By Sarah Williams
Though number of natural disasters in 2008 is lower than in 2007, they were more destructive in terms of number of victims and financial cost of the damage caused
Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world’s number two reinsurer said on Monday.
Although the number of natural disasters was lower than in 2007, the catastrophes that occurred proved to be more destructive in terms of the number of victims and the financial cost of the damage caused, Germany-based Munich Re said in its annual assessment.
“This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes,” Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said. Most devastating in terms of human fatalities was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar on May 2-3 to kill more than 135,000 people and leave more than one million homeless. Just days later an earthquake shook China’s Sichuan province, leaving 70,000 dead, 18,000 missing and almost five million homeless, according to official figures, Munich Re said.
Around 1,000 people died in a severe cold snap in January in Afghanistan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan, while 635 perished in August and September in floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Typhoon Fengshen killed 557 people in China and the Philippines in June, while earthquakes in Pakistan in October left 300 dead. Six tropical cyclones also slammed into the southern US, including Ike which, with insured losses of 10 billion dollars, was the industry’s costliest catastrophe of the year.
In Europe, an intense low-pressure system called Emma caused two billion dollars worth of damage in March, while a storm dubbed Hilal in late May and early June left 1.1 billion dollars’ worth.
The earthquake in Sichuan province was the most expensive overall single catastrophe of 2008, causing around 85 billion dollars worth of damage, helping to make the year the third most expensive on record, Munich Re said. With 200 billion dollars’ worth of damage, only 2005, when a large number of hurricanes slammed into the southern United States, and 1995, year of the Kobe earthquake in Japan, wreaked more destruction since records began in 1900.
According to estimates from the World Meteorological Organization, 2008 was the tenth warmest year since the beginning of routine temperature recording and the eighth warmest in the northern hemisphere. This means that the ten warmest years ever recorded have all occurred in the last 12 years, Munich Re said.
“It is now very probable that the progressive warming of the atmosphere is due to the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. The weather machine is running in top gear, bringing more intense severe weather events,” it said.
The number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic in 2008 was much higher than the long-term average, and in terms of both the total number of storms and the number of major hurricanes, 2008 was the fourth most severe hurricane season since reliable data have been available, it said.
The world needed “effective and binding rules on CO2 emissions, so that climate change is curbed,” board member Jeworrek said. Last Dec., international community agreed roadmap culminating in a new global climate deal to be signed in Copenhagen in Dec. 2009.
Unprecedented in scale and complexity, this accord, due to take effect from 2012, is meant to rein in the greenhouse gases that stoke global warming and throw a lifeline to poor countries exposed to mutated weather patterns. AFP
Some of the major natural disasters in 2008
Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar killing 135,000 Earthquake in Sinchuan, China left 70,000 dead and 18,000 missing Typhoon Fengshen in China and the Philippines Gustav, Ike in US Earthquake in Pakistan.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Natural Disasters Killed Over 2.2L in ’08
By Sarah Williams
Though number of natural disasters in 2008 is lower than in 2007, they were more destructive in terms of number of victims and financial cost of the damage caused
Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world’s number two reinsurer said on Monday.
Although the number of natural disasters was lower than in 2007, the catastrophes that occurred proved to be more destructive in terms of the number of victims and the financial cost of the damage caused, Germany-based Munich Re said in its annual assessment.
“This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes,” Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said. Most devastating in terms of human fatalities was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar on May 2-3 to kill more than 135,000 people and leave more than one million homeless. Just days later an earthquake shook China’s Sichuan province, leaving 70,000 dead, 18,000 missing and almost five million homeless, according to official figures, Munich Re said.
Around 1,000 people died in a severe cold snap in January in Afghanistan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan, while 635 perished in August and September in floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Typhoon Fengshen killed 557 people in China and the Philippines in June, while earthquakes in Pakistan in October left 300 dead. Six tropical cyclones also slammed into the southern US, including Ike which, with insured losses of 10 billion dollars, was the industry’s costliest catastrophe of the year.
In Europe, an intense low-pressure system called Emma caused two billion dollars worth of damage in March, while a storm dubbed Hilal in late May and early June left 1.1 billion dollars’ worth.
The earthquake in Sichuan province was the most expensive overall single catastrophe of 2008, causing around 85 billion dollars worth of damage, helping to make the year the third most expensive on record, Munich Re said. With 200 billion dollars’ worth of damage, only 2005, when a large number of hurricanes slammed into the southern United States, and 1995, year of the Kobe earthquake in Japan, wreaked more destruction since records began in 1900.
According to estimates from the World Meteorological Organization, 2008 was the tenth warmest year since the beginning of routine temperature recording and the eighth warmest in the northern hemisphere. This means that the ten warmest years ever recorded have all occurred in the last 12 years, Munich Re said.
“It is now very probable that the progressive warming of the atmosphere is due to the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. The weather machine is running in top gear, bringing more intense severe weather events,” it said.
The number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic in 2008 was much higher than the long-term average, and in terms of both the total number of storms and the number of major hurricanes, 2008 was the fourth most severe hurricane season since reliable data have been available, it said.
The world needed “effective and binding rules on CO2 emissions, so that climate change is curbed,” board member Jeworrek said. Last Dec., international community agreed roadmap culminating in a new global climate deal to be signed in Copenhagen in Dec. 2009.
Unprecedented in scale and complexity, this accord, due to take effect from 2012, is meant to rein in the greenhouse gases that stoke global warming and throw a lifeline to poor countries exposed to mutated weather patterns. AFP
Some of the major natural disasters in 2008
Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar killing 135,000 Earthquake in Sinchuan, China left 70,000 dead and 18,000 missing Typhoon Fengshen in China and the Philippines Gustav, Ike in US Earthquake in Pakistan.
Though number of natural disasters in 2008 is lower than in 2007, they were more destructive in terms of number of victims and financial cost of the damage caused
Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world’s number two reinsurer said on Monday.
Although the number of natural disasters was lower than in 2007, the catastrophes that occurred proved to be more destructive in terms of the number of victims and the financial cost of the damage caused, Germany-based Munich Re said in its annual assessment.
“This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes,” Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said. Most devastating in terms of human fatalities was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar on May 2-3 to kill more than 135,000 people and leave more than one million homeless. Just days later an earthquake shook China’s Sichuan province, leaving 70,000 dead, 18,000 missing and almost five million homeless, according to official figures, Munich Re said.
Around 1,000 people died in a severe cold snap in January in Afghanistan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan, while 635 perished in August and September in floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Typhoon Fengshen killed 557 people in China and the Philippines in June, while earthquakes in Pakistan in October left 300 dead. Six tropical cyclones also slammed into the southern US, including Ike which, with insured losses of 10 billion dollars, was the industry’s costliest catastrophe of the year.
In Europe, an intense low-pressure system called Emma caused two billion dollars worth of damage in March, while a storm dubbed Hilal in late May and early June left 1.1 billion dollars’ worth.
The earthquake in Sichuan province was the most expensive overall single catastrophe of 2008, causing around 85 billion dollars worth of damage, helping to make the year the third most expensive on record, Munich Re said. With 200 billion dollars’ worth of damage, only 2005, when a large number of hurricanes slammed into the southern United States, and 1995, year of the Kobe earthquake in Japan, wreaked more destruction since records began in 1900.
According to estimates from the World Meteorological Organization, 2008 was the tenth warmest year since the beginning of routine temperature recording and the eighth warmest in the northern hemisphere. This means that the ten warmest years ever recorded have all occurred in the last 12 years, Munich Re said.
“It is now very probable that the progressive warming of the atmosphere is due to the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. The weather machine is running in top gear, bringing more intense severe weather events,” it said.
The number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic in 2008 was much higher than the long-term average, and in terms of both the total number of storms and the number of major hurricanes, 2008 was the fourth most severe hurricane season since reliable data have been available, it said.
The world needed “effective and binding rules on CO2 emissions, so that climate change is curbed,” board member Jeworrek said. Last Dec., international community agreed roadmap culminating in a new global climate deal to be signed in Copenhagen in Dec. 2009.
Unprecedented in scale and complexity, this accord, due to take effect from 2012, is meant to rein in the greenhouse gases that stoke global warming and throw a lifeline to poor countries exposed to mutated weather patterns. AFP
Some of the major natural disasters in 2008
Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar killing 135,000 Earthquake in Sinchuan, China left 70,000 dead and 18,000 missing Typhoon Fengshen in China and the Philippines Gustav, Ike in US Earthquake in Pakistan.
Opinion: Coast To Coast
By C Uday Bhaskar
Securing our maritime borders must get priority
Mumbai derives its current name from the stone goddess Mumbadevi revered by the Koli fisher-folk, the earliest inhabitants of the region. The fortunes of this city have been inexorably linked with the Arabian Sea and it merits recall that the first Englishmen to set foot on the Portuguese hamlet were raiders who came by sea in 1626. Subsequently transferred to the English crown as a dowry gift, the first military fortification to ward off enemy raiders and pirate attacks dates back to 1682 when the British installed a coastal battery on the Middle Ground island.
In recent times, the vulnerability of Mumbai due to Maharashtra’s coastal expanse was revealed in 1993 when explosives were furtively landed on the Ratnagiri coast and the city experienced its first terrorist attack. The audacious terrorist attack last month has once again brought the vulnerability of India’s 7,600 km coastline into sharp and bloody focus and a slew of new policies have just been announced. Speaking in Parliament, the mint-fresh home minister P Chidambaram announced the setting up of a Coastal Command (CC) for the overall supervision and coordination of maritime and coastal security. While further organisational and funding details are yet to be announced, it is envisaged that the long coastline would be divided into Maritime Defence Zones (MDZ) along the western and eastern sea board, as also in the Andaman & Nicobar islands.
The inference is that the operational responsibility would be tasked to the navy, the coast guard and the marine police of each coastal state and that the new CC would introduce the much-needed inter-organisational synergy. Lack of synergy and internecine rivalry among various departments of the great Indian octopus — the government of India — remains the abiding Achilles heel that has bedevilled India’s chequered security experience. This is evident in the painful reconstruction of the tragic events that led to the 1962 debacle with China, the more recent 1999 Kargil war and now November 26. If the CC is to meaningfully discharge this onerous responsibility — protection of a 7,600 km coastline with limited fiscal and human resources —the devil in the details must be noted with objective candour.
Currently four major central ministries have varying degrees of responsibility for the management and protection of India’s vast maritime assets. These are defence, home, finance and shipping. Intelligence inputs come from the cabinet secretariat that is notionally with the home ministry but managed by the national security adviser who is part of the Prime Minister’s Office. Individual coastal states are entrusted with local law and order and have their
own marine police units ostensibly buttressed by the central customs and revenue officials.
But most of them are decrepit and have little operational credibility against the likes of Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. If individual departments such as the ONGC are added to the list, then we have a merry medley of 14 individual egos and vastly different organisational cultures that have to be synergised.
Even under the most optimum circumstances, given the intrinsic bureaucratic caste-system that characterises the Indian octopus, it is evident that rather than seamless cohesion, what ensues more often than not is the equivalent of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Thus it is imperative that the proposed CC have a unified command structure wherein the assets of the principal maritime departments — viz the navy, coast guard, revenue/customs and the local marine police are pooled together for appropriate operational tasking. This will not be easy given the traditional insularity and the civilian-uniform divide that permeates the Indian system.
But other nations have been able to arrive at such organisational models that have been specifically evolved for coastal security. The French experience of having a National Maritime Prefect who is answerable to the prime minister merits consideration. The need to have a national maritime coordinator and a maritime commission has been mooted in the past — but in vain. Post the Mumbai tragedy, this structural void must be redressed quickly.
Innovative use of technology and human intelligence for coastal security warrants highest priority and piecemeal acquisitions by individual departments will be counterproductive. For instance, a virtual coastal fence (akin to the barbed-wire fence along the Indo-Pak land border) comprising static radar chains with a S-band radar, AIS (automatic identification system) centres supported by low-cost aerial surveillance and complemented by involving local fishermen communities is a case in point. The lateral induction of naval and coast guard personnel into the state marine police is long overdue. Coastal states would be well-advised to appoint individual maritime advisers.
It’s ironic that currently the only trained security professionals in the country — the apex of the armed forces — are not in the loop of higher defence and security management in India. This is a warped Nehruvian legacy further exacerbated by the civil service. The simmering discontent over the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations wherein the military has been placed at a rung below the police and the paramilitary is illustrative of this anomaly. If these disparities are not redressed with dispatch, the proposed CC will flounder and remain still-born like the post-Kargil policy recommendations that dealt with the same national security inadequacies.
Securing our maritime borders must get priority
Mumbai derives its current name from the stone goddess Mumbadevi revered by the Koli fisher-folk, the earliest inhabitants of the region. The fortunes of this city have been inexorably linked with the Arabian Sea and it merits recall that the first Englishmen to set foot on the Portuguese hamlet were raiders who came by sea in 1626. Subsequently transferred to the English crown as a dowry gift, the first military fortification to ward off enemy raiders and pirate attacks dates back to 1682 when the British installed a coastal battery on the Middle Ground island.
In recent times, the vulnerability of Mumbai due to Maharashtra’s coastal expanse was revealed in 1993 when explosives were furtively landed on the Ratnagiri coast and the city experienced its first terrorist attack. The audacious terrorist attack last month has once again brought the vulnerability of India’s 7,600 km coastline into sharp and bloody focus and a slew of new policies have just been announced. Speaking in Parliament, the mint-fresh home minister P Chidambaram announced the setting up of a Coastal Command (CC) for the overall supervision and coordination of maritime and coastal security. While further organisational and funding details are yet to be announced, it is envisaged that the long coastline would be divided into Maritime Defence Zones (MDZ) along the western and eastern sea board, as also in the Andaman & Nicobar islands.
The inference is that the operational responsibility would be tasked to the navy, the coast guard and the marine police of each coastal state and that the new CC would introduce the much-needed inter-organisational synergy. Lack of synergy and internecine rivalry among various departments of the great Indian octopus — the government of India — remains the abiding Achilles heel that has bedevilled India’s chequered security experience. This is evident in the painful reconstruction of the tragic events that led to the 1962 debacle with China, the more recent 1999 Kargil war and now November 26. If the CC is to meaningfully discharge this onerous responsibility — protection of a 7,600 km coastline with limited fiscal and human resources —the devil in the details must be noted with objective candour.
Currently four major central ministries have varying degrees of responsibility for the management and protection of India’s vast maritime assets. These are defence, home, finance and shipping. Intelligence inputs come from the cabinet secretariat that is notionally with the home ministry but managed by the national security adviser who is part of the Prime Minister’s Office. Individual coastal states are entrusted with local law and order and have their
own marine police units ostensibly buttressed by the central customs and revenue officials.
But most of them are decrepit and have little operational credibility against the likes of Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. If individual departments such as the ONGC are added to the list, then we have a merry medley of 14 individual egos and vastly different organisational cultures that have to be synergised.
Even under the most optimum circumstances, given the intrinsic bureaucratic caste-system that characterises the Indian octopus, it is evident that rather than seamless cohesion, what ensues more often than not is the equivalent of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Thus it is imperative that the proposed CC have a unified command structure wherein the assets of the principal maritime departments — viz the navy, coast guard, revenue/customs and the local marine police are pooled together for appropriate operational tasking. This will not be easy given the traditional insularity and the civilian-uniform divide that permeates the Indian system.
But other nations have been able to arrive at such organisational models that have been specifically evolved for coastal security. The French experience of having a National Maritime Prefect who is answerable to the prime minister merits consideration. The need to have a national maritime coordinator and a maritime commission has been mooted in the past — but in vain. Post the Mumbai tragedy, this structural void must be redressed quickly.
Innovative use of technology and human intelligence for coastal security warrants highest priority and piecemeal acquisitions by individual departments will be counterproductive. For instance, a virtual coastal fence (akin to the barbed-wire fence along the Indo-Pak land border) comprising static radar chains with a S-band radar, AIS (automatic identification system) centres supported by low-cost aerial surveillance and complemented by involving local fishermen communities is a case in point. The lateral induction of naval and coast guard personnel into the state marine police is long overdue. Coastal states would be well-advised to appoint individual maritime advisers.
It’s ironic that currently the only trained security professionals in the country — the apex of the armed forces — are not in the loop of higher defence and security management in India. This is a warped Nehruvian legacy further exacerbated by the civil service. The simmering discontent over the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations wherein the military has been placed at a rung below the police and the paramilitary is illustrative of this anomaly. If these disparities are not redressed with dispatch, the proposed CC will flounder and remain still-born like the post-Kargil policy recommendations that dealt with the same national security inadequacies.
Fog Fully paralyzed Delhi
By Siddharth Bhum
Delhi Airport Closed For 5 Hours On Monday, Similar Situation Predicted For Tuesday
The season’s thickest fog hit Delhi late on Sunday night, throwing air schedules haywire and once again exposing the aviation ministry’s hollow claims of being prepared for the annual mess. The Delhi airport was virtually closed from 5.30 am to 11 am as visibility was hovering below 100 metres.
This had a cascading effect all day long — and possibly will extend on Tuesday too — with 19 flights being cancelled and almost all the 650-odd flights that operate from IGI daily being delayed by anywhere from one to eight hours.
The worst part, however, is yet to come. The Met department has predicted a similar fog situation for Tuesday. With fog setting in by 8 pm on Monday, there was a possibility that flights that had left the city during the day might not be able to return due to low visibility problems.
Secondly, with almost 80-90% of the pilots who flew on Monday having spent most of their working hours sitting in the cockpit, waiting for clearance to take-off, they exhausted their flight duty limitations. On Tuesday, therefore, airlines were worried about the non-availability of pilots, especially the CAT III trained ones.
Meanwhile from 5.30 am to 11 am on Monday, only eight flights — eight international and two domestic — could land using the highly sophisticated CAT III B system that allows planes to land when visibility goes between 75 and 100 metres.
Low visibility procedures were in place for 11 hours and 35 minutes — from 1.10 am to 12.45 pm, making it the longest ever single stretch of dense fog in past two years. While visibility started improving after 11 am, the huge backlog with a majority of flights not being CAT III B compliant meant a massive problem for passengers.
“We entered the cockpit at 7 am and then had to call in passengers as just to line up for take off with ATC we need to tell them our boarding’s complete and the doors are closed,” said a pilot giving another reason for why passengers had to remain in planes for hours together.
With schedules going completely haywire during the morning hours, flights all through the day were affected, specially since there was fog over most of the north region. The chaos synonymous with fog related delays was missing outside the airport with most passengers made to board the aircraft much before take-off. However, the cramped terminal 1B was still bursting at the seams. Passengers getting no space to sit despite an increased security hold area, had to make do with luggage trolleys. At the terminal, the information display system went off for about half an hour during which time there was complete chaos as no information on arrivals was forthcoming from airlines.
Delhi Airport Closed For 5 Hours On Monday, Similar Situation Predicted For Tuesday
The season’s thickest fog hit Delhi late on Sunday night, throwing air schedules haywire and once again exposing the aviation ministry’s hollow claims of being prepared for the annual mess. The Delhi airport was virtually closed from 5.30 am to 11 am as visibility was hovering below 100 metres.
This had a cascading effect all day long — and possibly will extend on Tuesday too — with 19 flights being cancelled and almost all the 650-odd flights that operate from IGI daily being delayed by anywhere from one to eight hours.
The worst part, however, is yet to come. The Met department has predicted a similar fog situation for Tuesday. With fog setting in by 8 pm on Monday, there was a possibility that flights that had left the city during the day might not be able to return due to low visibility problems.
Secondly, with almost 80-90% of the pilots who flew on Monday having spent most of their working hours sitting in the cockpit, waiting for clearance to take-off, they exhausted their flight duty limitations. On Tuesday, therefore, airlines were worried about the non-availability of pilots, especially the CAT III trained ones.
Meanwhile from 5.30 am to 11 am on Monday, only eight flights — eight international and two domestic — could land using the highly sophisticated CAT III B system that allows planes to land when visibility goes between 75 and 100 metres.
Low visibility procedures were in place for 11 hours and 35 minutes — from 1.10 am to 12.45 pm, making it the longest ever single stretch of dense fog in past two years. While visibility started improving after 11 am, the huge backlog with a majority of flights not being CAT III B compliant meant a massive problem for passengers.
“We entered the cockpit at 7 am and then had to call in passengers as just to line up for take off with ATC we need to tell them our boarding’s complete and the doors are closed,” said a pilot giving another reason for why passengers had to remain in planes for hours together.
With schedules going completely haywire during the morning hours, flights all through the day were affected, specially since there was fog over most of the north region. The chaos synonymous with fog related delays was missing outside the airport with most passengers made to board the aircraft much before take-off. However, the cramped terminal 1B was still bursting at the seams. Passengers getting no space to sit despite an increased security hold area, had to make do with luggage trolleys. At the terminal, the information display system went off for about half an hour during which time there was complete chaos as no information on arrivals was forthcoming from airlines.
Hyderabad Urdu daily editor eyes LS seat
By Subia Khan
Noted social activist and editor of Urdu daily Siasat Zahed Ali Khan has decided to fight for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate in the upcoming general elections.
“There is need to change the politics of the Old City which has been in the stranglehold of the Majlis (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). I had this feeling that I should challenge the leadership of Majlis for keeping the people and their surroundings utterly backward. I did this through my newspaper. The public response to my writings was overwhelming. Now the public wants me to fight Parliament elections. I have accepted the persuasion of my conscience and answering the call of the people,’’ he told TOI.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is being represented by MIM—first by late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and since 2004 by his eldest son Asaduddin Owaisi for the last quarter century.
Though the reports of Khan entering the electoral battle had been there in the air for few months he decided to express his intentions at a public meeting on Sunday night at Yakutpura.
Khan said that he would be supported by Telugu Desam, CPI, CPM and TRS. “Though there has been no formal talk with the Congress on my election plans, there are a number of Congress members who have offered to support me,’’ he said.
Asaduddin Owaisi who was groomed by his father for long years to take over the reigns of MIM, won the 2004 election by defeating his nearest rival G Subhashas Chanderji of BJP by more than one lakh votes.
With the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliament constituencies, the concentration of Muslim voters has increased in Hyderabad.
Sources at MIM dismissed Khan as a political novice and said that the party would be too happy to show him his place in electoral battle. Owaisi was not available for comments.
Noted social activist and editor of Urdu daily Siasat Zahed Ali Khan has decided to fight for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate in the upcoming general elections.
“There is need to change the politics of the Old City which has been in the stranglehold of the Majlis (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). I had this feeling that I should challenge the leadership of Majlis for keeping the people and their surroundings utterly backward. I did this through my newspaper. The public response to my writings was overwhelming. Now the public wants me to fight Parliament elections. I have accepted the persuasion of my conscience and answering the call of the people,’’ he told TOI.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is being represented by MIM—first by late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and since 2004 by his eldest son Asaduddin Owaisi for the last quarter century.
Though the reports of Khan entering the electoral battle had been there in the air for few months he decided to express his intentions at a public meeting on Sunday night at Yakutpura.
Khan said that he would be supported by Telugu Desam, CPI, CPM and TRS. “Though there has been no formal talk with the Congress on my election plans, there are a number of Congress members who have offered to support me,’’ he said.
Asaduddin Owaisi who was groomed by his father for long years to take over the reigns of MIM, won the 2004 election by defeating his nearest rival G Subhashas Chanderji of BJP by more than one lakh votes.
With the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliament constituencies, the concentration of Muslim voters has increased in Hyderabad.
Sources at MIM dismissed Khan as a political novice and said that the party would be too happy to show him his place in electoral battle. Owaisi was not available for comments.
Hyderabad Urdu daily editor eyes LS seat
By Subia Khan
Noted social activist and editor of Urdu daily Siasat Zahed Ali Khan has decided to fight for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate in the upcoming general elections.
“There is need to change the politics of the Old City which has been in the stranglehold of the Majlis (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). I had this feeling that I should challenge the leadership of Majlis for keeping the people and their surroundings utterly backward. I did this through my newspaper. The public response to my writings was overwhelming. Now the public wants me to fight Parliament elections. I have accepted the persuasion of my conscience and answering the call of the people,’’ he told TOI.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is being represented by MIM—first by late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and since 2004 by his eldest son Asaduddin Owaisi for the last quarter century.
Though the reports of Khan entering the electoral battle had been there in the air for few months he decided to express his intentions at a public meeting on Sunday night at Yakutpura.
Khan said that he would be supported by Telugu Desam, CPI, CPM and TRS. “Though there has been no formal talk with the Congress on my election plans, there are a number of Congress members who have offered to support me,’’ he said.
Asaduddin Owaisi who was groomed by his father for long years to take over the reigns of MIM, won the 2004 election by defeating his nearest rival G Subhashas Chanderji of BJP by more than one lakh votes.
With the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliament constituencies, the concentration of Muslim voters has increased in Hyderabad.
Sources at MIM dismissed Khan as a political novice and said that the party would be too happy to show him his place in electoral battle. Owaisi was not available for comments.
Noted social activist and editor of Urdu daily Siasat Zahed Ali Khan has decided to fight for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate in the upcoming general elections.
“There is need to change the politics of the Old City which has been in the stranglehold of the Majlis (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). I had this feeling that I should challenge the leadership of Majlis for keeping the people and their surroundings utterly backward. I did this through my newspaper. The public response to my writings was overwhelming. Now the public wants me to fight Parliament elections. I have accepted the persuasion of my conscience and answering the call of the people,’’ he told TOI.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is being represented by MIM—first by late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and since 2004 by his eldest son Asaduddin Owaisi for the last quarter century.
Though the reports of Khan entering the electoral battle had been there in the air for few months he decided to express his intentions at a public meeting on Sunday night at Yakutpura.
Khan said that he would be supported by Telugu Desam, CPI, CPM and TRS. “Though there has been no formal talk with the Congress on my election plans, there are a number of Congress members who have offered to support me,’’ he said.
Asaduddin Owaisi who was groomed by his father for long years to take over the reigns of MIM, won the 2004 election by defeating his nearest rival G Subhashas Chanderji of BJP by more than one lakh votes.
With the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliament constituencies, the concentration of Muslim voters has increased in Hyderabad.
Sources at MIM dismissed Khan as a political novice and said that the party would be too happy to show him his place in electoral battle. Owaisi was not available for comments.
Exclusive: HYDERABAD’S BRAND IDENTITY
By M H Ahssan
Satyam brand could have taken a beating over the last few days but the fact remains that this is one company that Hyderabad identifies with. Satyam, here, is king. HNN reports
It’s the best ‘status statement’ in Hyderabad, a Satyam identity card, that is. If a bunch of friends from the IT sector are dining out, the one with a Satyam I-card comes in the most handy to get the best discount on the bill. The waiter in his wisdom, more often than not, clubs the remaining IT firms as “other’’ companies.
The I-card gets you the best discounts on jewellery and even clothing. Call it a matter of local perception or respect for this homegrown IT major, but Satyam from the local Hyderabadi’s eye is a notch above any other IT firm, national or international.
So, while brand Satyam or ‘Satchyam’ as ‘mana’ Hyderabadis like to call it may have taken a beating with the developments over the last two weeks, the fact remains that this continues to be one firm that gave Hyderabad its very first IT identity.
Ask Bontha Murthy who still vividly remembers getting that appointment letter from Satyam eight years ago. “There were no other big IT companies in Hyderabad then. People in AP knew only one IT firm and that was Satyam,’’ he says, recollecting how the news of him getting a job in Satyam spread like wild fire among friends and relatives. “Satyam was the face of IT then. If you said you were an IT professional, people would spontaneously ask ‘Satyam?’,’’ remembers Murthy, who now works with a multinational. He says that even in the job market Satyam on the resume added great weight. “People took you seriously... knew that you have worked with clients on some good projects,’’ he says.
Satyam’s clout in Hyderabad and AP is a revelation of sorts for people who come to the city from various parts of the country. “Coming from Bangalore, I somehow never thought that Satyam would enjoy better popularity than the other three majors— Wipro, TCS, Infosys. After all, look at the way the other three firms shaped up over the years in comparison to Satyam. But in Hyderabad these reality checks do not matter. Satyam is king here,’’ says Prakash Dixit, who remembers fielding curious and even angry questions from his Hyderabadi friends when he had declined a Satyam offer.
“For any Hyderabadi it was an honour to be associated with Satyam. The firm stood for job security and in many ways it was like getting a government job,’’ says a Satyam employee.
After all, as Rakshita Swami, a systems analyst puts it: “Satyam gave Hyderabad its IT hub image. They were probably the pioneers in making Hyderabad the brand it is today. I think the city’s brand image has now received a blow.’’
Locals employed in the IT sector admit that Satyam’s popularity is more about ‘perception’ than what the reality is. But they do admit that Hyderabadis have a huge emotional connect with Ramalinga Raju’s company.
“It is a homegrown company, after all. It is like how Kannadigas feel proud of Infosys in Bangalore, in Hyderabad you feel proud of Satyam,’’ says S P Nambiar, who has lived in Hyderabad all his life and talks about the family pressure on him for joining Satyam when he entered the IT industry. Entrepreneur Ravi Mundoli adds, “Satyam at one time was a sensation, the most familiar face of the city and the possibility of it being involved in all this is disturbing.’’
A top management comprising largely of people hailing from the state, Satyam has maintained its local flavour even as other firms with cosmopolitan managements set shop here. Satyam’s involvement with various government activities is too looked upon as a homegrown empire aiding the state.
“It is certainly an emotional setback for the locals to see the Rajus go through this,’’ says an IT executive who started her career with Satyam. She adds that even now while most people understand that Satyam’s bid to acquire Maytas wasn’t correct, they feel that the company and the Rajus would bounce back.
“Satyam was our pride that we carried wherever we went. On many occasions, during our assignments abroad, people would associate Hyderabad with Satyam. So it wasn’t just our local fondness for this company but even what it gave us in return. The company gave Hyderabad prominence on the country’s map,’’ says software engineer S Naagesh Reddy.
SATYAM STAFF DEMORALISED
With the change of Satyam’s management imminent, the IT major’s office corridors are buzzing with employees talking about moving jobs and speculating on the changes the new management would bring with it.
Work has almost come to a standstill at Satyam offices in the city with employees hanging around near tea and coffee vending machines, discussing media reports on their top management and figuring out what can still hold them to this IT major. “People are demotivated. Spirits are low. But then they are also realising that their loyalties are with Satyam and not the Rajus. And Satyam continues to be a good company to be with,’’ a senior manager told TOI. Satyam has 52,865 employees on its rolls.
WHAT IS SRSR HOLDINGS?
Did the Rajus have a long range exit plan out of Satyam ? In September 2006, over two years ago the promoters of Satyam Computer Services formed a holding company called SRSR Holdings Pvt Limited and transferred all their shares to this entity. This accounted for 8.5 per cent of the shares of Satyam. The four promoters of the company were founder of Satyam Ramalinga Raju, his brother and cofounder Rama Raju and their respectives wives Nandini Raju and Radha Raju.
According to a company statement at that time these transfer of shares were executed through a block deal of 1.95 crore Satyam shares on NSE at a price of Rs 809 per share. Even at that time there was speculation that this Raju move was a prelude to their exiting Satyam. This was however steadfastly denied by them at that time and they contended it was just an easy way to handle their scattered holdings.
But now it is clear that the family shares were consolidated so that they could be pledged to institutional investors - in return for loans. In fact the pledgings happened simultaneously with the formation of SRSR Holdings. It is these shares that have now been sold off by the institutions, leaving the Rajus without any stake whatsoever in the company that is synonymous with their name.
While some employees are being encouraged to blog their solidarity with the company, there are others that this newspaper spoke to who have intensified their job hunt, floating their resumes through the day and calling up old friends/contacts in other firms for referrals. But many senior associates are taking stock of the situation, understanding how would this change of management affect them.
The management change will alter the way the company functions, employees fear. The speculated takeover by another IT firm has left Satyam employees speculating whether a ‘new’ resource pool would replace the existing one. “The axe is hanging on many employees now especially those who are on bench as the new management may prefer their trained teams to handle internal projects,’’ said a Satyam employee.
Employees also fear that if a change of management leads to dumping some not-soprofitable projects, it would in turn jeopardise their retention chances. Also, if the new management does not renew the existing projects, it could result in more lay-offs, they fear.
While optimistic employees hold that the current controversy over company ownership cannot affect them, the new recruits or those not very old in Satyam echo that they may not continue here for long. “I am now regretting my decision to opt for Satyam out of various choices I had. That I still have my job is secondary. I think its the brand that has taken a beating and this is working against our spirit,’’ a freshman says.
But a senior manager with the firm says that the company stopped laying off two weeks ago, ever since the Maytas acquisition bid backfired. “Besides, the projects are on and the customer profile is still very high. The company is not running out of projects, just yet,’’ he said.
However, what is pinching Satyam’s bunch of new employees is the bond they agreed to sign before joining the firm. As per the bond, the company stands to claim the Rs 2 lakh that they deposited as security money, in case they leave the company before completing two years. “I am in a total fix. If I resign now, I lose my bond money. If I am laid off, I won’t get a job in near future,’’ said a techie who joined Satyam a year ago.
“What the company is going through is definitely a cause of concern for us employees. We are curious, apprehensive and bothered about what is happening. But the job market is so low that we have no option but to be patient and wait and watch,’’ an employee summed up.
Satyam brand could have taken a beating over the last few days but the fact remains that this is one company that Hyderabad identifies with. Satyam, here, is king. HNN reports
It’s the best ‘status statement’ in Hyderabad, a Satyam identity card, that is. If a bunch of friends from the IT sector are dining out, the one with a Satyam I-card comes in the most handy to get the best discount on the bill. The waiter in his wisdom, more often than not, clubs the remaining IT firms as “other’’ companies.
The I-card gets you the best discounts on jewellery and even clothing. Call it a matter of local perception or respect for this homegrown IT major, but Satyam from the local Hyderabadi’s eye is a notch above any other IT firm, national or international.
So, while brand Satyam or ‘Satchyam’ as ‘mana’ Hyderabadis like to call it may have taken a beating with the developments over the last two weeks, the fact remains that this continues to be one firm that gave Hyderabad its very first IT identity.
Ask Bontha Murthy who still vividly remembers getting that appointment letter from Satyam eight years ago. “There were no other big IT companies in Hyderabad then. People in AP knew only one IT firm and that was Satyam,’’ he says, recollecting how the news of him getting a job in Satyam spread like wild fire among friends and relatives. “Satyam was the face of IT then. If you said you were an IT professional, people would spontaneously ask ‘Satyam?’,’’ remembers Murthy, who now works with a multinational. He says that even in the job market Satyam on the resume added great weight. “People took you seriously... knew that you have worked with clients on some good projects,’’ he says.
Satyam’s clout in Hyderabad and AP is a revelation of sorts for people who come to the city from various parts of the country. “Coming from Bangalore, I somehow never thought that Satyam would enjoy better popularity than the other three majors— Wipro, TCS, Infosys. After all, look at the way the other three firms shaped up over the years in comparison to Satyam. But in Hyderabad these reality checks do not matter. Satyam is king here,’’ says Prakash Dixit, who remembers fielding curious and even angry questions from his Hyderabadi friends when he had declined a Satyam offer.
“For any Hyderabadi it was an honour to be associated with Satyam. The firm stood for job security and in many ways it was like getting a government job,’’ says a Satyam employee.
After all, as Rakshita Swami, a systems analyst puts it: “Satyam gave Hyderabad its IT hub image. They were probably the pioneers in making Hyderabad the brand it is today. I think the city’s brand image has now received a blow.’’
Locals employed in the IT sector admit that Satyam’s popularity is more about ‘perception’ than what the reality is. But they do admit that Hyderabadis have a huge emotional connect with Ramalinga Raju’s company.
“It is a homegrown company, after all. It is like how Kannadigas feel proud of Infosys in Bangalore, in Hyderabad you feel proud of Satyam,’’ says S P Nambiar, who has lived in Hyderabad all his life and talks about the family pressure on him for joining Satyam when he entered the IT industry. Entrepreneur Ravi Mundoli adds, “Satyam at one time was a sensation, the most familiar face of the city and the possibility of it being involved in all this is disturbing.’’
A top management comprising largely of people hailing from the state, Satyam has maintained its local flavour even as other firms with cosmopolitan managements set shop here. Satyam’s involvement with various government activities is too looked upon as a homegrown empire aiding the state.
“It is certainly an emotional setback for the locals to see the Rajus go through this,’’ says an IT executive who started her career with Satyam. She adds that even now while most people understand that Satyam’s bid to acquire Maytas wasn’t correct, they feel that the company and the Rajus would bounce back.
“Satyam was our pride that we carried wherever we went. On many occasions, during our assignments abroad, people would associate Hyderabad with Satyam. So it wasn’t just our local fondness for this company but even what it gave us in return. The company gave Hyderabad prominence on the country’s map,’’ says software engineer S Naagesh Reddy.
SATYAM STAFF DEMORALISED
With the change of Satyam’s management imminent, the IT major’s office corridors are buzzing with employees talking about moving jobs and speculating on the changes the new management would bring with it.
Work has almost come to a standstill at Satyam offices in the city with employees hanging around near tea and coffee vending machines, discussing media reports on their top management and figuring out what can still hold them to this IT major. “People are demotivated. Spirits are low. But then they are also realising that their loyalties are with Satyam and not the Rajus. And Satyam continues to be a good company to be with,’’ a senior manager told TOI. Satyam has 52,865 employees on its rolls.
WHAT IS SRSR HOLDINGS?
Did the Rajus have a long range exit plan out of Satyam ? In September 2006, over two years ago the promoters of Satyam Computer Services formed a holding company called SRSR Holdings Pvt Limited and transferred all their shares to this entity. This accounted for 8.5 per cent of the shares of Satyam. The four promoters of the company were founder of Satyam Ramalinga Raju, his brother and cofounder Rama Raju and their respectives wives Nandini Raju and Radha Raju.
According to a company statement at that time these transfer of shares were executed through a block deal of 1.95 crore Satyam shares on NSE at a price of Rs 809 per share. Even at that time there was speculation that this Raju move was a prelude to their exiting Satyam. This was however steadfastly denied by them at that time and they contended it was just an easy way to handle their scattered holdings.
But now it is clear that the family shares were consolidated so that they could be pledged to institutional investors - in return for loans. In fact the pledgings happened simultaneously with the formation of SRSR Holdings. It is these shares that have now been sold off by the institutions, leaving the Rajus without any stake whatsoever in the company that is synonymous with their name.
While some employees are being encouraged to blog their solidarity with the company, there are others that this newspaper spoke to who have intensified their job hunt, floating their resumes through the day and calling up old friends/contacts in other firms for referrals. But many senior associates are taking stock of the situation, understanding how would this change of management affect them.
The management change will alter the way the company functions, employees fear. The speculated takeover by another IT firm has left Satyam employees speculating whether a ‘new’ resource pool would replace the existing one. “The axe is hanging on many employees now especially those who are on bench as the new management may prefer their trained teams to handle internal projects,’’ said a Satyam employee.
Employees also fear that if a change of management leads to dumping some not-soprofitable projects, it would in turn jeopardise their retention chances. Also, if the new management does not renew the existing projects, it could result in more lay-offs, they fear.
While optimistic employees hold that the current controversy over company ownership cannot affect them, the new recruits or those not very old in Satyam echo that they may not continue here for long. “I am now regretting my decision to opt for Satyam out of various choices I had. That I still have my job is secondary. I think its the brand that has taken a beating and this is working against our spirit,’’ a freshman says.
But a senior manager with the firm says that the company stopped laying off two weeks ago, ever since the Maytas acquisition bid backfired. “Besides, the projects are on and the customer profile is still very high. The company is not running out of projects, just yet,’’ he said.
However, what is pinching Satyam’s bunch of new employees is the bond they agreed to sign before joining the firm. As per the bond, the company stands to claim the Rs 2 lakh that they deposited as security money, in case they leave the company before completing two years. “I am in a total fix. If I resign now, I lose my bond money. If I am laid off, I won’t get a job in near future,’’ said a techie who joined Satyam a year ago.
“What the company is going through is definitely a cause of concern for us employees. We are curious, apprehensive and bothered about what is happening. But the job market is so low that we have no option but to be patient and wait and watch,’’ an employee summed up.
Exclusive: Rs 2.6 cr Goes Missing From BJP Central Office
By Kajol Singh
No one likes money to go missing. And it's harder if you can't even make a hue and cry about it. BJP finds itself in just such an unenviable situation after its chief accountant reported that Rs 2.6 crore in cash had gone missing from the party's central office at 11, Ashoka Road.
The amount was taken, clean as a whistle, from a "tijori" (safe) in a small room to the back of the party headquarters, not far from BJP president Rajnath Singh's office. The theft came to light on Friday, when the office reopened after Christmas holiday, causing deep consternation in BJP circles.
The money was deposited on December 24 and apparently stolen on December 25, when the office was closed. A premises, however, have a fairly large resident population of staffers and party office bearers who live in the office building and the next bungalow, 9, Ashoka Road.
The theft was discovered by party oldtimer Nalin Tandon, who has handled BJP accounts for several years, and is one of few persons with access to the room with the safe. The incident looked like an "insider job" as there were no signs of forced entry while the safe lay unlocked. The door to the room and the safe had been opened Ravichander with ease.
As a red-faced BJP brass mulled what had happened, it found itself wrestling with a peculiar dilemma, the money had possibly been collected for elections and was not accounted for and hence the police could not be called in. After consultations, the party called in a private detective agency to investigate into the theft.
The incident has left the party tonguetied with no senior party leader ready to make a statement on the missing boodle. When contacted party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said he had no comment to make.
BJP in a jam over missing Rs 2.6 cr from party office
The missing Rs 2.6 crore from its central office at 11, Ashoka Road, has put BJP in an unenviable situation. While sources close to the BJP president said the matter was being examined, adding that an explanation could lie in an “accounting error”, others suspect it could well be an inside job. Reports were being sought from state units about money deposited with the central office.
A FIR would have been lodged if the money was part of official donations or generated by party activity like a membership drive. Delhi Police sources said they too had “heard” that a large sum was missing from the BJP office but pointed out that in the absence of a formal complaint there was little they could do.
There are a few theories and versions doing the rounds. Some claim that Nalin Tandon, who has handled BJP accounts for several years, has reported the key to the safe as missing while others contest this, saying keys were very much accounted for. Tandon has been the focus of the private investigators as well, with operatives visiting his home. Staffers who live in the BJP quarters are being questioned even though party sources admit access to the room was limited to only a few.
Some in the party argue that Tandon, typically a low-profile RSS type, as the chief accountant had handled even larger sums of money in past, including during the 2004 general elections, while others slyly point to his expensive tastes in cigarettes and the Innova he drives which seem beyond his salary.
Apart from “the butler did it” theory, party sources talked about Tandon’s recent differences with office secretary Shyam Jhaju when the office staff had agitated for higher pay. It is being suggested that Tandon’s role in rallying staff was not appreciated.
The findings of the ongoing in-house inquiry are not known yet. But given the embarrassment BJP faces over the episode, it may have little option but to conclude that the purloined money was just a case of unreconciled accounts. This may leave the unknown felons richer by a couple of crores, but the party will probably grit its teeth and bear it.
No one likes money to go missing. And it's harder if you can't even make a hue and cry about it. BJP finds itself in just such an unenviable situation after its chief accountant reported that Rs 2.6 crore in cash had gone missing from the party's central office at 11, Ashoka Road.
The amount was taken, clean as a whistle, from a "tijori" (safe) in a small room to the back of the party headquarters, not far from BJP president Rajnath Singh's office. The theft came to light on Friday, when the office reopened after Christmas holiday, causing deep consternation in BJP circles.
The money was deposited on December 24 and apparently stolen on December 25, when the office was closed. A premises, however, have a fairly large resident population of staffers and party office bearers who live in the office building and the next bungalow, 9, Ashoka Road.
The theft was discovered by party oldtimer Nalin Tandon, who has handled BJP accounts for several years, and is one of few persons with access to the room with the safe. The incident looked like an "insider job" as there were no signs of forced entry while the safe lay unlocked. The door to the room and the safe had been opened Ravichander with ease.
As a red-faced BJP brass mulled what had happened, it found itself wrestling with a peculiar dilemma, the money had possibly been collected for elections and was not accounted for and hence the police could not be called in. After consultations, the party called in a private detective agency to investigate into the theft.
The incident has left the party tonguetied with no senior party leader ready to make a statement on the missing boodle. When contacted party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said he had no comment to make.
BJP in a jam over missing Rs 2.6 cr from party office
The missing Rs 2.6 crore from its central office at 11, Ashoka Road, has put BJP in an unenviable situation. While sources close to the BJP president said the matter was being examined, adding that an explanation could lie in an “accounting error”, others suspect it could well be an inside job. Reports were being sought from state units about money deposited with the central office.
A FIR would have been lodged if the money was part of official donations or generated by party activity like a membership drive. Delhi Police sources said they too had “heard” that a large sum was missing from the BJP office but pointed out that in the absence of a formal complaint there was little they could do.
There are a few theories and versions doing the rounds. Some claim that Nalin Tandon, who has handled BJP accounts for several years, has reported the key to the safe as missing while others contest this, saying keys were very much accounted for. Tandon has been the focus of the private investigators as well, with operatives visiting his home. Staffers who live in the BJP quarters are being questioned even though party sources admit access to the room was limited to only a few.
Some in the party argue that Tandon, typically a low-profile RSS type, as the chief accountant had handled even larger sums of money in past, including during the 2004 general elections, while others slyly point to his expensive tastes in cigarettes and the Innova he drives which seem beyond his salary.
Apart from “the butler did it” theory, party sources talked about Tandon’s recent differences with office secretary Shyam Jhaju when the office staff had agitated for higher pay. It is being suggested that Tandon’s role in rallying staff was not appreciated.
The findings of the ongoing in-house inquiry are not known yet. But given the embarrassment BJP faces over the episode, it may have little option but to conclude that the purloined money was just a case of unreconciled accounts. This may leave the unknown felons richer by a couple of crores, but the party will probably grit its teeth and bear it.
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