Crowds swarm Ajith

The crew of Mankatha wouldn’t have expected such a huge crowd at Dharavi in Mumbai. When people in that area came to know that Ajith is in their neighborhood to take part in the Mankatha shooting, they just descended on the sets.

Ajith, on the other hand, was happy to meet his fans and obliged them by posing for photos and signing autographs. Mankatha’s director Venkat Prabhu had a tough time trying to control the crowd and resumed the shooting after a short break.

Mankatha is produced by Dayanidhi Alagiri for Cloud Nine Movies. The film has Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai and Anjali playing important roles.

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Gaddafi Onslaught Pushes Rebels Back From Brega

Tripoli/Washington :  A fierce offensive by government troops pushed Libyan rebels attempting to take the key oil town of Brega further east, as diplomatic moves to end the over month-long conflict made little headway with the regime stating that it was open to negotiate all reforms except Muammar Gaddafi’s exit.

Coming under intense and renewed bombardment outside Brega, a part of which the rebels had taken over yesterday, they abandoned the town and were heading towards the eastern city of Ajdabiya, Al Jazeera reported.

Heavy fighting was reported today and opposition forces said they came under rocket and artillery fire as they attempted to fight back with mortars and rockets of their own.

The control of the oil town is vital as the capture of the oil pipeline terminus, small refinery and Mediterranean port could boost the opposition hunt for revenues.

The developments came as a NATO official claimed that 30 per cent of Libya’s military capacity had been destroyed as a result of the international strikes on Gaddafi’s assets.

Brig Gen Mark Van Uhm said that “we have taken out 30 per cent of the military capacity of the pro-Gadhafi forces.” On the ground, however, the rebels painted a gloomy picture of their advance and lamented the unmatched military capacity of the two sides.

“When you see this, the situation is very bad. We cannot match their weapons,” Kamal Mughrabi, 64, a retired soldier who joined the opposition army was quoted as saying as the opposition was pushed back almost 20-30 km east of Brega.

Early in the day, a coalition airstrike targeted eight government vehicles that were advancing on opposition positions, rebel officer Abdel-Basset Abibi said.

In first concrete comments from the beleaguered regime whose forces have been hit relentlessly by Western missiles and air strikes for weeks, Gaddafi’s spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said that everything except the exit of the Libyan leader was negotiable.

“The kind of political system which can be implemented in the country is negotiable. We can talk about it,” he told reporters in the capital.

In a calibrated move, the US decided to drop financial sanctions against Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa who defected to Britain last week hoping other aides of Gaddafi would follow suit.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in Washington that the US administration is in the process of identifying more people close to the authoritarian ruler to target them with sanctions.

Van Uhm, meanwhile, said that NATO’s “number one priority” now was the western town of Misurata, where residents have been besieged by pro-Gaddafi troops for weeks.

He said in Misurata human beings were being used as shields in order to prevent NATO sorties to identify targets.

Meanwhile, the Libyan rebels were set to begin exporting their first shipments of oil since mid-March after a tanker capable of holding USD 100 million worth of crude docked at the eastern port of Tobruk.

There were conflicting reports that 68-year-old Gaddafi was ready to negotiate a deal with the western powers under which he remains in the country, but this was firmly rejected by the rebels.

The pro-democracy forces have made it clear that Gaddafi has to step down and there was no question of any of his sons taking his place.

Ibrahim's comment that Gaddafi would not quit came after opposition rebels flatly rejected a reported peace deal that could have seen the dictators son Seif-ul-Islam taking over.

Terming Gaddafi as the "safety valve", the Libyan spokesman said his stay in power in the country was essential for the unity of nation's tribes and peoples.

"His (Gaddafi) presence is a must to lead Libya to any transition to a democratic and transparent model," he said.

Allegations of Gaddafi's forces targeting civilians were brushed aside by Ibrahim.

"We are fighting armed militia and you are not civilian if you take up arms against the state," he said.

The Libyan strongman, after missing for weeks, made  his first public appearance Monday when he greeted supporters at his Bab Al-Aziziya residence, the Libyan national TV reported.

Simultaneously, his son Seif, long seen as Gaddafi's successor, gave an interview to BBC in a Tripoli hotel where he said the defected foreign minister Moussa Koussa had not betrayed Gaddafi, but had left the country for health reasons.

Seif said Koussa was being pressurised into making allegations against Gaddafi and Libya in an effort to secure immunity from prosecution, BBC reported.

Gaddafi's son said the Libyan Foreign Minister was allowed to leave the country and denied that Koussa knew incriminating details about the Lockerbie bombings and other details.

In Washington, the Obama Administration remained non-committal on recognising the Libyan rebels as the de-facto government, even as Italy joined France and Qatar in doing so.

"We have taken a lot of steps to engage in dialogue with opposition leaders. We are part of the contact group, which is very much engaged in the process of assessing the opposition and helping plan for or assisting and advising the opposition and planning for a post-Qaddafi Libya," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

"But we continue to take measures that we believe are in America's national interest, national security interest, in terms of our due diligence and assessing the opposition and assessing the kind of assistance we can provide to the opposition," he said when asked if the US has plans to recognise the rebels as the de-facto Libyan government.

But, AP reported that the Obama administration has sent an envoy to the Libyan opposition for holding talks with those leading the rebellion.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, "Nothing to announce here, but we continue to work closely with the opposition. We continue to advise them and communicate with them regularly. But nothing new on that front."

"We are only weeks since the very beginning of any unrest in Libya at all; only a few weeks since the kinetic engagement of NATO and only a little bit longer than that since the US took action unilaterally and multilaterally on a slew of sanctions and that sort of thing," he said.

After a series of rapid advances, the rebels have witnessed retreats in the recent weeks, faced with a stronger military.

After the rebels abandoned Brega today, a rebel officer was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera that the two sides had battled inside the city until nightfall yesterday and then the rebels moved back to the outskirts.

Yesterday, opposition fighters had regained ground they had given up the day before.

The channel said that the rebels had not experienced such a push by Gaddafi forces for a few days.

However, a spokesman for the opposition's National Council in Benghazi, Mustafa Gheirani, said that while "setbacks" had been suffered, the opposition would fight on.

"There is no revolution without setbacks. But the people will win. Gaddafi cannot rule Libya with his machine - his militias and his mercenaries ... We are committed to fighting this tyrant, and either we will drive him out or he will rule a country with no people in it," he said.

Britain, meanwhile, said that European Union diplomats in Brussels are discussing proposals to offer family members and close aides of Gaddafi a lifting of restrictions on their assets, cash and travel if they withdraw support to the regime. PTI

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Airstrikes Destroy 30 Percent Of Gaddafi's Weapons

Brussels : The international aerial onslaught against Moammar Gaddhafi’s forces has destroyed 30 percent of Libya’s military capacity, a senior NATO official said Tuesday.

NATO warplanes have flown 851 sorties in the six days since the alliance took command of all operations from a U.S.-led international force that had been bombing Libya since March 19.

Brig. Gen. Mark Van Uhm said Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, who commands the Libyan operation from his headquarters in Naples, briefed NATO’s governing body on Tuesday.

“(Bouchard’s) assessment is that we have taken out 30 percent of the military capacity of the pro-gaddhafi forces,” Van Uhm said.

On Monday, NATO warplanes launched 14 attacks on ground targets in the North African nation, destroying radars, munitions dumps, armored vehicles, and a rocket launcher, he said.

But Van Uhm said pro-gaddhafi forces had changed tactics in recent days in response to the NATO attacks. Libyan forces are now using human shields to prevent more strikes against tanks and other heavy equipment around the coastal city of Misrata, making it impossible for pilots to target them, he said.

Seventy-five percent of strike missions Monday had to return without dropping their bombs or launching their missiles because of this and other factors that made it difficult for pilots to distinguish between civilians and regime troops.

“If they see the target but see humans being used as human shields, they come back,” Van Uhm said.

Van Uhm said Libyan government forces were using trucks and light vehicles now to move their forces to the front line, keeping heavy equipment behind.

“We try to identify where those heavy assets are, because we have seen they have chosen to hide themselves into urban areas to prevent being targeted,” he said.

United States aircraft ended their combat role against Libya on Monday, but U.S. forces continue to provide support, including aerial surveillance, reconnaissance and aerial refueling to NATO allies.

Van Uhm said the U.S. withdrawal had not affected operations on Tuesday.

“The operational tempo has remained the same,” he said.

The U.N. authorized military action to prevent attacks by gaddhafi’s forces on Libyan civilians. AP

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Tribe Of Yemen President Clashes With Army, 3 Dead

Sanaa (Yemen) : Tribesmen loyal to Yemen’s embattled president on Tuesday clashed with a group of soldiers whose commander has sided with the opposition, and the fighting in a suburb of the capital Sanaa left three tribesmen dead, according to tribal elders and military officials.

It was the latest violence in weeks of turmoil in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military and police forces have cracked down on protesters demanding he step down after 32 years in power.

The clash erupted as a convoy of about 30 cars with armed tribesmen from Saleh’s Sanhan tribe arrived at the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division in western Sanaa to meet with its commander, Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who had earlier joined the opposition.

Tribal members and army officers at the scene said al-Ahmar, who also hails from Saleh’s tribe, met a tribal chief, Ismail Abu Hurriya, who tried to persuade the renegade commander to return to the president’s camp.

It was unclear how exactly the shooting started at the gate of the army compound. Several tribesmen were also wounded by the gunfire, witnesses said. Some said a group of government supporters appeared at the scene and opened fire, but conflicting reports could not be immediately clarified.

Security officials said the visit was an attempt by Saleh to mediate with al-Ahmar. All the witnesses and officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the tense situation.

Earlier Tuesday, Saleh’s office said in a statement that the president had met with some leaders of his tribe to discuss the tensions.

The powerful Sanhan tribe is split between those remaining loyal to Saleh and those who have crossed over to the opposition. The tribe is also affiliated with the Hashid, the country’s biggest and most powerful tribe, which has sided with the opposition.

Al-Ahmar’s troops have stationed themselves close to the central square near Sanaa University to protect thousands of anti-Saleh protesters who have been camping for weeks, refusing to give up their protest until Saleh leaves office.

Yemen’s opposition parties urged the international community, regional powers and human rights groups to help stop the bloodshed in the country. More than 120 people have been killed and 5,000 injured since Yemen’s protests started in Feb. 11, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The parties issued a statement late Monday accusing Saleh, his sons and relatives, as well as security and military apparatuses they control of carrying out planned attacks against peaceful demonstrations with the intent to kill.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed grave concern for “the reports of violent repression, including live ammunition, against demonstrators.” In a statement Tuesday, she said she contacted Saleh last week to call for an orderly handover. “Transition must begin now,” she said in the statement.

Saleh has clung to power, saying Yemen will sink into chaos if he goes, warning of growing al-Qaida influence.

In Taiz, dozens of protesters were treated from breathing problems after police fired tear gas as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for a third straight day to press for Saleh’s ouster.

On Monday, at least 15 people were killed when military forces and police snipers opened fire on demonstrators who marched past the governor’s headquarters in Taiz. AP

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2G: Centre Opposes Prosecutor's Appointment By CBI

New Delhi : Government was at loggerheads with the CBI in the Supreme Court today over the agency’s decision to appoint senior advocate U U Lalit as special public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case, saying he did not meet the eligibility criteria for the task.

Asked by the apex court to issue notification for the appointment by today, Government raised technical objections to Lalit’s appointment saying that he should have worked under the state or the Union government for at least seven years to be eligible as the case has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati told a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly that under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the special prosecutor has to be working under the state or the Union government for at least seven years.

Senior Advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, contended that Lalit had been in the lawyer’s panel for the Maharastra government and the Centre for 15 years and five years respectively and he fulfills the criteria.

But the Attorney General submitted that being in the panel is not sufficient and one should be the government’s standing counsel for seven years and sought one week time from the court to come out with other name for the post.

The court also said that the Act does not mention the word “Standing counsel” and the objection raised was highly technical which should be given “reasonable” interpretation.

The bench, which said that Lalit is one of the most competent persons for the case, allowed the government to make its stand clear on the issue by Friday.

Vahanvati said there were some apprehensions that Lalit’s appointment as the SPP could be challenged at any stage and it may derail the entire prosecution of the case.

The CBI has registered cases against former Telecom Minister A Raja and others under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The CBI had on April 1 informed the apex court that Lalit will be appointed as special public prosecutor for assisting the special court, set up for the exclusive trial of the 2G spectrum case.

Venugopal had told the court that the agency had been facing lot of difficulties in finalising the name of special public prosecutor to lead a team of its prosecutors in assisting the special court for trial of the 2G case.

He had said the CBI faced difficulty as most of the senior counsel have been hired by one or the other party.

Maintaining that in the given circumstances, Lalit was the best choice as CBI’s special public prosecutor, Venugopal had pointed out that he had a vast experience in various criminal laws.

The agency in its first charge sheet alleged that Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s personal secretary R K Chandolia, Shahid Usman Balwa and Sanjay Chandra entered into a conspiracy for manipulating the procedure for allocation of spectrum with the aim of favouring companies like Swan Telecom and Unitech Group.

Others named in the charge sheet include Vinod Goenka, a Director of Mumbai-based DB Realty, which was also the promoter of Etisalat DB, Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director of Gurgaon-based real estate company Unitech and Unitech Wireless(Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd and Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, Group Managing Director and two Senior Vice Presidents of Mumbai-based Reliance Telecom Company. PTI

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CWG Scam: CBI Searches 20 Locations

New Delhi : The CBI today registered the ninth case in its probe of alleged corruption during Commonwealth Games naming seven senior engineers of CPWD and DDA for allegedly inflating cost of laying of synthetic turf as it carried out searches at 20 locations across the NCR.

Besides these officials, a sports equipment providing company Jubilee Sports Private Limited which had got the contract for laying of synthetic turf for Lawn Bowl event during the Games has also been named in the case, official sources said.

The case was registered under provisions of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and misuse of officials position against DDA and CPWD officials and the company, sources said.

This is ninth case registered by the agency in its ongoing probe in the alleged corruption during the conduct of the Commonwealth Games last year between October 3-14, 2010.

Two serving Senior Engineers of Delhi Development Authority Umesh Kumar and N H Khan, one retired Senior Engineer Janeshwar Tyagi and four Central Public Works Department officials -- Executive Engineers Dineshwar Gaur and Surja Ram, Senior Engineer Rajendra Kala and Assistant Engineer Kailash Chand are also named in it, sources said.

"The firm has provided and laid synthetic outdoor flat Lawn Bowl Greens for Commonwealth Games 2010 in which the accused officials of CPWD and DDA allegedly inflated the costs of the contract from the estimate of Rs six crore to Rs 9.88 crore by including allegedly false amounts against its cost, transportation etc," the official spokesperson said.

The official said several incriminating documents have been recovered during the searches and investigations are still going on.

As part of exercise the agency sleuths swooped down on the DDA offices at Pitam Pura and Vikas Minar where Kumar and Khan work, CPWD offices at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium where Kala and Ram work and at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium where offices of Chand and Gaur are located, sources said.

The residence of Siddarth Kumar, director of Jubilee Sports at Noida, and another official Rajiv Sharma at Greater Kailash were also covered in the exercise. The office of company at Greater Kailash was also searched, they said.

The sleuths also searched residences of all the accused officials spread across Mayur Vihar, Sarojini Nagar, Munirka, Sahyog Vihar, Gazipur and Mehrauli.

Lawn Bowls is a core sport of Commonwealth games. This sport has been a part of all the 17 Commonwealth Games except the 1966 games at Jamaica. The event at Commonwealth Games 2010 had six competitions for men and women. PTI

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Phone Call To Air India Call Centre Sparks Security Scare At IGIA

New Delhi : An anonymous phone call received at Air India call centre today that a bomb would go off sparked a security alert at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here but the threat turned out to be a hoax.

The call centre of the national carrier received the call at around 7 pm in which the caller said a bomb would be set off.

A senior CISF official said the call was "not specific" as to whether somebody was targeting a plane or the airport.

"The caller did not say where the bomb will be exploded", the official said.

A spokesman of Delhi International Airport Ltd later said a 3-member threat assessment committee held a meeting following the phone call and concluded that since the threat was not specific, the call hoax.

The CISF official said the standard security operation procedure was adopted after getting the phone call.

"We have strengthened the security. We have sanitised the airport," the official said.

Airport officials said flight operations were normal. PTI

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