2011

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Current Affairs
March 30

Praveen http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com 3/30/2011

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FROM THE STATES

Agency to ensure smooth fund flow in MGNREGA

Meghalaya will set up an agency to ensure there is no delay in payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The State Rural Agency of Meghalaya (SRAM) would be responsible in ensuring there is smooth flow of fund in the implementation of the MGNREGA in the state, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters. This is expected to ensure that under the MGNREGA, there is no delay in release of the funds by the respective deputy commissioners and

subsequently to the respective blocks for payment of wages to the beneficiaries. The SRAM would also look into the overall aspects of the MNREGA, including examining the various allegations on misappropriation of funds while implementing this scheme.

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WORLD AFFAIRS
Gaddafi troops reverse Libyan rebel advance

Muammar Gaddafi's better armed and organised troops reversed the westward charge of rebels and world powers meeting in London piled pressure on the Libyan leader to end his 41-year rule.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, opening the London conference, accused Libyan troops of "murderous attacks", while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said military strikes would press on until Gaddafi loyalists ceased violence.

The United States is scaling back to a "supporting role" to let NATO take full command from U.S. forces on Wednesday, but air strikes by U.S., French and British planes remain key to smashing Gaddafi's armour and facilitating rebel advances.

It took five days of allied air strikes to pulverise Libyan government tanks around the town of Ajdabiyah before Gaddafi's troops fled and the rebels rushed in and began their 300-km (200-mile), two-day dash across the desert to within 80 km (50 miles) of the Gaddafi loyalist stronghold of Sirte.

A rebel spokeswoman in the main rebel stronghold of Benghazi said that the front line was now just west of Bin Jawad, 25 km (15 miles) east of Nawfaliyah.

REBELS ON THE RUN

Without air strikes it appears the rebels are not able to make advances or even hold ground.

Britain said the international partners meeting in London agreed to continue their military mission until Gaddafi complied with all terms of a U.N. resolution to protect civilians.

They also agreed to set up a contact group, including Arab states, to give political guidance for the response to the war and coordinate long-term support to Libya. The Gulf Arab state of Qatar agreed to convene a first meeting as soon as possible.

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Gaddafi accused Western powers of massacres of Libyan civilians in alliance with rebels he said were al Qaeda members. The rebels deny any al Qaeda links and on Tuesday promised free and fair elections if Gaddafi is forced from power. Both Britain and Italy suggested Gaddafi might be allowed to go into exile to bring a quick end to the six-week civil war, but the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said there was no evidence the Libyan leader was prepared to leave.

Intelligence on Libya rebels shows 'flickers' of Qaeda

Intelligence on the rebel forces battling Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has shown "flickers" of al Qaeda or Hezbollah presence, but there is still no detailed picture of the emerging Libyan opposition, NATO's top operations commander said on Tuesday.

Yemen govt loses control of six of the 18 provinces

Yemen's political crisis deepened on Tuesday as President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to step down in the face of mounting desertions by his supporters and officials said the government had lost control of six of the country's 18 provinces.

Saleh told that he would not step down as 95% of the Yemenis backed his call for a unified Yemen and instead it should be his opponents, who should leave the country.

The President's refusal comes as the death toll in the massive blast and fire at an ammunition plant in south Yemen shot up to 150 and transition of power talks remained stalled.

Yemeni official said, in recent days government forces has abandoned their force across the country, including areas where northern rebels have challenged the military and southern provinces where al Qaeda's Arabian branch has maintained sanctuaries.

The collapse of the authority was acknowledged by the President himself, who told a committee from his political party that "six of the Yemen's 18 provinces had fallen".

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The Yemeni strongman, who has been in power for the last 32 years has moved away from a dialogue with opposition mediated by American diplomats and Saudi Arabia.

Syrian premier quits, re-appointed as caretaker

Syrian President Bahsar al-Assad appointed Naji al-Otari, head of the government that resigned on Tuesday, as the new caretaker prime minister, on Tuesday.

The government has little power in Syria, where power is concentrated in the hand of Assad, his family and the security apparatus.

The next government, expected to be formed in the coming days, will face the task of implementing a string of reforms promised by the state after protests demanding more freedoms erupted in the Baath-ruled country mid-March.

The reforms are expected to include the end of emergency rule, in place since the Baath party came to power in 1963, and the liberalization of laws on media and political parties.

The president, who rose to power after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000, will address his people in the coming days and is expected to announce the end of emergency rule.

The Syria protests have turned increasingly violent in recent days, with authorities accusing fundamentalists and "armed gangs" of aiming to incite unrest in the country.

Small demonstrations demanding "freedom" also surfaced in the capital Damascus earlier this month, but were immediately quelled by security forces.

Protests demanding change have largely centered in the southern governorate of Daraa, a tribal region at the Jordanian border, and the northern port city of Latakia.

Activists say more than 130 people have been killed and scores injured in clashes with security forces at the Daraa and Latakia rallies. Officials have put the death toll at around 30.

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Reform package

Authorities have promised a package of reforms announced in a bid to reach out to the protest movements, including the liberalization of the country's media laws and a new law on licensing political parties.

But analysts say it is too early to say what the announcement will mean in terms of real change in the key Middle Eastern state renowned for its tight grip on security.

Syria's emergency law imposes restrictions on public gatherings and movements and authorizes the arrest of "suspects or persons who threaten security".

It also allows the interrogation of any individual and the surveillance of personal communications as well as official control of the content of newspapers and other media before publication.

What is going on at Japan's damaged nuclear reactor?

Japanese engineers are struggling to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was seriously damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Two of the six reactors at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), are considered stable but the other four are volatile.

Following are some questions and answers about efforts to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl accident:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Workers are struggling to restart the cooling pumps in four reactors damaged by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami and later drenched from desperate hosing operations to keep the reactors cool.

The immediate challenge is to pump out radioactive water flooding the basements in reactors No.1, No.2 and No.3 and hampering the restoration of electricity to continuously power the cooling pumps.

The No.2 reactor has posed especially nasty risks, emitting high levels of radiation at more than 1,000 millisieverts an hour in both the water and air in

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the basement of the turbine building. That is the highest reading seen in the crisis and compares with a national safety standard of 250 millisieverts over a year. This most likely means that byproducts from a partial meltdown in the reactor core are leaking out into the water. In the No.1 reactor, workers have been able to start running a circulatory steam condensing system to begin to clear contaminated water. But after five days of pumping, there is no clear indication of significant progress. The same systems in reactors No.2 and No.3 are flooded and so need to be emptied before they can handle the contaminated water. TEPCO has said it may need to think out of the box to clear the dangerous waters, while preventing further flows into the sea and soil.

HOW LONG MIGHT THIS TAKE?

Nobody knows. The most likely scenario is a long, drawn-out fight, with incremental progress interrupted by emergency cooling measures and spikes in radioactivity.

Once the pumps and the residual heat removal systems are running, it would take only a couple days to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown. But engineers are literally working in the dark. Lights have only recently gone on in the control room, but electrically powered monitors and gauges -- workers' eyes and ears inside the reactor -- are still off. Radiation readings outside the reactors are still taken via a moving car, because the monitoring posts are not powered. Temperature and pressure readings from backup systems are all that workers have to "see" what is going on in the reactors.

Because of the high levels of radiation in the water, experts suspect damage to the containment structures around the No.2 reactor core. They said it may take as long as a few months to bring that reactor to a cold shutdown.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

The main risk comes from the radiation that will continue to seep, or burst, out each time a pipe leaks or rising pressure forces workers to vent steam. Leaking water from within the nuclear pressure vessels could find their way

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into the soil and the ocean, while spikes in radiation could contaminate crops over a wide area. The risk that the spent fuel pools could reach recriticality seems remote, as long as there are workers and firefighters willing to douse the reactors with water each time temperatures start to rise. The same could be said of a small, hypothetical risk of a corium steam explosion, particularly in the No.1 reactor, which is the plant's oldest and which is believed to have a weak spot. If workers are unable to continue hosing operations, and if the nuclear fuel manages to melt through the bottom of the reactor and fall into a water pool below, this would result in a high temperature burst and a sudden release of a huge amount of hydrogen that could, in an unlikely "perfect storm" scenario, breach the containment vessel. Should either worst-case scenarios happen, it could disperse high levels of radiation up to 20 km (12 miles) around the site, making it impossible to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown without great sacrifice.

WILL THE SITE BECOME A NO-MAN'S LAND?

Most likely, yes. Even after a cold shutdown there is the issue of tonnes of nuclear waste sitting at the site of the nuclear reactors. Enclosing the reactors by injecting lead and encasing them in concrete would make it safe to work and live a few kilometres away from the site, but is not a long-term solution for the disposal of spent fuel, which will decay and emit fission fragments over several thousand years.

The spent nuclear fuel in Fukushima has been damaged by sea water, so recycling it is probably not an option, while transporting it elsewhere is unlikely given the opposition that proposal would bring.

WHAT RISK FROM PLUTONIUM?

Plutonium has been found in soil samples at the site, further evidence that fuel rods in at least one reactor may have melted down considerably before they were cooled, and that there is damage to the structures containing the nuclear core.

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Only trace amounts of the toxic substance have been detected. The level of up to 0.54 becquerals per kg of soil is not considered harmful. Most people have some plutonium in their bodies from atmospheric and

underwater nuclear tests and some pacemakers are powered by plutonium. But the presence of the radioactive poison outside the reactors compounds worry for the workers there as long as authorities are not sure how the heaviest of primordial elements leaked out. Plutonium-239, used most in reactors, has a half-life of 24,200 years. It is not readily absorbed by the body but what is absorbed, stays put, irradiates surrounding tissue and is carcinogenic.

Japan says plutonium at plant not harmful levels

The amount of plutonium detected at the quake-stricken plant in Japan is similar to that which would occur at a location far from an atmospheric nuclear test but is not harmful to people, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Tuesday.

In the latest blow to hopes that authorities were gradually getting the Fukushima Daiichi plant under control, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said plutonium had been found at low-risk levels in soil samples at the facility.

The detection of plutonium at the site was further evidence that fuel rods in at least one of the six reactors may have melted down considerably before they were cooled, and that there is damage to the structures containing the nuclear core.

Radioactive iodine from Japan found in Russia

Traces of radioactive iodine-131 from Japan's stricken nuclear power plant have been detected in Russia's Far East Primorye region but posed no health threat, officials said on Tuesday.

Its concentration is more than 100 times lower than the acceptable level, and thus presents no threat to people's health.

Radiation levels detected in Primorye have ranged between 7 and 16 microroentgens an hour during that period, which is within the normal range.

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Russian authorities say up to 30 microroentgens an hour is

considered safe. Primorye's capital Vladivostok, a city of 600,000, lies across the Sea of Japan, about 800 km (500 miles) northwest of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

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BUSINESS/FINANCE/ECONOMY
Swan & Loop used as front companies to get spectrum: CBI to SC

The Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court that two new licencees Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom allegedly acted as front companies for Anil Ambanis Reliance Communications (RCom) and the Ruias of the Essar Group, respectively.

The CBI also said on Tuesday that Swan and Loop hid vital details about their companies to get spectrum and they will be facing charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The two were among the nine firms that were granted new licences by former telecom minister A Raja in January 2008, which the CAG later said caused a loss to the exchequer of R1.76 lakh crore. It was the CAG which first said in its report last November that Swan was a front company for RCom, something the latter continues to deny.

The charge against RCom and the Essar Group is that they violated the cross-holding norm, which bars a telecom firm from having more than a 10% stake in another telecom firm within the same circle. RCom had services in areas where Swan applied for licences and the Essar Group owns 33% stake in Vodafone Essar, which operates in areas where Loop has licences.

The CAG report has said that at the time of application, the stake of Reliance Telecom (a 100% subsidiary of RCom) in Swan was 10.71%. The department of telecommunications (DoT) did not have any mechanism to verify the correctness of its shareholding pattern and, hence, the matter should have been referred to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) as was advised by DoTs finance wing.

However, no reference was made to the MCA and instead, Swan was given an opportunity to resubmit a revised shareholding pattern in December, 2007 nine months after their date of application which declared that Reliance Telecom had divested its entire stake. This was accepted by the DoT and Swan was given the benefit of seniority from the date of their initial application, ie, March 2007, the CAG has said.

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As Swan Telecom did not meet the eligibility criteria on the date of application, its application should have been rejected by DoT and the company should have been directed to apply afresh. Even if it was to be considered eligible on the basis of its old application, the date of priority based on the first-come-first-served basis should have been revised from March 2007 to December 2007 in order to ensure fairness.

Chargesheet against Raja

The CBI, which filed a status report in a sealed envelope before a bench of Justices, said Raja will face charges of cheating, forgery, and corruption.

Swan Telecoms promoter Shahid Balwa is under arrest, while RCom chairman Ambani has already been questioned by the CBI, as is the case with Loop Telecom CEO Sandip Basu and Essar Group CEO Prashant Ruia.

The agency said that there was evidence of forgery in altering of the firstcome-first-served policy to allow some companies to get 2G spectrum during Rajas tenure as telecom minister.

It said the main chargesheet will be filed on April 2 against four individuals including Raja, some telecom executives and two

companies for their involvement in the 2G scam. The CBI also said that the supplementary charge sheet will be filed by April 25 and investigation in the scam will be completed by May 31. Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, placing a transcript of telephonic conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and top corporate leaders and politicians, said, These telephonic records will be used as evidence in criminal prosecution of the accused in the scam.

More Arrests

The CBI on Tuesday arrested two more people Asif Balwa and Rajeev B Agarwal for alleged involvement in money transfer to DMKs Kalaingar TV channel in connection with the 2G spectrum case.

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The two were arrested after they allegedly did not cooperate with the CBI during their interrogation. Asif is the younger brother of former MD of DBEtislat group Shahid Balwa, who has already been arrested by the CBI.

India's wheat bonanza

India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer after China, may start exports again after a four-year hiatus as it heads for record production in 2011.

India banned wheat exports in February 2007 to protect domestic supplies after weather damaged output. It briefly lifted the export ban in July 2009, for 10 days, until weather concerns again emerged.

India's output this year is expected to be about 82 million tonnes, putting it second globally to China, which produced some 115 million tonnes last year. The United States and Russia vie for third place at about 55 million tonnes each.

Annual demand in India is usually around 76 million tonnes. This year, consumption will include 26 million tonnes bought by the government for subsidised sale to the poor. India ranks second in consumption, also, to China -- where demand is over 100 million tonnes. Third-placed Russia consumes about 35.5 million tonnes.

Generous subsidised payments to farmers from the government have encouraged them to plant more acres with wheat despite static demand.

The government's procurement agency Food Corp of India buys wheat between March and May at pre-set prices. This practice has encouraged farmers to plant increasingly large areas to wheat, in turn contributing to overflowing storage.

Wheat stocks in India on March 1 totalled 17.2 million tonnes, more than double the government's target of 8.2 million tonnes.

Overflowing storage bins have forced the government to store grains under tarpaulin, leading to some rot and decay.

Farm Minister Sharad Pawar called for limited exports of wheat, rice and sugar last month, saying India had ample stocks, world prices were strong and the harvest looked favourable.

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India grows only one wheat crop per year, planted in October with the harvest starting in March. Wheat is grown mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan produce high-protein wheat. India's high food inflation, currently around 10 percent, has prompted the government to plan more subsidies in its next budget. It is introducing a food security bill this year aimed at further protecting its half a billion poor from price rises in staples such as wheat and rice. The country's total bill for food subsidies is over 600 billion rupees a year.

Govt may lift wheat export ban in April, May

The government could decide as early as next month to lift a four-year-old ban on wheat exports, but analysts said the government, struggling to bring down prices, may lack the political will for such a move.

The world's second-biggest wheat producer and consumer banned exports in 2007 to bolster domestic supplies as bad weather hit crops.

This year it is heading for record production of around 82 million tonnes -- at a time when output problems for other producers have pushed global prices near to 30-year highs. India has more stock than it can store and some is rotting.

But traders remained sceptical about the government's ability to allow exports, given that its priority now was to bring down high food inflation as it goes into a series of state elections beginning next month.

The governments purchases this year will be about 26 million tonnes out of total demand of around 76 million tonnes.

Rice procurement down by 1 pc so far in 2010-11

The government's rice procurement has declined by one per cent to 24.82 million tonnes so far in 2010-11 season that started October last year even though production is estimated to rise by five million tonnes.

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Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, had bought 25.01 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the 2009-10 marketing year (October-September). The government had procured 32.03 million tonnes in the entire 2009-10 marketing year. According to the Agriculture Ministry's second advance estimate, rice production is pegged at 94 million tonnes in 2010-11 crop year (JulyJune) as against 89 million tonnes in the previous year. Punjab, which is the largest contributor to the central pool

India among world's top 10 manufacturing nations

India is listed as one of the top 10 manufacturers of the world in 2010, according to the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2011, published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

India together with other leading developing economies such as Brazil and China showed strong performance in economic growth in 2010.

The manufacturing value added (MVA) of all three countries grew by more than 10 % in 2010.

The countries share in world manufacturing output has reached 32% compared to 20% ten years ago.

Six core sector growth up 6.8 percent in Feb

The output of the six core infrastructure industries grew by 6.8 per cent in February supported by healthy expansion of sectors like crude oil, petroleum refinery products and finished steel.

The six core sectors -- crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel -- had expanded by 4.2 per cent in February 2010.

In January, 2011, the output of the core infrastructure sectors grew by 7.1 per cent. These core industries account for 26.68 per cent of the country's total industrial output.

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NELP IX - Highlights

India failed to woo global players in its latest oil and gas exploration licensing round as its dim track record of commercial discoveries and sluggish bureaucracy deterred investors, with most of the 33 blocks awarded to domestic firms.

Despite record high oil prices and oil major BP agreeing a multi-billion dollar deal to jump into Indian exploration blocks owned by Reliance Industries, only a handful of foreign companies showed interest.

Here are some facts about India's ninth licensing round under rules introduced in 1999 for the gas and oil sector:

The latest round failed to attract bids from oil majors, apart from companies which already operate in India such as BG, BHP Billiton and Cairn Energy.

One oil and gas block did not receive any bids in the auction, which covered eight deepwater blocks, six in shallow water and 19 onshore.

A consortium led by ONGC provisionally won five deepwater blocks while Reliance Industries won two blocks and BG-BHP Billiton the remaining one.

ONGC also won five of six shallow water blocks while state-run Oil India bagged the remaining one.

The winning bids have to be endorsed by India's cabinet. Signing of contracts for exploration of oil and gas blocks will take place in the next three months.

In the current round, Reliance submitted bids for six blocks in Andaman, Cambay Basin and Rajasthan.

In its previous eight rounds since 1999, India has awarded 234 blocks with state-run oil firms bagging most of them.

India, the third-biggest economy in Asia, buys over two-third of its crude oil needs from overseas, and is keen to cut dependence on imports.

India against inclusion of data exclusivity in any FTA

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India on Tuesday said it was against inclusion of 'data exclusivity' provision in any of its free trade agreements as it would hurt interests of the domestic pharmaceuticals industry, dominated by generics. Commerce and Industry Anand Shrma said that data protection must be respected as data exclusivity is beyond the provisions of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement under WTO. "India does not provide data exclusivity for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, which is in the paramount interest of our generic pharmaceutical industry as grant of data exclusivity would have considerable impact in delaying the entry into the market of cheaper generic drugs," he said. India's generic drug industry is estimated at over $20 billion and the country exports 50 per cent of its produce. Data exclusivity provides protection to the technical data generated by innovator companies to prove the usefulness of their products. In pharmaceutical sector, drug companies generate the data through expensive global clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of their new medicine. By gaining exclusive rights over this data, innovator companies can prevent their competitors from obtaining marketing licence for low-cost versions during the tenure of this exclusivity. The 27-nation bloc EU, with which India is presently negotiating a comprehensive market opening pact, is pressing hard to include data exclusivity in the proposed Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA). India and EU are negotiating BTIA that will include trade in goods, services and investments since June 2007. However, inclusion of issues like data exclusivity, child labour and environment in the pact are acting as a stumbling bloc. India strongly opposes inclusion of these issues in any free trade pact. On the drug seizure issue, Sharma said that European Union (EU) will soon amend its rule to stop re-occurrence of drug seizure by some EU member nations. India and Brazil had dragged the EU to the WTO in May last year after over 15 instances of seizure of its generic or off-patent pharmaceuticals

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consignments in Europe, mainly by the Netherlands, on grounds that they violated EU patent laws. Sharma also expressed concerns over the attempt of certain developed countries to enact Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA) which contains provisions in addition to those provided by TRIPS in WTO on enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). The ACTA proposed between the EU, the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Switzerland seeks to widen the scope of protection and sets higher standards for enforcement of IPRs beyond the provisions of the existing TRIPS pact in WTO. Sharma, also said that there was four fold increase in the filing of patents from 8,503 applications in 2000-01 to 34,290 in 2009- 10.

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Major Radioactive Elements

Scientists measure radioactive materials in half-lives, or the time it takes to halve the radiation through natural decay. Half-lives range from fractions of a second to billions of years.

Major radioactive elements, with half-lives:

Iodine 131, 8 days. It is produced by the fission of uranium atoms and has been blamed for causing thyroid cancer among young people after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union.

"In Japan, the iodine 131 is mostly gone. The concern is more with elements with longer half-lives, like caesium and strontium," according to officials.

Caesium 134, two years, caesium 137, 30 years. Caesium can be absorbed in food and water or inhaled as dust. It is easily taken up plants and animals.

Ruthenium 103, 39 days; Ruthenium 106, about a year Strontium 90, 30 years Plutonium 239, 24,100 years -Japan has found plutonium at the reactor but said that the levels were similar to those found at a location far from an atmospheric nuclear test.

Uranium 234, one of the three natural uranium isotopes, 247,000 years. Uranium 235, 710 million years. Uranium 238, 4.5 billion years.

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SPORTS
Ricky Ponting steps down as Australian Skipper

Ricky Ponting, the most successful captain in 134 years of test cricket, resigned as the Australian test and one-day skipper on Tuesday but aims to continue playing the game at the highest level.

The 36-year-old had led Australia in one day internationals since 2002 and tests since 2004, a period encompassing his country's absolute domination of world cricket and steady decline after the retirement of a golden generation of players.

With Cricket Australia under pressure to sack him in the wake of a home Ashes defeat to England and a quarter-final exit as defending champions at the World Cup this year, the tough Tasmanian decided to fall on his sword.

RARELY LOVED

Australia won 48 of 77 tests and 164 of 228 one day internationals, including two World Cups, under Ponting. No other captain has won as many games in either form.

Admired but rarely loved in Australia, Ponting admitted that his tenure as his country's 42nd test captain would probably be remembered by some for the three Ashes series losses he oversaw.

"It's funny how we talk about losing the Ashes series three times," he said. "Playing on three World Cup winning teams doesn't come up every often, winning 16 consecutive test matches doesn't come up very much, winning 30odd consecutive World Cup matches doesn't come up very often. "I know within myself... what I've achieved in the game and I'm very proud of it, said Ponting.

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Most Successful Captain

Ricky Ponting, who holds the record for most wins as a captain in 134 years of test cricket, announced his retirement as Australian test and one-day skipper on Tuesday. Here is a list of the most successful test captains.

Captain (Country) Matches Won

Lost

Tied

Draw

Ricky Ponting (Aus) Steve Waugh (Aus) Graeme Smith (SA) Clive Lloyd (WI) Allan Border (Aus)

77 57 83 74 93

48 41 38 36 32

16 9 24 12 22

0 0 0 0 1

13 7 21 26 38

Ponting, the Punter

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Played his first test and one-day international in 1995 and has gone on to establish himself as the one of the greatest batsmen and most successful captains the game has seen.

Has scored 12,363 test runs, including 39 centuries, and 13,288 ODI runs, including 30 centuries. Only India's Sachin Tendulkar has scored more international runs and hundreds than the Tasmanian.

Ponting has won almost every individual award on offer in the game, including being named as the ICC player of the year in 2006 and 2007, the only man to win the award twice. He was also named the ICC's test player of the year in 2006 and captain of the year in 2007.

Nicknamed "Punter", he took over from Steve Waugh as Australian one-day skipper in 2002 and led his team to victory in the 2003 World Cup, scoring an unbeaten 140 in the final. He led Australia to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2007. The only other captain to win successive World Cups was West Indian Clive Lloyd.

Ponting captained Australia in 228 ODIs for 164 wins, 50 losses and 14 ties or no results. His 164 wins remains a record for any ODI captain.

Ponting took over as Australia's 42nd test captain when Steve Waugh retired in 2004 and enjoyed instant success but his leadership soon came under question when Australia lost the Ashes to England in 2005.

Ponting avenged that defeat by steering Australia to a ruthless 5-0 whitewash against England in the 2006-7 Ashes series but the retirements of his senior players, including Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, suddenly left him leading a young and inexperienced team.

Australia lost a rare test series at home to South Africa and were then beaten in each of the next two Ashes series, slipping down the world rankings and leading to calls for Ponting to step aside.

Ponting captained Australia in a total of 77 tests for 48 wins, 16 losses and 13 draws. His 48 wins remains a record for any international skipper, but his success was largely overshadowed by his losses and he ended his test captaincy as the only Australian skipper to lose three Ashes series.