Andaman quake confirms worst fears: Geologist

The 6.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred north of the Andaman Islands on March 30 is yet another confirmation that this particular region will continue to be source of severe earthquakes, says a leading Indian geologist.

"This is what we had been worried about," Vineet Gahalaut at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad told a news agency in an interview.

He and his colleagues had warned that a segment of the "plate boundary fault" left unruptured after the deadly 2004 Andaman earthquake would be a source of high magnitude earthquakes.





Gahalaut said the unruptured segment that became deformed after the 2004 earthquake had already produced two powerful aftershocks in 2008 and 2009, and the March 30 earthquake was the third. "Such intra-plate earthquakes occurring in the subducting India plate under the unruptured segment are a matter of concern," Gahalaut said.

The concern was first expressed by Gahalaut and his colleagues only three months ago in an article they published in the journal Tectonophysics.

The NGRI team had issued the warning after analyzing the two major aftershocks in the Andaman region after the deadly 2004 quake that produced a tsunami.

First was the 6.6 magnitude quake on June 27, 2008, near Little Andaman (LA). The second was the 7.5 magnitude quake of Aug 11, 2009, near Coco Island north of the LA earthquake. Last week's earthquake that took place south of the 2009 Coco earthquake is the latest one. "Our concern that the unruptured segment will be a source of worry is coming out to be true," Gahalaut said.

The 9.2 magnitude earthquake that produced the tsunami occurred in the Andaman Sumatra Subduction zone formed by the India plate sliding beneath the Sunda Plate.

According to the NGRI team, the 2004 earthquake ruptured about 1,400 km-long frontal arc of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone between northwest of Sumatra and the Andaman region but left a segment of about 400-500 km unbroken.

In their paper, the researchers had shown that both the 2009 Coco and 2008 LA aftershocks occurred in the subducting Indian plate under the unruptured segment of plate boundary fault. Gahalaut said simulation studies suggested that both these aftershocks, that were "very similar to each other", were strongly promoted by the deformation of the Indian plate that took place due to the 2004 earthquake.

The fact that the latest March 30 earthquake also occurred south of Coco implies that similar strong aftershocks may occur under the unruptured segment that lies between the epicenters of Coco and LA aftershocks, Gahalaut said.

According to the scientists, the unruptured region is loaded by stresses caused by deformation due to the 2004 earthquake. "My worry is that it can potentially produce more earthquakes in the 7 to 7.5 magnitude range capable of triggering local tsunami," Gahalaut said.

The NGRI researchers claim that the Indian plate obliquely subducts under the Burmese plate, carrying along with it an elongated sea mount about 3-km high and 100-km wide. This "ridge" acted as a barrier in the Andaman region and retarded the rupture speed of the 2004 earthquake at its northern end, and for some reason a portion of the plate boundary segment remained unruptured, Gahalaut said.

IANS

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Yuvraj 'disgusted' at reports of rift with Punjab

Kings XI Punjab's star batsman Yuvraj Singh and franchise owner Preity Zinta have reacted strongly to media reports that the batsman had been deliberately underperforming after losing the captaincy to Kumar Sangakkara.

Yuvraj has had a lean trot in the tournament so far, scoring just 101 runs in seven games at 14.42. His performance has mirrored his team's woeful showing, with just one win from seven games and a semi-final slot looking extremely unlikely. That has led to speculation that the poor form was due to an alleged rift between him and Sangakkara. An upset Yuvraj vented his feelings on his Twitter page.

"I am disgusted and horrified that a news reporter can stoop down to such a level. I, in all my career, haven't seen such a disgusting piece of news," Yuvraj wrote. "Media has no right to fabricate stories, they just want eyeballs."

His views were shared by his team's co-owner. "There is no truth to the speculative reportage that is being carried in various segments of the media and these get accentuated when the tide is not in our favour," Zinta said. "We are focused on the game today (against Royal Challengers Bangalore) and by reporting such stories we are distracting the players hence we request the media not to resort to such speculative reporting."

Yuvraj stressed that his batting form was linked to his return from injury and nothing else. "To come out of injury is not easy and I've had three in a row and I hope to bounce back soon," he wrote. "I always try to give my best no matter what the circumstance and right now am struggling with my form. It happens to every player."

There was also speculation that he wanted to transfer to another franchise and that Punjab had complained to the BCCI about the developments but the board denied receiving any such complaint. "There is no truth in such claims that a complaint was made to BCCI regarding Yuvraj," BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla told PTI. "Yuvraj is a great player but is currently out of form, which can happen to any cricketer. People should not read too much into the issue."

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Sonam Kapoor to play Sania Mirza

Tennis champ Sania Mirza is not only in the news for her impending marriage but also for a film based on her life. Sonam Kapoor will play a character strikingly similar to Sania in Anees Bazmee’s romcom Thank You. The film’s shooting starts mid-April in Canada.

Just like Sania, Sonam plays a young, attractive tennis champ and falls in love with a guy, who is completely wrong for her. She soon realises her mistake and turns back before it’s too late. Remember Sania calling off her engagement to Sohrab Mirza earlier this year before news of her impending marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik started doing the rounds?

Director Anees Bazmee confirms the news and says, “Sonam does pay a tennis champ, and Akshay Kumar plays a guy who’s seeing 30-35 girls at the same time, until he meets Sonam. Though he gives up flirting, he’s not particularly serious about Sonam too. It’s a funny take on courtship.”

Sonam will be trained by a tennis coach in Canada for her role. “Sonam plays a state-level tennis champ in Canada so she cannot afford to look amateurish while playing the game in my film. I don’t expect her to become a tennis champ in a week but she should look like a professional,” adds the director.

When asked about the similarities between Sania Mirza and Sonam’s role Anees Bazmee says, “I wouldn’t like to take any names but any girl playing a tennis player would have similarities to the name you mentioned.”

What he would rather not say is that all the departments of his film including the script, camera and makeup, would be working towards making Sonam look like Sania.

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Will contest for DMK chief post: Alagiri

The succession battle has escalated in Tamil Nadu's most powerful political family with Union Chemicals Minister MK Alagiri saying that he was in the race to become the next president of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK).



Alagiri, who is the elder son of DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, said that he would be contesting for the post of DMK president and added that he agreed with his father that the next chief of the party should be elected democratically.

"If there are elections in the party for the post of president I will contest them. I agree with Karunanidhi's view that leader should be elected democratically. I will only accept democratically elected leader. I spoke according to my conscious," he said

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Hyundai Motor India Launches 8th Nationwide Free Car Care Clinic

Hyundai Motor India Ltd., the country`s largest passenger car exporter and the second largest automobile manufacturer, in order to extend the advantage of its excellent services and free check-up to a larger number of customers, today launched its eighth nationwide Free Car Care Clinic.

Starting from 20th March till 29th March 2010, the Free Car Care Clinic will be conducted at 410 Hyundai dealer workshops across the country. The customers will also be able to avail this free check-up service at 30 Hyundai Authorised Service Centers (HASC) across India.

The Free Car Care Clinic will offer a comprehensive 80 point check-up and a thorough examination of the engine, transmission, electricals, under-body, AC, exterior etc. The privileged Hyundai customers can also avail free car top wash and special discounts on oil and consumables and other value added services. In addition to this, Hyundai is offering an attractive discount of 10 per cent on spare parts and selected accessories as well as a 20 per cent discount on labour charges and Extended Warranty.

To honour and reward the customers attending the camp, daily attractive gifts and exciting prizes are being offered during the entire period. These include 10 Free Extended Warranties for the entire duration of the camp which will be held for 10 days making it a total of 100 extended warranties. Prizes will be given in each of the 8 regions and the winner will receive a 32 inch LCD TV while the first runner up will get a branded wrist watch and the second runner up, a DVD player. In addition to this, one lucky customer will get a Bumper prize of a 32” LCD TV with DVD player.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Arvind Saxena, Director - Marketing and Sales, HMIL said, "At Hyundai, we value and cherish the bond that we share with our esteemed customers. It has become a stand out service initiative as we try to provide this value-added service to more and more customers. The response to previous camps has been very encouraging, and I’m sure that for the eighth camp, our patrons will continue to avail off this service, organized specially for them.

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Hyundai reports record sales surge

Car manufacturer Hyundai has reported record sales and said it is one of the main beneficiaries of the new scrappage incentive scheme.

The project allows motorists to trade in their vehicle in exchange for at least £2,000 off a new motor, presuming their old car is at least a decade old and they have owned it for over a year.

Hyundai achieved a record market share during May, overtaking rivals Renault, Fiat and Mazda.

An increase in orders of 750 per cent was reported and said sales rose by 36.61 per cent month-on-month.

The figures have propelled the manufacturer into 11th place in the UK market, with a 3.82 per cent share.

"Our import centre at Tilbury is working flat-out for 24 hours a day to make sure the cars get out to dealers as soon as possible and then on to the customers who are waiting for their new Hyundai," explained Managing Director Tony Whitehorn.

Hyundai recently announced its i20 model had received the maximum five-star Euro Ncap rating for safety.

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Aamir Khan to accept the Padma Bhushan

MUSIC MAESTRO, A R RAHMAN, BADMINTON PLAYER, SAINA NEHWAL, CRICKETER, VIRENDER SEHWAG, Pratibha Patil, presents, 2010 Padma Awards, Gallery, Stills, Pics, Photos

(ANI): Clarifying his stand for not being present at most award functions, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has said that he attends only those events which he considers to be valuable and meaningful.

“I think that the Padma awards are an honour, is an honour which my country is giving me. And I accept that honour with folded hands and with all humility and with lot of pride. I am very happy to receive this award and it means a lot to me,” Khan said on the sidelines of the meeting of the Broadcasting Editors Association at New Delhi on Wednesday.

MUSIC MAESTRO, A R RAHMAN, BADMINTON PLAYER, SAINA NEHWAL, CRICKETER, VIRENDER SEHWAG, Pratibha Patil, presents, 2010 Padma Awards, Gallery, Stills, Pics, Photos

(ANI): Clarifying his stand for not being present at most award functions, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has said that he attends only those events which he considers to be valuable and meaningful.

“I think that the Padma awards are an honour, is an honour which my country is giving me. And I accept that honour with folded hands and with all humility and with lot of pride. I am very happy to receive this award and it means a lot to me,” Khan said on the sidelines of the meeting of the Broadcasting Editors Association at New Delhi on Wednesday.







“So I don't go where the award does not mean anything to me…So where I don't have value, I don't go, but where I have value I go,” he added.

Khan recently avoided the famous and glitzy Filmfare and International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards.

Khan, 45, is in New Delhi to accept the Padma Bhushan award, which is third ranking civilian awards conferred by the Government of India. He pointed out that he has accepted the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award and the National Award as they hold some meaning to him.

Known to be a 'perfectionist' in the Hindi film industry, Khan has won three national awards and eight Filmfare Awards in his acting career. He is currently producing three films - Pipli Live, Delhi Belly and Dhobi Ghaat. His two recent films Ghajini and 3 Idiots have been termed as Bollywood's highest gross earners.

Aamir Khan made his debut as a producer with Ashutosh Gowarikar's Lagaan in 2001. This movie was also nominated for Oscars as India's official entry and Best Foreign Language Film.

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