Bank heists solved, 5 robbers killed in pre-dawn encounter

CHENNAI: Five people, four from Bihar and one from West Bengal, who were involved in the two bank heists at Perungudi and Keelkattalai, were shot dead in a Pre-dawn encounter with the police, at Velachery area in the city in the wee hours of today. This was the fi rst major encounter in Tamil Nadu in which fi ve people were killed. Addressing a crowded press conference about 12 hours after the encounter which took place around 0130 hrs, Chennai City Police Commissioner J K Tripathy said police were forced to open fi re in selfdefence and to protect the lives of innocent people in the thickly populated area as the gang fi red indiscriminately at the police party. In the resultant encounter, two policemen were injured and all the fi ve gang members killed. The deceased were identifi ed as Vinod Kumar, Vinay Prasad, Abhay Kumar, and Harish Kumar from Bihar and Chandri Khare from West Bengal. He said Voter Identity Cards of the accused besides a driving licence, seven pistols and two revolvers with some magazines and ammunition, a bag containing Rs 14 lakh cash, cell phones and SIM cards were seized from the spot. Mr Tripathy said it was clearly established that these gang members were involved in the two bank robberies in the city. In the fi rst heist, a fourmember gang robbed Rs 20 lakh from the Perungudi Branch of Bank of Baroda on January 23 and in the second instance, a fi ve-member gang looted Rs 14 Lakh from Keelkattalai Branch of IOB on February 20, both at gun point. ‘’We have shown the photographs of the gang members to the bank staff and the witnesses and they have established that these persons were involved in the bank robberies,’ Mr Tripathy said, adding, ‘’we are sure that these people were involved in both the bank robberies.’ The gang members, who had taken the house on a monthly rent of Rs 5,000 in December by paying an advance of Rs 20,000, were planning to vacate the house and leave the city today. Among those killed was the person whose photograph from CCTV footage was released by the police yesterday for his involvement in the bank robberies. Mr Tripathy said ‘’we have examined more than 400 hours of CCTV footages taken from various banks before zeroing in on the accused whose photos were released yesterday.’’ Based on a complaint from Deputy Commissioner of Police (Adyar) Sudhakar, who led the team, a FIR was registered and a probe by the Judicial Magistrate ordered into the encounter. ‘’As per the rules, the FIR was sent to the Magistrate for a detailed inquiry. Further probe into it would also be conducted by the State Crime Branch-CID Police on the orders of the State DGP,’ Mr Tripathy said. He said Police Inspectors Ravi and Christian Jayasil, suffered bullet wounds to the left bicep and the left upper waist when police returned fi re in self-defence in a bid to the save the lives of innocent public. The injured policemen and gang members were taken to Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH). While the policemen were admitted for treatment, the gang members were declared dead at GRH and their bodies were taken to Government General Hospital for post mortem. Mr Tripathy repeatedly said that police team had gone there only to verify the information received by them and not with the intention of any encounter. Giving a blow-by-blow account of the encounter, Mr Tripathy said acting on information from a man from the neighbourhood that the person, whose photograph was released by the police yesterday, was staying in a ground fl oor apartment along with four others, a 14-member team headed by Mr Sudhakar went to the spot to verify the information at around 0100 hrs. ‘When the police knocked at the doors of the apartment at Vandikaran Street in Velachery Area, the gang members resisted by opening fi re,’ he said. As the curious onlookers started rushing out of the house on hearing the gun shots, the police warned the gang to stop fi ring and asked them to surrender. ‘’After the police knocked at the doors, they resisted from inside and started attacking through the windows. ‘Since it is a highly congested and thickly populated area, we cautioned them to stop fi ring as it might cause injury or death of innocent people and asked them to surrender,’ the commissioner said. Mr Tripathy repeatedly said that police team had gone there only to verify the information received by them and not with the intention of any encounter. Giving a blow-by-blow account of the encounter, Mr Tripathy said acting on information from a man from the neighborhood that the person, whose photograph was released by the police yesterday, was staying in a ground fl oor apartment along with four others, a 14-member team headed by Sudhakar went to the spot to verify the information at around 0100 hrs. ‘When the police knocked at the doors of the apartment at Vandikaran Street in Velachery Area, the gang members resisted by opening fi re,’ he said. As the curious onlookers started rushing out of the house on hearing the gun shots, the police warned the gang to stop fi ring and asked them to surrender. ‘’After the police knocked at the doors, they resisted from inside and started attacking through the windows. ‘Since it is a highly congested and thickly populated area, we cautioned them to stop fi ring as it might cause injury or death of innocent people and asked them to surrender,’ the commissioner said. Despite repeated warnings, the gang members did not stop and continued their indiscriminate fi ring resulting in injuries to Police Inspectors Ravi and Christian Jayasil. In an act of self-defence and to save the lives of innocent public, police broke the door and entered the house and were forced to return the fi re, killing the gang members, he added. Denying the police had stated that one of the gang members was a former engineering student of the SRM University, the commissioner said the identity of the deceased was being confi rmed based on the address in the seized voter ID cards. ‘’Further investigation to ascertain their background, whether they are involved in any other such robberies in Tamil Nadu or other states and whether there were more accomplices is on,’ he added.

First fl ight of Rustom-2 is scheduled for Feb-2014

BANGALORE: The fi rst fl ight of indigenously built Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Rustom-2 is planned for February 2014, Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) Director P S Krishnan said today. Talking to newsmen here, he said ‘’designing part has been completed and purchase orders have been placed and we are on schedule to take off in February 2014.’’ Replying to a question, he said ‘’manufacturing of ten plus fi ve spare Rustom-2 vehicles would be completed by August-2017. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,540 crore and by indigenous technology we are saving about 40 per cent of the cost.’’ ‘’The Rustom-2, designed and developed by ADE, a DRDO laboratory, is comparable to top drones in the world. Besides Rustom-2, solar-powered drones as well as unmanned aerial combat vehicles are also on the anvil,’’ he added. He said Rustom-2, weighing 1.8 tonnes, would have payloads such as synthetic aperture radar, maritime patrol radar and collision avoidance system among other things. Rustom-2 would have a wing-span of 21-odd metres and an endurance of 24-hours-plus. The recently tested Rustom-1 had only about seven metres and 12- 15 hours of endurance. Krishnan said with advanced capabilities and additional payloads, the Rustom- 2 is comparable to the American ‘Predator’ drones. Stating that Rustom-2 is manufactured solely for Defence purpose, he said Indian Army is keenly watching the developments and looking forward to the Rustom-2. Rustom UAVs could be deployed for military missions like reconnaissance and surveillance, target acquisition, target designation, communications relay, battle damage assessment and signal intelligence. India will also be developing unmanned aerial combat vehicles (UCAVs) as well as solar drones in the near future, he added.

Israeli envoys travelling in cars with local number plates

NEW DELHI: Days after the terror attack on a Israeli diplomat here, the envoys and visiting dignitaries of that country have started travelling in cars with local number plates instead of diplomatic vehicles. Israeli Ambassador Alon Usphiz, who had met External Affairs Minister SM Krishna here on February 15 after the broad-day-light terror attack on a woman diplomat of that country on Monday last week, injuring four including the lady, was the fi rst to be seen travelling in such a vehicle. The second instance of using cars with local numbers was seen today when Israel’s Water and Energy Minister Uzi Landau called on his counterpart Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister S Jaipal Reddy here on Tuesday. Offi cial sources said though so far no decision has been taken in allowing Israeli diplomats in India to use local number plates in their cars instead of the CD numbers, a request has been received by the government in this regard. Security concerns prompted the Israeli Embassy putting up the request, the sources said. Indian High Commission offi cials posted in Pakistan use local number plates instead of the cars with diplomatic marked.

Avascular Necrosis now curable without surgery

MUMBAI: The patients suffering from painful Avascular Necrosis (AVN) can now heave a sigh of relief as they won’t have to go through an expensive and painful surgery; instead they can just pop a pill to cure themselves. The AVN of the bone is an extremely painful and progressively disabling disorder and when left untreated, it leads to hip arthritis. However, it is now made curable by medication due to the efforts of Dr Sanjay Agarwala of Hinduja Hospital. Dr Agarwala for last 10 years has used the key drug ‘Alendronate’, a bisphosphonate, in over 400 patients to treat AVN of the hip, thus relieving them from the pain and perhaps avoiding the need for a surgery. Till now the most common way of treatment of AVN was hip replacement surgery. But, the drug ‘Alendronate’ prevents bone resorption and is most commonly and normally used to treat osteoporosis. ‘The good news for the AVN patients is that the cost of this treatment is approximately Rs 150 per month and it prevents an expensive Rs one Lakh surgery and the pain,’ said Dr Agarwala while addressing a news conference here on Tuesday. Describing the treatment, he said, it is a simple medication process where the patient just needs to take the tablet daily, weekly or as prescribed by the doctor. Medication also can be carried out by Intravenous therapy, in case the patient is not comfortable with tablet, he said and pointed that the success rate of the treatment for the patient of Grade 1 is 95 per cent, Grade 2 is 75 per cent, Grade 3 is 60-40 per cent and Grade 4 is arthritis which needs surgery. Citing examples of his two AVN patients, Dr Agarwala said that Jignesh Shah was suffering from AVN Grade 2. In 2006 he visited him, after visiting eight other doctors, and remained under treatment for the next three years till 2009. Now, he is leading a perfectly normal life and has climbed 3,364 steps of Palitana Temple. In another case, Abhijit Bhabe, a Grade 3 AVN patient, is under medication for two and half years and is now carrying out day to day activity along side cycling, gyming and dancing. The AVN remedial treatment has been done on over 400 patients effectively, he informed. Dr Agarwala was awarded by Journal of the Association of Physicians of India for his work on AVN treatment.

Bengaluru Intl. Airport uses Bio fuel in vehicles

BANGALORE: The Bengalure International Airport becomes the fi rst Airport in the country to use Bio fuel in its vehicles with a view to energy effi ciency and reducing carbon footprint. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has signed a partnership with Karnataka State Biofuel Development Board (KSBDB), for its operations at BIAL, according to a release here. Marking another Land mark in a series of many fi rsts for this airport, BIAL will migrate operations of its ground vehicles to Bio fuel supplied by KSBDB. BIAL Managing Director Sanjay Reddy said that ‘deploying biofuel reduces carbon footprint, in comparison to usage of fossil fuels and thus is a responsible way to meet our energy needs.’ KSBDB Executive Chairman Y B Ramakrishna said that ‘it’s been our constant endeavour to create an enabling environment by harnessing the optimal and sustainable utilisation of Renewable Energy sources with a special focus on biofuel resources. The adoption of Bio fuel by BIAL is a step in the right direction and will go a long way in furthering our Bio fuel programmes and policies at the state level.’

Curb on EC: Govt denies, but note out in the open

NEW DELHI: A day after the government rejected reports of a possible move by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on corruption to take the model code of conduct out of the purview of the Election Commission , a leading daily on Wednesday published the ‘secret agenda note’ which disclosed the government’s intention. The Indian Express had yesterday published a report saying the Central government has begun the process to provide statutory backing to the election code, following which the poll panel would lose the right to act on complaints of code violations which would then be dealt with by courts. Within hours of the report being published, three senior ministers of the UPA government had denied any such agenda for the seventh meeting of the GoM on corruption, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, scheduled to be held at 1.00 pm today. Law Minister Salman Khurshid said, “To my knowledge, there is no such thing on the agenda. As far as I understand, it was agreed that once the elections are over there will be an all-party consultation on the issue about electoral reforms which are being pushed by the EC.” He added, “But if it is raised by any political party during the course of discussion, we will take it as and when it happens.” “From where this idea has come? But on the GoM agenda there is nothing,” is what Pranab Mukherjee told reporters. Telecom and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said in Lucknow, “I am on the GoM but I am not aware of the agenda. It so happens that bureaucracy makes certain proposals and sometimes we discuss them while at others we reject them.” Even the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in a statement that the claims were “totally misconceived”. “...There is no such move under contemplation of the Government or the Group of Ministers... The GoM has not made any recommendation to make the Model Code of Conduct statutory or to take it outside the purview of the Commission,” the DoPT said in a release. However, the note published by the newspaper clearly shows that poll code is on the ‘secret’ agenda of the GoM. “...The Chairman was also of the view that ‘Code of Conduct’ was one of the biggest excuses to stall development projects, and thus agreed with the request of the Law Minister to fl ag this issue and its inclusion in the agenda papers. It was also suggested that the Legislative Department may also look into the aspects where executive instructions of the Election Commission of India were required to be given statutory shape. Accordingly, Secretary, Legislative Department, has been requested to make a presentation before the GoM on the progress made in the matter,” mentions the note. Reacting to the development, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told the daily that the government’s move was “highly misconceived” and aimed at curbing the powers of the Election Commission.

Intl Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles from Feb 24

BANGALORE: More than 400 Aeronautical Scientists from 15 countries spread across fi ve continents are participating in the second edition of International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (ICAUV-2) being held at Eaglet on Golf Resort on February 24 and 25, Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) Director P S Krishnan said today. Addressing a press conference here, he said it is the fi rst residential conference dedicated fully on AMV. There will be fi ve parallel technical sessions and plenary sessions on each day. Distinguished speakers include Global hawk Designers from Northrop Grumman, Chief Scientist from Air Force Research Laboratory, Directors from Locheed Martin strategic studies group, system designers from Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, SAAB, EADS France and Germany, Directors from International Civil Aviation Organisation and European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment. He said a technology exposition is also being held showcasing the products and technologies covering the Unmanned Vehicles. About 30 national and international players in the fi elds of unmanned systems and related technologies are participating in the two-day Conference. Dr V K Saraswat, Scientifi c Advisor to Rakshna Mantri, would inaugurate the Conference and Dr Siva S Banda, Chief Scientist; AFRL, USA will deliver the keynote address.Krishnan said the technical sessions would deliberate upon Aero Propulsion System, Flight and Mission Control Systems, avionics Systems, structural systems, Operational Experience and Lessons l Learnt, Unmanned Ground Vehicles, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles, Mini and Micro UAV systems, Current and Future trends. He said three dedicated Industry Sessions to enable intra and inter cooperation between DRDO and Industry is scheduled on concluding day