The Daily Indian

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today arrived in Sudan in the first leg of his whirlwind four-nation tour of the African continent to further India’s energy interest in oil-rich nations.

On his maiden visit to the African continent, Deora will be visiting Sudan, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda from January 24 to 28.

Official sources said the visit is to take to logical conclusion possible areas of cooperation discussed during the just concluded 2nd Indo-Africa Hydrocarbon summit in New Delhi.

Africa is India’s second largest crude oil supplier and the energy hungry nation is looking at acquiring oil and gas fields besides owing refining and Liquefied Natural Gas plants in the African countries.

“The present visit is in response to the invitations extended by the Ministers from Africa and to take further the process of dialogue in expansion of cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector,” an official said.

Ahead of leaving for Copenhagen later this week, US President Barack Obama held a conference call with leaders of Britain, France and Germany, besides calling Bangladeshi and Ethiopian Prime Ministers in his last ditch effort to arrive at a successful deal on climate change.

“The President believes that we can get an operational agreement that makes sense in Copenhagen over the next few days,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily briefing.

On the conference call with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Obama talked about the climate change negotiations that are currently going on in Copenhagen.

“This conference was one of a number of conversations that the President has held with leaders from around the world in the last few days. A day earlier Obama called Prime Ministers of Ethiopia and Bangladesh,” Gibbs said.

“I believe that all of these countries share the strong goal of getting something done by the end of this week in Copenhagen. The President certainly shares that and believes that we can make progress assuming we meet some of those operational goals,” he said.
Obama reviewed efforts by the US on climate change, reiterated his commitment to making progress towards a successful conclusion of an operational agreement in Copenhagen, he said.

Cape Town, April 18: The second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not be as high scoring as the inaugural tournament in India because the pitches in South Africa will assist the bowlers, feels former Proteas captain Kepler Wessels.

Wessels said the weather and pitch conditions, especially during April and May, would be bowler-friendly.

“The extra bounce on the pitches will influence the scoring pattern. The bowlers are going to play a much bigger role in this year’s tournament,” Wessels was quoted as saying in the Afrikaans daily Beeld Saturday.

Batsmen ruled the roost last year, with team scoring 200 runs or more 11 times, and between 180 and 200 on 15 occasions. There was no dearth of fours and sixes on the batsmen-friendly Indian wickets. The figure is startling – 1,702 fours and 622 sixes struck in 59 matches – one of the factors that made IPL a huge hit.

However, it will not be the same this time around.

Wessels said Indian batsmen have difficulty playing on bouncy wickets. A lot of young Indians will be playing outside the subcontinent for the first time and they might face difficulty in adjusting to the wicket. This could have an impact because only four foreigners are allowed per team.

He said the Indian bowlers, too, will take time to hit the right length on pacy tracks.

“There will be some younger Indian players who are going to battle, but there will also be outstanding performances from the Indian ranks,” he said.

Wessels said Bangalore Royal Challengers, who finished last in the inaugural edition, would be the team to watch out for.

“I think (Bangalore) Royal Challengers are now a dangerous Twenty20 unit. Dale Steyn on home ground is going to make a lot of difference for them,” said Wessels, who was the coach for the Chennai Super Kings last year.

Wessels was also sceptical about the chances of defending champions Rajasthan Royals: “I think the loss of (Australian) Shane Watson and (Pakistani) Sohail Tanvir will leave a huge gap.”

Nairobi/Khartoum, April 14: Nine men from the restive Sudanese province of Darfur have been hanged for the beheading of a prominent newspaper editor, media reports said Tuesday.

Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, editor of al-Wifaq newspaper, was kidnapped from his home in 2006. His decapitated body was found in the streets of Khartoum a day later.

Sudan found ten members of the Fur tribe, one of the tribes in Darfur that has been fighting the Arab government, guilty of the crime. One was later acquitted.

The Sudan Tribune said the nine men were hanged in a Khartoum prison Monday, in front of Mohamed Taha’s relatives.

The authorities said that articles he wrote in his newspaper questioning the scale of rape against women in Darfur and criticising rebel groups angered the nine men.

Amnesty International condemned the conviction of the executed men, saying their confessions were extracted under torture.

Mohamed Taha had also angered Islamists by reprinting an article questioning the roots of the Prophet Mohammed.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

The UN says up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by the conflict. The Sudanese government claims around 10,000 have died.