L A T E S T      N E W S

Maoists abduct Odisha MLA 

Koraput (Odisha): A tribal MLA of the ruling BJD in Odisha was abducted by Maoists in Koraput district in the early hours on Saturday, police said. Jhina Hikaka, legislator from Laxmipur, was returning home from Koraput when more than 50 armed rebels stopped his vehicle near Toyaput, Koraput Superintendent of Police Avinash Kumar said. 

While the personal security officer (PSO) and driver of the MLA were allowed to leave, Hikaka was taken away into the nearby forest, about 40 km from here by the ultras at gunpoint, he said. 

The PSO and driver informed the Laxmipur police station about the incident, the Kumar said, adding steps have been initiated to ascertain the whereabouts of the legislator.

The abduction came 10 days after the Maoists took two Italians hostage from Kandhamal district on March 14 and talks were in progress between rebel-nominated negotiators and government representatives to resolve the crisis.

The incident happened hours after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed to the rebels to desist from violence. 

Meanwhile, Maoist negotiators engaged to end the Italian hostage crisis - B D Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty - have appealed to the Maoists to release the legislator without delay.

India to be friends with China, US: PM

NEW DELHI: Large and dynamic countries like China cannot be contained, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, making it clear that India aims to have "cooperative ties with both China and the US". 

"I do not think that large and dynamic countries like China can be contained," Singh said in an interview to South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo ahead of his visit to Seoul. 

Singh will take part at the Nuclear Security Summit that will be attended by 58 leaders including US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. 

The meeting will discuss the threats posed by nuclear terrorism and the measures required to prevent terrorists from gaining access to sensitive nuclear material and technologies. 

"Our aim is to have cooperative ties with both China and US," the PM said when he was asked if India thought the US was keeping China in check and if Delhi had ever been forced to choose between Washington and Beijing. 

Singh said China was India's largest neighbour, sharing a long border. "It is also our biggest trading partner in goods," he said. 

With the US, he said, India's relations were transformed in 2005. It was in July that year that Singh and then US president George W. Bush laid the framework for the India-US civil nuclear agreement. 

"Three million people of Indian origin live and work in the US. The country is also India's largest business partner," Manmohan Singh said. 

Asked about the agenda for his meeting with the South Korean president, Singh said the two sides will talk about "giving depth and greater meaning" to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, strengthen people-to-people contacts, boost cooperation in science and technology, and coordinate thinking in matters relating to security and global events. 

"Since this is an occasion which coincides with Nuclear Security Summit, we can work together to promote nuclear security and safety in this world that we live in," he added. 

To a question on the delayed Pohang Steel Co (POSCO) industrial project in Odisha due to protests and environment concerns, Singh said: "It is my sincere hope the issues pertaining to the POSCO project would be resolved soon to the satisfaction of all parties." 

Regarding a Wall Street Journal report that India's red tape and corruption were discouraging foreign investment, he said: "Outside observers often tend to take a narrow view of our economic policies. India is a far more open economy today than it was earlier. 

"We are governed by the rule of law, and as a functioning democracy, we need to be mindful of the concerns and sensitivities of all sections and stake-holders and take their interests into account." 

He added that India planned to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure development in areas like highways, airports, power plants, mass transport systems and so on, in next five years. 

"We would like to see more South Korean companies come to India and take advantage of our youthful and skilled labour force. Opportunities in India are wide open." — IANS

SAD calls emergency meet over Rajoana issue

Chandigarh: SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has called an emergency meeting of the party's core committee tomorrow in the wake of Sikh high priests directing the Chief Minister and the SGPC head to meet the President and make efforts to save Balwant Singh Rajoana from the gallows. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is also SAD patron, and SGPC head Avtar Singh Makkar would also attend the meeting which will be held here tomorrow, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said on Saturday.

Cheema said the core committee would deliberate upon the directive of Jathedar, Akal Takht pertaining to the case of Rajoana, a convict in the former chief minister Beant Singh's assassination.

The Sikh high priests, who met in Amritsar yesterday, had directed the Chief Minister and the SGPC chief to meet President Pratibha Patil and make efforts to save Rajoana from the gallows.

The highest Sikh temporal body, the Akal Takht, had also directed SGPC President to meet the President and the Prime Minister to save Rajoana, who is scheduled to be hanged in Patiala central jail on March 31.

Additional District and Sessions Judge, Chandigarh, Shalini Nagpal had earlier this month issued a warrant of death sentence against the Babbar Khalsa terrorist.

A special CBI court had awarded death sentence to Rajoana and Jagtar Singh Hawara in the Beant Singh assassination case on August 1, 2007.

Three other accused -- Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh -- were sentenced to life imprisonment for hatching the conspiracy to kill Beant Singh.

Rajoana did not appeal against the judgment. The death penalty of Hawara, who filed an appeal against it, was commuted to life sentence.

Beant Singh was assassinated on August 31, 1995 in Chandigarh by militant outfit Babbar Khalsa.

PepsiCo's Indian-born chairman and chief executive Indra Nooyi received $17.1 million in compensation in 2011, a 5.8% increase from her 2010 package, according to a regulatory filing.

The increase was driven largely by changes in the value of her retirement benefits at PepsiCo, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing released on Friday. Nooyi, 56, who has been the soft drink major's chief executive since 2006, got a 2011 annual incentive award of $2.5 million, 22% below her performance-based target. She got a 2011 long-term incentive award valued at $9.4 million.

Nooyi's annual base salary was increased from $1.3 million to $1.6 million, effective February 2011. It was her first bump in base pay since her appointment as CEO.PepsiCo is undertaking a turnaround this year that will try to boost the company's performance, especially in its Americas beverage division where sales have been lacklustre.