Cricket: Ricky to continue as Skipper, CA

Melbourne: Despite calls for his sack getting louder everyday, Ricky Ponting looks certain to survive the axe as his deputy Michael Clarke and Cricket Australia (CA) have endorsed him as the Australian skipper after he returns from injury.

CA's chief executive James Sutherland also endorsed Ponting's continuation as skipper upon return from his injury and quashed assumptions that a new captain would be appointed should the team lose the fifth and the final Ashes Test.

CA board unanimously endorsed a recommendation from the selection panel of Andrew Hilditch, Greg Chappell, David Boon and Jamie Cox, to appoint Clarke as captain for the Sydney Test in the absence of Ponting.

Ricky will undergo surgery to repair a broken left little finger in a bid to lead the side in the one-day World Cup in February.

"There's no question of looking beyond the immediacy of this Test match … and [Ponting's] return ahead of the World Cup, which we've obviously flagged as being incredibly important, which is why he's being wrapped in cotton wool from now," Sutherland was quoted as saying by The Age.

Clarke said that his appointment as the Australian captain for the final Ashes Test in Sydney is only a temporary arrangement as he can't think of a Test side without Ponting.

Ponting also said that he had no intention of giving up the captaincy despite his record as the first skipper since 1890 to have lost the Ashes urn three times.

"I think I've got a lot to offer as a player and as the captain of the Australian team and I want to continue to do that. I want to play Test cricket post-World Cup as well, so that's what's in the future for me," he said.

Citibank Scam: Hero Group CFO questioned

Gurgaon: The Hero Group today acknowledged that it invested close to 29 crores in schemes suggested by Shivraj Puri, the Citibank executive who is believed to have pulled off a 300-core scam at the Gurgaon branch of the bank. However, the group clarified that its flagship company, Hero Honda Motors, had not been impacted by the scam.

Puri was arrested yesterday. He was the Relationship Manager at Citibank in Gurgaon.

Three people were questioned by the Gurgaon police today - Sanjay Gupta, the Chief Financial Officer of the Hero Group, as well as one executive each from broking firms Religare and Bonanza.

Puri allegedly pitched high-return schemes to high net worth individuals who had Citibank accounts. He then diverted the money into accounts in the names of his family members, and siphoned the money into the stock market. Police sources say the Hero group was among nearly 20 corporate firms who bought into Puri's schemes. Gurgaon Police Commissioner S S Deswal has said that Puri's Rs. 300 crore swindle was based on Rs. 200 crore collected from corporates and another Rs. 100 crore collected from individuals.

The Hero group issued this statement today: "The exposure of the B.M.L Munjal controlled Hero Group in this case is only via its entities, and is Rs. 28.75 crore. These investments were made as part of routine treasury operation in what seemed like perfectly legal investment options. Hero Group is disappointed to learn that it has become a victim of the fraud under question. The Group is taking appropriate action and has also initiated dialogue with relevant authorities and Citibank to recover its dues. This is to further clarify that Hero Honda Motors Ltd, a part of the Group, has no involvement in any of these investments."

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said it has initiated a probe into the fraud at Citibank's Gurgaon branch and would soon issue a statement in this regard.

"Any bank where fraud (has taken place), we cannot (ignore)...and from banking side we have to do our own job...how it (Citibank fraud) has happened and what are the implications," RBI, Executive Director, G Gopalakrishna told reporters

French model in anti-anorexia campaign dies

Paris: Isabelle Caro, a French actress and model whose emaciated image in a shock Italian ad campaign helped rivet global attention on the problem of anorexia in the fashion world and beyond, has died at the age of 28.

Caro had said she began suffering from anorexia when she was 13, and she weighed about 59 pounds (27 kilograms) when the photos that made her famous were taken.

After a 21-year-old Brazilian model died from the eating disorder, Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani produced a 2007 campaign for an Italian fashion house that plastered newspapers and billboards with a naked picture of a spectral Caro looking over her shoulder at the camera, vertebrae and facial bones protruding under the slogan "No Anorexia." The campaign gained Caro widespread attention in media in countries around Europe and in the United States, and she spoke out often about her anorexia and her efforts to recover, and the menace of eating disorders on the fashion industry.

Caro's longtime acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, told the AP on Wednesday that Caro died on November 17 after returning to France from a job in Tokyo.

Dubreuil-Prevot said she did not know the cause of death but that Caro "had been sick for a long time" and spent years in and out of hospitals. Her death and her illness "are an absolute waste," the acting teacher said.

Caro wrote a book published in France in 2008 titled "The Little Girl Who Didn't Want to Get Fat," served as a member of the jury on Top Model France, and worked periodically as a film and television actress. In one appearance, she was interviewed by Jessica Simpson for the VH1 show "The Price of Beauty."

In one online video, Caro ends with words of advice for aspiring models: "Believe in life." Her agent, Sylvie Fabregon, told The Associated Press that the Italian campaign was intended "to show what it is like to be anorexic."

Some groups working with anorexics warned, however, that the attention paid to Caro did a disservice to others afflicted with the disorder. Images of Caro appeared on so-called pro-ana, or pro-anorexia websites. On Wednesday, one posted a notice about her death and a photo of her, large blue-green eyes peering over a child-size upper arm, with the caption, "die young, stay pretty."

However, concern over anorexia has not been matched by deeds. The 2006 anorexia-linked death of the Brazilian model prompted efforts throughout the international fashion industry to address the health repercussions of using ultra-thin models -- but no binding measures. French fashion industry representatives signed a government-backed charter in 2008 pledging not to encourage eating disorders and to promote healthy body images by promoting "a diversity of body representations" and not showing "images of people that could help promote a model of extreme thinness." But London Fashion Week organizers dropped plans in 2008 for something more concrete, international health certificates for models, because industry executives around the world refused to cooperate. In France, a bill that would have cracked down on websites that advise anorexics how to starve was passed by parliament's lower house but never considered in the Senate.

Swiss singer Vincent Bigler and Caro had been working on a video for a song he wrote about anorexia called "J'ai fin," wordplay in French that means roughly "I am the end" but is pronounced identically to "I am hungry." Bigler said he penned the song after being so moved and worried by seeing Caro on television, and meant the lyrics to focus on hope and healing. Caro "left me with many images, and much hope," he said by telephone, describing her different moods and ideas as they worked on the project together.

Caro's Facebook page, which quickly filled with condolences in several languages, says she was born September 12, 1982. She took violin lessons and then acting lessons in Nantes and Versailles, according to Dubreuil-Prevot.

Caro's father alerted a few close friends at the time of her death, and a funeral service was held in Paris, according to Dubreuil-Prevot. Her family could not be reached for comment.

Major traffic Scam: 2,000 vehicles caught in China

Beijing: Nearly 2,000 vehicles were stuck in a massive traffic jam on a highway in China's Gansu province due to an ongoing road project and inclement weather, authorities said.

The huge traffic snarl was on a main highway in northwest China's Gansu province, the China Daily reported on Friday.

A team of 100 police officers has been sent to the congested Xingxing Gorge section of State Highway 312, said a spokesman with the provincial public security bureau in capital Lanzhou.

State Highway 312 runs 4,967 km from Shanghai to Xinjiang.

The spokesman said police would try to divert some of the vehicles to other routes, and arrange food, water and lodging for the stranded drivers and passengers.

The spokesman said that the congested section of the highway was narrow, as a new freeway was being constructed.

The severe weather conditions, with high winds and a low temperature of minus 24 degrees Celsius, also had worsened road conditions due to ice.

Several stranded vehicles had run out of fuel, as the congestion, a chronic problem that began to worsen on Wednesday, had made it impossible for tanker trucks to enter.

A universal charger for all mobiles in 2011

London: Coming soon in 2011: a universal charger for all mobiles.

The world's 14 most prominent mobile manufacturers have been sent details by the European Commission of a new standard connection, after they agreed to sign up to it in June 2009.

The technical specifications are based on the micro-USB connector that many mobile manufacturers have already begun to use.

Samsung, Apple, Nokia and Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, are among those that have agreed to adopt it, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.

The Commission anticipates that the first devices whose chargers meet the precise details of the new standard will appear early next year.

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: "Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation."

In a statement, the Commission said that "Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is not only a major inconvenience for users, but also a considerable environmental problem. Users who want to change their mobile phones must usually acquire a new charger and dispose of the old one, even if it is in good condition."

The common charger is cross-compatible with data-enabled mobile telephones of different brands.

Aarushi case: Rajesh Talwar suspected by CBI

Noida: The CBI believes that Rajesh Talwar killed his daughter, Aarushi, but decided to close the investigation into the 14-year-old's murder because it did not have enough evidence against him, and could not establish motive.

Sources say that the closure report filed by the CBI in a Ghaziabad court earlier this week lists only Rajesh Talwar in the column of suspects. The 30-page report also accuses the Talwars of trying to influence the doctor who conducted their daughter's post-mortem. The doctor allegedly told the CBI that he got a call from a family member asking him to skip a virginity test. The CBI has said that three domestic helpers who were arrested for the murders of Aarushi and her family's domestic help, Hemraj, were found innocent.

The CBI's decision to end its investigation has yet to be accepted by court. It has caused public outrage, and this morning, Law Minister Veerappa Moily summoned the CBI director and warned him to take the case seriously and to take another look at the case.

Aarushi Talwar, 14, was found dead in her bedroom in Noida on the morning of May 16, 2008. Her throat had been slit while her parents were sleeping in their room next door in their flat in Noida. At first, the Noida police suspected the Talwars' domestic help, Hemraj. However, on May 17, blood stains on the stairs leading to the terrace of the building led to the discovery of Hemraj's dead body.

Exactly a week after her death, Rajesh Talwar, was arrested by the police, which suggested he had killed his daughter because he had found her in a compromising position with Hemraj. Child rights' activists attacked the police for its unfounded and invasive statement. Amid public outrage, and at the request of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, the double murder investigation was then handed to the CBI.

Dr Talwar was released from jail in July 2008 after the CBI admitted it had absolutely no evidence against him. However, both Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur, were put through lie detector and brain mapping tests. The tests, according to the CBI, were inconclusive.

Sources in the CBI say that the closure report maintains that any evidence found against Rajesh Talwar was circumstantial. For example, the post-mortem shows Aarushi was killed between midnight and 1 am. Dr Talwar's internet connection shows he was online till midnight, proving he was awake while his daughter was being murdered. The Talwars' home had not been broken into, leading to the theory that the murderer was inside the house, or someone who had easy access to the apartment. In its closure report, the CBI also stresses that when the Noida police discovered Hemraj's body, Dr Talwar was not at home. He refused to return to identify the corpse. However, the Talwars have earlier pointed out that when they were called, they were on their way to Haridwar to perform Aarushi's last rites.

Between June and July 2008, the CBI arrested three domestic helpers who were known to the Talwars. Krishna worked at Rajesh's dental clinic, Raj Kumar was employed by the Talwars' closest friends, the Durranis; and Vijay Mandal worked for a family that lived in the same apartment building as Aarushi. The three men were put through narco-analysis. They did not implicate themselves or each other. The results of brain-mapping and narco-analysis are in any case not admissible as evidence in court.

Anushka and Krish in love

A lot is being buzzed after Anushka confessed recently that she is in love and would enter wedlock with the man of her choice in a couple of years. She also said everyone would be in for a surprise when she reveals 'his' name.

If Tollywood sources are to be believed, the man who stole the heart of the 'Stole my heart....' girl is Krish, the director of the multistarrer 'Vaanam', which has Anushka playing an important role.

"The rapport between Anushka and Krish that started during the making of Vaanam's Telugu original 'Vedam' slowly developed into love. Krish was the main reason behind the actress agreeing to be part of the Tamil version," sources say.

However, Krish, like any other celebrity in this part of the world, has denied any affair between him and Anushka. "She is close to me and I would call her amma," the filmmaker reportedly said.