INS Vindhyagiri sinks off Mumbai after collision, fire

Mumbai: Indian warship INS Vindhyagiri, which had caught fire after colliding with a merchant vessel off Mumbai Harbour on Sunday, sank on Monday despite frantic efforts by the Navy to save it.

The situation on the warship had turned worse after efforts to douse the raging fire caused flooding on the deck. The warship had tilted dangerously after the flooding.

The warship of the Nilgiri class had collided with the container vessel MV Nordlake at around 5.00 pm on Sunday but there were no casualties.

The fire had started in the engine room this morning when the warship was brought to the naval dockyard for assessing the damage, sources said.

While the naval frigate was entering the Mumbai Harbour after celebrating "a day at sea" with naval personnel and their families, MV Nordlake, loaded with containers, was navigating out of the harbour.

The collision took place in the main navigation channel used by all vessels to enter both Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Though there were no casualties or oil spill after the collision, the container ship was detained for further investigations.

All onboard the warship were evacuated safely in time yesterday.

Vindhyagiri was a 3,000-tonne, 20-year-old frigate commissioned in the Navy in 1981.

Pak has 110 N-weapons to edge ahead of India: US Report

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has doubled its nuclear arms stockpile to 110 warheads, developing new weapons to deliver them and significantly accelerating production of uranium and plutonium for bombs to edge ahead of India.

Islamabad's nuclear weapons stockpile now totals more than 110 deployed weapons in a sharp jump from an estimated 30-80 weapons fours years ago, 'Washington Post' reported.

"Pakistan has expanded its nuclear weapons production capability rapidly", the Post quoted David Albright President of the Institute for Science and International Security as saying.

Albright said that based on accelerated production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium, Pakistan may now have an arsenal upto 110 weapons.

The non-government US analyst said that while continuing to produce weapons-grade uranium at two sites, Islamabad has sharply increased its production of plutonium, enabling it to make lighter warheads for more mobile delivery system.

Pakistan's has developed a new missile Shaheen II, with a range of 1,500 miles which is about to go into operation deployment. The country has also developed nuclear capable land and air launched cruise missiles, the Institute said in a new report.

"The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs and developed new weapons to deliver them. After years of approximate weapons parity, experts said, Pakistan has now edged ahead of India, its nuclear-armed rival", Washington Post said.

The paper said while Pakistan has produced more nuclear-armed weapons, India is believed to have larger existing stockpiles of such fissile material for future weapons.

Dubbing Pakistan as one of the world's most unstable region, Post said an escalation of nuclear arms race in South Asia possess a dilemma for Obama Administration.

It said in politically fragile Pakistan, the Administration is caught between fears of proliferation or possible terrorist attempts to seize nuclear materials and Pakistani suspicions that the US aims to control or limit its weapons programme and favours India.

Quoting Pakistan's Defense attache at its embassy in Washington, Post said the number of Pakistani nuclear weapons are heavily deployed near its border with India.

The paper said that in December 2008, Peter Lavoie, US national intelligence officer for South Asia, told NATO officials that "despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than in any other country in the world"

Where the Stars Are for Super Bowl XLV

Hollywood’s hottest are flocking to Texas for next Sunday’s highly-anticipated Super Bowl showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, but they aren’t just going for the game.

“The Super Bowl is an ideal place to party because it combines the best of both worlds – sports and entertainment,” events guru and founder of LFB Media Group, Ashley Berg, told FOX411's Pop Tarts. “It also gives celebrities a chance to be fans, so the environment is more laid-back than your typical Hollywood event.”

So where and when are all the star-studded soirees?

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and reality TV personality Terrell Owens will return to his former stomping grounds of Dallas to host the invitation-only GREY GOOSE 5-Night Lounge Series party on Feb. 3, while Erykah Badu performs for the crowd on Feb. 4 and Emmy-winner Jeremy Piven takes the hosting hot seat on Feb 5.

Kid Rock will rock out, while Snoop Dogg and Nelly act as VIP Tent Reporters at ESPN The Magazine’s famed “Next” VIP Event at the “Next” Ranch in Ft. Worth, TX on Feb. 4.

Pamela Anderson is set to host Willis & Woy Sports Group’s star-studded “Super Bash” at the Fashion Industry Gallery in Dallas on Feb. 4.

Sports Illustrated and the Black Eyed Peas are teaming up with Bacardi for the Official Super Bowl Party at Fair Park-Tower Building on Feb. 4.

Playboy is hopping into town for an extravagant bash at the Bud Light Hotel on Feb. 4, featuring performances by Warren G, Flo Rida and Snoop Dogg.

Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and Kellan Lutz are slated to join a line-up of A-list celebrities at an intimate cocktail party at the swanky “Audi Forum Dallas” on Feb. 4. In addition, Audi will be bringing a fleet of the brand’s luxury flagship sedan A8’s to transport the famed and fortunate from party to party over the weekend.

Andy Roddick will host the festivities for GQ Magazine, while Cee Lo entertains the chic crowd at Hickory Street Annex on Feb. 4.

Hotel ZaZa is hosting the Super Bowl’s annual “Leather & Laces” party, and this year it is double trouble. On Friday Feb. 4, former “Dancing With the Stars” champion Nicole Scherzinger and “Entourage” star Kevin Dillon will lead the fun, and on Saturday night Hugh Hefner’s former flames Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt will host the party.

“Jersey Shore” sensation DJ Pauly D will take over the turn-tables on Feb. 4 for PepsiCo’s private “blue carpet” party, which is expected to be swarming with athletes including NY Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and Yankee CC Sabathia.

The Super Bowl nightlife staple The Axe Lounge will return on Feb. 4, 5 and 6 at the Rio Room in Dallas, featuring a line-up of surprise performances and hip-hop legend Jermaine Dupri spinning tracks into the early hours.

Faith Hill and The Pretenders will perform together live on CMT Crossroads during the NFL Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam on Feb. 5 from Grand Prairie, Texas.

Nelly, Ke$ha and Pitbull are down to lead the getting down at the temporarily rebranded Bud Light Hotel in the heart of Dallas on Feb. 5.

Ultimate party boy P. Diddy will host a party at Tower Building in Fair Park on Feb. 5

Maxim Magazine promises a bevy of beauties (such as Olivia Munn, Erin Andrews, Gretchen Rossi and Melissa Rycroft) as it celebrates the Super Bowl with a “State Fair” amusement at Centennial Hall, Fair Park on Feb. 5.

And even though last year’s Super Bowl took place in America’s style and soiree capital, (aka Miami, Fla.) and subsequently attracted a slew of high-profile people including Angelina Jolie, Chase Crawford, Jamie Foxx, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Kim Kardashian, Kendra Wilkinson, Jessica Alba, Carrie Underwood and Cameron Diaz, Berg predicts 2011 in Dallas may very well be even better.

“There is no doubt Dallas lives for football so the energy in the city will be off the charts,” she added. “While I don’t know if there will be as many celebrities as Miami as it is a more frequented city year-round, those that do go are guaranteed to have an amazing time.”Kid Rock, Pam Anderson, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are just afew of the stars planning on hitting the Dalla

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/30/stars-super-bowl-xlv/#ixzz1CbQh7D3O

Is Mubarak Egypt's 'black swan'?

It took a few days for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to calculate his next moves, and when the decision came the strategy was predictably an "old school" approach to a modern-day governmental challenge sparked by social media.

In power for three decades, no one expected Mubarak to present an "I got it" moment. He chose a right hand man as vice president, Omar Suleiman, who literally saved his life after an assassination attempt. The "big boss," as many in the former government and business community refer to him, sacked his "new school" cabinet of reformers. Then-Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and his four key ministers representing trade, finance, telecommunications and investment were highly regarded in the global business community and trusted faces at the World Economic Forum each winter in Davos.

The act by the president to sack the "new school" reformers sends the wrong signal to global investors and some of the Egyptian corporate brand names that have become well known beyond their borders. Even if he survives the uprising by Egyptians on the street, nearly all the progress made over the past five years goes out the door - not to mention the impact on the tourism sector which is the country's number one foreign exchange earner.

Often overlooked in the rush of history and protests, since 2005, the prime minister and his team pushed through a laundry list of economic reforms and cut through Egypt's famous red tape. Their government branding was "Egypt: Open for Business," and it worked. $47.5 billion dollars of foreign direct investment poured in over five years. The big global brands flocked in, wanting access to this market of 80 million consumers and a low cost, multi-language workforce. They believed the business environment was changing for good. They might be mistaken.

In the halls of the Davos conference center I spoke to a dozen regional and global business leaders to get an "on-camera" response after the president's decision. Not one wanted to be on the record, but they all shared their views. One highly respected businessman from the Gulf said Mubarak should have communicated much earlier. "I am worried," he said. "This was handled miserably." A usually reserved regional central bank governor was even more critical, saying, "This ageing leadership is disconnected from reality."

I struggled against an army of Angela Merkel's bodyguards in the conference hall only to get a firm rejection of no reply from the German chancellor. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said, “The situation is so tricky I don't even want to talk about it."

Egypt and Turkey have roughly same-sized populations, but that is where the similarities end. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is presenting his ideals of a modern Islamic society to the world, including freedom of speech and much more voice for citizens in carving their destiny in a real democracy.

Turkey's finance minister Mehmet Simsek told me that the government's number one priority has to be raising the standard of living for all. In Egypt, millions struggle to join the middle class with reforms still too young to reach all rungs of society. This is a failure that lands squarely on the desk of the man in charge, the president. He started economic reforms in the 1980s but stopped the process when the going got tough. It is fair to say he probably regrets that decision now.

Since this latest attempt at reforms, per capita income nearly doubled from $1,200 in 2005 to just over $2000 today, but Turkey's per capita income is four times the size of Egypt's. And as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted when the news broke this week, economic reforms need to run in tandem with political and human rights reforms - something Mubarak obviously does not agree with, despite the overwhelming evidence against his strong-armed approach.

I spoke to best-selling author Nassim Taleb on the phone who wrote the famous business book the "Black Swan," which identifies situations that have mathematical multiplier effect due to their unforeseen power. In the 2008 banking crisis it was $60 trillion of exposure to vast leveraged debts that the financial system could not handle.

Taleb says the U.S. government made the same mistake with Mubarak that it has done with its large scale banks. It has funded him since the peace accord with Israel, so much so that he became too big to fail, and the only choice now left is to bail him out against the will of Egyptians themselves. This may buy some time, but similar to the massive exposure of a Lehman Brothers, Mubarak may very well turn out to be the next black swan.

Indonesia sex tape star is jailed

A court in Indonesia has sentenced one of south-east Asia's best known pop stars to three-and-a-half years in prison for making and distributing sex videos on the internet.

The tapes of Nazril Irham, or Ariel as he is known, and two other celebrities, were made public last June.

He is the first celebrity to be charged under Indonesia's strict pornography law that came into effect in 2008.

Ariel denied distributing the videos, saying they had been stolen.

Ariel had made three sex videos featuring him and separately, two female celebrities.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of "giving an opportunity for others to spread, produce and prepare a pornographic video", according to the verdict.

"As a public figure, the defendant should be aware that fans might imitate his behaviour," said Judge Singgih Budi Prakoso.

He said that Ariel had done nothing to prevent the wide distribution of the videos.
Cultural divide

Ariel was speechless on hearing the verdict, and his teenage fans who filled the court room broke down in tears, says the BBC's Alice Budisatrijo, who was at the court in Bandung.

The singer's lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence and criticised the judges' admission that they were influenced by public pressure.

Outside the court, hundreds of protesters had gathered calling for a harsher punishment.

The charge carried a maximum 12-year sentence and a fine of more than $600,000 (£403,000).

The trial has become a target for protests by hardline Muslim groups who have

adopted pornography as a banner issue, claiming it symbolises what they have called the nation's moral decline.

The Blackberry telephone provider, Research In Motion (RIM), has also been asked by the government to prevent pornographic content from being made available through their devices if they wish to maintain distribution in Indonesia.

The case has exposed the deep cultural divide in the country, our correspondent says.

Indonesia is a secular state with a long tradition of tolerance, but with more democracy in the past decade, Muslim political groups have tested their strength through morality and corruption campaigns.