|
|
September 2003
CBI trips Tripathi with lie-detector
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi who was reportedly avoiding taking a lie-detector test was given one by the CBI on Monday. He failed. Tripathi, under police remand for his alleged role in the murder of poet Madhumita Shukla, failed the test on three counts. The CBI intends to use the results of the tests to seek an extension of Tripathi's remand. The preliminary results of the polygraph test found the SP MLA to be lying on the following questions: ** Whether he was involved in the conspiracy to kill Madhumita ** Whether his wife, Madhumani, was involved in the conspiracy ** Whether Madhumani was aware of his relationship with Madhumita and if it lead to frequent altercations between them. Results of polygraph tests are not admissible in court. But the findings are important because they will help strengthen any future evidence of Tripathi's role in Madhumita's murder. Sources said the findings would be part of the final chargesheet to be submitted by the CBI in the murder case. They added it was now clear that Tripathi was trying to shield Madhumani whom the CBI suspects to be involved in the conspiracy. Meanwhile, investigating officials claimed they have got some important leads regarding one of the suspected killers, Satprakash.
Calcutta HC bans rallies, meetings on working days
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
A single-judge Calcutta High Court bench today ordered Kolkata Police to ban meetings and processions in the city between 8 am to 8 pm on working days. The court also asked the police to notify the public of the order and directed them to deploy riot police force, if necessary, in enforcing the order. Justice Amitav Lala had issued a suo motu contempt rule against Kolkata Police (Traffic) on September 24 when a rally organised by the Adivasi Socio-Educational and Cultural Association brought the city to a halt. Justice Lala was left stranded on the road for more than 40 minutes that day. Justice Lala directed the police to ensure that from now on, meetings and processions are held only after 8.00 pm on holidays after obtaining prior permission from police authorities. Besides, the judge said, the organisers should deposit a security amount with the police so that anybody suffering from any loss due to the procession or meeting could be compensated. Reacting to the court order, a member of the All-India Forward Bloc told The Indian Express, ‘‘We’re shocked. It’s our democratic right to hold rallies.’’
Mulayam supports Ram temple, claims VHP
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has assured that Ram temple would be built in Ayodhya during his tenure. VHP international vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore Yadav claimed Yadav had also given a commitment that he would not stop devotees from going for darshan at the present makeshift temple at Ayodhya. "Now, Mulayam Singh is a changed man," Kishore told the press in Hyderabad. He cited Yadav as saying, 'The UP government will not stop anybody who wants to go to Ayodhya and if any law and order problem arises, we will take action.' He reiterated the demand that the NDA government should convene a special session of Parliament to enact a law for handing over the disputed site to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas for the construction of the Ram temple. "There is no political compulsion for the BJP for not convening a special session of Parliament on this issue. If the Union government can take a similar action of enacting a special legislation on Shah Bano issue, why not on an issue which involved the vast majority of the people?" he asked. Kishore warned the government that the VHP will not wait for the court's verdict to start the construction of the temple. "We cannot wait any further. We have already waited for almost several decades," he said. "The Archaeological Survey of India excavation report has vindicated our stand and further strengthened our argument on the issue. The report has sanctity since the excavation work was supervised by both Hindu and Muslim supervisors," he said.
Sachin's car hits another pothole
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
The talk over Sachin Tendulkar and his much-publicised Ferrari that was gifted to him by Fiat refuses to die down. Hardly has the controversy over the customs duty waiver of Rs 1 crore on his car ended, now comes the news that the Indian cricketing superstar has sought for a homologation waiver of Rs 15 lakh. According to reports reaching here, Tendulkar has applied for a waiver with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the nodal agency in New Delhi that handles such issues. For those wondering what this homologation is all about, it is the process of certifying that a particular car is roadworthy. The authority to give the clearance is vested with the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Every original car model brought into the country by an individual or a manufacturer must have homologation clearance. Even domestic car manufacturers need a homologation certificate for new models. But once the prototype is certified, other similar cars do not need to be certified. In the case of Ferraris, though there are other Ferraris in India, Tendulkar's car 360 Modena is the first of its kind in the country and therefore needs a clearance certificate. Homologation can cost between Rs 10 and Rs 15 lakh, depending on the number of tests needed to ensure its roadworthiness. The process takes about three months. According to ARAI, even cars homologated abroad need to get a certificate locally. Quite simply, ARAI does not recognise the overseas certificate in India. Though FIAA (Federation of Indian Automobile Association) has been regularly protesting over this (getting a certificate for cars that had already been certified), the government is still to relent. FIAA has also said there were hardly any equipment with Indian agencies to carry out such tests, but the government has been demanding this only to get some money. Local car manufacturers are also supporting this just because it made importing foreign cars more difficult. Anyway, ARAI is believed to give no waiver to anybody, but it is not clear what is the kind of penalty or punishment that will be meted out in the event of no homologation certificate. But in the case of Tendulkar it could be different. And at any rate, a Ferrari car has such a reputation that Indian roads may be called to get a certificate to show its fitness to ply a Ferrari on them. Tendulkar's over Rs.one crore Ferrari is already under the eye of a storm as the cricketer sought and got a waiver from the government over the payment of customs duty. Even as there was a brouhaha over the matter as whether Tendulkar, who is one of the richest sportspersons around, the Italian car maker Fiat (the makers of Ferrari) rescued him by paying the whopping import duty (120 per cent) on the car they gifted to him. Tendulkar was a brand ambassador for Fiat (he is no longer). However, Tendulkar has had the mortification of facing a couple of cases in the court over the entire matter. The Delhi High Court suo motu issued a notice to Tendulkar and the Indian government asking them to explain why the import duty was exempted. The case is still on.
Army PRO Kant retires
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
New Delhi, Sep 30 Army's Public Relation Officer Brigadier Shruti Kant retired today after 31 years of distinguished service in the force. Kant, the public face of the army, had many firsts to his credit among them being the most decorated public relation officer having got six awards, including Vishisht Seva Medal. Kant had the distinction of being a PRO of a core in Jodhpur - Rajasthan, PRO of a command in Udhampur - Jammu and Kashmir, and six years at the army headquarters. Having done nine years stint as a PRO in the worst period of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, he had the honour of serving four army commanders and three army chiefs.
Fernandes threatens defamation, treason charges against Cong
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Mounting a scathing attack on Congress leaders for raking up the alleged Coffingate scam, Defence Minister George Fernandes today threatened to slam defamation and treason charges against them if they did not stop the 'dirty game'. "Not only defamation suit but also treason charge will be slammed against the Congress in a court of law ... I will not wait for eternity if Congress does not stop the dirty game of propagating false accusations," he told reporters here. Apparently referring to Congress President Sonia Gandhi without naming her, Fernandes charged her with propagating the 'biggest ever lie' in the world about the alleged Coffingate scam. Refuting the allegation of underhand dealing in the purchase of caskets for martyred defence personnel during the Kargil war, the Defence Minister said the 'canard' being spread by Congress was having a demoralising effect on the defence personnel. Asked about possibility of sending Indian troops to Iraq, he replied in the negative. Fernandes accused opposition parties of trying to play politics with serious defence matters.
India to get 10 million tonnes of equity crude from Sudan
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
India will get over 10 million tonnes of crude oil by 2008 as its share from oil fields in Sudan where ONGC Videsh Ltd has taken equity stakes. India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil requirement, has been encouraging public sector firms to acquire stake in oil acreages abroad as a means to boost energy security for the country. "We presently get about 3.2 million tonnes from our 25 per cent stake in Greater Nile Oil Project in Sudan. Additionally we have acquired two more blocks that will give an equal amount of crude," OVL managing director Atul Chandra told reporters here. OVL's take from Greater Nile Oil Project will increase to 3.75 million tonnes annually by next year end after new finds in the project are put to production. Similarly, equity stakes in Block 5A and 5B will provide close to 6 million tonnes annually when the two attain optimum production level in next five years. Besides, OVL will also be paid in crude oil for laying a 700-km product pipeline from Khartom refinery to Port of Sudan. OVL, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is also in talks for buying stakes in two producing oil blocks in Libya and one field in Angola. It is also negotiating 3 offshore oil and gas blocks in Myanmar and in future go to Australia, he said.
AirTel hikes national, international SMS rates from Monday
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
New Delhi, Sept 29 In line with industry trend, AirTel has increased SMS tariffs for national and international messages to Rs two and Rs five respectively in Delhi, with effect from today. Cellular operators have hiked domestic and international SMS rates on account of increased interconnect charges by the overseas operators and changes have already been effected in many circles in the country. While AirTel hiked the SMS rates with effect from today, the other two private operators in Delhi had increased the rates in the last two months. Idea had already increased its national and international SMS rates to Rs two and Rs five sometime in July. Earlier this month Hutch increased the rates for international SMS to Rs five, although it is yet to revise the rates for national SMS. According to industry sources the international SMS traffic accounts for merely two per cent of the total SMS traffic, national about ten per cent while the balance is local.
Indian hockey coach and captain in public spat
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Chennai, Sep 29 Differences between the Indian hockey coach Rajinder Singh and captain Dhanraj Pillay today came out in the open when the two were engaged in a heated verbal duel soon after the team landed here from Kuala Lumpur with the Asia Cup title. The celebrations at the airport were marred by confusion while the press conference held later in a city hotel saw the row between the two when Pillay, who was surrounded by reporters and cameramen, was reprimanded by the coach for giving interviews. The tempramental Pillay shouted back at the coach "I am speaking on behalf of the team. I am not seeking any publicity for myself." Later the Indian Hockey Federation downplayed the incident and secretary general K Jothikumaran, who received the players at the airport, termed the incident as "a minor one."
Uniform Civil Code essential for the country: Kalam
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Chandigarh, Sep 29 President APJ Abdul Kalam today said the Uniform Civil Code was essential for a country like India with a billion people as any law has to be uniformly applicable. The President's comments on the Uniform Civil Code came during an interactive session with school children here. Stressing on the need to make India a developed nation by 2020, he hailed the launch of INSAT-3E yesterday as another milestone in the country's space communication. He said India's Moon Mission and Mars exploration would be another area where success would be achieved. "We have to make India economically strong, technologically advanced and prosperous," Kalam said. Asked what was the most important thing that would help India earn a place among the world's developed countries, he said education for all and employment generation were the key factors. "Education, particularly girls' education, is very important We must also generate employment for several of our unemployed. I believe these are the two most important factors," he said. The cost of education has to come down to make it affordable for all, the President said. On the reservation policy, he explained to the students, drawn from 120 schools in the Union Territory, that in the Constitution there is a provision that certain people need help. However, he said "I believe in due course of time merit will have to play an important role." PTI
Militants gun down six in Tripura
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Militants gun down six in Tripura 30-September-2003 GUWAHATI: Tribal separatists on Monday killed at least six people and critically wounded three in an attack in Tripura, officials said. A police spokesman said heavily armed militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) attacked Dhurai Sambrai village, 65 km northeast of Tripura's capital Agartala around 6 p.m. on Monday. "A big group of NLFT rebels descended in the village just after dusk and targeted three houses with a barrage of gunfire," D. Gautam, Tripura's police chief for counter-insurgency operations, told by telephone from Agartala. Five people died on the spot, while another succumbed to injuries on way to hospital. "The victims were from families who were supporters of the (ruling) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and so it appears it was a targeted attack," the police official said. The dead included four women and two children. The NLFT, fighting for an independent tribal homeland, currently operates out of bases inside adjoining Bangladesh to carry out their hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on Indian soldiers. The village, inhabited by tribals, was barely six km from the Bangladesh border. Police and paramilitary troopers have launched an operation to nab the rebels. During the past one year, at least 100 CPI-M leaders were killed in separate incidents by the NLFT. The NLFT accuse the ruling government of neglecting the interests of the tribals, who are in a minority in a state of 3.1 million people. "We have become a minority in our own land and unless we achieve our goal for a sovereign homeland, the future of the tribal people would be doomed," the NLFT said in a recent statement. "At one point of time, the tribal population in Tripura was more than 95 percent but today we are reduced to less than 30 percent in our own land," the statement said. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Tripura during the past two decades.
Electronics component exports jumps nine per cent
Monday, September 29, 2003
New Delhi, Sep 28 Electronics component exports have jumped nine per cent to touch Rs 2400 crore in 2002-03, with European Union countries emerging as a major destination for export accounting for 42 per cent of the total exports. In absolute terms, export of electronic components to EU countries have shot up from Rs 677 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 1002 crore in 2002-03, posting an increase of 48 per cent, according to Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). The North American region consisting of Canada and US fell to third position during the year with exports dropping 31 per cent at Rs 405 crore, even as Singapore, Hong Kong and other South Asian countries emerged as the second largest destination with Rs 562 crore worth of exports. Exports to the the South Asian region grew 22 per cent during the year. Middle East countries occupied the fourth slot with exports accounting for 7.5 per cent of the total exports at Rs 181 crore. Japan, Korea and other far east countries were ranked fifth with exports declining nine per cent to Rs 112 crore, it said. Other destinations for exports were African region (Rs 33 crore), Australia and Oceanic countries (Rs 46 crore), Latin America (Rs 18 crore) and Russia and CIS countries (Rs five crore). PTI
India win the big one at last with dream victory over Pakistan
Monday, September 29, 2003
India win the big one at last with dream victory over Pakistan Abhaya Srivastava Kuala Lumpur, Sep 28 Ignace Tirkey played the game of his life as India thrashed bitter rivals Pakistan 4-2 in a nerve-wracking final to win their first ever Asia Cup title and a berth in the 2006 World Cup here today. With the teams locked 2-2 and the match appearing to be headed towards extra time with just one minute 27 seconds left on the clock, Ignace did a Houdini act to score off a solo dribble on receiving a pass from Baljeet Singh Saini. The drama was not over as yet as India capped their superb show with another goal by Prabhjot Singh 14 seconds from the hooter. The victory helped India settle more than one score as they were defeated by Pakistan by the same margin in the league match earlier in the tournament. India also avenged their defeat in the bronze medal play-off in the Champions Trophy last month as well as their 2-0 thrashing in the 1989 edition at New Delhi, the last time the archrivals met in the final of Asia Cup. The victory, which put paid to Pakistan's aspirations to win their fourth Asia Cup title after they won it last in New Delhi, was especially sweet for India as they had finished bridesmaid on four occasions earlier, being forced to be content with the runners-up title.
Lata turns 75, B' day celebration comes out of shell
Monday, September 29, 2003
Mumbai, Sep 28 Living legend Lata Mangehskar, whose songs enchanted the souls of millions for six decades across the subcontinent, turned 75 today as her birthday celebrations came out out of the shell of intense privacy and went public with tributes from fans ranging from top politicians to commoners. The Nightingale of India, who has sung for heroines ranging from Madhubala to Kajol, celebrated her birthday with her family and friends at her south Mumbai residence `Prabhu Kunj' but there was no cutting of cakes. "We don't follow these formalities at home," said Lata's sister Meena to a pointed question about cutting of cake. Throughout the day, an array of visitors went to her house and wished her many happy returns of the day. The celebrations were capped by a gala function at the Andheri sports complex in the evening whenDeputy Prime Minister L K Advani and a galaxy of political leaders and celebrities in film world joined thousands of ordinary fans of Lata to felicitate the melody queen who has given her ageless voice to over 40,000 songs. Recalling Lata's contribution to music, Advani said although "I am being asked to speak first because I am the oldest here, age is not everything. The importance of the respect for Lata is much more than the importance given to my age." "Normally, I don't celebrate my birthday and I make it a point not to be in Mumbai on the occasion. But this year, my family insisted on doing this (felicitation function) for me," said the singer. (more) PTI
INSAT-3E launch a boost to telecom, television services
Monday, September 29, 2003
Bangalore, Sep 28 In a major boost to telecom and television services, India's advanced communication satellite INSAT-3E was successfully launched by an European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana early today. The European consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 launcher lofted a trio of payloads -- INSAT-3E, e-BIRD for Europe's Eutelsat and SMART-1 for the European Space Agency -- in an intricate multi-sequence mission. The 162nd flight of Ariane 5 soared majestically in an excellent weather at 4.44 am IST, leaving a trail of orange flames in its wake and completed the 13th mission of the launch vehicle, telecast live by Doordarshan. The fourth satellite in the INSAT series, the spacecraft is equipped with 24 normal C-band and 12 extended C-band transponders, swelling the present capacity of nearly 95 transponders in the five already operational INSAT satellites. INSAT system is the mainstay for communication and broadcasting in the country. With an operational lifetime of 15 years, INSAT-3E would augment the present capacity of INSAT for communication and TV services.
Pak blames India for blocking its re-entry into Commonwealth
Monday, September 29, 2003
Islamabad, Sept 28 Blaming India for "blocking" its re-entry into Commonwealth, Islamabad today regretted the 54-nation grouping's decision to continue with its suspension on grounds that democracy was not fully restored in Pakistan. "It is regrettable that such a decision was taken even though democracy was restored in Pakistan. After last year's elections, democratic institutions were functioning and an elected Parliament was constituted with representation to all segments of the society," a Foreign Office spokesman said. India was responsible for "blocking Islamabad's re-entry," he told the state television. Referring to Commonwealth's criticism that Pakistan's Parliament remained deadlocked over the Legal Framework Order (LFO), incorporating the constitutional amendments brought in by President Pervez Musharraf, he said no foreign institution has the right to micro-manage the democracy in Pakistan. "LFO is our internal issue and Commonwealth has no right to interfere in the internal affairs," he said.
Ariane carries INSAT-3E into space
Sunday, September 28, 2003
The European Ariane rocket took off with India's latest communication satellite, INSAT-3E, from Kourou spaceport, French Guyana, early Sunday. The 2,775kg satellite was injected into space about 30 minutes after the lift-off The Ariane 5G launch vehicle also carried two other spacecraft -- SMART-1, Europe's first lunar probe, and the Eutelsat e-BIRD broadband services satellite. Soon after it went into orbit, the Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka, acquired the first signals from the satellite, Indian Space Research Organisation sources in Bangalore said. The INSAT-3E was scheduled for launch in August, but a quality alert from Japanese firm Mitsubishi, which supplied some components, forced ISRO to retest certain equipment
Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Love, Romance and Sweet memories have always played a special role in one's life. Dushant (Shahrukh Khan), Jaya (Raveena Tandon), Sujit (Mohnish Behl) and Nisha (Navneet) are childhood friends. Dushant aspires to become a successful singer but is hard hit for money. Jaya helps Dushant to realize his ambitions. As success catches up with Dushant, a rift is created between Dushant and Jaya. Sujit and Nisha take undue advantage of this to get close to Dushant and create a misunderstanding between him and Jaya. Kamlesh Dhingra (Avtaar Gill), who is Nisha's father approaches Dushant for finance for his business venture but is, turned down by Rajpal (Kiran Kumar) who is Dushant's mentor. Dhingra and Sujit plot to amass Dushant's wealth by luring Dushant to marry Nisha and getting rid of Rajpal. Dushant comes to know of this plot. Suddenly Sujit is murdered. Rahul (Amit Kumar) who is a police officer comes in to the picture to investigate the murder. Nisha is also murdered under mysterious circumstances and the climax builds up. Another murder takes place that of Dhingra. Who is the murderer? What is his motive? Is Dushant avenging his betrayal? Do Dushant and Jaya get back together?
Samay
Sunday, September 28, 2003
iDreams latest murder mystery, Samay, is about the death of a successful industrialist. More so it is like a test of the skill and patience of ACP. Malvika Chauhan (Sushmita Sen), a celebrated officer and an idol to many a woman in the country. ACP Malvika Chauhan starts to do what she's best at - solving difficult crimes. This investigation is the biggest challenge she has faced till now in her career, a journey so daring that she did not know it existed. The murder investigation on the commencement seems strange in a way that there is no clue or motive of any kind that would form the basis of the murder. As she gets deeper and deeper into the case, she realizes the murder to be a work of a genius, a work of a criminal mind that has left everybody stunned with its brilliant execution. Further investigation leads to some inexplicable clues including the stab wound on the neck of the deceased. The Post mortem rules out any foreign particle in the blood stream - a fact that defies logic. ACP Malvika Chauhan, with other circumstantial leads and her sharp observation builds the puzzle piece by piece. But only to provide a solution that she does not believe in. What role does time play in the battle of these great minds? Only Samay will tell.
Where's The Party Yaar?
Sunday, September 28, 2003
When you are an Indian immigrant like Hari Patel, "fresh off the boat" or FOB, you have enough to learn without having to figure out "where's the party, yaar." While the desi scene may be hip and happening in Hari's new home of Houston, Texas, the guardians of cool don't want the FOBs, with their funny dance moves and their white sneakers, crashing their Desi Fever dance parties. Hari, with his oily hair and his oversized luggage, might have a hard time breaking in, but by the end of this all-you-can-eat joke buffet he-and everyone else had learned and unlearned more than a few lessons. With a fresh, energetic cast including Kal Penn and Sunil Malhotra from the hit AMERICAN DESI, and a killer soundtrack featuring Cornershop, Panjabi MC and DJ Cheb i Sabbah, the film pokes fun at every sacred cow it can find, from astrologers, pirated CDs, South Asians in post 9/11 America, shagadelic Indian student bachelor pads (with half a dozen roomies) to that holiest of holies, a Bollywood song in the rain. The toughest dilemma, however, has nothing to do with roots, bhangra or how to be a cool brown dude. It's simply this: how on earth do you buy a condom in a convenience store when the owner looks like your good uncle from Patiala?
Love in Nepal
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Love in Nepal strives to re-define the humour/action genre in Indian cinema, with advertising as its backdrop, shot mostly in Pokhara and the mountainous holiday spots of Mustang district. The movie is Rajat Mukherjee's first film outside the Ramgopal Verma production. After Jaani Dushman and Kash Aap Hamare Hote opposite Juhi Babbar, Now sonu Nigam is playing the male lead sporting a new look with new hairstyle and french beard. Sonu Nigam plays Abby, a wild and wacky creative head of an emerging advertising agency called Madness. A compulsive flirt, he also has his own unique style of functioning, which is, in other words exemplified by the term, 'The King of only the good times'. His way of functioning is threatened, when Meenaxi Malhotra, popularly called as 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 especially the attitude of Abby, and is hell bent on teaching him a lesson. This starts of a series of episodes of one up (wo)manship between the two. Love in Nepal features Fllora Sini in the female lead after a cameo in Bharat Bhagya Vidhata. She has also done some South Indian Movies and is awaiting her yet another release 'Aur Phir Ek Din'. This rivalry is carried on to Nepal, where they have gone to shoot for an advertising film, little knowing that their lives were going to change forever. Abby's undisciplined behaviour soon starts acting as a catalyst for Maxi, who is gradually attracted to him. All of a sudden, events take an interesting turn whereas these adversaries are forced to go on the run from literally everyone in sight in Nepal. Will Abby and maxi, however their newfound mutual attraction for eachother maybe, is able to figure out these unexpected new events? The answer is yes as not only they find the answers but also a soul mate in each other in their own immitable styles. All throughout, the film does not lose sight of the repartee between Abby and Maxi at a tremendous and entertaining pace.
Zameen
Sunday, September 28, 2003
The year 2003 has witnessed several new directors exploding on the Hindi screen. A few made an impact, while others vanished into thin air, going completely unnoticed. ZAMEEN, directed by debutante Rohit Shetty, catches you unaware... For, the film tackles an oft-repeated issue - the sensitive Indo-Pak relations - that has been recycled on the Hindi screen time and again. So, how is ZAMEEN different? Also, depicting a real-life incident [Indian Airlines' hijack to Kandahar] on celluloid and getting the chronology of events right is easier said than done, more so for a first-time director. You have to tread cautiously. One wrong move, the impact could boomerang. Handling a mammoth star cast and giving the film a larger-than-life look can prove to be an arduous task. Rohit Shetty, who makes his debut as director with this film, passes in all three sections. With distinction marks at that! Col. Ranvir [Ajay Devgan] captures the mastermind of Al Tahir organisation Baba Zaheer [Mukesh Tiwari]. Six months later, during a fierce skirmish at the Indo-Pak border, four terrorists cross over to India. Ranvir takes over the case and tries to trace these four men, their identities, their motive, their destination, their plan. Meanwhile, in Mumbai, A.C.P. Jai [Abhishek Bachchan] is tracking a gang that is involved in trafficking arms into the city. But what he uncovers opens a Pandora's Box. Ranvir arrives in Mumbai to track down these men and quash their mission. But Jai and he are too late - the terrorists successfully hijack an Indian Airways' aircraft and fly to P.O.K. Although one has witnessed innumerable films that tackled terrorism [coincidentally, Ajay Devgan's recent starrers QAYAMAT and PARWANA also tackled the issue of terrorism!], ZAMEEN is a cut above the ordinary in terms of scripting and execution. The film looks at the hijack of an Indian aircraft, with passengers on board, and how the army and police join hands to find a solution to the crisis. Besides delving into the hijack issue in the second half of the film, the chronology of events - right from the arrest of a terrorist in the valley to the militants crossing the L.O.C. to the crisis that ensues - have been simplified for the common man to decipher. References to Akshardham temple and the attack on the Indian Parliament only make the goings-on germane, topical and identifiable. The first half is truly riveting. The arrest of the militant [Mukesh Tiwari] in the valley, Abhishek chasing Sanjay Mishra in broad daylight on a busy road and the chase between the militants and the police just before the hijack, leave you spellbound. There's no denying that the action sequences [Jai Singh] are breathtaking, but the way director Rohit Shetty has juxtaposed them in the script is what deserves to be lauded. Besides, the film moves on a singular track throughout - there're no cheap thrills, no forced comedy, no running around trees. The film looks at the terrorism issue with as much seriousness as the common man experiences it in reality. Although the second half does take its inspiration from the Harrison Ford flick AIR FORCE ONE [1997] and the Kandahar episode, making the aircraft land in P.O.K. builds up the curiosity of the viewer. The second half tends to get slow, but it gathers momentum when an Indian delegation lands in P.O.K. to mediate with the militants. From thereon, right till the finale, the film succeeds in keeping the viewer mesmerised. Director Rohit Shetty handles the dramatic sequences with elan and the pace at which the story moves ahead is just right. Besides, there's consistency in his work throughout the film. The confrontations between Ajay and Abhishek and also between Ajay and Mukesh Tiwari in the pre-climax are proof that the director knows his job very well. Writer Suparn Verma deserves kudos for giving that extra sheen to the enterprise with his deft writing. Although a number of films have depicted terrorism/militancy in the past, ZAMEEN depicts an incident [Kandahar episode] that is still fresh in the minds of the Indians without commercialising the issue. This is Suparn's finest work to date! Himesh Reshammiya's music is hummable. The film has three songs in all [the title track - picturised on singers Shaan and K.K., 'Ek Simple Si Coffee' and 'Dilli Ki Sardi'] and all three fit in the goings-on beautifully. 'Dilli Ki Sardi' is a chartbuster and is bound to be lapped up by the masses in a big way. Dialogues [Javed Siddiqui] are simply brilliant and a major asset to the film. The war of words between Ajay and Mukesh Tiwari in the pre-climax can easily be singled out. Even otherwise, Siddiqui's lines are inkeeping with the mood of the film. Aseem Bajaj's cinematography is fantastic. The camera movements at several places deserve a special mention. Action sequences, as mentioned earlier, will keep the viewers spellbound. Editing [Bunty Nagi] is efficient. Ajay Devgan towers above one and all, delivering a performance that's truly awe-inspiring. The actor seems to be accepting challenges and living up to the high expectations that the viewer has from him. The actor of calibre adds yet another feather to his well-decorated cap with this performance. Abhishek Bachchan is extremely efficient, conveying various emotions, mainly pathos, through his eyes. He is remarkable all through. Cast in a role that has the angry-young-man shades, the actor gives his best shot and comes up with a winning performance. Bipasha Basu doesn't get much scope, but she registers a strong impact nevertheless. Pankaj Dheer is outstanding, especially in the sequence when he confronts the terrorist. Mukesh Tiwari is first-rate yet again. D. Santosh, Sanjay Mishra and Manish Khanna lend adequate support. On the whole, ZAMEEN is a winner all the way. The film has all it takes to appeal to the cinegoers and should prove a success story in days to come. Class 'A'. Rating:- * * *.
Boom
Sunday, September 28, 2003
I could start the review with a "Boom or Bust" pun, but they've all been done to death. So let's just plunge into the nitty-gritty. Bollywood has two main categories of directors. The traditional filmmakers define the ultimate movie as three hours of awkward romance, misunderstanding, family values, a Johnny Lever comedy track, stuffy dads, dotty moms, virginal girlfriends and a weepy Shah Rukh Khan. Artsy directors make movies that deal with sob stories of bar-girls or streetwalkers with dying mothers or mafia dons with heart-rending reasons to justify their "badness". Then there's this emerging class of moviemakers who swear by Nature's bounties. For them, the perfect formula for a movie is to present the female body in the most unfussy attire, with a story-line even skimpier than the clothes. Long ago, when Bollywood hadn't realized that there was big dough in skin-flicks starring models off the ramp, Kaizad Gustad came up with the idea to make Boom. By the time the producer's money hassles were sorted out, half-a-dozen other movies featuring sex, crime and hot-bods sneaked on to the screens, quashing a lot of Boom's intended shock value. While the nonstop skin show isn't much to write home about, what shocks is Gustad's sheer audacity. He presents never-seen-before (in Bollywood) humor, with brash flamboyance. You don't have to nervously titter at the wit... you can unabashedly laugh out loud. The story is set in Boom-bay, where the couture is hot and the models sizzle. An on-catwalk ego clash between Anu Gaekwad (Madhu Sapre) and a rival ends up in a catfight, and antique Hyderabadi diamonds worth millions spill on to the ramp to be pocketed by all those who can grab them. The diamonds were supposed to reach Dubai's super-don Bade Mia (Amitabh Bachchan), who wants them back - at any cost. The responsibility lies with Medium Mia (Gulshan Grover), the don's younger brother. Sporting fancy threads and a fancier alias (Cutpiece Saleem Suiting Shirting), he aspires to be a Large Mia himself. He passes the parcel to the third and final brother, Chhote Mia aka Abdul 50-50 (Jackie Shroff). The assignment could have well been a ticking time-bomb, because it again gets passed to Boom Shankar (Javed Jafferi). Boom holds Anu, and her bootylicious roommates Rina (Katrina Kaif) and Shiela (Padma Lakshmi) responsible for the diamond disaster, and comes up with Plans A, B and C to make them get the diamonds back, or find a replacement. What follows is a harebrained diamond chase from the streets of Bombay to the most expensive hotel in the world, and to a serene island in the Indian Ocean. You don't have to concentrate on the story - there isn't any. Thrown in for effect are kitschy interiors, wild hair-dos and indulgent shots of the female and male forms, focusing on the upper anterior and lower posterior respectively. There is also plenty of gore. The scene where they slice off a celebrity designer's finger will make your flesh crawl. Whoever said that models can't act was reading out from the Book Of Truths. Sapre, Kaif and Lakshmi drive that fact into your head without trying too hard. Okay, so no one expected them to act well, so they could have at least cut down on rehearsal time to work on their makeup. Sapre oscillates between looking haggard and overly made-up. As for the other two, well, no one would believe they're supermodels if presented with their mug-shots. They thankfully, do possess perfect eleven figures - but there's too little of it to fill a 120-minute long movie. Coming to the rescue are the three dons. Jackie Shroff is his usual debonair self, as a pot smoking titspervert. Gulshan Grover, as his name (Medium Mia) suggests, puts in medium effort and gets medium returns - his character seems unconvincing. The Big B, is... well, the Big B. He could never go wrong with the kind of form he is in right now. He plays an eccentric, cold-blooded, comic-book loving, Bo Derek worshipping mafia kingpin... and only he could give the character so much panache. Stealing the scene from everyone is rootin', shootin', gun-toting Boom Shankar. Javed Jafferi gets the funniest lines, which he delivers with a pseudo-Madrasi accent. His best scenes are with the models and their kaam-wali, Seema Biswas. We HAVE to mention Zeenat Aman (she plays Alice, Bade Mia's right-hand lady). After all these years, she's still got "it". The three models aren't a shade on her brand of oomph. The background score by Sandeep Chowta is extra juicy, and so is the unique cinematography. But in the Hindi version of the movie that we get to see, most of the lines spoken by the models are dubbed by voices that sound uninterested. So we get to hear gems like "Heere, ladkiyon ke sabse wafadar dost." Takes away a lot of the original effect, but then, a good part of the audience wouldn't give a damn about the mismatched lip-syncing or unintentionally funny lines. Boom isn't meant for purists, preachers, protectors of morals or even perverted punsters. It's merely two hours packed with entertainment and ample doses of eye-candy for the men, and most surprisingly... for the women too.
Chupke Se
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Debutante director Shona Urvashi's Chupke Se does give you a reason to smile as the promo line on the film posters promise you, albeit at irregular intervals. Fortunately, it does hold up to the family name of PLA productions, which have earlier given us at least two light-hearted, frothy films - Chashme Baddoor and Khatta Meetha. Megha Timgire (newcomer Masumi Makhija) is the daughter of an income tax officer, Babanrao Timgire (Dilip Prabhavalkar). She dreams to become a beauty queen and enjoy her share of fame, name and adulation. The mundane existence of living in a modest flat while her father mouths 'accounts' formulae to her three-year-old (?) brother is just not her scene. Varun Arya (Zulfikar Syed) is touted as the country's youngest crorepati. We are told he spent his growing up years behind a computer and a mouse a la Bill Gates. He is now looking for a 'simple' girl with a simple existence. Needless to say, after a strange misunderstanding; he mistakes her for Sarika Mehra, a girl his father (Jayant Kripalani) has chosen to meet him. Varun and Megha meet in a discotheque. Almira Kochhar (Rati Agnihotri) is a socialite-cum-beauty-pageant-organiser who apparently can change fortunes of any girl. One snap of her fingers and any plain Jane could be the next supermodel! Needless to say again, Almira's discerning eyes choose the smiling Megha. However, it's only a bet Almira has maraoed with her boyfriend Rizwan (Raman Lamba) that she can make anybody a 'beauty queen'. Megha, who now assumes the name of Sarika is thrilled and starts going through the rigours of a beauty contest. Meanwhile, Varun is smitten by her, and Megha too loves him. While the Timgires are oblivious to the whole issue, Varun's father is only happy for his son who's at last found some life. The other sub-plot of the film: Almira is a tax defaulter and Mr Timgire is on her case. Worse, he's not even the bribe-taking type. So to take him off her back, Almira's husband Tiny Kochhar (Tinnu Anand) has hired the services of one Qasim Khan Qayamat (Om Puri), an underworld don whose only grouse is no one knows him and his only passion 'to spout Galib-inspired shayaris'. So there begins the roller coaster ride of Megha living her dream as Sarika, Varun singing songs with her completely unaware that she is not Sarika (by the way he detests liars). Almira proving a point to Riz and caught in Mr Timgire's tax ka chakkar, Mr Timgire hell bent on bringing Almira to book and finally Qayamat too wanting his 15 minutes of fame! The film scores in various departments - from story and screenplay (Shona Urvashi and Abbas Tyrewala) to the very simple dialogues and performances that range from strictly average (Syed) to fairly good (Masumi, Rati and Tinnu Anand) to simply great (Om Puri and Dilip Prabhavalkar). While Syed is at least easy on the eye, Masumi is very ordinary and certainly not a face, which could launch a thousand products as Almira puts it. Besides, she could just try and avoid grinning too much. Where the film fails is in the music (Vishal Bharadwaj) except for one song, the dil vil number. Also, if you don't really think about why Megha decides to tell her parents and Varun about the whole thing in the last two reels and the preaching of a girl with 'middle-class' values (why have Hindi films of late been after the 'middle class'?) on a beauty pageant stage, you will enjoy this movie. Not to forget the youngest crorepati falling for a Mulund ki mulgi, a bit implausible but what do they say about taking our Hindi films with a pinch of salt. All said and done, Chupke Se is quite an entertainer but again one wonders if it was not for Om Puri and Dilip Prabhavalkar would Shona Urvashi's labour of love still be able to bring a smile on our face?
Market
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Market - The Review By Mithun Verma Click to enlarge photo Rating: 1/5 After Chandini Bar, films on women exploitation have become a fad. Filmmakers have somehow come to the conclusion that the weaker-sex exploitation is a zero sum game and can be ended only if men do their bit. So now it's time for them to do some damage control. Unfortunately, with George Bush still around, the case to support men is indeed a bit weak. However, that has not stopped them from putting their best foot forward (in a purely non-fetish manner) and portraying their worthy solutions to this cancerous practice. 'Cancerous practice' here refers to the overconfident belief that men can solve everything. About women exploitation, well, men exploit that situation too, trying to make a quick buck by churning out scum like this. Manisha Koirala is close-lined into the dungeons of body trade by the artifice of a sheikh, making an unholy living in the murky alleys of our old city. The first half has about this much of a storyline. Apart from this, the following was also noticed: a. The residents of our old city in the film speak in a language that alternates between Pali, Latin and frantic traffic police signals. The filmmakers call it Telugu. b. Making serious cinema necessarily means casting actors that make us wonder what came first - man or ape? (Ha ha, let me laugh, because that's the only way I can convey the comic potential in that wet joke.) c. Manisha Koirala has increasingly become unfit since her previous venture. To be frank, it's her belt that has become unfit. Her buckle no longer fits into the hole assigned, and she's fast running out of holes. At the rate at which she's growing, she'll soon have heavenly bodies orbiting around her. d. The guy sitting in the next seat is pulling his hair by both fists to recollect what it was that he was smoking when he wandered into this movie thinking it would be a good way to kill time. e. Being a streetwalker does not mean having a stagnant job status. You get promoted to Mumbai, and if you're lucky, you can even end up in Dubai. But if you're really lucky, you can end up in politics. Okay, maybe this has gone bit too far - even streetwalkers have souls! So from the clumsy gullies of an old city to the jazzy sports cars in Dubai, the journey of Manisha Koirala is quite a story. If you like B-grade lewd dialogues and outright vulgar and offensive rubbish that is. A Mumbai broker moulds Manisha into a classy lady just like the ones in a Jackie Collins book, and viola, she's in Dubai with the Underworld's kingpin. With his aid she avenges her loss by killing that Sheikh that had first introduced her to this hell. Somewhere in between appear Aryan, Suman Ranganathan and Shwetha Menon. You'd notice them, they're on the screen for 1 full minute. Incidentally, that happens to be the exact amount of time you would be awake. This flick is Manisha's 2nd desperate try to get an award. She did Ek Chhotisi Love Story which was clearly soft porn, and this one is an offensive orgy of perversion. If you want an award you need to know what not to sign, not what to sign. But until some actresses understand that, the masses need to suffer through such assaults on ocular senses. Of course, when I say masses I'm not referring only to Manisha but to the general populace.
Parwana
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Parwana By Taran Adarsh Click to enlarge photo Deepak Bahry's PARWANA is an apt case of old wine in new bottle. A typical masala fare, it reminds you of the commercial potboilers made in the 1980s. The film tells the story of Parwana [Ajay Devgan], a present-day Robinhood, who robs the rich to feed the poor. Parwana finds himself entangled in a web created by a terrorist organisation, working for the cause of Kashmiris. Their leader [Sharat Saxena] believes in carnage and mayhem, so that it creates national headlines, thereby creating ripples on the international level. The leader is aided in his mission by the Commissioner of Police [Akhilendra Mishra], who acts as his puppet. How Parwana saves Mumbai from a major bomb blast forms the crux of the story. Writers Rajiv Kaul and Praful Parekh have chosen a story that's as old as the hills. To be honest, looking for anything original in the film is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Not only is the story oft-repeated, even the screenplay is of utmost convenience. It starts off with the Kashmir issue, but exactly fifteen minutes later, it suddenly deviates to Ajay Devgan and his gang of petty thieves. With Amisha's introduction, it changes tracks yet again - it becomes a love story. Subsequently, it takes on a different route altogether, when Ajay is labelled a terrorist. With so many sub-plots in the film, it seems that the writers wanted to squeeze just about everything in the film, so as to cater to the popular tastes. While the first half is lifeless, with the viewer guessing what the next scene would be like, the second half is comparatively better. The sequences between Ajay and Gulshan Grover, a corrupt cop, are well executed. The action sequences [Veeru Devgan] between the two actors are deftly handled. In fact, the stunts are the redeeming feature of this enterprise. The climax is long-drawn and the effort to save the city from a deadly bomb looks plain ridiculous. In fact, it's hard to digest. Even the special effects, when the bomb explodes in the sea, look tacky. Director Deepak Bahry has opted for a theme that has precious little to offer and that's where he stumbles. Sanjeev-Darshan's music is equally uninspiring. Barring 'Pallu Gira Diya', the remaining numbers are mere gap fillers. Cinematography is patchy; at places alright, at times dull. Dialogues are monotonous and rudimentary. Ajay Devgan gives a sincere account of himself, but looks out of place in an enterprise like this. Amisha Patel continues to be wooden. Pooja Batra has no role to talk of. Sadashiv Amrapurkar does quite well. Kader Khan is wasted in an insignificant role. Gulshan Grover is convincing. Akhilendra Mishra does an okay job. Sharat Saxena suffers due to a sketchy role. Pramod Moutho is so-so. Ketaki Dave does her Gujarati act yet again, but irritates. Jagdeep manages to raise a few laughs. On the whole, PARWANA has nothing new to offer. At the box-office, the film has some chances at small centres where masala films are still lapped up. However, much cannot be expected in big cities and multiplexes. Rating:- *.
Jogger's Park
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Jogger's Park - Film Review Click to enlarge photo Meet Jenny Suratwalla (Perizaad Zorabian) - part time model, part time event manager and part time hotel exec. She is gorgeous, talented and visits Jogger's Park each morning. Also meet Retired Justice Chaterjee (Victor Banerjee). Been a Judge for 40 years, over righteous and straight forward, he is a man who doesn't take favours from anyone. As he was a Judge, he was not a very social person, fearing that people would take advantage of him. After Justice Chaterjee retires, his family forces him to go to Jogger's Park each morning and there he meets Jenny. She is in awe of him and he slowly gets infatuated to her, leading to them both falling in love. While sweet love blossoms between them, Chaterjee' s married son has an affair and that's when Chaterjee realizes that him having an affair with Jenny is immoral. Subash Ghai has apparently nurtured this script for almost 3 decades now. Though the plot is a bold one, what seems a little lop sided about it is that Chaterjee is shown to be a very straightforward and honest human. Hence, once cant fathom that he would want to have had an affair with a woman, less than half his age. More so never once in the film does he feel that he is doing something wrong -- until almost the end of the film. This for a righteous man like Chaterjee is a little difficult to accept. This is oddity in the script. Perizaad Zorabian definitely shines in her role, which is a very tough one. Not once in the film do you realize that she has only done one film before this. Victor Banerjee plays the Judge to perfection, as in diction et all. However, his stiff "English" accent at times gets a little too contrived -- needless to say he is a terribly gifted actor. The audiences in India may not accept this film cause for obvious reasons. More so there is no real justification as to why he initiates their break up.
Vajapyee arrives in Zurich on way home
Sunday, September 28, 2003
PM arrives in Zurich on way home M Shakeel Ahmed Zurich, Sept 27 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived here today on his way back home after a hectic week-long stay in New York, where he addressed the UN General Assembly and met several world leaders including US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After a day's stop-over, Vajpayee, who had a seven-and-a-half hour long flight from New York, will return to Delhi tomorrow night. During his stay in New York, terrorism, Indo-Pak issues and the Iraq developments dominated his agenda. Before flying to New York, Vajpayee went to Turkey on a four-day visit during which several agreements were signed to bolster bilateral cooperation.
US car makers look to India for key business
Sunday, September 28, 2003
US car makers look to India for key business processes: study Meenakshi Ganjoo Silicon Valley, Sept 27 North American automotive executives have picked India over China as the most popular offshore destination for the migration of business processing activities, according to a new survey. Nine out of 10 executives, surveyed by management consulting firm A T Kearney recently, said they intend to move certain non-manufacturing business processes to low-cost offshore locations. The most popular destination was India, with almost a quarter of the respondents opting for it, followed by China with 15 per cent and Mexico with 13 per cent. "India is clearly the destination of choice for business processing services across all industries," said Nagi Palle, co-author of the research and a principal at A T Kearney. "There are tens of thousands of well-educated, English-speaking and highly motivated engineering, IT and accounting professionals in India with the skills and capabilities auto manufacturers and suppliers need for offshore business processing," he said. A T Kearney estimates the North American automotive industry, including manufacturers and suppliers, spends approximately USD nine billion annually on business processes with the potential to be offshored, representing an enormous opportunity for cost reduction and profitability improvement.
Dalmiya, Nair re-elected BCCI president and secretary
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Kolkata, Sep 27 Jagmohan Dalmiya expectedly faced no challenge in getting elected as president of the Cricket Board for his third and final term while S. Karunakaran Nair was also re-elected as secretary here today. Both Dalmiya and Nair as well as the entire set of officials for the year 2003-04 were elected uncontested on the first day of the two-day annual general meeting being held here, according to a BCCI spokesman. "I am happy that I have been given another chance to serve Indian cricket", Dalmiya said immediately after his re-election. Though most of the officials retained their posts, there were only two new faces, Gautam Roy as one of the five vice presidents and Prof Ratnakar Shetty as joint secretary. Gautam Roy, president of the Assam Cricket Association, wa elected replacing Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, also from Assam, as one of the vice-presidents. Prof Shetty of Mumbai came in as the joint secretary in place of Jyoti Bajpai, who was elected treasurer replacing Kishore Rungta, who retired after completing his term. Narhari Amin of Gujarat (west), Kamal Morarka of Rajasthan (central), Ranbir Singh Mahendra of Haryana (north) and M Ranga Reddy of Hyderabad (south) retained their posts as vice presidents.
No dialogue with Pak till cross border terrorism ends: BJP
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Mumbai, Sep 27 In the backdrop of ongoing war of words between India and Pakistan, the BJP today emphatically ruled out any meaningful dialogue with the neighbour until cross-border terrorism "comes to a complete end". "BJP is firm on its longstanding position that any meaningful dialogue with Pakistan cannot be held till cross border terrorism comes to a complete end", BJP national president M Venkaiah Naidu told a press conference here. He lauded Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his "outspoken and inspiring speech" at the United Nations General Assembly saying "this is the tough and blunt message that Islamabad deserves to hear". Vajpayee has exposed Pakistan's complicity in cross-border terrorism being inflicted on India by questioning the basis on which General Pervez Musharraf offerred, in his speech at the UN, to stop violence in Kashmir, Naidu said. The Prime Minister had forthrightly stated that India cannot be blackmailed into negotiations under the threat of terrorism and voiced the country's determination to stamp out the scourge on its own, the BJP president said. Alluding to a Pakistani Minister's recent statement admitting that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was harboured in Karachi, Naidu said "Pakistan continues to be safe haven for Dawood and his accomplices in the serial blasts in Mumbai". Pakistan's insincerity in the fight against terrorism is clearly established by its consistent refusal to hand over 20 most wanted masterminds of terrorism to India, he added.
Meteor lights up sky of coastal Orissa
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Bhubaneswar, Sep. 28 Night turned into day for a few seconds as a huge ball of fire, believed to be a meteor, streaked across the sky in coastal Orissa causing panic among the people Saturday. Official sources, admitting the occurrence of the phenomenon, said that collectors of all districts where the fireball was sighted had been asked to report to the government about it. Remnants of the fireball had landed in a village under Kaptipada police station in Mayurbhanj district starting a fire there, Revenue minister Biswabhushan Harichandan said quoting official reports. We have asked the collectors to report about the matter, he said. Panic-stricken people in at least 11 Orissa districts saw the fireball streak across the sky as the darkness was completely dispelled for a few seconds at around 6.30 pm. Reports from Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts said that the phenomenon was accompanied by ear-splitting noise which even shattered the doors and windows. The other districts which reported the sighting were Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Angul, Bhadrak and Balasore. People on the streets of the capital city here saw the flash of light for a second or two but there was no noise. MET office sources said it could be a meteor which had landed somewhere in the state. Dr. Prahallad Chandra Nayak, former director of the Pathani Samanta Planetarium here, also agreed saying it was a shooting star. PTI
Nine Militants killed in Kashmir
Friday, September 26, 2003
Srinagar, Sept 26 Nine militants and a special police officer were among 11 people killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir where militants hurled a grenade at the house of a PDP MLA at Shopian today, official sources said. Two unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with security forces at Helmatpora in Kupwara this evening, the sources said. Tn two other encounters in the district, a police spokesman said security forces killed two militants at Khurhama and Machil areas Thursday night. The militant killed at khurhama has been identified as abdul jabbar of jaish-e-mohammad outfit. bsf troops killed a militant of jamiat-ul-mujahideen outfit near the line of control in khannabal area of kupwara district last evening, the spokesman said. two militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces at ludermal in udhampur district last night. An ak assault rifle, four magazines, 102 rounds, two hand grenade and a wireless set were recovered from them, he said. security forces killed hizbul mujahideen militant shah nawaz in a gunfight during combing operation at pranoo in doda district yesterday, the spokesman said. an unidentified militant was killed at dhara sangla in rajouri district and an ak rifle, its three magazines, three hand grenades and some ammunition were recovered from him. a special police officer identified as mansa ram was killed and a militant injured in a shootout at nagni keshwan in doda district, the spokesman said.
Twin blasts accused remanded to JC till Oct 13
Friday, September 26, 2003
Mumbai, Sept 26 Three prime accused in the August 25 twin bomb blasts in the city were today remanded to judicial custody till October 13, even as the POTA court allowed police to hold test identification parade. The accused, Ashrat Ansari, Sayed Mohammed Hanif and Fahimida Hanif, were produced before designated judge A P Bhangale amidst tight security. They were remanded to judicial custody on a plea made by prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. Earlier, they were in police custody since September 1. In a related development, the court allowed police to conduct test identification parade. The prosecutor took strong objection to reports in a section of the media giving a distorted version of the court proceedings. Pleading for in-camera trial, he urged the court to warn the media to report judicial proceedings objectively. The judge asked the prosecutor to make an application following which he would pass appropriate orders. Farheen, co-accused and daughter of Hanif and Fahimida, was sent to remand home as she was a minor, the court was informed. The prosecutor told the court that police had made good progress in the probe and efforts were on to trace the absconding accused.
45 per cent turnout in Solapur, 59 for assembly bypoll
Friday, September 26, 2003
New Delhi, Sep 26 A moderate turnout of 40 to 45 per cent voters was today recorded in the bypoll to prestigious Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra while an estimated 59 per cent electorate exercised their franchise in the bye elections to five assembly seats in four states held peacefuly under tight security. In Solapur, where Dairy Development Minister Anand Deokate is pitted against BJP's Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil, there was heavy polling in rural areas while urban localities saw a poor turnout. Bypoll to the seat, necessitated after Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde vacated it, was being seen as the first test of popularity of the Congress-NCP led coalition government since he took over the reins in the state. There are 10 candidates in fray. In Karnataka about 62 to 65 per cent turnout was recorded in Hungund and Vemagal assembly constituencies where there was a virtual straight contest between Congress and All India progressive Janata Dal. In Hungund, where five candidates are in fray, Congress has fielded Gouramma, wife of Congress member S R Kashappanavar whose death necessitated the bypoll, while AIPJD has put up Krishna, son of Byregowda, whose death led to the bye election in Vemagal, apparently to cash in on sympathy factor. Electronic voting machines were used in the bypolls to the six constituencies where counting of votes would be taken up on September 29.
Sobhraj to remain in custody for another two weeks
Friday, September 26, 2003
Sobhraj to remain in custody for another two weeks 09/26/2003 .KATHMAND FGN22 Kathmandu, Sept 26 Notorious international criminal Charles Sobhraj will remain in police custody for another two weeks to enable investigations into his alleged involvement in a 1975 double murder, officials here said today. Sobhraj was to be produced in the Kathmandu District Court today after serving a week in detention. However, as authorities needed time to complete the investigations, he will have to wait for another two weeks, they said. The 59-year-old French national will be produced in Court on October 13 after government offices reopen after the festival of Vijaya Dashami, Deputy Superintendent of Police at Kathmandu District Police Office, Ganesh K.C said. Under the Nepalese immigration law, anybody can be put under remand for a maximum period of 25 days to facilitate investigation. Charles was arrested here on Sept. 19. He is wanted by Nepal police for the 1975 murder of an American and a Canadian woman besides on charges of entering Nepal on a Dutch passport under a fake name. The court, on request by Immigration Department, earlier remanded him for seven days of police custody, which ended today. The son of an Indian businessman and a Vietnamese woman, Sobhraj has been accused of more than a dozen murders of young tourists across Asia. He has spent 21 years in a prison in India for murder. CORR DV 09261659 DEL 09261716 D
Sunny Deol signs three-movie contract with Sahara
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Sunny Deol has signed a three-movie contract over two years with Sahara. The agreement has a clause that states that the films could be premiered first on Sahara channel and then go for a theatrical release. Sahara Manoranjan CEO Sushanto Roy said that the scripts of the movies have been left to Sunny but added that the channel had talks with Ken Ghosh and Honey Irani for the same. More details are awaited.
India invites other space agencies to join moon mission
Thursday, September 25, 2003
India invites other space agencies to join moon mission ADVERTISEMENT Bangalore, Sept. 23 : Indian space agency says it would collaborate with other countries for its maiden moon mission by 2008. G.Madhavan Nair, the newly appointed chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said that ISRO has offered 15 kgs of transponder payload each to European Space Agency, Canada and Russia on the moon mission spacecraft, Chandrayana (Moon spacecraft). "You have heard Prime Minister declaring the "Chandrayana" which is the moon mission during his August 15 speech. And it was followed up with the government's approval for this programme. A Rs. 380 crore project has been cleared with an ambitious target of rbiting a spacecraft around the moon in about five years of time," Nair told a press onference at ISRO headquarters in Bangalore on Monday. "It's a very ambitious programme by which we are going to have a very fine mapping of the lunar surface within the two-year period and also looking at various factors from which we can get some clue as to the origin of the universe," he added. India's neighbour China, which has an advanced space programme, plans to send a manned spacecraft by the end of this year. Nair said India's next multi-purpose satellite INSAT-3E weighing 2,775 kg would be launched on Sunday aboard Ariane rocket from Kourou, French Guyana. Nair also said ISRO would launch a remote sensing satellite for amateur radio communication within a month aboard the indigenous Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV). "As you know in IRS-P6 (Indian Remote Sensing-P6, a satellite built in India, which will be launched with PSLV within a month) we have the hamset which works as a co-passenger. It's an amateur satellite which is a unique satellite, built in the country, a small space craft. It has got transponders (of) which one has come from Holland and another built here. It is really going to benefit amateur radio community in the country and the globe at large," he said. India is currently capable of launching one-to-two tonne satellites and its goal is to become self-sufficient in launch capability by the end of the decade. Since 1969 when it was set up, ISRO has established space systems like the INSAT (Indian National Satellite) for telecommunication, television broadcasting and meteorological ervices, and the Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) satellites for resources monitoring and management.
IT firms high on recruiting engineering graduates
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Bangalore, Sep 24 In a sign of continuing large-scale outsourcing to India by global corporations, a host of local IT firms are rushing to pick up larger than usual number of students from engineering colleges this year. After the spectre of selective hiring in the IT industry last year as firms grappled with the shock of a demand slowdown in the global tech market and backlash against outsourcing, its recruitment time again for software makers. Placement officials at top engineering colleges here in India's tech capital are quoting double the usual number of campus placements in the third week of recruitment and a "lot more companies, including multinationals, are yet to come in", as one of them put it. The officials are keeping tight schedules as companies led by the likes of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Cognisant, Satyam Computer, Talisma and MindTree, along with multinationals like Huawei Technologies, IBM and Oracle, line up to offer letters for the batch passing out in 2004. "We should be doubling our number this year. TCS has already recruited 50 as against 35-40 of last year, Infosys has taken 76 against 34 last year, Cognisant has taken 38 as against 16 last year. "This is the most positive sign in the last couple of years," Chandrasekhar Murthy, placement officer, R.V. Engineering College, told . That is not all. In the next week or so, companies like HCL Perot, Planetasia and Subex Systems will be coming in for their first rounds of talent search. The story is not very different in other prominent colleges like the B.M.S. Engineering College and PES Institute of Technology (PESIT). "A couple of multinationals are to fix up the dates but their participation has been confirmed," added Murthy. Industry officials -- a couple of whom agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because this is the silent period before the second quarter results are out next week -- agree that campus recruitments indicate more offshore work flowing to India. "Let us be straight about this. The industry had taken a very conservative approach on this in the last couple of years. The difference now is that there is a cautious optimism that is making companies go to the campus," an official at the human resource department of a top company said. "Companies are also going to the campus because they are getting a good crop. Campus recruitment helps in grooming people. Campus brings in energy and culture into a company. We want them to grow along with the company. And it cuts the cost of recruitment," said T.G.C. Prasad of MindTree Consulting. The cautious form of recruitment has led to conservative offerings to the engineer-to-be. Companies like Infosys and Wipro are offering Rs.10,000 during the training period before deciding to offer a concrete package. Others are offering an average of Rs.240,000 to Rs.300,000 per annum. "There is no doubt that there is higher activity in the industry. It is only indicative of a more sustainable trend as of now," said a senior human resource department official of another company. "But in the long run whether it is sustainable and for how long depends upon various factors. Fortunately so far, it has been good and that is why deliberate but cautious hiring is happening."
Microsoft to shut down Internet chat rooms in India
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Bangalore, Sep 24 Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced the closure of MSN chat services in India along with a host of other countries, saying the move was aimed at protecting children from "inappropriate" communication online. The MSN instant messenger, however, "will continue as an integral part of MSN's growth strategy," said a Microsoft press statement issued here. MSN messenger offers many of the same benefits of chat service while providing consumers with greater control over whom they communicate with. Under the new strategy, MSN chat service will close in Europe, the Middles East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, said the statement, adding "un-moderated" service will only be available to subscribing customers in the U.S., Canada and Japan. A MSN India official said the shutdown would come into effect over a couple of weeks in a phased manner. "We have made these changes because online chat services are increasingly being misused," said Judy Gibbons, corporate vice president of MSN International. "These changes will improve protection for MSN users when it comes to spam and inappropriate communication," he added. The statement said that communication about the changes to Internet chat rooms would be posted on several locations on MSN chat. "This initiative is the latest in a series of measures to be announced by MSN and Microsoft in the battle against inappropriate use of the Internet," it added. In April this year, Microsoft announced it had joined hands with Yahoo! and AOL in a global initiative to tackle spam by coordinated approach to technology, enforcement, education and legislation.
Celina Jaitley: "I believe that if you have got it, flaunt it"
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Celina: Her name means the 'Moon Goddess' in Greek. She is cool, beautiful and sexy and has an aura of mystique around her. The Miss India 2001 and Miss Universe 2001 fourth-runner up, is 21 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall. Known as 'Chinki' to her friends, she is a commerce graduate and a model for Angora Watches, Mother Diary, and Night Angel Perfume. Celina Jaitley first caught the limelight with her hazel brown eyes as an MTV VJ. That was a short stint, after which, came the Miss India crown. She has also been making waves ever since the promos of Janasheen showed her emerging from the sea in a bikini. And with the songs of Khel also on air, everybody is eagerly waiting to see her on the screen. Few know that Celina Jaitley, daughter of Punjabi father and Afghani mother, never wanted to become a model. She came from a military background. "Five generations of my family have served in the armed forces. My dad's frequent transfers made me change 13 schools. Dad is a colonel and Mom is a child psychologist. Presently, both stay in Bangalore" she quips. Her father was in the army and she always dreamt of a career in the armed forces since she liked the discipline of that field. There was also a time when she was preparing for the Combined Defence Services examination as she wanted to join the armed forces. "At some point, I had even nursed the desire that I will marry an army guy." Celina says modeling was never her childhood dream. Though her mother Meeta Jaitley is a former Miss Shimla and a well-known model in Lucknow, she always wanted to be a doctor. Says Celina "When I came of age, I decided to move away from them. I always wanted independence and wanted to earn my own bread. I started off in Calcutta as an Internet instructor and followed it up with a sales job for a cell phone company" But destiny had something else in store for her. A beauty contest was organized in Kolkatta. Celina participated in it for a lark and was surprised to win the contest. What followed were hosts of modeling assignments. Close friends and cousins encouraged her to participate in the Miss India contest. "My friend Gina Mitra who works for Femina in Calcutta sent my pictures for the Miss India contest. Just one day before the preliminary round was supposed to be held at the Taj, she told me that I was selected" Though she had the gut feeling that she would win the contest, she wanted a more dedicated effort. She knew she had the confidence and the will power to wear the crown of Miss India and she proved that walking away with the coveted title of Femina Miss India 2001. She won almost everything from Best Skin to Best Dress to MTV's Most Wanted and finally the crown. Being Miss India, there were a lot of expectations from her to win the Miss Universe crown. The moment she landed in Puerto Rico, she was flooded with questions from all the sides regarding the contests, which everybody felt, was rigged since Indian girls had made it to the top for three consecutive years. "When I went for the Miss Universe contest, our National Director did not accompany me. All the other girls had their personal advisors and co-ordinators. I found myself short of being prepared as the format had been entirely changed and we were supposed to answer in 30 seconds instead of the usual 60." She recollects the bad start to her Miss Universe campaign right in Bombay itself. When she was supposed to board the flight to Puerto Rico, she was informed that her luggage was giving a warning signal. She was instructed to open and recheck her suitcase. And guess what was found? A Swiss Knife used to cut salads and fruit! Despite being pitted against 83 contestants from all around the world, she made it to the fourth runner up. She also recollects her homecoming disappointment by mentioning that nobody congratulated her for making it to the top four. "Some people even said sorry" quipped Celina. It was only after this contest that she turned her sights to the film world. "My parents stood by all my decisions and encouraged me in my decision to join films" she says While Feroz Khan's Janasheen has her playing a model, in Khel she plays an interior designer who is caught in the game of love between two men. Both the movies are expected to hit the marquee in a month or two. Celina says "Janasheen means the world to me. Feroz Khan and Fardeen involved me in every aspect of filmmaking and I got to know the medium of filmmaking from close quarters" And what about her glamorous role in Janasheen? "I know people have already slotted me as a bikini beauty. Initially I was apprehensive wearing a bikini, but I realized the idea of wearing one was not to titillate the audience but was the demand of the script. Also, I believe that if you have got it, flaunt it. Why are people making a big issue out of it?" Her forthcoming projects include Abbas-Mustan's next film with Akshay Kumar, and IDIOT (I Do Ishq Only Tumse), a remake of a south Indian hit with Zayed Khan. And how will Celina describe herself? "Strong-headed, unforgiving and not trusting people easily." Though biryani is her favorite, she avoids it. In her spare time, she loves surfing the net, reading, sketching and listening to music and her all time favorite actor is none other than the Big B. Her favorite outfit is a sari..and that too a black chiffon. But she is more comfortable in denim jackets and boots. She loves the Vikram Phadnis studio in Bandra for it's amazing collection of clothes, but she also shops a lot from abroad. "Many a times, I go to shop for clothes and bring back footwear." Reports have it as to how she went berserk shopping for shoes while shooting in Cape Town recently for Khel. The grapevine is that she has over 850 pairs of shoes. So what does future hold for her? "I see new challenges and new horizons. As of now, I am concentrating only on my current releases. But i do not want to die at an early age without achieving anything in life." With this Depth of her philosophy and her conviction far beyond her age, we are sure she will achieve more than what she has dreamt from her life. All that she needs to do is to play properly. And we wish her Best of Luck....
Musharraf rakes up Kashmir at UN, calls for dialogue with India
Thursday, September 25, 2003
United Nations, Sept 24 Raking up Kashmir issue once again in the United Nations and describing it as the "most dangerous dispute in the world," Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said a "sustained" dialogue with India was necessary to resolve the problem. He also said he would "invite" India to observe complete ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. "I invite India to join Pakistan in a sustained dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute. I am convinced that, with goodwill, we can find a just solution which is acceptable to India, to Pakistan and above all, to the Kashmir people," he told the United Nations General Assembly. Rejecting the charge that Islamabad was indulging in cross border terrorism, he accused New Delhi of "exploiting" anti-terrorism sentiments to "delegitimize the Kashmiri freedom struggle." He also alleged that India was violating the international law by refusing to implement the Security Council resolutions and "perpetrating gross and consistent violations of human rights in Kashmir." "Pakistan would also be prepared to encourage a general cessation of violence within Kashmir, involving reciprocal obligations and restraints on Indian forces and the Kashmir freedom movement," he added. If India is interested in "genuinely" concerned about cross LOC infiltration, Musharraf said, it should agree to a "viable" mechanism to monitor both sides. Stating that a "just" solution of Kashmir issue holds the key to peace in South Asia, he said "I am glad that India has stepped back from its dangerous and failed experiment in 'coercive diplomacy' last year." But despite some improvement in the atmospherics, "India continues to suppress the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self determination," he said, adding that New Delhi continues to refuse Pakistan's offer of dialogue to resolve the issue.
FIEO delegation bags orders worth USD 5 mn form Saudi Arabia
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Mumbai, Sep 24 Business worth US dollar five million was conducted and about 100 serious inquiries were generated during the buyer-seller meets organised in Saudi Arabia by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). "The participating companies in the FIEO delegation to Saudi Arabia have conducted business worth USD five million and estimated business to be generated in the next 2-4 months is about USD 30 million", FIEO (West Region) Chairman Ganesh Kumar Gupta told reporters here last night. The 50-member FIEO delegation participated in the buyer-seller meets in Riyadh, Damman and Jeddah in early September. There was a lot of scope for Indian companies to establish joint venture companies in Saudi Arabia, he said. FIEO is also organising a buyer-seller meet from November 30 to December 12 covering the cities of Johannesberg, Durban and Cape Town in South Africa. IT would also hold a series of seminars to address the problems faced by exporters under 80 HHC of the Income Tax, 1961 at Surat, Daman & Diu, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Mumbai and Goa during October and November. PTI
Pursue "process of political dialogue", EU tells India, Pak
Thursday, September 25, 2003
New York, Sept 24 The European Union has asked India and Pakistan to pursue a "process of political dialogue" to arrive at a solution to the vexed Kashmir issue, saying it could not be resolved through violence and terrorism. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the European Union yesterday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the two countries should hold dialogue to arrive at an agreement satisfactory to all parties on "all controversial points." He also asked India and Pakistan to adhere to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
NetScaler launches secure application network systems in India
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Bangalore, Sept 24 US-based NetScaler today launched its flagship 9000 series secure application networking systems in India where it expects the market for such a product to reach USD 30 million to 40 million in the next four to five years. The company's President and CEO B V Jagadeesh told a press conference here that the product was launched in the US in May last year and it had 150 customers there. "The key benefits of the 9000 Series are derived from customer requirements for improved security, performance, availability and remote access, in addition to the need for overall cost reductions in network operations and additional hardware investments", company officials said. Jagadeesh said the company has already bagged a customer in India in portal Rediff.com for the 9000 Series and four or five more would buy the product in the next two months. NetScaler is a four-and-half-year-old private firm which has an R & D centre here, where around 40 per cent of its total 110 employees are located. The company's existing investors include Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs. It has so far raised USD 60 million, he said. The Series would be marketed and sold in India by Apara Enterprise Solutions, with which NetScaler has signed a value added reseller agreement. Responding to a question, Jagadeesh said the company is expected to break-even sometime in June next year. It plans to add 100 people, both in R & D and customer support side, in the next one-and-half-years, he said.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Bangalore, Sept 24 US-based NetScaler today launched its flagship 9000 series secure application networking systems in India where it expects the market for such a product to reach USD 30 million to 40 million in the next four to five years. The company's President and CEO B V Jagadeesh told a press conference here that the product was launched in the US in May last year and it had 150 customers there. "The key benefits of the 9000 Series are derived from customer requirements for improved security, performance, availability and remote access, in addition to the need for overall cost reductions in network operations and additional hardware investments", company officials said. Jagadeesh said the company has already bagged a customer in India in portal Rediff.com for the 9000 Series and four or five more would buy the product in the next two months. NetScaler is a four-and-half-year-old private firm which has an R & D centre here, where around 40 per cent of its total 110 employees are located. The company's existing investors include Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs. It has so far raised USD 60 million, he said. The Series would be marketed and sold in India by Apara Enterprise Solutions, with which NetScaler has signed a value added reseller agreement. Responding to a question, Jagadeesh said the company is expected to break-even sometime in June next year. It plans to add 100 people, both in R & D and customer support side, in the next one-and-half-years, he said.
Vajpayee praises Sonia for meeting Sharon
Thursday, September 25, 2003
New York, Sept 24 Congress President Sonia Gandhi today came in for some praise from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on foreign soil, when he appreciated her decision to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a recent visit, ignoring the boycott call by some of her party's allies and the Third Front. This was a good gesture on the part of Sonia Gandhi. She carried out her responsibility as Leader of the Opposition by meeting Sharon and "I thanked her," Vajpayee said addressing the prestigious Asia Society here on 'India-US relations in the emerging global environment'. The Prime Minister also appreciated Gandhi for enquiring about him when terrorists attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001. Soon after the strike, Gandhi called him to find out where he was. "I informed her that I was at home and was getting ready to go to Parliament. I also enquired about her and she said she was speaking from home. This is the beauty of India's democracy," he said.
Vajpayee meets Bush
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Vajpayee meets Bush M. Shakeel Ahmed New York, Sept 24 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today met US President George W Bush, the second in four months, for talks on issues including the Iraq situation and the global fight against terror. The two leaders shook hands and posed for photographs before they went into discussions at Hotel Waldorf Astoria. After preliminary talks, the parleys continued over lunch. The meeting was held in the backdrop of US request to India for stationing its troops in Iraq which India has said was not possible without an explicit mandate from the UN. India has made it clear that apart from the UN mandate the question of Indian troops being deployed in the war-ravaged country would also depend on a political consensus back home. Reiterating the US position, Bush had said earlier this week he would love to have Indian troops in Iraq and would take up the issue with Vajpayee. The Prime Minister is also understood to have raised with the US leader New Delhi's concerns over continuing cross-border terrorism and the need to rein in terror from across India's borders. Vajpayee and Bush had met in St.Petersburg in May during the tricentenary celebrations of the historic Russian city. While Bush is meeting a number of world leaders during his three-day stay here, he is having a bilateral luncheon meeting only with Vajpayee. The US President is also slated to hold a meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The Vajpayee-Bush meeting takes place a day before the Indian leader addresses the UN General Assembly where he is expected to focus on the threats posed by terrorism and the need for the international community to combat the scourge unitedly.
Dilip Kumar hospitalised
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Mumbai, Sep 24 Thespian Dilip Kumar was admitted to Leelavati hospital in suburban Bandra after his blood pressure and blood sugar shot up, family sources said. Dilip Kumar, who has been admitted in the intensive care unit, is being monitored for high blood sugar and blood pressure, his wife and former actress Saira Banu told here today. Banu said, "he (Dilip Kumar) is better today although his condition was causing little worry. "His blood pressure and and sugar level went up and that could be due to food intake or stress as he attended few functions in the last couple of days," she said. "His blood sugar and pressure have come down today and he is feeling much better," she said.
Govt says yes to Agni for Army
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Govt says yes to Agni for Army NEW DELHI: Lending more meat to its second-strike capability, the Government has cleared the raising of two nuclear-capable strategic Agni missile units and the immediate deployment of the short and long-range versions. In addition to the Agni missile groups, the Army will add two more Prithvi missile groups which will be armed with conventional warheads, South Block sources confirmed on Tuesday. Cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the regiments will be named as rocket groups 334 and 335, armed with the short range (700 km) and medium-range (1,500 km) variants of the Agni missile. Coming days after the Nuclear Command Authority met for the first time, the decision will add strategic depth to the country's No-First-Use doctrine which depends on a credible second-strike capability as a deterrent. While finances are yet to be allocated, the Army has already earmarked additional manpower for the two new rocket groups, South Block sources said. Confirming the Government's clearance, an official Defence Ministry spokesman said "the decision to raise two Agni-specific groups was taken sometime ago." The Agni II is a two-stage solid propellant rocket motor with a strapdown inertial navigation system and has achieved a range of 2,000 km, carrying a 1,000 kg warhead. The missiles can be deployed both by rail as well as road, making them difficult to be located by hostile radars. In fact Defence minister George Fernandes, in a written reply in Parliament, had stated that the Government had cleared the induction of both variants of the Agni missile. While South Block officials were tight-lipped on the issue, the two new Agni missile groups could be deployed in Madhya Pradesh as a strategic decision. This will be in keeping with the location of the Strategic Forces Command, formed a year ago, and is expected to be based at a location away from New Delhi. The Mirage-2000 squadrons, capable of carrying strategic weapons, also operate out of Gwalior for similar reasons. The new Prithvi missile groups, likely to be named 444 and 555, will be in keeping with the existing missile groups 222 and 333. They are likely to be operational by 2005 and, like the Agni missile group, will be raised near Secunderabad where Bharat Dynamics, the missile manufacturer, is located. The new Prithvi missile will be a solid-propellant variant, a significant jump from the liquid propellant version already inducted. This provides greater flexibility in deploying the new missiles, say sources. While the Prithvi can carry up to a 1,000 kg payload, it's learnt that it will be used as a conventional weapon while the Agni will have a strategic role.
Furious India skips terror meet after General utters the K-word
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Furious India skips terror meet after General utters the K-word NEW YORK: Furious that General Musharraf had secured the floor and grabbed media attention, India on Monday stayed away from an international conference and dismissed an opportunity to explain the battering it continues to receive from cross-border terrorism. But by evening, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal was defending New Delhi's decision to stay away _ the conference was inaugurated here by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan _ saying "it was not necessary that India attend every terrorism conference, that it was important to see what company we keep." Annoyed with Musharraf over a call for UN intervention in Kashmir on the lines of East Timor, Sibal said, "The kind of atmosphere conducive to dialogue cannot happen with the annual Kashmir itch that Pakistan suffers from. It might be better for Pakistan to do some fasting before they come to the UN." New Delhi took heart that US Secretary of State Colin Powell also turned down an invite to the conference organised by the Norwegian government and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, instead sending the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar. India's fast friend Russia was represented by foreign minister Igor Ivanov, as was newly emerging ally Israel, with whom External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha had only met the same morning. But Musharraf demanded attention, and he got it. By painting Pakistan as the victim of geopolitical strife, despite its value to the Western world as a key ally in the battle against the Al-Qaeda, the Pakistani president also warned that there was a "growing sense among Muslims that Islam, as a religion, is being targeted and pilloried." Then he skilfully moved in for the kill by pointing out that "state terrorism, the most deadly form of terrorism, targets people seeking freedom from foreign occupation, such as in Palestine and Kashmir." A somewhat predictable and repetitive harangue against the Indian Government and its "repression of the people of Kashmir" ensued, indicating that Musharraf would continue with the same motif in his speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. "Equating their freedom struggle with terrorism is a travesty. The United Nations must promote a solution for Kashmir, as it did for East Timor, on the basis of UN resolutions. The international community must persuade India to end its repression in Kashmir and resume a dialogue with Pakistan. We are ready for dialogue. Now it is India's call. It should respond positively," Musharraf said. Sibal retorted that Pakistan's accusations about India deliberately slowing the pace to return to dialogue _ "zero returns" _ flew in the face of facts, that the Prime Minister had taken several initiatives since April. "Since he has been investing only in terrorism, he should in fact be getting only negative returns," Sibal added. At the conference, Jacques Chirac of France, whose position on the Iraq war has been feelingly echoed by New Delhi, also spoke. As did Afghan president Hamid Karzai, with whom India has been building bridges despite the stated unhappiness of neighbouring Pakistan. "When a country is under foreign occupation," said Chirac, in a thinly veiled allusion to the US occupation of Iraq, "It unjustly captures the struggle for freedom for its own ends. When a community feels ill-treated, terrorism claims to act in its name," he added. But Chirac, on the eve of the UN session, has also proposed a new compromise to resolve the Iraq imbroglio to the Americans, saying that the US could symbolically transfer power to the Iraqi Governing Council immediately and real authority within the next 7-8 months.
News channels thrive on Bollywood
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Bollywood is more than news for television news channels. TV news channels are waking up to the potential of movie promos for raking in the moolah. Many recent releases - Boom, Gangaajal, Rules, Jogger's Park, Kutch Naa Kaho, among others, and teasers of forthcoming Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Kal Ho Na Ho - have been doing the rounds of several news channels. True, compared to their brethren - general entertainment channels and music channels - the share of news channels in the total ad spend related to movie promotions on television (pegged at around Rs 100-odd crore) is currently miniscule. However, as Bollywood Inc. becomes more market-savvy, and film-makers look at newer ways to reach out to audiences, news channels are positioning themselves to make most of this growing interest. "Promotions of movies on news channels are effective especially during the release week," feels Prakash Kubchandani, managing director, Popcorn Motion Pictures, and co-partner in cine star Suniel Shetty's production outfit, whose soon-to-be-released action thriller, Khel, has booked promo-spots in several news channels such as Zee News, Aajtak, and STAR News. What has also helped are in-film advertising deals such as that of Sanjay Dutt-starrer Plan with 8PM or that of Minto with Kuch Naa Kaho, promos of which have made regular appearances on several news channels. Some film producers say that what also goes in favour of news channels is that they offer a break from the clutter in movie promos run on the music and movie channels. Agrees Laxmi Goel of Zee News that movie-promos go well in news channels as the campaigns stand out from regular news. "They add to the infotainment profile of news channels," he adds. News channel executives have been known to strike out sweet deals to bring movie-related advertisers on board. Advertising rates in news channels range between Rs 5,000-10,000 per 10 seconds on an average, are higher than that in music channel (average 10-sec spots range between Rs 1,000 and 3,000), while the figure goes up manifold for general entertainment channels. Block and long-term deals are not uncommon, say many news channel executives. G Krishnan, chief executive officer, TV Today Network, promoters of Aajtak and Headline Today, says that this trend is not a sudden development. "We have been talking to film producers and exhibitors for the last one year and have put across to advertisers the cost effectiveness of news channels with a large male audience (especially in the age group of 25-year plus), along with sizable family viewing," says Krishnan. Goel points out that though news channels have been airing movie-promos for some time, the frequency have been variable given the poor box office showing in the last two years. He concedes that frequency of such promotions have gone up only in the last few months. Nevertheless, such exposure sale, do not account for more than 2 per cent of annual advertising revenue for Zee News, he adds. Media planners however, feel that the trend is here to stay. For CVL Srinivas, COO, Madison Communications, this is just a natural progression of increase in consumption of TV news over the last two years, the competitive market environment and subsequent advertiser interest. Anita Nayyar, executive director, Starcom Worldwide, feels that the trend will pick up as TV news viewership stabilizes over time. According to Tam India, in the first six months of 2003 (January-July), the share of news channels in the total TV ad pie has gone up to 14 per cent as against 12 per cent in 2002 (Jan-July). The number of advertisers has gone up by 6 per cent in the same period from 2,509 to 2,647. Are TV news channels a threat to music channels such as ETC and B4U that corner the lion's share of the pie generated from movie promos? JS Kohli of ETC Network does not think so. "This is more a spill-over effect of increase in promotional budget of film makers in recent months who are looking at innovative ways to reach out to audiences," says Kohli. He claims that ETC's advertising inventories are running choc-a-block and have had to refuse some campaigns due to paucity of inventory. With no one complaining, TV news channels certainly seem to be on the right track. (The Economic Times)
Give up ''annual Kashmiri itch'', Musharraf told
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
New York, Sept. 23. : Hitting back at Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for accusing India of "violent suppression of the Kashmiri people," New Delhi today advised him to give up the "annual Kashmiri itch" before the UN General Assembly. "It may be useful, before making this annual UN pilgrimage, if the Pakistani leadership were to do some fasting," Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal told reporters here, sharply rebuking Musharraf for his comments on Kashmir at a conference on terrorism yesterday. Sibal said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has taken initiatives to improve Indo-Pak relations by taking some concrete steps irrespective of Pakistan's "lack of performance" in regard to terrorism. He also criticised Musharraf for his remark that Pakistan has got "zero return" from the Indian side for his efforts to have peace.
India to build 2 N-proof bunkers New Delhi
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
The government has decided to build two nuclear-proof bunkers to protect top leaders including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in case of an atomic strike, a report said Monday. The first shelter would be built in central New Delhi at South Block, a 1931 complex next to the presidential palace that houses the prime minister’s office and the foreign and defence ministries, the Hindustan Times reported. It said the second bunker would be set up within a 400-kilometre (250-mile) radius of the capital. Potential locations in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and in the central province of Madhya Pradesh were being studied by the head of the air force, Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, and the chief of the nuclear forces, Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana, the daily said. There was no immediate official confirmation of the report. The Hindustan Times said the decision to build the bunkers was taken September 1 at the first meeting of the Nuclear Command Authority, which agreed India needed to ensure its leadership would not be wiped out if there were a nuclear strike. AFP
Graham Staines’ killer sentenced to death
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Graham Staines’ killer sentenced to death in India BHUBANESWAR: An Indian court Monday sentenced a right-wing Hindu activist to death for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in 1999 in the eastern state of Orissa. The court in Orissa’s capital Bhubaneswar sentenced Dara Singh to death and jailed 12 others for life in the killing of Graham Staines and his sons aged eight and 10. Staines, a 57-year-old Baptist who had worked in India with leprosy patients since 1965, was sleeping in his station wagon in the remote village of Manoharpur on January 23, 1999 when he was surrounded by a mob shouting anti-Christian slogans. His escape route was blocked by men brandishing axes who torched the car, burning the missionary and his two sons to death. Staines’ brother had appealed against the death penalty for the missionary’s killers. Security tightened: Hundreds of Indian police were deployed outside churches in the eastern state of Orissa on Monday ahead of the sentencing of 13 men convicted of burning alive an Australian missionary and his two young sons. Police have sought the death penalty for the men, led by a Hindu fanatic, who set ablaze a jeep in which Graham Staines and his sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, were sleeping in January 1999, in a remote part of the state. The killing of Staines, who had been in India for almost 30 years, was one of a wave of attacks on Christian missionaries and institutions blamed on Hindu hardliners fighting conversions. "We have deployed armed police to prevent any fallout of the verdict," Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, superintendent of police in Mayurbhanj district where Staines' widow, Gladys, has stayed on with her daughter to run a home for lepers. "We are providing security outside churches, and giving security officers to Christian fathers," Khurania added. Security was also increased in the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, where the court was due to sentence activist and ringleader Dara Singh and 12 others later on Monday. Singh pleaded innocent and will appeal against the conviction in a higher court, his lawyer said. India uses the death penalty, carried out by hanging, only rarely and for the most serious of cases. The Staines murders and the elevation of Singh to hero status by some hardliners -- some supporters have formed a group called Dara's Army -- have underlined religious tensions in Hindu majority India. Some critics say Hindu extremists have been emboldened by the rise to power of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the federal coalition government. They say campaigns against the Westernising influence of Christian missionaries help stir up resentment against all minorities, often exploding into violence against the bigger Muslim community. Reuters
Sonic boom causes panic in Gujarat
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
AHMEDABAD SEPT. 22. The sound "created by mysterious blasts" led to a scare here and other parts of the State this morning. Doors and windowpanes in many houses shook violently, leading everybody to believe that there was an explosion in the vicinity. Vehicular traffic was disrupted for sometime and parents rushed to schools to pick up their children following rumours of bombs blasts in schools in the old city area. While rumours did the rounds, private television news channels added to the confusion with early reports of "bomb blasts". The scare later gave way to fear of "earthquake-type underground movement" as reports started pouring in from different parts of the city of blast-like noises. The Relief Commissioner of the State Government, Pankaj Kumar, clarified that the noise was caused by sonic boom as some jet fighter planes of the IAF on routine sorties crossed the sound barrier at low altitude. reports: An IAF spokesperson said that the sonic boom was caused by a MiG-21 on a sortie from Rajasthan to Gujarat.. It was "planned profile" by the IAF and there was no reason to panic, he added.
Mumbai HC restrains police from arresting Roshans
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Mumbai HC restrains police from arresting Roshans Mumbai Sept. 22. The Mumbai High Court today restrained the police from arresting filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, his actor son Hritik, and father-in-law J. Omprakash, in six cases of alleged cheating till September 25 and deferred their plea seeking to quash a lower court order which directed police to probe these cases. Justices Ranjana Desai and P.V. Kakade heard the arguments of Jayantilal Gada of the Popular Entertainment Network who had filed six cases against Rakesh Roshan, Hritik and Omprakash for alleged cheating. Gada's counsel A.Y. Sakhare prayed that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear this matter under Article 226 of the Constitution. The Roshans and Omprakash filed a rejoinder through their laywer Dipesh Mehta saying that the Division Bench had the jurisdiction. With the mutual consent of both sides, the matter was deferred to September 25.
Bid to block anti-India website affects users
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
NEW DELHI SEPT. 23. The Government's first attempt to block the website of an allegedly anti-India group has inconvenienced lakhs of Internet users who are questioning the utility, process and procedure relating to blocking. While all Indian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have agreed to comply with the Government's first-ever blocking directive taken under the Information Technology Act, the U.S.-based host of this website Yahoo has refused. As the ISPs lack the technical finesse to block one sub-group, they have blocked all Yahoo groups or URLs inconveniencing the users. This website, belonging to a militant group espousing the cause of Meghalaya's Khasi tribe, can still be accessed by ISPs outside India or those who have not yet complied with the directive. Official sources today said that orders were issued by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Department of Information Technology as the website "contained material against the Government of India and the State Government of Meghalaya". The absence of any explicit provision in the IT Act for blocking of websites was because this action was seen by civil society as amounting to censorship, they explained. In this case, the blocking was to ensure "balanced flow of information" and not censorship, they added. The process of blocking is surrounded by several legal controversies, since the power to block itself does not exist under the IT Act. Through a notification in February this year, the Government designated CERT-In as the authority for blocking of websites. Another notification five months later listed the officials who can order blocking and the grounds under which this can be done. "The inherent sovereign power of the Government to block can hardly ever be denied. However, when the Government embarks upon the process of blocking, it is absolutely imperative that it must follow those procedures and norms that cause least discomfort or harm to the entire netizen community. This appears to be the first case where blocking of a particular website or sub-group has had the ramification of causing inconvenience to the netizens in the sense of depriving them of access to legal groups, other than the blocked URL," observes cyberlaw expert, Pawan Duggal. "It is hoped that with the passage of time the Government does come up with appropriate norms and procedures that can create a smart balance between the requirements of the sovereign powers to block and the relative inconvenience, harm and anxiety caused to the netizen in terms of blocking of legitimate websites." Mr. Duggal says that legally speaking; there are a couple of grey areas. The February notification setting up CERT-In has been issued under Section 67 and Section 88. Neither Section empowers the Government to create such an authority. Therefore, the constitution of CERT-In is of no legal significance and may not be upheld in a court of law. "I am not saying that the Government does not have the power at all to block or create CERT-In. However, surely the power does not lie in these provisions." The Government may succeed in blocking some websites in some cases but "the problem is that this provision may be misused by political powers in the regime to silence political dissent, criticism and debate. The phenomenon of mirror sites and emerging technologies along with intelligent minds of netizens are likely to rensure that India's blocking adventure starts its march on a losing note."
India will focus on terrorism at U.N., says Nambiar
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
India will focus on terrorism at U.N., says Nambiar By Sridhar Krishnaswami UNITED NATIONS SEPT. 22. Although India has no dramatic new initiative or proposal at the 58th General Assembly session the formal two-week debate is set to begin on Tuesday there would be continued emphasis on issues such as terrorism, reform of the various organs of the world body, implications of the failure of the Cancun meeting and disarmament, according to India's country's Permanent Representative at the U.N., Vijay Nambiar. Mr. Nambiar was talking to members of the Indian media both accompanying the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and others based in this country on the broad agenda of the next several weeks and months. On terrorism, he said India would keep the focus on the salience of the continued fight against the scourge. New Delhi would lay stress on the need for the U.N. to clearly identify those countries that fall short in this area, to push for a complete agreement and consensus of the Convention on Terrorism as well as look at those areas of threats to international peace and security. If an accord on the Convention on Terrorism was not to come about, some of this would have to do with definitions and exclusions, Mr. Nambiar said. `Direct request needed' On Iraq where the United States is seeking a new Security Council resolution, Mr. Nambiar argued that for India's participation the bottom line would have to be a direct request coming from the Iraqis within the context of an overall political process as far as the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty. The request, Mr. Nambiar argued, "must come from Iraq and in the framework of a political process... after which we will consider". Iraq is expected to be a dominant theme of discussion for the next several days as the U.S. will be stepping up its efforts to get a new resolution from the Security Council. The U.S. President, George W. Bush, will broach the subject in his opening remarks on Tuesday and in his various bilaterals on September 23 and 24, including the one with Mr. Vajpayee on Wednesday. Washington is keen on countries such as India, Pakistan and Turkey participating in the so-called stabilisation of Iraq by sending peacekeeping troops to that country. There is a debate in the U.N. on how it should deal with issues and challenges particularly in the context of what took place in Baghdad on August 19 when its headquarters was targeted. The attack has "affected very deeply the entire self-perception of the relevance of the organisation", especially as it related to, among other things, the quest for a greater degree of efficiency within the framework of legitimacy, Mr. Nambiar pointed out.
PM asks Indian-Americans to speak up on Kashmir
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
PM asks Indian-Americans to speak up on Kashmir By Harish Khare NEW YORK SEPT. 22. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has asked the Indian-American community in the United States to set up a political "action group" that would project and lobby New Delhi's point of view on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. He regretted that despite all the affluence and prestige notched up by the "successful" Indian-American community, its influence in America's political and administrative set-up was yet to be felt. The Prime Minister was addressing a "public meeting" organised by Bhishma K.Agnihotri, Ambassador-at-Large for Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin. The 4,000-capacity Jacob Javits Convention Center was brimming with members of the Indian community, who had come to hear the Prime Minister. Mr. Vajpayee said that Indians living in the United States had a responsibility to correct the negative image of India. He was of the view that most of these reports were based either on incomplete familiarity with facts or on some preconceived notions, and since the Indian-Americans were well versed with the realities and complexities of India, it was their obligation to rectify these negative and unhelpful images and perceptions. India was changing, was strong and was on the road to prosperity. Even before "9/11" India had to cope with the menace of terrorism and India was now part of the global war on terrorism. "But we are capable of fighting our own battle. We will prevail. We want the international opinion to play its role in this battle. I want to tell (the international community) that the roots of terrorism were n |
