Side effect of medicine on Professor(IIT) Mumbai

Mumbai : Mr. Tnmay Bhattacharya a brilliant professor of IIT and a son on whom parents can feel proud. Before a one and half year he had taken one simple but danger medicine called ibroofen because of pain in his last finger of hand. When he had taken this medicine he was not aware of its side-effects. He was a patient asthma.

Because of it’s side effect mr.tanmay is in comma from june 2006 and wouldn’t be able to speak even a word. Just because of his small mistake that he had taken medicine without asking any doctor or any medical shopkeeper.

Till today the total amount of hospitalization expense is than 25 lakhs. This all expenses are being paid by IIT Mumbai.

So, I request you to don’t take any medicine without prescribed by any doctor or your family physician.

Govinda slapped one guy

Today in Mumbai old but lovely actor govinda has slapped one guy who was very eager to meet him.

In Mumbai today during movie shooting there was a small press-conference related to new movie. Govinda and Ganesh Aacharya(choreographer) both were there to attend the conference. During this one guy suddenly came to govinda and was trying to irritate govinda by abusive comments. Govinda was very angry and he just slapped that guy in middle of the press conference and press-reporters.

After all this that guy was kicked out by security staff and govinda was asked about this. He include that he was trying to irritate him that is why he slapped him and according to him he didn’t do anything wrong in that.

Bush ends Mid-East tour in Egypt

US President George W Bush is wrapping up his eight-day tour of the Middle East with a brief stop in Egypt.

He flew from Saudi Arabia to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. From there he heads home to Washington.

Analysts say relations between the two allies have cooled, particularly over US calls for Egypt to do more to secure its border with the Gaza Strip.

During his trip, Mr Bush also visited Israel, the West Bank and Gulf states.

On the final leg of his 14,500-mile (23,300-km) journey, the White House says Mr Bush will thank the Egyptians for their support on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Little time

But the BBC's Matthew Price, who is travelling with Mr Bush, has been told that the US president will be stressing the need for security in the Gaza Strip.

This means pushing Cairo to do more to stop militants smuggling weapons from Egypt into the Palestinian territory, our correspondent says.

Last month, the US Congress suspended $100m (£51m) of its annual military aid to Egypt, demanding that Cairo crack down on arms smuggling into Gaza, which has been under the control of Hamas since June.

Our correspondent says Mr Bush will also discuss democracy - or more accurately, the lack of it - in Egypt.

The White House has in the past raised concerns over Egypt's human rights record and court cases against the independent press.

But with Mr Bush scheduled to stop for barely four hours, correspondents say the two leaders are not expected to make much headway on any issue.

Egypt's banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood - which controls a fifth of the seats in parliament - staged a protest in Cairo on Tuesday against the visit.

During his tour of Israel and the West Bank, Mr Bush predicted that a peace deal could be sealed before his term ends in January 2009.

On his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, the US president raised concerns over oil prices.

He also criticised Iran and spoke about progress in Iraq during his tour, which included Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

News Source : BBC News

11 bus passengers killed, several injured in acid tanker blast

Panaji: At least eleven people, mostly women and children, were burnt to death and several others seriously injured when a bus they were travelling in caught fire, after a tanker carrying acid exploded on the national highway in Pernem taluka of Goa, on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said a truck was also involved in the accident.

A majority of the deceased from the bus included women and children, they said.

The tanker had caught fire due to leakage. It burst into flames just when the bus and the truck were passing by.

Police confirmed that eleven people were killed on the spot, adding the number could go up. The injured have been shifted to the Goa Medical College Hospital Bambolim.

News Source : Samachar

SRK overtakes the Undertaker

The Undertaker can go and eat cake! And the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) can consider infringement of copyright on the exclusive look of menace of its star entertainer.

But Shah Rukh Khan will not be put off. If this is how King Khan wants to look in his new avtaar, then who’s going to stop him?
Yes, take a peek at SRK today. Isn’t he a piece of bad news? Would you like to come up against him in a dark alley? We wouldn’t. But, post Chak De! India, if the Bollywood Badshah worked on his new six-pack look for Om Shanti Om, then post OSO, this is how he looks. From the lover boy of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to the mature hockey coach of Chak De to the latest muscular hero, SRK has made the transition with ease. And now this!

Though, like we said, the 6 feet 7 inches bruiser who provides the chills and spills of the WWE ring is not going to be very amused. As it is, his massive body took quite a trouncing some years ago from Akshay Kumar for Khiladi No 1. And now this beating his image is bound to suffer with SRK getting into the act of heavy breathing, deadly silence and murder in the eyes. Tsk, tsk, maybe it’s really time for the Undertaker to Rest In Peace!

News Source : Samachar

When Katrina & Neha got a day off

It was a warm atmosphere on the sets of Singh Is Kinng, even as the shooting was on in Chandigarh – on a cold day.

Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia and Javed Jaffery who were summoned to the city for a three-day schedule were thrilled when director Anees Bazmi told them on the second day itself that their part was done with and so, wouldn’t be required for the Chandigarh schedule anymore. All this a couple of hours before a flight for Mumbai was due.

The actors rushed back to their hotels in fast forward mode, packed their bags and fled to catch the flight back home. “It was a bonus day,” they told us, “There’s nothing better than shoot getting done early and allowing us to be back home. And besides it was too cold in Chandigarh,” Neha added .

News Source : Samachar

Pregnant Pause

Angelina Jolie has everything a 32-year-old woman could ask for: a glowing film career, four children and a handsome beau in Brad Pitt. But that’s not enough for the actress - she’s desperate to have a second, biological child. The Tomb Raider star is so set on a child that she has been telling her people to schedule upcoming press tours around her fertility cycle.

A source told America’s OK! magazine, “Angelina’s people have told the studio she won’t be available on some dates to promote her new movie Wanted in June. She is focusing on trying to get pregnant and to hopefully be pregnant around the time of the film’s release.”

Angelina gave birth to her daughter Shiloh in May 2006 in Namibia. The actress also has three adopted children - six-year-old Cambodian son Maddox, four-year-old Vietnamese son Pax and three-year-old Ethiopian daughter Zahara.

Angelina has made no secret of her desire to extend her family, either by getting pregnant again or adopting. She said last year, “Brad and I would like to have more kids. I’ve always wanted a big family, and Brad’s the same. We are enjoying the children together. They are such big personalities, and it’s so exciting to watch them grow up.”

Meanwhile, Jolie and Pitt have raised concerns about their kids’ health after being spotted eating junk food several times. Jolie in the past has been photographed buying hot dogs from a vendor on the street. She also raised a few eyebrows when she let her one-year-old daughter eat potato chips. Nutritionists have not taken too kindly to Brangelina’s love for junk food.

Nutritionist Dr Majid Ali says, “Kids’ taste buds are still developing and if you overload them with sugar, salt and white flour, it can entice the brain chemistry to crave those items instead of vegetables or grains. So it’s important for parents to look for variety and use those other foods for a reward once in a while, but not as a lifestyle.”

News Source : Samachar

Salman's statue unveiled at Madame Tussauds

Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan on Tuesday unveiled his wax figure at London's famous Madame Tussauds. After three other Bollywood icons namely Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan, now it is Salman's turn to be immortalised in wax.

Salman who had earlier refused to be a part of the iconic collection at Tussauds later agreed as the hunky star's huge fan ensured that he won a public poll organised by Madame Tussauds on who should be the next Bollywood superstar to be immortalised in wax.

Reacting on his new status Salman said “it is amassing”. “The best part is that I want the fans to be there,” he added.

Salman's competition included Madhuri Dixit, Lata Mangeshkar and even he beat other contemporary hunks like Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachan. Even other actors like Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Kajol were also considered to be part of this prestigious museum.

The museum with branches in a number of major cities hopes the installation of Salman’s statue will attract hoards of South Asian and British Asian visitors.

News Source : Samachar

Deepika:2008 Glam Debutante

Even the Badshah of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan could not keep his eyes away from her as she stepped out of the car in Om Shanti Om and sang an ode to Deepika Padukone’s lovely eyes.

And the audience joined him as he hummed Aankhon mein teri.. for her. So it doesn’t come as a surprise really, that the leggy beauty was awarded the Glam Debutante (Female) award at the Reebok Zoom Glam Awards 2008. “First of all, I want to thank Zoom for this award. If it’s the most glamourous debutante award, then I think I also need to give credit to Bharat and Doris and to Manish Malhotra,” said this talented actress after receiving the award. Not only is she talented, she’s modest as well. When asked how many points would she give herself on a scale of 1-10, when it comes to her glam quotient, she said, “I don’t think I am very glamourous, but after winning this, probably one on 10.”

Deepika says that she grew up watching Sushmita Sen and Rekha and considers them very stylish. “Both of them are extremely glamourous and confident in whatever they do,” she added. Confidence seems to be Deepika’s middle name too. After all, before rubbing shoulders with SRK in OSO , she was already being touted as a supermodel in the modelling industry. So does she consider herself glamourous now? “I didn’t think I was glamourous until you all came and gave me this award. It has just boosted my confidence. Hopefully I can remain as stylish,” she said. We’re pretty sure you will, Deepika!

News Source : Samachar

HCL unveils cheapest laptop

After the launch of Nano, the one lakh car, it's now time for the cheapest laptop to hit the markets. HCL launched their fully functional, ultra portable range of laptops that offer mobile internet at only Rs 13,990. Aimed at the masses, MiLeap or 'My Internet Leap' has been designed exclusively for the Indian consumer. It will be available from January 26.

It's the price that makes MiLeap tick. While the cheapest notebook begins at around Rs 20,000, MiLeap breaks the price barrier and makes it easy for the average man to own a laptop. For example, Compaq's low-end Presario notebooks begin at around Rs 24,000, and Acer's notebooks with Celeron processor begins around Rs 25,000.

"MiLeap will be the future of computing. It will herald in a new category of computing devices, opening up a wide range of new usage scenarios and application areas," says Ajai Chowdhry, chairman and chief executive, HCL Infosystems.

News Source : Samachar

Apple rolls out super-slim laptop, says it will offer movies

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs took the wraps off a super-slim new laptop at the Macworld trade show on Tuesday, unveiling a personal computer less than an inch thick that turns on the moment it's opened.

Apple chief Steve Jobs shows off the MacBook Air during the Macworld Conference & Expo on Tuesday.

Jobs also confirmed the consumer electronics company's foray into online movie rentals, revealing an alliance with all six major movie studios to offer films over high-speed Internet connections within 30 days after they're released on DVD.

Always a showman, Jobs unwound the string on a standard-sized manila office envelope and slid out the ultra-thin MacBook Air notebook computer to coos and peals of laughter from fans at the conference.

At its beefiest, the new computer is 0.76 inches thick; at its thinnest, it's 0.16 inches, he said. It comes standard with an 80-gigabyte hard drive, with the option of a 64GB flash-based solid state drive as an upgrade.

The machine doesn't come with a built-in optical drive for reading CDs and DVDs, a feature Jobs says consumers won't miss because they can download movies and music over the Internet and access the optical drives on other PCs and Macs to install new software. They can buy an external drive, however, that will retail for $99.

News Source : Samachar

Scams have dented Army image: Kapoor

In the backdrop of petrol, liquor, meat, cereal and other scams coming to the fore in the Army, General Deepak Kapoor has stressed that the 1.13-million force will brook no corruption among its ranks.

"There have been some instances which have brought down the image of the Army. We are concerned....we will try to maintain the image of the Army, which is held in high regard in the country," said Gen Kapoor, after reviewing the annual Army Day parade on Tuesday.

General Kapoor said soldiers must ensure that Army’s pristine image is kept intact. While highlighting the achievements of the force in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and North-East, he asked the troops to take all measures to avoid human right violations.

News Source : Samachar

‘Sachin was sublime’

Those sublime shots are still fresh in my memory. A short man with a heavy bat, how was he playing such shots? That was a doubt not just in my mind.

I think the entire Australian team and the public were in awe of that knock. For me it was one of the best knocks by Sachin. I rate it as one of all-time best knocks by an Indian batsman. At WACA, you cannot come behind the ball and play. You have to play side-on.

Sachin was only 18 but he adjusted to the flying balls without any difficulty. The pitch was the most difficult to bat on and the bowler look more dangerous than anywhere in the world. But Sachin was able to play the most difficult shots with consummate ease.

He was leaving everyone spellbound with shots through cover on the back foot. You can cut on the back foot but not hit through the covers. But Sachin managed to do that without any effort. We put on about 80 runs with Sachin hammering a century.

I hope he does that again. Batting in Perth is a different ball game altogether. You have to be very discreet in your shot-selection. You can leave the ball that pitches around the good length area because you can be sure that the ball will fly over the stumps. The scoring balls are the short-pitched deliveries and over-pitches ones. You have to show some guts to stand up to the fast bowlers.

(Sachin Tendulkar and Kiran More put on 81 runs for the 8th wicket in the first innings of a Test at the WACA during 1991-92 series. Sachin, only 18, had hit 114 off 161 ball with More scoring 43. India lost the Test by 300 runs.

News Source : Samachar

What Reliance IPO investors should know...

Amid all the excitement over the initial public offering (IPO) of Reliance Power Limited (RPL), a few brokers have pointed out the execution and political risks looming over the company.

According to a research report released by a market intelligence firm, Equity Master, the biggest risk of applying to RPL is ‘execution risk’, considering that the firm does not have a stream of revenue unless it successfully executes its first project (Rosa – I) by March 2010.

The other issue RPL faces is that generation projects are tough to come by, especially since the power distribution segment – still a stronghold of the ailing state electricity boards – does not show signs of improvement via deregulation.

Reliance Power’s own Red Herring prospectus has also indicated that the company will need to raise around Rs 1,12,000 crore to finance its 13 planned projects.

Out of this, as per regulations, around 70-80 per cent will have to be raised as third-party debt which, in turn, will depend primarily on the successes of Rosa – I.

“This, in itself, has an execution risk attached to it,” the report said.

While RPL has indicated its intentions of manufacturing power equipment in-house (though in a joint venture with global engineering companies), the shortage of the same will continue to hamper progress for years to come, the study said.

“To reduce the cost of power, RPL will have to opt for cheaper equipment-manufacturers, which poses another risk altogether,” said an executive director of a top equity research firm, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In fact, considering the execution risks involved and the expensive valuations, Equity Master has actually ended up recommending its own subscribers to avoid applying to the IPO!

News Source : Samachar

Infosys spends Rs46 cr on parking in Pune

Ever heard of a company spending Rs46 crore to build a parking lot for its employees? Well, try Infy. It’s one of the few firms in India to try and do that.

But then, not all companies put parking as a critical determinant of employee satisfaction. And, not all civic woes are as serious as Pune’s.

Having decided to establish its largest manpower base in the city, Infosys is constructing Pune’s biggest multi-level parking lot at its phase-II campus in Hinjewadi.

When ready, the nine-storey parking tower will hold approximately 1,500 cars. The main frame of the parking tower is in steel and the upper floors are in concrete, according to an Infosys spokesperson.

So, what explains the company’s huge spend? Says Priti Rao, company vice-president and head of the Pune Development Centre: “Our employees are exposed to international environments and are used to such facilities. We felt we should also have similar facilities.”

Even as it sets its sights on a car park, Infosys is constructing a separate bus park which will have bays to park as many as 100 buses.

While these eye-popping numbers do make for an interesting talking-point, they also constitute a sad commentary on Pune’s biggest concern — the absence of an effective mass transportation system. With the city expanding ferociously, over a lakh new vehicles are added to Pune’s traffic every year.

If anything, Infosys’ parking project is a corporate solution to a messy civic problem. And there are signs that more such human resources initiatives will follow.

Infosys is not only building parking lots. Faced with a huge shortage of hotel rooms, it has become the country’s largest hospitality company, with 15,000 rooms spread across campuses in several cities, including Pune.

Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhubaneswar are the others. That’s more than the Taj and ITC Hotels chains put together.

News Source : Samachar

Columbus brought syphilis to Europe

The 18th-century philosopher Voltaire may have been right after all in blaming Christopher Columbus for the syphilis pandemic that ravaged Europe from the late 15th century, a study suggested on Tuesday.

The geographical source of one of the world's most lethal sexually-transmitted diseases has been hotly debated for half a millennium, and now research from a team in the United States points the finger at the explorer.

Syphilis was first recorded in 1495, among French-led mercenaries entering the Italian port city of Naples.

From there, it marched across Europe. By the end of the century, syphilis had become variously known as "Spanyie pockis" in Scotland, as the Spanish malady in Flanders and Portugal, while Italians, Germans and the English referred to it as the Naples disease.

In 1493, Columbus returned from his historic first voyage to the New World.

Some historians of medicine believe that the mercenaries were among Columbus' crew and had picked up the disease from cavorting with indigenous women.

But the evidence for this is sketchy. Indeed, other experts suggest that syphilis originated in Europe and in fact was taken to the Americas by Columbus' men.

Now a new study based on phylogenetics — the science of evolutionary links between organisms — gives some scientific weight to the accusations of Voltaire and others who later pointed the finger at Columbus.

A team of researchers led by Kristin Harper of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia compared, in 26 places around the world, different strains of the family of bacteria called treponemes that cause syphilis and three related diseases.

They found that syphilis is the most recent member of the treponeme family to have evolved.

In genetic terms, syphilis is a close cousin of a tropical disease called yaws, endemic only in South America, which likewise affects the skin, bone and joints. Yaws, though, is milder than syphilis and is not transmitted through sex.

Harper's hypothesis is that members of Columbus' crew became infected with yaws. As the germ travelled, it swiftly adapted to the cooler, drier climates of Europe and later became the pathogen that causes syphilis, remaining largely stable ever since.

"When this genetic data is combined with extensive documentary evidence," the study says, "the Columbus hypothesis for syphilis' origin gains new strength."

News Source : Samachar

Advani in Ratna double role

BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani’s public appeal to confer the Bharat Ratna on party colleague and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has put the home ministry in an awkward position.

Sources in the ministry, which coordinates the administrative process behind the decision, say Advani’s open support is embarrassing because, as leader of the Opposition, he would play a crucial role in choosing the person finally anointed the country’s jewel.

“It’s traditionally been the Prime Minister, leader of the Opposition and the Vice-President who together decide who will get the country’s top civilian honour. However, with Advani having written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — and making it public — about his choice, it makes things somewhat uncomfortable,” a ministry official said.

The official said lobbying for Bharat Ratna had always been there, though the Prime Minister had the final word before the President was forwarded the chosen name for approval, more or less a formality.

“It (lobbying) always happened but behind the scenes, away from the public eye. Now, with Advani making a public request, all political parties have thrown their hat into the ring, trying to make noises louder than the others. It has made things all the more difficult for us.”

Among the names suggested through the much-publicised requests are that of Kanshi Ram, Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Jagjivan Ram and N.T. Rama Rao.

The sources said the home ministry did not have any real role in the Bharat Ratna and only coordinated files and meetings. It was in the Padma awards that the ministry exercised its real clout.

Right now, the sources said, the ministry was in the middle of sifting through over a thousand applications for the Padma awards from across the country.

“We get applications and recommendations from all over — from central ministries, state governments, various departments, institutions, NGOs and from the public. Sometimes, people who want the award send their own applications, accompanied by pages and pages of good work they have done. It is a tedious task going through them all, processing them and short-listing the names for the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards,” explained an official.

The screening is done at three levels. The basic sifting is done by an awards committee made up of senior home ministry officials.

The selected names are discussed by a committee headed by the cabinet secretary. It also includes the home secretary and the principal secretaries to the Prime Minister and the President.

The list is then sent to the home minister for his opinion before it is forwarded to the Prime Minister and, finally, to the President for approval before the names are announced on Republic Day-eve.

To avoid embarrassment to the government later, departments and ministries that recommend a name are expected to take that person’s consent that he or she would be willing to accept the award.

“There have been instances where the awarded person has refused to accept the honour. This time, strict instructions have been issued regarding this,” an official said.

News Source : Samachar

Payback time: ISI's terrorists turn against Pak

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has lost control of some of the networks of militants it has nurtured since the 1980s and is now suffering the violent backlash of that policy, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Former senior intelligence officials and other officials close to the agency have admitted to the US daily that the ISI has also supported militants in Kashmir although at the behest of its political masters, confirming what New Delhi believed all along and repeatedly complained about to Islamabad in vain.

Despite the crackdown on all militants ordered by President Pervez Musharraf, some officials in the government and the ISI thought the militants should be held in reserve, as insurance against the day when US and NATO forces abandoned the region and Pakistan might again need them as a lever against India, the daily writes in a detailed full-page report.

As the army has moved against them, the militants have joined hands with other extremist groups to battle Pakistani security forces and carried out a record number of suicide attacks last year, including some aimed directly at army and intelligence units as well as prominent political figures, possibly even Benazir Bhutto, the paper says.

The growing strength of Pakistani militants, many of whom now back al-Qaeda's global jihad, presents a grave threat to Pakistan's security as well as NATO efforts to push back the Taliban in Afghanistan, forcing US officials to consider covert operations in the lawless border areas in the northwest.

One disclosure about the ISI is bound to raise fears among opposition parties of rigging of polls scheduled next month.

The newspaper’s sources acknowledged that the ISI manipulated the country's last national election in 2002, and offered to drop corruption cases against candidates who would back President Musharraf. He has, however, ordered the agency to ensure that the coming elections were free and fair, says the newspaper.

After September 11, 2001, though Musharraf publicly allied Pakistan with the Bush administration, the ISI could not rein in the militants it had nurtured as a proxy force to exert pressure on India and Afghanistan.

After the agency unleashed hardline Islamist beliefs, it struggled to stop the ideology from spreading. Worse, dozens of ISI officers had come to sympathise with the militants cause and had to be expelled from the agency, the Times reports, quoting former Pakistani officials.

"We could not control them," said a former senior intelligence official. "We indoctrinated them and told them, 'You will go to heaven.' You cannot turn it around so suddenly."

News Source : Samachar

My brother was murdered in the most brutal way

Sohan Singhal cringes in horror as he remembers the sight that greeted him when he opened his brother Satish Gupta’s Versova flat on Monday morning. Gupta, the owner of an event management company, who organised Bollywood shows while also clandestinely running an escort agency, was brutally murdered in his sixth floor flat in Vighnaharta Society on Juhu-Versova Link Road on Monday night.

“My brother had been bludgeoned to death and burnt horribly with hot oil. The room bore glaring signs of what my brother must have gone through. Every wall and ceiling was splattered with blood which indicated that he had been repeatedly hit on the head. There were burn marks on the ground where he lay,” says Singhal who runs an IT firm
in Delhi.

According to Singhal and the D N Nagar Police, Gupta owned another flat in Mira Road and had moved there on Thursday. On Friday afternoon he had left his Mira Road house and told his house help not to cook dinner as he would not be returning home that night. Gupta was generally on the move owing to his work but always kept in touch with his main office in Delhi.


Missing
On Friday, however, his office did not receive a single call from him all day. All calls to his cell phone were diverted to his office in Delhi. Singhal says, “At first I thought he had gone to Nagpur with his friend as he had told me about such a plan. But when his friend returned from Nagpur on Sunday and said he was not with him, we got worried.”

A worried Singhal asked a friend to lodge a missing complaint with the police and himself rushed to Mumbai on Monday. Singhal planned to stay at Gupta’s Versova house and asked Gupta’s servant to arrange for the keys. As the flat was locked and Gupta was untraceable, a duplicate key was made. When Singhal and the servant opened the door at around 7.30 pm they were met by the gory sight of Gupta’s body in a pool of blood with the upper part of his body badly burnt.

Interestingly, the police believe that Gupta was murdered on Monday morning, despite the fact that he was untraceable since Friday. Senior Inspector of D N Nagar police station, Ajendra Thakur, says, “The body was fresh and rigor mortis had not set in. Forensic experts, too, said he had been murdered 10-12 hours before we found him.”

Drunken caller
However, the police are unsure of this as on Saturday night Gupta’s office in Delhi apparently received a call from a man who sounded drunk. He told Gupta’s manager, “Why are you calling repeatedly on his cell phone. He is dead. Do you also want to die?” Thakur says, “It is possible he killed Gupta after this call. Or he had probably assaulted him at the time and Gupta died two days later.”


Police say
The police believe the murder was committed by someone known to Gupta because they found two mattresses spread on the floor and several empty beer bottles and cigarette stubs on the table. Though the assailant took away Gupta’s gold chains and diamond rings as well as his Hyundai Accent car, police have ruled out robbery as the motive. Meanwhile, the police also found that Gupta clandestinely supplied call girls to rich people and had several criminal cases, including one of rape, registered against him in different police stations. Thakur says, “We believe it is because of some dispute in this business that he was murdered. We are exploring all angles.”Singhal, meanwhile, hinted that a girl could have answers to the mystery of his brother’s murder. He said, “Before his murder, he had been living with a girl named Ash. We do not know yet if it was a fight over her that led to this.”

News Source : Samachar

China hails Manmohan visit

China today hailed the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying it would have a ''long-term and significant'' impact on the bilateral relations.

''The time is not long (period of visit), but the content is rich,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters after Singh concluded his maiden three-day trip here with a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The 'Shared Vision for 21st Century', a joint document signed by the two countries, ''is a message to the outside world that the two sides will intensify their cooperation to build a harmonious world,'' he said.

Describing the documents and MoUs signed during Singh's visit for cooperation in different fields as a ''milestone,'' he said ''it is a signal of the big step forward in the history of bilateral relations.''

''This visit is going to have a long-term and significant impact on the bilateral relations which will be very important for future development of bilateral ties,'' Qin said.

Asked if China was willing to support a larger role for India in the UN Security Council, he said, ''I think this is quite clear in the document (on shared vision). India is a major developing country. China understands and supports the aspirations of India to play a larger role in international organisations, including UN.''

''I think it is quite clear. You can find the answer in the document, if you study it carefully enough,'' he told the questioner, and also added that, in recent years, ''there are similar versions in documents or agreements of the two countries.''

On the border issue, Qin said both sides believe that they should proceed from the perspective of overall interests of the two countries to find ''an equitable and fair solution'' acceptable to them.

Both countries also agree that before settling the boundary issue, they should maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and ''not to let the border issue to be an obstacle to the development of bilateral ties.''

Qin said Singh's visit and talks here were a ''reflection of the political will'' of both sides to ''press ahead'' with their bilateral ties. India and China view their ties from a strategic and long term perspective.

Asked if Pakistan, considered a close ally of Beijing, should be worried over the growing friendship between China and India, the Chinese spokesman said all the three countries were important and friendly neighbours and ''they are also partners in cooperation.''

''China is willing to see improvement of relations between India and Pakistan and China will be happy to see stability and peace in South Asia,'' Qin said, adding Beijing would maintain friendly relations with both India and Pakistan.

China and Pakistan have ''all weather friendship'' and ''we hope traditional friendship and cooperation can develop and be intensified constantly. Countries in the region should join hands to be devoted to peace and development of the region. This is the common aspiration of people in the region,'' he said.

News Source : Samachar

Countering LTTE: India admits helping Lanka

For the first time in recent years, India has acknowledged helping the Sri Lankan navy in its operations against the Tamil Tigers.

Indian Navy chief Adm Sureesh Mehta said in the capital on Wednesday that India has been helping Sri Lanka.

''There is no direct support. We support by checking our activities on their coast and their activities on ours. In this way we help ourselves by helping them,'' said Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Navy Chief.

In Colombo, Sri Lankan Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda has confirmed what the Indian Navy chief said in New Delhi.

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka's Navy has praised India for its help in countering the LTTE, and said the militant group's ''backbone has been broken'' after the destruction of several rebel vessels.

''Co-operation with India has been extremely successful in countering the LTTE. Every year, the Indian Navy with the Indian Coast Guard and the Sri Lankan Navy holds four bilateral discussions. We are conducting coordinated patrols with the Indian Navy as well,'' Navy Chief Wasantha Karannagoda said.

''We have broken their backbone by destroying their supply vessels and floating warehouses, several war-like materials which would have allowed the Tigers to sustain this conflict,'' Karannagoda told the Colombo Post newspaper.

The Navy chief asserted that the LTTE was not strong enough to sustain its fight against the government for long and that the outfit's naval power was badly weakened after several losses.

''The Navy has destroyed almost all LTTE vessels that could have assisted the Tigers in attacking the armed forces,'' he said adding, ''Within one year we have destroyed eight floating warehouses, which had carried more than 10,000 tons of war-like material''.

This included artillery, mortar, dismantled parts of three aircraft, bulletproof vehicles, underwater delivery vehicles, scuba diving sets and radar, among other things, he said.

On its part, the Sri Lankan Navy has acquired new ships and boats and is also building indigenous vessels to counter the LTTE threat, Karannagoda said.

Earlier, the LTTE warehouses were stationed off the island's coast and whenever the need arose they came up to about 300 kms from land and transferred the arms cargo on to trawlers, which brings them ashore, the Navy chief said.

He said the Navy had successfully put an end to this type of arms smuggling, severely weakening the LTTE.

News Source : Samachar

ISI has lost control of militants it nurtured: NYT

Pakistan's main military intelligence agency has lost control of some of the networks of militants it has nurtured since the 1980s, and is now suffering the violent backlash of that policy, former senior intelligence officials and other officials close to the agency have said.

They also admitted that the secretive Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had supported militants in Kashmir, albeit at the behest of the agency's political masters, confirming what New Delhi had believed all along and repeatedly complained about to Islamabad in vain.

The disclosures about the ISI, that has a fearsome reputation for interfering in almost every aspect of Pakistani life, also confirm some of the worst fears and suspicions of US and Western military officials and diplomats, The New York Times reported on Tuesday in its lead story.

As the army has moved against them, the militants have joined hands with other extremist groups to battle Pakistani security forces and carried out a record number of suicide attacks last year, including some aimed directly at army and intelligence units as well as prominent political figures, possibly even Benazir Bhutto, the Times writes in a detailed full page report.

The growing strength of Pakistani militants, many of whom now back Al-Qaeda's global jihad, presents a grave threat to Pakistan's security as well as NATO efforts to push back the Taliban in Afghanistan, forcing US officials to consider covert operations to go after Al-Qaeda in the lawless border areas, the report says.

Other disclosures about the ISI are bound to raise fears among opposition parties of rigging of polls scheduled next month.

The Times sources acknowledge that the ISI led the effort to manipulate Pakistan's last national election in 2002, and offered to drop corruption cases against candidates who would back President Pervez Musharraf. Now, he has, however, ordered the agency to ensure that the coming elections were free and fair.

The officials also acknowledged that after Sep 11, 2001, though Musharraf publicly allied Pakistan with the Bush administration, the ISI could not rein in the militants it had nurtured for decades as a proxy force to exert pressure on India and Afghanistan.

After the agency unleashed hard-line Islamist beliefs, the officials said, it struggled to stop the ideology from spreading. Worse, dozens of ISI officers had come to sympathise with the militants' cause and had had to be expelled from the agency.

"We could not control them," said a former senior intelligence official, speaking to the Times on condition of anonymity about the militants. "We indoctrinated them and told them, 'You will go to heaven.' You cannot turn it around so suddenly."

The Times report confirms that in the 1990s, the ISI supported the militants as a proxy force to contest Indian-controlled Kashmir and to gain a controlling influence in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The US too supported the militants, in the 1980s, directing billions of dollars to Islamic fighters battling Soviet forces in Afghanistan through the ISI, vastly increasing the agency's size and power.

Publicly, Musharraf has vehemently defended the conduct of the ISI, an agency that, according to American officials, was under his firm control for the last eight years while he served as both president and army chief.

Musharraf has also dismissed criticism of the ISI's relationship with the militants. He cited the deaths of 1,000 Pakistani soldiers and police officers in battles with the militants in recent years - as well as several assassination attempts against himself - as proof of the seriousness of Pakistan's counter-terrorism effort.

But some former US intelligence officials have argued that Musharraf and the ISI never fully jettisoned their militant prot?s, and instead carried on a "double-game".

They say Musharraf cooperated with US intelligence agencies to track down foreign Al-Qaeda members while holding Taliban commanders and Kashmiri militants in reserve. In order to undercut major opposition parties, he wooed religious conservatives, according to analysts. And instead of carrying out a crackdown, took half-measures, the Times reports.

News Source : Samachar