Rs 5 coin saves man from death

 In Yash Chopra’s Deewar, Amitabh Bachchan was famously saved from a goon’s bullet by his coolie badge lodged in his shirt pocket. Reel life blended into real life at a nondescript Kalina neighbourhood on Thursday evening when a wallet in a video parlour owner’s pocket came between him and certain death.

    Krishna Shetty is now in hospital, showing family and close friends the mangled Rs 5 coin that took the full impact of the bullet that would have otherwise pierced his heart. He’s having a little chuckle at their expense as well, for, as he reveals, he has been listening to taunts all his life about his “strange’’ habit of carrying his wallet in his shirt pocket.

    Shetty and his neighbour, Nicholas Gomes, were sitting outside the video parlour engaged in causal conversation when three persons sped by on a motorcycle and fired four bullets at them. One of these hit Gomes while Shetty took the brunt of two—one in his stomach, the other aimed straight at his heart. Enter the Rs 5 coin a la Bollywood. “It was the only coin in the purse but there were cards and photographs as well,’’ Shetty’s wife recounts.

    “The bullet would have definitely killed him, but thanks to the coin it fell harmlessly to the ground,’’ assistant commissioner of police Arvind Mahabadi told TOI.
    The news spread like wildfire among Shetty’s neighbours and friends. His son, who’s studying in the United States, is flying back to Mumbai. “He’s as interested in seeing his dad as the coin that saved his dad’s life,’’ Shetty’s wife smiles.

    Both Shetty and Gomes are out of danger and are recuperating at Guru Nanak Hospital at Bandra East. “We suspect it was a case of mistaken identity,’’ says Mahabadi. Krishna Shetty owns the Pushpak Bar and Restaurant in Kalina but has given it to Ganesh Shetty to run. Officials believe the miscreants had come to collect money from Ganesh Shetty, though residents of the area have told the police that the assailants were local toughs who run extortion rackets in Kalina.

Kerala HC admits petition on Mont Blanc pen

The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted a petition praying the court to prohibit marketing and sales of Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241 and Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-3000, the luxury pens manufactured by Mont Blanc International GmbH on which the name and pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi are used.
In the petition filed by Dijo Kappen, managing trustee, Centre for Consumer Education, it is alleged that the marketing and sales of the pen, which costs Rs 14 lakh each, is in violation of Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.“Gandhiji is the Father of the Nation and is considered the epitome of simplicity. Making him a symbol of a Rs 14-lakh pen is nothing but an attempt to degrade everything that Gandhiji symbolised,” the petitioner alleged.The court has directed to issue a notice to the Mont Blanc International, a German company.The Government of  India, and Entrack International Trading, the dealers of the product in India, are the other respondents in the petition.

Kerala HC judges first to disclose assets

In a trail-blazing move, the High Court of Kerala has become the first court in the country to post the details of the assets and  liabilities of all its judges in the public domain.

Titled 'Assets & Liabilities (At a Glance)', the disclosure was uploaded on the court's official website on September 30, as promised by the registrar-general D Sivalabhan on August 28.

Kerala high court's disclosure has come after sustained pressure from pro-transparency activists as well as sections of the judiciary who insisted that judges of the Supreme Court and high courts should reveal details of their assets.

The simple and uncluttered disclosure format on the Kerala high court's website has two broad categories - 'Immovable Properties' and 'Movable Properties' against the name of the judge concerned. While the first two columns contain details on the extent of `Land' and `Buildings' owned by the judges, the remaining four columns talk about assets in terms of bank deposits including fixed deposits and savings bank, weight of gold and silver, vehicles and shares/mutual funds/others. Liabilities such as bank loans are described separately, below the tabular column.

90-year-young Cong veteran gets poll ticket

 Five years ago, when Satgonda Revgonda Patil knocked on the doors of the Congress for a ticket from the Shirol assembly constituency in Kolhapur district, he was politely told that he was too old to make the cut. Patil was then 85.

    A month ago, the farmer, now 90, made a fresh attempt. This time, not only was he offered a ticket, he got what was tantamount to a red carpet welcome. So what had changed between 2004 and 2009? Ironically enough, the presence of a newly minted, youth-promoting politician called Rahul Gandhi.
source:timesofindia

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei (R) receives the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize from India's President Pratibha Patil during a ceremony at the presidential palace in New Delhi September 30, 2009. Iran broke a transparency law of the U.N. nuclear watchdog by failing to disclose much earlier a nuclear plant being built for uranium enrichment, ElBaradei said in a televised interview.

Jurassic Jewels: Hundreds of dino eggs found in Tamil Nadu

Geologists in Tamil Nadu have stumbled upon a Jurassic treasure trove buried in the sands of a river bed. Sheer luck led them to hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs, perhaps 65 million years old, underneath a stream in a tiny village in Ariyalur district.

    Researchers from the Salem-based Periyar University found clusters of eggs of what they believe to be the most aggressive Carnosaur and the docile, leaf-eating Sauropod at Sendurai village.While Carnosaurs were large predatory dinasaurs, Sauropods were long-necked, herbivores which grew to enormous heights and sizes.

    That dinosaurs once roamed the area was known from the fossils found there on earlier expeditions. But this is the first time that hundreds of nests embedded with hundreds of clusters of dinosaur eggs have been unearthed in the district.

    Located on the highway between Chennai and Tiruchi, the Ariyalur and the neighbouring Perambalur geological sites nestle in the northern plains of the Cauvery river. The place is a veritable museum of ancient organisms, dating back to 140 million years. Ever since a British couple—the Wines—collected 32 boxes of “strange stone objects’’ in 1843, the Ariyalur region has drawn geologists from across the world for its rich fossil presence and diversity. Scientists have found the tiniest marine algae or the nano fossils besides the rare shell-like bivalve, gastropoda, telecypoda and brachiopoda in the geological sites spread across 950 sq km in Ariyalur and Perambalur districts.

    “We found several clusters of spherical eggs of dinosaurs.Each cluster contained eight eggs,’’ says Dr M U Ramkumar, geology lecturer at Periyar University. The eggs were 13-20 cm in diameter and were lying in sandy nests which were of the size of 1.25 metres.

    In the 1860s, a British geologist first recorded the presence of bone remains of dinosaurs in Ariyalur. Over a century and a half later, the egg of a dinosaur was found in a cement factory. Volcano may have wiped out dinos
source:timesofindia

Thousands of tots enter world of letters in Kerala

Thousands of children in Kerala today performed the 'Vidyarambham' ritual, marking their formal entry into the world of alphabets on the occasion of 'Vijayadasami' at the end of the Navaratri festival.

Children in the 3-5 age group turned up with their parents in temples and cultural centres to make their first step towards literacy.Writers, teachers, scientists and artists helped the children to scribble their first letter on rice-filled platters after invoking Saraswathi, the Goddess of art and learning.

In cultural centres like Thunchan Smarakam in Tirur in Malappuram, the home memorial of medieval poet Thunchath Ezhuthachan, revered as father of Malayalam literature, children wrote their initial letters on sand.

"This is a great and unique festival of learning. The ceremony opens up the universe of knowledge before children," said writer Alamkode Leelakrishnan.

Leading newspapers, academies and libraries also made arrangements for the ritual.

On Dashami, Jammu housewife kills jihadi with axe

As the country bid farewell to goddess Durga, the demon-slayer, on Dashami and witnessed the evil king Ravana being vanquished on
Dussehra, a humble Muslim woman in a remote Jammu village slew a dreaded Lashkar terrorist single-handedly.

Exhibiting astonishing, raw courage, Rashida Begum took on the two terrorists who had barged into her home late Sunday night in Thana Mandi village in Rajouri district. The woman, in her early forties, grabbed an axe and swung it wildly, killing one of the armed terrorists and injuring the other. Seeing his partner meet a bloody end, the other terrorist fled in sheer dread.

A Rajouri-based police officer said the two terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, had entered Noor Ahmad's home around 9pm with the intention of holding the family hostage.

Police said the two also wanted information on some local targets that Noor and his family members refused to provide. Angered by the resistance, the two began beating them up, threatening to eliminate the family, when Noor's wife, Rashida, took them by surprise, pouncing on one of them from behind. She brought down an axe in powerful blows, killing the terrorist on the spot.

She then charged at his partner who, nonplussed, was trying to gather his wits. Rashida and the rest of the family members soon overpowered him and snatched his weapon. However, the terrorist escaped under the cover of darkness, but not before receiving sharp cuts in the face-off with the furious housewife.

Rajouri's additional superintendent of police Shabir Ahmed said investigations were on establish to identity of the duo but the slain terrorist was believed to be Osama, a Pakistan-based LeT commander, wanted in many cases of extortion and terror related activities. ``We are awaiting more details from the spot where a police team is carrying out further investigation,'' Ahmed said. Security forces are combing the area for the escaped terrorist.
source:timesofindia

Indian Airlines pilots strike continues....

An Indian Airlines plane taxes towards takeoff at Mumbai airport on September 27, 2009. Twenty-six Air India flights, including seven on international routes, were cancelled as striking pilots continued their agitation against cutting productivity-linked incentives (PLI) with 400 pilots threatening to go on mass sick leave.

From Dec 31, cell users can switch service, retain nos

Cellphone users in India will soon be able to change their service providers while retaining their numbers. Telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday issued regulations that will govern telecom mobile number portability (MNP) when it is launched on December 31 in metros and ‘A’ category circles and in the rest of the country by March 20 next year.

    MNP allows subscribers to retain their existing mobile telephone number when they move from one service provider to another in a licensed service area, irrespective of the mobile technology. It is thus a highly consumer-friendly initiative as it helps increase competition between service providers, catalysing improved quality of service.

    The deadline for implementation of MNP has already been extended twice, following resistance from operators who fear losing their high value, post-paid subscribers.

    “Implementing MNP by December 31 will be a real challenge as there are many unresolved issues,’’ director general of COAI, T V Ramachandran admitted to TOI.

Indian scientists rejoice as Chandrayaan-1 traces water on moon

As news trickled out about Indian maiden lunar mission tracing water molecules on the moon's surface, scientists rejoiced at the discovery and hope that it will pave the way for growing vegetation in the earth's natural satellite in future

"I am really very happy to know that the NASA payload on Chandrayaan-1 has traced water. If it is true then it will pave the way for growing vegetation in moon surface in five or 10 years from now," renowned scientist Y S Rajan said.

"Even if there is no water in its complete H20 format, still it's a great feat. It will help make human venturing to moon a more enriching experience. Those going to moon can combine the molecule and get water.

"They can also break it and get oxygen which is a major problem for scientists in space," said Rajan, who has written the book India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, along with former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

He said India's moon mission was a "great success" that proved ISRO's capability and efficiency in managing key space projects. "We have received loads of data from moon via our mission. It has certainly enriched the global scientific community."

"The moon has distinct signatures of water," top American scientist Carle Pieters confirmed on Thursday.

Tharoor apologises for his 'cattle class' remark

Doordarshan: 50 years of Television Broadcasting

Doordarshan, the public broadcaster completed its 50th year of existance on Tuesday.15 September, 1959 was the first day when the transmission of television programme begian in India at a make shift studio in the All India Radio building. Pramita Puri was the first announcer who started the programme with “shehnai recital' of Ustaad Bismillah Khan. The programme was transmitted in a radius of 25 kilometers with a small transmitters. From Black& White to becoming colour in 1982 to digital telecast in 2004, the public broadcaster has grown with tune of time.



The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The television service was extended to Bombay and Amritsar in 1972. Till 1975, seven Indian cities had television service and Doordarshan remained the only television channel in India. Television services were separated from radio in 1976. Each office of All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of two separate Director Generals in New Delhi. Finally Doordarshan as a National Broadcaster came into existence.



National telecasts were introduced in 1982. In the same year, colour TV was introduced in the Indian market with the live telecast of the Independence Day speech by then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 15 August 1982, followed by the 1982 Asian Games being held in Delhi. Now more than 90 percent of the Indian population can receive Doordarshan (DD National) programmes through a network of nearly 1400 terrestrial transmitters and about 46 Doordarshan studios produce TV programs today.



The first ever daily soap Hum Log and later on Buniyaad and Nukkad and mythological dramas like Ramayan (1987-88) and Mahabharat (1989-90) glued millions to Doordarshan and later on Bharat Ek Khoj, The Sword of Tipu Sultan and The Great Maratha. Hindi film songs based programs like Chitrahaar, Rangoli, Ek Se Badkar Ek, Superhit Muqabla. Crime thrillers like Karamchand, Barrister Roy, Byomkesh Bakshi, Reporter, Tehkikaat and Janki Jasoos,Suraag were popular among the masses.Presently, Doordarshan operates 19 channels – two All India channels-DD National and DD News, 11 Regional languages Satellite Channels, four State Networks, an International channel, a Sports Channel

On DD National, Regional programmes and Local Programmes are carried on time-sharing basis. DD-News channel, launched on 3 November 2003, which replaced the DD-Metro Entertainment channel, provides 24-Hour news service. The Regional Languages Satellite channels have two components – The Regional service for the particular state relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators.


DD-Sports Channel is exclusively devoted to the broadcasting of sporting events of national and international importance. This is the only Sports Channels which telecasts rural sports like Kho-Kho, Kabbadi etc. something which private broadcasters will not attempt to telecast as it will not attract any revenues.


Despite this DD has shortcomings too, as it is now also controlled by the Ministry of Information & Broacdcasting. 'Prasar Bharti' board which is formed on the pattern of BBC, is acting as puppet of the government.Doorsharshan does not have an independent editorial control unlike the BBC.

Prasar Bharati, its parent body has all board members appointed by the Government of India acting through the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. This control is evident in a budget that allows expenditure on "propaganda and public relations".It has been actively used especially during the Emergency for government propaganda.In 2004, it censored the airing of a controversial documentary on Jayaprakash Narayan, one of the opposition leaders during the Emergency.

In response to Pakistani propaganda in the Kashmir valley, Doordarshan launched the Kashir Channel in Kashmir for pro-Indian propaganda. DD Kashir beams programmes like Sarhad Key Do Rukh (Two faces of border), Pakistan Reporter, PTV Sacch Kya Hai (PTV! what is truth.

It has in association with All India Radio established high power transmitters along the India-Pakistan Border to counter Pakistani propaganda with its own.During Operation Bluestar, only government sources were used for reporting the story. Here Doordarshan was complicit in the production of a video that claimed acts of violence which when investigated by independent journalists were found to be false.

Jet Airways pilots call off strike - airline

The standoff between India's Jet Airways and pilots on strike over the sacking of four colleagues has ended, the airline said on Sunday.

More than half the carrier's 760 pilots, banned from striking without informing the airline's management ahead of time, had reported sick since Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and affecting thousands of passengers.

Onida to exorcise its devil, plans makeover

In the face of India’s changing consumer tastes, Onida has decided to say goodbye to the ‘devil’, the company’s mascot that for years aroused envy of neighbours who didn’t own its TV sets, and relaunch the brand.

The company’s ‘devil’ ad campaign, whose tagline was ‘Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride’, was a rage at one point in time, but the Indian multinational feels it has outlived its objective due to change in taste and financial capability of the consumer.

At the time this famous campaign was launched, owning a television was a matter of pride for Indians. However, things have changed in the last 20 years due to liberalisation which has expanded the market for both domestic and global brands as well as spending capabilities and owning a TV is no more a subject of neighbour’s envy. “Onida is in the process of building a completely new brand mascot to appeal to India’s new consumerism. Noted ad veteran Prasoon Joshi and his team is helping the company in the brand rebirth process,’’ a senior company official said, while confirming that a decision has been taken to send the devil back to where it belongs. With stiff competition from international brands like LG and Samsung, Onida is now preparing to rebuild its brand to appeal to the new age Indian consumers. “It is just like Air India doing away with its popular mascot Maharaja. Devil is no longer considered relevant in today’s market,’’ he said. Onida, established in 1982 under Mirc Electronics, today enjoys a strong equity among consumers, making it one of the leading brands in India. It offers a wide range of household appliances, including air-conditioners, washing machines, DVDs, plasma & LCD TVs and home theatre systems.

Onida has a network of over 33 branch offices, 208 customer relation centres and 41 depots spread across India. Once discontinued in 1998, the devil was brought back by the company in 2004, the official said, adding that now the time has come to move on. Asked by when the new ad campaign would be launched, he said by September-end the brand would be revealed as the contours are being finalised by the team working on it. “Since the devil has become as good as a logo for Onida products, shelving it is a brave decision and a brave step for the company,’’ the official said

source:timesofindia

‘Dharavi is no longer Asia’s largest slum’

Dharavi, a congested slum located in the heart of India’s financial capital Mumbai, said to be the largest slum in asia, is actually not so, claims a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “Dharavi is not Asia’s largest slum. Karachi’s Orangi township has surpassed it,’’ states the human development report for Mumbai that was compiled with the help of UNDP and released by the BMC. Mexico city’s Neza-Chalco-Itza Barrio has four times as many people as Dharavi, the report said. Dharavi, spread across 175 hectares and housing nearly 57,000 families, grabbed global attention after Danny Boyle’s film, Slumdog Millionaire. The slum, often associated with crime, filth and environmental degradation mainly due to congestion, poor constructions, unauthorised trades and overpopulation, covers parts of suburban Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina. Many premises in the area are being used as workplaces, adding to the risks, including fire and health, the report said. “Chemicals, including acid, are known to flow through its open drains because of tanning activity that flourishes there,’’ it added. Small businesses, from pots and pans to purses and papad-making, are being undertaken in the slum where the major population is of migrants, who land in the city seeking livelihood. “Outbreaks of malaria, leptospirosis, diarrhoea, dengue and hepatitis are just some of the diseases attributed to poor water and sanitation facilities in Dharavi,’’ the report said. A Rs 9,260 crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project, drawn up by US-trained architect Mukesh Mehta, was approved in 2004, but is still awaiting implementation. The plan is a part of the Maharashtra government’s effort to transform Mumbai into an international finance centre and has attracted attention from both Indian and foreign developers. As per the plan, there will be a residential area with schools, hospitals and other amenities, four commercial zones, including a gems and jewellery district and a leather district. There is also a proposal to rehabilitate families in 225 sqft multi-storeyed tenements. A part of several Bollywood films based on Mumbai’s underworld, including Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay, Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday, Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar series and the latest, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey, have been shot in Dharavi

High-tech multiplex to be built in chennai

Chennai-based entertainment service provider Sathyam Cinemas and Express Infrastructure on Tuesday signed an agreement to construct a 'high-tech' multiplex in the 'Express Avenue Mall' here.

Claiming that this multiplex would be the largest in south India, Sathyam Cinemas Chief Operations Officer Tan Ngaronga said with eight screens, Sathyam Cinemas at Express Avenue would be the destination point for every movie lover in the city.

Under the agreement, Sathyam cinemas would operate the multiplex.

Express Avenue Mall -- to be built over an area of ten acres at an estimated cost of Rs 750 crore -- would be the first mall in the city to come up with a combination of shopping centre, office space and boutique hotel, Express Avenue COO Kim Culley said.


first phase of the 1.8 million sq. ft. Rs.750 crore Express Avenue, billed to be south India’s largest shopping mall cum commercial and hospitality complex, is expected to be ready here early next year.

“The first phase will have 11 lakh sq.ft. retail space and will house about 260 retailers - anchor retailers like Lifestyle, Future Group - and others, food court, multiplex theatres,” R.R. Aroonkumar, chief financial officer of Express Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, told IANS Tuesday.

According to him, 64 percent of the retail space has been booked and negotiations are on for the rest.

Express Infrastructure has signed an 18-year multiplex theatre lease agreement with Sathyam Cinemas for running eight theatres inside Express Avenue.

India’s G.D.P. Grew 6.1% in Quarter

India’s economy grew a slightly faster-than-expected 6.1 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, as government stimulus measures helped spur demand, although a poor monsoon threatens to crimp growth later in the year even as it drives inflation.

The annual growth for India’s fiscal first quarter was just above a median forecast of 6 percent in a Reuters poll, but lower than the year-ago quarter’s 7.8 percent expansion.

The manufacturing sector expanded 3.4 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, while farm output grew an annual 2.4 percent, government data showed on Monday.

For the full year, India’s economy grew 6.7 percent in 2008-2009, much slower than its expansion of 9 percent or more in the previous three years.

SMS HELPED SPOT CM CRASH SITE

Careful and resourceful use of cellphone data led to the search for late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy narrowing to a patch of the Nallamala forests. Radiation and signal in cellphone on board the ill-fated chopper, recorded by mobile towers and
retrieved from a central computer, helped zero in on the crash site.



The data, along with trace of an SMS delivered at 12.06 pm on Wednesday to one of the mobiles on board, helped those monitoring the situation at the secretariat in Hyderabad to mark out a 10 sq km of the forests. The signal from cellphones was recorded by towers, which were present even in the remote area.



Along with the cellphones, the data from the pictures recorded by an Isro plane equipped with remote sensing facilities, helped the search. Also useful were the visual sightings by some villagers who saw the low flying chopper. On Thursday, commandos slithered down at the crash site and put the bodies into gunny bags which were then winched up to the IAF chopper.


Around midnight on Wednesday, while analysing data sent by Sukhoi-30, Chetak and MI-8 choppers, Group Captain Rajesh Issar of the IAF—one of the members of the crisis management team and commander of the IAF’s Helicopter Training School in Hyderabad—realised that the information gathered was inadequate to pinpoint the accident site.




Thousands of images received from nearly eight hours of sorties by choppers and the IAF’s topof-the-line Sukhoi-30 MKI had failed to give any hint of the location.




Sources in the defence ministry said members of the crisis committee, comprising state police chief and IAF experts, at this point picked up call details of mobile phones and the last towers through which these phones had received signals and the vital SMS—which is learnt to have been received on the mobile phone of YSR’s security officer John Wesley.

source:timesofindia

Chandrayaan 1 Mission Terminated

After the ISRO lost contact with Chandrayaan, India's first lunar space probe, on Friday, the space agency has now announced that the mission has been declared closed.


The premature end to the originally envisioned 2 year mission came when the craft first reported issues related to its positioning. After being controlled with the help of Gyroscopes for over a month, the craft finally gave up and on Friday, lost all contact with the command center back in India. However, according to ISRO, the mission has already, in 300 odd days managed to complete 95 percent of the objectives assigned to it.


The Chandrayaan was launched on Oct. 22 last year aboard a PSLV C11 rocket and took over a week and half to reach the lunar orbit. Apart from being India's first lunar probe, it was also one of India's first truly "international" space missions with a number of space agencies including the NASA and the ESA providing payloads for the craft. The Chandrayaan has as many as 11 payloads from various countries. The mission was also quite frugal in terms of the money spent at just $82 million.


While it may have not lasted the two year period it was supposed to serve, it has no doubt given India the capability to launch crafts to heavenly bodies beyond the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of the Chandrayaan also generated a lot of interest as it happened at the same time when the world was celebrating 40 years of Neil Armstrong's first "Moonwalk". In the future, manycountries have plans to send manned and unnamed crafts to the moon. These include U.S.Chinaand South Korea. In fact, India is already working on the Chandrayaan 2, which is expected, to land on the moon sometime in 2013. That mission apart from having a lunar orbiter will send a lunar rover to the surface of the moon from where it can collect and analyze lunar soil and rock.


As for the Chandrayaan 1, the mission already has collected over 70,000 images all of which are being analyzed. The craft will take another 1,000 days and it will eventually crash on to the lunar surface after that. While the mission ending prematurely will remain a disappoint to many, it is pertinent to note that it did manage to accomplish 95 percent of the objectives assigned to it - besides, sending a craft to the moon is no cakewalk