SHARES in Beach Petroleum and Australian Onshore Energy Fund, an investor in Delhi Petroleum, were put in a trading halt yesterday.

Both companies requested the halt pending an announcement.

The halt is in force until the start of trading on Monday or when the announcement is made.

The Australian reported yesterday there was mounting speculation Beach would make a bid for Delhi, countering a $474 million offer from Santos.

Under the Santos offer, supported by Westpac Funds Management (WFML) which manages the Australian Offshore Energy Funds, holders of Floating Interest Energy LinkeD Securities which were used to partially fund the original purchase of Delhi from ExxonMobil, will be offered a cash payment of $83.25 for each note which has a $100 face value.

The notes were trading around $60 each before the Santos bid was announced.

WFML has not issued a scheme booklet for the Santos bid, nor released an independent report prepared by KPMG.

A 28-year-old girl, pursuing a post-graduate course at the Delhi University, on Tuesday allegedly committed suicide in South Delhi.

Kalyani Tamang, hailing from Assam, was found hanging from the ceiling of her room in Chirag Delhi locality on Tuesday morning, police said.

She was a final year MA student in Delhi Universitys south campus.

Police have recovered a suicide note from her room in which said she was taking the extreme step due to some personal reasons and nobody was responsible for her death.

A resident of Dibrugarh in Assam, she had been living in Chirag Delhi for the last six months. She had also completed her Bachelors degree from Delhi University.

August 29 is a significant day for Indian sportspeople. It is the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyanchand and that is why the countrys top sporting honours are given out on this day by the President.

This year Pankaj Advani got the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna at the Darbar Hall in Rashtrapati Bhawan. The 21-year-old is one of the youngest recipients of Indias top sporting honour.

Its important for a sportsman to keep performing. This is of course a huge honour, to get the countrys highest prize, but I must keep winning. My next target will be the Doha Asian Games, said Pankaj Advani, 2005 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee.

The notable Arjuna awardees on Tuesday evening included Commonwealth Games hero Gagan Narang, nine-time badminton champion Aparna Popat and Indian hockey star Viren Rasquinha, whose father accepted the prize on his behalf.

Two new rapid exit taxiways were opened on Monday at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport along with the final portion of a parallel taxiway for the secondary runway.

In addition, a new link taxiway was opened between the primary and secondary runways. As a result, the ground movement of aircraft will have greater flexibility and the aircraft will be able to take off without much wait and be able to exit the runway faster clearing the way for the flight behind it.

This will reduce waiting times for passengers, said officials at the GMR-DIAL (Delhi International Airport Private Limited).

The opening of these taxiways will further improve the handling capacity of the aircraft operations, said a DIAL official. This is part of the ongoing up gradation works of the main and the secondary runway to improve ground traffic circulation.

NEW DELHI : The first chapter of the new domestic cricket season has been scripted with the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) finalising the names of the selectors and coaches for the Ranji team and five age-group outfits.

While former opener Chetan Chauhan will coach the Ranji team, Atul Wassan will chair the selection panel, which also includes Nikhil Chopra, Vinay Lamba and Raj Kumar Sharma.

The decision on these names was taken with the honest desire to ensure that the best talent gets to play for Delhi. This is a good beginning to the new season, says DDCA president Arun Jaitley, who headed the five-member special body that ratified the names of various selectors, coaches and managers proposed by the sports committee on Sunday.

Following an eventful 2005-06 season, which was marred by threats from goons, selection controversies and the sacking of the entire Ranji selection panel, it is hoped that the 2006-07 season will see Delhi cricket in the news for the right reasons.

Delhi and its surrounding areas have outdone Mumbai and its adjacent regions as the top foreign direct investment (FDI) destination during the last six years, according to Reserve Bank of India figures.

Of the total actual FDI inflows of $22 billion from January 2000 to May 2006, 24.3% went to the National Capital Region (NCR) against 21% to Mumbai and nearby areas. During the last six years, Delhi, along with parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, received $5.5 billion.

Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu, got $4.6 billion. Karnataka, housing the countrys silicon valley, Bangalore, came third with $1.65 billion (7.5% of the total FDI), followed by Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry with $1.52 billion (7%).

West Bengal, with the other metro Kolkata, along with Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, ended up a poor eighth with just $310 million (1.4%).

The regions which attracted more FDI than Kolkata and its nearby areas were Andhra Pradesh with tech-city Hyderabad, which received $756 million (3.44%), Gujarat, $691 million ( 3.18%), and Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Haryana, which got $320 million (1.5%).

New Delhis economic growth in the past decade has pushed its per capita income to more than double the national average but Indias capital has failed to provide basic services to millions, a report said on Thursday.

The Delhi Human Development Report 2006 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the city government also said economic progress in the city of 14 million people had come hand-in-hand with rising crime, especially against women.

Despite the expanding opportunities, the city-state has largely neglected street and working children, the homeless, the disabled and the concerns of girls and women, said the report.

The capital, which has seen multinationals flocking to set up offices and stores to cater to a fast-growing consumer class, has an average per capita income of 54,000 rupees, the third highest in India.

The federal enclaves of Chandigarh in north India and Pondicherry in the south have higher per capita incomes than New Delhi, with Chandigarh leading the country.

New Delhi: The 2010 Commonwealth Games, the largest sporting extravaganza in India, is exactly 1500 days away. But is Delhi ready? Efforts are on to muster up public support for the games but on the infrastructural front, progress has been slow.

A gala show was organised at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi to remind the residents of the Capital that the 2010 Commonwealth Games are getting closer by the day.

And the banners said it prominently that there are just 1500 days to go before the games begin.

The organising committee is doing its best to raise awareness but what about the actual groundwork? The Indian Olympic Association admits that things are moving very slowly.

Randhir Singh, member of the organising committee, says: We are worried. People have to realise that only 1500 days are left, and we have to get on with the organisation of the Games, and we have to get on with the facilities that have to be created.

Some of Indias top sportsmen – both past and present – had turned up and a ceremonial bus was flagged off that will roam the streets of Delhi to spread the awareness about the Games and get people involved.

With the Delhi Development Authority raking in moolah through sale of land in the Capital, the Delhi Government on Wednesday demanded that it be given 25 per cent share of the revenue generated from the commercial sale of land and property in the city by the housing agency.

DDA has been unable to cater to the rising housing needs and this led to mushrooming of unauthorised colonies in Delhi over the past few decades. There has also been a rise in the number of slum clusters including those on DDA land and the Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi were ultimately entrusted with the task of providing civic and other services to such areas and colonies. Therefore, it is important that we should be given a share in the revenue from the sale of land that belongs to Delhi and its people, Finance Minister and Planning Board Deputy Chairman A. K. Walia said after a meeting here.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for an appraisal of the 11th Five Year Plan and the priorities that need to be outlined to keep pace with the increase in population and demands of rapid urbanisation.

NEW DELHI : The Lashkar-e-Toiba threat to Delhi Metros underground corridor on Line 2 ( Delhi University-Central Secretariat) has not only put Metro staff on a high alert but also thrown the security agencies into a tizzy.

The CISF has taken over the high-risk installation and deployed additional staff at all locations. While the ban on liquids including water has been lifted after Janmashtami, CISF personnel is taking no chances.

Water bottles, lunch boxes and bags are being checked invariably and even women are being checked without fail. A special ladies-only staff will soon be in place to frisk women. Meanwhile, The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) continues its regular announcements at stations warning people against suspicious people and unattended baggage.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi on a petition of a second-year reserved category student challenging his termination as his performance was allegedly below standard.

Issuing notice, judge Anil Kumar directed the IIT Delhi to file a reply by September 11. Petitioner Kshiteez Kuldeep said the institute deputy registrar had struck him off the rolls on July 18, saying that his cumulative performance was below the required level for continuation.

His name is struck off the rolls of the institute and this decision has the approval of the chairman and the senate, the termination order said.

Kuldeep, a computer science student, was 66th in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination, the petition said. However, he failed to secure 46 credits compulsory for students belonging to the reserved category at the end of the fourth semester leading to his termination, the petition stated.

NEW DELHI : Government is planning a new look for the Indira Gandhi International Airport before the commonwealth games in 2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed.

As per the modernisation plan, the Joint Venture Company (JVC) is required to expand the airside capacity by adding a parallel runway with adequate taxiways for entry/exit, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said in a written reply.

The joint venture, he said is also required to construct a new passenger terminal to cater to both domestic and international passengers and provide adequate parking space in addition to improving the access roads to the airport.

Replying to another question, Patel said there was no proposal to have an airport in Haryana close to Delhi.

He said the Airports Authority of India has not received any such proposal from the Reliance Group which is setting a mega special economic zone in Haryana.

Delhi Zoo has lost six Asiatic lions in the past two months, including a lioness and four newborn cubs housed in the same enclosure. According to the Zoo authorities, four newborn cubs died during July. While two were stillborn, the other two were weak and did not survive. An eight-year-old lion died on August 8 followed by the death of a two-year-old lioness on August 12.

Maintaining that there was no cause for alarm, the Zoo authorities attributed the death of the lion to unknown viral infection, while the lioness died of heart failure. The cubs were too weak to survive, said Zoo Director D. N. Singh.

Refuting claims about the spread of a viral infection, a health official at the Zoo said as a precautionary measure enclosure No. 14 had been blow-lamped after disinfecting. All the other lions housed in the enclosure – a female lioness and her two cubs – were shifted out. And while the lioness has now been put back in the enclosure, the cubs are still housed at the hospital as a precautionary measure.

DELHI TWP. – Police arrested a suspect today in connection with the shooting of a Delhi Township man Wednesday night.

The suspect was arrested in south Lansing near Oak Park.

The arrest ended what had been a suspenseful night and morning for neighbors of south Lansing and Delhi.

Krystina Bolin said she was in bed at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night when she heard two shots.

My husband thought it was firecrackers, she said. I knew it wasnt.

Police blocked the intersection of Kate Street and Harding Avenue in Delhi Township for much of the morning after the shooting on Kate.

The victim has undergone surgery at Sparrow Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, the Ingham County Sheriffs Department said this morning.

The shooting victim was not immediately identified, but his neighbor, Kelly Sturgeon, said the victim moved in recently and lived at 2628 Kate St. with his brother.

New Delhi: An engineer working with Delhi Metro was on Thursday died after being hit by a train while he was carrying out repair work between Shahdara and Welcome stations.

The incident took place around 1 pm when two Metro engineers were repairing signal cables. Both were hit. They were immediately rushed to the nearby GTB Hospital at Shahdara where 27-year-old Indermohan Srivastava, a section engineer, was declared brought dead while 22-year-old Purushottam Priyadarshi, a junior engineer, was admitted with a fracture in his right arm, a DMRC release said.

Jet Airways, Indias premier airline, launched its new international flight linking New Delhi, the capital city of India, with the City State of Singapore, thereby making it the first Indian carrier to provide three direct services between Singapore and the metro cities of Chennai, Mumbai and now New Delhi in India.

The daily service will be operated with the new generation B737 – 800 aircraft effective September 06, 2006. This direct service to Singapore will be the third direct non-stop flight operated by Jet Airways from India to Singapore. The airline already operates daily direct flights from Chennai and Mumbai to Singapore.

New Delhi - The national capital Monday virtually turned into a fortress as security was heightened on the eve of Independence Day with people struggling through traffic jams and security drills of the police.

However, people were not complaining.

I was aware that there would be excessive checking at the Delhi borders so I decided to start early from office to avoid the rush. We were informed by the police in advance about the expected traffic snarls, said Vishrut Mittal, a chartered accountant working in Gurgaon, close to the national capital.

Similar was the reaction from Abhishek Banerjee who works in a publishing house here but lives in Ghaziabad, close to the eastern border of the capital.

I was expecting traffic jams and police checking at the border so I left for home at 4 p.m., he said.

Due to threats from terrorists, such precautionary measures have become necessary to avoid any Mumbai-type incidents. There is no other option but to take strict steps, he said.

Punjab will open their campaign with a match against Delhi on the opening day Group B programme in the 29th Sub-Junior National Football Championship for Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Phase Is, Group I, North Zone) to be conducted at the Sports Stadium, Haldwani (Uttranchal) from September 15 to 25.

Jammu and Kashmir will cross swords with Uttar Pradesh in the opening match. The third team in group B is Uttar Pradesh.

Chandigarh Football Association president Principal Ravinder Talwar today received the groupings and fixtures of the 29th Sub-Junior National (North Zone) Soccer today. The groupings draw released by the All India Football Federation general secretary Alberto Colaco, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and hosts Uttranchal have been clubbed in Group A.

NEW DELHI: Police stepped up security on information that political leaders, monuments and vital infrastructure were at risk of terrorist attacks ahead of Independence Day next week.

Ajay Chaddha, special commissioner of police in the capital, told a news conference around 10,000 police officers would be deployed for the anniversary of Indias independence from British colonial rule on Aug. 15.

Intelligence inputs received in the recent past have indicated renewed determination of various terrorist outfits to undertake terrorist acts, target prominent political leaders and symbols of national importance, Chaddha said.

Recent incidents of blasts in Mumbai as well as the reported failed attempt by terrorists to simultaneously plant explosives in aeroplanes in the U.K. give credence to the intelligence reports, he added.

A skittish government acted fast in response to a US warning that Al Qaeda or other foreign outfits could carry out attacks in Delhi and Mumbai between today and the Independence Day. A state of high alert has been sounded in all major cities in India.

Though Home Secretary VK Duggal made light of the warning, which he termed very innocuous, possibly to prevent the country from going into a panic, the government acted with despatch, boosting security at nuclear and defence installations, and public places like hotels and markets.

Tight security measures were put in place at airports. These included restrictions on cabin baggage, liquids and gel. Liquid medicines or inhalers will now be allowed on board aircraft only on the presentation of a proper medical prescription.

International air passengers will have to report three hours before take-off. Briefing reporters, Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad said delays would occur, and asked passengers to be patient.