Indian GP begins with practice session

The D-Day is finally here. India’s first-ever Formula One Grand Prix began on Friday with a free practice session.

Although the Formula One World Championship has already been decided, excitement reached a crescendo when 24 cars lined-up on the grid at 10 am today for first of the two practice sessions scheduled for today.

And as soon as the cars were off the block, the audience let out a roar.

The practice sessions are important as it helps the drivers have a real look at the track and the team engineers understand track dynamics.

The qualifiers would be held tomorrow, followed by the real showdown on Sunday.


Formula One drivers are all excited about the Indian GP. They had their first brush with the track yesterday and found it "challenging".

The Buddh International Circuit is 5.137km long, with 16 corners (seven left and nine right). The race will be 60 laps at a distance of 308.220km. The maximum speed is expected to be 315kph, reached before turn four.

The fastest corner will be turn 12, taken at 255kph. The circuit has a main straight more than 1km long and a sweeping corner reminiscent of Turkey`s turn eight.

The pitlane extends more than 600m, one of the longest in F1.

Narain Karthikeyan, the only Indian driver to have scored points in F1, finishing fourth for Jordan in a six-car 2005 US Grand Prix, will also be the only Indian in the race, competing for HRT (Hispania).

It is a special day for Team Force India as it is their maiden appearance before the home crowd.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, 24, has already won the 2011 title as Formula One's youngest double world champion. He is only the ninth driver to win back-to-back championships.

Red Bull has also won the constructors' title for the second year running.

Bangkok residents flee flooding in Thai capital

Bangkok residents fled the capital on Thursday after authorities called an emergency five-day holiday and urged people in flood-prone parts of the city to leave to avoid a massive deluge.

Flood waters were already seeping into central parts of Bangkok in the morning, with waters entering the Grand Palace, near the Chao Phraya river.

After days of preparing for the onslaught of water, many citizens abandoned their homes on Wednesday night and Thursday morning and were heading to safety in other areas, especially southern beach towns of Hua Hin, Phuket and Pattaya.

"We have learned that all of these destinations are packed with Thais who have moved from Bangkok," said the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) deputy chief Sansern Ngaorungsi.

He said domestic flights from the country's main air hub, Suvarnabhumi – which is still operating as normal – were also "very, very packed".

Televised footage showed crowded bus terminals in the capital as people sought to escape, while officials said Bangkok's main train station was also filling up and roads north and east out of the city were choked.

Food inflation jumps to 11.43%

Food inflation shot up to 11.43 per cent for the week ended October 15 on the back of costlier vegetables, fruits, milk and protein-based items.

Food inflation, as measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 10.60 per cent in the previous week.

The rate of price rise of food items was 14.20 per cent in the corresponding week of 2010.

As per data released by the government today, vegetables became 25 per cent costlier, year-on-year basis. Similarly, Fruits grew dearer by 11.96 per cent, milk by 10.85 per cent and eggs, meat and fish by 12.82 per cent.

Pulses also became dearer by 9.06 per cent and cereal prices were up 4.62 per cent year-on-year.

However, onions became 18.93 cheaper. Wheat prices were also down 0.95, and potatoes by 0.45 per cent during the week under review.

As for weekly comparison, inflation in the overall primary articles category was 11.75 per cent for the week ended October 15, compared to 11.18 per cent in the previous week. Primary articles have over 20 per cent weight in WPI.

Nokia launches Windows smartphone Lumia 800 and Lumia 710

Nokia, facing fierce competition to remain the world's top mobile phone maker, launched on Wednesday its much anticipated first smartphones using the Windows platform to only a muted welcome.

The Finnish company launched the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 smartphones, to be rolled out starting next month on selected markets.

The success of the new phones is seen as do-or-die for Nokia, with its market share plunging as smartphone users flock to the hugely popular iPhone by Apple, RIM's Blackberry and handsets running Google's Android platform.

Chief executive Stephen Elop in February announced a radical restructuring and the phasing out of Symbian as Nokia's smartphone software in favour of a partnership with Microsoft.

"Eight months ago, we shared our new strategy and today we are demonstrating clear progress of this strategy in action. We're driving innovation throughout our entire portfolio, from new smartphone experiences to ever smarter mobile phones," Elop said at a Nokia event in London that was webcast live.

"We are very proud of Lumia and everything it represents. Lumia means light; this is a new dawn for Nokia," he added.

Yet the market seemed little impressed as Nokia shares were up 0.7 percent in late afternoon trade on a Helsinki stock exchange also up just 0.7 percent.

Analyst Michael Schroeder of FIM Bank said the launch was "not enough" to help Nokia immediately begin regaining market share.

"No, they need a lot more to stop the slide," he said. "They need broader distribution (of the new phones), they need global distribution before they can start gaining market share," he added.

The Lumia 800 will feature Internet Explorer 9, free voice-guided navigation services and free music and image storage.

It will go on sale in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in November, and in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan by the end of the year.

It will reach the US early next year and mainland China in mid-2012.

A simpler version, the Lumia 710, will go on sale by year-end in most of the same markets.

Schroeder estimated Nokia's market share for smartphones at 15 percent in the third quarter, down from 18 percent in the previous quarter, and put its overall market share for mobile devices at around 25 percent, down from a peak of around 40 percent in early 2008.

Helena Nordman-Knutson, analyst at Oehman Fondkommission, said Wednesday's launch was "just the first step."

"Nokia also has to prove that it can sell the phones. But this of course gives Nokia a little breathing room," she told.

Nokia last week posted a third quarter loss of 68 million euros ($94 million dollars), far better than the 321-million loss forecast by analysts.

But the company also reported a 25 percent year-on-year drop in sales and a 39 percent slump in sales of smartphones.

One of Nokia's strategies to regain market share is to sell the Lumia phones at reasonable prices, according to analyst Neil Mawston of Strategy Analytics.

"It's fair to assume that Nokia's margins on these products are somewhat squeezed," he told.
The Lumia 800 will retail for 420 euros ($585) and the Lumia 710 for 270 euros, excluding taxes.

Rajat Gupta pleads not guilty, released on bail

Former-Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta turned himself in on Wednesday to the FBI, and then pleaded not guilty in court to massive securities fraud before being freed on $10 million bail pending trial.

The indictment of the biggest fish yet in a growing insider trading scandal reverberated around Wall Street, where more than 50 fraudsters have been netted since 2009 in an intensifying crackdown by prosecutors.

Gupta's appearance in a Manhattan courtroom was a stunning turnaround for the former managing director of consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Company -- a corporate giant who sat on the boards of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble.

Indian-born Gupta stands accused of being the "illegal eyes and ears" of Sri Lankan-born friend Raj Rajaratnam, who turned a tidy profit by buying or selling Goldman shares in his multi-billion-dollar hedge fund complex Galleon.

Gupta was charged on Wednesday with five counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities. The judge freed him on bail but kept his passport, setting a trial date of April 9.

The 62-year-old, who is also know for his philanthropic work through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Global Fund, faces over 100 years in prison and a $25 million fine if found guilty.

"We wish to enter a plea of not guilty to all charges," Gupta's star white-collar defense lawyer Gary Naftalis told the court, dismissing the allegations earlier as "totally baseless."

Recorded phone calls between the two men were played at the trial of Rajaratnam, who earlier this month received the heaviest US sentence for insider trading, 11 years, still far below what prosecutors had sought.

Prosecutors said Gupta tipped Rajaratnam about Warren Buffett's surprise $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis, allowing Rajaratnam to profit from trade before the market knew about the transaction.

He also allegedly told Rajaratnam in advance when Goldman was about to post its first ever quarterly earnings loss, another major event on the market.

Gupta is alleged to have placed a call to Rajaratnam 23 seconds after the board meeting ended, prompting the Galleon owner to sell his entire holding of Goldman Sachs stock, saving millions of dollars for his hedge funds.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said Gupta had squandered the trust of some of America's top companies to help Rajaratnam, "who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta's breach of duty."

The insider trading by Rajaratnam and others produced more than $18 million in illicit profits and loss avoidance, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The conduct alleged is not an inadvertent slip of the tongue by Mr Gupta," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk.

"His eagerness to pass along inside information to Rajaratnam is nowhere more starkly evident than in the two instances where a total of 39 seconds elapsed between his learning of crucial Goldman Sachs information and lavishing it on his good friend.

"That information (captured by the FBI) was conveyed by phone so quickly, it could be termed instant messaging."

Gupta was allegedly a direct or indirect investor in some of the Galleon hedge funds.

Naftalis insisted Gupta was innocent and would fight the charges.

"The facts demonstrate that Mr Gupta is an innocent man and that he has always acted with honesty and integrity," the attorney said.

"He did not trade in any securities, did not tip Mr Rajaratnam so he could trade, and did not share in any profits as part of any quid pro quo."

Rajaratnam was also slapped with new charges in Wednesday's indictment but it was not immediately clear if he could face another trial and more time on his sentence, which he begins next month.

Gupta, who comes from humble roots in Kolkata and worked his way up to the very top of McKinsey, joined the Goldman board in November 2006.

The naturalized US citizen became chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce last July.

A Harvard Business School graduate, he has been affiliated with a number of organizations, including the United Nations, where former secretary-general Kofi Annan tapped him in 2005 as his special advisor for management reform.

25 shops gutted in fire in Chennai

Major fire gutted at least 25 more shops in a commercial complex in Parrys on Wednesday. No one was injured in the mishap.

Fire fighters are battling continuously for more than 12 hours to put down the fire. The fire and rescue service personnel received the fire call at 8.30 pm on Wednesday. Immediately, the fire tenders were diverted to put down the fire.

As the commercial complex is located in a narrow 20 feet lane in Parrys, the fire tenders and the fire personnel struggled to reach the place. The complex was locked and there was no one except a security guard due to Diwali. Otherwise, many people may have trapped inside the building, police said.

Also, Chennai city witnessed heavy down pour since last evening and this hampered the rescue operation.

Thousands of wholesale shops are located on Devaraja Mudali Street. Fire personnel have successfully prevented the fire to spread to adjacent buildings. The commercial complex is housing at least 25 more wholesale and retail shops including textile, stationary and other shops.

One of the security guard noticed the smoke bellowed out of the building and alerted the police and the fire personnel on Wednesday night. "As the shops dumped all its belongings inside the small shops, it was very difficult for us to rescue the goods. The building didn't adhere to the fire safety norms prescribed by us," a senior fire officer at the fire scene told TOI.

Police suspect the fire may have caused due to an electrical short circuit or due to rocket cracker which fell on the building. "After the fire was put down, the TNEB officials and the fire personnel will inspect the building to know the cause of the fire," a police officer said.

Fire personnel are ascertaining the loss. At least few crores worth valuables may have damaged in the fire accident, police said. Nearly 50 fire personnel are working at the fire spot since last night. More than 10 fire tenders and 30 metro tankers were pressed into the service to bring the fire under the control.

11 infants dead in 48 hours in Kolkatta