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Ansal brothers arrested, granted bail by CBI
Real estate tycoon brothers Gopal and Sushil Ansal were arrested in connection with the Uphaar fire tragedy and granted bail soon after, in accordance with a Supreme Court order that had issued bailable arrest warrants against the two. Confirming the arrests of the brothers, who own the Uphaar cinema property where 59 people were killed in a fire on June 13, 1997, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Joint Director Arun Kumar said: "We have executed the arrest warrants issued by the Supreme Court." "As the warrants were bailable, we also granted them bail on their furnishing a personal bond," Kumar told IANS, adding that the warrants had been executed in the last "two or three days". CBI sources said an agency official visited the residence of Sushil Ansal on Saturday and executed the warrant against him. The warrant against Gopal Ansal was executed on Monday.A person facing a bailable arrest warrant is entitled to bail by the investigative agency asked to execute the warrants. A person facing a non-bailable warrant, however, gets bail only from a court of law. On Aug 13, the Supreme Court had issued bailable warrants against the Ansal brothers on an allegation that they were manipulating the judicial system and delaying the disposal of their appeal against their conviction while remaining out on bail.The allegation had been made by Neelam Krishnamurthy, president of the Association of Victims of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy, who has been spearheading the legal battle against those guilty for the tragedy which killed 59 and injured over 100 others during a screening of the film "Border". The two Ansal brothers were held guilty by a Delhi trial court on Nov 20, 2007 for criminal negligence that led to the devastating fire. They were subsequently sentenced to a jail term of two years each by the trial court.However, the sentences were suspended by the Delhi High Court.The apex court bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal, which had issued the bailable warrants against the two brothers and their two former employees on Aug 13, had on a subsequent hearing on Aug 22, ticked off the CBI for not following the court orders expeditiously.Ordering the CBI to execute the arrest warrants against Ansal brothers without delay, the bench had asked the investigative agency to file its compliance report to the court by Aug 28.The apex court is slated to hear Krishnamurthy's plea on Aug 29 Friday.
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One militant killed in Jammu encounter
NEW DELHI: High alert declared in Jammu, after three militants fired indiscriminately in the Mishriwala area in the city on Wednesday at 5:45 am, killing four civilians and one Junior Commissioned Officer. One militant has been killed in the encounter. A family of six including four children has also been held hostage. The encounter between two militants and the army is still on.
Reports suggest that the three militants were travelling in an autorickshaw, after killing the driver.
The militants are believed to be trapped in a house at Chinore, where they fled to in the autorickshaw. Chinore is a residential area in Jammu. Sources said that these three militants are the ones who entered the Indian side via Kanachak in the Akhnoor sector on Tuesday.
The militants killed a Junior Commissioned Officer at Bantalab Naka while they were still in the auto, a motorcycle rider also at the Bantalab Naka, the autorickshaw driver who was driving them and a civilian in Chinore.
On Tuesday, Pakistani troops opened firing at the International Border, as yet another ceasefire violation was reported, after the armed forces provided cover firing to facilitate the infiltration of militants to the Indian side.
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Darfur rebels hijack plane, seek to fly to France
The hijackers of a Sudanese plane with more than 100 passengers on board are apparently from a hardline Darfur rebel group and want to join the leader in Paris, Libyan officials said on Wednesday.The Sun Air Boeing 737 was hijacked shortly after took off from Nyala, the largest city in Darfur, on Tuesday afternoon bound for the capital Khartoum, and was granted permission to land by Libyan authorities at Kufra military airport in the southeast of the country after it ran short on fuel.The hijackers, who have refused to talk directly with Libyan officials, have said they belong to the Sudanese Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, who lives in Paris, said the director of the airport, Khaled Saseya.
"The plane's pilot has indicated that the hijackers, who number 10 or maybe more Have said they belong to the Sudanese Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur," he told the Libyan official news agency Jana.The pilot said "the hijackers claim to have coordinated with him (Nur) to join him in Paris," he added.
Saseya said the hijackers have demanded a flight plan to Paris and fuel, but continue to refuse to talk to Libyan officials directly.
"The hijackers refuse to free any passengers or even open the doors which have remained closed since the plane landed," he said.
With the hijacking stretching past 12 hours, several passengers have fainted after the plane's air conditioning system failed, the pilot told airport officials on Wenesday.
Sun Air executive manager Mortada Hassan has said there were 95 passengers and seven crew on board the plane.
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Bradman reaches latest century, still unbeaten
SYDNEY: Australians on Wednesday marked the centenary of their greatest sporting hero, cricketer Don Bradman, by celebrating the fact his unbeaten record is still untouchable 60 years after he quit the sport.
Bradman, who died in 2001 aged 92, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be topped Test batting average of 99.94.
Australian media used the occasion to revisit the legend of the 'Boy from Bowral' whose run-scoring feats lifted the hopes of the country during the Depression and inspired generations of sportsmen and women to come.
Newspapers splashed images of the small-statured batsman across their pages while television bulletins re-broadcast rare snippets from interviews with 'The Don', who loathed his celebrity.
In Bradman's boyhood home of Bowral, a small town south of Sydney, scores of children formed a massive 100 on the cricket oval on which he first played, and sang 'Happy Birthday'.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who will deliver the Bradman Oration at a dinner to be hosted by Hollywood star Hugh Jackman later today, led tributes to the global cricketing hero.
"That Bradman made a century on average every time he batted is remarkable in itself, but to realise his batting average is virtually twice as high as anyone who played Test cricket for any length of time shows why he is one of sport's great stories," Ponting wrote in The Australian .
Ponting said sporting records were made to be broken, with the Beijing Olympics no exception with the breathtaking feats of swimmer Michael Phelps and runner Usain Bolt. But Bradman's was an "unassailable" record, he said.
"Of the 2,519 batsmen who have taken the crease in 131 years of Test cricket, Bradman stands alone and untouched," he said.
"I am no aware of any other sport which has one competitor so far above any other performer."
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Four majors eye Datacom stake
MUMBAI: The lure of having a strong foothold in the fastest growing telecom market in the world has drawn at least four global telecom majors — from three different continents — in race to buy up to 51% stake in Datacom Solutions. The company, majority held by consumer electronics major Videocon, is one of the five new telecom companies that has regulatory nod to start telecom services in India.
Dubai-based Etisalat, Turkish telecom major Turkcell, and another unnamed European telecom major are competing with Mexican Tycoon Carlos Slim's America Movil for a majority stake in Datacom, market sources said. All the four players in the race are pegging the valuation of the company at around $3 billion (around Rs 13,000 crore).
When contacted, Ravi Sharma, CEO, Datacom Solutions, confirmed that the company was talking to a host of prospective partners, but declined to give further details, including the names of the global players. ''Among other things like selecting the network partner, IT vendor and the creative agency for Datacom, we are also in discussion with various telecom players who could become our prospective partner,'' Sharma said.
While Slim's America Movil, Turkcell and the other player is still very much in the race, talks with Etisalat could be heading for a dead-end. Etisalat was proposing to take a 51% stake in Datacom through the preferential offer route and infuse the whole money into the company. On the other hand, some of the existing shareholders wanted to exit. Additionally, Etisalat also wanted an exclusive negotiation clause for buying the majority stake in Datacom.
Since the parties could not agree to any of these arrangements, Etisalat might start looking at the other new telecom players, a merchant banking source said. As of now while the Videocon group holds 64% stake in Datacom, Mahendra Nahata, earlier with Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL), holds 36% stake. Although Datacom was originally promoted by Nahata, later on he had sold majority stake to Dhoots of Videocon.
At present, the arrangement which is being discussed with Datacom's prospective partners ensures continuity of the existing management with the new partner getting a large number of board seats. Earlier, there were also talks that US telecom major AT&T and Spain's Telefonica SA were eyeing a stake in Datacom.
Earlier, top company officials had told TOI that among the five new players, Datacom had a first mover advantage with its management team in place and the company being top in the list of players set to get telecom spectrum.
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Kareena reveals all!
I don’t know when last you saw her, but I did on Sunday, from spitting distance in her vanity van at Mehboob Studios.
And never mind size zero, Kareena Kapoor is a dreamboat of a woman, all smouldering sexuality, honest emotions and sensuous curves. Besides, of course, being God’s gift to Saif Ali Khan. I hope he knows this, because she is crazy about him.
“He’s my best friend,” she told me. “Being lovers is easy, but remaining friends is tough.” That kind of honesty is hard to come by anywhere; in Bollywood — don’t ask! But I did. What was it that she looked for in her man? Was it sex? Companionship? Or did she require a man in her life 24/7 and so moved from one relationship to another? Kareena pouted, “Friendship first, and then love. Saif and I were friends right through Tashan. After that, we became lovers. Jab We Met was before I met Saif. I thought, if he can be my best friend, and be such a wonderful father to his kids, the rest will just follow.”
But, given his past, wasn’t it true that while he might be a great lover, he was lousy as a husband? “There’s no such thing as any man being perfect husband material,” she shot back, “the most stable guys make awful husbands. In Saif’s case, I followed my heart and instinct; that always make me happy, especially when I sleep at night. When you follow only your head, you end up frustrated.”
She has, I must admit, the courage of her convictions. How many actresses at the top of their careers have been honest about their relationships to their family, fans, the media? None that I can think of. Did she not fear that sometimes people might tend to forget she is Bollywood’s No 1 actress and think of her only as the woman in Saif’s life?
“By being honest and coming clean, I can hold my head high,” Kareena replied. Not a trace of irritation at the bluntness of my questions. I pushed further. If he was unwilling to commit to marriage, would she care to have a child out of wedlock with Saif? A love child? “No,” she said firmly, “I’m open about my relationship, but traditional in my values. Saif thinks I’m the most conservative and traditional woman he has known. I tell him, if you have a problem with that, then go be with someone else!”
Was there any other man who turned her on more? “Apart from Saif, nobody else... But Leo (di Caprio), oh God, he’s unnaturally good looking, he’s hot and also intelligent. I’d enjoy his company,” she said brightly. Enough to if the opportunity came up, have a fling with him? “I’m traditional,” she reminded me, “I won’t have a fling.”
But this is not all about Saif only, and the love life between Kareena and him, we talked films as well. She’s got a fascinating fistful at the moment. There’s Kambakth Ishq with Akshay, Idiot with Aamir, Mr Aur Mrs Khanna with Salman, Golmal Returns with Ajay, and she’s doing Karan Johar’s next film (“It’s untitled and it’s based on terrorism,” she revealed) with Saif. “I’ve chosen the right roles in all of them,” she said with a look of smug satisfaction. Who was her favourite co-star?
Kareena hummed and hawed a bit, then came up with, “Akshay, it’s so strange, I’ve done more films with him than Saif. Akshay and I look nice together, I share a comfort level with him, an emotional bond. But I’ve always wanted to do a film with Aamir. And one with Shah Rukh Khan. I’ve not done a love story with Shah Rukh. I was in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham with him, but opposite Hrithik.”
She being the Queen of Bollywood, did her heroes treat her as being on par, or... ? “Bollywood is male dominated,” she admitted, “but they are a little partial towards me. All of them have worked with my sister. And from way back then, they have treated me like a kid.” Did she, as a kid, have fantasies about any of these male hunks who were her sister’s co-stars, I asked. “All of them,” Kareena replied without batting an eye.
Talking of male hunks, would she do a film with her cousin Ranbir Kapoor, play his lover on screen? The eyebrows shot up, she laughed without embarrassment, “I don’t think so, and it would be my loss, because Ranbir is fantastic, he’s a brilliant actor. It’s so in his blood, he’s natural on screen. But I don’t know. Maybe Ranbir and I should do a film. Act as friends, perhaps brother and sister, but as lovers... maybe if the audience wants to see us that way. He’s hot and good looking, the best in the family, and I like interesting and different roles, I like taking risks, I’m ready to experiment. Jab We Met was different from Omkara. But I’m hopeful some director will write a film for me. I’d like to do a film like Erin Brockovich. Or be like Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada. I hope, at that age, I too have that fire in me that she has.” That the fire is raging in her at 28, there is no doubt.
She’s at the top of her career, she’s getting a film a day, she believes 24 hours is not enough even if she is facing the camera till 2 am, she’s been open and honest about her relationship and still maintained her popularity, films are her life — “I live, eat, breathe, drink films, often Saif and I slip into suburban multiplexes to enjoy films over a carton of popcorn.” Popcorn, I asked. “Yes, I love to eat, I have never been overweight, I’m fit and healthy, always slim. I don’t know what is it about size zero!”
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