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Saturday 20 December 2008
Villu - Music review
Blogger Introduced New Feature: ‘Geotagging’
Blogger (Also called blogspot) in draft has recently announced a new feature called Geotagging or location labels which enables you to add locations to each of your post through Google Maps. It is similar to time stamps of blogger posts which help to browse using specific date/month whereas Geotag give your readers a way to browse posts near a specific location.
As per official blog of Blogger in draft
We’ve just added geotagging to the new post editor on Blogger in draft. With geotagging, you can add a location to your each of your blog posts. Just as time stamps help readers find posts from a certain date or time, geotags give your readers a way to browse posts near a specific location.
Adding a geotag to your post is easy. Log into draft.blogger.com, open the post editor, and click the ‘add location’ link below the main text field.
Use the location editor to search, drag, click and zoom on a map to choose and save a location. Google says- “We’ll try to label the location you choose using our reverse geocoder, which looks up a name for a point on the map”. You can also edit the location name by clicking the blue location name text below the search field.
As said earlier, you can see clearly, this feature is integrated with Google Maps:
Orkut Scrap Notification Emails Just Got Better!
Story 1: Around 3 months back, Orkut improved its email noor activities like someone send you a friend request, post a scrap in your scrapbook, etc.
Story 2: At Orkut Feeds, our service which provide updates for Orkut scrapbooks in RSS feeds format, user demanded we should offer an email alert service where they can get complete scrapbook updates. They wanted emails with actual content of scraps!
Now a new update by Orkut connects these two stories. Orkut has improved email notification for scraps, again!
As you can see, above email notification screenshot contains, actual content of scrap as well as display pic of sender.
The only problem with display pic if you are a Gmail user is: you have to enable display of images in every scarp notification email you will get. It would have better if Orkut has used same common email ID to send all notifications.
Anyway this is real treat for users who don’t use Orkut much. 
Google Image Search Just Got Even Better
Few days ago, Google announced the launch of a new feature in their Image search option, using which one can search exclusively for faces and later on they released photo search feature. But now, they realized to do something even better and the output is what I am going to write about.
Now Google have included features to search for Line Drawings and Clip arts as well. So, if you are looking for some specific formats or types of images, then you can now easily locate the images you are looking for using these new options in Google Image Search.
To check out these new options, I personally tried searching images using the different options for the keyword ‘Christmas’ and here are those images.
If you remember, few days ago I mentioned a feature in Live Image Search using which we were able to find images using similar images. This new updates by Google, seems to be a reply to those guys at Microsoft.
Kylie Minogue to sing for A. R. Rahman
Popular Australian singer Kylie Minogue will be singing a song which has been composed by music wizard A. R. Rahman. The song will feature in the Hindi film 'Blue' which stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Katrina Kaif and Lara Dutta. Reports suggest that the music diva will be paid a staggering 5 crores for the song. The recording is expected to happen next month and Kylie Minogue will land in India with her entire troupe. Interestingly, the lady will also feature in the video of the song.
According to reports A. R. Rahman had considered two other pop divas Madonna and Rihanna earlier. But then things didn't work out as expected.
'Blue' is expected to be one of the most expensive films ever made in India surpassing 100 crores.
International flavor in Indian films is sure to make many heads turn towards India. Sure looks like an innovative trend.
A. R. Rahman wins London critics award
Danny Boyle, an English filmmaker came up with the much appreciated film 'Slumdog Millionaire' with the background score of India's very own A. R. Rahman. The film was about a poor Mumbai youth who takes part in a game show to win the first prize and eventually become a millionaire.
The London Critics Association has lauded A. R. Rahman's talent by awarding him the prestigious London Critics Award for the year 2008.
'I am happy with this award and I'd like to credit Danny Boyle for extracting appropriate music from me. Danny has been so meticulous with his work that both of us have become friends now', said Rahman.
A. R. Rahman with his incredible talent is truly going international.Nag’s famous 8 in ‘King’
The latest buzz is all focused on Nag’s ‘King’ which has a slew of eight heroines dancing in a song. Akkineni Nagarjuna’s ‘King’ features Trisha and Mamtha Mohandas in the lead cast. The movie has been made an end-to-end entertainer by director Sreenu Vytla. The above said song has been filmed recently in Annapurna Studios.
The song 'Nuvvu Ready…Nenu Ready… Gana Bajana Ready' sung by Shankar Mahadevan, has been canned featuring Nagarjuna and heroines Trisha, Mamtha Mohandas, Anushka, Charmme, Genelia, Priyamani, Sneha Ullal and Kamna Jhatmalani.
The schedule for this number lasted for 7 days in an extravagant set designed by art director AS Prakash. Popular choreographer Brinda composed the steps for the music composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The song will be a special highlight for the movie, says director Sreenu Vytla.
King has been made on a high budget to make it the biggest hit in Nag's Career, says producer D. Sivaprasad Reddy.
The movie has completed its final stages of buffing and is being screened for the censor works tomorrow. It is getting ready to be released by next week.
Other prominent cast of the film includes, Madhushalini, Srihari, Brahmanandam, Suneel, Venu Madhav, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Krishna Bhagavan, Chandra Mohan, MS Narayana, Jaiprakash Reddy and Shayaji Shinde.
13th IFFK to conclude today
 The 13th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala will conclude today, with the closing ceremony that will be held at the Nishagandhy Auditorium in the evening. State Cultural Minister M S Baby will give away the awards which will be followed by a Sufi concert by Zila Khan and the screening of the award winning movie. Apart from IFFK awards, Natpac and FIPRESCI awards will also be given away in the function. Films like Machan, Yellow House, Photographer and My Marlon and Brando are the hot favorites in the popular awards section which will be selected after counting the popular votes. Films like Parque Via, Dreams of Dust, Hafez and Postcards from Leningrad are among the front runners for the jury awards. |
Dhoni and his debut in Bollywood
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Striking a balance between cost and demand
| Can more attention be paid to affordable housing under the present market conditions? |
Beyond reach: The Kochi skyline dotted with highrises. The question of affordability has come to the fore in these times of economic hardship.
Affordable housing is a term being increasingly used these days. But how is affordability defined? That, probably, has been keeping the builders as well as their clients guessing. The builders feel that they are definitely making products in an affordable range and the buyers think the prices have to come down.
As the global financial crisis is making its effect felt in every sector, housing is definitely a major sector that has been hit. The builders, the banks, the investors, the workers, construction material dealers… it has affected a whole range of people. Perhaps, it is against the backdrop of such a crisis that the term affordable housing has come up strongly.
According to National Sample Survey figures, it is estimated that the country has a shortage of 2.5 crore homes. So, the apparent sluggishness in the market is not because of a lack of demand. But rather the demand is more in the lower income group.
Wait and watcg
The builders will not agree that the luxury housing market has stagnated somewhat. They will prefer to say that customers in this section are adopting a wait-and-watch policy.
As inflation has dropped to some extent, people have come to expect a further fall in prices. But, there is really no such scope in Kerala, builders say. As long as the land component cost is as high as Rs. 600-700 a square foot, it is going to push up the prices considerably, says George E. George, chairman of the Kerala Builders’ Forum.
The cost of construction has not come down yet. It is only the price of steel that has come down by about Rs.10-15 a kg, which is not much compared with the constant increase in its price during the last couple of years.
Investors are afraid to come forth in the crisis period and are unsure whether it will be better to invest now or later. The funds need channelling and the builders are making an all out effort to get them flowing. Even as the Kerala Property Show in Dubai held a while ago was not much to talk about compared with the response the shows had generated earlier, the builders are drawing up aggressive strategies for another show coming up in Kochi next week.
“We work on narrow margins,” says Kunnel Antony, secretary of the forum. People are looking for better opportunities because they feel that prices have come down. Actually, builders have to cut thin on the existing margins, he added. The builders would like to bring down the prices if the government cuts down on the taxes, he says.
Taxes account for about 33 per cent of the total value of property. If the rate of taxes comes down, the builders feel that prices will become more affordable. Along with this, there should be proper infrastructure development at places that have not witnessed prime real estate development. If the two go together, the builders will definitely be interested in venturing into housing for the low-income group, Mr. George says.
If affordable housing is pegged in the range of Rs.16-22 lakh for a 1,000-sq.ft house, it is still on the higher side for the poor. But certainly, there will be a lot of takers if housing at such cost is made available.
This can happen only if land becomes slightly cheaper. For this, one has to move away from the city limits. But people will not like to buy a house that does not have access to cities, Mr. George says. He argues that if infrastructure development is assured, there is no reason why builders will not take up housing for low-income groups. Transport and commuting facility remains the first priority in housing, he adds.
In metropolitan cities, such as Delhi and Mumbai, the governmental development authorities had taken the lead in providing housing for all sections of society. It is a different situation here altogether when the government agencies have not played their role.
The Planning Commission estimates that the demand for houses in the next four years will be from the lower income groups, which experience 90 per cent of the shortage.
As the urban demographics show that over one-fourth of the poor population lives in cities, the planners and the builders have to play a role in providing affordable housing here.
It is estimated that the investment for meeting the housing demand is going to touch about Rs.4,000 crore. The builders may like to take a cue in changing trackas the number of families that would start earning more is likely to go up considerably. Hence, demand for small houses will go up proportionally.
Banks’ stand
The banks are perhaps the next in line to look for a booming housing sector. “We are definitely looking expectantly with a cut in interest rates for home loans,” says a banking professional in a private sector bank. Over the last two years, the lending rates had gone down to as low as 7-7.5 per cent and it is hovering around 12 per cent now. “Any individual, specially the salaried class finds it difficult to pay up the increased EMI. The bank would like to keep the lending rate at minimum so that its non-performing assets do not swell,” he says.
Unless customers opt for fixed rate interest, the monthly payments will become a big burden, he added. But, the banks usually do not encourage customers to go for fixed rates for the loans. However, all the banks will not be able to lower the lending rates as nationalised banks do.
For the private sector, the atmosphere is not yet conducive to the lowering of the rates considerably, says the banker.
There should be some downward trend in the deposit rates for the banks to feel happy about lowering lending rates, he adds.
Asin - Pure magic! n Luck!
| After making it big in the South, Asin steps into the choppy waters of Bollywood with Ghajini. |
The billboards across the country are screaming: Remember December 25, but Asin wishes that her audience in the South forgets the original Ghajini and watches the Hindi version with an open mind. “I know there is a lot of anticipation about the film in the South.” She gives it to the pan-India appeal of one man: Aamir Khan.
Comparisons are inevitable and Asin finds both Suriya, (who played the lead in the original) and Aamir equally passionate about the lead character Sanjay. The guy loses his girlfriend and memory in a gang attack. Out to take revenge, he finds himself handicapped, for he can remember only the last 15 minutes. So, he begins to write down the vital clues. Asin says that the story is the same; only the climax has been tweaked a bit. “I can’t compare, but the Hindi version has definitely been shot on a bigger scale.” In remakes (remember Nayak?), the dialogues are often literally translated into Hindi, lending a dramatic effect. Here, she maintains, the dialogues have been rewritten to suit the nuances of the language.
Talking of language, Asin insists she is fluent in Hindi. Putting doubts to rest, she adds the film was shot in sync sound, so there was no way she could cheat her way through.
Asin plays Kalpana, a model who believes in social activism. “As I had already played the character, it was easier for me to emote.” After the Mumbai terror attack, celebrity activism has also come into focus. “I don’t mind being part of a protest if it is not a publicity device. I am associated with a number of charity projects. I don’t agree with those who consider every celebrity protest as some sort of a gimmick. I have as much right to show solidarity with those who faced the terror attack as anybody else.”
As for shifting to Mumbai, Asin clarifies she has not shifted base. “It is just that the film was to be shot in Mumbai in real locations; so I thought it would be better to find a place in Mumbai rather than shuttling between cities. My parents are with me.” Her father is doubling as her manager. “He accompanies me on shoots.”
Is it indicative of some kind of insecurity in a new city? “Not at all. I am a very secure person. In the past, I have stayed in Mumbai for short periods for shooting commercials. I don’t think anybody should mind him accompanying me. As far as work goes, I have not found Bollywood any different from the South. New subjects are being tested everywhere. I had heard of projects getting delayed in Bollywood because stars don’t report on time but I have found everybody quite punctual.” Even Salman Khan? “Yes (laughs), I have completed a short schedule with him for London Dreams and he was on time.”
As for the gossip columns, which are full of her shopping binge in London with Vipul Shah, she says: “This is perhaps the only thing I have yet to figure out. Stories have been written about me when I have hardly spoken to the media. How do they come up with such ridiculous stuff? I want to clarify that there is no truth in the story that Vipul bought me shoes costing around a couple of lakhs because I was not happy with the ones I was offered. The film’s designer was in London a month before the shoot and he sourced all the stuff, including the shoes.”
Image is a big issue in Bollywood, and Asin says her only aim is not to get slotted. “I don’t want to be bracketed as someone for the intelligent multiplex audience or as having mass appeal. If I see myself fitting into a story, I will do it. Simple.”
What about the tag ‘glamorous’? “The word is loosely used. To me, glamour is more about style and attitude. There is a line of decency which I will never cross.”
Between the lines
On her selection
I was told Aamir watched the original and wanted me in the remake.
On Aamir
The media portrays Aamir as overtly methodical. Like most of us, he has a lighter side. I had heard that he loves to play pranks on newcomers. Thankfully, I was not targeted. On the last day of shooting, he did get some ideas but it was too late.
Here to stay
I am excited about Vipul Shah’s London Dreams and Bharatbala’s Walt Disney production 19th Step with Kamal Haasan.
Angiography: CT not as effective as conventional
| There is no conclusive evidence that CT angiography is life-saving |
Every physician who advertises CT angiography points out that it is painless and takes less time
Risks from radiation exposure are significant when radiation is used for mass screening
Whole-body CT scanning technology fell by the wayside thanks to the uncompromising stand of professional associations and regulatory agencies which highlighted its dangers. But some specialists widely practise cardiac CT tests such as calcium scoring and CT angiography though independent assessments have not proved their effectiveness.
During conventional angiography, the physician threads a thin catheter through the groin artery into the heart, injects a contrast medium and takes x-ray pictures.
These pictures show whether narrowing or blockages in the artery impede the flow of blood. For those with severe blockage, the options are angioplasties possibly with insertion of stents or bypass surgeries.
Risk of bleeding
During cardiac catheterization, there is some risk of bleeding, and a tiny risk for major complications, such as heart attack, stroke, even death.
Every physician who advertises CT angiography points out that it is painless, takes less time and is an attractive option. According to the New York Times, more than 1,000 cardiologists and hospitals installed CT scanners in the U.S. There is undeniable financial incentive to order too many of these tests.
A comparison
The owners argue that the test is cheap, at about $600, paid for by insurers as against $ 4,000 for a cardiac catheterization done at their local hospital.
However, there is no conclusive evidence that CT angiography leads to treatment that saves lives (Health Affairs, Nov/Dec 2008). Conventional angiography remains the gold standard.
Risks from radiation exposure, though small to an individual, are significant when radiation is used for mass screening. There was broad consensus that radiation exposure from CT is of concern.
In India, certain private hospitals advertise CT angiography as very beneficial; none of them refers to radiation risks. Everyone praises the technology. A private hospital used a letter from a member of the faculty of a premier medical research centre to substantiate correlation between CT angiography and conventional angiography!
I sought his reaction to this crude anecdotal approach.
“I routinely write letters to people who have done investigation and what I have done was just to let them know what was the outcome.
“I did not think in my wildest dream that they will utilise it to advertise my letter. I was not aware of it. They are commercial organisations and medicine in a private hospital has become good money making art/business,” he responded to my e-mail.
Pro-screening physicians formed the Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) task force. They want non-invasive imaging of all asymptomatic men (aged 45-75 years) and women (55-75years) except those at very low risk (Archives of Internal Medicine, May 26, 2008).
Evidence of the effectiveness of this recommendation is scanty. These specialists propose the existence of “vulnerable plaques.” The difficulty is that CT cannot identify them.
No clinical utility
“I do not think ‘vulnerable plaque’ has been shown to have any clinical utility,” Dr. Rita Redberg, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, responded when I sought her views on promotion of CT by the Indian private hospitals and the SHAPE guidelines.
CT angiography is not as effective as conventional angiography. Those knowledgeable in the field must take the lead in exposing the tendency of hospitals to exploit the “worried well.”
SBI slashes lending, deposit interest rates
SBI's PLR now stands reduced at 12.25 per cent, the bank said in a press release on Saturday.
The rate cut came a day after India's largest housing finance company HDFC reduced its interest rates by 50 basis points for loans of more than Rs 20 lakh for both existing and new customers and introduced a new slab for sub-Rs 20 lakh.
Union bank of India, another leading public sector bank had reduced its deposit rates on Friday, while Bangalore-based state-run lender Canara Bank announced reductions in their deposit and MSME lending rates.
With the country's largest lender reducing the PLR, other leading banks are also expected to follow the leader in the next few days, banking sources said.
The bank also cut deposit rates by 0.25-1 per cent, which will again be effective from January 1, across all maturities.
With the revision, 1-2 year deposit rates will now attract an interest rate of 8.5 per cent as against the earlier 9.5 per cent while deposits having two years to less than 1,000 days maturity will attract a 8.75 per cent (nine per cent), the bank said.
Similarly, the 1000-day deposits special deposit scheme, which had offered 10 per cent rates earlier, will now give nine per cent to investors, SBI said.
Pranab slams Pakistan, asks who runs the show
Mukherjee also questioned Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's control over the country and described captured Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab's confession as damning.
"One of the terrorist who has been captured alive has given us a chilling account of his handlers. A few months earlier the Indian Embassy in Kabul was the target of a terrorist attack. The impunity with which these attacks are carried out is possible only because of the safety the handlers have been assured," said Mukherjee.
"Mumbai attacks were not accidental or unintended. It was a cold and calculated move. Kasab has given a chilling account," the External Affairs Minister said.
Slammed the Pakistani government, Mukherjee alleged that other forces were pulling the strings in the government.
PM holds war room meet; reviews security, defence
The meeting lasted for over two hours and discussed the country's security preparedness and selective strikes on terror camps across the border.
Defence Minister AK Antony, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and senior armed forces officials including all the three Service chiefs attended the meeting.
The marathon meeting assumes significance as there is heightened terror threat and tension with Pakistan and the Union Government has already declared that it is keeping all options open on dealing with any external threat following the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistani terrorists.
Earlier in the day, the Defence Minister AK Antony presided a separate meeting with Coast Guard and Defence Ministry officials to review the security of Indian coastline where he cleared the acquisition proposals for the sea-guarding agency.
India cannot remain a global 'back office': PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India should not remain a 'back office' to provide R&D solutions to the world and asked scientists to do more to keep pace with China and Japan who have 'scored over' it in taking scientific and technological advances to the people.
"We cannot be satisfied becoming a back office for providing research and development solutions for multinational companies," he told a gathering of top scientists in New Delhi.
Singh gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes, the country's highest science awards, for 2007 and 2008 to 21 young scientists.
"China and Japan have scored over India in delivering to the people the benefits of scientific and technological advances," he said.
"Unless we apply ourselves to this task, the powerful scientific tools of social and economic change will remain confined to our laboratories and institutions," he said.
"Our scientists should work to connect science to the daily lives of millions of Indians," the prime minister said pitching for use of public-private partnerships to commercialise technologies emerging from R&D programmes being funded by various science departments.
He said the scientists should focus more on linking the lab with the market and asked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to take lead in this regard.
"To begin with, let CSIR work to commercially exploit its
knowledge base, currently embodied in more that 3,000 or so patents held nationally and globally," Singh said.
Noting that the world is confronted with potentially devastating climatic changes, the prime minister asked scientists to use the "ingenuity and inventiveness" of science to find ways to "leapfrog" to future technologies, which are affordable and sustainable.
"We can use some part of the public investment, which we will spend to stimulate our economies, in these technologies that will help build sustainable pathways to development," he said.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is putting together a plan that will provide us the framework for research and investigation in the area of climate change, he said.
Singh said the government will spare no resource to ensure that the country's huge potential in the science and technology is utilised.
"The creativity of and innovation of our scientists are a matter of great pride for our country. They have pushed the frontiers of science to enable us to strengthen our defence capabilities; improve our healthcare and our agricultural economy; extend the reach of our communications and land on the moon," he said.
Reports on Kasab's arrest baseless: Nepal
The Nepalese Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu said its "serious attention" was drawn to the report that appeared in Pakistan's 'The News', which quoted a Lahore-based lawyer as claiming that Kasab was arrested here by Indian police with the help of Nepalese security personnel in 2006.
The report in the Pakistani daily was "illusive, baseless and fictitious and it was published with a view to damaging Nepal's image," the ministry said in a statement.
"The ministry hereby refutes the news report in the strongest term and states Ajmal Kasab was neither arrested in Nepal nor was he handed over to any other country," it said.
Meanwhile, Nepal's Ambassador [Images] to Pakistan Bala B Kunwar told a news conference in Islamabad [Images] that report about the arrest or kidnapping of Kasab in his country were "baseless and concocted".
Kunwar said an inquiry had established that Iman had never lived or was arrested in Nepal before 2006.
"Nepal as a sovereign and responsible state has always adhered to its stated policy of not allowing its territory to be used against the interest of other countries," he said.
Kunwar said the news report about Iman's arrest was "aimed at denting Nepal-Pakistan relations".
He added he was confident that such charges would have no impact on the friendly ties between the two countries.
A Pakistani lawyer named C M Farooque had claimed this week that Kasab was arrested two years ago in Kathmandu by "Indian agencies" with the help of Nepali authorities. He claimed Kasab was on a "business visit" when he was arrested.
Farooque told the Pakistani media that he had filed an application in Nepal's Supreme Court for seeking Iman's release and claimed the court had sought a reply from Nepali authorities and the Indian High Commission in Kathmandu. His claims were subsequently rejected by Nepal's interior ministry.
His claim was rejected by the Nepalese court officials, who said Farooqi had filed a case for the release of two other Pakistani nationals, not Kasab, and later the court had dismissed the case as he had failed to follow its proceedings.
Kunwar made it clear that he was not addressing the news conference due to pressure from India but only because his country had been "dragged" into a controversy.
He also pointed out that there is no counter-terrorism treaty between India and Nepal though there is an extradition treaty that only applied to nationals of the two countries.
Answering a question, Nepalese Ambassador said there are a number of Pakistanis in Nepal's jails while a number of Nepalese were in Pakistani jails though he did not have the exact number of prisoners.
The ambassador said Nepal's policy of issuing visas on arrival for Pakistanis would not be changed or altered. He said the Nepalese government will extend full cooperation and assistance to Kasab's lawyer in finding out the facts.
"The embassy of Nepal wants to say loud and clear that... Ajmal Amir Kasab [Images] was neither arrested in Nepal nor handed over to any other country," said a statement later issued by the mission.
The news reports about Iman's arrest in Nepal were "put out with a design to malign the image of Nepal".
Never say die: Trident, Taj tower rule skyline again
Two structures that bore the brunt of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, the Trident hotel and the Taj hotel towers are all set to reopen on Sunday December 21, 2008, within a month of the attacks.
The Trident is throwing open all its 550 guestrooms and suites as well as facilities like the spa and fitness centres to the public.
The hotel says most tables at its two restaurants have already been booked. But the hotel will have no Christmas or New Year celebrations. The freeze on celebrations of the loud kind are to mourn the victims of the terror attacks.
The Taj, another target of the terrorist attack, also reopens on Sunday. Four terrorists were holed in at the Taj Palace hotel in a 60-hour-long siege.
The Trident, which is in a building close to the Oberoi hotel, is connected to it through a lobby. The Oberoi hotel, however will remain shut for renovation work, necessiated by damages sustained in the recent terrorist strikes.
How fake currency funds terror
Intelligence Bureau sleuths say the menace of fake currency is on the rise and there is a specific information that this money is being used extensively for terror operations.
IB sources told this correspondent earlier that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence raises Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) annually to fund terror operations and that a major chunk of this amount comes in through fake currency rackets.
IB officials say Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) of the Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) spent on the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in December 2005 was obtained through the fake currency racket.
Investigating agencies claim that the amount of fake currency in India is a shocking Rs 170,000 crore (Rs 17 trillion).
Reserve Bank of India officials dispute this figure and say that as on July 2008, the total currency available with the Indian public was Rs 603,000 crore (Rs 63 trillion) and if what the IB is saying is true, then it would mean that 28 per cent of the currency in the country is fake.
The fact that fake currency is being generated with the ISI's blessings in Pakistan is no secret. IB dossiers suggest that the notes are printed in Pakistan and then transferred to Dubai. In Dubai, the money is collected by hawala operators and dumped in India.
All fake currency reaches Maharashtra first, according to investigators. This is because it is familiar terrain for fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. His proximity with the ISI grew after he took over responsibility of pumping fake currency into India.
IB officials say while Dawood controls most of this racket, Aftab Bhakti, originally from Mumbai, and Babu Gaithan, from Hyderabad, take care of operations in Dubai. The duo are in charge of collecting the money and then transporting it to India. This money is transported through individuals travelling between Dubai and India.
Labourers, who go to Dubai in search of employment, are the usual targets. When they return to India to visit relatives, they are lured with incentives to carry the fake currency. The notes are covered in carbon paper and stashed in suitcases and covered with perfume, clothes and other goodies. IB sleuths say there have been instances where notes have been packed in photographic albums.
While a large chunk of the fake currency is sent from Dubai, a sizeable amount of money also comes in through India's borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Majid Bilal, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami terrorist Shahid Bilal's brother, during his interrogation, said that Pakistani agencies had made it compulsory for terrorists to carry fake currency into India each time they crossed the border. He said the point men were based in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The fake money is exchanged for original notes on a 2:1 basis. The money generated is then passed onto various terror networks in India to fund operations.
Majid mentioned that Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) was spent on last year's Hyderabad blasts and all this money was generated through the distribution of fake currency.
Both RBI and IB sources say it is difficult to differentiate between real and fake currency notes.
But an RBI official says there are prominent differences between the real and fake notes.
In a fake note, the security thread or the silver bromide and the logo are hazy. The three watermarks on each note -- the Ashoka Pillar, Mahatma Gandhi's image, denomination and the words RBI -- are not as prominent compared to original notes. In the fake currency, the sprinkled blue dots are not visible when seen through ultra violet light. Lastly, the superimposed digits are not visible when seen horizontally.
RBI officials, who have closely observed fake notes printed in Pakistan, say:
- The distinctive numbers are smaller in size.
- The alignment of series prefix are not in line when carefully examined.
- Thick lettering is used to print the issuing authority's name.
- Continuity of the security thread is not maintained.
- Alignment of the register on the left hand side of the watermark is not proper.
- Watermark on the left hand side bears a thicker image of Mahatma Gandhi whose eyes and spectacles are thicker in size.
- Intaglio printing is absent.
- Optical fibre marks are present when exposed to ultra violet light, but these are few when compared to genuine notes.
- The security thread does not glow under ultra violet light.
- The paper used is made of wood pulp while compared to the security paper, cotton and special ink used in the manufacture of the notes by the RBI.
There is a growing concern that more and more fake notes make their way into the Indian banking system. A bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that there are two ways in which such fake currency reaches banks.
Business establishments are targetted by the counterfeiters and the fake notes passed on to such entities in the course of business. The unsuspecting establishments innocently deposit the fake notes in the bank.
In some cases the perpetrators of the racket themselves deposit the fake cash, usually during peak hours and during busy periods like the festive season. Bank tellers, who are under tremendous pressure at these times, accept the notes without authenticating them.
While the RBI says that banks ought to be more careful and should have a fool-proof screening process, bankers say it is extremely difficult to keep a tab on every currency note.
Although the fake currency racket is a huge threat to the Indian economy, the conviction rate is a mere 6 per cent across the country. Explains R G Sadashiv Reddy, a senior advocate, "Such cases are incomplete unless the person, who originally floated the note, is caught. Usually, the case comes to light only when the fake currency has changed hands several times and there is no point in convicting a man who was last in possession of the notes."
Another hindrance is the law relating to such cases. An amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code now seeks to resolve this problem. This amendment proposes for the inclusion of more scientific experts to give evidence in cases relating to fake currency notes, in addition to officers of the Indian Mint or India Security Press, Nashik. Section 292 of the Criminal Procedure Code is proposed to be amended to enlarge the list of offices whose expert opinion on counterfeit currency can be considered as evidence.
By January 2009, the RBI proposes to withdraw all currency notes printed from 1996 and 2000. The RBI says that counterfeit notes are largely in the 1996 and 2000 series and hence it would be best to withdraw this series and introduce a new series of currency notes. The RBI says the new series will have enhanced security features. RBI officials, while understandably refusing to divulge the features, say these notes would be hard to copy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation plans to develop a national data bank of fake currency notes to help identify its origins.
SPG braces itself to prevent shoe-attack on VVIPs
The latest gadget in the armour of Special Protection Group, the crack commando force that protects the Prime Minister and four other VVIPs, are electronic stunners that look just like an ordinary laptop.
The device will electronically stun and numb any attacker managing to come in close proximity of any of the SPG's protectees. Besides Prime Minister Manmoan Singh, others protected by this crack force -- raised after Indira Gandhi's assassination -- are Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her children Rahul and Priyanka, and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The stunner took guard just outside room number 9 of the Parliament House or the Prime Minister's chamber early this week since the SPG felt anybody could walk up to the chamber once inside the Parliament House, as movements around the chamber on the ground floor are not restricted.
A similar stunner was installed outside the Parliament office of Sonia Gandhi.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said the stunner will, henceforth, be deployed near Dr Singh whenever he appears in public and where it cannot rule out the possibility of the manual cordon around him to prevent anybody come close to him.
The SPG has also been trained on how to guard its protectees against any object flung at them like in the case of US President George Bush, who narrowly missed a pair of shows thrown at him by a journalist while he was on his farewell tour of Iraq
Training VVIPs
The SPG personnel have been told to sensitise their protectees with a small quick response training to duck such small projectiles. They have also been trained on positioning themselves close to the protectee in a manner that they can bodily prevent any object hitting him, the sources said.
They do not rule out Dr Manmohan Singh , Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi -- who are the SPG-protected VVIPs -- coming under this kind of attacks, particularly during the parliamentary election campaigns.
India gets set to mount diplomatic offensive on Pak
Armed with sufficient material on the terror attacks in Mumbai to nail Pakistan, India will mount a diplomatic offensive from Monday by convening a two-day closed door meeting in New Delhi with the heads of all foreign countries' missions in the national capital as part of strategy to get Pakistan declared as a 'terrorist State'.
Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will interact with ambassadors and high commissioners stationed in Delhi and discuss with them the problem of the repeated terror attacks planned and executed by their masters sitting in neighbouring countries.
The exercise is to convince foreign governments that Pakistan would continue to harbour terrorists that pose a danger not only to India but to all other countries and to pressurise it to take effective steps for getting rid of all terrorist outfits and camps and not allowing them the base to regroup under new names.
Evidence of the involvement of the Pakistan Army's secret agency, Inter Service Intelligence, in the Mumbai attacks as also in the attack on the Indian mission in Kabul and other attacks will also be presented at the meeting to convince foreign governments that all efforts to banish terrorists from Pakistan will fail so long as they continue to get patronage and support of ISI, sources in New Delhi said.
Diplomats will also be provided the evidence gathered about the Mumbai terror attacks as also on various other incidents of terrorism, sources added.
A compact disc containing the evidences gathered so far in the 26/11 incident, including the information gathered from interrogation of the lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab , will be presented to the diplomats.
Sources said the CD and other material is also being sent to all Indian missions abroad to present them to the respective governments as part of the diplomatic offensive India is now mounting to build an international pressure on Pakistan.
Mukherjee will talk to the diplomats on Monday, setting the tone of the two-day meeting to be held in the DRDO complex in New Delhi, while Dr Manmohan Singh will address the assembled heads of the foreign mission on Tuesday after they get a thorough briefing from a team of officials from the foreign ministry and security and intelligence agencies.
Since the Mumbai Police is primarily handling the investigations of the 26/11 attack that left about 200 killed, one of its senior officers may also be present at the meeting to answer to any queries by the diplomats.
Hansbrough sets mark in No. 1 UNC’s 91-73 win
Phil Ford stood at midcourt, waiting for Tyler Hansbrough to take the microphone and address the home crowd. As the reigning national player of the year walked up, Ford playfully bowed in reverence before giving him a hug.
Now even the famed point guard who flawlessly ran Dean Smith’s “Four Corners” offense is looking up at Hansbrough as the storied program’s all-time leading scorer.
Hansbrough scored 20 points Thursday night to break Ford’s 30-year-old mark and help top-ranked North Carolina beat Evansville 91-73, a game that was completely overshadowed by the 6-foot-9 senior’s record pursuit.
He needed just nine points coming in, making the record an almost certainty considering that he’s failed to reach double figures just six times in his career. But that didn’t mean Hansbrough was oblivious to all the attention about a record that had stood through the careers of names like Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Antawn Jamison.
“I’m usually not nervous before games, and I was a little nervous before tonight just because I felt like there was a lot of pressure,” said Hansbrough, who sat between Ford and coach Roy Williams during the postgame news conference. “One thing for me, I didn’t want us to strictly focus on trying to break a scoring record. We had a game and I was trying to do whatever I could to help the team.”
Hansbrough finished 7-for-14 from the field and had nine rebounds for North Carolina (10-0), which shook off a slow start and stretched the lead to double figures against the Purple Aces (7-2) shortly after Hansbrough passed Ford midway through the first half.
Ford, now an assistant coach to fellow Tar Heel alumnus Larry Brown with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, finished his career in 1978 with 2,290 points.
“I think everyone who knows me knows how much I love this program and to be a small part of this historic moment for Tyler is a dream come true for me,” Ford said. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
“It’s an honor to be compared in the same breath with Tyler. When I look at how hard he plays and how he listens to Coach Williams, as a player, that’s what I tried to do.”
Hansbrough tied Ford on a jumper from the left wing with 14:05 left in the first half, then set the record by muscling in a bank shot over James Haarsma and Pieter van Tongeren with 7:41 to go.
As soon as the record-setting shot went through the net, officials briefly stopped the game to allow Ford, Williams and athletics director Dick Baddour to present Hansbrough with the game ball. Students who carried small signs saying “Phil Ford 2,290” on one side turned it around to reveal “Tyler 2,291+” on the other.
Hansbrough waved to acknowledge the roaring crowd and handled the historic moment with his typically reserved demeanor, though he seemed eager to get back to the game and away from the focus being on him.
After the game, the school showed a video montage of Hansbrough’s career highlights that included congratulations from several former players. That’s when Hansbrough took the microphone from Ford and emotionally addressed the crowd.
“I never dreamed I’d be here and be the all-time leading scorer,” Hansbrough said as he stood alone at midcourt. “This is a great honor to be here and to represent you guys every night in this uniform.”
It was a moment that fellow senior and roommate Bobby Frasor said showed how much Hansbrough appreciated the record even though he didn’t want to dwell on it in recent days.
“I’ve never seen him tear up or choke up like that,” Frasor said. “But Tyler really does care about all this stuff and he knows what he accomplished is pretty special.”
Still, the Tar Heels seemed a little tight and the home crowd anxious to see Hansbrough set the record early. But in the minutes afterward, the Tar Heels settled down and outscored Evansville 22-10 the rest of the half to take a 46-28 lead.
It lightened the mood enough that Williams—who said he was counting down a player’s points in his head for probably the first time—was able to tease Hansbrough on the bench after he missed a two-handed dunk on his first shot following the record.
“I said, ‘Boy, I’m really glad that’s not the basket that would’ve broken the record,”’ he said with a laugh.
The Tar Heels maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way, cracking the 90-point mark for the seventh straight game.
Hansbrough left the game for good with the Tar Heels leading 83-58 with 5:33 to play. He still has a chance this season to pass Sam Perkins for the program’s career rebounding record and break the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring mark set by Duke’s J.J. Redick in 2006.
“Whatever Tyler gets, he deserves,” Evansville coach Marty Simmons said. “I’ve been a big fan of his since he was in high school. It’s good to see guys that work the hardest be rewarded the most.”
Ty Lawson added 16 points for the Tar Heels, while Danny Green had 14, including the 1,000th of his career.
Shy Ely scored 23 points to lead Evansville, which was off to its best start since going 10-1 in 1981-82. The Purple Aces were playing the No. 1 team for the first time since 1980 and just the third time ever.