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14 September 2008

2008-09-13T22:54:00.001-07:00

Times Of India

14 September 2008

BANGALORE, JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, SURAT AND NOW DELHI HELPLESS?

Rahul Tripathi | TNN

6.10 pm
Ghaffar Market, Karol Bagh, 13 killed, 50 hurt | Bomb was placed in a CNG-fitted auto near the bustling MCD market. Injured included shoppers, labourers and jewellery workers
6.30 pm
Central Park, 4 killed, 10 hurt
CP’s green lung was filled with families out for an evening stroll when a bomb in a dustbin went off. Shrapnel hit many shoppers streaming out of Palika
6.31 pm
Barakhamba Road, 13 killed
Office-goers waiting for a bus home at a stand near Gopaldas Bhavan were caught unawares when a bomb, again in a dustbin, went off
6.31 pm
GK I, M Block Market, 10 injured;
Shoppers at this upscale market were jolted when the 1st bomb went off near a fast-food outlet. Shards from shattered shop windows left several injured
6:38 pm
GK I, M Block Market, 10 injured;
A bicycle bomb went off near Prince Paan Shop, a local landmark. This blast was stronger but caused fewer injuries as most shoppers had been evacuated
Could Have Been Worse
Defused - 3 bombs At Children’s Park in India Gate, Regal Cinema & Central Park, CP. Are there more?
Killer Device
Low-intensity chemical explosives (ammonium nitrate) with electronic timers used, similar to Jaipur, Ahmedabad blasts
No Uniform Pattern
3 bombs placed in dustbins, 1 on cycle, 1 in CNG-fitted auto
Key Witness
11-yr-old balloon seller near Gopal Das Towers, CP, saw 2 people dressed in black place a polythene bag in dustbin. Bomb went off 15 min later
Markets Down Shutters
Sarojini Nagar, CP, Bengali Market, Lajpat Nagar, etc., evacuated and closed
Metro Disrupted
Metro stops ops after CP blasts. Resumes soon, but strict security checks lead to long queues
Network Jammed
Increased cellphone activity creates logjam in mobile network
Helpline: 011-23490312
New Delhi: It has become nauseatingly familiar. Low-intensity bombs placed in crowded markets, killing and maiming children, their parents, unsuspecting shoppers, unmindful of caste, creed, religion. Within a month and a half of the Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts, a wave of terror ripped through Delhi on Saturday, leaving 30 dead and 90 injured, with the toll likely to rise.
    In all, five bombs went off in less than half an hour. Two of them in the heart of Delhi in Connaught Place; two in the swish Greater Kailash I, M Block market in south Delhi, and one — the most damaging — in crowded Ghaffar Market in Karol Bagh. Three more bombs were defused —one of them at the popular Children’s Park in India Gate, indicating the extraordinary callousness of the terrorist mindset.
    The Indian Mujahideen, regarded by security agencies as a front for the Lashkar-Huji terror machine, has claimed responsibility for the blasts. This group had sent emails before the UP court blasts, the Jaipur and Ahmedabad blasts. This time, too, it sent an email to media groups — even if later than usual, more than 10 minutes after the first blast. And for the third time, it specifically threatened The Times of India for attacking terror.
    The first explosion took place at Ghaffar Market at 6.10 pm. Soon after that, two explosions rocked Connaught Place, one at Barakambha Road near Gopaldas Building at 6.30 pm and the other near the Metro station at Central Park at 6.31 pm. Almost simultaneously, an explosion was heard in M-block market in Greater Kailash-I near McDonald’s and seven minutes later, another bomb went off near Prince Pan Corner in the same market.
    All the blasts were low intensity and the defused bombs suggest a cocktail of ammonium nitrate, gun powder, ball bearings and nails was used along with timer devices. They were clearly the same kind of bombs used in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, indicating that it’s the same group that’s wreaking terror across the country. At Karol Bagh, CNG made it more deadly Rahul Tripathi | TNN
New Delhi: After five bombs ripped through four places across the Capital, eyewitnesses said that explosives at Connaught Place were kept in a dustbin in Central Park of Connaught Place while at Gopaldas building, the bombs were kept in a dustbin next to the bus stand. An 11-year-old boy, Rohit (name changed) who had witnessed two persons wearing a black dress putting two plastic bags inside the dustbin, is being examined by the cops.
    Police say the first blast in Karol Bagh was the result of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinder explosion. The impact of the blasts in Karol Bagh could be gauged by the fact that an auto was thrown up in the air and got caught in the electrical wires. “The terrorist have used the CNG autorickshaw to maximise the impact and we have so far not been able to find the number plate of the vehicle,’’ said a police officer.
    Eyewitnesses claim that explosives were loaded on a bicycle near Prince Pan Centre in GK I and another inside a dustbin near McDonald’s. All the blasts were of low intensity and ball bearings were used to maximize the impact, said investigators.
    In GK’s M block market, the blast took place next to a Maruti car to maximise the impact but it did not explode averting a bigger tragedy. Cops said that a low intensity blast with a timer was used to trigger the blast. The second blast which took place next to a pan shop was higher intensity but shopkeepers and shoppers had evacuated the area by then, reducing the human loss. All the blast sites were popular shopping destinations, and all of them were teeming with people on weekend shopping.
    Three unexploded bombs were found later taking the total number of bombs to 8. The first was found near India Gate inside a dustbin at the Children’s Park and one was defused at Regal Cinema Hall which was lying on the road, while another one was found at Central Park, again inside a dustbin. A National Security Guard (NSG) team defused the bombs after they were informed by the witnesses about unclaimed objects. NSG experts were assessing the situation and nature of explosives used.
    Joint Commissioner of Police, Special cell, Karnal Singh said, ‘‘The nature of explosives and bombs used are similar to those used in Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Chemicals were used along with nails and ball bearings and it was set off using electronic timers.’’
    The police are scanning CCTV footage of the GK I M block market and at Karol Bagh area to zero in on suspects. Delhi Police say that the Capital was always on high alert but there was no specific threat perception. It had gone down after the terror module of SIMI-Indian Mujahideen ring was allegedly busted by Ahmedabad police.
    The Delhi Police have also installed a helpline for victims and any person willing to provide information and seek assistance. People can call on 011-23490212. Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, “We have got vital clues on the blasts and are examing the same.”
    rahul .tripathi @timesgroup .com

BLOODY REMINDER A shattered 8-year-old boy accompanies his injured father to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, one of the three city hospitals where the blast-hit were taken. (Right) A victim’s relative is consoled as Delhi comes together in grief

Mumbai techie chief suspect: Agencies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Preliminary investigation into the Delhi blasts on Saturday point to the hand of an Indian Mujahideen-SIMI cell led by Abdul Subhan, the techie jehadi from Mumbai and Qayamuddin.
    The modus operandi — emails from Indian Mujahideen warning of or coinciding with blasts, use of ammonium nitrate and ball bearings pellets and other shrapnel in explosives, use of crowded markets so that higher casualties can be achieved even by low-intensity blasts — carries the signature of IM-SIMI. Besides, the email from Indian Mujahideen, like the two previous ones, was sent from Mumbai, Subhan’s base using an unsecured wifi connection of Ms Kamran Power Private Limited in Chembur, owned by one Mr Kamat. Although the mail came from Mumbai, references to newspaper coverage in Delhi editions in the past few weeks, suggests that the draftsman may have been in Delhi.
    The police has been able to recover the chasis number of the autorickshaw that was used for the blast in Ghaffar Market in Karol Bagh. Four people have also been detained and are being questioned. ‘‘We have some good clues,’’ said a police spokesman.
    Although Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi stated in Bangalore that he had earlier this month told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor that there were plans to strike the Capital, intelligence sources were taken aback by the Indian Mujahideen’s choice of Delhi.
    They were suspecting Subhan and Qayamuddin, computer-graphic designer from Vadodara to strike in either Maharashtra or MP. Explosions carry IM-SIMI signature
New Delhi: Preliminary investigation into the Delhi blasts points to the hand of an Indian Mujahideen-SIMI cell led by Abdul Subhan, the techie jehadi from Mumbai and Qayamuddin. Sources in intelligence agencies said the modus operandi for the Delhi blasts carries the signature of IM-SIMI.
    The probe is going to focus on the likely contacts of Subhan, Qayamuddin, and other absconding IMSIMI activists — Abdul Bashar, Razeek, Afridi (all from Gujarat), Ikram, Inam and Musa (all from Madhya Pradesh).
    Abdul Subhan who has evaded arrest after narrowly escaping a raid by Gujarat Police in Surat on SIMI hideout, has made no secret of his anger over the Ahmedabad crackdown. In the last email that he wrote, intelligence sources suggest, for Indian Mujahideen using the nom de guerre of Al arbi, Abdul Subhan tried to mislead the investigators by calling all the arrested innocent and Kenneth Haywood, the US national whose wi-fi he is suspected to have used to send the email warning of Ahmedabad blasts, an ally.
    The return of Haywood has exposed the ploy (significantly, the email on Saturday was conspicuously silent on this). But Abdul Subhan who is regarded as an ace bomb maker also came off as someone smarting under the humiliation of the botched attack on Surat — none of the bombs planted in the diamond city went off because of faulty integrated circuits used in the timers. His last mail had shown his anxiety to prove his credentials.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

This time, the email came late

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Indian Mujahideen, the hardline splinter group of SIMI that is suspected of engineering the serial blasts in Delhi, followed the routine of sending an email to media outlets simultaneous with the blasts, but it came with a difference. Unlike in the past, when emails from the group arrived before the bombs went off in various UP towns, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, the latest hate message vowing “Eye for An Eye” revenge sent from Mumbai reached 11 minutes after the first of the bombs had exploded in Ghaffar Market in Karol Bagh.
    The Ghaffar Market explosion happened at 6.10 pm but the email arrived at 6.26.
    Also, while the IM spoke of nine blasts, till the time of going to press, the national capital had suffered five. It was a mismatch that pointed to the possibility of some of the bombs planted by the gang failing to go off, or a lastminute change of plan that the plotters had not factored in while writing their deadly emailed warning.
    Preliminary investigation suggests the email was sent from Mumbai and intelligence sources are fairly certain it bears the imprint of Abdul Subhan Usman Qureshi, the techie jehadi from Mumbai who continues to elude intelligence personnel and cops from different states. It warns Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy R R Patil they will face the consequences, a pointer to Qureshi’s deeply-entrenched Mumbai connection.
    Captioned “Eye for An Eye, The Dust Will Never Settle Down”, the 13-page email makes it clear that Delhi was chosen to make a statement of capability. It was meant to show the group could strike at prized targets just after the crackdown on the IM/SIMI activists in connection with the previous blasts. “To dreadfully terrorise you this time, by the Will and Help of Almighty Allah, we are about to devastate your very first metropolitan centre, your most strategic ‘Hindutva hub, your green zone — yes! It’s your own capital”.
    The latest email from Abdul Subhan, who uses the alias ‘al-Arbi’, has the theme of revenge running through it. It reads much like previous ones with references to scripture to justify the attack on non-believers, warnings of more attacks against those behind “injustice and oppression” inflicted upon Muslims all over the country and the boast that the group has the capacity to strike anywhere. It also repeats warnings to the cops, media and judiciary. E-mail warns cops, security agencies
New Delhi: There was also the familiar stress on the indigenous character of IM, ironically with the help of the term ‘homegrown’ which has so far been associated with officials and security agencies.
    Like on previous occasions, the email warns cops and agencies engaged in anti-terror operation and particularly those behind the crackdown on IM/SIMI — in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, AP as well as the Intelligence Bureau. The sender, as in his previous mail, calls those arrested for Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur blasts — from Mufti Bashar to Shahbaz Hussain who importantly has been identified by the owner of a cyber cafe as the one who sent the mail warning of the blasts in the capital of Rajasthan: a suspected ploy to mislead the investigators.
    Also, there is no let up in the effort to intimidate the cops, media and judiciary by warning them of retaliation. If anything, the warnings have become more ominous.
    There is no regret either for the previous atrocities, with the IM even threatening to repeat the barbarity it committed by attacking hospitals in Ahmedabad. Yet, it is different in some crucial ways. To begin with, in comparison to the emails that preceded the blasts in courts in towns of UP, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, the latest one is thin on references to scriptures — a factor which could be attributed to the imprisonment of Mufti Bashar, the Azamgarh cleric who provided the religious input for the drafts sent by Subhan till he was arrested for Ahemdabad blasts.
    But what is more significant is that it is decidedly more political marked by a determined effort to court the ‘liberal/secular’ opinion by accusing cops,media and judiciary of double standards in their approach to terrorism: the argument being that the activists of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are not treated as terrorists even after they are caught making bombs in Kanpur, Nanded and in Tamil Nadu.
    The IM disdains the Bajrang Dal activists who were killed while making bombs as ‘apes’, but the desire to achieve parity with the Hindu right is significant, coming as it does in the wake of suggestion from politicians that Hindutva outfits are as worthy of a ban as SIMI.
    “The word terrorism is never used when a story on Sangh violence is told, no matter how large scale the violence is. The violence unleashed by the Sangh Parivar in Gujarat was defined only as expression of communalism and the same is case with what happens in Orissa at moment”, complained the IM. The political content is conspicuous also by an effort to appear as custodian of Muslim interests by taking cudgels for issues — from Babri demolition to Amarnath protests — issues which have a resonance among mainstream Muslims too. But more crucially by making a common cause with other victims of ‘Sangh terror’ — Christians and Dalits. The idea of a broad coalition of all minorities and Dalits in a broad anti-Hindutva coalition is not new, but its use amid clear signs of unease within Muslims about the radicalisation of sections within it is immensely interesting.
    The calculation to isolate BJP and other Hindutva outfits — RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal — comes off clearly with the Indian Mujahideen declaring, “Let us make it clear to all the enemies of Muslims, especially the Hindus of India, that the BJP backed RSS, VHP Bajrang Dal, and the entire Sangh Parivar would be the only responsible factors for whatever horrifying tragedies you are to face in the nearest future. The cause will be these wicked bastards and the effect will be on the entire nation”.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

GRIEVING RELATIVES AT RML HOSPITAL

WEEKEND CROWD HIT Shoppers Target

From Central Park of CP, the bustling heart of the city, to GK-I’s M Block market, terror struck within minutes on Saturday evening, sending the city into panic mode

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

    One minute, two bomb blasts and the heart of the city stood still. A busy Saturday evening at Central Park in Connaught Place and in front of Gopaldas Bhavan on Barakhamba Road came to an abrupt halt as the blasts tore through the area, leaving 10 innocent people dead and more than 20 injured.
    Connaught Place was bustling with activity and Central Park, a favourite of Delhiites over weekends, was teeming with visitors. Everything changed within seconds as the first blast went off at around 6.30 pm at Central Park. The bomb planted in a dustbin blew up with such force that splinters and parts of the it flew across the park into Palika Bazar. Two people died in the impact and many others were injured. All those hurt happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. A woman standing near a blood donation camp in progress at A Block was hit on the forehead and had to be rushed to hospital for treatment.
    As bystanders, shoppers and shopkeepers manning stores in the Inner Circle and those in Palika Bazaar rushed to help victims, another loud blast could be heard from Barakhamba Road. A bomb, similarly planted in a dustbin, went off in front of Nirmal Towers, near Gopaldas Bhavan. Here the hapless victims were people who were waiting to catch a bus. The toll. Eight dead and many injured.
    What followed the twin blasts were scenes of chaos and confusion as people ran for safety, while others rushed in to help, and shopkeepers downed shutters. All offices in the area closed immediately. Central Park was sealed by the police and victims were rushed to nearby hospitals. At Barakhamba Road, the scene resembled a battleground with blood splattered around, and splinters, slippers and other belongings of victims strewn all over the place. As the area was cordoned off by the police, eyewitnesses said the number of casualties in Barakhamba Road could have been higher had not a group of waiting people boarded a Blueline bus barely seconds before the blast went off.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

The bomb at GK-I market damaged the other cars in the parking lot

The dustbin which blew up on Barakhamba Road, soon after Central Park blast

The scene outside the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Saturday

The weeping parents of a victim wait for some news outside RML Hospital

The NSG’s bomb disposal squad outside Regal, defusing a bomb

The Barakhamba Road blast site was cordoned off by the cops even as passersby, despite the panic, stopped to watch the scene

Grass turned red, victims shrieked, chaos reigned

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The Central Park was bustling with energy of the weekend crowd that had gathered to enjoy its sprawling greens. But soon the shades of green took a red hue. A deadly explosion had rocked the park and patches of blood could be seen everywhere.
    For those who survived the blast, it was a scene of horror and shock. Sunny Singh, one of the employees at a shop in the underground Palika Bazar, ran out after hearing a deafening sound only to witness smoke billowing out and victims bleeding and shrieking in pain in the park. ‘‘Soon, I ran to rescue the victims,’’ he said.
    Another eyewitness, Ashat Khan, had just finished offering his namaaz in a mosque in A-block when the blast occurred. ‘‘The impact could be felt hundreds of metres away. Within moments I rushed to Central Park only to find at least 30 people lying injured, some of them with very serious injuries,’’ Khan said.
    Within seconds, the happy sight of the park had turned into a scene of panic and chaos. As CP shut down shutters within minutes and Palika Bazaar was evacuated, people were seen running helter and skelter. Subhashni Chatterjee, who was rushing out like others, told Times City that death had just brushed past her. ‘‘I was at the Central Park when the blast happened. I had crossed the dustbin where the explosion took place, minutes before the blast. Just when I reached the Regal building I heard the loud noise,’’ she said with fear lurking in her eyes.
    Metres away and minutes later, a similar explosion on Barakhamba Road near Gopal Das tower had people scurrying for their lives. Like on any other day Sehruddin had crossed over to the juice shop near the tower to break his Roza. But in a matter of minutes he saw bodies flying in the air from the impact of the bomb that had exploded in a dustbin kept there.
    Sehruddin was one of the many eyewitnesses at the bus stop where people in large number were waiting to catch buses to return to their homes in the evening.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

A sadhu’s bowl at Barakhamba

At GK-I, traders herded people into park to safety

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: For senior citizens Anjana and Arun Mathur, who had come shopping to GK-1 from Dwarka, Saturday’s horrific experience will be etched in their memories for ever. Nearly half an hour after the blasts, the couple stood in the parking lot, visible shaken at the events that had just unfolded before them.
    ‘‘After the blast, there was panic all over the market as people were screaming as they ran helter-skelter. And then, the second explosion took place. With this, we all froze in our spots, waiting to see who would be the victims of a third. After a few minutes, people started walking out again. We just want to get home safely now. Our car is blocked in the parking lot as someone else has abandoned theirs on the main road,’’ said Arun Mathur.
    Added Anil Kumar of Bags and More, who was sitting in his shop: ‘‘I rushed out of my shop and there were announcements being made from the police booth asking all the people to rush into the park. I tried to help out too, and evacuated the shop. There was a stampede on the pavements as everyone was trying to rush out of the market.’’
    Right after the first blast, eyewitnesses said that the market association had started making announcements from the police booth, asking people to stay calm and move towards the park in the middle of the market. ‘‘As people collected in the park, many people were saved from injuries which could have been caused if they were near Prince Pan corner,’’ said Neeshikanth Sharma, a shopkeeper.
Several others whose cars had got damaged in the blasts, stood helplessly. “I can’t drive the car now as the windscreen is totally shattered and will fall if the car moves. I had come here from Faridabad, but parked the car here and fortunately went out with my family to eat something. After the blasts, I rushed to check on the car, but the police did not allow us to come inside for over an hour,’’ said Goldie, whose Toyota Corolla car got damaged.
toireporter @timesgroup .com

Looking for clues

Auto wrecked, went up in air

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: It was 6.10 pm on Saturday evening at the busy Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh. Seconds later, the hustle-bustle of business was interrupted by a bomb blast — the first of the five serial blasts in the city — which claimed at least eight lives and left 40 others seriously injured. The low intensity bomb was allegedly planted in a CNG auto rickshaw that went off near the MCD market adjacent to Beadonpura. Remnants of the vehicle were later found hanging from the overhead electricity wire.
    Eyewitnesses said that even before they realised what had happened, the area was covered in thick smoke and the dead and the injured lay all over the narrow lanes even as others blindly ran wherever they could looking for safety. All glass within a 250 m radius of the epicentre was blown to smithereens.
    Nandkishore, a hawker said that he was standing with his back to the auto when he heard a very loud noise. ‘‘The driver was standing outside the auto. Suddenly, there was a huge blast and the entire area was filled with smoke. I fell unconscious.’’ He has received grave injuries in his right hand.
    Locals said initially they thought it was a cylinder explosion, but a few minutes later they realised it was a terror attack. Though separate theories are doing the rounds about the sequence of events, some of the eyewitnesses said that there were two passengers inside the auto including a woman in a burkha.
    As soon as the auto stopped, the blast happened. They said that the auto driver and both passengers died on the spot. The blast was so severe that the auto in which the bomb was placed resembled a skeleton structure and a Maruti Zen parked nearby was gutted. Shops too bore the brunt of the explosion. Locals rushed the injured to Jessa Ram Hospital, Sir Gangaram Hospital and Lady Hardinge hospital. Most of them have injuries in their head, hand and legs. Majority of the victims are hawkers.
    ‘‘This road is our source of earning our livelihood. But today it claimed the lives of so many like us. I am clueless about the fate of so many of my family,’’ said a distraught Some Devi who was looking for her daughter, son and grandson.
    Blaming police for their late arrival to rush the victims to hospitals, Chandrawati, a woman in her late 50s said that her son Billu lay in a pool of blood at the blast spot. ‘‘I was shouting for help. He lay there for half an hour, but none came to our help. He had gone out a few minutes before the blast to buy items for his small shop,’’ she said, adding that she was still looking for her husband and daughter-in-law.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

The damage at Ghaffar Khan Market after the blast

Within eight minutes, two blasts sent shoppers scurrying for cover

Megha Suri & Ruhi Bhasin | TNN

New Delhi: As twin-blasts rocked the M-block market in south Delhi’s upmarket Greater Kailash-I on Saturday evening, panic gripped the area. The bombs exploded within a span of eight minutes and 10 persons were reported injured. The police, however, confirmed that the injured are all out of danger.
    The first bomb, which was planted in a dustbin mounted on the wall of the park opposite M-9, went off around 6.31 pm. Just as shoppers heard the loud bang and were trying to ascertain what it was, there was another loud noise. This time, huge glass window panes of two stores — a salon on the first floor and an apparel store on the floor above — located opposite the blast site crashed onto the main road.
    ‘‘I was standing near the park having tea when the first bomb went off. There was sudden commotion. People were running all over the place, screaming, and all I could see were shattered windscreens of cars parked around. I started running in the opposite direction and a big glass came crashing on the road,’’ said Avinash Mishra, who works in a leading apparel store located right opposite the site. He added that he usually stands right next to the bin. But on Saturday, he chose to stand a few metres apart, and this is how his life was saved.
    Added Aprajita Bajaj, a shopper: ‘‘I was shopping for shirts when there was one blastlike sound. As we had heard about the blasts at other locations, I immediately ran out of the shop to check, but was ushered into the park. Then, the second bomb went off.’’
    Seven minutes later, the second explosion took place opposite Prince Paan Corner (shop M-29). According to the police, the second bomb was planted on a bicycle and was reportedly of higher intensity. ‘‘As people had already collected in the park, the casualties were few. Had the area been as crowded as it usually is, as there is a popular chat shop there too, the nature of injuries could have been more severe. The cycle belonged to a shopkeeper,’’ said a police official.
    One of the victims, Manoj, a squatter who sells clocks on the pavement outside the paan shop said: ‘‘I was packing up my goods after I heard of the first blast, but before I could move out, another bomb exploded next to me. I injured my hand with glass splinters. It seemed like a movie scene where all I could hear was people shouting ‘blast ho gaya hai, bhago.’’
    Soon after the first explosion, around four cars were abandoned in the middle of the road as the drivers ran to their safety. ‘‘I was headed out of the market when a window pane fell in front of my car. The splinters were all over us, so we just left the car and ran out of the market,’’ said Mithun, who was driving a Maruti Zen. The explosions left several cars damaged as windscreens and window panes were broken.
    Within minutes, the police rushed into the scene and the market was evacuated by 7 pm.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

The cycle on which one of the bombs was planted

Politicians rush in to help with blood

Volunteers Lend A Hand, Take Credit

Smriti Singh | TNN

New Delhi: Volunteers from political parties came rushing in at hospitals to lend a helping hand on Saturday, and it was clear that they also wanted credit for it.
    Ten members of Bahujan Samaj Party were the first to turn up at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to donate blood for the victims and help the families to locate their missing members. Soon, volunteers from the Youth Congress, sporting T-shirts with the picture of Rahul Gandhi, arrived on the scene to help the hospital staff shift the victims to the emergency ward.
    ‘‘So far we have donated around 40 units of blood and some more volunteers from our party are on their way,’’ said one of the BSP volunteers, Suresh. ‘‘The hospital let us go inside the emergency ward and from there we have got the names and numbers of all the victims. Now we are tracking the families of the victims and are informing them.’’
    However, the intervention of the political parties soon took an ugly turn when one of the blast victims died in the ambulance when it failed to reach the trauma center of the hospital due to the crowd blocking the main entrance to welcome a local leader.
    The leaders, of course, lost no time in joining their followers and making their presence felt. The first one to arrive was MP and senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar. Speaking to reporters, Kumar said, ‘‘We will do whatever is possible for us to help the blast victims.’’
    CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury was next. Describing the situation inside the emergency room as ‘‘heart-wrenching’’, Yechury urged the people to maintain calm. Minister of state for home affairs Shri Prakash Jaiswal, police commissioner Y S Dadwal, lieutenant-governor Tejendra Khanna and Mayor Arti Mehra also visited the victims.
    Making the blasts a political issue, BJP lost no time in blaming the Congress for the situation. Issuing a statement, former union minister and BJP general secretary Vijay Goel said, ‘‘the Congress government’s soft approach towards terrorism is responsible for the blasts in the capital.’’
    In a cabinet meeting convened late on Saturday night, Delhi governmentannounced a compensation package of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of those who were killed in the blast and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The cabinet also decided that treatment in both government and private hospitals will be free of cost.

HELPING HAND: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit at RML Hospital

From bustling market to ghost town in minutes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Lado Sarai resident Nelson was sitting in his second-floor office when he heard the blast in Gaffar Market. “I went out and could only see panic-stricken people running about. Then I spotted a small child lying unconscious next to a dustbin. She had burn injuries all over and a severe head injury. I carried her to Jessa Ram Hospital and she was admitted in the ICU.” The two-year-old girl, however, died within minutes on the table, reported doctors from the hospital.
    The normally peaceful market resembled a ghost town within minutes of the explosion. Initial reports suggested a cylinder blast but when it was confirmed that it was a bomb blast,
shopkeepers pulled their shutters down and panicked residents rushed indoors.
    Local resident Roshan Lal recalled the sight of bodies missing arms and legs as residents rushed the injured to Jessa Ram and Gangaram Hospital. “When the blast happened, people were still calm thinking it was maybe a cylinder blast as was the initial idea. Then news of similar blasts in other parts of Delhi came in and everyone panicked. It was a very busy day in the market when the blast happened,” said Murli Mani, president of Karol Bagh traders association.
    When terror struck, everyone rushed to help. Sanjay Kumar, who drives a van for a public school, was the first to rush injured to the hospital in his van. Blood stains could still be seen on the seats inside the van and the door outside. “There wasn’t any time to think and we had to get medical help to the injured as soon as possible. I accommodated as many people as possible and rushed them to Jessa Ram,” he said.
    For eyewitnesses Ashok Gurnani and Kamal Lal Wani, the blast came at a time when Gaffar Market was at its busiest. ‘‘Those cowards who chose to bomb our peaceful neighbourhood chose the worst possible time. It was a Saturday, and the market was teeming with shoppers,’’ said Wani, whose brother-in-law, Ashok Gurnani is undergoing treatment at the Gangaram Hospital.
    Gurmani, who received multiple facial injuries from
splinters, said he was standing in front of his shop near lane 41 in Bidanpura, close to the blast spot. ‘‘I had noticed an auto parked nearby and decided to call the owner as I was wanted to ensure that shoppers could park their vehicles without any hazard. Around 6.10 pm, there was a huge blast and the auto was thrown in the air. I do not remember much after that,” said Gurmani.
    Wani, a resident of Rajender Nagar and owner of a handloom unit in the market said that the sound was deafening. ‘‘The whole area shook and the entire space was filled with smoke. By the time I could open my eyes, the dead bodies were strewn all over,’’ he said.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

SHATTERED: Mangled remains of an auto at Karol Bagh

Panic as cell network collapses

Most cellphone networks in the city were jammed for almost an hour after the first blast at Ghaffar Market at 6.10 pm. Markets also closed down early as traders preferred to retreat to safety of their homes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

    Terror gripped the city on Saturday night as news of the serial blasts spread like wildfire. The first casualty were the cellular networks which went missing minutes after the incident took place. ‘‘I've been trying to call my fiance for over an hour but just can't get through,'' said a frantic Lisa Manuel, who had come shopping to Connaught Place's inner circle.
    In fact, till almost an hour after the first blast took place at 6.10 pm in Ghaffar Market, all cellular networks were jammed as family and friends tried reaching their dear ones on the phone. Said Ashish Banerjee, an outstation student at JNU, ‘‘With the cellphone service going off, I spent a lot of time just trying to make an STD call back home in Kolkata.''
    Markets too felt the heat as panic-stricken shoppers preferred leaving for the safety of their homes. Said Amit Tandon, out doing lastminute shopping for his marriage in Karol Bagh market, ‘‘I got to know about the blasts from the shopkeepers who were downing their shutters. When I enquired, even the police advised us to return home.''
    The sops in Lajpat Nagar's Central Market, Greater Kailash I and II, Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazaar, Rajouri Garden and elsewhere started closing down as news of the blasts spread through the city. Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the city traders association, said ‘‘there was a lot of panic as TV channels were saying more blasts were expected. Since the markets are soft targets, we are hoping that tomorrow there will be more security.''
    Malls too saw shutters come down as shoppers left. ‘‘I was scared. The terrorists had chosen prime spots in each of the other districts. Naturally, I felt malls would be targeted in Rajouri Garden,'' said Rajesh Jaiswal, a resident of Pitampura area who had gone shopping in a mall. Across town in Saket, Ritu Suri seemed more secure. ‘‘I've already bought tickets to a night show, so I will stay back if there's no news of more blasts,'' she said. Many shops in the malls, however, started closing down voluntarily as security concerns made many leave.
    Dhaula Kuan witnessed jams after the blasts as officer-goers from the capital and Gurgaon kept crisscrossing each other to reach their homes. ‘‘Since the mobile network is down, we will have to rush to the house since my wife would be anxious,'' added Jaiswal.
    However, even as the rush increased on the roads, buses were mostly seen going empty. Said Rupam, waiting to catch an auto in South Extension, ‘‘Nobody seems to want to go by bus, and there's a huge rush for autos.'' As usual though, autos could be seen overcharging as people waited to return home.
    Traffic was diverted from CP circle and KG Marg. To avoid jams, commuters took the Ferozshah Road and Ashoka Road to go towards south Delhi and India Gate. The traffic at the RML intersection was diverted to the other side to make way for the blasts victims coming from CP and Gaffar Khan Market area.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER: Police commissioner YS Dadwal briefing mediapersons

Metro pulls it off with slight delay

DMRC trains ran as per schedule, services halted only for 4 mins to check for any damage to system due to blasts at CP. Security intensified at stations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Even as security was beefed up on Delhi Metro soon after serial blasts rocked the Capital on Saturday evening, trains were running as per schedule.
    The system gained importance at Rajeev Chowk as it was the only mode for commuting available for people after the twin blasts. Less than 100 metres away from the glare of the media and the commotion at the site of the bomb blast at Central Park, Meena stood with her husband Pankaj and four-year-old daughter Swati in the long queue to board the Metro from the A-Block Metro station. The blasts meant standing in a long and slow moving queue as security checks were mounted.
    For Meena, Saturday's trip to CP will be etched in her memory forever. As she waited in the metro queue, a worried Meena told Times City that she was taking a stroll with her child in Central Park just minutes before the blast.
    ‘‘I had come with my husband to CP as it was a weekend. My husband had an exam to take at a computer institute in CP. But that too got cancelled. Now we want to reach our home in Rohini as fast as possible.''
    Others in the queue shared their anxiety and wished to reach home as early as possible, visibly shaken from the blasts.
    Meanwhile, Delhi Metro services were stopped for four minutes after the blast at Central Park to check for any damage to the system. ‘‘Train services were stopped from 6.45 pm to 6.49 pm during which time the system was thoroughly checked for any impact since the blasts took place right above the Rajeev Chowk station. The train services were resumed after that and security was intensified at all Metro stations,'' said Anuj Dayal, chief public relations officer (CPRO), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
    Every person entering the Metro station was thoroughly frisked and all bags were checked and scanned at various stations. The security control rooms were alerted and security personnel were asked to monitor all the footings from CCTV cameras in the metro premises carefully.
    One of the entries to Rajeev Chowk station — at F-blocked — was closed for security reasons. But the frequency of trains was maintained to ensure that people could use it to travel out of Connaught Place.
    The Northern Railways also stepped up their security arrangements at all railway stations across the Capital and additional security personnel were deployed. However, the blasts did not affect the train schedules in general.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

FIGHTBACK CALL

Such blasts are aimed more at creating panic and anxiety rather than just kill people. We need to maintain peace and go on with our business. The various security agencies need to sit up and stop playing the blame game. We need strong leaders who can stand up against the terror
AAMIR RAZA HUSSAIN | THEATRE PERSON
Not just Delhi, but the whole country should join hands to fight back. Every citizen should be a policeman to ensure safety which is the fundamental right of every human being DR ASHOK SETH | CHAIRMAN, ESCORTS HEART INSTITUTE AND RESEARCH CENTRE

I strongly condemn this dastardly act and urge the people of Delhi to keep calm and maintain peace. There is no reason to panic
SHEILA DIKSHIT | CHIEF MINISTER

Delhi will fight back as it always does. It is high time that we question the government and the system and punish the people who are involved in such a cowardly act
ARTI MEHRA | MAYOR

It's very difficult to express my disgust. Human life is so cheap. It's easy for the government to condemn the blasts as an act of cowardice — they have Z class security. Of course life will go on, it always does. But what's the point of living in constant fear? Talent freezes under fear, there's no point in writing songs about bravery. Right now, I'm really praying
PALASH SEN | SINGER

We should not panic in such situations since it serves the purpose of those who are behind these blasts
RITU KUMAR | DESIGNER

It is undoubtedly a tragic incident but it surely brings out the fighter spirit Delhiites have. The situation is an oxymoron, where on one hand the perpetrators of such heinous acts try their best to create a panic, on the other hand people break all barriers and inhibitions to help those in need
ADVAITA KALA | AUTHOR

The blasts are very disturbing. But whenever such horrifying incidents occur, Delhiites are always resilient. Such events raise questions about the security system and the effectiveness of intelligence agencies. Government should take all possible measures to ensure safety of every citizen
DEEPAK PENTAL | VC, DELHI UNIVERSITY

Imtiaz’s shooting in
Delhi!

VISHWAS GAUTAM Times News Network

    We bumped into Imtiaz Ali at a pub in the capital yesterday. Quite a Jab We Met moment it turned out to be. For, we got talking, and Imtiaz told us that he’s in Delhi to finalise the shooting plans for his next film.
    So what is his next? “It’s a contemporary man-woman relationship story that begins in London, moves to Delhi and San Francisco. There’s also a small phase in Kolkata,” he told us. So, he’s going to shoot in Delhi? “In fact, it’s already on,” he told us. “Saif (Ali Khan) got in yesterday, and Deepika (Padukone) will be in town for the shoot next week,” he revealed. So, how long will they be in the city? “Oh, they’ll be in and out for quite a while, till the end of October, I guess,” said Imtiaz, adding he has no qualms shooting in the city, unlike other directors.
    “I am still a Delhi boy at heart,” he smiles. So, how does it feel to be back in the city? “Very nice! I haven’t spoken to any of my friends yet, but I’m sure we’ll meet up in the next few days. Delhi has always been very good to me. Sometimes I feel that Delhi’s been better to me than I have been to Delhi,” he says. “Maybe I’ll redress the balance in this film,” he adds.
    vishwas.gautam @timesgroup.com

Deepika

NOW, SAIF IS SINGH: This is Saif’s look in Imtiaz’s (inset) next

Dutt’s the way to Bhatinda : Kumar

Boxing brand ambassador, Sanjay Dutt promised to bring us gold in the 2012 Olympics, gave the gathered crowd some star moments to remember and left the venue in a jiffy

PIYALI DASGUPTA Times News Network

    It was a bindaas Sanjay Dutt, sporting a huge ‘Samba Rules’ tattoo, that one saw at the closing ceremony of the National Boxing Championships at Bhatinda. Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, Olympicsreturned boxers all, were there too. Sanju came, waved to the crowd, and shouted, “ Bole toh...”, to which the crowd screamed back, “Munna Bhai”.
Sanju, who is the brand ambassador of the Indian Boxing Federation, had this to say, “Sukhbir ji (Sukhbir Singh Badal, MP) mere bhai jaise hain, saath school mein boxing practice karte the hum dono. Aur bhaisaab ne mujhe
brand ambassador
banakar badi zimmedaari de di hai. I feel proud to be associated with boxing. Aur next Olympics mein hum zaroor gold medal jeetkar ayenge.” Post this, when we asked him if he’d ever do a boxer’s role in a film, Sanju said, “I’d love to,” and added, “I will definitely like to attend the next Olympic Games in London.” His wife, Manyata, wasn’t there with him. “As you can see, it’s only me here,” said Sanju, refusing to answer any questions on Manyata after that.
    But he sure seemed to be missing her, for all through the event, he kept checking his mobile and his watch alternately, and some 45 minutes later, he left. Later, RK Sharma, manager, Hotel Sepal, told us, “Sanju was my schoolmate in Sanawar and I was very excited to know that he was coming to Bhatinda. In fact, we had booked a room for him at the hotel. But at the last moment he had to change his plan as he was flying back to Delhi and then to Malaysia for a film shoot.”
    Towards the end of the function, when we came across Olympic bronze medalist, Vijender Singh and IBF president, Ajay Chautala. Vijender was quite excited. “Sanju Baba met me and congratulated me. ‘Keep it up’, he said. Mujhe bahut acha laga ke woh hamare liye Bhatinda tak aaye.”
    piyali.dasgupta 2 @timesgroup.com

MUNNA BHAI’S MOODS: Sanjay Dutt in Bhatinda. For more pics of Anil, visit http ://photogallery. indiatimes.com

Vijender

Monday , September 8 , 2008

2008-09-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

Times Of India

Monday, September 8, 2008

Yes, no, yes: High drama before Singur solution

Panel Of 4 To Report In A Week, Mamata Flip-Flop Delays Truce

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Hope flickered, seemed to have been extinguished and then resurfaced — all within a few hours — as a solution to the Singur impasse was finally announced by Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi at Raj Bhavan on Sunday. The compromise: land will be given as compensation to all those farmers who were not financially compensated for the land taken from them for the Nano plant and vendors’ park. Most of the land will be returned within Tata Motors’ small car factory project area.
    A committee, comprising two government nominees and two nominees of the agitators, will work out the modalities within a week. No construction will take place at the 290-acre vendor park during this time. In return, opposition leader Mamata Banerjee agreed to suspend her 15-day agitation.
    But the compromise was achieved only after hours of drama, after fresh demands by Mamata threatened to derail the hard-earned resolution.
    Both sides had agreed to a solution early in the evening. Then, even as CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee proceeded to brief Left Front members about the terms of the agreement, he was told about Mamata’s about-turn and had to make one himself — driving back to Raj Bhavan to resume talks.
    Finally, some hours later — to huge relief all around — the governor announced the settlement.
12 HOURS
TO TRUCE
11am | CM Buddhadeb drives into Raj Bhavan
12.10pm | Leaves after talks with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi 1.10pm | Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee arrives amid talks that Mamata Banerjee will also join in 3pm | Mamata’s convoy arrives 4.30pm | CM makes a surprise return to Raj Bhavan
6.35pm | CM leaves for Left Front meet, is told Mamata is making fresh demands 9.05pm | CM returns, his third visit to the Raj Bhavan in the day 10.45pm | Governor announces Singur stalemate over

HARD DAY’S NIGHT: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi with Trinamool’s Mamata Banerjee & Partha Chatterjee, & CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

NSG in bag, India seeks uranium from Australia

Hopes To Build On Aussie Help At Vienna Talks

Sachin Parashar | TNN

New Delhi: Having successfully wrested a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, India is preparing to press Australia to supply uranium to its reactors, hoping to build on Canberra’s support during negotiations in Vienna.
    The Manmohan Singh government is looking to engage Australia in all earnestness as despite the initial ambivalence, Kevin Rudd’s government backed the waiver. India
is now hoping that Canberra will similarly revisit its position on uranium supply.
    Sources said the issue would be taken up with Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith who arrives in India on Tuesday. The Rudd administration had, after being voted to office last year, overturned the decision of the previous Conservative government to sell uranium to India.
    Rudd, a fluent Mandarin speaker, has taken the traditional Labour line on uranium supplies but India is expected to argue that the waiver should address Australian concerns over dealing with a state which has not signed NPT. Besides, earlier this year, the Labour government reaffirmed the Howard regime’s commitment to supply about 20,000 tonnes of uranium a year to China, beginning 2010. This should cater to most of China’s power needs. India, Australia have common security interests
New Delhi: As Australia accounts for 40% of the world’s uranium, India is eyeing a commercial deal for its civilian reactors. It is felt that it would not be easy for the Australian government to turn down India, without being seen as biased in favour of China, all the more so in the wake of the NSG waiver which it has helped facilitate. Despite the large geographical separation, there are strong shared interests that bind India and Australia in terms of security and trade in the Indian Ocean. Australia has, in recent years, revisited its security doctrine, keeping a close watch on extremism in Indonesia while its alliance with the US in the “war on terror” has placed it on the jihadi map.
    A senior official said, ‘‘Australia’s stand does not make sense now as the waiver which (Australia) helped us acquire doesn’t deny us the right to buy uranium from other countries. In any case, now that we have the waiver, we are not desperate. It would be as big a loss for them because we can import from countries like Canada and South Africa.’’
    Australia has backed India at both IAEA and NSG but has been adamant that India can’t have its uranium by remaining outside NPT, even if this meant watching other countries step into the breach. While the waiver has led to speculation on this front in Australia, the Rudd government is yet to make a statement. In case Australia doesn’t relent, India will look at Canada, which also backed India at the NSG by not remaining hostage to its strong anti-proliferation stand. Canada is second only to Australia in uranium supply. Both countries have high-grade ores with 12% to 15% uranium. India has a reserve of about 80,000 tonnes of uraniusm but needs almost a lakh tonnes more to run its reactors.
    The brazen manner in which the Ruddled Labour government had summarily rejected Howard’s preparedness to supply uranium evoked considerable anger in New Delhi. The Rudd government took the ‘‘puritanical’’ position that Australia cannot sell uranium to a country which has refused to sign NPT. The manner in which Australia went on to dump the quadrilateral process (US, Japan, India and Australia) initiated by Tokyo only added to the notion that Rudd could be influenced by China.

51% of businesses owned by SC/ST/OBCs

Rema Nagarajan | TIMES INSIGHT GROUP

New Delhi: Political empowerment is finally translating into economic muscle for the country’s most disadvantaged sections. Over half of all business establishments in the country — 51% to be precise — are today owned by the socially disadvantaged sections, mostly OBCs, with a slim contribution coming from SCs and STs.
    This is the good news coming from an analysis of social ownership patterns of business establishments as presented by the latest Economic Census for 2005. But before you start cheering this empowerment story, here’s a caveat.
    A closer look at the data shows that the majority of businesses owned by OBCs/SCs/STs are establishments without any hired workers — that is, these are pa-andma ops, run by members of the household. They are possibly mainly efforts at self-employment.
    The data shows that while people from these sections owned 45% of business establishments at the time of the last Economic Census in 1998, their share has registered a 6 percentage point increase since then. OBCs account for the largest chunk of this growth.
    The OBC share in ownership of businesses has increased in all major states, barring Tamil Nadu, where they already owned a high 74% of all businesses, and Punjab, where a small decline in OBC ownership has been offset by a rise in SC-owned businesses.
    In states like UP, the increase in OBC ownership has been significant, going up from 38% in the last census to nearly half of all businesses in the state by 2005. In Gujarat, the proportion of OBC-owned establishments has gone up by 13 percentage points to comprise almost a third of the state’s businesses.
    However, the status of the weakest among the reserved categories, the scheduled tribes (STs), seems to have remained virtually unchanged.
    There has been a steady increase in ST-owned establishments in northeastern states but that has been offset by a decline in many other states including Orissa, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
INDEX OF ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT The top 5 states in terms of business establishments owned by OBCs
OBC share in ownership of businesses up in most major states
DOWNER: Majority of businesses owned by bckward castes are own account establishments (OAE), or businesses without any hired workers
UPSIDE: Within every category, the proportion of hired worker establishments is growing
However, status of STs virtually unchanged. Rise in ST-owned establishments in north-east offset by decline in states like Orissa, Rajasthan & MP 71% of businesses of OBCs are family run
New Delhi: As many as 51% in India are today owned by the socially disadvantaged sections. Over three quarters of the establishments owned by SCs and STs are own account establishments (OAE) or establishments owned and run by the family members. The proportion of such establishments owned by OBCs is 71%. However, just over half (56%) of businesses owned by the general category are OAE establishments.
    The positive sign is that within every category, the proportion of hired worker establishments is growing while OAEs are coming down. For instance, in Maharashtra, and Rajasthan the proportion of OBCowned establishments with hired workers grew from 18% to over a third of total OBCowned establishments.
    For the reserved categories, especially STs and to some extent SCs too, their share in the total number of businesses with hired workers has remained small, although the situation has shown definite improvement between the last census and the latest one. For instance, in Bihar, the proportion of SCowned businesses with hired workers constitutes 31% of all businesses owned by SCs.
    This is a significant jump from a mere 10% in 1998. Yet when you look at all the establishments that use hired workers in the state, the SC share is just 4% of this, although SCs constitute 16% of the state population. In most states, the bulk of businesses that hire workers continues to be owned by persons from the general category, except Tamil Nadu, where a much larger proportion of OBCs own establishments that hire workers (65%) than the general category (28%).
    But within all categories in the state, especially among STs, there is decline in the proportion of establishments with hired workers. This seems to indicate that most of the growth in establishments in the state has happened due to persons seeking self employment.
    In states where there has been political empowerment of the reserved categories especially OBCs and SCs, they seem to own much larger proportions of the hired worker establishments than in others.
    In Bihar, UP and Kerala, 51%, 48% and 47% of establishments that use hired workers are owned by the reserved categories, with the bulk in the hands of the OBCs.

US Congress set to give final stamp to deal

Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

Washington: An American lawmaker opposed to the nuclear deal has indicated he is open to changing his mind, strengthening the chances of the US Congress giving final approval to the agreement in its short (September 8 to September 26) session.
    Howard Berman, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Saturday he would not consider any expedited timetable for considering the deal ‘‘until the Bush administration provides him with more information about the Vienna negotiations’’.
    Under current rules, the agreement needs to ‘‘rest’’ in Congress for a 30-day period before it can be taken up for a simple yes-no vote with no debate. VOICES OF DISSENT Congressman slams US’s ‘strong-arm’ tactics
Washington: US lawmaker Howard Berman, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said the burden was on the White House to convince Congress that the nuclear pact needed to be authorized in a ‘‘rushed’’ fashion. He just wanted to make sure the Bush administration did not cut any side deals with NSG member countries to get their votes.
    Other lawmakers are clearly more inflexible. Hours after the Vienna waiver, Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey, whose opposition to the deal goes back to 1974 and his perceived betrayal by India, railed about the Bush administration’s ‘‘strong arm’’ tactics that he said forced NSG into skirting normal rules governing international nuclear trade.
    ‘‘This agreement effectively blows a hole in the global non-proliferation regime, setting a dangerous precedent. What kind of lesson does it send to countries like Pakistan, Iran and North Korea, when we skirt the rules for our friends, but insist on strict compliance for them?’’ Markey asked. ‘‘The nuclear supplier nations cannot preach nuclear temperance from a barstool, and the India nuclear deal is going to undermine the credibility of international efforts to prevent the further spread of the bomb.’’
    But the administration appears confident that things will
work out domestically. ‘‘The congressional calendar is short,’’ secretary of state Condoleezz Rice admitted, adding: ‘‘But the main thing is the international work is now done.’’
    The nuclear deal still enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress. When the Hyde Act authorizing the deal first came up before Congress in 2006, it was cleared 359-68 in the House of Representatives and 85-12 in the US Senate.
    Ahead of the agreement’s return to Congress for the final vote, India’s ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, has met presidential candidates from both parties, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, both of whom support the deal and voted for it, albeit with less passion than some of its ardent supporters.
    But Washington’s hardline non-proliferation community is not going down without a fight. Following the Vienna waiver, the Arms Control Association — a think-tank that has gone to extraordinary lengths to torpedo the internationally approved deal (including calling it ‘‘the 9/11 of proliferation,’’) — called the NSG decision ‘’a non-proliferation disaster of historic proportions that will produce harm for decades to come’’.
    ‘‘Contrary to the Orwellian claims of the George W Bush administration, the India-specific exemption from NSG rules and safeguards standards does not bring India into the nuclear non-proliferation mainstream,’’ ACA insisted in its analysis of the progress in Vienna.

UPA mulls fuel price cut ahead of Nov polls

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With international crude oil prices continuing to slide for the past eight weeks, UPA strategists are deliberating whether they can time a politically tempting cut in motor fuel prices to gain populist points ahead of the assembly elections in five states due in November.
    Even though the numbers are still stacked against any reduction, a marginal cut of up to Rs 2 a litre in pump prices will help repair the ruling UPA’s inflationbattered image, coalition sources said.
    International oil has dropped to around $105 a barrel from a high of $147 on July 11. The slide began on July 16 when crude oil posted its biggest slump in 17 years, dipping over $10 a barrel. TOI had then said pump prices wouldn’t change immediately but if the slide continued for over a month or so, public sentiment — and easing of economic pressure — could give the government leeway to affect a token reduction.
    Coalition strategists feel that the time for making an announcement is in sight. An indication of this came on Friday when petroleum minister Murli Deora said pump prices could be reduced if ‘‘international oil price falls further’’. The same day, BJP spokesperson, Prakash Javdekar, fanned public sentiment arguing that the government should cut prices now that oil has cooled off.
OIL BALM?
UPA strategists keen on slashing fuel prices by up to Rs 2/litre. Debate on when cut should be announced
Global oil price has dropped from $147 a barrel in July to $105 at present
Numbers still don’t support a cut. Indian oil cos will stop losing money only if crude drops to $68-70/barrel Inflation may spoil govt’s nuke party
New Delhi: With polls round the corner, government is contemplating a cut in fuel prices. Technically, it is scheduled to review fuel prices in October. If oil settles around $100/barrel by then, chances are that coalition leaders may force Deora to decrease pump prices marginally around the time the festival season which kicks in along with elections.
    Even as the Manmohan Singh government celebrates its nuclear waiver, Congress managers are all too aware that inflation remains a sore point. They are concerned that price rise may help BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan stave off anti-incumbency by blaming the Centre for the sharp increase in food and transport budgets of most families.
    As far as the arithmetic goes, the political planners say if retail prices are reduced in tandem with lower crude prices, the losses of state-run oil marketing firms will also come down to last year’s levels — or be marginally more — which the government will easily make up through bonds.
    This argument, however, may not stand up to scrutiny for two reasons. One, the winter demand in the West will start building up around the same time and again put pressure on international oil prices. Second, if oil comes down to $100 and shows a further southward tilt, Opec will surely cut production to stem any slide. During several major oil meetings last year and earlier this year, key Opec policymakers have consistently told TOI they think the world is comfortable with oil at $100/barrel level.
    Admittedly, even at $100/barrel or so, it won’t be easy for Deora to tow his party’s line. With present pump prices corresponding to about $68-70/barrel crude, state oil retailers are losing Rs 6.31 per litre on petrol, Rs 13.69 on diesel, Rs 31.39 on kerosene and Rs 312.58 per 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder. The mix of crude India buys, which is $2-3 lower than the US market, averaged $111.09 a barrel in the second fortnight of August against $117.37 per barrel in the first fortnight of the month.

WHO pushes prohibitively costly vaccine

Rema Nagarajan | TIG

    If a disease can be treated for Rs 10, why would you spend Rs 12,000 for it? That is the question being raised by some doctors on a move to make a vaccine against pneumonia part of the immunisation programme.
    According to WHO protocol, pneumonia in children is to be treated with co-trimoxozole (commonly known as Septran), an antibiotic that costs just Rs 10 to treat a child. The pneumococcal vaccine costs Rs 12,000 for a course of three injections for a child. Besides, it is not fail-safe — according to studies, it creates immunization against pneumonia in just four out of 1,000 cases. Pneumonia kills 1 in 5 kids in under-5 group
    Arow has erupted over a move to make a vaccine against pneumonia part of the immunisation programme.
    Pneumonia is said to be the cause of death of almost one in every five children in the under-five age group. That, say proponents of the penumococcal vaccine, mainly the WHO, is good enough reason for the vaccine to be made a part of the programme.
    But on September 1, the WHO Bulletin published a letter casting serious doubts regarding the use of the new pneumococcal vaccine. The letter points out that an analysis of all studies on the vaccine shows that the vaccine does not reduce the incidence of clinical pneumonia. The letter further pointed out that analysis had also shown that the vaccine only reduced the chance of ‘radiological pneumonia’ and not of ‘clinical pneumonia’.
    Those arguing against the vaccine being made part of the immunization programme have a simple argument. Where the cause of the infection is bacterial, Septran will do the trick in most cases. Where it is not, the vaccine will not work either. In fact, they argue that even getting an Xray done is a luxury for most. Treatment with antibiotics on the basis of clinical symptoms is a far less expensive option. It would mean that in some cases antibiotics will be prescribed where they serve no purpose – the viral infections – but no harm would be done and considerable expense saved, an important consideration in countries where most patients are poor.
    In its reply, the WHO defends the vaccine, but admits it does not reduce clinical pneumonia. The reply admits that only 3.6 cases of pneumonia (radiological pneumonia) are prevented for every 1000 children immunized.
    “If the four (3.6) children could be saved by treating them with Septran, which would cost Rs 40, why would a cash strapped country like India opt to vaccinate the 1000 children, which would cost Rs 1.2 crore?” asks Dr Jacob Puliyel, one of the authors of the letter published in the WHO Bulletin and senior paediatrician in St Stephens Hospital, Delhi.
    “Of course, the WHO has an 'introductory offer' for the vaccine by which countries can get 3 doses of the vaccine for about Rs 50 per child. The cost will then be Rs 50,000 to vaccinate 1000 children,” points out Dr Puliyel. Yet, that would mean Rs 50,000 to be spent to save Rs 40.
    Radiological pneumonia, against which the vaccine is effective, is relatively rare. Even the effect on radiological pneumonia, the letter pointed out, was seen only in children less than 2 years of age, after which vaccination had no benefit.
    What is the difference between clinical pneumonia and radiological pneumonia? In general, a child with cough and difficulty in breathing is suffering from pneumonia according to the WHO definition. The cause may include infection by bacteria and virus as well as other reasons of difficult breathing.

Fat wallets? Credit it to plastic

Avijit Ghosh | TNN

New Delhi: About three years back, Madhur Mehrotra began to feel the bulge in his wallet. Ten credit cards, 12 loyalty cards and three ATM cards had created a serious weight and space problem in his pocket. The wallet was so thick that no pickpocket would have managed to pull it out. That’s when he decided to get innovative. ‘‘Now,’’ says the 43-year-old executive, fishing out a cardholder from his pocket, ‘‘I keep most of my cards here.’’ But despite having 25 cards to shop with, Mehrotra is not stopping yet.
    Mehrotra’s predicament isn’t singular. With a bevy of plastic cards sleekly tucked in, well-heeled India’s wallet is protruding like never before. As India Shining enjoys the good life, there’s a plastic for every occasion and reason. There’s regular credit card, co-branded credit card and debit card. Many of these cards land up for free without request. Then there are loyalty cards in different avatars at petrol pumps, airlines, hotels, restaurants, golf clubs, movieplexes and retail stores. And who would believe, even DVD rental shops offer special ATM cards!
There are about 20 million credit and debit card users in India, according to recent industry estimates. The number of credit and debit cards in active use in 2008 is between 25 and 40 million. And the number is still growing. Within two years of its launch in July 2006, Deutsche Bank has over 450,000 credit card users in India. Says Shameek Bhargava, managing director and head of cards, Asia Pacific, Deutsche Bank, ‘‘Increased competition in the Indian industry and aggressive marketing by various financial institutions is leading to customers opting for multiple credit cards.’’ IT PAYS TO BE LOYAL Loyalty cards, new hit with cos
    Loyalty cards too have become an integral part of corporate strategies to ensure fidelity to the brand. For example, Air India has a frequent flyer base of nearly 5,50,000 members. Every member has been issued a frequent flyer card. Similarly, Indian Oil sells Rs 12,000 crore worth of oil every year through plastic cards. This includes 11 lakh co-branded cards with Citibank and another 12 lakh pre-loaded debit cards.
    ‘‘In 1951, the first bank credit card appeared in New York’s Franklin National Bank for loan customers,’’ write Emily Starbuck Gerson and Ben Woolsey on creditcards .com. The idea, though, had already been experimented with in various forms much before. In India, Andhra Bank was the first to introduce credit cards in 1981. But the idea of keeping multiple cards is a relatively new trend whose whispers, industry watchers say, could be first heard around the beginning of the new millennium.
    At the ‘mass’ level, the credit card as well as the loyalty card boom started early this decade. ‘‘That’s the time when the telemarketers swamped just about everyone with offers for new credit cards,’’ recalls Arvind K Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors, a management consulting firm. He has four credit cards and another 20 plastics, including club membership, airline and hotel membership and dining discount cards. Barely a decade ago, it was common in India to harbour fears about losing money through misuse of credit card. There was also a mental block against owing money to someone. That psyche has altered.
    ut there’s a method behind the card madness. Mehrotra, who works for a firm that produces energy-efficient products, says that having more credit cards increases the customer’s overall credit limit. Senior journalist Nilesh Roy (name changed) feels a sense of security in carrying more than one card, ‘‘in case one of them doesn’t work’’. He has four cards. ‘‘I got talked into buying one of them that was peddled as a special card for Stephenians’’, and three frequent flyer cards for Jet, Singapore and Air France.
    Samita Bhowmick, a senior officer with the Lok Sabha secretariat, says there’s a clear division of labour between her five credit cards. ‘‘I use the Standard Chartered card to shop, the ABN card to pay for petrol, the SBI card for balance transfer and the ICCI card for net shopping. And I plan to use the Barclays card to pay my insurance EMI,’’ she says. She has two debit cards as well but doesn’t use them much. Sometimes she admits to overspending but uses balance transfer to steer clear of a debt trap.
    Of course, with so many cards to juggle around, timely payment is a critical issue. Mehrotra, in fact, has turned it into high art. He maintains a handwritten diary where he puts down the transactions. He also has the payment
schedule worked out on an Excel sheet. He makes payments online.
    Co-branded cards have added to the complexity of the market. Such cards, where a bank ties up with another organization such as an airline, gives an opportunity to the customer to earn bonus points that may accrue some additional monetary benefit. Similarly, loyalty cards, as Shameek, says look to enhance “stickiness for the store”.
    Bookstores offer discounts to loyalty cardholders. So do petrol pumps. And airlines compete with each other to woo customers. Through frequent flyer cards, mileage points can be exchanged for free flights. That apart, in-flight privileges include increased check-in baggage allowance and priority for confirmation on waitlist. Jitendra Bhargava, executive director, corporate communications, Air India, points out that offering frequent flyer membership has helped the airlines in ‘‘customer retention, acquisition of new customers and improving communications with them’’.
    But do loyalty cards really ensure loyalty? They do, at least for Roy. He generally books domestic flights with Jet Airways because he holds their frequent flyer card. ‘‘It gets you seat upgrades and, lounge facilities. What more do you need while waiting for your flight?’’
    Vijay Pratap Singh of Oxford Bookstore offers the view from the other side. ‘‘The loyalty card scheme has boosted sales. Almost all of our customers are repeat customers,’’ he says. Singhal says that loyalty cards also give middle-class consumers a sense of status and a belongingness to a perceived ‘exclusive club’. Hence, the burgeoning issuance of loyalty cards by a wide range of retailers. But he adds that some top performers abroad also defy the trend. “Many Indian retailers such as Shoppers Stop still swear by the concept of loyalty cards and the size of their loyalty cardholder base. However, some of the biggest global retailers such as Wal-Mart continue to shun such cards and instead, focus on delivering on their core-promise to their customers.’’ There’s a flip side to the card rush as well. Shameek points out that multiple cards lead to some problems for customers like losing track of the different bills each month and hence falling behind on payments; sometimes the temptation of high credit limits entice customers to overspend.
    Nearly 7-9% of the credit card industry turnover is becoming bad debt, says Vijay Mehta, chief consultant, Credit Card and Management Consultancy. ‘‘Banks are indiscriminately issuing cards without looking into the affordability of the customer. They are also indiscriminately increasing the credit limit of customers. The credit card has become a snake in the pocket,’’ he says.
    Crime too has kept up with the plastic rush. Cops admit to an unprecedented rise in credit card frauds with international gangs of cheats being active in even Delhi and Mumbai. Says ACP Rajan Bhagat, ‘‘recently we have busted several credit card frauds. Users are advised to protect their classified information while using the card at public places.’’ In the end, it is all about being careful and wise. ‘‘Prudent management of multiple cards can give customers advantage over the pitfalls of overspending,’’ says Shameek. Bhowmick affirms. “Cards need to be used wisely.”
    (With inputs from Prabhakar Sinha and Rahul Tripathi)

Saree jahan se achha

The whole world’s draped in sarees, literally, including the Pussycat Dolls. Designers tell us what the USP of the six-yard wonder is

MANDVI SHARMA & JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network

    There was a definite Indian flavour to the red carpet at the annual Fashion Rocks concert in New York, with designer Rocky S walking the ramp along with Jessica, Ashley, Nicole, Kimberly and Melody – the Pussycat Dolls – dressed in sarees. Among names like Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Charlize Theron, Fergie and Rihanna, it indicated yet again that Indian fashion, and the saree, has made quite a name for itself internationally.
    Rocky says that he was approached by an Indian portal based in New York, and asked if he’d like to dress up the sexy pop group. “Why would I have said no?” says Rocky. “It sounded very challenging because I had no time – just two days. I thought, I’m an Indian designer and my designs have to reflect that. So I made sarees for them. They asked me to come along and so I went with them to the concert. This concert is basically a celebration of the relationship between fashion and music. It was fabulous,” says a very excited Rocky.
‘RITU KUMAR: I was looking at this picture of the Pussycat Dolls and thinking that the saree has now become a substitute for the Little Black Dress – a lovely, flowing, clingy garment. The fascination of the saree has always been there in the West.The image of India is now that of Shilpa Shetty and Bollywood. I try to modify the drape to suit the young wearers. The saree I designed for the Miss India winner, I made the pallunarrow, so it sat delicately on the shoulders. Since the younger generation is not used to draping the whole six yards, I sometimes stitch the pleats and the first drape of the saree onto the petticoat, which can be zipped up at the waist. That leaves the pallu to be draped as one wishes it to.
SUNEET VARMA: The saree is the most versatile garment in the world. It can, with a sweep of the head, be conservative or with a flash of the navel, trendy. If you are going for a prayer meeting, all you need to do is to place the pallu over the shoulders or cover your head with it. The same saree, worn a little low to show off the navel,and teamed up with a backless choli, and show a bit of cleavage, can make you the most elegant woman at a cocktail party.There are a lot of forces working in the way of popularising the garment in the west.The saree got its first push towards stardom when Valentino designed a saree dress for Jackie O way back in the 50s. And many international designers – John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Armani, and others have shown the saree as a part of their collection on the inter
    ’national runway.

DOLLED UP: The Pussycat Dolls in sarees. For more pics of the band, visit http ://photogallery. indiatimes .com

Reality with a twist in the tale

The Bollywood Club, a show in which contenders use their skills to try to entertain and impress Bollywood directors, gets the behind-the-scenes dope right into your living room

SASHWATI SANYAL Times News Network

    It is said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And that is exactly what is happening with the first set of contestants proving their mettle in Bollywood Club, Konnection Kismat Ka
at D Ultimate, the venue for all the action. The maiden show, starting today on Zoom TV, promises to bring you everything – from a struggler’s trials and tribulations to the joy of victory.
    The first of its kind, it brings together an assortment of the country’s talent as ‘seekers’ in a face-toface encounter with Bollywood’s leading talents, the ‘givers’. The journey from here would catapult some to instant stardom, while for the rest, it would be a lesson well learnt. Reveals a self-confessed fighter, Avantika, who has been shortlisted for ‘seekers’ and is desperate to make it big as an actress in Bollywood, “My parents have never supported me. It is just a dream that I have and I want to see it fulfilled in this lifetime. My parents can’t digest the fact that I want to act but I think I have the talent in me to make my presence felt. So I believe this is the right platform which can get me noticed.”
    Directors of the calibre of Nikhil Advani, National Award winner Madhur Bhandarkar, Farah Khan, Subhash Ghai and Apoorva Lakhia would be judging the aspirants on the basis of their acting, singing, dancing, mimicry and other talents. This is what filmmaker Advani had to say about the show, “Zoom television is starting Bollywood Club where ‘YOU’ guys will be given an opportunity to show your talent. You don’t necessarily need to be a great dancer or actor and who knows, who will be the superstar tonight? So my advice to you guys is – use the platform and who knows, one day soon, we might just be making films together.”
    The first episode of the show will bring you the highlights of the party where the big shots mingle with the contenders. This will be followed by livewire action, as each tries to outwit the other. Noted filmmaker Subhash Ghai and TV actor/director Rohit Roy will decide the rest.
    So gear up for some major rollercoaster feats on the sets of D Ultimate as the audiences get to see the next set of shooting stars of the country.
    delhitimes @timesgroup.com

Rohit Roy with the contenders

Priyanka Chopra’s smoky affair!

Not many people know that Priyanka Chopra is allergic to smoke and has trouble breathing whenever there’s smoke around or near her.
Now, for the shooting of a grungy number Oopcha for Drona, a lot of fire and smoke was supposed to be created on the sets. But, when the film’s director Goldie Behl, got to know about this problem of Priyanka’s, he together with the entire unit wondered how to handle the situation. And after a lot of deliberation, Goldie thought of shooting all the fire sequences right at the end of the day and keep the shooting hanger open with lots of fans to blow out the smoke for the next morning. Explains Goldie, “When we conceptualised the song, we didn’t realise that Priyanka would have such a problem. So we thought of shooting the fire sequences right at the end of the day and quickly whisk her away. And we did just that. We used fans to blow out the smoke and shoot the other parts of the song next morning. This way, we managed to shoot the sequences without compromising on Priyanka’s health, and must say the song’s looking sensational.” Quite a smoky affair, hai na?

Priyanka Chopra

Aamir in a sequel game

There’s a buzz in the industry that Aamir Khan is keen to make a sequel to his successful comic caper Andaz Apna Apna with Salman Khan. And if reports are to be believed, both the Khans are having serious talks about the project. Now, the big question is, will the director of the first installment of Andaz..., Raj Kumar Santoshi, direct the sequel as well? Well, we’ll have to wait and watch until the project is officially ready to roll out from the Khan factory.
(Snippets contributed By Gautam Buragohain
and Urvashi Ashar)

Aamir Khan

‘Now begins the real fight’

Newly-elected DUSU president, Nupur Sharma, reveals her future plans and talks about what’s on her to-do list

NIKHILA PANT Times News Network

    Ihave finally got some time to rest,” says DUSU president Nupur Sharma. An Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad candidate and a student of Law Centre-I, Nupur defeated her rival, NSUI’s Sonia Sapra, by a margin of 1,739 votes. Calling this triumph of experience over amateur aspirations, Nupur says, “There were talks about how students vote going by the looks of the candidates and not their qualities. But my victory has proven all this wrong. I have experience on my side and DUSU elections are certainly not a beauty pageant. Now is the time to begin the real battle.” The 23-year-old is also clear on what tops her to-do list right now. “I have to make sure that the faith that DU students have lost in DUSU is restored. Low voter turnout during the elections vouches for the fact that students are either not aware of what DUSU stands for or are simply not interested in being a part of it.” And like all things political, Nupur does not forego the opportunity of taking a dig at the out-going office bearers. “For the past five years, no concrete work was being done in DU. A ban on smoking was announced but not properly enforced. Students would sit in the DUSU office and smoke and drink openly – then how were the office bearers expecting the DU students to follow the rules? A lot was also said about the upgradation of college campuses, but some colleges still function out of almost ruin-like buildings.”
    Nupur has her plan of action ready. She reveals, “There should be proper checking at the college gates to make sure that no objectionable substance is carried inside the college. The students also need to be sensitised to h e l p in following the ban on smoking and drinking on the DU campuses.”
    The issue of sexual harassment is something that Nupur plans to take up seriously. “Almost every single girl in DU has been eve-teased or sexually harassed at least once. The only solution to this is to make DU into a compact campus where outsiders are not allowed. DU students rarely indulge in teasing a fellow students. It’s always the outsiders who are the culprits.”
    The petite president also vocalises her fearlessness in going to the college authorities and asking them to be accountable. “Every college gets UGC grants to uplift the college infrastructure. Where does all the money go? Why are the walls of some colleges crumbling? DU is not only about hanging out with friends and bunking classes. It is primarily about being in an environment conducive to studying. And that’s what we want to achieve. Hostels also need to be upgraded. While we are talking of hostels, I must clarify that the discussion about co-ed hostels was much ado about nothing. I think it’s no big deal if we have co-ed hostels. Students studying in DU are mature adults and know right from wrong. If we have separate dormitories and floors for the guys and girls, there should be no problem.” Quite frank, what say!

NSUI candidates celebrate their victory

ABVP candidates campaigning on the last day

V FOR VICTORY: Nupur Sharma

Thursday 4 September 2008

2008-09-03T18:29:00.001-07:00

Times Of India
Thursday 4 September 2008

N-deal to be off if India conducts nuclear test?

Claim By US Lawmakers Makes India’s Task At NSG Tougher

Indrani Bagchi & Sachin Parashar | TNN

New Delhi: In what could raise the bar for the Indo-US deal just ahead of the NSG meeting beginning on Thursday and cause embarrassment to the Manmohan Singh government, the US state department has told its country’s Congress that the pact would be off if India conducts a nuclear test.
    In its replies to US lawmakers, the state department has also said the deal would not mean transfer of any sensitive technology to India or uninterrupted fuel supply — a contradiction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurances to Parliament which could encourage the NSG countries which are already opposing the deal.
    PM Manmohan Singh, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and AEC chairman Anil Kakodkar met late on Wednesday to review the situation.
    “US government will not assist India in the design, construction or operation of sensitive nuclear technologies”. The position, as spelt out to the US Congress, goes further than the 123 pact which kept a window open for such transfers in future, and could spur those asking for introduction of similar prohibitions in the NSG waiver.
    The replies were made public by Howard L Berman, chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a known opponent of the deal.
    For the past nine months, there was considerable speculation in India over the state department’s replies to queries from Congressmen on the nuclear deal which were sent to Berman’s predecessor Tom Lantos.
    The disclosure on the eve of the two-day NSG meeting that what some members want only mirrors the benchmark the US has set for itself, could see NSG objectors — like New Zealand and Austria — upping their ante. This could frustrate India’s hopes of wresting a politically palatable waiver.
    Even the predictable assertion that the 123 Agreement conforms fully to the contentious Hyde Act could not have come at a worse time. The hold outs at the NSG have been insisting that the waiver for India must be in line with the prescriptions in the Hyde Act.
DOUBLE DEALING?
State dept’s replies to US lawmakers contradict PM’s assurances to Parliament
Replies had been kept under wraps for months. Disclosure on eve of crucial two-day NSG meeting could see objectors upping the ante
BJP, Left call deal a sellout, accuse govt of misleading nation
‘‘We will only go by what has been communicated to us directly by the US and our position is extremely clear to them,’’ says senior govt official Washington: The Bush administration has told the US Congress that Washington will terminate nuclear trade with India if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test, and the same assurance should be written into any Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) green signal to India, Washington’s non-proliferation lobby asserted on Tuesday.
    In yet another last ditch attempt to hold the Bush White House to specific commitments before Congress, and possibly torpedo the US-India nuclear agreement ahead of a crucial NSG meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, non-proliferation hardliners here released what they said was a secret letter written by President Bush to a now deceased lawmaker in which the administration seemingly challenges New Delhi’s claim that the agreement will not constrain India’s right to conduct nuclear tests.
    Instead, in the 26-page response to Congressional queries, the administration (and not President Bush specifically) has in effect assured the late Congressman Tom Lantos, who died of cancer in February this year, that any Indian test would compel the administration to act as per the provisions of the Hyde Act (named after the Lantos colleague Henry Hyde, who also passed away in November last year) and cease nuclear cooperation with India.
    Responding to 45 technical questions posed by members of House International Relations Committee, of which Lantos was the chairman, a senior administration official specifically addressed the contentious issue of fuel supply, which is India’s bugaboo given past record of mistrust on this subject between the two countries. New Delhi has sought iron-clad guarantees that fuel supplies will not be interrupted in the event of an Indian nuclear test.
    The letter says the US would help India deal only with “disruptions in supply to India that may result through no fault of its own,’’ such as a trade war or market disruptions. “The fuel supply assurances are not, however, meant to insulate India against the consequences of a nuclear explosive test or a violation of nonproliferation commitments,’’ the letter said.
    A minor detail that was misrepresented in the story by a runaway media is that the letter is not from President Bush, but from Jeffrey Bergner, assistant secretary, Legislative Affairs, in the State Department. But Congressional aides said the bureaucracy was conveying the views of the White House and the missive can be said to be from President Bush.
    The letter was released by Congressman Howard Berman, who succeeded Lantos as Chairman, because “because he wants to ensure that his colleagues have all of the relevant information,” Lynne Weil, the communications director of the committee told TOI.
    According to the non-proliferation lobby, India has been claiming that the deal would not constrain the country’s right to nuclear tests and would provide an uninterrupted supply of fuel to India’s nuclear reactors. In August 2007, PM Manmohan Singh told Parliament, “The agreement does not in any way affect India’s right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is necessary.”
    But the Indian interpretation of the agreement is that the US and other countries will help maintain fuel supply under mitigating circumstances, such as an Indian test in response to Chinese or Pakistani tests. Implicit in the Prime Minister’s assurance, Indian officials reason, is that while India is committed to not testing, it expects the US and the international community not to punish it if it is compelled to test.
    The non-proliferation lobby insists that the letter makes clear that terminating cooperation in the event of a test could be immediate and was within US discretion, and that the supply assurances made by the United States are not legally binding but simply a commitment made by President Bush. They want similar provisions written into the NSG waiver that will be deliberated on in Vienna on Thursday.
    “There is no reason why this should not be an NSG-wide policy,’’ Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington think-tank which has taken a lead role in opposing the USIndia agreement, told the Washington Post, which, along with the New York Times, is one of the two media outlets frequently used by the non-proliferation lobby to air its views.
    It’s now clear from both President Bush’s and Prime Minister Singh’s postures that they each choose to interpret the nuclear deal in a way that is most palatable to their critics and constituents. Shorn of complexities and legislative and bureaucratic gobledygook, Bush has told critics of the deal, “If India tests, we will punish, except may be if...” Singh’s line: “We don’t need to test, but if need to we will, no matter the cost.’’ Both sides seem to live in the hope that it will never come to that. The NSG is meeting on Thursday and Friday in Vienna to consider the US-India deal.

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Havoc in Aravalis as SC norms are ignored

TOI uncovers a disturbing story of savage exploitation of environment and labour just 36 km from Delhi

Abantika Ghosh | TNN

Sirohi (Faridabad): Every time you see a swanky new building coming up in Delhi, think of the ravaged Aravalis, savagely slashed along the red quartize face, innards gouged out. Think of the labourers working in dust-laden pits and stone crushers for 12 hours, if not longer, for Rs 100 a day — work that, more often than not, leaves them with tuberculosis or silicosis a few years down the line.
    Think of Khori Jamalpur and Sirohi — the two legal stone quarries with a cumulative area of about 267 hectares, adjacent to the Pali-Sohna state highway where it cuts across backward Mewat, bringing to its people some temporary easy cash, but devastating their environment for successive generations. If you saw this bombed out tract of hills, just 36 km from Delhi, you would admit that the supply of stone chips for all constructions in the NCR comes at a high price. Perhaps, unacceptably high.
    The mines were started here with the Supreme Court’s nod and also its guidelines for mining. When the apex court decided on Monday that the entire Aravali range in Gurgaon district would first be mapped by satellite imagery before new areas are opened up for mining, it overlooked this part of the Faridabad district.
    If it were to map this area too, and back that up with a ground-level survey, it would find that its own guidelines have been thrown to the winds.
    The world’s oldest mountain range, standing guard against the desertification of the Indo-Gangetic plains, has been virtually decimated in these parts. Mining here doesn’t have environment clearance. While the Central Pollution Control Board said in reply to a RTI application that the mines here don’t have an NOC from them, the Haryana Pollution Control Board claimed to TOI that since ‘‘minor minerals’’ (quartzite) were being mined, no NOC is required.
    The violations appear to be many. We saw child labour in the mines, quarry and crusher workers working without mandatory safety equipment like masks, ear plugs and body suits. We were told about scant medical facilities, common respiratory diseases. We also saw boulder-laden trucks — 3,200 of them carry away 1,000 tonnes of stones every day, according to the manager of the Khori Jamalpur mines — using the Ballabhgarh-Pali-Sohna state highway, reducing it to a cratered mess, when they are supposed to take another road, specially built for the trucks by cutting through the Aravalis. Cops ignore mining violations: SP
Sirohi (Faridabad): While the Supreme Court on Monday took note of the ecological concern over mining in Aravali range in Gurgaon district and ordered the region to be mapped by satellite imagery before new areas are opened up for mining, at Khori Jamalpur and Sirohi mines in Faridabad it's business as usual.
    The two mines yield stones worth Rs 2.17 crore every day, according to NGO Shakti Vahini that works in this area. For every truck that goes out of the area, the company makes a profit of Rs 6,800 — it pays Rs 1,200 as tax to the government and sells the stones for Rs 8,000.
    When TOI spoke to Faridabad superintendent of police Srikant Yadav about the violation by the trucks, he said: ‘‘They are supposed to use the inner road but the SHO sometimes asks for permission to let them use the main road during the rains when the road meant for trucks is all slush and mud.’’ He rang back to say that trucks carrying stone chips were allowed, but not those with boulders. We mostly saw trucks heaped with boulders on the highway.
    On being told that the main road is used even at such times when the inner road is motorable, the SP said: ‘‘It’s a violation that smacks of connivance with the local police.’’ Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vijender Singh, however, said there is no rule about trucks not being allowed on the road. ‘‘How can you exclude vehicles from a state highway? There are plans to get a cement-concrete road there constructed on BoT basis,’’ he said.
    Inside the mines, it’s a shocking spectacle of a mountain range systematically being torn piece by piece to fuel development. ‘‘We build Delhi,’’ said a proud Surender Sharma, manager of Khori Jamalpur stone quarry. That he surely does, even if it is to the ruin of the Aravalis.
    The mandatory afforestation that mines are expected to do is sketchy here — the sturdy jatropha and Gulmohar have been planted on heaps of malba and waste near the road but not on the Aravali hills for the simple reason that by the time mining is over, there is nothing left in the soil to sustain plant life. As we went deeper into the mining area, we found the remunerative jatropha had been replaced by keekar, a coloniser, known to deplete any soil of nutrients.
    This, despite a stringent ‘‘sustainable development’’ clause set down by the Supreme Court.
    DC Vijender Singh said whether the Supreme Court guidelines on afforestation were being followed or not was something to be ensured by the department of mining and geology, government of Haryana. ‘‘I will get it checked nevertheless,’’ he added helpfully.
    M P Sharma, mining engineer with the state’s department of mining and geology, gave a clean chit to the mines. ‘‘Everything that happens there is completely scientific. The water table is 80-90 metres below and the mines never reach that deep,’’ he claimed, even though the mine staff itself said mining stopped only 3 metres above the ground water level.
    And when the water table was breached, pumps were used to pump out the water and go deeper.
    The lease period of both the mines is set to expire in February 2009, but mine manager Surender Sharma said that an application has already been moved for a twoyear extension. If the extension is given, the ruin of the area will be still more extreme. Engineer M P Sharma denied any application for an extension of lease: ‘‘They have only asked for permission to increase their yield from 5 lakh tonnes per month to 9 lakh tonnes. We are considering it.’’ The mines manager, however, said the output was already 8 lakh tonnes a month.
    The DC is categorical that the only complaints he has ever received from the area are about exploitation of workers but ‘‘inquiries have showed there is no truth is them. They have all the facilities and we have organized regular health checkups that do not show that they are surviving from any specific disease.’’
    Nishi Kant, a volunteer with the NGO Shakti Vahini, says that crusher workers cannot continue beyond a few years as they fall prey to tuberculosis or silicosis because they constantly breathe in fine stone dust that line the lungs, soon making them virtually useless.
    We spoke to a worker, who did not wish to be identified. ‘‘We live in cramped rooms,’’ he said. ‘‘There are no medical facilities here. If it’s a minor ailment, they give some medicines but the moment they realise it is something complicated, we are just asked to go home and return when we are ok. Few do.’’
    abantika .ghosh @timesgroup .com

GOING DOWNHILL: Mining work at Khori Jamalpur (Faridabad) is wrecking the mountain range

MINTING MONEY: Mines at Khori Jamalpur (above) and Sirohi yield stones worth Rs 2.17 crore daily

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Mamata’s stir claims first life

3 Sons Jobless, Land Sold, Singur Farmer Gulps Pesticide

Jayanta Gupta & Falguni Banerjee | TNN

Singur: The Trinamool-led siege that forced the shutdown at Singur claimed its first victim on Wednesday. Having surrendered his one-and-half acre farmland to the West Bengal government, 61-year-old Sushen Sarkar was banking heavily on the Nano project. His three sons — Subhas, Uttam and Bibhas — were beneficiaries of the project with two of them daily workers at the Tata factory. But the dharna and suspension of work by the Tatas shattered his world.
    The resident of Pagepara in Joymolla neighbourhood put himself out of his misery by drinking a bottle of pesticide on Wednesday morning.
    ‘‘He was very upset. My sons have not been paid and since we are dependent on their income, my husband was very tense. Those who forced the factory to close down are squarely responsible for his death,’’ said Balika Sarkar, his widow.
    After trading his land for Rs 18 lakh, Sushen constructed a two-storey house with enough room for all his children and their families.
    While Subhas and Uttam got jobs at BBG —an ancillary bearing manufacturing unit — Bibhas worked as a material supplier. The family income had jumped from an average of Rs 45 per day from farming only to about Rs 300 per day and the Sarkar family was on the verge of relative affluence.
    But the shutdown threatened that lifestyle, now bolstered with add-ons like a TV set. Since Mamata’s men unleashed their mayhem, Subhas and Uttam had not been able to report for work, losing more than Rs 200 a day.
    Bibhas, too, has been sitting at home with material supply suspended. And now Subhas, whose wife is pregnant, was particularly worried about losing his job.
    The panic got to Sushen after the Tata announcement on Tuesday evening that the Nano project could be shifted out of Singur. Having watched the news on TV, he went to a local club and discussed the matter with a few neighbours. They had nothing encouraging to say about the future of the project.
Governor agrees to chair talks tomorrow
    West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has agreed to chair talks between a state government panel and the Trinamool Congress, to be held on September 5. The decision followed requests from chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to him to mediate personally. A Raj Bhavan statement said the governor’s role would be that of the meeting’s chairperson. P 12

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Dengue grips Gurgaon: 348 cases and counting

Kounteya Sinha & Sumi Sukanya | TNN

New Delhi: After potholed roads, water scarcity, endless traffic snarls and power outages, the millennium city of Gurgaon is now reeling under a massive dengue outbreak. With 28 blood samples testing positive on Wednesday, Gurgaon’s dengue count has risen to 348 cases, with two deaths.
    Alarmingly, as many as 263 cases have been reported from Gurgaon’s urban areas and posh colonies. Inspections carried out by officials from the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases reported the breeding rate of Aedes mosquito (that carries the dengue virus) was alarmingly high in Gurgaon — sometimes 40% of the houses inspected were found to be breeding sites.
    According to NVBDCP records, Gurgaon had reported 297 cases till August 31 this year, as against 36 cases till August 2007 — an increase of nearly 800%. Delhi till now has recorded 92 positive dengue cases.
    If Gurgaon’s reputation as an upmarket destination and a shining symbol of the new economy was already being tarred by civic woes — and the perpetual hassles of expressway commuters — the dengue situation may well be the last straw for many residents.
VIRAL THREAT
Worst months tend to be Sept and Oct. The problem may only get worse
Almost 80% of cases reported from Gurgaon’s urban spaces, which house its posh colonies
Mosquitoes found breeding in 40% houses in some areas. Authorities may issue legal notices to houses where mosquito larvae are found Legal notice likely for mosquito-breeding sites
New Delhi: The dengue situation in Gurgaon has forced the administration of considering issuing challans as its spraying operations have not been effective enough.
    Many Gurgaon residents have also alleged that dengue patients were being refused admission in hospitals because of unavailability of beds. Gurgaon’s deputy commissioner, Deepti Uma Shankar, said the administration is seriously contemplating issuing legal notices and challans to families whose houses are found to be breeding sites for the mosquito.
    ‘‘The vector responsible for dengue breeds in domestic areas. The community has to therefore take responsibility and ensure their homes don’t turn into breeding sites,’’ she said.
    A high-powered review meeting, chaired by the director general of health services, Dr R K Srivastava, on Tuesday considered proposals on how to combat the outbreak in Gurgaon. Director general of NVBDCP, Dr G P S Dhillon, told TOI, ‘‘Proposals such as training security guards of these posh localities in Gurgaon in identifying mosquito breeding sites is being looked into seriously.”
    According to Gurgaon’s chief medical officer Dr S S Dalal, advent of early rains, large areas of stagnant water, high density construction work and a failure on the part of residents to regularly check for breeding sites has caused this outbreak.
    ‘‘Dengue has become a serious public health problem in Gurgaon and most cases are being recorded from the posh colonies. At present, 95 officials from the state health department are involved in fogging and containment operations. If the community does not come forward to control breeding, we will see a more serious outbreak,’’ Dr Dalal said.
    According to Dr Dalal, Gurgaon recorded 105 dengue cases in 2005, 204 in 2006 and 183 in 2007.
    ‘‘We already have more than 320 cases till now with the peak season for dengue transmission — September and October — yet to come,’’ Dr Dalal said.
    While doctors and health authorities dismiss it as panic reaction from the public, many Gurgaon residents have said that instead of getting proper treatment, patients suffering from dengue were not even being admitted in hospitals.
    One resident, Ruhana Bhatia, said that her 11-year-old son had tested positive for dengue but the hospital where she took him refused to take the boy in. They said that the patient’s condition was stable and there was no need for him to remain in hospital. ‘‘When someone is suffering from such a disease, how can they refuse to keep him under 24-hour medical supervision?’’ asked a bewildered Ruhana.
    Meanwhile, Dr Krishan Kumar, district malaria officer, said the best possible care was being provided to dengue sufferers. ‘‘All patients are being treated on priority,’’ he said. Dr Ashutosh Shukla from Artemis Health Institute said only those patients who do not need to be in hospitals day and night were being discharged. ‘‘We are taking dengue patients who are in critical condition but those who can be cured without being admitted are being told so. However as there is so much panic among people they might not understand our advise and are making fuss about this,’’ he added.
    Lack of manpower is being touted as a major reason why the menace hasn’t been curbed. ‘‘We have only 95 people in the antilarvae squad who are carrying out fogging. Until we are armed with proper paraphernalia to fight the disease, it is very difficult to control the situation,’’ said Dr Dalal.
    kounteya .sinha @timesgroup .com

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Kerala lines up edu quota for forward castes

Thiruvananthapuram: In a significant move, the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala on Wednesday announced reservation in higher education for economically disadvantaged students among forward castes.
    The quota will be 10% of seats in government-run colleges and 7.5% in universities, in view of the reservation pattern stipulated by the UGC, chief minister V S Achuthanandan told reporters after a cabinet meeting here.
    The quota will be applicable for degree and post-graduate courses, he said. Besides, nine Industrial Training Institutes in the state would also be developed as centres of excellence, he said. AGENCIES Another IT park to come up in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM-led LDF government in Kerala on Wednesday announced a slew of measures. It allotted land for yet another software park in the state. ‘‘The state cabinet on Wednesday cleared the decision to allot 70 acres of land for the proposed IT Cyber Park at Kozhikode,’’ Achuthanandan said after the cabinet meeting. ‘‘Already two such parks exist - one in the capital and the other at Kochi. The clearance for a new similar park comes at a time when both existing parks are being expanded. The new initiative will help further boost software exports from the state which crossed the Rs 10 billion mark last fiscal,’’ the chief minister said.
    Already work is on to expand the two existing parks. In fact, the chief minister will flag off construction work for the third phase of the Technopark campus here on Thursday. The third phase will be developed over 92 acres of land to be implemented as an IT/ITES SEZ. AGENCIES

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Govt to review anti-dowry law

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: For long, voices raised against the anti-dowry act were dismissed as those belonging to men desperately trying to retain their dominance over women. But now, an increasing number of women complaining against misuse of the act has forced the women and child development (WCD) ministry to initiate a review of the controversial legislation.
    Said WCD joint secretary Kiran Chadha, ‘‘We will be meeting a panel of lawyers and legal experts to review the law. We have been receiving so many complaints against the two laws — section 498A (harassment for dowry) and the domestic violence act.’’
    The meeting is likely to be held on September 17.
    The Indian Penal Code’s section 498A had long been seen by women activists as one of the foremost legal weapons for a woman shunned by her in-laws and her parents. The government’s turnaround comes after an increasing number of complaints came from women themselves — mothersin-law and sisters-in-law who ironically have fallen victim to misuse of the two laws.
    The statistics are telling. Raksha, an NGO working on marital harmony and child welfare, has analyzed figures by the National Crime Records Bureau to deduce that 1.2 lakh women have been falsely implicated under 498A. ‘‘Every 21 minutes, an innocent woman is being arrested. While the number of arrests under 498A is increasing every year, what is not being considered is that the conviction rate in these cases is barely 2%,’’ Raksha spokesperson Anupama Singh said.
    Now, the official view has perhaps finally reflected a change in attitude towards a woman complainant.
WOMEN VICTIMIZED?
1.2 lakh women have been falsely implicated under the antidowry section, 498A, according to figures collated by NGO Raksha
Every 21 minutes, an innocent woman is being arrested under 498A, the NGO states
Study of 3,000 cases showed girls who misused anti-dowry law were mostly graduates living in both metros and small towns NGO wants dowry offence to be made bailable
New Delhi: An increasing number of women complaining against misuse of the anti-dowry act has forced the women and child development (WCD) ministry to initiate a review of the controversial legislation. One of the most vocal NGOs, Mothers and Sisters Initiative (MASI), has submitted a charter of demands to the ministry that includes suggestions for a ‘‘modified 498A’’. MASI has suggested that in the section which says ‘‘husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty,’’ the clause ‘‘relative of husband’’ be dropped. The NGO has also recommended that the law be made bailable and non-cognizable, and that its misuse be penalized.
    Singh says that misuse of the two laws isn’t restricted to the metros. ‘‘We have studied over 3,000 cases and found that girls who have misused the law are mostly graduates, not necessarily living in a metro city. They can be from small towns and have access to advice from lawyers. This is multi-crore industry that has even enveloped NRIs,’’ Singh said.
    The ministry has been at the receiving end of criticism for some time now. Earlier this year, it had organized a workshop to discuss issues related to women’s legislation that soon turned into a slanging match. In August, the ministry launched an aggressive media campaign on several issues including domestic violence. When queried on the occasion if the campaign was a defensive move following criticism of the law, WCD minister Renuka Choudhary said, ‘‘We are not being defensive. We are being pro-active. I have taken the bull by the horns.’’

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Bihar is witnessing its worst flood in living memory. Many districts are under water, rendering 15 lakh people homeless. These people have lost not just their homes, but virtually everything, including their income. Hunger stalks vast tracts of the state. Helping the flood-hit pick up their shattered lives requires enormous relief work.
The Times of India appeals to its readers to donate generously to the Chief Minister Relief Fund. Contributions will qualify for tax exemption under 80G(2) of the I-T Act. Write your cheque or draft in the name of ‘Chief Minister Relief Fund’, payable at Patna, and send it to: Chief Minister Relief Fund, Chief Minister Secretariat, 4 Deshratna Marg, Patna – 800001. You can also electronically send money into the account of ‘Chief Minister Relief Fund’, SBI, A/c No. 10839124928, Patna Secretariat branch.

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NEWS DIGEST

Sanjeev Nanda to be sentenced tomorrow
Additional sessions judge Vinod Kumar on Wednesday reserved the order on quantum of sentence for Sanjeev Nanda for September 5. P 2
Ban on opinion, exit polls? The cabinet is likely to consider on Thursday a proposal to ban publishing or telecasting opinion and exit polls during elections — from the time the EC announces elections till the last vote is cast. P 10
Puja at school sparks row: Jaipur’s St Xavier’s School authorities on Wednesday suspended seven students for offering puja to Lord Ganesha in their classroom. Over 200 members of the BJP youth wing retaliated by throwing stones at the school. P 7
UPSC told to reveal cutoffs: Delhi HC on Wednesday directed UPSC to make public cutoff marks obtained by candidates in the preliminary test of the civil services exam. P 7
SC seeks Orissa pledge: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought Orissa’s commitment on oath to provide protection to people and their property in riot-affected areas. P 10
Notice to Modi on encounter: With the blot of the Sohrabuddin fake encounter yet to fade, Gujarat CM Modi and the state police faced a similar charge with the SC on Wednesday sending them notices. P 10

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Girl child: Most unwanted in city

Rumu Banerjee | TNN

New Delhi: If the haves and have-nots in the city have one thing in common, its female foeticide. With a sex ratio of 762 girls to 1,000 boys (Lancet Research, 2007), Delhi’s declining tolerance for the girl child is symptomatic of the country’s inability to get rid of old mindsets. A recent study by an NGO has only underlined what we always knew — the city does not want girls to be born in its families.
    The findings of the study, conducted by the Centre for Social Research (CSR) with support from the ministries of health and women and child development, are shocking. The three localities selected for the study — Punjabi Bagh, Narela and Najafgarh — have the lowest sex ratio in the city.
    Here’s a sample of some of the findings — incidents or knowledge of sex-selective abortions or female foeticide, going by responses, is a high 69.9% in Narela, 55% in Punjabi Bagh and 11.5% in Najafgarh. The quest for the male child doesn’t end here. A healthy 18.3% of people in Najafgarh and 26% in Narela even take ‘‘medication’’ to ensure that a son is born. And if that’s not enough, 57.8% of people in moneyed Punjabi Bagh are willing to observe religious ceremonies to get a male child.
    Said Ranjana Kumari, director, CSR, ‘‘The culprits are the private clinics and informal rural practioners or quacks. Community findings of the study show that people know which clinic or hospital conducts such sex-determination tests as well as the resultant abortions. When we questioned the clinics, however, their staff denied such practices and claimed they were following government norms.’’ According to Kumari, closer questioning led many clinics to claim that ultrasound facility — the tool for sex determination — had been discontinued in the clinic though boards outsidesaid otherwise.
    The study, with a sample size of 1200 respondents and 55 medical units, comprising ultrasound clinics and MTP (medical termination of pregnancy) clinics, showcased findings that are similar across both caste and social standing. Whether it’s the lower classes or the rich, neither wants a girl child.
    The reasons are manifold. From old customs and traditions to economic constraints like dowry and lack of support in old age, everything seems to be against the female child. Added Manasi Mishra, research head at CSR, ‘‘For instance, Punjabi Bagh is a locality which has money as well as educated respondents, yet the sex ratio is only 842, lesser than Delhi’s 886/1000 as well as the national average of 927/1000 (Figures according to 2001 Census).’’
    It’s the findings of the medical audit that are the most shocking however. While doctors are aware of female foeticide happening in the locality, no one is willing to go on record against the practice. Many pathology labs don’t have a consulting gynaecologist though ultrasound facility is easily available. The awareness level about PC & PNDT Act is abysmal: 69% and 67.9% of respondents in Punjabi Bagh and Najafgarh didn’t know about the anti-sex determination act. Added Kumari, ‘‘The clinics claim to comply with norms — like filling forms after every ultrasound conducted — but it’s only on paper. Information on sex determination is passed on by staff of the clinic, if not the doctor.’’
    The only good news from the finding is the slow, but steady, dissemination of information. Respondents said television was the best message provider, though there’s a grey area about information on whom to complain to about sex determination.
    Interestingly, there’s only one recorded complaint against sex determination that CSR claims has been made till date. Said Kumari, ‘‘A woman, Neetu Khurana, has complained against her husband, a doctor. Khurana has claimed that he asked her to udnergo abortion on learing her twins were girls. The police however have refused to register a case till date.’’ That seems to sum up the city’s attitude.
DELHI’S SEX RATIO GETS
WORSE
‘Meri shakti meri beti'
A study on female foeticide conducted by Centre for Social Research (CSR) for the ministry of health and family welfare and ministry of women and child development
PROJECT AREAS
Areas with lowest sex ratio in city
Narela
828 girls
Punjabi Bagh
842
Najafgarh
841 Sample size | 1200 respondents and 55 medical units, including ultrasound clinics, MTP centres
FINDINGS
    38 % in Punjabi Bagh, 71 % in Narela and 13.5 % in Najafgarh say old customs and family tradition are main reasons for male child preference
    Economic compulsions like dowry, education and lack of support in old age from girls as well as last rites being a boy's prerogative also cited
    Awareness and incidents of sex-selection in Narela are 69.9 %, 55 % in Punjabi Bagh and 11.5 % in Najafgarh
    18.3 %, 7.5 % and 26 % in Najafgarh, Punjabi Bagh and Narela take medication for male child
    Majority of sex-selective abortions performed by doctors/nurses of private clinics and informal rural practitioners or quacks
    Though clinics denied incidents, community people named 2-3 clinics and nursing homes in each area
    People aware that female foeticide is an illegal activity but not aware of PC & PNDT Act
    Most of the information on awareness on female foeticide is from television
FAST FACTS
    India has lost over 10 million girls to female foeticide in past 20 years
    The 2001 census figure for Delhi is 886 girls per 1000 boys. The national average is 927/1000
    Latest research (2007) by Lancet, a popular medical journal, for NCR says Delhi has only 762 girls for every 1,000 boys, lower than the national average
    Female foeticide most in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi

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India Gate falls to petty thieves, chains go missing overnight

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: It will no longer come as a surprise if the civic authorities express helplessness in catching hold of the thieves who steal iron railings from road dividers. In the last few weeks, even heavy iron chains fixed on both sides of the high security zone of Rajpath have gone missing. However, the agencies responsible for the upkeep of this stretch still find themselves clueless.
    The high-profile road between India Gate and Vijay Chowk is perhaps the only stretch in the Capital which is well-lit and sees intense police patrolling round-the-clock. Considering this, the absence of these chains that were placed to beautify the stretch comes as a shocker. Moreover, a large number of tourists throng this area till late in the night.
    The thieves have even managed to pull out iron chains from the vicinity of two temporary barracks for security personnel in the area. ‘‘This has happened only in the last few weeks. It would have been meticulously planned otherwise, breaking-off these heavy chains and carrying them away is not an easy task. The gangs involved in this are not the ones who take away the iron railings from other roads,’’ said Prem Pal, a hawker.
    Gardeners working in the area also said they were taken aback to find the chains missing. ‘‘Initially, we thought they might have been taken out for some repair. But, now it’s clear that they have been stolen. If thieves can strike here, what does this say about the safety of other stretches,’’ pointed out Rati Ram, a gardener.
    What is all the more questionable is the role of the agency owning this stretch — Central Public Works Department (CPWD). It does not seem to be having any information in this regard. Even though the issue was taken up with a few senior CPWD officials, none of them admitted to have received any such report. Hence, no FIR has been lodged with the police so far.
    A senior NDMC official said that since the agency takes care of only the horticulture work on this stretch, they were not aware of the problem. ‘‘Only the CPWD can clarify on the state of affairs,’’ he added.
    Despite the fact that security personnel and officials claim drug addicts were the main culprits behind the missing iron railings, others suggest there might be a gang which is executing all such activities throughout the city. ‘‘As soon as these railings go missing, the civic agencies float fresh tenders which means more business to the people engaged in this work,’’ said a government official.
    toireporter @timesgroup .com

GOING, GOING, GONE: The chains were stolen from the high-security Rajpath

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RESCUE ACT IN MADHEPURA

Flood situation grim in Assam
The flood situation in Assam continues to be grim with Brahmaputra crossing the danger mark in Guwahati and Jorhat and its tributaries maintaining a rising trend elsewhere. P 11

UP AND SAFE: A flood victim is winched to safety by an IAF chopper during rescue operations in Chakramibasa village of Bihar’s Madhepura district

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TATA PULLOUT WILL SEND DREAMS CRASHING

Lives, Hopes Of Many In Singur Ride On Nano

Falguni Banerjee | TNN

Singur: For the thousands of people in Singur who had got employment in some way or the other in the Nano plant, the consequences of a Tata pullout is obvious. But even for thousands of others who had nothing to do directly with the Nano project, it will have a terrible economic fallout. Lives here have become inextricably linked with the Nano.
    Take Bimal Nandi, a local spice trader, for example. With restaurants supplying hundreds of meals to workers at the plant site, Nandi’s offtake had spiralled in recent months. Against eight people employed at his unit a year ago, there are now 25. However, ever since Mamata Banerjee began her campaign on August 24, business has nosedived and orders cancelled.
    ‘‘If the Tata factory comes up and thousands get employment, the order for meals will be huge. I may have to employ 100-120 youths,’’ he said.
    ‘‘While fearing the worst, we are hoping for the best. There’s
still a lot of time for production to commence. But we are already benefiting from the project,’’ said Nandi.
    For Shyamal Das, a vegetable seller at Singur bazaar, life hasn’t changed as dramatically. But there’s been one perceptible difference. With overall sales shooting up, it has insulated farmers from being hit by the fluctuation in prices of one crop. ‘‘Singur block is primarily agriculture-based. Till last year, a sharp drop in price of a crop like potato would hit farmers hard. It would mean distress sales, failure to repay loans and losses. By this time, gloom would have set in and the Puja ruined. But not so this year despite a decline in potato price. That’s because the overall basket size has increased,’’ he said.
    The 40 banana trees in his backyard are proving a huge blessing. He is selling the fruit at Rs 1.50 to Rs 2 a piece at the Singur station. A year ago, 200 bananas fetched a meagre Rs 20 during a bumper harvest.
    ‘‘Whether we like it or not, our fortunes now depend on the project,’’ said Krishna Ghosh who has been recruited in the Tatas’ medical unit.
    For those involved in the project, it’s a windfall. ‘‘As the days progress, our earnings will increase,’’ said construction material supplier Swarup Barui. His business has exploded ever since the factory construction began. He still hopes to clock a small success story, building houses for executives after the factory is completed.
    Tanmay Nandi from Howrah has set up an eatery beside the Tarakeswar-Baidyabati road to capitalize on the opportunity. ‘‘Till Saturday, I got regular orders of Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 from Toor India, one of the ancillary units setting up shop in Singur.’’ Though sales have plunged since the agitation began on Sunday, he knows business will pick up once the factory becomes operational. In 2005, he had purchased 40 cottahs at Rs 1 lakh a cottah to set up a fuel station. Then, the Tata Motors factory came along. ‘‘It has already been a windfall. Now, the land price has shot up to Rs 4 lakh a cottah,’’ he says.
    Over the past six months, Ashok Guchait’s store retailing prepaid cellphone cards has changed dramatically. Located next to Kamarkundu, the station after Singur, it has grown from 50 sq ft to 200 sq ft. Business has zoomed.
MANPOWER INVOLVED
Appointment by Tata Motors: 752 ITI trainees
For construction activity: 4,000 workers and labourers (daily)
22 construction supply syndicates: 4,500 labourers
Associated small businesses: 500 workers

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: A girl walks past a board that bears messages and signatures of supporters of the Tata plant, in Kolkata on Wednesday

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Global warming packing power into hurricanes

Warm Seas Convert More Energy Into Cyclone Winds

Paris: Global warming is likely to boost the power of the strongest tropical cyclones, a study released on Wednesday says.
    An additional 1°C in sea temperatures in tropical regions where cyclones breed could lead to a nearly one-third rise in the number of the most powerful storms, it says. “As the seas warm, the ocean has more energy to convert to tropical cyclone wind,” say authors of the paper, released by London weekly Nature.
    Previous research, based on observations over the past 30 years, has already suggested that hurricanes — as cyclones in the Atlantic are known — have become more intense as a result of warmer seas.
    But the observational record for the Atlantic is more detailed and goes back farther than for storms in the Indian Ocean, known as cyclones, or those in the Pacific, which are called typhoons.
    Seeking to fill in the blanks, a trio of US scientists crunched satellite data for the period of 1981-2006 in all of these storm basins. They totted up the number of storms and the maximum wind speeds attained during each event, and compared this with sea-surface temperatures.
    Over the 25 years under scrutiny, they saw no increase in the overall number of storms. But there was a significant increase in wind speed among the most powerful storms, or those in roughly the top quarter for intensity. Measurements of the energy pumped into the air from the warm waters — essentially fuel for hurricanes—has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s, mostly in the strongest of hurricanes.
    The Atlantic is seeing an increase in storms rated among the strongest. In the past four years, eight storms have reached Category 4 with winds of at least 211kph. AGENCIES

STORM FRONT: A satellite image shows a full disk western hemisphere view of the earth. (Left to right) Hurricanes Gustav (over the US Gulf coast), Hanna (over Haiti and Cuba), and Ike and Josephine can be seen churning further in the eastern Atlantic Ocean

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Pak scientist indicted in US

New York: A Pakistan-born US scientist Aafia Siddiqui, with suspected links to al-Qaida, has been indicted on federal charges that she tried to kill the American interrogators after her arrest in Afghanistan.
    The 36-year-old neuro-scientist was arrested in Ghazni province of Afghanistan in July this year while loitering around the governor’s compound.
    Siddiqui was held for questioning by army officers and FBI agents, but she allegedly snatched an army officer’s M-4 rifle and fire it at other members of the US interview team. She repeatedly stated her intent and desire to kill Americans, according to the indictment filed on Tuesday.
    According to a statement released from the US court, Aafia has also been charged with attempt to murder, triggering terrorism, armed attacks on US forces in Afghanistan and keeping illegal armaments. If convicted, she might have to undergo life imprisonment, 20 years imprisonment and eight years imprisonment for each charges respectively.
    Siddiqui, who had been missing for five years and reappeared in Ghazni under suspicious circumstances, was arrested on July 17 and brought to the US the next day on the ground that she had been planning a suicide attack. PTI
Aafia planned attacks on NY City landmarks? Aafia Siddiqui was carrying handwritten notes that made a reference to carrying out “mass casualty attacks” on New York City landmarks like Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge when she was arrested. According to a federal indictment, the list also included the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Plum Island and a federal disease research facility. ANI

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Ambani bros in powerful people’s list

London: After making their way into the league of richest persons, India’s warring billionaire brothers — Mukesh and Anil Ambani— have been named together among the world’s 100 most influential and powerful people by British fashion magazine Vanity Fair.
    Ambani brothers are ranked at the 67th place in the 100 list which is topped by Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin while media baron Rupert Murdoch is in the second spot.
    “The economy may be in shambles, but the moguls of the 100 list are still moving, shaking, merging and acquiring, the magazine said in an accompanying report. The founders of search engine major Google — Sergey Brin, Larry Page — and its CEO Eric Schmidt have been ranked at the third spot.
    Apple’s chief executive and the brain behind iPods and iPhones — Steve Jobs has cornered fourth rank followed by legendary American investor Warren Buffet in the fifth place. India-origin venture capitalist Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures is ranked at the 92nd position.
    Both Mukesh and Anil together have a combined net worth of $85 billion and they inherited their father’s sprawling industrial conglomerate in 2002, “but never figured how to play together nicely”.
    Later in 2005, the business was split with Mukesh getting the oil, gas, and petrochemical business while Anil got the telecom and banking operations. “Already a big player in Bollywood, Anil is on the cusp of buying into DreamWorks with a $500 million plus capital investment. He also plans to finance films for the production companies of George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Brad Pitt,” Vanity Fair said.
    Other names in the top 10 are Web retailer Jeff Bezos (6th), Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum (7th), Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (8th), Hollywood celebrity couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (9th) and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore (10th).
    Prominent personalities like former American president Bill Clinton, Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim, celebrity director Steven Speilberg, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are also part of the list.
    “While most of us wince when we pull up to gas pump, wonder about sudden decline in market values of our houses, and worry over the looming eco-catastrophe, these realities do not seem to be hampering the lifestyles of 0.00000002% who are portrayed in these pages,” magazine said. PTI

Mukesh (L) and Anil are ranked 67th in powerful people’s list made by British fashion magazine Vanity Fair

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Moment of reflection

Looking quite unlike a superstar, wearing his moustached and bespectacled look in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, King Khan came to shoot at Golden Temple. “I am here to pray for my family, country and its peace” is all he said, and bore it out by kneeling to wash his feet at the taal

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‘Dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps’

So says the quietest of the Pataudi siblings – Soha and Saif’s sister, Saba, who has been appointed as the successor to her father in a religious role

PURNIMA SHARMA Times News Network

    With two siblings in Bollywood and her mother a famous yesteryears’ actress, Bollywood might have been an obvious choice for Saba Ali Khan. But the daughter of Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore, and the sister of Saif and Soha, prefers a life away from the arclights.However,she has been in the news recently for having been nominated her father’s successor in his religious capacity. A jewellery designer, Saba is all set to become the naib mutawalli (chief manager) of Auqaf-e-Shahi, a body that looks after royal Wakf properties of the erstwhile princely state of Bhopal. “The matter is still under consideration, though. The council meeting of the Wakf Board was to have been on August 30, but has been postponed by a few days,” says Saba. Her father, the current mutawalli, had written to the Madhya Pradesh Wakf Board, expressing his desire to appoint his elder daughter as his deputy. “I’d known for quite some time that my father wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I’ve been getting to know more about what it would entail and going to Bhopal as often as I can,” Saba informs.
    Calling herself a traditionalist, Saba says her father decided only after he’d discussed it with the family. “If I or any of my siblings had any objection to it, my father would have reconsidered. But everyone was okay with it and it’s something that I’d like to do for my father,” she says, adding, “In any case, a certain kind of nature is what this job needs. And of the three of us, I guess I’m more suitable for the role.”
    And that’s because, she says, she’s “not a very modern girl, preferring a conventional lifestyle” for herself. “I am more of a saree and salwarkameez person. Actually, I’ve imbibed a lot of traditional values from my grandmother,” states Saba. “We are a very close-knit family. In fact, I will soon be visiting Soha in Mumbai. My brother is abroad, so I wouldn’t be meeting him there this time,” she smiles.
    And what about Kareena? “I’m very fond of her. She’s a wonderful person, so spirited and yet so sensitive,” says Saba. And she has no doubts that she’ll fit into the family beautifully. “Our families are alike, with so much history behind us. Kareena will make a wonderful part of our family,” she adds.
    purnima.sharma @timesgroup.com

ETHNIC CHIC: Saba Ali Khan

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And the applause goes to...

    There was loads to cheer about at the National Film Awards ceremony in Delhi on Tuesday. For one, the actors there, coming from cinema of different languages, shared great bonhomie, especially Priyamani, adjudged the best actress, and Konkona Sen Sharma, who got the award for best supporting actress.
    But the loudest applause was reserved for Madhur Bhandarkar, who got appreciative pats on the back for announcing that he would give the Rs 2,50,000 he received as part of the best director award to the families of three debt-ridden farmers from Maharashtra who’d committed suicide. “This year, I came across many stories of farmers who had ended their lives to evade the debt trap they were in,” Madhur said. “As my movies always portray a real face of society, I really want to help people by any means.”
    IANS WE ARE THE BEST
    This is one of those rare occasions when regional and Bollywood cinema share the same dais. This year, at the 54th National Film Awards for 2006, they also equally shared the limelight. Though stars came by the dozen to Delhi to attend the evening, the evening lacked the glam and glitter of a Bollywood awards’ nite.
    Apart from the stars present, I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was also there, urging filmmakers to “shoulder a social commitment through their films”. He also announced that as the president had wished, and stated during the presentation of the 53rd national film awards, the award money had been increased five fold.
    The world record holder for being the youngest film director, 12-yearold Kishan Shrikanth, took the Best Children’s Film Director award from prez Pratibha Patil with a proud smile. He won the award for the Kannada film, Care of Footpath, which had been directed by Kishan when he was nine years old.
    Thespian Dilip Kumar, and veteran actress Saroja Devi received the Lifetime Achievement Awards to commemorate the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence, and Tapan Sinha received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for contribution to cinema for 2006. As Dilip Kumar, who looked dapper, and remarkably younger than his 86 years, walked up to the stage, he got a standing ovation from those present at Vigyan Bhawan.
AND THE WINNERS…
The Best Feature Film: Pulijanmam, Malayalam Best Popular Film (providing wholesale entertainment): Lage Raho Munna Bhai Best Feature Film in Hindi: Khosla ka Ghosla Best Feature Film in English: Quest Best screenplay: Lage Raho Munna Bhai Best Lyrics: Lage Raho Munna Bhai Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration: Kallarli Huvagi, Kannada Indira Gandhi Award for the Best First Film: Eakantham, Malayalam, by Madhu Kaithapuram and Kabul Express, Hindi, by Kabir Khan Best Film on Social Issues: Hope,Telugu Best Director: Madhur Bhandarker for Traffic Signal Best Children’s film Director: Kishan Shrikanth for Care of Footpath Best Actor: Soumitra Chatterjee for his role in Podokkhep, Bengali Best Actress: Priyamani, for Paruthiveeran, Tamil Best Supporting Actor: Dilip Prabhavalkar, for his role as Mahatma Gandhi in Lage Raho Munna Bhai Best Supporting Actress: Konkona Sen Sharma, for her role in Omkara Lifetime Achievement Award: Dilip Kumar and Saroja Devi Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Tapan Sinha Best Make-up Artist (introduced this year): Anil Motiram Palande for Traffic Signal
Best Animation Feature Film (introduced this year): Kittu,Telugu Best Child Artist: Divya Chahadkar for Antarnad

Madhur

Konkona & Priyamani

Lifetime Achievement Award for Dilip Kumar

Pratibha Patil presents the Best Feature Film in English award to Amol Palekar

Vishal Bharadwaj collects his award

Gurdaas Mann, Best Playback Singer

Pulijanmam director, Priyanandan

Kishan Shrikanth, Best Children’s Film Director

Best Actress Priyamani and Best Child Actress Divya Chaphadkar

Children’s Film Society of India Chairperson Nafisa Ali (centre) with Divya Chaphadkar and Priyamani (R)

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Kabir Khan with their awards

Madhur Bhandarkar receives his citation from prez Pratibha Patil

Soumitra Chatterjee, Best Actor, for his role in Podokkhep

Konkona Sen Sharma & Prosenjit

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ISHANT’s T(urning)20 moment

Piyali Dasgupta

BIRTHDAY BOY: Ishant Sharma celebrated his 20th birthday recently.
Ruby Singh Sehrawat hosted the party that was attended by Dhoni, Ashish Nehra, Virendra Sehwag and many others. Ishant said, “My best birthday gift is Viru’s presence at this party.” Close bonding, what say?
DHONI KA D H A M A K A :
Dhoni, who walked in to the do before Ishant, was seen wishing the birthday boy over the phone. Soon, Dhoni rushed out of the venue escorted by six bodyguards but later came back for the dance party that went on till the wee hours of the morning. GIFT? WHAT’S THAT? Nehra told us, “I came back from London only this morning and I d i d n’ t know that it was Ishant’s birthday today.” And when asked what he had got for his friend, he said, “Main kya doon? Usko toh bahut gift milenge.”
MAA: Ishant’s mother, Girisha, was full of praise for her son. She said, “I feel very proud of my son. Woh aur tarakki kare, that’s all I wish for him. We had a small puja at home in the morning.” EK AUR MAA: Viru’s wife, Aarti, was also present at the do and spoke fondly of her son. “He has just turned 10-month-old. We had taken him to Sri Lanka recently. He is too young to understand cricket, but I guess he gets excited when he sees his father play.” Learning young, we must say.
CRAZY FOR DHONI
Ishant’s sister, Eva, said, “I had personally invited Dhoni. If he wouldn’t have come, then I would also have given this party a miss. I’m glad he kept his word.” SPOTTED: Ishant, Girisha, Vijay and Eva Sharma, Ritu and Ruby Singh Sehrawat, Aarti and Virendra Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Bharti and Amit Bhandari, Chetan, Shikhar Dhawan, Kunal Mittal

TU MUJHE KHILA MAIN TUJHE KHILAUN: Viru and Ishant

Amit Bhandari with wife Bharti

Ashish Nehra

Vijay Sharma and Ruby Singh Sehrawat

Chetan and Shikhar Dhawan

Eva Sharma

MS Dhoni

Aarti Sehwag

Ishant addresses the media

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By God ki kasam

This trip to a gurudwara, unlike Akshay’s recent ones, wasn’t for seeking approval of the Sikh community. SRK, Anushka, Yash Chopra and crew members of their upcoming film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, went on a location shoot to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. We bring you a few snapshots...

‘SPECTACLE’D: Shah Rukh Khan

CHALTE CHALTE: SRK and Anushka shoot for the film

Yash Chopra

SEASONS IN THE SUN: Anushka

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Do you think youngsters are addicted to surfing social networking sites?

“Yes, we all are glued to social networking sites. It is almost like one’s mobile phone. One has to stay linked all the time. I begin to feel something is amiss if I don’t log on at least once everyday.”
Saurabh Karan I 18 I Student

“Our busy schedules hardly let us meet our friends. This leaves us with only those social networking sites to interact with each other. And hence, I think, we are addicted to these sites.”
Shephali Jatwal I 20 I Student

“These sites have helped me reunite with old friends. And now, I spend a lot of time logged on to these sites. I begin to miss my friends or the actual process of logging in if I don’t log on to these sites frequently.”
Ritesh Agarwal I 18 I Student

“Yes. I constantly surf the social networking sites – they are forever open on my computer. But, I haven’t grown addicted to them. These sites have just bridged the gap that existed because my friends are miles away from me.”
Sajal Agarwal I 21 I Student

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Preity’s pretty image change

Preity Zinta may have done glam doll roles, but the lady is more than happy to keep it simple in The Last Lear. It’s interesting to note that PZ wears beautiful sarees and salwar kameezes in the film. And looks like this change has proved to be quite a breather for Zinta, as she tells us, “What a pleasant change it was, from all the dolled up work I have done. I got to play Shabnam, someone so real! I love my look in the film. Ever since the posters of the film are out, the compliments haven’t stopped coming!”

Preity Zinta

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Tanishaa in Kajol’s shoes

Kajol’s little sister Tanishaa just became hotter! Clad in a pink top with brown hot pants, the girl will groove to a Latino club number in a film titled Tum Milo Toh Sahi. This will mark Tich’s debut as an item girl! For the song, Tanishaa had to rehearse for a week. Considering elder sis Kajol too did salsa and more in U Me Aur Hum, did Kads give her some salsa tips? “Negative!” says Tanishaa, “But yes, I did borrow her dancing shoes for my rehearsals!” Well, let’s hope the magic gets transferred too, and Tich’s dainty toes perform some magnificent ‘feat’!

Tanishaa Mukherjee

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Hansika Motwani’s 15 children

Li’l girl Hansika Motwani seems to have grown up. The actor who celebrated her 17th birthday last month (should we believe her age?) did something more than special on her big day. She took up the responsibility for the education and general welfare of 15 orphaned children! It was because Hansika was celebrating more than just her birthday. Apparently, her hit Telugu film Desamuduru completed 275 days and is still going strong! Isn’t that reason enough to celebrate?

Hansika Motwani

Wednesday 03 September 2008

2008-09-02T21:05:00.001-07:00

Times Of India

Wednesday 03 September 2008

Nanda found guilty in BMW case, faces up to 10 yrs in jail

Sentence Expected Today, Defence Plans To Appeal In High Court

Abhinav Garg & Smriti Singh | TNN

New Delhi: Almost a decade after six persons were mowed down in the BMW hit-and-run case, a trial court on Tuesday convicted Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of former Naval chief S M Nanda, for committing manslaughter or ‘‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’’.
    Additional sessions judge Vinod Kumar held the vehicle that killed those six persons early one morning in January 1999 was a BMW car and not a truck, as claimed by the defence, and that Nanda was behind the wheel, inebriated, when he dragged three of them under the bonnet of his car.
    Nanda, who had already spent nine months in detention, has been convicted under Section 304(II) IPC which has a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail. The sentence is expected on Wednesday. The court rejected the plea that he could be tried only for the offence of rash and negligent driving under Section 304A punishable with
    a maximum of two years.
    Acquitting Nanda’s co-passenger Manik Kapur for
    lack of evidence, the court convicted Rajeev Gupta and his servants Bhola Nath and Shyam Singh Rana, for destroying evidence.
TIMES VIEW: There are some who find merit in the argument that Nanda should’ve been convicted for rash and negligent driving, which carries a lighter sentence than culpable homicide not amounting to murder. That’s for the courts to decide. What we ask for, though, is uniform application of the law. For every Sanjeev Nanda, there are a hundred bus drivers who drive like maniacs and kill without ever being brought to book. In Delhi, many of the buses are said to be actually owned by politicians and policemen, and nothing ever happens to the drivers of such buses. It’s not our case that the rich and famous be spared; but singling out the rich and famous for punishment doesn’t fully serve the cause of justice either. Also, when accidents occur because of terrible road conditions, poor street lighting and broken dividers, why aren’t government officials who are responsible for such negligence brought to trial?
    The VERDICT
    Nanda found guilty of killing 6, including 3 cops, by driving rashly under the influence of alcohol
    Court also convicts businessman Rajeev Gupta — father of Nanda’s friend Sidhartha — and his servants Bhola Nath & Shyam Singh for destroying evidence
    Nanda’s friend Manik Kapoor, also in car, acquitted
The CASE
Jan 10, 1999 | Nanda’s BMW crashes into 7 people at a police barricade. 6 die, including 3 cops. Following oil trail, cops reach a house in Golf Links where the car was being washed
Jan 11 | Cops arrest Nanda and friends Siddharth Gupta and Manik Kapoor, who were in the car
Jan 14 | Sunil Kulkarni, key witness in the case, appears before police, records statement. Next day I U Khan appointed special public prosecutor
April 8 | Cops formally charge Nanda, Manik, Siddharth, Rajiv Gupta, Bhola Nath & Sham Singh
July | HC orders compensation of Rs 65 lakh to victim families. Next month, HC acquits Siddharth. On Sept 3, witnesses retract statement
2000 | Prosecution drops Kulkarni as witness
May 17, 2007 | Kulkarni, appearing as court witness, identifies Nanda, claims he saw him driving
Sept 2 | Court convicts Nanda
The LAW
Sec 304a | Normal section for accidents. Relates to death caused by negligence
Sec 304(1) | Death caused by knowledge of rashness and with intent to kill
Sec 304(2) | Nanda has got this rap. Relates to death caused by knowledge of rashness Nanda staff, car played vital role
New Delhi: After a nine-year-long trial in the BMW hit-andrun case, Sanjeev Nanda was found to have driven his car after the accident to his friend Rajeev Gupta’s residence in Golf Links to wash away the blood stains on it.
    ‘‘The present case is of a very high degree in the gravity of recklessness. The accused was so heavily drunk that a knowledge can be validly imputed upon him that if he drives the vehicle he is likely to cause death of a human being passing on the road. Despite being drunk Nanda instead of carefully and slowly driving the vehicle threw all precautions away and drove the BMW at excessively high speed,’’ observed Kumar, while explaining why he convicted him under Section 304(II) rather than the milder Section 304A.
    The conviction comes close on the heels of a Delhi HC verdict punishing two senior advocates, R K Anand and I U Khan, on the basis of a sting operation, for colluding to shield Nanda by influencing key witness Sunil Kulkarni.
    Since Kulkarni had been attacked and discredited by the defence, the court took pains to say there was enough evidence against Nanda even without Kulkarni’s testimony. The scientific evidence against Nanda included blood samples (showing for instance the impermissible level of alcohol), video of the scene of crime and a mechanical inspection report of the damaged car done hours after the accident. The inspection report revealed broken pieces of number plates, empty fuel tank, missing rear and front number plates and damage to bonnet and front windscreen to identify the BMW car as the vehicle that had hit the victims.
    For ascertaining whether it was Sanjeev Nanda who was driving the BMW at the time of the accident, the court relied on statements of Nanda’s staff to show that the car was then not with his sister Sonali who was the only other person who used to drive it. Injuries recieved by Sanjeev on his lip and matching bloodstains recovered from the car’s steering left little doubt in the court’s mind that it was Sanjeev behind the wheels when the accident occured.
    The court took a dim view of the volte face staged by Manoj Malik, the complainant who escaped death after being dragged by the BMW on the fateful night. Referring to Malik’s claim under oath that he was hit by a truck and not a car, the court said it led to ‘‘only one conclusion that he had been won over by the defence.’’ But since it could salvage some evidence from the testimony of this hostile witness, the court said, ‘‘Some glimpses of truth have come out even from the mouth of this hostile witness.’’
    As for crucial eyewitness Sunil Kulkarni, ASJ Kumar termed him a ‘‘very peculiar personality...appears to be a character from novels of Charles Dickens.’’ Corroborating Kulkarni’s testimony with that of Malik, the court found that after the BMW struck a divider with victims below the bonnet, Nanda and other occupants came out, inspected the damage and reversed their vehicle to rush off.
    ‘‘It stands proved beyond doubt that Kulkarni is an eyewitness,’’ the court held, brushing aside his latter contradictions and improvements as something borne out of ‘‘great mental pressure at the time of recording of his evidence.’’
    Referring to the ‘‘many dramatic twists and turns’’ taken by the case, the judge said ‘‘this trial poses greater questions as to what is the meaning of fair trial and how should the court proceed when the witnesses are being won over and trial is being hijacked by high and mighty.’’
    While lamenting the ‘‘degradation which has crept into the criminal justice system’’ the court was unsparing in its criticism of the police and manner of investigation. ‘‘Although initially police acted with great responsiveness, very soon a great deal of reluctance on the part of police starts appearing in the case...silent termites had started eating the wood from inside,’’ the court noted, adding it was ‘‘not simply a case of hobnobbing between defence and prosecution but also at some stage in the background, the IO has been influenced...the principle of weighing the evidence on golden scales cannot be applied here because taking a technical view is bound tolead to miscarriage of justice.’’

Sanjeev Nanda is led away by policemen after the announcement of the verdict

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It’s official: Tatas gearing up to bid Singur goodbye

Work At Nano Plant Suspended

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi/Kolkata: Frustrated with ‘‘continued confrontation and agitation’’ at the Singur site, Tata Motors on Tuesday moved to seriously act on Ratan Tata’s threat to pull out the Nano project from West Bengal. A company statement said Tatas were ‘‘evaluating alternate options’’ and considering relocating the plant and machinery.
    ‘‘Tata Motors has been constrained to suspend construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site,’’ the statement said. ‘‘This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour, who have continued to be violently obstructed from reporting to work,’’ it said.
    TOI had first reported on August 28 that the company had started work on a Plan B for the Nano project after Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee directed her partymen, joined by hundreds of cadres from fringe Left parties, to lay siege at the factory site to press for return of 400 acres of land to farmers.
    While the Rs 1 lakh car may yet survive this upheaval, the Tata pullout could signal the end of the road for West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s ambitious industrial revival plan. Protests by ultra-Left activists and farmers over acquiring land in Nandigram turned into a bloodbath that led to the end of an SEZ worth several thousand crores by the Indonesian Salim Group. Bhattacharjee had hoped that saving the Rs 1,500-crore Nano project might alter his state’s image of being hostile to industry.
    On Tuesday, there was acute realization of this. ‘‘It is a very unfortunate day. It is a very bad day for West Bengal,’’ said the state’s industry minister Nirupam Sen. ‘‘The Tatas have communicated their decision to me after a meeting to review the ground situation at Singur,’’ he said.
    The Tata statement said, ‘‘In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under preparation.’’ Last month, Ratan Tata had said he would rather pull out of Singur than expose his staff and machinery to attacks. FAREWELL DRIVE?
    Situation still hostile and the Nano plant can’t operate till the environment is congenial, says a Tata Motors spokesman
    Hundreds of youths from Singur and neighbouring areas have been recruited, says the spokesman. They could now be employed at other sites

Mamata Banerjee TRINAMOOL LEADER

Biman Bose
LEFT FRONT CHAIRMAN

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Govt to tax 100% pay arrears of staff this yr

Pradeep Thakur | TNN

New Delhi: For lakhs of central government employees looking forward to receiving 40% of the accumulated arrears on their increased salary next month, in time for some festive spending, here’s a dampener. The government has decided to levy tax on the entire amount of arrears — 60% of which will be paid next year — in the current fiscal itself.
    For most employees, the decision would virtually wipe out almost the entire 40% arrears to be paid to them this year. Senior bureaucrats will suffer most as their tax would be topped with a surcharge of 10%, on income of Rs 10 lakh and above.
    A senior finance ministry official said the surcharge to be paid by officers of the rank of joint secretary and above ranges between Rs 24,600 and Rs 52,500. The impact would be less on the lower grades.
    The Centre had last month announced an average increase of 21% in salaries of its employees. The hikes, effective from January 1, 2006, would burden the exchequer by more than Rs 17,500 crore annually while the arrears alone account for more than Rs 29,000 crore.

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Diesel may cost more for car owners

Sanjay Dutta | TNN

New Delhi: There’s a bump ahead for those who favour big diesel automobiles — both imported and Indian-made — because of the cheaper fuel. PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday asked oil minister Murli Deora to begin work on a system, which if finally implemented, could see owners of such vehicles as well as industrial users pay a higher price than transporters or farmers.
    Sources privy to the thinking in the government said it was early days yet but the options discussed included levying a prohibitive duty of up to half the value of foreign-made non-commercial diesel vehicles to curb their imports. Govt charts roadmap for dual diesel pricing
New Delhi: As the government starts working on a dual pricing strategy for diesel, oil minister Murli Deora has declined to comment on whether he met the PM Manmohan Singh towards this end. “I don’t comment on my meetings with the PM. All I can say is my ministry is examining options to curb unwarranted spurt in diesel demand which is hurting the staterun oil companies... we are looking at pros and cons and practical difficulties of introducing a differential pricing regime,” he told TOI.
    Imported private vehicles attract a tax of roughly 114%, including customs. The new levy will be in addition to the existing levies and is being considered as a ban on vehicle imports was felt to be against India’s WTO norms.
    Diesel has traditionally been priced lower than petrol to keep costs low for farmers — who use it for running tractors, pumps and threshers — besides transporters. It has also been a problem for state-run oil companies as they lose more money on diesel than petrol because of the government’s pricing policy. The spurt in international crude oil prices over the last one year or so has seen this loss rise as the gap between diesel and petrol has widened to over Rs 10 a litre. The companies now lose Rs 13.69 on each litre of diesel against Rs 6.31 on petrol.
    The gap has driven sale of diesel vehicles, which recorded a growth of around 33% in recent times. This has fuelled consumption. Demand has been fuelled by industrial users like small factories, hotels and malls which have started using diesel to run furnaces and generators as government’s pricing policy has rendered diesel cheaper than other industrial fuels such as naphtha and furnace oil. The net result has been that diesel demand has grown by 18% despite industrial slowdown against 6-8% earlier.
    Sources said Deora and PM also discussed the issue of supplying subsidised diesel to bulk users like railways and state transport utilities.

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Absolute delight for radioheads

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

    For those who go ga-ga over radio, it’s time for Absolute ecstasy. Times Infotainment Media Ltd, a Times Group subsidiary, has announced the launch of a new music and entertainment brand, Absolute, which will replace its UK rock music station brand, Virgin Radio.
The new name will be marketed with an extensive 16-week multi-platform campaign — the largest in commercial radio history — using the line, ‘Discover Real Music’. Although the change will formally take effect on September 28, the period of cross-fade to Absolute Radio began at 7.45 am GMT on September 2 with a fresh line-up of presenters.
    The station, which has the largest reach in the 15-44 years age group in London, has over 5 million listeners in the UK and the rest of the world. It will also diversify into new areas like stand-alone branded properties, event ownership, TV and customer transactions like music subscriptions, downloads and ticketing.
    The station is the only rock format commercial FM radio station in London. It is also the only commercial music radio station that covers all UK in the AM format. The website www .virginradio .co .uk, acknowledged as the leading music radio station website in the world in the commercial sector, will also rebrand as www .absoluteradio .co .uk. Over 50% of its online visitors are outside the UK.
    Two key initiatives — the open www .oneGolden -Square.com blog and a new approach to playlist meetings with listeners and the music industry — will also be rolled out along with the multi-platform marketing campaign.
    Vineet Jain, managing director, The Times of India Group, on Tuesday said: ‘‘Rock music, internet and digital platforms cut across countries, cultures, and all age groups, especially the youth. Our existing strong rock music listener base through FM, AM, DAB in the UK and through the internet from across the world, positions us uniquely to develop a new-age, multi-platform Web 2.0 music and entertainment brand.’’ Absolute delight for Radioheads
New Delhi: The Times Group owns 32 radio stations in India and an Absolute Radio spokesperson said its international ambitions were focused on the North American and European markets.
    Besides new presenters, there will be sweeping changes in the schedule. chief content officer Chris Dickens said the new station would have a playlist that was ‘‘deeper, wider and less repetitious’’ than Virgin Radio’s current offering. ‘‘The conventional wisdom in commercial radio is to play the same couple of hundred songs again and again,’’ he said. ‘‘But the typical Virgin Radio listener has over 4,000 songs on his/her iPod. So why would their favourite radio station be playing significantly less than that? We are not going to be playing strange unfamiliar album tracks by artists they have never heard of, but you get credit for allowing them to discover or rediscover songs they don’t normally hear on the radio.’’
    Virgin Radio is now owned by TIML Golden Square, which is a 100% subsidiary of TIML India (which, in turn, is 100% owned by TOI’s holding company Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd). It was purchased from the UK-based Virgin group for £53.2 million in June.
    A P Parigi, MD & CEO, TIML India, said, ‘‘We are going to develop this brand, with radio at its core, and diversify the business and revenue opportunities into other related areas. Our ambition is international—this is just the start.” TNN

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Delhi Times

Calm-a-sutra!

The Censor Board has asked Madhur Bhandarkar to tone down a lovemaking scene in Fashion, but lead actor Arjan says it’s unjustified

NIKHILA PANT Times News Network

    Like everything else fashionable,Madhur Bhandarkar’s next is in the news – again. One of the boldest scenes in the director’s upcoming Fashion has met with objection from the Censor Board. A few days ago, when Madhur showed a few promos of Fashion to the Board, he was ordered to tone down the steamy lovemaking scene between Priyanka Chopra and newcomer Arjan Bajwa. Madhur had no option but to comply.
    If sources are to be believed, Madhur will have to edit the scene or get an ‘A’ certificate. A friend of Madhur said, “Madhur has decided to play down the lovemaking scene in Fashion. He too is fully aware that it has turned out to be extremely steamy.”
    The Board thought that the filmmaker had used too many explicit visuals of the lovemaking scene. A source said, “The scene was shot from multiple angles and shown four times in the promos. The scene is very bold. Arjan and Priyanka are lying on a bed and Arjan is shown kissing Priyanka’s back.”
Censor Board regional officer in Mumbai, Vinayak Azad, confirmed the news and said, “The scene shows Priyanka and Arjan lying on a bed and we thought that it was too bold to be shown on TV. We asked Madhur to redo the promos and he complied. I can’t confirm if he will be asked to mellow down the scene in the film as well or get an ‘A’ certificate. I haven’t seen the entire film yet.” M a d h u r said, “Yes, we’ve followed the orders of the Censor Board.” A friend of Madhur said, “Madhur cannot delete the scene fully, but he will have to edit the scene significantly before the film hits the theatres. We had suspected that the Censor Board would have some issues, but it’s okay. We can’t do much about it.”
    Delhi boy Arjan, however, thinks the Board’s order is a bit “funny”. He says, “In cinema, you have the option of not going to watch the film if you aren’t comfortable with some scenes. But what about TV news channels flashing all sorts of news of physical harassment, women stripped in public and other explicit details? They use bad language and keep repeating the telecast all day. As for the scenes, I don’t think there’s anything explicit or objectionable about them. They’re very much a part of the storyline and shot the way it would happen between two people in love. I think the Censor Board could be a little more liberal about this. The audience and the Board are okay with such scenes in Hollywood films, but every time a Bollywood film has kissing or lovemaking scenes, questions are raised. Nothing else about the film is considered news worthy – that’s surprising.”
    (With inputs from VICKEY LALWANI)

HOT, HOT, HOT: Arjan Bajwa & (above) Priyanka Chopra. For more pics of the actors, visit http:// photogallery . indiatimes.com

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Abhiash in Abhimaan?

Can Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan recreate the chemistry of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan in the remake of Abhimaan?

KUNAL M SHAH

    Now, this is called truly following in your parents’ footsteps. According to industry insiders, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan are set to recreate the magic of Amitabh and Jaya in a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Abhimaan.
    Abhishek and Aishwarya have been signed on for Rajeev Menon’s next film, which is based on Abhimaan, where the sizzling chemistry between Amitabh and Jaya had once set the screen ablaze. The film will go on the floors in February 2009, and has music by AR Rahman.
    Our source says, “Rajeev was very keen to make the film with Aishwarya and Abhishek. The film has the backdrop of music and both Ash and Abhi are playing singers in the film. In fact, Aishwarya was so excited about the film that she immediately gave dates for the shooting. The husband-wife duo is currently working on Mani Ratnam’s film, Ravana, which is based on the Ramayana. After that, they will start shooting for Rajeev’s film. Rajeev had earlier worked with Aishwarya in Kandukondain Kandukondain, which released eight years ago.”
When contacted, Rajeev confirmed the news, saying, “Yes, it’s true that I am making a film with Abhishek and Aishwarya. I will be starting the film in February and AR Rahman has composed the music.” When asked what his film is about, he said he was busy, and hung up.
    In response to an SMS, Amitabh Bachchan replied that he hadn’t heard of the development at all.

Amitabh and Jaya in a still from the original Abhimaan

THE OLD MAGIC? Abhishek & Aishwarya Bachchan. For more pics of the couple, visit http ://photogallery .indiatimes .com

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Body count rising, but no protests

Neither the formation of a third body – mooted by the textile minister – nor the 30 per cent quota for young designers has been opposed by either camp in the fash frat

ANSHUL CHATURVEDI Times News Network

    Those present at the jampacked gathering at the meeting convened by Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela – the first serious political interface with the uber glam fashion set in a long, long time – would have had much to carry back as food for thought, long after all the post-meeting snacks had been dispensed with.
    Firstly, the meeting, for once, did not have a factional tussle as its primary agenda, was not about the Delhi-Mumbai fashion divide, and there was no pious endeavour whatsoever to bring any warring groups together either. Despite the undercurrents of misgivings that the key ‘F’ acronyms – FDCI, LFW, FFI – have with respect to each other, there was nothing to read between the lines in terms of the agenda that the government brought before the design fraternity. Vaghela had said a day earlier that he was not interested in taking any sides in the intra-industry spat or even resolving it, and he did just that, addressing the industry as a single entity. The ministry’s brainchild, the Indian Fashion Council (IFC), as and when it comes into being, is not likely to be either aligned with or hostile to any of the existing bodies, even if all of them might not be elated at the idea of its formation.
    Secondly, the apprehensions that the exercise was going to be an effort to bring the FDCI to heel, either via raising a parallel competing body or by initiating governmental intervention in its functioning, proved to be largely unfounded. Anyone who came looking for mudslinging or in search of hidden ‘plan’ behind the meeting would have gone back disappointed. Vaghela was at pains to clarify that the body being set up, whatever its final shape, would not be in competition with the FDCI. He told DT that he specifically wanted to dispel the impression that existed before the meeting – that the exercise was primarily to create a body parallel to the FDCI. “They are, in any case, mostly senior and established designers, the juniors can be no competition to them. And our plans for the juniors, such as sending five top NIFT students abroad each year, will in fact work better with help from the FDCI,”he said.The top brass of the FDCI can therefore breathe easy, since the minister either isn’t inclined to raise any questions about its functioning, or is displaying remarkable sagacity by keeping mum about it.
    Still, the ministry and the FDCI aren’t completely in sync yet. FDCI president Sunil Sethi feels that it would be better to promote young talent via the FDCI itself, or by setting up a more generic Design Council Of India along the lines Rathi Vinay Jha has proposed. He also questions how an IFC will handle 3,000 members who will come and join it each year after passing out with degrees in fashion and design, when running the 160-odd member FDCI has proved to be no mean task. The minister, however, was unambiguous while speaking to DT after the meeting that the new council would be formed, while reasserting that there was no reason for FDCI to be apprehensive over it.
    Thirdly, the issue of a quota for junior designers – which appeared to be a fairly radical proposal, one of those likely to be interpreted as a potential flashpoint – met with
    hardly any opposition from anyone, and is effectively a fait accompli for the ministry.Sethi,for one, is all for introducing a quota in the FDCI’s own events to promote younger designers and says he has no discord with the ministry on the issue. Rina Dhaka believes that the FDCI has, in fact, had a quota for some time, though former president Ritu Kumar says she’s never heard of it. Rathi explains that while the FDCI has been fairly proactive in giving space and financial assistance to young designers over the past few years, it couldn’t possibly be called a quota. Maybe, as Vaghela says, since it is not a caste or creed quota, it’s difficult to find a ground to oppose it. At the end of the day, the government
    seems to be fairly clear on its agenda. While various attendees at the meeting interpreted the discussion in their own ways, later in the day, Vaghela was emphatic while speaking to DT – “there is no change in our plans. Council banegi. We will set up the body, not in competition with anybody, but with the help and cooperation of all concerned.” As Rathi opines, “the writing is on the wall. They mean business and they will set up a council. What shape it takes – whether an organisation similar to existing ones, even if not competing with them, or an overarching one like the Design Council, which I felt would benefit a greater number of people – is the only question which remains to be addressed.”
    anshul.chaturvedi @timesgroup.com

There’s no competition with anyone. Lekin council banegi
There was an impression that we were doing all this to create something in competition with the FDCI. So firstly, I have attempted to clarify that there is nothing like that.Secondly,I feel the people for whom we want to set up a council will all be juniors,so they in any case can be no competition for the senior designers in bodies like the FDCI. And yes,there was no objection by anyone to having the 30 per cent reservation for juniors.There is, however, no change in our initial plans, we will set up the body, with the help and cooperation of all concerned.
– Shankersinh Vaghela

Fashion goes beyond apparel
I proposed setting up of a Design Council since bodies such as the FDCI,and the IFC if it is formed, generally tend to define fashion only in terms of apparel and garments,whereas fashion is a wider term which should extend to accessories,lifestyle, crafts. I therefore feel that a wider Design Council may be more pertinent if our aim is to promote young talent across the board, as a body that complements rather than competes with existing ones. From what I understand, the majority of designers were in agreement with the idea. – Rathi Vinay Jha

We will give a quota to youth
The government is not anti-FDCI.Also, in principle, FDCI has no opposition to having any promotional activities for young designers. FDCI is willing to give young designers a quota at the events it organises, so long as they meet the minimum basic criteria for participation. We’d prefer an umbrella body like a Design Council, which takes care of multiple activities instead of posing as competition.The minister has displayed sincerity.We have a common point, which is to achieve the broader objective as far as young designers are concerned - to give them a platform and support them . – Sunil Sethi

Many are not getting a chance
There is a growing concern that many people are not getting a chance because of a few.And this was expressed by the minister as well, which is true. I guess it is a really good initiative - to think about the young designers.If they succeed,we succeed. People are bored of the same old stuff that has been showing for the past 30 years.Eighty to 90 per cent of the students who graduate from design school work in export houses,but the council could make life much easier for the ones who want to be standalones with their creativity. – Narendra Kumar Ahmed

We can benefit from a tie-up
The government has a plan to help sustain growth of the fashion industry,help with the trade and marketing,and assist everyone who needs it – like they are doing with NIFT.The 30 per cent quota was never an issue in the meeting because the FDCI already has a quota for upcoming designers.And it’s not driven by caste and creed,but need.The ministry has asked for a feedback wishlist in the next 15 days,after which they will arrive at a consensus.The ministry is larger in scope and reach than our entire fraternity put together.They also have various tie-ups with other bodies and even countries – we could benefit from it. – Rina Dhaka

The minister surprised me...
The minister surprised me through his understanding of the changes coming in the garment industry and his intent was clear in his wise words.The effort of the textile ministry will not go in vain - they have the power to unleash the great Indian talent on a global platform.The architecture of this vision,however,needs to be world class and Indian in its DNA. – Raghavendra Rathore

    FDCI can’t have a quota
The quota system is a very government kind of thing. But then,if they are serious about this,they will have to start their own body, because FDCI, being an NGO,cannot have any quota system.And no,in all my tenure with the FDCI,I have never heard of any
    quota system. But yes, NIFT is planning to diversify in a big way, and start institutes in Rai Bareilly,Assam, Kannur and other places.So,maybe there’s merit in what Mr Vaghela is planning. Because designers from these areas will definitely benefit from a quota.We have to understand that fashion in our country works at various levels – it’s not only about pret and couture. I understand there has been talk of an independent design council under the aegis of the textile ministry.It may include handlooms,handicraft,and the NIFTs operating out of the above-mentioned crafts rich areas.The new body may not necessarily be in conflict with the FDCI, or any other fashion body for that matter. – Ritu Kumar
    (With inputs from Mandvi Sharma & Jyothi Prabhakar)

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Katrina Kaif’s mastering Hindi

Did you know that the gorgeous Katrina Kaif is on a new mission these days? Any guesses as to what she’s up to? We hear that she’s finally mastered Hindi. “Nowadays she speaks in Hindi with Salman and her friends as well. In fact, during her appearance on Salman’s TV show, she spoke in Hindi,” says her friend.
And coming soon will be a Prakash Jha film where Kats has been given full-length dialogues.
A source revealed, “Prakashji was very impressed with the way Katrina took Hindi classes, and the speed with which she learnt the language. She has a very serious role in Rajniti and wanted to be perfect for it. Thus, the lessons in Hindi language. This is the first time that Katrina is playing such a serious character. Prakash felt that it would be a challenge to present Katrina in a never-seen-before role. But, he’s confident of succeeding at it.” What remains to be seen is, whether after all this, her voice will be dubbed in the movie or not.

Katrina Kaif

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Sajid Khan turns a blogger

After Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Ram Gopal Varma, its anchor and director Sajid Khan’s turn to start blogging. We heard that he has been approached to pen down his experience on his blog. “He has been approached by a leading website to write his blog,” his friend told us. Well, let’s hope what he writes is as funny as... Well, haven’t you ever heard him speak?

Sajid Khan

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Two Indian students on Arctic voyage

They will be studying the impact of climate change on the Northern hemisphere. They will also be doing film and photography related projects on the issue of global warming

    Two Indian students are among an international group of high school children who will embark on an Arctic tour to study the impact of climate change in the northern ice fields through a series of artistic experiments and projects. The 28-member voyage, Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2008, includes students from Canada, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Mexico and Britain.
    The project, envisioned by British artist David Buckland, will bring together top scientists, artists, educators and high school students to raise awareness about climate change and to equip young people to become climate change ambassadors at home and abroad.
    Shruti K Neelakantan of Sri Sankara School in Chennai and Dhruv Sengar of Seth MR Jaipuria School in Lucknow will board the MV Akademik Shokalskiy at Reykjavik in Iceland on September 7 to go to Iqaluit at Baffin Island in Canada on September 20.
    Shruti, a Class XII student, believes that saving our planet is everyone’s responsibility, whereas Dhruv is currently trying to discover ways to reduce carbon footprints of an area. They will develop science projects in climatology, oceanography, and bio-geography. Each genre will be accompanied by an art project in films, photography, fine arts, performing arts and literature on micro-issues
related to impact of greenhouse gases and temperature rise on the Arctic ice sheets. “The changes in climate will increase and become more unstable,” said artist David Buckland, a featured speaker at the September 4 launch of the event at the Ontario Science Centre. “If we have learned anything (from past expeditions), it is that the forces that will be released against us will not be manageable,” said Buckland.
    An art installation project ‘On Thin Ice: Youth Respond to International Polar Year’ will be a part of the expedition. “We will use science as the lens to inspire and actively engage people in new ways of seeing and understanding the world. The students’ responses to their remarkable journey and the changing landscape of the polar region will assist us in achieving this vision,” said Lesley Lewis, chief executive officer of the Ontario Science Centre.
    Award-winning illustrator and author Genevieve Cote of Montreal and Colette Laliberte of the Ontario College of Art and Design will co-head the programme.
    Students from across the world can participate online in the voyage by uploading data about their region such as local temperature and precipitation measurements or photographs of local landforms. Warming is a major cause for concern in Arctic.
    A new report, Arctic Climate Impact Science – An Update, says climate change is having a greater and faster impact on
    the Arctic than previously thought.
    Agencies

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India’s other gold medallist at Olympics

    Did you know that India won two gold medals and not one at the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Sunita Lamba, a fine arts artist from Delhi, won a gold at the games for her sculpture, but so far she has received no felicitation from the government.
    Lamba, the sister of late cricketer Raman Lamba, had sent her sculpture, Spirit of Unity, for Olympic Fine Arts 2008, an exhibition put up by the organising committee at Beijing, and it was selected for display.
    “The chairman of the International Olympic Committee inaugurated the exhibition Aug 11 and on the very same day they announced the gold medal for me,” said Lamba. “I was also given an Olympic torch besides the certificate of winning the gold medal,” Lamba added. Shooter Abhinav Bindra is the only sportsperson to have fetched a gold for India at the games this time.
    Lamba’s gold medal will be given to her after the 40-day exhibition gets over. The show will run for a few months in different areas of China itself and after that it will move to countries across the world. The stars in her eyes clearly spell the joy of winning the gold medal, but the pain of being ignored by the authorities shows just as much.
    “Is ‘art’ a discipline which doesn’t hold any importance for the country? More than 20 days have passed since I won the medal but no one has contacted me yet,” Lamba, who is 40 plus, said. “I am not against any reward for any sportspersons but it pinches when the authorities completely ignore you,” she added. “I belong to a sports family and I believe in sports. My aim is to move ahead in life,” said Lamba, who works with a leading five-star hotel in the capital and is a resident of west Delhi.
    Before leaving for Beijing, she had even tried to contact Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and union Culture minister Ambika Soni to tell them about her participation. “I have been making sculptures for the last 25 years and my work was selected from among 10,000 entries for the final 110. Before leaving for Beijing I tried to contact both of them, but didn’t get any response from them,” Lamba said.
    After waiting for long, she finally decided to contact the government herself and called Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit last week. Dikshit asked her to come to the felicitation function of Olympic bronze medal winner in wrestling Sushil Kumar at her residence. “But even here, Dikshit just introduced me to the media and that was it,” Lamba lamented. She was not even given a bouquet of flowers. Is ‘art’ not a discipline in itself?” she asked. “Everyone decorates their houses with costly art pieces, but they are not ready to recognise it as a discipline,” Lamba said.
    The saving grace was a call from the father of boxer Vijender Singh, who won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. “He congratulated me and expressed his regret over people’s ignorance. He said that art is also a sport and I really felt nice talking to him,” she said.
    The artist will now soon be travelling to Beruit and the US where she will be showcasing her work. “I have also decided to organise an art show in India in which I will invite the international artists who took part in the Olympics art exhibition,” she said.
    Her elder brother, Rajan Lamba, was quite vocal in expressing his disappointment over her sister being ignored by officialdom. “The authorities only remember a few people and forget everyone else,” he said. IANS

Monday 01 september 2008

2008-08-31T22:17:00.001-07:00

TIMES OF INDIA

Monday 01 September 2008

Amarnath land deal ends stir in Jammu

Shrine Board Can Use Forestland During Yatra

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jammu/New Delhi: Jammu broke into wild celebrations on Sunday morning after an agreement between a government panel led by governor N N Vohra and a conglomerate of Hindu groups gave exclusive right to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) on forestland at Baltal for use during the pilgrimage season.
    According to the agreement, the state government will set aside land at Baltal and Domail comprising 800 kanal for exclusive use by SASB for the purpose of yatra. The proprietary status of the land, however, shall not undergo any change.
    Immediately after the announcement, the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, spearheading the agitation in Jammu, suspended its campaign. In Kashmir Valley, the reaction was mixed. While PDP and Hurriyat Conference rejected the deal, National Conference gave it a thumbs-up.
    Under the pact, SASB will be able to allow the use of the forestland, while the pilgrimage is on, by various service providers. The period for which the land will be under the board will include the time required for erecting and dismantling the temporary infrastructure for the Amarnath yatra.
    The settlement was reached after the Congress leadership decided to view the matter through the political prism rather than leave it to the home ministry. Accordingly, Pranab Mukherjee, the tried and tested troubleshooter, was handed the baton and he opened negotiations with all the parties concerned, including BJP.
    The agreement appears to have been reached in spite of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s defiant posturing. Political observers also see the urgency displayed by the Centre as reflecting UPA’s anxiety to defuse the explosive issue, which had emotive value for the majority community ahead of the coming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and which can play a role in shaping the terrain for the main prize: the Lok Sabha polls.

RIOT OF COLOURS: Revellers defy curfew in Jammu to celebrate the agreement

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Mumbai encounter ace sacked for criminal links

Pradeep Sharma Said To Have Made Rs 3,000cr

S Ahmed Ali | TNN

Mumbai: In one of the toughest actions against corrupt policemen in recent times, the state government on Sunday dismissed high-profile encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma from service for his alleged links with the underworld. Inspector Sharma, once the blue-eyed boy of the city police with 112 encounter killings to his name, was served a notice of dismissal at 1 am on Sunday.
    Police commissioner Hasan Gafoor said, ‘‘Sharma’s dismissal was not prompted by any particular case. We had learnt that he had several undesirable contacts and was involved in underworld activities. The dismissal is an administrative action.’’
    A senior police officer corroborated his chief’s version, saying the decision was based on a variety of factors, including Sharma’s role as a middleman between gangster Chhota Shakeel and the builder mafia. ‘‘Telephonic interceptions have revealed that Sharma used to negotiate extortion threats received by builders and businessman. He also used to negotiate land deals. We wanted to put an end to this,’’ he said. Another officer said Sharma ‘‘is worth over Rs 3,000 crore’’.
    Although convinced about his underhand activities, the police knew that it would be difficult to prove them in court. Therefore, the government invoked Section 311 of the Indian constitution whereby an officer can be dismissed without holding an inquiry in such situations. This is also one of the rare cases in which the deputy chief minister took an active interest in ensuring the dismissal of a police inspector.
    Sharma is the latest in a series of encounter specialists who have been neutralised. Sub-inspector Daya Nayak, Nitin Vichare, Ravindra Angre and Praful Bhosle are all facing various inquiries. The only exception is police inspector Vijay Salaskar, who is posted with the crime branch.
    Sharma was once the darling of the media with his pictures being flashed widely after every encounter. He has denied the allegations and will challenge the dismissal order in the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal.
GOOD COP BAD COP
Inspector
Pradeep Sharma, 47, Mumbai’s ‘encounter specialist’ credited with gunning down 112 gangsters and other suspects in a career spanning 25 years
1983 | Sharma joined the police force as a sub-inspector. His first assignment was at Mahim police station. Two years later, he was transferred to the special branch and then to Juhu. In 1991, he joined Ghatkopar police station
1990 | Sharma came in contact with the Chhota Rajan gang. In 1996, Sharma and his subordinate Daya Nayak were booked on charges of kidnapping a scrap dealer and extorting money from him
2004 | Downfall begins with Sharma taking charge of the crime branch’s Kandivli unit. He was accused of colluding with the underworld to broker land deals in the western suburbs between builders & businessmen
    The final straw was his name being linked to the custodial death of Khwaja Yunus. Sharma was transferred to Amravati but he reported sick. He was last shown posted at Dharavi
WHAT NEXT
Sharma plans to move the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal for relief

ACES WITH MACES: Boxers Akhil and Jitender Kumar (L), who reached the last 8 stage at Beijing, with crowns and maces presented to them at Jitender’s house in Bhiwani

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Hope floats: Kosi water enters Ganga

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Patna: There seems to be some good news finally from the flood-ravaged Kosi region in Bihar. The outflow of the Kosi’s water into the Ganga increased on Sunday. This, in turn, would not allow the river’s flood area to expand abruptly even if there is an increased water discharge into the Kosi from Barah Kshetra in Nepal.
    ‘‘Earlier, the outflow was taking place only from the main course. But now, after flooding the areas under its changed course, the river water is falling into the Ganga at Kursela from a new side as well,’’ said a senior engineer of the water resource development department.
    He said the outflow from the main and changed course would not allow the water level in flooded areas to rise high as it would compensate for the water discharge from Nepal. The river maintained a receding trend on the discharge front and came down to 1.65 lakh cusecs at 4pm from 1.72 lakh cusecs at 12 noon on Sunday.
New Orleans empties out ahead of Gustav
    With Hurricane Gustav heading for the US Gulf coast, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin ordered over 240,000 residents to evacuate the city on Sunday ahead of the “storm of the century”, feared to be “much worse than Katrina”. Gustav has already claimed at least 70 lives in Haiti, 8 in the Dominican Republic and 4 in Jamaica

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SC convicts boy for sex with 16-yr-old girlfriend

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: If love is blind, so is justice. Long after a boy, then 19 years old, eloped with his 16-year-old girlfriend from rural Punjab and the two had sex, the boy — now a man — stands convicted by the Supreme Court for rape and will spend the next three years behind bars.
    The girl being a minor, her consent to sex did not help mitigate the boy’s offence. For, law terms sex with a minor, with or without her consent, as rape.
    What saved him from a harsher sentence of seven years was a leniency plea from the girl’s father. The boy, Rakesh Kumar, had been arrested after the girl’s father accused him of kidnapping and raping his minor daughter.
Times View: Sexual predators who prey on youngsters must be dealt with sternly. But the legal system should take a more lenient view towards consensual sex between teenagers — especially those in their late teens, as in this case. Sexual awareness — and experimentation — is on the rise among Indian teenagers. While this may disturb many parents, surely jailing young men as punishment is an excessive reaction. HC not justified in reducing sentence of a rapist, says SC
New Delhi: Long after Rakesh Kumar, then 19 years old, eloped with his 16-yearold girlfriend and had sex, was sentenced to three years by the Supreme Court for rape. A trial court in Patiala convicted him and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment, despite the girl confessing that she had sex as she was in love with him.
    Kumar appealed in the Punjab and Haryana high court, which said it would be harsh to send the boy behind bars, long after the incident, for seven years just because two youngsters in love had sex. While maintaining the conviction, it reduced the sentence to the period already undergone and asked the authorities to release him. The main ground for leniency, as mentioned in the high court judgment, was the rural background of the boy.
    The state government appealed against the judgment saying rape convicts could not be let off lightly as it could encourage other such offenders.
    A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and M K Sharma was caught in a dilemma as on one hand a heinous crime like rape could not be condoned, while on the other, there was a confession from the girl and a plea from her father to be lenient to the convict. In the end, the bench felt that high court was not justified in reducing the sentence of a person convicted of rape, a heinous offence.
    The court must not only keep in view the rights of the criminal but also the rights of the victim and the society at large while considering imposition of appropriate punishment, said Justice Pasayat, writing the judgment for the bench.
    He said courts, while using their discretion to award punishment less than that prescribed in law, must record cogent reasons and not because the convict belonged to a rural background, as had been stated by the high court.
    However, the apex court was also aware that the victim and the accused were in love and the victim had admitted that she willingly had sex with the accused.
    What additionally weighed with the court in reducing the sentence to three years was the plea of the girl’s father, who had filed an affidavit saying since the victim was settled in life, a liberal view may be taken so far as sentence was concerned.
    Heeding these circumstances, SC sent the man to three years behind bars and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. The court asked Rs 8,000 from it to be paid to the victim.
Age of consent
    The legal age for consensual sex in India is 18 years. However, after two high courts — Delhi and Andhra Pradesh — recognized the marriage of girls below 18 years, who had eloped with their beaus, and absolved the men from prosecution after ascertaining the girls’ views, a petition was moved in the Supreme Court seeking clarification on the age of consent and marriage.

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SC to GDA: Pay more interest on late refund

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: If you fail to pay the instalment for your flat on time, housing agencies like DDA charge a hefty interest. But these agencies themselves pay much lower interest on money they are supposed to return to unsuccessful applicants beyond the stipulated deadline.
    This could soon become a thing of the past with the Supreme Court telling GDA that interest rate charged as penalty for delayed payments should be the same as the interest given on delayed refunds.
    Usually a nominal interest, 5% or so, is given on delayed refunds to unsuccessful bidders by agencies like DDA or GDA. Ruling after HC order challenged
New Delhi: Supreme Court has ruled that the interest rate charged by housing agencies as penalty for delayed payments from consumers should be the same as the interest given by these agencies on delayed refunds to applicants who did not get a house.
    For now, if the bidder’s deposit money is returned by the agency within the deadline, no interest is given. At the same time, installment defaulters are charged interest in the range of 18%. The apex court has said that if a land allotting authority demands penal interest on delayed payment of installments, then the same rate of interest will be applicable to all delayed refunds.
    This ruling came from a Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H S Bedi on a petition filed by one Manjul Srivastava, who challenged an Allahabad High Court order rejecting her claim for a residential plot in the Govindpuram area of Ghaziabad.
    The Ghaziabad Development Authority, after taking the cost of the plot from Srivastava, declared that she was not selected in the draw of lots. It returned the money after the stipulated period for refunds had passed and paid a 5% interest.
    The Bench rejected Srivastava’s claim for allotment of a plot as the GDA had taken full payment. GDA’s plea that she was unsuccessful in the draw of lots and that there were no more plots for allotment in Govindpuram area weighed with the court.
    However, the Bench objected to GDA paying just 5% interest on Srivastava’s money. It said GDA’s land allotment brochure clearly stipulated that late payments by an allottee would attract a penal interest of 18%.
    If that was so in favour of GDA, it should be the same for unsuccessful applicants when they get back their money from the authority, the Bench said.
    Though the money was deposited in 1989, the refund was made after more than seven years, the Bench said. Therefore, ‘‘we must hold that GDA was liable to pay interest not at the rate of 5% but at the rate of 18%’’, the Bench said.

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Wardrivers target WiFi networks

Shalini Singh | TNN

New Delhi: If you work on an unsecured wireless internet network, beware. Someone right now could be moving around in the city looking for open WiFi spots for sending anonymous terror emails or accessing confidential information with almost no risk of being caught. Welcome to the dark world of wardriving.
    A wardriver is a person who moves in a vehicle with a laptop — or a PDA like iPhone or BlackBerry — which has a software that detects WiFi networks. If an unscrupulous wardriver finds an ‘‘open’’ network, one that is not password-protected, he could use it for a range of nefarious activities.
    The terror emails sent from the WiFi connections of an American in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai’s Khalsa College could possibly be examples of such misuse. These networks can also be used for identity thefts and corporate espionage.
    Unless caught in the act, it’s virtually impossible to trace a wardriver. The wireless network can be accessed within a 25-30m radius of the point of installation. The malicious user can then piggyback on the network to send emails or access websites using the owner’s IP address, which when traced back leads to the owner of the network.
    Says Sumit Grover, a vigilante wardriver, ‘‘I discovered many unprotected networks, observed their misuse. Over the past year, I tried to alert the ISPs involved, the Computer Emergency Response Team which analyzes threats to computers and networks in India, Trai, the ISP Association of India and even the IT ministry. Nobody took notice. Sadly, this was followed by a spate of terror attacks.’’
    Wi ALERT
    Wardriving means searching for wireless net connections while moving around in a vehicle with a laptop or PDA that has a software to detect such networks
    These unprotected WiFi networks can be used for sending terror emails, accessing confidential information or corporate snooping
    Since someone else’s internet protocol is used, there’s no way of zeroing in on a wardriver VIRTUAL THREAT 90% WiFi networks not protected
New Delhi: Software for wardriving — breaking into unsecured wireless internet — is freely available on the internet or even pre-installed in the device and such attacks are increasing with the rapid rise of wireless networks as laptop and broadband prices fall. The WiFi Alliance has estimated the WiFi market to be worth over $270 million and expects it to touch $900 million by 2011-12. Almost 90% or more of these networks aren’t password-protected.
    The month of August saw a surge in such activity. Terror emails linked to July’s bomb blasts in Ahmedabad were traced to American national Kenneth Haywood’s unsecured WiFi network. Another terror email sent in the name of Indian Mujahideen was traced to a computer in Mumbai’s Khalsa College.
    During the past year, hackers stole personal data worth an estimated $5 billion of up to eight million guests at over 4,000 hotels in 80 countries belonging to the Best Western hotel consortium alone. The data — which includes home addresses, phone numbers, places of employment and
credit card details — was sold via an underground network operated by the Russian mafia.
    What’s most shocking is that this is quite easy to do. Open wireless networks can be accessed without any authentication and without attracting notice of the actual owner of the network. This is very different from hacking, which does not require physical proximity to the target network/computer. Cracking into protected networks, whether wireless or others, is a far more tedious process and can eventually be traced back to the hacker, while in the case of an unprotected wireless network, the intruder is virtually anonymous.
    When done on a moving bicycle or motorcycle, wardriving is called warbiking. Then there’s warwalking (or warjogging), which is done on foot. This is the ugly face of India’s telecom revolution and the burgeoning demand for next generation smartphones and 24X7 internet access. Yet, the authorities appear either oblivious or unconcerned about its misuse and security hazards.
    Capt Raghu Raman (Retd), a security consultant and CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG), a corporate risk consulting firm, warns that it is critical to educate users on the risks of leaving their networks unprotected.
    ‘‘Access to unprotected networks is so easy, yet there are no laws or policies to educate or protect people. This is inexcusable given the growing environment of terror,’’ says Commodore Suresh Sahni (Retd), a radio frequency expert formerly with the Indian Navy.
    ‘‘As dependence on wireless/mobile infrastructure increases we can expect more destructive wireless attacks. The issue needs urgent attention through appropriate policies to secure wireless media usage, hardening wireless routers and access points, enabling firewall on wireless routers and educating users,’’ suggests Capt Raman.

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‘They had to accept MANYATA’

SUBHASH K JHA

Your life has gone through tremendous upheavals in recent times. Do you think the worst is over?
The best thing I did was to get rid of the undesirable people in my life. But I wish them well in life. I’ve no animosity against them, though they seem to have a lot against me. I wish well even to my enemies. God bless them.
Are your wild days over?
Absolutely over. I’m so happy, touch wood. God’s been kind to me.
Your sisters weren’t happy about your marriage to Manyata?
This is the happiest relationship I’ve ever been in, and I’d expect my sisters to be happy for me. Going by my past record, I don’t blame anyone for being suspicious of this relationship. My life has been a rollercoaster ride. For my family, especially my sisters, this was just another mistake that I was making. But I feel no one, not even the closest member of the family, has the right to interfere in my personal life.
Wasn’t your sisters’ approval of your wife and marriage important to you?
It was important. But don’t forget, they’re younger to me. And I felt they had no right to disapprove of something I was doing in my own life. Whether they liked it or not, they had to accept it. Anyway, I love my sisters, and I knew that, with time, they’d come around. The tangles are finally being resolved.
When will you, Manyata and your daughter Trishala be together?
I don’t think that will happen. My daughter is studying Forensic Science in the US. She’s now working partly with the FBI. I’m so proud of her.
Do you see the irony of it?
(Laughs) I know. She chose this line so she could help innocent people trapped in a legal maze. She had told me that when she took up Forensic Science. Apparently, you’re trying to get back into shape again...
Do you mean my life or body? My physique… well, I sometimes forget that I’m 49. But I’m getting there, I promise you. Hopefully, by December or January, I’ll be back in shape. I’ve a fantastic personal trainer, Lawrence from Los Angeles, who makes sure I’m not overdoing it.
Do you feel less stressed in life?
Yes. God has been great. There is good work coming my way. I’m happy because I’m getting substantial roles. It was important for me to finish my backlog and start afresh. I’m so relieved, I can’t tell you. I am finally able to sleep peacefully at night. I want to thank the whole industry for standing by me. I feel I’ve entered a whole new world now. I’m very happy in my marriage with Manyata. Everything seems so right for the first time in my life. I just want to do great work and be around friends who are like my brothers.
You really stood by Manyata?
That’s the least I could do. She has proved herself over and over again, though I’ve told her repeatedly that she doesn’t need to prove herself to me or to any member of my family. But she’s a very warm, giving and family-oriented person. And to her, winning over my family was very important. And she proved herself.
Are your sisters more accepting of Manyata?
I think so. But let’s see…
Why do you think Manyata is the right partner for you?
I have, somewhere in my heart, always wanted a woman like Manyata. In our society, a woman has to make a lot of sacrifices for her man. And Manyata has done that. I’m not the easiest of people to handle. She’s just right for me. Nowadays, I just wait for the day to be over so I can get back home to her. And I want to start a family with Manyata as soon as possible. Pray that it happens soon.
Are all your uncertainties gone?
It’s not as if everything is in place now. There are uncertainties still. I’d say 90 per cent of my worries are over. I wish my father could see me now. I’m so sorry that he didn’t live to hear that his son is not a terrorist. Wherever he is, he must be the happiest father in the world. I hope my parents are smiling. More than my own suffering, I hated to see my sisters suffer. I wish my father, family and daughter didn’t have to go through it.
Do you get to see her enough?
There’s a visa problem everywhere because of my conviction, but let me tell you – because of my daughter, getting a visa in the US is easier. She comes down to meet me quite often. She was in the Bahamas with me and Manyata. Whenever she has holidays in college, I make sure she’s with me wherever I am.
We heard that you and Suneil Shetty had a public pow-wow?
Do you believe that? You know how close we both are? I’ve just completed a film, EMI, with him. I will do anything for Suneil. I’ll give my life for him. I don’t even want any money for his films. There are people who can’t digest the fact that I have good friends like him. More than a friend, Suneil is family. I really feel there is someone trying to play a game to destroy my relations with him.
SKJ

HAPPY NOW: Sanjay & Manyata Dutt

Manyata & Sanjay

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FASHION KAQUOTA?

The ‘youth’ agenda of the meeting convened by mantrijifor the fash frat today promises many surprises

ANSHUL CHATURVEDI Times News Network

    The letter (inviting us to be part of the meeting) doesn’t talk of any new body. It talks of brainstorming to help new designers,” says Rathi Vinay Jha, till recently the DG of the FDCI. As a veteran bureaucrat, familiar with the model of the government’s functioning, Rathi is well placed to comment on speculation surrounding the agenda of the meeting convened by the textiles minister. “There is a lot of speculation in the market that it is about a third body, or about the government trying to do a
    patch-up amongst
    various industry factions. But I honestly don’t think the government would have the time or the inclination to bother about such things or to settle disputes. I believe that it is about helping young designers and not about any new body.”
    The ministry pushing for such a meeting unilaterally hasn’t happened very often in the past, has it? “No, it hasn’t. Something may come out of it or not, that’ll only be clear after the meeting.” But isn’t a meeting purportedly called to discuss ‘promoting
    young designers’ a tacit acknowledgement of the fact that new designers aren’t being promoted the way they should be? “Yes, I suppose so.”
    What’s her take on the view that the fashion industry is inviting greater governmental ‘support’ – often a euphemism for control – on account of the fragmentation it’s seen over the past months and years? “See, in such bodies, the government steps in for either regulatory or developmental roles. Other bodies have had a far greater degree of government involvement, such as the AEPC (Apparel Export Promotion Council), but that was on account of issues that necessarily needed governmental involvement, such as export quotas. I don’t see it happening in the fashion industry at this point of time.” And if the government thinks differently? “If the government really wants to do something, I’d suggest they could strengthen and support the FDCI instead. However, if I were with the FDCI, I would say no thanks, because once the government steps in, unless it is backed by proportionate funding and support, it would impact autonomy. So we’ll need to understand if the FDCI can be strengthened, if so, on what terms, and if those terms are acceptable to the FDCI itself,” concludes Jha.
    Rina Dhaka, who was contacted by Vaghela’s office and so was the first to inform FDCI’s designers that such a meeting was in the offing and invite them to it, says, “Mr Vaghela’s office took the initiative to contact us and expressed the desire that they would want to meet up with some designers.” Does she have an idea of the agenda? “When people like Mr Vaghela initiate something like this, I would expect that they have a plan in mind. I believe he lets people come out with ideas, and the government does think out of the box in various ways these days, so I don’t think there is any disconnect in the idea of a designers’ meeting with the minister.”
    Will it involve people from the LFW and FFI as well? “I don’t think the government on its part would be engaging in bodies other than non-profit organisations such as the FDCI,” is Rina’s take. But it isn’t as if nobody who’s associated with the ‘other side’ will be present – Rohit Bal, for one, has been invited and says he’s ‘curious’ to know what’s being planned. From the FDCI, Sunil Sethi and Varun Bahl are among the confirmed invitees.
    Ritu Kumar – who is also on the Board of governors at NIFT – believes that the meeting has been called “to discuss greater involvement of fresh talent in the fashion industry’s growth.” But, she says, she’s clear that her pitch would be to “consolidate. Another fashion week by youngsters is not what we need right now. We are already being inundated with foreign labels. We have to strengthen the platform we already have.”
    But the ministry feels “the need of supporting the diversified talents in the field of fashion, to raise a platform for themselves,” as quoted in the letter issued to invitees. The shape that platform will take has been outlined by the minister in an exclusive chat with DT. What remains to be seen is how the fash frat reacts to Vaghela’s fairly radical vision of the future of fashion.
New fash body, 30% quota for jr designers
Is the meeting a general get-together or is this in response to something?
Many junior designers have been complaining to us that they also need some exposure, par humko kahin jagah nahi milti hai. So we thought that we should do something to promote them, such as giving them a 30 per cent reservation in fashion shows.
Is this being done in sync with the FDCI’s activities and shows?
No, this has nothing to do with FDCI. Where FDCI or other existing institutes or organisations, such as that set up by Sumeet Nair recently, are unable to give a chance to younger designers, we will. So you will set up a new organisation? Yes, definitely. Nayi sanstha hi banegi, ek nayi fashion council banegi. As per the constitutional norms, company banegi. Jaise AEPC ya EPCH (Export Promotion Council for the Handlooms) hai – jaise inme government ka share hota hai, waise hi yeh hoga. The government will have 4-5 people on the board of directors of this council.
But you will at least seek the FDCI’s cooperation in this…?
We will seek cooperation from everyone in the fashion industry. This activity is in no competition to any activity or any existing body, it will take its own track. At which point did it go from a discussion to a decision to form a new body? The issues had been there for some time. But earlier we thought, why should the government get into this, jo chalta hai, chalne deejiye. But it began to happen frequently, people would say that we have degrees from NIFT and NID but don’t get any exposure. So we decided to extend that support. Jab FDCI se Nair ka group alag nikla, hamne socha ki kahin toh fashion ki duniya mein asantosh hoga. Government grant de kar juniors ko dhyaan mein rakh kar ek body banayi jaaye. You mean the split was on account of youngsters being denied chances?
I am not saying that. The reasons for the split in the FDCI, I do not know much about them. What I know is that junior designers ko kahin bhi jagah nahi milti hai. Hum denge na unko jagah, unke liye reservation denge.
Will this impact the shows of FDCI, etc as well? Will the fashion shows taking place in October be governed by this 30 per cent quota?
No, no, the FDCI is not in our control. I don’t think they will listen, jo hamare control mein nahin hai, unko hum request nahin karenge.
    – AC (With inputs from JYOTHI PRABHAKAR) anshul.chaturvedi @timesgroup.com

Rina Dhaka

Ritu Kumar

Rathi Vinay Jha

Shankersinh Vaghela

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‘I’m coming to India’

...says Bond girl Denise Richards, who stars with Akshay Kumar in Sajid Nadiadwala’s next

AFSANA AHMED Times Network

    Now that the commotion over Sylvester Stallone doing Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambakht Ishq has died down, it’s time to check out Bond girl Denise Richards in action. The sexy actress, who was all oomph in The World Is Not Enough, is the first major Hollywood actress in recent times to play a fullfledged role in a Bollywood production. Kareena Kapoor and Denise are in competition for the love of Akshay Kumar, who plays a stuntman in Kambakht Ishq.
    Instead, he talks of what a time the Hollywood actress gave him before she agreed to be part of his film. “It was a task just getting her to read the script. She sat on it for three months and our schedule was getting delayed. Finally, I went down myself. Getting her to agree was a big high because she’s known the world over for her Bond girl image,” says Nadiadwala.
    Denise, who’s just getting over a messy divorce with Charlie Sheen and is busy with a popular American teleserial, was excited to be entering Bollywood. She says, “Bollywood is so unexpectedly awesome. Its style of functioning, I must say, is pretty impressive. It’s on par with Hollywood. It would’- ve been my loss if I had lost this role. I am now looking forward to coming to Mumbai for the premiere.”
    delhitimes @timesgroup.com

RAISING A TOAST: Akshay Kumar with Denise Richards

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OLE SENORITA: Jewellery designer Poonam Soni meets Mumbai Spanish consul general Cesar Alba y Fuster after she was accorded Spanish patronage for her new collection, Gaudi Revived. Inspired by the legendary Spanish architect of that name, Soni’s jewellery of mosaic-stained glass, brickwork and metal meshes has been patented and will be showcased at the Gaudi Museum in Barcelona and Madrid in 2009

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‘I don’t have a Salman Khan to help me… ’

SHWETA THAKUR Times News Network

Known to go against the tide, Miss Afghanistan 2003, Vida Samadzai might have been plunged into controversies early in life, but that hasn’t deterred this optimist. “Many people call me ‘former’ but I am still Miss Afghanistan, because after I won the crown, no other pageant has been held there,” she stresses, brimming with pride. Vida was in Jaipur recently, to support a cause, of course.
So, apart from social work, what else keeps Vida busy? “My next Bollywood project is Sunil and Praful Tiwari’s Runway,” she informs. Vida has earlier worked in Subhash Ghai’s Black And White and says that the filmmaker told her to always remain a part of Bollywood. Ask her if she thinks the industry will work wonders for her, as it has done for some international actors, and she smiles mischievously, “I don’t have a Salman Khan to help me bag a lead role. In the Hindi film industry, foreign actresses are instantly offered item numbers. It is not that I don’t want to do them, if it’s a good production house, why not? I want to do challenging roles and would wait for the right scripts to come my way.”
And there is more! Vida also wants to write a book on her life. “Although I am too young to write an autobiography, I would eventually do that as well. Moreover, I want to initiate a communication between the Afghanistan government and me, as I am a good motivator and orator. Also, I want to help the women there,” Vida signs off.

Vida Samadzai

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‘The madness keeps us going’

SHARIN WADER

It’s early morning. And taking the air on the promenade among the morning joggers and walkers at Bandra Bandstand, in Mumbai, are Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah. The two are back in a film – A Wednesday – after 12 years. We dragged them out to talk, argue, share a few laughs while Bollywood awaits the return to screen of these two veterans. “I skipped my yoga class to meet you,” grumbled Naseer. “So what?” asked Anupam, “I was down with fever but the thought of being photographed with you got me excited.” And, putting his arm across his old National School of Drama co-star, Anupam led Naseer down the cobbled pathway as the two went from present into flashback by the sea...
You’ll last acted together in the 1996 film Chahat starring Shah Rukh Khan and Pooja Bhatt. What happened after that? Naseer: We have a problem with each other! Anupam: I feel insecure if he is in the same film. In our new film, maine socha Naseer ne mujhse achchi acting ki hai. So I called the producer and reshot my scenes. Naseer: But what you don’t know is that maine bhi bina batayein film mein ek gaana dalwa diya. I’m playing a terrorist in this film but there’s a twist in the tale which justifies his actions. This film is an appeal to everyone’s conscience. It asks you how long you are going to sit down and watch. Anupam: I believe in the theme, too. But so many films being made on terrorism...
Naseer: But isn’t it better than watching a rich-boy-meets-poor-girl film? It’s wonderful that filmmakers are tackling such issues nowadays which show the real world rather than showing the Switzerland.
Anupam: I feel such films are made because there’s a change in the audience’s perception or else how would you explain the bombing of big films and the success of small films like Khuda Ke Liye.
Naseer: Yes, and that too it’s a Pakistani film with unrecognisable faces, yet people watched it instead of Tashan which has all the actors we like. Now it’s the film and not the stars that people watch.
Anupam: True, it’s not the stars that make the film, but the content. The last time I had seen such huge hoardings of myself was when Saaransh was released. Mein apne car se uttar ke dance karne laga!
Do you watch each others’ films?
Anupam: Shub
shub bolo. Why torture him with my films? Naseer: He doesn’t watch half of his own films. And I have not watched some of mine either, like the recent Mere Baap Pehle Aap and Jaane Tu.... Anupam: I don’t watch his films because phir mujhe complex ho jayega. I remember when I came to Mumbai and bought my first car and you gave me a proud look that said, “Wow, you have got a car now!” I also remember your expression after you watched one of my memorable films, and it was like “Kya kar rahe ho, yaar?”
Naseer: You buying a car was like a personal achievement for me. As beginners we didn’t have a ghost of a chance to succeed in the industry and I think if we didn’t have unshakeable faith in ourselves, we would have succumbed to the pressures.
Anupam: I think it’s also the madness in us that kept us going.
Naseer: That quality is common between us besides the fact that we faced rejection when we started. I remember when I went to the film institute, people asked me what course I had come for. Acting! Eh? Shakal dekhi hai?
Anupam: Tell me about it…

Naseer & Anupam

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Shreyas & Amrita: Bonding bigtime

Amrita and Shreyas will be seen together for the first time on screen in Shyam Benegal’s Welcome To Sajjanpur where they play the main leads of the film. Amrita and Shreyas bonded big time on the sets – both knew Marathi and so, would chat away.
Apparently, Amrita is very fond of the language and loved talking to Shreyas in Marathi. Shreyas, himself being a Maharashtrian used to teach Amrita Marathi whenever they used to get time after the shoot. Says Amrita, “While shooting for Welcome To Sajjanpur, I learnt not one but two languages. Apart from the different dialect of Hindi that we speak in the film, I also learnt Marathi. I love the language and I can even speak it quite well, but not as good as Shreyas. So, in between the shots and we both used to speak in Marathi and it was great fun. Shreyas is a great co-star as well as a good teacher.”

Shreyas

Amrita

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‘They had to accept MANYATA’

SUBHASH K JHA

HAPPY NOW: Sanjay & Manyata Dutt

Manyata & Sanjay

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Celebration time for Sanjay

Sanjay Gupta is one cool boss. Recently, the filmmaker took his team on an all-expenses paid three-week holiday to London and New York. Not that anyone asked him for it, but the Sanjay, the boss, is so sensitive to the moods of his employees that he figured out that everyone has been overworked for almost a year and therefore, badly needed a break.
“We have been working non-stop and this was my first major break in three years. So, I took my team along as well as they are all my closest friends. And wherever we go, we go together.” Hopefully, all bosses are reading this!
(Snippets contributed By Gautam Buragohain and Urvashi Ashar)

Sanjay Gupta

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THEY ARE WHAT THEY SING

Indipop has made a big impact in Bollywood, but some artistes still prefer cutting their private albums. Is it a question of creative satisfaction?

SANAT SAVANAL Times News Network

    Not long ago, Bollywood films always came up with tried and tested music. Now, with the boom in Indipop, times have surely changed.
Some Indipop stars like Kunal Ganjawala, Vasundhara Das, Lucky Ali and others have blown us away with unforgettable songs. Though, given a chance, these artistes prefer cutting their own albums than the glittering world of Bollywood.
Vasundhara Das, who came out with her
own pop album, says, “The difference between a playback singer and a pop artiste is that the playback singer is the voice of an actor. It is never your own song. The music and the lyrics have been made by someone else, and you are just a contributor to the song. The pop artiste has her own personality, thoughts and emotions expressed in his or her own voice. There is always a need to express yourself through your own compositions.”
    Shubha Mudgal believes there are a lot of reasons as to why some singers do not venture into the film industry permanently. “First of all, playback is a specialised performance. If the music composer and director feel a particular Indipop singer can render the song with the required singing style, then they will bring him or her into the film. On the other hand, film music is very clichéd, so much so that even playback singers like Abhijit, Kumar Sanu and Sonu Niigaam have ventured into the Indipop genre and come out with albums,” says she.
    Shaan doesn’t feel that a lot of Indipop artistes are straying away from Bollywood. “A lot of Indipop artistes like Neeraj Shridhar of Bombay Vikings, Daler Mehndi, Mika, who have unconventional voices
are singing for Bollywood. You will also find singers like Shilpa Rao and Anushka Manchanda singing a Bollywood song. It is all about different voices today. And, if you look at the music that is being made these days, pop and Bollywood have no demarcation. It is a win-win situation.”
    That Bollywood has major contributions by pop singers is a proven fact. As Hindi film music gears up to conquer fresh, new pastures, what we shall inevitably hear are more songs by more performers for even more varied kind of music.

MUSIC OF THE HEART: (From left) Pop singers Vaishali Sawant, Mika Singh, Anushka Manchanda, Vasundhara Das & Daler Mehndi (right), prefer cutting their own albums

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Jessica dons milkmaid dresses to sell her cowgirl songs!

    Even though her songs are not making headlines, American singer Jessica
    Simpson has found a way of expressing herself – through her cowgirl outfits. She had worn the cowgirl attire during a recent gig in California, and as it seemed to be quite a hit, she tried out a milkmaid style dress at a concert at Niagara Falls Fallsview Casino also.
    Though her outfits were a success, the same could not be said for her songs, even though some of the songs in her new country album had intrigue in them. The singer based some of the songs on her past experiences with guys she had been having a relationship with. “There are guys that people don’t even know that I’ve been in love with. I’ve had secret lovers. I can keep some things quiet,” a newspaper quoted her as saying. ANI

Jessica Simpson
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Salem wants to watch Monica too...

VIKAS SHRIVASTAV

Gangster Abu Salem is probably missing his girlfriend Monica Bedi. He has apparently told some of his co-inmates at Arthur Road jail in Mumbai that he wants to see Bigg Boss Season 2 – the reality show in which Monica Bedi is participating as a contestant. According to sources, Salem is willing to ask the jail authorities for a TV with a cable connection as he wants to watch the show which is presently being aired on Colors. However, as of now, Salem has not spoken to jail authorities about this, sources inside the jail confirm the same.
“It can be understood that he is wanting to see the show. But, we can not allow it,” said Swati Sathey, superintendent of Arthur Road Jail. According to sources, Salem who is still emotionally attached to Monica wants to see the start of the second spell of her career. After Monica was deported from Portugal in November 2005 along with Salem, Bigg Boss is her first major break on the screen.

Abu Salem (l) and Monica Bedi in the Big Boss house (above). The CBI has also asked for all the uncensored footages of the show

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HIT MISSES

The race for the title of Mr & Miss DT is getting hotter. We now bring you the six Miss DT finalists in a glam avatar they have never been seen in before. Stylist Meenakshi Dutt’s deft hands, designer dresses and arclights quite funked up the girls, who loved the makeover session all the way. Here, they pose for a portfolio shoot after the makeover. Supermodels in the making... aren’t they?

COLOURFUL: Tamed tresses and a high-waisted shift later, Nayantara Sahunik spelt attitude her way

THE OOMPH FACTOR: Vandana Dahiya, a natural in front of the camera, redefined oomph with a chic hairdo and look. A tank top, teamed with a pleated denim skirt, completed her look

STRIKE A POSE: Neha Joshi’s wavy hair was straightened, cut into layers and set. She was also quite comfortable wearing this asymmetrical halter neck dress, and posed for our lensman like a professional

STAGE 1 The contestants were spunky enough when they posed for DT before the makeover as well
1. Vidisha Anand 2. Neha Joshi 3. Vandana Dahiya 4. Nayantara Sahunik 5. Sanjana Grover 6. Subhashree

SIMPLE IS STYLISH: Subhashree showed how simple can be sexy as well

Stylist Meenakshi Dutt works on a contestant

OF BOW AND DIMPLE: A spaghetti strap bow top and a cotton skirt added elegance and style for Sanjana Grover. Bare minimum accessories and a slightly changed hairdo completed her makeover

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: With a short cowl-neck sundress and a changed hairdo, Vidisha Anand was all get, set and go!

Sunday 31 august 2008

2008-08-31T00:43:00.001-07:00

TIMES OF INDIA

Sunday 31 august 2008

Madhepura goes 6ft under

While Kosi Rages And Govt Dithers, Lakhs Flee Homes

Abhay Mohan Jha

Madhepura: The turbulent Kosi is on the rampage. After forcing lakhs of people out of the hinterland and threatening to engulf thousands of marooned villagers, the roiling waters are flowing six feet deep through Madhepura town, the district headquarters.
    The town is sinking by the hour. SOS calls from the distressed are bouncing back from a government conspicuous by its inadequacy.
    “Officers running the district control room say they cannot help,’’ said an inconsolable Mukesh Verma, who managed to reach the district headquarters on Saturday after a distress call to evacuate 25 members of his family from the rooftop of their home in Jorgama village in Kumarkhand block. “They will all die. They are without food and water ... please help me, sir.’’
    Till now, Madhepura was famous as the home of B P Mandal who led the Mandal Commission. It was also known as the place Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav vied to represent in Parliament. The district has a population of about 15 lakh. Eleven of its 13 blocks have been flooded. Madhepura town has a population of about 52,000.
    Experts from the state water resources department fear the situation will worsen with the catchment area in upstream Nepal reporting more than 100mm of rainfall overnight. They say that an additional 1.95 lakh cusecs of water is likely to flood in from Nepal.
    On Saturday morning, residents of Madhepura town joined the long march of flood victims towards that elusive safety.
    When this reporter entered the town in the morning, the main square — Karpoori Chowk — was a foot deep under water. A few hours later, the level had climbed to two feet and by dusk it would have drowned a six-foot man.
    The high waters are forcing people to leave and there is nowhere to go. For those who can afford it, a few autorickshaws are making a fast buck.
Nepal admits lapse, to make amends
    Admitting that its inaction had led to the flood crisis in Bihar, Nepal has promised to work with India on building dams and embankments on the Kosi. ‘‘We will work together. We have to control the floods in both countries... Indian technicians are working there now... The Nepalese people and government are cooperating,’’ Nepalese foreign minister Upendra Yadav said on Saturday. P 12
Bihar blames Centre for holding up funds
    The Bihar government has shot off a strongly worded letter blaming Delhi for the lapses that led to the Kosi breaching its embankments. The state said it had completed pre-monsoon work to prevent erosion by June but was unable to do maintenance work on the barrage because the Centre failed to give it the money. P 12 ‘If we leave, our house will be ransacked’
Madhepura: As the situation in flood-hit Madhepura gets desperate, few autorickshaws are making a fast buck ferrying people. However, they have to wade three kilometres through the swirling depths to get to these vehicles.They are the most fortunate of Madhepura’s unfortunate.
    For still others, there is no way out but to walk and walk endlessly. For those who choose to stay on, either out of naive confidence or because they cannot afford to leave, supplies of essential items are running low. “I have not been able to get an LPG refill even for a thousand rupees,’’ said Sonu Kumar of Ward No. 21. “How can we leave?’’ asked Mohammad Israel of Bhirki tola, fearing that his house would be ransacked. “Two houses were burgled last night in my mohallla,’’ he said.
    “Neither the DM nor the special DM can be reached,’’ cried Nandan Kumar, adding that there was no police patrolling to ward off thieves. “We are leaving our home unattended for the first time,’’ said Rahul Sinha, a Madhepura resident, as he made several phone calls to his relatives in town, advising them to abandon everything and flee. The scramble to get out is painfully difficult with people crawling through the water with whatever they can carry.
    Calves and kid goats — many people’s only wealth — were being carried like babies. It is, after all, a desperate dash for life. This is no time to care they may not see their hometown again as it drowns.

THE LONG MARCH: Villagers from flood-hit areas head towards shelters in Madhepura town in Bihar on Saturday

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Tax on vacant plots to spruce up city slums

Proposal To Deter Speculators

Mahendra Kumar Singh | TNN

New Delhi: Have land, pay tax. If you have a vacant plot and intend to sell it some time in the future for huge profit , the taxman may soon demand a share. The Centre is considering a tax on unused urban land to finance a ‘‘national fund for urban poor’’ to ensure that basic services — shelter, water, sanitation and health facilities — reach the poorest.
    Government sources said the tax would be paid by individuals, institutions and builders who are allotted land by a government agency but keep it vacant instead of using it for the originally stated purpose. The proposed tax will be calculated at the prevailing market rate. To bring in more money, the government also plans to give tax exemptions to contributors.
    The tax is not just meant to improve the lives of slumdwellers but also deter speculation by builders and developers who exploit the scarcity of land in cities and towns.
    Sources pointed out that the corpus, called Basic Services to Urban Poor Fund, will have an initial Rs 5,000 crore and will also get a grant from the Centre.
    According to the proposal, moved by the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry, the non-lapsable fund will be set up at national, state and city levels.
    The purpose of the revolving fund, which is being vigorously pushed by minister of state for housing and urban poverty alleviation, Kumari Selja, is to finance the integrated development of slums.
    This, by means of projects to provide shelter, basic services and other amenities.
    The government proposal also suggests that civic agencies spend 25% of their budget in areas dominated by the urban poor if they want to avail of cash from the fund.
    A similar rider will apply to civic agencies funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.
PRICE OF PROFIT
    Tax to be paid by those who are allotted land by a govt agency and choose to keep it vacant
    It will be calculated at the prevailing market rate
    Move is intended to deter greedy builders and developers from exploiting scarce city land
    Civic agencies must spend 25% of their budget in areas dominated by the urban poor if they want to avail of the cash ‘BUDGET FOR THE POOR’
Civic bodies must spend more on poor to avail grant
New Delhi: A government proposal has suggested that civic agencies spend 25% of their budget in areas dominated by the urban poor if they want to avail of Central assistance from Basic Services to Urban Poor Fund.
    The limit has been fixed considering that at least a quarter of the population in cities and towns lives in slums.
    Poor constitute a major chunk of the urban population. According to the government’s estimates, in Mumbai, slum-dwellers constitute 54.1% of the city’s population. The figure for Delhi is 18.7%. The proportion increases in smaller towns.
    In Faridabad near New Delhi, 46.5% of the total population lives in slums while in Meerut the figure is 44.1%. In Kolkata, 32.5% of the total population lives in slums, while they account for 18.9% of Chennai’s population. The figure for Hyderabad is 17.2%.
    Selja had some time ago written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for setting up the dedicated fund. Subsequently, finance minister P Chidambaram asked the ministry to come out with the concept note on the proposal. The move is part of the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry’s proposal to provide 100% access to basic services for urban poor within the Mission Period 2005-12.
    The ministry has also introduced an innovative concept of P-Budget (Budget for the Poor). Under this, municipalities will have to allocate funds for schemes especially focused on weaker sections of society according to the proportion of their population in a city, said a senior official.

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Supreme Court defines who’s an idiot

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: ‘Idiot’ is a grossly misused word and an oversimplified epithet, if one goes by the Supreme Court’s brand new definition of the term. It is almost impossible for a person to qualify as an idiot, says the Court and therefore, few can expect to get a reprieve for an offence.
    To be legally accepted as an ‘idiot’, one has to be so dumb as to be unable to count till 20, list the days of the week, or fail to remember the names of one’s parents, the Court said on Friday.
    Under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, a person is not liable to be prosecuted if they are of unsound mind, or incapable of comprehending the nature of the criminal act and the fact that it is against the law.
    The Supreme Court identified just four kinds of people who could be classified mentally unsound — idiots, the very ill, lunatics and drunks.
    ‘‘An idiot is one who is of non-sane memory from his birth, by a perpetual infirmity, without lucid intervals: and those are said to be idiots who cannot count 20, or tell the days of the week or who do not know their fathers or mothers or the like,’’ said the judgement by Justices Arijit Pasayat and M K Sharma. They added that it was for the accused to prove they were idiots or otherwise of unsound mind.
    The court was dealing with a case from Madhya Pradesh where Hari Singh Gond murdered his grandfather-in-law and then claimed innocence on the grounds of idiocy. The Bench affirmed the lower court orders convicting Gond for the murder. SC: Abnormality or delusion no protection under Section 84
New Delhi: The SC has identified just four kinds of people who could be classified mentally unsound — idiots, the very ill, lunatics and drunks. Idiots, according to the court, are those who are unable to count till 20, list the days of the week, or fail to remember the names of one’s parents. But the trial court did not agree and the SC was forced to define the limits of idiocy. The court was dealing with a case from MP where Hari Singh Gond murdered his grandfather-in-law and then claimed innocence on the grounds of idiocy.
    If the investigating agency came across a history of insanity, it was duty-bound to subject the accused to a medical examination, the judges said. If a medical examination is not done ‘‘the benefit of doubt has to be given to the accused’’, the judges said.
    The MP trial court had refused to accept the accused was mentally unsound even though eyewitnesses reported he behaved in an unusual fashion at the time. Friday’s judgement differentiated between a defendant of unsound mind and mere absence of motive. ‘‘Mere absence of motive for a crime cannot, in the absence of plea and proof of legal insanity, bring the case within Section 84,’’ it said. ‘‘Mere abnormality of mind or partial delusion, irresistible impulse or compulsive behaviour of a psychopath affords no protection under Section 84,’’ the SC added, affirming the earlier court orders convicting Gond for the murder.

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Now, Mamata under siege?

Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Falguni Banerjee | TNN

Singur/Kolkata: Tata Nano workers failed to turn up at their besieged plant for a second day on Saturday even as Trinamool Congress-led protestors defied a Calcutta High Court directive to clear the highways and potentially clear the way for the world’s cheapest car finally to roll off the assembly line.
    There were some signs of cracks in the seemingly-solid wall of protest to Tata’s acquisition of nearly 1,000 acres with some local Trinamool Congress activists employed at the Nano plant as apprentices, openly blaming hardline Left-wingers for deliberately digging in for the long haul in order to force the Tatas out of Bengal. “We were with the agitation since it started. It was a spontaneous movement then,’’ said activist Kushal Saha, a former gram panchayat pradhan of Beraberi Purbapara. “Farmers wanted a better price from the government. They fought for it. Unfortunately, outsiders have taken over. They have no idea of ground reality,’’ he said. For the first time too, Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee’s supporters started to blame her directly. NHAI fails to move Singur protesters
Singur/Kolkata: National Highway Authority project director Avdhesh Singh on Saturday marched in with a copy of the court order but failed to intimidate protesters. After a preliminary meeting to take stock with district magistrate Neelam Meena and superintendent of police Rajiv Mishra, Singh asked to meet Mamata. But he only got as far as her colleague, lawyer Kalyan Banerjee, who said the protesters would not relent.
    “We are keeping the highway free. All our camps are on the roadside. The police are free to divert the traffic from Palsit in Burdwan, which they are not doing. They can try and run vehicles on the expressway if they want,’’ Banerjee said.
    “Let Mamata enter the car factory and identify the land? She can’t. The land she is talking about is far less than 400 acres. She is leading the protesters to nowhere,’’ Kushal Saha, a former gram panchayat pradhan of Beraberi Purbapara. But Trinamool leaders remained defiant.
    Meanwhile, Singh threatened police action, but that failed as well. He said, “There has been no change in the ground situation so far. The condition is still not conducive to resuming traffic movement on Saturday. We are losing Rs 25 lakh a day as toll. I will seek the help of the state police failing which we would clear the expressway with Central forces.’’.
    In Kolkata, West Bengal home secretary Asoke Mohan Chakrabarty admitted the state administration could do little to execute HC order. “The court has asked for compliance. There is no other way,’’ Chakrabarty said. But in a sign of increasing dismay at the bad press for Bengal’s seemingly anti-business policies, software professionals in Kolkata marched to demand government to take firm steps to hold on to the Tata project.

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Family-minded India asks for child-free zones

Cafes, Hotels Cash In On Demand

Pallavi Srivastava | TNN

    Smoking not allowed. Pets not allowed. Children not allowed. The last is not yet a condition of entry into restaurants, multiplexes and aircraft in famously familyminded India, but many believe it’s an idea whose time has come and a trickle of hoteliers and others are starting to provide child-free nirvana for those who want it.
    Aadisht Khanna, a 25-yearold Mumbai stockbroker is one of the reasons child-unfriendly businesses such as The Tryst, a family-run Coonoor guesthouse, ply their trade. Khanna runs a blog that repeatedly complains about the menace of unruly children and is calling for “business traveller-specific flights, which have an intermediate class between economy and business and use a combination of premium pricing, timing, and actually disallowing children to make the flight child-free”.
    There is also a growing chorus of bloggers and netizens who are calling for adult-only eateries and cafes. Even PG films, they say, should have some screenings without kids.
    M S Rao, who owns Tryst, is candid about his decision to advertise the tiny guesthouse on the net as a place where children are allowed “only if they’re invisible”. He says, “Children are not encouraged because most parents especially Indians do not know how to manage or discipline their spawn. They run amok and damage our property, whilst the parents look on unconcerned.”
    Rao dismisses the suggestion child-free hotels are politically incorrect and bad for business in a country that prides itself on child-centred family life. “The Tryst is for relaxation and enjoyment of nature and we cater mostly to foreign clientele. I am sure they would prefer to stay in a childfree zone during their holidays, for obvious reasons”.
    The Tryst is one of a thin but growing trickle of public venues that restrict child entry or at least hedge around it with the sternest of rules. Children under three are barred from Puducherry’s Aurobindo Ashram. The Ooty Club in the Nilgiris insists that children roam no further than their parents’ room and the children’s dining room. Many other clubs across India, including the Calcutta Club, have rules on the same lines. Child-free zones not illegal: SC lawyer
    The idea of making restaurants, theatres, and flights child-free is fast catching. Like The Tryst, a family-run Coonoor guesthouse has already providing its guest child-free nirvana.
    Child-free zones may sound politically incorrect but are perfectly legal. SC lawyer Geeta Luthra says, “Private places can keep the right of entry reserved. All of this so long as they (the rules) are not unreasonable.”
    The pro-child-free zone lobby thinks nothing unreasonable in its campaign.
    Delhi-based freelance writer Jai Arjun Singh, a familiar internet voice raised against children, says he’d “rather not hear them (or have them picking on the back of my head) in a movie hall. Or see one come across to my table while I’m eating and stare at me continuously”.
    Half in jest he insists this year’s Railway Budget was “shockingly timorous” because it lacked “a special provision for sealed compartments for all the little humans. I propose this measure be incorporated.”
    A recent survey by website airfarewatchdog.com found that 85% of 10,000 respondents favoured the idea of a separate section on planes for those travelling with children.
    Last year, a Danish company introduced a child-free zone aboard planes to Thailand, Malaysia and Cape Verde. Were gloriously child-loving India to take to the trend, it would be in line with places such as the Caribbean, US, Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and Mauritius, where child-free hotels and restaurants are not hard to come by.
    Most of these places bar children under 12 and some restrict entry for 14-year-olds as well.
    Even so, some businesses seem wary about openly announcing a child-unfriendly policy. Most fine-dining restaurants in India are careful not to overtly bar children even though they are sure to be restless and may spoil the Rs 5,000-dinner-fortwo experience.
    Delhi’s Taj Mahal Hotel emphasises its child-friendly qualities and insists children are an important segment. But it admits it does not “encourage” children in the fine-dining restaurants even though it is loathe to declare these child-free zones.
    A spokesman says, “People are evolved and don’t bring kids. Restaurants are also priced so much.”
    So just how commercially viable can a child-free zone be? People like Aadisht Khanna are ready to pay for the privilege of peace, but hoteliers like Rao think parents should be charged substantially more if they travel with their offspring. But till the math is worked out, all you can do is practise saying cho-chweet.

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Delhi Times

KAHAANI DRONA KI

Director Goldie Behl reveals, for the first time, what Drona is going to be all about

VISHWAS GAUTAM Times News Network

    The look is intriguing – sherwanis and flowing stoles, a larger than life Abhishek Bachchan, engraved swords and the promise of a story packed with action, mystery and the supernormal. But what is that story? The director of Drona, Goldie Behl, tells DT the tale.
    “ Drona is the title that’s given to the lead character. Drona is completely human – he even has character flaws. In the movie, he learns to deal with his fears as well. Drona is the title given to the firstborn of every generation in this dynasty. It has been appointed here on earth by the gods themselves to guard a secret which, if found by evil forces, will spell doom for the planet and the universe,” he explains. “Vir Bhadra, the first king of this palace called Pratap Garh, was chosen as the Drona of his age and the firstborn of his dynasty, to this day, is called Drona because he guards that secret. The character in the movie is called Aditya, played by Abhishek, so it’s pretty much like the Jedi and Star Wars – you have to be born a Drona.”
    So was Star Wars the inspiration behind Drona, or is it something else? “The inspiration, or the idea, is that every person is born with a special task or destiny. Each one of us is born to do something, with certain capabilities and skills that belong only to us. You write well, I might direct well, there are various skills that God has given us all. This is a fictionalised, larger than life way of telling a coming-of-age tale. It’s about how this character discovers what he is destined to become and what his superhuman powers are,” says Goldie. “The outfit in the movie is the ancestral outfit that he dons – that is what a Drona wears when he goes to war. He’s human, and that’s the whole point – there’s a representative of the human race who’s appointed by the gods to protect the secret.”
    The initial approval for this grand idea came from a small source – Goldie and Abhishek’s nephews. “I must tell you, Abhishek and I first narrated the story to all the kids in our family – my nephew and Abhi’s nephew and niece – and only after the kids gave us an okay did we decide to go ahead with the movie,” he says, grinning. And this is the second time that the director is working with Abhishek – was the character written first and then Abhishek cast to play it, or was it written for the junior B? “Because of my closeness to Abhishek and the family, I thought of the character and Abhishek at the same time. For him too, I think, it’s pretty much the same, so it happens automatically for me,” says Goldie.
    There’s no sameness in the movie, though, says Goldie, explaining that it’s been shot in exotic locations in Rajasthan – Kuchaman fort, Bikaner and Sambar – and at various locations in Namibia. “In fact, there’s one location that’s never been seen before – where the desert and the ocean meets,” says Goldie.
    His last movie, Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai, didn’t do too well at the Box Office, and Goldie’s putting a lot into Drona – isn’t he nervous? Apparently not. “We’ve all been honest and worked hard on it, there has been no compromise from anybody as far as efforts or money go,” says Goldie. “I genuinely believe that it will set a standard in the film industry that will be followed from here on.”
‘Abhishek and I first narrated the story to the kids in our families, and decided to make the movie only after they gave us an okay’
– Goldie Behl

Priyanka and Goldie during the shooting of
Drona

LARGER THAN LIFE: Abhishek Bachchan in a still from Drona

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‘We’re all signing on a sentiment’

Soha Ali Khan says people, not just the government, have to be involved in the fight against terrorism

MANDVI SHARMA Times News Network

The two things came close together, but Soha Ali Khan doesn’t shy away from involvement in the issue. She participated in the anti-terrorism human chain that was formed in Mumbai on Independence Day, and featured celebs as well as volunteers. Soon after, Mumbai Meri Jaan, a film on the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts, was released, in which Soha plays a TV journalist who loses her fiance in the blasts.
Soha believes that involvement is the key. “It’s very inspiring – what Mr Khorakiwala (FT Khorakiwala, former Mumbai sheriff,
who organised the human chain) has done. The human chain embodies the spirit of Mumbai. We all deal with terrorism and we’re all its potential victims. If you think of the blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, you know that, even if not directly, we’re all affected by it. You can’t leave the fight against terrorism to the government because it affects us as well. This way, we’re all signing on a sentiment,” she says.
She adds that,despite the serious subject, Mumbai Meri Jaan is not a preachy film. “It is really an entertaining film. It has humour and songs.We hope the audience can relate to the characters,” she adds.
But sometimes, Soha says she gets very ‘strange roles’ too. “After the magazine cover that I had recently done, I got some very strange offers. But I was quite amused. I want people to understand that it was just a one-off thing and they will figure out from my future releases that it was not an avatar change or something of that sort. I have done bold films like Antarmahal and Khoya Khoya Chand and also had some bold scenes in them. But boldness is limited to my comfort level.” She recently returned from Malaysia, where she got “nicely tanned”. Even though she’s not into bold scenes, is it true that she’s wearing a bikini for Kunal Deshmukh’s next? “That’s completely untrue!” she exclaims. “I mean, there’s no scope in the story for that. It’s strange how people come up with such stories.”
mandvi.sharma @timesgroup.com

INVOLVED: Soha Ali Khan. For more pics of Soha, visit http ://photogallery. indiatimes.com

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Gay and loving it

The gay community says it’s their confidence that’s leading to greater acceptance

JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network

    The headlines this past fortnight have been neither black, nor red, but a vibrant shade of rainbow. That’s because every day brings some positive development for the people who have the rainbow flag as their standard – the gay community. The implications of each of the measures and incidents internationally and in India – some of which are listed here – are far reaching for a community that has long been fighting for social acceptance.
    But gay rights activists prefer to put it even more positively. “Well, let’s say the levels of awareness are increasing,” says Leslie Lewis, gay rights activist, who says the gay community in Delhi is more confident of itself ever since the stupendous response it got to the queer parade a couple of months ago. A fact that Deepti Sharma, one of the organisers of the recently concluded artfilm-photographs Nigah Queer Festival in Delhi, underlines. “This year, over 47 films were shown. We had so many visitors and participants that it’s unbelievable,” she said.
    Talking of which, the queer pride parade held in Mumbai recently also sailed through without a hitch. “More than anything else, I like the image we are portraying to the world. On the net, I came across this headline in a prominent Canadian newspaper: India Comes Out of the Closet. Now that is telling,” says Laxmi, a participant in the parade.
    But, as Leslie is quick to tell us, it is not all a swirl of rainbow flags and feathered masks for the community – yet. “It’s still tough for us. Because even today, a large part of the society has not accepted homosexuality – not in India, not abroad. But once we decided to come out in the open and say ‘to hell with your reactions’, the acceptance levels have increased.”

MUMBAI GAY PARADE
Just a day after Independence Day, Mumbai’s homosexuals took to the streets, demanding an apology from the British for making a law that deemed their relationship illegal. The parade, which saw designer Krsna Mehta and actress Celina Jaitly participate, began from August Kranti Maidan,“because we’re still waiting for our Independence,” as Laxmi puts it. “India’s been free for 61 years, but what do we have? We have Section 377.”

ELLEN DEGENERES
MARRIES GIRLFRIEND
US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has married her long term partner, actress Portia de Rossi,after California’s Supreme Court ruled that a previous ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. Reports say that Ellen, 50, and Portia, 35, exchanged rings and handwritten vows during in an ‘intimate ceremony’ recently at their home in Los Angeles. The wedding was attended by both their mothers.

BAHUT DOSTANA LAGTA HAI…
It is just a 60-second trailer of KJo’s Dostana. But, it leaves a lasting impact as it shows leading men Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham as lovers – John and Abhi doing the tango, or John yelling “Yeh meraboyfriend hai!” to passers-by. Off the screen too,John makes sure we think of him and Abhi as a couple.As he had told DT, “It is a very light film… but I do share a great chemistry with Abhishek in the film.”Even though the leading men only pretend to be gay, it’s already being talked about as a sensitive take, sans the lame jokes.

RAMADOSS WANTS 377 TOSSED…
He intended it as a health measure, for he’s more concerned about the “stabilisation of the HIV epidemic”. However, union health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss favouring the legalisation of homosexuality, and removing discrimination against other vulnerable sections like sex workers, is a shot in the arm for the gay community. “Section 377 of the IPC must go,” he said at a conference on AIDS.

GAY WEDDING CARDS
Gay weddings might be illegal, but there are cards for them now. Hallmark is set to introduce same-sex wedding cards, which use ‘neutral’ language with no reference to the gender of the people getting married. One, featured here, shows two tuxedos, another has two hearts intertwined, a third says, ‘Two hearts. One promise.’

A GAY 007?
Following its path-breaking steps to recruit officers from among British Muslims and Asian languages experts, particularly after the London Underground bombings, the British Security Service, popularly known as MI5, has agreed to recruit gays and lesbians. This year, MI5 will appear in UK gay equality organisation Stonewall’s graduate recruitment guide, which lists gay-friendly employers. Stonewall director Summerskill said,“There is no reason why there shouldn’t be a lesbian or gay director-general.”

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THE GREAT DOLL OF CHINA

SUBHASH K JHA

    Make-up artistes obviously will do anything to get their effect right. Deepika Padukone found that out the hard way recently. But clever Deepika believes in going by her instincts rather than following instructions blindly. And her instincts were proved her right on the sets of Chandni Chowk to China. She was asked by make-up artistes, who were specially brought in to achieve her Chinese look for her role in the film, to stick tapes around her eyes to achieve the slanting eyed look of a Chinese girl. However, better sense prevailed as she consulted a doctor before going ahead with the ordeal.
    When contacted, Deepika said, “I don’t know how or why Nikhil Advani thought of a South Indian like me with big eyes to play a Chinese. I play half-Chinese and half-Indian in the film. And to get my eyes to look less big and rounded and more slanted, some special make-up artistes were brought in. They suggested I stick tapes around my eyes.”
    Deepika then consulted her doctors. “And they cut the idea down in time. My doctors said if I stick those tapes on my eyes for 12 hours a day, the shape of my eyes would change forever. So, instead, we got my make-up artiste Mallika Bhatt to do my eye make-up in such a way that my eyes looked slanted,” added Deepika.
    Interestingly, Deepika plays her second double role in Chandni Chowk… (one of a Chinese and the other of an Indian) after Om Shanti Om. She said, “Yes, two of out my three roles so far are double roles. It just gives me that much more confidence as an actor to know that directors think I can carry off a completely Indian and a Chinese look.”
    Deepika is working with Saif in Imtiaz Ali’s film. Talking about Imitiaz’s film, you cannot help but ask how was it working with Ranbir’s father Rishi Kapoor? The buzz is that Rishi has been calling her ‘bahurani’. Is it true? “I don’t know where such rumours start from. I worked with him in London for Imtiaz’s film and we were thorough professionals. He was as warm towards me as he was with the rest of the crew. I don’t have too many scenes with him. But yes, we interacted for a longer time in London than we ever did in Mumbai. He is a very caring person. He made sure everyone had khana on time. When he arrives and leaves the set he greets everyone with equal warmth,” she said.

Deepika Padukone in Chandni Chowk to China

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Add campaign

KUNAL M SHAH

Ranbir Kapoor is all set to join AR Rahman, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Priyanka Chopra and Gulzar among others for a public service campaign. Last year, Sachin Tendulkar and Aamir Khan were part of the campaign. Talks are also on to include shooter and Olympic Gold medalist, Abhinav Bindra and Rahul Gandhi in the campaign. Ranbir will shoot for the campaign in Ooty on September 12.
Producer of the campaign, Savita Raj Hiremath (producer of Khosla Ka Ghosla), informs, “We would not like to reveal details about the campaign at the moment but yes, Ranbir will be part of it. This is the same campaign which was started in the Millennium year. The campaign deals with many issues like poverty and unemployment and is part of a United Nations campaign. Just like last year, this year too the campaign will have people posing questions to government authorities about various issues. Meghana Gulzar has written the campaign and she will be directing it this year. We start shooting from September 10. The campaign runs across 80 countries.”

Ranbir Kapoor

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No show

DHANASHRI KULKARNI & HARSHITA KOHLI

    Despite the hype surrounding the Bachchans’ Unforgettable Tour for two months, the first segment of the tour has been called off abruptly. After the London leg of the show, the performances scheduled in Rotterdam and Oberhausen have been cancelled at the last minute, as the promoters of the show were not too keen on them. Our source said, “Fans who had purchased tickets in Rotterdam and Oberhausen, were very disappointed as the tour was called off at the last minute, but we could do nothing about it. The local promoters defaulted at the last minute making it impossible for us to continue with the shows.”
    However, another source who’s with the tour gave an altogether different version. He said that the tour has been called off due to lack of response from the audience. “The actual reason is that the tickets are not selling. They are very expensive and ‘the meet and greet with the stars’ comes at an additional price. Also, as compared to the Unforgettable Tour, the tickets of SRK’s Temptations shows were much cheaper. Considering another Temptations tour is in the offing in Europe including Germany, Bollywood fans were in no mood to buy expensive tickets for the Unforgettable Tour,” revealed the source.
    We contacted Amitabh Bachchan. He SMSed back, “The promoters of the show have defaulted on the contract… I’m not authorised to give a comment on this. And ticket price is not an issue. All our other nine shows in Canada, Trinidad and in entire USA and London were sold out.” Meanwhile, music composer Shekhar, who is part of the tour, has a different take. He said, “We are planning to have a show in Europe, so, we had an afterthought about doing the shows now in Rotterdam and Oberhausen. We have now scheduled shows in the said European cities for our second segment in Europe.”

Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya & Abhishek

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Madonna’s explicit love letters

Madonna is seeking legal advice to stop explicit letters she sent to a former boyfriend from going on display at an exhibition. Organisers of the Simply Madonna exhibition are keen to make 17 letters she wrote to former lover and bodyguard James Albright public property by showcasing them at the show in London next year. The letters are allegedly signed ‘Spanky’, and are sealed with a lipstick kiss, according to a newspaper.
Meanwhile, Sir Elton John has called a truce on his rocky relationship with Madonna, by turning up at her Sweet and Sticky concert in Paris. Agencies

Madonna

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WORLD RAP

OBEY!

Socialite heiress Paris Hilton made her boyfriend Benji Madden wear a T-shirt with the word ‘Obey’ written on it and paraded him in front of paparazzi to defuse rumours that he has dumped her. According to a website, Madden’s rapper friend, The Game, was not impressed at all. He said, “I don’t know what he’s doing. I like him – but not his girlfriend.” Hilton and Madden have been dating for quite a while and earlier it was reported that they are planning to get married. IANS

Paris Hilton

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New ‘Kinng’ on the block!

    If you’ve ever wondered why certain names are not spelt the way they should have been, then you are amongst many of those who pull their hair out in frustration when asked by their children why Bigg Boss is spelt the way it is, or why Singh is Kinng, not King? After all, which emperor would not know how to spell the simple word, Kinng, oops, King? Or why Imran is Emraan, Kiran is Kirron, Ritesh is Ritiesh or Sunil is Suniel? Or why Kyunki Saas is not Kyonki Saas and it’s Kkusum not Kusum?
    Himesh Reshammiya has an extra ‘m’ to his surname, with Aap Kaa Surroor spelt like a ballad! Its box-office fate, being a hit, surprised one and all though. Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai had two extra As in it too; Mujhe Kucch Kehan Hai gave Tusshar a debut jubilee hit, Kyaa Kool Hain Hum was a runaway success and Jodhaa Akbar producers made a handsome profit too.
    We already know how the numbers game has fast caught up from leading actors to film and TV stars and producers, to cricketers and corporate honchos and the common man not left far behind. Numerology has left us all spellbound, thinking whether the way our parents spelt our names is correct or not.
    So, what’s the magic formula that seems to be working for Akshay Kumar? Says Sanjay B Jumaani, India’s leading numerologist (who declined the role of an inmate in Bigg Boss 2 despite being pursued by the production house) on how the numbers game has played a vital role in his super stardom (read Kinngdom!). “In the June 2006 issue of Filmfare, when Akki was in his 40th year, and nowhere in the limelight, I had predicted that Akshay Kumar’s 41st and 42nd year would be very eventful.” Akshay is now, says Jumaani, in his 42nd (6) year, and 42 = 6, number of Venus, planet of entertainment. “In fact Shah Rukh Khan adds to a 42 by virtue of his name vibrations. Akshay is a number 9 (09/09) in numerology and 2007 equals 9, the year when he started to flourish. A Virgo ruled by the number 5, he rocked in his 41st year (4+1=5) last year,” Sanjay says, adding, “ Khatron Ke Khiladi, the show that has fast become the trump card of the new channel, Colors, adds to 5, one of Akki’s lucky numbers too! In fact, all his recent hits have been numerically corrected! Namastey London, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa were amongst them. Welcome, by default added up well and did well too.”
    Sanjay and his sister Swetta B Jumaani spelt Singh Is Kinng and are glad to know that the collections are historic, and it has got the highest opening by any film, leave alone an Akshay starrer. “We had asked Vipul to release the film on the 7th to avoid releasing on 08/08/2008 as that date would have been inauspicious for him. In fact, on the 7th, the film had a premiere in 150 theaters across the country. Some years ago, we’d also suggested to Vipul Shah to spell his name as Vipul Amrutlal Shah. He, soon after, gave a hit, Aankhen, also spelt by us. Vipul’s Waqt, A Race Against Time became, Waqt, The Race Against Time.”
    On Jumaanis’ suggestion, Namaste London became Namastey London. Vipul was suggested to release it on the 24th. Most thought it was suicidal to release a film when the World Cup was on. But as fortune would have it, India crashed out two days later on the 26th, losing to Bangladesh quite surprisingly and Namastey London went on to become a superhit. Says Sanjay, “In Vipul’s case we are hopeful and confident of a high 5 with London Dreams, also spelt by us, but he’s already laughed his way to the bank with a historic Rs 120 cr deal.”
    Moving on to the ‘Kinng’, Akshay will remain in his 42nd year till September 9, and his 43rd year begins. “Though not amongst his lucky (or unlucky) numbers, 43 will be eventful too as 2008 is still on. His name which adds to 28 is the same number we get by adding 2008,” adds Sanjay.
    On his on-screen chemistry with the latest heartthrob, Katrina Kaif, Sanjay has this to say, “The names Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif both add to the identical number 28. While Akki is an Earth sign of Virgo, Kats is a Water sign of Cancer, and Earth and Water have stayed together for ages! In fact, Salman Khan, like Akki is also a number 9 Earth sign (27/12) with whom she has an on-screen as well as an offscreen chemistry.” So the new ‘Kinng’ on the block is here to stay, even if some may differ, and question ‘KKKKK… Kinng? TNN

Akshay Kumar

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‘I’m a born dancer’

Sunayana reveals some of her smart moves…

NIKHILA PANT Times News Network

Sunayana, currently seen in the daily show, Santaan, loves to put on her dancing shoes. Thanks to her love for dancing, the actress featured in Bappi Lahiri’s music video Gori Hain Kalaiyan. She says, “The album was much appreciated and I became a household name. Unlike other albums focusing more on steamy sequences, this one was shot aesthetically. This was followed by the dance number Zindagi Ke Maje Lele in the film, Corporate.” Tell her that the TV show isn’t giving her any chance to show her skills and she says, “I am a born dancer. Before I started acting, I had taken classes from Shiamak Davar, Terrence Lewis and Bosco Ceasar. I have also travelled extensively, courtesy my dance shows. I don’t have to depend on my acting profession to fulfill my desire to dance.” And is she open to taking up another item number? “If an interesting offer comes my way, I would not mind sweating it out. But, the song should be shot tastefully, like those shot with Madhuri Dixit. Her dance moves have the elegance that has not been achieved by any other actress till now,” says the pretty lady. Sunayana has acted in a number of Kannada films and was also nominated for a best debut award. But she maintains that she does not want to be in South for too long. “I am happy with the projects that I have right now but, I would move on to do mainstream Hindi films. I think this is where I belong,” she says.

Sunayana

TAAZA KHABAR - A Daily Newz Portal

14 September 2008

Times Of India

BANGALORE, JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, SURAT AND NOW DELHI HELPLESS?

Rahul Tripathi | TNN

Mumbai techie chief suspect: Agencies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

This time, the email came late

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

WEEKEND CROWD HIT Shoppers Target

From Central Park of CP, the bustling heart of the city, to GK-I’s M Block market, terror struck within minutes on Saturday evening, sending the city into panic mode

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Grass turned red, victims shrieked, chaos reigned

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

At GK-I, traders herded people into park to safety

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Auto wrecked, went up in air

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Within eight minutes, two blasts sent shoppers scurrying for cover

Megha Suri & Ruhi Bhasin | TNN

Politicians rush in to help with blood

Volunteers Lend A Hand, Take Credit

Smriti Singh | TNN

From bustling market to ghost town in minutes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Panic as cell network collapses

Most cellphone networks in the city were jammed for almost an hour after the first blast at Ghaffar Market at 6.10 pm. Markets also closed down early as traders preferred to retreat to safety of their homes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Metro pulls it off with slight delay

DMRC trains ran as per schedule, services halted only for 4 mins to check for any damage to system due to blasts at CP. Security intensified at stations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

FIGHTBACK CALL

Imtiaz’s shooting in Delhi!

VISHWAS GAUTAM Times News Network

Dutt’s the way to Bhatinda : Kumar

Boxing brand ambassador, Sanjay Dutt promised to bring us gold in the 2012 Olympics, gave the gathered crowd some star moments to remember and left the venue in a jiffy

PIYALI DASGUPTA Times News Network

Monday , September 8 , 2008

Times Of India

Yes, no, yes: High drama before Singur solution

Panel Of 4 To Report In A Week, Mamata Flip-Flop Delays Truce

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NSG in bag, India seeks uranium from Australia

Hopes To Build On Aussie Help At Vienna Talks

Sachin Parashar | TNN

51% of businesses owned by SC/ST/OBCs

Rema Nagarajan | TIMES INSIGHT GROUP

US Congress set to give final stamp to deal

Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

UPA mulls fuel price cut ahead of Nov polls

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

WHO pushes prohibitively costly vaccine

Rema Nagarajan | TIG

Fat wallets? Credit it to plastic

Avijit Ghosh | TNN

Saree jahan se achha

The whole world’s draped in sarees, literally, including the Pussycat Dolls. Designers tell us what the USP of the six-yard wonder is

MANDVI SHARMA & JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network

Reality with a twist in the tale

The Bollywood Club, a show in which contenders use their skills to try to entertain and impress Bollywood directors, gets the behind-the-scenes dope right into your living room

SASHWATI SANYAL Times News Network

Priyanka Chopra’s smoky affair!

Aamir in a sequel game

‘Now begins the real fight’

Newly-elected DUSU president, Nupur Sharma, reveals her future plans and talks about what’s on her to-do list

NIKHILA PANT Times News Network

Thursday 4 September 2008

N-deal to be off if India conducts nuclear test?

Claim By US Lawmakers Makes India’s Task At NSG Tougher

Indrani Bagchi & Sachin Parashar | TNN

Havoc in Aravalis as SC norms are ignored

TOI uncovers a disturbing story of savage exploitation of environment and labour just 36 km from Delhi

Abantika Ghosh | TNN

Mamata’s stir claims first life

3 Sons Jobless, Land Sold, Singur Farmer Gulps Pesticide

Jayanta Gupta & Falguni Banerjee | TNN

Dengue grips Gurgaon: 348 cases and counting

Kounteya Sinha & Sumi Sukanya | TNN

Kerala lines up edu quota for forward castes

Govt to review anti-dowry law

Imtiaz’s shooting in
Delhi!