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Shivraj Patil Quits, Chidambaram new Home Minister

home minister Mr P Chidambaram will be the new home minister. The finance ministry will now be under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.

The CWC, which met here on Saturday night, gave the marching orders to Mr Shivraj Patil. Taking moral responsibility for the Mumbai terror outrage, Mr Patil -- who has for long been under attack from both within the government as well as outside -- resigned this morning.
There was unanimity in the CWC that the political face of the government can be saved only with a drastic overhaul.
Mr Chidambaram, who had an earlier stint in the internal security department, was the obvious choice to succeed Mr Patil.
The prime minister's charge of the economy is expected to bolster the confidence in the country's economic management.
The massive collateral damage of the commando operation at Taj, Trident and Nariman House is being blamed on the delay and inadequacy of the response of the MHA in pressing the NSG into service.
At the Saturday meeting of the CWC meeting, which lasted for over three hours, the participants said the Mumbai attack has dented the image of the government. Most of them were of the view that "someone at the top" should take the responsibility for the huge security failure.

Who is Shivraj Patil?

Age: 73 years (born October 12, 1935)
Belongs to: Was born in Chakur in Latur district of Maharashtra. Hails from the Lingayat community.
shivraj Important posts held: Patil has just stepped down as Union Minister of Home Affairs in the Manmohan Singh government. He was the Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha and served as minister on several portfolios in the Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi governments.
Patil is a Rajya Sabha member. He was elected to the Upper House in July 2004 after he became one of the few Congress heavyweights to lose his constituency, Latur, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. As a minister, he would have to belong to one or the other House of Parliament.
Education: Patil studied Science for graduation at the Osmania University in Hyderabad and studied Law at Bombay University.
Political career: Shivraj Patil became politically active in the late 1960s and was an MLA between 1972 and 1979. He was also served as a deputy minister and deputy speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly during the period.
He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980, in the wave that brought Indira Gandhi back to power. He then went on to win the next seven elections and by the 13th Lok Sabha that came in in 1999, he was one of the most seasoned Parliamentarians, further cemented by his stint as Lok Sabha Speaker. He introduced the award for Outstanding Parliamentarian in 1995. Of all his achievements, he is personally proud of the Parliament Library, a state-of-the-art building, the construction of which he envisaged and gave shape to.
Shivraj Patil first became a minister in Indira Gandhi's 1980 government and went on to hold many portfolios in both this and the Rajiv Gandhi governments. When Sonia Gandhi became a reluctant president of the Congress, Shivraj held several important party posts.
As a novice Parliamentarian, Sonia Gandhi depended heavily on Shivraj Patil for her first lessons on House matters, further securing him a place in her band of trusted Congressmen. His defeat, thus, in 2004 was a shock but did not keep him from getting an all-important portfolio.
Controversy: The choice of the mild-mannered Shivraj Patil for one of the toughest and most important jobs in the country raised many an eyebrow in political and other circles. There were fears that he would be too weak and ineffective, a charge thrown at him every time there have been terror strikes and Intelligence failures.
He has been criticized for his weak, apologetic and often strange statements and even for his attention to sartorial details. The clamour for his resignation has been loud from almost immediately after he took over, but he managed to hang on. Clearly, this time was once too often.

Movie Review: Sorry Bhai !

Cast: Chitrangada Singh, Sanjay suri, Shaban Azmi, Boman Irani, Sharman Joshi   Director: Onir

Sorrybhai

A man falls in love with his brother's fiancée.  This incredibly tangled romantic triangle has been done in Hollywood films like Dan in Real Life and the 1987 Oscar-winning comedy Moonstruck
Director Onir gives it a Bollywood twist in Sorry Bhai, in which a sweet, bumbling scientist Siddharth, played by Sharman Joshi, travels to Mauritius to attend his brother's wedding and ends up falling in love and in bed with his brother's fiancée Aaliyah, played by Chitrangda Singh. 
Their overbearing mother, played perfectly by Shabana Azmi and their gruffly affectionate father, played by Boman Irani who redeems himself after last week's hamfest in Yuvraaj, try and sort out this familial mess.
Sorry Bhai begins promisingly.  Onir sets up the dynamics of this sweetly eccentric family.  When Siddharth comes back after a failed para-physics presentation in which he tries to prove that we can attract non-living things by making a wooden dog move, mom casually asks: Tumhara kuta uda?
The humor is smooth and unobtrusive.  But as life and love start to get complicated, Onir's deft direction becomes more leaden.  He isn't helped by the script, which is lean, in the most critical areas like the characterisation of the brother Harsh, played by Sanjay Suri. 
We never get a sense of him apart from the fact that he is career-driven to a fault.  Aliyah is even more threadbare - we know she likes films and reading but other than that the mysterious ways of her heart and why she suddenly becomes almost  vixen-like in her chase of her fiancee's brother, remain mysterious.  
In fact the liveliest and best-written relationship here is not of the three protagonists but the parents. They are funny and charming. 
The actors add some heft to the skimpy script. Sharman Joshi is wonderful as the hapless bumbler, bewildered by his own emotions. Chitrangada is sufficiently alluring.  She carries the breezy scenes well but is shaky when the narrative requires more complicated emotions. 
Their love-making scene is especially clumsy and passion-less.  Eventually then, Sorry Bhai is just about average fare.  See it if you have nothing else going on this weekend.

Source: NDTV

Sandeep Unnikrishnan waged a valiant battle against terrorists

sandeep Being in the forefront of the National Security Guards operations at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan not only waged a valiant battle against the terrorists but also did his best to save his injured colleagues and in the bargain lost his life. He showed the real warrior in him before laying down his life.

Thirty-one-year-old Major Sandeep is the only son of retired ISRO officer K. Unnikrishnan, who is settled in Bangalore.

His father told presspersons: “I lost my son in Mumbai on Friday. Though I do not like to call him a martyr, I can proudly say that he has done something for this country.”

He was informed of the death of his son by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (National Security Guards).

According to information reaching the family, “Major Sandeep was leading a team and during the operations two of his colleagues sustained bullet injuries. In a bid to save them Sandeep turned back. The bullets fired by the terrorists pierced him. On November 26, he had called us and said that one of his childhood friends is getting married in the city on December 17. He had planned to attend that marriage,” Mr. Unnikrishnan said.

Major Sandeep was ambitious, talented and a brave soul, said his friends and neighbours. He joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Bihar 7th Regiment in 1999.

He was drafted to the NSG after his gallantry was recognised,” Kiran Srivasthav, a childhood friend of Major Sandeep told The Hindu.

According to Anirudh Uppal, Inspector-General (Headquarters) National Security Guards (NSG), Major Sandeep had exposure to counter insurgency operations after having served in Jammu and Kashmir for two terms.

He was deputed to the NSG on January 20, 2007 and participated in various operations conducted by the elite force.

The gallant officer of the team commander of 51 SAG was deployed to clear Hotel Taj Mahal of extremists on November 27.

He led the team from the front and engaged the terrorists in a fierce gunfight. When one of the NSG commandos was injured in the exchange of fire, he arranged for his evacuation and regardless of personal safety chased the terrorists who, meanwhile, escaped to another floor of the hotel, and while doing so Major Sandeep continuously engaged them. In the encounter that followed, he was seriously injured and succumbed to injuries.

Maumbai attack terrorist Azam Amir Kasav caught alive

mumbai terror His swaggering image as he walked around Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus was captured by Mumbai Mirror photo editor Sebastian D’Souza, and was the first glimpse of the terrorists who have held Mumbai hostage over the last 48 hours. Now we can also tell you who this man is and how he has become the vital link for investigating agencies to crack the terror plot. His name is Azam Amir Kasav, he is 21 years old, speaks fluent English, hails from tehsil Gipalpura in Faridkot in Pakistan, and is the only terrorist from this audacious operation to have been captured alive.An ATS spokesperson confirmed that the man captured was indeed the one photographed by us.

On the night of Wednesday-Thursday, Azam and his colleague opened fire at CST before creating havoc at Metro and then moving on to Girgaum Chowpatty in a stolen Skoda, and where they were intercepted by a team from the Gamdevi police station. Azam shot dead assistant police inspector Tukaram Umbale.

But in that encounter, Azam’s colleague was killed and he himself was injured in the hand. He pretended to be dead giving rise to the news that two terrorists had been killed. However, as the ‘bodies’ were being taken to Nair Hospital, the accompanying cops, figured that one of the men was breathing.

According to sources, the casualty ward of Nair hospital was evacuated and the Anti-Terror Squad moved in to interrogate him. Azam who was tightlipped initially, cracked upon seeing the mutilated body of his colleague and pleaded with the medical staff at Nair to save his life. “I do not want to die,” he reportedly said. “Please put me on saline.”

Ammunition, a satellite phone and a layout plan of CST was recovered from him. According to sources, the young terrorist has given the investigators vital leads including how the chief planner of the Mumbai terror plot had come to the city a month ago, took pictures and filmed strategic locations and trained their group and instructed them to “kill till the last breath”. Every man was given six to seven magazines with fifty bullets each, eight hand grenades per terrorist with one AK-57, an automatic loading revolver and a supply of dry fruits.

Azam reportedly disclosed that the group left Karachi in one boat and upon reaching Gujarat they hoisted a white flag on their boat and were intercepted by two officers of the coast guard near Porbandar and while they were being questioned, one of the terrorists grappled with one of the officers, slit his throat and threw the body in the boat. The other officer was told to help the group reach Mumbai. When they were four nautical miles away from Mumbai, there were three speedboats waiting for them where the other coastguard officer was killed. All the ammo was then shifted into these three speedboats. They reached Colaba jetty on Wednesday night and the ten men broke up into groups of two each. Four of these men went to the Taj Mahal hotel, two of them to the Trident hotel, two towards Nariman Point at Colaba and two of which Azam was one, moved to CST.

Azam, who was Nair hospital for nearly four hours, was taken away by the intelligence agencies in the early hours of Thursday to an unknown location after the hospital authorities had removed the bullet from his hand and declared that his condition was stable.

But it seems the police grilling was so intense that before he left the hospital for an undisclosed location, he pleaded with the police and the medical staff to kill him. “Now, I don’t want to live,” he said.

Source : Mumbai Mirror

Yes Bank chairman Ashok Kapoor die in Taj Carnage

Ashok Kapur, non-executive chairman of Yes Bank, died at the Oberoi Trident, the five-star hotel at Nariman Point that the terrorists stormed on Wednesday evening.

More than 100 hostages were freed today from the Oberoi-Trident complex, but there were lingering fears that the list of the dead could include several city-based businessmen and executives.

Kapur and his wife had gone to the Oberoi Trident for dinner on Wednesday.

A well-known banker, he had started his career in 1962. He spent a large part of his career with ANZ Grindlays and was later responsible for the Asia-Pacific operations of ABN Amro before he teamed up with his brother-in-law Rana Kapoor to establish the private sector Yes Bank

Ashok Kapur had an 11.8 per cent stake in Yes Bank which chalked up a total income of Rs 1,665 crore and net profit of Rs 200 crore in the year ended March 31. It had advances of Rs 9,430 crore and deposits of Rs 13,273 crore.

Uma Garg (46), wife of Ispat director Vinod Garg, was another hostage who did not make it alive out of the Trident.

She had gone to the Kandahar — one of the restaurants at the hotel — for dinner along with her husband.

“She was separated from her husband and taken to the 13th floor where she was butchered along with other people,” said an Ispat senior executive. Vinod Garg managed to escape from the site of terror on Wednesday night.

Reports indicated that several city-based businessmen who ran small to mid-sized entities were killed in these terrorist attacks, including Sevantibhai Parekh’s son Sunil Parekh and his daughter-in-law Reshma. Parekh ran a pharmaceuticals business.

Several foreign executives and businessmen from different nationalities were also among those who lost their lives in the terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Trident.

International news reports said Hisashi Truda (38), a section chief at Mitsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Company, was shot dead. Greek businessman Andreas Liveras (73), who sold yachts, was also killed. Two Australian businessmen — Brett Taylor and Doug Markell who were a part of an international delegation — lost their lives.

Source : The Telegraph

V P Singh passes away

 Former Prime Minister V P Singh, who formed a non-Congress coalition government at the Centre dethroning Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress in the 1989 elections, died in New Delhi on Thursday after prolonged illness.
Battling blood cancer since 1991 and suffering from renal failure, 77-year-old Singh, also known as 'Raja of Manda', breathed his last at the Apollo Hospital in the afternoon. "The end came at 2.45 pm," Apollo Hospital spokesperson said. Singh leaves his wife Sita Kumari and two sons Ajeya Singh and Abhay Singh.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who cobbled a coalition of the Left and BJP to dethrone Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections, played the reservation card a year later that irreversibly changed the course of Indian politics, bringing to the fore the power of backwards and Dalits in electoral politics.
The 77-year-old 'Raja of Manda', a sobriquet he earned because of his origins in the principality of Manda in Uttar Pradesh's Fathepur, entered politics in Allahabad during the Nehru era and soon made a name for his rectitude.
He earned the title of 'Mr Clean' despite occupying positions of power, including the Chief Ministership of Uttar Pradesh which he had resigned in the early 80s when his brother was killed by dacoits, and as Minister at the Centre.
Singh resigned as Defence Minister after he was shifted from Finance in 1987 at the height of his campaign against leading industrialists on the issue of tax evasion and later took on the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by quiting Congress on the issue of Bofors scandal.
Forming Jan Morcha, an amalgam of disgruntled Congressmen, he later became the pivot around which the opposition came together to dethrone Congress to give the first non-Congress coalition at the Centre, supported by the Left parties and the BJP from outside.