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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
The Bengal Post Kolkata Monday November 29, 2010
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