India's Maruti profit triples

In this file photo taken on Jan. 5, 2010, Maruti Suzuki Chief Executive Officer Shinzo Nakanishi, second left, poses with officials at the unveiling of the Maruti Suzuki rIII concept car at an Auto Expo in New Delhi, India. –AP

NEW DELHI: India's biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said Saturday its quarterly net profit more than tripled as it announced plans to increase capacity to maintain its dominance of the domestic market.
Maruti, majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said net profit during the fiscal third quarter soared to 6.88 billion rupees (149 million dollars) from 2.14 billion rupees a year earlier.
The performance, fuelled by cheap loans and a reviving domestic economy, beat analyst expectations that profit for the three months to December would be around 5.8 billion rupees.
“This has been a good quarter,” said Maruti's chief financial officer Ajay Seth, as he announced the company would expand capacity to defend its market leadership position from global rivals and meet increasing domestic demand.
A host of vehicle makers from General Motors to Renault and Toyota have unveiled plans for car launches in India to grab a larger slice of the fast-growing market and counter sluggish demand in developed countries.
India is now Asia's third-largest car market, outstripped only by China and Japan, and is one of the few countries where automobile sales are rapidly increasing. Car sales jumped 19 percent last year to 1.43 million units.
Maruti, which sells about one in two cars in the country, said sales jumped 62.5 per cent to 73.34 billion rupees.
Seth said Maruti planned to invest 17 billion rupees to make 250,000 more cars each year from April 2012, increasing total capacity from one million units.
The expansion would take place at Maruti's plant at Manesar near the Indian capital.
Seth said Maruti could further ramp up capacity “if there is a need later.” The car manufacturer attributed the profit increase partly to government stimulus measures aimed at helping the industry ride out the global economic slump.
The measures have put more money into the hands of India's growing middle class.
“Favourable conditions in the domestic market supported by the government's stimulus package and ease of automobile finance helped achieve good sales,” the company said in a statement.
Nearly four-fifths of cars in India are bought using loans.
The central bank has cut interest rates to record lows to cushion the impact of international financial slump.
Maruti's domestic sales in the quarter jumped by 38 per cent to 218,910 units while exports soared by 167 per cent to 39,116 vehicles, spurred by European government incentives to scrap ageing vehicles.
Seth said the company was “cautiously optimistic” about sales volumes in the fourth quarter but added rising commodity prices would put pressure on profit margins.
“We also have to keep in mind interest rates may rise (as the domestic economy recovers) and it is important that government incentive measures stay in place” to help keep the market buoyant, he told AFP.
Passenger car sales are forecast to reach two million this year and are expected to triple in the next decade, boosted by higher incomes in the country of 1.2 billion people, according to industry estimates. –AFP

Saudi schoolgirl sentenced to 90 lashes after assaulting headmistress

(CNN) -- A schoolgirl in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 90 lashes and two months in prison for assaulting her headmistress after a confrontation over a cell phone, sparking an outcry from a government-sponsored rights group.
Saudi Arabia's National Society for Human Rights said it is surprised by the verdict and called for the punishment be reconsidered, according to statement by the group.
The verdict was handed down by a court in the eastern province city of Jubail as a punishment for the 13-year-old who allegedly assaulted her headmistress.
Saudi daily newspaper, Al-Watan, which first reported the sentence, said the girl struck the headmistress on the head with a glass after a confrontation over the confiscation of the girl's camera-equipped cell phone.
Dr. Saleh Al-Khaslan, a spokesman for the rights group, said the penalty was too severe.
"The court should have looked for an alternative sentence," he said, adding that the rights group is calling on an appeals court in Jubail to hear the case again.
Al-Watan did not provide the name of the school, its headmistress or the girl. Efforts to reach the Saudi Ministry of Justice were unsuccessful.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism, and lashings are a common form of punishment.
In October 2009, a court sentenced a man to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes after he bragged about his sex life on television.
In March of the same year, a Saudi court sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house.
In 2007, a 19-year-old gang-rape victim in the Saudi city of Qatif was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison for meeting with an unrelated male. The seven attackers, who abducted the man and woman, got sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison. The case sparked international outrage, prompting Saudi's King Abdullah to pardon the girl and the unrelated male.

'Mass Effect 2' kicks off big 2010 for gamers

"Battlefield: Bad Company 2" is one of many anticipated games coming in early 2010.(CNN) -- OK, so you've exhausted most of those video games you got for Christmas. And you've got a gift card or two burning a hole in your pocket.
You need some new games for the new year. And 2010 is only too happy to oblige.
Gaming companies are releasing enough popular titles in the first three months of the year to fill a shelf in your entertainment center. Between much-anticipated sequels and intriguing new titles, it's enough to make your controller quiver with anticipation.
Here's our preview:
The big title for January is the follow-up to a smash hit, but it isn't just an ordinary sequel. "Mass Effect 2" (BioWare, Electronic Arts) takes your character from the original futuristic game -- complete with all their experiences and relationships -- and puts them into the darker, second chapter of what is a planned trilogy.
The game's urgent mission to stop a deadly plague offers new challenges, different enemies and more realistic graphics than the first. The early trailers to "ME2" feel like scenes from a blockbuster movie. The dialogue choices are also improved to allow more flexibility when interacting with your team or other characters.
"Mass Effect 2" comes out January 26 for the Xbox 360 and PC. It is rated M for mature (blood, drug reference, sexual content, strong language, violence).
February offers a selection of original titles, a long-awaited online RPG and a major sequel.
"Star Trek" fans will get their opportunity to live out their Trekkie dreams -- virtually, at least -- with the release of "Star Trek Online" (Atari, Cryptic Studios). Players can choose or create their own race, pick a career path and start blasting away at Borg. Combat can take place during ground-based missions or in the cold, vast reaches of space.
"Star Trek Online" will be released on February 2 for the PC and is rated T for teens (fantasy violence, mildly suggestive themes).
The month then goes to hell with the release of "Dante's Inferno" (Visceral Games, Electronic Arts). Players follow Dante as he travels through the nine circles of Hell, faces off against the Seven Deadly Sins and generally creates havoc in the underworld.
An upgradable weapons system allows gamers to tailor Dante's abilities to holy or unholy gameplay. Each of the nine circles will have its own distinct look, taken directly from Dante Alighieri's epic poem.
"Dante's Inferno" is due out February 9 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PSP. It is rated M for mature (blood and gore, intense violence, nudity, sexual content).
"Aliens vs. Predator" keeps the monsters from the popular movies but ditches any story relationship by going 30 years into the future after "Aliens 3." This first-person shooter lets you play as a Marine, one of the aliens or as the Predator. Each has its own special combat advantages (the spiky tail of the Alien should be a sneaky, impaling-type weapon) and all are particularly vicious and gory.
Once you've mastered the game play, feel free to jump into the multiplayer action for bullet vs. fang vs. claw combat. "AvP" is set for release on February 26 for the PS3, PC and Xbox 360. It is rated (you guessed it) M for mature.
"Heavy Rain" (Sony, Quantic Dream) should be one of the more interesting games of early 2010. It looks like a film noir thriller with gritty visuals and moody atmospherics. The gameplay, however, is heavy on contextual actions by the gamer, allowing for more story flexibility and a greater sense of overall destiny control.
Developers say the story changes based on the player's actions and every decision will have a tangible effect on the characters and their destinies. You play as one of four characters throughout the game and can even kill off one of the others and still have a conclusion to the story. "Heavy Rain" is scheduled for release on February 23 as a PS3 exclusive.
Finally, "BioShock 2" (2K Games, 2K Marin) takes the player 10 years into the future after the first game, drops you into the role of a previous bad guy, then throws you into the ocean deep to fend off a new nemesis. The early gameplay looks as fabulous as the original, promising a continuation of the rich story and the chance to explore more of the underwater Rapture city. "BioShock 2" will be out on February 9 for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3.
Gaming in March is going to be bloody with a dash of godly rage being released in the middle of the month.
Gamers are always ready for the next good war game and "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" (DICE, Electronic Arts) is promising to deliver. With destructible environments, more than 15 vehicles and flying machines and an open-world perspective, "BF: BC2" gives gamers the chance to destroy and conquer just about everything on the map.
The game is designed to work best in squad form, so multiplayer will likely be the most enjoyable way to play (and online will be even better). An EA representative said that in a recent closed beta test, "BF: BC2" saw more than 300,000 players rack up 45 million kills, 9.4 million kills from vehicles, 3.43 million vehicles destroyed and over 380,000 buildings destroyed. That's a lot of mayhem. The game will be out on March 2 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
The most anticipated game in 2010 erupts in mid-March as Kratos returns to battle the gods of Olympus in "God of War 3" (Sony). While the story might sound similar to the other releases in the ancient trilogy, Sony is promising a new game engine and updated visuals to give players the realistic feel of actually being in battle.
A recent demo showed Kratos slicing and dicing his way through harpies and zombies before carving up a chimera and taking down Helios, the Greek god of the Sun. Because this is the last of the trilogy, players should expect storylines to be finished up in glorious, bloody fashion. "God of War 3" is due on March 19 as a PS3 exclusive.
And that's not all. Plenty of other upcoming games, including "Final Fantasy XIII," "Army of Two: The 40th Day," and "Dark Void," will also be vying for your console and computer time in the next three months. More major releases are planned during the rest of what is expected to be a huge year for gaming.
Did we miss anything? What games are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below

British-born Hollywood actress Jean Simmons dies at 80

Nick Higham looks back at the life of Jean Simmons

British film actress Jean Simmons, who played Ophelia in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet and sang with Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls, has died aged 80.

Simmons, who won an Emmy Award for her role in The Thorn Birds in the 1980s, died at her home in Santa Monica on Friday, her agent told the LA Times.
She had been suffering from lung cancer for some time.
The actress, who moved to Hollywood in 1950, first made her name playing Estella in 1946's Great Expectations.
She went on to become one of Hollywood's leading ladies, starring alongside Gregory Peck, Paul Newman and Kirk Douglas.

Obituary: Jean Simmons

Born in London in 1929, Simmons began her career at the age of 14, when she was plucked from a dance class to make her movie debut in the 1944 British production Give Us the Moon.
She then appeared in several minor British films before her breakthrough role in Great Expectations, followed by Black Narcissus and then Hamlet in 1948, where she earned an Oscar nomination.
The actress also proved her mettle playing Desiree to Marlon Brando's Napoleon, appearing alongside him again in Guys and Dolls in 1955.
She picked up a second Oscar nomination for 1969's The Happy Ending, before moving largely to television roles in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Simmons' first marriage was to fellow British film star Stewart Granger, who she met on the set of Caesar and Cleopatra.
The couple had been befriended by reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes in LA, who arranged their marriage in Tucson, Arizona.
Simmons and Granger had a daughter, Tracy, and starred in several films together.
However the pair divorced in 1960, with Simmons going on to marry Richard Brooks, who had directed her in Elmer Gantry.
Their marriage, which produced a daughter, Kate, ended in divorce in 1977.

Nokia launches Ovi maps to challenge sat-navs

The service will be available in 180 countries

Phone giant Nokia has launched a free map and navigation service for its handsets that analysts believe could challenge stand-alone sat-nav devices.

The service stores maps on the phone, cutting down the need to update and download new ones over the network.
Ovi maps will initially be available on 10 handsets and will offer so-called "turn-by-turn" navigation, similar to that in existing GPS devices.
It can display local data from travel guides, such as Lonely Planet.
Users can also post their location to Facebook.
Nokia said that it expects third-party developers to build new applications for the service.
"It's like a giant mash-up environment," said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president of Nokia at the launch.
'Serious blow'
The firm estimates that it has already sold 83m phones that can use the service, which can be downloaded for free from its Ovi application store.
Mr Vanjoki said that it would be preloaded on all compatible phones offered by Nokia from 21 January.

The service suggests different routes for pedestrians and cars

Previously, Nokia owners had to pay for its premium navigation service.
Analysts at CCS Insight said the move could be viewed as a "competitive response to Google", which also offers a free live sat-nav for its Nexus One handset and the Motorola Droid.
It also said that it was a "serious blow" for companies such as TomTom, which sell sat-nav devices.
Most navigation services on mobile phones, including Google Maps Navigation, require a connection over the network to update maps on the move.
This can be data intensive and potentially expensive when a user is in a foreign country.
Nokia's answer is to preload many of the maps on to the phone.
For example, Mr Vanjoki said that UK users who bought a new phone would get 2D and 3D European maps "out of the box".
Other free maps can be downloaded to the phone over the mobile network, wi-fi connection or via a PC or Mac.
Rival technology
To speed up the process of downloading maps over mobile connections, Nokia has turned to so-called "vector graphics", instead of traditional bitmap images.
Mr Vanjoki said that as a result, images were "one tenth of the size" but looked very similar.
The service will cover 180 countries, and offer turn-by-turn services, including voice navigation, for 74 of those.
It features different routes depending on whether a user is on foot or in a car and will be available on 10 handsets at launch including the popular N97 mini.
CCS Insight said that the service could reflect "Nokia's concern about falling share" in the smartphone market to rivals such as the iPhone and Blackberry.
Mr Vanjoki admitted that the firm had been motivated in part to "drive handset sales" but said it also sees other opportunities to profit from the service in the future, including selling advertising around maps and applications

Motorola files case against Blackberry owners, RIM

Blackberry has been winning market share from Motorola

Motorola has asked US regulators to ban Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian firm behind the Blackberry, from importing its products into the US.

The phone company claims that the Blackberry maker has been illegally using its wi-fi related technology.
A court case is already pending in the US but Motorola has accused RIM of "delaying tactics".
Motorola has lodged its complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in the hope of a quicker result.
"Motorola has no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM's continued infringement" said Motorola's legal representative, Jonathan Meyer.
The ITC typically takes about a month to decide whether to launch an investigation, which takes 12 to 14 months to complete. It can't award damages but it can stop products from being shipped into the US.
The complaint stems from the two companies failing to renew a cross-licensing agreement.
"These patented technologies are important to Motorola as they allow for more comprehensive connectivity, a better user experience and lower product costs," Motorola said in its statement.
Research In Motion declined to comment on the case.

Turkey police arrest 120 al-Qaeda suspects

Turkish police have arrested 120 al-Qaeda suspects in a major nationwide anti-terror operation, reports say.

The arrests were made in co-ordinated pre-dawn raids in 16 provinces, said the state-run Anatolia news agency.
Those detained include an alleged militant recruiter who worked at a university in the eastern city of Van, Anatolia quoted police as saying.
It added the raids came after police seized documents disclosing details of extremist militant activity in Turkey.
Friday morning's raids netted weapons, fake identity cards and camouflage clothing, unnamed police officials said.
Suspected leaders of al-Qaeda cells in Turkey - including the local group's leader, Serdar Elbasi - were reportedly among those detained.
Afghanistan link
The raids, which took place in cities including Ankara and Istanbul, came after 33 suspected al-Qaeda members were arrested in Ankara and Adana earlier this week.

ANALYSIS By Jonathan Head BBC News, Istanbul Little is known about al-Qaeda's structure in Turkey, but it is believed to be weak. In 2009 the police reportedly launched three raids against the movement's cells. There were similar raids in 2008. Some Turkish al-Qaeda members have been killed or captured in neighbouring Iraq, and some are known to have been trained in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda militants in Turkey are believed to come from Arab countries, the Caucasus and central Asia. Terrorist attacks are not uncommon in Turkey, but there are a number of potential culprits. The PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) is blamed for some. Extreme leftist groups used to carry out armed attacks, but have been inactive recently.

Reports suggest those detained may have been involved in plots to kill Turkish soldiers serving in Afghanistan or police in Turkey.
Turkish police occasionally carry out such raids against other Islamist groups and suspected Kurdish militants.
Al-Qaeda has been held responsible for sporadic attacks in Turkey, such as multiple suicide bombings against the British Consulate, a branch of HSBC and two synagogues in Istanbul in 2003.
Sixty-three people died, including British Consul-General Roger Short. Seven people, including one Syrian citizen, were jailed in 2007 over the attacks.
Although Turkey is governed by a notionally Islamist party, the AKP, it takes a tough stand against all forms of terrorism.
There are pockets of sympathy for jihadist Islam in parts of Turkey - numbering around 5,000 Salafi Muslims in total - but these pockets are small.
Turkey is a member of Nato and a long-standing US ally, despite more recent diplomatic overtures to Iran and Syria.
The country's security forces co-operate closely with the US, and are efficient in monitoring the activities of Islamic militants.

Trial by media was 'like rape' says Irish minister

Martin Cullen is the Irish minister for the arts An Irish government minister has said his "horrendous" trial-by-media was like being raped on a daily basis. Martin Cullen, minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism was falsely accused of having an affair with Waterford business woman, Monica Leech. He said defamatory coverage by some sections of the media of groundless allegations almost destroyed his life. "It was like waking up every morning and being raped," he told a conference on defamation law in Dublin this week. Nothing could ever undo the damage of the lies written against him, he said. His children had suffered "horrendous bullying" and had been forced to change schools three times. Destructive Mr Cullen said his sons had "the living daylights" beaten out of them for defending their father, he said. One journalist had bullied his way into the family home when his 11-year-old daughter was there alone and got her to phone his ex-wife on her mobile. Mr Cullen said a Bebo site dedicated to him got one million hits. He could not bring himself to view it, he said. Mr Cullen said the story about him and Ms Leech had been perpetuated with a single photograph. This purported to show him in a dress suit and Ms Leech in evening wear going to a function. However, the photo had been doctored because in the original Ms Leech's husband was standing behind her and Brian Cowen also appeared. "I am a public figure and I accept what goes with that but the real impact, the hard core destructive impact, is on the family, the immediate family and I saw that at first hand," he said. Mr Cullen said the rule of thumb among politicians was that you couldn't survive if you appeared on the front of the Sunday newspapers for three weeks running. Yet he had spent 13 weeks in a row on the front pages. No amount of apologies or money could undo that damage, he said

Iraq oil contract goes to Angola's Sonangol

Angola is the second biggest producer of oil in Africa The Angolan state-owned oil company, Sonangol, has signed two initial oilfield deals in Iraq. The two, the Qayara and Najmah oilfields, are in Nineveh province, known as one of the most dangerous regions of the country. There are frequent insurgencies there, as Sunni Islamic militants and al-Qaeda are both active. Sonangol will be paid between $5 and $6 a barrel, one of the highest fees awarded in Iraq's oil deals. The two fields combined contain an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The deals were awarded in Iraq's second bidding round for oil contracts, held earlier this month. Contracts went to companies including Shell, CNPC and Lukoil. Risky venture The high fees for Sonangol reflect the risks and relatively low quality of oil at the two sites. But they were well below what the company initially pitched for. The firm had proposed fees of between $8.50 and $12.50 a barrel. Sonangol has said it will invest $2bn in Qayara and that several firms have shown an interest in forging joint exploration partnerships with it. "There are at least five companies that have approached us and showed an interest to work with us to invest. We are still holding talks with them. The companies are European and American," said Paulino Jeronimo, exploration manager at Sonangol. The deals must now be approved by Iraq's cabinet before they can be finalised. Iraq is potentially a vastly rich oil country. Its proven reserves now stand at 115bn barrels, below Iran's 137bn and Saudi Arabia's 264bn. But Iraq's data dates from the 1970s, before improvements in technology transformed the industry. Angola is Africa's second most oil-rich nation after Nigeria

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant 'to open in 2010'

Russia has been building the plant for Iran since the mid-90s Iran's first nuclear power plant will be operating by mid-2010, Iranian and Russian officials say. The Bushehr plant was begun in 1974 and abandoned five years later. Russia took over building work in the 1990s, but it has been beset with delays. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency quoted the head of Iran's atomic agency as saying that the plant had passed most tests successfully. Russia's state nuclear corporation said the reactor would be started this year. Its chief Sergei Kiriyenko said: "2010 is the year of Bushehr." He told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Moscow: "There is absolutely no doubt that it will be built this year. Everything is going according to schedule," Reuters news agency reported. The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said: "We will launch the Bushehr power plant in the first half of the next [Iranian] year [beginning on March 21]," Fars reported. Slipping timetable The timetable comes just two months after the Russian energy minister said that the planned 2010 operation would not be possible. At the time, analysts linked the delay to political pressure on Iran from Western powers to give up its nuclear weapon ambitions, but Russia said it was for technical issues. Russia signed a deal with Iran to complete the plant in the 1990s, but it was delayed while the UN Security Council debated and then passed resolutions aimed at stopping uranium enrichment in Iran. In December 2007, Moscow started delivering the canisters of enriched uranium the plant needs, and in February 2009 a test run was begun. The test, lasting several months, involved dummy rods that imitate the enriched uranium needed to run the plant. Any nuclear fuel from the plant will be brought from and returned to Russia so that it cannot be used for a weapons programme

Nigeria religious riot bodies found in village wells

An exact death toll is not known but aid workers say it may be 300 More victims of deadly religious clashes in central Nigeria have been found, with scores of bodies stuffed in wells and sewage pits. Up to 150 bodies have been found in Kuru Karama village, 30km (18 miles) from the city of Jos, where the violence erupted last Sunday. Correspondents say elders hid in holes for seven hours to escape the violence. An exact death toll is not known but overall up to 300 are thought to have died in the Muslim-Christian clashes. Several thousand people fled their homes. 'Burned alive' The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Jos says many of the bodies found in Kuru Karama had massive burns, other victims were hacked to death or shot. JOS, PLATEAU STATE *Deadly riots in 2001 and 2008 *City divided into Christian and Muslim areas *Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers *Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers *Settlers find it difficult to stand for election *Divisions also exist along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP In pictures: Nigeria riot aftermath She says there are still more bodies scattered in the bush beyond the village but the areas are not safe for volunteer workers to enter. Umar Baza, head of Kuru Karama village, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "So far we have picked 150 bodies from the wells. But 60 more people are still missing." The Human Rights Watch group said armed men had attacked the mostly Muslim Kuru Karama on 19 January. "After surrounding the town, they hunted down and attacked Muslim residents, some of whom had sought refuge in homes and a local mosque, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive," it said in a statement. It quoted one villager as saying: "I came back on Wednesday evening escorted by the military. I saw dead bodies everywhere. The corpses were there, but now you can just see the blood on the ground. None of the houses are standing." The group called on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate criminal investigation into reports of the massacre. Mr Jonathan deployed the military after four days of clashes. He has been issuing orders while President Umaru Yar'Adua receives medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. The security forces have now restored order and a curfew has been partially lifted. But correspondents say the atmosphere is still tense. Jos, the capital of Plateau state, lies at the point where Nigeria's Muslim north and predominantly Christian south meet.