Mafia don Gotti arrested in U.S.

John A. “Junior” Gotti has been arrested on charges linking him to three New York murders, said a law enforcement official on Tuesday.
Gotti (44) was arrested by the FBI at his Long Island home. Federal authorities in Tampa, Florida, are expected to announce a racketeering indictment, charging Gotti with murder conspiracy in connection with killings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to the official. A separate indictment charges five other men with racketeering.
It alleges some of them were involved with Gotti in one of the three New York murders, according to the official. It also alleges a fourth killing in New York, not linked to Gotti. He and two other suspects are expected to appear in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday for a removal hearing. At least one other man has been arrested in Florida. Gotti is the son of “Dapper Don” John Gotti, the late Gambino family boss. In 1999, Gotti Junior pleaded guilty to racketeering crimes including bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud. He was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was released in 2005.
Gotti also was tried three times in Manhattan on racketeering charges for an alleged plot to kidnap Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The trials in 2005 and 2006 ended in hung juries and mistrials.
Federal prosecutors announced at the time that they were giving up — and Gotti said he had long since retired from his life of crime. —AP

Government not budging from Singur

The State government is not budging from Singur and neither are the Tatas; there is no reason for worry,” Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said here on Tuesday reacting to threats by the Trinamool Congress to intensify its stir over the setting up of the Tata Motors’ automobile project there.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has called for indefinite stir outside the project site from August 24 till 400 acres of land (out of the 997 acres acquired) that she claims was acquired without the consent of the farmers is handed back to them. This land, she has said, was not required to set up the plant.
“Not even an inch more of land necessary for the project has been acquired,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said, ridiculing the demand to return the land in question.
“There is still time for the Opposition to sit for relevant discussions over the Singur issue,” he said. “We are willing to show respect to the Opposition but not for talks that are irrelevant and illogical,” Mr. Bhattacharjee added.
He was speaking at a function to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Muzaffar Ahmed, a pioneering figure in the Communist movement in the country.
Security will be tightened in and around the Tata Motors’s automobile manufacturing project in view of the Trinamool agitation.
Work on the project was going on as per the schedule and the first car, it was hoped, would be rolling out of the factory by the Pujas, State’s Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said earlier in the day.
Dismissing reports in a section of the media that the Tata Motors authorities were considering pulling out of Singur, he said that the State government had “no such information.”
Mr. Sen said that Ravi Kant, managing director, Tata Motors, had visited the project site the last time he was in the State. “Seventy-five per cent of the (construction) work had been completed by then and I hope some more has been completed since. I still hope that the cars will be coming out (of the plant) by the Puja,” he said.
State’s Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakravarty along with Director General of Police A.B. Vohra had a meeting with officials of the Tata Motors at Singur.
“The State government can only give alternative land (to those claiming that their plots at Singur had been forcibly acquired) if it does have land to give. It will have to acquire such land elsewhere and there could be similar problems then,” Mr. Sen said.

Japan for India signing NPT

Japan has asked India to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). It also hopes that a free trade agreement between the two countries would be finalised by the time Prime Minister Manohan Singh visits Tokyo by the year-end.
While Tokyo understood the need for India to diversify its sources of energy, it wanted to be sure that the India-U.S. nuclear deal would not undermine the non-proliferation regime, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura told newspersons at the end of the second strategic dialogue with his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee here on Tuesday.
Mr. Mukherjee responded, saying the nuclear deal was limited only to peaceful energy programme. “We would also like to have access to nuclear technology with the cooperation of the international community. We are fully aware of Japan’s sensitivity and reiterate our firm commitment to total nuclear disarmament and strictly adhere to the conditionalities of non-proliferation as enshrined in various international treaties.”
He said: “Though India has not signed the NPT our commitment with respect to nuclear trade is impeccable,” he added.
Other senior diplomats said Japan intended to “actively participate” at the NSG meeting in a manner that would not hamper but strengthen the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
Meeting a day before the 63rd anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two Ministers decided to further step up cooperation in the field of security and continue high level exchanges and bilateral consultation.
On the security front, Japan expected a greater resolution to work together during Dr. Singh’s visit. And as was the case last year, it was willing to participate in the India-U.S. joint naval exercises, the Japanese Minister said. Free trade agreement
In his meetings with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Mr. Koumora touched upon the need to hasten the free trade agreement (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement - CEPA) and expressed satisfaction that the increase in bilateral trade was on track to touch the targeted figure of $20 billion by 2010.
The two sides also touched on the progress made in the dedicated freight corridor in which an investment of $80 to 100 billion from Japan is anticipated. Japan is hoping that India would opt for electrified traction for “environmental reasons.”

Mulford hoping only for ‘clean exemption’

NEW DELHI: The United States expects the Nuclear Suppliers Group to amend its guidelines to accommodate India this month and will then table the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement before Congress in September first week, U.S. Ambassador David Mulford has said.
“The U.S. understands that India will not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This was the basis of the negotiations with which we had gone forward and that was addressed throughout the negotiations,’ he told journalists here over phone from Washington on Tuesday.
On the clean exemption issue, he offered a personal opinion. “Unconditional is not a very good word in this context…. there is a huge amount of work on this understanding and, therefore, to use the word unconditional to me is oversimplification. I will be hoping only for a clean exemption. That is my personal view and not of the U.S. government,” he said.
Mr. Mulford said the U.S. had launched a major diplomatic offensive to convince the NSG nations to approve India’s entry into global civil nuclear trade and was confident that the U.S. sponsored draft would soon be ready for circulation among the 45-member countries.
He, however, did not wish to speculate on whether Congress would be able to approve the agreement in the short time that is left before it goes into recess.
“The U.S. Congress is a sovereign body and it has its own procedure and rules. So at this point, nobody really knows whether it will be able to act in the very short period of time at its disposal. What we are trying is to position the 123 Agreement in Congress. The goal is to complete the NSG process in August and submit it in early September,” he told journalists over phone from Washington.
“The notice period can be changed but it is not possible to speak on behalf of Congress,” he added, when asked whether Congress would waive the mandatory time period for considering the bill.
Mr. Mulford said:
“The U.S. is very heavily engaged in a major diplomatic offensive at all levels. We continue to move forward and are working very closely with the Government of India to coordinate this process. We are working out the language we want to submit to the NSG. One that is done, we will submit it to the NSG and hope it moves quickly in August.
“We want to underline that we have already shared the draft with India. We want to get the right sort of draft that will be most effective with the NSG. In the coming days we will complete the work and distribute it to NSG members.”
Refusing to speculate about what will happen at the NSG meeting, he expected “people to listen seriously and hope at the end of the day they will accept. We would not wish to see the additional points raised so that they become part of the process. This is a very complex process and we are now moving to the final stage. And obviously we hope that all players come together at the NSG and accept that the aim of this to normalise civilian nuclear process with India.”
Mr. Mulford could not confirm whether President George Bush had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a visit next month. But, if Dr. Singh goes to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September, “it is possible for them to meet,” he said.

ANAND RETAINS CROWNS

World champion Viswanathan Anand produced a masterly display to crush young challenger Norway’s Magnus Carlsen 3-1 to win the 13th Grenkeleasing rapid world chess championship at Mainz, Germany, on Sunday.
In the best-of-four rapid games, Anand won the first two games in 50 moves and then drew the third in 56 moves to make sure of the title. In the inconsequential fourth game, the players agreed to a draw in just 11 moves.Great run
This was Anand’s 11th title-victory in the tournament and ninth on the trot. Anand won in 1997, 1998 and 2000 before the chess festival moved from Frankfurt to Mainz. Since then, Anand has tamed Vladimir Kramnik (2001), Ruslan Ponomariov (2002), Judit Polgar (2003), Alexei Shirov (2004), Alexander Grischuk (2005), Teimour Radjabov (2006), Levon Aronian (2007) and added Carlsen to the list this year.
On Sunday, Anand punished the teenager in the first game that followed the opening moves of Sicilian Defence. In the middle game, Carlsen chose to give up his queen for a rook but that did not help his cause.
In the second game, Anand played black and seized the initiative early in Catalan. Again, it was Carlsen who was on the defensive. Anand went 2-0 up when Carlsen gave up as he could not prevent the loss of a rook.
The third game saw Anand settle for a draw after pressing for victory with an extra pawn. With the title decided, the players drew the fourth game quickly.
For the third place, Alexander Morozevich defeated Hungary’s Judit Polgar in the fourth game for a 2.5-1.5 victory. Kore holds Rodshtein
In the World junior chess championship, which began at Gaziantop, Greece on Sunday, Akshayraj Kore surprisingly held second seed Maxim Rodshtein of Israel in the first round.
However, GM G.N. Gopal lost the opener, while Abhijeet Gupta was held in the second. Parimarjan Negi, seeded 26, won both his matches to be among the leaders.
Similarly, in the girls’ section, top seed D. Harika and Padmini Rout won two games each to set up an interesting third-round clash.
The results:
Rapid world championship (final): Viswanathan Anand (3) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1); Game 1: Anand bt Carlsen in 50 moves; Game 2: Carlsen lost to Anand in 50; Game 3: Anand drew with Carlsen in 56 moves; Game 4: Carlsen drew with Anand in 11 moves.
For third place: Alexander Morozevich (Rus, 2.5) bt Judit Polgar (Hun, 1.5).
World junior championship (involving Indians):
Open (second round): Deep Sengupta (1.5) drew with Wesley So (Phi, 1.5); Ashwin Jayaram (1) lost to Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 2); Daniel Baratoshi (Rom, 1.5) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (1.5); Parimarjan Negi (2) bt Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 1); Davit Bendize (Geo, 1.5) drew with S. Arun Prasad (1.5); Akshat Nukin (Kaz, 0.5) lost to Akshayraj Kore (1.5); G.N. Gopal (1) bt Tyler Hughes (USA, 0); P. Karthikeyan (1) bt Slavisa Ilic (Bih, 0); Vishnu Prasanna (1) bt Atsuhiko Kobaysashi (Jpn, 0); Eray Gurcan (Tur, 0) lost to Sahaj Grover (1).
First round: Rauf Mamedov (Aze) bt Karthikeyan; Kore drew with Maxim Rodshtein (Isr); Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son (Vie) bt Vishnu; Orkhan Abdulov (Aze) bt Gopal; Grover lost to David Howell (Eng); Abhijeet bt Ivan Serenac (Srb); Gareth Oliver (Aus) lost to Negi; Arun bt Can Ertan (Tur); Atsuhiko Kobayashi (Jpn) lost to Deep; Pratish Ramsurrup (RSA) lost to Ashwin.
Girls (second round): Anya Corke (Hkg, 1) lost to D. Harika (2); Nafisa Muminova (Uzb, 1.5) drew with Mary Ann Gomes (1.5); Zoja Severiukhina (Rus, 1.5) drew with Kruttika Nadig (1.5); Soumya Swaminathan (1) lost to Sona Pertlova (Cze, 2); R. Preethi (1) lost to Gulmira Dauletova (Kaz, 2); Silvia-Raluca Sgircea (Rou, 1) lost to Padmini Rout (2).
First round: Harika bt Madina Davletbayeva (Kaz); Mary bt Jovena Eric (Srb); Marsel Efroimski (Isr) lost to Soumya; Padmini bt Daleen Wiid (RSA); Kruttika bt Liria Caetano Garcia (Bra); Saadet Kaya (Tur) lost to Preethi.
Kavala International (fifth round): Vladislav Nevednichy (Rou, 3) drew with Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (3); Alexander Zubarev (Ukr, 3) drew with V. Saravanan (3); Slavoljub Marjanovic (Srb, 3.5) drew with Prathamesh Mokal (2.5); S. Satyapragyan (3.5) bt Ekaterini Fakhiridou (Gre, 2.5).
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A CURIOUS BUT FACINATING TEST MATCH

The second Test which concluded here on Sunday confirmed what has been known for a while now but requires to be shown anew, scrubbed of the glaze that is applied by constant cricket.
These, to name two, are: a playing strip that offers bounce — whatever else be its failings — will spark rich, varied, fulfilling Test cricket between two closely matched opponents; this Indian team over the last few years has proven itself not just as a formidable touring side, but as one that is particularly combative when down for the count.
The Galle International Stadium wicket, hollowed and re-laid after the tsunami had caked it with salt, was a curious surface. It appeared a pitch of two parts — dryly cracked at the half closer to the City End, moistly spotted at the end back-dropped by the fort. It produced both a double-hundred at very nearly a run a ball, and a rush of nine wickets in a two-and-a-half hour session.Something for everyone
Virender Sehwag, the author of the double-century, said the ball came on. Ajantha Mendis, who scalped ten, found his undercut carom ball skidding like a fish on ice. Ishant Sharma, having flogged the strip from his 6ft 6in frame, raised discomforting bounce.
The conditions arranged themselves for a fascinating Test match. Through the four days, the spinners found turn — both slow and sharp — and the seamers found cut. To add to all this, the breeze from the sea brought drift and swing.
The contest progressed rapidly, finishing a day early despite losing nearly four hours to a sharp shower; yet there were moments when the cricket snailed along. The shape of battle was determined by spin, but two vital blows with the game still open were struck with the new ball before lunch on day four.
It was indeed a curious Test match, comprised — as Mike Brearley wrote describing the coincident Test between England and South Africa — of the brilliant and the brainless. Although rich, varied, and fulfilling, the second Test didn’t produce consistently sound cricket.
Perhaps it was a good thing, for the sublime moments — and there were several — were thrown into relief, contrasted against the mundane. Shifting gears
India won the Test because it lifted itself when the game was in the balance. This quality, more than any other, has come to define the side. India did it in Galle through Sehwag, Gambhir, Harbhajan, and Ishant — and each time the increase in intensity was palpable.
Sehwag showed the way, carrying his bat in the first innings and sweeping the cloak of mystery off Mendis and Murali. His role in emancipating a sometimes careworn-looking middle-order has not always been given its due (shockingly, after all he has done, he is still seen in some quarters as a hit-or-miss batsman), but at Galle there was no more significant performance.
Gambhir’s two half-centuries, supporting Sehwag’s 201 n.o. and 50, allowed India swift getaways in both innings — agenda-setting in the first, distance-opening in the second. Moreover, Gambhir’s mastery in playing spin, particularly in reading Mendis, bought India tactical space for its middle order.
Harbhajan stopped Sri Lanka in its tracks, arresting the momentum Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara had built. The off-spinner’s spell after tea on the second day ensured India would gain the first-innings lead. Ishant realised that a shortening of length was required, and on finding his rhythm delivered a spell of prolonged hostility, breaking Sri Lanka in the second innings.Bouncing back
What makes the comeback from the innings-and-239-run defeat in the first Test all the more remarkable is the fact that there were moments at the SSC when India appeared singularly incapable of such resilience.
But this side, as Anil Kumble pointed out, has done it before.
For a team perceived to possess a soft underbelly (an impression that has surprisingly lingered), India’s record in crunch situations is impressive.
In the last two and a half years, India has overmastered opponents in Kingston and Johannesburg (2006), Trent Bridge (2007), and Perth (2008).
The other facet vital in being recognised as the world’s best — the ability to string together wins, getting the job done day-in, day-out — is yet to be achieved, which is why India isn’t Australia but the side Australia fears most.