7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 1/8

 STUdenT aGe 

R E A D T H E N E E D

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20138 Pages

Rs: 1.00

Jammu Edition

www.thestudentage.com

JKENG/2012/41612

Vol. 2 No: 32

IN BRIEFIN BRIEFNo proof juvenile most

violent, CJI saysPATIALA,FEB 3: The Chief 

Justice of India (CJI),

Altamas Kabir, on Saturday

said that it was not yet proven

that the juvenile, sixth

accused in the Delhi gang-

rape case, was the most vio-

lent. "Branding the juvenile

as the most violent is but a

creation of media as of now.

At this stage, we don't know

who contd on page 2

Congress leader SarojiniReddy passes awayHYDERABAD,FEB 3:

Veteran Congress leader and

former Andhra Pradesh min-

ister Sarojini Pulla Reddy

 passed away here on Sunday

following prolonged illness.

She was 85. A former mem-

 ber of the Congress Working

Committee (CWC), she was

suffering from cancer. She

 breathed her last at her resi-

dence here, family sources

said. Joining the Congress

five decades ago, Sarojini

Pulla Reddy was elected as a

councillor contd on page 2

BJP for CBI probe into YSR son-in-law's

assets

HYDERABAD, FEB 3: TheBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Sunday demanded a CBI

 probe into the assets of Anil

Kumar, son-in-law of late

Andhra Pradesh chief minis-

ter Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The party has alleged that

the evangelist amassed huge

assets by floating 11 compa-

nies when Rajasekhara Reddy

was the chief minister from

2004 to 2009. BJP spokesman

 N.V.S.S. Prabhakar told

reporters that Anil Kumar also

invested hundreds of crores in

other companies

contd on page 2

Borders of election-bound northeast

states to be sealed

AGARTALA, FEB 3: The

international and national

 borders of three northeastern

states which will see elec-

tions will be sealed to check 

the smuggling of arms, offi-

cials said Sunday. The

Election Commission has

told the authorities to beef up

 border checks in Tripura,

Meghalaya and Nagaland.

"The Commission has direct-

ed all concerned to take all

 possible steps to seal the

international borders besides

contd on page 2

PM Cameron to hostChequers Afghanistan

summit

Modi likely to visitKumbh on Feb 7

Indian democracy

compromisedPage 6 Editorial Page 7

NEW DELHI, FEB.3:

President Pranab Mukherjee

on Sunday signed the anti-

rape ordinance to amend

criminal laws so as to put a

check on crimes against

women.

As per news reports, the

ordinance, which was

announced by the Union

Cabinet last week, has

included a majority of the

recommendations forwarded

 by the three-member JusticeJ.S. Verma Committee.

The Union Cabinet had on

Friday recommended to the

President to issue an ordi-

nance to effectively deal with

crimes against women.

Union Law Minister 

Ashwani Kumar informed

media then about the decision

soon after a Cabinet meeting

held on Friday night at Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh's

residence.

Kumar had then said:

"The Cabinet has decided to

recommend the ordinance to

the President. It will have

most of the Justice Verma

Committee recommenda-

tions. The UPA Government

is committed to protect the

dignity and safety of women

in the country."

The three-member com-

mittee led by former Chief 

Justice of India Justice

(Retired) J. S. Verma, was

constituted after the country-

wide outrage following the

gruesome gang rape of a 23-

year-old woman student on a

running bus by six persons,

includinga juvenile on

December 16 last year.

The committee took a

month to submit its elaborate

report, which suggests ways

to deal with crimes against

women.

The panel has recom-

mended enhanced punish-

ment of imprisonment up to

20 years for rape and life

term for gang rape and mur-

der.

It has also suggested that

crimes like stalking, disrob-

ing a woman and voyeurism

 be treated as new offences

with stringent punishment.

The government has said

that it is looking into the pos-

sibility of giving capital pun-

ishment in cases of rape that

are gruesome and can be

assessed to be included in the

rarest of rare by the judiciary.

Women and Child

Development Minister 

Krishna Tirath on Saturday

said the ordinance approved

 by the Union Cabinet on the

 basis of the Justice Verma

Committee report, woulddefinitely create fear among

criminal elements of the soci-

ety.

Tirath said then: "The

Cabinet has agreed to most of 

the recommendations pro-

 posed by in the Justice Verma

Committee report. We have

included issues like s talking,

acid attack and the stringent

 punishment in the ordinance

sent to the President. We will

get it passed through

Parliament in the upcoming

Budget session."

External Affairs Minister 

Salman Khurshid said: "All

you can do is that when

Parliament is not in session,

we can promulgate an ordi-

nance. It does not mean that

widespread consultations

cannot take place when the

actual bill is brought inParliament." "I am sure that

vivid organisations and all

 political parties will come

together for widespread con-

sultations. With all the sensi-

tivity, this area of law I think 

requires from all of us and

then an updated Bill will

come to the parliament. But

this contd on page 2

President Mukherjee signs anti-rape ordinanceWomen's groups rejectanti-rape law ordinancePlans to protest against ordinance on Monday

NEW DELHI,FEB 3:The women activists, repre-

senting a number of organisations including Jagori,

 All India Progressive Women's Association and

Partners for Law and Development, slammed the

government for coming out with the ordinance when

Parliament session is just three weeks away and

had urged the President not to sign the it."We are

alarmed at the complete contd on page 2

NEW DELHI,FEB 3:

Congress president Sonia

Gandhi has assured of initiat-

ing steps to allot a flat at

Dwarka and a job for one of 

the family members, the

 brother of the Delhi gangrape

victim has said.

He said on the request of 

his mother, Sonia assured to

initiate steps to get a flat

allotted at Dwarka and job to

him when she visited the

family along with Congress

vice president Rahul Gandhi

yesterday.

The Congress president

told them that charges had

 been framed against the

accused in court and justice

would be done soon, he said.

The brother said Sonia

spent almost an hour with the

family and for the maximum

time, she was with the girl's

mother, who got emotional

and broke down several

times.

The family discussed

about punishment to the sixth

accused, who had been

declared juvenile, and to

frame a law to reduce the age

of being juvenile.

He said Sonia intently lis-

tened to them and assured

that she would see at her own

level what could be done

within the framework of the

law. She assured the family,

saying they should not worry

about anything and she con-

sidered them as her family.

She contd on page 2

ISLAMABAD,FEB 3: Former military

ruler Pervez Musharraf kept such a tight

lid on intrusions by Pakistani troops into

Indian territory in Kargil in 1999 that the

ISI learnt of the development when it

intercepted Indian Army communica-

tions, a retired general says in his new

 book.

Lt Gen (retired) Shahid Aziz, who

headed the analysis wing of the Inter-

Services Intelligence at the time, writes

that when he brought "strange wireless

intercepts" to the notice of then ISI

chief, Lt Gen Ziauddin Butt on May 3 or 

4, 1999, he asked Aziz to keep the docu-

ments with himself.

Aziz says the intercepts made it clear 

that troops from 10 Corps had "carried

out an aggressive operation" along the

Line of Control.

In his book "For How Long This

Silence", written in Urdu and released

last week, Aziz says the entire operation

in Kargil was planned and executed by

then army chief Musharraf, Chief of 

General Staff Lt Gen Aziz Muhammad

Khan, 10 Corps chief Lt Gen Mahmud

Ahmad, and Maj Gen Javed Hassan, the

chief of the Force Command Northern

Areas.

Besides these four generals, "no

other senior officer knew about the oper-

ation", Aziz writes.

"Even the staff of 10 Corps head-

quarters was unaware of the operation in

the beginning. The Military Operations

directorate also knew later when every-

thing had been done," he says.

ISI chief Butt later acknowledged

that Pakistani troops had taken control

of many areas on the Indian side of the

LoC that were empty or had for evacuat-

ed by Indian troops for winter.

Aziz writes that the communications

intercepts showed the "nervousness" and

"confused talk" on the Indian side.

"Indian forces seemed to be fright-

ened. I said, contd on page 2

BANGALORE, FEB

3:Karnataka Governor H R 

Bhardwaj today said he

would summon the Joint

Session of the State

Legislature tomorrow and

address it.

"I am going to summonthe House tomorrow and

address it," he told reporters

 before leaving to meet

Speaker K G Bopaiah, whom

he invited to address the ses-

sion.

To a query, Bhardwaj said

no political party has so far 

informed him about "order-

ing" a floor test for the

Shettar ministry and resigna-

tions of 13 BJP legislators

loyal to the B S

Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka

Janata Party. "These people

also have not approached me.

It is happening outide Raj

Bhavan, contd on page 2

Musharraf hid Kargil intrusionsfrom ISI: former general 

Delhi gangrape: Sonia promises house, jobs to victims family

BJP ministry faces survivaltest in Karnataka

KARNATAKA,FEB 3:The Karnataka legislature

begins the last session of its five-year term Monday

with the survival of the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) government indoubt following large-scale deser-

tions from the party. The 10-day ses-

sion has been called to enable Chief 

Minister Jagadish Shettar present

his maiden budget on Feb 8. He took

office six months ago to become

BJP's third chief minister in its first rule in the state.

The term of the 225-member assembly expires

May-end. Of the 225 members, contd on page 2

K'taka Guv to address joint session tomorrow

NEW DELHI, FEB 3:

Frowning upon routine

adjournments, the Supreme

Court has said that speedy

disposal of cases was the

"primary morality of justice

and ethical fulcrum of the

 judiciary".

"The foundation of jus-

tice, apart from other things,

rests on the speedy delin-

eation of the list (of cases)

 pending in courts," said the

apex court bench of judges

K.S. Radhakrishnan and

Dipak Misra in a recent ver-

dict.

"It would not be an exag-

geration to state that (speedy

 justice) is the primary moral-

ity of justice and ethical ful-

crum of the judiciary," the

two judges said.

"Its profundity lies in not

allowing anything to cripple

the same or to do any act

which would freeze it or 

make it suffer from impoten-

cy," Justice Misra said,

speaking for the bench.

Holding that the "virtues

of adjudication cannot be

allowed to be paralyzed by

adjournments and non-

demonstration of due dili-

gence to deal with the mat-

ter", he said: "One cannot be

oblivious to the feeling

necessities of the time.

"It is devastating to expect

infinite patience. Change of 

attitude is the warrant and

command of the day."

The court said this while

taking note of 10 years taken

 by the Rajasthan High Court

in deciding whether an

appeal in a civil matter per-

taining to a piece of land

involved a substantial ques-

tion of law.

The case was instituted in

1990. On Sep 12, 1997, the

civil judge (junior division)

of Nohar in Hanumangarh

dismissed the suit and

decreed in favour Noor 

Mohammad.

The additional district

 judge of Nohar July 10, 2001

dismissed an appeal against

the lower court order by

appellant Jethanand.

This was challenged in the

high court July 27, 2001. The

appeal was dismissed as no

one appeared on behalf of 

Jethanand. The apex court

noted that in 2004 an applica-

tion was moved for the

restoration of the dismissed

appeal. contd on page 2

 Speedy justice is a right, says Supreme Court 

JAMMU, FEB 3: Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP)

 patron Mufti Mohammad

Sayeed, while welcoming the

recommendations of Justice

J.S. Verma Committee and

the prompt action on it taken

 by the central government,

regretted the failure to revoke

the AFSPA, as suggested by

the panel Jan 23.

The proposal was a part of 

the report the committee sub-

mitted on ways to make rape

laws more stringent in the

country.

"The decision to ignore

the Verma panel recommen-

dations could prove counter 

 productive," Mufti said about

non-revocation of the

AFSPA.

In its 631-page report, the

three-member committee

called for amendment to

Section 6 of the AFSPA

which gives the Indian armed

forces search and seize pow-

ers and immunity from legal

action against them during

the operations in the states

that have been declared "dis-

turbed areas" riddled with

militancy.

"This is clearly a case of 

double standards and reflects

 poorly on our national

resolve to uphold women's

dignity and rights without

discrimination, which got a

resounding expression

recently in the wake of Delhi

gang-rape," the Mufti said at

a public meeting at Marh

near here.

The Mufti said Justice

Verma's recommendations on

 bringing crimes against

women universally under the

 jurisdiction of civil courts

was a welcome, first step

towards revocation of the

AFSPA which was intro-

duced in totally different cir-

cumstances in states. "(It)

was contd on page 2

SRINAGAR, FEB 3: Living

in perpetual 'power misery',

Kashmir is witnessing a

change, these days. The

 power department has

launched a campaign to

recover outstanding power 

tariff from 'powerful andwillful' defaulters and most

of them are from high society

in power and politics.

What makes the drive

interesting is that the default-

ers include the Nawa-ie-

Subah complex, the NC

 building that houses is post-

militancy headquarters. It has

an outstanding of Rs 7.80

lakhs, according to the notice

that was made public by the

 power development depart-

ment that Chief Minister 

Omar Abdullah heads.

Party headquarters is just

the top of the iceberg. Those

in default include the Hari Niwas Palace, a vintage pre-

 partition monster overlook-

ing Dal lake that Dr Karan

Singh owns. Apart from the

son of state finance minister 

Hilal Rather, who runs

Simula Software Solutions &

Research Centre, a BPO in

Jammu, those listed include

the powerful family of Molvi

Iftikhar Ansari, a PDP law-

maker whose family runs a

number of business concerns.

Some top business, manufac-

turing facilities and telecom

facilities in Kashmir and

Jammu also figure in the list

 besides an army school indown south of the Valley.

Last month, the PDD

made list of all the consumers

 public who have defaulted

 beyond a million rupees. A

whopping sum of Rs 54 crore

was in arrears against 130

consumers of whom 103

were in Jammu (with out-

standing contd on page 2

Mufti regrets the falilure to revoke the AFSPA CBFC condemnsallegations

against board

MUMBAI:The Central

Board of Film Certification

(CBFC) condemned the alle-

gations made by Tamil Nadu

Advocate General

 Navaneetha Krishnan in con-

nection with the certification

of Kamal Hasan's film "

Vishwaroopam".

"The Central Board of 

Film Certification would like

to put it on record for all con-

cerned that every action

taken/procedure followed by

CBFC for certifying

'Vishwaroopam' or any other 

film has been done in accor-

dance with the Act and Rules

framed by Parliament," the

 board said in a statement. It

said contd on page 2

NC party office is a power tariff defaulter 

Page 1_Bali_Bali_Jan_14_New.qxd 2/4/2013 10:03 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 2/8

No proof juvenile ....did what in the brutal gang-rape of the

student, but everything will become

clear soon. Till then, we all should

wait," said the CJI, who was in Patiala

on Saturday to preside over the first

convocation of Rajiv Gandhi National

University of Law(RGNLU), Punjab

and award degrees to students.

Justice Kabir reiterated that he too

wanted to protest against Delhi gang

rape but could not and that the grue-

some gang-rape of the girl has awak-

ened the country from deep slumber.

"But it's not the only heinous case

of crime against women. Such crimes

against women keep surfacing in our 

country and we have now put all such

cases on fast track," said the CJI.

On the demand for harshest pun-

ishment even to juveniles, who com-

mit gruesome crimes against women

like rape, CJI said, "Someone below

18 years of age comes under minor 

category and the law takes its course

as per the law of the land."

He said that, after putting all rape

cases on fast track across the country,

they have now decided to focus on

 pending cases, where petitioners or 

accused have died but cases are still

going on in various courts.

"We would start from SupremeCourt. In the coming some days, we

would establish two special benches

of SC to fast track all such cases. One

court would decide civil cases while

other would decide criminal cases,"

said the CJI.

Chairman of Law Commission of 

India, Justice DK Jain, Supreme Court

 judge SS Nijjar, chief justice of 

Punjab & Haryana high court and

chancellor, RGNUL, AK Sikri, jus-

tices Hemant Gupta, Rajive Bhalla

and Jasbir Singh were also present.

Congress leader....

in the Hyderabad Municipal

Corporation in 1965.

She became the first lady mayor of 

Hyderabad -- and the second woman

to don the honour in India after Tara

Cherian, who became the lady mayor 

of Madras in 1966.Sarojini was elected to the Andhra

assembly from Malakpet in 1967. She

represented the constituency twice but

lost in 1978. She became the first

chairperson of Hyderabad Urban

Development Authority in 1975.

She was inducted into the cabinet

in 1979. She was also a minister in the

cabinets of T Anjaiah, Bhavanam

Venkatram and Vijayabhaskar Reddy.

She was the first woman president

of the Hyderabad Congress

Committee.

In 2001, Sarojini was nominated a

member of CWC. Soft spoken,

Sarojini had a good rapport with both

Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL

 Narasimhan, chief minister N Kiran

Kumar Reddy, and senior Congress

and opposition leaders condoled her 

death.

BJP for CBI.....

and committed irregularities.

He sought a probe into the assets of 

 both Anil Kumar and his wife

Sharmila. "People should know how a

religious preacher amassed such huge

wealth," he said.

Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly

known as YSR, died in a helicopter 

crash Sep 2, 2009.

Targetting the late YSR's family for 

the first time, the BJP leader said Anil

Kumar was not an evangelist but a

 businessman.

Prabhakar gave details of the com-

 panies in which Anil Kumar is a direc-

tor.

Sharmila, a leader of the YSR 

Congress party, was injured during a

 padyatra last month.

Sharmila's brother and YSR 

Congress party president Y.S.

Jaganmohan Reddy is in jail in an

alleged illegal assets case.

Borders of election....

deploying additional BSF and Assam

Rifles troopers," a poll panel official

said.

Four northeastern states - Tripura,

Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam -

share a 1,880-km border with

Bangladesh. Mizoram, Manipur,

 Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh

share a 1,640-km border with

Myanmar.

Most of the international border is

unfenced and runs through dense

forests and mountainous, making it

 porous, vulnerable and advantageous

for terrorists and others.

Tripura will elect a new assembly

Feb 14. Meghalaya and Nagaland will

see elections Feb 23.

Tripura (856 km) and Meghalaya

(443 km) border Bangladesh.

 Nagaland has a 215-km border with

Myanmar.

The EC official said: "The borders

of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland

with other northeastern states would

also be sealed to prevent interstate

movement of criminals, militants and

other armed goons.

"To seal the borders effectively,

adequate para-military troopers - BSF

and Assam Rifles -- and other security

forces would be deployed along both

international and domestic bound-

aries."

A Tripura police official said over 

250 companies of paramilitary forces

and state armed forces would make

the election incident free.

"Armed police forces of Punjab,

Kerala and Mizoram would be

deployed in and around the polling

stations and counting centres," he

said.The poll panel has also formed fly-

ing squads to check illegal arms and

distribution of money to woo voters.

Delhi gangrape: Sonia....

said she was personally watching

every activity related to the case, he

said.

The brother said the Congress pres-

ident expressed grief at not being able

to save the girl despite all efforts.

He said it was the fourth time

Sonia had visited the family. Earlier,

she went twice to the hospital and also

met them at the airport when the body

was flown back from Singapore, he

said.

He said during her stay, she

enquired about the family moving

from Ballia to Delhi in 1983 and

regarding various aspects of the life of 

the girl since her childhood up to her  physiotherapy course.

Sonia also went to the room of the

girl and had a look at her books.

He said the family was impressed

with Sonia's affection and straightfor-

wardness.

Musharraf hid....

'It seems that our forces have con-

ducted a major action in Kargil'," he

writes.

At a briefing at the Military

Operations directorate in early May

that was also attended by Aziz, then

Director General of Military

Operations Maj Gen Tauqeer Zia said

the orthern Light Infantry and other 

regular troops had "occupied empty

hilltops in Kargil".

Mufti regrets....

unfortunate that the union cabinet

did not even discuss the recommenda-

tions. This sends out a highly negative

signal to people of Jammu and

Kashmir and other states covered by

it," he said.

Currently, Jammu and Kashmir and

four northeast states of Manipur,

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and

Assam are under the AFSPA.

Security personnel have been

accused of committing rapes in these

regions where the forces enjoy special

 powers to tackle militancy and insur-

gency.

Rights activists have been demand-

ing revocation of the AFSPA from

these regions.

The "AFSPAcould not be a perma-

nent feature of governance", the Mufti

said. Such laws were meant only for 

exceptional situations which no more

exist in Jammu and Kashmir," he

added.

NC party office....

of Rs 39 crore) and 27 consumers

in Kashmir (Rs 14 crore).

Power ministry officials said they

have already issued disconnection

notice under Section 50 of J&K 

Electricity Act 2010 (read with regula-

tion 8.3 of J&K SERC Supply Code

Regulation 2011) to 137 VIP default-

ers. The law has the provision of con-

fiscating even the immobile property

of the defaulters, if the government

wishes so.

These defaulters exclude a huge

list of central and state government

institutions which have not been pay-

ing their tariffs for a long time. While

in Jammu, the power tariff outstand-

ing with various government depart-

ments is Rs 629 crore, it is Rs 271

crore in Jammu. Unofficially, it is

 being alleged by defaulting depart-

ments that the PDD is booking the tar-

iff to government departments after it

fails to manage the distribution loses.

Despite being water abundant,

J&K lives is an energy deficit state

that imports more than half of its

requirements. For the current fiscal,

its power purchase is expected to

cross Rs 2200 crore as the overall

costs of supplying energy to con-

sumers would be around Rs 3300

crore. But the biggest crisis with the

state is that it is unable to manage col-

lecting even half of the tariff that

sends public finances in a tizzy. The

increasing gap between the funds

spent and tariff collected is one of the

major reasons for the instability of the

 public kitty in J&K.

President Mukherjee....

is in response to the sense of 

urgency that has been felt," he added.

"And, I think, we should r ecognise

that urgency that a lot of young people

have also wanted. But the content willnot be the content that we do not have

the maximum consensus on by the

time we actually get into the parlia-

ment to pass the bill that will replace

the ordinance," he said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist

(CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat said:

"We disapprove of the ordinance. The

CPI-M has issued a statement that we

disapprove of this ordinance. See

when Parliament is meeting, it is just

three weeks away; it is undemocratic

in fact to bring an ordinance like this.

And the content of the ordinance is

doing injustice to the Justice Verma

recommendations because it is highly

selective in what it has included in the

ordinance. And in fact what it has

included in some parts also is against

what Justice Verma has recommend-

ed. We don"t agree with this ordi-

nance."Karat further said: "as far as death

 penalty is concerned, Justice Verma

has already clarified and correctly that

there is rarest of rare categories on our 

statute books today".

"Therefore, a case of murder and

rape would any case come under this

category if that is what the judges

want. Therefore, there was no need

except to divert attention from the

serious recommendations of the

Committee on state"s culpability,

including recommendation to include

the armed forces in the criminal law as

far as sexual offences are concerned,"

she added.

Former Indian Police Service (IPS)

officer and activist Kiran Bedi said the

government needs to give a holistic

response to the society on the Justice

Verma Committee's recommenda-

tions.

"Justice Verma Committee is not

only about the law. There is a lot

 before the law and there is a lot after 

the law. I think the government needs

to give a holistic response to the soci-

ety on Justice Verma Committee"s

recommendations. It concerns police

reforms, it concerns judicial reforms,

it concerns electoral reforms. I think 

what the people of this country

demand of this government is a holis-

tic response," said Bedi.

"It"s a beginning made, but it"s a

very long way to go because Justice

Verma (Committee"s) recommenda-

tions is a holistic correction. A politi-

cian involved in crime, a person in

uniform involved in crime and then

 police reforms as such. I think this is a

 beginning. I hope this is not an inten-

tion for people to say we have done it

and that"s it. I think what this country

is demanding is a holistic response

 because Justice Verma Committee is a

very holistic way at looking at crime

 prevention," she added.

Various women's rights activists,

however, have criticised the govern-

ment for ignoring the committee rec-

ommendations regarding marital rape

and reviewing controversial sections

of the Armed Forces Special Powers

Act (AFSPA).

The ordinance introduced yester-

day is also silent on the recommenda-

tion to prevent politicians facing

charges of sexual crimes, from con-

testing elections.

Women's groups....

lack of transparency shown by the

government.... We had urged the

President not to sign such an ordi-

nance," the group said.

Kavita Krishnan, secretary of All

India Progressive Women's

Association (AIPWA) termed the

ordinance as "an absolute mockery" of 

Justice Verma panel's recommenda-

tions.

"We were alarmed to see the ordi-

nance as it ignored many recommen-

dations of that committee. The gov-

ernment has stealthily passed this

ordinance without sharing it with the

 public and without actually debating

and discussing it. All the recommen-

dations than can actually strike at the

heart of impunity have been dropped,"

she said.women's groups have planned

a protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday

against the ordinance.

K'taka Guv to....

" he added.

Bharadwaj had stated on January

26 that the Jagadish Shettar govern-

ment still enjoyed majority and as

leader of the BJP legislature party, it

was left for him to take action on the

issue of the resignation of the MLAs.

A cloud of uncertainty has beenhanging over the Shettar ministry ever 

since Yeddyurappa quit BJP to float

KJP in December 2012.

The former BJP strongman has

repeatedly put the government on

notice about their stability, claiming

support of 20-30 BJP MLAs.

His party had set two deadlines

earlier to unseat the government but

they turned out to be damp squibs.

Shettar had brushed aside these

threates and insisted last week that his

government still enjoys majority even

after the resignation of the MLAs and

that he was ready for a no-confidence

motion if Opposition moves it.

BJP ministry ...

224 are elected and one is nominat-

ed. Polls to elect the new assembly are

likely in April-May.

Ahead of the session, the BJP findsitself in almost the same position it

was in after the last polls in May 2008

in terms of numbers.

Then it had won 110 seats in the

assembly and crossed the majority

mark with the help of five of the six

Independents who were elected.

To get a majority on its own, the

BJP encouraged defections from the

Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-

S) assembly members in the first two

years of its rule. Several of the mem-

 bers quit the house and their party and

won by-polls as BJP nominees to take

its numbers to 120.

That has now come down to 106,

including the speaker - as of Sunday -

as 13 party members have quit the

assembly and the party since Nov 30

and one much earlier.

The 14 resignations have brought

down the house strength to 211 in

which the strength of the combined

opposition, including six independ-

ents, is 103.

Of this, the Congress has 71 mem-

 bers and the JD-S 26.

Apart from its own 106 members,

the BJP has the support of one of the

seven Independents, who is a cabinet

minister.

The BJP numbers could go down

further to 104 if the speaker on

Monday accepts the pending resigna-

tion of two party members from the

assembly. The first of the 13 to leave

was BJP's former chief minister B.S.

Yeddyurappa, who quit the assembly

and the party Nov 30 to lead his

Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) while

12 of his loyalists quit last Tuesday.

All eyes are now on Governor H.

R. Bhardwaj, who has said if he feels

the government is in a minority by

even one vote, he would direct Shettar 

to prove his majority in the assembly

 before transacting any other business

in the house. Bhardwaj is scheduled to

address the joint sitting of the assem-

 bly and the legislature Feb 4 as this is

the first s ession in the New Year.

Speedy justice....

This was allowed Jan 9, 2006.

"As the order sheet would reflect,

time got comatosed for more than six

years and eventually ministerial order 

of restoration was recorded on

11.5.2010," the apex court noted.

The apex court said: "The proceed-

ings in the second appeal before the

high court, if we allow ourselves to

say so, epitomizes the corrosive effect

that adjournments can have on a liti-

gation and how a list can get entan-

gled in the tentacles of an octopus.

"It is also astonishing that the

lawyers sought adjournments in a rou-

tine manner and the court acceded to

such prayers..."

The judges observed that "unfortu-

nate characteristics of endemic delays

have to be avoided at any cost.

"One has to bear in mind that this is

the day, this is the hour and this is the

moment when all soldiers of law fight

from the path. One has to remind one-

self of the great saying, "Awake,

Arise, 'O' Partha"."

Referring to its earlier judgments,

Justice Misra said: "This (apex) court,

in different contexts, had dealt with

the malady of adjournment and

expressed its agony and anguish.

Whatever may be the nature of litiga-

tion, speedy and appropriate delin-

eation is fundamental to judicial

duty."

 Noting that in a democratic set up,

"intrinsic and embedded faith in the

adjudicatory system is of seminal and

 pivotal concern", the judges said:

"Delay gradually declines the citizen-

ry faith in the system."Holding that the access to speedy

 justice was a human right, the court

said: "It is faith and faith alone that

keeps the system alive. It provides

oxygen. Fragmentation of faith has the

effect potentiality to bring in a state of 

cataclysm where justice may become

a casualty.

"Timely delivery of justice keeps

the faith ingrained and establishes the

sustained stability."

CBFC condemns ....

the board has been functioning

since 1951 and that there are judicial

 precedents upholding the legality of 

the certification process.

"In view of the above, the state-

ment of Advocate General

 Navaneetha Krishnan calling the certi-

fication process 'a scam' is baseless

and irresponsible," the statement said.Krishnan had last month alleged

that the film was not certified by the

competent authority and that it was

not in accordance with law. At one

stage, he also said that "film certifica-

tion is a very big scam" and that it

required an investigation.

The board also condemned the

statement of advocate Sankarasubu

who called the board members "pur-

chasable commodities" and deemed it

to be "utterly reprehensible and gross-

ly defamatory".

The CBFC called upon Krishnan

and Sankarasubu to issue an apology

for the statements made by them.

Gurezi reviewsfunctioning of 

Agriculture

Production depttJAMMU, FEB 03- Minister of 

State for Animal Husbandry,

Agriculture, Horticulture and

Floriculture, Mr. Nazir Ahmed Gurezi

underlined the need for reaching out

to the farmers at ground level to aware

them about the various schemes and

 programmes launched by the govern-

ment for their betterment in agricul-

ture and allied sectors and a better 

monitoring system. The Minister was

addressing at an introductory cum

review meeting of the officers of the

Agriculture, Horticulture and

Floriculture departments and scien-

tists of SKUAST-J held at Directorate

of Agriculture, Krishi Bhawan Jammu

today. Asserting the Officers to work 

with more zeal and dedication, the

Minister impressed upon them to

mobilise their field functionaries to

 provide basic knowhow to the farmers

 by involving represent atives of 

Panchayati Raj institutions. He added

that yet a number of steps have to be

taken to make state self sufficient in

agriculture and allied sectors to

improve the socio-economic condition

of our farmers in the wake of shrink-

age of cultivable land due to huge

construction and other non agricultur-

al uses. Mr. Gurezi called upon the

officers to aware the farmers with the

latest knowledge and innovations in

the field of Agriculture for increasing

the production and productivity.

STUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20132

Contd. from page 1... Jan Skinder appointedState Secretary of PYC

J & K state

JAMMU, FEB 3:  National President IYC

(Indian Youth Congress) Sh. Rajiv Satav, has

appointed Mr. Jan Skinder as the State

Secretary of Pardesh

Youth Congress Jammu

and Kashmir.

The announcement in

this regard was made by

Sh. Chetan Chauhan,

 National Secretary

Indian Youth Congress

and In-charge Jammu and Kashmir and Sh.

Shahnawaz Choudhary President PYC, J&K 

here today at Guest house Gandhi Nagar.

Jan Skinder has been appointed in view of 

his good performance and support of Youth

congress members and delegates during the

recently held organizational elections in

Jammu and Kashmir. He has also been award-

ed for his leadership skill.

Institutions of higher learning plays key role

in shaping youth: Shabir RAJOURI, FEB 3: Minister of State for 

Health, Mr. Shabir Ahmad Khan has said that

Institutions of higher learning can play a cru-

cial role in shaping career of the new genera-

tion and also building confidence in them toface challenges at national and international

level. He exhorted upon the student communi-

ty to work hard and dedication in achieving

excellence in their academics and in co-curric-

ular activities by leaving an indelible mark in

the society.

Addressing at the Annual Day-cum-Prize

distribution function of Himalayan Collage of 

Education, , the Minister said that the college

students at this stage are full of energy and

added that they should utilize it in construc-

tive way to prove an asset to the Nation.

Suggesting tips to students for shaping their 

overall personality, Mr. Shabir said that per-

spective planning and congenial atmosphere

are the two main factors in career building

 process.

Expressing his optimism over the capabili-

ty and desire to excel in different streams, the

Minister said that the youth of our country has

 proved their worth globally. For the purpose,

he said the State Government under thedynamic leadership of Chief Minister, Mr.

Omar Abdullah is making all out efforts in

 providing job oriented education to students

so that they could easily get employment just

after completion of their academics in the

country and aboard.

He said that the Government has started

market friendly and job oriented courses in the

colleges and introduced various courses of 

Information Technologies, Business

Management and Science keeping in view the

emerging need of present scenario.

The Minister further said, that government

has already opened a number of University

Campus and Colleges to expand the higher 

education sector beyond the cities and towns

so that the students of far-flung, hilly and neg-

lected areas get higher education at their door 

steps.

The Minister underscored the need for 

mass awareness on the deadly causes of drug

abuse. He stressed upon the field functionaries

of health and Education department to carry

out a mass awareness programmes in schools

and colleges to prevent the future builders of 

the State from this menace.

The Minister appreciated the role of pri-

vate educational institutions for providing

quality and job oriented education to the stu-

dents. He said in this regard the government is

 providing all logical support to these institu-

tions.

The Minister also distributed the prizes

among the outstanding students of the college

who have excelled academically as well as in

co-curricular activities.

The Principal of the college presented

annual report highlighting various achieve-

ments registered during the academic session

2012-13.

Earlier, the students of the Institution

thrilled the audience by presenting various

colorful cultural bonanza.

SSP Rajouri, Mubashir Latifi, Prof 

Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, Prof Shakeel Raina,

Prof Farooq Mirza, Prof Nizaqat Hussain,

Prof Iqbal Raina, Dr Sheraz, Ishtiaq Ahmed,

Mr. Nisar Hussain Rahi, Mr. Nazeer Qureshi,

Mr.Mohd Nazeer Qureshi, Mr. Kuldeep Raj

Gupta, Mr. Khurshid Bismal and Founder 

Patron Mr. Farooq Muztar were present on the

occasion.

Later, the Minister kick starts the construc-

tion work on 4 kilo meter Mehari-Gujjara

road. The road have been taken up under flag-

ship programme PMGSY at an estimated cost

of Rs. 2.36 crore, would be completed during

next financial year. After completion the road

would provide better road connectivity facili-

ty to over 5000 population of the area.

Page 2_Defence_Bali.qxd 2/4/2013 10:04 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 3/8

STATESTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20133

SRINAGAR: Support has

 been pouring in from all cor-

ners on social networking

sites for the first all-girls

rock band of Kashmir after it

received abusive and hate

messages on its Facebook 

 page for defying convention

 by choosing the field of 

music.

At least three pages have

come up on Facebook in the

 past three days throwing

their weight behind the three

Class X students of 

Kashmir, urging them not to

 be cowed down by the hate

mongers and continue their 

 band named 'Pragaas h'

(light).

'I support Pragaash,

Kashmir's first all-girls' rock 

 band' is the most popular 

 page with more than 1,000

'likes' since it was created

less than two days ago in

Facebook.

"I am with u. Follow your 

 passion sincerel y and be

good. God bless special peo-

 ple with art and you are one

of them, that's why every-

 body is not artist," Kanu

Sharma posted on the page.

The all-girls rock band,

which came to limelight in

late December last year after 

their performance at the

annual 'Battle of the Bands'

competition here, had defied

the convention by stepping

into the male-dominated

field of music.

The online threats have

left the families of the

teenage girls worried and

forced them to keep a low

 profile.

Though there are dozens

of bands currently playing

music of different genres in

the Kashmir Valley, the girls

-- vocalist-guitarist Noma

 Nazir, drummer Farah

Deeba and Guitarist Aneeka

Khalid -- formed the first

all-girls rock band under the

name of 'Pragaash' (light).

The band had won the

 best performance award in

their first public appearance.

Chief Minister Omar 

Abdullah also came out in

support of the girls yester-

day, saying police will probe

the threats. "I hope these tal-

ented young girls will not let

a handful of morons silence

them," he said.

It was a matter of shame

for those who demand free-

dom of speech on social

media networks but use it to

threaten the girls, Omar said.

"Shame on those who

claim freedom of speech via

social media and then use

that freedom to threaten girls

who have the right to choose

to sing," he said.

While Omar's support

was lauded by most of his

followers in Twitter, some

questioned his silence on the

 police action against the

Valley's first rapper 

'MCKash', who sang about

 protests and alleged atroci-

ties by security forces in

quelling the protests in the

summer of 2010.

"I support #pragash the

 band but if you are talking

about freedom of speech, I

support #MCKash also.

 Never saw @abdullah_omar 

tweeting about that," one

Shahid Zor posted on

Twitter.

The issue has generated a

debate as to whether 

Kashmiri society is getting

influenced by right-wing

extremism.

"My Support (to the

 band). Kashmir is in India,

not in extremist supportive

Pakistan. We live in the era

of technology, we want

Indian muslims be ahead of 

any other Muslim in this

world. We want Indians to

 be on top," another netizen

Sree Jith posted.

However, the comment

evoked sharp criticism from

netizens of Kashmir.

"I think it's a problem of 

the entire word. Misogyny is

not restricted to Kashmir. It's

only being recognised here

now because people are rais-

ing a voice against it. You

must've heard about the

recent incident in Mangalore

where RSS women wing

attacked women in a bar 

who were smoking," Shehla

Rashid Shora responded.

"Misogyny is not a pre-

rogative of Pakis. It's every-

where, right from Jhumri

Telaiya to Timbaktu. So stop

this blame game," another 

netizen Sara Alam contend-

ed.

Support pours in on social sites for Kashmir all-girl rock band

JAMMU, FEB 3 :The "deci-

sion to ignore" a recommen-

dation of a panel, formed for 

making anti-rape laws strin-

gent, to revoke the Armed

Forces (Special Powers) Act

(AFSPA) could prove "count-

er-productive", Jammu and

Kashmir's main opposition

 party said here.Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) patron Mufti

Mohammad Sayeed, while

welcoming the recommenda-

tions of Justice J.S. Verma

Committee and the prompt

action on it taken by the cen-

tral government, regretted the

failure to revoke the AFSPA,

as suggested by the panel Jan

23.

The proposal was a part of 

the report the committee sub-

mitted on ways to make rape

laws more stringent in the

country.

"...The decision to ignore

the Verma panel recommen-

dations could prove counter 

 productive," Mufti said about

non-revocation of the

AFSPA.

In its 631-page report, the

three-member committee

called for amendment to

Section 6 of the AFSPA

which gives the Indian armed

forces search and seize pow-

ers and immunity from legal

action against them during

the operations in the statesthat have been declared "dis-

turbed areas" riddled with

militancy.

"This is clearly a case of 

double standards and reflects

 poorly on our national

resolve to uphold women's

dignity and rights without

discrimination, which got a

resounding expression

recently in the wake of Delhi

gang-rape," the Mufti said at

a public meeting at Marh

near here. The Mufti said

Justice Verma's recommen-

dations on bringing crimes

against women universally

under the jurisdiction of civil

courts was a welcome, first

step towards revocation of 

the AFSPA which was intro-

duced in totally different cir-

cumstances in states.

"(It) was unfortunate that

the union cabinet did not

even discuss the recommen-

dations. This sends out a

highly negative signal to peo-

 ple of Jammu and Kashmir 

and other states covered by

it," he said.Currently, Jammu and

Kashmir and four northeast

states of Manipur, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland, and

Assam are under the AFSPA.

Security personnel have

 been accused of committing

rapes in these regions where

the forces enjoy special pow-

ers to tackle militancy and

insurgency.

Rights activists have been

demanding revocation of the

AFSPAfrom these regions.

The "AFSPA could not be

a permanent feature of gover-

nance", the Mufti said. Such

laws were meant only for 

exceptional situations which

no more exist in Jammu and

Kashmir," he added.

PDP regrets non-removal of AFSPAJAMMU: After witnessing a

fall in 2010 due to the sum-

mer unrest in Kashmir Valley,

 political activities in Jammu

and Kashmir are again show-

ing signs of revival as about

1,800 political rallies were

recorded in the state last year.

The rallies, which define

 political atmosphere in thestate, have fallen down by 50

 per cent in 2010 as compared

to the previous year.

As per a report on security

and militancy, compiled by

the state Home ministry upto

 November end, as many as

1,794 political rallies took 

 place in 2012 as compared to

1,591 in 2010.

As many as 1,646 rallies

were held in 2011 in Jammu

and Kashmir.

The state has recorded a

total of 31,384 political ral-

lies during the past 22 years

 period of militancy in J&K.

 No political rally was held inJ&K between 1990 to 1998

due to the eruption of mili-

tancy. The reason of an

increase in the political ral-

lies and political activity is

due to peaceful environment

and falling militancy in the

state, senior officials said.

Giving breakup of the ral-

lies organised by various

 political parties during the

 past ten years in the state, NC

tops the table with 9,094 ral-

lies, 8,083 rallies by

Congress, 7,843 rallies by

PDP, 2,892 rallies by BJP,

1,197 rallies by JKNPP, 798

rallies by BSP and 436 rallies by CPI(M).

However, in 2009, politi-

cal rallies were far less than

2008's figures of a record

6,783. As many as 3,021

 political rallies were held in

JK in 2009, the report

reveals.

Giving further details, it

said that various political par-

ties undertook 2,137 rallies in

2007 followed by 1,560 such

rallies in 2006 and 1,781 in

2005. Similarly, 2004 wit-

nessed 4,081 political rallies

followed by 1,158 in 2003,

2,975 in 2002, 633 in 2001,

510 in 2000 and 1,600 in1999.

In 2012, upto November 

end, Congress has organised

479 political rallies followed

 by coalition partner National

Conference (NC) with 515

rallies followed by opposi-

tion PDP and BJP with 509

and 167 political rallies

respectively.

Similarly, Jammu and

Kashmir National Panthers

Party (JKNPP) undertook 55

rallies followed by BSP with

22, CPI(M) with 15,

Samajwadi Party with four,

 NCP with one, Peoples

Democratic Front with sevenrallies, People Conference

with 20 rallies.

In 2009, NC had organ-

ised the highest number of 

895 rallies, followed by PDP

with 764, Congress with 745,

BJP with 336 and JKNPP132

rallies.

JAMMU 03 FEBRUARY:

Observing that PDPand BJP

is destined to see doomsday

in 2014 J&K Assembly

Elections, the Sr. Vice

President National

Conference and former 

Cabinet Minister, Mr. Surjit

Singh Slathia today said that

the peace loving People of 

the State have understoodtheir politics of deceits & lie.

Addressing a Public gath-

ering at Mahalshah,

Vijaypur, after laying foun-

dation stone of Irrigation

Tube Well Project, which

shall be completed at an esti-

mated cost of Rs. 65 lacs

under the scheme NABARD

.The discharge of the said

tube well is 15 to 20,000

gallons per hour which shall

irrigates 80 acres of land .

Mr Slathia also inagurat-

ed construction of road/

drain from Mahalshah Adda

to Mahalshah village .The

length of the road is one

kilometer and is completed

at an estimated cost of Rs

20 lacs .

Mr. Slathia said that

People of the State have

strong secular and democrat-

ic credentials and will never 

allow politics founded on the

malafide intentions and the

 policy of divide and rule. Mr 

Slathia Said while BJP takes

its roots from religious and

emotional fanaticism, the

PDP is its brain child with an

ulterior motive to weaken

 N.C. for throttling people's

voice as it was single largest

 political party of the State

representative of urges andaspirations of the people.

BJP and likeminded people

did not want to see Peoples'

voice reaching to higher ech-

elons of Power corridors

 both within and outside the

country through the power-

ful medium of N.C. and

unsuccessfully hatched con-

spiracy to introducing PDP

as an alternate regional party

 just to weaken N.C by divid-

ing its strong vote bank. But

their all the investments,

 both in cash and kind, failed

to overshadow peoples' deep

love respect and faith for the

 N.C. and its leadership," Mr 

Slathia said adding that on

the contrary people inflicted

a humiliating defeat on PDP

in the elections. He said after 

seeing growing popularitygraph among masses, the

entire PDP leadership has

 been rendered into a frustrat-

ed lot and was resorting to

character assassination and

lies.

Mr. Slathia cautioned the

 people against the disgrun-

tled and divisive politicians

who are changing their 

colours like Chameleons to

grab the power.

JAMMU, FEB 03: Minister 

for Housing, Horticulture and

Culture Mr. Raman Bhalla has

said that Government is mak-

ing all out efforts to upgrade

living profile of urban poor 

lot, adding that for this pur-

 pose several new projects

have already been taken in

hand at a number of places

like multipurpose community

halls, deep drill tube wells,

receiving stations, schools

 besides better link roads, lanes

and drains.

This was stated by the

Minister while laying founda-

tion stone of second storey

multipurpose community hall

at Ambedkar Nagar, here

today. He said the second

storey of the hall would be

constructed at an estimated

cost of Rs. 25 lakh and com-

 pleted by May this year 

.However, he asked the offi-

cers that there would be no

any compromise on usage of 

quality and latest technique

material. He informed that

Government has already dedi-

cated Rs. 45 lakh ground floor 

hall to the people of Trikuta

 Nagar Extension, Ambedkar 

 Nagar, Channi Bija for 

arranging their social as well

as religious functions on nom-

inal fees. He further said that

Government has already dedi-

cated Rs. 9 crore multipur-

 pose community halls to

urban poor of Govindpura

Kullian, Barazalla, Preet

 Nagar, Channi Rama, Nai

Basti, Babliana, Gangyal,

Bahu Fort, Shanker Colony

and Ambedkar Nagar people.

Mr Bhalla said

Government is committed to

 provide all basic amenities to

the inhabitants of Ambedkar 

 Nagar like adequate drinking

water, electricity, road con-

nectivity, education, health-

care besides better lanes and

drains adding that for this pur-

 pose, Government has provid-

ed liberal funding for devel-

oping all the basties on mod-

ern lines.

Mr. Bhalla asked the R&B

engineers to immediately start

the construction work for rais-

ing the height of lanes and

drains besides two to three

feet height of 200 meter nal-

lah embankments so that the

overflow of nallah water do

not harm the property of resi-

dents. He warned the

unscrupulous elements eying

to grab nalllah land and added

that stringent action will be

taken against them besides

eviction of the Government

 property.

Responding to the

demands of locals, the

Minister said upgradation and

 blacktopping of link road of 

Ambedkar Nagar would be

started immediately.

Regarding upgradation of 

Government High School up

to Higher Secondary level, he

said that the proposal is under 

active consideration with

School Education Ministry.

At Shastri Nagar, the

Minister laid foundation for 

upgradation of lanes and

drains, for which Government

has earmarked Rs. 13 lakh. He

asked the executing agency to

complete the project within

stipulated time frame for the

 benefit of the people.

Political rallies on rise in Jammu and Kashmir 

PDP BJP nexus failed to overshadow Peoples' love, faith in N.C : Slathia

Former Cabinet Minister, Mr. Surjit Singh Slathia addressing aPublic gathering at Mahalshah, Vijaypur at Jammu.

SRINAGAR: Cold wave

conditions in Kashmir 

today abated as the night

temperatures continued the

upward trend, much to the

respite of Valley residents.

The minimum tempera-

ture in Srinagar, the sum-

mer capital of Jammu and

Kashmir, settled at 4.1

degrees Celsius last night,

up from 3.1 degrees

Celsius the previous night,

an official of the MET

department said.

The gateway town of 

Qazigund in south

Kashmir also registered an

upward movement of the

mercury as night tempera-

ture settled at 2.6 degrees

Celsius, up from 0.8

degree Celsius yesterday,

he said.

The night temperature

in Kokernag increased

slightly to settle at a low of 

1.1 degrees Celsius, as

against the previous night's

0.8 degrees Celsius, he

said.

The spokesman said

that in north Kashmir's

Kupwara town, where the

 previous night's low was

minus 0.6 degrees Celsius,

the minimum temperature

settled above the freezing

 point at 1.7 degre es

Celsius during the night.

He said the Gulmarg

skiing resort in north

Kashmir recorded a low of 

minus 7.0 degrees Celsius,

while Pahalgam health

resort in south recorded a

low of minus 3.2 degrees

Celsius.

Leh and Kargil towns in

Ladakh region continued

to reel under severe cold.

While Kargil recorded a

low of minus 10.4 degrees

Celsius, the mercury set-

tled at minus 6.4 degrees

Celsius in Leh town.

The weatherman has

forecast heavy snowfall

across Kashmir Valley

over the next few days.

Kashmir Valley gets respitefrom biting cold condition

Bhalla lays foundation stone of Community hall at Ambedkar Nagar'

Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture Mr. Raman Bhalla addressing a public gathering atAmbedkar Nagar.

JAMMU FEB 03: Minister for 

Planning, Development, Labour and

Employment, Mr Ajay Kumar 

Sadhotra today visited Bikram

Chowk, the site for mega flyover proj-

ect being taken up at a cost of Rs 95.50

crores.

The Minister was accompanied by

the Chief Executive Officer, Economic

Reconstruction Agency, Mr. Saurab

Bhagat, Director Tanche III, Mr.

 Naresh K. Langeh, Director 

Safegaurd, Mr. Vinod Sharma, Project

Manager, Mr. J. G. Mengi, Dy. Project

Managers, Dr Sanjeev Chadha, Mr S

K Sethi, Mr Anil Pandoi.

The main feature of the flyover will

 be its grandeur which has been

designed keeping in view the overall

landscape of the city. The 1.3 kilome-

ter flyover, being executed by the

Economic Reconstruction Agency,

will go a long way in reducing the traf-

fic congestion in the capital city.

Urging the executing agency for early

completion of this vital project in stip-

ulated time frame, Mr. Sadhotra said

that special thrust should be laid over 

the quality of the work. He also

stressed on the engineers to see that

the commuters are not put to incon-

venience while the work is executed

on the project.

The Minister said that this project

will in a long way help in easing pres-

sure of traffic into the city and reduce

congestion. He said the coalition gov-

ernment; led by Chief Minister Omar 

Abdullah is endeavoring for planned

development of the state keeping in

view its future requirements. He said

that special care is being taken that all

the regions and areas get equal oppor-

tunities of progress and development.

Sadhotra visits Bikram Chowk; discusses flyover project

JAMMU, 03 FEB: Satwari Sabzi Mandi

Association is going to organize 2nd Chandi

Mata Jagran on March 9th at Sabzi Mandi,

Satwari.

Addressing a press conference, Sunny

Mehra, President, Satwari Sabzi Mandi

Association said that the Association is organ-

izing Chandi Mata Jagran for the second time

and urged the Jammuities to take part in the

Chandi Mata Jaran and took away the blessings

of Chandi Mata for happy and prosperous life.

He said that the jagran will commence at 8:

00 pm and conclude at 6:00 am next morning.

Various artists from in and around Jammu

are going to perform various programme dur-

ing the Chandi Mata Jagran followed by Jyot

Prajawlit at 12:00 mid night and Tara Rani

Katha, he added.

The artists who were performing during the

Chandi Mata Jagran are Daljit Singh Rathore,

Surinder Manhas, Komal Sharma, Naveen

Punjabi, Pamma Punjabi, Sona Dogra and Anil

Punjabi. The organizers of the Jagran are

Sunny Mehra,Ramesh Gupta, Jimmy, Sunny,

Tony, Binder besides other members of the

association.

Chandi Mata Jagran on Mar 9th

Ramesh Gupta member of Satwari Sabzi Mandi Association addressing media persons at AapShambhu Temple in Satwari.

Page 3,4 State.qxd 2/4/2013 10:04 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 4/8

STATESTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20134

JAMMU FEB 03: Lauding

the valour of Sikhs, Minister 

for Planning, Development,

Labour and Employment,

Mr Ajay Kumar Sadhotra

today recalled the important

role of the community in

maintaining sovereignty,

integrity and unity of the

country besides socio-eco-

nomic transformation of the

State.

Addressing a big congre-

gation held in connection

with the Gurpurab celebra-

tions at Karwal in Marh

 block, the Minister referred

to the bonds of amity and

 brotherhood between vari-

ous communities and said

this is required to be sus-

tained and passed on to pos-

terity.

The Minister recalled

with reverence the preaching

of Guru Gobind Singhji and

called upon the people to

work for imbibing and dis-

seminating the message of 

love and peace for making

the world better place to live

in. He said great Gurus stood

for justice, equality and

 peace and called for making

these cherished principles as

way of life.

"These occasions provide

us an opportunity to pledge

for creating a society based

on justice and equality.

Service to the making should

 be our primary objective", he

added.

Mr Sadhotra hoped that

the people of the State irre-

spective of cast, creed and

colour should strive to main-

tain centuries old traditions

of communal harmony and

 brotherhoo d. "The people

have, in fact, withstood the

test of times by frustrating

the machinations of divisive

forces", he maintained,

The Minister assured the

Sadh Sanghat that the gov-

ernment will take all possi-

 ble measures to mitigate

their grievances and urged

them to contribute and coop-

erate in implementing vari-

ous schemes and pro-

grammes for betterment of 

the society. He referred to

the initiatives taken for 

development and prosperity

of the State and gave an

insight of the schemes and

 projects launched and com-

missioned since 1996. He

said the Chief Minister 

Omar Abdullah is keen to

take this initiative forward

for achieving overall devel-

opment of all the regions and

sub regions of the State.

On the occasion a big

Dewan was held in which

the people from the periph-

eral areas participated.

Shabad and Kirtans were

also held on the occasion.

Sadhotra for strengthening bonds of unity, amity

Minister for Planning, Development, Labour and Employment, Mr Ajay Kumar Sadhotra addressing a big congregation held in connection with the Gurpurab celebrationsat Karwal in Marh block at Jammu.

NEW DELHI, FEBRU-ARY 03: Minister of State

for I&C, Home, R&B &

Tourism, Sajjad Ahmad

Kichloo today called on

Union Minister for New &

Renewable Energy Dr.

Farooq Abdullah and Union

Minister for Health &

Family Welfare, Ghulam

 Nabi Azad, and apprised

them about issues of vital

importance concerning the

development of the State.

During his meeting with

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the

Minister apprised the Union

Minister about additional Air 

Force sorties to far-flung

areas of Kargil, Marwah and

Dacchan so that stranded

 passengers are safely air-lift-ed to their respective desti-

nations. He apprised the

Minister about prioritizing

work on Singhpora-Vailo

tunnel for which he met

Chief Engineer BEACON

earlier this week. The tunnel

will connect Kashmir Valley

with district Kishtwar and

 bring in circular connectivity

 between Kashmir and

Jammu divisions.

Kichloo also briefed the

Minister about taking up the

issue of installation of crash

 barriers on Kishtwar-Batote

road to reduce the number of 

road accidents that have

risen alarmingly over the last

few years and consumed

several precious lives.The Minister also

requested the Union

Minister for allocating

10,000 solar lights in remote

villages in district Kishtwar.

This, the Minister said, will

 bring relief to people resid-

ing in inaccessible areas

which are still not power-

connected.

On the issue of augment-

ing road and tunnel connec-

tivity in the State, Dr.

Abdullah assured the

Minister that he will take up

the matter with Union

Surface Transport Ministry

so that BEACON and GREF

works in the State are fast-

tracked. He also assured the

State Minister of all help in New & Renewable Energy

sector which is under his

charge.

In a separate meeting

with Union Health Minister 

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kichloo

apprised him about the status

of health sector in the State,

especially district Kishtwar.

He sought expansion of 

health facilities and infra-

structure under Central

Financial Assistance. The

Minister requested for sanc-

tioning a 100-bedded mater-

nity hospital under CFA in

the newly-created district of 

Kishtwar. This, he said, will

result in prevention of fatali-

ties when expectant mothers

are shifted to other districtsin cases of emergency.

The Minister also

requested Azad for setting

up a Trauma hospital on

Batote-Kishtwar road which

will facilitate immediate

medical treatment to injured

 patients in cases of acci-

dents, which have occurred

frequently in erstwhile Doda

district over the last few

years. The Union Minister 

also assured Kichloo of all

help in augmenting health

services in J&K. He also

expressed his commitment

to take up issues of road and

tunnel connectivity in the

State with the Union Surface

Transport Ministry.

JAMMU, FEB 03: Minister of State

for Forests, Environment & Ecology,

Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma, underlined

the need for involvement of the local

communities in conservation of wet-

lands. Highlighting the role played by

communities in various prominent

environmental movements of India,

he said the wetlands and water bodies

are our main water resources.

The Minister and Chief Guest ,Dr.

Manohar Lal was addressing at a

function organized in connection with

celebrating World Wetlands Day by

the Department of Wildlife

Protection, in collaboration with

World Wide Fund for nature-India

(WWF-India) and Department of 

Environment and Remote Sensing,

Govt. at Mansar Wetland, a Ramsar 

Site, in Jammu here today.

The Minister assured that the

Government shall strive hard to

ensure that the wetlands of J&K are

conserved and maintained in the best

interests of the people of the state.

The World Wetlands Day was, for the

first time, organized on 2nd February,

1997 and every year since then vari-

ous agencies at all levels of the com-

munity have taken advantage of the

opportunity provided by this day to

undertake actions aimed at raising

 public awareness of wetland values

and benefits in our daily lives .

Dr Lal highlighted the importance

of wetlands & their significance in

human life. He said that wetlands

apart from providing multiple bene-

fits to human society also act as

important wildlife refuges and added

it gives shelter to priceless migrated

 birds.

The programme was attended by a

numerous personalities, senior citi-

zens including school students, mem-

 bers of panchayat, scientists, acade-

micians, conservationists, officials

from different Govt. departments and

common masses.

Dr. O.P. Sharma, Chief 

Conservator of Forests underlined the

threats that jeopardize the existence

of wetlands in the so called modern-

ized world.

Sh. Suresh Chough, Director,

Environment and Remote Sensing

highlighted the role of Mansar and

Surinsar wetlands as an important

source of water in the surrounding

Kandi belt

Wildlife Warden, Mr. Saleem-ul-

Haq, while welcoming the guests,

gave an overview of the programme.

Mr. Pankaj Chandan, Head,

Himalayan Wetlands Conservation

Programme, informed the gathering

that WWF is working for the sustain-

able conservation of wetlands

through good science and policy &

advocacy both nationally and interna-

tionally. Dr. Deepika Salathia,

Assistant Professor, Dept. of 

Environmental Sciences, University

of Jammu, spoke about the services

 provided by the twin wetlands of 

Mansar and Surinsar and their rele-

vance for local communities.

On this occasion a symposium on

the importance of wetlands was also

organized in which Ms. Priya

Sharma, Mr. Jeevan Lal and Ms.

Poonam Sarmal received first second

and third prizes respectively.

Kichloo meets Farooq, Azad in DelhiUrges construction of Singhpora-Vailo tunnel; demands 100-bedded maternity hospital for Kishtwar 

Director Social Welfarereviews performance

UDHAMPUR, FEBRUARY 03: Director,

Social Welfare Department Jammu, M.H.

Bhatti convened meeting of Officers of SocialWelfare Department to review the schemes

 being implemented by the department at

Udhampur.

The meeting was attended by the

Programme Officer (ICDS Project)

Udhampur, District Social Welfare Officer,

Udhampur and all the Child Development

Project Officers of District Udhampur.

During the meeting, Director Social

Welfare undertook a detailed review of the

 progress made under the schemes like Post-

Matric and Pre-Matric Scholarships to

SC/OBC students, Widow, Old Age and

Disability Pensions, working of Nari Niketan

and Bal Ashram etc.

Director also reviewed the functioning of 

AWC's in detail and the status of procurement

of Nutrition items in the AWC's.

Strict instructions were issued to the

Officers concerned for timely disbursement of 

the honorarium to AWW's and AWH's,

Pension and Scholarships and to monitor theAWC's rigorously, in order to ensure that they

are fully functional, so as to provide maxi-

mum benefits to the beneficiaries.

DDC Rajouri holdspublic grievance camp

RAJOURI, FEBRUARY 03: District

Development Commissioner Rajouri, Mr.

Saugat Biswas convened a public grievances

redressal camp at Fathepur Gurian to take

stock of the problems of the people.

The people of the area puforth their 

demands regarding setting up of a primary

health centre, improving road connectivity,

restarting the defunct dugwell at Danna,

installing hand pump at Mohalla Lohara and

improving irrigation facilities in the area.

They also demanded installation of solar 

lights in the park developed in Sain Ganji

Sahib.

The DDC assured the people that all their 

genuine demands will be taken up in a time

 bound manner. He directed the concerned

officers to ensure proper implementation of 

all development schemes and monitor the

ongoing projects for their timely completion.

Assistant Commissioner Development,

Chief Planning Officer, Executive Engineers

of PHE, PDD, PMGSY, REW and Tehsildar 

Rajouri and other block level officers besides

Panchayats representatives were present on

the occasion.

Govt keen to promote sportsculture among youth: Taj

JAMMU, FEBRUARY 01: Minister for 

Medical Education, Youth Services and

Sports, Mr. Taj Mohi-ud-Din has said thatgovernment is keen to promote sports culture

among youth of the state.

Addressing the closing ceremony of 9th 3

day Jammu and Kashmir Wushu champi-

onship here this evening, the Minister said

more and more such tournaments would be

organized all across the state to seek the

involvement of youth from length and breadth

of the state. He said Department of Youth

Services is planning the expansion and

strengthening of sports infrastructure in a big

way. He asked youth to take benefit of all

these events and help in changing their per-

sonalities. He hoped that more and more such

competitions the youth of the state would be

able to prove their mettle at the national and

international level. In the overall tally Jammu

district emerged victorious whileas Budgam

and Bandipora districts came first and 2nd

runner-ups. Director SSG, Mr. H. K. Lohia,

Secretary J&K Sports Council, Mr. Daleep

Thusoo and a large number of sports loverswere present at the closing ceremony.

Manohar Lal lays foundationstones of various projects

KATHUA, FEBRUARY 03: Minister of 

State for Fisheries, Co-operatives and

Finance, Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma today laid

foundation stone of a park at Gujru Nagrota

market in Tehsil Billawar besides foundation

stone of a passenger shed, toilet and a bath-

room at Durga Mandir Complex in the

Panchayat Kah-Kashad. The projects will be

completed at a cost of Rs.42 lakh by

Lakhanpur Development Authority. He direct-

ed the concerned officers for speedy execu-

tion of these projects The Minister sanctioned

Rs.3 lakh out of his CDF for the construction

of lanes and drains for the panchayats of Kah

and Kashad. He also directed the authorities

concerned to invite tenders for the speedy

construction of road from main road tent

house to Mohalla Sainik Colony in Panchayat

Kashad.

The Minister also sanctions 8 hand pumps

and 15 electric poles out of his CDF for the

Panchayats Kah-Kashad. . Earlier, the

Minister convened a public grievance camp at

Panchayat Kah-Kashad and listened the prob-

lems of the locals very patiently. He assured

them that their genuine problems would be

solved on phased manner.

JAMMU, FEB 03: The Minister for Higher 

Education Mr. Mohammad Akbar Lone today

said the University Campuses of Kargil,

Ladakh and Kupwara shall be made functional

very soon to facilitate higher education to the

students of these areas. He said in this regard a

meeting with the concerned high level officers

will be held on February 8 to deliberate upon

the various aspects regarding operationaliza-

tion of these campuses.

The Minister was speaking at an 18th

Annual Day Function organized by the All

Kargil Student Association Jammu (AKSAJ) in

collaboration with the Yoga Centre, University

of Jammu at General Zorawar Singh

Auditorium Hall, University of Jammu today.

The Minister said after assuming the

responsibility of Higher Education Ministry he

immediately sought details from the concerned

departments about the status of these

University Campuses. He said efforts are afoot

to make these campuses functional so that the

students of Kargil, Ladakh and Kupwara dis-

tricts will get higher and quality education at

their door steps.

Congratulating the students of the region

for celebrating annual day, the Minister said

that the students of Kargil have achieved a lot

in the field of education braving difficulties at

various fronts and hoped that they will push

forward the mission in future also.

Recalling the contribution of Sheri-e-

Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for the

development of the Kargil region, Mr. Lone

said that it is due to the efforts of the great leg-

endry leader that Kargil has been given the sta-

tus of the district headquarter. He said it was

his dream to improve the socio-economic con-

dition besides overall development of the

region, adding that the Chief Minister, Omar 

Abdullah is striving hard to push forward the

mission of late leader. He said that teaching fra-

ternity has a great responsibility in nurturing

the students in right direction so that, they

 became responsible citizens and shoulder the

responsibilities of the nation.

Kargil, Ladakh, Kupwara UniversityCampuses to functional soon: Lone

ANANTNAG, FEBRUARY

03: Minister for Public

Enterprises, Hajj, Auqaf 

Floriculture, Peerzada

Mohammad Sayeed today

visited far flung area of 

Magam Kokernag to assess

the latest situation in the area

resulting due to outburst of 

Hepatitis C disease.

The Minister was accom-

 panied by a team of Health

experts, and senior Doctors.

Speaking on the occasion,

the Minister said that the

samples of about 1600 per-

sons have been collected, out

of which 350 testes are

reported positive. He further 

added that expert teams from

Directorate of Health

Services Kashmir, SKIMS

and from Union Health

Department have also visited

the area and have initiated the

 process of knowing the root

cause of the disease.

The Minister urged upon

the people of the area to

cooperate with the visiting

teams so that the disease

could be controlled immedi-

ately and uprooted well in

time.

Mr Syeed also stressed

upon the local people to

adhere health guidelines,

adopt precautionary meas-

ures, maintain proper sanita-

tion and cleanliness in and

around the area besides in

homes.

On the occasion the

Minister announces free

medical treatment camp for 

the affected people and said

that government will bear the

expenses for the treatment of 

victims, adding that if central

government help is needed,

that too will be sought.

The Minister also made

announcement of providing a

Primary Health Centre for the

Magam village very soon.

Deputy Commissioner 

Anantnag, Director Health

Services Kashmir, Additional

District Development

Commissioner, Senior 

Superintendent of Police and

other district officers accom-

 panied the Minister.

Peerzada visits Hepatitis hit Magam

Minister for Public Enterprises, Hajj, Auqaf Floriculture, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed addressing a public gathering at Anantnag.

World Wetlands Day observed at Mansar 

Minister of State for Forests, Environment & Ecology, Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma pre-senting memonto to student during World Wetlands day function at Jammu.

Page 3,4 State.qxd 2/4/2013 10:04 AM Page 2

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 5/8

EDITORIALSTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20135

India's politicians cannot take

too much reality. The one

certain sign of this is the

Centre's decision to ignore the

J.S. Verma committee's recom-

mendation that marital rape be

considered a crime. This recom-

mendation struck at the heart of 

 patriarchal aggression. That the

government rejected it suggests

that the invisible structures of 

gender hierarchy are yet to be

 breached, even though there is

obvious urgency on the govern-

ment's part to set the right ball

rolling. It would not be fair to

crib about urgency after criticiz-

ing the establishment's lack-

adaisical attitude to crimes

against women. The govern-

ment's visible eagerness to dis-

cuss the Verma committee rec-

ommendations is, perhaps, little

less than historic, since commit-

tee reports in India are better-

known for gathering dust on

inaccessible shelves. Yet the

wary will ask whether haste is a

good thing in the matter of lay-

ing down the law regarding

actions that inhabit the shadowy

and turbulent region of intimateand violent physicality, overt and

covert power, oppression, gen-

der, personhood, fear, hatred,

destruction, unequal perceptions

and politics.

But if haste can be criticized,

urgency cannot. So the govern-

ment's decision to formulate an

ordinance on sexual crime to be

sent to the president for approval

is to be seen, presumably, as its

sensitive response to nationwide

 protests against the Delhi gan-

grape in December. Ordinances

are an emergency measure for 

the most acute need when

Parliament is not sitting. The

next session is less than three

weeks away. How acute was the

need for the decision on sexual

crimes? As acute as the govern-

ment's need to be seen reacting

sympathetically to people's

 protests? That would partly

explain why capital punishment

has been left in as an option for 

those convicted of 'aggravated'

rape, although the Verma com-

mittee rejected it. By including

capital punishment as an option,

the Centre seems to have ignored

the possibility that the death

 penalty could lower the rate of 

conviction. And that is just one

of the arguments against death

for rapists.

But there is much to be thank-

ful for, especially if this haste

signals greater promptitude and

 proper method in responding to

crimes against women. The

acceptance of the recommenda-

tions regarding stalking or 

voyeurism is encouraging too,

although there should be safe-

guards put in to ensure that inno-

cent people are not victimized or  blackmailed in such cases. The

doubt about the nature of the

government's impulse springs

from its flat rejection of radical

changes - not just in the case of 

marital rape but also in the case

of army personnel accused of 

rape. The deeper structure is

 being left untouched. In that con-

text, the substitution of 'sexual

assault' for 'rape', a change the

Verma committee had argued

against, is a little worrying.

Indians can only hope this will

not mean dilution.

By Swapan Dasgupta

On hearing that the

Supreme Court has

directed the police to

refrain from arresting Ashis

 Nandy, arguably India's most cele-

 brated contrarian, a wicked

thought entered my head. Imagine

a situation if, instead of Nandy,

some other (perhaps lesser-

known) non-political public figure

had given similar offence, real or 

contrived, to a group that enjoys

exceptional Constitutional protec-

tion? Would the judges have used

their common sense and brushed

aside the contention that a casual

statement in a discussion constitut-

ed an "atrocity" that must automat-

ically be accompanied by a non-

 bailable arrest warrant against the

deemed offender?

Asking an awkward question

does not imply that I am demand-

ing that Nandy be arrested and

 peremptorily sentenced to ten

years of rigorous imprisonment.

Far from it! Nandy, as even his

academic friends who signed peti-

tions in his support maintained,was guilty of clumsy formulation,

unwarranted impishness and even

lack of empirical rigour.

These are grave charges to be

levelled against a public intellectu-

al of Nandy's standing. Anyone

else would have been pilloried

mercilessly for such failings and

 perhaps even been castigated as a

"goondaintellectual" - Dalit

activist Kancha Ilaiah's gratuitous

description of Arun Shourie and

me at a CNN-IBN programme last

week.

But since Nandy's heart was

apparently in the right place, his

defenders insisted that a literalist

interpretation of the law would be

a travesty.

I have enormous sympathy for 

this argument which also has

found favour with the Supreme

Court. Nandy's analysis of the

social contours of corruption

would not have contributed to

social tensions. Indeed, had it not

 been for a panellist who carries a

 permanent chip on his shoulder, I

doubt whether it would have been

noticed outside the Jaipur Literature Festival venue.

After all, such festivals are

occasions where the chattering

classes can let their hair down and

say a few outrageous things-as

long as some red lines aren't

crossed.

By suggesting that the corrup-

tion story in India couldn't be writ-

ten without a special section on

Madhu Koda and that Bengali

wholesomeness had been pre-

served by maintaining the caste

character of bhadralok society,

 Nandy did cross the Lakshman

Rekha. Interestingly, as a British

MP of African origin pointed out,

so did former diplomat Pavan

Varma when he alluded to the

"half-castes" of the former British

Empire.

But since Varma's target was

cultural inter-mixing and a

defence of national purity, it was

overlooked. I daresay if Varma had

spoken in a similar vein at a liter-

ary meet in Britain, he would cer-

tainly have been booed by the

audience. He may even have had a

case under the Race Relations Actslapped on him.

Of course, if such a case had

indeed come up before the British

courts the judges would-like our 

Supreme Court-have dismissed it

out of hand. Labelling a phenome-

non as 'half-caste' is very different

from a racist assault on misce-

genation.

The law, as Mr Bumble

famously said in Charles Dickens'

Oliver Twist, "is an ass-an idiot."

But experience also tells us that

the "show me the man and I will

show you the law" principle is a

universal one. It is also one that is

unduly influenced by prevailing

fashion. If the citadels of intellec-

tual power in India had not stood

 by Nandy, it is entirely possible

that the ham-fisted State machin-

ery would have harassed him no

end.

There are two possible conclu-

sions from the fuss over Nandy.

The one that may strike a chord

among the permanently aggrieved

is that there is not enough justice

to go around, and that the man got

away because he was well-con-nected.

A less famous pamphleteer 

who may have put the same views

in colloquial terms would

undoubtedly have been languish-

ing in jail by now, completely un-

mourned. The other conclusion

which I am tempted to pursue lies

in a simple question: why have

such absurd, inflexible draconian

laws at all? This is a relevant

query in the context of today's

India.

The past few years, especially

since 'civil society' became the

arbiter of right and wrong in soci-

ety, have seen every crime, misde-

meanour or a perceived act of 

injustice being accompanied by

spirited and angry demands for 

harsher laws.

The Roop Kanwar sati was fol-

lowed by a new law that made the

'glorification' of that awful custom

a crime; the rise in Dalit assertive-

ness was accompanied by the Act

that landed Nandy in such a mess;

dowry deaths prompted legal

changes that turned the presump-

tion of innocence on its head; and

the outrage against the Delhi gang-

rape last year is likely to lead to a

significant enlargement of the

legal meaning of rape.

The point to note is, in all these

cases legal modifications were

 brought about as a consequence of 

sectional indignation over horrible

events.

Yet, no one can seriously deny

that most of these draconian laws

carry the potential of cynical mis-

use. The SC-ST Atrocity Act has

 been used to settle personal scores,

the Dowry Act has been used for extortion, and I have no doubt that

the new rape laws may also

 become a cynical plaything in the

hands of the unscrupulous.

In recent weeks, the quality of 

Indian democracy has been com-

 promised by assaults on basic free-

doms.

What is curious is that every

assault has had the backing of the

letter of the law. It is time India

explored the virtues of less laws

(however well-intentioned) and

more freedom (however ill-inten-

tioned).s

Indian democracy compromised

In r 

ec 

ent weeks 

, th 

e qu 

a 

lit 

 y of Indi 

an d  

em 

ocrac 

 y ha 

s been co 

m 

 p 

r 

omi 

sed by a 

ssau 

lts on basic f  

reedoms. What is c 

ur 

i 

ou 

s i 

s th 

at e 

ve 

r 

 y a 

ssau 

lt h 

a 

s h 

ad th 

e b 

a 

ckin 

 g of th 

e l  

ett 

e 

r of th 

e l  

aw. It i 

s time India e 

x 

 plor 

ed the vi 

rtues of l  

ess l  

aws (h 

owev 

e 

r wel   

l-int 

ent 

i 

on 

ed  

 ) a 

nd m 

or 

e  f  

r 

eedom ( 

howev 

er i 

l  

l-int 

enti 

on 

ed  

 ) 

.) 

TO STITCH UP IN TIME

By Anuradha Dutt

Continued use of fossil

fuels to generate electric-ity adds to global warm-

ing trends

Last week, the Supreme Court

came down hard on anti-dam

campaigners while observing that

 power projects - even nuclear 

 power plants - are opposed while

all citizens want power.

The court dismissed the peti-

tion filed against Vishnugad-

Pipalkoti hydro-electric project

on the Alaknanda river. The pro-

 posed scheme entails diverting

80.507 hectares of forest area.

Matu Jan Sangathan challenged it

on the grounds that it lacked

cumulative impact assessment.

However, the apex court, which

has upheld the cause of conserv-

ing Aravallis and its green rem-

nants, sided with the Government

on the dam issue. This has dis-

mayed green activists, who have

since long been campaigning

against the systematic assault onthe Himayalan eco-system, with

mountains perforated with tun-

nels, rivers diverted from their 

natural course and trees felled for 

development purposes.

In another case in the Supreme

Court, relating to Tehri dam peti-

tioners ND Jayal, Shekhar Singh

and another, have highlighted the

inadequate rehabilitation of thou-

sands of displaced families even

though the Uttarakhand

Government's projected earnings

from power generation is a mini-

mum of `1,000 crore, a recurring

income.

The earlier State Government

in its affidavit averred that Tehri

Hydro Development Corporation

Ltd had not provided the requisite

funds for rehabilitation. The court

in November 2011 ordered the

company to part with `102.99

crore for the purpose, a sum con-

sidered meagre. Environmentalconstraints were bulldozed so as

to clear the project.

Economist and conservationist

Bharat Jhunjhunwala, fighting a

case to save the ancient Dhari

Devi shrine, overlooking the

Alakananda from submergence

 by a hydropower project, is espe-

cially worried about the Ganga's

survival.

He states that policy makers

need to strike a balance between

the imperatives of power genera-

tion, conservation of biodiversity

and the cultural values of the free-

flowing Ganga. So, whether it is

on grounds of ecology and her-

itage or for humanitarian reasons,

hydropower projects are extreme-

ly hazardous. Continuing use of 

fossil fuels such as coal to gener-

ate electricity via thermal plants

accelerates global warming. Use

of other fossil fuels - petrol,

diesel and natural gas - alsoalarmingly enhances pollution

load.

The fairly recent Fukushima

Daiichi disaster in Japan is a

warning about the failings of 

nuclear power projects. In the cir-

cumstances, sustainable energy

 proponents have intensified lob-

 bying for Governments to fast-

track the switch-over to safer 

green power and fuel options. Mr 

Jhunjhunwala and his colleagues

argue for saving the Ganga via

novel means. Their concept is

excerpted:

"The Government agrees that

e-flows must be released, and part

of the river should be left free for 

rejuvenation. This much hydro-

 potential will be sacrificed. An

alternative would be to use part of 

the water of the river along its

stretch for generation of electrici-

ty. The water removed may be

 passed through a cascade of hydro projects and ultimately dis-

charged in the canal for irrigation.

This will enable the remaining

water in the river to flow freely. It

will help preserve the ecological

and cultural functions of the

river".

Engineer Subodh Kumar, who

also runs a gaushala in Ghazipur 

that harbours hundreds of cows,

too has been lobbying on behalf 

of sustainable technology. He

 projects solar energy as a viable

option to fossil fuels and other 

commonly deployed energy

sources.

India should be able to access

solar energy very easily, given the

abundant sunshine. He cites the

example of Germany, where solar 

energy accounts for 50 per cent of 

 power supply. Brian Merchant's

write-up, dated May 28, 2012 -

'Last Weekend, Half of Germany

was running on solar power' -should spur Indian policy makers

to consider putting up solar pan-

els on rooftops and other suitable

locations, with disposal strategies

for such panels, after their utility

is exhausted, in place.

One quotes from the article:

"German solar power plants

 produced a world record 22

gigawatts of electricity - equal to

20 nuclear power stations at full

capacity - through the midday

hours of Friday and Saturday, the

head of a r enewable energy think 

tank has said...Norbert Allnoch,

director of the Institute of the

Renewable Energy Industry in

Muenster, said the 22 gigawatts

of solar power fed into the nation-

al grid on Saturday met nearly 50

 per cent of the nation's midday

electricity needs…And it's the

result, primarily, of two forces:

First, In the wake of Fukushima,

Germany is shuttering all of itsnuke plants, but has vowed to

replace them with clean sources;

second, Germany has instituted a

feed-in-tariff system-which

requires utilities to buy solar 

 power from producers, large and

small, at a fixed rate-that has

fuelled the nation's solar boom.

Basically, anyone can buy solar 

 panels, set them up, plug them

into the grid, and get paid for it.

 Now, FITs do make electricity

more expensive, since the cost of 

subsidising that higher fixed rate

is absorbed by all electricity con-

sumers. But Germany doesn't

really mind. And why not?

Simple: Its citizenry has agreed

that producing more non-nuclear 

clean power is worth shelling out

a few extra bucks for each

month."

India needs solar power

By Vivek Sugandh:

It has been years since the madman

named Nathuram Godse shot our 

father of the nation and brutally

ended his charismatic journey. Our 

Independence took its final redemption

 by ravaging his life and alas! the most

loved protagonist departed from the

stage and took all his wisdom along with

him. The entire country was wrapped in

a blanket of gloom and every soul was

mourning owing to his demise. This

 poignant loss left a deep void which will

never be filled.

Gandhiji has impressed humanity as

an apostle of peace and as one who has

 been rightly hailed as the world's Second

Saviour. Mahatma had a monumental

zeal despite his fragile body; he had an

eternal hope despite the darkness all

around and most importantly a belief 

that one day, he would be able to see a

 better India. He believed that the people

of India are potent enough to live in

 brethernity and prosper. He nurtured a

dream to see us on the pinnacle of suc-

cess, glory and sophistication and for 

this he strived hard for our independ-

ence. This old knight never fought for 

himself, rather he fought for the millions

of disillusioned Indians who were trau-

matized during the British reign.

As 64 years have passed since his

death, India has completely changed and

today, everything seems to be going

against his principles. Gandhi believed

that "The best way to find your self is to

lose yourself in the service of others" but

today, we have become so inflicted with

the evil voracity. He bedazzled the entire

world by making us achieve freedom

through ahimsa and Satyagraha but

today, we are so engulfed in violence

and cheating. He propagated that we

must be the change we wish to see in the

world but now, nobody wants to be a

change maker. Everyone will blame the

society, the government and the others

 but no one would take the responsibility

to make a difference. Our Bapu called

for effective governance directed

towards the growth of the people of 

India but the current prevailing political

system has flouted every rule that he

talked about. Evincing the very fact,

India has been ranked 94th by the

Transparency International's Corruption

Perception Index.

He said that there is enough in this

world to satisfy one's need but not greed.

But then, why just blame the govern-

ment, even the common people have

 been deformed. All that love for the

nation and a sense of concern is lost

now. We have become so selfish that we

don't want to do something which could

ameliorate the current aggravated posi-

tion. Even the youth lacks that zeal and

alacrity to work towards an improved

India. We merely want to develop as

individuals.

He made the impossible look possi-

 ble by maintaining solidarity among

every religion without any bias but

today's society is bifurcated into legions

of sections based upon some gruesome

methods of caste, creed etc. Today,

every individual is so unsettled that he

can't make out what he is up to. Gandhi

 preached that "Happiness is when what

you think, what you say, and what you

do are in harmony." So basically no one

is happy now, in fact we have based our 

happiness upon facile things. He

demanded value based knowledge; the

current education may give you a source

of livelihood but cannot make you a

reformed human being.

Our nation had a glorious past and

the Indian people tend to take pride in it.

But then, for how long will we stick our-

selves to old triumphs? Do we have any-

thing substantial to say to our grandsires

when they ask, "What have you done to

 provide us a good tomorrow?" We are

definitely growing with a good GDPrate

 but we seem to have lost our incredibili-

ty in the race of economic development;

that incredibility which made us to win

laurels all over the world. We feel boast-

ful in calling him as our torchbearer and

our guardian but are we even living up

to his expectations?

Mahatma Gandhi would be really

mourning at this depraved India. Our 

degradation is really pellucid as he aptly

said "The things that will destroy us are:

 politics without principle; pleasure with-

out conscience; wealth without work;

knowledge without character; business

without morality; science without

humanity; and worship without sacri-

fice." Gandhi was sent as a watchman to

serve the interest of humanity. He was

sent as a guiding light to guide us

towards spirituality and divine peace.

Although we remember him on his

 birth anniversary, Mahatma Gandhi is

 probably a figure whose influence is not

as it used to be. We are far from the prin-

ciples and ethics which he wanted to

inculcate in us. His absence has marked

a deterioration in the world and Pandit

 Nehru truly emphasized after his death

that "the light has gone out of our lives

and there is darkness everywhere."

Are We Living Up To Bapu's Expectations?

As 64 years have passed since his death, India has completely changed and today, every-

thing seems to be going against his principles. Gandhi believed that "The best way to find

your self is to lose yourself in the service of others" but today, we have become so inflicted

with the evil voracity. He bedazzled the entire world by making us achieve freedom through

ahimsa and Satyagraha but today, we are so engulfed in violence and cheating. He propagat-

ed that we must be the change we wish to see in the world but now, nobody wants to be a

change maker. Everyone will blame the society, the government and the others but no one

would take the responsibility to make a difference. Our Bapu called for effective governance

directed towards the growth of the people of India but the current prevailing political systemhas flouted every rule that he talked about. Evincing the very fact, India has been ranked

94th by the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. He said that there is

enough in this world to satisfy one's need but not greed. But then, why just blame the gov-

ernment, even the common people have been deformed. All that love for the nation and a

sense of concern is lost now. We have become so selfish that we don't want to do some-

thing which could ameliorate the current aggravated position. Even the youth lacks that zeal

and alacrity to work towards an improved India. We merely want to develop as individuals.

Page 5.qxd 2/4/2013 10:05 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 6/8

NATIONALSTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20136

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court is like-

ly to frame charges against Suresh

Kalmadi and others on Monday for 

allegedly causing a loss of over Rs 90

crore to the exchequer.

The court had on December 21,

2012 passed the order on framing of 

charges under various provisions of 

the IPC and the Prevention of 

Corruption (PC) Act against Kalmadi

and nine other accused in the case.

Besides cheating and conspiracy,

the accused will also be charged with

the offences of forgery under the IPC

and criminal misconduct by public

servants under the PC Act. "Charges

under section 120B (criminal conspir-

acy), read with 201 (destruction of 

evidence), 420 (cheating), 467, 468,

471 (relating to forgery), 506 (crimi-

nal intimidation) of the IPC and sec-

tion 13(1) (d) read with section 13(2)

(criminal misconduct by public ser-

vants) of the PC Act is

ordered to be framed against

all the accused," the court

had said.

The accused have been

chargesheeted by the CBI for 

"illegally" awarding a con-

tract to install Timing,

Scoring and Results (TSR)

system for the 2010 CWG to

Swiss Timing at inflated

rates causing a loss of over 

Rs 90 crore to the public

exchequer.

Besides Kalmadi and

Bhanot, the other accused in

the case are OC's former 

Director General V K Verma,

former Director General

(Procurement) Surjit Lal, former 

Joint Director General (Sports) A S V

Prasad and former Treasurer M

Jayachandran. They are no more

associated with the sporting body.

The court had also said that sub-

stantial charges of misusing official

 position have been made out against

six former OC officials, who were

 public servants.

Apart from the six, promoters of 

two construction firms -P D Arya and

A K Madan of Faridabad-based Gem

International and A K Reddy of 

Hyderabad-based AKR Constructions

are also accused in the case. Swiss

Timing Omega is also an accused in

the case.

The court, while ordering framing

of charges against the accused, had

said that as accused Swiss Timing

Omega, which was allegedly awarded

the contract at exorbitant rates, is not

appearing in the court despite proper 

service of summons, its "trial is sepa-

rated."

The CBI had alleged that Kalmadi

and others had rejected Spanish firm

MSL's much lower bid of Rs 62 crore

and awarded the contract to Swiss

Timing Omega, causing a loss of over 

Rs 90 crore to the exchequer.

CWG scam: Court to frame chargesagainst Kalmadi and 9 others on Feb4

NEWDELHI: Seeking to set

at rest controversy over 

Aadhaar, Planning

Commission Deputy

Chairman Montek Singh

Ahluwalia today said UID is a

number and not an identity

card. "The Aadhaar is actuallya number, linked to that num-

 ber is a biometric record which

is centrally stored. The

(Aadhaar) number comes in a

form of card. But that card is

not an identity card,"

Ahluwalia said when asked

about the raging controversy

over the issue. Some Cabinet

Ministers have reportedly

raised the issue pertaining to

Aadhaar that whether it is a

number or an identity card. The

govt. has recently constituted a

Group of Ministers to look into

the issue. Elaborating his point

of view, Ahluwalia said, "I can

tear up the card. As long as I

have the number, I don't need

the card. There is no such thing

as UIDAI (Aadhaar) card. You

need it only because you wantto remember your number. If 

you stick your number in the

wallet. That is fine." As regards

the GoM, he said, "There are

concerns that if you issue a

card which is mandatory, it will

 become basis for harassment

so the GoM has been constitut-

ed to go into that issue only in

relation to the (NMIC) card."

There is a separate proposal

which is national multipurpose

identity card (NMIC) which is

 being run by the Ministry of 

Home Affairs, he said adding

that when the law was amend-

ed by the NDAgovt., this card

(NMIC) was made mandatory.

The govt. has mandated that

Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI) to

enrol and collect biometrics

details of 60 crore population

of the country. The biometric

details of rest of the 61 crore population would be collected

under National Population

Register project.

NEWDELHI: Gujarat Chief 

Minister Narendra Modi is

likely to go to Kumbh on

February 7 - the same day the

Vishva Hindu Parishad

(VHP)-led Dharam sansad

will be held there and it is

likely that a statement in his

support will be issued. Modi

is also likely to be in the new

BJP parliamentary board, the

highest decision making body

of the party. Madhya Pradesh

Chief Minister Shivraj

Chauhan could also be made a

member of the board.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal

(United) has questioned VHP

leader Ashok Singhal's back-

ing to Modi as the NDAprime

ministerial candidate, saying

it is for political parties and

not sadhus to decide who'll be

their leader. "How can the PM

candidate be decided by sad-

hus and nagas. This is com-

 pletely absurd," said JD(U)

spokesperson Shivanand

Tiwari.

Tiwari has once again

made it clear that a final call

could be taken only after con-

sultations within the coalition.

While the JD(U) and more

specifically Bihar Chief 

Minister Nitish Kumar's

objections to Modi's candida-

ture are well known, another 

BJP ally, the Shiv Sena is keen

on projecting senior BJP

leader Sushma Swaraj as the

PM candidate.

The Shiromani Akali Dal

(SAD), on the other hand, has

announced that it will back 

Modi.

Modi likely to visit Kumbh on Feb 7

Minutes after train passes,blast onrailway trackin Kokrajhar KOKRAJHAR: Passengers

of the Howrah-Guwahatidown Garibrath Express had

a providential escape on

Sunday when a powerful

 bomb exploded on the r ail-

way tracks minutes after it

 passed Goabari in lower 

Assam's Kokrajhar district.

There was no casualty or 

injury. The bomb suspected

to have been planted by the

anti-talk faction of the

 National Democratic Front

of Bodoland (NDFB)

exploded at 1.10 am two

minutes after the train

 passed the area between

Gossaigaon and Fakiragram,

 police said.

The blast blew away

three feet of railway track 

and left a two feet deep

crater at the spot, they said.Security forces have

launched a search operation

to nab the ultras.

Aadhaar is a number notan ID card: Montek Singh

BANGALORE: In the latest

twist in Karnataka govern-

ment crisis, Governor HR 

Bhardwaj on Sunday denied

having any information of 14

BJP MLAs resigning from

the state government.

Bhardwaj will address

 both houses of the Karnataka

legislature on Jan 4, outlining

the policy initiatives of the

government for the year.The BJP government is

 bracing itself to face the cru-

cial budget session on

Monday, thelast one of the

13th Assembly

term. The BJP

government led

 by Chief 

M i n i s t e r  

J a g a d i s h

Shettar, surviv-

ing on a wafer 

thin majority

following resignation of 14

MLAs in the last one week,

faces a threat in the backdrop

of threat by Yeddyurappa

loyalists to quit.

However, fireworks could

 be on cards in the coming

days as opposition Congress

and JDS will question the

government's continuance

despite losing majority.

The en masse resignationof MLAs, former minister 

Shobha Karandlaje's charge

that government has "failed"

to check attacks on womenand on girls reported missing

across the state are expected

to generate much heat.

Shettar, who will be pre-

senting his maiden budget on

February 8, which will also

 be the last by the BJPgovern-

ment as Assembly elections

are likely in April-May, will

have a tough job on hand to

sail through the session.

MLAs and Ministers loyal

to Yeddyurappa have so far 

not spelt out their strategy,

 but BJP feels they may not

 pose any problem.

The government's fiscal

 performance in implement-

ing programmes announced

in the 2012-13 budget and

also the tardy phase of 

drought relief work would become major issues for the

opposition to embarrass the

government.

No information about resignationsof MLAs: Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI: More than

1,100 exhibitors from 23 coun-

tries will flock to the Pragati

Maidan in the capital for the

 New Delhi World Book Fair 

2013 during February 4-10. The

fair will be in 2,100 vends

spread across 45,000 square

metres of tastefully decorated

display space to exhibit and

trade in books.

One of the biggest book 

extravaganzas presented by the

country's apex publishing body,

the National Book Trust (NBT),

the fair will be inaugurated by

minister of state for human

resource development Shashi

Tharoor, who will deliver the

keynote address in the presence

of Indian Council for Cultural

Relations (ICCR) president

Karan Singh, MP, and French

ambassador Francois Richier,

the NBTsaid.

The theme presentation of 

the festival will be "Indigenous

Voices: Mapping India's Folk 

and Tribal Literature". The fair 

will include special exhibition

of books on various aspects of 

folk and tribal literature, culture,

exhibits of art and crafts, work-

shops and panel discussions.

As part of the theme presen-

tation, the trust has tied up with

the Sangeet Natak Akademi to

showcase the cultural heritage

of the country's tribal areas with

 performances every evening at

the Lal Chowk Open Air 

Theatre.

France will the guest country

of honour with focus on "its

 publishing industry and its con-

temporary literature through a

large contingent of publishers,

authors and scholars".

Discussions, conversations,

interactions with the country's

 publishing fraternity, profes-

sional roundtables for rights and

 business, food, music and cul-

ture will be at the core of French

representation in India.

The bureau of the

International Promotion of 

French Books, the Festival of 

India in France, Bonjour, and

the Institut of Francais en Inde

are displaying close to 2,000

French titles. The French liter-

ary sessions will host leading

writers like Tahar ben Jelloun,

Kenize Murad and Dominique

Siguad.

An exhibition, "French

Remains", will showcase vari-

ous aspects of French colonial

culture with 15 panels on the

French presence in India. The

 participating countries include

nations like China, the US,

Poland, South Korea, Turkey

and United Nations agencies.

The regional participation

will include 100 language pub-

lishers. Special enclosures have

 been set up for government par-

ticipation and e-books. Digital

 publishing will be in focus with

deliberations and development

of e-books.

The NBT, in association

with the College of Art, will

mount a collective exhibition on

Book Art. The Trust, in associa-

tion with Khublei, an organisa-

tion engaged in literary activi-

ties, and the Tadpole Repertory

will host a cosplay competition

Feb 8-9 where young partici-

 pants will dress up as their 

favourite literary characters and

enact them.

A pavilion exclusively for 

youth and children will draw

schoolchildren with a variety of 

events, including an authors-

illustrators' corner. The pavilion

will be inaugurated by minister 

of state for human resource

development Jitin Prasada.

The NBT has also tied up

with the Kolkata-based Advaita

Ashram to celebrate the 150th

anniversary of Swami

Vivekananda at the fair.

A new B2B initiative, Rights

Table, will offer match-making

sessions at Pragati Maidan to

 bring together publishers, writ-

ers, agents, translators and edi-

tors from India and abroad at a

forum to network and explore

 business opportunities together.

A session, CEO Speak, a

first of its kind forum of CEOs

and senior executives of the

Indian publishing industry, will

 be organised by the NBT with

FICCI to "share common issues

and concerns to evolve a com-

 posite agenda for Indian pub-

lishing.

1,100 exhibitors from 23 nations at World Book Fair on Feb4

NEW DELHI: Fearing oil

refineries will be hit hard by the

Finance Ministry's move to

change the way petrol and diesel

are priced, Oil Minister M

Veerappa Moily has asked Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh to

constitute an expert committee to

decide on the issue. The Finance

Ministry has informed the

Petroleum Ministry that auto fuel

needs to be priced at export pari-

ty rather than import parity as the

2.5 per cent customs duty was

adding to the under-recoveries of 

the state-run oil marketing com-

 panies without contributing any

revenue to the exchequer.

"Immediately switching over 

to export parity, whether it is pos-

sible or feasible is a question

which has to be examined," he

said. Oil companies, Moily said,

feel the new pricing norm would

make oil refining a difficult busi-

ness.

"I am suggesting to Prime

Minister that an expert commit-

tee, like the previous ones headed

 by C Rangarajan and Kirit

Parekh (based on whose sugges-

tion trade parity pricing was

adopted), can be constituted," he

said.

Moily said India's surplus

refining capacity, which enables

export of large vol-

umes of petroleum

 products, was a

strength and if 

refineries do not

function to their full

capacity, imports of 

fuel would add to

the current Rs

7,00,000 crore of 

oil import bill.

Sources said the

finance ministry has informed the

oil ministry that it plans to

remove the 2.5% import tax on

 petrol and diesel since the duty

on diesel was adding to the

under-recoveries of the state-run

oil marketing companies

(OMCs) without contributing

any revenue to the exchequer.

This would lead to a change

in the methodology for calculat-

ing the under-recoveries. The

imported price of petrol and

diesel, which includes customs

duty, is used by the refineries to

calculate the prices charged from

retailers.

The difference between this

 price and the pump price is the

under-recovery or revenue loss.

While the government had

freed petrol from its control,

diesel continues to be subsidised.

There is no import duty on

kerosene and LPG, the other two

subsidised fuel.

At 2.5%, its net effect is an

increase of Rs. 1.13 per litre on

the ex-refinery price of diesel.

This translates into an under-

recovery of Rs. 18,000 crore. On

 petrol, the customs duty impact is

about one rupee but it is passed

on to the consumers and there is

no impact on government's sub-

sidy bill.

Appoint expert panel to examine fuel pricing: Moily

NEW DELHI,FEB 3: Ansari, a Rajya

Sabha member of the JD-U said that some

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders appear 

to be in a hurry to propose the name of 

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as

the prime ministerial candidate but other 

alliance partners have indicated they have

their own views on the matter.

He said a meeting of the National

Democratic Alliance (NDA) could be called

to decide the prime ministerial candidate.

"BJP should form its opinion on the

question and propose names at such a meet-

ing so that a consensus could be reached,"

he said. Ansari favoured early declaration of 

the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA,

and said people would like to know the

leader of the alliance. "It is a question con-

cerning the country. People want to know

who is the candidate," Ansari said. Ansari

said some people in the BJPappeared "rest-

less" that Modi should be declared the

 prime ministerial candidate, but indicated

that the JD-U would not accept any such

move.

He said JD-U had contested the assem-

 bly polls separately in Gujarat where the

BJP was led by Modi. While some leaders

in the BJP have said that Modi should be

declared the prime ministerial candidate,

the Shiv Sena, a constituent of the NDA,

has expressed its preference for Sushma

Swaraj, leader of opposition in the Lok 

Sabha, as the NDA’s PM candidate. Ansari

said declaration of candidate will bring clar-

ity to the issue .He said the BJP could also

declare its candidate on its own and the

 party will then be given reaction by others.

PATNA,FEB 3: Known for experi-

menting with new political ideas ,

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar this

time made sure to introduce reserva-

tion in the organisation pollsof the

JD(U), a move which many believe

will help consolidate its political base

in the state . It all started with elec-

tions at the lower level from

Panchayat to town and block in which

60 per cent reservation was prescribed

for extremely backward castes

(EBCs), Mahadalits , minorities and

women , the constituencies whose

voting behaviour has largely been

influenced by the JD(U) in recent

years . The organisational polls of the

JD(U) at the panchayat level were

completed between 15 Jan to 20 Jan

while that of the town and block lev-

els , the polls were completed between

25 Jan to 30 Jan. Such a reservation

formula will now be adopted for the

JD(U)'s organisational poll at the dis-

trict and state level . This is for the

first time any political outfit has

adopted reservation formula for its

elections setting a new benchmark for 

the other political parties like RJD

which has been charting its own

revival plan. While the RJD is already

done with its organisational polls , the

ruling JD(U) has fastidiously gone

about implementing the reservation

formula in its organisational polls

leaving room for comparison between

the two parties. The fact that Nitish

Kumar has been able to buttress its

 political position is mainly attributed

to the growing support base among

the EBC's and the Mahadalits.

The EBCs benefitted in a big way

in the past when Nitish Kumar gov-

ernment in 2006 allowed reservation

for them in the panchayati bodies , a

move which made Nitish Kumar quite

 popular among the EBCs.

" It is not without reason the EBCs

are referred to as the silent voters of 

 Nitish Kumar . Nitish Kumar has also

 been doling out policy support and

other incentives to the Mahadalits ,

minorities and women. Now that the

 provision of reservation has been

adopted for the organisational poll ,

the JD(U) can hope to further cement

its support among sections which have

 been rallying behind it" remarked a

 political observer.

NEW DELHI, FEB 3: Days

after the Supreme Court ques-

tioned the government over allowing FDI in retail, Law

Minister Ashwani Kumar has

said the Judiciary, the

Executive and the Legislature

should respect limits of their 

 jurisdiction and work in har-

mony with each other.

He also defended a contro-

versial clause in a new bill

which debars judges from

making verbal comments

against people in open courts,

saying the provision has a

"strong logic" as observations

 by judges are often "torn out

of context" affecting the repu-

tation of people.

"I would like to only reiter-

ate that the three organs of the

state (the Executive, the

Judiciary and the Legislature)

have to work in harmony witheach other, respecting the lim-

its of their jurisdiction.

"I have no hesitation in

saying that so far the

Constitutional parameters of 

the jurisdiction assigned toeach organ have more or less

worked in accordance with

the scheme of the Constitution

and the judges also have

themselves stated on a num-

 ber of occasions that it is not

their remit to enter the domain

of policy making," he told.

He was responding to a

question on the perception

that judiciary was "overreach-

ing" its domain and in this

context was referred to the

questions raised by the

Supreme Court last month

over government's decision to

allow FDI in retail.

The Supreme Court had

asked the government

whether FDI in retail was a

"political gimmick" and

sought its response on how itintends to safeguard the inter-

est of small traders after open-

ing up the retail sector.

Organs of Constitution shouldrespect limits: Law Minister 

BJP should talk to allies onPM candidate, says JD-U MP

JD(U) introduces reservation inits organisational polls in Bihar 

Page 6_ National - Copy.qxd 2/4/2013 10:05 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 7/8

CUBA: Cubans are set to vote in

 polls to select 612 members of the

 National Assembly, in balloting

derided by opponents of the ruling

regime as a "farce".

Critics note that the number of 

candidates vying for seats in the leg-

islature's next five-year-long term is

identical to the number of open seats,

leaving little suspense about the out-

come.

However, about two thirds of this

year's candidates are running for the

first time, raising hopes that the elec-

tion will bring some change to the

country.Another prominent opposition fig-

ure, Elizardo Sanchez, called the

election "a race with only one horse"

- since the Communist Party is the

only one running.Cuban authorities, however, hail

the electoral system as a grass-roots

democracy since all nominees are

elected by municipal delegates and by

citizen assemblies.

"One of the candidates is Mariela

Castro. She is [President] Raul

Castro's daughter, who is expected to

 become a high-profile figure in the

new assembly," she said.

 No dissident has ever been

allowed to run for office and no

national legislator has stood up to the

Communist leadership by casting a

no-vote.

Cuba watchers also say there has

 been an increasing number of blank  ballots cast in recent elections.

Havana held a round of municipal

elections in October, one in a series of 

votes ahead of Castro's impending

coronation..

That vote traditionally takes place

on February 24, the anniversary of 

the start of the war of independence

in 1895.

If Castro is re-elected - and there

is no doubt that he will be - it would

 be his second five-year mandate as

Cuba's leader.

Castro was elected president in

2008, after taking over from his

 brother, Fidel Castro, whose health is

faltering and who has largely retreat-ed from the public eye.

MUNICH: Iran announced on Sunday fresh

talks with world powers on its nuclear drive

and said it was open to a US offer for two-way

discussions if Washington's intention was

"authentic". Iranian Foreign Minister AliAkbar Salehi said the six world powers

 planned to resume talks in Kazakhstan on

February 25 and he insisted Iran had never 

 pulled back from the negotiations.

"I have good news, I've heard yesterday

that 5+1 or EU3+3 will be meeting in

Kazakhstan 25th of February," Salehi said at

the Munich Security Conference.

Iran and six world powers the US, China,

Russia, Britain, France and Germany held

three rounds of talks last year aimed at easing

the standoff over Iran's nuclear activities,

which Tehran insists are peaceful.

Since then, talks have been held up over 

disagreements on their location.

The new date for talks has not been con-

firmed by the office of the EU foreign policy

chief, leading the negotiations.

"It was not us who has stepped back. But

anyway we still are very hopeful," Salehi said.

"We have no red line for negotiations,

 bilateral negotiations when it comes to negoti-ating over a particular subject," he said.

"If the subject is the nuclear file, yes we are

ready for negotiation but we have to make

sure... that the other side this time comes with

authentic intention with a fair and real intention

to resolve the issue," he said.But he criticised as contradictory the desire

for negotiation with Iran on the nuclear issue,

while, on the other hand, the use of "threaten-

ing rhetorics that everything is on the table".

Asked when direct US-Iranian negotia-

tions would happen, Biden replied: "When the

Iranian leadership, Supreme Leader, is seri-

ous." "We have made it clear at the outset that

we would be prepared to meet bilaterally with

the Iranian leadership," he said.

"That offer stands, but it must be real and

tangible, and there has to be an agenda that

they're prepared to speak to. We are not just

 prepared to do it for the exercise."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

 Netanyahu, speaking just before the formal

start of talks to build Israel's new ruling coali-

tion, said the most important mission facing the

new government was preventing a nuclear 

Iran. "It is a mission which has become more

complicated because Iran has equipped itself 

with new centrifuges which reduce the enrich-ment time," he said

INTERNATIONAL & ECONOMYSTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20137

ECONOMY

The Reserve Bank has said that policy

interventions are necessary to bridge

the demand-supply gap and bring

down inflation on a sustained basis. "In

order to bring inflation down on an

enduring basis and anchor inflation

expectations there is a need for policy

action on several fronts.

It is important to aim for nutritional

security not only to harness the demo-

graphic dividend stemming from our 

sizable young population but also to

contain food prices. This will require

addressing the supply-demand imbal-

ance in the agricultural sector and

modernizing the supply chain,"

Reserve Bank Executive Director 

Deepak Mohanty said during an event.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based

inflation fell to 7.18 per cent in

December from 7.74 per cent over the

same period a year ago. However, it is

much above the comfort level of RBI.

"The Reserve Bank's technical

assessment suggests that the threshold

level of inflation for India is in the

range of 4 to 6 per cent. I f inflation per-

sists beyond this level, it could lower 

economic growth over 

the medium-term," he

said. He stressed to

increase the depth of 

financial markets as

well as calibrating mon-

etary policy with

g r o w t h - i n f l a t i o n

dynamics.

while persevering

with the steps to

increase the depth of the

financial market and addressing credit

constraints, monetary policy needs to

 be calibrated to the evolving growth-

inflation dynamics so that we move

towards our potential growth in a non-

inflationary manner," Mohanty said.

On fiscal consolidation, he said it is

important to maintain both domestic

and external balance to avoid the risks

of twin deficits.

Further he said India needs to have

a reliable power supply as well as

availability of industrial raw materials

to ensure industrial capacity utilization

and productivity improvement.

"Besides moderating inflation, this will

also reduce reliance on imports of 

 products for which domestic capacity

exists," he added.

Among others, he said maintaining

exchange rate stability to cushion

transmission of international price

 pressures in commodities, particularlycrude oil is also important. "This will

require management of the current

account in our balance of payments

with the rest of the world at sustainable

levels," he said.

Policy action needed to fill demand-supply gap: RBINEWDELHI: State-run

insurance giant LIC has low-

ered its holdings in as many as

27 of the 50 blue-chip firms

forming the market bench-

mark index Nifty, while sell-

ing shares worth an estimated

Rs 8,000 crore.

Amid stepped-up share

 purchase by FIIs and an

uptrend in the stock market,

the Life Insurance

Corporation of India (LIC)

appears to have booked profits

in many blue-chip stocks,

shows an analysis of share-

holding data of Nifty compa-

nies for the three-month peri-

od ended December 31, 2012.

LIC holds shares worth

about Rs 2.33 lakh crore in all

the Nifty companies put

together, but it lowered its

holding in a total of 27 Nifty

companies during the quarter.

The cumulative value of 

LIC holding in these 27 com-

 panies fell by little over Rs

8,000 crore during the quarter 

shows the analysis of changes

in their shareholding patterns.

Individually, LIC is esti-

mated to have sold shares

worth Rs 500-1,000 crore in

each of Mahindra &

Mahindra, HDFC Bank, ICICI

Bank, Tata Motors, L&T,

HDFC, Wipro, SBI, Maruti

Suzuki, Dr Reddys and Bajaj

Auto.

The insurance behemoth

also trimmed holdings in

Ambuja Cements, Cipla, TCS,

Lupin and Asian Paints. A

marginal decline was also wit-

nessed in its stakes in compa-

nies such as IDFC, Hindustan

Unilever, Grasim, ACC,

BPCL, Bank of Baroda,

Punjab National Bank, Sun

Pharma and Tata Power.

On the other hand, LIC fur-

ther ramped up its stake in a

total of 14 Nifty constituents

with purchase of shares worth

an estimated Rs 4,000 crore.

The major companies

where LIC has raised its stake

include Infosys, RIL and

Cairn India. Other such com-

 panies are ITC, Power Grid

Corp, NTPC, Siemens, Bharti

Airtel and Hero MotoCorp.

The state-run insurer also

marginally hiked its exposure

in Ultratech, Gail India,

Ranbaxy, Kotak MahindraBank and HCL Technologies,

while its shareholding

remained almost unchanged in

companies like ONGC, Tata

Steel, BHEL and Reliance

Infra.

 Nifty is a well-diversified

50-stock index accounting for 

22 sectors of the economy.

The index represented about

three- fourth of the free float

market capitalization of all the

stocks listed on NSE as on

December 31, 2012.

The insurance major 

appears to have mainly

 booked profits in select stocks

from sectors like banks, phar-

ma, auto, refineries and metal.

LIC cuts stake in 27 Nifty firms

NEW DELHI: With the government in

expenditure cutting mode, various min-

istries are bracing for reduction in their 

annual budgets for the year 2013-14

which could be even up to 24% of this fis-

cal.

While some ministries are reconciled

to the anticipated budgetary cut by the

Finance Ministry, a few others are crib-

 bing about it.

According to indications to various

ministries, the Finance Ministry would be

slashing the annual budget of ministries in

view of the poor financial health of the

economy.

"The Finance Ministry and Planning

Commission have said there will be a 24%

 budget cut for all ministries," a union min-

ister said.

When contacted for his comment amid

apprehensions of budget cut, Union Rural

Development Minister Jairam Ramesh

said it is "inevitable" and that his Ministry

will have to make do with whatever it

gets.

"Budget cut is inevitable given the

grim fiscal position. We have to make do

with what we get," he said.

Ramesh seemed to be reconciled even

though media reports had suggested that

he had written to Finance Minister P.

Chidambaram, requesting that there

should be no cut in budget for his ministry.

Rural Development Ministry was allo-

cated a budget of Rs85,000 crore during

the 2012-13 fiscal.

Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore

Chandra Deo refused to get into specifics

 but said "if such a huge cut" is done in the

 budget for a ministry like his, "then hard-

ly anything will be left for it".

Tribal Affairs Ministry was sanctioned

a budget of Rs4,000 crore approximately

for the current financial year.

Deo said there should not be any budg-

et cut in the social sector ministries, keep-

ing in mind the small size of their annual

allocation..

"I have written to Finance Minister P

Chidambaram and Planning Commission

Chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia over this

and I think on this area -social sector- they

should not cut budget so massively," he

said.

The Defence Ministry also suffered a

cut of Rs12,000 crore in the revised budg-

et of Rs1.93 lakh crore in the current fis-

cal. Besides, its request for additional

Rs40,000 crore in the current fiscal was

also turned down by the Finance Ministry.

NEWDELHI:The Reserve Bank is planning to set up

an automated and unified data processing and monitor-

ing system for all exports from the country. The new

system would also be used for reporting of serious cases

of default by exporters and other entities and to forward

these cases to the customs and excise departments for 

further action, a senior official said.

The move comes at a time when several export and

import firms in the country have come under the scan-

ner of DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) and

other financial intelligence agencies for stating wrong

information in their invoices and declarations about

export value and goods.

The current system for processing of export data fol-

lows mostly a declaration-based regime, wherein

exporters declare the export value to the custom author-

ity at the time of shipment for verification and certifica-

tion of the same. Once the goods get shipped, the

exporters have to lodge the relevant forms applicable in

their case along with shipping documents with their 

Authorized Forex Dealer banks for handling of the

export documents and realization of the declared value.

After the documents are sent for collection, AD

 banks report the transaction to RBI. Under the Foreign

Exchange Management Act (FEMA), it is obligatory on

exporters to realize and repatriate the full value of the

exports within stipulated time and the amount of full

export value needs to be received through an

Authorized Dealer bank (AD). However, several irreg-

ularities have come to the fore in the recent past in these

declarations and there have been several instances of 

mis-match between the declared value and the amount

 processed by the banks. Presently, RBI receives the

export data based on the exporters' declarations through

customs and other agencies and the same is also report-

ed by the ADs as and when exporters submit the export

documents or the export amount is realized through the

 banks. RBI then matches these transactions and gener-

ates the unmatched list of transactions to forward them

to its concerned departments and banks for follow-up

with the exporters.

Due to the huge volume of the data coupled with

errors of data entry at multiple places, it has been

observed that the large number of transactions remain

unmatched one to one, the official said.

 RBI to set up new monitoring system on data flaws

Ministries brace for budget cuts up to 24% BHEL granted Maharatna statusNEWDELHI: Power equipment maker BHEL today said it has been

granted Maharatna status by the government. "Consistent high per-

formance, while operating in a highly competitive environment and

fulfillment of the required eligibility criteria has enabled BHEL to

attain the Maharatna status," the company said in a statement.

Maharatna status will help BHEL realize its long-term objectives and

reach a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2016-17, it added. BHEL had

a turnover of Rs 49,510cr and net profit of Rs 7,040cr in 2012. The

company will be able to pursue growth opportunities in the areas of 

transportation, renewable and transmission and "tap big ticket oppor-

tunities for equity participation in large size international projects to

gain access to technology, engineered materials and market".

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's

navy on Sunday rescued

more than 100 Bangladesh

and Myanmar nationals from

a sinking fishing vessel off 

the island's eastern coast, a

spokesman said. One pas-

senger was found dead while

many of the 138 plucked

from the boat were dehydrat-

ed, he added, but it was not

immediately clear where the

vessel was headed or whether 

they were asylum seekers.

"We sent three ships for 

the rescue at a location 50

miles (80 kilometers) off the

eastern coast of 

Akkaraipattu," navy

spokesman Kosala

Warnakulasuriya said. "Some

have been admitted to a local

hospital. Others are being

taken to Colombo."

The early-morning rescue

came amid stepped up naval

 patrols to check Sri Lankan

fishing boats taking would-be

illegal immigrants to

Australia.

Sri Lankan authorities

arrested more than 1,200

 people trying to leave the

island illegally last year.

Many of those who make the

 perilous journey pay up to

$3,000 for a place on trawlers

run by people-smugglers.

Warnakulasuriya said the

 passengers rescued on

Sunday identified themselves

as Bangladesh and Myanmar 

nationals. "We have not been

able to get much information

about their port of origin or 

the destination, but we have

asked the embassies of the

two countries to help us with

translations," he said

Sri Lanka rescues 138 on sinking boat

KIRKUK: A car bomb detonated by a

suicide attacker followed by gunmen

storming a police headquarters in the

north Iraq city of Kirkuk killed 30 people

and wounded 70 others on

Sunday, a police spokesman

said.

Militants had apparently

sought to take control of the

compound, but were unsuc-

cessful, Brigadier General

 Natah Mohammed Sabr, the

head of the city's emergency

services department, said.

The attackers struck at

morning rush hour in the city

centre, Sabr said, with the

militants armed with guns,

grenades and suicide vests looking to

force their way into the police headquar-

ters in the chaotic aftermath of the car 

 bombing.

In addition to the casualties, the attack 

caused massive damage to nearby build-

ings, Sabr said.

The deadly attack shattered a relative

calm in recent days in Iraq, which has

 been grappling with a political crisis pit-

ting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against

his erstwhile government partners amid

weeks of ongoing protests calling for him

to resign. No group immediately claimed respon-

sibility for the violence, but Sunni mili-

tants including al-Qaeda's front group in

Iraq frequently target security forces and

government targets in a bid to destabilize

the country and push it back towards the

sectarian bloodshed that blighted it from

2005 to 2008.

Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city 240

kilometers (150 miles) north of Baghdad,

lies at the heart of a swathe of disputed

territory claimed by both the central gov-

ernment and Iraq's autonomous northern

Kurdish region.

The unresolved row is persistently

cited by diplomats and officials as the

 biggest threat to Iraq's long-term stability.

Militants often exploit a lack of coordina-

tion between the two sides' security forces

and launch deadly attacks in the city,which remains one of the most violent in

Iraq, and also in nearby towns.

30 dead in attack on north Iraq policeLONDON: The Prime Minister 

will dine with Hamid Karzai and

Asif Ali Zardari at Chequers as

 part of his ongoing efforts to help

to strengthen Afghanistan-

Pakistan relations and promote

regional peace and stability.

It comes ahead of in-depth dis-

cussions tomorrow focusing on

how the Pakistani and internation-

al community can support the

Afghan-led peace process.

Foreign ministers, Chiefs of 

Army Staff, Chiefs of Intelligence

and the chairman of the Afghan

High Peace Council are expected

to attend the third trilateral session

since last summer. Today a senior 

Afghan commander said with-

drawing British troops could spark 

a 'global jihad' and allow the

Taliban to return to power.

Colonel Amin Jan of the

Afghan National Army said that

Afghan troops, trained by the

British for three years, are too

weak to defeat the Taliban.

Asked if 2014 was the right

time for a handover, Col Jan said:

"No, I would say that it is too

early, because the situation will

not have ended. If the Britishleave, the jihadists will see it as a

good sign. Aworldwide jihad will

take place."

Asked if the ANAalone could

defeat the Taliban, he said: "Our 

leaders might say we are able to

do the task, but it will be difficult.

"We have enough soldiers, we

have the quantity, but we need the

quality. We need more profession-

al and better trained command-

ers." A Downing Street spokes-

woman said: "As the Prime

Minister has set out previously, a

stable Afghanistan is not just in

the interests of Afghans, but also

in the interests of their neighbours

and the UK. We share the same

vision for Afghanistan: a secure,

stable and democratic country that

never again becomes a haven for 

international terror. "We are

working together to achieve it and

Afghanistan's neighbours have a

vital role to play. It is vital not justfor the future security of their citi-

zens, but for their prosperity too."

PM Cameron to host ChequersAfghanistan summit

Iran announces nuclear talks

Cuba set for parliamentary elections

Page 7_International & Economy.qxd 2/4/2013 10:06 AM Page 1

7/29/2019 Daily Paper February 4, 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/daily-paper-february-4-2013 8/8

SPORTSSTUDENT AGE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20138

CHIEF-EDITOR, PUBLISHER, OWNER: Rohit Singh Rana, ADMINISTRATIVE HEAD (J&K):Pawan Rathore, DY. CHIEF EDITOR : Vikram Singh Shan, Bureau Chief Kashmir: Allayee Faizan, LEGAL ADVISOR: Advocate Ashok Parihar EDITORIAL BOARD: NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Shweta Bhat, STATE AFFAIRS: Jaswant Singh Rana,

DEFENCE EDITOR: Kewal Singh Rajput, SPORTS EDITOR: Naina Jamwal, GRAPHIC DESIGNER : Baleshwer Bali, DESIGNER: Gagandeep Kour, Abhishek Kashyap CIRCULATION TEAM: Sunil Gupta, Rohit Bakshi. PRINTED AT JK PRINTING & PUBLICATIONS, SUJWAN, JAMMU TAWI.

For Contributing articles mail us at callme.ranasahib@gmail.com, editor.studentage@gmail.com. For Complaints, Querries or Advertisement Contact us: 0191-2459701, 2459702. Address: Sector-12, H.No-12 Nanak Nagar, Jammu

(All disputes are subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of Jammu District courts only.)

MUMBAI: Skipper Charlotte Edwards

led from the front with hundred to help

defending champions England over-

come a poor start and post a challenging

272/8 against India in their Group A

match of the ICC Women's World Cup

here today.

Edwards played a captain's knock of 

109 and became the highest run-scorer 

in women's cricket with 4901 runs, sur-

 passing Aussie Belinda Clarke's 4,844.

Incidentally, she also became the fourth

woman to score over a 1,000 runs in

World Cup. During her 107 minutes at

the crease, Edwards struck 16 fours,

 before being run out.

For India, Jhulan Goswami and

 Nilanjana Nagrajan grabbed two wick-

ets apiece. The hosts, however, lost their 

way after a good start, allowing England

off the hooks in the middle overs.

England got off to a slow start and

lost opener Danielle Wyatt (2) in the

fifth over, after being invited to bat.

Wyatt, who had got a reprieve when

first slip fielder Thirushkamini

Murugesan failed to latch on to the ball

off Jhulan Goswami, was dismissed in

the bowler's next over, when she was

caught at mid wicket by Amita Sharma.

Having been reduced to four for one,

the defending champions consolidated

and skipper Edwards forged a century

stand with one-down batter Sarah

Taylor.

Taylor hit three fours, including the

first one of the innings, before she was

run out.

England added 62 runs for the third

wicket with captain Edwards and Lydia

Greenway taking the attack to India. The

duo extracted 15 runs of spinner Reema

Malhotra's over -- the 32nd of the

innings.

The two made most of the powerplay

overs even though Greenway was dis-

missed in the process. England scored

45 runs in those five overs. Greenway's

contribution was a quick 29 off 27 balls,

which comprised of five fours.

Pacer Katherine Brunt also chipped

in with 21 in 16 balls and struck four 

fours. England then lost a clutch of 

wickets quickly, but the middle order 

ensured that the overall score stood at

fighting 270.

Indian pace spearhead Jhulan

Goswami and Niranjana Nagrajan

snapped up two wickets apiece, while

left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana picked

up a one.

Edwards' ton takes England to 272/8 against IndiaNEWDELHI: India's Davis

Cup campaign ended on a

 poor note as Ranjeet Virali

Murugesan and Vijayant

Malik lost their respective

reverse singles matches giv-

ing South Korea a 4-1 win on

the final day of their Group I

Asia/Oceania first round tie

here Sunday.

A v as tl y i mp ro ve d

Ranjeet went down fighting

4-6, 4-6, 2-6 in the must-win

first match of the day to a

higher ranked Suk-Young

Jeong as South Korea took an

unassailable 3-1 lead against

India on the hardcourts of the

R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium

here.

In the fifth dead rubber,

Vijayant, who conceded the

singles Friday against Jeong

due to cramps, lost 2-6, 4-6

against Ji Sung Nam as South

Korea sailed into the second

round where they will face

Japan.

India will now play the

first round play-off, slated for 

April 5-7, against Indonesia,

who were whitewashed by

Japan.

For India it was a disap-

 pointing loss as they had to

field a depleted side after top

 players, led by Somdev

Devvarman, made them-

selves unavailable for the tie

over a charter of demands.

Trailing 1-2, both Ranjeet

and Vijayant had a mountain

to climb to avoid India's loss

Sunday. The sizeable crowd

that had turned out here

expecting a miracle, saw an

inspired Ranjeet going down

fighting. Having suffered a

humiliating defeat in the first

singles Friday, Ranjeet,

ranked 511, punched above

his weight against the 321-

ranked Jeong but still lost in

an encounter that lasted two

hours and 23 minutes.

Inspired by Leander Paes

and Purav Raja's doubles win

Saturday, Ranjeet was

charged right from the start.

But lack of maturity and

experience at the top level

made the difference.

Ranjeet, hammered 1-6,

0-6, 1-6 in the first singles by

an unranked Min Hyeok 

Cho, raised his game several

notches and was impressive

with his serve and volleys.

But he erred when he tried to

 put too much power behind

his shots, committing errors.

Jeong played a waiting

game from the baseline and

waited for Ranjeet to commit

mistakes. However, it was a

different Ranjeet Sunday

who was determined not to

 be tamed easily.

Ranjeet surprisingly took 

a 1-0 lead as he broke the

Korean No.1 in the first set.

But Jeong was quick to draw

 parity at 2-2. The Indian was

not willing to let it go with-

out a fight. He made a great

comeback in the fifth game,

on his own serve, and saved

two game points to take a 3-2

lead.

But the Indian committed

too many errors and failed to

finish off points that allowed

the Korean to come back 

from 3-4 to pocket the first

set 6-4.

The second set also con-

tinued in the same breath as

Ranjeet came back from two

 breaks down to make it 3-3

 but failed to capitalize on it.

In the third set, Jeong was

unstoppable as Ranjeet soon

ran out of steam but went

down respectably.

Davis Cup: South Korea hammer India 4-1

CHENNAI: Rising

Australian all-rounder Glenn

Maxwell stole the thunder 

from his illustrious compatri-

ots, fetching a whopping

USD one million (Rs. 5.3

crore), while Abhishek Nayar 

and R.P. Singh also invited

unexpectedly high bids in the

 players' auction for the sixthedition of the IPLin Chennai

on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Maxwell

was bought by Mumbai

Indians after fierce bidding

war with new entrants

Hyderabad Sunrisers in an

otherwise low-key auction

where 108 players went

under the hammer.

"He is an upcoming

youngster. He can bat, bowl

and I think he is a great field-

er. We had thought of some

names before we came here

and he was one of them," said

Mumbai owner Nita Ambani

on the logic behind making

such a high bid for the

youngster who is just eight

ODIs and nine T20s old in

the international arena.

Currently playing against

the West Indies in an ODI

series, Maxwell was ironical-

ly out for a first-ball duck in

Perth while franchises bid for 

him here.

Mumbai all-rounder 

Abhishek Nayar, who per-

formed consistently in the

domestic arena, went to PuneWarriors for $675,000 (Rs.

3.5 crore), a huge improve-

ment on his base price of 

$100,000.

Sri Lankan all-rounder 

Thisara Perera also fetched

Rs. 3.5 crore from

Hyderabad Sunrisers, while

Indian paceman R P Singh

managed to get a good deal

from Royal Challengers

Bangalore, who bought him

for $400,000 (Rs. 2.1 crore).

It was a surprise given

that his base price was

$100,000 and he has not done

anything significant to merit

such a high price tag.

South African all-rounder 

Johan Botha was bought by

Delhi Daredevils for 

$450,000 (Rs. 2.3 crore).

Mumbai Indians buy GlennMaxwell for Rs. 5.3 crore

PERTH: George Bailey scored a maid-

en century and Mitchell Starc took 

another five-wicket haul as Australia

 beat the West Indies by 54 runs in the

second one-day international at the

WACA in Perth on sunaday.

Set 267 to win after Bailey's unbeat-

en 125, the West Indies were cruising at

159-3 in the run chase, before the return

of left-armer Starc to the attack turned

the match, as the tourists were bowled

out for 212 in the 39th over.

Starc took 5-32, following up his

haul of 5-20 as the Australians routed

the West Indies for 70 in Friday's open-

ing game, en route to a nine-wicket vic-

tory.The West Indian chase did not start

well when Starc claimed the key wickets

of Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan

in the second over.

A 126-run stand between Kieran

Powell (83) and Dwayne Bravo (45) had

the tourists in front in the game, before

Glenn Maxwell removed Bravo with his

first limited-overs wicket and then Starc

claimed two more in the 30th over.

Sunil Narine (26) did his best to pro-

duce an unlikely victory when he hit

Maxwell for four sixes in a row, but

Maxwell had him stumped with the final

 ball of the 37th over. The tourists were

then all out for 212 in the 39th over as

Bailey put the icing on the cake with a

run-out of Jason Holder.

Earlier, Australia had made a steady

start to their innings before openers

Usman Khawaja (three) and Aaron

Finch (11) went in quick succession.

The hosts then slumped to 56-4 in the

13th over when Phillip Hughes (21) and

Michael Clarke (16) fell within three

 balls of each other.

Bailey then combined with Matthew

Wade (16) for a 37-run partnership

 before Faulkner linked up with the

Australia number five for a 100-run

stand. Bailey brought up his hundred off 

the final ball of the 49th over with a six

over wide long-on and then unleashed

on Dwayne Bravo with 25 coming off 

the final over, which included three

sixes and a four.

Australia beat West Indies

in second ODI at WACA

WAS H ING TO N: T he

San Antonio Spurs have

continued their supremacy

in the NBA, beating

Washington 96-86 for a

10th successive victory.

The Spurs dominated

the first half, leading 51-

26 at the break, before

easing the tempo in the

second to improve to an

 NBA best 38-11, confinin g

the Wizards to an equal

league worst 11-35 in the

 process.

It was not all good

news for the Spurs who

lost All-Star Tim Duncan

to knee and ankle sprains

in the first half after he

 became tangl ed with

Martell Webster.

Tony Parker led the

Spurs with 19 points and

12 assists, while all 12 of 

their players got on the

score sheet. John Wall

scored a game high 21

 points f or the Wizar ds and

added nine assists.

VALENCIA: Cristiano

Ronaldo scored the firstown goal of his career to

send Real Madrid to a

shock 1-0 defeat at lowly

Granada , further damag-

ing their already slim

hopes of retaining the title.

Ronaldo has scored 21

league goals this season

 but headed into his own

net at a corner in the 22nd

minute and his side rarely

threatened after that in the

face of resolute opposi-

tion. The result left the

champions 15 points adrift

of leaders Barcelona, who

can extend their advantage

over their great rivals to 18

with a win at Valencia.

Real have 43 points from

22 games and remain four 

 point s behin d secon d- place d Atlet ico Madri d,

who host Real Betis

tomorrow. "We played a

 bad game, the respo nsibili-ty is mine," Real coach

Jose Mourinho said"The

result bothers me. The first

half was horrible, and

although we improved in

the second half, it wasn't

enough.

"Granada defended

with heart and soul, and a

lot of motivation, and it

was a great night of foot-

 ball for them."

Their hard-running

hosts, inspired by a change

of coach from Juan

Antonio Anquela to Lucas

Alcaraz , took advantage

of a familiar failing for 

Real this season when they

went ahead at a corner.

Ronaldo rose at the near 

 post and s kimmed t he bal l past Di ego Lope z and into

the roof of his own net.

Ronaldo own goal sendsReal to shock defeat

THAILAND: Second seed

Maria Kirilenko fought her 

way back from a set down to

defeat Sabini Lisicki in the

final of the

WTA PTT

P a t t a y a

Women's Open

in Thailand.

The 26-

y e a r - o l d

R u s s i a n

claimed his

first title of the

season by over-

coming the

fifth-seed 5-7 6-1 7-6 (7-1) at

Dusit Resort in Pattaya City

in two hours 37 minutes.

Kirilenko made up for losing

in last year's final at the

hands of Daniela Hantuchova

 by battling her way back into

the contest before dominat-

ing the deciding set tie-

 breaker to claim her sixth

WTATour title.

Lisicki was aiming to win

her fourth WTAtitle after an

injury-plagued 2012, but

eventually ran out of power 

as Kirilenko extended her 

winning streak over the

German to 3-0.

"I was a little disappoint-

ed in the third set," said

Kirilenko.

"I was leading and every-

thing was good and I made a

return that was just out. If it

was in I could win it 6-2, but

after that miss she was serv-

ing so well afterwards.

"Then somehow I

returned her serves (at 6-5)

and it was a tiebreak and then

I started to feel I can win it."

The world number 15,

who turned 26 just before the

start of the tournament

revealed her wish had come

true.

LONDON: Smoking tobac-

co might be bad for health,

 but a genetically altered ver-

sion of the plant might pro-

vide a relatively inexpensive

cure for the deadly rabies

virus. In a new research

report, scientists produced a

monoclonal antibody in

transgenic tobacco plants that

was shown to neutralize the

rabies virus. This new anti-

 body works by preventing

the virus from attaching to

nerve endings around the bite

site and keeps the virus from

traveling to the brain.

"Rabies continues to kill

many thousands of people

throughout the developing

world every year and can also

affect international travel-

ers," said Leonard Both,

M.Sc., a researcher involved

in the work from the Hotung

Molecular Immunology Unit

at St. George's, University of 

London, in the United

Kingdom. "An untreated

rabies infection is nearly 100

 percent fatal and is usually

seen as a death sentence.

Producing an inexpensive

antibody in transgenic plants

opens the prospect of ade-

quate rabies prevention for 

low-income families in

developing countries."

To make this advance,

Both and colleagues "human-

ized" the sequences for the

antibody so people could tol-

erate it. Then, the antibody

was produced using trans-

genic tobacco plants as an

inexpensive production plat-

form. The antibody was

 purified from the plant leaves

and characterized with

regards to its protein and

sugar composition. The anti-

 body was also shown to be

active in neutralizing a broad

 panel of rabies viruses, and

the exact antibody docking

site on the viral envelope was

identified using certain

chimeric rabies viruses.

"Although treatable by

antibodies if caught in time,

rabies is bad news," said

Gerald Weissmann. "This is

especially true for people in

the developing world where

manufacturing costs lead to

treatment shortages. Being

able to grow safe, humanized

antibodies in genetically

modified tobacco should

reduce costs to make treat-

ments more accessible, and

save more lives.

AUSTRALIA: Scientists at

the Walter and Eliza Hall

Institute have for the first

time visualized the molecular 

changes in a critical cell

death protein that force cells

to die.

The finding provides

important insights into how

cell death occurs, and could

lead to new classes of medi-

cines that control whether 

diseased cells live or die.

Cell death, called apopto-

sis, is important for control-

ling the number of cells in the

 body. Defects in cell death

have been linked to the

development of diseases such

as cancer and neurodegenera-

tive conditions. Insufficient

cell death can cause cancer 

 by allowing cells to become

immortal while excessive cell

death of neurons may be a

cause of neurodegenerative

conditions.

Dr Peter Czabotar,

Professor Peter Colman and

colleagues in the institute's

Structural Biology division,

together with Dr Dana

Westphal from the institute's

Molecular Genetics of 

Cancer division, made the

discovery.

Dr Czabotar said activa-

tion of the protein Bax had

long been known to be an

important event leading to

apoptosis, but until now it

was not known how this acti-

vation occurred.

"One of the key steps in

cell death is that holes are

 punched into a membrane in

the cell, the mitochondrial

membrane," Dr Czabotar 

said. "Once this happens the

cell is going to go on and die.

Using the Australian

Synchrotron, Dr Czabotar 

and colleagues were able to

obtain detailed three-dimen-

sional images of Bax chang-

ing shape as it moved from

its inactive to active form.

"By using the powerful X-

ray beams created by the syn-

chrotron, we obtained struc-

tures of Bax that were really

exciting," Dr Czabotar said.

"Bax is activated when small

 protein fragments called

BH3-peptides bind to it.

We saw that these pep-

tides open up the Bax mole-

cule like a key unlocking a

 padlock. This unlocked form

of Bax can bind to another 

Bax molecule, which can

then form larger Bax com-

 plexes that can go on to break 

up membranes in the cell.

The research was support-

ed by the National Health and

Medical Research Council,

the Australian Research

Council, the Australian

Cancer Research Foundation,

Cancer Council Victoria, the

German Research

Foundation, the Leukemia

and Lymphoma Society (US)

and the Victorian

Government.

Researchers capture key moments in cell death??

WTAPattaya Open 2013: Maria Kirilenko battles past Sabini Lisick 

Genetically modified tobacco plantsproduce antibodies to treat rabies

Spurs win 10th successivegame with win over Wizards

page 8_Misc.qxd 2/4/2013 10:07 AM Page 1