Zee News denies allegations, terms arrests an attack on press freedom

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NEW DELHI: Zee News on Wednesday vehemently denied all allegations of extortion levelled against it and described the arrests of two of its senior journalists as a "crude and direct attack on the freedom of the press".

In a statement, Zee News accused Delhi Police of acting at the behest of Congress MP Naveen Jindal. The channel accused Naveen Jindal of trying to divert attention from 'coalgate'.

Delhi Police's crime branch arrested two editors of the Zee group on Tuesday, acting on a complaint by Congress MP Naveen Jindal who had accused the two of trying to extort Rs 100 crore worth of advertisements from his company in return for dropping stories linking the Jindal group with coalgate.

The arrested journalists are Sudhir Chaudhary and Sameer Ahluwalia, editorial heads of Zee news and Zee business channels, respectively, a senior police officer said.

"Prima facie evidence of criminal conspiracy and extortion has been found against the two leading to their arrest," said S B S Tyagi, DCP, crime branch on Tuesday.

The editors had earlier denied the charges, calling it an attempt to target investigative journalism.

Police said the arrests came after forensic experts submitted a report stating the CD submitted by the MP which contained audio and video recording of conversations between the Zee editors and Jindal's officials, was "not doctored". Jindal had claimed to have done a "reverse sting" on the journalists to expose them.

The inter-state cell of crime branch said it had found other conclusive evidence against the Zee journalists.

"The two editors were called for questioning on Tuesday during which they could not give satisfactory answers to our questions. They were informed around 8.30pm about their arrest after four hours of questioning. They will be produced in a Saket court at 2pm on Wednesday," a senior cop said.

The channel accused the Jindal Steel and Power Limited, owned by Congress MP Naveen Jindal, of "using state machinery, controlled by the Congress party both at the centre and Delhi, to muzzle voices of dissent and interfere with the legitimate rights of the Media to divert attention and cloud its illegalities and misdeeds which these editors in the channel sought to highlight in public interest, highlighting the corruption in the coal gate scam after being indicted by CAG, and being investigated by the CBI."

In a statement, the company said: "After over 65 years of independence, now the present Congress-led government is pushing media not to say the truth and gag its mouth. It is practically Emergency revisited in India today on Nov 27, 2012 (this will be known as another black day in Indian history).

"While the matter is sub-judice before the Hon'ble high court of Bombay, to circumvent the judicial process and the orders of the Hon'ble Mumbai high court, the Delhi police at the behest of its Congress MP orchestrated arrests of two senior editors of Zee News Channel, Sameer Ahluwalia and Sudhir Chaudhary, on the basis of a fraudulent and contrived complaint filed on behalf of his company Jindal Steel and Power Limited.

"The arrests have been made to sensationalize the issue and lend a cover to the coalgate scam and in particular to favour of Shri Naveen Jindal, Congress MP and his company M/S Jindal Steel and Power Limited."

"This is a crude and direct attack on the freedom of the press."

"The FIR registered against the two Editors and others, is nothing but a clever attempt to divert attention from its own role in the scam. The channel vehemently denies all allegations levelled against it.

The channel strongly condemns the arbitrary and illegal action of Delhi Police in arresting its two editors and for initiating a malicious, illegal and motivated prosecution. We wish to reiterate that no offence has been committed by members of staff," the statement said.

(With inputs from IANS)

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

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Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Petraeus Scandal: Socialite Jill Kelley Fighting Back

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Tampa socialite Jill Kelley is fighting back. Today, sources close to the woman who was caught in the media crossfire during the David Petraeus sex scandal have released new letters aimed at reclaiming her reputation.


In a letter released to reporters by Jill Kelley's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney goes after a New York businessman who claimed Kelley was using her connections to Petraeus to broker a deal with the South Korean government.


"It is impossible to overlook your attempt to get your '15 minutes of fame,'" attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to Adam Victor, the president and CEO of TransGas Development Systems. "…You have the right to do that to yourself, but you do not have the right to defame our client.


"This letter is notice to you that statements you have made are false and defamatory and are intended to portray Ms. Kelley in a false light," the letter continued.


Click Here to Read Past Blotter Coverage: Jill Kelley Emails Show Her Eager to Make Multi-Billion Dollar Deal


Victor has claimed that Kelley asked for $80 million in commissions to arrange a deal between Victor and the South Korean government. Kelley was an honorary consul for the Republic of South Korean.


"While it is certainly true that Ms. Kelley communicated with you about a potential business deal, it has nothing to do with General Petraeus or other military," Lowell wrote Victor.


Kelley was stripped of her ceremonial position as honorary consul for South Korea today, according to South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun.








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"It is not suitable to the status of honorary consul that [she] sought to be involved in commercial projects and peddle influence," Kyou-hyun told South Korea's semi-official Yonhap News Agency.


The dealings between Jill Kelley and Adam Victor were detailed in a series of emails between the two made public earlier this month. The emails appeared to confirm the New York businessman's claim that Kelley wanted a huge fee for brokering a transaction with the South Korean government.


But in his letter to Victor, Lowell denies that Kelley wanted anything close to $80 million, and says the full chain of emails reveal that "it was you (Victor) who were trying to capitalize on her contacts, and not the other way around."


Kelley and Victor were introduced at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August by Kelley's friend, Tampa real estate developer Don Phillips. In an interview with ABC News, Phillips said he suggested that Kelley and Victor should meet because Kelley could help Victor land a deal for a coal gasification plant in South Korea.


Phillips claimed that Kelley said that Victor tried to "proposition" her "almost immediately," and said he had to cajole her into flying to New York for a second meeting with Victor.


After she met with Victor in New York, Phillips said, Kelley reported that she was no longer interested in pursuing the deal. According to Phillips, she said, "As a result of my personal investigations and business intelligence this is just not going anywhere, Don, and you just don't want to associate with this guy."


Victor, who denies propositioning Kelley, claimed she continued pushing for the deal after their meeting in New York. But sources close to Kelley say that telephone voice messages Victor left for Kelley reveal that he was the one who continued to seek Kelley's involvement, even after the Petraeus affair came to light.


Victor also claims that Kelley told him Petraeus arranged for her to be named honorary consul, and that she could use her connections with high-level Korean officials to help land the coal plant deal.


None of the emails that Victor showed to ABC News mention Petraeus. Kelley's friend Don Phillips told ABC News that Kelley has not "in any way tried to profit" from her relationship with Petraeus.






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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

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When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.


Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

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Property tax rebate for most HDB flat owners

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SINGAPORE: All one- and two-room owner-occupiers of HDB homes do not need to pay property tax in 2013, similar to 2012.

For a majority of other HDB flat types, the property tax bill for 2013 will increase by between S$40 and $50, after taking into account a new S$40 rebate.

The increase in property tax comes after the revision of Annual Values (AVs) of HDB flats with effect from 1 January 2013, reflecting the rise in market rentals.

To mitigate the increase in the property tax payable by lower and middle-income households as a result of the AV revision, the government will give a one-off rebate of S$40 to owner-occupied HDB flats.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) reviews the AVs of all properties - including HDB flats - annually.

The AV, which is based on the estimated annual market rent of a property if it were to be let out, applies to all homes, including owner-occupied homes. It is used as a basis to compute the property tax payable.

Property tax is calculated at 10% of the AV for non owner-occupied homes. For owner-occupied homes, the property tax payable is calculated based on concessionary tax rates (see table).

Since the last revision of AVs of all HDB flats on 1 January 2012, market rentals of HDB flats have risen by 8% to 13%. Accordingly, the AVs of all HDB flats will be revised from 1 January 2013.

To mitigate the impact of the increase in property tax payable, all owners of owner-occupied HDB flats will be given a one-time rebate of S$40. It will be automatically set off against the property tax payable in 2013. This rebate will not apply to non owner-occupied HDB flats which are currently taxed at 10%.

94% of HDB flat owners will receive this rebate.

All one- and two-room HDB owner-occupiers will not need to pay any property tax in 2013 as their revised AVs remain below S$6,000.

The revised property tax bills of other owner-occupied flat types, after taking into account the property tax rebate, are shown in the table below.


- CNA/ir



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Jayalalithaa to meet Karnataka CM to sort out Cauvery river issue

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CHENNAI: In a significant development, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa will meet her Karnataka counter part Jagadish Shettar on Thursday to find a solution to the contentious issue of sharing Cauvery river water.

Her move came against the backdrop of Monday's Supreme Court suggestion that an amicable solution to the Cauvery row could be thrashed out if both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka chief ministers sat and discussed the issue together.

However, the court did not issue any direction to both the states but adjourned the matter for further hearing on Friday to know the feasibility and time schedule for a possible meeting between the two CMs.

However, an official release from the TN government said that as per the suggestion of the Supreme Court, Jayalalithaa will meet Jagadish at Bangalore and would hold discussions on the issue.

The state government's decision also comes in the wake of a worsening situation in the delta districts where a farmer committed suicide, upset over possible crop loss.

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

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Co. Paying Just $1,200 for Each Factory Fire Life

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A company that makes clothes for Sean Combs' clothing brand ENYCE and other U.S. labels reassured investors that a factory fire that killed 112 people over the weekend would not harm its balance sheet, and also pledged to pay the families of the dead $1,200 per victim.


In an announcement Monday, Li & Fung Ltd., a middleman company that supplies clothes from Bangladesh factories to U.S. brands, said "it wishes to clarify" that the deadly Saturday night blaze at the high-rise Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka "will not have any material impact on the financial performance" of the firm.


The fire broke out on the ground floor of the nine-floor building as hundreds of workers were upstairs on a late-night shift producing fleece jackets and trousers for the holiday rush at American stores, including Wal-Mart, according to labor rights groups. Fire officials said the only way out was down open staircases that fed right into the flames. Some workers died as they jumped from higher floors.


PHOTOS from the factory fire.


After reassuring investors about its financial health, Li & Fung's statement went on to express "deepest condolences" to the families of the dead, and pledge the equivalent of $1,200 to each family. The company also said it would set up an educational fund for the victims' children.








Bangladesh Garment Factory Fire Leaves 112 Dead Watch Video









As reported on "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" earlier this year, Bangladesh has become a favorite of many American retailers, drawn by the cheapest labor in the world, as low as 21 cents an hour, producing clothes in crowded conditions that would be illegal in the U.S. In the past five years, more than 700 Bangladeshi garment workers have died in factory fires.


READ the original ABC News report.


WATCH the original 'World News' report on deadly factories.


"[It's] the cheapest place, the worst conditions, the most dangerous conditions for workers and yet orders continue to pour in," said Scott Nova, executive director of Worker Rights Consortium, an American group working to improve conditions at factories abroad that make clothes for U.S. companies. Nova said the fire was the most deadly in the history of the Bangladesh apparel industry, and "one of the worst in any country."


Today, U.S. companies extended condolences to the families of the victims, and scrambled to answer questions about the dangerous factory that had been making their clothes.


Wal-Mart inspectors had warned last year that "the factory had violations or conditions which were deemed to be high risk," according to a document posted on-line.


Yet Wal-mart clothing continued to be made at the factory, according to workers groups who found clothing with Wal-Mart's private label, Faded Glory, in the burned out remains along with clothing for a number of other U.S. labels, including ENYCE, Dickies and a brand associated with Sears.


Wal-Mart confirmed Monday that its clothes were being made at the Tazreen factory. Even though Wal-Mart is famed for maintaining tight control over its supply chain, the company said its clothes were being made at the plant without its knowledge.






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S'pore's industrial output falls more than expected in Oct

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SINGAPORE: Singapore manufacturing output fell more than expected in October as production of electronics and pharmaceuticals slipped.

Output fell 2.1 per cent in October from the same month the previous year, led by declines of 6.0 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively in the electronics and biomedical sectors.

Economists had forecast a year-on-year drop in total manufacturing output for October of around 1 per cent.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) said in a statement most segments of the electronics industry continued to contract because of weak export demand.

Electronics output slumped 11.6 per cent in the first ten months of 2012.

The EDB said a 12.9 per cent on-year rise in output of medical technology was not enough to offset a 15.3 per cent contraction in pharmaceuticals.

Excluding biomedical, total manufacturing output grew by 0.6 per cent in October from a year earlier.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore manufacturing output rose 3.3 per cent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 2.3 per cent in October from September 2012.

- CNA/ck



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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

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Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.

Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")

Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.

Staring at a Star

An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)

"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.

It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.

Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.

"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.

If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.

Coming Into Focus

The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.

"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.

"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.

Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.

Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.

The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.

Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)

And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.

The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.


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