Mahindra's luxury SUV comes out of India to New Zealand  

MAHINDRA XUV500 W8
Price range: $36,990 (FWD) to $39,990 (AWD).
Powertrain: 2.2-litre turbo-diesel producing 103kW/330Nm, 6-speed automatic with front or all-wheel drive.
On sale: Now.
You could look at Indian brand Mahindra in two ways.
From a Kiwi perspective, it's a relative newcomer, niche purveyor of utes and farm vehicles and a concern that could do with some spelling tutelage (one of its models is called the Pik Up).

in the bigger picture, Mahindra Automotive makes half a million cars per year (so about the same as another Indian carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover) and holds a 40 percent market share at home. Its parent company, Mahindra & Mahindra, is a US$17 billion concern with no debt and 112 different divisions covering 20 different industries in 100 countries.

Mahindra has owned a controlling interest in Korean brand SsangYong since 2011. Other recent motoring-related purchases include Peugeot Scooters and Italian design house Pininfarina. Mahindra is also the world's largest manufacturer of tractors by volume (300,000 annually) and happens to own a few other minor brands, such as Mitsubishi Tractors.
Mahindra has a controlling interest in electric-car maker Reva (the e20 city car is on sale in India and London) and it's one of 10 core partners in the Formula E series.
So Mahindra is a massive concern that's looking to establish itself more firmly in export markets, particularly in the automotive sphere. Of those 500,000 cars manufactured last year, 474,000 were sold in India. There's room to expand.

It's baby steps towards that goal, which is why Mahindra is testing the waters in markets like Australia and New Zealand. Mahindra has some serious commercial muscle behind it: the local distribution company is owned by Nichibo, NZ's largest used-vehicle importer: it brings in approximately 45,000 cars per year and gives Mahindra access to over 20 retail locations, from Northland to Southland.

Nonetheless, Mahindra has been operating under the radar here, selling vehicles like the Genio ute, Pik Up and Thar to commercial and rural customers. Off-roaders are in the DNA: Mahindra started building a version of the American Willys Jeep in 1947, and it continues as a cult vehicle in (mildly) modernised form as the Thar. Unlike Genio and Pik Up, it's not legally road-registrable - but it is sold here as a farm vehicle.
Anyway, those are light-commercial curiosities compared with Mahindra's aspirations towards the mainstream SUV market. It's had the XUV500, a seven-seat family crossover, on the market since 2014, but only in diesel-manual form. The appeal was limited to say the least.

DAVID LINKLATER/FAIRFAX NZ

Pravin Shah, global head of Mahindra Automotive, visited NZ for the XUV launch.

The refreshed model is now available with an automatic transmission, and that's been the catalyst for the company to make a lot more noise about its model range.
In fact, special guest for the select media launch of the XUV500 was Pravin Shah, president and chief executive of Mahindra Automotive and member of the Group Executive Board. That's quite a coup for a company that sold 200 road vehicles last year, in one of the smallest car markets in the world.
But we are part of a bigger picture for Mahindra. "New Zealand is part of a globalisation strategy," says Shah. "We are here to stay."
That strategy started back in 2011 with the aquisition of SsangYong, and has continued on the same path with Pininfarina: "SsangYong has really helped with our global footprint and it fits with our SUV DNA.
"As for Pininfarina, the purchase was not based on surplus cash but global strategy. This was a critical aquisition, because there will be a future when automotive companies may not actually produce the cars you buy. It may be technology or IT companies. Pininfarina and Mahindra Tech [the group's IT division, which also has a presence in NZ] together make a lot of sense."
That's a lot of talk about about a bold new future. In the here and now, the XUV500 is more of an old-school SUV. It's a seven-seat wagon that comes at a bargain price (from $36,990) for a fully loaded package: standard equipment for the W8 model includes leather upholstery, seven-inch colour touch screen with pinch-and-zoom satellite navigation, power driver's seat, reversing camera with dynamic guidelines, foldable second and third-row seats, LED interior lights, and wireless tyre-pressure monitoring on all wheels, including (usefully) the spare.
Mahindra NZ is realistic about this vehicle. It's pitched as a step-up from a used car, or a weekend tow-wagon (it can haul 2.5 tonnes). Projected volume is just 200 per year, or about the same number of Sportages that Kia sold last month. Like we said, baby steps. To put a positive spin on it, the XUV500 will double Mahindra's Kiwi car-sales volume.
It's definitely a second-tier vehicle compared with the latest Japanese and Korean SUVs, but then it's priced accordingly. The powertrain is very good: a 2.2-litre turbo diesel by Austrian company AVL, matched to a Japanese Aisin six-speed automatic (the same unit that's used in the SsangYong Tivoli). It's no ball of fire - especially when the XUV weighs two-and-a-half tonnes - but the engine is linear and the gearbox smooth.
The XUV rides on a car-like monocoque chassis, but the handling of the AWD model we sampled at launch was more akin to a heavy-duty off-road vehicle. The steering loads up quickly and the suspension settles uncomfortably over bumpy open-road corners. This, and the car's considerable weight, are a mystery given the crossover-type construction.
So the XUV500 is a bit of a mixed bag. It looks the part. Build quality is excellent but the cabin plastics and panel gaps aren't. The powertrain is slick but the chassis wobbles.
It's also only achieved four stars in Ancap testing. Shah describes crash-test results as a "state of mind".
"We have produced 160,000 of these vehicles and I am not aware of a single fatality," he says.
It's likely that the XUV will mark a turning point for Mahindra, with future models being developed on shared platforms with subsidiary SsangYong. "I cannot give you a timeline for this," says Shah, "but it is happening."

By the way, it's the "XUV five-double-0", not "XUV five-hundred". Model names ending in "double-O" are very much a Mahindra thing, apparently.

Captain America Civil War movie review: Marvel's best in years

Marvel's Captain America Civil War is the big release this Friday. With Anthony and Joe Russo back behind the camera and Tony Stark and Steve Rogers battling it out in front of it, Captain America Civil War has been called, in Robert Downey Jr's words, 'The Godfather of superhero movies'. Will this showdown between Iron Man and Captain America be worth your time? Here's our review of the latest superhero flick in town.

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Bruhl
Direction: Anthony and Joe Russo
Ratings:(4.5/5)

Captain America: Civil War comes after March's Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Both the films are essentially based on the same premise. Two superheroes find themselves on different sides of the battle-line, and need to fight it out to prove the other is wrong. But Civil War does it so much better than Dawn Of Justice.

WATCH: Tom Holland's Spider-man in the second trailer of Captain America Civil War

ALSO READ: For Robert Downey Jr, Captain America Civil War is the 'Godfather of superhero movies'  

In 1991, the brainwashed-by-Hydra Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) kills a motorist and steals super-soldier serum from him.

Captain America: Civil War takes place a year after Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is guilt-ridden because he had created Ultron. The government wants the Avengers on a leash after Scarlet Witch/Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) accidentally blows off a building trying to stop Rumlow (Frank Grillo) from stealing a biological weapon. Several Wakandan relief workers are killed in this accident, and Stark seconds the government's decision, his Ultron-guilt working overtime.

Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), on the other hand, can't bring himself to follow the government's diktat. Soon, the Avengers find themselves rallying behind the warring Iron Man and Captain America.

Back on the directors' chair, Anthony and Joe Russo have done a thoroughly impressive job with Captain America: Civil War. The brothers, aided by screenplay writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, succeed in letting people lose themselves in the Avengers' world yet again. The storyline is racy and keeps you on the edge of your seat for most part of the film.

Marvel's Captain America Civil War is the big release this Friday. With Anthony and Joe Russo back behind the camera and Tony Stark and Steve Rogers battling it out in front of it, Captain America Civil War has been called, in Robert Downey Jr's words, 'The Godfather of superhero movies'. Will this showdown between Iron Man and Captain America be worth your time? Here's our review of the latest superhero flick in town.

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Bruhl
Direction: Anthony and Joe Russo
Ratings:(4.5/5)

Captain America: Civil War comes after March's Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Both the films are essentially based on the same premise. Two superheroes find themselves on different sides of the battle-line, and need to fight it out to prove the other is wrong. But Civil War does it so much better than Dawn Of Justice.

WATCH: Tom Holland's Spider-man in the second trailer of Captain America Civil War

ALSO READ: For Robert Downey Jr, Captain America Civil War is the 'Godfather of superhero movies'  

In 1991, the brainwashed-by-Hydra Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) kills a motorist and steals super-soldier serum from him.

Captain America: Civil War takes place a year after Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is guilt-ridden because he had created Ultron. The government wants the Avengers on a leash after Scarlet Witch/Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) accidentally blows off a building trying to stop Rumlow (Frank Grillo) from stealing a biological weapon. Several Wakandan relief workers are killed in this accident, and Stark seconds the government's decision, his Ultron-guilt working overtime.

Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), on the other hand, can't bring himself to follow the government's diktat. Soon, the Avengers find themselves rallying behind the warring Iron Man and Captain America.

Back on the directors' chair, Anthony and Joe Russo have done a thoroughly impressive job with Captain America: Civil War. The brothers, aided by screenplay writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, succeed in letting people lose themselves in the Avengers' world yet again. The storyline is racy and keeps you on the edge of your seat for most part of the film.

Like in all Marvel films, the CGI is the real hero in Captain America: Civil War too. Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt are pretty accomplished with their scissors. The film doesn't feel overstretched, the pace doesn't drop even for once. Trent Opaloch's camera captures Stark's lavish mansion with equal ease as it does the frozen Siberia.

Captain America: Civil War is among Marvel's best offerings so far. The film deals with many plotlines and while that does work against it at certain points, more often than not, Civil War is hugely satisfying. For an Avengers fan, the film is one colossal orgasm. The fight scenes are stunning and really well done.

The big showdown between two of the biggest superheroes is all that many people have wanted to see for a long time. Dawn Of Justice was supposed to have been THE film dealing with two superheroes at loggerheads with each other, but that fumbled bad. Civil War undoes the boredom that Batman and Superman had inflicted on us a month ago.

Watch Captain America: Civil War for everything. The trip to the theatres will not be in vain this time.

Beef banned in mahharashtra

Beef ban: Bombay High Court strikes down criminal prosecution for possessing beef in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act was enacted in March 2015 and bans the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, in addition to an earlier ban on the slaughter of cows (File Photo)

The state will be allowed to prosecute only after ascertaining whether the person having beef was in conscious possession of it.

The Bombay High Court on Friday struck down three sections of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act which was enforced in March 2015, thereby holding that criminal prosecution for possessing beef is unconstitutional under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

While striking down sections, 5 (d) and section 9(b) of the Act and reading down section 5 (c), the court said it was in contravention of provisions of the right to privacy. The court has allowed the state to prosecute only after ascertaining whether the person having beef was in conscious possession of it. Technically, this means people cannot bring beef from outside Maharashtra, but if brought, authorities will have to ascertain whether it was consciously brought and prosecution will follow thereafter. Also, the slaughter of bulls/bullocks will not continue in the state.As per the law, possession of beef was criminalised, thereby indirectly banning sale or possession of beef in any form in the state.

The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act was enacted in March 2015 and bans the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, in addition to an earlier ban on the slaughter of cows. The law makes the sale of bulls, bullocks for slaughter a crime, punishable with a jail term of up to five years and a fine of Rs 10,000.

Section 5(d) of the Act says that possession of meat of a cow, bull or bullock, even if slaughtered outside the state, is also an offence which can be punished with one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000. Petitions have challenged this section claiming that the ban on beef is a violation of the fundamental right to life and liberty. However, former Advocate general of the State Shrihari Aney had justified the ban, contending that there was no fundamental right to choice of food and or any right to eat beef. The state also claimed that making possession of beef a crime was necessary in order to ensure effective implementation of the ban.

The aim and object of the Act is to preserve cattle for their undeniable utility in agriculture and drought sectors.

The government affidavit said that the eating habits of a group of persons do not make that group a “cultural minority” entitled to protection under Article 29 (protection of interests of minorities). The concept of culture is far above issues like what one eats, it said. If a food habit, that too not essential food, is considered to be part of culture, then there would be thousands of minority groups in the country on this basis alone, it said. Further, it had said, “India is a vast country and people living in different parts of the country have different food cuisines…Therefore, eating a particular food does not entitle the constitution of a cultural minority.

The state government had also clarified that it does not have any intention to impose a “vegetarian regime or dictate or force food habits”. “The non-vegetarians are free to have their own food choices but cannot insist, as a matter of right, on a particular type of food.

The petitioners relying on Article 19 (1)(g) which deals with the fundamental right to “practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business,” the state government has said that this right is subject to Article 19 (6) which permits reasonable restrictions to be imposed in the interest of the general public.

On PM Modi's Orders, Centre Says Bye to 33 Non-Performing Officials

New Delhi: Non-performance will no longer be tolerated: To drive home this Good Governance message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has ordered 33 senior officials of the revenue department to take premature retirement.

Over the last two years, 72 officials have also been dismissed following departmental and disciplinary action. But this was the first time that action was taken against such a large group.
All 105 officers were Class 1 officers and are above 50 years in age.

Action against the revenue officials was part of several measures to change the officials' perception that poor performance or harassing the public would not impact their job, said a senior personnel ministry official.

PM Modi had been regularly receiving complaints from various departments about officials who were either indifferent or harassed the public.

In January, PM Modi had asked all departmental secretaries to take stern action against non-performing officials during a meeting called "pragati interaction". Secretaries were asked to draw up a list of officials who were non-performing as a rule.

Later that month, the Centre had shortlisted 122 deputy secretary level officials in various ministries and departments. Of them, 17 were from the Defence ministry, 13 from higher education, 7 from the health ministry and 6 from commerce ministry. Even officials from critical units, like National Intelligence Grid and the National Scrutiny Council were on the list.

To scrutinise their records, the Department of Personnel and Training had written to the administrative officials of 34 departments seeking inputs.

The government is working on an exercise to rotate officers working in sensitive posts to improve efficiency.

 

YouTube will reportedly launch a paid subscription TV service in 2017

Just hours after Hulu confirmed that it would be launching a premium internet TV service in 2017, Bloomberg is reporting that online video giant YouTube will be doing the same. According to the report, YouTube’s paid subscription service will be called Unplugged and will offer a bundle of streaming cable TV channels.
Those familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg that YouTube has “overhauled its technical architecture” in order to support this project, which will be one of the company’s biggest priorities leading up to a planned launch as early as 2017. NBCUniversal, Viacom, Fox and CBS have all reportedly been approached about the service, but the unnamed sources say that YouTube has yet to secure any rights. Plans to introduce a TV service have apparently been in the works since 2012, but now that other companies have begun to successfully introduce their own alternatives (most notably Sling and Vue), YouTube’s plans have “taken on new urgency.”
As for how YouTube would package channels, sources say that the company is considering bundling the four major U.S. networks with several popular cable channels — a so-called “skinny bundle.” YouTube wants to keep the monthly subscription cost below $35, and this might allow them to do that.
There might also be themed bundles, such as a comedy bundle with Comedy Central included or a lifestyle bundle with the Style Network. YouTube would charge a base price for the main bundle and a smaller price for additional themed bundles.
We’ll keep an eye out for any further breaking news on YouTube Unplugged.

Transit of Mercury to occur on May 9

On May 9, Mercury will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun and its a rare transit that occurs only fourteen times in a century. Transit will be visible in most parts of the world including Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica. spectators will be able to see Mercury passing directly in front of the sun, an event that has not happened since 2006 and would not even occur until 2019. The planet of Mercury is about 52 million miles away between Earth and Sun. A transit occurs when one astronomical body appears to move across the face of another as seen from the planet earth.

On May 9, Mercury will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun and its a rare transit that occurs only fourteen times in a century.
Transit will be visible in most parts of the world including Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica.
Where to see it in India?
The phenomenon will be visible in Srinagar at 19:20 (IST); Imphal at 17:48 (IST); Nagpur at 18:42 (IST); Bhuj at 19:23 (IST) and in Madurai at 18:30 (IST). These timings are quoted by the Astronomical Society of India.
You would need a magnifying glass to view the passing mercury. You can also use good quality eclipse goggles and pinhole camera to view it.

 

 

How the lives of Osama Bin Laden's neighbours changed forever:

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in a dramatic and bloody raid by US Navy Seals on 2 May 2011. Five years on the BBC's M Ilyas Khan finds loose ends, unsettling and unanswered questions, and a neighbourhood changed forever.

It is a precarious life next to the razed Bin Laden home

The open spaces that once surrounded the sprawling compound are fast disappearing. When I first saw it, just hours after al-Qaeda's leader-in-hiding was killed, it was an open and quiet suburban lane.
Now new houses - small, box-shaped, concrete - have come up and it has the feel of an ill-planned and crowded neighbourhood. But the view opens up as you venture further down the street to where the tall walls of the compound once stood. That was all razed, just months after his killing.

The compound has now been completely razed 

Fragments of the concrete beams from his home are strewn about. A small pipe jutting out of the ground continues to spout water, as if a natural spring even though it is actually connected to a deep well that once pumped drinking water to the Bin Laden household.
The water is now used by neighbours in an area where shallow well water is brackish and not everyone can afford deep drilling.
 Bin Laden's drinking water is now used by his neighbours 

What is unchanged is the memory of the event - which rocked Abbottabad and the entire world in May 2011 - and the measures some still take to avoid discussing it.
A construction worker who worked on the compound agreed to see me when I assured him we wouldn't reveal his identity. But when I reached his home, there was a padlock on his door. A neighbour said he took his children out the previous night.

"They would tie our hands, blindfold us"  
 
Zain Baba, 84, has the distinction of being the first, and closest neighbour of the Bin Ladens. His small house was across the street.
Every morning he comes out and sits under a huge maple tree, a sort of assembly point for the retired men of the neighbourhood.
Until that night, he and his son Shamrez Khan worked as night watchmen for Arshad Khan, an ethnic Pashtun who lived in the compound with his family and that of his brother.
To the Americans, Arshad Khan was the same man as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwati, the Kuwait-born courier of Bin Laden, whose phone calls apparently led them to the hideout. 
 
Image caption Life goes on in Bin Laden's old neighbourhood 
 
Zain Baba and his son had access to some parts of the compound. They were picked up by Pakistani intelligence after the raid and kept in custody for two months.
"They would tie our hands, blindfold us and take us for long drives from one place to another. They wanted to know if we saw Osama in the compound. We kept telling them that we didn't see anyone except the two brothers and some children."
Image caption Zain Baba and his friends meet daily under a maple tree 
 
Five years later, he is still on the security radar. When foreign journalists come to the area, they want to talk to him, he says. "Men in plain clothes riding government vehicles" drop by to ask questions about the visitors, and to warn him against "talking to such people".
He recounts how a French journalist who interviewed an aged neighbour of his was recently escorted away by security officials. The old man they had interviewed died later that night. The next day the men in plain clothes came to see Zain Baba and asked him about the whereabouts of his son, Shamrez.
"I am tired of people asking questions. I don't want to give any more interviews to the media. Even when the media speak to someone else, the security people come asking for me."
He has a wryness about him and a fatalistic approach, but ultimately no true fear. He believes little can happen to him now - it is a situation that tells more about the paranoia of the security agencies than his safety.

The contractor who was never the same again

The gate to Shakil Rafiq's home was shut - and he was nowhere to be found

Shakil Rafiq is a changed man. He used to be an amiable and responsive man who mixed with his neighbours.
"He now walks with his head down, and if someone shouts a greeting at him, he just responds by waving a hand," says one neighbour.
A small-time construction contractor, Mr Rafiq's business picked up after he was employed by Arshad Khan to supply labour and material for the construction of the Bin Laden compound.
Mr Rafiq's live changed a few years later, after the US raid. Security agents raided his house and took him away. A neighbour who witnessed the arrest said the street was taken over by men in plain clothes and Mr Rafiq was escorted out carrying a shoulder bag.
 Soldiers cleared debris from Bin Laden's compound after the US raid in May 2011 
 
A security official who was part of the post-raid investigations says Mr Rafiq was picked up after it was found that various facilities were registered in his name. He didn't return for several months.
In the intervening years, Mr Rafiq has disappeared several times for varying durations, the latest being just a few months ago, say neighbours and local journalists. He did not respond to several attempts by the BBC to contact him.
One neighbour said: "Every time he walks out carrying a shoulder bag, it's a sign that he is going to be away for a while. Where exactly? Nobody knows."

The policeman who knew too much?

A US helicopter crashed near the compound during the US raid

Did policeman Yasir Khan know more than he ought to? Did he have direct links with residents of the compound? Nobody will know.
He was posted to Abbottabad's police intelligence department back in May 2011, and did not live far from the compound. He was often seen hanging around in the area in plain clothes, sniffing for information like all spies do, says one senior security source.
His colleagues say he was at home around midnight on 2 May, when the Americans destroyed one of the helicopters that crashed during the raid.
The sound of the blast alerted police, and Mr Khan was one of several officials called to respond. The next day he was picked up by men in plain clothes.

Dozens were taken away after the raid

He is among dozens of people taken away by men in plain clothes after the raid. He is the only one who has not yet returned. A security official says he was alive until a year ago, but did not say where he was being held, or by which intelligence service.
His family never speak to the media, but their pain is not hidden from their neighbours. His mother is still alive and he has a wife and children still clueless about his fate.

One of the first men on the scene

Unusual but not extraordinary. That was how police interpreted the midnight blast of 2 May 2011.
Abbottabad is a garrison town, and a helicopter crash, though rare, could be expected, explains a police officer who was among the first police officials that entered the compound.

The compound was closely guarded in the days following Bin Laden's death (file photo)
 
"In the dark, we couldn't make out if the burning helicopter was Pakistani or American." They found women and children crying and shouting.
The compound was soon taken over by the military and the police couldn't probe the matter any further. He remained part of the military-led investigations, but will not share those details.
"It was an embarrassing moment. We could neither admit nor deny that Osama was here. Our best option was to not to say anything."
But staying silent on the matter has not helped the ghost of Bin Laden leave the town.
"There is a continuing state of alert in Abbottabad," he says.

The legacy of the most wanted man on earth 

osama bin laden

The implications of that night resonated well beyond this neighbourhood. Would Bin Laden be turning in his grave over the way al-Qaeda has gone? Could he have changed things?
It has been increasingly overshadowed by the so-called Islamic State in many parts of Africa and the Middle East.
In the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - which is the original birthplace of militant Islam - al-Qaeda continues to have links with local groups but appears to be more of one-among-equals now. Many say that al-Qaeda is more decentralised, with regional groups acting independently of the central leadership.
This could be partly because the leaders are not as militarily experienced, ideologically articulate or charismatic as Bin Laden was, and hence cannot inspire the same loyalty. But it could also simply be the changed security environment.

The embarrassment may be the key to the paranoia

It was the fact that Bin Laden's home was spitting distance from a prime military academy that led to speculation about the lack of, or the extent of, Pakistani complicity.
It has been a huge embarrassment for the Pakistani military, which literally runs the country's security policy - and so the response of officials has been silence.

They have also kept tight vigil over those connected to the compound to prevent them from passing on any information to the media or "foreign agents disguised as journalists", as one official put it.
Pakistani and US officials have publicly said that Pakistani authorities were not aware of Bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, but many have contrary views.
American journalist Seymour Hersch argues Bin Laden was in Pakistani custody since 2006 and killed after the country struck a deal with US. Part of his argument is the ability of US helicopters to traverse nearly 200km over Pakistani territory to get Bin Laden and fly back without being interrupted.A screenshot of a video seized from Bin Laden's compound, released by the US, shows a man identified as Bin Laden watching President Barack Obama on TV
 
If true, then this "prisoner" also had enough freedom to travel around in the tribal region until as late as May 2010, as the BBC discovered on good authority.
Official circles and independent analysts here say that while the Pakistani government could not possibly have had any knowledge of Bin Laden's whereabouts, that a handful of top officials in some powerful quarters may have known cannot be ruled out.
Either way, the events of a small block of this mountain town five years ago not only changed the lives of those unlucky enough to be his neighbours, but also marked a moment with massive implications for the world as we know it.

Republican presidential race: Donald Trump hits out at Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz ahead of Indiana primary:

District of Columbia: Donald Trump hit out hard at Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz Sunday, sounding unapologetic two days before a key primary in Indiana he says will decide the Republican presidential race

A new poll ahead of the winner-take-all vote Tuesday put the Republican frontrunner far in front of Cruz, who is hoping the Midwestern state will act as a Trump firewall.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Trump concentrated on attacking Clinton, doubling down on his much-criticized statement that the likely Democratic nominee`s only appeal to voters is the "woman`s card."
"She`s done a lousy job in so many ways and even women don`t like her," he said. "But it is the woman`s card and she plays it. And I will let you know in about six months whether or not she plays it well, but I don`t think she`ll play it well."
"If she were not a woman, she wouldn`t even be in this race," he added.
Clinton dismissed his comments on CNN.
"I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak," she said, going on to criticize a talk Trump gave this week, billed as his first major foreign policy speech.
"I found it disturbing," she said.
With a path to the Democratic nomination for her rival Bernie Sanders virtually impossible, Clinton sounded confident looking ahead to November`s general election, saying she would work with him to shape her party`s platform.
The Vermont senator who calls himself a Democratic socialist wasn`t throwing in the towel, however.
At a news conference in Washington, Sanders appealed to hundreds of so-called superdelegates in a bid to snatch the nomination.
These number around 700 and, in contrast to "pledged" delegates, can vote for any candidate at the party`s national convention in Philadelphia in July, which culminates the nomination process.
Either candidate needs 2,383 delegates in order to clinch the nomination. Currently, Clinton has 2,176, including 510 superdelegates, while Sanders has 1,400, including 41 superdelegates, according to a CNN tally.
Clinton "will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia," Sanders told reporters.
"It is incumbent upon every superdelegate to take a hard and objective look at which candidate stands the better chance of defeating Donald Trump," he said. Trump on Sunday also targeted Cruz, dismissing his closest Republican rival`s criticism of Trump`s endorsement by former boxing champion Mike Tyson, whom Cruz called a rapist.
"No big deal, I didn`t have a meeting or anything, I haven`t seen Mike in years," the real-estate billionaire said on Fox.
Asked whether a victory for Trump in Indiana on Tuesday would clinch the nomination for him, Trump said, "Yes, it`s over," adding, "I think it`s over now."
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll released on Sunday gave Trump a 15 point lead in Indiana.
The survey gave him 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters, followed by 34 percent for Cruz and 13 percent for the third-place candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Although Trump has beamed with confidence at his Indiana rallies, the GOP battle is going down to the wire.
The debate over Trump is focused on whether he can win a majority of the 2,472 delegates who choose the nominee at the Republican convention in July.
Should he reach the magic number of 1,237, the nomination is his because nearly all delegates are bound to vote for their candidate in the first round.
If Trump falls short before the convention, Cruz hopes to snatch the nomination on a second ballot when most delegates become free to vote for whomever they choose.
Trump currently has 1,002 delegates, compared to 572 for Cruz and 157 for Kasich, according to a CNN tally.
Speaking on ABC`s "This Week," Cruz dismissed the contention that with it being "mathematically impossible" for him to clinch the nomination in the first ballot, winning on the second ballot would be seen as stealing the nomination.
"Nobody`s going to clinch it on the first ballot," the conservative US senator from Texas said. "It`s why Donald Trump is so desperate to say the race is over now."
Cruz fired back at Trump, saying on CBS`s "Face the Nation" that the tycoon "is attempting to perpetuate one of the greatest frauds in the history of modern elections, which is he is trying to convince people that he`s some sort of outsider."
"Donald and Hillary are really flip sides of the same coin," he added. "If we end up in the general election having two candidates on the ballot who are both big government, rich New York liberals, we will have profoundly failed this country."
Cruz evaded questions about whether he would bow out of the Republican contest if he loses in Indiana.

 

BJP says congress don't have "Lok Lajja":
 

BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said the way Congress is reacting (to the alleged corruption charges in AugustaWestland deal) indicates they have done something wrong.


New Delhi:  Training guns on Sonia Gandhi over VVIP chopper scam, BJP on Sunday slammed her remarks that she was "not afraid of anyone cornering her" and reminded her of "lok lajja".

"Congress does not fear anybody because it does not maintain dignity of public life (lok lajja). The Congress President said she does not fear anybody. But that is the reason why so many scams happened during the Congress-led UPA government," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

"She does not fear and the result was coal scam worth Rs. 1 lakh 86 thousand crore, 2G scam worth Rs. 1 lakh 76 thousand crore, CWG scam, AIRCEL Maxis scam, National Herald and now VVIP Chopper scam," Mr Sharma said.

Mrs Gandhi had rejected as "baseless" allegations linking her and party leaders to bribes in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, calling them an attempt at character assassination.

"I am not afraid of anyone cornering me as there is no basis to that. All the accusations they are throwing at us are false," Mrs Gandhi had said a few days back as the BJP sought to target her on the deal.

"Where are the proofs. They are lying," Mrs Gandhi had said. Hitting back Mr Sharma said, "it was your government at the Centre when the VVIP chopper scam happened. So it is your responsibility to name all those, who have got the kickback."

Asking the Congress to "stop politicising corruption", Mr Sharma said that the Congress President should "not try to intimidate the Constitution and Law" of the country. Noting that corruption has been a big hindrance in the development of the country, Sharma said, "corruption flourished under design under Congress rule, which had a plan to loot the country."

"When the movement against black money was going on during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi did not submit affidavits to Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman stating that they have no foreign bank accounts. BJP MPs have done it," the BJP leader said.

Dismissing the reaction of Congress leaders to the BJP's allegations on the chopper deal, Mr Sharma said, "the way they are reacting indicates they have done something wrong. All statements from the Congress on this issue just aim at spreading confusion."

He said that Modi government is committed to root out corruption and there is "no allegation of corruption of even a paisa during its two-years-rule.

Fire Out In 70 Per Cent Of Affected Areas In Uttarakhand: 10 Developments

Nainital:  The National Disaster Response Force or NDRF on Sunday said that of the 427 locations, fire in 70 per cent of the areas were out, as the Army, the Air Force, 3 teams of NDRF and 6,000 firefighters worked round the clock to save the forest covers.

1. It is expected that these figures (110-115 locations) will be brought down to 50-60 in the next few days by the combined forces fighting to douse the jungle fire," NDRF Director General O P Singh told news agency Press Trust of India on Sunday.
2. M-17 helicopters of the Air Force are deployed in the state to carry water from the Bhimtal lake and help douse the fires.
3. The National Disaster Response Force has pressed 130 members into service, each team is handling an area of 8 to 10 km, beating down the fire with green bushes.
4. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has held discussions with chief secretary and other officials of the Uttarakhand government. The Prime Minister's Office has also been briefed.
5. "The government is taking the forest fires of Uttarakhand very seriously. We have granted Rs. 5 crore to the state yesterday," said Union minister Prakash Javadekar.
6. The Congress has attacked the Centre over the forest fires, claiming over 5,500 hectares of valuable flora and fauna have been lost.
7. "On one side Modi government is fuelling the fire of political defection and on the other, has miserably failed to tackle one of the biggest environmental tragedies of recent times," said Congress' leader Randeep Surjewala.
8. The fires in Uttarakhand have been burning for nearly 3 months, destroying close to 3,000 acres of forest cover so far. In the last one month alone, around 1,200 fires have broken out in the state, Mr Javadekar has said.
9. In the neighbouring states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, satellite pictures had captured images of active fires. Till Saturday, over 1,300 fires were raging across the hilly regions of north India.
10. The government is starting a satellite picture-based fire alarm system that will send out text messages to the authorities every time a fresh fire is detected.

 

India gets homegrown satellite navigation system:

The seventh satellite to make up the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) was launched into space via a rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in south western India at 12:50 pm IST (0720 GMT).

However, unlike the widely used United States' Global Positioning System (GPS) or Russia's GLONASS, the Indian system will provide positioning information only in India and 1,500 square kilometres (580 square miles) around its periphery.
"Until now we were dependent on their systems, now we are self-reliant," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised congratulatory message to scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"With this successful launch, we will determine our own paths powered by our technology. This is a great gift to our people from the scientists," he said.

"Our efforts will help not only India but we can help fellow SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations as well."

The system, which will be fully operational in a month's time, offers applications for marine and air navigation and can be integrated into mobile phones for use by hikers or fishermen, for example.

Over the next six months, all the IRNSS satellites will be stabilised in their final orbital positions, ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik said.

A ground control centre in the southern city of Bangalore and tracking stations across the country will monitor the system round the clock.
The eight countries that make up SAARC are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

China and the European Union are both developing global satellite navigation systems.