PC Alexander, the principal secretary to Rajiv Gandhi, has hinted that the prime minister might have taken the decision to release the former chairman of Union Carbide Corp Warren Anderson in consultation with Arjun Singh, the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, media reports say.

According Headlines Today, Alexander said Anderson could not have escaped without the help of the state government and that he was let go keeping in mind the larger interest and under pressure.

Arjun Singh met Rajiv Gandhi after a Cabinet Committee Political Affairs meeting and that Anderson was supposed to be out under house arrest and all senior officials were in the dark about his release.

Attesting the same thing, a CNN-IBN report said that a declassified CIA documents show that Anderson was released after being arrested on December 7 on the orders of the Rajiv Gandhi government.

The documents were dated dated 8 December 1984 a day after Anderson left India and five days after the deadly gas leaked from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant.

On December 7, Warren Anderson was arrested but was later released the same day and was flown out of Bhopal in a state government plane to New Delhi.

The documents say politicians were trying to play a blame game and wring compensation from UCIL (Union Carbide India Ltd).

Moti Singh, the district collector during the time of tragedy has said that he was under orders of Brahm Swaroop, the then chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh, to get Anderson to the airport from where he was taken to Delhi.

Singh has alleged that Swaroop personally called him and asked him to release Anderson. He also added that he was never given reasons why Anderson was being released.

But Anderson, he said, wanted to visit areas affected by the gas leak but was told there was a threat to his life.

Anderson was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, grievous assault and killing and poisoning human beings and animals.

Arjun Singh has refuted the reports appearing about his involvement and had added that he had done his job in the best manner under the circumstances.

A Bhopal trial court on Monday convicted eight Indian officials of Union Carbide for their criminal negligence that triggered the world’s worst industrial disaster, but Anderson was not mentioned in the judgment.

Ke Nako. In Sotho, one of the 11 recognised South African languages, this means ‘It is time.’
The biggest sporting extravaganza — the month-long football World Cup — starts in South Africa on Friday. It’ll be a first for Africa, a continent the Olympics have feared to tread.
And with close to half a million visitors expected for the games, this will be the biggest, noisiest and most colourful party South Africa’s ever hosted — even by the rainbow nation’s own standards.
On the streets, people are blowing their vuvuzelas — plastic horns now symbolic of the World Cup. Flags are being sold, spit and polish being applied to Soccer City, where the hosts meet Mexico in Friday’s opener. Nelson Mandela will be in attendance, his grandson Mandla said, unless it’s too cold.
For the next four weeks, South Africa will hope the world talks about Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo rather than crime, unemployment and AIDS.
Messages welcoming visitors alternate with warnings to beware of illegal activity and requests to help the vulnerable on FM radio stations.
Will this be a winter of discontent for Diego Maradona or will he join Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo in an elite club, that of World Cup winners as captain and coach? Or will Dunga do that?
Will England end 44 years of “hurt” under an Italian coach? Will Fabio Cannavaro be the first captain to lift the gold statuette that travels in a Luis Vuitton case twice in succession? Will an African team go beyond the quarter-finals?

The answers will come gradually from 10 venues and 64 matches. By July 11, we will have them all.
South Africa has invested 33 billion rand (about Rs. 20,000 crore) in World Cup-related infrastructure, according to the local media. In what should be familiar to Delhiites, albeit on a far bigger scale, new stadia have been built, old ones refurbished and the transport system that includes a high-speed train and a new bus system upgraded for 19 billion rand (about Rs. 11,500 crore).
According to FIFA, the world’s apex football body, the World Cup will add 55.7 billion rand (about Rs 33,800 crore) to South Africa’s economy between 2006 and 2010.
“It will be a uniting factor for the nation,” said Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla, who is also the chief of the Mvezo village where the anti-apartheid guru was born.
“South Africa will benefit but the effects of this World Cup will be felt by all of Africa,” said Patrick Vieira, a World Cup and European championship winner with France, on Thursday morning.
For South Africa, therefore, this isn’t just about football. They are sure they won’t come up short and will be gracious hosts.
Even India — where, for three years and 11 months in between each World Cup finals, cricket is an intense, all-consuming religion — will get into football mode for the next four weeks. Like 172 other countries who didn’t qualify, we will, as a former England coach said in a different context, “sit back with a beer and enjoy”.
It really is time.

NEW DELHI: Opposition BJP accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of evading questions on the most relevant issues of the day at his press conference on Monday and said his government had failed on all fronts.

“If the PM had decided against saying anything on issues that mattered, why at all did he have a press conference,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley asked.

At a rally against the government here, BJP tried to drive home the point that one year of the government was marked by “disappointment and betrayal of the common man” and that price rise, corruption and surge in Naxalite violence were the only “achievements” of the government which could complete one year by “misusing” the CBI.

Though Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley defended his party’s approach, including its decision to finally pull the plug, as “unanimous”, many BJP leaders privately blamed Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar.

By Sunday, when it was clear that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief would not oblige his son, Hemant, in carrying out his pact with the BJP to transfer power, a top BJP leader asked a party functionary: “Why are we delaying from getting out of this mess?”

BJP insiders said Singh and Kumar were convinced that the party should not make it easy for the Congress to either impose President’s Rule or manage the state by proxy. Despite opposition from L.K. Advani, Joshi and Sushma Swaraj — who thought the JMM was not a reliable party — BJP chief Nitin Gadkari went along with Soren.

Why were some central BJP leaders keen on forming the government in mineral-rich state? The buzz was that these leaders and their family members were into big business, which would be affected in the absence of power. Another view was that the BJP cut off its nose to spite the face by withdrawing support after Soren’s vote in the first place.

Advani was upset that the party overruled his suggestion to project former Union minister Yashwant Sinha as chief minister to send out a message that the BJP was serious about governance. Sinha’s name was vetoed by the duo who backed ex-CM Arjun Munda, saying he alone “could manage and satisfy” the MLAs of both BJP and JMM, who later began to insist on rotation of the CM post.

Hit or no hit, Hrithik Roshan’s fans couldn’t care less about the film he had come to promote on Sunday afternoon, as long as they could get a glimpse of the man himself. Added advantage? Someone had spread the word that Barbara Mori is looking hot in a cool, short dress. Phir toh, the crowd at TGIP mall in Noida multiplied by the second.

The Kites pair, Hrithik and Barbara, was to come to Big Cinemas for a press conference, but before that, there was a short interaction with the crowd too. This only excited the crowd more, and soon, they began to roar his name.

The pair was also supposed to make an appearance at the Provogue store. They’d even advertised the same – and this added to the chaos, for, the crowd outside the store became unmanageable, with everyone hanging over the barricades and floor railings to look into the store. But, Hrithik and Barbara never came to the store. Sources later told us that Hrithik, who was also accompanied by Rakesh Roshan, was miffed at the visible chaos created by the immense crowd at the event. “Hrithik was upset after the crowd present in the mall misbehaved with Barbara Mori… They leapt over, and some even tried to touch Barbara, and in the melee, it left Barbara with scratched knees and a ripped nail,” said the source, who was present there.

Holding such events in malls have become fairly frequent these days. But though the organisers say that the stars demand such a crowd, and they like it when people throng the malls to see them, are the malls themselves equipped to handle such a sudden rise in footfalls? Says a source, “See, the stars will seldom have any problems because private security guards take care of them. Also, many stars come with their own entourage of bodyguards.” But what happens to the crowd that gathers for a dekko of their fave stars?

And what about incidents like this one? If the crowd becomes unmanageable, and the stars get hurt? Says City SP, Noida, Ashok Kumar Tripathi, “Nothing like that has happened. Yes, the crowd turned out to be a bit more than usual, but nothing untoward happened. The mall authorities did seek permission, which is normally what happens in such cases, and they were given due permission by the administration.”

“The police had provided two platoons of PAC (provincial armed constabulary), besides which, the mall had their own security arrangements too. In the normal course of things, the organisers of such events deposit a certain fee, depending upon the event. And thereafter, they are provided permission. In this case, I repeat that nothing untoward has happened. A few in the media have tried to just sensationalise the issue. I absolutely deny having come across such news.”

But according to an eye-witness, “Nothing untoward happened, but when Hrithik was standing near Costa Coffee, a bunch of guys came from the side of the Louis Phillipe shop to see him and by mistake, banged on the glass of the showroom, breaking it. A few people were pushing over each other to get closer to the star. It was maddening.”

A mall official, requesting anonymity said, “The exact footfall on the day Hrithik was to come was about 1.35 lakh, which is far less than what we recorded on January 26 this year, which was 2.97 lakh. Usually, on Saturdays and Sundays, the police provides extra security, because it’s Noida and also people from all over Delhi and from UP come to shop. So, the mall being crowded was a normal thing. Also, we have deployed over 300 private guards throughout the mall.” Benu Sehgal, VP, operations, TGIP added, “Nothing untoward happened. Everything was well under control. But when such stars come here, it is quite normal that they attract a slightly higher number of people. Our efforts are always channelised towards maintaining an ambience where people come, shop and go.”

But despite everyone stressing “nothing untoward happened,” it is a fact that the mall authorities came to the Provogue store 45 minutes after Hrithik and Barbara were to have come, asked the guards to remove all barricades, and switch off the showroom’s lights and shut shop for a while so that the crowd disperses. When asked, the guy refusing to divulge his name said, “We’ve locked the emergency gate from which Hrithik was to come. The crowd has converged at one spot and has become unmanageable. What if something had happened?”

New Delhi: Employees of the national carrier Air India Tuesday went on a flash strike in protest against a gag order issued by the management.

All engineers, cabin crew and ground staff of the cash-strapped carrier went on strike.

The strike comes a day after the management issued an internal notification to employees, warning them against airing their views about the airline in public.

According to sources, the management has also served show cause notices to a few union leaders for speaking to the public about the carrier.

YV Raju, general secretary of Air India’s All-India Aircraft Engineers Association, had told a newspaper Monday that the carrier broke all safety norms by getting an unqualified engineer to certify its Airbus aircraft.

Raju’s remarks came hours after an Air India Express aircraft crashed at the Mangalore airport killing around 160 people.

Air India employees said the gag order was an attempt by the company to restrict their “right to speech”.

“At a time when the company should be focussing on Mangalore, it is trying to stifle our voice. This won’t work. There are registered trade unions in AI, recognised by the company itself,” an Air India employee was quoted as saying by a newspaper Tuesday.

The notification states that instances have come to notice that contrary to previous orders, “certain employees… are freely airing their views in the media despite channels of communication existing within the company to voice their grievances”, the paper reported.

MELBOURNE: The ICC has stopped investigating the Australia-Pakistan Sydney Test after finding no evidence of match-fixing, a Cricket Australia spokesman said.

The Test, which Pakistan lost from an advantageous position, was under the scanner as the then coaches Initkhab Alam and Aqib Javed suspected match-fixing by their players, particularly stumper Kamran Akmal.

According to media reports, the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit head Paul Condon, who was looking into the match-fixing claims, has given a clean chit to Pakistan.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland had sought information from the ICC when Condon revealed last week that they were investigating the Test.

“The ICC has replied, saying it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and that there is no current investigation of match-fixing,” CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by ‘The Australian’.

“Haroon Lorgat has assured James Sutherland that Australia won the match on its merits. Lord Condon found evidence of a demoralised team and warned that cricket authorities needed to be extra vigilant,” Young added.

Pakistan on that ill-fated tour were whitewashed by Australia as they lost the Test and ODI series and also a Twenty20 international.

The disastrous outcome led to the Pakistan Cricket Board forming a enquiry committee to probe the national team’s failure Down Under.

Appearing before the committee, Alam and Javed suspected match fixing. The Committee recommended bans and fines on seven players, including Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for alleged indiscipline.

The proceedings of the committee were recently leaked and created a stir as Alam and Javed suspected match-fixing apart from revealing the politics and infighting in the team.

PARIS: Rafael Nadal will seek to erase his shock fourth-round exit last year from the memory banks when the mighty Mallorcan makes his tournament bow at the French Open on Tuesday.

World number two Nadal, who won in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid in the weeks leading up to the year’s second slam, will be third on Court Suzanne Lenglen against French wildcard Gianni Mina, who reached the final in the boys tournament last year.

The French crowd will also be treated to another four-time champion when Belgian Justine Henin, back after 20 months in retirement, returns to Court Philippe Chatrier three years after her last title.

Dubbed the Queen of Roland Garros in her heyday, the 22nd seed will open proceedings against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova as storms are expected in the French capital after a couple of searingly hot days.

Former world number one Dinara Safina, finalist last year, will be on Lenglen as the Russian starts her campaign against Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm, who is four months short of her 40th birthday and made her debut here some 21 years ago.

Maria Sharapova, another former world number one, will be up against fellow Russian Ksenia Pervak as she chases the only grand slam to have eluded her, three days after winning the warmup event in Strasbourg.

Spain’s Fernando Verdasco can expect a wary reception from the locals in his first-round match against Russian Igor Kunitsyn after waving ironically at the crowd in the Nice final he lost to home favourite Richard Gasquet on Saturday.

“I don’t know if this will come up during the secretary’s meetings in China this week,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters on Monday when asked if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would take up the issue with her interlocutors in Beijing.

“We are talking to China more broadly about the implications of this deal. It has a lengthy history to it,” he said when asked if the China-Pakistan deal would come up at the ongoing Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China in Beijing and the one with India in Washington next week.

“But we will seek to make sure that should this deal go forward, it is in compliance with the rules of the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Crowley added.

Crowley’s comments came as Lisa Curtis and Nicholas Hamisevicz, South Asia experts at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, urged the Obama administration to block the China-Pakistan deal as India and Pakistan had vastly different proliferation records.

There are signs of the Obama administration softening its position towards the Chinese- Pakistani nuclear cooperation, they said, noting that the US officials have avoided pressing China against moving forward with a deal to supply two new nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

“The Obama administration’s policy contrasts with that of the previous Bush administration, which actively discouraged additional Chinese assistance to Pakistan’s nuclear programme,” Curtis and Hamisevicz added.

“Given the widespread proliferation that resulted from the Pakistan-based A. Q. Khan network, as well as continued concerns about the existence of terrorist networks in Pakistan that seek access to nuclear weapons technology- a nod from Washington to further Chinese-Pakistani nuclear cooperation is short-sighted,” they said.

The argument that the China-Pakistan nuclear reactor deal should be seen in the same light as the US-India civil nuclear deal “discounts the vastly different proliferation records of Pakistan and India, the different oversight requirements generally imposed by the US compared to China, and the prevalence of Pakistan-based terrorist groups seeking nuclear weapons technology,” they claimed.

A decision to allow the China-Pakistan nuclear deal to advance unhindered would be a high-stakes diplomatic gamble taken by the Obama administration, the two experts argued. “Beijing would likely pocket US acquiescence while continuing only the most grudging cooperation on America’s highest international priorities,” they said.

“At the same time, Pakistan’s increased access to civilian nuclear technology without sufficient legal context and safeguards poses a potential proliferation threat and danger to nuclear safety and security on the Subcontinent,” added the duo.

A black box recorder has been recovered from an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft that crashed in southern India last week, killing 158 people on board, an official said on Tuesday.

The cause of the worst air disaster in India in more than a decade was still unknown, said officials.

“Yes, the black box has been found,” Peter Abraham, director at the Mangalore airport, told Reuters.

The Air India Express aircraft, a budget carrier owned by state-run Air India and carrying 166 people and crew, crashed early on Saturday while landing at Mangalore city’s “table-top” airport which overlooks a ravine.

Eight people survived, mostly by jumping out of the plane that broke into two after crashing.

While the cause of the crash has not been established, India’s media and some aviation experts have said the runway at Mangalore was not wide or long enough and may have given little room for the pilot to react after landing.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said the runway should not be blamed for the crash, adding the Mangalore crash should be seen as an isolated incident.

India has had several near misses in the past few years, underscoring aviation safety issues.