Freed after 10 months, Indian crew of MV Suez reach Delhi

NEW DELHI: After 10 months in the captivity of Somali pirates, six Indian sailors of M V Suez vessel touched down on home soil on Friday to an emotional welcome from family members.

The sailors came by an Emirates flight from Dubai which landed at IGI Airport at 9.36am and were received by family and friends carrying garlands.

Relatives broke down in tears at the sight of the rescued sailors as their children carried placards that read 'Thank you Ansar Burney uncle, we love you', in a reference to the Pakistani human rights activist who facilitated their release from the sea brigands.

Closely holding his three-year-old son, Ravinder Singh Bhulia, one of the released crew members who hails from Rohtak, said, "Indian and Pakistani media helped us a lot. As far as the Indian government's role in the release, I don't want to comment on it".

With tears rolling down her cheeks, his wife Champa said, "The pain would never go".

Another released crew member Prashant Chauhan said, "I am very happy. I waited for this moment for 10 months".

The Indians were part of the 22 member crew, including four Pakistanis, a Sri Lankan and 11 Egyptians, who were freed last week after ransom was paid to the Somali pirates.

The crew of the MV Suez was brought to Karachi on Thursday by Pakistan Navy warship PNS Zulfiqar, which had picked up sailors from the waters off Oman.The MV Suez had sank somewhere off the coast of Oman after running out of fuel.

There was no government representative to receive them at the airport.

N K Sharma, another released crew member, said, "Whatever Pakistan government has done is really praiseworthy. We don't know what Indian government did or did not but Pakistan government has treated us well."

Recounting his ordeal, Sharma said they starved for many days and on some days they just got water.

"We used to get boiled rice, spaghetti and potato once a week," he said.

Family members of the released men thanked Burney for facilitating the release of the sailors, but complained that the Indian government did little to save the sailors.

toi

R K Singh to be next home secretary

NEW DELHI: Raj Kumar Singh, an IAS officer of the 1975 batch, is all set to take over as the next Union home secretary.

His name was cleared by the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday. A formal notification on his appointment will be issued soon, official sources said.

Singh, a Bihar cadre officer, will succeed G K Pillai who retires on June 30. Singh, currently secretary, defence production, in the ministry of defence, had last week appeared before home minister P Chidambaram for an interview, along with a few others including Punjab chief secretary S C Aggarwal.

Singh had met defence minister A K Antony earlier this week and expressed his desire to move into the high-profile post in North Block. Sources said the defence minister readily accepted Singh's request and assured him that he would be relieved from the present assignment once a formal decision is taken by the government.

Singh, who had earlier served in the home ministry as a joint secretary for about five years, will have a fixed two-year term.

Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, took charge as home secretary in June 2009 -- seven months after the Mumbai terror attack -- and oversaw the complete overhaul of the country's security establishment.


toi

South Mumbai bungalow sold for record Rs 350 crore

MUMBAI: A suburban developer has paid a record price of Rs 350 crore for a Nepean Sea bungalow property. Runwal Group, which has projects largely in the eastern suburbs, bought Nepean Grange , the two-storey bungalow constructed in 1918, from the Kapadia family. The transaction was finally concluded a few days ago after months of negotiations, TOI has learnt. Property sources said this could probably be the highest price paid for a bungalow in the city. The 2,048 sq m land also has an outhouse, servants' quarters and a car park.

The half-acre property, which falls under the coastal regulation zone II, was on the block for two years and the developer had to deal with nine joint owners of the Kapadia family. The owners settled the deal for Rs 270 crore. However, the bungalow also housed a tenant, the Lilani family, who demanded Rs 80 crore from Runwals to vacate the property.

The new owners of Nepean Grange will compensate the tenant who currently occupies about 4,800 sq ft of the 28,000 sq ft bungalow. The bungalow is located close to the Kilachand House, which too is on the block.

The Runwals will demolish Nepean Grange and build a high-end residential tower on the land. The Piramals, ABG Shipyard and Orbit Group were some of the other contenders for this property.

Last year, an old bungalow property called Villa Nirmala in the residential enclave of Carmichael Road in south Mumbai was bought for around Rs 300 crore by Peninsula Landpart of the Ashok Piramal Group and developer Khemchand Kothari. The transaction involved a payment of Rs 240 crore, plus 15,000 sq ft of space for the occupants of the bungalow once it was redeveloped . The structure, which occupies about half an acre and has a garden at the back, will make way for a high-rise .

Bungalows with heritage value have been falling to developers like nine pins over the past decade. Some of the most beautiful ones are located on Nepean Sea Road and Altamount /Carmichael Roads in south Mumbai.

In 2004, the Cama family of Mumbai Samachar sold its sprawling bungalow, Cosy Corner, behind Elizabeth Nursing Home (off Nepean Sea Road) for Rs 108 crore to the Satellite Group. The two-storeyed Cama bungalow, constructed in the 1920s, had close to a dozen rooms and a porch that overlooks lush, spacious gardens. Heritage buffs and city historians were dismayed when the developer demolished it and build a luxury residential tower.

Similarly, dozens of old, colonial-style bungalows were razed to make way for towers. Properties on Nepean Sea Road that were more than a century old have been demolished after they were bought over by private developers.
Nepean House, which was once located behind Nepean Terrace, went under the hammer years ago and the FSI from this plot was used to build the Ashiana apartment block. Kshitij, a skyscraper on Napean Sea Road, came up a few decades ago on a bungalow property owned by Cowasjee Jehangir. Similarly , the Maharaja of Baroda's palace gave way to the residential building Jal Darshan.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Carmichael Road saw a plethora of stately homes dotting its lush hill slopes. Old-timers recalled that many of these houses were built for about Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh. Among the oldest is the sprawling municipal commissioner's bungalow, which came up in the 1920s, and the official residence of the Port Trust chairman , built in 1918.

The plot on which Mumbai's first skyscraper, Usha Kiran, came up, once housed a princely-looking bungalow belonging to a Marwari family, called the Khandelwals. Among the other properties that were rebuilt, modified or expanded in the past were the Dahanukar bungalow, the Birla family house and Ghia Mansion.

toi

Govt takes control of Singur Nano factory

SINGUR/KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government seems to be inching towards return of land from the disputed site in Singur, even as it fights a legal battle in Calcutta high court.

The Tata Nano factory was virtually taken over by the Hooghly administration on Thursday. Inventory of the articles inside the abandoned site was also conducted. Industries minister Partha Chatterjee said: "The process (of returning land) is under way. Let us wait and see what happens."

The minister was replying to queries by reporters at Writers' Buildings whether the ongoing legal tussle had stalled movement from the government's end. Chatterjee smiled and said, "Wait a while. You will get to know more in the assembly tomorrow. I can't say any more as the matter is sub judice."

The minister's sentiment was echoed in the administration's promptness in getting on with the formalities, after the gazette notification of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011. The law department is framing rules, even as Tata Motors has challenged the Act in high court.

After taking possession of the Singur factory complex late on Tuesday, the district administration got its act together, initiating inventory work on Thursday. Since morning, no local was in the vicinity as policemen (some 591 of them) took control. The rejoicing villagers and the mobs that stole iron rods and other materials from the compound on Wednesday had disappeared. About 40 staff members of the Singur BDO office, district land acquisition offices (DLO) in Singur and Chinsurah walked in after the police vacated six rooms inside the factory complex. These were used as welding, paint and engine shops when the factory was operational. The officials will be living inside the factory from now on -as will the policemen.

Hooghly SP, Tanmoy Roy Chowdhury, said, "We have posted nearly 600 policemen inside the factory."

The chassis of Nano cars and machinery parts lay strewn around the factory. Hooghly district magistrate Sripriya Rangarajan supervised the listing work and stayed on till the cataloging was complete.

Clearly the administration wasn't taking chances, especially as Tata Motor' advocate Samaraditya Pal alleged pilferage and loot at the project site, presenting video footage from news channels. In view of this, Justice Soumitra Pal has asked the DM, Hooghly, to submit a ground report by 11am on Friday.

Police on Thursday arrested one person from Bablaband area as he was carrying away bricks from the factory site. Police and officers from the district administration spoke to villagers asking them to maintain law and order.

Basudeb Das of Purba Para in Beraberi village, said, "We are sure we'll get our land back." But Udayan Das, a land-loser and member of the Singur Silpa Sthapan O Unnayan Committee, that has joined the Tatas in the court battle, said, "If the Tatas don't return, we shall demand our land back." He was one of those who had "willingly" parted with his land, for the sake of the Tata project.

PCC president Pradip Bhattacharya supported the government in its bid to return land to Singur farmers. "The government has kept its word," he said after meeting chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday.

toi