The head of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, was to deliver the first car in person at a central Mumbai dealership, the company said. No details were immediately available about the recipient or the type of Nano being delivered.

But analysts said the delivery was a positive step, after a land dispute forced the firm off the site of a factory it was building to produce the cars in eastern India, fuelling concerns about its ability to meet demand on time.

“I think it’s very significant,” the associate editor of trade magazine Autocar Professional, Darius Lam, told AFP.

“They have been talking about delivering this car since last year and subsequently due to the problems they have had with moving the factory they have had to delay it by at least one year.

“It really shows that now they are getting their production in hand and are able to start delivering.”

Some 100,000 people were selected from a ballot to be the first recipients of the Nano, which reviewers have compared to the European Smart car and the classic ‘People’s Car’, the Volkswagen Beetle.

They include a roadside cobbler from Mumbai, who had been saving for seven years to buy a two-wheeler, but decided to wait and upgrade to four wheels on hearing that the vehicle would sell for just 100,000 rupees ($2,055).

Others among the 203,000 people who placed orders included an 82-year-old former assistant commissioner of Mumbai police who used to ride a scooter and a market trader looking for an investment for his 12-year-old son.

India’s first female photo-journalist, Homi Vyarawalla, who is now in her mid-90s, has also bid for a car.

Ratan Tata launched the Nano in March, predicting the no-frills vehicle would revolutionise travel for millions of Indians, getting the growing middle-class, urban population off motorcycles and into safer, affordable cars.

Three versions of the sporty, jellybean-shaped Nano went on sale in April: the basic model and more expensive CX and LX models, which have extra features like air-conditioning, automatic windows and central locking.

The standard model sells for 140,000 rupees in the showroom. The deluxe models cost up to Rs 1,85,000.

Tata Motors, part of the tea-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate, is India’s top vehicle maker but like many firms in the automotive sector has been hit by the global economic slowdown which has cut demand for trucks and cars.

Last month it posted its first consolidated full-year net loss in eight years, partly blamed on a slump in sales at luxury British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, which it bought from Ford last year.

Theo Sambuaga, chairman of the parliamentary security commission, said “there are indications of suicide bombs” at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Friday morning. “That is being investigated.”

The Indonesian security minister and police have said a New Zealander was among those killed.

Thirteen other foreigners were among the wounded, including nationals from the United States, Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Norway and South Korea.

It has been nearly four years since a major terrorist attack in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Bombs minutes apart ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta Friday, killing nine and wounding at least 50 more, ending a four-year lull in terror attacks in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. At least 14 foreigners were among the dead and wounded.

The blasts at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, located side-by-side in an upscale business district in the capital, blew out windows and scattered debris and glass across the street, kicking up a thick plume of smoke. Facades of both hotels were reduced to twisted metal.

Alex Asmasubrata, who was jogging nearby, said he walked into the Marriott before emergency services arrived and “there were bodies on the ground, one of them had no stomach,” he said. “It was terrible.”

The Marriott, which was attacked in 2003 in a bombing blamed on Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, was hit first, followed by the blast at the Ritz two minutes later. The attacks came just two weeks after presidential vote expected to re-elect incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who has been credited with stabilizing a nation previously wracked by militancy.

Local media reported that two people were killed in another explosion in a car north Jakarta later Friday. Officials confirmed a blast but said it did not appear to be related.

Security Minister Widodo Adi Sucipto told reporters at the scene the hotel blasts happened at 7:45 a.m. and 7:47 a.m. (0045 GMT, 8:45 p.m. EDT) and that “high explosives were used.” He said at least nine people were killed and 50 wounded.

Anti-terror forces were rushed to the scene, and authorities blocked access to the hotels in a district also home to foreign embassies.

“This destroys our conducive situation,” Sucipto said, referring to the nearly four years since a major terrorist attack in Indonesia — a triple suicide bombing at restaurants at the resort island of Bali that killed 20 people.

The security minister and police said a New Zealander was among those killed, and that thirteen other foreigners were among the wounded, including nationals from Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and the U.S.

Earlier, South Jakarta police Col. Firman Bundi said that four foreigners were killed, but gave no details.

The attacks came ahead of a high-profile trip by the Manchester United football team to Indonesia. The team was scheduled to stay at the Ritz on Saturday and Sunday nights for a friendly match against the Indonesian All Stars, the Indonesian Football association said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said the likely perpetrators were from the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.

“The only group with the intention and capability to mount attacks upon Western targets in Jemaah Islamiyah. I have no doubt Jemaah Islamiyah was responsible for this attack,” he said.

There has been a massive crackdown in recent years by anti-terror officials in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million, but Gunaratna said the group was “still a very capable terrorist organization.”

Police have detained most of the key figures in the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah, and rounded up hundreds of other sympathizers and lesser figures.

But Gunaratna said that radical ideologues sympathetic to JI were still able to preach extremism in Indonesia, helping provide an infrastructure that could support terrorism.

Jakarta chief of police operations, Arief Wahyunadi, said the blasts were in the Ritz-Carlton’s Airlangga restaurant and in the basement of the Marriott. He gave no details on what kind of bombs were used and whether they were suicide attacks.

Government spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told CNN the scene of the blasts were “eerie,” when he arrived.

“The bodies I saw, some were being collected, some were on the floor,” he said. “What we know, of course, is this was a coordinated attack.”

When asked if Jemaah Islamiyah was behind the attack, Djalal said: “We always knew there are terrorists out there. But we’ve had a number of very good successes; no major attacks since the Bali bombings.”

He was referring to the October 2002 bombings of two Bali nightclubs that killed some 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

“This is a blow to us,” Djalal said, but said the government would find those behind the attacks.

“The president has built his reputation on … anti-terrorism policies,” he said. “Make no mistake, he will hunt whoever is behind this.”

Because of past attacks, most major hotels in Jakarta take security precautions, such as checking incoming vehicles and requiring visitors to pass through metal detectors. Still, international hotels make attractive targets, since the nature of their business requires them to be relatively open and accessible.

On Friday, Australia and New Zealand updated their travel advisories, which had already warned against unnecessary travel to Indonesia because of the risk of terrorism.

“We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia due to the very high threat of terrorist attack,” the Australian Foreign Ministry said on its Web site. Those in Indonesia were warned to exercise “extreme caution.”

New Zealand urged its citizens in Indonesia to keep a low profile.

Britain also updated its travel warning, though it did not raise its alert level.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor informed Rajya Sabha that a pilot project to issue E-passports to diplomats and officials have already been started.

“A pilot project for the issue of e-passports in the category of official and diplomatic passports has already been launched on June 25 last year,” he said replying to a question.

At present, a passport contains facial imprint but the E-passport will have all the personal details, including finger-prints, of the person carrying it.

The government had asked the national informatics centre (NIC) and IIT (Kanpur) to work on the E-passport project which has successfully developed it.

The software company, co-founded by Bill Gates, moved from second to first place in a list of the 500 brands that the public thought were reliable, distinguished, and the best quality.

In the second place was Rolex, the watch manufacturer, followed by Google, which was late year’s winner.

At the fourth and fifth place were British Airways and the BBC, respectively.

A company called Superbrands compiled the list by using the votes of 2,100 consumers.

An expert panel drew up the shortlist of 500 brands, which even included Apple into the top ten.

The list showed that technology companies have dominated people’s lives to such an extent they are more highly rated than most food, drink, car manufacturers as well as retailers and leisure giants.

“You may drink a Coca-Cola or Starbucks drink once or twice a day, but most of us interact with Microsoft and Google every hour of our lives. These technology companies have entered into our homes, our offices – even our friendships,” the Telegraph quoted Shar VanBoskirk, an analyst at Forester, as saying.

She added that many consumers had “learnt to love” Microsoft, while some even think of it as an underdog as it is now challenging online media companies.

Other than technology companies, fast food restaurants also did well in the brand list.

While McDonald’s rose 227 places to 143 on the list, Burger King climbed up 189 places.

Krispy Kreme, the doghnut company, also made its debut in the list of brands at 68.

Mrs Blair started feeling unwell at the start of the week and is believed to have been diagnosed with suspected H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, on Tuesday, The Sun tabloid revealed.

Mrs Blair, who is a human rights lawyer, had been due to pick up an honorary degree at the Liverpool Hope University in north-west England today.

As she battles the flu, Mrs Blair, the most high profile person in Britain to catch swine flu to date, has been forced to cancel a string of public engagements, including receiving an honorary degree from Liverpool’s Hope University, the report said said, adding doctors gave her a course of Tamiflu and she is now resting.

A staff barbeque has also been dropped to ensure she doesn’t pass on the virus. The British tabloid said the former premier has not picked up the bug, and the family’s children are also unaffected.

However, the office of Mrs Blair refused to comment today on reports that she has swine flu.

“This is a private matter and we will not be making a comment,” spokeswoman for Mrs Blair was quoted as saying by the CNN.

With 29 deaths and a dramatic increase in the number of cases, Britain has the worst swine flu figures in Europe. According to government figures, swine flu will cause one in eight workers to stay off work this summer, potentially crippling many businesses still struggling in the wake of the recession.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, Britain’s chief medical officer Liam Donaldson estimated that up to 12 percent of the workforce will be sick by September.

Biz roundtable

Ms Clinton is scheduled to participate in a round-table meeting with business heads, Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Mukesh Ambani, Mr Adi Godrej, Dr Swati Piramal, Ms Sudha Murty, and Dr Amrita Patel, on Saturday morning.

Later in the day, she is also slated to address a gathering at St Xavier’s College, where film actor Aamir Khan is expected to be present. It is, however, not clear whether Ms Clinton will meet with scientists and other officials of the nuclear establishment in the city.

Strategic partnership

On Sunday, Ms Clinton will travel to New Delhi where she will meet with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna.

At the meeting with Mr Krishna, she will discuss the structure and elements of an enhanced US-India strategic partnership that will enable the two countries to advance solutions to the challenges of the time and enhance global prosperity and stability in the 21st century, according to information from the US Consulate.

In the Capital, Ms Clinton is also scheduled to meet government officials, the leader of the Opposition, entrepreneurs and scientists, among others. She leaves New Delhi on July 21 for Thailand.

Mawlavi Sangin said Thursday that the soldier is healthy but threatened to kill him if the U.S. military continues operations in Paktika and neighboring Ghazni province.

A U.S. military spokeswoman, Captain Elizabeth Mathias, said the military has distributed leaflets in the two provinces calling for the soldier’s safe return.

One leaflet shows an American soldier sitting on the ground and shaking hands with Afghan children. It asks for the missing “American guest” to be returned home.

But another leaflet shows U.S. soldiers kicking in the door of a house and says: “If you do not release the U.S. soldier then you will be hunted.”

U.S. officials said the soldier was captured late last month when he left his base camp in Paktika with three Afghans.

Meanwhile, the governor of Kandahar province said a suspected coalition airstrike killed six civilians and wounded at least 13 others. Afghan officials are investigating.

Separately, NATO officials said Afghan and coalition forces killed two insurgents in Kunar province and captured four others. The militants allegedly were responsible for roadside bomb attacks in the area.

In other news, a report from Britain’s paramilitary defense committee said a helicopter shortage is hurting British operations in Afghanistan.

There are some 30 helicopters for Britain’s 9,000 troops in Afghanistan’s violent southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand province.

The report said a larger fleet would allow soldiers to travel by air, instead of on the ground, where they are exposed to roadside bombs. Fifteen British soldiers have been killed this month, many by roadside bombs planted by Taliban insurgents.

Media outlets reported Thursday that Britain’s top army commander was forced to fly in an American helicopter when he visited the front lines in Helmand because British forces could not spare one.

British Prime Minister Gordon has repeatedly said that British forces have the resources and equipment they need.

Success came on launch try No. 6, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the liftoff of man’s first moon landing.

But the mood was dampened somewhat when NASA managers watched the launch video.

Eight or nine pieces of foam insulation came off the external fuel tank during liftoff, and the shuttle was hit at least two or three times, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s space operations chief. Some scuff marks were spotted, but that probably is coating loss and considered minor, he said.

In fact, Mission Control told the astronauts Wednesday night that the damage — which occurred not quite two minutes into the flight — looked to be less extensive than what occurred on the last flight. The impacts were around the edge of the shuttle where the right wing joins the fuselage.

Engineers immediately began reviewing all the launch pictures, standard procedure ever since flights resumed following the Columbia disaster. Gerstenmaier said zoom-in photos will be taken of the entire shuttle right before it docks with the space station Friday, to ascertain whether it suffered any serious damage. It will take days to go through all the data.

“The bottom line is we saw some stuff,” said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. “Some of it doesn’t concern us. Some of it you just can’t really speculate on right now. But we have the tools in front of us and the processes in front of us to go clear this vehicle for entry” at the end of the month.

At a news conference, Gerstenmaier noted that the Endeavour crew has shuttle repair kits on board. In case of irreparable damage, the astronauts could move into the space station for two to three months and await rescue by another shuttle.

Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 because of a hole in its wing, left there by flyaway foam at liftoff.

Endeavour blasted off a little after 6 p.m. from its seaside pad — the same one used to launch Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969 — a welcome sight for shuttle workers who had to overcome hydrogen gas leaks last month and, since the weekend, thunderstorms.

The skies finally cleared, allowing commander Mark Polansky and his crew to embark on their 16-day adventure. One more holdup and they would have tied a record for the most shuttle launch delays.

“The weather is finally cooperating, so it is now time to fly,” launch director Pete Nickolenko called out to the crew. “Persistence pays off.”

Later, from orbit, Polansky radioed, “For all of us, it was a pretty decent wait, but we are thrilled to be here.”

The astronauts will catch up Friday afternoon with the space station, which was soaring more than 220 miles above the Pacific at launch time. When they do, it will be the first time 13 people are together in space. Ten is the previous record. The doubling of the space station crew a few months ago, to six, makes the new record possible.

The shuttle will remain docked at the space station for nearly two weeks. During that time, the shuttle astronauts will help install the third and final piece of the Japanese space station lab, a porch for outdoor experiments. The first two parts went up on shuttle flights last year.

Japan’s $1 billion laboratory is the largest and fanciest of the three up there. It even has its own robot arm which will be used for the first time, during the coming days, to move research payloads.

Shuttle managers say robot arm operations will be especially intricate on this flight, involving all three of the available mechanical devices.

Five spacewalks are planned to help attach the new porch to the Japanese lab, give the space station some new batteries and perform other maintenance.

Endeavour also is carrying up hundreds of pounds of food for the station crew and a fresh station resident, an American who will take the place of the lone Japanese on board.

All of the major space station partners will be represented once Endeavour arrives. The combined crews will have seven Americans, two Canadians, two Russians, one Japanese and one Belgian. All but one are men.

NASA was anxious to get Endeavour flying, given time is running out on the shuttle program. The space agency, at least, finally has a new administrator to oversee everything. Former shuttle commander Charles Bolden was confirmed by the Senate less than two hours after Endeavour’s liftoff. He fills a vacancy left by Michael Griffin’s departure in January.

Only eight shuttle flights remain, including this one, before NASA retires the fleet. The White House wants those missions completed by the end of next year if possible. Each one is dedicated to finishing the space station — now 81 percent complete — and hauling up supplies and big spare parts that are too big to fly on any other rocketship. Some of those large parts, including a pump and antenna, are flying up on Endeavour.

The lengthy delay means Endeavour will be in orbit on the 40th anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon, on Monday.

The Endeavour crew, meanwhile, claimed its own record with Wednesday’s launch. Rookie astronaut Christopher Cassidy became the 500th person in space.

And Polansky, the skipper, is set to become only the second person to use Twitter in space.

One technical issue late in the countdown involved a shuttle fuel cell. Engineers worried that the fuel cell — one of three identical electrical powerplants — might not be able to operate at low power during the flight, which could cut short the mission. Mission managers cleared the issue shortly before liftoff.

Joshi was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Prashant Kumar who sent her to 14-day judicial custody.

Joshi, who allegedly made some derogatory remarks against Mayawati at a public meeting here, was arrested in
Ghaziabad last night while she was on her way to Delhi.

She has been booked under 153 A (delivering inflammatory speeches) and section 109 of IPC (using abusive
language) besides under provisions of SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act, Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal
said.

Joshi’s house on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in a high security zone, a stone’s throw from the Chief Minister’s secretariat, in Lucknow, was attacked last night by alleged BSP activists.

A portion of the house was set on fire but there was no casualty, police sources here said.

In a joint global conference call from here, Ambani and Spielberg also said the movies produced by Dreamworks will be distributed by Walt Disney globally, while the exclusive rights for India will be with Reliance Big Entertainment.

Speaking about the mammoth deal, veteran Hollywood director Steven Spielberg said, “The venture with Reliance opens a new door to our future.” Spielberg, who produced hits like ‘ET’ and ‘Jurassic Park’, said that he would visit India later this year to explore possibilities with Indian film makers and writers.

“We have a golden opportunity to have a better control over our product,” he said, alluding to the strained relationship Dreamworks faced after it was sold to Viacom’s Paramount in 2006 for $1.6 billion.

Ambani said he was “delighted” at the partnership and that the work on the first film would begin by end of this year and its release expected next year.

“Clearly, the outlay of $825 million is what we are aiming at in the next three years – $325 million will be in the form of equity, $150 million will come from Disney, while the rest will come from banks and others,” Ambani said.

“There is no scaling up or scaling down of investment. We will begin with $825 million and this is the largest in recent times,” said the Mumbai-based industrialist, whose aides had earlier indicated an investment outlay of as much as $1.5 billion for Dreamworks.

According to the latest reports, the deal involves $825 with Hollywood production house ‘Dreamworks’ for five to six moies annually for worldwide audience. The production of first film will begin from year 2010 where Reliance BIG entertainment will be carrying out the distribution rights in India.

It is believed that the initial funding for the flick will be carried out by Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group as equity. However, debt financing will be carried out through banks. Future film projects would involve top Hollywood stars George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, among others.

Dubbing the deal as a “game-changing event” for a partnership with excellence, Ambani said he was looking at reaching out to the global audience and India’s teeming youth through this venture.

Asked if the deal was the preamble for listing of Reliance Entertainment, which has committed USD 1.5 billion for the partnership with Dream Works last year, Ambani said: “All options are open. We’ll evaluate the options as we go along.”

The partnership is a 50:50 venture between Ambani and Speilberg and Snider. Ambani has nominated his top lieutenant Amitabh Jhunjhunwala on the Board.

Ambani also announced that his associate Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Spielberg’s partner for decades Stacey Snider, who has been associated with projects like “Eric Brockovich”, “The Mummy” and “American Pie”, would also serve on the Dreamworks board.

He said even though Reliance Big was a private enterprise, he was not averse to listing it on the capital markets at an appropriate time. “All our options are open.”

The noted industrialist also saw a tremendous growth for the cinema business in India, and said that compared with the US, while thrice as many people watched cinema in the country, the box office collection was just one percent.

The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group ranks among India’s top three industrial houses with interests in areas including telecommunications, energy, finance, entertainment and infrastructure development.

The group’s entertainment business owns 428 cinema screens across India, the US, Malaysia and Mauritius, contributing 11 percent to the domesticindustry’s box office collections and 35 percent from the Hindi movies screened in the US.

Its entertainment business has its presence across several platforms, including FM radio, music, sports, gaming, animation, Internet and mobile portals, direct-to-home TV, Internet TV and mobile TV.

Last year, it also entered into pacts to develop Hollywood projects with firms of such stars as Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey and George Clooney.