Give us our gym equipment back: Neighbours tell Arjun Rampal

The residents of his building are upset with Rampal for robbing them of their daily fitness fix

Arjun Rampal, who is known for his love for fitness, remodelled an existing gym on the ground floor of his building into a modern one with state-of-the-art equipment. He did this a few months ago, at his own expense. The actor welcomed everyone staying in the building complex to use the facility. But now the honeymoon’s over. Following a tiff with the residents, Arjun has carted out his equipment and the gym is empty and no longer functional.

The problem began when Arjun asked people not to use the gym at the same time as him.

This didn’t go down well with the residents because while he did pay for the gym, it is a public area and they didn’t take kindly to the actor dictating terms or timings.

Says a source, “Before Arjun made the state-of-the-art gym, there was a gym of sorts on the ground floor. It had some basic workout equipment like treadmills and weights. When Arjun moved into the building a few years ago, he found the facility too basic and he scaled it up, to suit his fitness standard.

He was also able to avoid  going out every day to a private gym. Also, it would afford him the advantage of working out at any hour, according to his convenience. He’d opened the gym to the other residents of the building and told everyone that he felt happy to see youngsters and children hitting the gym.”

Reveals a source, “But Arjun hadn’t thought this through. He didn’t expect the residents to  work out at the same time as him. To be fair, he wanted some privacy while working out but he was troubled by people taking pictures of him on their cellphones, and autograph hunters. He began to get distracted.

At the residents meetings he requested the members to refrain from working out during his timings. He assumed that they would pay heed to his suggestion. When he realised that they had no intention of doing so, in a fit of rage, Arjun had all the equipment he’d paid for, packed and parcelled off to an unknown destination, without informing or giving any notice to anybody.”

Now while the residents cannot complain about that, they have a valid complain: Give us back the previous equipment which was in the gym. But Arjun had gotten rid of that, which means he will have to buy some standard equipment for the gym, which he is not willing to do, as he feels he has already spent a lot of money.

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TMC suspends leaders, activists involved in foundation day erotic dance

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday condemned and suspended the leaders and activists who were caught on camera heckling and throwing money at hired women dancers at one of its founding day celebrations.
TMC leader and spokesman Derek O'Brien said that a disciplinary committee may even consider sacking the persons involved from the party
"One of the celebration events obviously went wrong. We condemn what happened. We need to find out who these people are, whether TMC workers or others. What happened last night was condemnable," O'Brien said.
"The TMC does not approve such events. We will get to the bottom of this. We will take appropriate action. There is absolutely zero tolerance on such matters. We have sent a team on the ground to find out," he added
He also said there was no need for West Bengal Chief Minister and party president Mamata Banerjee to offer an apology for some of its party workers taking part in function in which women dancers were hired to perform an alleged erotic dance.
District-level TMC leaders and activists were caught on television throwing money on the hired women dancers during the function on Tuesday, leaving the party leadership embarassed
The function was organised by Trinamool Congress district level leaders in Bhangore, near Kolkata. Trinamool zila parishad member Meer Taheer Ali is widely believed to have arranged the women dancers for the celebrations that took place right opposite the local police station.
O'Brien said there was no need for the media to play the dual role of both judge and executioner in the matter. A television channel described O'Brien's reaction as patronising
O'Brien reiterated that a statement on the incident has been issued in which it was also stated that the party had organized several commemorative programmes across the state to mark Trinamool Congress’ 15th foundation day.
The recording of the programme was also aired on local television channels.
The controversy comes at a time when the entire nation witnessed muted New year celebrations as a mark of respect for the 23-year-old Delhi student who died 13 days after she was brutally gang-raped and tortured by six men in a moving bus.
The controversy is likely to embarrass Banerjee,particularly at a time when security of women is high on the government’s agenda and clamour for stringent laws to deal with crimes against women is growing louder.

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Jindal case: India's charge of Pak institutions involved in 26/11 rubbished

The Pakistan Government on Wednesday dismissed India’s charge of Pakistani state institutions being involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Addressing media in Islamabad, the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor in the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, termed New Delhi’s charges as “baseless”, and added that Islamabad would not investigate the Mumbai terror attack on the basis of evidences provided by New Delhi, as they were “not reliable”.
Defending Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Malik rubbished 26/11 Mumbai terror attack plotter Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jindal's claims of the ISI being involved in the 26/11 attacks.
He said the ISI protects Pakistan and is not involved in carrying out terror strikes.
Malik squarely blamed Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram of "unnecessarily targeting the ISI", and claimed that all the allegations against Pakistan have been proven to be false till now.
He pointed out that Jindal was an Indian citizen (a resident of Beed in Maharashtra), and therefore, could not be said to be working on behalf of state or non-state actors from Pakistan.
"On previous occasions, when India accused the ISI of being behind the attacks, they were later proved to be wrong. Blaming someone is very easy, but proving is very, very difficult," claimed Malik.
Chidambaram had on Wednesday said that India had been on Jindal’s case for over a year, and the latter had admitted during interrogation by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police to the involvement of Pakistani state agencies in the 26/11 attacks.
Reacting to Malik's note on Tuesday, Chidambaram said that India was willing to share information about Jindal with Pakistan
Jindal was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on June 21 after being brought from Saudi Arabia, and is now in the custody of Delhi Police till July 5.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has now produced a production warrant in Delhi's Tis Hazari court for Jindal's interrogation.
The ATS wants to question him regarding the Aurangabad arms haul case of May 2006 and the German Bakery blast case of February 2010.
The ATS also wants to question him regarding the sleeper cells active in Maharashtra and about his alleged connections with the Indian Mujahideen.
The Indian Mujahideen was allegedly behind the 13/7 serial blasts in Mumbai in 2011 and the ATS had filed a charge sheet in the case last month.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Intelligence Bureau are also interrogating Jindal. He has reportedly given inputs about the Lashkar-e-Toiba's sleeper cells in the country to the police, based on which, police teams will be carrying out raids across Maharashtra.
Police say Jindal used different names in each incident that he was involved in over the past six to seven years.

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Poll violence: Terrorists gun down 5 in Manipur

GUWAHATI: Suspected NSCN (IM) terrorists gunned down five persons at a polling station in Chandel district of Manipur, hours after polling of the 60-member state assembly started on Saturday.

Police said the dead included a CRPF soldier, three home guards on duty and a woman voter at Tampi in Chandel assembly constituency at about 1 pm. Polling started at 7 am.

The terrorists are believed to have attempted a booth capture, which failed when security forces deployed at the polling stations retaliated. One of the attackers has been injured in the retaliatory firing by security personnel and has been nabbed.

Of the 2,357 polling stations in the state, only 160 are classified as normal by the Election Commission, with 1,325 termed sensitive and 872 hyper-sensitive. The elections are being held under the security cover by 350 companies of paramilitary forces apart from the state's own security resources. The army also has its deployment on counter-insurgency operations while the Assam Rifles and BSF guard the border with Myanmar, where NE militants are mostly based.

Chandel district situated in the southern tip of Manipur borders Myanmar in the east and south. The district is also one the Naga-dominated hill districts of the state. The NSCN (IM) has strong presence in the four Naga-dominated districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and Chandel. Its general secretary Th Muivah is from Ukhrul district in Manipur.

The ministry of home affairs has earlier expressed its worry about involvement of NSCN (IM) in Manipur elections, particularly in the 11 Naga-dominated constituencies in the hill districts of the state and has ordered security forces to use maximum force against all outfits involved in poll related violence in the state.

On Friday in two separate attacks by militants, two CRPF jawans and a woman were killed two others injured in Ukhrul district.

Ahead of assembly polls scheduled on January 28, an IED blast outside the residence of Manipur speaker, Hemochandra Singh, the Congress candidate for Sangjemei constituency on Sunday. The seven Meitei outfits, which have jointly banned the Congress from any electioneering owned responsibility for the blast. Earlier an IED was recovered form in front of the Congress headquarters in Imphal. Security forces have also killed at least four militants so far.

A key MHA official said, "We have been receiving several complaints about NSCN (IM)'s interference. We have evidence of the outfit's direct involvement in the election in Manipur in terms of putting up proxy candidates."

The 11 Naga-dominated constituencies in the four hill districts are crucial for any party to claim power in the 60-member assembly. These 11 constituencies have always sent only members from the Naga community to the assembly. In the plural state, the Nagas are the second community after the dominant Meitei community and they mostly
live in the hill districts along the third largest group, Kukis, while the Meiteis are concentrated in the valley.

Nagaland's ruling party, Naga Peoples' Front (NPF) is making its debut in Manipur elections and has fielded 11 Naga candidates and a Kuki candidate, which has fuelled fresh debate over Nagas' demand for territorial integrity. While launching the election campaign NPF chief and Nagaland chief minister Neiphir Rio told an election rally in Manipur's Tadubi the NPF's entry into Manipur politics is aimed at "integrating the Nagas politically."

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I'm doing the best films this year: Priyanka Chopra

There may be all sorts of rumours doing the rounds about actor Priyanka Chopra’s personal life, but the actor seems unfazed by them, even though she adopts a ‘will talk about work only’ stance. And work she has enough at hand, as she points out ticking off the number of films in hand, not to forget her debut album as a singer. But for now, the actor’s thrilled with the response her act got at the Zee Cine Awards in Macau that she co-hosted with actor and good friend Shah Rukh Khan and, is also excitedly gearing up for her upcoming film with Hrithik Roshan. “I’m always nervous before my film’s release. My hands start to get all shaky,” she laughs.
Q: Agneepath is your second film with Hrithik. Do you think the chemistry gets better as familiarity increases?
A: As actors we always start off not knowing the co-star the first time around and it’s only later on that you develop any relationship with them. We are all very professional, so for me as an actor, it’s my job to be able to share a good chemistry with everyone that I work with. You don’t need to know someone or not know anyone to have a good chemistry. What matters is that you are good and the role is etched well.
Q: But who do you think you share the best chemistry with among all the actors you’ve worked with so far?
A: I think all my co-actors that I’ve worked with.
Q: Katrina Kaif’s item number is being highlighted in the film. Does that bother you?
A: No. I am the lead, and I couldn’t play the villain’s moll, which the song is all about, so why should it bother me? I think Katrina’s song adds to the film.
Q: But you are open to doing item songs?
A: Of course. If something comes along that I like, then yes.
Q: What’s your take on competition here?
A: I compete with everyone, but only everyone that I work with (laughs). Jokes apart, I am very competitive and I like to be the best I can be in the opportunities I am given. And to be honest, I don’t care about other people’s careers. I am doing the best films being made in the industry this year. I have nothing to complain about and there’s nothing I regret.
Q: So is there a pressure in the kind of films you choose?
A: No, I like the fact that I’m one person who can do any kind of role in every kind of film. That’s my forte and I take great pride in my versatility. So I can do action like I did in Don 2, or play an autistic girl in Barfi, or play a glamorous heroine in Krishh 3 or play three ages like I do in Kunal Kohli’s film. And just like I was comfortable in being a super-mod girl in Miami (Karan Johar’s Dostana), I am equally at ease being a girl from a brothel in Mandwa.
Q: Were you comfortable being directed by a first-timer in Agneepath?
A: I think Karan (director Karan Malhotra) has been a revelation for me. This was not an easy film to execute, but I think he’s pulled it off amazingly and I’m very glad that I’m his first heroine.
Q: What’s happening on the album?
A: Well, films are always a priority and there hasn’t been much time I’ve been able to give to that. So, once I have some time, I will go back to LA and should be able to come out with my single this summer.

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SC agrees to hear Amit Shah's plea to return to Gujarat

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the plea of former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah, who was forced to leave the state during pendency of his trial in Sohrabuddin fake encounter killing case, for permission to return.
A Bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said that it would hear his plea along with the CBI's petition seeking cancellation of Shah's bail in the Sohrabuddin case.
Shah, who was directed by the apex court to leave the state during the pendency of the trial in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, had yesterday approached the apex court saying living outside his home state for the last 16 months has caused "irreparable hardship" to him and his family members.
The apex court had on October 30, 2010, directed Shah to leave the state and ordered him to stay out till further order.
Pleading with the apex court to modify its order, Shah said, "He will suffer irreparable injury and hardship if an appropriate order to the effect of modification of order of October 30, 2010, is not made."
"The applicant has remained outside his own state for approximately 16 months resulting into a situation where one of the largest assembly constituencies in the country, which has reposed faith in the applicant since four consecutive terms, is deprived of its representatives," he said.
Shah, a close aide of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, was arrested by CBI on July 25, 2010, and he had spent over three months in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad. Shah had to quit the Modi government in July last year after being slapped with charges of murder and kidnapping in the fake encounter killing of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in 2005.

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Trinamool candidate seeks change of constituency

Barely two days after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced the 228 candidates for the coming Assembly polls, signs of dissent are evident within the party regarding ticket, for at least one of the constituencies that figure in the list.

The party's nominee from the Entally constituency in the city has refused to contest from there, claiming that he had been earlier assured ticket for another seat.

“I am not contesting from Entally,” Tarak Banerjee, a three-time MLA from the subsequently re-constituted Kashipur constituency, told The Hindu here on Sunday.

He said that following the de-limitation of the seat, he had indicated his preference for the Shyampukur seat, his home constituency.

“Party chief Mamata Banerjee said that I instead contest from Jorasanko, to which I readily agreed. But then I found that I had been given ticket for a different seat,” Mr. Banerjee said.

“Ms. Banerjee is the supreme leader of our party. But one gets to wonder whether or not there is a greater leader in the Trinamool Congress who can revise even her decision,” he added.

“None of the party leaders discussed with me the matter of contesting from the Entally seat. That I refuse to do so has been communicated to the party,” Mr. Banerjee said.

Sources in the Trinamool Congress said Mr. Banerjee could be replaced as the party's candidate for Entally by Colonel (retired) Sabyasachi Bagchi, a former senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ananya Dutta reports:

The future of the alliance between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress in West Bengal for the coming Assembly elections will be known on Monday — deadline set by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to the Congress for announcing its candidates for the 64 seats that she has set aside for it.

In what looks like a re-enactment of the drama that preceded the breakdown of discussions over seat-sharing for the 2010 civic elections, Ms. Banerjee went ahead and announced the list of her party candidates on Friday before the two parties reached a consensus on the number of seats.

The Railway Minister also said she would announce Trinamool candidates for the remaining 64 seats on Monday, if an electoral understanding was not reached by then. A decision is likely to be taken following the return of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to New Delhi on Sunday.

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Talwars move SC for stay of prosecution in Aarushi murder case

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar today approached the Supreme Court seeking stay of criminal proceedings against them in the case of murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

The couple has challenged the order of the Allahabad High Court which has refused to stay the proceedings before a special CBI court at Ghaziabad in the sensational case.

“The appeal has been filed today in the Supreme Court seeking stay of the proceedings,” Satish Tamta, counsel for the Talwar couple, told PTI.

The Allahabad High Court had yesterday dismissed their plea seeking quashing of the proceedings initiated by the lower court which not only refused the closure report of the CBI but also summoned them as accused in the case.

The High Court had said that it cannot prohibit the magistrate from taking cognisance of a case if prima facie it appears that there is sufficient evidence against a person.

Justice Balakrishna Narayana of the Allahabad High Court had dismissed the criminal revision petition of Nupur against the CBI court proceedings, saying the petition has “failed to provide any valid reason warranting the court’s intervention at this stage”.

The High Court asked Nupur, who had submitted that she had been summoned despite never having been called for interrogation or having been named as an accused in the CBI’s closure report, to appear before the trial court within two weeks.

Another petition filed by Rajesh Talwar challenging bailable warrants issued by the Ghaziabad court on February 28 was dismissed by Justice Ravindra Singh.

On February 9, the Ghaziabad court had issued bailable warrants against the couple for their failure to appear before the court and to initiate proceedings against them after it had named them accused while rejecting the closure report of the CBI, which was treated as the chargesheet.

The two are expected to appear before the CBI court on Wednesday when the case has been posted for hearing.

14-year-old Aarushi was found murdered at her residence in Noida in May 16, 2008 and Hemraj’s body was recovered the following day from the same building.

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WWF staff abducted - Militants target officials busy with big cat survey

Unidentified militants abducted six World Wildlife Fund (WWF) field workers, including three girls, from Laopani under Chirang forest division in Assam’s Kokrajhar district yesterday evening.

Quoting members of an NGO who were let off by the 20-odd abductors, police said the WWF field workers were abducted when they had gone to the area for survey related to a tiger census. The six were hired recently for the work.

A source said the workers were on their way to the Guguni river with some members of Ultapani Biodiversity Conservation Society, a local NGO, when they came across the armed group around 4pm. “The group asked the NGO members to return and took away the WWF workers,” he added.

“Our members had accompanied them as guides. They were near Guguni river when they came across some armed personnel. They first took them to be patrolling security personnel and chatted with them. They even shared some biscuits with the group before being taken away,” a member of the NGO said.

The six abducted workers have been identified as Gautam Kishore Sarma, Pranjal Saikia, Syed Nushad Zaman, Tarali Goswami, Shrabani Goswami and Pallavi Chakrabarty. The team had been in Kokrajhar since January 19 and arrived at Ultapani on January 27. Laopani falls under Ultapani falling in the buffer area of Manas tiger reserve. This is the first time that workers of WWF have been kidnapped from Assam.

Late this evening, sources said contact had been established with the abductors and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) deputy chief Khampa Borgoyary, who is in-charge of the forest department, was trying to negotiate their release.

Earlier in the day, Kokrajhar additional superintendent of police H. Das said they had received a complaint about the kidnapping from the forest department at 9pm on Sunday and added that a search was under way.

Anupam Sarmah, the coordinator of the North Bank Landscape Program of WWF India, said the organisation was waiting for a call from the abductors. “We are in touch with the families of the kidnapped,” he said.

Sejal Worah, the programme director of WWF India, New Delhi, told The Telegraph that they were in touch with the state government and BTC officials. She added that the nature of the team’s work had left them exposed. “They were simply doing their work,” she said.

Several non-government and conservation organisations working in the Northeast, including WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India, Aaranyak, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Dolphin Foundation, EcoSystems-India have also appealed for their immediate release.

“These volunteers are innocent students from our own state. The conservation of wildlife and forests is of utmost importance for our society and they should be released immediately,” said Bibhab Talukdar, the secretary general of Aaranyak.

Two other WWF volunteers — David Smith and Binita Barwati — who were part of the eight-member team engaged in the census work, escaped abduction as they were in another group.

Ram Boojh, a Unesco India official said the kidnapping was a “serious setback to conservation efforts”.

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Bangalore Development Authority acting like real estate agency: Karnataka high court

The Karnataka high court on Monday directed the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to place all information regarding ongoing land acquisitions and projects under progress in Bangalore.
A batch of petitions from those, whose lands have been sought to be acquired for the Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda Layout, had come up for hearing before justice DV Shylendra Kumar.
The petitioners had contended that there was a selective process of notification and denotification to be followed and the government was supposed to leave some important places like nurseries, religious places and high-tech centres, which it had not done.
The BDA had issued preliminary notification on May 21, 2008, seeking to acquire 4,814 acre and a final notification on February 18, 2010 with regard to 4,043.27 acre. The project envisages distribution of 54,800 sites.
Justice Kumar pulled up the BDA for embarking upon new projects without bothering much about the completion of projects already being initiated. “You have not completed some projects for which you had acquired lands some years ago. Now you are embarking on this mega Kempe Gowda Layout. You have to first complete the projects on-hand and then initiate the new ones,” he said.
“What the BDA is following is an outdated concept of development. Huge and gigantic projects are difficult to manage. The land acquisitions and big projects are like our government. Nobody can understand the way it functions. The result: BDA acquisitions are money-spinning exercise. BDA is more of a real estate development (agency),” the judge said.
At the request of the petitioners, justice Kumar directed the BDA to submit the proposal leading to issuing of preliminary notification for acquiring 4,814 acres of land for the Layout. Justice Kumar also directed the civic agency to submit details of all the ongoing projects and the land acquired for different purposes by the BDA during the next hearing on February 8.
Justice Kumar also asked the BDA about the present status of all the ongoing projects and the details of the land acquired for the projects, including the surplus land acquired for Sir M Vishveshwaraya Layout and the controversial Arkavathy Layout.

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Google topples Nokia's Symbian from smart phones top spot

Google's Android dethroned Nokia's Symbian as the most popular smartphone platform in the last quarter of 2010, ending a reign that began with the birth of the industry 10 years ago.
Research firm Canalys said on Monday phone makers sold a total of 32.9 million Android-equipped phones in the last quarter, compared with Symbian's total sales of 31 million. The landmark piles pressure on Nokia as it struggles to reassert itself at the top end of the mobile handsets market.
Following Apple's 2007 entrance into smart phones, Google rolled out its open-source Android operating system, which has become the standard for smaller phone makers.
Hit models from Samsung Electronics, HTC and LG Electronics helped Android in the quarter, while Symbian suffered from troubles of its owner and main user, Nokia.
"We have seen some strong products from a number of vendors," said Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd.

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2G scam: A Raja questioned by CBI for the third time

CBI today questioned former telecom minister A Raja for the third time in connection with the funding and allegedly showing favours to some telecom companies in granting 2G spectrum between October 2007 and 2008.
Raja, who was questioned earlier on December 24 and 25 last year, was called to the CBI office this morning and quizzed for nearly nine hours, official sources said.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) MP was asked about his conversations with corporate lobbiyst Nira Radia and the reasons of advancing the cut-off date of allocation of the spectrum in 2007.
Some of the questions pertained to the role of some of the kin of the former minister in a few offshoot companies of these telecom firms besides the flow of funds.
Raja was confronted with some documents recovered by the agency during searches on department of telecommunication (DoT) offices in October 2009 after registering a case against unnamed officers of DoT and telecom companies, the sources said.
While Raja was allowed to go home today, CBI sources said he would be called again when he would be confronted with some more questions and documents recovered from the computers seized during raids conducted by the investigation agency.
Raja was questioned at length on the circumstances leading to spectrum allocation which has been criticised severely by the central vigilance commission (CVC) and the comptroller and auditor general (CAG).
Raja was forced to resign on November 14 last year in the wake of the CAG report which held that the spectrum allocation at undervalued prices resulted in a notional loss of Rs1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer.
Raja got the telecom portfolio on May 18, 2007 and was re-elected as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha and continued as telecom minister from May 31, 2009, till November 14, 2010 before he tendered his resignation.
The Supreme Court has asked the CBI and the enforcement directorate to submit status reports on their investigations into the 2G spectrum case to it by February 10 when the case will come up for further hearing.
In its FIR, CBI mentioned the loss as Rs22,000 crore based on CVC findings which had referred the case to it.
Radia was quizzed by CBI last week as she had come under the scanner after her tapped telephonic conversations with various influential people including industrialists, politicians and journalists became public.
CBI has also questioned former telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) chief Pradip Baijal, a 1966 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, and former telecom secretaries Siddarth Behura and DS Mathur in connection with the case.

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Earmark green areas, conserve turtles, Jairam Ramesh tells POSCO

Earmarking 25% of the project area as green area and detailed plans for regeneration of mangroves and turtle conservation are among the 60 additional conditions that have been set for POSCO for its steel-cum-captive power plant and a minor port in Orissa.
The conditions were outlined in the conditional clearance given by environment minister Jairam Ramesh for the multi-billion dollar project that was kept on hold for the past few months.
He set 28 additional conditions for the steel-cum-captive power plant while the captive port must meet 32 addtional conditions.
Ramesh, who "carefully considered" the recommendations of the committees appointed to examine green issues, said the National Ambient Air Quality Standards issued by the ministry of environment and forests will be followed while setting up the steel-cum-captive power plant.
The minister said a reputed institute will carry out sustainability study of water requirement for the ultimate steel production capacity of 12 million tonnes per year.
"Should there be a shortfall of water at the Jobra Barrage for irrigation purposes, the company will voluntarily sacrifice water intake for facilitating irrigation."
One of the most significant conditions for setting up the steel-cum-captive power plant is that "the total green area within the plant will be 25% of its area as per the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)."
The ministry also directed the company to submit its "risk and disaster management plans due to plant operation and natural hazards such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes."
In his 32 additional conditions for setting up the captive minor port, the minister also made it clear that "no construction" would be allowed in the high erosion zone.
Ramesh, who stated late last month that no new infrastructure projects will be allowed in the high erosion coastal zone in the country, also emphasised that "no construction shall be undertaken" in such places identified by the Institute of Ocean Management.
"Shoreline protection measures to counter erosion on the northern side of north breakwater shall be undertaken," he said.
"The shoreline shall be protected to ensure that no further erosion occurs on the northern side of the Northern Breakwater up to Paradip port," he said.
The minister directed POSCO to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Institute Of Oceanography (NIO) which will include works relating to monitoring of the shoreline, sand bypass system, beach nourishment and any other activity that has an impact along the coast/coastal waters.
"The Institiute for Ocean Management will monitor the progress periodically on behalf of the environment ministry," the minister said.
Directing the company to submit detailed Marine Environment Conservation Plan including mangrove regeneration and conservation of turtles and horse shoe crabs, Ramesh said, "The implementation of conservation plan should start before commencing of construction of port."

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Damaged ship fuels spill scare in the Mumbai harbour

Indian warship INS Vindhyagiri, which was involved in a collision with a merchant vessel on Sunday afternoon, nearly sank in its berth in the naval dockyard after catching fire late in the night.
Though no oil spill was reported till Monday evening, it is suspected that the fuel tank of the ship has been damaged and it could lead to oil leaking out. The tank carries around 300 tonnes of fuel. A huge amount of aviation fuel is also stored on board as it carries a helicopter. The Indian Coast Guard has been put on alert.
Around 10 fire engines and tugs from the dockyard and the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) were pressed into service immediately after plumes of smoke emerged from the warship. Though the reason for the fire is not clear yet, it is suspected that it started from the cushioning material on the body of the vessel and later spread.
The ship started sinking as it became heavy after water seeped in through the portion damaged in the collision. Moreover, water sprayed on the vessel by tugs and fire engines added to its weight.
CPRO, defence, Captain Manohar Nambiar said, “The berth where Vindhyagiri has been anchored is around seven metres deep. Due to low tide, water level in the berth went down and this led to the ship’s keel touching the seabed. The ship has also inclined in one direction and is leaning towards the berth. The fire has been brought under control but the damage to the ship would be known only after the salvage operation starts.”
INS Vindhyagiri, a Leander class Frigate, and nine other naval ships had been on a day out at sea with the crew and their family members on board. It collided with merchant vessel MV Nordlake while on its way back to the naval dockyard.
Earlier, it was reported that the damage to both the ships was minimal.
The ship was mounted with 4.5 inch guns and carried several small and medium level arms. Most of these have been taken out of the ship, according to navy officials. The ship also carries anti-submarine torpedoes.
“The first task would be to pump out the water deposited in the vessel and then bring out the fuel out of the tanks,” Nambiar said.
Deputy commissioner of police, Port Zone, Quaiser Khalid said, “The crew of the merchant vessel have been booked for rash navigation of vessel, causing hurt or act endangering life or personal safety of others”.

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Savio Club to lock horns with Mastan YMCA

Savio Club and Mastan YMCA progressed to the final of the junior boys (Under-16) category with wins in the final rounds of the semifinal league in the 23rd Bombay YMCA Annual Open state level basketball tournament at the Ghatkopar YMCA on Tuesday.

Defending champions, Savio Club, Matunga, defeated the already eliminated Central YMCA 77-50.

The victory meant that the only scenario that would have seen Savio eliminated was a win for Mastan YMCA over Ghatkopar YMCA with a margin of under four points in the other match of the day.

The Mastan boys, who would have themselves been eliminated if they lost their match, made sure that they booked their place in the final with a comfortable 64-50 victory over the hosts.

Central YMCA the only team without a chance in the league showed that they were keen on a consolation win by giving Savio Club a difficult time in the first half. Savio only had one point cushion in the first quarter which ended with the score, 13-12.

Central YMCA remained within touching distance in the second quarter, which ended with the score at 27-21 in favour of Savio.

The Matunga side showed ruthlessness in the second half to make the game one sided.

The Savio boys had a clear advantage over their opponents when it came to height as four of their starting five, were in excess of six feet tall. Central YMCA attempted to nullify this edge while defending by ‘boxing’ their attackers and forcing them to take shots from a distance. Savio Club overcame this strategy by using fast breaks before their opponents could form their defense and showing great proficiency in jump-shots from within the ‘D’.

Luv Lahankar of Savio showed both, speed in the breaks and good accuracy in shooting to notch up the game top score of 36.

In defense, Savio Club opted for man-to-man strategy and it seemed that they had identified Kartik Counder as their main threat and double teamed him occasionally when he got himself into a good position.

Results: Junior Girls: Semifinals: St Anthony’s, Chembur 37 (Preet Arora 11, Ankita Negi 8, Shraddha Shah 8) bt Holy Cross, Thane 29 (Tanvi Dabhade 10, Aditi Waghmare 8); Indian Gym 55 (Aishwarya 20, Devika 16) bt Bandra YMCA 48 (Nameer 10, Pooja 15); Junior Boys: Savio Club 77 (Lav 36, Yohan 15) bt Central YMCA 50 (Kartik 31, Anukul 10); Mastan YMCA 64 (M Salim 29, K Zoyeb 9) bt Ghatkopar YMCA 50 (Nikhilesh Jagtap 14, Praful Chauhan 14)

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Sportspersons too have a set of designers they swear by

Sports and fashion have always gone hand in hand. Being stylish isn’t limited to just the glitterati. As public figures, sports stars find it necessary to identify a designer they can swear by.

Cricketer Robin Uthappa is conscious about how he looks and what he wears and though his sister Sharon helps him with his wardrobe, there are a few designers that he admits, he trusts. “I like the creations of Raghavendra Rathore for they are very Indian. I love the way he styles them. The works of Sanjay Choraria and Michelle Salins suit my style too,” says the cricketer who finds comfort in denims on a day-to-day basis. Since the time cricketer Manish Pandey walked the ramp for Namrata G, he has become her fan. He says, “Namrata G has designed some of my clothes. I really admire her creations.”

It’s not only cricketers who are conscious of the designers they endorse. Take for instance badminton player Trupti Murugunde, her love for fashion goes beyond the surface. If she weren’t playing badminton, she would have studied fashion. She adds, “I completely adore the creations of Manish Malhotra when it comes to Indian wear and like Rohit Bal’s work in Western wear. There’s also JJ Vallaya.”

Equestrian Aliya Das Gupta vouches for designer Manish Arora’s line Fish Fry. “I like the quirky designs and bright colours he uses,” says Aliya. This line of sports clothing has been particularly popular among a lot of athletes.

Swimmer Rehan Poncha. who is mostly seen in his tracks or jeans, says his favourite brands are Ermenegildo Zegna and Ralph Lauren. Among Indian designers, he votes for Rajesh Pratap. Rehan says, “I like Rajesh’s style which I think is highly exclusive. I like the cut as well as the work done on the shirts.”

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Huge South Korea drill likely to infuriate North

South Korea announced on Wednesday land and sea military exercises including its largest-ever live-fire drill near North Korea in a big show of force just as tension on the peninsula was easing afterPyongyang's attack on a southern island.

The land drill, involving artillery, fighter jets and the largest number of personnel in a peace-time exercise, will take place on Thursday, after the South's live-fire artillery exercise on Monday on the island of Yeonpyeong, and is bound to infuriate the North.

South Korea is also holding three days of live-firing drills off the peninsula's east coast starting on Wednesday, a media official at the defence ministry said.

He would not provide details. Yonhap news agency said the drills were taking place 100km (60 miles) south of the maritime border with North Korea and involved at least six naval boats.

North Korea this week offered to re-admit UN inspectors concerned about its nuclear-weapon programme, leading to speculation of a resumption of six-party disarmament talks and a general sigh of relief around the world that the crisis had passed.

"Yes, it will be a show of force against that," an army officer said when asked if the shelling of Yeonpyeong island last month was a factor in the land drill's planning.

He said similar drills had been staged previously on more than 50 occasions, but the scale this time was unprecedented.

"The scale of mechanised assets taking place is enormous. When we would normally have 6 K-9 mechanised artillery, we'll have 36. We'll have the F-15 jets firing. We'll have choppers. You can say most of the mechanised assets taking part will be firing live ammunition."

It will take place in Pocheon region, less than 50km (30 miles) north of downtown Seoul.

The latest crisis peaked when North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong, just south of the disputed maritime border, killing four people -- including two civilians -- in the worst attack on South Korean territory since the end of the civil war in 1953.

The South carried out live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong on Monday, which provoked only a verbal reaction from the North.

It had vowed to strike back if the South went ahead with the drills, prompting fears of all-out war.

China, North Korea's only major ally, has urged dialogue to resolve the crisis and urged the North to follow through onits offer to allow UN inspectors into the country.

The Chinese foreign ministry had no immediate comment onthe planned drill.

Analysts say the North is unlikely to undertake another act of aggression like this year's attack on South Korea's Cheonan warship, blamed on the North by the United States and the South, and the Yeonpyeong shelling, at least in the near term.

Its most likely next move would be to conduct live-fire artillery drills or possibly a short-range missile test into its waters off the west coast.

Analysts have said its recent militaristic acts have served to bolster family rule as ailing leader Kim Jong-il grooms his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor.

The South's Joongang Daily said before the announcement South Korea should practice "nimble diplomacy" and forge acloser relationship with China.

"As long as there is a constant threat from the North to launch a surprise attack, we must be on high alert from a military perspective," the newspaper said.

"But such preparations should be combined with diplomacy. We should reduce our diplomatic dependence on the United States and strengthen our ties with China and Russia."

Finance minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, also speaking before the announcement of the drill, said domestic financial markets had weathered the crisis and the South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, stayed on a growth track.

But he warned that the tension could still dent consumer spending with a key sentiment measure due on Friday.

"Financial markets have been absorbing the North Korea risk without big trouble but we can't rule out consumer spending getting hurt," Yoon said during a weekly meeting of senior economic officials.

The won edged down slightly while stocks and bonds were stable as traders shrugged off the North Korea risk.

Traders said earlier that the currency was generally being affected more by concern over the euro zone.

Consumers and businesses in South Korea say they have lived with tension on the divided peninsula for decades and markets do not always react although the recent crisis had rattled global markets and remained an underlying risk.

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Ex-PM Morarji Desai had told US he would act if Pakistan exploded a nuke bomb

Refusing to enter into any formal agreement with Pakistan on the non-use and non-development of nuclear weapons, the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai had told the US in 1979 that if Islamabad exploded a nuclear bomb, he would act to "smash it," a declassified US memo shows.

The conversation that transpired between Desai and the then US ambassador to India Robert F Goheen in a one-on-one meeting in June 1979 have been made public as part of a series of declassified documents yesterday.

The meeting with Desai that lasted for about 55 minutes was held at the instance of Goheen who was following the direction of the National Security Council of White House to meet the prime minister on an "informal, exploratory and non-committal" basis.

Starting with the premise that Washington wanted to work with New Delhi to "deflect" the Pakistani nuclear threat, Goheen could get across the idea that "India is an essential part of any solution".

Desai, however, was not interested in the idea of a joint agreement on the non-use and non-development of weapons, the cable said.

Arguing that he had already made a pledge to that effect, Desai said that if Pakistan did the same "the two pledges would be as good as a joint agreement".

He rejected Goheen's suggestion that a formal agreement would be more effective and dismissed altogether the nuclear weapons free zone concept.

Responding to Goheen's query about a prospective Indian reaction to a Pakistani weapons test, the prime minister was belligerent: "If he discovered that Pakistan was ready to test a bomb or if it exploded one, he would act at (once) 'to smash it," the cable said.

Desai said he had recently assured Pakistan foreign secretary Shahnawaz that India had only good intentions towards Pakistan and wished to do nothing to cause it difficulties, but also that "if Pakistan tries any tricks we will smash you," the cable says.

"I gather that he went on to remind Shahnawaz of 1965 and 1971 in order to emphasise India's readiness to react forcibly when sufficiently provoked," Goheen wrote in his secret cable giving details of his meeting with Morarji Desai.

Pakistan finally went nuclear in 1998 after India's second nuclear test in Pokharan.

Goheen wrote Desai said India will not accept the idea of a joint non-development, non-use agreement with Pakistan.

He said he had already made a unilateral pledge, if Pakistan did likewise the two pledges would be as good as a joint statement.

"When I said that governments change, and more formal agreements may have greater influence on future governments than unilateral pledges, he laughed, said that was not necessarily the case and added 'look at you and Tarapur'.

"He could not bind a future government in any case, but hoped the course he had laid down would have influence, US ambassador Goheen wrote.

Another declassified secret memo, about a June 29, 1979 meeting a national intelligence officer presided over by the then CIA deputy director Frank Carlucci said, "Indians would be strongly motivated to prevent acquisition by the Pakistanis of a nuclear capability by military force".

According to another declassified document of July 1979, with the Pakistani nuclear programme moving forward, NIO John Despres believed that India was likely to move more quickly in producing an "acceptable nuclear weapon," although it would take "at least two years".

If diplomacy did not check the Pakistani nuclear programme, India was likely to "improve its unilateral military options" to take preventive action, but "pre-emptive air strikes" would not be on the table unless the production of a Pakistani bomb was imminent or Pakistan had acquired "an invulnerable capability to stockpile" fissile materials, it said.

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Submit original Radia tapes: SC directs Govt

Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the original tapes containing the conversation between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and others pertaining to the 2G spectrum allocation case be handed over to it in a sealed cover.
"We direct that the original records and tapes/ CDs be submitted in a sealed cover after preparing the copies. It will be kept in the lockers of the Supreme Court registry and if required, it will be considered for its use," the court said.

The direction came from a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly after government submitted that it has no objection in handing over the complete set of tapes in the wake of apprehensions that the tapes may be destroyed.
Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said that he has got instructions that there was no objection in handing over the tapes and the court can give direction for preserving them in whatever way it thinks best.
The apex court had on Tuesday asked the government to respond to the plea for preserving the tapes containing conversation between Radia and others relating to the 2G spectrum scam.
The bench had asked the Solicitor General to take instructions from the authorities on the plea made by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL). Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had appeared for the NGO, had made the plea that the tapes prepared by the Director General of Income Tax containing conversation of Radia and others should be preserved while voicing apprehensions that the tapes may be tampered with.
While hearing the issue on Tuesday, the court had described the "pollution" as "mind-boggling".
Bhushan spoke about the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, industrialists and journalists as "exposed" in the tapes.

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2G spectrum scam: Ratan Tata to move Supreme Court on Radia tapes

New Delhi:  Ratan Tata, the Chairman of the Tata Group of companies, will move the Supreme Court on Monday against the publication of intercepts of his conversations with Public Relations (PR) representative Nira Radia, who handles the corporate communication for the Tata Group.

The phone transcripts are part of the evidence in the 2G spectrum scam and have been made public. The scam is believed to be India's largest-ever swindle worth Rs. 1.76 lakh crore, according to the government's auditor.

Tata's petition in the Supreme Court is likely to state the following:

Phone transcripts of conversations between Radia and her public relations clients including the Tatas should be used only for investigations.
Phones can be tapped but information should not be made public.

The publication of these transcripts has affected his right to privacy.

Speaking to Shekhar Gupta on NDTV's Walk the Talk programme, Ratan Tata had recently said that the government agencies have special powers to invade people's privacy, but with that special power, come special responsibilities.

He also asserted that the Tata Group never subverted any policy through Radia. "Never once have we done something to exploit a policy issue, never once we used her (Radia) to make payments or to seek favours," he said, adding that the government should take over the tapes and restrain the media from indulging in character assassination.

Speaking on the show, Tata also said that the leaked tapes that have Radia and others discussing 2G spectrum are taking away attention - he describes them as "a smokescreen" from the real issue. Tata was one of Radia's clients. She is now part of the investigation into the 2G controversy.

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