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        An Australian court on Thursday reserved judgement on Muhammed Haneef's bid to get back his visa until 21 August after terror charges against the Indian doctor over the foiled terror plot in the UK were dropped. Judge Jeffery Spender of the Federal Court in Brisbane said he expected to hand down on 21 August his decision on Haneef's appeal against Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews' controversial decision to revoke his work visa. Haneef, 27, was working at a State hospital on Australia's Gold Coast when he was arrested on 2 July and charged with providing support to a terror group. When Haneef was granted bail by a court, Andrews revoked his visa and refused to restore it even after the charges were finally dropped. Though he has been cleared suspicion still lingers.

        Seeking to put an end to speculation in Islamabad that it could impose emergency in the wake of deteriorating law and order situation in the country, Pakistan government on Thursday insisted that it would not go in for the measure. The decision not to impose emergency was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said. Ruling PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain, who earlier said that a decision would be taken by late afternoon, also contradicted reports that emergency would be imposed in the country. Those who are giving such advices to Musharraf cannot be regarded as his well-wishers, he told the media in Islamabad. Pakistan is slowly coming out of a holocaust.

        The interim government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh has allowed a low-key observance of the death anniversary of country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, barring the Awami League party from holding the usual rallies and discussions, officials said in Dhaka. According to a police directive, 20 leaders and activists of the Awami League, whose leader and Sheikh Mujib's daughter Sheikh Hasina is in detention on extortion charges, would be allowed to visit the Bannani graveyard at a time to pay tributes to the leader on his 23rd death anniversary, but there is no such bar on the general public. 'The programmes must be observed complying with the conditions. Legal actions will be taken if they are breached,' said a letter signed by Assistant Police Commissioner Sahabuddin on behalf of the Dhaka Metropolitan police commissioner Thursday. Founder of the nation left to be remembered by very few.

        The BJP suspects that its ally Trinamool Congress, which abstained from the Presidential election, could have cross-voted in favour of UPA-Left Vice-Presidential candidate Hamid Ansari. On its own, the party also admits that some three to four of its MPs could also have cross-voted in Friday's polling. 'There has been no word on record so far from Trinamool chief Mamta Banerjee that she had voted for Najma Heptullah. We suspect that the four Trinamool MPs, including Banerjee herself, could have voted for Ansari,' a senior BJP leader said. The BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said his party would examine who all could have voted for Ansari from its own camp in a couple of days. What is the grouse Trinamool has with BJP?

        The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the Centre on a petition opposing the ongoing Sethusamudram project, proposed to be implemented by 'destroying' 'Rama Setu', a mythical barrier situated south-east of Rameshwaram, connecting Talaimanar coast of Sri Lanka. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran sought Centre's response within four weeks on the petition which contended that the century old bridge was man-made and needs to be protected under the Ancient Monument Preservation Act. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Swami Sri Vidyananda Bharatiji, a Dandi Monk of the Shankaracharya Order and local resident of Rameshwaram, Tamilnadu, now residing in Tirunelveli, who alleged that the project would adversely impact the environment. Ancient monuments have to be preserved.

        Muslim leaders and intellectuals Friday strongly condemned the attack on controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen terming the incident as 'shameful' and 'barbaric'. 'The incident was outrageous and shameful. In a civilised society, you have a right to approve or disapprove of anything,' noted lyricist and author Javed Akhtar said. Observing that fundamentalists are becoming 'bolder and bolder by the day,' he said, 'these (the attackers) are the same people who criticise Bajrang Dal and VHP. What is the difference between them and the Hindu fundamentalist organisations'. 'Fundamentalists are getting bolder and bolder as they can get away with almost anything. That is the problem,' Akhtar said. Delhi Minorities Commission chairperson Kamal Farooqui said the incident was condemnable, specially as three MLAs were involved in it. It befits not that of a civilised nation.

        The success of developing countries in the globalised world would depend on how fast new ideas were developed and implemented to gain competitive advantage, Infosys chief mentor N R Narayanamoorthy on Friday said. In a globalised world, every nation had something to contribute to improve the standard of living of people throughout the world, he said in his 3rd Founders Day Memorial lecture at the Thiagaraja School of Management in Madurai Friday night. He said globalisation had given an opportunity to the developing nations to take share of the limelight. Besides, they accounted for more than half of the world's GDP. Indian companies and Indian operations of companies like Intel, Cisco and Texas Instruments were able to patent 1,000 applications in a single year in 2004, and China was able to produce ipods that was a big hit in the USA, he said. Globalisation in other words is right to information.

        The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court Thursday directed managing director of the V V Minerals and a shareholder in the Jaya TV, A Vaikundarajan to surrender before a court in Kanyakumari district in the case relating to mining of sand containing thorium and monazite from the sea shore in the district. Justice G Rajasuriya, disposing of the Criminal Original Petition of Vaikundarajan seeking to quash the FIR filed by the Kanyakumari district Crime Branch Police, said the State government wanted to know where all the sand, mined by the company had been sold, impact of the sale, etc, and felt it was indeed a serious matter that needed to be interrogated. His crime seems to be to the core.

        An Al-Umma activist accused of murdering three Hindu Munnani workers in 1997 has surrendered before a Magistrate Court at Tirunelveli, 150 km from Madurai. According to police, M Abuthahir, an activist of the banned outfit, had gone underground after being released on bail in 2004. He surrendered before Tirunelveli Magistrate court Thursday evening. Abuthahir was arrested on charges of murdering three Hindu Munnani activists—Tailor Sankar, Dr Selvakumar and Kannan—on 11 June, 1997 at Melapalayam in Tirunelveli. How long can one evade arrest and be in the hiding?

        Tamilnadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi Friday night laid the foundation stone for Rs 100 crore eco-park aimed at restoring the Adyar creek and the estuary area in the city. The 'Adyar Poonga' (Adyar park) project covering about 358 acres near the coast would have mangroves which are tolerant to inundation and salt, besides marine plant and animal species of the estuarine ecosystem. Tropical dry evergreen forest, granite hillocks, reeds and marshes, small fresh water ponds, grasslands have also been planned for the park. The government also plans to re-introduce fresh water and brackish water species like frogs, garden lizard, butterflies, crabs, fishes, marine plants in the eco-park, besides creating nesting platforms for aquatic birds. The park will be eco-friendly.

        Nearly 12,000 police personnel will be deployed as part of heightened security measures for the coming Independence Day celebrations in the city. The Tamilnadu Secretariat, Chennai Port, IT parks, foreign Consulates and places of worship have been brought under surveillance, a police statement said day. Spectators for the I-Day celebrations will be allowed to enter only after security checks. The Coast Guard will undertake surveillance using hovercraft and police will man from highrises. Surveillance and close circuit cameras have been installed in strategic locations in the city. 'Vehicles, lodges, hotels and other places are being checked to nab suspicious elements,' the release said. Sniffer dogs and bomb squads have also been engaged. The police have also advised people not to touch suspicious and unclaimed items like suitcases, parcels and other stuff. It is pity that terrorists hold sway.

        Welcoming the State government's decision to start its own cable TV services in the State, the Tamilnadu Cable TV Owners Association Thursday expressed hope that the government would ensure protection of thousands of operators who depended on the business for their livelihood. In a statement in Chennai, association President 'Kayal' R S Elavarasu said the government should also clarify as to how it wanted to run the cable TV business. Stating that there were more than 20,000 operators and lakhs of people depended on them, he said they were apprehensive of their future in view of the government itself coming forward to run the business. They firmly believed that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi who was generating employment opportunities for the youth by facilitating setting up of various industries would ensure job safety for the cable TV operators, he said. The TN government buckles to pressure.

        The booming real estate market has caught the fancy of foreign investors as they have raised their stake in a majority of realty firms listed on thebourses although some analysts believe these stocks are among the most expensive in the world. An analysis of holding pattern of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in 22 major realty firms shows a majority of them raised stake in the April-June quarter as compared to the previous three-month period. The FIIs increased their stake in 15 firms, including Unitech, Ansal Housing, D S Kulkarni and Indiabulls Real Estate. However, they decreased their holding in seven firms — DLF, Atlanta, Era Construction, Lok Housing, Mahindra Gesco, Madhucon Projects and Unity Infrastructure. Real estate sector in India has witnessed a boom in recent times led by an increase in purchasing power of people, relaxed lending norms by banks and housing finance companies and the growth in retail and IT sectors.

        The share buying by FIIs in these companies comes at a time when a few analysts believe the country's realty stocks are among the costliest in the world. Global investment services firm Standard & Poor's has said real estate stocks in India are the most expensive and give lower returns than most emerging and developed markets such as China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. A comparison of price to earnings (P/E) ratio of stocks from various countries showed that valuation of property stocks from the US and UK moved lower, while those from emerging markets such as India continued to grow. The P/E ratio is considered as valuation benchmark of a stock, where a higher ratio indicates an expensive stock while lower P/E ratio signifies a cheaper stock.

        On Tuesday the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the One-Day squad for the seven-match series against England and the Twenty20 World Cup which will be held in September.

        Mahendrasingh Dhoni was appointed the Captain and the likes of Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh have been included in the team.

        BCCI on Wednesday appointed India under-19 coach Lalchand Rajput as interim cricket manager of the senior team for the Twenty20 world championship