49 kIIIE, 660 Ih1E Ih

kEhTIhE TkIh MI8hkF

8uenos kires: A acked lrain
slammed inlo lhe end o lhe line
in Buenos Aires' busy 0nce
slalion loday, killing 4O eole
and injuring hundreds o
morning commulers in
Argenlina's worsl lrain accidenl
in decades. Federal Folice
Commissioner heslor Rodrigue/
says lhe dead include 48 adulls
and one child. Al leasl 55O
eole were injured, and
emergency workers were
ressed inlo aclion.
kMEV I hT Ih6ITE
6MMhkI EhMITY: 6F8
heW eIhi: Baba Ramdev did nol
incile communal enmily al a
Fress conerence here in January
or rovoke his suorlers lo as
saull a man who allegedly oured
black ink on lhe yoga guru, 0elhi
Folice lold a courl here. F3
8TkTE8 EFIMkhE I
8ITTIh h ME6Y FIEk8
heW eIhi: The SC on wednes
day sel March 1 as lhe deadline
or Slale 0overnmenls lo arise
il o lhe sles laken lo disose
ending mercy leas. F6
CAPSULE
kMk TTkM Q hEw 0ELh
W
est Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerj ee
brought the UPA Government
to its knees once again, this
time on the National Counter-
Terrorism Centre (NCTC) pro-
posal. Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on
Wednesday assured Mamata
the chief of UPAs second
biggest partner Trinamool
Congress that the process to
set up NCTC would be put on
hold till wider consultations
with State Governments.
Several non-Congress-ruled
States have alleged that the
NCTC was an assault on fed-
eral structure of country, and
demanded its repeal.
The Prime Ministers assur-
ance to Mamata came during a
15-minute meeting between
the two at the formers resi-
dence in New Delhi. The
Prime Minister told me that the
Home Minister would consult
the States. I requested him to
put the NCTC on hold till the
consultation process was over,
she said after the meeting.
Asked if the PM had given any
positive assurance, Mamata
replied in the affirmative.
A statement from the
PMO, however, read, The PM
assured the Chief Minister
(Mamata) that he has request-
ed the Home Minister to find
ways to address concerns of the
State Governments on NCTC.
The PM was virtually left
with no choice but to give in to
Mamatas demand following
her positioning that West
Bengal (and other non-
Congress Governments as well)
would not accept the NCTC in
its present form, which
infringed upon the rights of
States in policing matters.
Moreover, she also con-
tested the PMs argument that
the idea dated back to 2001
when a Group of Ministers had
suggested a Joint Task Force on
Intelligence. What is the
urgency in executing an 11-
year-old decision, that too
without taking States into con-
fidence, she asked the PM.
This is not for the first time
that the Centre crumbled
before the Bengal tigress on
a serious policy matter. In
November last year, the
Government had to roll back a
hike in fuel price after she
threatened to quit the UPA.
Subsequently, she foiled
the UPAs bid to allow foreign
investment in multi-brand
retail sector. Similarly, her
protest over certain clauses of
the Lokpal Bill saw the
Government running away
from a vote in the Rajya Sabha.
In a major embarrassment to
the UPA, the Teesta Water
treaty between India and
Bangladesh fell through after
Mamatas protest.
The latest NCTC contro-
versy assumes greater signifi-
cance as, for the first time, it has
seen an unofficial collaboration
between regional parties like
BJD, AIADMK, JD(U)
and TDP and others who
aspire for a bigger role in
national politics.
The new realignment spells
trouble for the UPA as it pre-
pares to face the Budget Session
from March 12, and most
importantly prepare for the
Presidential Election in the
subsequent months.
Mamata also discussed
the Farakka Barrage issue
with Singh, telling him that
the issue should be decided as
per the agreement. I told
the PM that disaster may take
place anytime I demanded
a high-powered inquiry into
the issue, said the Chief
Minister. Singh assured her
that the Water Resources
Ministry was working at plug-
ging leakages in the barrage.
Singh told her that he, too,
was worried over the issue.
Th khhkThk Q MuMBA
I
n a development that put
Mumbai Congress chief
Kripashankar Singh in the
dock and embarrassed his
party to the hilt, the Bombay
High Court on Wednesday
directed the city police com-
missioner to prosecute him
for criminal misconduct in a
disproportionate assets case
and attach his immovable
properties.
Hearing a public interest
litigation filed by a social
activist Sanjay Tiwari, a divi-
sion bench of Chief Justice
Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan
Dalvi asked Mumbai Police
Commissioner Arup Patnaik to
obtain necessary sanction from
the State Government to pros-
ecute Singh for criminal mis-
conduct under the Prevention
of Corruption Act.
The immovable proper-
ties of Kripashankar shall be
attached. We do not want to
pass any directions regarding
t he bank account s of
the respondents as it is
alleged that the money might
have been washed out, the
division bench of HC said.
In a twin fallout of the
High Court order, the Congress
high command post-haste
accepted Singhs resignation
from Mumbai Regional
Congress Committee (MRCC)
presidents post. Maharashtra
Chief Minister Prithviraj
Chavan said that his party and
Government were accepting
whatever ruling that the court
has given and that he would
act in accordance with the
court directive.
Chavans statement was a
clear indicator of the State
Governments readiness to
accord sanction to Singhs pros-
ecution in the disproportion-
ate assets case. On his part,
Singh chose not to comment
on the order, saying that he had
not seen it.
Earlier, in their significant
directive to the police, the
judges said: The PIL shall be
treated as FIR and the report
submitted by the State Anti-
Corruption Bureau (ACB) in
March 2011 showing
Kripashankars income and
expenditure shall be treated as
investigation, the judges said,
as they rejected a plea by
Singhs lawyer seeking a stay on
the order.
The judges also directed
Patnaik to gather documentary
evidence on all movable and
immovable properties of Singh
and his family, including his
wife Malti Devi, son Narendra
Mohan Singh and daughter-in-
law Ankita, thus indicating
that they might also be pros-
ecuted for abetting the crime.
While rejecting Singhs plea
for a stay on its order, the HC
bench asked the city Police
Commission to file a compli-
ance report on April 19.
FkI khII Q 0REATER h00A
U
ttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati
on Wednesday said at a public rally
here that a pot should not call the kettle
black. A party which is leading the
Government at the Centre and is steeped
in corruption, I am surprised, has the
gumption, to call us corrupt, said the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo at a
rally in Greater Noida.
As Mayawatis helicopter
descended on the grounds
of Knowledge Park-I, the
crowd went into a frenzy.
Chhade vipaksha ki chhaati
par, button dabaaao Haathi
par, said Mayawati, address-
ing the rally. A charged up supporter of
Mayawati, Hari Singh from Patwadi village
said, The support of the BSP is running
high and till I am alive, Mayawati should
remain the Chief Minister. She has made
a difference to the State. Everybody from
our village will vote for Behenji. Because
she is Chief Minister, Brahmins and
Thakurs dont treat us badly. We are poor
but because of her, we have dignity.
Om Kumar, an advocate from
Ambedkar Village, says, The kind of work
that has been done by the Chief Minister
in five years, could not have been done by
anyone else even in 15 years.
An elderly supporter said, The
Election Commissions move of covering
the BSPs elephants is not justified. Cycles
and cars are not covered, why only ele-
phants but when the ele-
phant is in the heart, it
doesnt matter if the stat-
ues are covered.
Addressing the rally,
Mayawati said, Had the
Centre paid heed to the
State Governments repeat-
ed pleas for funds, UP would have improved
by leaps and bounds in different sectors.
Rejecting the allegations of corruption
against her partys Government in Uttar
Pradesh, the CM said, We took immedi-
ate action as soon as we came to know about
the nefarious and wrongful activities of a
BSP worker.
Continued on Page 4
V 1kYkk1 Q K0Ch
P
rotests raged across Kerala
on Wednesday against the
pro-Italy stand taken by the
newly-appointed Cardinal of
the Catholic Church, Mar
George Alencherry, on the
killing of two Indian fishermen
in gunfire from aboard Italian oil
tanker Enrica Lexie on February
15 off the Kerala coast.
Syro-Malabar Churchs
Major Archbishop Mar
Alencherry, con-
secrated Cardinal
on February 18,
had told Catholic
news agency Fides
in an interview
given in Rome
that the Kerala
G o v e r n me n t
should not act pre-
cipitately in the
case and that he
had given instruc-
tions to the
Catholic Ministers
in the State
Cabinet in this
regard.
In the face of
mounting criticism, the Syro-
Malabar Church tried to clar-
ify that the Cardinal had not
taken any pro-Italy stand but
the news agency had distorted
his words. However, this bid
failed to pacify even sections of
the Church itself.
Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy claimed that no
Minister in his Government
had been given any such
instructions by anybody.
Archbishop Suze Pakiyam
of the Latin Catholic Church in
Thiruvananthapuram said the
Christians in Kerala would not
obey even the Pope if he made
such statement. There are
efforts to involve Vatican in this
but Vatican has no role in
such matters. We take instruc-
tions from Vatican only on
matters of faith. In other mat-
ters, we are patriotic Indians,
he said.
A senior priest of the Latin
Catholic Church said that there
were no reasons to disbelieve the
Fides report because they have
not just reported a talk but have
quoted the
Ca r d i n a l .
How could
the Cardinal
utter such
words when
all the people
of Kerala
want to see
the Italian
killers pun-
ished? he
asked.
O n
Wednesday,
the Cardinal
offered a
clarification
from abroad
that he had not said anything
that went against Indian inter-
ests. He claimed that Fides had
apologised to him for distort-
ing his statement. However, the
statement that appeared on
the agency website had carried
only Mar Alencherrys expla-
nation and no apologies or
admission of error in reporting.
A spokesman of the Syro-
Malabar Church in Kochi said
that the Cardinal had not
uttered anything that contra-
dicted Indian interests. Dr
Babu Joseph, spokesman for
Continued on Page 4
80I0 0a h0I4, aaa00aces Mamata
w| B|+l C| |+|+|+ B+||| +JJ| || |Ji+ +||| + ||i| Wi|| P|
|+||u|+| Si|| |+|Ji| |ClC i| |W l|i u| wJ|J+] Pll
kThIh k8 Q AhME0ABA0
A
fter lodging a protest against
National Counter Terrorism
Centre (NCTC), Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi has
opposed Centres move to
amend the Railway Protection
Force (RPF) Act in a way that
would transfer the power of the
State police to the RPF.
Describing the move as unwar-
ranted, Modi wrote to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh that
the proposed amendment was a
violation of the spirit of the
Constitution.
The proposed amend-
ment Bill which is intended to
confer the powers of the State
police to the RPF is unwar-
ranted. It is severe violation of
the Constitutional spirit and a
blow to the federal structure of
India, Modi wrote in a terse
letter to the Prime Minister.
The Gujarat Chief Minister
observed that the provisions
being inserted through the
proposed amendment of the
RPF Act, 1957, were not in con-
sonance with the schemes pro-
vided under Article 246 of the
Constitution of India. Modi
maintained that public order
and police were State subjects
and, thus, proposing amend-
ments in these meant infring-
ing powers of the State and
attack on the federal structure
of the nation.
The proposed amendment
is a violation of provisions of the
existing Police Act and provi-
sions of State Police Act like the
Bombay Police Act, 1956, pre-
vailing in the State, wrote Modi.
The Chief Minister said that the
Railways claim that its proper-
ty was an independent entity
gave the impression that it was
a State within a State.
Modi said that the argu-
ment put forward by the
Railways for conferring police
powers on RPF personnel was
ridiculous and added that
even the State police faced
similar jurisdiction issues while
probing crimes across several
States. Such a move of the
Railway Ministry would open
up Pandoras Box as a host of
paramilitary forces would ask
for police powers in their
respective operational areas,
Modi warned the PM.
Recently, the NCTC was
notified unilaterally in viola-
tion of the Constitutional pro-
visions and many States have
strong objections to it. In con-
tinuation of this, a Bill to give
police powers to the RPF was
being mooted, which again
was another attempt to curtail
States powers, Modi con-
cluded in the letter.
See Edit: Arrogance is
not a virtue Congress cant
trample upon States rights
Mooi oljects to
Centre`s lio to
gral rail olicing
Caroinal stirs a
lornets` nest witl
ro-taly stance
No kripa for HC-stung Congress chief
ThE MM0vABLE FR0FERTES
0F KRFAShAhKAR (h FX)
ShALL BE ATTAChE0. wE
00 h0T wAhT T0 FASS
AhY 0RECT0hS RE0AR0h0
ThE BAhK ACC0uhTS 0F
ThE RESF0h0EhTS AS T
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M0hEY M0hT hAvE
BEEh wAShE0 0uT
|uu| W|u |+l|i|! |+]+ |+u|| Cu|
UP CM takes on
graft-ridden Cong
for raking up
corruption
against her Govt
BSP up||u |+]+W+|i +JJ| +| l|iu| |+ll] i|
|+|| |uiJ+ u| wJ|J+] R+||+| i||i Piu||
IVYk kk8hIk Q hEw 0ELh
B
ollywood is not new to brawls and
assaults and it seems the list of big
bad boys in the industry is growing by
the day. After Shah Rukh Khan who
reportedly pushed and abused director
Shirish Kunder at Sanjay Dutts party
recently, Saif Ali Khan is the next one
in line. The actor was arrested on
Thursday evening from his lawyers
chamber in Nariman Point after he
reportedly punched businessman Iqbal
Sharma late on Tuesday night at Hotel
Taj Palace in Colaba after a heated
argument. A case had been registered
under Section 325 of IPC against Saif Ali
Khan at the Colaba police station. The
actor was later released on bail.
NRI Iqbal Sharma, a Juhu resident,
lodged an FIR on Wednesday night.
After initial investigations and record-
ing statements from independent wit-
nesses, we arrested Saif Ali Khan from
his lawyers chamber, said Assistant
Commissioner of Police Iqbal Shaikh.
The incident happened when the
actor, along with Kareena Kapoor
and a few friends, was having dinner
at Wasabi restaurant, Taj Palace.
Sharma was seated with his family, wife
and parents, close to Saif s group.
Sharma, disturbed by the loud noise
created by Saif and party, requested
them to lower the volume.
Apparently, Saif first suggested the
Sharmas move to another table and then
told them to go to a library to find peace.
The argument led to a scuffle which
then resulted in Saif pushing and
punching Iqbal in the nose and even
beating up his 68-year-old father. Saif
Ali Khan arrived with his group around
midnight. They were so drunk that they
didnt know what they were talking
about and how loud they were. I
requested them to just lower their vol-
ume and had no intentions of getting
involved in a fight. In no time, Saif start-
ed arguing and soon his friends joined
in. In fact, he even called me an idiot.
It was then that my father tried to inter-
vene to sort out the matter. But Saif,
along with his four friends, got up angri-
ly, pushed my father and then beat us
both. While I have suffered a broken
nose, my dad has fractured his hand
apart from other minor injuries. It was
at this point that the hotel staff informed
the police but the group kept beating us
till the cops arrived. Saif immediately left
the venue. He was so drunk he was
almost carried off by his friends,
saidIqbal who is yet to hear from
Saif or anyone from his side.
According to reports,
Saif s arrest was inevitable and if found
guilty, he could spend up to seven years
behind bars. The Section, under which
he has been booked, is bailable but his
arrest is inevitable, added the ACP. Saif
later said that he too was assaulted.
CCTV footage would
clear him, he
claimed.
t's an unSaif worldl
Nawal of Patauoi lelo for assaulting senior citizen, son; gets lail
Aler meeling FM,
Bengal CMsays Slales
will be consulled
Anolher
conronlalion
brews over
erosion o
ederalism
whAT S ThE
uR0EhCY h
EXECuTh0 Ah
11YEAR0L0
0ECS0h, ThAT
T00 wTh0uT
TAKh0 STATES
hT0 C0hF0EhCE
|A|AlA AS|S P|
B|BAY |l| CuRl
FSHERMEN DEATHS
|+| u| Al||||]
Modi calls lhe
amendmenl Bill lhal lans
lo lranser lhe ower o lhe
Slale olice lo lhe RFF
'unwarranled'
l is a severe violalion o
lhe siril o lhe Conslilulion,
0ujaral CM wriles lo FM
'Fublic order' and 'olice'
are Slale subjecls, lhus
roosing amendmenls in
lhese inringe uon Slales'
owers, says Modi
FEDERAL WARROR
M800 resI4eat resIas after 0 4Irects
t0 c0 t0 r0sec0te hIm Ia assets case
poll tick
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Published From
DELH LUCKNOW BHOPAL
BHUBANESWAR RANCH
CHANDGARH DEHRADUN
Rhl ho. 53400/91, RE00. ho. 0L C}05/1219/20122014
hEW EIhI, Th8kY IE8kY Z3; Z01Z; FkE8 16 C2
A|lhough eve|y poss|b|e ca|e aud caul|ou has beeu la|eu lo avo|d e||o|s o| om|ss|ous, lh|s pub||cal|ou |s be|ug so|d ou lhe coud|l|ou aud uude|slaud|ug lhal |ulo|mal|ou g|veu |u lh|s pub||cal|ou |s me|e|y lo| |ele|euce aud musl uol be la|eu as hav|ug aulho||ly ol o| b|ud|ug |u auy way ou lhe w||le|s, ed|lo|s, pub||she|s, aud p||ule|s aud se||e|s who do uol owe
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capital 02 NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
Printed and pubIished by Chandan Mitra for and on behaIf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 2nd FIoor, Link House, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New DeIhi-110 002, and printed at Jagran Prakashan Ltd, D 210,211 Sector-63, Noida (U.P.). Editor: Chandan Mitra. AIR SURCHARGE of C 2.00 East: CaIcutta, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, North: Leh West:
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EX-ARMYOFFCAL'SPLEA
Pupl +||| |u uP C|i| |i|i|| +|J BSP up||u |+]+W+|i + | +||i1 |u| +| l|iu| ||i| i| |+|| |uiJ+ u| wJ|J+] R+||+| i||i | Piu||
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
Court on Wednesday refused to
restrain the Delhi Government
from setting up any other
committee to inquire into the
alleged sexual assault and
harassment of children in the
Arya Orphanage in the Capital.
A division bench of Acting
Chief Justice AK Sikri and
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw
declined to pass any order on
the plea of the orphanage in
Daryaganj that the Government
should be restrained from
setting up any other panel as the
children are traumatised after
several people visited the home
and questioned them.
President of the orphanage,
VP Chaudhary, who is also a
senior advocate, said more than
1,600 children have been
staying in the 95-year-old home
and due to some stray incidents,
the whole organisation cannot
be blacklisted. The court said no
other committee has been set
up by the Government so far. It,
however, asked Chaudhary to
approach the court if any other
panel is set up to which he has
objections. We have to look for
a solution to address the issue.
It should not be a knee jerk
reaction, the bench said.
Staff Reporter
kITIkk 8hkMk Q hEw 0ELh
T
he honeymoon of a newly
married couple turned sour
after they realised that the
expensive diamond-studded
wedding ring, worn by the
bride, had been stolen. The
couple was staying in a reputed
seven-star hotel in South Delhi.
The matter was reported to the
hotel administration and they
promised that they will take
action in this regard. However,
they kept on dilly-dallying over
the theft. The married couple
then lodged a complaint with
the Sarojini Nagar police
station and a case of theft has
been registered against the
unknown staffers of the hotel.
No arrest has been made so far
and the diamond ring valued
more than C7 lakh in the
market is yet to be traced.
According to the FIR, the
couple had booked a room in
the Leela Palace Hotel in Netaji
Nagar on February 18. Manas
(name changed) and Ishita
(name changed) were staying
in Room No 350 of the hotel.
According to Manas, he and
his wife had gone out of the
hotel for sometime on
February 19. We left the
room around 2:20 pm in the
afternoon to go to my
residence in Kailash Hills. My
wife Ishita had taken off the
wedding ring before taking a
shower and forgot to wear it
while going out. We realised
this within five minutes after
leaving the room and came
back to take the ring. To our
surprise, the ring was not
there. Also, there were two
cleaners in their room having
a blast and eating the left over
breakfast, Manas said.
When the couple brought
the matter to the notice of hotel
management on February 19,
they promised to compensate
them for the loss, but later
turned indifferent towards the
issue. On February 21, the
couple was forced to lodge an
official complaint with the
police. Manas said, The hotel
authorities had initially assured
to compensate us, but later they
refused and asked us to follow
the legal way. They kept
misguiding me and family by
saying that they have kept a
cheque worth C7 lakh ready
and I can come and collect the
same on February 21. I went to
the hotel, but they refused. It
was here that I decided to
lodge a complaint with the local
police, Manas said.
Police have taken up the
investigation and is seeking the
help of the complainants in
identifying the accused person.
The CCTV footage of the
corridor, where Room No 350
is situated, is being scanned to
find out the persons who
entered the room when the
couple was not present there.
Meanwhi l e, t he
administration of The Leela
Palace in an official statement
had clarified, The Leela is
committed to the safety and
security of the guests and
their belongings. The Leela
Palace, New Delhi, is working
with local authorities and
looks forward to settling the
matter soon.
8khk 8hkkII Q hEw 0ELh
W
ith the CBI sitting over a
complaint for three years
by a retired Army official,
booked under the Official
Secrets Act, indicting several
top intelligence officers in
corruption cases, a city court
issued a notice and sought a
status report from the CBI. The
court took note of the
complaint filed by Major
General (Retd) VK Singh
alleging the officers of RAW
and SPG of indulging in
corrupt practices in purchase of
security gadgets. Singh is
currently facing criminal
charges for leaking crucial
information through his book
titled Indias External
Intelligence Secrets of the
Research & Analysis Wing
after his retirement. In the
book, he highlighted instances
of alleged corruption detected
by him during his tenure
following which a case was
slapped against him by the CBI.
Special CBI Judge Pradeep
Chaddah, while issuing notice
to the CBI, said, Issue notice
to the CBI to inform the court
about the status of the
complaint and if the matter is
still under progress, how much
more time would be needed to
f i nal ly di spose of the
complaint. In his complaint,
to CBI Director Ashwani
Kumar in 2008, Singh had
al l eged corrupti on i n
procurement of ultra and very
high frequency antennae for
RAW and special protection
group at exorbitant prices and
without mandatory clearance.
Singh had sought registration
of FIRs against various senior
officials of the two premium
security agencies for their
roles in the alleged dubious
deals. Singhs book mentioned
various instances of alleged
corruption in RAW that he
had made a complaint to the
CBI and had later moved
court after no action was taken
by the probe agency.
Singh, however, said his
complaint evoked no response
and no action was initiated
against the guilty officers; then
he sought information under
the RTI Act in 2008, he was told
that the complaint is not yet
disposed of. A chief signal
officer with the Armys Western
Command, Singh was posted
on deputation as a Joint
Secretary (Telecom), with
Research and Analysis Wing
(RAW) under the Cabinet
Secretariat in November
2000. After his retirement
from the Army on
June 30, 2002, he continued
with RAW on re-employment
up to June 30, 2004.
While facing trial in the
OSA act case, Singh had told
the court that he was falsely
implicated in the case because
his book brought several
instances of corruption,
malfeasance, misconduct and
wrong doing in certain
Government departments such
as the RAW and the SPG.
He said, I am being subjected
to harassment for blowing the
whistle for their misdeeds.
The Retd Major General had
also accused former RAW
Chief Ashok Kumar
Chaturvedi of falsely
implicating him in the OSA
case, saying, I feel action has
been initiated against me by
personal animus of
Chaturvedi, adding that
mention of some senior
officers of RAW doing
misdeeds did not go well with
Chaturvedi. Singh had also
moved an application seeking
appropriate actions to be
taken against Chaturvedi for
falsely implicating him in the
said case.
8TkII EFTE Q AL0ARh
A
MU alumnus and Rajya
Sabha member
Mohammed Adeeb on
Wednesday urged Muslims to
support Samajwadi Party in
the ongoing UP Assembly
el ecti on. He sai d smal l
political outfit floated by self-
claimed Muslim leaders like
Peace Party are havi ng
motivated agenda to
neutralise the importance of
Muslims votes. Cautioning
further, he added that vote for
strong Congress if the partys
candidate has potential to
defeat BSP and Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). He was
addressing mediapersons at
his residence in New Delhi.
I travelled to several
districts in the State Basti,
Azamgarh, Barabanki,
Faizabad and Sitapur recently
and observed that SP is gaining
massive support in this
election. Small political parties
have jumped into the fray to
divide Muslim votes. These
parties are backed by the
Bharatiya Janata Party. Hence,
I want to appeal to the
community to support SP, said
Adeeb, who was jointly backed
by the Congress
and SP in Rajya Sabha
election in 2008. He was
elected unopposed.
Adeeb also appealed not to
vote those Congress candidates
who have joined the party
recently. Vote only for loyal
and old Congress workers, if
they have strength and
possibility of winning. If they
are leading and have fair
chances of victory, then
Muslims should vote for them.
Muslims should not vote those
candidates who came to the
party with the motive to get
elected, he added.
Adeeb, also a member of
Muslim Personal Law Board,
said with the initial trend, it is
evident that BSP has lost all its
ground in the State. People are
fed up with Mayawati
Government and want to get
rid of it, he said.
The MP said he would be
visiting western UP district in
the next couple of days and
woul d ask the Musl ims
voters to restrain from
voting for smal l
parties, BSP and BJP.
NEW DELHI: A 45-year-old
bike-borne ex-Armyman was
killed after allegedly being hit
by an unidentified vehicle in
the wee hours of Wednesday.
The incident was reported
from near Mahipalpur flyover
in South Delhi. The deceased
has been identified as Dhiren
Kalita, a resident of Najafgarh.
He hails from West Bengals
Dakshin Dinajpur district.
A senior police official said:
We had received a call around
2 am, reporting that a bike rider
had met with an accident near
the flyover. The bike rider was
travelling towards Gurgaon on
NH-8. The man was later
identified as Dhiren. When the
police reached the spot, they
found Dhiren unconscious and
lying in pool of blood.
Dhiren was immediately
rushed to AIIMS, where the
doctors declared him brought
dead, the official added.
A police official said the
deceaseds identity was
ascertained from the driving
licence and bike RC, recovered
from him. Police said they
suspect that the biker was hit
from behind by a speeding
vehicle. However, they said the
exact sequence of events could
only be ascertained once the
accident cell completes
its probe. Staff Reporter
8TkII EFTE Q hEw 0ELh
A
suspected Indian
Mujahideen (IM)
operative, who is reportedly
close to IM top operative Yasin
Bhatkal alias Shahrukh, has
been arrested from Darbhanga
in Bihar. Mohammad Qafeel
Ahmed (50) was tasked by the
IM bosses to recruit young
boys in the net. He was arrested
by a team of Delhi Polices
Special Team on Tuesday. With
his arrest, the total number of
arrests in the present IM
module has reached 10 and it
can increase even further with
the Special Team upping the
ante against IM operatives in its
quest for elusive Shahrukh.
There are 15 hardcore IM men
who are still at large.
DCP Crime, Ashok Chand
said, Mohammad Qafeel
Ahmed was arrested from
Darbhanga on Tuesday after a
tip-off. Ahmed was allegedly
acting as a motivator and
recruiter of youths of the terror
outfit that has been involved in
a series of blasts across the
country since 2008-09. Qafeel
acted as a conduit and used to
convey messages to other
operatives of the module. He
used to indoctrinate local
youth and recruit them to the
terror outfit. He also provided
safe hide-outs for the bombers
and couriers of the outfit,
Chand said.
It has been revealed that
Qafeel is also very close to
Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh,
the fugitive wanted by the
police across the country. Out
of the six IM men arrested by
the Special Cell of Delhi Police
in December, three of them,
including Mohammad Qateel
Siddique, Gauhar Aziz
Khomani and Gayur Ahmad
Jamali, were recruited by
Qafeel. Their arrest had led to
the solving of several cases of
bomb blasts in Karnataka,
Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi.
Qafeel owns a cycle repair
shop in Darbhanga and used to
impart preaching to children in
a local mosque. This module
was based in Darbhanga and
Madhubani of Bihar, the
DCP added.
Special team-led by
Additional DCP Sanjeev Yadav
is looking for the remaining 18
IM operatives who are believed
to have gone into hiding after
the arrest of top IM men.
Police say that the number of
IM cadres has gone up
significantly after the Batla
House encounter on September
19, 2008. The encounter had
seen Special Cell gunning
down Atif Amin, a very key
member of IM. Inspector
Mohan Chand Sharma had
attained martyrdom while
trying to arrest the IM men.
Most of IMs members are the
ex-members of banned
Students Islamic Movement in
India (SIMI). IM has been
getting cover financial help
from the rogue Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan
and its founder Amir Reza
Khan is believed to have been
housed in Karachi of Pakistan.
He lives under ISI protection
alongwith Bhatkal brothers
Riyaz and Iqbal.
The Special Team has
achieved a major success in the
first week of this month when
it managed to track down
Mohammad Tarique Anjuman,
one of the founding members
of IM who also doubled up as
outfits ideologue too. Anjuman
was apprehended from the
suburbs of Patna. Investigators
are hoping to get vital
information about the top IM
operative Shahrukh after
Qafeels arrest. Shahrukh has
been evading arrest since the
past three months after
an IM module was busted
in December.
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arreste4 Ia 8Ihar
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Brioe`s
oiamono ring
gets stolen
from 7-star
lotel room
Ix-Armyman
lilleo after
misla near
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Pooplo od
up with
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says MP
City court issues notice, seels
status reort from CB
008I008 08F86F
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PUNJABI ACADEMY, DELHI
DEPARTMENT OF ART,
CULTURE AND LANGUAGES,
GOVERNMENT OF DELHI
PRESENTS
TODAYS
PLAY
PUNJABI
THEATRE
FESTIVAL
2
0
1
2
PRESENTATION COLLEGIATE
DRAMA SOCIETY, DELHI
AUTHOR
DR. CHARAN DAS SIDDHU
DIRECTOR
RAVI TANEJA
SRIRAMCENTRE FOR
ART & CULTURE, 6.30 PM
Mangoo Te
Bikkar
23rd
FEBRUARY
capital 0S NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
8TkII EFTE Q hEw 0ELh
A
13-year-old girl ran away
from the clutches of her
exploiters who kidnapped her
from a village in Siwan district
in Bihar two-and-half months
ago and brought her to Delhi.
She was kept in the Wazirpur
area of Delhi for the last two
months and was being repeat-
edly raped by two youths who
brought her to Delhi. Three
days ago, when the kidnappers
were on their way to sell the
girl, she ran away from their
clutches from Sabzi Mandi
area and gave a call to her rel-
atives in Bihar, who contacted
the local police and she was
given shelter.
The outer district police,
with the help of an NGO, arrest-
ed the accused person near
Rohini Metro station on February
21. The accused person identified
as Abhishek had kidnapped the
girl from her residence with the
help of the girls relative Ravi
Ranjan. In Delhi, the girl was kept
at a secret place in Vajitpur and
was repeatedly exploited by
Abhishek, Ravi and two other
local youths from Delhi. The girl
got pregnant and the child was
aborted after which the youths
were planning to sell her off.
A police official said, after
being rescued, the girl was
sent to Nari Niketan. In her
statement to the counsellors in
Nari Niketan, she mentioned
the brutalities inflicted upon
her by her exploiters. She men-
tioned how these men used to
give her dope injections to
make her unconscious and
then raped her. She also told
her counsellors that there are
many such girls like her who
are kidnapped and sold into
prostitution by these youths.
After the 13-year-old ran
away from the youths, she was
rescued by an NGO, who later
arrested her exploiters with
the help of the police of
Prashant Vihar police station,
Outer district. Abhishek, the
youth who kidnapped the girl,
told her relatives over the
phone that he is ready to marry
her and will come to pick her
up wherever they say. Sensing
it as a good opportunity to
arrest the person, her relatives
asked Abhishek to come to
Rohini Metro station on
February 21. The local police
and the members of NGO
were already present there and
he was arrested on the spot.
A police team from Siwan
in Bihar will come to Delhi on
Thursday to look into the mat-
ter and the victim girl will be
handed over to them to be
reunited with her family in
Bihar. A missing complaint of
the girl was registered in the
native village of the girl.
In Delhi, a zero FIR has
been registered in the Prashant
Vihar police station regarding
this case. Bihar police will look
after the case once the girl is
handed over to them. With the
arrest of Abhishek, police is
likely to get information about
many such girls kidnapped
and sold into prostitution. The
13-year-old has alleged that
Abhishek and Ravi are a part of
a gang, which kidnaps girls and
sells them into prostitution.
80r4I4 saa 0f kI4aa, rae ea4s
FkVEZ 8ITkh Q hEw 0ELh
F
ollowing the direction of the
Directorate of Local bodies
RK Srivastava, the finance
department of the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
has undertaken the herculean
task of preparing the Budget for
three proposed municipal bod-
ies for the next fiscal 2012-13.
The Financial Advisor-
cum-Charted Accountant (FA-
cum-CA) of the MCD Mayank
Sharma said the department
had initiated the process of
preparing Budget for three
new corporations. The new
corporations may come into
existence in April. The Budget
is being distributed among
three in a scientific manner,
keeping in the mind each and
every element of expenditure
and revenue in actual.
Sharma said, The Budget
for the proposed three corpo-
rations will be prepared on
actual after analysing all the
aspects in a scientific manner.
It will be adopted by the House
for each corporation separate-
ly. Elaborating on the process
further, he said preparation
for the budget is a complicat-
ed task and while preparing the
budget, the finance depart-
ment and the number of wards
and zones falling in each cor-
porations along with density of
population in each zones would
also be taken into considera-
tion.
After considering all factors
among the three municipal
bodies, revenue will be distrib-
uted accordingly. The process is
on and it will take time, he
added. On February 7, Secretary
of the Urban Development
Department of the Delhi
Government, Srivastava, is also
director of local bodies and has
sent a letter to the MCD asking
to prepare budget for three
municipal corporations for the
financial year 2012-13. The
three separate Budgets would be
adopted by the three entities on
the very first day of the gener-
al house of the corporations will
take place. Centralised revenue
of the MCD will also be justifi-
ably divided into three with
other revenue income like prop-
erty tax as per their earning of
the respective corporations.
Contrary to general perception,
Sadar Paharganj zone has the
highest population density while
it was believed that the density
of population is higher in trans-
Yamuna area, a senior official
of the finance department said.
8TkII EFTE Q hEw 0ELh
T
he Delhi Police has given a
clean chit to Baba Ramdev
and Janata Party chief
Subramanian Swamy for
allegedly inciting communal
passions at a press meet in the
Capital that prompted a pro-
tester to throw black ink on the
yoga gurus face. Delhi Police
on Wednesday told a city court
that the duo had not incited
any communal passion, leading
to the beating up of a man by
their followers for throwing
black ink on yoga gurus face in
the Press meet.
The police placed the report
before Metropolitan Magistrate
Jasjeet Kaur which said, During
the Press conference, Baba
Ramdev neither spoke against
the Muslim community nor
abetted the supporters to assault
him (Kamran Siddiqui).
Subramanian Swamy was also
with Baba Ramdev and he also
did not incite any person to
assault Siddiqui. The report was
filed in response to the courts
direction to it on a private
complaint by Kamran Siddiqui,
seeking prosecution of Ramdev
and Swamy, allegedly for
committing offences of pro-
moting communal enmity,
assaulting and dishonouring
him besides trying to kill him.
The court has now posted
the matter for hearing on
March 6 and has asked the
police to file a fresh status
report verifying Siddiquis med-
ical records. The judge also
asked the police to explain why
Siddiqui was not examined at
the Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital and taken to Lady
Hardinge Hospital instead. The
SHO of the Parliament Street
police station said the nature of
injuries as per Siddiquis med-
ical records were simple and no
witness or evidence has been
found which could substantiate
the allegation that the yoga guru
and his supporters incited com-
munal passion after the
ink-throwing incident on
January 14 in the press meet at
Constitutional Club.
As per the medico-legal
certificate (MLC), the injuries
are simple and attract invoking
of Section 323 (simple hurt) of
the IPC which is a non-cognis-
able offence. The allegation
under Section 153 A (promot-
ing enmity between classes), 355
(assault with intent to dishon-
our a person) and 307 (attempt
to murder) could not be
proved, the status report said.
k1E8h kMk Q hEw 0ELh
T
he Delhi Government has
decided to approve a poli-
cy of opening of more retail
vends of liquor in the private
sector. The Delhi Cabinet on
Wednesday approved a policy
for opening of more liquor
vends, especially on commer-
cial roads and unauthorised
colonies. Currently, out of 571
retail liquor vends, 351 vends
are located in commercial
areas, while 104 are located in
notified areas/streets. The
remaining 116 vends are in non
conforming areas-mixed land
use. The growth of revenue col-
lection from excise is over 23
per cent this year compared to
the last financial year and the
revenue collection has touched
C2,100 crore upto February
21. In other words, tipplers in
Delhi are increasing every year.
Similarly, demand of hard
liquor is also increasing.
Top sources said that the
decision was taken after it was
observed that the number of
vends in other metropolitan
cities is much higher as com-
pared to Delhi. In Mumbai,
there are 1,000 vends per 10
million population, whereas
in Delhi it is 500 for similar size
of population. If the approxi-
mate population of Delhi is
taken to be 1.70 crore, the
number of vends per 10 million
population comes out to be 328
which is less than one third of
the number of vends in
Mumbai. In Bangalore, there
are 896 retail liquor shops
against the approximate popu-
lation of 96 lakh. Thus, the
number of retail liquor shops
per 10 million populations
comes out to be around 900
which is 2.7 times that in
Delhi. After liberalising the
excise rules, the Government
has allowed liquor shops in
departmental stores and shop-
ping malls last year.
According to a proposed
note, 54 vends are needed
across the city while there is no
requirement of liquor vends in
three districts New Delhi,
Central and West Delhi. A
district like north east needs a
maximum of 27 vends, while
east needs 6; north 3, south
west 4 and south 6. Beside this,
a proposal of 34 vends for
country made liquor in unau-
thorised colonies has been
received by the Government.
Political opposition began
after the Government went on
a shop-opening spree in this
excise year and decided to do
away with the NOC from the
local MLA. More than 70
liquor shop were opened in a
span of over six months in
2005. After political opposition,
DDA had suggested that new
retail liquor shops should not
be permitted on the notified
commercial streets on
September 25, 2008. Sources
said that there is a great
demand in unauthorsied
colonies for retail liquor vends.
A presentation was made by
the excise department before
chief secretary last year and it
was suggested that the
Government should allow
opening of retail country vends
in resettlement colony and JJ
slum dwellers.
Accordi ng to Heal t h
Minister Ashok Kumar Walia,
the Government wants to
provide quality liquor to
avoid another hooch tragedy
in the Capital.
8TkII EFTE Q hEw 0ELh
I
n a move akin to Gandhigiri,
departing from precedence
Delhi Social Welfare Minister
Kiran Walia on Monday called
on Police Commissioner BK
Gupta at the Police
Headquarters. The Delhi
Minister was seeking a meeting
with the Delhi Police
Commissioner for the past one
month to discuss several issues
related to the safety of women
and children.
After several reminders
when the Police Commissioner
failed to oblige, she finally
went to his office on
Wednesday to take up the mat-
ter. However, some of her min-
isterial colleagues have frowned
on her initiative. If the Police
Commissioner was not giving
her appointment, she should
have taken up the matter with
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
or Union Home Secretary RK
Singh or Chief Secretary PK
Tripathi. How can the Police
Commissioner ignore a
Minister in the Delhi
Government? She should not
have gone to meet any person
or official who is holding a
position lower than her, said a
Minister, adding such meetings
violate the protocol.
According to a press state-
ment, Walia urged the Police
Commissioner to keep a vigil
at various placement agencies
which are responsible for
bringing innocent women and
girls from the neighbouring
States in the name of providing
them employment/placement
and hand them over to the
criminals/persons which are
involved in flash trade. This is
a heinous crime and needs to
be checked immediately, it
said. Walia urged the Police
Commissioner to give full
cooperation to womens helps
groups and Awaz Uthao
Samooh for raising their voice
against violence and harass-
ment against women.
She suggested the Police
Commissioner to register such
placement agencies and check
their records as to how many
girls and women they have
placed for work and how many
have been given in the hands of
people involved in illegal and
immoral trade.
MkZM MhkMMk Q
hEw 0ELh
F
or cinema buffs, the upcom-
ing 20th New Delhi World
book Fair in the national
Capital will be a gala fete. The
Fair, which would showcase
300 publications on Indian
cinema, is aimed to commem-
orate the centenary celebrations
of cinema as well as bring out
an Annotated Rights
Catalogue. Being held after
every two years in the sprawl-
ing pavilions of Pragati Maidan,
the fair would focus on the role
and contribution of the cine-
matic medium towards popu-
lar culture on the centenary
year celebrations of the
Cinema. The world book fair
will feature several film celebri-
ties and authors. The aim is to
highlight and portray the works
on Indian Cinema. It will be a
live and mega event as several
people associated with cinema
will be also participating,
including actor Farooq Sheikh,
lyricist Javed Akhtar, Deepti
Naval, said Director National
Book Trust MA Sikandar.
Earlier, at the beginning of
this year, the NBT has already
come out with a calendar show-
casing the cinema based on lit-
erature. The main idea behind
such an initiative is to portray
the mutual relationship between
books and cinema. During the
fair, Minister of communication
and Information Technology
Kapil Sibals book would
also be released.
In the nine-day mega event
starting from February 25 till
March 4, 27 countries and sev-
eral international organisations
are going to participate for
which all work has been done.
Besides, it would also be host-
ing ministerial delegation of
foreign countries as well. The
event would see around 1,300
publishers with 2,500 book
stalls. The books would be on
varied subjects. Ministerial
delegations of France and UAE
are coming in the event. This
is a new feature of the fair,
Sikandar said.
To make the event more
interactive, several noted
authors are going to participate
in the fair at Pragati Maidan,
including former President of
India APJ Abdul Kalam, noted
writer and historian William
Dalrymple and MP Shashi
Tharoor. Chief Election
Commissioner of India would
also feature among the panel of
speakers on a book release. The
novel thing to come across in
the fair would be a rare exhi-
bition of books authored by
Rabindranath Tagore.
For children, it would be
completely different affair this
year, as myriad of programmes
and activities have been
included in the schedule.
Bollywood actress Nandita
Das would appear in the chil-
drens pavilion. We are going
to make it more attractive. The
event will feature seminars,
talk shows, discussions, doc-
umentary, workshops and
book releases, said Sikandar,
adding the three-day seminar
would be held in collaboration
with department of Modern
Languages Delhi University. A
one-day seminar on e-pub-
lishing would be also held.
NEW DELHI: In a rare kind of
its surgery, an eight kilogram
balloon-like protrusion has
been removed from the head of
a four-month old baby at the
All India Institute of Medical
Sciences in the national Capital.
The doctors termed the disor-
der as encephalocele and
believed it be the first of its case
in the country. The child
Shwetank, who hails from
Siwan district of Bihar, doctors
said weighed around 11 kilo-
grams when brought to the
hospital by his parents.
Following the surgery, the
baby now weighs three kg after
the removal of this mass from
this head. The protrusion
contained nearly six litres of
fluid, said Head of Department
Neurosurgery AIIMS Dr AK
Mahapatra, who first saw the
baby on January 18. Such a
case is scientifically termed as
a case of Encephalocele and it
is a first-of-its kind case as it
was a Giant Encephalocele
a congenital malformation of
the skull where the contents of
the brain can protrude out in
the form of a balloon. It was
larger that the size of baby
Shwetanks head, he said.
The baby, he said, was
brought to him in a rectangu-
lar tub as he could not be car-
ried in a lap. Due to such con-
dition, he could not be carried
in lap, he only slept on his sides.
He could not be fed properly
too, he added.
Surprised at the case, he said
that the swelling did not rupture
and he was brought to AIIMS
with great care. It would have
been fatal for the child. The
babys surgery, too, was not a
simple procedure, he said. SR
AMS oocs
ull off rare
surgery on
4-montl laly
1 lelo after minor
girl runs away
from tle clutcles
of lionaers
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Budget for the
proposed three
corporations
will be prepared
after analysing
all aspects in
a scientific
manner. t will
be adopted by
the House for
each of them
separately
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Book fair to be a
treat for cine buffs
hIhEE 8Ihh Q hEw 0ELh
T
he inmates of the Delhi
Zoological Park are to get
exclusive customised enclo-
sures. Most inmates of the
zoo belonging to the same
family have similar kind of
enclosures. The Central Zoo
Authority (CZA), along with
the School of Planning and
Architecture (SPA), are to hold
a consultation to discuss and
design customised habitats for
animals, including birds, tigers
and amphibians.
The Delhi Zoological
Park is to undergo a massive
change and upgradation in
the new zoo master plan.
Experts feel that the zoo
designs to make the animals
feel at home have remained
neglected and unchecked for
long. Taking the Delhi Zoo as
a case study, these experts are
to di scuss, study and
design exclusive customised
enclosures for the inmates.
Enclosures for flightless
birds, tigers including white
tigers, primate enclosures for
the monkey and chimpanzees,
amphibian exhibits and aviary
for birds that would provide
them better living area with
more natural surroundings are
to be discussed and designed
in the two-day workshop from
February 24 to 26.
This is going to be the first
occasion when the zoo author-
ities will be discussing and
designing exclusive animal
enclosures. International
experts from the field of zoo
landscaping will observe ani-
mal habitat, food habits and
the climate needed. Every
animal has its own specific
needs. And generalized habi-
tats of the animals have a
negative implication on these
animal s, said Professor
Surinder Suneja of the
Department of Landscape
Architecture of School of
Planning and Architecture.
The zoo master plan pro-
poses new animal friendly
enclosures for the animals.
The whole idea of organising
these consultations is to make
the animals feel at home, in
their natural habitat, said BS
Bonsal, Member Secretary
Central Zoo Aut hority.
Explaining the whole plan,
Bonsal said that the concept
of designing buildings is dif-
ferent from designing zoo
infrastructure. The animals
need to be provided their
natural habitat and the people
who visit the zoological park
must also get a feeling that
they are entering a natural
forest, said Bonsal.
The team of experts that
will consist of experts from
Australia and Austria will
spend a day at the Delhi Zoo
observing these animals, their
enclosures, food habits and
their other characteristics. To
start with only five categories
of animals will be observed,
discussed and then their
enclosures will be worked out
in the seminar.
We want to provide the
animals a comfort zone and
attract more people to the zoo,
not just for animals, but also
for the natural habitat. The
new enclosures are to be more
animal-friendly and people-
friendly spaces, said the
Curator of the Zoo RA Khan.
00st0mIse4 hahItats f0r t00 Iamates s00a
8TkII EFTE Q
hEw 0ELh
T
o encourage fish culture
in the water bodies and
village ponds to keep
encroachers away, the Delhi
Cabinet has decided to
approve a proposal of fish cul-
ture in the water bodies/vil-
lage ponds. The cabinet also
decided to approve a propos-
al for setting up of dialysis
centres in identified hospitals
of the Delhi Government and
to enhance the amount of
cashless facility and increase
in empanelled hospitals for
Delhi-based freedom fighters.
After the Cabinet meet-
ing, Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit said that the
Government has decided to
promote fish culture in the
water bodies to overcome
encroachment activities over
the water bodies situated
under gram sabha land. By
virtue of a notification dated
May 23, 1957, water bodies in
the villages of Delhi became
property of gram sabha. It has
been noticed that due to
increase in population,
encroachment activities in
various parts of the Capital
city and at various places,
these water bodies are being
encroached by the people
resulting in reduction in nat-
ural sources of water and
depletion of water table in
Delhi. Further, pollution of
these water bodies started
because of opening of drains
and sewerage lines in the
water bodies.
As per the provision of
Delhi Land Reforms Act,
1954, it is the duty of gram
panchayat to develop activi-
ties such as poultry farming
and fishery. The Cabinet has
decided to auction these
water bodies for fishing activ-
ities on approved terms and
conditions which includes
utilisation of ponds for only
fish and fish seed of culture-
able varieties, not to further
handover pond to any other
person, no modification in
the existing structure in the
water bodies and not to do
any activity which is not in
conformity with the exist-
ing/future laws of environ-
ment. The ownership of
lands/ponds shall continue to
remain with the gram sabha.
Govt to romote
isciculture in
water looies
KEEPNGENCROACHERSAWAY
NEW DELHI: The Union and
the Delhi Governments were
on Wednesday directed by the
Delhi High Court to respond
to a plea seeking penal actions
against a sitting MLA for
allegedly encroaching upon
Government land and running
an illegal zoo on it.
A bench of Acting Chief
Justice AK Sikri and Justice
Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued
notices to the Urban
Development Ministry, the
Commissioner of Police and
the DDA and sought their
replies by March 21 on a
petition which alleged that
Asif Mohammed Khan, the
sitting MLA from Okhla, has
illegally encroached upon five
bigha of DDA land at Jasola
village in Southeast Delhi and
is running a zoo there.
The court sought a status
report from the land-owning
agency by the next date of
hearing. The petition was filed
by one Kamran Siddiqui, who
sought registration of a crim-
inal case against the legislator
on charges of criminal trespass
and encroachment of land.
Accusing the MLA of mis-
using his power, the petitioner
said the court should direct the
police to take action against him
as he violated the provisions of
the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act and also the Wild
Life Protection Act. SR
HC iat on
'illogal zoo'
on Govt land
Ixerts feel zoo
lanoscaing to
male animals feel at
lome las remaineo
neglecteo for long
nation 04
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
Tola| du|| aud bo||ug speech ... lhe|e |s
uol a s|ug|e wo|d lo v|o|ale mode|
code ol couducl!
Last Bite by Shekhar Gurera
VIkkM kTEIk Q hAR0wAR
A
n elephant trampled to
death a woman who had
gone to fetch fodder in the
Motichur Range of the Rajaji
National Park on Wednesday.
The incident took place in for-
est area about two kms from
Satyanarayan Mandir.
The Raiwala police have
filed a complaint in connection
to the case and further inves-
tigations are on. The incident
comes after the Forest Depart-
ment had recently relocated the
killer tuskar of Rishikesh to
the Chil l a Range of the
National Park sometimes ago.
The incident took place
when Pramila (45) had gone to
the woods to fetch fodder.
Pramila, who stays in Punjab,
had come to her parents house
in Pradeepnagar near Raiwala
last week. Her body was found
in the Motichur Range around
2 pm on Wednesday. The
Raiwala police were intimated
and a complaint has been
registered in connection to the
case. Sub Inspector of Rawila
police post, Mahadev Uniyal,
said, The body has been
sent for post-mortem and
further investigations in the
case are on.
8TkII EFTE Q hEw 0ELh
P
romoters of Essar Group
Anshuman and Ravi Ruia
and Loop Telecom promoters IP
Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan were
granted exemption from
personal appearance by a Special
CBI court on Wednesday which
had summoned the corporate
honchos as accused in the
multi-crore 2G case.
Special CBI Judge OP Saini
granted exemption to the Ruias
after their lawyers submitted that
that they were outside India and
should thus be exempted from
personal appearance. The
defence counsel of the two other
accused Khaitans moved an
application for exemption on
health grounds. The CBI did not
oppose the four applications.
Senior advocates Mukul
Rohatgi and Parag Tripathi,
appearing for Ruias and Khaitans
respectively, in two separate
pleas taking exemption from
personal appearance for their
clients on grounds including
that they were residents of UAE
and they have not been proper-
ly served with the summons.
Khaitans cited their poor health
condition as additional ground
in support of their exemption
pleas. The case against us is not
a case under the Prevention of
Corruption Act and, moreover,
we have challenged the
administrative order of the Delhi
High Court by which this court
was constituted to hear the 2G
case, Rohatgi said.
The judge instructed all
the accused to be present in
person on the next date of
hearing on March 17 and also
listed the case for scrutiny of
documents on the same date.
The corporate honchos had
failed to appear before the
court on December 27 too say-
ing summons were not duly
served upon them.
The Supreme Court would
hear the matter on March 1 and
the outcome would decide the
forum and the course of trial
against us, he added. If we win,
then this case against us would
be tried by a magistrate and if
we lose then this matter will
proceed before this court, he
said and sought a date of hear-
ing during last week of March.
The apex court had on
February 15 refused to grant
interim stay on the summons
issued to them but agreed to
decide the plea challenging
the jurisdiction of the Special
CBI Court in hearing their case
in the absence of corruption
charge against them.
Vikas Saraf, Essar Group
Director (Strategy and
Planning), however, appeared
and moved his bail application
before the court on Wednesday
which asked the CBI to file a
reply and posted it for hearing
on March 17. The authorised
representatives of three firms,
Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop
Mobile India Ltd and Essar
Tele Holdings which have also
been made accused in the case
along with their promoters
also appeared in the court fol-
lowing the issuance of sum-
mons against them.
Ikh8 Q hEw 0ELh
T
he Delhi High Court on
Wednesday reserved its
order on a plea filed by the Delhi
Government against a single
judges order restraining it from
issuing a notification for next
months Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee
(DSGMC) elections.
A division bench of Acting
Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice
Rajiv Shah Endlaw reserved
their order after both parties con-
cluded their arguments. The
February 7 order had directed
city Government to update,
within a month, the electoral
rolls with photographs of vot-
ers for the DSGMC elections.
The directorate of
gurdwara election (DGE) also
challenged the order of Justice
Vipin Sanghi ordering it to com-
plete the exercise of delimitation
in 46 wards within a month.
Challenging the order, the
Government in its petition said
that the single judge had no
right to pass such an order once
the directorate has declared the
schedule for the polls.
On the delimitation of 46
wards, the Government said
that it would take a long time and
could be done only after the elec-
tions. The single judges order
came on a petition filed by
Harmohan Singh, a poll aspirant,
alleging that the directorate had
virtually announced the sched-
ule for the election but the noti-
fication was yet to be issued.
Gurdwara poll: Dolhi
HC rosorvos ordor
80Ias, khaItaas et exemtI0a
fr0m ers0aaI aearaace
+|
1+||u & |+||i| u1||||| |plu] |uu| lu+| + ||] |u|| +| ||i] u| + S|+| |i|i|| J|+|Ji| |ul+|i+|iu|
u| ||i| |u| Ju|i| + p|u|| i| S|i|++| u| wJ|J+] AP
The judge instructed
all the accused to be
present in person on
the next date of
hearing on March 17
and also listed the
case for scrutiny
of documents on
the same date
8TkII EFTE Q Bh0FAL
T
he Madhya Pradesh
Assembly was on
Wednesday adjourned for the
day amid din, after Speaker
Ishwardas Rohani turned down
the breach of privilege motion
moved by main Opposition
Congress over the issue of arrest
of its legislator, Kalpana
Parulekar. Rohani turned down
the motion on the ground that
the matter is sub judice and the
arrest did not take place in the
House premises.
Parulekar was arrested from
Mahidpur in Ujjain by the CB-
CID, a few days back for alleged-
ly displaying a morphed pho-
tograph of RSS Head, Mohan
Bhagwat with MP Lokayukta,
PP Naolekar. The motion was
moved during Question Hour
and this was opposed vocifer-
ously by the treasury benches
and when the Opposition also
started countering them on the
issue, the House plunged into
turmoil following which the
Speaker adjourned it twice for
15 minutes each.
After the Question Hour, the
matter was again raised by the
Opposition after which Speaker
allowed the members to express
their views on the issue.
Deputy Leader of the
Congress Legislature Party
(CLP), Chowdhry Rakesh Singh
Chaturvedi said that as per the
rules of the House no MLA or
person can be arrested by the
police for doing anything unlaw-
ful in the Assembly premises
until the Speaker permits the
police to do so.
He said that it is not only
the violation of the privileges of
the members but also encroach-
ment on the rights of the
Speaker. It is clear in the demo-
cratic system that only the
Speaker could initiate action
against the members of house
for any incident that happens in
the house and in this case the
police action is uncalled for and
illegal, he added.
The Opposition benches
alleged that the action was
taken in vengeance and that
the Government has come
down to harass the Opposition
members for bringing no con-
fidence motion during the
Winter Session of the
Assembly.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Narottam
Mishra said that discussion on
a sub judice matter could not
be held and that the act of
Parulekar has shamed the
democracy. Referring rules and
regulations he said that the
incidence is that of outside the
house and hence is not a fit case
for breach of privilege.
khhkFhk 1hk Q hEw 0ELh
P
rasar Bharati, which is at
present facing acute crunch
of staff, can now heave a sigh of
relief as newly appointed CEO
Jawahar Sircars top priority is
providing adequate manpower
to the public broadcaster and
improving morale of employees.
Sircar, who took over as the
CEO on Wednesday, told The
Pioneer that at present the Prasar
Bharati has a lot of vacancies
which need to be urgently filled.
A Task force has prepared a pro-
posal that has been put forward
to the DoPT, but it has not yet
received clearance. Now the
Prasar Bharati will make
renewed efforts to expedite the
approval so that posts could be
filled immediately.
Moreover, morale of the
employee is down as many of
them have not got promotions
during the past two decades,
so steps will be taken in that
direction also. However, while
considering probl ems of
employees sympathetically,
Sircar said that he would also
expect output from them as
it is a two-way traffic.
He would take steps for
digitalisation, improvement in
service delivery and archives.
Better coordination and col-
laboration between
Doordarshan and AIR, espe-
cially in the field of news shar-
ing, is one area on which the
new CEO will like to focus.
Though the news content
and reach of Doordarshan and
AIR are remarkable, the pre-
sentation standards are not up
to the mark, the former I&B
Secretary pointed out and said
that steps will be taken to
improve presentation.
However, he is aware that
the infighting within the
organisations, which in the
past hampered its growth, will
be a major challenge that
needs to be tackled. But Sircar
is confident of tackling it by
having a proper look into all
the contentious matter.
From Page 1
Targeting the UPA
Government at the Centre,
Mayawati accused it of hin-
dering the States development
by not providing a special eco-
nomic package to it as demand-
ed by her party. She alleged the
economic package sought was
yet to see the light of the day.
BSP chief introduced the party
candidates Omdatt Singh,
Satwari Singh Gujjar and
Vedram Bhatti from Noida,
Dadri and Jewar seats respec-
tively at the rally.
Taking a dig at the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
Mayawati said that the BJP too
had no moral right to speak on
corruption as their Government
in Karnataka has set an exam-
ple of how to indulge in corrupt
practices. The record of the
NDA Government which ruled
for about seven years also
reflects the BJPs lack of com-
mitment to the cause of fight-
ing corruption, said the BSP
leader. Training her guns on the
BJP, Mayawati said, The BJP
talks of bringing back black
money but what did they do
during their tenure in this
regard. I want black money of
all political groups back in the
country.
Referring to the minority
reservation issue, Mayawati said,
By aimlessly adding other
groups to the OBC list, the
Congress party was depriving the
existing beneficiaries. By promis-
ing nine per cent reservation to
Muslims in Government jobs,
the Congress Party is trying to
mislead both the Muslims and
the OBC groups who are already
in the list.
The Congress led UPA
government should not forget
about its numerous scandals,
which have emerged in past
three years as they have exposed
true face of the Congress party
on the matter of corruption,
Mayawati said. Attacking
Congress general secretary
Rahul Gandhi, the BSP chief
said his claims of development
of the State, if his party was
voted to power, were mislead-
ing. For almost 40 years the
Congress was in power in the
state. They cannot put the
blame on others, she said. She
even accused the UPA govern-
ment at the Centre for starving
the state of much needed cen-
tral funds for different devel-
opmental projects.
Indicating to the slow pace
of development in some of the
sectors in the state, she said,
The Center had been very con-
servative in releasing the funds
for the state. Whatever devel-
opment has taken place so far
in the state during the past five
years has been accomplished by
our own meagre resources
alongwith the help of private
sectors in some development
projects. If the Centre cooper-
ates with us and gives us further
chance to serve the state then
our aim is to provide 24 hour
electricity per day.
Slamming the Samajwadi
Party, Mayawati said, Mulayam
Singhs party, if voted to power,
would bring goonda raj in the
state and women would be the
worst affected. They have supp-
ported criminals and mafia
during its regime.
The state under BSP
regime has done more than
any government had ever done
for the farmers, she said point-
ing to doubling of the mini-
mum purchase price for sug-
arcane in the state during her
tenure. She asserted that her
party is determined to main-
tain harmony and communal
peace in the state. Our com-
mitment was reflected in the
way my government succeed-
ed in maintaining peace in
Uttar Pradesh following the
High Court order on Masjid-
Ram Janambhhomi issue, she
said addressing a large gather-
ing of farmers, party workers,
locals and people from far off
places who claimed that the
BSP supremo have helped
them at any point of time.
The BSP head promised
steady development of the state
in the event of her party form-
ing government in UP again.
BSP gave tickets to 88 SC can-
didates, 113 OBCs, 85 minori-
ties, including Muslims and
117 upper castes including 74
Brahmins, among others.
From Page 1
the Catholic Bishops
Conference of India, said in
New Delhi that the Cardinal
had made the statement as a
responsible citizen of India
but the news agency had dis-
torted his words.
Fides quoted Cardinal
Alencherry as saying the
Opposition party (CPI(M)-
led LDF) wants to take advan-
tage of the situation and
exploit the case for electoral
reasons (in the context of an
upcoming by-poll). It should
be noted that the Italian
Government had said this
week that the by-poll in
Piravam constituency was
perhaps worsening the case of
the oil tanker gunfire.
The reported statement
proved that the Cardinal was
on the side of the killers and
not t he ki l l ed, al l eged
Opposit i on l eader VS
Achuthanandan. Who told
Cardinal that the Opposition
parties were trying to cash in
on the killing of fishermen?
he asked, adding that such an
i rresponsi bl e st atement
should not have come from a
person adorning the throne of
a Cardinal.
Referri ng to t he
Cardinals statement on the
instructions he had given to
the Kerala Ministers, State
BJP presi dent V
Mural eedharan sai d t he
Government should clarify
whether the loyalty of these
Cat hol i c Mi ni sters was
towards the Church and Italy
or to t he count r ys
Constitution and people.
Derick Valentine, son of
Valentine alias Jelestine (48),
one of those killed in the fir-
ing from the Italian ship, said
the Cardinal should have
understood the grief and anx-
ieties of the victims families
(before making such state-
ments). He said he would
like to tell the Cardinal about
the familys pain when he
returned to Kerala.
l00k Wh0's taIkIa7
Maya ta0ats 00a
Caroinal stirs a
lornets` nest witl
ro-taly stano
Tusker lramles
woman lo dealh
al Rajaji ark
MP Assemlly
aojourneo over
arrest of legislator
Frasar 8haratI 0F0 t0
0 0a hIrIa sree7
1+W+|+| Si|+|
I, Pushpa Joshi, W/o Late Mr.
Dheeraj Kumar Joshi R/o A-28,
Block-B, Street-18, Baljit Vihar,
Nangloi, Delhi-110086, hereby
declare that have changed my
name from Prem Lata Pandey
to Pushpa Joshi for all future
purposes.
PD(8269)C
I, Amit Kumar son of Arun
Kumar Agarwal R/oflat no. 130
pocket 4ShubhamApartments
Sector 12 Dwarka New Delhi-
110075, have changed my
name to Amit Agarwal for all
purposes.
PD(8268)C
Myoriginal certificateof high-
er secondary from CBSE Delhi
has been actually lost. Promila
Agrawal W/o Shri Kanti Prasad
Agrawal R/o A-79, Sec-27,
Noida.
PD(8267)A
Lost original Sale Deeds of 1
st
Floor and 2
nd
Floor of Property
situated at Khasra No. 166
Village Mamura, facing main
road, opp. Sector 67 NOIDA
(U.P.) in the name of R.C.
Malhotra Foundation Trust. If
found call 9810059591.
PD(8270)C
CHANGE OF NAME
LOST & FOUND
PRASAR BHARATI
ALL INDIA RADIO : CIVIL CONSTRUCTION WING
TENDER NOTICE
The Executive Engineer(C), Soochna Bhawan, Division-III, CCW, AIR, New Delhi (Tel No.
011- 24364643) invites, on behalf of the President of India, Sealed item Rate Tenders from
approved and eligible contractors of CPWD and those of appropriate class of contractors enlist-
ed in the Department of Telecommunications (BSNL), Department of Post, MES, Railways
and State PWD of Delhi upto 3.00 P.M. on 09.03.12 for the following work:-
NAME OF WORK : SHIFTING OF ARCHIVES FROM 5th FLOOR AKASHWANI BHAWAN
TO CPC, NEW DELHI.
SUB HEAD : RENOVATION MODIFICATION FOR ACCOMMODATION FOR ARCHIVES i/c
INTERNAL ELECTRIFICATION, FIRE FIGHTING, EARLY FIRE ALARM, D.G.
SET, STREET LIGHT SERVICE CONNECTION & AIR CONDITIONING DUCT-
ING AT CPC, NEW DELHI.
Estimated Earnest Time of Last Date & Last date Date and
Cost(in Rs..) Money Completion Time of and time for time of
(in Rs.) Receipt of sale of opening
Application Tender of
Documents tenders
3,22,74,975/- 6,45,500/- 03 Months 5.03.12 6.03.12 9.03.12
Tender documents excluding standard form can be obtained from the O/o EE(C) Soochna
Bhawan, Division-III, CCW, AIR, 5th floor, Soochna Bhawan, New Delhi, upto 16.00 hrs on
all working days on payment of Rs. 1,500/- (Rs. one thousand five hundred only) in cash
(non-refundable) towards the cost of tender. Earnest money shall be deposited alongwith
tender document in receipt Treasury Challan/Deposit at Call Receipt of a Scheduled Bank/fixed
deposit receipt of a Scheduled bank/Demand draft of a scheduled bank issued in favour of
Executive Engineer(C), Soochna Bhawan, Division-III, CCW, AIR, New Delhi. A part of the
earnest money is acceptable in the form of bank guarantee also. In such case, 50% of the
earnest money or Rs. 20 lakhs, whichever is less, will have to be deposited in shape pre-
scribed above, and balance in shape of Bank Guarantee issued by a scheduled bank hav-
ing validity for six months or more after last date of receipt of tender. The FDR shall be accept-
ed only if it is valid for a period of SIX months or more after last date of receipt of the ten-
der.
For the work of internal electrification, fire fighting, early fire alarm system, D.G. Set,
Street Light Service, Connection & Air Conditioning ducting work the applicants should either
be enlisted itself as mentioned above in appropriate class and category or will have to asso-
ciate himself with eligible firms enlisted in appropriate class and category as mentioned in
the tender documents. For this the tenderer will be required to submit details of such agency(s)
to Engineer-in-Charge of minor component(s) within the prescribed time for the work of inter-
nal electrical installation, fire fighting, early fire alarm system, D.G. Set, Street Light Service
Connection & Air Conditioning ducting work. The contractor shall associate himself with spe-
cialized firms for the work of fire fighting, Early Fire Alarm, DG Set, and air conditioning
work.
To become eligible for issue of tender, the tenderer shall have to furnish an affidavit
as under:
I/We undertake and confirm that eligible similar work(s) has/have not been got executed
through another on back to back basis. Further that, if such violation comes to the notice
of Department, then I/we shall be debarred for tendering in CCW, AIR in further forever.
Also if such a violation comes to the notice of Department before date of start of work, the
Engineer-in-Charge shall be free to forfeit the entire amount of Earnest Money Deposit/
Performance Guarantee.
The tender forms wilt be issued to all intending tenderers of eligible class they have to
produce definite proof of having satisfactorily completed three similar works (similar work
means works related to building / renovation work) each of value not less than Rs.130 Lakh
(Rupees one Hundred Thirty Lakh Only) or two works each of value not less than Rs.160
Lakh (Rupees one Hundred Sixty Lakh Only) or one work of value not less than Rs.260
Lakh (Rupees Two Hundred Sixty Lakh Only) in the last 7 Years ending 31.01.2012.
Intending tenderers must submit earnest money alongwith original documents such as
valid Registration, Partnership deed, Bank solvency certificate, Sale Tax (Works Contract
Cell)/ VAT registration certificate along with attested true copies as documents related to
eligibility criteria.
The enlistment of the contractors should be valid on the last date of sale tenders. In
case only the last date of sale of tender is extended, the enlistment of contractor should
be valid on the original date of sale of tenders. In case both the last date of receipt of appli-
cation and sale of tenders are extended, the enlistment of contractor should be valid on
either of the two date i.e. original date of sale of tender or on the extended date of sale of
tenders.
This notice may also be seen at website: wwwa.tenderhome.com and www.allindiara-
dio.gov.in
davp22446/11/0019/1112
BRIEF NOTICE
Admission Certificates to the admitted candidates have
been issued by UPSC for the following two Recruitment
Tests to be held on 04.03.2012 (Sunday):
i. 36 posts of Deputy Director FROM: 10A.M. to
12.00 NOON (Admn./Ins./Training etc.) in
ESIC.
ii. 08 posts of Assistant Programmer in FROM:
2.00 P.M. to 4.00 P.M. Central Intelligence
Bureau.
2. The admitted candidates who do not receive the
Admission Certificates may download the Venue
Infor mati on from UPSC' s websi te
http://www.upsc.gov.in which may also be used
for appearing in the Recruitment Test(s) alongwith
proof of their identity and two identical photographs,
duly attested by Gazetted Officer.
3. At this stage, physical applications/documents are
not being scrutinized and the candidates are being
admitted to the Recruitment Test provisionally based
on the data furnished by the candidates in the
Online Recruitment applications (ORA) system.
4. UPSC Facilitation Counter (10 A.M. to 5 P.M.): (011)
23381125, 23385271; and 23098543.
davp 55102/14/0030/1112
IhIk8 Wk kME8
Ih 8kY I 8EhkI
heW eIhi: ndia and uS will
conducl lhe joinl naval exercise
'Malabar' in lhe Bay o Bengal
in Aril lhis year. China had
objecled lo lhis exercise when
il was lasl held in lhe same
region in 2OO7 and Beijing
claimed lhe exercise was aimed
al conlaining China. however,
ndia and uS have decided lo
carry oul drills in Bay o
Bengal, sources said here on
wednesday. Malabar series o
exercises are held every year
since 1OO2.
IhIk FE88E8 hWkY
I kI8' 68TY
heW eIhi: Following allemls
o horwegian aulhorilies lo
exlend lhe Residence Fermils
o lhe lwo young ndian
children who have been ul in
osler care by lhe Municial
Child Care Services in
Slavanger, ndia has lold
horway lhal lhe lwo are
"neilher orhans nor Slaleless
ersons, and enjoy lhe
roleclion o lhe ndian Slale".
0overnmenl slrongly urged lhe
horwegian 0overnmenl again
lo exedile lhe rocess o
relurn o lhe young children lo
ndia in view o lhe
humanilarian dimension o lhe
issue.
nation 05
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
N SHORT
FIhEE hEW8 8EVI6E Q
hEw 0ELh
I
t seems Union Rural
Development Minister
Jairam Ramesh and his
Agriculture Ministry counter-
part Sharad Pawar have agreed
to disagree on important issues.
After locking horns on sever-
al occasions previously - be it
on the controversial Lavasa
project or Bt Brinjal, a rift has
surfaced between the two over
the provisions of UPAs flagship
MNREGA scheme.
In what could leave Pawar
further squirming, Ramesh on
Wednesday rejected his sug-
gestion for curbs on offering
jobs under MNREGA to vil-
lagers during the three-month
peak farming season.
We have not accepted the
demand for peak season mora-
torium, Ramesh categorically
told reporters. He said the per-
ception of conflict between
the rural jobs scheme and agri-
culture was based on a num-
ber of misconceptions and
exaggerations. In fact, Ramesh
went on to announce that the
rural employment schemes
expanded version will take
shape from April 1 with a
thrust on boosting farm output,
as recommended by the Mihir
Shah committee, set up to
strengthen synergy between
the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (MGNREGA) rural jobs
scheme and rural livelihood.
In November last year, Pawar
had written to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh demanding
that at least three months in a
year be considered off-duration
for MGNREGA so that farm
labourers were available for agri-
cultural operations.
However, Ramesh dis-
missed the views arguing that
the average annual person-days
under the rural jobs scheme had
never exceeded 54 days. The
month-wise employment data
under the MGNREGA during
2010-11 indicates that it was in
the lean agricultural season
(January-June) that around 70
per cent of person-days of work
was generated.
Ramesh pointed out that
70 percent expenditure under
MGNREGA had been on
works related to water. He
stressed on strengthening syn-
ergy between MGNREGA and
agriculture.
Acknowledging the fact
that a large proportion of
MNREGA workers are small
and marginal farmers, the
Minister said productivity of
these lands has been so deci-
mated over the years that they
have been compelled to work
under the scheme.
The real success of
MNREGA will lie in raising the
agriculture productivity of mil-
lions of these farmers who will
then be able to return once
again to farming and will no
longer need to depend on
MNREGA for their survival,
he said.
k8khkM ThMk8 Q
hEw 0ELh
S
ex between lesbians and
gays may still be a taboo
but the Supreme Court on
Wednesday questioned the
basis of declaring such acts as
offences under Section 377 of
the Indian Penal Code.
Wondering who is a com-
plainant in case two consent-
ing adults have sex, the bench
of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ
Mukhopadhyay asked, There
are three ingredients that must
combine for purpose of con-
stituting an offence. Without
a complainant and accused,
how can there be an offence?
The question struck at the
root of arguments advanced
by lawyers defending the
val i di t y of Sect i on 377
(unnatural sex against the
order of nature). After the
Delhi High Court decrimi-
nalised gay sex allowing same
sex couples to have inter-
course in private, the ques-
tion posed by the apex court
sought to reason the cor-
rectness of upholding the
HC order.
The bench said, When
you talk of an offence, you
have a complainant and an
accused. Then the question of
consent does not arise. But
here it is an act done with con-
sent and in private.
Sensing the seriousness
of the point raised, senior
advocate Amarendra Saran,
who appeared for Del hi
Commission for Protection
of Child Rights, argued, A
complaint can even be filed by
a third party, not necessarily
a victim. There are other
penal offences such as adul-
tery where the act is done
in private.
But the Court cut the
argument flat by stating, A
third party can complain if the
act is in public. We like you to
develop this debate further,
not confined just to Section
377 but other penal offence
which we generally perceive
as obscene.
The Court stretched the
argument to situations where
police tends to rein in couples
indulging in public display of
love without realising that
consent is active between the
two persons. It said, Does any
act in public constitute an
offence violative of Article
14, 15 and 21 of t he
Constitution? The Court
asked the lawyers appearing in
the case to address their argu-
ments from this broad canvas.
At the same time, the
Court even wished to know
from the Centre whether pro-
moting same sex relation-
ships put persons at risk of
contracting HIV/AIDS. Has
any scientific study been con-
ducted in this regard? While
Nati onal AIDS Control
Organisation puts homosex-
uals as high-risk groups,
Additional Solicitor General
(ASG) PP Malhotra informed
that a study by World Health
Organization has dealt with
this issue in detail.
FROMTHESUPREMECOURT
1aIram reh0ffs FaWar's Itch
MNREGAREVAMP
]PC oigs oeeer into
!ayanioli Maran`s role
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
T
he Joint Parliamentary
Committee on 2G scam on
Wednesday sought original
files from the Telecom depart-
ment on the Aircel-Maxis deal
over which former Telecom
M i n i s t e r
D a y a n i d h i
Maran is facing
a CBI investi-
gation.
Maran is accused of arm-
twisting Aircels promoter
Shivashankaran to sell his com-
panys stakes to Maxis and
influencing changes in Terms
of Reference (ToR) of the
Group of Ministers (GoM) on
spectrum pricing.
The JPC decided to go
deep into the deal since its
members were not convinced
by the deposition of TRAI
chairman JS Sarma, who
worked as Telecom Secretary
during Dayanidhi Marans
tenure.
Sarmas name also figured in
the CBI FIR against Maran.
Sarma sat on Shivashankarans
applications for grant of licens-
es and spectrum for new circles
for more than two years, alleged-
ly on the directions of Maran.
Addressing the media after
the meeting on Wednesday,
JPC chairman PC Chacko said
the panel may also seek a report
from CBI on
the undue
delay by DoT
in taking deci-
sions on the application of
Aircel for licenses and spec-
trum.
We will also seek infor-
mation from the CBI after ver-
ifying the original files from
DoT on this matter, Chacko
said. On change of ToR, Sarma
told us that as the decision was
taken at the highest level
involving Prime Minister and
Minister (Maran), he did not
have any say in the matter,
Chacko said. Sarma was grilled
by members of the panel for
two hours on Wednesday.
During his tenure, Maran
got exclusive power for the DoT
to decide on spectrum pricing by
objecting to the role of the
GoM in the matter. As per the
Cabinet decision of October
2003, the pricing should have
been derived by DoT in con-
sultation with the Finance
Ministry. The Finance Ministry,
during Chidambarams tenure,
initially objected to Marans
move but gave in after the
Prime Minister agreed to
Marans proposal.
In its report, the CAG ques-
tioned the PMs decision and
pointed out that a Cabinet deci-
sion should have been only
reversed by another Cabinet
decision. In its next meeting on
March 2, the JPC would discuss
the impact and implications of
the Supreme Court verdict can-
celling 122 telecom licenses
issued by now-jailed former
Telecom Minister A Raja. We
have asked Telecom Secretary to
brief the committee on the apex
court verdict, Chacko said.
To sIudy originaI
kirreIMaxis deaI
dorumenIs
+|
Q Locked horns over Lavasa issue. As Environmenl Minisler,
Ramesh redlagged lhe hill cily or violalions o green regulalions.
Fawar had romoled lhe Lavasa rojecl as Maharashlra CM
Q Ramesh had also snubbed Fawar's suorl or commercial
roduclion o Bl Brinjal
Q Fawar had eyed lhe Rural 0evelomenl Minislry's dearlmenl o
land resources, arguing lhal eorls or develomenl o dry land
were loo ragmenled lo yield resulls.
Q Fawar has also been crilical o Land Acquisilion Bill ormulaled
by Ramesh's Minislry or ils slringenl measures alleging lhal il
would hinder induslriali/alion.
h IVE I8T
FIhEE hEW8 8EVI6E Q
hEw 0ELh
H
RD Minister Kapil Sibals
frenetic thrust for the
i mpl ementati on of the
Common Entrance Test (CET)
for admission to engineering
colleges was met with caution
by most State Governments on
Wednesday as the latter sought
more time to think the sug-
gestion through. Sibal claimed
the proposed reform had
in-principle consensus of
the Education Ministers pre-
sent at a meeting in the nation-
al Capital.
The other proposals,
including the setting up of
community colleges in the
XIIth Pl an, National
Vocational Educational
Qualification Framework
(NVEQF), curricular renewal
for equitable quality of ele-
mentary education and griev-
ances redressal under the RTE
Act, however were received
well by the States.
The challenge for Sibal was
however to win over States
support for conducting CET in
2013. In a bid to take the State
Governments on board, he
maintained that the proposed
reform would allow flexibility in
the proposed weightage of 40
per cent to be given to the State
Board examinations. The
respective weightage of 60 per
cent to the Indian Science -
Engineering Eligibility Test
(ISEET) main and advance may
also be decided by the respec-
tive State Boards, he clarified.
Sibal pointed out that State
Governments played a pivotal
role in formulation and imple-
mentation of policies in the
education sector. Recognising
the centrality of State
Governments, I have been con-
ducting regular consultations
with them since 2009, he said.
He however added that
irrespective of the decisions of
the State, ISEET would be
held next year for admissions
into 15 IITs, 30 NITs and
other centrally-funded sci-
ence and engineering colleges.
The success of these exami-
nations would inspire the
States to ultimately go for the
CET, he claimed.
Apart from reducing the
multiplicity of the examina-
tions that the students are
compelled to face, it would also
put an end to the menace of
capitation fee, Sibal pointed
out. The exams would be held
at least three-four times in a
year. To begin with, in 2013, it
would be held twice, whose
frequency would be increased
gradually. The students would
thus get more attempts to clear
the tests.
The Education Ministers
of most States felt that since
most engineering and science
colleges are under State juris-
diction, it is very important to
get their consent. Let the
Centre come up with some
concrete rules for Common
Entrance Test first-we would
study it and then give our
approval, they added.
Statos guardod ovor Sibal's
oombinod ongg oxam plan
1+i|+| R+|| |i1 |pu|| u| |i|i|
S|+| Cu||i|| u| ||REA Pll
FIhEE hEW8 8EVI6E Q
hEw 0ELh
F
aced with the combined
might of both the
Opposition parties and the
Election Commission, the
Group of Ministers on
Corruption on Wednesday
chose not to discuss the con-
troversial proposal of giving
statutory basis to the Model
Code of Conduct that would
have curbed the powers of the
poll watchdog.
The Government said that
the terms of reference of the
GoM, chaired by Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee,
did not cover the code and
hence it was not discussed, but
the Opposition charged that
the GoM developed cold feet
following widespread con-
demnation of the move.
I would like to say that the
terms of reference of the GoM
on corruption do not include
the MCC. Therefore, today in
the deliberations, it was not dis-
cussed, MoS for Personnel V
Narayanasamy said. He dis-
missed the earlier note report-
ed to have circulated to GoM
members specifying the issue as
mere suggestions.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal
admitted that the issue of code
was with reference to devel-
opmental projects and some-
body had raised it in the course
of the meeting last time. But it
was never part of the terms of
reference. However, GoM not
discussing the matter has not
pacified the BJP which asked all
political parties and the EC to
nip in the bud the
Governments attempt to dilute
powers of the poll panel.
I think this is a very ques-
tionable attempt by the
Government to dilute the pow-
ers of the Election Commission
through the backdoor by giv-
ing the impression that they are
actually strengthening the
model code of conduct. It has
to be nipped in the bud, BJP
leader Yashwant Sinha said.
The members of GoM should
not allow themselves to be
corrupted by taking up an
item on their agenda which is
beyond its jurisdiction.
Congress, which had
mooted the idea recently,
admitted the time for its accep-
tance has not come and
charged the Opposition for
trying to sensationalise it.
Congress spokesman Manish
Tewari said time was not ripe
for it. His party colleague
Abhishek Manu Singhvi
termed the criticism as an
over reaction in respect of the
non-existent decision, at non-
existent premature stage on the
basis of papers circulated many
months ago. This is deliberate
attempt to sensationalise based
on a non-decision.
For its part, the GoM
okayed the draf t Publ i c
Procurement Bil l, which
seeks to regulate Government
purchases using a transparent
bidding process. The bill will
now be referred to the Prime
Minister and then go to the
Cabinet for final clearance
before being presented in the
Budget session of Parliament.
|| |i|i|| A| A||u|], |u| |i|i|| P C|iJ+||+|+| +|J u|iu| |i|i||
u| Cu||u|i+|iu| +|J ll & |R |+pil Si|+l u| uu| u| |u||| Blu| +|||
+|||Ji| || ||i| u| + |i|puW|J |uup u| |i|i|| u| u||up|iu| i| |W
l|i u| wJ|J+] Pll
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
F
ormer External Affairs
Minister and senior BJP
leader Yashwant Sinha said
that India should shed its
defensive posturing on the
issue of Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir (POK) and Northern
Areas and raise its pitch against
the neighbour in the interna-
tional forum.
Sinha was airing his opin-
ion at the inaugural address of
a day-long international sem-
inar POK and Northern
Areas-Present Status and Way
Forward organised by Centre
for Security and Strategy.
India has for long been
one of the good boys in the
international arena. Now is
the time to behave like a bad
boy on the issue of Jammu
and Kashmir and send the
message loud and clear that
India means business, he
said stressing on the need for
the country to vehemently
decry the ceding of these
regions by Pakistan and press
for its undoing.
Lamenting the fact that the
world did not know about the
plight of the people of POK
and the brutal suppression of
dissenting voices there, the
BJP leader termed these areas
as dark and secluded.
While the international
community knew about Tibet
thanks to the stature of Dalai
Lama, it is unaware about
POK as there is no Dalai
Lama there, he said adding
people in India also did not
talk about so-called Azad
Kashmir or Gilgit and
Baltistan which are parts of the
Northern Areas.
Tracing the history of the
dispute between India and
Pakistan on POK and
Northern Areas, he said that
after India approached the
UN in 1949 for resolving the
Kashmir issue, the UN passed
a resolution. It called for
immediate ceasefire between
the two countries, vacation of
POK and Northern Areas by
the Pakistan Army and then a
plebiscite in Jammu and
Kashmir. However, Pakistan is
yet to toe that international
line and has instead been
aggressively demanding that
people of Jammu and Kashmir
be allowed the right of self
determination, he said.
Initiating the debate, Rajya
Sabha MP Dr Chandan Mitra
said successive Governments
in India followed a pusillan-
imous policy on the Kashmir
issue. Moreover, POK and
Northern Areas are hidden
away from the world and peo-
ple are not aware about torture
of locals there, he said.
Mitra said these two
regions had become chambers
of experimentation for the
Pakistan regime and there is
little knowledge about our
neighbourhood in India, leave
alone the world.
Mumtaz Khan, a native of
POK who had to flee to
Canada due to persecution,
urged India to play a more
pro-active role in drawing the
attention of the world to plight
of locals and the forcible
changing of demographic pro-
file of the region by Islamabad.
'l|Ji+ |uulJ
|+|J |i|| u|
Pu| iu
kkE8h k 8Ihh Q hEw 0ELh
U
nion Home Ministry has
convened a high-level meet-
ing with the Directors General of
the Central Paramilitary Forces
on Monday to discuss the alarm-
ing rise in attrition of officers,
including those appointed
through the Union Public
Service Commission.
The meeting, to be chaired
by the Minister of State for
Home, will discuss reasons for
increasing rate of Voluntary
Retirement Scheme and resig-
nation cases amongst the para-
military personnel.
In 2012, as many as 11 offi-
cers of the first batch of Directly
Appointed Gazetted Officers
(DAGO) have either quit or
their resignation is under
process. These officers were
appointed in October 2005 and
were selected by the UPSC and
have paid the training cost of
about Rs 5 lakh for seeking pre-
mature retirement.
The meet will also delve
into the reasons for increasing
cases of casualties, fratricide and
suicides and the possible reme-
dies. The issue of putting up in
place a mechanism for coping
up with grievances of personnel
at all levels and steps for
improvement will be discussed
too. The agenda points of the
meeting include a discussion on
the tenure and transfer policies
of the personnel and the need for
modification besides career pro-
gression issues related to men
and officers.
Other issues slated to be dis-
cussed include steps to be taken
for increase in benefits being
given to next of kin of deceased
personnel, increasing number of
court cases against forces per-
sonnel and possible measures for
reduction in the same. On the
operational front, the officials of
the ministry and the paramili-
tary forces will discuss the need
for real-time GIS (Geographic
Information System) solutions
in paramilitary forces for oper-
ational effectiveness.
Another key point to be
deliberated during the meet
includes measures for enhanc-
ing the role of paramilitary
forces in provisioning and pro-
curement process of Union
Home Ministry.
The meet will further delib-
erate upon the issue of using
paramilitary forces to ascer-
tain feedback regarding devel-
opmental activities being under-
taken in the States under vari-
ous Central Government
Schemes.The paramilitary
forces have advised the various
branches including personnel,
establishment, medical, wel-
fare, administration, operations
and provisioning and procure-
ment to come up detailed analy-
sis and facts related to the
issues. The Centre has pro-
posed to conduct special
recruitment drive to fill vacan-
cies in the Indian Police Service,
and the cadre officers of the
paramilitary forces would be eli-
gible. It will further deplete the
strength of the Assistant and
Deputy Commandants who
lead the force from the front.
The shortage of officers is
presently being filled up through
ad hoc basis by promoting
inspectors and so far about 300
such promotions have been
granted in CRPF alone.
Sources said lack of pro-
motional avenues and absence
of an organised service status are
the key reasons why officers and
men are quitting the forces to
join public sector undertak-
ings like banks. Stress adds on
to the disenchantment of the
personnel and better job option
in the PSUs further drives the
attrition rate in the forces,
sources added.
Q0elhi, Chandigarh, ullarakhand and Chandigarh have already
given lheir consenl or CET.
Qhorlheaslern Slales, weslBengal and 0disha wanled CET in
regional languages.
QTamil hadu was sleadasl on ils sland o oosing CET or all
roessional courses.
QSlales like MF, hF and olhers soughl more lime lo lake a call.
QA seven member commillee headed by MF Educalion Minisler
has been consliluled on communily colleges
QCommunily colleges would be no agebar inslilulions in
induslrial hubs o lhe counlry
MIXE Ek6TIh8
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
P
rodding the States to speed
up decisions pertaining to
death-row convicts, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday
set March 1 as the deadline for
them to apprise it of the steps
taken to dispose pending
mercy pleas.
In the event any State failed
to supply the necessary infor-
mation, the Court warned that
they will be doing so at their
own risk. A bench of Justices GS
Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhyay
were pained to note how some
States had yet to supply infor-
mation on the status of mercy
petitions pending with their
respective Governors office. The
bench got cracking on the erring
States, giving them three days
time from the date of receipt of
the Court order to communicate
the relevant information in
writing or telephonically.
The Court charged the
Home Secretaries concerned in
each State to supply the
required data to the office of
the respective Additional
Solicitor General (ASG) in the
Supreme Court dealing with
the case. The Court asked
advocate Siddharth Dave, who
appeared for the Centre, to
come prepared with the data by
the next date of hearing.
It was a petition filed by
death row prisoner Devender
Pal Singh Bhullar that forced
the Court to take notice on the
plight faced by such convicts.
We want to know what all was
done from the date mercy peti-
tions reached competent
authority, the bench said.
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
T
he 26/11 Mumbai terror
attacks will be reviewed in
the Supreme Court on
Thursday as the judges decid-
ing the appeal of Pakistani ter-
rorist Ajmal Kasab will go over
the CCTV footage of the inci-
dent from the quiet ambience
of their chamber.
Along with footage of bomb
explosions and gunfire, the
bench of Justices Aftab Alam
and CK Prasad will hear
excerpts of the telephone calls
that were intercepted between
the alleged terrorists and their
handlers in Pakistan in which
the latter gave minute-by-minute
instructions to the attackers.
The Maharashtra police,
which investigated the case
and secured death sentence for
Kasab, will bring the equipment
required to screen the tapes in
the judges chamber and not in
the courtroom to avoid any dis-
turbance. The screening would
be out of bounds for the media,
although the footage shown to
the judges had on earlier occa-
sions been screened publicly
before the trial court and
Bombay High Court.
The prosecution, led by
senior advocate Gopal
Subramanium and special pub-
lic prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam,
had relied heavily on the tele-
phonic conversations and
CCTV footage to link the chain
of events in the case and to
show the brazen attack by the
10 alleged terrorists who
arrived on a boat on the
Mumbai sea coast before even-
tually wreaking havoc.
States rerimanoeo for
sitting on mercy leas
00I f00tae 0f Z6/11
t0 he revIeWe4 t04ay
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ank Z00B Z009 Z010 Z011 ToIaI
0 O1 O1
00 O8 O8
Commandanl O5 O2 O7
2 /C O8 O8
0euly Commandanl 14 OO O8 O4 85
Assll. Commandanl 11 2O O8 O8 42
Minislerial 0icers 15 O8 11 O8 82
TTkI 4B 34 ZB 13 1Z3
6FI III6E8 h V8lE8IhkTIh 8FEE
60M skIs 0II c04e 4Isc0ssI0a
06s t0 f0c0s 0a aIarmIa
attrItI0a Ia 0eatraI f0rces
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
BALLOT GROUND: uTTAR FRA0ESh 00A
poll tick
i
ndia
06
k1E8h kMk Q h00A
T
hree-and-half decade after
it got its identity as urban
industrial hub, Noida, follow-
ing delimitation, has finally
come into a political scene. On
February 28, Noida for the first
time will be electing its own
representative for Uttar
Pradesh Assembly.
Prestige of Congress, BJP
and BSP is at stake in Noida
Assembly seat. Besides select-
ing candidate for the party,
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi
had last year started his cam-
paign for Uttar Pradesh from
the twin villages of Bhatta and
Parsaul neighbouring Jevar
seat. Rahul Gandhi is expect-
ed to visit Jevar on February 23
while BSP supremo Mayawati
is scheduled to visit Noida on
the same day. Leader of
Opposition in Lok Sabha
Sushma Swaraj had already
addressed a rally for BJP can-
didate in the city.
With the
profile of the seat
changing, the
issues have also
undergone meta-
morphosis. As
civic and other
urban issues are
creating the elec-
toral buzz,
Bharatiya Janata
Party candidate
Dr Mahesh
Sharma, who
started the
famous Kailash
Hospital decades
ago, is locked in a
close contest with
Congress scion
Rahul Gandhis
hand picked
candi date
Dr VS
Chauhan, an
Orthopaedic sur-
geon and chairman
of Prakash Hospital.
For Sharma and
Chauhan, two business
rivals, the UP Assembly
polls is just an extension of
the rivalry they have shared
over the years as the own-
ers of the two leading hos-
pitals in Noida.
BJP candidate
Dr Mahesh Sharma
entered politics for the first-
time with the general election
of 2009 when he was given a
ticket by the BJP to contest
from the newly-carved parlia-
mentary constituency of
Gautam Budh Nagar. Sharma,
however, lost to BSP candidate,
Surendra Nagar, by a meagre
margin of around 14,000 votes.
However, he had secured more
number of votes than his rival
in the Noida segment.
Considering this factor, the
BJP leadership has fielded
Sharma for the Assembly seat.
On the other hand, Congress
decided to choose a doctor,
who was among the five other
candidates interviewed by
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi
for the seat. Chauhan is facing
opposition from within the
party and is being dubbed as an
outsider by party workers.
Chauhan earlier in the week
addressed a Press conference
with all dissidents party lead-
ers and tried to convey a mes-
sage that everything was fine
within the party. Samajwadi
Party candidate Sunil
Choudhury and Bahuajan
Samaj Party (BSP) candidate
Om Dutt Sharma are also in
the fray.
Since the population is
predominantly urban, the par-
ties have fielded candidates
who can make an immediate
connect with the voters. The
candidates on their part have
resorted to various methods to
establish that connect, like
door-to-door campaigns in
residential sectors, daily meet-
ings with RWAs and sending
catchy text messages to appeal
the urban voters.
There are about 145 sectors
in Noida, of these 100 are
densely populated. The con-
stituency has around 3.02 lakh
urban voters and another 1.30
lakh rural residents living in the
urbanised villages. Keeping in
mind the substantial urban
vote base, political parties have
modified their campaign.
Instead of the usual promises,
they have decided to focus on
issues like quality
of water supply,
s a n i t a t i o n ,
power and law
and order in
the city. For the
rural segments,
issues like land
acquisition and
compensation
still ring a bell.
In the rural
segment, the
N o i d a
Assembly seat
has strong pres-
ence of Gujjar,
B r a h m i n ,
Muslim, Thakur
and Yadav communities.
Keeping in view the pro-
file of the seat, BJP and
BSP have fielded
Brahmin candidates
while Congress has
fielded a Thakur.
Choudhury, the SP
candidate is from
Gujjar community.
However, Congress
and BJP have been
careful in keeping
the urban appeal of
their candidates in
their mind while
al lotting them
party ticket.
Caste factor will
play an important
role for the Noida Assembly
seat. BSP and SP are concen-
trating their election campaign
in rural areas, JJ-clusters and
unauthorised colonies in the
district as previous elections
have shown that 65 per cent of
the votes cast are from
these areas.
Congress candidate Dr VS
Chauhan told The Pioneer that
the demands and needs of
those living in the villages are
different from those living in
urban and developed sectors.
Hence, besides meeting the
villagers, I make it a point to
meet RWA members and resi-
dents of the urban sectors each
day, Chauhan added.
To counter the heavyweights
Congress and BJP, BSP candidate
Om Dutt Sharma, has been
stressing on his partys past
efforts in bringing about devel-
opment. Behan Mayawati has
started two Government schools
and two multi-specialty hospitals
in Noida and Greater Noida, a
BSP leader said. He doesnt
mention about the huge park
built by the BSP Government in
his interactions.
!octors lattle
it out to cure
Noioa of its ills
hIhEE 8Ihh Q AMR0hA /
hAFuR
H
aving played the minority
and backward card abor-
tively, the Congress is now
pushing for reclaiming the
Brahmin votes. In the last polls
Brahmins had gone with the
BSP, however, this time round
its not clear which way they
are voting.
As part of the strategy to
attract Brahmin votes, promi-
nent party leaders from the
Priest caste have been deployed
at the behest of the high com-
mand. Senior party leaders
including Delhi Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit and former
AICC general secretary and for-
mer Union Minister Girija Vyas
amongst others are being made
to campaign extensively in
Uttar Pradesh. While Dikshit is
holding public meetings in sev-
eral constituencies, Girija Vyas
has been detailed to hold con-
sultations with the party work-
ers in constituencies where
Brahmins are in good numbers.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit who is enjoying her
third term as the Chief Minister
has been roped in by the party
to campaign for constituencies
including Allahabad, Varanasi,
Kannauj and Gorakhpur. She
along with her
Cabinet col-
l e a g u e
R a m a k a n t
G o s w a m i ,
a n o t h e r
Brahmin, cam-
paigned for the
constituencies
that have a large
Hindu -
Brahmin vote
bank. Dikshit
campaigned for
leaders includ-
ing Shyam
Kishore Shukla
and Rita
Bahuguna Joshi,
the Brahmin
candidates from
Lucknow and
for Dayashankar
Mishra Dayalu
and Rabiya
Kalam in
Varanasi. The
Delhi Chief
Minister has vis-
ited a total of 14 districts of the
State during her campaign for
the third phase of polls that was
held on February 15.
Former Union Minister
Girija Vyas continues with her
intensive worker meetings in
western UP touring Amroha
and Hapur. The Congress had
last won the Assembly seat of
Amroha in 1972. The local
party workers of the Congress
claim that about 7,000 Brahmin
voters who voted for
Samajwadi Party have moved
to Congress. Vyas who visited
the party office at Amroha on
Tuesday met the candidate and
the local workers of the area.
She also visited the house of a
Brahmin Congress leader.
We have about 7,000
Brahmin voters and Girijajis
visit to our area is sure to get
Brahmin votes to Congress,
said Kapil Sharma, the local
Brahmin Congress leader. Vyas
during her very short visit to
the constituency ensured that
she did not
disappoint the
Brahmin vot-
ers and paid a
visit to their
area besides
visiting the
party office.
While the
o v e r a l l
Amroha con-
stituency has
an equal share
of Hindu and
Muslim voters,
nearly 15 per
cent of the
urban voters in
the constituen-
cy are
Brahmins.
O u r
chances of
winning the
seat are very
bright. People
have been
bet rayed by
the Samajwadi
Party and will now vote for
Congress. If Rahul Gandhi
holds a rally in our area, we
will have a comfortable win,
said Haji Mohammad Akil,
the Congress contestant
from Amroha, who is going
out of his way to woo the
Hi ndus especi al l y the
Brahmin voters.
BY Sl|ARl| |lS|RA A| |lR1|AR S|
FII IETE
k1 8khk 8Ihh Q LuCKh0w
T
he fifth phase polling will
decide the fate of several
turncoats who have entered
the electoral battlefield after
switching over loyalties. Among
them some had left their
respective party in search of
greener pastures, others were
left with no option but to join
the other camps at the last
minute after being denied tick-
et by their party.
Many of these turncoats
were earlier associated with SP.
The partys MLA from Kishni
(reserved) constituency in
Mainpuri district, Sandhya
Katheria, switched over to the
BSP camp and is contesting the
election as its candidate. Another
SP MLA, Ashok Chandel of
Hamirpur, moved over to Peace
Party and is contesting the elec-
tion to retain his seat. Two-time
former MLA of SP, Sishupal
Singh Yadav is contesting as
Congress candidate this time
from Etah constituency.
Another interesting exam-
ple of turncoats is Urmila
Yadav, who is contesting the
Karhal Assembly seat in
Mainpuri district as a Congress
candidate. Urmila had won
the Ghiraur seat in Mainpuri
district twice as SP candidate.
Congress candidate from
Mainpuri, Kali Charan Yadav,
was once a SP leader. Another
turncoat is Said Mustafa
Sherwani. He had deserted SP
during the last Lok Sabha elec-
tion. Said Mustafa is contesting
the Kasganj seat in Etah district
as Congress candidate.
8I8Wk1EET 8khE1EE Q LuCKh0w
I
t is the battle of political survival of two
individuals that has turned the rugged
terrain of Bundelkhand into a battle
ground. One time they were good friends.
Both were in the same party and were
Cabinet colleagues. But they are on dif-
ferent mission.
They are Nasimuddin Siddiqui, the
PWD and Excise Minister in Mayawati
Cabinet, and other is former Health
Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha.
Interestingly, both belong to Banda.
During their heydays both worked togeth-
er and helped in taking BSP from strength
to strength in Bundelkhand. This is the rea-
son why in 2007 Assembly elections the BSP
swept the Bundelkhand region and won 16
out of 21 Assembly constituencies.
Much water has flown down the river
Ken since then. Kushwaha was first
stripped of Health Ministry after the
NRHM scam came to light and two
CMOs were shot dead in broad daylight.
And later he was thrown out of the BSP
alleging anti-party activities. The differ-
ences between the two came to the fore.
Kushwaha minced no words in saying that
the whole drama was orchestrated by
Siddiqui to win loyalty of the
Chief Minister.
Siddiqui countered this allegation and
said, Is Kushwaha a leader,? He is just a
manager. He used to manage party affairs
when he was in BSP. I do not know what
he is doing now.
Both of them toured the length and
breadth of Bundelkhand, part of which
went to polls on February 19 and the
remaining part will go to polls on Thursday.
Kushwaha projected himself as a martyr.
In almost all the political rallies he advo-
cated that he was a dedicated party work-
er of BSP for 22 years but was thrown out
on the instigation of a senior Minister (read
Siddiqui). Parts of Bundelkhand, particu-
larly Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur and
Jalauan have a large number of
backward votes.
There was an attempt to kill me. The
most powerful Minister in Mayawati
Cabinet, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Cabinet
Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh and
Principal secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh
Bahadur Singh had hatched a conspiracy
to get me arrested and then eliminate me
inside the jail. I was able to see through
their plans, Kushwaha alleged in almost
all the rallies.
Realising that sympathy is running
high in favour of Kushwaha and backward
votes might switch to BJP, Siddiqui had coun-
tered him by calling him a gaddar (traitor)
who has stabbed BSP at its back. What has
Behanji (read Mayawati) not done for him?
Made him a Minister and gave him lal batti.
But he joined the kafirs, Siddiqui said in his
election rallies.
For the last one week both these lead-
ers have been criss-crossing the
Bundelkhand region sometimes by chop-
pers and sometimes by road. It is a war of
survival for both of them. Whosoever wins
the battle, will have the last laugh.
MkYk8h8hkh Q FAhAJ
T
he Bharatiya Janata Party is
actively trying to woo the
States 23 per cent Catholic pop-
ulation, party secretary Aarti
Mehra said on Wednesday.
Mehra, made
known what was
always felt but not
openly spoken, in a
State where the
Catholic population
is wary of the BJPs
communal tendencies.
Ever since I took
over as secretary in charge
of Goa, our main focus was
to reach out to the 23 per
cent vibrant Christian com-
munity. It was my endeavour
to meet Fathers (Catholic
priests) and teachers and mem-
bers of the community all over
Goa during my visits here,
Mehra said.
Mehra who is in charge of
the partys State affairs, said that
the effort was to dispel the
doubts Christians in Goa had
about the BJP.
The BJP has fielded as
many as six Catholic candidates
as well as extended support to
two Catholic indepen-
dents out of the 40
seats they are con-
testing in the forth-
coming Assembly
polls along with
alliance partner
MGP.
We are
directly or indi-
rectly supporting
eight minority can-
didates in Goa,
Mehra said, adding
that the partys strategy
of consciously reaching out to
the minority community in
Goa was paying off .
Fh8 Q LuCKh0w
S
ixty-five Muslim candi-
dates are in the fray for the
fifth phase of elections in
Uttar Pradesh covering 49
Assembly seats in 13 districts
to be held on Thursday.
Six Assembly seats have
Muslim domination with
around 20 per cent voters
with one seat of Firozabad
having over 20 per
cent minority voters.
According to
t he EC records,
Sa maj wa di
Party and
Bahuj an
S a m a j
P a r t y
h a v e
fielded 5
M u s l i m
candidates
each in this
phase followed
by four by Congress, three by
Peace Party, five by Rashtriya
Ul ema Counci l , 3 by
Rashtriya Lokmanch, 5 by
Lok Janshakti Party and one
each by Pragatisheel Manav
Samaj Party, Welfare Party Of
India, Janata Dal (United)
and All India Trinamool
Congress.
Kanpur Cantonment has
the highest number of 13
minority candidates followed
by 9 in the adjoining Arya
Nagar Assembly seat.
Seats havi ng mul t i -
minority candidates include 3
each in Bhognipur, Firozabad
and Kalpi followed by 2 each
in Maharajpur, Bidhuna, Etah,
Hami rpur, Madhaugarh,
Jhansi Nagar, Govind Nagar,
Amanpur and Kasganj.
Seats having around 20
per cent minority votes are
Patiyali, Kalyanpur, Sishamau,
Arya Nagar and Kanpur
Cantonment.
In the first phase, 26 out
of the total 55 seats were
Muslim dominated while in
the second phase it was 9 out
of 59 seats while in the third
phase there were 8 seats out
of 56. In the fourth phase 8
seats out of the total 56 were
muslim dominated.
Fh8 Q LuCKh0w
M
ore than 1.53 crore vot-
ers of 49 Assembly con-
stituencies will decide the fate
of 829 of candidates amid
tight security in the fifth phase
of polling on Thursday.
Accordi ng to Chi ef
Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha,
out of the 829 candidates in
fray in these 49 Assembly
constituencies spread across 13
districts in four divisions, 741
are male, 87 are female and
one belongs to the other cat-
egory.
Among the candidates,
167 are of nationally recog-
nised parties, 145 of them
being males and 22 females.
Besides, there are 50 candi-
dates 44 males and six
females of State-level recog-
nised parties. There are also
404 candidates (360 males,
43 females and one of other
category) of unrecognised but
registered political parties.
Also in the fray are 208 inde-
pendent candidates out of
which 192 are
males and 16
females.
The highest
number of can-
didates are in
Govi ndnagar
const i tuency
(34) and the
lowest in the
newly-created
R a s o o l a b a d
( R e s e r v e d )
constituency in
Ramabai Nagar
d i s t r i c t
( K a n p u r
Dehat) it has
only seven can-
didates.
The highest
number of vot-
ers (4,11,217) are in Orai
(reserved) constituency in
Jalaun district and the lowest
(2,52,440) in Aryanagar con-
stituency in Kanpur Nagar
district. The number of can-
didates is more than 16 in 19
Assembly constituencies and
two-unit electronic voting
machines (EVMs) will be used
there.
The Election Commission
has deployed 1,464 sector
magistrates and 198 zonal
magistrates to conduct free
and fair polling. It has identi-
fied 2,104 polling stations as
sensitive and 2,256 as hyper-
sensitive.
For the fifth phase polling,
the Election Commission has
set up 11,867 polling centres
and 17,267 polling stations in
which the fates
of the candi-
dates will be
l ocked i n
more than
2 8 , 0 0 0
EVMs.
T h e
E l e c t i o n
Commission
has deployed
49 general
observers, 14 expen-
diture observers, 59
assistant expendi-
ture observers, seven
police observers and
2,653 micro-observers to keep
an eye on the fifth phase.
The polling will be web-
cast live from
225 polling
stations with
the help of
2,100 digital
and 981
video cam-
eras.
T h e
C h i e f
E l e c t o r a l
Officer said
he was hope-
ful of a bigger
turnout i n
the fi fth
phase polling
compared to
the first four
phases.
He said
that the area
going to polls on Thursday
had registered 47.57 per cent
polling in the 2007 Assembly
election and 44.18 per cent
voter turnout in the 2009 Lok
Sabha election.
"Mahrauni in Lalitpur dis-
trict had highest polling
(66 per cent) and Jhansi the
lowest (34.96 per cent) in the
2007 Assembly election,"
Sinha said.
Fh8 Q LuCKh0w
D
espite controversy by two
Union Cabinet Ministers
Salman Khurshid and Beni
Prasad Verma over reservation
to minorities, the partys lust for
Muslim voters continued when
their yuvraj claimed that the
Congress is the only pro-
Muslim party in the country
and has done maximum for
upliftment of the community.
Blaming Samajwadi Party
for misguiding the minorities
over different issues, Rahul
Gandhi took on both Mulayam
Singh Yadav and Mayawati. I
want to know what the
Muslims got from Mulayam
Singh Yadav in the last 22
years, he asked while address-
ing rallies in Muzaffarnagar
and later in Muslim-dominat-
ed Moradabad on Wednesday.
Claiming the Congress as
the only pro-Muslim party in
the country, party general sec-
retary said the Sachar
Committee was set up by his
party to suggest ways and
means for minority develop-
ment. The UPA Government
at the Centre has also sent
money for the minority welfare
but the funds were misappro-
priated by the Mayawati
Government in UP, he charged
adding, right from Sikkim to
Kerala, the Central funds
reached and used for welfare of
minorities but in UP it was
either misutilised by Samajwadi
Party or eaten up by the
BSPs elephant.
Taking a dig further on the
Opposition parties especially
the SP, Rahul Gandhi said his
party believed in performing
unlike other parties which only
indulged in making false
promises. These parties have
been befooling the people of
this wonderful State for 22
years by making false promis-
es at the time of elections and
doing nothing afterwards,
he said.
Accompanied by RLD gen-
eral secretary Jayant
Chaudhary and Congress MP
Azharuddin, Rahul admitted
he had no magic wand to
transform the State overnight.
I do not believe in making tall
promises and assure only what
I think can be done, he said
while pointing out it will take
some time to develop the State.
Congress general secretary
said his heart bled at the plight
of the people of UP who had to
go to other States for their liv-
ing. I have seen people from UP
working in Ladakh and Sikkim
as well and when I asked them,
they complained of lack of
opportunities in their native
State, he said. He asked how
long would it continue. The State
has already suffered a lot under
non-Congress Governments for
22 long years and the change is
inevitable, he added.
Speaking on the occasion,
another youth scion Jayant
Chaudhary said that the RLD
was contesting the Assembly
poll in alliance with the
Congress because it catered to
all sections of the society. He
appealed that this was the best
chance to change the situation
in the State and the Congress-
RLD combine presented them
the most viable option.
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WIhhIh ThE 8EkT
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'BJP strategy
is paying off'
Jlis lase
las several
J!RNCOAJS
Luck o G5
Muslims lo
be decided
in lhis hase
WHEN FPENDS TUPN PvALS WHEN FPENDS TUPN PvALS
00a 0aIy r0M0sIIm
arty, says 8ah0I
S29 canoioates
in fray tooay
Congress makes
lasldilch bid lo
gel Brahmin voles
'lS |uS|wA|A A |EAER,!
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BSP. l |l ||w w|Al
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NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012 nation 07

V 1kYkk1 QK0Ch
T
he Kerala High Court on
Wednesday ruled that Italian
oil tanker Enrica Lexie, involved
in the killing of two Indian fish-
ermen on February 15 in a gun-
fire incident off the Kerala coast,
could leave the Kochi coast after
submitting a bank guarantee of
C25 lakh.
In the interim order passed
on a petition filed by Dora
Valentine, widow of Valentine
alias Jelestine (48) killed in the
gunfire from aboard the ship,
praying not to release the ship till
the payment of compensation,
the court said the ship could
leave Indian coast if the bank
guarantee was submitted and if
the agencies probing the murders
had no objection.
However, the petitioner said
that the amount for which bank
guarantee was sought by the
court was insufficient consider-
ing international norms on com-
pensation in such events. Cou-
nsel for Dora Valentine said th-
ey would approach a division be-
nch of High Court against We-
dnesdays ruling. She had dem-
anded C1 crore as compensation.
Enrica Lexie, which had
been berthed at the oil tanker ter-
minal of the Kochi harbor since
February 17, was moved to
outer anchorage the other day.
The police had got a warrant to
search the vessel for finding the
gun from which the shots that
killed the fishermen were fired.
The vessel was presently under
the observation of the Indian
Coast Guard.
In a letter to Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy on Wedn-
esday, Dora Valentine
expressed apprehensions at the
move to release the ship. She
said there was a possibility of
the probe into the killings get-
ting derailed. Dora requested
the Chief Minister to ensure re-
presentation of the FIR after
correcting the serious errors
contained in it.
Naples-based Dolphin
Tanker Srl, owners of Enrica
Lexie, however, argued that no
Kerala court had the authority to
look into the matter as the inci-
dent had not taken place - acc-
ording to their claim - in Indian
waters. They also said that the
compensation sought by Dora
was a huge amount which the
company was not liable to pay.
Valentine of Muthakkara,
Kollam and Ajesh Binku (25) of
Kulachal, Tamil Nadu, who were
aboard fishing boat St Antony,
were killed in shooting by two
Italian Marines from aboard
Enrica Lexie off Kollam coast.
The Marines, Latore Massimi-
liano and Salvatore Girone, were
arrested on Sunday and a court
on Monday remanded them in
judicial custody till March 5.
A petition was filed in the
High Court on Wednesday on
behalf of Massimiliano and
Girone seeking invalidation of
the Kerala Polices FIR against
them on the ground that Indian
laws were not applicable in their
case for several reasons.
The petition, filed through
a senior high court lawyer, also
said that one of the two accused
in the case Massimiliano
was a very senior officer (Chief
Master Sergeant) of the Italian
Navy and putting such an offi-
cer to trial in India could
affect the diplomatic relations
and agreements between the
two countries.
talian sli can le releaseo: HC
kE8T Vk8kI Q BAh0AL0RE
T
he warring groups in
Karnataka BJP who are
openly making bid to over-
throw Chief Minister
Sadananda Gowda are waiting
for BJP national president
Nitin Gadkaris two-day visit
on February 24 and 25 to
Bangalore to resolve the issue.
Gadkari who is expected to
take part in chintan manthan,
a meeting to teach party MLAs
morality and rejuvenate party,
especially after the portgate
episode, might have to face
some embarrassing moments.
The party chief will also
have to face former Chief
Minister BS Yeddyurappa who
is making an open bid to
come back to power, and his
supporters who are openly
campaigning for his rehabili-
tation. As a precursor to the
whole drama, Yeddyurappa
has called a meeting of the
MLAs who are loyal to him
and all his supporters to work
out a strategy on Thursday.
It is seen as a decisive bat-
tl e by the former Chi ef
Minister, who is using his
weapons one after the other.
Yeddyurappa who seems pan-
i cked by hi s detractors
(Sadananda and KS
Eshwarappa) ploy to belittle
him in the eyes of his Lingayat
community, is expected to
take a crucial decision. It was
evident when Yeddyurappa
directly accused his party men
of trying to divide Lingayats
for their gains. A conspiracy
is being hatched to divide
Lingayats. Several Swamijis
have confirmed this to me.
Also, one can make out this by
the statements of a few lead-
ers. But it is impossible to
divide the community, the
former CM said without nam-
ing anyone.
An MLA on condition of
anonymity told The Pioneer
that We are all going to attend
the meeting on Thursday.
Like me many will attend
the meeting. But it is in
no way any indication of
our support for a
change.
Meanwhile, State
party presi dent KS
Eshwarappa has ruled out
any leadership change in
the State. Though
Yeddyurappa has given
enough hints about
his next move to
the MLAs,
whom he had
p e r s o n a l l y
i nv i t e d
for the
me et -
ing, the
f i nal deci si on, however,
depends on the numbers.
Prior to the MLAs meeting,
Yeddyurappa has also con-
vened a meeting of prominent
leaders of backward classes on
February 22. According to a
party insider, Yeddyurappa
has sought the cooperation of
all BJP MLAs from Bangalore.
Even though knives are
out within the warring groups
in the party, many feel it was
only a pressure tactics by the
former Chief Minister. A party
source told The Pioneer that
the party was not going to
yield to his pressure to make
any changes. Even if he
parades his MLAs in front of
Gadkari, the BJP is not in a
position to accept him as he is
facing not one but many cases
which are going to be suicidal
for the party, said a source.
Meanwhile, in a strategic
move Yeddyurappa is making
all efforts to garner the support
of his Lingayat community
and planning to project anoth-
er Lingayat leader and senior
Minister Jagadish Shettar as a
compromise candidate to
replace Sadananda Gowda.
A cl ose ai de of
Yeddyurappa told The Pioneer
that the BSY camps strategy
was to push for his reinstate-
ment by garnering the support
of at least 50 party MLAs, a
source said that he has now
only 20 MLAs to support him.
Their second option would
be to push for Jagadish Shettar
as CM, which would be diffi-
cult for the BJP high com-
mand to turn down as the
demand comes from the
partys biggest vote bank, the
Lingayats, asserts a close aide
of Yeddyurappa.
Meanwhile, Sadananda
Gowda expressed confidence
of putting an end to the bick-
ering in the ruling BJP with
guidance from the party high
command. Gowda said he
had faced bigger chal-
lenges and voiced
optimism on
resolving the
o n g o i n g
internal strife
that has over-
shadowed the
Government.
BJPFACTONALWARNKARNATAKA
kMkhkTh TEWkY QFAThA
T
he media reports on the lady
Patna city superintendent of
police slapping a woman and her
son in full pubic view on
Monday night has put the Nitish
Government in an embarrassing
situation with the opposition
leaders raising the issue vocif-
erously, pointing fingers on
good governance of Nitish
Kumar. The Bihar Chief
Minister has expressed concern
over the incident.
For the past two days, the
video footage as well as reports
in some sections of the local
media on how Patna City SP
Kim Gupta slapped a woman
protester, Sujata, and her son,
Animesh, were running widely
under different headlines.
The incident has put the
State Government in an embar-
rassing position as no senior
police official came forward to
make an official comment on it.
But Nitish Kumar has expressed
serious concern over the incident
and said the police officer would
be put to some counseling.
The opposition parties,
meanwhile, got the much need-
ed fuel to put Nitishs good gov-
ernance on mat and they raised
the issue during the ongoing ses-
sion of the Bihar legislative
council on Wednesday. While
responding to our question, the
Chief Minister apologised for the
police officers conduct and
expressed his concern. He also
said that since it was her first
posting, she will undergo coun-
seling, said RJD MLC Nawal
Kishore Yadav.
The opposition leaders have
demanded action against the
young lady police officer. This
is the face of good governance
Nitish Kumar always talks about
in Bihar. I had visited the place
of incident yesterday and was
shocked to know about the con-
duct of the police officer, said
RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav. In
the regime of Nitish Kumar, the
police officials have started
behaving like they can do any-
thing and get away with it.they
damn care about the law and
common peoples concerns, said
most of the opposition leaders in
the State.
With the incident and its
wide media coverage, the local
people too have demanded
immediate action against the
lady police officer. She is good
for nothing she acts like she
has become an iron lady and she
could do whatever she wishes,
rued a resident of Rajendra
Nagar who too had got a taste of
Kim Guptas ire when she had
visited his Charminar apart-
ment to investigate a case.
However, this correspon-
dent too had a very bad experi-
ence of policing in Patna when
local Kadamkuan police inspec-
tor Jyoti Prakash had acted like
a real terror when he was called
after a murderous assault on him
in the same Rajendra Nagar
locality. He not only tried to
intimidate the correspondent
but also helped the attackers
lodge a counter FIR against this
correspondent. Despite the local
residents complaint no action
was taken against the inspector.
Of late, incidentsof crimeand
loot in the city have gone north-
ward putting all the good efforts
of Nitish Kumar on the law and
order situation on mat. Policing
in Patna needs a thorough over-
haul, otherwise people will get a
chance to raise finger on Nitishs
good governance, as in the capi-
tal citysuchexpressionsget farand
wide echo, said Ashutosh Kumar,
a history lecturer.
Ironically, on the slapping
issue, Deputy Chief Minister
Sushil Kumar Modi has report-
edly told mediapersons that
since the lady officer has joined
recently she did not know much.
We should forget the incident,
said Modi when asked if any
action would be taken against the
lady officer. Kim Gupta, a resi-
dent of UP, is the 2008 batch IPS
officer. The incident happened
on Monday night when two
youths got electrocuted near
Tewary-Bechar in Kankarbagh
area of the capital. Protesting the
incident, the local people had
blocked the road demanding
action against the contractor of
the civic work going on at the
spot. But, when the local police
station officials reached the spot
they were drunk and refused to
do anything to pacify the pro-
testers, alleged a local resident of
Kankarbagh.
When the situation went out
of control, the lady City SP rea-
ched the spot with reinforcem-
ents and reportedly argued with
a local woman resident who was
watching the protest along with
her sons from inside her com-
pound. All of a sudden the City
SP entered our compound aro-
und 10:30 pm and started beat-
ing up my sons Manish, Anim-
esh and Subh. When I inter-
vened she also slapped me hard
twice, complained Sujata, 45.
However, the police said
that Sujata had retaliated and
slapped the lady SP.
Meanwhile, the National
Commission for Women
(NCW) has taken suo motu
notice of the slapping incident
and has sought a detailed report
from the police headquarters.
Oosition censures Nitisl`s 'gooo governance`
8Ihar 0hIef MIaIster
exresses c0acera
Farly should exel
Mumbai Cong chie,
says 0osilion
MhIT kkhhkI Q JAMMu
W
ith the beginning of the
month-long budget ses-
sion of Omar Abdullah-led
coalition Government, the bat-
tle ground for the mainstream
political parties will be shifted
from ground zero to the floor
of the State Assembly from
February 23. The main Oppo-
sition parties in J&K are fully
geared up to put the alliance
Government on the mat.
Ironically, the budget ses-
sion is going to be underway at
a time when the anti-corrup-
tion watchdog in the State
the State Accountability
Commission (SAC) is on a roll
and has already issued notices
to the Chief Minister, his close
aides, two Cabinet Ministers in
different cases of corruption
and political nepotism.
Facing serious charges of
corruption in higher echelons,
the alliance Government is
also expected to witness fire-
works from within the ranks of
the coalition during the stormy
session in the days to come.
Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah, who was virtually
snubbed by the Congress high
command by retaining tainted
Congress Minister Peerzada
Mohd Sayeed in his Council of
Ministers, may have to do a
tight ropewalk to defend his
tainted Cabinet colleagues on
the floor of the House.
Principal opposition party
Peoples Democratic party
(PDP) would be gunning for
the Chief Ministers head as it
feels the young Chief Minister
has lost moral authority to
head the coalition
Government.
By raking up the issue of
custodial death of NC worker
Mohd Yousaf Shah Bhat, PDP
chief Mehbooba Mufti would
try and expose the rampant
political corruption. On the
other hand, the Jammu-based
opposition parties such as
Jammu Kashmir Panthers
Party and BJP would try and
corner the alliance
Government on the emotive
issue of discrimination with
neglected regions of the State in
Jammu division.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday
all the political parties had
their closed door meetings
with respective legislators to
prepare their strategy. The
Chief Minister after attending
the meeting of the NC legisla-
tors along with party president
Farooq Abdullah at the party
headquarters hosted a dinner
meeting for Congress and NC
legislators at his official resi-
dence. PDP patron Mufti
Mohd Sayeed too chaired a
meeting of the party legislators
with party president Mehbooba
Mufti at his residence.
0 ears 0 t0 c0raer
0mar 60vt Ia ssemhIy
WOMANCTYSP'SSLAPFOOTAGE
FIhEE hEW8 8EVI6E Q LuCKh0w
I
ndicting Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the
most i nf l uenti al Mi ni ster i n
Mayawatis Cabinet, for laundering
money through purchase of heavily
undervalued properties across the State,
the Lokayukta on Wednesday recom-
mended an inquiry by the Central
Bureau of Invest i gat i on or t he
Enforcement Directorate against him.
In the report sent to the Chief
Minister, the Lokayukta, Justice (Retd.)
NK Mehrotra, has recommended simi-
lar inquiries against all those involved in
transaction of properties, including
Naseemuddin Siddiquis legislator wife,
Husna Siddiqui, and son Afzal Siddiqui.
In his report, the Lokayukta has said
that the assets of the Minister and his
family members were quite dispropor-
tionate to their income. He pointed out
that in the income tax returns filed by
Naseemuddin Siddiqui and his wife, the
couple had shown their total incomes as
C1,93,85,196 during the last four years,
while the properties purchased by them
over this period was worth many times
more than the income.
Giving details of the inquiry, the
Lokayukta said the QF Educational
Trust run by Cabi net Mi ni ster
Naseemuddin Siddiquis wife, Husna
Siddqui, was found to be a dummy insti-
tution as most of its members mentioned
on paper were ignorant of the office and
other office-bearers of the trust.
The trust reportedly purchased 57
bigha land in Fatehpur tehsil of
Barabanki on payment of C40.32 lakh
when its real cost, as per report of ADM,
Barabanki, was C16.39 crore. Husna
Siddiqui had given a list of over 300 per-
sons to the Lokayukta who, she said, had
donated about C1.82 crore to the trust,
but the inquiry revealed the trusts actu-
al collections to be C3.62 core.
The Cabinet ministers son Afzal
Siddiqui has set up a slaughter house
AQ Frozen Foods Private Ltd at
Amroha on 1. 2370 hectare land.
According to the report of the District
Magistrate concerned, the actual area of
the slaughter house premises is over 4
hectares and most of the land has been
illegally occupied by the owner.
In his report, the Lokayukta has rec-
ommended inquiry into the source of
Afzal Siddiquis income through which
the land at Amroha was purchased.
Naseemuddin Siddiquis brother,
Jamiruddin has been found guilty of pur-
chasing undervalued properties in the
name of his wife and daughter-in-law in
Banda from Irrigation department engi-
neer KK Gupta, who was given prime
posting in Rajkiya Nirman Nigam
(RNN) just after the deal was finalised.
In the inquiry, which was initiated
following the complaint of JN Shukla, a
resident of Lucknow, in November last
year, the Minister has also been found
guilty of undervaluing the cost of a huge
bungalow in Cantonment area of the
State capital.
The bungalow constructed on 16,500
square metre area was shown to have
been purchased for just C50 lakh, while
its superstructure alone was evaluated to
be over one crore rupees by the experts,
the report said.
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8kk 8EhFTk Q K0LKATA
B
engal witnessed more polit-
ical violence on Wednesday
even as two senior CPI(M)
leaders, a former legislator and
a district committee member
were clubbed to death alleged-
ly by Trinamool Congress sup-
porters when they were cam-
paigning for the February 28
industrial strike at Diwandighi
in Burdwan district, about 100
km from Kolkata.
Pradip Taa, a former MLA
and Kamal Gayen, a CPI(M)
district committee member
were both Citu members and
had taken out a procession in
support of the industrial strike
called by the Left trade unions
when they were attacked by
alleged Trinamool men, State
Opposition leader Suryakanto
Mishra said.
The attacks came a day
after Bengal Industries Minister
Partho Chattopadhyay declared
his party was against the strike
and would hit the streets to
democratically stop the bandh
from taking place as any bandh
is against the interests of the
common man and the State.
The proposed strike has
become a prestige issue for
both the outfits.
However Chatterjee
claimed Trinamool supporters
were not involved in the attack
and that the local people resist-
ed the CPI(M) men when
they went on rampage in the
area. Four persons all reported
to be Trinamool workers were
later arrested by the police.
Incidentally, Wednesdays
incident came a day after
Calcutta High Court stayed elec-
tions in four colleges, saying
campus violence had become a
burning issue in the State.
Decrying the attack, State
Congress president Pradip
Bhattacharya said culprits
should be immediately brought
to book and the Government
should act impartially at a time
when the State is slipping into
one of the most chaotic times.
Condemning the attack,
Rahul Sinha, BJP State president,
said every party has a right to
stage democratic movement
and the growing incidents of
violence in the State only show
that there has been no change in
real sense after the change of
guards at the Writers Buildings.
Meanwhile, about 137 BJP
workers were arrested on
Wednesday when the State
party observed an hour-long
road blockade throughout
Bengal protesting farmers sui-
cides and deteriorating law
and order situation. A BJP
delegation was to meet State
Governor MK Narayanan to
draw his attention on the ongo-
ing violence in the State, the
party leadership said.
CPM ox-MLA, oadro
boaton to doath
Fh8 QK0LKATA
I
n what could further dampen
the Congress-Trinamool
chemistry, the Union Home Mi-
nistry has demanded a detailed
report from Bengal Government
on the alleged police inaction in
the Park Street rape case, sources
in the Writers Buildings said.
According to sources, the
Home Ministry has written to
State Chief Secretary Samar
Ghosh asking for a full report on
the reported dereliction of duty
on the part of two police officers
who allegedly declined to act
upon the victims complaints
and also mocked at her.
The Home Department has
also enquired as to why the two
sub-inspectors were closed
and sent to the Police Lines. The
State Home Department refused
to comment but inside sources
said the Government would
respond appropriately when
the Chief Minister came back
from her visit to the Capital.
A 37-year-woman, a moth-
er of two was allegedly raped in-
side a car after abduction from
a Park Street nigh club in central
Kolkata in the intervening night
of February 5 and 6. The police
not only did not take immediate
action when she reported the
case on February 9 but also jee-
red at the victim. Finally, three
out of four accused were arrest-
ed by the police on February 18.
However, the prime accused
was still at large and had ran to
some other State, police said.
Rae case:
Cenlre wanls
Bengal rely on
co inaclion
0rous look al
0adkari lo resolve
leadershi issue
Fh8 Q LuCKh0w
T
he BJP has objected to the
transfer of CBI official
AGL Kaul who was the inves-
tigating officer in the murder
of two CMOs and one deputy
CMO of the Family Welfare
Department in connection
with the
N R H M
scam.
T h e
State BJP
pres i dent
Surya Pr-
atap Shahi
said that
when the
investigation was in its final
stage the transfer of IO creates
doubts and raises the question
mark on the intention of the
Congress who was influencing
the investigation by such acts.
It seems that the Congress
wants to shileld the top eche-
lon of the BSP invloved in the
case he said.
Shahi said that transfer of
the IO was yet another exam-
ple of the connivance between
the Congress and the BSP.
Though both criticise each
other but when it comes to
decisive point they help each
other and transfer of the CBI
official in midway of the inves-
tigation was the latest example
of unholy alliance between
both he said.
The transfer of the IO has
been carried out on the insis-
tence of the BSP he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the
top ladership of the BSP was
invloved in NRHM scam.
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Every party has
a right to stage
democratic
movement and the
growing incidents of
violence in the State
show that there has
been no change in
real sense after
the change of
guards at the
Writers' Buildings
88M scam:
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T
he Opposition BJP on Wednesday
demanded the expulsion of Mumbai
Congress chief Kripashankar Singh from his
party, in wake of the Bombay High courts
directive to the Mumbai police to prosecute
him in a disproportionate assets case.
Describing the High Courts order a sen-
sational slap on not just Singh, but also on
the State Government and the Congress High
Command, Leader of Opposition in the State
Legislative Council, Vinod Tawde of the BJP,
said:Mere acceptance of Singhs resignation
will not do. The Congress should expel him
from the party, as it did with Suresh Kalmadi
following his arrest in the CWG scam.
Meanwhile, the Congress High Com-
mands belated acceptance of Singhs resig-
nation came as a surprise and created a wrong
impression in State political circles that he had
resigned after the High Courts order and not
in the wake of the party's debacle in the
Birhanmumbai Municipal Corporation poll.
Embarrassed over registration of an FIR
against Singh on Wednesday under the
Prevention of Corruption Act as per the direc-
tion of the Bombay High Court, the Congress
clarified that the resignation was received on
the same day the civic poll results came. His
successor is to be appointed soon.
Singh had resigned owning moral
responsibility for a poor show in the BMC
polls and the party has decided to accept it,
AICC in-charge of Maharashtra Mohan
Prakash said. According to sources, in the
evening of the Mumbai poll results, Singh was
directed to send a report about the reasons for
the partys poor performance and also direct-
ed to own his moral responsibility. Singh
immediately sent the report in which he had
attributed the poll debacle to infighting and
non-cooperation from some party leaders.
Prakash met Congress president Sonia Gandhi
on Wednesday and briefed her the entire issue.
A
s isms and ideologies go, realism is
often passed over. Is this because, like
the girl next door, one does not gen-
erally look for panaceas, or love for that mat-
ter, quite so close at hand? But at least among
American thinkers there have been two
notable realists Hans Joaquim
Morgenthau who expounded the concept of
national interest, and later, Samuel
Huntington, who proposed the much dis-
cussed and debated theory of clash of civil-
isations. Both were vigorously criticised ini-
tially before being acknowledged for their
prescience as political scientists.
In recent days, Professor John J
Mearsheimer, who teaches political science
at Chicago University, has kicked up a storm
with his offensive realism that has offend-
ed large sections of the intelligentsia. There
was a hue and cry when Morgenthau first
argued for the need to amorally pursue the
national interest and not value-base it on
right and wrong. Soon enough, this idea
came to permeate every facet of international
relations, including the sovereign use of mil-
itary force and diplomacy.
Huntingtons clash of civilisations the-
ory for many people encapsulated the rise
of the Islamic terrorist who justifies bomb-
ings and mass murder as jihad. Culturally
too, the jihadi has no compunction about
demonising anyone who doesnt agree with
him or her. Enemies to target include rival
Islamic sects, so-called apostates, and non-
Muslims in all their variety. There are also
issues of perceived decadence. As for poly-
theists, it must be impossible for the
madarsa-indoctrinated jihadi to regard
such people as anything but infidels.
The ironic point is that a born-again
Christian like former US President George
W Bush, who saw his battle against militant
Islamists in crusading terms, and his arch
enemy, the Sunni warlord Osama bin
Laden, had something in common after all.
Osama bin Laden directed violence against
America, the West, Israel, India and their
friends, relentlessly framing his rhetoric and
moral imperative in jihadi terms. The cru-
sading former President, backed solidly by
Americas Christian Right, and jihadi Osama
bin Laden are stark illustrations of
Huntingtons postulation.
Morgenthau, who died in 1979, and
Huntington, who passed away in 2008, have
made their mark as realists. So, it may well
be time to listen very carefully to the most
vilified realist of current times, the 63-year-
old Prof John J Mearsheimer. He thinks for-
mer US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
is a magisterial waffler who misses the point
of what makes international relations tick.
This despite Mr Kissingers famous tilt
towards China in the Nixon years that many
say was a masterstroke that eventually led
to the demise of the Soviet Empire.
Prof Mearsheimer does not dwell on the
tremendous leg-up the US gave to China by
endlessly buying Chinese goods for over 30
years of a most favoured nation relationship.
Instead, he concentrates on the present day,
and says it is all heading for an inevitable
showdown between the US and China.
When it comes, implies Prof Mearsheimer,
it wont be in the form of the stand-offs,
shadow-boxing and covert attrition of the
Cold War, but a gun battle on the main
street, like the climax of an old Western film.
He thinks China is building its military mus-
cle and pushing its forward diplomacy
because it is the worlds most active offen-
sive realist bent on hegemony.
We in India can feel Chinas aggressive
mood first hand, as it seeks to relentlessly
encircle us via Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
the Maldives and Pakistan, and threatens us
directly at several points of our disputed long
land border with it. Prof Mearsheimer, who
is focussed on the USs national interest, says
China wants to take over the Eastern
hemisphere, probably above and below the
equator, land and sea, and would like to see
America confined to its own backyard, prob-
ably meaning Canada, South America and
Western/Eastern Europe and the seas
around them.
Africa, though certainly west of China,
is not to be given up easily by either of the
rivals or their proxies because of its vast nat-
ural resources able to feed the engines of
industry, as well as massive arable land to
grow more food for the planet. India, a
potential rival from South Asia aspiring
weakly to world power status, with its muted
forays into Africa, West Asia, Eastern
Europe, its loose alliances with the West and
a tighter one with Russia, is nevertheless very
easily bullied.
But Prof Mearsheimer thinks the great
powers attack non-nuclear countries to set-
tle things militarily, but cannot afford to go
after nuclear countries, whatever their
record in promoting human rights, terror-
ism and other provocations may be.
India, ideologically, has never pursued
the Morgenthauist national interest line par-
ticularly, nor subscribed to Huntingtons
clash of civilisations theory, and certainly
cant reconcile Prof Mearsheimers offensive
realism with Gandhian notions of non-vio-
lence. We can, therefore, expect to be con-
tinually menaced into submissiveness but
survive nevertheless because of our nuclear
power status.
West Asia, with its anachronistic forms
of Government and vast reserves of oil,
seems to be the arena where all three real-
ists and their ideas can play out their poten-
tial in short order. The current hot button
is Iran, though the instability in places such
as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon,
Palestine, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan and
Pakistan are quite worrisome too.
China seems to be against the UN-
backed unilateralism that helps the West.
Ever the covert proliferator, it first enabled
neighbouring North Korea to go semi-
nuclear and then, via Pyongyang, helped
Pakistan to do so openly. China wants to use
nuclear diplomacy to reduce the power of
the West by promoting proliferation via
proxies, and there is not much the West can
do about it.
If Iran goes nuclear, Saudi Arabia is
determined to follow suit. Israel is a covert
nuclear power already. Many more will join
the club if China has its way, making it
more and more difficult to resort to the
kind of militarism that proved recently pos-
sible in Libya and yet could in Iran. This
is Prof Mearsheimers point precisely.
Irans current belligerence might indeed be
taking some strength from Chinas open
support. Pakistan, the only nuclear Islamic
country, is standing by Iran in solidarity
with that country.
China, with its nuclear arsenal capable of
targeting every major city in the US and its
burgeoning conventional military machine,
seems determined to change the current glob-
al power equation. But this will have to play
itself out. At a minimum, even if there are no
fireworks, as Andrew Kapinevich, president
of the Centre for Strategic & Budgetary
Assessments in the US says, much of Chinas
environs and sphere of influence is being
Finlandised, meaning nominally sovereign
states that are forced to toe the Chinese line.
(The accompanying visual shows a
float at the annual street carnival at
Duesseldorf in Germany.)
Let Iran proceed
Sir This has reference to the article,
Resolving the Iran crisis (February 22)
by PR Kumaraswamy. People and countries
have double standards. The US can afford
to have nuclear weapons but not Iran,
because of the latters notorious intentions.
Irans nuclear programme bothers every-
one including Israel, the Arab countries
and India as well.
So it is just a matter of time before Iran
finally announces that it has nuclear
weapons, as it is dangerously close to mak-
ing it. So how do you make peace with Iran
and ask it to drop all those plans?
A war can never be a solution to this
problem. We are left with only one solu-
tion as suggested by Mr Kumaraswamy:
Irans nuclear programme should be given
recognition to pander to its ego. And the
sooner the world does that the better it will
be for not only West Asia but all of us.
Bal Govind
Noida
Spineless EC
Sir This has reference to the editorial,
Code of misconduct (February 22).
While you may see sinister designs in the
move to give the Model Code of Conduct
a statutory status, one also needs to ask what
exactly has the Election Commission done
to show that its writ runs large, in the case
of the UPA Ministers challenging it during
the Uttar Pradesh election?
So, does having a supine Election
Commission give our democracy a
better option?
The commissions hesitation to act
decisively when dealing with Ministers has
emboldened many to challenge its author-
ity. If politicians from the opposition camp
had dared to do something similar, I am
sure the commission would have taken an
entirely different stand.
So, please do not throw out the baby
with the bath-water by attributing nefari-
ous designs to this move.
Maybe the process can be improved
upon and made more stringent with the
involvement of the courts to ensure such
acts. After all, the UPA has proved incapable
of taking any action against the violators of
the Model Code of Conduct.
Welingkar
Via web
Islamist extremism
Sir This has reference to the article,
Europes secularism is going fanaticism
(February 18) by M Burhanuddin Qasmi.
Why is the author worried about Europes
failing secularism? I have to still find one
Islamic country that protects, forget pro-
motes, other religions.
The fact that the entire Hindu mass has
evaporated in thin air in Pakistan and that
Saudi Arabia does not allow non-Muslims
to pray in the open, is indication enough
of the fanatical Islamist Governments. In
India, extremist Muslims have driven out
Kashmiri Pandits from their State. The
Pandits have been living in exile in their
own country.
Pradyumna
Via web
Routine transfer
Sir This has reference to the news story
published in The Pioneer (February 21)
headlined, Was NRHM probe cop shunt-
ed or did he opt out? The CBI wishes to
clarify that the officer named in the news
item is not connected with the investiga-
tion of NRHM irregularities, but with the
recent deaths of three Chief Medical
Officers in Uttar Pradesh. It is also clari-
fied that the officer concerned named in
the report was changed from the case as
per his own willingness and as per the offi-
cial exigency in a normal and routine man-
ner. The CBI emphatically denies any
attempt to project this routine case of work
allocation as unusual or a bid to hamper
free and fair investigation.
Dharini Mishra
Chief Information Officer, CBI
New Delhi
Editors note: We stand by the report.
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T
his has reference to the editorial,
Code of misconduct (February 22)
and media reports about the Union
Government trying to dilute the Election
Commission of Indias power to act
against the violations of the Model Code
of Conduct during elections. Everyone
knows that the legal process in India is
rather slow. Any effort to transfer power
to act upon violation of the code from
the Election Commission to the judi-
ciary will give a free hand to the viola-
tors, because in many cases the judicial
process may not be completed even as
the tenure of the winning candidates
who have violated the code ends.
The Right To Information Act exists
as a constitutional right of the citizens
deriving out of Article 19(1)(a) of the
Constitution. But this Act was especially
legislated to provide a convenient route
for information-seekers without any
need to judicial and/or legal process to
access their constitutional right for
being an informed citizenry. Various
commissions having constitutional sta-
tus including the Election Commission
are there to ensure the early disposal of
cases without involving costly, time-con-
suming and cumbersome judicial
processes in this country.
The Election Commission should be
given more powers. But it is being down-
graded. This is unacceptable.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
Delhi
T
he failure of a team of the International
Atomic Energy Agency to break fresh
ground during its recent visit to Iran is
along expected lines given that Tehran has
been consistently intransigent in opening up
its nuclear facilities for inspection and com-
ing clean on its nuclear ambitions. Tehran
blocked the IAEA mission from accessing the
countrys military site, Parchin, which is said
to be used for conducting tests that could trig-
ger a nuclear explosion. If Iran has nothing to
hide since its nuclear programme is entirely
for peaceful purposes, as it has been repeat-
edly saying, why did it not allow the IAEA
team to visit the site? As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
it is not supposed to sabotage such inspections . Not only did Iran refuse
access to the site, it also did not allow the team to interview scientists involved
in the programme. There is clearly more than meets the eye. Irans stub-
bornness and this failed visit of the nuclear inspection agency has left the
US-led West with no option but to further tighten the sanctions that it has
imposed on the Persian nation and perhaps at some stage take a more
proactive action. What that action will be is difficult to quantify at this stage,
but it is becoming increasing clear that some of the countries that have been
following with alarm Irans progress in its nuclear programme are itching to
pull the trigger and they will find even more reason to do so after the lat-
est fiasco. There is no war yet, but the drumbeat of war can be heard from
all sides. Fars news agency of Iran has quoted the deputy head of the Islamic
republics Armed Forces, Mohammed Hejazi, as saying that Iran would act
without waiting for the actions of its enemies. There cannot have been a
less veiled threat than that. On the other side, countries like Israel, whom
Tehran wants to eliminate, have been as belligerent. They have pointed out
that concrete action must be taken against Iran here and now, because fur-
ther delay in doing so will enable that country to place its nuclear programme
in an irreversible position. This confrontation is going to be played out in
the months to come. Tehran will be responsible for the rising friction because
it has refused to be transparent on the issue of developing its nuclear prowess.
On its part, Iran is trying to squeeze out of the grim situation by saying
the IAEA mission was not really an inspection team but a group of experts
that had come to engage the country in a constructive fashion. But even
those experts got the cold shoulder from Iran. The failure of the mission
has been stark enough for the IAEA to issue a glum statement within hours
of the team rounding up its visit. With this being the second failed visit of
an IAEA team to Iran within a month, there appears to be little common
ground that Iran and much of the world can find in the coming months.
E
ven in its heyday when the Congress
imperiously ruled India with an impres-
sive majority of its own in Parliament,
State Governments were reluctant to accept
New Delhis firmans without a murmur of
protest. The Union of India may have been
conceived as a unitary state with a dominant
Union Government, but the Constitution of the
Republic of India celebrates the spirit of fed-
eralism. Since State Governments draw their
legitimacy from the Constitution, it is under-
standable that they should be loath to accept
the unilateralism of an overweening Union
Government eager to ride roughshod over
them and curtail their rights. In the 1980s, the
disgruntlement of the States came to the fore in the form of non-Congress
Chief Ministers demanding a fair share of resources and greater financial auton-
omy. Forced into a corner, the Congress had to concede both the demands,
but that has not necessarily changed the partys attitude: Its leaders, especially
members of the exalted Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, still perceive the sharing of
resources as the Centre doing the States a huge favour. Its this mindset that
drives the Congress into committing blunder after blunder in the mistaken
belief that the States will not dare question the presumed prerogative of the
Centre. What the Congress does not realise is that it is neither in a position
to demand absolute compliance nor is the country still trapped in the decades
when the partys tyranny was the law. The times have changed and the States
are today much more aggressive than ever before in both protecting their rights
and demanding their share as stakeholders in the nations collective well-being
and not supplicants in the Delhi durbar where the Congress currently pre-
sides as head of the UPA regime.
The Congress is welcome to believe that the Union Government headed
by it can push through decisions and impose its will on State Governments
without either consultations or consent. But that belief, sincere as it may be,
is not going to get the Congress anywhere. The arrogance of the Delhi dur-
bar will no doubt dazzle party loyalists, but it elicits only contempt from the
States. Witness the virtual revolt over the National Counter-Terrorism Centre
which was notified without even taking the State Governments into confi-
dence. Before that, the State Governments rallied against the ill-conceived
decision to open organised multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment.
And now an attempt is being made to slyly curtail the power of the States by
recasting the Railway Protection Force. These are ominous signs of a gath-
ering storm that can only weaken the unity of the country by setting the Centre
on a deadly collision course with the States. Thats not desirable. Federalism
does not mean the States are free to go their own way or act in a manner that
is detrimental to national unity and integrity. In all fairness, it must be said
that no State Government has yet done anything that is contrary to either
the letter or spirit of the Constitution. Hence, it would be incorrect to blame
them for the prevailing animosity. If blame must be apportioned, it entirely
lies with the UPA Government, more specifically the Congress, for being rude-
ly presumptuous and disregarding the rights and sentiments of the States.
Federalism does mean the Centre allowing the States autonomy to function
within the parameters laid down by the Constitution. It also means that the
Centre should act only after consulting the States and securing their consent.
The Congress cannot have it any other way.
Arrogance is not a virtue
Congress can`t tramle uon States` riglts
opinion 08
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
t`s time to get
real alout ran
kTkM MkhE1EE
To prooood against tho talian
naval guards who shot doad tho
ndian ishormon is within tho
right and powor o tho Stato.
Chio Ministor o Korala
Oommon Chandy
invito tho loadorship o tho Taliban
to ongago in diroot talks with tho
Aghan Govornmont.
Aghanistan Prosidont
Hamid Karzai
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Looking at tho mirror: Bill Day oommonts on Piok Santorum's olootion oampaigns
Womon don't mako wars, womon
mako poaoo. Womon don't tako
livos, womon givo livos.
Pakistan's National Assombly Spoakor
Fohmida Mirza
t`s lacl to square one
AIA team returns emty-lanoeo from ran
P
iece by piece, the tools for
an alleged Iranian-direct-
ed murder team were
smuggled into Azerbaijan on the
Caspian Sea. A sniper rifle with
silencer. Pistols. Sixteen pieces of
plastic explosives and detona-
tors. Finally came a dossier
with photos, names and exact-
ing details down to workplace
drawings for Israeli targets in
the capital of Azerbaijan.
Each step, according to
authorities in Baku, was over-
seen by Irans intelligence ser-
vices for what could have been
a stunning attack weeks before
the suspected shadow war
between Jerusalem and Tehran
flared in Azerbaijans neigh-
bour Georgia and the megaci-
ties New Delhi and Bangkok.
The shadow war is picking
up as concerns are growing over
Irans alleged weapons experi-
ments. Iran denies charges by the
West that it seeks atomic
weapons, insisting its nuclear
activities are for peaceful purpos-
es only, such as power generation.
The allegedly unraveled
Baku plot in January, recount-
ed through interviews and
police records, has been largely
overshadowed by this months
arrests and attacks that suggest
Iranian payback after the slay-
ings of at least five Iranian sci-
entists in the past two years
all with some links to Tehrans
nuclear program.
But the Baku claims offer a
wider portrait of Irans alleged
clandestine operations, and how
they appear tailored to different
locales.
The moves against Israel
taken in other countries and
t hwarted i n Baku are
undoubtedly interconnect-
ed, said Arastun Orujlu, the
head of East-West, an inde-
pendent Baku-based think
tank. Iran tries to provoke
Israel. Iran needs an external
factor to mobilise and unite
the society, but it realises
that it will lose a big war. That
is why Iran is trying to pro-
voke Israel to engage in small-
er-scale confrontation.
In Bangkok, the three
Iranian suspects in custody
took advantage of Thailands
foreigner-friendly culture to
party with bar girls while
allegedly organising a bomb
cache whose targets, police
say, included the Israeli
Embassy. In New Delhi, the
wife of an Israeli diplomat and
three others were wounded
by attackers using magnetic
bombs the same tactic used
to kill a senior nuclear official
in Tehran last month in an
attack that Iran claims was
masterminded by Israel. The
same day as the New Delhi
blast, a similar sticky bomb
was found on the car of a dri-
ver for the Israeli Embassy in
the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
The Baku allegations bring
a different scenario: Local mer-
cenaries suspected of being
recruited by a well-known gang-
ster with alleged ties to Iranian
secret services.
Each alleged plot has its
own signature, said Theodore
Karasik, a security expert at the
Dubai-based Institute for Near
East and Gulf Military Analysis,
who was part of a fact-finding
trip to Baku after the January
arrests in Baku. They all seem
to have a bit of an amateur qual-
ity about them, however, as if
Iran is trying various tactics to
see what works.
But the shifting tactics
remain difficult to interpret,
say security experts.
Some speculate they indi-
cate a level of sophistication and
preplanning to adapt plans that
take local conditions and oppor-
tunities into account. An oppos-
ing view also is frequently cited:
They represent a scattershot
approach that shows panic and
disarray as sanctions and sus-
pected covert attacks inside
Iran rattle Tehrans leadership.
Iran denies any links to the
attacks outside its borders, but
accuses Israel of directing the
slayings of the Iranian scientists
as well as other clandestine
acts such as a computer virus
that targeted uranium enrich-
ment equipment.
There is no way to inter-
pret its belligerent and violent
behavior, which all but defies all
operational and diplomatic
logic, as anything but a sign that
the decision-makers in Tehran
are acting from their gut and not
their head, wrote Yoav Limor,
a prominent defence correspon-
dent for Israels national TV.
The Baku case bridges both
elements: A suggestion of some
methodical planning, but also a
risky reliance on the local under-
world in a city that with a his-
tory of tensions between Iran
and Israel.
The former Soviet republic
flush with Caspian oil and
friendly to the West sits on
Irans western shoulder with
deep connections into the
Islamic Republic through Irans
ethnic Azeri community, one of
the nations largest whose mem-
bers include Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Bakus
outward-looking policies also
have been packaged into an
international PR campaign as it
bids for the 2020 Olympics.
In 2007, Azerbaijan convict-
ed 15 people in connection
with an alleged Iranian-linked
spy network accused of passing
intelligence on Western and
Israeli activities. The following
year, Azerbaijan officials said
they foiled a plot to explode car
bombs near the Israeli Embassy
in retaliation for the killing in
Syria of a top commander in
Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed
militant group. Two Lebanese
men were later convicted in
Baku for the bombing attempt.
Now, as Irans nuclear show-
down with the West deepens,
the Islamic Republic sees the
Azeri frontier as a weak point.
Earlier this month, Irans Foreign
Ministry accused Azerbaijan of
allowing the Israeli spy agency
Mossad to operate on its terri-
tory and providing a corridor for
terrorists to kill members of
Irans scientific community.
Azerbaijans Foreign
Ministry spokesman, Elman
Abdullayev, dismissed the
Iranian claims as slanderous
lies designed to turn attention
away from the alleged assassina-
tion plot uncovered last month.
Authorities in Azerbaijans
National Security Ministry
allege the weapons and explo-
sives were smuggled into the
country bit by bit beginning in
October. The cache included
three pistols and a military-
grade sniper rifle with a silencer.
The suspected ringleader
was a local thug, Balagardash
Dadashev, who had a record that
included kidnapping and rob-
bery. Azeri officials believe
Dadashev, at some point,
branched out to make connec-
tions with Iranian agents, pos-
sibly linked to the powerful
Revolutionary Guard, the ulti-
mate defender of Iran's ruling
system.
From a safe haven in Iran,
Dadashev then reached out to
two Azeri underworld figures to
carry out killings of Israeli citi-
zens. Police say he first
approached his brother-in-law,
Rasim Aliyev, who at first reject-
ed the idea.
Then, authorities say, he and
his Baku neighbor returned
with a demand for $2,00,000.
Dadashev countered with
$1,50,000 and gave Aliyev a
$9,300 advance as well a plan of
a Jewish school in Baku and
photos of two Israeli teachers
working there. Police say
Dadashev said they could target
either of the two at their choice.
Aliyevs neighbor, Ali
Guseinov, used some of the
money to buy a used car, accord-
ing to investigators. He then
requested a sniper rifle after see-
ing security cameras at the
school, which caters to
Azerbaijans small Jewish com-
munity. Police say pistols, explo-
sives and detonators also were
part of the plots arsenal.
The alleged plot collapsed
with a series of raids and arrests
announced January 19.
Dadashev was believed to be in
Iran and out of the reach of Baku
authorities. But in a purported
confession shown on
Azerbaijani state television,
Aliyev said Dadashev had told
him it was revenge for the
alleged Israeli slayings in Iran.
Some Israeli reports, which
have not been officially con-
firmed, said the countrys
Ambassador also was a target.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijans
National Security Ministry
announced that it had busted a
second suspected group plot-
ting attacks against foreign cit-
izens on behalf of Irans secret
services. The group was gath-
ering intelligence and had
acquired a large number of
weapons and explosives, the
Ministry said in a statement.
The announcement came
hours after authorities arrested
some 20 young people in Bakus
suburb of Nardaran.
Authorities gave no informa-
tion about the arrests, but some
local media reported that a
nephew of the alleged master-
mind of Januarys botched plot
was among those arrested.
Israeli security officials
refuse to give further details
about their investigations or
coordination with authorities in
Baku. Last week, however, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu noted the alleged
Azerbaijan plot as part of Israel's
efforts to work with security
forces around the world.
In recent months, we have
witnessed several attempts to
attack Israeli citizens in several
countries, including Azerbaijan,
Thailand and others, he said.
In each instance, we succeed-
ed in foiling the attacks in coop-
eration with local authorities.
(Associated Press writers
Aida Sultanova in Baku,
Azerbaijan, and Josef Federman
in Jerusalem contributed to this
report.)
MkYI MkhE1EE
88k 6hkhkh
Azorbai|an shows how to
ight ran's shadow war
A oiled lerror lol in Baku has been overshadowed by lhe allacks in hew 0elhi and Bangkok.
Bul il oers an insighl inlo ran's clandesline oeralions, wriles 8rian Murphy in Beirul
Jrust oeficit must
le lriogeo first
D
espite numerous initia-
tives at the Track-II level,
India and Pakistan have
not undertaken substantial
Nuclear Confidence Building
Measures. A plethora of propos-
als and suggestions have been
ignored, only indicating that the
two countries are reluctant to
pursue serious NCBMs. This
leads to the question: Why are the
two countries reluctant to pursue
these measures? One of the pri-
mary theses of the ripeness the-
ory advocated by William
Zartman has been that parties do
not negotiate with each other
unless they reach a mutually
hurting stalemate, beyond which
both cannot proceed further
without hurting themselves in
the process. Until that time is
reached, parties are less likely to
negotiate with each other.
Is the time ripe, in the
Zartman sense, between India
and Pakistan to negotiate
nuclear CBMs? Does the non-
negotiation of nuclear CBMs
between India and Pakistan
really hurt the two countries?
For India and Pakistan,
nuclear CBMs are another strat-
egy to achieve larger bilateral sta-
bility at the strategic level, rather
than an objective itself. This
could be based on the belief that
the threat of a nuclear showdown
is primarily an invention of the
West, especially the US. Though
Pakistan threatens to use the
nuclear weapons and has con-
vinced the rest of the world that
its nuclear threshold is low, there
is a larger understanding between
the two countries that the threat
is only a posture and not an actu-
al position.
Despite few media reports
and official accounts (mostly
from Bill Clintons
Administration), there is no
evidence that either India or
Pakistan actually planned to
use nuclear weapons during
the Kargil conflict in 1999 and
the military showdown during
2001-02, following the attack on
Indian Parliament. Perhaps,
India and Pakistan believe there
is unlikely to be a nuclear
exchange, hence do not pursue
a nuclear CBM.
The second reason for the
lack of NCBMs between the two
countries perhaps could be
both countries are on an upward
trajectory in arming themselves
with weapons, delivery
mechanism and fissile materials.
Hence, neither country would
like to constrain itself with any
CBM, that would affect the
pace of armament.
While the West may argue
that India and Pakistan should
learn from the Cold War expe-
rience, there is neither an
intention nor any pressure on
both countries to pursue a
serious nuclear disarmament
either at the bilateral level or at
the global level.
More importantly, the pre-
sent positions of both countries
on some of those critical issues
relating to nuclear doctrine
No First Use, Credible
Minimum Deterrence, and
Threshold and Redlines are
unclear and need further clari-
fications. Besides, there is less
transparency on issues relating
to doctrines, missiles, and
deployment. The two countries
are less likely to engage in a
nuclear CBM when they are
arming themselves and attempt-
ing to draft multiple doctrines.
There is a wider belief that
the nuclear bureaucracies in
both countries exert pressure
over their respective political
establishments to proceed fur-
ther with the science trajectory.
Four institutions play a crucial
role: Prime Minister Office,
Union Ministry of External
Affairs, Union Minister of
Defence and the technocrats in
the making and unmaking of a
nuclear CBM. From refining the
fissile materials to building bal-
listic missiles and other delivery
mechanisms, they exert pressure
on the political leadership not to
accept any measures, which
would impinge on the scientif-
ic experiments. Though the sci-
entific bureaucracies may not be
war mongering, their passion for
nuclear research, perhaps comes
in the way of nuclear CBM
between the two countries.
Unfortunately, the political
leadership in both countries is
weak to pursue any strong
nuclear CBMs. Though both
countries during the last decade
have undertaken serious CBMs,
especially over Jammu and
Kashmir and along the Line of
Control, there was no substan-
tial movement on the nuclear
CBMs. Perhaps, there was more
pressure from within, to move
ahead on the Kashmiri CBMs,
whereas on the nuclear CBMs,
there is more pressure from out-
side (read the US and the West).
Lack of sufficient internal pres-
sure within the two countries
over their political leaderships
could be another reason for the
slow progress on nuclear CBMs.
More importantly, the
External Affairs Ministry in both
countries are stretched. The sec-
tions dealing with nuclear aspect
within the Foreign Ministry are
under pressure to devise larger
national strategy towards global
nuclear disarmament and the
nuclear security summits. The
FMCT debate, IAEA, NSG and
other controversies (for example,
in Pakistan over the AQ Khan
network) has placed these sec-
tions within the Foreign
Ministries of both countries on
a fire fighting mode, than to
devise a bilateral CBM based on
an in-depth analysis.
The biggest obstacle for the
NCBMs between India and
Pakistan is the lack of a security
environment, which will enable
both countries to consider
nuclear CBMs, to reduce the
threats and address issues relat-
ing to safety and security. Instead,
the nuclear CBM is projected as
an enabling feature to reach a
secure environment. This has
become a sort of a chicken and
egg debate. Finally, the India-US
and Sino-Pak nuclear deals are
likely to impact further on how
the two countries see each others
nuclear ambitions.
(The writer is Director,
IPCS, and Visiting Professor,
Pakistan Studies Programme,
Jamia Millia Islamia.)
Conidencebuilding measures belween ndia and
Fakislan on lhe nuclear ronl can hel bilaleral lies
00a't sare terr0rs0as0rIa states
Srdeye 09
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
srael's Minisler or Energy and waler Resources u/i Landau says democracies should joinlly ighl lerror
A
s the Arab Spring turns cold and bit-
ter, threatening to break the fragile
peace that has somehow held
together the vast and disparate region of
West Asia, Israel has watched its position
turn precarious in this past year. With its
peace treaty with Egypt under threat, the
crucial Sinai pipeline repeatedly bombed
and sworn enemy Iran on the verge of
acquiring a nuclear bomb, these are
uncertain times for the Jewish nation.
But, for a country that has fought at
least six major wars for its survival and is
surrounded by adversaries, Israel remains
more than prepared and vigilant to han-
dle any future crisis. In an exclusive inter-
view to The Pioneer, Israels Minister for
Energy and Water Resources Uzi Landau
explains how his country is preparing to
face the challenges that lie ahead.
With elections bringing the Muslim
Brotherhood to power, in post-Mubarak
Egypt, the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty,
which Mr Landau rightly describes as the
cornerstone for stability and future peace
in West Asia, now hangs in balance. Only
late last week, at least two senior leaders
of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose polit-
ical wing now heads the Egyptian
Parliament, threatened to review the
treaty with Israel if the US cuts aid to
Egypt. On his part, Mr Landau insists that
Israel will do whatever is possible to con-
tinue with the peace agreement and use it
as a base to develop other peace agree-
ments in the area, but expresses deep con-
cerns at the manner which events are
unfolding across Arabia.
Mr Landau remarks, However, and I
hate to say however, when I look around
West Asia, I see this huge span of territo-
ry from the Atlantic in the west to the
Persian Gulf and beyond in the east con-
vulsing in an earthquake which is bring-
ing down regimes that until now had been
stable, such as the ones in Tunisia, Egypt,
Libya and even Yemen. He points to the
terrible undercurrents in Syria and else-
where and notes that under the guise of
democracy and free elections, the Muslim
Brotherhood and the radical Islamist ele-
ments are making their way to the helm
of affairs.
This is a matter of great concern espe-
cially since the more civil parts of soci-
ety that came to the streets in order to have
a free and more democratic country find
themselves pushed to the back. Mr
Landaus comparison of the anti-
Government protests in West Asia with the
Iranian revolution of 1978 that brought the
radical regime of Ayatollah Khomeini to
power is interesting.
Those still in doubt must take note of
the fact that the Sinai pipeline which runs
through Egypt and delivers gas to Israel as
well as Jordan was bombed for the 12th time
in this past year on February 5. Since the
protests in West Asia began, gas supplies to
Israel had come to a halt. They were
renewed only in January. We are doing
whatever we possibly can to renew the flow,
Mr Landau says, emphasising that the nat-
ural gas agreement with Egypt is perhaps the
most important economic agreement
between the two countries. But at the same
time, he adds, Israel is also looking to off-
set this lack of natural gas by other sources
of energy. Unfortunately, his options coal
and heavy oil are limited, more expen-
sive and bad for the environment.
Luckily for Israel, new offshore gas
fields have been found and Mr Landau
believes that there is enough to meet the
countrys needs for the next 50 to 60 years,
if not more. Additionally, Israel is also
developing and diversifying its own
sources of energy. In a worst case scenario,
if something happens to hamper natural
gas supply for certain period of time, we
have others ways to sustain ourselves, says
Mr Landau. Then, as an after thought, he
adds, Please note, I am coming from, as
it is described in the Bible, the land of milk
and honey. But, it doesnt say anything
about natural gas, or energy.
Yet, in this context, energy security is
perhaps everybodys greatest concern.
Especially with the ongoing global standoff
with Iran, West Asias energy equations with
the rest of the world will possibly have to
be re-formulated. This, however, Mr Landau
does not see as a problem. He reasons that
Irans many enemies including Saudi
Arabia might actually be more than eager
to offset the losses incurred by those previ-
ously buying Iranian oil with their own oil.
It simply needs time to adjust to a system.
The oil sanctions against Iran that have
been recently imposed by the US and the
European Union have had a crippling
effect on that countrys economy although
is still unclear if they will actually prevent
Tehran from pursuing its controversial
enrichment programme. Mr Landau
agrees, I am not sure if the sanctions will
work, he says, but adds, They should be
stepped to make clear to the Iranian
Government that no one is prepared to see
a nuclear Iran.
If Mr Landau strikes a pragmatic pos-
ture here, he is equally clear in his mind
that his country will not hesitate to take
affirmative action if such a need arises. He
insists that Iran is a major exporter of ter-
rorism and that it is linked to various ter-
ror organisations such as Hizbullah,
Hamas and Al Qaeda.
After all, if Iran goes nuclear, it will
only set in motion another nuclear arms
race, with Saudi Arabia immediately look-
ing to acquire nuclear weapons. Given the
latters vast financial resources and close
ties with Pakistan, the development will
have worrying consequences for India.
Moreover, as Mr Landau asks, What kind
of world is this going to be? Remember,
you are not speaking of responsible
regimes. You are speaking of those who
couldnt care any less.
So how does the world deal with such
rogue regimes that terrorise the world? To
that, Mr Landau counters, Why does ter-
ror exist? Because it works; because terror-
ists see that they can go ahead and have
some benefits.
He adds, Only if terrorists and terror-
sponsoring states are met head on, and
shown that terror will never pay, will this
mindless violence stop. I think this really
should be the policy of every free country.
It is but natural for the conversation,
while on terror, should veer towards the
recent attacks on Israeli embassy cars in New
Delhi and Tbilisi and towards the
alleged role of Iran in the attacks. When
asked how Israel responds to such attacks,
Mr Landau points out that his country has
been under attack ever since it came into
existence. There have been wars, terror
attacks, bombings and more at regular inter-
vals. But we continue our day to day rou-
tine, giving up nothing. This, he says, is as
much a challenge as successfully combating
terrorists in the battlefield and elsewhere is.
With India facing much of the same
challenges as Israel, Mr Landau hopes that
this country too will be able to fight ter-
ror without compromising on its core prin-
ciples of equality, liberty, freedom and
democracy. We both live in difficult
neighbourhoods and yet we maintain
our democracies. Our Parliaments are still
functioning, he remarks. This in itself
should form the basis of a strong relation-
ship between India and Israel.
whY 00ES TERR0R EXST? BECAuSE T w0RKS.
0hLY F TERR0RSTS 0ET ThE MESSA0E ThAT
TERR0R wLL hEvER FAY, wLL ThS Mh0LESS
v0LEhCE ST0F
l|+l |i|i|| |u| E||] +|J w+|| Ruu| ui |+|J+u i| |W l|i. Piu|| p|u|u |] AlWi| Si||
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012 nation 10
IkFkI 8EThI Q JAFuR
F
acing constant threats and
political pressure, the CBI
is likely to approach the court
to allow the trial of Bhanwari
Devi case out of the State.
According to CBI source,
l egal experts are bei ng
consulted on the matter
before moving
a formal peti-
t i on before
the court.
A division
bench of the
R a j a s t h a n
High Court at
Jodhpur had
on Tuesday
d i r e c t e d
Panne Singh,
counsel for
the CBI, to submit an affidavit
on February 27 giving details
of the threats and political
pressure which the agency is
facing in investigating the
case impartially and inde-
pendently. Panne Singh had
orally mentioned about the
threats and political pressure
being faced by the agency in
the court on Tuesday.
Sources said along with its
affidavit, while providing
details of the threats and
political pressure, the agency
would also file a petition to
seek permission for shifting
the trail of the case out of the
State. It may cite the law and
order problem during the
trail of the case at Jodhpur. It
also fears that of some of its
key witnesses may turn hos-
tile because of
p o l i t i c a l l y
charged atmos-
phere in the
area.
The CBI
has so f ar
arrested 16
p e r s o n s ,
i n c l u d i n g
s a c k e d
M i n i s t e r
M a h i p a l
Maderna and Luni legislator
of the Congress, Malkhan
Singh and hunting to trace
Indira Bishnoi, sister of
Malkhan Singh. It is prepar-
i ng to
file the final charge-sheet
before March 3.
In fact, a massive rally by
the Bishnoi community at
Jodhpur on Februar y 9
had forced the agency to slow
down its hunt for Indira
Bishnoi, a key witness in
the case.
So far two key witnesses
in the case, Sahi Ram and
Umesha Ram, have turned
hostile. Both of them had
informed the court that their
statements, recorded under
section 164 before a magis-
trate, should not be taken into
consideration as the same
were extracted from them
under pressure and torture by
CBI sleuths.
On Wednesday, Rashema
Ram, an associate of Indira
Bishnoi, was taken to the
hospital for a check-up as he
had made a complaint that he
was being beaten up by
sleuths for making a favorable
statement in the case.
BHANWAPDEVCASE
08I may seek shIftIa
trIaI 00t 0f 8ajasthaa
Fh8 Q JAFuR
C
ongress legislator Malkhan Singh, an
accused in Bhanwari Devi case and
presently in jail, has sought 40-day inter-
im bail from the special CBI court so that
he could attend the Budget session of
Rajasthan Assembly beginning from
February 27. The petition of Malkhan
Singh is listed for hearing on February 23.
If his plea was accepted by the court, sacked Minister
Mahipal Maderna may also file a similar petition, sources close
to him said.
As both were arrested by the CBI last week, the Assembly
secretariat had sent them letters through the agency, inform-
ing them about the commencement of the budget session. While
Malkhan Singh readily accepted the letter, Maderna declined
to receive the same.
Malkhan seeks 4Oday inlerim
bail lo allend Budgel session
Fh8 QhY0ERABA0
T
he five-day-long hunt for a
treasure trove in the bottom
of Naubat Pahad adjoining a
school in the heart of Hyderabad
has turned out to be a wild goose
chase as the Department of
Archaeology drew a blank
despite the digging at three dif-
ferent places.
Not able to make much
headway, the State Government
has taken the help of experts
from the National Mineral
Development Corporation who
used GPS devices and scanners
to start marking the area for
preparing a map as a precursor
to the search of a possible tun-
nel and treasure trove using
more sophisticated equipment.
Officials of the
Archaeological department and
the NMDC were now working
on a new theory that a network
of underground tunnels exists in
the adjoining area and possibly
there was a link between the tun-
nel found in the Home Science
College and Naubat Pahad.
The team of the officials
tried to enter the tunnel at the
college which was found last year
but they could not make any
headway as it was full of stag-
nated water. They have now
requested the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation to flush
out the water.
It may be recalled that the
department of archaeology start-
ed the digging operation after a
group of nine people including
Rama Raju, an executive of Coal
India made a written represen-
tation claiming that they had
seen a tunnel in the school
premises a year ago and there
was a treasure trove in it.
However, they could not pin-
point the place where they had
reportedly seen the tunnel and
all the digging could not help in
finding a trace of the same.
P Channa Reddy, director,
department of archaeology, who
is heading the operation, was still
hopeful of making headway.
We hope that with the help of
scientific devices we will be able
to reach a conclusion in three-
four days, he said.
But the so-called treasure
hunt has left the management
of the Vidyaranya school per-
turbed. All these activities inside
the school premises are disturb-
ing the students when examina-
tions are so close, a school offi-
cial complained.
Hyderabad treasure hunt
turns a wild goose chase
Fh8 QhY0ERABA0
W
ith the Telangana Rashtra
Samiti continuing to stall
the proceedings of the State
Assembly, Speaker N Manohar
on Wednesday suspended 11
MLAs of the party. As the House
met in the morning, the TRS
members were once again on
their feet demanding that the
Assembly should pass a resolu-
tion in favour of Telangana state.
Not able to restore order in the
House, the Speaker adjourned
the House for half-an-hour.
When the TRS members
continued to stall the proceed-
ings even after the House
resumed, the Speaker announ-
ced the suspension of the mem-
bers. Later, the TRS members
staged a protest demonstration
at the Telagnana Martyrs memo-
rial opposite the Assembly build-
ing and alleged a nexus between
the Congress and the Telugu
Desam Party against the TRS.
Senior TRS leader T Harish
Rao said the two parties had
joined hands to prevent the TRS
from raising the demand of
Telagana in the Assembly. The
people of Telangana are watch-
ing and they will teach a befitting
lesson to them. We will see
them in the court of the people,
he said referring to the forth-
coming byelections to the 6
Assembly seats in the region.
Harish Rao said the people
of Telangana wanted to know
when the House will pass a res-
olution in support of separate
state. If they want to conduct the
House smoothly, the Govern-
ment should clarify when it will
move the resolution on
Telangana, he said.
Harish Rao specially target-
ed leader of opposition N
Chandrababu Naidu and won-
dered why TDP members were
not opening their mouth on the
demand for Telangana resolu-
tion. Naidu who changed his
stand on Telangana overnight,
went to console the families of
the people who died after con-
suming spurious liquor but never
condoled the death of 800 peo-
ple who committed suicide for
Telangana, he said.
Naidu has no right to seek
votes from the people of
Telangana. In fact, if Naidu cam-
paigns in the byelection, the TDP
11 JRS MLAs susenoeo
from Anolra Assemlly
kThIh k8 Q AhME0ABA0
A
local court in Jamnagar
district has rejected the
plea by suspended IPS officer
Sanjiv Bhatt to pardon his
delay in filing a review peti-
tion regarding a case of cus-
todial death way back in 1990.
As a freshly posted IPS
officer in Jamkhambaliya of
Jamnagar district, Bhatt had
rounded up several people
protest i ng agai nst t he
stoppage of BJP stalwart LK
Advanis Rat h Yat ra i n
Bihar in October 1990. One
of them, Prabhudas Vaishnavi
later died due to torture
in custody.
Criminal prosecution has
been launched against Bhatt
in the local court following
t he hi gh court and t he
Supreme Court refusing to
stay the proceedings against
the IPS officer.
The next hearing has been
scheduled on February 28,
sai d publ i c prosecutor
Vimal Chotai.
Bhatt had last year gained
notoriety by alleging that
Chief Minister Narendra
Modi had asked the States
police force to allow Hindus
to vent their anger during the
bandh called by the VHP
after the killing of 58 kar
sevaks in the Sabarmati
Express fire at Godhra on
February 28, 2002.
000rt rejects
8hatt Iea Ia
1990 case
will not get even ten votes, he
said. Ever since the budget ses-
sion of the State Assembly began
on February 17, it could conduct
the business only on two days.
After the suspension of
the TRS members,
Chandrababu Naidu lashed
out at the Government for its
various acts of omission and
commission. Initiating the
debate on the motion of thanks
to the Governors address,
Naidu said that misgovernance
of Congress had landed the
State into a debt trap. The
State has become like a cloth in
the mouth of a dog, he said
evoking a strong protest from
the treasury benches.
Recalling that most of the
prestigious projects launched
during his regime were neglect-
ed by the Congress
Government, he said that the
Fab City had become a fake
city and there was no sign of
knowledge city and the Science
City in the State. Even after
spending Rs 72,000 crore on the
irrigation projects, the
Government could not provide
water to even 7000 acres of land,
he said. Naidu also alleged that
during January alone, 127 farm-
ers committed suicide.
l|+||i |+u |+| |uW|+| B|iJ Ju|i| + B1P p|u|| u1| || iu u| |+|||
uiiJ, i| |ul|+|+ u| wJ|J+] Pll
8WkTI k8 Q ChEhhA
S
etting up of the National
Counter Terrorism Centre
by the Union Home Ministry
has been challenged in the
Madras High Court by a
l awyer f rom t he rul i ng
AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on
Wednesday.
The petition has been
f i l ed by Vij ayal akshmi
Shanmugam challenging the
Ministrys anti-terrorism cell
and seeking the quashing of
the Ministry notification on
the formation of the cell from
March 1.
She argued that the noti-
fication would only weaken
the federal structure of the
country. She also argued that
the Centre could not come up
with an executive order
interfering with subjects that
are under the State list.
Shanmugams counsel
Mani kant han Vat han
Chettiyar argued that though
Parliament was considering a
Bill introduced on December
15, 2011, it did not have any
mention about NCTC. A con-
stitutional amendment is
required to be passed before
giving effect to the NCTC
proposal. However, without
doing that the Centre was try-
ing to encroach on State pow-
ers, he argued.
The petition came up for
hearing before Justice Elipe
Dharma Rao on Wednesday
and after hearing the argu-
ments from both sides, the
judge posted the case for
hearing on Friday by the First
Bench led by Chief Justice
MY Eqbal.
Shanmugams petition fol-
l ows a l etter written by
AIADMK supremo and Tamil
Nadu Chi ef Mi ni ster J
Jayalalithaa who joined other
non-Congress Chi ef
Ministers in opposing NCTC
on t he ground t hat it
infringes on State powers.
Incidentally, the DMK, a
constituent of the ruling UPA
at the Centre, has also joined
the AIADMK in opposing
the NCTC.
The party has claimed
that it was always against any
proposal that took away pow-
ers f rom t he St ate
Governments.
Anti-odoral NCTC
ohallongod in oourt
MhIT kkhhkI QJAMMu
A
fter issuing notices to Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah
and tainted Congress Minister
Peerzada Mohd Sayeed, the anti-
corruption watchdog in Jammu
& Kashmir, the State Acco-
untability Commission, on We-
dnesday issued notices to senior
National Conference leader and
Finance Minister AR Rather in
the alleged smart card scam.
The notice was issued to
Rather on the basis of a com-
plaint filed by Yuva Shakti Vikas
Mission. In the complaint, seri-
ous allegations of favoritism at
the cost of State exchequer were
leveled against Rather.
According to the complaint,
Rather allegedly gave a contract
worth C2 crore to his son in res-
pect of preparing smart cards for
the Secretariat employees in gr-
oss violation of the formalities, to
shower huge and illegal benefits
upon him even when he is not
qualified to run such a project.
The State Government in its
reply to the commission has stat-
ed on record, Project for prepa-
ration of bio-matric based atten-
dance monitoring system thr-
ough smart cards was allotted to
the J&K Bank, which after a due
process finalised the vendors for
implementation of the said pro-
ject in the J&K Civil Secretariat.
The J&K Bank has signed
the purchase order for the pro-
ject. The terms and conditions
have been clearly mentioned as
part of the purchase order. The
J&K Bank has also finalised and
signed an MoU with ITD J&K
Government. This MoU has
been drafted after consultation
with IT Department, J&K Gov-
ernment. However, the signed
copy is still awaited from J&Ks
IT Department. It has also been
stated that warranty was for one
year from May 10, 2010 to May
9, 2011 and subsequently AMC
had to be entered into. As per the
agreed MoU with J&K Govern-
ment, J&K Bank would facilitate
an Agreement between, J&K
Government and vendor that
would cover AMC, software
updates, software support etc.
J&K anlicorrulion walchdog
issues nolice lo Minisler Ralher
SMAPTCARDSCAM
8kTTIE IIhE8 kWh I 8YFII8 Ih TEIkhkhk EIh
hyderabad: Even as lhe Eleclion Commission on wednesday issued a
noliicalion or lhe byeleclions lo seven Assembly seals in Andhra Fradesh,
lhe dierences aeared lo be growing belween lwo roTelangana arlies,
lhe Telangana Rashlra Samili and lhe BJF.
Slale BJF residenl 0 Kishan Reddy made il clear lo lhe TRS lhal il will nol
exlend suorl lo any candidale jusl because o Telangana issue. "0ur
arly's olicy rom now onwards will be lhal no MLA should resign rom
lhe Assembly on Telangana issue. he does so and seeks reeleclion on
anolher arly's lickel, lhe BJF will nol suorl him", he said.
0 lhe seven Assembly seals, six were in Telangana region and ive o lhem
were caused by lhe resignalion o silling MLAs. These MLAs, belonging lo
Congress and T0F have resigned rom lheir arlies and now our o lhem
were seeking reeleclion on TRS lickels and one as indeendenl candidale.
The BJF was unhay wilh lhe TRS or conlesling all lhe six seals. " we
ield our candidale rom Slalion 0hanur (warangal), lhe TRS will surely
bile lhe dusl", Kishan Reddy said. According lo lhe communicalion,
candidales can ile lheir nominalion aers rom loday lill February 2O and
scruliny will lake lace on March 1. The nominalions can be wilhdrawn lill
March 8. Folling will lake lace on March 18. Meanwhile, lhe TRS olilburo
will meel lo inalise ils slralegy or lhe byolls as lhe arly eels lhal lhe
oulcome will be crucial or lhe ulure o lhe Telangana movemenl. ?=B
SHORT NIT NO.91-(2011-12)
S. Name of work Estimated Date release Last date/ time
No. Cost of tender in e- of receipt of
procurement tender through
solution e-procurement
solution
1 REPLACEMENT OF PVC WATER PIPE 1227869/-DI 18.02.12 27.02.12
INTO 100 150 MM DIA CI DI WATER 1243028/-CI
PIPE OF OLD MIG FLATS PRASHAD
NAGAR IN EE WEST II AC 24 PATEL
NAGAR
Further details in this regard can be seen at http://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in
Sd/-
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) (Dalbir Singh)
Advt. No. J.S.V. 2011-12/477 E.E. (West)-II
DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WEST) II
D-Block Moti Nagar, New Delhi-110005
money 11 NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
NBREF
80se 0aveIIs lIfestyIe
135 aa4 0IaeMate 188
FIYkhkk k Q hEw 0ELh
T
he US-based audio tech-
nology company Bose on
Wednesday launched two
speaker systems priced up to
C1.8 lakh in the Indian market.
While addressing the
media Bose India Director
Ratish Pandey said: "The
products will be available in
the Bose stores in the next
seven days".
He said that most conven-
tional sound bars are bulky and
hard to place, or thin but
unable to deliver like sound
"the new Lifestyle 135 and
CineMate 1 SR systems deliv-
er a powerful audio experience
that defies their size and elegant
design,"
"The new systems will
deliver a powerful audio expe-
rience, whether you're watch-
ing movie and playing a video
game or listening to music,"
added Pandey.
The two new systems, Life
style 135 and CineMate 1SR
are available C1,79,888 and
C with features, including a
media console for up to six
HD sources, an AM/FM tuner
and a dock for iPod/iphone.
The new Speakers are 6cm
high, 93.4 cm wide and 12.44
cm deep.
The best part about the
new Bose systems is that they
can be setup by an average
home owner. No need for a
sound engineer to make
homely visits to gauge the
acoustic quality of the room
before setting up the sound
system.
Bose India presently has
31 stores across the country in
cities like Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai, Kol kata,
Ahmedabad, Bangal ore,
Hyderabad, Chandi garh,
Jaipur and Ghaziabad.
world hR0 Congress 2O12 resenled 'hurlurer o Talenl Award '
(Lielime Achievemenl Award) lo hLC CM0 AR Ansari al a unclion
held in Mumbai recenlly
Fh8 QhEw 0ELh
K
ingfisher Airlines on
Wednesday filed a fresh
flight schedule with the DGCA
as per which the airline will oper-
ate only 170 flights with its 28
functional aircraft after the avi-
ation regulator rapped the for-
mer for cancellations on Tuesday
and asked it to come up with
realistic flight schedule in the
present situation.
DGCA sources say the car-
rier submitted a revised winter
schedule of flights it would oper-
ate till March, which is being
examined.
Earlier in the day DGCA
Chief E K Bharat Bhushan had
a meeting with Civil Aviation
Minister Ajit Singh and he
briefed him about the financial
situation of the carrier. There
were reports that banks are will-
ing to help the airline but the
Aviation Minister again clarified
that the Government cant bail
out any private airline.
"We have made it clear and
I am sure Mr (Vijay) Mallya
knows that Air India is a
Government concern. Whatever
help we give them (Air India), we
cannot do it to any private
industry, he said.
"We have said it before that
banks will decide that (pumping
in money). Government is not
going to interfere in it. Banks
have to follow RBI guidelines.
They have to worry about their
NPAs . They have to decide on
the basis of the business plan of
the company. If they are satisfied
with the business plan, they can
lend money," he added.
Sources said that as per the
revised schedule, the airline
would operate about 170 flights
daily, instead of over 400 it had
sought permission for last
October when the winter sched-
ule for the airlines came into
operation.
Meanwhile, RBI said it is not
opposed to SBI extending sup-
port to Kingfisher Airlines, its
Deputy Governor KC
Chakrabarty said today.
"Absolutely not," he told
reporters when asked to com-
ment on reports suggesting that
SBI has agreed to pump more
money into the airline.
RBI does not oppose "pro-
fessional decision" of the bank,
Chakrbarty said.
kIafIsher fIIes fresh
fIIht sche40Ie hef0re 060
Fh8 QhEw 0ELh
A
irline companies which
are bleeding a lot because
of high ATF prices can now
breath easy as the Government
on Wednesday formally
allowed the local airlines to
import jet fuel directly.
The airlines would be
allowed to import aviation tur-
bine fuel (ATF) under the so-
called open-general license,
enabling them to avoid sales
taxes of between 12 to 23 per
cent that are levied by State-
Governments.
"...Indian Carriers who are
interested to avail the oppor-
tunity to import ATF directly
without going through State
Trading Enterprises route may
apply to the Directorate
General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT)," an official statement
said.
Jet fuel in India exceeds the
global average by more than 50
per cent mostly due to local
taxes. Some estimates suggest
that direct imports could cut
fuel costs by up to 20 per cent,
but also require new spending
in terms of putting up storage
and logistics infrastructure.
Carriers, led by Kingfisher
Airlines, had demanded the
right to direct import of fuel,
which accounts for about half
of their operating costs.
Airlines, almost all of
which are losing money, cur-
rently buy ATF from local
refiners like Indian Oil Corp.
Though the jet is priced at par-
ity with international rates, the
actual price for airlines is
higher because of state sales
tax.
Industry sources, howev-
er, said that importing the fuel
will pose its own challenges
like storages and logistics
involved in moving the prod-
uct from sea ports to con-
sumptions points at airports.
Govt allows AJ! imort ly airlines
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
T
he private power producers
on Wednesday met the
Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji
to discuss the issues belea-
guering the sector. Top execu-
tives of private power compa-
nies including Anil Ambani
and Cyrus Mistry discussed
the various issues faced by the
sector with the high level panel
headed by Chatterji.
A host of issues, including
gas allocation for power pro-
jects, high coal prices and
implementation of coal supply
agreements by Coal India,
were among the topics that
came up for discussion. Power
Secretary PUma Shankar and
Coal Secretary Alok Perti also
attended the meeting between
the top executives and the
Committee of Secretaries
(CoS) headed by Chatterji.
"PS to PM agreed with the
proposal given by the delega-
tion and assured that since the
recommendations made by
the APP are genuine and
pract i cl e, it woul d be
addressed i mmedi atel y"
Associ at i on of Power
Producers Director General
Ashok Khurana, who also
attended the meeting, said.
Chatterji is believed to
have assured the power pro-
ducers that all their sugges-
tions are quite practical and
these could form the agenda
for the future CoS meetings.
The executives would be
meeti ng Pl anni ng
Commi ssi on Deputy
Chairman Montek Singh
Ahluwalia in the evening.
Power rooucers
meet Pulol
Fh8 Q hEw 0ELh
P
rojecting an ambitious
growth rate of 7.5 to 8 per
cent, the Prime Minister's
Economic Advisory Council
(PMEAC) on Wednesday
expressed confidence that the
country can achieve even more
than this, provided the global
environment turns favourable.
"We might be able to achieve
8 per cent growth on our esteem
... if the world environment is
favourable, we will be able to
achieve high growth rate," the
Chairman of the PMEAC, C
Rangarajan, said.
While releasing the Review
of Economy (2011-12), he said
that the growth rate in 2011-12
is likely to be 7.1 per cent, mar-
ginally higher than 6.9 per cent
projected by the Central
Statistical Organisaton (CSO).
Indian economy was grow-
ing at over nine per cent before
the financial meltdown of 2008
pulled down the growth rate to
6.7 per cent in 2008-09.
The economy recorded a
growth rate of 8.4 per cent in
2010-11, which according to
the CSO estimates is expected to
moderate to 6.7 per cent in the
current fiscal.
Rangarajan further said the
efforts would be needed to
achieve and sustain high growth
rate.
Referring to inflation, which
has remained at elevated level in
2011, he said it would moderate
to 6.5 per cent by March end and
5-6 per cent in the next fiscal.
While the retail inflation
based on Consumer Price Index
(CPI) was 7.65 per cent in
January, the Wholesale Price
Index (WPI) inflation was 6.55
per cent.
Meanwhile expressing its
opposition to the proposal of
one PSU buying shares of oth-
ers to help Government raise
funds, the PMEAC said it was
not desirable as this would
reduce investible resources of the
buying company.
"The proposal that was
mooted to raise this (C 40,000
crore disinvestment) revenue by
disinvesting the shares of public
enterprises to other cash rich
public enterprises was not a
desirable option," Rangarajan
said.
Unable to raise funds
through sale of equity in public
sector undertakings (PSUs)
because of volatile market con-
ditions, the Finance Ministry
had mooted innovative ways,
including cross holding by PSUs,
to achieve C40,000 crore target.
"This would have only
reduced the investible resources
of the enterprises and failed to
convince market participants -
who in any case mark down the
reported deficits by all excep-
tional items, i.e. one-off items
such as divestment proceeds and
other asset sales, including spec-
trum auctions," the review said.
Under the cross-holding
route, shares of a PSU were to be
sold to other cash-rich firms of
the Government.
The Government till date has
only managed to garner C1,145
crore through the disinvestment
route against the target of C
40,000 crore due to volatile mar-
ket conditions.
It is currently in the process
of working out the modalities for
auctioning its five per cent
stake in ONGC that would
fetch the exchequer around
C12,000 crore.
FMF0 r0jects 7.58%
r0Wth rate f0r Z01Z13
kkE8h 8IhkI 1hk Q hEw 0ELh
H
ero MotoCorp has entered into a strategic partnership with
US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR) on Wednesday as it wants
to strengthen its presence in the high-end bike segment.
"We are entering into a long term strategic partnership with
EBR, which is more into high end and high performance rac-
ing bikes, said Hero MotoCorp Ltd Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer Pawan Munjal, adding, we have not gone
beyond 225 cc engines but now with this kind of technical asso-
ciation we will gradually grow to get into high end bike segment.
While EBR is more into high end Munjal said it is also pos-
sible that the US firm's technology can also be used for small-
er engine bikes. Explaining in detail he said while Hero MotoCorp
can use EBRs technology for smaller engine bikes we can also
manufacture high end engines in time to come in India.
Asked by when the company could launch a product using
EBR technology in the market, he said: "We have already start-
ed work on some of our existing products and also on completely
new product. I would tend to say that by calendar 2013 (a prod-
uct will be launched)."
Hero MotoCor inls tecl
sourcing act witl IBR
8 k1kFkIkh QwAShh0T0h
T
he US authorities have
uncovered a $5 million scam
and shut down a California-
based firm that cheated thou-
sands of American customers
with the help of Indian call cen-
tres that made millions of fraud-
ulent and threatening "debt col-
lector" calls.
The Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) has shut
down the operations of
"American Credit Crunchers"
and its affiliate "Ebreeze", prose-
cuting them and their owner,
Varang K Thaker, for the opera-
tion swindle.
Operators from Indian call
centres, often pretending to be
US law enforcement officers and
other Government officials,
would falsely threaten to imme-
diately arrest to arrest consumers
if they did not agree to make a
payment on a supposedly delin-
quent payday loan.
Curiously enough, perpe-
trators of the scam managed to
collect moneys from people who
did not owe any debts in the first
place. "Claiming to be law
enforcement, such as a local
police department, the "Federal
Department of Crime and
Prevention," or simply a "federal
investigator," the callers typically
demanded more than $300, and
sometimes as much as $2,000,"
the FTC said in papers submit-
ted to a US District Court.
!S uncovers $5m scam
aioeo ly noian call centres
kM IhIk8T6TE8 EEIIhE8 EkITY, 8ET8 k
hEW 8Eh6hMkk
AMR nraslruclures Lld announced lhe launch o 'The 0real
Advenlure Mall. l is localed al Tech Zone, lhe G5O acres o T & relail
hub in 0realer hoida, a ulureroo cily lanned wilh obsession. The
0real Advenlure Mall is relele wilh every advenlure acilily rom
across lhe world, making il ndia's irsl allinone advenlure &
enlerlainmenl deslinalion lhal redeines really and sels a new
benchmark.Silualed along lhe Yamuna Exressway, AMR
nraslruclures' The 0real Advenlure Mall is designed by award
winning inlernalional archilecls, Aedas Fle Lld.
FMEAC h0hL0hTS
QEconomy lo grow by 7.5 8% in 2O1218
Q0rowlh rale eslimaled al 7.1% in 2O1112
Qnlalion lo ease lo 5G er cenl in nexl iscal
QKee vigil on ood rices, arm oulul, exchange rale
QAdjuslmenls o elrol rices needed lo cul subsidy
QFiscal deicil a maller o concern, road ma required
QCurrenl accounl deicil lo be 8% o 00F
Q0lobal economic condilion lo remain under ressure
QFarm seclor growlh likely lo be 8% in 2O1112
QMining lo reorl negalive growlh in currenl iscal
F0 t0 s0mm0a
I chIef hef0re
fIaaIIsIa re0rt
Fh8 QhEw 0ELh
A
Parliamentary panel has
decided to summon the top
brass of Air India in order to look
into the reasons behind the
financial woes of the company,
before it prepares a report on the
matter.
The Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) headed by
senior BJP MP Murli Manohar
Joshi while holding discussions
with representatives of various
unions and associations of Air
India on Wednesday, felt that in
order to delve deeper into the
matter, it would be prudent to call
Air India CMD Rohit Nandan
during the meeting, scheduled
for next week.
Sources close to the devel-
opment said that Wednesday's
meeting with the unions "did not
serve much purpose" as the
associations mainly focused on
their personal problems and
solely blamed the Air India-
Indian Airlines merger as the
main reason behind the financial
woes of the national carrier.
The MPs, however, were
mainly interested in knowing the
real reasons and therefore it was
generally felt that instead of
speaking to the unions it would
be better to summon the top offi-
cials of Air India.
The panel wants to hear the
views of the Air India manage-
ment before it finalises its report
on the matter, sources said.
Meanwhile the associations gave
various suggestions, principal
among which was the formation
of a holding company under
which AI and Indian Airlines can
be made separate entities.
As arl o ils nalionwide CSR inilialives, Fower0rid has signed an
agreemenl wilh Sukarya h00 lo rovide Malernal & Child heallh care
services by organi/ing seciali/ed heallh clinics, in coordinalion wilh lhe
heallh dearlmenl's rouline immuni/alion schedule. The rojecl, lilled
'hia/al' was inauguraled recenlly by Fowergrid MahilaSrishli Samaj
Chairerson Sangeela hayak
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012 world 12
kIF Q KABuL
A
t least eight Afghans were shot
dead and dozens wounded on
Wednesday in clashes between police
and demonstrators protesting over the
burning of the Quran at a US-run mil-
itary base, officials said, even as the UN
on Wednesday termed the burning of
the Quran and other religious mate-
rials in Afghanistan by US-led inter-
national forces as a sad mistake and
expressed confidence that those behind
the incident will be held accountable.
In the capital Kabul and in
provinces to the east, north and
south of the capital, furious Afghans
took to the streets screaming Death
to America, throwing rocks and
setting fire to shops and vehicles as
gunshots rang out.
In the eastern city Jalalabad, stu-
dents set fire to an effigy of President
Barack Obama, while the US embassy
in Kabul declared it was on lockdown.
In Kabul, hundreds of people
poured onto the Jalalabad road, throw-
ing stones at US military base Camp
Phoenix, where troops guarding the
base fired into the air and black
smoke from burning tyres rose, an AFP
photographer said. Afghanistan is a
deeply religious country where slights
against Islam have frequently provoked
violent protests and Afghans were
incensed that any Western troops
could be so insensitive, 10 years after
the 2001 US-led invasion. The US
commander in Afghanistan, General
John Allen, apologised and ordered an
investigation into the incident, admit-
ting that religious materials, including
Qurans were inadvertently taken to
an incineration facility.
kIF Q TEhRAh
I
rans nuclear work will defi-
antly go on, supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on
Wednesday, after UN inspec-
tors left Tehran following talks
that failed to lift their suspicions
of atomic weapons research.
The Iranian nation has
never been seeking an atom-
ic weapon and never will be.
It will prove to the world that
a nuclear weapon cannot cre-
ate supremacy, Khamenei
told Iranian nuclear scien-
tists, according to a
Government statement.
The path of scientific
development, particularly the
nuclear field, should continue
strongly and seriously, he said.
Pressure, sanctions,
threats and assassinations will
not bear any fruit and Iran will
continue its path of scientific
development, Khamenei said.
The forceful restatement of
Irans longheld position came
after a five-strong delegation
from the UNs International
Atomic Energy Agency left
empty-handed following two
days of talks focusing on sus-
pected military aspects of Irans
nuclear programme.
The delegations leader,
UN chief nuclear inspector
Herman Nackaerts, said on
arrival in Vienna that,
although it had approached
this trip in a constructive
spirit, no agreement with the
Iranians on elucidating
worrisome activities was
forthcoming.
We could not get access
to Irans military site in
Parchin where suspected
nuclear warhead design exper-
iments were conducted,
according to a November
IAEA report, Nackaerts said.
FTI Q MELB0uRhE
I
n a dramatic move, Australian Foreign Minister
Kevin Rudd resigned on Wednesday saying he
could no longer work without the support of Prime
Minister Julia Gillard, amid speculation that he may
pose a bitter challenge to her leadership.
The simple truth is that I
cannot continue to serve as
Foreign Minister if I dont have
Prime Minister Gillards sup-
port, 54-year-old Rudd said at
a media conference in
Washington DC, which was
broadcast live in Australia.
I therefore believe the only
honourable course of action is for me to resign, he said.
A disappointed Gillard, who ousted Rudd as
Prime Minister in June 2010, said he did not inform
her in advance that he would resign.
I am disappointed that the concerns Mr Rudd
has publicly expressed ... Were never personally raised
with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resig-
nation prior to his decision, 50-year-old Gillard, who
was in Adelaide, said in a short statement.
Rudds sudden resignation came amid signs that
he was preparing for a showdown by challenging
Gillard for leadership in the ruling Labor partys
upcoming caucus this week. It also followed claims
by supporters of the Prime Minister that she was pre-
pared to sack the Foreign Minister for disloyalty.
FTI QSLAMABA0
C
onlroversial FakislaniAmerican businessman Mansoor
ja/ on wednesday submilled his BlackBerry hone and
"olher evidences" lo a Fakislan judicial commission
robing lhe memo scandal lhal shook lhe counlry's
owerul mililary as well as olilical eslablishmenls.
ja/, who had reused lo lravel lo Fakislan lo aear beore
lhe Sureme Courl aoinled anel ciling securily reasons,
deosed via video link rom London, and mainlained lhal he
wrole lhe memo al behesl o ormer envoy lo uS husain
haqqani aler lhe killing o 0sama bin Laden. ja/ came lo
lhe Fakislan high Commission in London lo record his
slalemenl lhrough video conerencing while lhe lhreejudge
anel conducled lhe roceedings rom slamabad. ja/
submilled his BlackBerry hone and olher evidences lo lhe
secrelary o lhe judicial anel, lhe Lawn reorled.
8k88EM ME Q BERuT
A
French photojournalist and
an American working for a
British newspaper were killed on
Wednesday by Syrian Govern-
ment shelling of the Opposition
stronghold of Homs, Frances
Government said. Activists said
at least two other Western jour-
nalists were injured in barrages
that claimed at least 19 lives.
In Paris, French Gover-
nment spokeswoman Valerie
Pecresse said those killed were
French photojournalist Remi
Ochlik and American veteran
war reporter Marie Colvin, who
was working for Britains Sunday
Times. Frances Foreign Minister,
Alain Juppe, said the attacks
show the increasingly intolera-
ble repression by Syrian forces.
The Syrian military has
redoubled its attacks on Homs
in the past few days, aiming to
retake neighbourhoods that
have come under control of the
opposition and armed rebels
many of them military defec-
tors. The seizure of territory
and nearly daily clashes
between the rebels and regime
forces have pushed Syria to the
brink of all-out civil war.
The Obama administra-
tion opened the door slightly on
Tuesday to international mili-
tary assistance for Syrias rebels,
with officials saying new tactics
may have to be explored if
President Bashar Assad con-
tinues to defy pressure to halt
a brutal crackdown on dis-
senters that has raged for 11
months and killed thousands.
The White House and State
Department said they still hope
for a political solution. But
faced with the daily onslaught
by the Assad regime against
Syrian civilians, officials
dropped the administrations
previous strident opposition to
arming anti-regime forces. It
remained unclear, though, what,
if any, role the US might play in
providing such aid. AP
IIVE Ek Ih 8hTIh kT kEkh 8Fk Ih 8
WashingIon: Five ersons, including lwo women, were killed in a
shooling incidenl al a Korean sa oulside Allanla, olice said on
wednesday. Folice said lhey do nol yel have a molive or lhe murder
suicide al lhe Su Jung heallh Sa in horcross, 0eorgia, on Tuesday.
They said a man enlered lhe Allanla sa and shol our ersons lo dealh
beore lurning lhe gun on himsel.
MkIIVIE8: FkTIE8, Ih6IIh MF, MEET I TkIk8
MaIe: Ahead o lhe crucial Farliamenl session scheduled nexl week,
Maldivian olilical arlies, including lhe M0F o ousled Fresidenl
Mohammed hasheed, on wednesday mel or lalks on lhe issue o early
eleclions and necessary amendmenl lo lhe Conslilulion.
M8kkk TIkI EhTE8 Ik8T kY 8EIE VEI6T
6airo: Egyl on wednesday awailed wilh baledbrealh lhe ale o lheir
ormer ruler, wilh lhe ousled Fresidenl hosni Mubarak's lrial having been
comleled and lhe residing judge execled lo sel a dale or lhe verdicl.
The sixmonlhold lrial enlered ils inal day on wednesday wilh judge
Ahmed Reaal saying he had heard bolh lhe roseculion and deence.
6hTEMFT hEkIh kkIh8T IIkhI k1hE TIII IE8 ZB
IsIamabad: Fakislan's Sureme Courl on wednesday adjourned lhe
conleml o courl case againsl Frime Minisler Yousu Ra/a 0ilani lill
February 28 aler admilling evidence and recording lhe slalemenl o
lhe roseculor. A sevenjudge bench headed by Juslice hasirulMulk
recorded lhe slalemenl o Allorney 0eneral Anwarulhaq, who has
been asked lo acl as roseculor or lhe roceedings againsl 0ilani.
8Tk88kkhh E8TIhE I 8E6h kY
IiIIe: Former MF chie 0ominique SlraussKahn was queslioned by
French Folice or a second day on wednesday over allegalions lhal he
look arl in sex arlies organised by a corrul vice ring. he was
queslioned all day lhen magislrales rolonged his delenlion or 24 hours.
The inlerrogalion could be exlended again, sources said.
ThkI ETEhTIh I IkhIkh 8M8 88FE6T EXTEhE
8angkok: A Thai courl on wednesday allowed olice lo conlinue lo
delain one o ive ranian susecls in an alleged lerror lol lhal was
exosed by an accidenlal blasl in a residenlial Bangkok neighbourhood.
Folice Maj 0en Fiya ulhayo said Mohammad Khar/ei, 42, will be held al
a Bangkok rison or al leasl 12 more days.
ThEE EIkh 8IIE8 kIIIE Ih kIhkhI8Tkh
TbiIisi: Three 0eorgian soldiers have been killed in Aghanislan while
serving alongside hAT0led orces ighling lhe Taliban, lhe deence
minislry in Tbilisi said on wednesday.
NBREF
A||+| W+l| p+| |]| ||+| W| |u||| |] p|u||| Ju|i| +| +||iuS J|u|||+|iu| i| |+|ul
u| wJ|J+] AP
8 kIIIe4 Ia fhaa r0tests
8 k1kFkIkh Q
wAShh0T0h
S
o far it has mostly been
President Barack Obama
making the pitch for reversing
the flight of American jobs to
countries like India and China
and warning companies that
outsourcing jobs would not
get any tax breaks.
Now, as the Democrats
face a tough election in which
the jobs situation could be the
single dominant issue, Obamas
Secretary of State Hillary
Cl inton has made j obs
diplomacy a key priority of
the State Department.
Convening a global business
conference, Clinton asked
American diplomats to take the
cue from their peers in India,
China and Brazil to accord a jobs
thrust and exports boost to their
diplomatic pursuit.
Rising powers such as
China, India, and Brazil under-
stand this as well, and we cant
sit on the sidelines while they
put economics at the centre of
their foreign policies, Clinton
told the conference.
I have made Job Diplomacy
a priority mission at the State
Department, with a clear goal:
Just as our companies are ready
to out-work, out-innovate, and
out-compete their rivals, so we
intend to be the most effective
diplomatic champions for pros-
perity and growth, she said.
Syrian slelling of Homs
lills 2 Western journalists
|+|i Cul1i| R|i |li|
Iraa 0shes
0a WIth 8W0rk
after faIIe4
IF vIsIt
Oz Foroign Ministor
Kovin Pudd quits
amid powor tusslo
ja/ deoses beore Fak anel,
submils his BlackBerry hone
IIIary asks 08
4II0mats t0 take
c0e fr0m Ia4Ia,
0hIaa 0a j0hs fr0at
INTHE COURT OF SH. SANJEEV KR. SINGH:
ADMN, CIVIL JUDGE/ARC (CENTRAL) ROOM NO.
323 TIS HAZARI COURTS DELHI
PETITION NO. 08/12
1. Smt. Baljeet Marwah w/o -
2. Parthee Sh. Marwah (minor)
(Through Petitioner no. 1 mother/natural guardian)
both R/o 16/23, First Floor, East Patel Nagar, New
Delhi-110008.
(PETITIONER)
FOR SUCCESSION CERTIFICATE UNDER INDIAN
SUCCESSION ACT, 1925
To
All Concerned
Whereas in the above noted petition the appli-
cant/petitioner has applied for succession Certificate
to the Hon'ble Court Under Section 372 of the Indian
Succession Act, 1925 in respect of the debt and secu-
rities amount of Rs. as per record to be standing in the
name of Late Durgesh Marwah the deceased.
Whereas the 01/03/12 at 10' o clock in the
forenoon has been fixed for hearing or the application
notice is hereby given to all concerned.
Given under my hand and the seal of the court
on this 09/02/12.
Sd/-
(SANJEEV KR. SINGH)
ADMN. CIVIL JUDGE/ARC
(CENTRAL : DELHI) SEAL
Late Sh. Durgesh Marwah
8 k1kFkIkh Q wAShh0T0h
C
lose on the heels of Indias plan to get 26/11
suspects David Headley and Tahawwur
Hussai n Rana extradited for tri al i n
India, Ambassador Nirupama Rao met US
Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday to
make the case for bringing the main culprits
to book without delay.
Attorney General Holder assured all possible
assistance as provided within the framework of US
law in this regard and underscored the importance
the US attached to counter terrorism cooperation
with India, the Embassy said in a statement, with-
out going into details of Raos discussions.
The Embassy did not spell out if Rao took up
the specific issue of extradition of Headley and
Rana. The statement, however, noted that at her
meeting with Holder, the Ambassador expressed
the hope that a few important aspects of the request
for assistance in this regard would be fulfilled soon.
Headley and Rana are lodged in a US prison
as they await the court sentence after their trial last
year in Chicago.
khBuR|l|
ndian onvoy Pao
moots US A-G
hEkIEY,RA|AEXTkITIh
was illed wilh selhale as a leenager aler being bombarded wilh
headlines like, '0//y's beached whale daughler'. l was like lorlure
lo me and really look il lo hearl
- KELLY 0SB0uRhE
{ }
The 5a|c|, 5iwi aur 6anstcr sequel has gol
even more inleresling. 8hk kII khkh joins
lhe casl as rran Khan's lormenled wie.
her role will borrow a greal deal rom
Anupama, in which her molher, Sharmila
Tagore, enacled lhe role o a suressed
daughler. Bul as Soha oinled oul
enigmalically. "holhing and no one is
ever how lhey seem. 'm very exciled
aboul lhe role." They had wanled lo add
more characlers. So Jimmy Shergill,
Mahie 0ill and Randee hooda are back.
Smokers can greally cul down lhe risk o disease and dealh by relacing cigarelles wilh lheir
smokeless version. They rovide a much saer allernalive lo smokers, because lhey conlinue
lo deliver nicoline wilhoul lhe harmul eecl o smoking, says Brad Rodu, roessor o
medicine rom lhe universily o Louisville (uoL), who led lhe sludy. '0uil or die' has been lhe
brulal message delivered lo 45 million American smokers.
Brilish model kMY 1k6k8h,
who ealured in kk Lccwana T|a
oosile Fraleik, calls ndia her
new home and says she loved
lravelling lo dierenl laces
while shooling or her debul
ilm. " moved quile a bil. we
wenl lo Madurai,
Thiruvananlhauram, Agra,
0elhi and 0oa. Fanlaslic. My
avourile lace was Kerala, " lhe
21yearold said.
I
t was a bit surprising to hear him speak
Hindi. His accent has a funny edge to it.
One is reminded of the famous speech
that he made in 3 Idiots.
I am working on the accent, said Omi
Vaidya. There is mischief in his eyes.
I am a quick learner, he added.
I learnt quite a bit of Hindi has double
meanings. That, I find very enjoyable.
The actor, Maharashtrian by origin, and
raised in California, has made quick progress
in Bollywood. We saw him in films like Dil
Toh Bachcha Hai Ji with Ajay Devgn and
Emraan Hashmi. He did some TV shows,
and will direct a movie next.
I went to the same school as Rohit
Dhawan. Directing is my first love,
explained Vaidya. I know the nuances of
editing and directing. It was probably why
I did not need any formal acting training.
He continued, I know what a director
requires. And what gets edited. I work only
on those areas.
Vaidya has been occupied with writing
a script for his directorial debut for the last
year and a half. He finally got the nod from
producers to go ahead. It is a supernatur-
al, psychological thriller. It deals with the
sixth sense. It is bound to be an innovative
movie, Vaidya remarked.
After his first film, Omi received many
offers, recalling, I was virtually assaulted by
people who wanted me to work in their
films. I was after something else in the com-
edy realm.
He initially refused Madhur
Bhandarkars role of the Kohlapure giuy who
wrote Hindi shayari in Dil Toh Baccha Hai
Ji. I was not sure if I would be able to do
justice. But Madhur boosted my morale. .
After a series of comic turns, the actor
is game for a serious, lead role.
But he says directors will have to take
a risk on me.
He believes that with every film, he has
proved himself. Vaidya is now looking for-
ward to working harder. If he gets something
substantial. The director should be sure
about the subject. And what light he wants
to present my character. As a person, I am
a keen learner. Once assigned a task, I take
it as a challenge and responsibility to be com-
pleted in good spirits. This has helped me
find space in Bollywood, despite setbacks.
D
ressed in a maroon sher-
wani, Mohammed Ali
Vakil is a far cry from the
image of a conventional car-
toonist. (If there is one).
Three-years-ago, this soft-
spoken chartered accountant
began sketching short comic
strips illustrating eternal spir-
itual truths, exemplified in
Islamic teachings, as a hobby.
With his brother Arif Vakil,
providing some assistance with
the written word, the
pair uploaded their
work on a blog.
So overwhelm-
ing was the response,
fans translated the
strips into French,
German and
Russian.
About a
year ago, the
brothers began
to compile the
strips as a book.
So came into
existence 40 Sufi
Comics, an ele-
gantly designed
comic, with con-
tent that explains,
serious stuff in
an easy-to-under-
stand manner.
Each strip is
not more than a
page. With verses from the
Quran and, traditions from
the Prophet and the Ahlul
Bayt, pertinent to the respec-
tive comics title.
Some titles run: Where
does wisdom come from? A visit
to God, Can I see God.
At the 2nd Comic Con, the
Bangalore-based brothers
explained, We grew up in
Dubai, where during evenings
we went to a Madrassa. And
we were taught moral stories
from history and sacred text.
We were also comics fans.
This idea merges the two,
says Ali. The brothers began
uploading one strip at a time.
The response was so encour-
aging, a book was necessary.
A l i
s ket ches .
The text is a
col l abora-
tion between
siblings. Both
c h a r t e r e d
accountants
by profession.
I first write a
script, get its
flow, convert it
into a story-
board, then
sketch on paper,
then do it digi-
tally, Ali ends.
Q What will your character in
Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli go
through next?
Swarn Abha (played by Suhasi
Goradia Dhami), my wife, has a
duplicate called Albeli. I set out to find
who is real.
Q Will Karan be successful?
Of course. Because true love
always wins!
Q You are currently involved with
Rajshri Productions banner.
Yes, because Im busy with this
show for about three to four months.
Q What is Suhasi Goradia Dhami
like?
We have fun. But since she is
short, I have to bend a little. So that
we appear perfect onscreen togeth-
er!
Q Karan you started your career as
a VJ with Zee Music and moved to
television....
It was amazing. I matured a lot
as an actor, though the learning
process is still on. Tv is full of com-
petition.
It forces you to progress. And the
process is lots of fun. I am totally
crazy about playing different roles.
Q Besides acting, what else would
you like to do?
I would love to host reality
shows in future. It is exciting to judge
new, emerging talent.
Q What you think about the sce-
nario of the tv industry today?
It is growing. But needs to
broaden itself, in terms of shows.
Q You are very health conscious.
What is your personal fitness
mantra?
Jogging thrice a week. At least
half an hour. To forty-five minutes.
I do kickboxing. I keep dinner
light. Carbs low. Protein high.
Q One thing you crave...
I get energy from work and
can slog for almost 25 hours
without feeling bored or tired.
Q Whats leisure like?
Travelling. I
love driving. I
would d love to
visit Antarctica.
I recently went
to New York.
I
f the mountain cannot come
to Mohammed, then
Mohammed must go to the
mountain.
Indian comics, picture
books, graffiti and whacky art
have maintained a battle for
survival over years. Artists,
illustrators and designers
would scribble and sketch in
the margins of their note-
books.
Then they would long for
the time, when their art would
be published.
The Obliterary Journal
(TOB), Volume 1 (BLAFT), is
one such venture.
It is bringing the moun-
tain, to the many who need it.
As a blend of comics,
street-style grafitti, graphic sto-
ries and old-fashioned art.
TOB has contributors from
across India and Surinam.
An entire section is devot-
ed to street signs and art incor-
porated into it.
Says Rakesh Khanna, a
TOB editor: There was lots
happening around the Indian
comic circuit. But nothing was
done. It would have been dif-
ficult to get an artist to publish
300 pages. The anthology has
many contributors.
The Journal is inspired by
The Best American Comic
series, an annual edition of
books. Every year, it features a
different theme and genre.
BLAB, also an yearly presenta-
tion, is produced by the
Chicago-based graphic illustra-
tor. These two are the founda-
tion for TOB.
They are European and
western in their base. On the
other hand, The Journal focus-
es on India and South
Asia. We are bringing
the motley culture
of Indian comic art
together, on tangent.
The contributors
include Amitabh Kumar,
Amruta Patil and others.
Also featured, are works
from Malayalam, Bengali and
other regional languages.
Excerpts from The
Hyderabad Graphic Novel have
been reproduced.
In addition, is GURK, a
pictorial story about a donkeys
woes that begin when it eats
too much. The work is by
Vidyun Sabhaney.
Southern auto art flashes in
The Journal. From posters of
film stars and politicians,
everything is showcased.
Rashmi Ruth
Devadasan, another
TOB editor says, it is a
one stop shop for off-
beat art.
F
unny faces pop up on the
screen at the slightest touch.
Little bubbles containing
text, smoothly appear and dis-
appear.
Quirky sound effects cor-
respond with exclamation
marks.
From good-old nostalgic
days of cherishing a Tinkle
and Amar Chitra Katha copy,
comics have embraced technol-
ogy with their digital avatars.
At the 2nd Comic Con, the
trend was more than visible.
With tablets and smart-
phones lapping stall space.
Level 10, Ashee Media and
Fenil Comics took a similar
route.
Explains Jatin Varma,
founder of Comic Con India,
People have realised the print
model might not work in itself.
In the Indian market, there are
challenges of distribution.
There is less physical
space. E-books reach more.
Manish Dhingra, director
of Mediology Software, a firm
offering 360 degree publishing
across web, mobile and devices,
informs: The trend is across
publishing. Be it newspapers,
magazines or comics.
Each publication has a
niche. Today, the consumption
pattern is changing. People are
comfortable acquiring content
online. On iPhones.
He outlines three advan-
tages e-comic books have over
their print counterpart.
It enhances distribution of
content, which helps in mon-
etisation. Secondly, there is
the advantage of adding anima-
tion, and creating what we call
motion comics.
It also helps introduce
interactive aspects, like con-
tests. For instance you create a
blank picture, and ask users to
add colour, Manish explains.
He refers to the use of
social networking mediums to
market newer comics.
We tell customers if the
print version of your comic
costs C30, keep the price at C15
for the e-version and save cash.
Since there is no physical cost
of paper and printing.
Besides, it can be used to
showcase comics in schools.
Fenil Comics, which pub-
lishes most work in Hindi and
regional languages, launched
two titles Crime Fighter
and Faulaad on iPad, and
plans to
launch its
Android ver-
sion in a
month.
F e n i l
Sherdiwala,
owner of the
Surat-based publishing house,
took the plunge to give a,
boost to the otherwise dying
industry.
But there are challenges.
First, lack of awareness. Many
people are stuck with old meth-
ods of accessing content, says
Manish. Besides, there is the
issue of mobile penetration.
Most people have mobiles. Not
all have iPads and smartphones
to access such content, he
says. Manish mentions that a
lack of payment gateway sys-
tems, make purchasing tough.
E
very month, two or three
directors would visit Milkha
Singhs home in Chandigarh.
However famous, he always
turned down their offer to buy the
film rights to a story about his life.
Money, was not, it seems, a strong
enough lure for the former star-
athlete.
It was of no importance, he
told us, even when he was grow-
ing up as a child of abject pover-
ty.
But Singh eventually agreed to
hand them over to Rakeysh Om
Prakash Mehra for just a rupee.
And Mehra made sure it was
a very special rupee.
He found a currency note
printed in 1960. Then presented
it as a token gift for the legendary
runner.
It was difficult to find, but we
managed, said Mehra, tri-
umphantly.
The other condition, was the
responsibility on Mehra and
Farhans shoulders, to translate the
journey the Flying Sikh had tra-
versed, on the road to victory, and
inspire the young, via a cinema
story.
He commented, Sadly, after
1960, India did not produce any
new Milkha Singhs. The purpose
of involving myself with this film,
was to assist with something I
hope will win the crowd.
Singh agreed to give Mehra
permission for Bhaag Milkha
Bhaag, at his son Jeevs insis-
tence.
Milkha Singh shared, I have
not watched a movie since 1960.
My son is a huge film buff. No
matter where he plays, he watch-
es a Hindi movie.
It was he who told me, Dad,
there are directors who can give
you a lot of cash. But if someone
can do justice to the story it is
Rakeysh Mehra. And I did not
doubt him. Jeev was very inspired
after watching Rang De Basanti.
Many of us would have read
how Milkha Singh rose to glory
during the 1960 Olympics.
Less is known about the blood
and sweat behind his success.
Even after winning laurels, the
Sikh did not give up his simple,
rough mode of existence.
We continued to spread a
chadar on the floor, and eat our
food from there. We never consid-
ered staying in a hotel. Sometimes,
I would faint and vomit blood dur-
ing practice. But I never gave up,
said Milkha.
Farhans face bears
stress lines. More than
the physical practice,
the challenge is to enter
the mind of a person
hungry in his pursuit of
excellence, said Akhtar.
He, Mehra and
Milkha Singh were
addressing a gathering
in Chandigarh, where the
athlete passed on the pair of
spikes that had famously run on
Roman soil, as a mark of affection
to Akhtar.
Mehra brought them during
an auction.
Singh had said earlier, that he
would not pass on the baton. Even
if were offered crores of rupees.
But later donated it to charity.
At 76, Milkha Singh said
feels as fit as did, years ago.
He still walks long distances,
and only needs a few glass of
beer to refresh him!
He shared a few tips on
effective running with Farhan,
and had visited the Priyadarshini
Park in Mumbai, where Farhan
was practicing for his role.
Akhtar commented, Coaching
methods have changed consider-
ably from Milkha Singhs days.
The track is not the same.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, set
during the 50s and 60s is about
the human spirit. Rather than
about sports. I have tried to
understand Milkhas journey.
The more I read, the more I need
to learn about him.
Mehra added, I should
have got five years more to
research the film. Everything is
vast and huge about him. To
base the film in that time peri-
od will be a major challenge.
Shooting will begin within
the next 20-25 days. The major
portion will be filmed in Punjab.
Mehra denied rumours
he will shoot in Pakistan.
Its not clear what
Sonam Kapoors role
will be.
The director
ended, I always
believed that audiences
should have the first
right to the joy of dis-
covery.
Let us get into
the details later.
But I promise
that the music will be
special.
Punning a ono
rupoo show
American GHVL
0M vA0YA, who shol lo ame
aler 3 IJicts, says he is a
direclor irsl, lhen an aclor. he
is ready lo direcl a
sychosuernalural lhriller. he
challed wilh 0 KAuShK
Aler elexlbooks and enovels, comics
ublishing irms have laken lhe cue lo enler
digilal sace. M0hTA hA0FAL reorls on lhe lrend
Comics join lhe echorus
he merged a assion or comics wilh a love or
slamic leachings. The resull was 40 5ufi
0cmics. M0hAMME0 AL vAKL gels lalking lo
M hA0FAL
uuJli| u|+|
Soribbling on
tho margins
U||itcrary Jcurna| brings unny, whacky bils
rom lhe arl world. EKTAA MALK sneak eeks
' get my energy from worl`
he used lo be a chemical
engineering sludenl al
Bombay nslilule o
Technology. Bul KARAh v
0R0vER realised he
wanled lo be an aclor
inslead. The Tv slar and
lead o lhe soa, a|an
Main 6|ar 6|ar K|c|i on
Zee Tv, has 5O4 eisodes
lo his credil. 0rover, who
enjoys gymming and
lennis, shared funJaas
wilh LA SAhKRTYAYAh
'My co-star, Suhasi
Goradia Dhami
and have fun on
the daily soap.
But since she is
short, have to
bend a little.
So that we appear
perfect onscreen
togetherl'
0n a warm winler alernoon in Chandigarh, FARhAh
AKhTAR, MLKhA Sh0h and RAKEYSh 0M FRAKASh
MEhRA soke lo 0vYA KAuShK aboul how lhe Flying Sikh
came on board or lheir ilm aboul lhe chamion runner.
And why barely any money was exchanged
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
vivacity 1S
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
vivacity {usp} 14
P
rof Asha Kanwar, former pro-VC, Indira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU),
has been appointed as president and CEO of
the Commonwealth of Learning COL Canada,
the renowned international organisation. She
will take up her duties wef June 1, 2012.
At present, Prof Kanwar is vice presi-
dent,COL and she succeeds Sir John Daniel
whose term ends May 31. Dr Kanwar has over
30 years of experience in
teaching, research and
administration. In addi-
tion to the several books,
research papers and arti-
cles to her credit, she has
made significant contri-
butions to gender studies,
especially the impact of
distance education on
the lives of Asian women.
These studies have established that better edu-
cational opportunities and access to new tech-
nologies have made substantial differences to
the attitudes, values and concerns of Asian
women.
T
he HT-HR Leadership Awards aim to
recognise the best organisations and
individuals who have surpassed several lev-
els of excellence and set an example of
being a role model and exemplary leader.
CEOs and heads from organisations includ-
ing Reserve Bank, Agarwal Mover Group
& T, DHL, Blue Dart, Yes Bank, Central Bank
and many more were present on this occa-
sion to receive their respective awards.
Agarwal Movers Group won the
award for being Leaders in HR Practices
& CSR in logistics & Movers Industry. The
group has been in the field of home shift-
ing solutions for many decades with its
major concern Agarwal Packers & Movers
Ltd which is No.1 in packing and moving
industry.
The award was received by Ramesh
Agarwal and Rajender Agarwal on behalf
of the group. It is a proud moment for
everyone at the group. We have a diverse
and welcoming workplace wherein values
of trust, transparency, unquestionable
commitment to quality and focus on
excellence and respect for the individual is
always taken care of. Im happy that we
are being recognised and bestowed with
such prestigious awards, said Ramesh
Agarwal.
M
edicinal plants have
been used as a major
source of therapeutic
agents by human beings for
thousands of years. Ancient
man obtained more than 90 per
cent of his medicaments from
higher plans. However, the
importance of plants as a
source of drugs decreased to
certain extent with the
advancement of knowledge in
modern medicine, especially
because of the phenomenal
development in synthetic drug
chemistry and antibiotics. In
spite of the fact that synthetic
drugs and antibiotics have
improved the life expectancy of
man all over the world, plants
still constitute as one of the
major sources of raw materials
for drugs all over the world.
Considerable emphasis has
also been laid in the research
programme of drug companies
during the last 10 years to tap
the plant kingdom for treat-
ment of such disease for which
the modern medicine does not
have any effective treatment.
These include virus diseases
like herpes, AIDS, cancer,
arthritic disorders and liver ail-
ments. For considerable peri-
od of time, the raw materials
used were mostly obtained
from natural growth in the
forests. However, because of the
realisation of the effect of indis-
criminate exploitation on envi-
ronment and ecology and to
obtain as sustainable supply,
major emphasis has been laid
for cultivation of these plants
during the recent years. It is
expected that more and more
plants will now be obtained
from farmers fields rather than
from forests. This is necessary
to have consistent supply of
quality drugs and to conserve
valuable germplasm of these
plants existing in nature.
A medicinal plant planta-
tion drive was organised by
EMG/ horticulture depart-
ment, BTPS, at newly devel-
oped medicinal park near
Employee Development Centre
in October 2007. Nearly 108
saplings of different medicinal
plants were planted by the par-
ticipants from NTPC stations
followed by GM (B), SMC
members, along with employ-
ees of BTPS.
IIk kh Ikhk kT
k8h YkE
The ash dyke of BTPS is an
permanent habitat for some
animal like neelgai as abundant
food is available in the form of
green vegetation at our ash
dykes. The animal are shy in
nature and runs on seeing
human beings. Their number
is quite large at ash dyke. The
lush green environment at ash
dyke makes it very pleasant
place, as lot of migratory birds
come every year & enjoy their
very stay.
In 2007, Goldman Sachs
cited jatropha curcas as one of
the best candidates for future
biodiesel production. It is resis-
tant to drought and pests, and
produces seeds containing 27-
40 per cent oil, averaging 34.4
per cent. When jatropha seeds
are crushed, the resulting jat-
ropha oil can be processed to
produce a high-quality
biodiesel that can be used in a
standard diesel car, while the
residue (press cake) can also be
processed and used as biomass
feedstock to power electricity
plants or used as fertiliser (it
contains nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium).
However, despite their
abundance and use as oil and
reclamation plants, none of
the jatropha species have been
properly domesticated and, as
a result, their productivity is
variable, and the long-term
impact of their large-scale use
on soil quality and the envi-
ronment is unknown. BTPS
has about 25,000 jatropha
plants at its ash dyke.
T
he annual regional (south-
ern and western region)
principals conclave 2012 was
held at the newly inaugurated
ATDC Campus, KINFRA
International Apparel Park,
Thiruvananthapuram from
February 6-9. The regional con-
clave 2012 focussed on formu-
lating clear strategy and detailed
plan of action for the year 2012-
13 as ATDC needs to gear-up to
meet the challenging target of
training 34,000 candidates
under the ATDC-SMART
training project, under the ISDS,
MOT, GoI and over 4,000 can-
didates under the ATDC-
IGNOU community colleges.
The first day started with an
insightful opening session by
Prof Raja Sekheran Pillai, for-
mer VC-IGNOU and principal
secretary, science and technol-
ogy department, Govt of Kerala.
Skill Pyramid for the entire
workforce requirement from
shop floor to managerial level in
the apparel sector. Prof Pillai
specially highlighted from the
pyramid model coined by Dr
Darlie Koshy, DG&CEO-IAM
& ATDC that it can be tapped
for S&T skills as garment man-
ufacturing entails science and
technology.
LICs Jeevan Ankur is one of the latest prof-
it plans that has specially been designed
to meet the educational and other needs
of a child. Brief us about its benefits.
Jeevan Ankur is a conventional profit plan,
especially designed to meet the educational
and other needs of your child. If you are the
parent of a child aged up to 17, Jeevan Ankur
is the most suitable insurance plan. It ensures
that your responsibilities are met with whether
you survive or not, without depending on any-
one. The risk cover under this plan will be on
your life as a parent and the child shall be the
nominee. The policy term shall be based on
the age at maturity of the child. In India, par-
ents are more concerned about their children
and anxious to secure future of their children;
we want to inform them that they should opt
for this plan as it will be helpful for their child
when he or she will need the same for high-
er studies or for start-in capital for business.
What are its unique features and how dif-
ferent is it from other available plans?
There are a number of benefits a policy hold-
er gets under this plan. On death of the life
assured during the policy term, the basic sum
assured shall be payable to the nominee and
an income benefit equal to 10 per cent of basic
sum assured shall be payable on each policy
anniversary till the end of the policy term. On
maturity again, basic sum assured along with
loyalty additions would be payable. This matu-
rity benefit will be payable even on survival
of the life assured along with loyalty addition.
If we talk about loyalty addition, it depends
upon the corporations experience. The poli-
cy will be eligible for loyalty addition on the
stipulated date of maturity irrespective of sur-
vival of life assured. Under Jeevan Ankur pol-
icy, a policy holder can also opt for addition-
al cover through riders for accident bene-
fit and critical illness benefit.
What is the market response to the plan
in general and specifically in north zone?
The response has been overwhelming. LIC has
already sold over 1.5 lakh Jeevan Ankur poli-
cies in less than a month. North zone is num-
ber one in this regard as we have sold over
27,000 policies and raked in C15 crore of rev-
enue. This goes to show that parents are
becoming conscious about making provision
for their childrens education and other future
needs. Jodhpur division holds the number one
position in the country in sale of Jeevan Ankur.
We hope to do even better in the coming days.
Do you think LIC has been facing heat of
the competition from private sector insur-
ance companies?
There are a number of private companies doing
business in the insurance sector but their reach
is mostly in the urban belt. We, at LIC, have
a large network with branches spread out even
in remote areas. Our agents are doing well and
with the help of online facilities, we can reach
a larger number of people. Also, after the
new ULIP guidelines, the ULIP business in the
insurance industry declined. LIC always had
a good basket of products in conventional busi-
ness. So we could encash on these products.
In fact, LICs market share has gone up to 79.5
per cent in policies and 72.3 per cent in first
premium income. Not only that LICs claim set-
tlement ratios are the best among all life insur-
ers in India. In fact, this is corroborated by the
claim settlement figures released by IRDA. As
per the IRDAs figures, settlement ratios of LIC
of India increased to 97.03 percent during the
year 2010-11 when compared to 96.54 per
cent of private insurance companies. Compared
to LIC, private insurers have rejected a large
number of claims. Their ratio of repudiation
of claims was 8.9 per cent in 2010-11 where-
as in LIC, it was hardly 1 per cent in 2010-11.
It is no wonder then that people have more
faith in LIC.
How does Swavalamban scheme benefit
the poor?
The government has been concerned about
people who are doing work in the unorgan-
ised sector. In this direction, the PFRDA
launched the Swavalamban scheme on
September 26 last year. This scheme provides
pension to the unorganised sector and is
applicable to all the citizens who join the new
pension scheme (NPS) subject to their meet-
ing the eligibility criteria. Under this scheme,
Central Government will contribute C1,000 per
year to each NPS account opened in 2011-12
and eligible persons will get this amount for
the next three years. To be eligible, a person
will have to make a minimum contribution of
C1,000 and a maximum of C12,000 per
annum. LIC is also identifying and helping such
people to enroll for the scheme. Over 12 lakh
LIC agents are also eligible to join the
scheme out of which over 40,000 agents have
already joined the scheme. So, LIC is not only
pursuing and achieving its business objectives
but also doing its bit in the social sector.
In terms of the number of seats and
programmes offered, GGSIPU is only
second to DU. Are you planning to
introduce some new courses from
this academic year?
MBA and BBA courses in financial man-
agement have already been intro-
duced and the new ones will be intro-
duced soon are: Master in pharmacy, M
Tech in food processing technology and
diploma in education management. We
decided to offer these courses taking
into consideration of the nation's need
and the ample opportunities that exist
in all these fields.
What special facilities do you provide
to the students?
As IPU is a university with a number of
affiliated colleges, it plays a double role.
On the affiliated colleges front, we have
made it mandatory for them to provide
in addition to class room teaching, good
library, computing, canteen and extra-
curricular facilities for the benefit of the
students studying on those colleges.
Whereas the students studying in the
campus schools, has hostel facilities for
400 boys and 400 girls enrolled in 11
different schools. They are also provided
with all short of indoor-outdoor games
facilities, facilitating environment to per-
form and conduct different cultural
activities etc. There are two canteens
on the campus and each of the four hos-
tels has their own messing facilities
which are managed by the students
themselves.
Is IPU taking steps to promote girl
education?
More than 50 per cent students enrolled
in the University are girl students and
over 50 per cent faculty members
are women. The all-girl student-
I ndi ra Gandhi I nst i t ut e of
Technology will soon be con-
verted to Women's University of
Technical Education by the gov-
ernment of NCT, New Delhi.
Brief us about the education-
al challenges India is facing
presently.
Everyone is talking these days
how to increase our country's
gross enrollment ratio from
presently 17 per cent to 32 per
cent. But then the major chal-
lenge is how to achieve it with
the assurance of quality educa-
tion. Otherwise we may open up
colleges under PPP mode but
they may shut down due to non
availability of students. No stu-
dent would like to study in a
below standard educational
Institutions. The second major
challenge is how regularly to
augment effective faculty mem-
bers to these institutions.
Do you have any educational
programmes for University teachers?
There are programmes wherein we send
our teachers for training to various edu-
cational institutions within the country.
We are now working with the number
of foreign universities and are likely to
send 20-25 faculty members abroad for
a period of three to six months. This will
help them gaining experience, inter-
national exposure, academic work cul-
ture and be better equipped to teach
our students. We are also in the
process of organising faculty develop-
ment programmes in the GGS IP
University campus for the university and
affiliated college teachers.
Now that you are at a new and a
much larger campus at Dwarka, are
there any plans for expansion in the
offing?
When IPU was at Kashmere Gate, it nei-
ther gave the look or the feel of an
established university. But at Dwarka
campus, there are available built up
space to set up more classes and state
of the art laboratories. As this campus
is close to Gurgaon, our students can
get the benefit of corporate interactions.
Moreover, its proximity to the interna-
tional airport adds to the location
advantage. Plans are underway for an
auditorium and, at least, two to three
more buildings to establish new cen-
tre of excellence for research. As IPU has
another campus in Surajmal Vihar,
East of Delhi we intend to shift there
the College of Architecture and Planning
and to start the School of Design and
that would be done as and when the
construction of the buildings would be
over.
P
owergrid has been con-
ferred IPE HR Leader-
ship Award for its hallmark
performance in the area of
organisational develop-
ment, leadership and HR
practices and for surpassing
several levels of excellence.
Director (personnel)
VM Kaul received the
award from Indian Institute
of Corporate Affairs direc-
tor general and CEO
Bhaskar Chatterjee and
director (Institute of Public
Enterprise) Prof RK Mishra
at a glittering ceremony of
World HRD Congress in
Mumbai. The IPE HR
Leadership Awards are
endorsed by World HRD
Congress & Asian
Confederation of
Businesses and are
researched by Stars of the
Industry Group.
T
he Indian Steam Railway
Society recently organ-
ised the 9th National Steam
Congress at the National Rail
Museum in the National
Capital. This annual event of
the Steam Society brings on a
common platform steam
enthusiasts from India and
abroad with an objective of
limited revival and preserva-
tion of steam locomotives in
the country for posterity
besides generating public
affection for these black beau-
ties that heralded the indus-
trial revolution in the world.
The historic run of the
Fairy Queen on October 17,
1997 that culminated in set-
ting a Guinness World Record
brought national focus on
steam locomotives. Rewari
Steam that was subsequently
set up as a steam centre for
preserving live steam for pos-
terity has, in the last two
years, undergone a metamor-
phosis almost akin to a crow
turning into a swan. A dilap-
idated structure with decaying
engines has with a lot of hard
work, commitment, focus and
vision transformed into the
finest steam locomotive shed
of the world and also the
finest steam heritage tourism
destination in the world. This
congress was organised in the
backdrop of the historic meta-
morphosis of the Rewari
Steam Shed.
Sir Mark Tully delivered
the key note address during
this Congress while Paul
Whitt l e, vi ce chai rman,
Darj eel i ng Hi mal ayan
Railway Society (UK) made a
presentation on the steam
scenari o i n t he United
Kingdom. A presentation by
the Indian Steam Railway
Soci ety on t he recent
Resurrecti on of Steam
Locomotives at the Rewari
Steam Centre was given and
an MoU signed between the
Indian Steam Railway Society
and the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway Society (UK).
T
he logistics and travel sector forms the
backbone of any industry, yet it is iron-
ical that it has not received the attention
it deserves. That, however, is changing
rapidly thanks to the efforts of the
Chartered Institute of Logistics and
Transport (CILT). It is the leading body
associated with logistics and transport.
With over 33,000 members in over 100
countries worldwide, CILT holds unpar-
alleled professional recognition.
Established in 1919, CILT received its
Royal Charter in 1926. Though the insti-
tute has an exciting history behind it, it has
always adapted to stay up-to-date with cur-
rent logistics and transport issues. The
principal objective of the institute is to
promote and encourage the art and sci-
ence of logistics and transport and it
achieves its aim through both its mem-
bership and its educational programmes.
In the words of Dr PK Goel, Secretary
General CILT India The aim of the insti-
tute is to impart relevant training, devel-
op professionalism, share international
knowledge with the UK chapter of the
institute and coordinate with the govern-
ment for growth of the sector.
According to KC Jena, National
Chairman CILT India, there is a huge gap
in the demand and supply in the logistics
and transport industry. Everywhere in the
world logistics is a very important field,
however, in India it still has to get the
recognition it deserves. We are trying to
develop logistics in India and provide the
missing link. There is a requirement of 4.3
million skilled professionals. We have cre-
ated branches in Ahmedabad, Mumbai,
Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin and other cen-
tres. We are accrediting institutes across the
country.
The aim of the institute is to inculcate
professionalism in the field thus making
the Indian market more competitive.
The logistics cost in the US is 8.4 per cent
and in India it is 13 per cent. Our aim is
to bring the logistic cost down to 8.4 per-
cent so our exports will become cheaper
and we will become more competitive.
Membership to the institute provides
a professional identity to those in the logis-
tics and transport sector, as well as inter-
national recognition. All the members have
access to the worlds best knowledge cen-
tre which is based out of UK. The insti-
tute's professional qualifications educate
those already in the sector and also those
wishing to enter it. With these ambitious
aims CILT is clearly giving a positive thrust
to the logistics and transport sector and
paving the road for all-round growth.
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S
outh Africa battled to a
thrilling three-run win over
New Zealand to claim the
Twenty20 series 2-1 after the
Black Caps suffered a dramatic
late batting collapse in Auckland
on Wednesday.
New Zealand restricted
South Africa to seven for 165
and went into the last two overs
needing just 10 runs for victo-
ry, only to fall short after losing
three wickets, including ducks
for Nathan McCullum and
Doug Bracewell.
Adding to the tension,
James Franklin and Tim
Southee both had chances to
snatch victory at the death off
the bowling off Marchant de
Lange but could not connect bat
with ball.
Franklin needed a six off de
Langes last ball but missed,
scampering down the wicket for
a run as the Proteas celebrated,
then realised to their horror that
the delivery had been ruled a no
ball. That gave Southee the
opportunity to be the hero with
a boundary but his air swing
went nowhere near the ball,
stranding New Zealand on
seven for 162.
It was a disappointing end
for New Zealand after Jesse
Ryder marked his return from
injury with 52 and openers
Rob Nicol (33) and Martin
Guptill (26) started their run
chase brightly. But the result was
also testament to South Africas
never-say-die attitude after man-
of-the match Johan Botha
picked up the crucial wickets of
Guptill and Ryder to swing the
match their way. It was an
amazing team effort, Im really
proud of the men, captain AB
de Villiers said. We hung on at
the end there.
De Villiers admitted South
Africa lost momentum when
batting first and he was unsure
if 165 runs would be enough on
the short boundaries at Eden
Park. JP Duminy top scored for
the tourists on 38 and there were
decent contributions from
Hashim Amla (33) and AB de
Villiers (29).
But the Proteas never fired
and needed a 22-run cameo
from tail-ender Wayne Parnell
to edge them towards a compet-
itive total. New Zealands top
priority early in the innings was
to defuse the threat from open-
er Richard Levi, fresh from a
record-breaking unbeaten 117
in the second match, in which
he smashed 13 sixes and scored
a 45-ball century.
The danger-man helped
himself to one six from Michael
Bates but was dismissed for 11
trying for a second off the next
ball, failing to get enough power
onto his shot and sending the
ball sailing to Nicol.
Brief Scores
South Africa: 165 for 7 in 20
overs (JP Duminy 38, Hashim
Amla 33, AB de Villiers 29; Rob
Nicol 2-20, Tim Southee 2-22)
beat New Zealand: 162 for 7 in
20 overs (Jesse Ryder 52, Rob
Nicol 33, Martin Guptill 26;
Johan Botha 2-20, Morne
Morkel 2-31, Marchant de
Lange 2-36) by 3 runs.
NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
FTI Q MuMBA
T
he BCCI on Wednesday
sought to scotch the intense
speculation about a rift in
the Indian cricket team in
Australia with its president N
Srinivasan calling such media
reports as exaggerated.
As reports of a rift gathered
more steam in the media,
Srinivasan said that he had checked
with the media manager and the
Board had nothing to be con-
cerned about. We have no knowl-
edge of it. I dont think there is any
rift in the team. There is nothing
to be concerned about, Srinivasan
told reporters after a meeting of the
IPL Governing Council here.
They were responding to
questions in a press conference. It
happens after every match. I have
spoken to media manager there.
I think the reports are exaggerat-
ed, he said.
BCCI Vice President Rajiv
Shukla also refuted reports of a rift
in the team. Sehwag has been mis-
quoted. Thats what we came to
understand. There is no rift in the
team. It is only a speculation by a
section of media. I dont think there
is any problem. BCCI is in constant
touch with the team, Shukla said.
Pressed on the rotation pol-
icy, which has generated a heat-
ed debate, Shukla said, Playing
XI decided by tour management
consisting of manager, captain
and coach.
Reports of dissensions sur-
faced mainly after the team man-
agement introduced the rotation
policy for only three openers
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender
Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, a
move which sparked off a heated
debate on its merits.
The first signs of the rift came
into the open when Gambhir took
a dig at Mahendra Singh Dhoni for
not finishing the matches early
enough with the skipper retorting
that it was a matter of perception.
Dhoni then dropped a bomb-
shell by publicly snubbing the
fielding abilities of the three open-
ers and said they were not being
played together as they were slow
fielders and could cost the team 20
extra runs. But Sehwag countered
his captain by saying that the
seniors were never told that field-
ing was an issue when the rotation
policy was introduced.
The verbal duel between the
seniors which has constantly
highlighted the poor performance
of the players in what has turned
out of a nightmarish tour of
Australia.
'8k 8hI 8TEF Ih'
Amid reports of a rift within
the Indian cricket team in
Australia, former captain Kapil
Dev on Wednesday urged the
BCCI to step in and sort out dif-
ference of opinion among players.
The captain (Dhoni) may
have a different opinion and nor-
mally his opinion is respected. I
think the BCCI will have to step in
and sort out the matter with the
players for the good of the team and
country, Kapil said on on the side-
lines of an event on Wednesday
I would not want it to call a
rift within the team but would pre-
fer to term it as difference of opin-
ion. Its difficult to comment on the
issue because we dont know what
exactly happened there in
Australia, he added.
Kapil also denied saying that
Sachin should retire. I am nobody
to say when Sachin Tendulkar
would retire. But in my opinion he
should have quit ODI on a high
after Indian won the World Cup.
But that is my opinion. I think I can
have my opinion? But its him only
to decide. He (Tendulkar) enjoys
playing cricket and has achieved so
much for the team and for the
country. What more we can expect
from the little man, he said.
All is well: Srinivasan
kMIT 6hkhkY Q hEw 0ELh
E
very cricketer knows that catch-
es win matches, yet, some-
times they need a harsh reminder.
Punjab were reminded of the fact
against Delhi in their league
encounter at the Ferozshah Kotla
stadium here on Wednesday.
Delhi scored 265 for five and
bundled out Punjab for just 130 in
the North Zone leg of the National
One-Day Championship for the
Vijay Hazare Trophy to earn their
second bonus point from two
matches. Delhi now tops the point
table with 10 points.
Invited to bat first on a damp
pitch, Delhi batsmen couldnt
cope with the new ball. They lost
three quick wickets opener
Unmukt Chand in the first over,
debutant Manan Sharma in eighth
and Shikhar Dhawan in 15th
for just 42 runs.
The hosts were staring at
another blow coming their way
when their most experienced
batsman Mithun Manhas (was on
8) lobbed Manpreet Gony, only
five balls later, straight into the
hands of Mayank Sidana at mid-
wicket. Sidana spilled the chance.
They dropped Manhas two more
times by Gony in 32nd over
and by Sidana in 37th over.
In Gonys next over (17th),
Punit Bisht (was on 1) slashed a ball
just outside the off-stump to
Mandeep Singh at gully and he also
spilled it. To be fair to Mandeep, it
was a tough chance but the ball
touched both of his hands.
With those catches at crucial
time, the Harbhajan Singh-led
Punjab side virtually lost the
footing in the match as Manhas
(60) and Bisht (73) added 111
runs for the fourth wicket to lay a
foundation for a lower-order
onslaught.
Manhas and Bisht played well
in testing circumstances and
carried the team through to a
secured position. Initially, they
didnt shy away from playing dot
balls and waited for loose balls to
score runs. After 25 overs, Delhi
were only 66 for three. But once
they got the hang of the wicket, the
duo accelerated the scoring rate
with a mix of exquisite and
improvised shots. But in a quest to
continuously improve the run rate,
Manhas attempted to hit Gony
over the mid-wicket but top-edged
the ball and this time the fielder
didnt make any mistake.
However, Manhas departure
only added to the woes of Punjab
as Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia, who
looked in ominous form from the
first ball, joined Bisht, who
together stitched a 59-run
partnership from 40 balls. He also
added 53 from just 26 balls with
Yogesh Nagar (21 not out).
Bhatias unbeaten 60 runs from
38 balls was an inning of ruthless
and clinical hitting. He hit two sixes
and six boundaries. Delhi scored
108 runs in the last 10 overs.
In reply, Punjab couldnt even
put up a good fight as medium
pacer Parvinder Awana (3 for 27)
rocked through their top order.
And Punjab didnt have the
opportunity to recover as Delhi
didnt drop any catches. Varun
Sood (3 for 4), who didnt get any
wicket on his debut, took care of
the tail as the visitors were
dismissed in just 32 overs.
8hk11I MI88E8 Mkk kkIh
Harbhajan, who is trying to get
back into the national fold, went
wicket-less for the second time in
two consecutive matches.
However, he bowled a tight line to
contain batsmen giving only 38
runs in his quota overs.
Delhi batsmen also played
him cautiously. He bowled well,
actually. He didnt give us much
balls to score runs. We also didnt
want to take much risk against
him, Bisht said.
Harbhajan remained Punjabs
top scorer in the match with 36
runs from 29 balls in which he hit
two sixes and five boundaries.
Brief Scores
Delhi: 265 for five (Punit Bisht 73,
Rajat Bhatia 60 no, Mithun Manhas
60, Barinder Singh 2 for 72) beat
Punjab: 130 in 32 overs
(Harbhajan Singh 36, Bipul Sharma
25, Parvinder Awana 3 for 27,
Varun Sood 3 for 4) by 135 runs.
Protoas provail in thrillor
FTI Q SY0hEY
H
aving called time on his success-
ful one-day international career,
Ricky Ponting has made it clear that
the Ashes tour to England next year
was his goal.
He gave every indication he would
go on in Test cricket for as long as pos-
sible, and Ashes is a priority for the vet-
eran cricketer. Itd be great to get back
to the Ashes, Ponting said.
If Im a good enough player to do
that then itd be great to go back there
one more time and hopefully have a
few better memories of England than
what Ive had the last couple of tours,
he added.
Australia were humiliated at home
by the visiting English side in the last
Ashes series. Everybody is (after
redemption) as far as Ashes cricket is
concerned, Ponting said.
Before being dumped from the
ODI side, Ponting dominated the
Indian attack in the four-match Test
series, which saw him score a double
century and a century. I think I
proved to myself and everyone else that
Im still capable of dominating Test
cricket as I did in the last series against
India, he said.
Meanwhile, Cricket Tasmania has
revealed Ponting is available to play
against South Australia in Saturdays
Ryobi Cup one-day final in Adelaide.
The decision was arrived at follow-
ing consultation with Tigers skipper
George Bailey, who is not part of
Australias tri-series squad. I have had
a bit of thinking to do and some com-
munication to do with the Tasmanian
coaches and players, Ponting said.
Meanwhile, former Australian
skipper Allan Border has backed
Ponting.
Ricky Ponting at his absolute best
is a walk-up start. Ricky Ponting a lit-
tle bit below his best is still heaps bet-
ter than a lot of the young guys that
weve got going around, he said.
kIF Q 0uBA
K
evin Pietersen hit his sec-
ond successive century to
help a resurgent England beat
Pakistan by four wickets in the
fourth and final day-night
international here on
Wednesday for a 4-0 white-
wash.
The 31-year-old right-
hander held the innings
together during his 153-ball
career-best 130 his ninth
one-day hundred to help
England chase down a 238-run
target in 49.2 overs at Dubai
Stadium.
Pietersen helped England
recover from 68-4 with a 109-
run stand for the fifth wicket
with Craig Kieswetter (43) to
maintain his teams domina-
tion in the series in which they
won the first match by 130
runs, second by 20 and the
third by nine wickets.
By virtue of this win
England overtook Pakistan at
number five and pushed their
rivals to sixth in the ICC
(International Cricket
Council) one-day rankings
and partially made up for
their 3-0 loss in the preceding
three-Test series.
Pietersen hit Junaid Khan
for a six and took a single in the
next over to reach his hundred
off 136 balls and finished with
12 fours and two sixes. His pre-
vious best of 116 came against
South Africa at Centurion in
2005. Pietersen had lost his
opening partner Alastair Cook
off the second ball of the innings
to paceman Khan for four.
Brief Scores
England: 241 in 49.2 overs
(Kevin Pietersen 130, Craig
Kieswetter 43; Saeed Ajmal 3-
62, Abdur Rehman 1-31) beat
Pakistan: 237 in 50 overs
(Asad Shafiq 65, Azhar Ali 58;
Jade Dernbach 4-45, Danny
Briggs 2-39) by four runs.
KP secial comletes
Pal wlitewasl
BCC prosidont donios rit in toam, says roports oxaggoratod
sport 15
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think {Ponting has]
been so good for so
long. You can argue
about what his status
is, but in my mind
he's probably our
second best batsman
behind Bradman that
we've produced in all
forms of the game. f
you look at his record
and the way he's
conducted himself,
think he's been quite
phenomenal
ALLAN BORDER
ExAussie calain sels sighls on Ashes 2O18
lo change dismal record in England
Punter looling aleao
S|W+ J|up i| |+||i|
hEW EIhI: The conlinuous ailure
wilh lhe bal cosl ndian oener
virender Sehwag our laces as he
slid lo 18lh in lhe CC 00 rankings
or balsmen bul skier MS 0honi
moved u by lwo laces lo number
our according lo a release.
Sehwag has ailed lo ire in lhe
ongoing lriseries in Auslralia while
0honi has been a success. viral
Kohli conlinues lo be ndia's besl
ranked balsman al number lhree,
behind Soulh Arican duo o
hashim Amla (1) and AB de villiers
(2). wilh his lwo OO lus scores,
lelhanded oener 0aulam
0ambhir has gained six laces lo
ind himsel al number 15.
n lhe bowlers' lisl, osinner
Ravichandran Ashwin is lhe only
ndian in lo2O as he jumed lo
number 11, a gain o lhree slols.
Lelarm aceman Zaheer Khan is
lhe nexl besl or ndia, way behind
al number 8O aler droing lwo
osilions.
Meanwhile, England calain
Alaslair Cook and asl bowler
Sleven Finn have broken inlo lhe
lo 1O aler slellar erormances
againsl Fakislan in lhe ourmalch
00 series, which lhey won 4O.
Cook has jumed 27 laces lo
eighlh osilion aler inishing as lhe
leading rungeller in lhe series wilh
828 runs, including backloback
cenluries in lhe Abu 0habi 00s.
Cook has now become lhe second
higheslranked England balsman
aler Jonalhan Troll. Fh8
Beat NZ ly tlree runs to tale J20 series 2-1
Pun|ab drop oatohos, Dolhi win matoh
NZ restricted SA
to seven for 165
and went into
the last two
overs needing
just 10 runs for
victory, only to
fall short after
losing three
quick wickets
Pu|i| Bi|| |il p|u|u
sport 16 NEW DELH THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
MkhEIk T 8E VI6E6kFTkIh
New Delhi: 0elhi 0aredevils on wednesday
aoinled Sri Lankan skier Mahela Jayawardene
as vicecalain or lhe ucoming ndian Fremier
League (FL). "he has an excellenl lrack record as
a leader o men and draws enormous resecl rom
his leammales," 0aredevils' Team Menlor TA
Sekar said. "we are aware o lhe immense value
lhal Mahela brings lo lhe lable and are sure lhal
lhe leam will beneil rom his resence in lhe
leadershi leam." Sekar said skier virender
Sehwag welcomed lhe choice.
8khkk T ET 6h8EhT
Mumbai: The FL 0overning Council on
wednesday raliied all lhe issues agreed uon wilh
lhe Sahara 0rou one o which relaled lo lhe Fune
ranchise's requesl or ielding a ilh oreign layer
in lhe laying X as a secial case in lhe ucoming
ilh season o lhe T2O League. "All lhe lhings
which were decided wilh Sahara were raliied by
lhe 0overning Council," FL chairman Rajiv Shukla
said aler lhe meeling. "0n lhe ilh oreign layer's
issue, (as was agreed uon), Sahara has lo gel lhe
consenl o all olher ranchises beore lhal maller
will be ul beore lhe (BCC) working Commillee,
which will lake lhe inal call."
8kVI T E8T TI I IIEhIY
NewDelhi: The ndian nalional oolball leam is sel
lo lake on a slrong 0man side in an inlernalional
riendly, sans slriker Sunil Chhelri, Lalrindika Ralle
and sloer hirmal Chhelri al lhe Sullan 0aboos
Sorls Comlex Sladium in Muscul on Thursday.
The malch is a arl o ndia's rearalion or lhe
orlhcoming AFC Challenge Cu, lo be held in
Kalhmandu in March. "All o lhem have some
niggles. we are here lo reare or lhe AFC
Challenge Cu. don'l wanl lo risk lhem in an
nlernalional Friendly againsl 0man. The more lime
lhey gel, lhe more will lhey recover," Savio said.
k8Ik 6F 8k h Mk6h 1
Mumbai: wilh lhe ndian leam slruggling in lhe
lriangular oneday series in Auslralia, lhe nalional
seleclors will have lheir lask cul oul when lhey
meel on March 1 here lo ick lhe squad or lhe
ucoming Asia Cu. "The Asia Cu squad is lo be
selecled in Mumbai on March 1," said Crickel
Board sources on wednesday. n lhe backdro o
lhe leam's oor dislay 0own under, il remains lo
be seen how many members o lhe squad
resenlly louring Auslralia are relained or lhe
conlinenlal chamionshi lhal is lo be held in
0haka rom March 1122.
Mkh '8 6k8h E8EVE8 IkII
London: Manchesler uniled's cash reserves ell
by 1OO million ($158 million) in six monlhs
arlially lo inance an inveslmenl in lhe squad lhal
is ailing lo mainlain lhe English chamions'
dominance on lhe ilch. As a resull o sending
lhal also look in sladium imrovemenls and a
bond reurchase rogram, lhe 0ld Traord bank
balance droed rom 15O.G million lo 5O.O
million by 0ecember 81, lhe club's quarlerly
accounls revealed on Tuesday. Man u senl 48
million on new layers, including 0avid de 0ea,
Fhil Jones and Ashley Young. Fh8lkgenries
SNGLES
IF 0IF88
kF Q L0h00h
C
helsea didnt do much better
than Arsenal on their trip to
Italy in the Champions League, leav-
ing English clubs in danger of miss-
ing the quarterfinals of the compe-
tition for the first time since 1996.
Showing the same kind of
defensive frailties that condemned
Arsenal to a 4-0 loss at AC Milan
last week, Chelsea failed to protect
an early lead and lost 3-1 at Napoli
in the first leg of their round of 16
matchup.
In Tuesdays other match,
CSKA Moscow scored a last-gasp
equaliser to draw 1-1 at home
against Real Madrid.
While Chelsea still have a real-
istic chance of turning things
around in the return leg at Stamford
Bridge, the loss heaped further
pressure on manager Andre Villas-
Boas, whose self-proclaimed sup-
port from owner Roman
Abramovich could quickly evapo-
rate if he fails to deliver in the com-
petition the Russian billionaire is
most eager to win. It also means
England could be without a team in
Champions League come early
March, as Manchester United and
Manchester City were both elimi-
nated in the group stage.
Chelseas recent troubles grew
worse even before the kickoff, when
the club confirmed that captain
John Terry will need knee surgery
and will be sidelined for up to six
weeks. The visitors still looked set
to produce a result when JuanMata
gave them an early lead, but
Ezequiel Lavezzi exploited defensive
mishaps to score twice and Edinson
Cavani added another goal to put
Napoli in control.
It is not impossible to recover
3-1 because of the number of
chances we get, and the environ-
ment we must create to turn this tie
around and go through, Villas-Boas
said.
We will analyze strongly what
we did wrongly because a couple of
things need to get better.
It was also a disappointing
night for former Chelsea manager
Jose Mourinho, whose Madrid side
failed to take its dominant domes-
tic form into Europe. Cristiano
Ronaldo put the nine-time
European champions ahead with
his 36th goal of the season, but
CSKA midfielder Pontus
Wernbloom scrambled the ball
into the net with the last kick of the
match in the third minute of stop-
page time to equalize for the
Russian club.
While Madrid hold a 10-point
lead over Barcelona to be on course
to win the Spanish league, Chelsea
has now failed to win for a fifth
straight game in all competitions.
Villas-Boas gambled by not
starting with the experienced trio of
Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and
Michael Essien. Luck, however,
was initially in Chelseas favor with
Matas opening goal somewhat of a
gift from Napoli.
After being picked out by
Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridges
resulting cross was kicked by Napoli
captain Paolo Cannavaro back
toward his own goal. The ball fell
perfectly for Mata to slot into the net
past goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis
in the 27th minute.
Napoli leveled 11 minutes later
when Lavezzi collected the ball on
the edge of the area and eluded
Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles
before curling it into the bottom
right corner past goalkeeper Petr
Cechs outstretched hand.
Cavani, whose goals helped
eliminate Premier League leader
Manchester City in the group stage,
scored his fifth goal in seven
Champions League appearances
this season right on halftime when
he turned Gokhan Inlers cross
into the net from close range. We
had a chance to go 2-0 up and a
couple of defensive mistakes that
against Napoli, with their attacking
strength, will get punished, Villas-
Boas said.
kIMk VEMk Q hEw 0ELh
O
nce mastered, it seems Delhi
Golf Club course stands the
conqueror in good stead quite
often. Bangalore boy Anirban
Lahiri and Swedens Rikard
Karlberg would readily agree.
Lahiri, who clinched his first
title here at Panasonic Open last
year and buried the ghost of
DGC for once and for all, rekin-
dled his affair by carding an
impressive seven-under on par 72
course to take the opening day
lead at the SAIL-SBI Open on
Wednesday.
Karlberg had also recorded
his maiden win in the same
event in 2010 at DGC and capped
it with the Indian Open triumph
the same year. The Swede regis-
tered a score of 67 to take the spot
behind Canadian rookie Ron
Harvey Jr, who carded a six-
under score with the help of six
birdies.
I am much assured of what
to hit off at tee now as compared
to earlier. I feel more positive and
have been getting more and more
comfortable at DGC, said 24-
year-old Lahiri, who hit seven
birdies en route to taking the Day
1 lead at the $300,000 Asian Tour
event, with five of the birdies
coming on back nine.
Harvey Jr, who finished tied-
16th at Qualifying School last
month to book his place among
the circuits elite, said that his
conservative approach helped
him to take the morning session
lead earlier in the day.
Its a lot easier when you hit
onto the fairways all-day. I used
lots of three and four-irons and
only hit two or three-woods and
I guess that made it seemed a lot
easier, he said.
Karlberg, meanwhile, was all
too happy to admit his liking for
the course. Theres something
about India that makes me play
well here. Im very composed
when I play here at DGC, the
2010 Asian Tour rookie of the
year said.
Mohd Islam, Mukesh Kumar,
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Manav
Jaini were sharing the fourth
spot with Australias Scott Hend
to stake claims for the hosts. Shiv
Kapur, meanwhile, let his two
eagles go to waste by hitting two
bogeys and a double bogey to end
the day at tied 11th.
Clelsea lose, Real oraw
FTI Q hEw 0ELh
T
he Army on Wednesday
charged the National Rifle
Association of India of having
a biased selection policy after
one of its officer Lt Col
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
was excluded from the 2012
London Olympics shooting
squad.
Rathore, who won a silver
in mens double trap event in
the 2004 Athens Olympics,
failed to figure in the 11-mem-
ber Indian shooting squad for
London Olympics announced
on February 19.
With declaration of final
list of names of shooters to rep-
resent the country in London
Olympics, the NRAI has final-
ly brought the cat out of bag.
The irony is the shooters who
have won the quota for the
nation have been mercilessly
axed. The most deserving and
experienced shooters have not
been considered defying all
logic, Army officials said
here.
The names missing were
of RVS Rathore, 50m Rifle
Prone position quota winner
Hariom Singh and 3 Position
Rifle quota winner Imran
Hasan Khan. The name consid-
ered for the quota swap are
Heena Sidhu in 10m Air Pistol
and Joydeep Karmakar in 50m
Rifle Prone Position.
The interesting angle is
that both these shooters selec-
tion seems to have been influ-
enced by interested groups
lobbying and neither national
interest nor the merit and com-
petence have been kept in
mind, the officials added.
0icials queslion ederalion on omission
o Ralhore, hariom & hasan Khan
k1EY 8k8 Q hEw 0ELh
S
ometimes the only difference
between victory and defeat boils
down to how a team uitilises its
chances. The Indian team failed mis-
erably on this count and paid the
penalty, going down 2-5 to South
Africa in a hard fought encounter in
the FIH Olympic Hockey Qualifiers
on Wednesday.
Dirkie Chamberlain (13th, 32nd
min, 58th min) scored a hat-trick,
while Sulette Damons (53rd min,
67th min) grabbed a brace. Asunta
Lakra (23rd min), Soundarya
Yendalla (52nd min) scored for
India. India has now slipped to third
and must beat Italy in their last pool
encounter in order to make sure of
a final berth.
South Africa took the lead off
their third penalty corner with
Dirkie tapping in the rebound after
Indian goal keeper Savita had
blocked the direct attempt by Kate
Woods. Indian skipper Lakra found
the equalizer from Indias third
penalty corner.
After a period of sustained
pressure on the Indian goal, the
Proteas managed to regain the lead.
Savita blocked an attempt from
Shelley Russell but Dirkie scored off
the rebound.
Joydeep Kaurs attempt off a
penalty corner found the net in the
47th minute but the goal was disal-
lowed as the shot was too high.
Soundarya brought India back on
level terms soon with a nice goal, but
the Proteas hit back immediately as
Damons scored with a reverse flick
after a fast attack down the left.
Dirkie put the game beyond
Indias reach when she completed
her hat-trick with an accurate deflec-
tion off a shot from outside the
Indian D by Nicole Terblanche.
Lauren Penny failed to punish
the Indian defence who had left her
totally unmarked in front of goal in
the 66th minute as she hit wide off
a nice pass from Sulette Damons.
But Damons made up for the
Proteas a few seconds later, pushing
home a through from Kathleen
Taylor. The Indian defenders had
only themselves to blame as they had
failed to pick up Damons run.
k1EY 8k8 Q hEw 0ELh
R
iding on a brace by Sandeep
Singh, India overcame a tough
challenge from Canada to record a
hard fought 3-2 win and stay on
track for a spot in the final of the
ongoing FIH Olympic Hockey
Qualifiers at the Major Dhyan
Chand National Stadium here on
Wednesday evening.
Shivendra Singh (26th min),
Sandeep Singh (40th min, 61st
min) scored for India while Mark
Pearson (50th min), Scott Tupper
(53rd min) were on target for
Canada.
The Indians, who will play
Poland in their final pool match on
Friday, have won all the four match-
es they have played so far and are
virtually through to the final with
12 points.
Canada are on six points from
four games and will have to win
their final pool game against France
in order to entertain any hopes of
entering the final. France and Poland
are joint second with nine points
each, but the Canadians are still in
with a chance of making it to the
summit clash. If the Poles lose to
India and Canada manages to defeat
the French on Friday, then the
North Americans will go through to
the final due to their vastly superi-
or goal difference.
Having scored at will during
their earlier matches, the Indian for-
wards found it hard going against
the Canadians, who played a defen-
sive game, occasionally catching
the Indian defence on the wrong
foot with their fast counter attacks.
Although they dominated pos-
session throughout the match, the
Indians looked decidedly listless and
took their time to settle down in the
early stages and struggled to build
up effective moves. On the other
hand, the Canadians looked more
threatening with the few forays
they made into the Indian circle.
Shivender scored the only goal
of the opening half with a reverse hit
to ensure that the Indians went into
the break with a 1-0 lead.
SV Sunil missed a sitter imme-
diately after the restart as his close
range shot whizzed over the
Canadian bar. Canadian custodian
Antoni Kindler did well to deny SK
Uthappa in the very next minute
while Sarvanjit Singh also good a
good chance.
Sandeep doubled Indias lead
with a powerful dragflick.
But the Canadians soon made
the Indians pay for their sloppy
defence by scoring two quick con-
secutive goals through Pearson
and Tupper to come back on level
terms.
Sunil missed another easy goal
in the 59th minute as he was
unable to deflect in a powerful
drive by Kothajit Singh from out-
side the circle.
India regained the lead with
Sandeep sounding the board with
a powerful dragflick and survived
some anxious moments towards
the end to chalk out a scrappy win.
A||] +u |RAl
u| |i| |i+J
The interesting
angle is that both
these shooters
selection seems to
have been
influenced by
interested groups
lobbying and
neither national
interest nor the
merit and
competence have
been kept in mind
ARMY OFFCALS
Lahiri loads way on Day 1 at DGC
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SAl|SBl p| +| C Piu|| P|u|u
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66 Anirban Lahiri (h0)
66 Ron harvey Jr (CAh)
67 Rikard Karlberg (SwE)
6B Mohd slam (h0), Scoll hend
(AuS), Mukesh Kumar (h0),
0aganjeel Bhullar (h0), Manav
Jaini (h0)
69 Javi Colomo (ESF), Thaworn
wiralchanl (ThA)
(`0nly lo 1O layers)
l|Ji+ S|i1|J|+ Si|| (l||) i u||+|ul+|J |] |+||+| SV SuW|+|p| +||| | u|J
++i|| C+|+J+ Ju|i| ||i| |+|| u| wJ|J+] AP
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8IhkFE I8E kkIh
Poland enjoyed a goal fest
against the whipping boys of
the competition win an 11-3
verdict. For Farhan
Kamsani (37th, 49th) and
Fazri Jailani (70th) could
only reduce the margin for
Singapore. Poland have now
moved to second in the pool
with 9 points from four
matches.
Ikh6E 8Ikhk ITkIY
Poland made a strong claim
in the race for the final with
a 7-2 verdict over Italy. They
have six points from three
matches while Italy are yet
to open their account.
Miroslaw Juszczak and
Szymon Hutek gave Poland
the advantage before Italy
pulled one goal back. Poland
restored two goal cushion
thanks to Oszyjcczyk and
from thereon, it was one-
way traffic.France continued
their impressive run with a
3-0 win over Italy.
WMEh
ITkIY 8EkT kkIhE
Italy kept alive their chances
of securing a spot in the
final with a 2-1 win over
Ukraine. They are now sec-
ond in the pool with 8
points from four matches
with two wins and two
draws.
6kh EE T FIkh
Canada carved out a tense 1-
0 victory over Poland.
Stephanie Jameson found the
winner in the 65th minute
by converting a penalty
stroke. Canada dominated
the mid-field and enjoyed
most of the possession, but
found it extremely difficult
to break down the well orga-
nized Polish defence. The
Europeans finally suc-
cumbed when their goal
keeper brought down
Canadian forward Thea
Culley inside the penalty cir-
cle and the umpire pointed
to the dreaded spot. PNS
Suu|| A||i+| pl+]|
l||+| + u+l
++i|| l|Ji+| u|
wJ|J+] Pll
E1 u||| SA |+uli|
hEW EIhI: The calch hrase 'hir
dil do hockey ko' rang hollow on
lhe oening day o lhe 0lymic
qualiiers al lhe Major 0hyan
Chand halional sladium on
Salurday. The 2O,OOO caacily
arena was almosl emly wilh
olicemen oulnumbering
seclalors in lhe slands.
The only saving grace was lhe
ndian Army who broughl in
si/eable numbers o soldiers lo
walch lhe malches. The emly
galleries have aarenlly
embarrassed organisers hockey
ndia (h) and nlernalional hockey
Federalion (Fh), wilh oicials
remaining unavailable or
commenl.
The ndian men's leam's
malches wilh France and Canada
have seen lhe biggesl numbers o
seclalors so ar, wilh around
1,OOO eole enjoying lhe aclion
rom lhe slands. The lack o
crowds orced lhe organi/ers lo
allow sludenls lo walch lhe
malches or a nominal charge o
C1O.
however, wilh ndia virlually
assured o reaching lhe inals o
bolh lhe men's and women's
evenls, lhe organi/ers will surely be
hoing lhal lhe crowds will lhrong
lhe sladium on lhe weekend.
kjeyo 8asu
ho giving
diI here
hosls win 82 lo virlually book lheir berlh in inal o 0lymic qualiiers
Having scored at will during their earlier
matches, the ndian forwards found it hard
going against the Canadians, who played a
defensive game, occasionally catching the
ndian defence on wrong foot
hW IFI I II

n an FLslyle league, 1Ocily

based leams will vie or lhe
honours in lhe Louis Fhilie Cu,
lo be held al Bangalore belween
March 5 and 1O. wilh a lolal ri/e
bag o C1.24 crore al slake, 8O lo
roessionals, including Jyoli
Randhawa, Anirban Lahiri and SSF
Chowrasia, would lead lheir
reseclive side's charge.
Each cily leam will lhree
layers, lwo selecled on lhe basis o
lheir 2O11 Rolex Rankings as o
0ecember and lhe lhird layer is
icked by lhe sonsor. The winning
leam lakes home C8G lakh, runners
u will earn C24 lakh and lhe
second runnersu C18 lakh.