Delhi Sex Baba's associate taken into police custody

Delhi's self-styled Godman Rajiv Ranjan Dwevedi is currently behind bars under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges after allegedly running a massive sex racket in the country for several years. He was nabbed in February after an undercover operation by the Delhi police.

Now, a close friend of his is about to share the same fate.

Ankit alias Praveen, an alleged associate of the Godman has been booked under the MCOCA by Delhi police. Ankit had been held earlier this year with six prostitutes in Saket.

Police claim that Ankit possesses a fortune of several crores, while in the past he was virtually penniless.

"He was only a taxi driver. But when he came in contact with Dwevedi he became a rich man almost overnight. We have gone through his bank transactions that run into crores of rupees. Ankit has booked three flats worth several crores in Mehruali area in south Delhi. How can a common taxi driver become a millionaire within a year while he doesn't have any income source to justify his assets?" said a senior police officer.

The officer also said that Ankit has been sent to police remand for two days and will be interrogated about his wealth. Police said he has been close to Dwivedi and was helping him run the nationwide sex racket.

"He used to arrange call girls for the flesh trade and so we booked him under MCOCA," the officer concluded.

From a security guard in Delhi earning Rs 6000 a month to a self-styled spiritual guru and sex-racketeer amassing property worth crores, Rajiv Ranjan Dwevedi, popularly known as the Sex Baba, has had a meteoric rise.

A 10th standard pass out, Dwevedi got his first job as a security guard at a five-star hotel in Agra. He later pursued the same vocation at a Delhi hotel.

In 1996, Dwevedi made a career change when he joined Lifeline Beauty parlour in Lajpat Nagar-II as a manager. It was then that he devised a plan for making quick money while looking at advertisements of beauty and massage parlours in a newspaper.

Dwevedi was inspired by the idea of running a sex trade under the guise of a beauty salon. In 1997, joining hands with his friends Sanjay Dwivedi and Sanjay Mishra, he opened a beauty parlour in a basement at Lajpat Nagar Part-2. They named the salon 'Sai Point Beauty Parlour and Training Centre,' as Dwevedi was a Sai Baba follower.

They offered Bangkok massage facilities to men for just Rs 650. The sex racket flourished and in a short while Dwivedi moved into a plush home in East of Kailash.

Dwevedi's luck ran out very soon and on July 1, 1997, Delhi police arrested him under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. However, he was soon out on bail. His second arrest was in a robbery case in 1998, when he was held at the Badarpur police station. Again, he was released on bail. In 2003, he was arrested for running a sex-racket in NOIDA.

Police sources said that when Dwevedi was released this time, his spiritual leanings came to the fore. He changed his appearance, style of functioning and technique. He presented himself as a huge Sai Baba Bhakt to the masses. But material needs made him continue with the flesh trade. Soon, he had made it so big that he could operate a nationwide prostitution syndicate.

But all this was too good to last. On February 26, Dwevedi was nabbed by the Delhi police along with six women. He now will be charged under the stringent provisions of MCOCA.

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Asha Bhosle explains 'Machchar Raj' malaria tweet

While Mumbai netas battle it out over who is responsible for the spurt in malaria cases in the city, legendary playback singer and prominent Mumbaikar Asha Bhosle, who is an avid tweeter, has tweeted her mind.
"Mumbai: Machhar war is in full swing", Asha said on the microblogging site. This was followed by, "'Machhar' Raj", which fetched some pointed queries from her followers. Asha was quick to clarify that she was not referring to MNS chief Raj Thackeray. "I was not referring to Raj Thackeray," she tweeted.

Raj Thackeray had made yet another controversial statement over the weekend, blaming "migrants" or "outsiders" in Mumbai for the malaria outbreak.

"Dengue and malaria are spreading fast in the city due to dirty illegal slums which are occupied by migrants only," he said, and added, "Migrants are attacking Mumbai and ruining it."

It was not surprising that Asha Bhosle's tweets, coming very soon after Thackeray's comments, had tweeple talking.

But Asha was at pains to explain, "I meant too many buzzing around & flying around...I was only talking about the machhar (mosquito) problem all over the country. You are seeing some hidden meaning in my words," she said. The noted singer also asked her fans not to create "bilawaja (unnecessary) controversies", or else she would have to stick to "namaste, dhanyavaad & thank you" on twitter.

Which would be a pity. Because unlike many other stars, the 77-year-old has some lively and often tongue-in-cheek comments to make on twitter. Like when she tweeted yesterday, "CWG has become DMG (Disaster Management Games)."

While on the mosquito trail, she added, "Controversies are created in persons mind. Words are harmless (as you have seen). It's how you perceive them that creates problems. Right?"

And she told another follower, "Kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna..." Clearly, the legend shall not be wasting any sleep on this.

In March this year, the singer had snubbed Raj Thackeray by saying, "Hindustan belongs to all," when asked whether Mumbai was turning ugly with the exodus from outside. In the audience, sat Raj Thackeray.

"People are bound to flock to Mumbai as Hindustan belongs to all. Those who work hard here become prosperous. I also worked in my field with determination to earn success. I have sung in all Indian languages but I am a proud Maharashtrian," Asha Bhosle had said.

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Huge crunch of officials in armed forces

t is crunch time for the three defence services as they are facing a shortage of 14,244 officers and the Coast Guard was short of 679 officers and over 2,500 personnel below officer rank. Defense Minister AK Anthony told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the shortage of officers is around 11,500 in the Army, 1,507 in Navy and 1,237 in the Air Force.

According to Anthony,the the shortage of officers was "partly attributable to accretions from time to time, tough selection procedures, difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk involved in recruitment and training.

He added that a number of steps to attract youth to join the Armed Forces have been taken, which include increase in tenure of Short Service Commission (SSC)officers from 10 to 14 years, increasing promotional avenues for officers by implementing the A V Singh Committee recommendations on the

restructuring of officers cadre of the Indian Army and implementing the Sixth Pay Commission report.

Replying to another query, Antony said the DRDO was facing a shortage of aeronautical engineers and the premier defence research agency requires 20 such engineers every year or the next five years.

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Now pay Rs80 to visit loo at Delhi Airport

Now you will have to think twice before answering the nature`s call at the new Terminal 3 (T3) of the Delhi Airport as visiting the loo has become expensive. You will now have to pay Rs80 for it.

The reason why nothing comes cheap at the IGI Airport`s new terminal is that it has cost more than Rs10,000 crore to build.

Terminal 3, the world-class, integrated terminal caters to international flights at present.

The terminal has three visitor`s lounges - a huge one at the arrivals level that offers a wide array of facilities and shopping options and two smaller ones at the departure level, one each at the international and domestic side.

While entry to the arrival visitor`s lounge will cost Rs80, visitors could enter the lounges at the departure for free on the first two days after operations began on July 28. If you want to visit the restroom or even buy a bottle of water, you will have to pay and enter the visitor`s lounge, as no facilities are available outside the terminal.

Even at the old Terminal 2, visitors coming to receive or see off passengers had to pay Rs80 to enter the visitor`s lounge but there were enough number of toilets outside the terminal, near the airline offices.

"We are being treated like animals at this airport because we arrived a few hours before we were supposed to check in for our flight," said Sylvia, a Spanish national. "There is nothing to drink or eat here and I can`t find a restroom," she said.

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Sports Ministry orders Kalmadi aide's removal

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairperson and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Suresh Kalmadi`s trouble has increased as the Sports Ministry has asked to remove CWG OC joint director- general TS Darbari.

The Sports Ministry has written a letter to Kalmadi and asked for his aide`s removal. Darbari, who is considered to be close to Kalmadi, is being investigated in a six-month-old customs duty evasion case.

He is currently facing an inquiry for allegedly smuggling a diamond from Dubai. His name also featured in the Queen`s Baton Relay controversy in which a large sum of money was paid to AM Films by the organisers of the Commonwealth Games.

Darbari is considered to be the second most powerful man in the Organising Committee after Suresh Kalmadi.

Kalmadi`s decision to include Darbari in the OC faced opposition from other members of the Committee, say reports.

Darbari is a key face of OC. He heads important functional areas like revenue, marketing & merchandising and marketing, and the government feels that his presence "affects the credibility of OC".

Earlier, CBI registered the first case of corruption relating to Commonwealth Games (CWG), against five MCD officials and the managing director of a private firm for causing a loss of Rs 3.62 crore to the government.

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Big bash planned for Tharoor's marriage

Former Union Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor is expected to tie the knot with his long-time friend Sunanda Pushkar on August 17, which is the Malayalam new year.

Sunanda is a Dubai-based businesswoman. According to reports, the Tharoor-Pushkar marriage will be solemnized in an auditorium in the premises of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

It is also official now that Tharoor has divorced his Canadian wife, Christa Giles.The parliament record of the Thiruvananthapuram MP mentions his status as divorcee.

Tharoor and Pushkar offered prayers at the famous Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi and at the Shani Shingnapur shrine in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Sunday.

After the visit to the two temples Shashi Tharoor tweeted: "Wonderful visit 2 open-air temple to Saturn at Shani Shingnapur. Simple ritual in clean, pure surroundings.1can nvr know enuf of our culture. Made 1st visit to Shirdi. Extraordinary temple to Sai Baba, who preached shraddha & saburi (faith&peace) 100yrs ago. 'Sab ka malik ek' (1God)."

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Tendulkar becomes most-capped Test player

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer in the world after taking field for his 169th match, the third and final of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.

The 37-year-old batsman holds almost every batting record. He overtook retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh with whom he was tied at 168 matches after the second Test at SSC.

Tendulkar has scored 13,742 runs in 168 Tests at an average of 56.08, notching up 48 hundreds and 55 half-centuries in the process.

Tendulkar has also played 442 one-day internationals, just a couple of matches less than Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya`s record of 444.

He has 17,598 runs, including 46 centuries, in his 442 one-dayers. He also holds the distinction of being the first batsman to score a double hundred in ODIs.

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