Bangkok, Jan 1 (DPA) A fire that broke out shortly after midnight Thursday at a popular Bangkok pub killed at least 59 revellers, including some foreigners, and injured 212, the police said.

The fire, apparently sparked by a pyrotechnic show to ring in the New Year, broke out about 12.20 a.m. at the popular Santika Club that was packed with some 1,000 revellers.

Police Colonel Suphin Sapphuang said 59 people had been confirmed dead - 53 at the scene and six who succumbed to their injuries later in hospital, the Bangkok Post online news service reported.

Another 212 people were injured and taken to 14 Bangkok hospitals for treatment for burns and smoke inhalation.

Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition and were not carrying papers, hampering the identification process.

Of some 30 bodies sent to the morgue at Chulalongkorn Hospital, only 17 of the dead had been identified Thursday afternoon, including one Singaporean, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who visited the scene of the fire Thursday morning, announced that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had set up a centre for coordinating assistance for people injured in the inferno.

Police have speculated that the fire was sparked by a fireworks display on the third floor of the club shortly after midnight.

“There were some pyrotechnics and it appears that they started the blaze,” said Police Lieutenant-Colonel Prawit Kantwol.

Most died in the rush to get out of the pub’s main door, either from suffocation or being trampled to death, although there were three other exits in the building.

Ironically, the pub’s New Year’s party promotion gimmick was “Goodbye Santika” as the owner was planning to move to a new venue.

Srinagar, Dec 29 (IANS) As the National Conference (NC) prepares to work out an alliance with the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir after emerging as the single largest party in the assembly polls, party patron Farooq Abdullah reiterated Monday that he will become the next chief minister, though the Congress has not yet said who it will support for the post.

As the NC managed to retain the 28 seats it won in the 2002 elections, Farooq Abdullah said he was ready to shake hands with the Congress, which managed to get 17 seats, to give the troubled state its second coalition government. The coalition will have 45 seats, one above the halfway mark.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to hold talks with former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior party leader from the state Saifuddin Soz in New Delhi Monday afternoon.

The party’s stand on the coalition is likely to be declared after that meeting, though there are reports already that the Congress would prefer to support NC president Omar Abdullah rather than his father Farooq for the chieh minister’s post.

But by telling a television channel how he expected his father “to deliver the goods this time”, Omar has already indicated that Farooq is the NC’s chief ministerial candidate. The elder Abdullah has been chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir thrice before.

Party sources here told IANS that Omar had spoken to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi after the poll results became clear Sunday evening.

“The younger generations of the two families have decided to forget the bitterness of the past and work for the future of the state that needs special attention because of the prevailing situation here,” a NC leader said.

Although the NC is ready to mark a new chapter in its relationship with the Congress, Farooq Abdullah, who has held the state’s reins three times, made it clear that he and not the Congress candidate will be the chief minister.

While Farooq Abdullah won from both Hazratbal and Sonawar in Srinagar, his son avenged his 2002 defeat in Ganderbal in north Kashmir, defeating the very same PDP nominee who had humiliated him six years ago.

The Congress is unlikely to forge an alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, which bagged 21 seats as against the NC’s 28.

“Sayeed will find it difficult to approach the Congress for an alliance despite some well-wishers like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Congress plus the PDP does not get to the halfway mark anyway, and any such coalition will need support from independents.

“The NC’s number of seats and the fact that Ghulam Nabi Azad is a strong advocate for aligning with the NC makes things very clear,” a political analyst said.

NC sources said the party will stake claim to power soon after working out the details of the alliance with the Congress.

By Pupul Dutta

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) For a country that stood at the bottom of the pyramid in terms of telecom penetration a decade ago, 2008 was a watershed when India’s subscriber base topped 350 million users to make its network the second largest in the world after China, displacing the US.

The significant achievement was made possible by the mobile telephony segment of communications, which was once thought to be a gizmo for the rich - what with a tariff of Rs.16.80 per call when the telecom revolution began in the country in the early 1990s. But with tariff falling to 40 paise a call and incoming calls becoming free, mobile telephony began to appeal to the masses.

In fact, 2008 also saw Indian telecom operators add a whopping 8-10 million new subscribers to the network each month, making a host of global companies to look at the country as their next big market for growth, especially in the hinterland.

And the statistics speak for themselves.

As per the watchdog for the sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the total number of telephone connections in the country reached 363.95 million at the end of October 2008 against 256.55 million in the corresponding month last year.

This, despite the fact that the number of plain vanilla landlines in the country actually fell from 39.41 million in October 2007 to 38.22 million the same month this year. Tele-density shot up from a mere 12.7 percent in March 2006 to 31.5 percent as on Oct 31.

The projection by several leading global consultancies is that India’s telecom network will overtake China’s in the next 10 years.

“The telecom sector in India has registered a remarkable growth during the last few years propelled largely by the unprecedented growth of mobile telephony,” said Nripendra Misra, chairman of the watchdog.

“Three years back, a target of 250 million telephone subscribers by 2007 was considered too ambitious. We could achieve this target a few months ahead of schedule,” Misra told IANS.

“Telecommunication access to rural India is going to be the most important development since the Green Revolution. Research analysts feel that mobile voice is overwhelmingly the engine of growth followed by next generation network, broadband and data.”

The sector, which will go through a major revamp with the launch of third generation (3G) mobile services, has seen a number of ups and downs in the recent past.

A key development in the history of the telecom industry was when Bharti, in collaboration with 15 telecom players, signed a deal to build the first direct, high-bandwidth optical-fibre undersea cable system from Britain to India in May.

Technology travelled distances with Apple iPhone 3G being launched in India by telecom majors Bharti and Vodafone Aug 22.

The international investor community also continued to bet on the Indian market. Norway-based Telenor, the world’s seventh largest telecom operator, bought a new-generation telecom company Unitech Wireless by paying $1.29 billion for a 60 percent stake.

Similarly, another start-up, Swan Telecom, which did not have a single subscriber, sold a 45-percent stake to the UAE’s Etisalat for $900 million, taking the company’s book value to $2 billion.

Another major foreign inflow was announced when Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo picked up 26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices for $ 2.7 billion.

However, the entry of foreign players was marred by major controversies surrounding Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless. The communications minister was charged with flouting TRAI norms and allocating second generation (2G) spectrum on preferential treatment.

The now estranged government ally, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, raised a hue and cry over the government’s “first-come first-served” principle and the resultant alleged loss of Rs.60,000 crore (Rs.600 billion/$13.2 billion) to the exchequer.

The minister has claimed that the allocation of spectrum was purely based on TRAI’s policies and clarified that both Swan and Unitech had only diluted their stake and that it wasn’t an outright sale.

2G spectrum is nearing saturation, and with the defence yet to vacate the spectrum for both 2G and 3G that it holds, the problem persists.

December saw the much-touted third generation (3G) services being launched by the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). Under the brand ‘Jaadu’ (magic), MTNL ushered in the next wave of Indian telephony Dec 11.

With 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) auctions a fortnight away, the government held a pre-bid conference to clarify on bidding related issues to the telecom operators and to make them aware of the rules of the game.

Though the turnout of foreign players for the pre-bidding conference was dismal, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) hoped that it would get a good response Jan 5, the last day for filing applications.

“We are hoping that the auction will draw in bids that are a few times higher than the reserve price of Rs.2,020 crore (Rs.20.2 billion). The global financial crisis will not affect the auction for 3G services,” said R. Ashok, member (Finance), Telecom Commission, the apex government body for the sector.

Consumers had more good news in store, with the government announcing that the much-awaited mobile number portability (MNP) would be implemented in the four metros by June 2009 and extended to other parts of the country.

Panaji, Dec 26 (IANS) In a late night development, the Goa government Friday granted a conditional go-ahead to the Sunburn 2008 music festival, touted as the biggest in Asia, notwithstanding the ban on beach parties.

Sunburn 2008, the second edition of the annual music fest, is scheduled to be held at Candolim beach, North Goa, Dec 27-29. It will host about 40 top musicians from around the world. It is promoted by MTV personality Nikhil Chinappa.

The police granted a conditional No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the organisers of the event.

The mega event, which will feature leading DJs from around the world, was in limbo after the police had refused to grant an NOC to the organizers, which is a pre-requisite for the District Collector to issue a license to the organizers.

The conditional NOC was issued by the police Friday after intense lobbying by the organizers and the Congress MLA from Calangute Agnelo Fernandes, who has publicly endorsed the festival.

The police did a virtual turnaround, first saying that they would never issue an NOC to the organizers and finally issuing one with certain conditions in place late Friday.

Police sources said the conditional NOC was finally given after the organizers assured that they would have at least 60 security guards, including 20 bouncers, sniffer dogs and other security measures in place.

“They have also assured us that entry will be limited to adults who have purchased tickets only,” sources said, adding that the organizers had given the police a written assurance. “We are free to withdraw the NOC if we find that the organizers have not kept to their side of the bargain,” a police official said.

Goa’s ban on beach parties is from Dec 23 to Jan 5. The police had earlier claimed the music festival would never be granted an NOC due to fears of a terror strike in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.

Dhaka,
Dec 27 (IANS) Bangladesh has said that it will lodge a formal complaint
with India about three Indian oil and gas survey ships that allegedly
crossed into its maritime boundary and continued working despite being
told to leave.

Mumbai, Dec 20 (IANS) The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel here will reopen Sunday, exactly 25 days after terrorists laid siege to its heritage building, setting it on fire and holding guests hostage. A spokesperson for the hotel said 268 guest rooms, including nine suites and 26 Taj Club Rooms, located in the tower wing will be on offer to guests. In addition, the hotel’s renowned restaurants and eateries like The Zodiac Grill, Souk, Masala Kraft, Aquarius, Shamiana, Starboard and La Patisserie, some located in the old heritage wing, will also be reopened. The Rooftop Rendezvous banquet hall and the Chambers restaurant, which offer a magnificent view of the Mumbai harbour and city skyline, will also restart Sunday, the spokesperson said. He added that the hotel also added two new Jaguar cars to its fleet of luxury vehicles. The Taj hotel, situated close to the Gateway of India, was one of the key targets the terrorists attacked and took over Nov 26, leading to three days of mayhem that killed around 170 people in the city.

By B.R.P. Bhaskar

Contrary to the fond hopes of Third Front promoters, the Indian polity is moving towards a two-party system. Those who have their eyes focused on the national stage may have missed it, but the results of the just concluded assembly elections confirm the bipolar trend.

All the five states where elections were held were already well on their way to a two-party system with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) figuring as the contenders for power in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Congress and the Mizo National Front clashed in Mizoram.

In Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the ruling party held on to power though with reduced majorities in the assembly. In Rajasthan and Mizoram, the party in power and the main opposition changed places. Nowhere did a third party come within striking distance of power.

One aspect of the election results which has received much media attention is the impressive performance of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the four Hindi belt states. The party, which contested almost all the seats in these states, earned a rich dividend in the form of more votes as well as more seats.

Provisional figures indicate that the BSP’s vote share registered significant increases in all the states: from 4 percent to 8 percent in Rajasthan, from 4 to 6 percent in Chhattisgarh, from 6 to 9 percent in Madhya Pradesh and from 6 percent to 14 percent in Delhi. The gains are no doubt remarkable. However, they do not represent an immediate threat to the BJP or Congress as neither seems to have suffered significant erosion of support.

The Congress’ vote share dropped from about 48 percent in 2003 to about 41 percent in Delhi and the BJP’s from 43 percent to 39 percent in Madhya Pradesh and from 39 percent to 36 percent in Rajasthan. These swings are attributable to the burden of incumbency they carried in these states. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP bucked the anti-incumbency factor and increased its vote from 39 percent to 41 percent.

The Congress improved its position marginally in Madhya Pradesh (from 32 to 33 percent), Rajasthan (from 36 to 37 percent) and Chhattisgarh (from 37 to 38 percent). So did the BJP in Delhi where its vote rose from 35 to 37 percent.

Such is the electoral arithmetic that while the two top players together command more than 70 percent of the votes polled, the polity will remain essentially bipolar. The BSP will have to cut into the votes of the Congress and the BJP in a big way before it can upset the two-party system that has come into vogue in these states.

This is not to suggest that the BSP’s performance is a flash in the pan. The Congress and the BJP will do well to see it as a convincing demonstration of its capacity to grow beyond the borders of Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP has two distinct advantages. One is that it is now the No. 1 party in the most populous state. The other is that in Mayawati it has a charismatic leader, who is widely recognised as prime ministerial material.

Uttar Pradesh’s electoral history testifies to the tortuous course of multiparty politics. In 1985, the Congress was still the leading party in that state, with a 39 percent vote share, as against its immediate challengers, Janata Dal’s 21 percent and the BJP’s 10 percent. Thereafter, the Janata Dal, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party rose to the top and fell, one after another, before the BSP became the largest party.

It took the BSP - which entered the election arena as an unrecognised party in 1989 and bagged less than 10 percent of the votes - six elections spread over 18 years to achieve primacy. While the BSP (30.43 percent) and the Samajwadi Party (25.43 percent) are way above the BJP (16.97 percent) and the Congress (8.61 percent), it is too early to conclude that Uttar Pradesh has become a bipolar polity.

Outside the Hindi belt too, the two-party system is gaining ground. However, the parties in contention are not the same as in these states. In Andhra Pradesh, a national party and a regional party are the contenders for power. In Tamil Nadu, it is two regional parties that vie for power.

Kerala has a bipolar polity, but it is not two parties, but two fronts that seek power. The doggedness with which the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the leading players, have pursued coalition politics appears to have blocked the evolution of a two-party system in the state.

The bewildering variety that has come up at the state level in the wake of the Congress party’s decline has made coalition governments at the centre inevitable. Even as we accept this fact realistically, it is necessary to take note of the dangers inherent in the present situation, which allows small parties with limited agendas to exercise authority on a scale beyond their ken. The big parties, which had to yield to the blackmail tactics of such parties, must order their priorities in such a way that the bipolar trend gains strength in the long run.

(14-12-08 B.R.P. Bhaskar is a commentator on political and media affairs and can be contacted at brpbhaskar@gmail.com)

Johannesburg, Dec 13 (IANS) India’s Parvathy Omanakuttan was adjudged the first runner-up at the Miss World pageant here Saturday evening, with the crown going to Miss Russia.

Parvathy impressed the jury with her looks and quick wit and was one the five finalists out of the 109 contestants at the Sandton Convention Center. However, she was finally beaten by Miss Russia.

Miss Trinidad and Tobago was named the second runner-up. The others in contention in the final five were Miss South Africa and Miss Angola.

India had high hopes on 21-year-old Parvathy to win the crown that last came to the country in 2000.

India boasts of Miss Worlds like Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000)

Jaipur, Dec 13 (IANS) Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who was Saturday sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan, is likely to form his ministry next week, an aide said.

Gehlot has drawn up a list of probable ministers and will travel to New Delhi to discuss the issue with the party’s leadership, a close aide of the chief minister told IANS.

Governor S.K. Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Gehlot earlier Saturday before a gathering that included former chief ministers Vasundhare Raje and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress activists cheered Gehlot and shouted slogans hailing him and party president Sonia Gandhi as he waved to them after taking oath.

This is the second time the 57-year-old Gehlot has become the chief minister. He earlier held the post 1998-2003.

After taking oath, Gehlot told reporters that his aim would be to provide a sensitive and transparent government.

“We will review the BJP government’s works and decisions. My priority would be to provide medical and health facilities to people living below the poverty line,” the chief minister said.

Gehlot is seen as the main architect of the Congress comeback in the state. The Congress wrested power from the BJP in assembly elections, winning 96 seats in the 200-member house.

Gehlot might not have a long list of ministers initially, but he will have to accommodate the seven Congress rebels who fought as independents and have offered support to the party.

In all, 11 independent legislators, including BJP rebel leader K.L. Meena, have offered their support to the Congress, which is four short of a majority in the house.

“Gehlot would have to keep the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and the caste factor in mind while selecting his team,” said political analyst Vijay Sharma.

A major problem for Gehlot is that all of his senior colleagues, including B.D. Kalla, C.P. Joshi, Pradhuman Singh and Harendra Mirdha, have lost the elections. However, the chief minister seems unfazed.

“Everything will be fine. The process to form a cabinet is underway and the final decision on appointing ministers would only be taken after approval from the central leadership,” Gehlot told reporters.

Congress sources said Gehlot will induct some leaders of the Jat community in his ministry and the names of Mahipal Maderna, Sonaram and Hemaram Chaudhary are under consideration.

Senior Jat leaders, including union minister Sis Ram Ola and Parasram Maderna, had openly opposed Gehlot’s appointment as the chief minister.

Other names being considered for cabinet berths include Bina Kak, Shanti Dhariwal, Deependra Singh Shekhawat, Jitendra Singh, Brajinder Ola, Rajendra Pareek, Parasadi Lal Meena, Raghuveer Meena and Aimaduddin alias Duru Miyan.

Duru Miyan might be made the speaker of the assembly, party sources said.

Meanwhile, talks on having two deputy chief ministers for the state have been postponed. Discussions on this will only be take place after the Lok Sabha polls, the sources added

New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Justice has finally been delivered to the 174 passengers who had boarded the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi that was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan nine years ago. A consumer court here Thursday asked the Indian airlines to pay compensation to all on board.

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission headed by Justice J.D. Kapoor awarded a Rs.10 million compensation for the agony and trauma suffered by those who survived and Rs.500,000 to the legal heirs of the passenger who was killed by the terrorists.

The Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked Dec 24, 1999 and taken to Kandahar, where the passengers were held hostage till Dec 31, when then foreign minister Jaswant Singh reached Kandahar and handed over the three prisoners the terrorist had demanded to be released in exchange.

One of the passengers, Rupin Katyal, was killed by the hijackers during the captivity.

Justice Kapoor said every passenger on board the ill-fated aircraft was entitled to compensation in terms of Section 14(1)(h)(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, as they all had suffered the same degree of injury and agony.

The court passed this order on an appeal filed by Ashok Gupta and his wife who were among the passengers.

The Indian Airlines had denied compensation to these passengers by invoking Rule 17 of the Carriage By Air Act, 1972 providing that the carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of death or wounding of a passenger or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger if the accident that caused the damage took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

The aircraft was hijacked while it was near Lucknow and was taken to Amritsar where it was allowed to refuel and then it landed at Kandahar where Gupta and his wife along with other passengers and crew remained captive for eight days.

“The whole of this period was a nightmare for them; their hearts throbbing heavily being in the situation between life and death, shock waves going down their spines. Their sufferance cannot be described in words and can well be imagined,” said Justice Kapoor.

Gupta said in his petition: “There was no proper food to eat and there was always a fear… when a bullet would pierce us. We were not permitted to even raise our heads and were made to sit with our heads down on our knees.”

While coming down very heavily on the airline for the narrow and literal interpretation of “bodily and personal injury”, Justice Kapoor said: “Greater sufferings result from psychological causes than bodily harm and such sufferings endanger life, limb and health including mind, brain, heart and other organs.

“To say that they did not suffer injury much less any bodily or personal injury is highly far fetched and preposterous, as mind, brain, heart and all other parts of human body get affected by shock, physical torture, mental suffering and psychological trauma.

“There cannot be a worst case of suffering including mental, physical, bodily and personal injuries than this,” the order said.

As to the liability of Indian Airlines and its deficiency in service, it made the plea that it was an international airline and the airport authority of the country from where the flight was to take off was supposed to be responsible for the external security on the ground and internal security in the aircraft.

However, Justice Kapoor said: “Once any passenger enters into any contract with the airline for availing their services, he places himself at the disposal of the airlines for safe journey to his destination for which he pays the consideration and with security regulation clause makes it incumbent upon the carrier to ensure that no unauthorized person boards the aircraft and if the airline fails in their duty they and they alone have to be held liable for the said negligence in service as safety of the property and person of the passengers till they reach the destination is the most important ingredient of the contract as is mentioned on the jacket of the ticket.”

Justice Kapoor also directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to issue instructions to all airlines to undertake security check of all the passengers at the time of embarking the aircraft even after the multi-layer security check.