Archana Patni, NDTV
Saturday, September 9, 2006 (Bangalore):
The central district in Bangalore is probably one of the most expensive properties in the entire country.
17, Rajbhavan Road is the only residential complex, apart from the governor's house on the Rajbhavan road in Bangalore.
Mantri Alitus is everybody's dream home. Imagine waking up every morning, walking out to your balcony and getting this beautiful view of the city of Bangalore.
But owning these bungalows in the sky is not that easy. You don't only have to be really rich; you also have to be extremely lucky to get chosen to own this property
"This property was designed only for high class people, on invitation only. We called the people. We made a selection so that we could have like-minded families with us," said Snehal Mantri, Director, Marketing, Mantri Builders.
Luxuries galore
A 17-floor building with each floor housing just one apartment of about 5,600 sq ft each, every house give you a panoramic view of the city of Bangalore.
"Amenities-wise, we have taken care and pampered our owners. They have the luxury of 11,000 sq feet of clubhouse, which is being designed on seven-star hotel standards.
"From the main lobby to the swimming pool to the club house, the sauna, jacuzzi and billiards, all the luxuries they want they will get," said Mantri.
While the first flat was sold for Rs 3 crore, you can now only own one of these apartments for a whopping Rs 12 crore, and guess what, it's already all sold out!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Its telephone telepathy; "Hello! I was thinking of you.... "
[ 7 Sep, 2006 1352hrs IST REUTERS ]
NORWICH: Many people have experienced the phenomenon of receiving a telephone call from someone shortly after thinking about them -- now a scientist says he has proof of what he calls telephone telepathy.
Rupert Sheldrake, whose research is funded by the respected Trinity College, Cambridge, said Tuesday he had conducted experiments that proved that such precognition existed for telephone calls and even e-mails.
Each person in the trials was asked to give researchers names and phone numbers of four relatives or friends. These were then called at random and told to ring the subject who had to identify the caller before answering the phone.
"The hit rate was 45 per cent, well above the 25 per cent you would have expected," he told the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. "The odds against this being a chance effect are 1,000 billion to one."
He said he found the same result with people being asked to name one of four people sending them an e-mail before it had landed.
NORWICH: Many people have experienced the phenomenon of receiving a telephone call from someone shortly after thinking about them -- now a scientist says he has proof of what he calls telephone telepathy.
Rupert Sheldrake, whose research is funded by the respected Trinity College, Cambridge, said Tuesday he had conducted experiments that proved that such precognition existed for telephone calls and even e-mails.
Each person in the trials was asked to give researchers names and phone numbers of four relatives or friends. These were then called at random and told to ring the subject who had to identify the caller before answering the phone.
"The hit rate was 45 per cent, well above the 25 per cent you would have expected," he told the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. "The odds against this being a chance effect are 1,000 billion to one."
He said he found the same result with people being asked to name one of four people sending them an e-mail before it had landed.
Pak's first Miss Bikini breaks all barriers
Bharti Dubey
[ 8 Sep, 2006 0200hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
[ 8 Sep, 2006 0200hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
Mariyah Moten, a 22-year-old US-based Pakistani, is being billed as "Pakistan’s first Miss Bikini". This after she won the title of Best in Media Category at the Miss Bikini Universe 2006 pageant in China on August 26.
In an email interview with TOI , Mariyah talks about the ‘amusing’ hardliners who make 'some noise', but can't really do anything to prevent people from projecting Pakistan as a "moderate place".
Talking about actress Meera, she says that while her kiss in a Bollywood movie may have kicked up a fuss, it has actually made the Pakistani star quite popular in her home country, which has also taken part in other beauty pageants. Yet, the fiesty woman says she wants to return to Pakistan and try her luck in Lollywood.
Q. How do you react to being called Pakistan's first Miss Bikini?
A. I have broken all barriers, and in the coming years there will be other Pakistani contestants, who will carry this title. My intention was to project Pakistan is a very modern way.
Q. Pakistan has never had a beauty pageant. How do you think people back home have reacted to you parading in a bikini?
A. Actually, Pakistan has participated in several beauty pageants. All the information on Pakistan's participation is on www.misspakistanworld.com . Hardliners are basically people who try to impose their thoughts on others. We are not affected by people like them. We believe Pakistan is a country that is made up of moderate Muslims like myself. And yes, some people may not like the idea of a Pakistani girl in a bikini, but alas, we have done it and there is no way they can change anything about it.
Q. Pakistani actress Meera had to face the wrath of conservatives in Pakistan after she wore skimpy clothes and did a kissing scene in a Hindi film.
A. See, fundamentalists are everywhere. Even when the Miss World pageant took place in India, there were fundamentalists as well as feminists stalling it. Meera is doing very well, she is now more in demand, and has more people lining up to see her in Pakistan. She is very happy where she is, and conservatives could do nothing to her. This is simply noise made by people who have nothing better to do... it's actually amusing how they are always so ready to react.
Q. Would you be interested in acting in movies, especially Hindi films?
A. Well, I would like to complete my education first (she is a management student). I am getting a lot of offers from Lollywood, and I may go to Pakistan this year to check these out. I am not sure how well it will go, but at the moment acting interests me.
Q. What do you intend to do now?
A. As I said before, my main aim is to project Pakistan to the world as a moderate place. I have succeeded in educating many girls who compete in these pageants about Pakistan, and cleared a lot of doubts people have about the country. I will do this in the coming year as well.
Photographs from the web
Laden's taped meeting with 9/11 plotters aired
[ 8 Sep, 2006 1142hrs IST AP ]
CAIRO: An Arab television station broadcast previously unseen footage of a smiling Osama bin Laden meeting with the top planners of the Sept. 11 attacks in an Afghan mountain camp and calling on followers to pray for the hijackers as they carry out the suicide mission.
The sections shown on Al-Jazeera TV on Thursday were part of a video that al-Qaida announced it would release later on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the airborne attacks on the United States.
The video includes the last testament of two of the hijackers, Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. It shows bin Laden strolling in the camp, greeting followers, who Al-Jazeera said included some of the hijackers. But their faces are not clear in the video, and it was not immediately known which are purportedly shown.
In one scene, bin Laden addresses the camera, calling on followers to support the hijackers.
``I ask you to pray for them and to ask God to make them successful, aim their shots well, set their feet strong and strengthen their hearts,'' bin Laden said. The comments were apparently filmed before the attacks but never before released.
The footage was the fourth in a series of long videos that al-Qaida has put out to memorialize the suicide hijackings against the Pentagon and World Trade Center, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a private US company that monitors militant message traffic and provides counterterrorism intelligence services for the American government.
The previous ones were issued in April and September 2002 and September 2003, each showing footage from the planning of the suicide hijackings and hijackers' last testimonies, Venzke said.
The latest full video probably lasts from 40 minutes to two hours, based on the past ones, he said. Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the video, which bore the logo of As-Sahab, al-Qaida's media branch.
``They produce long videos like these not just for 9-11, but for any significant events they feel warrant their attention,'' Venzke said.
One aim is to boost recruitment, but such videos have several purposes --``to speak to their supporters, to raise morale within their own group, to facilitate fundraising, and to serve as a psychological attack,'' he said.
In the footage shown by Al-Jazeera, bin Laden is shown sitting outside in what appears to be a mountain camp with his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed by a US airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Binalshibh was captured four years ago in Pakistan and is currently in U.S. custody, and this week US President George W. Bush announced plans to put him on military trial.
Bin Laden, wearing a dark robe and white head gear, strolls through the camp, greeting dozens of followers, some masked, some barefaced, many carrying automatic weapons.
Other scenes show training at the camp. Masked militants perform martial arts kicks or learn how to break the hold of someone who grabs them from behind. Several militants are shown practicing hiding and pulling out fold-out knives.
A voice-over narration with the video praises the mujahedeen for leaving their comfortable lives to survive in the mountains ``on the soil of Kandahar'' –a southern Afghan city. Men are shown chopping wood and cutting up vegetables for dinner.
There was no confirmation of the tape's authenticity by the White House. ``One by one we will bring the 9/11 plotters to justice for their vicious acts, including Ramzi Binalshibh, who is now in DOD custody,'' said Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino.
An advertisement from As-Sahab on an Islamic militant Web forum said the full video would be posted on the Web soon. In the past, such teasers have come a day or two before the video was posted.
Venzke said the full version of the video was believed to include a message from Azzam al-Amriki, the nom de guerre of Adam Yehiye Gadahn, an American who the FBI says has associated with al-Qaida. Gadahn appeared in an al-Qaida video released last week in which he called on Americans to convert to Islam.
It also likely includes a message from bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, though it may not be new, Venzke said, without elaborating on why he believed that. Like the previous long videos, Thursday's footage included last testimonies by some of the hijackers.
Al-Shehri and al-Ghamdi were each shown speaking to the camera, their image superimposed over background pictures of the crumbling World Trade Center towers and the burning Pentagon, as well as a model of a passenger jet.
They both spoke of how Muslims must stand up to fight back against the West.
``If jihad now is not an obligation (on Muslims), when will it be?'' said al-Shehri, pointing to attacks on Muslims in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chechnya.
``If we are content with being humiliated and inclined to comfort, the tooth of the enemy will stretch from Jerusalem to Mecca, and then everyone will regret on a day when regret is of no use,'' al-Ghamdi said.
Al-Shehri was on American Airlines Flight 11, which was the first to hit the World Trade Center. Al-Ghamdi was on United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the second tower.
The footage was broadcast on the same day Al-Qaida in Iraq released what was purported to be the first audiotape by its new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, in which he vowed victory was coming and condemned Sunni Muslims cooperating with the Iraqi government.
Al-Muhajer was named leader of Iraq's most feared terror group after his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a June 7 airstrike north of Baghdad. The US military has put a US$5 million (euro3.9 million) bounty on al-Muhajer's head.
CAIRO: An Arab television station broadcast previously unseen footage of a smiling Osama bin Laden meeting with the top planners of the Sept. 11 attacks in an Afghan mountain camp and calling on followers to pray for the hijackers as they carry out the suicide mission.
The sections shown on Al-Jazeera TV on Thursday were part of a video that al-Qaida announced it would release later on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the airborne attacks on the United States.
The video includes the last testament of two of the hijackers, Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. It shows bin Laden strolling in the camp, greeting followers, who Al-Jazeera said included some of the hijackers. But their faces are not clear in the video, and it was not immediately known which are purportedly shown.
In one scene, bin Laden addresses the camera, calling on followers to support the hijackers.
``I ask you to pray for them and to ask God to make them successful, aim their shots well, set their feet strong and strengthen their hearts,'' bin Laden said. The comments were apparently filmed before the attacks but never before released.
The footage was the fourth in a series of long videos that al-Qaida has put out to memorialize the suicide hijackings against the Pentagon and World Trade Center, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a private US company that monitors militant message traffic and provides counterterrorism intelligence services for the American government.
The previous ones were issued in April and September 2002 and September 2003, each showing footage from the planning of the suicide hijackings and hijackers' last testimonies, Venzke said.
The latest full video probably lasts from 40 minutes to two hours, based on the past ones, he said. Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the video, which bore the logo of As-Sahab, al-Qaida's media branch.
``They produce long videos like these not just for 9-11, but for any significant events they feel warrant their attention,'' Venzke said.
One aim is to boost recruitment, but such videos have several purposes --``to speak to their supporters, to raise morale within their own group, to facilitate fundraising, and to serve as a psychological attack,'' he said.
In the footage shown by Al-Jazeera, bin Laden is shown sitting outside in what appears to be a mountain camp with his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed by a US airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Binalshibh was captured four years ago in Pakistan and is currently in U.S. custody, and this week US President George W. Bush announced plans to put him on military trial.
Bin Laden, wearing a dark robe and white head gear, strolls through the camp, greeting dozens of followers, some masked, some barefaced, many carrying automatic weapons.
Other scenes show training at the camp. Masked militants perform martial arts kicks or learn how to break the hold of someone who grabs them from behind. Several militants are shown practicing hiding and pulling out fold-out knives.
A voice-over narration with the video praises the mujahedeen for leaving their comfortable lives to survive in the mountains ``on the soil of Kandahar'' –a southern Afghan city. Men are shown chopping wood and cutting up vegetables for dinner.
There was no confirmation of the tape's authenticity by the White House. ``One by one we will bring the 9/11 plotters to justice for their vicious acts, including Ramzi Binalshibh, who is now in DOD custody,'' said Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino.
An advertisement from As-Sahab on an Islamic militant Web forum said the full video would be posted on the Web soon. In the past, such teasers have come a day or two before the video was posted.
Venzke said the full version of the video was believed to include a message from Azzam al-Amriki, the nom de guerre of Adam Yehiye Gadahn, an American who the FBI says has associated with al-Qaida. Gadahn appeared in an al-Qaida video released last week in which he called on Americans to convert to Islam.
It also likely includes a message from bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, though it may not be new, Venzke said, without elaborating on why he believed that. Like the previous long videos, Thursday's footage included last testimonies by some of the hijackers.
Al-Shehri and al-Ghamdi were each shown speaking to the camera, their image superimposed over background pictures of the crumbling World Trade Center towers and the burning Pentagon, as well as a model of a passenger jet.
They both spoke of how Muslims must stand up to fight back against the West.
``If jihad now is not an obligation (on Muslims), when will it be?'' said al-Shehri, pointing to attacks on Muslims in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chechnya.
``If we are content with being humiliated and inclined to comfort, the tooth of the enemy will stretch from Jerusalem to Mecca, and then everyone will regret on a day when regret is of no use,'' al-Ghamdi said.
Al-Shehri was on American Airlines Flight 11, which was the first to hit the World Trade Center. Al-Ghamdi was on United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the second tower.
The footage was broadcast on the same day Al-Qaida in Iraq released what was purported to be the first audiotape by its new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, in which he vowed victory was coming and condemned Sunni Muslims cooperating with the Iraqi government.
Al-Muhajer was named leader of Iraq's most feared terror group after his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a June 7 airstrike north of Baghdad. The US military has put a US$5 million (euro3.9 million) bounty on al-Muhajer's head.
Faridabad: Irate commuters target Rajdhani in Faridabad
[ 8 Sep, 2006 1235hrs IST PTI ]
FARIDABAD: Angry over delay in clearing lines for local trains, hundreds of irate passengers on Friday pelted stones at Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at the railway station and disrupted rail traffic.
No one was injured in the incident. However, rail traffic through the station was disrupted for nearly three hours this morning, delaying trains to and from Delhi.
The trouble started at around 8:00 am as passengers at the railway station started protesting against railway officials allegedly giving clearance to the Express trains by delaying the departure of local trains.
As the atmosphere got charged up, some passengers pelted stones at the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani which was approaching the station and another local train.
Though some window panes of the trains were broken, no injuries were reported.
At least 12 trains, including six Express services, were delayed. A large posse of police has been deployed at the station.
The train services resumed after three hours.
FARIDABAD: Angry over delay in clearing lines for local trains, hundreds of irate passengers on Friday pelted stones at Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at the railway station and disrupted rail traffic.
No one was injured in the incident. However, rail traffic through the station was disrupted for nearly three hours this morning, delaying trains to and from Delhi.
The trouble started at around 8:00 am as passengers at the railway station started protesting against railway officials allegedly giving clearance to the Express trains by delaying the departure of local trains.
As the atmosphere got charged up, some passengers pelted stones at the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani which was approaching the station and another local train.
Though some window panes of the trains were broken, no injuries were reported.
At least 12 trains, including six Express services, were delayed. A large posse of police has been deployed at the station.
The train services resumed after three hours.
Chennai: Raid at former Tamil Nadu CM's residence
[ 8 Sep, 2006 1230hrs IST PTI ]
CHENNAI: The officials with Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Friday raided the residence of AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannerselvam at Periyakulam in Theni district.
The raids began at 7 am and would continue till evening, officials said.
The officials also conducted raids at the residence and business establishments of former AIADMK minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan at Tuticorin.
The raids, the reason for which were yet to be ascertained, came as a surprise even to the police as the DVAC officials kept their plan a secret till they began the operation.
These were the first raids conducted by the DVAC after the DMK government took office in May last.
CHENNAI: The officials with Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Friday raided the residence of AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannerselvam at Periyakulam in Theni district.
The raids began at 7 am and would continue till evening, officials said.
The officials also conducted raids at the residence and business establishments of former AIADMK minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan at Tuticorin.
The raids, the reason for which were yet to be ascertained, came as a surprise even to the police as the DVAC officials kept their plan a secret till they began the operation.
These were the first raids conducted by the DVAC after the DMK government took office in May last.
New design for Bangalore airport
[ 7 Sep, 2006 2328hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: Two months after the construction work at redesigned portions of the Bangalore international airport began, the Union cabinet formally endorsed the changes on Thursday.
The project — redesigned at the behest of Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel — will now be able to accommodate 11.4-million passengers annually in the sprawling 7-acre terminal.
The projected traffic is 8.4 million by 2010. The Union cabinet also approved amendments to the concession agreement with BIAL, allowing the joint venture firm to re-design the airport.
As against the initial forecast of 41,000 aircraft movements per year in 2010, the latest projection has increased it to 1, 06,000, forcing BIAL to re-design the airport by merging the second phase of construction with the first phase, to be completed by 2010.
The projected cost after redesign goes up from Rs 1,411.79 crore to Rs 1,930.29 crore. The additional amount would be raised by BIAL through loans and advances from third-party service providers, like cargo handling or fuel supplies, and not through additional equity or state support.
About Rs 450 crore would be taken from lenders and Rs 68.5 crore from service providers, raising the debt-equity ratio from 2.25:1 to 3.63:1, an official spokesperson said.
Under the new design, the total built-up area for the passenger terminal building would be increased to 71,000 sq metre as against 55,850 sq metre.
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: Two months after the construction work at redesigned portions of the Bangalore international airport began, the Union cabinet formally endorsed the changes on Thursday.
The project — redesigned at the behest of Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel — will now be able to accommodate 11.4-million passengers annually in the sprawling 7-acre terminal.
The projected traffic is 8.4 million by 2010. The Union cabinet also approved amendments to the concession agreement with BIAL, allowing the joint venture firm to re-design the airport.
As against the initial forecast of 41,000 aircraft movements per year in 2010, the latest projection has increased it to 1, 06,000, forcing BIAL to re-design the airport by merging the second phase of construction with the first phase, to be completed by 2010.
The projected cost after redesign goes up from Rs 1,411.79 crore to Rs 1,930.29 crore. The additional amount would be raised by BIAL through loans and advances from third-party service providers, like cargo handling or fuel supplies, and not through additional equity or state support.
About Rs 450 crore would be taken from lenders and Rs 68.5 crore from service providers, raising the debt-equity ratio from 2.25:1 to 3.63:1, an official spokesperson said.
Under the new design, the total built-up area for the passenger terminal building would be increased to 71,000 sq metre as against 55,850 sq metre.
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