Mallya questions duty to fly unprofitable routes

MUMBAI, (Reuters) - Vijay Mallya, whose cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines cancelled scores of flights this week, drawing the ire of the government and travellers and spooking investors, questioned on Saturday whether it was the carrier's duty to fly loss-making routes.

Shares in Kingfisher, the country's second-largest airline by market share, fell as much as 18 percent to an all-time low on Friday as investors fretted about the viability of the carrier, which acknowledged it had been late in paying salaries in recent months.

On Saturday, the Mint newspaper, citing an unidentified source, reported that the government had decided in principle to allow foreign airlines to own up to 24 percent of Indian carriers, a move that could throw a lifeline to Kingfisher and its struggling rivals.

It said the matter would be put before the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the next four weeks.

Mallya, the flamboyant liquor tycoon who owns a cricket team and a Formula One racing team, asked on the social networking site Twitter whether it was Kingfisher's duty to fly loss-making routes while it was being heavily taxed by state governments.

Or should the airline be financially prudent and fly profitably, he asked.

Late on Friday, Kingfisher said it was dropping unprofitable routes and speeding up a fleet reconfiguration, which would see its daily schedule of flights drop to 300 from 340. It recently said it was exiting the low-fare segment of the business.

The carrier, whose share price has dropped 70 percent in 2011, bringing its market capitalisation below $200 million, also said on Friday it "does not see any risk to its future or long-term viability".

Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said he would approach the finance minister to seek emergency bank assistance for troubled airlines.

Kingfisher said it had not sought a government bailout.

India's mostly loss-making airlines are struggling amid fierce competition and high sales taxes on aviation fuel despite passenger growth of about 19 percent this year.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has forecast a record $2.5 billion to $3 billion loss for Indian airlines for the year ending March 2012, with state-run Air India alone likely to account for more than half of it.

On Friday, private carrier Jet Airways and budget airline SpiceJet reported losses for the September quarter, compared with profits in the year-earlier period. Kingfisher has never made a profit.

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Govt gets respite as Anna Hazare's team fumbles

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Back in the summer, mass anti-corruption protests modelled on Mahatma Gandhi's methods had India's government running scared. Now, the political class has a new spring in its step as splits and scandals tarnish activist Anna Hazare's team.

These have been tough days for Hazare, the 74-year-old whose two-week hunger strike in August captivated the nation and forced a humiliated government to bow to his demands for a powerful new graft watchdog.

Accusations of financial misdeeds against Hazare's top advisers have smudged an aura of blamelessness around his movement - to the glee of the ruling Congress party as it gears up for parliament's winter session and bellwether state elections next year.

"It's put us in a defensive situation," said Kiran Bedi, a former police officer and senior member of Hazare's movement who this week said she would return some cash after accusations she inflated travel expenses. "It taps lots of extra energy, but you have to draw on your reserves."

Bedi, who shot to fame in the 1980s after she towed away ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's car for a traffic violation, denies any personal gain.

Another top adviser of Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, this week paid $18,000 in overdue taxes, saying he had done no wrong and the government was running a smear campaign.

It is too soon to write off a movement that made political activists of millions of previously apathetic middle class voters fed up with a venal elite, but there is a sense the scales have for now shifted to the main political parties.

The government is deeply unpopular because of high prices and multi-billion-dollar corruption scandals, but it would rather fight the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on these issues than a multifarious street movement.

"Congress has been dented by Team Anna's assaults, and on a parallel track the opposition has gained, but it's really back to normal," said Swapan Dasgupta, a former editor of news magazine India Today.

"The party system is more resilient than was made out, there were certain tremors for three weeks or so, but that has not really undermined institutional politics," Dasgupta said.

VOW OF SILENCE

Hazare himself retreated to his village complaining of ill health and observed a vow of silence for 19 days. He travelled to Delhi on Friday to lead talks on the Jan Lokpal Bill, breaking his silence with the nationalist slogan and army battle cry "Bharat Mata ki Jai" or "Victory for Mother India".

"The fight against corruption and for the Jan Lokpal bill is going on and will continue until corruption is completely uprooted," said the retired soldier, who once called for corrupt politicians to be hanged.

Hazare repeated a threat to use his vast popularity to campaign against the Congress party in five election-bound states - including the largest of them all, Uttar Pradesh - a controversial partisan policy that has divided supporters.

A test of this tactic by Hazare's team in a by-election in October was nominally a success: the Congress candidate had so few votes he lost his deposit. But by taking sides in the political fray, Hazare split his own movement and two core activists left.

It now looks increasingly possible that the leadership of the movement will dissolve if parliament passes the bill to create the corruption ombudsman in its month-long winter session starting Nov 22.

"What we are hoping is that, irrespective of what happens, whether the same team or the same leadership carries on the movement, we hope and we expect that the momentum and the energy will be carried on," said Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer who helped draft the bill.

Ultra-nationalists burst into Bhushan's office and beat him up while he was being interviewed by a TV channel in October after he said citizens of the contested region of Kashmir should be allowed to vote on autonomy from India.

Hazare, who says he was scarred by a bullet during a 1965 war with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, reacted angrily to Bhushan's comments and said he was ready to fight another war with India's arch-rival.

If Hazare's principal aim of creating a powerful new tool to fight the rampant culture of graft in high politics and business is met, many of his allies, including Bedi, say they would be ready for a rest.

"You cannot expect the same group of people who have come together on the particular issue of corruption, to carry on many other issues in which there could be some difference of opinion," said Bhushan.

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'We are united', reiterates Team Anna; visits Hazare

Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra), Oct 30 (IANS) Putting up a united front, Team Anna Sunday said there were no differences among its core committee members and accused the Congress of trying to create rifts through a smear campaign.

Team Anna members Sunday came here to meet activist Anna Hazare, a day after holding a core committee meeting in Ghaziabad.

In the wake of graft allegations against some members, the group also decided to draft a code of conduct for its core committee members and anybody violating it would be removed from the committee.

They also said that its members will jointly campaign in the five states that go to the polls in 2012 for a strong Lokpal institution.

'We are all united. We will wait till the winter session of parliament to see if the Lokpal bill is enacted. Otherwise, we will as a team tour the five states going to polls next year to campaign against the Congress,' Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here. He was flanked by members Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi.

They alleged that Congress was trying to divide the team members through its smear campaign against members of the core committee of India Against Corruption.

'Some leaders of the Congress are trying to divide the team. Some are trying to discredit us. This is a 20-crore people's agitation. If we give up the movement now, people will stop trusting us. Till the time a Lokpal institution is in place, we will continue our movement. We are all united,' Kejriwal said in the presence of Anna Hazare.

'Congress is running scared after its Hisar poll defeat. But we are not against any political party or grouping. Since Congress is in power at the centre, it should fulfill its commitment to the nation to have a corruption-free government and enact the Jan Lokpal bill,' he said.

Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi also dismissed allegations of misuse of funds by them, saying all the IAC accounts were specially audited for six months and the accounts will be put up on the movement's website on Nov 1.

'If you still have doubts over the accounts, you can order an investigation through any government agency,' Kejriwal said.

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Sebastian Vettel wins inaugural Indian Grand Prix

 

 Greater Noida - World champion Sebastian Vettel made history by winning India's first ever Formula One with ease on Sunday as McLaren's Jenson Button tightened his grip on the championship's second place.

Red Bull's Vettel led throughout for his 11th victory of the season, finishing some 8.4 seconds ahead of Button with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso third and Australian Mark Webber fourth.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher battled to fifth but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton came in seventh after yet another collision with his Ferrari bete noire, Felipe Massa. "My pace was good up until the crash. After the crash, we struggled," said the 2008 champion.

But wire-to-wire Vettel was in a class of his own at the all-new Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi as he closed on Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of 13 wins in one year, with two races left this season.

"Yes boys! Yes, we did it," Vettel shouted over the team radio as he finished. "The first Indian Grand Prix. Fantastic challenge, we did it!"

In dry, 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat, India's debut grand prix got off to a furious start when Rubens Barrichello was hit on the first turn and three cars ended up off-track, before Jarno Trulli found himself on grass.

Vettel made no mistake from pole position but Button nipped past Webber and Alonso to go from fourth on the grid to second, cueing up an early dogfight with the Australian Red Bull driver.

As they dueled, Vettel opened up a lead of nearly five seconds and after the first set of stops, the young German emerged from the pit lane still at the head of the field.

Williams' Pastor Maldonado was the first retirement with a gearbox problem and Sebastian Buemi had to stop his Toro Rosso when it started pouring smoke.

And there were fireworks on lap 24 when Hamilton, trapped on the inside by Massa as they hared towards a left-hand turn, shunted the Ferrari driver across the track in the latest of a series of collisions between the two.

Massa was given a drive-through penalty and Hamilton pitted for a new front wing, but the Brazilian's race soon ended in farce as a kerb shattered his front suspension - a replay of the mishap he suffered in qualifying.

Button threatened to close the gap on Vettel in the final laps but there was no catching Formula One's youngest ever back-to-back champion and he punched the air as he took the chequered flag in front of the giant grandstand.

The race's build-up has been overshadowed by two deaths in motorsports this month and the controversial spectacle of glamorous Formula One appearing in one of India's poorest regions.

But its private-sector organisers are already celebrating a smooth and successful event which has helped bury memories of last year's Commonwealth Games, which are remembered for their poor organisation and corruption.

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2G scam: Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others charged

New Delhi, Oct 22 (ANI): The special CBI court on Saturday ordered framing of charges against 17 accused including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi in connection with their alleged roles in the 2G spectrum scam.

The court allowed Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) fresh plea to invoke charge of criminal breach of trust against Raja and Kanimozhi.

Section 409 was also pressed against former Private Secretary R K Chandolia, former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura.

Those charged under Section 409 of the IPC, which hands a minimum punishment of seven years and a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Telecom companies Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless were charged with criminal conspiracy and abetment in the case.

The Court also found prima facie evidence against three top Reliance ADAG officials Gautam Doshi,Surender Pipara and Hari Nair for offences of cheating and abetement.

The accused have been charged for various offences of the IPC dealing with criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating.

Besides these, Raja and other public servants have been charged with misuse of official position punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A. Raja was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet last year after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue.

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285 Indian girls shed 'unwanted' names

MUMBAI, India  (AP) — More than 200 Indian girls whose names mean "unwanted" in Hindi chose new names Saturday for a fresh start in life.

A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.

The girls — wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair — lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets from Satara district officials in Maharashtra state.

In shedding names like "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars like "Aishwarya" or Hindu goddesses like "Savitri." Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as "Vaishali" or "prosperous, beautiful and good."

"Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me this new name, and that makes me very happy," said a 15-year-old girl who had been named Nakusa by a grandfather disappointed by her birth. She chose the new name "Ashmita," which means "very tough" or "rock hard" in Hindi.

The plight of girls in India came to a focus as this year's census showed the nation's sex ratio had dropped over the past decade from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 to 914.

Maharashtra state's ratio is well below that, with just 883 girls for every 1,000 boys — down from 913 a decade ago. In the district of Satara, it is even lower at 881.

Such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses, or just sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. The problem is so serious in India that hospitals are legally banned from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus in order to prevent sex-selective abortions, though evidence suggests the information gets out.

Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents' funeral pyres.

Over the years, and again now, there are efforts to fight the discrimination.

"Nakusa is a very negative name as far as female discrimination is concerned," said Satara district health officer Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, who came up with the idea for the renaming ceremony.

Other incentives, announced by federal or state governments every few years, include free meals and free education to encourage people to take care of their girls, and even cash bonuses for families with girls who graduate from high school.

Activists say the name "unwanted," which is widely given to girls across India, gives them the feeling they are worthless and a burden.

"When the child thinks about it, you know, 'My mom, my dad, and all my relatives and society call me unwanted,' she will feel very bad and depressed," said Sudha Kankaria of the organization Save the Girl Child. But giving these girls new names is only the beginning, she said.

"We have to take care of the girls, their education and even financial and social security, or again the cycle is going to repeat."

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Yeddyurappa in ICU after falling ill in jail

Jailed former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will be in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the state-run Sri Jayadeva hospital here for the next two days as he is suffering from multiple health problems and mental stress, a top doctor said Sunday.
'Yeddyurappa is kept in ICU for observation and a series of tests to assess his condition and prescribe treatment as he is having high blood pressure, high sugar level and body pains. He is also under severe stress,' Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research director C.N. Manjunath told IANS here.
Within hours after being jailed late Saturday by a trial court in graft cases related to land scams, Yeddyurappa, 68, was shifted to the hospital after he complained of chest pain and back pain in the wee hours of Sunday.

'When Yeddyurappa was brought here around 2 a.m., he was having chest discomfort and vomiting sensation. Preliminary investigations showed he was stressed out with high blood pressure (100-180) and high blood sugar as he is diabetic,' Manjunath said.

Manjunath is the son-in-law of former prime minister and Janta Dal-Secular (JD-S) president H.D. Deve Gowda.

Initial tests such as ECG, echo and angiogram revealed that Yeddyurappa's health parameters were not normal and required treatment, besides full rest.

'A five-member medical team has been formed to monitor Yeddyurappa's health, conduct further tests and keep him in ICU as he needs to take complete rest. Further stress or strain will complicate his health,' Manjunath pointed out.

Admitting that high-profile personalities, celebrities and politicians tend to fall suddenly ill when jailed or prosecuted, the eminent cardiologist said, unlike ordinary people, VIPs face tremendous stress and pressure of undue attention, especially from the media, and their large number of) followers and relatives.

'It's common among the high-profile, including celebrities and politicians to be stressed out and feel the heat of being under relentless media watch and undue concern of their near and dear over their well-being. So in the case of Yeddyurappa, who is not only aged but also having a medical history of being diabetic, suffered a mild stroke recently,' Manjunath said.

In a related development, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda visited the hospital with some of his cabinet colleagues to enquire about Yeddyurappa's health and wish him speedy recovery.

'Though Yeddyurappa's health is stable, by and large, he is not keeping well and needs medical attention. Due to ageing and multiple risk factors, he is vulnerable to endure stress or strain of any kind,' Manjunath added.

The bail application of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's first chief minister in south India was Saturday rejected by Lokayukta (ombudsman) special court judge N. Sudeendra Rao and an arrest warrant was issued as Yeddyurappa was not present in the trial court.

Rao not only rejected Yeddyrrapa's bail plea but also declined to exempt him from being present in the court on health grounds.

Former BJP minister for endowments (muzarai) Krishnaiah Shetty, who was also remanded in a week-long judicial custody along with Yeddyurappa is lodged in the Parpanna Agrahara jail as his bail plea was also rejected.

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MiG crashes due to pilots' inexperience: IAF chief

 

A day after a MiG-21 combat plane crashed near Uttarlai in Rajasthan, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne Saturday said of the last three accidents, two were caused by 'inexperience of young pilots'.

'As far as the two-three accidents we had of the MiG-21s, unfortunately, except for one case, the other cases are pointing towards inexperience of young pilots, who have not been able to handle the (high speed) landing,' Browne told reporters here after inspecting the Air Force Day parade.

However, rookie pilots would not be flying from January 2013 the supersonic 'unforgiving' MiG-21s, which have a landing speed of about 330 kmph.

'This is the last (pilot training) course which will be flying the MiG-21. After this, all pilots will be trained on Hawk (advanced jet trainer). This course will finish in December next year. So this is very crucial period. We have to be very careful,' Browne said.

The air crashes were also linked to the lack of basic trainers for the IAF, which grounded the HPT-32 Deepak last year after it claimed 23 pilots' lives and had 108 engine cuts.

India is expected to order for 75 Swiss Pilatus PC-7 basic trainers later this month as a replacement for the Deepaks.

'This (air crashes) is also linked to the basic trainer aircraft, which is a starting point. If the base is good, solid...then you will not have this problem. Basic trainer aircraft case is in the final stages and this is with ministry of finance, and we hope that by the end of this month, and if not by end of this month... we will sign the contract for Pilatus PC-7,' Browne added.

Friday's air crash was the fourth MiG-21 accident this year. Of them, only one accident had pilot fatalities.

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358-yr-old Taj Mahal 'in danger of collapsing within 5 years'

 

The Taj Mahal will collapse within five years unless urgent action is taken to fix its rotting foundations, campaigners warn.

The 358-year-old marble mausoleum is India's most famous tourist attraction, bringing four million visitors a year to the northern city of Agra.

But the river crucial to its survival is being blighted by pollution, industry and deforestation.

Campaigners believe the foundations have become brittle and are disintegrating.

Cracks appeared last year in parts of the tomb, and the four minarets, which surround the monument, are showing signs of tilting.

The Taj Mahal was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who was grief-stricken by the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth.

A campaign group of historians, environmentalists and politicians say time is running out to prevent a 'looming crisis'.

"If the crisis is not tackled on a war-footing, the Taj Mahal will cave in between two and five years," the Daily Mail quoted Ramshankar Katheria, the MP for Agra who is leading the campaign, as saying.

"The architectural wonder of the world is losing its shine, and if this persists the minarets may also collapse since the wooden foundation - beneath the wells - is rotting due to lack of water.

"No one has been allowed to go into the foundations for the last three decades. If everything is fine, what have they got to hide?"

Professor Ram Nath, a historian who is one of the world's leading authorities on the Taj, said: "The Taj stands just on the edge of the river Yamuna which has now dried up.

"This was never anticipated by its builders. The river is a constituent of its architectural design and if the river dies, the Taj cannot survive."

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International community needs to work together to eliminate terrorism: Patil

Berne, Oct 3 (ANI): Appreciating Switzerland's strong and unequivocal condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Monday said that the international community needs to work together to eliminate the forces of terrorism, which are inflicting wanton destruction across the globe at will.Addressing the Wandelhalle/Salle Des Pas Perdus Parliament Building, Berne, President Patil said: "International terrorism is one of the multilateral issues on which India and Switzerland share a common view. We appreciate the strong and unequivocal condemnation by Switzerland of terrorist attacks in India. The international community needs to work together to eliminate the forces of terrorism, which are inflicting wanton destruction across the globe at will. This is vital for peace and stability in the world."

President Patil said that another global challenge facing humanity today, which requires an urgent, collective and coordinated global response is climate change.

" For a country like India, with one of the smallest carbon foot-prints in the world, the first and overriding priority is to alleviate poverty and to address our severe energy deficit. Half a billion people in India still do not have access to commercial energy," said President Patil.

"Despite our huge developmental challenges, we are doing everything possible, within our means and resources, to contribute to the global action on climate change through an ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change. We have already declared our commitment to keep per capita emissions below the average per capita emissions of developed countries," she added.

Stating that both India and Switzerland have been actively and constructively collaborating on a wide range of issues, President Patil further said both nations elieve that the United Nations system needs to be reformed to make it more democratic and effective.

"India is convinced that this would require, among other things, the expansion of the UN Security Council. We strongly believe that India meets and satisfies all objective criteria for having a permanent seat in the expanded Security Council," said President Patil.

"We thank the Swiss Confederation for supporting our candidature for a non-permanent seat in the Council for 2011-12, and hope that it would be able to support India's aspirations to a permanent seat as well," she added.

Highlighting that Switzerland ranks amongst the leading countries in the world in harnessing renewable sources of energy, including both wind and hydro, President Patil said: "Renewable energy is clearly a sector where there is a great potential for bilateral cooperation. There is also scope for greater collaboration in biotechnology, where the two countries could focus on cutting edge areas, such as bio-electronics and bio-informatics, food processing, in which Switzerland has developed great expertise."

"India too has gained recognition from the world for its human resources that makes it an ideal Research and Development location. It has also emerged as a hub for high quality, cost-competitive manufacturing. These advantages offered by India, taken together with the innovative culture of Swiss enterprises, have created enormous synergies between our two economies which we should harness to benefit both our people," she added.

President Patil arrived in Switzerland on September 30 for a five-day state visit to enhance bilateral relations. She will stay in Switzerland till October 4 and then travel to Austria for a state visit from October 4 to 7.

The members of the delegation accompanying the President include Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla and Members of Parliament Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, and Dr. Chinta Mohan.

Senior officials including the Secretary to President Dr. Christy Fernandez and Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, are also a part of the delegation, besides a number of business leaders and members of the media.

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Kapil Sibal Reappears with Mythical Sakshat Tablet for October Launch

The Indian wonder tablet was suppose to be launched on June 2011, to initial testing by shipping it to IIT students. Then, it disappeared, along with Kapil Sibal, HRD Minister, possibly succumbing to Team Anna's protest.
Now, both of them have reappeared.

At a function in Delhi, Sibal said: "The computer will be launched next month…This is not just a dream, it is a reality," he added. Officials announced that the device will be launched on October 5, 2011. However, Sibal has not spoken about the device's specifications.

The device's prototype is likely to be a 5/7/9 inch touchscreen gadget, featuring a webb browser, PDF reader, video conferencing, open office, sci-lab, media player, remote device management capability, multimedia input-output interface option, and a content viewer.

Sibal also mentioned how "corruption…in the recent past will be dealt with through initiative of IT…"… the device.
Sibal hasn't announced any program to institute the tablet for government work, Besides, And, the tablet won't actually be used for any of this - Indian government has issued a directive granting Rs. 50,000 to MPs to buy iPads and Samsung Tabs for parliamentary work, along with training to use the tablet interface.

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The Rs. 1750 price-tag (quoted in dollars by the government) has also been questioned. Even though the tablet is considered, by experts, to be a copy of the Chinese Hivepad tablet, such a low-price tablet has never been invented by the Chinese.
According to PCWorld: "The basic components like a processor, motherboard, memory, display, etc, however obsolete they might be, that go into a computer, would cost more than $35 even if you buy in millions of pieces, which the major manufacturers anyways do…"

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