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Vol. 2 Issue 31 10.00 24 Pages RNI Reg. No.: PUNMUL/2012/45041 Postal Reg. No. PB/JL-047/2013-15

Angelina Jolie is Hollywoods best-paid actress

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SUNDAY 04 August 2013

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Weekly Newspaper
Leisure 17

Lifestyle 4

National 10

Celebrity 14

International 18

Business 20

Sports 22

In what could be seen as a strong endorsement for P. Chidambaram, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh showered generous praise on his Manmohan finance minister for being a endorses key backer of reforms and Chidambaram as said here was a man intellectually brilliant and popolitically savvy litically savvy while being leader Pageand 10 capable of taking risks
India Thursday decided to hike the foreign direct investment limits in a host of sectors, notably telecom, oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges and relaxed the policy for retail, giving clear signal to overseas investors FDI Flood To that the economic reforms were on track. Alleviate Growth The decisions were taken by the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Drought Minister Manmohan Singh.
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DURGA SHAKTI VS CORRUPTION SHAKTI

Hip-hop dance is a broad category that includes a variety of urban styles. The older dance styles that were created in the 1970s include uprock, breaking, and the funk styles. Breaking was created in The Bronx, New York, incorporating dances that Page 4 were popular in the 1960s

HIP-HOP

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The government has decided to sell 10 percent of its stake in the countrys largest petroleum retailer Indian Oil Corporation. After this disinvestment the government of India shareGovernment to sell holding in the company 10 percent stake in would come down to 68.92 Indianthe Oil percent, finance ministry said Pagein 21 a statement Friday.

Board president Narayanaswami Srinivasan Friday met with some unexpected resistance from some of his colleagues in the Board Srinivasan chooses of Control for Cricket the easy way out in India (BCCI), forcPagehis 23 ing him to abandon

Mother India Gets Her 29th Child: Telangana

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DURGA SHAKTI VS CORRUPTION SHAKTI

Akhilesh defends suspension, IAS body seeks centres intervention
Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Thursday defended the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal even as her colleagues demanded that the central government intervene. Speaking in Lucknow after a cabinet meeting, the chief minister said that the suspended officers action against a mosque could have led to communal trouble. The government is within its right to suspend any errant official and we have done so in accordance to laid down norms, he said. He rubbished charges that Nagpal was suspended under the pressure of the sand mining mafia, against whom she had acted in Noida district adjoining the national capital. There was nothing in the matter that is even distantly related to illegal mining, the chief minister said. Members of the All India IAS (Indian Administrative Service) Association meanwhile met Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office V. Narayanasamy in New Delhi and asked the central government to revoke the suspension. The association submitted a representation demanding the amendment of rules to clearly list a prior course of action for suspension of an IAS officer. The minister later told reporters that the central government was waiting for a report from the Uttar Pradesh government. We will look into the matter as soon the reply comes. We will ensure that all rules are followed and the government looks into issues in a dispassionate manner, Narayanasamy said. Members of the association said they would ensure that Nagpal gets justice. The centre can intervene in the matter on the basis of new facts being brought to the government, or if revision is filed by the officer concerned. In that case, the decision of the centre will be final, association secretary Sanjay R. Bhoosreddy said, He added that if Nagpal got no relief, the association would approach the court. Nagpal was suspended July 28. The Uttar Pradesh government said she was suspended for ordering a wall of a mosque in Noida to be demolished. A report of the Noida district magistrate has said Nagpal had not ordered the demolition but the chief minister was not moved. One has to look into the reports in totality. The government has done the right thing after study of various ground reports, he said. The chief minister vented his anger at the lobbying by the IAS association and reminded them how IAS officers were not even able to speak during the time of his predecessor Mayawati.

COVER STORY

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

HC seeks report on action suspended IAS officer took against mining mafia

IAS officers suspension for electoral gains: BJP

Congress condemns suspension of UP IAS official

Lucknow The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court (HC) Friday issued notice to the union and Uttar Pradesh governments on a PIL against the suspension of IAS official Durga Shakti Nagpal. The HC asked the state government details of action taken by Nagpal, erstwhile SDM of Noida, against illegal mining mafia. Ashok Pandey, counsel for petitioner social activist Nutan Thakur, told IANS that the court had sought details on the number of dumpers the official had seized during her tenure, the number of cases she slapped on

people, their names and the action taken against such mafia after she was suspended. Taking a strong view on illegal mining, the HC asked both the state and union governments to brief it about the action taken against illegal mining mafia, including details right from the challan to the filing of first information reports (FIRs). The court also said that the matter was between employers and the employee and observed it would not directly intervene as the official had herself not represented the case. The court fixed Aug 19 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

New Delhi The BJP Friday said IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpals suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government was a clear message that honesty will be punished and goondagardi (criminal behaviour) rewarded in the state. The issue was being used for electoral gains, the party further said. Questioning the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) whether any officials were suspended for the 27 riots that have taken place in the state during its rule, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Nagpals suspension was a ploy to demoralise honest administrative officials. She said the SP was seeking to inflame religious anger on the so called demolition of a mosque wall in a bid to pick up votes. The Indian Administrative Service officer was suspended by the Akhilesh Yadav government July 28 on charges of inciting communal tensions by demolishing the wall of an unauthorised mosque. Lekhi said Nagpals suspension was unlawful and that she had only followed the orders of higher officials. Supporting Nagpal, the BJP spokesperson said she was an honest and

hardworking officer who had seized more than 24 truck loads of illegally mined sand and arrested several members of the sand mafia. She impounded 297 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs.80 lakh, Lekhi said. The BJP spokesperson also said that illegal dredging on the banks of Yamuna by sand mining gangs of Gautam Budh Nagar was causing ecological damage and destroying the marine environment. Lekhi also hit out at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan over his purported defence of illegal mining. Referring to SP leader Narendra Bhati, Lekhi alleged that he was close to several sand mining mafia dons and had claimed to have got the IAS official suspended in 41 minutes. He touts this act of flexing his political muscle as a power of democracy, Lekhi said, and termed his remarks as shameless. The Samajwadi Party and its CM (chief minister) have been unable to implement any good project in (the past) 41 months, but its party members brag about the suspension of an honest IAS officer in 41 minutes, she said.

IAS association up in arms against suspension

New Delhi The Congress Friday condemned suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh government but also said that it does not support arbitrary demolition of a mosque wall in Noida. Talking to reporters here, Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das said that the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was suspended as she had taken action against the sand mafia. The Congress condemns the suspension of an honest officer, he said, but added the party does not support the arbitrary demolition of a mosque wall, which the state government had cited as a reason for the suspension. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had Thursday defended his governments action of suspending the IAS officer and said unilateral decision of the official could have led to communal trouble. Nagpal, who took on the sand mining mafia in Greater Noida (Gautam Budh Nagar), was suspended July 28. Lucknow The Uttar Pradesh IAS association Monday urged the government to reverse the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who had taken on the sand mafia. The suspended sub divisional magistrate (SDM) was posted in Noida, adjoining the national capital. Office bearers of the Indian Administrative Service association met Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and petitioned him to intervene in the matter. Nagpal also met association president Alok Ranjan, who is also the agriculture production commissioner. According to informed sources, the chief secretary sympathized with Nagpal and vowed to take up the matter with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on his (Yadavs) return from Karnataka. The official was suspended Sunday by the state government on grounds of arbitrarily issuing orders of a demolition of a mosque in Noida, with the potential to trigger communal tension. Officials close to the SDM, however, alleged that she was eased out owing to her sustained drive against illegal mining in the area. She is reported to have seized more than 25 trucks carrying sand in the last one month. Congress leader Rashid Masood reacted sharply to the officials suspension and accused the ruling Samajwadi Party of protecting criminals. The suspended official is on probation. If she is suspended for honesty, imagine how she will survive these scars all through her career asked another officer. Vijay Bahadur Pathak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) added: What can you expect from this government where the honest officials are hounded and the corrupt protected? The government said the suspension of Nagpal was a routine administrative measure after she showed lack of foresight in ordering the demolition of an under construction wall of a mosque in Kadalpur village. Her immature decision could have triggered communal tension, a senior government official said. The government was forced to take a tough stand. The government has attached her to the revenue board.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

REVIEW

Movies The Smurfs 2 a fantasy film B.A. Pass: Stark, brutal saga of seduction for Smurfphiles and betrayal
Film: B.A. Pass; Starring: Shilpa Shukla, Shadab Kamal; Directed by Ajay Bahl; Somewhere towards the end of the protagonist Mukeshs descent into a self-created hell, we see him standing shamelessly at the roadside soliciting sex, being picked up by three drunken burly men. A little later, Shadab Kamal sobs in the bathroom, blood dripping to his feet in a trail of tell-tale brutality. The intense implicit violence that underlines this sequence reminded me of a similar process of sexual debasement undertaken by Mark Wahlberg in Paul Thomas Andersons Boogie Nights. That was a film about the porn industry in the 1970s. B.A. Pass is set in present day Delhi -- Paharganj, to be more precise. Bustling with sights, sounds and smells of doom and despair, it is a gripping story of a young financially-challenged mans journey into a world of prostitution. We could say, we have never seen this before. And we would be as close to the truth as this film tries to get. The taut screenplay by Ritesh Shah never allows room for superfluous moments. We follow Mukeshs descent into a life of compromised morality with an absence of condemnation and censure. Mukeshs environment and his circumstances as a displaced orphan are not exploited to generate pathos. No one in this film allows us to feel sorry for the derelict lives. The characters fit into the films wretched karma with disturbing inevitability, as though everyone we see in this motion picture was pre-ordained to suffer and fade away. As we watch the talented Shadab Kamal lay bare his characters soul, we are suddenly reminded of how far we have come in his 95-minute journey from innocence and anxiety to despair and doom. Debutant director Ajay Bahl puts forward a little gem of story which radiates the colours of lifes most grim and harsh reality. There are so many young dreams dying every day in the metropolises. As one struggler in Bollywood once told me, I came to Mumbai to kick ass. Instead I ended licking ass. To envision the withering away of innocent aspirations in the merciless light of reality without a shred of self-pitying melodrama is not an easy task. Bahl does it with great confidence and sensitivity. That he has personally done the films cinematography is such a beautiful circumstance for the film. I doubt another cameraman could capture those places in these troubled characters lives that Bahl captures with such force and vitality. B.A. Pass italicizes the characters askew lived by bathing them in silence. The soundtrack (composed by Alokananda Dasgupta, daughter of filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta) is aptly minimal austere and unsparing. The sex is suitably cold and detached. When the young virgin-boy hero arrives in the bored housewifes home for the first time, she wastes no time in getting him to lie down on the sofa clambering over him briskly and unbuckling his trousers. The seduction is swift and businesslike; the sex, sometimes ugly, never satisfying.

Film: The Smurfs 2; Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays and Brendan Gleeson; Voices of: Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, Anton Yelchin, George Lopez, John Oliver and J.B. Smoove; Director: Raja Gosnell; This season seems to be dedicated for kids. After Turbo and Zambezia, director Raja Gosnells The Smurfs 2 is another rollicking roller-coaster hybrid-live action-cumanimated film. Based on the characters and works of Belgian comic artist Peyo, The Smurfs 2 is a sequel to the 2011 film, The Smurfs. For the uninitiated, the Smurfs are blue, three applehigh friendly individuals who live in mushroom houses in Smurf Village, a fantasy land. In this franchise, Gargamel the wizard is flourishing in Paris. But he is running out of his magical powers. So he creates a group of mischievous Smurf-replicas called the Naughties; Smurfette (voiceover by Katy Perry), Vexy (voiceover by Christina Ricci) and Hackus (voiceover by J.B. Smoove) to obtain the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. Apparently, this concoction would help Gargamel to rule the world. Unfortunately for him, things dont work according to his plans. Smurfette, the cute blonde naughty, who he had sent to snoop and rob the Smurfs of their Smurf-essence, is a changed individual as she chooses to be a Smurf. So, he with the help of Vexy and Hackus kidnaps Smurfette from Smurf-land and imprisons her in Paris. Laced with familial bonding, an adventurous flight around Paris and emotional blackmail what follows is the Smurfette-rescue operation. Papa Smurf (voiceover by Jonathan Winters) along with Smurfanity, Grouchy and Narcissi-murf (voiceover by George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver respectively) traverse to Paris and in collaboration with their human friends - Patrick (Harris), Grace (Mays) Winslow and Vic-

tor (Brendon Gleeson), they rescue Smurfette. The plot is layered with lessons like dealing with different types of parents - real parents, adoptive parents to stand-in parents. It is strongly underlined with the moral, It does not matter from where you come, what matters is what you choose to be. It takes patience to go through the first half hour of the film as the narration screeches of show and tell technique and smurfological dialogues; that is, diction morphed with smurf references. Once you get used to this, you begin to appreciate the film. The dialogues are preachy and the humour is derived from the repetitive actions or verbal jokes. But the best and crassy lines are mouthed by Patricks ever-embarrassing step-father Victor. Penned by a group of writers, the films plot points dont have a definite graph. It balances on an even keel. The action is too predictable and ineffective in 3D. Hank Azaria as Gargamel along with his Cat excels in his cartoonish avatar of the evil wizard. Brendon Gleeson as Victor sparkles with all the absurdity in the film. It is actually funny to watch him transform into a mallard and then return to his normal self, suddenly mid-air. The voice of Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf is endearing. Katy Perry and the rest of the cast beautifully and effectively synchronize their voices with the characters. Visually, the two locales - Smurf Village and Paris are distinct and beautifully captured. But its Paris with top-angle shots and aerial shots that transform this pixie tale to a fantasy film. Director Raja Gosnell and his accomplished team have seamlessly merged the camerawork with the computer generated images. But the blatant plugging of the Sony tablet in this Sony production is pointless, when in reality the target audience for this film is viewers less than ten years of age. The film will only appeal to Smurfphiles and those who understand Smurfology!

When a woman is caught with a gigolo, her husband rapes her doggiestyle in front of the toy-boy to let the wife and her lover know who wears the pants in the house even when its down to his ankles. A part of the films riveting charm originates from the authentic faces that populate Bahls nation of damnation. These are real people living out of authentic homes that exist beyond the directors domain of action and cut. Shadabs character is gauche and flummoxed to begin with but quickly begins to grasp the importance of being sexually empowered. Shadab is a discovery. And Dibyendu Bhattacharya as the chess-playing vagabond raises some grave issues. The cemetery never seemed less asymmetrical. B.A. Pass is a stark and brutal saga of seduction and betrayal. It is that unusual work of cinema which explores the darkest depths of the human consciousness without losing sight of the light that underscores life.

Book Bash On Regardless: A General Reminisces

Book: Bash on Regardless; Author: Lt. Gen. W.A.G. Pinto, PVSM (retd); Self-published; Available from: Lt. Gen. W.A.G. Pinto, PVSM (retd), 1, Arun Khetrapal Marg (ex-Alexander Road) Ghorpuri, Pune 411001; Price: Rs 300.

This book comes from a prominent retired military-man, one of our armys foremost battlefield commanders. Were told on the back cover: Lieutenant General W.A.G. Pintos experiences as a wartime divisional commander during the 1971 Indo-Pak war form the pivot of these memoirs.... Pune-based Pinto served the Indian Army during the not-so-peaceful times of 1943 to 1982 and retired as the General Officer Commanding-inChief, Central Command. At the start of the book, Pinto talks about his Goan connections. His father was from the Gustavo Pinto branch of the Pintos of Santa Cruz, Goa. Like all Goan migration stories this one too traverses many diverse parts of the globe and India too and is a mix of achievement elsewhere and a sense of loss back home. Pinto writes: In the distant past, one of my early ancestors was a Hindu of the Nayak caste or class. All the property from Campal, Santa Inez, Mira Mir, Gaspar Dias, Caranzalem, Donna Paula, Vanganim, Taleigaon,

Santa Cruz, Bambolim was all his, a mighty fortune and also a misfortune. What happened to it all and how did it happen? The starred Hotel Cidade-de-Goa on the high ground overlooking the beautiful lagoon is now located on the property, he writes. Unusual too is the story of his fathers lease of his share of the property called Mira Mar, where the estuary of the Mandovi river meets the Arabian Sea, to a Portuguese gentleman who put up a hotel called Hotel Mira Mar. Turns out that the place later became notorious as a house of ill repute. When Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who spent his honeymoon

there in Portuguese times, was at parties at which either of the Pinto brothers was present, he always said that he was proud of his army; he had two Generals, both brothers, who were running a brothel in Goa! (p.2) He studied at Bangalore, Pune and Jabalpur, before the family settled at Pune, the pensioners paradise in his parents time in the 1950s. Summer meant holidays in Goa, the ancestral home at Santa Cruz, short excursions to the Calangute and Caranzalem beaches and the historic spots of Old Goa and Chandor. But Pintos story is primarily about the army. He takes us from his joining the World War II-time training at Lahore in pre-partitioned India. Those were times of the British Cadet Wing and Indian Infantry Divisions. War meant a compressed syllabus, and then fighting on the British side in Burma (now Myanmar) and Siam (todays Thailand) and even an occasional love story en route. But the heart of the story is Pintos narration of the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of the independent nation of Bangladesh and his role in it. Pinto, then a major general, is widely known as the Hero of Basantar for leading the 54 Infantry Division in what is perhaps the greatest land battle fought by the Indian Army. IANS

LIFESTYLE

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

HIP-HOP
Hip-hop dance is a broad category that includes a variety of urban styles. The older dance styles that were created in the 1970s include uprock, breaking, and the funk styles. Breaking was created in The Bronx, New York, incorporating dances that were popular in the 1960s and early 1970s in African-American and Latino communities. Breaking at this period was not primarily floor- oriented as seen today; it started out as toprock which dancers perform while standing up. breaking went from being a purely upright dance styletoprock onlyto becoming more floor-oriented.

Hip-Hop Dance
Hip-hop dance refers to street dance styles primarily performed to hiphop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles primarily breaking, locking, and popping which were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The dance industry responded with a commercial, studio-based version of hip-hop sometimes called new styleand a hip-hop influenced style of jazz dance called jazz-funk. Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to create choreography from the hiphop dances that were performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is practiced in both dance studios and outdoor spaces, 1980s films, television shows. What distinguishes hip-hop from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle (improvisational) in nature and hip-hop dance crews often engage in freestyle dance competitionscolloquially referred to as battles. acrobatic moves. Transitions from toprock to downrock are called drops. 2.Locking Locking, originally called Campbellocking, was created in 1969 in Los Angeles, California by Don Campbellock Campbell and popularized by his crew The Lockers. Locking looks similar to popping, and the two are frequently confused by the casual observer. In locking, dancers hold their positions longer. The lock is the primary move used in locking. It is similar to a freeze or a sudden pause. A lockers dancing is characterized by frequently locking in place and after a brief freeze moving again. Locking has specific dance moves that distinguish it from popping and other funk styles. 3.Popping Popping was created in Fresno, California in the 1970s . It is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in a dancers body, referred to as a pop or a hit. Each hit should be synchronized to the rhythm and beats of the music. Popping is also used as an umbrella term to refer to a wide range of closely related illusionary dance styles. These are lower body dances performed with little to no movements in the chest or arms. In floating, gliding, and sliding a dancer appears as if they are drifting across the floor on ice. Many of these related styles (animation, liquid, tutting, etc.) can not be traced to one person or group. Solomon states There are people who wave and there are people who tut. Theyre not popping. I say this to give the people who created other styles their just dues and their props.

Hip hop Culture

Hip hop Music

STYLES

1.Breaking Breaking was created in the South Bronx, New York City during the early 1970s. It is the first hip-hop dance style. At the time of its creation, it was the only hip-hop dance style. Breaking includes four foundational dances: toprock, footworkoriented steps performed while standing up; downrock, footwork performed with both hands and feet on the floor; freezes, stylish poses done on your hands; and power moves, complex and impressive

DJing: One of the few first hip hop DJs was Kool DJ Herc, who created hip hop through the isolation of breaks . Traditionally, a DJ will use two turntables simultaneously. These are connected to a DJ mixer, an amplifier, speakers, and various other pieces of electronic music equipment. The DJ will then perform various tricks between the two albums currently in rotation using the above listed methods. Graffiti: In 1960s, graffiti was used as a form of expression by political activists, and also by gangs. The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises both from early graffiti artists engaging in other aspects of hip hop culture, Graffiti is understood as a visual expression of

rap music, just as breaking is viewed as a physical expression. The 1983 film Wild Style is widely regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, which featured prominent figures within the New York graffiti scene during the said period. Graffiti remains part of hip hop. Beatbox: The term beatboxing is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes. As it is a way of creating hip hop music, it can be categorized under the production element of hip hop, though it does sometimes include a type of rapping intersected with the human-created beat. It is generally considered to be part of the same Pillar of hip hop as DJing.

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music, or hip-hop music, is amusic genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing.Other elements include sampling (or synthesis), and beatboxing. While often used to refer to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing and scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks. Rapping: Rapping is a vocal style in which the artist speaks lyrically, in rhyme and generally to an instrumental or synthesized beat. Beats, almost always in 4/4 time signature, can be created by sampling and/or sequencing portions of other songs by a producer. They also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Rappers may write, memorize, or improvise their lyrics and perform their works a cappella or to a beat.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

REGION

Punjab bus with 20 people falls into canal, Another infiltration bid foiled in Kashmir, four militants killed two bodies found

Chandigarh A state government-owned luxury bus carrying at least 20 passengers fell into the Bhakra canal in Punjab early Wednesday and two bodies were recovered, police said, adding that some more people may have drowned. The Punbus from Amritsar depot was on its way from Delhi to Amritsar when it fell into the canal around 2 a.m. close to the floating restaurant near Sirhind town along National Highway No.1 between Ambala and Ludhiana, about 50 km from here.

Prime accused in Gurgaon gang-rape arrested

Sunday night and was arrested, He said Vikram had a criminal record, having been arrested in a drug supplying racket and remaining in jail for months. We are interrogating him after taking him on one day police remand, the officer said. Two Delhi-based women were gangraped in a moving car early June 27 while returning home from a pub, police said. The two women had hired a car outside the Sahara Mall for Rs.300 to go to Tughlaqabad area in south Delhi. The driver, however, let two other men into the car. The car was then diverted to the Gurgaon-Faridabad road where the men gang-raped them in the moving car for some hours. All this while four friends of the ac-

Fatehgarh Sahib district police chief Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said the swift currents in the canal carried the bus three km downstream from the spot where it had fallen into the water. Police officials said they could not ascertain the exact number of casualties due to difficulty in recovering the bodies. A spokesman of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badals office said that all passengers may have drowned. Officials said that 20-25 passengers

could be in the bus at the time of the accident. While the bus was taken out of the canal in the day, only one body was recovered from inside. The remaining passengers are likely to have been swept away in the fast current of the canal. At least 42 passengers boarded the Delhi-Amritsar bus from Delhi but some got down on the way, Punjab Roadways officials said. The chief minister announced an exgratia grant of Rs.1 lakh to next of kin of each of the victims. IANS

Srinagar Four militants were killed Tuesday in north Kashmir when the army foiled a second infiltration bid in two days from across the Line of Control (LoC). Based on specific information from intelligence agencies regarding likelihood of terrorists attempting infiltration in Machil sector in Kupwara (north Kashmir), alert troops detected move of 5 to 6 terrorists in a nala (ravine), on our side of the LOC at about 6 a.m., said a defence spokesman. He said on being challenged by the troops, the terrorists opened fire. The troops retaliated, resulting in the killing of two terrorists. Operations were simultaneously launched to eliminate the remaining

J&K MBBS seats hiked to 150

Srinagar Medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir would admit 150 additional aspiring medicos from this year after the enhancement of seats in the four medical colleges in the state. Minister for Medical Education Taj Mohiuddin Wednesday directed the board of professional entrance examination (BOPEE) to include MBBS seats, which were increased by the Medical Council of India (MCI), while selecting candidates for the doctoral course this academic session. This follows a letter of confirmation of 150 increased seats in state-run medical colleges of J&K from the board of governors of MCI Wednes-

terrorists, leading to subsequent killing of two more terrorists. Till the last information received, a total of four terrorists were killed in the operations, the spokesman said. The alert troops engaged the terrorists by bringing down accurate fire with grenade launchers, claymore mines and small arms. Search operations by the troops in the area are still on and are likely to continue throughout the night, he added. Earlier, Srinagar-based 15 Corps general office commanding, Lt. Gen. Gurmeet Singh told a media conference here that two guerrillas had been killed in Machil sector where the army had foiled the second infiltration bid in two days. He said operations were continuing.

Gurgaon The prime accused in the gang-rape of two Delhi-based women in a moving car last month has been arrested, police said Monday. Six accused were arrested earlier. Vikram was the mastermind in the case. He was the one who hired out the car to the victims and after that called his other accomplices, Crime Branch official Yashwant Singh told IANS. Vikram was arrested from his home village, Nangal Pita in Haryanas Mahendergarh district. After the incident in Gurgaon June 27, he had taken shelter in a religious shrine in Sirsa district. He was sure that he would elude police. He took a room near the shrine on rent and planned to live there with his wife. He came to his village to get his wife

cused followed their car in another vehicle, police said. The women were later dumped on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road. The victims then contacted police. Four cab drivers, arrested by the evening same day, were identified as Devender, Promod, Haneesh Khan and Satish. Another accused, also named Devender, was also arrested. Dhramveer alias Dharma, the main accomplice of Vikram, was arrested June 29. All the accused were cab drivers basically from different cities but living in Nathupur village area in rented accommodations.

Haryana law office to weed out old records

Chandigarh Unable to find storage space for old records pertaining to legal cases, the office of Haryanas Advocate General has decided to weed out the old files of the decided cases. The records pertaining to the period from Jan 1, 2009, to Dec 31, 2010, for civil matters and from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2011, for criminal matters as well as cause lists of the high court will be weeded out, a spokesman of the A-G office said here Tuesday. He said that before starting the process of weeding out these files, all head of departments in the Haryana government have been asked to take back within 30 days the court files pertaining to their departments of this period. Failing this, the files pertaining to the said period would be weeded out, he said. The official did not make it clear

Dead Haryana pilgrims kin seek remaining compensation

Gurgaon Family members of 20 kanwarias from Gurgaon are annoyed with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for allegedly not keeping his word on paying Rs.2 lakh each from his funds for the pilgrims deaths in a road accident in 2010. Hooda, while visiting the Baghanki village, assured us of all possible help, including jobs for the widows of the deceased and a sports stadium in the memory of pilgrims, but nothing much was done to fulfil the commitments, Kanwar Singh, a villager. While the victims kin have received Rs.1 lakh each from Hoodas government, they accuse the chief minister of forgetting his promise of giving Rs.2 lakh each for the accident deaths in Uttarakhand. Apart from the Rs.1 lakh received from the state government, each victim got Rs.1 lakh under a federal scheme for road accident victims. The families now want the chief minister to release another Rs.1 lakh each to them. Relatives of some victims, all of them from Baghanki, 26 km from the district headquarters, claimed they were facing hardships for earning a livelihood as they lost their main bread winners in the incident. Sardara Singh, another Baghanki villager, lost his four grandsons July 30, 2010 when the truck ferrying them fell into a 150-metre deep gorge at Dabrani in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi district. All victims in the accident were aged under 25 years. Sube Singhs son Pawan, 23, died in the incident. Pawan is survived by his wife Rajni and two children. Rajni, who had studied till high school, applied for job in Anganwadi for helper but was rejected, Sube Singh complained. Mahavir Singh, a small farmer and motor mechanic, lost his both sons Vinod Kumar, 23, and Jagmal Singh, 25, said Rohtash Singh, a Baghanki villager. Vinods widow Poonam managed to get a helpers job in Anganwadi and was now the sole earning member of the family. Lal Chands two sons - Madan, 20, and Kuldeep, 18, - also died in the

day. The MCI had recently decided to the increase in the intake capacity of government medical colleges of Srinagar and Jammu from 100 to 150 and that of SKIMS Medical College Bemina (Srinagar) from 50 to 100. The number of seats in a government recognised private medical college in Jammu has also gone up from 50 to 100. The increase was necessary to fill the shortage of qualified medicos due to the expansion of the health infrastructure, especially in rural and hilly areas. The intake capacity of the two government-run medical colleges was IANS fixed some 40 years ago.

whether the old files were to be destroyed. The Advocate Generals office, which deals with all legal cases of the Haryana government in various courts, had been pursuing with the Haryana chief secretary and Administration of Justice Department for providing additional space so that the files of the old decided cases could be stacked at alternative places. But the government had expressed its inability and conveyed that there was no space available with it to provide for alternative space to the office of Advocate General. Already, the situation in the record room of the office has become precarious and is posing the dangers of fire apart from creating unhygienic conditions for the staff working in the record room of this office, the spokesman added.
IANS

accident and the family survives on a small piece of agriculture land. Two victims widows left their husbands families after receiving compensation cheques amounting Rs.2 lakh each and shifted to their parental houses. Krishana Devi, village head of Baghanki, also moaned the delay in building the stadium promised by Hooda. We had handed over six acres of land to the district administration for stadium and are waiting for governments response, she said. Kewal Dhingra, media advisor to Hooda, while talking to IANS, said: We will be able to say some thing on the issue only after speaking with chief minister. Such has been the impact of the incident on the minds of Baghanki villagers that even three years after the accident, none from there or the surrounding villages has dared to go on the pilgrimage to the Ganges river in Uttarkhand and bringing back the holy water to offer prayers at their village, said a Baghanki villager.
Pradeep Singh

6 Durga Shakti Rendered Powerless

Good governance is not something one expects when badlands of mafia ridden western UP are mentioned. Incompetent policy making and an infrastructure boom has made sand mining the lucrative business of choice for local mafiosi across Indian landscape. The clout and power to buy out virtually entire system makes sand mafia immune to the enforcement agencies. Painted against this backdrop, a zealous drive against the sand mafia by an upright and sprightly SDM Durga Shakti Nagpal was something commendable. However as is wont, the UP government buckled under the diktats of sand mafia to suspend the young IAS officer under the specious argument of disturbing communal harmony under her jurisdiction. Bureaucracy is often blamed for being malleable and a tool in the hands of politicians. If an officer dares to step out of line then he becomes fair game for transfers, enquiries, disciplinary action and in some cases outright physical harm. So before blaming the officers or even some politicians for being spineless one has to acknowledge that like other human beings they too have lives outside of work. Their families, friends and they personally have to

OPINION
EDITORIAL DESK
Manu Sharma
bear the brunt for decisions taken in public interest. Under our constitutional system the legislature is empowered with sweeping powers to run the nation. Therefore the politicians will continue to wield great power and rightly so under a democratic setup. The need is to draw two important lines. The first one is defining the safety guidelines, both financial and physical for personnel manning sensitive posts or taking sensitive decisions. Secondly and more importantly the polity of India will have to be driven by right choices and governance measures.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Indian education: Creating zombies focussed on passing exams

Anil K. Rajvanshi Kavita Burumle (not her real name) spent two years in coaching classes in Kota, Rajasthan, preparing for medical competitive examinations. She comes from a small rural town in Maharashtra and hence stayed in a hostel in Kota. Unfortunately, despite spending two years and substantial money in these coaching classes, she could not get into any decent medical school. Her days in coaching classes and self-study used to start from 6 a.m. and end around 9 p.m. Similarly, before she came to Kota, her parents would send her to private tuitions in her home town which were from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Her regular school started at 12 noon and finished at 6 p.m. She had no time to play and this focus on competitive examinations robbed her of her childhood. Children all over India go through this grind year after year and for what? By creating a whole generation of uni-dimensional citizens we are playing with fire. This is not the only way for children to excel. There are other models of childrens education which give well-rounded education. Such models exist all over the country but are few in number and need to be replicated. I will describe our small experiment in this area. When I and my wife came back in 1981 from the US to stay in a small rural town of Phaltan in Maharashtra, there were no good schools. Hence when the time came for our daughters education we helped start a Marathi medium primary school and then a high school for them. Thus whichever class my elder daughter went into, the school added that. The basic premise of our school was to give a good all-round education. So there was ample time given for outdoor activities and other creative activities like arts and crafts. Also, attending extra tuition classes was not allowed by the school. In the initial stages it was very difficult to get students because parents were horrified at the thought of sending their children to a school which did not focus on competitive examinations and cramming for the students. The principal, who was an American but naturalized Indian citizen, went from house to house requesting the parents to send their wards to our school. After our elder daughter got quite good marks in the state secondary board, the Phaltan residents woke up to the value of education in our school. And when our younger daughter got a position in the board, then suddenly people realized that it is one of the best schools in town. Today for 25 or 30 seats, we get around 150 to 200 applications. Our children benefited greatly from this school and education. Our elder daughter went to do her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in the US and is at present a researcher in a major US company. Our younger daughter did her Masters degree in education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and now teaches in our school. Most of the schools put a tremendous burden on the children to study for competitive examinations so that they do not have any time to play. Children are attending one class after another from morning till night. This robs their childhood and in the process we are creating a whole generation of extremely focussed children who only know how to react to the pressures and inputs and have no time and inclination to think, reflect or get involved in any other creative activity. Besides, they are constantly in fear of failing or missing out on passing the competitive examinations. Thus we are creating a whole generation of Indians who start their life with fear. This fear creates lifelong psychological knots and mental problems and in extreme cases leads to suicides that we witness with increasing frequency. Also, as children they would like to play and indulge in childhood activities but because of pressures of the parents and the school, they start telling lies to hide these activities. Inculcating the telling of lies in our children is the biggest tragedy, and this habit, learnt during the formative years, continues throughout their lives. This habit then gives rise to irresponsible behaviour and subsequently leads to corruption. Also, hardly any school curriculum has courses on moral science or on how to become good and responsible citizens. Hence, we are creating zombies who hardly learn any skills and are focussed only on passing exams and nothing else. It is also being increasingly observed that most of the students, after passing the entrance exams and entering into IITs, medical schools and management institutes, do not know very much about their subjects, but mostly excel in how to pass these exams. With the present quality of teaching, even in some of the prestigious colleges, leaving much to be desired, we are raising a whole generation of engineers, doctors and others who are very inadequate in their professions. This does not bode well for the country. Also, because of the focus on cramming for exams, children never learn to think independently and to develop curiosity. This is carried into their professional education and hence we are hardly producing any researchers or thinkers in the areas of science and engineering. So what is the remedy? We need to increase drastically the number of educational institutes in every sphere; give autonomy to them; have a good national watchdog for maintaining the quality of education and create one examination board for the whole nation. Besides there should be compulsory subjects taught at all levels on humanities, social sciences and how to become good citizens. All these efforts will take a long time to show their effect and hence the reforms in education need to be done now for the future betterment of the country.

Economy Needs Risk

Global Investment Banking heavyweight Goldman Sachs has downgraded Indian economy and thus its stocks. A lot has been said and lamented for as far as the policy making and the macroeconomic indicators of India go. The bigger and more pertinent issue is of risk aversion and lack of innovation. Global economic powerhouses like Japan, Germany, USA and China have all mastered some innovation or the other to develop niche industries that delivered long growth episodes to their people. In particular taking the example of Germany whose industrial capacity was wiped out by the second world war. Post war Germany quickly developed its infrastructure once again and started to focus on heavy and medium engineering to develop cars, earth mover products and tooling machines. This was followed by a foray in the electronics and computers by the second last decade of previous century. And finally the country capitalized on its industrial acumen to build world class centres of finance and trade across its cities. Similarly Korea and China have done well in the Asia paradigm. Successive countries with sustained growth episodes are the ones that got on the escalator system of entrepreneurship and innovation. Adapting to new industry and economy types, though dependent on global markets they developed local markets too by raising the standard of living within local economy. Compared to that the much touted engine of Indian Industry, Information Technology has failed to grow as a innovation pioneer and is thus constrained today to fight on margins alone. India needs risk and risk takers to innovate and grow its economy and that has more to do with environment than policy alone.

Snowdens odyssey: Will Latin America dare the US?

Deepak Bhojwani On July 11, the normally sedate airport in Havana, the Cuban capital, was invaded by dozens of foreign journalists. Word had spread that Edward Snowden was aboard Aeroflot flight 150 from Moscow, which landed at 18.38 hours local time. A Chilean journalist with a sense of humour even carried a placard with Snowdens name. The reaction of the journalists, some of whom had flown down to Havana for this purpose, revealed the incandescent nature of this case that made international headlines. Snowden has become a cause clebre in Latin America since his sudden appearance, weeks ago, at Moscows Sheremetyevo International Airport from Hong Kong. From the transit area of the airport, he is understood to have approached at least 21 countries, through his lawyer, seeking asylum. The Latin American countries include Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. The Cuban government has made no comment on Snowdens reported request to that country for asylum. Analysts believe it does not want to prejudice ongoing talks with the United States and to have to harbour a toxic fugitive indefinitely. President Ral Castro has, however, backed Venezuelas right to offer him asylum. Ecuador, to which Snowden first applied for asylum, in the footsteps of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a year earlier, claims he needs to request asylum on Ecuadorian territory - even an embassy - in order for the government to consider it. Snowden has been assisted and advised behind the scenes by Assange, who continues to avail asylum in Ecuadors embassy in London. He was publicly upbraided by Ecuadors President Rafael Correa for pretending to speak for Ecuador on this issue. Ecuadors government also maintained the safe conduct pass issued to Snowden by a functionary of the embassy in London was unauthorised and invalid. President Correa nevertheless reacted against a move by some US Congressmen lobbying to cancel tariff preferences covering around $23 million of Ecuadors exports to the US. On June 27, he unilaterally and irrevocably renounced the benefits of this scheme. In a throwback to the bad old days, the Ecuador communication secretary, who made the announcement, offered the US $23 million to train its officials in human rights. Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered Snowden asylum. President Nicolas Maduro made the announcment on July 5, Venezuelas national day. Bolivian President Evo Morales has greater casus belli. His return flight from Moscow, where he attended a conference of gas producing countries, force-landed in Austria on July 2 after France, Spain, Italy and Portugal denied it overflight rights. Morales spent 13 hours at Vienna airport as Austrian officials searched the presidential plane. Spain allowed a refueling halt in the Canary Islands after demanding a note from Bolivia that Snowden was not on board the plane. The diplomatic insult was condemned by all regional leaders, some of whom recalled their ambassadors to the four European countries, while Morales threatened to shut down the US embassy in La Paz. The Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS) followed suit after an emergency meeting at which only the US and Canada expressed reservations. Latin American media quoted extensively from Snowdens July 1 statement where he said: In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be. To add fuel to the fire, Brazils leading media house, O Globo, in conjunction with The Guardians Glenn Greenwald, who broke the original Snowden story, revealed on July 9 that the US National Security Agency had used the programs impugned by Snowden to spy on Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Brazil has commenced a detailed investigation of its companies that may have permitted the US National Security Agency and its contractors to access data out of Brazil. It has asked the US for an official explanation. The Snowden affair has brought into sharp focus the political faultlines in Latin America. The countries committed to left-wing solidarity - Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua - have had no hesitation in condemning the US. The Declaration of the Mercosur Summit in Uruguay on July 13 emphatically denounced the interception of telecommunications and acts of espionage in our countries. Argentinas Foreign Minister Hector Timmerman called for an investigation by Argentina into documents revealing that several high Argentine officials, including its vice president, had been spied upon. The Brazilian establishment has taken a strong political stand, knowing it has the US on the backfoot, but has been careful not to cancel, as yet, President Dilma Rousseffs planned official visit to the US in October. The reaction from close US allies, Mexico and Colombia, has been more subdued.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Letters may be emailed to the editoruconnect@gmail.com ,with full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

SCIENCE AND TECH

near Earth asteroids, including ones potentially hazardous to our planet; demonstrate new technologies; and to send humans farther from home than ever before. I was extremely proud of the teams and the progress they have made so far. I look forward to integrating the inputs as we develop the mission concept further. In addition to the internal reviews of concepts for the mission, managers also discussed the recently received more than 400 responses to a request for information in which industry, universities, and the public offered ideas for NASAs asteroid initiative. The agency is evaluating those responses. With the mission formulation review complete, agency officials now will begin integrating the most highlyrated concepts into an asteroid mission baseline concept to further develop in 2014.

NASA Completes First Internal Review of Concepts for Asteroid Redirect Mission
NASA has completed the first step toward a mission to find and capture a near-Earth asteroid, redirect it to a stable lunar orbit and send humans to study it. In preparation for fiscal year 2014, a mission formulation review on Tuesday brought together NASA leaders from across the country to examine internal studies proposing multiple concepts and alternatives for each phase of the asteroid mission. The review assessed technical and programmatic aspects of the mission. At this meeting, we engaged in the critically important work of examining initial concepts to meet the goal of asteroid retrieval and exploration, said NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot, who chaired the review at the agencys headquarters in Washington. The agencys science, technology and human exploration teams are working together to better understand

Robotic surgery to cure apnea beamed live to doctors worldwide

The asteroid redirect mission is included in President Obamas fiscal year 2014 budget request for NASA, and leverages the agencys progress on its Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and cutting-edge technology development. The mission is one step in NASAs strategy to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. Mumbai Over 2,000 doctors across the world viewed a real-time live robotic surgery performed on two patients at the Asian Heart Institute here Tuesday to cure them of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or stoppage of breathing during sleep The live workshop was conducted to display the latest robotic technique called transoral robotic surgery at the base of the tongue - a complex procedure since it is a very heavy muscle situated deep inside the throat, carried out by well-known ENT surgeon Vikas Agrawal. OSA, which afflicts 13 percent of Indians, is a disorder in which a person stops breathing during the night, perhaps hundreds of times. These gaps in breathing are called apneas. The disorder occurs when tissues in the upper throat collapse at different times during sleep, thereby blocking passage of air, Agrawal said. The first-of-its-kind live session was attended by world-renowned robotic surgeons for OSA, Italian doctors Claudio Vicini and Filippo Montevecchi and AHI vice chairman Ramakanta Panda. Agrawal said that both the patients operated upon Tuesday were nonobese and had attempted the continuous airway pressure therapy, but it did not work on them. Though studies have suggested that obese people are four times more vulnerable to OSA, nowadays, more and more non-obese persons are coming up with severe OSA symptoms, he said. Referring to a 2009 study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Agrawal said that the number of patients suffering from OSA could be strongly underestimated. Of the approximate 13 percent of the population which is suffering from OSA, only four percent approach a doctor, and the incidence is three times higher in men compared to women, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Panda, a renowned heart surgeon, said the live surgery on TORS is a step towards honing the skills and expertise of the medical community who will benefit from this surgical knowledge-sharing. IANS

MEA launches one stop shop information app

New Delhi Indias external affairs ministry launched a smartphone app - MEAIndia - placing all its different wings as well as the 120 missions under one platform, becoming the first government ministry to do so. Its a one stop shop to give you all you need to know, said outgoing Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai after inaugurating the app at an event here. He retires July 31. Mathai said through the app the ministry had tried to adapt and adopt to the needs of communication today. Earlier, ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said deciding to go in for the interactive app was a leap of faith as no other government department has ventured to do it. MEAIndia application will help users find out the nearest Indian mission or post for emergency consular assistance, if required, and also find out how to undertake the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and Haj Pilgrimage, according to a ministry state-

ment. The app will provide all the information required to apply for an Indian passport, locate the nearest Passport Seva Kendra, download the requisite forms, calculate the fees and even track your application status. Online application for passports is also on

the way, says the statement. You plan to travel abroad for work or study and need to legalize your documents? MEAIndia simplifies the steps involved for you and helps you identify the authorized agencies for attestation/apostille of your documents, says the release.

Mobiles beep health messages to women in Indias villages

New Delhi Aapke bacche ka tikakaran ka samay hai (It is time to get your child vaccinated), beeps the voice message. From pregnant women to community health workers in remote districts of Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan, to the tea growing adivasis of Nilgiri hills in south India or in remote forested villages of Chhattisgarh, the click of the mobile, which has now an almost universal reach across this vast country of 1.2 billion people, is proving a useful solution. Harnessing technology to access areas hitherto untouched by the national healthcare system, mobiles are being used increasingly to beep important health messages, like reminders to get the child inoculated and for pregnant women to get their check-ups done in time across India, particularly in states where social indicators are low. These innovative mobile applications run on basic phones and keep beeping the message - either as an animation or an interactive voice response - so long as the phone owner does not switch it off. The Women Mobile Lifeline Channel application, designed by ZMQ Development, is being used by NGOs in villages to empower women. In the Mewat region of Haryana and Doodha in Rajasthan, the mobile applications provide women with information on maternal health, child immunisation, girl child healthcare and adolescent girl healthcare. There is not enough content available for women at the grassroots level. Men just need one calculator, while women need many calculators like menstrual cycle calculator, immunisation calculator and pregnancy calculator. So this application is an integrated solution, Hilmi Qurashi of ZMQ Development, told IANS. The channel also has a pregnancy and immunisation tracker with external voice applications giving reminder of the dates to the women and urging them to take action, added Qurashi. Women can choose either of the three options - voice, pictorial or written messages. The application is free of cost and made available in both English and Hindi. The applications also have some simple games for entertainment as well as a section for inspirational stories to guide women to take decisions in life and make them more independent, said Qurashi. In just 15 months time we have got 35,000 subscriptions, including 11,000 for pregnancy-related alerts and 8,000 for immunisation alerts. So, you can see how well it is being accepted by the people, said Qurashi. An NGO, BBC Media Action, has introduced similar applications in eight districts of Bihar. Their Mobile Kunji and Mobile Academy are being widely used by community health workers in Bihar for women and child healthcare. Since 70 percent of the population has access to mobile phones we thought of utilising the phones to deliver timely and appropriate information, Siddarth Swarup of BBC Media Action told IANS. Under Mobile Kunji, the specific healthcare needs of the woman and girl child is looked after through an interactive voice message. The interactive audio helps in providing credibility to what the health workers are saying. We have tied up with six operators, hence its toll free. We have given 38,512 Mobile Kunjis to health workers, added Swarup. Mobile Academy is a training course application for the health workers, ASHAs and aganwadi workers on safe delivery measures, health and sanitation. Health workers have to pay 50 paise per minute for using Mobile Academy. On comple t i o n of the c o u r s e the health worker is given a certificate from the government, Priyanka Dutt, project director of BBC Media Action, told IANS. There is another application called Project Leapfrog to address the needs of tea growers of the Nilgiri hills in south India. The Adivasi Tea Leaf Marketing (ATLM), a self-help group, buys tea leaves from the adivasi growers and sells it in the market. Project Leapfrog helps make the process of buying and selling tea leaves more transparent. The real time data on the transactions can be easily accessed by the growers on their mobile phone, said Ramshreyas Rao of ACOR who developed the application. ACOR works in tandem with ATLM to provide the data on mobile phones to adivasi growers. These innovative applications were awarded Rs.1 million each at the Vodafone Foundation Mobile for Good Awards.
IANS

POLITICS
Mamata rules out Bengals division, Darjeeling on the boil
New Delhi Political arties united against a Supreme Court order on criminals in politics and wanted the government to address the issue during the monsoon session of parliament. Leaders belonging to the Left parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) expressed concern over the implications of the court order that disqualifies a legislator if convicted in a criminal case and bars him from contesting the polls if under arrest. They said the government should address the issue as misuse of the law could be rampant just before any election. We want a discussion on the apex court order, CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia said after an allparty meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. The BJPs Ravi Shankar Prasad, JD-U president Sharad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad also expressed their concern. They also expressed concern over another Supreme Court order that bars reservations in super-speciality courses in medical colleges. The reservation issue has been settled. Why do the courts have to pass an order on it time and again. They give such orders, so the session may be disrupted, said Sharad Yadav. Leaders expressed serious concerns on the SC orders and erosion of supremacy of parliament, said Kamal Nath.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Parties concerned over SCs criminal candidates order

Kolkata Slamming the Congress on Telangana, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday ruled out division of her state, even as life in the Darjeeling Hills remained paralysed for the third day in response to a shutdown called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanding the creation of Gorkhaland. A day after the Congress Working Committee and the United Progressive Alliance approved the carving out of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, the GJM announced it will call on union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to press for the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland in north Bengal. The GJM wants parts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts of northern West Bengal to be made part of the proposed Gorkhaland. The GJM launched an indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling Hills from Saturday while its chief Bimal Gurung Tuesday resigned as the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) - an autonomous and elected hill development council. But Banerjee said there was no question of dissolving the GTA or dividing the state. There is no question of dissolving the GTA. It was formed through a tripartite agreement. Moreover, the GJM had agreed to it. The elections to the GTA were duly held and its representatives elected and the hill council had started functioning, said Banerjee, adding Darjeeling is part and parcel of Bengal...There is no question of division. Attacking the Congress on the Telangana issue, Banerjee said it smacked off divisive politics. I am not averse to Telangana, it is their prerogative. But what if other

states start making similar demands? Will the Congress allow all these demands and break the country into pieces? It is most unfortunate for the country when those who have responsibility behave irresponsibly, Banerjee said. Why has this decision been taken at a time when the general elections are approaching? The Congress, in its manifesto five years back, had committed Telangana formation, but why has this decision been taken now when the elections are knocking on the doors? Simply because it will add a few more seats? she said. I condemn this attitude and am shocked at the decision. For political purpose and vendetta, our constitutional obligations should not be jeopardised. Banerjee also accused a section of the central leadership of disturbing peace in Darjeeling by promising it a status of union territory. A few central ministers, I am sorry to say, had called a few of the GTA leaders to Delhi...Later, the GTA leaders have reported that a few of the central leaders asked them to start a movement there promising grant of union territory status. A union territory bypassing the state, is it so easy? Is it a lollypop

in a childs hand? I will remind the central government that it has a responsibility to not disturb peace in Darjeeling, said Banerjee. The chief minister said she has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking if it was right or wrong on the part of those central leaders to do so. Countering Banerjee, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told IANS: She (Banerjee) has the right to say whatever she wants, but Gorkhaland was never a part of Bengal. Creation of Gorkhaland will not be by division of Bengal, but only reorganisation of the state. The GJM held an emergency central committee meeting in Darjeeling Wednesday and announced that the rest of its members in the GTA would resign. Soon the other GTA members will resign. We will go to Delhi Friday and meet the home minister and others with our demands, said Giri.
IANS

Besides, other issues raised by opposition leaders were debates on food security ordinance, land acquisition bill, judicial commission, condition of economy, rampant corruption in the mid-day meal scheme and floods in Uttarakhand. Agreeing that judicial commission on appointment of judges was required, Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party would also like to raise the ongoing tussle between the CBI and the IB in the Ishrat Jahan shootout case. Consensus on the food ordinance will be evolved after the debate, said Sharad Yadav. We will support the food ordinance, said Lalu Prasad. The all-party meet, attended by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, was called to discuss smooth functioning of the monsoon session of parliament from August 5. We had a constructive meeting. The parties agreed on smooth running of parliament, said Kamal Nath.

Trinamool sweeps Bengal panchayat polls, mauls LF

Kolkata West Bengals ruling Trinamool Congress romped towards a massive victory in the rural polls, regarded as a curtain raiser to the next general elections and the biggest test of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees popularity since she came to power in 2011. The Trinamool has won or is on the verge of winning majority of the gram panchayats and the panchayat samilties (the lowest and the middle levels, respectively, of the three-tier rural council system) in 12 of the 17 districts of the state. In the panchayat samities, the Trinamools success story was more spectacular, as it was winning over 70 percent of the bodies overall, in contrast to about 60 percent in the gram panchayats. As per latest results, the Trinamool had claimed 163 of the 225 samities, with the opposition Left Front bagging 51. The Congress got only 19. Some of the samities returned hung verdicts. With counting almost over in the gram panchayats and majority of panchayat samities, the Mamata magic seems to be intact in bulk of the districts, notwithstanding the Sarada chit fund case, and other controversies which has dogged her government. The Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front, which had established its dominance in 13 districts in the previous elections held in 2008, suffered huge losses, particularly in south Bengal. But it managed to do better in some of the northern districts, mainly benefiting from a triangular contest with the Trinamool cutting into the traditional bases of the Congress. The LF finished as the single largest combination in the gram panchayats of Jalpaiguri district, and led in the samities. It also came up with a good show in Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur districts, for long strongholds of the Congress. Nadia district was seeing a close fight between the Trinamool and the LF, with the former in the lead in the gram panchayats, and the latter moving ahead in the samities. The Congress, which emerged third, seemed to have spoiled the Trinamools party in the district. The Congress bagged more than half of the gram panchayats in its citadel Murshidabad, but finished second in the panchayat samities. However, in a tough three-way race with the Trinamool and the Left Front, the party slipped in its other strongholds Malda and North Dinajpur where it was running the zilla parishads for the last five years. The Trinamool was far ahead of its rivals in its belt of south Bengal, where it was picking up an overwhelming number of gram panchyats in nine of the ten districts, except Nadia. The Trinamool also maintained its stranglehold over Singur of Hooghly district and East Midnapores Nandigram, two rural areas where sustained and often violent farmers protests led by the party against the then LF governments bid to acquire agricultural land for industries had scripted its resurgence in the state culminating in the assembly polls victory in 2011. The LF, which was hoping for revival of its fortunes in some of the districts, suffered rude jolts in the former red forts of Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum, North 24 Parganas, West Midnapore, Cooch Behar and

Akhilesh defends IAS officials suspension

Lucknow The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday firmed up its stand on the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav saying the administration is within its right to suspend any errant official. Talking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, Yadav said a unilateral decision of the suspended officer could have led to communal trouble and government would in no way tolerate any such action that risks communal harmony in the state. The government is within its right to suspend any errant official and we have done so in accordance to laid down norms, he said. He rubbished charges that Nagpal was suspended under the pressure of the sand mining mafia. There was nothing in the matter that is even distantly related to illegal mining, the chief minister said while pointing out that in the past too, action had been taken by the government against all those involved in illegal mining. Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who took on the sand mining mafia in Greater Noida (Gautam Budh Nagar), was suspended July 28. The UP government has, however, cited a different reason for her suspension. It said she was suspended for ordering demolition of a wall of a religious place in Noida.

On media reports that the district magistrate of Noida, in his report, had told the state government that the suspended official did not order demolition, Akhilesh Yadav said one should look into other reports too. One has to look into the reports in totality. The government has done the right thing after study of various ground reports, he said. The chief minister also vent his anger at the lobbying by the IAS association in favour of the suspended official and reminded how the IAS officials were not even able to speak during the times of his predecessor Mayawati. Everyone knows how officials were gagged during the BSP regime but we believe in openness and democracy, he added.

Hooghly. The massive democratic exercise with 1.69 lakh candidates in the fray - around 90,000 of them women - has 58,865 seats up for grabs. The counting has just started for the zilla parishad seats.In 2008, the LF conquered 13 zilla parishads, followed by Congress and the Trinamool with two each. Happy over the outcome, Banerjee dedicated the win to the people. People in the state have got back democracy through the panchayat polls.I dedicate this victory to the rural population of the state. It is the victory of Maa Maati Manush (Mother, Land and People). On the other hand, LF chairman Biman Bose accused the Trinamool of conspiring with the police and some State Election Commission officials in carrying out rampant irregularities in the vote count. Incidentally, the Trinamool won over 6,000 seats uncontested. At least 24 people were killed during the five phased polls which began July 11, but no untoward incident, according to police, has taken place yet during counting. IANS

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

POLITICS QUOTE FIRE

9
Concerning Durga Shakti Nagpal, IAS

Arun Jaitley , BJP A woman officer was suspended. Everybody is saying she was very honest. The reason was vote bank politics. She had prevented some illegal construction at a place of worship,

Mayawati, BSP Chief Nagpals suspension as an example of mafia raj in the state under SP and sought immediate intervention of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and UP governor. ,

Beni Prasad Verma, Congress leader and Union Minister The suspension was done as per supremos (Mulayam Singh Yadav) order and (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Akhilesh (Yadav) was unaware of the order. He is a good boy. His father should not ruin his career as he is under training period,

Uma Bharati , BJP Ill stand by her and ensure the government is brought to its knees. The entire IAS fraternity should take note of this.

Shivpal Yadav, P.W.D. minister (U.P. Assembly) The fact is that she was suspended for demolishing the wall of a mosque in Kadalpur village in Raubpura area without following legal process,

V Narayanasamy , Minister of State for Personnel We are awaiting a report from Uttar Pradesh government. As per rules, state government needs to send a report (on suspension of an officer) to the Centre which is awaited,

Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh She took steps that had to be punished. The government was correct to remove her,

CAMP UPA

POLITICAL CAMP NEWS

Congress top brass to resolve Chennithala issue
Thiruvananthapuram All issues in the Congress in Kerala will be sorted out by the party high command, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Wednesday over state Congress chief Ramesh Chennithalas possible inclusion in the cabinet. Oommen Chandy returned from Delhi Tuesday, while Chennithala was asked to stay back in Delhi to finalise the issues that have cropped up following the move for his possible inclusion in the cabinet. All issues are now being taken care of by our high command and my job now is to speak with the allies of my coalition government, Chandy told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting in the state capital Wednesday. About the same time, Chennithala after a meeting with Defence Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi told reporters: I was asked to stay back and since Antony was unwell for the past few days I was unable to meet him. Now I met him. All issues are before the high command and at the appropriate time they will make the necessary announcement. Since May this year the relationship between Chandy and Chennithala has turned a bit sour after the state Congress chief aired hopes for joining the cabinet in a suitable slot. Things did not materialise, upsetting Chennithala. There is speculation that Chennithala has been offered the number two position in the cabinet, but neither the Congress leaders nor its allies have been able to confirm it. It remains to be seen whether Chennithala gets the home portfolio or bags the post of deputy chief minister. He wanted both.

CAMP NDA

Bihar BJP spokesperson resigns, may join JD-U

Patna A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) removed Ram Kishore Singh as its Bihar spokesperson, he resigned from the party Wednesday and hinted at joining its former ally, the ruling Janata Dal-United (JDU). Ram Kishore Singh had questioned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modis popularity and his development model Monday. I have resigned from BJP. I have submitted my resignation to state BJP president Mangal Pandey, Ram Kishore, a former legislator, told mediapersons here. He said that he had not said anything wrong or against the party. But my removal has made it clear that questioning Modi is not tolerable in the BJP now, he added. BJP leaders are busy praising Modi by sidelining and ignoring veteran party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. Now, they are claiming that Modi is more popular than Vajpayee. I am pained by it, Ram Kishore Singh said. Pandey Tuesday had removed Ram Kishore Singh following action demanded by some party leaders, including former minister Giriraj Singh, a vocal supporter of Modi. The party has also issued a showcause notice to Ram Kishore Singh in this connection, Pandey said. While negating Modis claim on development, Ram Kishore Singh had praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for inclusive growth of the state. Modis so-called appeal will be exposed in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. It will not be possible for the BJP to reach the magic number of 273 with allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal. If it happens, it will be a miracle, he said. On June 16, the JD-U had severed its alliance with the BJP on the Modi issue.

Kolkata The Congress hit back at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after she slammed had the party over the Telangana issue. Mamata had accused Congress of stoking discord in the Darjeeling hills where the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has intensified its movement for the creation of Gorkhaland, calling an indefinite shutdown from Saturday.

Congress hits back at Mamata over Telangana rant

We dont want to hear lessons on responsibility from an irresponsible chief minister. Why is she blaming the central government? She must not forget there is peace in Darjeeling because of the central governments efforts. The tripartite agreement was a result of the central governments untiring efforts, union Minister of State for Urban Development and Congress leader Deepa Dasmunsi said. Condemning the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for endorsing statehood to Telangana, Banerjee had dubbed the decision as divisive politics and questioned its timing as the next general elections were knocking on the doors. Dasmunsi also rubbished Banerjees claims that the Telangana decision was taken with an eye on the next general elections. State Congress president Pradip

Bhattacharya also criticised Banerjee. Telangana is an old issue and has nothing to do with the upcoming polls. Her attack is not surprising as she has a knack of blaming the Congress and the central government for anything and everything. We never want a division of Bengal and instead of blaming us, she must work to resolve the issue, Bhattacharya said.

TRS suspends MP Vijayashanti

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party in Andhra Pradesh has suspended Member of Parliament M. Vijayashanti for anti-party activities amid reports that she planned to join the Congress. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao announced her suspension late Wednesday night after the politburo took a decision. Vijayashanti was also served a showcause notice, asking her to explain why the party should not expel her for anti-party activities. The politburo cracked the whip as the actress-turned-politician was planning to switch loyalties to the Congress party. The MP from Medak reportedly decided to join the Congress after the latter decided Tuesday to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh. Vijayashanti is said to be camping in Delhi. Sources said she could join the Congress any time now. She had been staying away from TRS activities for the last few months because of differences with KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known. Vijayashanti had been in a sulk ever since she was informed that KCR was keen to contest from Medak in the 2014 elections. The TRS president currently represents Mahabubnagar parliamentary constituency. In the 2009 elections, Vijayashanti had threatened to quit TRS after she was named party candidate from Mahabunagar. KCR, who wanted to contest from Medak, conceded her demand in the last minute. The actress, who earned the nickname Lady Amitabh for her action roles, was reluctant to contest from Mahbubnagar, which is not considered a TRS stronghold. The 49-yearold actress, whose film career spans three decades, had joined the BJP in 1997. Vijayshanti, who was the national general secretary of the BJPs women wing, quit the party in 2005 to float a separate outfit to fight for statehood for Telangana.
IANS

10

NATIONAL NEWS
savvy leader

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Should collegium system for judges Manmohan endorses Chidambaram as politically appointments stay or go?
New Delhi Even as Chief Justice P. Sathasivam stoutly defended the collegium system for appointments of judges in the high courts and the Supreme Court, the legal fraternity is almost unanimous in its view that this 20-yearold system is ineffective and should be replaced by a mechanism that is transparent and criteria-oriented. The collegium system is not rigid and the list (of recommended names) has to cross many stages, before it is finalized, new Chief Justice Sathasivam has said, defending it against the onslaught by legal eagles and the government, which is itching to get back its foothold in the selection of judges. Under the collegium system, the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the apex court decide and recommend to the government the names of the judges to be elevated to the apex court or those to be appointed to the countrys high courts. This system of appointment emerged from the majority judgment in a case in 1993. In how many cases did the government express reservations on the names recommended by the top five judges of the apex court Sathasivam asked while countering criticism that the government was being kept out and had no voice in the selection and appointment of judges under the present system. Defending the system during his address at a function to bid farewell to the retiring chief justice Altamas Kabir, Sathasivam said: There may be one or two shortcomings but the collegium system cant be overruled as the existing system was given by nine judges of the constitution bench. This was an obvious reminder to the government to keep off, as the collegium system could only be overturned by larger eleven-judge bench or by amending the constitution. However, the defence of the collegium system advanced by the chief justice is not shared by legal eagles, who feel it is devoid of criteria and was not transparent, and has created a furious debate in legal circles. Almost all the leading lawyers of the Supreme Court, particularly senior counsel Fali Nariman, Anil Divan, T.R. Andhyarujina, K.K. Venugopal, P.P.Rao and others feel that collegium system has failed, Supreme Court Bar Association president M.N. Krishnamani told IANS. All of them feel that barring one or two appointments, all other appointments done by the collegium system are vitiated either by lack of criteria or lack of transparency and by nepotism and favouratism, he added. To insulate the judicial system from the governments tinkering and manipulations, judges took upon themselves the task of appointing judges but what emerged from the 1993 case was a system which was devoid of criteria and was non-transparent, said Prashant Bhushan, convenor of the Committee for Judicial Accountability and Reforms. There is no criteria in the selection of people sought to be appointed as judges or judges sought to elevated or promoted to next higher position, no short listing of people in consideration zone, no evaluation of records, no comparative assessment of the records of the people sought to be elevated, no process of public consultations and no feedback from outside sources, Bhushan told IANS, picking holes in the collegium system. Krishnamani said most of the senior attorneys feel that all the great judges - including Justice M. Patanjali Sastri, Justice K. Subba Rao, Justice M. Hidayatullah, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Justice Vivian Bose and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer - were appointed under the pre-1993 system when the executive appointed them in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The collegium system, Krishnamani said, has hardly produced any judge of any such outstanding calibre so far. But the extra-curricular task, that of recommending appointments to the highest court, has not been conducted with the care and caution that it deserves. There is too much ad hocism, and no consistent and transparent process of selection. As a result, the image of the court has gravely suffered, eminent jurist Fali Nariman said the chapter A Case I Won - But Which I Would Prefer To Have Lost in his autobiography Before Memory Fades.. It was Narimans arguments that had persuaded the majority in the ninejudge bench to create a collegium system for the appointment of judges and insulate it from the governments reach. Obviously disillusioned by the system that he had ably argued to create, Nariman today wants it to be junked.
IANS

Kids squabble over kite leads to sectarian violence in Allahabad

Lucknow Children of different communities squabbled over a kite-flying incident, sparking violence in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh late Wednesday, as people of the two communities pelted stones and hurled crude bombs at each other, police said. The fracas started in the Rajrupur area of Dhoomanganj in Allahabad, after youngsters from a community had a spat with children of another community over a kite. Enraged elders soon indulged in violence and pelted stones at each other. Over a dozen people sustained injuries. Police soon rushed to the trouble spot and tried to scale the walls of some houses to nab the miscreants. Women folk protested at the intrusion, and the violence escalated. Officials said the situation worsened for a while, but was quickly brought under control. This is the second such incident of violence on the streets in the state in the past few days. In sectarian violence in Old Lucknow Wednesday during the 21st Ramadan procession, about 25 people were injured. Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Law and Order, Arun Kumar told IANS that the situation was under control. Policemen are maintaining a close vigil. Things are under control now and officials have been asked to keep a close watch on the whole situation, Arun Kumar said. Five women and two children were among those injured in the violence sparked by the kite incident, officials said.

Tihar Jail launches charkha unit, radio channel

Batla house convict should have got death sentence

New Delhi The family of slain Delhi Police Inspector M.C. Sharma Tuesday said Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad, responsible for Sharmas death in the 2008 Batla House shootout, should have been given death sentence instead of life imprisonment. I have lost my son. No one can feel that pain. The man who killed my son should be hanged, a dejected Narottam Sharma, father of Mohan Chand Sharma, told IANS. On July 25, the court convicted the 24-year-old Ahmad from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh for killing Sharma.

He was awarded life term Tuesday. The court also imposed a fine of Rs.95,000 on Ahmad of which Rs 40,000 would go to Sharmas family. However, Sharma said that the family didnt need any money from Ahmad. What will we do with that money? he asked. Sharma, who had won seven gallantry medals, including a presidents medal, was gunned down during the Batla House shootout at Jamia Nagar Sep 19, 2008, seven days after serial blasts rocked the national capital. He was survived by his parents, wife and two children.

New Delhi Delhis Tihar Jail Tuesday launched a charkha (spinning wheel) unit and an FM radio channel while a blanket-making unit will be launched Wednesday, a jail officer said. The charkha unit will spread the message of non-violence and communal harmony propounded by Mahatma Gandhi and TJ FM Radio will help provide recreation to the inmates, a jail officer told IANS. Machines and raw materials for the blanket-making unit will be provided by jail authorities. The unit will have a target of manufacturing 10,000 blankets each month. The inmates would be trained as radio jockeys (RJ). Ten Nigerian inmates and other foreign prisoners are actively participating in khadi activities. Both the units were inaugurated at Jail Number 4 by Director General (Prisons) Vimla Mehra. Jail Number 4 has 2,500 prisoners while the blanket-making unit will be inaugurated at Jail Number 8, which has 1,800 prisoners. Tihar Jail houses around 12,000 inIANS mates.

New Delhi In what could be seen as a strong endorsement for P. Chidambaram, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh showered generous praise on his finance minister for being a key backer of reforms and said here was a man intellectually brilliant and politically savvy while being capable of taking risks and asserting political leadership. He is not only intellectually brilliant and dedicated to end results, he is also politically savvy. It is these attributes that have made Shri Chidambaram a leader with an enviable reputation both nationally and internationally, the prime minister said. Manmohan Singhs musings were aired at a well-attended event Wednesday evening at his official 7, Race Course Road residence to release a book. An Agenda for Indias Growth: Essays in Honour of P. Chidambaram, that has articles by several eminent people, including Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The fulsome praise for Chidambaram created quite a buzz as it came against the backdrop of the impending national elections in less than a year, the debate over a third term for Manmohan Singh at the helm and the reluctance of Congress party vice presient Rahul Gandhi to openly join the fray for prime ministership. Manmohan Singh recollected several instances to highlight why his finance minister was entitled to the observations about him right from 1986 when Chidambaram initiated min-career programmes for bureaucrats, kick-starting reforms in the process of governance. He then spoke about Chidambarams stint as minister of state for commerce in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in 1991. The fact that within a few weeks of taking over his first economic ministry, he (Chidambaram) brought about radical changes in trade policy, which many

Over 5,000 cough syrup bottles found near Bangladesh border

academics had advocated for many years, is a tribute to the high qualities of his leadership, the prime minister said. Manmohan Singh even felt that if reforms continued after 1996, when Congress party lost power, it was in many ways thanks to Chidambaram. The policies we had implemented in 1991-96 were not only not reversed, they were in many respects even taken forward. This must have been helped greatly by the fact that Shri Chidambaram, as Union finance minister in the United Front Government, contributed to a continuity of policy. Drawing from his own experience in the government and that of Chidambaram which almost ran parallel for over a quarter of a century, Manmohan Singh underscored what it takes to pursue economic reforms successfully, and how it cannot happen unless there is a fine balance between politics and economics. While doing that, he again praised Chidambaram for statecraft, recollecting the chain of events in 1991. In those days, changes in import policy needed the approval of the commerce minister, the finance minister and the prime minister. It is indeed remarkable that Shri Chidambaram as commerce minister was able to get all the approvals in less than 24 hours. The prime minister also found in Chidambaram what it takes to be a leader, saying young members of his council of ministers constantly look up to him for advice. They seek inspiration from their senior colleagues like Mr. Chidambaram. He has shown that hard work can deliver results. Finally, came the blessings: With these words, I conclude by wishing Shri Chidambaram a long, healthy, purposeful and fulfilling life. He has done the nation proud. He has miles to go before he can rest. May his path be blessed.

New Delhi The Border Security Force has seized 5,290 bottles of a cough syrup, also abused as an intoxicant, valued at over Rs.4.5 lakh from India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal in two different operations, an official release said. It said that troopers of 130 Battalion BSF deployed at the Rajanagar border outpost in Murshidabad district seized 3,780 bottles of Phensedyl Wednesday morning. In another operation Wednesday morning, troopers of the same battalion at the Bamnabad border outpost caught a man carrying 1,510 Bottles of Phensedyl. Phensedyl is misused as a cheap in-

toxicant. The BSF troops also seized arms and ammunition from the Border in Malda district Wednesday afternoon. The release said that troops of 125 Battalion BSF deployed at border outpost Sasani in Malda observed that some miscreants were trying to throw goods over the international boundary fence. On being challenged by the troops, the miscreants fled. During a search, the BSF men recovered two country made pistols, four pistol magazines and 13 rounds of 7.65 mm ammunition from the spot, the release said.
IANS

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

NATIONAL NEWS
Government defends move to amend RTI Act, activists furious
New Delhi The government Friday defended its decision to amend the RTI Act to keep political parties out of its ambit, saying they would not be able to function if the CIC order was implemented. The step however drew criticism from activists, who contended it would result in an erosion of transparency and accountability. Law Minister Kapil Sibal said the government respected the Central Information Commission (CIC), but was concerned by its order. He said that political parties were not companies or trusts, but a voluntary association of persons. The union cabinet Thursday approved two amendments to the RTI Act, one aiming at keeping political parties out of its ambit and the second stating that the CIC order was not binding on any political party. Government sources said the change in the RTI Act would be made in the monsoon session starting Aug 5. The issue has been in the news after the CIC in a June 3 order said that six national political parties would be brought under the RTI Act as they were public authorities, receiving significant funding from the government. Sibal said the CIC order will strike at the root of the political system. People will seek all sorts of details from political parties including their process of consultation and decisionmaking. Nowhere in the world does this happen. The political parties are unanimous against the CIC order. Parties will not be able to function if this is allowed, he added. According to the law minister, two options were available to the government -- filing a writ petition in the

11
10 kg cocaine recovered from cross LOC trade truck
Srinagar Ten kg of cocaine, estimated at Rs.10 crore in the international market, were recovered Friday from a truck that had returned to Baramulla district from Pakistan-administered Kashmir during trade across the line of control (LOC) dividing the state. On a specific input, Baramulla police intercepted a truck bearing registration number JK02F-0127 driven by Abdul Ahad Ganie of Mawar Handwara (Kupwara) this afternoon, police said, adding it had crossed the LoC Thursday with a load of bananas from the fruit mandi in Srinagar. These were to be delivered to Faizan Traders across the LoC. During the search of the truck on its return near Sheeri (Baramulla district), nine packets (approximately 10 kg) of contraband cocaine was recovered from the truck. The consignment of the contraband was concealed in a tyre on the overhead toolbox, police said. Police said that on being questioned, the driver and helper of the truck admitted that they had brought the illegal drugs from across the LoC to be be delivered to some conduit in Srinagar. A case has been registered and investigation taken up.

Over 50 students ill after drinking water in Bihar

Patna More than 50 children, mostly girls, were taken ill Friday after drinking water from a handpump at a school in Bihars Sitamarhi district. They are now out of danger, officials said. The incident took place at the Kasturba Gandhi middle school in Runnisaidpur of Sitamarhi, a district police officer said. It came a day after 30 children fell sick after drinking water from handpumps at two separate schools of Saran and Gopalganj districts. In the Sitamarhi incident, the children complained of pain in the stomach and started vomiting after drinking the water. The sick were first admitted to a primary health centre (PHC) in Runnisaidpur. Over 30 of them, who were critically ill, were shifted to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur district for treatment. All girl students admitted at SKMCH are out of danger and their condition is stable, said Bindeshwari Kumar, a doctor at the hospital who treating the children. After the news spread, hundreds of villagers thronged the PHC where the children had been admitted. Education department officials claimed it appears to be the handiwork of some anti-social elements as the handpump might have been poisoned. Expressing concern over the incidents, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said: I am really worried as after the mid-day meal tragedy, now reports of poison in handpumps at schools are coming in from various places. The chief minister added that state Director General of Police Abhayanand had been directed to initiate a probe into the incidents. As many as 23 children lost their lives July 16 after consuming contaminated mid-day meal at the government primary school in Dharmasati Gandawan village at Mashrakh block of Saran district, 60 km from Patna. The mid-day meal scheme is running in 72,000 schools across the state with 1.60 crore students availing hot, freshly cooked meals.

high court against the CIC order, a time-consuming process; and second, amending the RTI Act, which could be done quickly. The hurry is because the CIC order is operational. We want a quick resolution of this issue, said Sibal. The law minister gave a long list of points to indicate that political parties did not function under a veil of secrecy and were accountable. There seems to be an impression that political parties are not accountable. We get elected by the people. We have to reveal whatever donations we receive to the Election Commission. It is not as if donations to parties are unaccounted for, said Sibal. Donations received by political parties beyond Rs.20,000 have to be declared to the income tax department, the minister pointed out. This can also be made public. It is not as if the political parties operate under a veil of secrecy, he said. We give an account of assets and liabilities to the Election Commission and also give an account of our expenses, there is transparency. Political parties are not companies or trusts. Its a voluntary association of

persons, he said. Sibal said parties already make declarations to the Election Commission. We make declarations to the income tax department, and the IT department can make it public if it so thinks, he said. The minister went on to say that political parties are not appointed. We go to the people through an election process. We get elected, unlike government servants and people in a trust. There is a basic difference, he said. However, activists have slammed the move. The government has used sheer brute power to nullify the CIC order. They have again failed to live up to the transparency and accountability that they promise in every election manifesto, Venkastesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Humans Rights Initiative (CHRI) told IANS. It is a poor decision, taken in bad taste. It is certainly an erosion of democracy. They should have had the basic courtesy to at least hold a dialogue with the public, as it is a decision on the citizens fundamental rights, RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi IANS told.

Woman gang-raped in Karnataka city

Hubli (Karnataka) A middle-aged woman was allegedly gang-raped early Friday by five men who barged into her home, a police official said. We have registered a case under sections 376 and 395 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sexually assaulting and robbing her of gold ornaments, Hubli Police Commissioner B.A. Padmanayana told IANS here. The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad in the northern region of the state are about 400km away from Bangalore. The shocking incident came to light when the victim was taken to the railway hospital in the city by neighbours as she was in a semi-conscious condition with her hands and legs tied up with clothes. We are waiting for her to recover fully to record her statement. Though she is out of danger, she is still in a state of shock as she is traumatised by the horrific incident, Padmanayana said. According to preliminary investigation and on the basis of what the victim told doctors, the assailants, with their faces masked, had barged into her house past midnight and forced to drink some liquid after blind-folding and gagging her. Thereafter, she did not remember anything till she regained consciousness in the day. Doctors found injuries on her body, including on both the thighs. We are investigating the case from all angles though we have not arrested anyone so far. We have detained four suspects for interrogation and hope to crack the case soon from the clues we got during the course of investigation, Padmanayana said.
IANS

Care for others, nature will take care of you

As nature unleashed death and misery in Uttarakhand, scores of youths from across India rushed to the hill state. Some were linked to Art of Living. Their stories are inspiring, heartening. Risking their lives, they crossed mountains, dodged landslides and faced near-death situations to offer respite to the needy. What drove them? Who motivated them? Here are some insightful stories: Shashank Paliwal, an electrical engineer from Dehradun, was frantically hunting for a job when the June disaster happened. He rushed to the hills after seeing the distraught crying on TVs. He reached Guptkashi with a team of volunteers and visited badly hit areas like Toshi and Badasu. There were over 90 casualties in Badasu village while entire families were wiped away in other areas. People were in shock. After hours of counselling, we managed to break the ice and provide them ration, tents and other essentials. Paliwal now wants to postpone his career plans. Jobs will come and go but not always can you get an opportunity to do noble service. For me, it was a spontaneous decision, says Gujan Wadhwa, manager with TCS Faridabad. I learnt that volunteers were required for odd jobs. I knew I had to be there and stepped out of my home, without the slightest hesitation. Wadhwa travelled all alone to Shrinagar (not to be confused with Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley) and dug debris from

Minor raped by her teacher in Delhi

New Delhi A 17-year-old class 11 student was raped by her tuition teacher here Friday morning, said police. The teacher has been arrested. The incident was reported from Mundka area in west Delhi. The girl had gone to attend tuition classes at the house of accused Joginder Sharma, 45, who raped her. On returning home, rhe girl informed her family members who approached police and the accused was arrested after a medical report confirmed rape. The accused used to take tuition classes at a rented accommodation, said a police officer.
IANS

roads. Initially I did worry a little when I travelled through bad roads, in an unknown place that was surrounded by strangers. But slowly everything fell in place... I did not inform my home or office about the problems I faced. When you care for others, nature takes care of you. Most of the young volunteers are reluctant to return home. They want to stay for longer periods and help rehabilitate the ruined state. We intend to stay for three years in these areas, say Sanjay Walia, Vijay Soni and Parmananda Bahuguna in unison. We cannot leave our job half-done. How do these youths go without food, water or bathing for days together? Well, pizzas and pastas are passe now, remarks Maninder Singh. Forget eating or bathing, we want to work in the right spirit. It makes me cry when I see people plucking leaves from the jungle and munching them to satiate their hunger. Maninder Singh, a young engineering student from Punjab, trekked

across the most dangerous jungles of Devalgaon village on mountain terrain. We have been through places where tigers were lurking in the bushes. There were poisonous plants... We managed to bring relief to more than eight families and we are feeling content from within, add Vasu and Harshit. Sushant Singh from Chhattisgarh has been living in the most difficult conditions in Badasu. But it doesnt matter when I see people smiling after attending our camps and doing our stress-elimination programmes. Volunteers Ali, Rahul and Vasu walked 40 km from Rudraprayag to Guptkashi through rain and debris and almost lost their lives! Jitender, Amit, Naresh and others took the arduous climb to Kalimath mountains with backpacks of 35 kg relief material. Says Namita Nainani, a young Art of Living teacher from Delhi: Come what may, we shall walk the extra mile and work towards revivIANS ing Uttarakhand.

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CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

FDI Flood To Alleviate Growth Drought

India eases FDI policy for retail, telecom
New Delhi India Thursday decided to hike the foreign direct investment limits in a host of sectors, notably telecom, oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges and relaxed the policy for retail, giving clear signal to overseas investors that the economic reforms were on track. The decisions were taken by the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The foreign direct investment (FDI) limit for telecom sector has been increased from 74 percent to 100 percent. To lure international retailers like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour into the country, the government relaxed policy related to FDI in multi-brand retail. Talking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the government has decided to relax the policies related to mandatory sourcing, investment in back-end infrastructure and selection of cities. Regarding mandatory sourcing from the small and medium enterprises, Sharma said the $2 million investment ceiling for identification of SME was required for at the time of engagement. As per the earlier norms it was mandatory for the overseas investors to source at least 30 percent of goods from SME, which has investment of less than $2 million. There was ambiguity that what will happen if the investment of SMEs crosses $2 million. Sharma said this investment limit would be application only at the time of engagement. The government last year had opened the gates for multi-brand retail sector to foreign investors by allowing up to 51 percent FDI. However, no foreign investment has taken place in the sector so far. Global retailers like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour have been demanding further clarifications in the policy. The government has also clarified the policy related to need for mandatory 50 percent investment in backend infrastructure. According to the minister, the required 50 percent investment in the back-end infrastructure would of the initial investment. Later on the companies can take investment deci-

sion based on their business requirements. Regarding the selection of cities, Sharma said the state governments would be allowed to chose the cities where no town was eligible as per the original regulation that has the ceiling of 1 million population. Only 53 cities in India have more than 1 million population. In Asset Reconstruction Company, the government proposes to hike FDI limit to 100 percent from 74 percent. For petroleum refineries, up to 49 percent investment will be allowed through automatic route. Earlier

approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was required. Most of these decisions were taken by the inter-ministerial meeting chaired by the Prime Minister July 16. Sharma said the union cabinet and the cabinet committee on economic affairs largely endorsed the decisions taken by the inter-ministerial panel July 16. For telecom industry, the decision to allow 100 percent foreign equity will help a host of domestic promoters, reeling under billions of dollars of debt.

The move will allow the companies like Vodafone Group, Telenor and Sistema to operate in India without having a local partner. The Foreign Direct Investment inflows to India declined to $22.42 billion in 2012-13 from $36.50 billion recorded in the previous year. The decision is expected to revive the FDI, which is crucially important to finance the current account deficit. Current account deficit, the difference between the countrys total imports of goods, services and transfer and their exports, touched a record high 4.8 percent of GDP in the financial year ended March 31, 2013.

Government to further liberalise FDI policy: Chidambaram

New Delhi The government will further liberalise and bring in more clarity to the overseas investment policy to attract foreign funds that will help tackle the current account deficit, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Wednesday. Addressing a press conference on his completing one year as finance minister, Chidambaram said the government is actively considering liberalising FDI policy. Chidambarams comments came less than two weeks after the government liberalised FDI policy for various sectors, including telecom, insurance, defence and retail. The finance minister said the government would soon bring in more clarity to the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations in multi-brand retail which would help attract investments into the sector. The commerce ministry is in the last leg of clarifying the policy, he said, adding the proposal is likely to be placed at Thursdays cabinet meeting. The government last year had opened the gates to foreign investors in multi-brand retail allowing up to 51 percent FDI. However, no foreign investment has taken place in the sector so far. Chidambaram hoped that the overseas investors would enter into the Indian multi-brand retail markets, once the issues were clarified. FDI in multi-brand retail is being held back because there are some pertinent questions. Chidambaram, who took charge of the finance ministry Aug 1, 2012, said the government was also considering a number of steps to help curb current account deficit that surged to a record high of 4.8 percent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP). We are looking at some compression in non-oil and non-gold import to curb demand for non-essential luxury items, he said. The finance minister expressed confidence that government would be able to finance the current account deficit. We have already financed current account deficit by $88 billion (in 2012-13)...We will be able to fully finance current account deficit this

year too, he said. Other measure under consideration to curb current account deficit include liberalisation of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) norms and attracting investments from NRI deposits, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. On sovereign bonds, Chidambaram said: Sovereign bond issue is an option on the table, but I will not rush into any decision. RBI Governor D. Subbarao Tuesday had opposed the idea of issuing sovereign bonds saying it was not good for long-term financial stability of the country as it would make Indian economy more vulnerable to external shocks. On the rupee, Chidambaram said the recent depreciation in the Indian currency was quite unexpected. There is no level for the rupee, what we want is a stable currency, he said. The rupee slipped to 61.18 against a dollar Wednesday, a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left all key policy rates unchanged. The Indian currency is nearing the record low of 61.21 hit earlier this month.

FDI cap on defence production to stay at 26 percent

New Delhi The cabinet Thursday decided that FDI cap in defence production will remain at 26 percent and proposals for higher foreign direct investment will be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on a case to case basis. An official release said that foreign direct investment in defence production above 26 percent will be decided on case to case basis if it ensures access to state-of-art technology. Up to 26 percent, no change i.e., through FIPB (foreign investment promotion board and CCEA (cabinet committee on economic affairs) if FDI exceeds Rs.1,200crore. Above 26 percent to CCS on case to case basis, which ensure access to modern and state-of-art technology in the country, the release said. The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The government had last month cleared FDI in defence production beyond 26 percent on a case-to-case basis after approval of the CCS if the proposal involves state-of-the-art technology.

TRAI seeks broadcasters view on FDI limits

New Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Tuesday sought the broadcasters views on raising foreign direct investment (FDI) limits in various segments of the sector by Aug 12. The authority has, while formulating this consultation paper, taken into account the growing convergence between the broadcasting and telecom sectors, and has been broadly guided by the principles of ensuring

a level playing field between competing technologies and maintaining consistency in policy across sectors, the release said. The consultation paper focused on the revision of FDI limits as well as the approval route for the FDI in the carriage services (Cable TV, DTH, HITS, IPTV, Teleports), content services (uplinking and downlinking of news channels) and the FM radio sector.
IANS

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

13

Mother India Gets Her 29th Child: Telangana

Hyderabad Telangana is all set to become Indias 29th state as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Tuesday urged the government to take constitutional steps in this regard. The new state will comprise of 10 districts including Hyderabad, which will be the common capital for 10 years, during which period the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh will build its own capital. The CWC, the highest decision making body of the Congress, passed a resolution after the United Progressive Alliances co-ordination committee endorsed statehood for Telangana earlier in the day. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said the new state will come into being in four to five months. Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the CWC meeting was presided over by party president Sonia Gandhi and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh among others. Both strongly pitched for Telangana. Manmohan Singh told the meeting that the formation of Telangana was very much required for the development of the entire Andhra region. It is resolved to request the central government to take steps to form a separate state of Telangana, Maken said, reading from the resolution. Digvijaya Singh said the issue would go to the Andhra Pradesh assembly, whose resolution will be sent to the union cabinet, which will appoint a group of ministers to look into issues relating to sharing of water, electricity and safety and security of all three regions of the state. The CWC decision followed protracted discussions in the party following divisions between its leaders in Andhra Pradesh favouring statehood to Telangana and those opposed to it. Celebrations broke out in Telangana after the Congress leaders announced the decision. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) and other groups were jubilant. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who reached the party headquarters Telangana Bhavan to a warm welcome by his supporters, welcomed the move but said he would not celebrate till the bill for Telangana was passed. We need to be cautious till the bill is passed by parliament in view of our past experience, he said. Reacting to Digvijaya Singhs remark that the TRS had promised to merge with Congress if the Telangana demand was met, he said his party would take a decision after the bill was passed. He also demanded clarification of the proposal to make Hyderabad the joint capital. Groups seeking a united Andhra Pradesh expressed unhappiness with the decision and a shutdown has been called in the Seemandhra region (as coastal Andhra and Rayalseema are commonly known) Wednesday. Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, of the Congress, and three legislators - two from t h e Contion Minister Ajit Singh said after the meeting held at the prime ministers official residence. It was attended by leaders of constituent parties like the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, National Conference and Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal. The decision by be formed on linguistic basis. Andhra Pradesh was Indias fifth most populous state, with a population of 84.6 million. Spread over 275,000 square km, it ranked fourth among Indian states in terms of geographical area. Te l a n g a n a will have a population of 35.38 million and an area of 1.14 lakh square km. Telangana, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad, was part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad and has a distinct culture. Its leaders had accused rulers from Andhra for doing injustice to the region in all sectors and going back on the assurances given at the time of the merger. Tuesdays decision brought down the curtains on the controversial and violent movement for separate state. During the Jai Telangana movement in 1969, over 300 people, mostly students, were killed in police firing. With this, the central government has fulfilled its Dec 9, 2009 announcement to initiate the process for forming Telangana state. The statement followed an 11-day hunger strike by TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao and massive protests that engulfed the region.

gress and one from the Telugu Desam Party - resigned in protest. Earlier, the UPA coordination committee endorsed statehood to Telangana. All parties unanimously decided in favour of Telangana, Civil Avia-

CWC f u l filled a five-decade-old demand of the people of Telangana. This will create two states for Telugu-speaking people. The announcement ended a chapter in the history of Andhra Pradesh, which was formed Nov 1, 1956 with the merger of Telangana (then known as Hyderabad State) with Andhra State. Andhra Pradesh will become Indias first non-Hindi linguistic state to be divided. Carved out of Madras State in 1953, it was the first state to

Would Telanganas creation open a Telangana fallout: Groups call Pandoras box for Omar Abdullah? bandhs, blockades in Assam
Srinagar Would the creation of Indias 29th state open the Pandoras box for the countrys only Muslim majority state? Jammu and Kashsmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah believes it would. Reacting to the Congress decision to carve out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, Abdullah said doing so without a States Reorganization Commission would mean creation of a new state in the country by succumbing to agitational pressure. This is definitely going to encourage those seeking statehood for the Jammu region. The demand for such a status has been gaining ground in the Buddhist-majority region for over four decades. It was, in fact, to address the regional aspirations of the people of Ladakh, which comprises the Leh and Kargil districts, that autonomous hill councils were formed there to deal with the growing demand for union territory status. The demand for a separate Jammu state is as old as Kashmirs accession to India in 1947. The last autocratic Dogra maharajas belonged to Jammu. Ever since political power shifted to the Muslimmajority Valley after 1947, voices for a separate Vishal Dogra state started becoming stronger in Jammu. A day after the Telangana decision, Bhim Singh of the Jammu-based National Panthers Party issued a statement seeking statehood for the Jammu region. While many argue that Abdullahs statement was a genuine expression of his concern, some maintain that inadvertently he has echoed aspirations of those demanding statehood for Jammu. There are many constitutional and legal implications that cannot be brushed aside while agitating either for statehood for the Jammu region or union territory status for Ladakh. A debate is also doing the rounds in the state whether the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir would stand the constitutional test because the states accession is determined by article 370 of the statute and one entity cant simply be removed. Its legality apart, the demands for statehood for Jammu or union territory status for the Ladakh region would make the task of the separatist Hurriyat leaders easier. Although the separatists seek the secession of the entire state from India, what they are actually aiming at is the Muslim-majority Valley where they wield political influence. Giving in to the demand of a separate state or union territory status for any region of the state would focus and concentrate the separatist campaign for secession in the Valley, said a senior ruling National Conference leader. Guwahati Following the central governments decision on Telangana, several ethnic organisations and groups in Assam are calling bandhs and blockades to intensify their demands for statehood. While the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) has threatened to launch a mass movement for Bodoland, the All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU) has demanded Kamatapur state for the Koch Rajbongshi community. The executive council of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) - being run by the Bodoland Peoples Front - has decided to adopt a resolution to demand creation of separate state.

Divide Uttar Pradesh into four states, says Mayawati

Lucknow The Bahujan Samaj Party demanded splitting of Uttar Pradesh into four smaller states Wednesday, a day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) urged the government to form a separate state of Telangana. We have always supported smaller states, BSP chief Mayawati said here at a press conference.

Shutdown begins in Seemandhra against Telangana decision

Hyderabad Protests began in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions Wednesday, a day after the United Progressive Alliance Coordination Committee agreed to the division of Andhra Pradesh and the formation of a separate Telangana state. Road transport came to a standstill while shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in the two regions, usually referred to as Seemandhra. The shutdown called by Samaikya Andhra or United Andhra Joint Action Committee has evoked near total response in all major towns. Opposing the division of the state, students and activists of various groups took to the streets. Effigies of Congress president Sonia Gandhi were burnt during the protests. The protestors raised slogans of Jai Samaikya Andhra and squatted on the roads.

Congress defends Telangana decision

New Delh A day after it approved creation of a separate Telangana state, the Congress Wednesday hailed it as a historic decision and defended the move, saying it has been received well in the country. It is a historic decision based on a long-pending demand, Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal told reporters. It has been accepted well in the country and by the political parties by and large. There is enthusiasm in Andhra Pradesh, he said.

Mamata rules out Bengals division, Darjeeling on the boil

Kolkata Slamming the Congress on Telangana, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday ruled out division of her state, even as life in the Darjeeling Hills remained paralysed for the third day in response to a shutdown called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanding the creation of Gorkhaland.

Maharashtra will remain united, asserts Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Thursday ruled out any possibility of separating Mumbai or Vidarbha and asserted the state will remain united. The question does not arise. Maharashtra will remain united. Neither Mumbai nor Vidarbha will be separated from the state, Chavan said while interacting with media persons here. Asked to comment on celebrity author Shobhaa Des tweet raising questions of a separate statehood for Mumbai, Chavan brushed it aside by saying it was frivolous. Chavans statement came two days after the central government decided to carve a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh. Immediately, there was a clamour from various fronts demanding a separate state of Vidarbha, comprising 11 districts of eastern Maharashtra.

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CELEB
fesses that "since cinema is a visual medium, it is required of an actress to explore her sensual side as well and therefore sensuality doesn't rule out the option of garnerportant to do a variety of roles. Had I played another deglamorised role after my debut film, I would have been typecast as someone fit only for such roles. That's why I followed it up with glamorous roles in different genres of films," Isha said. Since her debut, the young actress has starred in back-to-back successful films such as "I Love Me" (Malayalam), "Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde" (Telugu) and "Thillu Mullu 2" (Tamil). Isha, however, doesn't like to be called a successful actress yet. "I'm a beginner. I have a long way to go to be called successful. People are referring to me as lucky charm and I'm quite happy about it. I think I have to do a whole lot of films before I can claim to be a successful actress in the industry," she said. Does this mean she believes in quantity over quality? "Not number of films necessarily...because sometimes even a few films with star actors can make someone successful. It depends on which film and the role one gets to essay in it. I think I have done only a few films to demonstrate my skill," she added, giving credit to her critics. "I treat critics and audiences on par, but eventually it's the audiences who make or break an actor. Audiences pay money to watch our films and therefore they ought to be respected."

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Khloe, Lamar saves marriage with vacation

Chennai Actress Isha Talwar, known for her versatility in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, believes glamour is defined by one's personality and not necessarily by the clothes one wears. She says someone can appear glamorous even when covered from head to toe. "I believe glamour is all about one's personality. One can be glamorous even when covered from top to bottom and not appear glamorous even in short clothes. It's like beauty and each one of us perceives it differently," Isha told. "Sometimes even when you're covered from head to toe, one can present oneself with sensual undertones to appear glamorous. Even body language makes up for being glamorous in some cases," she added. Isha, who made her cinematic debut in a deglamorised role in Malayalam romantic-drama "Thattathin Marayathu", which was a box-office winner, says an actressneed not always trade sensuality to be successful in the industry. "It's a preconceived notion that one has to be sensual to succeed in the industry. I played a Muslim girl covered from head to toe in my debut film. It was a role sans glamour, but the film was successful. Some films demand one to be glamorous and some may not," she said.She, of course, con-

Glamour has nothing to do with clothes: Isha Talwar

No, we dont walk around nude: Jennifer Aniston

Los Angeles Actress Jennifer Aniston, who wants to have a bachelorette party before she gets married to fiance Justin Theroux, denies reports of turning nudist. Talking on a chat show, Aniston said: I would just like to do a little trip to Cabo, or something fun. There were rumours that Aniston and Theroux had turned nudist, but the actress cleared the air, reports eonline. com. No, we dont walk around nude, darlin. I mean, we do when its appropriate. Its absolute Bullshit, she said. The couple has been unable to finalise a wedding date yet, but it is expected to take place later this year.

i n g attention and a little bit of success". Born and raised in Mumbai and a graduate in Economics from St. Xavier's College, Isha is the daughter of Bollywood filmmaker Vinod Talwar. She is trained in different dance forms such as salsa and ballet, and she featured in several commercials before making it to the film world. In filmdom, Isha believes it's important not to get typecast. "It's very im-

Rhea not getting married soon: Sonam

Sushant launches song Gulabi, introduces Vani Kapoor

Los Angeles Television personality Khloe Kardashian and husband Lamar Odom reportedly went on a vacation to bring their troubled married life back on track. Trouble ensued in their paradise when a woman named Jennifer Richardson allegedly claimed a year-long affair with Lamar. But all was well Khloe and Lamar went for the holiday to a secret destination last month. The special time spent is said to have worked in the couples favour. They were barely speaking, but when they came back there were lots of kisses and tears, US Weekly magazine quoted a source as saying. It was a really good time for them to spend time together and focus on each other. Theyre focused on the marriage, theyre committed to the relationship (and) they adore each other, the source added. Meanwhile, Khloes elder sister socialite Kim Kardashian is preparing to make an official appearance on mother Kris Jenners chat show, for the first time after giving birth to daughter North West in July.

Mumbai Indo-Canadian adult film actress Sunny Leone, who was seen in a dare-bare role in Bollywood film Jism 2, has shot a bold scene with actor Sachin Joshi for new film Jackpot They are in Goa to shoot the film, and Sachin guarantees that the bold scene has been well-shot. We shot for a bold sequence, and now I would like to leave it to the audience. I am not allowed to talk much about that scene. I can assure you it is shot aesthetically and it doesnt look vulgar, Sachin told. The film is directed by Kaizad Gustad, who made the 1998 film Bombay Boys, followed by Boom in 2003. Talking about Sunny, Gustad said: Sunny will be seen in a very edgy and sharp character. She is playing a sophisticated woman. Yes, there is a bold scene in the film between Sunny and Sachin.

Sunny Leone goes bold with Sachin Joshi in Jackpot

Salman Khan to endorse Middle East fashion retailer

New Delhi Hindi movie star Salman Khan has been announced as the face of UAE based high-street retailer Splash.The AW13 campaign featuring Salman will be shot in London and will be launched later this month. Splash is an amazing high street retailer with a very vast reach in the region, the Ek Tha Tiger star said in a statement.In the past, Splash helped Salman launch the fashion brand of Salmans Being Human NGO. Our relationship with Salman dates to when we launched Being Human as part of our brand portfolio, which now gets stronger. Salman is a brand and his appeal spans through

generations, classes and nationalities, particularly with the Arabs in the region, where every personality of his is loved and revered by his fans, Splash CEO Raza Beig said.

Mumbai Sonam Kapoor has dismissed reports claiming that her younger sister Rhea is set to tie the knot with her boyfriend Karan Boolani next month saying people got confused between making a movie and getting married. Fortunately for me, my sister is not getting married as I like her in the house. I dont think she needs to get married for another five-six years at least. She is younger than me, Sonam said here. Reportedly, Rhea and Karan have been dating for a while now. Karan assisted Rhea in her debut production venture Aisha in 2010 and since then they have been spotted together on many occasions. My sister is a baby, she is not getting married. Its like someone is just making stuff. In one month she is starting another film though and Karan is actually directing that film, Sonam said. I think they got confused a little bit between making a movie and getting married. She is not getting married, no. She is a child, she added.

Mumbai Actor Sushant Singh Rajput Thursday launched the song Gulabi from his forthcoming romantic comedy Shuddh Desi Romance and introduced his co-star and newcomer Vaani Kapoor to the media. Composed by Sachin-Jigar, the songs lyrics are by Jaideep Sahni and it has been sung by Jigar Saraiya and Priya Saraiya. Brinda has choreographed it. One film old, Sushant, who made a successful transition from TV to movies with Kai Po Che!, said the film focuses on conflicts between love and commitment. The films story is about three youngsters, who listen to their hearts. They have their own ideas and beliefs about love, Shushant told reporters at the launch here. Sometimes we

want everything in life but it is only when we get it, we realise it is not how they seemed to be, he added while talking about the essence of the movie. Directed by Band Baaja Baaraat fame director Maneesh Sharma and written by Jaideep, it also stars Rishi Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and Vaani. Vaani, who is making her debut with the film, said she had to struggle a lot to join the cast. I got the film after a lot of struggle. I had to really convince Maneesh that I was right choice for the role, she said. A big fan of romantic comedies, she added: The film has a new story. It is a very freshly packaged film and has a very different kind of romance. Shuddh Desi Romance is all set to release Sep 6.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Shuddhi to present Hrithik Kareena in Angelina Jolie is never seen before avatar Hollywoods best-paid
Mumbai Karan Malhotra has finally pulled off a dream cast for his next directorial venture Shuddhi. Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor team up again after a long hiatus. The director says a cliche it may sound, but the two will be seen in a completely new avatar in the movie. Yes, finally we have confirmed Kareena for the role. I feel she is a stunning looking girl and she suites the character best. I am sure she will do justice to the film, said Malhotra. I am not allowed to talk much about my film, but all I can assure you is Kareena and Hrithik will be seen in a never before role in Shuddhi. I know its the most cliche line ever, but I can assure you on that, added the director who made Agneepath remake with Hrithik. Was it a conscious effort to reunite Hrithik-Kareena on screen almost after 10 years? No, it was not a conscious decision, it was just a coincidence. They both look

CELEB

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actress: Forbes
New York Although it has been three years since her last film, Angelina Jolie is the best-paid actress in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine. Jolie pocketed $33 million in the 12 months ending June 30 thanks to the start of filming of Maleficent, in which she will play the evil witch of the Sleeping Beauty tale and which will be her return to the world of Hollywood blockbusters. After having stayed out of the cameras eye since she starred in The Tourist along with Johnny Depp in 2010, Jolie a year later directed her first film, In The Land of Blood and Honey, and in May she announced that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy. Her revelation sparked plenty of debate and showed again why Jolie is one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, Forbes said. In second place on the Forbes list, earning $26 million, is Jennifer Lawrence, who at the last edition of the Oscars won the Best Actress award for her role in Silver Linings Playbook and starred in one of the biggest box office hits of 2012, The Hunger Games. As Katniss, Lawrence has shown that action heroes dont always have to be played by men for a film to turn a profit, said the magazine, which noted that the 22-year-old received less than $1 million for her performance in The Hunger Games. The No. 3 spot is held by last years leader, Kristen Stewart, who earned $22 million over the past 12 months for her roles in the Twilight saga and in Snow White and the Huntsman. In fourth place with $20 million in earnings

SRK, Deepika relive Om Shanti Om moment

lovely together, the script demanded them and I am lucky to have them on board, he said. Kareena-Hrithik last outing together was 2003 release Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon. They were also seen together in Mujhse Dosti Karoge! and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and

Yaadein. Talking about Kareena, Malhotra said: Kareena is a thorough professional and she took it as any other job. I dont think there are any differences. Shuddhi, which will be produced by Karan Johar, will go on floors by early next year.

New Delhi Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone relived a scene from their 2007 film Om Shanti Om on the sets of a TV reality show. The duo was promoting their forthcoming release Chennai Express on Indian Idol Junior when young contestant Anmol Jaswal sang the melodious Aankhon mein teri from Om Shanti Om. Anmols performance moved King Khan enough to make him come on stage and perform with the budding singer. As the mood built up, Deepika too joined SRK on stage and they ended up enacting the song, with Anmol singing the number live! SRK and Deepika were joined on the sets by their Chennai Express director Rohit Shetty. The movie releases Aug 9.

last year is Jennifer Aniston, while Emma Stone is in fifth place with $16 million. The Top 10 are rounded out by Charlize Theron, Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Julia Roberts.

JOBS script as engaging as Harry Potter books: Josh Gad

Abhinav Kashyap on Besharam casting coup

Mumbai Real life couple and actors Neetu and Rishi Kapoor will be seen as police officers in Besharam, which has their son Ranbir playing the lead role. Director Abhinav Singh Kashyap says the casting was to raise viewers curiosity and that he has succeeded in his endeavour. Very rarely has Rishi donned the khaki uniform on the screen and Aurganzeb and Besharam are one of those few films. Apparently, when Kashyap had finalised Rishi for Besharam, till that time Aurganzeb hadnt happen. I was on the lookout for an elderly famous actor to play the role of a cop. While I was interacting with Ranbir, I realised Rishi Kapoor had not played a cop in his 40-year career, Abhinav told reporters Tuesday at the first look launch of the film. As another afterthought I thought why not have Neetu Singh play another pivotal role, which was already there in the script because then it will arouse peoples curiosity, he said when asked how he managed to the entire Kapoor clan in the film? The trio are working together for the first time in Besharam. The very fact that you are asking me this question, shows that yes, by design I tried to get all three of them

New Delhi Actor Josh Gad, who essays the role of Apple co-founder Steve Woz Wozniak in JOBS, feels the movies script is as engaging as bestselling book series Harry Potter. JOBS is a forthcoming biopic on late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. He died of pancreatic cancer in October 2011. He was 56. When I got the script, I found myself just turning through the pages like it was a Harry Potter book. I couldnt get enough of it, Gad said in a statement issued by PVR Pictures, which is releasing the film in India on

Aug 16. Talking about what he read of the late tech mastermind in the script, Gad said: It was a side of Steve Jobs that I knew nothing about. My idea of Jobs was very much the media darling he became in the 1990s and later in the 2000s up until his untimely death. I was reading it going, Oh my God, this is incredible! How come I never knew about any of this? Gad was more than willing to be a part of JOBS. I immediately called up my agent and said, I have to be a part of this.

together and I am glad they agreed, he added. If you loved Ranbir as this fun-loving guy who believes in chasing his dreams in Yeh Jawaani

Hai Deewani, his character in Besharam is complete opposite - he is naughty, shameless and justifies the title of the film, coming out Oct 2.

16
Scientists are just getting to know the black holes that help anchor our cosmos The first rule for anyone dealing with a black hole is, of course, dont get too close. But say you do. Then youre in for quite a trip a oneway trip because there is no coming back once you fall into a black hole. A black hole isnt actually a hole. If anything, its the opposite. A black hole is a place in space containing a lot of stuff packed very closely together. It has accumulated so much mass and therefore gravity that nothing can escape it, not even light. And if light cannot escape a black hole, then neither can you. As you approach a black hole, its gravitational pull gets stronger. Thats true of anything with gravity, including the Earth and sun. Before long, you pass a point called the event horizon. Every black hole has one. Thats true whether the black hole has the mass of a single star or as much as the collective mass of millions (and sometimes billions) of stars. An event horizon surrounds each black hole like an imaginary sphere. It acts like a boundary of no return. What happens next isnt pretty but if you go in feet-first, you might be able to watch. Since your feet are closer to the black holes center, its gravity pulls stronger on your lower body than on your upper body. Look down: You will see your feet being drawn away from the rest of your body. As a result, your body gets stretched, like chewing gum. Astronomers refer to this as spaghettification. Eventually, your whole body gets stretched into one long human noodle. Then things really start to get interesting. For instance, at the center of the black hole, everything including your shredded self collapses to a single point. Congratulations: Once there, you really have arrived! You also are on your own. Scientists have no idea what to expect once you get there. Luckily, you dont have to fall into a black hole to learn about this cosmic phenomenon. Decades of study from a safe distance have taught scientists quite a lot. Those observations, including startling discoveries made in recent months, continue to add to our understanding of how black holes help shape the universe. How to build a black hole:

Black hole mysteries

KIDS
Activity Card Roll Owl

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Here we are giving your child an opportunity to enjoy our funny tongue twisters for kids and have fun trying to say some of the most difficult sentences . To get the full effect of a tongue twister you should try to repeat it several times, as quickly as possible, without stumbling. Sarah saw a shot-silk sash shop full of shot-silk sashes as the sunshine shone on the side of the shot-silk sash shop. You will need an empty toilet roll or roll of card, some colored paper in a variety of colours, a small piece of black card and a small piece of white paper. The gravitational pull of an object depends on how much stuff it contains. And just as with stars and planets, more stuff or mass comes with a greater force of attraction. Black holes arent just massive. Theyre dense, too. Density is a measure of how tightly mass is packed into a space. To understand how dense a black hole can be, imagine you could pack your own. Start with a thimble. Fill it with all of your books (you would need to really stuff them in). Add your clothes and any furniture in your room. Next, add everything else in your house. Then throw in your house too. Make sure to squeeze it all down to fit. Dont stop there: A black hole with a thimble-sized event horizon contains as much mass as the entire Earth. Stuffing your thimble increases its density, its mass and its gravitational attraction. The same is true with black holes. They pack a huge amount of mass into an incredibly small space. Imagine a black hole the size of New York City. It would have as much mass and gravity as the sun. That means this New York-sized black hole would be able to hold all eight planets (and every other object in our solar system), just as the sun does. What the black hole wouldnt be able to do is gobble up the planets. That sort of idea gives black holes a bad rap, says Ryan Chornock. He is an astronomer at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. One popular misconception you see in science fiction is that black holes are kind of cosmic vacuum cleaners, sucking in things that pass by, Chornock says. In reality, black holes just sit there unless something extraordinary happens. Sometimes, a star will get too close. In May 2010, a telescope in Hawaii picked up a bright flare from a distant galaxy. That blaze peaked a few months later, in July, and then faded away. A team of astronomers, including Chornock, identified this glow as the last blast from a dying star being ripped apart by a black hole. As the remnants of the star fell toward the black hole, they became so heated that they glowed. So even black holes can create brilliant light shows by eating stars. When a star gets pulled in, it gets shredded, Chornock says. It doesnt happen very often. But when it does, its hot. Cover the toilet roll with a piece of colored paper. To make great owl ears, cut a half moon shape from the front and back of the top of the toilet roll so they meet at a peak at each side. Cut strips from colored paper long enough to circle the toilet roll. Make lots of cuts along the strips making sure you dont cut right through. These will be the feathers of the owl. Carefully run the feathers along the edge of a pair of scissors to make them curl. Be gentle as it is easy to pull them off. Glue each feather strip around the toilet roll leaving a gap in the front with the two top strips. For the tummy cut out an oval from colored paper and draw small v shapes for feathers. Wait till you have made the eyes before gluing in place so you can work out the best place to put the tummy. Use the black card to cut out a pair of eyes. Using this as a template cut out another pair of eyes using the white paper and then cut them a little smaller. Draw in some pupils. Cut out a small triangle from orange and glue to the back of the eyes to form the beak. Betty and Bob brought back blue balloons from the big bazaar . Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt which felt as fine as that felt felt, when first I felt that felt hats felt . In Trouble to be trouble is to have R Your trouble double , Never trouble trouble , till trouble troubles You.

Put your puzzle solving skills to the test with our emotions word scramble. Look carefully at the jumbled words and try unscrambling as many words related to Animals hmnucpki ndeerrie arlogli rnoiesrhco ynxl erazb

Where are the bubbles coming from??

Color Me.....

TRAUMA

MEANING: serious injury or shock, emotional or physical. EXAMPLE : The trauma to the head that I sustained during the accident has left me impaired of hearing in one ear. VAGUE

MEANING: not precisely or clearly expressed or stated. EXAMPLE: The map they were given for the campus was extremely vague. Before we go further first, lets make clear that in the process of boiling a kettle of water you will actually observe two types of bubbles. 1. As the water starts to get hot, a lot of bubbles will form down the walls of your water container. These bubbles are AIR. Normally water has a lot of air dissolved on it. This is what allows breathing to fishes and other aquatic beings. The solubility of gases decreases when the temperature is raised, and that why the dissolved air bubbles out from the water. 2. When the boiling point of water is reached to100 degrees Celsius, water vapour starts to form inside the liquid in form of bubbles. Remember that at boiling point, water and its vapour are at equilibrium, that means that every molecule in the system has almost the same willingness to be in the vapour phase as in the liquid phase, so they very readily form bubbles inside the liquid. ZEAL

MEANING: interest in the pursuit or achievement of a goal. EXAMPLE: She is pursuing her dreams with great zeal and passion.
CHIPMUNK , REINDEER , GORILLA, RHINOCEROS , LYNX , ZEBRA

Answers to Word Scramble :

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

LEISURE
E K L Y H O R O S C O P E
Theres an old Latin saying In Vino Veritas. Roughly translated, it means; after a drink or two, folk are much more TAURUS likely to be honest. Apr 20 - May 20 Under the influence of alcohol or indeed, of any other strong intoxicant (such as inspiration or flattery), we say more about what we think and more too, about our deepest feelings. Sometimes, in our desire to take good care of the people we love and the things we care about, we can become SCORPIO unadvisedly over proOct 23 - Nov 21 tective. We try too hard, we give more than we should and, in the process, we not only stretch ourselves too far, we prevent an essential development from taking place as it should. Mercury arrives, this week, in the part of your chart that governs social interaction. Some astrologers call it GEMINI the house of friends May 21 - Jun 20 and acquaintances but there are deeper meanings to this area of the sky. You may create some drama but in the process youll help many of those around you. What goes up... must come down. Theres no denying the law of gravity but it doesnt automatically follow SAGITTARIUS that a descent will imNov 22 - Dec 21 mediately follow an elevation. Things can sometimes float, glide or hover in the air for long period before they return to earth. Nor does the eventual landing have to be unhappy. That was then, this is now. Make that your motto and repeat it this week each time you feel tempted to return CANCER to some old - and now Jun 21 - Jul 22 redundant - way of being. Cancerians do tend to be creatures of habit. They adhere to the famous old showbiz saying Once you find a successful formula; stick to it. You are emerging now, from an intense process of reflection and evaluation. You should be starting to feel older, wiser CAPRICORN and more adult. Dec 22 - Jan 19 It is possible that you may also feel slightly ashamed of a recent outburst or that you regret a development that took place some while back. You will soon though, understand how necessary this was. We all enjoy a certain amount of fantasy. Sometimes though, we have to wise up and wake up. Our cosy dreams can turn into nightJul 23 - Aug. 22 mares when we start taking them without a pinch of salt. The sky is now obliging you to face an awkward fact. Dont resent this. Youre far better off with the true picture.

17
Not all your friends are true friends but those who are, are special indeed. Much the same can now be said of your opportunities. Some VIRGO should not be taken too Aug. 23 - Sep 22 seriously but in your heart, you know which ones are vital and valid. Mercurys change of sign this week is your invitation to apply some discrimination to your situation. Mars and the Sun both align to your ruler this week. Though you may now face pressure you will find that PISCES these two cosmic inFeb 19 - Mar 20 fluences soon wipe away yesterdays tears and leave you wondering what ever made you sad in the first place. You are having - or soon will have, a profound realisation.

Physical energy is important. To ensure a good supply of this, we try to eat, sleep and exercise carefully. Mental energy matters ARIES far more - yet few of Mar 21-Apr 19 us show it the same respect. Imagine trying to push over a solid brick wall or running endlessly round in circles. You wouldnt want to do either for long. How do you feel about the future? Are you looking forward to it with interest and excitement or nerLIBRA vously steeling yourSep 23 - Oct 22 self for insecurity and trouble? The Full Moon in Libra plus Mercurys arrival in your opposite sign suggests the latter. Even if youre normally full of hope, youre seeing a reason to worry.

LEO

You cant deny what you know. You cant pretend you dont know it, either to protect yourself from the pain of a harsh truth or to help AQUARIUS keep someone else in Jan 20 - Feb. 18 a state of blissful ignorance. You dont though, have to see this need for realism as a threat or a punishment. An exciting new course of action is open to you. Take this up enthusiastically and all will be fine.

1. Rushed 4. Use jointz 9. Ravens call 12. _____ wing and a Prayer (2 wrds) 13. Less wild 14. Dined 15. Unrest 17. Perched 18. Worship 19. Gluttons 21. Ice Pellets 22. Adolexent 25. Skin over 27. Declare openly 28. Ended 32. Tavern order 33. Walk 34. Eat 35. Repairs lawns 37. Without expression 39. Homes for birds 44. Lament 45. Actor ______ De Niro 46. Fawns mom 48. Arctic animal (2 wrds) 50. Under the weather 51. Turn aside 52. Mamma_____! 53. French preposition 54. Wise people 55. Foxy

ACROSS

1 12 15 18 21

3 16

4 13

9 14 17

10 11

19 22 25 26

20 23 24 27 33 36 39 40 41 42 43

28 29 30 31 34 37 44 46 47 50 53 48 51 54 38

32 35 45 49

52 55

DOWN 1. Bellows 2. Halo wearer 3. Innocent 4. Begins 5. Detest 6. Pierres friend 7. Unlocked again 8. ______ Bank of Baseball 9. Tapioca source 10. _____ Standstill (2 wrds) 11. Moist 16. Ess follower 20. Chew on 22. Valtures claw 23. In _____ We Trust 24. She-Sheep 26. Famous reducer 28. Not even 29. Compete 30. Glossy paints 31. Decorate anew 36. Nasal sounds 38. Daddies 40. Recede 41. Gives the impression 42. Hiking path 43. Wander off 45. Burger order 46. Performed 47. Bullfight cry 49. Limb

Crossword Solution 28 July, 2013

1 E 12 S 15 S 2 E K E 3 L I C 18 O R I C E 4 T 13 H 16 R 19 L I S T S 37 T 39 N 44 A 50 P 53 S 40 O R A L 41 O G R E 42 S E E D E N D S 38 E S T 45 I 51 R 54 A 56 N U T E A T 23 T O 31 W 24 I N A 35 N E 32 D A N 36 M A 43 D A M E 5 R U E 6 Y E P 17 O 20 N O 7 L 14 O R E N 26 D 33 I E G O 27 E S T E E 47 M 52 E 55 D 28 S E A R 29 K E G S 8 A N T E 9 N E E D 10 C A R L 11 E L S E

21 V 25 A 30 S 34 E

22 A N E W

48 A N Y

49 D E E

Green boon: Fast-growing trees aid paper making, help save forests
They look like normal eucalyptus trees up to 65 feet tall with a trunk girth of about 19 cm and towering over their peers in an evaluation trial on the foothills of Himalayas here. They are hybrids, progenies of two high-growth species of eucalyptus parent trees. The progenies - just about six-yearsold - have shown a growth pattern which is substantially higher over a commercially available clone variety of their age and with approximate height of 25 feet and girth of 6 cm. Welcome to the world of tree breeding at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), in the Himalayan foothills, where Indian scientists are working to develop fast-growing, taller and thicker eucalyptus trees so that their plantations can satiate the paper industrys demand and, in effect, help

produced will have identical features and growth patterns and could be distributed among farmers and growers who undertake captive plantation for the paper industry. Ashok Kumar, head of the FRIs Division of Genetics and Tree Propagation, said: Cloning continues parallel with tree breeding, adopting conventional and tissue culture techniques (in a sophisticated lab).

Sudoku Solution 28 July, 2013

Sudoku 04 August, 2013

reduce the load on other species of the natural forests for the purpose. The fast-growing progenies are the centre of attraction at New Forest in the FRI campus and hold promise of developing future eucalyptus varieties to feed pulp or biomass to the paper industry and other wood-based industries. In eucalyptus tree breeding, scientists are developing hybrids with controlled hybridisation among desired genotypes of different eucalyptus species, said FRI Director P.P. Bhojvaid. A hybrid that grows taller and faster with greater volume is cloned and multiplied. In this way, the plants

He said the FRI recently released a clone of eucalyptus propagated through tissue culture - FRI-EH-001 - after establishing its higher growth and biomass production in different locations such as Haldwani in Uttarakhand, Hoshiarpur in Punjab and Hissar in Haryana, which report different geographical conditions like land, rainfall and temperature. Normally, a good quality eucalyptus tree is considered to be one which grows tall and its trunk fast becomes thick. The FRI, an institute of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education under the ministry of environment and forests, has, over the

years improved the quality of eucalyptus to such an extent that a biomass of up to 40 cubic metres per hectare per year could be possible in experimental conditions. A related research paper titled Sustained hybrid vigour in F1 hybrids of E. torelliana x E. citriodora was published during 2010 in World Applied Sciences Journal. In India, the eucalyptus yield has still been way behind that of Brazil, which had achieved up to 80 cubic metres per hectare per year during 2011, said scientist Parveen, who uses only one name. In general plantations in India, a yield of up to a maximum of 5-6 cubic metres per hectare per year has only been realised from improved seed sources, which has been improved to 16 cubic metres per hectare per year with clonal stocks, she added. In a way, the hybrids that have been screened after years of efforts of the scientists of FRI, compete extremely well with commercially available clones, she said. Rahul Chhabra

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INTERNATIONAL
Washington As a new US defence department report suggested that the zero option in Afghanistan - a complete pullout of US troops - is unrealistic, a Pentagon official said India and Pakistan would play significant roles there in future. I think both Pakistan and India will play and ought to play very important, significant roles going forward in Afghanistan, Peter Lavoy, the Pentagons top policy official on Afghanistan told reporters Tuesday in response to a question. Those countries and other immediate and nearby neighbours of Afghanistan are affected by the security conditions in Afghanistan, he said briefing reporters on Pentagons twice-a-year report to Congress on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan. Borders, as you know, are very porous in this part of the world. Theyre affected by it, and they in turn affect security and political developments inside Afghanistan, said Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defence for Asia Pacific security affairs. The report addresses the effect US and NATO troops pulling back from patrolling and giving most of that responsibility to Afghan forces has had. Lavoy said there will need to be some level of US involvement in the country even after the 2014 withdrawal and the Pentagon has developed a number of plans for that based on the current situation on the ground. He did not give a recommendation for a specific number troops or funding amount that will be needed, but did call the zero option, where the United States would pull out completely, unrealistic. In none of these cases have we developed an option that is zero, Lavoy said.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

UN chief urges regional, global support for Africas great lakes peace accord
Only a credible political process will end the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and address the root causes of cyclical violence in the wider Great Lakes, SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon said today in a message to a high-level international summit on the situation in this striferidden region of Africa. In a message delivered by Mary Robinson, his Special Envoy to the region, Mr. Ban said the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region (ICGLR), presents a significant opportunity to build on momentum generated by a six-month-old peace agreement which has been dubbed the framework of hope. The two-day summit, taking place at UN headquarters in Nairobi, is expected to be attended by the 11 African countries that signed on to the accord, formally known as the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region. I reiterate my call for all the signatories to the Framework to jointly and individually respect their commitments, including neither tolerating nor providing assistance nor support to armed groups, said the UN chief in his message. He also called on the international community to assist the signatories to work constructively to uphold their commitments and to contribute to peacebuilding programmes that could lead to stability and development for all the people of the Great Lakes region. Yet Mr. Ban also cited challenges, expressing serious concern about continuing reports of killings, forced recruitment and illegal detention of civilians, including children, by the

India, Pakistan will play significant roles in Afghanistan

Turning to the likely roles of India and Pakistan in a post-2014 scenario, he said: This is a very interdependent region, if you will, from that point of view. And what you have today is a growing sense.. of insecurity throughout the region, in central Asia, even north of there, Russia and other places in China, but most acutely in Pakistan and India. Theres a fear in India that there will be what is called as a surplus terrorism. After there is some stability in Afghanistan, where will these terrorists go? Will they target India? Lavoy acknowledged. But suggesting that They have the exact same fears in Pakistan, he said: Theyre concerned that if there is further instability in Afghanistan, this could heighten the insurgency, be motivational or provide some safe haven for insurgents to come over into Pakistan. So everyone in the region has these concerns, Lavoy said suggesting a harmonising of the policies of the countries in the region to try to achieve a common end purpose, a common situation of peace and stability in Afghanistan and, more broadly, throughout the region. It was very, very regrettable that there has been violence along the line of control in Kashmir for many years, for many decades now, he said. But since the election of a new government in Pakistan headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, there have been overtures made by the Pakistanis to the Indians and vice versa to try to normalise the situation economically and reach some kind of political understanding, Lavoy noted. And I know we in the US government fully support those efforts, he added. IANS

March 23Movement and other armed groups. He added that these activities constitute serious human rights violations and must stop immediately. Any acts that undermine or target the efforts of the United Nations on the ground to protect civilians and deliver urgently needed humanitarian relief will not be tolerated, Mr. Ban stressed. Since the signing of the framework, Mrs. Robinson has been working with civil society and a technical committee comprised of regional participants, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO) and UN partners to establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound benchmarks and indicators of progress on the framework. The Special Envoy was scheduled to present them to the ongoing Summit, ahead of the next meeting of the framework oversight mechanism which will formally adopt them on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high-level debate in New York this September. In his message, Mr. Ban also encouraged all parties to conclude as soon

as possible the so-called Kampala talks between the DRC Government and M23 rebels, held under the auspices of the Chairperson of the ICGLR, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Since mid-May, the area has seen repeated attacks by the M23 rebel group against national troop (FARDC) positions in an apparent attempt to advance on Goma and neighbouring Sake. The M23, along with other armed groups, has clashed repeatedly with the FARDC over the past year with the rebels briefly occupying Goma in November 2012. The fighting, which recently dragged in a group of Ugandan-based rebels, has displaced more than 100,000 people, exacerbating an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region which includes 2.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 6.4 million in need of food and emergency aid. Mr. Ban and Mrs. Robinson visited the region in May, along with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim who pledged an additional $1 billion for cross-border development in support of the framework.

Mamnoon Hussain elected new president of Pakistan

Islamabad Pakistan Muslim League-Nawazs (PML-N) nominee Mamnoon Hussain was elected as the 12th president of Pakistan. He will assume the presidential office Sep 9, a day after incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari demits office following completion of his fiveyear tenure, Xinhua reported. Tuesdays election, for largely a ceremonial post of the head of state, was a contest between Mamnoon Hussain, of PML-N, the ruling party of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Wajihuddin Ahmed, a candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the opposition party headed by cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan. Mamnoon Hussain has secured 432 votes whereas justice Wajihuddin (Ahmed) secures 77 votes, so Mr. Mamnoon has been elected as the 12th president of Pakistan, the Chief Election Commissioner, Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, announced during a press conference here. Earlier in the day, the presidential election kicked off at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 3.00 p.m.. A total of 887 members of the parliament house and four provincial assemblies had cast their votes, of which 878 votes were considered valid while nine were found invalid, the ECP said. Voters cast their ballots at the Paliament House in Islamabad and four

In iraq, un goodwill envoy pau gasol urges aid for children affected by syrian crisis
Pau Gasol, National Basketball Association (NBA) champion and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), has wrapped up a visit to Iraq by urging additional support for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian children forced out of their homeland by conflict. I met children who have fled from a tragic situation in Syria and now depend on urgent humanitarian aid to save their lives and give them an opportunity to build a new life, said Mr. Gasol, a Silver Medallist at the 2012 Olympics, two-time NBA champion and UNICEF Spain Committee Ambassador since 2003. Among the children with whom Mr. Gasol met was 10-year-old Sulinam who told the Goodwill Ambassador that his familys shop had been destroyed in Syria, I want the war to end there so that I can return home and my brothers and sisters and I can go back to school. Mr. Gasol said he was shocked to see what some of the children have seen, No child should experience such violence and destruction and be deprived of the basic services that they need to grow and develop to fulfil their potential. Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed,

provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile, the main opposition party Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its three allies boycotted the elections as the countrys Supreme Court, on a plea by the PML-N, had advanced the polling date Aug 6 to July 30. PPP complained of not having received adequate time to campaign for the election due to the changed date. The PML-N had requested for the change in the presidential voting date, saying many lawmakers in the country would be in Saudi Arabia for a religious ritual during the last few days of Ramadan, which is likely to end in Pakistan around Aug 9, 2013.

some 4 million have been internally displaced and almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries of which around 50 per cent are children, including over 160,000 in Iraq. UNICEF said it has provided around 10 million people with access to safe water, more than 2.4 million children with vaccinations against measles and 268,000 with access to education, among other responses. During his visit, Mr. Gasol saw the UN and its partners support provision of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities, primary education, health care and child protection services. Providing these services is a huge job, said Mr. Gasol. While we can

see some good results, the needs are enormous. So much more help is needed. The UN agency has appealed for more than $360 million to assist Syrian children in Iraq, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt, through the end of the year. As of 16 July, the latest figures show a $191 million funding gap. Earlier this month, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, who also visited Iraq, among other countries in the region, stressed that children will continue to suffer the consequences of the ongoing conflict in Syria unless an urgent political solution is found.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

INTERNATIONAL
his India visit last month, Kerry had called on the Indians to continue that process of facilitation, as well as the Pakistanis to do things like provide MFN (Most favoured nation) status to the Indians. And Im sure that that will be part of the conversations that we continue to have, the official said. But we are external actors in this. We are in no way seeking to broker any sort of conversation on Kashmir. In meetings with Sharif, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and outgoing president Asif Ali Zardari, Kerry is expected to press the new government on eliminating militant safehavens as US-led troops prepare to leave Afghanistan next year. Asked about Pakistans refusal to give up their use of proxies through certain domestic terrorist groups in the Indo-Pak context, the official said this would be a part of the conversation with the Pakistanis. As weve said to them in the past, fostering or helping in any way to provide some sort of base for extremism is ultimately not in any of our interests, including in Pakistans interest, he said. Well have to see where the new government is on this and what theyre willing to do as how they see it as part of their broader efforts at promoting stability, the official said. Thats in large part one of the reasons we want to have to this conversation face to face and see how far we can move this forward. Moscow Fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has received temporary asylum in Russia for one year, and has moved to a safe place, said a lawyer assisting him. I have just delivered documents to him (Snowden) from the Russian Federal Migrant Service (FMS), Xinhua quoted lawyer Anatoly Kucherena as telling the Interfax news agency. Kucherena said the documents allowed Snowden to move freely within Russia. The former intelligence contractor had left the transit zone of Moscows Sheremetyevo international airport for a location that would not be disclosed. I hope you will treat this vague information with understanding ... the safety issue is a very serious one for him, the lawyer said. The FMS confirmed the granting of asylum. One of the district subdivisions of the Federal Migration Service Department for the Moscow region has decided to grant Mr. Snowden the status of temporary asylum, FMS spokesperson Zalina Kornilova said. She added that the Snowden case was nothing special. I emphasise that this is not a unique case, so, over a thousand people applied to district subdivisions in 2013 alone, so far, Kornilova said. Snowdens whereabouts after leav-

19

No brokering on Kashmir, says US

Washington As Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Pakistan, American officials said the US was very supportive of recent moves by India and Pakistan to normalise relations, but there was no change in its hands off Kashmir policy. Theres no change in policy in terms of where we are on that, a senior administration official accompanying Kerry told reporters on way to Islamabad Thursday when asked if he expected to have a conversation about Kashmir with the Pakistani Government. We do not see ourselves or seek to be in the middle of any conversation between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, he said according to a transcript of the background briefing released here by the state department. But certainly we are very supportive of the moves that both India and Pakistan have made to normalise relations, the official added. The new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he noted had already begun the outreach to India and with good cooperation on the Indian side as well in trying to jumpstart the normalisation process. The official said the great strides in normalisation on the economic side have been very important the last few years and have really paved the way for better and more constructive conversations on the political side. So well see where that continues to lead, he said recalling that during

Snowden granted one years temporary asylum in Russia

ing the transit zone remain a mystery. Kucherena said Snowden would choose where he lived. He can either live in a hotel or rent a flat, he said. The lawyer said currently, Snowden had no immediate plan to fly to Latin America, but the former spy agency contractor would stay in touch with his family. I am finishing paperwork on the invitation to his father. He will come and we will be able to discuss all issues personally, the lawyer said. On Wednesday, Snowdens father Lon Snowden said in an interview to a Russian news channel that he hoped his son could find protection in Russia. Snowden arrived at the Sheremetyevo airport June 23, and was reportedly stranded in the transit zone since then as his passport was revoked by

the US government. He faces espionage charges for disclosing a classified intelligence surveillance project code-named PRISM. Calling Snowden a transit passenger who arrived in Russia without invitation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Moscow was not going to harm its relations with Washington, and that Snowden must handle his affairs without our involvement. The president said the relationship between Russia and the US is more important than any intelligence scandal. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday Moscow was aware of the atmosphere created in US over Snowden, but he had not received any signals regarding the cancellation of US President Barack Obamas visit to Russia in September. IANS

US lawmakers commemorate Oak Creek gurdwara shooting

Washington American lawmakers are commemorating the first anniversary of the Oak Creek gurdwara tragedy when a white supremacist gunman shot dead six Sikh worshippers, with resolutions in the two chambers. While the Senate unanimously passed a resolution Thursday remembering the victims of the Aug 5, 2012 tragedy in Wisconsin, a similar resolution is set to be introduced in the US House of Representatives. Sponsored by Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson, the two Senators from Wisconsin, the resolution condemning hatred and acts of violence towards racial and religious groups calls for renewed efforts to end that violence. Co-sponsored by Chris Coons, John Cornyn and Kirsten Gillibrand, the resolution also honours the memory of the six worshippers shot dead by gunman Wade Michael Page-Paramjit Kaur, Prakash Singh, Ranjit Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Sita Singh and Suveg Singh. A similar resolution is set to be introduced in the US House of Representatives Friday by Democrat Judy Chu and Republican David G.

Kerry opens talks in Pakistan

Islamabad Visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday opened talks on cooperation with Pakistan to effectively fight terrorism. The talks also focused on the controversial drone strikes, enhancing economic cooperation and the role the two sides play in elusive Afghan peace, Xinhua quoted officials as saying. Kerry, the first senior American official to visit Pakistan since a new government assumed office in June, arrived here late Wednesday to review prospects for future relationship with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The delegation level talks started at the foreign office in Islamabad, foreign ministry sources said. The Pakistani delegation is being led by Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. The two sides are discussing bilateral relations,the Afghan situation and cooperation in diverse fields including energy and education, officials said. The ministry earlier said that Pakistan would raise the issue of controversial US drone attacks in the countrys tribal regions. Kerry will later meet Prime Minister Sharif, and both sides are expected to discuss resumption of strategic dialogue as well as cooperation in diverse fields including energy. The strategic dialogue between the two countries suspended after NATO fighter jets bombed a Pakistani post which killed 24 soldiers in November 2011. The last round of talks was held in October 2010 in Washington. US officials in Washington were quoted as saying that the secretary of state will reinforce Washingtons continuing commitment to Pakistan during his visit. Sharif Wednesday discussed with top officials the agenda for talks with Kerry, officials said. The prime ministers office said a meeting of all relevant stakeholders was called to discuss important regional developments including those relating to Afghanistan. The secretary of state was previously expected to arrive in Pakistan July 29. The trip was postponed due to his engagement with the Syrian and Middle East issues and the illness of his wife.

Valadao, co-chairs of the AmericanSikh Congressional Caucus, along with other caucus members and representatives, One year after gunfire shattered the peace of the gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, we are reminded of the frailty of life and the power that prejudices hold in our society, said Chu. As we mark this solemn day and remember the six people who were lost, we must work to ensure that discrimination and hateful acts based on intolerance do not have a place in our nation, she said. Sadly, hatred and prejudice toward the Sikh Community has increased over the last decade and has occurred in my own Central Valley Congressional District, which is home to a large Sikh population,

said Valadao. Heartbreaking events such as this, highlight deep societal problems, he said. As Americans, we must see past stereotypes and treat each other with compassion and respect. Meanwhile community organisations led South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a network of 41 South Asian organizations, have planned several events for Remembering Oak Creek. These include remembrance of the six victims at the US Federal Court House hosted by US Attorney James Santelle on Friday. Chardhi Kala 6K Memorial Run/ Walk - Turning Tragedy into Triumph on Saturday, tributes to departed souls by guests, dignitaries, and well wishers on Sunday and a candle light vigil on Monday.

A crane that can lift 6,400 tonnes

Taiyuan A company in north Chinas Shanxi province has made a crane with a capacity to pick up a staggering 6,400 tonnes. Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group Co. Ltd. said in a statement Thursday that the crane, which itself weighs over 3,000 tonnes, could lift 6,400 tonnes of goods to a height of 120 metres, Xinhua reported. Currently, the worlds largest cranes can only lift up to 1,200 tonnes of goods. The crane can also be dismantled in two parts, which can work separately and each lift as much as 3,200 tonnes of goods, the company said in the statement. Established in 1950, Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group Co. was the first heavy machinery manufacturer in China. In the recent years, its products have been exported to many countries and regions worldwide, including North America, South America, Australia and India.
IANS

Uruguay could license marijuana production

Montevideo Uruguays lower house of National Congress has approved a plan to create a legal marijuana market -- after over 13 hours of debate. Uruguay could be the first country in the world to license and regulate marijuana production, distribution and sale for adult consumers if the Senate approves the plan. Fifty of the 96 lawmakers present at the debate said putting the government at the centre of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure. Uruguays bold move does more than follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington. It provides a model for legally regulating marijuana that other countries, and US states, will want to consider - and a precedent that will embolden others to follow in their footsteps, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the US Drug Policy Alliance. Under the legislation, Uruguays government would license growers, seller and consumers, and update a confidential registry to avoid people from buying more than 40 grams a month. Carrying, growing or selling pot without a license could bring prison terms, while licensed consumers could grow up to six plants at a time IANS at home.

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BUSINESS
Hyderabad After over three years of uncertainty, the Information Technology industry here heaved a sigh of relief with Tuesdays announcement by the Congress party to carve out a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh. The announcement has cleared the air over the future of Hyderabad, a major IT destination in the country. This fast growing metropolis will be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years. Andhra Pradesh is expected to build its own capital within that period. The IT industry welcomed the decision, saying it brought an end to uncertainty and brightened the prospects of the city attracting new investments. The industry with software exports to the tune of Rs.40,000 crore was worried over frequent shutdowns and spells of violent protests for separate Telangana state. This had taken sheen off brand Hyderabad. I believe the decision has brought in a positive sentiment as the uncertainty surrounding the matter has finally been resolved, said V. Laxmikanth, managing director, Broadridge India. Hyderabad, known for its large pool of talented IT professionals and as a

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

RBI leaves key rates unchanged; cuts Hyderabads IT industry now breathes easy growth forecast
Mumbai The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Tuesday left all key policy rates unchanged to support the battered rupee and said the recent liquidity tightening measures will be rolled back when stability returns to the currency markets. In the first quarter review of the monetary policy, the central bank cut growth forecast for the current financial year to 5.5 percent from its earlier projection of 5.7 percent, saying continued domestic as well as global uncertainties would hit the Indian economy. The repurchase or the repo rate, the interest that commercial banks pay to the RBI on short-term borrowings, has been left unchanged at 7.25 percent. And so has the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent. The cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the share of deposits banks must keep with the central bank, is also maintained at 4 percent. India is currently caught in a classic impossible trinity trilemma whereby we are having to forfeit some monetary policy discretion to address external sector concerns, said RBI Governor D. Subbarao. He said the liquidity tightening measures taken by the central bank over the last two weeks were aimed at checking undue volatility in the foreign exchange market. They will be rolled back in a calibrated manner as stability is restored to the foreign exchange market, enabling monetary policy to revert to supporting growth with continuing vigil on inflation. Reacting on the RBI policy, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry Rajan said the government and the central bank were on the same page and working together to ensure stability in the currency markets. Government and the Reserve Bank of India are firmly convinced of the need to do what it takes to stabilise the rupee, and we see this as being

friendly to growth over the medium term, Rajan said in a statement. No one should doubt our resolve in this matter, he said. The RBI move dampened the sentiments in equities as well as currency markets. The rupee slipped below the key psychological level of 60 against a dollar and hit a three-week low. Key indices of the Indian stock markets hit the lowest level in one month. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex slumped 1.25 percent at 19,348.34 points and the National Stock Exchanges Nifty fell 1.31 percent at 5,755.05 points. Explaining the RBI move, the Governor said while the investment climate remained weak and risk aversion continued to stall fresh plans, the outlook was also inhibited by cost and time overruns, deteriorating cash flows and lack of credit confidence. Subbarao said while in the past couple of years, the central banks stance was to address the twin issues of growth and inflation, the situation now has exacerbated with concerns over external sector, mainly on account of the current account deficit. The current situation -- moderating wholesale price inflation, prospects of softening of food inflation consequent on a robust monsoon and decelerating growth -- would have provided a reasonable case for

continuing on the easing stance, he said. Analysts said the central banks move was on expected line as it had little room to tinker with the rates, given the volatility in the currency markets. RBI has made it very clear that it can only contain the volatility of the rupee, it can support the government in growth of the economy but the kick has to come from the government, said Siddharth Shankar, advisor, broking and investment firm KASSA. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Kris Gopalakrishnan said the moderation of growth outlook by the RBI is a matter of great concern. This enforces our view that actions on multiple fronts are required to help the economy revive, besides a large number of policies needing implementation, Gopalakrishnan said. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) secretary general, A. Didar Singh said the RBI decision was on expected line. The decision of the central bank to hold back cut in the repo rate was anticipated as the entire focus at present seems centered on supporting the rupee. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that industrial growth remains worrisome, Didar Singh said. IANS

base for leading MNCs, is expected to reclaim its reputation of being the destination of choice for businesses across industries, he said. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, chairman and managing director, Infotech Enterprises, said while he was not for or against the decision, he was anxiously looking forward for this decisive movement. The separation problem has been voiced for the last 50 years but in the last three years some of these agitations have been (hurdles) for progress of the state. The uncertainty has slowed down the growth. That is now past. Suman Reddy, vice president and managing director, Pegasystems India, hoped the development will bring back stability in the business environment of the city. Growth and expansion from the perspective of IT MNCs investing in the state had been stalled/relatively slow due to this issue, which hopefully will resume after the decision is announced, he said. Hyderabad, which emerged on the world IT map only in mid-1990s, is home to over 1,000 IT and ITeS companies including global majors like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Dell, Oracle and Amazon.

Income tax returns filing deadline extended to Aug 5

line in view of the huge rush in the last couple of days and technical problems encountered while accessing the e-filing portal. Due to large number of taxpayers accessing e-filing website on due date of filing, some cases of taxpayers not being able to access the e-filing portal have been reported. These problems are primarily due to network constraints of the local internet service providers, the ministry said. The number of e-filing of returns jumped by 46.8 percent to 92.03 lakh July 30, 2013 year-on-year, the government data showed.

M&M tractor sales up by 12 Scotland expecting growth percent in July in business partnerships with India
Kolkata With over 100 Scottish firms forging business partnerships with Indian companies last year, a Scottish governmental agency Thursday said it is expecting a surge of 30 percent in the number of such collaborations in the 2013-14 fiscal. With 116 Scottish companies establishing partnerships with Indian companies in FY 12-13, which is an increase of 30 percent over the previous year, we expect the same rate of growth in the number of such companies by the end of FY 13-14, said Rooma Kumar Bassi, director-north and east India, Scottish Development International (SDI). SDI is the international economic development arm of the Scottish Government, which set up its base in India in 2001 with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Bassi said the growth in the business partnerships will result in increase in the bilateral trade which is expected to grow by 15-20 percent in the next few years. The mutual trade roughly now stands at around 3,00,000 pounds and new partnerships will certainly add to the trade which is expected

New Delhi The government Wednesday extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns to Aug 5 from July 31 set earlier. As a measure of taxpayers convenience, it has been decided to extend the due date of filing of returns from 31st July, 2013, to 5th August, 2013, the finance ministry said in a statement. Taxpayers are requested to avail of this extension of time and file their returns after paying due taxes, it said. The government extended the dead-

Telephone subscribers grew by 0.28 percent in Jan-March quarter: TRAI

New Delhi Indias telephone subscribers increased from 895.51 million at the end of December 2012 to 898.02 million at the end of March 2013, a growth of 0.28 percent over the previous quarter, a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) release said here Thusrday. However, this reflects year-on-year negative growth of 5.61 percent over the same quarter of last year. The overall teledensity slightly declined from 73.34 as on December 31, 2012 to 73.32 during March 31, 2013. Subscription in urban areas decreased from 556.96 million at the end of December 2012 to 548.80 million at the end of March 2013 and urban teledensity declined from 149.90 to 146.96. Rural subscription increased from 338.54 million to 349.22 million and rural teledensity increased from 39.85 to 41.02. The share of subscription in rural areas out of total subscription increased from 37.80 percent at the end of December 2012 to 38.89 percent at the end of March 2013.

Chennai Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Thursday said it closed last month selling 18,469 tractors, 12 percent up as compared to the same period of the previous year. In a statement, the company said it sold 17,771 units in the domestic market as against 15,595 units in July 2012. On the other hand, the company witnessed 32 percent fall in its export sales last month. M&M shipped out 698 tractors last month as against

1,026 units in July 2012. The second quarter of FY 2013 has begun well and we are happy with our domestic volume of 17,771 units and 15 percent growth achieved in July 2013. The monsoon this year has been normal, which augurs well for the farm sector. A revival in agri-production will provide greater impetus to the economy amidst the overall slowdown, the statement quoted Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive, tractor and farm mechanisation at M&M, as saying.

to grow by 15-20 percent in the next few years, said Bassi. The SDI is scouting for business opportunities with India as it looks for investment in sectors like information technology, energy, education, life science, heavy engineering among others. The SDI is expecting a growth in Indian investment in the country which currently stands at $1 billion with the presence of names like Tata Steel, Wipro, Usha Martin etc. While there is presence of big Indian companies, we welcome small and medium enterprises to invest in Scotland where they can get incentives like regional selective assistance, research and development (R&D) funding and concession on corporate tax provided to foreign investors in selected areas, added Bassi. IANS

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

BUSINESS
Washington Noting that growing trade and investment continue to drive the US-India partnership forward, leading South Asia experts have said the two countries should not let trade issues complicate their relationship even as they welcomed Indias admission to the trans-Pacific trade treaty as an economic coup. During his recent visit to India, Vice President Joe Biden addressed the key issues that stand out for policymakers on both sides of the US-India relationship, the lone Indian Congressman Ami Bera and South Asia expert Karl Inderfurth, noted in a commentary. Biden had highlighted protection of intellectual property, limits on foreign direct investment, inconsistent tax dues and barriers to market access as the tough problems between the two countries. In working through these current disputes, both countries should not lose perspective of the rapid expansion and future trajectory of the full bilateral trade and investment relationship, Bera and Inderfurth, wrote in Roll Call focusing on Congressional affairs. The goal should be to facilitate, not complicate, this key pillar of the deepening US-India partnership, wrote Democrat Bera and Inderfurth, Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Overall US-India economic and trade relationship is steadily growing, they said noting business ties have already achieved a nearly fivefold increase in bilateral trade since 2000. Noting that India is now the third-fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment in the US, and the US is among the top five of Indias preferred FDI destinations, Bera and Inderfurth said the growing flow of capital from India has brought many benefits to the US economy. Indian investment in the US recently touched $11 billion and has helped create 100,000 jobs. India-headquartered companies support 32,000 jobs, $1.6 billion in capital expenditures and $487 million in exports in 2010, according to the Department of Commerce. Noting growing trade and investment continue to drive the US-India partnership forward, Bera and Inderfurth said, US and Indian policymakers need to keep their eye on the prize of unleashing the full potential of their economic relations. Meanwhile, two other foreign policy experts said Indias addition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, linking together major economies in North America, South America, the Pacific, and Southeast Asia, would only enhance the TPPs transformative potential.

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HCL Infosystems to sponsor Indias admission to TPP would be Galatasaray an economic coup
A TPP including India would do more to buttress Washingtons ties to New Delhi than any number of highlevel junkets, Sean West and Jesse Kaplan wrote in the Politico, an influential Washington newspaper focusing on politics, referring to Bidens recent India visit. Kaplan, a former Babar Ali fellow at Lahore University of Management Sciences, and a student at Yale Law School and West, head of Eurasia Groups US practice, noted President Barack Obama has characterized a strong relationship with India as indispensable. But the truth is that US-India relations have stagnated since the signing of the civil nuclear deal at the end of the George W. Bush administration, they wrote. Indian admission to the TPP would be an economic coup. Adding the worlds largest democracy, and a BRIC, would represent a symbolic victory for a pact that promises to set global trading standards for decades to come, they wrote. Joining the TPP would be a smart move for India, too, Kaplan and West wrote, as The TPP offers Delhi the opportunity to gain preferential access to thriving and fast-growing markets in Southeast Asia, in addition to Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. Arun Kumar

New Delhi Indian software major HCL Infosystems signed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Turkish soccer club Galatasaray. According to the deal, Galatasaray will be endorsing ME Tablet, which is manufactured by HCL Infosystems. Galatasaray will take the field with the ME Tablet logo on their shorts in this season and Galatasaray mens volleyball team players will carry HCL ME logo on their armband this year. The limited edition ME Tablet ME GS 1905, exclusively designed for Galatasaray supporters was also unveiled at the signature ceremony hosted at the Ali Sami Yen Sport

Complex - Trk Telekom Arena in Istanbul Thursday. Today, we have come together to announce this agreement between a well-known brand in the world, Galatasaray, a leader with an international identity and HCL ME Tablet, a leading technology brand based out of India. We are pleased to announce the limited edition ME Tablet Series which will be launched in the Turkey market, said nal Aysal, president of the Galatasaray Sports Club. Gautam Advani, Global Head - Mobility Business, HCL Infosystems Ltd. said: It is a proud moment for us to be a sponsor of one of the most favorite European clubs, Galatasaray. Turkey carries a great strategic importance for HCL ME Tablets.

Zardari asks US to plan for Pakistans economic development

Islamabad Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the international community, particularly the US, to prepare a plan for his countrys economic development and stability that has been badly hit by terrorism. Zardari said this during a meeting Thursday with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Islamabad, Xinhua quoted a presidential spokesman as saying. The people of Pakistan have immensely suffered during the ongoing war on militancy and terrorism. Therefore, the international community is under obligation to give our people peace dividend through massive economic assistance, energy development and greater market access, the president said. Pakistan-US bilateral relations, reconciliation in Afghanistan, drone attacks and other global and regional issues were discussed during the meeting. Zardari reiterated that the drone attacks violate Pakistans sovereignty and territorial integrity and also cast negative impact on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region. He called for an end to the drone attacks and said these strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and also fuel anti-American feelings in Pakistan. He reiterated Pakistans commitment to continue to play its helpful role in restoring peace, stability and development in Afghanistan. Kerry also met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and discussed bilateral matters. Kerry delivered an invitation to the prime minister from US President Barrack Obama to visit America. Sharif also raised the issue of drone strikes and demanded an immediate

Government to sell 10 percent stake in Indian Oil

New Delhi The government has decided to sell 10 percent of its stake in the countrys largest petroleum retailer Indian Oil Corporation. After this disinvestment the government of India share-holding in the company would come down to 68.92 percent, the finance ministry said in a statement Friday. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday evening. The disinvestment will be through Offer for Sale (OFS) method in the domestic market according to the SEBI rules and regulations, it said. The proposed divestment is likely to fetch around Rs.3,700 crore at the current market price. The government hopes to raise Rs.40,000 crore through stake sales in the current financial year that began April 1. The share price of Indian Oil Corporation slumped 2.48 percent to Rs.190.90 at the Bombay Stock Exchange. IANS

end to them. Both countries also agreed to revive the strategic dialogue, suspended following the NATO attack on a Pakistani post in November 2011 that left 24 soldiers dead. IANS

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SPORTS

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Franklin impresses in world New Zealand looks swimming championship qualfier forward to hosting 2015
Barcelona Missy Franklins quest to become the first woman to win a World Championship gold medal directly after an Olympic gold in the 100 metres backstroke remains on track as she clocked the fastest time in the heats and booked her place in the semi-final of the event at the Palau St. Jordi here Monday. Franklin, who won her first gold of the meet in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay Sunday, clocked 59.13 seconds, ahead of Hungarys Katinka Hosszu and Elizabeth Pelton with Chinas Fu Yuanhui fourth and 2009 bronze medallist Emily Seebohn in fifth, reports Xinhua. Meanwhile, defending joint champion Camille Lacourt will have to improve in the semi-final as he was only able to post the tenth fastest qualifying time. The 16-year-old Olympic champion, Ruta Meilutyte looked good as she stormed into the semi-final of the womens 100 metre breaststroke. Gold for the Lithuanian in Barcelona would make her the youngest person to win the event at both Olympic and World Championship level. Ryan Lochte suffered a disappointment when he was part of the US

cricket World Cup

4x100 metres freestyle relay team sensationally beaten into second place by France and he appeared to be suffering a hangover from that disappointment when he was only ninth fastest in qualifying in the heats for the mens 200 metre freestyle with Britains Robert Renwick fastest into the semis with a time of 1:46.88. Finally there promises to be a thrilling final to the womens 1,500 metres freestyle between Denmarks

Lotte Friis and 400 metre freestyle champion Katie Ledecky. Friis was less than a tenth of a second faster than Ledecky in qualifying but the 16-year-old American had been on track for a new world record after swimming 400 metres and seemed to ease up with the race well under control and Tuesdays final could well produce a new world or championship record in the event.

Bahamas receive Olympic bronze after 13 years

Nassau (Bahamas) The Bahamas Olympic mens 4x400 metres relay team has been presented with bronze medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The team of Chris Brown, Carl Oliver, Troy McIntosh, Avard Moncur and Tim Munnings received the bronze medals after the US team, the original bronze winner, was disqualified. It is for me to say to each of you, as you accept this award, that you really made it possible for younger ones to believe that they could do better and that they could compete at the level of the Olympics and the level of the world, Prime Minister Perry Christie said to the team receiving their bronze medals during a ceremony at the British Colonial Hilton. It was a defining kind of performance - a defining moment in sports - and I thank you for it. The decision to award the medals follows lengthy deliberations from the International Olympic Committee which ruled back in 2008 to strip the United States team of its gold medal after it was revealed that one of its

members had used a banned substance prior to the games. However, it wasnt until last August that the IOC reallocated the medals. The decision moved the Nigerian team to earning a gold medal with Jamaica and The Bahamas being awarded silver and bronze medals respectively. I want each of you to reflect on your contribution to athletics in The Bahamas and to see, as professionals, what you are doing now, and to hope that, in some way, you

are able to give something back, said Prime Minister Christie. Prime Minister Christie urged team members to travel through the Bahamas to encourage young children to pursue their dreams in athletics. The Prime Minister announced that his Government would embark on the construction of sporting complexes throughout the islands. I am hoping that tomorrow my Government signs off on the first one in Abaco, said Prime Minister Christie.

Wellington New Zealand said Tuesday it looked forward to co-hosting the 2015 cricket World Cup with Australia. This gives Christchurch a target to work toward, and signals its reemergence as a strong tourist and sporting destination capable of hosting world-class events, said Sport and Recreation Minister Murray McCully. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that New Zealand would host half of all pool matches, one quarter-final and a semi-final. Seven New Zealand cities - Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin - are to host three matches each, while seven Australian cities would host the remainder of the 49-match tournament from Feb 14 to March 29, 2015. Earthquake-battered Christchurch will be hosting the opening match. The New Zealand government will contribute 5 million NZ dollars

($3.99 million) to the tournament. This commitment will ensure the 2015 Cricket World Cup lives up to the high standards New Zealand set as a host nation during the Rugby World Cup in 2011, McCully said. The governments Tourism New Zealand agency said it could now begin planning for the influx of cricket fans and international media. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 provides us with a major opportunity to boost exposure in key target markets and encourage travellers to visit New Zealand or add New Zealand to their Australian tour plans, Tourism New Zealand chair Kerry Prendergast said. The World Cup is contested by the 10 full members of the ICC, which are England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. Four associate and affiliated members will also compete to qualify for the mega event

Delhi Police to apply for cancelling Sreesanths bail

Dalmiya re-elected CAB president

Kolkata Seasoned sports administrator and Indian cricket board acting chief Jagmohan Dalmiya was Wednesday reelected unopposed for another term as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president. The 82nd Annual General Meeting of the CAB at the Eden Gardens was a drab affair with the official panel winning unchallenged. Subir Ganguly and Sujan Mukherjee continued to be the joint secretaries, while Biswarup Dey would remain the treasurer. Even last year, Dalmiya faced a challenger in his age-old rival Samar Pal, but had little difficulty in sailing though 104-14. Seventy three year old Dalmiya, a former International Cricket Council chief, has been heading the cashrich CAB since 1993, except for a 19-month hiatus after he resigned in December 2006 on being expelled from the Board of Control for Cricket in India for alleged embezzlement of funds. But he rode back in style in 2008 defeating the incumbent Prasun Mukherjee. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was the star attraction at the AGM representing Barisha Sporting, the club in his locality of Behala. The only change in the CAB was the election - unanimous - of former BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta as trustee board chairman. The four other members to the trustee board are also new - Russi Jeejeebhoy, Samar Kar, Shibaji Roy and Shivkumar Kalyani. Office Bearers: President: Jagmohan Dalmiya. Vice-Presidents: Alok Nandi, Sambhu Nath Poddar, Malay Basu, Subhas Kundu. Joint-Secretaries: Sujan Mukherjee, Subir Ganguly. Treasurer: Biswarup Dey. Board of Trustees: Gautam Dasgupta (chairman), Shibaji Roy, Shivkumar Kalyani, Russi Jeejeebhoy, Samar Kar.

New Delhi Delhi Police will apply for cancelling the bail of cricketer Sreesanth and 20 others who are allegedly involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spotfixing scandal.We are filing a chargesheet in the IPL spot-fixing case today (Tuesday) and we will apply for the cancellation of bail of all 21 accused including Sreesanth, S.N. Srivastava, special commissioner of police (Spe-

cial Cell) told . Till now, 29 people had been arrested in the IPL spot fixing case. Twenty-one of them are on bail, while eight are in judicial custody. Three Rajasthan Royals players - Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - were arrested by Delhi Police from Mumbai, May 16. While Sreesanth and Chavan are out on bail, Chandila is still languishing in Tihar jail.

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

SPORTS

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Srinivasan chooses the easy way out

chairman Rajeev Shukla. As a first step he appeared before the Governing Council to recuse himself from attending it. But it is learnt that even the IPL chairman along with at least five others gathered enough courage to tell him not to disregard the adverse court observation. Some senior members of the board, including two vice-presidents Chitrak Mitra and Niranjan Shah, wanted another independent panel to be set up, but the proposal was shelved once it was realised that it would mean a wait of at least two to three months before Srinivasan could return to the board. Instead, Srinivasans legal hounds felt it was prudent to approach Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Bombay High Courts ruling. If the Supreme Court gives him relief, Srinivasan would be back within a week to consolidate his position in the board before the September Annual General Meeting, failing which it would be difficult for him to stage a comeback with Dalmiya presiding over the AGM. The High Court Monday termed illegal the two-man panel, comprising Tamil Nadu High Court judges T. Jayaram Chouta and R. Balasubramanian, the IPL had set up to inquire into Srinivasans son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundras alleged betting and spot fixing activities. The panel had given a clean chit to both Meiyappan and Kundra thus paving the way for Srinivasns return as BCCI president. Srinivasan had stepped aside in June after Meiyappan was arrested and gave the powers to interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya. IANS

Ecclestone, Jaypee confirm no Indian GP in 2014

New Delhi Board president Narayanaswami Srinivasan Friday met with some unexpected resistance from some of his colleagues in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), forcing him to abandon his plan to chair the working committee meeting. Sources told IANS that what was demoralising for Srinivasan more than the Bombay High Courts adverse ruling that some of his known friends bluntly asked him to keep off the board till he is cleared, both morally and judicially. It all started with senior vice president Arun Jaitley explaining to him at a lengthy meeting the legal implications if he tries to brazen out the Bombay High Court observations, which are in the nature of strictures, and by inference asking him to lie low till a legal remedy is found. Even before the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council meeting started, Srinivasan had a lengthy meeting with Jaitley and IPL

India beat Zimbabwe by 9 wickets

Bulawayo India defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the fivematch One-Day International (ODI) series at the Queens Sports Club here Thursday. After bowling out the hosts for 144, India reached home in 30.5 overs. Brief scores: Zimbabwe 144 all out (Elton Chigumbura 50 not out, Malcom Waller 35, Vusi Sibanda 24; Amit Mishra 3-25, Mohit Sharma 2-26, Ravindra Jadeja 2-28) lost to India (Suresh Raina 66 not out, Rohit Sharma 64 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara 13; Tendai Chatara 1-31).

New Delhi Both Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and organisers of the Indian Grand Prix Jaypee Group Tuesday confirmed that the 2014 India round will have to be dropped to tweak the racing calendar and it will now be held in the first half of 2015. Ecclestone, who has been controlling the F1 empire for nearly 40 years, told IANS from his London office that he and his Formula 1 management always wanted the India round early in the season, but the organisers preferred October. When we signed the five-year deal with Jaypee, we were keen on going to India in the first half and Jaypee wanted it to be in October. We gave in at that time, but now it looks we will have the race early 2015, Ecclestone, 82, told IANS. Jaypee, later in the day, more or less came around to Ecclestones view. Sameer Gaur, managing director, Jaypee Sports International (JPSI), told IANS that he would have preferred the race in the festive season, but if the F1 management wants it in the beginning of the season, he has no objection. October-November suits us weatherwise and it is also a festive season. But if Formula One Management (FOM) wants us to hold our race in March 2015, we dont have any problem with that, said Gaur. A JPSI source added that the decision was arrived at after prolonged discussions with Ecclestone. Shifting the Indian Grand Prix to early 2015 would mean the British magnate will not be celebrating his

birthday in India for the first time in four years, assuming he will be here for the October 2013 race. He said the 2014 round will not take place as it would be impossible for Jaypee to host two races within six months. As it is, the hosts shell out $40 million (Rs 237.7 crore) for every F1 race at Buddh International Circuit (BIC) as licensing fee. It (hosting one race in October 2014 and another in early 2015) was too close. Therefore, after speaking to promoters, we think it is best not to have a race in 2014 and have one in 2015, said Ecclestone, who will present the 2014 calendar to the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) in September. However, Malaysia hosted two races in a short span of time when it organised the last race of 2000 in October and from the following year onwards the round is being held in March. Ecclestone said during the Hungarian Grand Prix last week that the Indian Grand Prix was unlikely to happen next year and the reason for it was political. It is interpreted as the teams not being happy with the taxation policy of India and the red tape involved. Asked about the challenges facing the Indian Grand Prix, Ecclestone said: There are issues that need to be sorted out in your country. I hope the organisers are able to deal with it at the earliest. Having a race at the start of the season

means India will have to be clubbed with Australia, and the Asian nations Malaysia, Bahrain and China. Ecclestone did not specify how he would fit India in the 2015 calendar, merely saying: We will have to club India with the four rounds in the Asia Pacific region. The F1 czar has a possible 22 races jostling for space on the calendar with teams expressing a strong preference for a maximum of 20. Russia is looking forward to its first race in the Black Sea resort of Sochi towards the end of next year, and a Grand Prix in New Jersey, US, is also planned for 2014. Austria is also keen on returning to the F1-fold after an 11-year break. India first hosted a Grand Prix in 2011 and this years race is scheduled for Oct 27 as the 16th round of the 19-event card. The two races in India have been won by Red Bulls triple world champion Sebastian Vettel. The inaugural edition was attended by 95,000 fans while the number dropped to 60,000 in the second year. The second year is always difficult for the organisers. I hope bigger crowds turn up for the third edition, said Ecclestone. Asked whether he would want Indian GP to continue after the five-year contract, Ecclestone said: I really want it to continue, but it all depends on a lot of other factors. The sport is expanding its base every year.
IANS

India will have tough time in South Africa: Jonty Rhodes

New Delhi Former cricketer Jonty Rhodes says India will have a tough time touring South Africa later in the year. Playing the No.1 Test team at home will be tough. But the Indian players have experience against the South African pace attack from playing against them in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rhodes told IANS via an email. The 44-year-old, who has played 52 Tests and 245 One-Day Internationals for South Africa from 1992 to 2003, however said that the Indian pace attack has variety to do what is required of it. India have the variety in attack to take 20 wickets in a match but the batsmen will need to ensure that once they are in, they do not gift away their wickets as one wicket can bring three and undo all the good work of the previous session, said Rhodes, who is in India to launch a travelbased show South Africa with Jonty Rhodes, which will go on air on NDTV Good Times Aug 12. India will tour South Africa for two

Australian swimmer James Magnussen is seen after winning the mens 100 m. freestyle final of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, north-eastern Spain

Twenty20 Internationals, seven ODIs and three Tests from NovemIANS ber to January, 2014.

24 Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honour of friends began in US in 1935. Gradually the festival gained popularity and today Friendship Day is celebrated in large number of countries including India. On this day, people spend time with their friends and express love for them. Exchange of Friendship Day Gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.
Day Dedicated to Friends
In tune with the spirit of the occasion, people dedicate Friendship Day festival to their best friends. Most choose to celebrate the entire day in the loving company of their dearest friends. Recollecting sweet memories of the time spent together and catching up with their lives over a cup of coffee is the idea of ideal Friendship Day celebration for many. where people have little time to spend with each other, friends have become indispensable. Then there are times when we find it tough to discuss matters with our family members or even with our spouse, it is on occasions such as these that friends come to our support. They guide us and become our pillar of strength when we need them most. And the best part is we dont really need to put things in words when communicating issues to our best friends. Most often friends understand us, just by looking at us or hearing our voice. This heart-to-heart bonding is what makes friendship so exclusive, setting it apart from all other relationships. enjoyment in the company of closed pals and chums!! The best way to celebrate Friendship Day would be to spend the day in a way your friendship group enjoys the most. In case you want to be creative and do something different to mark this significant day,

CHANDIGARH SUNDAY 04 August 2013

Friendship Day Parties

The most special way to celebrate Friendship Day would be to hold a party for your new friends and old and have a blast. However, this idea needs a little planning and effort as you need to decide where to party, how to party, what to include in menu. Major crowd for Friendship Day can be seen in discotheques and pubs where people dance with friends on fast pace music and cherish the loving company of their pals. Such parties also give youth a chance to make new friends and widen their friendship circle. At present such

Significance of Friends
True friendship is about putting your feet up and knowing that someone is there to bail you out when the world might walk out on you. Besides, as a support system in todays hectic world, friends are the most reliable sources for social, intellectual and creative stimulations. In the present fast pace age of nuclear families

Friendship Day Celebration Ideas

Friendship Day is the perfect occasion to let your friends know how much they are needed and loved. The day calls for celebrations and

bashes are more popular in metros and other big cities, however, youth in small town s too are warming up to the idea of partying on Friendship Day.

W ith t e ho he m Th l d a ou ha rch gh n of sw d a It tim ee wa s , is m t m y, e so ne i n m , ve d e em M e r ay v o sta W get f ery ries th y ed or is da fl F as cib y. a h r ll in ad iend wis ly cr ul sh h e a , ter i ted at p n , ed ev . er ge ts So m

Crack colour code, celebrate friendship

There is a colour for every friend. If she is compassionate or a livewire, try purple or yellow. Every colour means something so heres the significance of various shades to pick the right one to celebrate Friendship Day. Colors and their singnificance: Pink: It is for that buddy who is affectionate, understanding and care as this colour represents all of this. White: Purity, peace and innocence are associated with white. If you have a friend with all these qualities, choose something in white. Yellow: Yellow is known as a synonym of friendship. Whats more, it is meant for someone with a bright and lively personality. Purple: It represents those with a kind heart and compassion. Red: It depicts love and romance. Green: It is associated with good luck and trust. Backed by this knowledge, gift your friend something suitable. You can find these vibrant colours in Utsav Fashions Indo-Western collection, which consists of kurtis and tunics.
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