Anthem Goof-Up at Kotla

South African fans livid over anthem goof-up

New Delhi, Feb 25 : The World Cup organisers, under flak for the ticket sales fiasco in Bangalore, had more embarrassment at the Feroz Shah Kotla here yesterday when the sound system failed midway through the South African national anthem.

The large contingent of South African fans, here to watch their national side take on West Indies, completed the anthem. It brought a huge smile on skipper Graeme Smith's face and he waved to his supporters, who have flown halfway across the globe for this mega event.

One agitated fan, Michael from Cape Town, said: "How could they do that?

It was so disrespectful. We completed the anthem because they cut it short. It was quite an embarrassment.

Hope they have an explanation for it. I hope it is not repeated in our future games." ICC media manager Colin Gibson attributed the awkward moment to a technical glitch.

"We apologise to the fans of South Africa, and did not mean to harm  anyone or hurt sentiments.

Only half the anthem played due to a technical glitch. The sound engineers did not have adequate time to test the system due to a delayed arrival at the ground.

We had the whole anthem in the library but it didn't play due to a technical glitch," Gibson told

Customers Still Unhappy With Tata Nano

Nano ranks last in customer satisfaction among small cars: TNS

New Delhi, Feb 25 : Tata Motor''s Nano has been ranked last among entry level small cars in terms of customer satisfaction, according to market research firm TNS.

In the ''2010 four-wheeler Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS)'' study by TNS Automotive, Maruti Suzuki India''s (MSI) best selling model Alto topped the entry level small car category. Omni and the once bread-and-butter model M800 followed the list.

"The customer expectations even at the bottom end are rising. The owners of Tata Nano expect more in terms of design and Maruti 800 owners expect better servicing as the years go by," the survey said.

While Alto scored 91 points, Nano got only 70 points thus being placed last, it added.

Nano has been having issues following fire incidents with six reported cases since its launch in 2009. Tata Motors had offered to provide additional safety measures free of cost as a precautionary measure, although it claimed that the Nano is absolutely safe.

In the higher priced cars segment, the survey reflected the Indian consumers respect for value even if the price is higher.

The study pointed out that car owners in Northern India are relatively less satisfied compared to those in other parts of the country, primarily because of after sales services as the age of the car grows.

"At the national level, the customers in the relatively larger cities are more satisfied than those in the smaller cities.

"This may be a reflection of the growing expectations in the smaller cities. The manufacturers will do well to understand those," TNS said.

Apart from the entry level compact car segment, MSI''s Zen Estilo and A-Star jointly topped the premium compact car category in customer satisfaction.

While Volkswagen''s (VW) Polo and MSI''s Swift together became the number one in the upper premium strata, MSI''s Swift DZiRE was ranked as the numero uno in the entry-level mid-sized sedan segment.

Other models that topped in different segments are Toyota Corolla Altis in premium mid-sized sedan, VW Passat in entry-level luxury sedan, Toyota Innova and Mahindra Scorpio jointly in sports utility vehicle and multi utility vehicle and Honda CR-V in premium SUV categories.

"In a year of high growth and long queues at the automotive dealerships, auto manufacturers maintained their poise and managed their processes to keep their customers satisfied," TNS Automotive Executive Director Pradeep Saxena said.

The survey covered 9300 car buyers, opting for 56 models.

What Are Sarah Palin’s Plans in India?

Washington, Feb 25 : Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will be making a trip to India in March to speak at the India Today 2011 conclave in New Delhi, according to media reports citing a Palin aide.

The 2008 vice presidential candidate Palin, who is weighing a possible 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination, is set to speak March 19. She will be delivering a keynote address on 'My Vision of America'.

Palin aide Rebecca Mansour confirmed the details by tweeting a link to India Today's website, writing only 'Gov. Palin will be travelling to India next month'.

It's not known if Palin is getting paid for the appearance, but the $1,850 price tag to attend the two-day event makes it seem likely that she got her quote - reportedly $100,000 per appearance, Politico, a news website focusing on congressional and presidential affairs, said.

Palin aides have been weighing a foreign trip for months, but had only previously disclosed that they were planning a still unannounced trip to England and Israel sometime later this year. They are not saying yet whether there will be additional overseas stops built around the India trip.

The conference's choice of Palin is an odd one, Politico said. She will be the only American politician attending the conference, which is stacked with Indian and Pakistani officials, business leaders, public figures and entertainers.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is kicking off the conference Friday morning with the keynote. Palin's speech comes Saturday night and brings the conference to a close.

The 2011 roster will cover issues from 'The Gender Dialogue: Can the burqa co-exist with the bikini?' to a session on 'Politics and Ethics: Is honesty impossible in Indian politics?'

Other speakers include feminist writer Germaine Greer, Indian actor Aamir Khan and Egyptian opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.

Can Google and Facebook Push Adultery Sites Off the Internet?

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Mizoram Advocates Boundary Panel To Tackle Disputes

Aizawl, Feb 25 : Mizoram Home Minister R Lalzirliana today advocated for a boundary commission to settle dispute between with Assam, while a students’ organisation claimed that the neighbouring State has been constructing a school on Mizoram soil.

Home Minister R Lalzirliana suggested that a Boundary Commission should be constituted to study boundary disputes with neighbouring Assam.

Lalzirliana told reporters that he would take up his suggestions with Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla.

“The boundary commission would study the documents relating to Mizoram-Assam boundary and we have to face the Assam government with documentary proofs,” he said adding official level or political level talks on border disputes would be meaningless without documentary evidence.

Meanwhile, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP - Mizo Students Federation) said an MZP team yesterday visited a school construction site near Mizoram-Assam border at Bairabi village in Kolasib district and found that it was being erected inside Mizoram territory.

“We demanded that the state government should protect our territory and take appropriate action expeditiously,” a statement by MZP said, adding that the Assam Police personnel were guarding the construction site round the clock.

The MZP said, while construction of minor irrigation by the Mizoram government at Mautuilui near Vairengte was stopped due to pressure from the Assam government recently, the silence of the Mizoram government regarding construction of the school under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan could not be accepted.

Mizoram Sounds Bird Flu Alert

Aizawl, Feb 25 : Mizoram has sounded a bird flu alert following the outbreak of Avian flu in the neighbouring states of Tripura and Myanmar.

As a preventive measure, the Mizoram government today imposed a ban on import of poultry from outside, especially the bird flu-hit states of Tripura and Myanmar.

''The state government has set up check gates at the border and asked security forces to maintain a strict vigil along the border to prevent import of poultry and poultry products,'' Animal Husbandry Veterinary Director L B Sailo said.

Bird flu was detected in Sittwe district in Myanmar on January 18 in a government-run duck farm at RK Nagar in Agartala, official sources said.

The Tripura government had ordered culling of all birds and destruction of eggs and feed material at R K Nagar duck farm and its surrounding area.

''Even though, no case of Avian influenza has been detected in Mizoram, the government has felt a strong need for banning import of the poultry products,'' the sources added.

Veterinary officials across Mizoram have been instructed to examine any case of mysterious death of birds, the sources said.

Mizoram Are Under-16 National champions!

By Arunava Chaudhuri

Mizoram beat defending champions Jharkhand 2-1 in the finals of the Under-16 Nationals for the 33rd Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy at the Mohun Bagan ground in Kolkata this afternoon.

International soft drink maker Coca Cola are the sponsors of the tournament and they once more tried to create some hype around the final with the ground all in Coke red and white, there was a DJ around and kids brought in to have some atmosphere.

The Northeast boys from Mizoram took the lead through talented striker Ramengmawia in the 10th minute, but that didn’t last long as Jharkhand striker Syed Shoaib Ahmed equalised only seven minutes later.

It remained one-all going into the breather with both sides trying to get once more onto the scoresheet.

After the break Mizoram would score the winner in the 55th minute through David K. Hmingthanga’s intelligent chip over Jharkhand keeper Ranajit Das and they could have enhanced their lead through chances on counter attacks, while Jharkhand had more of the ball but wasted their few chances.

We saw some interesting football, good organisation and often raw talent with Mizoram No. 10 Ramengmawia being the pick of the players, but sadly he is way too short in height.

For Mizoram it was their fifth Under-16 National title and they received the award from Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia and Coca Cola India head Atul Singh in the post-match function which was attended by AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das, AIFF vice-Presidents Subrata Dutta and Ankur Datta, IFA Secretary Utpal Kumar Ganguli and former India captain P.K. Banerjee.

Want to Know APSC Details?

Its Just a mouse click Away

Tarun Gogoi inaugurates the APSC system on Thursday.

Guwahati, Feb 25 : Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) examinations promise to be more transparent and smooth now, with automation of the entire process — right from assessing applications to preparation of results.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today announced introduction of the system at a function in the APSC building at Khanapara here.

Speaking on the occasion, Gogoi said the system would help maintain transparency in the examination system, adding that the commission has to select candidates who are efficient, sincere and committed. “Officials should have the capacity to anticipate the problems coming up in the future,” he said. He also said there was a shortage of Assam civil service officers, which is creating problems for the government.

Chairman of the commission, Geeta Basumatari, said the intelligent character recognition system would automate every step of the existing examination process. “The system has the capability to verify and validate each record with less human intervention, making it an error free and unbiased process. The time taken in the process from stage of application to the declaration of results would be much lesser than what was generally taken for manual processing,” Basumatari said.

She said the commission faces a lots of problems like delay in holding of examinations on time, absence of financial autonomy, and an increasing number of court cases, to name a few. “This is the first stage in the improvement of the examination system and later, we can conduct examinations online,” she added.

She said the situation had slightly improved now as the commission now had a principal controller of examinations, a law officer and a research officer.

The commission conducts combined competitive examinations and departmental examinations and recommends candidates for direct recruitment to the various state government services, advises the government on the principles to be followed to assess the suitability of officers for promotion and others. Examinations conducted by the commission faced criticism a number of times in the past, as there have been allegations of favouritism, corruption and results not being declared on time.