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Kidney racket: International warrants against two key accused
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Interpol today issued international warrants for the arrest of two key accused in the multi-crore kidney transplant racket in Haryana as they are suspected to have escaped from the country shortly before the police conducted raids.
The 'red corner' notices against alleged kingpin Amit Kumar and his brother Jeevan were issued following request from the CBI after Haryana Police discovered an illegal hospital at a house in Gurgaon near Delhi where the transplants were allegedly carried out.
Police has alleged that during the past eight years, around 500 people were forcibly operated on and their kidneys were transplanted to patients, including foreigners.
Kumar (40) and Jeevan (36) "are both subject of national arrest warrants for illegally transplanting kidneys, cheating and criminal conspiracy," the Interpol warrants said. PTI
Govt should accept mistake on Sethu, declare it heritage: BJP
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) With Coast Guard voicing security concerns over the Sethusamudram project, BJP today asked the government to accept its "mistake" of contemplating such a shipping canal and declare the Sethu bridge as a world heritage site.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said if his party came to power, it will re-examine the project.
"After the statements by Naval officers, the government is trying for a face-saving measure," Joshi told reporters today, a day after Coast Guard Director General R F Contractor yesterday said the Sethusamudram project would pose security risk.
The former union minister said the government "should not shy away from accepting that they made a mistake." Joshi demanded that "Ram Sethu be declared a world heritage site and be preserved as any other heritage of historical importance is preserved in the country." The project, which involves building a shipping canal by cutting through the Ram Sethu bridge, has been surrounded by controversies as Hindu groups are opposed to it.
Contractor's comments added a new dimension to the controversy over the project which is now before the Supreme Court.
Alleging that the UPA government was "disoriented" in its approach, Joshi claimed that it lacked "knowledge of the people's will" and was "unfit to remain in office".
He claimed that the "security and environmental hazard issue raised by the naval officers" was conveyed by him to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh long time back but the PMO was "silent due to DMK." He said his party was in favour of a "land-locked canal for ship-travel". PTI
Indian team to visit Russia to break deadlock on Gorshkov
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Appearing ready to upwardly modify the contract for Gorshkov deal at Russia's insistence, India is sending a high-level team to Moscow to inspect the aircraft carrier in a fresh bid to break the deadlock over its delivery.
Defence Secretary Vijay Singh will lead the delegation to Russia on February 19 to carry out physical verification of additional refit work needed to be done on the carrier as claimed by Moscow.
The delegation will also include new Defence Production Secretary Pradeep Kumar and senior officials of the Defence (Finance).
The 45,000 tonne displacement carrier was to delivered by August this year as per a USD 1.5 billion contract signed in 2004 but Russia stunned India in November by demanding USD 1.2 billion more for refitting and other works.
The new condition by Russia meant a delay of upto four years.
"The original contract was sketchy," a Defence Ministry official said, indicating that India was ready to revise the contract upwards in view of Russian insistence.
The Russian demand was earlier opposed by the Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who publicly said that there should be no revision in the contract.
The Russian side has conveyed that "extensive" refit work would be necessary on the warship which will now have to undergo sea trials for a year in Russian waters under their experts, the Defence Ministry official said. PTI
Rural mobile courts will have mediation power: Bhardwaj
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) The government plans to empower the over 6,000 proposed Gram Nayayalayas (panchayat-level rural mobile courts) to hold conciliation and mediation proceedings, apart from deciding civil and criminal cases.
The objective, according to Union Law and Justice minister H R Bhardwaj, is to reduce litigation and provide affordable and quality justice at the doorstep of the rural masses.
"We as a society have not cared for reducing litigation," said the minister, stressing upon the need for speedy delivery of justice along with measures to curb the pending (2.75 crore) cases.
Inaugurating a conference of state law ministers, law secretaries and registrar generals of High Courts here, Bhardwaj said the rural mobile courts proposed under the Gram Nyayalayas Bill 2007 would help decentralise the judicial system which, at present, is concentrated at the tehsil and district level.
"What is the need for a poor man in a village to go to the district centre for getting justice? Why can't the justice be delivered at his doorstep?" asked Bhardwaj, reminding the dreams of the country's founding fathers.
"It will be the greatest tragedy of our democracy if even after 60 years of our Independence we fail to deliver justice to the poor at their doorstep," the minister said, justifying the move to create a new tier of justice in villages.
Urging the law ministers and law secretaries to join hands for making the Gram Nayayalaya project a success, he said the state governments will have full freedom in recruiting the presiding officers of these mobile courts and the guidelines for the appointment would be framed by the High Court of the state. PTI
India sticks to Bali plan, presses for technology transfer
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Feb 1 (PTI) Asking the developed countries "to walk the talk" on reducing green house emissions, India today opposed any "premature" setting of "benchmarks" for industries and instead pressed them to first ensure technology transfer to the developing world.
"The setting of any such goal (on reducing emissions) needs to be realistic apart from being based on a scientific consensus at a far higher spatial level than the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)," R Chidambaram, government's Principal Scientific Advisor, said at the Second Major Economies Meeting on the Environment in Honolulu.
It should take into account historical cumulative emissions, per-capita emissions and the sustainable development needs of developing countries and should be guided by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, he told delegates from 16 nations and the EU, which contribute to 8O per cent of the emissions, as well as the UN.
The parties are meeting to further talks held in Bali last month during which countries agreed to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009.
Chidambaram, who led the Indian delegation, stressed that any further discussions should be within the parameters of the Bali Action Plan and rejected any suggestions new additions including on "competitiveness".
"There have been suggestions on setting standards 'benchmarks' for various technology sectors. Such benchmarking would be premature for developing countries smaller players have to catch up," "Moreover, we should not put the cart before the horse. If technologies are transferred properly, standards would automatically be achieved." PTI
Dhoni rues irresponsible show, Clarke basks in glory
Melbourne, Feb 1 (PTI) On a day of contrasting fortunes, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rued a spineless batting display by his team describing it "irresponsible" while his opposite number Michael Clarke revelled in the glory of leading Australia to their maiden Twenty20 win over India.
While Dhoni could not hide his disappointment at India's batting collapse which saw them bowled out for 74 in 17.3 overs, Clarke was marvelling at his team's ruthless performance that made captaincy so much easier for him.
Dhoni said the only good thing that his Twenty20 world champion side managed in today's match was winning the toss.
"That's the only good thing that we did. There are 11 players in the side and every guy has a responsibility. But unfortunately some of our guys failed in that today," a disappointed Dhoni said after the nine-wicket thrashing handed out to his team by ODI world champions.
The Indian skipper did not want to make Yuvraj Singh's absence an excuse for the loss but admitted that the hard-hitting left-hander was crucial for the side.
"Yuvraj is important for us in Twenty20," he said.
On Sachin Tendulkar being left out for the match, Dhoni clarified that it was the master batsman's own decision to sit out of the game and take rest.
"I asked him whether he wanted to play today and get some practice ahead of the Indian Premier League but he said he wanted to rest so I said 'OK'," Dhoni revealed. PTI
India trounced by Australia in T20 game
Ashish Shukla
Melbourne, Feb 1 (PTI) World champions India were brought down to earth when they were squashed by a ruthless Australia by nine wickets in a low-scoring Twenty20 cricket match here today.
The Indians were bundled out for a paltry 74 in 17.3 overs and the home team rattled up the required runs in just 11.2 overs in what turned out to be a totally lop-sided contest at the packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.
A wide from Ishant Sharma brought the winning runs for the hosts who relied on contributions from captain Michael Clark (37 not out) and Adam Gilchrist (25) to win the one-off game.
The visitors opted to rest the in-form Sachin Tendulkar for the match but the younsgters, many of whom were part of the world-cup winning squad, gave a poor account of themselves against the hosts who managed to record their first Twenty20 win against India.
Only Irfan Pathan (26) managed to reach double figures while all the other batsmen hardly troubled the scorer as they found it difficult to come to terms with the conditions.
The Indian slide began from the very first over when the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag (0) was run out and could never really recover from the blow as they kept losing wickets in quick succession.
After failing to bat out 20 overs, the Indians were never in with a chance against their formidable opponents who rode on a blazing start by Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clark to overhaul the meagre target without much fuss. PTI
Vengsarkar wants Procter to be hauled up by ICC
Mumbai, Feb 1 (PTI) Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar today wanted Mike Procter to be hauled up by the ICC for bungling the incident involving India's Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds during last month's Sydney Test.
"He will have some answering to do to the ICC," said the former India captain while reacting to the three-Test ban on Harbhajan imposed by match referee Procter which was later revoked by Appeals Commissioner John Hansen who reduced it to a simple monetary penalty.
Slamming former South African cricketer Procter for failing to perform his duties properly, Vengsarkar recalled the ICC official's errors in the past and said the latest incident was only a reflection of his bungling ways.
Vengsarkar referred to the Oval Test fiasco between England and Pakistan that led to the first-ever forfeiture in Test cricket's history and the on-field spat between Australian speedster Glenn McGrath and West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan in Antigua.
He said the Sydney experience has made "the team stronger" when queried about his own experience of sledging by Australian cricketers during his playing days.
"Australia are known to be sledgers, but this experience has made us stronger," he said after launching the Polycom Cricket Fest 2008 here at a suburban hotel.
Vengsarkar, praising the progress made by the Indian team on the ICC rankings table, also sounded optimistic that soon it woould rise up to be number one Test team in the world. PTI
Shoaib Malik storms out of press conference
Karachi, Feb 1 (PTI) Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik today abruptly left a press conference after being bombarded with questions about fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's sudden appearance in the national team's practice session at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.
After having answered questions about the series against Zimbabwe, Malik was asked whether Shoaib was invited for the practice session or he had come on his own.
Shoaib has remained out of public view since returning home from India and even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials said the pacer had not tried to contact them even after being dropped from the central contracts list and the home series against Zimbabwe.
A senior board official said the PCB had no idea when Shoaib returned from India. So his sudden appearance at the nets this morning surprised everyone.
But Malik was in no mood to talk about Shoaib and tried to parry the questions by stating that it was good he was back into training as he was an asset for Pakistan cricket.
He also hoped Shoaib, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul -- all facing fitness problems -- would be available for the coming series against Australia.
But when reporters insisted on knowing whether Shoaib showed up for the training himself or was called by the board, selectors or the coach and captain, Malik lost his cool.
Apparently the question about who had called Shoaib made Malik uncomfortable as the board was not involved in it, a source said.
He said coach Geoff Lawson had specifically instructed that Shoaib be asked to attend the nets session on Saturday.
"I don't know if Malik was involved in this decision or not," he added. PTI
A1 Team India 18th in practice session at tricky Sydney track
Sydney, Feb 1 (PTI) An abrasive track made it a bumpy practice session for A1 Team India as Narain Karthikeyan drove them to an 18th-place finish ahead of the qualifying race here tomorrrow.
Team's rookie driver was unavailable this weekend for personal reasons, forcing Karthikeyan to take the Eastern Creek track to test the car set-up before tomorrow's qualifying session.
"It was quite an eye opener for me today. It is a track I have never raced on before. The track surface was particularly bumpy and wore the tyres out very quickly. However, the car is looking good and I am expecting a top 10 qualifying position tomorrow," Narain Karthikeyan, A1 Team India driver says.
The tarmac surface of the track wore tyres out quickly and teams with the most circuit knowledge through prior data and rookie session practice recorded their quickest sector times in laps 2 and 3.
Team India was placed 18th in the second session with a lap time of 1:20.936 with a top speed of 262.1 Kph.
A car set-up with good traction will be vital for tomorrow's qualifying to prevent the tyres from getting blistered and worn out quickly. Circuit knowledge is also crucial.
A shuffling in the classification order showed the otherwise title leaders Germany and Switzerland placing 14th and 12th respectively. France came out on top in today's practice, followed by A1 Team Canada and Great Britain. PTI
Pak test fires Ghauri, Mush downplays threats to nukes
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Feb 1 (PTI) Pakistan today successfully test fired the nuclear-capable Ghauri missile with a range of 1,300 km that can strike major Indian cities, as President Pervez Musharraf declared that the country can "thwart all threats" to its nuclear capability.
The successful training launch of the Ghauri or Hatf-V intermediate range ballistic missile was witnessed by Musharraf and Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at an undisclosed location.
The launch was conducted at the conclusion of an annual field training exercise of a Strategic Missile Group of the Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC), a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
The ASFC is currently engaged in its winter collective training wherein every operationalised strategic missile is tested in "tactical and live firing exercises".
The test of the Ghauri came a week after a similar training launch of the Shaheen-I ballistic missile, which has a range of 700 km.
The political turmoil in Pakistan and an upsurge in terrorist attacks have sparked reports in the western media about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal and the effectiveness of its command and control system.
Media reports have also suggested that the US is considering contingency plans to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the event of any extremist takeover.
Musharraf said, "We have taken note of various imaginary scenarios being propounded by those who do not wish Pakistan well. Such elements have never reconciled to a nuclear Pakistan. PTI
Pak reports new bird flu outbreak at Karachi poultry farm
Karachi, Feb 1 (PTI) Pakistan today reported a new outbreak of the avian flu, prompting authorities to cull a large number of birds at a poultry farm in this southern port city, where 5,500 chickens died of the deadly disease earlier this week.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been found in samples taken from birds that died in the farm, Pakistan Poultry Association spokesman Abdul Maroof Siddiqui said.
Some 5,500 birds had died in the farm, following which samples were sent for tests at a laboratory in Islamabad. The tests confirmed the presence of bird flu, officials said.
Teams were sent to the farm today to cull its remaining birds.
Though there are several other poultry farms in the area, bird flu has not been detected in them so far. Health and veterinary officials went to these farms to test both birds and humans, but said they had not found any cases of the influenza jumping to humans.
Owners of the poultry farms were directed to take precautions, including providing gloves to workers and conducting regular health check-ups for them.
The authorities also issued guidelines to people for handling and consumption of poultry products and meat. People were asked to cook chicken at 80 degrees Centigrade to kill the virus and not to eat roast or chicken tikka, a favourite dish at most restaurants and parties. People were also asked not to touch meat with bare hands.
Pakistan has reported outbreaks of bird flu over the past two years. Six persons were infected with the virus in December last year and at least two of them died.
Britain hikes immigration fee
H S Rao
London, Feb 1 (PTI) Britain has announced a hike in its immigration fees to fund sweeping changes it plans to introduce to improve border security over the next 12 months.
The proposal introduced in the House of Commons yesterday comes just weeks before the introduction of a new points based system for managing migration.
The system is aimed at ensuring that only workers with skills to benefit Britain's economy come to the UK and puts in place a licensing system for businesses who want to recruit from overseas.
The fee for Highly Skilled Migrant T1 (General) Programme, which is popular among Indians, will go up from 400 pounds to 600 pounds The fee for Work Permit visa and Visitor visa (Long term) will be increased from 200 pounds to 205 pounds, while the Settlement visa will go up from 500 pounds to 515 pounds.
The Visitor visa will go up from 63 pounds to 65 pounds.
Expressing confidence that the aspiring immigrants will not be deterred by the hike, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said: "We believe that it is fair that those who benefit most from using our immigration system should help fund it.
"We welcome the contribution that legal migrants make to the economy and cultural life in the UK and we have ensured that these fees, which will usher in the biggest reforms to the immigration system in a generation, are at levels that will not damage our international competitiveness," Byrne said.
"We are confident that we are not out of line with other countries' prices and that the people we want to come here will not be deterred from doing so," the minister said. PTI
Tax GDP ratio to touch 11.2 pc this fiscal: Chidambaram
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that Central tax to GDP ratio is estimated to have increased to 11.8 per cent in 2007-08 as per budget estimates, providing additional resources to the Centre for social expenditure and achieve fiscal consolidation.
Buoyant economic growth along with efforts to improve the tax administration system has yielded rich dividends. As a result, the Central tax to GDP ratio is estimated to have increased from 8.2 per cent in 2001-02 to 11.8 per cent in 2007-08 as per budget estimates, Chidambaram said.
While speaking at this year's first meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry, he said this increase has provided the Government with additional resources that are being shared with the states besides being utilised for meeting expenditure in the social and infrastructure sectors and for fiscal consolidation.
Gross Tax Revenues are budgeted at Rs 5,48,122 crore in 2007-08 he said, while inviting suggestions from the members for the Union Budget for 2008-09.
The Finance Minister said that the overall macro-economic fundamentals continue to be strong. Tax collections increasing at a healthy pace reflected the growth potential that could be further harnessed.
The expenditure trends in the FY 2007-08 encouragingly points towards the achievement of the fiscal targets envisaged under the FRBM mandated roadmap and further reforms in critical sectors, he said.
He also said that additional revenue collections would enable the government to see the India growth story sustained and consolidated over the Eleventh Five Year Plan period.
Among others Mohammad Salim, P C Thomas, Rajkumar Dhoot, Abani Roy, Bimal Jalan and Rahul Bajaj attended the meeting. PTI
Microsoft offers to acquire Yahoo! for $44.6 bn
New York, Feb 1 (PTI) World's largest software maker Microsoft today offered to acquire leading internet firm Yahoo! Inc for about 44.6 billion dollars with an aim to leverage its position in the online services market.
World's richest person Bill Gates-founded Microsoft today said its 31 dollars per share offer values Yahoo! at about 44.6 billion dollars in cash and stock.
The takeover bid for Yahoo comes amid a below-expected fourth quarter performance and growing competition for the two companies from fast-growing Google in the online market.
The online advertising market is growing at a very fast pace, from over 40 billion dollars in 2007 to nearly 80 billion dollars by 2010. With Google emerging as one of the biggest beneficiary of this market, the analysts believe that a combination of Microsoft and Yahoo was imminent to take on the competition from the internet search giant.
The speculations have been doing the rounds for quite a few months about the merger of two giants.
The combined entity would create a more competitive firm, providing superior value to shareholders, better choice and innovation for customers and partners, Microsoft said.
Microsoft's proposal would allow Yahoo shareholders to OPT cash or a fixed number of Microsoft shares, with the total consideration payable to Yahoo shareholders consisting of one-half cash and one-half Microsoft common stock. The offer represents a 62 per cent premium above the closing price of Yahoo shares on January 31.
The company said it believes the proposed combination would receive all necessary regulatory approvals and the proposed transaction would be completed in the second half of calendar year 2008. PTI
Rupee gains by two paise to end at 39.35/36 a dollar
Mumbai, Feb 1 (PTI) The rupee today rose by two paise against the US dollar to close at Rs 39.35/36 per dollar, taking cues from the stock markets.
The Indian unit continued to witnessed narrow movements with trading in a range of 39.33 and 39.38 against the greenback at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
Forex dealers said the rupee movements continued to be influenced by equity markets.
The central bank, however, intervened when the local currency touched 39.33 level to contain any sudden surge in the rupee against dollar, they added. Public sector banks bought dollars on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Capital inflows, particularly due to refunds from the Reliance Power IPO, were seen as a major negative factor for the Indian currency. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) withdrew Rs 3,938 crore from the stock markets. They have pulled out 4.5 billion dollars in the last couple of weeks.
A late bounce in stock market helping the Indian benchmark Sensex to close gained 584.71 points provided underlying support to the rupee.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank fixed the reference rate for the US currency at Rs 39.36 per dollar and for the single European unit at Rs 58.48 per euro.
Today, the rupee premiums on forward dollar not (not) received from source.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee rose against the British sterling and the Japanese yen while declined further the euro. MORE
Inflation rises to 3.93 pc
New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Inflation rose to 3.93 per cent for the week ended January 19, against 3.83 in the previous week mainly due to increase in manufactured items, some food articles and petroleum products.
The wholesale price-based index, stood at 6.31 per cent during the corresponding week a year ago.
This is the first inflation data which came after the announcement of credit policy on January 29.
During the week, prices of maize, wheat, arhar went up, while prices of fresh marine, urad and condiments and spices declined.
In the fuel, power, light and lubricants category furnace oil and light diesel oil went expensive.
Manufactured food items like imported edible oil, soyabean oil, cottonseed oil, ghee and sugar were dearer, while prices of gur fell by 1 per cent. PTI
Government to introduce tea tourism in North Bengal
Sunil K Mukhopadhyay
Kolkata, Feb 1 (PTI) With an eye on attracting both domestic and foreign tourists, the state government has embarked on an ambitious project for the development of an integrated tea tourism circuit.
"The Centre has sanctioned schemes worth Rs six crore for the development of infrastructure and accommodation in North Bengal to promote tea tourism," Managing Director of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, T V N Rao told PTI here.
Eight areas in North Bengal including Malbazar, Murti, Hilla, Mohua, Samsing, Nagrakata, Batabari have been selected under this scheme, he said.
"Tourists who visit Dooars areas had showed interest in staying in the tea gardens and see how tea leaves are plucked and processed. Tourists are also attracted to the lush green tea gardens and the scenic beauty. So why not promote the tea gardens as tourists spots," he said.
Rao said that the government was also trying to rope in private parties to commercially exploit the potential of tea tourism through public private partnership.
Hospitality major Ambuja Realty is taking keen interest in developing properties in North Bengal to promote tea tourism and has also identified land for setting up hotels, company sources said.
Rao said that major investment would be made at Murti near Indong tea garden and Malbazar where work has already started to create a tourism facilitation centre and tourism amenities. PTI
Music album: new shaking formula of Yana
Diganta Biswas
New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) Bollywood beauty Yana Gupta, much
known as an item number girl, is all set to come out with her
first ever English music album soon.
"I am working on my first music album very seriously. It
will take some time to materialise," says cheerful Yana. "I am
quite confident about the success of my new project," the
'Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo' dancer told PTI.
Yana says she is busy with the album, for which she is
composing, writing and even singing.
"I have taken singing lesson earlier. But as English is
not my first language, it is taking some time to grasp," she
smiles.
But what has emboldened her to take up such a plan?
She says "Someone heard me singing and advised me to come
out with an album. It forced me to think about it and I made
up my mind to do so."
"I don't claim to be a great artist, but I am confident
as a woman, as a human being. I am trying my best to make this
a quality one," Yana says.
The fitness freak model-turned-actress also aspires to
work in Bollywood films and is currently looking for a "good"
role there.
"I have got a couple of offers, but not impressed with
any scripts so far. Those were not so good for me," she adds.PTI
Gandhi killing, who hatched the plot, still a mystery: book
New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte together decided that Gandhi had to be killed. As to who of them first thought of the plot, however, remains a mystery, says a book to be released tomorrow on the 60th anniversary of the assassination of the Father of the Nation.
The 'great decision' was made by the two as they read on the teleprinter the news on Gandhi's decision to go on fast to force transfer of Rs 55 crore to Pakistan.
In Poona, the two men, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, sitting in their non-descript newspaper office read the news and suddenly made their decision-Gandhi had to be killed. No one, however, knows which of them first thought of murdering Gandhi because to the end they maintained that only one of them, Nathuram was responsible for the killing, says the new edition of 'The Men Who Killed Gandhi' by Manohar Malgaonkar.
Published by Roli Books, the book is due to be launched tomorrow, the 60th anniversary of Gandhi's assassination.
The author, now 94 years old, is an ex-serviceman and a civil servant. He first published 'The Men Who Killed Gandhi' in 1978. The new edition of the book carries, according to the publisher, hitherto unpublished photographs and documents including the Bombay-Delhi air tickets and bills of the hotel used by the two in Delhi while on their mission.
"Of the six men who were finally adjudged to have been implicated in the murder conspiracy, two were hanged. The other four- the approver Badge and the three who got life sentences, Karkare, Gopal and Madanlal talked to me freely and at length", says the author in his note to the first edition of the book. "All the four gave me much information that they had never revealed before hand", he claims. PTI
I want to be the Indian Oprah Winfrey: Pooja Bedi
New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) Model turned actor and now a talk show host, Pooja Bedi says she wants to be next award winning US talk show host, Oprah Whinfrey.
"I want host the biggest talk show in India on the largest TV network and become India's Oprah Winfrey," said Bedi who was in the city as a brand ambassador of a medical product.
Bedi would soon be seen on TV anchoring a new talk show which she promises would be 'issue based'.
Bedi who has the knack of standing out with her work, be it being the first female model for Kamasutra condoms or being open about the botox injections that she takes to stay 'beautiful', said, "When I modelled for the condoms, everyone was surprised. Nobody had expected such a move. Even when I was open about Botox usage, people were again stunned. I am open about things that I think people should use because it is safe and healthy." Bedi, who is now the brand ambassador of Botox in India said almost everyone in the profession of beauty does undergo lot of medical help to stay young and beautiful.
"This is the business of glamour and everyone here has to remain young and beautiful. A lot of celebrities have to whoop all kind of stuff on to the face to come before the camera. I want to look good and hence I go for Botox," she said.
Bedi added, "I was hosting a chat show and I had very deep lines on my forehead. Every time the bright light use to hit my forehead, the lines became too visible. The guests use to feel that something was wrong since the lines generally come when people are tense. I then decided to go for Botox and now I have been using it regularly for over three years with wonderful results." PTI
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The sensex closed at 18242.58, up 593.87
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1 U.S. $ = 39.355 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.3689 INR
1 British Pound = 78.149 INR
1 Canadian $ = 39.462 INR
1 Singapore $ = 27.817 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 10.723 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 10.509 INR
1 Euro = 58.596 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 10.827 INR
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