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[God Father]

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November 12, 2012

New Delhi put on high alert after R&AW warns of terror attack

Security agencies in the national capital have gone on a high state of readiness after intelligence agencies warned of a November 14 terror strike by terrorist mastermind Riyaz Bhatkal.

The alert put out by the Delhi Police and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) earlier this week noted that the terrorists were likely to attack the Delhi Metro and the International Trade Fair that begins at Pragati Maidan on that day.

The alert came after a telephone tip-off from Saudi Arabia. An Indian worker near the Saudi capital Riyadh phoned in a senior Delhi Police official on November 1 to report he met some suspicious persons who were planning a terror attack on the capital.

A joint team of the Delhi police and R&AW travelled to the Saudi capital last week and interviewed the caller who described the persons. He provided more details on the plot.

One of the descriptions of the individuals he met, appeared to match that of Riyaz Bhatkal, one of the masterminds behind Project Karachi, the name given to serial blasts in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Jaipur in 2008.

More recently, the Bhatkals are believed to have been behind the February 13, 2010 Pune German bakery blasts. The Bhatkal brothers, Riyaz and Sajid, are believed to be based in Karachi, Pakistan.

[God Father]

Arvind Kejriwal, BJP slam Centre over proposal to make CAG a multi-member body

Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and main opposition party BJP on Monday attacked the UPA government over reports of its attempt to make the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) a multi-member body.

Kejriwal blamed the government of trying to weaken the CAG office, saying the UPA government wants to make CAG its private agent.

Slamming Congress for trying to "weaken" CAG by making it a multi-member body, BJP on Monday warned that any such move would only 'boomerang' on the party.

"Whenever the Congress is in trouble or faces criticism, they try to weaken the institutions if they are constitutional bodies," senior BJP Leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters on Union Minister V Narayanasamy's remarks on CAG.

In an interview to PTI on Sunday, Narayanasamy had said a former CAG's suggestion for making the official auditor a multi-member body was under consideration. PTI later issued a statement saying it stands by its story.

"Now it is very clear that the Congress is not able to digest the independent and autonomous CAG and is going with the move to make CAG a multi-member body," he said.

Naidu alleged that the Congress had earlier tried to tarnish the image of CAG in the wake of observations damning the UPA regime over wrongful allocation of coal blocks.

"They did the same thing even in 1980s when CAG looked into Bofors contract and HDW Submarine deals. They quashed the locus standi and auditing methods. They even criticised CAG on 2G spectrum report and declared that there was no loss," he said.

"Congress has forgotten that its stock crashed after it resorted to similar CAG bashing in 1989. Now the same thing will be repeated as and when elections are held," he said.

Naidu said BJP would be meeting on eve of Parliament winter session beginning on November 22 to discuss the issue.

Naidu said supersession of Judges, appointing their own "favourites" to the Election Commission or the CVC was nothing new to Congress. "Now this threat of active consideration of making the CAG a multi-member body."

"This is a clear attempt to muzzle the present incumbent and thereby weakening the institution. They have the track record of destroying the institutions from time to time," he said.

Warning the Congress, Naidu said "if you go for any misadventure like the previous occasion, it is bound to boomerang on you and you will face the consequences".

Noting that CAG was not a "sarkari" organisation and it drew its power under the Constitution, he said such was the importance of CAG that its expenditure was met and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and not on regular budget.

Taking on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his assertion that the observations of CAG were disputable and would be challenged before Public Accounts Committee, Naidu asked how the Prime Minister can say this when the matter is before the PAC.

"PAC is a committee set up by Parliament and its proceedings cannot be passed on to others," he said.

"To make CAG a multi-member body is not a correct step. We oppose it. They are trying to hide the corruption issue. It is not an immediate reaction. The law minister had previously attacked the Election Commission. This is not an isolated event," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

[God Father]

Exclusive: High on Diwali 'spirit', drunk motorists boast of powerful contacts when caught

Delhiites, notorious for mixing drinking with driving, are high on the deadly cocktail again as Diwali fervour grips the city.

And forget about caring for their own safety or those of others on the road. When caught drunk behind the wheel motorists care little that they have committed an offence that can land them in jail. Instead, they boast of their 'powerful contacts' and offer bribes to policemen to get away.

A Mail Today team spent several hours at a police picket near India Gate during late-night checking of drunk drivers. The police are on a massive citywide crackdown on drunk driving ahead of Diwali . High on the festival spirit, the motorists were certainly caught unawares by the sight of the party-poopers in police uniform.

As if announcing that he was drunk and that he didn't need to take a breathalyser test to prove it, Rajat Sharma (name changed), a businessman, drove into the police picket at the Rajpath crossing with a can of beer kept on the car's dashboard that was clearly visible to the waiting policemen.

Flagged down, he tried to drive away at first but, realising that he could be chased and caught, stopped unwillingly. At first, he was not ready to come out. Forced out, he started arguing with a police officer.

Sharma's hangover started to subside only when the officer shoved a breathalyser tube near his mouth and asked him to blow into it. A shaken and stirred Sharma caught the officer's hand and pleaded that he accept some money and settle the matter. He promised - well, take it with a pinch of salt as scores of drunk drivers who were caught gave the same assurance - "never to drink and drive again".

Spoiling his night further, the police impounded his car. "It is true that I was drinking and driving. But why was my car impounded?" he asked.

Ravi Kumar (name changed), an executive with a Gurgaon-based firm, was planning a party inside his 'car-o-bar' along with two friends when the police knock startled them. Whisky had been poured in three glasses and snacks laid out. The party was about to begin inside the bar-on-wheels when the police flagged them down.

They hadn't even started drinking but terrified by the sight of the policemen they sped away, only to be chased down by a police control room (PCR) van. "We hadn't started drinking. But we were scared as there was alcohol inside the car," Kumar said.

His car too was impounded. "I will have to go to the court tomorrow (Monday). I have vowed not to drink and drive again in my life (well, well)," he added.

Traffic police officers at the spot said they were used to such excuses. "Only a few minutes ago, we stopped a car and the man behind the steering immediately exchanged seats with his wife sitting beside him. But we were watching all this from a distance and prosecuted him," an officer said.

When told to take the breathalyser test, one motorist boasted that he counted senior police officers among his friends. As the policemen stood firm, he fell on their feet. Luckily, he was not drunk enough to invite prosecution.

Some motorists caught by the police even threatened the photographer of Mail Today for clicking their pictures.

Besides sending drunk drivers to jail, city courts have also been punishing such drivers by asking them to do community service in gurudwaras or regulate traffic. But clearly the punishments have had no effect on city motorists. In the last six days, the traffic police have booked 1,069 motorists on charges of drunk driving. Last Tuesday, a day when people generally abstain from drinking because of religious beliefs, 111 drunk drivers were caught. This despite the fact that enforcement had been relaxed that day.

Drunk-driving figures in the city are at an all-time high. Sample this. The number of drunkdriving prosecutions in the first 10 months of this year is the highest ever recorded in a single year for the offence in the past decade. In all, 20,606 people - the number was 18,073 in 2011 and 11,388 in 2010 - have been prosecuted till October 31 this year, of which 5, 867 offenders were jailed.

"I thought people understand that driving after drinking is not safe but they seem to not care," joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg said. "It's amazing how people don't care about the consequences of drunk driving. They are not worried about getting killed, they are not worried about getting injured, they are not worried about being sent to jail," added Garg, who recently raised the issue of drunk driving at a global meet on road safety held in the national Capital.

Firing a warning shot at drunk drivers, the officer said the crackdown will continue in the festive season, enforced by 50 teams of traffic policemen that have fanned out across the city.

[King Of All]

Nice work
If updated daily, then i will make this thread sticky.
All the beat
+7 added

[God Father]

Auction of 2G airwaves opens to muted response, bids worth only Rs 9,224 crore; no takers for Delhi and Mumbai

The high base price of Rs 14,000 crore for pan-India airwaves proved to be a dampener on the first day of 2G spectrum auction on Monday.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) received bids of Rs 9,224 crore as the five telecom companies participating in the auction showed least interest with no bidding taking place for lucrative telecom circles like Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

The demand was largely concentrated in select circles like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Gujarat. The total quantum of revenue bid is for a little over Rs 9,224 crore at the end of the fifth round, telecom secretary R. Chandrashekhar said. The demand for spectrum in UP East and West has kept auction going as per the details shared.

The bids received so far are a far cry from the Rs 28,000 crore (it was Rs 40,000 crore, including CDMA auction, which is not taking place as prospective bidders backed out) minimum revenue that the government is expecting from the auction of wireless spectrum reclaimed after the Supreme Court (SC) cancelled 122 licences issued in 2008.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Norway's Telenor and Videocon are bidding for GSM, but there are no bidders for the CDMA spectrum after Tata Teleservcies and Videocon pulled out of the race.

The government had set a bid starting price of Rs 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of GSM airwave space in the 22 telecom circles. The base price was more than seven times what operators paid in 2008.

Chandrashekhar said that in 176 blocks of spectrum put up for auction, bids were received only for 98. Out of 22 circles, the demand for spectrum has crossed the offer only in UP West and East. The reserve price exceeded in UP West and East circles, the telecom secretary said.

Gujarat and Bihar received bids for all the eight blocks (of 1.25 MhZ each) that were put up for auction. Bids were received for seven blocks in Assam, and six each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, West Bengal and the North East. Maharashtra telecom service area received bid for five blocks.

Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata and Tamil Nadu circles received bids for four out of eight blocks.

Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab received bids for only one block clearly indicating that companies whose licences were affected by SC judgment - Telenor - promoted Telewings, and Videocon - did not bid for these circles.

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal had said last week that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has made a formidable mistake by fixing a high base price adding that the auction would be over on first day.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) general secretary R. S. Mathews said, "The limited amount of spectrum, contrary in our opinion to the Supreme Court ruling, was guaranteed to have a very detrimental impact on the auction. We said the high reserve price would ensure that limited players come into the bid, indicated extremely muted bidding and that there would be several circles that would have no bidders. That is exactly what we are seeing now."

[God Father]

No lesson learnt from September 5 fire in Sivakasi as factories continue to flout safety rules

The festival of Diwali brings with it sparkles and glitters. Behind all the light, sound and celebrations there lies months of labour in a hazardous environment. A couple of months ago, Tamil Nadu 's small town Sivakasi hogged the limelight following a major fire in a firecracker factory .

Headlines Today revisited Sivakasi, the main source of firecrackers supplied across the country, which holds within it the tragic tales of hundreds of workers who risk their lives everyday to bring a smile on people's faces during the festival of lights.

Greed to earn quick money, lack of proper monitoring by the authorities who react only after accidents and general all round corruption, these are the ingredients that make for a name synonymous with Diwali in India. Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district has 680 fireworks factories that supply the bulk of firecrackers that are set off during Diwali.

The fireworks industry is not an organised sector and every year there are accidents and deaths. Headlines Today investigated the sense of apathy and the lurking danger of fireworks capital Sivakasi, where profit comes before safety.

On September 5, 2012 a massive explosion in Om Sakthi Fireworks factory in Sivakasi killed 39 people. Initial investigation revealed official apathy and violation of rules in the factory that produced firecrackers worth crores of rupees.

Chemical explosives expert Thanasekaran said, "Here they are given piece rates. They store more crackers. If explosion happens it will be like a military bomb. Even if there is a small mistake then the entire composition will change. But the problem is most of the workers are not trained to use the chemical. Foreman who is supposed to take care of the chemical composition is unaware of it."

Around 90 per cent of the country's fireworks is produced in Sivakasi. Barely a month after the tragic accident of September 5, everything was back to business in Sivakasi. Headlines Today recorded the blatant violation of rules in Sivakasi.

After the recent accident, eight teams formed by the district authorities and controller of explosives have been raiding the factories. Shockingly, most of the factories have been found to be violating rules.

Virudhunagar SP Najmul Hooda said, "Combined team of controller of explosives, labour, health (departments) are doing thorough inspections to check any violation. So far 689 licensed factories have been raided. We found violations in 611 factories. Suspended 57 factories, but they have been revoked by the controller of explosives. We got to know through newspapers."

As rules are hardly followed, human lives are barely valued. In Sivakasi, workers get paid based on what they can produce per day. So the focus remains on speed and not on safety.

Factory worker Rajalakshmi said, "I will work fast only then can earn money. I am paid Rs 8.50 per roll of cracker I make."

Factory owner Ganesan said, "Nobody wants accident, but sometimes it is unavoidable."

Local social activist Vijaya Kumar said, "Rules are only in books. Even the leading companies don't follow the rules."

Despite being monitored closely, greed rules life and no lessons are big enough to deter death and accidents in Sivakasi.

[God Father]

A dull Diwali for firecracker sellers: Stringent police measures and green concern push sales down

Diwali, instead of being an occasion to rejoice, has dampened the mood of firecracker sellers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) as they struggle to shore up sales amid stringent police measures, and more and more environmentally conscious people saying no to crackers.

Compared to previous years, the turnout of buyers at firecracker stalls in the city has been thin this time. Many dealers blamed a police directive that prohibits the display of crackers outside shops for the slump in sales. Others blamed the sluggish sales on the steep rise in the prices of crackers, which was a result of low output following a fire accident at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, the largest firecracker manufacturing hub in India. According to traders, the prices of crackers have shot up by 40 per cent.

Inflation, which has forced people to keep aside less money for crackers in their Diwali budget, and Delhiites' growing concern for the environment are other factors that drove sales down. "Prices of every commodity in the market have gone up. I cannot slash my Diwali budget on sweets, so I have cut the expenditure on crackers," said Anirudh Sarkar, a software consultant.

Traders and market association are also quite unhappy over the Delhi Police's directive prohibiting them from displaying goods outside their shops during the festive season. While police argue that banning the display of goods outside the shops was necessary, traders say it has resulted in sluggish sales.

26165060, 26165032, 26168336 +91-11-23232400, 23233400 26161960, 26194690 DDU: +91-11-25494336, +91-11-25494408 100, Fire: 101 102While many traders are okay with the police ban on display of firecrackers, they say that a blanket ban on items like candles, sweets and idols of deities was hurting their business.

"Markets in central and west Delhi are openly displaying their goods. The law seems to be different for different people," said Sanjiv Mehra, president of the Khan Market Traders' Association. As the market is an uptown address secured from all sides by the police with a four-tier security, he argues restrictions based on terrorist threat need not apply on them.

Traders said the sale of crackers this time was far less than normal during the festival season. While sales usually pick up in the run up to the festival, this time bulk of the crackers were sold only one day before Diwali. "This has been the slowest Diwali season in terms of sales in many years. We haven't seen our revenues dip so low even at the height of the global recession. People would still cheer themselves up with a few phuljharis but this time nobody seems interested in crackers at all," said Gurdeep Khanna, a trader in Kondli, east Delhi.

While in the past years people would be jostling for space to buy firecrackers from his shop, his stall a day before Diwali was almost empty. Some came to enquire the prices of crackers but left without buying. People are also increasingly becoming aware of the harmful effects of firecrackers on one's health and Diwali's contribution to air pollution. Devendra Pratap Singh and his wife Asha are saying no to firecrackers this year.

They are worried about their child's health. "It's a fact that piles of burnt crackers and pollution in the air are all that's left behind by Diwali. Most people in our locality have decided to say no to firecrackers this year," Singh said.

Sulphur dioxide, one of the common pollutants released from bursting of crackers, can damage the lungs and causes wheezing and shortness of breath.Oxides of nitrogen released from firecrackers cause skin irritations, eye and respiratory problems.Lead and cadmium in firecrackers cause breathing problems for asthma and bronchitis patients.Other pollutants from firecrackers have a harmful effect on patients suffering from bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, bronchial asthma, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, pneumonia and common cold.

Stay away from smoke from crackers, keep splashing water on your eyes frequently, avoid wearing contact lens.

Don't burst noisy crackers; put cotton buds in ears or wear ear plugs; keep children, especially infants, indoors.

Don't burst crackers, stay indoors, cover your nose and mouth when you step outdoors.Bobby Singh, a firecracker seller in south Delhi's popular shopping hub INA market, attributed the low sales to the recent fire at the Sivakasi cracker factory. "Business this year has been nothing compared to last year. The turnout of cracker buyers has been really low and even if they are buying something, it's just a few crackers. The prices of crackers have also gone up this year because of the fire at Sivakasi," he said.

Another shopkeeper, Rajender Kumar, offered similar views saying that the younger generation was more interested in fancy candles than crackers and this had amounted in low sales. Kumar said, "Sales have been very low this year. It picked up only on Monday but it did not make much of a difference to our business."

Of the crackers that did sell, it is the aerial display crackers that have sold the most this time. "People seem less interested in the other types of crackers and are buying just a handful of aerial display crackers," said a trader at the Jama Masjid market.

[hunterkabai]

pls update buddy i'm