Manik Sarkar, son of tailor, to be Tripura chief minister again

AGARTALA: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, set to assume office for a fourth time after leading the Left to a huge electoral win, is the son of a tailor who still washes his own clothes.

An unassuming man, the 64-year-old got down to work no soon than he was declared the winner from Dhanpur constituency. He met CPM leaders and activists at Sonamura, 60km from here.

On Thursday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) bagged 49 of the 60 seats while its ally Communist Party of India won one seat. The Congress finished with only 10 seats.

It was the best result for the Left since 1978 when the legendary Nripen Chakraborty-led CPM swept 56 seats. This time, Sarkar helped the Left Front increase its 2008 tally by one seat.

Undoubtedly, the "poorest" chief minister in India, Sarkar, according to documents filed with the Election Commission, has Rs.10,800 in cash.

In line with CPM rules, Sarkar gives away his salary to the party, which pays him Rs 5,000 a month.

He is probably India's only chief minister who does not own a home, car or bank balance worth mentioning.

He does not even have a mobile phone and has never used the red beacon on his official car.

Sarkar's wife Panchali Bhattacharjee, 62, who retired as a government employee in 2010, has Rs 22,015 in cash and Rs.24,52,395 as savings. The couple has no children.

She said her husband still washed his clothes every morning.

"My wife's pension can sustain us. My expenses are a small pot of snuff and a cigarette a day," Sarkar said.

After the death of his mother in 2009, Sarkar inherited a small house worth Rs.200,000 in Agartala. He donated it to his younger sister.

Sarkar's father Amulya was a tailor and mother Anjali was an employee of the state health department.

Sarkar joined politics in 1967 and was elected secretary of the CPM's Tripura unit in 1993.

A bachelor of commerce from Calcutta University, Sarkar was first elected to the Tripura assembly in a 1980 bypoll and again in 1983.

He is the second in the northeast to be the chief minister for 15 years or more after Gegong Apang of the Congress who ruled Arunachal Pradesh for 24 years over two periods (1980-99 and 2003-07).

On Thursday, Sarkar defeated his Congress rival Shah Alam by 6,017 votes. In 2008, Sarkar's winning margin was 2,918.

"This is a verdict in favour of development, peace and stability besides good governance," Sarkar told reporters.

According to a CPI-M leader, Left Front leaders will meet here Friday and decide when to form a new government.

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Huge study: 5 mental disorders share genetic links


WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest genetic study of mental illnesses to date finds five major disorders may not look much alike but they share some gene-based risks. The surprising discovery comes in the quest to unravel what causes psychiatric disorders and how to better diagnose and treat them.


The disorders — autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia — are considered distinct problems. But findings published online Wednesday suggest they're related in some way.


"These disorders that we thought of as quite different may not have such sharp boundaries," said Dr. Jordan Smoller of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the lead researchers for the international study appearing in The Lancet.


That has implications for learning how to diagnose mental illnesses with the same precision that physical illnesses are diagnosed, said Dr. Bruce Cuthbert of the National Institute on Mental Health, which funded the research.


Consider: Just because someone has chest pain doesn't mean it's a heart attack; doctors have a variety of tests to find out. But there's no blood test for schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. Instead, doctors rely on symptoms agreed upon by experts. Learning the genetic underpinnings of mental illnesses is part of one day knowing if someone's symptoms really are schizophrenia and not something a bit different.


"If we really want to diagnose and treat people effectively, we have to get to these more fine-grained understandings of what's actually going wrong biologically," Cuthbert explained.


Added Mass General's Smoller: "We are still in the early stages of understanding what are the causes of mental illnesses, so these are clues."


The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, a collaboration of researchers in 19 countries, analyzed the genomes of more than 61,000 people, some with one of the five disorders and some without. They found four regions of the genetic code where variation was linked to all five disorders.


Of particular interest are disruptions in two specific genes that regulate the flow of calcium in brain cells, key to how neurons signal each other. That suggests that this change in a basic brain function could be one early pathway that leaves someone vulnerable to developing these disorders, depending on what else goes wrong.


For patients and their families, the research offers no immediate benefit. These disorders are thought to be caused by a complex mix of numerous genes and other risk factors that range from exposures in the womb to the experiences of daily life.


"There may be many paths to each of these illnesses," Smoller cautioned.


But the study offers a lead in the hunt for psychiatric treatments, said NIMH's Cuthbert. Drugs that affect calcium channels in other parts of the body are used for such conditions as high blood pressure, and scientists could explore whether they'd be useful for psychiatric disorders as well.


The findings make sense, as there is some overlap in the symptoms of the different disorders, he said. People with schizophrenia can have some of the same social withdrawal that's so characteristic of autism, for example. Nor is it uncommon for people to be affected by more than one psychiatric disorder.


___


Online:


http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60223-8/abstract


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Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing












A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.


Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.


Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White House and many Democrats faces an uncertain future.


"Jesse was the love of my life," said Neil Heslin, sobbing as he described his 6-year-old son before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He was the only family I had left. It's hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son. I have to. I'm his voice."


Heslin's son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children and six teachers and school administrators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December. Heslin recounted his last moments with his son when he took him to pick up his favorite, sausage egg and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate before dropping him off at school on the morning of Dec. 14.


"It was 9:04 when I dropped Jesse off. Jesse gave me a hug and a kiss and at that time said goodbye and love you. He stopped and said, I loved mom too." Heslin and his wife are separated.


"That was the last I saw of Jesse as he ducked around the corner. Prior to that when he was getting out of the truck he hugged me and held me and I could still feel that hug and pat on the back and he said everything's going to be ok dad. It's all going to be ok," Heslin said breaking down in tears a second time. "It wasn't ok. I have to go home at night to an empty house without my son."












Army Vet Awarded Medal of Honor for Afghan Firefight Watch Video





Heslin was one of eight witnesses testifying at a hearing to back a proposed assault weapons ban. Another witness was Dr. William Begg, a physician who made it to the emergency room the day of the Newtown shooting.


"People say that the overall number of assault weapon deaths is small but you know what? Please don't tell that to the people of Tucson or Aurora or Columbine or Virginia Tech, and don't tell that to the people in Newtown," Begg said as he choked up and people in the crowd clapped. "Don't tell that to the people in Newtown. This is a tipping point. This is a tipping point and this is a public health issue. Please make the right decision."


Related: Read More About Heslin's Testimony


The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider four gun safety measures, including the assault weapons ban, on Thursday. The three other bills aim to stop illegal gun trafficking, enhance safety in schools, and enact universal background checks.


As the hearing unfolded on Capitol Hill, Biden tapped into the stories that Newtown's first responders have shared with him as he urged attorneys general to help the administration push their gun proposals.


Related: The Tragedy at Sandy Hook


"With the press not here, I can tell you what is not public yet about how gruesome it was," Biden said of the massacre's gruesome aftermath at a Washington luncheon. "I met with the state troopers who were on the scene this last week. And the impact on them has been profound. Some of them, understandably, needing some help."


A spokeswoman for Biden could not clarify the non-public information to which he referred. The vice president suggested that what he heard in private conversations should spur lawmakers to enact some measures aimed at curbing gun violence.


Related: President Obama's Campaign Organization Turns to Gun Control






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Football: Drogba gets Euro clearance, Lazio fined






NYON, Switzerland: Didier Drogba will be allowed to play in Galatasaray's Champions League clash against Schalke after the German club had their objections over his eligibility thrown out by UEFA on Wednesday.

Schalke, who came away from Istanbul with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last 16 clash, believed that the transfer of the former Chelsea striker from Shanghai Shenhua to the Turkish side was completed after the registration deadline.

But the European governing body said that the deal was completed according to the rules.

"Having examined all the documents of the case, the Control and Disciplinary Body decided to reject the protest lodged by Schalke," said a UEFA statement.

The second leg of the tie takes place in Germany on March 12.

Lazio were fined 40,000 euros and ordered to play their next two home games in Europe behind closed doors after their fans were accused of throwing fireworks and displaying racist behaviour in their Europa League against Borussia Moenchengladbach on February 21.

The Italians will play Stuttgart on March 14 behind closed doors as well as their next home tie.

Lazio were fined 140,000 euros in January after their Europa League group clashes against Tottenham and Maribor were marred by racist chanting.

Lazio were slapped with a 90,000-euro sanction after some sections of the Rome club's fans brandished a banner reading "Free Palestine" at the November 22 game against Tottenham in Rome which finished 0-0.

Others sang "Juden Tottenham" ("Tottenham Jews" in German) at the visiting fans, whose club has a historical Jewish connection.

Lazio had previously been fined 40,200 euros after monkey chants were directed at Tottenham players during the reverse fixture in London in September.

The Italians also received a suspended one-match stadium ban and a 50,000-euro fine for their supporters' racist conduct in the group stage game against Maribor in Slovenia in December.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was banned for two European matches after being sent off in the dying moments his team's Champions League 2-1 win at Valencia.

The big Swede will miss the second leg on March 6 as well as the first leg of the quarter-final should PSG qualify.

Turkish side Fenerbahce must play their next Europa League home clash against Victoria Plzen on March 14 behind closed doors after their fans were charged with setting off and throwing fireworks in the match against Bate Borisov.

"The Turkish team are also excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which they would qualify -- this sanction is deferred for a probationary period of two years. Fenerbahce have also been fined 60,000 euros," said UEFA.

-AFP/ac



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Mumbai safest city in India, solo women travellers say

MUMBAI: Even as crimes against women are making headlines in the city, women, who travel alone, still consider Mumbai the safest city compared to other Indian metros, and Maharashtra the safest state. Not surprisingly, Delhi was tagged the least safest city in India.

These findings were part of a countrywide survey that recorded the perception of solo woman travellers. "Due to the recent spate of crime against women, Delhi has gained notoriety with 84% women claiming it to be the most unsafe metro in the country," revealed the Solo Women Traveller Survey 2013, which was carried out by atravel website.

While Mumbai bagged the tag of safest city with 34% votes, Ahmedabad and Bangalore were tied at a distant second with 12% votes each. Nearly 60% respondents said Delhi NCR was the most unsafe among the Indian states and union territories. At a distant second was Bihar (18%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (8%).

A majority of 27% women said they considered Maharashtra to be the safest state, followed by Gujarat (15%) and Karnataka (10%).

"The rise in number of women travelling alone on business is an understandable fallout of the increase in the number of working women. The surprise is the significant number of women who choose to travel alone on vacation," said Nikhil Ganju, country manager, TripAdivsor India, which carried out the survey with a sample size of 500 women. "Another interesting insight that highlights a latent opportunity for the hospitality sector is that 78% respondents said they would prefer to stay in an all-women's hotel or on a women exclusive floor when traveeling alone," he added.

The survey said: "At least 37% women said they don't mind travelling alone for work, but worry about their safety. While 24% respondents said they worry about their safety when they travel within India, but not overseas, only 6% said they worry when they travel abroad alone, but not in India."

The other findings

* 41% respondents said they actually enjoyed travelling alone for work.

* 76% women said they enjoy going solo on a holiday.

* 58% respondents said their biggest incentive for solo vacations was that they could do want they want to 34% women indicated they loved travelling alone as it was adventurous and exciting.

* 32% said the thrill of managing everything by themselves was a motivator.

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Vt. lye victim gets new face at Boston hospital


BOSTON (AP) — The 2007 chemical attack left the Vermont nurse unrecognizable to anyone who knew her.


But now Carmen Blandin Tarleton's face has changed again following a facial transplant this month.


Doctors at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston said Wednesday that the 44-year-old's surgery included transplanting a female donor's facial skin to Tarleton's neck, nose and lips, along with facial muscles, arteries and nerves.


"I know how truly blessed I am, and will have such a nice reflection in the mirror to remind myself what selfless really is," Tarleton wrote on her blog Wednesday.


The Thetford, Vt., woman suffered burns on more than 80 percent of her body and was blinded after her estranged husband attacked her with a baseball bat and doused her with lye in 2007.


Tarleton, who once worked as a transplant nurse, has undergone more than 50 surgeries since the attack, including work to restore some of her vision.


The latest surgery took 15 hours and included a team of more than 30 medical professionals. The lead surgeon, Bohdan Pomahac, called her injuries among the worst he's seen in his career.


"Carmen is a fighter," the doctor said Wednesday. "And fight she did."


Pomahac's team has performed five facial transplants at the hospital. He said the patient is recovering very well and is in great spirits as she works to get stronger.


He said she was very pleased when she saw her face for the first time, and that her appearance will not match that of the late donor's face.


"I think she looks amazing, but I'm biased," he said with a smile.


The donor's family wants to remain anonymous, but released a statement through a regional donor bank saying that her spirit would live on through Tarleton and three other organ recipients.


The estranged husband, Herbert Rodgers, pleaded guilty in 2009 in exchange for a prison sentence of at least 30 years.



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Tempers Flare at Jodi Arias Murder Trial












Tempers flared between accused murderer Jodi Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez today as Martinez tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."


Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination in Arias' murder case, spent more than 10 minutes bickering over Martinez's word choices and his apparent "anger."


The morning's testimony, and Martinez's points about Arias' alleged spying, were largely interrupted by the spats. Arias is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.


"Are you having trouble understanding me?" Martinez yelled.


"Yes because sometimes cause you go in circles," Arias answered.


Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial


"You said you were offended by Mr. Alexander's behavior, do you remember that? This just happened. How is that you are not remembering?" he asked.


"Because you are making my brain scramble,"she said.


Martinez, becoming agitated, barked back, "I'm again making your brain scramble. The problem is not you, it's the prosecutor, right?"


Martinez paced the courtroom in front of Arias asking her whether she had trouble with her memory or trouble answering truthfully.










Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video









Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video





"You don't know? You don't know what you just said? Didn't it just happen? You can't even remember what you just said?"


"I think I'm more focused on your posture, your tone, and your anger," Arias said, causing Martinez to become even angrier.


"So it's the prosecutor's fault because he is angry? You are having problems on the witness stand because of the way the prosecutor is asking the questions? So the answers depend on the style of the prosecutor? You're saying you're having trouble telling us the truth because of the way the questions are being posed," he said, gesturing with his hands.


Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage


Eventually, Arias's attorney Kirk Nurmi, who had been objecting sporadically to Martinez's questions, stood in the courtroom and told Judge Sherry Stephens that they should all approach the bench before Martinez continued. When they returned, Martinez briefly stood in different parts of the courtroom, asking Arias if she was more comfortable depending on where he stood, before moving on.


Arias, 32, is charged with murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa, Ariz., in June 2008. She claims she killed him in self defense and that he had been increasingly violent and sexually demanding in the months before the confrontation. She also claimed he was interested in young boys.


The prosecution claims she killed him in a jealous rage. She could face the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder.


Martinez finally began to make his points that Arias snooped on Alexander's phone messages and Myspace messages, and had gone through an ex-boyfriend's email messages to see if they were cheating. Arias admitted that her behavior was "dishonest."



See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial


Martinez also showed that after Arias went through the messages and found evidence of cheating, she acted quickly to end the relationships with Alexander and two former boyfriends, suggesting that Arias was not under as much of Alexander's influence as she had previously testified.


"So you seem to be very assertive. You were very assertive even at age 17 or 18, you didn't waste any time when you'd been cheated on," Martinez said. "You have the ability to make the decisions necessary for yourself and even from the time you were younger, it appears you were assertive."


"It depends on how comfortable I am with the person," Arias replied.






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Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate


ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties looked for a way forward on Tuesday after an election that gave none of them a parliamentary majority, posing the threat of prolonged instability and European financial crisis.


The results, notably by the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the powerful upper chamber, the Senate.


Financial markets fell sharply at the prospect of a stalemate that reawakened memories of the crisis that pushed Italy's borrowing costs toward unsustainably high levels and brought the euro zone to the brink of collapse in 2011.


"The winner is: Ingovernability," ran the headline in Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, reflecting the deadlock the country will have to confront in the next few weeks as sworn enemies are forced to work together to form a government.


Pier Luigi Bersani, head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), has the difficult task of trying to agree a "grand coalition" with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the man he blames for ruining Italy, or striking a deal with Grillo, a completely unknown quantity in conventional politics.


The alternative is new elections either immediately or within a few months, although both Berlusconi and Bersani have indicated that they want to avoid a return to the polls if possible: "Italy cannot be ungoverned and we have to reflect," Berlusconi said in an interview on his own television station.


For his part, Grillo, whose "non-party" movement won the most votes of any single party, has indicated that he believes the next government will last no more than six months.


"They won't be able to govern," he told reporters on Tuesday. "Whether I'm there or not, they won't be able govern."


He said he would work with anyone who supported his policy proposals, which range from anti-corruption measures to green-tinted energy measures but rejected suggestions of entering a formal coalition: "It's not time to talk of alliances... the system has already fallen," he said.


The election, a massive rejection of the austerity policies applied by Prime Minister Mario Monti with the backing of international leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, caused consternation across Europe.


"This is a jump to nowhere that does not bode well either for Italy or Europe," said Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.


In a sign of worry at the top over what effect the elections could have on the economy, Monti, whose austerity policies were repudiated by voters who shunned his centrist bloc, met the governor of the central bank, the economy minister and the European affairs minister to discuss the situation on Tuesday.


The former EU commissioner and his team of technocrats, who were brought in to govern when Berlusconi was consumed by crisis and scandal, will stay on until a new administration is formed.


UNTHINKABLE WITHOUT GRILLO


Projections for the Senate by the Italian Centre for Electoral Studies indicated that the center-left would have 121 seats, against 117 for the center-right alliance of Berlusconi's PDL and the regionalist Northern League. Grillo would take 54.


That leaves no party with the majority in a chamber which a government must control to pass legislation and opened up the prospect of previously inconceivable partnerships that will test the sometimes fragile internal unity of the main parties.


"The idea of a majority without Grillo is unthinkable. I don't know if anyone in the PD is considering it but I'm against it," said Matteo Orfini, a member of Bersani's PD secretariat.


"The idea of a PD-PDL government, even if it's backed by Monti, doesn't make any sense," he said.


Berlusconi, a media magnate whose campaigning all but wiped out Bersani's once commanding opinion poll lead, hinted in a telephone call to a morning television show that he would be open to a deal with the center-left - but not with Monti, the economics professor who replaced him 15 months ago.


"Italy must be governed," Berlusconi said, adding that he "must reflect" on a possible deal with the center-left. "Everyone must be prepared to make sacrifices," he said of the groups which now have a share of the legislature.


The Milan bourse was down almost 4 percent and the premium Italy pays over Germany to borrow on 10-year widened to a yield spread of 338 basis points, the highest since December 10 and more than 80 points above the level seen earlier on Monday.


At an auction of six-month Treasury bills, Italy's borrowing costs jumped by more than two thirds with the yield reaching 1.237 percent, the highest since October and compared to just 0.730 percent in a similar sale a month ago.


The euro dropped to an almost seven-week low against the dollar in Asia on fears of a revival of the euro zone crisis. It fell as far as $1.3042, its lowest since January 10.


"What is crucial now is that a stable functioning government can be built as swiftly as possible," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. "This is not only in the interests of Italy but in the interests of all Europe."


However the view from some voters, weary of the mainstream parties, was unrepentant: "It's good," said Roger Manica, 28, a security guard in Rome, who voted for the center-left PD.


"Next time I'll vote 5-Star. I like that they are changing things, even if it means uncertainty. Uncertainty doesn't matter to me, for me what's important is a good person who gets things done," he said. "Look how well they've done."


A long recession and growing disillusionment with mainstream parties and tax-raising austerity fed the bitter public mood and contributed to the massive rejection of Monti, whose centrist coalition was relegated to the sidelines.


Berlusconi's campaign, mixing sweeping tax cut pledges with relentless attacks on Monti and Merkel, echoed many of the themes pushed by Grillo and underlined the increasingly angry mood of the Italian electorate.


But even if the next government turns away from the tax hikes and spending cuts brought in by Monti, it will struggle to revive an economy that has scarcely grown in two decades.


Monti was widely credited with tightening Italy's public finances and restoring its international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi, who is currently on trial for having sex with an under-age prostitute.


However he struggled to pass the kind of structural reforms needed to improve competitiveness and lay the foundations for a return to economic growth. A weak center-left government may not find it any easier.


For Italian business, with an illustrious history of export success, the election result brought dismay that there would be no quick change to what they see as a regulatory sclerosis that has kept the economy virtually stagnant for a decade.


"This is probably the worst possible scenario," said Francesco Divella, whose family began selling pasta under its eponymous brand in 1890 in the southern region of Puglia.


"We are very concerned about the uncertainty and apparent ungovernability," said Silvio Pietro Angori, chief executive of Pininfarina, which has designed Ferrari sportscars since 1950. "A company competing on the global markets like Pininfarina needs the support of a stable government that inspires trust."


One of the country's leading bankers summed up his personal reaction: "I'm in shock," he told Reuters. "What a mess!"


(Additional reporting by Barry Moody, Gavin Jones, Lisa Jucca, Steven Jewkes, Steve Scherer Writing by Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



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Football: Security tight as Lippi's Guangzhou beat Reds






GUANGZHOU, China: Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande swept aside Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in an AFC Champions League opener crackling with political tensions and played under heavy security on Tuesday.

As the Asian competition got underway with goals and an outlandish "Panenka" penalty, the Chinese double-holders began their campaign in ominous style as they dispatched the 2007 winners at home.

Chinese media said 11,000 police and security were deployed to prevent any flare-up in nationalist violence. Leading website sports.163.com called it China's highest ever ratio of guards to fans, who numbered about 40,000.

But Lucas Barrios's 16th-minute opener helped calm the atmosphere and Muriqui weighed in with a second goal after half-time. At the death, Keita Suzuki put the ball into his own net to make it an emphatic start for Guangzhou.

The big-spenders, led by their World Cup-winning coach, are aiming to become China's first Asian champions in 23 years, a result which would help mend the country's image after a major corruption scandal which left top officials in jail.

Ambitious China's reputation has also suffered after high-profile imports Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka abruptly quit the country after just one season with Shanghai Shenhua.

Fellow Chinese team Jiangsu Sainty had a rude introduction to the competition when they were hammered 5-1 in their debut outing by K-League champions FC Seoul, who will have their own claims on the Asian title.

Buriram United, rocked last week by claims that their Thai FA Cup final win against Army United was targeted by match-fixers, started positively when they came back from a goal down to draw Japan's Vegalta Sendai 1-1 away.

"We may have to feel content that we haven't lost our opening match," said Sendai coach Makoto Teguramori. "We tried to gain a little flexiblity in our tactics by changing our pace from the first to the second half."

At Nonthaburi's Thunderdome Stadium, fellow Thai team Muangthong United also earned a priceless draw when they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the 2006 winners and 2011 runners-up.

Muangthong went 1-0 down to an early Lee Dong-Gook penalty but they equalised on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Mario Djurovski's sublime "Panenka", chipped-down-the-middle spot-kick.

Belgian forward Kevin Oris looked to have stolen the points for the visitors on 77 minutes but Muangthong's South Korean import Kim Yoo-Jin had the last word when his header found the net via a Jeonbuk defender with just two minutes to go.

Two west Asian groups also got underway on Tuesday.

In Group A, Spanish coach Luis Milla took charge of Al Jazira for the first time, just days after he replaced Brazilian Paulo Bonamigo, but his new UAE side fell 3-1 at Iran's Tractorsazi Tabriz.

Saudi hosts Al Shabab beat Qatari visitors El Jaish 2-0.

In Group B, Qatari champions Lekhwiya came away 2-1 victors over play-off winners Al Shabab Al Arabi of the UAE.

And in Tashkent, Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor, the only side to qualify for all 11 editions, saw off Saudi side Al Ettifaq 1-0.

The remaining games are on Wednesday.

-AFP/ac



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Bansalonomics: High on substance, low on flourish

NEW DELHI: A meticulous parliamentarian, railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal didn't seem too nervous before his maiden budget. But he did quickly glance through the list of business, as the Lok Sabha dispensed with routine pursuits, to check when it would be his turn.

Just then, Bansal realized he needed to fix his lapel mike. Soon the wire was neatly concealed under his tunic while the wooden support on which his bulky leather-bound speech was to rest was checked. He was ready.

His quiet style belies it, but Bansal has been around. He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and is a four-term Lok Sabha MP. But if his moment of arrival was a bit delayed, the Chandigarh MP was more than ready for it on Tuesday.

In keeping with his serious mien, Bansal's speech was high on substance and low on flourish apart from a few poetical references, which, while an improvement on Mamata Banerjee's offerings, weren't inspirational.

The workman-like approach showed in his attention to balancing finances and his promise not to announce trains at the expense of services and safety - a clear break from predecessors like Lalu Prasad and Banerjee.

His words would be reassuring for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who Bansal consulted on more than a few occasions ahead of the railway budget. The message of financial discipline and focus on infrastructure building sets the tone for Thursday's general budget.

The uproar in the House, triggered by Trinamool Congress MPs protesting about projects in West Bengal not finding a mention took Bansal by surprise, but he might have realized that in a pre-election year this was not unexpected.

The Trinamool plan to highlight "neglect" of West Bengal was quickly taken up by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party MPs raising slogans about their own grievances. Soon some 30-odd MPs crowded the well, shouting him down.

Realizing the futility of carrying on with the budget speech, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath and finance minister P Chidambaram advised Bansal to wrap up proceedings. The minister made a quick count of new express trains and announced the total.

He had already made clear the government's intent to prioritize 347 projects, again a change from Banerjee's empire building that included schools, colleges and hospitals.

The sting in the budget lay in the minister's announcement that fuel hikes can mean a revision in fares for passengers and freight twice a year. But that was not now.

Budget 2013 > Rail Budget 2013 > Economic Survey 2013

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