CHENNAITemperature: 290CPrecipitation: 10%Humidity: 74%Wind: 11 Km/hr

NEW DELHI, JAN 04A probe into the activities

of Areeb Majeed, an allegedrecruit of the dreaded terrorgroup ISIS, has led NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)to send requests to the USamong other countries forcyber evidence.

The NIA has approachedthe authorities in the US,Canada and Australia for pro-viding cyber evidence underthe Mutual Legal AssistanceTreaty (MLAT), officialsources said here.

Without taking on facevalue the statement made byMajeed before the sleuths,NIA has been consistently

picking up holes in his ver-sion and standing by its posi-tion after gathering evidences

from other countries. He hadclaimed that he was never

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Union Minister of

Culture and TourismMahesh Sharma onSunday termed thealleged gang-rape andextortion case of a 23-year-old Japanesetourist in Bihar's Gayadistrict as a 'nationalshame'.

“The incident is anational shame.Government will soonrelease helpline num-bers for foreign tourists.List of dos and don'tswill also be issued to

foreign nationals,”Sharma told reportershere.

The police have so fararrested five men inconnection with this

case.The woman had filed

a complaint through theJapanese consulate inKolkata saying she hadbeen staying in a budgethotel in the city inNovember when threelocal men who spokeJapanese befriended herand took her to the sea-side resort of Digha inWest Bengal.

The men, who knewJapanese language, firstmanaged to persuadeher to withdraw around

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTMonday, January 05, 2015

AAP, BJP workers clash afterheated TV debate

Lenovo's 4G Phone to Compete With Xiaomi RedmiNote 4G, Micromax's Yu Yureka on Price

Don't have aptitude, patience todirect film: Malaika

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Hitting out at the Congress

over its allegations onNarendra Modi-led NDA gov-ernment on the suspectedPakistani 'bomb' boat probeissue, Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) spokesperson SambitPatra on Sunday said suchaction of the principal opposi-tion party is 'supplying oxygento Pakistan' adding that'Congress has hit a new low' bygiving such comments.

“Congress is speaking thelanguage of Pakistan. Whydoes it do so? Should they raisedoubt on a major terror incur-sion?,” Patra told reportershere.

Further hitting out atCongress over its allegationsthat Government should comeclean and explain "which ter-rorist organisation" was behindthe episode that unfolded on

the high seas recently, Patrasaid, “Congress is supplyingoxygen to Pakistan, do they nothave faith in Indian CoastGuard?”

“If Congress wanted to know

what was happening theyshould have asked, rather thanraising the issue in such animmature way,” the BJP leaderadded.

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'Terror boat' politics: BJP slams Congressof speaking same language as Pakistan

P8

NEW DELHI, JAN 04The Election Commission

on Sunday announced that itwill be creating a national-level electoral roll to create acentre for all modifications inthe roll.

According to reports, the CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Election Commission tocreate national electoral roll

LUCKNOW, JAN 04BSP supremo Mayawati on

Sunday asked her party work-ers to celebrate her 59th birth-day on January 15 by helpingpoor and handicapped people.

"My birthday on January 15is to be celebrated as JanKalyankari Diwas by helping

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Mayawati asks BSPworkers to help poor onher 59th birthday

NEW DELHI, JAN 04A 37-year-old man alleged-

ly murdered his wife with apair of scissors and then com-mitted suicide by jumping infront of a train in East Delhion Friday night.

Before taking the extremestep, the man wrote a suicidenote on the wall of his house

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

‘Man kills wife,commits suicide’

Vol. 1 Issue: 109 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

AHMEDABAD, JAN 04Making a strong pitch for unity

among Hindus, RSS Chief MohanBhagwat today said if the Hindusociety is in danger, then the entirecountry is also in danger.

"In India, if the Hindu societyfalls in danger, then the country isalso in danger. The country being aHindu country..., to conserve thiscountry and make it able to carry

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Mohan Bhagwat pitches forunity among Hindus

KOLKATA, JAN 04At a time when the party is fac-

ing one of its biggest crises, WestBengal Chief Minister andTrinamool Congress chairpersonMamata Banerjee on Saturdayasked her party members toapproach her directly with theirproblems.

The remarks are crucial as partygeneral secretary Mukul Roy who had dealt with the s

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

People facing charges should notlead any movement: Mamata

MUMBAI, JAN 04Nobel Prize winning child rights

activist Kailash Satyarthi said heretoday that it is everybody's job toend child labour, and asked kids tobe "candles which light up theworld". "Let us decide never todrink water from a home wherechild labour is employed,"

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Kailash Satyarthi tells kids to becandles which light up the world

HYDERABAD, JAN 04Five firemen who reported-

ly consumed liquor and mademerry on New Year eve atMoula Ali fire station weresuspended by the higher offi-cials on Saturday. The inci-dent became public after oneof the firemen who filmed the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Five firemen sus-pended in Hyderabad

NEW DELHI, JAN 04At a time when transparen-

cy and access to informationhave emerged as prerequisitesof good governance, there areover 36000 pending Right toInformation (RTI) queriespending at the CentralInformation Commission(CIC), which has been

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

36000 RTI queries pendingas CIC remains headless

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Denying that the VHP’s

ghar vapsi was in essence aconversion campaign, seniorRSS leader ManmohanVaidya said on Saturday thatconnecting to one’s roots was“a natural urge.”

“Ghar vapsi is a natural urgeto connect to our roots. It is a

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Over 20,000 people con-tracted Ebola in 2014: WHO

P6P2

India wants to engage Pakistanin 'low-intensity war': Asif

ISLAMABAD, JAN 04Amid a war of words

between India andPakistan over cross-borderfiring, Pakistan's DefenceMinister has alleged thatIndia wants to keep hiscountry busy in a "low-intensity war".

"India wants to keep usbusy in a low-intensity waror low-intensity engage-ment on our eastern border.They are pursuing thesame tactics of keeping ourforces busy on allfronts...," DefenceMinister Khawaja Asif toldreporters outside theParliament yesterday.

Asif also appeared tothreaten India with retalia-tion over the killing ofPakistani soldiers in cross-

border firing, saying thecountry will now "commu-nicate in the language theyunderstand".

"In the past six-sevenmonths, we have tried tobetter our ties with India sothat peace can prevail. But

it seems that they do notunderstand this language,"Asif said.

"I believe, we will nowcommunicate with India inthe language they under-stand," he said.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

BEIJING, JAN 04China has reportedly built a 22-metre

high wall around its navy base in the north-eastern Liaoning province to protect theinstallation from being spied on from near-by "European-style" buildings.

Built at a cost of USD 1.61 million by thePeople's Liberation Army Navy, the 800-meter-long, 22-meter-high wall was erectedaround the naval base in Dalian city to keepit safe from being spied on, state-run ChinaNews Service said on Sunday.

The wall was erected because a group ofEuropean-style villas situated nearby weretoo tall, it said. China's military facilitiesincluding naval base and airports are threat-ened by violations of height restrictions by

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Twenty-five years after a

high-level committee rec-ommended construction ofan Ambedkar InternationalCentre in the national capi-tal, Prime Minister NarendraModi is expected to lay thefoundation stone for such ahub on January 31.

“The foundation stone forAmbedkar InternationalCentre in the heart ofLutyen’s Delhi on Janpathwill be laid by the PrimeMinister this month end,” agovernment source said.

The proposed centre willbe constructed on land

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

VIJAYAWADA, JAN 04Urban Development and

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Venkaiah Naidu onSunday said that the partiesopposing NITI Aayog andland acquisition ordinancewere doing so merely for thepolitics and not for the devel-opment.

Naidu, who was in city tounveil statue of freedomfighter and designer of theTricolour Pingali Venkayyahere at the All India Radiopremises, said all states havea key role in the NITI(National Institute forTransforming India) Aayogto express their views on

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

JAKARTA, JAN 04Extreme bad weather

was the "triggering fac-tor" behind the AirAsiaplane crash with icinglikely causing enginedamage, Indonesia'smeteorological agencyhas said in the first offi-cial word on the possi-ble reasons for the hor-rific incident.

"Based on the avail-able data received on thelocation of the aircraft'slast contact, the weatherwas the triggering factorbehind the accident," aninitial report on the web-site of Indonesia'sM e t e o r o l o g y ,Climatology andGeophysics Agency(BMKG) said.

"The most probableweather phenomenonwas icing which cancause engine damagedue to a cooling process.This is just one of thepossibilities thatoccurred based on theanalysis of existingmeteorological data,"the report said.

Extreme bad weathertriggered last Sunday'scrash of AirAsia FlightQZ8501, Indonesia'sweather officials said.

The 14-page "meteo-rological analysis" is thefirst official word fromJakarta on the reasonsfor the crash and comes

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Weather 'triggering factor' behindAirAsia crash: Govt agency

Opposing NITIAayog is merelypolitics, saysVenkaiah Naidu

China navy builds 22-metre high wall toavoid being spied on

Narendra Modi to lay foundation stoneof Ambedkar Centre on Jan. 31

NIA approaches US for evidenceagainst ISIS recruit from Kalyan

Japanese woman rape: Tourism minister terms it'national shame', dent on India's image

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 190CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:36%Wind: 29 Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 240CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 47% Wind:19 Km/hr

MUMBAITemperature: 320CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:48%Wind: 16 Km/hr

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Security of airports across

the nation was stepped up onSunday after intelligence agen-cies warned of a possiblehijack attempt by militants onDelhi-Kabul flights.

"Security around all the air-ports have been strengthenedand we have taken all the meas-ures that are required in the

wake of the alert from intelli-gence agencies," officialsources saidI.

All anti-hijacking measureshave been put in place, theysaid, adding that passengers'checking has also been beefedup at some of the major air-ports, including Indira GandhiInternational Airport in the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Hijack alert on Delhi-Kabul flights,security stepped up at airports

'Bomb' boat: Suicideattackers planned totarget naval vesselsin Porbandar?NEW DELHI, JAN 04

In a startling revealation, thefour suicide attackers travel-ling in the mysterious boatwhich exploded after beingintercepted by the Indian CoastGuard in the Arabian Sea,wanted to reportedly targetnaval vessels.

The suicide attackers wantedto attack naval vessels inPorbandar, as per news reports.

The incident took place onthe intervening night ofDecember 31 and January 1after Indian Coast Guard got

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, JAN 04A heated exchange between rep-

resentatives of the Aam AadmiParty and the Bharatiya JanataParty during a televised debatesnowballed into a violent clash inSouth-East Delhi’s Tughlakabadon Saturday evening.

Referring to it as a scuffle, thepolice said over a dozen volunteersfrom either side sustained minorinjuries during the incident and avehicle registered in the name ofan AAP volunteer was torched. Asenior police officer said crosscases have been registered in rela-tion to the incident.

“It was a minor scuffle betweenmembers from either side during adebate on local issues organised bya Hindi news channel at a publicpark here,” said a police officer.

“Adequate deployment was inplace to keep the situation fromescalating out of control and theinjured were rushed to the AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences. We have registered sepa-rate criminal cases under relevantsections of the Indian Penal Codeagainst both parties. Investigationis under way,” the officer added.

The Delhi Police, which hadimposed an informal ban onscreening of televised debates atpublic places during the Lok Sabha

elections last year citing law andorder issues, are now mullingimposing similar restrictions evenbefore the Assembly elections inDelhi.

“Delhi is on high alert in the run-up to the visit of U.S. PresidentBarack Obama on Republic Daylater this month and such episodesare the last thing we need,” a sen-ior police officer said.

“On Monday, we plan to take acall on banning these events butinstructions have been issued toofficers in-charge of districts to beextremely cautious in granting per-mission for such events till then,”the officer added.

Events such as the one where theclash broke out on Saturday legal-ly qualify as public gatherings.Under the Criminal ProcedureCode (Cr.PC), the organisers ofsuch events must seek permissionof the local police in-charge inaddition to fulfilling a number ofother conditions including a guar-antee that the said gathering wouldnot impact the law and order situa-tion of the area.

On their part, the police canrestrict such events through theimposition of section 144 of theCr.PC which outlaws gatheringswith over five persons.

AAP, BJP workers clash after heated TV debate

NEW DELHI, JAN 04For the longest time,

Delhi didn’t have an artgallery dedicated only totribal arts. Though fromtime to time CraftsMuseum, Academy of FineArts and Literature andDilli Haat have been dis-playing tribal arts andcrafts, yet the need for anexclusive gallery was feltby art aficionados.

Understanding this need,art enthusiast Meena Vermaopened an exclusive galleryat Lado Sarai and named itArts of the Earth. That wasin October 2011. Four yearslater, the gallery has nocompetitor. Notably, theonce non-distinct galleryhas Padmashri and othernational award-winningfolk and tribal artists. Thegallery does one showevery month — some toabsolutely no response,some to lukewarm andsome with great results.

“I opened the gallerykeeping in mind that theseartists had no platform todisplay their creative skills,which had been honed overgenerations and they weregradually fading into obliv-

ion and turning to othermeans of livelihood for lackof patronage,” says 58-year-old Meena Verma.

Many still take folk andtribal art lightly. They think“anybody can make it”,says Ms. Verma. While sig-nificantly few such artistshave not only made itabroad but even to presti-gious Sotheby’s andChristie’s over the past fewyears.

Diversity of Indian folkart

She adds, “Most Indiansare not even aware of thediversity of Indian folk andtribal art and crafts. Otherthan a few styles likeMadhubani paintings fromBihar, Warli fromMaharashtra or lately Gondfrom Madhya Pradesh. Theaverage Indian is totallyignorant about the myriadstyles from the otherStates.”

Notably, lot of theseartists, while sticking totheir traditional styles, havestarted incorporating con-temporary themes in theirpaintings. Worthwhileexamples are Manisha Jha,

a Madhubani painter andMayank Shyam, a Gondartist and son of therenowned sandalwood folkcraftsperson Jangarh SinghShyam.

Keeping this in mind,Arts of the Earth organisedvarious exhibitions such asSanthal scrolls and JaduPats fromBengal,Kalamkari fromAndhra Pradesh, Pingulifrom Maharashtra, Muralsfrom Kerala, Pichwais fromRajasthan, folk miniaturesfrom Rajasthan, Phad paint-ings from Rajasthan,Madhubani from Bihar,Warli from Maharashtra,Patachitras from Orissa,Cheriyal paintings fromAndhra Pradesh, Saurapaintings from Orissa ,Kalighat paintings fromBengal and Gond paintingsto name a few. Of late,however, Ms. Verma’sefforts have paid off.Arguably for the first time,an online art auction siteSaffornart did only Indianfolk and tribal art auctionwith Arts of the Earthworks “to an extremelyencouraging response” justtwo months ago.

Imprinting tribal art on popular psychea

NEW DELHI, JAN 04 Almost a month after a church

was gutted in East Delhi, a cribkept on the premises of theChurch of Resurrection in Rohiniwas found charred on Saturdaymorning. According to the police,it could be a case of short-circuit,the church officials are, however,claiming that someone threw aburning substance on the crib toset it on fire.

“A decorative light was placedaround the crib and it is possiblethat the it caught fire due to ashort-circuit bringing down theentire structure,” said a seniorpolice officer.

The officer added that if it werea deliberate attempt, other thingsnear the crib, like a statue ofChrist placed close to the crib,could also have been damaged.

“Possibilities of the incidentbeing a deliberate attack on thechurch are less likely. However,

we are carrying out investigationfrom all possible angles. We arealso taking help from the footageof the closed circuit television

camera installed inside thechurch premises,” the officersaid.

The head priest of the church,

Father Cyril Patrick, was the oneto notice the charred crib in themorning. Around 8 a.m. he calledthe police and investigation wastaken up.

Father Cyril Patrick told TheHindu: “This is surely not a caseof short-circuit. The CCTVfootage recorded at 2 a.m. showsa burning object falling inside thechurch premises. I do not want toname any person or group, but Ithink this is deliberate mischiefto create panic.”

“If a short-circuit had burnt thecrib how are the other lightsaround the crib still functional.They were all connected to theone around the crib,” he saidpointing to the light around theChrist statue.

Meanwhile, prayers were con-ducted in the church as usual.The devotees who came to thechurch were, however, scared

and insecure. “I am extremelysad about the state of affairs inthe Capital currently. Why arepeople trying to attack our reli-gious institutions,” said Suzzane,a devotee.

“Every time there is a fire inany church, the police say it isdue to short-circuit. Why areshort-circuits only happening inchurches. Who are they trying tofool. We all know it is an attackby miscreants,” said Mathew,another devotee.

Officials at the church say thiswas not the first time they havehad a security issue. A fewmonths ago, a statue was stolenfrom the church. This is also asensitive case given the fact thatit comes a month after a churchin Dilshad Garden caught fire.Lieutenant-Governor NajeebJung had constituted a SpecialInvestigation Team to probe theincident.

Delhi roads safest last year in over a decade

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Successful allottees of

LIG flats in Dwarka underthe DDA Housing Scheme2014 were on Saturdayhanded over allotment-cum-possession letters byUnion Minister of UrbanDevelopment M. VenkaiahNaidu, who promised onelakh houses in Delhi inanother two years.

The Minister handedover the letters to the firstbatch of allottees of LIGflats in Sector 23-B inDwarka. In the beginning,he walked down the aisleamong the allottees andcongratulated them.

“I am really happy today[Saturday]. Right in themorning I am giving awayallotment letters to people.To give a house to a personis not an easy job. It is the

Narendra Modi govern-ment’s dream to give ahouse to every individual,”said Mr Naidu.

The allottees were morethan happy about getting aflat in Dwarka after Mr.Naidu shared how the sub-city is going to become ahub of development workin some years. As for thosewho failed to receive theirallotment letters onSaturday, the DelhiDevelopment Authority(DDA) officials promisedto hand them over to themby Monday.

DDA Vice-ChairmanBalvinder Kumarannounced that those allot-ted flats from the oldinventory can oversee ren-ovation works and it willbe ensured that the housesthey get are good as new.

A house for Mr. Bikas

NEW DELHI, JAN 04 Singer Paul McCartney of The

Beatles once said “if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyonewould be a vegetarian”. Inspiredby these words, the Federation ofIndian Animal ProtectionOrganisations (FIAPO) organisedan exhibition at Dilli Haat, INA, tostir public conscience and bring achange. They displayed bannersand posters of images of what goeson inside the closed doors of aslaughterhouse.

The exhibition titled ‘If slaugh-terhouses had glass walls’ is part ofa multi-city tour that aims to high-light the practices followed atslaughter houses — right fromwhen the animal is born to the con-ditions in which they are raised,transported, killed and sold in themarket.

The organisers tried their best tostrike a chord with visitors to the

market to show them the reality ofhow their food reached the tableand urged them to follow animal-friendly diet.

Shweta Sood, who is a part ofFIAPO, said exhibitions are one of

the tools that the organisation usesto create awareness about theamount of meat India consumes.She says, “According to the gov-ernment of India’s livestock cen-sus, India consumes 300 million

cattle, 500 million chickens, 185million sheep and goats a year.”

The organisation has also starteda project to target young adults bylaunching an ‘adopt a collegescheme’ in which volunteers dis-tribute pamphlets to students thathighlights the environmental,health and other issues related toanimal slaughter. The project hasbeen launched in five colleges inDelhi University. It is an effort totarget young adults because theyfeel that it is this age group that ismost likely to make a healthychoice.

FAIPO’s spokesperson VardaMehrotra said although much ofthe Indian public is sensitisedtowards animal issues, especiallythose facing street dogs, the biggerpicture of institutionalised crueltyis missing from the minds of manydue to which people are makinguninformed diet choices.

If slaughterhouses had glass walls

NEW DELHI, JAN 04While many New Year resolutions are

made only to be broken before the firstquarter of the year ends, those who havepromised themselves shorter holidays dur-ing the year have the calendar on theirside.

Republic Day falling on a Monday, Holiand Gandhi Jayanti on a Friday, Diwaliand a host of other festivals on a Thursdayor a Tuesday, strategic planners can easycull out a four-five day holiday by takingonly one day leave from school or work.

Devyani Singh, who works for a bank,says, “In 2014, on my Facebook page Iused to see my friends holidaying at exot-ic locations and I wondered how theymanaged to create a work-leisure balance.This year, I am going to plan every longweekend in advance so that I can see manynew places. There are many destinationsclose to Delhi that I have not explored thatare relatively cheap and easy to plan.”

Travel agents have already curated holi-day experiences that are three to four dayslong, including travel time.

Sneha, who manages a boutique travelagency in South Delhi, says prices for air-fare and hotel bookings have already risenfor the January 26 weekend and hasadvised her clients to plan early instead ofmaking a holiday a costly affair. Hotelshave already raised their prices duringlong weekends and it is better to bookearly at a place that offers a refund than toend up at home because there was nospace available at hotels or on flights, sheadds. Ravi, who is from Chennai, butworks in Delhi, says last year he learnt hislesson the hard way by spendingRs.20,000 on a ticket back home to meethis family. “This year I have downloadeda mobile app that keeps me aware of tick-et prices because the worst feeling accord-ing to me is not being with family whenyou have a couple of days off.”

Up and about: This year,plan smart holidays

NEW DELHI, JAN 04 Municipal councillors

across Delhi are vying fortickets to contest theAssembly elections, whichare expected to beannounced this month.

While the BharatiyaJanata Party is yet to namecandidates for all 70 seatsfor the Delhi Assemblypolls and the Congress hasannounced candidates for24 Assembly seats, theAam Aadmi Party hasalready announced all itscandidates. The AAP’s listincludes councillors fromthe South Delhi MunicipalCorporation and theCongress has fielded a for-mer Mayor from Mehrauli.

Bhati ward councillorKartar Singh Tanwar, wholeft the BJP in November2014, has now been given

the AAP ticket to contestfrom Chhatarpur.Independent councillorfrom Nawada ward NareshBalyan, who was earlierwith the BJP, is the AAPcandidate from UttamNagar, while formerBahujan Samaj Partymember and Tekhandcouncillor Sahi Ram hasbeen given theTughlakabad ticket.

Though the BJP has notdeclared any candidates sofar, quite a few of its coun-cillors are in the running,the foremost being partyDelhi president SatishUpadhyay. The first-timecouncillor in the SouthDelhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) fromMalviya Nagar hasemerged as an importantplayer in Delhi politics

after being appointed StateBJP chief last year.

According to BJPsources, Mr. Upadhyaymay contest the MalviyaNagar Assembly seat. Inthe SDMC, veteran coun-cillor and current StandingCommittee chairpersonSubhash Arya, StandingCommittee chairpersonPankaj Singh and formerMayor Sarita Choudharyare also in the runningfrom Rajouri Garden,Vikaspuri and MehrauliAssembly segmentsrespectively.

Janakpuri councillor andDelhi BJP general-secre-tary Ashish Sood is keenon contesting fromJanakpuri Assembly seat,which has been won bysenior BJP leader JagdishMukhi five times.

NEW DELHI, JAN 04 The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction and 10

years’ jail term awarded by a lower court to a Pakistaninational for possessing drugs, while observing that noerror could be found in the conclusion reached by the trialcourt and the case against the convict had been provedbeyond reasonable doubt. Justice S. Muralidhar of theHigh Court, dismissing the appeal filed by convictMohammed Afzal last week, said the sentence awarded tohim under Section 21 (c) of the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act, 1985, did not call for inter-ference.

Afzal was arrested at Connaught Place here onDecember 23, 2006, with a bag containing 2 kg heroin.According to the police, he went there to deliver heroin toone of his Punjabi contacts. A trial court convicted andsentenced the Pakistani national to 10 years in prison inSeptember 2010 and imposed a fine of Rs.1 lakh on him.He later challenged the trial court verdict in the HighCourt. The High Court, which examined the evidenceproduced by the prosecution in the case, said factors suchas change in colour of the samples of heroin recoveredfrom the appellant, reduction in weight or a change in theconcentration of diacetylmorphine (DAM) did not proveby themselves that the samples had not come from thesame source.

HC upholds jail term for Pakistani national

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) ANDHRA MURAL PAINTING, GOND PAINTING, MIDNAPUR

BANGAL SCROLL AND RAJASTHAN FOLK PAINTING.

THE PLACE WHERE THE CRIB WAS FOUND BURNT AT THE CHURCH OF

RESURRECTION IN ROHINI.

Councillors vie for Assembly poll tickets

NEW DELHI, JAN 04Both the Aam Aadmi Party and

the Bharatiya Janata Party brokeinto tirades of allegations againsteach other after a violent clashbetween their volunteers inTughlakabad on Saturday evening.

The former alleged that the “vio-lence unleashed by the BJP onAAP volunteers was a clear indi-cation that it wanted to vitiate thepeaceful atmosphere in the Capitalahead of the Assembly elections”.The latter countered this by alleg-ing that “it was AAP workers whowere repeatedly indulging in vio-lence”. At the heart of the episodewas the alleged burning of a carwhich belonged to AAP candidateSahi Ram. It burst into flamesaround 4-30 p.m. at a DDA park inthe area. The AAP alleged it wasset ablaze by “BJP hoodlums” ledby the nephew of BJP MP RameshBidhuri. The BJP retorted byblaming the AAP of “staging” theincident. “It is shocking that a mobled by the MP’s nephew attackedthe AAP volunteers in broad day-light when a TV news channel wasconducting a debate in the DDApark at Tuglakabad. Armed with

sharp weapons, they attacked theAAP volunteers, who were partic-ipating in the TV programme andinflicted serious injuries on themwithout any provocation,” theAAP claimed in a statement. Itadded that at least 10 volunteershad to be taken to AIIMS traumacentre for treatment and in prepa-ration of their medico-legalreports.

Delhi BJP media in-chargePraveen Shankar Kapoor, howev-er, claimed that AAP workersattacked four BJP workers return-ing from a TV programme around3 p.m. “To suppress the issues, theAAP workers themselves burnt acar and around 4-30 p.m. made aPCR call alleging that the car hadbeen burnt by BJP workers,” hesaid. “The allegation is a totalfarce. In fact, AAP workersattacked a BJP worker, SanjeevKumar, at Tughlakabad onDecember 25 and, in another inci-dent recently, AAP workers haddamaged the car of our KarolBagh district Yuva Morcha presi-dent. The AAP councillor hasrepeatedly misbehaved with a BJPleader in Okhla, Sanjeev Bidhuri.

Parties indulge in blame game

Continuation 3

'Terror boat' ...Questioning the intention of Congress

behind their act of doubting the identity of the'bomb' boat and whether it was a terrorist boator not, Patra said, “We want to ask Congressif this was a publicity stunt.”

“Congress should stand united with thegovernment against terrorism,” he added.

Patra further said, "A new low in Indianpolitics has been touched and none other thanCongress is responsible for this new low.Congress has touched an abysmal low as faras politics is concerned.”

He added India celebrated a "happy" newyear because the Coast Guard and the intelli-gence agencies of India could successfullyabort a "probable" terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, the Cost Guard authorities alsotoday rejected Congress' allegations over the'bomb' boat saying that the boat which wasdestroyed after being intercepted was a 'ter-rorist boat'.

Inspector General Kuldip Singh Sheoran,Commander, Coast Guard Region (North-West) said the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) hasbeen monitoring the coastal area closely andhas pressed six aircrafts into service.

Confirming that the people present insidethe 'bomb' boat were not smugglers, the IGsaid, "Smugglers never run away like they didin the intercepted boat case nor do they set theboat on fire," he added.

Regarding reports that there were two sus-picious boats in the high seas, Sheoran hadsaid yesterday that they had no such informa-tion.

Giving details of the operation carried outin the intervening night of December 31 andJanuary one, he added that the Coast Guardintercepted the boat as it got suspicious aboutthe identity of crew who did not resemblefishermen from their dressing style and car-ried no nets.

"We saw four men on the boat. They werenot looking like fishermen, they wore T-shirtsand half pants, and this raised suspicion," hehad said.

However, a search is underway for thewreckage of the mysterious boat, whichexploded after being hunted down by theIndian Coast Guard in the Arabian Sea, asalso the bodies of its four occupants, whichwill be crucial for investigators to reach aconclusion about their intent.

Earlier in the day, Congress spokespersonAjoy Kumar had said, “All reports that havecome up about the Porbandar incident arecontradictory.”

“National security isn't a light issue, we areworried about nation's security that's why weare raising questions,” he added.

"Government should come clean on it.There is no evidence. How can you say that aterrorist attack was prevented? How did they(government) come to the conclusion that itwas a terrorist boat? It is very strange.Nothing has been explained. Which terroristorganisation was behind it?" Kumar had said,citing media reports which have questionedthe government version about the interceptionand the subsequent blast on board and sinkingof the fishing boat.

The Congress today also suggested theModi government to go deeper into the possi-ble terror attack case.

"I think the government should go deeplyinto this in particular; it must literally get intothe bottom of this by going down to the sealevel and tracing the remnants of this boat tofind out what was the origin, who sent it, whyit was sent, what was the purpose," Congressleader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, ANIreported.

Another top Gujarat Congress leader hadyesterday said it would have been better if atleast one of the occupants of the "terror" boathad been captured alive even as he allegedloopholes in the State's coastal security.

"We had caught a 26/11 terrorist (AjmalKasab) alive during the operation. It wouldhave been better if at least one of the boatoccupants had been caught alive. India thencould have told the world their handlersbelonged to Pakistan," said Shaktisinh Gohil,Congress MLA and former Leader ofOpposition in Gujarat Assembly

Earlier on Friday, a possible terror attackwas averted when a suspicious fishing boatcarrying explosives in the Arabian Sea wasintercepted near the India- Pakistan maritimeboundary, approximately 365 kilometresaway from Porbander.

A statement from the Ministry of Defencesaid that as per intelligence inputs received onDecember 31, a fishing boat from KetiBunder near Karachi was planning some illic-it transaction in the Arabian Sea.

A coast guard ship warned the suspiciousvessel to stop for further investigation of thecrew and cargo; however, the boat increasedits speed and attempted to flee the maritimeboundary.

The coast guards operation continued fornearly one hour and the Coast Guard shipmanaged to stop the fishing boat after firingwarning shots.

The four persons on board disregardedwarning shots from the Coast Guard and triedto hide themselves in the lower deck of thevessel; thereafter they set the boat on fire,which resulted in an explosion.

Ultimately, the boat burnt and sank in theearly hours of January 1, including all thepeople on board who could not be saved orrecovered.

'Bomb' boat’...

suspicious as the crew members were notdressed as fishermen and were not carryingnets. The Indian Coast Guard received inputsat around 8:30 am on December 31 about thesuspicious boat.

When they intercepted the boat, the occu-pants set it on fire causing it to explode about365 km off the coast of Porbander in theArabian Sea.

The authorities were looking for the searchof the wreckage of the mysterious boat whichwill be crucial for investigators to reach aconclusion about their intent.

The Coast Guard has increased vigilancealong the Gujarat coast after the boat incidentand also in view of the two upcoming high-profile events here - Pravasi Bharatiya Divasand Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held fromJanuary 7-9 and Vibrant Gujarat Summit fromJanuary 11-13.

Hijack alert on...national capital.An alert was sounded after security agen-

cies warned of a possible hijack attempt onflights running between Delhi and Kabul. Thewarning also mentions Air India airline,according to news report.

The security agencies have also reportedlyalerted airlines operating on the route that theflights can be the target of the militants.

Instructions have been given to ensureproper security check of passengers, staff andcabin baggage once the boarding is complete.

The warning comes a day after a call threat-ening to blow up Air India office in Kolkatawas made on Saturday.

The security at the Kolkata airport wasincreased after the threat call and air marshalswere reportedly deployed.

Police is probing the incident and trying toascertain whether it was a hoax call.

Opposing NITI ...issues pertaining to economic development."Parties opposing the NITI Ayog and land

acquisition ordinance, are doing it for politicsand not for development. Until and unless webring economic reforms in the country, thenation cannot meet global challenges in termsof globalisation, liberalisation and privatisa-tion," he said.

The minister said NDA government isbringing economic reforms which are neededin order to transform the country into an eco-nomic super power.

Opposition parties need to change their atti-tude support the government in its initiatives,he said.

Naidu also called for smooth functioning ofthe Parliament and appealed to theOpposition to respect the democratic struc-ture and have constructive debates in thehouse.

Weather 'triggering...close to confirming widespread speculation

on the reasons for the disaster, the StraitsTimes reported.

BMKG's report, authored by ProfessorEdvin Aldrian, head of its research and devel-opment unit, said its preliminary analysis ofweather data suggested the AirAsia AirbusA320-200 had flown into storm clouds.

It also noted that weather charts issuedbefore the flight showed the plane's scheduledroute at cruising level would come across"worrying" conditions, with warnings of agale.

Satellite images also suggested peak tem-peratures of minus 80 to minus 85 degCelsius, which meant there were grains of icein the dense clouds, the report said.

The AirAsia plane with 162 people onboard en route from Indonesia's Surabaya cityto Singapore mysteriously crashed lastSunday in the Java Sea. Searchers are retriev-ing the bodies of the victims and the wreck-age of the plane.

Finding the black box of the plane is crucialfor determining with certainty the definitereasons for the crash.

Officials have said the plane was travellingat 32,000 feet when the pilot in his last com-munication made a request to climb to 38,000feet to avoid bad weather.

The plane was carrying 155 passengers --one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean,three South Koreans, 149 Indonesians -- andseven crew members -- six Indonesians and aFrench co-pilot. Seventeen of the passengerswere children. There were no Indian nationalson board. At least four more bodies wererecovered today from the Jawa Sea, taking thetotal number of corpses retrieved so far to 34.

India wants...Asif's remarks came after four Pakistani

rangers were killed in BSF's strong retaliationafter a jawan of the force lost his life in heavyfiring from the other side on a patrol onDecember 31 along the International Borderin Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district.

"Day before yesterday's incident has beentaken up at every level from the army's side.The issue was taken up at the very location offiring, then we established contact from onepost to the other," Asif said.

"After that we took up the issue at the levelof rangers and BSF, than at the DGMO level,we also explored the diplomatic channel. Wehave taken up the issue at every possiblelevel," he said. Asif made the remarks also inresponse to the alleged killing of a 13-year-old Pakistani girl from Sialkot in cross-borderfiring yesterday.

NIA approaches..engaged in terror activities during his stay

with the ISIS.

The US, which has been very cooperative incyber-terrorism related cases, has alreadygiven preliminary evidence of the InternetProtocol address used by Majeed beforeallegedly joining the outfit and the mails shotoff by him which includes to a person inMadhya Pradesh, who is believed to havefinanced his travel abroad to be part of ISIS,the sources said.

The NIA, in order to further strengthen thecase, is also planning to send LettersRogatory (LR) to Iraq and Syria as the pass-port of Majeed, a 23-year-old youth fromMumbai's Kalyan area, shows Iraq as his portof entry and Syria as port of exit, the sourcessaid.

The provincial governments of these twocountries are soon expected to honour theLRs after it was sent from diplomatic chan-nels, the sources said.

During investigations, it was found by theNIA that Majeed had received some monetarytransactions from Kuwait and the agency waspreparing to send a MLAT to that countryseeking information about the person whohad transferred money into the account, theysaid. Majeed was arrested by the NIA in thelast week of November last year upon hisreturn from Iraq and booked under Sections16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act and Section 125 of the IndianPenal Code. The three UAPA sections standfor commission or conspiring to commit a ter-rorist act and for being a member of a terror-ist organisation, while Section 125 of the IPCrelates to waging war against a nation whichis in alliance with the Government.

He landed in Mumbai on November 28after spending nearly six months in Iraq, fol-lowing which he was immediately detainedby the security agencies and later arrested.

In May this year, four youths from Kalyan,including Majeed, had left the country to visitholy places in West Asia but disappearedthereafter. They were suspected to havejoined ISIS. According to police, the fourengineering students had flown to Baghdadon May 23 as part of a group of 22 pilgrims tovisit religious shrines in Iraq.

China navy ...nearby buildings.More than ten military airports have been

relocated or closed due to safety concerns,according to a statement by the General StaffHeadquarters of the PLA.

Set up in 1931, Hangzhou Jianqiao Airportis known as the "cradle of China's air forces,"yet more than 20 high-rise buildings in thevicinity have exceeded height limits.

Due to local governments' poor balancingof economic development and nationaldefense, high-rise buildings pose threats tomilitary reserve zones in many areas, thereport said.

A revised law forbidding buildings andstructures from violating clearance limits inreserve zones went into effect on August 1last year.

Mohan Bhagwat...out its obligation, it is responsibility of the

Hindu society...All the Hindus should unite,"he said.

Bhagwat was speaking at conclusion of athree-day RSS workers camp here.

Lauding the country's unity in diversity, hesaid that equal respect has to be accorded toall in the society.

If all Hindus were to become united, thenthere is no power that can stop the countryfrom progressing, he said.

India led the world in the past when it wasconsidered as "vishwa guru" and the worldwas at peace during that period, the RSSleader said. Bhagwat said that the entireHindu society has to get together for "thisholy task" while calling for further strength-ening the power of Hindu society. Talkingabout the Sangh, he said that it was an organ-isation for nation-building and infusingnationalist spirit among the people of thecountry. "The Sangh has embarked upon thisholy task and we will continue till it is com-plete," he said. Bhagwat said that seeing theSangh from outside will not do and urgedpeople to first see its work from inside and ifone is fine with it, they should join it.

After years, people are finally understand-ing the work done by the Sangh, he said.

Kailash Satyarthi...Satyarthi said, interacting with kids at the

Children's Science Congress here."When a book is published, light glows.

When a bullet is fired from a gun, a life islost," he said, asking people to abhor vio-lence. "I also had a dream to become a scien-tist. I became the voice of children and washonoured with the Nobel Prize," he said.

Emphasising on indigenous research in "theland of Buddha and Gandhi", Satyarthi said,"Don't consider anything to be a full stop. Askquestions and seek answers. Be like Galileoand analyse things. Be scientific; not reli-gious. Morality comes from religion butaccept it only if it has a scientific basis".

"Study science, not to earn money, but toenhance knowledge," Satyarthi told youngscience enthusiasts.

He asked parents to keep their kids awayfrom barriers like caste and creed.

"If you don't want to grow old, realise thekid in you. The world is beautiful seenthrough the eyes of the child," he said.

"We owe it to care for kids who are out ofschool. If child labour is eradicated, grown-ups will get more jobs," he said.

Satyarthi also called for giving equal rightsto girls and questioned, "Why are women notsafe in the land of Shivaji Maharaj and

Maharana Pratap".

Narendra Modi...allotted by the previous government in

2004 for setting up of Ambedkar NationalPublic Library, the source added.

The recommendation to establish the inter-national centre was made way back in 1990by the national committee, set up to celebratethe birth centenary of B.R. Ambedkar in abefitting manner and chaired by then PrimeMinister V.P. Singh.

It had suggested that the international cen-tre should comprise a national public libraryand other infrastructure.

The committee had also recommended set-ting up of Ambedkar Foundation, which waslater established in 1992 as an autonomousbody under the aegis of the Ministry of SocialJustice and Empowerment.

Ambedkar was the principal architect of theConstitution and worked towards the goal ofjustice for people considered untouchables inthe country.

Japanese woman ...$1,200 dollars in cash before travelling with

her to the holy shrine of Bodh Gaya in theneighbouring state of Bihar, AFP reported.There she was then handed over to two broth-ers who allegedly locked her in a secludedunderground room and repeatedly raped herfor nearly a month.

The two brothers, who were working astourist guides, were arrested on Friday andtaken to Kolkata where they appeared in courtlate Saturday. A magistrate ordered that theybe remanded in custody until January 9 for anidentification parade.

Kolkata joint police commissioner PallabKanti Ghosh said the other three men werebeing held on suspicion of extorting moneyfrom the victim and then handing her over tothe alleged rapists.

"We have arrested three people whobefriended the victim in Kolkata. They havebeen charged with common conspiracy andintention to kidnap and rape," the commis-sioner added. The case is the latest in a stringof high-profile sex attacks that have high-lighted the frightening levels of violenceagainst women in India. In 2012, millions ofIndians took to the streets, after a medical stu-dent was gang-raped and killed in New Delhi,to demand official action to reduce the num-ber of assaults on women.

People facing...organisational affairs of the party over the

past few years was not present at the meeting.Though, the Chief Minister extended her sup-port to those accused in the Saradha scam, shepointed out during the closed door meetingthat those facing allegations will not lead anymovement on behalf of the party.

At a core committee meeting held at herresidence in Kolkata, Ms Banerjee asked herparty leaders to avoid the media.

According to senior TMC leaders present atthe meeting, the party chairperson said thatthe party will not yield “an inch to Oppositionparties”.

She directed the party to prepare a list ofpeople from the Opposition who are involvedin any scam or financial wrongdoing.

During the meeting, Ms Banerjee pointedout that the Centre was trying to tarnish theparty’s reputation by using Central agencieslike the CBI.

She asked her party to reach out to themasses and conduct movements against anti-people policies of the Centre.

Election Commission...EC has issued a directive to the Chief

Electoral Office that the national-level elec-toral roll is to be created, completed andstored as a National Data Centre and used forproviding various services to the electors.

Under this, the services offered to voterswill include providing facilities for searchingname, knowing the concerned Block LevelOfficer, constituency name and number, andother voter information.

Mayawati asks...poor, helpless and handicapped persons,"

Mayawati said while addressing a meeting ofparty office bearers and legislators here.

BSP workers celebrate the party supremo'sbirthday as Jan Kalyankari Diwas (publicwelfare day) every year.

At the meeting Mayawati also declarednames of Naseemudin Siddiqui, DharmveerSingh Ashok and Pradeep as BSP candidatesfor Legislative Council elections scheduledon January 23. Mayawati came down heavilyon the NDA government at the Centre and theSamajwadi Party government in the state asshe exhorted partymen to strengthen the BSPby all means -- physically and financially -- tofight against "communal" NDA and "anti-people" SP government.

Alleging that the Narendra Modi govern-ment appeared to be "failing on all fronts",she said that interests of capitalists were being"safeguarded" while Dalits, backwards, trib-als and minority communities were ignored.

"The Modi government is playing in thehands of capitalists. Even after being in officefor seven months, the NDA was not interest-ed in solving the problems of poor and weak-er sections," she said.

Slamming the Akhilesh Yadav governmentin Uttar Pradesh on the law and order front,the former chief minister said the people ofthe state were fed up with the SP dispensationand now wanted a change.

"Anti-social elements are ruling the stateand corruption is at its Zenith. Legislators andministers are not allowing honest civil and

police officials to function properly,"Mayawati alleged.

At the meeting, Mayawati also presenteddetails regarding Assembly elections held inJharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtraand Haryana and briefed party's performancethere.

‘Man kills...in which he named his wife Pooja (36) as

the reason for taking the extreme step.According to the police, the cause of thealleged murder and suicide is difference ofopinions and ego clash between the couple.

The victims, Pooja, and Neeraj, had beenmarried for nine years. They had two chil-dren, Yash and Harsh, both close to sevenyears of age. The family stayed in KailashNagar, East Delhi.

A police officer said: “Neeraj’s sister,Bhawna, was staying with the couple sincethe past few days. Around 8-30 p.m. onFriday, Bhawna arrived at the Gandhi Nagarpolice station and reported that her brother,Neeraj, had stabbed Pooja with a pair of scis-sors and had gone missing,” said the officer.

On reaching the couple’s residence thepolice found Pooja’s body. On Saturdaymorning around 7 a.m., they found Neeraj’sbody on the railway tracks in Kailash Nagar.“He had jumped in front of a train,” said theofficer. The police found a note allegedlywritten by Neeraj on a wall in the house. “Hehad written: Pooja mere marne ka kaaran hain(Pooja is the cause of my death),” said theofficer.

Investigators said the couple often foughtwith each other over petty issues such as badfood. Also, Neeraj had also stopped workingfor the past five years, adding to their woes.He was a shopkeeper in Kailash Nagar.

A case under sections of murder has beenregistered at Gandhi Nagar police station inconnection with Pooja’s death.

Five firemen...party uploaded it on social networking sites.

District Fire Officer (East) V Pappiah saidthat a preliminary enquiry conducted onSaturday morning found the firemen guilty ofmisconduct and they were suspended imme-diately.

36000 RTI....functioning without a Chief Information

Commissioner for almost four months now.According to information furnished by the

Department of Personnel and Training(DoPT), 203 people, including all seven serv-ing Information Commissioners and a formerDoPT secretary, have applied for the top post,lying vacant since 22nd August.

The information was provided toCommodore (retired) Lokesh Batra inresponse to a RTI query.

The query also revealed that the number ofpending cases in the CIC bench increased by47 per cent, from 7655 to 11212, in the fourmonths since the retirement of the last CICRajiv Mathur.

The government had invited applicationsfor the post of CIC on 24th October. The lastdate for application was 23rd November.

As on January 4th, there were 36,319 pend-ing cases before the Central InformationCommission. The bulk of these — 28,888 tobe precise — were appeals while the rest(7,431) were complaints.

According to the monthly progress reportsput up by the CIC on its website, VijaySharma, at 5971, had the most pending cases(complaints and appeals) among the seveninformation commissioners, followed byYashovardhan Azad at 4902 and SharatSabharwal at 3999.

Manjula Prasher, the only woman memberof the commission, had 3418 pending caseswhile Basant Seth, MA Khan Yusufi, andM.S. Acharyulu had 3408, 1491 and 1772pending cases, respectively.

When it came to disposing off applicationsin 2014, Mr. Acharyulu was at the top withresolution of 2891 RTI applications.

He was followed by Mr. Sharma at 2660,Mr. Seth at 2351, Mr. Azad at 2202, Mr.Sabharwal at 2183, Ms. Prasher at 2036 andMr. Yusufi at 1713.

For the Chief Information Commissioner,the monthly progress reports shows zerocases disposed against 11317 pending com-plaints for the entire last year, which is inter-esting considering CIC Rajiv Mathur held thepost till August 2014, after which it fellvacant.

Over 20,000 ...homecoming. It has been going on for long.

No law and order problem was createdbecause of the drive. It is not illegal. Theprocess of returning to your roots is a world-wide trend. Some people are creating contro-versies out of nothing,” he said at a press con-ference here on the sidelines of a three-dayconvention of RSS office-bearers.

Mr. Vaidya said the RSS believed that thelarger cultural identity of Indians was Hindu.

Sanjay Joshi, former member of the BJPnational executive and a friend-turned-foe ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi, attended theconvention on Saturday. In 2012, he wasforced to resign from the national executivefollowing pressure from Mr. Modi.

In the evening, the RSS took out a marchthrough three locations on the outskirts of thecity. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat flagged itoff.

Nearly 25,000 RSS workers registeredthemselves for the convention, and 14,558attended it by the second day. The number of‘shakhas’ (branches) has gone up by 4,500 in2014.

From Page 1NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQ

You rarely noticethe momentwhen you finally

get over a cough; one dayyou just think, “Oh, Ihaven’t been coughing fora while.” Similarly, Idon’t remember when Istopped getting commentsabout being blonde.Throughout my early life,“Blondie!” would beshouted from passingcars, or there would be alame apology right beforea dreadful “dumb blonde”joke. I’ve even beenasked in the past why Idon’t dye my hair, theimplication that I’d betaken more seriously as abrunette. But that doesn’thappen any more. Thereare still remarks shoutedfrom passing cars andapologies before stupid

jokes, but the significanceof hair colour has fadedjust as my own has dulledand given way to grey.

My own experienceseems to be backed up byresearch. The SpokenBritish National Corpus2014 study has analysed2.5 million words of con-versation and has com-pared these to similarstudies from the 1990s. Afew preliminary findingshave been released overthe past few months,including that the use ofthe word “marvellous”has declined (sadly andinfuriatingly replaced by“awesome”), and that wedrank less sherry atChristmas but morechampagne. Now the leadresearchers claim that

men are using fewer sex-ist terms to describewomen than they did inthe 90s.

Women are now rarelyreferred to as “blonde” or“sexy” in conversationand “are being describedmore in their own rightand less in terms of theira p p e a r a n c e . ”Interestingly, there hasbeen a rise in the term“girly girl” — seeminglybecause this archetypeneeds a special descrip-tion as the cutesy-femi-nine behaviour of the late20th century is no longerthe norm.

Change in attitude?

But does this change inlanguage mean a change

in attitudes? Certainlythere seems to be amarked differencebetween the “lad culture”of the 90s to what we areseeing now. Lad mags areon the decline and areradically shifting inresponse to changingtastes. The Inbetweenersmay have popularised theword “clunge,” but atleast they are acting theirage and don’t seem to beaspirational (rather themthan 40-year-old mengoing to work on a skate-board and ironically tak-ing pictures of womeneating on the Tube). Yet,2014 seems to have beenthe year that “Twitter”and “rape threat” becamesynonymous. It’s alsobeen the year that sexismin video game culture hit

the mainstream withGamergate, and there wasthe debate as to whetherconvicted rapist ChedEvans should be able toresume his life while hisvictim cannot. Even aU.N. expert thinks theU.K. is a “boys’ club.”

So is misogyny justsomething that we feeluncomfortable displayingin public now? And arethe misogynistic conver-sations simply movingonline? Do people talkabout “lovely” women toeach other, yet threaten torape them online whenthey disagree? Of course,language evolves, andjust as interesting as thewords that have disap-peared are the ones thathave emerged. Apparently

new words for describingwomen include “interna-tional,” “gypsy” and“Italian.” Depending onthe context, these couldall be derogatory termsand based on appearancerather than actual nation-ality (although goodnessknows what an “interna-tional woman” is, I justhope it’s suffixed with “ofmystery”). “Italian” isobviously far from a neg-ative term in itself, butgiven the size of thatcountry’s population andrecent immigrationtrends, it seems unlikelythat there has been aninflux of Italian womeninto Britain that we wereunaware of.

Men seemed to havebeen increasingly

pigeoned-holed by theiroccupation, as there is arise in the terms “city,”“business”, “working”and “rich” in relation tothem. These may hint atmen’s continued power,wealth and influence butare also just monumental-ly boring. And just associal networks can veertowards the rapey, theycan also be well used toaddress sexism with cam-paigns such as Lose theLad Mags, No More Page3 and the EverydaySexism project.

As women haveincreasingly taken todying their hairregularly, anyclaims to character-istics based on haircolour have gone

from immature to nonsen-sical. Instead thereappears to be an increasedinterest in ethnicity orperceived ethnicity.Perhaps another sign ofthe times. But there isclearly a divergencebetween what people sayabout women betweenthemselves, and the emer-gent language of onlineinteractions which areextreme, polarised, oftenviolent and far from mar-vellous. Given the speedof change online, hope-fully 2015 will be theyear that we look backwith embarrassment atold-fashioned flaming

BY T. M. VEERARAGHAV

Security cameras, policecheck posts and trafficdiversions are all back

with renewed vigour on thecrowded streets of Bengaluru.And this time there were evendrone cameras to keep a watchon the arterial roads of the city asit welcomed 2015. The policewere looking for drunken driv-ers, alcohol and drugs, but alsopipe bombs, guns and evensophisticated explosives. In real-ity, they may not have had anidea on what they were lookingfor, but had to keep vigil in thehope that they could avert atragedy.

Preparedness

All of it boiled down to onequestion: how prepared is thecity, perhaps any city, or itspolice force, to avert or deal witha “terror strike”? The questionclouded over India’s IT capitalas it surfed into a new year withmemories of an explosion fromthe last Sunday of 2014. It left a37-year-old mother of two fromChennai dead, three othersinjured, and was a reminder thata blast can take place anytime,anywhere, to claim the lives ofthe least suspecting.

In this case, like in the otherthree attacks in the city since2008, it was a “low-intensityexplosive device” that was used.It lacked the sophistication ofdevices that have been used incities like Mumbai or Delhi,according to investigators.

They also point out that suchblasts are difficult to predict or

monitor as they “may notinvolve a large network andcould even be the work of localindividual elements.” Pastattacks in the city have beenattributed to groups like theTamil Nadu-based Al-Ummah orelements of the Students IslamicMovement of India (SIMI)based in South India, and theIndian Mujahideen (IM). Theyhave not had an internationalinvolvement, except in 2005when an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba gunman attacked theIndian Institute of Science.

But the city is firmly on theworld map with a strong connectto most countries and a largepopulation of expats; hence evena low intensity explosion wouldmake a global statement,explained former Director ofResearch and Analysis Wing(RAW), P.K. Hormis Tharakan.

Local problems add to thecity’s vulnerability. The sheerenormity of its growth over thelast two decades has made itextremely difficult to monitor orpolice.

According to the 2011 census,the city’s population is over 96lakh and more than 60 per centare migrants from different partsof India and the world. Themigration is not restricted tosoftware engineers or techies,but includes those from a crosssection of society — from con-struction workers to internation-al students.

When compared to any otherIndian city, the proportion ofthose who have moved to

Bengaluru over the last decadeor two is overwhelming, andeven old inhabitants of the cityfind it difficult to comprehendthe changes that have sweptthrough.

This only makes it easy forany criminal element from any-where in the country to disap-pear in it, according to policeofficers.

The recent arrest of the allegedIS tweeter Mehdi MasroorBiswas was an example of howan individual could seem like aperfectly normal young migrantemployee of an MNC, but couldbe involved with a global terrorideology. In some ways, its enor-mity gives anonymity to thosewho move into it.

Geographically, the cityensures easy road connectivityto places such as Hyderabad,Chennai, Mumbai, Pune andKerala. This adds to the securitynightmare as it’s difficult tomonitor entry and exit of people.

Coping with challenges

Against this backdrop, has thecity’s police force been aug-mented with the strength it needsto deal with the challenge?

“Each time such an act takesplace, there’s a knee-jerk reac-tion, but the key is to have sys-tematic investment in technolo-gy, manpower and set up amodel institution for counter-ter-rorism” said Pratap Hebilikar, aformer bureaucrat who specialis-es in insurgency-related issues.

All this shows that the city’sinfrastructure and security appa-ratus is struggling to adapt to thechange from being a laid-back,retirement centre to a globallyimportant economic centre.Unfortunately, the attitude of theadministration remains laid-back.

For instance, an internal secu-rity division was set up in 2006,but it has suffered neglect andhas often had several postsvacant. In fact, police officersadmit that “postings to the divi-sion are seen as punishmentpostings and not accorded toofficers with serious experi-ence.”

The failure to build a strongersecurity apparatus is despiteincidents like the arrest of sus-pected IM operative YasinBhatkal and allegations thatRiyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, fromBhatkal village in north coastalKarnataka, constituted the topleadership of the IM. Apart fromthis, SIMI is known to have astrong base in places like Hubliin north Karnataka, and criminalelements in coastal parts of theState are known to have stronglinks to Mumbai-based under-world groups.

However, these elements arenot known to have been active inBengaluru city itself and haveinstead been focussed on activi-ties in Mumbai and other placesoutside Karnataka. This has onlymeant that the local police havenot had to deal with these ele-ments from a security point ofview of a city.

“Big organised crime has notbeen a feature in Bengaluru,”pointed out Mr. Tharakan. Thislimits the experience of thepolice force to deal with it. Theonly way forward is to evolve astrong government-police-citi-zen structure to deal with securi-ty issues and take them up in aserious and sustained manner,says Mr. Heblikar.

While threat perceptions mayor may not be real, it’s importantto ensure that the security appa-ratus is equipped to deal with thechallenges. Ultimately, that maybe the only important lesson tolearn.

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQ

Yet another bold initiative was taken on the last dayof 2014 when the Union government made publicthe draft National Health Policy 2015. The policy

is a first step in achieving universal health coverage byadvocating health as a fundamental right, whose “denialwill be justiciable”. While it makes a strong case for mov-ing towards universal access to affordable health-care serv-ices, there are innumerable challenges to be overcomebefore the objectives become a reality. The current govern-ment spending on health care is a dismal 1.04 per cent ofgross domestic product (GDP), one of the lowest in theworld; this translates to Rs.957 per capita in absoluteterms. The draft policy has addressed this critical issue bychampioning an increase in government spending to 2.5per cent of GDP (Rs.3,800 per capita) in the next fiveyears. But even this increase in allocation falls short of therequirement to set right the dysfunctional health-care serv-ices in the country. Citing the health-care system’s lowabsorption capacity and inefficient utilisation of funding asan alibi for not raising the spending to 3 per cent of GDPis nothing but a specious argument. Insufficient fundingover the years combined with other faulty practices haveled to a dysfunctional health-care system in the country.Undivided focus is an imperative to strengthen all the ele-ments of health-care delivery. The failure of the publichealth-care system to provide affordable services has beenthe main reason that has led to increased out-of-pocketexpenditure on health care. As a result, nearly 63 millionpeople are driven into poverty every year. The Ebola crisisin Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, which underlined therepercussions of a weak public health-care system, shouldserve as a grim reminder of this. The national programmesprovide universal coverage only with respect to certaininterventions such as maternal ailments, that account forless than 10 per cent of all mortalities. Over 75 per cent ofthe communicable diseases are outside their purview andonly a limited number of non-communicable diseases arecovered. It is, therefore, crucial for the Union governmentto undertake proactive measures to upgrade the health-careservices of poorly performing States such as Bihar andUttar Pradesh. As it stands, health will be recognised as afundamental right through a National Health Rights Actonly when three or more States “request” it. Since health isa State subject, adoption by the respective States will bevoluntary. Though a different approach has been taken toimprove adoption and implementation by States, the veryobjective of universal health coverage that hinges on porta-bility will be defeated in the absence of uniform adoptionacross India.

Birth of a new institutionMonday | January 05, 2015

SAADDA HAQ

BY BEN DOHERTY

The boats have notstopped. Theyhave stopped

reaching Australia butpeople are still drowningin seas in our region andacross the world.

More than 3,50,000 asy-lum seekers boarded boatsin 2014, the UN hasfound, leaving their home-land to seek protectionsomewhere else. Of those,54,000 people boarded aboat in southeast Asia —Australia’s “neighbour-hood,” in the words of theforeign minister.

At least 540 people diedon boat journeys in thatneighbourhood — starved,dehydrated or beaten to adeath by a crew memberand thrown overboard —or drowned when theirunseaworthy vessel sank.

Persecuted minority

The majority of thosetravelling in Australia’sregion were Rohingya, apersecuted ethnic minorityfrom Burma, who are bru-talised by their own gov-ernment, denied any rightsto citizenship, to educa-tion, banned from havingmore than two children

and from work in certainindustries. Rohingya vil-lages are regularly torchedand their occupants forcedinto remote tarpaulincamps, where malnutri-tion and disease are rife.

Australia has signed anagreement with Burmawith the aim of “boostingMyanmar’s immigrationand border control” —essentially to preventRohingya from leaving.

In 2014 Australiastopped 441 asylum seek-ers in 10 vessels, the UNsays, forcing them back tothe countries they last

departed.

The government regardsthese figures as evidenceits policies are working.Thanks to boat turnbacks,offshore processing andregional resettlement, theargument goes, boats areno longer able to reachAustralia. The peoplesmugglers no longer havea product to sell: the“sugar is off the table.”

But that view fails tolook over the horizon. Itignores — becauseAustralia knows they arethere — all the unseawor-thy boats, and their des-

perate passengers, stilllooking for a safe port toland or dying in the seas toour north.

Even allowing that sev-eral times that figure of441 were deterred fromtrying to come toAustralia, this country’sboat arrivals remain a tinyfraction of the world’s fig-ure.

The number of people inour region still boardingboats bound for some-where else is demonstra-tion of the irrelevancy ofthe “stopping the boats”shibboleth. It is not a

statement of policy, it is atool of political rhetoric.

“Have the boats stoppedreaching Australia?” is thewrong question to ask. Abetter question by whichto judge the success ofAustralia’s asylum poli-cies is this: are more peo-ple safer? Or fewer? Hasthe sum of protection forpeople who need it —against sectarian violence,against ethnic discrimina-tion or political oppres-sion, against arbitrarydetention in a transit ordestination country —increased as a result ofAustralian policies? The

answer is no. There is lessprotection in the world forpeople who need it as aresult of Australia’s poli-cies.

Australia voluntarilyratified the UN refugeeconvention. It willinglyaccepted the treaty’s obli-gation to offer protectionto those who need it. Butits policies now consis-tently place it in breach ofthat convention.

In announcing theBurma partnership, thethen immigration minister,Scott Morrison, pro-claimed: “Assisting our

regional partners in build-ing stronger, more effec-tive borders is a priority ofthe Coalition govern-ment.” But Australia isneglecting this obligation.Australia’s regional neigh-bours, its “partners ” inaddressing the asylumissue, are more over-whelmed than ever.

As the world urges clos-er cooperation on the issueof mass and irregularmigrations, Australiagrows ever more isola-tionist.

Moving the problemover the horizon is not thesame as addressing it. Theboats have not stopped.

Australia grows ever more isolationist on asylum

Our team will publish yourthoughts send us your articles at

news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

The burden of criminal neglectThe failure to

build a strongersecurity appa-ratus is despite

incidents likethe arrest ofsuspected IM

operative YasinBhatkal and

allegations thatRiyaz and Iqbal

Bhatkal, fromBhatkal villagein north coastal

Karnataka,constituted thetop leadership

of the IM.

The year that sexist language fell and moved onlineThe year that sexist language fell and moved online

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQ

HYDERABAD, JAN 04The sudden spurt in cases of

swine flu in December inTelangana has put a sense ofdread among public inHyderabad, who are yet to forgetthe experience of 2009 and 2010when the swine flu positive caseshad crossed 1500.

While doctors acknowledgethat fear among public is genuineand reasonable, they, however,assure that this time around theswine flu virus is not as virulentas earlier.

Doctors give the instance of2009-10 when mortality rateamong swine flu positive preg-nant women, brought from dis-tricts to Hyderabad, was any-where between 95 and 100 percent.

Not many hospitals, both cor-porate and government hospitalshere were able to revive pregnant

women during that swine flu epi-demic.

Doctors point out that theswine flu virus has not developedresistance to drugs.

“Patients are still responding toFluvir and Tamiflu, which aretraditional drugs used for swineflu virus. While there is a definiteneed to conduct studies byresearchers, from our clinicalobservations of patients atGandhi Hospital, we can deducethat there is no resistance todrugs,” said swine flu nodaloffice, Gandhi Hospital, Dr.Narasimhulu. Chest physicianshave also lamented the fact notmany know about the availabilityof vaccines for swine flu. “Publichave the option of contacting achest physician to find whetherthey need a vaccine. The swineflu virus here has definitely notmutated into a virulent form but

it will continue to remain a threatfor persons with co-morbid con-ditions,” says Dr. K. Subhakar,swine flu co-ordinator, and pul-monology professor.

There is also a general accept-ance that swine flu virus hasbecome endemic.

“Influenza virus never goesaway in tropical countries. Itsnumbers suddenly tend toincrease whenever the tempera-tures are congenial. This time,incidence of swine flu cases willnot surprise health care providersbecause already there is a lot ofexperience due to past epi-demics,” says infectious diseasespecialist, Dr. Sunita Nareddy.

Senior doctors also point outthat there is little inclination evenamong health care workers, espe-cially nurses, paramedics andclass four employees, to getthemselves vaccinated.

Health hub: Swine flu is not as virulent as earlier MADUARI, JAN 04

The Chairman ofApollo Hospitals GroupPrathap C. Reddy saidthat top class medicalequipment needed in thefield of urology will beprovided for Madurai toupscale the latest treat-ment facilities availablefor patients in southerndistricts.

He told the medical fra-ternity and patients thatApollo’s desire is to givethe best of facilities inurology and andrology inMadurai region becauseof a commitment to havestate-of-the-art healthcareacross smaller cities andtowns.

“Today with pride we

can say that the outcomeof our treatment is better.In the last three decades,our hospital has made asignificant impact on theway healthcare was pro-vided in our country” hesaid in a recorded speechat the inauguration ofApollo First MedHospitals at K.K.Nagarhere on Saturday.

Stating that availabilityof medical equipment fordiagnosis and treatment isof paramount importance,Dr. Reddy assuredthat the Apollo Groupwill be ready to giverobotic urology facilityalso for Madurai as andwhen the doctors askedfor it.

KOCHI, JAN 04The acquisition of 1.5 acres

of land from Apollo Tyres(PTL Enterprises) inKalamassery for Kochi Metrohas run into rough weatherwith the Kochi Metro RailLimited (KMRL) and the dis-trict administration tradingcharges over the quantum ofcompensation.

The land is crucial for ametro station there and anadjacent parking area. InDecember 2013, the DistrictLevel Purchase Committeehad fixed a compensation ofRs. 18.70 lakh per cent andgave its nod for a total pack-age of Rs. 32 crore. A KMRLrepresentative who participat-ed in the process did not objectto the decision, though themetro agency has been sayingthat the land was given to theprivate firm in the 1960s for anominal amount.

Sources in the metro agency

said they received a few peti-tions from people stating thatthe firm did not deserve to becompensated as per marketrate since the land wasassigned to the firm for a nom-inal amount by the govern-ment for industrial use. “Theyalso sent copies of the petitionto the State government, whoin turn asked us and theFinance Department to verifythe details of ownership withdue diligence.

The department withheldpayment of compensation,pending clarity on ownership.During this time, Apolloapproached the court demand-ing proper compensation forthe land. We never directedany one not to pay the com-pensation. We only soughtclarity on ownership of theland, to prevent complaintsthat metro’s land-acquisitionfunds were not handled withdue diligence.

CHENNAI, JAN 04Applause resonates

in the Bombay Circustent when SeethuChong juggles batonswhile balancing on arolling board. Themiddle-aged Chinesewoman gently bows tothe audience andwalks out, all com-posed amid the cheer-ing. When the curtainsfall and spectatorswalk away happy, shestretches her leg in hercabin to soothe theache from performingthese acts. She doesn’tcomplain muchthough. For, it is thecircus act that enablesher to make a livingand educate her chil-dren.

“My eldest son,Karan, is in his firstyear of engineering inThiruvananthapuram,and my second son,Hrithik, is in school,”says Seethu in fluentMalayalam.

She has been inIndia since her birth,

she says.“My parents came

from China, a longtime ago, and we set-tled in Thalassery,”she says.

Seethu marriedRajesh KumarPayanadan, also a cir-cus artiste. She began

her career at the GreatOriental Circus andperformed most of theacts there.

“I have been a tra-peze artist too, but oflate, I have been doingjust the balancing actand juggling,” shesays.

Despite all the risksinvolved in her job,she is happy becausethe circus companytakes care of her.

“It is two years sinceI saw my children. Ispeak to them over thephone. My husbandquit his job to takecare of our children.He visits me some-times,” says Seethu.

Though her childrenare first-generationlearners, there hasbeen no help from thegovernment, she says.“We entertain people,so the governmentcould help us in someway. The circus com-pany helped me withmy son’s college fees,because he studieswell,” she says.

Seethu has no desireto visit China.

“I came to the circusto earn a livelihood. Iwill continue to per-form till my healthpermits me,” she says,rushing off to the nextshow.

A balancing act, in and out of circus

MUMBAI, JAN 04A group of pro-Tamil activists

on Sunday staged a protest outsideactor Salman Khan’s residence inMumbai for supporting Sri LankanPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa dur-ing a poll campaign in the islandnation.

Salman was recently inColombo with actor JacquelineFernandez after accepting the invi-tation by Mr. Rajapaksa’s sonNamal, to campaign for his father.

“Salman Khan down down,” theprotestors shouted holding plac-ards condemning the superstar.

A protestor told reporters thatthe demonstration was to opposeSalman’s move to campaign forMr. Rajapaksa as the Sri LankanArmy and its President wereallegedly responsible for killingTamilians during the nation’s 26-year-old civil war.

A police officer present at thedemonstration site said 10 to 15

people have been taken into cus-tody.

Pro-Tamil activists protest against Salman Khan

“Madurai will get hi-techurology equipment”

KOZHIKODE, JAN 04 With night surveillance

of the coastline on thedecline, beaches in the cityare fast turning into awaste dump. Festivalsmake the situation worse,with waste safely dumpedunder the cover of dark-ness. On Saturday, plasticand food waste was founddumped on the beach adja-cent to the Gandhi Roadjunction. The cleaningstaff of the cityCorporation also seemedto give the beach a miss.

Street vendors along themain beach say waste ismostly brought here fromvenues of private partiesand social gatherings.Food and other waste fromwedding celebrations too

are dumped in the sea,they say. Night vigil on thebeach is insufficient to dis-suade anti-social elements.Only two or three securitypersonnel are posted toguard several kilometresof the coastline. RajeeshV.T, an employee of ahotel on the beachside,

says some groups of peo-ple bring large quantitiesof food and have it on thebeach, but leave bundlesof waste behind. “We havecome across instanceswherein beachgoers havewarned such groups andasked them to take backthe waste,” he says.

TIRUCHI, JAN 04The Srirangam Nattuvaikal in

the district will shortly be utilisedfor releasing waters for irrigationthrough its newly-constructedhead sluice.

The nattuvaikal which runs to alength of 22 km from Melur toKondaiyampettai has beenstrengthened at an estimate ofRs.38 crore through sanctionedunder the Rural InfrastructureDevelopment Fund (RIDF) of theNational Bank for Agriculture andRural Development.

Addressing the media at thehead sluice on Saturday,S.Kannan, Assistant GeneralManager, NABARD, said that the2005 floods had damaged theearthen retaining wall all alongthe 22-km stretch and the old headsluice had also been weakened.The NABARD sanctioned fundsfor the construction of head sluiceand also for strengthening theretaining walls, and slopedmasonry. K.Arthanareeswaran,Assistant General Manager,NABARD, said the bank hadsanctioned the funds on a prioritybasis as the project would ensureassured irrigation facility forfarmers and help store surplus

water. “Flood management was anintegral part of the scheme,” hesaid. C.Podhupani Thilagam,Assistant Executive Engineer,River Conservation Division ofPWD, Musiri, said that sinceretaining wall had got weakenedfollowing the 2005 floods, theentire stretch had been convertedinto a concrete structure. Farmersin eight major villages would raisepaddy or plantain on 3,371 acresonce the water was releasedthrough the head sluice.

P.Kannan, Assistant ExecutiveEngineer, PWD, said that the newstructure had been designed towithstand floods and store surplus

unforeseen discharge for the nexttwo decades.

“We hope that the discharge ofwater from the Mettur Dam wouldstabilise storage to be released incourse of time,” Mr.PodhupaniThilagam said.

The PWD would also fill thetank for the Thai Thear festival tobe held at the Srirangam SriRanganathaswamy temple.

“Water would be diverted fromthe Srirangam Nattuvaikal to thetemple tank,” he said. Further,since the nattuvaikal passesthrough a cluster of habitations,bathing ghats have also been con-structed along its course.

Nattuvaikal strengthened under NABARD project

Kozhikode beaches not spared of garbage

BENGALURU, JAN 04It has been an uphill

task for the police to curbthe free availability oflow-intensity explosivematerial, like gelatinesticks and ammoniumnitrate, which have beenused in terror attacks inthe city repeatedly. Thedetonator wire that led toan accident in a privateschool on Friday alsocame from explosivesused at a constructionsite.

Ammonium nitrate, amajor component in fer-tilisers, was earlier soldfreely. However, now itcan be sold only bylicence holders with prop-er documentation. Therestriction was imposedafter a series of bombblasts across the city in2008 in which ammoniumnitrate was used.

However, this has not

plugged pilferage. BijuThomas of Udupi, alicenced explosive dealer,was arrested in May 2014after investigations estab-lished that he wasallegedly the main suppli-er for the IndianMujahideen. Securityagencies recovered14,000 kilos of illegallystocked ammoniumnitrate from his stockyardin the coastal region. Heis the alleged supplier ofthe explosive materialused in the M.Chinnaswamy Stadiumblasts of 2010.

Besides the coastalKarnataka belt, mostammonium nitrate isbrought into the Statethrough Andhra Pradeshand Kerala, claim policeofficers. Most dealers inthe coastal belt of theState and Kerala operatein cohorts, an officer said.

In their charge sheet inthe 2008 Bengaluru serialblasts, police claimed thatthe terror module brokeinto a fertiliser shop inKerala to procure thematerial. “Any break-ininto a fertiliser store is thesimplest way to get holdof a sizeable quantity ofthe explosive material.Not all stores in the cityhave a CCTV camera,leave alone anti-burglarysystems or a securityguard,” a senior officerlamented.Gelatine sticks

Kadapa, Kurnool andAnantapur districts inAndhra Pradesh are themain base for gelatinesticks and detonators,which is used to blastrock. The rocky terrain ofthe districts is markedwith numerous stonequarries. It has given riseto a local industry for det-

onators and gelatinesticks.

People operating stonequarries in and aroundBengaluru and the miningindustry in Ballari importgelatine sticks and deto-nators from Kadapa andAnantapur. Prior permis-sion is a pre-requisite forcarrying out any blasts,but many quarries aroundthe city are illegal. Hence,they people involved nei-ther seek permission norprocure explosives thelegal way, an officer said.

A d d i t i o n a lCommissioner of Police(Law & Order) AlokKumar said that they havebeen co-ordinating withtheir counterparts in theneighbouring states andhave maintained a strictvigil at the inter-state bor-ders to prevent smugglingof these explosive materi-als.

Police struggle to curb explosives trade

TAMIL ACTIVISTS RAISE SLOGANS AGAINST ACTOR SALMAN KHAN OUTSIDE HIS

RESIDENCE IN MUMBAI ON MONDAY

KMRL, district administration lockhorns over payment of compensation

PUDUCHERRY, JAN 04The Union Territory of

Puducherry made a markat the recently concludedNational Children’sScience Congress (NCSC)held in Bengalaru fromDecember 27 to 31, withtwo student scientistswalking away with tophonours. The project, ‘Astudy on the effect ofweather in plant growth inbarren soil using differentsoil amendments’ repre-sented by team leaderAmritha Monica V of St.Joseph of Cluny GirlsHigher Secondary Schoolin Puducherry was select-ed among the 20 BestOutstanding Projects atthe National level. Herteammates wereMadhumitha Nithyasree,Hemavathy K. and JananiP. with Athira A. as guideteacher.

Ms. Amritha recalledthe friendships she struckwith fellow child scien-tists from Mizoram,Lakshadweep, AndhraPradesh and other States.The organic manurewhich was examined inthe project, ‘SyntheticTerra preta’ is a new kindof manure which only afew companies are cur-rently producing, said Ms.Amritha. The project hasprovided encouragementto study this manure fur-ther, she added.

A p a r n aMadhusoodanan of theC.E. Bharathan Govt.Higher Secondary School,Mahe, who led her team towin the Best PosterPresentation in the Statecategory has interests asvaried as dance, dramaand oratory, says herproud father.

Two girls win top honours atChildren’s Science Congress

Rape of Japanesetourist: two remandedin judicial custodyKOLKATA, JAN 04

A city court remanded onSaturday two persons charged withthe gang rape of a Japanese touristnear Bodh Gaya in Bihar lastNovember in judicial custody tillJanuary 9. Javed Khan and SajidKhan, brothers, were arrested onFriday from Bihar and brought tothe city on transit remand.

The city police sought judicialcustody as they wanted to conduct atest identification parade of theaccused at the earliest. Senior offi-cials of the Kolkata Police said therape survivor was keen on returningto her country. Five persons, whoare part of an inter-State racketoperating in Kolkata and Bihar thatduped Japanese tourists, have beenarrested by the Kolkata police.

Calicut FlowerShow fromJanuary 7KOZHIKODE, JAN 04

The 39th CalicutFlower show, organ-ised by the CalicutAgr i -Hor t i cu l tu ra lSociety, will be held atMarine Grounds onKozhikode Beach fromJanuary 7 to 13.

According to a pressrelease, the show willbe inaugurated byMLA A. PradeepKumar while presidentof the society andDistrict Collector C.A.Latha will preside overthe function.

The theme for theshow this year is‘Organic vegetablefarming’. To promoteorganic farming, goodquality seeds andsaplings from KeralaAgriculture University,Thrissur, andGovernment farm,Koothali, will be madeavailable at the venueof the flower show.

The exhibition willbe open from 9 a.m. to9 p.m.

Only a brave - ormaybe foolhardy -company would

take on Google.

Yet from a small officenear the banks of the riverSeine, a French searchengine called Qwant isdoing just that.

The French startup,whose product wasreleased 18 months ago, istapping into growing angerhere that Google has toomuch control over howEuropeans surf the Web.

Some of the region's law-makers have already calledfor the breakup of the U.S.search giant, while theEuropean Commission, theexecutive arm of theEuropean Union, is in themiddle of a long antitrustinvestigation into Google'sroughly 85 percent share ofthe European search enginemarket.

"There's a need for achoice," Jean ManuelRozan, a former financierwho co-founded Qwant in2011, said recently over acup of coffee. "Europe isthe only place in the worldwhere people think thatGoogle is the Internet."

Turning Europe's anti-Google sentiment into asuccessful business, how-ever, is easier said thandone.

Google and its variousservices, including mapsand online shopping, holda tight grip over howEuropeans search for infor-

mation. And despiteEuropeans' perceivedantipathy toward U.S. techcompanies like Amazonand Facebook, the compa-nies continue to havestrong followings acrossthe 28-country bloc.

To stand out from thecrowd, Qwant sold a 20percent stake to AxelSpringer, the German pub-lisher, this year for roughly$6 million (roughly Rs. 37crores), mostly to buyEuropean servers. MathiasDopfner, the publisher'schief executive, has openlycriticized Google's onlinedominance. Rozan saysQwant made about a $1.8million (roughly Rs. 11crores) profit last year butwill post a loss for 2014 asthe company expands intonew markets like Germany.The company employsfewer than 50 peoplebetween its offices in Parisand Nice, a city in southernFrance.

The French startup alsohas also tried to tap intoEuropeans' growing dis-trust about how they aretracked online, as the likesof Google and Facebookuse data gathered frompeople's online histories totailor advertising specifi-cally to individuals.

Along with other Googlealternatives likeDuckDuckGo and Ixquick,a Dutch search engine,Qwant says it does nottrack people's online move-ments and sells advertisingbased only on individuals'search queries.

"We can build a valuablecompany that can deliversearch results to peoplewithout tracking them,"said Rozan, who said thatpeople made about 1.6 bil-lion search queries throughQwant in 2014 - or lessthan half the search queriesthat Google handles in justone day.

Qwant also plans torelease a child-friendly

search engine - QwantJunior - in early 2015.Google has announcedsimilar plans, but in a signthat the French governmentis eager to find an alterna-tive to the U.S. tech com-pany, the country's educa-tion ministry has said thatit will start using QwantJunior in some Frenchschools next year.

"If you have 3 millionchildren who will search

on Qwant, then there'll be 6million parents who willknow about Qwant," saidEric Leandri, another ofthe startup's co-founders,who added that the startupwas in discussions withAxel Springer to becomethe default search engineon some of the publisher'swebsites. "When welaunched, everyoneexplained to us why weshouldn't do this. Now,they think it's a great idea."

Qwant's other twist to thetraditional search enginemodel is to include socialmedia posts from serviceslike Twitter directly insearch results.

When people use thecompany's search engine,for example, four columnsappear on the webpage thatoffer different takes onInternet queries. Thatranges from traditional

search results to somethingcalled Qnowledge Graph,which offers general infor-mation based on thesearch, drawn from sitesincluding Wikipedia.

"We want to give resultsfrom both the Web andsocial networks," saidRozan of Qwant. "If we'rejust going to offer the sameservice as Google, weshould stop now."

The French could alsolearn some lessons fromEurope's past. In 2008, aFrench consortium -backed by the country'spoliticians - createdQuaero, an online searchtool that was supposed torival its U.S. counterparts.Yet after $240 million(roughly Rs. 1,515 crores)in public and private fund-ing and several efforts torevamp the project, Quaeroshut at the end of 2013.

Lenovo announced that itwill soon be launching anew LTE smartphone in

India at "an aggressive pricepoint".

Detailing its intentions in astatement, Lenovo said it willlaunch the Qualcomm Snapdragon410-based 4G LTE at CES 2015 inLas Vegas next week, and thephone will launch in India soonafter. The Chinese consumer elec-tronics giant also added the pricerange of the smartphone will bedetailed at CES 2015.

While there's no official word onwhich smartphone the company isplanning to launch, looking at thestatement, however, it is quiteapparent the firm will be launch-ing the Lenovo 'Lemon' K3 smart-phone that was recently launchedin China.

The Lenovo K3 runs on aSnapdragon 410 processor, fea-tures 4G LTE connectivity, andhas been priced at CNY 599(roughly Rs. 6,000). At the time ofthe China launch, no word wasgiven about global availability.

Sources at Lenovo familiar with

matter also say that in the India thesmartphone will be aggressivelypriced as compared to the XiaomiRedmi Note 4G and Micromax'sYu Yureka, both of which offer 4GLTE connectivity.

The Redmi Note 4G is priced atRs. 9,999, and Micromax's YuYureka at Rs. 8,999, which put inperspective the 'aggressive pricing'of the Lenovo K3.

Other specifications of theAndroid 4.4 KitKat-based LenovoK3 include a 5-inch HD(720x1280 pixels) IPS displaywith a pixel density of 294ppi, aquad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon410 processor clocked at1 . 2 G H z ,1GB ofR A M ,16GBo f

inbuilt storage with microSD cardsupport, an 8-megapixel rear cam-era, a 2-megapixel front camera,dimensions of141x70.5x7.9mm, anda 2300mAh bat-tery. It also fea-tures WavesM a x x A u d i otechnology.

NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. Which of the following was to be discovered first inthe chromospheres of the sun?A. Krypton B. XenonC. Neon D. Helium

2. Which of the following is in liquid form at roomtemperature?A. Lithium B. SodiumC. Francium D. Cerium

3. Sodium metal is kept underA. petrol B. alcoholC. water D. kerosene

4. Which of the following are the ingredients of gunmetal?A. Iron, Zinc, Titanium B. Iron, tinC. Iron, Brass, Tin D. Copper, Tin

5. From which mineral is radium obtained?A. Rutile B. HaematiteC. Limestone D. Pitchblende

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(D), 2 (C), 3(D), 4(D), 5(D)

12.00 am SaathNibhaana Saathiya 12.30 am Diya aur Baati

Hum 01.00 am Ye Hai

Mohabbatein 01.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir 02.00 am Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai 02.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 03.00 am Tu Mera Hero 03.30 am Suhani Si Ek Ladki 04.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 am Everest 05.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 05.30 am Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 06.00 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 07.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 08.00 am Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai 08.30 am Suhani Si Ek Ladki 09.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 10.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 10.30 am Tu Mera Hero 11.00 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir 12.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 12.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai 01.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 01.30 pm Tu Mera Hero 02.00 pm Everest 02.30 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 03.00 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai 03.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 04.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins

05.00 pmVeera: EkVeer Ki

Ardaas 05.30 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 06.00 pm Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 07.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 08.00 pm Tu Mera Hero 08.30 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 09.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai

10.00 pm Everest 10.30 pm Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 11.30 pm Tu Mera Hero

____________________________

12.00 am Teleshopping 02.00 am Jodha Akbar 02.30 am Kumkum Bhagya 03.00 am Aur…Pyaar Ho Gaya 03.30 am Doli Armaano Ki 04.00 am Baba Ramdev Ka Yog

05.00 am Narayan Seva 05.30 am Teleshopping 06.00 am Sant Nirankari Mandal 06.30 am The Faith Show 07.00 am Enjoying Every Day Life 07.30 am Creflo Dollar and TaffiDollar 08.00 am Teleshopping

09.00 am Kumkum Bhagya 09.30 am Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai 10.00 am Qubool Hai 10.00 am Maharakshak Aryan 10.30 am Jodha Akbar

11.00 am Doli Armaano Ki 11.30 am Satrangi Sasural 12.00 pm Jamai Raja12.30 pm Kumkum Bhagya 01.00 pm Jodha Akbar 01.30 pm Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai 02.00 pm Satrangi Sasural 02.30 pm Doli Armaano Ki 03.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 03.30 pm Qubool Hai 03.30 pm Maharakshak Aryan 04.00 pm SaReGaMaPa L'il Champs 04.00 pm Qubool Hai

04.30 pm Bandhan....Sari UmarHume Sang Rehna Hai 05.00 pm Doli Armaano Ki 05.30 pm Jamai Raja 06.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 06.30 pm Satrangi Sasural 07.00 pm Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai 07.30 pm Sapne Suhane Ladakpan

Ke 08.00 pm Jodha Akbar 08.30 pm Jamai Raja 09.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 09.30 pm Qubool Hai 10.00 pm Satrangi Sasural

10.30 pm Doli Armaano Ki 11.00 pm Jodha Akbar 11.30 pm Jamai Raja

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12.00 am Comedy Nights with Kapil 01.00 am Telebrands 02.00 am Home Shop 18 05.00 am Iskcon Aarti 05.30 am Jesus Calls Ministry 06.00 am Telebrands 07.00 am Narayan Sewa SansthanTrust 07.30 am Home Shop 18 08.00 am Udann 08.30 am Shastri Sisters 09.00 am Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 09.30 am Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 10.00 am Bigg Boss : Weekend Ka

Vaar 11.00 am Sasural Simar Ka 11.30 am Udann 12.00 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 12.30 pm Shastri Sisters 01.00 pm Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 01.30 pm Sasural Simar Ka 02.00 pm Udann 02.30 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 03.00 pm Comedy Nights with Kapil 06.00 pm Udann 06.30 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 07.00 pm Shastri Sisters 07.30 pm Sasural Simar Ka 08.00 pm Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 08.30 pm Udann 09.00 pm Bigg Boss 10.00 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 10.30 pm Uttaran 11.00 pm Shastri Sisters 11.30 pm Udann

____________________________01.00 am Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath :Mission Mumbai

02.00 am SavdhaanIndia: India Fights Back

03.00 am Pukaar 04.00 am Supercops vs

Supervillains... Shapath : MissionMumbai

05.00 am Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back 06.00 am Pukaar 07.00 am Comedy Classes 07.30 am Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 08.00 am Mahakumbh - Ek

Rahasaya Ek Kahani ! 08.30 am Comedy Classes 09.00 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 09.30 am Comedy Classes 10.30 am Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 11.00 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye

11.30 am Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani !

12.00 pm Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back 01.00 pm Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 01.30 pm Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 02.00 pm Comedy Classes

02.30 pm Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani ! 03.00 pm Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 07.30 pm Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 08.00 pm Mahakumbh - Ek

Rahasaya Ek Kahani ! 08.30 pm Pukaar 09.30 pm Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 10.00 pm Comedy Classes 10.30 pm Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back 11.30 pm Mahakumbh - Ek

Rahasaya Ek Kahani ! ___________________________

01.20 am Anari 03.30 am Sanam Teri Kasam 05.50 am Team: The Force 08.20 am Suryavanshi 11.15 am Hulchul 02.30 pm Bobby Jasoos 05.05 pm Daag: The Fire 08.00 pm Ghar Ho To Aisa

10.45 pm Ek Aur Qayamat

TV Channels Schedule TODAY’S STARARIES The heaviness of the day weighs on you, Aries. Take your time with projects

and carefully evaluate all the facts before making a decision. People can bedeceptive, so be careful in all your dealings. You may be going through aperiod in which you care less about material possessions and concern your-self with spiritual things. This is a great time to delve into the occult.

TAURUS Your fantasy world is especially piqued today, Taurus. Your need to escapephysical reality is strong. Be careful about how you go about this. Dreamsmay take you there, but be rational so you aren't left more confused thanbefore. Keep your energy pure and clean. Other people will recognize youfor your tender, sensitive nature, so feel free to be confident with your words.

GEMINI People may tug at you from all sides today, Gemini. No matter which way youturn, someone is there. Be patient and levelheaded. Your time will come. Fornow, look at these challenges as lessons for the future and learn from them.Your point of view isn't the only one in the world. It would probably be a goodthing if you worked on incorporating other people's opinions into your own.

CANCER Today is a great day to check off all the items on that list of yours,Cancer. Get it done. At the same time, realize that your emotionsmight be a bit clouded and that things that seem genuine mayactually be just a mirage. Issues of a spiritual nature are of pri-mary concern. You should make sure you're nurturing this sideof your being. Think with your heart.

LEO Today is a great day to let your artistic nature shine through, Leo.Your sense of color and pattern is right on target and your wordsare more poetic than usual. Create a time and space for yourcreative inner nature to manifest on the physical plane. Let yourfantasy world spill onto a piece of paper for others to see. Youhave tremendous gifts. Feel free to share them with the world.

VIRGO Your emotions may be confused today, Virgo. People may seem to rub youthe wrong way, and you may feel like you're all alone in the world. Keep inmind that you're very sensitive and capable of picking up things that otherpeople miss. You cut through the masks and see right to the core of everyissue. Give yourself credit for being a passionate detective.

LIBRA You may be out of step with the rest of the world today, Libra, but don't sweatit. This is a good day to finish projects. Your head may be in the clouds andyour emotions foggier than usual. Bring more of your fantasy world to thecurrent reality. Don't just talk about lofty ideas and beautiful dreams - livethem. You have the power to change every situation for the better.

SCORPIO Stay grounded and focused today, Scorpio, You can accomplish a lot if you setyour mind to it. You may sense a blurry cloud lingering - this is your emotion talk-ing. Amid all the goal-oriented pursuits, mental processes, and work-relatedissues, you have given short shrift to your feelings. It's OK to cry. Recognize thatemotions are an important part of you. They deserve your attention.

SAGITTARIUSToday's events may cause disruption in your routine, Sagittarius.Your emotions may seem clouded, and other people may challengeaspects of your ego. Relationships with the opposite sex may not begreat today, so don't try to force an issue that you know will end upin conflict. There's an air of conservatism throughout the day thatmay not pair well with your unconventional nature. Lay low.

CAPRICORN Turn up your fantasy dial and let your imagination run wild. Your intuition is strongtoday, Capricorn, and you should give your emotions room to flow. Work to clearthe blockages that keep you from doing things you truly want to do. Get your ideason paper and manifest more of your fantasy world in reality. People may be stingy,so now isn't the best time to ask for a raise or loan.

AQUARIUS Issues may be clouded today, Aquarius. The things that seem real may actu-ally be illusions. You might find that you feel a bit more reserved than usualand that you want to hold tight to your material possessions for comfort.Keep in mind that other people are extremely important to you now and youwould benefit greatly by offering your hand to those who are less fortunate.

PISCES Terrific energy flows your way today, Pisces. Make sure that what you're dealingwith is genuine. There's a tendency for people to get lost in their fantasy worlds.Be aware that what seems practical today could be the opposite tomorrow. Youremotions may seem confused, but if you concentrate on releasing instead of judg-ing them, you can sail through the day without any trouble.

Lenovo's 4G Phone to Compete With XiaomiRedmi Note 4G, Micromax's Yu Yureka on Price

Xiaomi is report-edly preparing aGalaxy Note

Edge-like smartphonewith a dual-edge dis-play, dubbed the XiaomiArch.

According toGizmoChina onSaturday, a purportedposter of the as-yet-unannounced XiaomiArch was spotted thatcalled it the world's firstphone with dual-edgedisplay or dual-curvedscreen. However, thereport doesn't reveal thesource of the poster.

The Xiaomi Archappears like a conceptsmartphone from thepurported poster image(see above), and featuresa dual-edge displayinstead of just the sin-gle-edge display seen onthe recently launchedSamsung Galaxy NoteEdge.

While there is no con-firmation from theChinese manufacturerabout the Xiaomi Arch,the two devices that areexpected from theChinese manufacturerXiaomi at CES 2015 arethe Mi 5 or Mi 4S smart-phone and the MiPad 2tablet, which were bothrecently spotted in pur-ported specificationsand images.

From the purportedimage for the alleged Mi5 or Mi 4S, the smart-phone appeared to be alarge screen phablet andwas said to come with asapphire glass display.The sapphire glassrumour is in line with aprevious report, wherethe company was said tohave ordered 50,000sapphire covers for thesmartphone.

As far as the specifica-

tions are concerned, theanticipated Mi 5 or Mi4S smartphone isrumoured to feature a5.7-inch Quad-HD(1440x2560 pixels) dis-play; a 64-bitSnapdragon 810 proces-sor; 3GB of RAM, and a20.7-megapixel rearcamera.

On the other hand, theanticipated next genera-tion Xiaomi MiPadtablet, expected to becalled the MiPad 2, issaid feature an Intelchipset (1.8GHz),instead of an NvidiaTegra SoC as seen onthe original MiPad.

The other tipped spec-ifications of therumoured MiPad 2included a similar 7.9-inch display with a2048x1536 pixels reso-lution; 2GB of RAM;16GB of built-in stor-age, and MIUI skinnedon top of Android 4.4.4KitKat.

Xiaomi Arch Tipped asWorld's First Dual-Edge

Display Smartphone

Qwant Wants to Be Alternative to Google

Sports 7NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQ

SYDNEY, JAN 04New Indian captain Virat

Kohli should channelisehis aggressive attitude inthe right direction, accord-ing to Team Director RaviShastri, who saidMahendra Singh Dhoni's"selfless act" of retiringfrom Test cricket format atthe right time should alsobe given its due respect.

In an exclusive, Shastrisaid that there was nothingwrong with Kohli's aggres-

sion but it should be usedto help build a young teaminto a dangerous outfit inthe near future. He saidKohli was a young captainand will gradually matureinto a better cricketer andleader.

He also strongly rebuttedreports that the growingcloseness between him andKohli resulted in Dhoniquitting the format withimmediate effect.

But Shastri did admit

that Dhoni's sudden deci-sion to retire in the middleof the Test series againstAustralia was a bolt fromthe blue for him and therest of the team. However,he also acknowledged thatDhoni did deliberate quitea bit before making thedecision and defended itstiming by saying that thosewho question the wicket-keeper-batsman's motiveshave no idea what he gaveto Indian cricket.

Respect Mahendra Singh Dhoni's selflessact, wait for Virat Kohli to grow: Ravi Shastri

SYDNEY, JAN 04Left-arm pacer Mitchell

Starc is likely to take theplace of injured quickMitchell Johnson in alike-for-like replacementin the Australian team forthe Sydney Test begin-ning Tuesday.

Johnson, Australia'sleading bowler, was ruledout of the match Sundaydue to hamstring sore-ness, paving the way forthe comeback of the NewSouth Wales pacer.

Another discardedseamer, Peter Siddle, isalso in the running for arecall, as is spinnerAshton Agar.

"He is a strike bowler,so hopefully he couldtake up that mantle thatJohnson has," openerChris Rogers was quotedas saying by the SydneyMorning Herald Sunday.

"Maybe, in previousgames when they'veplayed together it's beena bit of a difficult thingfor Starc because he has-n't quite known what his

role has been. So if hedoes get that opportunityhe will know exactlywhat he needs to do."

Rogers, however, said

he would welcomeSiddle's inclusion too ifhe gets the nod ahead ofStarc.

"But in saying that I

wouldn't mind seeingSidds play, I'm a big fanand a fellow Victorian, sothat would be nice aswell."

Starc was dropped fromthe top 11 for the thirdTest in Melbourne forright-armer Ryan Harris.He has been in and out ofthe squad and was recent-ly criticised by spin leg-end Shane Warne forbeing "a bit nice, soft andeasy".

The 24-year-oldresponded to the criticismwith impressive perform-ances for the SydneySixers in the Big BashLeague, where he pickedup crucial wickets as wellas bowled at a sheeringpace.

"He's a pretty quietbloke, he tends to keep tohimself a little bit,"Rogers said. "But I thinkthose comments willsting him a little bit, butalso I think they'd inspirehim and if Warney is say-ing that, you're forced tolisten.

"So I guess it's all abouthow he responds so hope-fully if he gets thatopportunity he makes themost of it."

Mitchell Starc likely to replaceinjured Mitchell Johnson at SCG

WELLINGTON, JAN 04Kumar Sangakkara post-

ed a majestic 203 — his11th Test double century —to guide a resurgent SriLanka to a 113-run leadover New Zealand atstumps on the second dayof the second cricket Test atthe Basin Reserve onSunday.

Sangakkara's double cen-tury brought him within oneof matching DonaldBradman's record of 12 andcame a day after he becamejust the fifth cricketer topass the 12,000-run mile-stone in Tests — and thefasTest to do so in 224innings.

Following a 2014 seasonin which he scored 1,493runs, including two doublecenturies and three cen-turies, Sangakkara kept theruns coming at the start ofthe new year to help SriLanka reach 356 in its firstinnings in reply to NewZealand's 221.

New Zealand was 22-0 inits second innings atstumps, with HamishRutherford on 12 and Tom

Latham 9.The hosts had the upper

hand in the match — aswell as a 1-0 lead in theseries — when Sangakkara

came to the crease late onSaturday after bowlers haddominated on a green andseaming pitch. Although Sri

Lanka lost five wickets inquick succession beforestumps, Sangakkara hadremained patient and was33 not out at the end of the

day.His stellar batting Sunday

then revived Sri Lanka'sinnings and allowed the vis-

itors to build a commandinglead.

At first with caution butthen with growing confi-dence, Sangakkara started

to pull his team back intothe match. He reached hiscentury from a compara-tively pedestrian 191 ballsand then his 19th Test 150from 253 balls — morethan any batsman besidesSachin Tendulkar.

By the end, he was play-ing with the New Zealandbowlers and frustrating thefielders: when the field wasup, he hit over the top withlavish drives to extra coverand long on.

When it was back, hepierced the field with unre-lenting accuracy, kneelingto rifle a drive betweenpoint and cover.

Sangakkara batted in totalfor nearly seven hours andwas the ninth man out in theSri Lanka innings, fallinglate in the final session to anacrobatic catch by TrentBoult at point. Each of theNew Zealanders shook hishand as he left the groundand the crowd gave him astanding ovation.

It was a far cry from thefirst Test at Christchurchwhen he made scores of 6and 1 as New Zealand wonby eight wickets.

Sangakkara had vital sup-port on Sunday fromDinesh Chandimal (67),with whom he put on 130for the sixth wicket tochange the complexion ofthe match. The pair battedthrough the first session,steadily reducing NewZealand's lead, then carriedon into the afternoon untilChandimal was out in the70th over when Sri Lankatrailed by only 13 runs.

Sangakkara then added34 for the seventh wicketwith Dhammika Prasad, 57for the eighth wicket withRangana Herath, and 67 forthe ninth wicket withSuranga Lakma, until final-ly being dismissed in the102nd over. He had batted412 minutes, faced 306balls and hit 18 fours andthree sixes.

Kumar Sangakkara's 203 Guides Sri Lanka to 113-run lead vs New Zealand

KUMAR SANGAKKARA CELEBRATES AFTER SCORING 200 AGAINST NEW ZEALAND ON DAY

2 OF THE 2ND TEST.

ISLAMABAD, JAN 04Pakistan offspinner

Mohammad Hafeez hasfailed in unofficial testingof his bowling action inIndia after six of his deliv-eries were found to haveelbow extension of over 15degrees. Hafeez had optedfor unofficial testing at alaboratory accredited bythe International CricketCouncil in Chennai earlierthis week before going tothe ICC for an official testof his bowling action.

According to the labora-tory's report, four ofHafeez's six deliveriesover the wicket werebeyond the allowed 15degrees elbow extension.His first two deliveries,around the wicket, werealso measured at 17 and 19degrees. Hafeez was sus-pended last month frombowling in internationalcricket, but still has achance to make it to theWorld Cup next month as abatsman.

Mohammad Hafeez Fails UnofficialTest on His Bowling Action

CHENNAI, JAN 04N. Vijay Shankar

Prashanth knocked outDavis Cupper YukiBhambri 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, inthe second round of thequalifying competition ofthe Aircel Chennai Openhere Sunday. Also makinghis exit was second seededAndre Kudryavtsev ofRussia, who went down inthree sets to local chal-lenger Vinayak Kaza.

Joining the two Indians inthe third round was compa-triot Sasi Kumar Mukundwho beat seventh seeded German Peter Torebko in three sets 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Prashanth shocksBhambri in Chennai OpenCHENNAI, JAN 04

Australian Open championStanislas Wawrinka kickstarts prepa-rations for the year`s first GrandSlam with his now customary stop-over in India to play in the ATPChennai Open starting on Monday.

The Swiss world number fourmakes his seventh appearance in thesouthern Indian city, this time as thedefending champion of the $450,000tournament at the Nungambakkamtennis stadium.

Wawrinka`s victory in Chennai lastyear sparked an incredible run whenhe defeated Novak Djokovic in thequarter-finals of the Australian Openand then upset top seed Rafael Nadalin the final to clinch his first GrandSlam title.

The 29-year-old ended the year byleading Switzerland to their maidenDavis Cup crown, having beatenFrench number one Jo-WilfriedTsonga on the opening day beforepartnering Roger Federer to victoryin the doubles.

"I like Chennai very much,"Wawrinka was quoted as saying in anews release by the organisers. "Theatmosphere is always great and thefans are amazing, that`s why I keepcoming back.

"The tournament was a great startto an amazing year in 2014 and Ihope that it will be the same in thenew year."

Wawrinka, who will defend hisAustralian Open title in Melbournefrom January 19, said he had not setspecific goals for 2015 other thanstaying fit and playing a consistentgame on all surfaces.

"I want to play well and win titles

at all levels," he said.In Chennai, Wawrinka faces a

strong challenge from a predomi-nantly Spanish field that includes

world number 14 Feliciano Lopez,number 15 Roberto Bautista-Agut,Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and MarcelGranollers.

Other leading contenders areBelgium`s David Goffin,Luxembourg`s Gilles Muller,Taiwanese veteran Yen-Hsun Lu and2014 runners-up Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.The big-servingLopez made a huge impression in2014 when he reached the fourthround at Wimbledon where he lost toWawrinka. Lopez also made the thirdround of the US Open for a fifthstraight year and beat Nadal at theShanghai Masters.

Bautista-Agut won the ATP`s mostimproved player of the year award byrising from number 59 to 15 in therankings in 2014. He also scalpedworld number five Juan Martin delPotro in the second round of the

Australian Open.Goffin, 24, was voted the ATP`s

comeback player of 2014 afterreturning from a wrist injury to gal-

lop from 110 to world number 22 bythe end of the year, in which he wonhis first two titles.

The top four seeds -- Wawrinka,Lopez, Bautista-Agut and Goffin --have received a bye in the first roundof the 32-man field. The championwill pocket $73,400 and 250 rankingpoints.

India`s number one SomdevDevvarman, ranked 139th in theworld, will spearhead the local chal-lenge after being handed a wild cardby the organisers.Seedings:

1. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)2. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)3. Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP)4. David Goffin (BEL)5. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)6. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)7. Marcel Granollers (ESP)8. Gilles Muller (LUX)

Stan Wawrinka tunes up for Aussie Open defence in India

CAPE TOWN, JAN 04AB de Villiers top scored with an

unbeaten 84 as South Africa closed in onthe West Indies total on the third morningof the third test at Newlands on Sunday.

De Villiers scored freely through thefirst session to take South Africa to lunchon 313-5, trailing the West Indies by just16 first innings runs. South Africa beganthe day on 227-3 with De Villiers on 32,and he hit his first ball to the boundarybefore going to his half century in just 70deliveries.

The West Indies took the second newball eight overs later, and it had the desiredeffect when rookie batsman TembaBavuma's indecision saw him play on offthe bowling of Shannon Gabriel for 15.But De Villiers remained untroubled bythe West Indian bowlers as he became thetop scorer in the match, and was accompa-

nied to lunch by Stiaan van Zyl, who was8 not out.Scoreboard at lunch on day three:

Alviro Petersen run out 42Dean Elgar lbw b Holder 8Faf du Plessis st Ramdin b Benn 68AB de Villiers not out 84Temba Bavuma b Gabriel 15Stiaan van Zyl not out 8Extras- (3lb, 12w, 10nb) 25TOTAL- (for 5 wickets) 313Overs- 95.Fall of wickets- 1-48, 2-104, 3-157, 4-

254, 5-288.Still to bat- Vernon Philander, Dale

Steyn, Simon Harmer, Morne Morkel.Bowling- Jerome Taylor 18-2-75-0,

Shannon Gabriel 17-2-64-1, Jason Holder20-4-64-2, Marlon Samuels 7-0-23-0,Sulieman Benn 33-6-84-1.

Toss- won by West Indies

De Villiers leads South Africa to 313-5 vs Windies

Salgaocar routMohun Bagan 4-1in Federation CupVASCO, JAN 04

Three second-half goalshelped Salgaocar SC beatMohun Bagan 4-1 andknock the Kolkata giantsout of the Federation Cupfootball tournament here onSunday. Douhou Pierre, theIvory Coast striker, scored abrace, while Clifton Diasand Zambian defenderFrancis Kasonde netted theother two goals for the vic-torious Goan side in aGroup B match at the TilakMaidan. Mohun Baganhave two points after threematches while Salgaocarhave six points from threematches. Mohun Baganstarted the match brightlywith Cameroonian strikerPierre Boya giving thegreen-and-maroons leadearly in the 28

thmin. Mohun

Bagan goalkeeper ShiltonPaul saved his team fromconcedeing on several occa-sions, palming away a shotfrom Pierre. Piere theninflicted more misery onMohun Bagan as he drib-bled past two defender toscore in the 90th minute.Dias completed MohunBagan's humiliation aminute later, scoring from ashot from just outside thebox, which trickled over thegoal line after hitting theoutstretched left hand ofPaul.

Actor Vijay's 58thTamil film, a fanta-sy drama, has been

titled 'Puli'. The title wasannounced on Sunday.

"It gives us immensepleasure and happiness toannounce the title as 'Puli'for our most prestigiousproject with Vijay anddirector Chimbudevan,"said a statement from the

film's production houseSKT Studios. The moviewill see Sridevi playingHansika Motwani's moth-er. It also stars ShrutiHaasan and Sudeep. Thefilm is being produced byShibu Thameens and PT.Selvakumar. Devi SriPrasad has been roped in tocompose the tunes for themovie.

Bollywood/Fashion8 NEW DELHI | MONDAY | JAN 05, 2015SAADDA HAQ

Printer, Publisher, Owner & Editor: S. Harpreet Singh Khalsa, C-35, Hanuman Road, New Delhi-110001, Website:- www.saaddahaq.in, Contact Number :- +91- 9697645357, E-mail: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com, Printed by:- Purraj Print & Puckaging Pvt. Ltd., E-19, Sec-6, Nodia-201301All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi High Court.

For Advertisment Contact:-+91-9958791398

Rajesh Mishra (Advt. Manager)

As if pimples weren't badenough, women also haveto worry about whiteheads

and blackheads. Mostly found onand around the nose and the chin,blackheads can be painful toremove.

Beauty experts say that a disci-plined beauty regime and regularclean ups are an effective way tokeep blackheads at bay. Here aresome simple DIY home remedies...

* Steam is one of the best ways toopen your pores and removeblackheads and whiteheads.

* Steam your face for about fiveminutes.

* Gently wipe your face and use ablackhead remover to squeezethem out. Remember not toapply too much pressure or youmight end up scarring your skin.

* Invest in a good quality facescrub and remove dead skin reg-ularly. When it accumulates, itblocks pores, causing black-heads. You could make your ownface scrub at home by using nat-ural products like honey,almonds, milk or sugar. Aneffective home remedy is tograte a potato, rub it on your faceand wash it off with lukewarmwater.

* Apply a moisturizer after pattingyour face dry with a soft towel.

Simple home remediesto remove blackheads

Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoorstarrer-Jagga Jasoos new look hasbeen revealed by UTV films.

UTV shared an image with fans andtweeted, "Join the adventure with#JaggaJasoos in 2015! Here's a sneak

peek into #RanbirKapoor's look in thefilm!"

The actor will be playing the role of adetective in which he dons a geeky lookand wearing a pair of frames and alsocarrying a tracking bag.

Rajkumar Hirani-directedAamir Khan starrer 'PK' issaid to be the toughest

role of the actor's career. The filmthat released on December 19 hasbeen under limelight ever sincethe release of its first promotion-al teaser poster which saw AamirKhan posing in a semi-nudestate. The film has had its ups anddowns since then. 1. From the poster...

A lawyer in Kanpur movedcourt against the star saying thatthe poster was "obscene." AamirKhan defended nudity on PKposter saying that it's not for pub-licity. He called it "key art", andthat it depicted the story of thefilm. The poster (below) featuresAamir posing nude with a strate-gically placed boombox hidinghis modesty. The poster was laterapproved by a government panel.

2. PK: An Aamir Khan show With the Supreme Court saying

that nothing was wrong with theposter, the movie was releasedamidst much expectations. Whilemany felt that the film was a tadpreachy, the theme was appreci-ated for its bold handling andAamir's performance.

Anuj Kumar reviews the moviesaying its One for the believer;Sudhish Kamath said that this isan Aamir Khan show in whichlogic takes a backseat.

3. Protests galore Despite being critically

acclaimed within the short spanof the release, the movie drewflak from Bajrang Dal andVishwa Hindu Parishad for hurt-ing religious sentiments.Theatres running the movie werevandalised and there were calls tostop further shows of the movie.Aamir Khan said, "I respectHindu religion. My Hindufriends have seen the film andthey have not found anythingobjectionable in this movie."

4. Supreme Court refuses toban PK

The Supreme Court dismissed

a petition seeking a ban on thefilm for hurting religious senti-ments and promoting nudity. "Ifyou dont like it, dont watch it.Indian youth are smart enough toknow that PK is fiction," saidChief Justice R. M. Lodha

5. Bihar, U.P. give tax exemp-tion to PK

After Uttar Pradesh, the Bihargovernment had decided to giveAamir Khan-starrer PK enter-tainment tax exemption. The for-mer Bihar Chief Minister, NitishKumar, recommended that thefilm be made tax-free after

watching it. 15 booked afterprotest over tax exemption to'PK.'

6. Positive comments as well Arya Samaj leader Swami

Agnivesh on January 02, 2015said that 'PK' should not beopposed on "flimsy" grounds bypeople who haven't even seen thefilm. Baba Ramdev wanted peo-ple to boycott the movie, claim-ing it had hurt the religious senti-ments of Hindus.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkarwas floored by Aamir Khan'sperformance in the film and said

it's the best film that he has everseen.

7. Freedom of expression? Baradwaj Rangan wrote that

none had the right to pull the filmfrom theatres after the CensorBoard had cleared the film.

8. PK became the highestgrosser in Bollywood

Even as protests against thefilm continued, the producerssaid that the film had brokenDhoom 3 record to become thebiggest earner in Bollywood bycollecting Rs. 278.52 crore sinceits release on December 19.

9. PK 'download' gets Akhileshin trouble

While announcing that PKwould be made tax-free in UP,Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavtold journalists: "People had beentelling me for many days towatch PK. I downloaded it a fewdays ago, but only found time towatch it last night. I liked it." Thecomment drew flak in socialmedia and the CM was accusedof violating anti-piracy laws.

10. Aamir Khan: I would loveto do sequel to PK

Asked if a sequel to "PK" isunderway, he said: "Let's see.You all have to ask Raju Hirani(director Rajkumar Hirani) if heis interested in making a sequel.If they make it, it's good. I wouldlike to do it."

PK: Controversies and laurels

Vijay's next movie titled 'Puli' Actor RekhaRana will bethe protago-

nist of a film that willtell the real life storyof Ameena, a 12-year-old from the OldCity, who was sold toan Arab by her par-ents in the early1990s. Ameena wasrescued and broughthome after a flightattendant, who sawher weeping on theplane, raised an alert.

Rekha, who is herefor a promotionalevent, said sheplanned to meetAmeena, who lives inthe Old City.

The film, Yahan Ameena Bikti Hain, will be shot in Togo, Dubai, Mumbaiand Hyderabad. Rekha has won acclaim for her role in Tara: The Journey ofLove and Passion, a film is by Kumar Raj Productions, which is now filmingAmeena's story. Tara has been nominated for the Oscars 2015 in the BestForeign Language Film category.

ChildbrideAmeena's storyto bemadeinto film

Check out! Ranbir's newlook in 'Jagga Jasoos'

Don't have aptitude,patience to direct

film: MalaikaActress and popular item girl Malaika Arora Khan,

who is also a film producer,does not want to try her

hand at film direction.Malaika's next production

is "Dolly Ki Doli", andtalking about herexperience, shesaid: "It's funand differentbeing a producer.You learn some-thing newand see ad i f f e r e n tside of film-making."

W h a tabout direc-tion?

"As far asdirection isconcerned, Idon't think Ihave theaptitude orpatience to direct a film. I don't think I can do," she added.

Malaika, who became famous courtesy her dance atopa train in the song "Chaiya chaiya" from "Dil Se..", saysit will remain her favourite song always.

"Of all of them, 'Chaiya chaiya' has been my favoritepurely because it was my first song and shot differently. Ilove that song…you've never seen anything shot like thaton Indian screens. For me, it will always be a song closeto my heart."

In an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of raanjhnaa girl'Phatte tak nachna'song from her upcoming movie'Dolly Ki Doli'. The actress is seen dancing in a care-

free way sonam has unveiled her bindass side for this itemsong with her sensuous dance moves.

It is a new peppy song from Dolly Ki Doli. A Punjabitrack and well sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Wajid Khan.This song will be soon the new wedding anthem ofBollywood.

'Dolly Ki Doli' also features Rajkummar Rao, PulkitSamrat and Varun Sharma. It will hit the screens on January23, 2015.Sonam plays a con woman in the movie who robsboys by fake marriages.

Behind thescenes ofSonam's'Phatte TakNachna'