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Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
Buying/Selling 1 <br />
Winzone Realty Inc.<br />
Baldev<br />
Singh<br />
Associate<br />
Broker/Notary<br />
Cell : 917-224-7395<br />
Vol. 12 Issue 29 December 18-25, 2014 www.thesouthasianinsider.com Price $ 1 Published Weekly from New York<br />
Story<br />
ON Page<br />
18-22<br />
Rs 9,300 crore black money<br />
changes hands in medical<br />
seat sale every year<br />
(Agencies) New Delhi : The White<br />
Paper on Black Money in India,<br />
published recently, estimated that<br />
deposits by Indians in all Swiss<br />
banks at the end of 2010 amounted<br />
to Rs 9,300 crore or about $1.5<br />
billion. That much money, if not more,<br />
is changing hands in the black<br />
market of medical education in India<br />
every year.<br />
Back-of-the-envelope calculations<br />
show that the 'sale' of MBBS and post<br />
graduate seats in medical colleges<br />
rakes in about Rs 10,000 crore or<br />
more in a year. And that's a<br />
conservative estimate. Here's the<br />
calculation.<br />
There are a total of about 8,100<br />
MBBS seats in the management<br />
quota in private colleges<br />
(approximately 30% of the 27,000<br />
seats in such colleges).<br />
(Contd on page 23)<br />
When Obama was mistaken for waiter and valet<br />
(Agencies) Washington : : President<br />
Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle<br />
Obama say they have been mistaken for<br />
valet and wait staff on their journey to<br />
the White House despite the progress<br />
America has seen in race relations.<br />
The First Couple sat down for a candid<br />
conversation with a popular magazine<br />
on racism in American amid a fervid<br />
debate on the issue after a raft of whiteon-black<br />
killings. “There’s no black male<br />
my age, who’s a professional, who hasn’t<br />
come out of a restaurant and is waiting<br />
for their car and somebody didn’t hand<br />
them their car keys,” the President told<br />
the magazine, confirming that he had<br />
experienced being taken for a valet.<br />
The President was joined by the First<br />
Lady for an interview on, “How We Deal<br />
with Our Own Racist Experiences,” that<br />
will hit the stands on Friday. On her part,<br />
Michelle Obama related that even as the<br />
First Lady, during a visit she took to a<br />
Target (Departmental) store, the only<br />
person who came up to her in the store<br />
was a woman who asked her to help take<br />
something off a shelf. “Because she<br />
didn’t see me as the first lady, she saw<br />
me as someone who could help her.<br />
Those kinds of things happen in life. So<br />
it isn’t anything new,” she said.<br />
The interview came amid chatter that<br />
the First Couple were insulated from or<br />
had grown out of the racial discrimination<br />
that black experience every day and that<br />
the President was cold to the suffering<br />
of African-Americans. (Contd on page 23)<br />
New York Magazine says ‘we were duped’ by $72 million teen trader<br />
(Agencies) New York - Magazine issued<br />
an apology to its readers Tuesday morning,<br />
acknowledging the editors were “duped” by<br />
the teen stock trader rumored to have made<br />
$72 million.<br />
“Our fact-checking process was obviously<br />
inadequate; we take full responsibility and<br />
we should have known better. New York<br />
apologizes to our readers,” the note read.<br />
The note was added to the profile of 17-<br />
year-old Mohammed Islam, featured as part<br />
of the magazine’s “Reasons to love New York”<br />
issue. It was the second editor’s note in 24<br />
hours. The first came late Monday night after<br />
the New York Observer ran an interview with<br />
Islam in which he admitted to making the<br />
story up. (Contd on page 23)
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
TRI-STATE/COMMUNITY<br />
2<br />
Health care is a civil right, says Dr Ramanathan Raju<br />
Among Tamils) at a function attended<br />
by leading Indian-Amerition,<br />
in his address said Dr. Raju<br />
Medical College Alumni Associacan<br />
physicians in Hotel Madras has a reputation for helping<br />
Woodlands in New Hyde Park people.<br />
recently.<br />
Dr. Robert D’Esposito<br />
John Joseph, Executive president of Nassau County<br />
Vice President of America Tamil Medical Society who presented<br />
Sangam presided over the meeting.<br />
“I have chosen a profession praised his spirited public service<br />
the Tamil Ratna Award on Dr Raju<br />
which brought me so much joy and a zeal to provide healthcare to<br />
and my work in the last decades the uninsured. He said it's appropriate<br />
that America Tamil Sangam<br />
to eliminate the health care disparities<br />
that exist in our country should honor one of its proud son<br />
has been very fulfilling. The who has become a leader in health<br />
people from Tamil Nadu are always<br />
at the forefront of social the highest ranking Indian-American<br />
care system. Capt Stanley George,<br />
justice issues in this country and officer of NYPD in his remarks<br />
this is because of the rich traditions<br />
we carry in our social fab-<br />
Sangam for honoring one of its illus-<br />
praised the role of America Tamil<br />
(By a staff writer) the health for all is to provide adequate<br />
access not only to Health and Hospitals Corporadent<br />
and CEO of New York City<br />
Healthcare is a fundamental right<br />
ric and greatness we carry in our trious sons of Tamil Nadu. Dr<br />
of every citizen and more of a civil healthcare but also equal opportunities<br />
in education wealth hous-<br />
investiture ceremony of America<br />
tion. Dr Raju was addressing an<br />
service. As we continue our mission<br />
to bring our greatness and break of Ebola could go down in<br />
Raju’s work on preventing an out-<br />
right, a human right and a constitutional<br />
right for all this country.<br />
“ The only way to improve said Dr Ramanathan Raju, Presi-<br />
highest honor Tamil Ratna (Jewel<br />
ing jobs and pursuing happiness,” Tamil Sangam that bestowed its<br />
our service to all New Yorkers organizations<br />
like America Tamil America Tamil Sangam also hon-<br />
the history of New York City.<br />
Sangam have a special place in ored Dr Karthi Ramasamy, a<br />
our minds and hearts,” he said. leading plastic and cosmetic surgeon<br />
in Chennai for his fight<br />
Dr Madan Raj, a leading pain<br />
management physician of Long against obesity especially childhood<br />
obesity in Island and officer of Madurai<br />
schools.<br />
US Senate confirms Vivek<br />
Murthy as surgeon general<br />
(Agencies) Washington : 37-<br />
year-old Indian-American physician<br />
Vivek Hallegere Murthy<br />
has been confirmed as the 19th<br />
surgeon general of America by<br />
US Senate. He is youngest<br />
person and first person of Indian-origin<br />
to hold the post.<br />
The upper house of US<br />
Congress confirmed Murthy's<br />
nomination by 51 votes to 43<br />
more than year after President<br />
Barack Obama had nominated<br />
him to this top administration<br />
post on public health issues in<br />
November 2013 which saw a<br />
strong opposition from the<br />
powerful pro-gun lobby National<br />
Rifle Association (NRA).<br />
The final voting came yesterday<br />
soon after the Senate invoked<br />
cloture — a procedural<br />
hurdle — by same numbers (51<br />
to 43 votes) Pitching strongly for<br />
Murthy's confirmation, Senator<br />
Dick Durbin praised Murthy for his<br />
dedication to fighting obesity, tobacco<br />
related diseases and other<br />
chronic diseases that account for<br />
seven out of the top 10 causes<br />
for death in America and make<br />
up for 84 per cent of America's<br />
health care costs. "I believe<br />
Dr Murthy understands the importance<br />
of the national crises<br />
before him, and feel confident<br />
that his experiences, his training,<br />
and his tenacity have provided<br />
him the qualifications he<br />
needs to tackle these issues,<br />
and the many more he's sure<br />
to face, head-on," Durbin said.<br />
"Not only is Dr Murthy an outstanding<br />
doctor and public<br />
health expert, but he also remains<br />
closely connected to his<br />
community and family," he<br />
said. "There is no question<br />
about the qualification of Dr<br />
Murthy to do his job," said<br />
another Senator Chris Murphy,<br />
adding that Murthy has a really<br />
impressive history of commitment<br />
to international public<br />
health, building two international<br />
organizations, one<br />
that empowers hundreds of<br />
youths in the US and India to<br />
educate over 45,000 students<br />
on HIV prevention.<br />
(Contd on page 23)
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
TRI-STATE/COMMUNITY<br />
3<br />
USA Experiences The First SHIAMAK Winter Funk Show!<br />
(Agencies) (New York )- Enthusiastic students<br />
lined up at the Memorial Auditorium<br />
at Montclair State University for their first<br />
dance performance as a part of the<br />
SHIAMAK Dance Academy on Saturday,<br />
December 6th. Participants, ages four to<br />
eighty four, dressed in colorful costumes<br />
were ready to embody the academy's<br />
motto, Have Feet. Will Dance. Millions<br />
of students across India, Canada, Australia,<br />
the UK and the UAE have learnt at the<br />
world's biggest dance academy, performed<br />
on stage and experienced the joy of being<br />
stars. The movement that has now reached<br />
New York and New Jersey has been the<br />
latest buzz amongst the South Asian community<br />
and the fans of Bollywood dancing.<br />
Founder and Artistic Director of the<br />
academy, Shiamak Davar is the most<br />
sought after choreographer in India and is<br />
referred to as the Guru of Dance. With the<br />
festive season, the show took Santa on a<br />
dance through Bollywood. From the Christmas<br />
inspired decoration in the lobby to a<br />
visit from Santa himself, the audience had<br />
a great time clicking photographs even before<br />
the show started! The show, hosted<br />
by Monty Lokesh Kataria, kept the audience<br />
engaged and entertained throughout.<br />
From current hits to retro, divas of<br />
Bollywood to the biggest heroes, tribute<br />
to stars and covering different eras of Indian<br />
Cinema, the show was a complete<br />
Bollywood cinematic journey. The highlight<br />
of the show were the stars of tomorrow,<br />
kids between ages four to six who had the<br />
audience on their feet. A first time ever<br />
performance by the SHIAMAK Dance<br />
Team- USA gave a glimpse of the training<br />
and expertise of the dance academy's faculty.<br />
'The Winter Funk show was a true<br />
showcase of all that the students have<br />
learnt, cultivated and experienced through<br />
the classes,' said Deeba Patel, Senior<br />
Manager with the SHIAMAK Group. The<br />
Chief Economic Development Officer of<br />
Choose New Jersey, Mr. Michael Chrobak<br />
addressed the audience and commented,<br />
"I believe Shiamak Davar is the biggest<br />
Bollywood choreographer and SHIAMAK<br />
classes are in five countries and more. I'm<br />
glad Shiamak has brought his classes to<br />
New Jersey so the community can come<br />
together to stay connected to this rich<br />
culture of India and Bollywood through<br />
Dance! I wish The SHIAMAK group great<br />
success across the US and congratulations<br />
to all the performers tonight!" Instructors<br />
Bhuvan Sharma and Devashree Pande<br />
trained the students for fifteen classes<br />
enabling them to perform on stage for this<br />
big night. Their energy reflected in each of<br />
the performer that took to the stage. 'You<br />
are making history today by being part of<br />
the very first Winter Funk show here in<br />
the USA', said Bhuvan and received a thunderous<br />
applause from the audience.<br />
Devashree was extremely pleased with the<br />
students and knew that 'all the students<br />
from Jersey City, Edison, Paramus,<br />
Queen, Manhattan will perform like<br />
rock stars on stage!' The show ended<br />
with a high energy performance on<br />
Indiawale, the biggest current hit from<br />
Bollywood. Students are looking forward<br />
to the next batch of classes starting<br />
8th December and another one in<br />
the New Year on 11th January. Phone<br />
registrations are open for new students<br />
and beginners as well.<br />
Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's FOODFOOD Channel Launched<br />
(Agencies) New York :<br />
A star-studded evening was recently<br />
to celebrate the launch<br />
of Master Chef Sanjeev<br />
Kapoor's television channel<br />
FOODFOOD on DISH Network<br />
(channel 713) and<br />
Dishworld.Widely successful in<br />
India, FoodFood is a 24/7 food<br />
lifestyle channeland serves as<br />
a destination for those passionate<br />
about the flavors, art and<br />
lifestyle of Indian cuisine.<br />
Bollywood themed<br />
Dhoom Restaurant in Secaucus,<br />
NJ was a perfect setting for the<br />
event serving decadent, signature<br />
dishes and celebrating Indian cuisine<br />
with style.The high-profile<br />
guest list included Consul General<br />
of India, Mayor of Secaucus,<br />
Fox News anchor Kelly Wright,<br />
channel heads from most major<br />
South Asian TV<br />
channels,celebrity chefs, and top<br />
restaurateurs,. A live cooking<br />
demo performed by Master Chef<br />
Kapoor himself along with Dhoom<br />
owner Vijay Rao and Chef Dhandu<br />
Ram wrapped up the evening. The<br />
event was organized by Varli media.<br />
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is<br />
the most celebrated and well-recognized<br />
Indian Chef in<br />
theculinaryworldand this new step<br />
forward in Indian TV programming<br />
furthers his growing list of accomplishments.<br />
Showcasing recipes<br />
that are as rich and diverse as the<br />
Indian culture, FoodFood capitalizes<br />
on the growing demand for<br />
Indian food across the world.The<br />
viewers in the U.S. market will<br />
now be able to enjoy all the popular<br />
programs of the channel like<br />
Sanjeev Kapoor's Kitchen, Turban<br />
Tadka, Mummy Ka Magic and<br />
Health Mange More on DISH,<br />
which offers one of the largest<br />
selections of international programming.<br />
Veracity Multimedia<br />
partnered with FoodFood to<br />
launch the channel on Dish<br />
Network in the US earlier this<br />
year. In Canada, FoodFood<br />
caters to almost 70% of the<br />
households through all the major<br />
service providers. It is also<br />
present in UAE & Qatar and is in<br />
negotiation with major platforms<br />
in Singapore and Indonesia.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
OP-ED<br />
4<br />
Nuclear Deal with Russia is No Reason to Celebrate<br />
(By Mani Shankar Aiyar )<br />
On the same day that visiting<br />
Russian President Vladimir<br />
Putin committed himself to supplying<br />
12 nuclear reactors to India,<br />
oil prices slipped below $60<br />
and look set to drop to a band<br />
between $35 and $40. This<br />
makes the nuclear deal less enticing<br />
than it might otherwise have<br />
been. For it underlines the impossibility<br />
of substituting nuclear<br />
power for petroleum in our energy<br />
basket. In present circumstances,<br />
Modi would have been<br />
better advised to ask Putin how<br />
he thought Russia might network<br />
India into an Asian gas and oil<br />
community to meet India's energy<br />
requirements than focus on<br />
nuclear cooperation.<br />
This is not the popular or media<br />
perception and, therefore,<br />
needs to be explained. Even under<br />
the most optimistic assumptions,<br />
nuclear energy, which now<br />
constitutes between 1%-2% of<br />
India's energy consumption,<br />
could not rise above 6% till well<br />
into the middle of the century.<br />
Therefore, our prime requirement<br />
is not nuclear power but fossil<br />
energy.<br />
Second, as Kudankulam has<br />
demonstrated, finding locations<br />
for nuclear plants is always going<br />
to be problematic and will increasingly<br />
be so. For while no<br />
one objects to nuclear energy,<br />
almost everyone objects to locating<br />
nuclear plants in their vicinity.<br />
We have seen this at Jaitapur<br />
in Maharashtra as well as in<br />
West Bengal. Fukushima has<br />
shown that even in a highly developed<br />
country like Japan with<br />
a deeply embedded industrial<br />
culture and a highly disciplined<br />
work-force, nuclear accidents can<br />
happen and leave a trail of destruction<br />
over decades, indeed<br />
over generations, that make the<br />
Bhopal tragedy look like a small<br />
accident.<br />
That is why the Three Mile Island<br />
nuclear accident in the US<br />
in 1979 led to a complete stoppage<br />
of all new nuclear plants in<br />
that country for nearly four decades.<br />
The most intensively industrialized<br />
country in the world,<br />
Germany, which has no fossil fuel<br />
of its own, decided in the wake<br />
of Fukushima that it would phase<br />
out all its existing nuclear power<br />
plants, build no new plants and<br />
move towards one hundred per<br />
cent dependence on fossil fuels<br />
and renewable energy. France<br />
alone continues to rely on nuclear<br />
power but has the safety backup<br />
of ample supplies of gas from<br />
Algeria by pipeline. For India to<br />
be celebrating 12 new Russian<br />
nuclear plants is like dancing the<br />
Dance of Death twelve times over.<br />
Third, while Obama could tick<br />
off BP that the US would not accept<br />
"nickels and dimes" for the<br />
damage done to the country's<br />
environment by the deep sea oil<br />
rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico<br />
(which killed no humans but did<br />
polish off a few seals) and thus<br />
get compensation of 68 billion<br />
dollars, India screwed no more<br />
than $480 million out of Union<br />
Carbide despite the loss of hundreds<br />
of lives and severe injuries<br />
to thousands of others - and still<br />
counting. Yet, our law on liability<br />
for nuclear accidents is considered<br />
too drastic for a single<br />
American nuclear plant manufacturer<br />
to come forward with supplies<br />
to India.<br />
Fourth, the Russian nuclear<br />
deal comes at just the time that<br />
oil prices are plummeting, taking<br />
the sheen off much costlier<br />
nuclear power and pointing to the<br />
restoration of stability in the global<br />
oil and gas market.<br />
As Russia is a leading producer<br />
of oil and gas, what Modi<br />
should have talked to Putin about<br />
(but did not) is the possibility of<br />
India-Russian cooperation in securing<br />
the diversion towards India<br />
of Russia's rich resources of<br />
oil and gas. He should have done<br />
so bearing at least two other factors<br />
in mind. One, that incremental<br />
Russian production is much<br />
more likely to come from its Siberian<br />
fields to the east of the<br />
Urals than from the traditional<br />
fields in western Russia which<br />
are getting increasingly depleted.<br />
What the Russians call Siberia<br />
is what, we should point out to<br />
them, constitutes north Asia.<br />
Moreover, the island of Sakhalin,<br />
where ONGC is partnering BP,<br />
clearly lies in Asian and not European<br />
Russia.<br />
Also, Russia continues to<br />
have tremendous influence, particularly<br />
in the complex petroleum<br />
sector, over its former Central<br />
Asian republics -<br />
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,<br />
Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, who<br />
are flush with oil and gas. It is<br />
from these sources that China<br />
has sourced much of its huge<br />
incremental requirements of oil<br />
and gas. There is still plenty left<br />
over. And we should be much<br />
more actively pursuing oil diplomacy<br />
in Central and North Asia<br />
than has been in evidence recently<br />
to access these resources.<br />
The prospects for this<br />
have significantly increased since<br />
the Ukraine snafu has led to the<br />
West boycotting Russian fuel<br />
supplies. Also, the fall in international<br />
oil prices makes it incumbent<br />
on Russia to look to newer<br />
and more reliable partners - and<br />
there can be no more reliable<br />
partner than "time-tested" India.<br />
It would appear, however, that<br />
oil was not even whispered in<br />
Modi's conversations with Putin.<br />
By focusing almost exclusively<br />
on nuclear reactors, Modi gave<br />
Russia a market to flog their reactors<br />
that few others want but<br />
which will barely contribute to<br />
meeting our growing energy requirements<br />
while subjecting the<br />
country's future to the uttermost<br />
danger of nuclear catastrophe.<br />
What Modi's advisers need to<br />
recognize is the dramatically altering<br />
geo-politics of oil and gas.<br />
Asia is the world's biggest producer<br />
of oil and gas. It is also the<br />
largest growing market for oil and<br />
gas with a huge unsatisfied appetite<br />
for fuel to sustain its growth.<br />
That is why, within an overarching<br />
goal of progressively establishing<br />
an Asian Oil and Gas Community,<br />
attention should be centred<br />
on first putting in place the elements<br />
of an Asian gas grid.<br />
From an Indian perspective,<br />
the first leg of such a grid should<br />
be to link Iran with India either<br />
overland through Pakistan or by<br />
the undersea technology that has<br />
only lately become feasible. Such<br />
a core gas pipeline can then be<br />
extended to Qatar and other Gulf<br />
countries, and beyond to Iraq,<br />
and include a major branch line<br />
to Azerbaijan. Supplementing this<br />
western gas network, we should<br />
be expediting the Turkmenistan-<br />
Afghanistan-Pakistan-India<br />
(TAPI) pipeline that is on the drawing<br />
boards but is still to take-off<br />
for want of the necessary political<br />
will.<br />
(Contd on page 22)<br />
Economy Alert! Worries Ahead for Modi and Jaitley<br />
The uptick in sentiment and confidence<br />
that was reflected after the Modi government<br />
came to power seems to be waning as some<br />
economic indicators clearly challenge the<br />
narrative of a near-term recovery in the<br />
economy.<br />
The one question being raised is why the<br />
rupee is suddenly weakening if global investor<br />
confidence in India is at an all-time high.<br />
The exchange rate last week had flirted with<br />
Rs. 63 to a dollar mark. October and November<br />
have also seen a doubling of gold<br />
imports as compared to previous months.<br />
Such a dramatic rise in gold imports does<br />
not necessarily signify a new fillip for productive<br />
investments.<br />
Particularly worrisome is the latest data<br />
showing a 4.2 per cent negative growth in<br />
industrial production for October. This shows<br />
that ongoing investment projects totalling Rs<br />
6.3 lakh crore, which were already in the pipeline<br />
early this year, are not moving forward<br />
for various reasons. Infrastructure projects,<br />
particularly in the road sector, are not moving<br />
because private companies building them<br />
are either strapped for cash or engaged in<br />
disputes relating to execution with the government.<br />
It is telling that a highway project<br />
in Modi's constituency, Varanasi, has not<br />
progressed at all over the last six months,<br />
in spite of having been launched in 2013.<br />
A report in The Economic Times last week<br />
quoted prominent industrialists who, in an<br />
internal review meeting at the CII (Confederation<br />
of Indian Industry) expressed a lot of<br />
unease about economic recovery, especially<br />
over the current infrastructure bottlenecks.<br />
In the infrastructure sector, the NDA is now<br />
gradually realising, there are intractable issues<br />
that go well beyond the "legacy problems"<br />
which is easily attributed to the previous<br />
government.<br />
Private operators too have to contend<br />
with wrong judgement in assessing their<br />
capacity to manage these projects. The NDA<br />
is now having to deal with the mistakes made<br />
by private operators in judging the risk-reward<br />
equation in infrastructure projects such<br />
as roads and power. I have a suspicion that<br />
even now private operators want to cut their<br />
losses and get out. Some of them did it over<br />
the past two years. This was easy under<br />
the UPA, especially in recent years, when<br />
politically everything could be blamed on an<br />
inefficient and corrupt government. The private<br />
operators didn't have to look within, at<br />
their own mistakes. The NDA regime is now<br />
asking the private operators to walk the talk<br />
while promising to clear all policy and regulatory<br />
hurdles. However, the government cannot<br />
take the responsibility for over leveraged<br />
balance sheets of private operators. This is<br />
what haunts many projects in the infrastructure<br />
space.<br />
In the non-infrastructure sectors there is<br />
a genuine lack of demand, which governments<br />
can do nothing about. ICRA (Investment<br />
Information Credit Rating Agency Ltd)'s<br />
Chief Economist, Madan Sabnavis, has<br />
pointed out that Indian Industry is today<br />
working at just 70 per cent of built-up capacity.<br />
In 2011-12 industry was operating at<br />
77 per cent capacity. This shows there is<br />
overcapacity looming on the horizon. In such<br />
a situation, fresh investment cannot be expected<br />
anytime soon.<br />
So we face one set of problems in the<br />
infrastructure sectors where demand does<br />
exceed supply. In non-infrastructure sectors<br />
we are faced with overcapacity due to demand<br />
contraction. This could get worse in<br />
the coming year because rural demand,<br />
which is critical, could further contract as<br />
global food prices have dropped by 20 to 30<br />
per cent. The farmers' income growth could<br />
therefore decelerate in 2015. Nominal rural<br />
wages grew handsomely by 17 to 19 per cent<br />
for a few years until 2012 end. That was triggering<br />
higher inflation but also helped demand<br />
growth.<br />
From mid-2013 onward real rural wage<br />
growth is at near zero and this will certainly<br />
impact medium-term demand. There is also<br />
some output slowdown being anticipated by<br />
experts in the agriculture sector which consistently<br />
recorded around 3 per cent growth<br />
in recent years. Agriculture production growth<br />
could also slip in 2015. In short, many domestic<br />
challenges for Narendra Modi and<br />
Arun Jaitley. In 2015, Modi may have to shift<br />
focus from foreign to domestic policy.<br />
By MK Venu
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
5<br />
200 days on, missing Dr Singh Damning indictment of CIA<br />
HISTORY will judge me, Manmohan Singh said in his last comments as prime<br />
minister. It was 200 days on Thursday since he relinquished office. I am not surprised<br />
how some of his erstwhile critics are already missing him though they may<br />
not regard his party with similar respect.<br />
For all his sins of omission and commission, which include serious financial<br />
scandals, there was something pleasantly dignified about Dr Singh. President Obama<br />
approached him as an intellectual guru. The Japanese emperor honoured him with<br />
the highest civilian award for a foreigner. Dr Singh didn’t tom-tom it. He embodied<br />
India’s cultural sinews in his genteel person, and though a religious man, he didn’t<br />
find it necessary to underscore the heritage by gifting religious scriptures to all and<br />
sundry.There was something wholesome he brought to India’s highest political office<br />
with markedly agreeable atmospherics. I recall reading his wife Gursharan Kaur’s<br />
comments where she spoke generously of Sonia Gandhi. Why Because the Congress<br />
president had remembered that the prime minister’s wife was searching in<br />
vain for Sheila Dhar’s Raag-n-Josh.<br />
The out-of-print book is an anecdotal masterpiece on India’s illustrious musicians,<br />
their quirks and their bad day out. Personal insights about stalwarts like<br />
Begum Akhtar, Bhimsen Joshi, Vilayat Khan, Rais Khan among others are a treat<br />
for Indian music lovers. Sonia Gandhi remembered to find her a copy. What could<br />
be more lovely than prime ministerial spouses exchanging books on music.<br />
And what did Shakespeare say through Julius Caesar about people like Cassius<br />
with no ear for music<br />
“He doesn’t like plays the way you do, Antony. He doesn’t listen to music. He<br />
rarely smiles, and when he does smile, he does so in a self-mocking way, as if he<br />
scorns himself for smiling at all. Men like him will never be comfortable while someone<br />
ranks higher than themselves, and therefore they’re very dangerous.”Though I<br />
have never met them, I feel proud for India that in the not-too-distant past its prime<br />
minister had three very talented and dignified daughters — a writer, a human rights<br />
lawyer who has fought for migrants’ rights in the United States, and a much-respected<br />
professor of Indian history. They never imposed themselves as the prime<br />
minister’s relatives and, I am told, they lead very low-key and intellectually contented<br />
lives.<br />
If quiet dignity marked his personal life, a genial countenance made him an ideal<br />
representative of Gandhi’s and Nehru’s India. In the bigger picture, relations with<br />
Pakistan and China were difficult, sometimes prickly, but they were never allowed<br />
to become cavalier. There was no tu-tu mai-mai, an ugly blame game. Mumbai<br />
terror was a huge setback, in some ways more provocative than the attack on<br />
parliament during his predecessor’s tenure. To Dr Singh’s credit he managed to<br />
deal with the crisis without mobilising the armed forces. He used diplomatic tact<br />
instead, and leaned on global goodwill to put Pakistan under scrutiny as a source of<br />
cross-border trouble to its neighbours.<br />
It wasn’t an easy decision to not send the military to the borders given the moblike<br />
chorus for revenge from an increasingly xenophobic media. Indian voters to their<br />
credit rewarded Dr Singh’s sagacity with a second term. When the Chinese rattled<br />
their sabres, he stared them down. When Pakistan-based militants allegedly beheaded<br />
Indian soldiers, he didn’t say he would get 10 of theirs. He just spoke to<br />
their prime minister as a civilised neighbour would.<br />
There was little or no risk of nuclear suicide during his 10-year rule, compared<br />
with two close calls in the six years headed by his immediate predecessor. Unlike<br />
in recent days there was no public discourse from the highest office or talk of<br />
punitive cross-border strikes. If the powder was kept dry it was not announced from<br />
the pulpit. At home, prospects of large-scale riots or religiously inspired genocide<br />
were mostly unthinkable under Dr Singh’s watch although cynical Congress party<br />
satraps and the communal opposition never stopped trying to create electorally<br />
handy polarisation.<br />
Manmohan Singh knew his economics though he abused it by offering untenable<br />
prescriptions, which mostly militated against his self-proclaimed icon Jawaharlal<br />
Nehru’s equitable vision for India. He allowed himself to be advised by some very<br />
accomplished social and environmental activists in the form of the National Advisory<br />
Council, which was headed by Sonia Gandhi. It was clean, visionary, often ambitious-in-scope<br />
but always secular advice from respected academics and assorted<br />
hands-on social workers. No obscurantist maverick, much less religio-fascist ideologues<br />
of a rapidly multiplying variety were allowed close to the apex situation<br />
room. And yet Manmohan Singh’s legacy carries unacceptable blemishes. He created<br />
hope among the minorities with a diligent report on their hapless living conditions,<br />
but failed to follow up with worthwhile structural reforms to bring them into the<br />
mainstream. This ended up creating room for mistrust between communities without<br />
an iota of good being done to anyone. He declared India’s most deprived, exploited<br />
and economically marginalised tribespeople as the nation’s most serious<br />
internal security challenge. What the tribal communities wanted was so doable:<br />
“Remove the baniya (usurer)-contractor-politician nexus,” they said. Instead of addressing<br />
them even-handedly, Dr Singh chose the militarist path to tackle the selfstyled<br />
Maoists, making it easy for his successors to exploit the potentially rightwing<br />
sentiment he generated.<br />
The report by a Senate committee of the U.S. Congress that said the<br />
Central Intelligence Agency used inhuman and cruel methods on terror<br />
suspects is damning enough, but it would not have served its purpose if<br />
those who carried out the torture and authorised it get away scot-free.<br />
Many of the methods mentioned have been in the public realm. It is well<br />
known that under a programme of ‘rendition’, the CIA was spiriting away<br />
suspects to countries where U.S. laws on interrogation would not apply,<br />
such as Syria, Thailand or Poland, and subjecting them to techniques<br />
such as waterboarding. Yet, the report is shocking in its detail of these<br />
and other “enhanced interrogation techniques”, including one described<br />
as “rectal feeding”. CIA employees who questioned the techniques were<br />
overruled. Torture led to the death of at least one suspect and caused<br />
permanent physical damage to others. At least 26 of those subjected to<br />
the methods had been wrongly detained. Put together by Democrat members<br />
of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the report was released after<br />
five years of work. It concludes that the EITs resulted in no vital intelligence,<br />
and refutes suggestions that they led the CIA to Osama bin Laden.<br />
The White House and the CIA made several efforts to stop the report from<br />
coming out. Committee chairman Dianne Feinstein has said she was<br />
swayed at times by the argument that it might give an upper hand to<br />
forces that were out to destroy America, but that she realised her country<br />
would stand taller for accepting that it had done wrong. Ms. Feinstein<br />
pushed it out just before the Democrats hand over control of the Senate to<br />
the Republicans.<br />
Predictably though, the report has seen a partisan divide, with Republican<br />
members rejecting it. It has also spurred many to come to the CIA’s<br />
defence, including a former head of the agency, and former Vice-President<br />
Dick Cheney, who authorised many of the brutal techniques. He said<br />
last week that he “would do it again in a minute”. President George Bush,<br />
in whose administration these practices came to acquire currency, also<br />
defended them. The U.S. has always been accused of double standards<br />
when it comes to human rights, of preaching from the rule book to other<br />
countries, while proceeding to ignore those rules itself. That accusation<br />
is bound to grow louder. President Barack Obama, who had prohibited<br />
torture by an executive order in 2009, has acknowledged the CIA’s methods<br />
had done “significant damage to America’s standing in the world and<br />
made it harder to pursue our interests with allies and partners”. It is going<br />
to stay that way as he is unlikely to be able to punish the perpetrators.<br />
President : Bhupinder Kaur Thind<br />
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TV Partner: Ajay Batra (IVS TV)<br />
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Chairman: Karam Singh Thind (Honorary)<br />
Editor in Chief: Sharanjit Singh Thind<br />
Editor: Aruna Singh :(Political Affairs-India)<br />
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Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
OPINION<br />
6<br />
Friendship With Russia Comforts, Even if it Doesn't Electrify<br />
(By Siddharth Varadarajan)<br />
At the heart of the decadesold<br />
partnership between Russia<br />
and India is a reality that neither<br />
the end of the Cold War nor the<br />
advent of unabashed capitalism<br />
in both countries has so far managed<br />
to change: Moscow will always<br />
be more willing to provide<br />
things that New Delhi may ideally<br />
like to buy from the West but<br />
is not able to because of the<br />
latter's reluctance.<br />
Back in the day, it was steel<br />
plants and giant turbines, military<br />
aircraft and tanks; then it was<br />
nuclear reactors and fuel. Today,<br />
it is nuclear submarines, outer<br />
space and rocketry, and the prospect<br />
of technology transfer in the<br />
civil nuclear energy field.<br />
Of course, this partnership<br />
has never been strictly transactional.<br />
Russia stood by India<br />
whenever it was under pressure<br />
regionally or internationally, while<br />
India too would do what it could<br />
to watch Russia's back. Moscow<br />
was a solid ally through all of<br />
India's wars; and though India<br />
made known its disapproval of the<br />
former Soviet Union's invasions of<br />
Hungary, Czechoslovakia and<br />
even Afghanistan, it refused to<br />
join the West in isolating Moscow.<br />
And the same is true for today.<br />
"India and Russia", the vision<br />
document released by Narendra<br />
Modi and Vladimir Putin at the<br />
end of their summit meeting on<br />
Thursday says bluntly, "oppose<br />
economic sanctions that do not<br />
have the approval of the United<br />
Nations Security Council," a clear<br />
reference to Washington's efforts<br />
to squeeze Moscow over the<br />
latter's intervention in the Ukraine.<br />
The document also speaks of<br />
enhanced cooperation in the<br />
fields of nuclear energy, defence<br />
trade and manufacturing, and the<br />
peaceful use of outer space.<br />
No doubt the passage of time<br />
has grafted new and significant<br />
elements to this bilateral relationship.<br />
And the US has now<br />
emerged as the largest supplier<br />
of military hardware to India. But<br />
broadly speaking, the strategic<br />
logic of Indo-Russian ties in 2014<br />
is not very different from what it<br />
was one, two, four or even five decades<br />
ago.<br />
As Modi noted in his remarks<br />
to the media at the end of the<br />
summit, India today has wider options<br />
in some of those areas, especially<br />
defence. But, he said,<br />
Russia would continue to remain<br />
its most important partner. This<br />
is essentially because Moscow<br />
gives what others don't. Critical<br />
assistance for India's nuclear<br />
submarine programme, for example.<br />
The main statement and a parallel<br />
document outlining the 'strategic<br />
vision' for cooperation in the<br />
civil nuclear energy front reiterate<br />
earlier plans for a total of 12 Russian<br />
reactors to be built at<br />
Kudankulam and another (yet to<br />
be identified) site in India. What<br />
is new, however, is the commitment<br />
to "progressively and significantly<br />
enhance the scope of<br />
orders for materials and equipment<br />
from Indian suppliers and<br />
establish joint ventures, including<br />
by transfer of technology, as<br />
mutually agreed. This will include<br />
manufacturing of both main equipment<br />
and spares, with special<br />
priority for spares, for Russiandesigned<br />
nuclear power units in<br />
Talking with Pakistanis<br />
(By Dr. Shashi Tharoor )<br />
Meeting a visiting delegation<br />
of Pakistani Parliamentarians<br />
this week - brought to India by<br />
the Islamabad-based Pakistan<br />
Institute of Legislative Development<br />
and Transparency (PILDAT)<br />
and hosted at our Parliament library<br />
by Mani Shankar Aiyar -<br />
offered yet another reminder of<br />
the paradoxes of the Indo-Pak relationship.<br />
On the one hand it's so easy<br />
to slip into a comfort zone with<br />
Pakistanis; with language, food,<br />
music, movies, clothes and<br />
many cultural assumptions in<br />
common, they are like familiar<br />
cousins, not hostile strangers.<br />
On the other, they serve in, and<br />
represent, a country that is an<br />
avowed enemy of India's, from<br />
which a seemingly interminable<br />
series of terrorist attacks have<br />
emanated as part of an officiallysupported<br />
campaign to "bleed<br />
India to death by a thousand<br />
cuts".<br />
The success of any Indo-Pak<br />
Track II dialogue of this kind<br />
therefore requires that it be built<br />
on denial. It focuses on making<br />
the visitors feel welcome, emphasizes<br />
the feel-good aspects<br />
of their presence in our midst,<br />
celebrates the many things we<br />
have in common, and tries to<br />
brush the real problems under a<br />
carpet (not a Kashmiri carpet,<br />
since that might provoke disagreeable<br />
thoughts). The Pakistani<br />
export of terrorism to India<br />
is never mentioned. In other<br />
words, Track-II dialogues are a<br />
self-fulfilling exercise in self-vindication.<br />
Their success depends<br />
on denying the very problems<br />
that makes such dialogues necessary<br />
in the first place.<br />
I'm all in favour of Indo-Pak<br />
peace and bonhomie. I've seen<br />
a lot of it in my decades abroad<br />
with the United Nations - where<br />
Indian and Pakistani colleagues<br />
were always the best of friends,<br />
even military officers serving in<br />
the Peacekeeping Department.<br />
Many a Pakistani cab driver in<br />
New York has attempted to decline<br />
my money for the fare, saying<br />
that I was a brother (this of<br />
course always won him a bigger<br />
tip, but the spirit was genuine).<br />
Indians and Pakistanis overseas<br />
are almost always the best of<br />
friends, since being in foreign<br />
lands enhances their consciousness<br />
of what they have in common,<br />
which vastly exceeds what<br />
divides them.<br />
I would love to see a time<br />
when Pakistanis and Indians can<br />
India."<br />
The document also envisions<br />
the export of such components<br />
to third countries. The proposed<br />
Joint Working Group on the<br />
Nuclear Fuel Cycle is likely to<br />
pursue cooperation in areas like<br />
spent fuel management, reprocessing,<br />
etc., areas the US and<br />
French are reluctant to venture.<br />
Never before has a meeting<br />
between India and Russia generated<br />
as much international interest<br />
as this week's summit. Relations<br />
between the West and Moscow<br />
are the lowest they have been<br />
for years, (Contd on page 22)<br />
cross each other's borders with<br />
the casualness of Americans<br />
and Canadians, work in each<br />
other's countries, trade freely<br />
with each other and contribute<br />
equally to each other's films,<br />
music, clothing and creative<br />
lives, just as they did (as one<br />
country) before 1947. I would be<br />
happy if that time came sooner<br />
rather than later. But, sadly, I am<br />
only too aware that it's not now.<br />
In a famous 1947 article in<br />
Foreign Affairs, George F.<br />
Kennan argued that the Soviet<br />
Union's hostility toward the<br />
United States was chronic and<br />
incurable, since it was rooted not<br />
in a classic conflict of interest<br />
between two great powers, but<br />
in deep-seated nationalism and<br />
insecurity on the part of Russia<br />
which the US could do nothing<br />
about. (Contd on page 22)
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
WORLD<br />
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge and the First<br />
Lady of New York City Visit Historic Northside Center in Harlem<br />
(Press Release) New York- Her<br />
Royal Highness The Duchess of<br />
Cambridge, escorted by the First<br />
Lady of New York City Chirlane<br />
McCray, arrived at Northside Center<br />
on December 8, 2014 at 11<br />
am. The historic hour and one half<br />
visit brought much excitement<br />
and heightened media attention<br />
to Northside and the Harlem<br />
community as the motorcades<br />
and scores of security personnel<br />
filled the streets. More than 120<br />
media outlets covered the event.<br />
The Duchess and First Lady met<br />
with Northside's Executive Director<br />
& CEO Dr. Thelma Dye in a<br />
briefing to learn more about<br />
Australian PM says tough new national security laws failed hostages<br />
From left to right: Thelma Dye, Ph.D., Executive Director,<br />
Northside Center for Child Development, Her Royal<br />
Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, and the First Lady<br />
of New York City Chirlane McCray tour the Northside<br />
Center for Child Development.<br />
President from the Bush family or a second<br />
one from the Clinton family could well be<br />
the dynastic choice facing the 2016 electorate<br />
of the United States, the most talked-up<br />
democracy in the world.<br />
Jeb Bush, the former governor of<br />
Florida, son of the 41st US President George<br />
Bush and brother of the 43rd President<br />
George "Dubya" Bush, announced on Tuesday<br />
that he will "actively explore" the possibility<br />
of running for President of the United<br />
States in 2016.<br />
In a social media posting, Bush<br />
said he had discussed the future of the nation<br />
with his family over "good food and a<br />
whole lot of football" during the holidays, and<br />
"as a result of these conversations and<br />
thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong<br />
leadership I think America needs, I have decided<br />
to actively explore the possibility of<br />
running for President of the United States."<br />
In a preliminary step, he said he<br />
plans to establish a Leadership PAC in January<br />
that will help him "facilitate conversations<br />
with citizens across America to discuss<br />
the most critical challenges facing our<br />
exceptional nation." It now remains to be<br />
seen if Hillary Clinton will follow suit, leading<br />
up to a second Bush vs Clinton election<br />
after Bill Clinton defeated George Bush Sr<br />
in 1992. Clinton has been dithering for<br />
months on whether to run. Not that it is<br />
going to be smooth sailing for either candidate<br />
in the party primaries where they will<br />
have to overcome other aspirants. Bush will<br />
have to get past Mitt Romney, who wants to<br />
take another crack at the White House in<br />
2016. Clinton will have to overcome Senator<br />
Elizabeth Warren, who has emerged as the<br />
darling of the liberal wing of the Democratic<br />
Party. There are a raft of other aspirants.<br />
From the Republican side, notably, governors<br />
Chris Christie of New Jersey, Rick Perry<br />
of Texas, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John<br />
Kasich of Ohio, and senators Rand Paul,<br />
Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio.<br />
From the Democratic side vicepresident<br />
Joe Biden, former governors Martin<br />
O'Malley and Andrew Cuomo among others.<br />
But it is a Bush-Clinton face-off that<br />
most animates political pundits and pollsters,<br />
which is rather astonishing for a country that<br />
boasts of being the world's premier democracy.<br />
7<br />
The Duchess and The First Lady pose with children from<br />
Northside Center for Child Development.<br />
(Photos courtesy of Northside<br />
Center for Child Development)<br />
(Agencies) Sydey : Tough new<br />
national security laws failed to<br />
prevent a deadly hostage crisis<br />
in the heart of Sydney this week,<br />
Australian Prime Minister Tony<br />
Abbott said on Wednesday, raising<br />
questions about the usefulness<br />
of such measures. Three<br />
people were killed, including hostage-taker<br />
Man Haron Monis,<br />
when heavily armed police<br />
stormed a Sydney cafe early on<br />
Tuesday morning and freed terrified<br />
hostages held at gunpoint for<br />
16 hours. Police are investigating<br />
whether the two hostages<br />
were killed by Monis or died in<br />
the crossfire. Monis, a self-styled<br />
sheikh who received political asylum<br />
from Iran in 2001, was well<br />
known to Australian police and<br />
security agencies, having been<br />
charged as an accessory to murder<br />
and with dozens of counts of<br />
sexual and indecent assault. He<br />
had been free on bail.<br />
Australia in October<br />
passed sweeping new security<br />
laws aimed at preventing young<br />
people from becoming radicalised<br />
and going to fight in overseas conflicts<br />
such as those in Iraq and<br />
Syria, where scores of Australians<br />
have joined militant groups.<br />
Despite those new powers,<br />
Abbott said Monis was not<br />
on any security watchlist and<br />
managed to walk undetected into<br />
the Lindt Chocolate Cafe with a<br />
shotgun on a busy workday<br />
morning.<br />
"The system did not adequately<br />
deal with this individual,<br />
there's no doubt about that,"<br />
Abbott said in an interview with<br />
Australian Broadcasting Corporation<br />
radio.<br />
Abbott said authorities<br />
would investigate what had happened<br />
in the lead-up to Monday's<br />
siege, why Monis was not on any<br />
watchlist and how he got a gun.<br />
Under the new security<br />
provisions, exercised for the first<br />
time earlier this month to block<br />
travel to Raqqa Province in Syria,<br />
Australians going to any area<br />
overseas declared off limits can<br />
face up to a decade in prison.<br />
The legislation expanded<br />
both the intelligence services'<br />
ability to access private computer<br />
networks, cracked down on<br />
the leaking of classified informa-<br />
Bush vs Clinton again Jeb Bush may run for US president's post<br />
(Agencies) WASHINGTON: A third<br />
tion and bolstered the cooperation<br />
of the domestic and foreign<br />
intelligence services.<br />
The government is also<br />
introducing controversial data retention<br />
laws, although Abbott<br />
said on Tuesday that it was unclear<br />
whether those laws, aimed<br />
at intercepting communications<br />
between individuals plotting attacks,<br />
would have been useful in<br />
stopping Monis.<br />
Monis, who was found<br />
guilty in 2012 of sending threatening<br />
letters to the families of<br />
eight Australian soldiers killed in<br />
Afghanistan, has been described<br />
by those who knew him as an<br />
outcast even from the radical Islamist<br />
community.<br />
Critics of the security<br />
laws, touted by Abbott's conservative<br />
government as necessary<br />
to prevent attacks such as the<br />
hostage crisis, have seized on<br />
the failure to argue against the<br />
granting of further powers.<br />
"There's no control order regime<br />
to account for this. There's no<br />
metadata inside an apparently<br />
deranged mind," Fairfax News<br />
columnist Waleed Aly wrote. On<br />
Wednesday morning, people<br />
were still laying flowers and signing<br />
condolence books in Martin<br />
Place, a pedestrian strip near the<br />
cafe, which is surrounded by<br />
blacked out fencing and a blue<br />
tent over the entrance door. Office<br />
workers were also queuing<br />
for coffee at a cart just a few yards
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
WORLD<br />
8<br />
Amal Clooney tops Barbara Walters' list of 2014's most fascinating people<br />
Its George Clooney's newly wedded bride<br />
Amal Clooney who is Barbara Walters'<br />
most fascinating person of 2014.<br />
(Agencies) During her show,<br />
Walters introduced the 36-yearold<br />
Oxford-educated UK based<br />
barrister, who had married the<br />
Hollywood mega star in September,<br />
implying that that she definitely<br />
had something "to fascinate<br />
the most fascinating man,"<br />
adding that though they may not<br />
know much about her, her husband<br />
was well known, the media<br />
reported.Back in a 1995 interview,<br />
the actor, 53, had famously told<br />
Walters that "I'm never going to<br />
get married again" and Amal being<br />
able to break that vow was<br />
what got her the "most fascinating"<br />
title.Walters said that the<br />
beauty hadn't been the subject of<br />
jealousy that much, possibly because<br />
it was "impossible to resist<br />
perfection" or maybe people<br />
found it touching that "no matter<br />
how long it may take the perfect<br />
someone is out there for<br />
everyone."Other stars who made<br />
Walter's fascinating people list<br />
were Taylor Swift, Michael<br />
Strahan, Chelsea Handler, Oprah<br />
Winfrey, Scarlett Johansson, Elon<br />
Musk, Neil Patrick Harris, George<br />
R.R. Martin and David Koch.<br />
Rouble collapse shakes Russian<br />
economy, consumers<br />
(Agencies) MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir<br />
Putin faces a major new challenge after a catastrophic<br />
fall in the value of the rouble, which hit a<br />
new low on<br />
Tuesday despite<br />
the Central<br />
Bank's<br />
desperate efforts<br />
to halt<br />
the selling.<br />
On the<br />
streets of<br />
Moscow, panicky<br />
consumers rushed out to buy home appliances<br />
before they became even more expensive.<br />
Putin's popularity has been based on<br />
oil-driven economic growth that has helped increase<br />
incomes during his 15-year rule. The<br />
rouble's collapse, driven by a combination of<br />
slumping oil prices and Western sanctions, is<br />
denting that pillar of his power. The Kremlin has<br />
tried to shift blame for Russia's economic woes,<br />
accusing the West of inflicting economic pain<br />
on Russia in an attempt to force a regime<br />
change. The rouble hit a record low of 80 to the<br />
dollar — down a catastrophic 24 per cent —<br />
before making a modest improvement to trade<br />
at 72 to the dollar by late Tuesday afternoon.<br />
The market plunge defied a whopping predawn<br />
interest rate hike of 6.5 per centage<br />
points by Russia's Central Bank aimed at<br />
defending the currency. The rouble's collapse<br />
spurred Russians to rush out and buy<br />
imported cars, refrigerators, washing machines,<br />
TV sets and other major appliances in a bid to<br />
spend their roubles before stores put on new<br />
higher price tags. "Now is the exact time to<br />
make all the purchases you've been putting off,<br />
because tomorrow there may already be another<br />
price," said Alexei Malakhov, a 27-year<br />
old IT worker who bought a Google phone for<br />
18,000 roubles ($250) at a Moscow electronics<br />
store.<br />
Peshawar killings: From PM Modi to Malala,<br />
condemnation and shock across the world<br />
(Agencies) The attack by Pakistan-based<br />
terrorist group Tehreek-e-<br />
Taliban on an army school in<br />
Peshawar, which saw over 130 people<br />
including over 100 children getting<br />
killed, has shocked the world.<br />
The Peshawar terror attack, which<br />
began at about 11 am on Tuesday<br />
morning, saw Taliban gunmen enter<br />
the school and shoot dead innocent<br />
children and teachers, some of them<br />
at point blank range. According to reports,<br />
gunmen came through a graveyard<br />
situated behind the school and<br />
began firing indiscriminately at<br />
schoolchildren.<br />
A total of 15 blasts were heard inside<br />
the school campus. While one<br />
of the TTP gunmen blew himself up,<br />
five others were shot dead by the<br />
Pakistan Army. Hospitals swarmed<br />
with those who were severely injured<br />
and distraught parents and family. The<br />
hospitals were not prepared for the<br />
sudden emergency and reports added<br />
that there was a crippling shortage of<br />
blood in the Lady Reading Hospital.<br />
The Nawaz Sharif government also<br />
announced a three-day national<br />
mourning.<br />
World leaders have condemned<br />
the attacks and here's what they said:<br />
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz<br />
Sharif: As newspapers and channels<br />
reported an increase in the death toll,<br />
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz<br />
Sharif in a statement said, "It is a<br />
national tragedy. Those were my kids,<br />
my loss."<br />
"The government together with the<br />
army has started Zarb-e-Azb and it<br />
will continue until the terrorism is<br />
rooted out from our land. We also have<br />
had discussions with Afghanistan that<br />
they and we together fight this terrorism,<br />
and this fight will continue. No<br />
one should have any doubt about it. "<br />
Zarb-e-Azb was the name of the Pakistani<br />
military operation being carried<br />
out in North Waziristan.<br />
India's Prime Minister Narendra<br />
Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi<br />
on Tuesday evening spoke with his<br />
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif<br />
over phone and offered his deepest<br />
condolences. He said India was ready<br />
to provide all assistance during this<br />
hour of grief."India stands firmly with<br />
Pakistan in fight against terror. Told<br />
PM Sharif we are ready to provide all<br />
assistance during this hour of grief,"<br />
he tweeted. The PM also tweeted<br />
saying that schools across India<br />
should observe 2 minutes of silence<br />
today to mark solidarity with those<br />
killed in Pakistan.Modi said the "savage<br />
killing of innocent children, who<br />
are the epitome of the finest human<br />
values, in a temple of learning was<br />
not only an attack against Pakistan,<br />
but an assault against the entire humanity".<br />
"At a time when the world is getting<br />
disturbingly accustomed to acts<br />
of terror, this terrible tragedy has<br />
shaken the conscience of the world,"<br />
he said. Modi also hoped that the<br />
children who had witnessed the horrific<br />
attack and loss of their friends<br />
would come through this trauma with<br />
counselling.The PM condemned the<br />
attack and said, "It is a senseless<br />
act of unspeakable brutality that has<br />
claimed lives of the most innocent of<br />
human beings - young children in their<br />
school. My heart goes out to everyone<br />
who lost their loved ones today.<br />
We share their pain & offer our deepest<br />
condolences."
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
WORLD<br />
9<br />
Poor live closer to their parents than the rich<br />
(Media Reports) Richer<br />
people live further away from<br />
their parents than those on<br />
modest wages, a new study<br />
shows.<br />
The report found workers<br />
earning less than £25,000<br />
live within 31 miles of their<br />
family, but this distance<br />
grows the wealthier people<br />
become.<br />
Britons who earn £35,000<br />
to £45,000 live 42 miles away<br />
while those earning more<br />
than £55,000 live 47 miles<br />
away.Annuities firm, Partnership,<br />
said this was because<br />
high-earning professionals<br />
were more likely to have moved<br />
away from where they grew up<br />
to secure a lucrative career.<br />
The study also found<br />
people in their 50s live closest<br />
to their ageing parents, but<br />
later move farther away to be<br />
near their own children and<br />
grandchildren.<br />
While people in their 40s<br />
lived 37 miles away, on average,<br />
this reduced to 33 miles<br />
as people reached their early<br />
50s.<br />
Experts said this was because<br />
Britons relocated to be<br />
closer to their elderly parents,<br />
or because their parents<br />
moved closer to them.<br />
However, as people reach<br />
their late 50s and early 60s,<br />
this distance increases<br />
again.<br />
The survey found those<br />
aged 56 to 60 lives 39 miles<br />
apart and by the time they<br />
were 61 to 65, they were 50<br />
miles from their<br />
parents.Thomas Kenny, at<br />
Partnership, said: ‘As<br />
people age and their families<br />
do the same, they initially<br />
move closer to their older<br />
relatives to provide a support<br />
structure.‘However, once they<br />
start to approach retirement<br />
and their own children grow up,<br />
it appears that the younger<br />
generation becomes more of a<br />
focus when it comes to living<br />
arrangements and more likely<br />
to base their location on<br />
them.’<br />
Commenting on the distance<br />
among well-paid workers<br />
and their parents, he added:<br />
‘Many people move to city<br />
centres such as London,<br />
Manchester or Birmingham to<br />
earn a higher salary.<br />
‘These statistics seem to<br />
suggest that when people<br />
move to increase their earning<br />
potential, it takes them further<br />
away from their families –<br />
something that does not<br />
change as they age due to the<br />
social networks they have built<br />
up.’<br />
The survey of 2,000 over-<br />
40s found that most middleaged<br />
people in the UK live<br />
within 50 miles of their immediate<br />
older relatives.<br />
The average person lives 37<br />
miles away from their parents<br />
and 42 miles from their<br />
grandparents.More than<br />
half of over-40s say they<br />
see their older relatives<br />
once a week. People are in<br />
closest contact with their<br />
mothers who they see, on<br />
average, twice a week.<br />
Two-thirds say they speak<br />
to an elderly relative every day<br />
on the phone, 16 per cent do<br />
so by email and 11 per cent<br />
use text messages. However,<br />
one in 10 now have older relatives<br />
outside the UK, with<br />
grandparents the most likely<br />
to live abroad.<br />
Federal judge : Obama immigration actions ‘unconstitutional’<br />
(Media Reports) A federal judge<br />
has found parts of President<br />
Obama’s immigration executive<br />
actions unconstitutional, in an<br />
opinion delivered as part of a<br />
separate immigration case not<br />
directly tied to the policy<br />
changes.<br />
The opinion filed<br />
Tuesday by U.S. District Court<br />
Judge Arthur Schwab, in<br />
Pennsylvania, still marks the first<br />
court opinion to tackle Obama’s<br />
immigration announcement. He<br />
said Obama’s immigration<br />
actions are invalid and effectively<br />
count as “legislation” from the<br />
Executive Branch.<br />
“President Obama’s unilateral<br />
legislative action violates the<br />
separation of powers provided for<br />
in the United States Constitution<br />
as well as the Take Care Clause,<br />
and therefore, is<br />
unconstitutional,” the judge<br />
wrote.<br />
The opinion, though, is unique<br />
in that it did not come in<br />
response to a challenge to<br />
Obama’s immigration policy<br />
announcement. It is unclear what<br />
impact, if any, the opinion might<br />
have other than to rally critics and<br />
fuel momentum behind other<br />
lawsuits.<br />
Rather, Schwab issued<br />
his opinion in response to a<br />
criminal case against Honduran<br />
illegal immigrant Elionardo<br />
Juarez-Escobar, who was<br />
previously deported in 2005 —<br />
and was caught in the U.S. again<br />
earlier this year.<br />
He already has pleaded<br />
guilty to “re-entry of a removed<br />
alien,” but the court<br />
subsequently examined the<br />
impact of Obama’s immigration<br />
actions on the case.<br />
For that review, Schwab<br />
left open whether the actions<br />
might apply to Juarez-Escobar<br />
but determined the executive<br />
actions themselves were<br />
unconstitutional.<br />
He wrote that the action<br />
goes beyond so-called<br />
“prosecutorial discretion” —<br />
which is the “discretion” the<br />
administration cites in<br />
determining whether to pursue<br />
deportation against illegal<br />
immigrants.<br />
Obama’s policy<br />
changes would give a reprieve to<br />
up to 5 million illegal immigrants,<br />
including those whose children<br />
are citizens or legal permanent<br />
residents and who meet other<br />
criteria.<br />
Schwab, a George W.<br />
Bush appointee, wrote that this<br />
“systematic and rigid process”<br />
applies to a “broad range” of<br />
enforcement decisions, as<br />
opposed to dealing with matters<br />
on a “case-by-case basis.”<br />
Further, he wrote that<br />
the action goes beyond deferring<br />
deportation by letting<br />
beneficiaries apply for work<br />
authorization and allowing some<br />
to become “quasi-United States<br />
citizens.”<br />
He also cited Obama’s<br />
argument that he was proceeding<br />
with executive action after<br />
Congress failed to act on<br />
comprehensive immigration<br />
legislation, and countered:<br />
“Congressional inaction does not<br />
endow legislative power with the<br />
Executive.”<br />
The Justice Department<br />
downplayed the significance of<br />
the opinion.<br />
“The decision is<br />
unfounded and the court had no<br />
basis to issue such an order,” a<br />
DOJ spokesperson said in a<br />
statement. “No party in the case<br />
challenged the constitutionality<br />
of the immigration-related<br />
executive actions and the<br />
department’s filing made it clear<br />
that the executive actions did not<br />
apply to the criminal matter<br />
before the court. Moreover, the<br />
court’s analysis of the legality of<br />
the executive actions is flatly<br />
wrong. We will respond to the<br />
court’s decision at the<br />
appropriate time.”<br />
Critics of the<br />
administration’s policy, though,<br />
hailed the opinion.<br />
“The President’s<br />
unilateral executive action<br />
suspending the nation’s<br />
immigration laws for roughly five<br />
million illegal aliens has received<br />
its first judicial test, and it has<br />
failed,” John Eastman, law<br />
professor at Chapman<br />
University, said in a<br />
statement.Other direct legal<br />
challenges to Obama’s<br />
immigration actions, including<br />
one by two-dozen states, remain<br />
pending before the federal courts.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
Rupee Slides to 63.88/Dollar amid Global Turm oil<br />
putting pressure on the rupee. On Tuesday,<br />
FIIs sold cash shares worth Rs 1,247 crore,<br />
extending their selling streak to a sixth consecutive<br />
session. Analysts and policymakers<br />
are not overly worried about the weakness<br />
in the rupee because India's domestic fundamentals<br />
continue to be strong and the<br />
country is widely seen as sturdier in the face<br />
of any sell-off in emerging markets compared<br />
with last year. Foreign investors have purchased<br />
a net $43.4 billion in shares and<br />
bonds this year, allowing India to outperform<br />
most emerging markets.On Tuesday, Trade<br />
Secretary Rajeev Kher said he was not too<br />
(Media Reports) The rupee weakened towards<br />
64 per dollar on Wednesday as it<br />
slipped to 63.88 against Tuesday's close of<br />
63.53 in opening trade. The rupee last traded<br />
above the 64 per dollar mark in September<br />
2013. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at<br />
Care Ratings expects the rupee to hover<br />
between 64 and 65 a dollar in the coming<br />
days. The weakness in the rupee has come<br />
in the wake of a global turmoil in stocks and<br />
currencies. Global risk assets have come under<br />
pressure after Russia's sharp increase<br />
in interest rates reinforced concerns about<br />
the global economy at a time when oil prices<br />
are sliding. Global concerns have led foreign<br />
investors to pull out money from equities,<br />
concerned about the rupee's falls to around<br />
63 to the dollar, while a central bank official<br />
told Reuters "it is still not an alarming situation".<br />
"India is certainly less vulnerable to the<br />
current crisis as compared to other emerging<br />
Asian economies," said Samir Lodha, managing<br />
director at QuantArt Market Solutions, citing<br />
factors such as easing inflation.<br />
Black money: Rs 6 lakh crore illegally taken out of India in 2012<br />
(Media Reports) Nearly $95 billion (Rs 6 lakh<br />
crore) were illegally taken out of India in 2012,<br />
bringing the total illicit outflow of capital from<br />
the country to $440 billion (about Rs 28 lakh<br />
crore) in the preceding decade, according to<br />
the latest study released on Tuesday by Global<br />
Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington<br />
DC-based research and advisory organization.<br />
Not only have taxes not been paid for<br />
these enormous sums, they may be used<br />
for various corrupt or criminal activities once<br />
parked in foreign safe havens. Overall, just<br />
in 2012, nearly a trillion dollars ($991 billion)<br />
in illicit capital flowed out of developing and<br />
emerging economies the study noted. This<br />
is an all-time high. Between 2003 and 2012,<br />
the illicit outflows add up to a monstrous $6.6<br />
trillion, averaging nearly four percent of the<br />
developing world's GDP.<br />
Black money has been a major issue<br />
roiling India in the recent past. The new<br />
Modi government had promised that it would<br />
bring back black money stashed away in<br />
foreign banks within 100 days. While investigations<br />
are inching forward, Opposition parties<br />
have been pressing for more decisive<br />
action. Despite much political noise over<br />
"black money", the outflow of national wealth<br />
seems to be continuing unchecked and growing<br />
with each passing year. The GFI study<br />
says that illicit outflows are growing at an<br />
inflation-adjusted 9.4% per year - roughly<br />
double global GDP growth over the same<br />
period. As if these numbers are not mindboggling<br />
enough, GFI chief economist Dev<br />
Kar stresses that these estimates are "conservative"<br />
since several types of illegal transactions<br />
are not reflected in these figures.<br />
"This means that many forms of abusive<br />
transfer pricing by multinational corporations<br />
as well as much of the proceeds of drug trafficking,<br />
human smuggling, and other criminal<br />
activities, which are often settled in cash,<br />
are not included in these estimates," explained<br />
Kar, who served as a Senior Economist<br />
at the International Monetary Fund before<br />
joining GFI in January 2008.<br />
India ranked third after China and<br />
Russia in the quantum of illicit outflows in<br />
2012. For the whole decade of 2003 to 2012,<br />
India ranks fourth. A total of 151 countries<br />
were studied by Kar and his colleague Joseph<br />
Spanjers at the GFI. "As this report<br />
demonstrates, illicit financial flows are the<br />
most damaging economic problem plaguing<br />
the world's developing and emerging economies,"<br />
said GFI President Raymond Baker<br />
, a longtime authority on financial crime.<br />
"These outflows—already greater than the<br />
combined sum of all Foreign Direct Investment<br />
(FDI) and ODA flowing into these countries—are<br />
sapping roughly a trillion dollars<br />
per year from the world's poor and middleincome<br />
economies."<br />
INDIA<br />
10<br />
7-year-old Beaten to<br />
Death in School, Allegedly<br />
For Not Paying Fees<br />
(Media Reports) BAREILLY:<br />
A seven-year-old boy died on<br />
Tuesday after being beaten<br />
brutally in a school in<br />
Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly<br />
by his teacher. Araj,<br />
a nursery student, was allegedly<br />
thrashed for not doing<br />
his homework and not<br />
paying the school fee. Senior<br />
police officer MP Singh<br />
said at around 11 am, a<br />
teacher allegedly banged<br />
Araj's head against the wall<br />
and he started bleeding from<br />
his nose. The school authorities<br />
allegedly took the<br />
boy to a hospital and called<br />
his parents, asking them to<br />
pick up their son as he was<br />
ill.Araj was unconscious<br />
when his parents arrived and<br />
died soon. A post mortem<br />
report says he died of severe<br />
head injuries. Residents<br />
of Nankara village,<br />
where Araj stayed with his<br />
parents, protested outside a<br />
police station demanding<br />
the school principal's arrest.<br />
An FIR or police complaint<br />
has been filed against the<br />
school's manager but no one<br />
has been arrested yet.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
INDIA<br />
11<br />
India's capacity to<br />
develop advanced<br />
indigenous arms industry<br />
questionable: SIPRI<br />
(Media Reports) CHENNAI: Smriti<br />
Muralishankar, a Class 12 student in<br />
Coimbatore, has spent the last four years<br />
burning the midnight oil to prepare for one<br />
of the toughest exams in the country -<br />
the JEE. Only two weeks ago did she<br />
realise that she was not eligible to write<br />
the test as she was born abroad and didn't<br />
have an Indian citizenship. Shreya<br />
Venkatesh, who has been studying in a<br />
Chennai school for the last 10 years, also<br />
found herself in a similar situation when<br />
she came to know that only Indian citizens<br />
can take the JEE (Main), which<br />
serves as the screening test for JEE (Advanced),<br />
mandatory for entry into IITs.<br />
The IIT dreams of these two and<br />
thousands across the country have been<br />
shattered because they were born<br />
abroad, to Indian parents who went overseas<br />
for higher education and jobs. They<br />
may have been studying in India for years<br />
now, but when it comes to applying for<br />
higher education in central and state institutions<br />
these students find themselves<br />
denied of opportunities open to their peers<br />
born in India.For years now, such students<br />
have been paying a hefty fee (around nine<br />
times of what is paid by Indian students)<br />
to study in a state institution. But, since<br />
IITs out of bounds for<br />
students born abroad<br />
the JEE was split in 2014, they have lost<br />
out on the opportunity to sit for the IIT<br />
entrance test.<br />
Foreign, Overseas Citizenship of India<br />
(OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO)<br />
category students are not eligible for admission<br />
to NITs, IIITs and other centrallyfunded<br />
institutions through JEE (Main).<br />
They can only be admitted through the<br />
Direct Admission to Students Abroad<br />
(DASA) channel using their SAT 2 scores.<br />
But, admission to IITs is only through JEE<br />
(Advanced), which requires the students<br />
to figure among the top 1.5 lakh candidates<br />
in JEE (Main).The students hope<br />
that the officials will take their case into<br />
consideration and make some changes<br />
in the process before December 18, the<br />
last date for submission of applications<br />
for JEE (Main). But, many have<br />
applied for admission to universities<br />
abroad rather than wait for the<br />
changes. Educational consultant D<br />
Nedunchezhiyan of Technocrat India<br />
College Finder said, "The situation is<br />
ironical, and is a loss to our institutions<br />
as well."<br />
He said IITs should at least accept the<br />
SAT 2 scores of these students for admission.<br />
"There are many bright students<br />
who secure good marks in SAT<br />
going to NITs because IITs are out of<br />
bounds for them. A lot of IT professionals<br />
who went abroad during the IT<br />
boom in the 90s are coming back, but<br />
the brain drain may continue to happen<br />
in this generation too as their children<br />
are forced to go overseas to<br />
study," Nedunchezhiyan said.<br />
Till 2014, admissions to NITs and IIITs<br />
were based on AIEEE and entry to IITs<br />
on JEE. But only Indian nationals<br />
could take AIEEE, and others entered<br />
NITs and IIITs through Direct Admission<br />
to Students Abroad<br />
(DASA) channel. No such restriction<br />
for JEE. In 2014, JEE<br />
was split. JEE(Main) replaced<br />
AIEEE, but the bar<br />
on non-Indian citizens remained.<br />
Since JEE(Main)<br />
also served as the screening<br />
test for JEE (Advanced),<br />
which is a must for admission<br />
to IITs, non-Indian students<br />
remained out of the entire<br />
process The split has affected<br />
children born overseas<br />
to Indians who had travelled for<br />
higher education and jobs to<br />
other countries years ago and<br />
have now come back<br />
They can still get into NITs and<br />
IIITs through DASA, but not to<br />
IITs because JEE (Advanced)<br />
is the only gateway<br />
(Media Reports) While acknowledging<br />
that the current government in New<br />
Delhi has made defence exports a central<br />
goal, the world's leading think tank<br />
on the weapons industry has said that<br />
India's arms making capability remains<br />
questionable.<br />
In its latest report on worldwide arms<br />
producing companies, SIPRI (Stockholm<br />
International Peace Research Institute)<br />
has said that successive government in<br />
India have declared an intent to set up a<br />
technologically advanced indigenous<br />
arms industry, reaching the goal remains<br />
dubious.<br />
"(current) Sales are mainly based on<br />
bulk license production of foreign-designed<br />
weapons, while the development<br />
of indigenous systems has been plagued<br />
with problems for decades," the SIPRI<br />
Top 100 Arms Producing and Military<br />
Services Companies, 2013 report says.<br />
While American firms top the list of<br />
global arms producers - Lockheed Martin<br />
at the top followed by Boeing - the<br />
first Indian company to feature is Bangalore<br />
based HAL at number 42 with a<br />
profit of USD 476 million in 2013. However,<br />
most of the profit is only on license<br />
production of mostly Russian platforms.<br />
Incidentally, while there has been a<br />
global decline of 2 percent in arms sales,<br />
which totaled USD 402 billion last year,<br />
sales by Russian arms manufacturers<br />
grew by a rapid 20 percent. The total<br />
estimated sales of the 10 Russian companies<br />
at $31 billion in the SIPRI report.<br />
The SIPRI report has also taken note<br />
of the BJP government's efforts to promote<br />
exports, including formulation of a<br />
strategy for defence exports that also<br />
seeks to use arms sales as a diplomatic<br />
tool. "The Indian industry's role in the<br />
arms export market is also negligible.<br />
Nevertheless, success in the export<br />
market remains a central goal of the<br />
current government, and significant national<br />
resources are dedicated to attaining<br />
it," it says. A recent report by the<br />
defence and aerospace division of Ernst<br />
and Young suggests that India is likely<br />
to spend over USD 260 billion on major<br />
military purchases over the next 12 years<br />
and a saving of USD 50 billion can be<br />
achieved in this time period if the Make<br />
in India model kicks off.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
INDIA<br />
12<br />
WET AND COLD<br />
NORTH INDIA<br />
(Agencies) Delhi's famous<br />
winter has arrived with a vengeance.<br />
Just when people began<br />
to grumble about a markedly<br />
warm December, the cold set in,<br />
with heavy rain and strong winds<br />
intensifying the chill.<br />
A good 7° below normal,<br />
Sunday’s maximum temperature<br />
of 16°C made it the coldest day<br />
this season, with the minimum<br />
settling at 14.2°C.<br />
Winter lovers won't be bothered<br />
by Monday blues as the<br />
weatherman predicted a fall of 3-<br />
5°C in the minimum temperature<br />
over the next three days. “Sunday<br />
witnessed cold day conditions<br />
(when maximum temperature<br />
is lower than or equal to<br />
16°C),” B.P. Yadav, head of India<br />
Meteorological Department’s<br />
North India Shivers as<br />
rain and strong winds<br />
finally usher in winter<br />
(IMD) weather forecasting division,<br />
said.<br />
The relative humidity (maximum)<br />
on Sunday was recorded<br />
at 93 per cent with the Capital<br />
receiving a rainfall of 3.5 mm. The<br />
chill was strengthened as winds<br />
of 21 kilometres per hour lashed<br />
the city. The weatherman attributed<br />
the phenomenon to Western<br />
Disturbance over Jammu and<br />
Kashmir and Pakistan, which induced<br />
an upper air cyclonic circulation<br />
over north-west<br />
Rajasthan and adjoining Haryana.<br />
As a consequence, heavy<br />
rains lashed all of North India,<br />
and Shimla and Manali were covered<br />
by a thick blanket of snow.<br />
According to private weather<br />
forecaster Skymet, Manali recorded<br />
a maximum temperature<br />
of 10.4°C and minimum of<br />
0°C on Sunday morning,<br />
while the maximum and<br />
minimum in Shimla<br />
settled at 6.7°C and<br />
0.4°C, respectively.<br />
Punjab and Haryana<br />
Capital Chandigarh recorded<br />
a day temperature<br />
of 15.2°C, with the<br />
mercury settling at<br />
10.6°C at night.<br />
Amritsar recorded a<br />
maximum temperature<br />
of 19.2°C and<br />
minimum of 8.6°C.<br />
Over the next three days, the<br />
IMD has forecast a 3-5°C fall in<br />
minimum temperatures across<br />
parts of north-west and central India.<br />
Delhi will be blanketed by<br />
dense fog on Monday (today),<br />
which will reduce visibility to 200<br />
metres or below and persist over<br />
the next two days. A similar prediction<br />
has been made for<br />
Punjab, Haryana and Uttar<br />
Pradesh. Monday will see a<br />
cloudy sky in Delhi, with the minimum<br />
temperature likely to hover<br />
around 12°C and the maximum,<br />
18°C. Between Tuesday and Friday,<br />
the minimum and maximum<br />
temperatures shall oscillate between<br />
8-9°C, and 20-21°C, respectively.<br />
According to the IMD,<br />
the Capital will witness clear<br />
skies on Tuesday and Wednesday,<br />
with clouds likely to return<br />
in the subsequent two days. “As<br />
the skies clear up in the<br />
next two days, the minimum<br />
temperature will come down<br />
while the maximum for the day<br />
will go up. Similar weather conditions<br />
will prevail over the<br />
whole of North India,” Yadav<br />
said. “The western disturbances<br />
will persist over Jammu<br />
and Kashmir for 2-3 days. The<br />
minimum temperature will drop<br />
as the Western Disturbance<br />
moves away, while maximum<br />
will maintain its level or rise marginally,”<br />
G.P. Sharma, head of<br />
Skymet’s Meteorology Division<br />
said. Sharma observed that in<br />
a unique occurrence, while the<br />
Western Disturbance has<br />
brought snow to Himachal<br />
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir<br />
has only seen spells of rain.<br />
“Shimla and Manali got snow<br />
but Srinagar got none at all,” he<br />
added.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
Punjab and Haryana High Court stays<br />
Ashutosh Maharaj's cremation order<br />
INDIA<br />
13<br />
(Agencies) The Punjab and<br />
Haryana High Court on Monday<br />
suspended an earlier order of a<br />
single-bench which had directed<br />
the Punjab government<br />
to perform the last rites of controversial<br />
godman and founder<br />
of Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan<br />
(DJJS), Nurmahal --Ashutosh<br />
Maharaj. The godman has been<br />
lying in a freezer for over 10<br />
months.<br />
A division-bench of the HC<br />
put on hold the single-judge<br />
bench order, given December 1,<br />
which directed the Punjab government<br />
to perform the last rites<br />
of Ashutosh Maharaj within 15<br />
days. The next date of hearing<br />
is Feb 9, 2015.<br />
Ashutosh Maharaj, who<br />
headed the DJJS sect with its<br />
headquarters at Nurmahal in<br />
Jalandhar, was declared "clinically<br />
dead" by doctors January<br />
29 this year.<br />
Speaking to the media, DJJS<br />
counsel Satya Pal Jain said: "The<br />
Punjab government through its<br />
counsel said that the state government<br />
has nothing to do with<br />
the case as it is the matter between<br />
DJJS and Dilip Jha who<br />
claims to be the son of Ashutosh<br />
Maharaj. The government also expressed<br />
the inability to cremate<br />
the baba and said that it is not in<br />
a position to cremate the seer as<br />
the case is related to the faith."<br />
Satya Pal said the single<br />
bench had termed the documents<br />
produced by Dilip Kumar Jha as<br />
'forged' and had failed to prove<br />
that Ashutosh Maharaj was his<br />
father. "All the three parties were<br />
not satisfied with the December<br />
1 ruling. The court said that it will<br />
hear all the pleas," Satya Pal Jail<br />
said.<br />
Jain said that the court cannot<br />
say a particular thing in a<br />
particular way. The court, under<br />
the section 226 of the IPC, has<br />
no right to declare a person dead<br />
or alive. The court also has no<br />
powers to intervene in religious<br />
matters. He also said that asking<br />
someone to cremate the body<br />
is also beyond the jurisdiction of<br />
any court of law.<br />
"We are trying to convince the<br />
court that the judgment, delivered<br />
on December 1, is against the<br />
settled law. The court cannot go<br />
into the question whether someone<br />
is in Samadhi or how he will<br />
be cremated. All issues were<br />
wrongly decided by the single<br />
bench," Satya Pal said.<br />
Citing the Mayank shekhar<br />
case, Dilip's counsel S.K. Sohi<br />
said that his client's demand for<br />
the DNA test is justified and the<br />
only way which can prove that<br />
Ashutosh Maharaj is his biological<br />
father.<br />
"The law says that if a person<br />
offers his DNA he should be<br />
given the chance to prove the<br />
paternity. This is the most scientific<br />
test which has no alternative.<br />
The apex court had<br />
also allowed Mayank shekhar<br />
, N D Tiwari's son to go for the<br />
test.Only the DNA test can prove<br />
him ( Dilip) right or wrong. The<br />
body is there (Ashutosh Maharaj)<br />
and the claimant too," S K Sohi<br />
said.<br />
"Clinical tests are not required<br />
when someone is in<br />
Samadhi.The samadhi comes<br />
to an end when the doctors declared<br />
him dead," Sohi said.<br />
Another petitioner, Puran<br />
Sigh,who had alleged that DJJS<br />
management is eyeing frozen<br />
baba's property has also announced<br />
his support for Dilip<br />
Jha.<br />
We hope that the double<br />
bench will give its decision in<br />
our favour.We are hoping for the<br />
good. We demand that the body<br />
of Ashutosh Maharaj be given<br />
to Dilip Kumar Jha so that he is<br />
able to perform the last rites,"<br />
Puran Singh said. stays-cremation<br />
Windows 10 leaked images show Cortana, Xbox integration<br />
(Agencies) To say that<br />
we're excited for Windows 10<br />
would be an understatement.<br />
With Microsoft accidentally<br />
gimping Windows 7 with a<br />
faulty update this week and<br />
Windows 8.1 continuing to be<br />
a lovable mess, Microsoft's<br />
new operating system can't get<br />
here soon enough.<br />
New images of Windows 10,<br />
part of a pre-consumer build<br />
leaked earlier today, show off<br />
two of the platform's most anticipated<br />
features — Cortana<br />
and Xbox. Earlier this month,<br />
we saw a video from WinBeta<br />
with Cortana in Windows. Although<br />
that video did wonders<br />
showing off how awesome it<br />
will be to have a voice assistant<br />
built right into the operating<br />
system, the actual design<br />
and layout of Cortana was unpolished<br />
and pretty crappy<br />
looking. Build 9901 gives us a<br />
pretty good idea what Cortana<br />
will look like once Windows 10<br />
is ready to ship.<br />
As The Verge's Tom Warren<br />
points out, Cortana on<br />
desktop looks similar to its<br />
Windows Phone orientation,<br />
which makes sense since one<br />
of Windows 10's objectives is<br />
to unify Microsoft across all<br />
platforms. However, in this<br />
build Cortana is only partly<br />
functional.Other sneak<br />
peeks include a first look at<br />
the Xbox app running on<br />
Windows 10 (above) along<br />
with updates to the Windows<br />
Store, according to WinBeta.<br />
Windows expert Paul Thurrott<br />
also breaks down this new<br />
build with a detailed<br />
changelog of everything that<br />
is new.<br />
The focus on the consumer<br />
side of the OS is probably a<br />
preamble to Microsoft's upcoming<br />
Windows 10 event set<br />
for January 21, which was announced<br />
on Thursday.<br />
Titled "The Next Chapter,"<br />
the event is rumored to focus<br />
specifically on the consumer<br />
side of things and have<br />
Microsoft's big wigs on hand,<br />
including Satya Nadella and<br />
Xbox's Phil Spencer. It's also<br />
possible that we'll hear more<br />
on Windows 10 pricing and<br />
when the software will be<br />
ready for launch.<br />
As leaks and excitement<br />
continue to build, January 21<br />
could become a monumental<br />
date in Microsoft history.<br />
Whether for good or bad, we'll find<br />
out in a little more than a month.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
WORLD<br />
14<br />
The Lone Wolf, Self-Styled Sheikh Who Held a Sydney Cafe Hostage<br />
(Agencies) Sydney : Man Haron<br />
Monis, the Sydney hostage-taker<br />
killed in a 16-hour siege, was a<br />
self-styled sheikh with his own<br />
Wikipedia entry who was on bail<br />
when he emerged as a lone wolf<br />
gunman.<br />
Born in Iran, the 50-yearold<br />
was named in reports hours<br />
before being gunned down as the<br />
"cleric" who triggered a security<br />
lockdown in the heart of<br />
Australia's biggest city by unfurling<br />
an Islamic flag and holding<br />
several people captive in a<br />
chocolate cafe.<br />
Arriving in Australia as a<br />
refugee in 1996, Monis was no<br />
stranger to controversy.<br />
Convicted over sending<br />
offensive letters to the families of<br />
dead soldiers, he was on bail on<br />
charges of being an accessory<br />
to the murder of his ex-wife and<br />
for sexual and indecent assault,<br />
multiple Australian outlets reported.<br />
His personal website,<br />
before it was taken down Tuesday,<br />
featured a banner photo with<br />
graphic images of dead Arab children,<br />
with the caption: "This is an<br />
evidence for the terrorism of<br />
America and its allies including<br />
Australia. The result of their<br />
airstrikes."The gunman converted<br />
from Shiism to Sunni Islam, according<br />
to a post on his website.<br />
The Sunni-based Islamic State<br />
and other jihadist groups consider<br />
Shiites heretics, or rejectionists<br />
-- "rafidi" -- of true Islam."I used<br />
to be a rafidi, but not anymore.<br />
Now I am a Muslim, Alhamdu<br />
Lillah," he said.On his website,<br />
self-styled Sheikh Haron, also<br />
known as Man Haron Monis, says<br />
his children have been "taken<br />
away by the Australian government"<br />
and that he is not allowed<br />
to contact them.Monis was on<br />
bail for dozens of charges, including<br />
22 of aggravated sexual assault<br />
and 14 of aggravated indecent<br />
assault, according to the<br />
Australian Associated Press.<br />
Mehdi's Entire Focus Was West<br />
Asia, Say Bangalore Police<br />
(Agencies) The entire focus of<br />
Mehdi Masroor Biswas' Twitter<br />
account was West Asia and<br />
most of his followers are from<br />
there, said the Bangalore police,<br />
who arrested the man three days<br />
ago.<br />
The Bangalore police<br />
also said during questioning,<br />
Mehdi claimed he never spoke to<br />
any fighter of the Islamic State.<br />
He said he also never encouraged<br />
anyone to join the armed<br />
struggle in the middle-east and<br />
nor did he know of anyone joining<br />
the IS because of his tweets,<br />
the police said.Mehdi, who is allegedly<br />
behind the<br />
@shamiwitness - the most-read<br />
Twitter handle of the Islamic State<br />
- is currently in police custody for<br />
questioning. "The conversations,<br />
the tweets that were given, tweets<br />
that were read, the matter that<br />
were discussed, the times zones<br />
- everything was around West<br />
Asia - around Iraq and Syria," said<br />
Bangalore police commissioner<br />
MN Reddi. "It so happens he<br />
could have operated from anywhere<br />
on earth."<br />
The police have issued<br />
a notice to the Twitter Corporation,<br />
asking them to answer a set<br />
of queries. "They have already responded<br />
substantially regarding<br />
various types of information to<br />
provide to us - data etc. It (the<br />
investigation) is still going on," Mr<br />
Reddi said. Mehdi used to translate<br />
Arabic tweets into English<br />
and uploaded data and videos on<br />
the Twitter handle<br />
@shamiwitness, which had over<br />
17,000 followers, police said.<br />
On Monday, Union<br />
Home Minister Rajnath Singh<br />
said over 60% of Mehdi's followers<br />
were non-Muslims from Western<br />
countries. The rest were Muslims,<br />
also from western countries,<br />
particularly the UK. "The interrogation<br />
of Mehdi Biswas has indicated<br />
that his activities were limited<br />
to posting and re-posting of<br />
pro-ISIS material on his Twitter<br />
account and social media sites.<br />
He has denied having recruited<br />
any person for ISIS," the Home<br />
Minister said. Mehdi, Mr Singh<br />
also said, had got interested in<br />
the developments in Syria, Iraq<br />
and Afghanistan during his college<br />
days. Once he got active in<br />
the social media, in 2009, he<br />
started interacting with people in<br />
the social networking sites on<br />
matters related to<br />
"Jihad"."Further investigation is in<br />
progress," he added.<br />
Stemming from his time as a<br />
"spiritual healer", an additional 40<br />
charges were levelled against<br />
him in October and he was also<br />
on bail for being an accessary to<br />
murder. The Sydney Morning Herald<br />
said it was understood that<br />
days before Monday's siege,<br />
Monis had lost a bid to have the<br />
charges over the letters overturned.<br />
Showing a flair for the dramatic,<br />
a photograph said to be<br />
from his Facebook page published<br />
by the Business Insider<br />
showed him in chains with a<br />
poster claiming "I have been tortured<br />
in prison for my political<br />
letters. Monis has said the crimes<br />
he has been accused of in the<br />
past were attempts to smear<br />
him. "These cases are in fact<br />
political cases against this Muslim<br />
activist, not real criminal<br />
cases."He compared himself to<br />
Wikileaks' Julian Assange on his<br />
website, saying both were activists<br />
facing government-backed<br />
smear campaigns.He also<br />
counted astrology, numerology,<br />
meditation and black magic<br />
among his expertise, according<br />
to reports.Before the raid, Monis<br />
had reportedly demanded an Islamic<br />
State flag and a phone call<br />
with Australian Prime Minister<br />
Tony Abbott.But police and<br />
Monis's former lawyer Manny<br />
Conditsis said the public could<br />
be assured that the siege was not<br />
the work of an organised terrorist<br />
group."This is a one-off random<br />
individual," he told the ABC. "It's<br />
not a concerted terrorism event<br />
or act. It's a damaged-goods individual<br />
who's done something<br />
outrageous." The Australian<br />
newspaper called him a "selfstyled<br />
sheikh" who had sent offensive<br />
letters to the families of<br />
dead Australian soldiers and was<br />
on bail on charges of being an<br />
accessory to the murder of his<br />
ex-wife. It said Monis -- shown in<br />
local media in a photo smiling<br />
and sporting a beard and a white<br />
turban -- lived in Sydney's southwest<br />
and was "understood to be<br />
a fringe Islamist".<br />
Volvo to Retail Cars Online<br />
(Agencies) Volvo Car Corp said it will start selling<br />
vehicles online as it rolls out new models to<br />
compete with German luxury rivals such as<br />
BMW. The Swedish carmaker, controlled by<br />
China's Geely, will gradually introduce web sales<br />
and spend more on digital advertising, it said as<br />
it outlined changes to its global marketing strategy<br />
on Monday.<br />
"The plan is to have<br />
all our car lines in all our<br />
markets offered digitally,"<br />
Volvo sales chief Alain<br />
Visser said in an interview.<br />
Few manufacturers<br />
have tried selling directly<br />
online. A notable exception<br />
is Tesla, whose electric car<br />
sales have cut out traditional<br />
dealers, leading to conflict<br />
and effective exclusion from<br />
parts of the United States.<br />
But Volvo has assured its<br />
2,000 global dealerships, half of which are in<br />
Europe, that it has no such plans.<br />
"If you say the word e-commerce, initially<br />
dealers get nervous," Visser said. "We don't<br />
see a car distribution network without dealers in<br />
the foreseeable future," he said, adding that vehicles<br />
sold online "will still pass through the<br />
dealer network" for delivery.<br />
Volvo raised its 2014 sales goal in August<br />
as it launched a revamped XC90 crossover,<br />
the first vehicle developed under Zhejiang Geely<br />
Holding Group ownership. With its flagship SUV<br />
and other models to follow, Volvo is ratcheting<br />
up the gadgetry and glitz to woo Chinese customers<br />
without losing sight of core attributes including<br />
safety and uncluttered Scandinavian design.<br />
The Swedish carmaker plans to withdraw<br />
from all but one motor show per year in<br />
each of three regions - Europe, North America<br />
and Asia - and stage its own global event instead.<br />
Volvo also said it would not follow rivals<br />
into city-centre boutique dealerships of the kind<br />
increasingly used by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and<br />
Audi.<br />
"We're a different brand with limited financial<br />
means," Visser said. "We don't believe<br />
in building these big palaces." Some 80 percent<br />
of Volvo customers already shop online for other<br />
goods, the sales chief added, and research suggests<br />
many will do the same for cars in future.<br />
But some analysts such as Stuart Pearson of<br />
Exane BNP Paribas remain skeptical, citing<br />
weak orders from experimental online sales of<br />
the BMW's i8 hybrid sports car. "BMW has tried<br />
it in Germany, but they really haven't had a huge<br />
amount of volume," Pearson said. "People still<br />
want to go into dealers."
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
WORLD<br />
15<br />
Are POTATOES the ultimate diet food<br />
How a chemical compound found in<br />
spuds is shown to prevent weight gain<br />
(Agencies) Potatoes have<br />
long been considered something<br />
of an anti-diet food, but new research<br />
has found that they may<br />
in fact prevent weight gain.<br />
According to a new paper published<br />
by researchers at McGill<br />
University, high potato consumption<br />
in mice was shown to decrease<br />
body weight gain.<br />
The team believe that the findings<br />
are due to potatoes' high<br />
concentration of polyphenols - a<br />
disease-fighting chemical component<br />
found in fruits and vegetables.<br />
'We were astonished by<br />
the results,' said Professor Luis<br />
Agellon, one of the authors of the<br />
study.<br />
'We thought this can't be right<br />
- in fact, we ran the experiment<br />
again using a different batch of<br />
extract prepared from potatoes<br />
grown in another season, just to<br />
be certain.'<br />
Over a period of ten weeks,<br />
the mice - who started out weighing<br />
25 grams on average - were<br />
each fed an 'obesity-inducing<br />
diet', with some consuming a<br />
polyphenol-rich extract made<br />
from about 30 potatoes.<br />
By the end of the experiment,<br />
the animals who hadn't been fed<br />
the potato extract had gained an<br />
average of 16 grams.<br />
Those who had consumed the<br />
daily dose of polyphenol-rich potato<br />
extract, however, put on only<br />
7 grams.Principal author Stan<br />
Kubow believes that the findings<br />
may well explain the 'French paradox'<br />
- the notion that the French<br />
remain slim despite their seemingly<br />
unhealthy diet, which is high<br />
in saturated fats.<br />
'In the famous French diet,<br />
considered to be very healthy,<br />
potatoes - not red wine - are the<br />
primary source of polyphenols,'<br />
he explained.<br />
'In North America, potatoes<br />
come third as a source of<br />
polyphenols – before the popular<br />
blueberries.' Dr Kubow added that<br />
even though the chemicals in<br />
potatoes may prevent weight<br />
gain, that's not to say that a diet<br />
high in potatoes can necessarily<br />
keep you slim.<br />
'The daily dose of extract<br />
comes from 30 potatoes, but of<br />
course we don't advise anyone to<br />
eat 30 potatoes a day, as that<br />
would be an enormous number<br />
of calories,' he said.<br />
Instead, the researchers are<br />
envisaging making the extract<br />
available as a dietary supplement<br />
or as a cooking ingredient to help<br />
We will free India of Muslims<br />
and Christians by 2021<br />
(Agencies) Even as Opposition<br />
parties up the ante over alleged<br />
incidents of religious reconversion,<br />
the Dharm Jagran Samiti<br />
has declared that it will ensure<br />
India becomes a Hindu Rashtra<br />
by 2021.<br />
Speaking in Agra on Thursday,<br />
a Dharm Jagran Samiti (DJS)<br />
functionary said Muslims and<br />
Christians will have to convert to<br />
Hinduism if they want to stay in<br />
this country. The DJS has been<br />
at the forefront of the reconversion<br />
- or ‘ghar wapsi’ -<br />
programmes in recent times in<br />
which some Muslims have been<br />
reportedly ‘reconverted’ to<br />
Hinduism.However, their action<br />
drew widespread condemnation,<br />
leading to the arrest of one<br />
activist.“Our target is to make<br />
India a Hindu Rashtra by 2021.<br />
The Muslims and Christians don’t<br />
have any right to stay here.<br />
“So they would either be converted<br />
to Hinduism or forced to<br />
run away from here,” Uttar<br />
Pradesh DJS head Rajeshwar<br />
Singh said. He was reacting to<br />
the arrest of Nand Kishore<br />
Valmiki, a DJS activist.<br />
Valmiki was arrested on Tuesday<br />
for his alleged involvement in<br />
forcefully converting over 100<br />
Muslims to Hinduism in Agra.<br />
Singh said although he has<br />
temporarily suspended his ‘ghar<br />
wapsi’ programme in Aligarh and<br />
some other districts of the state<br />
that were supposed to be held on<br />
December 25, it would be restarted<br />
soon.<br />
The DJS leader claimed that<br />
those who have been opposing<br />
‘ghar wapsi’ were fearful of Muslims.<br />
But, he would set India free<br />
from this fear, he added.<br />
“I belong to the Solanki subcaste<br />
within the Rajput caste.<br />
The Thakurs (Rajputs) respect<br />
me. I am their leader and they<br />
follow my orders. “The Muslims<br />
had converted Rajputs to Islam<br />
by force. But the Rajputs are rising<br />
again.<br />
fight obesity.<br />
Potatoes may be popularly<br />
known for their carbohydrate and<br />
starch, but it's not the first time<br />
that a study has shown they<br />
aren't necessarily bad for the<br />
waistline. According to a study<br />
published in October in the Journal<br />
of the American College of Nutrition,<br />
dieters who included potatoes<br />
in their meal plans all lost<br />
weight - as long as they reduced<br />
their overall calorie intake.<br />
The scientists concluded<br />
there is no evidence that potatoes<br />
lead to weight gain if they are prepared<br />
in a healthy manner.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
16<br />
Imam Siddique, Neha Dhupia in a fight!<br />
(Agencies) Stylist and reality TV star<br />
Imam Siddique ruffled a few feathers<br />
at the Max Design Awards 2014,<br />
Student Edition, in Mumbai, which<br />
featured celebs such as Ashish<br />
Soni, Gaurav Gupta, Neha Dhupia,<br />
Masaba Gupta and Marc<br />
Robinson. When Neha asked a<br />
student the meaning of Haute<br />
Couture (meaning “made to<br />
measure”), Imam got up, interrupted<br />
and told the judges:<br />
“You guys do not know the<br />
meaning of the term. You<br />
guys are laughing amongst yourselves…”<br />
To this, Neha calmly said, “If you<br />
are done, can I proceed with my job” This<br />
got Imam more agitated and he went on<br />
to explain the term in detail, little realising<br />
that he was doing this in front of the top<br />
four designers of the country. Neha just<br />
said, “In this case you may feel free to<br />
use the door… we have two of them.” Imam<br />
later says, “I always get tangled in controversies…<br />
When I complimented Neha<br />
saying, ‘You look beautiful, whose dress<br />
are you wearing’ She could not name<br />
the designer. Arre kiska dress pehna hai<br />
woh bhi usse malum nahi (she doesn’t<br />
even know whose dress she is wearing).”<br />
The issue that set Imam off initially<br />
was that the students were mispronouncing<br />
“Haute Couture” and the<br />
judges on the dais were giggling at<br />
them. “It was not only me, but another<br />
family in the audience also felt that the<br />
students were being mocked. And,<br />
therefore, I got up and defended the<br />
students.” Neha Dhupia, on the other<br />
hand, refused to comment. She said,<br />
“I have said what I had to… I do not<br />
want to say anything more.”<br />
I didn’t leave<br />
‘Bombairiya’<br />
in lurch, says<br />
Richa Chadda<br />
More than<br />
heroes, it’s<br />
the heroines<br />
who are<br />
curious<br />
about Sunny<br />
Leone<br />
(Agencies) It has been<br />
over two years since<br />
Sunny Leone started<br />
her career in<br />
Bollywood. While it is<br />
obvious why the industry<br />
men find her interesting<br />
(ahem!), it is<br />
the curiosity that the<br />
heroines have about<br />
the adult star that is<br />
baffling.<br />
(Agencies) Commenting on reports of her<br />
walking out of British film “Bombairiya” in the<br />
middle, actress Richa Chadda says constant<br />
procrastination of the project, which led to<br />
clash with her other commitments forced her<br />
to opt out of the movie.<br />
Directed by debutant Pia Sukanya, the<br />
film is an ode to Mumbai and is being produced<br />
by India-born British producer Michael<br />
Ward. It was slated to go on floors in December.<br />
“I was approached by Beautiful Bay productions<br />
in August 2013 to play the lead in<br />
their next film. I agreed because they had a<br />
phenomenal script. I stood by them as they<br />
found producers and line producers.<br />
“The shoot was initially to start in January<br />
2014 , then April, then July. Finally in<br />
August Michael Ward mentioned that he<br />
needed more prep time and I told him I had<br />
prior commitments till December. After some<br />
adjustments on both our parts we were ready<br />
to roll in December. They paid me a token<br />
to say we intend to make the film.<br />
“While I was away shooting for ‘Masaan’,<br />
Michael demanded a change in the schedule<br />
yet again. At this point it began to clash<br />
with a prior commitment in January, which<br />
he was aware of,” read an official statement<br />
from the actress. There were reports that<br />
Richa left the filmmakers in lurch because<br />
of some other film accusing her of<br />
unprofessionalism. The “Fukrey” actress was<br />
equally shocked by the claims.<br />
“We tried to work this out… I have waited<br />
for the film to take off for more than a year<br />
and a half so its a tad unfair to expect me to<br />
not honour other film commitments,” the<br />
actress said. The film also stars Akshay<br />
Oberoi and Siddhanth Kapoor.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
ADVERTISEMENT<br />
17
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
18<br />
(Agencies) Posing proudly in front of<br />
a Taliban banner declaring ‘There is no<br />
God but Allah’, this is the hand-picked<br />
suicide cell responsible for the coldblooded<br />
slaughter of 132 schoolchildren.<br />
Clutching an array of rocket launchers<br />
and machine guns, the crazed gunmen<br />
are shown both in traditional clothing<br />
of Taliban fighters and the Pakistan<br />
military uniforms they wore to avoid suspicion<br />
immediately before storming the<br />
Army School in Peshawar.<br />
The pictures – apparently taken in the<br />
hours before Tuesday’s attack – were released<br />
yesterday by the Taliban, together<br />
with a threat to carry out similar attacks<br />
despite the outrage at the horrific, carefully<br />
planned massacre in which 132 children<br />
and more than a dozen teachers were<br />
killed.<br />
In an email released this morning,<br />
Khurasani attempted to justify the attack<br />
by claiming that the Pakistani army has<br />
long killed the innocent children and families<br />
of Taliban fighters.<br />
But he vowed more such militant attacks<br />
and told Pakistani civilians to detach<br />
themselves from all military institution,<br />
adding: 'We are still able to carry<br />
out major attacks. This was just the<br />
trailer.' In the email, the terror group<br />
warned Muslims to avoid places with military<br />
ties, saying it attacked the school to<br />
avenge the deaths of children allegedly<br />
killed by soldiers in tribal areas.<br />
It accused the students at the army<br />
school of 'following the path of their fathers<br />
and brothers to take part in the fight<br />
against the tribesmen' nationwide.<br />
The warning came as the Prince of<br />
Wales joined the international condemnation<br />
of the attack, describing it as ‘sickening’<br />
and a ‘horrific reminder that Muslims<br />
themselves are the victims of the violent<br />
intolerance of the extremists’.<br />
Speaking at the Syrian Orthodox<br />
Church in London, Prince Charles added:<br />
‘The many, many families in Pakistan who<br />
have lost children, other relatives, friends<br />
and colleagues in the massacre are in<br />
my prayers.’<br />
The Peshawar atrocity is said to have<br />
been ordered by Maulana Fazlullah, head<br />
of the Taliban in Pakistan and the man<br />
who ordered the shooting of teenage education<br />
campaigner Malala Yousafzai, this<br />
year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.<br />
Fazlullah is understood to have demanded<br />
that his lieutenant Umar Naray<br />
managed the operation, and communicated<br />
with the gunmen directly from his<br />
base over the border in Afghanistan.<br />
Pakistan’s army chief of staff, Raheel<br />
Sharif, flew to Kabul to seek help in tracking<br />
him down.<br />
'His communications have been intercepted<br />
as well which helped security<br />
agencies in tracing his location and<br />
whereabouts which was urgently shared<br />
not only with the Afghan army but also<br />
with Nato forces,' a security source was<br />
quoted as telling Peshawar's Dawn newspaper.<br />
The firebrand militant, whose thick<br />
black beard reaches halfway down his<br />
chest, took control of the Pakistani<br />
Taliban 13 months ago. It is thought the<br />
massacre may have been his barbaric<br />
revenge for Malala, 17, being award the<br />
Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.<br />
Whatever his twisted motive, Fazlullah<br />
has succeeded in uniting the world in revulsion<br />
once again. In a society usually<br />
reluctant to criticise the Taliban, there<br />
was an outpouring of anger across Pakistan<br />
yesterday.<br />
At a vigil in the capital Islamabad,<br />
Fatimah Khan, 38, said: ‘I don’t have<br />
words for my pain and anger. They slaughtered<br />
those children like animals.’<br />
Naba Mehdi, 16, had a message of<br />
defiance for the Taliban.<br />
‘We’re not scared of you,’ she said.<br />
‘We will still study and fight for our freedom.<br />
This is our war.’<br />
As the photographs of the murders<br />
were released by the Pakistani Taliban,<br />
all six men were named on Twitter. But<br />
their personal details have not yet been<br />
independently verified.<br />
The government in Islamabad immediately<br />
responded by instructing schools<br />
across the country to increase their security<br />
and to rehearse escape routines.<br />
It came as mass funerals took place<br />
across Peshawar on the first of three days<br />
of national mourning and as Pakistan’s<br />
prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, ordered a
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
19<br />
moratorium on the death penalty to be lifted<br />
for terror-related cases.<br />
Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan<br />
said: 'It was decided that this moratorium<br />
should be lifted. The prime minister approved...<br />
Black warrants [execution orders] will<br />
be issued within a day or two.'<br />
The moratorium on civilian executions had<br />
been in place since 2008. Only one execution<br />
has taken place since then.<br />
Amid harrowing scenes, dozens of small<br />
wooden coffins were carried for burial together<br />
with those of their teachers. Rows of children<br />
and fellow pupils stood in silence, some weeping,<br />
their hands clasped in front of them beside<br />
the lines of caskets draped in blankets.<br />
People across the country lit candles and<br />
held vigils for the 148 who were killed – seven<br />
more of the critically injured died in hospital<br />
yesterday.<br />
‘They finished in minutes what I had lived<br />
my whole life for – my son,’ said labourer<br />
Akhtar Hussain, tears streaming down his face<br />
as he buried 14-year-old Fahad.<br />
He said he had worked for years in Dubai<br />
to earn a livelihood for his children, adding:<br />
‘That innocent one is now gone in the grave,<br />
and I can’t wait to join him, I can’t live any<br />
more.’<br />
Among the best attended of the funerals<br />
was that of teacher Afsha Ahmed, 24, who<br />
confronted the gunmen when they burst into<br />
her classroom and told them: ‘You can only<br />
kill my students over my dead body.’<br />
She was burned alive as she stood in front<br />
of her pupils. The family of another teacher<br />
torched alive in front of her class gathered to<br />
say funeral prayers.<br />
Tahira Kazi, the principal of the Army Public<br />
School and College in Peshawar, was set<br />
on fire by jihadists who slaughtered so many.<br />
It is believed she was targeted because<br />
she is married to a retired army colonel, Kazi<br />
Zafrullah. The picture obtained by MailOnline<br />
shows her standing proudly next to a student<br />
believed to be her son.<br />
Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistan stood<br />
united to ensure the deaths of the children<br />
were not wasted, after a meeting of all party<br />
leaders in Peshawar. He promised that in military<br />
action, there would be no distinction between<br />
‘good and bad’ Taliban.We have resolved<br />
to continue the war against terrorism<br />
till the last terrorist is eliminated,’ Mr Sharif<br />
said. ‘We must not forget these scenes. The<br />
way they left bullet holes in the bodies of innocent<br />
kids, the way they tore apart their<br />
faces with bullets.’<br />
He said he spoke to Afghan President<br />
Ashraf Ghani to discuss how both countries<br />
could do more to fight terrorism. Significantly,<br />
the two agreed to launch operations on their<br />
respective sides of the border, and pledged to<br />
‘clean this region from terrorism’.<br />
Yesterday, the first devastating images<br />
also emerged of the blood-soaked classrooms<br />
where 132 innocent children and nine teachers<br />
were massacred by the Taliban.<br />
Horrifying pictures revealed the carnage<br />
wrought by seven extremist gunmen who<br />
sprayed children with bullets as they sat receiving<br />
first aid tuition and exploded suicide<br />
bombs in a room of 60 pupils.<br />
Pictures of a blood splattered doorway leading<br />
to an auditorium and the scene of the final<br />
gun battle also emerged.<br />
In a grim tour of the building photographers<br />
were shown inside the auditorium.<br />
The floor is caked in blood in places and<br />
dozens of chairs lie in disarray, knocked over<br />
by children running for cover as the terrorists<br />
hosed them with bullets.<br />
The lucky ones, it transpired, survived by<br />
playing dead under these chairs as the gunmen<br />
stalked the room, searching for children<br />
they'd missed.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
20<br />
(Agencies) A teenage survivor<br />
who was shot in both legs during<br />
today's Taliban attack on a Pakistani<br />
school has described how<br />
he shoved a tie in his mouth to<br />
stop him from screaming in fear<br />
as gunmen hunted for children to<br />
kill.<br />
Shahrukh Khan, 16, was sitting<br />
with his classmates during<br />
a careers guidance session at the<br />
Army Public School in Peshawar<br />
when gunmen wearing paramilitary<br />
uniforms burst in and opened<br />
fire.<br />
The schoolboy described how<br />
he cowered under a bench and<br />
played dead while gunmen<br />
'pumped bullets' in fellow students'<br />
bodies.<br />
Fearing he was about to be<br />
killed, the young boy then managed<br />
to crawl to shelter behind a<br />
door in a nearby classroom, despite<br />
sustaining gunshot wounds<br />
to both his legs. Today's attack<br />
in the north-western Pakistani<br />
city of Peshawar today left at<br />
least 132 children dead and is<br />
believed to be the bloodiest ever<br />
attacks in the nation's history.<br />
The horror at the Pakistan<br />
Army Public School in Peshawar<br />
came on the day when the military<br />
was scheduled to provide a<br />
display of first-aid and drills.<br />
At first, the children thought<br />
it was just a drill. Then the<br />
screaming began. As the pupils<br />
poring over their books realised<br />
the bangs they could hear were<br />
the sounds of guns fired in anger,<br />
panic spread.<br />
In minutes the school resembled<br />
a battleground with terrified<br />
pupils running for their lives,<br />
hiding or pretending to be dead.<br />
Speaking from his bed in the<br />
trauma ward of the Lady Reading<br />
Hospital, Shahrukh described<br />
how the gunmen shouted 'Allaho-Akbar'<br />
before opening fire.<br />
He said: 'Someone screamed<br />
at us to get down and hide below<br />
the desks. Then one of them<br />
shouted: "There are so many<br />
children beneath the benches, go<br />
and get them."<br />
'I saw a pair of big black boots<br />
coming towards me, this guy was<br />
probably hunting for students hiding<br />
beneath the benches.'<br />
Khan said he felt searing pain<br />
as he was shot in both his legs<br />
just below the knee. He decided<br />
to play dead, adding: 'I folded my<br />
tie and pushed it into my mouth<br />
so that I wouldn't scream. The<br />
man with big boots kept on looking<br />
for students and pumping<br />
bullets into their bodies.<br />
'I lay as still as I could and<br />
closed my eyes, waiting to get<br />
shot again. My body was shivering.<br />
'I saw death so close and I will<br />
never forget the black boots approaching<br />
me—I felt as though it<br />
was death that was approaching<br />
me.' The attack started with nine<br />
gunmen entering the 500-pupil<br />
school - which has students aged<br />
10 to 18 - in the early hours.<br />
The jihadists shot their way<br />
into the building and went from<br />
classroom to classroom, shooting<br />
at random and picking off students<br />
one by one.<br />
Eye-witnesses described how<br />
students cowered under desks as<br />
dead bodies were strewn along<br />
corridors.<br />
News images of the aftermath<br />
of the attack showed boys in<br />
blood-soaked school uniforms<br />
with green blazers being carried<br />
from the scene.<br />
By 10.15, at least 60 pupils<br />
were already dead as hundreds<br />
of Pakistani soldiers poured from<br />
lorries to seal off the area and<br />
take the battle to the Taliban fighters,<br />
all of whom were wearing<br />
suicide vests.Two helicopters,<br />
including a gunship, hovered over<br />
the school’s grounds ‘spotting’ for<br />
Special Forces as they hunted<br />
down the gunmen, who were<br />
seemingly more intent on killing<br />
as many children as possible<br />
than taking hostages.<br />
As the gunfight intensified, at<br />
least three of the militants blew<br />
themselves up, leaving behind<br />
several charred bodies of bombers<br />
and victims.<br />
Taliban later accepted responsibility<br />
for the attack, claiming it<br />
'was just a trailer'.<br />
As his father, a shopkeeper,<br />
comforted him in his bloodsoaked<br />
bed, Shahrukh recalled:<br />
'The men left after some time and<br />
I stayed there for a few minutes.<br />
'Then I tried to get up but fell<br />
to the ground because of my<br />
wounds. When I crawled to the<br />
next room, it was horrible. I saw<br />
the dead body of our office assistant<br />
on fire.<br />
'She was sitting on the chair<br />
with blood dripping from her body<br />
as she burned.'<br />
It was not immediately clear<br />
how the woman's body caught<br />
fire, though local media has reported<br />
that some of the Taliban<br />
militants set her alight because<br />
she was trying to protect her students.<br />
Khan, who said he also saw<br />
the body of a soldier who worked<br />
at the school, crawled behind a<br />
door to hide and then lost consciousness,<br />
later waking up in<br />
hospital.<br />
A 10-year-old boy caught up<br />
in the massacre also spoke of his<br />
dramatic escape from Taliban<br />
gunmen as bullets whizzed past
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
21<br />
his head - having seen two of his<br />
classmates shot dead in front of him.<br />
Irfan Shah told how he was sitting in<br />
his class at 10:30 when he heard the<br />
sound of firing outside.<br />
Shah told MailOnline: 'It was our<br />
social studies period. Our teacher first<br />
told us that some kind of drill was<br />
going on and that we do not need to<br />
worry. It was very intense firing. Then<br />
the sound came closer. Then we<br />
heard cries. One of our friends open<br />
the window of the class.<br />
'He started weeping as there were<br />
several school fellows lying on the<br />
ground outside the class.<br />
'Everybody was in panic. Two of<br />
our class fellows ran outside class in<br />
panic. They were shot in front of us.'<br />
He said that the teacher asked<br />
the children, part of a class of 33, to<br />
run towards the back gate of the<br />
school.<br />
He continued: 'The back gate is<br />
around 200 meters from our class<br />
room. I tightly held the hand of my<br />
friend Daniyal and we both ran towards<br />
the back gate. We were weeping.<br />
I felt bullets passing by my head<br />
twice. It was so terrible. 'All the children<br />
had bullet wounds. All the children<br />
were bleeding,' he added.<br />
Akhtar Ali, who works out for the<br />
UN, was weeping outside the school.<br />
He told MailOnline: 'My 14-yearold<br />
niece Afaq is inside the school. I<br />
don't know if she is alive or dead. I<br />
am desperate. I am just waiting in<br />
hope. It is agony. '<br />
'My son was in uniform in the<br />
morning. He is in a casket now,'<br />
wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as he<br />
came to the hospital to collect the body<br />
of his 14-year-old son, Abdullah.<br />
'My son was my dream. My dream<br />
has been killed.' media spoke to<br />
Naveed Ahmed, who works at the irrigation<br />
department. He said: 'My son<br />
Hasid Asmad is 16-years-old, is still<br />
inside the school., He took a mobile<br />
and called me while I was in the<br />
mosque, he was praying down the<br />
phone. I have been waiting so many<br />
hours for news. My son told that he<br />
was being kept safe by the Pakistan<br />
army inside. They are taking a picture<br />
of them to prove they are safe. 'They<br />
have told me that the children are safe<br />
in the custody of the army.' Mrs<br />
Humayun Khan, one of the mothers of<br />
a student, said with tears in her eyes:<br />
'No body is telling me about my son's<br />
whereabouts... I have checked the hospital<br />
and he is not there. I am really<br />
losing my heart. God forbid may he's<br />
not among the students still under<br />
custody of terrorists.' A student who<br />
survived the attack said soldiers came<br />
to rescue students during a lull in the<br />
firing. 'When we were coming out of<br />
the class we saw dead bodies of our<br />
friends lying in the corridors. They were<br />
bleeding. Some were shot three times,<br />
some four times,' the student said.<br />
'The men entered the rooms one<br />
by one and started indiscriminate firing<br />
at the staff and students.' Zakir<br />
Ahmad, who runs an electronics store<br />
in Peshawar, has lost his 16-year-old<br />
Abdullah and is frantically searching<br />
for 12-year-old Hassnain, who is still<br />
missing hours after the atrocity. Crying<br />
and barely able to speak, he told<br />
MailOnline: 'When I heard there was<br />
an attack I ran to the school. I heard<br />
firing. I sent my cousins and staff to<br />
search the hospitals while I stayed<br />
praying at school. Then after an hour I<br />
got the call, he just said Abdullah is<br />
dead. I have found him in the hospital.<br />
I still don't know anything about my<br />
boy Hasnain.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
CONTD.<br />
22<br />
Talking with Pakistanis<br />
much of a policy. Pakistan can tus quo power that would like to<br />
deny our shared history but India be left alone to concentrate on its<br />
cannot change its geography. Pakistan<br />
economic development; Indians<br />
(Contd from page 6) Something<br />
similar could be said about India<br />
and Pakistan. Straightforward disagreements<br />
between two states<br />
can be resolved through dialogue<br />
and compromise. But how can that<br />
work when Pakistan's abiding hostility<br />
towards India is rooted in fundamental<br />
insecurity about its national<br />
identity as the "not-India" for<br />
the sub-continent's Muslims, and<br />
even worse, driven by the self-interest<br />
of a rapacious military which<br />
commands a greater share of the<br />
national GDP than the military of<br />
any other country in the world, and<br />
needs this hostility to justify its<br />
power and privileges<br />
The visit of the Pakistani MNAs<br />
(as their Members of Parliament<br />
are called) did not meet with universal<br />
approbation among those<br />
who became aware of their presence<br />
in New Delhi. For there are<br />
not many takers in the Indian political<br />
space right now for pursuing<br />
dialogue with a country whose military<br />
intelligence (or elements<br />
thereof) almost certainly have had<br />
a hand in every terror attack on Indian<br />
begun to take on the challenge of<br />
fighting some terrorist groups - not<br />
the ones lovingly nurtured by the<br />
ISI to assault India, but the ones<br />
who have escaped GHQ<br />
Rawalpindi's control and turned on<br />
Pakistan's own military institutions.<br />
But the unpalatable fact remains<br />
that what Pakistan is suffering from<br />
today is the direct result of a deliberate<br />
policy of inciting, financing,<br />
training, equipping militants and<br />
jihadis over 20 years as an instrument<br />
of state policy. As Dr. Frankenstein<br />
discovered when he built<br />
his monster, it is impossible to<br />
control the monster once you've<br />
created it.<br />
Attempts by glibly sophisticated<br />
Pakistani spokesmen to<br />
portray themselves as fellow victims<br />
of terror - indeed, to go so far<br />
as to compare the number of<br />
deaths suffered by Pakistan in its<br />
war against terrorism on its own<br />
soil with those inflicted upon India<br />
- seek to obscure the fundamental<br />
difference between the two situations.<br />
Pakistanis are not suffering<br />
death and destruction from terror-<br />
The moment the Pakistani establishment<br />
genuinely disavows<br />
the nurturing and deployment of<br />
terror as an instrument of state<br />
policy, and concludes that it faces<br />
the same enemy as India and<br />
should make common cause with<br />
it to stamp out the scourge, is the<br />
moment that a genuine prospect<br />
of peace will dawn on the subcontinent.<br />
Such a sentiment is, alas,<br />
far from even glimmering on the<br />
horizon.<br />
So should New Delhi resume<br />
talks with the government in<br />
Islamabad Track-II is all very well,<br />
but the days of sari-shawl exchanges<br />
have been supplanted by<br />
a frigid silence. Talking again before<br />
there has been any significant<br />
progress in Pakistan bringing the<br />
perpetrators of 26/11 to book,<br />
many Indians feel, would mean<br />
surrendering to Pakistani intransigence.<br />
Is there any point talking<br />
to people whose territory and institutions<br />
are being used to attack<br />
and kill Indians<br />
And yet it is also clear that "not<br />
talking" to any Pakistanis is not<br />
is next door and can no<br />
more be ignored than a thorn<br />
pierced into India's side.<br />
India's refusal to talk after 26/<br />
11 worked for a while as a source<br />
of pressure on Pakistan. It contributed,<br />
together with Western (especially<br />
American) diplomatic<br />
efforts, to some of Islamabad's<br />
initial co-operation, including<br />
the arrest of Lashkar-e-Toiba operative<br />
Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi<br />
and six of his co-conspirators.<br />
But it has long passed its useby<br />
date. The refusal to resume<br />
dialogue has not just stopped producing<br />
any fresh results; the only<br />
argument that justifies it - that it is<br />
a source of leverage - gives some<br />
in India the illusion of influence over<br />
events that New Delhi does not in<br />
fact possess.<br />
Instead, it's ironically India - the<br />
victims of 26/11 and other examples<br />
of Pakistani malfeasance<br />
- who have come to seem intransigent<br />
and unaccommodating. The<br />
transcendent reality of life on the<br />
subcontinent is that it has always<br />
been India that wishes to live in<br />
peace. India is, at bottom, a sta-<br />
see Pakistan as the troublemaker,<br />
needling and bleeding its neighbour<br />
in an effort to change the power<br />
balance and wrest control of a part<br />
of Indian territory (Kashmir). Refusing<br />
to talk doesn't change any of<br />
that, but it brought India no rewards<br />
and in fact imposed a cost. When<br />
Pakistan was allowed to sound reasonable<br />
and conciliatory while India<br />
seemed truculent and unreasonable,<br />
New Delhi's international<br />
image as a constructive force for<br />
peace took a beating.<br />
To say that we will not talk<br />
as long as there is terror is essentially<br />
to give the terrorists a<br />
veto over our own diplomatic<br />
choices. For talking can achieve<br />
constructive results. It can identify<br />
and narrow the differences<br />
between our two countries on<br />
those issues that can be dealt<br />
with, while keeping the spirit of<br />
dialogue (and implicitly of compromise)<br />
alive.<br />
So yes, by all means, let us<br />
talk to Pakistan and Pakistanis on<br />
every "Track" available. It is what<br />
we say when we talk that will make<br />
all the difference.<br />
soil, even while its government ists trained in India. No one trav-<br />
professes peace. Few in the government<br />
eled from India to attack the Marriott Friendship With Russia Comforts, Even if it Doesn't Electrify<br />
are prepared to accept Hotel in Islamabad or the<br />
(Contd from page 6) thanks to ence in Ukraine is certainly a ness-to-business ties are a fragile<br />
link in the bilateral relationship,<br />
that we are obliged to pursue normal<br />
relations with a Pakistan that stanis sailed to Mumbai to wreak<br />
base at Mehran, whereas Paki-<br />
Western sanctions. India, on the cause for concern here, as is the<br />
other hand, is a country everyone<br />
seems anxious to embrace, ments in Kiev, strategic chal-<br />
weakest.<br />
intransigence of hardline ele-<br />
and people-to people relations the<br />
incubates terror while the country's mayhem on 26/11 and crossed the<br />
civilian government remains either border to attack Uri last month.<br />
especially given the excitement lenges in South Asia, West Asia, Unless Moscow and New<br />
unable or unwilling to curb the socalled<br />
non-state actors who roam cer in its own midst, but a cancer<br />
Pakistan has to cauterize a can-<br />
Modi has triggered among international<br />
investors.<br />
reinforced the importance of Rus-<br />
ways of marrying India's human<br />
the wider Asia-Pacific region have Delhi are able to find innovative<br />
freely preaching hatred. Hafiz that was implanted by itself and<br />
What was left unsaid in the sia for India.<br />
capital endowments with Russia's<br />
Saeed's recent rally where he its own institutions. And this will<br />
run-up to Thursday's meeting was India and Russia will continue comparative advantage in the<br />
preached jihad against India to 5 only happen if our neighbours eliminate<br />
the warped thinking, amongst<br />
the Western hope that India to provide political comfort to one fields of mathematics, science<br />
lakh deliriously bloodthirsty fanatics<br />
could not have taken place with-<br />
powerful elements in Islamabad,<br />
would try and put some strategic another on major global issues and engineering, the West will<br />
distance between itself and Russia.<br />
The Indian government may excitement in the economic pensive -- source of technology.<br />
but is there scope for genuine remain a more exciting -- if exout<br />
government support. And we that a terrorist who sets off a bomb<br />
are supposed to be nice to such a at the Marriott in Islamabad is a<br />
have had misgivings over Crimea's sphere Modi and Putin are trying<br />
to push cooperation in the field operation remain, but these will<br />
Defence, nuclear and space co-<br />
government, some Indians ask incredulously.<br />
off a bomb at the Taj in Mumbai is<br />
bad terrorist whereas one who sets<br />
secession from Ukraine but has<br />
baulked from airing these publicly.<br />
but Russia is too far for there to sian technologies in these fields<br />
of diamonds and hydrocarbons only be relevant so long as Rus-<br />
It is true that the Pakistani a good one.<br />
Army, however, selectively, has<br />
And while Moscow's interfer-<br />
be any viable pipeline link. Busi-<br />
are.<br />
Nuclear Deal with Russia is No Reason to Celebrate<br />
naval<br />
(Contd from page 4) Tapping all these<br />
sources might provide such huge surpluses<br />
over and above India's immediate<br />
needs as to make it possible to extend<br />
the pipeline right across India to southwest<br />
China through Myanmar. We would<br />
earn far higher transit fees from any such<br />
arrangements than we might have to pay<br />
out to get west Asian and central Asian<br />
gas into India.<br />
To promote this as a pan-Asian<br />
project, we should extend TAPI to send<br />
out tentacles to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan<br />
and Russia itself - for the Caspian petroleum-rich<br />
port town of Astrakhan lies in<br />
the Russian Federation. If Astrakhan were<br />
to be a key hub of the proposed Asian<br />
Gas Grid, the other Central Asian Republics<br />
might have the greater confidence to<br />
become part of this revolutionary new network.<br />
As far as north Asia is concerned,<br />
while a pipeline all the way from Siberia<br />
or Sakhalin to India might not at present<br />
be technically feasible, swap arrangements<br />
might be possible between India<br />
and Korea, as well as India and Japan, to<br />
supply them gas from our contracted lots<br />
in north Asia (particularly Sakhalin) in<br />
exchange for our getting the LNG they<br />
have contracted from Indonesia and possibly<br />
Australia. To do all this requires,<br />
however, a revival of the Nehruvian vision<br />
that led to India convening the Asian Relations<br />
Conference under Jawaharlal<br />
Nehru in March 1947 even before we were<br />
wholly independent. Asia is the continent<br />
that led the world in the progress of human<br />
civilization from the earliest recorded<br />
times till the onset of European colonialism<br />
some 300 years ago. But Asia remains<br />
the most divided continent despite<br />
the Nehruvian initiative of 1947. That is<br />
because, in spite of progressively shaking<br />
off the colonial yoke, Asia has been<br />
the playground of Great Power rivalry in<br />
the second half of the 20th century and<br />
into the 21st.<br />
This must change. We should take<br />
note from the European experience of<br />
having first set up the European Coal and<br />
Steel Community before moving to the<br />
European Common Market, the European<br />
Community and now the European Union.<br />
An Asian Union might be a century or more<br />
away but we can move towards that goal<br />
by establishing an Asian Gas Grid as the<br />
first step towards an Asian Oil and Gas<br />
Community that might over time then<br />
evolve into an Asian Union. But how can<br />
an India narrowly wedded to Hindutva and<br />
a Hindu Rashtra, and controlled by the<br />
likes of Sakshi Maharaj and Sadhvi<br />
Jyoti, even begin to have the all-encompassing<br />
vision that guided the<br />
Father of our Foreign Policy No wonder<br />
Modi prefers to limit himself to buying<br />
nuclear reactors that no one else wants.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
US Senate confirms Vivek Murthy as surgeon general<br />
(Contd from page 2)<br />
Senator Richard<br />
Blumenthal said Murthy has addressed<br />
some of the nation's<br />
most pressing health problems<br />
over the times. "Dr Murthy's credentials<br />
are without question.<br />
They are impeccable, unquestionable<br />
and indisputable".<br />
Coming out in support of<br />
Murthy, senator Daniel Markey<br />
said he has developed a skill set<br />
which is much needed for the 21st<br />
century and in an era where disease<br />
cross international boundaries.<br />
"It is an opportunity to put<br />
a real leader in this position," he<br />
said. Senator Mazie Hirono said<br />
Murthy would make an effective<br />
surgeon general. On the one<br />
hand, when several senators have<br />
lauded Murthy's nomination there<br />
were others who continued to<br />
oppose his confirmation.<br />
"The American people<br />
deserve a surgeon general who<br />
has proven, throughout his or her<br />
career that their main focus is a<br />
commitment to patients, not a<br />
commitment to politics.<br />
When Obama was mistaken for waiter and valet<br />
(Contd from page 1) The First<br />
Lady contested that. “I think<br />
people forget that we’ve lived in<br />
the White House for six years,”<br />
she said. “Before that, Barack<br />
Obama was a black man that<br />
lived on the South Side of Chicago,<br />
who had his share of<br />
troubles catching cabs.”<br />
She also recalled another incident<br />
when Obama was wearing<br />
a tuxedo at a black-tie dinner,<br />
and somebody asked him to<br />
get coffee.<br />
There was have other eyewitness<br />
accounts of how Obama<br />
was subjected to prejudice even<br />
after he entered elite circles. A<br />
Wall Street Journal reporter once<br />
wrote about how she witnessed<br />
Obama get the rough end of the<br />
stereotype at a New York City<br />
book party hosted by Tina Brown<br />
in 2003.<br />
The reporter had been chatting<br />
with Obama at the party and<br />
when they finished their conversation,<br />
another guest walked up<br />
to her and inquired after the<br />
man’s identity, admitting that he<br />
had mistaken him for the wait<br />
staff.<br />
The man, an established author,<br />
“sheepishly he told me he<br />
didn’t know that Obama was a<br />
guest at the party, and had asked<br />
him to fetch him a drink. In less<br />
than six years, Obama has gone<br />
Rs 9,300cr black money changes<br />
hands in medical seat sale every year<br />
(Contd from page 1) The price of<br />
each seat varies from about Rs 55 lakh<br />
in Kerala and some not-so-wellestablished<br />
colleges in Tamil Nadu and<br />
UP to over Rs 75 lakh in colleges in<br />
Maharashtra, Andhra and Gujarat. At<br />
a conservative average of Rs 60 lakh<br />
per seat, the money generated is Rs<br />
4,860 crore.<br />
Here's why this could be an<br />
underestimation. Scams exposed<br />
almost every year show that<br />
although the management and NRI<br />
quota is said to be 30%, in reality<br />
the number of seats sold is much<br />
higher. In many states, the<br />
permitted management quota is<br />
higher — in Madhya Pradesh, for<br />
instance, private medical colleges<br />
are allowed to keep 15% of seats<br />
for NRI quota and 44% for<br />
management, bringing the total<br />
saleable seats to nearly 60%.<br />
In the Vyapam scandal in MP, 220<br />
of 378 seats in the state quota or about<br />
60% of the state seats were sold to<br />
ineligible students last year. "The state<br />
quota seats are filled by scorers hired<br />
by admission rackets. The scorers are<br />
later paid to vacate the seats, which<br />
are filled after the first counselling<br />
session for premium rates," explained<br />
Dr Anand Rai, the whistleblower in this<br />
scam, which exposed the involvement<br />
of senior politicians and bureaucrats in<br />
the medical admission racket. Similar<br />
rackets have been exposed in<br />
Karnataka and other states too, where<br />
the bulk of seats in private medical<br />
colleges were sold.<br />
The sale of PG seats is at an even<br />
higher rate. Seats in coveted fields like<br />
radiology are said to touch Rs 3 crore,<br />
while seats in gynaecology and<br />
dermatology could be available for Rs<br />
1.5-2 crore. In most places, seats are<br />
sold even before the results for the All<br />
India Common Entrance Test were<br />
declared. In some states with no<br />
regulation, almost all PG seats in the<br />
private sector are sold.<br />
Similar calculations for MD and<br />
MS seats as for MBBS seats show<br />
that these would fetch another<br />
nearly Rs 2,500 crore. Thus, the<br />
'market' for medical seats as a<br />
whole is in excess of Rs 7,300 crore<br />
even by the most conservative<br />
estimate.<br />
There are other factors to take<br />
into account — for instance, in<br />
minority institutions almost 80%<br />
seats are management quota; in<br />
some states this quota is 40%; in<br />
most states there is little or no<br />
regulation of PG seats, so almost<br />
the entire lot gets sold off; in many<br />
states, the so-called state quota is<br />
diverted through various kinds of<br />
fraud and sold off. Factor all of this<br />
in, and the size of the market is<br />
actually probably over Rs 10,000<br />
crore or $1.5 billion-plus, all of it in<br />
black money.<br />
from being mistaken for a waiter<br />
among the New York media elite,<br />
to the president-elect,” the journalist,<br />
Katie Rosman, had written.<br />
However, the president said in<br />
the People interview that the<br />
small irritations or indignities that<br />
he and his wife experienced are<br />
nothing compared to what a previous<br />
generation experienced.<br />
“It’s one thing for me to be mistaken<br />
for a waiter at a gala. It’s<br />
another thing for my son to be<br />
mistaken for a robber and to be<br />
handcuffed, or worse, if he happens<br />
to be walking down the<br />
street and is dressed the way<br />
teenagers dress,” Obama said.<br />
CONTD.<br />
23<br />
New York Magzine says ‘we were<br />
duped’ by $72 million teen trader<br />
(Contd from page1) The initial<br />
story of Islam made immediate<br />
waves. The New York Post<br />
featured it on its front page on<br />
Sunday and it was shared widely<br />
on Facebook.<br />
Commentators quickly<br />
questioned whether Islam could<br />
have truly made $72 million.<br />
The writer of the story,<br />
Jessica Pressler, told<br />
CNNMoney that Islam’s net worth<br />
had been fact-checked, and the<br />
story said that Islam had<br />
confirmed his net worth to be in<br />
the “high eight figures.” Pressler<br />
told CNNMoney that the teen<br />
appeared to have “an obscene<br />
amount of money in his account.”<br />
The Washington Post<br />
reported the flaws in that factchecking<br />
process. It cited an<br />
anonymous “source close to<br />
the Islam family” who said that<br />
the 17-year-old “created some<br />
bullsh*t thing on the computer<br />
with blacked out numbers. He<br />
said she could look at it for 10<br />
seconds, and pulled it away.”<br />
Pressler, who is heading to<br />
Bloomberg News in the new<br />
year to cover the “culture of<br />
wealth and money,” told<br />
CNNMoney that her piece was<br />
“skeptical enough.”<br />
Bloomberg declined to<br />
comment on the matter.<br />
Pressler faulted the original<br />
headline: “A Stuyvesant senior<br />
made $72 million trading stocks<br />
on his lunch break.” She told<br />
CNNMoney she didn’t write it and<br />
said it was “glib.”<br />
Islam took issue with New<br />
York Magazine in an interview<br />
with CNBC. “The way we were<br />
portrayed is not who we are,” he<br />
said.<br />
New York Magazine originally<br />
defended the piece. It noted that<br />
the “story itself does not specify<br />
an amount.”<br />
The revised headline, which<br />
says that Islam “made millions<br />
picking stocks,” is still<br />
inaccurate.<br />
The story was still featured<br />
prominently on New York<br />
Magazine’s website late Monday,<br />
hours after the Observer interview<br />
was published. A spokeswoman<br />
for New York Magazine did not<br />
say whether the story will be<br />
retracted completely.<br />
'Sons of Guns' star William Hayden<br />
indicted on more child rape charges<br />
(Agencies) An East Baton Rouge Parish<br />
grand jury has indicted former reality TV<br />
star Will Hayden on three counts of rape<br />
involving two victims.<br />
The Advocate reports the 49-year-old<br />
Hayden, who once starred in the 'Sons of<br />
Guns' TV show based out of<br />
his Baton Rouge gun shop,<br />
was charged Wednesday<br />
with two counts of aggravated<br />
rape and one count of forcible<br />
rape.<br />
Hayden is accused of<br />
raping a young girl multiple<br />
times between March 2013<br />
and August According to the<br />
indictment, the assaults<br />
allegedly began a few days<br />
after the girl's 11th birthday.<br />
He's also accused of<br />
raping a woman in the early<br />
1990s and was charged with<br />
forcible rape in that incident.<br />
Hayden's attorney, Frank<br />
Holthaus, could not confirm the indictment,<br />
saying he had yet to see it.<br />
Hayden was arrested August 27. After<br />
the arrest, The Discovery Channel canceled<br />
the show, citing 'the serious and horrific<br />
nature of the charges' against the star.<br />
He was arrested on aggravated rape<br />
charges involving a child and had already<br />
faced child molestation and aggravated<br />
crime against nature charges stemming<br />
from an arrest August 9.Hayden began<br />
having sex with the child, then 11 years<br />
old, in 2013, according to allegations in an<br />
affidavit filed by sheriff's deputies. The latest<br />
rape, the report said, happened in July.<br />
A guardian of the victim contacted<br />
deputies Aug. 16. The victim confided to<br />
the guardian after Hayden's Aug. 9 arrest,<br />
according to the report.Deputies said they<br />
met with the child and guardian and took a<br />
statement.<br />
According to the affidavit, the child told<br />
deputies Hayden took her virginity when she<br />
was 11 years old and that sex acts<br />
happened almost daily thereafter.<br />
The report says Hayden coerced the<br />
victim into silence with threats of physical<br />
abuse.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
BUSINESS<br />
24<br />
Sony urges media groups to delete hacked data<br />
(Agencies) washington : Sony<br />
Entertainment pressed media<br />
outlets on Sunday against using<br />
data that hackers may have<br />
leaked about the studio.<br />
In the letter sent to<br />
groups including The New York<br />
Times and The Hollywood Reporter,<br />
lawyer David Boies said<br />
the "stolen information" must be<br />
destroyed and should not make<br />
it to publication.<br />
The studio "does not<br />
consent to your possession, review,<br />
copying, dissemination,<br />
publication, uploading, downloading<br />
or making any use of the<br />
stolen information, and to request<br />
your cooperation in destroying<br />
the stolen information,"<br />
Boies wrote in the three-page<br />
letter.<br />
The demand comes<br />
amid a series of damaging leaks<br />
about salaries, employee health<br />
records, unpublished scripts and<br />
email exchanges about movie<br />
stars and filmmakers. The information<br />
has been published by<br />
websites including gawker.com.<br />
The FBI has launched<br />
an investigation. The unflattering<br />
leaks -- including a producer labeling<br />
Angelina Jolie a "minimally<br />
talented spoiled brat" -- have<br />
thrown Sony into damage control<br />
mode, amid few signs they are<br />
going to stop any time soon.<br />
Sony co-chair Amy Pascal<br />
was also shown to have made<br />
racially insensitive remarks about<br />
president Barack Obama -- the<br />
first black president of the United<br />
States -- in company emails.<br />
A group that claims to<br />
have hacked Sony's servers has<br />
demanded its movie studio pull a<br />
soon-to-be-released comedy depicting<br />
a fictional CIA plot to kill<br />
North Korea's leader. Sony is trying<br />
to determine whether North<br />
Korean hackers are the source<br />
of the leaks, according to tech<br />
website Re/code. North Korea,<br />
however, has denied involvement<br />
in the brazen cyber attack on<br />
Sony Pictures, but praised it as<br />
a "righteous deed" potentially orchestrated<br />
by supporters furious<br />
over the movie "The Interview,"<br />
due out on Christmas Day.<br />
RBI allows banks to<br />
recast large project loans<br />
MUMBAI: Hundreds of road,<br />
power, steel and other large<br />
projects that are stuck because<br />
of their inability to generate cash<br />
flows required to repay loans are<br />
likely to go on-stream with the<br />
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowing<br />
lenders to extend the repayment<br />
period for these<br />
projects. With the RBI allowing<br />
restructuring of even those loans<br />
that have been declared in default,<br />
there is hope that a large chunk<br />
of bad loans will be eventually<br />
upgraded.<br />
"Until now, banks were<br />
focused on a 'fault finding' mission<br />
after a default. Now they will<br />
go in search of profits," said<br />
Nirmal Gangwal, founder and MD,<br />
Brescon Corporate Advisors, a<br />
firm that advises banks on bad<br />
loans. Gangwal said that banks<br />
have enough powers to use as a<br />
stick against borrowers, including<br />
laws to attach assets and the<br />
power to convert debt to equity.<br />
The new guidelines give them the<br />
incentive to work in a constructive<br />
way with the borrower.<br />
The RBI typically does<br />
not encourage giving borrowers<br />
more time or more liquidity<br />
merely to avoid a default. However,<br />
in the case of large<br />
projects it has made an exception<br />
since it is only in India<br />
there was a restriction on the<br />
tenure of the project loan."The<br />
biggest beneficiary would be<br />
road assets and projects in<br />
the power and steel sector.<br />
Those sectors associated with<br />
these industries —telecom,<br />
cement, fertilizer, textiles —<br />
will also benefit. The only unfortunate<br />
part is that this relaxation<br />
has been restricted to<br />
only Rs 500-crore projects,"<br />
said Gangwal.<br />
"Banks have represented<br />
that flexible structuring<br />
of project loans with the option<br />
of periodic refinancing may<br />
also be allowed to existing<br />
loans to infrastructure projects<br />
and core industries projects, as<br />
it would ensure long-term viability<br />
of existing infrastructure/core<br />
industries sector projects by<br />
aligning the debt repayment obligations<br />
with cash flows generated<br />
during their economic life,"<br />
RBI circular said .
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
BUSINESS<br />
25<br />
SpiceJet gets 10 days to raise funds or face end<br />
(Agencies) New Delhi :<br />
The Centre has given a final<br />
chance to cash-strapped<br />
SpiceJet to survive, asking the<br />
low cost carrier to raise funds<br />
within the next 10 days, possibly<br />
from promoter Sun Group<br />
chief Kalanithi Maran, or face<br />
closure. The respite came on<br />
Monday after the SpiceJet management,<br />
led by COO Sanjiv<br />
Kapoor and Sun Group CFO S<br />
L Narayanan, reportedly told<br />
aviation authorities it would shut<br />
"tonight or in 30 days" unless<br />
the Centre saved it fr-om payment<br />
demands of oil firms and<br />
airport operators.<br />
SpiceJet told minister of<br />
state Mahesh Sharma that its<br />
immediate cash requirement<br />
was Rs 1,400 crore and the overall<br />
requirement (including long<br />
term) Rs 2,000 crore. They have<br />
requested for some relief. We'll<br />
discuss that with seniors in the<br />
government, other ministries like<br />
finance and oil and take the issue<br />
up to the PMO. However,<br />
we have given no assurance to<br />
SpiceJet. We will take a final decision<br />
keeping wider interest of<br />
passengers in mind," Mahesh<br />
Sharma said.<br />
Sources say the NDA<br />
government is reportedly working<br />
out a "revival package" for<br />
SpiceJet as it fears shut down of<br />
yet another big airline after Kingfisher<br />
— both poor companies of<br />
rich promoters — "will send a bad<br />
signal globally". The package,<br />
however, may be pegged to the<br />
airline raising funds in the next 10<br />
days.<br />
SpiceJet has also seen<br />
leasors taking back planes, leaving<br />
it with a smaller fleet due to<br />
which daily flights are down from<br />
332 to 239. The airline owes<br />
money to airports, oil companies,<br />
employees and even statutory<br />
dues — exactly like Vijay<br />
Mallya's Kingfisher which shut<br />
down in October 2012.<br />
The low cost carrier<br />
(LCC) disclosed its dire financial<br />
state in a series of meetings on<br />
Monday with director general of<br />
civil aviation (DGCA) chief<br />
Prabhat Kumar and ministry top<br />
brass, including the minister.<br />
Kumar had asked SpiceJet to<br />
clear November salary dues and<br />
give a 'convincing' roadmap for<br />
clearing Rs 1,600-crore dues by<br />
Monday. The airline, however,<br />
failed to meet these regulatory<br />
conditions and told the government<br />
that it could shut down anytime<br />
without its intervention.<br />
The Airports Authority of<br />
India (AAI) was to put the LCC<br />
on cash-and-carry from Tuesday<br />
as it has dues of Rs 194 crore.<br />
Oil companies have of late been<br />
playing tough with the airline in<br />
giving jet fuel because of its dues.<br />
The LCC started building pressure<br />
on the government to come<br />
to its rescue right from Monday<br />
morning.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
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Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
TRAVEL<br />
27<br />
Acrobatic dinners, wavy rooms and a frozen bar on a four-day cruise<br />
We always tell children<br />
it's rude to play with your food.<br />
But when circus performers<br />
hang upsidedown while you're<br />
eating, chefs juggle knives by<br />
your table and waiters only<br />
stop bringing you food when<br />
you show them a red card, it's<br />
hard not to join in the fun.<br />
Dining has always been<br />
an important part of any cruise<br />
holiday but on Norwegian<br />
Epic, food as theatre has been<br />
taken to whole new heights.<br />
During Cirque Dream And<br />
Dinner, the incredible acrobats<br />
performed mind-boggling feats<br />
above us and we had to remind<br />
ourselves to eat the three<br />
courses that had been served<br />
in the Spiegeltent big-top restaurant.<br />
With 20 eating establishments<br />
on board Norwegian<br />
Epic, our four-night mini cruise<br />
around the Mediterranean gave<br />
me only enough time to get a<br />
taste of the options available.<br />
Launched in 2010, the<br />
4,100 passenger Epic dwarfs<br />
most other big cruise ships,<br />
but despite its hulking size, the<br />
ship has a pleasant flow and<br />
well-thought-out design inside.<br />
Eschewing the glitzier, brash<br />
décor that many large ships<br />
favour, Epic attracts a young<br />
mixed European crowd of<br />
couples and families who<br />
come for the less stuffy<br />
'freestyle cruising'.<br />
Studio single cabins are<br />
a genius idea; these cool inside-facing<br />
pods, with mood<br />
lights and a communal lounge<br />
area, are perfect for solo passengers<br />
who don't want to pay<br />
a single supplement.<br />
Elsewhere, balcony cabins<br />
have a 'wavy' design, with<br />
an unusual bathroom arrangement,<br />
but use their available<br />
space excellently. There are<br />
also interconnecting staterooms.<br />
Taking the tots along<br />
doesn't mean having to sacrifice<br />
on style when it comes to<br />
staterooms. Some of the most<br />
luxurious suites, such as the<br />
Haven two-bedroom balcony<br />
villas, are perfect for a family<br />
of four. This luxurious shipwithin-a-ship<br />
area called the<br />
Haven is an exclusive place for<br />
Haven villa and suite guests.<br />
With its own plush lounge, dining<br />
room, pool, spa and gym<br />
area, there's no need to venture<br />
out into the ship.<br />
It would be a shame not<br />
to, though, as there is so much<br />
going on. Kids big and small<br />
can enjoy a ride on one of the<br />
three water slides in the Aqua<br />
Park. Teens and adults can indulge<br />
in treatments in<br />
Mandara, the largest spa at<br />
sea. There's also the Posh<br />
Beach Club – an adults-only<br />
area of day beds. NCL Epic<br />
is a fun place for a holiday with<br />
friends and couples, but she<br />
is also an ideal place for families<br />
to enjoy a quick getaway.<br />
Norwegian Cruise Line has a<br />
partnership with TV channel<br />
Nickelodeon and so children<br />
can enjoy a Dora's dance<br />
party, breakfast with<br />
SpongeBob SquarePants or<br />
take part in messy 'splash<br />
mobs' with Team Nick. Epic's<br />
free children's clubs have had<br />
a makeover with the addition<br />
of the Splash Academy for children<br />
aged six months to 12<br />
years old and the Entourage<br />
programme for 13- to 17-yearolds.<br />
On 2012 Epic sailings<br />
there is a 'Little Norwegians<br />
Explore for Free' programme<br />
of free shore excursions for<br />
children. Ports of call often<br />
take a back seat to the wow<br />
factor of the ship itself, but with<br />
stops at Marseilles, Palma,<br />
and a day at sea, the fournight<br />
cruise to and from<br />
Barcelona packs in some<br />
Mediterranean highlights.<br />
In Majorca's attractive<br />
capital Palma, Epic's berth<br />
overshadows even the poshest<br />
mega yacht in the marina, and<br />
it's a pleasant walk to the old<br />
town's cathedral and winding<br />
back streets. On board, there's<br />
entertainment throughout the day,<br />
but the evening is when the fun<br />
and freestyling really begins with<br />
the huge range of restaurants to<br />
choose from. Epic is big on Asian<br />
food; from the swish Wasabi<br />
sushi bar to the Japanesestyle<br />
Teppanyaki, where our jubilant<br />
chef expertly sliced open a raw<br />
egg and showed off his knife<br />
skills as he cooked dinner in<br />
front of our table.<br />
Moderno Churrascaria is<br />
based on Brazil's famous meat<br />
meccas. Waiters come<br />
around brandishing meat<br />
skewers, carving some off for<br />
you until you turn over a card<br />
on your table to say you've<br />
had enough.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
Now for some more fruity photos of Kim!<br />
Jokers share pictures of food that looks<br />
like famous shot of Kardashian's bottom<br />
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
28<br />
Nothing can add to your style quotient more<br />
than a sexy pair of high heels. And if you want them<br />
to be sexier, just opt for the tie-up or lace-up ones!<br />
These trendy shoes have a typical girly feel to them,<br />
thanks to the delicate ribbons and strings that makes<br />
lace-ups and tie-ups a hot and sexy choice. Shoe<br />
and accessory designer Pushpita Gaur says, “Tieup<br />
heels are definitely in trend internationally. It began<br />
last season but has transformed from just delicate<br />
and feminine to more bold and aggressive in terms of<br />
styling and colours.” You can go ahead and<br />
complement your wardrobe with the various designs<br />
and styles available. Whether it is the rope, the<br />
knotted, the stripe or the scarf. Kapil Mahtani, CEO<br />
of a popular shoe store says, “Though this style has<br />
been around since the last season, it is picking up<br />
only now, and we have seen a demand in the market<br />
for these.” The fact that these shoes work not only for<br />
high-fashion dressed-up occasions but can also be<br />
worn as casuals, he asserts. Almas Nanda, shoe<br />
designer, states that block colours like shocking pink,<br />
electric blue, orange and nude are really hot this<br />
season for tie-ups. “Of course black is an all-time<br />
favourite. And these shoes usually look good with most<br />
outfits,” she says.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
Bollywood<br />
29
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
SHOWBIZ<br />
30<br />
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan felicitated at Miss World 2014<br />
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was<br />
Sunday felicitated by the Miss<br />
World Organisation at the 64th<br />
edition of the international<br />
beauty pageant for her commitment<br />
to "beauty with a purpose"<br />
since winning the crown two<br />
decades ago. Described as embodiment<br />
of beauty with purpose,<br />
Aishwarya is also seen as the<br />
most successful Miss World so<br />
far, a title that she won in 1994.I<br />
stand here overwhelmed by this<br />
honour. I thank Miss World Organization<br />
for such an incredible<br />
one time to go out there and<br />
experience beauty with a purpose...,"<br />
said the actress looking<br />
gorgeous in shimmery gown.<br />
The 41-year-old was accompanied<br />
by her mother<br />
Vrinda, husband and actor<br />
Abhishek Bachchan and threeyear-old<br />
daughter Aaradhya on<br />
the stage.<br />
Having starred in movies<br />
like Devdas and Hum Dil De<br />
Chuke Sanam, she is now a<br />
regular at the prestigious<br />
Cannes film festival.<br />
honour that I have received..."<br />
Meanwhile, Koyal<br />
she said in her acceptance<br />
speech. "To have the opportunity<br />
to hold the title, to wear the<br />
crown with pride... that was my<br />
Rana, India's representative at<br />
the Miss World this year, could<br />
only make it to the top 10. The<br />
crown went to Miss South Africa.<br />
The Hobbit...' tops foreign charts, mints $117.6 million<br />
The final instalment in Peter Jackson's<br />
six-film Middle Earth series debuted in<br />
38 foreign territories, including major markets<br />
like Japan, Russia and Mexico. It<br />
opens in the US Wednesday, reports<br />
variety.com.<br />
Imax screenings accounted for $6.4<br />
million of the film's opening. Among the<br />
notable territories, Germany accounted<br />
for $19.5 million, Britain contributed $15.2<br />
million, France added $14.5 million, and<br />
Russia amassed $13.4 million, making<br />
it to be the biggest Warner Bros opening<br />
ever. liding in at number two on the foreign<br />
charts, "Exodus: Gods and Kings"<br />
earned $18.8 million from 6,096 screens<br />
in 27 markets. the Hunger Games:<br />
Mockingjay - Part 1" and "Penguins of<br />
Madagascar" were the third and fourth<br />
highest-grossing films overseas, picking<br />
up $16 million and $14.7 million, respectively.<br />
The "Hunger Games" sequel<br />
has earned $611.4 million worldwide,<br />
while the "Madagascar" spin-off<br />
has picked up $175.5 million. Fifth<br />
place finisher "Interstellar" blasted<br />
past $600 million globally last week.<br />
The space adventure earned $11.4 million<br />
overseas, pushing its worldwide total<br />
to $621.8 million. Chinese audiences<br />
were a boon to "Interstellar," delivering<br />
$122.9 million in ticket sales.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
31<br />
Bipasha Basu’s hot and spooky ‘Alone’<br />
trailer crosses 3 mn views on YouTube<br />
Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover starrer ‘Alone’ seems to be raving towards its<br />
success. The trailer of the film, that recently got released on Tuesday, December 9<br />
has gone over 3 million views on popular video sharing site, YouTube.<br />
Alone, which happens to be a horror-thriller film with Bipasha Basu in double role<br />
garnered many eye balls with the release of its first trailer. Bipasha and the others<br />
associated with the film also cherished upon several acknowledgements and appreciations<br />
from the member of the film industry including stars like SRK, Hrithik and<br />
Priyanka. The trailer has crossed whooping 3 million views within its 6 days of<br />
release.<br />
Digging<br />
into fears<br />
a n d<br />
threats,<br />
Alone definitely<br />
chills<br />
out your<br />
spine and<br />
challenges<br />
you to watch<br />
it alone.<br />
While the<br />
actress<br />
is all<br />
confident<br />
and cheery for the release of the film, what has also come out as<br />
something tremendously intriguing is Bipasha’s too-intimate-to-handle<br />
chemistry with actor Karan Singh Grover. Where the entire industry is<br />
going gaga over praising how smashing Bipasha is looking in the trailer,<br />
the film also promises several distinctively sensuous scenes. Bipasha is<br />
playing both Anjana and Sanjana in the film, conjoined twins who are drift<br />
apart by the destiny. Looking as sassy as always, the actress is sure to<br />
leave her footprints in your heart with her sultry appearance in the film.<br />
Karan Singh Grover, who is already considered as the man of great looks<br />
on the small screen is accompanying the lady perfectly in ‘Alone.’Thus,<br />
apart from the entire spookiness and horror that the film has deemed to<br />
be providing, you can surely expect an intensely carved romance on<br />
screen between Bipasha and Karan<br />
The film which is directed by Bhushan Patel is releasing on January 16,<br />
next year. The music which is composed by Mithoon, Ankit Tiwri and<br />
Jeet Ganguly is soon to hit the charts.<br />
Jacqueline Fernandez<br />
to replace Sayessha<br />
Trade reports suggest that since Sayessha had<br />
to choose between Ajay Devgn's 'Shivaay' and<br />
Tiger Shroff's next being produced by Ekta Kapoor<br />
to avoid a date clash, Jacqueline Fernandez, who<br />
is currently on a roll, is tipped to be the girl paired<br />
opposite Tiger.<br />
Hrithik Roshan Denies<br />
Dating Kangana Ranaut<br />
An Indian daily today ran a story about how<br />
Hrithik Roshan is the mystery man that<br />
Kangana Ranaut is in love with. The news item<br />
said that Hrithik and Kangana were in a serious<br />
relationship, but weren't prepared to talk about<br />
it yet. Ever since Hrithik has become single<br />
again there have been stories about his closeness<br />
to various actresses, though Hrithik has<br />
denied them. Hrithik took to a social networking<br />
site to dismiss the newspaper report linking<br />
him up with Kangana. "Cover story. Lovely. This<br />
is so absurd it doesn't even get me angry. Are<br />
these papers and writers just plain delusional<br />
". Price of being single I guess.But I'm not<br />
paying.Unless it's for the shrink who I think these<br />
journos need. :) u guys have a wonderful day,"<br />
tweeted Hrithik.
Wednesday 18-25 December , 2014<br />
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