Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, wife of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at a five-star hotel in Delhi.
There was a PCR call at 7.30pm after which her body was found in a room at Leela Kempinski on Africa Avenue, the police said. They said she had checked into the hotel on Thursday. There were no visible injury marks and nothing to suggest poisoning either, said Deepak Mishra, special commissioner (law and order).
The incident comes within 24 hours after Pushkar was involved in a verbal spat with popular Pakistani columnist Mehr Tarar following the alleged hacking incident.
The shocking news comes just a day after Sunanda and her husband Shashi Tharoor were involved in a tweeter controversy, also involving a Pakistani woman journalist.
As the indecorous row surrounding the suave 57-year-old Tharoor escalated, the controversy-prone minister took to Twitter to come out with a joint statement with his wife Sunanda Pushkar to say they were “happily married”, but distressed by “some unauthorised tweets”.
“We wish to stress that we are happily married and intend to remain that way. Sunanda has been ill and hospitalised this week and is seeking rest. We would be grateful if the media respects our privacy,” said the statement by Tharoor, who married Pushkar in 2010. The row erupted after exchange of some messages involving the three, some of them intimate.
“We are distressed by the unseemly controversy that has arisen about some unauthorised tweets from our twitter accounts,” the diplomat-turned politician said.
Pushkar had accused the 45-year-old Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar of stalking her husband and trying to “break” her marriage when she was away for medical treatment.
The spiritual leader of Dawoodi Bohra community Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away on Friday after a cardiac arrest in Mumbai. He was 102.
His 70-year old son Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin has succeeded him, it was announced.
Syedna Burhanuddin died on Friday morning at his residence in South Mumbai, a spokesperson for the community said.
“The 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohra community, His Holiness Dr Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin expired today at the age of 102 at his Mumbai residence at Saifee Mahal,” he said.
“Born in Surat, he was the leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community after succeeding his father Syedna Taher Saifuddin in 1965. Under his leadership, the community has achieved remarkable social, economic and educational success across the world.
“Known as ambassador of peace and goodwill, he was highly respected by world leaders and governments for his endeavours in promoting international brotherhood and harmony,” the spokesperson said.
He was honoured with highest civilian titles like the Star of Jordan and Order of the Nile by the respective governments of Jordan and Egypt. Syedna was conferred Honorary Doctorates for his efforts in social and educational development by renowned institutes like Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Aligarh Muslim University and University of Karachi.
In Mumbai, the one of its kind Raudat Tahera mausoleum which has the entire Quran inscribed in letters of gold and bejewelled with precious stones; the world class Saifee Hospital; and the on-going ambitious Saifee Burhani Upliftment project of the redevelopment of Bhendi Bazaar are some of the major initiatives of Syedna.
The 70-year-old successor is the rector of the community’s 200-year-old institution Jamea-tus-Saifiah, which has campuses in Surat, Karachi, Mumbai and Nairobi.
“He was closely associated with the late Syedna and has received much of his spiritual guidance under the tutelage of his revered father.
Highly respected among the community members, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin travelled widely with his father and met heads of states and other distinguished personalities across the world,” the spokesperson said.
Among the many projects that Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin has worked under Syedna’s directions in the restoration of famous Fatemi Masjids in Egypt and other edifices in the Arab world, he said.
Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin will lead the Namaz-e-Janaza of the late Syedna at Saifee Masjid at Bhendi Bazaar. The late Syedna will be laid to rest at Raudat Tahera mausoleum in Mumbai.
Thousands of Dawoodi Bohras from all over India and from around 40 nations are converging to Mumbai to pay their last respects and homage to their beloved leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, he said.
The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government to respond to allegations levelled by a woman, who had filed a sexual harassment case against accounting firm KPMG, against newly-appointed chairperson of the state womens’ commission Sushiben Shah.
Advocate Sushiben Shah, daughter of former minister B A Desai, was appointed as the chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Women earlier this month. Six others were also appointed as members of the commission by the government.
The appointments were made following a direction from the High Court during the hearing of a public interest litigation raising the issue of the posts in the commission lying vacant since 2009.
The bench was informed that all seven posts lying vacant, including that of the chairperson, has been filled up.
However, an application was filed by the woman, who had filed sexual harassment case against KPMG, seeking to challenge Sushiben Shah’s appointment as chairperson.
According to the woman, when she had filed her complaint against KPMG, Sushiben had allegedly tried to influence her and asked her to withdraw her complaint against the accounting firm.
“I had in February 2009 filed a complaint against her (Sushiben Shah). She is not fit to hold the position of chairperson of the women’s commission,” the woman said.
The bench directed the lady to submit her complaint and other relevant documents to the government and directed the government to look into the issue and inform the court by February 9 if the allegations are true.
The family of a 23-year-old software engineer from Andhra Pradesh, who has been missing since January 5, on Thursday claimed to have found her body in Bhandup, an eastern suburb of Mumbai.
The body, found in a marshy, secluded area off the Eastern Express Highway, was charred beyond recognition. But the family of the woman, working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Mumbai, claimed a ring found on one of the fingers helped them identify her.
Cops probing her disappearance said calls made from her mobile phone were last traced to Bhandup, where the burnt body was discovered. The techie’s family, based on those inputs, arrived in Mumbai and began looking for her in that area. A foul smell emanating from the swamp, during their search, led them to the body.
For the family of the victim, an employee with Tata Consultancy Services, the brush with the Mumbai Police couldn’t have been worse.
The lethargy and inaction of the police for 12 days was criminal, the family says, and possibly cost the girl her life. Suzeeth (last name withheld to protect the family’s identity), a relative of the victim, was among those who eventually found the body.
“Nothing was moving so we decided on doing a combing operation ourselves,” he said.
Having landed in Mumbai from Vijayawada on the morning of 12 January, almost a week after the girl went missing, Suzeeth and other family members fanned out in the slums of Bhandup, armed with photographs. “We went to the slums, up the hillock, asked locals if they had seen her, if they had seen anything suspicious,” he said.
They approached the police, the railway police (where the FIR was registered before the case was moved to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch), a senior IPS officer and others. They knew her cellphone had been active last in Bhandup, a fact gleaned by tapping sources in BSNL to track her cellphones.
The family had done the bulk of legwork usually undertaken by the police — tracking the cellphone location, obtaining call records and search parties walking around the last active location of her phone.
A missing person’s complaint was lodged first at the Vijayawada railway police station. The victim should have reached Mumbai at 5.10 am on board the Vijayawada-LTT Express, on 5 January.
The train had reached Secunderabad on schedule, where a friend gave her a packed lunch. She had also called around midnight, from Solapur, promising to call the following morning upon reaching Mumbai. When she did not call by 6 am, her worried father began to call both her cellphones. They kept ringing unanswered.
Her grandfather’s brother, a retired commandant of the special police batallion in Andhra Pradesh, was approached for advice. Since the girl had made two trips to Mumbai earlier without incident, he advised the family to be patient.
Her father also received a call from the hostel in Mumbai where she was to have checked in that the girl hadn’t arrived. Then, around 3.30 pm on 5 January, both her phones were switched off.
Family members pitched in, made calls to people they knew in Mumbai and in the offices of the telephone service providers and got to work immediately.
Continuing with its efforts to extend more facilities to passengers, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an online booking facility for retiring rooms at railway stations.
“Any passenger with the PNR of a confirmed or RAC ticket may make an online booking of a retiring room. The ticket may either be a counter ticket or e-ticket. The booking can be made for all the passengers on the ticket,” said a senior IRCTC official.
Currently, the system is being launched only for the retiring rooms at Mumbai’s CST station.
The facility will gradually be extended to major stations, like Delhi and Kolkata, and important tourist destinations.
The online booking facility has been launched for both the IRCTC’s tourism website (www.railtourismindia.com) and e-ticketing website (www.irctc.co.in).
No registration or login-ID is required to avail of the facility. People will be able to do online bookings throughout the day, except for one hour from 11.30 P.M. to 12.30 A.M.
“One can book a retiring room both at the originating and the destination station and the payment can be made through credit/debit card or net-banking. The system will generate an electronic reservation slip as a confirmation of booking,” the official said.
Retiring rooms of single/double-bedded accommodation or even a bed in a dormitory may be booked through the online facility.
The bookings are available for a minimum period of 12 hours and a maximum of 48 hours.
Taking suo moto cognisance of a recent rail mishap where a teenage girl lost her arms after she fell from a local train in suburban Ghatkopar station, the Bombay High Court issued notices to the Union Railway Ministry and General Managers of both Central and Western Railways.
Monica More (16) had on January 11 slipped while trying to board a local train at Ghatkopar station and fell in the gap between the platform and train footboard onto the tracks. She lost both her arms in the accident, bringing to fore the huge risk faced by lakhs of suburban train commuters due to the unmanageable rush during peak hours.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha today took cognisance of the issue and directed the Railway Ministry, general managers of Western and Central Railway, Chairman of the Railway Board and Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MVRC) to file replies by February 13.
Earlier this week, Union Minister Milind Deora, who is an MP from Mumbai South constituency, had drawn the attention of Rail Minister Malikarjun Kharge on the issue, urging him to take serious steps for safety of rail passengers in the city.
“The huge gap between the platform and the footboard of the train makes the process (of boarding and alighting train in rush hours) even more risky and there are already several tragic instances of people losing life and limb on this account,” Deora said in a letter to Kharge.
“I urge upon you to take steps urgently to prevent recurring of such incidents in future,” he added.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested three African nationals for allegedly trying to smuggle out 74 towels soaked in Ketamine (a contraband) to Australia through a courier company based in suburban Andheri, an official said today.
The NCB apprehended Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Alasoro, a Nigerian put up in South Mumbai, his compatriot Onyebuchi Christian Nzeakor and Laurindo Ramos Armando, a Mozambique national, the official said.
Ketamine is a type of drug a doctor might give to put someone to sleep for an operation and as it has also hallucinogenic effects,it is abused by teens and young adults at bars and nightclubs.
The NCB is currently investigating a top Yash Birla Group executive Anand Vardhan and two others for allegedly possessing 5 grams of Cocaine and looking for a drug peddler who is suspected to have supplied the contraband to them.
The trio were arrested from a suite of a starred hotel on January 11 and are currently in judicial custody.
On the arrest of three Africans, NCB said they have adopted a unique modus operandi to smuggle out the contraband apparently to evade detection.
“It is very unique modus operandi as they (trio) used to impregnate the towels with Ketamine and send them to their probable customers”, the official informed.
A local court has remanded the trio in the NCB custody till January 20.
“We will interrogate the trio to find out how did they source out drugs from India and till now how many times they have sent the contrabands abroad”, said an official.
Cidco has started the registration for the lottery of flats in sector 36 of Kharghar for all income groups including the economically weaker sections (EWS), the lower-income group (LIG), middle-income groups (MIG) and higher income group (HIG). The sale of 1,224 flats will take place through lottery system. People can purchase the form for applying for the flats through Janata Sahakari Bank.
402 flats are allocated for upper class while 802 are allotted for the middle class group. The houses will be allotted to the home seekers on the basis of a draw a procedure which has been adopted in case of last few housing projects at Kharghar and Ulwe. Reservations in the lottery system have been provided for Cidco employees, journalists and defence personnel.
The 2nd edition of Cortokino – International Film Festival, organized by the Department of Mass Media, Thakur College for short-films, ad-films, documentaries, music videos and silent films was held yesterday and will continue till 18th January, at Thakur College, Kandivali (E).
The key objective of the festival is to provide aspiring talent the opportunity to showcase their work on a global platform. Several eminent personalities like Kamya Punjabi, Sambhavna Seth, Disha Wakhani, Amarpali Gupta, etc. are expected to attend the event. Cortokino is supported by celebrities like Vidyut Jamwal, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra, Makarand Deshpande, Raghu Ram, Ali Asgar, Nigar Khan and Dilip Joshi.
Speaking on Cortokino BMM Head of Department, Deepak Tiwari said, “Cortokino is relatively very young as an international film festival. We had received entries from Australia and Singapore besides other institutions from all over India. On the first day, we had received a great response and we aim to increase the bar of the film-fest by opening up a multitude of event showcasing,”
“Cortokino 2014 hopes to become the launch pad for new talent. Our motto has been to bring to all the lovers of cinema the passionate subject of film-making an experience to count on. The manifestation of this will reflect in our festival,” Deepak Tiwari, further added.
In the recent past, media has been accused and discussed by others for various reasons. Its integrity has always been questioned. However, its authenticity is the duty of thinkers, readers and buyers. We are fortunate that in our country people are extremely interested in political news. The headline craze has brooked the credentials of a newspaper. Everywhere, we are talking about politics as Indian politics got attention since British Raj. Thus, our newspapers are much serious on the quotes and much better compared to other newspapers of the world. Second thing is that newspapers or news does not mean only news; news has variety of segments. News does not mean only the national issues. News by itself is very rich in its nature and anything that gives healthy entertainment and right education and inspires people to do better or asks the Government its accountability to do a better job is news. All these aspects constitute good journalism. My point however is that in the recent decade, the largest selling newspapers actually sell news space at a price tag; the so called supplement is completely paid advertisement in the form of news. We should not follow western culture of journalism; there should be a social control on it.
Generally news channels have a favourite quote, “If this is what people want to see, we are going to show”. Is that correct? Ethical or unethical, no one knows. I think a viewer has choice, if he is not interested in what you are showing he can turn you off. We being politically hungry, there was a time when Indian youth was not at all interested in political development or politics of this country but you look around now and you will find youth discussing politics and also have their own opinion for it, and this is probably the impact of intense political coverage.
Today, it’s more about young media, young audience. Youth know their right to vote and they are keeping eye on the good, bad and ugly side of politics. If today we say media is aggressive, historic or ascertain then it is because of the youth who are in position to say we understand the point which you are trying to put across. Earlier, we could see two people in the corner discussing politics in the pale dim light and with bad picture quality of the national channel and no one was really bothered to look at those interviews or shows. Today, there is large participation in news based talk shows and discussions.
Now if you look at the tabloids, even they are aggressive. They are also into investigative journalism. Somewhere down the line, a tabloid is much better than hydro media nowadays. It’s not only hydro media which talks about serious issues such as poverty, fertilizations, but are also widely published in other publications too. Everyone wants to know about fashion, cooking, films, party, Page three, Derby and race course activities. Nothing is limited to particular segment of news print. Music, arts, cinema gossips all has its relevant space in the news print. What we are talking about is appetite, courage and willingness required for which we will go for money and power in its best ways.
When AAP came up with sudden win in Delhi, media went overhaul about the party and its simplicity. None of the channels dared to show Salman Khan’s bare body or Shahrukh Khan’s hyped coverage and Modi bashing and even Modi’s rally had disappeared. The subject had its own relevance and steadiness. Sometimes during dry days, when there is nothing much to show, no news or scandals to expose, then the TV channels has to focus on Poonam Pandey or Sunny Leone to entertain their viewers. The news has to be relevant and worth grabbing the attention of readers or viewers. We know there are dry spell also and at that time we have to show some alternative to news. News is all about analysis and paralysis; at times we see TV shows discussing all irrelevant things which don’t create an impact on anyone.
When it comes to paid news, even today the regional newspapers have no courage to speak against the government. There is a silent understanding between the management of the newspaper and authorities not to go against each other. If gone against government then the solution is its closure. Many such bold newspapers had to shut down their shop for writing against the government. Many prospered by supporting and promoting and being the mouth piece of state governments or Chief Ministers. In north India, this kind of news culture is quite aggressively witnessed. There is a large section of media especially if we go in the rural areas, or to be specific local media, whose journalists acts like blackmailers. Obviously, the ethics and morality has taken a backseat there. Let us not stigmatise small media but there are blackmailers in the small media as well as in the national media. It won’t be wrong to say that blackmailers are everywhere.
There are many regional papers that can be tagged as the best examples for honest journalism but unfortunately, they did not survive. Why? They would not have died if they would have grown at a sub regional level. You take the example of one of the leading Hindi newspapers; it is publishing sixty three editions for this country. It has tried to reach almost every district and state. Many times media has crossed its ethical boundaries. These are hypnosis views about ethical and unethical journalism. Media is intruding too much into people’s private life. The biggest example is Tehelka. They used prostitutes to pose as arm dealers and got into defence boundaries, but it was in the public interest. It was liked by many but condemned by large. Sometimes, media feels it’s OK to go beyond the normal parameters of ethics. What happened to Tehelka and its owner; the organisation collapsed and Tarun Tejpal is in jail over rape charges. If there is appetite in media, I would say all is fair if it’s done in the public interest. Anyways, today we have more stringent rules and regulations even on media.
Journalists have to raise their voice on unethical practices. Even if they want to say no to their own bosses, managements and pay masters and challenge them. Sometimes, there is too much interference and journalists cannot really execute their freedom and work within an ethical frame. Media in India is sometimes constantly under accusations. They are related with one or other political parties, if you say well about Congress then you are against BJP and if you stand by BJP then you are accused of being against Congress. And if you stand in between, then you are accused of being paid by some third party or both the parties will attack you. The general assumption is that media and party are sold out in the country.
In other ways, finance is one of the biggest aspects of media. Weather it is small town or state level, media is actually controlled by political parties directly while at national levels they are holding indirect control. It is very difficult for working journalists to understand how they are directly and indirectly being controlled by political parties. Actually, journalists must assert themselves, and today common people are scrutinising media much more. The mouth full is mouth shut. There is no doubt, media has become powerful and that’s why everyone wants to control them. The debate over ethics is rudimentary. Nowadays, ethics deal with the silences of authorities. It’s time to revolt from within us, but that is not in the hands of journalists actually.
Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, wife of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at a five-star hotel in Delhi. 
The spiritual leader of Dawoodi Bohra community Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away on Friday after a cardiac arrest in Mumbai. He was 102.
The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government to respond to allegations levelled by a woman, who had filed a sexual harassment case against accounting firm KPMG, against newly-appointed chairperson of the state womens’ commission Sushiben Shah. 
The family of a 23-year-old software engineer from Andhra Pradesh, who has been missing since January 5, on Thursday claimed to have found her body in Bhandup, an eastern suburb of Mumbai.
Continuing with its efforts to extend more facilities to passengers, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an online booking facility for retiring rooms at railway stations.
Taking suo moto cognisance of a recent rail mishap where a teenage girl lost her arms after she fell from a local train in suburban Ghatkopar station, the Bombay High Court issued notices to the Union Railway Ministry and General Managers of both Central and Western Railways. 
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested three African nationals for allegedly trying to smuggle out 74 towels soaked in Ketamine (a contraband) to Australia through a courier company based in suburban Andheri, an official said today. 
Cidco has started the registration for the lottery of flats in sector 36 of Kharghar for all income groups including the economically weaker sections (EWS), the lower-income group (LIG), middle-income groups (MIG) and higher income group (HIG). The sale of 1,224 flats will take place through lottery system. People can purchase the form for applying for the flats through Janata Sahakari Bank.
The 2nd edition of Cortokino – International Film Festival, organized by the Department of Mass Media, Thakur College for short-films, ad-films, documentaries, music videos and silent films was held yesterday and will continue till 18th January, at Thakur College, Kandivali (E).