AHMEDABAD INDIA: The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in Ahmedabad could well be the next terror target. It almost came in the crosshairs of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Officials of Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) have found this explosive information in the cellphone conversation and email intercepts of Bashir Ahmad Baba, 32, a resident of Kashmir and an HM who was arrested by ATS on March 13 from Anand. “Before Bashir was arrested by ATS, his mobile phone was already under surveillance owing to the huge number of calls he made to Kashmir and PoK,” said ATS officials.

The calls intercepted thus revealed a sinister plan to blow up the BRTS bus at Shivranjani. Sources in the ATS said Bashir used Dr Anand Shah’s mobile phone to make several calls to top terrorist of HM, Bilal Shera, in PoK. Shah, a medical practitioner, allowed Bashir to stay at his flat in Parishram apartment near Shivranjani fly over.

Bashir had come to Ahmedabad in the guise of a Kashmir-based representative of Kimaya Foundation — an NGO with nine centres across India — which helps children suffering from cleft lip. “Bashir and Bilal in one of their conversations spoke about terror attacks in Gujarat. Ahmedabad figured in the first phase of terror plans. Bilal asked about a target that would create a scare and Bashir told him about the BRTS bus stop at Shivranjani,” said sources.

Bashir apparently recced the BRTS bus stop area a couple of times. Later, in an email — a copy of which is now with the ATS sleuths — he wrote to Bilal that the BRTS is a prestigious project for the state government and it is also very slack on security arrangements. He also pointed out that Shivranjani bus stop has a footwear market which draws huge crowds.

NEW DELHI INDIA : India on Thursday again ruled out resumption of Composite Dialogue process with Pakistan.

Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon while responding to a question about the status of engagement with Pakistan after the recent foreign secretary-level talks said “to our mind, going back to the composite dialogue process does not make sense; We are talking to explore what we can do but it needs two hands to clap.”

On the occasion of a book launching ceremony here, Menon said the recently concluded foreign secretary level talks can at best be described as ‘exploratory’ in nature.

To another question, he said India would continue its development works in Afghanistan despite attacks on Indian nationals.

MUMBAI INDIA : Bad scripts, flimsy characters and poor-quality production are hindering Indian cinema as it attempts to capture new global audiences, leading industry figures say.

Top actors, film-makers and executives said India needed to raise its game if it was to replicate the success of “My Name Is Khan,” which recently became the biggest Bollywood movie of all time on overseas revenue.

The movie has taken 39 million dollars worldwide since its release in February, including 17 million dollars outside India, distributors Fox Star Studios said, hailing it as “Bollywood’s first truly global film.”

Its success is now being seen as a possible model for “crossover” films, as Indian cinema looks to recover from a 14 percent decline in revenues to 89.3 billion rupees (about two billion dollars) in 2009.

The overseas market — which makes up seven percent of India’s total film industry revenues — fell 30 percent last year, hit by the economic downturn, poor-quality films and fewer releases after a strike by Bollywood producers.

“My Name Is Khan” actor and co-producer Shah Rukh Khan said that increasing Hollywood involvement in India was key.

The United States accounts for up to a third of Indian cinema’s overseas market and a number of US studios, including Warner Bros, Disney and DreamWorks, have struck deals with Indian production houses in recent years.

“Bollywood is lagging very, very far behind in three areas,” Khan told a media and entertainment conference in Mumbai this week.

Indian film-makers needed to understand the Hollywood format “and not adhere to our own stubborn narratives,” he said.

“The sooner Indian film companies realise that screenplay writing is not an art form but a science, the faster our films will grow,” he said.

Help was also needed to develop the special effects sector and bring the discipline and organisation that was “woefully lacking in the business of films,” he added.

Indian cinema, particularly Hindi-language Bollywood, has a tradition of making highly stylised films involving set-piece song and dance routines, with some actors often working on up to half a dozen films at the same time.

Some 242 Bollywood films were released in 2009, according to an industry report by auditors KPMG, but with few succeeding at the box office, even domestically, there have been calls to favour quality over quantity.

Bollywood has been looking to diversify into more contemporary subjects in recent years but “My Name Is Khan” director Karan Johar said the current standard of home-grown script-writing was still “shoddy.”

“We have the people, we have the infrastructure, we have the mobilisation but we don’t empower writing and that’s of paramount importance,” he said.

Actor Irrfan Khan, who starred in the Oscar-winning hit “Slumdog Millionaire” and “A Mighty Heart,” called for greater depth and better production values.

“I don’t think ‘Slumdog’ would have got the kind of mention it got if the post-production was done here India,” he said.

“Our mainstream films are fantastic and have that unique quality of emotion. But our mainstream doesn’t welcome the complexities of life, it doesn’t welcome complex characters. We need to work on that.”

Vijay Singh, chief executive of Fox Star Studios, which distributed “Slumdog Millionaire,” said seeking “crossover” hits did not mean compromising Indian films’ specific cultural and social themes.

But better content, combined with targeted marketing and distribution, could help raise the profile of Indian cinema, its stars and wealth of backroom talent, he added.

“These are early days for all of us. We have done the best that we can for ‘My Name Is Khan,’” Singh said. “Some of these new road maps that we have laid out will help Bollywood across the board.”

CHANDIGARH INDIA : For Haryanvis, it could well be time to rise and take note, if an INLD MLA’s remark in the assembly is to be believed. During his speech, three-time MLA from Kalayat Rampal Majra said the “sexual rate” of Haryana is falling. And, this has raised the hackles of many women MLAs who asked him to mind his language.

Majra, while speaking on the skewed sex ratio in the state on Monday, had actually mentioned “sexual rate” rather than “sex ratio.”

“Bahut kosiso ke baad bhi state me sexual rate nahi bad raha hai. Yeh chinta ki baat hai aur government ko is par aur dhyan dena chahiye (Sexual rate in the state is not improving despite all efforts. This is a matter of concern and the government should pay attention to this),” said Majra.

State health minister Geeta Bhukal, along with ruling party MLAs Anita Yadav and Sharda Rathore, made strong objection to the use of the term “sexual rate”. “Please, think of what you are talking in the assembly,” Bhukal said repeatedly. But Majra continued to speak, ignoring the objections raised by female MLAs as well finance minister Ajay Singh Yadav.

Majra, 55, a law graduate, is considered a part of the INLD thinktank led by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.

Later, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was present during the speech by Majra, told TOI: “It was a slip of tongue and it is best to be ignored. However, the words have not been expunged”

When The Times of India contacted Majra, he said: “Maine to kaha tha ki sexual ratio national average 933 ke mukabale Haryana mein sirf 863 hai (I had stated that the sexual ratio — read sex ratio — is just 861 in Haryana in comparison to the national average of 933). They are launching one after another scheme, but despite that there is no improvement in the sexual ratio,” he repeated.

Goundamani Dead, Goundamani Dead? (Tamil comedian  Goundamani Latest News Updates): Veteran comedian Goundamani was reported to have been admitted in Apollo Hospital in Chennai after complaining of chest pains. But some of the latest discussions on twitter and online discussion forums have mentioned that the South Indian comedian is dead while some others have reported that it is a rumor. But as per wikipedia page on Goundamani, the famous comedian died today, 18th March, 2010. We are trying to confirm the news right now and we wish it is a rumor.

Born in Kannampalayam, a village in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Goundamani came in the Tamil Film industry with strong theatrical background. He was seen in numerous films and some of them were very popular, including Sathyaraj, Karthik, Rajinikanth, Arjun, Parthiban, Jayaram, Kamal Hassan, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Sarath Kumar and Prabhu.

CHANDIGARH INDIA : Chandigarh police on Wednesday busted a sex racket with the arrest of four women, including a post-graduate working for a slimming centre.

The others include a 45-year-old woman who supplied girls and charged Rs 2,000-20,000 from clients, police said.

“We sent a decoy customer who paid Rs 2,000 as advance to (the madam),” Deputy Superintendent of Police J.S. Khaira told reporters. “(The madam) showed the decoy customer three girls. We arrested them while taking the remaining amount.”

INDIA ALLAHABAD: In a daring act, a hardcore criminal was allegedly freed by his accomplices, who shot dead two constables in the district, police said on Wednesday.

Constables Hariram (30) and Dharmendra (40), were shot dead on Tuesday night on board Jaunpur-Allahabad passenger train by unidentified persons, who allegedly freed a contract killer Neeraj Singh near Bariya Rampur, around 50 km from here, they said.

According to police, the attackers, whose number was not known, pulled the chain, pumped bullets into the policemen and fled taking Neeraj along with them.

Neeraj, involved in more than a dozen cases and currently lodged in Naini central jail, was facing a murder trial before a fast track court in Jaunpur.

“The incident occurred when the two constables were taking Neeraj back to Naini jail after producing him in the fast track court,” they said.

Senior police officials, including SP (Railway) and SP (trans-Ganga), also rushed to the spot and the Allahabad- Jaunpur border was sealed to launch a manhunt for nabbing the culprits.

MUMBAI INDIA: In what appears to be one of the worst pipeline bursts this year, a six-foot-diameter pipe burst in Bhiwandi on Monday evening. So great is the damage that the entire city will have to do with around 35% less water supply for the next couple of days—something unprecedented in recent history.

“It will take at least two days for the pipe to be repaired. We tried to arrest the water gushing out but it took time because the damage was huge,’’ said deputy municipal commissioner Dineshchandra Gondalia. “We cannot say with certainty how long the repair work will take but we are trying to speed it up as much as possible.’’

The incident occurred at Valgaon near Gundavli on a pipeline carrying water from Tansa to the Bhandup Water Complex around 7 pm. Officials said the age of the century-old pipeline could be the major reason for the burst although the immediate trigger was not known.

At the time of going to press, civic officials were still examining the extent of the damage. Local farmers are worried that the huge flow of water into their fields will damage the standing crops. The repair work is likely to begin in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The Tansa (East) main supplies water to all the major reservoirs of the city from the Bhandup Water Complex. Officials said that almost all parts of Mumbai would face a water shortage till the repairs were complete.

At present, the water content in the lakes supplying the city is 4.57 million litres as opposed to 6 million litres last year.

Frequent pipe bursts in recent times have added to the woes of Mumbai, which is already reeling under a 15% water cut. A recent Right To Information (RTI) query revealed that there were as many as 1,031 cases of pipe bursts or leaks in 2009, draining the city of millions of litres of water.

In fact, the BMC reported about three cases of burst or leaking pipes every day in 2009. The biggest burst last year was in May, when a pipe at Lalbaug ruptured while the flyover there was being constructed. This year, there was a major pipeline burst at Nana Chowk in Grant Road.

According to a hydraulic official, the 3-km stretch between Gundavli and Tarai—where the pipeline splintered open—will have to be isolated. “Once we isolate the stretch, we will have to drain out all the water,’’ he said. “After the patch dries up, we will be able to weld it. The quantity of water lost has not yet been estimated.’’

Mayawati Draws Flak for Rs 5 Cr Garland, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was Monday presented a giant garland of currency notes by her fans from Karnataka. Though the exact value of the garland is not known, onlookers put it in the region of a whopping Rs.5 crore!

In fact, no one noticed the Rs.1,000 currency notes with which the giant garland was created until these were identified by a local photographer when he zoomed in.

Earlier, while Mayawati was being garlanded, mediapersons could make out from a distance that it was not a run-of-the-mill garland. But beholders perceived it as one made of some exquisite imported flowers.

However, the mystery was unravelled no sooner than the still pictures were promptly lifted and beamed by TV channels.

Those present on the dais, however, feigned ignorance about the unique garland in which some 50,000 currency notes of Rs.1,000 each were believed to have been used.

The garland was specially crafted and brought by Mayawati’s party functionaries all the way from Bangalore for Monday’s mega rally organised by her to mark the Bahujan Samaj Party’s silver jubilee celebrations, which coincided with the 76th birth anniversary of party founder and her political mentor Kanshi Ram.

NEW DELHI INDIA: Today Delhi Police claimed to have busted a gang of robbers with the arrest of four youths and recovery of electronic articles and jewellery.

The arrested have been identified as Karan (26), Chandan (22), Akash (22) and Nasir (25), Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) N S Bundela said here. They were apprehended from Gagan Cinema in north-west Delhi yesterday.

A country-made pistol, a motorcycle, a laptop, two gold chains, a bangle, three rings and two mobile phones were recovered from their possession.

Karan is the alleged gang leader and they used to target autorickshaws carrying single passengers. They used to follow the auto and rob the passenger at gunpoint, police said.