2012 NOV12

Anna threatens fast again, will keep IAC name

A day after he announced his new team, Anna Hazare today threatened to go on a fast again if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed before the 2014 parliamentary elections. After his last fast in August, Hazare had said that he would not embark on another hunger strike again.
Inaugurating his new office in the capital today, Hazare said: “I am ready to break that pledge (of not fasting again) in case the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed by the government before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections... This time, I may fast at Ramlila Maidan.”
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal said today that his group will not use India Against Corruption (IAC) as its name after the formation of his political party on November 26. “Anna is too dear to us. I have deepest respect for him. After launch of our party on November 26, we will not use IAC name,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Earlier in the day, stating that he considers Hazare his “guru”, Kejriwal said: “If he asks me to stop using the IAC’s name, I won’t use it.”
Hazare, on his part, urged volunteers not to indulge in a fight with Team Kejriwal, even as he announced the decision to open a bank account in the name of IAC with Sunita Godara, Kiran Bedi and Lt Col Brijender Khokhar as signatories.
“Yes, our team has spilt. But I believe both the paths are necessary. We thought that politics is not our way. We will not be enemies. A volunteer can choose his path. They should be clear in their mind. It should not be that they change minds frequently,” he said.

Stranded ship tugged away 

 

The Hindu The grounded oil tanker MT Pratibha Cauvery being towed away on Sunday after it ran aground off Chennai under the fury of cyclone Nilam on October 31. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

Salvage team says de-ballasting 7,000 tonnes of water helped turn the vessel

After being the star attraction for beach crowds at Nochikuppam over the last 11 days, the stranded vessel, MT Pratibha Cauvery, was on Sunday tugged away amid applause and cheers from a large gathering of onlookers.

Though tow vessel Malaviya 21 arrived here on November 5 to salvage the vessel after it ran aground under the fury of Cyclone Nilam two weeks ago, tugging operations could commence only on November 8.

In its maiden attempt, the tow boat from Kakinada was able to turn the stranded vessel by six degrees. But the operations had to be called off when the tow rope snapped. The salvage team was not able to make much headway in the subsequent attempts till Friday evening.

Authorities then decided to de-ballast 7,000 tonnes of water from the ship, using several electrical submersible pumps to make it lighter. The de-ballasting was completed by Saturday evening and it helped tilt the vessel by 10 degrees towards the east. While the posterior of the ship, including the propeller set was under water, the front portion was in the air. To balance the vessel, 1,000 tonnes of water was pumped into the front portion.

It was at 6.30 p.m. the ship was successfully salvaged by the private firm on its seventh attempt and hauled away. Representatives of the salvage team said de-ballasting nearly 7,000 tonnes of water helped turn the vessel. The vessel would be taken to the outer anchorage of the Chennai Port Trust and kept there for the next few days.

Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan was among those who monitored the operations during the day.

Keywords: Pratibha Cauvery salvage, Cyclone Nilam, Malaviya 21, tow vessel, Chennai Port Trust

AP In this March 2, 2010 photo, BBC's then Director-General Mark Thompson speaks to the media outside Television Centre in west London. The New York Times Co. on Tuesday named Thompson as its president and CEO

The New York Times Company has roped-in outgoing BBC head Mark Thompson as its next president and chief executive, saying his experience in digital media on a global scale made him the “ideal candidate”.

Mr. Thompson, the outgoing director-general of the BBC, will join the company in November. In addition to his executive roles, he will also sit on the board.

Mr. Thompson’s appointment was announced by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the chairman of the Times Company and the newspaper’s publisher on Tuesday.

The 55-year-old Mr. Thompson will join the company at a time when it faced challenges posed by changing reader habits and a shifting advertising market. Last month, it reported a net loss of $88 million for the second quarter of 2012.

“Mark is a gifted executive with strong credentials whose leadership at the BBC helped it to extend its trusted brand identity into new digital products and services,” Mr. Sulzberger said in a statement.

“Our board concluded that Mark’s experience and his accomplishments at the BBC made him the ideal candidate to lead the Times Company at this moment in time when we are highly focused on growing our business through digital and global expansion,” he said.

The Times has been without a chief executive since Janet Robinson left in December 2011. Since then, Mr. Sulzberger has said the company was looking for a candidate with experience in the digital world and across multiple platforms, The New York Times reported.

“The New York Times is one of the world’s greatest news providers and a media brand of immense future potential both in the U.S. and around the world. It is a real privilege to be asked to join the Times Company as it embarks on the next chapter in its history,” Mr. Thompson said.

“I’m particularly excited to be coming to The New York Times Company as it extends its influence digitally and globally,” he said.

Mr. Thompson started his career as a production trainee at the BBC in 1979 before leaving in 2002 to become chief executive of Channel 4 television.

At the beginning of July the BBC announced that George Entwistle would replace Mr. Thompson as director general on September 17, 2012.

Keywords: The New York Times Company, BBC, Mark Thompson