Chennai: Bus falls off a flyover, 30 injured

Chennai: At least 30 passengers were injured injured when a crowded bus fell of a flyover in Chennai on Wednesday afternoon. The accident happened on the Gemini flyover on arterial Anna Salai when the driver of the state-owned Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus was taking a blind turn.
The incident occurred at around 1.40 PM when the bus driver on route No. 17M from Parrys to Vadapalani tried to take a left turn on the diversion on Anna flyover towards Nungambakkam, police said. But they refused to confirm eyewitness accounts that the driver was talking on his mobile phone at the time.
According to MTC officials there were 39 persons on the bus, including the driver and conductor. Traffic was badly hit and there was a massive jam following the accident on the flyover, forcing police to divert traffic.

The injured have been admitted to Royapettah Government Hospital and a nearby private hospital.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister VS Vijay, Social Welfare Minister B Valarmathy, Chennai Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy, City Police Commissioner JK Tripathy, along with top police officers and senior MTC officials visited the spot.
The bus was removed from the spot around three hours later with the help of a crane.

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Jayalalithaa's former aide Sasikala's brother arrested

Chennai:  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's former aide Sasikala's brother Diwakaran was today arrested in Tiruvarur district for allegedly demolishing a woman's house in Rishiyur village. The Madras High Court has dismissed his anticipatory bail.

Diwakaran's arrest comes days after the Chief Minister expelled Sasikala Natarajan and 11 of her relatives from her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). No reason was officially given for the drastic step. The move was, however, seen by many as an attempt by Jayalalithaa to nip in the bud reported moves by Sasikala's family to dominate her party and influence the AIADMK government. Those who were handed the pink slip included Sasikala's husband, Natarajan and her nephew and former MP T T V Dinakaran.

Sasikala has for long served as Jayalalithaa's companion. She is also one of the main accused in a case that alleges that the Chief Minister misused her office from 1991-1996 to collect assets worth 66 crores that cannot be accounted for. That case is being tried by a Bangalore court to ensure a fair trial. Jayalalithaa objected to being summoned by that court, but was ordered by the Supreme Court to appear in person to answer questions. Sasikala travelled with her for those hearings in a special plane from Chennai.

For three decades, Sasikala was acknowledged as a power centre in the AIADMK because of her proximity to Jayalalithaa. Insiders say that her opinions counted towards the selection of ministers and party candidates.

In 1996, when Jayalalithaa was beleaguered by a slew of corruption charges, she had a brief falling out with Sasikala, who belongs to the strong Thevar community, traditionally AIADMK loyalists.

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Curbs on New Year parties at hotels

CHENNAI: The Chennai police have announced several restrictions and guidelines for hotels organising New Year parties, including setting 1.30 a.m. as the deadline for winding up the celebrations.
Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran, at a meeting with hotel representatives on Tuesday, said they should inform the Deputy Commissioner of Police concerned about the special programmes/events. They should obtain structural stability certificate if they planned to erect a stage. The hotels should also install surveillance cameras at vantage points.
Swimming pools should remain closed from 8 p.m. on December 31 to 6 a.m. on January 1. Liquor should be served only at the bar, Mr. Rajendran said. “Liquor should be served only up to 11 p.m. We have asked them to wind up the celebrations by 1.30 a.m.”
Mr. Rajendran said hotel authorities must ensure that there is no eve-teasing. While restricting the number of tickets/passes, the hotel staff should ensure that guests in an inebriated condition do not drive vehicles. Such guests should be accommodated in the hotel till a driver is arranged. All vehicles entering the premises should be thoroughly checked.
Mr. Rajendran said the hotel authorities have been told to inform employees that they should alert the police in case they came across any unclaimed baggage on the premises. “Such parties can be soft targets…we have asked them to take basic security measures to ensure that the celebrations are incident-free.”
Hotels should not allow guests to park their vehicles on the road. Steps should be taken to make alternative parking arrangements. “If foreign nationals are engaged to perform, they should have necessary travel documents. Our idea is to ensure that each and every guest is identified. Night patrolling will be intensified and adequate police personnel deployed across the city during the celebrations,” Mr. Rajendran said.

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Minister's promise to start work on Chennai road by Jan cheers trailer operators

The Union Shipping Minister, Mr G.K. Vasan's promise today that work on the arterial Ennore-Manali road will commence by January and be completed in two years should bring cheer to thousands of container trailer operators who have been battling for this project for many years.
The operators, however, want the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to first repair the damaged road (due to the recent rain) so that vehicles could ply smoothly to and from the Chennai port, said Mr A. Raja, Secretary of the Trailer Operators Association. “Everyday there is an accident due to the damaged road. It is a nightmare to drive on such a bad road,” he told Business Line.
Announced by the Tamil Nadu Government in 1998, the cost of the Chennai-Ennore Port Road connectivity project, earlier called Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project, has escalated by four times to Rs 600 crore. The project is to enable free flow of truck traffic from and to the Chennai port in North Chennai. The port handles over 5,000 containers a day and trucks need to take this Ennore-Manali road for entry and exit to the port. The project is still in the ‘tendering' stage — previous tenders were cancelled for various reasons.
Funding plans
Mr Vasan, at a press conference, said the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) has so far released Rs 48 crore as part of its contribution to the special purpose vehicle, while the Ennore Port Ltd (EPL) has contributed Rs 8.75 crore. The ChPT today released another Rs 19 crore and the EPL another Rs 5 crore for the project. The ChPT's total contribution will be Rs 139.80 crore and that of EPL will be Rs 34.20 crore and the two ports will soon release more funds to fast track the project implementation, he said.
“This [the project] is a serious issue. There should be no reason for the delay. It is a very difficult area [north Chennai]. Work should start immediately and should be completed on time,” he told the officials of NHAI present in the meeting.
Mr S. Jaswanthkumar, Chief General Manager, NHAI, said 13 companies have shown interest in the project. The financial bids will be opened shortly and work order will be issued by January. In the last two years, the NHAI had spent Rs 22 crore to maintain the Ennore-Manali road but the recent rains damaged the roads badly. The authority will spend another Rs 1.2 crore to repair the roads before December, he said.

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Raja pledges to co-operate in telecoms scam probe

Former telecoms minister A Raja, at the heart of a telecom scandal, promised yesterday to “co-operate fully” with authorities investigating what could be the country’s biggest corruption case.
Police raided the homes and offices of the former minister this week, along with those of senior aides, as part of its probe into the 2008 sale of mobile phone licences, which resulted in massive losses for the government.
“I will fully co-operate with the (Central Bureau of Investigation) agency. Whatever the procedure is, I have to comply with it,” Raja said in the southern city of Chennai.
“I will prove my innocence.” 
 “No one is above the law,” Raja said after meeting Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Karunanidhi, who had been staunchly supporting the beleaguered former minister, said on Wednesday that the party would take action against Raja if he is found guilty.
A CBI spokesman declined to say when the politician, who has denied all wrongdoing, might be questioned, but another official said it would be soon.
Raja was forced to quit last month following accusations by the Comptroller and Auditor General that his ministry’s handling of the sale of the mobile licences at knock-down prices cost the nation up to $40bn in lost revenue.
The scandal has cast a cloud over India’s “telecom revolution” that has made the country the world’s fastest-growing mobile market with 700mn users.
It has also raised doubts about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s political judgment in not acting faster against Raja after concerns about the sale first surfaced.
Raja’s comments came after the CBI questioned officials who had been raided, gathering information they said would form the basis for interrogating the politician.
The Congress-led government is under fierce attack from opposition parties for the rock-bottom prices at which the second-generation (2G) licences and radio bandwidth were awarded, in what analysts called the “deal of a lifetime.”
Parliament has been paralysed by opposition demands for a joint parliamentary committee probe with power to question ministers, and the winter session, which ends on Monday, has been lost, dashing government hopes of passing key land reform and other bills.
The coalition government has resisted the call for a JPC probe, saying other investigations are sufficient.
Raja’s pledge to co-operate coincided with a recommendation by India’s telecom watchdog to cancel 38 wireless licences.
The firms affected by the recommendation include the Indian joint ventures of Norway’s telecommunications giant Telenor and Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, junior communications minister Sachin Pilot said in a statement.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India also suggested “legal examination” of 31 licences given to Aircel, Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd, Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom Ltd, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd and Videocon Telecommunications Ltd.
The Congress-led government plans to “take necessary action after verification of data and after taking legal notice,” Pilot said in the statement posted on a government website.
The regulator’s recommendations are not binding on India’s telecommunications ministry, which holds the power to cancel the licences.
Telenor has already denied that that there were any “irregularities” in the way its subsidiary Indian Uninor won mobile licences. There was no immediate public comment from other companies.
The regulator’s “stance is that this is a scarce national resource and this is the harshest way of punishing these operators,” said Naveen Kulkarni, an analyst at MF Global Ltd in Mumbai.
The licence applications of many firms should have been turned down because they did not satisfy “the basic eligibility conditions” set by the department of telecommunications, the CAG report said last month.
The firms “suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information and submitted fictitious documents” for getting licences, the auditor said.
A total of 157 licences were awarded in the controversial 2008 sale, many to ineligible applicants who “suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information and submitted fictitious documents,” according to the national auditor.
Along with the police probe, the telecom ministry under its new minister Kapil Sibal has launched its own inquiry headed by a former Supreme Court judge into how licences were allotted from 2001 to 2009.

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New Zealand Cricket begins review of India debacle

The Test and ODI thrashing at the hands of India has prompted New Zealand Cricket to start a review of the team’s performance but the body has ruled out sacking captain Daniel Vettori.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said the 0-5 ODI loss after a 0-1 Test defeat to India within weeks of an embarrassing one-day whitewash against Bangladesh has led to concern about the team’s progress just a couple of months before the World Cup.

But Vaughan dismissed suggestions that the inspirational Vettori, who has been leading the team since 2007 and even doubled up as coach for a brief period, would lose captaincy because of the twin debacles.

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” Vaughan told ‘New Zealand Herald’

“We need to go through a proper review and talk about what options there are to help the side improve, but I’d be hard pressed to believe the captaincy would be one of those issues,” he said.

Vaughan is planning discussions with team manager Dave Currie, Vettori, batting coach and selector Mark Greatbatch and performance director Roger Mortimer.

Vaughan said although changes would be made to the team if necessary but given that the World Cup is not too far away, too much tinkering could backfire.

“If we can see a clear case for that (making changes) then it’s something we would have to consider. But it is getting pretty late in the piece,” Vaughan said.

“The danger is obviously that significant change could sometimes be extremely unsettling. It doesn’t mean to say you can’t do it, but you need to go in with your eyes open,” he added.

One of the options being considered is to offer a bigger role to former India coach John Wright, who is currently looking after the NZC’s High Performance program.

“There may have been some discussion on the benefit of him spending some time over there but then we realised it was pretty short notice so it didn’t go any further,” Vaughan said.

“But tapping into Wrighty’s knowledge should have been obvious. I understand people’s desire to see him attached to the Black Caps because the New Zealand public loves John, he’s had a proven international record and the Black Caps aren’t travelling very well at the moment.

“But we are comfortable with the process we went with around the appointment of Mark and the way the team is operating with Roger and the others,” he added.

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BMW 5 Series 520d Luxury Sedan Drives into India; Sports Rs 36.9-lakh Price Tag

With many a luxury car maker testing the Indian market with their high-end vehicles, the Indian car enthusiast is in for something superb. Adding to the line of high end luxury cars, BMW has lifted the wraps off their new 5 Series and is expecting the model to be a hit with car buyers in the upper crest.

The German luxury car company’s latest addition to the India car scenario comes for a price of Rs 36.9 lakh. The car, a BMW 520d, comes driven by a two-litre four cylinder turbo diesel engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
An important model in the BMW product range, the BMW 520d 5 Series sedan had been first rolled out in April this year and comes to India after it had hit popularity rating in the markets where it was made available ever since.
Promising an economy level fuel consumption of 18.4 km per litre, the sedan is available on order as it is produced as a completely knocked down unit from the BMW Chennai facility.
BMW has said that the car will be available across India at the company’s dealerships.

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