Bootleg liquor containing toxic methanol kills 143 people in east India;

Bootleg liquor containing toxic methanol killed 143 people and sickened dozens more who drank the cheap, illicit brew bought at small shops in eastern India, officials said Thursday.

Bad batch of moonshine kills at least 125 in India

An adulterated batch of bootleg liquor has killed at least 125 drinkers in eastern India, with dozens more arriving at a cramped rural hospital with poisoning symptoms.

The deaths come just days after a hospital fire killed 93 people in the same state of West Bengal. Both disasters highlight lax health and safety standards as the nation of 1.2 billion people rapidly modernises.

Residents of Mograhat, a town about 50km south of West Bengal’s capital Kolkata, fell severely ill after drinking liquor from several illegal shops. Ambulances brought more patients from villages to the town every few minutes today.

“He drank the alcohol late in the afternoon yesterday...we didn’t realise his health was deteriorating,” Zamir Sardar said about his 32-year-old uncle Jahangir Sardar, a leather cutter, who passed away today.

Taj Mahal could collapse within five years because wooden foundations are rotting

The Taj Mahal will collapse within five years unless urgent action is taken to shore up its foundations, campaigners have warned.

The 358-year-old marble mausoleum is India’s most famous tourist attraction, bringing four million visitors a year to the northern city of Agra.

But the river crucial to its survival is being blighted by pollution, industry and deforestation.

In danger: The Taj Mahal, near Agra in India. Experts have said it could be in danger of collapsing within five years because its wooden foundations are rotting.Architectural wonder: The 358-year-old tomb is built on mahogany post foundations sunk into wells fed by the nearby Yamuna River. That river has now run dry, and cracks appeared in the walls last year





Campaigners believe the foundations have become brittle and are disintegrating.

Cracks appeared last year in parts of the tomb, and the four minarets which surround the monument are showing signs of tilting.

The Taj Mahal was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who was grief-stricken by the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth.

Its romantic image has attracted film stars and royalty, including Princess Diana, who posed in front of the building after the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles.

A campaign group of historians, environmentalists and politicians say time is running out to prevent a 'looming crisis'.

Ramshankar Katheria, the MP for Agra who is leading the campaign, said: 'If the crisis is not tackled on a war-footing, the Taj Mahal will cave in between two and five years.

'The architectural wonder of the world is losing its shine, and if this persists the minarets may also collapse since the wooden foundation - beneath the wells - is rotting due to lack of water.

'No one has been allowed to go into the foundations for the last three decades. If everything is fine, what have they got to hide?'

Professor Ram Nath, a historian who is one of the world's leading authorities on the Taj, said: 'The Taj stands just on the edge of the river Yamuna which has now dried up.

'This was never anticipated by its builders. The river is a constituent of its architectural design and if the river dies, the Taj cannot survive.'


The Yamuna River has fallen victim to India's soaring growth.

Large numbers of businesses draw water from the Yamuna upstream of the Taj.

Pollution has increased as trees have been cut down to make way for new roads.

The trees also protected the city from the worst effects of regular dust storms which now blow over the Taj unimpeded.

Mr Katheria said: 'The Taj has been enveloped by a smokescreen of dust for the past few years.

'Every year, the water level is coming down by five feet, raising fears of turning the entire area barren.

'Besides, there is an acute shortage of drinking water in Agra. Around 70 per cent of the population is drinking impure water, and consequently suffering from several health hazards.'

The Taj is built on a raised platform on top of a hillock, which is based on wells underneath.

The four 40ft high minarets balance the platform, and are designed to tilt slightly outwards, to prevent them crashing on top of the tomb in an earthquake.

Mr Katheria said around £71million is needed to construct a barrage on the river.

Environmental campaigners also believe a tree-planting campaign and a water pipeline may improve the situation.

The sinking water level is also affecting India's capital, New Delhi, which is at risk of suffering water shortages.

The Indian government has set up body to deal with the Taj Mahal's preservation.

Officials connected with eight projects say the national and state governments are now working together to deal with the issue.

BB Awasthi, regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, said: 'These projects have been held up since 2003 for want of funds.'

He said he expected the projects 'would receive top priority treatment'.

Afghan leader signs deal to deepen ties with India

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) shakes hands with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on October 4, 2011.


Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a wide-ranging agreement with India on Tuesday to deepen ties between the two countries, including to help train Afghan security forces, in a deal likely to irk Pakistan as tension grows in the region.

India is one of Afghanistan‘s biggest bilateral donors, having pledged about US$2 billion (RM6.38 billion) since the 2001 US led-invasion for projects from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament.

On a two-day visit to New Delhi, Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sealed a strategic partnership that spanned closer political ties to fighting terrorism. It signals a formal tightening of links that may spark Pakistani concerns India is increasingly competing for leverage in Afghanistan.

The agreement is one of several being negotiated by Kabul, including one with the United States, that are part of an Afghan bid for greater security as Nato troops head home.




“India will stand by the people of Afghanistan as they prepare to assume the responsibility for their governance and security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014,” Singh said in a joint press conference on Monday evening.

India wants to ensure that a withdrawal of US troops does not lead to a civil war that spreads Islamist militancy across borders. At the same time it is closely watching Pakistan’s own efforts to secure its interests in Afghanistan.

Karzai’s visit has been planned for months, but it comes as Afghanistan appears increasingly frustrated with Pakistan.

Many senior Afghan officials accuse Pakistan’s intelligence agency of masterminding the assassination last month of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Kabul’s chief peace negotiator with the Taliban, a killing that Singh condemned in his speech on Monday.

Karzai himself has said there is a Pakistani link to the killing, and investigators he appointed believe the assassin was Pakistani, and that the suicide bombing was plotted in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

“At this juncture, the visit will cause great heartburn in Islamabad,” said Saeed Naqvi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think-tank in New Delhi.

“That is unfortunate from the Indian perspective because anything achieved in the visit will be seen by Pakistan as an insult.”

Wary of Pakistan, Indian officials have always said they want to focus on what they like to call “soft power” — economic aid and trade.

The two leaders also agreed to closer cooperation in the strategically key sectors of oil and gas exploration, mining and infrastructure development, pledging to use India’s growing economic clout to foster trade and investment flows.

But India offering more security training to Afghanistan is almost certain to annoy Pakistan.

India has already trained a small number of officers from the Afghan National Army.

Economic focus

Still, India treads carefully. It suspects Pakistan of involvement in several major attacks, including two bombings of its embassy in Kabul in 2008 and 2009, seen as warnings from Islamabad to stay away from its traditional “backyard.”

Without a land border with Afghanistan and dependent on Pakistan for any overland trade, India knows its influence is limited.

“India will want to play its part in keeping Afghanistan stable, but it is focussing mainly on economic ties,” said C. Raja Mohan, senior fellow at New Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research. “It does not does not see itself as a counterbalance to Pakistan. It knows that Pakistan is setting the terms there.”

India does have historical ties to former Northern Alliance leaders who battled the Pakistan-backed Taliban in the 1990s. Some believe that India could increase its influence with these leaders if Afghanistan moves back towards civil war.

For the moment, trade appears to be what matters.

A consortium led by state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) could invest up to US$6 billion in mines, railroads and a steel plant in a race with China to lock in raw materials for two of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

The contract for the Hajigak iron ore mines in Bamiyan province is potentially the single biggest foreign investment project in Afghanistan.

India PM says guru protest crackdown was inevitable

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today said he had no alternative but to send police to forcibly end a peaceful anti-graft protest by a popular yoga guru and thousands of his followers, hours after the country’s top court asked the government to justify its actions.

Around 600 police used batons and tear gas early yesterday to break up a mass hunger strike led by Swami Ramdev (picture) in New Delhi, detaining the TV star before putting him on a plane to his home state. Dozens of followers and police were injured.





The Supreme Court’s questioning of the government action followed widespread criticism of the raid as another sign that the government and its 78-year-old prime minister were out of touch with millions of corruption-weary Indians.

Television channels quoted Singh as saying the raid was unfortunate, but that there was no alternative. He added there was no “magic wand” to end corruption, according to the reports.

A man tried to throw a shoe today at ruling Congress party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi as he criticised the guru during a news conference. The man was beaten up by onlookers and the incident highlighted how polarised India has become with the controversial raid.

Tapping into spiralling voter anger about corruption as Asia’s third largest economy booms, Ramdev has called on the government to pursue billions of dollars in illegal funds abroad and introduce tough anti-corruption legislation.

Ramdev, usually clad in a saffron-coloured robe slung loosely over his bare chest, pledged to fast until his demands were met, adding to a series of planned protests announced by opposition parties and civil society groups.

In recent months, the Supreme Court has become more active in reprimanding the government, particularly over its handling of corruption accusations against its ministers.

“They are displeased over lathi (baton) charging people who were sleeping. It was a peaceful thing until the cops intervened,” said D.H. Pai Panandikar, head of Indian think-tank RPG Foundation.

Ramdev’s campaign was the latest embarrassment for a Congress Party-led coalition hit by graft scandals, including allegations of kickbacks at the Commonwealth Games and a telecoms scam that may have cost the government up to US$39 billion (RM117 billion) in revenues.

The handling of the protest is sure to further distract the government from working on reforms needed to modernise the economy, which analysts say is growing at around 8 per cent not because of government action, but despite it.

Parliament’s next session is due to start in July.

“Another disruptive session is inevitable and the continuation of policy paralysis in government; something the country can ill-afford when it is facing up to the serious macroeconomic challenges in high inflation and decelerating growth,” Anil Padmanabhan, deputy managing editor of business newspaper Mint, wrote in an editorial.

The opposition Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said today it would hold nationwide peaceful protests against the crackdown and has demanded an emergency session of parliament to discuss the raid.

“The government has lost the moral authority of the country,” BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told CNN-IBN, attacking Singh’s record in office since 2004.

Congress criticised Ramdev as promoting unrest.

“Such anarchic and communal elements must be taken head on,” Congress leader Dwivedi said before the shoe incident.

Singh has so far resisted calls for his resignation, and his party is unlikely to force him out because it does not have a credible successor lined up.

Congress, re-elected in 2009 and not due to face national polls until 2014, can also count on its allies in parliament to carry on backing it, because they too would be punished in a snap election. A key Congress ally was kicked out of power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in local elections last month.

Neither Singh nor party leader Sonia Gandhi have made any statement since the protest controversy began last week and there is increased talk of infighting between Congress and ministers over the debacle.

The handling of the protest has renewed questions about how government works in the world’s largest democracy. Singh is widely seen as a weak leader with most key decisions taken by Gandhi and her core group of advisers, a setup increasingly criticised as ineffective.

The crackdown has drawn condemnation from opposition parties on the left and right, as well as civil society and the media.

“The midnight police swoop on yoga exponent and telestar ‘Baba’ Ramdev and his supporters was arbitrary, brutal and anti-democratic,” influential newspaper The Hindu said in an editorial.

Opposition parties called on Gandhi and Singh to apologise.

“Its critics are entirely right to ask why, if the fasting Baba is a charlatan as the government now claims he is, more ministers were sent to receive him at the Delhi airport than has been assigned to greet any visiting potentate, whether Barack Obama or Hu Jintao,” The Economic Times wrote in an editorial.

Ramdev has announced he is going back to fasting against corruption, and popular social activist Anna Hazare has also said he would start a fast on June 8 in the capital.

Hazare carried out a successful fast in April, striking a chord with millions of Indians and forcing the government to make concessions on an anti-graft bill that effectively gives India an independent ombudsman to battle corruption.

Hazare later said he would pull out of negotiations with the government over the bill to protest against Ramdev’s treatment.

The last Maharaja: India pays respects to much-loved war hero whose death marks the end of an era

Thousands of people dressed in mourning clothes paid their respects to the last Maharaja of Jaipur today, adorning his body with flower garlands before his 12-year-old grandson lit the funeral pyre.

The much-loved Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh, 79, died Saturday in a New Delhi hospital where he was being treated for high blood pressure and a lung infection.

Singh served as Maharaja or hereditary ruler of Jaipur for only a few months in between his father's death in 1970 and the abolition of royal titles in 1971.

Jaipur was one of hundreds of tiny royal kingdoms that dotted India until the country's independence from Britain in 1947.

Even in his short reign, he was revered as a wise and kind ruler.

On Monday, his body - dressed in a military uniform - was laid out in the courtyard of the Chandra Mahal or Moon Palace, one of the palaces that continued to be home to the former royal family.

Thousands of local residents and tourists placed garlands and flowers by his body.

Male relatives and staff members wearing turbans in the mourning colours of black, white and khaki then put the body on a truck bedecked with marigold flowers and the flags and colours of the former kingdom.

A popular ruler: Hundreds joined the funeral cortege today to pay their respects

The last Maharaja of Jaipur: Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh

As the cortege wound its way to the royal cremation grounds, hundreds of people joined in the cries of 'Long live Maharaja Bhawani Singh.'

Later, as Hindu priests chanted sacred verses, Singh's 12-year old grandson lit the funeral pyre at a solemn ceremony attended by many former rulers of small kingdoms in India.

Singh served in the Indian army and fought in the 1971 war against rival Pakistan, for which he received India's second highest gallantry award.

Heritage: The funeral procession moves past the Hawa Mahal monument in Jaipur

India court upholds death sentence for Mumbai attacker

India’s High Court today upheld the death sentence for the only surviving gunman in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and strained ties between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani national, was one of ten gunmen who carried out the coordinated attacks on key landmarks in India’s financial capital, including two luxury hotels, the main train station and a Jewish centre.

In May, Kasab was found guilty of more than 80 charges, including murder and waging war on India, and was sentenced to death by hanging by an Indian court but that sentence needed approval from the High Court.

 

Special Prosecuter Ujjwal Nikam gestures outside the Mumbai High Court after the delivery of a judgement for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, February 21, 2011. The Mumbai High Court upheld a death penalty for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, who is the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, the Hindustan Times reported today

“The High Court confirmed the lower court’s decision to sentence Kasab to death by hanging,” public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said on live television today.

Earlier this month, India and Pakistan agreed to resume formal peace talks after New Delhi broke off negotiations between the two nuclear-armed nations following the Mumbai attacks.

India had paused the talks, saying Islamabad must first act against groups operating from its soil, including Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT, said to be behind the attacks and of which Kasab was convicted of being a member.

Pakistan has acknowledged the attacks were plotted and partly launched from its soil, and has put on trial seven suspects linked to LeT, which has been fighting Indian forces in disputed Kashmir since the early 1990s.

Kasab was filmed walking through Mumbai’s main train station carrying an AK-47 rifle and a knapsack on his back. Nearly 60 people were gunned down in the crowded station.

Twenty Pakistani co-conspirators, including LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, were also found guilty. A spokesman for LeT has denied the leader or the organisation was involved.

Islamist groups like LeT see India and the United States as foes against whom they must wage holy war. They also support independence for Kashmir, the Himalayan region claimed in full but controlled in part by both India and Pakistan.

The two countries have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir.

India’s cornered PM vows to press on despite scandals

School students shout slogans during a protest against a corruption case in Jammu February 12, 2011.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed today to stay in office to press ahead with reforms, denying a series of massive corruption scandals had made him a lame duck leader.

Allegations the government may have lost up to US$39 billion (RM119 billion) in revenues after firms were awarded telecoms deals at rock-bottom prices in return for kickbacks have caused months of parliamentary paralysis, rocked the ruling coalition, and rattled India’s markets.



“Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck prime minister, we take our job very seriously,” an often frail-looking Singh, 78, said in a rare media roundtable with TV editors to improve his worsening image.

“We are here to govern, and to govern effectively. Tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward.”

That Singh was forced to deny talk of resignation underscored both the gravity of the scandals and how Singh’s decision-making has been paralysed in his second term despite winning re-election in 2009 with an increased majority.

The last parliamentary session was halted by opposition protests demanding a probe into the telecoms scam, effectively stopping any reform bills such as one to make land acquisition easier for both industry and farmers.

“I never felt like resigning because I have a job to do ... I will stay the course,” Singh said in comments broadcast live.

Foreign investors have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from the Indian stock market since the start of the year, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen for three consecutive years, from 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2008/09 to around 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2010/11.

Some of this is connected with the global economic slowdown, but regulatory uncertainty may also be a factor.

“This sort of atmosphere is not good. It saps our own self-confidence. It also spoils the image of India,” Singh said over the corruption scams, but he denied they had impacted FDI.

For more than an hour, editors peppered Singh with questions about why he had failed to act on corruption cases and why probes had taken so long. On each question, Singh, looking defensive and rattled, denied wrongdoing, and often referred to a prepared written statement.

Singh’s stumbling has prompted some commentators to predict a repeat of 1989, when Congress lost a general election due to the Bofors scandal. That centred on gun contracts involving close associates of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who were accused of taking bribes.

The next general election is still three years away and Singh has opportunities to regain the initiative, whether through spending on social welfare programmes or doing better than expected in state elections.

But Singh has always been hampered by the image of playing second fiddle to Congress Party head Sonia Gandhi, and, as a figurehead leader, exercising little real power.

In today’s broadcast, Singh at times gave the impression of indecision, such when he replied when asked why he did not act quickly over problems in the allocation of telecom licences between 2007 and 2008.

“Although complaints were coming in, although complaints were coming from all sides, some from companies not benefiting (from the telecoms spectrum allocation) ... I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong,” Singh said.

PARLIAMENTARY BREAKTHOUGH?

Singh’s government now appears close to agreeing to a broad, cross-party investigation in the scandal, paving the way for parliament to resume as normal for a Feb. 21 budget session, and Singh said he would press ahead with reforms.

“We have not given up, we will persist (on reforms). There are difficulties, particularly when government is not allowed to function.”

In one sign the prime minister may refresh his government, Singh said there would be another reshuffle of his cabinet after the budget session. The first reshuffle of his second term in January was widely criticised as cosmetic.

“We have important legislation, apart from the budget, to put before parliament,” Singh said. “And talks are going on with the opposition parties to ensure that whatever our differences, parliament should be able to function normally.”

The scandals have taken a heavy toll on Singh, who is concerned his legacy is shifting from that of a founder of India’s economic boom, to someone who did nothing to stop corruption or policy paralysis.

Singh may have hoped the current scandals would ebb. But an aggressive media, an assertive Supreme Court and an opposition tasting political blood have seen momentum into the corruption probes expand.

Russia supports India UN seat quest, seals deals

the two countries have been close economic and political partners since Soviet days but India’s growing ties with the US has made Russia ill at ease


Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today threw his weight behind India’s quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and secured agreements to deepen nuclear energy and defence cooperation.

Russia has been India’s close economic and political partner since Soviet days, and monopolised India’s defence market for decades, but New Delhi wants to reduce its reliance on one country to reflect its growing clout on the world stage.

India’s growing ties with the US, underscored by a landmark civil nuclear deal, has made Russia ill at ease.





New Delhi had been expected to seek backing from Russia during Medvedev’s visit for its ambition to secure a permanent seat on an enlarged UN Security Council, following statements of support from Washington and Paris in recent months.

“The Russian Federation supports India as a deserving and strong candidate for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council,” a joint Russian-Indian statement said.

Leaders from Britain, the United States, France and China – along with Russia, the permanent members of the UN Security Council – have all visited India in the last six months, securing contracts worth a total of around US$50 billion (RM157 billion).

Russia and India signed today a long-awaited contract to jointly develop fifth generation fighter aircraft, potentially worth tens of billions of dollars, and clinched a deal to expand capacity at a Russian-built nuclear power plant in south India.

The deals announced on Tuesday were largely already known, and no financial figures were given, but the agreements may go some way to satisfy those concerned about India too quickly cutting its defence cord with its Cold War-era ally.

Russia also sees India as a counterweight to China and a potential ally in Afghanistan.

Medvedev, accompanied by a large delegation of business leaders, was holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi today in New Delhi. He was then to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and India’s financial capital Mumbai tomorrow.

“It is well known that we want to diversify our basket of suppliers for our strategic areas. We will always have close ties with Russia, but they are no longer the only game in town,” said a top Indian government official, who declined to be identified.

ENERGY-HUNGRY

A statement said the two countries would work on a design project for the stealth fighters and had agreed to discuss building the third and fourth reactors for a nuclear power plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Medvedev had been expected to secure a contract on jointly developing 250-300 fifth generation fighter aircraft over 10 years. The contract amount was unknown, but unofficially said to be around US$35 billion.

US and European companies are lobbying hard to win contracts for new fighter jets in one of the world’s biggest defence contract markets.

Today’s statement said the two sides had also signed a deal for Russia to supply missiles to the Indian army. No details were given on the size of the deal.

Russia is also keen to continue supplying nuclear technology and expertise to energy-hungry India as it plans to add 63,000 MW of nuclear power by 2032 to support its economic growth.

“Energy is one area where Russia will be the most important partner for India both in terms of conventional and non conventional energy ... Russians are one of our main suppliers of nuclear power plants,” said Lalit Mansingh, former Indian foreign secretary.

Behind the rhetoric of expanding ties with its fellow BRIC economy – the term used to group emerging powers Brazil, Russia, India and China – bilateral trade is eclipsed by Russia’s booming ties with the European Union and China.

The Kremlin said trade with India would total US$10 billion this year, while statistics show Russia’s trade with the European Union stood at US$246 billion in the first 10 months of 2010, and trade with China was US$47.5 billion in the same period.

India and Russia agreed to boost annual bilateral trade to US$20 billion by 2015.

Medvedev’s stop in Mumbai includes a visit to the Hindi-language movie industry Bollywood.

“(In Russia there is a) 24/7 broadcast of Indian movies. I think that exists only in India and Russia,” Medvedev told a joint news conference with Singh.

Indian tycoon prepares to move into 27-storey sky palace First-ever $1bn home

This is the extravagant £630m ($1bn) home built by a billionaire Indian tycoon to house his family-of-four in Mumbai.

With 27 storeys, Antilia will be home to Mukesh Ambani and features a health club with a gym and dance studio, a ballroom, at least one swimming pool and a 50-seater cinema.

Towering above the Mumbai skyline, the 37,000sq ft property is 570ft high and also boasts three helipads on its roof, space for 160 vehicles on its lower floors and nine lifts.

Mr Ambani, 53, who owns much of oil, retail and bio-technology comglomerate Reliance Industries, paid £44million to build his dream property, but astronomical property values in the Indian city mean it is now worth 15 times that amount.

 

Extravagant: Construction work on the property can be seen. The 37,000 sq ft property features three helipads, a swimming pool and a four-storey hanging garden

Absolute luxury: Antilia, built by tycoon Mukesh Ambani for his family of four, towers 27-storeys over Mumbai, India

He will employ 600 staff at the property and his family will live in the top floors, where they will enjoy views of the Arabian Sea.

Mr Ambani has surprised many by constructing Antilia - named after a mythical island - as he built his business reputation as a private individual who avoided the flamboyance of India's ultra-rich.




Hamish McDonald, author of a history of the family business Ambani and Sons, told The Guardian: 'Perhaps he has been stung by his portrayal in the media as an introvert.

'Maybe he is making the point that he is a tycoon in his own right.'

The vast building is constructed from glass, steel and tiles and also features a four-storey hanging garden which is designed to keep the interior cooler in summer and warmer in the winter.

According to Forbes magazine, Mr Ambani is worth £18billion. He is the richest man in India and the fourth richest in the world.

The interior of the property, on Altamount Road, has been designed by a U.S. firm and has been described as 'Asian contemporary'.

Mr Ambani will hold a house warming party at his new home later this month.

Among guests is India's prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has previously called on business tycoons to be 'role models of moderation'.

Shiny Varghese, deputy editor of Indian magazine Design Today, said: 'It's so obscenely lavish that I'm not sure too many people will go all that way, but we are heading into the sort of culture where money is not a question when setting up a home.'

But friends have defended him against charges of excess.

One told the newspaper: 'He can't just walk into a cinema and watch a film like you or me.

'It's only a family home, just a big one. It's a question of convenience and requirements.'

Tycoon: Mukesh Ambani, who owns much of oil and retail giants Reliance Industries, paid £44million to build the property and will employ 600 staff there

India is back into the UN Security Council after 19 years

India's return to the United Nations Security Council is both a laudatory and a cautionary tale of diplomacy. The former because it has always been an embarrassment that a country that publicly aspires for a permanent seat to the council has not been ...

Camilla mistaken for Princess Diana by Commonwealth Games chief in embarrassing gaffe

The head of the Delhi Commonwealth Games made a massive blunder in front of Prince Charles after saying he was being accompanied to India by Princess Diana.

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the organising committee, managed to confuse Diana - who died in a car crash in 1997 - with Camilla.

He thanked the late princess for attending Sunday's opening ceremony when he was quizzed about the empty venues and queues for tickets that have blighted the first days of the games.

Gaffe: The chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee in Delhi mistook Camilla for Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997

Mr Kalmadi, who was booed at the opening ceremony because of the shambolic preparations, told a press conference: 'Yes, Princess Diana was there.'

He then corrected himself and added: 'Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

'Now they have gone off and they appreciated all the efforts made here.'

Clarence House has not issued a comment.

And yesterday, Prince Charles was pictured surrounded by empty chairs as he sat in the sparsely filled swimming complex, which had been specially renovated for the games.

There were similar problems with other arenas, with athletes forced to compete in front of dozens rather than thousands of spectators.

One diplomatic source said: 'India fought hard to get the games here for the first time.

'It has been such a shambles, the Indians have voted with their feet and are keeping away.'

The Prince and Camilla are on a five-day trip to India.

After opening the games, Charles is promoting British business and discussing plans to tackle climate change.

Today he and the duchess were visiting an air force base in Jodhpur before meeting the Maharaja and Maharani of Jodhpur.

Charles treated the villagers in Tolasar as he danced a jig in his silver suit and spun his little Indian umbrella.

Where is everyone? Prince Charles during the women's 200m individual medley at the aquatics complex in Delhi

Feeling the strain: Suresh Kalmadi covers his eyes during questions from journalists. The games have been plagued by construction problems and empty stadiums

Visit: Prince Charles does a rain dance with villagers in Tolasar during his five-day trip to India

Charles' visit was intended in part to understand the water conservation efforts in the village, near Jodhpur

Error: Mr Kalmadi quickly corrected his error as he was asked about the empty stadiums

India’s biggest budget movie hits screens

Three years after his last blockbuster, bus conductor turned Indian film megastar Rajinikanth returned to the silver screen Friday with a movie expected to break all box-office records.

The 60-year-old’s latest film, the Tamil-language “Endhiran”, has a budget of 1.65 billion rupees (RM108 million) according to the movie’s official website, making it the most expensive Indian film ever made.

The science-fiction fantasy thriller, which will be screened in nearly 2,000 theatres worldwide, had its first screening in India as early as 5am, with some fans queuing through the night for tickets.

Some celebrated the release by bursting crackers, beating drums, showering the movie screen with flowers and even washing life-size posters of Rajinikanth with milk — a sign of purity.

A star of more than 150 films, Rajinikanth’s presence on screen has been likened to a leaping tiger, and his fans are known to pray in front of life-size cardboard cut-outs of him for the success of his latest release.

“It’s a superhit and the film will run for 1,000 days,” one fan, Rajini Priyan, told AFP after watching the first show.

In India’s southern city of Chennai in Rajinikanth’s home state of Tamil Nadu, life-size posters and movie billboards of the megastar lined the streets and movie theatres.

The film, which will be released in Hindi as “The Robot” and “Robo” in Telugu, also stars former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, who is one of Bollywood’s biggest names and the daughter-in-law of megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

Shooting for “Endhiran” took the cast all over the world, from the ancient Inca site of Machu Picchu in Peru to Brazil and the United States.

The reclusive Rajinikanth left his job as a bus conductor to study drama in the 1970’s and ever since he has acted in more than a 150 films