Copy of the Securities Exchange Commission's complaint against Goldman Sachs is here
Inter Alia the Prayer for relief has " .... D. Imposing civil monetary penalties on GS&Co and Tourre pursuant to Section 20(d)(2) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77t (d)(2)] and Section 21(d)(3) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)]; and
E. Granting such equitable relief as may be appropriate or necessary for the benefit of investors pursuant to Section 21(d)(5) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5)] . Dated: Washington, D.C.............."
Do you think anything will happen ?
Sunday, April 18, 2010
What did Goldman knew and why it helped Paulson & Co?
From Financial Times FT.com
Goldman versus the regulators
By Patrick Jenkins and Francesco Guerrera
Published: April 18 2010 20:15 | Last updated: April 18 2010 20:15
Wall Street
Back in early 2007, Fabrice Tourre was feeling pretty pleased with himself. Not only was the 28-year-old Frenchman working for Goldman Sachs in New York, he had become a high-flying specialist in the booming field of collateralised debt obligations, or CDOs – the complex business of chopping up multiple mortgage debts into investable securities.
Though Mr Tourre, a Goldman Sachs vice-president, had been concerned for some time about the failing health of the underlying market – the debt, or “leverage”, was overwhelming and poor people with big subprime mortgages were starting to default on their loans – his continued success in punting his CDOs to unconcerned investors was giving him a buzz. On January 23 2007, he e-mailed a friend, flush with the success of his latest deal, the Abacus 2007-AC1. “More and more leverage in the system,” he wrote. “The whole building is about to collapse anytime now . . . Only potential survivor the fabulous Fab[rice] . . . standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstruosities [sic]!!!”
By last Friday, “the fabulous Fab” was looking rather less heroic. In a 22-page complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US financial regulator, charged Mr Tourre and Goldman with securities fraud, accusing them of misleading investors, omitting crucial information and misrepresenting the product. The lawsuit charged the Goldman team with encouraging unwitting investors to buy a product conceived, at least in part, by a client (hedge fund Paulson & Co) that was busy betting against the very same underlying mortgage investments via credit default swap (CDS) insurance contracts.
The result? “Investors in the Abacus 2007-AC1 CDO lost over $1bn,” says the SEC complaint. “Paulson’s opposite CDS positions yielded a profit of approximately $1bn for Paulson.” In the middle, Goldman made a decent fee, earning an expected $15-$20m for its structuring and marketing work.
The immediate financial implications of the SEC’s charge are tiny compared with the $13.4bn net profit Goldman made last year – the bank could be slapped with a fine, as well as having to return the money it made on the deal. But the broader damage the affair could wreak is vast. Goldman insiders say they were stunned by the SEC’s charges. In a company that built its ethos and pay structure on hiring the best and being the best, the surprise news that Goldman stood accused of securities fraud was a bombshell.
“I am not sure I can talk. I am still shell-shocked,” were the words of a normally loquacious Goldman banker shortly after the charges were announced. People who were in Goldman’s gleaming new building in downtown Manhattan when the news broke said the din of traders talking to clients and among themselves ceased almost immediately. The vast trading floors were enveloped in an eerie silence as staff and visitors stared at television screens.
Goldman’s executives could barely hide their anger at the way the regulators had handled the situation. They said the probe into the CDO the bank arranged for Paulson had begun nearly two years ago and the last time Goldman had heard from regulators was in July.
Goldman executives hint that the SEC’s apparent unwillingness to enter into settlement talks before making the charges public, which is customary especially in high-profile cases, and the timing of the announcement, had more to do with politics than regulation. With a closely fought battle over the post-crisis overhaul of financial regulation raging in Washington, the Goldman camp argues, Barack Obama’s administration needed a big scalp to throw at opponents of the new regulatory regime. Bankers will see similar thinking behind yesterday’s pledge by Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister – less than three weeks before a general election – that UK regulators also investigate.
SEC officials say it is normal practice to send companies a “Wells notice” – formal warning that they are under investigation – and then file charges afterwards without any further contact with the company. Goldman received such a notice around July last year but did not try to engage in settlement talks, according to people familiar with the regulator.
For all Goldman’s outrage at the way the charges were brought, Mr Tourre is not a “rogue trader” in the mould of the many misfits who have been behind financial scandals over the decades. The SEC’s attack on Goldman strikes at the heart of the business model that has turned the company into the world’s most powerful investment bank.
Under the leadership of Lloyd Blankfein, the Bronx-born son of a postal worker who rose to the top via Goldman’s cut-throat trading floors, the bank turned its knowledge of the market and network of corporate clients into a formidable money-making machine. “Being in the flow” – collecting intelligence gleaned from myriad market and corporate sources to inform both its own trading and that of its clients – has been the mantra that enabled Goldman to pull away from rivals such as Morgan Stanley, which still relied on the more traditional advisory and underwriting businesses.
Goldman’s status as the best-connected trader is self-perpetuating, as clients find themselves having to share information with the bank in order to get valuable ideas on what everyone else is doing. “People trade with Goldman not because they want to but because they have to,” a fund manager said recently.
In this respect, Goldman is less a “giant vampire squid” – Rolling Stone magazine’s famous characterisation of the bank – and more like a financial amoeba, constantly absorbing information that it uses to its own and its clients’ advantage.
That is why Goldman executives talk of the Paulson trade as normal business: helping a client achieve his aims, in this case profiting from his very negative views of the US housing market. It is also why, in 2006, when John Paulson – yet to become the multibillionaire fund manager feted for predicting the bursting of the housing bubble – came to Goldman in 2006 with a request for a tailor-made CDO, the bank went to work.
The resulting product was the Abacus security, which was approved by Goldman’s mortgage credit committee, a group of its most senior executives in the mortgage unit – another sign that Goldman saw nothing wrong with the trade.
The tale of Abacus 2007-AC1 began on January 8 2007, when Paulson presented Goldman Sachs with a list of 123 underlying residential mortgage backed-securities (RMBS), many related to home loans in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, where house prices had recently rocketed. These were the investments Paulson wanted included in a new CDO.
Yet the hedge fund was convinced that house prices were overheated and that mortgage defaults were going to rise – a powerful incentive to bet on the value of the mortgage securities falling, or sell them short, in Wall Street parlance. According to the SEC complaint: “Paulson intended to effectively short the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into CDS [insurance deals] with Goldman to buy protection on specific layers of the CDO’s capital structure.”
In other words, the SEC complaint alleges, the creation of the CDO was a cover for Paulson’s real belief that the investments were poor ones and were set to fall in value. The trouble was that Paulson needed buyers of the CDO, in order that it could be a seller. Although Goldman could structure the CDO as required, it knew it would find no buyers if Paulson was associated with it as a clear short-seller.
“Goldman and Tourre knew that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to place the liabilities of [the] CDO if they disclosed to investors that a short investor, such as Paulson, played a significant role in the collateral selection process,” the complaint says. “By contrast, they knew that the identification of an experienced and independent third-party collateral manager as having selected the portfolio would facilitate the placement of the CDO liabilities in a market that was beginning to show signs of distress.”
ACA was a well-known independent manager and fitted the bill perfectly. Having ACA’s name on the deal as “portfolio selection agent”, Mr Tourre said in an internal e-mail, “will be important . . . we can use ACA’s branding to help distribute the bonds”. ACA spent the next six weeks in to-and-fro discussions with Paulson, brokered by Goldman, finalising a list of 90 underlying investments for the CDO. Though ACA had some input, the majority of them came from Paulson and, says the SEC, the hedge fund vetoed some of the potentially higher-quality loans.
The regulator’s conclusions are damning: “Goldman’s marketing materials for Abacus 2007-AC1 were false and misleading because they represented that ACA selected the reference portfolio while omitting any mention that Paulson, a party with economic interests adverse to CDO investors, played a significant role in the selection of the reference portfolio.”
In fact, says the SEC complaint, Goldman made investors think the reverse – that Paulson, widely respected for its shrewd investment views, was buying into the equity of the CDO to the tune of $200m.
By February 15, although the final portfolio selection for Abacus 2007-AC1 was still 10 days away from being finalised, the Goldman marketing machine was ready to swing into action. Within a matter of days, investors around the world had been sent terms sheets, flip charts and offering memorandums. Among them was one perfect example of the return-hungry but naive investor that helped fuel both the global boom in structured products such as CDOs and the rapid blow-up of the global financial markets that followed.
IKB, a small but ambitious business lender based in Düsseldorf, collapsed in a heap of worthless investments in the summer of 2007. But in February of that year it was still riding high. Senior management had turned a little cautious about the US property market late in 2006, and were insisting that Goldman’s new CDO had an independent portfolio selection agent. But with ACA’s name on the marketing material, IKB was reassured and pumped $150m into Abacus 2007-AC1. “IKB lost almost all of its $150m investment,” says the SEC complaint. “Most of this money was ultimately paid to Paulson in a series of transactions between Goldman and Paulson.”
Goldman strenuously denies the SEC’s charges, arguing that it lost $75m on the CDO, net of its $15m fee – a point that could make it difficult for the SEC to argue the bank had a powerful motive to stuff the CDO with loans that turned out to be junk.
“We were subject to losses and we did not structure a portfolio that was designed to lose money,” Goldman says. Insiders at the bank argue that both IKB – the principal investor in the CDO – and ACA, the independent firm whose job was to select the securities to be included in the CDO, had plenty of information on the underlying loans and knew the risks associated with them.
They also knew that there would be investors going short on the CDO. “In trades of this kind, there is always an investor going short. It is just common practice,” Goldman says.
A presentation to investors for the Abacus deal, seen by the FT, does contain a complex graphic explaining that, as part of the structure of the CDO, some investors will short the security. However, it depicts the shorting investor as Goldman itself and not Paulson, which by Goldman’s admission had participated in discussions over the CDO’s composition. Goldman contends that is normal market practice for market makers not to “disclose the identities of a buyer to a seller and vice-versa”.
Perhaps more controversially, Goldman flatly denies the SEC’s allegations – evidenced by e-mail communication between ACA and Goldman describing Paulson as the “equity investor” – that it told ACA that Paulson would take a long position in the CDO. “Goldman Sachs never represented to ACA that Paulson was going to be a long investor,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.
The SEC has been enigmatic about whether other banks are being probed for having used similar practices, or whether it will raise the pressure on Mr Blankfein by unveiling complaints about further Goldman activity.
Goldman insiders are adamant that the positions of Mr Blankfein and his inner circle are safe. They argue that none of them is named in the complaint and point out that the bank’s robust defence means no heads will roll.
People close to the board, which meets this week to discuss Goldman’s first-quarter results, say there is little immediate pressure on Mr Blankfein but admit some members are getting worried about Goldman’s repeated mishaps. Goldman insiders believe Mr Blankfein’s near-term future will hinge on the share price, which lost more than 12 per cent on Friday. But in the long run, the chief executive’s hold on the job will depend on whether Goldman’s two factions – the investment banking dealmakers as well as the traders that he grew up with – can still unite behind him.
Mr Blankfein is buttressed by Gary Cohn, the bank’s number two executive and a fellow trader. But since the abrupt departure last year of Jon Winkelried, the former head of the investment banking division who shared the title of president with Mr Cohn, the grumblings of Goldman’s bankers have grown louder.
In the past week alone, the bank has been wounded by allegations that a Goldman director helped hedge fund Galleon trade on insider information, an attack by the former head of Washington Mutual testifying before Congress and revelations that one of its Whitehall property funds had paper losses of 98 cents on the dollar last year. “At what point do clients start to say maybe I don’t have to deal with this firm any more?” asks the head of one major competitor.
“Lloyd has done a good job of keeping the board on his side,” says a former Goldman executive. “But the patience may run out soon, especially if new revelations turn up.”
Additional reporting by Henny Sender
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.
Source URL
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24baec7c-4b1d-11df-a7ff-00144feab49a.html
Goldman versus the regulators
By Patrick Jenkins and Francesco Guerrera
Published: April 18 2010 20:15 | Last updated: April 18 2010 20:15
Wall Street
Back in early 2007, Fabrice Tourre was feeling pretty pleased with himself. Not only was the 28-year-old Frenchman working for Goldman Sachs in New York, he had become a high-flying specialist in the booming field of collateralised debt obligations, or CDOs – the complex business of chopping up multiple mortgage debts into investable securities.
Though Mr Tourre, a Goldman Sachs vice-president, had been concerned for some time about the failing health of the underlying market – the debt, or “leverage”, was overwhelming and poor people with big subprime mortgages were starting to default on their loans – his continued success in punting his CDOs to unconcerned investors was giving him a buzz. On January 23 2007, he e-mailed a friend, flush with the success of his latest deal, the Abacus 2007-AC1. “More and more leverage in the system,” he wrote. “The whole building is about to collapse anytime now . . . Only potential survivor the fabulous Fab[rice] . . . standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstruosities [sic]!!!”
By last Friday, “the fabulous Fab” was looking rather less heroic. In a 22-page complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US financial regulator, charged Mr Tourre and Goldman with securities fraud, accusing them of misleading investors, omitting crucial information and misrepresenting the product. The lawsuit charged the Goldman team with encouraging unwitting investors to buy a product conceived, at least in part, by a client (hedge fund Paulson & Co) that was busy betting against the very same underlying mortgage investments via credit default swap (CDS) insurance contracts.
The result? “Investors in the Abacus 2007-AC1 CDO lost over $1bn,” says the SEC complaint. “Paulson’s opposite CDS positions yielded a profit of approximately $1bn for Paulson.” In the middle, Goldman made a decent fee, earning an expected $15-$20m for its structuring and marketing work.
The immediate financial implications of the SEC’s charge are tiny compared with the $13.4bn net profit Goldman made last year – the bank could be slapped with a fine, as well as having to return the money it made on the deal. But the broader damage the affair could wreak is vast. Goldman insiders say they were stunned by the SEC’s charges. In a company that built its ethos and pay structure on hiring the best and being the best, the surprise news that Goldman stood accused of securities fraud was a bombshell.
“I am not sure I can talk. I am still shell-shocked,” were the words of a normally loquacious Goldman banker shortly after the charges were announced. People who were in Goldman’s gleaming new building in downtown Manhattan when the news broke said the din of traders talking to clients and among themselves ceased almost immediately. The vast trading floors were enveloped in an eerie silence as staff and visitors stared at television screens.
Goldman’s executives could barely hide their anger at the way the regulators had handled the situation. They said the probe into the CDO the bank arranged for Paulson had begun nearly two years ago and the last time Goldman had heard from regulators was in July.
Goldman executives hint that the SEC’s apparent unwillingness to enter into settlement talks before making the charges public, which is customary especially in high-profile cases, and the timing of the announcement, had more to do with politics than regulation. With a closely fought battle over the post-crisis overhaul of financial regulation raging in Washington, the Goldman camp argues, Barack Obama’s administration needed a big scalp to throw at opponents of the new regulatory regime. Bankers will see similar thinking behind yesterday’s pledge by Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister – less than three weeks before a general election – that UK regulators also investigate.
SEC officials say it is normal practice to send companies a “Wells notice” – formal warning that they are under investigation – and then file charges afterwards without any further contact with the company. Goldman received such a notice around July last year but did not try to engage in settlement talks, according to people familiar with the regulator.
For all Goldman’s outrage at the way the charges were brought, Mr Tourre is not a “rogue trader” in the mould of the many misfits who have been behind financial scandals over the decades. The SEC’s attack on Goldman strikes at the heart of the business model that has turned the company into the world’s most powerful investment bank.
Under the leadership of Lloyd Blankfein, the Bronx-born son of a postal worker who rose to the top via Goldman’s cut-throat trading floors, the bank turned its knowledge of the market and network of corporate clients into a formidable money-making machine. “Being in the flow” – collecting intelligence gleaned from myriad market and corporate sources to inform both its own trading and that of its clients – has been the mantra that enabled Goldman to pull away from rivals such as Morgan Stanley, which still relied on the more traditional advisory and underwriting businesses.
Goldman’s status as the best-connected trader is self-perpetuating, as clients find themselves having to share information with the bank in order to get valuable ideas on what everyone else is doing. “People trade with Goldman not because they want to but because they have to,” a fund manager said recently.
In this respect, Goldman is less a “giant vampire squid” – Rolling Stone magazine’s famous characterisation of the bank – and more like a financial amoeba, constantly absorbing information that it uses to its own and its clients’ advantage.
That is why Goldman executives talk of the Paulson trade as normal business: helping a client achieve his aims, in this case profiting from his very negative views of the US housing market. It is also why, in 2006, when John Paulson – yet to become the multibillionaire fund manager feted for predicting the bursting of the housing bubble – came to Goldman in 2006 with a request for a tailor-made CDO, the bank went to work.
The resulting product was the Abacus security, which was approved by Goldman’s mortgage credit committee, a group of its most senior executives in the mortgage unit – another sign that Goldman saw nothing wrong with the trade.
The tale of Abacus 2007-AC1 began on January 8 2007, when Paulson presented Goldman Sachs with a list of 123 underlying residential mortgage backed-securities (RMBS), many related to home loans in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, where house prices had recently rocketed. These were the investments Paulson wanted included in a new CDO.
Yet the hedge fund was convinced that house prices were overheated and that mortgage defaults were going to rise – a powerful incentive to bet on the value of the mortgage securities falling, or sell them short, in Wall Street parlance. According to the SEC complaint: “Paulson intended to effectively short the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into CDS [insurance deals] with Goldman to buy protection on specific layers of the CDO’s capital structure.”
In other words, the SEC complaint alleges, the creation of the CDO was a cover for Paulson’s real belief that the investments were poor ones and were set to fall in value. The trouble was that Paulson needed buyers of the CDO, in order that it could be a seller. Although Goldman could structure the CDO as required, it knew it would find no buyers if Paulson was associated with it as a clear short-seller.
“Goldman and Tourre knew that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to place the liabilities of [the] CDO if they disclosed to investors that a short investor, such as Paulson, played a significant role in the collateral selection process,” the complaint says. “By contrast, they knew that the identification of an experienced and independent third-party collateral manager as having selected the portfolio would facilitate the placement of the CDO liabilities in a market that was beginning to show signs of distress.”
ACA was a well-known independent manager and fitted the bill perfectly. Having ACA’s name on the deal as “portfolio selection agent”, Mr Tourre said in an internal e-mail, “will be important . . . we can use ACA’s branding to help distribute the bonds”. ACA spent the next six weeks in to-and-fro discussions with Paulson, brokered by Goldman, finalising a list of 90 underlying investments for the CDO. Though ACA had some input, the majority of them came from Paulson and, says the SEC, the hedge fund vetoed some of the potentially higher-quality loans.
The regulator’s conclusions are damning: “Goldman’s marketing materials for Abacus 2007-AC1 were false and misleading because they represented that ACA selected the reference portfolio while omitting any mention that Paulson, a party with economic interests adverse to CDO investors, played a significant role in the selection of the reference portfolio.”
In fact, says the SEC complaint, Goldman made investors think the reverse – that Paulson, widely respected for its shrewd investment views, was buying into the equity of the CDO to the tune of $200m.
By February 15, although the final portfolio selection for Abacus 2007-AC1 was still 10 days away from being finalised, the Goldman marketing machine was ready to swing into action. Within a matter of days, investors around the world had been sent terms sheets, flip charts and offering memorandums. Among them was one perfect example of the return-hungry but naive investor that helped fuel both the global boom in structured products such as CDOs and the rapid blow-up of the global financial markets that followed.
IKB, a small but ambitious business lender based in Düsseldorf, collapsed in a heap of worthless investments in the summer of 2007. But in February of that year it was still riding high. Senior management had turned a little cautious about the US property market late in 2006, and were insisting that Goldman’s new CDO had an independent portfolio selection agent. But with ACA’s name on the marketing material, IKB was reassured and pumped $150m into Abacus 2007-AC1. “IKB lost almost all of its $150m investment,” says the SEC complaint. “Most of this money was ultimately paid to Paulson in a series of transactions between Goldman and Paulson.”
Goldman strenuously denies the SEC’s charges, arguing that it lost $75m on the CDO, net of its $15m fee – a point that could make it difficult for the SEC to argue the bank had a powerful motive to stuff the CDO with loans that turned out to be junk.
“We were subject to losses and we did not structure a portfolio that was designed to lose money,” Goldman says. Insiders at the bank argue that both IKB – the principal investor in the CDO – and ACA, the independent firm whose job was to select the securities to be included in the CDO, had plenty of information on the underlying loans and knew the risks associated with them.
They also knew that there would be investors going short on the CDO. “In trades of this kind, there is always an investor going short. It is just common practice,” Goldman says.
A presentation to investors for the Abacus deal, seen by the FT, does contain a complex graphic explaining that, as part of the structure of the CDO, some investors will short the security. However, it depicts the shorting investor as Goldman itself and not Paulson, which by Goldman’s admission had participated in discussions over the CDO’s composition. Goldman contends that is normal market practice for market makers not to “disclose the identities of a buyer to a seller and vice-versa”.
Perhaps more controversially, Goldman flatly denies the SEC’s allegations – evidenced by e-mail communication between ACA and Goldman describing Paulson as the “equity investor” – that it told ACA that Paulson would take a long position in the CDO. “Goldman Sachs never represented to ACA that Paulson was going to be a long investor,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.
The SEC has been enigmatic about whether other banks are being probed for having used similar practices, or whether it will raise the pressure on Mr Blankfein by unveiling complaints about further Goldman activity.
Goldman insiders are adamant that the positions of Mr Blankfein and his inner circle are safe. They argue that none of them is named in the complaint and point out that the bank’s robust defence means no heads will roll.
People close to the board, which meets this week to discuss Goldman’s first-quarter results, say there is little immediate pressure on Mr Blankfein but admit some members are getting worried about Goldman’s repeated mishaps. Goldman insiders believe Mr Blankfein’s near-term future will hinge on the share price, which lost more than 12 per cent on Friday. But in the long run, the chief executive’s hold on the job will depend on whether Goldman’s two factions – the investment banking dealmakers as well as the traders that he grew up with – can still unite behind him.
Mr Blankfein is buttressed by Gary Cohn, the bank’s number two executive and a fellow trader. But since the abrupt departure last year of Jon Winkelried, the former head of the investment banking division who shared the title of president with Mr Cohn, the grumblings of Goldman’s bankers have grown louder.
In the past week alone, the bank has been wounded by allegations that a Goldman director helped hedge fund Galleon trade on insider information, an attack by the former head of Washington Mutual testifying before Congress and revelations that one of its Whitehall property funds had paper losses of 98 cents on the dollar last year. “At what point do clients start to say maybe I don’t have to deal with this firm any more?” asks the head of one major competitor.
“Lloyd has done a good job of keeping the board on his side,” says a former Goldman executive. “But the patience may run out soon, especially if new revelations turn up.”
Additional reporting by Henny Sender
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.
Source URL
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24baec7c-4b1d-11df-a7ff-00144feab49a.html
UK's Brown wants investigation into Goldman Sachs
UK's Brown wants investigation into Goldman Sachs
LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Britain's financial regulator to conduct a special investigation into U.S. bank Goldman Sachs
The bank has been charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its marketing of a subprime mortgage product. "I want a special investigation done into the entanglement of Goldman Sachs and the companies there with other banks and what happened," Brown told BBC television. "There are hundreds of millions of pounds have been traded here and it looks as if people were misled about what happened. I want the Financial Services Authority to investigate it immediately." (Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Adrian Croft) Source http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLAL00439420100418
What's the use of Test flights IF Insurance will NOT cover ?
UPDATE 1-More Dutch test flights to assess volcanic ash
* Initial test flights in Netherlands, Germany successful
* Flights to test volcanic ash impact on aircraft (Adds ministry comment, background) AMSTERDAM, April 18 (Reuters) - The Netherlands said more test flights would take place on Sunday to assess whether there was any danger in its airspace from volcanic ash after an earlier test flight was conducted safely. Dutch airline KLM said it carried out a test flight on Saturday without any apparent damage. Germany's Lufthansa flew 10 planes in separate tests. "The KLM test flight in the Netherlands, which took place under controlled conditions, has been safe. Abroad, several test flights have also been safe," the Dutch Transport Ministry said in a statement "The goal of these test flights is to do measurements in Dutch airspace on the possible consequences of the ash on airplane parts," the ministry. Volcanic ash spreading from Iceland has led to massive air travel disruptions across Europe in recent days and problems worsened on Saturday as the cloud of ash spread southeast across the continent. Volcanic ash has an abrasive effect and can strip off vital aerodynamic surfaces and paralyse an aircraft engine, while aircraft avionics and electronics can also be damaged. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Warren Buffett Takes $1 Billion Hit As SEC Charges Goldman Sachs
Warren Buffett Takes $1 Billion Hit As SEC Charges Goldman Sachs
Published: Friday, 16 Apr 2010 | 7:58 PM ETBy: Alex Crippen
Executive Producer
Warren Buffett can't be happy today that the SEC is charging Goldman Sachs with fraud.
First, the value of Goldman warrants held by Berkshire Hathaway has dropped by a little over $1 billion in just 24 hours, as the common stock plunged almost 13 percent to close at $160.70 today on the news. [GS 160.70 
-23.57 (-12.79%) 
]
They still have a current value of $1.987 billion, so he remains "in the money" on those warrants. Today's loss is just on paper. Buffett has said he plans to keep the warrants until close to their expiration in 2013, so there's time for the stock to make up the day's drop.
And no matter what the common stock does, Berkshire still gets 10 percent a year on the $5 billion it loaned Goldman in September of 2008, at the height of the credit crisis. (It received the GS warrants as part of that deal.)
But money is one thing. Reputation is another.
Buffett is more closely associated with Goldman than any other Wall Street firm.
The $5 billion loan came with his personal vote of confidence. In the press release announcing the deal, he called Goldman an "exceptional institution."
Buffett is co-chair of a $500 million initiative to help small businesses, announced last November amid widespread criticism of Goldman's big profits and executive paychecks.
And last month on Squawk Box, he defended the firm against critics who see it as a prime example of 'greed' on Wall Street.
QUICK: Would you still, given the political backlash, buy into this company, own stock, be associated with it and do you think it's a fair rap?
BUFFETT: Yeah. No, no, you're right. I mean, they're going to rewrite Genesis and have Goldman Sachs offering the apple, I mean, pretty soon. But no, I feel--I feel good about their business prospects. I mean, it is a--it's a very, very strong, well-run business.
Goldman rejects today's SEC charges as "completely unfounded in law and fact" and a court will have to decide if there's proof of any wrongdoing.
But Buffett's sterling reputation for integrity is very important to him.
It seems to me that it must be uncomfortable, at least, for him to see SEC charges brought against Goldman.
It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about today's developments when he answers questions at Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting in Omaha two weeks from tomorrow.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Goldman Had 9 Months' Warning From SEC--Report
Goldman Sachs responded to the so-called Wells notice from the SEC within months and met with agency officials in an effort to fend off the civil lawsuit, Bloomberg reported, citing its sources, who declined to be identified because the discussions weren't public.
The SEC sent Goldman the Wells notice in July 2009, and the company responded in September. In March 2010, the New York-based firm said in a regulatory filing that it was cooperating with regulators' "requests for information," Bloomberg noted.
On Friday, the SEC charged Goldman with securities fraud, alleging that the bank didn't tell investors in a collateralized debt obligation that hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co. had helped structure the deal and was betting against it. Goldman shares slumped 13% after the suit, the stock's biggest one-day loss in more than a year, knocking more than $10 billion off the company's market value.
Companies typically disclose legal issues such as regulatory probes in their quarterly and annual financial reports. If companies get Wells notices from the SEC, they often specifically disclose this, too. However, Goldman wasn't required to disclose the Wells notice if it believed it wasn't a material event. The notices don't always lead to charges or fines, a report in The Wall Street Journal noted.
"The question is whether a general disclaimer like that is rendered misleading because you left out the specifics," Adam Pritchard, a former SEC attorney, told Bloomberg News. "The prudent, conservative choice is to disclose more," because omissions can lead to shareholder lawsuits, Pritchard added.
Goldman's annual report for 2009, filed with the SEC in March, recycled a passage the company had used in the previous year's report to describe regulatory probes involving securities linked to subprime mortgages, Bloomberg reported. In both cases, the firm stated the following:
"GS&Co. and certain of its affiliates, together with other financial services firms, have received requests for information from various governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations relating to subprime mortgages, and securitizations, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic products related to subprime mortgages. GS&Co. and its affiliates are cooperating with the requests."
Lucas van Praag, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs in New York, declined to comment to Bloomberg.
On Friday, Goldman had said the SEC's charges were "completely unfounded in law and fact," and the investment bank promised to "vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation."
But Goldman may now face a raft of private lawsuits that could try to piggybank on the SEC's case, The Journal reported.
Paul Geller of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, which represents a union that's suing Goldman over mortgage-securities losses, told the Journal that private lawyers are "foaming at the mouth."
Investors who were hurt by the alleged fraud are likely to sue. ABN Amro, now owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and German lender IKB lost roughly $1 billion after investing in the Goldman CDO at the center of the SEC's suit.
These banks may have a fiduciary duty to their private or public shareholders to sue, James Kramer, a lawyer at Orrick who defends companies against securities claims, told the Journal.
"IKB and other disappointed Abacus investors will almost certainly pursue related CDO claims against Goldman," Brad Hintz, a Wall Street analyst at Bernstein Research, wrote in a Friday note to investors.
Hintz estimated that Goldman could face a liability of $706.5 million from the SEC's suit, in a worst-case scenario. This includes the cost of claims by ABN Amro and other investors in the CDO, known as Abacus 2007-ACI. It also includes $70 million in fee disgorgement and fines by the SEC.
If Goldman doesn't settle with the SEC, the regulator could take depositions of Goldman employees, among other things, and disclose it publicly in court, potentially helping lawsuits filed by alleged victims, Kramer explained to the Journal.
Direct or so-called derivative lawsuits from Goldman shareholders could also follow. That's because Goldman shares slumped 13% after the SEC suit was announced Friday.
In derivative suits, which would be easier to bring than direct claims, Goldman shareholders--acting on behalf of the company--would sue Goldman's board of directors for allegedly exposing the company to financial and reputational damage, Kramer told the Journal. Direct claims by shareholders that the company or officers made material omissions or misstatements to them would be more difficult to prove, he added.
-By Alistair Barr; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
Source URL
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100417-701050.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
Germany to Weigh Action on Goldman
From The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704246804575190313847540680.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories
Germany to Weigh Action on GoldmanMore at the Original URL
By MARCUS WALKER
Germany said it will ask the Securities and Exchange Commission for information in a case in which Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is accused of defrauding investors, potentially as a prelude to legal action.
"First we must ask for the documents, then evaluate [them] and then decide about legal steps," said a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, confirming a report in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Saturday.
The U.S. government alleges Goldman Sachs sold mortgage investments without telling buyers they were crafted with input from a client who was betting against them.
Germany's interest in the case stems from the fact that German lender IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG bought a significant amount of the collateralized debt obligations in question, contributing to IKB's heavy losses on U.S. mortgage-related securities. Those losses led to a €3.5 billion ($4.73 billion) bailout of IKB in mid-2007, with most of the money coming from IKB's major shareholder, German state bank KfW.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704246804575190313847540680.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories
SEC Vs Goldman
The Securities Exchange commission has filed a civil suit against Goldman Sachs
The moot questions seem to be
1. Did Goldman know that toxic debt were the underlying securities in their synthetic derivatives ? Most obvious answer seems to be YES :-(
2. If so, did they tell their clients about the nature of the underlying debt ? obviously NO !
3. Did the people who chose those derivatives for Goldman go ahead and short these very same derivatives ? That is what made them Billionaires and made Goldman's clients loose Billions. Which means knowledge was not only there, but was also utilised elsewhere !!
4. After all these, and after 100s and 1000s of people lost their entire life's savings, Goldman's executives have made hundreds of thousands on bonuses
5. Even in this case will SEC prevail ?
One interesting video on this case; Max Keiser takes offense to Goldman Sachs story
Even in this video, the people arguing FOR Goldman are calling it too big to fail !
What do you think ?
The product was new and complex, but the deception and conflicts are old and simple,” Robert Khuzami, the director of the S.E.C.’s division of enforcement, said in a statement. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.”
Via New York Times
The moot questions seem to be
1. Did Goldman know that toxic debt were the underlying securities in their synthetic derivatives ? Most obvious answer seems to be YES :-(
2. If so, did they tell their clients about the nature of the underlying debt ? obviously NO !
3. Did the people who chose those derivatives for Goldman go ahead and short these very same derivatives ? That is what made them Billionaires and made Goldman's clients loose Billions. Which means knowledge was not only there, but was also utilised elsewhere !!
4. After all these, and after 100s and 1000s of people lost their entire life's savings, Goldman's executives have made hundreds of thousands on bonuses
5. Even in this case will SEC prevail ?
One interesting video on this case; Max Keiser takes offense to Goldman Sachs story
Even in this video, the people arguing FOR Goldman are calling it too big to fail !
What do you think ?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
ஏசு கிறித்து உயிர்தெழுவாரா ?
ஏசு கிறித்து உயிர்தெழுவாரா ?
உலகிலேயே ஆப்பரிக்கர்கள் தான் அதிகம் மதப்பற்று உள்ளவர்கள் என்று ஒரு கணக்கெடுப்பு கூறுகிறது ...
இம்முடிவுக்கு கணக்கெடுப்பின் சில காரணங்கள் :
மற்ற விபரங்கள்
http://manakkan.blogspot.com/2010/04/africans-among-worlds-most-religious.html
உலகிலேயே ஆப்பரிக்கர்கள் தான் அதிகம் மதப்பற்று உள்ளவர்கள் என்று ஒரு கணக்கெடுப்பு கூறுகிறது ...
இம்முடிவுக்கு கணக்கெடுப்பின் சில காரணங்கள் :
- ஆப்பரிக்காவில் வாழும் கிறித்தவர்களில் 50 சதவிகிதம் பேர், தத்தம் வாழ்நாளிலேயே (அதாவது வெகு விறைவில் ) ஏசு கிறித்து உயிர்த்தெழுந்து உலகுக்கு திரும்புவார் என்று நம்புகிறார்களாம்.
- அதேபோல மூன்றில் ஒரு ஆப்பரிக்க இஸ்லாமியர், வெகு விறைவில் ஒரு இஸ்லாமிய கலீபாத் உலகில் ஏற்படும் என்று நம்புகிறார்களாம் (கலீபாத் : இஸ்லாமின் உன்னதக்காலம்)
- 30% ஆப்பரிக்கர்கள் நெரடி இறை அனுபவத்தையோ, நேரடி இறைச்செய்தியையோ ( revelation from god) பெற்றதாகவும் கூறுகிறார்களாம்
- இதை அமேரிக்காவுடன் ஒப்பிடும் போது 20% அமேரிக்கர்கள் மட்டுமே ஏசு கிறித்து உயிர்த்தெழுந்து உலகுக்கு திரும்புவார் என்று நம்புகிறார்களாம்
- தெற்கு ஆப்பரிக்க துணைக்கண்டத்தில்,
- 1900 ஆம் ஆண்டு 11 மில்லியனாக இருந்த இஸ்லாமியர், இப்போது 234 மில்லியனாகவும்
- 1900 ஆம் ஆண்டு 7 மில்லியனாக இருந்த கிறித்தவர் இப்போது 470 மில்லியனாகவும் வளர்ந்து இருக்கின்றனர்
- மொத்த ஆப்பரிக்காவை கணக்கில் எடுக்கும்போது இரண்டு பெரிய மதங்களான கிறித்தவத்திலும் இஸ்லாமிலும் தலா ல் இருந்து 500 மில்லியன் நபர்கள் இருக்கின்றனர்
- இத்துடன், மூன்றில் ஒரு ஆப்பரிக்கர், பைபிளையோ, திருக்குரானையோ சட்டமாக்க வேண்டும் என்கின்றனராம் (make Bible or Quran into law)
மற்ற விபரங்கள்
http://manakkan.blogspot.com/2010/04/africans-among-worlds-most-religious.html
Africans among world's most religious people, study finds
Africans among world's most religious people, study finds
By Richard Allen Greene, CNN
April 15, 2010 -- Updated 0830 GMT (1630 HKT)
A man performs the Stations of the Cross during the Good Friday procession earlier this month in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
(CNN) -- At least half of all Christians in sub-Saharan Africa believe Jesus will return to Earth in their lifetime -- part of a pattern that indicates the region is among the most religious places in the world, according to a huge new study.
It's not only Christians in Africa who experience their religion passionately, either. Nearly one in three Muslims in the region expect to see the re-establishment of the caliphate -- Islam's golden age -- before they die.
At least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person or received a direct revelation from God, according to the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington.
"In many countries across the continent, roughly nine in 10 people say religion is very important in their lives," the study found.
That puts even the least religious countries in the region ahead of the United States, which is among the most religious of advanced industrial countries, the study's authors wrote.
For example, only one in five American Christians said they expected to see Jesus return to Earth in their lifetime -- far lower than the African result of more than half -- according to a 2006 Pew survey, which asked a slightly different question.
The Pew Forum also studied how Christians and Muslims feel about each other in a region that has seen religious violence between the two communities, as well as the first spectacular al Qaeda attacks on American targets, the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Muslims have a significantly more positive view of Christians than Christians do of Muslims, the survey suggested.
Some 43 percent of Christians across the region see Muslims as violent, while 20 percent of Muslims see Christians as violent, the study found.
Hundreds of people from both faiths have died in violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria in the past decade.
The country is almost evenly split between the two communities, and some experts see it as the fault line between largely Christian Southern Africa and predominantly Muslim North Africa.
Nigeria is the most populous country in the region. It has the sixth largest Muslim population in the world, according to an October 2009 Pew Forum report.
There is some dispute about whether the violence in Nigeria is truly caused by religious differences or stems from struggles over land, resources or tribal or ethnic identity.
Across the 19 countries in the survey, Christians and Muslims both associated positive traits with the other religion.
Muslims see Christians as tolerant, honest and respectful of women; Christians say Muslims are honest, devout and respectful of women.
Many people also said they were more worried by extremists of their own religion than by the other.
Muslims said they were more concerned about Muslim extremism than Christian extremism, and Christians in four countries said they were more concerned about Christian extremism than about Muslim extremism, the report said.
People who said violence against civilians in defense of one's religion is rarely or never justified vastly outnumber those who said it is sometimes or often justified.
But substantial minorities in many countries said it is sometimes or often justified, the Pew Forum found. It does not have comparable data for other parts of the world, spokesman Robert Mills said.
Most people across the subcontinent said they do not know much about the other religion.
Both religions have grown exponentially in Africa in the last century.
There are approximately 234 million Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa today, up from 11 million in 1900.
There are about 470 million Christians, up from 7 million in 1900.
Including predominantly Muslim North Africa, there about 400 to 500 million members of each religion on the continent as a whole, the report said.
The growth of the two religions leaves only about one in 10 people in sub-Saharan African who are neither Muslim nor Christian, the study found. That implies growth cannot continue at the same rate, because there is little evidence of people switching from one faith to the other.
Sub-Saharan Africa is about 30 percent Muslim, according to the October 2009 Pew report; the comparable study for Christians is not yet complete.
The growth of monotheism has not stamped out older practices, the new study found.
"Many people incorporate elements of African traditional religions into their daily lives," the survey authors said.
"About a quarter believe sacrifices to spirits or ancestors can protect them from bad things happening. Sizable percentages believe in charms or amulets, many consult traditional religious healers and sizable minorities keep sacred objects such as animal skins and skills in their homes," they said.
Mixing elements of older religions with Christianity doesn't happen only in Africa, said Pew researcher Gregory Smith.
In the United States, 29 percent of Catholics and 21 percent of Protestants believe in astrology, and similar numbers believe in reincarnation, a Pew study published in December found.
Many Africans also managed to hold two conflicting beliefs on another subject as well: Majorities in both religions support democracy, but at least one in three people in both religions also support making the Bible or Islamic Sharia law the law of the land.
The study, "Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa," is based on more than 25,000 face-to-face interviews in more than 60 languages in 19 countries.
The countries in the survey are collectively home to 75 percent of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa, which is about 820 million people.
Source URL
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/15/africa.religion/
By Richard Allen Greene, CNN
April 15, 2010 -- Updated 0830 GMT (1630 HKT)
A man performs the Stations of the Cross during the Good Friday procession earlier this month in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
(CNN) -- At least half of all Christians in sub-Saharan Africa believe Jesus will return to Earth in their lifetime -- part of a pattern that indicates the region is among the most religious places in the world, according to a huge new study.
It's not only Christians in Africa who experience their religion passionately, either. Nearly one in three Muslims in the region expect to see the re-establishment of the caliphate -- Islam's golden age -- before they die.
At least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person or received a direct revelation from God, according to the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington.
"In many countries across the continent, roughly nine in 10 people say religion is very important in their lives," the study found.
That puts even the least religious countries in the region ahead of the United States, which is among the most religious of advanced industrial countries, the study's authors wrote.
For example, only one in five American Christians said they expected to see Jesus return to Earth in their lifetime -- far lower than the African result of more than half -- according to a 2006 Pew survey, which asked a slightly different question.
The Pew Forum also studied how Christians and Muslims feel about each other in a region that has seen religious violence between the two communities, as well as the first spectacular al Qaeda attacks on American targets, the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Muslims have a significantly more positive view of Christians than Christians do of Muslims, the survey suggested.
Some 43 percent of Christians across the region see Muslims as violent, while 20 percent of Muslims see Christians as violent, the study found.
Hundreds of people from both faiths have died in violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria in the past decade.
The country is almost evenly split between the two communities, and some experts see it as the fault line between largely Christian Southern Africa and predominantly Muslim North Africa.
Nigeria is the most populous country in the region. It has the sixth largest Muslim population in the world, according to an October 2009 Pew Forum report.
There is some dispute about whether the violence in Nigeria is truly caused by religious differences or stems from struggles over land, resources or tribal or ethnic identity.
Across the 19 countries in the survey, Christians and Muslims both associated positive traits with the other religion.
Muslims see Christians as tolerant, honest and respectful of women; Christians say Muslims are honest, devout and respectful of women.
Many people also said they were more worried by extremists of their own religion than by the other.
Muslims said they were more concerned about Muslim extremism than Christian extremism, and Christians in four countries said they were more concerned about Christian extremism than about Muslim extremism, the report said.
People who said violence against civilians in defense of one's religion is rarely or never justified vastly outnumber those who said it is sometimes or often justified.
But substantial minorities in many countries said it is sometimes or often justified, the Pew Forum found. It does not have comparable data for other parts of the world, spokesman Robert Mills said.
Most people across the subcontinent said they do not know much about the other religion.
Both religions have grown exponentially in Africa in the last century.
There are approximately 234 million Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa today, up from 11 million in 1900.
There are about 470 million Christians, up from 7 million in 1900.
Including predominantly Muslim North Africa, there about 400 to 500 million members of each religion on the continent as a whole, the report said.
The growth of the two religions leaves only about one in 10 people in sub-Saharan African who are neither Muslim nor Christian, the study found. That implies growth cannot continue at the same rate, because there is little evidence of people switching from one faith to the other.
Sub-Saharan Africa is about 30 percent Muslim, according to the October 2009 Pew report; the comparable study for Christians is not yet complete.
The growth of monotheism has not stamped out older practices, the new study found.
"Many people incorporate elements of African traditional religions into their daily lives," the survey authors said.
"About a quarter believe sacrifices to spirits or ancestors can protect them from bad things happening. Sizable percentages believe in charms or amulets, many consult traditional religious healers and sizable minorities keep sacred objects such as animal skins and skills in their homes," they said.
Mixing elements of older religions with Christianity doesn't happen only in Africa, said Pew researcher Gregory Smith.
In the United States, 29 percent of Catholics and 21 percent of Protestants believe in astrology, and similar numbers believe in reincarnation, a Pew study published in December found.
Many Africans also managed to hold two conflicting beliefs on another subject as well: Majorities in both religions support democracy, but at least one in three people in both religions also support making the Bible or Islamic Sharia law the law of the land.
The study, "Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa," is based on more than 25,000 face-to-face interviews in more than 60 languages in 19 countries.
The countries in the survey are collectively home to 75 percent of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa, which is about 820 million people.
Source URL
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/15/africa.religion/
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Venue and bride ready, baraat fails to turn up, new groom takes over
Girl's family claims dowry !! dowry !! demand ...Boy's family says "...All allegations are completely false and baseless. It is a conspiracy and we are being harassed" ..Drama unfolds
From Indian Express . Com
Thu, 15 Apr 2010
Venue and bride ready, baraat fails to turn up, new groom takes over
Original groom had placed a last-minute demand for an Alto car; wedding not put off as another man offers to marry 23-year-old
Monika’s baraat did not turn up on her wedding day. After waiting till 5 pm with empty chairs and all necessary arrangements in the Sector-30 community centre, the bride’s family complained to the police that the bridegroom and his family did not come, “as their demand of an Alto car was not met”.
But the marriage was not put off. Ram Darbar resident Sumit came on the scene and married Monika in the evening.
This is not a script of an anti-dowry play.
High drama was witnessed in the Sector-30 community centre on Wednesday where a bride’s family waited from 11 am to 5 pm for the baraat but it was nowhere in sight.
Subsequently, the bride’s family and relatives got together to complain against the alleged dowry demand of the bridegroom’s family, which was the “reason for them not turning up”.
Sanjeev Kumar, brother of the 23-year-old bride, said the bridegroom’s family had demanded an Alto car on Tuesday.
“We had to reject the demand, as there was no way we could have fulfilled it. The bridegroom’s family did not object. On Wednesday, we waited with all preparations at a decorated hall from 11 am to 5 pm but the baraat never came,” Kumar said.
After 5 pm, the wedding was called off.
Subsequently, the police were called and a case under Section 406 of the IPC and Section 2 and 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was registered against bridegroom Rahul, his father Ram Rattan and mother Sureshna.
But the story took another turn when the family ‘arranged’ another groom by evening, who married Monika at the same community centre.
The original bridegroom, on the other hand, denied all allegations.
“All allegations are completely false and baseless. It is a conspiracy and we are being harassed. We have given a counter complaint as the family is doing nothing but settling scores with us,” Rahul said.
The case against the bridegroom and his family, meanwhile, has been transferred to the Woman and Child Support wing of the Chandigarh Police.
source URL
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/venue-and-bride-ready-baraat-fails-to-turn-up-new-groom-takes-over/606506/2
From Indian Express . Com
Thu, 15 Apr 2010
Venue and bride ready, baraat fails to turn up, new groom takes over
Original groom had placed a last-minute demand for an Alto car; wedding not put off as another man offers to marry 23-year-old
Monika’s baraat did not turn up on her wedding day. After waiting till 5 pm with empty chairs and all necessary arrangements in the Sector-30 community centre, the bride’s family complained to the police that the bridegroom and his family did not come, “as their demand of an Alto car was not met”.
But the marriage was not put off. Ram Darbar resident Sumit came on the scene and married Monika in the evening.
This is not a script of an anti-dowry play.
High drama was witnessed in the Sector-30 community centre on Wednesday where a bride’s family waited from 11 am to 5 pm for the baraat but it was nowhere in sight.
Subsequently, the bride’s family and relatives got together to complain against the alleged dowry demand of the bridegroom’s family, which was the “reason for them not turning up”.
Sanjeev Kumar, brother of the 23-year-old bride, said the bridegroom’s family had demanded an Alto car on Tuesday.
“We had to reject the demand, as there was no way we could have fulfilled it. The bridegroom’s family did not object. On Wednesday, we waited with all preparations at a decorated hall from 11 am to 5 pm but the baraat never came,” Kumar said.
After 5 pm, the wedding was called off.
Subsequently, the police were called and a case under Section 406 of the IPC and Section 2 and 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was registered against bridegroom Rahul, his father Ram Rattan and mother Sureshna.
But the story took another turn when the family ‘arranged’ another groom by evening, who married Monika at the same community centre.
The original bridegroom, on the other hand, denied all allegations.
“All allegations are completely false and baseless. It is a conspiracy and we are being harassed. We have given a counter complaint as the family is doing nothing but settling scores with us,” Rahul said.
The case against the bridegroom and his family, meanwhile, has been transferred to the Woman and Child Support wing of the Chandigarh Police.
source URL
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/venue-and-bride-ready-baraat-fails-to-turn-up-new-groom-takes-over/606506/2
Tharoor gets death threat
14/04/2010
New twist: Tharoor gets death threat ....
Source : MSN News
New Delhi: The Kochi IPL saga took a new twist in Wednesday amidst reports that Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor got a death threat SMS from Dubai-based Dawood gang.
Tharoor's Officer on Special Duty claimed that an SMS was sent from one Shakeel who claimed to be a Dawood man asking Tharoor to stay off the IPL issue or face threat. Tharoor's office promptly alerted the Home Ministry.
Incidentally, Sunanda Pushkar, the lady in Tharoor's life, is a property dealer in Dubai.
Tharoor's penchant for landing in trouble is now taken almost for granted. If he escaped losing his job by the skin of his teeth for his cattle class tweet and for his comments on Saudi Arabia, this time he may be in deep trouble over the Kochi IPL row.
Sources here said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with A K Antony and Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday. Sources indicated that an action would be taken only after a full report is obtained.
Congress sources say there are many leaders within the party who having been gunning Tharoor. The latest controversy has come in as big ammunition as there is every chance of the personal life of the Minister coming out into public domain.
Meanwhile, the CPM has asked Tharoor to step down till his name is cleared. The CPM sees this crisis as an opportunity to lift their sagging image in Kerala where the party is in deep trouble. Tharoor was elected to the Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram.
Though the minister's links with Dubai-based beautician Sunanda Pushkar may be a private affair, questions are being raised on how a minister could be involved in transferring a substantial stake (worth Rs 70 crore by some estimates) in the Kochi IPL franchise to her free of cost.
Top Congress leaders are aware of the fact that politics, money, personal life and a public spat could be explosive especially if it gets into the hands of the Opposition.
To add to the mess, Tharoor's aide Jacob Joseph has called IPL commissioner Lalit Modi a convicted drug peddler. In an interview to CNN-IBN, Jacob said Modi was once involved in smuggling cocaine.
More at
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3819507&page=2
and related pages
New twist: Tharoor gets death threat ....
Source : MSN News
New Delhi: The Kochi IPL saga took a new twist in Wednesday amidst reports that Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor got a death threat SMS from Dubai-based Dawood gang.
Tharoor's Officer on Special Duty claimed that an SMS was sent from one Shakeel who claimed to be a Dawood man asking Tharoor to stay off the IPL issue or face threat. Tharoor's office promptly alerted the Home Ministry.
Incidentally, Sunanda Pushkar, the lady in Tharoor's life, is a property dealer in Dubai.
Tharoor's penchant for landing in trouble is now taken almost for granted. If he escaped losing his job by the skin of his teeth for his cattle class tweet and for his comments on Saudi Arabia, this time he may be in deep trouble over the Kochi IPL row.
Sources here said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with A K Antony and Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday. Sources indicated that an action would be taken only after a full report is obtained.
Congress sources say there are many leaders within the party who having been gunning Tharoor. The latest controversy has come in as big ammunition as there is every chance of the personal life of the Minister coming out into public domain.
Meanwhile, the CPM has asked Tharoor to step down till his name is cleared. The CPM sees this crisis as an opportunity to lift their sagging image in Kerala where the party is in deep trouble. Tharoor was elected to the Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram.
Though the minister's links with Dubai-based beautician Sunanda Pushkar may be a private affair, questions are being raised on how a minister could be involved in transferring a substantial stake (worth Rs 70 crore by some estimates) in the Kochi IPL franchise to her free of cost.
Top Congress leaders are aware of the fact that politics, money, personal life and a public spat could be explosive especially if it gets into the hands of the Opposition.
To add to the mess, Tharoor's aide Jacob Joseph has called IPL commissioner Lalit Modi a convicted drug peddler. In an interview to CNN-IBN, Jacob said Modi was once involved in smuggling cocaine.
More at
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3819507&page=2
and related pages
Gujarat 2008 : 60 per cent of suicides were committed by men.
Suicide statistics from Gujarat for 2008 :
- 60 % of suicides were committed by men.
- 0.76% or less than 1% died due to dowry demand (47 out of 6165 )
- Married men were the most to die
» City » Ahmedabad
17 suicides a day in Gujarat in 2008: Report
TNN, Apr 14, 2010, 02.43am IST
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat reported 17 suicides everyday in 2008, out of which 60 per cent were committed by men. There is a significant rise in the number of suicides, according to a recently published report ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2008’ by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The report has many shocking results that mirror the social and psychological status of Gujarat. According to it, 6,165 suicides were reported in 2008 against 5,580 in 2007, an increase of 10.5 per cent. The all-India average is 2.2 per cent.
A large population group is married women having recorded 1,744 suicides in the year, making it nearly 30 per cent of total incidents. Overall highest numbers of suicide 4,477 also came from married persons. The state stands eighth in overall suicide rate.
The figures said that education and suicide has a correlation. The report showed that 22.6 per cent of the total persons committing suicide in Gujarat were uneducated, while 35.2 per cent had only completed primary school, 19.4 per cent had finished middle school. While 15.7 per cent had completed matriculation, only 5.2 per cent had attended high school, 1.4 per cent became graduates and just 0.1 per cent had done postgraduation.Love took a front seat in the reasons behind the deaths as 83 killed themselves after failed love affair against 47 who committed suicide due to dowry demands. Illness (24.1 per cent) and family problems (19.8 per cent) were other reasons for suicide.
Gaurang Jani, sociologist, told TOI that nuclear families have resulted into loss of support system. "During our studies, we have found out that the trend of suicide is prominent in nuclear families than traditional joint families. About the women, it can be clearly seen that there is a paradigm shift in education and aspirations of today’s women but the social fabric is the same. The suicides are byproducts of this conflict," he said.
In his study of 250 suicides reported in the period of three months of October, November and December by newspapers, 65 per cent were found to be women in the state, said Jani.
Comment : Surprise, surprise "these sociologists" do NOT state openly that men are dying more...and married men are dying more ... because of the torturous laws and "rabbid feminism" that is unleashed on men. The sociologists keep talking in abstract terms and somehow in "his" study more women have been scrutinized !
source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/17-suicides-a-day-in-Gujarat-in-2008-Report/articleshow/5799101.cms
- 60 % of suicides were committed by men.
- 0.76% or less than 1% died due to dowry demand (47 out of 6165 )
- Married men were the most to die
» City » Ahmedabad
17 suicides a day in Gujarat in 2008: Report
TNN, Apr 14, 2010, 02.43am IST
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat reported 17 suicides everyday in 2008, out of which 60 per cent were committed by men. There is a significant rise in the number of suicides, according to a recently published report ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2008’ by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The report has many shocking results that mirror the social and psychological status of Gujarat. According to it, 6,165 suicides were reported in 2008 against 5,580 in 2007, an increase of 10.5 per cent. The all-India average is 2.2 per cent.
A large population group is married women having recorded 1,744 suicides in the year, making it nearly 30 per cent of total incidents. Overall highest numbers of suicide 4,477 also came from married persons. The state stands eighth in overall suicide rate.
The figures said that education and suicide has a correlation. The report showed that 22.6 per cent of the total persons committing suicide in Gujarat were uneducated, while 35.2 per cent had only completed primary school, 19.4 per cent had finished middle school. While 15.7 per cent had completed matriculation, only 5.2 per cent had attended high school, 1.4 per cent became graduates and just 0.1 per cent had done postgraduation.Love took a front seat in the reasons behind the deaths as 83 killed themselves after failed love affair against 47 who committed suicide due to dowry demands. Illness (24.1 per cent) and family problems (19.8 per cent) were other reasons for suicide.
Gaurang Jani, sociologist, told TOI that nuclear families have resulted into loss of support system. "During our studies, we have found out that the trend of suicide is prominent in nuclear families than traditional joint families. About the women, it can be clearly seen that there is a paradigm shift in education and aspirations of today’s women but the social fabric is the same. The suicides are byproducts of this conflict," he said.
In his study of 250 suicides reported in the period of three months of October, November and December by newspapers, 65 per cent were found to be women in the state, said Jani.
Comment : Surprise, surprise "these sociologists" do NOT state openly that men are dying more...and married men are dying more ... because of the torturous laws and "rabbid feminism" that is unleashed on men. The sociologists keep talking in abstract terms and somehow in "his" study more women have been scrutinized !
source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/17-suicides-a-day-in-Gujarat-in-2008-Report/articleshow/5799101.cms
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Males are the biggest victims of sex before marriage
On one hand Supreme court says that it is ok for adults to have sex before marriage ... On the other hand women who have had consented sex are filing rape cases stating the men have raped them
What happens to the man when a rape case is filed ?? He is tarnished, arrested and humiliated. H would be sent to prison where he could get physically abused by other inmates who are hardened criminals.
Males are the biggest victims of sex before marriage
Chinchwad
Meanwhile in Chinchwad, a 25-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a youth with false promises of marriage. 25-year -old Zakir Jallauddin Shaikh has been arrested by the Chinchwad police after the woman lodged an FIR.
Police arrested Zakir’s brother Nasir Jallauddin Shaikh for allegedly abetting him in the crime. Sub inspector Vishwas Jatak who is investigating the case said, “Zakir introduced himself to the girl under the fake name of Nitin Patil and won her confidence.
He also promised to marry her and took her to his brother’s flat and got physical with her. Later, when he refused to marry her, the girl came to the police station and lodged a rape complaint. We immediately arrested the two brothers.”
Yerwada
A of rape was reported with the Yerwada police in which a 21-year-old girl alleged that her co-worker raped her under the garb of marrying her.
Assistant commissioner of police, R D Thorat who is investigating the case said, “26-year-old Vikram Undare has been arrested after the girl lodged a rape complaint against him.
Both Undare and the victim work in the same company in Kalyani Nagar where they got to know each other.”
In her complaint, the girl said that she lived with her mother and uncle and didn’t have a strong financial backing. Taking advantage of her financial problems, Undare offered her help and won her confidence.
He also promised to marry her and got physical with her. Later, he refused to marry at which the girl filed a complaint.
URL
http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=20100410201004100055036364c9f5a29§xslt=
What happens to the man when a rape case is filed ?? He is tarnished, arrested and humiliated. H would be sent to prison where he could get physically abused by other inmates who are hardened criminals.
Males are the biggest victims of sex before marriage
Chinchwad
Meanwhile in Chinchwad, a 25-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a youth with false promises of marriage. 25-year -old Zakir Jallauddin Shaikh has been arrested by the Chinchwad police after the woman lodged an FIR.
Police arrested Zakir’s brother Nasir Jallauddin Shaikh for allegedly abetting him in the crime. Sub inspector Vishwas Jatak who is investigating the case said, “Zakir introduced himself to the girl under the fake name of Nitin Patil and won her confidence.
He also promised to marry her and took her to his brother’s flat and got physical with her. Later, when he refused to marry her, the girl came to the police station and lodged a rape complaint. We immediately arrested the two brothers.”
Yerwada
A of rape was reported with the Yerwada police in which a 21-year-old girl alleged that her co-worker raped her under the garb of marrying her.
Assistant commissioner of police, R D Thorat who is investigating the case said, “26-year-old Vikram Undare has been arrested after the girl lodged a rape complaint against him.
Both Undare and the victim work in the same company in Kalyani Nagar where they got to know each other.”
In her complaint, the girl said that she lived with her mother and uncle and didn’t have a strong financial backing. Taking advantage of her financial problems, Undare offered her help and won her confidence.
He also promised to marry her and got physical with her. Later, he refused to marry at which the girl filed a complaint.
URL
http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=20100410201004100055036364c9f5a29§xslt=
Foul play suspected in disappearance: Police
Foul play suspected in disappearance: Police
Last Updated: April 13, 2010 9:29pm
BRAMPTON — Peel Police say “foul play” is behind the strange disappearance of pregnant Poonam Litt and that family secrets within the home from which she vanished have prompted the homicide squad to take over the case, the Toronto Sun has learned.
The 27-year-old mother of a 3 1/2-half-year-old daughter went missing Feb. 5, 2009 — leaving behind her personal effects.
Now police, who until Tuesday had called it a missing person’s case, are focusing their investigation on members of her husband’s family.
“We have no doubt Poonam Litt has met with foul play and the persons residing within the Litt household know very well what happened to her,” said Insp. Norm English Tuesday evening. “We also realize that some family members are haunted by what occurred and it is only a matter of time before the exact truth is uncovered and this despicable family secret is revealed.”
The startling revelation came almost two weeks after the Cordgrass Cres. family’s patriarch, Kulwant Litt, 61, was charged with criminal harassment in an alleged stalking incident. The alleged victim was the same woman whom he had previously admitted in court to stalking; he was on probation for that offence.
He was also convicted of a 2007 sexual assault on another woman.
On April 8, Peel Police suggested there may have been more information from within the home — they being specifically curious of evidence showing someone left the home in a mini-van between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2009, five hours before Poonam is said to have gone to work.
On April 9, Kulwant’s son, Manjinder, who was in India at the time his wife disappeared, told The Sun he would talk to his father to ask if he knew more about what transpired that day. Speaking to the Sun Tuesday Manjinder, 31, said he did talk with his father and that “he said nothing.”
But Manjinder described his father as being “in his own world” and on the question of whether his dad might have more information, said: “You never know.”
The family has told police the last person to see Poonam was Manjinder’s sister, and Kulwant’s daughter, Mandeep. Kulwant has told his son he left the home at 7 a.m. on the day the woman went missing. Mandeep told me that “she gave me the baby” and went at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2009.
Poonam never did arrive at her dental office receptionist job.
Manjinder said his relationship with his father had been strained since he returned from India and Mandeep said about her father: “I am not happy because, you know, too many times he’s (been) arrested.”
“This case is difficult to understand,” said Det. Dan Richardson, who added there’s been movement in the disturbing investigation.
“Some family members are co-operating and some are outright lying, which is unfortunate, but a good sign that we are on the right track,” said Richardson. “Our investigation is progressing well, we’re very close to finding out what occurred.”
Manjinder said Poonam talked of the pregnancy during a phone call while he was in India just days before she disappeared. He said while his daughter Kirinjot “calls out for her mother every day,” he defended the people under his roof by saying this is not situation involving cultural “honour” or bride burning as some in the community have been suggesting on blogs which are being commented on from Brampton to the Punjab in India.
“My family is not like that,” he insisted, adding “I even told police don’t blame them.”
Poonam’s mother, Gurpal Dhaiwal, told me that other than original friction between the two families, she did not know of any on going problems within her daughter’s adopted home. Married in 2004, her daughter and Manjinder had met in the GTA in a work setting and it was not an arranged union involving the bride’s family paying a dowry to the groom’s family.
Meanwhile Manjinder, a truck driver, has once again “offered” his previous reward of $25,000 for “any information or any clue” as to the whereabouts of his wife Poonam.
Police say they are looking for information and clues inside a home on Cordgrass Cres.
joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca
Last Updated: April 13, 2010 9:29pm
BRAMPTON — Peel Police say “foul play” is behind the strange disappearance of pregnant Poonam Litt and that family secrets within the home from which she vanished have prompted the homicide squad to take over the case, the Toronto Sun has learned.
The 27-year-old mother of a 3 1/2-half-year-old daughter went missing Feb. 5, 2009 — leaving behind her personal effects.
Now police, who until Tuesday had called it a missing person’s case, are focusing their investigation on members of her husband’s family.
“We have no doubt Poonam Litt has met with foul play and the persons residing within the Litt household know very well what happened to her,” said Insp. Norm English Tuesday evening. “We also realize that some family members are haunted by what occurred and it is only a matter of time before the exact truth is uncovered and this despicable family secret is revealed.”
The startling revelation came almost two weeks after the Cordgrass Cres. family’s patriarch, Kulwant Litt, 61, was charged with criminal harassment in an alleged stalking incident. The alleged victim was the same woman whom he had previously admitted in court to stalking; he was on probation for that offence.
He was also convicted of a 2007 sexual assault on another woman.
On April 8, Peel Police suggested there may have been more information from within the home — they being specifically curious of evidence showing someone left the home in a mini-van between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2009, five hours before Poonam is said to have gone to work.
On April 9, Kulwant’s son, Manjinder, who was in India at the time his wife disappeared, told The Sun he would talk to his father to ask if he knew more about what transpired that day. Speaking to the Sun Tuesday Manjinder, 31, said he did talk with his father and that “he said nothing.”
But Manjinder described his father as being “in his own world” and on the question of whether his dad might have more information, said: “You never know.”
The family has told police the last person to see Poonam was Manjinder’s sister, and Kulwant’s daughter, Mandeep. Kulwant has told his son he left the home at 7 a.m. on the day the woman went missing. Mandeep told me that “she gave me the baby” and went at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2009.
Poonam never did arrive at her dental office receptionist job.
Manjinder said his relationship with his father had been strained since he returned from India and Mandeep said about her father: “I am not happy because, you know, too many times he’s (been) arrested.”
“This case is difficult to understand,” said Det. Dan Richardson, who added there’s been movement in the disturbing investigation.
“Some family members are co-operating and some are outright lying, which is unfortunate, but a good sign that we are on the right track,” said Richardson. “Our investigation is progressing well, we’re very close to finding out what occurred.”
Manjinder said Poonam talked of the pregnancy during a phone call while he was in India just days before she disappeared. He said while his daughter Kirinjot “calls out for her mother every day,” he defended the people under his roof by saying this is not situation involving cultural “honour” or bride burning as some in the community have been suggesting on blogs which are being commented on from Brampton to the Punjab in India.
“My family is not like that,” he insisted, adding “I even told police don’t blame them.”
Poonam’s mother, Gurpal Dhaiwal, told me that other than original friction between the two families, she did not know of any on going problems within her daughter’s adopted home. Married in 2004, her daughter and Manjinder had met in the GTA in a work setting and it was not an arranged union involving the bride’s family paying a dowry to the groom’s family.
Meanwhile Manjinder, a truck driver, has once again “offered” his previous reward of $25,000 for “any information or any clue” as to the whereabouts of his wife Poonam.
Police say they are looking for information and clues inside a home on Cordgrass Cres.
joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca
Doctor arrested for (allegedly) killing wife
Doctor arrested for (allegedly) killing wife
STAFF WRITER 14:46 HRS IST
Muzaffarnagar, Apr 13 2010 (PTI) A doctor was arrested for allegedly killing his wife over dowry demands at Janakpuri area here today, police said.
Mukesh Kumar was arrested after his wife's body was found hanging from a fan at his residence, they said, adding a case has also been registered against his parents.
Source URL
http://www.ptinews.com/news/607612_Doctor-arrested-for-killing-wife
Father-in-law asked her to have physical relation with him as payment of dowry ???
Did the father in law really try to have sex with the daughter in law ?? All this after 10 years of marriage and three kids !!!
or is this also another typical false dowry case......??
Man in police net for dowry demand
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 8:49 IST
Ahmedabad: The metropolitan magistrate, SM Singhal forwarded a man to three days police remand for harassing his wife for dowry. The man, Labhu Desai and his parents have been charged for harassing Geeta Desai.
As per case details, Labhu and Geeta have been married for ten years and have three kids from the union. Labhu allegedly used to harass Geeta demanding Rs5 lakh as dowry. On March 10, 2010, when Geeta was in the kitchen, her father-in-law Babu asked her to have physical relation with him as payment for the dowry. When she objected, her husband and her mother-in-law, Hansa assaulted her.
Later, her husband and her father-in-law took Geeta to a tantrik in Nadiad. There the woman was subjected to mental and physical torture.
The tantrik also allegedly poured hot oil on her hands. Later Geeta, who sustained serious injuries, lodged a police complaint at a women police station in Karanj.
Source URL
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_man-in-police-net-for-dowry-demand_1371133
or is this also another typical false dowry case......??
Man in police net for dowry demand
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 8:49 IST
Ahmedabad: The metropolitan magistrate, SM Singhal forwarded a man to three days police remand for harassing his wife for dowry. The man, Labhu Desai and his parents have been charged for harassing Geeta Desai.
As per case details, Labhu and Geeta have been married for ten years and have three kids from the union. Labhu allegedly used to harass Geeta demanding Rs5 lakh as dowry. On March 10, 2010, when Geeta was in the kitchen, her father-in-law Babu asked her to have physical relation with him as payment for the dowry. When she objected, her husband and her mother-in-law, Hansa assaulted her.
Later, her husband and her father-in-law took Geeta to a tantrik in Nadiad. There the woman was subjected to mental and physical torture.
The tantrik also allegedly poured hot oil on her hands. Later Geeta, who sustained serious injuries, lodged a police complaint at a women police station in Karanj.
Source URL
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_man-in-police-net-for-dowry-demand_1371133
Woman accuses brothers-in-law of sexual exploitation
Woman accuses brothers-in-law of sexual exploitation
TNN, Apr 12, 2010, 04.36am IST
JAIPUR: A 30-year-old married woman has lodged an FIR with Govindgarh police in Jaipur rural alleging that she was sexually exploited by her two brothers-in-law at the behest of her husband. The woman, who was living separately from her husband for the past three years, has alleged she was being harassed by her in-laws for dowry and sexually exploited.
According to the police, she was married to Mukesh Agrawal, a resident of Shahpura area, in 2000. "She says she has been harassed by her husband and in-laws for dowry. Her brothers-in-law Bajranglal and Prakash exploited her sexually when she could not meet their dowry demands," said a police officer.
She has been living at her parents’ house in Niwana since 2007. "She says that she is being threatened now, forcing her to lodge the FIR," he said. "The Agrawal family has moved to Delhi. Mukesh runs a vegetable shop there. We have sent a police team to Delhi to interrogate the family members," the officer added.
Source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Woman-accuses-brothers-in-law-of-sexual-exploitation/articleshow/5786062.cms
TNN, Apr 12, 2010, 04.36am IST
JAIPUR: A 30-year-old married woman has lodged an FIR with Govindgarh police in Jaipur rural alleging that she was sexually exploited by her two brothers-in-law at the behest of her husband. The woman, who was living separately from her husband for the past three years, has alleged she was being harassed by her in-laws for dowry and sexually exploited.
According to the police, she was married to Mukesh Agrawal, a resident of Shahpura area, in 2000. "She says she has been harassed by her husband and in-laws for dowry. Her brothers-in-law Bajranglal and Prakash exploited her sexually when she could not meet their dowry demands," said a police officer.
She has been living at her parents’ house in Niwana since 2007. "She says that she is being threatened now, forcing her to lodge the FIR," he said. "The Agrawal family has moved to Delhi. Mukesh runs a vegetable shop there. We have sent a police team to Delhi to interrogate the family members," the officer added.
Source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Woman-accuses-brothers-in-law-of-sexual-exploitation/articleshow/5786062.cms
Monday, April 12, 2010
வயது வந்த ஆணும் பெண்ணும் ... தங்கள் இச்சைப்படி உடலுறவு கொள்வதில் ....
என்வழி என்ற தளத்தில் வந்த இப்பதிவுக்கு பதிலெழுதப் போய். நீண்ட பதிலானதாலும், பல இடங்களில் இதே விஷயம் வாதிடப்படுவதாலும், ஒரு பொது பதிலாக இடுகிறேன்
குஷ்பு கற்பை பற்றிப்பேசிய வழக்கை தொடர்ந்து , உச்ச நீதி மன்றம் சொன்ன தீர்ப்பை அலசிய தினமணியின் பதிவை வெளியிட்டிருந்தார்கள் என் வழியில்... அதில் முக்கியமாய்...
இதே கேள்வியை பலர் கேட்டிருக்கிறார்கள். இந்திய சட்டப்படி திருமணத்துக்கு முன் ஆணும் பெண்ணும் உடலுறவு கொள்வது குற்றமா என்பதே கேள்வி. சமூக விழிப்புணர்வுள்ள யாரும் கேட்கும் கேள்விதான் .
என் பதில்
உச்ச நீதி மன்றத்தின் தீர்ப்புக்கு முன்பும், வயது வந்த ஆணும் பெண்ணும் எந்த வித பலாத்காரமும் இன்றி தங்கள் இச்சைப்படி உடலுறவு கொள்வதில் இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டப்படி எந்த வித தப்பும் இல்லை. சமூக சீர்கேடு எனலாம். ஆனால் இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டப்படி, தப்பில்லை.
உச்ச நீதி மன்ற தீர்ப்புக்கு முன்பும் என்று நான் எழுதியதை கவனத்தில் கொள்ளவும்.
உச்ச நீதி மன்ற புதியதாய் ஒரு சட்டம் இயற்ற முடியாது. இந்த வழக்கில் சட்டம் இயற்றிவிடவும் இல்லை.... புதிதாய் ஒன்றும் சொல்லி விடவில்லை. மூடி இருந்தது அப்பட்டமாகியது ..அவ்வளவுதான்
சட்டம் இயற்றுவதும், மசோதாக்கள் போடுவதும் நாம் ஓட்டுப்போட்டு நாடாளுமன்றம், பாராளுமன்றங்களுக்கு அனுப்பிய கண்மணிகள் தான் !! உச்ச நீதி மன்றம் சொன்னதோ, இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டங்களில் உள்ளதோ தப்பெனில், இதை தடுத்து 63 ஆண்டுகளாய் ஏன் சட்டம் போடவில்லை என்று அந்த கண்மணிகளை தான் கேட்க வேண்டும் .
சட்டங்களின் பின்னணி :
இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டங்கள் பெரும்பாலும் ஆங்கிலேயரால் எழுதப்பட்டவை. சிந்தனையோட்டம் அவர்களுடையது. அவர்கள் போன பின் அதை நம் நீதி மன்றங்கள் அமல் படுத்திக்கொண்டு இருந்தன. அவ்வளவுதான். உதாரணமாய் இந்த கிரிமினல் சட்டங்களை 1970கள் 1980கள் வரை பெருமளவில் நாம் மாற்றக்கூட முயலவில்லை. 1970 ... 1980 களில் மாற்றியபோது, டவுரி , புதிய குற்றங்களுக்கு பிரிவுகள் கொண்டு வந்துவிட்டு, பல அடிப்படை கருத்துக்களை அப்படியே தான் வைத்திருந்தோம். இன்றும் வைத்திருக்கிறோம். அதன் விளைவு தான் இந்த குஷ்பு வழக்கு தீர்ப்பு
ஆங்கிலேயர்களுடைய அன்நாளைய சமூக நியாயப்படி , அன்நாளில் நிலவிய கருத்துப்படி எழுதப்படவை நம் (இந்திய) கிரிமினல் சடடங்கள் . அதானல் தான் ஆணும் ஆணும் ( homosexual) உடலுறவு கொள்வது தண்டனைக்குறிய குற்றம் என்றும்...(.ஏனெனில் அன்றைய இங்கிலாந்தில் அது குற்றம் ) ..வயது வந்த ஆணும் பெண்ணும பலாத்காரமின்றி தங்கள் இச்சைப்படி ( hetro sexual) உறவு வைத்துக்கொள்வது கிரிமினல் ஆகாது என்று எழுதிவைத்துவிட்டுப் போய்விட்டனர். நாமும் ஆங்கிலேயன் சொன்னதை அப்படியே தலையாட்டி ஒப்புக்கொண்டு விட்டோம்.
அன்றும் இன்றும் விபசாரத்துக்கு காசு வாங்கி சம்பாதித்து கடை நடத்தினால் குற்றம். அதுவும் trafficing of women , கடத்தல், பலாத்காரம, காசுக்கு விபசாரம் நடத்துதல், நிபந்தப்படுத்துதல் என்ற விதத்தில் குற்றமாகும். எல்லா நாடுகளிலும் trafficking என்பது குற்றம். .... (பின்னாட்களில் மேலைநாடுகளில் கேசினோக்கள் விபசார விடுதி நடத்துவது அனுமதிக்கப் பட்டது ...ஆனால் அதற்கு முன் வெள்ளைக்காரர்கள் இந்தியாவை விட்டுப் போய்விட்டனர் !!)
இந்திய சட்டங்களை நாங்கள் தான் செய்தோம் என்று தம்பட்டம் அடித்துக்கொண்ட கும்பல், பல ஆங்கிலேய சட்டங்களை காப்பி அடித்தது நமக்கு தந்தன ....அவ்வளவே.
சிவில் சட்டங்களிலும் இதற்கு உதாரணங்கள் உண்டு . கம்பெனிச் சட்டம் 1980களில் திருத்தப்படும் வரை , பல பிரிவுகளில் ஆங்கிலேய கம்பெனிச் சட்டத்தின் ஒரு நகலாவே இருந்தது.
இந்திய தபால் தொலைபேசிச் சட்டம் சுமார் 100 வருஷ பழைதாய் இருந்து (ஆங்கிலேயன் போட்டதாய் இருந்து) இப்போது தான் சமீப 10ஆண்டுகளில் திருத்தங்கள் கொண்டு வந்திருக்கிறார்கள் !!!
மனுசாத்திரம் தான் இந்தியாவில் நடக்குது என்று ஒரு பொய் பிரசாரம் நடந்தாலும், உண்மையில் ஆங்கிலேய சாத்திரம் தான் இந்தியாவில் நடக்குது !
சட்டம் மட்டுமல்ல, நடை உடை பாவனையும் அதே தான். கோர்ட்டுகளில் கவுன் போட்டு நடப்பதும், கல்விச்சாலைகளில் பட்டமளிப்பில் கவுன் போட்டு நடப்பதும் இது தான் ... சமீபத்தில் மந்திரி திரு ஜெயராம் ரமேஷ் கவுனை கழற்றிப் போட்டது ஞாபகம் இருக்கலாம்.
1947 அவர்கள் நம்மை விட்டுப்போய்விட்டாலும், சமூக கலாசர தொடர்புகளாலும், கல்வி வழிகளாலும், இப்போது அரசியல் வழியிலேயும் நம் சிந்தனையை ஆக்கிரமிக்க முயன்று கொண்டுதான் இருக்கின்றனர் என்ற சந்தேகம் எனக்குண்டு.
ஆகவே உச்ச நீதி மன்றத்தின் மீது கோவப்பட்டு புண்ணியமில்லை. நம் மண்ணில் நமக்கென இருக்கும் பாரம்பர்யத்தை , நம் கலாசாரத்தை காக்கும் நல்ல மக்கள் பிரெதிநிதிகளை தேர்ந்தெடுப்பதே நல்லது .
-oOo-
உங்கள் கருத்துக்களை comment பின்னூட்டாக இடவும்
குஷ்பு கற்பை பற்றிப்பேசிய வழக்கை தொடர்ந்து , உச்ச நீதி மன்றம் சொன்ன தீர்ப்பை அலசிய தினமணியின் பதிவை வெளியிட்டிருந்தார்கள் என் வழியில்... அதில் முக்கியமாய்...
/////ஒரு வீட்டில் விபசாரம் நடக்கிறது என்ற தகவல் கிடைத்து போலீஸ்காரர்கள் அவர்களைக் கைது செய்யச் சென்றால், “வயது வந்த நாங்கள் ஒரே இடத்தில் தனித்து இருப்பதும், உடல் உறவு கொள்வதும் சட்டப்படி செல்லத்தக்கதே” என்று உச்ச நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதிகளின் கருத்துகளையே அவர்கள் திருப்பிச் சொன்னால் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க முடியுமா?////..... என்று எழுதி இருந்தார்கள்
இதே கேள்வியை பலர் கேட்டிருக்கிறார்கள். இந்திய சட்டப்படி திருமணத்துக்கு முன் ஆணும் பெண்ணும் உடலுறவு கொள்வது குற்றமா என்பதே கேள்வி. சமூக விழிப்புணர்வுள்ள யாரும் கேட்கும் கேள்விதான் .
என் பதில்
உச்ச நீதி மன்றத்தின் தீர்ப்புக்கு முன்பும், வயது வந்த ஆணும் பெண்ணும் எந்த வித பலாத்காரமும் இன்றி தங்கள் இச்சைப்படி உடலுறவு கொள்வதில் இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டப்படி எந்த வித தப்பும் இல்லை. சமூக சீர்கேடு எனலாம். ஆனால் இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டப்படி, தப்பில்லை.
உச்ச நீதி மன்ற தீர்ப்புக்கு முன்பும் என்று நான் எழுதியதை கவனத்தில் கொள்ளவும்.
உச்ச நீதி மன்ற புதியதாய் ஒரு சட்டம் இயற்ற முடியாது. இந்த வழக்கில் சட்டம் இயற்றிவிடவும் இல்லை.... புதிதாய் ஒன்றும் சொல்லி விடவில்லை. மூடி இருந்தது அப்பட்டமாகியது ..அவ்வளவுதான்
சட்டம் இயற்றுவதும், மசோதாக்கள் போடுவதும் நாம் ஓட்டுப்போட்டு நாடாளுமன்றம், பாராளுமன்றங்களுக்கு அனுப்பிய கண்மணிகள் தான் !! உச்ச நீதி மன்றம் சொன்னதோ, இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டங்களில் உள்ளதோ தப்பெனில், இதை தடுத்து 63 ஆண்டுகளாய் ஏன் சட்டம் போடவில்லை என்று அந்த கண்மணிகளை தான் கேட்க வேண்டும் .
சட்டங்களின் பின்னணி :
இந்திய கிரிமினல் சட்டங்கள் பெரும்பாலும் ஆங்கிலேயரால் எழுதப்பட்டவை. சிந்தனையோட்டம் அவர்களுடையது. அவர்கள் போன பின் அதை நம் நீதி மன்றங்கள் அமல் படுத்திக்கொண்டு இருந்தன. அவ்வளவுதான். உதாரணமாய் இந்த கிரிமினல் சட்டங்களை 1970கள் 1980கள் வரை பெருமளவில் நாம் மாற்றக்கூட முயலவில்லை. 1970 ... 1980 களில் மாற்றியபோது, டவுரி , புதிய குற்றங்களுக்கு பிரிவுகள் கொண்டு வந்துவிட்டு, பல அடிப்படை கருத்துக்களை அப்படியே தான் வைத்திருந்தோம். இன்றும் வைத்திருக்கிறோம். அதன் விளைவு தான் இந்த குஷ்பு வழக்கு தீர்ப்பு
ஆங்கிலேயர்களுடைய அன்நாளைய சமூக நியாயப்படி , அன்நாளில் நிலவிய கருத்துப்படி எழுதப்படவை நம் (இந்திய) கிரிமினல் சடடங்கள் . அதானல் தான் ஆணும் ஆணும் ( homosexual) உடலுறவு கொள்வது தண்டனைக்குறிய குற்றம் என்றும்...(.ஏனெனில் அன்றைய இங்கிலாந்தில் அது குற்றம் ) ..வயது வந்த ஆணும் பெண்ணும பலாத்காரமின்றி தங்கள் இச்சைப்படி ( hetro sexual) உறவு வைத்துக்கொள்வது கிரிமினல் ஆகாது என்று எழுதிவைத்துவிட்டுப் போய்விட்டனர். நாமும் ஆங்கிலேயன் சொன்னதை அப்படியே தலையாட்டி ஒப்புக்கொண்டு விட்டோம்.
அன்றும் இன்றும் விபசாரத்துக்கு காசு வாங்கி சம்பாதித்து கடை நடத்தினால் குற்றம். அதுவும் trafficing of women , கடத்தல், பலாத்காரம, காசுக்கு விபசாரம் நடத்துதல், நிபந்தப்படுத்துதல் என்ற விதத்தில் குற்றமாகும். எல்லா நாடுகளிலும் trafficking என்பது குற்றம். .... (பின்னாட்களில் மேலைநாடுகளில் கேசினோக்கள் விபசார விடுதி நடத்துவது அனுமதிக்கப் பட்டது ...ஆனால் அதற்கு முன் வெள்ளைக்காரர்கள் இந்தியாவை விட்டுப் போய்விட்டனர் !!)
இந்திய சட்டங்களை நாங்கள் தான் செய்தோம் என்று தம்பட்டம் அடித்துக்கொண்ட கும்பல், பல ஆங்கிலேய சட்டங்களை காப்பி அடித்தது நமக்கு தந்தன ....அவ்வளவே.
சிவில் சட்டங்களிலும் இதற்கு உதாரணங்கள் உண்டு . கம்பெனிச் சட்டம் 1980களில் திருத்தப்படும் வரை , பல பிரிவுகளில் ஆங்கிலேய கம்பெனிச் சட்டத்தின் ஒரு நகலாவே இருந்தது.
இந்திய தபால் தொலைபேசிச் சட்டம் சுமார் 100 வருஷ பழைதாய் இருந்து (ஆங்கிலேயன் போட்டதாய் இருந்து) இப்போது தான் சமீப 10ஆண்டுகளில் திருத்தங்கள் கொண்டு வந்திருக்கிறார்கள் !!!
மனுசாத்திரம் தான் இந்தியாவில் நடக்குது என்று ஒரு பொய் பிரசாரம் நடந்தாலும், உண்மையில் ஆங்கிலேய சாத்திரம் தான் இந்தியாவில் நடக்குது !
சட்டம் மட்டுமல்ல, நடை உடை பாவனையும் அதே தான். கோர்ட்டுகளில் கவுன் போட்டு நடப்பதும், கல்விச்சாலைகளில் பட்டமளிப்பில் கவுன் போட்டு நடப்பதும் இது தான் ... சமீபத்தில் மந்திரி திரு ஜெயராம் ரமேஷ் கவுனை கழற்றிப் போட்டது ஞாபகம் இருக்கலாம்.
1947 அவர்கள் நம்மை விட்டுப்போய்விட்டாலும், சமூக கலாசர தொடர்புகளாலும், கல்வி வழிகளாலும், இப்போது அரசியல் வழியிலேயும் நம் சிந்தனையை ஆக்கிரமிக்க முயன்று கொண்டுதான் இருக்கின்றனர் என்ற சந்தேகம் எனக்குண்டு.
ஆகவே உச்ச நீதி மன்றத்தின் மீது கோவப்பட்டு புண்ணியமில்லை. நம் மண்ணில் நமக்கென இருக்கும் பாரம்பர்யத்தை , நம் கலாசாரத்தை காக்கும் நல்ல மக்கள் பிரெதிநிதிகளை தேர்ந்தெடுப்பதே நல்லது .
-oOo-
உங்கள் கருத்துக்களை comment பின்னூட்டாக இடவும்
Mediators in Shoaib-Ayesha settlement want share of 15-cr pie
Article from MiD DAY.COM
Mediators in Shoaib-Ayesha settlement want share of 15-cr pie
By: B V Shiva Shankar Date: 2010-04-12 Place: Hyderabad
Related Tags : Ayesha Siddiqui, Shiraj Khan, United Women Front, money demand, alleged blackmail, Nation, Hyderabad
United Women Front president Shiraj Khan has allegedly been calling Ayesha repeatedly; wants Rs 1.5 crore as 'donation' for helping her
People who came across as well-wishers during her moment of crisis are turning tormentors for Pak cricketer Shoaib Malik's first wife Ayesha Siddiqui. Reason: They think Ayesha made Rs 15 crore from her ex-husband Shoaib Malik and they want their pound of flesh.
"We are tired of people's meanness. At a time when we are in deep sorrow because we don't know how to pull our daughter out of depression, these people are harassing her. We are going through a bad phase," said a member of the Siddiqui family.
My share?
Shiraj Sareen Khan, president of the United Women Front, who had filed a suit with the State Human Rights Commission on Ayesha's behalf, says she expects 10 per cent of the rumoured Rs 15 crore settlement for her crucial role in resolving the crisis.
Kyon paisa paisa karti hai? Shiraj Sareen Khan, president of the United Women Front said she wants the money for her organisation, not herself. Pic/AFP
"I don't want money for myself. All I want is a donation for our organisation, which is fighting for vulnerable women like Ayesha. I heard that Shoaib gave Rs 15 crore to Ayesha before he signed the divorce papers. If this is true, at least 10 per cent of the amount should be donated to our organisation," said Shiraj Khan.
When MiD DAY met Shams Babar, a close friend of the Siddiquis, at his hospital in Banjara Hills, he said, "People should be ashamed when they make such claims. They came to help us of their own accord. Even if we had approached them for help, is it fair to demand money for it?"
Soniaji, help!
Babar said Ayesha was sad that Shiraj has been calling repeatedly for money. "Ayesha says she plans to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi if people continue to pester her. She has not received the sort of money they think she did from Shoaib. Such people are demeaning her by claiming a share in the amount," he added.
Abid Rasool Khan, who headed the main team of negotiators, agreed with Babar. "Shoaib gave Rs 15,000 to Ayesha in keeping with stipulations of Islamic law. She donated this money. I don't know where all this talk of Rs 15 crore is coming from. I am among the negotiators who are upset with the Mirzas and Siddiquis for being given the cold shoulder once the negotiations ended. However, I am against people trying to extort money.
Such blackmailers should be punished," said Khan.
The Other Side
On record?
Source URL
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/apr/120410-shoaib-ayesha-settlement-mediators-money-demand-shiraj-khan.htm
Mediators in Shoaib-Ayesha settlement want share of 15-cr pie
By: B V Shiva Shankar Date: 2010-04-12 Place: Hyderabad
Related Tags : Ayesha Siddiqui, Shiraj Khan, United Women Front, money demand, alleged blackmail, Nation, Hyderabad
United Women Front president Shiraj Khan has allegedly been calling Ayesha repeatedly; wants Rs 1.5 crore as 'donation' for helping her
People who came across as well-wishers during her moment of crisis are turning tormentors for Pak cricketer Shoaib Malik's first wife Ayesha Siddiqui. Reason: They think Ayesha made Rs 15 crore from her ex-husband Shoaib Malik and they want their pound of flesh.
"We are tired of people's meanness. At a time when we are in deep sorrow because we don't know how to pull our daughter out of depression, these people are harassing her. We are going through a bad phase," said a member of the Siddiqui family.
My share?
Shiraj Sareen Khan, president of the United Women Front, who had filed a suit with the State Human Rights Commission on Ayesha's behalf, says she expects 10 per cent of the rumoured Rs 15 crore settlement for her crucial role in resolving the crisis.
Kyon paisa paisa karti hai? Shiraj Sareen Khan, president of the United Women Front said she wants the money for her organisation, not herself. Pic/AFP
"I don't want money for myself. All I want is a donation for our organisation, which is fighting for vulnerable women like Ayesha. I heard that Shoaib gave Rs 15 crore to Ayesha before he signed the divorce papers. If this is true, at least 10 per cent of the amount should be donated to our organisation," said Shiraj Khan.
When MiD DAY met Shams Babar, a close friend of the Siddiquis, at his hospital in Banjara Hills, he said, "People should be ashamed when they make such claims. They came to help us of their own accord. Even if we had approached them for help, is it fair to demand money for it?"
Soniaji, help!
Babar said Ayesha was sad that Shiraj has been calling repeatedly for money. "Ayesha says she plans to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi if people continue to pester her. She has not received the sort of money they think she did from Shoaib. Such people are demeaning her by claiming a share in the amount," he added.
Abid Rasool Khan, who headed the main team of negotiators, agreed with Babar. "Shoaib gave Rs 15,000 to Ayesha in keeping with stipulations of Islamic law. She donated this money. I don't know where all this talk of Rs 15 crore is coming from. I am among the negotiators who are upset with the Mirzas and Siddiquis for being given the cold shoulder once the negotiations ended. However, I am against people trying to extort money.
Such blackmailers should be punished," said Khan.
The Other Side
"I don't want the money for myself. It should be a donation for our organisation, which is fighting for vulnerable women like Ayesha. I heard that Shoaib gave Rs 15 crore to Ayesha before he signed the divorce papers. If this is true, at least 10 per cent of the amount should be donated to our organisation," said Shiraj Khan.
"When I was roped in to mediate during the crisis, Ayesha's relatives, including Dr Babar, had assured me that they would donate some amount. However, once the issue got resolved, the family became absolutely cold," she added.
On record?
It is rumoured that Shiraj has recorded a video which reveals the actual amount of money paid to Ayesha as settlement. She is believed to have threatened Ayesha's family that she will distribute the footage to TV channels if they don't pay up.
Source URL
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/apr/120410-shoaib-ayesha-settlement-mediators-money-demand-shiraj-khan.htm
Ayesha’s done this to me, too!
Mon, Apr 12, 2010
Ayesha’s done this to me, too!
TNN , Apr 12, 2010, 10.43am IST
Chicago-based businessman Feroze Jalal says Ayesha Siddiqui is no pained wife, and that she tried to con him the same way she ‘framed’ Shoaib Malik.
(As told to Piyali Dasgupta)
Source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/people/Ayeshas-done-this-to-me-too/articleshow/5784755.cms
Ayesha’s done this to me, too!
TNN , Apr 12, 2010, 10.43am IST
Chicago-based businessman Feroze Jalal says Ayesha Siddiqui is no pained wife, and that she tried to con him the same way she ‘framed’ Shoaib Malik.
Hyderabad is my hometown —which I will soon be visiting, probably in June. I’m currently settled in Chicago with my wife. When I read the news about Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and his alleged link up with the Hyderabad based-Ayesha Siddiqui, what immediately struck me was the name of the woman — since I’ve known her, and had a similar experience, many years back. And in light of that experience, I feel that Ayesha may well have framed Shoaib. What has happened with Shoaib is very sad, and I can understand it better than most because I have gone through similar trauma, because of what Ayesha had done with me a few years back.
In 1997, while I was in Jeddah, I started receiving some crank calls on my phone. I found out that it was my ex-girlfriend’s friend who was making the calls. I then got to know her name —Ayesha Siddiqui. Yes, the same Ayesha who supposedly has just ‘divorced’ Shoaib Malik.
I was only 20 years old at that time. I would keep getting these crank calls everyday. Finally, I decided to speak to her. She introduced herself as Ayesha Siddiqui. Slowly, we both started talking. Sometimes, we’d talk over the phone for hours and hours. She has a typical Pakistani accent. One day, I asked her if she would meet me, and she readily agreed. We decided to meet at a super mall in Jeddah. When I reached the mall and waited for her, a slim, beautiful girl walked up to me and introduced herself, saying, ‘Hi, I’m Ayesha.” We sat and chatted for some time, but after she left, I realised that her voice didn’t sound the same as it did on the phone. I had my doubts. I therefore got in touch with one of my friends, who was Ayesha’s neighbour. His description of Ayesha was very different from what the girl I had met looked like, and he also told me that the girl who had come to meet me at the mall was not Ayesha, but a friend of hers. The next time that I asked Ayesha to meet me, she didn’t turn up at all.
On the phone, Ayesha would cry, and ask me to marry her all the time, and I would refuse. She was crazy and madly in love with me, or so I thought. I finally got irritated of all this and stopped attending her calls. Our relationship lasted only for about six months.
Finally, later, I got to know about Ayesha’s real identity, her family, etc, through a common friend. I got to know that she had been calling other boys too, and talking to them the same way, and trying to somehow force them to marry her. In fact, one of my close friends, whom I’ll just call K (since his family doesn't know about all this), who was at that time staying in Hyderabad, had started receiving similar crank calls from Ayesha. When I told K about Ayesha, he also gave up talking to her. He is now, fortunately, happily married and settled in Australia.
I strongly feel that Ayesha needs proper medication. She seems normal to speak to at first, but she is not quite a ‘normal’ personality. I think she is just looking for fame and money. What appears stranger is that her parents seem to be supporting her in all this. She has probably trapped Shoaib and framed him.
And yes, I’m saying this all on record, as my wife is fully aware of this episode.
(As told to Piyali Dasgupta)
Source URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/people/Ayeshas-done-this-to-me-too/articleshow/5784755.cms
Sunday, April 11, 2010
குலக்கல்வி கல்லாமல் பாகம் பெறும்
குலக்கல்வி கல்லாமல் பாகம் பெறும் ???
இராஜாஜியின் குலக்கல்வி பற்றிய இந்த இடுகையில் குலம்.. குலக்கல்வி..என்றவுடன் பழைய நினைவுகள் திரும்பின
நான் சிறுவனாய் இருந்த போது சாதி ஒழிப்பு முழு வேகத்தில் இருந்த காலம்.... ராஜாஜி ஆட்சியெல்லாம் போயி காமராசர் பட்டினி போட்டார் என்றும் மந்திரி கக்கன் எலி திங்க சொன்னார் என்றும் அவர்கள் பெயரில் வைசைப்பாட்டெழுதி முடிஞ்சு போன பகுத்தறிவுக்காலம்.
தனிமனிதன் பெயரில்...கடை பெயரில்.. அட என்னாங்க தெருப்பெயரில் என எல்லா இடத்திலும் சாதிக்கு மேல் தார் பூசப்பட்டது :-)
கேரளத்தில் இருந்து வந்த நாயர்களும், கர்நாடக பட் , ஹெக்டேக்களும் (இங்கே இருந்தவர்களுக்கு புரியாததாலோ என்னவோ) ஜாதி ஒழிப்பு தார் பூசலில் இருந்து தப்பித்துக்க்கொண்டனர் :-) ஆக மொத்தம் நாயர் டீஸ்டால் நாயர் டீ ஸ்டாலாகவே இருந்தது ... பட் ஓட்டல் பட் ஓட்டலாகவே இருந்தது. சில சையதுகளும் அன்சாரிகளும் அப்படியே தப்பித்தனர் !!
இரண்டாவது பெயர் இல்லாமல் நான் வெரும் சுப்பு என்ற ஒரு பெயருடனேயே ஹாயாக சுத்தி வந்தேன்... மிஞ்சிப்போனால் கையெழுத்துன்னு வந்தா..அப்பா பெயர் ஒற்றைஎழுத்து இனிஷியலாக வந்தது. சொந்த பெயருக்கு முன் !
கடவுச்சீட்டு ( பாஸ்போர்ட்) எடுக்கப்போய் second name .. second name ! என்று ஹிந்திக்கார பாஸ்போர்ட் ஆபீஸர் கேட்டதும் நான் முழிக்க கடைசியில் எங்கப்பா பெயரை இரண்டாவது பெயர் என கொடுத்ததும் , அதை அவர்கள் அப்படியே பதிந்ததும், ...வெளியூர் (அட அதாங்க பெங்களூர் வந்து..) என்னை மறியாதையாய் விளிப்பவர் என் இரண்டாவது பெயர் கொண்டு அழைக்க (அதாங்க எங்கப்பா பெயரில் கூப்பிட்டால்) நான் பாட்டுக்கு யாரையோ கூப்பிடுறாங்கன்னு கம்முன்னு இருந்த காலங்களும் உண்டு... :-)
சாதிப் பெயர் இருந்திருந்தால் அது ஒரு இரண்டாவது பெயராகவாவது இருந்திருக்கும் .... ஆனா என்னா எத்தினி பேரை ஒரே சாதிப்பெயர் கொண்டு கூப்பிட முடியும் ..அதுவும் லொள்ளு தான்
இணையத்தில் பிரபலமான திரு பாலா பிள்ளையை இதே போல ஒரு நேர்முகத்தில் "..உங்க பெயரில் ஏன் சாதி பெயர் வருது என்று " கேட்க அவர் தந்த பதிலும் சற்றேரக்குறைய கடவுச்சீட்டுக்கு கொடுத்தது தான் சாதிப் பெயர் என்றார்...
குலக்கல்வி தப்பு ... ஏன் என்றால் பிராமணர் ஆதிக்கம் வளந்துவிடும்..ரொம்ப தப்பு....
அப்ப இந்த இந்த ஜாதிக்கு மட்டும் 68% இட ஒதுக்கீடு என்றால் அந்த ஜாதி ஆதிக்கம் மட்டும் வளராதா என்ன ? ஏய் ..சுப்பு சும்மா இரு.. என்னா ? கொழுப்பு தான ?????? இட ஒதுக்கீடு தப்புன்னு சொல்ல நீ யார் ? உனக்கு எத்தினி ஓட்டு கெடைக்கும், ...ஆங் ?
இராஜாஜியின் குலக்கல்வி பற்றிய இந்த இடுகையில் குலம்.. குலக்கல்வி..என்றவுடன் பழைய நினைவுகள் திரும்பின
நான் சிறுவனாய் இருந்த போது சாதி ஒழிப்பு முழு வேகத்தில் இருந்த காலம்.... ராஜாஜி ஆட்சியெல்லாம் போயி காமராசர் பட்டினி போட்டார் என்றும் மந்திரி கக்கன் எலி திங்க சொன்னார் என்றும் அவர்கள் பெயரில் வைசைப்பாட்டெழுதி முடிஞ்சு போன பகுத்தறிவுக்காலம்.
தனிமனிதன் பெயரில்...கடை பெயரில்.. அட என்னாங்க தெருப்பெயரில் என எல்லா இடத்திலும் சாதிக்கு மேல் தார் பூசப்பட்டது :-)
கேரளத்தில் இருந்து வந்த நாயர்களும், கர்நாடக பட் , ஹெக்டேக்களும் (இங்கே இருந்தவர்களுக்கு புரியாததாலோ என்னவோ) ஜாதி ஒழிப்பு தார் பூசலில் இருந்து தப்பித்துக்க்கொண்டனர் :-) ஆக மொத்தம் நாயர் டீஸ்டால் நாயர் டீ ஸ்டாலாகவே இருந்தது ... பட் ஓட்டல் பட் ஓட்டலாகவே இருந்தது. சில சையதுகளும் அன்சாரிகளும் அப்படியே தப்பித்தனர் !!
இரண்டாவது பெயர் இல்லாமல் நான் வெரும் சுப்பு என்ற ஒரு பெயருடனேயே ஹாயாக சுத்தி வந்தேன்... மிஞ்சிப்போனால் கையெழுத்துன்னு வந்தா..அப்பா பெயர் ஒற்றைஎழுத்து இனிஷியலாக வந்தது. சொந்த பெயருக்கு முன் !
கடவுச்சீட்டு ( பாஸ்போர்ட்) எடுக்கப்போய் second name .. second name ! என்று ஹிந்திக்கார பாஸ்போர்ட் ஆபீஸர் கேட்டதும் நான் முழிக்க கடைசியில் எங்கப்பா பெயரை இரண்டாவது பெயர் என கொடுத்ததும் , அதை அவர்கள் அப்படியே பதிந்ததும், ...வெளியூர் (அட அதாங்க பெங்களூர் வந்து..) என்னை மறியாதையாய் விளிப்பவர் என் இரண்டாவது பெயர் கொண்டு அழைக்க (அதாங்க எங்கப்பா பெயரில் கூப்பிட்டால்) நான் பாட்டுக்கு யாரையோ கூப்பிடுறாங்கன்னு கம்முன்னு இருந்த காலங்களும் உண்டு... :-)
சாதிப் பெயர் இருந்திருந்தால் அது ஒரு இரண்டாவது பெயராகவாவது இருந்திருக்கும் .... ஆனா என்னா எத்தினி பேரை ஒரே சாதிப்பெயர் கொண்டு கூப்பிட முடியும் ..அதுவும் லொள்ளு தான்
இணையத்தில் பிரபலமான திரு பாலா பிள்ளையை இதே போல ஒரு நேர்முகத்தில் "..உங்க பெயரில் ஏன் சாதி பெயர் வருது என்று " கேட்க அவர் தந்த பதிலும் சற்றேரக்குறைய கடவுச்சீட்டுக்கு கொடுத்தது தான் சாதிப் பெயர் என்றார்...
குலக்கல்வி தப்பு ... ஏன் என்றால் பிராமணர் ஆதிக்கம் வளந்துவிடும்..ரொம்ப தப்பு....
அப்ப இந்த இந்த ஜாதிக்கு மட்டும் 68% இட ஒதுக்கீடு என்றால் அந்த ஜாதி ஆதிக்கம் மட்டும் வளராதா என்ன ? ஏய் ..சுப்பு சும்மா இரு.. என்னா ? கொழுப்பு தான ?????? இட ஒதுக்கீடு தப்புன்னு சொல்ல நீ யார் ? உனக்கு எத்தினி ஓட்டு கெடைக்கும், ...ஆங் ?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Vikram Vir Vohra vs Shalini Bhalla
".......
11. It is important to mention here that the learned Judge of the High Court had personally interviewed the child who was about 7 years old to ascertain his wishes.
......"
So the 7 year old child had become experienced and worldly wise to decide matters of custody
Wow !!
Vikram Vir Vohra vs Shalini Bhalla
11. It is important to mention here that the learned Judge of the High Court had personally interviewed the child who was about 7 years old to ascertain his wishes.
......"
So the 7 year old child had become experienced and worldly wise to decide matters of custody
Wow !!
Vikram Vir Vohra vs Shalini Bhalla
Recent Tupolev-154 crashes
Recent Tupolev-154 crashes
By The Associated Press (AP) – 5 hours ago
Recent fatal plane crashes involved the Soviet-built Tupolev-154.
_ April 10, 2010: The Polish presidential plane crashes on approach to Smolensk airport, Russia, killing all on board.
_ July 15, 2009: A Caspian Airlines Tu-154 flying from Iran to Armenia nosedives into a field, killing 168 people.
_ Sept. 1, 2006: A Tu-154 jetliner operated by Iran Airtour skids off the runway and catches fire while landing in the northern city of Mashad, Iran, killing 80 of 147 passengers.
_ Aug. 22, 2006: A Tu-154 of Russia's Pulkovo Airlines with about 170 people aboard crashes during a thunderstorm in Ukraine en route from a Black Sea resort to St. Petersburg, killing all aboard.
_ Aug. 24, 2004: A Tu-154 operated by Sibir Airlines crashes en route from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 46 people aboard. The crash was later determined to be caused by explosives brought on board by a Chechen suicide bomber.
_ July 1, 2002: A Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 flying to Barcelona, Spain, from Ufa, Russia, collides with a cargo plane over Germany, killing 71, including 52 children.
_ Feb. 12, 2002: A Tu-154 airliner operated by Iran Airtour carrying 119 people smashed into snow-covered mountains near its destination of Khorramabad, 230 miles southwest of Tehran, killing all aboard.
_ Oct. 4, 2001: A Sibir Airlines Tu-154 flying from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Novosibirsk, Russia, explodes and plunges into the Black Sea, killing 78 people, most of them Israeli citizens. It was later determined the plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile during military training exercises.
_ July 3, 2001: A Tu-154 operated by the Vladivostokavia airline en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains to Vladivostok crashes in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing all 145 on board.
_ Feb. 24, 1999: A China Southwest Airlines Tu-154 flying from Chengdu crashes on approach to Wenzhou, 800 miles southeast of Beijing, killing all 61 people aboard.
_ Aug. 29, 1998: A Cubana Tu-154 flight from Quito to Havana crashes just after takeoff, killing 79 people, including 10 on the ground when the plane plowed into a soccer field.
_ Dec. 15, 1997: A Tajikistan Airlines Tu-154 crashes in the United Arab Emirates, killing 85 passengers and crew.
_ Aug. 29, 1996: A Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 passenger plane carrying Russian and Ukrainian miners and their families from Moscow to Norway crashes into a mountain, killing all 141 on board.
_ Dec. 7, 1995: A Tu-154 operated by Aeroflot Khabarovsk Airlines with 97 people on board disappeared flying to the far eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk. The remains were found 11 days later by a helicopter pilot in mountains near the Pacific coast.
_ June 6, 1994: A China Northwest Airlines Tu-154 bound for Guangzhou crashes minutes after takeoff from Xian, a tourist city in northern China, killing all 160 people aboard.
_ Jan. 3, 1994: All 124 people aboard a Moscow-bound Baikal Airlines Tu-154 are killed when it crashes into a snowy field near the town of Irkutsk. A farmer on the ground was also killed.
Source URL :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juNiXbAJhkwq8Y0TNCTzhSEal-aAD9F04MF00
By The Associated Press (AP) – 5 hours ago
Recent fatal plane crashes involved the Soviet-built Tupolev-154.
_ April 10, 2010: The Polish presidential plane crashes on approach to Smolensk airport, Russia, killing all on board.
_ July 15, 2009: A Caspian Airlines Tu-154 flying from Iran to Armenia nosedives into a field, killing 168 people.
_ Sept. 1, 2006: A Tu-154 jetliner operated by Iran Airtour skids off the runway and catches fire while landing in the northern city of Mashad, Iran, killing 80 of 147 passengers.
_ Aug. 22, 2006: A Tu-154 of Russia's Pulkovo Airlines with about 170 people aboard crashes during a thunderstorm in Ukraine en route from a Black Sea resort to St. Petersburg, killing all aboard.
_ Aug. 24, 2004: A Tu-154 operated by Sibir Airlines crashes en route from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 46 people aboard. The crash was later determined to be caused by explosives brought on board by a Chechen suicide bomber.
_ July 1, 2002: A Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 flying to Barcelona, Spain, from Ufa, Russia, collides with a cargo plane over Germany, killing 71, including 52 children.
_ Feb. 12, 2002: A Tu-154 airliner operated by Iran Airtour carrying 119 people smashed into snow-covered mountains near its destination of Khorramabad, 230 miles southwest of Tehran, killing all aboard.
_ Oct. 4, 2001: A Sibir Airlines Tu-154 flying from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Novosibirsk, Russia, explodes and plunges into the Black Sea, killing 78 people, most of them Israeli citizens. It was later determined the plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile during military training exercises.
_ July 3, 2001: A Tu-154 operated by the Vladivostokavia airline en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains to Vladivostok crashes in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing all 145 on board.
_ Feb. 24, 1999: A China Southwest Airlines Tu-154 flying from Chengdu crashes on approach to Wenzhou, 800 miles southeast of Beijing, killing all 61 people aboard.
_ Aug. 29, 1998: A Cubana Tu-154 flight from Quito to Havana crashes just after takeoff, killing 79 people, including 10 on the ground when the plane plowed into a soccer field.
_ Dec. 15, 1997: A Tajikistan Airlines Tu-154 crashes in the United Arab Emirates, killing 85 passengers and crew.
_ Aug. 29, 1996: A Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 passenger plane carrying Russian and Ukrainian miners and their families from Moscow to Norway crashes into a mountain, killing all 141 on board.
_ Dec. 7, 1995: A Tu-154 operated by Aeroflot Khabarovsk Airlines with 97 people on board disappeared flying to the far eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk. The remains were found 11 days later by a helicopter pilot in mountains near the Pacific coast.
_ June 6, 1994: A China Northwest Airlines Tu-154 bound for Guangzhou crashes minutes after takeoff from Xian, a tourist city in northern China, killing all 160 people aboard.
_ Jan. 3, 1994: All 124 people aboard a Moscow-bound Baikal Airlines Tu-154 are killed when it crashes into a snowy field near the town of Irkutsk. A farmer on the ground was also killed.
Source URL :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juNiXbAJhkwq8Y0TNCTzhSEal-aAD9F04MF00
The TU-154, which crashed outside Smolensk, Russia, was on its fourth attempt to land amid heavy fog
"...The TU-154, which crashed outside Smolensk, Russia, was on its fourth attempt to land amid heavy fog. ...."
"....Russian media reported that the airplane's pilot ignored warnings to abort his landing outside of Smolensk and land instead in Minsk or Moscow. The jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway ...."
* Saturday, April 10, 2010 As of 7:37 PM (GMT +4 hours)
Investigators Focus on Tupolev 154 Jetliner
By IRA IOSEBASHVILI and DANIEL MICHAELS
Investigators seeking the cause of a plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kasczinski, his wife and a delegation including dozens of high-level officials on Saturday are likely to focus on both the Tupolev 154 jetliner and the pilots' actions.
The Russian-made plane, although 20 years old, had been overhauled in December at a Russian aviation facility and had flown relatively few hours.
The TU-154, which crashed outside Smolensk, Russia, was on its fourth attempt to land amid heavy fog. Several major crashes over recent years have occurred when pilots lost full awareness of their situation after repeated attempts to land, so investigators will seek to understand why the crew tried bring the plane down in such unfavorable conditions.
Russian special services secured the area after a Polish government plane crashed near the airport in
Russian media reported that the airplane's pilot ignored warnings to abort his landing outside of Smolensk and land instead in Minsk or Moscow. The jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway at the Smolensk-Severnyi military airport, shortly before 11 a.m. Moscow time.
The airport lacks modern radio-navigation systems that help guide planes in poor visibility, according to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Polish media reported Saturday that the crew had reported problems before trying to land, although the reports weren't officially confirmed. If correct, the issue is likely to become central to the investigation.
The Tupolev was operated by the Polish Air Force. LOT Polish Airlines, the country's state-owned commercial carrier, replaced all its Soviet-made jetliners – including TU-154s – in the 1990s.
During the presidential plane's overhaul in December, its engines underwent thorough maintenance, and the craft's interior was completely refitted and modernized, said Alexei Gusev, director of Aviakor, an aircraft plant outside of Samara.
"The plane flew fine, there were no complaints about it," Mr. Gusev said. "I remember the pilots who test-flew it after the overhaul and there were happy with its performance."
The aircraft had logged roughly 5000 hours of flying time in around 1800 flights, Mr. Gusev said. "This is not a lot at all for this airplane. As a rule, airplanes serving top officials do not see many hours of usage," he said.
Designed Soviet engineers and first flown in 1968, the TU-154 has seen heavy use in Russia and other former Soviet countries. More than 920 of the three-engine plane have been built, although production slowed sharply after the end of the Soviet Union due to economic problems there and the plane's high operating costs. Its engines consume significantly more fuel than similar-sized Western-built jetliners and require far more maintenance.
Still, the aircraft is extremely hardy. It is designed to operate off of gravel and packed earth air fields and resist the extreme cold often found in Russia's northern climes. Aeroflot, Russia's state airline, announced the retirement of its TU-154 fleet at the start of this year.
The airplane had also served Poland's two previous presidents, Lech Walesa and Aleksander Kwasniewski. In 2008, the airplane was delayed in Ulan Bator airport for two days when its steering mechanism broke down.
Last June, an Iranian TU-154 crashed in the country's northwest, killing all 168 people on board. A Russian TU-154 also went down near Donetsk, Ukraine in August 2006, killing 170.
Poland has suffered several air crashes involving top officials and Soviet-built aircraft, which the country was forced to use until breaking free of Soviet domination in 1989. In 2003, then-prime minister Leszek Miller was seriously injured when his Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashed.
In March 1980, a Soviet-built Ilyushin-62 passenger jet operated by LOT and flying from New York crashed on landing in Warsaw, killing all 87 people onboard.
And in an accident many Poles are likely to see as a parallel to Saturday's crash, Poland's prime minister-in-exile and leader of Western-oriented Polish forces in World War II, General Wladyslaw Sikorski – a figure admired by followers of late President Kaczynski – died when his U.S.-made B-24 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on a flight from Gibraltar to London.
Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Source :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304170204575175892777622012.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
"....Russian media reported that the airplane's pilot ignored warnings to abort his landing outside of Smolensk and land instead in Minsk or Moscow. The jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway ...."
* Saturday, April 10, 2010 As of 7:37 PM (GMT +4 hours)
Investigators Focus on Tupolev 154 Jetliner
By IRA IOSEBASHVILI and DANIEL MICHAELS
Investigators seeking the cause of a plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kasczinski, his wife and a delegation including dozens of high-level officials on Saturday are likely to focus on both the Tupolev 154 jetliner and the pilots' actions.
The Russian-made plane, although 20 years old, had been overhauled in December at a Russian aviation facility and had flown relatively few hours.
The TU-154, which crashed outside Smolensk, Russia, was on its fourth attempt to land amid heavy fog. Several major crashes over recent years have occurred when pilots lost full awareness of their situation after repeated attempts to land, so investigators will seek to understand why the crew tried bring the plane down in such unfavorable conditions.
Russian special services secured the area after a Polish government plane crashed near the airport in
Russian media reported that the airplane's pilot ignored warnings to abort his landing outside of Smolensk and land instead in Minsk or Moscow. The jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway at the Smolensk-Severnyi military airport, shortly before 11 a.m. Moscow time.
The airport lacks modern radio-navigation systems that help guide planes in poor visibility, according to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Polish media reported Saturday that the crew had reported problems before trying to land, although the reports weren't officially confirmed. If correct, the issue is likely to become central to the investigation.
The Tupolev was operated by the Polish Air Force. LOT Polish Airlines, the country's state-owned commercial carrier, replaced all its Soviet-made jetliners – including TU-154s – in the 1990s.
During the presidential plane's overhaul in December, its engines underwent thorough maintenance, and the craft's interior was completely refitted and modernized, said Alexei Gusev, director of Aviakor, an aircraft plant outside of Samara.
"The plane flew fine, there were no complaints about it," Mr. Gusev said. "I remember the pilots who test-flew it after the overhaul and there were happy with its performance."
The aircraft had logged roughly 5000 hours of flying time in around 1800 flights, Mr. Gusev said. "This is not a lot at all for this airplane. As a rule, airplanes serving top officials do not see many hours of usage," he said.
Designed Soviet engineers and first flown in 1968, the TU-154 has seen heavy use in Russia and other former Soviet countries. More than 920 of the three-engine plane have been built, although production slowed sharply after the end of the Soviet Union due to economic problems there and the plane's high operating costs. Its engines consume significantly more fuel than similar-sized Western-built jetliners and require far more maintenance.
Still, the aircraft is extremely hardy. It is designed to operate off of gravel and packed earth air fields and resist the extreme cold often found in Russia's northern climes. Aeroflot, Russia's state airline, announced the retirement of its TU-154 fleet at the start of this year.
The airplane had also served Poland's two previous presidents, Lech Walesa and Aleksander Kwasniewski. In 2008, the airplane was delayed in Ulan Bator airport for two days when its steering mechanism broke down.
Last June, an Iranian TU-154 crashed in the country's northwest, killing all 168 people on board. A Russian TU-154 also went down near Donetsk, Ukraine in August 2006, killing 170.
Poland has suffered several air crashes involving top officials and Soviet-built aircraft, which the country was forced to use until breaking free of Soviet domination in 1989. In 2003, then-prime minister Leszek Miller was seriously injured when his Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashed.
In March 1980, a Soviet-built Ilyushin-62 passenger jet operated by LOT and flying from New York crashed on landing in Warsaw, killing all 87 people onboard.
And in an accident many Poles are likely to see as a parallel to Saturday's crash, Poland's prime minister-in-exile and leader of Western-oriented Polish forces in World War II, General Wladyslaw Sikorski – a figure admired by followers of late President Kaczynski – died when his U.S.-made B-24 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on a flight from Gibraltar to London.
Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Source :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304170204575175892777622012.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Timeline: The world's worst air disasters
Timeline: The world's worst air disasters
A timeline of some of the world's worst air disasters:
March 1974: A Turkish Airlines flight crashes near Paris after a rear cargo door that had not been closed properly blows out. All those on board - 33 passengers and 12 crew - are killed.
March 1977: Two Boeing 747s collide on a foggy runway in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people.
Jan 1978: An Air India 747 crashes into the ocean after take off from Mumbai. The disaster is believed to have been caused when the pilot became disorientated by the failure of flight instruments.
May 1979: An American Airlines DC-10 crashes after take off from Chicago's O'Hare airport. The left engine falls off the plane, severing critical control lines and a wing, making a successful return to the airport nearly impossible. A total of 275 people are killed.
August 1980: A Saudi Tristar makes an emergency landing in Riyadh and bursts into flames, killing 301 passengers.
November 1983: A Boeing 747 jumbo jet travelling from Paris to Madrid crashes about five miles east of Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 181.
August 1985: A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashes into a mountain after losing part of its tail fin. With a death toll of 520, it is the world's worst single-plane disaster.
December 1988: A terrorist bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103, destroying the aircraft over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and killing 270 people.
April 1994: A China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at Nagoya Airport in Japan, leaving 264 people dead.
July 1996: A TWA Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the Atlantic off Long Island, New York, leaving 230 people dead.
November 1996: A Saudi Boeing 747 collides with a Kazakh cargo plane near New Delhi. All 349 people on board are killed, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision.
August 1997: A Korean Air Boeing 747-300 crashes on landing in Guam. Former leader of the National Congress for New Politics Shin Ki-ha and his wife are among the 228 people killed in the crash.
September 1997: A Garden Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near the airport in Medan, Indonesia, leaving 234 dead.
February 1998: A China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at the airport in Taipei, Taiwan, leaving 203 dead.
October 1999: An Egypt Air Boeing 767 crashes off Nantucket, killing 217 people. The National Transportation Safety Board blames actions by the co-pilot.
July 2000: An Air France Concorde, headed for New York, crashes into a hotel outside Paris shortly after take off. The death toll is 113, including four people who were on the ground.
September 2001: Al-Qaida terrorists hijack four US passenger airlines, flying two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre and another into the Pentagon. The fourth crashes into a field near Pittsburgh. Nearly 3,000 people are killed in the attack.
October 2001: A Scandinavian Airlines System jet collides with a small plane in heavy fog at Milan's Linate airport, killing 118 people.
May 2002: A China Airlines Boeing 747 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, killing 225 people.
January 2003: A Turkish Airlines plane crashes as it is coming in to land at Diyarbakir, killing 75 people on board.
February 2003: An Iranian Revolutionary Guard military plane crashes into a mountain, leaving 275 dead.
August 2005: A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague, carrying 121 people, crashes north of Marathon and Varnavas, in Greece, after the cabin pressure falls. All on board are killed.
January 2008: A Polish Casa military transport plane crashes in the north-west of the country, killing 19 people, many of whom were officials who had attended an air safety conference.
June 2009: An Air France Airbus A330 runs into thunderstorms over the Atlantic and disappears, with 228 people on board.
Source :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/apr/10/worlds-worst-air-disasters-timeline
A timeline of some of the world's worst air disasters:
March 1974: A Turkish Airlines flight crashes near Paris after a rear cargo door that had not been closed properly blows out. All those on board - 33 passengers and 12 crew - are killed.
March 1977: Two Boeing 747s collide on a foggy runway in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people.
Jan 1978: An Air India 747 crashes into the ocean after take off from Mumbai. The disaster is believed to have been caused when the pilot became disorientated by the failure of flight instruments.
May 1979: An American Airlines DC-10 crashes after take off from Chicago's O'Hare airport. The left engine falls off the plane, severing critical control lines and a wing, making a successful return to the airport nearly impossible. A total of 275 people are killed.
August 1980: A Saudi Tristar makes an emergency landing in Riyadh and bursts into flames, killing 301 passengers.
November 1983: A Boeing 747 jumbo jet travelling from Paris to Madrid crashes about five miles east of Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 181.
August 1985: A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashes into a mountain after losing part of its tail fin. With a death toll of 520, it is the world's worst single-plane disaster.
December 1988: A terrorist bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103, destroying the aircraft over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and killing 270 people.
April 1994: A China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at Nagoya Airport in Japan, leaving 264 people dead.
July 1996: A TWA Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the Atlantic off Long Island, New York, leaving 230 people dead.
November 1996: A Saudi Boeing 747 collides with a Kazakh cargo plane near New Delhi. All 349 people on board are killed, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision.
August 1997: A Korean Air Boeing 747-300 crashes on landing in Guam. Former leader of the National Congress for New Politics Shin Ki-ha and his wife are among the 228 people killed in the crash.
September 1997: A Garden Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near the airport in Medan, Indonesia, leaving 234 dead.
February 1998: A China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at the airport in Taipei, Taiwan, leaving 203 dead.
October 1999: An Egypt Air Boeing 767 crashes off Nantucket, killing 217 people. The National Transportation Safety Board blames actions by the co-pilot.
July 2000: An Air France Concorde, headed for New York, crashes into a hotel outside Paris shortly after take off. The death toll is 113, including four people who were on the ground.
September 2001: Al-Qaida terrorists hijack four US passenger airlines, flying two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre and another into the Pentagon. The fourth crashes into a field near Pittsburgh. Nearly 3,000 people are killed in the attack.
October 2001: A Scandinavian Airlines System jet collides with a small plane in heavy fog at Milan's Linate airport, killing 118 people.
May 2002: A China Airlines Boeing 747 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, killing 225 people.
January 2003: A Turkish Airlines plane crashes as it is coming in to land at Diyarbakir, killing 75 people on board.
February 2003: An Iranian Revolutionary Guard military plane crashes into a mountain, leaving 275 dead.
August 2005: A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague, carrying 121 people, crashes north of Marathon and Varnavas, in Greece, after the cabin pressure falls. All on board are killed.
January 2008: A Polish Casa military transport plane crashes in the north-west of the country, killing 19 people, many of whom were officials who had attended an air safety conference.
June 2009: An Air France Airbus A330 runs into thunderstorms over the Atlantic and disappears, with 228 people on board.
Source :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/apr/10/worlds-worst-air-disasters-timeline
Timeline: Recent major plane crashes
Timeline: Recent major plane crashes
Reuters
April 10, 2010
First Published: 16:43 IST(10/4/2010)
Last Updated: 16:45 IST(10/4/2010)
President Lech Kaczynski and several other senior Polish officials were among 96 people killed when their plane crashed in thick fog on its approach to a Russian airport on Saturday, officials said.
Here are some details of major plane crashes in the last three years:
January 1, 2007: An Indonesian Boeing 737-400 operated by budget carrier Adam Air disappeared from radar screens during a flight from Java to Sulawesi islands. Wreckage was located at sea 10 days later. All 102 passengers and crew were killed.
May 5 - All 114 people on board a Kenya Airways Boeing 737 died when the plane crashed in torrential rain after takeoff from Douala in Cameroon, bound for Nairobi.
July 17 - A Brazilian TAM passenger plane crashed into buildings when trying to land in Sao Paulo, killing 199 people aboard and on the ground.
September 16 - One-Two-Go, a budget Thai airliner carrying 123 passengers and several crew crashed on landing at the resort island of Phuket. At least 85 of the 123 passengers were killed and five of the seven crew.
August 20, 2008 - A Spanair MD-82, flying to the Canary Islands with 166 passengers and six crew, crashed on takeoff at Madrid airport killing 154 people. The remaining 18 were seriously injured.
August 24 - A Boeing 737-200 belonging to a private Kyrgyz company Itek-Air, chartered by an Iranian company and bound for Iran, crashed at Bishkek airport. Around 70 people died, including members of a local teenage basketball team.
May 20, 2009 - An Indonesian C130 military transport plane carrying 110 passengers and crew crashed and burst into flames 6.5 km (4 miles) from the Iswahyudi air force base in East Java while preparing to land, killing 98 people including two on the ground.
June 1 - An Air France Airbus A330-200 jetliner carrying 228 people crashed over the Atlantic. Fifty-one bodies and 600 pieces of wreckage were recovered before the search for survivors was called off on June 26.
June 30 - A Yemen Airways aircraft carrying 153 people crashed in the sea off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros.
July 15 - A Caspian Airlines aircraft, carrying 153 passengers and 16 crew travelling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia, crashed near the city of Qazvin killing all aboard.
January 25, 2010 - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed minutes after taking off from Beirut airport in stormy weather, plunging in a ball of fire into the sea. All 90 passengers and crew were killed.
April 10 - Ninety-six people aboard the Polish president's official Tupolev Tu-154 plane were killed in a crash near Smolensk airport in western Russia.
-- The plane was carrying President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek and several other senior officials, including the chief of Poland's military Franciszek Gagor and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer.
Source URL
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/world/Timeline-Recent-major-plane-crashes/Article1-529588.aspx
Reuters
April 10, 2010
First Published: 16:43 IST(10/4/2010)
Last Updated: 16:45 IST(10/4/2010)
President Lech Kaczynski and several other senior Polish officials were among 96 people killed when their plane crashed in thick fog on its approach to a Russian airport on Saturday, officials said.
Here are some details of major plane crashes in the last three years:
January 1, 2007: An Indonesian Boeing 737-400 operated by budget carrier Adam Air disappeared from radar screens during a flight from Java to Sulawesi islands. Wreckage was located at sea 10 days later. All 102 passengers and crew were killed.
May 5 - All 114 people on board a Kenya Airways Boeing 737 died when the plane crashed in torrential rain after takeoff from Douala in Cameroon, bound for Nairobi.
July 17 - A Brazilian TAM passenger plane crashed into buildings when trying to land in Sao Paulo, killing 199 people aboard and on the ground.
September 16 - One-Two-Go, a budget Thai airliner carrying 123 passengers and several crew crashed on landing at the resort island of Phuket. At least 85 of the 123 passengers were killed and five of the seven crew.
August 20, 2008 - A Spanair MD-82, flying to the Canary Islands with 166 passengers and six crew, crashed on takeoff at Madrid airport killing 154 people. The remaining 18 were seriously injured.
August 24 - A Boeing 737-200 belonging to a private Kyrgyz company Itek-Air, chartered by an Iranian company and bound for Iran, crashed at Bishkek airport. Around 70 people died, including members of a local teenage basketball team.
May 20, 2009 - An Indonesian C130 military transport plane carrying 110 passengers and crew crashed and burst into flames 6.5 km (4 miles) from the Iswahyudi air force base in East Java while preparing to land, killing 98 people including two on the ground.
June 1 - An Air France Airbus A330-200 jetliner carrying 228 people crashed over the Atlantic. Fifty-one bodies and 600 pieces of wreckage were recovered before the search for survivors was called off on June 26.
June 30 - A Yemen Airways aircraft carrying 153 people crashed in the sea off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros.
July 15 - A Caspian Airlines aircraft, carrying 153 passengers and 16 crew travelling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia, crashed near the city of Qazvin killing all aboard.
January 25, 2010 - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed minutes after taking off from Beirut airport in stormy weather, plunging in a ball of fire into the sea. All 90 passengers and crew were killed.
April 10 - Ninety-six people aboard the Polish president's official Tupolev Tu-154 plane were killed in a crash near Smolensk airport in western Russia.
-- The plane was carrying President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek and several other senior officials, including the chief of Poland's military Franciszek Gagor and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer.
Source URL
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/world/Timeline-Recent-major-plane-crashes/Article1-529588.aspx
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