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Vol. 2 Issu 24 10.00 24 Pags

RNI Rg. No.: PUNMUL/2012/45041

Postal Rg. No. PB/JL-047/2013-15 SUNDAY 16 JUNe 2013

www.facebook.com/uconnectt

Your World Connected

Weekly Newspaper

Page 12

Just who is Narendra Modi?

Pari WARs Impact On Indian Politics?

Will Amit Shah deliver UP to BJP?

What Do Political Analysts Observe?

The War Ahead?

Import lobbies derailing Indias oil exploration: Minister

New Delhi

Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa

Moily claimed that Indias energy

exploration activities are being de-

railed by threats to ministers from

the import lobbies, which want the

country to remain dependent on oil

and gas imports, and bureaucratic

obstructions.

Every minister who is occupying

this (petroleum) position is threat-

ened. There is bureaucratic delay and

obstructions and also other lobbies

that dont want us to stop imports,

Moily told media persons here.

However, Moily cannot be threat-

ened, said the minister.

He said the country is oating on

a sea of oil and gas and were not

exploring it because of the threats

and obstructions.Data show that after nine rounds

of activity under the governments

New Exploration Licensing Policy

(NELP), about 80 percent area is yet

to be explored extensively.

If the imports continued in the cur-

rent manner, the country would

be staring in the face of importing

nearly 100 percent of its oil and gas

requirements, said Moily.

The decision making process is ob-

structed, aborted, while this work of

the import lobbies will work out to

the detriment of the country. All our

earnings are going out (for oil im-

ports). This cannot go on, it has to

come to a stop, Moily said.

Pointing out that low investor senti-

ment in the last 4-5 years has been a

dampener for increased exploration

activity, Moily underlined the need

for properly compensating produc-

ers.

We have to give the right price

(contractual), the petroleum minis-

ter said.

He said that such high level of im-

port dependence meant that the

country was always challenged by

the vagaries of international prices,

compounded by factors like rupee

depreciation against the dollar.

Moily said he has proposed to the

Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs (CCEA) to increase domesti-

cally produced gas prices from cur-

rent $4.2 per million British thermal

unit to $6.7 mbtu.

He has been under attack from CPI

leader Gurudas Dasgupta for propos-

ing to hike natural gas prices by 60

percent.

Reacting to the petroleum ministers

comments, Dasgupta was quoted as

saying: He is a rst class liar. Moily

should go to court.

Earlier this week, Dasgupta told a

leading daily that while the benet of

enhanced gas prices that accrue to the

state-run companies ultimately ow

back to the government in the form

of increased share in the fuel subsidy

sharing mechanism, dividends and

prots, corporates themselves pocket

the enhanced super prots.

The BJP Friday termed as shocking

disclosure the remarks of petroleum

minister, while the CPI-M demanded

a reversal of government policies

concerning oil supply.

The Congress said it was for Moily

to explain his remarks.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson

Nirmala Sitharaman said the shock-

ing disclosure by the oil minister vin-

dicates her partys stance.

She said Moily was the fourth pe-

troleum minister under the UPA

government to hold the petroleum

portfolio while the ministry had been

handled by a single minister during

the National Democratic Alliance

government.

They are changing ministers. Very

clearly, there is no transparency in

decision making. There is no policy.

What Mr Moily had said vindicates

what we have been saying, Sithara-

man told.

Many skeletons have come out of

cupboard of UPA, she added.

Communist Party of India-Marxist

(CPI-M) leader Basudeb Acharia

said the government should explain

why it had not resisted pressure from

oil lobbies.

He said Moliys remark about oil

lobbies was a fact and Indias im-

port of petroleum products has been

steadily rising while share of domes-

tic production going down.

Why government cannot come out

of pressure. Why government always

surrenders before the oil lobby, he

asked.

The governments policy should be

reversed, he said.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel

Ahmed said it was for Moily to ex-

plain his remarks.

Who is trying to inuence his deci-

sion, it is for Mr Moily to explain,

Ahmed said.

Ishrat Jahanencounter case setto heat up

Page 3

Page 5

Jindal, formerminister charged incoal allocation case

Gay lobbyexists in Vaticangovernment: Pope

Page 6

Why women suffer in arelationship?

Page 14

BJP Pari WAR

U Connectt answers ve denitive questions around the future of BJP, post Goa

National 4 Intrnational 6 Campus 11 Clbrity 14 Lisur 16 Businss 20 Sports 22

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2 CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 2013OPINION

eDITORIAL DeSK Manu SharmaThe Idea of Federal Front

The Rupee Slide

Past performance is not a guarantee

of future results and especially so in

Indian electoral context. Of all state

and central elections held in Indiain the new millennium, 81% have

thrown up a decisive result. In fact

the 2009 election results also sur-

prised political analysts by throw-

ing up a Congress with 200 plus Lok

Sabha MPs. In this context and also

seen against the catapulting of Nar-

endra Modi to the apex of BJP, does

so called Federal Front make any

sense?

The idea of Federal Front is a rehash

Rupee is bleeding and how! The

currency of a nation is an impor-

tant marker of how its economy is

faring. Stronger economies invari-ably tend to have stable currencies

that form the basis of global trade.

The slide of Indian Rupee against

the Dollar has not come as a sur-

prise to most astute observers of

Indias economic trends for the past

5 years. The key factors that have

contributed to this decline are weak

growth, widening current account

decit, rampant ination and cor-

ruption.

All these factors are mutually cor-

of previous fronts that went by the

names of Third Front, United Front

and Alternate Front. All these political

concoctions were just that, concoc-tions. Unlike the two national parties,

INC and the BJP, who favour ideo-

logical alliances the Federal Front is

more of a power sharing agreement

amongst disparate regional satraps.

The basis of a Federal Front political

analysts aver lies in the small region-

al groups who may not have made up

their mind about chances of the two

larger national parties.

Theoretically at least the idea of Fed-

related and self-sustaining in nature,

unless intervened upon aggressive-

ly. The weak growth of Indian econ-

omy has less to do with global eco-nomic sentiment and more a result

of depressed investment climate,

that seeks to punish risk takers. Cur-

rent account decit is expected to

remain large on account of imports

and low condence in Indias ability

to stem its macroeconomic decline

in the short term. Similarly ina-

tion has remained sticky or in other

words has not come down at an ex-

pected pace. Corruption has further

compounded growth worries by in-

eral Front devoid of centralized high

command culture of INC and the BJP

is very appealing. However the ab-

sence of a dened policy programmeand the past experience with such

experiments have always resulted

in disappointment for the nation. A

meaningful alternative to the current

polity lies in a gradual development

of a common policy and philosophi-

cal thrust by the constituents. Likes

of Nitish, Naveen, Mamta and Mu-

layam maybe excellent regional poli-

ticians but they lack the vision to be

national level leaders.

troducing legal tangles and courts

to almost all auction processes and

investment decisions in the nation.

While the situation may not bealarming it certainly has the por-

tents to be so. India faces a tough

external economic climate and a

slowing internal economic engine.

A currency slide at this stage may

set up a downward economic spiral

that may take the country years to

recover from. While politics of the

nation is heating up with its myriad

issues, we may very well heed the

slide of Rupee as this may impact us

the most.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letters may be emailed to the editoruconnect@gmail.com ,with full

postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

It was October 2011. I knew thiswould be my last evening with the

distinguished Turkish journalist,

Mehmet Birand, as we looked over

the Bosphorus from my hotel in Is-

tanbul. He had been ghting cancer

bravely for quite some time but the

extent to which his large frame had

shrunk was a clear sign that the dis-

ease was getting the better of him.

Birand had not allowed the disease to

subdue his spirits. Quite to the con-

trary, he had seldom been as optimis-

tic about Turkeys place in world af-

fairs. His country was not yet sowing

the wind in Syria.

All these years we have been a doc-

ile ally of the West, he said. But to-

day we can hold our head high as anindependent nation, a dissident coun-

try in the Western Alliance.

He enjoyed using the term dissi-

dent, like he had been freed from the

straitjacket imposed on his nation by

the founder of modern Turkey, Mus-

tafa Kemal Pasha.

This sense of being freed was, in

large measure, attributable to the

manner in which Prime Minister

Tayyip Erdogan, had expanded his

electoral base from 36 percent in

2003, to 42 percent in 2007 and 50

percent in July 2011. Only with this

kind of popular support could a gov-

ernment in Ankara tame the army.

This Erdogan had effectively man-

aged.The trick to ride the crest of popular-

ity exceeding even Ataturks was to

fall back on the formula of indepen-

dent action in foreign affairs. This,

in most Muslim countries, easily

translates itself into anti American-

ism.

When Defence Secretary Donald

Rumsfeld, sought passage for US

troops into Iraq in 2003, Erdogan

refused because 90 percent of the

population were opposed to military

action. His popularity grew in geo-

metric progression.

With a considerable sense of theatre,

he walked out on a bewildered Shi-

mon Peres in Davos. He snapped tieswith the Jewish state when a Turkish

goodwill vessel carrying succor to

Gaza was attacked by Israel. This was

a total reversal of Turkeys relations

with Israel. Quite shrewdly, Erdogan

had charted a path which went down

well with the Arab street. He played

this audacious hand because he knew

that retribution would not be visited

upon him for being a rejectionist.

Turkey had its own protection: it was

a member of NATO. Saddam Hus-

sain and Qadda had been made ex-

amples of. Syria and Iran were in the

line of re. Their guilt? Having the

temerity for being independent.

That is why Turkey was an awkward

dissident in the Western Allianceas Birand put it. Further, as part of

its policy of peace with all its neigh-

bours, Ankara had befriended Tehe-

ran to a point where the latter was

willing to hand over its nuclear mate-

rial to Ankara for safe keeping. All of

this was deeply disturbing.

Could Erdogan be manipulated? Of-

course he could, if only one knew

his background. Erdogan and his

colleague, President Abdullah Gul,

had learnt their paces in politics in

the company of Necmettin Erbakan

whose Islamist Refah party came to

power riding a wave of resentment

in Turkey against the televised bru-

talization of Bosnian Muslims, once

subjects of the Ottoman Empire.Guardians of the secular state from

the Ataturk era, the Turkish army

dethroned Erbakan. But a deter-

mined Refah party reinvented itself

as a toned down Conservative party

without abandoning its Islamist base.

Under the leadership of Erdogan and

Abdullah Gul, the new Justice and

Development party (AK party) strode

out.

For two and a half terms Erdogan

and Abdullah Gul kept up a plausible

manner: they were non-ideological,

moderate Muslims. Yes, there was

an occasional skirmish on tries

like headscarves for women but no

serious threat of a Shariah ag be-ing hoisted on a nation restored by

Ataturk.

Why, then, did Erdogan manage to

shufe off the moderate image which

had caused his reputation to rocket

sky high?

First, the constitution does not al-

low a prime minister more than three

terms. Thus, Erdogan saw the end of

the road for himself in internal poli-

tics. He will probably try swapping

jobs with Abdullah Gul in 2014-15.

But will people let him? After all, 70

percent are opposed to conict with

Syria.

Second, the emergence of the Muslim

Brotherhood across the Arab world,

with a common strand, but differentshades, tempted him to project him-

self as a true disciple of Erbakan to

be able to beam his Islamic charisma

regionally.

Also, he had won three successive

elections improving his vote each

time. This helped qualify Turkey as

something of a model democracy in

an Arab world where peoples power

could well be the order in the fore-

seeable future. These were alluring

propositions for the AKP leadership

but an obvious fact was obscured

from their vision: Arabs will accept

Ottomans only upto a point.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar had joined

hands and were playing for very

high stakes (a) to scuttle the peoplesmovement, an essential ingredient in

the Arab Spring, which brought down

regimes in Tunis and Cairo. They,

and the rest of the GCC, were the

most vulnerable should Kingdoms

and Sheikhdoms ever be threatened.

(b) They sought to divert popular dis-

content along sectarian, Shia-Sunni

lines. (c) A major focus of exactly

this strategy has been a foreign in-

duced civil war in Syria, hopefully

along Sunni-Alawi lines, targeting

Bashar al Assad who is being cast in

the Western media as some sort of an

Alawi ogre. With Assads departure

(went the facile theory) Syria would

be removed from the Iran, Hezbol-lah, Hamas axis. How? What, pray,

will come in Assads place? The 148

groups ghting the regime who cant

even form a delegation for Geneva-

II? Listen to Tom Friedman scream-

ing: send a UN force; send a UN

force!

Look at the nature of the plot and the

nave simplicity of the expected out-

come.

Endorsed by the US and Europe, -

nanced by Saudis and Qataris, helped

by Turkey, armed by everyone,

groups not dissimilar from the ones

the US has been ghting in the Af-

Pak region, are expected to create

conditions which will cause a regime

change in Damascus.Why will this heartless, remote con-

trolled operation bring about regime

change in Damascus? After all, it

took a full-edged US occupation of

Iraq, destruction of the Baath struc-

ture, wiping out the secret service,

killing of Saddam Hussain and all

over 10 years, before the US could

leave Iraq in the sort of mess that

country is in today. Syrian power

structure is, in some senses, a mirror

image of the Iraqi regime.

According to Lakhdar Brahimi, the

UN representative in Syria, there

are 148 groups, big and small, ght-

ing in the country. Yes, these Islamic

brigands can destroy Syria, but not

change the regime which is ght-ing with its back to the wall and has

been quite as brutal as the imported

Islamists creating mayhem in the

countryside. Now that the two sides

have fought each other to a standstill,

comes the moment of reckoning for

the regional promoters of the may-

hem. This is the moment that will

change the region. Witness the esca-

lating protests in Turkey.

Sow the wind in Syria, reap the whirlwind in TurkeySaeed Naqvi

Punjabs health department could do

with some urgent resuscitation itself,

what with having acquired the repu-

tation of being in the news for the

wrong reasons.

The latest controversy involving the

department is the mass transfer of 523

specialists - over half the strength -

across the state. Not surprisingly, the

transfers have left the government

medical community shocked and a

prominent body of doctors, the Pun-

jab Civil Medical Services (PCMS)

Association, promptly called a two-

day strike in protest.

Punjab Health Minister Madan Mo-

han Mittal, who initially maintained

that the transfers were irreversible,

later cancelled 62 of them, saying

these were genuine cases. Among

the doctors transferred were three

from the health centre in Chief Min-

ister Parkash Singh Badals village,

Badal. Their transfers, as expected,

were also rolled back.

Mittal justied the transfers, saying:

The transfers were ordered as we

are upgrading nearly 100 hospitals

in the state. Some of the transfers

were rolled back in genuine cases

like health problems of doctors or

couples getting posted to different

places.

But not all doctors are satised with

the transfers and the rollbacks.

This practice has been going on for

years. First order mass transfers and

then open up counters to make money

to roll them back. Not all doctors are

related to VIPs or are inuential to

get their transfers cancelled. Honest

and hard-working doctors will have

to suffer in the name of all this for

the upgradation of hospitals. Some

people will end up paying money to

get back their previous posting, said

a doctor who had been transferred.

In Mohali district, considered the

most attractive posting in Punjab and

generally managed by highly inu-

ential people given its proximity to

Chandigarh, the transfers of ve doc-

tors were rolled back.

Mittal, in the past, has had run-ins

with his immediate junior, ChiefParliamentary Secretary (CPS) for

health Navjot Kaur Sidhu.

The CPS, who is herself a doctor

and wife of Amritsar MP and former

cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, had

last year begun raiding govern-

ment doctors openly doing private

practice and running private clinics.

After she nabbed a doctor in Mo-

hali, posing as a patient, the police

arrested him.

While the medical community react-

ed sharply to the incident, Mittal too

added to the controversy by criticiz-

ing the move by the CPS. However,

she stood her ground on the issue,

resulting in an embarrassing contro-

versy for the health department andthe Punjab government.

Both Mittal and Navjot Kaur Sidhu

are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leg-

islators in the state, where the saffron

party is in alliance with the Shiro-

mani Akali Dal government.

Nothing healthy aboutPunjabs health department

Funny Ways ofIndian Politics

Back in the 1990s Lal Krishna Ad-

vani was the poster boy of Hindutva

brigade and thus persona non Grata

for most politicians and media per-

sons who professed secularism as the

cornerstone of Indian polity. Suchwas the level of rage and anger asso-

ciated with his image that he had to

step aside and make way for Vajpay-

ee as the Prime Minister of country

in 1996 and further.

But then life has a habit of turning

full circle and media seems to have

found its Advani of the 2000s, Nar-

endra Modi. Ever since the original

Iron man sought to alloy his hith-

erto pristine metallurgy with a tinge

of Mercury via a Pakistan visit, he

gained in the intelligentsia what he

lost in the party, cadre support. The

ageing patriarch and his battles in the

party have received a sympathetic

ear within most big media houses.

Ideally this should have marked aturnaround of fortunes for the grand

old man of the Indian right.

Alas, his party and his ideological

support base in RSS has moved on.

Looking back on his career the de-

termined man that Mr. Advani is, he

must be wondering, being a hardliner

denied him the party leadership and

now not being one has had the same

result. Funny aint it?

Vaivasvat

Jaideep Sarin

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 2013 3COVeR STORY

This is a case of Modi Phobia: Jaitley

New Delhi

Accusing the Congress-led UPA

government of destroying institu-

tions,, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said

that the cost of its Modi-phobia

would be paid by the Intelligence

Bureau (IB) in the case of the alleged

killing of Ishrat Jahan.

In an article on the partys website,

Jaitley said there were news reports

that the CBI has been interrogating

senior ofcers of the IB in the case

of alleged killing of Jahan.

The cost of the Modi-phobia will

now be paid by the IB. Its senior of-

cials will be grilled. They will be

asked details of their intelligencecollection methodologies. They

could be questioned on the legalities

of the means deployed by them to

collect intelligence, Jaitley said.

Jaitley, the leader of the opposition

in the Rajya Sabha, questioned the

evidence in cases instituted against

BJP leaders.

In all these cases, political leaders

targeted were released on bail. Re-

gimes are not immortal. I hope one

day a commission of inquiry will in-

vestigate the functioning of the CBI,

its politicisation and all these above

cases, he said.

Jaitley said media reports and court

documents reveal that the IB had

received information that a Lashkar-

e-Taiba (LeT) module was active in

western India in 2004 to assassinate

Gujarat Chief Minister Narender

Modi.

He said that the IB had alerted Gu-

jarat Police in accordance with its

practice.

It can be safely presumed that the

central intelligence agency was a

part of the operation in which the

four activists of the module were in-tercepted and killed in an encounter

with the police and security agen-

cies, Jaitley said.

Jaitley said a Public Interest Litiga-

tion (PIL) was led in the Gujarat

High Court by Jahans mother. In its

afdavit, the government of India

strongly contested the petition.

FBI Angle

Jaitley said Pakistani American ter-

rorist David Headley, a mastermind

of 26/11 carnage at Mumbai, is be-

lieved to have told his interrogators

that Jahan was a key LeT operative.

He said LeT, in its mouth-piece

Ghazwa Times, had admitted to

Jahan being an LeT activist and paid

homage to her martyrdom but later

disowned its statement.

He said IB would be asked by the

CBI about authenticity of the intel-

ligence and motives could be attrib-

uted to it.

Only Pakistan and LeT would have

the last laugh. The myopic political

regime in Delhi has not realised the

signicance of destroying institu-

tions. Harass the Gujarat government

even if it means destroying Indiassecurity apparatus, the object of the

Congress party is clear, Jaitley said.

The introduction of the name of the

former Home Minister of Gujarat in

two cases was based on negligible

evidence. When the director of pros-

ecution commented upon inadequa-

cy of the evidence the le noting

shows that the senior CBI ofcials

commented that the addition of Amit

Shah as an accused was necessary if

CBI was to reach the chief Minister,

he said.

IBIntelligence BureauNew Delhi

The Supreme Court dismissed a pe-

tition of Additional Director General

of Gujarat Police Puthvipal P. Pan-

dey challenging an arrest warrant is-

sued against him in the 2004 staged

shootout killing of Ishrat Jahan and

three others.

The apex court bench of Justice

Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice

Madan B. Lokur said the petitioner,

a Gujarat cadre Indian Police Ser-

vice ofcer, could not approach

them for challenging the arrest war-

rant issued by a magistrate without

approaching the high court.

Besides seeking the quashing of the

arrest warrant, Pandey had sought

the quashing of the second rst in-

formation report (FIR) led in the

case on the direction of the Gujarat

High Court after the investigation

was handed over to the Central Bu-

reau of Investigation (CBI).

An Ahmedabad magistrate had is-

sued the non-bailable arrest warrant

against Pandey May 2. The CBI has

told the apex court that Pandey isabsconding.

Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan,

Pranesh Gopinath Pilai, Amjad Ali

and Jishan Johar were killed by

Gujarat Police in a staged shootout

June 15, 2004, in Ahmedabad.

At the outset of the hearing, senior

counsel Shekhar Naphade, appear-

ing for the police ofcer, told the

court that matter may be adjourned

for the next day (Wednesday) as

Pandey had led another petition

challenging the Dec 1, 2011, high

court order directing the registration

of the second FIR in the shootout

case and handing over the investiga-

tion to the CBI.

Additional Solicitor General Indira

Jaisinh opposed the adjournment

plea and said the Gujarat Police of-

cer moved court to challenge the Dec

1, 2011, order of the high court only

after she pointed out in the course

of the last hearing that the order by

which investigation was handed over

to the CBI had never been impugned.

As Naphade pressed his plea for ad-

journment, the court said the subject

matter of the plea before the court

was different from one being raised

by him.

The court told Naphade that the ques-

tion was whether plea for quashing

of the FIR could be gone into under

Article 32 of the Constitution.

Jaisinh opposed the suggestion of

maintaining status quo till the mat-

ter was taken up for hearing, which

meant that the warrant against Pan-

dey would not be enforced.

As court asked how Pandeys plea

for quashing the FIR and arrest war-

rant was maintainable, Naphade said

that all the high courts orders, in-

cluding the direction for the registra-

tion of the second FIR and handing

over of the investigation to the CBI,

were patently illegal.

As the court rejected Pandeys plea

for quashing the second FIR and his

arrest warrant, Naphade said his peti-

tion challenging the Dec 1, 2011, or-

der of the high court could be taken

up at a later stage.

Ishrat Jahan encountercase set to heat up

IB and CBI head for an unprecedented showdown

Gujarat High Court

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 2013NATIONALNeWS4

Suspected Maoists attack train in Bihar,three killedPatna

In an audacious daylight attack,

suspected Maoists attacked a pas-

senger train in Bihars Jamui dis-

trict afternoon, killing a railway po-lice personnel and two passengers,

said police and the railway ministry.

Three people including a constable

of RPF (Railway Protection Force)

and two passengers were killed in a

Maoist attack on the Patna-bound

inter-city train in Jamui, said Ja-

malpur Superintendent of Police

(Rail) Amitabh Das.

A railway ministry statement con-

rmed the deaths.

Half a dozen people were injured in

the attack, said Das, adding that the

attackers ed with the weapons of

two RPF personnel.

According to district police of-

cials in Jamui, about 180 km from

Patna, nearly 100 armed Maoists at-tacked the train between Bhului and

Kunder railway halt. Jamui is con-

sidered a Maoist stronghold.

Maoists stopped the train by forc-

ibly applying the vacuum brake

and opened indiscriminate re in

which two railway police personnel

and some passengers were injured.

Three of them, including a RPF

personnel, succumbed to their inju-

ries, said an ofcial.Additional Director General of Po-

lice S.K. Bhardwaj said in Patna

that the Maoists also looted some

ammunition and two ries from the

RPF personnel.

The main motive of the Maoists

attack was to loot arms of the RPF

escort party and they succeeded in

their attempt, he said.

Bhardwaj expressed surprise over

the Maoist attack on the train in

broad daylight. Maoists usually at-

tack trains in the night but this time

they attacked in the day, he said.

Bihar police chief Abhyanand has

directed the rail police and district

police of Jamui and neighbouring

districts to launch combing opera-tions against the Maoists.

Railway ministry sources in New

Delhi said the suspected Maoists, in

abid to snatch the weapons of theRPF personnel on the 1331 Dhan-

bad-Patna inter-city train service ,

opened re at them.

They said the security personnelreturned the re and a guard and a

RPF constable were injured in the

cross-ring.The train, which was detained foraround one hour and 15 minutes,had since moved towards its desti-

nation and rail trafc was normal

on the route, said the sources.Railway Minister C.P. Joshi said

preliminary information indicatedthat it could be a Maoist attack,while Minister of State for HomeR.P.N. Singh termed the attack asunfortunate and dastardly.Joshi announced an enhancedex-gratia amount of Rs.5 lakh tothe next of kin of those killed,

Rs.1 lakh to a passenger who wasgrievously injured and Rs.25,000each to four people (three passen-

gers and train guard) who receivedminor injuries, said a statement.He said contingents of paramili-tary forces, including the CentralReserve Police and the Border Se-curity Force, had been rushed tothe spot.

World War II explosives found

in Mumbai Harbour, defusedMumbai

The Indian Navy has safely dis-

posed of 90 unexploded ordnances,

believed to be of World War II vin-

tage, discovered during dredging op-erations in the Mumbai Harbour over

the past few days, a defence ofcial

said here.

The recoveries were made during

operations by two dredgers to widen

and deepen the main shipping chan-

nel which can improve capability

and facilitate movement of higher

tonnage and deeper draught vessels

for the Mumbai Harbour.

The Mumbai Harbours 34-km-long

navigation channel serves the Jawa-

harlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), the

Bombay Port Trust and also the In-

dian Navy.

The capital project, taken up since

April this year, has been severely

hampered by the recovery of theUXOs (unexploded ordnance) from

the channel. As a result, nearly 80

percent of the channel deepening-

widening work has been left pend-

ing.

The JNPT requested the Indian

Navy for assistance in safe dispos-

al of these UXOs, which we have

done, the defence ofcial said.

The disposal was done by an expertteam comprising explosive ordnance

disposal squad and the naval arma-

ment depot, he said.

The dredging operations are being

carried out by two Trailing Suction

Hopper Dredgers, the TSHD Queen

of Netherlands and TSHD HAM

318.

According to port ofcials, so far,

recoveries include 83 bomb shells,

several missiles, grenades and bul-

lets.

The ofcials explained that though

recovery of stray UXOs is routine

in and around Mumbai Harbour, this

time the sheer quantity of the cache

was bafing.

Efforts are being made to ascertainwhether the ordnance could have

originated from the famous Bom-

bay Explosion of 1944 when a huge

freighter SS Fort Stikine had caught

re and exploded.

Police foil Telangana march, hundreds arrestedHyderabad

Largescale arrests of Telangana ac-

tivists here Friday foiled the march

called by the Telangana Joint Ac-

tion Committee (JAC) to press the

demand for separate state but the

protests at various places in the city

threw the normal life out of gear.

Hundreds of people including MPs,

state legislators, leaders of political

parties, students, lawyers, women

and others were arrested in Hyder-

abad and other parts of Telangana to

foil the march.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)

has called for a shutdown in Telan-

gana Saturday to condemn the crack-

down. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara

Rao demanded immediate release of

all those arrested.

Hyderabad turned into a war zone

with police sealing all routes leading

to the Andhra Pradesh assembly to

prevent protesters people from lay-

ing siege to the building.

Sporadic incidents of violence were

reported from parts of the city. Top

leaders of JAC and legislators werearrested at various places for defying

prohibitory orders.

While police heaved a sigh of relief

over the day passing off without any

major trouble, the JAC claimed a

moral victory.

JAC chairman M. Kodandaram,

Srinivas Goud and others were ar-

rested when they gathered at Indira

Park to march towards the assembly.

Tension prevailed at the site as pro-

testors stoned the policemen de-

ployed in large numbers to prevent

any gathering. Police retaliated with

tear gas.

TRS politburo member Shravan fell

unconscious when police were forc-

ibly shifting him. He was taken to a

hospital.

Osmania University also witnessed

violence. Students, stopped by police

from taking out a rally, resorted to

stone throwing. The police respond-

ed with tear gas. Four students were

injured in the clashes.

Though the day people from vari-

ous walks of life including journal-

ists and lawyers came out on streets

in batches and tried to march toward

the assembly.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader

Vidyasagar Rao sustained minor in-

jury in a police baton charge near

Indira Park. Police arrested him and

party activists when they were took

out a rally.

BJP state president G. Kishan Reddy,

senior leaders Bandaru Dattatreya,

Indrasena Reddy and G. Lakshman

were also arrested.

Legislators of Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS), BJP and Communist

Party of India (CPI) and those of

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the

region were arrested in the assembly

when they staged protests.

Two TRS legislators who climbed on

the assembly building and hoisted a

black ag were brought down and

arrested. Other party legislators con-

ducted a mock funeral of Chief Min-

ister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

The protests by legislators led to the

adjournment of the house for the day.

TRS MPs G. Vivek and Manda Ja-

gannatham and other party leaders

were arrested at Nizam Club near the

assembly. Another TRS MP, Vijay-

shanti, and her supporters were also

arrested.

TRS chief Raos daughter Kavitha

was taken into custody at Indira Park.

Also arrested were CPI state secre-

tary K. Narayana and his supporters

when they tried to proceed towards

the assembly.

The protests and the unprecedented

trafc restrictions hit normal life

in parts of the city. The commuters

were hit hard by trafc restrictions in

a two kilometer radius around the as-

sembly in the heart of the city.

There was no impact on life in other

parts of the city and the IT district of

Cyberabad, the hub of national and

multinational software giants.

About 15,000 policemen and per-

sonnel from central paramilitary

forces were deployed as part of the

security arrangements.Police entered the ofce of the Com-

munist Party of India (CPI) and ar-rested 30 leaders and activists. A

party leader was injured in baton

charge.

Government defers decision

on Jet-Etihad deal

New Delhi

The government Friday deferred a

decision on approving the proposed

stake-sale of 24 percent in Jet Air-

ways to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad

Airways.

The decision to defer approval for the

deal by the Foreign Investment Pro-

motion Board (FIPB) was conrmed

by Economic Affairs Secretary Ar-

vind Mayaram.

According to sources, the deferral

for the Rs.2,058 crore deal came as

capital market regulator Securities

and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

and fair trade watchdog Competition

Commission of India (CCI) sought

clarity on some of the sticking issues

of the deal like the number of Indian

directors on board and the holding

pattern of the merged entity.

Even some Parliament members have

alleged that the government gave

huge concession to Abu Dhabi by

granting it 40,000 seat per week ad-

ditional capacity as a quid-pro-quo to

facilitate a private party deal.

The parliamentary panel on aviation

chaired by CPI-Ms Sitaram Yechury

is said to be investigating the newly-

assigned bilateral air agreement be-

tween India and Abu Dhabi.

Interestingly, the new bilateral air

service agreement between India and

Abu Dhabi was signed just hours

after the announcement of the Jet-

Etihad deal.

However, on May 24, 2013 Jet Air-

ways shareholders had approved the

companys plans to ofoad 24 percent

stake to Etihad Airways for around

$379 million (Rs.2,058 crore).

The deal was ratied at an extraor-

dinary meeting of Jets shareholders

held in Mumbai. That time the com-

pany had said that the preferential

allotment of shares to Etihad was

subject to the fullment of certain

conditions, including approval of the

FIPB and the CCI.

On April 24, nearly eight months

after the Indian government permit-

ted international airlines to invest in

domestic passenger carriers, Jet Air-

ways had announced a 24 percent

stake sale to Etihad Airways. The two

airlines were negotiating a Jet Air-

ways stake sale since last September.

However, the deal was delayed due to

investment protection and manage-

ment control issues.

The deal is expected to garner around

Rs.2,058 crore ($379 million) for Jet

Airways, which will enable the com-

pany to service its debts and provide

passengers with better connectivity.

The Indian domestic passenger carri-

er is under nancial strain of a slow-

ing economy and high aviation fuel

taxes. The airline has reported a net

loss of Rs.485.50 crore for the year

ended March 31, 2013 as compared

to net loss of Rs.1,236.10 crore in

2011-12.

The companys total income during

the quarter under review had increased

by 14.76 percent to Rs.17,403.17

crore from Rs.15,173.08 crore in

2011-12.

Jet Airways scrip at the Bombay

Stock Exchange (BSE) Friday in-

creased by 8.47 percent or 36.65

points to Rs.469.20 per share from its

previous close of Rs.432.55.

Unable to afford treatment,

parents kill baby girlAgartala

Unable to afford costly treatment

for their six-month-old daughter, a

daily-wage labourer and his wife

strangled her to death and dumped

her body in a ditch near their home,

Tripura Police said.

Police Thursday arrested Laba Deb-

nath, 53, the father of the ill-fated

child, who confessed that he and his

wife killed their baby girl Lina and

later dumped her in a ditch near their

Teliamura home in west Tripura, 55

km northeast of the state capital.

A police ofcial, quoting the girls

father, said: The baby had tetanus

and also suffered a haemorrhage.

Doctors had prescribed medicines

that cost Rs.1,500 each day; one

injection was priced at Rs.900 per

dose.

Laba Debnath (the girls father) told

us that the cost of his babys treat-

ment was way beyond his means as

the sole breadwinner and daily-wage

earner having to fend for his ve-

member family, the ofcial said.

The family had sought the help of

the village panchayat and the local

administration, but to no avail.

New Delhi

Twin sisters from Haryana, Tashi

Malik and Naungshi Malik, who re-

cently scaled the highest peak in the

world, Mt. Everest, now aim to sum-

mit the highest peaks on each of the

seven continents.The sisters, who met Haryana Chief

Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda

here, said they wanted to set a record

of twins having summitted the high-

est peaks in each of the seven con-

tinents.

The twins, who set foot atop the

Everest May 19, hail from Anwali

village in Sonepat district of Hary-

ana, 200 km from here.

Hooda told the twins: We are proud

of your great achievement.

Tashi and Naungshi dedicated their

feat to creating awareness against

gender discrimination and female

foeticide.

After scaling

Everest, Haryana

twins to try more

peaks

7/23/2019 Epaper 16 June 2013

5/24

CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 2013 NATIONALNeWS 5

Unacceptable if US found violating Indianprivacy laws, says India

New Delhi

India said it would be unaccept-

able if it is discovered that Indian

laws on privacy have been violated

by the surveillance launched on web

users worldwide by the US National

Security Agency (NSA).

If it is discovered that Indian laws

relating to privacy of information

of ordinary Indian citizens have

been violated we would nd it unac-

ceptable, external affairs ministry

spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin saidat a media brieng in answer to a

query.

His reaction came following rev-

elations that the National Security

Agency (NSA) has been spying on

emails, social network activity, lis-

tening in on internet calls around the

world since 2007.A former CIA agent revealed to the

Washington Post and the Guardian

newspapers that the US agency has

been using tech giants Microsoft,

Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook,

Skype and YouTube to spy on pri-

vate information of users around the

world. The programme, codenamed

PRISM has been in operation

since 2007. The programme is aimed

to monitor foreign communications

that take place on US servers.

Akbaruddin also said that India is

concerned and surprised by rev-

elations that the US intelligence

agency may be tapping information

secretly,

He said that India and the US havea cyber security dialogue that is

helmed by the National Security Ad-

visers from both sides.

We intend to seek information and

details during the consultations be-

tween the interlocutors, he said,

and added that it is an evolving situ-

ation and India would see how the

matter unfolds rather than jump to

conclusions.

Former CIA technical worker Ed-

ward Snowden has been identied

by the Guardian newspaper as the

person who leaked information

about US surveillance programmes.

Jindal, former minister charged in coalallocation case

New Delhi

Industrialist-lawmaker Naveen

Jindal and former minister of state

for coal Dasari Narayana Rao are

among those against whom the Cen-

tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

led cases for alleged irregularities

in coal-block allotments.

It is alleged that two steel and iron

companies based in Delhi misrep-resented facts to get coal-blocks.

Also, there was alleged investment

in a Hyderabad-based rm from the

group of companies based at Delhi,

the premier probe agency said.

The reference was to allocation of

the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal-

block in Jharkhand to Jindal Steel

and Gagan Sponge, besides two of

Jindals group companies -- Jindal

Realty and ND Exim. Raos compa-

ny Saubhagya Media has also been

named in the case.

They have all been accused of stag-

ing a criminal conspiracy and cheat-

ing under various sections of the

Prevention of Corruption Act. Both

Jindal and Rao are members of the

ruling Congress party.

Searches are being conducted today

at 19 locations in Delhi and Hyder-

abad in connection with the case,

the agency said.

A preliminary enquiry to examine

the irregularities in allocation of

coal-blocks during the period 2006-

2009 was registered on reference of

Central Vigilance Commissioner in

June 2012. Earlier CBI had regis-

tered 12 cases in the allocations so

far.

The news immediately pulled down

the shares of Jindal Steel by nearly

20 percent.

The matter had taken a serious turn

last year when the Comptroller and

Auditor General said in a report that

lack of transparency in allocating

coal mines to private players had

caused a whopping Rs.1.85-lakh

crore ($37 billion) loss to the exche-

quer.

Jindal Steel maintained it has been

assisting CBI in the probe.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, as a law

abiding company, is governed by a

strong ethical code of conduct. This

is an ongoing CBI investigation into

coal-block allocations, said Manu

Kapoor, chief of external affairs with

the company.

At this stage of investigation, Jindal

Steel is committed to fully cooperate

with CBI.

The probe agency had told the Su-

preme Court, which is monitoring

the case, that there had been massive

irregularities and illegalities in the

allocation of coal mines. The coal

portfolio during that time was with

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

himself.

The issue had even cost Ashwini

Kumar the law ministers job when

it came to light that he had sought

and vetted a CBI report before it was

submitted in Supreme Court -- a mat-

ter which the apex court did not take

too kindly.

Rao, who was questioned by the

probe agency last year, was the

union minister of state for coal be-

tween 2006 and 2009 when the ir-

regularities allegedly took place.

The 66-year-old actor-producer was

Congress partys Rajya Sabha mem-

ber then.

The opposition was quick to react to

Tuesdays developments.

We welcome the case registered

against former minister of state for

coal Dasari Narayan Rao and in-

dustrialist Naveen Jindal. But this

is too little and too late, Bharatiya

Janata Party spokesperson Prakash

Javadekar said.

On our complaint, the CBI started

probing the case 15 months ago and

now they will get nothing out of the

raids. The CBI should go for money

trail as it is a monumental corruption

of Rs.50 lakh crore, he said.

There has been massive cover up.

We have seen how the (central) gov-

ernment tried to change the whole

report to save the prime minister as

he was the coal minister then.

Consensus needed on terrorism centre, says ShindeNew Delhi

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde

said there was need for a consensus

on setting up a National Counter

Terrorism Centre (NCTC) but his

ministry did not have plans to move

the Cabinet Committee on Security

(CCS) on the issue.

Shinde said that the government has

to think about the opposition to the

proposal to set up NCTC from some

non-Congress chief ministers.

We will have to go for a consensus.

The states and centre have to work

collectively, he said.

He said that the government had ac-

cepted the demands concerning the

NCTC.First, there was objection that it

should not be under the Intelli-

gence Bureau (IB). We took it out.

They also said its operationalisation

should not be under the IB, that also

we did, he said.

We tried to have a central intelli-

gence agency but they said a multi-

agency centre is already there. That

is also a central agency, Shinde said.

The home minister said that seeing

the resistance to the NCTC, the gov-

ernment had rst decided to take the

chief ministers opinion and then ap-

proach the CCS.

Accordingly, they were given the

drafts (at the meeting of chief minis-

ters). There is still opposition. After

examination, we will decide whetherto take it to the CCS or not. As of

now, there is no proposal to taking it(NCTC) to the CCS, he said.

President, PM

condole Shuklas

death

New Delhi

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh and Con-

gress chief Sonia Gandhi condoled

the death of Congress leader V.C.

Shukla, who was seriously injured in

a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh last

month.

In his condolence message, Mukher-

jee said: Shri Shukla made valuable

contribution to the growth of our

nation in various capacities and the

nation will remember his contribu-

tions and his pursuit of excellence in

public life.

I had a long personal association

with Shri Shukla. In his death, I have

lost a friend, and the nation, an emi-

nent public gure, he said.

The prime minister said he was

pained that Shukla lost his life fol-

lowing a brutal attack by Left wing

extremists.

In Vidya Charanjis (Shukla) demise

I have lost a very dear colleague, the

Congress party a committed mem-

ber and the country, a staunch na-

tionalist. His passing away has only

strengthened our resolve to ght the

menace of Left wing extremism with

rmness, said Singh.

According to sources, Sonia Gandhi

spoke to Shuklas family over the

phone.

Shukla, 84, passed away in a Gur-

gaon hospital Tuesday. He was being

treated for bullet injuries sustained

during the May 25 Maoist attack on

a Congress convoy in Sukma districtof Chhattisgarh.

No SC relief forGujarat cop inIshrat Jahanshootout

New Delhi

The Supreme Court dismissed a peti-

tion of Additional Director General

of Gujarat Police Puthvipal P. Pan-

dey challenging an arrest warrant is-

sued against him in the 2004 staged

shootout killing of Ishrat Jahan and

three others.

The apex court bench of Justice Gyan

Sudha Misra and Justice Madan B.

Lokur said the petitioner, a Gujarat

cadre Indian Police Service ofcer,

could not approach them for chal-

lenging the arrest warrant issued by

a magistrate without approaching the

high court.

Besides seeking the quashing of the

arrest warrant, Pandey had sought

the quashing of the second rst infor-

mation report (FIR) led in the case

on the direction of the Gujarat High

Court after the investigation was

handed over to the Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI).

An Ahmedabad magistrate had is-

sued the non-bailable arrest warrant

against Pandey May 2. The CBI has

told the apex court that Pandey is ab-

sconding.Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan,

Pranesh Gopinath Pilai, Amjad Ali

and Jishan Johar were killed by Gu-

jarat Police in a staged shootout June

15, 2004, in Ahmedabad.

At the outset of the hearing, senior

counsel Shekhar Naphade, appearing

for the police ofcer, told the court

that matter may be adjourned as Pan-

dey had led another petition chal-

lenging the Dec 1, 2011, high court

order directing the registration of the

second FIR in the shootout case and

handing over the investigation to the

CBI.

Additional Solicitor General Indira

Jaisinh opposed the adjournment

plea and said the Gujarat Police of-cer moved court to challenge the Dec

1, 2011, order of the high court only

after she pointed out in the course

of the last hearing that the order by

which investigation was handed over

to the CBI had never been impugned.

As Naphade pressed his plea for ad-

journment, the court said the subject

matter of the plea before the court

was different from one being raised

by him.

The court told Naphade that the ques-

tion was whether plea for quashing

of the FIR could be gone into under

Article 32 of the Constitution.

Jaisinh opposed the suggestion of

maintaining status quo till the mat-

ter was taken up for hearing, whichmeant that the warrant against Pan-

dey would not be enforced.

As court asked how Pandeys plea

for quashing the FIR and arrest war-

rant was maintainable, Naphade said

that all the high courts orders, in-

cluding the direction for the registra-

tion of the second FIR and handing

over of the investigation to the CBI,

were patently illegal.

As the court rejected Pandeys plea

for quashing the second FIR and his

arrest warrant, Naphade said his peti-

tion challenging the Dec 1, 2011, or-

der of the high court could be taken

up at a later stage.

Man beaten todeath forprotesting kinsmolestationRanchi

A man was beaten to death by his

friend and some others when he

protested molestation of his sister-

in-law in Jharkhands Jamshedpur

district, police said.

According to police, Krishna, a resi-

dent of Birsanagar colony in Jam-

shedpur, around 130 km from Ran-chi, was returning home along with

his sister-in-law Tuesday night when

he met his friend Bhaskar and two or

three others, who began to accom-

pany them.

On the way, Bhaskar and his friends

allegedly molested and tried to rape

Krishnas sister-in-law. When Krish-

na protested, he was beaten up bru-

tally by Bhaskar and his friends, who

then ed.

Krishna was admitted to a local hos-

pital where he died during course of

treatment.

Police have arrested one person in

connection with Krishnas murder.

7/23/2019 Epaper 16 June 2013

6/24

CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 20136 INTeRNATIONAL

US immigration bill clearskey senate hurdleWashington

As a major immigration bill that

would give over 11 million people,

including some 260,000 Indians, liv-

ing illegally in America a path to cit-izenship, it received a full endorse-

ment from President Barack Obama.

If youre serious about actually x-

ing the system, then this is the ve-

hicle to do it, he said Tuesday at the

White House, anked by immigra-

tion reform supporters, hours before

a strong Senate majority voted to

open debate on it.

If youre not serious about it, if you

think that a broken system is the best

America can do, then I guess it might

make sense to try to block it, he said

referring to the bill drafted by a bi-

partisan gang of eight, four Demo-

crats and four Republicans.

But if youre actually serious and

sincere about xing a broken immi-gration system, this is the vehicle to

do it, he said anked among others

by young undocumented students

and the US Chamber of Commerce

president and CEO, Tom Donohue.

This bill isnt perfect, its a com-

promise, Obama said. And going

forward, nobody is going to get ev-

erything they want. Not Democrats,

not Republicans, not me. But this is a

bill thats largely consistent with the

principles that I and the people on

this stage have laid out for common-

sense reform.

The 82-15 vote, with most Repub-

licans joining the chambers Demo-

cratic majority in support, to begin

the debate indicated that the bill

would pass the Senate despite erce

opposition from conservatives.However, Republican Ted Cruz, a

key opponent of the bill said Tuesday

the Republican-controlled House

would defeat it in its current form

due to the pathway to citizenship.

Addressing concerns of the mea-

sures opponents, Obama empha-

sised it would increase spending on

border security and require undocu-

mented immigrants to pursue what

could be a 13-year path to eventual

citizenship.

You have to pass background

checks, you have to learn English,

you have to pay taxes and a pen-

alty and then you have to go to the

back of the line behind everybody

who has done things the right wayand have tried to come here legally,

Obama said.

Some congressional conservatives

call opposing the gang of eight

plan a matter of principle and say

they wont bend.

Many consider any measure offer-

ing a path to citizenship tantamount

to amnesty for those who entered the

country illegally.

A bipartisan group has been working

on a separate immigration plan in the

House, but the effort suffered a set-

back last week when a key member

dropped out of the negotiations.

Gay lobby exists in Vatican government: PopeVatican City

Besides corruption, there is a gay

lobby inside the Vatican govern-

ment or curia, Pope Francis admit-

ted, saying we will have to see what

we can do.

Yes... it is difcult. In the Curia,

there are also holy people, really,

there are holy people. But there also

is a stream of corruption, there is that

as well, it is true... The gay lobby is

mentioned, and it is true, it is there...

We need to see what we can do, the

pontiff said.

He did not specify what kind of ac-

tion he might take.

Francis made the remark during an

audience with members of the Latin

American and Caribbean Confedera-

tion of Religious Men and Women

(CLAR).

He also signalled his support for

the reform of the government of the

Catholic Church.

The reform of the Roman Curia is

something that almost all Cardinals

asked for in the Congregations pre-

ceding the Conclave. I also asked for

it, Francis said.

In February last year, the Vaticanattacked Italian media reports of

a powerful gay lobby inside the

curia, citing a condential report

commissioned by the previous pope,

Benedict XVI.

Benedict ordered the report after

leaks of private papal documents to

Italian media that laid bare corrup-

tion and venemous inghting in the

Vatican.

His former butler, Paolo Gabriele,

was jailed for the leaks but was re-

leased after Benedict pardoned him.The Vatileaks report was prepared

by a three-cardinal commission. It

uncovered a lobby of worldly gay

prelates that could affect individual

promotion prospects and wielded

external inuence, the La Repub-

blica daily said.

Shortly before Benedict abdicated in

February, the Vatican said the report

would remain solely at the disposi-

tion of the new pope.

Japan needs to develop

offensive military capacityTokyo

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that

Japan needed to study the possibil-

ity to develop offensive military ca-

pacity so as to attack enemy bases.

Abe made the remarks when he

responded to proposals aimed at

strengthening the countrys military

capabilities, submitted by lawmak-

ers from his Liberal Democratic

Party.

Abe said the matter was an impor-

tant one and indicated that it would

be in the discussion of compiling

a governmental long-term defense

programme to be outlined by the

end of this year.

The proposals referred to promote

Japans capability to defend its is-lands, touching on the necessity

to equip the Self-Defense Forces

(SDF) with US MV-22 Osprey

transport aircraft to create amphibi-

ous forces.

The proposals also called for ap-

proving Japan to exercise collective

self-defense right, the report said.

Abe, a well-known hawkish politi-

cian that returned to power in De-

cember, is eager to revise the coun-

trys war-renouncing constitution so

as to make the SDF a full national

army.

This has raised concerns and wor-

ries from neighbouring countries.

IAF ies home its rst Boeing C-17 airlifter

Washington

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has

own home its rst Boeing Globe-

master III, becoming the newest

operator of the leading airlifter, giv-ing it the worlds most advanced

humanitarian and strategic capabili-

ties.

The rst aircraft was transferred

to IAF in Long Beach, California,

Tuesday after completion of a ight

test programme at Edwards Air

Force Base in Palmdale, California,

that began following the Jan 22 de-

livery.

Boeing is on track to deliver four

more C-17s to the IAF this year and

ve in 2014, the St. Louis, Missouri

headquartered Boeing Defence,

Space & Security, a unit of the Boe-

ing Company, said in a media re-

lease.

The C-17 will equip the Indian

Air Force with amongst the worlds

most advanced humanitarian and

strategic capabilities, said Air ViceMarshal SRK Nair, Assistant Chief

of Air Staff Operations (Transport

and Helicopters).

We have looked forward to this

day when our Indian Air Force ies

the rst C-17 to its new home in In-

dia.

Congratulations to the Indian Air

Force on this milestone as India

joins the worldwide community

of C-17 operators, said Tommy

Dunehew, Boeing vice president of

Business Development for Mobil-

ity, Surveillance and Engagement.

Nations turn to the C-17 for the ca-

pability to perform a wide range of

operations, from peacekeeping and

disaster relief to troop movements

from semi-prepared airelds. This

aircraft will provide the Indian Air

Force with the versatility to aug-ment airlift capability.

Boeing will support the IAF C-17

eet through the Globemaster III

Integrated Sustainment Programme

(GISP) performance-based logistics

contract.

The GISP virtual eet arrange-

ment ensures mission readiness by

providing all C-17 customers access

to an extensive support network for

worldwide parts availability and

economies of scale.

Boeing has now delivered 254 C-

17s, including 222 to the US Air

Force and a 32 C-17s to India and a

few other nations.

Australia to deliver fund for new dementiaresearchCanberra

Australia will deliver funds for new

dementia research on the impact of

Vitamin B12 levels, Minister for

Health Tanya Plibersek and Minister

for Mental Health and Ageing Mark

Butler said.

Vitamin B12, commonly found in

seafood like oysters, has a key role

in normal brain functioning.

According to a statement, these new

dementia research projects included

one from University of Wollongong,

two from University of Melbourne,

one from University of Queensland,

one from Edith Cowan University

and one from University of Tasma-

nia.

These projects will focus on things

like how a lack of Vitamin B12 con-

tributes to age-related memory loss,

reasoning and decision making, the

specic type of protein that may be

toxic to brain cells, potential new

drug targets for Alzheimers treat-

ment and so on.

Plibersek said this research aims to

make dementia a far less debilitating

Worlds oldest

person diesOsaka

A Japanese man listed as the worlds

oldest died early Wednesday morn-

ing at the age of 116 in Kyoto Pre-

fecture in western Japan.

Jiroemon Kimura, who was born

in 1897, died of natural causes at

the municipal hospital in his home-

town, Kyotango City, at 2:08 a.m.

local time on Wednesday. He was

suffering from pneumonia and was

hospitalized since May, a spokes-

person said.

Kyotango City Mayor Yasushi

Nakamura said in a statement that

Kimura has been and will be the

treasure of the city, expressing deepsorrow over his death.

Kimura was rst recognized by

Guinness World Records as the

worlds oldest living person on Dec

17, 2012, and more than a week

later became the oldest man ever

veried to have lived by reaching

the age of 115 years and 253 days.

Kimura celebrated his 116th birth-

day in April.

Saudi to again hire

Indian maids - onreduced salariesRiyadh

Saudi Arabia will resume the hir-ing of Indian female domesticworkers but on less salaries than

before.This is part of an agreement re-cently signed by the two countrieslabour ministries, according toAhmed Al Faheed, under secretary(International Affairs) at the Saudilabour ministry.

He said that the hiring of Indianmaids will be resumed soon afterit was halted due to conditions im-

posed by the Indian government.

A few years ago, the Indian gov-ernment set certain conditions onthe hiring of Indian maids, suchas xed deposits in the Indian em-

bassies and high salaries for themaids. Many Gulf families, how-

ever, complained it was too ex-pensive for hiring such unskilledmaids, as they have to be trainedfor months before they can handleall the work.

condition than what it is today.

Dementia is likely to affect 900,000

Australians by 2050, and Im proud

that Australia is acting now in whole

range of areas like research, aware-

ness and better services, she said.

Mark Butler said dementia had

achieved national prominence this

decade.

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 2013 7INTeRNATIONAL

Ban calls on private sectors in

US, China to help achieve

sustainable developmentSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon to-

day appealed to Chinese and UnitedStates-based companies to boost

their efforts to achieve sustainable

development and prosperity through

partnerships, stressing their impact

in developing countries.

US and Chinese companies can and

must ensure that business activity is

sustainable and responsible that

it upholds the highest standards of

business ethics, Mr. Ban said at the

Hong Kong-US Business Council

Dialogue in New York.

I am convinced that principles and

prots can go hand-in-hand. Busi-

ness success requires delivering

long-term value not just nancial-

ly, but also socially, environmentally

and ethically.

Mr. Ban underlined that Govern-

ments alone cannot tackle global

development challenges but instead

need partnerships with the private

sector to make a signicant impact.

He added that the contribution from

the private sector will be even more

vital to mobilize the resources, tech-

nology and innovation required

to achieve as the deadline for the

Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) approaches and the post-

2015 agenda is set in place.

Today, our challenge remains clear

and urgent: cut greenhouse gas emis-

sions; increase efciency, rely more

on clean energy and provide sustain-

able energy for all; and reach a glob-

al legal climate agreement by 2015,

Mr. Ban said.

He commended US and Chinese

companies that have committed tothe principles set by the UN Global

Compact, and urged them to ensure

that they uphold responsible prac-

tices in their strategies, in their sup-

ply chains, and in the communities

where they operate. Their presence

can make a tremendous difference.

Each company that signs on with the

UN Global Compact agrees to em-

brace, support and enact, within their

sphere of inuence, a set of 10 prin-

ciples in the areas of human rights,

labour standards, the environment

and anti-corruption.

Mr. Ban pointed to Chinas strong

presence in Africa as an enormous

opportunity for growth on the con-

tinent, and called on investors to

use their collective inuence to help

spread commitment for sustainable

change.

In particular, he said tackling climate

change must be a priority for the

private sector, and encouraged US

and Chinese companies to engage

in the Caring for Climate initiative

for business, through which compa-

nies can put forward innovations on

energy efciency, renewable energy

and nance.

There should be no more denial,

no more deferring action, no more

avoiding the tough decisions, no

more hoping that a technological

silver bullet will save us, Mr. Ban

said. The private sector will have

a central role to play in unlocking

clean energy investments.

UN agency sounds alarm over exploitation

of millions of children in domestic labourWith an estimated 10.5 million chil-

dren worldwide working in peoples

homes in hazardous and often slav-

ery-like conditions, the United Na-

tions labour agency today called for

an end to child labour in domestic

work and urged decent working con-

ditions for adolescents who can be

legally employed.

There is no place and no excuse for

child labour in domestic or any otherform of work, UN International

Labour Organization (ILO) Direc-

tor-General, Guy Ryder, said in his

speech in Geneva to mark World Day

against Child Labour.

According to the latest gures in

ILOs report, Ending child labour

in domestic work, released to coin-

cide with the Day, of the 10.5 mil-

lion underage workers, an estimated

6.5 million are child labourers aged

between ve and 14 years of age.

More than 71 per cent are girls, some

of whom work as a result of forced

labour and trafcking.

Child labourers who work in the

homes of a third party or employer,

carry out tasks such as cleaning,ironing, cooking, gardening, collect-

ing water, looking after other chil-

dren and caring for the elderly.

ILO reports that these children are

vulnerable to physical, psychologi-

cal and sexual violence and abusive

working conditions, they are often

isolated from their families, hidden

from the public eye and become

highly dependent on their employers.

Many might end up being commer-

cially sexually exploited.

The situation of many child domes-

tic workers not only constitutes a

serious violation of child rights, but

remains an obstacle to the achieve-

ment of many national and inter-

national development objectives,

said Constance Thomas, Director of

the ILOs International Programme

on the Elimination of Child Labour

(IPEC).

The familial and legal care vacu-

um created by this situation works

against the interests of the child, ILO

noted, by disguising an arrangement

that might entail cruel working con-ditions and often masking violence

and abuse.

The UN agency called on its Mem-

ber States today to take appropriate

measures to provide decent working

conditions to adolescents of legal

working age employed in domestic

work.

This includes limiting their hours

of work, prohibiting night work;

restricting work that is excessively

demanding, and taking measures to

ensure effective protection against

all forms of abuse, harassment and

violence.

We urge ILO member States to rat-

ify and ensure effective implemen-

tation of the ILOs Conventions on

child labour and on domestic work,

Mr. Ryder said highlighting Conven-

tion No. 189 and Recommendation

No. 201.

Convention No. 189 also states that

the minimum age for domestic work-

ers should be consistent with the

provisions of the ILOs child labour

treaties. These require that childrenshould not work below the legal min-

imum age for employment or work,

and that young workers above the

minimum age should be employed in

safe conditions.

In addition, the Convention identi-

es domestic work as an important

source of employment, especially for

millions of women.

Domestic workers of all ages are in-

creasingly performing a vital task in

many economies. We need to ensure

a new respect for their rights and to

empower domestic workers and their

representative organisations, said

Mr. Thomas.

Cant compromise Indias security,says Israel; denies arm sales to PakistanJerusalem

Israel has denied having sold mili-

tary equipment to Pakistan and said

it could do nothing to compromiseits excellent, strategic relations with

India.

The State of Israel categorically de-

nies having sold military equipment

of any kind to Pakistan, Israels

defence ministry said in a statement

released to the media.

Israel would not do anything that

could undermine Indias security.

The ministry said Israel has a stra-

tegic relationship with India, the

strongest democracy in the world

- which, like Israel, deals with ter-

rorist threats and serves as a major

anchor in global international rela-

tions.

The State of Israel does nothing

that could compromise its excellentrelations with India, it said.

The ministry issued the statement

following a report in the Haaretz

newspaper which cited ofcial re-

ports from Britain indicating that

Israel had sold defence equipment to

Pakistan and other countries such asMorocco.

In the statement, the ministry of-cials said that within the next few

days, Israel would ask the Depart-

ment for Business, Innovation and

Skills, which is responsible for is-

suing export permits in Britain, for

details of the information that waspublished in the ofcial reports, Is-

raeli media reported Wednesday.

Defence cooperation has been criti-

cal to the expansion of ties between

India and Israel since the establish-

ment of bilateral diplomatic rela-

tions in 1992. Israel has become

Indias second largest arms supplier

after Russia.

While arms sales constitute the larg-est chunk of Indo-Israeli defence

cooperation, other forms of collabo-

ration have taken place. Both coun-

tries recognise that terror is a threat,

particularly after the 2008 Mumbai

attack, and Israel has offered to co-

operate in ghting terrorism, includ-ing intelligence-sharing, counter-

terrorist training, and joint exercises.

Both countries have also exchanged

military visits in an effort to expand

military-to-military ties. Israel has

supplied India with radar systems

for airborne early warning and mis-

sile defence.

Also, Israel and India have expanded

their cooperation into outer space,

with India launching two Israeli sur-

veillance satellites. There are reports

that the two nations are considering

co-development of earth-observa-

tion satellites -- an area where Israel

has considerable expertise.

There are no diplomatic relations

between Israel and Pakistan. Paki-stan has also denied that its military

had purchased equipment from Is-

rael.

Sri Lanka to probe NGOs for conspiraciesColombo

The Sri Lankan government has ap-

pointed a special committee to inves-

tigate charges and allegations being

made against non-governmental or-

ganisations (NGOs) and their opera-

tions in the country.

The government has also made it

compulsory for all NGOs operating

in the country to register themselves

with the Ofce for the Registration

of Non-Governmental Organisa-tions.

This step is being taken to thwart

certain NGOs from hatching con-

spiracies to effect regime change by

engaging in politics in the guise of

doing social work in the country,

the governments information de-

partment said.

According to Lakshman Hulugalle,

director general of Media Centre for

National Security, strict legal action

would be taken against NGOs failing

to comply with the registration rule

and it will also result in the evictionof such NGOs.

Currently, there are nearly 100 NGOs

operating in the country, and a large

number of them have been identied

to be surreptitiously engaging in ac-

tivities inimical to the state by hatch-

ing various conspiracies through op-

position politicians, he said.

NGOs have been told to submit a

report to the government listing its

role, staff and funding and donations

received from abroad, their manner

of expenditure and their proposals

and plans. Their assets should alsobe registered with the relevant unit

of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

North Korea blames SouthKorea for failed talksSeoul

North Korea came down

on South Korea after high-

level talks between the

sides were cancelled.

North Korea said South

Korea had deliberately

hindered the resumption

of the talks.

This fully proves that the

south side had no intentto hold dialogue from the

beginning and that it only sought to

create an obstacle to the talks, delay

and torpedo them after reluctantly

taking part in the talks, far from solv-

ing issues at the negotiating table, a

spokesperson for the Committee for

the Peaceful Reunication of Korea

(CPRK) was quoted as saying.

The North and the South were to

have held two-day talks starting

Wednesday, but the plan was called

off after Pyongyang complained that

Seoul elded negotiators of insuf-

cient rank.

Yonhap said Wednesday that North

Koreas leadership did not return re-

peated calls from its counterparts in

South Korea made over the last ex-

tant communication line between the

two countries.

Tensions mounted on the Korean

Peninsula earlier this year after

North Korea conducted new nuclear

and missile tests.

Pyongyang threatened Seoul and the

US with war and closed off the joint

industrial zone in Kaesong following

a new round of international sanc-

tions, but later voiced willingness to

negotiate.

Twin brothers from India jailed inSingapore for pimpingSingapore

Two men from India, who are twin

brothers, have been sentenced to jail

by a court here for working as pimps.

Raman and Lakashmanan Selvaraj,

26, were sentenced to a three-and-a-

half month jail term for working as

pimps for a vice syndicate in the Gey-

lang area of this city-state.

The brothers, who had pleaded guilty

to the charge June 3, had hoped for ane but were shocked on hearing the

jail sentence.

According to the report, Lakashman-

an had arrived in Singapore in Octo-

ber last year and was met by Balam-

urugan Selvam Paneer, who ran a vice

ring that exploited women from India.

Lakashmanan started buying food for

prostitutes and collected their earn-

ings, which he handed over to Balam-

urugan.

Balamurugan would then deduct the

expenses and send the rest of the col-

lections to the vice rings boss who is

based in India.

7/23/2019 Epaper 16 June 2013

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 16 Jun 20138 POLITICS

Sharad Yadav, JD(U)

This is not good for

NDAs health. I am

deeply saddened by the

resignation of Advaniji.

NDA was forged with

the efforts of Atalji and

Advaniji.

L.K. Advani, BJP

For some time I have

been nding it difcult

to reconcile either with

the current functioning

of the party or the direc-

tion in which it is going.I

have decided, therefore,

to resign from the three

main fora of the party,

namely the National Ex-ecutive, the Parliamen-

tary Board and the Elec-

tion Committee.

Raj Babbar, Congress

Spokesperson

I dont need to elabo-

rate.His resignation let-ter says it all. It conrms

what we have been say-

ing all along. The chaal,

charitra and chehra

of the BJP is different

from what is being pro-

claimed.

Renuka Choudhary,

Congress Spokesperson

Im not surprised. BJP

is politically bankrupt,

they have sidelined

people responsible for

building the party.

J.Jayalalitha,

Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister

It is purely is an inter-

nal matter of the BJP.

But at the personal

level, I will only say

that Narendra Modi is

a good friend of mine.

Digvijaya Singh,

Congress

If Advani had demand-

ed some more time or

demanded setting up of

two committees what

was the problem in

waiting? After all they

were not going to miss

a plane.

Narendra Modi,

Gujarat Chief minister

I had said yesterday

(Monday) that Advani ji

will not disappoint lakhs

of Karyakartas (party

workers). Today, I whole

heartedly welcome his de-

cision,

QUOTe FIRe

Chennai

DMK president M. Karunanidhi

said the party would talk to all

parties seeking their support for

its candidate in the June 27 Rajya

Sabha elections.

He said: We have not asked for

support from any particular party.

We will generally talk to all the

parties.The issue of Rajya Sabha

elections was not discussed at

Wednesdays meeting of the par-

tys members in the Tamil Nadu

assembly.The June 27 elections

for the Rajya Sabha would elect

members who would replace six

people set to retire.

The six members who will retire

on July 24 are: A. Elavarasan and

V. Maitreyan from the AIADMK,

Tiruchi N. Siva and Kanimozhi

from the DMK, B.S. Gnanadesi-

kan of the Congress and D. Raja

of the CPI.The AIADMK has al-

ready announced its candidates

list that comprises V. Maitreyan,

K.R. Arjunan, T. Rathinavel, R.

Lakshmanan and Thangamuthu.

While the AIADMK has a

strength of 151 (including the

speaker) in the 235-member

house, the DMDK has 29 legisla-

tors, the DMK 23, CPI-M 10, CPI

eight, Congress ve, PMK three,

MMK and PT two each, Forward

Bloc one and nominated member

one.A candidate needs 34 votes

to get elected, and AIADMK is

expecting to romp home with

ve seats with the help of other

friendly parties, and take its tally

in the Rajya Sabha to eight from

the current ve seats.Tamil Nadu

has 18 seats in the Rajya Sabha,

for which elections are held in-

directly, and state legislators are

eligible to vote.

According to Election Commis-

sion of India, the last date for

nominations for the Rajya Sabha

polls is June 17. The last date for

withdrawals is June 20.

DMK in discussion with all parties ahead of Rajya Sabha poll

POLITICAL CAMP NeWS

CAMP UPA

Patna

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Ku-

mar said his Janata Dal-United

(JD-U) was in discussions with

his West Bengal and Odisha

counterparts, Mamta Banerjee

and Naveen Patnaik, on the for-

mation of a Federal Front.

Yes, we discussed the issue.

But the matter is still in earlystages, and it is not proper to

make guesses about the new for-

mation now, Nitish Kumar told

reporters in Patna before leaving

for Katihar on his Sewa Yatra

(peoples service journey).

Nitish Kumar recalled that he had

advocated unity among the east-

ern states for the resolution of

their common problems of back-

wardness and for better devel-

opment in the region. We have

been facing similar problems, andthere is need for unity, he said.

Nitish Kumar also said that BJP

president Rajnath Singh late

Wednesday night spoke to him

about the tension between the

JD-U and BJP over the elevation

of Gujarat Chief Minister Naren-

dra Modi to the partys campaign

chief for the 2014 general elec-

tions.

He said that his party would

clos