisher Towers- Residences at UB City is built.
Source: TNS

Anti-Wall Street protesters march against New York police

NEW YORK: Anti-Wall Street demonstrators marched against New York police on Tuesday, accusing some officers of excessive force when carrying out arrests during a month-long protest campaign against economic inequality.

Nearly a thousand people have been arrested and police have used pepper spray at rallies in New York by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which set up camp in a Lower Manhattan park on Sept 17 and has inspired similar demonstrations worldwide.

The protests, driven by social media, culminated in global rallies on Saturday that were mostly peaceful apart from those in Rome, where riots broke out.

"They tackled me," protester Zach Welch, 24, of Rochester, New York, said of his recent arrest by New York police during a protest outside a bank. "They stepped on me. They slammed my hands into the van ... They charged me with resisting arrest."

Welch was among about 100 demonstrators who protested outside the Manhattan District Attorney's office on Tuesday.

In New York, more than 700 people were arrested on Oct. 2 during an attempted unauthorized march on the Brooklyn Bridge, while another 92 were arrested on Saturday on minor charges.

"We've received about 500 arrests from the NYPD (so far)," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance told reporters on Tuesday. He declined to say if any police officers were being investigated in response to the protesters' complaints.

A law enforcement source said police handling of several protest incidents was being investigated by prosecutors. New York police did not respond to requests for comment.

No Tea Party rival 

The Occupy movement has sprung up in cities across North America and prompted hundreds of arrests from Boston and Washington to Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Austin,Texas.

Occupy Arrests, a Twitter feed compiling arrests related to Occupy Wall Street, said that 1,770 people had been arrested around the world so far.

The protesters say they are upset that the billions of dollars in bank bailouts doled out during the recession allowed banks to resume earning huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and job insecurity.

They also believe the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share in taxes. But it remained unclear if the protesters' movement can sustain momentum. Critics have accused it of lacking a clear message or goal.

New York Times columnist Nate Silver has estimated that about 70,000 protesters attended protests in 150 U.S. cities on Saturday during the global day of action. He compared that to the first large protests by the conservative Tea Party group in 2009, which were attended by an estimated 300,000 people.

"We shouldn't rival the Tea Party but rather we should invite them to join us as they are part of the 99 percent," Occupy Wall Street posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

On Friday, a showdown between protesters and New York police was averted when the owner of the publicly accessible Zuccotti Park postponed a cleanup that demonstrators had feared was a guise to remove them. 

Jagraon Bridge area most polluted in Ludhiana city

Ludhiana, October 18
The recent survey of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has brought out some shocking facts. The Jagraon Bridge area is be one of the most polluted parts of the city, where 348 microgram/m3 of air was found to be polluted during the day. This figure is three times more than the national ambient air quality standards, which is 100 micrograms/m3.
The reason for this is that the area witnesses traffic snarls for hours, besides other factors. The worst sufferers are the traffic cops posted at the spot and have to stand there throughout the day without masks.
Even in the other parts of the city at night, when vehicular traffic is not much, the level of the particulate matter was more than 100 micrograms/m3.
Board officials have suggested several measures to bring down pollution levels, some of which include that commercial vehicles, which are more than 15 years old, should be taken off the road and diesel-run autorickshaws should be phased out.
However, government departments seem least bothered when it comes to taking old commercial vehicles off the road. The Municipal Corporation (MC) has deputed five trucks which have outlived their life for collecting garbage in the city.
With an aim to bring down pollution levels, the government had started promoting LPG-run autorickshaws. But the owners of these autorickshaws are a harried lot as there is only one LPG filling station.
Board chairman Kahan Singh Pannu has suggested that strict measures should be taken to check the emission levels of other vehicles by improving the system of certification by pollution under check (PUC) centres. “We will be writing to the government departments concerned to take action so that the pollution levels in the city can be brought down,” said Pannu.

14 Dera Sacha Sauda members acquitted of murder charges

Mumbai, October 18
Citing lack of evidence, a fast track court has acquitted 14 volunteers of religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda, who were charged with killing a Sikh at a suburban Mall three years ago.
The main accused, Jagdev Singh Gurudev Singh, was among those who were acquitted by Sewri Sessions Court Judge NP Dalvi yesterday for lack of evidence after being given the benefit of doubt.
According to forensic reports produced in the court, the bullets in the victim's body did not match with the gun allegedly used by the accused.
Defence lawyers Sudeep Pasbola and Sandeep Singh argued that prosecution had not proved the case as the bullets in the victim's body did not match with the weapons allegedly used in the crime. Hence, no case was made out against the accused.
Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam submitted that during the visit of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh on June 25, 2008, his personal bodyguards had allegedly fired at a crowd at Nirmal Lifestyle mall in suburban Mulund in which Balkar Singh, a Sikh, was killed.
The incident occurred when the Dera chief had gone to visit the shopping complex where members of the Sikh community were also present. An altercation broke out between the two groups. The Sikhs had protested against the Dera chief’s presence and hurled stones at him, prompting the other group to open fire.
The firing had led to large-scale protests by the local Sikh community. Later, the accused were arrested and charged with offences under IPC, Arms Act and Bombay Police Act.

IBSA SUMMIT

IBSA Leaders in Pretoria seek greater say in world bodies
Joint declaration pushes for UNSC, IMF reforms

The 5th IBSA Summit, which was held in Pretoria on Tuesday, has come out with a declaration on major global issues with focus on reforms of multilateral organisations, including the UN Security Council, the IMF and the World Bank to give greater voice to emerging countries like India.
The Summit came out with the Tshwane Declaration following the discussions between the leaders of India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil.
On global governance reform, the three leaders reaffirmed their commitment to increase the participation of developing countries in the decision-making bodies of multilateral institutions.
They underscored the need for urgent reform of the United Nations (UN) to render it more democratic and consistent with the current geopolitical reality. They particularly emphasised that no reform of the United Nations will be complete without a reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC), including an expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of its membership, with increased participation of developing countries in both.
IBSA, as like-minded countries, will continue to strive to contribute to a new world order whose political, economic and financial architecture is more inclusive, representative and legitimate, the declaration said.
It also called for the early implementation of the targets for the reform of the International Monetary Fund in order to ensure that the body is democratic, responsive and accountable. The leaders reiterated that the governing structure of the Fund should reflect the changed realities of the global economy in the 21st century, through the increased voice and representation of emerging economies and developing countries.
The leaders agreed that the Heads and senior leadership of all international institutions should be appointed through an open, transparent and merit-based process beginning with the selection of the next President of the World Bank in 2012.
The declaration expressed concern at the ongoing deterioration of the global economic scenario, which presents particular challenges for the economic policy and growth prospects of developing and low-income countries. Downside risks have increased substantially in recent weeks. They stressed the importance of the implementation of a credible plan of macro-economic and financial policies and structural reforms by the Eurozone countries, as a necessary step to prevent further negative shocks to the world economy. They also highlighted the importance of complementary measures by other key developed economies to boost recovery and help the global economy as a whole.
The leaders stressed on the need to increase policy coordination amongst G-20 nations, with a view to avert a new recession and to promote a robust recovery in order to ensure strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy in the medium term.
The current impasse in the WTO negotiations is a source of serious concern, the declaration said.
Earlier, in his address at the plenary session of the Summit, Manmohan Singh said the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and recessionary trends in the traditional engines of the global economy - the United States, Europe and Japan - are sending negative signals to world financial and capital markets which are showing signs of distress.
He pointed out that developing countries cannot remain untouched by the negative impacts of these developments. “Their ability to address their developmental challenges has been adversely affected,” he said.
Manmohan Singh voiced his hope that effective and early steps will be taken by Europe and other advanced economies to calm the capital and financial markets and prevent the global economy from slipping into a double-dip recession.
He said there has been steady growth in the three economies despite the global economic slowdown and intra-IBSA trade has almost touched the $20 billion dollar mark, the PM said. The IBSA countries have set a target of $25 billion by 2015. India will host the next IBSA summit in 2013.

Apple stuns Wall Street with rare miss, shares dive

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc reported a rare miss in quarterly results after sales of its flagship iPhone fell well short of Wall Street expectations, hammering its shares.

Shares of the world's most valuable technology corporation dived more than 5 percent to below $400 after it said it sold 17.07 million iPhones -- well short of the roughly 20 million expected by analysts.

Apple's CFO said iPhone sales came in ahead of internal expectations but were hurt in September by customers waiting for a new version.

The September quarterly report was Apple's first under new Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over in August after co-founder Steve Jobs resigned. The company lost its leading visionary and co-founder when he died Oct. 5.

Cook takes over during a critical juncture for the company, which is battling a fast-rising Google Inc in the mobile arena while fending off consumer electronics giants such as Samsung and Amazon.com Inc.

"Expectations for this company were red-hot, that is why we downgraded it," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis, who lowered his rating on the shares days before. "The reality is their business is not an annuity. They have to sell their quarter's worth of revenue every 90 days."

"They had a big upgrade cycle with the iPhone, the numbers came in weak. They need to set records every time they report to keep up the momentum."

Apple said its revenue rose to $28.27 billion but that was also lower than the average analyst estimate of $29.69 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company reported a net profit of $6.62 billion, or $7.05 a share. That fell shy of expectations for earnings of $7.39 per share.

A large spike in sales of Mac computers during the September quarter failed to lift earnings. Apple sold 4.89 million Macs, up 27 percent from a year ago. And it moved 11.12 million iPads.

Gross margin came to 40.3 percent -- a tad higher than Wall Street's forecast of 39.74 percent. International sales accounted for 63 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Some analysts had feared the lack of a new iPhone in more than 15 months would hurt the September quarter, while arguing the holiday quarter would prove strong after the introduction of the fifth version of its smartphone, the iPhone 4S.

"We expected iPhone sales to decline in the September quarter from the June quarter as a result of the announcements we made at WWDC in June, where we said we would launch iOS 5 and iCloud in fall," said Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer, in an interview with Reuters.

"That basically created the rumor of the day across the September quarter, especially at the end."

The company moved 4 million iPhone 4S units -- more than double its predecessor -- in its first three days, despite lukewarm reviews.

Apple, which generally provides an ultra-conservative forecast, said it expected December quarter earnings of $9.30 a share on revenue of about $37 billion.

Reuters: Reuters

Source: 

Washington state scientists worried about salmon-killing virus found in British Columbia

SEATTLE - Scientists in Washington state are working to improve testing of a deadly, contagious marine virus as a precaution, after the virus was detected in wild salmon for the first time on the West Coast.

Researchers with Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and elsewhere announced Monday they had found the influenza-like virus in two juvenile sockeye salmon collected from the province's central coast. The virus, which doesn't affect humans, has caused losses at fish farms in Chile and other areas, and could have devastating impacts on wild salmon in the region and other species that depend on them, the researchers said.

"This is potentially very big. It's of big concern to us," said John Kerwin, who supervises the fish health unit at the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Even though the virus was detected in salmon collected hundreds of miles away, at Rivers Inlet in British Columbia, the virus could pose a threat because "fish don't have any boundaries in the ocean ... and salmon species stray," he said.

The state tested about 56,000 hatchery and wild fish last year and hasn't found signs of the virus — infectious salmon anemia, Kerwin said. But Monday's news sent Kerwin scrambling on Tuesday to work with other agencies to find ways to beef up current testing methods. If the virus is ever detected in Washington, the state would follow containment plans that could include killing fish, he said.

"It's a disease emergency," said James Winton, who directs the fish health section of the U.S. Geological Survey 's Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle.

Officials on both side of the border should increase surveillance and research to understand how broadly the virus is distributed, in what species, how fish are infected, among other questions, he said. "We don't have enough information on what this strain will do today and what it will do in the future," he said.

"We're concerned. Should it be introduced, it might be able to adapt to Pacific salmon," added Winton, who is not connected to the British Columbia study.

The virus was found in two of 48 juvenile sockeye salmon collected as part of a long-term study of sockeye salmon led by Simon Fraser University professor Rick Routledge. "It is certainly possible that this disease may be benign for Pacific salmon, but I still don't rest easy because it was initially benign for Atlantic salmon and it mutated," he said Tuesday.

Researchers said Fred Kibenge of the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, confirmed the presence of the virus in two fish and noted it was a European strain of the virus.

Routledge and biologist and wild-salmon activist Alexandra Morton suggested Monday that the source of the virus is Atlantic salmon farms in British Columbia, which has imported millions of salmon eggs since 1986.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was informed of the suspect case over the weekend and will run its own tests and analysis at a federal laboratory in New Brunswick, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the agency. It may be weeks before that's complete, he said Tuesday.

"It's very important to ensure that the test was carried out properly and done under the proper condition," Kiley said. "If you can repeat it, then your level of confidence will increase."

Morton on Monday called for the removal of Atlantic salmon from British Columbia salmon farms. And the Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy on Tuesday called for a halt to more net pen salmon aquaculture on the West Coast. It also wanted widespread testing of wild and hatchery salmon and a halt to fish farms in British Columbia until those results are known.

But Kiley said, "We have no indication at this time that there's any involvement with the aquaculture industry."

In Washington state, Kerwin said one company raises Atlantic salmon in western Washington and has not detected the virus.

John Kaufman, a fish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he wasn't as concerned, partly because the virus seems to affect Atlantic salmon the most and Oregon does not raise Atlantic salmon off its coast.

Canadian housing resale market up slightly in August, but stronger from year-ago

OTTAWA - The organization representing Canada's real estate agents says the resale market picked up the pace in September.

In its monthly report, the Canadian Real Estate Association says sales of existing homes rose 2.7 per cent in September compared with August.

The increase was even greater compared to the same period last year with sales activity up 11 per cent from September 2010.

However, the national average price for a resale home made its smallest year-over-year increase since January, rising to $352,600.

That's up 6.5 per cent from September a year earlier.

Labour unrest may drive Maruti to Gujarat

NEW DELHI: Maruti, which is synonymous with Haryana and Gurgaon, is looking outside the state to set up its operations. The continuing labour unrest at its Manesar and Gurgaon plants appear to have hastened its search, and the company is zeroing in on Gujarat.

Sources say the Japanese automaker, frustrated over the repeated interruptions in production due to labour problems at Manesar, wants to quickly finalize its expansion plans beyond Haryana, something that's not liked by the state government but is seen as "urgent" by the company's management.

Already, Maruti car sales have been affected, and more worryingly for the firm, the demand seems to have been hit because of the uncertainty about delivery schedules, making the management of the country's biggest car-maker rather anxious.

While Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki met Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on September 8-after the collapse of the first peace agreement and in between the second labour strike-the company's board looks set to approve the proposal to invest Rs 18,000 crore, including Rs 6,000 crore by auto ancillaries, in Gujarat for a plant spread over 1,000 acres and with a capacity of two million units.

Interestingly, this will be the largest factory site for Suzuki globally, bigger than the combined size of its existing sites at Gurgaon and Manesar. The new facility in Gujarat will mark the beginning of a slow shift out of Haryana-a move that could affect not just the automobile hub in Delhi's neighbourhood but also impact real estate activity in and around Gurgaon. Already, several automakers, ranging from Tata Motors to Ford and Peugeot-Citreon, have started work on setting up facilities in Gujarat, which is emerging as a major auto hub in the country.

For Haryana, this will be the second blow after Japanese auto major Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India decided to set up plants in Rajasthan and Karnataka following major labour unrest at its Manesar facility. Like HMSI, Maruti Suzuki executives admit in private that the Japanese management is not particularly happy with the Haryana government's handling of the labour problems at its Manesar car plant as well as its engine and parts manufacturing facilities. The production loss to the company due to the three strikes, including the current one which has already lasted 12 days, has been over 60,000 units, resulting in a production loss of a Rs 1,800 crore. In the June quarter, Maruti's total income was estimated at Rs 8,500 crore, while the profit was Rs 550 crore.

Maruti chairman R C Bhargava refused to comment on the manner in which the Haryana government has handled the crisis, but minced no words while describing the present state of affairs in the belt. He said, "The labour here is militant, and if there is no improvement in the situation, this belt will surely suffer industrially. Not only Japanese investments, but investment plans of other countries and companies will also be hit."

The fresh labour unrest at Manesar seems to have jolted the company out of, what many insiders describe as, its "comfort zone". "There is clearly a need, an urgency, to look for a new production hub," they said.

In 2009, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had told a public gathering (in the presence of current Maruti MD Shinzo Nakanishi) that he had been assured by Osamu Suzuki that all Maruti's expansion plans would be undertaken "only in Haryana". Maruti's flirtation with Gujarat now also betrays its disillusionment with Haryana. Company executives also say in private that the movement beyond Haryana (especially the NCR region) will also mean that Maruti is insulated from the "Delhi's political influence". Bhargava has already blamed the political interferences for the labour troubles at the company, though he has refrained from naming anyone.

If the Gujarat proposal goes ahead, the production from the site at Becharji in Mehsana is expected to start by 2015. In the first phase, which will be completed by 2020, a capacity for one million units will be build. The next phase of expansion will follow.

China stops issuing stapled visas to J&K residents

BORDER MEETING SOONn India and China are finalising the dates for the 15th round of talks between their Special Representatives to resolve the long-pending boundary disputen Sources said the meeting was likely to be held by the end of this month or early November in New Delhin Though 14 rounds of talks have been held so far between the SRs, the two countries have made little progress till date We have not come across any instance of a J&K resident being given a stapled visa in the past one year, we believe the matter is closed.

New Delhi, October 18
China appears to have quietly discontinued the practice of issuing stapled visas to Indian nationals from Jammu and Kashmir, thus removing a major irritant in the complex Sino-Indian relationship.
“The issue perhaps is behind us now,” sources in the government said when asked about the row between India and China that erupted more than two years back after Beijing started giving visas on separate sheets to Indian residents of J&K, thereby questioning the status of the state.
The sources said that since last October New Delhi has not come across any instance in which the Chinese Embassy has given a stapled visa to a J&K national.
The immigration authorities at airports in India were under strict instructions during the past two years not to allow any Indian having been issued stapled visa by the Chinese Embassy to board an aircraft.
New Delhi had taken up the issue with Beijing as and when an opportunity came and asked it to rectify the situation in the interest of the bilateral relationship. In fact, there was also an immense pressure on Indian authorities to start issuing stapled visas to Chinese residents of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in a tit-for-tat exercise.
In December last when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India, he had assured Indian leaders that Beijing would amicably settle the issue to India’s satisfaction.
“We have not come across any instance of a J&K resident being given a stapled visa in the past one year, we believe the matter is closed,” sources added.
Asked if China had also stopped issuing stapled visas to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh, the sources said the northeastern state fell in an entirely different category. They were alluding to the fact that China lays claim to the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, amid the simmering tension between them over New Delhi inking an accord with Vietnam for oil exploration in the South China Sea, India and China are finalising the dates for the 15th round of talks between their Special Representatives (SRs) over the boundary issue.
Sources said the meeting was likely to be held by the end of the month or early November in New Delhi. National Security Adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon is the SR on the Indian side while State Councillor Dai Bingguo leads China at these talks.
Though 14 rounds of talks have been held so far between the SRs, the two countries have made little progress in resolving the dispute over their more than 3,500-4,000-km long border. However, both sides have pledged to resolve the border dispute peacefully through talks.

100-year-old man finishes Toronto marathon

Centenarian marathoner Singh sets world record by completing Toronto event

Fauja Singh secures a spot in the record books after completing the gruelling 42.195-kilometre run.

TORONTO - Fauja Singh secured a spot in the Guiness World Book of Records on Sunday at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

The 100-year-old accomplished an amazing feat, completing the gruelling 42.195-kilometre marathon and becoming the oldest person ever to complete a full-distance marathon. It took Singh over eight hours to cross the finish line — more than six hours after Kenya's Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year — and he was the last competitor to complete the course. But his time wasn't nearly remarkable as the accomplishment itself.

"Beating his original prediction, he's overjoyed," said coach and translator Harmander Singh. "Earlier, just before we came around the (final) corner, he said, 'Achieving this will be like getting married again.'

"He's absolutely overjoyed, he's achieved his life-long wish."

Although event workers dismantled the barricades along the finish line and took down sponsor banners even as Fauja Singh made his way up the final few hundred metres of the race, a throng of media, family, friends and supporters were there when Fauja Singh made marathon history.

And Fauja Singh, who only speaks Punjabi, also surprised himself. Through his interpreter, he said he had set a goal of finishing the race in about nine hours.

"He said he achieved this through the help of God but even God must be getting fed up of helping him," Harmander Singh said, drawing chuckles from assembled media after the race.

Sunday's run was Fauja Singh's eighth marathon — he ran his first at the tender age of 89 — and wasn't the first time he set a record. In the 2003 Toronto event, he set the mark in the 90-plus category, finishing the race in five hours 40 minutes and one second.

And on Thursday in Toronto, Fauja Singh — whose first name means soldier — broke world records for runners older than 100 in eight different distances ranging from 100 metres to 5,000 metres.

Fauja Singh, a five-foot-eight, 115-pound British citizen and vegetarian, looked tired and spent following the race and organizers gingerly assisted him to the post-event news conference. After receiving gentle massages to his legs and calf muscles as well as cups of water from members of his entourage, Singh leaned back on a couch and spoke little to start the news conference.

But a short time into it, he began looking remarkably relaxed and fresh with his hands clasped behind his head. Then, he abruptly sat up straight and with a smile, motioned for the microphone, obviously getting his second wind.

"He says he's recovered now so he's going to talk," his translator said, again drawing laughter.

Fauja Singh, affectionately dubbed the Turbaned Tornado, began running roughly 20 years ago after losing his wife and child. The five-foot-eight centenarian said he's happy to see more minorities taking part in such marathon events and is hopeful his next project will be participating in the torch relay for the 2012 London Summer Games.

Fauja Singh carried the torch during the relay for the 2004 Athens Games.

Race director Alan Brookes struggled to find the right words to describe Fauja Singh's remarkable accomplishment.

"I'm speechless," he said. "Fauja Singh is a remarkable human being."

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version called Fauja Singh a centurian instead of a centenarian.