The Mumbai Grapevine
Connecting Mumbaikars with Mumbai
(Published by Mumbai-Central.com)
Please feel free to forward this message to your friends and co-workers
who might be interested in it. The instructions to join the Mumbai
Grapevine are at the end of the message.
Heads begin to roll, Patil out,Chidambaram is new home minister
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Political heads began to roll today in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror carnage with Home Minister Shivraj Patil finally forced out of the Cabinet and replaced by P Chidambaram who was holding Finance, a portfolio Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took over. Patil's dismal reign in the key ministry ended this morning after he resigned under the cover of owning moral responsibility for the Mumbai attacks.
The 74-year-old Patil's dogged resistance to step down after earlier terror strikes collapsed after the Congress leadership decided to sacrifice him to cut the party's losses.
Reflecting the intense heat on the government, Chidambaram, who was grappling with the global financial meltdown, was shifted from his Finance ministry office to the neighbouring Home ministerial perch in North Block.
Speculation mounted later that National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had also offered to resign but the Prime Minister's Office said he would be staying on, without confirming or denying whether he had put in his papers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh may also become a casualty of the Mumbai terror attack. Some top officials at the Centre could also be shunted out.PTI
Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigns
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigned today, taking moral responsibility for the failure to prevent terror attacks such as the one in Mumbai.
After being subject to severe criticism at last night's Congress Working Comittee (CWC) meeting, Patil met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning and submitted his resignation.
Political sources said that 74-year-old Patil has been of the view that the Congress party and the government should not suffer because of the terror attacks and that is why he had taken this decision.
They felt that Patil did not want officers of his Ministry to be made scapegoats. After so much criticism about his failure, he also felt a sense of relief by stepping down.
The 74-year-old Patil was inducted into the Union Cabinet despite his defeat from Latur in Maharashtra in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and has been a target of the opposition as also the detractors within the party over his handling of the internal security situation in the country.
Patil had told the CWC meeting that as the Home minister he "takes the responsibility and whatever the CWC decides, I am ready to do", the sources said.
Patil's remarks came in the wake of criticism by several leaders, including Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal and H R Bhardwaj, they said.
The refrain of these leaders at the meeting was that a strong action is needed in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes and accountability has to be ensured at the higher as well as lower levels. PTI
We did not receive any demand from terrorists, says NSG chief
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) The terrorists who kept several guests as hostages in Taj Mahal and Trident-Oberoi hotel did not make "any demand" and they carried out all the killings before the NSG could start its operations, the chief of the elite commando unit said today.
"We did not receive any demand from any of the terrorists," NSG Director General National Security Guards J K Dutt said here today and suggested that the intention of the rampaging terrorists was not to keep anyone alive.
All the "senseless killings" in the Taj and Oberoi/Trident hotels had been carried out before commando units stormed the buildings, he said, a day after NSG commandos ended the siege at the Taj hotel.
Dutt said the holdout militants had a comprehensive knowledge of the Taj's terrain as they were able to move from one place to another "without a misstep." Whenever the special forces units launched an offensive, the gunmen would set fire to a hotel room to create a diversion, before moving on to a new hiding place.
"For these reasons it was very difficult to dislodge them," he said.
Dutt also refuted charges that the terrorists had planned to blow up the 105-year-old Taj heritage hotel ina repeat of theMarriott hotel attack in Islamabad which claimed around 60 lives and left more than 250 people injured.
"Terrorists did not appear to have plans to blow up the Taj heritage hotel as they lacked enough explosives," Dutt said here on his return after the NSG mission operations in the financial capital of the country.
The elite force lost its two commandos -- Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havildar Gajendra Singh -- while eight others were injured during its counter-offensive against terrorists in two of the three locations that witnessed the worst-ever terrorist siege in the country. PTI
Israel to send anti-terror, forensic experts to India
Jerusalem, Nov 30 (PTI) Israel is sending a team of anti-terror experts to India to help in the investigation of the terror attacks in Mumbai which claimed 183 lives, including those of eight Israelis.
The experts will examine whether the attack was part of a new global terror tactic and if there is a need to adapt coping mechanisms in Israel to the new threat, Ynetnews reported.
The delegation will be leavingfor India in a special Israeli Air Force jet andwill be accompanied by a team of forensic expertsand people from themilitary rabbinateto handle the repatriation ofIsraelis killed in the attacks.
Theforensic team headed by Chief Superintendent Itzik Koroniois composed of seven experts on the identification of human remains, two DNA experts and a doctor.
Anti-terror experts in Israel have been taken by surprise overthe factthat the terrorists did not plan to negotiate over the release of the hostages.
Israeli officials are also trying to figure out which country is behind the attack, what websites the attackers used to plan the operation, where they got their instructions from and where was their trainingheld, the news portal said.
The Western look of some of the terrorists has baffled experts andwesterners converting to Islam and joining the global Jihad poses a relatively new security challenge,it said.
Israeli defence officials said that until information is collected on the content of the bags, the computers and the electronic devices found on the terrorists' bodies, it could not be determined for certain whether the Chabad house in Mumbai was a pre-planned target, it said.
Warnings of possible attacks on Chabad houses around the world have been received in the past, but this time there was no such indication, the portal said.
Israeli representatives and business representatives of majorcompanies in India have been toldto be on high alert. PTI
Pak to act against any group if India gives proof: Qureshi
Islamabad, Nov 30 (PTI) Asserting that its "hands are clean", Pakistan today said its spy agency will cooperate in investigating the terror attacks in Mumbai and promised to take action against any groups or individuals if India provides evidence against them.
Islamabad feels that "good neighbourly relations" with New Delhi are in its interest, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said as India said elements in Pakistan were involved in the deadly terror strikes.
"Pakistan has said the premier intelligence agency (ISI) will cooperate with India in probing the Mumbai incident as our hands are clean. We have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of," he told CNN in an interview.
Qureshi said Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism and both countries can jointly defeat the menace.
The Foreign Minister had said yesterday that the composite dialogue process between the two countries had come under pressure following the terror attacks.
Replying to a question, Qureshi said the Indian government has not yet provided any evidence to Pakistan regarding the Mumbai attacks. He said Pakistan will take action against any groups or individuals if the Indian government provided proof or evidence against them.
India has linked elements in Pakistan to the attacks that killed nearly 200 people and injured hundreds more. PTI
PCB boss predicts split in cricket if teams shun sub-continent
London, Nov 30 (PTI) Pakistan board chief Ejaj Butt has warned that teams like England and Australia would end up splitting the world of cricket if they shun the sub-continent because of the security situation there.
England left their tour of India abandoning the last two ODIs and Butt, whose country ha suffered from teams refusing to tour, said staying away from the sub-continent was not the answer.
"If certain countries play separately with two sets of rules, it will be a dangerous situation. It's a mutual thing. If they don't come, we won't go. You cannot have separate pockets with England only playing Australia," the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman told the BBC.
"To continue to not participate in cricket in this part of the world and in India and Sri Lanka, then it will be very difficult," Butt said.
Such a polarisation would spell doom for the International Cricket Council, argued Butt.
"There'll be two sets of rules, two sets of countries and two blocks in the ICC, which would be a dangerous thing to happen.
"We have to agree something. It has to be with all Test countries. You can't have four Test countries playing each other and the other four playing separately as well," said Butt, whose Board is also worried that India's scheduled tour of Pakistan in January next year may not materialise due to security apprehensions.
The same reasons saw Pakistan playing three one-dayers against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi but Butt felt neutral venues could not be the answer.
"We have to agree to something, and offshore cricket is not the only answer," he said. PTI
Indian football failed to take off after Asiad win: Bhutia
Jaipur, Nov 30 (PTI) India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia rued that football in the country failed to take off despite the national team winning the Asian Games gold twice (1951 and 1962) and finishing fourth in 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
"Though we were a power in early 50s and won the Asian title and also finished fourth at Melbourne in the 1956 Olympics, Indian football failed to take off whereas Gulf countries and some of the Asian countries like Japan pumped in lot of money and did all possible things to reach where they are now," Bhutia, who was here for McDowell's Celebration Futsal Friendzy, said.
Bhutia said a lot could have been done for Indian football like developing infrastructure and facilities but he was on the defensive when asked about All India Football Federation's role in improving the condition of soccer in the country.
"I am not aware how much money FIFA is pumping in for India but whatever is coming is being utilised by AIFF. Still a lot money is needed. The kind which is in cricket is not here in football. The government, corporate sector and AIFF should all act in tandem to promote Indian football." Bhutia said the triumphs in the Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup were positive signs but lot more needs to be done.
"These are positive signs but I feel a lot could have been done. With foreign clubs coming in and corporates coming in things will improve because it is a win-win situation for all," said Bhutia. More PTI
England team arrives home, decision to return India by Monday
Prasun Sonwalkar
London, Nov 30 (PTI) The England team, which arrived here late last night, will know by tomorrow whether to return to India to play the two-match Test series, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Managing Director Hugh Morris said.
Speaking to newspersons at the Heathrow airport after the team's arrival, Morris said a security risk assessment report of returning to India will be available within 48 hours and a decision will be made after that.
The report will be prepared with inputs from team security consultant Reg Dickason, talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Morris reiterated that if the team's safety was guaranteed, it would return for the two Tests in Ahmedabad (December 11-15) and Chennai (December 19-23).
"We have come back to assess the safety and security situation in India. We have a team of people that we rely on for our safety and security information. They're pulling that information together over the next 24 to 48 hours and, clearly, we'll assess that information when we have it.
"Clearly, we are committed to going back and playing in a Test series if it is safe to do so," he said.
"Would I go back? If it was safe and secure, absolutely." Morris, however, said no player would be forced to return against their will.
"I do not think we would force anybody to do anything. I would not, if somebody felt strongly, force their arm. They would have the necessary information to make an informed decision but that would be a personal choice." PTI
US listed Indian stocks lose USD 3 bn in a month
New York, Nov 30 (PTI) As bourses worldwide traded in volatile zone, the collective value of Indian stocks trading on the American markets tumbled by nearly USD three billion in the month of November, with IT major Infosys Technologies alone witnessing an erosion of USD 1.73 billion.
Swinging between the highs and lows, the 16 Indian shares listed on the US bourses together lost USD 2.91 billion, while Apart from Infosys, the 15 other companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, which saw substantial market value erosion, include Satyam Computer Services, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
While, Satyam Computers saw a decline of USD 832 million in its market capitalisation, the valuation of HDFC Bank plunged by USD 485 million and ICICI Bank by USD 284 million.
The outsourcing firm Genpact saw a decline of USD 285 million in its market capitalisation, with Tata Comm and Tata Motors plunging by USD 2.74 billion and USD 2.29 billion, respectively.
Other shares listed on American bourses are It major Wipro, internet firms Sify Technologies and Rediff.Com, outsourcing entities WNS, EXLService Holdings, telecom companies Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, copper producer Sterlite Industries, pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories and IT services provider Patni Computer Systems.
Among them, Sterlite Industries' market value declined 56 million dollars, while Dr Reddy's saw an erosion of USD 35 million and MTNL USD 25 million.
Global markets rallied after the US government announced anothter USD 800 billion rescue package and China cutting its benchmark lending rate which led to a recovery in markets worldwide. PTI
Ironic, we eased just before being hit by terror: Ratan Tata
New York, Nov 30 (PTI) It is "ironic" that extra security measures, taken after being warned of a possible terror strike, were eased just before the terrorists assaulted the landmark Taj hotel, Tata group chief Ratan Tata said.
"It's ironic that we did have such a warning, and we did have some measures (for the additional security)," Tata told US news channel CNN from Mumbai.
The over 100-years-old iconic hotel stands mutilated in the financial capital of India after about 60-hour long siege by terrorists who indulged in arson and explosion before being gunned down by NSG guards yesterday morning.
Post attack, Tata rued that crisis infrastructure was "woefully poor" and the attacks revealed deficiencies in the law enforcement, especially in areas of crisis response and management.
"We are indignant but not scared," he quipped.
Although he did not elaborate on the additional security measures, Tata felt even these steps could not have prevented the terrorists from entering the hotel.
Speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, he said that "people could not park their cars in the portico, where you had to go through a metal detector" due to the additional security.
".... If I look at what (measures) we had (enacted)... It could not have stopped what took place," Tata said, adding that the attackers did not come through the front door, where additional security measures had been temporarily enacted.
"They did not come through that entrance.. They came from somewhere in the back... They knew what they were doing and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements were in the front. PTI
Pollo Campero to foray into India
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Global QSR (quick service restaurant) chain Pollo Campero is planning to foray into the multi-billion-dollar Indian fast food market with plans for setting up 10 restaurants across the country by 2012.
The company is in advanced stages of negotiation with two local groups for setting up restaurants in India under the franchisee model and is looking at opening the first outlet by the third quarter of calendar year 2009.
"We have already registered our brand with the authorities and our first restaurant will come up at Delhi by the third quarter of next year. We are in advanced stages of negotiations with a couple of local groups with the plan of setting up 10 restaurants by 2012," Pollo Campero Executive Vice President Gustavo Duran told PTI on the sidelines of the Franchise India 2008 Summit here.
He said the company is looking at India as a major market for growth and expecting transactions of up to USD 1 lakh each month from each store. "It is important for us to grow quickly for achieving volumes and revenue returns," he added.
Duran further said the investments for the new stores would be made by the company's Indian franchisee partners. "Besides our famous global ranges including fried chicken, our Indian outlets would also have a range of vegetarians' fare including salads." The company has at present 300 restaurants across the world and has a global turnover of USD 450 million.
Bachchan says gun comment was to show loss of faith in system
Mumbai, Nov 30 (PTI) Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who had disclosed in his blog that he slept with a gun under his pillow after Mumbai terror attacks, has said it was to show his "complete loss of faith in the system and governance" and criticised gestures like lighting candles.
"The act of pulling out my revolver is a symbolic metaphor, a figure of speech, to demonstrate my complete loss of faith in the system and in the governance, in providing me, a citizen of India, with my rightful sense of security," Bachchan, 66, wrote in the blog.
Bachchan, who has millions of fans across the world, said that respondents on his blog had taunted and subjected him to mockery and derision on the issue. He said his critics in the cyberworld had written about what they would have done had they been in his place.
"It is a pity that the 'intellectual media' portrays the incident of the gun under my pillow as one of ridicule and mirth," Bachchan wrote.
Hitting out at his critics, the actor said "I keep my security according to my own assessment of my vulnerability. When you will wear my shoes, and I do hope that you do one day, you shall also be subjected to the kind of vulnerability that I and many others like me face each day.
"Perhaps then you would be better placed to appreciate the hollowness of your accusation," he said.
After terrorist struck in Mumbai on Wednesday night, Bachchan wrote in his blog the next day "Last night, as the events of the terror attack unfolded in front of me I did something for the first time and one that I hoped never ever to be in a situation to do. Before retiring for night,I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow. For a very disturbed sleep." PTI
First retrospective of Bangla director in India
Pallab Bhattacharya
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Come December and India will host for the first time a retrospective of films by a Bangladeshi director who will also be the first cinema personality from the eastern neighbour to be given the honour of inaugurating a film festival in this country.
Tanvir Mokammel, the director and a leading figure of the parallel cinema movement in Bangladesh, has been chosen by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to showcase his feature and documentary films in a retrospective to be held in Kolkata and Delhi in late December.
Invited under ICCR's "Distinguished Visitor" programme, some of Mokammel's recent feature films including "Chitra Nadir Parey", "Lal Shalu" and "Lalon" and his latest work "Rabeya" and documentary "Promised Land" are likely to be screened if they secure the nod of the Indian censor board.
Ahead of the retrospective, Mokammel will jointly inaugurate a four-day short and documentary film festival to be held in Bhubaneshwar organized by Jatin Das Cultural Association. This year's festival theme is films on performing arts, Wild Life and Environment with a special focus on films on art from Bangladesh.
Three of his films - 'Lalon' on the legendary 19th century mystical singer of Bengal, 'Achin Pakhi' (the unknown bird) and 'Bonojatri' (Riders into the Sunderbans), will be screened in the Bhubneshwar festival.
This is the first time that a retrospective of a Bangladeshi film director will be held in India and ICCR has rightly chosen Mokammel for that as he has been a pioneering figure in the struggling movement for meaningful cinema in his country where makers of movies in this category fight against heavy odds to survive in the absence of adequate funds and exhibition outlets. PTI
Insurance cover? Not if you die in terrorist attack
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) As the country mourns the dead in the terror attacks in Mumbai and governments may announce compensation to the bereaved families - insurance claims may not really be settled easily - thanks to the 'fine print' and in fact, lack of a proper cover against terrorist violence.
A 'terrorism insurance cover' is not still present in the country, say experts.
However, they add that in most life insurance products, the basic sum assured may be offered to survivors in case of death of the insured due to 'any reason' other than suicide in the first year (of obtaining the policy).
"Unlike US and UK, we don't have any insurance cover against 'terrorist' acts. Loss of life due to terror may fall in the category," says an official of Kotak Life Insurance.
Terrorism cover is offered by General insurance companies as an add-on policy with the fire insurance policy.
"After 9/11, most companies refused to give cover against acts of terrorism. General insurance companies then formed a pool and since then all premium collections done by the industry for this policy put into this pool," says Vineet Vidyarthi, Principal Officer, Almondz Insurance.
According to industry reports, Non-life insurance companies were flooded with claims worth Rs 1.3 crore, specifically on account of terror acts this year so far. During the previous year, the figure stood around Rs 1 crore.
Vidyarthi says some time many insurance companies deny compensation on the ground citing the important points in the fine print covering terms and conditions.
"It happens that when the claimant goes to take the sum, insurer may point out some encircled 'terms and conditions' and blame the person of not going through them seriously, just to avoid the payment," he says. PTI
Penguin plans to cater to needs of Indian travellers
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Trying to cash in on what it calls a healthy growth in internal and overseas travel in India, a leading publishing group has drawn up elaborate plans to cater to the needs and interests of Indian travellers.
"We are looking at ways to grow our sales in the Indian market as internal and overseas travel is growing at a very healthy rate and the projection is that Indians will spend USD 47 billion on personal travel in the next 10 years," said John Duhigg, managing director of Penguin Travel.
"We are looking at the products that we produce for our English language markets around the world and how we might produce special editions that are specifically aimed at the Indian market and the needs and interests of Indian travellers," Duhigg told PTI.
"In Penguins' global business, the Travel Guide business is an important sector for us and it has grown a great deal in recent years.
"It is yet to make a substantial contribution to Penguins sustained and substantial growth in India but we have high expectations for the coming years," he said.
"We already have Rough Guides to Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra and a regional guide to southern India. In addition we have a superb India guide from DK (Dorling Kindersley) Eyewitness which covers the whole country," Duhigg said. PTI
Indians abroad worried but still positive
Ruby Nanda
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) As the miasma of the global economic downturn accelerates its pace, Indians abroad are worried about their future but still remain positive.
"The current situation in the West is not so conducive for the Indians. The slowdown in some of the key industries has organisational downsizing of manpower in the companies," said, Marcel Parker Chairman Ikya Human Capital solutions.
"The options have been reduced by the slowdown. Some of my friends who have been staying here for the past five-six years with their family, for them moving back to India is a big challenge," says Prashant Kumar, software engineer working UK.
"My project has been moved offshore, hence I have to go back to India, luckily the project has not been scrapped," he adds.
But doves of IT professionals are still going abroad.
"Foreign companies outsource their IT work to India as it is cost effective. It works well only when there is steady run of projects. But when projects dry up it becomes more cost effective to send workers abroad to do the work," explains Shubendu Hota, team lead in Global Technology Consultants, currently working in Johannesburg.
But despite the global downturn Indians are the second most confident consumers in the world according to a recent Neilson consumer report on consumer confidence, concerns spending and attitudes to recession.
About 79 per cent of Indians are optimistic about their financial condition for the coming year and 86 per cent feel positive about their job prospects. PTI
___________________________________________________________
This is the Mumbai Grapevine
___________________________________________________________
______Market_______
To get regularly updated NIFTY (NSE) quotes by email, join the NSEData
mailing list by sending an email to NSEData-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To get regularly updated BSE quotes by email, join the BSEData mailing
list by sending an email to BSEData-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Sensex: 9092.72, +66.00
The sensex closed at 9092.72, up 66.00
___________________________________________________________
This is the Mumbai Grapevine
___________________________________________________________
______Forex_______
1 U.S. $ = 49.575 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.5186 INR
1 British Pound = 76.216 INR
1 Canadian $ = 40.002 INR
1 Singapore $ = 32.783 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 13.497 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 13.217 INR
1 Euro = 62.916 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 13.618 INR
___________________________________________________________
This is the Mumbai Grapevine
___________________________________________________________