New Ulip norms from Sept 1, policyholders to benefit

For one, insurers will have to offer a minimum prescribed return.

Starting Wednesday, policyholders will get a much fairer deal if they invest in unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips).

The new rules of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) take effect from September 1. Ulips, which contributed 80 per cent of the total premium collected by private companies, will see a dramatic change. Irda has capped the difference between net and gross yields during the policy term. Insurers will have to offer a minimum prescribed return even if a policyholder withdraws from the fund before maturity. For the fifth year, the cap is fixed at four per cent.

WHAT’S IN STORE?
Move: The difference between net and gross yields capped during the policy term.	Effect: The policyholders will get higher returns on their Ulip investments.
Move: The lock-in period will increase from three years to five years.	Effect: If anyone withdraws in the first year, he will get back the amount after deduction of charges only after the 5th year.
Move: Surrender charges have been capped at a level much lower than what exists at present	Effect: It will ensure that only acquisition expenses are recovered in the event of the discontinuance of the policy.

From tomorrow, the lock-in period will increase from three years to five years. If a policyholder wants to withdraw in the first year, he will get back the amount invested after deduction of various charges only after the fifth year.

To ensure only acquisition expenses are recovered in the event of the discontinuance of the policy, surrender charges have been capped at a level much lower than what exists at present. The industry had been benefiting from higher lapses. Funds collected from policyholders under lapsed policies are sent to a separate fund and the money is given the the policholder after the company deducts all charges. The charges are as high as 100 per cent in some companies.

“We have always maintained that insurance is a long-term contract. Any pre-termination of policy is not good for all stakeholders,” said S B Mathur, secretary general, Life Insurance Council.

“Products are going to be more attractive now. We expect greater customer interest, as charges will be uniform as well as lower,” said G V Nageswara Rao, managing director and chief executive officer, IDBI Federal Life Insurance.

Rao added the customer could now expect higher returns, as the amount of funds invested was likely to go up.

Along with these changes, the regulator has set minimum disclosure guidelines for insurers.

“Now agents cannot take policyholders for a ride. They (policyholders) can now see the financial position of the company over the website and do not need to depend on agents,” added Mathur.

On the flip side, though overcharging and misspelling will come down, insurers say product innovation and customisation will be affected. Also, traditional plans will suit those in the lower ticket size segment.

Obama: Can't plaster birth certificate on forehead

US President Barack Obama has said that he cannot spend all his time with his birth certificate plastered on his forehead to counter the misinformation campaign his detractors are running against him dubbing him as a Muslim.

"I would say that I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," Obama told the NBC news in an interview in response to question regarding to a recent poll according to which 18 per cent of Americans believe that he was a Muslim, dismissing the results of a recent Pew Research Centre.

"The facts are the facts. So, it's not something that I can I think spend all my time worrying about. I don't think the American people want me to spend all my time worrying about it," he said.

The President said he went through this kind of misinformation campaign during his election campaign.

"You know, there is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly. We dealt with this when I was first running for the US Senate. We dealt with it when we were first running for the Presidency," he said.

Obama said that he won the Senate seat in Illinois despite some people saying I couldn't win as US Senator because I had a funny name.

"And yet, we ended up winning that Senate seat in Illinois because I trusted in the American people's capacity to get beyond all this nonsense and focus on is this somebody who cares about me and cares about my family and has a vision for the future?" Obama said, adding he will always put his money on the American people.

"And I am not going to be worrying too much about whatever rumours are floating on out there. If I spend all my time chasing after that then I wouldn't get much done," the President noted.

Conspiracy theories about the citizenship of Barack Obama are ideas that reject the legitimacy of the United States citizenship of President Barack Obama or his eligibility to be President of the United States. Some of these conspiracy theories allege that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and that his birth certificate is a forgery.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/obama-can-t-plaster-birth-certificate-on-forehead-48132?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/obama-can-t-plaster-birth-certificate-on-forehead-48132?cp

Jet flight scare: Pilot, crew under scanner?

The Civil Aviation watchdog DGCA's (Director General of Civil Aviation) preliminary inquiry seems to have found that the Jet flight mishap may have happened because the pilot and crew over-reacted.

NDTV has learnt that the initial probe has found that the fire alarm in the cockpit never went off. The preliminary inquiry has also apparently found that the engine showed no signs of fire.

The DGCA is therefore looking into whether a full emergency needed to be declared. The initial probe has also found the crew did not carry out a proper evacuation drill.

Sources say the DGCA is probing whether the crew's response to the fire alarm was responsible for causing panic among passengers.

It is also learnt that DGCA is looking into why the pilot opened only three of the four slides. The Pilot and crew have now been de-rostered as part of standard procedure.

DGCA has already ordered a probe into the last night's incident.

Twenty six passengers of a Jet flight were injured at Mumbai airport during an emergency evacuation after a fire alarm went off in the cockpit on Friday night. Some were hurt because they tried to jump from the plane while others sustained injuries in the chaos when passengers rushed to slide down the chutes.

Eleven passengers were admitted in Nanavati Hospital, six were diagnosed with fracture. Now, only two patients are in the hospital, rest have been discharged.

According to reports, 153 passengers were on board the flight.

"Jet Airways pilot of flight 9W 2302 (Mumbai-Chennai) reported fire in one of the engine while its was on the taxiway. MIAL emergency services responded to the call. However, there was no visible fire," the spokesperson said.

The pilot alerted the ATC and a full emergency was declared. Taking no chances, the commander of the flight decided to evacuate all passengers.

Emergency slides were deployed and 153 panic stricken passengers were deplaned using the chutes.

Fire engines were rushed to the spot, but reported no visible fire.

While sliding out, some passengers were injured and sustained fractures. Most of them were given first aid.

"Well just like any emergency situation, the thing was to escape somehow and I too had the same feeling," said a passenger.

While another passenger said, "The crew handled the emergency very well. All were young people, just around 25 years old, but they were so well prepared and handled it very well."

After several hours, the passengers were put on the same flight to Chennai where the flight arrived a little after 2 am.

Jet Airways in a statement said the commander of the flight proceeded to declare a precautionary emergency although there were no visible traces of fire.

"The commander on board Jet Airways flight 9W 2302 Mumbai-Chennai was informed of an indication of a fire in left engine. Although there was no visible trace of a fire, the commander proceeded to declare a precautionary emergency," the statement said.

All passengers were deplaned safely and a thorough inspection of the engine was carried out, it added. (With PTI Inputs)

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/jet-flight-scare-pilot-crew-under-scanner-47753?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/jet-flight-scare-pilot-crew-under-scanner-47753?cp

British Airways pilot presses wrong button, causes mid-air scare

A British Airways pilot terrified passengers mid-air after he hit a wrong button which led to an immediate announcement that the plane was about to crash into the sea, a media report said.

According to 'The Sun', the blunder triggered an automated female voice which said: "This is an emergency announcement. We may shortly need to make an emergency landing on water."

The 275 passengers flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong prepared for the worst over the North Sea, until cabin crew ran down the aisles to announce that it was all a mistake, the British tabloid said.

32-year-old passenger Michelle Lord of Preston was quoted as saying, "People were terrified, we all thought we were going to die. They said the pilot hit the wrong button because they were so close together."

Another traveller said: "I can't think of anything worse than being told your plane's about to crash."

However, BA has apologised for the "undue distress".

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/british-airways-pilot-presses-wrong-button-causes-mid-air-scare-47510?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/british-airways-pilot-presses-wrong-button-causes-mid-air-scare-47510?cp

New York: Rider asks if cabbie is Muslim, then stabs him

It was the first fare of the cabdriver's shift. A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd and Second. It was 6 p.m. on Tuesday; the traffic was dense. Once the fare, Michael Enright, a 21-year-old film student who had been recently trailing Marines in Afghanistan, settled in the back, he started asking friendly enough questions: Where was the driver from? Was he Muslim? The driver, Ahmed H. Sharif, 44, said he was from Bangladesh, and yes he was Muslim. Mr. Enright said, "Salaam aleikum," the Arabic greeting "Peace be upon you." "How's your Ramadan going?" Mr. Enright asked, Mr. Sharif said.

He told him it was going fine. Then, he said, Mr. Enright began making fun of the rituals of Ramadan, and Mr. Sharif sensed this cab ride might not be like any other. "So I stopped talking to him," Mr. Sharif said. "He stopped talking, too." As the cab inched up Third Avenue and reached 39th Street, Mr. Sharif said in a phone interview, Mr. Enright suddenly began cursing at him and shouting "This is the checkpoint" and "I have to bring you down." He said he told him he had to bring the king of Saudi Arabia to the checkpoint. "He was talking like he was a soldier," Mr. Sharif said.

He withdrew a Leatherman knife, Mr. Sharif said, and, reaching through the opening in the plastic divider, slashed Mr. Sharif's throat. When Mr. Sharif turned, he said, Mr. Enright stabbed him in his face, on his arm and on his thumbs. Mr. Sharif said he told him: "I beg of you, don't kill me. I worked so hard, I have a family." He said Mr. Enright bolted out of the slowly moving cab. Mr. Sharif then found a police officer who apprehended Mr. Enright. The officer told him, Mr. Sharif said, that Mr. Enright said he had tried to rob him.

Mr. Sharif received more than two dozen stitches at Bellevue Hospital Center and was released. Mr. Enright was given a psychiatric evaluation there. The Manhattan district attorney charged Mr. Enright with second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime, first-degree assault as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon. He was arraigned on Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, appearing in cargo shorts and a polo shirt, and ordered held without bail. If convicted of the top charge, he would face up to 25 years in prison. "He's terrified," said Mr. Enright's lawyer, Jason A. Martin. "He's shocked at the allegations. He's just trying to cope with it right now."

The violence that erupted during the cab ride came amid a heated and persisting national debate over whether to situate a Muslim community center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero. Upon learning of the attack on the cabdriver, some Muslim groups called for political and religious leaders to quiet tensions. Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement: "As other American minorities have experienced, hate speech often leads to hate crimes. Sadly, we've seen how the deliberate public vilification of Islam can lead some individuals to violence against innocent people."

In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, "This attack runs counter to everything that New Yorkers believe, no matter what God we may pray to." He said he had spoken to Mr. Sharif and told him "ethnic or religious bias has no place in our city." He invited him to come to see him at City Hall on Thursday. The arresting officers said Mr. Enright seemed to be drunk, the police said, and a city official briefed on the investigation said there was an empty bottle of Scotch in his backpack. The police did not do a Breathalyzer test.

Mr. Sharif, however, said Mr. Enright did not appear inebriated to him. Mr. Sharif, who lives in Jamaica, Queens, with his wife and four children, came to the United States about 25 years ago and was a cook before becoming a cabdriver 15 years ago. He said nothing of this nature had happened to him before. Recently, some passengers asked him about the center planned near ground zero, he recalled, and he replied that he was against it, that there was no need to put it there.

What is known about Mr. Enright presents a complicated picture. An only child, he lives with his mother in Brewster, N.Y., a middle-class suburb about 50 miles north of Manhattan. Neighbors said he was friendly enough and often skateboarded outside his house. He is a senior, studying film, at School of Visual Arts, on East 23rd Street, near where he hailed the cab. He was arrested in November on charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. According to the police, he was picked up on Second Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, where he was acting violently, banging on walls and ringing doorbells. There was also a warrant out for him at the time for another violation, though it was unclear on Wednesday what it was for.

Mr. Enright had been working as an unpaid intern with an Internet media company called tvworldwide.com on a documentary that followed Bravo Company of the First Battalion, Third Marines, known as the Lava Dogs. An article in The Journal News in March said the film, "Home of the Brave," was to be Mr. Enright's senior thesis. The article said that in October, Mr. Enright spent time at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii filming the Marines as they prepared for deployment to Afghanistan. In April and May, he spent five weeks embedded with them in Afghanistan, according to military officials in Afghanistan. One of the members of the regiment was a friend from Brewster High School, Cpl. Alex Eckner.

In the article, Mr. Enright said that the experiences of Mr. Eckner led him to want to do the film. Mr. Enright is also a volunteer with Intersections International, an initiative of the Collegiate Churches of New York that promotes justice and faith across religions and cultures. The organization, which covered part of Mr. Enright's travel expenses to Afghanistan, has been a staunch supporter of the Islamic center near ground zero. Mr. Enright volunteered with the group's veteran-civilian dialogue project.

Joseph Ward III, the director of communications for Intersections, said that if Mr. Enright had been involved in a hate crime, it ran "counter to everything Intersections stands for" and was shocking. Mr. Enright, according to the article in The Journal News, was also working as a landscaper at Four Winds Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Katonah, N.Y. The older brother of Alex Eckner, Wesley Eckner, 27, said in an interview: "It's crazy to hear this. It sounds completely out of character." Wesley Eckner, who served three combat tours with the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now in college, said that Mr. Enright was "a jolly kid" who liked to "goof around." Whereas the older Mr. Eckner liked to go with his brother to the gun range to fire vintage World War II rifles, he said, Mr. Enright gravitated to taking photographs and loved movies.

During the time Mr. Enright was in Afghanistan, Mr. Eckner said, things had been quiet with the Marine unit, though it had come under plenty of fire before he arrived. Yet he recalled a curious call from Mr. Enright not long after he had returned from overseas. He asked Mr. Eckner how he was dealing with readjusting, leading Mr. Eckner to believe he was having some trouble. He found that odd, considering that Mr. Enright had been there for such a short period. He said Mr. Enright had never said anything to them that was anti-Muslim.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/new-york-rider-asks-if-cabbie-is-muslim-then-stabs-him-47241?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/new-york-rider-asks-if-cabbie-is-muslim-then-stabs-him-47241?cp

Chinese plane overshoots runway, 43 killed

A Chinese passenger jet broke apart as it approached a fog-shrouded runway in the country's northeast and burst into flames as it hit the ground on Tuesday, killing 43 people and injuring 53 others, state media said.

The Henan Airlines plane with 91 passengers and five crew crashed in a grassy area near the Lindu airport on the outskirts of Yichun, a city of about one million people in Heilongjiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Xinhua quoted Hua Jingwei, an Yichun publicity official, as saying that some passengers were thrown from the cabin before the broken plane hit the ground.

The Brazilian-made Embraer E-190 jet had taken off from Heilongjiang's capital of Harbin shortly before 9 p.m. (1300 GMT) and crashed a little more than an hour later, Xinhua said.

China Central Television showed firefighters dousing the burning plane with hoses and later digging through the wreckage of the jet.

CCTV broadcast video of ambulances rushing the injured to hospital.

Xinhua said 43 bodies were recovered within hours of the disaster and 53 people were hospitalised, most with broken bones.

One man told local television that he felt an enormous jolt, followed by several smaller ones before the plane crashed.

"The plane was descending, suddenly I felt a big jolt, and after 4 or 5 or 6 strong jolts the luggage fell down from the luggage rack," he said.

Henan Airlines is based in the central Chinese province of the same name and flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China.

Previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, the carrier was relaunched as Henan Airlines earlier this year.

Henan Airlines and many other regional Chinese airlines flying shorter routes have struggled in the past few years, losing passengers to high-speed railroad lines that China has aggressively expanded.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/chinese-plane-overshoots-runway-43-killed-47015?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/chinese-plane-overshoots-runway-43-killed-47015?cp

Two Britons survive Philippines hijacking

Two Britons were among the survivors of the Philippines hostage crisis, the Foreign Office confirmed on Tuesday.

Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed during the 12-hour siege on a bus in Manila, which ended with police shooting dead the Filipino hostage-taker.

The Foreign Office said it had offered consular assistance and was ready to provide it if needed.

"I can confirm that there are two British nationals (in Manila) but they are safe and well now," a spokesman said.

Philippine police conceded Tuesday they had made blunders during the incident, as outrage grew over the bloody assault that was played out on live television.

Commandos fired bullets into the bus and smashed its windows with sledgehammers, but were then forced to wait outside for more than an hour as the hijacker used his captives as human shields.

The stand-off in Manila's tourist district on Monday finally ended when police fired tear gas into the bus and a sniper shot the gunman in the head, but by then eight of the tourists on board had been killed.

Amid a storm of criticism from Hong Kong's government and people around the world, Manila police commander Leocadio Santiago admitted mistakes had been made.

"We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used, or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this," Santiago said on local television.

He and President Benigno Aquino promised to investigate all aspects of the incident, which began when a sacked policeman armed with an M-16 assault rifle hijacked a bus carrying 25 people.

Blast kills at least 15 in Pakistan mosque

Pakistan (Reuters) - A blast inside a mosque in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border killed at least 15 people on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Taliban insurgents, who have carried out similar bombings, have been keeping a low profile during Pakistan's flood crisis, which has overwhelmed the government.

"Apparently it was a suicide attack and Maulana Noor Mohammad was the target," said an intelligence official in Wana, referring to a pro-government cleric.

Pakistan had said it made serious progress against militants before the floods hit more than three weeks ago.

Dell India becomes No. 1, topples HP

Dell saw sizzling growth in India in the quarter ended June, pushing it to the No. 1 spot in the organized PC market for the first time and displacing HP, which had held that position uninterruptedly for over five years. Steve Felice, president for Dell's global consumer, small and medium business, said revenue in India during the quarter rose by 77% and unit shipments by a still higher 90%, compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

Speaking to journalists across Asia-Pacific through a teleconference on Friday, Felice said growth in India was now coming from the consumer and SMB segments. "We have been consistently No. 1 in market share in the large enterprise segment. Now we are beginning to see a similar performance in the other segments," he said. He claimed that in the consumer segment, Dell was only a percentage point behind the market leader. He also said Dell now has annualized revenues of $1 billion in India.

Dell's momentum picked up ever since it set up a factory in India four years ago. Asked whether the company would need to expand capacity in India, Felice said the existing facility had enough capacity and there was no need for another factory soon.

Earlier this week, IDC officially announced what has been speculated for over a month -- that Dell had overtaken HP in the second quarter of the year. In the overall PC (notebooks and desktops combined) market, Dell had a share of 15.2%, while HP's share fell more than two percentage points to 14.3%, compared to the first quarter, and Acer's dropped 1.5 percentage point to 11.5%.

Pranab meets Lalu, Mulayam on MPs' pay hike

Congress party's chief trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee met Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday to break the deadlock over salary hike for MPs. The Bill that seeks to increase the salaries of the MPs is likely to be introduced today. On Friday, the Cabinet had approved a 300 per cent hike in the MP's salaries from 16,000 to 50,000 rupees. But the amount was promptly rejected by several parties mainly the Samajwadi party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. They argued it should be, at least, 80,001 rupee more than the highest paid bureaucrat.

On Friday, the Union Cabinet cleared a 300 per cent salary hike for MPs that will take their salaries from Rs. 16,000 a month to Rs. 50,000 a month. But some MPs say this is not enough. Forum:Will higher salaries for MPs help reduce corruption?)

Their daily allowance of Rs. 1000 when Parliament is in session has been doubled. Their monthly constitution allowance has also doubled from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000. For their office expenses, they now get Rs. 40,000 - twice what they were entitled to so far. More good news for them. Their conveyance allowance has gone from 1 lakh to 4 lakh.Spouses are entitled to free train travel from their place of residence to Delhi. Spouses also get upto eight free plane tickets from their place of residence to Delhi.

Lalu Prasad Yadav had led the campaign for new salaries after the Cabinet indicated it wanted to defer a hike. Ministers who said the timing was not correct for higher salaries included Home Minister P Chidambaram and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.They believe that the recent hike in petrol prices as well as the bevy of corruption allegations for the Commonwealth Games make it tough to justify a raise at this point. However, MPs pointed out that they are among the lowest-paid public representatives in the world.

MPs unhappy? Uproar in Lok Sabha over salary hike, Samajwadi Party (SP), Baujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) members on Friday forced adjournment of the Lok Sabha for an hour voicing dissatisfaction over the quantum of proposed salary hike for MPs. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for an hour on Friday as SP, BSP and RJD members voiced dissatisfaction over the quantum of proposed salary hike for MPs. Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) and Lalu Prasad (RJD) were on their feet during Question Hour claiming that the government had insulted Parliament by rejecting the recommendation of its Committee to raise the basic salary to Rs. 80,001 per month.

The Cabinet, at a meeting, approved a proposal to raise the basic salary of MPs to Rs. 50,000 from present level of Rs. 16,000. "The government decision is an insult of Parliament. The bill should be torn to pieces," Yadav said in the Lok Sabha. SP members, led by Yadav, backed Prasad and trooped to the well demanding that the MPs' Salary Bill be taken back. BSP members and a lone JD(U) member who was present were also seen on their feet supporting the issue. Amidst the ruckus, the government got two bills passed - the medical council of India bill and the trade mark bill. BJP MPs, especially Uday Singh and Kirti Azad protested over the manner in which the government got the bills passed and RJD and Samajwadi Party MPs were upset over the quantum of the salary hike and refused to leave the House after it was adjourned.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pranab-meets-lalu-mulayam-on-mps-pay-hike-46116?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pranab-meets-lalu-mulayam-on-mps-pay-hike-46116?cp

Pakistan accepts India's aid offer for flood relief work

Pakistan has finally accepted India's offer of 5 million US dollars as aid for the devastating floods that have hit the country. And has thanked India Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is in New York to drum up funding from the international community, confirmed to NDTV's Sarah Jacob that the government of Pakistan had agreed to accept the Indian offer.

The decision came after days of a diplomatic logjam. Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had called up Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He offered his condolences and reminded him of the Indian government's offer, saying India was ready to do more. There was also a stern message from the US on Thursday. Asserting that there was no role for politics in disaster response, the Obama Administration said it expected Pakistan to accept the aid offer from India for its flood relief work. "In terms of responding to a disaster, politics should play no role. You have a country (India) that's willing to help (Pakistan), and... we expect that Pakistan will accept," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said.

And within 24 hours of that, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Pakistan had agreed to accept the Indian offer and that his government appreciated India's gesture. Here's more on what Shah Mahmood Qureshi said:

NDTV: Here you have travelled all the way to the US to ask the international community to loosen its purse strings. India has offered aid but Pakistan has not accepted this offer as yet. Surely this is not the time for politics when people are dying.

Qureshi: No, we are playing no politics. To begin with let me acknowledge the fact that Minister for External Affairs Mr. Krishna called me in Islamabad and he expressed sympathy and he condoled with me on the loss of life and offered assistance to Pakistan. According to Pakistan's priorities, I want to take advantage of this connection to thank him and the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for this very positive gesture. It is highly appreciated in Pakistan and we have recognised it. PM Manmohan Singh called up Prime Minister Gilani and they have also exchanged views on the evolving flood situation in Pakistan. He reiterated the offer made by Foreign Minister Krishna and I can share with you that the government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer.

NDTV: So you are confirming that Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer?

Qureshi: Yes.

NDTV: Another worry for the international community and India and US is that Islamic extremist groups might take advantage of this opportunity to win over hearts and minds. Is this a worry for your government too?

Qureshi: I think we saw today that the UN will not permit them to take advantage of the situation. I think the international community is now forthcoming and respondent and they are responding quickly and we will not allow them to exploit the situation.

NDTV: Lastly sir, Indo-Pak ties reached an all-time low after the Mumbai terror attacks. Is this acceptance of Indian aid and the offer from India a new chapter perhaps?

Qureshi: I think the ball was set rolling in Thimpu when the two prime ministers met and they agreed to resume the dialogue. And the meeting that we had in Islamabad was a step forward in that direction. I think this initiative of India is a very welcome initiative and I am looking forward to further engagements with my counterpart to improve the environment and build confidence and to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pakistan-accepts-india-s-aid-offer-for-flood-relief-work-45778?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pakistan-accepts-india-s-aid-offer-for-flood-relief-work-45778?cp

Randiv gets one-match ban, Dilshan fined

It was the no-ball of the century, and wrists have been slapped. Ensuring that the breach of the spirit of the game did not go unpunished, an interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has reprimanded captain Kumar Sangakkara, penalized instigator Tillakaratne Dilshan and banned perpetrator Suraj Randiv for one game for deliberating overstepping to deny Virender Sehwag a century.

It was a grey area in the laws and no rules were flouted. But the issue snowballed into a major controversy, forcing the Lankan board to take strict action on a day in which Sangakkara took on Sehwag and hinted that the powerful Indian cricket board’s strong-arm tactics had put his team in a corner.

Sehwag might have missed a ton but the evidence presented by the TV cameras and boom microphones was not so easily denied. Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended Suraj Randiv for Thursday’s game against New Zealand and his match fee from the India game has been forfeited.

Tillakaratne Dilshan’s match fee too has been forfeited, though he has not been banned. Kumar Sangakkara got away the easiest, though the board said he had been advised to ensure that repetition of such incidents did not occur where disrepute will be brought to the game of cricket.

"We know the International Cricket Council (ICC) was watching us keenly and even the MCC said its laws were valid, but we did not go into the intricacies of the law as such," SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told TOI after the board’s verdict, which came after a marathon three-hour meeting of the interim committee in Colombo.

"We were just concerned about the team not playing in the right spirit. It was a tough decision to arrive at but our job was made easier because the evidence we had asked for us was very strong. It is a must to ensure that the spirit of the game is upheld at all times by the players, no matter what the situation is. We have been twice winners of the ICC Spirit of Cricket award and the captain has been told such actions will not be tolerated at any cost," he added.

The committee had asked for footage from the broadcasters of the last over. Dilshan, who was fielding at point, was in action during the second and third balls of the 35th over, which Sehwag played toward him. After the second ball, when scores were level and Sehwag was on 99, Dilshan threw the ball to Randiv and said loudly in Sinhalese, ‘Oney nam, no ball ekak danna puluwan’ (If you want, you can bowl a no-ball). The footage shows Sehwag taking guard at that moment but Dilshan’s voice is so loud it is apparent the captain and a few others would have heard it, including Sehwag, who doesn’t understand Sinhalese.

At the post-match media interaction, the issue escalated when Sehwag said the captain and a senior player must been known about Randiv’s intentions. The SLC’s verdict seems to bear him out. Sangakkara, however, has denied playing any role in the incident and said he "strongly disapproved of coercion".

Adding an ironic twist to the whole saga is the fact that Sehwag and Dilshan are IPL teammates. Two SLC members, Ranatunga and DS De Silva, were headed to Dambulla from Colombo to further meet with the players.

The ICC, which expressed regret on Tuesday that it could not act, has commended the SLC for acting swiftly and decisively. As far as the ICC is concerned the matter is now closed, chief executive Haroon Lorgat was quoted as saying in a statement, "This is a clear sign that the notion of fair play is still very important."

ICC’s media manager James Fitzgerald told TOI that under article 2.1.8 of the Code of Conduct, action could have been taken by the world body itself, but no one had filed a complaint.

Militant groups LeT, JeM, HuJI set up relief camps in Pak for flood victims

Banned militant groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, blamed for terror strikes in India, have set up camps in Karachi to raise funds to help victims of the worst ever deluge sweeping Pakistan. Office-bearers of the groups said the ban imposed on them has compelled them to work under different names. The work of these groups is reminiscent of their activities during the 2005 earthquake, when they had more resources than the government itself.

The groups claim they have collected millions of rupees for the flood victims and that they are engaged in relief and rescue operations in affected areas, a newspaper reported. The groups have given food and medical facilities to the survivors. Other militant groups engaged in relief operations are the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Harkatul Mujahideen, Hizbut Tahrir and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. "JuD, under the name of Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation Pakistan, has set up around 29 relief camps at Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulstan-e-Jauhar, Landhi, Clifton, Korangi and other areas (of Karachi)," an office-bearer of the organisation told the daily.

Initially, the JuD set up its camp under its own name but police started demanding extortion money, said a man identified only as Hussain, who is in-charge of the camp outside the Jamia Masjid at Khalid Bin Waleed Road. "(The police says that since) we are a terrorist organisation, we have to give them a share of our earnings," said Hussain. "When we tried to explain that this is charitable work, they started demolishing our camps, saying that we were banned organisations." The chief of JuD's Karachi division, Naveed Qamar, believes that the organisation was banned to appease the US and its allies as it has "nothing to do with terrorism."

He claimed the JuD runs a large network of Islamic schools and clinics and is engaged in welfare activities like disaster relief. "We provide cooked food to 50,000 flood survivors in all four provinces every day and very soon we will reach out to 100,000 survivors," said Qamar. The JuD claims to have distributed ration packets to around 8,000 families. Each packet costs Rs 3,200 and has ghee, rice, pulses, soap and other items.

Mamata welcomes Kishenji’s offer

Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday welcomed Maoist leader Kishenji’s ceasefire offer and said all problems should be solved by diplomatic process.

“In a democratic set up we are for amicable and peaceful solution. I have heard the Independence speeches of the President and the Prime Minister. They also spoke in the same line,” she told reporters here before leaving for Delhi.

“If they (Maoists) responded to the President’s and Prime Minister’s appeal it is good for the country. Let the problem be solved through democratic process,” she said.

Referring to Kishenji’s statement calling for a three-month ceasefire by both sides and that they have no problem if Ms. Banerjee mediates, she said, “It is the government to decide. I have seen only media reports (on Kishenji’s statement). Let me cross check all details.”

On her statement on the killing of senior Maoist leader Azad during her recent rally at Lalgarh on August 9, Ms. Banerjee said “Whatever I had said in Lalgarh I stick to it. I made the statement in my party capacity.”

Deadly diseases could hit flood-stricken Pakistan

In grief-stricken Pakistan, where relentless flooding has destroyed houses, taken lives and ruined entire villages for more than two weeks, water is both villain and savior. About one-fifth of the country is submerged under murky water from torrential monsoon rains. Children and adults wade in the filthy waters, pleading for help. The only recourses are clean water and medical care -- but both are in short supply.

Polluted floodwaters, officials fear, could lead to deadly diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera -- especially among children. Up to 3.5 million children are at high risk of deadly waterborne diseases, said Maurizio Giuliano of the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office. The United Nations has called for $166 million for clean water and medical care, but has only received $25 million.

The death toll has now topped 1,400. About 900,000 homes have been damaged, and the monsoon season is only about halfway over. The overall global response has not been nearly enough, according to an International Rescue Committee-chaired consortium called the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum. About $150 million had been received from nations around the world by Monday, the group said in a statement, but much more is needed.

"The international response to the disaster has been too small to even begin to effectively address the needs of survivors," said Tammy Hasselfeldt, the country director of the International Rescue Committee. "The most urgent priority is to ensure that safe water as well as medicines are available, food supplies are restored and transportation networks fixed to accelerate the delivery of desperately needed aid."

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said over the weekend that about 20 million people had been affected by the floods. According to ReliefWeb.int, more than two dozen countries, organizations and individuals have pledged more than $300 million in aid. The United States has committed about $76 million for emergency flood relief assistance. But delivering the goods to flood victims is another nightmare in itself. Travel by vehicles and foot is often impossible, and the country is relying heavily on helicopters and boats to bring aid. Meanwhile, families continue to stomp through mud carrying whatever belongings they can salvage, passing dead livestock, with nowhere to go.

Bomb Wracks Offices in Colombia Capital, Injures 9

A car packed with at least 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of explosives blew up in an office district of Colombia's capital Thursday, shattering windows in dozens of buildings and injuring nine people, police said. No deaths were reported.

It was the first car bombing in Bogota since a blast killed two people a year and a half ago, and came five days after Juan Manuel Santos was sworn in as president.

The blast occurred at 5:30 a.m. outside a 12-story building housing Caracol Radio, the Spanish news agency EFE and the Ecuadorean consulate, as well as the offices of several banks and politicians, including former President Cesar Gaviria.

Investigators were not sure of the target or who was behind the bombing, said Hermes Ardila, chief of prosecutors in a special anti-terrorism unit. He said by telephone eight hours after the bombing that investigators had not linked the attack to any particular armed group.

The president hurried to the scene and called the explosion "a terrorist act," saying it was meant to sow fear and create skepticism about the government.

"We are going to continue fighting terrorism with everything we have," said Santos, who took office Saturday. He replaced Alvaro Uribe, whose tough tactics sharply weakened the leftist guerrilla groups that have fought the government for decades.

Santos toured the blast site surrounded by security agents and urged Colombians to go on with normal activities.

Bogota's health secretary, Hector Zambrano, said at least nine people were injured. Most were treated for cuts and released, but three people remained under care, he said.

Pinzon said most of those hurt had been on a bus that was passing by as the bomb exploded. Authorities said no arrests had been made.

The national police operations director, Gen. Orlando Paez, said the car was packed with at least 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of explosives and the blast shattered windows in at least 30 buildings, smashed the facade of a bank and left scraps of the destroyed car scattered in the street.

Zimbabwe launches 'humane' diamonds sale

Zimbabwe launched its first multi-million dollar diamond sale this week since obtaining certification last month that the nation's precious stones are harvested humanely and are not "blood diamonds."

The sale of 900,000 carats of diamonds Tuesday netted some $72 million, according to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which certifies rough diamond exports.

The World Diamond Council last month authorized Zimbabwe to carry out two supervised exports of rough diamonds by September.

"If this is a victory for anyone, it is a victory for the Kimberly Process," said Kimberly Chair Boaz Hirsch. "The past several months have been difficult, but they have clearly demonstrated that not only does the Kimberley Process have teeth, it also is able to achieve results."

Kimberley had prohibited the export of diamonds from Zimbabwe since last year after the military took over the nation's diamond fields in late 2008.

The Kimberley Process said last year that illegal diamond mining by Zimbabwean troops was leading to bloodshed and attacks against civilians. The global watchdog group made the claims after residents and workers contributed accounts of attacks during a week-long probe.

The probe started days after a Human Rights Watch report accused the nation's armed forces of violently taking over the diamond fields in Marange district and killing about 200 people since last year. Some victims of the clash were buried in mass graves, the report said.

After an investigation last summer, Kimberly Process officials urged the government to demilitarize the diamond fields and investigate the accusations against the military.

Separately, Human Rights Watch accused Zimbabwe's armed forces of funneling money from the diamond fields into ZANU-PF, President Robert Mugabe's party. The government decried some aspects of the report, saying the critics were trying to smear the Mugabe's party.

"I can confirm that there has been illegal mining taking place in Zimbabwe, but we seem to be getting on top of the situation now," Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's co-minister of home affairs, said at the time.

The government has not been able to verify allegations of deaths and mass graves, Mohadi said.

"As a responsible government, we have started investigating these reports," he said, adding that mining proceeds in the cash-strapped nation are not being distributed to any particular group.

"The money will not be handled by any party but by the Treasury," he said.

Blood diamonds have been in the news in recent weeks because of the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is accused of fueling a bloody civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone through the sale of diamonds that led to widespread murder, rape, and mutilation. The conflict ended in 2002.

During the decade-long conflict, teenagers from the Taylor-backed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were forced to kill, given addictive drugs to provoke violent behavior, and often instructed to rape and plunder. They were supplied with weapons directly funded from the proceeds of diamond sales, according to the United Nations.

In 2002, a United Nations-backed court was established in Sierra Leone to try Taylor on war crimes charges. It was later moved to The Hague in 2008 over concerns that Taylor's presence would harm stability and security in the region.

Taylor is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual slavery and violence, and enslavement. He also faces five counts of war crimes, including acts of terrorism and torture, and one count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law. He denies the charges.

He is the first African head of state to go on trial for war crimes before an international tribunal.

Under the Kimberley Process -- launched in 2003 -- members are required to certify that all rough diamond exports are produced through legitimate mining and sales activities and are "conflict-free."

Each shipment carries a certificate that details where the diamonds came from, how they were mined, where they were cut and polished, the parties involved, and their ultimate destination. The idea is that members of the Kimberley Process cannot trade with non-members.

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China braces for more floods as heavy rains predicted

Survivors of the landslides in north-western China are braced for further misery as forecasters predict more heavy rains.

At least 702 people died when mud and debris swept through Zhouqu, in Gansu province, late on Saturday night and 1,042 are missing. There is little hope of finding more survivors among what are thought to be the hundreds who were buried alive in metres of sludge.

The 10,000 rescue and relief workers are continuing to search for bodies but attention is turning to the threat of disease.

Crews in protective suits have sprayed chemical disinfectant across the ground and over machinery. State media has reported numerous cases of dysentery and warned of a serious shortage of drinking water, with most local sources destroyed or polluted.

One survivor, Yang Jianjie, gave a graphic description of the moment landslides engulfed the county seat. He stood hand in hand with his parents and grandfather on the roof of their home as the tide of mud swept towards them – only to be separated as the two-storey building collapsed.

"Mud and rocks slammed my parents and grandfather in the face and buried them," the 20-year-old told the China Daily newspaper.

The Bailong river burst its banks, sending water coursing through the narrow valley.

Shen Si watched as troops dug at the site of her buried home to reach the bodies of her relatives. "My mother and father were in their 60s and my younger brothers, all three of them, are buried here in our house still," she said.

Torrential rains on Saturday night triggered the landslide and flooding. Experts have said 2008's earthquake in neighbouring Sichuan loosened rock faces. But government reports show that officials had been warning for years that deforestation and rapid hydro development were increasing the risk of landslips in the area.

"This has happened before. The government knew it could happen again and did nothing to prevent it," said a farmer called Yang, who did not want to give his full name. Five of his relatives were buried in the mudslide and he was digging to find them.

There are concerns the barrier lake that has formed could overflow or burst, especially if there is further rain. Soldiers have been blasting explosives at the barrier to clear debris and help reduce water levels. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated.

Separately, a Chinese paper reported that residents along the north bank of the Yellow river in Henan province fear for their lives after heavy rain gouged holes in a newly built flood control dam.

"Every time when we hear the rain is coming we are too scared to sleep in the evening," a party secretary from one village was quoted as saying in Dahe Daily.

Wang Dayong, head of the Yellow River Affairs Bureau of Yuanyang, acknowledged the dam had been damaged but told the Global Times reports were exaggerated and the structure was strong enough.

Oil slick coats Arabian Sea after ships collide

Indian coast guard vessels and helicopters worked Monday to contain an oil spill from a stricken container ship that collided with another vessel in the Arabian Sea, a spokesman for India's defence ministry said.

The Panamanian-registered MSC Chitra smashed into the St. Kitts-registered MV-Khalijia-II on Saturday near Mumbai's Jawahar Lal Nehru port. The accident caused MSC Chitra to run aground and list heavily to one side, Capt. Manohar Nambiar told The Associated Press.

Helicopters sprayed chemicals on the oil spill to prevent it from spreading, Nambiar said.

The amount of oil leaked was unclear. The environment minister of Maharashtra state told reporters Monday about two tonnes of oil was pouring into the water every hour.

The MSC Chitra's cargo included several thousand tonnes of oil products such as diesel and lubricants, Environment Minister Suresh Shetty said, adding the government was consulting foreign experts on how best to contain the spill.

Government officials in several coastal areas near Mumbai have been asked to test sea water samples in their area to check how far the oil from the spill may have spread Chhagan Bhujbal, another senior minister, told reporters.

The captains of both vessels have also been asked to appear before local officials to explain how the collision took place, police said.

At least 250 containers from the damaged vessel fell off and port officials were trying to salvage them to avoid navigational hazards to other ships, officials said.

Crews from both vessels were rescued without any serious injuries, Nambiar said.

Chinese military clears landslide debris blocking river

Rescue teams cleared debris holding back potential flood waters in northwestern China Monday, where massive mudslide have left at least 127 people dead and some 1,300 missing, state-run media reported.

The Chinese military used explosives to blast the blockage in the Bailong River, in Gansu Province, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters told China's Xinhua news agency. Excavators also were used to remove the debris and start a controled release of the water.

Authorities report 76 people have been injured and about 45,000 have been evacuated from Zhouqu County in the country's northwest, according to a statement from the provincial civil affairs department.

The landslides occurred early Sunday morning after heavy rains started pummeling the area Saturday, authorities said. On Sunday afternoon, Premier Wen Jiabao and other government officials arrived at the mountainous region to survey the damage, according to Xinhua.

Wen also insisted that electricity be restored and traffic resumed in Zhouqu County as soon as possible.

The premiere sludged through the mud and rocks in the badly hit Sanyan Valley, where some 300 households were totally submerged by the mudslides, Xinhua reported.

The mudslides caused the Bailong River to become obstructed and overflow, and sent water rushing over its banks, state-run CCTV reported.

The water level in the county seat of Chengguan Township had receded by 40 cm (16 inches) Sunday, after floodwaters carrying mud and rocks submerged half the town, Mao Shengwu, head of the prefecture, told the news agency.

"Torrential rains began to fall at around 10 p.m. Saturday. Then there were mudslides and many people became trapped. Now sludge has become the biggest hindrance to rescue operations. It's too thick to walk or drive through," said an official identified by Xinhua only as Diemujiangteng, head of the county.

"Since excavators can't reach the site, we can only use spades and our hands to rescue the buried," He Youxin, an officer with the Gannan branch of the Gansu Headquarters of Chinese People's Armed Police Force, told the news agency.

His rescue team has saved 23 people and recovered 15 bodies, he said. But, "It's very hard to locate the people washed away by floods. It's hard to say what their chances of survival are," he said.

The news agency said the police rescued two children and three adults who were trapped atop a seven-story building, half of which had been washed away by the flood waters, according to a video clip shot by a police officer shown on Chinese Central Television.

More than 300 homes in Yueyuan Village in the county had been buried. But the number of deaths were not known, Mao told the news agency.

A total of 600 soldiers arrived at Zhouqu County in China's Gansu Province to perform relief work, Xinhua said. Three other detachments consisting of more than 1,700 soldiers as well as a 180-member medical team are on their way to the affected areas. China's armed police have also sent 2,100 members to help, the news agency reported.

By Sunday afternoon, the provincial civil affairs department had sent 3,900 tents, about 40,000 boxes of instant noodles and 31,300 boxes of bottled drinking water to the county. But the county still needs 441 tons (400 metric tonnes) of drinking water and 22 tons (20 tonnes) of instant food, said a spokesman with the prefecture's government, according to Xinhua.

The county needs an estimated 11,023 tons (10,000 tonnes) of water and 551 tons (500 tonnes) of instant food in the next 25 days, Xinhua reported.

16 killed, seven trapped in China gold mine fire

At least 16 workers were killed and seven trapped underground after a major fire engulfed a gold mine in east China's Shandong province, officials said today.

The fire broke out last night at Luoshan gold mine in Zhaoyuan city and rescuers workers managed to pull over 300 workers to safety.

Most of the 16 workers died due to suffocation caused by overwhelming toxic smoke in the underground mine, officials said.

Some of them died in hospital, according to medical workers at Luoshan gold mine.

The fire broke out when 329 miners were working underground, local officials said. The underground blaze had been put out by this morning but power to parts of the shaft was yet to be restored.

All but seven miners had been lifted to the ground, official Xinhua news agency reported.

The rescue authorities initially reported that eight remained trapped but later corrected the figure to seven.

The rescued miners appeared in good health but had their eyes covered with white cloth to avoid sudden exposure to the sun.

Dozens of the injured had been hospitalised.

Rescuers said they had established contact with the seven trapped miners and were on track to lift them from the mine.

An initial investigation showed that the fire was likely to have been caused by an underground cable. The owner of the mine was taken into police custody, a spokesman with the rescue headquarters said.

Luo Lin, head of the state administration of work safety, led a ten-member work-team to Zhaoyuan. Previously, top provincial officials had arrived at the scene to oversee the rescue and the investigation.

Top Obama Economic Adviser Christina Romer Bailing Out

Christina Romer, one of President Obama's top economic advisers, plans to step down effective Sept. 3.

Romer, head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, has been one of the administration's most prominent voices on the economy, making frequent appearances on TV and at White House events to promote Obama's policies. She also was reported to have butted heads with other members of Obama's economic team, in particular Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council.

In December, the she sand Summers even seemed to contradict each other -- in interviews conducted on the same day -- on whether the recession had ended.

"Everybody agrees that the recession is over," Summers said.

"Of course not," Romer said in a separate interview.

The clash appeared at the time to speak not just to the differing views on the economy within Obama's inner circle but also to the sharply conflicting signals out of the economy itself, which continues to struggle to rebound.

Her resignation comes as the White House labors to convince the public that the economy is on the right track amid near-double digit unemployment.

"Christy Romer has provided extraordinary service to me and our country during a time of economic crisis and recovery," Obama said in a written statement. "The challenges we faced demanded more of Christy than any of her predecessors, and I greatly valued and appreciated her skill, commitment and wise counsel.

The White House cast Romer's decision as an unsurprising one driven by family reasons: Romer plans to return to California, where her son will be starting high school. She also is returning to the University of California, Berkley as an economics professor.

One administration official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal relations at the White House, downplayed any tension between Romer and Summers, saying the pair often emerged as strong allies.

Summers said Monday night that Romer has been "an extraordinary friend and colleague at the White House," and he looked forward to drawing on her advice in the future.

Latest deaths spark fresh protests in Indian Kashmir

Two more protesters died in clashes with security forces in Indian Kashmir, police said Thursday, dashing hopes of calm returning to the region roiled by weeks of anti-India protests.

Violent demonstrations erupted despite an appeal for restraint from influential separatist politician Syed Ali Geelani.

"Demonstrations should be peaceful," Geelani said on Wednesday. "Wherever you are stopped, sit down and tell them 'now you can fire at us', but don't indulge in violence."

Police officials said security forces late Wednesday opened fire killing two people in Srinagar, the summer capital of Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir.

The shootings sparked further protests in Srinagar in defiance of curfew orders. Police said protesters attacked police and paramilitary posts.

The Kashmir Valley has been rocked by violent protests against rule from New Delhi since the death in early June of a teenage student who was killed by a police tear-gas shell.

Some 47 people have been killed, most of them shot dead by security forces.

'Solar tsunami' may hit Earth anytime: Scientists

The Earth could be hit by a 'solar tsunami' anytime now as an unusually complex magnetic eruption on the Sun has flung a large cloud of electrically charged particles towards our planet, scientists have warned.

Several satellites, including NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), recorded on Sunday a small solar flare erupting above sunspot 1092, the size of the Earth.

The satellites also recorded a large filament of cool gas stretching across the Sun's northern hemisphere also exploded into space.

The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a 'solar tsunami' racing 93 million miles across space, the New Scientist reported.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/solar-tsunami-may-hit-earth-anytime-scientists-41912?cp