NEW DELHI, MARCH 02The controversial Armed

Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) will stay asUnion Home Ministry hasrejected an officialCommittee recommenda-tion for repeal of the Act.A senior Home Ministryofficial, speaking on con-dition of anonymity, saidthat a recommendation forrejection of BP JeevanReddy Committee reporthas been sent to CabinetCommittee on Securityheaded by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Brushing aside all criti-cism against the Act whichis dubbed as "draconian"by several human rightsorganisations, the HomeMinistry said the Act was

needed for Army to oper-ate in areas hit by militan-cy or insurgency.

The Reddy Committeehad submitted its report in2005 suggesting scrappingof the law as it was a "asymbol of oppression".

The committee was setup in 2004, in the wake ofintense agitation inManipur following killingof a woman, ThangjamManorama, while in thecustody of Assam Riflesand the indefinite fastundertaken by activistIrom Sharmila againstAFSPA.

The five-member com-mittee, headed by JusticeJeevan Reddy, a formerSupreme Court judge, had

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

MUMBAITemperature: 240CPrecipitation:0%Humidity: 56%Wind: 13Km/hr

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTTuesday, March 03, 2015

AAP will mature, opportunists will beshown their place: Somnath Bharti

Archos Launches 4 Smartphonesand 3 Tablets at MWC 2015

Not decided when I will getmarried, Ranbir Kapoor P8

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02A Bill seeking to pave the

way for plying of e-rickshawson Delhi roads was introducedin the Lok Sabha Monday.The Motor Vehicles(Amendment) Bill, 2015

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Bill to allow e-rick-shaws to operate inDelhi tabled in LS

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02A Delhi court on Monday

granted bail to Ritu Verma,the wife of former bureaucratand ex-chief minister SheilaDikshit`s aide RK Verma, in ablack money case. AdditionalChief MetropolitanMagistrate DK Sharma

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Delhi court grantsbail to Ritu Verma inblack money case

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Delhi Police Commissioner

BS Bassi on Monday said theyare looking for some abscond-ing people in the espionagecase and added that no CEOhas been questioned so far.

"We have received CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Corporate espionagecase: Haven't questionedany CEO yet, says Bassi

GUWAHATI, MARCH 02Security forces have arrested

at least 167 terrorists and link-men allegedly involved in theserial attacks on Adivasi peo-ple in many districts acrossAssam in the last two months.

"The intensive operations bysecurity forces in the aftermathof this gruesome killing has resulted in arrest of over

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

At least 167 terrorists held intwo months in Assam: Governor

JAMMU, MARCH 02A day after his remarks on

peaceful polls in Jammu andKashmir triggered a row,Chief Minister MuftiMohammed Sayeed onMonday said that he stood byhis comments and accusedthose raising a hue and cryover it of trying to "makemountain of a mole hill". "What I said, I stand by it,"

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

I stand by my statement on Pakistan,Hurriyat: J&K CM Mufti Mohd Sayeed

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Delhi Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal has inaugurated a 50-million gallon water treatmentplant in the Dwarka Sector 16area of the national capital.

"The water treatment plantwill help as its capacity is 50MGD. We will try that

Haryana gives more water, we will talk to them. This CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Kejriwal inaugurates 50-MGDwater treatment plant in Delhi

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03The Congress will be hold-

ing a strategy committeemeeting in the Parliament onTuesday morning. Congresshad earlier in the day appoint-ed five new PCC chiefs andone regional Congress

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Congress to holdstrategy committeemeeting on Tuesday

ROME, MARCH 02An Indian national has been

barred from completing theprocess towards gainingItalian citizenship by a mayorwho argued that her languageskills are not up to scratch,despite her living in the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Indian woman's Italian''not good enough'' forcitizenship

SINGAPORE, MARCH 02An Indian construction

worker was on Monday jailedfor 16 years and ordered by aSingapore court to be caned12 strokes for killing his fel-low compatriot in 2012.

Periyasamy Devarajan was20 years old in 2012 when he

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Indian jailed for 16years in Singapore forkilling compatriot

P6P2

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 220CPrecipitation: 40%Humidity: 62%Wind: 11Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 30CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:41% Wind: 13Km/hr

CHENNAITemperature: 300CPrecipitation: 50%Humidity:62%Wind: 19Km/hr

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Distancing the party

from Jammu andKashmir's newly electedCM Mufti MohdSayeed's statement cred-iting separatists forallowing conduciveatmosphere for assemblypolls, Home MinisterRajnath Singh said theBJP fully disassociatesitself from Sayeed'sremark.

Making a statement inthe Lok Sabha, Singhsaid, “I am making thisstatement after discus-sion with and consent ofthe Prime Minister...Wedisassociate ourselvesfrom the comment made

by Mufti Mohd Sayeed.”The Home Minister

said, “The elections wereheld in conducive atmos-phere and I want to con-gratulate people ofJammu and

Kashmir...and the con-ducive atmosphere wasdue to the ElectionCommission and thesecurity forces.”

Rejecting the CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Mufti's separatist statement: BJP 'fullydisassociates', says Rajnath Singh

Home Ministry opposes AFSPA repeal

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Barely three days after

the announcement of thesame in the budget, theMinister of RailwaysSuresh Prabhu onMonday launched a Webportal and mobile appli-cation for users to lodgecomplaints against prob-lems faced in utilisingservices.

While launching theWebsite and App thatworks on Android and

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW YORK, MARCH 02In a shocking case of

racism, a young Sikh boyin the US state of Georgiahas been called a "terrorist"by a group of school chil-dren, with the video of theabuse now going viral onthe Internet.

In the video posted onInquisitr, the bespectacledSikh boy is seen sitting inwhat appears to be a schoolbus and is surrounded bystudents.

He whispers to the cam-era: "The kids are being

racist to me."A young girl sitting

behind him then shouts"terrorist! terrorist!" andpoints her finger at the boy,who remains calm andeven shouts "who cares"when the kids hurl abusesat him.

Inquisitr reported that thevideo was uploaded by auser named 'NagraNagra'?and?identified theSikh boy as HarsukhSingh. Singh apparently?uploaded the video initially

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Indian Railways launches Webportal, App for lodging complaints

Young Sikh boy raciallyabused in US, video goes viral

Vol. 1 Issue: 171 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

PATNA, MARCH 02Criticising BJP for cele-

brating the budgetary hikeof 10 per cent of state'sshare in central taxes,Chief Minister NitishKumar on Monday said thepercentage hike for Biharwas among the lowestthree and he would sooncall an all party meet tofight the "injustice".

"The budget announce-ment will serve BJP as avote catching machine.The fact is that for Biharthe percentage growth in

share of central taxes isamong the lowest three,"Kumar told reportersemerging from 'Janata ke

Darbar me MukhyaMantri' programme.

"After Tamil Nadu which CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Nitish Kumar to call all-party meet onloss due to 14th Financial Commission

SRINAGAR, MARCH 02In yet another contro-

versy that could embar-rass the BJP, its ally inJammu and Kashmir -the PDP on Mondaydemanded the return ofAfzal Guru's mortalremains, who washanged for his role inDecember 2001 terror-ist attack onParliament.

The demands havebeen made in a PDPnote which has theendorsement of ninePDP leaders, as persources.

The PDP note main-tains that “late AfzalGuru's hanging wastravesty of justice andconstitutional require-ments and process wasnot followed in hang-ing him out of turn,"adding, "PDP stands bythe demand for returnof his (Guru's) mortalremains, and the partypromises to follow vig-orously for the returnof the mortal remains."

Engineer Rashid,Awami Ithaad Party(AIP) chief and MLAread out a press note tothe media allegedlywritten by PDP MLAand J&K CabinetMinister Naeem Akhtardemanding return ofGuru's remains.

The legislators whosigned the statementare Mohammad KhalilBandh, Zahoor AhmedMir, Raja ManzoorAhmad, Mohd AbasWani, Yawar DilawarMir, Advocate MohdYosuf, Aijaz AhmadMir and Noor Mohd

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Asserting that differences in

opinions are common in politics,Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaderYogendra Yadav on Monday dis-missed reports of a crisis in theparty.

The senior AAP leader on theone hand termed Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal as 'thehero of changing politics in thecountry', while on the other handcalled party's Delhi secretaryDilip Pandey a 'model of hon-esty'.

“Dilip Pandey is a model ofhonesty, he differs with me-does-n't make him bad, in politics we

need to learn to live with differ-ences,” Yadav told reporters here,as per sources.

He further said, “Peoplebelieve that we are a party with adifference & must must maintainthat.” "Differences in opinionsare common in politics. Weshould set all these aside andlook forward to realize thedreams of the common man whovoted for us... Patience isrequired in not just politics but inall walks of life," he added.

Yadav also said that there is noquestion of asking for Kejriwal'sresignation as the national

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Yogendra Yadav rejects AAPrift, calls Arvind Kejriwal 'hero

of changing politics'PDP once again leaves BJP red-faced, demands

return of Afzal Guru's mortal remains

Omar takes on PDP over demands ofAfzal Guru's mortal remainsSRINAGAR, MARCH 02

Former J&K chief minister and NC leaderOmar Abdullah on Monday took on the PDP overthe demands of the return of Afzal Guru's mortalremains.

Taking to Twitter Omar said, “If PDP trulybelieved they wanted to work to bring back

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

BJP condemns PDP's demand forreturn of Afzal Guru's remainsNEW DELHI, MARCH 02

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came outstrongly against its J&K partner – PDP's demandsof returning to Valley mortal remains ofParliament attack convict Afzal Guru saying suchstatements could cause unrest.

Soon after reports of a note regarding Afzal CONTD. ON PAGE 3

RSS a 'club of bache-lors', can't teach onproducing children:MIM leaderHYDERABAD, MARCH 02

Stoking a controversy, seniorMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaision Monday termed the RSS as a"club of bachelors" and said thatthose who advocate producingmore children have no right to sayso as they themselves are not mar-ried. Owaisi asked all Muslims tobe united while maintaining thathis party would fight against"communal politics".

Without naming BJP leaderSakshi Maharaj who had said

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02In a shocking comment, one of

the convicts of the December 16,2012 gang-rape on a moving bus inDelhi, has blamed the 23-year-oldwoman for the fatal sexual assaulton her.

Mukesh Singh, one of the con-victs in the gang rape case saidwomen who go out at night hadonly themselves to blame if theyattracted the attention of molesters.

In an interview from jail for aBBC documentary to be aired onMarch 8, Mukesh Singh said: "Agirl is far more responsible for rape

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Dec 16 gang-rape caseconvict blames victim

"You can`t clap with onehand - it takes two hands," hewas quoted as saying in the

interview. "A decent girlwon`t roam around at 9

o`clock at night. A girl is farmore responsible for rape

than a boy. Boy and girl arenot equal. Housework and

housekeeping is for girls, notroaming in discos and bars at

night, doing wrong things,wearing wrong clothes.

About 20 per cent of girls aregood."

Mukesh Singh (Dec 16 Convict)

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Senior AAP leader

Somnath Bharti tweets:* The AAP has come out

with a clarification on therift in the party. Partyleader Sanjay Singhaddresses a press confer-ence

* Party won't be able tofunction smoothly whensenior members of partywill target Arvind ji andmake efforts to defame theparty – Sanjay Singh

* Attempts being madeto remove Arvind Kejriwal- Singh

* If there is anything thatemerges from nationalexecutive on March 4 wewill inform you. The con-stant leakage of letterswritten by AAP membershas made the party looklike a joke - Singh

* Will discuss the recentturn of events, includingthe leakage of letters, dur-ing the meet – SanjaySingh

* AAP leader Ashutosh'stweets confirm the riftwithin the party. He tweet-ed:

The differences withinthe Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) is out in the openwith senior party leadersYogendra Yadav andPrashant Bhushan voicingdissent against the mannerin which the party is beingrun by Arvind Kejriwal.

In a letter to the party onFeb 26 - the details ofwhich became public today– Bhushan came downheavily on the party leader-ship and alleged that AAPwas turning into a 'one manparty'.

“We said that we wouldput out all our accounts ona public website. But farfrom bringing the partyunder RTI, we haven't even

put our accounts on web-site, we've put donationsbut not expenses,”Bhushan said.

“We formed more than30 experts committee twoyears ago to formulatepolicies of party.Committee gave reports 18months ago, but we haven'tbeen able to formalizethem as some of us didn'thave time,” he said.

“For a national party weclaim to be, it's essentialthat we have a view pointon imp issues of policy incountry. We haven'tempowered committee ordecision making system ofdeciding how funds are tobe spent. These decisionsneed to be taken in a sys-tematic and democraticmanner,” he added.

“We don't have regularmeetings of NationalExecutive (NE) or PoliticalAffairs Committee (PAC)as required byConstitution. In the infre-quent meetings of PAC,some PAC members areoften not informed,”Bhushan said.

Slamming the party lead-ership, Bhushan added,“Our party has been builton idealism and sweat andtears of thousands of vol-unteers who sacrificedmuch to create a differentparty. We owe it to themand must ensure that we

don't drift and become justanother one man centricparty.”

The letter became publicamid media reports thatArvind Kejriwal wantsBhushan and YogendraYadav out of the party'sNational Executive.

However, Yadav dis-missed any such move butalso warned the partyagainst indulging in pettytactics.

He tweeted:The rift within the party

comes even as a letter byits internal Lokpal haspointed to the growth oftwo camps within the topleadership of the party dueto an "abject breakdown incommunication and mutualtrust" and said it needs tomake efforts to addresscriticisms over inner- partydemocracy.

In the letter writtenahead of its NationalExecutive meet last week,Admiral Ramdas, a former

Navy chief and the party'sinternal Lokpal, also saidthat AAP must makeefforts to become a gen-uinely gender-sensitiveparty as neither its PAC northe Delhi government ledby it has any woman mem-bers.

"During the past six toeight months, there hasbeen an abject breakdownin communications andmutual trust amongst thetopmost leadership of theparty. This has in my viewled to the growth of twocamps within the party andloose talk about conspira-cies.

"This is unacceptableand shows that we are nodifferent from any of theparties whom we criticiseso vocally. I sincerely urgethe entire leadership of theparty... To stop listening torumours and to discouragecolleagues... Who continu-ally bring negative feed-back about each other,"

Ramdas said in the letter.Sources said that two

senior AAP leaders andmembers of its all-power-ful Political AffairsCommittee, YogendraYadav and PrashantBhushan, were unhappywith candidate selection.They also said that neitherwas the duo in favour ofthe party's decision to notcontest Haryana electionslast year.

The letter says there wasa crisis situation just aheadof Delhi elections overissues raised by Bhushanwho, it claims, also threat-ened to resign if his con-cerns were not addressed.

"In end December, 2014,there was a crisis situationbrought about byBhushan's unhappinesswith candidate selectionand the decision-makingprocesses. If not addressed,he said he would be forcedto resign from the partyand go public.

AAP will mature, opportunists will be shown their place: Somnath Bharti

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02A court here on Monday

adjourned the hearing in therape case against a driver ofthe Uber cab company afterthe defence counsel informedthe judge that he will not beable to attend proceedingsdue to injuries suffered byhim after he fell from thestairs.

Additional Sessions JudgeKaveri Baweja adjourned thematter till March 4 for furtherhearing on final arguments.

The proxy counsel of cabdriver Shiv Kumar Yadav`sadvocate D.K. Mishra filedan application seeking

adjournment in the matter.The counsel said Mishra

has been advised completebed rest and he will not beable to attend court proceed-ings as he fell from the stairson Sunday evening, wasinjured and was sufferingfrom acute pain.

It said Mishra will not beable to advance the finalarguments in the matter.

The prosecution had onJanuary 31 completed record-ing of evidence in just 17days.

According to police, thewoman executive wasallegedly raped by 32-year-

old Yadav on the night ofDecember 5, 2014 in the cabshe had hired to head backhome in north Delhi`sInderlok area. The accusedtook the woman in an isolat-ed place with the motive ofcommitting the heinouscrime.

The court had on January13 framed charges of rape,causing grievous bodily harmand endangering the life of awoman, kidnapping awoman, criminal intimida-tion and voluntarily causinghurt against Yadav under var-ious sections of the IndianPenal Code.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Union Home Minister

Rajnath Singh on Mondayevening approved the appoint-ment of IAS officer KKSharma as the Delhi ChiefSecretary, a choice that is alsoacceptable to the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) government.

The development comes aday after Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal rejected apanel of three officers recom-mended by the Home Ministry.

According to reports, theMinistry had yesterday sent apanel of three senior IAS offi-cers to the Delhi governmentto pick up any of them.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwalhad, however, suggestedSharma's name after his firstchoice, Ramesh Negi, wasrejected by the Home Ministry.

The two key reasons whichcame in the way of appointing

Negi as Chief Secretary are -nearly a dozen officers seniorto Negi are still serving in dif-ferent capacities and he is notin the pay scale of Rs 80,000.

Whereas, the Home Ministryhad asked the city governmentto send name of any officerwho is in the pay scale of Rs80,000.

The Home Ministry is thenodal authority of making alltop bureaucratic appointmentsin the Delhi government as thecity is a Union Territory.

Sharma, a 1983-batch IASofficer, joined as the Goa ChiefSecretary on January 1, 2015and had barely completed twomonths in his present posting.

He was last posted in Delhias the Principal Secretary(PWD) from 2009 to 2011 andhe will supersede five officersof his cadre if he is appointedas the Delhi Chief Secretary.

Uber cab rape: Driver's counselinjured, case adjourned till March 4

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02A man and his woman associ-

ate have been arrested in thenational capital for carrying 900live cartridges, leading DelhiPolice to bust an inter-state syn-dicate involved in barter tradeof firearms and cartridges, offi-cials said on Monday.

Mohammed Rabbani, 35, andChunni Beghum, 30, werearrested on February 23 fromeast Delhi`s Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) withtwo sophisticated pistols and900 live cartridges.

"Both of them had concealedthe cartridges (7.65 mm) intheir clothing. They were arrest-ed and a case under the ArmsAct has been registered," saidDeputy Commissioner of Police(Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav.

Their interrogation revealed anew modus operandi used byfirearm peddlers, hesaid.

"Firearms manufactured inBihar`s Munger city are traded

in exchange of live cartridgessourced from certain districts ofMadhya Pradesh. One syndicatecarries firearms and the otherlive cartridges. Both the syndi-cates exchange their firearmsand cartridges through bartertrade," Yadav said.

"The outcome of this syndi-cated activity is that both thesyndicates come in the positionof supplying a complete pack-age (a pistol along with car-tridges) to sell it to the intend-ing criminals for a high profit,"he said.

Police said firearms peddlershave now engaged women oper-atives who accompany theirmale counterparts in travellingfrom Munger.

"The male-female combina-tion is least likely to create analert or suspicion about theirmotives. The female membersalso split the illicit cargo, andowing to their gender, they eas-ily pass through any kind ofcursory check," the official

said.Police said the syndicate

functions strictly on a "need toknow" basis.

"All instructions are given bythe handlers only after a partic-ular journey is successfullycompleted."

Rabbani, who belongs to anagrarian family, was introducedto the gun-running racket bylocal peddler MohammedTehsam.

Tehsam had carried Rabbanias a co-passenger while smug-gling firearms into westernUttar Pradesh and Delhi for acommission.

Gradually, Rabbani came incontact with other peddlersfrom Munger who used to ferryfirearms in Delhi and westernUttar Pradesh.

Chunni Beghum, a widow,sells vegetables for a living. Toearn extra money, she got asso-ciated with Rabbani, whobelongs to her nativevillage.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02The Delhi Dialogue Commission

(DDC), an advisory body for the citygovernment, on Monday decided to form20 task-force groups on various issueslike women's security, water, electricity,pollution and unauthorised colonies,among others.

A nine-member panel for DDC headedby Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wasset up on Feb. 27 to implement the 70promises made by Aam Aadmi Party inits election manifesto.

The body today held its first meetingwhich was chaired by Kejriwal at DelhiSecretariat.

Ashish Khaitan, the vice-chairman ofDDC, said that each task-force group isto be headed by a convener and will havevarious members to provide advice onways to implement the AAP govern-ment's vision for the city.

MLAs and experts from different fieldscan also become the members of thesegroups of DDC, whose office will be

located in the Satya Niketan area of southDelhi.

"Each task-force group will work ontheir respective subjects and give sugges-tions to DDC... These suggestions willlater be implemented by the govern-ment," Khaitan told a press conferencehere.

He said that task groups will be formedto cover areas like women's security, gov-ernment on mobile, wi-fi, CCTV, cleandrinking water, electricity, good gover-nance, clean-up of the Yamuna, cleaningof Delhi, rural areas, trade and traders,pollution, traffic, unauthorised colonies,tax reforms, etc.

"The task groups will also study thebest ideas already implemented in otherstates and foreign countries. The (taskgroup) conveners can also hire expertsand these experts will be given remuner-ation by the government," Khaitan added.

Besides Kejriwal and Khaitan, othermembers of the DDC are deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia, ChiefSecretary, Finance Secretary, secretary to

the Chief Minister, two nominated mem-bers and a member secretary.

In its manifesto, AAP had made 70promises ranging from building two lakhpublic toilets and setting up 20 new col-leges to adding 30,000 more beds inDelhi hospitals.

"Members of the groups will alsoestablish dialogue with

the people and find out solutions to par-ticular problems," he said.

"The only way to transform a city is tobe in a constant dialogue with the cityand the people who mould it. Now, thetime has come to create a mechanismthrough which that action plan can beimplemented," Khaitan had said after theformation of DDC.

He said the commission will come upwith appropriate solutions to a range ofcivic issues by studying good practices,policies and plans from across the coun-try and abroad.

Khaitan said the commission can becontacted on e-mail atddc.Delhi@gov.In.

Delhi Dialogue Commission forms 20 task-forcegroups to push realisation of AAP promises

Two held in Delhi with 900 live cartridges

NEW DELHI, MARCH 02A Delhi court on Monday fixed

June 5 for hearing a case inwhich rights activist IromSharmila is facing trial forallegedly trying to commit sui-cide during her fast-unto-death atJantar Mantar here in 2006.

Metropolitan Magistrate AkashJain, who was scheduled torecord evidence in the casetoday, fixed it for June 5 and 6for further proceedings asSharmila did not appear beforethe court.

On October 30, 2014, the courthad recorded statements of fourprosecution witnesses, includingretired Assistant Commissionerof Police (ACP) G L Mehta, DrPrashant Sinha, who had med-ically examined Sharmila aftershe was admitted to AIIMS, and

two other officials of DelhiPolice in the case.

42-year-old Sharmila is cur-rently under judicial custody inanother case lodged against herat Manipur.

Sharmila, who is on a fast forover 14 years in Manipurdemanding repeal of the ArmedForces (Special Powers) Act

(AFSPA), had earlier told thecourt that she was very mucheager to eat if she got the assur-ance that the "draconian" act willbe revoked.

She had claimed that wide-spread discrimination was beingdone with the people from north-east.

had told the court that she

never intended to commit suicideand it was just a protest againstAFSPA.

On March 4, 2013, the courthad put Sharmila on trial aftershe had refused to plead guiltyfor the offence of attempting tocommit suicide (section 309 ofIPC).

If convicted, Sharmila, who isout on bail in this case, faces amaximum jail term of one year.

Popularly known as the 'IronLady', Sharmila is fed through anasal tube. She had earlier toldthe court that her protest wasnon-violent.

Her counsel had earlier told thecourt that Sharmila has alreadyspent one year in judicial cus-tody, which is the maximum sen-tence for the offence under sec-tion 309 of IPC.

Largest and tallestIndian flag to beunfurled TuesdayNEW DELHI, MARCH 03

The largest and tallest Indian flag will beunfurled Tuesday by Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) president Amit Shah at Faridabad, said amember of the event`s organising committeeMonday.

"The world`s largest Indian flag will unfurledtomorrow by BJP president Amit Shah. Theflag will be hoisted at 250 feet making it thetallest Indian flag," a member of the organisingcommittee said.

According to the member, the flag weighing48 kgs will be hoisted at a height of 250 feet (75meters), making it the largest and the highesthoisted Indian flag in the world.

"The flag has a dimension of 96 feet by 64feet and has a weight of 48 kgs. The event isorganised by Nav Chetna Trust which is formedto work on social issues like beti bachao andswachh bharat," the member said adding thatthe event is an initiative by Faridabad MLA(member of legislative assembly) Vipul Goel.

Along with Shah, Haryana chief ministerManohar Lal Khattar and the entire state cabi-net is expected to participate in the event.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor is also expected toattend the event which will be held in FaridabadTuesday.

Trader shot deadnear Gurgaon,traffic disruptedGURGAON, MARCH 02

A 47-year-old trader was shot deadby three unidentified assailants onSunday evening outside his house inSohna, 26 km from Gurgaon. VictimSanjay Kumar, a timber merchant, wasshifted to a private hospital in Gurgaonwhere he succumbed to his injuries.

Angry people disrupted the traffic onGurgaon-Alwar road for hours follow-ing the incident. Common people andrelatives of the deceased blocked trafficon the busy Gurgaon-Alwar road forhours on Monday. These people weredemanding the immediate arrest of thepersons responsible. In the wake ofprotests, Sohna market was closed.

Police has registered a case of mur-der. The family of the deceased haveaccused a man, who was earlier a part-ner of Sanjay, as the mastermindbehind the murder.

Senior police officers, however, man-aged to restore normalcy. Police havedetained some people related to theincident. The body was handed over tothe family members after post-mortemexamination.

Court to hear case against Irom Sharmila on June 5

IAS officer KK Sharmaappointed as Delhi

Chief Secretary NEW DELHI, MARCH 02Scores of Accredited Social Health

Activists (ASHA) workers Mondaystaged a protest here alleging that thegovernment has been insensitive totheir demands including regularisa-tion as government employees andfixation of minimum wages.

A five-member delegation, led byCentre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU) convener Ranjana Narula,met Union Health and Family WelfareMinister J P Nadda and submitted amemorandum detailing the demandsof the workers.

"ASHA workers have been ignoredby the government for decades andwhatever party came to power hasbeen insensitive to their demands.Today we submitted a memorandumto the Health Minister, but he wasunable to give any concrete assuranceregarding the fulfillment of thedemands," Narula told reporters.

ASHA workers from various statesincluding Haryana, Jammu andKashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Karnataka among others, gathered atJantar Mantar here and raised slogans

against the government.Addressing the activists, former

Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat said,"When BJP government came topower, a picture was painted thatModi will use a magic wand and'acche din (good days)' will come forpoor. The recently tabled budget alsofocused on the health of rich peoplebut forgot to give the ones who takecare of poor people's health, theirshare." "The disappointment ofASHA workers who have been wait-ing for years that the government willreact to their demands, is justified.Their demands are appropriate too.They are not considered as healthworkers by the government butactivists and are paid pittance asincentives," she said. CITU PresidentA K Padmanabhan, said, "Be it mid-day meal, anganwadi or ASHA work-ers, several governments changed buttheir intentions and policies remainedthe same. It is an irony that the PrimeMinister wears a suit worth Rs 10lakh for an event and the workersslogging for health of poor get paidRs 10,000 in a year."

ASHA workers protest seekingregularisation, other demands

Continuation 3NEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

PDP once...Sheikh.Confirming the news, PDP MLA Pulwama

Mohd Khalil Bandh, whose name is men-tioned in the note, reiterated his demand."Within and outside Assembly we haddemanded Afzal Guru's remains bereturned," he said.

The note also said - "The way he waspicked up from serial number 28 and singledout has been condemned by PDP and itstands by the demand for return of his mortalremains. We believe that the resolutionbrought by Independent MLA Rashid Ahmedto seek clemency for late Afzal Guru was jus-tified and should have been adopted by theHouse at that time," as per sources.

In 2011, the resolution seeking clemencyfor Guru could not be taken up in the Jammuand Kashmir Assembly due to pandemoniumin the House. The resolution became void asaccording to rules, any listed business thatdoes not come up for discussion would lapse.

On the other hand, Jitendra Singh, MoSPMO declined to comment on the matter say-ing that he had yet to read the statement indetail.

But BJP MLA from Nowshera, ?RavinderRana said that "such statements should beavoided" as it would "create unrest inValley."

Also, BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma said,"Terror has no religion. We condemn thistype of politics. Terrorism is an enemy ofhumanity and the whole country should uniteto root this out. BJP believes in zero toler-ance to terrorism."

Reacting to the reports, Congress' ManishTewari said, "PDP-BJP are in an alliance. PMmust answer if he feels the demand by thePDP MLAs are correct/incorrect."

On his part, former J&K chief minister andNC leader Omar Abdullah taking to Twitterwrote, “If PDP truly believed they wanted towork to bring back Guru's remains theywould have fought to include it in the CMP,which they didn't.”

In another tweet he wrote, “So PDPbrought out its big guns, cynically usedAfzalGuru by giving Rashid a signed state-ment and still lost the election.”

Guru was a Kashmir-born and is said tohave received terrorist training in Pakistanand was accused of providing hideout andlogistics for the terrorists for the Parliamentattack.

He was arrested in 2001, along with threeothers. On February 03, 2013, his mercy peti-tion was rejected by the President and he wassubsequently hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail on9 February 2013.

Later he was buried inside jail grounds. Hisfamily was not informed prior to executionand the government did not hand over hisdead body to them.

PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed,who took oath as J&K CM yesterday, hadcourted controversy when he had creditedsmooth conduct of the state Assembly pollsto the "people from across the border".

"I want to say this on record and I have toldthis to the Prime Minister that the we mustcredit the Hurriyat, militant outfits for theconduct of Assembly elections in the state,"Sayeed had said during a press conference, asper sources.

Realising the consequences of suchremarks, BJP by yesterday evening contestedthe claim, saying the exercise had been suc-cessful due to the efforts of the ElectionCommission and Indian Army and of thosewho believe in the Indian Constitution.

Meanwhile, Sayeed today stood by what hehad yesterday on violence-free polls in thestate, as per sources.

His daughter and PDP chief MehboobaMufti also maintained that the J&K CM'sremarks did not discredit the people of thestate.

The BJP, which bagged 28 seats in the 87-member Assembly and the PDP, which won28 seats in the state elections, came togetherafter more than two months of negotiations toform government in the Valley.

Mufti's oath-taking ceremony was attendedby a Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ahost of other to BJP leaders yesterday.

BJP condemns ...Guru's mortal remains with endorsement of

nine Peoples Democratic Party leaders begandoing the rounds, Ravinder Rana - BJP MLAfrom Nowshera said, "Such statements mustbe avoided. It will create unrest in valley."

BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma echoedRana's sentiments, and added, "Terror has noreligion. We condemn this type of politics.Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and thewhole country should unite to root this out.BJP believes in zero tolerance to terrorism."

The PDP note stated that “late Afzal Guru’shanging was travesty of justice and constitu-tional requirements/process was not fol-lowed.”

Engineer Rashid, Awami Ithaad Party(AIP) chief and MLA read out a press note tothe media allegedly written by PDP MLAand J&K Cabinet Minister Naeem Akhtardemanding return of Guru's remains.

Confirming the news, PDP MLA PulwamaMohd Khalil Bandh, whose name is men-tioned in the note, reiterated his demand."Within and outside Assembly we haddemanded Afzal Guru's remains bereturned," he said.

On the second day of assuming charge ofJammu and Kashmir, the rift betweenalliance partners PDP and BJP widened afterthe saffron party disagreed with Chief

Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's com-ments made on Sunday crediting Pakistan,Hurriyat and militants for the smooth polls inJammu and Kashmir.

BJP's Ram Madhav when asked aboutSayeed's comments, which rockedParliament, said, "We attribute it (smoothpolls) to three factors, the people of state,security agencies and the election commis-sion."

A major controversy erupted duringSayeed's maiden press conference after tak-ing oath as state Chief Minister where hecredited Pakistan, separatists and militantsfor the smooth conduct of Assembly elec-tions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress staged a walkout in the LokSabha on Monday over Sayeed's statementdemanding that Prime Minister NarendraModi condemn Sayeed's remark in theHouse.

The PDP-BJP coalition governmentassumed office yesterday after two months ofnegotiations between the two parties for cob-bling up an alliance.

Omar takes ...Guru's remains they would have fought to

include it in the CMP, which they didn't.”In another tweet he wrote, “So PDP

brought out its big guns, cynically usedAfzalGuru by giving Rashid a signed state-ment and still lost the election.”

In other tweets he said:The alleged demands for Guru's remains

have been made in a PDP note which report-edly has the endorsement of nine PDP lead-ers, as per sources.

The PDP note maintains that “late AfzalGuru’s hanging was travesty of justice andconstitutional requirements/process was notfollowed.”

Engineer Rashid, Awami Ithaad Party(AIP) chief and MLA read out a press note tothe media allegedly written by PDP MLAand J&K Cabinet Minister Naeem Akhtardemanding return of Guru's remains.

Guru, a Kashmir-born, was given deathsentence for his role in December 2001 ter-rorist attack on Parliament.

He is said to have received terrorist train-ing in Pakistan and was accused of providinghideout and logistics for the terrorists for theParliament attack.

He was arrested in 2001, along with threeothers. On February 03, 2013, his mercy peti-tion was rejected by the President and he wassubsequently hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail on9 February 2013.

Later he was buried inside jail grounds. Hisfamily was not informed prior to executionand the government did not hand over hisdead body to them.

In another controversy surrounding thePDP, party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed,who took oath as Jammu and Kashmir CMyesterday had credited smooth conduct of thestate Assembly polls to the "people fromacross the border".

"I want to say this on record and I have toldthis to the Prime Minister that the we mustcredit the Hurriyat, militant outfits for theconduct of Assembly elections in the state,"Sayeed had said during a press conference, asper sources.

Realising the consequences of suchremarks, BJP by yesterday evening contestedthe claim, saying the exercise had been suc-cessful due to the efforts of the ElectionCommission and Indian Army and of thosewho believe in the Indian Constitution.

Meanwhile, Sayeed today stood by what hehad yesterday on violence-free polls in thestate, as per sources.

His daughter and PDP chief MehboobaMufti also maintained that the J&K CM'sremarks did not discredit the people of thestate.

Yogendra Yadav ...convener."Arvind is the hero of changing politics in

the country. No question of asking forArvind's resignation as convener," he said.

Meanwhile, the AAP has called a nationalexecutive meeting on Wednesday to decideon issues including the latest controversyover differences in the party.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh had earlier saidthat attempts are being made to changeKejriwal as AAP's national convener.

The rift within the AAP came out in theopen with Yogendra Yadav and PrashantBhushan voicing dissent against the mannerin which the party is being run by Kejriwal.The two leaders also reportedly offered to optout of the Political Affairs Committee of theparty.

RSS a 'club ...recently that every Hindu woman must

produce four children to protect the religion,MIM's Floor Leader in Telangana AssemblyOwaisi said that they should explain if thereare sufficient resources to support the chil-dren in terms of providing them educationand jobs.

"RSS pracharaks would never marry. Thisis not RSS but a club of bachelors. Theywould never marry and (never) ready to takeresponsibilities, never face problem of life,never face problem of wife and children butadvice others to produce four children," hesaid at a meeting on the 57th formation dayof the All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (MIM) at its headquarters inDarulsalaam here.

"RSS says to produce four children in onefamily. If citizens are ready to produce not

just four but 12 or 14, can you provide edu-cation, jobs, house and other facilities...Theydon't give jobs or education, they cannoteven provide toilets, but they ask to producefour children," alleged Akbaruddin, thebrother of Hyderabad MP and MIM presidentAsaduddin Owaisi.

He said that the country was passingthough sensitive times.

"All Muslims should unite to fight for theirrights. If they are not united, there is a prob-ability that the identity of Muslims will be indanger," he warned.

Owaisi also said that his party was ready tospread its wings to other states like WestBengal, Bihar and Karnataka.

"MIM will work for the uplift of dalits andfight for their rights," he said.

He ridiculed Prime Minister NarendraModi gifting a copy of 'Bhagwad Gita' toJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe duringhis visit there, saying that if Modi is secularhe should have presented a book on IndianConstitution.

Dec 16 ...than a boy."He was quoted as saying by British daily

The Telegraph that had the victim and hermale friend not tried to fight back, the gangwould not have resorted to a savage beating.

Describing the gruesome incident as an"accident", he said: "When being raped, sheshouldn`t fight back. She should just be silentand allow the rape. Then they`d havedropped her off after `doing her`, and only hitthe boy."

The interview will be aired by BBC Fouron its Storyville programme "India`sDaughter" on Sunday to coincide with theInternational Women`s Day.

The physiotherapy student was raped andassaulted with an iron rod after she wastricked into boarding an unregistered privatebus to go home after watching a movie witha male friend.

Her male companion was badly beaten upand could not come to her rescue while theassault was being carried out in the bus. Thetwo were later dumped naked and bleedingon the roadside.

The woman died 13 days after the attackfrom the injuries inflicted upon her afterbeing airlifted to a Singapore hospital fortreatment.

The attack sparked widespread protests anda campaign by civil society groups fortougher laws to protect women against sexu-al violence.

One of the attackers was found dead in jailin March 2013. A juvenile member of thegang was sentenced to three years in a reformhome.

Four attackers, including Mukesh Singh,were convicted and sentenced to death lastyear. Judge Yogesh Khanna said the victimwas "tortured till the very end" and the casefell into the "rarest of rare category", whichjustified capital punishment.

The Supreme Court has stayed the deathsentences, considering appeals filed by thefour men.

Mukesh Singh, who was 26 at the time ofthe attack, was driving the bus.

"You can`t clap with one hand - it takes twohands," he was quoted as saying in the inter-view. "A decent girl won`t roam around at 9o`clock at night. A girl is far more responsi-ble for rape than a boy. Boy and girl are notequal. Housework and housekeeping is forgirls, not roaming in discos and bars at night,doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes.About 20 per cent of girls are good."

He also claimed that executing him and theother convicted rapists will endanger futurerape victims.

Nitish Kumar...will witness only 25.7 per cent growth in

its share of central taxes and Telangana 30.9per cent, Bihar is at the third position with ahike of 37.3 per cent," Kumar said.

"The percentage share for Gujarat will be57.7 per cent, Haryana 60.3 per cent, MadhyaPradesh 64.7 per cent, Jharkhand 73.9 percent, Punjab 75.9 per cent, Jammu andKashmir 80.6 per cent and Chhattishgarh93.9 per cent," he said.

Kumar said he would soon call an all partyto explain them the scenario and requestthem to rise above party politics and fightagainst "injustice".

Kumar, who had earlier thanked UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitley for announc-ing that Bihar and West Bengal would getspecial financial assistance like AndhraPradesh, said "We are waiting to see whatthey do in this regard and how much addi-tional money the state gets to compensate thehuge loss."

Kumar said as per 13th FinanceCommission recommendations Biharrecieved 10.9 per cent share of total centraltaxes in 2014-15 which would come down to9.6 per cent in 2015-16 fiscal - a slide of 1.3per cent.

Mufti's separatist...government's statement, the opposition

demanded that Prime Minister NarendraModi should make a statement in theParliament condemning Sayeed. CongressMPs later staged a walk out over the issue.

Sayeed triggered a controversy, Sunday, bysaying that credit must be given to "peoplefrom across the border", an oblique referenceto Pakistan, Hurriyat and militant outfits forallowing conducive atmosphere for assemblypolls.

Addressing a press conference after beingsworn in at a ceremony which was attendedby Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sayeedsaid, "I want to say this on record and I havetold this to the Prime Minister that the wemust credit the Hurriyat, militant outfits forthe conduct of assembly elections in thestate,"

Flanked by deputy chief minister NirmalSingh of BJP and newly inducted cabinetminister Haseeb Drabu, Sayeed said, "Peoplefrom across the border allowed conduciveatmosphere during elections. My humblesubmission is peaceful elections were notpossible, if they had done something. Youknow how small action was needed to disturbthe elections. They allowed this democraticprocess to go ahead. This gives us a hope."

Home Ministry ...submitted its report on June 6, 2005.The 147-page report recommends "the

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958,should be repealed."

The committee in the report observed that"the Act, for whatever reason, has become asymbol of oppression, an object of hate andan instrument of discrimination and highhandedness".

"It is highly desirable and advisable torepeal the Act altogether, without of course,losing sight of the overwhelming desire of anoverwhelming majority of the (northeast)region that the Army should remain (thoughthe Act should go)," it said.

Various organisations in Northeast havetermed the controversial law as "draconian".Ever since the killing of Manorama,Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast andhad declared that she would continue her fasttill the Act is repealed.

Young Sikh...which has so far got 130,000 views, with

the description,"Kids being racist to me andcalling me an Afghan terrorist. Please don'tact like this towards people like me. If youdon't know, I'm not Muslim I'm Sikh."

An online user described the video "dis-gusting" in which the young Sikh boy is"being bullied with racist chants on a schoolbus. "The Sikh bravely states that he doesn'tcare what they think of him."

The Inquisitr reported that Singh is a stu-dent at the Chattahoochee ElementarySchool in Duluth, Georgia.

The incident comes weeks after a Hindutemple was vandalised in Seattle. A Naziswastika and the phrase "get out" was foundspray-painted in red on the exterior of thetemple and cultural centre in Washingtonstate in February.

According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, FBI hatecrimes statisticsshows that anti-Muslim hatecrimes are still atabout five times more common than theywere before the 9/11 attacks.

Last year, 29-year-old Sikh man SandeepSingh was brutally injured after a LongIsland man slammed his pick-up truck intohim after calling him 'Osama' and that heshould "go back to your country."

Joseph Caleca was indicted by a grand juryon a nine-count indictment charging himwith attempted murder as a hate crime,assault, criminal possession of a weapon andleaving the scene without reporting after hit-ting Singh.

Indian Railways...Windows platforms, Prabhu said that the

‘Customer Complaint-cum-Suggestion’ por-tal and mobile App can be freely downloadedand used to register and track status of com-plaints registered on the portal.

"There should not be any complaints ideal-ly, but if about 3 crore passengers will travelin more than 10,000 trains daily, some com-plaints might come up. So, there should be aneffective forum to lodge complaints," headded.

He said that Railways welcome sugges-tions from the people to further improve thepassenger services and valuable suggestionson this newly launched portal can be incorpo-rated in all possible ways, if found suitable.How To Register Complaint

Those who want to complain or make anysuggestions can download the mobile Appfrom the www.coms.indianrailways.gov.in.

The passengers can also file their com-plaints and suggestions on www.coms.indi-anrailways.gov.in.

Complainants can also SMS their views on+91-9717630982.

At least...167 members and linkmen of the terrorist

outfits," Assam Governor PadmanabhaBalakrishna Acharya said in his writtenspeech on the first day of the Budget Sessionof the Assembly.

Kejriwal inaugurates...is also a big achievement," said West Delhi

MP, Pravesh Verma."In Delhi around 50 percent people get

drinking water from tanks. If there is no linethen how will they get water?" he added.

According to reports, about 13.4 lakh resi-dents of the area are expected to gain aftercomplete commissioning of the plant.

I stand by...he told reporters after casting his vote for

the Council election at the Legislature

Complex here."What I said yesterday about Pakistan and

Hurriyat... The recovery and working ofdemocracy in Kashmir and faith in it (wasthat) they (Pakistan and Hurriyat) haverecognised and understood that the voter slipis the destiny of the people, not bullets orgrenades," he said.

"And this voter slip has been given to us bythe Constitution of India... The people ofJ&K have more faith in this (right). They(people from across the border and Hurriyat)did not interfere, as was happening in past(elections)," he said.

Soon after taking oath yesterday, Sayeedhad said that credit must be given to peoplefrom across the border -- an oblique refer-ence to Pakistan -- Hurriyat and militant out-fits for "allowing a conducive atmosphere"for the Assembly polls in December last yearin J&K.

Under attack for the remarks, Mufti todaysaid that only a part of what he had said yes-terday was highlighted while the "positivethings" were ignored.

"They want to make mountain out of amole hill. The positive things that I spokeabout yesterday were not highlighted, butmore focus was on what Mufti said.

"Mufti said that the democratic right thatKashmir has got in the Constitution of Indiaand the strength that democratic institutionshave got, it is because of the voter slip, thatthey have recognised," he explained.

"Everything they have tried. They (forcesacross the border) recognised the institutionof democracy. What I said, I stand by it," hesaid.a

Bill to...introduced by Minister of State for Road

Transport P Radhakrishnan, will replace anordinance promulgated in January in thisregard.

E-rickshaws, or battery operated three-wheeler vehicles, had gone off the roads afterthe Delhi High Court banned their plying inJuly last on grounds of safety.

An earlier Bill to regularise e-rickshawswas passed by the Lok Sabha in the WinterSession but as it was stuck in the RajyaSabha, the government issued an Ordinance.The earlier bill has since been withdrawn.

The government had in October last noti-fied the rules for plying of e-rickshaws andmade driver's licence mandatory for operat-ing them and limiting their speed to 25 kmph.

The new rules provide that e-rickshawswill be allowed to carry four passengers and40 kg luggage while e-carts would transportgoods up to 310 kg.

Delhi court...granted bail to Ritu Verma after she

appeared in court in pursuance to summonsissued against her.

The court asked her to furnish a personalbond of Rs.50,000 and a surety of likeamount.

It also directed her not to leave the countrywithout prior permission of the court.

Ritu Verma was summoned as an accusedin the case in January after the court tookcognisance of the prosecution initiated by theincome tax department against her.

Her husband RK Verma - said to have beena favourite of Sheila Dikshit - served as theDelhi government`s power secretary in 2013.

Corporate espionage...information about involvement of some

other people from the arrested ones. Some ofthem are absconding and we are looking forthem. Some have been summoned for ques-tioning but we haven`t questioned any CEOsyet," said Bassi.

Congress to...Committee president. Apart from Ajay

Maken, the other new PCC chiefs are: AshokChavan in Maharashtra, Ghulam Ahmed Mirin Jammu and Kashmir Bharatsinh Solanki inGujarat and Uttam Reddy in Telangana, saysreports.

Indian woman's...country for 15 years, a media report said

Monday.Pushpa Rani, 56, was blocked from citizen-

ship by the mayor of Cairate, in northernItaly, who stopped her from swearing theoath of allegiance by arguing that her Italianwas not good enough, The Local news portalreported.

The oath was to be Pushpa Rani`s last steptowards gaining citizenship, after getting allthe necessary approval from Italian authori-ties.

Mayor Paolo Mazzucchelli, from the anti-immigration Northern League party, insteadadvised her to take a language course.

An Indian citizen, Pushpa Rani has lived inItaly for 15 years and said she struggles withlearning the country`s language.

Indian jailed ...bashed 31-year-old Raju Arivazhagen in

the face and head with a rock, a branch andthree concrete slabs each weighing more than10 kg, The Strait Times reported.

The High Court heard that the two men,both construction workers, were strangersbut chanced upon each other whenArivazhagen was looking for his lost wallet.

Arivazhagen's body was recovered bypolice from under a flyover later.

BY SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY

Budget-making todayis a tough call for aFinance Minister

trying to reverse the pastdecline caused by theUPA’s policies. The Indianeconomy, for example,decelerated from an 8.4 percent growth rate in GDP in2003-04 to 4.8 per cent in2013-14. The UPA’sdecade of economicdecline has been wronglyattributed to the globaleconomic meltdown espe-cially during the last sixyears of the decade.

Therefore, recovery andgrowth need a differentpolicy today, and requirechoosing a new frameworkof objectives, priorities,strategy and resourcemobilisation measures inconstituting a budget.

The Budget for 2015-16presented on Saturday toParliament by UnionFinance Minister ArunJaitley is a serious attemptto usher in such a newframework. An analysis ofhow far he has succeededand what more remains tobe done for a successfulturnaround is the concernhere in this article.

Participatory Notes

The Indian economy hasdeclined because of thepeculiar Indian “invention”of that perfidious financialderivative calledParticipatory Notes orPNs, otherwise known asthe crony/crooked facilita-tor for black money-basedportfolio investment. Noother country would thinkof such a derivative.

The Budget does nottreat PNs as a time bomband to seek to abolish thisderivative, as the TaraporeCommittee had wanted.Actually, PNs have been

even more legitimised byenhancing their status tothat of FDI inflow.

The Finance Ministerought to have abolishedPNs in this Budget to sta-bilise the economy. I donot know if Mr. Jaitley waseven shown this legitimisa-

tion of PNs which is in thefine print of the Budgetdocuments.

He has introduced manynew measures, such as avastly increased agricultur-al credit facility, the newMUDRA Bank to fund theunderfunded, especiallyScheduled Caste/Tribeentrepreneurs, tax-freebonds for infrastructuredevelopment, ultra-largepower plants of 4,000 MW,monetisation of hoardedgold by paying interest ongold deposit accounts inbanks and ease of doingbusiness in India by a digi-tisation of procedures. Butthis is not enough to kick-start the economy sinceMr. Jaitley has not embed-ded such piecemeal meas-ures in the larger picture ofeconomic reform and

budgetary restructure.

Looming crisis

Today, for example,there is a budgetary crisislooming on the horizonbecause the allocations formajor heads of expenditure— government employees’

salaries, pensions, police,defence, subsidies, inter-ests to be paid for pastloans taken by the govern-ment, etc., and which nowcover 98 per cent of thecurrent and capital accountrevenues accruing to gov-ernment — cannot bereduced without creating apolitical crisis.

These allocations arerevenue expenditures, andhence not asset-building orinvestments for develop-ment projects.

Moreover, in the past, inthe revenue budget, theseexpenditures far exceed therevenue. Thus, the revenuebudget has been in hugedeficit, and which is cov-ered by taking more loansfrom public sector banksand creating a surplus in

the capital account by trim-ming investment alloca-tion.

In the Budget, we findthis is continued becauseNon-Plan Expenditure hasrisen 11 per cent whilePlan Expenditure has beenstagnant. In a financially

healthy economy, it shouldbe the other way around —surplus on the revenueaccount, i.e., revenueexceeding expenditure,and a deficit in the capitalaccount, i.e., investmentexceeding amortisation.

This situation howevercannot continue for longbecause loans from publicsector banks to the govern-ment to pay for the overalldeficit in the Budget haveto be paid back. It willrequire a major recapitali-sation of banks to meet theBasel III norms or else thepublic sector banks may gobankrupt by 2017. A timebomb is ticking here.

Being futuristic

The big picture we haveto usher in is an Indian

economy growing annuallyat 10 to 12 per cent byinducing the current house-hold saving rate of 29 percent of income to riseagain to the rate of 36 percent.

To become a developedcountry in the foreseeable

future, India’s GDP willhave to grow at 10 to 12per cent per year for atleast a decade. A 12 percent GDP growth rate peryear will mean a doublingof GDP every six years,and that of per capitaincome, doubling everyseven years.

This level of the growthrate can take us to theleague of the top threenations of the world, of theUnited States, China andIndia by 2020, and thenaim to overtake China inthe next decade thereafter.That should be a statedgoal of every budget andnot just a “balancing thebooks” exercise.

Technically, this is with-in India’s reach, since itwould require the rate of

investment to rise whileproductivity growth willhave to ensure that theincremental output-capitalratio declines from thepresent 4.0 to 3.0.Productivity increases canbe achieved by cuttingtransaction cost in the easeto do business and by moti-

vating labour with incen-tives to work harder.

Further, if we reducetransaction cost by elimi-nating corruption, then thecurrent incremental capi-tal-output ratio will easilyfall from 4.0 to 3.0.

Enthusing the middleclass

This can also be sus-tained by directly, and notindirectly, enthusing themiddle class — whichtoday can be achievedonly by abolishing person-al income tax.

In this Budget, the mid-dle class has little to cheerabout. The morning-afterannouncement of petroland diesel price hikeseven while internationally,

crude oil price continuesto be in decline, has onlyfurther discouraged themiddle class. India’s mid-dle class urgently needssome good news.

India has many advan-tages to achieve a boom-ing economy such as a

demographic dividend,agriculture that has inter-nationally the lowest yieldin land and livestock-based products, and also,by WTO reckoning, thelowest cost of production,12 months a year of farm-friendly weather, a highlycompetitive, skilled andsemi-skilled labour forceand low wage rates at thenational level, the advan-tages of which havealready been proved to theworld by the outsourcingphenomenon. We have ayoung population — theaverage is 28 years whencompared to the U.S.’s 38years, and Japan’s 49years — that is the basefor it to usher in innova-tion in our production

process.

Since the worldview ofeconomic developmenthas now completelychanged, economic devel-opment is no more thoughtof as being capital-driven,but knowledge-driven. Forapplication of knowledge,we need innovations,which means more origi-nal research, and morefresh, young minds out ofthe cream of youth to beinculcated with learningand to be at the frontier ofresearch.

The unintended conse-quences of past policiesshould not make us squan-der this “natural resource”of youth we haveacquired. Today, usingproper policy applicationfor the young, we mustrealise and harvest thisdemographic potential.

Thus, these goals haveto be at the core of theeconomic agenda underly-ing the making of theBudgets. But for all that tohappen, more vigorous,market-centric, economicreforms are necessary andneed to be at the centrestage of the nation’s atten-tion in a Budget and not beoverwhelmed by what cor-porate-driven, media hypeexpects of a budget.

Looking ahead positive-ly, the nation still has fourmore annual Budgets tosee, and which will hope-fully set the stage forIndia’s economic renais-sance in the nextdecade.

(Subramanian Swamy isa former Union Minister

of Commerce andProfessor of Economics.)

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY S. GURUMURTHY

Even ignoring the report-ing in sections of finan-cial media which have

reduced the Budget into mere‘comics,’ the media debates onbudgets increasingly make itdifficult to separate the wheatfrom the chaff. Anyone whoattentively heard the extensiveTV debates on the 2015-16budget and read the diverseopinions in dozens of newspa-pers would have been bewil-dered about constitutes the corethrust of the Budget. The mediahas headlined the Budget as‘super budget,’ ‘full of bigbangs,’ ‘prepped for take-off.’This positive branding notwithstanding, the question toask is whether the first full-fledged budget presented by theNarendra Modi government hasany game-changing potential.The answer is ‘yes,’ but therealisation of this potential willdepend on how well the gamechangers are executed.

Paradigm shift

There is an unseen paradigmshift in this Budget. For thefirst time, an Indian govern-ment’s budget seems to focuson national effort as the coreimpetus for national develop-ment. This is not surprising asthe Cabinet resolution on NITIAayog directs the national poli-cymaking body “most impor-tantly” to “adhere to the tenetthat while incorporating posi-tive influences from the world,no single model can be trans-planted from outside into theIndian scenario. We need tofind our own strategy forgrowth.” Almost a decade back,Finance Ministers and CentralBank Governors of the G20nations had declared that “thereis no uniform developmentapproach that fits all countries”and “each country shouldchoose the developmentapproaches and policies thatsuit its specific characteristics.”

Three years later, the WorldBank conceded “we havelearned the hard way that thereis no one model that fits all.”Yet, for a decade more, Indiafollowed the economic modelof the West till the NITI Aayogdecided to correct the course.The game-changing elementsin this Budget are in line withNITI Aayog’s philosophy.

The first expression of theIndia-centric approach is theinnovative agenda to ‘fund theunfunded’ 58 million micro andsmall businesses in the non-for-mal sector. This sector, accord-ing to the Credit Suisse AsiaPacific/India Equity Researchreport of July 2013, is unique toIndia. While in other countriesthe informal sector is largelyillegal, in India, the report says,it is non-formal because gov-ernment policies have notreached it. These 58 millionnon-formal micro businessesgenerate millions of rural andsemi-urban entrepreneurs andprovide 128 million jobs. Two-thirds of these units are operat-ed by Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes and OtherBackward Classes. Yet, thisKamadhenu of job creation getsonly 4 per cent of its creditneeds from banks. The sectornow borrows at usurious ratesof interest of 120 per cent andbeyond. While it is deniedfunds, the formal sector —which garnered some Rs.54lakh crore since 1991 by way offoreign and domestic capitaland loans — has added just acouple of million jobs in twodecades. All governments sinceliberalisation had expectedthese millions of units to die ofeuthanasia in market econom-ics. But they have posted thefastest growth among all seg-ments of the Indian economy.But economic policymaking inIndia continued to ignore them.Mr. Modi is the first politicalleader to see the potential ofthis sector to drive up jobs. He

also realised that the modernbanking system is unsuited tofund this sector. In the lastbudget, the Modi governmenthad announced a committee tostructure a new financial archi-tecture for this sector. TheReserve Bank of India report-edly opposed any new architec-ture. But this Budget has goneahead and announced a newfinancial architecture, theMicro Units DevelopmentRefinance Agency (MUDRA),for the non-formal sector with acorpus of Rs.20,000 crore andbudgetary support of Rs.3,000crore for credit guarantee.MUDRA will come into exis-tence by a separate law. Thiswill fund the millions of entre-preneurs by an innovativefinancial architecture that willintegrate the existing privatefinanciers of small businessesas last-mile lenders. It is a com-pletely indigenous, India-cen-tric and innovative solution forthe most job-intensive, yettotally credit-starved, segmentof an economy unique to India.

Monetisation of gold

The second potential gamechanger is the beginning of theprocess of monetisation of gold— creating and circulatingmoney based on gold. Moderneconomists would dismiss goldas a wasteful item; as a “relic ofbarbarism.” This might be thecase in the U.S., which success-fully proscribed private gold inthe 1930s, made possession ofgold an offence and turned itinto a government asset. ButIndians celebrate gold and theIndian government, unable todo what the U.S. did, hasalways been bewildered abouthow to handle this asset. TheBudget policy to monetise thedomestic gold stock is anIndian solution to a uniqueIndian economic phenomenon.Obviously, no Western idea canhandle it. If, through the sover-eign gold bonds proposed in the

Budget, the government cangenerate a substantial goldstock as buffer stock, India canaggregate its demand for goldand use that power in the inter-national market. If it builds adecent buffer stock, it can playthe global gold market which,barring China perhaps, no othercountry can, because only inIndia private gold consumptionis as high as a fourth of theworld’s. Despite that, India hasno gold refining and standardi-sation infrastructure. This newpolicy will help build this. Theonly concern is that unless fulltax immunity is granted to goldto be lodged in bonds, theentire stock of black gold maynot enter monetisation.

The next big idea is accidentinsurance for Rs.2 lakh at Rs.12per annum; for life insurance ata premium of Rs.330 perannum and lifelong pension onan annual premium of up toRs.1,000, each to be con-tributed by the beneficiary andthe government equally. Thisambitious plan aims to reachcrores of poor Indians.

Scaling up execution

Each one of them is a poten-tial game changer. But theirsuccess requires scaling up ofexecution. The MUDRA idearequires millions of privatefinancial intermediaries, whoare currently providing financeto non-formal businesses, to beregistered and integrated intothe new architecture as the lastmile delivery instrumentalities.The insurance and pension ideaalso needs mobilisation ofcrores of beneficiaries into thenetwork. The idea of gold mon-etisation also calls for a mas-sive campaign to convince themillions of Indians possessinggold to look at gold bonds asequal to gold itself. These aregreat ideas but their successwill need scaling up of the kindwhich Mr. Modi demonstrated

when he got over 12.5 croreIndians hooked to the bankingsystem through the Jan DhanYojana [JDY]. The RBI wasreportedly not very enthusias-tic, if not optimistic, about suchextensive banking extension.But Mr. Modi reportedly insist-ed on 7.5 crore bank accountsand in less than six months. Hecould scale up the very execu-tion mechanism of PSU banks,written off by elite Indians asinefficient, to achieve not just7.5 crore accounts but 5 croremore.

Reaching and financially for-malising crores of people wasthought of as impossible tillMr. Modi could insist on anddrive the JDY to a huge suc-cess. His high scale of successlends credibility to the massivereaches of human numbers pro-posed in the MUDRA, Pensionand Sovereign Gold Bondschemes. With Aadhar cardsand JDY accounts, the hugescale of operation assumed inthe game-changing ideas in thebudget do not seem over opti-mistic. If Mr. Modi succeeds indelivering credit through theMUDRA model to millions ofnon-formal units, he would doin India what Deng Xiaopingdid to China through the 28million Town and VillageEnterprises. If Mr. Modi getsseveral crores of Indianshooked to the insurance andpension schemes, he couldimprove their life beyondrecognition. If he brings hiddengold into national coffersthrough the sovereign goldbond scheme, he could trans-form gold from being a liabilityof India to its global asset.

Mr. Modi’s proven capacityto scale up the government tohis level of ambition makes thegame changing ideas in theBudget possible.

(S. Gurumurthy is a politicaland economic commentator.)

Positive signals for businessTuesday | March 03, 2015

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A framework for recovery and growth

Our team will publish your thoughts send us yourarticles at news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

Game changers in the Budget

There are several features of Finance Minister ArunJaitley’s first full-year Budget presented inParliament on Saturday that are notable, such as the

effort to widen the social security and pension net, the planto severely penalise those holding illegal foreign accountsand assets, and the proposals to monetise idle gold hold-ings in the country. Yet, what stands out the most is thestructural shift in the government’s attitude and approachto the business and corporate sector. This is evident fromproposals such as the cut in corporate tax by a significant5 percentage points, putting off the implementation ofGeneral Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) by two more years,a sharp increase in allocation to infrastructure, a proposedBankruptcy Code, an electronic bill discounting scheme tohelp the smallest of businesses to tide over cash flow prob-lems, and even a new law to handle disputes involvingpublic contracts. Not since P. Chidambaram’s ‘dreambudget’ of 1997, which slashed corporate tax rates andtaxes on royalties among other things, have we seen sucha business-friendly budget. Successive governments andFinance Ministers have considered business and industryas a sector that needed to be kept on a tight leash using theinstrument of taxation. In that sense, the biggest reformmeasure that Mr. Jaitley has unleashed lies not in any ofthe budget proposals but in the changed mindset towardsbusiness — the recognition that it is a major stakeholder inthe economy and that its growth needs to be fostered. So,what explains this change? The obvious answer is that theBJP has always been known to be pro-business, especial-ly Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So a business-friendlybudget is nothing surprising. But that would only be abroad explanation of the change. The more immediateexplanation, though, is that the Budget had to support theMake in India theme of the Prime Minister, and what bet-ter way to attract capital and investors than by reducingtaxes and easing means to do business in India. TheBudget goes a long way in supporting the pet theme of Mr.Modi, whose imprint is visible in other proposals too.With an estimated 12 to 14 million people joining theworkforce every year, the importance of increasing jobs,especially in manufacturing, cannot be overemphasised. Itdoes not matter whether Make in India is aimed at exportsor at the domestic market; the bottom line is investmentand jobs. The Budget is the reiteration of the ModiGovernment’s conscious shift towards supporting industryand business. Mr. Jaitley had said earlier the Budget is butone day in a year and reforms are possible in the remain-ing 364 days as well. If that is any indication, then morereforms lie ahead for business and industry.

The Indian economy has declined because of the peculiarIndian “invention” of that perfidious financial derivative

called Participatory Notes or PNs, otherwise known as thecrony/crooked facilitator for black money-based portfolio

investment. No other country would think of such a deriva-tive. The Budget does not treat PNs as a time bomb and toseek to abolish this derivative, as the Tarapore Committee

had wanted. Actually, PNs have been even more legitimisedby enhancing their status to that of FDI inflow.

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

PATNA, MARCH 02After a gap of one year,

Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Mondayresumed his public inter-action programme whichaims at solving people'sproblem on the spot.

After re-assuming thechair of chief minister onFebruary 22, Kumar heldhis first "Janata KeDarbar mein MukhyaMantri" programmetoday.

Though the venue wassame at One Anne Marg,but Kumar's public inter-action programme prunedthe huge security arrange-ments which were inplace in the days of hispredecessor Jitan RamManjhi after a shoe hurl-ing incident during onesuch event.

The visitors were sparedfrom removing their shoes

and socks for securitychecks at the entrance ofthe venue. Two additionaltables in front of the chiefminister, which wereadded during Manjhi'stime, were also removedand Kumar had only onetable before him.

"I had started this pro-gramme nine years back.Its good to be back to jobonce again," Kumar toldreporters after completingthe interaction with peo-ple. He said he wouldstudy the details of theprogramme during lastnine years and take cor-rective steps.

Though he is yet tomove to One Anne Marg,the bungalow designedfor the Chief Minister, asManjhi is still putting upthere, Kumar conductedthe interaction pro-gramme inside the bunga-

low which he had ear-marked for office purpos-es earlier.

Kumar later offeredflowers at a sapling ofBodhi tree at the venuewhich he had earlier gotplanted by Tibetan spiri-tual leader the DalaiLama. He sat in the officeat One Anne Marg forsome time and then leftfor his present address on7 Circular Road. Manjhiwas in his house but therewas interaction betweenthe two. Earlier, duringthe press conferenceKumar avoided answeringquestions related to hispredecessor and urgedmediapersons to "indulgein highlighting positivedevelopments of the statein place of juicy newswhich they used to getearlier (during Manjhitime)".

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar starts public interaction programme

MANGALURU, MARCH 02 Minister of State for Labour P.T.

Parameshwara Naik on Monday saidthe labour welfare board would pro-vide quality education to the kids ofconstruction workers in state, startingwith those residing in city corporationlimits, from the coming academic year.

For this, two options are being exam-ined: directly admitting the children towell-known residential schools andpaying their fee or creating infrastruc-ture for such schools and roping in pri-

vate institutions for imparting educa-tion. A final decision would be takensoon, he said. Mr. Naik was speakingto presspersons after his visit to districtCongress office and later a reviewmeeting of the department here.

He said the Chief Minister is likelyto announce multi-trade education inITIs in the state in the coming budget.Students can study more than onerelated trade under this new system toenhance their employability, theMinister said.

‘Kids of construction workersto get quality education’

CHENNAI, MARCH 02 The carcass of a 50-feet

long sperm whale waswashed ashore at UyyaliKuppam village nearK a l p a k k a m ,Kancheepuram district lateon Saturday. This is thethird whale to be washedashore near the city in twodays.

The whale, according toSupraja Dharini of TREEFoundation, was a fullgrown adult male. She saidthe carcass had superficialinjuries, started to decom-pose and oil globules werepresent on the dorsal sideof the body. The whale wasburied in the village, in thepresence of staff from theForest Department ofKancheepuram district.

A 35-feet long femalesperm whale was washed

ashore at AlambariKuppam, nearMarakanam, on Saturdaymorning. TheFoundation’s Sea TurtleProtection Force membersspotted the dead whaleon the beach and a strand-ed sperm whale was

washed ashore on Friday.Similarly, a dead dolphin

was found atSemmancherry Kuppamby the Foundation during apatrolling of sea turtlenesting. It was a slenderSpinner Dolphin measur-ing five feet. This is the

fourth carcass of a dolphinto be washed ashore alongChennai’s coast sinceJanuary 27.Environmentalists attrib-ute the death of the crea-tures to various reasons,including being hit by ves-sels on the Bay of Bengal.

Sperm whale washed ashore

HYDERABAD, MARCH 02The NDA central gov-

ernment has not yet taken adecision on granting spe-cial category status toAndhra Pradesh and theissue was under considera-tion, said union UrbanDevelopment Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu.

Naidu faced a volley ofquestions at a news confer-ence here Sunday, a dayafter Telugu Desam Party(TDP), a partner in theBharatiya Janata Party-ledNational DemocraticAlliance, voiced disap-pointment over the unionbudget for 2015-16.

The budget tabled in par-liament Saturday made nomention of special status.

TDP president andAndhra Pradesh Chief

Minister N. ChandrababuNaidu has announced thathe will meet PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toseek justice to the state aspromised by him duringelection campaign lastyear.

Venkaiah Naidu mean-while assured that the cen-tral government would ful-fill all commitments madein Andhra PradeshReorganisation Act.

He admitted that Rs.100crore allocated in thebudget for Polavaram proj-ect is insufficient andpromised to take up theissue with FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley.

"Can I fight in the gov-ernment," he shot backwhen asked why is he notfighting for special status.

"Every day I am spend-ing some time for better-ment of the two states inwhatever manner I cando," said the BJP leader,who played a key role inextracting some commit-ments for Andhra Pradeshfrom then UPA govern-ment during debate on thereorganisation bill in par-liament.

Visibly upset over somequestions by reporters,Venkaiah Naidu wanted toknow why they neverasked these questions tothe previous government.

"He expressed his viewsas the chief minister. I willdischarge my responsibili-ty as the central minister,"he said when asked tocomment on TDP chief'scomments.

'No decision yet onspecial status to Andhra'

HYDERABAD, MARCH 02All India Congress

Committee on Mondayeffected changes inTelangana PradeshCongress Committeereplacing PonnalaLakshmaiah and namingformer Minister N.UttamKumar Reddy as the newstate unit president.

Former Deputy Speakerand CLP secretary MalluBhatti Vikramarka hasbeen appointed workingpresident, a post held byMr. Uttam.

A press release issued bythe AICC said that partypresident Sonia Gandhi hasappointed five new PCCchiefs and one regionalCongress Committee presi-dent. New presidents werenamed for Telangana,Maharashtra, Jammu andKashmir, Delhi and

Gujarat. The release saidMr. Uttam Kumar would

be the president while Mr.Bhatti has been made the

working president.Ahead of the announce-

ment, outgoing PCC chiefMr. Ponnala and CLPleader K. Jana Reddy metMs. Gandhi in Parliament.There was no word onwhat role the high com-mand would entrust to Mr.Ponnala, who is urging theleadership to consider himfor the MLC post.

F i f t y - t w o - y e a r - o l dUttam Kumar Reddy is aformer Indian Air Forcefighter pilot and representsthe Huzurnagar constituen-cy in Nalgonda District. Heis fourth time legislatorand served as Minister inKiran Kumar Reddy cabi-net. Ahead of the generalelections last year, theparty leadership hadnamed him as the workingpresident while appointingMr. Ponnala as the chief.

Mr. Bhatti, a dalit legis-lator from Madhira con-stituency in Khammam isthe CLP secretary. In theprevious CongressGovernment, he served asthe Deputy Speaker andChief Whip too. The 51-year-old three time legisla-tor is a post graduate fromHyderabad CentralUniversity.

Party leaders saidchanges at the top level hadbecome inevitable as theState Congress unit hadfailed to confront the TRSGovernment on severalissues concerning the com-mon man. Party cadreswere vocal that the leader-ship had failed to givethem direction to rebuildthe party while the centralleaders time and againwarned the seniors to putup a united show.

Uttam is TPCC chief, Bhatti named working president

Power tariff hikedat an average of 13paise/unitBENGALURU, MARCH 02

The Karnataka ElectricityRegulatory Commission(KERC) on Mondayincreased the power tariffby an average of 13 paise aunit for all the consumercategories to bridge the rev-enue deficit of all the fiveEscoms (electricity supplycompanies) in the state.

The new rates announcedby the three-member quasijudicial body led by formerbureaucrat M.R. SreenivasaMurthy comes into effectfor the power consumptionrecorded from April 1.

The revision comes in thewake of tariff petions filedby all the five Escoms in thestate in December 2014seeking a hike of 80 paise aunit.

This is the seventh hike inthe last five and half yearsbeginning from November2009 and the previous onehad been effected in May2014 when the tariff hadbeen hiked by 32 paise.

While admitting thatthe ongoing strike byquarry owners hasseriously hamperedKochi Metro’s civilworks, Kochi MetroRail Limited’s MDElias George hascalled upon contrac-tors to ramp up opera-tions and to keep theJune 2016 deadline.The quarry strike hastaken a turn for theworse, with tipperlorry drivers too join-ing the agitation.

Drawing a contrastwith works of DelhiMetro, Mr. Georgesaid that the contrac-tors there deployedmore number of work-ers at each site. Hesaid that non availabil-ity of granite chips dueto the 15-day-oldquarry strike is noexcuse for crying fowlthat the project cannot

adhere to the deadline.On the contrary, con-tractors must makebest use of theNovember-May work-ing season when thereis no rain to speed upworks.Talks in Kochi

In the meantime,Chief MinisterOommen Chandy isexpected to convene ameeting of stakehold-ers in Kochi on

Monday, to probeways to solve theimpasse due to short-age of granite chips.On Sunday, MrChandy told media ofhow a pending courtcase is preventing thegovernment from tak-ing strong measuresagainst the quarrystrike.

District CollectorM.G. Rajamanickam

said here that thestriking quarry ownersare using stoppage ofmetro works as a toolto bargain with thegovernment.

Faced with men andmachinery at KochiMetro work sites andyards idling for thepast fortnight due tothe strike, L&T had onSaturday warned ofwithdrawing from the

project’s civil works.He said that contrac-tors cannot blame theongoing two-week-old strike for theirshortcomings in workduring the past 20months.

This is no time forblame game andthough has to be givento how delays can beovercome and com-pensated for.

Strike no excuse to delay metrodeadline: KMRL to contractors

8 bookies arrestedin Andhra PradeshSRIKAKULAM, MARCH 02

Eight bookies were arrested from ahouse near Kalaniketan showroomhere in connection with a bettingracket, police said on Monday.

On a tip off, district police raidedthe house yesterday and arrestedNarayansetti Venkata Kiran,Manikyam Suribabu, Pasumarti KotiBabu, Pasumarti Jyothi Babu,Nandigam Srinivasa Patnaik,Tamma RamamMurty, TankalaVenkata Ramana, and SatyavarapuLava Kumar, who were watching acricket match and were betting onthe game.

Police also recovered Rs 49,880 incash along with a television from thehouse.

Investigations revealed that theaccused taken the home on rent forbetting purposes, they added.

Police have registered a case underSection 3 and Section 4 of IPC andthe accused will be produced beforethe court for remand.

VIJAYAWADA, MARCH 02Veteran cine actor Jamuna has

asserted that she still has politicalambitions to pursue. The actor was inthe city to receive Mahanati SavitriAward. On the occasion, she show-ered praises on Telugu Desam Party(TDP) founder president N. T. RamaRao and Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu.

Mr. Rama Rao created a history inpolitics by coming to power within 9months of starting a political party.Mr. Naidu is also good statesman andstriving hard to develop the State. Hisefforts should be recognized. AndhraPradesh can be developed far betterthan Hyderabad, she said.

Recollecting her stint in politics,Ms. Jamuna said that she served asChairperson of A.P. Nataka Academyduring Congress rule in the unitedAndhra Pradesh, and also won as MPfrom Rajahmundry. She, however,was quick to add, “I don’t knowwhether I my age permits me. But, I

am willing to serve the people.”When asked whether she has any

inclination to join the TDP, 78-yearold actor said, “I am willing to serveany party that extends invitation.”

She joined Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) during Atal Behari Vajpayeetenure. She even campaigned for BJPleader Bandaru Dattatreya. Pointingout, when asked about her relationswith the BJP, Ms. Jamuna said, “Ihaven’t submitted any resignation tothe BJP. But, I don’t know whether Iam still a member of that party.”Stating that she was very muchimpressed with policies and states-manship of Mr. Vajpayee, Ms.Jamuna said, “Modi garu is alsoequally impressive.”

Ms. Jamuna plunged into politicsfollowing an invitation from formerPrime Minister Indira Gandhi whenMr. Rama Rao formed the TDP. Ms.Gandhi invited her into Congress foldto counter charisma of Mr. RamaRao.

Actor Jamuna keen to be active in politics again

GUWAHATI, MARCH 02The Assam government has

spent over Rs 2,100 crore inthe state between 2011-12 and2013-14 under the MahatmaGandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act togenerate nearly ten crore man-days.

According to reports onMGNREGA for 2011-12,2012-13 and 2013-14 tabledin the state Assembly today,the highest amount was spentin FY'12 with Rs 748.27crore.

In FY'13, the governmentspent Rs 651.53 crore for pro-viding jobs under the ambi-tious scheme, the report said.

During the last financialyear, total allocated fundsunder this scheme for the statewere Rs 731.11 crore, but thegovernment utilised Rs 700.80

crore.In 2011-12, total mandays

stood at 3.53 crore, while thegovernment could generate3.14 crore and 2.99 croremandays in 2012-13 and2013-14 fiscals respectively.

In the three years, a total of38.45 lakh households wereprovided with employmentopportunities under MGNRE-GA, the report pointed out.

The report, however, men-tioned various reasons forlow-performance in theseyears such as disparity inwages at open market andMGNREGA rate, limitedworking season, good harvest-ing season, flood, distur-bances in BTAD, Dhubri andGoalpara, release of funds bythe Centre in multiple tranch-es and engagement of officialsin panchayat elections.

Assam spent Rs 2,100 crunder MGNREGA in three years

Assam Guv expresses con-cern over rhino poachingGUWAHATI, MARCH 02

Assam Governor PadmanabhaBalakrishna Acharya on Mondayexpressed concern over rhino poachingand said that all measures would betaken to protect the world famous one-horn animal.

"The situation is very serious and Iam very much concerned about it. Allthe people of Assam are very much con-cerned. I just had a talk with the chiefminister. All are pained about the thingshappening," Acharya told reporters onthe sidelines of the Budget Session ofthe Assam Assembly.

The Governor, whose left the Housemidway without completing his speechfollowing disruption by the opposition,said that there was no difference in theapproach between him and the govern-ment saying "we are in the same wavelength".

"A small criminal group is challeng-ing the government and authority. We'lltake strict action and I have told the CMto take all steps to nip it in the bud," hesaid.

With Applerumoured toannounce its

entry into the smartwatcharena, its would be com-petition is scurrying to getits act in order - includingone of the most famouswatchmakers in world,Swatch.

We've seen PebbleTechnology take tocrowd-funding forthe second time forits Pebble Timesmartwatch that'sseen allK i c k s t a r t e rrecords brokenand now Swatchis entering thefray with its firstmass-producedsmartwatch, theSwatch TouchZero One. It fea-tures a curvedm o n o c h r o m etouchscreen andbuilt-in backlight.The touchscreensupports taps andside-swipes tomanage six timingfunctions.

In conjunction with theSwatch Touch Zero Oneapp which we assume isfor for iOS and Android, itwill act like a fitnesstracker for sports, beachvolleyball in particular.Swatch happens to be thetitle sponsor of the FIVBBeach Volleyball WorldTour. You can set fitnessgoals using its virtualcoach feature as well.

With a generous display

area and touchscreen, theSwatch Touch Zero Onelets users check the num-ber of times they've hit theball in a game across fourdifferent kinds of hitsranging from attack hits tohigh fives as well as meas-uring the strength of a hitand rating the player on ascale of 0 to 100.

Currently there's noinformation on notifica-tions for calls, alarms oremails it appears that theSwatch Touch Zero One isessentially a fitness track-er. Whether it connects vianear-field communication(NFC) or Bluetoothremains to be seen.Nonetheless the companyclaims that the battery onthe Touch Zero One willlast for "months andmonths".

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. The main objective of centrally sponsoredCommand Area Development programme isA. improving the utilisation of irrigation potentialB. optimizing agricultural productivity and produc-tion from the irrigated areaC. both (a) and (b) D. None of the above

2. The minimum values of annual receipts of solarradiation occur atA. the equator B. the tropicsC. the arctic D. None of the above

3. The longest era of the classification of the history ofearth isA. Cainozoic era B. Pre-Cambrian eraC. PaSlaeozoic era D. Mesozoic era

4. The most obvious effect of pressure on rocks isA. foliation B. lineationC. lithification D. the reorientation of mineral crystals

QUIZ TIME

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

TODAY’S STARARIES The only good thing about being on an emotional roller coaster is

that you never feel the same way for long. One moment you're up,the next you're down. You can't figure out what it is you want. Ratherthan drag your loved ones along on the ride, get away from yourusual environment. You will be a lot better off alone. And somethingmore important may come out of these moments of solitude!

TAURUS You might want to check your alarm clock to be sure it real-ly woke you up this morning. Your tendency today will be tostay in the cocoon of your little dream world, deep in yourown thoughts. Obsessive thoughts, in particular, will try anddrown out some more pressing issues from the past thatneed resolution once and for all. Ring! It's time to wake up!

GEMINI There's something in the air pushing you toward changeor renewal. Is it time to change your wardrobe or redec-orate your home? If so, today's the day. If you have abudget, you will find it just as fulfilling (and a lot cheaper)to rid your home of all the things that just aren't "you"anymore. Surround yourself with things you love.

CANCER The good news is this - it gets better. There could be some tryingtimes in store, Cancer. If you're a parent, the children will ask forsomething every five minutes, and you may feel pressure from allsides. Not even your love life is immune from the doubt that seemsto hover over your head. No compromise is possible for you, Cancer.Just sit tight and know that calmer days are coming.

LEO Today rethink all the social values you take at face value. Likethe rest of us, you learned them at an early age and acceptedthem unthinkingly. Established concepts of propriety are espe-cially deserving of consideration. After hearing for years aboutall those things that "just aren't done," isn't it refreshing tothink that maybe they should be done after all?

VIRGO Today is an ideal day to shop for a new wardrobe. You may findyour usual style too conventional or uncomfortably trendy.Sometimes you reject outfits you really like out of fear they're toosuggestive, old fashioned, or something else. Perhaps youshould listen to your good judgment for a change instead of beingso concerned about what other people might think.

LIBRA The topic of the day is knowledge and learning. Did you study thefield you really wanted to? Do you feel bad about not havingattended such-and-such school or program? If these issues areuppermost on your mind today, remember that your creativity haslittle to do with the degrees you hold. It has everything to do withhow you use your skills and knowledge to better the world.

SCORPIO The planetary alignment is favorable, and you're in the process ofreaping the benefits, Scorpio. It was only a matter of becomingaware of and settling certain matters related to your need for socialrecognition. Don't be so hungry for approval, Scorpio. Everybodycontains a stern inner parent and can survive comfortably in totalself-sufficiency. In fact, it's your greatest strength.

SAGITTARIUSYou may feel hemmed in by the role models society currentlyoffers. As you struggle to reach your own definition of the trulyinnovative achiever, other people sometimes criticize your ratherliberated attitude. Just because your ideas aren't in sync withtheirs in no way invalidates them. If your ideas are too radical,theirs are too conventional. There's room for both viewpoints.

CAPRICORN The results of the recent planetary influence are coming hometo roost, Capricorn. If everything went according to plan, yougained some insight into your ego. Buddhist wise men saythat the path to spiritual fulfillment lies in knowing how to builda healthy ego while developing a part of oneself completelyforeign to the ego. Are you working hard at this?

AQUARIUS A small crisis is still a crisis, isn't it, Aquarius? You can expect one inyour personal life today. Since you aren't the kind of person who letsissues go unresolved, you won't be able to put off dealing with yourproblems any longer. Are responsibilities shared equally with yourpartner? Are you each making an equal effort to maintain harmony?Asking the questions is the first step to answering them.

PISCES Something has to change. You knew it as soon as you woke up thismorning. Your mirror provides the impetus for important resolutionstoday. Is it time to begin a diet, commit to exercising more, orstrengthen your resolve to quit smoking? Anything you do to improveyour appearance will make you feel a lot better about yourself. Buysome new clothes or get a haircut. People will notice.

The French smartphone maker,Archos, has displayed fournew budget smartphones at

the ongoing MWC 2015 trade show.The smartphones launched are theArchos 50 Oxygen+, 52 Platinum,59 Xenon, and 62 Xenon. The firmalso launched three new tablets inthe market named Archos 101Magnus, 101 Magnus +, and 94Magnus.

The dual-SIM supporting Archos50 Oxygen+ is a slightly toned-down variant of the firm's previous-ly launched 50c Oxygen. The smart-phone features the same 5-inch HD(720x1280 pixels) resolution IPSdisplay but is powered by a differentprocessor, 1.4GHz octa-coreMediatek MT6592, coupled with1GB RAM and Mali 450MP4 GPU.

The Android 4.4 KitKat-basedArchos 50 Oxygen+ also houses thesame 8-megapixel rear camera withBSI sensor as seen with the 50cOxygen, but includes a 5-megapixelfront-facing camera instead of a 2-megapixel pme. The inbuilt storagehas also been bumped-up from 8GBto 16GB, which can be furtherexpanded via microSD card (up to64GB).

The smartphone comes in both 3G and 4G LTE models,includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS and USB underits connectivity features, and is backed by a 2000mAh Li-ion battery. While the 3G model of Archos 50 Oxygen+will be hitting the shelves in March at a sub-$200 (rough-ly Rs. 12,400) price range, the 4G LTE version is hintedto arrive in June.

The Archos 52Platinum, 59 Xenon,and 62 Xenon smart-phones are poweredby the same 1.3GHzquad-core MediatekMT6582 coupled with1GB of RAM. Othercommon specifica-tions are 8GB ofexpandable inbuiltstorage and 8-megapixel rear cam-era. However, whilethe 52 Platinum and59 Xenon include 2-mgeapixel front fac-ing cameras, the 62Xenon equips a better5-megapixel front-facing cameras.

The dual-SIMAndroid 4.4 KitKat-based smartphonesalso come with differ-ent screen sizes. TheArchos 52 Platinumhouses 5.2-inch HD(720x1280 pixels)resolution display,

while the 59 Xenon and62 Xenon sport 5.9-inch HD and 6.27-inch

HD displays respectively. While the battery capacity of 59Xenon is not yet known, the 52 Platinum and the 62Xenon are backed by a 1750mAh and 2300mAh batteryrespectively.

While the availability details of the handsets are not yetknown, the 52 Platinum, 59 Xenon, and 62 Xenon arepriced at $145 (roughly Rs. 9,000), $158 (roughly Rs.

9,800), and $170 (roughly Rs. 10,500) respectively.

TABLETSIn the tablet section, Archos launched three new devices

named Archos 101 Magnus, 101 Magnus +, and 94Magnus. Archos claimed that out of these three, the 94Magnus is the world's first ever tablet with 256GB ofinbuilt storage. Slated to launch in April this year, the 101Magnus +, 101 Magnus, and 94 Magnus will be priced atGBP 249 (roughly Rs. 23,800), GBP 129 (roughly Rs.12,300), and GBP 249 (roughly Rs. 23,800) respectively.

The Android 4.4 KitKat-based Archos 94 Magnus fea-tures a 9.4-inch HD (1280x800 pixels) resolution IPS dis-play and is powered by 1.8GHz quad-core Rockchip RK3288 processor, coupled with 1.5GB RAM and Mali T764GPU. The tablet, despite having a 256GB of inbuilt stor-age, also supports an additional 128GB of microSD card.A 5-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel front fac-ing camera is housed inside the tablet. Sized at240x10x172mm, the 94 Magnus weighs 570 grams and isbacked by a 6400mAh battery.

The Archos 101 Magnus, the OS of which has not beenmentioned by the firm, is powered by a quad-coreMediatek MT8127 processor clocked at 1.3GHz, coupledwith 1GB of RAM and Mali 450MP4 GPU. The tabletcomes with 64GB of inbuilt storage with no word on itsexpandability, alongside a 2-megapixel rear camera and a0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Sized at262x156x12mm, the 101 Magnus weighs 550 grams andis backed by a 4000mAh battery.

The Archos 101 Magnus + comes powered by the sameRockchip processor and GPU seen in 94 Magnus tablet,coupled with 2GB of RAM. Featuring a 10.1 full-HD(1920x1200 pixels) resolution IPS display, the tablethouses a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixelfront-facing camera. Also, 128GB of inbuilt storage isincluded inside the tablet, with no details on its expand-ability option. Sized at 240x10x172mm, the 101 Magnus+weighs 570 grams and is backed by a 7000mAh battery.

Archos Launches 4 Smartphonesand 3 Tablets at MWC 2015

Swatch Touch Zero OneSmartwatch for BeachVolleyball Launched

12:00AM Tu Mera Hero12:30AM Tu Mera Hero01:00AM Tu Mera Hero01:30AM Tu Mera Hero02:00AM Tu Mera Hero

02:30AM Tu Mera Hero03:00AM Tu Mera Hero03:30AM Suhani Si Ek Ladki04:00AM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya04:30AM Everest05:00AM Diya Aur Baati Hum05:30AM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins06:00AM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir06:30AM Ye Hai Mohabbatein07:00AM Tu Mera Hero07:30AM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas08:00AM Suhani Si Ek Ladki08:30AM Everest09:00AM Diya Aur Baati Hum09:30AM Ye Hai Mohabbatein10:00AM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya10:30AM Tu Mera Hero11:00AM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas11:30AM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir12:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum12:30PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai01:00PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein01:30PM Tu Mera Hero02:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum02:30PM MasterChef India03:00PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai03:30PM Suhani Si Ek Ladki04:00PM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya04:30PM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins05:00PM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas05:30PM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir06:00PM MasterChef India06:30PM Suhani Si Ek Ladki07:00PM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya07:30PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein08:00PM Tu Mera Hero08:30PM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins09:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum09:30PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai10:00PM Everest10:30PM MasterChef India11:00PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein11:30PM Tu Mera Hero _____________________________

12:00AM Teleshopping02:00AM Jodha Akbar02:30AM KumkumBhagya

03:00AM Jamai Raja03:30AM Doli Armaano Ki04:00AM Baba Ramdev Ka Yog05:00AM Narayan Seva05:30AM Teleshopping06:00AM Sant Nirankari Mandal06:30AM The Faith show07:00AM Satrangi Sasural07:30AM Creflo Dollar and Taffi

Dollar08:00AM Teleshopping09:00AM Kumkum Bhagya09:30AM Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai10:00AM Qubool Hai10:30AM Hello Pratibha11:00AM Doli Armaano Ki11:30AM Satrangi Sasural

12:00PM Jamai Raja12:30PM Kumkum Bhagya01:00PM Jodha Akbar01:30PM Doli Armaano Ki02:00PM Satrangi Sasural02:30PM Jamai Raja03:00PM Kumkum Bhagya03:30PM Hello Pratibha04:00PM SaReGaMaPa L’il Champs04:30PM Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai05:00PM Jodha Akbar05:30PM Qubool Hai06:00PM Kumkum Bhagya06:30PM Service Wali Bahu07:00PM Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai07:30PM Hello Pratibha08:00PM Jodha Akbar08:30PM Jamai Raja09:00PM Kumkum Bhagya09:30PM Qubool Hai10:00PM Satrangi Sasural10:30PM Doli Armaano Ki11:00PM Service Wali Bahu11:30PM Jamai Raja _________________________

12:00AM ComedyNights with Kapil0 1 : 0 0 A MTeleshopping

02:00AM Shastri Sisters03:30AM Sasural Simar Ka05:00AM Iskcon Aarti05:30AM Sasural Simar Ka06:00AM Teleshopping07:00AM Narayan Sewa Sansthan

Trust07:30AM Home Shop 1808:00AM Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar

Ke Pakke Rishte08:30AM Shastri Sisters09:00AM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi09:30AM Udaan10:00AM Chakravartin Ashoka

Samrat11:00AM Sasural Simar Ka11:30AM Udaan12:00PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi12:30PM Code Red01:30PM Shastri Sisters02:00PM Udaan02:30PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi03:00PM Chakravartin Ashoka

Samrat04:00PM Sasural Simar Ka04:30PM Comedy Nights with Kapil06:00PM Udaan06:30PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi07:00PM Shastri Sisters07:30PM Sasural Simar Ka08:00PM Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar

Ke Pakke Rishte08:30PM Udann09:00PM Chakravartin Ashoka

Samrat10:00PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi10:30PM Code Red11:30PM Udaan __________________________

12:00AM SoundShuffle0 1 : 0 0 A M

Teleshopping

06:30AM Morning Music Mocha07:00AM Morning Music Mocha08:00AM Jump Starter09:00AM Morning Music Mania10:30AM Tweet Your Beat11:00AM Bindass Juke Box12:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui01:00PM Halla Bol (2)02:00PM Love By Chance03:00PM Teleshopping03:45PM Bounce04:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui05:00PM Fb Jukebox06:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui07:00PM Halla Bol (2)08:00PM Love By Chance09:00PM Halla Bol (2)10:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui11:00PM Love By Chance _____________________________

12:00AM V SuperstarPreview12:30AM Sadda HaqMy Life My Choice

01:00AM Gumrah02:00AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice03:00AM Gumrah04:00AM V Distractions04:30AM Million Dollar Girl05:00AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice06:00AM Gumrah07:00AM V Superstar Preview07:30AM Million Dollar Girl08:00AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice09:00AM V Distractions09:30AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice12:30PM Million Dollar Girl01:00PM Gumrah02:00PM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice03:00PM Million Dollar Girl03:30PM V Superstar Preview04:00PM Specials05:00PM Gumrah05:30PM V Distractions06:00PM Million Dollar Girl06:30PM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice07:30PM V Distractions08:00PM Gumrah09:00PM Million Dollar Girl09:30PM V Superstar Preview10:00PM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice11:00PM V Distractions11:30PM Million Dollar Girl _____________________________

12:00AM ComedyClasses12:30AM ComedyClasses

01:00AM Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath : Ghosts

02:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : UP Fight BackNow

03:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki

04:00AM Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath : Ghosts

05:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : Mumbai FightsBack

06:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : UP Fight BackNow

07:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : 11 Crime Alert

07:30AM Mere Rang Mein RangneWali

08:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki

08:30AM Comedy Classes09:00AM Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali09:30AM Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye10:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki10:30AM Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali11:00AM Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye11:30AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki12:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back : Mumbai FightsBack

01:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back

02:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : Mumbai FightsBack

03:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back

04:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back

05:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back

06:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : 11 Crime Alert

06:30PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back

07:30PM Mere Rang Mein RangneWali

08:00PM Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani !

08:30PM Laut Aao Trisha09:30PM Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye10:00PM Comedy Classes10:30PM Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back11:30PM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! ___________________________

02:00AM C.I.D05:00AM Bhakti0 6 : 0 0 A MTeleshopping06:30AM Bhakti

07:00AM Teleshopping08:30AM C.I.D08:00PM Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar08:30PM Muh Boli Shaadi09:00PM Tum Aise Hi Rehna09:30PM Hum Hain Na10:00PM Bharat Ka Veer Putra:

Maharana Pratap10:30PM Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar11:00PM Bhanwar

TV Channels Schedule

Not content with unveiling the quirky L.Y.N.X. 9 atCES 2015, Mad Catz announced the S.U.R.F.R, acontroller that

manages to cram a fullQWERTY keyboard, andmouse pointer inputalong with a smart-phone clip for Androiddevice.

Furthermore itincludes palm grips forcomfort, trig-ger but-t o n s ,a n dw i l lb eavailable inthree colours when itretails in May for $79.99 (roughlyRs. 5,000). There are integrated mediacontrols as well which makes the Mad CatzS.U.R.F.R extend its use beyond gaming, allowing you tosurf, text or navigate media.

"Today's living room is rapidly evolving beyond propri-etary cable boxes and gaming consoles. While consumerscontinue to gravitate towards connected devices as theirpreferred platform for streaming digital media content,gaming, surfing the web and social media, current con-trollers just don't deliver on the experience they desire.The S.U.R.F.R has been designed to get the most out ofthese different devices we are now accustomed to in ourdaily lives," said Darren Richardson, President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Mad Catz.

In addition to this, the company also announced theL.Y.N.X. 3 (pictured above). It's a smaller version of theMad Catz L.Y.N.X. 9 shown off at CES 2015 sporting thesame fold-out design. It retains the console controller lay-out and phone holder but forgoes the keyboard and tabletholder of its bigger brother. The L.Y.N.X. 3 will retail for$69.99 (roughly Rs. 4,300) and be available inMay.

MWC 2015: Mad Catz UnveilsS.U.R.F.R and L.Y.N.X. 3 Controllers

Qualcomm President Derek Aberlehosted a press conference on thefirst morning of the 2015 Mobile

World Congress in Barcelona, where heannounced a number of new initiatives thecompany was working on and also out-lined the company's new priorities goingforward. Aberle emphasised that the com-pany looks for "upstream opportunities"that allow it to invest in technology andproducts that will become important in thefuture.

Devices powered by the top-end

Snapdragon 810 SoC have only just begunrolling out, but the company offered abrief teaser of its successor. TheSnapdragon 820 is projected to be ready tosample to manufacturers in the second halfof 2015, indicating product releasestowards the end of the year or early 2016.The Snapdragon 820 will use a custom 64-bit CPU, the Qualcomm Kryo, and will bemanufactured using the latest FinFETnode. Aberle declined to specify any addi-tional details about the manufacturingprocess and partner at this time.

The Snapdragon 820 will be the firstSoC designed with optimisations for thecompany's Zeroth platform, a cognitivemachine-learning neural network that canrun on devices without cloud access, andwill allow devices to become far more per-sonal and intelligent about the situationsthey are being used in.

Qualcomm also announced that theSnapdragon brand, which until now hasencompassed SoCs based on its MSM-series processors with integrated modems,will now also cover discrete modems. The

company is rolling out a new brand hierar-chy, with integrated modems named X5,X7, X8 and X10 based on capabilities,with a discrete X12 part on the top end.Speeds range from 150Mbps down and50Mbps up with the X5 to 450Mbps downand 100Mbps up with the X12.

New modem capabilities going forwardwill include VoLTE and Wi-Fi voice/videocall handover continuity, LTE aggregationacross regulated and unregulated bands,global carrier band support, and LTE-Wi-Fi aggregation.

Qualcomm Teases Snapdragon 820 SoC, AnnouncesSnapdragon LTE Modems at MWC 2015

SPORTSSPORTS 7SAADDA HAQNEW DELHI | TUESDAY | MARCH 03, 2015

CHENNAI, MARCH 02After a gap of over ten years, sea-

soned cricket administratorJagmohan Dalmiya was on Mondayunanimously elected as BCCI presi-dent at the Annual General Meetingin Chennai.

While Himachal Pradesh CricketAssociation chief Anurag Thakur waselected as BCCI secretary, C.K.Khanna became the vice president.

T.C. Matthews has been elected asthe BCCI vice-president, whileJharkhand State Cricket Associationchief Amitabha Chodhary andHaryana’s Anirudh Choudhary wereelected as Joint Secretary andTreasurer respectively.

Earlier, Dalmiya had temporarilyrun the affairs at the BCCI in 2013when Srinivasan stepped aside fol-lowing the IPL spot-fixing and bet-ting scandal.

The former International CricketCouncil (ICC) president, whose pre-vious tenure as full-time Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI)chief ended in 2004, emerged as aconsensus candidate of the two rivalfactions -- as the deadline for filingnomination ended on Sunday after-noon.

While one faction is led by the side-lined board president N. Srinivasan,the other camp is led by Maharashtrastrongman Sharad Pawar.

Both the factions claimed thatDalmiya was their candidate, but the

wily 74-year-old businessman haskept his cards close to his chest.

"Three sets of nominations werefiled on Dalmiya's behalf. Each of thesix BCCI affiliates from the eastZone were either proposer or secon-der," a BCCI source said.

As per BCCI rules, it is the turn of

the east zone associations this year tonominate candidates for theelections.

Srinivasan was barred by theSupreme Court from contesting theelection following the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) spot fixing scam. He isnot even allowed to participate in the

AGM, but can only vote whenrequired as a nominee of the TamilNadu Cricket Association (TNCA) ifthere is an election.

Former ICC chief Pawar, who wasBCCI president from 2005-2008, wasalso eyeing the post, but had to back-track after failing to find a proposer

and seconder from the east zone.Earlier in the day, a Pawar loyalist

claimed that the former union minis-ter had "backed Dalmiya". However,knowledgeable sources maintainedtill late Saturday night that the Pawarlobby had tried to persuade Dalmiyato settle for the post of BCCI patron-in-chief, and accept the ace politicianas president.

But sensing that the dice was heav-ily loaded in his favour, Dalmiyastonewalled the efforts.

There would be contest for all theother slots - secretary, joint secretaryand treasurer. But which way the twoKolkata-headquartered BCCI affili-ates -- Dalmiya's Cricket Associationof Bengal (CAB) and the NationalCricket club of India -- would go stillremains wrapped in mystery.

The Srinivasan camp has nominat-ed Sanjay Patel, Anirudh Chaudhryand Amitabh Chaudhary for theposts of secretary, treasurer and jointsecretary, respectively.

The Pawar lobby's candidate forsecretary is Anurag Thakur, whilethe group is backing Rajiv Shukla astreasurer and Chetan Desai as jointsecretary.

Dalmiya became BCCI treasurerin 1983 - the year India won theWorld Cup - and later served as itssecretary, before becoming ICCchief for three years since 1997.

He took over as BCCI president in2001 and continued to be the all-in-

all in the board till his tenure endedin 2004.

Dalmiya then controlled the boardby proxy for a year, with then presi-dent Ranbir Singh Mahendra being amere puppet.

But in 2005, Pawar registered anemphatic victory to become BCCIchief while his team won all theother key posts, as the Dalmiyacamp suffered an embarrassingdefeat.

Months later, the BCCI lodged apolice complaint against Dalmiyafor alleged misappropriation offunds related to the 1996 World Cupin which India was a co-host.

As Damiya faced a police probe,the BCCI expelled him in December2006 which also forced him to stepdown as CAB president.

In mid-2007, Dalmiya was exoner-ated by the court, and he returned tohead the CAB in 2008, by defeatingthen president Prasun Mukherjee.However, in the next few yearsDalmiya seemed only a shadow ofhis former self, shorn of his influ-ence in the board.

In June, 2013, Dalmiya wasappointed BCCI's interim presidentafter Srinivasan stepped aside till theprobe on Srinivasan's son-in-lawGurunath Meiyappan's allegedinvolvement in the IPL spot-fixingscandal was completed. Srinivasanreturned to the saddle in October2013.

BCCI elections: Jagmohan Dalmiya returns as president,Anurag Thakur pips Sanjay Patel by 1 vote

SYDNEY, MARCH 02Australians might have

been stunned by the col-lapse of their much-vaunt-ed batting line-up in theface of brilliant NewZealand bowling at theweekend but the fall of oneparticular wicket was nosurprise to anyone.

Shane Watson, batting atnumber three, hadscrapped his way to 23runs off 30 balls in three-quarters of an hour whenhe took an almighty heaveat a Daniel Vettori deliveryand picked out TimSouthee fielding on thelegside boundary.

The big Queenslanderwas certainly not to blamefor the skittling that fol-lowed but exasperation athis ability to throw away asolid start to an inningswas soon surging throughthe Twittersphere on awave of bile.

Watson used to take flakfor his inability to converthalf centuries to centuriesbut recently his problemhas been progressing from

scores in the 20s and 30s,when a batsman is consid-ered to have played him-self "in".

The 33-year-old all-rounder divides his compa-triots like no other playerand calls for him to bedropped from a sideexpected, by Australians atleast, to win a fifth WorldCup next month have

reached fever pitch.Australia`s selectors,

however, have remainedsteadfastly loyal to Watson-- when he has not beensuffering from one of themany soft tissue injuriesthat have blighted hiscareer.

In the dark days after the2010-11 Ashes humbling,that loyalty may have been

down to a lack of choice,but Mitch Marsh andJames Faulkner are nowgenuine threats toWatson`s position asAustralia`s premier all-rounder, in the 50-over for-mat at least.

It is no blind loyalty,however, and his careerfigures since his one-dayinternational debut in 2002

stand up to the toughest ofscrutiny.

With the bat, despite hispredilection for being dis-missed lbw, he has aver-aged 50 in three World Cupcampaigns and his overallone-day average hoversaround the 40 mark.

It was Watson`s recordfor the fastest 150 in one-day internationals that ABde Villiers bettered with his162 from 66 balls againstWest Indies on Friday.

Watson`s right-armmedium pace has taken164 wickets in 182 match-es at 31.29 and he hasshown over the years anability to winkle out a bats-men in the middle overs tobreak-up promising part-nerships.

"I think they should keephim," Brian Lara said onSunday when asked aboutWatson`s position in theside.

"His past performancessuggest that at some pointin time he is going to comegood."

The barrel-chested

righthander won the AllanBorder medallist asAustralia`s best cricketerin 2010 and 2011 -- onlyWatson, Ricky Ponting andMichael Clarke have wonthe award more than once.

That Watson scored 41,16 and 82 in his threeinnings before his goldenduck against England inthe tournament openercould suggest the antipathytowards him in some quar-ters might not be just abouthis skills as a cricketer.

Watson banked a coolA$4.5 million ($3.51 mil-lion) last year asAustralia`s best paid crick-eter, according to businessmagazine BRW, and willperhaps be forever taintedby his role "homework-gate" scandal on the Indiatour of 2013.

"He is a handsome play-er of abundant talent,"Gideon Haigh, the currentdoyen of Australian cricketwriters, wrote of him at thetime. "He is also wealthy,pampered, immature andself-involved."

Cricket World Cup 2015: Shane Watson criticscrank up heat after latest false start

MADRID, MARCH 02Real Madrid drew 1-1

against Villarreal and FCBarcelona defeated 3-1Granada in Spain's La Ligamatch day.

With these results,Barcelona managed toplace themselves just twopoints below leader RealMadrid.

Real Madrid andVillarreal drew 1-1 in thegame played at Madrid'sSantiago Bernabeu stadi-um on Sunday. Cristiano

Ronaldo scored RealMadrid's goal, and GerardMoreno scored Villareal'sgoal, Xinhua reported.

It was not an easy gamefor Madrid as the teamcould not break Villarreal'sstrong defence led byMoreno, Pepe and Varane.

Real Madrid's only goalwas a penalty after Baillycommitted a foul againstRonaldo in the 52ndminute. Villarrealequalised in the 65thminute with a fantastic

kick from Moreno.On Saturday, Barcelona

defeated Granada 3-1 in amatch played in LosCarmenes New Stadium inGranada. Barcelona's goalswere scored by IvanRakitic, Lionel Messi andLuis Suarez.

After Sunday matches,Real Madrid leads with 61points, followed byBarcelona with 59,Atletico de Madrid 54,Valencia with 53 andSevilla with 46.

Real Madrid draws 1-1against Villarreal in La Liga

BUENOS AIRES, MARCH 02Spanish top seed Rafael

Nadal defeated local play-er Juan Monaco to win theArgentina Open, lifting hisfirst title in 2015.

Nadal defeated Monacoin a match that lasted onehour and 27 minutes onSunday with a score of 6-4, 6-1. While the Spaniardbroke the Argentine onfour out of nine occasionsthe former did not face abreak point on his ownserve, Xinhua reported.

The match, played at theBuenos Aires Lawn TennisClub, was delayed for twoh o u r sbecause ofthe rain.

T h eSpanish tennisstar now has collected 65titles to rise to the fifthposition inthe OpenEra fort h em o s tt i t l e s .He nows t a n d sb e h i n dJimmy Connors (109),

Ivan Lendl (94), RogerFederer (84) and John

McEnroe (77).

Rafael Nadal wins first title of2015 at Argentina Open

LONDON, MARCH 02English Premier League

leaders Chelsea beat northLondon rivals TottenhamHotspurs 2-0 to lift theLeague Cup at Wembleyhere on Sunday.

It was Jose Mourinho'sfirst trophy in his secondspell as Chelsea manager.

"I am really happy,"Mourinho said after thematch. "Everybody wasfantastic in the run to win-ning this trophy," Xinhuaquoted him as saying.

Chelsea have now wonfive League Cups, match-ing Aston Villa for second-most behind Liverpool'seight.

Christian Eriksen gaveChelsea an early scare byhitting a free-kick againstthe bar after Harry Kanehad been fouled by CescFabregas.

But it was Blues captainJohn Terry who opened thescoring in the 45th minutewhen Willian's free-kickdropped loose inside the

box and he blasted homevia a deflection.

Mourinho's side doubledthe lead in the 56th minutethanks to an own goal.Diego Costa's shot wasturned in by the leg ofKyle Walker.

Spurs tried hard insearch of a goal butChelsea took demand andgave them nochance.

Chelsea gained revengefor the 2008 final defeat tothe Spurs.

Chelsea beat Spurs to winEnglish League Cup

KOLKATA, MARCH 02Tamil Nadu entered the

final of the Ranji Trophycricket tournament gettingthe better of Maharshtravia a first innings lead inthe semifinals at the EdenGardens here on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu piled on agigantic score of 549 inthe first innings. Lastyear's runners-upMaharashtra were bowledout for 454 in their reply,conceding a 95-run lead.The first innings lead pro-pelled Tamil Nadu to their12th Ranji final wherethey will be facingKarnataka in Mumbaifrom March 8.

On Sunday,Maharashtra lost their lastfive wickets for 60 runsending with 454, withnone of the tail-endersmaking a notable contri-bution. Thus concedingthe decisive first inningslead to Tamil Nadu.

It was medium pacerVijay Shankar -- adjudgedMan-of-the-Match -- whojolted the Maharashtrabatting line-up. He dis-missed both overnight

batsmen in three balls inhis first over of the day.

First to go was skipperRohit Motwani (11) whotried to pull a short deliv-ery from Shankar and wascaught behind the wicket.

Settled Ankit Bawne(57) soon followed hisskipper’s footsteps as hechased a wide deliveryonly managing to edge itto the slips.

Tamil Nadu’s most reli-able seamer Aswin Cristcame back to clean up thetail. He got rid of AnupamSanklecha (17) andDomnic Joseph (0) andthen effected the SamadFallah (0) runout.

Tamil Nadu came out tobat in their second inningsand were 119/0 atstumps.

Brief scores: TamilNadu 549 all out & 119for no loss (AbhinavMukund 66) vsMaharashtra 454 all out(Swapnil Gugale 154;Aswin Crist 4/89, VijayShankar 2/47). TamilNadu win via first inningslead.

Ranji: Tamil Nadu set uptitle clash against Karnataka

Ab h i s h e kBachchan andhis sister Shweta

Nanda hosts party fornewly married KunalKapoor and NainaBachchan and the partywas attended by who’swho of Bollywood.Bollywood actor KunalKapoor and Big B’sniece Naina married onFebruary 9 in Seychellesand the party is thrownto mark the wedding cel-ebration of Naina withKunal.

It was Shweta whointroduced Naina toKunal at a party longback. The duo met andfell for one another.Actor AbhishekBachchan and his sisterShweta Nanda playedthe perfect host. Thenewly-weds Nainadressed in off-shoulderdress while Kunal alsodressed casually.Hostess Shweta Nandalooked stylish in a yel-low bodycon dress.

The event was attend-

e db y

Aamir Khan, KiranRao, Hrithik Roshan,Gauri Khan, RiteishDeshmukh, Geneliaamong others.

Genelia D’souzalooked cute in redsalwar-suit whileGauri dressed indenims and tank top.Producer GoldieBahl arrived withwife Sonali Bendre.Imran Khan’s wifeAvantika was alsospotted, Reema Jain,

who is Shweta's mother-in-law Ritu Nanda's sis-ter also invited. ActorsSanjay Kapoor andChunky Pandey werealso invited.

Filmmaker FarahKhan, Hrithik Roshan

and Vikram Phadnis alsoarrived at the bash. Theparty was thrown atJalsa.

Naina, an investmentbanker, is the daughterof Ajitabh andRamola

Someone once said 'To generalize onwomen is dangerous. To specializeon them is infinitely worse'.

Well, what women want still remainsthe unanswered question across theglobe. However, men needn't lose hopefor all is not lost. There are still a goodnumber of things that most women like.Here are a few from the long list whichcan perhaps help you make her fall headover heels in love with you. Take yourpick to woo and sweep her off herfeet!

1. Superman: Women love to be protected. So show

in more ways than one to prove that youwill be her saviour should your damselland in distress! Women are always inawe of men who can step up in times ofconflicts. Be sure you grab every oppor-tunity that situation throws at you.

2. Smell good: Deodorant Ads may be going overboard

showing men being lured by women'sperfume. But the other way is also true.Choose a deo that suits you. Especially ifit's your first date, it's best not to try any-thing experimental. Know what smellsbest on you. Remember, what smelt heav-enly on your friend might stink on your

skin! For everything depends on yourbody odour. When you spray perfume onyour body, what you smell is a combina-tion of the deo spray and your bodyodour. Choose wise.

3. Surprises galore: Women love surprises be it chocolates,

love notes, gifts or even a bouquet offlowers. Women don't mind them in anynumbers. You are sure to score brownie

points with this one!

4. Transparency: Honesty is still the best policy. Never

lie to her if you are thinking of a long-term relationship. Never mind you willface some initial flak, but eventually youwill win over her trust.

5. Perfect body: What with the celebrities being

obsessed with getting a six pack or eightpack abs, girls too go ga ga over men witha well-toned body. Get into the habit ofregular workout so you can make headsturn!

6. Dress well: Nothing turns off a women than a poor-

ly-dressed man. Do a style-check, spotthe trends in fashion, speak to a stylist tofind out what looks best on you. Clothesmaketh man literally!

7. Crowning glory: Nothing like a funky haircut! A good

hairstyle can give you a different lookaltogether. What are you waiting for? Getthat stunner look so you can impress thatchick you have been eyeing.

8 Magic of your hands: You might have taken your girlfriend to

the hottest restaurants in town, yet shewill not mind if you can cook one of herfavourite dishes (or even plain instantnoodles) when she's hungry. Suchmoments are never forgotten.

There's a joke doing the rounds that 'Awoman's mind is cleaner than a man'sThat's because she changes it more often'.However, there are some things thatremain constant.

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8 Things women desperately want from men

Bollywood heart-throb RanbirKapoor is not in a

hurry to tie the knot. Hesays marriage will happenwhen it has to be and he isnot in a hurry to get mar-ried to his girlfriendKatrina Kaif.

“I am very happy in mylife right now. I’ve notdecided when I will getmarried. I think marriage issomething which shouldhappen organically,”Ranbir, who is said to be

dating Katrina Kaif, saidhere when asked about hismarriage plans.

He says age has nothingto do with matrimony.

“I’m not the kind of per-son who will say that ‘I am32 now, let’s get married’or ‘The time is runningout’. The day I would wantchildren, the day I feel meand my partner feel that‘it’s an organic thing nowso get married’, is when Iwill get married,” he

added.

Last year in December,Ranbir and his partnerKatrina Kaif moved intogether and the duo isshooting for Anurag Basu’s‘Jagga Jasoos’.

Ranbir Kapoor said thatthe release of ‘BombayVelvet’ will be a dreamcome true for him. "Therelease of the film will belike a dream come true forme this year," hesaid.

Not decided when I will getmarried, Ranbir Kapoor

Arocking Bollywooddebut is not all thatAlia Bhatt got with

‘Student of the Year’. Herrelationship with SidharthMalhotra and VarunDhawan has kept Alia inheadlines. She isn’t exactlyshy talking about theseissues, as evident fromwhat she said on ‘KoffeeWith Karan’.

The latest that Alia hassaid on her relationship isregarding SidharthMalhotra. With Alia givinga smart reply on the spot,no one has the right toquestion Miss Bhatt’s IQ!She was recently seenattending the launch ofCoke Studio. The two didtalk about love, but Alas!They spoke about lovetheir love for music ratherthan for each other. Peoplewere expecting that theywould share somethingabout their relationship sta-tus, but both Alia andVarun decided not to giveany masala news to themedia.

Now here we are. Fewdays after this function,Alia attended yet anotherevent- 7th Royal StagMirchi Music Awards. Butthis time, she was aloneand Sid wasn’t seen any-

where. A journalist gath-ered strength to ask Aliawhat was cooking withSidharth Malhotra. Andthere came Alia’s reply,

“What are you doingtomorrow night and withwhom at home? Will youtell me? See this is not theplace to talk about this, and

either way because I loveyou guys so much, I willtell you that me hangingout with my friends is not abig deal. We joke, we have

fun. He took the camerabecause they had alreadytaken so many pics and hesaid, ‘Give it to me. Youwant more pics, I will clickit for you.’ So that way.”

The reason why Aliaquotes ‘Give it to me. Youwant more pics, I will clickit for you’ is becauseSidharth recently showedhis fondness for clickingAlia’s pictures.

When Alia was lookingstunning a recently heldpromotional event,Sidharth couldn’t containhis excitement. He simplytook the camera from thephotographer and one canvery well guess whose pic-tures her started clicking!

The video available onYoutube shows Alia boldlyhandling the questions ofthe journalist. When she isasked a question aboutSidharth, the actress doesnot shy away.

With her clear “Kyabataun?”, she makes it apoint to answer the ques-tion- and that too in a waythat would definitely makereporters think once againwhen they are to ask thesetype of questions the nexttime.

Alia Bhatt opens up aboutboyfriend Sidharth in public

Bachchans host party for Kunal-Naina, Bollywood attends

Tamil superstarAjith’s wife Shalinidelivers a baby boy

It’s a baby boy for Ajith and his wife Shalini.Shalni delivers a baby boy at a private hospitalin Chennai at 4.30 am on Monday. The couple

already had a seven-year-old girl, Anoushka

And now the second child completed their fami-ly. Ajith whose last film ‘Yennai Arindhaal’, strikegold at the ox-office is highly thrilled to becomefather again.

"Shalini delivered a boy early this morning. Boththe mother and child are doing absolutely fine," asource close to Ajith said on Monday.

Ajith was by his side of his wife throughout thedelivery process. “Ajith was greeted by doctors,family members and hospital staff. He gave sweetsto all of them. Doubly happy was Ajith’s daughterAnoushka,” sources said.

Ajith and Shalini fell in love on the set of Saran’sAmarkalam and later got married with the mutualconsent of their families.

Ajith has now taken a short break film shoot tospend time with his newborn. His next project wassupposed to roll in February but delayed. Themovie will now hit the floors on 14 April for TamilNew Year.

Sonam Kapoor, who isbeing treated atKokilaben hospital in

Mumbai is recovering. She isresponding to the treatment ofthe dreaded disease and is onthe way of recovery. She hasbeen shifted from Rajkot hos-pital to Mumbai after she wastested positive for swine flu.

sShe was flown to Mumbai in

an air-ambulance and is under-going treatment.

"We are releasing this state-ment to set the record straight.Sonam has been detected withswine flu but it's under con-trol," Sonam's publicists saidin a statement.

"Sonam has been detectedwith swine fly but it is undercontrol. She has been shiftedto a hospital in Mumbai andshe is showing signs of speedyrecovery. Hopefully, sheshould be back at work soon.We thank all her fans andindustry alike for their loveand support," a statement fromher spokesperson said.

Sonam afflicted with the dis-ease when she was shooting inRajkot, Gujarat for SoorajBarjatya’s ‘Prem Ratan DhanPayo’. During shooting, shecomplained of fever.

Not only Sonam Kapoor butVidhu Vinod Chopra, his wifeAnupama Chopra and sonAgni too were also attacked by

swine flu.

Anupama tweeted confirm-ing the news, saying: Folks, Ihave been felled by swine flu.So no reviews this week. Dosend me yours. Tell me what Imissed! The son and the fatherhave been admitted to JaslokHospital while Anupama issaid to be recovering athome.

Sonam Kapoor responding toswine flu treatment, recovering