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May 2003
13 wounded in Kashmir blast
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Srinagar, May 31 While a paramilitary officer escaped unhurt when separatist guerrillas in Jammu and Kashmir hurled a grenade at his vehicle Saturday, 13 other people were wounded in the powerful blast that followed. The deputy inspector general of the Border Security Force (BSF) survived the attack in Khudwani village of south Kashmir's Anantnag district. Police here told that 13 people, including two BSF troopers, were seriously injured in the blast and had been taken to the Anantnag district hospital for treatment. They said unidentified militants hurled a grenade at the vehicle of the BSF officer, resulting in serious injuries to his two bodyguards and 11 civilian bystanders. The vehicle caught fire. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.
Haasil
Friday, May 30, 2003
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Ashtosh Rana, Tinu Anand, Sudhir Pandey Music: Jatin-Lalit Producer: Karma Network Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia Amazing performance by Irfan Khan, coupled with that is a powerful depiction of how politics has seeped into colleges. Karma Network's HAASIL, written-directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia is good initially but the film loses momentum post interval. It's all about two lovers who are caught in college politics. Jimmy Shergill is a student, who is also good at dramatics. Hrishitaa Bhatt also studies in the same college. Both of them secretly love each other. Everything is fine, until one day Jimmy Shergill meets Irfan, when the latter is trying to escape from a rival gang. Jimmy helps him escape and both of them become friends. Jimmy gets closer to Irfan Khan. Slowly and slowly he realizes that, his buddy is using him to get what he wants. And one of them includes Jimmy's ladylove. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia's film does have substance, but then it comes with good number of flaws. The romance here is shadowed by the political angle. The film has very close resemblance to the film SHIVA of the early 90's, which starred Nagarjuna and Amala. Technically the film is good. Editing is a bit bad. Cinematography complements with the sequence. Musically, Jatin Lalit's tunes are hummable. Performance wise, all have done justice to their respective roles. But it's Irfan Khan who steals the show. Jimmy Shergill is improving. Ashutosh Rana as usual has given out his best. Hrishita Bhatt, is okay. She has lot of scope to get better. Rest lend adequate support. Overall the film is good, could be watched once. Not a total paisa vasool though
Bollywood's tribute to Sachin Tendulkar
Friday, May 30, 2003
This cricket crazy nation never seems to have enough of Sachin Tendulkar. Recently, Tendulkar's birthday was celebrated by the entire nation along with him and now another honour is coming his way. Director Keshav Rai will be shooting a video as a tribute to Tendulkar, the lyrics of which has been penned by Suraj. The video will be shot in Indore and Udvhav Ojha and Kavita Paudwal will lend their voices to the song. Buzz is that Tendulkar himself might make an appearance in the video. Source:
Love in Nepal
Friday, May 30, 2003
Cast :Sonu Nigam , Fllora Saini, Sweta Keswani, Jharna Bajracharya, Preview : Rajat Mukherjee, who has directed PYAAR TUNE KYA KIYA and ROAD, has just completed his third film LOVE IN NEPAL. Produced by T.P. Aggarwal [RETURN OF JEWEL THIEF, BHARAT BHAGYA VIDHATA], the film stars Sonu Nigam and Fllora in the lead. Abby [Sonu Nigam] is the wild and wacky creative head of an advertising agency called Madness. A compulsive flirt, he has a unique style of functioning. His way of functioning is threatened when Meenxi Malhotra, popularly called Maxi [Fllora Saini], joins as the Vice President Operations after the takeover of the agency by a multi-national entity. Maxi hates the guts and specially the attitude of Abby and is hell bent on teaching him a lesson. This sparks off a series of episodes of one-upmanship between the two. The rivalry extends to Nepal, where they go to shoot for an advertising film, little knowing that their lives are going to change forever. Abby's undisciplined behaviour starts acting as a catalyst for Maxi, who gets attracted to him gradually. All of a sudden, events take an interesting turn whereby these adversaries are forced to go on the run from literally everyone in sight in Nepal. Will Abby and Maxi be able to figure out these unexpected new events? LOVE IN NEPAL stars Sonu Nigam [as Abby], Fllora Saini [as Maxi], Sweta Kewani [as Sandhya], Jharna Bajracharya [as Tanya], Raj Zutshi [as George], Rajpal Yadav [as Bunty Guide], Ehsaan Khan [as Prithvi Singh], Asif Basra [as Ram Mohan], Vijay Raaz [as Tony] and Ganesh Yadav [as Gajji]. Technical team Executive producer: Rahul Aggarwal. Music: Nikhil-Vinay. Lyrics: Sameer. Cinematography: Madhusudhan Shi. Story-screenplay-dialogues: Sameer Aroraa. Production designer: Geeta Mukherjee. Art: Somnath Lohar [India], Nandu [Nepal]. Action: Joginder. Choreography: Pappu-Maalu. Editing: Umesh Gupta. LOVE IN NEPAL is slated for release in July all over.
Janasheen
Friday, May 30, 2003
Preview : After a gap of five years, after PREM AGGAN to be precise, Feroz Khan is back with JANASHEEN, starring Fardeen Khan, Celina Jaitley and Feroz Khan himself. As an actor, I've done limited films in my career, Feroz Khan tells me, Even as a film-maker, there has always been a gap of four or five years between each of my films. Between PREM AGGAN and JANASHEEN, there has been a distinct growth in Fardeen's career. I was more than pleased with his performance in KHUSHI, the Sr. Khan states, I always knew Fardeen had the abilities to deliver the goods. It was just a matter of time. JANASHEEN marks the debut of Celina Jaitley. She is an attractive woman. I decided to cast her when I saw her pics after she won the Miss India title. Fardeen and Celina pair off very well. Celina is thrilled at the prospects of working with Feroz Khan. He's a dedicated film-maker, she tells me, When he offered me JANASHEEN, I decided to accept it without listening to what my role was. That's the level of confidence I've in him. The synopsis JANASHEEN is the story of Lucky Kapoor [Fardeen Khan], living in Australia and who's driven by the ambition to be a Super Bike Racing champion. He is an unwilling successor to his father's legacy. Lucky's life takes a drastic turn when his father [Harsh Chhaya] dies in an accident and he has to return to India for a short while. Then begins the conflict between his past and present. His life is veiled in a deception so deep that he doesn't know who his real friends are and who are his real enemies. Back in India, he meets the girl who loved him as a kid. At the same time, deception, evil and lies surround him at every step, trying to keep him away from the truth. JANASHEEN is also the story of Saba Karim [Feroz Khan], a fugitive from Afghanistan now living in Australia. A rich and ruthless businessman, in Lucky he finds a likeness to his dead son. Today, Saba plays a game of hearts unknowing to him, this game entangles his own heart when he tries to deceive the young man by becoming his foster father, only to realise that his own paternal instincts are still alive. Jessica [Celina Jaitley] plays the role of a famous violinist with a tragic past. She works for Lucky's father, who is a music baron. She is in love with Lucky since she was a child, only to lose him when he went away to Australia and never came back. When Lucky does return, the love is now kindled even in his heart, but life is so ironic that now that she has a chance, she has to hide secrets and carry the burden of lies on her chest, which affects her relationship with Lucky.
Khel
Friday, May 30, 2003
Cast :Sunil Shetty , Ajay Jadeja, Celina Jaitley , Sunny Deol , Preview : KHEL, produced by Popcorn Motion Pictures P. Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Corp. Ltd., marks the directorial debut of Yusuf Khan, who's a well-known editor. It's not one of those typical commercial films, Suniel Shetty tells me at the very outset, There's logic behind every incident that takes place in the film. We worked doubly hard on the script, primarily to ensure that the viewer doesn't feel cheated while watching the film. Suniel is enacting dual roles as far as KHEL goes that of a producer as well as the main lead, sharing the frame with Sunny Deol and cricketer Ajay Jadeja, who makes his bow as an actor with this multi-starrer. The casting was arrived at after a lot of thought. Says Yusuf, The stars in the film were not cast just to enhance the viability of the project. They've been cast because they suit the roles. Incidentally, KHEL was the first film Celina Jaitley signed, but she started shooting for Feroz Khan's JANASHEEN first. Actually, Prakash Khubchandani of Popcorn tells me, We completed the film so fast [within three months] only because the artistes were bowled by the subject. That is the raaz of releasing the film within 7-8 months of its launch. The synopsis KHEL tells the story of two thick friends Dev Mallya [Suniel Shetty] and Rohan Poddar [Ajay Jadeja]. Dev is a business tycoon who is known to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. He has an undying passion to be the most successful businessman, not only in his city, but also in the country. On the other hand, Rohan is a simpleton, someone who is not overly ambitious. Rohan comes across Saanjh Batra [Celina Jaitley], an interior designer. Saanjh gets attracted to Rohan's simplicity and falls in love with him. One fine day, Rohan gets arrested for murder. Dev and Saanjh are crestfallen. While Rohan is sentenced to life imprisonment, Dev and Saanjh, while sharing a common grief, become close friends. The new A.C.P., Rajveer Scindia [Sunny Deol], is commissioned to the city and he comes across Rohan's case. Rajveer is of the belief that a criminal may go unpunished, but an innocent victim of circumstances should never be punished. On investigating Rohan's case further, certain evidences force Rajveer to start thinking that this is no ordinary game. What happens next?
Bhoot
Friday, May 30, 2003
Nitin Manmohan and Ramgopal Varma are back with their latest venture BHOOT. Starring Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Nana Patekar, Rekha, Fardeen Khan, Victor Banerjee, Seema Biswas and Tanuja, this is one of the most keenly-awaited films of the times. BHOOT is an urban supernatural thriller set in Mumbai city. Vishal, a stock analyst, is in search for a flat for his wife Swati and him. He finds the perfect place on the 12th floor of a tall apartment building. The flat has a problem... the previous occupant, a young woman, had plunged to her death from the balcony. But a non-superstitious Vishal does not let this affect his decision to shift in. He just neglects to inform Swati about this. Eventually, Swati finds out about the young woman's death. She starts losing sleep over it. She begins to see things. She gets distressed. What Vishal thinks is a psychological problem begins to unravel into the unexplainable. He becomes helpless. In a fight to save Swati, Vishal will have to reach out into the horrifying and discover the truth. The technicians - Cinematography: Vishal Sinha. Editing: Shimit Amin. Writers: Sameer Sharma, Lalit Marathe. Action: Allan Amin. Background music: Salim-Sulaiman. Sound: Dwarak Warrier.
Chalte Chalte
Friday, May 30, 2003
Chalte Chalte is the next movie produced by the trio Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Aziz Mirza's venture Dreamz Unlimited. The movie is directed by Aziz Mirza himself, who had done the previous movie "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani". Though PDHH failed badly, what needs to see is the success of Chalte Chalte. Chalte Chalte's music, which is already in the charts is composed by Jatin-Lalit and Aadesh Srivastav, while the lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. "Chalte Chalte does not strive to make any statement. It is a simple film that deals with basic human emotions. The character of the film could be you or me.. it is about the everyday experiences that we all at some point of our lives encounter with our partner." says Aziz Mirza. The story is about Raj and Priya. Priya and Raj, two sides of a coin, different as chalk and cheese. Both are smart enough to see their differences because it's rather visible to the naked eye. They grow caution to the winds and dare to fall in love. And then suddenly the game changes and so do the rules. Raj (Shahrukh Khan) is brash, earthy and unrehearsed. Emotional like most, he dreams of all things good for himself and girl of his dreams.. but reality bites and so does Priya sometimes when she looses her temper. while Pirya (Rani Mukherjee) is sophisticated, emotional and perfectionist. She loves Raj because of what he stands for.. but she knows what exactly about him she cannot stand. The initial rush in your veins when you see a loved one becomes trying. The joy of canceling an appointment to be with your lover remains, but it just becomes a bit impossible. Love sort of goes into the background.. The wound made by cupid's arrow begins to heal. The need to impress no longer exists. What does all this stand for? Cupid gone stupid or cupid gone tepid? Is there any chance this relationship can see what destiny has planned for it. Or does destiny really play a role in a min woman alliance? They say relationships are made in heaven.. but marriages are tailored here on earth. Will the gravity of familiarity get them or will love shine through it all? The problem is eternal. The issues are the same. Men will be from Mars and women comes from Venus. Is this story any different.. No.. We say with full confidence and glee. It is the story of every man and woman, only what remains to be seen is.. are they going to walk into the sunset hand in hand? Is that what happens to all of us or has someone just changed the end credits. A tale of two heart.. Chalte Chalte walk on, along with us.
Bid to topple Mayawati Govt on in UP
Friday, May 30, 2003
Bid to topple Mayawati Govt on in UP 30/05/2003 Fuelled by almost certain withdrawal of support by the RLD to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, efforts to forge a viable alternative in the crucial state on Thursday gathered momentum with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav holding a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Earlier yesterday, RLD president Ajit Singh had himself met Gandhi and offered to join forces with opposition to cobble a "credible" secular alternative to the BSP-BJP combine in UP. With former chief minister Kalyan Singh already having joined the efforts for such an alternative, opposition sources claimed it would be only a matter of time before BJP MLAs, disgruntled over the ruling coalition in the state, would switch sides, tilting the balance in their favour. The fast-paced political drama unfolded when Yadav held a 30-minute meeting with Gandhi on Thursday morning and later told reporters that the situation in UP was "deteriorating day-by-day and people were living in fear and if Ajit Singh could do some thing in this scenario, it was a welcome step." Soon after meeting Gandhi, Yadav, accompanied by party general secretary Amar Singh, held a 90-minute meeting with Ajit Singh and senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Nawal Kishore Sharma discussing strategies to cobble a secular alternative. Asked about the Samajwadi Party leaders meeting with Gandhi and later with RLD chief Ajit Singh along with Patel and Sharma, Amar Singh told reporters that "we met to check the division among secular forces and decided to work unitedly to confront communal forces". He said SP was not interested in toppling the Mayawati government but trying to unite all like-minded forces otherwise "divide and rule" policy of the BJP government would continue. Singh said Mulayam's meeting with Gandhi did not come suddenly as he met her on Tuesday and discussed at length the need to have a secular alternative in case RLD decided to withdraw its 14-MLAs from the Mayawati government tomorrow. "We leave it to Ajit Singh to take a decision in this regard. We are not in a position to divulge our strategy before a decision by RLD on the continuation of support to Mayawati. We will take a decision only after such a decision was taken" he said. Confirming the meeting with Samajwadi Party and Congress leader, the RLD chief indicated to reporters separately that the party would be withdrawing its support to Mayawati government but said that they had not discussed government formation. "We did not discuss a government formation but a credible alternative to BSP-BJP coalition. This included all the like minded political parties--Congress, SP, RLD, Rashtriya Kranti Party headed by Kalyan Singh and others", he said.
Germany to take steps to increase investments in India
Friday, May 30, 2003
Germany has assured India that it will take steps to reverse the trend of its declining investments in the country where there were opportunites for investment in areas like renewable energy and infrastructure such as national highways. It has also assured a liberal visa regime for Indian Information Technology personnel wanting to come to Germany. The assurance was given by Federal Minister for Economy and Labour Wofgang Clement to a high-level Indian business and trade delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley when they met him here late Wednesday night. Jaitley told reporters accompanying Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his two-day German visit that the delegation expressed concern over the way German investments were going down in India over the last few years and wanted the situation to be set right. The delegation felt Germany could look at investment in new areas like renewable energy like solar and wind and infrastructure like national highways. At the same time, the delegation also conveyed the keeness of Indian investors to channel their investments in Germany in sectors like Information Technology, auto components, tractors and bicycles.
Indian team looking for a full time wicketkeeper: Saurav
Friday, May 30, 2003
Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly today said the team management and selectors were looking for a full time wicketkeeper to take the pressure off Rahul Dravid, but the possible replacement must prove his potential and match the vice-captain's performance behind the stumps. "Dravid was always a part time option..... selectors are giving opportunity to others, but the wicketkeeper must stand up and perform as Dravid has done," Ganguly told newspersons here. The selectors are trying to find out a suitable replacement for Dravid, but "there is no hurry" as the next season begins only in October," he said. On talented teenager Parthiv Patel, the skipper said, "The selectors have given him a chance to prove his worth in the coming England tour by India 'A'." But, Patel "has to prove his batting potential" to earn a place in the senior national side, he said. Patel was included in the 16-member India-A squad last week by the national selectors for the England tour beginning on June 22. Asked to comment on veteran speedstar Javagal Srinath's retirement plan, Ganguly said he was yet to get any official intimation from the Karnataka speedstar. "It will not be fair for me to make any remark without knowing the exact position, but as a fellow cricketer, who played along with me for 7-8 years, I can say that he still has a lot of cricket left in him," he said.
More army troops moved to J-K to maintain heat on militants
Friday, May 30, 2003
More army troops have been moved to Jammu and Kashmir to maintain the heat on militants after the Operation 'Sarp Vinash' and in fresh big strikes on militants hideouts, 45 militants, mostly Pakistani mercernaries, have been killed and ten captured during the last three days. Confirming that the operation against militants would be carried out with more vigour, highly placed Army officials today said eight to ten battalions have been moved to Poonch-Naushera sector and a new second tier of anti- infiltration grid, including setting up of electrified fence in suspected infiltration routes, had come up. Asserting that army forces would continue to occupy militant fortifications in the Hilkaka region where over the last two months security forces had killed 63 militants, officials said that work on 275 kms of the fencing in the most infiltration prone areas on the Line of Control would be completed by this year end. They said over 4,000 army engineers were working round-the-clock on the fencing and by the next year the fencing would be extended to over 600 kms. The fence is being erected about 10 to 15 kms inside Indian territory laced with anti-infiltration devices like ground sensors and pressure activate and infra red sensors. "Every battalion operating in Jammu and Kashmir has now been equipped with some numbers of sensors and force multipliers like the hand held thermals" officials said.
21 militants killed in J&K, six ultras surrender
Friday, May 30, 2003
Stepping up their anti-militancy oeration, security forces today killed 21 militants in Anantnag and Pooch districts while six militants, inluding an al-Qaeda terrorist, surrendered in Jammu and Kashmir today. At least 15 militants were killed today in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district in south Kashmir, defence sources here said. The encounter, which began early this morning following a tip off about presence of militants in Lacchipora village, was still on when reports last came in, defence sources said. Six Pakistani militants were shot dead in Pir Panjal mountains in the border district of Poonch, the sources said. On specific information about crossing over of a group of heavily armed militants in Pir Panjal ranges from Pakistan side, security forces launched a seek and destroy operation in the Kolian Doke forest belt in Poonch where they had taken shelter. During the search of the area, militants fired grenades, they said adding troops fired back and in the gunbattle, which was still on, six militants were killed. Four AK rifles, 7 magagines, 5 grenades and 136 rounds were recovered from them, they said.
PM's remark on retirement blown out of proportion: officials
Friday, May 30, 2003
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today appeared to make light of his remark on retirement if his latest Pakistan initiative failed even as officials said that it had been blown out of proportion. Amid a flutter caused by the remark, the Prime Minister was asked in Hindi as to in what context he had used the word retire in his interview to a German publication--whether in the Indo-Pak context or for himself. "Apneliye kaha tha (I said for myself)," he told reporters accompanying him on arrival here on the second leg of his two-day German trip. In the interview to Der Spiegel, when he was asked as to what happens if his stated last peace initiative failed, Vajpayee had stated "then I have to accept defeat then I retire." However, officials accompanying the Prime Minister said his remarks have been blown out of proportion and that they had to be read in perspective. They said what he was making clear was that if his peace initiative failed then perhaps he may have to give up the efforts. 19:23 IST
It is upto India, Pak to carry forward relationship: US
Friday, May 30, 2003
The US is "encouraged" by recent peace initiatives between India and Pakistan and it is now upto the two neighbours to carry forward the relationship, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said ahead of President George W Bush's visit to Evian in France, where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will also be present. Asked by reporters on Wednesday about Bush's recent meetings with officials from the two countries, Rice said: "We are, in fact, encouraged by recent trends in the relationship between India and Pakistan. I think that everybody in the G-8 is encouraged by those recent trends. I do believe that the core here, the key here, is that is that India and Pakistan themselves move the relationship forward. "It is not something that can be moved forth by the will of the G-8. But, but I know that members of the G-8 are welcoming what is happening with the Indians and the Pakistanis," she said. Vajpayee has been specially invited by French President Jacques Chirac for a "broader dialogue" on June one ahead of the G-8 summit in the French alpine town of Evian on the Franco-Swiss border. The Prime Minister will also have meetings with various Heads of State and Government present there but Rice made it clear that there will be no "bilaterals" between Bush and Vajpayee. Bush will hold one-to-one meetings only with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chirac, she said.
Hu-Vajpayee summit "very important": China
Friday, May 30, 2003
China today characterised the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chinese President Hu Jintao as a "very important" one that would shape bilateral ties. The maiden meeting, which would take place at the historic Russian city of St. Petersburg, is expected to focus mainly on bilateral ties, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters. "I can confirm that President Hu and Prime Minister Vajpayee will have a meeting in St. Petersburg," Zhang said at a biweekly news conference. "The two sides will mainly exchange views on Sino-Indian relations," she said. "Since the summit has not yet taken place, I think it is a little too early for me to make comment on the content of their meeting. However, it is indeed a very important meeting," Zhang commented. Sources said a clear picture on Vajpayee's much-awaited visit to China would emerge after the meeting in St. Petersburg slated for Saturday. Vajpayee's meeting with Hu, China's new leader, which will take place on the fringes of the 300th anniversary celebrations of the historic Russian city, will be one of the high points of the prime minister's eight-day three-nation tour of Europe. The Chinese president, who is also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), will be in St. Petersburg on his first foreign tour after taking office in mid-March. Both Vajpayee and Hu are guests of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ambani brothers get a month's reprieve in OSA case
Friday, May 30, 2003
The Delhi High Court today extended for a month the date of appearance of the Ambani borthers before a city court in connection with an Official Secrets Act case. Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Managing Director Anil Ambani, who were issued fresh summonses by the Chief Metroplitan Magistrate on May 26 asking them to appear before the trial court on July 7, would now make their presence on August 7. Justice R C Chopra granted a month's reprieve to the Ambanis after their counsel Kapil Sibal and D C Mathur submitted that the case was already fixed for August 8 and no purpose would be served by forcing them to appear a month before the scheduled date. They said the Ambanis were ready to appear before the CMM on July 7. The brothers are yet to challenge the order on summoning that requires them to appear before the CMM in connection with the OSA case. While issuing fresh summonses to Anil and Mukesh on May 26, the CMM had warned to take coercive steps to secure their presence, if they failed to meet the July 7 deadline. The CMM had on May 6 issued summons to the Ambani brothers, following a direction by Additional Sessions Judge P K Bhasin that they be asked to appear, for being "statutorily deemed to be guilty" of the offence allegedly committed by the company's officials.
Akash test fired at Chandipur
Friday, May 30, 2003
Balasore,Thursday, May 29, 2003: India today successfully test fired the medium range surface-to-air missile Akash from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, 15 km from here. The sleek missile was test fired from a mobile launcher at about 1700 IST, defence sources said. The indigenously built sophisticated multi-target missile has a range of 25 km and is one of the five missiles currently under various stages of development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The 650 kg missile has capability to carry a 50 kg payload and uses the integrated two-stage Ramjet propulsion technology. Akash, which has undergone several flight tests earlier, is close to user's trial, the sources said. Along with the medium range anti-aircraft missile Akash, the DRDO was also developing the Rajendra radar to build a reliable air defence system, a defence scientist said. The state-of-the-art radar could keep track of 64 aircrafts simultaneously upto a range of 60 km, he said. 20:18 IST
Bipasha, Salman, Amisha storm New York
Thursday, May 29, 2003
NEW YORK: Six Bollywood stars -- Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Amisha Patel and Bipasha Basu -- sang and danced on Long Island here in a performance that had spectators cheering for more. The stars gave the audience three uninterrupted hours of Bollywood in a live show called "Megastar Mania 2003" at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Around 10,000 people were present at the Memorial Day weekend show Saturday that saw the actors entertain the audience with specially choreographed song and dance numbers on a stage that was set afire with laser shows. Each performer had his/her own way of trying to win over the crowd. Amisha Patel, who was introduced as a Gujarati much to the delight of the large audience that related to her roots, spoke of her days as a student in Boston and said every long weekend, including the Memorial Day, was spent in New York. "I love New York, its food, the people and shopping," said the 26-year-old who graduated in economics from Tufts University. There is no guessing what Salman Khan did. Yes, he took off his shirt. But Sanjay Dutt, who has an equally well-chiselled body, pipped Khan in the act, having taken the stage first. Sunny Deol, dressed somewhat in his Gadar attire -- with a bright red turban, but minus the beard -- was transported to the stage in an iron carriage that rolled in through the isles separating rows of chairs. After speaking a few sentences in English, he immediately started chatting to the audience in chaste Punjabi, as some people said they were not only his fans but also of his father -- the original hunk of Bollywood, Dharmendra. Bobby Deol came to the stage from an elevated ramp and danced to the numbers from his hit movie Humraaz, while Bipasha Basu was candid enough to admit that this was her first international show. "I am feeling very nervous," she said. Most stars also tried to perform the song they are better associated with today -- Sanjay Dutt with Ishq Samandar, Sunny Deol with Mein Nikala Gaddi Leke, Salman Khan with Aise Pehli Baar, Amisha Patel with Kah Na Pyar Hai. The evening was interspersed with Punjabi and Hindi songs by Meet Brothers, as also mimicry by K Sanjay. Unlike the usual mimicry one sees of Bollywood actors like Ajit, Raj Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay chose a totally different set of stars. He had the audience in splits, imitating the voices and mannerisms of Om Prakash, Shakti Kapoor, Govinda, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Ajay Devgan, Amol Palekar and Gulshan Grover. Meet Brothers, who started with a medley of songs originally sung by Amitabh Bachchan, later switched to numbers from their own pop album Boon". The highlight of the evening was saved for the last one hour, where one after the other the stars shared the stage with each other and danced to the medleys of numerous songs -- new and old. Bobby Deol and Amisha Patel paired for Rabba Rabba of Monsoon Wedding, Salman Khan and Bipasha Basu for Dil Lagi Kudi, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu for Ande Kaa Funda, Amisha Patel and Bobby Deol for Sadde Naal. The last song of the evening, Aja Naach Le of Daler Mehndi, saw all the stars performing together amid a glittering laser show and fireworks, bringing the audience too on its feet. The Desi fare at the three-hour event included samosas, dhoklas, jalebis and masala chai that seemed to have outsold the usual popcorn, bagels, chips and soda. Presented by Kanu Chauhan of Rajsun Entertainment, the event was organised by Farhath Hussain, scripted and directed by Moranis and Soorma, G.S. Entertainment and Popcorn Entertainment. Vijay Taneja was its international promoter.
Does a film's title ensure box-office success?
Thursday, May 29, 2003
MUMBAI: Film titles have always had an interesting history. Titles like Kismet, Ajnabee and Andaaz have been repeatedly used in every generation. But now filmmakers seem to be searching for titles that take audience curiosity beyond the expected. Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishq was earlier called Ishq Vishq Pyar Vyar. "But then Dil Vil Pyar Vyar came along last year. I didn't want a similar sounding title," said Ghosh. While Ananth Mahadevan's Dil Vil Pyar Vyar bombed, Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishq is a hit. Naturally, the superstitious film industry will now gravitate towards abbreviated titles. And after Andaaz if Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot, which releases this week, is a success, then titles can be expected to become even shorter. Said Varma: "Most of my films have one word titles. I believe the title makes all the difference to a film. It should be short and to the point." Two years ago, four word names preferably beginning with the letter 'K' were the order of the day. Those seem to be losing their validity in the new millennium. For a while after that, titles like Ek Rishta: The Bond of Love and Daag: The Fire were in vogue. Then came a longish phase when the opening lines of songs were appropriated as film names. Titles like Na Tum Jano Na Hum and Kya Yehi Pyar Hai were in vogue. "But that was more to do with circumventing copyright rules than superstition," said filmmaker Vipul Shah. His new Amitabh Bachchan-Akshay Kumar project is called Waqt: Race Against Time "because I couldn't get the title Waqt. Actually we're short of creative titles." Going by current trends it would seem filmmakers are in search of pithy eloquence. Forthcoming films have intriguing titles like Bhoot, Jajantaram Mamantaram, Supari (the Mumbai lingo for hired assassination), Jhankar Beats, Darna Manna Hai, 88 Antop Hill, Hawa, Oops!, 3 Deewarein, Joggers Park, Kolkata Mail and Boom. However, many long-winded conventional titles like Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost, Pyar Kiya Nahin Jaata, Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya, Ek Se Badhkar Ek and of course Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon are on the way. And if Barjatya's designer-romance clicks, we may expect a spate of traditional titles all over again.
Vajpayee deprecates "double standards" to deal with terrorism
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has deprecated the "double standards" adopted by countries to deal with terrorism in different places and urged India's "friends and partners" to bring their influence on Pakistan to end cross border terrorism and dismantle the infrastructure of support to it. He said countries should not not negotiate with terrorism or differentiate between its various constituent elements. Without referring to any country by name, he told German Parliamentarians at a meeting here on Wednesday night that India has suffered both from terrorism and from the consequences of the double standards applied by countries to deal with terrorism in different places. "But, even while we continue to deal with our specific problem of cross border terrorism, I have extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan in the hope that it may initiate a process leading to peace, friendship and cooperation between our two countries. "I hope my political initiative will inspire action to end cross border terrorism and to dismantle the infrastructure of support to it. We encourage our friends and partners also to bring to bear their influence to make this happen," he told the German MPs.
Cable TV: House panel pitches for regulatory mechanism
Thursday, May 29, 2003
NEW DELHI: BJP MP Kirit Somaya’s pitch for a regulatory mechanism for the Cable TV industry on Wednesday floored fellow MPs but left in its wake several questions that I&B Secretary Pawan Chopra may have to reply to tomorrow when his turn comes up before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT. To begin with, MPs want more free-to-air (FTA) channels for the same price. Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal (his party had passed the bill in Lok Sabha) said: ‘‘When the Act was announced, it was intended to benefit the consumer but till date there is no clarity on the free-to-air tier fixed by the Government. What if more channels become free more than the currently fixed 30 channels? Will it then be mandatory for the cable operator to show the same to me.’’ Somaya said consumers should be given the choice of opting for FTA or pay channels. ‘‘What are the protective measures for consumers from MSOs and pay channels,’’ he said. The Congress today demanded that CAS be postponed till outstanding issues were resolved. The move comes a day after Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit’s missive to I&B Minister RS Prasad, raising doubts on the implementation of the system. In retaliation to Dikshit’s demand for a CAS rollback, Cable Networks Association today said subscriptions will shoot up to Rs 450 per month.
Burning train again: 3 bogies gutted, alert staff avert casualty
Thursday, May 29, 2003
JALALABAD: Barely a fortnight after the Frontier Mail tragedy, more than 700 passengers of the 7 FF train between Ferozepur and Fazilka had a miraculous escape when a fire that broke out in the engine engulfed three of its six bogies around 3 pm on Wednesday. Roshan Lal Chhabra, an employee of SDM court, Fazilka, who first saw the flames leaping out of the engine and alerted the driver, said they were passing through Daruga village near the Jalalabad railway station when he felt a sudden wave of heat. ‘‘I stuck my neck out and saw the flames,’’ he said. The driver, Harjinder Singh, showing remarkable presence of mind, applied the brakes at once, and stopped the train. Within minutes, panic-stricken people began jumping out of the bogies which had caught fire. Fortunately, all of them escaped with only minor injuries. Meanwhile, the driver and guard were quick to detach the three coaches from the rest of the train. Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) H C Punia, who rushed to the spot, refused to comment on the cause of the fire. SSP P.K. Sinha said preliminary investigations did not point to sabotage. Eye-witnesses say the fire brigade reached the scene over an hour after the fire broke out. By then, the bogies had been completely burnt down. The Ferozepur division of the Northern Railway will conduct an inquiry into the cause of the fire, said DRM Punia. Additional DRM T P Singh said the staff tried to extinguish the blaze in the train, but since the diesel tank caught fire the flames spread to the bogies. The passengers, all from nearby areas, were sent to their destinations in tractor trolleys and jeeps.
Kalam to visit arms factory under 'shadow of Buddha'
Thursday, May 29, 2003
RAJGIR: The Indian defence establishment's Buddha connection is not new _ the first and the second nuclear experiments were named after Buddha _ the Little Buddha and Buddha Smiles respectively. Ironically, the defence department's latest explosives factory is now coming up right under the golden image of Lord Buddha from a place that has repeatedly sent out the message of world peace. The ancient town of Rajgir which falls in the Nalanda constituency of Defence Minister George Fernandes, is actually a large village surrounded by a cluster of small villages and five hills, so historical that they find mention from Mahabharat to the travelogue of Huen Tsang. Buddha and Mahavir lived and preached here. Near the 400-metre-high Gridhrakuta or the vultures peak, a Japanese Buddhist sect built the Vishwa Shanti Stupa in 1983 as a message from the original preacher of ahimsa. "It is an irony", says Kalicharan, secretary of the Mahabodh Temple in Bodh Gaya. Eight villages, including Rasalpur, Kanaul, Sitora and Ujalapur in the which the complex is coming up falls on the foothills of Chhatra Hill and Ratna Hill which house the Gridhrakuta and the Stupa. Close to the walls of the relics of the ancient township, which has innumerable sites of importance for Buddhist, Jain and Hindu heritage, the 3000-acre ordnance factory complex is taking shape. The President of India will visit the site on May 30 and take stock of the work. The President, who was closely involved with the second nuclear explosion has many of his former colleagues at the DRDO working in the project. Kalam will see a power-point presentation in a temporary shed on the site about the progress of construction. The Rajgir Ordnance Factory, 40th one in India, will produce ammunitions and explosives for the armed forces with the technical collaboration of Somchem, a South African company. The Rs 6000 crore project, to be finished by 2005, is all set to change the livelihood for the people of an ancient city from which Bimbisara and Ajatasatru ruled the Magadh kingdom. About 1200 employees and their families will stay in the township _ a minority of them locals _ and will have a trickle-down effect in the areas economy. The Archaeological Survey of India has only partially excavated the sprawling ancient Rajgriha township, whose outer wall runs 40 kilometres, surrounding the present Rajgir. All ancient structures and other artificial caves and mounds within the walls and situated within half a mile from the walls are in the list of centrally protected monuments of ASI. However, the factory will be well within the limits of the heritage site, with a special permission from the Central government. "We have agreed not to make any permanent constructions within 800 metres from the wall," says an officer of the Indian Ordnance Board. In 2002, digging at the factory site had damaged an ancient boundary wall, after which the ASI, the Ordnance Board and the District Administration drew out a guideline specifically for this project. Local folklore connects the caves, forts and inscriptions to Lord Krishna. The Gridhrakuta was where Buddha meditated for years. In the caves he spent many rainy seasons. In seven caves called Saptaparni, the First Buddhist Council was held to codify Buddhist teachings. For the Jains also these hills are sacred _ Vardhaman Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, spent 14 rainy seasons
May 31 is Pak deadline to shut shop, militants vow to resist
Thursday, May 29, 2003
MUZAFFARABAD: Militants based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir vowed on Wednesday to resist moves to have their offices closed, testing Islamabad's resolve to mend ties with India. Leaders of several militant groups said the Pakistani government had given them until May 31 to close down their offices, which often double as residences for senior members. "There is a tremendous pressure from the Pakistani side to close offices," said the leader of one outfit, who declined to be identified either by name or by group. "There is a complete unanimity in our ranks that we will not close down offices-cum-residences in base camp," another militant leader said, also on condition of anonymity. Pakistani Kashmir separatists call PoK the "base camp" for the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir. Until recently, Pakistan's crackdown on militancy linked to Kashmir has been aimed mainly at the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. But it now appears to be concentrating more on Kashmir-based groups, including the largest, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which appears on the US watchlist of terrorist groups. Also on that list are two other Kashmir-based outfits, Al-Badr Mujahideen and Jamait ul-Mujahideen. Kashmiri militants said they would oppose moves by Islamabad to close down their headquarters. "Any attempt by the Pakistan government to close down the offices will convey a negative signal across the Line of Control to the people of Kashmir and to Kashmiri militants," said one commander. But several militants admitted that to oppose the move would not be easy in a country where the authorities are widely seen as turning a blind eye to militancy in Kashmir, if not actively promoting it.
Pak should accord MFN status to India: Digvijay
Thursday, May 29, 2003
PTI NEW DELHI: As part of confidence-building measures, Pakistan should reciprocate and accord India Most Favoured Nation status to move in the direction of improving bilateral economic and trade ties, Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh said on Wednesday night. "This (giving MFN status) is a basic step in economic relations," Singh told a television channel. The minister said the two countries would have to hold discussions on the nature of a structured agenda before considering a political summit. He, however, made it clear that there was hesitancy on India's part for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. "Prime Minister Jamali is the executive head in Pakistan," he said to press his point. Underpinning the importance of a step-by-step approach, the minister said, "this time we will not allow anything to go out of hand". New Delhi has emphasised that the government will pursue a calibrated approach and there will be careful preparations before considering summit-level talks. Both after the Lahore Declaration and at the Agra Summit, India had to face disappointments. Singh also said if Saarc has to be strengthened, it was necessary for member countries to accept Sapta and implement decisions taken at the Kathmandu Summit.
US cuts down issuance of H-1B visas
Thursday, May 29, 2003
US cuts down issuance of H-1B visas WASHINGTON: As protests increase in US against outsourcing of jobs to India, especially in the IT sector, the US has cut down issuance of H-1B visas for overseas professionals, and a legislator has asked five companies to reveal how many Indians they are employing. During the first three quarters of fiscal year 2002, 60,500 people were approved to begin employment in H-1B status, while the limit in the period was 195,000, according to a release from the immigration authorities, who now come under the Department of Homeland Security. By comparison, as of June 30, 2001, 130,700 were approved by the Immigration and Natural Services to begin employment in H-1B status. During the first nine months of fiscal year 2002, 159,000 H-1B petitions were filed for initial or continuing H-1B employment compared with 270,000 and 220,000 for the same period in 2001 and 2000, respectively. Petition filings declined by 41 per cent between the first nine months of FY 2001 and the first nine months of FY 2002. In total, 147,600 petitions were approved during the first three quarters of FY 2002, of which 42,700 were filed prior to October 1, 2001. Meanwhile, Connecticut Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson has requested the CEOs of five leading American insurance companies - Aetna Inc, CIGNA Corp, The Hartford Financial Services Group, The Phoenix Cos Inc and Travelers Property Casualty Corp - to reveal how many Indian citizens they are employing in IT. The Hartford Courant said that the request came in the wake of allegations that the companies were abusing the H-1B visa programme. In her letters to the companies, Johnson sought information on how many Indians the firms were employing on H-1B visas now, if that number had grown during the past two years, and how many IT workers they had laid off. Wanting to know more about outsourcing of jobs to India and other nations, Johnson met with constituents last month who were complaining about the loss of jobs for Americans because of the import of foreigners and export of jobs overseas. India was singled out, because its professionals are employable due to their proficiency in English. "The Congresswoman's interest in this is to see that Connecticut jobs are protected and that the law is followed," Brian S Schubert, Johnson's press secretary was quoted as saying, though there is not the slightest suggestion that the insurance companies are in violation of the law.
Jittery Ajit calls on Sonia, seeks broader tieup
Thursday, May 29, 2003
NEW DELHI: Desperate to get even with the BJP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh and, for this purpose, forge a broad opposition alliance, and also to keep his flock of MLAs away from the prying eyes of the leaders of the BSP-BJP alliance, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief and former Union minister Ajit Singh today met Congress president Sonia Gandhi. On a day of fast-moving developments, the western Uttar Pradesh leader met Ms Gandhi at her residence this evening, and remained closeted with her for about half-an-hour. The meeting, sources in the RLD pointed out, was part of Mr Singh’s ongoing efforts to bring the opposition parties together in UP with the aim of seeking the ouster of the Mayawati regime. Officially, RLD sources maintained that Mr Singh had met Ms Gandhi to invite her for his father, late Charan Singh’s death anniversary function. The meeting was preceded by the resignation of the five RLD ministers from the Mayawati government. The development is a precursor to the formal withdrawal of support to the coalition government in UP. Despite the fact that Ms Mayawati, who has of late emerged as the principal tormentor of opposition parties, having succeeded in splitting the Congress and the Apna Dal and weaning away a sizeable section of independent legislators, is away on a foreign tour, speculation was rife that as many as 7 of the 14 MLAs belonging to the RLD were in touch with the BJP’s legislature party leader and state urban development minister Lalji Tandon. Undeterred by these reports, Mr Singh took the initiative of meeting Ms Gandhi in his search for a broad opposition unity to take on the might of the BSP-BJP alliance in the state. Immediately after resigning from the union cabinet, the Jat leader got in touch with the Samajwadi Party duo of Mulayam Singh Yadav-Amar Singh and the Rashtriya Kranti Party chief and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh to seek their support in fighting the BSP-BJP combine. Unfortunately for him, the demise of Mr Yadav’s wife soon after has kept the Samajwadi Party supremo away from any form of political activity. He’s now likely to arrive in the Capital only on Friday. Till then, all attempts to bring the opposition parties together will have to be put on hold.Keen to avenge his humiliation at the hands of the central BJP leadership, it’s clear that Mr Singh will, in the days to come, go all out to attain his end. He doesn’t much time, as any delay on this count is likely to put his team of MLAs that much more vulnerable to attacks from the BSP-BJP combine. The Jat leader is likely to use his father’s death anniversary ceremony here tomorrow to reinforce his image as a leader who didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his chair for taking up the farmer’s cause.
US adapts Indian catamaran technology to built fast ships
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
US adapts Indian catamaran technology to built fast ships Washington,Wednesday, May 28, 2003: The United States adapted ancient Indian catamaran-making technology to construct fast ships which were used with dramatic effect in the Iraq war, a media report said. Among the new equipment the Americans used to win the Iraq war were 100-ft catamaran ships to ferry army tanks and ammunition from Qatar to Kuwait. The ships, built with technology adapted from ancient Tamil methods to make catamarans, can travel over 2,500 kms in less than 48 hours, twice the speed of the Pentagon's regular cargo ships, and carry enough equipment to support about 5,000 soldiers, the 'Wall Street Journal' reported on Tuesday. Because they have a shallow draft, the boats can unload in rudimentary ports, allowing troops to land closer to the fight. The Pentagon now has only three of these ships but a dozen more are expected to be ordered, starting in the 2005-06 budget, the report added. The US is seeking to build lighter, faster forces that can reach trouble spots - breeding ground for al Qaeda and other terrorists - within hours, it said. Some current and possible future US troop locations - some permanent bases, some base facilities and some where joint exercises will be held periodically with local forces - are Germany, South Korea and Australia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Djibouti, Kenya, Mali, Singapore and Philippines, the report said. 09:47 IST
German kids surprise Vajpayee
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
German kids surprise Vajpayee Berlin,Wednesday, May 28, 2003: German children of Mahatma Gandhi School here sprang a pleasant surprise on visiting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by singing a song written by him and Gandhiji's favourite bhajan "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram". So moved was the Prime Minister that he immediately reciprocated with an equally unforgettable gift - a two-week all-paid trip to India for the best student of the school every year. "The best student will be invited to visit India every year for two weeks accompanied by an adult. The ICCR will organise the visit," he said at an Indian community reception hosted in his honour by Indian Ambassador to Germany T C A Rangachari here on Tuesday night shortly after his arrival. The announcement was greeted by a thunderous applause. The evening programme began with the recitation of his song "jeevan beet chala..." followed by the bhajan. Taking the floor, Vajpayee said it was a Berlin evening made immemorable by German students with their soul-stirring rednditions. It also reminded him that he had written such a nice song. Vajpayee said he had penned another song "jang nahi hone denge..." (We will not allow war) which was recalled by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when they were engaged in Lahore dialogue. But there was a conflict(Kargil) immediately. "Strange are the ways of the world," he said philosophically. On another occasion, the Prime Minister said a child at a gathering had reminded that he had written against the atom bomb but India had made one (during his tenure as Prime Minister). He said he admitted that he had to make one but it was done under some conditions. "But peace will prevail throughout the world and blood will cease to be shed," he said. Referring to the age-old ties between India and Germany, the Prime Minister said perhaps there would be more people speaking Sanskrit in Germany than in Delhi. Indology research has been there for a long time in Germany, he said, adding it was facing some difficulties and help would be extended to set right matters.
Vajapyee insists on end to cross-border terrorism for talks with Pak
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday declared that India wanted to start talks with Pakistan "as soon as possible" but made it clear that for a meaningful dialogue cross-border terrorism should end and terror infrastructure dismantled. Before embarking on a three-nation tour, Vajpayee also said that India would take "more" confidence-building measures to carry forward its peace initiatives with Pakistan. "Some steps have already been taken and more will be taken," he told reporters at IGI Airport here, a day after India announced its decisions to resume the Delhi-Lahore bus service and release 130 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. Replying to questions on when the two countries would resume talks in the wake of several peace initiatives taken by New Delhi, Vajpayee said "we want it to be as soon as possible. But for a meaningful dialogue to begin, cross-border terrorism should end and terror infrastructure dismantled". The Prime Minister, who left for Germany on the first leg of his eight-day tour that would also take him to Russia and France, said he was confident that an atmosphere would be created for Indo-Pak talks to begin. Vajpayee, who has been specially invited by French President Jacques Chirac for a "broader dialogue" on June one ahead of the G-8 Summit in the French Alpine town of Evian on the Franco-Swiss border, will hold bilateral meetings with various heads of state and government present there. Asked whether he would be meeting US President George W. Bush either in St Petersburg in Russia or in Evian, he said "I do not know about any such meeting at the moment".
BJP for national commission for job quota for upper castes
Monday, May 26, 2003
In a bid to take the wind out of Congress' sail ahead of assembly polls in four states and Lok Sabha elections next year, the BJP has proposed setting up of a national commission within a week to provide for job reservation for economically weaker sections among upper castes. A resolution adopted at a meeting of BJP central office bearers, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, here on Sunday to firm up the party's poll strategy asked Vajpayee government to establish the commission to provide job reservation for economically backward without diluting the existing provisions for SCs, STs and OBCs. Briefing reporters after the meeting, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan said the party would urge Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to set up the commission within a week. The resolution said BJP was of the view that certain sections of society, which are not covered under existing reserved categories, were economically so poor that they needed a special treatment. The sections should be called Economically Backward Classes (EBCs), it said adding, however, the party favoured this provision in addition to the reservation for existing castes. The BJP resolution came four after days after Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan announced 14 percent job reservation for economically weaker sections among upper castes including Brahmins, Vaishyas and Rajputs that had stumped the saffron party. 09:20 IST
Senegal envoy's son kills driver
Monday, May 26, 2003
New Delhi,Monday, May 26, 2003: The son of Senegalese Ambassador to India allegedly killed his driver during a fight at five star hotel here Saturday night, police sources said. The envoy's son Mansoor Ali, who was driven to the Taj Mahal hotel to attend a party by 32-year-old Dilawar, allegedly hit and pushed the driver whose head hit some hard object and he died, they said on Sunday. The sources said the incident took place around 2230 hours when after attending the party Mansoor went to his car to return home and found the driver allegedly in an inebriated state. Ali asked for the car keys telling the driver he was not in a state to drive and he would drive it himself, the sources said. A quarrel followed during which Dilawar was killed, they said. A case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) has been registered against Ali who has not been arrested as he enjoys diplomatic immunity. 09:20 IST
BJP to fight coming elections on development plank
Monday, May 26, 2003
BJP to fight coming elections on development plank Jaipur,Monday, May 26, 2003: Virtually launching BJP's campaign for assembly polls in Rajasthan, the party top brass has asserted that it would seek the mandate on development plank and projected state party chief Vasudhara Raje as its chief ministerial candidate. Addressing state party workers here on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said, "devoid of any real development issue, Congress is harping on pseudo-secularism to divert people's attention because the party, which had monopoly rule in the country for 47 long years, is itself responsible for India's ills." Advani's remarks came at the end of a day-long meeting of party central office-bearers called to firm up the party's strategy for assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chattisgarh. He said BJP had promised security and development before the last Lok Sabha elections and the NDA government, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had "fulilled this promise" made to the electorate, He said "the backbone of ISI had been broken in the country by sustained efforts. "The Vajpayee government has fully established its credibility and we shall romp home again in 2004 parliamentary elections to make Vajpayee Prime Minister again," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
President to visit Jammu and Kashmir next month
Monday, May 26, 2003
President A P J Abdul Kalam would be visiting the state next month and is likely to address a convocation during his three-day stay. The tentative schedule of the President would include addressing a convocation at Jammu University, meeting some individuals in Srinagar and also a visit to a school, sources said. The visit was likely to take place in the third week of June but the security arrangements were being reviewed for his visit. Former President K R Narayanan had visited the state in 1997. This will be the first visit of Kalam to the state after taking over as the President of the country. Kalam would also be presenting President's Colour to Jammu and Kashmir Police for their exemplery courage shown for uprooting the militancy in the state. The President is also expected to the visit Leh during his stay in the state. The visit would also prove to be a shot in the arm for Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who has been stressing for such high profile visits as this could give a major fillip to the tourism industry in the state. Last month Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visted the strife-torn state and announced fresh peace initiative towards Pakistan. Congress President Sonia Gandhi would be holding the party's Chief Ministers conclave on May 30. The Inter-State Council, chaired by the Prime Minister is also to be held here in June or July.
Call centres take the passage to India
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Companies are making spectacular savings by shifting their call centres to the Subcontinent - and shedding British jobs. Grant Ringshaw reports A decade ago, General Electric, the giant US conglomerate, took a bold decision to shift thousands of back office jobs to India. What started as a risky innovation by an imaginative company is fast becoming de rigueur for multinationals, especially in the financial sector - and there are disturbing implications for employment in the UK. Dozens of household names, spanning insurance, banking, technology, the airline industry, power companies and telecoms, are transferring swathes of their white collar administrative and customer-service work to Asia. GE is still in the van, with 11,000 Indian processing staff. When the chairmen of the big UK banks and insurers get together, all they want to talk about is how fast they are relocating operations to India - and although they are all gung ho about it, they are slightly anxious about whether the Government will weigh in to slow the trend. "If China is becoming the workshop of the world, India is the world's back office," says Chris Gentle, a director at Deloitte Consulting, part of Deloitte & Touche, the big five accountancy firm. India's rise has been remarkable. Some 100,000 people are thought to be employed in call centres, while the nation's computer services and software industry is now worth $10bn. It is expected to grow by between 25 per cent and 30 per cent this year, according to Nasscom, the computer industry body. Centres in India handle the processing of student loans, queries about utility bills for Powergen and flight bookings for British Airways. A series of other British companies, including BT, HSBC, Prudential and Aviva, are shifting their call centres to the world's biggest democracy. A telephone call to a British bank or insurer is as likely to be answered in Delhi as Reading by staff with flawless British accents. The level of sophistication in some call centres is remarkable: US callers are routed to operators with American accents, British callers to those with British tones. The trend has even caught the eye of the entertainment industry. Last week it was disclosed that Sanjeev Bhaskar, the star of the spoof BBC chat show The Kumars at No 42, is to script The Call Centre, a film billed as a comic love story set in India and the UK. The big question is how America and Britain will cope as these forms of employment become extinct in their home economies. Deloitte estimates that 2m jobs in financial services alone are likely to move from developed economies to emerging nations in the next five years. Across all industries, the exodus of services jobs could be 4m. Click to enlarge By 2008, financial services firms are expected to have transferred $356bn, or some 15 per cent of their total cost bases, to less developed countries, according to a recent study by Deloitte. This would equate to annual bottom-line savings of $138bn, or an average of $1.4bn for each of the world's top 100 financial services companies. For leaders such as Citigroup and HSBC, there could be savings of two or three times that level. But why is this process happening quite so rapidly? Well, vast improvements in computer software and better telecoms links are two important factors. But the driving force is principally the intense global competition which makes it impossible for British companies to take a sentimental and expensive view that they must keep jobs in the UK. "For financial services firms there is a collision of factors," says Gentle. "Depressed equity markets have placed an enormous strain on share prices and increased the pressure to cut costs. The second reason is that financial services markets are incredibly competitive and have reached maturity in many cases. Moving to lower-cost locations gives finance firms the chance to open the jaws between costs and revenues". By any measure the potential cost-savings are enticing. Processing costs, for instance, are estimated to account for about 20 per cent of a retail bank's total cost base. A conservative saving of 20 per cent of that could lead to a 4 per cent improvement in the banks cost/income ratio - a key measure of efficiency - and a 2.5 per cent boost to its return on equity, according to Mercer Oliver Wyman, the consultant. In turn, these benefits could lead to an increase of 10 per cent to 12 per cent in the market value and share price of the average bank. So banks such as Citigroup and HSBC are transferring even more jobs. Citigroup now employs 3,000 people in India in call centres and processing operations in Mumbai and Chennai. Analysts argue this has helped the group become the world's most profitable financial services firm: its revenues have grown by $35bn in the past five years, while costs have increased by just $12bn. HSBC, which is due to open a global processing centre in Kuala Lumpur this year and already has a major back office centre in Shenzhen, China, expects to employ 9,500 call centre and processing staff in developing countries by the end of 2003, including 5,500 in India and 3,500 in China. Standard Chartered, the UK-listed emerging markets bank, has gone even further, transferring the back office of its operations in more than 50 countries to two huge processing centres in Chennai in India and Kuala Lumpur. Major insurers are also jumping on the bandwagon. Last October, Prudential revealed it would create 850 jobs in India by 2004, while Aviva is creating 1,000 jobs at a new call centre. Meanwhile, China, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, and more developed nations such as Singapore and Australia, are also benefiting from the jobs migration. Even Ghana is entering the telesales era. Last week, the country's first call centre opened, selling mobile phone plans to US customers for T-Mobile, the German group. Cost is just one issue. "Companies go for the costs and stay for the quality," says Mike Harding, the managing director of Mercer Oliver Wyman. India may be a poor country but it has a well-educated, English-speaking workforce. The typical UK call centre worker is paid £12,500, but companies can hire graduates in India for one sixth of that. Further evidence of the increased sophistication of the roles being moved offshore emerged last month when JP Morgan, the investment bank, revealed it would set up a team of 40 junior research analysts in India. The plan is to provide greater analytical coverage at a fraction of the cost in the West. Unsurprisingly, there are concerns about the future for UK call centres, a major industry employing about 500,000 people across 6,000 sites. In a gloomy report, Mitial Research, a specialist consultancy, has predicted that one third of Britain's larger call centres would shut down by 2005 with the loss of 90,000 jobs. The switch of jobs offshore has been controversial. Last year Sir Keith Whitson, the outgoing chief executive of HSBC, provoked outrage when he appeared to suggest the bank's Indian workers were harder working and superior to their British counterparts. BT faced a storm of protest in March over its plans to create 2,200 jobs at two new call centres in India. There are other signs of a backlash. Four American states - New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington - are all considering legislation to ban outsourcing of state data processing contracts to developing countries. But while the debate rages, it is clear that the economic forces at work are unstoppable. "We have to relocate these functions to India," says the chairman of a large British bank. "Not only are the running costs a fraction of what they would be here, but the quality of the workforce is significantly better. Taking advantage of that is a no-brainer."
Forex reserves cross $79-billion mark
Sunday, May 25, 2003
India's foreign exchange reserves continue to scale new heights and crossed the $79 billion mark following inflows of $666 million during the week ending May 17. Foreign exchange reserves rose by $666 million to touch $79.225 billion in the reporting week, according to Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement released in Mumbai on Saturday. Foreign currency assets rose from $75.164 billion to $75.830 billion, it said. The rise is mainly due to fresh inflows and revaluation of non-US currencies, including the euro, against the US dollar, analysts said. RBI said gold reserves remained static at $3.389 billion while special drawing rights remained unchanged at $6 million. The loans and advances to the central government grew by Rs 464 crore (Rs 4.64 billion) at Rs 8,857 crore (Rs 88.57 billion) while that to the state governments declined by Rs 2,506 crore (Rs 25.06 billion) at Rs 1,406 crore (Rs 14.06 billion), the RBI added.
UK to help control piracy of Bollywood films
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and his British counterpart Tessa Jowell brokered an agreement during their meeting in London for Britain to cooperate and help in controlling piracy that has caused immense financial losses to Bollywood. Britain will also invest in the production of co-cultural and cross-over films. Prasad added that Britain would jointly work for Human Resources Development in the film sector, as well. The minister announced that Goa would be a permanent venue of the International Film Festivals that are held in India. A team of officials from the state government were in Cannes during the film festival there to study the management and organisation of the event. "India is the biggest film-maker in the world and Cannes is the venue of the biggest film festival. I told the chairman of the Festival that the two must meet," said Prasad. "The Cannes Film Festival authorities have promised to help in setting up the infrastructure and organisation of the festival in Goa." He added that in Cannes, he realised that the Festival there was identified with the city and this is why he felt that Goa, with its famous beaches and natural beauty, could attract film people from all over the world. Summing up his Cannes visit, Prasad informed that he found "profound interest in Indian film creativity. The colour and music and diversity are what attract the foreigner. India is being taken note of and its films are not only being found entertaining but also arousing a lot of curiosity." Prasad said that his role would be of a facilitator and he would like the present decade to be one of communication, information and entertainment. On being asked about the state of television in India, the minister agreed that a regulatory body was needed. He added that Doordarshan had to become more professional and the contents of its programme also needed to be improved.
India’s Cannes show enthuses I&B minister
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Enthused by the generally positive response received by Indian films in the market of the ongoing 56th Cannes Film Festival, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, has drawn up ambitious plans in order to encourage the industry to take on global competition. In an exclusive interview conducted in the Confederation of Indian Industries pavilion in Cannes, the I & B minister said: "It is a happy augury that the world’s largest film festival is recognizing the potential of the world’s largest film industry. We are now in a position to make the most of the opportunities that opens up. Do not forget that India has the largest number of entertainment consumers." "We would like to do everything in our power to create conditions conducive to the rapid growth of the Indian film industry," asserted Mr Prasad. The government, he pointed out, had already allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in film production. The government had also liberalised the visa regime for foreign film crews, while negotiations were on with France, the UK and Italy for comprehensive co-production and distribution treaties, he said. Mr Prasad also announced that he would consider the demand of a section of Indian filmmakers and exhibitors to grant tax exemption to small theatres that have less than 200 seats with a view to encouraging the construction of more movie halls as well as helping the cause of young, independent filmmakers who cannot compete with films made and promoted by big banners. "The government’s job," the minister explained, "was only to facilitate good filmmaking in the country. We will ensure that crews flying in from abroad to shoot in this country can avail of a single-window clearance for their projects." Asked what he will be taking back from Cannes, the minister said: "I will be returning with the happy realization that Indian cinema is being taken seriously in Cannes. I have noticed that the magazines here have been reflecting the works of Indian filmmakers in a big way." Prasad utilised his three-day trip to the Cannes Film Festival to meet up with the culture ministers of France and Italy to explore the possibility of greater co-operation with those countries in the field of cinema. He also extended an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival director, Gilles Jacob, to visit New Delhi during the 34th International Film Festival of India to be held in October this year. "If we want the organisers of the Cannes event to evince greater interest in Indian films, we have to reciprocate in like measure," he said. Is he happy with the fact that only one film, Murali Nair’s Arimpara (A Story that Begins at the End), is representing India in the official selection in Cannes? "Certainly not," he replies. "India has the potential to project itself in far bigger way here. We must fulfill it come what may." The government, he said, was seriously toying with the idea of making Goa the permanent venue of India’s international film festival. "All the great festivals of the world are identified with a city. We hope do the same with Goa," he added. Negotiations are on with the Goa government, which is represented here in the India pavilion by high-level culture department officials. "We will provide all help to Goa in building the infrastructure that is required to organize a film festival of this magnitude," Mr Prasad added. It is reported that nearly Rs 90 crore will be spent on the prepare Goa for the 2004 International Film Festival of India.
BSNL offers virtual personal network to India Inc
Sunday, May 25, 2003
BANGALORE: India's telecom infrastructure went up a few notches on Saturday with the launch of the secure and cost effective virtual personal network (VPN) service by the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). The VPN, using multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) technology, has been described as a "big boon" to the small and medium enterprises in the IT sector by Som Mittal, chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). The IP-VPN service, which provides the right kind of secure network for banks and financial institutions, is available in all state capitals although it was officially launched in the 10 cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Ernakulam, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. The MPLS-VPN service provides secured connectivity at one eighth of the cost of leased lines and is easily scalable for high capacity transmission, practically doing away with in-house technical work force. The range of value added services include bandwidth on demand, video conferencing and voice over IP (VoIP). "This is really the new dial tone of the next generation. It is not only competitive in India but globally too," said Brad Gray, vice president of Juniper Networks, which worked with state-owned Indian Telephone Industries to develop the technology. The launch of the service is to cost of Rs 300 million, which is expected to be recovered by BSNL in the "next three years", P.K. Sinha, director (commercial and marketing), told reporters on the sidelines of the launch. "The launch makes leased lines and unsecured data transmission a thing of the past," added K. Padmanabhan, chief general manager, Karnataka circle. The BSNL has announced early bird incentives like discount from five to ten percent for those registering in the next one month for the three classes of service based on the committed rate of bandwidth.
The Indian Cannes Sutra
Sunday, May 25, 2003
The 56th Festival de Cannes has ended with its usual celebrations and a veritable feast of the best of world cinema. As for Indian cinema, Cannes 2003 is possibly a watershed: it marked the bowing out of 'government' from centrestage, and the hardselling of India as a top-drawer international location. The government has finally woken up to India's huge potential as a location for international shooting. For instance, a team of 20 visitors to the country could spend up to a million dollars over six weeks, creating dozens of jobs in the bargainapart from promoting international understanding of which, heaven knows, we need a bit. The trick for India this Cannes seem to have been done by professionals with contacts and know-how. Visas and rules have been simplified and made competitive. Scripts from abroad will be cleared in three weeks, when they used to take half a year earlier. There have been the Steven Spielbergs and Bernardo Bertoluccis of this world who had wanted to shoot in India, but were driven elsewhere by the endless torture of official dawdling. There is also this whole new crop of Indians and ethnic Indians abroad wanting to make films at, and about, home. Understandably, they have wanted to do it in dollars. But in the past, this has caused problems. Now, one hopes, they will be fewer. There is the much broader and larger business of businessdistribution and exhibition, joint productions, new technologies and, generally, entering the 21st century of mainstream entertainment. Progress began to be made two years ago when the NFDC opened a small seaside stall. Last year, Sushma Swaraj made her second trip for a government collaboration. This year, the thrust is entirely on private sector. It has made a difference. It is the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) that has helped in this direction. This time, it set up a 1,300 sq-ft Indian pavilion in the Cannes market section and sold it to eight parties wanting to hawk their wares. The pavilion drew good crowds, there were meetings and video screenings. In all, some evidence of success. As CII director Tarun Das says, "My indicator is the satisfaction of organisations which bought space here. They report achievement of their objectives. Next year, we'll do twice as well and make India a really big thing here." Stalls were taken, for instance, by Hyderabad's Ramoji Studios showcasing their extraordinary Film City. The NFDC printed a businesslike brochure on 'Film Resources in India' listing studios, pre- and post-production facilities and production houses. There was not an issue of daily festival magazines without its clutch of ads promoting Indian movies. They ranged from Dinesh Gandhi's big-budget Armaan to the Shahrukh-Raveena starrer Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke , from Pooja Bhatt's Jism starring Bipasha Basu to Lemon Tree Production's Leela directed by Somnath Sen and featuring Dimple Kapadia. There was a new confidence and bustle showing, especially during announcements of new productions and film screenings. Shekhar Kapur announced a new film Pani centred on a waterless Mumbai in 2040. Kaizad Gustad's Boom!, a fashion world-meets-underworld movie starring Amitabh Bachchan and a slew of supermodels, also had its debut screening here. The trick for India this Cannes seems to have been done by professionals with contacts and know-how. There were well-attended parties, well-written publicity materials, and well-informed folk at the stallsnothing revolutionary, just the routine, done professionally. As veteran Bollywood filmmaker-producer Subhash Ghai, who is also in Cannes, puts it, "People have forever been crying, 'The Indians are coming!' Maybe we're here because we have learned our lessons." Ghai wants Indian cinema to market itself to the world on its own terms. But it better be swift. As Leslie Felprin, writing in Screen International, says: "This could be a make or break time for India.So much has fallen into place for it."
Soldier Kills Officer at Mumbai Airport
Sunday, May 25, 2003
BOMBAY, India - A paramilitary soldier guarding Bombay's international airport killed his commanding officer and took six fellow soldiers hostage for seven hours before surrendering peacefully, officials said. The soldier, armed with a rifle, held five women and one man inside a room at the airport as commandos and riot police surrounded the area. No passengers were hurt. After seven hours, Bombay Police Chief Ranjit Sharma announced it was over. "He has surrendered after his mother, father and two police officers went in. There was no harm to anybody," he said. "He came outside himself." Senior police and paramilitary officers had negotiated by telephone with the soldier, identified only as Namdeo. It was not clear why the 22-year-old soldier, who belongs to the paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force that guards India's airports, had shot and killed the deputy commandant on Saturday. "I think it's a classic case of a stress outburst. They are all overworked," Gautam Kaul, former inspector-general of the CISF, told the private NDTV 24X7 television channel. India tightened its security after several recent terrorist attacks, including a train bombing and a roadside explosion in Bombay earlier this year.
Vajpayee keeps door open for Mamata
Sunday, May 25, 2003
New Delhi, May 24: Indicating that doors are still open for Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee tonight said he would effect another minor shuffle soon. As was earlier expected, the MDMK also did not join the NDA ministry today. The Prime Minister denied the allegation that the BJP leadership was trying to split Trinamul. There will be a minor reshuffle soon, he told reporters after the swearing-in of the new ministers. Vajpayee did not appear embarrassed or jittery after Mamata refused to come to Delhi to take oath as Cabinet minister in protest against the bid to induct her party colleague, Sudip Bandopadhyay. Asked if he would have talks with Mamata, Vajpayee said talks are underway. Dismissing the charge that attempts were being made to split the Trinamul, he said: There is no intention of breaking the party. On the contrary, we want to give more representation to it. Vajpayee said BJP chief M. Venkaiah Naidu had the final talks with Mamata. Denying that her consent was not sought before deciding to induct Bandopadhyay, the Prime Minister said he was told that her opinion was taken. When a reporter asked if the the door is open for Mamata, Vajpayee, who had just been offered a plate of snacks, said in jest: Mere liye ab khane ka darwaja khoola hai. But he quickly added that Mamata is in the NDA. Asked why Mamata gets angry frequently with the government, he said: Samata wallah gadbad karthi hain (the Samata Party creates trouble). Was it George Fernandes or Nitish Kumar, someone asked. Vajpayee parried the question. (Mamata had earlier been wanting to get back railways but faced stiff resistance from her successor, Nitish Kumar.) Asked if the induction of Swami Chinmayanand into the council of ministers was a message that the BJP was going back to hardline Hindutva, the Prime Minister said: I took a step, it is up to you to find meanings. Vajpayee said a new minister from the MDMK will join his ministry. Vaiko’s MDMK has decided not to suggest a replacement for Gingee Ramachandran, who was forced to resign after the transfer-for-cash scandal broke. following the arrest of his personal assistant on bribery charge. BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu, who was also present at the swearing in ceremony said he had talked to Banerjee in the morning and the decision to defer induction of Trinamul members was taken at her request. Naidu said the Trinamul chief had complained about not being properly consulted. There appeared to be a communication gap. So I said we will have another round of consultations, he said.
Vajpayee cabinet expansion reflects political pressures
Sunday, May 25, 2003
New Delhi: Clumsiness marks the expansion of the cabinet by A B Vajpayee, even though this is the 11th time he has done this job in the last five years. The experience of all these years has not helped as the prime minister has created a crisis for himself and his party in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, though there is no danger to his own government. The much-hyped cabinet expansion gives Kerala a second representative in the form of P.C.Thomas, who had risked his own political future by throwing his lot with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which still has not a single elected representative either in parliament or assembly from Kerala. His appointment is a reward to the patient work he had done to mobilise independent MPs to the cause of the BJP in the last three years and his own experience as a go getter parliamentarian. The second bright spot of the limited exercise is the elevation of B.C.Khanduri to the cabinet rank. The retired major general had worked hard to make the ambitious golden quadrilateral project of the prime minister a success, by travelling the length and breadth of the country to build a modern system of highways. Khanduri, who comes from Uttaranchal, is now sure to be projected as the BJP's chief minsterial candidate when the elections are due in the hill state next. Otherwise the exercise is centred round the problems faced by BJP in its own ranks in Uttar Pradesh, where the party is a coalition partner of Bahujan Samaj Party. The party has tried to placate the harsh critics of chief minister Mayawati by bringing them into the government. Thus former chief minister Rajnath Singh and Sadhu turned politician Chinmayananda have been accommodated. Chinmayananda is also seen as a replacement for saffron clad Uma Bharti who has been despatched to Madhya Pradesh for electioneering. Removal of Rajnath Singh from party work is expected to ease the pressure on Mayawati. But at the same time Vajpayee has forced agriculture minister Ajit Singh, who has the support of 14 MLAs in Uttar Pradesh, triggering off a mini crisis in the state, as Mayawati does not have a big majority. Equally clumsy has been the way the prime minister has approached Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress. As the party president she had the right to fill the party's quota, but deputy prime minister L K Advani, who has not much of a liking for Mamata, deliberately pushed for the name of Sudhip Bandhopadhyay, who is now in Mamata's bad books.Pplus there was the haggling over portfolios. On the other hand Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackerey kept calling the shots by deciding once again who stays and who goes out, from the Shiv Sena quota. The negative fallout of the expansion exercise is that lot of dirty linen about the performance of civil aviation minister Shahnawaz Hussain. The party leaked reports that Hussain's hands were not clean. Yet the shocking conclusion was that such conduct only meant change of portfolio and not removal of Hussain from the government. Thus Hussain continues in the government with a cloud over his head. This came on the top of the terrible scandal involving the personal team of minister of state for finance Gingee Ramachandran. It has been a messy exercise for Vajpayee, despite having the core team advice of deputy prime minister L K Advani, finance minister Jaswant Singh and party president Venkaiah Naidu. But the ground situation was equally messy.
Star of India guides IT boom
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Azim Premji is one of the world's richest men and a global tech tycoon. But he has an asceticism inspired by his hero Gandhi, reports Faisal Islam The 'richest man in India' is in phlegmatic mood. Mention that tag in Azim Premji's company and one gets no glimmer of recognition that this is a description of the man himself. Bring up the startling factoid that in February 2000 he usurped Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, and the Sultan of Brunei to become, for a sliver of history, the second-richest man in the world, worth some £35 billion, and all you get is a wry smirk. 'I didn't consider it real money. It was just notional wealth,' says Premji. At that time, shares in Wipro, Premji's company, were just about to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, a slick marketing move in addition to raising funds for expansion. Wipro's star had risen on the back of the dotcom boom. His Bangalore-based software programming teams and call centres were seen as the spine of the new internet economy. People were India's new spice. But the difference for Wipro, Infosys and the other leading Indian consultancies is that, although they serviced the dotcom economy, they never adhered to its business model. All have been consistently profitable. Wipro itself has grown by a compound rate of 40 per cent a year since 1966, when Premji took over his father's vegetable oil company. Its clients include Sony, Fiat, Microsoft, Dell, Allianz insurance, Thames Water and the Aberdeen Group. The attraction is India's potent mix of highly skilled, technically qualified, English-speaking graduates. 'I can employ a software engineer in India and give him the same standard of living as in Britain for a sixth of the cost, in purchasing parity terms. So it's inevitable that this shift will take place, as it has happened for manufacturing Britain these days, because there are better places to do it,' he says. All of which poses some interesting questions for the future of the British economy, but Premji's canvas is a global one. The 'global competitiveness agenda' is so compelling that profitable companies will not be able to avoid shifting back-office business processes abroad, he thinks. centre operators are graduates, which compares favourably with the skills level of call-centre operatives in the US and Europe. Language and technical aptitude are not enough for Premji, however. He recently sent some of his employees to accent-training courses in Texas and New York to offer a hometown-style service for Dell and Lehman Brothers respectively. But do not imagine his company is merely a global call centre. Premji forced the company to the limit in reaching various obscure quality-assurance kitemarks such as 'Sigma 6' and 'SEI CMM' of which Wipro is the world's first level 5 company. Indian software companies have had to go much further than Western ones just to shock prospective customers into realising their skills. 'We are into IT consulting, we now see our main competitor as Accenture,' he says. Indeed, Microsoft's Bill Gates recently hinted that a Wipro-Microsoft team could outcompete IBM's excellence in consultancy, prompting rumours of a closer relationship with the biggest technology company in the world. The two men co-operate on their charitable work. 'My foundation is working closely with the Bill Gates Foundation. Our expertise is in primary education and theirs is in health, so we're somewhat complementary,' says Premji. Education is Premji's passion. He had to curtail his own university life at Stanford to rush back to India and take control of Wipro. Now he devotes time to making sure his supply pipe of talented software consultants keeps flowing. 'We aren't coming up against skills constraints, there are still 260,000 software engineers coming out of Indian universities each year. One factor in their acknowledged propensity for technology is that they are willing to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn.' A measure of Wipro's confidence is its move to open up strike-ridden Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta. The company and the sector are showing increasing signs of maturity, which is good for a man who has ambitions to lead one of the top five software service companies in the world within a few years. Strategy consulting is not on the agenda, nor is the production of branded software. 'Products and services are two completely different businesses with different business models. We have mastered the business of services and view that as our core competence,' he says. But maturity brings problems. Maturity also means an end to 40 per cent growth rates and exceptional profits. Clients are pushing down prices, seeking to capture more of the cost savings themselves. Western competitors are opening their own facilities in India. And the post-11 September environment has put sand in the wheels of this unstoppable process of globalisation. New visa restrictions in the US may harm Wipro's ability to do business. In India there is a growing view that this is protectionism by other means. One US state, New Jersey, has passed a law banning outsourcing to Indian IT firms. 'Our industry body is looking into this issue of visas. Our model is 25 per cent of staff onsite, 75 per cent in India,' he says. Premji himself has been on the receiving end of racial profiling during his business trips to the US. 'Since I have come to the US I have gone to airports four times to catch flights and each time I have been profiled because my name shows I am a Muslim,' he told journalists last year, before joking about changing his name. But his name is increasingly known around the world. He has been entertained by Tony Blair and Bill Clinton when he was President, and was visited by Rupert Murdoch on his trip to India, yet Premji could not be more indifferent to the trappings of power. He still drives a six-year-old Ford Escort, travels economy class on internal flights, and packs a travel iron and detergent for washing his clothes. His legendary parsimony may be down to the fact that he still owns 84 per cent of the company, also the source of his world-beating wealth in 2000. He is believed recently to have slightly diluted his stake through acquisitions of a US consulting firm. Further acquisitions, possibly in Britain, are believed to be in the pipeline. Then again, his asceticism may simply be down to his background as a secular Bohra Indian Muslim who refuses to pay a bribe in a country riddled with corruption. Perhaps this is the influence of Gandhi, who alongside Bill Gates and Jack Welch top his list of heroes. Last week he took his take on human development to the World Bank, delivering the keynote speech at its conference on development economics. He was happy to relay details of the latest 'endogenous growth' theories, but also highlighted the 'frightening disparity' between developing and developed countries. 'A girl born in Japan today may have a 50 per cent chance of seeing the 22nd century - while a newborn in Afghanistan has a one in four chance of dying before age five,' he pointed out to the Bangalore conference. His vision is of a revolution in primary education and information kiosks bringing the Indian technology dream to every village and every farmer across the giant country. As he says: 'My sincere belief is that development and deployment of the right talent can soon push India to that long-awaited status of being a developed economy.' An optimistic vision, perhaps, but worth watching out for. · What they say Soon it will be common sense when a complex project is to be delivered to say 'How about we talk to Wipro about this?' Bill Gates, Microsoft president He has as much humility as Oracle's Larry Ellison has showmanship Rene Carayol, author of Corporate Voodoo By taking Wipro to the world stage he's pulled off the almost impossible Sir Iain Vallance, former chairman BT/CBI
Railways online booking a great hit
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Coimbatore, May 23: With good public response, the online booking and door delivery of tickets by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has registered tremendous growth from its inception 10 months ago, a senior official said today. Started in August in Delhi with 100 tickets booking with a daily turnover of Rs 3 lakh, IRCTC has an average ticket sales of 2,500 to 3,000, raising its daily turnover to Rs 40 lakh in 40 locations, now, according to its deputy general manager (operations), J Vinayan. Talking to reporters here, after inaugurating the facility in Coimbatore and Tirupur, Vinayan said the facility would be extended to another 10 cities and towns, to raise it to 50 locations by the end of the year. Stating that the system used the broad vision suite of e-commerce software products, Vinayan said the services now offered were booking tickets by any train in any class from any station to any station served by the train, subject to distance restriction imposed by Railways. However, courier services for door delivery of the tickets were only available in 40 cities and towns, which would be extended gradually, including in Tiruchirapalli, Erode and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. With ticket printing facility available now only in Delhi, IRCTC proposes to start this facility in Chennai and Mumbai soon, which would reduce the period of door delivery, which took two to three days at present, Vinayan added. (Agencies)
Ramachandran resigns from Union Cabinet
Saturday, May 24, 2003
New Delhi, May 23: Union Minister of State for Finance Gingee N. Ramachandran resigned tonight from the Vajpayee government, accepting moral responsibility for the alleged involvement of his personal assistant in a bribery case but said his conscience was clear that he was not involved in any wrongdoing. As his continuance in the ministry appeared untenable by the hour, he sent his resignation to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after he had discussed the matter with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, NDA convenor George Fernandes and BJP president M Venkiah Naidu following his return from Chennai. Contacts were also established with MDMK chief Yaiko, who is at present lodged in Vellore central jail on POTA charges. Ramachandran said, "Since a situation has arisen whereby I have to accept moral responsibility to save the government from unnecessary embarrassment, I have tendered my resignation. But my conscience is very, very clear that I have not done anything wrong." The MDMK is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre. MDMK presidium chairman L Ganesan, after calling on the party chief Vaiko at the central prison in Vellore, said it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister to sack a minister. Ganesan said Ramachandran and the MDMK should not be blamed for an offence allegedly committed by an official. Vaiko, lodged in the prison after being arrested under POTA, was shocked after hearing the news but believed that Ramachandran would not have indulged in any corruption, he said. Asked whether he discussed the Ramachandran issue with Vaiko, Ganesan said he had discussed with Vaiko the political situation and other issues concerned with the party. (Agencies)
Fernandes to spend night in submarine
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Visakhapatnam, May 23: It was a promise fulfilled for the Navy personnel here when Defence Minister George Fernandes embarked on INS Sindhuvir, a frontline submarine, for an overnight stay to review its operations at sea. Fernandes would review the operations and the prowess of the multi-faceted capabilities of the submarine arm. He is likely to disembark tomorrow morning. The submarine is being commanded by Commander Raghvendra Rai. It was during his previous visit to the command in November last year when he had visited the submarine at sea for a few hours. Following that visit, the Minister had expressed a desire to spend a full night on board. Earlier, Fernandes was welcomed by Vice Admiral Raman Puri, who is Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, on his arrival from Chennai by a special flight here this evening. After arriving at the naval jetty in the naval dockyard here, he went directly to the submarine and did not talk to mediamen waiting for him at the venue. INS Sindhuvir, the fourth of the Sindhugosh class of submarines, was commissioned at Riga in the erstwhile USSR in 1988 and has had an excellent stint with successful participation in several major combat exercises and operations. (Agencies)
Annan appoints de Mello UN special representative to Iraq
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Annan appoints de Mello UN special representative to Iraq United Nations,Saturday, May 24, 2003: United Nations Human Rights Chief Sergio Vieira de Mello has been appointed as the world body's special representative in Iraq for four months and will work with the United States and Britain in reconstruction of the country and rebuilding of its devastated institutions. But de Mello, who has strong backing of the United States, said his appointment is only for four months so that he can hold his current position. Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed the presidents of Security Council and the General Assembly in letters of his choice on Friday, just 24 hours after the Council adopted a resolution lifting sanctions on Iraq. Annan is expected to formally introduce him at press conference on Tuesday. Monday is UN holiday. Writing to Assembly President Jan Kavan, Annan described Mello's appointment as "unusual" and there was nothing in his letter to suggest that he would remain in Iraq after that. Annan said he has selected de Mello because of "his unique experience in serving the UN in post-conflict situations in the past." Deputy High Commissioner for human rights, Bertie Ramcharan will be officer-in-charge during Vieira de Mello's absence. The fifty-five year old Brazilian diplomat has deftly handled the East Timor, Kosovo and Lebanon crisis, among other places. He took over a UN human rights commissioner in September from Mary Robinson. 09:30 IST
Mamata cancels Delhi visit; summons emergency meeting
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Mamata cancels Delhi visit; summons emergency meeting Kolkata,Saturday, May 24, 2003: In a sudden development, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was likely to be inducted in the Union Cabinet, has cancelled her trip to New Delhi this morning and summoned an emergency working committee meeting of the Party to decide "future course of action". The decision came in the wake of reports from New Delhi that senior party colleague Sudip Bandyopadhyay was being considered for induction in the Union Cabinet without consulting the party, Mukul Roy, Trinamool Congress General Secretary and close confidante of Banerjee told. Roy said that move to induct Bandyopadhyay in the cabinet without consulting the party amounts to "direct attempt to cause defection in Trinamool Congress". 09:30 IST
Village woman shares platform with Azim Premji
Saturday, May 24, 2003
BANGALORE: The combination is a rather strange one but could well be an indicator of the change IT is making to the lives of people, more so in India's villages. Norti Bai, a 55-year-old woman from Tilonia in Rajasthan, a school dropout, inaugurated a conference here on Friday where IT major Wipro's chairman Azim Premji delivered the keynote address. The news is not so much about her sharing the platform with the prince of Indian IT as well as Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), but how she reached there. The occasion was the inauguration of a seminar on "Media, IT and Grassroots Development," organised as part of the 40th anniversary of the Press Institute of India. Thanks to a non-governmental organisation called Social Work Research Centre (SWRC), Norti Bai could learn computers to provide maps to the government on the number of wells or water resources in 11 villages around Tilonia. "It took me seven months to learn computers, two months of which went in translating the English keyboard into Hindi. All the details of the surveys of water resources are incorporated in the maps. There are 3,000 women in 250 villages working on such surveys," she told the audience. Norti Bai, dressed in the traditional Rajasthani ghagra-dupatta and jewellery, appears to have been a fighter all through. Two decades ago, as a construction worker, she fought for payment of minimum wages by organising women around the villages. That's when she got in touch with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan, a worker-peasant trade union. She was soon involved in teaching the children of farm labourers in what could best be described as night schools because they had to work during the day in the fields. She also trained women labourers about their rights and the right to information before her movements were restricted because her husband developed TB. That's when the SWRC offered her computer training. "Women don't send their children to school after fifth or sixth standard. But they send them to me and I teach them. I teach them the basics of the computer and let them type out the newspaper," Norti Bai told on the sidelines of the seminar. "If we must progress as a nation, we must learn how to be self-critical without losing our self-confidence. Because, as it is said, success does not always go to the strongest but to those who think they can," Premji said. "Education helps people make informed choices, and enhances their access to opportunities," he added. Said Press Institute of India chairman Ajit Bhattacharjea: "Norti Bai was a natural choice as she represents the dramatic changes made possible by IT in rural society. The event is designed to promote coverage of grassroots issues often neglected by the media." Said Karnik: "The Nasscom foundation, registered three months ago, would act as a bridge between the industry and the non-governmental sector to help adoption of technology in the rural areas. Technology adoption does not necessarily mean teaching computers. There could also be text to speech appliances."
No talks with Pakistan now, says Fernandes
Saturday, May 24, 2003
No talks with Pakistan now, says Fernandes CHENNAI: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Friday dismissed suggestions of talks with Pakistan in the immediate future and said the Centre was now going ahead with the confidence building measures with the neighbouring country. Fernandes told reporters immediately after attending an investiture ceremony of the Indian Coast Guard at its air station here that talks would be held when the situation demanded it. ``When we reach the time for talks, it will be held. But it (the time) is not appropriate now,'' he noted. On the efforts taken by Pakistan to curb cross border terrorism and the activities of the terrorist outfits, he said: ``Pakistan has taken some steps and asked some terrorist leaders and groups not to venture into certain areas. If the directive is acted upon, our government will welcome it.'' However, the extent to which the orders were being implemented was not known, he added. On Pakistan's insistence on third party intervention in the Kashmir issue, Fernandes was of the view that the issues should be solved bilaterally. He said India had not sought the intervention of any third country in the issues between the two nations. There had been ups and downs in infiltration from across the border, the Defence Minister said. He also ruled out withdrawal of forces from the borders with Pakistan immediately. Regarding the relief activities taken up by the Indian armed forces in flood-ravaged Sri Lanka, Fernandes said more forces would be rushed there depending on the need. Stating that the island nation was facing a very hard time, he said the Indian Army, Air Force and Naval personnel were providing whatever assistance was necessary. Regarding the proposed joint Naval exercises with Russia, Fernandes said the European nation had been a strategic partner for a long time and that the military exercises were an ongoing process. ``We have had such an exercise with the US called the `Malabar Series', recently. It will continue with other countries too,'' he added. Fernandes said there was no move to send a unit of the Rashtriya Rifles to Iraq to join the US forces in rebuilding the war-ravaged country. He did not favour such a move at this juncture.
Explicit sex scene sets tongues wagging at Cannes
Thursday, May 22, 2003
A US film competing at the Cannes film festival has become a hot talking point at the glitzy parties on the Riviera for an explicit fellatio scene featuring the actor/director, Vincent Gallo. The real-life oral sex scene in Gallo's "The Brown Bunny" elicited giggles and wide-eyed stares in screenings, but failed to stir the sort of outrage that has accompanied previous Cannes entries. Reaction to the film, which is about a motorbike racer's quest to forget his one true love by seducing a succession of other women, has been tepid, with a few viewers saying the fellatio scene was the only point at which the story livened up. "I'm only serious when I'm provocative," Gallo, 41, told a media conference, though he denied that he had been seeking to create a scandal.
Indo-Russian naval exercises begin
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Indo-Russian naval exercises begin 22/05/2003 India and Russia on Wednesday began their first ever naval exercises in the Arabian Sea. The exercises, which involve the largest deployment of Russian warships since the collapse of the Soviet Union comes at a time when the US Navy is withdrawing its warships from the Persian Gulf. The timing of the exercises and the scale of the Russian deployment is being seen as a first step towards a sustained Russian presence in the Indian Ocean - something which was common during the Cold War. The exercises being led by the flagship of the Black Sea fleet involves 11 Russian warships including cruisers, frigates and reportedly two nuclear submarines.
Pakistan to remain suspended from Commonwealth
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Pakistan will remain suspended from the Commonwealth as its Parliament has remained deadlocked over the status of the Legal Framework Orders issued by President Pervez Musharraf as the military chief, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group decided today. While agreeing to review Pakistan's suspension at its next meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Group hoped that dialogue between the Government and the opposition parties on outstanding issues, including the LFO, would be concluded successfully in the spirit of parliamentary practice and process, the Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon told newsmen after the CMAG meeting. External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, who was also present at the briefing said "I agree with the decision and I have nothing more to add to the decision of the group." He was replying to a question on India's reaction to the decision to keep Pakistan suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth. The concluding statement read out by Mckinnon said the Group received a report from the Secretary-General on recent developments in Pakistan, in particular "the role and functioning of democratic institutions since the October 2002 elections. "The Group welcomed the progress made by Pakistan in the establishment of democratic institutions including the election of the National Assembly, the Senate and Provincial Assemblies, and the formation of democratic governments at the national and provincial levels. It also welcomed the positive measures taken for women's representation in the parliament, the representation of minorities and the determination to enhance public accountability and end corruption'. 20:27 IST
Sehwag slams 54 to set-up Leicestershire victory
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Sehwag slams 54 to set-up Leicestershire victory London,Tuesday, May 20, 2003: Explosive India bat Virender Sehwag slammed an entertaining half-century to set up a 66-run victory for his county side Leicestershire against Yorkshire in the National Cricket League one-day match here. Sehwag stitched a 97-run partnership in 18 overs with Darren Stevens for the second wicket, a stand that propelled Leicestershire to a competitive 247 for eight. In reply, Yorkshire could manage 181. Sehwag did not disappoint the healthy number of Leicester's Indian community who had came down specially to watch him in action. He made a fine 54 with the help of chip shots and one-handed slices to the point boundary besides his speciality stroke - the powerful wrist-rolling flick to the leg. Sehwag's knock was not chanceless though. He got a reprieve on 27 when Chris Silverwood let go a simple-looking chance in the slips. Had he held on to it, it would have been yet another instance of the Indian batting star getting dismissed in reckless fashion after a fine start. Sehwag had struggled intially on his debut English season failing in three consecutive one-day innings before making a fine 81 in the four-day county match against Surrey. Ironically, the Indian batting star perished to his favourite flick shot as a leading edge to short extra cover was well taken. 19:11 IST
India shows the way on economic reforms: World Bank
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Lauding India for its decade-old economic reforms, World Bank Vice President Nicholas H Stern said today the country has shown the developing world the right kind of economic policies to be adopted. "India has shown to the developing world the right kind of economic growth. We do know that (growth) is slowing... It will have to push ahead more for accelerated development... I am rather positive of the growth it has achieved in the last 10 years," Stern told reporters here, ahead of the bank's "annual conference on development economics" (ABCDE). India's Gross Domestic Product grew at 6.7 per cent annually in the first five years of reforms (1992-1993 to 1996-1997) and at 5.5 per cent in the subsequent five years, which was "significant" than the "Hindu rate of growth" of 3.5 per cent in the pre-liberalisation days. He said India witnessed rapid growth in exports at 14 per cent of GDP, doubling from seven per cent in the 10 years due to the relaxation of the permit raj and substantial liberalisation of exports. World Bank rates India between the lower income and lower-middle income countries of the world. Stern said the ABCDE meet showed the changing style of the World Bank to be more operation-oriented and committed on the field. 19:28 IST
Managing Editor of English Daily arrested in PF default
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Managing Editor of English Daily arrested in PF default Kolkata,Tuesday, May 20, 2003: The Managing Editor of a leading English daily, The Statesman, Ravinder Kumar, was today arrested in an alleged provident fund default case and sent to judicial custody till May 27. The Enforcement branch of the Kolkata police arrested Kumar this morning in front of his residence on the basis of a complaint filed by the Provident F |
