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8 Pages Rs: 1.00 Jammu Edition www.thestudentage.com

STUdenT aGe
SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

JKENG/2012/41612 Vol. 2 No: 12

Akbaruddin Owaisi gets lesson on religious harmony

Jairam Ramesh slams politicians for making anti-women comments

off within minutes of each other, media reports said. Several reporters, cameramen and technicians of news channels were injured. The first attack of the day also occurred in Quetta, where a powerful bomb went off under a security forces vehicle at the busy Bacha Khan Chowk this afternoon. Twelve people were killed and over 40 others injured. The blast was heard from several kilometres away. The roundabout, located near several contd on page 2

'India, China rise set to shake global order'

IN BRIEF
Lal Bahadur Shastri remembered on death anniversary
TASHKENT: The 47th death anniversary of former Indian PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, who passed away here, was observed in the Uzbek capital on Friday. A simple ceremony was held at the Shastri's statue here where Uzbek citizens including school children, contd on page 2

116 killed, over 270 injured in six bomb attacks in Pak

ISLAMABAD: A total of 116 people were killed and over 270 injured in six bomb attacks in the restive Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwa on Thursday, marking a sharp spurt in terrorist violence ahead of the country's next general election. Terrorists targeted a security forces vehicle and a Shia-majority neighbourhood in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, and a religious congregation in the Swat Valley of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, an erstwhile stronghold of the Taliban. Sixty-nine people were killed and over 160 injured in the worst attacks, which occurred late in the evening at Alamdar Road and Airport Road in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a snooker club on Alamdar Road, which has two Shia prayer halls and a sizeable population of Shia Hazaras. As media teams and security forces gathered in the area, three more bombs went

UN , China condemns serial bombings in Pakistan , condoles victims' families

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned what he described as "terrorist violence" in Pakistan, reaffirming the world body's support for the country in countering terrorism. "The secretary-general is deeply concerned about ongoing terrorist violence in Pakistan, news resources reported,"He strongly condemns the multiple attacks in Quetta and the Swat Valley." Thursday marked a bloody day for Pakistan as four blasts rocked the country, killing at least 116 people and injuring over 270. In the statement, the UN chief also strongly condemned the targeted killing of Syed Riaz Hussain, president of the Pakistan Peoples Party for Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Ban said Hussain was a strong advocate of democracy and tolerance. contd on page 2

Sarpanch shot dead by suspected militants in Sopore

SRINAGAR,JAN 11: Suspected militants on Friday shot dead a sarpanch in Sopore township of Baramulla district in north Kashmir. Habibullah Mir, who was affiliated with the Congress, was shot in the neck by the unidentified militants at his home in Goripora village, 52 kms from here, at around 12.20 pm, a police spokesman said. Mir was rushed to a subdistrict hospital where he subsequently died, the spokesman said.

CM condemns killing of Sarpanch

JAMMU, JAN 11: Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah has condemned the killing of Sarpanch at Bomie, Sopore describing it a heinous crime against humanity. In his condolence message to the bereaved family, Omar Abdullah expressed solidarity with them and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul. contd on page 2

Noted Assamese engineer-literatteur dead

GUWAHATI: Bhava Kanta Saikia, the first secretary of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and a noted writer, passed away Thursday in the US, his family here said. He was 92. He is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters. Saikia had joined the public sector undertaking ASEB as its contd on page 2

Centre should check Karnataka water levels: Karunanidhi

BJP to hold nationwide protest against brutal killing of Jawans

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would hold a nationwide protest against the ''brutal'' killing of two Indian jawans by Pakistani troops near Mendhar sector across the Line of Control (LoC). Holding the Pakistani Government and its Army accountable for the untoward incident, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, "All over the country moving down to the district level, the BJP will hold a protest demonstration against Pakistan for the brutal way in which violating all norms of even wartime rules." "They have in a barbaric way dealt with the Indian soldiers. This protest will be held all over tomorrow in all districts of the country, the BJP will organise it," she said. " It is essential to show the anger of Indian people, the anguish with which people of India want to tell Pakistan that our respect and our contd on page 2

LoC firing: Pakistan summons Indian envoy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned the Indian ambassador to Islamabad for the second time this week to protest against the death of a Pakistani soldier in alleged firing by Indian troops in Kashmir. According to reports, Indian Envoy Sharad Sabharwal was summoned by the Pakistan Foreign Office, which served demarche to him over yesterday's incident along LoC. The summoning of the Indian envoy comes shortly after Defence Minister AK Antony said that New Delhi is closely monitoring the entire border with Pakistan and expressed concern over repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops in Jammu & Kashmir. Heavy exchange of fire was reported between the two sides yesterday after Pakistan troops attacked the Indian posts in the Poonch and Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The firing between the two sides lasted for almost 2 hours and Pakistan, later, claimed that one of its soldiers 'Hawaldar Mohyuddin' was killed in the retaliatory shelling by the Indian side. Pakistan also accused the Indian side of provocation, which was categorically rejected by Army Headquarters here. Army, on its part, said that the Pakistani troops' firing started in the Battal area in Poonch sector at 1630 hours after which Indian troops gave contd on page 2

Pakistan suspends Poonch-Rawalakot bus service

SRINAGAR: Amid heightening tensions between India and Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC), the latter has suspended the PoonchRawalakot bus service. No official reason has been given by Pakistan for suspending the bus service but the decision comes in the wake of increasing hostility between the troops of two nations contd on page 2

Govt says no to reconstruction of Delhi gang-rape on TV

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday advised entertainment channel Sony TV not to telecast a reconstruction of the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old Delhi girl that shook the whole country. Crime Patrol - Dastak, a show contd on page 2 CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi Friday said the central government has to find out whether there is water in Karnataka dams and take appropriate action. Queried by reporters here about Karnataka's stand that it would not release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi said: "Karnataka has explained its position. They say they do not have water. Finding out whether contd on page 2

CM addresses 3rd Indian Students Parliament

PUNE, JAN 11: Underlining the need for an attractive environment for committed, educated and spirited youth to participate in democratic polity, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Friday said that the power of creating such an atmosphere is with people. "You should not hate politics but weed out foul player from political arena by exercising your voting power", he told the Indian Students Parliament at Pune while delivering his key note address on the 2nd day of its 3-day conclave. "Creation of an environment so that committed educated and spirited youth participate in democratic polity and contribute in evolving a healthy democratic system is in itself in the hands of people", he added and said that only people are powerful to eject wrong politicians from politics by handing over defeat to them in general elections. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said that all are concerned about the growing negativity in the younger generation towards democratic polity and hate tendency is building up in the minds of youth towards politicians. "This makes them remain isolated from the main stream of democratic polity drawing wrong notions about politics and politicians", he said adding that this mindset needs to be changed. "You have not to hate the politics but the politicians who pollute politics", he reiterated and asked the youth force to exercise their vote power for keeping wrong politicians away from the politics.

First India-Nepal joint Tourism Mart to be held in Lumbini Don't hate politics, remove foul players from it: Omar
The J&K Chief Minister asked the youth force not to get used by politicians but utilize them for the benefit of the society and cause of the country. "This can only be done when you participate in politics, exercise your votes and make democratic institutions strong, transparent and vibrant by choosing dedicated and honest representatives", he added and said that politics is not anybody's inherited property but it belongs to people and only people can allow politicians to contd on page 2 NEW DELHI/ KATHMANDU: India and Nepal are to jointly organize the first ever Tourism Mart in Nepal in Lumbini on the 15th of this month. The two day mart being held by the government of India and Nepal will be part of the closing of the "Visit Lumbini Year". Addressing a press conference in Kathmandu, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy, Jaideep Mazumdar said, there will be more such events in different parts of Nepal during this year. Senior officials from the Indian Ministry of

Eight killed in bus-truck collision in West Bengal

EAST MIDNAPORE (WEST BENGAL): Eight people were killed and 30 injured when a bus collided head-on with a truck at Heria in East Midnapore late on Thursday, police said. According to police, five people died on the spot when the Digha-bound bus, which was coming from Howrah, collided with the truck. The injured contd on page 2

Woman raped by Govt school teacher in J&K

JAMMU,JAN 11: A woman was allegedly raped by a government school teacher in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday. The incident took place in Basantgarh area of the district when the teacher, identified as Hartesh Chander raped the woman yesterday while her husband Ashok Kumar was out of the station for some work, they said. A case has been registered in this connection while a hunt has been launched to nab the absconding accused.

Railways revise ID proof provisions for economically weaker passengers

NEW DELHI: Railways have made some relaxation in the condition of production of original proof of identity during train travel in reserved class and particularly for the passengers belonging to the lower economic classes. This will be applicable to passengers who book reserved tickets through computerized Passenger contd on page 2

Tourism and from Tourism departments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will also be present at the mart giving an opportunity to discuss with their Nepalese counterparts measures to be put in place for promoting tourism through Sunauli-Bhairawa and other points in the region. About three dozen tour operators from India and Nepal are to attend the Mart. India is the largest source of tourists to Nepal. Mr Mazumdar said, as the birth place of Gautama Buddha, Lumbini is an essential contd on page 2

Mercury stays low in Kashmir Valley, Ladakh

SRINAGAR, JAN 11 :The Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region of the state continued to be in the grip of bone-chilling temperatures Friday and adding to the overall misery the weather office forecast rain/snow during the next 48 hours. "The night temperature was minus 4.0 degrees Celsius today (Friday) in Srinagar. It was minus 8.5 degrees in Pahalgam, minus 9.0 in Gulmarg and minus 17.0 degrees Celsius in Leh town," contd on page 2

Pak doesn't want a peace with India:Azad

NEW DELHI, JAN 11 : Pakistan doesn't want a peaceful relationship with India and the violation of the ceasefire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir is a matter of concern, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said here Friday. "The Indian government has made all efforts to maintain good relations with Pakistan, but Pakistan doesn't want to have good relations. The ceasefire violation is a cause for concern," Azad told reporters. "Pakistan resorts to shelling across the border to divert attention from its internal problem," the Congress leader added. The minister's statement came three days after Pakistani troops killed and beheaded two Indian soldiers in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir after breaching the LoC and crossing over to Indian territory. The beheading of the soldiers and one of the heads being taken away by Pakistani soldiers has caused outrage in India.

Antony express serious concern over cease fire violations, says enough troops in J&K
NEW DELHI: India is closely monitoring the entire border with Pakistan and ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir are a cause of serious concern, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Friday. "We are closely monitoring the whole development and our people are on alert. Ceasefire violations are a cause of serious concern and we are taking it seriously," Antony told reporters here. AK Antony expressed grave concern over cations and indiscriminate shelling from the Pakistani side, Antony said, "There are enough troops in Jammu & Kashmir." The Defence Minister, while strongly condemning the unprovoked firing and brutal killing of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan troops, assured the country that such acts of brutality would not be tolerated at any cost. The reaction from the Defence Minister came hours after Pakistan violated the ceasefire across the LoC and opened indiscriminate firing at the Indian posts in the Poonch and Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Army sources, the exchange of fire between the two sides lasted for almost 2 hours. Pakistan, later, claimed that one of its soldiers 'Hawaldar Mohyuddin' was killed in cross-border firing and accused the Indian side of provocation, which was categorically contd on page 2

the repeated ceasefire violations by the Pakistan troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir and said that the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with such situations. When asked whether more troops were needed to tackle provo-

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Navy test fires BrahMos in Bay of Bengal
VISHAKHAPATNAM: Boosting its firepower, India on Wednesday successfully test-fired a highly manoeuvrable version of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a naval warship off the coast of Vishakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. "At 9.30 am, the missile blasted off from the INS Ranvijay in a pre-designated war scenario taking a 'double-manoeuvre in Sform' hitting the designated target ship just one meter above water line. The sheer velocity and power of hit made the missile rip through the ship's hull," BrahMos Aerospace CEO A Sivathanu Pillai said on Wednesday. This is the 34th launch of BrahMos after the successful October launch from INS Teg in the Arabian Sea. The BrahMos missile system was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005 when it began arming the Rajput-class guided missile destroyers and inducted subsequently in many warships. BrahMos is capable of acquiring data not only from the American GPS but also from Russian GLONASS satellite systems also, which ensures double redundancy. In the last stage, the seeker takes over and the target is located with accuracy of a few meters which ensures no chances of survival for the target. "This has been proved once again today and with bull's eye accuracy," officials said. Defence minister A K Antony congratulated the warship commander and Indian Navy and BrahMos team for the demonstration of capabilities, they said.

Taj, Bhalla review water supply scenario in G- Nagar constituency

JAMMU, JAN 11: The Minister for Public Health Engineering, Flood Control and Irrigation, Taj Mohi-u-Din today asked the PHE authorities to explore the possibility of augmentation and revival of depleted Water Supply Schemes in Gandhi Nagar Constituency. Reviewing the water supply scenario in the constituency at a high level meeting, in presence of the Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla, the Minister asked the PHE functionaries to take measures to repair the Pumps damaged at some Tube Wells besides further drilling of the Tube Wells where the water level has depleted. The meeting also discussed the proposal for installation of water pipes in the periphery areas of Gandhi Nagar involving a cost of Rs.5.50crores, besides the replacement of damaged pipes in Ranie Talab. The Minister directed for replacing the excising damaged pipes with CD pipes to ensure sufficient drinking water supply to the area. He also asked the engineers to install the transfers according to the capacity of the particular tube well. Earlier, the Revenue Minister, who represents the assembly constituency, drew the attention of the PHE Minister towards the problems being faced by the PHE department to maintain adequate supply to various localities of the constituency. The Minister was informed that presently more than 100 tube wells, including 22 pumps build by ERA, are functional in the constituency. It was given out that some of the pumps have developed technical snags and are out of order. Mr. Bhalla told the minister that a number of Pakistani envoy, who was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) yesterday, further said that the Director Generals of Military Operations have been in contact with each other over the Mendhar incident. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had earlier said that Pakistan's High Commissioner has been told in very strong terms that the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops is ''unacceptable'', and added that it will have an adverse impact if it is not immediately contained. In a major escalation to the ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts, a group of Pakistan Army soldiers raided across the Line of Control in Mendhar sector and killed two Indian soldiers and injured one more. The Pakistani troops attacked an area domination patrol party of the Indian Army. Lance Naik Hemraj and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh were the two Indian soldiers killed brutally by the Pakistani troops. areas like Deep Nagar, Gurkha Nagar, Kiryani Talab, Apna Vihar,Vidatha Nagar, Chhata Narwal, Adresh Nagar ,Old Satwari are facing shortage of drinking water facilities and there was a need to take immediate steps to overcome the problem. Meanwhile, the Minister also reviewed the functioning of irrigation department with the concerned officers. He issued directions to the Engineers to repair the irrigation canals well in time so that the peasants may not face difficulties in irrigating their fields, particularly during summer season. The meeting was informed that presently 10 Irrigation Tube wells are functional on the outskirts of Gandhi Nagar Constituency which need additional staff for proper operation. The Minister directed the officers and Engineers of PHE, Irrigation & Flood control it 'soda water josh' in given vent to their feedings but patiently bring in change in the system by utilizing vote power. Omar Abdullah said that the student leaders participating in the conference are the young men and women representing the face of young and resurgent India as also the future of the country. "The participants in the conclave of Indian Student Parliament share a collective mission to strengthen the democracy and democratic institutions world-wide. The academic adventures of this platform are not only enriching the perspectives of thousands of spirited youth at its national conclave but also helping them to assume leadership roles by entering diverse spheres of public life", he added. Omar Abdullah said that the national conclave of students differs from other conclaves in objective mission and methodology as it does not stop at its conclusion but converge in the most constructive and forceful manner in channelizing and guiding the energy of youth. The J&K Chief Minister said that people with unimpeachable integrity, irrespective of their chosen area of excellence and people who are leaders in their own rights have a greater role to play to impact young minds positively and effectively imbibing and infusing a sense of moral, intellectual and political leadership in them. "We need to keep reminding ourselves that it is our duty to inspire the successive generations to remain committed to healthy democracy to goodness respecting fundamental human values", he said. Congratulating the Indian Student Parliament for its passionate mission to strengthen the fabric of democracy and involve younger generation in playing constructive role for the betterment of society and the institutions, the Chief Minister expressed the hope that the Indian Student Parliament with its defined objective would go a long way in making the pillars of Indian democracy sturdy and strong. Omar Abdullah also replied the questions of the students in an interaction session after his address. He gave detailed answers of the questions put to him regarding socio-political, economic-development, education, public empowerment and youth force welfare in Jammu and Kashmir. The 3-day conclave of Indian Student Parliament began on 10th of this month at Pune and will culminate on 12th January 2013. As many as 12,000 student leaders from all over the country are participating in the 3-day conclave. departments to gear up their field functionaries and expedite the pace of work on all WSSs, Pump Stations and other irrigation projects. The Meeting was told that J&K ERA under Asian Development Bank loan assistance has successfully commissioned ambitious 1.80 MGD water augmentation intake structure at Boria at an estimated cost of Rs.7.15 crores and the pumping station is being properly operated by the PHE department. The issue of synchronization of feeders for Boria at Narwal was also discussed and it was informed that the process would involve a cost of Rs.45 lakh. Mr.Bhalla asked the concerned officers to make all the pump stations functional throughout year so that people may not suffer particularly in the coming summer months. Army, meanwhile, said that the Pakistani troops' firing started in the Battal area in Poonch sector at 1630 hours after which Indian troops gave a measured response. The firing took place in the area guarded by the 13 Rajputana Rifles, whose two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were killed and their bodies were mutilated by Pakistani troops, it said. New Delhi also rejected Pakistan's allegations that its Army transgressed the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Sunday. The Army is also planning to seek a flag meeting between the formation commanders of India and Pakistan deployed along the Poonch sector of Line of Control today. The tension between the two sides aggravated after the brutal killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan troops.

Contd. from page 1...

116 killed...
markets, was crowded at the time of the explosion. Officials at a nearby hospital said two children and a Frontier Corps personnel were among the dead. Several children and security personnel were wounded. Police said the blast was caused by a timed explosive device planted under the security forces vehicle. An estimated 20 kg of explosives was used in the attack. The blast caused a large crater and destroyed about 10 cars. Hours later, over 30 people were killed and nearly 70 injured in an explosion at a "tablighi markaz" (preaching centre) near Mingora, the main town in Swat Valley, this evening.

UN , China ...
The secretary-general stressed that these heinous acts cannot be justified by any cause. "He reiterates the strong support of the UN for the efforts of the government of Pakistan to combat the scourge of terrorism and hopes that the perpetrators of these violent acts will be brought to justice," the statement said. Ban also conveyed his heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the government and people of Pakistan, as well as to the families of all the victims. China also strongly condemned Thursday's bombings in Pakistan "We express our deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathies to the wounded and the family members of the dead," a news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei as saying. He said China firmly supports the relentless efforts of the government and the people of Pakistan to safeguard the country's stability. Four blasts rocked Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 116 people and wounding 235 others.

Lal Bahadur...
Indologists, representatives of local authorities and officials of the Embassy of India were present, the Indian embassy in Tashkent said in a press statement. Addressing the gathering, Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan A Gitesh Sarma recalled Shastri's contribution to the country and world peace besides his association with Tashkent. According to the statement, Sarma said that Shastriji's teachings and his policies were relevant even today. Shastri, 61, had died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966.

LoC firing...
a measured response.The firing took place in the area guarded by the 13 Rajputana Rifles, whose two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were killed and their bodies were mutilated by Pakistani troops, it said. New Delhi also rejected Pakistan's allegations that its Army transgressed the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Army is also planning to seek a flag meeting between the formation commanders of India and Pakistan deployed along the Poonch sector of Line of Control today. Reacting to the Thursday's incident, Antony said, "We are closely monitoring the whole development and our people are on alert. Ceasefire violations are a cause of serious concern and we are taking it seriously." He said that the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) had been directed to be in touch with his Pakistani counterpart, and the government was awaiting the outcome of their talk. "We will take every step to protect our interests and of our soldiers and the prestige of the Indian armed forces," he said. The minister's statement came three days after Pakistani troops killed and beheaded two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir after breaching the Line of Control that divides the region between the two countries. The beheading of the soldiers -- one of the heads was taken away by the raiders - has caused outrage in India.

FD Refutes JKCCC Statement

JAMMU, JAN 11: A spokesman of the Finance Dept. has strongly refuted the statement of the General Secretary J&K Central Coordination Committee of Contractors published in a section of press today that bills worth Rs.600 crore were still pending for want of funds at various treasuries of the Kashmir valley. The spokesman, while terming the statement as totally baseless, has said that all the bills/cheques, received in treasuries, across the State, on account of payment to contractors' firms and material/supplies, up to the 9th evening of this month, have been cleared in full on the 10th of January 2013, including in Kashmir province. The spokesman has said that as for the total pendency of bills/cheques for contractors and suppliers, the liability is only of 1.83 crore in respect of Kashmir province as of today, the 11th January, 2013. These bills/cheques have been received at the treasuries on the 10th of January. In fact, payment worth 205.14 crore has been made during the past 3 days at the treasuries of Kashmir valley under different objects of expenditure, which includes the contractors' and suppliers' bills. The Spokesman has further said that If the Coordination Committee of Contractors has different facts with it, the Govt. will be glad if it can come up with treasury-wise liabilities of contractors' and suppliers' bills in Kashmir Valley as on the evening of 10.01.2013, so that these can be put in the public domain to enable the people to judge for themselves and sift fact from fiction.The spokesman has asked the JKCCC that being a business community, it should issue statements cautiously based on facts and should not play in the hands of vested interests.

Noted Assamese...
first secretary in 1958 and served the board for 23 years till his retirement in 1981. He had authored two books in English "Black is Beautiful" and "Brown Star" on the achievements and contributions of the Afro-American and the Indian communities in the US. Saikia had also written a collection of Assamese poems "Sunor Sophura", Assamese books on 16th century religious and social reformers Sri Sri Sankar Deb and Sri Sri Madhab Deb besides one on the childhood of Lord Krishna named "Oisana Mohana Balagopala". An engineering alumnus of the Benaras Hindu University as well as Yale and Columbia universities, he had associations with with scientist Albert Einstein and later American president Dwight D. Eisenhower, a family source said. Prior to his ASEB appointment, Saikia was involved in the construction of the Bhakra Nangal dam project in Punjab in the early fifties. He moved to the US in 1991. The funeral will take place in the US Jan 12.

Sarpanch shot...
This is the first attack on a panchayat member by militants this year.

Centre should ...

it is true or not is the duty of the central government." Asked about the recent rail fare hike, Karunanidhi countered: "If the state government increases bus fares, could not the central government hike the rail fares?" Karunanidhi said that the DMK would not support any price hike that affected the poor. The former chief minister also said that he had not condemned the rail fare hike, and pointed out that in Tamil Nadu, bus fares were higher than the rail fares. He also said he agreed with Tamil Nadu State Congress chief B.S. Gnanadesikan that without hiking fares, rail infrastructure could not be set up.

Pakistan suspends ...

along the Line of Control. The tensions mainly grew after a raid by Pakistani troops in which they killed and severed the heads of two Indian soldiers. One of the severed heads was not found and Indian Army suspects the Pakistani troops took it away. Exchange of fire has also increased along the LoC on the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district where the gruesome act took place. Launched in June 2006, the PoonchRawalakot bus service was the second such service between the two countries which was much welcomed by Kashmiris on either side of the LoC. A bus service connecting Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was launched in 2005. Bus services had been the most visible achievements of a hesitant peace process between India and Pakistan.

First India-Nepal...
part of the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit along with the three sites in India of Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar the mart is expected to help Nepal to develop third country tourists. Besides, a three day symposium on Buddhism and historical sites in India and Nepal will also be held in Lumbini with scholars from India on Buddhism and archeological experts from India and Nepal expected to participate.

Govt says no...

that`s hosted by Anup Soni, has dedicated two episodes to the incident, scheduled to be aired tonight and tomorrow. But the ministry has asked the channel to be sensitive to ground realities. The 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally raped by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16 and she died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, where she was being treated for the grievous injuries. The incident led to nationwide protests against rising crimes against women.

BJP to hold...
attempts to keep peace with Pakistan through negotiations or in maintaining people to people contact does not mean that these kinds of violations can happen. And every drop of the Indian soldiers' blood is sacred to us and we shall not accept this barbaric attack on the Indian soldiers," she added. Sitharaman said ''Pakistan should get the message from India that the Indian citizens are absolutely angered at the way in which they have dealt with our soldiers in the border''. Asserting that it is high time to send a strong message to Pakistan, Sitharaman further said the Indian Government should deal with them firmly. Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir had earlier on Wednesday denied a Pakistan Army attack on Indian soldiers in the Mendhar sector in Poonch district on Tuesday. "I would like to address some of the concerns, which are expressed here in the Indian media since yesterday regarding what is called the Mendhar incident. First of all, I would like to say that Pakistan remains firmly committed to respecting the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. It is important, I believe both governments agree, that the ceasefire, which is an important confidence building measure, must be respected by both sides," Bashir said. The

Mercury stays...
Sonam Lotus, director of the local weather office, told IANS. Kargil town, at minus 18.6 degrees Celsius, recorded the lowest temperature in the state. Lotus said: "A Western Disturbance (WD) is approaching Jammu and Kashmir under whose influence we are expecting moderate snowfall in the higher reaches and rain/snow in the plains during the next 48 hours." 'Western disturbances' are extra tropical storms in the Mediterranean Sea which result in sudden rain and snow in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. These meteorological disturbances plays an important role in the growth of rabi or winter crops in these countries. Kashmir is currently reeling under the 40-day long harsh winter period known locally as 'Chillai Kalan', which started Dec 21 and will end Jan 30. In the Jammu region, the harsh winter period is believed to end Jan 12. The locals there celebrate the improvement in the season by lighting bonfires, also known as the 'Lohri' festival as elsewhere in northern India.

Rs 430 cr spent under MGNREGA: Sagar

JAMMU, JAN 11: An Amount of Rs. 430 crore has been spent under MGNREGA till December thereby generating 208 lakh mandays in the State. The information was given in a high level review meeting of Rural Development department convened by Minister for Rural Development, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar here today. Commissioner Secretary Rural Development, Mr. Farooq Ahmed Peer, Directors Rural Development, Jammu/Kashmir, Mr. Shafiq Ahmed Raina, Mir Altaf Ahmed, Director Rural Sanitation Mr. Tufial Matoo, Member secretary MGREGA, Mr. Pawan Rathore, CEOs of IWMP and other senior officers present in the meeting. Mr. Sagar impressed upon the officers to ensure that the benefit of various rural development schemes reaches the genuine beneficiaries and maximum care should be taken while identifying them. He said we have to also see to it that the funds earmarked are utilized to the maximum and that too in a judicious manner.

Eight killed in...

were rushed to hospitals, where three more people died. Among the eight people killed, seven were passengers of the bus, police said, adding a pedestrian was also killed in the accident.

CM addresses ...
groom or doom in this field. "When youth actually cease to participate for common causes core democratic values, inclusive representation, vibrancy of democracy and eventually respect for human rights begin to erode, which is dangerous for the very existence of any free and democratic society", Omar Abdullah maintained and said that Indian Students Parliament share a greater role to strengthen the fabric of democracy and democratic institutions. "It has been observed that public especially youth raise their voices on different occasions against various issues but do not translate these into results by exercising their real power to over through the politicians and the system which they consider corrupt, unwholesome and antipeople by voting in large number during general elections", he said and asked youth not to exhib-

Railways revise ...

Reservation System counters for journey in Sleeper and Second Reserved Sitting classes. Under the relaxation, attested photocopy of ration card with photograph and the nationalised bank passbook with photograph would also be accepted as a proof of identity. The revised provision will be made effective from January 15. Railways, however, clarified that the changed provision is not applicable to all classes of etickets and Tatkal tickets and tickets issued through Passenger Reservation System counter for travelling in air-conditioned classes and First Class. Travelling with these categories of tickets shall continue to be governed by existing instructions.

Antony express...
rejected by Army Headquarters here.

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STUDENT AGE SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

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Pak again violates ceasefire in Poonch sector
POONCH,JAN 11: Indian and Pakistani troops engaged in exchange of fire in the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir, the scene of beheading of Indian soldiers, in fresh tensions as Pakistan closed the gates for cross-border trade at Chakan-Da-Bagh. In the midst of the skirmishes, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the liberalised IndoPak visa agreement would be implemented while Finance Minister P Chidambaram rejected Islamabad's demand for a UN probe into the brutal killing of the two Indian soldiers on Tuesday by Pakistani troops. Pakistan said it lost one soldier in today's exchange of fire, while claiming that the provocation took place from Indian side which was rejected by Army Headquarters in Delhi. The Pakistani troops' firing started in the Battal area in Poonch sector at 1630 hours after which Indian troops gave a measured response. The firing ceased at 1810 hours, Army headquarters said here. The firing took place in the area guarded by the 13 Rajputana Rifles, whose two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were killed and their bodies were mutilated by Pakistani troops, it said. India also dismissed Pakistan's allegations that its Army transgressed the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Sunday. In fact, Pakistan had carried out a ceasefire violation on the night of January 56 and "controlled retaliation" was carried out by the Indian Army on January 6, an Army press release said today. These developments came on a day the Pakistani army refused to allow trucks from India carrying goods at cross-Line of Control trade point in Poonch district. 25 trucks carrying goods, mostly vegetables, from India were not allowed to cross the LoC and enter Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir at Chakan-Da-Bagh, officials of the Trade Facilitation Center (TFC) at Poonch said.

NEWS IN BOX

Indo-Pak ceasefire along LoC must continue: CM

PUNE,JAN 11: Amidst escalating tension along the IndoPak border, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said the ceasefire between the two countries must continue because its violation adversely affects the population of the militancy-affected state. Abdullah, asked to react to the killing of two Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan, said "We have already condemned it strongly. We want the ceasefire between the two countries to continue because its violation affects the J and K population." The ceasefire, which came into force in 2003, was also necessary to prevent infiltration into the state, he added. Abdullah was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a "Students' Parliament" organised by Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) here. The level of tension along the border in Jammu and Kashmir has increased after Pakistani troops violated ceasefire continuously and also closed the gates for cross-LoC trade yesterday. Pakistani troops intruded into Indian territory and killed two jawans earlier this week.

PAC recommends enhancement of funds to DAs

JAMMU, JAN 11: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Jammu and Kashmir, Legislative Assembly today recommended for enhancement in the allocation of funds to all the Development Authorities (DAs) of the state. The Committee, which met here under the Chairmanship of MLA, Rafi Ahmad Mir, discussed and reviewed over all functioning of the Tourism department, besides CAG's audit para pertaining to the department. The members Mr. Vijay Bakaya, Mr. Bashir Ahmad Magray, Mr. Kaful-ur-Rehman, Mr. Niza-mu-Din Bhat, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain, Mr. Vikar Rasool Wani, Syeed Bhasrat Ahmad Bukhari and Mrs. Bimla Luthra suggested for creating Public Conveniences along National Highway (NH) and tourists destinations of the State to facilitate the passengers as well as tourists. The panel also suggested for establishment of view points on the NH. The Committee directed the officers of tourism department to closely pursue the environment and forest clearances besides other necessary formalities required for establishment of proposed Gandola projects in the State. The panel desired that the work on the Gandola projects proposed for Patnitop and Ashmuqam shall be expedited as these offer a grand mix of tourism potential including leisure, adventure, pilgrimage to the tourist. Threadbare discussion was also held on CAG's Audit Para pertaining to the tourism department and after satisfactory reply by the department, the Committee dropped it. The panel appreciated the overall working of the tourism department, however it stressed for more improvement. The Committee directed the officers of tourism department to furnish detailed information about the number of tourists who visited to newly developed tourist destinations of the State during the current year, for the scrutiny of the Members of the Committee. The Commissioner/Secretary, Tourism Mr. Attal Duloo briefed the Committee about the achievements and activities of the Development Authorities. He said that the main purpose to establish these authorities was to focus on development. He said that the budget allocation of each Development Authority is Rs.2.30 crore including Rs.70 lakh revenue component. Mr. Duloo said that the department has proposed for additional allocation of funds to all the Authorities for making visible impact in the areas coming under each of these. He said that the assets of the department are being maintained properly from the returns received from out sourcing these. Earlier, the Commissioner/Secretary, General Administration Department Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad also briefed the panel about the importance of these Development Authorities. Responding to the quarry put forth by the Members about filing up of vacancies in the DAs , Sheikh Mushtaq assured that the postings for the same would be made soon. Managing Director, Jammu and Kashmir Tourist Development Corporation (JKTDC) Mr. Satish Nehru informed the meeting that wayside facilities are available on National Highway. Among others, Principal Account General, J&K AG's office, Dr. S. C Pandey, Director General Accounts and Treasuries Mr. Ravi Mangotra, Director Tourism Kashmir, Mr. Talat Parveez, Director Tourism Jammu, Chief Executive Officers of Pahalgam Development Authority, Kokernag Development Authority, Gulmarg Development Authority, Wular Lake Development Authority and other concerned officers of tourism, JKTDC besides senior officers of Assembly Secretariat attended the meeting.

CM,Guv and others felicitate people on Lohri

JAMMU, JAN 11 : Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, N. N. Vohra, Governor, MLA Inderwal Ghulam Mohammad have felicitated people on Lohri wishing them happiness and well being. In his greetings message, the Chief Minister prayed for peace, prosperity and development of the State and hoped that the day to be harbinger of progress in the State and the country. In his message of greetings and good wishes, the Governor observed that festivals are integral components of our composite cultural heritage which strengthen the bonds of communal harmony and promote amity and brotherhood among our people. The Governor wished the people a Happy Lohri and Makar Sankranti and prayed for their well-being. In his message, Saroori said these festivals were a celebration of the joy and prosperity which were ushered in by fresh harvest. "May these festivals bind each one of us in fraternal love and affection and inspire us to work for the unity, progress and well being of our nation," Senior Congress Leader said.

Sham highlights State's hortiflori sectors in Delhi Expo

NSF celebrates Lohri at G.D.C R.S.Pura

RS PURA, JAN 11: National Secular Forum, G.D.C R.S.Pura Unit organized a programmed and celebrated Lohri with the staff of the G.D.C R.S.Pura, Principal of the college Smt. Anita Sudan was the Chief Guest, while Dr. Sunil Gupta (HOD Mathematics), Dr. Anil Ganjoo (HOD Physics), Prof. J P Singh, Prof. Amit Pal, Prof. Mandeep Singh were also present. Speaking on the occasion, Principal of the college Smt. Anita Sudan appreciated the efforts of NSF members to come forwarded and organized these function. He expressed hope that such a function is a reflection of centuries old traditional communal harmony and brotherhood among different sections and faiths of the society. He said that Lohri is a vibrant festival which marks the end of winter and signifies the harvesting of Rabi crops. He also said that people in northern India eagerly wait for the season as it is the time to make harvesting celebrations with friends and family members. Parvinder Paul Singh President College Unit NSF said "let the history be created with love and affection, peace and stability". According to them this will be the message of today's function. He said that Lohri is also an occasion when parents give present to their newly married daughters. Rakesh Kumar Chairman College Unit, also address and said that Lohri marks the beginning of a new financial year for the formers because on this day they settle the division of the products of the land between themselves and the tillers. Atul Sharma Secretary College Unit, also addressing gathering and said that Lohri is fundamentally an agricultural festival, filled with merry-making.

LC panel members to go on study tour

JAMMU, JAN 11: The members of the Ethics Committee of the Legislative Council would soon leave for a study tour to various states. The members, scheduled to visit Bihar and Rajasthan, would study the working of the Upper Houses of the two states and hold interactions with the legislators of these states. This was informed here today at a meeting of the Committee conevened to finalise the tour arrangements, with its chairman Syed Rafiq Ahmad Shah in the chair. Legislators Mr. Ali Muhammad Bhat and Sham Lal Bhagat attended the meeting. Minister for Horticulture and Floriculture, J&K, Sham Lal Sharma along with others during International Horticulture Congress- 2013 at NSIC Exhibition Ground Okhla, New Delhi. NEW DELHI, JAN 11: Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing, Tariq Anwar, inaugurated International Horticulture Congress- 2013 held at NSIC Exhibition Ground Okhla, New Delhi today. Nearly, 16 countries and all states of the host country are participating in this prestigious horticulture-floriculture expo to showcase the achievements and initiatives in these twin sectors. Minister for Horticulture and Floriculture, J&K, Sham Lal Sharma, who was guest of honor on the occasion, highlighted various achievements of the department of horticulture and floriculture in Jammu and Kashmir. He also highlighted the steps initiated to promote the horticulture and floriculture in the state during the past over four years. In his keynote address, Sham Lal Sharma laid stress on developing formal linkage between the growers and the marketing agencies with a strong network of cold chain and communication system to reap the benefits of these important sectors. He said India is one of the largest markets for flower and horticulture trade in the world and a well-knit mechanism of marketing facilities needs to be developed so that consumers can get the products on genuine rates in all seasons. Giving details about the steps initiated by the State Government to promote these sectors in Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister said that State is major producer of fruit and flowers and during the past three-four years its production has increased manifold. The Government has strengthened the network of markets at the district and tehsil level to provide facilities to the farmers and growers at their doorsteps and to provide them genuine rates of their products. In his formal address, Sanjeev Chopra Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Managing Director, Horticulture Mission hailed the efforts and achievements of the State Government.

Maintain ceasefire at any cost to consolidate peace: Mufti

JAMMU JAN 11: Stressing the need of ceasefire all along the Line of Control (LoC), PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said political leadership of India and Pakistan must step in to arrest the escalating tension. "We stress on the need of maintaining spirit of the ceasefire all along the Line of Control (LoC) at any cost", Sayeed said. He said peace on the borders was in the interest of Jammu and Kashmir people because they bear brunt of the hostility between the two countries. Welcoming Sayeed Najeeb Naqui, a Youth Congress leader from Uri, who joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) here today, Sayeed expressed his concern over unpleasant events on the LoC recently and emphasised on the need of taking some concerted steps to avoid reoccurrence of the unfortunate incidents in future. In a gruesome attack on Tuesday, Pakistan regular soldiers crossed into Indian territory in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir and ambushed an Indian patrol killing two soldiers, both of them were decapitated. He said that the ceasefire, which was announced on the border by the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the year 2003, had brought positives changes in lives of the common people in Jammu and Kashmir. "The ceasefire all along the border from Kathua to Kargil had proved to be a very important event not only for the two countries but also for the people in all the regions of Jammu & Kashmir", he said. "I appealed Prime Minister of India and political leadership of Pakistan to adopt realistic and purposeful policy to establish lasting and sustainable peace in this region", he added.

President awards Census Medals

NEW DELHI, JAN 11: The President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee presented the Census Medals for extraordinary performance at the Census 2011 here today. Among those who received medals include Commissioner-Secretary, Education, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Factoo for his role as Director, Census Operations during 2010-11 census. The President congratulated all the Census medal winners and said that informed decision making has to be based on empirical data and census is the only source of data that provides information on various individual characteristics right up to village level for rural areas and ward level for urban areas. He hoped with the latest technology adopted by Census Organization for data dissemination, Census results would be accessible quickly to all the stakeholders in the remotest corner of the country. Ever since the holding of the first Census of India after Independence, it has been the tradition with the Census Organization to award Silver and Bronze medals and Certificate(s) of Honour from the President of India to various Census functionaries, viz., Enumerators, Supervisors, Charge Officers etc. in recognition of their outstanding zeal, high quality of work and devotion to duty during the Census taking.

J&K to get two sports training Centres: Chib

NEW DELHI, JAN 11: The Union Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Jitender Singh, today chaired a meeting here to discuss various issues regarding further streamlining of Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, Jammu and Kashmir. Minister for Medical Education, Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports, R.S.Chib, was also present. Commissioner Secretary, Sports J&K, Bipal Pathak and Secretary Sports, Daleep Thusu, who were also present in the meeting, briefly explained various issues regarding release of budget for multipurpose hall, completion of Artificial Sythetic Footbal Turf and various proposals under consideration in the Ministry. The Union Minister has agreed to release an amount of Rs. 6 crore for construction of multipurpose hall within weeks' time which shall take about one year for its completion and the work stands allotted to the concerned agency. Chib assured the meeting that the ASFT for TRC will be completed by April 2013. He discussed the issue of expenditure on account of two goodwill matches between J&K- XI and Mohan Bagan and Mohammadan Sporting Kolkatta which was held at Srinagar Baramulla & Jammu. The Union Minister said that Ministry of Home Affairs will release required balance amount on this account. Besides, he agreed in principle for establishment of new Sports Training Centre at Srinagar and Jammu at a cost of 10 crore each. The awaited sanction of two multipurpose halls for Jammu and Kashmir provinces under the USIS for the year 2013-14 was also taken up in the meeting. However, the concerned Ministry asked for re- submission of said proposal and assured that it will be taken care of.

Div Com inaugurates 2-day Lohri festival

JAMMU, JAN 11: In connection with celebration of Lohri festival 2013, Department of Tourism organized 2-day Lohri Festival at Raghunath Bazar Jammu here today in which Divisional Commissioner Jammu Pardeep Gupta was the chief guest who inaugurated the Lohri festival with the lighting of auspicious lamp. The festival is being organized by the Tourism Department in collaboration with Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association to showcase the cultural heritage of Jammu. Speaking on the occasion, the Divisional Commissioner said that organizing such type of events showcase the unique cultural ethos and heritage of Jammu besides promoting cultural tourism in the State. He informed that the government has taken several steps to diversify the tourism activities under which potential destinations are being developed across the state to promote eco, adventure and heritage tourism. Other attractions of the Raghunath Bazar were ethnic food stalls, cultural show with Chajja dance, playing dandia and illumination of Raghunath Bazar. Lohri festival function will also be held at Raghunath Bazaar on 12th January in which Cultural items and Bonfire will be the main attraction. Among others, District Development Commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma, Director Tourism, R. S. Mehta, Joint Director Information, Jammu, Inderjeet, President Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association Baldev Khullar and other officers of Tourism and other departments besides members of Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association and large gathering was present on the occasion.

BJP protests against Pak inhuman act

JAMMU,JAN 11:As part of pary's countrywide protests against Pakistan for its inhuman act towards Indian soldiers, Jammu Mahanagar unit of BJP held a massive protest at Kachi Chwani Chowk under the leadership of its District President Rajesh Gupta. They were carrying party flags and placards with slogans against Pakistan. Rajesh Gupta, while addressing the protestors, said that the recent incident of killing of two Indian soldiers and thereafter giving most barbaric treatment to dead bodies, said that decapitation of brave army martyred soldier is indicative of the barbaric mindset of the perpetuators of the heinous act. He said that holding talks with Pakistani government for improving the bilateral relations and making mutual relations peaceful seems a pipe dream. No civilized person would decapitate and violate a dead soldiers body. All previous records of barbarity and crudeness stand beaten by this act of Pakistan. Rajesh Gupta said that the Govt. of India should come out of its day dreaming and treat Pakistan as a country whose norms of behaviour are totally opposed to the civilized and humane conduct. It must reconsider its foreign policy towards Pakistan and not escape from its responsibility by just issuing a statement of condemnation are registering formal protest with the embassy. He declared that the BJP will not allow any political setup in the country to fiddle with the nation's interests and allow the sacrifices of our brave jawans going waste. Let the enemies of India take notice that these cowardly acts will not deter the brave soldiers of our country from defending every inch of our country, he added. Kavinder Gupta, Munish Sharma, Sakina Bano, Shiv Kumar Gupta, Vikram Randhawa, Sanjay Baru, Praduman Singh, Ayodhya Gupta, Kuldeep Kandhari, Tarsem Choudhary, Vinay Gupta, Sanjiv Gupta, Karan Singh, Priya Sethi, Pardeep Sharma, Rakesh Mishra, Priya Jral, Rajinder Sharma, Ashwani Sharma, ramesh Sharma, Subhash Jandial, Balwan Singh, Chander Mohan Gupta, N.D.Rajwal, Subhash Gupta, Jeet Angral, Surinder Gupta, Harbans Choudhary, Ludharmani Sharma,Arun Sethi, Sat Pal Karlupia, Faqir Chand, Vijay Choudhary, Ajay Vaid, Anil Masoom, Mackson Tickoo, Rajeshwar Sharma, Gurdyal Singh Bali, Sanjeev Sharma, Onkar Singh, Sher Singh, Kulbhushan Vohra, Bal Khajuria, Naresh, Lalit Sharma, Ram Parshad, Vijay Mahajan and Chaman Lal took part in this protest demonstration.

CS reviews security ahead of Republic Day

JAMMU, JAN 11: Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, Monday afternoon reviewed the overall security situation in view of the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations. The meeting was attended by ADGP Law and Order K Rajendra, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas, Principal Secretary, Home, Suresh Kumar, IGP CID B Srinivasan and other officers. Chief Secretary took detailed stock of various security related measures taken to conduct the event peacefully. He also received a brief about the arrangements being put in place in the state to celebrate the day besides details of participation of several police, paramilitary and educational institutions etc in various events to be held on Republic Day.

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STUDENT AGE SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

EDITORIAL & STATE WATCH

By Anush Garg "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens." These are the opening lines of our constitution which we adopted on 26th January 1950. Keeping these constitutional words in mind, I think that the politicians of India don't really live in a democratic republic. They might have been chosen by the people but they think that they are not answerable to the same people. No public appearances, even our Prime Minister does not care to speak to the people on subjects of national concern. According to the ethics of democracy in India, the government has a duty to support various rights of the people. But the fact is much of the population does not enjoy the rights because of the fact that literacy and employment are both hard to find in backward areas and remote villages and therefore people continue to live in the dark. The only right which has been offered is the 'Right to Vote'. Once elected, the MLA's and MP's make the most of the power and prestige, which makes them addicted to get re-elected. This whole cycle makes the Indian politicians hungry for power and this thirst causes them to divide the commoners on the basis of caste, creed and religion. Many politicians make speeches on subjects of hate and religion and hide themselves behind the curtain of Freedom of Speech and Expression as provided by our constitution. They themselves forget that the constitution which has given us the right to express ourselves has also provided some restrictions. Hate speeches in a public gathering is an offence under Section 153 (a) of IPC*. I believe that

Is 'Divide and Rule' The Politicians' Mantra? Rail fare hike is fine. But services must improve
a hate speech by the politician, where he divides the listeners on the basis of religion or their place of birth, is not welcome. But, the most recent controversial speech was made by him on the 24th of December, 2012 when he was addressing 25,000 Muslims in the Approximately 100 years ago, when the British ruled India, they practiced the concept of 'divide and rule'. In my belief, the politicians are playing the same game even today. They are dividing people on the basis of religion and caste and ruling them. The MPs and MLAs often come up with novel ideas of reservation quotas and win elections to gain power. But in the long run, the reservation/quota system is not for the benefit of the country or its people especially while the nation is still developing. The politicians are generating hate amongst us, and directly opposing secularism. *According to the Indian Penal Code 153 (a): "Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintain harmony." A fresh case which is in the media is that of Akbaruddin Owaisi and honestly, I had never heard of him till his recent hate speech. Also, he has already been booked for six different cases in the past. He is the floor member of All India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and was elected as an MLA in 1999. During his political career, Owaisi made a number of controversial speeches. In some he used Urdu words such as katil (murderer), beimaan (dishonest), darrinda (monster), and dhokebaaz (cheat) for the former Prime Minister, P V Narsimha Rao. In December 2012, Owaisi made fun of Hindu festivals, and said "We (Muslims) have only two festivals; they (Hindu) have so many - one every 10 days." Five years ago, he and his supporters had physically attacked the Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen who is noted for her logical islamist comments and articles. She was billed as anti-islamist by Owaisi and his followers and the legal case is still pending in the court. town of Nirmal in Andhra Pradesh. In the two-hour-long speech, he tried to brainwash the Muslim listeners to hate the Hindu community. Immense public outcry and demands have forced the authorities to book him under Sections 143 and 156 of CrPc where he is not allowed any further public appearance. Immediately after his hate speech, he fled to London for 'medical treatment', as told by his brother. However, he was arrested on the 8th of January, 2013 and is expected to be produced before a court in Nirmal owing to his hate speeches. In his latest speech on the 24th of December he even supported Kasab and other terrorists who attacked the Taj Hotel in Mumbai; he also supported Tiger Memon and the Mumbai Blasts during his speech. He told the listeners that it was revenge which Tiger Memon accomplished on behalf of the Muslims. Approximately 100 years ago, when the British ruled India, they practiced the concept of 'divide and rule'. In my belief, the politicians are playing the same game even today. They are dividing people on the basis of religion and caste and ruling them. The MPs and MLAs often come up with novel ideas of reservation quotas and win elections to gain power. But in the long run, the reservation/quota system is not for the benefit of the country or its people especially while the nation is still developing. The politicians are generating hate amongst us, and directly opposing secularism. A few years ago, Raj Thackeray, in Mumbai's Azad Maidan stated: "Everyday 48 trains come to Maharastra from UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. Who are these people, where do they go?" This forces me to raise this particular question: Is every citizen not allowed to travel to any part of the country or state? Such hate speeches show the shallow and irresponsible mindset that our politicians have. The same politicians who should be responsible for maintaining peace amongst their own constituents. I have something to say to our leaders: If a young girl from Mumbai posts something on Facebook about the death of politician Bal Thackeray, the police arrests her in no time to please those in power and for showing the superiority of their own beliefs over the law of the land. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has stated "Anyone who hurts sentiments will be dealt with as per law". I believe that this statement is only politically and legally correct to avoid dealing with the matter immediately and to save his position. This is typical when a politician is involved and it takes decades when it comes to the legal procedure. Making hate speeches while earning money and fame at the same time, dividing us on religion and language will not work anymore. We Indians are now connected; we have come together and will not give in to their ways. We must not forget that 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'.

t is true that the hike in railway fares which Union Minister for Railways Pawan Kumar Bansal announced on Wednesday will burden millions of travellers across the country. But that burden had become inevitable given the fact that, while the cost of operating the railways has been going up over the years, passenger fares remained largely unchanged in the past decade. For far too long the railway fare has been treated like a holy cow, and successive Ministers in charge of the portfolio have baulked at the idea of increasing passenger tariff even when it became necessary to have the hike, because it was seen as politically unwise. Ironically, the very people in the supposed interest of whom the increase had been deferred, have suffered the most due to substandard services on board the train and at railway platforms. Besides, the Indian Railways has been unable to put in place advanced technology to check accidents across the country or introduce faster trains on various routes that need the facility. The reason for these failures is the crunch of funds. Money has to come from the people who use the service. Given these realities, it is to be hoped that the additional amount of Rs6,600 crore which the Indian Railways is expected to mop up through the Wednesday decision

(with Rs1,200 crore coming this fiscal year during the period January 22 to March 31), will be used to improve facilities for rail travellers

propose to further increase passenger fares in the Budget. Yet, with the Government mulling a proposal to index fares with fuel

For far too long the railway fare has been treated like a holy cow, and successive Ministers in charge of the portfolio have baulked at the idea of increasing passenger tariff even when it became necessary to have the hike, because it was seen as politically unwise. Ironically, the very people in the supposed interest of whom the increase had been deferred, have suffered the most due to substandard services on board the train and at railway platforms.
and put in place mechanisms to contain accidents. Because, unless the Congress-led UPA Government succeeds in doing that, the fare hike will be interpreted as yet another avoidable burden that a regime which has messed up the country's financial management, has imposed on the people. Such an accusation will sound credible because the people are already struggling to cope with the fall-outs of the Union Government's various fiscally unsound policies. Meanwhile, the fact that Mr Bansal chose to announce the hike less some two months before the scheduled presentation of the Railway Budget, has raised eyebrows. Clearly, the Government did not want to present an unpopular Rail Budget - the last full Rail Budget before the Lok Sabha election is due. This is the reason why the Minister has been quick to emphasise that he does not prices, more hikes cannot be ruled out. But, while Mr Bansal has bit the bullet on passenger fares, it remains to be seen whether he will announce before or in the Rail Budget a hike in freight tariff too. It's a decision that is fraught with peril either way. If he does not increase freight charges, he will be giving up a means to raise valuable revenue and inviting criticism that his regime has targeted the common man and not the industry to raise money. Already, the regime is facing accusation from the Opposition of crafting economic policies in a bid to please corporate interests here and abroad, at the cost of the aam aadmi. On the other hand, if the Minister does enhance the freight tariff now or later, it could lead to a further escalation in the cost of goods and services that are transported through the railway network, and adversely impact inflationary trends.

STATE WATCH

Politicians, judges to be monitored in Goa casinos

PANAJI: Politicians, judges, military officers as well as bureaucrats with a gambling fetish need to beware now. A new amendment to the money laundering act in Goa now mandates all casinos in the state to keep tabs on lawmakers, judicial officers as well as civilian and military officials in order to ensure that they do not spend money not in proportionate to their salaries. The change comes even as several top politicians in Goa and bureaucrats have been repeatedly seen in the state's casinos spending fortunes, and at times even indulging in brawls. These have been caught on close circuit television cameras. "Casinos shall gather sufficient information on any customer of this category intending to establish a relationship and check all the information available of the customer in the public domain," the newly modified guidelines for the casinos issued by the Goa government say. "Casinos shall verify the identity of the customer and seek information about the sources of funds before accepting the Politically Exposed Person (PEP) as a customer," the notified rule says. The casino operators have also been directed to introduce a Know Your Customer protocol, which would enable the management to know briefly about the legitimate background of the gambler. Goa has half a dozen offshore casinos and nearly a dozen onshore casinos operating in the state, visited by hundreds of thousands of locals as well as tourists annually. In the last few years, there has been a call for regulating the casino industry, but no concrete steps had been taken. The modified guidelines are aimed at squelching aspects like money laundering and terror financing through casinos. They are also perhaps the first concrete steps towards regulating this increasingly powerful casino lobby. The new guidelines also mandates the casino operator to create profiles of high spending customers who often splurge crores during each sitting at a roulette or a private black jack table. Black money, the notification says, often finds its way to casinos through these high spenders. "Customers may become high spenders because of their cumulative spending over a period of time. Similarly, casual customers who gamble a relatively large amount of money on a limited number of occasions, perhaps even during a single visit, could equally be considered as high spenders," the guidelines say. The guidelines direct casino operators to keep an eye on junket operators who shepherd high spending gamblers to casinos and leverage on the casino managements to extend illegal liberties to these gambler groups. In order to insulate casinos from money laundering and terror financing, the new guidelines make it mandatory for casino operators to regularly send reports of cumulative cash trabsactions, suspicious transactions as well as intimations of every cash transaction above Rs.1 million, whether in Indian or foreign currency.

GOA

Sand likely to cost more than cement in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: It may not be surprising if sand gets costlier than cement in Punjab. And it looks quite likely as the bids offered auction for about 20 mining-pits in six districts fetched a whopping Rs 97 crores for the government. Interestingly one pit in village Chandiala in Mohali district fetched a whopping Rs 34 crores against a reserve price of Rs 90 lakhs. Only about two years ago the pit had fetched Rs 50 lakhs only. The common people and those associated with mining, besides the officials of the industries department, which controls the mining in the state, are surprised over the exorbitantly high bids offered by the mining contractors. They do not rule out the cartelisation by the mining contractors. Surprisingly while two years ago, the mines across the entire state fetched Rs 54 crores only, this time only 20 pits in five districts fetched over Rs 97 crores. This is likely to lead to exorbitant price of sand in the state thus further increasing the cost of construction. In Ludhiana one single pit fetched Rs 18 crores. The mining contractors who were left out alleged that the contractor who is close to the ruling Akali Dal will resort to the mining in the entire district. Otherwise, they said, it is impossible for him to make this much of money. "The intention of the contractor is clear", said a contractor who was outbid, while adding, "by paying for one pit you get the defacto rights for the whole district particularly when the government is supporting you". The industries department auctioned only limited number of pits since it did not have the clearance for rest of the quarries. However, the contractors have been alleging that the state government was deliberately delaying the formalities required for getting the environmental clearance. It is being alleged that the sand mining contracts have been bagged by the same cartel which has held sway and monopoly over the mining trade for a long time. Moreover, the contractors are said to be not belonging to a single political party. "This practice of cross political interests in sand mining has been prevailing for a long time", disclosed a former contractor associated with the sand trade for a long time.

PUNJAB

MP minister, Gwalior Mayor's praise of dacoits earn them HC notice

GWALIOR: Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to state Medical Education Minister Anoop Mishra, Gwalior Mayor Sameeksha Gupta and others in connection with a programme eulogising dacoits recently. The division bench of Justice SK Gangele and Justice GD Saxena issued the notices on Wednesday on a contempt petition filed by an advocate Awdhesh Singh Bhadouria. Gwalior Municipal Corporation (GMC) had organised the Gwalior Carnival from December 15-31 last year during which a programme was organised on the theme of 'Dacoits of Chambal'. During the programme, the speakers reportedly spoke in praise of the dacoits and information about them was also displayed on posters and banners. Bhadouria had earlier filed a PIL in the High Court demanding that the programme will have an adverse affect on the new generation as it was organised to speak in praise the dacoits, following which the court directed the GMC to ensure that it was not done. However, despite the high court's directive, the programme in which the state education minister, Gwalior Mayor and others took part eulogised dacoits. Bhadouria later filed a contempt petition in this regard following which the court issued notices to them with a direction to file their replies within four weeks.

MADHYA PRADESH

Akbaruddin Owaisi gets lesson on religious harmony

HYDERABAD: Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen (MIM) MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, whose alleged hate speech has triggered national outrage, was given a lesson on religious harmony and brotherhood by a sitting judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a plea against him. The piece of advice came from Justice L Narasimha Reddy, who wondered how someone like Owaisi was using his position to instigate people on communal lines when his own life was once saved by the prayers of hundreds of ordinary Indians, besides medical efforts. These observations were made by Justice Reddy on Wednesday, who also sought a response from the state and police authorities on a petition filed by the MIM MLA seeking to stall the registration of multiple FIRs on his alleged hate speech. The judge, while admitting the MIM legislator's petition, posted the matter for hearing after the Sankranti vacation. The judge, while declining to grant any interim relief to the MIM legislator, also elaborated on the peaceful coexistence of Hindus and Muslims in country since time immemorial. Justice Reddy said that the MIM MLA has made several derogatory remarks against Hindu gods and slammed him for showing no respect to the land that has made him, his father and brother legislators. The Andhra High Court judge further cautioned that the MIM legislator, who had bright future in politics, has dug his own grave through his hate speech. During his observation, Justice Reddy said that venomous remarks of the MIM MLA was in sharp contrast with the general image of Indian Muslims who never sponsored such needless hatred. The judge also reminded the legislator that the senior counsel (DV Sitarama Murthy), who came to defend his speech bore the name of the Hindu deity. When the MIM MLA's counsel urged him to restrain the authorities from registering FIRs against his client, Reddy said it was not possible now since people from various states have seen his hate speech on YouTube and condemned it.

ANDHRA PRADESH

KERALA Pro-Left Kerala Govt Employees' Strike Losing Steam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The indefinite strike launched by the pro-Left employees of the government and teachers that began Tuesday appears to have lost steam with state government offices Friday reporting higher attendance than previous days. The strike was called after the Kerala government stood firm by its decision to implement the contributory pension scheme for fresh recruits in government service starting next fiscal. Employees have been on strike since Tuesday. Official statistics of attendance at the state secretariat here shows that of its more than 3,000 employees, over 2,000 reported for work Friday. "The strike appears to have lost steam, because all of us know that not reporting for work on Friday would mean loss of salary for Saturday and Sunday too, both state government holidays," said a government official who did not wish to be identified. In an ugly incident at a government school Friday morning in Thrissur district, striking teachers used what has come to be called "itch powder" in classrooms. When children came in contact with the powder, their bodies itched unusually hard, and doctors had to be called to treat them. Thursday, a similar substance was used in a school in Palakkad district. Feeder organisations of the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist, its youth and student wings, took out protest marches across the state in solidarity with the striking, Left-leaning government employees. Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura are the only states yet to implement the contributory pension scheme in the country. Skirmishes were reported between striking employees and those who had arrived to report for work Friday too. Protestors marched towards the secretariat, and were joined by top leaders of the Left parties.

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STUDENT AGE SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

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FAMOUS LEADERS: SHYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE

Contd....... Born On: July 6, 1901 Born In: Calcutta, India Died On: June 23, 1953 Career: Politician After India's Independence After August 1947, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was made a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet and given the office of the minister for industry and supply. Having worked with the Indian National Congress before, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a favorite with several within the party. But differences between him and Jawaharlal Nehru forced the former to resign from his position in the government on April 6, 1950. While Jawaharlal Nehru had forwarded an invitation to the Pakistan PM to discuss issues on minority commissions and minority rights, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was of the opinion that Pakistan was responsible for the influx of refugees from East Bengal in West Bengal. He even believed that the violence that was meted out to Hindus in East Pakistan was the result of Pakistan's support to the government of the country. Though Jawaharlal Nehru was prepared to appease Pakistan, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee refused to relent from his beliefs and thus quit the Congress. For his act, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was hailed as a hero of West Bengal. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee formed the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) on Oct 21, 1951 after his fallout with Jawaharlal Nehru. The BJS supported Hindu nationalism in the country. It stood for free market economies as opposed to the socialist economic policies followed by Jawaharlal Nehru. However, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee did not believe in discriminating against the Muslims, and as such, he practiced the same civil code for both the Hindus and the Muslims. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee repeatedly spoke out against the ritual of cow slaughter followed by the Muslims and the special favors given to the Muslim majority state, J&K. There was a rule during that point of time which prevented any Indian, including the President of India from entering J&K without the permission of the PM of the state. The 1952 general elections in the country saw Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and the BJS winning three seats in the Parliament. Protesting against the rule applicable in J&K, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee visited Kashmir in 1953 and crossed the borders without the permission of the state's authorities, thus facing arrest on May 11, 1953. Death Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was taken under house arrest on May 11, 1953. Keeping him locked inside a decrepit house did not help to better pleurisy and coronary problems which he was already suffering from. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was taken ill to hospital in June and treated with penicillin in spite of repeated warnings to the medical authorities about his allergy to penicillin. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee died while he was in hospital under mysterious circumstances. He was declared dead on June 23, 1953 and though many including his mother wanted explanations and independent enquiries into the death, Jawaharlal Nehru clearly refused their demands, saying that once death was declared there could be no mystery. The Hindu nationalist thus died a controversial death. Commemorations Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was and has remained one of the chief political figures of India. * The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation dedicated a bridge to Shyama Prasad Mookerjee on Aug 27, 1998. * The CSIR in India announced fellowships named after Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in 2001 for deserving candidates who want to pursue the Ph D degree. * The tallest building in Delhi, the newly constructed 650 crore building which houses offices of several branches of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was named the 'Doctor Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Civic Centre' on April 22, 2010.

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The Magic Mirror

Contd..... oor Snow-white, who was hungry and thirsty, ate a few vegetables and a little bread from each plate, and drank a little drop of wine from each cup, for she did not like to take all she wanted from one alone. After this, feeling very tired, she thought she would lie down and rest on one of the beds, but she found it difficult to choose one to suit her. One was too long, another too short; so she tried them all till she came to the seventh, and that was so comfortable that she laid herself down, and was soon fast asleep. When it was quite dark the masters of the house came home. They were seven little dwarfs, who dug and searched in the mountains for minerals. First they lighted seven little lamps, and as soon as the room was full of light they saw that some one had been there, for everything did not stand in the order in which they had left it. Then said the first, "Who has been sitting in my little chair?" The second exclaimed, "Who has been eating from my little plate?" The third cried, "Some one has taken part of my bread." "Who has been eating my vegetables?" said the fourth. Then said the fifth, "Some one has used my fork." The sixth cried, "And who has been cutting with my knife?"

Arthur the Artist

But every morning when they left her, the kind little dwarfs warned Snow-white to be careful. While the maiden was alone they knew she was in danger, and told her not to show herself, for her stepmother would soon find out where she was, and said, "Whatever you do, let nobody into the house while we are gone." After the wicked queen had proved, as she thought, that Snow-white was dead, she felt quite satisfied there was no one in the world now likely to become so beautiful as herself, so she stepped up to her mirror and asked: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is most beautiful of all?" To her vexation the mirror replied: "Fair queen, at home there is none like thee, But over the mountains is Snow-white free, With seven little dwarfs, who are strange to see; A thousand times fairer than thou is she." The queen was furious when she heard this, for she knew the mirror was truthful, and that the hunter must have deceived her, and that Snowwhite still lived. So she sat and pondered over these facts, thinking what would be best to do, for as long as she was not the most beautiful woman in the land, her jealousy gave her no peace. After a time, she decided what to do. First, she painted her face, and whitened her hair; then she dressed herself in old woman's clothes, and was so disguised that no one could have recognised her. To be Contd.... All My Great Excuses A Funny School Poem for Kids I started on my homework but my pen ran out of ink. My hamster ate my homework. My computer's on t h e blink. I accident a l l y dropped it in the soup my mom was cooking. My brother flushed it down the toilet when I wasn't looking. My mother ran my homework through the washer and the dryer. An airplane crashed into our house. My homework caught on fire. Tornadoes blew my notes away.

"And some one has been drinking out of my cup," said the seventh. Then the eldest looked at his bed, and, seeing that it looked tumbled, cried out that some one had been upon it. The others came running forward, and found all their beds in the same condition. But when the s e v e n t h approached his bed, and saw Snow-white lying there fast asleep, he called the others, who came quickly, and holding their lights over their heads, cried out in wonder as they beheld the sleeping child. "Oh, what a beautiful little child!" they said to each other, and were so delighted that they would not awaken her, but left her to sleep as long as she liked in the little bed, while its owner slept with one of his companions, and so the night passed away. In the morning, when Snow-white awoke, and

saw all the dwarfs, she was terribly frightened. But they spoke kindly to her, till she lost all fear, and they asked her name. "I am called Snow-white," she replied. "But how came you to our house?" asked one. Then she related to them all that had happened; how her stepmother had sent her into the wood with the hunter, who had spared her life, and that, after wandering about for a whole day, she had found their house. The dwarfs talked a little while together, and then one said, "Do you think you could be our little housekeeper, to make the beds, cook the dinner, and wash and sew and knit for us, and keep everything neat and clean and orderly? If you can, then you shall stay here with us, and nobody shall hurt you." "Oh yes, I will try," said Snow-white. So they let her stay, and she was a clever little thing. She managed very well, and kept the house quite clean and in order. And while they were gone to the mountains to find gold, she got their supper ready, and they were very happy together.

Volcanoes struck our town. My notes were taken hostage by an evil killer clown. Some aliens abducted me. I had a shark attack. A pirate swiped my homework and refused to give it back. I worked on these excuses so darned long my teacher said, "I think you'll find it's easier to do the work instead."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans character, give him power. ~ Abraham Lincoln

IMAGE TO COLOUR
1.Movie Director, "Now you have to jump from the 10th floor." Nervous Actor, "But suppose I got injured or killed?" Director, "Thats the idea, coz its the last scene of the movie." 2. Bhikhari: Saab 1 rupaya de do. Saheb: Kal aana. Kal Bhikhari: Saala is kalkal ke chakkar mein is colony mein mere lakhon rupaye fase huye hain. 3.Banta : Wo ladki deaf lagti hai. Main kuch kehta hoon, woh kuch aur hi bolti hai. Santa : Kaise? Banta : Maine kaha I Luv U, To woh boli "Maine kal hi naye sandal kharide hain". 4.A boy told his friend, "Yaar aik larki mujh ko hans ke dekh rahi hai" Friend: Sahi se dekh, hans ke dekh rahi hai ya dekh ke hans rahi hai.. 6.Santa talking on cell. BANTA : Kis se baat kar raho ho. SANTA : Biwi se BANTA: Itne Pyaar se? SANTA : Tumhari hai

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

CRAFT: EGG CUP INSECTS

What you'll need: Cardboard egg carton, Scissors, Paint: colors of your choice, Chenille stems: colors of your choice, Craft knife, small scissor, or sharp pencil, White craft glue, Medium and large pom-poms, Wiggle eyes How to make it: 1. Have an adult cut egg cups out of egg carton and trim clean. Paint in various colors of your choice and let dry. 2. While egg cups are drying, create insect wings by cutting and bending chenille stems into various different shapes. 3. Have an adult use a small scissor, sharp pencil, or craft knife to poke a hole in each side of the egg cup, insert wings into the holes. If you want the wings farther back on the body, poke the holes closer together. 4. Turn egg cup upside down and bend ends of chenille stems against the side of the glue them to the fronts of the egg cups. 6. Use skinny chenille stems for legs and antennae. Antennae can be glued right to the pom-pom head. Legs can be inserted in the sides of the egg cup in the same fashion as the wings. 7. Glue on wiggle eyes on the pom-poms to complete the face. Tips: 1. You can decorate your insects even more by adding polka dots. Just dip the handle end of a paintbrush into a contrasting color of paint and dot on. 2. Foam egg cups can be used as well, but the cardboard soaks up the paint better though. 3. Colored wiggle eyes are available at your local craft supply store.

cup to help hold them in place. 5. Using two large pom-poms for heads or one medium pom-pom for bulging eyes,

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STUDENT AGE SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

NATIONAL

Jairam Ramesh slams politicians for making anti-women comments

NEW DELHI: Taking a strong stand against the statements made by some politicians after the Delhi gangrape incident, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said such people should be asked to "go home". The minister said he felt "diminished as a human being" after the December incident which has hurt India's image across the world. "None of us have come out of this looking good. Personally as a man, as an Indian, I felt demeaned by what happened. I felt diminished as a human being," he said. Asked whether those who made insensitive statements should be punished or not, Ramesh said, "Privately I think anybody who makes such comments should be asked to go home. You make this comment with full knowledge. It is not that you have been misquoted...I find it appalling actually." Justifying the angry reaction from masses after the incident, he said the opportunity should be used to sensitise people and initiate political reforms in the country. "There is anger against the political class and political process, which I think is perfectly justified...I would be the first to say that political class must look inwards. Why are we talking so much time on electoral reforms? Why are we giving tickets to criminals? Why are we giving tickets to people against whom rape charges have been framed," he said. He said people are asking legitimate questions from the political parties. "Why can't the political parties change their way of fundsame brush. There are black sheep, we have to isolate them. We must keep them aside, we must reform our political financing and electoral reforms," he added. On typecasting Ministries such as Women and Child Development by putting them under women Ministers, Ramesh said he will accept the portfolio if he gets the opportunity. "Let me tell you if I am offered the Women and Child Development Ministry, I will gladly take it. I think it is a very important portfolio. I think this is typecasting and we have to get out of this typecasting," he said. He also took a dig at religious leaders for making insensitive remarks. "Look at some of the statements that have been made by so called religious personalities who appear on television giving solace to lakhs of Indian. If this is their mindset, then I am afraid we have a long way to go," he said. Along with political and administrative reforms, the minister also strongly advocated police reforms and making the force autonomous and professional. Ramesh, who also headed the Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry till last Cabinet reshuffle, said one of the ways to ensure security and dignity for women is to ensure toilets for them. "One of the most powerful thing any government can do is to take up the sanitation issue as a national obsession and make sure that all women have toilets, both in rural areas and urban areas," he said.

'BJP will raise FDI in retail issue in Budget session'

NEW DELHI: BJP will not let the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail sector die down and vociferously raise it during the upcoming Budget session of Parliament, senior leader Jaswant Singh said. Delivering a lecture on 'FDI and its Impact on Small Traders', he said it is an "old tactics" of the government to reject opposition to FDI in multi-brand retail saying that we (opposition) wanted to do the same in our tenure. "They did the same thing during the nuclear deal also. But they didn't provide any document to support their claims," he said. At economic front, he claimed, the UPA government's performance has

ing? The greatest source of black money in our country today is political financing. But there is no major reforms in this," he said. Ramesh suggested abolishing the MPLAD scheme and using the money to finance legitimate political activities. "Ten years ago I had sug-

gested that just abolish MPLADs and put that as state funding of elections. Today we are spending close to Rs 5000 crore a year on MPLADs," he said. Ramesh said all politicians should not be painted with the same brush. "I don't think you can paint all politicians in all political parties with the

been a disaster. It is responsible for taking back the economy to 1991 state of financial instability, he alleged. Sinha said BJP is not against FDI but it is also not in favour of bringing foreign investment indiscriminately, without calculating its advantages and disadvantages. He said the UPA government wanted to shift the focus from its problems and therefore it diverted attention by bringing some economic reforms.

SC upholds quashing of Judicial custody of Sukhdev Namdhari, others extended till today SC notice to CBI, BSNL Karnataka deputy Lokayukta
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday set aside the appointment of Justice (retd.) Chandrashekaraiah as UPALokayukta of Karnataka on the ground that he was appointed by the government without consultation with the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. The High Court had quashed the appointment in April last year, holding it unconstitutional. The High Court had said that Justice Chandrashekharaiah was appointed without him being recommended by the chief justice. The bench of Justices N Kumar and H S Kenpanna quashed the appointment saying a faulty consultative process was adopted by the then chief minister Sadananda Gowda. Both Justice K Chandrashekharaiah and the state government had appealed against the order. The Supreme Court today accepted Karnataka's view and maintained that the Chief Minister should have primacy on the appointment. It also said that there is nothing adverse against Justice Chandrashekharaiah. Since Justice Santosh Hegde's term ended in 2011, the post of Lokayukta has been lying vacant NEW DELHI: The judicial custody of sacked Uttarakhand minority panel chief S S Namdhari and nine others, arrested for their alleged roles in the murder of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother in a shootout, was extended till Friday by a Delhi court. Metropolitan Magistrate Anu Aggarwal extended by a day the judicial custody of Namdhari, his PSO Sachin Tyagi and eight others after they appeared in the court through video conference. Their judicial custody was extended for a day only as the investigating officer (IO) could not reach the concerned court in time and reached it only after it had risen for the day. The IO accordingly had to appear before the court of Duty Magistrate Aggarwal before which the accused were produced through video conferencing. The court extended the judicial custody of accused Bhupender Singh, Uday Raj Singh, Rajpal Singh, Anand Singh Bisht, Mathura Singh Mehra and Satnam Singh, who are Ponty's aides. It has also extended the judicial custody for Namdhari's men Simranjeet Singh and Jagbir Singh custody till Friday. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police had booked Namdhari had an ongoing property dispute, were killed in a shootout at t h e i r Chattarpur farmhouse in New Delhi on November 17 afternoon, after which the police has arrested altogether ten persons including Tyagi and Namdhari in various criminal cases linked to the incident. All the ten accused have been booked for allegedly committing offences of hatching criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, dacoity, assault, Arms Act, destruction of evidence, trespass, illegal confinement and kidnapping. The police, however, has booked Namdhari on charges of murder. The police had told the court that from the probe, it has been established that Namdhari has played a vital role in the conspiracy with other co-accused, who acted on his orders. The police had also told the court that during the probe, Tyagi had disclosed about his involvement in the conspiracy of trespass and that he along with Namdhari, had shot at Hardeep as per a plan hatched earlier among him, Namdhari and Ponty.

alleging misuse of public office

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the CBI and BSNL on a PIL alleging misuse of public office by former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran. The petition alleges that Maran had set up a BSNL exchange in Chennai and routed the lines to Sun TV offices. The PIL also seeks an investigation against Maran. In 2007, the CBI's Chennai branch had drafted a note saying that the lines originally meant for his residential address were used by the Sun TV Network, causing huge losses to the central government. Sun TV is owned by Dayanidhi's brother Kalanithi. Maran has also been under scrutiny over the Aircel-Marxis deal. The deal involves Maran and a Malaysian business tycoon. Maran has been accused of "forcing" Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006 owned by Kuala Lumpur-based business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan

for allegedly killing Ponty Chadha's younger brother Hardeep. Tyagi, a constable with Uttarakhand Police since 2005 and deployed as Namdhari's PSO since January 2012, was also arrested for his alleged role in the crime. Ponty and Hardeep, who

Power, Coal Ministry to speed up NTPC coal blocks re-allocation

NEW DELHI: The Power Ministry is in constant touch with Coal Ministry to speed up the re-allocation of three mines to NTPC, which would boost the power producer's valuation ahead of its Rs 12,000 crore disinvestment this fiscal. The govt. has decided to re-allocate three coal blocks -- Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari and Chatti-Bariatu (South) -- to NTPC but all the necessary clearances are not in place. "We are in constant talks with the Coal Ministry to speed up the re-allocation of coal mines to NTPC," Power Secretary P Uma Shankar said. He did not share specific details. Re-allocation of the coal blocks would boost the overall market valuation of NTPC, which is grappling with fuel shortages. Better share prices, during disinvestment, would in turn help in fetching higher returns for the government, which is hard-pressed for resources."The re-allocation (of coal mines) will improve NTPC's valuation," Shankar said. The three blocks were taken back from NTPC by the Coal Ministry citing long delays in developing them. Last month, a Power Ministry official had said that preparations for NTPC share sale would start only when the three coal blocks are re-allocated. Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, last month, had said the coal blocks would be reallocated at the earliest. In November 2012, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved NTPC stake sale. The country's largest power producer NTPC became public with its initial public offering hitting the market in 2004. Thereafter in 2009, the government further diluted its stake in the company through a Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). Government holds 84.50 per cent in NTPC, a 'Maharatna' company, which has a capacity of 39,674 MW -- roughly one-fifth of country's current installed generation capacity. So far this fiscal, the government has mopped up over Rs 6,900 crore through disinvestments in public sector companies. It has set a target of raising Rs 30,000 crore in the financial year ending March 2013.

Centre raises housing assistance in plains and hilly areas

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has raised housing assistance substantially under the Indira Awas Yojana to provide quality and affordable houses. This was disclosed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi after the Cabinet meeting. The unit assistance provided for homestead site to those living below the poverty line has been doubled to 20 thousand rupees. Those, who have neither agricultural land nor a house site for buying a homestead site will be eligible for the assistance. The Cabinet has also approved infusion of 12,517 crore rupees of additional capital in public sector banks. Mr Chidambaram said this will be completed by March this year and will enable the banks to maintain their Cash reserve ratio. Disinvestment of ten per cent paid up equity of Public sector Engineers India Ltd. was also given the nod by the cabinet.

Govt not going to amend RTI, committed to transparency: Narayansamy

conference of districts collectors in New Delhi Friday, Minister of State in the P r i m e Minister's o f f i c e , Personnel, Public Grievances and pensions V Narayanasamy said that the government is not going to amend the Right to Information Act and is committed to greater transparency and accountability. Mr. Narayanasamy called upon Collectors to devote more time to field work and understand the problems of implementation of government sponsored schemes and come out with suggestions for any modification in their implementation. Mr Narayanasamy said Collectors should lead by example in the district and should always be accessible to the public. They should fine-tune the service delivery mechanism and cut down the bureaucratic red-tape to ensure reaching out to the needy people.

Delhi rape: Hearing on plea opposing in-camera trial

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court is expected to hear on Friday a petition challenging an order invoking in-camera proceedings in the December 16 Delhi gang-rape case. The Saket district judge had on Wednesday upheld the district court's decision to restrict the media from covering the rape case. After the sessions and the metropolitan court's order it was decided that the accused will be represented by lawyers who had volunteered to take up their case. All five accused in the shocking gang-rape and attempted murder of a 23-yearold medical student on a moving bus last month were produced in the Saket court yesterday. The court later fixed January 14 as the next date of hearing in the case. The Delhi Police faced embarrassment when it was criticized by the Delhi High Court for committing serious lapses and its shoddy probe in the case. Delhi Police alos submitted an unconditional apology to the high court and assured that it would do everything to prevent the recurrence of such cases in future. A fresh report was also submitted with the names of police officials patrolling the area, on December 16, in which the Delhi braveheart was gangraped. The five accused in the gang-rape case are bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur. The five accused are at present in judicial custody. The case of the sixth accused, reportedly a minor, is being heard by a Juvenile Justice Board.

No safety for women on Delhi roads: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Holding that there was no safety for women on Delhi's roads, the Supreme Court Court said Friday: "We are failing to treat women with dignity, equality and respect." The Supreme Court has made some strong observations about lack of safety women in the national capital. The apex court said, while listening to a PIL that there was no safety for women in Delhi. The observation came as the court issued notice to the central government, the National Commission for Women and the Delhi government's State Transport Authority on a public suit questioning the validity of the two finger test conducted on rape victims. The court was told that the invasive two finger test was against the dignity of women. The suit also sought the setting up of a criminal injury compensation board in the country. An apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra issued the notice on a petition filed by Nipun Saxena, a fourth year student of Delhi's National Law University. Saxena contended that the court's direction 16 years ago to establish the compensation board had not been followed so far. The notice was issued to the State Transport Authority on the plea that permits of private buses that do not comply with the Motor Vehicles Act should not be renewed. The public suit comes in the wake of the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus Dec 16 and her subsequent death in a Singapore hospital where she was airlifted for specialised treatment. The incident sparked outrage across India and led to calls for stricter laws against rape and molestation of women.

NEW DELHI: Government has taken a number of initiatives over the years to reform administration, the systems of public service delivery and to put anti-corruption measures in place. Addressing a two day

Pakistan violates ceasefire again, LoC tense

NEW DELHI: The tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of killing of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistani troops has escalated after the Indian Army accused the hostile neighbouring country of violating the ceasefire again on Thursday. Reports, Friday, claimed that the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire across the LoC and opened indiscriminate firing at the Indian posts in the Poonch and Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Army sources, the exchange of fire between the two sides lasted for almost two hours. Pakistan, later, claimed that one of its soldiers 'Hawaldar Mohyuddin' was killed in cross-border firing and accused the Indian side of provocation, which was categorically rejected by Army Headquarters here. The Army, meanwhile, said that the Pakistani troops' firing started in the Battal area in Poonch sector at 1630 hours after which Indian troops gave a measured response. The firing took place in the area guarded by the 13 Rajputana Rifles, whose two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were killed and their bodies were mutilated by Pakistani troops, it said. New Delhi also rejected Pakistan's allegations that its Army transgressed the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Sunday. The Army is also planning to seek a flag meeting between the formation commanders of India and Pakistan deployed along the Poonch sector of Line of Control today. The tension between the two sides aggravated after the brutal killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan troops. The Indian government yesterday rejected Islamabad's call for a UN probe into the alleged killing of Indian soldiers by its troops. Amid tensions on the LoC, Pakistani authorities also reportedly stopped Indian trucks from Jammu and Kashmir from entering Pakistan while international community urged the two sides to settle the dispute amicably. The US said urged India and Pakistan to resolve their latest row through dialogue. In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar reiterated the demand for a third party enquiry into the violations on the LoC ceasefire that has largely held on since 2003. Responding to it, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC had shot up last year.

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Barack Obama under fire for naming white men to key leadership posts
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama, the first black US President, is coming under fire from some of his own Democratic Party for naming a stream of white men to key cabinet and leadership posts in his second administration. President Barack Obama on Thursday named Jack Lew as his Treasury secretary, the fourth white male he has named to the most prized cabinet posts in recent weeks. Lew's nomination follows Obama's pick of Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. He has also named former Senator Chuck Hagel to be defense Secretary and John Brennan to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Against this, he lost the first Hispanic woman in the cabinet when Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced her resignation on Wednesday. And last month Lisa Jackson, who is black, announced she was stepping down as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. "It's embarrassing as hell," New York Democrat Charles Rangel, one of the most senior black members of Congress, said of the Obama appointments. New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, whose state has the only all-female delegation in Congress, described the appointments as "disappointing." "We need a government that looks like America so we can address the concerns that we hear from across the spectrum," she said. Republicans joined in the criticism with former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee accusing Obama of waging a "war on women," using the same words Democrats coined to criticize Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the election campaign last year. "Now a lot of those females who supported Barack Obama are scratching their heads, and they're saying, 'Whoa! How come there is so much testosterone in the Obama Cabinet and so little estrogen?'" the former Arkansas governor said on his radio show. Obama beat Romney 55 percent to 43 percent among women, according to a news website exit polling on Election Day. He also won large majorities of the AfricanAmerican and Hispanic vote. Diversity in the United States is usually defined as including women and racial minorities, especially Hispanics and AfricanAmericans. U.S. political pundits parse polling data of women, Hispanics, African Americans and other groups for signs of voting patterns. They track the "gender gap," which is the percentage difference between Democratic and Republican support among women. Since Obama's re-election in November, many analysts have noted the rising percentage of U.S. ethnic minorities and described his victory as a reflection of changing demography. The criticism of Obama is surprising because Republicans usually are the party accused of insensitivity to diversity. Former President George W Bush deflected this by pointing to the two secretaries of state during his eight years in office -- African-Americans Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. They were followed by Hillary Clinton. If confirmed by the Senate, Kerry will be the first white male to hold the top U.S. diplomatic post in more than a decade. Almost overlooked in the criticism is that the White House announced this week that Attorney General Eric Holder, who is black, will stay on as the nation's senior legal officer. Obama also was widely reported to be considering an African-American woman, United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice as Secretary of State. She pulled her name from consideration because of Republican objections to her statements about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. White House spokesman Jay Carney urged critics on Wednesday to make their judgments only after Obama had completed his team. "Women are well represented in the president's senior staff," he told reporters, noting that his team included Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Debbie Walsh, director of Rutgers University's Center for American Women in Politics, which tracks women in elective office, said Obama's choices were a missed opportunity to put women into powerful jobs such as heading the Pentagon. "A case could be made that Barack Obama won on the strength of the support that he had with women, given the gender gap," she told a news agency. With women filling 36 percent of Cabinet posts in his first term, Obama had the highest percentage of women in top jobs of any president other than fellow Democrat Bill Clinton, she said.

Rare snowstorm paralyses Jerusalem, Northern Israel

JERUSALEM: The worst snowstorm in 20 years shut government offices, public transport and schools in Jerusalem and along the northern Israeli region bordering on Lebanon on Thursday. Many Palestinians in the hilly occupied West Bank were also snowed in and dozens were forced to flee flooded homes. Elisha Peleg, an official in charge of emergencies with Israel's municipality for Jerusalem, urged residents to remain at home and stay off the streets, telling Israel Army Radio the area had overnight seen its greatest snowfall since 1992. He said 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) of snow had piled up in the city centre and more than that in outlying areas. "The downtown area is bathed in white," Peleg said. "The elders of Jerusalem don't remember such a snowstorm in years," Peleg also said. Public transport ground to a halt for several hours. Many vehicles that ventured onto roads were stuck and citizens were urged to remain at home. Government offices also remained closed for the day. "Make it a family day. In the afternoon, the temperatures are supposed to rise and you will be able to head out for some shopping," Peleg said. Some traffic arteries opened later in the afternoon as temperatures rose and some snow melted. Public bus services partially resumed and were free of charge in Jerusalem, as an incentive to keep private vehicles off the slushy roads. In the occupied West Bank, city streets were largely abandoned, with few residents chancing the hilly and widely rutted roads and schools kept shut because of the weather. A general strike by government employees also kept Palestinians in their homes, as the Palestinian Authority has been unable to fully pay salaries following Israeli economic sanctions announced last month in anger at a campaign that won de facto United Nations recognition of Palestinian statehood. The Palestinian meteorological institute said that snow levels in the Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas had reached 10-20cm and as much as 30cm in Hebron. Flooding was reported in the northern West Bank, where water "inundated dozens of houses and widely damaged agricultural areas local farmers depend on for their livelihoods," Jenin governor Talal Dweikat told the reporters "Dozens of families have been forced to flee their homes, but thank God there have been no deaths, and the Authority is dealing with the problem aggressively despite its financial problems," Dweikat said.

'India, China rise set to shake global order'

WASHINGTON: The rise of China and India as major world powers and how they view their relationship with the West promises to test the established global order, according to a US think tank. In the coming decades, "as the two powers grow, they are bound to change the current international system-with profound implications for themselves, the US, and the world," says a new publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "And whether they agree on the changes to be made, especially when it comes to their relationship with the West, will influence the system's future character," says the publication, "Crux of Asia: China, India, and the Emerging Global Order". A close examination of Chinese and Indian perspectives on the fundamentals of the emerging international order reveals that Sino-Indian differences on many issues of both bilateral and global significance are stark, it says. "China and India's sustained economic growth fuels their increasing geopolitical and military influence," says the publication edited by Ashley J Tellis, a senior associate, and Sean Mirski, a junior fellow respectively in the Carnegie South Asia Programme. Despite their developmental similarities, China and India's bilateral strategic rivalry means that they have competing priorities on most major global issues, the publication says. Sino-Indian differences are considerable on issues relating to the nonproliferation system, Asian security, regional stability in Southern Asia, and security in the maritime commons, space, and cyberspace, it says. But the two rising powers broadly agree on matters relating to the international economic system, energy security, and the environment. "Because of its ongoing shift to the Asia-Pacific and status as the only global superpower, the US must manage a complex set of relationships with China and India, which are at times working at cross-purposes," the publication says. Both China and India want a stable Asia-Pacific that will allow them to sustain their economic prosperity, but they perceive threats very differently and have divergent priorities. "Importantly, India seeks a resolute American presence in the region to hedge against possible Chinese excesses, while China sees the US as significantly complicating its pursuit of its regional goals and worries about American containment attempts," the publication says.

China sends fighters to counter Japanese aircraft

BEIJING: China sent two J-10 fighters to the East China Sea after the country's Y-8 aircraft was closely followed by two Japanese F-15 fighters, a defence ministry official said Friday. The ministry of national defence denounced the Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrol of Chinese administrative aircraft, sources reported. The official said China's Y-8 aircraft was patrolling the southwest airspace of the East China Sea oil platform Thursday. The two J-10 fighters were sent to monitor the Japanese fighter jets tailing the Y-8 as well as another Japanese reconnaissance plane was spotted in the same airspace, the official said. The official said Japanese military aircraft have been increasingly active in closely scouting Chinese aircraft. He said the activity zone of Japanese military aircraft has also expanded recently, and this was the root cause of security disputes between the two countries concerning territorial waters and airspace. The Chinese military will be on high alert and will resolutely protect its air defence force, the official said.

India out of WTO talks on FDI and visa regimes in service sectors
NEW DELHI,JAN 11: India has decided to opt out of negotiations for agreements between select WTO member countries for liberalizing foreign direct investment and visa regimes in service sectors and for lowering import duty on 357 information technology products and 54 environmental goods, saying the talks were against its interests. Senior government officials said the so-called early harvest scheme, meant to thrash out a deal on a select set of sectors, would impact the ability of developing countries such as India to strike a bargain with trade in farm goods, where the developed countries boost exports through heavy doses of subsidies , and industrial products. "What the US and European Union are trying to do is cherry-picking without addressing the core concerns of developing countries, which is at the heart of the Doha Round which is a development round," said a top-ranking official, who did not wish to be identified. Early harvest was pushed by developed countries as they were unwilling to open up farm trade, a domestic hot potato, even as countries such as India were not very keen on the plan. The officials said that the developed countries were insisting on including at least 50 products such as washing machines, refrigerators and window AC among the 357 "IT products" on which customs duty will be removed. Similarly, there are 136 dual-use goods in which a zero duty regime is being suggested. There are another 50 items in which there are local sensitivities. The plurilateral agreement, involving a few WTO members , is in any case seen to be helping countries such as China and Taiwan snatch an further lead as hardware manufacturing hubs. The current IT Agreement , which covers over 280 products is seen to have helped the two countries corner a bulk of the manufacturing with China's share rising from around 11% in 2000 to 36% now. Although India is no longer part of the negotiating group, it retains its "observer status" to keep the option of rejoining talks later. In case of the talks on environmental goods, officials said that trading bloc Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) has identified 54 products on which it is pushing for a tariff cut to 5%. India's view is that the issue needs to discussed at the WTO and instead of following a product-specific list approach, a better strategy would be to have projectdriven agenda that will benefit the developing countries. But the biggest setback is seen to be in services, an area which India was hoping to reap major gains from during the Doha Round. But the early harvest model being pushed by developed countries has sug-

ECONOMY

China may step up rice imports from India: US think-thank

NEW DELHI,JAN 11: China may enhance rice import from India in coming years in the wake of rise in cost of farm production, an expert said today. "China's total rice import was 2-3 million tonnes fromVietnam and India last year. I can't say how much rice has been imported from India but definetly some quantity has been imported for the first time after a gap of many years," US- based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Director General Shenggen Fan said at an event here. India emerged as the world's largest rice exporter in 2012 beating its Asian counterpart Thailand with shipment of around 10 million tonnes. "It is just a beginning and China's rice import from India could enhance in the coming years with cost of labour, water and land increasing. Also, it is cheaper to import foodgrains from India instead of providing subsidies to farmers," he said. As far as wheat is concerned, the country is buying largely from the US, Canada and Australia and not from India. "However, there is scope for import as India has a massive stocks of rice and wheat," he said on the sidelines of a function here. India has sufficient rice and wheat stocks due to bumper production. Last year, rice and wheat output was at record 104.32 million tonnes and 93.90 million tonnes, respectively. On poverty level in Asian countries like India and China, Fan said, "The region as a whole is not on track in meeting the millennium development goal (MDG) of cutting the rate of undernourishment by half between 1990 and 2015." Only in the southeastern Asia, the trend is on the MDG target, he said, adding that food and nutrition insecurity continues to be an important challenge in Asia. "India accounts for some 217 million or a quarter of all undernourished people globally. As a result, India is likely to miss the MDG target," he said. Innovations in agri-technologies, institutions and policy are to be improved to address the challenges of food and nutritional insecurity in Asia, he added. Emphasising that investment in agri-research have substantially reduced rural poverty by stimulating farm growth and reducing food prices, Fan said: "The research finding shows that for every rupee invested in agri-research in India, Rs 13.5 is returned. "Therefore, Indian government should increase investment in agriculture, rural infrastructure and education as these have high payoffs in terms of raising smallholder farmers' productivity and incomes," he added. Doubling investment in agriculture research and output maximising scenario results in 261 million people moving out of poverty globally by 2025, IFPRI observed.

gested a "standstill" approach, which will force countries to commit to the existing regime. So, if the government allows 74% FDI in telecom, it will be bound not to reduce it later. Similarly , the advanced economies are seeking a "ratcheting" model, which will again mandate that any voluntary opening up - which may mean increasing the FDI cap for multi-brand retail to 100% - cannot be reviewed later. "How can you commit to this kind of a regime? It takes away any policy flexibility," an official said, and added that even Brazil, South Africa and China have opted out. But withdrawal from the services negotiations also means that India will not push for easier visa rules for its professionals, something that was being seen as a major gain from the Doha Round. Officials said that apart from IT, local regulations were not such that local players would benefit.

Govt approves 14 FDI proposals worth over Rs 1,300cr

NEW DELHI,JAN 11: The government today said it has approved 14 FDI proposals worth about Rs 1,311 crore including that of Hindustan Port Ltd. "Based on the recommendations of FIPB in its meeting held on December 21, government has approved 14 proposals of foreign direct investment amounting to Rs 1,310.60 crore approximately," the Finance Ministrysaid in a statement. The proposal of Mumbai-based Hindustan Port Ltd to induct foreign funds worth Rs 440 crore for investment in downstream companies was among those cleared by FIPB. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, has also allowed pharma firm Aanhaneya Lifecare to raise funds worth Rs 405 crore through issue of foreign currency convertible bonds. Besides, the board has allowed Bangalore-based Syngene International to induct foreign equity of Rs 125 crore. US-based Gavis Pharma LLC can also invest Rs 73.75 crore in an Indian company engaged in the business of manufacture of injectable products. Other major proposals which were approved by the FIPB include Excedo Reality Fund-I to accept NRI investment worth Rs 210 crore, and that of Punjab-based pharma company Saurav Chemicals Ltd to issue fresh equity shares valued Rs 14.85 crore to foreign company. Other proposals approved include that of Ordain HealthCare Global for acquisition of manufacturing facility for its group pharma company and that of Arshiya International to issue warrants. FIPB has deferred six and rejected three proposals. The proposals which were deferred include that of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd to provide service support for radar systems and defence electronic systems.

Chinese industrialists keen to invest Rs 4,000 cr in U'Khand

DEHRADUN, JAN 11: A group of Chinese industrialists is keen to invest Rs 4,000 crore, mainly in non-conventional energy and other sectors of Uttarakhand. The delgation, on a visit to the hill state, will visit the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) and other various industrial units today to explore the possibilities of investment in the state. Sources said here that the stress would be put on establishing industries of electrical vehicles, CNG, solar and real estate. The delegation met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna yesterday, who assured them of extending all possible assistance in establishing pollution-free industries. Mr Bahuguna also apprised the members of the steps taken by his government to felicitate industries, including a hill industry policy. He urged industrial houses for maximum investment and said that a Single Window System has been introduced for their convenience.

NLC new plant in UP approved

TIRUCHIRAPALLI, JAN 11: Public Investment Board has approved the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC)proposed new power plant at Ghathambur in Uttar Pradesh, where NLC will put up 3x660 MW super critical thermal power stations. Talking to reporters at AlambadiMttur village near here last night, NLC chairman B Surender Mohan said the Board will order its packages within six months and thereafter the sanction order from the Centre will also be received by the NLC. The NLC has already paid an advance of Rs 140 crore for land, for its proposed power plant at Ghathambur, he added. He said efforts were underway to increase the NLC's power production up to 10,000 MW within ten years as against the present installed capacity of 2740 MW inclusive of output from Barsingsar project in Rajasthan. The NLC chairman pointed out that to achieve the goal, the Coprporation is also making efforts to launch its power projects at Tuticorin, Sirkazhi and the NLC has received project-based inquiry from the Tamil Nadu government on the proposed power plant at Sirkazhi. Now, the NLC will apply for coal linkage for Sirkazhi and Tuticorin projects. Referring to Tuticorin power plant, he said NLC will commission the first of the 2x500 MW power plants at Tuticorin during December 2013. The shore-based power plant will be run with 70 per cent coal supplied by Mahanadhi Coalfields Limited while the remaining 30 per cent of the coal will be imported, he added. Though the original cost of the Tuticorin project is Rs 5000 crore and might go up to Rs 6500 crore due to various reasons, including the excalation in the material price, he added. Replying to a question, he said NLC was not operating BHEL-supplied 250 MW power plant.

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MISC
NEW DELHI: The All India Tennis Association (AITA) Friday was forced to select a second string squad, with Leander Paes being the only old face, for the Davis Cup tie against South Korea after the Somdev Devvarman-led rebel players refused to make themselves available for national duty. The other players are V.M. Ranjeet, Vijayant Malik and Purav Raja, who will be making their Davis Cup debut here in the Feb 1-3 tie. Paes will team up with Raja for the doubles. Ashwin Vijayaraghavan and Arjun Khade are the two reserves. The AITA was forced to pick a completely new squad after the eight rebel players refused to budge despite some additional concessions the national body made and captain of their choice and this was not acceptable. "We have given then all the time in the world to make themselves available for the tie. But they refused to budge. In terms of financial The AITA's selection committee picked the squad which has only one senior player in Leander Paes compensation, we have select a physiotherapist in accepted all their demands. consultation with the players But the players want a coach and not necessarily from the and captain of their choice. It Sports Authority of India is not acceptable because a (SAI); and provide business player cannot expect to be a class tickets for four players. player, coach, selector and AITA chief executive administrator at the same Hiranmoy Chatterjee said time," said Chatterjee. AITA secretary general that players are adamant on their stand of having a coach Bharat Oza said that it had The AITA has agreed to increase the team size to six;

8
already been made it clear to the rebel players that it is the association that would decide the captain and coach. S.P.Mishra has been retained as the non-playing captain while Zeeshan Ali was appointed the coach. "The players were informed that they could get back to AITA by Friday till 12 noon. As we did not receive any communication, it was decided to select the team based on the available players. It may not be out of place to mention that for the tie against Korea, the prize money which will be distributable to players in case they win the tie will be Rs. 24 lakhs besides the four main players receiving Rs.14 lakhs towards travel expenses," said Oza.

England win first ODI against India by 9 runs AITA selects depleted side, rebels stick to their stand
RAJKOT: India's woeful run of losses continued after a struggling top-order failed to convert good starts even on a placid track as England drew first blood with a thrilling nine-run victory in the first cricket one dayer at Rajkot on Friday. Chasing a stiff target of 326, India lacked the batting firepower and were restricted to a 316 for nine in a highscoring contest to concede a 1-0 lead to visitors in the five-match series. Opting to bat first, England rode on a record 158-run opening stand between captain Alastair Cook (75) and in-form Ian Bell (85) to post an imposing 325 for four on a batting paradise at the newly built Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The Indians conceded as many as 38 runs in the final two overs with Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar giving away 20 and 18 runs respectively.

India's woes continue as they lose by nine runs The late flourish by England proved costly for the hosts. India began the run chase in right earnest with Ajinkya Rahane (47) and an out-of form Gautam Gambhir (52) adding 96 runs for the opening stand but both were guilty of frittering away a good start. Yuvraj Singh (61), Suresh Raina (50) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (32) were other notable scorers but again none of them could translate the start into a match-winning effort. Off-spinner James Tredwell was te pick of the English bowlers as he scalped four for 44 while Jade Dernbach chipped in with two wickets. It was a creditable turnaround for the visitors who came into match with backto-back defeats in the warmup games against India A and Delhi respectively. The two teams will now travel to Kochi for the second one-dayer to be held on January 15.

Gebrselassie to be brand ambassador of Mumbai Marathon

MUMBAI: Two-time Olympic gold medallist, Haile Gebrselassie will be the event ambassador of the USD 3,50,000 prize money 10th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be held on January 20. The legendary Ethiopian long distance ace, winner of two 10,000m Olympic gold medals and four world championship titles, would be in Mumbai from January 17 till the race day. After ending a glorious career in track running, Haile crowned himself the 'King of the Road' in September 2008, when, at the age of 35, won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03.59, breaking his own mark by 27 seconds. He has won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three

Sports Ministry asks NSFs to amend constitution

NEW DELHI: The Sports Ministry on Friday issued a letter to all the National Sports Federations asking them to amend their constitution in accordance with the sports code by January 31, failing which their recognition by the Government may be impacted. "The Government issued a letter to all the National Sports Federations asking them to adopt the age and tenure provisions of the sports code. The concerned NSF is requested to expedite the process and bring the proposal for amendment in the next General Body Meeting," sports secretary P K Deb said. "The letter said this may be treated as most immediate and a reply in this regard may be sent by 31-01-2013. The NSFs are also advised that continuation of their recognition by government may be impacted if the already agreed amendments are not carried out," he added. Regarding the suspended Indian Boxing Federation's (IABF) claim to have taken the first step towards regaining recognition from the International Boxing Association by preparing the draft of an amended constitution which would be compliant with the AIBA statute, Deb said the Ministry would have to see whether it is in consonance with the sports code. "Hopefully, IABF will send us the copy of the the draft of an amended constitution and we will have a look at it and check whether it is in consonance with the sports code." He also said that the Ministry has written a letter to AIBA asking it make suitable arrangements for the Indian boxers to take part in upcoming international competitions.

Hughes shines as Australia beat Sri Lanka in first ODI

MELBOURNE: Opener Phil Hughes scored a debut century as Australia amassed 305 for five and dismissed Sri Lanka cheaply for a 107-run victory in the opening match of the five-game oneday international series on Friday. Hughes became the first Australian to score a century on his ODI debut as the hosts posted a big score after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in Melbourne. The diminutive left-hander cracked 112 off 129 balls to help set the Sri Lankans a competitive run chase under lights at 6.12 runs an over. But the Sri Lankans, despite being well in the match at 111 for two, selfdestructed with three run outs and Clint McKay (4-33) helped bowl the tourists out for 198 with 10 overs to spare. Hughes was the highlight of a freescoring Australian innings with skipper George Bailey scoring 89 off 79 balls and David Hussey chipping in with a late unbeaten 60 off 34 balls. Hussey, the younger brother of veteran Mike Hussey, finished with a flourish, plundering 21 runs off the last over from off-spinner Ajantha Mendis, including a six over long-off to bring up his half-century. There were a couple of failures in the Australian innings with Usman Khawaja Tillakaratne Dilshan (51) was run out by a direct hit from Usman Khawaja. The Sri Lankans paid dearly for suicidal running between wickets with cover fieldsman Glenn Maxwell running out Angelo Mathews (12) and Lahiru Thirimanne (0) in consecutive deliveries in the 30th over as Sri Lanka slumped to 128 for five. Mitchell Johnson (2-43) dismissed Jeevan Mendis (20) caught at mid-off and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin pulled off a diving catch to remove the danger man Dinesh Chandimal for 73 off 95 balls in the following over from McKay. Johnson also removed Thisara Perera (four) and McKay claimed the last two wickets in successive deliveries. Australia rested opener David Warner, skipper Michael Clarke, injured vice-captain Shane Watson and wicketkeeper Matt Wade, while Mike Hussey, newly-retired from Test cricket, was dumped after announcing this will be his final international season. It is the most first-gamers Australia have fielded in an ODI game since January 1986 when Simon Davis, Dave Gilbert, Bruce Reid and Steve Waugh made their debuts. The second game in the series takes place in Adelaide on Sunday.

Gebrselassie to Mumbai Marathon

promote

Phil Hughes celebrates his century on ODI debut. run out for three after setting off for a risky single and being sent back by Hughes. Fellow top-order debutant Aaron Finch went for 16 and Glenn Maxwell was caught attempting to chip over the on side off Nuwan Kulasekara for five. Paceman Lasith Malinga didn't fare well on his return for Sri Lanka taking 1-61 on a pitch suited for batting. Sri Lanka were travelling well at the halfway stage of their innings before

straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. He was also the 2001 World Half Marathon champion. "I am looking forward to my first visit to India...I am looking forward to inspire all the runners in the marathon. For me it is always important to inspire the younger generation. I hope my visit and my history in athletics can inspire the future Indian top athletes," said Haile .

Bernard Tomic to play for first title against Anderson

SYDNEY: Australian youngster Bernard Tomic reached his first Tour final with a 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 win over Italian Andreas Seppi at the Sydney International in sweltering heat on Friday. The 20-year-old will face giant South African servevolleyer Kevin Anderson in Saturday's final, as he bids to become the first Australian winner of the event since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005. Anderson earlier fought off two match points to deny Frenchman Julien Benneteau victory and become the first South African to make the Sydney final. The 36th-ranked Anderson prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in two hours 23 minutes. Tomic struggled in the heat during the tough first set against the third-seeded Seppi and called for the trainer at 6-5 complaining of dizziness. But the match swung the Australian's way in a titanic 22-point tiebreaker with Tomic winning on his third set point after fighting off four set points from Seppi. He broke serve in the ninth game of the second set with a fortuitous net cord on break point and powered through his service to take the match in one hour 24 minutes. Tomic, who came into the tournament ranked 64, moved up to 49 by making the final and should he win Saturday's decider his ranking will improve to 43 ahead of next week's Australian Open in Melbourne. Anderson went one better than Wayne Ferreira, who was the last South African to play in a Sydney semi-final against Carlos Moya in 2004. Anderson was down match point on his service in the 12th game of the third set but saved it with a terrific second service ace -- one of 18 for the match -- and then held with a crosscourt backhand to take the set into a tiebreaker. Benneteau, playing in the Sydney semis for the third time in four years, faced a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker before he had a second match point at 7-6, only to shank a forehand off his racquet and waste the chance. Anderson brought up his second match point with an ace but failed to capitalise. He had more luck with his third at 9-8 putting away a crosscourt winner at the net. It was his first win in three meetings with the 35thranked Benneteau and puts him in line to go after his third career ATP title after wins at Delray Beach last year and Johannesburg in 2011.

Nehwal loses in Korea Open quarters

SEOUL: The Indian challenge ended in the Korea Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament after Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal suffered a stunning quarterfinal loss to China's Li Han on Friday. The third-seeded Indian went down 14-21 21-15 1221 in a contest that lasted 59 minutes. It was quite an upset for Saina, who had beaten Han in their previous two encounters. The world number 26 Chinese seemed up for the challenge from the word go and matched Saina's trademark smashes besides cornering her with some deft net-play to take the opening game with ease. Saina came back strongly in the second to draw level but Han showed a lot of tenacity to outplay the Indian in the deciding third game. The Chinese matched Saina stroke-for-stroke before edging ahead to end her losing streak against the world number three.Earlier, Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu had exited in the in the second round on Thursday.

Agnieszka Radwanska crushes Dominika Cibulkova in Sydney final

SYDNEY: The Agnieszka Radwanska juggernaut ran over hapless Dominika Cibulkova Friday, as the Pole won the Sydney International to take her unbeaten streak this year to nine ahead of the Australian Open. The top seed crushed Cibulkova 6-0, 6-0 in just over an hour for back-to-back tournament victories, making the perfect preparation for the year-opening Grand Slam, which starts in Melbourne on Monday. It was the world number four's 12th career singles title and she has yet to drop a set this year. Radwanska overpowered Cibulkova, ranked 14th in the world, breaking her serve six times, winning 68 percent of the points and capitalising on her errorprone opponent. Cibulkova, who was unseeded in the tournament, double-faulted on match point to cap a miserable night's work. Radwanska, who beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the Auckland Classic final last week, made it two tournaments in a row, with wins in Sydney over Kimiko Date-Krumm, Roberta Vinci, Li Na and Cibulkova. But the 23-yearold remains at world number four heading into Melbourne where she will compete against the top three Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Cibulkova was the first unseeded player in six years to reach the Sydney final, beating German second seed Angelique Kerber to reach the decider.

World's most advanced molecule maker created

LONDON: Inspired by nature, scientists have created the world's most advanced molecular machine that will revolutionise the manufacturing process. A molecule is the smallest and most basic part of matter that can exist independently. For instance, a molecule of sugar will exhibit all the properties of sugar such as taste, colour, etc. "The development of this machine, which uses molecules to make molecules in a synthetic process, is similar to the robotic assembly line in car plants," explains David Leigh, professor at the University of Manchester, School of Chemistry, who led the team. "Such machines could ultimately lead to the process of making molecules becoming much more efficient and cost effective," he added, according to the journal Science. "This will benefit all sorts of manufacturing areas as many human-made products begin at a molecular level. For example, we're currently modifying our machine to make drugs such as penicillin," added Leigh, according to a Manchester statement. The machine is just a few nanometres long (few millionths of a millimetre) and can only be seen using special instruments. Its creation was inspired by natural complex molecular factories where information from DNA is used to programme the linking of molecular building blocks in the correct order. The most extraordinary of these factories is the ribosome, a massive molecular machine found in all living cells, which has inspired Leigh's machine. It features a functionalised nanometresized ring that moves along a molecular track, picking up building blocks located on the path and connecting them together in a specific order to synthesise the desired new molecule. Leigh says the current prototype is still far from being as efficient as the ribosome. "The ribosome can put together 20 building blocks a second until up to 150 are linked. So far we have only used our machine to link together four blocks and it takes 12 hours to connect each block." "But you can massively parallel the assembly process: We are already using a million of these machines working in parallel in the laboratory to build molecules," Leigh added. "The next step is to start using the machine to make sophisticated molecules with more building blocks. The potential is for it to be able to make molecules that have never been seen before. They're not made in nature and can't be made synthetically because of the processes currently used," concludes Leigh.

Shrinking Sunderbans threat to Bengal Tiger

LONDON:Fast-disappearing mangrove forests of the Sunderbans pose a question mark over the future of the Royal Bengal Tiger, an endangered species, say scientists. Rapid deterioration in mangrove health is causing as much as 200 metres of the vegetation-rich coast to disappear annually in the Sunderbans, according to zoologists. Sunderbans is the largest block of continuous mangrove forest in the world, native to nearly 500 species of reptile, fish, bird and mammals, including the world famous Royal Bengal Tiger. Thriving human development, rising global temperatures, degradation of natural protection from tidal waves and cyclones is inevitably leading to species loss in this richly biodiverse part of the world, according to a ZSL statement. Sarah Christie, ZSL's tiger conservation expert, says: "The

Sunderbans is a critical tiger habitat; one of only a handful of remaining forests big enough to hold several hundred tigers. To lose the Sunderbans would be to move a step closer to the extinction of these majestic animals."

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