After the launch of a Manza variant on Tuesday, Tata Motors on Wednesday launched the new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Tata Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

While the base model 4X2 LX is available at Rs 9.95 lakh, 4X2 EX comes for Rs 10.77 lakh, 4X2 VX for Rs 12.37 lakh and 4x4 VX for Rs 13.66 lakh. Tata Safari Storme was first unveiled at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo.

With underpinnings and engine from the Aria, the new Tata Safari Storme will kick up a storm in the entry level SUV market in India. The new Safari Storme is a more modern vehicle than its predecessor.

Its Aria-derived chassis and suspension and 2.2-litre DiCOR engine will ensure better drive dynamics and better refinement and response respectively.

The engine churns out 140PS of power and 320Nm of torque. The five-speed gearbox has been tweaked to deliver a better driving experience. Other improvements include a shorter turning radius and disc brakes all round.

The new Tata Safari Storme does not look too different from the current Safari but the bold and rugged look has been swapped for a somewhat more corporate look.

The headlights get a swept back design and a large chrome strip over the front grille stretches partly over the headlights as well.

It gets projector headlamps and a honeycomb front grille that is fairly wide but a tad characterless with its flat contour.

It gets different side cladding and a new side step but the rest of the body structure remains the same.

Styling updates at the rear include a new rear windshield, tail lights and twin chrome-tipped tailpipes. The biggest change is that the spare wheel is no more mounted on the tailgate.

In its place is a silver colour strip just below the rear windshield that is garnished with a strip of chrome, below which is the slot of the rear number plate.

The four-wheel drive system on the Safari Storme is an electronic shift on the fly mechanism complete with a limited-slip differential. The new Tata Safari Storme will be available in seven colours, namely, Urban bronze, Astern black, Pearl champagne, Sardinia red, Pearl white, Arctic white and Arctic silver.

The Safari Storme won't have it easy in the market with competition from the Renault Duster and the Mahindra Scorpio.

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Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Sana Saeed, Alia Bhatt

Director: Karan Johar

The hardest job on a Karan Johar film set must belong to the cleaners, who I imagine spend most of the day on their knees scrubbing floors, dusting furniture, and basically making sure everything is spotless. The director’s new film, Student of the Year, is set on an impossibly chic campus where good-looking teenagers are invariably breaking into song or breaking into fights. Yet you’ll never spot a carelessly strewn cola can or even a stray sheet of paper lying around in the corridors or in the canteen. Oh those poor cleaners! 

At St Teresa High School in Dehradun (think that Riverdale-like setting of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, only swankier), trust fund brat Rohan (Varun Dhawan) is the coolest kid with all the hottest toys – a flaming red Ferrari, designer togs, and the prettiest girl in school, Shanaya (Alia Bhatt). That is, until Abhimanyu (Sidharth Malhotra) roars in on his bike. He’s the one with modest means – which is relative in a Karan Johar movie, because while Abhi’s family may not have enough makhan for their parathas, he can still afford the brands. After the typical teething troubles, the two boys become fast friends despite their drastically different ambitions. 

What tests their friendship is the Student of the Year competition, an annual event devised by the school’s gay dean Yogendra Vashisht (Rishi Kapoor) to pick the one student who will land a full scholarship to an Ivy League college. Typically, however, it’s the girl...or rather their ishq wala love for Shanaya that drives a wedge between the friends. 

Unapologetically aspirational, wearing its pedigree on its sleeve, Student of the Year plays out in a Gossip Girl-like universe, where feelings are surface-level and everyone’s a frenemy. The rich kids live it up extravagantly, while the rest (and even their families) aspire for membership into this exclusive club. In Johar’s world, clearly your biggest crime is being poor. This is the kind of world where the rich kid’s obnoxious dad flies half the campus to Thailand on his private jet to attend his son’s marriage. 

But it’s also true that Student of the Year doesn’t ask to be taken seriously. This is Johar's "holiday movie"; intended to show you a good time. So you have Glee-style introductions to the three leads in snazzily choreographed set pieces, a soundtrack of bubblegum hits, crisply edited sporting sequences, and outrageous humor like a track involving the dean’s crush on a strapping (and married) football coach. 

Johar’s secondary players may come off as stereotypes on paper – the rich kid’s chamcha, the heroine’s nerdy best friend, the fat boy everyone makes fun of, and the opportunistic girl who makes a play for someone else’s boyfriend – but more than likely you’ll find traces of yourself or your friends in each of them. And therein lies the film’s secret weapon – look beyond the shiny classrooms and the sun-kissed Thai beaches, the brightly lit song sequences and the repeated shirtless shots of our heroes…and there’s heart to be found, particularly in the film’s second half when Rohan and Abhi truly lean on each other. 

Karan Johar displays his trademark flair for light-hearted laughs and prettified emotions, capturing a world he knows inside out. This is the most extravagant launch any newcomer could have asked for. Good for them, Johar doesn’t know how to do things small. 

The debutants, in turn, put their best foot forward: Sidharth Malhotra is earnest and has a pleasing presence, while Alia Bhatt is cute as the clueless Shanaya, if a little raw. It’s Varun Dhawan who stands out with a confident, charming turn, able to tackle both comical and vulnerable scenes with ease. Yet if there’s a performance that glues together this film, it’s Rishi Kapoor’s. He never flinches in an unusual role, playing the part for laughs yet also infusing soul into what might have otherwise turned into a caricature. 

Too long by about twenty minutes, the film could’ve done with some tightening – perhaps the clunky treasure hunt sequence could go? Nitpickings aside, this is a breezy, enjoyable film by a director who knows his craft. 

I'm going with three out of five for Karan Johar's Student of the Year. If fun is what you’re seeking, you won't be disappointed.

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No one in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room proclaimed that they're back. No one talked about this 24-17 win over the Bengals becoming the turning point that will lead Pittsburgh back to the playoffs. And no one should after that ragged performance.

The reality of the situation -- or the craziness of it in the AFC North -- is that the Steelers (3-3) will wake up 1.5 games back of the division-leading Baltimore Ravens (5-2).

Despite all of their injuries, penalties and sloppy play, the Steelers can salvage this season if they play like they did in the fourth quarter. If they play like they did in the first half, the Steelers will be lucky to break even this season. Anyone who has watched the Steelers play this year knows it's that cut-and-dried. 

Over the final 10 weeks, it's about finishing the season the way Pittsburgh finished off Cincinnati. For the final 15 minutes of the game, Pittsburgh pounded the Cincinnati Bengals defense into submission with a resourceful running game and never gave the Cincinnati offense any hope of coming back. For a brief moment, the Steelers looked like the Steelers on the road.

"I think it was a testament to will," left guard Willie Colon said. "(Offensive line coach Sean) Kugler brought up Peyton Manning in his Monday night game and said, 'If you look at Peyton's eyes, it was the look of you refusing to lose.' I think I kept saying that all week. You've got to refuse to lose, and that's what we did."

What the Steelers refused to lose was a fourth-quarter lead. In all three road games this season, the Steelers had the lead in the fourth quarter and failed to hold onto it. On Sunday night, Pittsburgh ran for 87 yards in the fourth quarter (12 yards more than the team's per-game average this season) without three starters on the offensive line and their top two running backs. Third-string Jonathan Dwyer and rookie Chris Rainey averaged 9.2 yards per carry in the final quarter behind backups at center, right guard and right tackle.

This was far from a statement game. This was more like one step in the right direction. This was a day when the Steelers regained confidence while their division rival Ravens lost some in a 30-point defeat in Houston.

Pittsburgh had blown leads in all three of their losses, which led the NFL. This time, the Steelers went ahead 44 seconds into the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run by Rainey and weren't ever really threatened after that. Pittsburgh controlled the clock in the fourth quarter (10:33 to 4:27 in time of possession) and never let the Bengals get past their own 39-yard line.

Still, the Steelers hedged when asked if this was their breakthrough moment.

"We can tell you in January, I guess," said tight end Heath Miller, who scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion. "We first have to do something we haven’t done this year, win two games in a row."

The Steelers know they have to play much better to be considered legitimate contenders again this year. Dropped passes, turnovers and penalties on special teams could have easily dropped the Steelers to 2-4 and pushed them into panic mode.

On a trick play, running back Baron Batch failed to catch a perfectly thrown pass from wide receiver Antonio Brown with no one between him and the end zone. Wide receiver Mike Wallace channeled Limas Sweed in dropping four passes, including a deflected throw in the end zone.

"I’ve made a lot of plays for my team," said Wallace, who had eight catches for 52 yards. "You can’t be good every week. Sometimes you have an off weekend. It was one of those for me."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception in the end zone and fumbled at his own 10-yard line. Pittsburgh also hurt itself in field position by committing four holding calls on returns (three of them had the Steelers starting at their own 9, 11 and 13-yard lines).

Even though the Steelers have so many challenges with injuries, they make it tougher on themselves with carelessness.

"When you're highly penalized and you turn the ball over, you put yourself behind the eight ball," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "But the guys didn't blink. They didn't. It's a testament to them. We were able to settle down and get our jobs done."

If this does turn around the Steelers' season, they have Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton to thank. The Bengals had a first down with 1:30 left in the first half and a 14-6 lead. But they went into halftime tied at 14.

How does that happen? Dalton, who has been picked off in every game this season, threw a pass off the back of right guard Kevin Zeitler's helmet and fell into the arms of Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley. The Steelers converted that into a 9-yard touchdown pass to Miller, who also caught the two-point conversion to tie the game.

That got the Steelers back into the game but they were the ones who finished it. Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor, who had struggled all season, limited the NFL's leading receiver A.J. Green to one catch for eight yards and broke up a third-down pass to Green in the fourth quarter.

From there, it was left to the Steelers' ground game, which was ranked next-to-last in the league. Holding a touchdown lead with 2:40 left, the Steelers handed the ball off to Dwyer on the four straight plays to close out the game. The last run was a 32-yarder which officially broke the Bengals.

"I don't want to sit here and say that we had something to prove because we just wanted to win the game," Roethlisberger said. "Of course, there was a sense of urgency because it was a divisional game. All we had to do was win, which is what we did."

The Steelers are just as flawed and banged-up as the rest of the AFC. Many of their games will be close because of their inconsistency. How they finish this season will ultimately depend on how they finish games.

  

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Farmers drilling ever deeper wells over decades to water their crops likely contributed to a deadly earthquake in southern Spain last year, a new study suggests. The findings may add to concerns about the effects of new energy extraction and waste disposal technologies.

Nine people died and nearly 300 were injured when an unusually shallow magnitude-5.1 quake hit the town of Lorca on May 11, 2011. It was the country's worst quake in more than 50 years, causing millions of euros in damage to a region with an already fragile economy.

Using satellite images, scientists from Canada, Italy and Spain found the quake ruptured a fault running near a basin that had been weakened by 50 years of groundwater extraction in the area.

During this period, the water table dropped by 250 meters (274 yards) as farmers bored ever deeper wells to help produce the fruit, vegetables and meat that are exported from Lorca to the rest of Europe. In other words, the industry that propped up the local economy in southern Spain may have undermined the very ground on which Lorca is built.

The researchers noted that even without the strain caused by water extraction, a quake would likely have occurred at some point.

But the extra stress of pumping vast amounts of water from a nearby aquifer may have been enough to trigger a quake at that particular time and place, said lead researcher Pablo J. Gonzalez of the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Miguel de las Doblas Lavigne, a geologist with Spain's National Natural Science Museum who has worked on the same theory but was not involved in the study, said the Lorca quake was in the cards.

"This has been going on for years in the Mediterranean areas, all very famous for their agriculture and plastic greenhouses. They are just sucking all the water out of the aquifers, drying them out," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "From Lorca to (the regional capital of) Murcia you can find a very depleted water level."

De las Doblas said it was "no coincidence that all the aftershocks were located on the exact position of maximum depletion."

"The reason is clearly related to the farming, it's like a sponge you drain the water from; the weight of the rocks makes the terrain subside and any small variation near a very active fault like the Alhama de Murcia may be the straw that breaks the camel*s back, which is what happened," he said.

He said excess water extraction was common in Spain.

"Everybody digs their own well, they don't care about anything," he said. "I think in Lorca you may find that some 80 percent of wells are illegal."

Lorca town hall environment chief Melchor Morales said the problem dates back to the 1960s when the region opted to step up its agriculture production and when underground water was considered private property. A 1986 law has reduced the amount of well pumping, he said.

Not everyone agreed with the conclusion of the study, which was published online Sunday in Nature Geoscience.

"There have been earthquakes of similar intensity and similar damage caused in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries when there was no excess water extraction," said Jose Martinez Diez, a professor in geodynamics at Madrid's Complutense University who has also published a paper on the quake.

Still, it isn't the first time that earthquakes have been blamed on human activity, and scientists say the incident points to the need to investigate more closely how such quakes are triggered and how to prevent them.

The biggest man-made quakes are associated with the construction of large dams, which trap massive amounts of water that put heavy pressure on surrounding rock.

The 1967 Koynanagar earthquake in India, which killed more than 150 people, is one such case, said Marco Bohnhoff, a geologist at the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam who wasn't involved in the Lorca study.

Bohnhoff said smaller man-made quakes can also occur when liquid is pumped into the ground.

A pioneering geothermal power project in the Swiss city of Basel was abandoned in 2009 after it caused a series of earthquakes. Nobody was injured, but the tremors caused by injecting cold water into hot rocks to produce steam resulted in millions of Swiss francs (dollars) damage to buildings.

Earlier this year, a report by the National Research Council in the United States found the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas was not a huge source of man-made earthquakes. However, the related practice of shooting large amounts of wastewater from "fracking" or other drilling activities into deep underground storage wells has been linked with some small earthquakes.

In an editorial accompanying the Lorca study, geologist Jean-Philippe Avouac of the California Institute of Technology said it was unclear whether human activity merely induces quakes that would have happened anyway at a later date. He noted that the strength of the quake appeared to have been greater than the stress caused by removing the groundwater.

"The earthquake therefore cannot have been caused entirely by water extraction," wrote Avouac. "Instead, it must have built up over several centuries."

Still, pumping out the water may have affected how the stress was released, and similar processes such as fracking or injecting carbon dioxide into the ground — an idea that has been suggested to reduce the greenhouse effect — could theoretically do the same, he said.

Once the process is fully understood, "we might dream of one day being able to tame natural faults with geo-engineering," Avouac said.

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Filmmaker Yash Chopra, who passed away on Sunday evening at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, will be cremated on Monday afternoon.

"From 9 a.m. to 12 noon, people can come in at the Yash Raj Films studio in suburban Andheri to pay their condolences. He (Chopra) will be cremated at 3 p.m.at Chandan Wadi," a YRF spokesperson told reporters.

Chopra had been in Lilavati Hospital since October 13 after he was diagnosed with dengue. The 80-year-old director died today following multi-organ failure.

"He passed away due to dengue and multiple organ failure today evening. He was in the ICU," Lilavati Hospital spokesperson Dr Sudhir told reporters.

Yash Chopra, an institution in himself spent a life doing what he loved and that was to spread romance through some of his masterpieces he created in the form of love epics like ‘Silsila’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and ‘Veer Zaara’.

Yash Chopra's career spanned over five decades with more than 50 films under his belt. Yash Chopra had won several film awards, including six National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare awards including four Filmfare Award for Best Director. The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

The legend was working on his last film called ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ which is scheduled to release this Diwali. During the shooting of JTHJ, Yash Chopra’s trip to Switzerland with SRK and Katrina (lead actors in the film) had to be cancelled after he was admitted to Lilavati hospital.

Post his illness, the director handed over the mantle to his son Aditya Chopra to shoot few last portions of the film.

A string of celebrities including Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, visited the hospital to pay their last respect to the legendary director.

India's political fraternity also paid homage to the departed filmmaker.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Chopra as an "icon of Indian cinema" who entertained generations with his rare creativity.

"He had an aesthetic talent to make his films look larger than life. His flourish to essay romance and social drama was unmatched. He established the popularity of Indian cinema internationally and was honoured by many governments.

He will be remembered by millions of his fans around the world and his work as a director and producer will be treasured by the nation for many more generations," Singh said.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said: "Today Indian cinema has lost one of its iconic personalities and a creative genius. Through films, Yashji connected generations together. His idea of portraying love as the essence of life and relationships will fondly be remembered by all movie lovers. His death is a void which will be difficult to fill."

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla: "I am saddened by the passing away of Yash Chopra. Today we all pay tribute to him and I feel not only the Indian film industry has lost a shining star but also the world film industry.

A railway station in Switzerland is named after him. He took the Indian film industry to the world. His contribution, the Indian government and neither the Indian people will ever forget."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha said: "I am shocked to hear about the passing away of Yash Chopra ji. I had got to know him personally and he was a great friend. One enjoyed his company immensely. When I was growing up in my younger days I remember the best films that I saw were films made by him. He was a legend; his passing away is a great loss not only to the film industry but also to the country as a whole."

Film director Ramesh Sippy said: "We have stayed together with each other. I was shocked by the news."

Another film director Madhur Bhandarkar said: "A few days ago news had come in that he was recovering and he would be back to work. Everyone was waiting for his film to release. It has been quite shocking for all of us."

Actor Jackie Shroff said: "It is sad that Yashji has passed away. He was one of the biggest directors of our industry. After coming here I got to hear the news. I express my condolences to his family, and I shall go there straight from here."

Fashion designer Nita Lulla said: "It is a great loss to the industry and to all of us whose lives Yashji has touched. I think we are going to miss him a lot because he was one of the biggest mentors of the film industry. And he has been a father to lot of us technicians and to a lot of fabulous films, and it is definitely a great loss. And I pray for him and his family."

Model Lisa Haydon said: "I think it is always sad when you lose a creative genius and someone who has done so much for our country and our films and changing the ways that people perceive Indian cinema. So it is a very sorry thing that he passed away. I actually haven't had a chance to put on the TV, but my friends here told me about it. So my best wishes to him and his family."

Actor Vidyut Jamwal said: "I think in the recent times this is the biggest loss for Bollywood. Apart from him being a legend and a genius, he was one of the nicest people that I have been told about. The kind of loss that Hindi cinema has sustained from this, I think it is difficult for such a man to be born in India again."

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24-year-old Alvin Tan Jye Yee and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Vivian Lee has sparked an outrage when sexually explicit videos and pictures of them were discovered recently.

But unlike any other “Oops. My laptop was stolen and they were leaked without my permission!” cases, these were taken and posted willingly by both individuals.

Alvin Tan

Alvin, who has a National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship, met Vivian, a Multimedia University (MMU) graduate via Facebook. They initially uploaded intimate pictures (with certain “parts” edited out) on Facebook. The pictures, of course, were red flagged. So they decided to start a blog in September – aptly named, “Sumptuous Erotica”.

It was the same time that their “fooling around with pictures and videos” got a little bit more serious. (Source)

 

Sumptuous Erotica was filled with full-on pornographic material, as though they were amateur porn stars. Some self-made pictures displaying the couple’s naked bodies together and individually while videos containing their fetishes/roleplaying (read: Alvin as rapist and Vivian as victim) were uploaded. Shockingly, Alvin even encouraged their blog’s readers to “rate” their photos and urged them to share/repost their images.

Needless to say, it went viral.

All of it.

Sure, for them, it was super exciting. However, it all blew up in their faces when Alvin posted Sumptuous Erotica’s address on a public forum. From 1,000 page views per day, it skyrocketed to about 20,000 page views per day.

It sparked a controversy and now, Alvin has landed himself into hot (and not in the sexual way) soup because not only was he forced to take down the blog, NUS’ Board of Discipline (BOD) have taken the case into investigation. One NUS spokesperson said of the case, “All NUS students are expected to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and should not be associated with offensive behaviour. Any student found in breach of the University’s Code of Student Conduct will be disciplined”.

This basically means he could be expelled and dealt with legally, despite the fact that he’s not Singaporean. He could be denied entry into Singapore or both Alvin and Vivian could be prosecuted for breaching the Films Act on the grounds of obscenity for their videos. (Source)

Vivian, however, has jumped to her boyfriend’s, their blog’s, and their relationship’s defense by saying that they couldn’t care less about what the public thinks of this.

Vivian Lee

Still, was it worth it?

Yes, we know, it sounds like this was all just a huge cry for attention. But Alvin might’ve just gotten more than he bargained for:

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In an apparent reference to Arvind Kejriwal whose party is planning to contest the next Assembly polls, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday said people should not fall into the trap of "mischievous" elements and "seasonal frogs".

Addressing a function in Dwarka, she said her government is concentrating on development but alleged certain elements are "creating" obstacles.

"Apart from this they are all out to mislead people. People should not fall into the trap being laid by the mischievous and misleading elements, seasonal frogs," she said.

Without taking the name of Kejriwal, she said certain elements were trying to create lawlessness in the city for electoral gains. "I am confident that people will not be influenced," she said.

Kejriwal has been demanding a cut in power tariff and asked people not to pay power bills till the tariff is brought down.

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Two days after aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the flying licence of Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), the cash-strapped carrier will make a last attempt to convince its 4000 striking employees to return to work on Monday.

It is believed that the KFA management is slated to meet the staff in Mumbai on Monday to find a solution to the 20-day strike that entirely crippled its operations.

The debt-ridden airline is facing a salary backlog of seven months and the employees have been seeking payments of all pending dues.

If talks fail on Monday, striking employees will launch a nationwide protest and try and confront Chairman Vijay Mallya at the F1 track in Greater Noida, where the races begin on October 26, said sources.

The average monthly wage bill of the airline is said to be around Rs 21 crore. The employees went on a flash strike October 1 demanding payment of their salaries by October 5, which have been pending since March.

The airline had the lowest market share in September, which stood at 3.5 percent. The airline has a total debt of Rs 7,000 crore from a consortium of banks.

Also, bankers are scheduled to hold a meeting Monday to decide on the fate of their exposure to Kingfisher Airlines. If they decide on writing off bad debt owed by the airline, it may have a negative impact on their quarterly performance and will also affect the scrip price in the equities market.

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Seeking re-election, President Barack Obama is preparing to clash with his Republican rival Mitt Romney over foreign policy issues like Libya, Iran's nuclear weapons programme, China and situation in the Af-Pak region in their last US presidential debate before the polls.

Unlike the second debate in New York wherein the questions were asked by a select group of audience, at Boca Raton in Florida, the moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS news would be asking questions in a structured format.     

If the second debate is of any indication, which was won by Obama, millions of Americans watching it live on their television screens on Tuesday are expected to see a heated exchange of words between the two leaders; especially on key foreign policy issues like Libya, in particular the terrorist attack on US Consulate in Benghazi, the Iranian nuclear weapons program, China and the situation in Af-Pak region.

The European financial crisis, the administration's "reset" strategy with Russia, the US relationship with emerging powers such as India and Brazil, might also jump in during the 90-minute prime-time debate.

Obama, 51, who is spending time in the picturesque resort of Camp David preparing for the presidential debate, is expected to list some of his key achievements of his foreign policy including the killing of Osama bin Laden, the al Qeada leader and end of war in Iraq and attack his Republican challenger on his inexperience on the foreign policy front.

Romney, 65, on the other hand is expected to corner Obama on the terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed its Ambassador to Libya, the rise of China, the reset-policy with Russia, the nuclear programme of Iran and the perceived differences with Israel.

Political analysts today expected the third debate to be a "hard-fought" discussion, with Obama hoping to reverse the recent trend showing the polls heading positively towards Romney.

Meanwhile, the latest poll conducted jointly by The Wall Street Journal and the NBC News channel revealed that Obama and Romney are in a dead heat two week ahead of the November 6 presidential elections.

"Among likely voters, the candidates are now tied, 47 percent to 47 percent, in a race that appears on track to be one of the closest in US history," the newspaper said.

"Mr Romney has pulled abreast of the president for the first time all year in the Journal poll, erasing a three-point lead among likely voters that Mr Obama had in late September and a five-point lead earlier that month.

"Mr Romney's surge followed his strong debate performance in Denver early this month and a contentious second debate with Mr Obama last week," the daily said.

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Sky marshals, deployed on civilian aircraft to counter hijack or hostage situations, have been armed with modern 'dum dum' bullets that burst inside the body of an attacker instead of passing through and hitting any passenger or puncturing the plane's body.

The bullets, whose peculiar name originated from the first such ammunition developed by the British near the 'Dum Dum' military base in Kolkata in pre-independent India, are authorised to be fired only by special forces commandos the world over to avoid collateral damage in such an operation.   
This type of ammunition is prohibited for any other use under an international convention. The country's specialised counter-terror and counter- hijack commando force, the NSG, has decided to include this ammunition in its armoury following 2008 Mumbai terror attacks where it had to undertake close-quarter combat in populated areas like 5-star hotels.

Sources said these bullets, which are being imported, are made to disintegrate inside the body of the attacker and result in either killing or severely immobilising him.

"The bullets have been imported from a friendly country," the sources said without disclosing the name of the country citing security reasons.

The National Security Guard (NSG) deploys a specific number of sky marshals on-board aircraft flying on select routes and is the federal contingency response force for any terrorist or hostage like crisis.   

The 'black cat' commandos are now equipped to use these bullets both for counter-hijack and counter-terror operations and their standard weapons like MP5 assault rifles and Glock pistols are compatible with it.

Experts said these bullets prevent collateral damage as unlike normal bullet, they do not escape out of the attacker's body or punch a hole in an airborne aircraft which can cause a disaster.

"A sky marshal or a commando is trained to be a sharp marksman. Despite his hitting the terrorist accurately, there is a fear that a civilian present next to him may get hit or the aeroplane suffers damage. "The special bullets give the commandos an edge and confidence to operate better," Special Forces (SF) experts said.

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Crisis-hit Kingfisher airline on Friday replied to aviation regulator DGCA's show cause notice on suspension of its licence and extended the lockout, which it had declared till October 20, till October 23.

The airline expressed the hope that it would be able to resume operations, after DGCA approves its resumption plan, from November 6.

"We have on Friday replied to the show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," an airline official told media.

The resumption plan would be submitted after the issues were sorted out, the official said.

Kingfisher pilots and engineers have gone on strike from September 30 to protest against non-payment of salary since March, badly crippling the airline's operation.

The DGCA issued show cause notice, on October 5, to the liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned airline asking why its flying licence should not be suspended or cancelled as it was not adhering to its flight schedule and "abruptly cancelling its flights time and again during the last 10 months", causing great inconvenience to the travelling public.

The DGCA had given the airline a 15-day time to reply to its notice, which was to expire on October 20.

Kingfisher had declared a lockout on September 28 till October 4 following the strike by the airline's engineers and pilots, cancelling its entire flight schedule, and extended it till October 12 later. It was again extended till October 20.

"Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has extended the partial lockout until October 23. Currently, we anticipate resuming operations on November 6, subject to our resumption plan being reviewed and approved by the DGCA," Kingfisher spokesperson said in a statement.

In a bid to resolve the deadlock, the airline management held a meeting with the agitating employees in Mumbai on October 17, which bore no result.

However, the spokesperson said, "We had a positive meeting with employee representatives on October 17 and are hopeful of reaching common ground when we meet again next week."

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Citing uncertainty in global economic scenario, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government's endeavour to achieve 8 percent annual growth will not be an easy task, even though it is not unattainable.

At the Combined Commanders' Conference here, Singh said India needs an aggregate growth rate of 8 percent per annum to create new job opportunities for more than 10 million persons who are going to enter the labour force each year.

"This is not going to be an easy task, given the international economic environment. However, it is not unattainable if we make determined efforts to increase our investment rate to 37-38 percent as was the case three years ago," Singh said.

While India has confronted persistent challenges on the external front, Singh said the global economic recovery has failed to materialise.

"The continuing uncertainty and weaknesses in the Eurozone economies have hobbled the pace of growth, including in Asian economies. Inevitably, India too has had to deal with the fallout of slowing growth, falling exports and expanding deficits," the Prime Minister said.

India's economic growth slowed to a 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012-13 from 8 percent in the year-ago period. While exports are on decline since May (till August), the fiscal deficit has touched 66 percent of the budgeted Rs 4.12 lakh crore in first five months of the financial year.

The Prime Minister stressed on the need to create an environment conducive for increased investment and savings rates, paying particular attention to investment in infrastructure sectors.

Singh further said, "as India grows, so will the responsibilities associated with protecting our new-found equities."

For example, Singh said, an expansion of the country's exports and a diversification of their destinations will call for equal measures to protect them from threats such as piracy.

The security of India's sea lanes would be equally vital in ensuring the country's energy security and access to other vital natural resources, he added.

"Indian expatriates and our overseas investments, already present around the globe, are also going to be in need of assurances regarding their well-being. Security, therefore, will remain a pre-eminent and key pillar of our national strength," Singh added.

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Paying homage to soldiers who fought in the 1962 Indo-China war, Defence Minister AK Antony on Saturday ruled out any possibility of the repeat of the war and said armed forces were confident of protecting the country against any such threat.

This is the first time that the Indian defence establishment has honoured the dead and participants of the 1962 war officially.

"I would like to assure the nation that India of today is not the India of 1962. Over the years, successive governments learning lessons from the past strengthened our capabilities and modernised our armed forces... we are confident armed forces will be able to protect the border in event of any threat," he said on the sidelines of an event to honour the soldiers of the 1962 war on its 50th anniversary.

The Defence Minister was asked to assess the threat from China and India's preparation to tackle it.

In the war, India suffered defeat at the hands of the Chinese Army which went to capture large portion of Indian territory.

The Defence Minister, who along with Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh and the three services chiefs paid homage to the 1962 war heroes and laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti, said successive governments have learnt lessons from the war and strengthened military capabilities and developed infrastructure.

"We will vigorously continue to strengthen our capabilities," the Defence Minister said.

Antony also noted that India was holding dialogue with China to find a solution to the long-pending border dispute and has established a mechanism to "immediately settle" any tensions on the border.

Asked why did it take 50 years for the Government to honour the soldiers and martyrs of the 1962 war, the Defence Minister said, "Nothing changed. This is the 50th year and we thought this is the time the whole nation must pay our homage to the officers and jawans who lost lives to protect our border."

Asked about criticism that the military leadership was not much involved in 1962 and the lessons learnt from it, Antony said, "The major lesson is that we have to strengthen our armed forces to protect our borders. That we are doing and now we are in a position to involve armed forces, intelligence agencies and all those involved in the protection of national security that process is much more strong."

Asked when will the Government take a decision on the Henderson Brookes report on the 1962 war, the Defence Minister said, "Let me take a decision."

He said all issues relating to setting up of the national war memorial at India Gate have been sorted out and it was in the final stages of being cleared by the Government.

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A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in Sahraoj village, police said On Friday.
  
The incident took place on Thursday when one Umesh Chauhan (20) took the girl to the fields and raped, they said.
  
Later, when family members came to know about it they registered an FIR in this connection.
  
The accused was later arrested by the police.

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Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court asked Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the Treasure Island scam case, involving former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, and report back within six months.

The order was passed by the division bench of Justices PK Jaisawal and Moolchand Garg, said advocate Dr Manohar Dalal, counsel for petitioner Mahesh Garg.

According to advocate Dalal, the HC asked the CBI to probe, among other things, the "roles of senior officials, the then Chief Minister, and Chief Secretary, and environment minister".

Social activist Garg had filed a complaint with the state Economic Offences Wing in 2009 in this regard. The EOW filed FIR against Entertainment World Developers Pvt Ltd, which constructed `Treasure Island' mall on the MG road here, in a joint venture with  Madhya Pradesh Housing Board in 2002.

The allegation was that the mall was illegally built on a residential plot of one lakh square feet, with undue concessions from the state government.

EOW conducted probe against twelve accused, including Digvijay Singh, former Chief Secretary A V Singh, former MP Housing Board Chairman Chandra Prabha Shekhar, former Principal Secretary U K Samant and developers Prem Kalani, Manish Kalani, and Padma Kalani.

It later filed closure report, giving clean chit to Digvijay Singh, while saying there was a case against six others including the developers.

When contacted, Superintendent of Police, EOW, Manoj Singh and Additional Advocate General Manoj Diwevedi said they had not received the judgement copy, and could not comment on it.

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Upset at Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar getting the Order of Australia, former batsman Matthew Hayden said the honour should be "exclusive" to his countrymen.

"Now, if Sachin was living in Australia -- give him the Prime Minister's gong I reckon -- but the reality of it is he's living in India," Hayden told a radio show.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the honour for Tendulkar during a recent visit to India.

Hayden, who is also a former recipient of the title, said only Australians should be conferred with such awards as they are about national honour.

"I think it should be exclusive to Australians...I'm not so sure. There's things that are sacred amongst our country," Hayden said.

"I kind of understand the point of the fact that he has been such an iconic figure here in Australia and there's an enormous population of Indians that are working here and living here very happily and in harmony with Australia that have naturalised and I think that's a great part of our country, how multi-cultural that we are," he explained.

Tendulkar is only the second Indian after former attorney general Soli Sorabjee to get the honour.

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As a petition accusing Rahul Gandhi of having illegally confined a girl was dismissed by Supreme Court, CBI is likely to send a Letters Rogatory to a foreign country seeking legal help suspecting a conspiracy to malign his image was hatched there.

The agency is likely to send the judicial request to the country seeking its help in the investigation and to track the culprits behind the email, the sources said without divulging the name of the country.

Highly placed CBI sources said the LRs were likely to be sent soon.

Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition against Gandhi and slapped costs of Rs 10 lakh, including Rs 5 lakh on an ex-SP MLA, who had filed it for damaging his image.

The Apex Court also directed the CBI to continue its probe against the petitioner ex-Samajwadi Party MLA Kishore Samrite and other persons who are involved in filing of the petition and asked it to submit a report within six months.

Samrite filed his plea on the basis of the email which relied on reports carried by some websites, the agency sources added.

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India Against Corruption (IAC) on Thursday rejected the allegations by former IPS officer YP Singh that its leader Arvind Kejriwal had hidden facts about alleged corruption by Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in irrigation scam.

READ MORE: Pawar rejects his role in Lavasa scandal

The Kejriwal-led group said that the issue should be confined to the Lavasa scam and not taken as a "Arvind Kejriwal vs Y P Singh war".

At a press conference in Mumbai, Singh alleged that Kejriwal had information to expose Pawar but had concealed facts.

The IPS officer-turned- lawyer attacked Kejriwal for his  expose on Gadkari and alleged that the scam involving the BJP chief was nothing compared to the one indulged in by Pawar and his relatives in Lavasa, near Pune.

"Details of the larger irrigation scam were not brought out," Singh alleged.

Responding to Singh's remarks, IAC activist Manish Sisodia said they congratulate him on making these "revelations" and it is good if corrupt political bigshots are exposed.

"We don't exactly know why Y P Singh is saying so that we did not reveal documents against Sharad Pawar. He is a very good friend of ours. There is nothing like this.

 ‘Singh has proved charges against Pawar again’

IAC complimented Singh for raising the issue and highlighted that the group had earlier raised the same issue which Singh had proved again. IAC said that Pawar's name was included in the list of 15 ministers against whom it had sought a probe for alleged corruption.

"The charges against Sharad Pawar have once again been proved by Y P Singh. IAC congratulates Singh for his courage to speak up against such a powerful minister," it said.

"Our top office-bearers had also carried out a 10-day dharna agitation in July. So it is not proper on Y.P. Singh's part to say that we have kept quiet in the matter of allegations against Sharad Pawar," IAC said.

A statement posted in the Facebook account of India Against Corruption alleged that Pawar has misused his position and has severe charges of graft against him.

"IAC has been saying this since long. Sharad Pawar was also one of the 15 ministers against whom Kejriwal, Sisodia and Gopal Rai were on fast for 10 days at Jantar Mantar from July 25.

Before Singh's press conference, Kejriwal said, "Singh is doing a good work and I respect him, why is he saying all of a sudden, I don't know."

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Pop star Katy Perry was spotted at the 35th birthday of ex-boyfriend John Mayer in the West Village's ABC Kitchen.
  
They enjoyed a romantic lunch together to celebrate Mayer's special day and Perry, 27, was hoping to get more serious with him before their most recent split.
  
"She's been really depressed and needs attention. She really liked him and thought it was going to be something serious," a source said.
  
The couple, who first started dating in June, were also seen having dinner at Pearl restaurant in the city before going clubbing together on Sunday night.
  
Their latest reconciliation comes just days after Perry had grown tired of Meyer's failure to commit."John liked Katy, so he wanted to keep her in his life, but it just wasn't up to Katy's standards.

She needs the guy to be on board 100 percent and she was sick of John disappearing for five days at a time, then booty calling her, then straightening up and  treating her well, only to go back to his old behaviour a few days later," the source added.

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The massive eight-wicket loss in their tournament opener has not been an ideal start for defending champions Mumbai Indians and they would look to make amends when they take on Yorkshire in their crucial Champions League Twenty20 match here on Thursday.

With both Mumbai and Yorkshire suffering defeats in their opening Group B matches, tomorrow’s tie is a must-win game for both the sides to keep their semi-final chances alive.

There may be a striking similarity between the two teams as far loss and position in the points table are concerned, but MI would certainly start as favourites against the English outfit owing to their more experienced batting line-up, which runs quite deep.

In fact, Mumbai batted reasonably well in their opening game against Highveld Lions. It was actually their bowling department that had let the team down with the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha leaking too many runs.

A good start by Sachin Tendulkar along with either Dwayne Smith or Richard Levi is what Mumbai would be banking on.

Tendulkar though got a start in the last match, scoring 16 off 24 balls, but he could not carry on the momentum. And come tomorrow he will be keen on doing well as his performance will have a bearing on the team’s fortune in the tournament.

For the 39-year-old senior batsman, it will also be a chance to prove his detractors wrong after he was bowled thrice during the Test series against New Zealand at home and also in the previous match against Lions.

Among others Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik are expected to lend solidity to the middle-order, while Kieron Pollard, with his big-hitting prowess, steady seam-up stuff and electric fielding, will be a crowd puller.

MI’s bowling, however, failed to deliver the goods in the last match despite pace duo of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson turning out to be pretty economical.

To MI’s liking the wicket here may assist bowlers unlike Johannesburg. The conditions here are expected to be more helpful for both the pacers as well as spinners.

Harbhajan did not have a good start to the tournament as he gave away as many as 36 runs from his four overs, taking just one wicket. And the feisty off-spinner would be keen to prove that his fine performance in the recently-concluded ICC World Twenty20 wasn’t a mere flash in the pan.

Against an inexperienced Yorkshire batting line-up, it would be a great opportunity for Harbhajan to strengthen his case before the Test team selection.

Malinga, who has been instrumental in many Mumbai wins over the past few years, will also be eyeing to produce another deadly performance for his side.

On the other hand, Yorkshire, which though managed to impress during their qualifying campaign by winning both the matches to sail into the main draw, came a cropper against Sydney Sixers in their opener.

Yorkshire could post only 96 for nine in 20 overs before Sixers chased down the paltry target with 67 balls to spare.

Yorskshire would be desperately looking towards its openers - Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques - to provide a solid start.

Yorkshire’s middle-order batsmen, especially Joe Root and Gary Ballance have shown glimpses of their potential during the qualifiers and come tomorrow the team would want them to fire in unison against Malinga and Co.

Yorkshire’s bowling attack, spearheaded by veteran Ryan Sidebottom, looked impressive in the qualifiers but they had hardly anything to defend against Sydney the other day.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Richard Levi, Dwayne Smith, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Thisara Perera, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dhwal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav.

Yorkshire: Andrew Gale (c), Moin Ashraf, Azeem Rafiq, Gary Ballance, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Dan Hodgson, Phil Jaques, Adam Lyth, David Miller, Steven Patterson, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ryan Sidebottom, Iain Wardlaw, Eddie Wilson.

Match starts at 9 pm (IST).

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