29_page01-city final_Layout 1

BRIEFLY 

� Actor Gina Lollobrigida 

receives an award at the 

Monte-Carlo Film fes—PTI 

Ahluwalia in race 

for IMF top post 

New York: Montek Singh 

Ahluwalia, deputy chairman 

of the Planning Commission, 

figures among the probables 

to succeed Dominique 

Strauss-Kahn as the next 

chief of the International 

Monetary Fund. —PTI 

Locals unite to save 

largest wetland 

Dankuni: NGOs, clubs and 

residents have joined hands 

in a bid to save the state’s 

largest wetland located 

along the Howrah-Hooghly 

border. They took part in a 

people’s convention at 

Rajchandrapur in Howrah 

on Sunday to chalk out their 

future course of action. —P4 

CM slams power 

crazy leaders 

Barrackpore: Chief minister 

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee 

on Sunday said a section of 

the CPI(M)’s “power-crazed” 

leaders was primarily responsible 

for the loss of the 

party bailiwick of the 

Barrackpore industrial belt 

in the 2009 LS election. —P5 

TMC chief fires 

fresh salvo at CM 

Kakdwip: Trinamool 

Congress chief Mamata 

Banerjee fired a fresh salvo 

at chief minister Buddhadeb 

Bhattacharjee on Sunday for 

discrediting her party on 

grounds of governance.—P5 

Maoists kill five 

in Kandhamal 

Phulbani: At least five persons, 

including two women 

and a three-year-old child, 

were killed as Maoists blew 

up an ambulance by triggering 

a landmine blast in 

Orissa’s Kandhamal district.— 

PTI 

Jaitapur N-plant 

gets green nod 

Mumbai: The 9,900-mw 

Jaitapur nuclear power project 

received clearance from 

the environment ministry 

on Sunday . —PTI 

North Korea 

readies missiles 

Yeonpyeong: North Korea 

has placed surface-to-surface 

missiles on launch pads 

in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap 

news agency said, as the US 

and South Korea began military 

drills and China called 

for emergency talks. —P10 

Abida Parveen 

undergoes surgery 

Lahore: Renowned Sufi 

singer Abida Parveen underwent 

emergency heart surgery 

here on Sunday, a doctor 

said. —PTI 

FIR against Sony TV, 

Shekhar Suman 

Mumbai: An FIR has been 

registered against Sony 

entertainment television, 

actor Shekhar Suman, comedienne 

Bharti Singh and a 

scriptwriter, for allegedly 

hurting the sentiments of a 

community in a show aired 

by the channel. —PTI 

Chhattisgarh govt 

targeting CPI cadres 

New Delhi: CPI on Sunday 

alleged that the 

Chhattisgarh government 

was targeting its cadres in 

Dantewada district by 

branding them as Maoists 

and demanded that the 

Centre take steps against the 

guilty. —PTI 

TODAY’S WEATHER 

High 31.6 0 

c 

Low 21.7 0 

Humidity 

c 

Max. 94% 

Min. 51% Nil 

Rain 

http://www.thebengalpost.com KOLKATA MONDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2010 Pages 16+4 ` 2.50 

Let my father become 

king: William 

Page11 

Mirwaiz finds few 

takers for Azadi 

Our Correspondent 

Kolkata: Thursday in 

Chandigarh. Sunday in 

Kolkata. There seemed to 

be no takers for Mirwaiz 

Umar Farooq’s argument in 

favour of an Azad Kashmir. 

At a seminar organised 

by the Centre for Peace and 

Progress at the Academy of 

Fine Arts on Sunday, 

Mirwaiz’s “Azadi for 

Kashmir” was rejected by 

politicians, former army 

officers, sportspersons and 

academics alike. 

A handful of BJP activists 

even protested against 

moderate Hurriyat leader 

being provided a platform 

to air his views. 

Citing that around 110 

people have died in 

Kashmir in firing by the 

security forces since June 

11, Mirwaiz said: “On one 

side they (the government) 

are saying that they want a 

dialogue and, on the other, 

they are arresting young 

boys of Kashmir. The government 

has said that infiltration 

has come down. 

Then, why are there so 

many troops still present in 

the Valley?” He also raised 

questions as to why the 

government was using 

force in the Valley. 

Mirwaiz contended that 

historically Kashmir was a 

disputed land and the 

Indian government should 

realise the strong support 

for ‘azadi’ among the people 

of the Valley. 

“You cannot move forward 

until and unless you 

address the core issue. 

According to him, the core 

issue is neither development, 

nor economic packages. 

It’s the strong sentiments 

for the freedom of 

Kashmir. 

“We want a solution and 

believe in dialogue. Right 

from 2004, we have been 

speaking to the NDA and 

then the UPA and other 

people from both countries,” 

he added. His arguments, 

however, cut little 

ice with other panelists. 

—See Page 4 

Do not write off 

RJD: Lalu 

Page 7 

No end to House 

stalemate in sight 

Puneet Nicholas Yadav 

New Delhi: Pranab Mukherjee 

has failed yet again. On Sunday, 

the government’s chief troubleshooter 

made another 

unsuccessful bid to convince 

the BJP top brass into dropping 

its demand for a JPC probe into 

the spectrum scam. 

This, after the Union finance 

minister’s luncheon diplomacy 

failed twice in as many weeks 

to break the ongoing logjam. 

Mukherjee spoke to BJP veteran 

L K Advani and leader of 

the Opposition in the Lok 

Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, on 

Sunday, requesting them to 

“consider any alternative to a 

JPC probe”. 

Both, however, told him that 

they would settle for nothing 

short of a Joint Parliamentary 

Committee probe. 

The government’s reluctance 

to constitute a Joint 

Parliamentary Committee to 

probe the `1.76 lakh crore 2G 

spectrum scam and the 

Opposition’s insistence is 

likely to prolong the logjam 

that has stalled the House 

since the winter session commenced 

on November 9. 

The news of Mukherjee’s 

appeal to the Opposition, incidentally, 

was revealed by 

Swaraj on Twitter. She 

tweeted on Sunday that he 

“appealed that we give up our 

demand for JPC”, adding: “We 

told Pranab Mukherjee that 

we could not give up the 

demand for JPC (sic).” 

Sources said Mukherjee 

once again told the two BJP 

leaders that the government 

was even in favour of the 

Supreme Court monitoring the 

ongoing CBI investigation into 

the spectrum scam. 

Besides, he also reiterated 

the government’s proposal of 

extending the expertise of 

agencies like the CBI, ED and 

CVC that are probing the 2G 

scam to the Public Accounts 

Committee, which is now 

examining the CAG report 

that has indicted A Raja in the 

scam. 

Sources said the Advani- 

Swaraj duo rejected the offers 

again. Swaraj reportedly told 

Mukherjee that the 

Opposition demand was legitimate 

as railway minister 

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool 

Congress, which was part of 

the UPA, was also in favour of a 

JPC probe. See Page 6 

ED to grill more officials 

New Delhi: The Enforcement 

Directorate(ED) is likely to issue 

summons to some government 

officials, including two considered 

to be close to former telecom 

minister A Raja, in the 2G 

spectrum scam probe. 

Sources said the ED, which 

has registered a case under the 

Prevention of Money Laundering 

Act (PMLA), may summon 

certain officials, including R K 

Chandolia and A K Srivastava, 

who worked with Raja. 

Chandolia, Raja’s personal 

secretary at the time of the controversial 

spectrum allocation 

in 2008, was sent back to his 

parent department — Indian 

Economic Services — within 

days of Kapil Sibal taking over as 

the new telecom minister. 

Sources said they are likely 

to be quizzed on the allocation 

process, the alleged role 

played by corporate lobbyist 

Niira Radia and on their tax 

returns and investments. The 

questioning would be based 

on information collected by 

various agencies, including 

CBI, I-T and the ED itself over 

2G SCAM 

� Niira Radia— File photo 

the last one year. The questions 

will be about allocation, 

including the controversial 

first-come-first-serve basis. 

They said questions would 

also be asked about the alleged 

role played by Radia and her 

dealing with them if any. 

Sources said the officials 

would also be asked to submit 

all details about their income, 

their annual IT returns for the 

last few years and details about 

their investments both in mov- 

able and immovable assets 

besides their foreign travel. 

The statement given by Radia 

will also form the basis of their 

inquiry, they said. The ED had 

questioned Radia for about 

seven hours last Wednesday 

during which she had given an 

over 20-page statement. 

Meanwhile, sources said the 

ED, which has already issued 

summons to certain firms that 

had bagged the spectrum 

licence in 2008, are currently 

sifting through several thousand 

pages of documents submitted 

by them during the 

first round of questioning. 

The ED probe is expected to 

unravel the murky trail of suspected 

money laundering 

linked to the spectrum allocation. 

Raja was forced to resign 

earlier this month after a damning 

report on the spectrum allocation 

by the Comptroller and 

Auditor General. The CBI, 

which is also probing the 

scam, had recently told the 

Supreme Court that they will 

file a chargesheet within three 

months. —PTI See Page 7 

TWO’S COMPANY 

� Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli celebrate their team's victory over New Zealand in their 1st ODI 

in Guwahati on Sunday— PTI 

Nagpur: The squabbling Kochi IPL 

franchise got yet another breather 

on Sunday from the BCCI which 

decided to defer the decision on its 

fate till December 5 after the consortium's 

investors reached a lastminute 

agreement over their 

shareholding pattern. 

At a meeting of the IPL's governing 

council here, the BCCI deferred 

the decision on the franchise for a 

third time after the expiry of a 

month-long deadline given to it for 

sorting out its internal bickering. 

“They have disclosed their ownership 

pattern. Our legal experts will 

study the papers. There was no discussion 

with the investors because 

we are not legal experts. BCCI will 

take a decision on December 5, “ 

BCCI president Shashank Manohar 

told reporters after the meeting. 

Barely seven months after 

becoming the second most costliest 

team in the Indian Premier 

League, Kochi was on the verge of 

being thrown out of the event. 

But the owners of the beleaguered 

franchise made a last ditch 

attempt to save the outfit by reaching 

a compromise last night. 

Before the compromise, the 

investors of the franchise, which 

was bought for a staggering sum of 

`1533.33 crore, had written to the 

BCCI informing them of their intention 

to withdraw from the IPL. 

That letter was sent after the 

BCCI, which had on October 10 

expelled Kings XI Punjab and 

Rajasthan Royals for allegedly vio- 

Mallya buys house for `38.4 crore 

New Delhi: Business tycoon Vijay 

Mallya, a former student of La 

Martiniere for Boys in Kolkata and 

known for his flamboyance, has bought 

the "best house in Cape Town" for $8.4 

million (Rs 38.4 crore) located at the 

posh Nettleton Road, according to a 

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, report. 

“Indian liquor baron and Formula 

One team owner Vijay Mallya has 

splashed out R60-million ($8.4 million) 

for a Cape Town mansion in 

which Hollywood star Nicolas Cage 

once slept on embroidered pillows,” 

the newspaper said. 

The four-storied mansion overlooks 

Clifton beach and is shielded from the 

Kochi team gets a breather 

wind and boasts of a sauna, walk-in safe, 

gym, and garage space for four cars. 

The local estate agents described 

the mansion, which has hosted movie 

stars, singers and royalty, as "the best 

house in Cape Town". 

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden stayed 

in the mansion during the 2010 Fifa 

World Cup, singer George Michael 

lived there last year and Nicolas Cage, 

along with his third wife Alice Kim, six 

years ago while shooting for the 

movie, Lord of War. 

“The main bedroom on the top level 

has an amazing penthouse feel,”said 

Stefan Antoni, the designer of the 

mansion. —PTI 

Alastair Cook leads 

turnaround 

Page 16 

WikiLeaks blows whistle on US cables 

Washington: Some 250,000 

classified US documents procured 

by WikiLeaks detail a 

variety of secret diplomatic 

episodes and incidences of 

backroom bargaining like a 

standoff with Pakistan over 

nuclear fuel and the hacking 

of Google systems by China, 

said a report on Sunday. 

The confidential cache of 

US cables released by the 

whistleblower website, was 

described the one that 

unlocks the secrets of 

American diplomacy. 

“A cache of a quarter-million 

confidential American 

diplomatic cables, most of 

them from the past three 

years, provides an unprecedented 

look at backroom 

bargaining by embassies 

around the world, brutally 

candid views of foreign leaders 

and frank assessments of 

nuclear and terrorist threats.” 

WikiLeaks tweeted that it is 

“currently under a mass distributed 

denial of service 

attack”. It added that even if 

its website goes down, a number 

of newspapers would 

publish the documents. 

Some of those reveal a 

dangerous standoff with 

Pakistan over nuclear fuel. 

Since 2007, the US has 

mounted a highly secret 

effort, so far unsuccessful, to 

remove from a Pak research 

reactor highly enriched uranium 

that American officials 

fear could be diverted for use 

in an illicit nuclear device. 

In May 2009, US ambassador 

Anne W Patterson 

reported that Pakistan was 

refusing to schedule a visit 

by American technical 

experts because as a 

Pakistani official said: “If the 

local media got word of the 

fuel removal, they certainly 

would portray it as the 

United States taking 

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.” 

Besides, the papers provide 

an insight into a global computer 

hacking attempt initi- 

I think the team will 

become a reality as 

BCCI's decison holds 

some hope to save it 

-Shashi Tharoor 

ated by China. According to 

one cable, China’s politburo 

directed the intrusion into 

Google’s computer systems, a 

Chinese contact told the US 

embassy in Beijing in January. 

The hacking was part of a 

coordinated campaign of 

computer sabotage carried out 

by government operatives, 

private security experts and 

internet outlaws recruited by 

the Chinese government. 

The White House immediately 

condemned the release 

strongly, saying it risked the 

lives of thousands of diplomats 

and officials and 

endangered its relationship 

with friends and allies. —PTI 

LC 

lating contractual agreements, 

gave a termination notice of 30 

days to the franchise to sort out 

internal disputes regarding the 

shareholding pattern. 

The investors in the consortium - 

- Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, 

Rosy Blue and Film Wave —hold 74 

per cent of the equity. 

The remaining 26 per cent lies 

with the Gaikwad family— 

Shailendra, his brother Ravi and 

their parents all part of Rendezvous 

Sports World —as free equity for 

services rendered while bidding. 

It is this 26 per cent which 

became a bone of contention 

among the stakeholders as the 

investors were in no mood to give 

free equity to the Gaikwad family. 

The Gaikwads, on their part, initially 

refused to part with the equity 

but have now agreed to forego at 

least some of it to put an end to the 

squabbling which threatens the 

very existence of the team. 

The BCCI has made it clear that 

eight teams will take part in the 

fourth edition of the league scheduled 

from April 8, just six days 

after the World Cup. —PTI 

GJM chief 

threatens 

Hills bandh 


RS: 2.50 

The franchise survives IPL axe, BCCI to decide fate on December 5 

Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti 

Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal 

Gurung on Sunday threatened 

to call a bandh from 

December 21 if the Centre 

failed to finalise the interim 

set-up at the earliest. 

“We are hopeful that the 

interim set-up will be 

finalised before December 

20. However, if the Union 

government fails to settle 

the issue by then, we will call 

a 48-hour bandh in the Hills 

from December 21. We will 

also resume our agitation for 

a separate state,” he warned. 

He said this while 

addressing a public meeting 

in Darjeeling. GJM had 

relaxed its agitation from the 

Pujas following assurances 

given by the Union home 

ministry. To pressure the 

Centre to hold talks, the GJM 

chief also announced that 

from December 6 onwards, 

all state and central government 

offices would be closed 

indefinitely, but allowed the 

chambers of the DM and SP 

to remain open. 

Demanding the tauzi 

department, Gurung asked 

the various frontal organisations 

of the party to organise 

mass rallies and public 

meetings in the Hills.

2 The Bengal Post Kolkata Monday November 29, 2010 

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Under 

TOURS & TRAVEL 

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Partha : 9830557648 

Soumik - 9038414135

Briefly 

Debate on AIDS at 

city hospital 

Kolkata: A debate on ‘Are 

We Offensive Against AIDS 

or AIDS patient’ will be 

organized at ESI Hospital, 

Maniktala on December 1. 

Luminaries from civil society 

like Sujato Bhadra and 

Rudraprasad Sengupta as 

well as trade union leaders 

and state labour minister 

Anadi Sahu will participate 

in the event. — BP 

Passenger held for 

on flight ruckus 

Kolkata: Sarajit Deb, 65, was 

arrested by NSCBI Airport 

police station for creating a 

ruckus on board a Kingfisher 

flight from Bangkok. “The 

problem occurred when an 

air hostess refused to serve a 

complimentary drink to Deb 

as he was in an inebriated 

state. He reportedly, 

molested the air hostess,” 

said a senior police officer. 

Deb was later released on 

bail. — BP 

Fire caused by 

stray spark 

Kolkata: Two fire tenders 

rushed to douse the flames 

at a wasteage dumping 

place near Jaipuria College 

on Sunday. The incident 

took place at around 9 pm. 

The fire was controlled 

within 15 minutes. Fire 

brigade officials said that 

the fire was caused due to a 

stray spark. — BP 

Couple arrested 

for maid’s suicide 

Kolkata: Sital Prasad Haldar, 

50, and Mina Haldar, 46, 

were arrested by Lake Town 

police on Sunday on the 

charge of abetment of suicide 

of their domestic maid. 

The maid, Gargi Kar, was 

found dead in their house at 

Dakshindari on Friday. 

Police had initially lodged a 

case of unnatural death. On 

Sunday, the local union of 

domestic helps had agitated 

in front of the Lake Town 

police station demanding 

the immediate arrest of the 

Haldar couple. — BP 

Severed body of a 

woman found 

Kolkata: Police recovered 

the maimed body of an 

unidentified middle-aged 

woman from Diamond 

Harbour Road on Sunday. 

Local residents saw the body 

and informed the police. Her 

head was severed and was 

located after an extensive 

search of the area. The body 

was later sent for post 

mortem. A man later said 

that it was the body of her 

daughter Azmira Bibi but 

later recanted on seeing the 

body. He had lodged a missing 

diary at Bishnupur 

police station in July 2009. 

Murlidhar, additional superintendent 

of police, South 

24-Parganas said: “We have 

started an investigation. We 

tried to match her face from 

our records but no matches 

were found.” — BP 

Awareness on 

human trafficking 

Kolkata: The International 

Mission for Social Welfare 

and Charity (IMSWC) 

recently organized awareness 

camps in Coach Behar 

to build public opinion 

against human trafficking, 

sexual harassment, and 

child marriage. During the 

campaign, the organisation 

highlighted that in most 

cases the victims of trafficking 

were from the poor 

families. “We want to 

create awareness about trafficking,” 

said Nityananda 

Puri, a member of the 

IMSWC. — BP 

Now, the CM is talking 

about compensations 

as elections 

are nearing. What 

about those who 

were killed in 

Kolaghat boat 

tragedy? 

— Mamata Banerjee, 

Trinamool Congress chief 

Abhiroop Ghosh Dastidar 

Kolkata: The oldest Chinese temple in 

India, situated at Achipur near Budge 

Budge will soon undergo a facelift at a 

cost of `5 lakh, which has been contributed 

by members of the Chinese 

community. 

The temple, dating back to nearly 

300 years, has witnessed the history of 

Bengal. It was built in 1718 by a 

Chinese trader named Aton Atchew 

who arrived with 110 labourers from 

Canton in order to set up a sugar mill. 

The land on which the temple stands 

was rented by the then zamindar for 

`45 per annum. However, at present, 

not a single Chinese can be found in 

the area. 

The roof of the main courtyard is 

being reconstructed along with the 

floors and the other rooms of the temple 

which stands on two bighas. 

“Every year, there is waterlogging 

inside the temple which damages the 

wood and marble décor. 

As a result, there has been considerable 

decaying. We have sought the 

help of local municipalities,” said S K 

Au, secretary of the Gee Hing Church 

and Club which has been monitoring 

and organising the funds for the 

restoration project. 

“The work had to be temporarily 

stalled after a misleading report about 

the fund allotment came out in the 

newspapers. We also had to produce a 

proper plan of the temple for the local 

municipality, after which work started 

afresh,” said Au. 

According to Au, there are around 

6,000 Chinese in the city. Out of the 

five Chinese temples present, this happens 

to be the oldest. 

A number of devotees gather at the 

temple on Chinese New Year in 

February. 

It is located in a pre-dominantly 

Muslim area and has been looked after 

by 65-year-old Sheikh Ali Akbar. “Four 

generations of our family have been 

looking after the temple. Even the local 

people consider this temple to be 

sacred,” said Akbar. 

The age-old tradition of telling fortunes 

with sticks is still prevalent here. 

The temple houses two goddesses -- 

Thuti Kung and Thuti Fo Thuti – which 

mean Earth in Chinese. Local people 

believe that the temple possesses 

The Bengal Post Kolkata Monday November 29, 2010 

CITY 

KMC bargains greens for profits 

Sportsmen and joggers remain out of bounds as event organisers take over parks 


Kolkata: Never mind whether the 

Left or the Trinamool Congress is 

at the helm of Kolkata Municipal 

Corporation (KMC): the city parks 

appear to be going out of bounds 

for children, lovers, sportspersons 

and neighbourhood morning and 

evening walkers. For the better 

part of the year, most of these 

parks are put on ‘sale’ to generate 

revenues for the civic body. 

On Sunday, senior civic officials 

told The Bengal Post that at least 

half a dozen parks had been identified 

as “regular revenue spinners”. 

They are: Park Circus 

Maidan, Tala Park, Vivekananda 

Park, Triangular Park and 

Northern Park. When this newspaper 

visited Northern Park, it 

found that the only green stretch 

in Bhowanipore in south Kolkata 

was left at the mercy of organisers 

of a religious event. Every nook 

and corner of the ground was dug 

up mercilessly in order to plant 

bamboo poles. Even tufts of grass 

had been plucked to improve the 

look of the event. Organisers said, 

this would be the venue for a programme 

of a lady spiritualist. 

The park is the home ground of 

Balak Sangha, a Cricket 

Association of Bengal (CAB)–division 

league club that has produced 

several cricketers of firstclass 

standard, including former 

Test cricketers Devang Gandhi and 

Dilip Doshi. With the CAB league 

set to begin soon, the cricketers 

are not sure whether they would 

be able to play matches on their 

home turf. 

When asked about the event, 

KMC officials said they are compelled 

to give permission keeping 

in the mind the religious sentiments 

of local people. “We still 

feel parks and greens should not 

be let out for public events. But it 

becomes somewhat impossible 

for us to deny permission for religious 

and government programmes,” 

said Debasish Kumar, 

member, mayor-in-council 

(MMiC) in charge of parks, gardens 

and sports. 

The greatest irony: In 2007 the 

Left-run KMC faced stiff opposi- 

INTELLIGENTSIA 

� Food being distributed at an event in Northern Park—BP 

Game over for Northern park 

� The park is the home ground of Balak Sangha, a Cricket 

Association of Bengal (CAB)–a league club 

� With the CAB league soon to begin, cricketers are unsure 

whether they would be able to play on home turf 

� Every nook and corner of the park has been dug up and bamboo 

poles planted for the event 

� KMC officials said they were compelled to give permission for 

events, keeping in mind the religious sentiments of people 

tion from Kumar when they 

decided to rent out Deshapriya 

Park for a fair organised by Khadi 

Gram Udyog. In fact, Kumar led a 

group of affluent locals to organise 

a protest over the KMC’s decision 

which they had termed `sabuj 

shraddha’. 

Although these events leave 

parks scarred, former MMIC, 

parks, Faiyaz Ahmad Khan feels 

there is no problem in renting out 

green spaces for a “social cause”. 

In fact, he pointed out that by 

renting out parks KMC earns revenues 

which can be utilised for 

other welfare activities. 

“When we rented out different 

parks we had to face huge opposition 

from the Trinamool Congress. 

But now, they are following in our 

footsteps, revealing their ‘dual’ 

nature,” Khan said. 

Sports personalities and environmentalists 

are concerned that 

even after generating revenue, 

KMC officials do not plough back 

the income to restore the park and 

maintain it throughout the year. 

“Our city has less than one per 

cent of open space and in no way 

should we allow them to organise 

such programmes inside any open 

spaces across the city. The local 

people should stop them from 

organising such programmes,” 

said green activist Subhas Dutta. 

Green activists pointed out that 

with the winds of change in 

Bengal politics, they assumed that 

at least greenery would be saved. 

“But the scenario is completely 

different. What the CPI(M)-led 

KMC did with the parks and gardens, 

the TMC leaders are following 

in their footsteps. Now it is 

time for local people and green 

activists to put up stiff resistance,” 

said Ravi Menon, a green activist. 

However, parks are KMC 

property and there is no law to 

stop them. 

� Ramola Chakrobarty, Maya Ghosh, Pabitra Sarkar, Sabyasachi Chakrobarty and Paran Bandhopadhyay at a CPM 

demonstration at Esplanade on Sunday — Subhrajit Chandra 

magical powers. 

A wooden cup, concave in its shape, 

is taken within the folded hands, and is 

then thrown on the floor. 

If it falls with the concave side up 

and the other in the opposite direction, 

it means good fortune. A Chinese way 

of telling your future, this ritual is still 

performed in the temple. “Even before 

we started the restoration work, we 

performed this ritual. One up, one 

down, the wooden cups showed us the 

way,” said the joint secretary of the 

Gee Hing Church and club, Ho Yuan 

That. 

A bunch of sticks is placed in a cup, 

which is then shaken. 

After shaking, one stick, which has 

Chinese inscriptions on it, comes up. 

The sticks are numbered and are then 

tallied with a fortune paper, where the 

numbers are tallied with the inscriptions 

on the paper. Another soothsaying 

process, it is still performed in the 

temple. 

There is no particular priest or timing 

of offering. It is the devotees who 

come and offer prayers, whenever they 

like. Centuries-old inscriptions are 

withering away with time. 

As a former cricketer (of 

Balak Sangha), I am disapointed 

to hear this about 

the parks (being off limits) 

—Jisshu Sengupta, Actor 

With less than one per cent 

open space, we cannot 

allow such programmes 

—Subhash Dutta, Green activist 

It becomes impossible for 

us to deny permission for 

religious programmes 

—Debasish Kumar, MMiC, 

parks & gardens 

Local residents, morning 

walkers and kids should 

not be stopped from 

entering parks 

—Raju Mukherjee, Ex-cricketer 


Kolkata: Railway minister 

Mamata Banerjee might get 

her way yet again since the 

state government has agreed 

to work with the ministry in 

order to hasten work on the 

East West Metro project. 

The CPI(M)-led state government 

and Banerjee had 

been at loggerheads over the 

Joka-BBD Bag Metro extension. 

However the East West 

Metro was a joint venture 

between the Union urban 

development ministry and 

the state government. 

“The bone of contention 

was the plan to have Metro 

stations below the Howrah 

and Sealdah stations. The 

Railway Board has stated 

that such a move would disrupt 

passenger traffic for a 

prolonged period of time. 

Traffic movement would go 

haywire causing immense 

inconvenience to com- 

Ban on diabetes 

drug for ill effects 


Kolkata: Popular anti-diabetics 

medicine Ros igl utaz - 

one and its formulations 

have been banned after serious 

side effects among elderly 

people were rep orted. 

According to office of the 

drugs controller-general 

(ODCG), Government of In - 

dia, sources, Dex tropro - 

poxyphene, a pain killer, may 

soon face the axe. 

The ODCG issued a prohibition 

order to all state drug 

control offices and associations 

of drug manufacturers 

on November 12, asking 

them to ban the production 

and sale of the medicine 

with immediate effect. 

Doctors, however, feel that 

the ban would not affect the 

treatment of diabetics. 

“Rosiglitazone came with a 

lot of promise but increased 

incidents of cardiac arrest 

and fractures among elderly 

people have led to the prohibition 

on the use of Rosi - 

glitazone,” said cardio-diabetologist 

Dr Jotideb 

Mukhopadhyay. “Age-old 

medicines like Metformin 

and Sulphonylurea are doing 

an excellent job so diabetes 

treatment will not be 

affected due to this ban,” he 

said. 

There are over a dozen 

brands of this anti-diabetes 

medicine manufactured by 

numerous leading pharmaceutical 

firms in the country. 

Rosiglutazone was used to 

treat Type-II diabetes. 

However, lately there has 

been a dispute over the 

effectiveness of the medicine 

and its side effects. 

The US Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) first 

sounded an alarm in this 

regard. Following that, a sixmember 

committee of 

experts was formed in India 

on the advice of the drug 

technical advisory board 

(DTAB) to review whether 

Rosiglitazone needed to be 

muters,” said an Eastern 

Railway official. 

It was interpreted as a 

political tussle by many 

which would adversely 

affect the project. 

However with the railway 

ministry prepared to take 

over from the Union urban 

development ministry, th - 

ings are all set to move. 

“It is likely that the railway 

ministry would take 

over. Correspondence bet - 

ween the Union urban development 

ministry and our 

chief secretary has already 

begun. He will reply after our 

consultations are over,” said 

state transport minister 

Ranjit Kundu. 

However, there was no ray 

of hope for the Joka-BBD Bag 

extension of the Metro 

Railway. 

“The transfer of land is a 

serious issue and cannot 

happen overnight. There is a 

procedure for such things 

Medicines for 

diabetes 

� Rosiglitazone – used for 

diabetes treatment 

� Substitute – Pioglitazone 

(should be used with 

caution) 

Other medicines under 

suspension: 

� Sibutramine and R-sibutramine 

– anti-obesity 

drugs 

Under Observation 

� Dextropropoxyphene, 

Propoxyphene – 

painkillers 

� All these medicines have 

faced complaints of 

elevated risk of cardiac 

arrest 

3 

banned. The expert committee 

recommended the suspension 

of import and manufacture 

of Rosiglitazone on 

October 7. 

ODCG sources said Dex - 

tropropoxyphene might also 

be banned soon. “Dex - 

tropropoxyphene has rec - 

ently been prohibited in the 

US and New Zealand due to 

increased incidents of cardiac 

arrest. We anticipate 

that this drug will also be 

reviewed very soon for its ill 

effects,” said a senior ODCG 

inspector. “We have info - 

rmed all drug sellers and 

manufacturers in the state 

about the Rosiglitazone ban. 

Dextropropoxyphene will 

also be picked up for consideration,” 

said Sajal Roy - 

chowdhury, director, the st - 

ate drug control directorate. 

State, railways set for joint 

East West Metro journey 

The state government 

and Banerjee 

had been at loggerheads 

over the 

Jo ka-BBD Bag 

Metro extension 

and it will take time,” Kundu 

said. The East West Metro is 

a `4,874 crore project funded 

by the Japan International 

Cooperation Agency. 

Chinese community to restore 300-year-old heritage temple 

� The Chinese temple at Achipur near Budge Budge — 

Debasish Bhaduri 

The waterlogging 

within the temple 

takes away much 

of its sheen 

—S K Au, secretary, 

Gee Hing Church 

The temple is the 

most authentic place 

where Chinese traditions 

are strictly 

followed 

—C Y Tan, president

4 

Briefly 

Fire in AJC Bose 

Road apartment 

Kolkata: A fire broke out at 

a residential-cum-commercial 

complex at AJC Bose 

Road on Sunday morning. 

Three fire tenders rushed to 

Jayati Apartments at 227/2, 

AJC Bose Road and the fire 

was brought under control 

in 20 minutes. — BP 

Maoist ‘kidnapped’ 

by police 

Kolkata: The state secretary 

of the CPI(Maoist), Kanchan 

alleged that police had ‘kidnapped’ 

their state committee 

member Dwijen 

Hembram from his house at 

Belpahari in West 

Midnapore. Police denied 

the allegation. Family members 

of Dwijen Hembram 

said he was missing since 

November 10. — BP 

Miscreants injure 

promoter 

Kolkata: Sahodeb Dey, a 

promoter from North 24- 

Parganas was attacked by six 

miscreants when he was on 

his way to a fast food centre 

he owns. The miscreants 

opened fired at him and 

assaulted him before local 

residents came to his rescue. 

Five miscreants fled the spot 

while one of them, Dilip 

Das, 32, was nabbed. Dey’s 

condition is critical as he 

suffered a bullet injury. 

Police have started investiagations. 

— BP 

Congress-TMC 

clash in Canning 

Kolkata: At least eight persons 

were injured on 

Sunday in a clash between 

supporters of the Congress 

and Trinamool Congress 

over setting up a tea stall 

near Joynagar police station. 

The police said they clashed 

with sticks and one person 

was critically injured. He 

was later shifted to Kolkata, 

police said. The Congress 

has called 12-hour Joynagar 

bandh on Monday to protest 

the incident. — PTI 

‘Come clean on 

Rajarhat issue’ 

Kolkata: Two major ruling 

Left Front partners, the RSP 

and Forward Bloc, have said 

the West Bengal government 

must come clean on 

the land controversy at 

Rajharhat, a fast growing 

township on the outskirts of 

the metropolis conceived 

during the chief ministership 

of Jyoti Basu. 

"We should steer clear of the 

controversy. It should be 

transparent how land was 

acquired at Rajarhat from 

the mid-1990s and whether 

force was applied and at 

what price the land was 

acquired and sold," said RSP 

leader and state PWD minister 

Kshiti Goswami on the 

allegation by the Trinamool 

Congress that the government 

bought land at a 

throwaway price and sold it 

at a premium. — PTI 

Minister injured in 

road accident 

Kolkata: Minister of state 

for information and broadcasting, 

C M Jatua was 

injured in a road accident 

when a SUV hit his vehicle 

near Amtala crossing in 

South 24-Parganas on 

Sunday. He was returning 

from a meeting at Kakdwip. 

Police detained the driver of 

Tata Sumo for interrogation 

and the car was seized. He 

suffered injuries on his head 

and waist He was discharged 

after first aid. His 

driver, security guard and 

personal secretary were also 

injured. He later went to the 

airport to catch a flight for 

Delhi. — BP 

Kolkata pilgrim 

dies in J&K 

Jammu/Kolkata: A pilgrim 

on his way to the 

Vaishnodevi shrine died of a 

heart attack in the district of 

Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir 

on Sunday. Hanuman 

Prasad, 52, a resident of 

Kolkata, suffered a massive 

cardiac arrest at Ardh 

Kuwari area on his way to 

the cave shrine, police officials 

said. The man was 

rushed to a hospital in Katra, 

where he was declared 

brought dead by the doctors, 

sources said. — PTI 

United move to save 

state’s largest wetland 


Dankuni: Local NGOs, clubs 

and residents, cutting 

across party lines, have 

joined hands in a bid to save 

West Bengal’s largest wetland, 

located along the 

Howrah-Hooghly border. 

They took part in a people’s 

convention on Sunday at 

Rajchandrapur in Howrah 

to chalk out their future 

course of action. 

“There is nearly 70 sq. km 

of scattered wetland along 

the border of the two districts. 

At one point, all these 

were parts of one water 

body. But constant land filling 

and illegal acquisition 

over the years has divided 

and scattered the body. The 

time has come when we 

must stop further filling of 

the wetland at any cost,” 

said Tapan Dutta, secretary 

of the Jalabhoomi Banchao 

Committee (JBC). 

The primary objective of 

Rail union blames officials for 

motorman’s untimely death 

Sujit Nath 

Kolkata: State intelligence 

agencies have issued an 

alert on the India-Nepal 

border to prevent the entry 

of Nepal casino king Rakesh 

Wadhwa. 

Wadhwa, originally from 

Barrackpore in North 24- 

Parganas, is the owner of 

five casinos, including one 

in Kyrgyzstan. At present, he 

is in hiding following a massive 

manhunt launched by 

the Kathmandu Police for 

evading taxes to the tune of 

`20 crore. 

Speaking to The Bengal 

Post over telephone, 

Kathmandu superintendent 

of police (SP), Vijay Kumar 

Bhatt said: “We have alerted 

all the agencies in India, 

including a message alert to 

the West Bengal Police. We 

have also sought help from 

Interpol to track his movements 

and to try to find his 

whereabouts.” 

the convention was to create 

a network of seven 

NGOs and forums which 

have so long been working 

individually to save wetlands 

in their respective 

localities. The larger goal 

would be to build a movement 

on the lines with the 

stir started in 1990s to save 

the East Kolkata Wetland 

along the EM Bypass. 

“It will be great if the 

wetland gets listed among 

the Ramsar sites. It will help 

us fight to save the wetland,” 

said Shantanu 

Chakraborty, a member of 

‘Disha’, an NGO which has 

been fighting to save wetlands 

for years. A similar 

movement had been initiated 

to save 12,500 hectares 

of the East Kolkata Wetland 

which was facing a threat 

from rapid urbanisation and 

real estate ventures. On 

August 19, 2002, the wetland 

was designated a ‘wetland 

of international impor- 

SAVE THE NATURE VENTURE 

� Local residents, NGOs 

and clubs participated 

in a people’s convention 

on Sunday in a bid to 

save the state’s largest 

wetland which is 

located along the 

Howrah-Hooghly border 

� The convention took 

place at Rajchandrapur 

in Howrah to chalk out 

future action on the 

movement 


Kolkata: A day after Indian 

Railways motorman D N 

Moitra died in harness, railway 

unions alleged that the 

failure of the authorities to 

provide emergency medical 

support was responsible for 

his untimely demise. The 

divisional railway manager 

(DRM), Kharagpur, however, 

claimed that the 

unfortunate incident happened 

in spite of all necessary 

support. 

On Saturday, Moitra was 

in charge of the P3 Howrah- 

Panskura EMU local train. 

Once it reached Panskura at 

around 7.35 am, he felt 

unwell. He was taken to a 

nursing home where doctors 

pronounced him dead. 

“There was no railway doctor 

at Panskura but there 

are health units in 

Santraganchi and Mecheda. 

It is surprising that no effort 

was made to get a doctor 

� The wetland of nearly 

70 sq. km has been scattered 

by constant 

process of land filling 

and illegal acquisition 

� The Jalabhoomi 

Banchao Committee 

(JBC) has vowed to stop 

filling of the wetland 

� Some quarters have 

demanded inclusion of 

the wetland in the 

Ramsar sites list to 

make their effort easy 

SERIOUS CHARGES 

� A railway union said 

the dead motorman, D 

N Moitra, did not get 

proper treatment 

� It accused that the 

DRM, Kharagpur, did 

not turn up on time to 

save Moitra’s life 

� The union has 

demanded `10 lakh as 

compensation for the 

victim’s family 

� Railway authorities 

rubbished negligence 

on their behalf causing 

Moitra’s death 

from Mecheda which is 

very close by,” alleged N B 

Dutta, joint general secretary 

of the All India Loco 

Running Staff Association 

(AILRSA). The guard of each 

train has a first-aid box but 

it is not enough for emergencies. 

The nursing home 

where he was initially taken 

did not have any doctor and 

Rakesh owns the Nepal 

Recreation Centre (NRC) 

which operates five casinos 

in Kathmandu, including 

‘Casino Nepal’ in Hotel 

Soaltee, ‘Casino Shangrila’, 

‘Casino Everest’ in Hotel 

Everest, ‘Casino Tara’ at the 

Hyatt and Casino Anna. 

“He has not paid nearly 

`20 crore in royalties to the 

Nepal government. He also 

violated rules against run- 


CITY 

tance’ under the Ramsar 

Convention. 

“Our problem is similar. 

Several real estate projects 

on the 70 sq. km wetland 

have fragmented it. We 

have to follow the 1990s 

movement,” said Kunal 

Thakur of the Hind 

Motor Jalabhoomi Bachao 

Committee. The only constructive 

step taken till date 

was the filing of a PIL in the 

Calcutta High Court to stop 

acquisition of 2,200 acres of 

wetland lying between 

Jagdishpur and Dankuni 

railway stations. Apart from 

the real estate development 

project, three other projects 

initiated by the railways 

were to be developed on 

this wetland. 

“Although the court has 

issued a stay order, constructions 

are on in full 

swing. With so many people 

coming together, we are 

hopeful of putting up a 

tough fight,” said Dutta. 

—Subhrajit Chandra 

� A similar movement 

was started to save 

12,500 hectares of the 

East Kolkata Wetland, 

which was endangered 

by rapid urbanisation 

� A PIL was filed in the 

Calcutta High Court to 

put a halt on acquisition 

of 2,200 acres of 

wetland lying between 

Jagdishpur and 

Dankuni railway 

stations 

while on the way to the 

next nursing home, he 

died,” Dutta said. 

The union has alleged 

that the DRM, when alerted, 

failed to take action in time 

which might have saved 

Moitra’s life. However, 

DRM, Kharagpur, Anil 

Kumar Handa, refuted the 

claims. “Our officers had 

reached in time and he died 

by 9.35 am due to a possible 

cardiac arrest. There is no 

question of his death being 

caused by any delay in 

treatment. His body has 

been sent for postmortem,” 

Handa said. 

The union has demanded 

that the Indian Railways pay 

`10 lakh to Moitra’s family 

and his son be given a job 

on compassionate grounds. 

“A health unit must be set 

up at Panskura since it is 

such a busy station and the 

railways should have a 

stand-by ambulance,” Dutta 

said. 

ning such clubs by employing 

Nepali youths,” the SP 

said. 

Intelligence agencies in 

West Bengal who were 

keeping a watch on 

Wadhwa’s casinos found 

that some of them, especially 

‘Casino Nepal’, were 

frequently used by associates 

of underworld don 

Chhota Rajan. 

“We have photographs of 

VERTICAL EFFORT 

� A worker sprays water on a new high rise in Kolkata on Sunday—Prabir Bhattacharya 

Murder accused in police custody 


Kolkata: Avik Ghosh, who 

was arrested by Bihar Police 

in Munger on Saturday for 

the murder of his wife 

Mausumi and their domestic 

help Parulbala at his 

Oxytown flat on September 

27, hired a mason to execute 

his plan successfully. 

Ghosh was brought to the 

city on Sunday and produced 

before Alipore court, which 

remanded him in police custody 

till December 10 for 

further interrogation. 

When quizzed, Ghosh 

revealed that he had hired 

mason Somnath Tanti and 

others to kill his wife. “The 

CID interrogated Ghosh after 

he was brought to the city 

from Munger. The three 

other accused were also 

taken to Bhabani Bhavan for 

verification,” said an officer 

of Thakurpukur police 

station. 

On November 25, police 

STAGE IS OURS 

Alarm raised on casino king’s entry 

Baap Bahadur, a close aide 

of Rajan, gambling at the 

club. Interestingly, Bahadur 

is married to an ex-wife of D 

K Rao, Rajan’s friend, and 

looks after his Nepal operations. 

It is unfortunate that 

we could not arrest him 

because we did not get any 

assistance from the Nepal 

Police,” a senior Kolkata 

police officer said. 

It was found that Rajan 

gang members frequent 

these clubs to keep a watch 

on Dawood’s men who are 

also very active in 

Kathmandu. “We have also 

received tip-offs on the 

underworld presence in his 

casinos. This is a serious 

offence and we will seek 

help from the Kolkata Police 

in providing more details,” 

Bhatt said. 

It was from Wadhwa’s 

Casino ‘Yak’ and ‘Yeti’ where 

Charles Sobhraj, a serial 

killer, was arrested by Nepal 

Police. 

� Avik Ghosh at Alipore 

Court on Sunday 

—Shyamal Chakrovorty 

arrested Tanti, Shafique 

Ahmed Khan and Sadab 

Pervez Khan for the twin 

murder. While they were 

booked under Section 396 of 

the IPC for dacoity with murder 

and under Section 476 of 

the IPC for encashing 

cheques using counterfeit 

signatures, Ghosh was 

booked under Section 120B 

of the IPC on charges of criminal 

conspiracy. 

Police suspect some other 

members of the family were 

also involved in the gruesome 

killing. According to 

police sources, Ghosh had 

hired Tanti for some work at 

his flat. He planned the murder 

with Tanti, who was 

known to Mausumi. “That is 

why when Tanti, along with 

others, came to the house on 

the day of the murder, 

Mausumi opened the door,” 

said Murlidhar, additional 

superintendent of police, 

South 24-Parganas. 

According to senior police 

officers, Ghosh’s unwillingness 

to live with Mausumi 

was the motive behind the 

murder. She was his second 

wife. “His first wife had 

divorced him because of his 

rude behaviour. Avik and 

Mausumi did not have a 

good relationship, either. 

There might have been some 

property-related disputes as 

well,” said Murlidhar. 

Ghosh had struck a deal 

for `5 lakh with Tanti for the 

murder. While Ghosh paid 

� Children walk the ramp in a show titled ‘The Bhowanipore Fashionista’10’ at a hotel 

in Kolkata on Saturday —Subhrajit Chandra 

Injured EB fan carried 

bombs, say police 


Kolkata: A day after ace East 

Bengal striker Robin Singh 

visited Parimal Das, an East 

Bengal fan admitted to a private 

hospital with severe 

burn injuries received during 

a game against Mohun 

Bagan on Friday, the police 

on Sunday revealed that Das 

was carrying crude bombs 

and might have had sinister 

intentions. 

Siddhinath Gupta, deputy 

inspector-general of police, 

Presidency range, who is 

leading the investigation 

into the incident said on 

Sunday that Das might have 

a criminal past. 

The North 24-Parganas 

district police have already 

initiated the probe. 

“Das was carrying explosives 

like crude bombs and 

copper shells with him. It is 

not clear whether he had 

charged the shells or not. But 

the crude bombs suddenly 

exploded inside his pants 

pocket. Some shells were 

also recovered from him. 

Since the man is still not out 

of danger, we cannot interrogate 

him. But a case has been 

started,” Gupta told The 

Bengal Post. 

After Friday’s match, fans 

burst firecrackers which hurt 

several people inside Salt 

Lake Stadium. Parimal, 44, 

Biswajit Das, 30, and 

Harichand Sarkar, 45, were 

injured. Eleven people were 

arrested on the day for carrying 

liquor. 

According to the West 

Bengal Police, at least 80,000 

spectators attended the 

game on Friday. 

Security would be beefed 

up for the next derby match, 

said Gupta. 

`2.7 lakh in cash, more than 

`63,000 was withdrawn by 

Tanti from Ghosh’s bank 

account. “Tanti and his associates 

looted some ornaments 

and some cheques of 

Ghosh’s State Bank of India 

account after killing 

Mausumi and Parulbala. 

They later forged Ghosh’s 

signature and encashed the 

cheques,” said the ASP. 

Though Ghosh’s plan was 

well thought out, he made 

some slips which police used 

to corner him. He had lodged 

a complaint with police 

claiming that someone was 

withdrawing money from 

his account. The police contacted 

the bank and with the 

help of bank employees, 

made a sketch of the person 

who was withdrawing the 

money. The sketch matched 

with Tanti and he and his 

associates were arrested. 

Later, they revealed that 

Ghosh had commissioned 

them to kill Mausumi. 

Kolkata 

rejects 

Mirwaiz’s 

arguments 


Kolkata: Mirwaiz cut a sorry 

figure as his arguments 

failed to cut ice with other 

panelists. Former army chief, 

General (retd) Shankar 

Roychowdhury, felt that 

much of the movement was 

being funded by Pakistan. 

“Tell me the name of any 

Hurriyat leader who has 

been shot in the violence. 

Backed by Pakistan, the 

Hurriyat is provoking young 

Kashmiris. Pakistan is funding 

such violence to avenge 

the defeat in the Bangladesh 

Liberation War. Since June, 

Pakistan has pumped in 

nearly `20-30 lakh,” the former 

army chief said. 

Gen (Rtd) Roy Choudhury 

argued that talks could only 

be possible after accepting 

that no parts of Jammu and 

Kashmir would be allowed 

to secede. “Within the 

Constitution of India, you 

can seek anything, but nothing 

beyond,” he said. 

Many other panelists 

accused the Huriyyat 

Conference of speaking only 

about Kashmir but not about 

the people of Jammu or 

Ladakh or even the minorities 

of the state. 

Industrialist Shishir 

Bajoria said: “You do not 

want to be a part of the 

democracy and I believe it is 

because you don’t have the 

strength.” 

In a rare moment of unity, 

both CPI(M) and Trinamool 

Congress leaders rejected 

Mirwaiz’s arguments. 

Former city mayor and 

CPI(M)’s legal luminary 

Bikash Bhattacharjee said: 

“More than 60 per cent have 

voted, which proves that 

they want to be part of the 

Indian democracy. Only a 

handful support Pakistan.” 

Trinamool leader Sardar 

Amjad Ali advised the 

Hurriyat to take cognizance 

of the ground reality. “The 

armed forces were provoked 

by the violence incited by 

the Hurriyat,” he said.

Briefly 

Shops gutted by 

fire in Siliguri 

Siliguri: Two shops were 

gutted in a fire late on 

Saturday night at Mallaguri 

in Siliguri. Medicines worth 

over `15 lakh, a motorbike 

and valuable goods were 

destroyed in the fire. A short 

circuit might have caused 

the conglagration. Later, 

three fire engines brought 

the fire under control.—BP 

BJP supporters 

leave for Kolkata 

Siliguri: Several BJP supporters 

left for Kolkata on 

Sunday to participate in the 

‘Mahakaran Abhijan’ led by 

the state committee on 

November 30. District secretary 

of the BJP Sanjeeb 

Sikdar, said that over 

3,000 members and supporters 

from different parts 

of North Bengal would join 

the programme.—BP 

Man dies in 

road accident 

Tarapith: One person was 

killed while another was 

injured after being hit by a 

private vehicle. The incident 

occurred at Dhekuria village 

under the jurisdiction of 

Rampurhat police station. 

Local villagers said that 

Shanker Saha, a youth of 

Gopalpur village, also under 

the same police station, hit 

the bicycle-borne Gadadhar 

Bhattacharya, 58, with his 

new Bolero, killing him on 

the spot. He then hit a 

nearby tea stall, injuring 

Vinay Saha. Police have 

seized the vehicle but the 

driver managed to flee. — BP 

Tribute to 

Rathindranath 

Santiniketan: Visva-Bharati 

University celebrated the 

birthday of Rathindranath 

Tagore on Saturday. Every 

year on November 27, students 

of Shilpa Sadan organise 

Rathindra Shilpa Mela at 

Sriniketan. The tradition has 

been carried out since 1989, 

the birth centenary of 

Rathindranath Tagore. Stu - 

dents, both old and current, 

along with teachers exhibit 

and sell handicrafts of various 

kinds at the fair. — BP 

Kolkata pilgrim 

dies in J&K 

Jammu: A Vaishnodevi pilgrim 

on Sunday died of a 

heart attack in Jammu and 

Kashmir's Reasi district. 

Hanuman Prasad, 52, a resident 

of Kolkata, suffered a 

cardiac arrest at Ardh 

Kuwari en route to the cave 

shrine, police said. The man 

was rushed to a hospital in 

Katra, where he was 

declared brought dead, 

sources said. — PTI 

Woman’s body 

found in field 

Malda: A woman’s body was 

found in a paddy field on 

Sunday at Baliadanga village 

within the jurisdiction of 

Kaliachak police station in 

Malda. The deceased was 

identified as Kasmira Khatun, 

30, a local resident who was 

missing since Saturday. 

Sources said that Kasmira 

reached Malda town in the 

afternoon but was untraced 

ever since. Her body bore 

injuries from a sharp 

weapon. — BP 

Residents protest 

land acquisition 

Jalpaiguri: Nearly 2,500 

residents of Mohit Nagar 

and Rani Nagar areas of 

Jalpaiguri assembled at 

the nearby Tarapada High 

School on Sunday to conduct 

a protest meet 

against the government’s 

notification of acquiring 

land in these areas for 

constructing four-lane 

road project. — BP 

Malda book fair 

impasse continues 

Malda: The stalemate over 

the Malda book fair continues 

as the CPI(M) dominated 

Mal da district book fair 

committee refused the proposal 

of the National Book 

Trust (NBT) to organise the 

fair jointly. The NBT had 

offered to organise the fair 

jointly with the district committee 

on the condition that 

there would be no entry fee 

for the fair and accounts 

would be kept by NBT. — BP 

RAF deployed 

for peaceful 

school polls 

1.6 lakh teachers cast ballots 

Subhamoy Chatterjee 

Kolkata: East Midnapore 

political flashpoints 

came close to throwing 

up sparks when primary 

school teachers went to 

the polls to elect their 

nominees for the District 

Primary School Council 

(DPSC) on Sunday. Quick 

deployment of the Rapid 

Action Force (RAF), however, 

put paid to any 

attempt to disrupt the 

polling. 

School education secretary, 

Vikram Sen, told 

The Bengal Post that 

reports were received at 

about 1 pm that certain 

elements were not allowing 

the teachers to enter 

polling booths in Khejuri, 

Nandigram, Shahid 

Matangini and Kolaghat I 

and II blocks. 

“The situation was 

brought under control 

with the quick deployment 

of the RAF contingent 

and about 87 per 

cent polling was 

recorded in these areas”. 

Polling for three 

blocks affected by Leftwing 

extremist activities 

in West Midnapore district 

was held at the 

Jhargram sub-divisional 

headquarters, instead of 

the block headquarters at 

the request of the district 

magistrate. 

More than 1.6 lakh primary 

teachers cast their 

ballots in 707 polling circles 

to elect their representatives 

to the DPSC. 

Sen said that no untoward 

incident was 

reported from any of the 

districts and that the 

average polling in the 

state was 90 per cent. 

The first phase of the 

DPSC poll was held on 

November 21 when 

MLAs, zilla parishad and 

panchayat samity members, 

municipal councillors, 

teachers of primary 

teachers’ training institutes 

(PTTI) and staff 

members of each DPSC 

participated. The number 

of voters in these constituencies 

was about 

10,000. 

Each DPSC would have 

25 to 30 elected members. 

Three of them will 

be elected by teachers, 

two each by MLAs and 

zilla parishad members 

and three by municipal 

commissioners in each 

subdivision. 

Two will be elected by 

the members of the 

Siliguri Mahakuma 

Parishad. 

The DPSC poll assumed 

an extra significance this 

time as political rivals 

looked at it as yet 

another opportunity to 

test their popularity quotient. 

The contest is also crucial 

since control of the 

councils would help a in 

determining which of the 

political contenders 

would shape the parameters 

of quality primary 

education in the state’s 

schools. 

Sen said that counting of 

ballots would take place 

on December 2 at the district 

headquarters. The 

results are likely to be 

known on the same day. 


CITY & STATE 

Our Special Correspondent 

Kakdwip: Trinamool Cong - 

ress (TMC) chief Mamata 

Banerjee on Sunday fired 

fresh salvo at the CPI(M) for 

discrediting her party on 

governance grounds. 

Reacting to chief minister 

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s 

comment that panchayats 

run by the TMC were the 

worst performers, Banerjee 

said the TMC-led South 24- 

Parganas zilla parishad was 

the “best of all”. 

Banerjee was at Kakdwip 

to distribute cheques to the 

relatives of those who were 

killed in the trawler tragedy 

on October 30. On the directive 

of the TMC chief, the zilla 

parishad arranged `2 lakh for 

‘GNLF flags to flutter 

again in Darjeeling’ 

� GNLF supremo Subash Ghisingh addresses the media after Sunday’s 

meeting in Siliguri — Santanu Bhattacharjee 


Siliguri: For almost 18 months the former 

Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) 

chief, Subash Ghisingh, did not address 

any political meeting. On Sunday he 

broke his silence. 

Addressing a huge gathering of GNLF 

cadres here, Ghisingh once again raked 

up the Gorkhaland cause and spoke for 

more than two hours drawing applause 

from the audience. He said the Hills 

would be again covered with green flags. 

During the address, Ghisingh said the 

Sixth Schedule was the only solution to 

the problems plaguing the Hills. He 

added that refusing it would be a historical 

error. He used the opportunity to criticise 

the people who were opposed to 

Sixth Schedule status. He said the 

demand for Gorkhaland was first raised 

by him and he knew the politics of the 

Hills better than anyone. 

According to him, the Centre had 

already accorded Sixth Schedule status to 

the Hills and was now waiting for 

Parliament’s app roval. He also advised 

the cadres to observe December 6 as the 

‘Day of Sixth Schedule.’ The most significant 

part of his speech, however, was the 

hint thrown about his impending return 

to the Hills. 

Ghisingh was driven out of the Hills in 

2008 when the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha 

(GJM) took the political centre stage with 

the demand for separate statehood. GJM 

chief Bimal Gurung has consistently 

opposed the Sixth Schedule. 

This was the reason why Gurung and 

Ghisingh fell out. The GJM has thrown its 

weight behind the interim set-up which 

COMMAND PERFORMANCE 

� Dancers of the Student Health Home perform at the state convention, in Bolpur, on Sunday — Rajesh Bhakat 

TMC supremo fires fresh salvo at Buddhadeb 

Towards Gorkhaland 

� The demand for a separate state 

for Gorkhas within India was 

raised more than 100 years ago. 

� The name Gorkhaland is 

claimed to have been coined by 

Subash Ghisingh 

� After a violent agitation in 

1980s which claimed more than 

1,200 lives in the Hills, 

Ghisingh settled for the 

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. 

� 20 years later, the Gorkha 

Janmukti Morcha (GJM) under 

the leadership of Bimal Gurung 

revived the demand and began 

a movement for a separate 

Gorkhland 

Ghisingh opposed vehemently terming it 

a ‘disaster’. Ghisingh said he had already 

sent a memorandum to the Congress 

president, Sonia Gandhi. 

In August, Ghisingh had threatened to 

renew his demand for separate 

Gorkhaland if the interim set-up was 

implemented. It may be mentioned that 

Ghisingh had settled for the Darjeeling 

Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) which is now 

widely seen as his act of betrayal to the 

cause of separate statehood. 

Ghisingh said he did not take up political 

programmes in the Hills to avoid 

clashes. He said he would return to the 

Hills soon but refrained from giving a 

specific date. 

the families of victims. 

Despite her claims that 

she did not want to politicise 

such “humanitarian programmes”, 

Banerjee could 

not restrain herself from 

using the platform to reply to 

the chief minister’s allegations. 

Addressing a public rally at 

Balarampur in Purulia district, 

Bhattacharjee had 

trained his guns on the TMC 

for its “administrative inefficiency”. 

Talking in the same line at 

another party rally at 

Basirhat on Saturday, the 

chief minister said: “How 

can they run a state, when 

they cannot even run a panchayat?” 

After a day came Bane - 

40 new 

anganwadi 

centres in 

N Dinajpur 


Raiganj: The North Dinajpur 

zilla parishad has mulled the 

construction of 40 anganwadi 

Centers in different 

blocks. The construction 

work will start this year. The 

zilla parishad has also 

decided to set up toilets and 

install power there. The 

Centre’s Rural Infra - 

structural Deve lopment 

fund has provided `3.94 

lakh. 

There are, at present, more 

than 1,500 anganwadi centres 

in the nine blocks in 

North Dinajpur district. But 

most of them lack proper toilets 

and power facilities. 

Consequently, people visiting 

them face inconvenience. 

Purnendu De, leader of 

the Congress-led North 

Dinajpur zilla parishad, said: 

“Most of the centres in the 

district are being run in 

rented houses. Recently we 

have identified 40 anganwadi 

centres in Chopra, 

Islampur, Goal pokhar, Chak - 

ulia, Itahar and Raiganj 

blocks, which have their 

own plots where new buildings 

along with proper toilet 

facilities will be set up. 

Power connections will also 

be provided.” 


Kolkata: A student of Vidyasagar 

University, Kamalesh Mahato, 23, was 

detained by Jhargram Police on Sunday 

for suspicious movement and his 

alleged links with Maoist organisations. 

Mahato’s family members said that he 

was picked up by the joint forces on 

way to Narayanpur in West Midnapore. 

They, however, denied Mahato’s links 

with Maoists. 

“Mahato had gone to Silda for elections 

of the school primary council. We 

have detained him due to his suspicious 

behaviour. Detention is a routine 

process here due to Maoist activities in 

the area. We will release him once our 

� Mamata Banerjee 

rjee’s reply: “Assess the TMC 

on the basis of performance 

and not just by some allegations 

made during an election 

campaign.” 

She went on to add: “Now, 

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is 

talking about compensations, 

as the elections are 


Barrackpore: Chief minister 

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee 

on Sunday said the behaviour 

of a section of the 

CPI(M)’s “power-crazed” 

leaders chiefly was responsible 

for the loss of the party 

bailiwick of the Barrackpore 

industrial belt to the 

Trinamool Congress in the 

2006 parliamentary election 

and the steady erosion of its 

support base thereafter. 

“People are angry with 

some of our leaders because 

of their intolerance of valid 

criticisms and power-drunk 

behaviour,” said Bhatta - 

charjee while addressing a 

large rally at the local 

Annadapuri grounds. 

“It is time such leaders 

changed their attitude and 

start showing due respect to 

criticisms. We must not forget 

people are all the time 

evaluating us on our utterances 

and acts.” 

The CPI(M) leadership has 

embarked upon ridding the 

party of “such power-drunk 

leaders who have alienated 

our people”, Bhattacharjee 

said drawing applause from 

the large crowd that 

attended the rally. 

Significantly, the chief 

minister who, until recently, 

did not have too many supporters 

in the CPI(M)’s North 

knocking on the door. What 

about those who were killed 

in the Kolaghat boat tragedy 

or Baguiati bus accident?” 

Moving on to defend her 

movements against land 

acquisitions, the TMC chief 

claimed it was for her 26day-long 

hunger strike that 

the Land Acquisition 

Amendment Bill was still 

“under consideration”. 

“We are connected to the 

land and soil. We do not grab 

land, on the contrary, we 

stand by poor people,” she 

said, once again dismissing 

Bhattacharjee’s allegations 

that the TMC would start 

grabbing land once it comes 

to power. 

Banerjee also criticised the 

state government for under- 

24-Parganas district unit 

which oversees the 

Barrackpore industrial belt 

and clashed on many an 

issue with the district leadership, 

mounted the 

scathing attack on local leaders 

with Amitava Nandy and 

Tarit Topdar, both former 

MPs and important district 

functionaries, looking on. 

“Some of our leaders 

behave as if theirs is the last 

word,” said Bhattacharjee, 

investigations are over,” said Praveen 

Kumar Tripathi, superintendent of 

police, Jhargram. Tripathi added that if 

police found any links between Mahato 

and the Maoists, then he would be 

arrested. 

Mahato is studying MA in English literature 

through a distance-learning 

course. He is a resident of Gopinagar. 

His maternal uncle, Birendranath 

Mahato, lodged a complaint at Binpur 

police station. 

Mahato’s father, Buddheshwar 

requested the Jhargram Police to let his 

son go. 

“He has no connections whatsoever 

with the Maoists. I have appealed to the 

police officers to release him,” said 

5 

development of the 

Sunderbans area, particularly 

its transport system 

which, she claimed, had 

caused the trawler tragedy. 

At the event, the South 24- 

Parganas zilla parishad distributed 

60 cheques to the 

family members of those 

whose bodies were fished 

out of the sea. 

Once other disputes were 

resolved, cheques would be 

handed over to the remaining 

23 families also, promised 

officials of the zilla 

parishad. 

Banerjee lauded two 

young men, Digvijay Singh 

and Sheikh Jehangir, who 

had jumped into the rescue 

operation and saved many 

lives. 

CM blames power-crazy 

leaders for election losses 

� The CM in Barrackpore 

on Sunday — BP 

“We must realise that people 

who once supported us 

but left in recent times 

because of this behaviour 

will return if only we change 

our attitude.” 

After the 2006 parliamentary 

election, the CPI(M) suffered 

in the Barrackpore 

Municipal Corporation election, 

too. 

With several industrial 

units closed and a substantial 

section of the workforce 

now idle because of job 

shrinkage, Barrackpore now 

poses a challenge to the ruling 

CPI(M).However, 

Sunday’s gathering 

appeared to be one of the 

largest in recent times in the 

district where Mamata 

Banerjee’s Trina mool is 

gaining in terms of strength. 

Bhattacharjee also 

attacked the Trinamool for 

its current campaign aimed 

at stopping the development 

of Rajarhat New Town 

as well as for its “open collaboration” 

with Maoists. He 

also alleged that the 

Opposition party is responsible 

for unleashing violence 

in educational institutions. 

“They (Trinamool) are 

now arming and protecting 

goons,” he said, while 

expressing doubts about 

Banerjee’s promise to provide 

railway jobs to Bengal’s 

youths in the days ahead. 

Suspected Maoist student arrested 

Buddheswar, a farmer by. 

He added that he got to know that 

joint forces have picked up his son in 

between Narayanpur and Muchipeda. 

He then went searching for his son at 

Belpahari, Binpur and Jhargram police 

stations, but he failed to find him. 

Mahato is the state secretary of 

United Students' Democratic Front 

(USDF) in three districts — Bankura, 

Purulia and West Midnapore. USDF 

called one-day strike in three districts 

demanding his release. 

“We would hold a bigger agitation in 

the district. We want the joint forces to 

clarify why as to why he was picked 

up,” said Amalendra Tudu, USDF general 

secretary.

6 

Briefly 

� Participants at the 

Hyderabad Half- 

Marathon, on 

Sunday — PTI 

Five killed in 

landmine blast 

Phulbani: At least five people, 

including two women 

and a three-year-old child, 

were killed as Maoists blew 

up an ambulance by triggering 

a landmine blast at 

Brahmanigaon in Orissa’s 

Kandhamal district late on 

Saturday night, police said 

on Sunday. In a separate 

incident, a panchayat house 

in Latehar, Jharkhand, was 

damaged in a blast triggered 

by the rebels. — PTI 

Andhra Cabinet to 

be formed on Dec 1 

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh 

chief minister Kiran Kumar 

Reddy on Sunday said his 

Cabinet would be constituted 

on Wednesday with 

“balanced” representation 

from all religion, caste and 

regions in the state. Reddy 

reiterated that his deputy 

would be from Telangana 

region. He met finance minister 

Pranab Mukherjee and 

law minister Veerappa Moily 

on Sunday and discussed 

the probables for his new 

cabinet. — PTI 

Bhujbal rules out 

rift with Pawar 

Pune: Scoffing speculations 

of a rift with Sharad Pawar 

after losing the post of 

deputy chief minister, 

Maharashtra minister 

Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday 

asserted that the NCP president 

always supported the 

cause of the OBCs, being 

championed by him. — PTI 

Teen killing: BSF 

to set up court 

Srinagar: The Border 

Security Force (BSF) has 

decided to set up a general 

security forces court (GSFC) 

this week to put on trial its 

officer and a constable who 

are accused of killing a 

teenaged boy in unprovoked 

firing here early this year. 

The GSFC is likely to be constituted 

on Tuesday or We - 

dnesday to begin court martial 

proceedings, BSF sources 

said. — PTI 

Order to shoot 

man-eater leopard 

Ahmedabad: A leopard has 

been declared a man-eater 

and orders have been issued 

to shoot it in Mandvi taluka 

of Surat district, forest officials 

said here on Sunday. 

The animal has already 

killed four people, including 

a 11-year-old girl, forest official 

said. — PTI 

Police yet to lodge 

Roy, Geelani case 

New Delhi: Delhi Police is 

yet to register a case of sedition 

against writer-activist 

Arundhati Roy and Hurriyat 

hardliner Syed Ali Shah 

Geelani and others for 

allegedly making anti-India 

speeches at a convention 

‘Azadi — The Only Way’ here 

recently and is awaiting a 

copy of the court order 

directing it to do so. — PTI 

Two Hizb militants 

killed in gunbattle 

Jammu: Two Hizbul 

Mujahideen militants were 

killed in a fierce gun battle 

between militants and security 

forces in Jammu and 

Kashmir’s Doda district on 

Sunday. Tipped-off that two 

Hizb ultras were hiding in a 

rock cave, security forces 

raided the place. An LMG 

was recovered from the 

scene. — PTI 


NATION 

‘House works for 5 mins’ Land scam: BSY issues 

Chidambaram sarcastically depicts the reality in Parliament 

New Delhi: Home minister 

P Chidambaram on 

Saturday used sarcasm to 

depict today’s reality in 

Parliament, which has been 

paralysed during the entire 

Monsoon Session over the 

2G Spectrum issue. 

“Today, the Parliament 

convenes at 11 am and it 

ends at 11.05 am. It ends in 

five minutes. We discuss 

about the day-to-day happenings 

in just five minutes. 

We discuss everything by 

that time,” Chidambaram 

said sarcastically at a function 

in Tamil Sangam 

here. 

He made the remarks 

while recalling “great deba - 

tes” between late Congress 

leader C Subramaniam and 

the DMK leader C N 

Annadurai in the Tamil 

Nadu Assembly in 1960s. 

Since the Winter Session 

began on November 10, 

Parliament has not been fu - 

nctioning due to the Opp o s - 

ition uproar over constitution 

of a Joint Parliamentary 

Committee to probe the 2G 

Spectrum scam. 

Speaking at the function 

to commemorate the centenary 

year of Subramaniam, 

pioneer of India’s green revolution 

who held several 

portfolios in the Jawaharlal 

Nehru and Indira Gandhi 

cabinets, Chidambaram 

hailed his role in India’s fre - 

‘Cong-DMK split 

will bring losses’ 

Chennai: DMK leader and 

Tamil Nadu chief minister M 

Karunanidhi has asked the 

Congress leadership to prevent 

“mischievous” Congress 

leaders from making att - 

empts to disrupt the alliance 

between the two parties. 

Addressing a public meeting 

at Vellore, about 140 km 

from here late on Saturday 

night, he said break of the 

alliance between Congress 

and DMK would only bring 

losses to both the parties and 

encourage religious fundamentalist 

forces to gain entry 

into the state. 

Only Congressbacked 

DMK can 

prevent the entry 

of religious fundamentalists 

forces to the state 

M Karunanidhi 

“Some mischievous Con - 

gress leaders, who could not 

digest the DMK leading the 

alliance in the state, are making 

attempts to disrupt the 

alliance and the Congress 

leadership has a responsibility 

to prevent those elements 

from making such attempts,” 

he said. 

Stating that the alliance 

between both parties would 

continue for next year’s As - 

sembly polls, he said: “Only 

the DMK, ably supported by 

the Congress, can prevent 

the entry of religious 

fundamentalist forces to the 

state”. 

He also said that the Cen - 

tre was appreciative of the 

functioning of the DMK 

government in the state. 

On the disruption of proceedings 

in Parliament on 

the 2G Spectrum scam, Karu - 

nanidhi said the DMK asked 

its nominee and former telecom 

minister A Raja to resign 

from the Union ministry to 

ensure smooth functioning 

of the Parliament. 

He said when an allegation 

of corruption was made during 

the Nehru era against the 

then finance minister late T T 

Krishnamachary, he had resi - 

gned from the Union ministry 

and the Opposition, 

which demanded a JPC probe 

before his resignation, had 

allowed Parliament to function 

after his exit from the 

ministry. 

“But now the Parliament, 

which is the place for discussing 

issues, has converted 

into a market place and proceedings 

have been disrupted 

for the last 10 days,” 

he said, adding: “Is it fair to 

adopt one stand against a Br - 

ahmin (T T Krishnamchary) 

and another against a Dalit 

(Raja)”. 

He said his party had not 

taken any decision on the 

Spectrum issue and was 

waiting for the outcome of 

the CBI probe. — PTI 

edom struggle and desc r i - 

bed him as a statesman. 

The minister said C Subra - 

maniam, agriculture scientist 

M S Swaminathan and 

the then agriculture secreta - 

ry B Sivaraman played a 

major role in translating the 

dream of a ‘green revolution’ 

into reality. 

“Then in 1970s we did not 

have wheat and most of it 

were being imported. 

People used to jokingly say 

‘Ship to Mouth’. Once the 

wheat is shipped into the 

country, it is cooked and 

people used to have it 

immediately. But now the 

problem is non-availability 

of godowns to store them,” 

he said. 

As a result of this, 1 lakh 

tonnes of wheat and rice are 

being wasted and rats are 

eating them and the 

Supreme Court is chiding. 

“It was this man (Subra - 

maniam) who pioneered 

the Green Revolution... Eve - 

r yone is proud that the 

three S (Subramaniam, Swa - 

minathan and Sivaraman) 

are from Tamil Nadu,” he 

said. 

Terming Subramaniam as 

a man who was “deeply in t - 

erested” in promoting the 

use of Tamil and the lang u - 

age, Chidambaram said he 

pl ayed a very vital role in 

naming the then Madras 

state as Tamil Nadu. — PTI 

COUNTRY’S HONOUR 

gag order to BJP MLAs 

Bangalore: Karnataka chi - 

ef minister B S Yeddy u r a p - 

pa on Sunday virtually iss - 

ued a gag order to BJP 

MLAs and leaders, asking 

them not to take any step 

or issue statements that 

would lower dignity of 

office of the Lokayukta, 

which is probing land allotment 

complaints against 

him. 

Yeddyurappa said he 

was deeply hurt by the be - 

haviour of some BJP MLAs 

who threatened to stage a 

“dharna” in front of the of f - 

ice of Lokayukta if the 

ombudsman Justice N San - 

tosh Hegde did not tender 

an apology to the chief 

minister. 

“The office of Lok Ayukta 

is one of high respect and 

dignity. Nobody should 

take any action and issue 

statement lowering its dignity,” 

Yed dyurappa said, 

adding: “Henceforth no 

statement sh ould be issued 

by any BJP legislator and 

party leader lowering the 

dignity of Lokayukta.” The 

Oppos i t ion Con g r ess, 

meanwhile, accused the 

BJP of trying to undermi ne 

the “dignity” of Loka y u k ta. 

Leader of the Opposition 

in the Legislative Assembly 

Siddaramaiah said: “Ye d - 

dyurappa is uprooting the 

dignity of the Lokayukta”. 

President of the 

Karnataka Pradesh Cong - 

� Ex-servicemen deposit their medals and submit memoranda signed with their blood during a protest organised 

by the Indian ex-Servicemen Movement, demanding better pension, in New Delhi, on Sunday — PTI 

‘Wrongdoers will be punished’ 

New Delhi: With several 

armed force officers being 

investigated in the Adarsh 

Housing Society scam in 

Mumbai, Navy Chief 

Admiral Nirmal Verma has 

said all wrongdoers in the 

episode will be brought to 

justice and the government 

was taking requisite steps in 

this regard. 

“In so far as the Adarsh 

Society scam is concerned, 

the requisite steps are being 

taken by the government 

and I am sure that any 

wrongdoer will be brought 

to justice,” Verma said in an 

interview to the defence 

ministry’s official fortnightly 

Sanik Samachar. 

He said the armed forces 

have always demanded the 

highest standards of 

integrity and conduct from 

their personnel. 

“Any incident, which 

smudges an officer’s int e g r - 

ity, invariably has an impact 

on the morale of the men. 

As such, I have always dem - 

anded the highest standards 

of honesty and integrity 

from all men under my 

command,” Verma said in 

his first comments on the 

Adarsh scam. 

After the alleged involvement 

of both serving and 

retired officers from 

the Army and the defence 

est ates department in 

Isolated Jagan may float new party 

Hyderabad: Amid speculation 

that the Congress will 

neutralise the Jagan camp 

by accommodating some of 

his loyalists in the new 

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, the 

rebel Kadapa MP may find 

the going tough. 

For the 38-year-old son of 

former chief minister Y S R 

Reddy, who has been aspiring 

to become the CM, the 

increasing isolation may pu - 

sh him into breaking away 

from the Congress and for - 

ming a new party, political 

analysts feel. 

His uncle and member of 

New Delhi: AK rifles firing 

rubber bullets? This will 

soon be a reality with trial 

runs for firing such bullets 

from Kalashnikov automatic 

rifles to control mobs having 

been completed. 

A decision to this effect 

was taken here during a 

meeting of senior officials of 

the ministry of home affairs 

which has constituted a special 

group for analysing various 

methods needed for 

� Home minister P Chidambaram at the Delhi Tamil 

Sangam, in New Delhi, on Sunday — PTI 

� Jaganmohan Reddy 

the Legislative Council, Y S 

Vivekananda Reddy, YSR’s 

brother, has rubbed salt to 

Jaganmohan Reddy’s injury 

controlling violent crowds 

with least force in the backdrop 

of large-scale violence 

in the Kashmir Valley this 

summer, official sources 

said here on Sunday. 

The Defence Research and 

Development Organisation 

(DRDO) has conducted the 

field trials for using the we a - 

pons, first of which were 

introduced in 1947. They 

would be seen in action so - 

on, particularly in the Valley. 

by offering to “patch up” the 

strained relationship bet - 

ween his nephew and the 

Congress high command by 

“expressing our regret over 

the episodes telecast on Sa - 

kshi television channel.” 

The channel, owned by 

Jagan, raised the hackles of 

the party leadership by targeting 

Sonia Gandhi, Prime 

Minister Manmohan Singh 

and Rahul Gandhi. 

Vivekananda’s move has 

only left a defiant Jagan mo - 

re embarrassed even as his 

camp tried to do some da - 

ma ge control by announ - 

The use of rubber bullets 

will lessen the risk of fatalities 

while controlling cro - 

wds, the officials said. 

The rubber bullets from 

the AK-47 rifles may not 

pro ve fatal if not fired from a 

cl o se range and if they don’t 

hit a vital organ, the sources 

said. 

Another riot-controlling 

device that has been cleared 

is the ‘dazzler’ which uses 

laser beams to disperse 

cing that their leader had 

done nothing wrong that 

warranted any explanation 

to the high command. 

Vivekananda on Sunday 

met Sonia in Delhi and is 

understood to have discus s - 

ed the political situation in 

Andhra Pradesh arising out 

of the rebellious attitude of 

Jagan. Jagan will have to 

wait till Wednesday to make 

up his mind on whether or 

not to continue in the Co - 

ngress party, what with the 

constitution of the state 

council of ministers likely to 

happen only that day. — PTI 

mobs by causing temporary 

blindness. These may be 

ADARSH SCAM 

� Adarsh Housing Society 

handed over to security 

forces operating in Kashmir- 

� B S Yeddyurappa 

awarding a no-objection 

certificate to the private 

society to build the 31storeyed 

complex on 

defence land came out, the 

defence ministry had 

entrusted the investigation 

on their role to the CBI this 

month. 

The 103-apartment society 

in Colaba had also allotted 

flats to retired Army 

Chiefs General De e p ak 

Kapoor and General N C Vij, 

apart from retired Navy 

Chief Admiral Mad ha v endra 

Singh, former Union minister 

Suresh Prabhu and 

relatives of former 

Maha r a s htra CM Ashok 

Chavan. — PTI 

like situations soon, the 

sources said. The dazzler 

may help in restricting sto - 

ne-pelters as it can be used 

towards individuals, rendering 

them temporarily blind. 

These devices can be useful 

in restricting mobs bet - 

ween a range of 50 metres to 

250 metres. Jammu and Kas - 

hmir Police, which has been 

facing allegations of using 

excessive force for mob con - 

t rol, have got two new wea - 

ress Committee G Parma - 

eshwara flayed the government 

move seeking a status 

report from Lokayukta 

on seven cases and said: “It 

amounted to holding out a 

threat that the institution 

is not working properly”. 

Meanwhile, the standoff 

between the government 

and Hegde over the 

legality of ordering a judicial 

probe into land scams 

showed no sign of abating 

with the Ombu d s man 

questioning the former’s 

contention. 

Justice Hegde has obs e r - 

ved that the probe cannot 

be held as the Lokayukta is 

al ready probing some sca - 

ms which come under the 

judicial commission for in - 

quiry and the government 

has not taken his permissi - 

on, required under the 

Lokayukta Act before issuing 

the notification. — PTI 

Missing 

papers case 

transferred to 

crime branch 

Mumbai: Case pertaining to 

the theft of key documents 

in Adarsh Housing Society 

scam was on Sunday transferred 

to the Mumbai crime 

branch due to seriousness of 

the issue. 

“The case has been transferred 

to the crime branch. 

This special wing is working 

on the case and have asked 

for the FIR details which was 

registered in the local police 

station,” a crime branch official 

said on condition of 

anonymity. 

The crime branch of the 

city police usually probes 

underworld-related or sensitive 

in nature cases. 

A case of theft was registered 

on Saturday by police 

after crucial documents from 

10 files on Adarsh Society 

went missing from the 

urban development department 

here. 

Secretary of the department 

Gurudas Bajpe gave a 

written complaint to the 

Marine Drive police on 

Friday night about the missing 

papers. The disappearance 

of the papers has been 

brought to the notice of CBI, 

which is probing into the 

scam. The missing papers 

inc l u de remarks of the state 

gove rnment officials and 

chief minister. 

The Adarsh society, origin - 

a lly meant to be a six-sto r e - 

yed structure to house Kargil 

war heroes and war widows, 

was converted into a 31-st o r - 

eyed building, violating a nu - 

mber of laws. The flats were 

al l otted to bureaucrats, pol i - 

ticians’ relatives. — PTI 

Fire leads to house collapse 

New Delhi: A four-storeyed 

building went up in flames 

and a portion of it collapsed 

in central Delhi on Sunday 

after plastic stored in its 

ground floor caught fire following 

suspected short-circuit 

injuring four people. 

Four people, including 

three firemen, were injured 

when a portion of the building 

collapsed following the 

blaze that was reported from 

the building located in Ma l i - 

wada locality of Naya Sada 

near Chowri Bazar around 5 

pm, fire brigade officials said. 

Two mysterious explosions 

were also heard from inside 

the building. 

The building appeared like 

a hot blazing inferno with 

red flames and thick smokes 

billowing out of the structure. 

The fire that broke out 

in the ground floor spread to 

the other floors and within 

no time, it was all over the 

building, officials said. Twe - 

nty-seven fire tenders were 

rushed to the spot to douse 

the fire. Narrow lanes were 

an impediment for fire fighters 

to reach the spot and initiate 

the exercise. 

Soon after the incident 

was reported, fire brigade 

officials said, power supply 

to the area was snapped 

while people residing in the 

adjoining buildings were 

evacuated as a precaution 

measure. 

“The building houses a go - 

down of plastic. The app r o a - 

ch to the building was ve ry 

na rrow. We had to park the 

fire tenders around 500 me t - 

res in the main road and 

then take the hoses to the 

building,” the officials said. 

At least on 10 spots, the 

ho ses were leaking and a 

large quantity of water did 

not reach the building. “A lot 

of water was lost,” the locals 

claimed. — PTI 

Deadly AK rifles to now fire rubber bullets to disperse mobs 

What Is AK-47 

� Is a selective-fire gas-op - 

e rated 7.62x 39mm assa - 

ult rifle 

� Stands for Kalashnikov 

automatic rifle, 1947 

model 

� Was first developed in 

the Soviet Union by 

Mikhail Kalashnikov 

pons in its armoury — pu - 

mp-action and riot-control 

guns — which are non-lethal 

but can injure a person in - 

dulging in violence. 

Chief minister Omar Ab d - 

ullah had requested the Ce n - 

t re to take immediate steps 

for producing a non-lethal 

weapon as a number of people 

had died when police 

and security forces fired to 

disperse demonstrators in 

the Kashmir Valley. — PTI

Briefly 

� Playback singer 

Sukhwinder Singh at 

the Sai Baba temple in 

Shirdi, Maharashtra, 

on Sunday — PTI 

Five infants forced 

to live in jail 

Batala: With none of their 

relatives ready to look after 

them, at least five infants are 

forced to live in a dingy cell 

at Central Jail, Gurdaspur, 

along with their convicted 

or undertrial mothers or gu - 

a rdians. Of the 69 women 

inmates in the jail, five are 

lodged with children aged 1 

to 2 years as no one was 

willing to take them along, 

jail superintendent Baljinder 

Singh Gill said. — PTI 

Cong steps up stir 

against Naveen 

Bhubaneswar: The Cong - 

ress on Sunday announced 

that it would stage demonstration 

and gherao the state 

Assembly building here on 

December 14 to intensify its 

demand for Orissa chief 

minister Naveen Patnaik’s 

resignation over Vedanta 

University controversy. “It is 

unfortunate that Patnaik is 

defending land acquisition 

for Vedanta University 

instead of resigning after 

Orissa High Court declared 

the entire process illegal,” 

Orissa Pradesh Congress 

Committee president K P 

Singhdeo said at a party 

meeting here. — PTI 

Nepalese woman 

mauled by leopard 

Bahraich: A leopard mauled 

a Nepaleses woman, Tar a w - 

ati, in Katarni y a g h at wildlife 

sanctuary, a forest official 

said on Sun day. The feline 

disappe ared in the forest 

after mauling the woman, 

whose condition is stated to 

be stable. — PTI 

‘Tornadoes’ break 

world records 

Bangalore: ‘Tornadoes’, the 

motorcycle display team of 

Army Service Corps on Sun - 

day broke two world records 

by being the only team to 

achieve a staggering distance 

of a 1,100 metres with 

54 persons on a single bike. 

They set another record by 

carrying 55 persons on a 

single-moving 500 CC 

Enfield motorcycle by covering 

925 metres, a defence 

press release said. — PTI 

8 tiger cubs born 

in Pench reserve 

Bhopal: Two tigresses have 

given birth to eight cubs in 

Madhya Pradesh’s Pench Ti - 

ger Reserve in a span of just 

two months. “Last mo nth, a 

tigress with five newly born 

cubs was sighted and this 

month our ground duty officials 

have spotted ano ther 

feline with three cubs,” Pen - 

ch deputy field director O P 

Tiwari said on Sunday. — PTI 

AP mining firm 

staff abducted 

Itanagar: A supervisor of an 

Arunachal Pradesh government-owned 

minerals trading 

firm has been abducted 

by four criminals, follo w ing 

which security in the state 

and neighbouring Assam 

have been put on al e rt, 

police said on Sunday. — PTI 

Woman, daughter 

electrocuted 

Hathras: A woman and her 

daughter were electrocuted 

after they came in contact 

with a live wire in Hathras 

junction area on Sunday, 

police said. The duo was 

rushed to hospital, where 

doctors declared them br o - 

ught dead, they said. — PTI 


NATION 

Obama support kicks off hectic efforts 

New Delhi: US President Barack 

Obama’s expression of support has 

lent an impetus to India’s efforts to 

secure a permanent seat in UN 

Security Council, with hectic discussions 

having been initiated 

with a number of countries like 

France, Japan, Russia and Germany. 

A push to India’s bid for permanent 

seat is also being given at the 

United Nations Headquarters by 

the country’s Permanent Mission. 

Close on the heels of Obama’s 

announcement, France’s head of 

UN Division in the foreign ministry 

Sylvie Berman visited Delhi and 

New Delhi: With Lalu 

Prasad facing an unprecedented 

drubbing in the 

Bihar Assembly polls, his 

former close aides are 

rejoicing, saying the RJD 

chief had scripted his own 

fall by focussing on his family 

at the cost of colleagues 

and common people. 

“Power had gone in the 

head of Lalu Prasad which 

took him away from people 

and political colleagues,” 

said Ranjan Prasad Yadav, 

Prasad’s friend of 40 years, 

who is now a Lok Sabha m e - 

mber representing JD(U). 

“The voters have given 

him a befitting reply,” he 

said, while accusing Lalu of 

dividing Bihar by getting a 

resolution on creation of 

Jh a rkhand passed in the 

Assembly in 2000 “just to 

keep his wife (Rabri Devi) 

in power”. 

The severe drubbing he 

got in the Bihar elections 

proves “this is the end of 

Pithoragarh: Himalayan limestone 

caves will be an effective instrument 

of forecasting the climate of the 

region in future with the help of 

studies being conducted on the climatic 

trend of the last 3,000 years, 

says a geologists working on it. 

“We will not only be able to find 

the climatic trends in Himalayan re - 

gion during last 3,000 years but also 

forecast the future trends as well,” 

said B S Kotlia, a geologist of Ku m - 

aun University who is working on 

three projects of studying limestone 

caves in Uttarakhand to determine 

the climatic conditions in the past. 

“We are studying year-to-year climatic 

conditions of last three thousand 

years in Uttarakhand making 

met foreign secretary Nirupama 

Rao and some other officials of the 

external affairs ministry to discuss 

the issue of reforms, sources said. 

This was followed by a visit by 

Japanese deputy vice foreign minister. 

The head of Russian foreign 

ministry’s UN division and german 

officials are expected here soon. 

“An impetus to the efforts to 

secure permanent seat has been 

lent by Obama’s announcement. It 

has given a boost,” a source noted 

in the context of hectic parleys. 

India is set to assume the nonpermanent 

membership of the 

Nikam to represent India 

at UN terrorism seminar 

Mumbai: Leading criminal 

lawyer and special government 

counsel in the 26/11 

attack case, Ujjwal Nikam, 

will represent India at a 

global convention on terrorism 

held at the United 

Nations in New York from 

December 1. 

Legal experts from as 

many as 25 countries, 

including Pakistan, will participate 

in the three-day 

conference, organised by 

the security council of UN, 

officials said. 

After realising terrorism 

as the main threat to the 

world, the UN decided to 

fight the menace from all 

the corners. A consensus 

arrived between nations 

that terrorism should not 

Mumbai: Union environment and forest 

minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday 

said that opposing projects like the 

Jaitapur nuclear power project was a 

“height of foolish romance”. Ramesh 

said that there was a need to strike a 

balance between environment conc e - 

rns and development. 

“Environmentalists are against hydel 

energy because there is no sufficient 

wa ter. They oppose nuclear power be - 

c ause it is hazardous and are against 

coal-based power since it is dirty. We 

are a nation of 1.2-billion. To think that 

we can meet the need from biogas, 

solar and wind power, then it is a he - 

ight of foolish romance,” Ramesh said. 

He felt that there were certain realit - 

i es, which need to be understood. “Yes 

we will give environment the highest 

� The wife and daughter 

of Hemant Karkare, in 

Jammu, on Sunday — PTI 

only be fought on the war 

ground but also dealt with 

sternly to bring terrorists to 

justice through appropriate 

legal systems, they said. 

Nikam, who conducted 

the trial of Pakistani terrorist 

Ajmal Kasab, will throw 

light in his address at UN on 

the road for him”, said Ran - 

jan Yadav, who defe a ted the 

RJD supremo in the last Lok 

Sabha polls from Patliputra 

constituency in Patna district 

on a JD(U) ticket. RJD 

had a humiliating show in 

the Assembly polls, bagging 

only 22 seats in 243-member 

House, as compared to 

54 in the last assembly. 

“Lalu played his last in n - 

ings (in the recent Bi har 

Assembly polls) ...th e re is no 

no future for him in Bihar 

politics,” said Ra njan Yadav 

who had ser v ed as working 

Pres i dent of RJD when Lalu 

Prasad had go ne to jail in 

connection with fodder 

scam. He later left him to 

join LJP and then JD(U) be - 

fore the last Parliam e ntary 

elections. 

“He (Lalu) not only 

dit ched his colleagues but 

ch e ated the humble masses 

of Bihar who posed faith 

in him for 15 long years,” he 

said. — PTI 

Patna: Lalu Prasad on Sun - 

day cautioned against writing 

off his party, claiming its 

alliance with LJP still enjoys 

support of a large chunk of 

electorate, despite drubbing 

in the Bihar Assembly polls. 

“It will be wrong and distorting 

to say that the RJD- 

LJP alliance got swept away 

following the landslide victory 

the NDA pulled off,” 

Prasad told reporters at his 

residence after the RJD 

Legislature Party meeting, 

where Abdul Bari Siddiqui 

was unanimously elected as 

its leader. 

Prasad argued that the 

RJD-LJP combine suffered 

ele c toral drubbing due to its 

fa ilure to project the real 

issues faced by the people 

and reminded the combine 

together polled 27 per cent 

votes, reflecting the mass 

support the alliance enjoys. 

Former Bihar chief minister 

said RJD would play the 

role of “an active and constructive” 

opposition in the 

Assembly, but will also try to 

corner the ruling JD(U) on 

government’s failures. 

these limestone caves a symptom of 

climate change,” he said. 

Kotlia said that his studies on 

limestone caves of the region will 

focus on the climatic conditions that 

had prevailed during the last 3,000 

years. “It will reflect the rainfall and 

temperature from year to year as 

Security Council in January for two 

years and this aspect also came up 

for discussion in terms of the 

issues that the powerful world 

body is going to be faced with. 

The immediate issues, on which 

India will have to take position as 

non-permanent member of the 

UNSC, relate to Sudan expected in 

Jan uary, UN report on the assa s - 

sination of former Lebanese Prime 

Minister Rafiq Hariri and Nepal 

how to fight terrorism. 

The main thrust of the co - 

n f erence would be on problems, 

various countries are 

facing to bring the terrorists 

to justice and also what are 

the governed provisions ag - 

a inst terrorism in the legal 

systems of different nations. 

As an end objective, certain 

recommendations to all 

countries would be drawn 

so that uniform approach 

could be taken to fight terrorism, 

they added. 

Nikam, who has been 

special public prosecutor in 

the 1993 bomb blast case, 

2003 twin blast case, is the 

only lawyer who has been 

given the opportunity to 

represent India at an international 

conference. — PTI 

India UNSC Bid 

MIRROR IMAGE 

‘Green & growth, both are needed’ 

� Jairam Ramesh 

‘Voters gave RJD 

chief fitting reply’ 

� Director Madhur Bhandarkar poses with star cast of his film Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji 

Shazahn Padamsee and Shraddha Das, left, in Mumbai, on Saturday evening — PTI 

priority... but we have to be realistic 

ab out what we need. We must have 

co mmercial energy (for developm e - 

nt),” he said. By 2020, the government 

has set a target of 20,000 MW of solar 

energy, Ramesh said, adding that there 

are 8,s000 MW of wind power projects 

and similarly solar power projects. 

“But what we need to understand is 

that without more nuclear power, 

without more hydel power and without 

more coal-based power, we will 

not able to grow. We will not be able to 

grow employment,” he said. 

He said that while clearing Jaitapur 

and Navi Mumbai airport project, the 

government has found the middle 

path. “Middle path never pleases 

either of the sides, but it is the only 

path we can follow,” he added. — PTI 

“We respect the people’s 

mandate with humility. We 

also think that the people ha - 

ve voted for development... 

We have decided that RJD 

will play the role of an active 

and constructive op p osition 

both inside the two houses 

and outside,” Prasad said. 

A meeting of senior party 

leaders, MLAs, MPs and 

MLCs, besides those who 

contested on the party tickets 

has been called to ascertain 

the reasons for defeat 

within ten days. 

Limestone caves to study climate forecast 

well as the trend of climate,” he said. 

The Himalayan caves are made of 

limestone which contains calcium 

carbonate which is soluble in water, 

he said. “As raindrops fall on calcium 

carbonate, it dissolves with water 

and a blank part of other stones 

remains during the course of a 

period of thousands of years as carving 

on the caves,” said Kotlia. 

“Every year, rainfall forms a ring 

on the stone in an upward direction. 

We study that ring at 400 times 

magnified form before doing uranium 

thorium dating on them,” said 

Kotlia, adding, if a limestone rock 

has to be studied for climate change 

it should contain at least 1 PPM of 

uranium on it. 

where the political system is deadlocked. 

Notwit h s tanding Obama’s 

anno u ncement of support, India is 

keen to strive for the permanent 

seat un der the format of G-4 which 

in cludes Bra z i l, Germany and Ja p an. 

Significantly, three members of 

the G-4 — India, Brazil and 

Germany — will together be in the 

UNSC from next January as nonpermanent 

members, providing 

them an opportunity to push their 

agenda further. For the UN reforms, 

five rounds of inter-governmental 

negotiations have taken place since 

2009 and made some progress. 

New Delhi: The government 

has said that foreign intelligence 

agencies are making 

constant efforts to set up ba - 

s es in the country and influence 

people to form a network 

of their agents. 

“The government is aware 

of the efforts being made by 

fo reign intelligence agencies 

to operate in India,” minister 

of state for home Ajay Ma k e n 

said. This admission by a Un i - 

on minister came nearly se v - 

en months after Madhuri Gu - 

p ta, an IFS officer po s ted in 

the Indian High Commission 

Do not write off RJD: Lalu 

� RJD chief Lalu Prasad with newly elected leader of the 

Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, 

in Patna, on Sunday — PTI 

“We will review and 

analyse the election results 

and take corrective measures 

to further strengthen 

the organisation,” Prasad 

said, claiming that a large 

number of independents 

and presence of many other 

parties in the fray dented the 

vote bank of the RJD-LJP 

alliance “in a massive way.” 

He said the elected MLAs 

from RJD should devote their 

energy and show commitment 

in ensuring development 

of Bihar. — PTI 

Asked why he did not take the 

period prior to 3,000 years, Kotlia 

said in the time before that the 

Himalayan region was fully snowcovered 

for about 22,000 years. 

“From 16,000 years back in time, 

the snow, which had covered the 

area upto Haldwani and Kotdwar 

started melting and thereafter the 

climate of the region changed frequently, 

witnessing thousand times 

extreme cold and hot conditions, 

symptoms of which are still seen in 

the limestone caves,” he said. 

“Some of these caves are as high 

as 3-storeyed buildings bearing on 

them the marks of various frequencies 

of climate in the last 3,000 

years,” said Kotlia. — PTI 

The negotiations are taking 

place on five key aspects — categories 

of membership, question of 

veto, regional representation, size 

of enlarged Security Council, and 

working methods of the council 

and its relationship with 192member 

Assembly. 

The G-4 has been pushing for 

inclusion of six new permanent 

me mbers — two each from Asia 

and Africa and one each from Eu - 

rope and Latin America — and four 

non-permanent members to raise 

the strength of the Security Co u - 

ncil from 15 members to 25. — PTI 

Foreign agencies bid 

to set up spy ring 

in Islamabad, was held on the 

charges of wo r k i ng for the 

Pakistani intellig ence. 

To counter efforts of host - 

ile agencies, the governm ent 

has establi shed a ro bust me - 

c hanism for excha n ge of in f - 

o rmation and liaison with 

frie ndly nations on cou n terterrorism 

through ministries 

of external affairs and ho me 

affairs, the minister said. 

There have been instances 

in the past where India’s se c - 

u rity agencies busted spy ri n - 

gs being run by foreign agencies 

in the country. — PTI 

Mumbai: Poverty, abusive 

background and hardships 

have not stopped 

16-year-old Bhumika 

Kumare and eight other 

girls in remote villages of 

Maharashtra from pursuing 

their education, which 

they believe will help 

them achieve their goals. 

United Nations Child r - 

en’s Fund (UNICEF) recognises 

the efforts of such 

girls from remote areas of 

the state and has been 

felicitating them in an 

event called ‘Navjyoti’ for 

the last seven years. 

Through ‘Navjyoti’, 

UNICEF salutes the determination 

of these girls 

who are fighting against 

all odds and becoming 

role models for others in 

similar background, who 

could not pursue their 

education, says an official 

from the agency. 

Young Bhumika, studying 

in class XII in Yavatmal 

district, wants to become a 

doctor as she has seen her 

mother, who suffers from 

sickle cell anaemia, go 

through excruciating pa in 

when the blood thi ckens 

and veins bec o me distended. 

“I want to be come 

a doctor so that I can help 

the poor, like my mo t her, 

suffering from such gen - 

etic diseases,” she says. 

Inspired by Anandibai, 

one of the first Indian 

women to obtain a medical 

degree, Bhumika has 

already started preparing 

for her medical entrance 

examinations with guidance 

from her school 

teachers. 

Bhumika, along with 

her two other siblings, 

was put in an ashram 

school in Yavatmal as her 

father is an alcoholic and 

they were exposed to 

domestic violence everyday. 

“My mother earns for 

the family by working as 

domestic help. She 

realises the importance of 

education and wants us to 

study so that we can lead a 

better life in future,” says 

Bhumika. — PTI 

7 

CVC raises 

questions on 

high cost of 

CWG stadia 

New Delhi: The Central 

Vigilance Commission (CVC) 

has found serious procedural 

lapses and vast differences 

between the estimated and 

tendered costs in the development 

of almost all the 

Commonwealth Games venues 

here. 

It has sought clarification 

from the authorities concerned 

on this as the difference 

in cost ranged from 30 

per cent to nearly 100 per 

cent. 

According to an internal 

investigation report made 

after inspecting the Games 

stadia, the Commission has 

noted wrong justification of 

rates while procuring items, 

poor quality of construction, 

grant of work to ineligible 

firms, rigged tender process, 

payment of crores of rupees 

for non-existent items and 

use of inferior products. 

The Games construction 

works related to stadia as 

well as other aspects which 

are under the scanner of the 

anti-corruption watchdog, 

were carried out by agencies 

like Central Public Works 

Department, Public Works 

Department, New Delhi Mu - 

n icipal Council, Muni c i pal 

Corporation of Delhi, Delhi 

Development Authority and 

RITES, a government of India 

enterprise and are worth 

over `760 crore. 

The Commission has fou n - 

d alleged financial irregularities 

in about 16 Games projects 

costing `2,477.22 crore. 

According to the report, 

the authorities were far from 

completing construction and 

renovation due to various 

administrative lacunae and 

improper planning. 

The Commission has 

asked all the authorities, that 

undertook the construction 

works, to reply to its queries 

or observations raised by it. 

The report, received in 

response to an RTI application 

filed by PTI, said the 

construction of indoor stadium 

for badminton and 

squash for Commonwealth 

Games at Sirifort sports 

complex was given to S B E 

Billimoria and Company Ltd 

at 30.75 per cent above the 

estimated cost of about 

` 118.08 crore. — PTI 

Girls who dare 

to dream big 

� Bollywood actor Sulabha Deshpande, centre, and 

Kishori Sahane felicitate Bhumika Kumari, right, 

in Mumbai, on Sunday — PTI


EDITORIAL 

TheBengalPost 

“A government, 

for protecting 

business only, is but 

a carcass, and soon 

falls by its own 

corruption and 

decay.” 

—Amos Bronson Alcott 

(1799-1888) 

Vol: 1, Issue: 152 

Chairman Modi? 

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi may have 

been stretching the historical record in drawing a parallel 

between Chairman Mao and Gujarat Chief Minister 

Narendra Modi to the former’s eminent disadvantage, but 

he was making an entirely valid point about the latter. It 

has become routine for the media and the middle classes, 

not to mention, of course, the capitalist class, to sing paeans 

to Mr Modi and gush about how development-friendly he 

is. He is even held aloft by many as an exemplar of governance, 

with both the powerful and glamorous pitching for 

his candidacy as prime minister. It is in this context that we 

would be quite correct in seeking to address Mr Gandhi’s 

concern, which fundamentally is: can development-friendliness 

completely erase Mr Modi’s association with the 

killings that took place in post-Godhra Gujarat? The 

answer is without a doubt a resounding no. However hard 

Mr Modi labours for the development of his state, there can 

be little doubt that by the logic of the constitutional 

democracy that we claim to celebrate, Mr Modi must be 

much more seriously investigated and penalized for his 

links with the riots. Further, a man with his record should 

never become prime minister as, indeed, he never will, 

given the political configurations that 

exist at the national level. 

There is another issue here. The celebration 

of Mr Modi as some kind of 

development-friendly exemplar without 

either parallel or precedent 

ignores a number of points. One is that 

India has seen many politicians who 

have promoted development in their jurisdictions, whatever 

their other failings may or may not be. Ms Jayalalithaa 

comes to mind, for instance. Second, the media seems to 

bruit the impression that Mr Modi took under his wing an 

impoverished and underdeveloped state and turned it into 

a shining paragon of development. That is obviously not 

the case, for Gujarat has been a development-friendly state 

since its inception, despite all the communal and caste violence 

that it has experienced. When Mr Modi became chief 

minister, Gujarat was already one of India’s most developed 

states. Mr Modi has built on that; he has done nothing 

outstanding or unparalleled. In fact, a comparison with 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be instructive. Mr 

Kumar runs the most underdeveloped state in India. He has 

taken on the challenge of bringing to its political culture an 

agenda of development and governance. No one would 

argue that he has turned Bihar around. But he has made a 

beginning worthy of respect. And he has done so keeping in 

mind the great necessity of promoting a culture of inclusion. 

His concern for the minorities has, in fact, paid handsome 

electoral dividend. Clearly, Mr Kumar, not Mr Modi, is 

the politician of the future. 

Rotten state 

The Supreme Court’s strictures against the Allahabad 

High Court, the biggest among all high courts, once again 

focus attention on the issue of judicial corruptibility. There 

can be very little doubt that the credibility of the judiciary 

has taken a beating over the years in the public estimation. 

Not many people will be convinced that abstractions like justice 

mean anything, especially when the common perception 

is that the law and its functioning is somehow tilted in 

favour of the rich and powerful and against the poor and disempowered. 

That is, however, a larger point about how liberal 

regimes function by their very logic and that of political 

economy. The more specific point about the judiciary, corruption 

and the abuse of power can be seen at several levels. 

The lower reaches of the judiciary have for long functioned 

in appalling conditions, being underpaid and understaffed 

and often subject to physical intimidation by powerful interests. 

Some of these conditions continue to exist, though the 

matter of remuneration has now been addressed. Appalling 

conditions do not, of course, condone corruption and the 

abuse of office, but they make them 

explicable and provide clues about how 

a better functioning of the judicial 

apparatus can be brought about. 

What is true of the lower reaches of 

the judiciary is not applicable to the 

high courts and the Supreme Court, 

however. The judges who man these 

are now well remunerated and, more- 

Back in Time 

Modi must 

be hauled 

up for his 

role in the 

Gujarat riots 

Judiciary 

must exhibit 

the highest 

standards 

of probity 

over, enjoy great prestige and security. It is not so easy to 

intimidate a high court or Supreme Court judge. The conditions 

of work, too, are good, even though some amount of 

understaffing exists. Given all these, the public expects 

nothing but the highest standards of probity in the higher 

judiciary. Unfortunately, such standards are not prevalent. 

It is possible to argue that it is pointless to expect judges 

alone to be shining examples of incorruptibility when all 

institutions around them are corrupt and when corruption 

is socially accepted. There is some truth in this argument. 

Nevertheless, the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, 

must make every attempt to put in place systems which 

will weed out corruption. One way in which this can be 

achieved is through the Right to Information Act. The 

Supreme Court has been resisting the application of the act 

to the judiciary; the case is pending before the court. The 

Supreme Court must, in fact, welcome its stringent application 

to the entire judiciary, as a weapon against 

corrupt practices. 

On November 29, 1947, 

the United Nations 

votes for the partition of 

Palestine and the 

creation of Israel. 

Despite strong Arab 

opposition, the UN 

votes for the partition of 

Palestine and the creation 

of an independent 

Jewish state. 

Corrupt credentials of national politics 

Amulya Ganguli 

The writer is a political 

commentator 

The shrinking of the “moral universe” 

in India because of 

“graft” and “greed”, as Sonia 

Gandhi has said, is not a new phenomenon. 

As a country which 

ranks 87th out of 178 in the 

Transparency International’s corruption 

index, it is obvious that the 

blight has a long history. To quote 

from former Union Home Secretary 

N.N. Vohra’s well-known report on 

the subject, “a network of mafias is 

virtually running a parallel government” 

through “contacts with 

bureaucrats, government functionaries 

at local levels, politicians, 

media persons” and others. 

The presumption was that the 

ending of the licence-permit-quota 

raj would reduce the level of corruption 

by denying politicians and 

bureaucrats the power to sanction 

or reject industrial projects. As 

Ratan Tata disclosed, a minister had 

been sitting on his application for 

entering the domestic aviation sector 

because he was “stupid” 

enough, as a fellow businessman 

told him, not to pay the man `15 

crore. 

But if the economic reforms have 

cut graft and greed in the matter of 

industrial licensing, they have led 

to the burgeoning of sleaze in the 

field of infrastructure, including 

land, as the Commonwealth Games 

and Adarsh housing society scams 

show. However, the fact that the 

control raj has not been totally dismantled 

can be seen from the ministerial 

prerogative in the granting 

of 2G spectrum allocations, which 

are said to have cost the exchequer 

a gargantuan `1.7 lakh crore. 

In considering the sad state of 

the “moral universe”, it is necessary 

to remember that the main culprit 

is none other than the party of 

Indian independence, the Congress. 

It is not for nothing that the letter 

‘c’ has long been associated with 

the Congress’s role in nurturing 

corruption just as in the BJP’s case, 

‘c’ stands for the party’s communalism 

and, for the Mandal parties 

of the Hindi belt, ‘c’ is for casteism. 

The Congress’s less than glorious 

record in this context was noted by 

none other than Mahatma Gandhi, 

who said in 1939 that “I would go 

to the length of giving the whole 

Atri 

Bhattacharya 

The writer is a senior 

civil servant 

When we were very young, 

my grandfather would take 

my cousin and me to the British 

Council Library on Saturdays. It 

was then housed in an old colonial 

building on Theatre Road 

(now Shakespeare Sarani, a rare 

example of ideologues being 

witty) and we had to show our 

cards at the gate, stand in line at 

the counter to return our books 

and only then walk-fast-but-donot-run 

to the staircase at the 

back, leading up to the Children’s 

Section. Yes, there was a children’s 

section then and for some 

years afterwards, before Margaret 

Thatcher, Lady Ironpants, Attila 

the Hen, a pox upon her, banished 

it to outer darkness on the pretext 

of cutting costs. 

The keen thrill of anticipation I 

felt then surpasses every possible 

emotion … love ambition sex 

music food success, nothing can 

compare. Rushing sedately, if such 

an action is possible, up the two 

flights of the staircase to where 

the magic lay waiting in the 

shelves … 

And then an hour of browsing, 

the pangs of having to CHOOSE 

just four books, if only I could take 

just one no three more, the 

patient short-listing for a final 

selection, inveigling my younger 

cousin into taking one for me on 

her card, yes I will give you my 

share of chocolate tomorrow (I 

must confess I usually welshed on 

that, I was a young glutton and no 

Pal you will NOT comment upon 

the choice of tense), the final 

selection and the sorrow of parting 

with the books I left behind on 

the table at the head of the stairs 

…Refined torture on the journey 

(Such a long journey!) back, “you 

will not read in the car, it’s bad for 

your eyes” (edict writ in words of 

stone, he was a disciplinarian), the 

furtive peeks into the first few 

pages if I managed to get into the 

front seat before my cousin, further 

torture during tea-time (no 

Congress’s record of corruption can be traced back to pre-1947 

days and not many of its leaders are untainted by the scourge 

Congress a decent burial rather 

than put up with the corruption 

that is rampant”. 

It is noteworthy that the malaise 

affected the Congress soon after it 

assumed ministerial responsibilities 

in 1937. As the Mahatma noted, the 

vice became “rampant” within two 

years and would have undoubtedly 

grown exponentially if the Congress 

governments had not resigned at 

the start of World War II. However, 

the party did not lose much time to 

pick up the threads of corruption 

after independence when one of its 

stalwarts of the time, V.K. Krishna 

Menon, became involved in the socalled 

jeep scandal in 1948. 

Afterthought 

Personally honest 

politicians of India often 

turn a blind eye to the 

corruption of colleagues 

and party members 

After that, the cases of sleaze surfaced 

at regular intervals, the most 

notable of which were the Haridas 

Mundhra scandal (1957-58), the 

Malaviya-Sirajuddin affair (1963) 

and the Pratap Singh Kairon controversy 

(1963). The Mundhra affair 

has a special place in the history of 

corruption since the issue was 

The real joy of living … 

reading at the table!) till AT LAST 

at last at last I could rush to our 

room and disappear into the 

words upon the page, the pictures 

in my mind, the feel of the paper 

the binding the smell the sheer 

bliss of BOOKS. 

The saddest part of growing 

older is that I can no longer quite 

recapture that ecstasy, the exquisite 

thrill of worlds laid in store for 

me. “Fled is that music .. ?” 

Though even today, nothing quite 

compares to the feeling of walking 

down from the BCL with a 

bundle of books under my arm, 

knowing that the reading light in 

the car promises immediate consummation 

of the truest deepest 

longest lasting most rewarding 

love affair. 

Which brings us to the point of 

this reverie, if a reverie can have a 

point at all. The pleasure of finding 

kindred spirits who visit, 

inhabit, know the same constellations 

of magic worlds. And, if one 

is very fortunate, of visiting in the 

flesh the places I have inhabited 

myself in these waking dreams. 

From a 4-week vacation across 

four countries, ten airports, six 

railway stations, fifteen reels of 

film, my fondest take-aways are 

five photographs. One of them 

shows a wall with “VR” upon it in 

pock-marks (a fit of patriotism in 

the Jubilee year, right, James?) 

and one is of me in an armchair, 

with a table in front upon which 

lie a bowler hat, a meerschaum 

pipe and a deer-stalker. A cigar for 

the one who can spot the one that 

doesn’t belong there (think Basil 

Reuters 

Rathbone). 

The tobacco was in a Persian 

slipper, the letters were pinned to 

the mantelpiece with a stiletto. 

The ‘VR’ was a nice touch, but 

sadly enough there was no 

Bradshaw in the bookshelf and 

the Burke’s Peerage was from 

1902. An aberration, since he left 

those rooms in 1898 and retired to 

the Sussex Downs, where he 

penned his second recorded publication 

(“with some notes upon 

the Segregation of the Queen”). 

Or that perfect opening line, 

credited to a marginal scribble in 

a student’s tutorial at Oxford, the 

door to a perfect make-believe 

long before J.K. Rowling … “In a 

hole in the ground there lived a 

Hobbit”. On my top ten any day. 

“Is it the perfume from a dress/ 

that makes me so digress?” No, it 

is the fragrance of “that other 

world whose margin fades/ forever 

and forever when I move” … 

The self-assured, sometimes 

self-important roll of the Beetle’s 

lines … “he trod the ling like a 

buck in spring/ And he looked like 

a lance in rest”. If I ever visit 

Pakistan, it will be to see the cannon 

in front of the Jadoo Ghar and 

look for that old horse trader who 

appears in more stories than 

young Kimball’s alone. 

A digression for the enthusiast 

of the Great Game … Frederick 

Bailey, traveller, adventurer and 

secret agent for Her Majesty, 

spent years on the North-West 

Frontier and in Central Asia under 

assumed identities and often in 

disguise. The culmination of his 

Reuters 

raised in parliament by Feroze 

Gandhi, the Congress MP from Rae 

Bareli, one of the party’s pocket 

boroughs, who was Indira Gandhi’s 

husband and Jawaharlal Nehru’s 

son-in-law. Feroze’s stridency was 

resented by Nehru and was 

believed to have been responsible 

for the rift between him and Indira. 

On the political front, however, it 

led to the resignation of Finance 

Minister T.T. Krishnamachari, the 

first head to roll in India for the suspected 

offence. The other VIP who 

also had to resign following the levelling 

of corruption charges was 

Punjab Chief Minister Pratap Singh 

Kairon although the S.R. Das com- 

career came when he was 

recruited in Tashkent by the 

agents of the Czar. His mission? To 

find and kill “a notorious British 

agent named Bailey”!! 

And, of course, that most idyllic 

world whose pleasures can never 

stale, where young men in spats 

descend upon a castle that “has 

impostors the way other houses 

have mice”, where no page passes 

without a smile broadening into a 

totally delighted laugh, where 

long after “the Rudyards cease 

from kipling/ and the Haggards 

ride no more”, the stentorian 

voices of “aunt calling to aunt like 

mastodons in a primeval swamp” 

can still cause a frisson of unease 

to dance down the spine and yet 

all cares can be wiped away and 

the loose ends tied up by a 

Presence who “appears upon the 

scene” with a respectful cough 

and a perfect solution. 

My favourite in the oeuvre, 

however (couldn’t resist that 

one!), is the long languid person 

modelled upon Rupert D’Oyly 

Carte who can “take your dog for a 

walk” or “assassinate your aunt, 

crime not objected to”, as long as 

it has nothing to do with fish! 

Worlds worlds worlds … “if we 

had world enough and time ...” 

“Would we not shatter it to bits, 

and then/ remould it nearer to the 

heart’s desire?” 

Which brings me to another 

craftsman of a different genre, 

who led me to the pleasures of 

Old Omar through by-roads trod 

by whistling tramps and melancholic 

cow-punchers, who made 

it magic for me to walk the streets 

west of Broadway between 23rd 

and 42nd (known as? Hint — a 

culinary connection, so named 

because at the turn of the previous 

century it promised the juiciest 

cuts of graft) and who perfected 

the “twist in the tale” long 

before Bollywood and Channel V 

chanced upon it. 

Bollywood reminds me of that 

master of the formula, author of 

over a hundred stories with 

essentially the same characters, 

“six feet two in (their) stockinged 

feet” and “most times, when they 

caught a-hold of something, it 

moved”. 

mission had exonerated him in its 

report. Since then, not many ministerial 

heads may have rolled, but 

the alleged offenders have had 

occasionally to resign, as in 

Andimuthu Raja’s case in the spectrum 

scam, and governments have 

paid a political price. Perhaps the 

heaviest price was paid by Rajiv 

Gandhi over the Bofors scam, for he 

lost his two-thirds majority in parliament 

and paved the way for the 

Congress’s loss of power for nearly 

a decade. The shrinking of the 

moral universe, which ended 

Rajiv’s political career, had accelerated 

during his mother’s reign. 

While Nehru was perceived as 

being indifferent to the allegations 

of corruption, especially about 

Congressmen like Kairon, Indira 

took shelter under the excuse that 

corruption was a “global phenomenon”. 

Her major sin, of course, was 

to try to undermine democracy 

along with her younger son, Sanjay, 

but it is the cynicism which she fostered 

about the system which is 

partly responsible for the fog of the 

“global phenomenon” enveloping 

India. 

As a result, it isn’t only the 

Congress which is saddled with the 

Ashok Chavans and Suresh 

Kalmadis, but even the party with 

a difference, the BJP, is unable to 

act against its Karnataka chief minister 

B.S. Yeddyurappa and the 

family of the so-called Bellary 

brothers, the tycoons who stand 

behind him, lest they set up a ‘parallel’ 

government with the help of 

fellow cynics in H.D. Deve Gowda’s 

family. The BJP’s fall from grace in 

Karnataka is mirrored by the DMK 

in Tamil Nadu, which has turned 

the state into the fiefdom of a family 

run by an aging bigamist with 

his two squabbling sons, who are 

waiting to pounce on each other 

once their father passes from the 

scene. As their support for Raja 

shows, eliminating corruption is 

the least of their concerns. 

Across the length and breadth of 

the country, therefore, there is not 

a single politician who can be said 

to be determined to end the 

scourge. Manmohan Singh, for 

instance, may be personally honest, 

like Mamata Banerjee and 

Naveen Patnaik, but his ineffectuality 

is there for all to see. One reason 

for this apparently is that Sonia 

herself is not totally free of the 

Bofors stain in view of the Ottavio 

Quottrocchi affair. 

World Window 

T he country’s intelligence agencies 

have a reputation for being unwieldy. 

Recently, the Supreme Court proceedings 

regarding the missing prisoners’ case have 

added to this perception. The bench was 

hearing the case of the alleged abduction 

of 11 individuals from Adiyala Jail who had 

been acquitted of terrorism charges. The 

ISI and military intelligence declared 

through the attorney general that the 

‘missing’ prisoners were not in their custody. 

It did not appear to be the denial that 

irked the chief justice, but the fact that the 

respective heads of the agencies had failed 

to sign their written statement of denial. 

“Do they consider themselves above the 

constitution and the law?” the CJ asked. 

The judiciary deserves kudos for raising 

this question, as very few within the establishment 

are willing to publicly critique 

the intelligence agencies. But it is a question 

many right-thinking citizens have 

been asking for a long time. 

The agencies, especially the ISI, have 

often been accused of running a state 

within a state, of meddling in domestic 

politics and of playing the regional Great 

Game. Clearly, many of these activities are 

perceived to be way beyond their brief. 

The agencies must be more transparent in 

their conduct. Obviously, they are not 

expected to blow their cover, but they 

must work according to the agenda set by 

an elected government. If we want to be 

seen as a country that respects due 

process, we must fight the war on terror 

through legal methods. 

Offline 

“Let me assure you it’s better, 

reliable and good for us. 

The country needs only our 

brand of corruption.” 

© globalcartoonist.com 

No reproduction without permission

It is quite symbolical that Chinese 

high-tech trains became the first 

effective international transport solution 

to have helped Saudi Arabia manage 

pilgrim movement in the Arabian 

Kingdom during the just-completed 

Hajj season. Citizens and visitors marvelled 

at the Chinese-built trains that 

moved tens of thousands of devout 

Muslims across the holy sites of Mina, 

Muzdalifah and Arafat for the first time. 

The successful and accident-free run of 

the trains through the holy city of 

Mecca was a perception-changer about 

China for many in the Middle East. The 

well-respected English daily Arab News 

quoted an Arab journalist saying that 

China has overnight become a nation to 

respect and emulate, summing up the 

mood of the Arabs 

and the region’s 

Muslims vis-à-vis 

the Middle King - 

dom. 

The rise of the 

emerging markets 

continues to fascinate 

the Middle 

East’s policy makers. 

The emergence 

of India and 

China has also 

seen increased 

international dialogue 

and trade between the two 

regions. However, China has clearly 

dominated this space compared to 

other emerging markets, including 

India, by securing not only a larger 

share of trade and commerce, but also 

in terms of political clout and influence. 

The total trade between the Middle 

East and the Middle Kingdom tripled in 

the last five years to nearly US$110 billion 

by the end of 2009. Infrastructure, 

Reuters 


OP-ED 

China’s rising influence in the Middle East 

The Middle Kingdom’s aspirations for global hegemony increasingly find expressions in its friendly overtures to the oil-rich nations 

Utpal Bhattacharya 

The writer is a senior 

journalist based in Dubai 

View from Dubai 

By 2015, seventy per cent of China’s oil imports will come from the Middle East 

engineering and oil and gas have constituted 

the bulk of this trade. In fact, 

China is increasingly dependent on the 

Middle East for its oil, with the latter 

accounting for 58 per cent of the total 

oil import to the Middle Kingdom. By 

2015, the share of Middle East in total 

Chinese oil imports will rise to 70 per 

cent. The People’s Republic has, today, 

got specific oil interests in Saudi Arabia, 

Iran and Iraq, and, one can understand 

why China is so eager to entrench itself 

in the region for a long haul in matters 

of both security and politics apart 

from trade. 

Significantly, China’s growing military 

muscle and economic might have 

already caught the imagination of the 

common Arabs and Muslims; there is 

also a feeling in certain quarters that 

the vacuum left by US’ disengaging 

from the region, albeit in phases, could 

lead to instability, and that China has an 

opportunity to play an important role in 

balancing regional power centres. 

It will be wrong to assume that the 

US is in danger of losing its dominance 

in the Middle East to China, but it certainly 

is true that the latter is acquiring 

the space from where the former is 

creeping out. 

China has emerged as the only global 

power after the US that looks capable of 

taking up a credible role for itself in the 

Middle East, and countries from Syria to 

Turkey and Saudi Arabia to Iran are 

increasingly engaging with the Middle 

Kingdom. 

China’s strong relations with Iran and 

Syria go quite a long time back. But 

some western commentators are quite 

alarmed at the increasing intimacy 

between NATO partner Turkey and the 

Middle Kingdom, especially the growing 

military exchanges. The most recent 

example was the inclusion of Chinese 

war planes in the Turkish military exercise 

Anatolian Eagle in October — 

manoeuvres that previously had 

included the US and Israel. 

In addition, the joint announcement, 

in the same month, that China and 

Turkey have upgraded their bilateral 

relationship to that of a strategic partnership, 

is a clear indication that the 

Middle Kingdom has made strong 

inroads into what has been always considered 

a strong western ally. 

It has to be also noted that Ankara has 

been overt in its support of Iran’s 

nuclear interests, while engaging Syria 

Digging the grave for TV 

Reshmi Chakraborty 

The writer is a freelance 

journalist based in 

Bangalore 

The Information and Broadcasting 

Ministry (I&B) has announced that 

television programming in India would 

be shifted to the late-night adult slot. The 

only exception, according to a ministry 

spokesperson, would be channels like 

Cartoon Network or Disney that focus 

exclusively on content for children. 

The decision was taken after the I&B 

ministry’s initial pronouncement to 

move shows like Bigg Boss and Rakhi ka 

Insaaf to late-night slots. Given the content, 

it was felt that the shows weren’t 

suitable for universal viewing though 

many would say they aren’t suitable for 

any kind of viewership at all. 

Speaking to the media at a press conference, 

ministry spokesperson Moral 

Mashi said the decision was taken after 

a long and intense period of introspection, 

during which officials and media 

experts reviewed the kind of content 

that is regularly broadcast in our country 

and reached the conclusion that 

most were not suitable for unrestricted 

public viewing. 

Mashi said that it wasn’t just Rakhi ka 

Insaaf and Bigg Boss, Indian television 

had unsuitable content everywhere. 

She pointed out ads where girls in the 

shortest of tops had to lusciously lick 

ice-cream just to tell the audiences how 

wonderful it was, or magically got jobs 

right after becoming fairer, lovelier and 

catching the eye of the company’s CEO. 

She also pointed out unsuitable content 

on news channels, which air nothing 

else but scams. “What is it teaching 

our family audiences?” asked an irate 

Moral Mashi. “The No.1 lesson everyone 

gets is that scams, no matter how big 

they are, could be totally manageable. 

That you can cost the country’s exchequer 

billions of dollars, con the aam junta 

into believing you’ve purchased the 

world’s most expensive toilet paper and 

still retain your ministerial berth. At 

least long enough to make some serious 

money out of it. Oh and while you’re at 

it, the Prime Minister will turn a blind 

eye to your shenanigans until goaded to 

answerability. What’s more, you can 

even bare all 32 teeth in an oily smile 

with great nonchalance after getting 

the sack, implying it’s nothing but a tiny 

hiatus in your illustriously corrupt 

career.” 

An expert on I&B panel clarified how 

news channels also taught us how to 

make your family rich by all means possible. 

“You could do a B.S. Yeddyurappa 

and allot residential and commercial 

‘Since everything is replete 

with unsuitable ads, 

scandals, scams, rapes, 

molestations and building 

collapses, we have decided 

to move all programmes to 

the late-night slot’ 

land allegedly worth several crores to 

your sons and daughters, show absolute 

insouciance when the media and the 

(equally corrupt) opposition question 

you and refuse to get off your plum 

post,” he added. 

“Many children watch primetime television 

which is when these shows and 

news programmes are aired. Since 

everything is simply replete with 

unsuitable ads, scandals, scams, rapes, 

molestations and building collapses, we 

have decided to move it to the latenight 

slot,” Moral Mashi reiterated. 

The ministry officials and experts 

reserved their harshest criticism for the 

current lot of television serials and said 

that most deserved to be shifted to the 

graveyard slot. Day after day of watching 

one set of overdressed housewives 

plotting against another cannot be 

healthy for any audience, whether fam- 

ily or non-family, they added. It was 

also pointed out that in the name of 

progressive serials trying to change 

social customs, girls on the telly were 

married off early, dark-skinned women 

were discriminated against and evil 

thakur boys were shown to be preying 

upon hapless farmer’s daughters. In 

other words, not exactly suited for 

unrestricted viewership. 

While the exact date for the new 

move is yet to be finalised, not everybody 

is happy with the ministry’s decision, 

which met with varied reactions 

across the country. 

Television journalists understandably 

staged a walkout at the press conference 

and some housewives did a 

dharna outside parliament saying that 

morning and afternoon slots were their 

best TV-watching time. Some ministers 

too expressed concern that they would 

now fade from public memory given 

that several people go to bed much earlier 

than I&B’s late night slot. The BPO 

industry however reacted to the news 

with great joy given the late hours 

they keep. 

The implication of the I&B ministry’s 

move will be huge, both in terms of revenue 

and leisure. However, it remains to 

be seen whether it achieves the farreaching 

changes that the ministry 

hopes it will bring. 

in military ties. Middle East experts are 

already pointing to an alliance of Iran, 

Syria and Turkey that has a tacit 

approval of the Chinese leadership; so 

much so that Turkey has been insisting 

that the NATO’s missile shield planned 

for Europe should not identify Iran and 

Syria as potential threats. 

While it is unlikely that Turkey will 

withdraw from NATO, but what is written 

on the wall is for everyone to see: 

that neither the NATO nor the US can 

take some of its erstwhile partners for 

granted. 

Post-9/11, US-Middle East relations 

have posed some tough challenges for 

the Americans, and China, backed by its 

economic might, found a convenient 

entry in strategic areas in the region. 

Over a period of time, and, as leadership 

changed in the US, it became obvious 

that the world’s number one power was 

finding it difficult to sustain its military 

campaign in the region, while its experiment 

with the Iraqi democracy had 

almost gone awry. 

Iranian President Mohmoud 

Ahmadinejad’s aggressive overtures in 

Lebanon while engaging in telephonic 

diplomacy with King Abdullah of Saudi 

Arabia and interfering in Iraq’s government 

formation, under the very nose of 

a helpless US administration, is not just 

a coincidence of that happening at a 

time when the Americans are withdrawing 

from Iraq. 

President Ahmadinejad chose the 

right moment to assert Iran’s influence 

in the Middle East. And not surprisingly, 

the event had many US-baiters clapping 

their hands in glee in the region. In fact, 

the very double speak in US’s Iran policy 

of reaching out on one hand and 

sanctions on the other, has been seen by 

some quarters, including in Saudi 

Arabia, as the Americans losing the plot 

and one giving confused signals, primarily 

due to lack of ideas to deal with 

Iran. Clearly, there is a perception of a 

weakening of the US’ Middle East hold, 

under the Obama administration. 

Beijing has played its card pretty well 

until now, balancing its US relations and 

yet, lending its shoulder to Iran and 

Syria, and enhancing its trade and 

friendship with Saudi Arabia. But what 

might start irking the west and the US is 

the Chinese’s getting closer to Iraq and 

too close to Saudi Arabia, although the 

Arabian Kingdom has, until now, 

rebuffed all overtures for an arms deal 

Iran’s offshore oil platform on Caspian Sea near Neka 

from Beijing. But who knows what can 

happen next, especially after the standing 

ovation the Chinese have got in the 

Saudi press with the launch of the 

Chinese trains to ferry pilgrims in 

Makkah? 

One thing is for sure, though, that the 

Middle East is not smooth waters. The 

Americans that discovered oil in Saudi 

Arabia know it, and so do the British. 

The west has had a bias against Iran in 

the last three decades, favouring Saudi 

Arabia all these years. It will be interesting 

to watch what China does, as it tries 

to balance between the two regional 

powers of Iran and Saudi Arabia to keep 

itself endeared to both the parties, 

while also keeping a furtive lookout to 

the west. 

9 

Reuters 

There are clear signs of geopolitical 

tectonic plates shifting globally, as 

Russia work closely with the NATO to 

build the European missile defence system 

and offer logistical support in the 

fight against the Taliban and their ilk in 

Afghanistan. 

With trade and currency issues 

among others (dogging China) likely to 

become even hotter in the coming 

months, the Middle Kingdom might as 

well secure true allies in the Middle 

East and elsewhere. 

For, unless there is a course correction 

on a number of issues, China could 

find itself quite isolated in its quest to 

reach the top of the global economy, 

and thus politics, in the next few 

decades. 

The dragon hates dissent 

Phelim Kine 

Last month’s announcement of a 

Nobel peace prize for the Chinese 

writer Liu Xiaobo, together with the 

approaching award ceremony on 

December 10, have driven official tolerance 

for peaceful dissent in China to 

a new low. 

Just ask Zhao Lianhai. On November 

10, a Beijing court sentenced Zhao to a 

two-and-a-half-year prison term on 

charges of ‘provoking disorder’ for 

exposing the government failure to 

assist the thousands of child victims of 

China’s melamine-tainted milk scandal 

of 2008. 

Zhao’s crime? Helping to establish a 

grassroots advocacy group, Kidney 

Stones Babies, which rallied parents of 

victims to demand compensation and 

the designation of an official day of 

remembrance for the six deaths and 

approximately 300,000 children sickened 

by tainted dairy products. 

Zhao isn’t alone. The nongovernmental 

organization Chinese Human 

Rights Defenders has documented at 

least 100 incidents since October 2010 

in which Chinese citizens have been 

harassed, interrogated or detained in 

connection with their support for Liu’s 

Nobel victory. They include Liu 

Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, who has been 

silenced since November 18, when the 

government cut her internet and 

phone links. On November 9, Beijing 

police prevented China’s leading 

human rights lawyer Mo Shaoping and 

legal scholar He Weifang from boarding 

a flight to an international legal 

conference. The reason? Fears they 

would attend the Nobel peace prize 

award ceremony in Norway. 

The appointments of President Hu 

Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003 

raised hopes that a new generation of 

leadership would spur greater liberalization. 

The opposite has occurred. 

China’s prisons are littered with highprofile 

dissidents. 

Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer who took on 

some of China’s most controversial 

causes, including defending miners 

and religious minorities like the Falun 

Gong and underground Christians, was 

the victim of an enforced disappearance 

in February 2009. Gao reemerged 

in his Beijing apartment in 

early April 2010, but vanished again 

days later, apparently back into official 

custody. 

In China today, even activists who 

serve out prison terms on politicallymotivated 

charges can be denied freedom. 

Chen Guangcheng, convicted in 

December 2006 on trumped-up criminal 

counts after he led a campaign to 

stop forced abortions and sterilizations 

in Shandong province, completed his 

sentence on September 9. Chen 

returned home to house arrest, banned 

from receiving visitors and subjected to 

intrusive electronic surveillance. 

These proliferating abuses have overshadowed 

the cases of once-high-profile 

political prisoners. Take Hu Jia, a 

civil society activist sentenced to threeand-a-half 

years’ imprisonment in April 

2008 for ‘incitement to subvert state 

power’ and for activities including cowriting 

a letter in September 2007 entitled 

The Real China and the Olympics. 

The letter detailed specific and wideranging 

government human rights violations 

and urged the international 

community to hold Beijing to the 

human rights commitments it made 

when bidding to host the Games. 

These cases don’t just expose the 

government’s empty rhetoric about its 

commitment to the rule of law. They 

are also a reminder of the narrowing 

space available to Chinese activists and 

whistleblowers who seek the rights, 

freedoms and protections embodied in 

China's laws and constitution. 

Why is this happening? Growing 

intolerance could be a sign of increasing 

confidence and arrogance as 

China’s economy continues to roar and 

its international status grows. The leadership 

is also concerned about the 

100,000-odd annual public protests, 

the sharp criticism of government policies 

that go viral via the internet, and 

the growing urban-rural wealth gap. 

The relentless squeeze on civil society 

activists has occurred while the US, 

EU and others have downgraded 

human rights in their dealings with 

China. Human right issues are increasingly 

an afterthought, marginalized by 

bilateral dialogue on trade, broader 

economic issues, and negotiations on 

vexing international issues, including 

Iran or North Korea. But the US and 

others are taking the most shortsighted 

approach. The US Secretary of 

State, Hillary Clinton, learned this early 

in her tenure when she announced 

that the US would no longer allow 

human rights issues to interfere with 

other issues on the US-China agenda. 

But both the US and the EU have 

been unable to avoid raising difficult 

cases such as Liu Xiaobo and have 

praised Liu’s Nobel peace prize despite 

the Chinese government's furious 

insistence that routine stifling of constitutionally-guaranteed 

rights and 

freedoms are an ‘internal affair’. Such 

dismissals ignore the fact that Zhao 

Lianhai’s efforts, and those of other 

brave Chinese whistleblowers, aim to 

both protect Chinese consumers from 

toxic products as well as keep them 

out of the export chain 

As President Hu Jintao and Premier 

Wen Jiabao prepare to hand the reins 

of power of the ruling Chinese 

Communist party to new leaders in 

2012, they need to be pressed to recognize 

the wisdom of allowing citizens 

to speak uncomfortable truths rather 

than to silence them. Just days after 

the announcement of Liu Xiaobo’s 

Nobel peace prize, a group of 23 senior 

Communist party officials and intellectuals 

issued a public letter that 

praised the Nobel committee’s ‘splendid 

choice’ of Liu for a Nobel peace 

prize, urged his immediate release and 

an end to the "invisible black hand" of 

official censorship. The Chinese government 

would be wise to heed these 

calls. —The Guardian 

Reuters 

Liu Xiabo’s supporters outside the Chinese foreign ministry office in Hong Kong


WORLD 

Briefly 

US drone attack 

kills 4 in Pak 

Peshawar: A US drone strike 

in the lawless North 

Waziristan tribal region in 

northwest Pakistan killed 

four suspected militants on 

Sunday, officials said. The 

drone struck the house of a 

suspected militant in Mirali 

area of North Waziristan 

Agency, killing four militants 

believed to be associated 

with the Haqqani network 

that often targets US and 

Nato forces across the border 

in Afghanistan. — PTI 

Pak girl mauled to 

death by dogs 

Islamabad: A six-year-old 

Pakistani girl was mauled to 

death by a pack of dogs in 

Multan, a media report said 

on Sunday. Sonia Bibi, was 

returning home after 

attending a Madrassa in 

Multan, in Punjab, when 

some dogs owned by a local 

landlord attacked her. The 

dogs used to guard the poultry 

farm of the landlord, the 

News International reported 

on Sunday. She later succumbed 

to her injuries in 

a local hospital. Police, 

however, tried to give a 

twist to the incident, saying 

that the girl was bitten by 

stray dogs. — PTI 

US troops kill 

Iraqi civilian 

Baghdad: US troops who 

thought they were under 

attack killed an Iraqi airport 

employee on Sunday as he 

drove near a military convoy 

on his way to work, officials 

said. The driver, identified 

by colleagues as Baghdad 

International Airport worker 

Karim Obaid Bardan, failed 

to heed repeated signals to 

slow down or turn on his 

headlights as he neared the 

military convoy, said US and 

Iraqi security officials. “As a 

result, the vehicle was perceived 

as a threat and a 

decision was made to 

engage it with small-arms 

fire in order to stop it and to 

protect the convoy from a 

possible attack,” said Army 

Colonel. — AP 

Stampede death 

toll rises to 351 

Phnom Penh: The number 

of people killed in a bridge 

stampede during the 

Cambodian capital’s annual 

water festival now stands at 

351, the social affairs minister 

said today. The figure, 

which included 222 females, 

is four higher than previously 

announced, while the 

number of injured stood at 

395, said a statement signed 

by Ith Samheng, who sits on 

a committee investigating 

the disaster. It said each of 

the wounded would receive 

free treatment and assistance 

from the Cambodian 

Red Cross as well as 

1,000,000 riels ($244) from 

the government. — AFP 

Pak cops break up 

anti-Taliban rally 

Islamabad/Lahore: Riot 

police arrested dozens of 

people and fired teargas 

shells and used batons to 

break up a march organised 

by a religious group to 

protest the Taliban bombings 

in Pakistan, organisers 

and witnesses said. Several 

hundred activists from 

Sunni Muslim groups 

started the “Long March” 

from Islamabad on Saturday 

and planned to go to Lahore, 

the capital of Punjab 

province. The Punjab government 

had banned the 

rally, fearing it could be 

attacked by militants. — AFP 

6 Filipinos die in 

Japan bus crash 

Tokyo: Six Filipino workers 

were killed and 22 others 

were injured when a bus 

collided with a trailer truck 

in western Japan on Sunday, 

police said. Six Filipino 

workers in their 20s and 

30s, three men and three 

women, died in the collision 

in Mie prefecture, a police 

official said. Twenty other 

Philippine workers, including 

one who had obtained 

Japanese nationality, and 

two Japanese were injured, 

he said. Police arrested the 

driver of the truck on suspicion 

that “the trailer bum - 

ped into the left flank of the 

bus at a crossing without a 

traffic light,” he said. — AFP 

N Korea readies missiles, China seeks talks 

Yeonpyeong: North Korea has 

placed surface-to-surface missiles 

on launch pads in the 

Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency 

said, as the United States and 

South Korea began military 

drills and China called for emergency 

talks. 

China made clear that the 

talks would not amount to a 

resumption of six-party disarmament 

discussions which 

North Korea walked out of two 

years ago and declared dead. 

South Korea said it would 

carefully consider China’s suggestion. 

South Korean President Lee 

Myung-bak had told a visiting 

Chinese delegation that Beijing, 

North Korea’s only major ally 

which is traditionally reluctant 

to criticise the reclusive regime, 

should do more to help. 

China, which agreed with 

South Korea that the situation 

was “worrisome”, suggested the 

emergency talks for December 

among North and South Korea, 

host China, the United States, 

Japan and Russia. 

Japan was non-committal. 

“We want to respond cautiously 

while cooperating closely with 

South Korea and the United 

States,” Kyodo news agency 

quoted deputy chief cabinet 

secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama 

as saying. 

Beijing has repeatedly urged 

restraint and fresh talks to 

defuse tensions. 

Kyodo quoted a Japanese government 

official as saying the 

issues of denuclearisation and 

Tuesday’s attack on the island of 

Yeonpyeong had to be separate. 

“We’ll see what South Korea 

thinks, but the six-party talks 

are a place to discuss the nuclear 

issue, so should they be taking 

up the issue of the attacks?” 

Yonhap said North Korea had 

moved surface-to-air missiles to 

frontline areas, days after it 

shelled Yeonpyeong killing 

four people. The North’s official 

KCNA news agency warned of 

retaliatory action if its territory 

is violated. 

South Korea’s defence ministry 

told journalists to leave the 

island on Sunday because the 

situation was “bad”. Many residents 

evacuated earlier said they 

did not want to return. 

Officials from South Korea’s 

defence ministry and the joint 

chiefs said they could not comment 

on the Yonhap report. “It is 

impossible to confirm the report 

as it is classified as a military 

secret,” an official said. 

In Seoul, life carried on normally 

for the city’s more than 10 

million residents, with downtown 

shopping districts jammed 

with people despite the freezing 

temperatures, and cafes decked 

with Christmas decorations 

doing brisk business. 

“I am worried, but not that 

worried that I need to stay at 

home,” said Eunhye Kim, an 

usher showing people from a 

packed theatre in the capital. 

“They don’t really want to make 

war ...there’s no gain for either 

side.” The exercises, in waters far 

south of the disputed maritime 

boundary, are being held in the 

face of opposition by China and 

threats of all-out war from 

North Korea. 

The chairman of North Korea’s 

Supreme People’s Assembly will 

visit China from Tuesday, the 

official Xinhua news agency 

said. China has not taken sides in 

the conflict and declined 

to blame North Korea, unlike 

the United States, for the 

sinking of a South Korean naval 

vessel in March. 

“We ask that China make a 

contribution to peace on the 

Korean peninsula by taking 

a more fair and responsible 

position on South-North Korea 

ties,” the South Korean presidential 

Blue House quoted Lee as 

telling Dai. 

Washington says the drill is 

intended as a deterrent after the 

worst assault on South Korea 

since the end of the Korean War 

in 1953. 

Seoul expects jitters in financial 

markets to settle in the short 

term unless North Korea carries 

out further provocations, 

Yonhap quoted a senior finance 

ministry official as saying. 

The government plans to 

inject sufficient liquidity in won 

and dollar trading if local markets 

suffer from herd behaviour 

on Monday, Yonhap said. 

The nuclear-powered carrier 

USS George Washington, which 

carries 75 warplanes and has a 

crew of over 6,000, has joined 

the exercises and will be accompanied 

by at least four other US 

warships, an official from US 

Forces Korea said. 

South Korea has deployed 

three destroyers, frigates and 

anti-submarine aircraft, Yonhap 

reported, adding the exercises 

were being held far south of 

the disputed area where 

the artillery firing took place 

on Tuesday. 

South Korea’s marine commander 

on Saturday vowed 

“thousand-fold” revenge for the 

North Korean attack. North 

Korea said that if there had been 

civilian deaths, they were “very 

regrettable”, but that South 

Korea should be blamed for 

using a human shield. 

It also said the United States 

should be blamed for “orchestrating” 

the whole sequence of 

events to justify sending an aircraft 

carrier to join the maritime 

manoeuvres. — Reuters 

Fourth blast hits NZ coal mine 

Greymouth: A fourth explosion 

in nine days at the New 

Zealand mine where 29 

miners died could significantly 

delay recovery of 

the bodies. 

Large quantities of smoke 

and flames were seen 

shooting from the Pike River 

mine’s vertical ventilation 

shaft after Sunday’s blast, 

and officials said coal 

was on fire. 

“This smoke has changed, 

it’s no longer a gas fire, it’s 

obviously now a coal fire,” 

said the Pike River chief 

executive, Peter Whittall. 

“Where that coal fire is or 

how big it is, we 

don’t know.” 

The mine might have to 

be temporarily sealed to 

starve the fire of oxygen, 

Whittall said. That could 

seriously delay recovery 

of the bodies, and Whittall 

said it was not the 

preferred option. 

The explosions have dislodged 

a lot of coal, “so 

there’s a lot of fuel in the 

mine to burn,” he said. The 

worst-case scenario was 

that the actual coal seam 

would start to burn, he said. 

A gas fire is relatively easy to 

put out, but a coal fire in a 

RED RIBBON EXPRESSION 

seam would be a “very 

different beast”. 

Operators still hope to 

deploy an Australian jetpowered 

engine to blast 

nitrogen and carbon dioxide 

gases and water vapour into 

the mine. The inert gases 

would expel oxygen that 

could fuel more explosions, 

and would smother the fire. 

That option may be ready to 

use on Monday. 

There were no injuries in 

Sunday’s blast, and a brief 

fire involving vegetation 

around the surface vent was 

extinguished. People working 

near the mine entrance 

� A protester holds a placard at a rally demanding to halt the join military 

exercise between the United States and South Korea, outside a US naval 

base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Sunday — Reuters 

were moved away from the 

area for safety. 

The 29 miners were 

trapped by the first blast on 

November 19 and declared 

dead after a second, massive 

blast five days later. A third 

explosion on Friday was 

fuelled by methane gas 

seeping into the mine. 

Police superintendent 

Dave Cliff said the latest 

explosion demonstrated the 

volatility of the mine environment, 

which has prevented 

any rescue workers 

from entering the mine 

since the first blast. 

— Guardian News Service 

� Indonesian students pose with HIV/AIDS symbols during a campaign in Jakarta on Sunday prior to World AIDS 

Day. There were 21,770 reported cases of HIV and AIDS in Indonesia in 2010 — AFP 

Zardari meets Rajapaksa, 

signs pacts to boost ties 

Colombo: Sri Lanka and 

Pakistan on Sunday inked 

key agreements to boost 

bilateral relationship as 

President Asif Ali Zardari met 

his counterpart Mahinda 

Rajapaksa in the capital. 

Zardari, who is the first 

head of state to undertake a 

four-day visit to Sri Lanka 

after Rajapaksa began his 

second term last week, aims 

to boost bilateral cooperation 

and coordinate policies 

on regional and international 

issues. Rajapaksa and 

Zardari held high-level 

bilateral discussions, presidential 


Even as there was no statement 

from either side immediately 

at the conclusion of 

the thirty-minute talks, it 

was learnt that four agreements 

were signed during 

the meeting of the two presidents. 

Pakistan foreign minister 

Shah Mahmood Qureshi 

and his Lankan counterpart 

G L Peiris signed the Visa 

abolition agreement for 

holders of diplomatic and 

official passports. 

A Memorandum of 

Understanding on agricultural 

cooperation and 

agreement on mutual 

administrative assistance 

and cooperation in custom 

matters were also signed 

between the officials of the 

two countries. 

Another agreement was 

signed between Pakistan 

National College of Arts and 

University of visual and performing 

arts of Sri Lanka on 

cooperation on arts and creative 

studies. 

Zardari, who arrived on 

his maiden visit on Saturday, 

also met Sri Lankan Prime 

Minister DM Jayaratne on 

Sunday and pushed for 

deepening economic and 

trade cooperation between 

two countries. — PTI 

Colombo: Political prisoners 

from the minority Tamil 

community, including pregnant 

mothers and children, 

have appealed to the Sri 

Lankan government to 

release them on bail from the 

high-security New Magazine 

Prison in the capital. 

“Our parents suffered 

greatly during the war and 

are still living a life of sorrow 

just like us. We are also experiencing 

agony in prison 

after being held in prison for 

many years,” they wrote 

in a letter to the newly 

appointed justice minister 

Rauf Hakeem. 

They expressed hope that 

there would be a just resolution 

to their grievances following 

the end of a three- 

Koreas may be on the warpath 

� Missiles placed in Yellow Sea, 

frontline areas 

� Seoul says too early to talk about 

six-party talks 

� Japan responds to China idea 

with caution 

� China made it clear that the talks 

would not amount to a resumption 

of six-party disarmament 

Washington: The Obama 

administration has told 

whistleblower WikiLeaks 

that its expected imminent 

release of classified state 

department cables will put 

“countless” lives at risk, 

threaten global counterterrorism 

operations and jeopardize 

US relations with 

its allies. 

In a highly unusual step 

reflecting the administration’s 

grave concerns about 

the ramifications of the 

move, the state department 

late Saturday released a letter 

from its top lawyer to 

WikiLeaks founder Julian 

Assange and his attorney 

telling them that publication 

of the documents would be 

illegal and demanding that 

they stop it. 

It also said the US government 

would not cooperate 

with WikiLeaks in trying to 

scrub the cables of information 

that might put sources 

and methods of intelligence 

gathering and diplomatic 

reporting at risk. 

The letter from state 

department legal adviser 

Harold Koh was released as 

US diplomats around the 

world are scrambling to 

warn foreign governments 

about what might be in the 

secret documents that are 

believed to contain highly 

sensitive assessments about 

world leaders, their policies 

and America’s attempts to 

lobby them. 

In the letter, Koh said the 

publication of some 250,000 

discussions which North Korea 

walked out of two years ago and 

declared dead 

� South Korea said it would carefully 

consider China’s suggestion 

� China suggested the emergency 

talks for December among North 

and South Korea, host China, the 

United States, Japan and Russia 

secret diplomatic cables by 

WikiLeaks, which is 

expected on Sunday, will 

“place at risk the lives of 

countless innocent individuals,” 

‘’place at risk on-going 

military operations,” and 

“place at risk on-going cooperation 

between countries.” 

“They were provided in 

violation of US law and without 

regard for the grave consequences 

of this action,” he 

said. Koh said WikiLeaks 

should not publish the documents, 

return them to the 

US government and destroy 

any copies it may have in its 

possession or in computer 

databases. 

The state department said 

Koh’s message was a 

response to a letter received 

on Friday by the US ambassador 

to Britain, Louis 

Susman, from Assange and 

Korea to 

be ‘careful’ 

about China 

talks plan 

Seoul: South Korea will 

“very carefully” consider 

China’s suggestion of 

emergency talks on 

North Korea, the foreign 

ministry said on Sunday. 

China called for emergency 

consultations 

among six governments 

in moribund talks aimed 

at ending North Korea’s 

nuclear programme, 

adding that they would 

not amount to a full 

restart of the negotiations. 

South Korea’s presidential 

office said on 

Sunday it was not the 

time to discuss the 

resumption of six-party 

nuclear talks, Yonhap 

news agency said. 

Blue House spokesman 

Hong Sang-pyo said the 

subject of the multilateral 

forum was raised 

during President Lee 

Myung-bak’s meeting 

with Chinese state councillor 

Dai Bingguo but Lee 

“made it clear it was not 

the time to discuss it”, 

Yonhap said. 

China on Sunday proposed 

an emergency 

meeting of the six parties, 

not amounting a full 

restart of the on-againoff-again 

talks. — Reuters 

US asks WikiLeaks to 

halt document release 

decade civil war last May. 

“There are about 765 Tamil 

prisoners including pregnant 

mothers, infants, crippled 

persons and the aged 

being incarcerated with 

many diseases minus medical 

facilities. We feel abandoned,” 

according to the letter 

quoted in the 

ColomboPage online. 

The prisoners asked 

Hakeem to honour his pledge 

to intervene to secure the 

release of political prisoners. 

“You had promised that 

you would directly intervene 

for the release of political 

prisoners and that you 

would visit the prison to collect 

the details of all such 

prisoners in order to raise 

this issue in Parliament 

� Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, during a press 

meet — Reuters file photo 

along with Tamil National 

Alliance,” they said. 

International and local 

human rights watchdogs 

have repeatedly asked the 

government to free political 

prisoners in the country 

after the end of the civil war 

in the country in May 2009. 

They have accused Sri 

his lawyer, Jennifer 

Robinson. The department 

said that letter asked for 

information “regarding individuals 

who may be ‘at 

significant risk of harm’ 

because of” the release of 

the documents. 

“Despite your stated 

desire to protect those lives, 

you have done the opposite 

and endangered the lives of 

countless individuals,” Koh 

wrote in reply. “You have 

undermined your stated 

objective by disseminating 

this material widely, without 

redaction, and without 

regard to the security and 

sanctity of the lives your 

actions endanger.” 

He said the US government 

would not deal with 

WikiLeaks at all in determining 

what may or may not 

released. — Reuters 

Tamil prisoners appeal for release 

Prisoners expre - 

ssed hope that 

there would be a 

just resolution to 

their grievances 

following the end 

of a three-decade 

civil war last May 

Lankan authorities of committing 

war crimes during a 

final military offensive 

against Tamil rebels in the 

northeastern part of the 

country, a charge dismissed 

by the government. 

The LTTE launched its 

armed struggle in 1980’s to 

create an independent 

homeland for Sri Lanka’s 

Tamils to protect them from 

alleged discrimination at the 

hands of the ethnic Sinhalese 

majority. 

Government forces 

crushed the Tamil Tiger 

rebels in 2009, ending the 

LTTE’s quarter-century 

armed struggle for a separate 

state. Between 80,000 and 

100,000 people were killed 

in the fighting. — PTI

Briefly 

Heavy snow hits 

Chinese airport 

Shanghai: Overnight snow in 

most parts of northeast Chi - 

na brought down temperat - 

ures to several degrees bel ow 

minus and forced an airport 

to shut down twice in a day 

due to a blizzard, a med ia 

report said on Sun day. —IANS 

UAE sets two 

Guinness records 

Dubai: A sword-throwing 

expert and a traditional da - 

nce troupe have powered 

the United Arab Emirates to 

two new spots in the Guin - 

ness World Records. 18-ye - 

ar-old Hazaa Sulaiman Al 

Shehhi set a new world rec - 

ord for the highest tossed 

sword, the Khaleej Times 

reported on Sunday. —IANS 

Five rare elephants 

found dead 

Jakarta: Five endangered 

Sumatran elephants have 

been found dead in Indon - 

esia, and conservationists 

said on Sunday that they 

suspect farmers poisoned 

the animals to stop them 

from damaging crops. —AP 

Tiny beaked toad 

discovered 

London: Deep within the 

Colombian jungle, scientists 

have stumbled upon a bizar - 

re-looking beaked toad, alo - 

ng with two hitherto unkn - 

own species. Tinier than a 

hu m an thumbnail, the beak - 

ed toad, with deep purple 

skin and small blue blotches, 

was among three new spec - 

ies of the amphibian. —IANS 

Dubai to have 

tallest tower 

Dubai: The 107-storey tow - 

er, billed to be the world’s 

tallest residential building, is 

likely to be ready by late 

next year in the city that is 

also home to the 823-me tre 

wonder, Burj Khalifa.—PTI 

Coffee with 

sugar sparks 

attentiveness, 

memory 

London: A cup of coffee activates 

attentiveness and 

memory if it is taken with 

sugar. 

University of Barcelona 

scientists found that taking 

caffeine and sugar together 

boosts the brain’s performance 

— more than taking 

them separately. 

The findings come from 

brain scans carried out on 40 

volunteers who were tested 

after they had coffee with 

sugar, coffee without sugar, 

sugar on its own or just plain 

water, according to the journal 

Human Psychop harma - 

cology: Clinical and Experim - 

ental. 

“The two substances 

improve cognitive 

performance by increasing 

the efficiency of the two 

areas of the brain responsible 

for sustained attention 

and working memory,” said 

Josep Serra Grabulosa Of 

University of Barcelona who 

conducted the study. 

It is well known that caffeine 

is a stimulant which 

works on the brain and can 

combat drowsiness and 

fatigue. —IANS 

London: Putting an end to the 

debate over succession, Prince 

William has hinted that he has “no 

desire” to become the next 

monarch, encroaching his father 

Prince Charles’ role as heir to the 

British throne. 

Since his engagement to longtime 

girlfriend Kate Middleton, 

there has been a surge in William’s 

popularity with opinion polls saying 

that majority of Britons believe 

the 28-year-old would make a better 

king than his father. 

But, royal aides insisted that 

Prince William has “no desire to 

climb the ladder of kingship” prematurely, 

although two recent polls 

by ICM and YouGov claimed that 

most people want him to succeed 

the Queen as the next monarch. 


WORLD 

Russian cargo plane crash claims 12 in Pak 

Karachi: A Russian cargo 

plane crashed in a fireball 

into a naval residential compound 

seconds after taking 

off from the airport of the 

southern Pakistani city on 

Sunday, killing at least 12 

people — all eight crew 

members on board and four 

persons on the ground. 

The Russian-made Il-76 

aircraft, which came from 

the UAE and was headed to 

the Sudanese capital 

Khartoum, crashed near 

Dalmia area within the cantonment 

in Karachi at 1.50 

am local time. It went down 

in a part of the naval compound 

where new apart- 

STRICT VIGIL 

ments were being built. 

The ill-fated aircraft came 

down two minutes after 

taking off from the city’s 

international airport, said 

Civil Aviation Authority 

spokesman Pervaiz George. 

All eight Russian crew members 

were killed, he said. 

The bodies of at least four 

construction workers were 

found in apartments being 

built at the site, Geo TV 

reported. 

Recovered bodies were 

badly mutilated and beyond 

recognition, officials said, 

adding several people were 

also injured. 

Officials said the casual- 

ties would have been higher 

if the plane of Russia’s 

Sunway Airline had hit several 

densely populated 

apartment blocks only a few 

hundred metres away. 

Rescue operations at the 

crash site gathered steam 

this morning after hundreds 

of naval and army personnel 

moved in with heavy 

machinery to remove the 

debris and scour the damaged 

buildings for victims. 

Several witnesses said 

they had seen the aircraft on 

fire before it crashed. 

“I saw a fireball plummeting 

to ground,” milk seller 

Mohammad Raees told Geo 

TV. “It was so huge and 

quick. I was terrified. I could 

not see what it was. I sped 

up to save my life and after a 

few seconds I heard a deafening 

explosion, but thanks 

to Allah my life was saved 

and I was not injured.” 

Footage on television 

showed the plane in flames 

as it plunged towards the 

ground. 

The aeroplane exploded 

in a massive fireball after 

slamming into the naval 

compound, due to which 

about 20 buildings were 

razed or damaged. 

The crash caused widespread 

panic among Karachi 

� A North Korean woman soldier, (R) keeps vigil along the bank of the Yalu River, near North Korea’s Sinuiju town, 

on Sunday —AP/PTI 

Hundreds pour into Thailand 

after clashes in Myanmar 

Mae Sot: More than 1,000 

Burmese villagers poured 

into neighbouring Thailand 

on Sunday after renewed 

fighting between 

Myanmar’s army and ethnic 

Karen rebels, witnesses and 


About 1,000 villagers 

escaped to the Thai border 

town of Mae Sot, adding to 

200 who fled late on 

Saturday when clashes 

erupted between 

Myanmar troops and militias 

from the Democratic 

Karen Buddhist Army 

(DKBA) for the second time 

this month. 

Fighting broke out in 

two locations on Nov. 8 and 

a splinter faction of the 

Karen group seized parts of 

the Myanmar town of 

Myawaddy. More than 

12,000 people poured into 

Mae Sot and five Thais 

were wounded when 

rocket-propelled grenades 

landed on the other side of 

the border. 

The clashes underline 

tensions between the central 

government and Mya - 

n mar’s many armed ethnic 

groups, which have fought 

for autonomy since independence 

from Britain in 

1948. More than a dozen 

have tenuous ceasefire de - 

als with the government. 

Myanmar’s military 

rulers have demanded the 

ethnic militias disarm and 

join a state-run Border 

Guard Force but most have 

resisted and the larger 

armies are braced for 

offensives, which could 

result in heavy casualties. 

The government denied 

attempts by several leaders 

to form political parties 

to run in the November 7 

election because of their 

refusal to transfer their 

fighters to the BGF. — Reuters 

New York: Wary of suffering 

casualties, the US Army is 

adding new sophisticated 

robots to its ranks to handle 

a broader range of tasks, 

from picking off Taliban 

snipers to serving as indefatigable 

night sentries. 

While smart machines are 

already very much a part of 

modern warfare, the US 

Army and its contractors are 

eager to add more, New York 

Times reported. 

The machines, viewed at a 

“Robotics Rodeo” last month 

at the Army’s training school 

at Fort Benning, Georgia, not 

only protect soldiers, but 

also are never distracted, 

using an unblinking digital 

eye that automatically 

detects even the smallest 

motion. Nor do they ever 

Volcano pushes down 1,000-tonne boulder 

London: An erupting volcano 

forced a gigantic 1,000 

tonne boulder down the 

mountainside onto a valley 

floor in Iceland. 

The huge boulder, standing 

more than 50 feet high, 

dwarfs the landscape where 

it came to rest earlier this 

year. 

Clouds of ash spewing 

from fissures in the volcano 

“There is no question in Prince 

William’s mind that the Prince of 

Wales will be the next monarch,” a 

senior royal aide told The Sunday 

Telegraph. 

“Prince William is aware of the 

caused travel chaos across 

Europe for months as flights 

were grounded and holiday 

makers were left stranded, 

reports the Daily Mail. 

Icelandic photographer 

Ragnar Sigurdsson spent 

weeks capturing the dramatic 

scenes as the volcano 

continued to erupt. He also 

flew over the bubbling 

crater. 

He captured more than 

10,000 images of the volcano 

as red hot lava was thrown 

into the air and compiled 

three book volumes. 

Sigurdsson, 52, chose to fly 

into the epicentre of destruction 

on a mission to record 

the spectacular wrath of one 

of nature’s most deadly 

phenomena. 

He and geologist co-writer 

speculation, but he is very thickskinned. 

He knows his place in the 

royal family and he considers himself 

to be very low down the food 

chain. He has no desire to climb the 

ladder of kingship before his time.” 

Royal sources also said that 

Prince William did not share his late 

mother's view that he is more 

suited to the role of king than the 

Prince of Wales. 

In an interview to the BBC in 

1995, Princess Diana had said that 

the role of king would bring “enormous 

limitations” to Prince Charles, 

and that Prince William may be 

better suited to succeed the Queen 

as monarch. 

“Prince William is enormously 

proud of his mother and all her 

achievements, but that is so far off 

Ari Trausti Gudmundsson 

have now made a selection 

from 10,000 of Ragnar’s pictures 

of the catastrophe. 

Interest generated by their 

first two sell out editions of 

Eyjafjallajokull: Untamed 

Nature, spurred the duo to 

add new personal accounts, 

giving a fresh insight into the 

drama, in their new third 

edition. —IANS 

Let my father become king: Prince William 

what he thinks. He is very close to 

his father and incredibly supportive 

of him and his work as the Prince of 

Wales,” the newspaper quoted a 

royal source as saying. 

“Both of them will let nature take 

its course. There is no suggestion 

from anywhere within the institution 

that a generation will be skip - 

ped.” According to the polls, only 15 

per cent of the public felt that Prince 

Charles, 62, would make a better 

king, while 56 per cent preferred 

Prince William for the top post. 

Royal aides also confirmed that 

William, who works as a searchand-rescue 

helicopter pilot at RAF 

Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, 

will not be stepping up his royal 

duties following his marriage next 

year. —PTI 

residents as many people 

initially thought the explosion 

was due to a bomb. 

Fire trucks sprayed foam 

on the crash site and extinguished 

the blaze after two 

hours. 

The crash was the second 

this month in Karachi and 

the third in Pakistan in less 

than five months. 

On November 5, all 21 

people on board a small aircraft 

chartered by an international 

oil company were 

killed when it crashed 

shortly after taking off from 

Karachi. That aircraft 

crashed within an army ordnance 

depot. —PTI 

High-powered laser blast 

to unblock clogged arteries 

London: In what could drastically 

reduce operation time 

and hospital stays, British scientists 

have developed a new 

high-powered laser which 

they say unblocks clogged 

arteries in just minutes. 

The new procedure 

involved fitting a special 

catheter or tube to a new 

laser called the Excimer that 

blasts tissues into particles 

so small they can only be 

seen under a microscope. 

Trials at University College 

Hospital in London have 

proved the procedure a 

major success as it not only 

reduced operating times but 

also dramatically sped up 

patients’ recovery time. 

The first two patients were 

treated at the hospital in July 

and discharged the next day, 

instead of spending weeks in 

hospital, the Daily Mail 

reported. Around 85,000 

people a year have treatment 

to widen their arteries which 

have been narrowed by cholesterol, 

hypertension and 

diabetes. 

But the common proce- 

panic under fire. 

“One of the great arguments 

for armed robots is 

they can fire second,” said 

Joseph W. Dyer, a former vice 

admiral and the chief operating 

officer of iRobot, which 

makes robots that clear 

explosives. 

When a robot looks 

around a battlefield, he said, 

the remote technician who is 

seeing through its eyes can 

take time to assess a scene 

without firing in haste at an 

innocent person. 

Yet the idea that robots on 

wheels or legs, with sensors 

and guns, might someday 

replace or supplement 

human soldiers is still a 

source of extreme controversy. 

Because robots can 

stage attacks with little 

dure to unblock artery can 

trigger an exaggerated healing 

response where 

unwanted tissue builds up 

on the artery wall, leading to 

excess scarring and renarrowing 

of the artery. The 

small tube, or stent, used to 

widen the artery can also 

becomes blocked. 

At least one in three 

patients who undergo treatment 

end up with a new 

blockage and this puts them 

further at risk of future 

health problems. 

Until now, the only solutions 

available to doctors 

were further operations and 

ultimately complex bypass 

surgery, which is high risk. 

But Dr Joe Brookes and his 

team at University College 

Hospital found the potential 

of a laser technology as a 

revolutionary device to 

unclog arteries. The radiologist 

had already pioneered 

the use of lasers in varicose 

vein surgery and for treating 

secondary liver cancer. 

He says: “It is an incredibly 

difficult treatment to 

immediate risk to the people 

who operate them, opponents 

say that robot warriors 

lower the barriers to warfare, 

potentially making nations 

more trigger-happy and 

leading to a new technological 

arms race. 

“Wars will be started very 

easily and with minimal 

costs” as automation 

increases, predicted Wendell 

Wallach, a scholar at the Yale 

Interdisciplinary Center for 

Bioethics and chairman of its 

technology and ethics study 

group. 

Civilians will be at greater 

risk, people in Wallach’s 

camp argue, because of the 

challenges in distinguishing 

between fighters and innocent 

bystanders. It only 

becomes more difficult 

WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE 

� Pakistani officials at the wreckage site in Karachi, on 

Sunday —AP/PTI 

� Jordan’s Queen Rania at the opening of the first session of the new parliament, in 

Amman, on Sunday —Reuters 

11 

unblock an artery, especially 

if a patient has a stent. 

Before, patients had to spend 

up to ten days in hospital. 

We are talking about those 

who are already frail because 

they may have other serious 

health problems such as 

heart disease. And they 

would be vulnerable to 

infection.” 

With the Excimer laser 

there is no need for further 

surgery. Instead, the device 

vaporises tissue in minbloodutes 

with the help of ultra violet 

light which delivers short 

bursts of energy, he said. 

The light is transmitted 

through 30 glass filaments 

which are guided through 

the blockage in the artery 

with a special catheter called 

the Turbo Elite. 

Once the tissue has been 

blasted away, normal flow is 

restored. Another advantage 

of the laser over traditional 

treatments is that any 

remaining particles are abso - 

rbed into the bloodstream 

and safely passed out of the 

body. —PTI 

Sophisticated robots to assist US army 

when a device is remotely 

operated. 

This problem has already 

arisen with Predator aircraft, 

which find their targets with 

the aid of soldiers on the 

ground but are operated 

from the US. Because civilians 

in Iraq and Afghanistan 

have died as a result of collateral 

damage or mistaken 

identities, Predators have 

generated global opposition 

and prompted accusations of 

war crimes. 

Automation has proved 

vital in the wars America is 

fighting. In the air in Iraq and 

Afghanistan, unmanned aircraft 

with names like 

Predator, Reaper, Raven and 

Global Hawk have kept 

countless soldiers from flying 

sorties. —PTI

12 

Briefly 

India, Syria launch 

joint biz council 

Damascus: India and Syria 

on Sunday launched a Joint 

Business Council to double 

bilateral economic and trade 

volumes with visiting 

President Pratibha Patil saying 

that at current levels 

they were “far below potential”. 

– PTI 

NTPC signs pact 

with MP 

New Delhi: NTPC has inked 

a power purchase agreement 

(PPA) with Madhya 

Pradesh State Power Trading 

Company for sale of power 

from its upcoming facilities 

in Chhattisgarh and Madhya 

Pradesh. NTPC is developing 

Lara Super Thermal Power 

Project in Chhattisgarh and 

Barethi Super Thermal 

Power Project in Madhya 

Pradesh. – PTI 

Toyota gears up 

for Etios launch 

Bangalore: Japanese automobile 

giant Toyota Motor 

Corporation is gearing up for 

the launch of Etios car in 

India on Wednesday with its 

president Akio Toyoda flying 

down for the event. 

Bookings for the car will 

begin on December 1 with 

delivery will start from 

January 1. – PTI 

Interviews for Sebi 

chief on Dec 3 

New Delhi: The government 

may soon decide on the successor 

for Sebi chief C B 

Bhave, with a selection 

panel scheduled to hold 

final interviews on 

December 3. Among those 

short-listed for the post, 

mutual fund industry body 

AMFI’s chairman U K Sinha, 

and corporate affairs secretary 

R Badyopadhyay 

are said to be the top 

contenders for the 

position. – PTI 

Nearly 100 malls 

to come up by ‘12 

New Delhi: Nearly 100 

shopping malls are likely to 

come up by 2012 in seven 

major cities of India on 

expectation of increased 

demand from retailers, 

according to a report from 

property consultant Jones 

Lang LaSalle. – PTI 

CERC hits out at states 

blocking power to grid 

Chennai: Power sector regulator Central 

Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) 

on Sunday warned states including, West 

Bengal, that investments in the sector could 

be hit if they continue to block electricity 

supply to the National Power Grid. 

“States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka 

and West Bengal have blocked access to the 

grid under the Section 11 of the Electricity 

Act 2003. You (states) cannot do that...”, 

CERC chairman Pramod Deo told reporters 

here. 

Certain states have blocked supply access 

to the grid, which runs against the spirit of 

Section 11 of the Electricity Act 2003, he 

said. 

Some of the states had blocked access citing 

power shortage in their respective territories. 

“In Karnataka, the High Court passed that 

order and we have challenged it in the 

Supreme Court. The Central Government 

had also joined in this.. Even Tamil Nadu 

under Sec 11 has blocked access and the 

reason given by the government is shortage,” 

Deo, who was here to participate in All 

India Conference of Chairmen of Central 

and State Electricity Regulatory 

Commissions, said. 

This kind of action by states would result 

in decreased investments, he said. 

“If state governments have a contract or 

Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), they 

cannot break it. But if they do not have a 


BUSINESS 

contract, they can supply for anyone...,” he 

said. 

Deo also opined that each state should 

study availability of power. “You cannot say 

Chennai will get 24 hours power supply and 

a village outside Chennai will have it only 

for four hours. First you should study how 

much electricity is available”. 

He pointed out that it was the duty of the 

regulatory commission and distribution 

company to study the availability of power 

and said only Maharastra is currently following 

it. On the Renewable Energy 

Certificate Regulation, he said it would be 

implemented by January 2011 and the new 

PPA signed later would adhere to it. 

“If you had already signed a PPA, then 

they will still be governed by gross and 

returns. But those PPAs signed after January 

2011 would follow the new norms,” he said. 

However, he clarified that the volume of 

REC that would come up for trading cannot 

be estimated. – PTI 

Houlihan Smith to float 3 

funds, keen on acquisitions 

Madhumita Mookerji 

Kolkata: Houlihan Smith, a 

specialized investment 

banking firm, has major 

plans for panning out in 

India, where it has started 

its operations from May. 

It aims to shortly float 

three India-dedicated funds 

in the areas of manufacturing 

in the small and 

medium sector, managed 

healthcare and renewable 

energy. Speaking exclusively 

to The Bengal Post, 

Jaydip Sinha, managing 

director, Houlihan Smith & 

Co India, said the corpus of 

these funds will be around 

$50 million each for manufacturing 

and managed 

healthcare and $45 million 

for renewable energy. 

Sinha also said the investment 

banking company is 

looking at acquisitions in 

India as a means to growth. 

“We are looking to acquire a 

middle market investment 

banking company in 

India…We can invest 

around $30-40 million 

raised from our profits in 

making the acquisition,” 

Sinha said. 

In India, Sinha said, 

Houlihan is exploring sectors 

like manufacturing, 

telecom and infrastructure. 

In the eastern region the 

focus will be on manufacturing, 

infrastructure, education 

and auto components 

clusters (in 

Jameshedpur, for instance). 

“We are looking at facilitating 

funding of around 

$30-40 million in the eastern 

region in the next one 

year,” Sinha added. 

Nationally, it is looking at 

funding opportunities 

worth $180-200 million. 

Houlihan Smith offers 

financial advisory services 

Know taxes linked to 

your residential status 

Tarun Chaturvedi 

PERSONAL 

MATTERS 

Globally, taxability of an individual is 

linked to the residential status enjoyed by 

him under the domestic tax laws. India is no 

exception to this rule. An individual is taxed 

based on his residential status in India. An 

ordinary resident in India is taxed on his 

global income whereas a non resident Indian 

(NRI) is taxed on only that part of this global 

income which is earned / accrued in India. 

These concepts are generally to be understood 

and put into practice only under expert 

advice but nonetheless an individual should 

be aware of the basic rules and concepts in 

this respect. 

The residential status of an individual in 

India is determined based on the physical 

stay of an individual in the relevant financial 

year (tax year) as well as preceding ten tax 

years. This is particularly relevant in respect 

of Indians working overseas or having 

income/income earning assets outside India. 

Residential Status:- Broadly, and individual 

could be a resident or a non-resident in a particular 

tax year. Once an individual’s residential 

status is determined to be a resident, it is 

further examined whether he is an ordinary 

resident or not an ordinary resident in India. 

Physical Stay- Basic test:- An individual is 

said to be a resident in India if he fulfils any of 

the following two conditions. First, if he is 

present in India for a period of 182 days or 

more in that tax year OR second, if he is present 

in India for a period of 60 days or more 

during the relevant tax year and at least 365 

days or more during the four preceding tax 

years. In case an individual does not satisfy 

any of the above two basic conditions, then 

he is said to be a non-resident. 

Concession for NRIs :- In the case of a citizen 

of India, who leaves India in any tax year 

for the purposes of employment outside 

India, the above said period of 60 days is substituted 

by 182 days. This is particularly beneficial 

for individuals going and working 

overseas in a particular tax year. Similarly, in 

the case of a citizen of India or a person of 

Indian origin who being outside India, comes 

on a visit to India in any tax year, the above 

said period of 60 days is substituted by 182 

days. This is helpful for non-resident Indians 

who visit India for family or other purposes. 

Not Ordinary Resident:- In the case of an 

individual who is a resident, it is to be further 

determined whether he is an ordinary resident 

or not an ordinary resident. A person is 

said to be not ordinary resident if he satisfies 

any of the following additional conditions. 

First, if he has been a non-resident in India in 

nine out of the 10 previous years preceding 

the relevant tax year OR second, if he has 

been in India for 729 days or less in the seven 

tax years preceding the relevant tax year. If 

none of the above two conditions are satisfied, 

then a person is said to be an ordinary 

resident. 

Tax Incidence:- An individual who is an 

ordinary resident is taxable on his worldwide 

income, irrespective of the place of receipt or 

accrual of such income. Thus, broadly speaking, 

rental income, business income, interest, 

dividends, capital gains etc. earned / received 

overseas would be taxable in India. 

In the case of a person who is not 

Ordinarily Resident, any income other than 

income accruing or arising outside India is 

taxable in India. However, in the case of such 

income that accrues or arises outside India is 

derived from a business controlled in or a 

professional set-up in India, then the same 

would also be taxable in India. 

In case an individual is a non-resident, 

then only income received / deemed to be 

received or accrued / deemed to be accrued 

in India is taxable in India. Thus, broadly 

speaking, his overseas income would not be 

taxable in India, provided it is first received 

outside India. 

DTAA:- It is also important to examine the 

conditions laid out under the respective 

Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements 

(DTAAs), also know as treaties, which India 

has entered into with other countries to 

finally determine the taxability or otherwise 

for any particular source of income. 

Generally, the DTAAs provide for taxability of 

income in one country. Else, if the income is 

subject to tax in both the countries, then 

credit could be claimed for tax paid in the 

other country, subject to the prescribed conditions. 

and funding to middle market 

companies (with 

turnover ranging from $5- 

50 million) in the US. In 

India, it is targeting those 

with a topline of at least `10 

crore. 

It advises the top 20 

hedge funds globally. Its 

various activities include 

valuations, mergers and 

acquisitions advisory, corporate 

finance, asset management 

services operational 

restructuring. It also 

manages funds registered 

in tax havens. 

Houlihan Smith recently 

participated in ENGEETECH 

2010 expo and BACE EXPO 

2010 (Building, 

Architectural, Construction 

& Engineering Expo), where 

Sinha spoke on “Business 

growth & financing needs of 

Indian SMEs through middle 

market investment 

banking”. 

DRIVING AHEAD 

Government tightens provident 

fund norms for foreign workers 

New Delhi: India has tightened 

norms for withdrawal 

of provident fund by overseas 

workers employed in 

the country, prohibiting 

them from taking back this 

money until they are 58 

years old or are incapacitated. 

“An international worker 

may withdraw the full 

amount standing to his 

credit in the Fund : a) on 

retirement of services in the 

establishment at any time 

after the attainment of 58 

years, b) on retirement on 

account of permanent and 

total in capacity for work due 

to bodily or mental infirmity,” 

said an amendment 

carried out by the Labour 

Ministry. 

However, analysts said 

that these norms have been 

tightened for those countries 

that don’t have social security 

agreements (SSA) with 

India and the move may 

prompt them to go in for 

such pacts. 

India has such agreements 

with 11 countries, but they 

are effective only with 

Germany and Belgium. 

“In general, international 

workers (IWs) coming from 

non SSA country will not be 

eligible to withdraw their PF 

accumulations before the 

age of 58. This may block 

huge amounts of contributions 

made by IWs and their 

employers,” said Vineet 

Agarwal, Director with consultant 

KPMG. 

This amendment, said 

Agarwal, will cause financial 

hardships to IWs who were 

making contributions to PF 

under the impression that 

they can withdraw the 

money on completion of 

their employment in India. 

The move will prompt 

countries who do not have 

SSAs with India to sign such 

pacts. “The amendment may 

put pressure on the countries 

which have not entered 

� Actress Gul Panag with Ulrich Hackenberg, board member of management of Volkswagen, during the 5th round of 

the Volkswagen-JK Tyre ‘Polo Cup India 2010’, on the outskirts of Chennai on Sunday. – PTI 

German carmakers upbeat on India 


Kolkata: Encouraged by an upbeat 

response from the Indian populace, 

German luxury car makers BMW and 

Volkswagen have chalked ambitious 

growth plans. In October, BMW India 

sold 750 cars in a month, its highest 

ever figure in the world, and expects to 

touch 5,000-6,000 units in November- 

December. Volkswagen too is planning 

to double sales from 19,000 units. 

Maik Stephan, MD, Volkswagen India, 

said: “India and China have been the 

fastest growing market for us. We plan 

to double our sales volume from the 

current 19,000 units in India.” 

“We launched the Vento in August 

this year and the 2T will follow soon,” 

he said at the annual general meeting of 

the Indo-German Chamber of 

Commerce in the city on Saturday. 

The luxury car segment in the country 

is growing at a healthy 60 per cent. 

The company has, meanwhile, 

invested around `3,800 crore at its 

I-T dept introduces new 

number for taxpayers 

New Delhi: Taxpayers will 

now have to procure a ‘new 

number’ for filing returns 

and making any communication 

with the Income Tax 

department. 

The unique Document 

identification number (DIN), 

on the lines of numbers like 

PAN and TAN, will be quoted 

on “every” income taxrelated 

communication, 

including returns to be filed 

next year for the financial 

year 2010-11. 

According to the new 

guidelines brought out by 

the Central Board of Direct 

Taxes (CBDT), the DIN will be 

mandatory “in respect of 

every notice, order, letter or 

any correspondence” with 

the department, by the taxpayers. 

“The DIN will be generated 

by the I-T department and 

will be useful, essentially, for 

error-free filing of tax 

returns, claiming refunds 

and other communication 

with the department by the 

assesses,” a senior Finance 

Ministry official said. 

The ‘Aykar Sampark 

Kendras’ will hand out the 

DIN from this month, the 

official said. 

Assesses will not be put to 

any trouble, as the numbers 

will be generated and allotted 

by the department itself. 

I-T officials will also be 

manufacturing plant at Pune, which has 

an installed capacity of 1.10 lakh units 

per annum. Its plant at Aurangabad is 

used for assembling Skoda and Audi 

models. Audi sold more than 1,600 

units in the country last year. 

Skoda and Audi are the subsidiary 

brands of Volkswagen and are getting a 

hold in the market, whereas 

Volkswagen is a new entrant. However, 

the company is not considering brand 

mergers and wants to create a niche for 

itself. “We will concentrate on increasing 

our volume now,” Stephan said. 

BMW India will expand operations in 

India by opening four more outlets by 

the middle of 2011. This will take the 

company’s network to 22 cities from 18 

at present. BMW sold 3,600 cars in 

2009. Till October this year, it has 

already sold 4,721 units. 

“In November-December, we expect 

to touch 5,000-6,000 units. Our major 

markets here are New Delhi and 

Mumbai, accounting for 70 per cent of 

our total sales,” said Andreas Schaaf, 

They have been prohibited them from 

taking back money until they are 58 

years old or incapacitated. However, 

analysts said these has been done for 

those countries that don’t have social 

security agreements with India 

The document 

identification 

number (DIN), on 

the lines PAN and 

TAN, will be 

quoted on “every” 

income 

tax-related 

communication 

allotted the numbers in 

order to streamline the 

process, the official said, 

adding, the number has to be 

produced thereon for every 

activity with the department. 

Taxpayers and tax collectors 

are currently required to 

quote Permanent Account 

Number (PAN) and Tax 

Deduction and Collection 

Account Number (TAN) 

among others when returns 

are filed. 

According to section 282B 

of the Income Tax Act that 

deals with DIN, if the document 

sent to the tax authority 

does not bear this unique 

computer-generated number 

then “such document, 

letter or any correspondence 

shall be treated as invalid 

and shall be deemed never 

to have been received.” 

DIN is aimed at bringing 

more transparency in tax 

administration. 

A taxpayer deals with the 

department for various other 

financial services, which DIN 

will help to ease, the official 

said. – PTI 

president, BMW India. 

In Kolkata, it has sold 160 units. But 

the market is growing ‘by leaps and 

bounds’. “Our current market share is 

39 per cent, at par with Mercedes Benz, 

India. During December-January, we 

will launch three new models including 

the X3,” he said. 

It will introduce a pre-owned car 

business with the launch of BMW premium 

selection by the end of 2010 and 

open for the first time in the luxury car 

segment in India, ‘exclusive’ pre-owned 

car showrooms in Gurgaon, Mumbai 

and Chennai. 

The BMW plant at Chennai produces 

the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series sedans 

and now will produce the new BMW 

X1. The plant can produce 5,400 units 

per year on a single shift basis. “We will 

go for a second shift as demand grows. 

We have purchased an additional 18 

acres at an investment of `0.9 billion for 

further expansion. Our Indian investments 

stand at `1.8 billion, inclusive of 

the above,” Schaaf said. 

into SSAs till date, to now 

enter into such agreements 

with India,” Agarwal said. 

The tax consultancy firm 

Deloitte said the amendments 

will raise the cost 

structure of these workers in 

India. 

“This amendment will 

inflate the cost structure of 

Indian assignment of IWs 

and the employers will have 

to factor this additional cost 

in their financial budget,” it 

said in a statement here. 

IWs were earlier not covered 

under the Employees’ 

Provident Fund Scheme. In 

October 2008, India made 

changes in the scheme by 

bringing them under the 

purview of social security 

regime. 

Accordingly, IWs and the 

employers for whom they 

are working in India are 

required to make social security 

contributions. – PTI 

Market not 

to impact 

Godrej 

Properties 

Sandhya Sutodia 

Kolkata: Godrej Properties 

(GPL), a Mumbai-based real 

estate development company, 

plans to go ahead with 

its 82 million square feet in 

the next few years, despite a 

volatile market. 

Against the backdrop, 

where realty stocks are tumbling 

in choppy market, 

Milind Korde, managing 

director, GPL, told The Bengal 

Post: “The market is driven 

by its own forces. Due to the 

joint venture model we follow, 

there will be no impact 

of the liquidity crisis on us. 

We are working as per our 

plans.” 

Godrej is developing projects 

in 11 cities, which are at 

various stages of development. 

Korde said: “The 

demand for residential properties 

is strong. 

The parent, Godrej 

Industries, holds 80.26 per 

cent in the company. 

Some of the new projects 

being developed by the company 

include the Godrej 

Avalon at Mangalore, Godrej 

Frontier, Gurgaon, the second 

phase of a residential 

project in Bengal at Sodepur, 

which is five times bigger 

than the first one of four lakh 

square feet. Meanwhile, it 

also is developing Waterside 

and Genesis at Salt Lake’s 

Sector V. 

GPL, which has tied up 

with Larsen and Turbo for 

civil work in projects across 

the country, reported a net 

profit of Rs 122.81 crore in 

the 2009-10 (Rs 74.68 crore 

in 2008-09). 

Sahara 

rebuts 

Sebi order 

New Delhi: Stung by market 

regulator Sebi’s ban on its 

firms and supremo Subrata 

Roy from raising money 

from the public, the Sahara 

Group today dubbed the 

order as “irresponsible” and 

said it will soon challenge 

the order that reflected 

“malice and bias” on the part 

of officials. 

“Sebi has pushed us 

against the wall, that is why 

in the interest, image and 

goodwill of entire Sahara 

India Pariwar, we have been 

forced to come out with all 

the details... Now we shall 

soon appeal against Sebi’s 

action at an appropriate 

forum,” the group said in 

full-page advertisements in 

national newspapers. 

“... Certain individuals 

occupying their office (Sebi 

officials) act with malice and 

biased approach which serve 

no public good and earn only 

a bad name,” Sahara India 

said in its campaign, which 

has was launched within 

days of the order that barred 

and questioned the raising of 

funds by two group entities 

through a debenture instrument. 

– PTI


BUSINESS 

Disgorgement body in the works 

New Delhi: In the wake of various 

financial frauds, including the 

`14,000 crore Satyam scam, the government 

is planning to set up an 

authority to compensate duped 

investors by recouping money from 

fraudsters. 

The disgorgement authority, 

which will be under the administrative 

control of the Corporate Affairs 

Ministry, was mooted in the aftermath 

of various stock market scams 

in which small investors lost crores 

of rupees. 

Disgorgement, as a financial term, 

means the forced giving up of profits 

obtained illegally or unethically. 

The Companies Bill 2009 has provisions 

for strengthening the disgorgement 

clause, which is at present 

“not precise” and “left to individual 

interpretation”, according to a 

senior official of the MCA. 

“What we are planning is to set up 

a body, in the lines of the Serious 

Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), 

whose main purpose will mainly be 

to trace and collect money from 

wrongdoers and distribute it among 

the duped investors,” the official 

said. 

Clause 33 of the new Companies 

Bill “seeks to provide that any person 

who makes, abates making of an 

Sebi draft proposals getting 

lukewarm public response 

New Delhi: Poor public participation 

in stock market 

has always been a concern 

for the regulators, but even 

poorer seems to be the 

response to key draft regulations 

that are put out for 

public comments before 

becoming laws. 

A high-level committee 

formed by capital market 

regulator Sebi last week submitted 

its recommendations 

on changes in ownership and 

governance norms for stock 

exchanges and other market 

infrastructure institutions 

after analysing the comments 

from the public and 

various market players. 

However, the recommendations 

that suggested 

sweeping changes in the way 

stock exchanges are owned 

and earn profits among other 

issues were arrived at after 

only 29 responses received 

by the Sebi committee in 

over six months. 

The number of responses 

were even less than the total 

number of questions posed 

by the committee in a questionnaire 

it had put out for 

application in fictitious name or 

makes or abates making of multiple 

applications or otherwise induces 

companies to allot shares in fictitious 

name, shall be punishable with 

imprisonment and with fine. 

“The clause further provides that 

Court may order disgorgement of 

any such gain and seizure and disposal 

of such securities.” 

As per the present company law, 

the penalty for duping an investor is 

a maximum of two years’ imprisonment, 

or a fine of `5,000 or both. 

Following scam unearthed by Sebi 

in IPOs of 21 companies during 

2003-05, the market regulator has 

Sandhya Sutodia 

Kolkata: West Bengal may 

have another reason for celebration 

as it is almost ready 

with the Durgapur incubation 

centre, which is set to be 

inaugurated on Monday, 

with the one at Siliguri to follow 

soon. 

The West Bengal 

Electronics Industry 

Development Corporation 

(Webel)-promoted incubation 

centres, being set up as 

part of the overall policy of 

developing technology parks 

in smaller cities, is the first 

such in tier-II and III cities 

across the state. The small 

and medium enterprises 

intending to set up their 

establishments there will be 

given built-up space with 

plug-and-play facilities to 

start their operations. 

The IT department had 

only 181 acres allotted to it 

till 2006, but now it has 

another 300 acres in 

Rajarhat, 130 acres in 

Bantala, 10 acres in 

Nonadanga and three acres 

each in Durgapur and 

Siliguri. 

Medical tech to see high growth 


Mumbai: Owing to strong 

economic growth, higher 

public spending and private 

investments in healthcare, 

the Indian medical technology 

industry is expected to 

grow from $2.75 billion in 

2008 to $14 billion in 2020, 

says Federation of Indian 

Chambers of Commerce and 

Industries’ and 

Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ 

latest report. 

The Ficci-PwC report on 

‘Medical Technology in 

India: Enhancing Access to 

Healthcare through 

public comments. 

Besides ownership and 

profitability of the bourses, 

the recommendations were 

also made on issues like listing 

of the bourses, their regulatory 

role, foreign shareholding 

as also appointment 

and remuneration for the top 

management personnel. 

Similarly, another key regulation 

recently framed by 

the Sebi was allowing the 

retail investors to invest up 

to `2 lakh in initial public 

offers, while doubling the 

limit from `1 lakh earlier. 

The proposal for this was 

also put out for public comments, 

but a decision was 

taken only on the basis of 21 

favourable comments as 

against as many as 260 comments 

made against increasing 

the limit. Sebi justified 

the decision of going against 

the majority on the ground 

that bulk of negative comments 

appeared to be coming 

from one or two sources. 

On the other hand, the 

Sebi committee on ownership 

and governance of market 

infrastructure institu- 

Innovation’ notes that success 

in medical technology 

innovation would be 

dependent on five pillars--powerful 

financial incentives, 

creating capacity for 

quality research, supportive 

regulatory system, demand 

and supply of health services 

and a supportive investment 

community. 

According to a survey conducted 

for nine countries -- 

America, United Kingdom, 

Germany, France , Japan, 

Israel, India, China and Brazil 

-- the advanced economies 

do not have the need for frugal 

innovation, hence the 

tions received total 29 

responses to its questionnaire, 

including five from 

nation-wide and regional 

stock exchanges, seven from 

associations and four from 

market intermediaries. 

Responses came from only 

one domestic institutional 

investor, one investor association 

and six individuals. 

Industry experts said that 

the regulator needed to mull 

over ways to improve the 

public response to its draft 

proposals and the same 

could be done with ways like 

putting out the draft proposals 

mandatorily in the newspapers 

and other publications 

rather than only on the 

Sebi website. 

The regulator could consider 

taking steps for 

increasing the awareness 

about public comments 

alongside the initiatives 

about expanding the 

investor participation in the 

market, they added. 

An estimated one per cent 

population of the country is 

only said to be present in the 

capital market. – PTI 

epicenter of the innovation 

ecosystem is shifting 

towards emerging 

economies India and China. 

Also emerging economies 

will have a higher spending 

on R&D in the future that 

will provide the trigger for 

innovation. 

The report reveals that 

medical technology market 

commercialisation opportunity 

in India (both current 

and future) is the highest 

among the countries surveyed, 

indicating a pressing 

need for medical technology 

innovation to meet the 

demands of the local market. 

come out with a mechanism of disgorgement. 

In April this year, Sebi began with 

disbursing about `23 crore to 12.75 

lakh investors from the amount disgorged 

in the IPO scam. The money 

was distributed to the unsuccessful 

IPO applicants in 21 IPOs. 

In April 2006, Sebi investigations 

found irregularities in allotment of 

shares to retail investors in 21 IPOs 

including that of IDFC, NTPC, TCS, 

YES Bank and Suzlon Energy. 

In November 2006, Sebi passed a 

disgorgement order, estimating the 

amount to be collected at `115.82 

crore. – PTI 

Incubation unit set 

to start operation 

The report further notes 

that the government needs 

to take a leading role in 

addressing the bottlenecks 

that plague medical technology 

innovation. 

The industry will see 

greater support from the 

investment community 

through funding from venture 

capital, private equity, 

etc. 

The Ficci-PwC report further 

suggests that public 

spending in healthcare 

should increase from 1 per 

cent of gross domestic product 

(GDP) to 3 per cent of 

GDP. 

“We are ready to employ 

600 people directly in the 

Durgapur IT Park spread 

across 56,000 square feet 

(sq.ft.) on three acres, to be 

inaugurated on November 

29,” Debesh Das, IT minister 

told The Bengal Post. 

This project, which 

entailed an investment of Rs 

20 crore, will be expanded 

up to three lakh sq.ft. at an 

additional investment of Rs 

80 crore and employ 3,000 

people in total, Das said. 

Till now, Itrix Technologies 

is among the three companies 

which has shown interest 

in the hub. 

The six-storied Siliguri 

centre, spread across more 

than 50,000 sq. ft. is also 

ready. Sources said Webel is 

in touch with many companies 

for setting up IT operations 

and Acclaris is planning 

to set up shop here. 

The IT department has 

also identified Kharagpur for 

supporting local call centres. 

“We have taken 3 acres in 

Kharagpur to build an IT park 

at an investment of Rs 100 

crore.. work will start next 

year,” Das said. 

Centre plans study to 

ascertain black money 

New Delhi: After a gap of 25 

years, the government has 

set the ball rolling again for 

estimating black money in 

India as well as the causes of 

its generation and has 

sought proposals from 

national institutes on the 

subject. 

Finance minister Pranab 

Mukherjee has asked four 

institutes to send their suggestions 

for undertaking a 

study to estimate the quantum 

and nature of unaccounted 

money in the country. 

The National Institute of 

Public Finance and Policy 

(NIPFP), the Indian Statistical 

Institute (ISI), the National 

Council for Applied 

Economic Research (NCAER) 

and the National Institute of 

ROADIES 

Financial Management 

(NIFM) were told to submit 

their proposals by the end of 

this month, a key finance 

ministry official said. 

“Such a study would have 

a duration of one year and 

also include officials of the 

Central Board of Direct Taxes 

(CBDT), Central Board of 

Excise and Customs (CBEC), 

Enforcement Directorate and 

the Department of Economic 

Affairs, including the 

Federation of Indian Export 

Organisations,” he said. 

Besides, officials from the 

ministry of home affairs, 

ministry of external affairs, 

the Cabinet secretariat and 

the ministry of statistics and 

programme implementation 

would also be involved. 

The Parliamentary 

13 

Standing Committee on 

Finance had earlier mooted 

the proposal for this kind of 

study. 

The first study on unaccounted 

money was conducted 

way back in 1985. 

The proposal for the new 

study assumes importance 

in the wake of a report by 

Dev Kar, economist from the 

US-based Global Financial 

Integrity, which showed that 

$462 billion (over `20 lakh 

crore) was drained out of the 

country between 1948 and 

2008. 

The report said that nearly 

50 per cent of the total illegal 

outflows have occurred since 

1991 and around a third of 

the money exited the 

country between 2000 and 

2008. – PTI 

� A convoy of some 200 Harley-Davidson bikers from all over the world ride through 

the desert in Wadi Rum, on Saturday, during the 1st annual Harley Davidson rally in 

Jordan. – Reuters 

House panel recommends 

single regulator for ports 

New Delhi: A Parliamentary 

panel has asked the government 

to establish a single 

regulator with quasi- judicial 

mandate for settling disputes 

for all the ports in the 

country. 

Suggesting amendments 

to the Major Port Trust Act, 

1963, the committee of estimates, 

which presented a 

report on the ministry of 

shipping to the Lok Sabha, 

has also asked the government 

to provide a level-playing 

field for country’s ports. 

“A level playing field 

should be there for all ports 

in the country, under a single 

regulator with a quasi-judicial 

mandate for settling disputes,” 

the panel said in its 

report. 

At present, the ports are 

decided into two categories: 

major ports, and minor and 

intermediary ports. 

While the central government 

manages and regulates 

the major ports, the minor 

and intermediate ports are 

administered by state gov- 

I did not need a 

car because I 

already had 

three. But, I was 

completely floored by 

its cute looks. I bought 

it with my own savings. 

The controversy 

surrounding it 

generated interest. But, 

I tell my husband to not 

go beyond 70 kmh. 

Otherwise, I find the 

vehicle extremely 

spacious considering 

its small size. 

ernments of the nine coastal 

states of West Bengal, Orissa, 

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, 

Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, 

Maharashtra and Gujarat. 

According to statistics, 

there are 13 major ports in 

the country including 

Nhava-Sheva, Mumbai, 

Kandla among others that 

are regulated by the Tariff 

Authority of Major Ports 

(TAMP). However, ports controlled 

by the State governments 

are not within the 

purview of TAMP. – PTI 

Nano thinks of out-of-box marketing strategies 

Shaoli Chakrabarty & Madhumita 

Mookerji 

The Nano, India’s iconic small car, 

may have given the Auto Expo in the 

city a miss, but dealers in Kolkata are 

pressing on the sales accelerator 

with never-seen-before marketing 

strategies. 

Eyeing the small-car market in 

Kolkata, which is pegged at 3.5 lakh 

units per month against 8.5 lakh 

units for the entire eastern region, 

the three city dealers are steering 

away from traditional pegs. Novel 

initiatives include displaying the little 

car in various apartment complexes 

and corporate premises to 

ensure that its popularity does not 

skid in a market flooded with 

swanky variants. 

Furthermore, they have joined 

hands for an “exchange mela” where 

they are wooing two-wheeler owners 

to graduate to the Nano. 

“We have had a good response 

and sold 30-odd cars in October 

when Tata Motors declared open 

sales. This month, we expect to sell 

another 40 units through the mela. 

Otherwise, we have been selling 100 

cars a month on an average,” said 

Pradip Jain, proprietor, RD Motors. 

The dealer expects to sell an additional 

100 units in November. Prior 

to open sales, 800 vehicles had been 

delivered from RD Motors. 

Binod Agarwal of Tata Lexus said 

BRAND-WIDTH 

his dealership is exploring tie-ups 

with 14 banks for easy financing 

options to prospective customers – a 

big jump from the initial loan tie-up 

with the State Bank of India. “The 

Grameen Bank has also been roped 

in to cater to rural customers,” 

Agarwal said. 

“Around 2,000 enquiries poured 

in, in October alone. It is difficult to 

say how many of these will actually 

convert into sales, but demand for 

the small car has been growing at 

around 20 per cent per month,” said 

Mahesh Rathi, assistant general 

manager at Lexus. 

Incidentally, the most popular in 

the city is the LX version, comprising 

60 per cent of sales with the CX (20 

per cent) and standard variants 

bringing up the rear. 

According to the Society of Indian 

Automobile Manufacturers, Nano 

features in the mini segment (upto 

3,400mm in length) and has only 

the Maruti 800 from Maruti Suzuki’s 

stable as its competitor. However, 

with sales of the Maruti 800 being 

discontinued in 11 cities under the 

Euro IV norms, which includes the 

major metros, Nano still has an open 

playing field. From April-October 

2009-10, around 10,518 Nanos were 

sold in India compared to 18,980 

Maruti 800s. During the same 

period in 2010-11, about 40,467 

Nanos were on the road against 

14,744 Maruti 800s. 

AUTO-BIOGRAPHY COMPANYSPEAK 

Fuel efficiency 

23.6 km/litre, certified by 

the Automotive Research 

Association of India 

under mandated test 

conditions, the highest 

for any petrol car in 

India. 

Emission 

The Tata Nano is BS-III* 

compliant and BS-IV* 

ready. Also available in 

BS-II* norms. 

Warranty 

18 months or 24,000 km, 

whichever is earlier. 

Tata Motors is not recalling 

Nanos… There are no generic 

defects … We have noticed 

instances of additional foreign 

electrical equipment having 

been installed or foreign material 

left on the exhaust system.. 

We have decided to make the 

car even more robust by providing 

additional protection in 

the exhaust and electrical systems... 

Option lies with our customers 

on whether they would 

like to avail for these measures. 

This will be provided at no cost 

to customers. 

NANOSPEAK 

Debasish Bhaduri 

N K Jain 

(55, professional) 

Kabita Saha 

(62, housewife) 

When some Nanos 

caught fire, the 

company messaged 

me reassuring its 

safety. I have no 

complaints. For a 

middle-class 

background, this car is 

a wonder, but I could 

do with some more 

rear space. We could 

have gone for some 

other small car but my 

daughters 

insisted on 

buying Nano. 

Prabir Bhattacharya 

Tata hits at 

inconsistent, 

bias in govt 

policies 

New Delhi: Severely criticising 

the inconsistencies in 

government policies, industrialist 

Ratan Tata has said 

that India was going against 

former leaders Nehru and 

Indira Gandhi’s idea of being 

self-sufficient. 

Asked if he was seeing 

increasing unpredictability 

in the government policy 

from the point of investors, 

Tata said in an interview to a 

news channel: “Yes I think 

so, I’ve always felt and said 

this openly that behind it is 

not government policy, 

what’s behind it is the vested 

interests.” 

On the usage of natural 

resources, including exports, 

he said: “In fact we are going 

counter many years Mr 

Nehru’s and Mrs Gandhi’s 

national criterion of being 

self-sufficient, where we 

have the capability to be selfsufficient, 

where today we 

can equal the best manufacturing 

facility anywhere in 

the world.” 

Stating that he had told 

the policymakers that 

national resources should be 

one of their key issues, Tata 

said that one of the major 

problems relate to such subjects 

being vested with both 

Centre and states and 

“between them, sometimes 

nothing happens.” 

He also debunked reports 

that the group had paid a 

sizeable amount of money to 

former chief minister of 

Jharkhand Madhu Koda for 

acquisition of mining concessions. 

“It is absolutely untrue. As 

the chairman of Tata steel, I 

can say, we have not done 

any such thing - directly or 

indirectly... Actually we have 

got no leases in his (Koda’s) 

time which should in itself 

be an indication of the veracity, 

or the lack of veracity, of 

the stories being circulated.” 

He replied in the affirmative 

on if he ever regretted 

being in telecom business. 

“Yes, because of inconsistencies 

in the policy... because of 

the bias that exists... yes, 

sometimes I do, but it is a 

great area.” – PTI


SPORTS 

Short 

Takes 

� Tarundeep Rai, who 

won India’s first 

individual Asian Games 

medal in archery in the 

recently-concluded 

Games, at the Kolkata 

airport on Sunday. — BP 

Warm welcome 

for hockey players 

Lahore: The victorious 

Pakistan hockey team that 

won gold at the Asian 

Games in Guangzhou was 

given a warm welcome on 

its return on Saturday night. 

The players were welcomed 

at the Allama Iqbal airport in 

Lahore by the President and 

secretary of the Pakistan 

Hockey Federation besides 

some government officials 

and hundreds of joyous people 

who appeared thrilled to 

greet their heroes. 

Indian polo team 

beats Proteas 

New Delhi: Beginning its 

preparations for the upcoming 

World Cup, India’s Polo 

Team on Sunday recorded a 

convincing 9-6 win over formidable 

South Africa here. It 

was first international match 

that India played in 2010. 

ICC to discuss 

new FTP 

Dubai: A new Future Tours 

Programme Agreement for 

the 2012-2020 period, which 

will incorporate rules and 

regulations of the Test and 

ODI leagues, will come up for 

discussion in the ICC Chief 

Executives’ Committee meeting 

here on Tuesday. The 

chief executives and their 

respective FTP managers will 

work towards implementing 

the new FTP and the Test and 

ODI leagues. 

Lahiri ends at 

tied 21st spot 

Khon Kaen (Thailand): 

Anirban Lahiri was the lone 

Indian to break par with a 

three-under 69 to sign off 

the highest among his com - 

pa triots at tied 21st in the 

Asian Tour’s King’s Cup here 

on Sunday. Lahiri ended his 

campaign with a total of tw - 

o-under 286. Himmat Rai 

was the next best-placed In - 

dian at tied 30th after an ev - 

en-par 72 in the final rou nd 

left his overall total at 288. 

HR department of 

PCB starts inquiry 

Karachi: The human 

resources department of the 

Pakistan Cricket Board has 

been forced to start an 

inquiry against some of its 

senior and regular employees 

after it recently decided 

to retire all permanent 

employees who had attained 

the age of 60 years as per 

service rules. 

Yousuf leaves 

domestic side 

Karachi: Pakistan’s former 

captain and senior batsman, 

Mohammed Yousuf, has left 

his old departmental side, 

Wapda, and joined Lahore 

after fallout with teammate 

Rana Naved. 

AITA tennis 

tournament 

Kolkata: AITA Senior Circuit 

Tennis Tournament 2010 

will begin at Dakshin Kali - 

kata Sansad on November 

29, 2010. The tournament is 

a 1 lakh prize money event, 

attracting veterans from 

Chandigarh, Andhra 

Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, 

Maharashtra, Assam, 

Orissa and Bengal. 

Chirag beat 

George Telegraph 

Kolkata: Chirag United beat 

George Telegraph 1-0 in 

Under-19 Kolkata Premier 

League match. The solitary 

goal was scored by Jagannath 

Oraon of Chirag United. — Our 

Correspondent & Agencies 

FedEx delivers the 

goods in O2 Arena 

� Roger Federer reacts during the final in London on Saturday. — AFP 

London: Roger Federer survived a 

Rafael Nadal fightback to come 

through 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to be crowned 

champion at the ATP World Tour Finals 

at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday. 

The match went with serve until 

Federer sparked to life to break the 

eighth game and serve out for the first 

set. Momentum swung back with the 

Spaniard breaking to lead 3-1 in the 

next and he powered on to take it to a 

decider. Back came the sizzling Swiss 

to break the tiring world No. 1 twice 

and he stayed calm to serve for victory. 

Earlier, Federer beat Novak Djokovic 

6-1, 6-4 in the second semi-final, a 

decent match that was a mere footnote. 

Some will cite Djokovic’s win 

over Federer in the semi-final of the US 

Open as the equal of this 13th meeting 

between Nadal and Murray (the 

Spaniard leads 9-4). 

Others were held spellbound by 

Nadal's win over Robin Soderling in 

London: Roger Federer 

began 2010 in devastating 

fashion and is ending it in 

unstoppable fashion too, 

according to Novak Djokovic 

who was thrashed by the 

Swiss in the semi-fnals of the 

ATP World Tour Finals on 

Saturday. 

The Swiss made light work 

of world No. 3 Djokovic with 

31 winners during a 6-1, 6-4 

victory that set up a dream 

final against Rafael Nadal, 

with both players gunning 

for the $1.6 million jackpot 

for an undefeated champion. 

Federer did not drop a set 

in his round-robin victories 

over world No. 7 David 

Ferrer, No. 5 Andy Murray 

and No. 4 Robin Soderling 

but he went up another level 

against the unfortunate 

Djokovic. “Every ball kind of 

Milan: Dejan Stankovic set alight a 

freezing San Siro with his first three 

goals of the Serie A season in Inter 

Milan’s remarkable 5-2 win over 

Parma on Sunday, their first league 

victory in a month. 

The champions have struggled so 

far this term with injuries and form 

but the pressure on coach Rafael 

Benitez was further eased by a battling 

if fortunate win which sent his 

side up to fifth pending Sunday’s 

later games. Inter now trail leaders 

AC Milan by seven points after their 

city rivals drew 1-1 at Sampdoria 

on Saturday, giving second-placed 

Lazio the chance to cut the gap at 

the top to a point with a home win 

over Catania. 

Former Inter forward Hernan 

Crespo gave Parma an early lead 

and struck again after two carbon 

the French Open final, as brutal and 

one-sided a public beating as the king 

of clay has ever administered. 

Murray himself might have touched 

these heights beating Nadal in the hurricane-interrupted 

semi-final of the US 

Open in 2008. (The untouchable 

Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final of 

2008 probably stands apart from all of 

them.) But even those contests did not 

contain so many breathtaking winners 

and outlandish saves, nor as much 

seat-gripping drama as the first semifinal 

at the O2 Arena on Saturday afternoon, 

as two friends and rivals 

stretched each other to the very limits 

of their abilities. 

“It was a great match,” Murray 

said, almost redundantly. “Today is 

why I play tennis. I probably played 

one bad game the whole match, or 

maybe just a couple of bad points. 

Whether it's the best match I played 

and lost, I don't know. 

listens to him,” Serbia’s 

Djokovic, who can now concentrate 

on next week’s 

Davis Cup final against 

France, told reporters. “I 

think he was playing unbelievable 

from the first 

moment. 

“He was playing smart. He 

was coming in. He didn’t give 

copy Stankovic efforts and Esteban 

Cambiasso’s goal. 

Thiago Motta and Stankovic 

sealed the win after the break. 

“It’s our fault they were still in 

the game. We started badly and 

conceded the goal but showed a 

great reaction,” Serbia midfielder 

Stankovic said. 

Inter ultras also came late in 

protest at the government’s imposition 

of electronic supporter cards 

to track hooligans and most missed 

Crespo’s opener for Parma when he 

flicked in at the near post after just 

four minutes with the home 

defence nowhere. 

The hosts qualified for the 

Champions League last 16 on 

Wednesday with a nervous 1-0 win 

over Twente Enschede which they 

hoped would be the turning point 

me any time to try to get into 

the match. In just half an 

hour, it was already 6-1.” 

The 29-year-old Federer, 

bidding for a recordequalling 

fifth title at the 

year-ending showpiece, produced 

a Saturday night feast 

for the 17,500-capacity 

crowd at London’s O2 Arena. 

Djokovic was troubled by 

his contact lenses during a 

group phase defeat by Nadal, 

complaining after that it was 

impossible to play the 

Spaniard with one eye. 

He would have needed 

eyes in the back of his head 

to keep track of the winners 

that flew off Federer’s racket. 

The writing was on the 

wall for Djokovic when he 

dropped his first service 

game and he never really 

recovered despite a brief 

“I was very disappointed with the 

way I played against Roger [Federer, on 

Tuesday]. The match today is how I 

want to play all the time.” 

That would be asking a lot of anyone. 

As Nadal saw it: “I am very happy to 

beat a great champion like Andy. He 

can do everything: his serve at times 

was unstoppable, his defence was 

unbelievable, he's very fast, he sees 

the balls very quick — before the rest 

of the players.” 

He did not say if Murray should be 

fitted for a cape and underpants but he 

was getting there. As for the final 

against the other superman, he said: 

“Right now, I am very tired. But every 

day, I have played better and better.” If 

he improves much more, he will be 

ready to fly to the moon and back. 

Nadal has won six of his last seven 

matches against Federer but, indoors, 

this is still a tough call. 

Federer said: “[Nadal] has proven 

again how good he is under pressure. It 

was a pity, obviously, for Murray.” 

Bhupathi-Mirnyi lose 

The season-ending championship 

title eluded Mahesh Bhupathi yet 

again as the Indian Davis Cupper and 

his partner Max Mirnyi lost the summit 

clash of the World Tour Finals to 

Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 

here on Sunday. 

The third seed Bhupathi-Mirny 

player lost the close championship 

match 6-7, (7-6), 4-6 to the second 

seed Canadian-Serbian combination in 

one hour and 21 minutes. 

Bhupathi and Mirnyi, who came into 

the prestigious tournament after winning 

the Paris Masters, had reached 

the final for the first time together. 

Bhupathi had earlier ended runnersup 

at the Tour Finals in 1997, 1999 and 

2000 with Leander Paes. 

He had qualified for the elite eightteam 

competition with Mirnyi in 2003 

and 2004 but could never crossed the 

group stage. 

Bhupathi and Mirnyi would have 

liked to end their partnership with 

year-end championship victory. 

Bhupathi has announced he will yet 

again team up with Paes for the initial 

part of the 2011 season while Mirnyi 

will pair with Nestor. 

They had reunited for the 2010 season 

for the first time since 2004. They 

reached five finals, including four ATP 

World Tour Masters 1000 event and 

won the lone title in Paris. 

In the final on Sunday, Bhupathi and 

Mirnyi had two break chances in the 

opening set but could convert none 

and that cost them as they went to 

concede the lead by losing the tiebreaker. 

Nestor and Zimonjic though 

did not miss out on their chance as 

they broke Bhupathi and Mirnyi in one 

of the two chances in the second set 

and maintained the lead to pocket the 

title. — The Observer & Agencies 

fightback against the Swiss 

who won this year’s Aust - 

ralian Open but who has sin - 

ce been overshadowed by 

Nadal. Federer trailed 0-3 in 

the second set but that just 

provided a platform for the 

16-times grand slam champion 

to unleash his full arsenal 

as he won six of the next 

seven games with a series of 

irresistible winners. 

He sealed victory with 

another graceful swish of his 

right arm to send a service 

winner whizzing past his 

opponent. 

Earlier, Nadal fought his 

way past Britain’s Andy 

Murray in a three-hour tussle 

and Federer will start as 

favourite in Sunday’s final 

which will be only the second 

time the two players 

have met this year. — Reuters 

for their lacklustre season. 

However, Parma’s opening burst 

put the pressure back on the 

injury-hit treble winners, who 

were playing with the out-of-form 

Goran Pandev upfront alone given 

Samuel Eto’o’s suspension. 

VERTICAL LIMIT 

� Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic jumps in the qualification round at the World Cup 

ski jumping event at Ruka ski resort near Kuusamo, in Finland, on Saturday. — Reuters 

EB all set for Super Cup 

Our Correspondent were outdone by Chirag ers in the I-League. Seemingly 

United in the semi-finals. confident coach is slightly 

Kolkata: The 32-time Cal - East Bengal have 43 points worried about the injuries in 

cutta Football League Cham - from 15 matches in the CFL the East Bengal camp. “Perf - 

pions East Bengal are bub- (win-14, draw-1). They also ormance has been pleasing so 

bling with confidence as th - have the Federation Cup far, but I am little worried ab - 

ey head for the Super Cup Trophy 2010 in their cup- out the injuries in the camp. 

encounter against Dempo on board, where they beat the Tolgay won’t be available for 

Monday. East Bengal will arch rivals Mohun Bagan 1-0. Super Cup due to knee injury. 

play Dempo in Gurgaon on With a remarkable perform- There are few other injuries 

December 1. 

ance this season they would as well…hope they will 

Coach Trevor Mo rgan, who look to go for the kill against recover soon,” the coach said. 

seemed very im pressed with Dempo in the Super Cup. Among the other players 

the performance of his wards Though it will be a good who are injured are Nirmal 

in the Calcutta Football League, outing for East Bengal ahead Chettri, Uga Okpara, R 

sang praises of his prospective of the I-League (starts on Vashum, Sushanth Mathew, 

op ponent, terming them a De cember 3), but the coach Orji Penn, Bikash Narjinary, 

“very good side”. “Well, we is little disappointed with and Saumik Dey. Tolgay and 

haven’t seen them play in the the ti ght schedule at hand. Narjinary won’t be a part of 

Fed eration Cup. But we have to “It would have been good the Super Cup Team, while 

be cautious as they are a str ong had we got a week’s time for the others will travel. 

side. They have good pl ay ers practice before the I-League. Meanwhile, East Bengal 

like Ranty Martins and Be to The inte nse schedule takes a celebrated their 32nd CFL 

who have the ability to up set toll on the players,” Morgan victory at the club premises 

any team,” Morgan said. added. 

on Sunday. A flag hoisting 

It has been terrific season He however rated East ceremony was held with the 

for East Bengal baring the Ben gal and Mohun Bagan as club officials, players and 

Durand Cup, where they the top-five team among oth- fans present. 

Federer scaling new heights: Djokovic Advani & boys feted 

� Roger Federer 

for medal haul 

Bangalore: Thanks to their 

rich medal haul in the 

Guangzhou Asian Games, 

cueists Pankaj Advani, Alok 

Kumar and Yasin Merchant, 

among others, were on 

Sunday honoured at a felicitation 

programme organised 

by the Billiards & Snooker 

Federation of India (BSFI) 

and Karnataka State Billiards 

Association (KSBA). 

Advani was awarded a 

cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh for winning 

the billiards gold; 

Aditya Mehta, Brijesh 

Damani and Yasin Merchant 

walked away with Rs 75,000 

for securing silver in the 

snooker team event, while 

Aditya Mehta (snooker singles) 

and Alok Kumar (8 ball 

Juventus stayed third after 

Napoli went down 3-1 at Udinese 

where Naples-born Antonio Di 

Natale refused to celebrate after 

hitting his second hat-trick of the 

campaign. 

Bari stayed bottom after 14 

games following a 1-1 draw 

with promoted Cesena while 

Cagliari beat struggling Lecce 

3-2. Bologna, awaiting a possible 

points deduction for 

financial irregularities, tried 

to get their game with Chievo 

on but heavy snowfall meant 

the match was postponed 

just before kickoff. 

Snow also hit Brescia but 

their 0-0 draw with Genoa 

went ahead after a short 

stoppage to paint the 

lines red. – Reuters 

pool) pocketed Rs 25,000 

each for bagging bronze. 

Damani was not present 

because he was indisposed. 

Merchant dedicated the 

medal to KSBA and 

expressed gratitude for the 

preparatory camp, which 

helped the team perform 

better in Guangzhou. He said 

the camp was of “highest 

order”, “perfectly and 

methodically organised”. 

Merchant also said that 

Kumar was a revelation in 

the Games. “Alok Kumar's 

medal was bigger than all of 

ours,” he said, a view echoed 

by Advani. “I totally agree 

Alok's performance stood 

out in the cue sports,” Advani 

added. — PTI 

Stankovic scores three in Inter Milan win 

Former Inter forward 

Hernan Crespo gave 

Parma an early lead 

and struck again 

after two carbon copy 

Stankovic efforts 

and Esteban 

Cambiasso’s goal 

� Dejan Stankovic (right) and Thiago 

Motta at San Siro on Sunday. — AFP 

Bagan coach 

promises 

turnaround 


Kolkata: Mohun Bagan 

coach Stanley Rozario and 

his boys are ready to leave 

the disappointments behind, 

as they prepare to launch 

themselves with renewed 

vigour for the I-League. 

“We didn’t perform to our 

potential in the derby match, 

but we look to fight back 

with the same team in the I- 

League. We will regroup and 

prepare ourselves for the I- 

League afresh. Our confidence 

level is quite high and 

we will comeback hard. I still 

believe we couldn’t win the 

finals of the Federation Cup 

due to referee’s wrong decision,” 

Stanley said. 

Coach Stanley Rozario and 

Debashish Dutta did some 

pep-talk with the players for 

one-and-half hour at the club 

premises on Sunday, analyzing 

the strengths and weaknesses. 

All the players were 

present, they all participated 

in the session. Bagan had a 

reasonable outing this season, 

reaching the finals of the 

Federation Cup and finishing 

second on CFL rankings. 

Asked if any alterations will 

be made in the team, he said 

all the players will be retained 

and no changes will be made 

before the I-League. On Diam - 

ondstar’s prospects, he said 

“Diamondstar is under rehabilitation 

and is recuperating 

fast.” Asked if the negatives 

were discussed, Stanley said: 

“Every small mistake in a 

derby match looks big. But th - 

ere are certain areas we wo - 

uld like to improve upon.”


SPORTS 

Lennon’s instant karma breaks Reds hearts 

� Tottenham Hotspurs’ Aaron Lennon (centre) shoots past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina during their EPL match on Sunday. — AFP 

Alice Springs 

best in 

1000 Guineas 

Our Racing Correspondent 

Kolkata: Alice Springs justified 

the support while easily 

winning the Calcutta 1000 

Guineas (Grade III), the first 

classic of the winter racing 

season, here on Sunday aft - 

er noon. The Razeen-Allinda 

filly, trained by Pesi Shroff, 

was looking outstanding in 

the paddock parade. Visiting 

jockey C D Hayes, the other 

professional associated with 

the success of Alice Springs, 

gave a peach of a ride to the 

Vijay Mallya-owned filly. 

Allowing Alice Springs to 

race in the mid-bunch, Hayes 

accelerated after the 600m 

marker and took the lead 

once the field entered the 

final stretch run. 

He had to ride her out, 

without pressing the alarm 

button, to ward off the challenge 

of Kamlesh on 

Amouresque. 

Trainer Pesi Shroff won on 

all the three races where he 

had runners. His Eros was 

withdrawn in the second 

race of the day. Hayes finished 

with a double. 

Apprentice Shezad Khan also 

scored a double. 

Results & dividends 

1st race: ANDROMACHE (P 

Kamlesh) 1, Avon Creek 2, All 

Diamonds 3. Won by 4.25l, 7.5l; 2m 

9.839s (W) 15 (SHP) 21 (P) 10,13,27 

(Q) 18 (T) 142. 2nd race: LAKE 

SPIRIT (P Cilhane) IL Shershah 2, 

Accoast 3.Not run: Eros. Won by Sh 

hd, 8.25l; 1m 15.609s (W) 24 (SHP) 

68 (P) 12,18,13 (Q) 101 (T) 315. 3rd 

race: REAMS OF GOLD (Shezad 

Khan) 1, Diyena 2, Torrential 3. Won 

by Nk, 5.25l; 1m 15.963s (W) 40 

(SHP) 276 (P) 17,108,19 (Q) 1,314 (T) 

10,305. 4th race: CONQUISTAROSE 

(Shezad Khan) 1, River Pride 2, 

Secret Gallop 3. Won by Nose, 6.75l; 

1m 15.915s (W) 25 (SHP) 34 (P) 

12,11,30 (Q) 19 (T) 194. 5th race: 

DELPHI (Kishore Kadam) 1, Missoni 

2, Oceanaire 3. Won by 3.25l, 4l; 1m 

14.974s (W) 16 (SHP) 61 (P) 13,16,11 

(Q) 49 (T) 180. 6th race: MANDIRA 

(Babu Singh) 1, Brave Move 2, 

Rebellious 3. Won by 4l, 0.75l; 1m 

14.733s (W) 79 (SHP) 363 (P) 

19,72,35 (Q) 2,213 (T) 31,883. 7th 

race: GENEROUS THOUGHT (Nir - 

mal Jodha) 1, Avesco 2, Awesome 

Indian 3. Won by 2.75l, 2l; 1m 

27.549s (W) 51 (SHP) 60 (P) 

24,21,30 (Q) 117 (T) 1,917. 8th race: 

The Calcutta 1000 Guineas (Grade 

III): 1,600m: ALICE SPRINGS (CD 

Hayes) 1, Amouresque 2, Hillary 3. 

Won by 2l, 3.25l; 1m 39.431s (W) 

16 (SHP) 27 (P) 14,17 (Q) 21 (T) 66. 

9th race: CAMBIASSO (CD Hayes) 1, 

Adriano 2, Aamar Kaku 3. Won by 

4l, 0.75l; 1m 39.445s (W) 15 (SHP) 

31 (P) 10,22,18 (Q) 33 (T) 103. 

Jackpot: 2,091 (con) 553; Trebles: 

(1st) 509 (2nd) 492 (3rd) 151. 

Villarreal stay in the hunt 

with win at Zaragoza 

Barcelona: Villarreal trimmed the gap to 

second-placed Barcelona to four points after 

fine goals from Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla 

and Nilmar helped them to a 3-0 win over 

10-man Real Zaragoza on Saturday. 

Champions Barca host unbeaten leaders 

Real Madrid at the Nou Camp on Monday 

and third-placed Villarreal seized their 

chance to cut the advantage held by the big 

two before the eagerly-anticipated “Clasico”. 

Pablo Osvaldo’s superb volley gave 

Espanyol a 3-2 win at Atletico Madrid that 

cemented the Barcelona-based club’s hold 

on fourth, two points behind Villarreal, 

while Sevilla squandered the lead and lost 3- 

1 at home to Getafe and stay in seventh. 

Former Spain international Senna put 

Villarreal ahead in the ninth minute at the 

Romareda with a crisply-struck drive that 

flew through a crowd of players and fizzed 

past goalkeeper Leo Franco into the top corner. 

Cazorla added a second nine minutes 

later with a clever lob and Brazilian Nilmar 

put the game beyond Zaragoza’s reach with 

a neat finish in the 65th. Zaragoza defender 

Matteo Contini was dismissed moments 

before Nilmar’s goal after picking up a second 

yellow card. 

Atletico fell behind at a chilly Calderon 

when the referee ruled Jose Antonio Reyes 

had handled in the penalty area and 

Espanyol captain Luis Garcia thundered the 

spot kick in off the underside of the crossbar. 

Tiago levelled for the home side on the 

stroke of halftime, roofing the ball after his 

initial header was saved by Cameroon 

keeper Carlos Kameni. 

Joan Verdu fired Espanyol back in front 

shortly after the break only for Sergio 

Aguero to level after he was played in by 

strike partner Diego Forlan. 

Atletico keeper David De Gea got hands to 

Osvaldo’s powerful volley with just over 10 

minutes left but could only divert the ball up 

and into the net. — Reuters 

� Villarreal’s Nilmar after scoring 

against on Saturday. — AFP 

Bremen end 

freefall with 

3-0 win 

Berlin: Werder Bremen’s 

Hugo Almeida scored a hattrick 

and was then sent off 

during his team’s 3-0 win 

over St Pauli on Sunday 

which stopped a freefall that 

had sent them tumbling 

down the Bundesliga table. 

Portugal international 

Almeida needed only a 

minute to score Werder’s 

first goal of November in all 

competitions when he 

caught the St Pauli defence 

napping. 

He doubled the lead in the 

20th minute when Marko 

Marin broke quickly to send 

the striker through, and 

notched his hattrick in the 

64th, slotting through St 

Pauli keeper Thomas 

Kessler's legs for his ninth 

goal of the season. 

St Pauli, who hit the woodwork 

twice in the game, 

were also left with 10 men 

after Markus Thorandt got 

his marching orders for a 

two-footed flying tackle on 

Werder captain Torsten 

Frings in the 90th minute. 

On Saturday, Borussia 

Dortmund cruised past bottom-placed 

Borussia 

Moenchengladbach 4-1 to 

remain seven points clear of 

Mainz. 

Bayern Munich moved up 

to fifth spot on 23 points 

after crushing Eintracht 

Frankfurt 4-1. — Reuters 

Andrew Anthony 

T 

he giant modernist headquarters of 

Fifa, the governing body of world foot- 

ball, makes for an imposing sight 

above the centre of Zurich. Housing about 

300 employees, it is encased in a kind of 

gauze shield that symbolises what many 

observers see as the organisation’s impenetrability 

and detachment. 

This temple of intrigue and machination 

sometimes appears to combine the bureaucratic 

obfuscation of Brussels with the paranoid 

control of the Moonies. This week, 

however, its opaque working habits will be 

placed under an unwanted spotlight. 

On Thursday members of its executive 

committee vote to decide which nations 

will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup 

finals. But before that international 

bonanza, there is the awkward matter of 

tomorrow’s Panorama investigation entitled 

“ ”Fifa’s Dirty Secrets”. 

The programme is expected to add to the 

recent revelations about vote-selling and 

corruption that led to the suspension of two 

Fifa delegates. The timing, three days before 

the vote, has brought despairing complaints 

from the team behind the England bid to 

stage the 2018 tournament. 

They fear a backlash from committee 

members will mean England, which last 

hosted a World Cup in 1966, will lose out to 

a nation — perhaps Russia – with a less 

inquisitive media. 

The voting system for selecting the World 

Cup hosts has long been cause for embarrassment. 

Fifa had, for example, intended 

the 2006 finals to be played in South Africa, 

but a narrow vote was swung in Germany’s 

favour when the New Zealand Fifa member, 

Mourinho ready to raid Nou Camp 

Sid Lowe 

they were spread across the barely better than Beelzebub. and many feared that his foot- by Di María, Cristiano Ronaldo 

t was as though somebody 

had unearthed a holy relic. I Four pieces of screwed-up 

first two pages of the newspaper 

AS. 

Not only was the substance 

analysed, so was the style – by 

But still he occupies their 

time; never does a day pass 

without an attack. On the 

other side, Mourinho is feted, 

ball would be intolerably boring. 

His team responded by 

winning their next three 

games 6-1, 4-1, and 6-1. They 

and the deceptively simple 

Mesut Ozil. 

'This year's galáctico is 

Mourinho,' Florentino Pérez 

paper, abandoned on the turf a handwriting expert and a revered, lauded. Everything racked up seven straight vic- said. But Sporting Gijón's 

by the away dugout at the psychologist. Apparently, he does is part of a master tories. They are top of the Manolo Preciado called him a 

Rico Pérez stadium, home of Mourinho's long Ts, round plan, a work of genius. He may league, a point ahead of Barça, 'scumbag'It is not just that 

Herculés, who stand 14th in numbers and “vibrant” scrawl be Machiavellian but he is a having scored 33 in 12 games. Mourinho is winning; it is 

La Liga. The documents that show he is a “good man” with winner. 

No incoming manager has that he is different. 

would unlock the secret, an “astonishing capacity for Last week's red-card furore ever started better in this That he can do things his 

unravel the mystery. Four tiny leadership”, “a strong, deci- in the Champions League league. 

way. No Madrid coach has had 

pieces of paper treated with sive character”, and “noble” game at Ajax summed up his There is a collective faith such authority. Mourinho has 

reverential awe. 

with “incredible intelligence”. season. Real won 4-0 but had about Madrid: watching brought a seismic shift at the 

They were pages torn from As for the numbers, he was two men sent off for time- Angel di María, the expression Santiago Bernabéu. Barcelona 

José Mourinho's pad. They surely planning his season: it wasting and incurred Uefa's of Mourinho's methods on have often been identified by 

featured notes such as “pace, meant 10 months, 38 league wrath, as both players thus the pitch, is to witness sacri- their coaches; Madrid have 

movement TR9”, “depth, dead games, 13 Champions League avoided the possibility of susfice and unity. Mourinho has not. Until now. The latest edi- 

balls, switch wings”, “arrival, games, six in the Copa del Rey. pension in the first knockout built team spirit. He has tion of the official club maga- 

counter”. Then there were ini- It was a good sign: he was tie. The players and Mourinho beaten it into some: 

zine says: “Now, the world's 

tials – DM and PL on either counting on reaching the have been accused of sub- Pedro León was left out for best coach is here.” At the 

side, O and XA in the middle, Champions League final. That terfuge; Madrid's wonderful two games, Karim Benzema start of the season, Madrid's 

K behind. And on the final was the theory, anyway. football lost under a deluge of castigated for arriving late, president, Florentino Pérez, 

page, numbers: 38, 13, and 6 Few of the faithful doubted controversy. 

Defensively, they are sound. announced: “This year's 

in a column, 57 below, with Mourinho would succeed. On Life in Spain had not started They play with pace and pre- galáctico is Mourinho.” 

“10 months” scrawled along- one side of Spain's great well when Mourinho left Inter cision, devastating on coun- Consulted on signings 

side. What did it all mean? divide – the side he confronts early in the summer, having terattacks launched from Xabi (Ricardo Carvalho and 

The relics were carefully gath- tomorrow night when he overseen the Milanese side's Alonso. They are enjoying Di María arrived on his 

ered up and taken to Canal takes his Real Madrid team to coronation as European more possession than his pre- insistence), he controls 

Plus's flagship show El Día Barcelona – Mourinho has champions. Real drew 0-0 vious teams ever did, too, everything and has 

Después. The following day, been painted as immoral, twice in three away games, with quick interchanges led become the voice of the 

London: Everything is going 

Tottenham Hotspur's way, as 

Aaron Lennon scored in 

stoppage time to complete a 

2-1 comeback win over 

Liverpool in an actionpacked 

encounter at White 

Hart Lane. Chelsea’s Premier 

League title defence, however 

continued to splutter 

when they could only draw 

1-1 at Newcastle United and 

missed their chance of 

returning to the top of the 

standings on Sunday. 

The day's five goals took 

the weekend tally to 41 in 10 

games — equalling the 

Premier League record — 

with all 20 teams scoring. 

Manchester United top the 

table on 31 points with 

Chelsea and Arsenal, 4-2 

winners at Aston Villa, both 

on 29. Manchester City are 

fourth on 26 after being held 

to a 1-1 draw at Stoke City 

and Spurs fifth on 25. 

Having worked all morning 

to clear the pitch and surrounding 

areas of snow, 

Newcastle were rewarded 

with a gift after six minutes 

when Alex's ill-judged backpass 

rolled past Petr Cech 

and Andy Carroll nipped in 

to tuck the ball into an empty 

net. Chelsea, who had lost 

their last two league 

matches, forced their way 

back into the game and levelled 

at the end of the first 

half when a lovely flick by 

Florent Malouda sent 

Salomon Kalou through to 

score with a deflected shot. 

Chelsea had most of the ball 

in the second half but 

though Kalou somehow 

missed from two metres out, 

they struggled to create any 

other clear chances. 

club, Real's 

identity. 

Pérez could 

not be happier. 

The sports 

newspaper 

Marca can 

barely contain 

itself: Mou - 

rinho, one cover 

ran, “provokes 

an orgasmou”. 

Headlines 

with “mou” in 

them appear obligatory; 

some are 

even calling his 

team Real Moudrid. 

— The Guardian 

15 

“We had a bad start but 

after that it was a good reaction 

and the performance 

was good but we have to do 

better up front,” Chelsea 

manager Carlo Anceolotti 

told Sky Sports. “It’s not a 

good moment, we’ve lost the 

top of the table. We have to 

improve, it is not enough 

now what we are doing.” 

Liverpool looked lively 

from the start with Maxi 

Rodriguez twice going close 

from long range. 

Their persistence paid off 

after 42 minutes when 

defender Martin Skrtel 

headed a Raul Meireles free 

kick into the back of team 

mate David Ngog and 

reacted sharply to bang in 

the loose ball. Rodriguez and 

Fernando Torres, twice, both 

took too long to unleash 

shots either side of halftime 

when Liverpool should have 

made the game safe and 

Spurs took advantage of 

their escape. 

Meireles headed a Gareth 

Bale shot off the line but 

Ngog then inexplicably 

jumped with his hands 

above his head when in a 

wall defending a Bale free 

kick to concede a penalty. 

However, Defoe dragged his 

spot kick wide, Spurs’s 

fourth miss in nine penalties 

this season. Tottenham did 

level five minutes later, 

though, when Skrtel turned 

a low Luka Modric cross into 

his own goal following a 

driving run by the Croatia 

midfielder. They took all 

three points when Lennon 

ran on to a Crouch flick two 

minutes into stoppage time 

and neatly tucked in the 

winner. — Reuters 

Fifa has reasons to fear 

Panorama’s exposure 

Charlie Dempsey, abstained. Dempsey later 

claimed he withdrew under enormous 

pressure. What that pressure involved 

remains a mystery. All that is on record is 

that he had received a fax before the vote 

from the German satirical magazine Titanic 

offering him a cuckoo clock and a Black 

Forest ham if he changed his delegated vote 

to Germany. 

This time round, Fifa must be braced for 

the worst. The journalist leading the 

Panorama report is Andrew Jennings, 

undoubtedly the world’s most consistent 

and persistent scourge of corruption in 

sports governance. 

Jennings has become a familiar figure at 

Fifa’s press conferences, where he specialises 

in asking inconvenient questions. 

Officials have learned to flee on first sight of 

his snowy hair. The one good piece of news 

for Fifa is that the controversial film he has 

made is only 30 minutes long. 

The truth is that the venality and malpractice 

Jennings has spent years documenting 

could probably fill 10 such reports. 

No one can be certain, because if there is 

one aspect of corporate policy that the Fifa 

excels in it is secrecy. 

According to Mihir Bose, an expert in 

sports administration, Fifa president Sepp 

Blatter “sees Fifa as the Vatican of sport and 

himself as a head of state”. 

One close observer says that the professional 

staff in Zurich are competent and 

trustworthy, “but it’s the committee members 

that are the problem. They are treated 

like gods. They fly everywhere first class, 

stay in five-star hotels, receive $150,000 

retainers just for attending meetings and 

$500 a day expenses. They live in another 

universe.” — The Guardian


SPORTS 

Virat grows bigger for India 

New Zealand capitulate after Kohli’s second century on the trot in one-dayers 

Guwahati: Virat Kohli’s 

sparkling century helped 

India script a 40-run win 

against an injury-hit New 

Zealand in the first One-Day 

International to take a 1-0 

lead in the five-match series 

here on Sunday. 

Chasing a challenging target 

of 277 at Nehru Stadium 

here, New Zealand were 

short on experience with 

captain Daniel Vettori and 

explosive opener Brendon 

McCullum missing out due 

to back injuries as the visitors 

were all out for 236 in 

45.2 overs. 

Stand-in skipper Ross 

Taylor top-scored for the 

Kiwis with a fighting 66 off 

69 balls, studded with three 

sixes and three boundaries. 

At 169 for eight, New 

Zealand looked like giving up 

easily but Nathan McCullum 

(35 from 35 balls) and Kyle 

Mills (32 from 28 balls) produced 

a 67-run ninth wicket 

stand to give India a shortlived 

scare. 

But Sreesanth (3/67) broke 

the partnership, dismissing 

both, with the former being 

brilliantly caught by captain 

Gambhir as India won the 

match with 28 balls to spare. 

Once again Yuvraj Singh 

could not do much with the 

bat but he was really effective 

with his bowling, claiming 

three for 43 from his full 

quota of 10 overs, while offspinner 

Ravichandran 

Ashwin took a career-best 

three for 50. 

Thanks to a compact 105 

by in-form Kohli, the new 

look Indian side put on 276 

after being asked to bat first. 

Fresh from his back-to-back 

centuries in Ranji Trophy, the 

Delhi lad played a neat and 

chanceless knock off 104 

balls with 10 boundaries for 

his second consecutive and 

fourth overall ODI century. 

But Kohli’s dismissal 

brought in a stunning Indian 

collapse as the lower-order 

managed 26 runs from the 

last six overs, something that 

exposed the new look side’s 

81 

DAYS TO GO 

ind out how well you know the 

FWorld Cup. First five readers 

who give correct answers, will 

find their names on the pages of 

The Bengal Post. Mail your answers 

to: bengalpost.sports@gmail.com 

Today’s question 

Who holds the record 

for the highest indi - 

vidual score in a 

World Cup match? 

Yesterday’s answer 

K Van Noortwijk 

Correct answers by 

Debashree Mallick (Santragachi), 

Babun Das (Kolaghat), Srota Basu 

(Howrah), Alo Hazra (Kudghat), 

Manas Sil (Rishra) 

� Virat Kohli during the first One-Day International against New Zealand at Nehru 

Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. — AFP 

inexperience at this level. 

At 250 for four in the 44th 

over, with Kohli going great 

guns, a total in excess of 300 

looked within easy reach but 

it was not the case after the 

centurion’s dismissal by 

Andy McKay. 

But New Zealand fought 

back with a planned and calculated 

bowling in the fag 

end, especially by left-arm 

seamer McKay, who 

returned with a career-best 

figures of 10-1-62-4. 

New ball bowlers Kyle 

Mills and Daryl Tuffey 

claimed three for 42 and two 

for 56 respectively. New 

David Hopps 

Andrew Strauss’ desire to become 

the first England captain to win 

the Ashes in Australia for 23 

years blazed fiercely at the Gabba as he 

brushed aside a historic day and instead 

castigated his own failure as a batsman 

and a captain for getting out to an 

Australian part-time spinner. 

Strauss and Cook had both struck 

their first Ashes hundreds in Australia, 

they had become England’s most prolific 

opening batting pair in history and 

England had lost only one wicket all 

day. They had recovered from a perilous 

position so brilliantly that they had a 

lead of 88 runs and nine wickets in 

hand into the final day. 

But Strauss admitted that he had 

rarely been angrier in his career than 

the moment when he was dismissed for 

110, stumped as he was drawn down 

the pitch by Marcus North, who took 

only his 14th wicket in 20 Tests. 

“It was not the sort of dismissal that 

we were looking for quite frankly,” 

Strauss said. “It was not the sort of dismissal 

I was looking for as both a batsman 

and a captain. I picked the wrong 

ball to go down the wicket to and paid 

the price. 

Zealand openers, Jamie How 

and Martin Guptill, lacked 

the firepower as the visitors 

were slow and cautious to 

start with. 

Nehra broke the opening 

stand for 32, scalping How as 

his partner Guptill, after 

being dropped twice by 

Murali Vijay, did not last 

long, departing for 30. 

Taylor held the fort even as 

wickets kept falling at the 

other end, with Yuvraj doing 

a great job for India with his 

slow left-arm orthodox spin. 

Taylor and Kane 

Williamson looked good 

during their 67-run third- 

� Andrew Strauss in Brisbane 

on Sunday. — AFP 

wicket stand, but Yuvraj did 

not let the partnership going. 

Just when Taylor was beginning 

to look dangerous with 

his towering sixes, Ashwin 

gave the crucial breakthrough 

as New Zealand 

were reduced to 154 for 

seven in 33.3 overs. 

Earlier, Kiwi new ball 

bowlers, Mills and Tuffey, 

extracted some fine seam 

movement early on as openers 

Vijay (29 from 32 balls) 

and Gambhir (38 from 38 

balls) survived some anxious 

moments in the early morning 

start. 

The Indian duo, however, 

“When you do have conditions in 

your favour, it’s important you make 

the opposition pay, and don’t let them 

back into the game. It was important I 

took my opportunity, and showed the 

way. That is one of your duties as captain. 

We had to come back into the 

did not look under any 

pressure in absence of 

Virender Sehwag as they 

stitched 44 for the opening 

wicket before Vijay was done 

in by Tuffey, with wicketkeeper 

Gareth Hopkins taking 

a brilliant catch running 

backwards. 

Kohli’s partnership with 

Gambhir did not last long 

as the left-hander fell 

to McKay. — PTI 

Scoreboard 

India 

M Vijay c Hopkins b Tuffey 29 

G Gambhir c How b McKay 38 

V Kohli c How b McKay 105 

Y Singh c Hopkins b Tuffey 42 

S Raina c How b Mills 13 

Y Pathan c Taylor b Mills 29 

W Saha c Hopkins b McKay 4 

R Ashwin c&b McKay 0 

A Nehra run out 0 

S Sreesanth c How b Mills 4 

M Patel not out 1 

Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-8, nb-1) 11 

Total: (in 49 overs) 276 

Fall of wkts: 1/44, 2/92, 3/182, 

4/220, 5/250, 6/256, 7/256, 8/257, 

9/275 

Bowling: Mills 10-0-42-3, Tuffey 

8-0-56-2, McKay 10-1-62-4, 

Elliott 5-0-24-0, McCullum 9-0- 

53-0, Styris 6-0-26-0, Williamson 

1-0-11-0. 

New Zealand 

M Guptill c Patel b Ashwin 30 

J How c Vijay b Nehra 9 

K Williamson c Saha b Yuvraj 25 

R Taylor c Patel b Ashwin 66 

S Styris c Pathan b Yuvraj 10 

G Elliot c Pathan b Sreesanth 5 

D Tuffey c Raina b Yuvraj 4 

G Hopkins c Pathan b Ashwin 16 

N McCullum c Gambhir b Sree 35 

K Mills c Saha b Sreesanth 32 

A McKay not out 0 

Extras: (lb-1, w-3) 4 

Total: (in 45.2 overs) 236 

Fall of wkts: 1/32, 2/46, 3/113, 

4/131, 5/136, 6/144, 7/157, 8/169, 

9/236 

Bowling: Nehra 9-0-44-1, 

Sreesanth 5.2-0-30-3, Ashwin 10- 

1-50-3, Patel 8-0-39-0, Singh 10- 

0-43-3, Pathan 2-0-24-0, Raina 1- 

0-5-0. 

MoM: Virat Kohli 

Gambhir & Co. give the Press a miss Haider to 

reveal names 

Karachi: In what could bring 

Guwahati: The Indian team on Sunday 

gave the post-match Press conference a 

miss as skipper Gautam Gambhir left the 

Nehru Stadium immediately after the 

team’s 40-run win over New Zealand in 

the first of five-match ODI series. 

Gambhir, who is leading the team for 

the first time in Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni’s absence, left the stadium after 

the post-match presentation citing 

“personal reasons”. 

Post-match conference is mandatory 

as per the International Cricket Council’s 

protocol. While losing captain Ross 

Taylor spoke to the media, Gambhir was 

conspicuous by his absence. 

A blame game between the Assam 

Cricket Association and Indian team’s 

support staff followed. Support staff 

Mayank Parikh, when contacted, 

blamed the ACA authorities and said: 

“We were waiting in the dressing room 

after the presentation got over but the 

local media manager (from ACA) did 

not approach us.” 

ACA general secretary, Bikash Barua, 

however, claimed that the Indian team 

did not want to speak to the media. 

“Just after the press conference, I personally 

contacted Gambhir who said 

there will be no India press conference as 

the team would leave soon,” Barua said. 

Even as the cricketers left the venue 

right after the presentation ceremony, 

coach Gary Kirsten was seen doing laps 

of the stadium. The South African, however, 

chose to ignore the waiting media 

when asked about the skip. 

“For ICC events the post-match conference 

is mandatory. The losing captain 

comes first followed by the winning 

captain. For a bilateral series like 

this, contact BCCI,” said Sami-ul Hasan, 

ICC’s Communications and Media 

Operations manager. 

However, the BCCI was not aware of 

the regulations. “I’m not aware of any 

regulations. I can’t comment on this,” 

was what BCCI chief administrative 

officer, Ratnakar Shetty, said. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper 

Ross Taylor was disappointed after the 

Black Caps crashed to their seventh 

consecutive ODI defeats here, but 

hoped to get their act together before 

the forthcoming World Cup in February. 

New Zealand missed the services of 

regular skipper Daniel Vettori and 

Brendon McCullum due to back problems, 

prompting the team management 

to hand over the captaincy to Taylor. 

“Hopefully we are getting all the 

losses now. Like Twenty20, one-day 

cricket is all about momentum. It would 

have been nice to start off on a winning 

note. Now we know that we have to play 

a lot better than we did today (Sunday),” 

Taylor said at the post-match briefing. 

“We were looking at various stages of 

the game and I think losing wickets in 

the middle overs is one of the factors. It 

was a disappointing result. The way we 

batted through the middle was obviously 

disappointing,” Taylor said. 

“Hopefully Dan (Vettori) and Brendon 

(McCullum) are back for the next match. 

We are monitoring them on a day-to-day 

basis. We are here to try a few different 

combinations and I’m sure they will 

work out. Vettori makes a big difference 

on any track he plays on,” he added. — PTI 

more trouble for Pakistan 

cricket, Zulqarnain Haider on 

Sunday said he will reveal the 

identity of the people, who 

took bribes while being in 

the country’s cricket set-up. 

Haider is apparently 

miffed by negative remarks 

about him by Shahid Afridi, 

manager Intikhab Alam and 

the PCB legal advisor 

Tafazzul Rizvi. 

He on Sunday wrote on a 

social-networking site: “I will 

soon let the people know the 

background of some people 

and about those who take or 

had taken money.” 

Haider is facing an inquiry 

from the PCB, which is 

clearly unhappy with his act 

of leaving the team without 

informing the team management 

during the series in 

Dubai and Abu Dhabi. — PTI 

England skipper unhappy 

game today (Sunday), and that meant 

some of our batters had to stand up and 

deliver — and thankfully, Alastair and I 

were able to do that. I had a bit of luck 

and it wasn’t the best technical innings 

I have ever played but in terms of 

importance, it was up there.” 

Strauss, who was also dropped on 69 

by Mitchell Johnson at mid-off, might 

have been seething at his final misjudgement, 

but he still stalked from the 

pitch with a fourth Test century against 

Australia, a considerable improvement 

on his mood three balls into the first day 

when Ben Hilfenhaus had him caught at 

gully for a duck and England’s Ashes 

quest had got off to the worst possible 

start. Then he felt not anger but despair. 

“The third ball of the game was pretty 

much as close to as bad as I’ve felt on a 

cricket pitch, getting out in the first over 

of such an important Test match,” he 

said. “It wasn’t the start I was looking 

for. But that is this wonderful game of 

cricket. Sometimes it does remind you 

that you need to respect the game.” 

It could have been much worse for 

Strauss, who might have made a pair. He 

escaped a first-ball duck in the second 

innings when Australia opted to refer Ben 

Hilfenhaus’s appeal for lbw, but it was 

rejected by the TV umpire. — The Guardian 

McCullum, 

Vettori 

held back 

Guwahati: On Sunday, New 

Zealand missed the services 

of skipper Daniel Vettori and 

opener Brendon McCullum 

because of back problems. 

“During the past week, 

Dan (Vettori) has complained 

of lower back stiffness and it 

has intensified during preparation 

for the one-day series,” 

coach cum selector Mark 

Greatbatch said. 

“Brendon suffered a back 

spasm at the start of the 

third Test against India and 

still has soreness. So he 

needs to get that right. We 

wanted to give them until 

this (Sunday) morning to see 

how they were, but it’s clear 

they need a few more days 

to recover. 

“We considered playing 

Brendon as a batsman only 

but that could delay his 

recovery. So we took a longerterm 

view. The extra rest 

gives him a chance of taking 

the gloves later in the series. 

They are both disappointed. 

However, it does provide a 

wonderful opportunity for 

other players to step up.” 

The Black Caps observed a 

two-minute silence before 

the start of the match in memory 

of the 29 coal miners 

who died in an underground 

blast a week ago. — PTI 

Brisbane: England openers 

Andrew Strauss and Alastair 

Cook posted centuries on 

Sunday to wipe out England’s 

first-innings deficit 

and bring the tourists right 

back into the first Ashes Test 

against Australia. 

Starting the fourth day of 

the Test 202 runs in arrears, 

England had reached 309 for 

one with a lead of 88 at the 

close of play with Cook unbeaten 

on 132 and a well-set 

Jonathan Trott at the crease. 

Although they could not 

match the heights of Mike 

Hussey and Brad Haddin’s 

partnership of 307 that put 

Australia in charge on the 

third day, Strauss and Cook’s 

opening stand of 188 could 

end up being just as important 

at the end of the five- 

Test series. Where touring 

sides of recent years might 

have crumbled, Strauss and 

Cook showed England’s 

boasts of their teams’ 

resilience was not just talk. 

Strauss was removed for a 

duck off the third ball of the 

first innings, but seized his 

chance in the second to 

claim his 19th Test century — 

his first since his 161 in the 

Lord’s Ashes Test last July — 

‘Kohli executed 

plan perfectly’ 

Guwahati: Leading the side for the first time, India captain 

Gautam Gambhir lavished praise on centurion Virat Kohli to 

the official broadcasters on Sunday, for scripting a 40-run win 

over New Zealand in the first ODI. 

“Virat batted exceptionally well today (Sunday). After 

losing the toss, we thought someone needs to go and get a 

hundred. He did exactly that. 

He was good with his shot 

selection. 

“Overall, I am satisfied 

with the performance of the 

team,” said Gambhir, who 

also scored a quick-fire 38 at 

the top to give the team a 

sound start. 

“Both batsmen and 

bowlers chipped in with useful 

contributions. R Ashwin 

bowled brilliantly, pacers 

Nehra and Sreesanth were 

equally good. 

“Virat, Yuvraj and other 

batsmen were also good. We 

hope to continue the 

momentum in the fixtures ahead,” he said. 

Asked about captaining the side in the absence of 

regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gambhir said: 

“Leading the side was a great feeling and I am happy to start 

with a win.” 

Man of the Match Kohli said he has brought some changes 

to his aggressive style of batting, and is now concentrating 

more on the singles and twos. 

“It feels good to get a century. I just want to make the most 

of my outing. After the bad Sri Lanka series I got enough backing 

from the team and the coach to deliver the goods and, 

these days, I am more into analysing my game. 

“I am concentrating on holding one end and let others do 

their bit. I am converting more singles and doubles these days. 

It’s good to score runs and help your team post a good total on 

the board.” — PTI 

Strauss and Cook open 

up all possibilities 

soon after lunch. 

Cook had scored more 

slowly but was given fewer 

chances than his skipper and 

clinched his 14th Test century, 

only his second against 

Australia, with a cut shot that 

sent the ball fizzing to the 

boundary just after tea to 

add to his first innings 67. By 

that stage, England’s best 

partnership in a Test at the 

Gabba had been broken and 

Strauss was furious with 

himself after coming down 

the wicket to occasional 

spinner Marcus North, only 

to be stumped for 110 by 

wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. 

Cook was joined by Trott, 

who rode his luck a little 

with some loose shots but 

helped put on 121 for the 

second wicket as Australian 

heads dropped after a long, 

hard day in the field. Questions 

will be asked about 

the Australian pacers, in particular 

Mitchell Johnson, 

who failed to get anything 

out of the Gabba strip and 

remains wicketless in the 

Test at the cost of 131 runs. 

“We weren’t able to sustain 

pressure for long 

enough,” said Shane Watson, 

who thought it was unfair to 

single out Johnson. 

Australia’s misery was 

compounded by three missed 

catches — Johnson dropping 

Strauss when the England 

captain was on 70, and 

Peter Siddle and Michael Clarke 

spilling two more difficult 

chances to dismiss Trott. 

Even the umpire referral 

system went against the 

hosts when umpire Aleem 

Dar’s refusal of Ben 

Hilfenhaus’ appeal for lbw 

against Trott was upheld 

after the review. — Reuters 

Scoreboard 

England 

First innings 260 

Australia 

First innings 481 

England 

Second innings (Overnight 19/0) 

A Strauss st Haddin b North 110 

A Cook batting 132 

J Trott batting 54 

Extras: (b-1, lb-2, w-4, nb-6) 13 

Total: (for one wicket in 101 

overs) 309 

Fall of wkt: 1/188 

Bowling: Hilfenhaus 26-4-75-0, 

Siddle 19-3-67-0, North 12-2-22- 

1, Johnson 18-4-65-0, Doherty 

18-3-52-0, Watson 8-2-25-0. 

� England’s Alastair Cook after his century against Australia during the fourth day 

of the first Test in Brisbane on Sunday. — AP/PTI 

Printer & Publisher Anand Sinha on behalf of Saradha Printing & Publication Pvt. Ltd., Printed at Darpan Press Pvt. Ltd., 789, Chowbhaga West, Near China Mandir, Kolkata– 700 105, South 24 Parganas, P. S. : Tiljala, West Bengal, Published at 455, Diamond Harbour Road, 

2nd Floor, Kolkata– 700 034, P. S. : Behala, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, Editor: Ranabir Ray Choudhury, Editor-in-Chief: Sudipta Sen. RNI. No. WBENG/2010/34223

Some video 

games depict 

and glorify 

violence and 

sexual offences. 

And our children 

are not insulated 

from them 

TheBengal Post 

PostScript 

Monday November 29, 2010 

How many did 

you kill today? 

Agnibho Gangopadhyay 

Recently, there was a furore 

in both UK and USA over a 

new video game called ‘Medal Of 

Honor’. In this game, players can 

become Taliban warriors and kill 

the British troops in the rugged terrains 

of Afghanistan. The US military 

banned the game, and the UK 

government criticised the enterprise. 

Now this is strange, for the 

basic premise of ‘killing’ and ‘violence’ 

was not once questioned; 

only the fact that it was soldiers 

who were being killed upset both 

the players and the government and 

not the idea of killing per se. War 

and murder in video games has 

become an established and uncontested 

fact. And in an intensely connected 

world, India is no stranger to 

such video games. 

Reevoo Chakraborty, 21, a student, 

says, “I am addicted to Mob 

Enforcer and Max Payne. While 

Mob Enforcer is the story of a con- 

tract killer, who has to save this big 

crime boss, AL Capone, Max Payne 

is more fascinating because I get to 

seek redemption in revenge for 

someone severely wronged.” He is 

dismissive about its ill effects, but 

admits, “Earlier we used to play a 

lot outdoors. Now, we all play video 

games inside. I am not as fit as I 

used to be.” 

Subhajit Maity, 16, however has 

no ‘grown-up’ theory to explain his 

fascination with video games. His 

mother, Reba Maity, says, “From a 

very young age, he has been hooked 

on to the computer. He says he likes 

eliminating his opponents and 

destroying cities in the games he 

plays. But in school, he is overtly 

shy and cannot concentrate on his 

studies, which alternates 

with violent streaks. He 

failed twice before he 

reached eighth standard. We 

had to take him to a counsellor.” 

Shirsha Das, a post-graduate student, 

says, “I was addicted to violent 

games like Mortal Kombat, Blitz, 

NARC and Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 

among others. There was everything 

excitingly sinful—murders, 

drug abuse, explicit sexual encounters 

or dialogues. Gradually, I 

realised I was getting sucked into 

this morbid world. It was very difficult 

to withdraw. Even rape does in 

fact take place, or is made possible, 

by the game makers in GTA. If one 

has sex with a prostitute in the 

game, one can then beat the prostitute 

up, one can murder the prostitute 

and take one's money back, 

and this, in my view, constitutes 

rape. This is preposterous.” 

Sayantan Banerjee, a political science 

graduate, says there are games 

that glorify the Nazi murdermachineries 

and the US army 

wrecking havoc in Africa. “While 

violence in itself is to be rejected, 

the political overtones and ethical 

questions are also looming,” he 

opines. 

Video games first emerged in the 

1970s, but it was during the 1990s 

that violent games truly came of 

age. Starting in the late 1980s video 

game producers experimented with 

what the public would accept 

in video games. Gradually it 

became clear that games 

sell better if they contain 

more violence. One-on-one 

fighting games such as 

Double Dragon and Mortal 

Kombat pushed the boundaries of 

violence and became all-time best 

sellers. From then on, sex, drugs, 

fascism everything found a vent in 

video games, on a much larger 

scale. 

Prasenjit Dhar, who owns a film 

and games CD-DVD shop in 

Chandni Chowk narrates how the 

games scene in Kolkata is now a big 

one. “All kinds of games are being 

smuggled into Kolkata. Among 

them, the violent ones like 50 Cent: 

Bulletproof, Manhunt, Darkness are 

slowly becoming very popular. 

After the metro rail 

expanded, our business 

got a boost. We find 

more suburban buyers 

than urban,” he informs. 

Ganesh Santra, another shopowner 

in the area says, “There 

are games with explicit sexual 

content, where tasks 

include arousing a woman. 

Games such as 7 Sins and 

Voyeur are very popular. These 

games are bought by both young 

boys and older men.” However, 

Tapan Haldar, a salesman with a 

CD-DVD showroom in a shopping 

mall says, “We have some in-house 

discretions and rules which doesn’t 

allow us to keep games with pornographic 

overtones. But violent 

games are common and popular.” 

So, what are the problems that 

such video games bring in? “The 

biggest problem is that children 

and adolescents become immune 

to reacting against physical violence, 

sexual offences, substance 

abuse and crime. While some video 

games do enhance reflexes and 

inject requisite competitive spirit, 

and most cross the line of propriety 

and social harmony. Video games 

are more dangerous than violent 

films, for here there is no exteriority. 

You become the murderer,” says 

Dr J Ram, a psychiatrist. “Moreover, 

games cater to extreme anomie and 

dissociatedness. The healing potential 

of community, unions, congregations, 

human associations is forgotten. 

This in turn leads to depression. 

Suicides in UK, South Korea 

have taken place due to exposure to 

violent games,” he adds. 

“Certain massacres in America, 

like the ones in Virginia Tech and 

Columbine, opine investigators, 

may have been patterned by a keen 

awareness of video games which 

demands planning and murdering 

in a ritualistic fashion. In India, this 

has come late, but the way it is 

growing, we may face similar consequences 

in future. Remember 

how TV-triggered mishaps and 

serial killing seeped into the Indian 

scene? I already get many young 

patients who suffer due to playing 

disturbing video games,” he cautions. 

“These games are misogynist 

to the core. It’s not healthy for boys 

to learn that women are expendable 

objects, weak and to be 

oppressed. Very few women would 

be interested in such games,” he 

adds. 

Subhas Ranjan Chakr aborty, a 

retired professor of history 

says, “These are a manifestation 

of patriarchal 

ethos not being able to 

come to terms with 

women’s empowerment.” 

So, what about censorship? 

While in USA the 

extremely well-developed liberal 

democratic ethos has allowed the 

government to avoid legal bans, 

civil society organisations run 

awareness programs. In UK and 

Australia, many such games are 

banned. Venezuela recently banned 

all games that entail ‘killing’ to stop 

the rising gun culture in the country. 

In India, however, there is no 

such censorship in place. Microsoft 

blocked a game called Fallout 3 in 

India for it had double-headed 

cows, which may have hurt religious 

sentiments. But that’s pretty 

much it. Given the rising tide of 

violent and sexually explicit games 

in India, the concerned authorities 

need to sit up, take notice and curb 

the same.

PS 2 Mixed Bag 

Art 

Solo Exhibition 

An exhibition of paintings 

and drawings by Amal Das, 

Asok Mondal, Bhasker Lahiri 

and Ramprasad De 

Venue: Halo Heritage, 26 

Richie Road 

Date: Till November 29 

Time: 2 pm - 8 pm 

Ecriture III....and a few 

other things 

An exhibition of paintings by 

Manjari Chakravarti 

showcases paper assemblages 

and drawings 

Venue: P238 Hindustan Park 

Date: Till November 30 

Phone: 033 2464 2617 

Solo Canvas 


Rini Dhumal 

Venue: Gallery Sanskriti 


Time: 11 am - 8 pm 

Phone: 033 2449 7931 

Of Doodles, Drawings and 

Sketches 


Jogen Chowdhury which 

comprises of 

drawings, doodles and 

ARCHIE 

RUGRATS 

Monday, November 29, 2010 

American author Sarah Prineas hosts an interactive book reading of her novels The 

Magic Thief and its sequels at Crossword Bookstore today 

sketches from 1983 to 2009 

Venue: Ganges Art Gallery 


Phone: 033 24653212 

New Media Works 

An exhibition of new media 

works - Story of Multiples 

Venue: Emami Chisel Art 

Date: November 22 to 

December 4 


Landscaping 

Rooted Landscapes - an 

exhibition of recent works by 

Rinu Dhamal 

Venue: Ganges Art Gallery 


Phone: 033 24484925 

From the Art Class 

An exhibition of artworks by 

200 students of the painting 

division of Nehru Children’s 

Museum 

Venue: Academy of Fine Arts 


Time: 3 pm - 7.30 pm 

Where am I? 

An exhibition of the works of 

German artists 

Venue: Experimenter, 2/1 

SUDOKU 

Hindustan Road 

Date: Till December 4 

Phone: 033 2463 465 

Incidents 

The Seagull Foundation for 

the Arts presents an 

exhibition of photographs by 

Bishan Samaddar 

Venue: Seagull Arts and 

Media Resource Centre, 36C 

S.P. Mukherjee Road 


Time: 2 pm - 8 pm 

New Media Works 

The Story of Multiples, an 

exhibition of new media 

works 

Venue: Emami Chisel Art Pvt. 

Ltd 



Projection of Disjointed 

Times 

Projection of Disjointed 

Times -sculptures by Akhil 

Chandra Das 

Venue: Aakriti Art Gallery 


Phone: 033 2289 3027 

Crossing Paths 

An exhibition by Australian 

High Commission and 

Harrington Street Arts Centre 

presents images by Australian 

photo journalists Daniel 

Berehulak, Graham Crouch, 

Adam Ferguson and Wayne 

McAlister 

Venue: The Harrington 

Streets Arts Centre, 8 Ho Chi 

Minh Sarani, Harrington 

Mansions, 2nd floor 


Time: 12 noon - 7 pm 

miscellaneous 

Reading Out Loud 

American author Sarah 

Prineas hosts an interactive 

book reading of her novels 

The Magic Thief and its 

sequels 

Venue: Crossword 

Bookstore, 8 Elgin Road 

Date: November 29 

Time: 5.30 pm 

Film Greats 

Ray Ban’s Greatest Film 

Festival at the Theatres Once 

Again will 

showcase a series of 

legendary Hollywood 

classical films. Today’s show: 

Blue Brothers 

Venue: Inox, Forum 


Time: 8 pm 

Vodafone Odeon Theatre 

Festival 

The Theatre Festival will 

showcase Sabse Bada 

Nautanki, a production 

strictly for youth, directed 

by Mir 

Venue: City Centre, Kund 

Area 


Time: 5 pm 

Theatrical Performances 

10th Natya Mela by Natya 

Academy 

Venue: Nandan 

Date: Till November 29 

Time: 3 pm and 6 pm (starting 

times) 

Swing Some More 

The Carlton Kitto Ensemble 

will perform live 

Venue: Someplace Else, The 

Park 


Time: 9.30 pm onwards 

Choc-o-bloc 

Indulge in sinful blocks of 

chocolate 

Venue: Tea Lounge, The Peerless 

Inn 


Phone: 033 2228 0301 

Smooth Sorbet 

Tequila Sorbet and Daiquiri 

Festival with complimentary 

grilled fish or vegetable shaslik 

and season's delight 

Venue: The Peerless Inn 


Phone: 033 2228 0301 

Beer and Pasta Festival 

Exclusive varieties of pasta with 

complementary pint of beer 

Venue: Ego, The Peerless Inn 


Time: All day 

Pranic Healing 

Prana Signature Treatment 

priced at Rs 4,500/person 

Venue: Club Prana, Hyatt 

Regency Hotel 


Phone: 033 2335 1234 

Royal Feast 

Dig into delicious kebab and 

biriyani platters 

Venue: Khanasutra, Chrome 


Phone: 033 3096 3096 

Piano Playful 

A fund-raiser and winter 

concert by The Calcutta 

Chamber Orchestra and a solo 

piano recital by Pervez Mody 

Venue: ICCR, 9A Ho Chi Minh 

Sarani 

Date: December 1 

Time: 6:30 pm 

Film Screening 

Watch Sthaniyo Sambad a film 

directed by Mainak Biswas and 

Arjun Gourisaria 

Venue: Nandan Campus 


Time: 1.45 pm and 6.30 pm 

Desert Delight 

Special festive flavours from 

Gelato Italiano! A memorable 

season of festivities complete 

with bright cheerful colours and 

some good time with your 

loved ones. Gelato brings 

Walnut Anjeer and Choco 

French Biscuit 

Venue: Gelato Italiano outlets 


Time: All day 

Send your event invites to 

listings@thebengalpost.com 

SUNDAY’S SOLUTION 

Taurus: What occurs now makes you more aware of what 

you need, feel, and want in your relationships. If you are 

unhappy in your personal life, this is brought out. 

Note: You also feel loving and, if your personal life is going 

well, this is a time to really enjoy and appreciate it. 

Gemini: This is a good time to travel, especially to places 

you've never been before, where you will be exposed to 

different ways of looking at the world. 

Note: Your ability to understand abstract ideas and your 

desire to grow intellectually is strong. 

Cancer: You are eager to discuss your thoughts and plans 

with others at this time and you may have a very fruitful 

brainstorming session or a spirited debate. 

Note: Active meeting with others in which things are 

really accomplished may be on the agenda. 

Leo: Let your natural modesty slip for a bit, you've got 

great energy and great success, so revel in the glory. 

There's no shame in accepting praise. 

Note: You are also sympathetic when you listen to others 

and when you try to draw out other’s feelings. 

Virgo: Your mind is on accomplishment and action, and 

there is a competitive edge in your speech or manners. 

You may be rude with those who take up your time. 

Note: Be careful while running errands, particularly in 

traffic. Your sense of timing is a bit off. 

Libra: Flexibility, thinking on your feet, and the ability to 

accommodate the unexpected will be called for. The pace is 

very quick. 

Note: You will tend to scatter your forces, jumping from one 

thing to the next. 

Scorpio: This is not a good time to make binding contracts 

or agreements. You are apt to be too pessimistic or limited 

in your thinking to do yourself justice. 

Note: This is also a time when you may have to deal with 

some unfinished business from the past. 

Sagittarius: Communications, conversations, sending and 

receiving messages, and taking care of routine tasks that 

require mental clarity are important activities. 

Note: It is a good time to present your ideas and point of 

view to others. 

Capricorn: There is a friendly, cooperative, harmonious 

tone to your interactions. It is a good time for social activities 

and for getting in touch with friends. 

Note: You avoid heavy discussions and do not want to 

focus on dry, practical matters. 

Aquarius: The craving for sweetness and comfort in the 

form of loving affection or food is strong. This is a good to 

spend time with the people who appreciate you the most. 

Note: You are feeling rather tender and soft-hearted and 

may do something on impulse. 

Pisces: There's just way too much going on today, but you can 

handle it if you remember to prioritise. You will be able to rise 

to the occasion and gets things done. 

Note: Overwork and the weight of responsibilities may now 

precipitate a minor health crisis. 

DAILY CROSSWORD 

1. London 

stroller 

5. Fuming 

10. Zoo barrier 

14. Nerve network 

15. Boxcars, in 

dice 

16. Montreal athlete 

17. Same, in 

Latin 

18. Hymn finales 

19. Dregs 

20. Secret cache 

(2wds.) 

22. Glues 

together 

23. Bridal notice 

word 

24. Future flower 

25. Hook up 

29. Reindeer 

33. Use crayons 

34. Throw off 

heat 

36. Mama __ 

Elliot 

37. Fish roe 

38. Farrier 

Aries: A disappointment or sobering realisation forces you 

to re-evaluate your course, make adjustments, and draw 

upon your resources. 

Note: Overwork, a feeling of pressure and the weight of 

responsibilities may cause a minor health crisis. 

Across 

39. Opposite of 

yeah 

40. Takes home 

42. Table d’ __ 

43. Stirring 

45. Get up late 

(2wds.) 

47. Erudite person 

49. Delivery 

truck 

50. Five-cone 

caldera of Japan 

51. Water source 

54. Silly 

60. Ollie’s partner 

61. Blush 

makeup 

62. Perry’s penner 

63. Suit piece 

64. Contributor 

65. Without a 

mixer 

66. Fly, to a spider 

67. Severe 

68. Dads, to 

granddads 

1.Prudish 

2.Start all over 

3.Ra’s symbol 

4.Keepsake 

5.Writer Allende 

6.Hoarfrost 

7.Figure-skating 

jump 

8.Bivouac sight 

9.Winding curve 

10.Lyrical 

11.Slow-moving 

beasts 

12.Parroted 

13.Fling 

21. Four quarters 

22. Prickly husk 

24. Hot soak 

25. Computer 

graphics 

26. Author’s 

work 

27. List of candidates 

28. Seafood garnish 

29. Quotes 

30. Dull and ordinary 

Down 

F 

A 

T 

E 

L 

I 

N 

E 

31. Post near 

Kyoto 

32. Find seats 

35. With, to Fritz 

38. Leg part 

41. Highway 

speed, often 

43. Mr. Moto’s 

reply (2wds.) 

44. Warm clothing 

46. __ excellence 

48. Underground 

chamber 

51. Host’s plea 

52. Anatomical 

passage 

53. Ming collectible 

54. Dog, slangily 

55. Viking letter 

56. Inventor 

Sikorsky 

57. Black-andwhite 

snack 

58. __ Bator 

59. Arms the 

alarm 

61. Hwys 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

Little bundles of joy 

Children had a brilliant day out at Nicco Park when Rob, the host of Pogo 

channel’s popular show M.A.D. (music, art and dance) came calling in 

the city for an art carnival. Fun-filled games, archery competition, music 

zones, drawing and painting sessions, performances by Pogo characters 

like Chhota Bheem kept the kids on their toes. 

Autumn/Winter fashion fiesta 

1 

1. Scullers launched its new collection 

for men and women. 

Check shirts for men and lycra 

trousers for women are the highlights 

of the collection. 

Prices range between Rs 

899 and Rs 2399. 

2. Women can show off 

their well-toned bodies 

in the new super skinny 

zipper denims and 

sequinned tops launched 

by Jealous 21. Priced between Rs 

699 and Rs 1999, Swarovski elements 

and back-pocket crystal 

embroidery are the chief features 

of the collection. 

3. Excersising can be both fun and 

stylish. To make men and women 

hip and happening while they 

sweat it out, Urban Yoga has 

launched a range of knit kurtas 

in textured fabrics and bright 

colours. Prices begin at Rs 799. 

3 

2 

Cityscape 


PS3 

Straight from the heart of Scotland 

Pic: Goutom Roy 

By Our Correspondent 

hisky has an image prob- 

‘Wlem with young drinkers, 

many of whom view it as a drink 

of the older generation,” said Ron 

Scott, an acclaimed hospitality 

management trainer in Scotland 

and UK for 30 years. He is also an 

expert whisky taster and a regular 

invitee of the Scottish Whisky 

Associations for tasting blended 

Scotch and single malt whiskies 

for qualitative comparisons. 

Recently, Scott was in the city to 

guide a team of participants 

through the basics of whisky 

appreciation at Hotel Indismart in 

Salt Lake. 

Like wine, whisky too, is an 

acquired taste unlike beer or 

vodka which are becoming popular 

with the younger generation 

bringing the whisky-drinkers’ 

count lower. To make it more 

appealing, Scott sheepishly suggests 

“sexy” marketing strategies. 

Till 1995 open advertisement of 

alcohol on television was banned 

in UK, and it is still banned in India. 

“But now that one can advertise 

their product, they should do it 

aggressively through television 

commercials and print publications,” 

said Scott vis-a-vis UK. 

In India, with the ban on advertising, 

this luxury drink is promoted 

through clubs and appreciation 

sessions such as this. Scott 

had brought with him Scotch from 

each region of Scotland — 

Highlands, Lowlands, Islay Islands 

and Speyside. To guide his team, 

he brought out a kit of 24 vials 

Pic: Sambit Saha 

each containing a different type of 

flavour that is usually found in 

whiskies. 

Apart from the usual smo - 

ky/peaty, malty, sherry, earthy 

and ethereal, there are a few that 

are a bit surprising for the novice 

drinker. Flavours like floral (rose, 

carnations), fruity (strawberry, cit- 

Saheb’s suave story 

John Miller opened its first store in the city at Gariahat in the presence of 

actor Saheb Chatterjee. The range of collection comprises shirts, trousers, 

suits, jackets, ties, other men’s accessories and also a weekend line. 

rus, pine), and even butter, 

caramel and honey made it to the 

list of 24 commonly found 

flavours. 

After an extensive exercise of 

‘nosing’ the tasting seemed much 

simpler, until the time Scott asked 

his team to identify at least three 

to four flavours in those whiskies. 

The easiest flavour to identify was 

peat. Scott explained, “The soil 

itself is peaty in Scotland. 

Therefore, the water that is used 

has a distinct peaty taste to it. 

Moreover, during malting the barley 

is roasted by dry smoke, which 

imparts a smoky flavour to the 

drink.” 

Pledging peace for all 

The date 26/11 evokes horrible memories in all of 

us. But in an effort to erase the bad memories, 

Sandip Mallick and his friends presented a music and 

dance show, ‘Shanti Bhavna’ at Kala Mandir, pledging 

support for peace and harmony. Apart from the 

Kathak performance by Sandip, the show also had 

children sharing the stage with the musicians paying 

tribute to the victims of 26/11. Dancer Jaya Seal 

Ghosh, who was part of the audience said, “I liked the 

use of space and the mature form of Kathak, for 

which Sandip is known. I have always liked his performances.” 

Pic: Debasish Bhaduri 

Cold comfort for men 

Turtle launched its winter wear collection at Mani 

Square mall recently in the presence of actor 

Debdut Ghosh. The store has a style studio where inhouse 

designers would offer style tips to customers 

on accessorising and colour coordination. The 

clothes are embellished with velvet, satin tapes and 

shiny metallic buttons in emerald, wine, black and 

burgundy colours befitting the party mood. The collection 

was showcased by model Neeraj Surana.

PS4 TheWoods 


‘I’m still eating, sleeping 

and dreaming Guzaarish’ 

Model turned actor, Monikangana Dutta, is happy that critics are appreciating 

her work in Guzaarish. Now, she has more things on her platter ... 

Ashok Chatterjee 

What is the feedback you are getting after the 

release of Guzaarish? 

Critics have been calling me and telling me all 

good things that my screen presence has 

impressed them. It makes me feel happy. Even my 

friends have been calling me up. Their observation 

is that I need to improve on my accent as it has 

influences of my native Assamese. 

How do you feel when you see the end product? 

Are you satisfied with your performance? 

It is my first movie and I’m the wrong person to 

answer this question. Right now, I’m in a different 

world and am yet to believe that I am actually part 

of Bollywood and acted in the movie. The feeling is 

yet to sink in. 

You took acting lessons before the film… 

You learn acting by observing a lot and also 

through your experiences. I am not satisfied easily 

and have to keep polishing whatever I have learnt 

so far. Acting lessons can only give you the initial 

impetus. 

How did you react to your link-up with Hrithik? 

I can’t stop the world from talking nonsense. But I 

guess it happens to everyone in Bollywood. I’m a 

Bollywood stars Prachi Desai and Sonali Bendre will spearhead the nationwide 

'Smile India Movement', organised by Oral-B toothbrush brand to raise 

awareness and promote dental care and hygiene 

very positive person and no amount of negative 

talk can affect me. I choose to remain quiet. 

Or was it for the film’s publicity? 

I would not know as I’m yet to come to terms of 

with the tricks of the trade. I don’t need this kind 

of publicity nor does Hrithik as we both come 

from good families. And I have seen some good 

looking men in my career as a model. 

Were you enamoured by your co-star Hrithik? 

Absolutely, he is so charming. And most importantly, 

he is a nice person to know. On the sets he 

was so helpful and made me comfortable. 

Everything about him is so pure. He is a pure soul. 

He is like a Greek god. 

How was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the sets? 

Ash shocked me with her humility and her big 

warm hugs. She was so nice to have come up to 

me to say hello, making me comfortable on the 

sets initially. 

More films in the pipeline? 

I am reading lot of scripts. For me, everything has 

to click — the director, banner and co-actors. I’m 

taking my time to choose my films. No glam doll 

roles for me. I want to make a mark with my acting 

skills. I can also be very traditional, when I 

want to be. 

There were reports that you called Suzanne 

Roshan before doing the smooching scene with 

Hrithik. 

Why should I? Isn’t it funny? Yes, I did meet her in 

Goa and we had a good chat too but why should I 

discuss my scenes with with her? If anyone has to 

ask anything, then it is Hrithik or Sanjay Leela 

Bhansali. I don’t have to answer to anyone. 

Were some of your scenes with Hrithik edited? 

I’m not allowed to talk for the rest of my life 

about it (laughs). 

Did doing the film affect your modeling 

career? 

Not at all. The best modeling agency, IMG, is still 

with me. But one thing is for sure, I’m not doing 

too many modeling assignments in India unless 

they are big. 

Are you excited being part of Victotria’s 

Secret? 

Being selected a Victoria Secret Angel is still a 

high for me. I’m the only Indian out of the six 

girls in the world. But I’m still eating, sleeping 

and dreaming Guzaarish. 

Are you happy that India now has so many 

fashion weeks? 

What difference does it make? I have moved on 

to a different level. But I did miss a lot of big 

assignments while shooting. But then again, it 

was my own decision to get into films. I did see 

quite a few dollars and pounds flying away from 

me (laughs). 

Two years after 10 terrorists killed 166 

people in an audacious attack, Mumbai 

paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 

carnage that stunned the world. Mahima 

Chaudhary and Raveena Tandon walked 

to mark the second anniversary of the 

attacks. The march, Ek Kadam, started 

outside the Trident Towers, Nariman 

Point and ended at the Gateway Of India 

Pics: Yogen Shah 

buzzing now... 

Pattinson to be auctioned for charity! 

Jessica Alba's 

daughter tries 

out her clothes 

Jessica Alba's two-year-old daughter 

Honor loves to try out her 

mother's clothes and jewellery, the 

star revealed. "I just wear whatever is 

easy and matches somewhat. My 

daughter is normally in the 

wardrobe with me, pulling all my 

shoes out, trying on the jewellery," 

contactmusic.com quoted Alba as 

saying. 

The 29-year-old actress also 

admits she still stays up late and 

doesn't look after her body as much 

as she should. — IANS 

Robert Pattinson has 

agreed to be auctioned 

for charity, with the winner 

getting a chance to spend 

time with the young heartthrob. 

The British actor is listed 

on auction site www.charitybuzz.com, 

with the current 

offer standing at $30,000, 

reports femalefirst.com. 

The winning bidder will 

also get the opportunity to 

spend a day on the 

Vancouver set of The Twilight 

Saga: Breaking Dawn, the 

fourth movie in the Twilight 

franchise, and meet the rest 

of the cast including 

Pattinson's girlfriend Kristen 

Stewart, Taylor Lautner and 

Dakota Fanning. 

Robert is not the only 

celebrity currently listed on 

the auction site. Fans can 

also meet the newlyengaged 

Prince William for 

upwards $8,000. 

Biddings close Dec 8. — IANS

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