Hindustan Times: December 2008

Israel rejects calls for truce, toll rises to 370

Israel on Tuesday rejected any truce with Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip before cross-border rocket fire ceased and said its air strikes, the fiercest in decades, heralded “long weeks of military action”.

Israeli ground forces massed on the border of the coastal enclave for a possible invasion while Israeli warplanes pressed on for the fourth day with attacks on Hamas targets, killing 12 Palestinians. They included sisters aged 10 and 12.

Medical officials put Palestinian casualties since Israel launched its attacks on Saturday at 370 dead with more than 800 wounded. A United Nations agency said at least 64 of the dead were civilians.

Three Israeli civilians and a soldier have been killed by Palestinian rockets since the air strikes began.

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Labels: air strikes, cross-border rocket fire ceased, Hamas Islamists, Israel, Israel rejects calls for truce, Israeli warplanes, Palestinian casualties, Palestinian rockets

Trains, flights delayed as north India vanishes under fog blanket

Thick fog threw life out of gear in Delhi on Monday morning. Road, rail and air traffic were all affected — flights were cancelled, trains delayed and those on the roads were not safe. Three people died on the roads of the Capital in the early hours, while two were killed in Greater Noida.

Countless passengers were stuck at the airport and railway stations due to delays.

Things did not look good for Tuesday morning either, with the Met office predicting bad weather for the next few days.

“This was the worst fog of the season in Delhi and adjoining areas,” said B.P. Yadav, spokesman for the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “Heavy snowfall in the hilly states coupled with rainfall in the neighbouring states injected moisture in the air that lashed Delhi and caused the fog. This condition will prevail for a couple of days.”

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Labels: bad weather, Delhi airport, flights delayed, fog blanket, Greater Noida, Heavy snowfall, injected moisture in the air, North India, passengers, trains delayed, worst fog of the season in Delhi

Chased by police, student enters army area, shot dead

20 year old student was shot dead by army personnel when, chased by police, he sneaked into the official residence of a brigadier in the early hours of Sunday .

Mohammed Mukkharam, an undergraduate student at a local college, gave army officers some tense moments when he climbed atop the Flagstaff House on the road to the old airport and disclosed his location over a cell phone to his parents and friends. He spoke in Urdu and was urging them to come over and rescue him. The sentries shot him when, according to Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari, “the boy tried to escape rather than give himself up”. The incident took place on the residential premises of Brigadier P Ravindranath, commander, Karnataka and Kerala sub-area.

According to B.K. Singh, DCP (East), the youngster was being chased by traffic patrol for taking part in a ‘drag race’ — racing on one wheel of a motorbike.

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Labels: army personnel, chased by traffic patrol, drag race, Flagstaff House, Karnataka and Kerala sub-area, Mohammed Mukkharam, official residence of a brigadier, undergraduate student

Engineer's murder: No need for Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, says Maya

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Thursday rejected the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder of state public works department (PWD) engineer M.K. Gupta.

Gupta's autopsy report revealed that he was brutally beaten up and given electric shocks, leading to his death.

The engineer was allegedly killed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Shekhar Tiwari and his henchmen in Auraiyya district, 250 km west of Lucknow, on Wednesday for refusing to pay a hefty amount for Mayawati's birthday celebrations on January 15.

On Thursday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi spoke to Gupta's 24-year-old son Pritish.

In Lucknow, Mayawati said the murder had nothing to do with her birthday celebrations but was linked to "some dispute over PWD contracts".

She told the media that "this time no instructions have been issued to MLAs and MPs to raise funds. Only party functionaries have been asked to collect money for my birthday" She said stern action would be taken against party MLAs and MPs if they raised funds in her name. "There is no target for mon- ey," she said.

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Labels: Bahujan Samaj Party, CBI inquiry, electric shocks, Engineer's murder, LPJ chief Ram Vilas Paswan demanded, resignation of Mayawati's government, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati

Now, Pak army man in terror plot

Pakistani involvement in terrorism in India resurfaced on Tuesday with the police announcing the arrest of three alleged terrorists, including a sepoy in the Pakistani army in Jammu on December 21.

All three were trained at a Jaish-eMohammed (Army of Mohammed) camp run by Mufti Abdul Rauf, the brother of Masood Azhar, the terror group’s founder.

Azhar had been held in a Jammu jail for five years before he was let off in December 1999 in exchange for hostages on an Indian Airlines flight hijacked to Kandahar. He is one of India’s most wanted men, his custody has been demanded from Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

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Labels: hostages, Indian Airlines flight hijacked to Kandahar, India’s most wanted men, Pakistani army in Jammu, Pakistani involvement in terrorism, Pakistani Punjab, terror group’s founder

Hunting for answers

The forest department has accepted that the tiger population at Panna reserve has fallen, but it differs with locals and experts on the reasons for the disappearance of the big cats.

Park director L.K Chaudhary admitted that they hadn’t spotted a “tigress in the last three months”, but insisted that a number of tigers were still there and they had evidence — pug- marks — to back it. But he refused to put a figure to it. “Last year, the park was under the control of dacoits and can’t say if tigers were hunted,” Chaudhary said.

Officially no poaching case has , been reported over a decade and the fall in population has been attributed to old age.

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Labels: disappearance of the big cats, forest department, Madhya Pradesh, Panna, tiger population, Tigers

Sonia, Shah Rukh Khan among world’s 50 most powerful people

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and actor Shah Rukh Khan have been ranked among the 50 most powerful people in the world by prestigious US-based magazine Newsweek in a list topped by US President-elect Barack Obama.

Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is placed 20th on the list of the global “power elite” in the magazine’s January 2009 issue. Obama is followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Placing Sonia Gandhi at 17th spot, the magazine says, “In the world’s largest democracy, she is the queen.” The magazine describes Shah Rukh Khan, who occupies 41st spot, as the ‘King of Bollywood’.

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Labels: actor Shah Rukh Khan, Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, prestigious US-based magazine Newsweek, Sonia Gandhi, world’s 50 most powerful people, world’s largest democracy

Buying a home? Good deals may come to those who wait

THE LIMITED period offer of lower home-loan rates from public-sector banks might help save a little over a thousand on your EMI, if you go for a home now. But if you wait, chances are, you will save much more from a widely expected fall in real-estate prices in the coming months.

The consensus among property experts in Delhi and Mumbai, contacted by Hindustan Times, is that flats in the Rs 35-60 lakh category — the most desired segment for middle-class families in these cities — could become cheaper by at least 10 per cent over the next six months. In the case of high-end apartment houses, the drop could be bigger, they said.

The benefit from reduc tion in property prices over the next few months are likely to outweigh the benefit of the lower interest rates being offered by PSU banks until June 30 (see box on right).

By waiting, you could also gain from being able to pick houses in areas where the rates are much higher than your budget.

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Labels: Buying a home?, Delhi and Mumbai, EMI, home-loan rates, PSU banks, public-sector, Rs 35-60 lakh category

Pak in denial, says Azhar not under house arrest

Who speaks for Pakistan? High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik, who denied on Wednesday that wanted terrorist Masood Azhar was under house arrest in Pakistan? Or Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, who declared on December 10 that Azhar, chief of the Jaish-eMuhammad (Army of Muhammad), had been detained after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist strikes?

Pakistan’s contradictory approach to 26/11 was exemplified by Malik’s interview to Network 18 when he declared Azhar was not under house arrest and Islamabad itself was looking for him. On December 9, a Pakistani daily, The News, front-paged a story saying Azhar, released in exchange for hostages on board a hijacked Indian Airlines flight in 1999, had been placed under house arrest. Mukhtar later “confirmed” the story .

But Malik, in the television interview, said: “We are looking for him (Azhar)… he is not in Pakistan.” Malik denied that any letter had been received by him from Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

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Labels: 26/11 Mumbai terrorist strikes, Ajmal Kasab, hijacked Indian Airlines flight in 1999, house arrest in Pakistan, terrorist captured alive, wanted terrorist Masood Azhar

How the Shiv Sena may end up helping Kasab

SHIV SAINIKS who attacked the house of an advocate willing to represent Mumbai terror accused Ajmal Amir Kasab and bar associations that have asked lawyers not to defend him may be inadvertently helping the Pakistani national.

It may be an easy case to secure conviction but a superior court can easily set it aside if Kasab pleads that he did not get proper legal aid.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly said a trial in which the accused did not get an opportunity to defend himself can be declared invalid. Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan recently criticised bar bodies for asking lawyers not to defend Kasab, saying it would undermine the credibility of the trial.

Experts said if Kasab was not defended, the process to punish him could not start.

“Those objecting to legal aid to Kasab are in fact playing into the hands of terrorists, though not consciously said senior advocate Colin ,” Gonsalves, who represented Parliament attack case convict Mohammad Afzal in the Delhi High Court. “If the trial cannot begin, how can he be convicted?” Noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who defended Indira Gandhi’s killers, reacted strongly to the attack on lawyer Mahesh Deshmukh’s house.

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Labels: Advocate, Ajmal Amir Kasab, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, Forest Minister Qazi Mohammad Afzal, SHIV SAINIKS

‘It is the farewell kiss, you dog’

“It’s a sign of a free society This is how .” US President George W. Bush described the “humiliating” incident in which a Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him in Baghdad.

Bush said he has seen a lot of weird things during his eight-year-long Presidency and that he would term the latest incident as “one of the weirdest”.

Television journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, shouting “It is the farewell kiss, you dog”, threw two shoes at the President — one after another — during a news conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday “But I’m not insulted. I don’t . hold it against the government. I don’t think the Iraqi press corps as a whole is terrible. And so, the guy wanted to get on TV and he did. I don’t know what his beef is. But whatever it is I’m sure somebody will hear it,” the US President told ABC channel in Iraq.

Saddam lawyer to defend shoe attacker

Saddam Hussein’s former lawyer said on Monday that he was forming a team to defend the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at Bush. “So far around 200 Iraqi and other lawyers, including Americans, have expressed willingness to defend the journalist for free,” the Amman-based Khalil alDulaimi told AFP.

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Labels: Baghdad, defend shoe attacker, Iraq, Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi journalist threw shoes, Iraqi press corps, Saddam Hussein’s former lawyer, US President George W. Bush

Back to the cinema hall, after interval

The News is that audiences have begun to return to the cinema halls. After the 26/11 terror attacks, movie ticket sales had plummeted not only in Mumbai but all over India.

All films that released in the immediate weeks tanked. Trade reports confirmed that some shows were cancelled because not even one person turned up. The films that bombed were Sorry Bhai, Dil Kabaddi and Maharathi.

The gloom cleared this Friday with the return of moviegoers to the cinema halls for Aditya Chopra’s Rab ne Bana di Jodi featuring Shah Rukh Khan.

It has evoked mixed reactions, but is on its way to be counted among the hits of the year. Made on an estimated budget of Rs 35 crore, it is expected to recover its investment and some more.

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Labels: Aditya Chopra’s Rab ne Bana di Jodi, Bollywood, cinema halls, estimated budget, movie ticket sales, Shah Rukh Khan

Together against terror

Outrage over the November 26 terror attack in Mumbai that left at least 164 people dead and over 300 injured, brought India’s feuding political classes together in Parliament on Thursday .

Cutting across party lines, politicians mounted a scathing attack on Pakistan with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP’s L.K. Advani calling it the “epicentre of terrorism”.

In a parliamentary resolution that capped the day long discussion in both Houses, Parliament condemned the “attacks in Mumbai by terrorist elements from Pakistan” and committed to ceaselessly work to wards exposing and punishing the terrorists and those who train, fund and abet them.

“This House expresses its unequivocal condemnation of the heinous terrorist attacks in Mumbai by terrorist elements from Pakistan…Notes that this outrage follows acts of terror committed since the beginning of this year,” the resolution said, authorising the government to “take further measures” to safeguard national security .

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Labels: 164 people, 26 terror attack in Mumbai, 300 injured, Angry House condemns, epicentre of terrorism, India, Manmohan Singh and BJP’s L.K. Advani, Pakistan, Together against terror

...But India’s ‘slowdown’ may be the world’s envy

THE WORLD economy may be slowing down to less than 2.5 per cent, but in relative terms the “slowdown” in India would be something the world would envy. Overnight, India has become the second-most powerful engine of global growth, after China.

Even after moderating GDP projections, estimates by economists show that the Indian economy could grow by between 6.3 per cent and 8 per cent, with World Bank and foreign investment banking firms being the pessimists and Indian research organisations and International Monetary Fund the optimists.

India’s economic growth may fall short of Reserve Bank of India’s 7.5-8 per cent forecast. “All indications are that it (GDP forecast) may be revised downwards,” RBI governor D. Subbarao said on Wednesday. He warned 2009-10 could be more painful.

With global trade expected to contract in 2009, the World Bank on Wednesday in a report, projected , that the Indian economy would grow at 5.8 per cent in 2009, down from 6.3 per cent estimated for 2008. It, however, raised the estimate for 2010 to 7.7 per cent.

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Pakistan cracle down

ARE PAKISTAN'S anti-terror steps for real? Or will it be another case of one step forward, two steps back? Those are the questions being asked in India and the United States as Pakistan "confined" Jaish-eMuhammad chief Masood Azhar to his Bahawalpur house on Monday Azhar's "detention", reported by The News and confirmed by Pakistan's Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on Tuesday, came a day after Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's chief commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested. However, Bahawalpur police officialAzhar Hameed Khokhar told Aaj TV on Tuesday that Azhar's movements had not been restricted. Mukhtar told CNN-IBN that India "may be allowed" to interrogate those detained by Islamabad.

Pakistan's army under relentless pressure from the US and India, has only said this is an "intelligence-led operation against banned militant outfits and organisations". "There have been arrest(s) and investigations are on. Further details will be available on completion of preliminary inquiries," the Pakistani military said in a statement. No Pakistani official went on record to say that the "arrests" were in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai strikes. In the past, Pakistan has detained top terrorists such as Azhar, wanted for the December 2001 Parliament attack, only to release them to carry on with their activities.

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Labels: 26/11 Mumbai strikes, Ahmed Mukhtar, anti-terror, India, Jaish-eMuhammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's, Masood Azhar, PAKISTAN'S, Pakistan's Defence Minister, United States, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi

Hair razing marathon

SNIP, SNIP, snip went the scissors at Habib's Hair and Beauty Salon, busy at work as usual.

Only this time it was for a cause raising money for deceased NSG commando Gajendra Singh Bisht's family.

"When Gajendra Singh's body was brought to Delhi, we could not go pay our tributes because of heavy security," said Amzadd Habibb, younger brother of renowned hair stylist Javed Habib. "So I decided to set aside a day in which an entire day's proceeds would go towards his family".

Amzadd's family welcomed the idea and decided to pitch In.

"My father Habib Ahmed, brother Parvez Habib and wife Sanam are all cutting hair with me today," he said.

The family started work on Friday at 10 am. To maximise profits, they have decided to keep their salon open for 24 hours without break.

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Labels: cutting hair, delhi, Gajendra Singh's body, Habib's Hair and Beauty Salon, hair cutting session, Hair razing marathon, NSG commando Gajendra Singh Bisht's family, scissors, tributes

Parents of first-borns at disadvantage

With Sibling and alumni taking away a chunk of the points allotted by schools for nursery admissions, parents of first-born children, especially professionals from outside Delhi, fear the worst.

"Most good schools in the capital have given as much as 30 points for siblings. There is no way in which first-borns can get admission in such schools. Apart from 10 to 20 points on the neighbourhood criterion, we don't score on other factors," said Samar Arora, parent.

Both Arora and his wife are well-placed professionals. But neither has studied in Delhi. "This also discards the alumni factor. We are really counting on luck to get us through," he said.

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Labels: good schools, parents of first-born children, Parents of first-borns at disadvantage, professionals, schools for nursery admissions, siblings

India rising

As duck thickened at the Gateway of India, thousands of quivering points of light lit up the evening. Seven days after Mumbai was bloodied by terror attacks whose ramifications spread beyond the borders of the country, a ravaged city came together at the very spot where the carnage was unleashed in a show of support unparalleled in its scale in recent Indian history.

What began as a small candlelit vigil at the harbour front on Monday had gained momentum over the next two days through text messages that urged people to turn up at the Gateway for this peaceful protest march. On Wednesday evening, it revealed itself as a tricolour-waving, overwhelming show of solidarity for the victims of 26/11.

Lights went on in the attacked Taj Mahal Hotel in rooms that faced the Gateway More than 10,000 had turned up even hours before the scheduled start of the march. There were T-shirts that said 'Mumbai meri jaan' or 'I love Mumbai'

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Labels: attacked Taj Mahal Hotel, borders, Gateway of India, Mumbai, peaceful protest march, show of solidarity for the victims of 26/11, T-shirts with printed slogans, tricolour-waving

Karkare, Salaskar topped Google search

News especially, bad news, travels fast across the world. So fast that within hours of the start of the attacks in Mumbai, the names of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and encounter specialist Inspector Vijay Salaskar were the top two searches made on Google, not only in India but in the US too. The terrorists had killed the two on the night of November 26.

According to Google Trends, the third most searched keyword in India on November 27 was VP Singh, the former prime minister who died that day Google Trends charts how often a particular search term is entered relative the total search volume across various regions of the world.

Amardeep Bajpai, directol Webisdom, an online marketing firm, said, "Google, being the predominant engine globally, is the best indicator of people's interest in the online world.

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Labels: ATS chief Hemant Karkare, former prime minister VP Singh, Google, Google Trends, ncounter specialist Inspector Vijay Salaskar, proper Indian names, searched keyword in India

United States space shuttle returns to Earth

Astronauts abroad the space shuttle Endeavour wrapped up a 16-day mission to prepare the International Space Station for its first six member crew with a flawless touchdown at National Aeronatics and Space Agency’s (Nasa) backup landing site in California.

Double-sonic booms blasted through the Mojave Desert as Endeavour dipped below the speed of sound for the first time since its November 14 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Nasa had hoped Endeavour would land there as well, but bad weather spurred flight controllers to divert the crew to the Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Commander Chris Ferguson steered the shuttle through in a series of sweeping curves to burn off speed before gently guiding the 100 ton ship onto a runway at 2125 GMT to complete Nasa’s fourth and final mission of the year.

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Labels: astronaut Alan Poindexter, bad weather, Edwards Air Force Base in California, Endeavour, International Space Station, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mojave Desert, NASA, US space shuttle returns

Vilasrao takes son, Ramu sight seeing

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh walked into the ravaged Taj hotel on Sunday for a tour with two unusual visitors — his actor son Ritiesh and Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma.

Deshmukh and his cabinet colleagues are facing widespread public outrage after the sweeping terrorist attacks that killed at least 183 people.

Mumbai’s chief secretary Johny Joseph and Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor accompanied the politician and the Bollywood duo.

“This is really not the time for VIP tours in the hotel. It’s plain insensitive on part of the chief minister,” said Akshay Wadke, 28, who participated in a candle vigil by thousands of people at Mumbai's Marine Drive on Sunday .

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Labels: 62-hour battle, actor son Ritiesh, Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Mumbai Police and the Rapid Action Force, Mumbai's Marine Drive, Taj hotel, VIP tours

Hindustan Times

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Israel rejects calls for truce, toll rises to 370

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Trains, flights delayed as north India vanishes under fog blanket

Monday, December 29, 2008

Chased by police, student enters army area, shot dead

Friday, December 26, 2008

Engineer's murder: No need for Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, says Maya

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Now, Pak army man in terror plot

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Hunting for answers

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sonia, Shah Rukh Khan among world’s 50 most powerful people

Friday, December 19, 2008

Buying a home? Good deals may come to those who wait

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Pak in denial, says Azhar not under house arrest

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

How the Shiv Sena may end up helping Kasab

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

‘It is the farewell kiss, you dog’

Monday, December 15, 2008

Back to the cinema hall, after interval

Friday, December 12, 2008

Together against terror

Thursday, December 11, 2008

...But India’s ‘slowdown’ may be the world’s envy

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Pakistan cracle down

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Hair razing marathon

Friday, December 5, 2008

Parents of first-borns at disadvantage

Thursday, December 4, 2008

India rising

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Karkare, Salaskar topped Google search

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

United States space shuttle returns to Earth

Monday, December 1, 2008

Vilasrao takes son, Ramu sight seeing

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