Thanks Rojo ! As you said, it 'seems' okay just to unplug your hardware after
'safe removal'. Another trick which I read yesterday was to switch to 'Sleep
Mode'. This actually cuts off power to USB devices.

For my iPod and mobile phone I am following this approach for now:
1] Use 'remove safely'.
2] Switch to 'Sleep Mode' (switches off power to the devices)
3] Disconnect the device physically !

Lets hope for more responses to this post.
Thank you once again.