At least seven sailors were seriously injured on Wednesday in a mishap involving the Russian-origin Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuratna, 40 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai.
This is the tenth accident involving an Indian Navy warship and the third submarine mishap in the last seven months.
INS Sindhuratna was involved in an exercise along the Mumbai harbour when a leakage in the battery compartment of the submarine occurred, resulting in seven Naval personnel suffering suffocation.
The Navy personnel, who were rendered unconscious due to smoke, were airlifted to the naval hospital INS Ashwini in Mumbai for treatment.
Two Navy officers, who were on board during the incident, are missing.
Meanwhile, a Board of Inquiry under a senior officer has been ordered to ascertain the reason behind the mishap.
It is learnt that a senior naval officer of the submarine wing was present on Sindhuratna when the incident took place.
Around a month ago, INS Sindhughosh had a close shave when it entered the Mumbai harbour during a low-tide phase and was about to run aground.
INS Sindhurakshak sank in the Mumbai harbour last year, killing all 18 personnel on board. Defence Minister AK Antony then sought a detailed report from the Navy on the issue.
Earlier this month, INS Airavat, an amphibious warfare vessel, ran aground after which the commanding officer was stripped of his command duties.
After the sinking of the INS Sindhurakshak, another mishap involved INS Betwa, which was damaged after it collided with some underwater object.
India’s leading minesweeper, the INS Konkan that was undergoing repairs in Vizag, caught fire and suffered major damage to its interiors. The Pondicherry-class minesweeper was getting a refit at a dry dock when the incident occurred.
The naval headquarters is concerned over the spate of mishaps in the Western Command and had even summoned Western Naval Commander Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha on the issue.
The Bombay High Court permitted the Aam Aadmi Party to amend its PIL to challenge the MoU signed between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mumbai Cricket Association over allotment of a land in suburban Kandivali.
The PIL filed in September last had challenged the allotment of land and the terms and conditions therein.
The petitioner today informed a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha that while the allotment was made in February 2003, a MoU was signed between BMC and MCA on January 8, 2014.
“The MoU has been signed on the same terms and conditions that the petition had challenged. We would like to amend the petition and challenge the MoU,” a lawyer appearing for the petitioner said.
The bench allowed the amendment and posted it for hearing after four weeks.
According to the PIL, the land admeasuring 39,950 square metres was allotted to MCA for training of youngsters in cricket but the association was using it for commercial purposes.
Sharad Pawar, the then president of MCA had in February 2003 written a letter to the BMC seeking allotment of land in suburban Mumbai for organising coaching of youngsters in cricket.
The corporation wrote a reply immediately saying that it was considering allotting the plot to MCA and on February 10, 2003, the allotment was sanctioned on adoption basis whereby the MCA could only maintain, beautify and manage the plot and not construct anything except a store room and watchman chowkie.
In April 2004, the MCA sought the agreement to be converted to caretaker basis which would enable it to develop gymkhana, club, stadium, swimming pool, recreation ground and so on. This was granted in May 2005 and a caretaker agreement was executed on June 11, 2012.
“Open spaces are property of citizens and are being arbitrarily and manipulatively given away to organisations owned by politicians. There has been no application of mind while allotting the land to MCA.
Municipal plot cannot be given on lease, adoption or caretaker basis to any private party. The civic body has allotted a huge chunk of land on a mere request made by SharadPawar instead of calling for tenders,” the PIL alleges.
Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse criticised the ruling Congress-NCP alliance over law and order and intelligence failures saying the state Home Minister came to know about Satyapal Singh joining BJP after his sudden resignation as Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Initiating the debate on the interim budget in the Legislative Assembly, Khadse said state Home Minister R R Patil had no information of the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s political moves.
“If the intelligence gathering is so poor on this count, how can we expect strong intelligence network to tackle terrorism?” he asked.
There is unrest in the police force due to political interference in transfers and promotions, he alleged.
“Do you know two additional DG rank police officials are quitting soon?” he asked and questioned whether Vijay Kamble and Ahmed Javed were sidelined for Mumbai Police Commissioner’s post because they belonged to particular caste and religion.
Khadse also lashed out at the government for failing to nab the killers of social activist Narendra Dabholkar.
He said the Adarsh commission report was property of the legislature and the revised ATR by the government, after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s intervention, should have been tabled in the legislature.
He also wanted to know when the government would act against former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.
The state’s debt is now Rs. 2.93 lakh crore and will be Rs. 3.04 lakh crore next year; he said and demanded a white paper on state finances.
Khadse also expressed concern over the rise in Naxal menace and atrocities against women.
In a major crackdown on drug peddlers and addicts, 577 people have been arrested for allegedly possessing contraband in a span of one week in the city.
The 577 – either drug peddlers or addicts – were arrested in 353 cases registered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at various police stations in the five regions – south, central, west, north and east areas – and by special Anti Narcotics Cell across the city between February 18 and 25, said Deputy Police Commissioner Mahesh Patil.
“According to our study, drug suppliers and abusers spotted on the streets usually carry out crimes such as chain snatching, robberies, burglaries, pick pocketing, robbery and motor vehicle theft and are found involved in crimes against women, among others. Several of the arrested accused in recent crimes reported in the city are drug addicts,” Patil said.
“Hence the drive was started all over the city and it will hopefully help us prevent and curb street crimes,” he said.
Anti-Narcotics Cell has arrested 120 drug abusers in 20 different cases from the city.
In a crackdown carried out by various police stations in the city, maximum 201 arrests took place in west region, followed by 103 arrests in central zone. Besides, 69 accused were arrested from south region, 59 from north region and 25 from east region.
The accused have been booked under section 27 of NDPS Act, as they were found possessing drugs such as charas and ganja in small quantity. This can get them up to six months’ imprisonment or fine or both to the accused.
The drive began on February 18; two days after Rakesh Maria took charge as Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Maria had said that the crackdown on drug peddlers and addicts was one of his top priorities.
Following the gangrape of a photojournalist at Mahalaxmi’s Shakti Mill on August 22 last year, the police had carried out a similar drive and arrested at least 400 drug addicts.
After the assault of an American national in a local train on August 18 last year, the GRP had also rounded up at least 150 addicts.
Power regulators, consumer organizations and industry experts have raised red flag over the viability of uniform tariff for low end consumers with monthly consumption up to 300 units in Mumbai. They have said it is against the competition envisaged in the Electricity Act 2003.
Besides, they also supported the observation made by the PricewaterhouseCoopers in its report submitted in July 2011 to Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) that the uniformity in tariff can be achieved if the enablers come into play or if the government supports the entire process via means of external support, if required.
They were reacting to the statement made on Tuesday by the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and his deputy Ajit Pawar that distribution companies have been asked to prepare a road map to reduce tariff and ultimately bring in uniform level in tariff charged to consumers in Mumbai. There are four distribution utilities in Mumbai comprising Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply Transport and Maharahstra State Electricity Distribution Company.
VP Raja, former chairman, MERC told ”The entire intention of EA 2003 is to create competition in the power sector. Because of developments that have taken place in last few years at least in the Mumbai suburbs, the choice is now available for consumers to choose between Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure as the service providers. Today by exercising the choice consumers can choose that company which gives them the cheapest power. Even though choice is not competition it is the first step for fostering competition. Under these circumstances, any step which bring in uniform tariff will be step against the principle of fostering competition.”
He however, said that Delhi story is not comparable to Mumbai. The distribution business is historically different. Shantanu Dixit, researcher, Prayas Energy Group shared Raja’s view saying that uniform tariff in Mumbai is against the basic tenants of competition in the power sector as the basic cost structure and consumer mix is different for different companies.
”Moreover, such a move will hamper competition for efficiency improvements on part of discoms. Further, any tariff cut should happen based on appropriate improvements in planning and operational efficiency and cost reduction rather than burdening the state exchequer,” he noted. According to Dr. Ashok Harne, energy expert, the uniform tariff is difficult to achieve in Mumbai due to high skew in the end users and in power purchase. There should be clarity on whom the uniform tariff will be applicable.
”There are different end users right from commercial consumers to residential consumers consuming less than 300 units. The electricity consumption does not go by the rules of economics. There are some end users whose consumption is not proportional to the rise in power tariff,” he added.
Ashok Pendse, consumer representative on MERC argued that it is difficult to achieve the price parity in low end residential consumers unless and until skewed consumer mix is changed in Mumbai.
”The money has to come from top end or the government then only it is feasible. Ultimately, the decision of tariff is with the MERC and not with the government. The government can give subsidy and then only it can talk about reduction or subsidized tariff without this action of subsidy legally government does not have a role,” he viewed.
In a minor relief to Prince Tuli, the estranged husband of former Miss World Yukta Mookhey, the Bombay High Court relaxed the condition imposed on him about recording his presence at a police station here in connection with the domestic violence case filed against him by his wife.
Justice Sadhana Jadhav ruled that he can mark presence at the suburban Bandra Police Station on the last Sunday of every month, instead of every Wednesday and Sunday.
Tuli’s lawyers Filji Fredrick and Avinash Gupta pleaded that Tuli was regularly attending the police station since July 2013 when he moved the sessions court for anticipatory bail. However, being a Nagpur resident, it was difficult for him to attend the police station twice a week as stipulated.
Tuli’s anticipatory bail application will be heard by the High Court on March 14.
Meanwhile, senior lawyer Rajiv Patil, the mediator appointed by the High Court to settle the dispute between the couple amicably, continues to hold talks with the two.
In a complaint to police in July last year, Yukta accused her husband and in-laws of subjecting her to domestic violence and harassment. She also accused Tuli of unnatural sex.
Tuli and his family approached the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail. The court rejected Tuli’s plea but granted bail to other family members.
He then moved the High Court which granted him interim protection from arrest, pending the hearing on his application.
Mumbai police Wednesday visited Delhi to probe reports that gangster Abu Salem got married on a train while being taken by police to Uttar Pradesh for a court hearing.
Sources said a team of Mumbai police visited Delhi and conducted an inquiry with Salem’s defence counsel, lock-up in-charge and security personnel who were deployed for escorting Salem.
The team will visit Lucknow Thursday for a further investigation.
Salem married a woman from Thane, on the train to Lucknow, with a Muslim cleric presiding over the nikah ceremony over telephone. The wedding, purported to have taken place in January, is being seen as a security breach.
An anti-terror attack court in Maharashtra earlier this month ordered an investigation into the reports about Salem’s wedding.
The court directed police to conduct an inquiry as to how an accused, who was in judicial custody, could marry on a train without the court’s permission.
Salem, extradited from Portugal in 2005, is facing trial in eight cases in India, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, and is currently lodged in a Mumbai jail.
Days after budget carriers led by SpiceJet lowered ticket rates by up to 75 per cent to avail early summer season bookings, Air India joined the fare war today offering discounts on select routes.
The national carrier announced up to 30 per cent discount on advance ticket purchases with an extended travel period on select flights on local routes as well as domestic leg of international flights.
The scheme covers 115 flights and offers approximately 30 per cent discount on the apex 30, 60 and 90 levels, Air India said in a release here.
The booking for tickets under the ‘Short Term Promotion Sale Bonanza’ will start tomorrow and would continue till March 1. The scheme covers the travel period from March 29 to September 30, it said.
Under the offer, one-way ticket for the Goa-Mumbai sector will cost Rs. 1,586 (excluding taxes), while passengers will have to shell out Rs. 3,470 (excluding taxes) for journey between Mumbai and Kolkata.
Similarly, a one-way journey on the Thiruvananthapuram- Mumbai will cost as low as Rs. 2,557, while the fare for a Delhi-Lucknow flight stands at Rs. 1, 889.
On Monday, SpiceJet triggered a third round of fare war in the last one month, lowering fares by up to 75 per cent. The no-frill airline had announced a 50 per cent and 30 per cent reduction in fares in quick succession in mid-January to attract customers.
The move was immediately aped by its rivals IndiGo and GoAir with almost matching discounts.
As the Lok Sabha elections are approaching, personal attacks by leaders have also increased. A day after Salman Khurshid launched a direct attack on Narendra Modi, the Union Minister stands by his comment and again on Wednesday, he calls Modi politically ‘impotent’. Can we call it a decent language when it comes from Salman Khurshid, a Foreign Minister and senior Congress leader? Look at the rowdy mindset of these representatives, one is calling Modi impotent whereas others want to crush the electronic media. These immature leaders are giving comments when their uncrowned prince wants to empower the people and women in particular, with various laws and rights which he forgot to provide in last 10 years.
Meanwhile, after Khurshid’s jibe, the Opposition came out to defend its PM nominee, launching a direct attack on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Khurshid said, some people came, attacked and went, and Modi government couldn’t protect. Is he not a strong man? He further stated, we don’t accuse you (Modi) of killing people… Hamara aarop hai ki tum napunsak ho. (Our accusation is that you are impotent). You couldn’t stop the killers,” he added. Napunsak is a term used for impotent men in Hindi. Modi can be the PM of India, but Muslims should not vote for him. These kinds of ridiculous utterances would have been avoided by senior leaders. It is sad that present politicians never make comments on what they will contribute to the country if they are elected, instead of commenting like primary school kids on the other peoliticians. It is strange that people holding high Government office should stoop so low to attack opposition leaders in such uncivilised language. And that too people who claim to have been educated in Harvard/Oxford, St. Stephens & Doon schools. Is this the Congress party which claims the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders who fought for country’s independence?
On the other hand, Rajnath Singh apologised for 2002 Gujarat riots but at this crucial stage, seeking apology is not going to favour his party. BJP president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday sought to bridge a trust deficit between his party and Muslims by saying that he was ready to apologise for any mistakes committed by the party in the past and urged the community to give the saffron outfit at least one chance. Singh’s remarks immediately sparked speculation that the BJP chief was referring to events like the 2002 Gujarat riots or Babri Masjid demolition. He told Muslims, “try us once. If we don’t come up to your expectations, don’t look at us ever again,” at the event ‘Modi for PM – Mission 272+ – Role of Muslims’. Though BJP leaders said Singh’s remarks did not amount to acceptance of culpability for the Gujarat riots and pointed out that the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was exonerated by the courts, the outreach did generate ripples in political circles. On a similar note, but in less dramatic terms, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said BJP had been pleasantly surprised by the success of minority candidates fielded by it in states like Goa and Rajasthan. He said BJP stressed the principles of equality and security for all citizens.
Is there any Muslim leader ready to apologise for the systematic massacre of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits and the exiling of lakhs of them? Or, was that as usual “a conspiracy by cunning Hindus to make peaceful Muslims look bad”? Or maybe we will hear a sanctimonious “doesn’t attack an entire community for the actions of a few misguided souls”? Funny how these arguments were never allowed for Hindus! We should also wonder why those lakhs of Kashmiri pundits in exile for decades due to religious persecution never get a mention, while we are constantly bombarded with news of a relatively tiny number of Muslims in Muzaffarnagar refugee camps, caused by mutual fighting.
Is this general apology needed at all, when the courts have given clearance and termed it as ‘false allegations’? It only shows the magnanimity and their concern for all people of the country. Congress has a lot of questions to answer. The Gujarat riot has happened because of the train burnt at Godhra. No person is bold enough to burn a train. Who backed them and gave them the courage to burn a train? Who benefited from it? When the riots broke out, Modi rightly ordered to open a control room in his office to control the riot. He requested the army’s help and within 24 hours, the army reached Gujarat. He also asked the Congress governments in Maharashtra and MP to send reinforcement. The Maharashtra government sent the police force after 3 days. Then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh refused to send the Police force to the neighbouring state. Under which circumstances, he refused to send the police force to Gujarat? By this, the main mistakes were done by the Congress CMs and now they are blaming Modi for not handling the riot properly.
It is very sad that Congress and its ministers are making character assassination. One should fight elections by highlighting the achievements of their party. From this comment, it is very clear that Salman Khurshid does not have anything to say about Congress’s achievements. He is unfit to be an external affairs minister. Not only BJP, all other political parties should condemn Salman Khurshid’s comment made on Modi. Election Commissioner must ensure that these types of comments are not permitted and strict action should be taken on the political parties which are stooping down to this level.
Soha Ali Khan still cannot figure out why she opted to make her debut with 2004 film `DilMaange More`, which had three actresses in the lead.
The 35-year-old actress, who was new to Bollywood at that time, said it was a terrible decision.
“I don`t know why I chose to make my debut with `DilMaange More`
The film had three leading ladies — me, Tulip Joshi and Ayesha Takia — opposite ShahidKapoor. I was fresh to Bollywood at that time because I had just come back from England and had no clue about hero-heroine dynamics in India,” Soha said here while discussing the portrayal of women in cinema and TV at an event.
Soha said she took the film because she found her character progressive because she dumps her boyfriend over her career.
“When I was asked a character out of three, I chose Neha because she is ambitious. At an young age of 21 she chooses her career over boyfriend. It was again a wrong decision taken by me because in Hindi films, actresses keep their partner over any other thing,” she said.
But the `War Chod Na Yaar` actress is happy that cinema has changed over the period and she gets to play strong characters.
At least seven sailors were seriously injured on Wednesday in a mishap involving the Russian-origin Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuratna, 40 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai. 
Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse criticised the ruling Congress-NCP alliance over law and order and intelligence failures saying the state Home Minister came to know about Satyapal Singh joining BJP after his sudden resignation as Mumbai Police Commissioner. 
Soha Ali Khan still cannot figure out why she opted to make her debut with 2004 film `DilMaange More`, which had three actresses in the lead.