Wrong subject on hall ticket

MUMBAI: A student of Buhrani College in Mazgoan, who could not clear one of the business management papers in the BCom exam this year and was supposed to appear for the paper again on Thursday, was shocked to discover that his hall ticket had the wrong subject--financial accounts and auditing--on it.

So a day before the exam, instead of studying for the paper, Baharuddin Shaikh had to spend the better part of Wednesday, getting the error rectified.

Mumbai University controller of examinations Vilas Shinde, however, said the fault lay with the student. "He made an error while filling out his application form for the re-examination. He wrote the wrong code for the paper and then overwrote the number. So, our staff allotted him the wrong paper. This is a mistake that can be easily rectified once he comes for the exam,'' Shinde said. Baharuddin, though, said he had made no mistake and also denied overwriting the code.

This is not the first time that students at Mumbai University complained of goof-ups in important documents. TOI had earlier reported on how a student received his university degree in his father's name and another received his postgraduate degree mark sheet riddled with spelling mistakes.

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India's Jurassic nest dug up in Tamil Nadu

COIMBATORE: Geologists in Tamil Nadu have stumbled upon a Jurassic treasure trove buried in the sands of a river bed. Sheer luck led them to hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs, perhaps 65 million years old, underneath a stream in a tiny village in Ariyalur district.

Researchers from the Salem-based Periyar University found clusters of eggs of what they believe to be the most aggressive Carnosaur and the docile, leaf-eating Sauropod at Sendurai village.

While Carnosaurs were large predatory dinasaurs, Sauropods were long-necked, herbivores which grew to enormous heights and sizes.

That dinosaurs once roamed the area was known from the fossils found there on earlier expeditions. But this is the first time that hundreds of nests embedded with hundreds of clusters of dinosaur eggs have been unearthed in the district.

Located on the highway between Chennai and Tiruchi, the Ariyalur and the neighbouring Perambalur geological sites nestle in the northern plains of the Cauvery river. The place is a veritable museum of ancient organisms, dating back to 140 million years. Ever since a British couple -- the Wines -- collected 32 boxes of "strange stone objects" in 1843, the Ariyalur region has drawn geologists from across the world for its rich fossil presence and diversity.

Scientists have found the tiniest marine algae or the nano fossils besides the rare shell-like bivalve, gastropoda, telecypoda and brachiopoda in the geological sites spread across 950sqkm in Ariyalur and Perambalur districts.

"We found clusters and clusters of spherical eggs of dinosaurs. And each cluster contained eight eggs," says Dr M U Ramkumar, geology lecturer of the Periyar University. Each egg was about 13 to 20 cm in diameter and they were lying in sandy nests which were of the size of 1.25 metres.

In the 1860s, a British geologist first recorded the presence of bone remains of dinosaurs in Ariyalur. Over a century and a half later, the egg of a dinosaur was found in a cement factory of the state-owned Tamil Nadu Cements Ltd in 1990s. But officials realized that it was a dinosaur egg only 10 years later.

On a sultry afternoon on September 12 this year, Ramkumar and his research students went to Ariyalur to scour the rocks and sediments as part of a study funded by Indian and German scientific institutions. As they paused by a stream on a grazing land at Sendurai, they found spherical-shaped fossils peeping out of the sand beds. "We got really excited. As I have seen a dinosaur egg, I was sure these were dinosaur eggs," said Ramkumar.

A quick digging revealed clusters of eggs beneath seven layers of sand spread over two sqkm. The eggs may not have hatched due to the Deccan volcanic eruptions or seasonal flooding, surmise the team. "We suspect the extinction of dinosaurs was triggered by the Deccan volcano. Volcanic ashes cap the eggs," said one researcher.

"This is a very significant finding as never before have we found so many dinosaur eggs in the country. Besides the spherical size of the eggs covered with sand and volcanic ash provide significant insight into the possible reasons for extinction of the species," says Dr Jyotsana Rai, senior scientist, Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany in Lucknow. Her team will collect samples of these eggs to determine its exact age.

Because a similar discovery in Jabalpur led to a plunder of the fossilized treasure, the researchers have requested the Ariyalur district administration to cordon off the site. Samples of the eggs will travel to Germany for further research. The vicinity of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh is considered the richest dinosaur field in the country.

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RPT-India current a/c swings to deficit in June qtr-cbank

* June qtr current a/c deficit $5.8 billion

* Trade deficit widens to $26 bln, from $14.6 bln last qtr

* April-Aug fiscal deficit 1.823 trillion rupees (Updates with details, analyst quote, fiscal deficit, CPI)

MUMBAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - India's current account swung to a deficit of $5.81 billion in the April-June quarter from a surplus of $4.75 billion in the previous quarter as the effects of the global slowdown triggered a sharp decline in exports.

The current account deficit was a revised $9.02 billion in the corresponding April-June quarter a year ago, the central bank said on Wednesday.

However, capital inflows through foreign direct and portfolio investments helped cover the deficit with a marginal surplus in the balance of payments.

The capital account surplus was $5.92 billion in the first quarter of 2009/10, compared with a negative balance of $4.45 billion in the last quarter, but lower than $11.3 billion a year ago.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the balance of payments surplus INBOP=ECI in April-June was $115 million, compared with a surplus of $300 million in the January-March quarter.

The balance of payments surplus was $2.24 billion in the quarter a year earlier.
"There has also been a substantial revival in net private capital inflows," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.

Net invisibles, which includes services exports and funds remitted by non-resident Indians, were in a surplus at $20.2 billion, lower than the corresponding period last year of $22.4 billion, but higher than the previous quarter's $19.3 billion.

The merchandise trade deficit INTRDQ=ECI widened sharply to $26 billion, from $14.6 billion in the last quarter, but narrowed from $31.4 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Exports fell to $38.8 billion, from $39.8 billion in the previous quarter and sharply lower than $49.1 billion in the corresponding quarter in 2008/09.

The total external debt INDEBT=ECI rose to $227.7 billion at the end of June from a revised $224 billion at the end of March, the central bank said on Wednesday.

In a separately released data, the government said fiscal deficit INFISC=ECI for April to August was 1.823 trillion rupees ($37.9 billion), or 45.5 percent of the full-year target.

The consumer price index rose 11.72 percent in August from a year earlier, marginally lower than July's annual rise of 11.89 percent, government data showed on Wednesday.

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New threat letter sent to Sarkozy

PARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy has received another threatening letter containing a bullet, just days after a man was charged over dozens of mysterious death threats, a judicial official said today.

The anonymous author of the letter that arrived at the Elysee presidential palace last week said he was "picking up the baton" from a shadowy group known as Cell 34, which has sent some 30 letters to politicians in recent months.

Anti-terror police have opened an investigation after the latest letter, postmarked from Roubaix in northern France, was intercepted.

A 51-year-old unemployed handicapped member of a shooting club was arrested September 20 in the village of Herepian in southern France. He has been charged with issuing death threats and remanded in custody.

Dozens of letters signed "Combatants of Cell 34" have been sent to politicians since the beginning of the year.

The writer or writers were demanding a halt to France's expulsion of illegal immigrants and the release from prison of Jean-Marc Rouillan, the leader of the armed leftist group Action Directe, among others.

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Microsoft's App Marketplace on Oct. 6

Microsoft seems to be well set to launch its Windows Marketplace for mobiles in the next week. The product, which has been in the works for quite some time, is finally ready for launch on Oct. 6 - the day Windows Mobile 6.5 too will be made official.

The news was revealed by Microsoft's Todd Brix in a blog post. Brix also added that the software does have some issues and glitches, which he believes, would be sorted by the time it is launched. So, more than a year after the launch of the Apple App Store, Microsoft is ready to fire its first salvo against Apple. In fact, the war of words has already begun as apparent from a line in the blog post, which takes a dig at Apple's app approval process by saying that Microsoft would be creating a "more open, transparent and rewarding processes for developers and ISVs (independent software vendors)."

Having said that, developers might want to note that there some restrictions on the kind of apps you can code for WinMo devices. These include VoIP, SMS, or MMS related applications and apps that change the default browser, search client, or media player. Oh and no support for Java apps either. It remains to be seen how well Microsoft goes about the App approval process.

Another pertinent thing to note is that starting Oct. 6, only WinMo 6.5 laden devices would be able to use the Windows Mobile Marketplace. Only in November would this come to older WinMo 6 and WinMo 6.5 editions. By then, there would be a PC version in place as well.

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Aircel inks tower-sharing deal with BSNL

Telecom service provider Aircel today said it has signed a 10-year tower-sharing agreement with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).

NEW DELHI: Aircel, which currently has about 32,000 base stations, will now have access to approximately 45,000 BSNL towers across all its circles.

It did not disclose financial details of the deal.

Aircel is a part of Malaysia's Maxis Communications and has a subscriber base of over 24 million users. It is present in 18 telecom circles and has licence for a pan-India roll out.

"Aircel will now have access to strategically located sites across BSNL's 21 circles (excluding Mumbai and Delhi). Leveraging BSNL's passive infrastructure will help Aircel meet its aggressive network roll out plans in addition to reducing operational cost," Aircel Chief Operating Officer Gurdeep Singh said in a statement.

Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL added, “We are happy to partner with Aircel. BSNL has a strong nationwide coverage and offers the best value proposition in the Indian telecom market. Our objective is to provide quality and reliable service and thereby increase our partner's confidence”.

Tata Teleservices yesterday announced a 15-year infrastructure-sharing deal with the state-run telco, which has pan-India operations (except Delhi and Mumbai).

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More than 150 killed as tsunami hits Samoas

WELLINGTON: More than 120 people were killed when a series of tsunamis triggered by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake swept across the South Pacific, reports from the region said on Wednesday. ( Watch Video )

At least 100 people were killed in Samoa, the disaster management office of the island state of 220,000 people said. Several tourist resorts and villages were destroyed, it reported.

Another 19 people died in neighbouring American Samoa, while 10 deaths were reported on Tonga's northern island of Niuatoputapu.

New Zealand's 'Stuff news' website quoted witnesses as saying the devastation in Samoa was unimaginable "with bodies, covered in clothes, strewn around coastal villages".

Reports said cars and people, including children torn from the arms of their mothers, were swept out to sea by waves of up to six metres as survivors fled to high ground, where they remained huddled hours later.

New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English told a news conference in Wellington there had been "considerable loss of life" with many more deaths likely to be reported in an unfolding tragedy.

An unknown number of New Zealand and Australian tourists, holidaying in Samoa, were believed to have died, trapped in tourist resorts as the tsunami followed one of the world's biggest earthquakes this year.

The south coast of Samoa's main island Upolu was devastated. "We've had very heavy damage all along the coast and most of the tourist resorts have been wiped out," Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni said.

Up to 20 people were reported killed in the beach resort Lalomanu, which is popular with New Zealand and Australian holidaymakers.

US President Barack Obama declared a "major disaster" in the US territory of American Samoa, freeing up federal funds for disaster relief.

English said a New Zealand air force maritime surveillance plane has been sent to look for survivors swept out to sea and other defence forces put on standby to fly medical aid and emergency shelters to Samoa, a former New Zealand territory.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake, which was located about 204 km southwest of Samoa, at 8.0 on the Richter scale after earlier estimating it at 8.3.

As aftershocks continued to hit the two Samoa states, seismologists reported two more quakes measuring 5.6 and a third of 5.8 in the South Pacific.

The 'Pacific Tsunami Warning Center' lifted its alert to countries across the South Pacific about five hours after the first quake and people in Samoa were reported to be returning to the sites of their homes to inspect the damage and search for the missing.

Civil defence officials in New Zealand, 2,685 km away from the quake's epicentre, issued an alert for the country's entire coastline after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a three-metre tsunami was travelling across the Pacific at about 800 km an hour.

It lifted its warning after nine hours, telling people it was safe to return to the beaches.

Previous Post's: Helmets to signal accident to hospital, wearer's family

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America's super-rich lost $300bn last year: Forbes

NEW YORK: The wealthiest Americans are getting poorer, losing 300 billion dollars of their net worth over the past 12 months, according to an annual Forbes magazine ranking released on Wednesday.

The annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans found legendary investor Warren Buffett had lost the most cash -- 10 billion dollars -- as his holding company Berkshire Hathaway suffered severe losses.

Topping the list of richest Americans was Microsoft founder turned disease-battling philanthropist Bill Gates, whose net worth was estimated at 50 billion dollars, down seven billion from last year.

Buffett came in second, followed by Oracle Corp founder and CEO Lawrence Ellison, the only person on the top 10 list whose fortune remained unchanged -- at 27 billion.

The 400 wealthiest Americans had total net assets of 1.57 trillion dollars, down from 1.27 trillion. It was only the fifth time that the fortunes of members of the Forbes 400 had declined since its inception in 1982.

Forbes attributed the loss of wealth to "faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along with fraud and divorce."

The losses affected 314 returning members and forced 32 plutocrats to fall off the list, including disgraced and jailed financier Allen Stanford, former chief of troubled Citigroup Sanford Weill and former Google billionaire Omid Kordestani, who faced a costly divorce.

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey came in 141st after losses of 400 million dollars.

Only 28 members added to their wealth, among them banker Andrew Beal, who tripled his net worth to 4.5 billion dollars buying cheap loans and assets, coming in 52nd.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is seeking a third term in elections next November, lost 2.5 billion dollars to come in eighth place with 17.5 billion from the massive financial news and data business that bears his name.

The price of admission to the Forbes list fell to 950 million from 1.3 billion in 2008.

Among the newcomers to the list was a client of jailed Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff.

Jeffry Picower, number 371 on the Forbes list and a longtime investor with the former Nasdaq chairman, is alleged to have profited by billions of dollars from Madoff's fraud, according to a civil lawsuit.

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I can't wait to go and bat even now: Sachin Tendulkar

INTERVIEW WITH SACHIN

Crest got Sachin to take some time off and talk about his 20 years on top. What a long, strange trip it's been, is what he said...

Twenty years at the top, how beautiful and exciting has the journey been?

It has been a fantastic journey, although not every bit of it. But it has been nice to be able to play for the country for such a long time. There have been different challenges from time to time and I've dealt with it to the best of my ability. It has been a real privilege to be wearing the India cap for twenty years and I'm still enjoying the game. As a kid, I would dream of seeing myself waving a bat to the stands. I always thought that one day I would play for the country. And I am living my dream. Of course, without the support of a billion people, it wouldn't have been possible.

How have you managed to stay there for such a long time?

Cricket has been my passion and my life. I have never been away from cricket. I feel extremely proud of myself since the day I was selected to play for India. Since then, each day has been full of surprises, happy surprises on most occasions.

What have been the sacrifices that you, and people around you, had to make to survive the hard grind?

I made the choice for myself so it wasn't so tough for me. But my family didn't have the choice. My brother, Ajit, was actively involved ever since I was a kid. Then, it has been my wife, Anjali, who has been a huge pillar of strength and support. Even my kids, Sara and Arjun, have now learnt to live with their father being away playing cricket for a number of days.

Did you ever feel that you were 'out of form' in two decades?

I don't think there has been any cricketer who has never been out of form. There will be times when your feet are not moving well or your head is not right. After all, it's a body, not a machine. Every cricketer goes through the rough patches. Sometimes the mind thinks differently, on other occasions the body responds differently. I have taken these things as a challenge and dealt with them suitably.

Did you ever fear being dropped from the playing eleven?

Never! However, on my part, I have never ever taken my place in the team for granted. I have always given my best for the country. My aim always has been to strive for excellence. And I always wanted to win, even if that is not possible all the time.

How much has the game evolved? Has it got any easier?

It hasn't got easier but it has become faster for sure. The game has become much larger and it has become more competitive. Nobody wants to miss out on anything. So everything around cricket has changed in a big way. I think the response to faster cricket (T20, One-dayers ) has been greater.

Can you put the record straight about your top three Test hundreds and top three One-day innings?

In Tests, it has to be my first Test hundred (119*) at Old Trafford against England (1990), 114 at Perth against Australia (1992) and 103 against England in Chennai (2008). In the One-dayers , my hundred (138) in Colombo in the final of the Compaq Cup series (2009), then the 117* against Australia in the first final of the Tri-series (2008) and my 134 in Sharjah in the finals against Australia (1998).

Did you ever wake up with a feeling that you were bound to get a big score on that day?

Yes, there have been several occasions when I just felt fantastic. I don't know why and how but I just felt great and have done well on that particular day.

What would be your advice to youngsters?

Chase your dreams! As a kid, be passionate about what you want to be and work hard towards achieving that goal.

One last question, where does Sachin Tendulkar go from here?

To the ground, we have a practice session. I think, I'm batting well and enjoying my game. Every morning I just can't wait to get out on the park.

Sachin, for the record

Date of birth: April 24, 1973, Mumbai.

Early interest: Table tennis and volleyball

Debut: vs.Pakistan in Karachi Test, Nov 15, 1989

First major performance: Match-saving 119 not out off 189 balls against England in Old Trafford Test, 1990.

Big award: Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997; Padma Vibhushan 2008;

Conferred Khel Ratna: 1998

Reached No 1 ranking: ODIs: Feb 20, 1996; Tests: Nov 18, 1994

Test record at different time intervals:

After five years: 2,023 runs (avg. 50.58) & 7 centuries in 32 Tests
After ten years: 5,612 runs (avg. 56.69) & 21 centuries in 71 Tests
After fifteen years: 9,540 runs (avg. 56.45) & 33 centuries in 116 Tests
As on date: Tests: 159; 12,773 runs (avg. 54.58) & 42 centuries; 44 wickets.
ODIs: 428; 16,895 runs (ave.44.57) & 44 centuries; 154 wickets.

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We need bowling all-rounders: Dhoni

JOHANNESBURG: After crashing out of the Champions Trophy, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded his team made 'quite a few mistakes" in the tournament and stressed on the need of having bowling all-rounders to get a better balance in the side.

Despite registering a win against West Indies on Wednesday, India were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after Australia beat Pakistan in another Group A league match earlier in the day.

"We made quite a few mistakes. In the first match, we gave width but that's a problem which can be solved. We were not good in fielding either. There were a few run-outs as well," Dhoni said.

"I have often said if guys can improve by 15 to 20 per cent, it would help in bowling and fielding. Similar is with run-outs: if your fielding improves, it helps you in running between the wickets.

"But we also need our bowlers to bat better. If you look at the Australians, they have Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson who can bat well. It helps their side. If we can have a bowler who can bowl seam up and bat, it would help us to play, perhaps two spinners and five bowlers," he said.

Dhoni wasn't also inclined to rate the Champions Trophy fiasco worse than the one his team suffered in the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.

"It's difficult to say which was worse but I feel here, we won one and lost one while a game was rained off. In England it felt worse because we got enough games and our performance was not good enough," said Dhoni.

India was handicapped by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar who suffered from food-poisoning before the game against the West Indies.

"I came to know about it at 10-11 am. He was still feeling weak. In fact, it happened to five or six of our players," said Dhoni.

Dhoni said his side was keeping a close eye on the match between Pakistan and Australia being played out at the Centurion earlier in the day.

"Of course we wanted Pakistan to win. That was our best chance of qualifying. The climax was good and quite a few of us kept following it on television at the break, unfortunately, the openers had to go in (and thus missed the closing minutes of play).

"That game was more important to us, especially since we had got the West Indies out for 129 runs," he said.

Dhoni brought himself to bowl in the 17th over and he promptly got a wicket for himself with his fourth delivery in One-Day Internationals.

"I thought if the (West Indies) innings lasted till the 50th over, we would need part-timers to bowl three or four overs," he said.

"Knowing these conditions, I thought it was best if I could try myself for 3 or 4 overs," Dhoni said.

Man of the match Virat Kohli believed his performance in Emerging Players Tournament in Australia helped him a great deal in preparing for such pitches.

He also was reconciled that with such stars in the side, he could only get in if somebody got injured.

As for any extended run to a youngster in the side, Dhoni said it was up to a youngster to create his own space within the team.

"If you see the line-up, it's not easy to get in. A youngster has to perform and create his own space. If he can create his own space, you don't have to think twice before including him in the side."

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