Livni eyes Prime Minister's office after bagging Kadima leadership

Fresh from her election as the head of Israel's ruling Kadima party,Tzipi Livni on Thursday set out to become the country's second woman prime minister and avert snap elections that could stall Middle East peacemaking.

In her victory speech, the foreign minister said she wanted to form a new government as quickly as possible, a daunting challenge for the new leader of a party dogged by corruption scandals and involved in uneasy alliances with groups that include religious fanatics and advocates of ethnic cleansing.

Livni, 50, narrowly won Wednesday's party leadership vote to replace scandal-plagued Premier Ehud Olmert, who is standing down to battle a number of corruption allegations.

Livni secured 43 percent of the vote and a lead of just one percentage point – or 431 votes – over her main rival,Transport Minister and hawkish former military Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz.

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India mourns death of Manekshaw, crafted 1971 victory over Pakistan

The nation on June 27 mourned the death of one of its greatest military heroes since independence, former Indian Army chief Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw who crafted India's stupendous victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in paying tribute to Sam Bahadur, as he was affectionately called by the troops who served under him, describing him as one of India's greatest soldiers and "a truly inspiring leader".

In his condolence message, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said, "He was one of the most decorated officers of the Indian Army. In his demise, the nation has lost a great soldier, a true patriot and a noble son."

"Sharp and witty till the end and imbued with an indomitable fighting spirit, Manekshaw will continue to live on in the minds of committed citizens and will inspire them to take the nation forward," Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Fali Homi Major said in his condolence message.

"Manekshaw's greatest contribution was restoration of confidence of the Indian Army after the (Chinese) debacle of 1962 and leading India to victory in the 1971 war (that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh)," said noted security analyst Commodore (retd) C. Uday Bhaskar.

"He demonstrated the highest level of politi co-military astuteness by getting the army in shape on one hand and dealing with the then prime minister Indira Gandhi," Bhaskar, a former deputy director of think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, added.

"It is sad news that we got in the morning.

For the nation and the armed forces, he has been the greatest military leader since independence," said former army chief Gen. V.P Malik.

"He was also a great communicator and motivator. He had the knack of inspiring people just with his presence. He had a high level of integrity and uprightness." Malik added.

This sentiment was echoed by Lt. Gen. (retd) R. Madan Gopal, a former Director General of Military Operations.

"Despite his advancing age, Sam carried himself with dignity and I am proud to have been in the Gorkha regiment to which he belonged.

"He touched the lives of every army officer and jawan who came in contact with him, inspiring a fierce faith that no one else could have done," Gopal said.

The Delhi Symphony Society (DSS), of which Manekshaw was president for almost 20 years, also remembered him.

"His biggest day was when he welcomed (conductor) Zubin Mehta in 1994 for a concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Indira Gandhi indoor stadium," said DSS secretary Gautam Kaul, a former head of the Indo Tibetan Border Police Force.

Kapil’s English raised the ‘fun’ quotient

It turned out to be a memorable tour and the fact that we triumphed wasn't the only reason. We enjoyed ourselves on the field and during the practice sessions. There were hardly any expectations from us, and consequently, there was little or no pressure on us. Jimmy Amarnath was our pillar of strength and the idea was to bat around him. That apart, I don't think anything significant was discussed at the team meetings. The highlight of the ‘discussions’ was Kapil Dev’s insistence on speaking in English. He probably felt like doing so because we were in England. But nobody really understood what he said and that heightened the ‘fun’ quotient! We must thank Kapil for continuing to speak in English!

It was a team of ‘characters’. Sunil Gavaskar was unfortunate to share the room with me till his wife arrived and I could not help but feel that he did not score runs only because I troubled him a lot. I was nervous on the eve of our first game against the West Indies and attacked Sunil with questions. “Will I be able to see the ball?” was one of them. Sunil reminded me that I had faced the likes of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Richard Hadlee. The vibes we got from the other teams, Zimbabwe apart, at the opening ceremony weren't very positive. It was almost as if they thought we did not deserve to be there.

We went on to play excellent cricket to reach the semifinals. You are bound to succeed if you get the basics right and each of us did that.

We went into the semifinals as the underdogs. England, it appeared, had already started celebrating their entry into the final. That irritated us for we had worked very hard to reach the knockout stage. The majority felt we would be better off bowling first to enable our seamers to capitalise on the morning conditions. As it turned out, Bob Willis won the toss and elected to bat. Our seamers carried on from where they had left off. I don't think the teams took any Indian bowler, other than Kapil seriously. Balwinder Sandhu, Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Jimmy used the English conditions very well. Kirti Azad choked England in the semifinal. England got 213, which in those days was a formidable score even in a sixty-over game. The openers gave us a good start and Jimmy and Yashpal Sharma shared a fruitful stand. People give me credit for attacking the bowling towards the end but it was the Jimmy-Yashpal stand that set things up in our favour. There was a stage when Kirti, Kapil and I were padded up with the asking-rate hovering around the six-per-over mark. Sunil suggested we stick to the original order and Kapil agreed, considering we had been calm through the tournament. I went in after Jimmy's dismissal and got my timing right. We made it to the final and the rest is history. It feels great to be recognised and rewarded for the achievement after all these years. That the BCCI is doing so is the proverbial icing on the cake. It's like your father rewarding you.

Iran says West fails to stop nuclear advances

Western pressure has failed to stop Iran's nuclear program from advancing, its president said on Wednesday, a day after the United States and the European Union warned of more sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced defiance just a few days before EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected to travel to Tehran to offer economic and other benefits to Iran if it gives up sensitive atomic work.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, has repeatedly ruled out suspending nuclear activities which it says are solely aimed at generating electricity but which the West suspects are a covert bid to make bombs.

"With God's help today (the Iranian nation) have gained victory and the enemies cannot do a damned thing," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

The United States and the 27-nation EU, at a summit in Slovenia, said on Tuesday they were ready to impose more sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program on top of three rounds of limited U.N. sanctions since late 2006.

Washington has pressed the EU to deny some Iranian banks access to the world financial system. European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said further EU steps could entail a freeze on Iranian bank assets.

"NUCLEAR HEIGHT"

Iran, which says it earned about $70 billion in oil revenue last year, has shrugged off the impact of Western punitive measures on its economy.

An Iranian newspaper this week said Iran was withdrawing assets from European banks and converting some of them into gold and stocks in a bid to neutralize tightening sanctions.

"They've tried by military threats ... and political pressure to stop you from your luminous path but today they have seen that all their planning has failed," Ahmadinejad told the crowd in the western city of Shahr-e Kurd.

"Today the Iranian nation is standing on the nuclear height," said Ahmadinejad, who often attacks the West.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- and Germany agreed last month on an enhanced package of incentives to coax Iran into giving up nuclear enrichment.

Solana is expected to travel to the Iranian capital within the next week to present the package to Iranian officials, but he has played down prospects of a breakthrough.

In 2006, the six countries offered incentives including civil nuclear cooperation and wider trade in civil aircraft and energy but Tehran spurned that offer.

Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for power plants or, if refined much further, provide material for arms.

U.S. President George W. Bush, attending his last summit with the 27-nation EU, said on Tuesday that an "Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly dangerous for world peace."

Ahmadinejad said Bush's "era has ended" and that Iran's foes would not be able to "harm even a centimeter" of its territory.