E-Paper 27 October 2013

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Your World Connected

RNI Reg. No.: PUNMUL/2012/45041

Postal Reg. No. PB/JL-047/2013-15

Vol. 2 Issue 42

www.facebook.com/uconnectt

10.00 24 Pages

Sunday 27 October, 2013

Weekly NewspaperWWW.U-CONNECTT.COM

BJP far removed from concerns

of poor: Rahul Gandhi

U Connectt India Rs 10

Lifestyle 4 Health 10 Celebrity 14 Leisure 17 International 18 Business 20 Sports 22IIIIII

Two arrested for gang-rape ofminor

Page 8

Not above law, ready to bequestioned by CBI: PM

Panjab University's big contributionto science

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said he "was not above the law" and was willing to be

questioned by the CBI in the coal block allocations as he had "nothing to hide". In an affable mood

after ending a two-nation tour to Russia and China, he also exuded confidence that Congress would

"surprise" everyone and win the 2014 general elections and felt the BJP, despite its aggressive elec-

tion campaign, would "peak early" and his "slow and steady" party would win the race. Manmohan

Singh also hit out at Pakistan for the repeated ceasefire violations, saying he was "disap-

pointed" as they were taking place despite an agreement to maintain peace at the border

Panjab University, known for its alumni like Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and Nobel Laureate Hargobind Khorana, con-

tributed to science in India and internationally a facet that

Page 3

Page 2

Page 11

Music can help reduce chronicpain: study

Page 10

Page 14

29 Sept Sunday Set Lucky_Layout 1 10/25/2013 9:40 PM Page 1

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Chandigarh


Panjab University's big contribution toscience

Chandigarh BJP State President is busy working the wheels of

organization in the run up to Lok Sabha Polls 2014. In a

conversation with U Connectt he delved into the issues that will

dominate the political strategy of BJP in the City Beautiful.

Jannat Jahan the BSP candidate for

Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency

minces no words when it comes to

voicing her displeasure at the state of

affairs in City Beautiful. Talking to U

Connectt she expressed a desire for

change and outlined her priorities for

the city.

BJP opposed to fee hike, students felicitate - Jain

Q) How do you view incumbent

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal's per-

formance?

A) The current MP is more keen

to stay in Delhi and thus has ig-

nored his constituency. Despite a

continuous term of more than 10

years he has failed to fulfil most

of the manifesto promises.

Chandigarh could have ideallybeen a wor ld cla ss cit y but it is

currently languishing due to mis-

placed pr iori ties .

Q)What are the specific prob-

lem areas for the voters of

Chandigarh?

A) The lives of common people

have become difficult due to rise

in prices of essential commodities

and corruption has come to plague

all sectors of development. She

added, if the local MP had the de-

sire to get people's problems

solved, he would have done it

over such a long time period. In

past w e witne ssed people gradu at-

ing to cars from scooters but now

inflation has forced people back

to the days of two wheelers.

Q) Youth will be a big swing fac-

tor in current elections?

A) Youth of India deserves a bet-

ter education system and is yearn-

ing to earn more money. They

deserve a supportive system that

can best help realize their hidden

pote ntia l. We have to work for

them. The youth are no longer

swayed by emotional tokensim

and hence they will choose

wisely, I am sure of that!

Q) What will you do after win-

ning?

A) Slums are a huge issue in theurban areas and hence slum

dwellers need special policies and

development initiatives to pull

them out of the rut of poverty.

Proper utilization for funds for the

right cause will take place if I am

elected to the Parliament from

Chandigarh constituency. Finally

but not las t I sha ll mak e special

efforts towards delivering em-

ployment to t he c ity youth .

Q) Any remarks on the working

of Municipal Corporation,

Chandigarh?

A) Current Mayor of Chandigarh

is unable to attend to the city's

probl ems. The MC is u nable to do

anything about poor health and

sanitation as witnessed by ram-

pant Deng ue and Mal ari a. Water

supply is in shambles and mainte-

nance of roads and parks is noth-

ing much to write home about.

Same goes for street lighting, thus

about the MC lesser said the bet-

ter.

Chandigarh

Panjab University, known for its

alumni like Prime Minister Manmo-

han Singh and Nobel Laureate Har-

gobind Khorana, contributed to

science in India and internationally -- a facet that is not well known. Now

that is about to change. Panjab Uni-

versity was in the news recently after

it emerged as the top ranked Indian

university in the Top-250 universi-

ties in the world."PU has made rich

contributions to Indian science and

to the world. This has not been

known much or acknowledged. We

are now trying to highlight that con-

tribution made by pioneers of sci-

ence who were associated with this

university," PU Vice Chancellor

Arun Grover told .In this context, PU

is organizing a seminar (Oct 24-26)

as part of the celebration of the foun-

dation day of the university and the

commemoration of the 150th birth

anniversary of eminent scholar Pro-fessor Ruchi Ram Sahni. This will

also commemorate the 150 years of

higher education in Punjab. "Prof.

Ruchi Ram Sahni was one of the

first-generation scholars of Punjab

who contributed immensely to sci-

ence, education and public life and

Q) What is your take on local

issues for the next Lok Sabha

polls?

A) Apart from national issues of cor-

ruption, inflation, economic reces-

sion and failing security situation.

Chandigarh is suffering from stalled

developmental activity, poor upkeep

of civic infrastructure and lesser say

of city residents in governance of the

city. Specifically in administration

jobs and recruitment Chandigarh res-

idents are frequently overlooked in

favour of outsiders.

Q) Can you specify the civic issues

facing Chandigarh?

A) In simple terms Chandigarh is a

revenue surplus city for the govern-ment however the revenue is not fun-

nelled back into the economy in

terms of amenities delivered. Elec-

tricity availability and transmission

infrastructure has deteriorated, pro-

posed elevated corridors for high

speed transport is nowhere in the

picture, there is little progress on the

Metro front and finally the jewel in

Chandigarh's crown, its roads have

gone to the weeds. Overall Chandi-

garh represents a picture of once glo-

rious city undone by neglect of

policy makers.

Q) Given the economic scenario,

what is your prognosis?

A) The situation as of today is not ir-

retrievable, despite global factors,

India can stage a turnaround with

deft application of sound policies

and correct distribution of govern-

ment spending. I am optimistic about

an upturn with BJP government in

place at the centre.

Q) Any comments of UPA govern-

ment?A) India faced the consequences of

the policy decisions taken by UPA-I

during UPA-II. Profligate public

spending, poor policy making and

corruption ruined the good work

done by previous Vajpayee adminis-

tration. UPA government will always

be remembered for misgovernance

and failures on all fronts.

Chandigarh

Sh. Satya Pal Jain, Ex-City MP and

National Chairman of the BJPs

Committee on Legal Affairs & Elec-

tion Commission Issues, assured the

students of Punjab University

Chandigarh that he and his party BJP

are opposed to the increase in Tuition,

Examination Fees etc. etc. of the stu-

dents and will continue opposing any

such attempt of the government in the

coming meetings of the University

Senate & Syndicate. He also assuredthe students that he will take up the

other issues of the students, like stu-

dents getting placement as per their

potential, representation of students

on the Punjab University Senate and

other bodies, payments of stipends to

research scholars in time etc. etc. in

the coming meetings of the Punjab

University bodies. Mr. Jain was

speaking at a function organized by

the students of Punjab University to

thank and felicitate Mr. Jain for suc-

cessfully opposing and stalling the

10% increase in the examination fees

etc. in the last meeting of the Punjab

University Syndicate. The students

under the banner of Namo, a non-

political student organization, sub-

mitted a memorandum and thanks

giving letter signed by about 500 stu-dents and urged Mr. Jain and his party

to continue opposing such anti-stu-

dent moves and assured him of their

full support to him in this matter. Mr.

Jain said that the BJP is of the firm

opinion and when it come to power it

will ensure that fee structure in the

schools, colleges and universities is

such which a student of even a poor

family can afford. He said that unfor-

tunately the successive Congress

governments, by increasing the fee

and other changes, is making the

higher education only a prerogative

of the rich, making it practically im-

possible for a common or student to

go for higher education. Mr. Davesh

Moudgil a BJP MC Councillor said

that today the youth is feeling dis-

gusted by the anti-poor policies of theCongress Governments and is deter-

mined to throw the congress out of

power and bring Mr. Narender Modi

as Prime Minister in the coming elec-

tion. Many student leaders including

Sumit Suman, Pratyush Verma,

Kunal, Priya Ranjan, Ankur, Priyank,

Vivek Chaudhary, Rishi Kumar,

Ritwik, Rohit, Hariram, Meena,

Saurav, Sharad, Shiv Parkash,

Suman, Sahil, Mithilesh, Rakesh

were also present on this occasion.

greatly influenced the making of

modern Punjab. He pioneered the in-

terest of the people in science

through his teaching, experiments

and research," said Grover who has

been closely associated with the

move to highlight PU's contribution

to science and higher education. "He

(Sahni) was the first Indian meteor-

ologist in colonial India. He was thefirst nuclear physicist of India and

also the first professor of the science

at Government College Lahore,

which was set up in 1864 to impart

higher education to young scholars.

"Sahni, along with his sons Dr. Mulk

Raj Sahni and Dr. Birbal Sahni, Dr.

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Dr. Shiv

Ram Kashyap and Dr. Sarvadaman

Chowla were invited by Nobel Lau-

reate C.V. Raman to be among the

Foundation Fellows of the Indian

Academy of Sciences set up in Ban-

galore in 1934," said Grover. The

vice chancellor said that PU's scien-

tists in the 19th and 20 centuries

made pioneering contribution to sci-ence, including nuclear physics, and

mathematics. Shanti Swaroop Bhat-

nagar, in whose name a leading sci-

ence award has been instituted and is

known as the father of research lab-

oratories', was part of the university

in the early 20th century. Knighted

by the British government in 1941,

he was the first director general of

the Council for Scientific and Indus-

trial Research (CSIR) and the first

chairman of the University Grants

Commission (UGC). Bhatnagar

made a significant contribution with

scientists Homi J. Bhabha and

Vikram Sarabhai to propel India's

science and technology story after

independence in August 1947. Sar-

vadam Chowla, a London-born In-

dian-American mathematician who

once taught and headed the depart-

ment of mathematics at Government

College-Lahore (now in Pakistan),

has several theorems in his name.

Originally called the University of

Punjab, the institution was estab-

lished at Lahore Oct 14, 1882, and it

was reinitiated in independent India

from Oct 1, 1947. The university

shifted to its present campus, spread

in a beautiful and sprawling 550-

acres, in Chandigarh in 1956.

COVER STORY


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Chandigarh

Sunday 27 October, 2013 3

Not above law, ready to be questionedby CBI: PM

On Board Air India One

Prime Minister Manmohan SinghThursday said he "was not above the

law" and was willing to be questioned

by the CBI in the coal block allocations

as he had "nothing to hide". In an affa-

ble mood after ending a two-nation

tour to Russia and China, he also ex-

uded confidence that Congress would

"surprise" everyone and win the 2014

general elections and felt the BJP, de-

spite its aggressive election campaign,

would "peak early" and his "slow and

steady" party would win the race.

Manmohan Singh also hit out at Pak-

istan for the repeated ceasefire viola-

tions, saying he was "disappointed" as

they were taking place despite an

agreement to maintain peace at the

border during his meeting with Pak-

istan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inNew York last month. The prime min-

ister, who held the coal portfolio during

the first United Progressive Alliance

(UPA) government in 2006, said he

was "not above the law of the land". "If

there is anything that the CBI (Central

Bureau of Investigation) or, for that

matter, anybody wants to ask, I have

nothing to hide...." The Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) has been targetingthe prime minister demanding that he

be called for questioning by the CBI,

probing the coal blocks allocations.

The issue came into sharp focus after

the CBI filed an FIR against industri-

alist Kumar Mangalam Birla, his com-

pany Hindalco and former coal

secretary P.C. Parakh over two coal

blocks in Odisha's Talabira allocated in

2005. Parakh pointed an accusing fin-

ger at the prime minister, saying if he

was involved in the conspiracy, Man-

mohan Singh was equally responsible.

The PMO promptly defended the allo-

cations saying they were done on

merit. To a question on whether the

scams and alleged wrongdoings, like

the coal allocation issue, would "cast a

shadow on his prime ministership",Manmohan Singh said: "That is for

history to judge." "I am doing my duty

and will continue to do my duty. What

impact my 10 years of prime minister-

ship will have is for historians to

judge," he told reporters. The prime

minister, answering questions on a

range of subjects while on way back

from his tour, said the allegations of

scams against the UPA government re-

late only to its first term and not to

UPA-II. In the 2009 general election,the Congress won "hands down", he

said, adding: "I am sure when the re-

sults of 2014 come out, the country

will once again be surprised." The

prime minister also said that though the

BJP may be perceived to be running

ahead of the Congress with an aggres-

sive election campaign but the "slow

and steady" would win the race. "I

don't share the view that the Congress

party is not active enough. I think the

Congress party is quite active. I think

the BJP may have started early, but I

think it will also peak early. And slow

and steady (wins the race) I think is the

thing which sometimes also works in

public life as well." Asked what he

thought about Rahul Gandhi saying he

could be killed too like his grand-mother Indira Gandhi and his father

Rajiv Gandhi - both prime ministers,

the prime minister said in a reference

to the BJP: "Well, I and all sane per-

sons should be worried about the poli-

tics of hate which is now sweeping the

country." "As regards the threat to the

life of Rahul Gandhi, the government

will take all possible precautions that

this threat does not materialise," he

said. Asked whether he thought the

Supreme Court with its many judg-

ments was becoming "over active" and

whether he thinks it to be a reason for

the government's policy paralysis, the

prime minister declined to comment.

On the spike in ceasefire violations on

the Line of Control, he said after his

meeting with Nawaz Sharif, "there was

agreement on both sides that peace andtranquillity must be maintained on the

Line of Control and the International

Border. And this has not happened, it

has come to me as a big disappoint-

ment." "I sincerely hope that at this late

hour Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will

recognise that this is a development

which is not good for either of the two

countries."

ITBP to get Rs.12.6 bn forhousing, power

New Delhi

The government Thursday an-

nounced sanctioning of Rs.12.6

billi on for constr uction activ ity at

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

(ITBP) posts at various places.

The construction activity will in-

clude building accommodations

for ITBP jawans, Minister of State

for Home R.P.N. Singh said at the

52nd ITBP Raising Day parade

here. Efforts will also be made to

meet energy requirements at 69

bord er outp osts of the ITBP

through eco-friendly measures, he

said. "The 69 border posts of ITBP

would soon have three to 10 KVA

solar power plants which will fa-

cilitate uninterrupted power sup-

ply," said Singh. On the occas ion

of the Raising Day Parade, Singh

conferred one Police Medal for

gallantry, six President's Police

Medals for distinguished service

and 15 Police Medals for meritori-

ous service on the ITBP officials.

On the occasion, the 16th battalion

was adjudged as best border bat-

talion of the force while the 26th

batt alio n was adju dged as best

non-border battalion.

New Delhi

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it

was not averse to criticism, but would

not accept motives being attributed to

its proceedings and decisions. "We

welcome the criticism of the court.

(But) we cannot accept motives being

attributed. It is something very serious

that cannot be accepted," the apex

court bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and

Justice H.L. Gokhale said. The obser-

vation came as the court gave formerarmy chief General (retd) V.K. Singh

time until Nov 15 to respond to its suo

motu notice for contempt of court, ini-

tiated after taking cognizance of an in-

terview the retired General gave to a

news channel, alleging that pressure

had been brought to bear on judges in

the matter of his controversial date of

birth. "We cannot allow the court to be

drawn into scandal like this," Justice

Lodha said. Attorney General Vahan-

vati said that Gen. V.K.Singh's com-

ments were "destructive", and Justice

Lodha observed, "It was striking at the

root (of the judiciary)." "You must ap-

preciate the problem," the apparently

displeased Justice Lodha said as Gen.

Singh's counsel requested adjourn-

ment of the matter as senior counsel

Ram Jethmalani, who was to appear

for him in the case, was arguing a mat-

ter before another bench of the apex

court. At this, Attorney General G.E.Vahanvati told the court that he too

had to appear in the case before an-

other bench of the court, but skipped

it to appear in the contempt matter.

"When did you receive the notice?",

the court asked counsel for Gen.

Singh, who was present in the court

and sought more time to file the re-

sponse. Counsel told the court that the

notice was received in the first week

of October, but paper-book of the case

has not yet been received. He was told

all that the paper-book included was

the court's notice and newspaper clip-

pings. Attorney General Vahanvati

placed before the court the transcripts

of Gen. Singh's interviews to the news

channel, both in English and Hindi.

Vahanvati told the court that he would

frame the charges based on the mate-

rial before the court as provided under

rules of the apex court. Gen. Singh

would respond to the charge sheet.

"I will frame the charges," Vahanvati

said. The court gave 10 days' time to

Vahanvati to place on record the com-

pact disc (CD) containing Gen.

Singh's interview, and to frame

charges based on the material. V.K.

Singh has been given 10 days' time to

file his response, which is expected by

Nov 15. Senior counsel Fali Nariman,

appearing for a national English daily,

said they have offered an unqualified

apology, but would like to address the

court on the broader principle of bal-ancing the freedom of expression and

the court's power of contempt. "I am

on balancing the freedom of express-

ing with the court's power of con-

tempt," Nariman told the court. The

apex court Oct 1, 2013, issued notice

to V.K.Singh asking why contempt of

court proceedings should not be initi-

ated against him for his remarks ques-

tioning the apex court's decision on his

date of birth issue, thereby tending to

lower its authority.

Don't attribute motives to judgment, SCtells V.K.Singh

Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister

Omar Abdullah said Wednesday that

wars have never solved any issue and

only bring destruction and misery. "No

one in Jammu and Kashmir or in the

country is in favour of war, as wars are

no solution to any issue", Omar Ab-

dullah said while addressing a public

rally in Tangdhar (Karnah), a town

bordering Pakistan in Kupwara district

of the state. The chief minister, how-ever, added that friendship requires

reciprocity: "Friendship is like the

clap, needing two hands," he said. "If

one side extends the hand of friend-

ship, the other side also needs to recip-

rocate", he said while expressing

grave concern over the repeated cease-

fire violations on the Line of Control

(LoC) and the International Border by

Pakistani troops. The chief minister

said the ceasefire agreement between

India and Pakistan, signed and imple-

mented in 2003, had brought great re-

wards for the people living close to the

LoC and the International Border in

Jammu and Kashmir but the repeated

firing from Pakistan was cause for

concern. "I would continue to stress on

the union government to take up this

matter with Pakistan and resolve the

issue so that peace rules on the borders

and at the LoC," he said, adding that it

would greatly benefit the people livingin the frontier areas of the state. Omar

Abdullah expressed the hope that the

situation would improve and the

neighbours would settle outstanding

issues by talking to each other, amica-

bly and peacefully. The chief minister

said repeated unprovoked firing from

Pakistan -- its troops violated ceasefire

at 50 places on Tuesday -- had forced

the state administration to shift resi-

dents of villages along the border to

safer places.

War no solution, only bringsmisery: Omar Abdullah

DEFENCE


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Chandigarh


Let your dinner set bloomNew Delhi

Adorn your dining table with a din-ner set inspired by nature and its

beauty. Arttd'inox, stainless steel

home segment product manufacturer

and retailer brand from JSL Lifestyle

Limited, is offering a royal and ex-

quisite range of dining ware called

Pink Bloom. It consists of products

like dinner plate, quarter plate, serv-

ice bowl in different sizes and

more.Design motifs like flowers,

leaves and buds have been used to ac-

centuate the look of the dinner set.

What adds to the beauty of the texture

are the floral artworks drafted and

then hand hammered on the surface.

Rose Quartz, a semi precious stone in

pink colour, has been used to high-

light the knobs on the bowl lids. This

lends an imperial look to the collec-

tion. The set is priced at Rs.41,000.

LIFESTYLE

Give religious twist to abode

Make festive season sweeter with chocolates

Gareth Pugh designs forForevermark

New Delhi

Add sweetness to the festive fer-vour by indulging in a lip-smacking

collection of chocolates wrapped in

colours like orange and gold. The

Patchi Chocolates' collection con-

sists of Capricio, milk chocolates

with cream of hazelnut and pistachio

and Sublime, dark chocolates with

dried strawberry, almond pieces and

more, said a statement. Available for

beauty and good luck, said a state-

ment. - Sitting Ganesha: The idols

of Lord Ganesh are available in var-ious colours like black, golden and

silver. Small white crystals have

also been used for an idol in a simi-

lar position.

- Sitting Buddha: It has been carved

out of solid wood with gold finish.

- Temple Bell: It is said that the

ringing of bells drives away nega-

tive energies. The metal bell canalso be used for decoration purpose.

- Gong: It has a central raised area

called the boss that makes the sound

as a clear resonant tone. It can be

placed at entrance too. The price

starts from Rs.10,500 plus tax.

Rs.2,500 onwards, these also make

for delightful gifts.Patchi is a pre-

mium chocolate brand with a pres-

ence in five continents, across 31

countries and 117 branches.

New Delhi

Place idols of various gods alongwith temple bells and gong in your

house to make the festive seasonmore auspicious. Luxury home fur-

nishing store Strot has launched a

Diwali gifting collection. Each

piece has been chosen keeping in

mind the auspiciousness of the fes-

tival of lights which defines luxury,

Mumbai

British fashion designer GarethPugh has forayed into jewellery de-

signing by collaborating with

Forevermark, the diamond brand

from the De Beers group. Gareth's

first fine jewellery piece is made with

over a hundred natural and untreated

precious Forevermark diamonds. Set

in stainless steel and Titanium, the

neckpiece has about 5,600 diamonds,

adding upto 91.98 carats. It was on

view in Mumbai earlier this week as

part of a world tour that will also take

it to Japan and the US. It will be

available for sale, with the price on

request, once the world tour con-cludes. "The inspiration behind the

neckpiece comes from my idea of

what a promise is - an unbreakable

bond," Gareth, who has dressed

celebrities like Beyonce Knowles, Ri-

hanna, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue,

Jessica Stam and Nicki Minaj, said in

a statement. "The piece closes with a

titanium pin which is set with a dia-

mond on the top. I really liked the

idea of using that as a signifier of an

unbreakable bond," he added.

The design was first unveiled in

Hong Kong Aug 8 at an event at-

tended by the designer himself.

Praising the designer's talent, Sachin

Jain, president, Forevermark India,

said: "Gareth has realised an extraor-

dinary vision in the piece and we arethrilled, both with the creative inspi-

ration and the iconic aesthetic of the

neckpiece itself.".


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Chandigarh


Hooda sermonises the media

Chandigarh

Having been chief minister of

Haryana for nearly nine years,Bhupinder Singh Hooda has had che-

quered experiences with the media.

But over all these years, the chief

minister has stayed constant with one

factor - on sermonizing how the

media should do its job. Hooda and

his government have been in the fir-

ing line of the media - lately after

controversial land deals, particularly

that of United Progressive Alliance's

chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son-in-

law Robert Vadra, in Haryana. That

seems to have made Hooda even

more determined to tell the media

how it should function. Be it anymedia-related event or even a press

conference, Hooda seizes every op-

portunity to point out that the media

in India is not what it used to be.

"Journalism is not a mission as it was

during pre-independence days, but it

has become a profession which is

dangerous for democratic set-up" is

Hooda's oft repeated remark, reflect-

ing that he is not liking what the

media is doing, clearly to him and his

government. Hooda seems upset with

the "change in the field of journal-

ism" in recent years. He has sug-

gested that the mindset of journalists

needs to be changed so that they

avoid sensationalizing news. On its

part, the Hooda government does

everything to keep select journalists

on its side. His government spends

several lakhs of rupees on giving

away cash rewards to journalists at

the district, state and national level to

keep a section of the scribes in good

humour. Hooda talks a lot of times

about the menace of paid and surro-

gate news in the media. However, one

particular officer in Hooda's large

media set-up, who has been associ-

ated with the PR department for a

number of years, is known to oblige

and even, at times, bully journalists.

Quite a few are allegedly on his pay-

roll of freebies and other incentives.

More recently, the Hooda govern-

ment announced the appointment of

two journalists as state informationcommissioners, a rank equivalent to

that of the chief secretary. Amidst all

this, Hooda claims that "Haryana has

a media-friendly atmosphere" and

that the efforts of his government

were always to "avoid confrontation

with media". Given his interest in the

subject, Hooda could well end up

opening a media school to churn out

journalists of his liking. Or else, he

could be called by leading media in-

stitutions to deliver lectures on how

media should or should not behave.

JammuSetting the ceasefire on fire, Pakistani

troops have been violating the bilat-

eral agreement signed by India and

Pakistan in November 2003 with im-

punity since the beginning of this

month. The brunt of ceasefire viola-

tions by the Pakistan Rangers is being

borne by residents of scores of vil-

lages along the international border in

Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts

of Jammu and Kashmir. This month,

one paramilitary Border Security

Force (BSF) trooper was killed while

15 others, including six civilians and

nine BSF troopers, were wounded be-

cause of unprovoked shelling and fir-

ing by the Pakistan Rangers.

Residents of SM Pur, Jasso Chak and

Suchetgarh Kurian villages have left

their homes, livestock and agricul-

tural fields and moved to safer loca-

tions. The intermittent exchanges of

small arms firing has now changed

into frequent use of 82 mm mortar

shells, rockets and other heavy

weapons by the Pakistan Rangers.

Many of these shells are exploding in

civilian habitats. A day after Home

Minister Sushilkumar Shinde made

an aerial survey of the international

border (Oct 22) along with state

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Pak-

istan Rangers again fired mortar

shells at over 50 places on the inter-

national border. Villagers are saying

these shells are exploding close to

their homes and in their agricultural

fields. "It is dangerous to live inside

our homes or venture into the fields.Even cattle are falling prey to the

shelling. We have no option but to

move out to save our lives," said a

villager of Jasso Chak in the Ram-

garh sector of Samba district. Some

villagers moved back to their homes

after assurances by the district admin-

istration and leaders of the ruling Na-

tional Conference. Just two days after

their return, frequent mortar shelling

forced them to again abandon their

homes. Shinde, during a press confer-

ence in Samba Tuesday, told reporters

the state government could build

shelters for the residents of border

villages. Some villages in the Parg-

wal area coming under intense

shelling are barely 400 metres from

the international border. Residents

have accused the Pakistan Rangers of

targeting civilian areas in R.S. Pura,

Kanachak, Akhnoor, Arnia and other

sectors of the border.While the army

guards the Line of Control (LoC) in

Jammu and Kashmir, BSF is deputedon the international border in Jammu,

Samba and Kathua districts of the

Jammu region. Omar has asked New

Delhi to move beyond words in en-

suring that peace returns to the border

in the state and that Pakistan respects

the ceasefire agreement that brought

a modicum of normalcy in the lives

of people living close to the border in

divided Kashmir. The chief minister

also said Pakistan Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif is in fact addressing his

home constituency when he rakes up

the Kashmir issue during his current

US visit. Omar told reporters in Sri-

nagar he is not sure whether Sharif

has a hand in what is happening on

the LoC and the international border

or whether he is not in control of

things in his country. Following the

renewed tension on the borders in

Jammu and Kashmir, New Delhi has

put on hold the Director General of

Military Operations (DGMO)-level

talks with Pakistan. Although nobodybelieves the two south Asian nuclear

neighbours, India and Pakistan, are

heading for another war, yet there is

little doubt that people living close to

the border in Jammu and Kashmir are

facing a war-like situation. If present

low-key hostilities on the borders are

not halted immediately, for innocent

villagers living in Samba, Jammu and

Kathua districts, it is already an un-

declared war that has thrown their

lives out of gear.

lergies, Skin Allergies, Skin eczema,

Weak immune system, Spondylitis,

Osteo-arthiritisof Knee,hip & joints,

Sciatica, Gastric problems, Chronic

indigestion, Urinary Tract infection,Diabetes, Nervousness, violent heart

palpitation, Excess cholesterol,

Scanty hormonal imbalance, Pros-

trate problems, Piles, bleeding fis-

sures, Leucorrhoea, Migraine, Liver

enlargement & Hepatytic Jaundice

etc. Patients from all around the

world, mostly from New York,

Canada and New Zealand, have ben-

efitted by having been cured in-cur-

able diseases by the formulae derived

by Dr. Jaggi. Dr. Jaggi has been hon-

oured by many organizations and his

treatment through counseling, prayer

and medicines has achieved wide-

spread recognition. His programmes

have been aired by Doordarshan and

many other reputed TV Channels. His

articles are regularly been published

in leading newspapers.Dr. Jaggi's indigenously developed

eye-drops are a tonic for the eyes and

improve vision at all ages. The eye

drops are effective for treatement of

eye-flu.

Respected Dr. Jagdish Jaggi, win-

ner of State Awards from the Govts of

Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh, has

been a renowned homoeopath with

over 30 years of experience. After

much research, he formulated effec-

tive combinations of Homoeo medi-

cines, which can cure even the

in-curable diseases. Dr Jaggi was in-vited by the former President of

India, Shri APJ Abdul Kalam himself

during his Chandigarh visit.

Dr. Jaggi holds the expertise to cure

chronic diseases , i.e. Food wheat Al-

REGION

Miracles in Homoeopathy

Pakistan Rangers setting ceasefire

on fire


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Chandigarh


Indeed Prime Minister!

EDITORIAL DESK

Media and Editorial Control

New SBI chief emerges an empoweringleader

No one is above the law says the

Prime Minister of the nation, in-deed says the citizenry. Prime Min-

ister Manmohan Singh may well

have thrown a fit of anger or per-

haps he wanted to salvage his rep-

utation, but by agreeing to face the

CBI under the on going coal gate

scam investigation he has created a

piquant situati on. There are two a s-

pects to this particul ar move by the

Prime Minister. The first one is

with respect to his tenability as the

premi er of the nation after he has

been questi oned by the agency.

Critics will raise the issue of neu-

tral investigations being possibleonly after Dr Singh's resignation.

The second aspect pertains to the

carefully cultivated image of his

teflon integrity that was supposed

to be above the everyday muck of

politi cal corruption , a conti nued

blight on t his republic since times

immemorial, regime after regime.

A stalling economy, stagnant de-

fence procurement, poor near

neighbour diplomacy and broken

down governance were bad enough

to warrant a collective shrug of de-

spair, but the latest bizarre political

theatre is taking things to a newlevel. India does not deserve to

head into political uncertainty right

before next general elections and at

the same time corrupt should not be

let off the hook. The august office

of the Prime Minister stands sul-

lied, such a harm to the dignity will

take a while to recover. It is a tough

choice that people of India face, a

choice that could have been

avoided had the Prime Minister

discovered his voice of conscience

sooner.

Global media trends tend to favour

professional promoters and ed itors

to run their own shows instead of

single point operations. Such a split

in editorial and ownership stakes

helps in establishing the credibility

of the brand and it also results in an

arms length distance between com-

mercial interests and journalistic ob-

ligations. Juxtaposed against this

trend, the 2011 appointment of Sid-

dtharth Varadarajan as the editor of

The Hindu was applauded and en-

couraged by readers and media ana-

lysts alike. Finally, it was deemed

that media industry was increasingly

leaving its family based mores of

strict control and interference by

owners. However all that has come

to a naught in an anti-climax that is

as spectacular as the run up to the

initial round of board wranglings in

Kasturi and Sons Limited, the hold-

ing firm of The Hindu. The board of

The Hindu has decided to revert to

its earlier structure of family based

editor leading the daily. The official

reason given to the public is that Sid-

dtharth was not fair towards a certain

politician from West of India, who

aspires to be a Prime Minister of

India. Such a line of reasoning has

led to activation of usual suspects

who are more than happy to cry mur-

der over the martyrdom of an upright

editor who was intent on exposing,

what they thought was a rogue or-

ganization and its leader. Given the

location, commercial interests, back-

ground of family owning the daily

and the past wranglings within it

hardly looks to be a handiwork of

Modi or his supporters that has led

to dislodging of Varadarajan. Board-

room intrigue has claimed him and a

politicization of his removal will

only serve to strengthen the people

he wants to condemn.

The appointment of ArundhatiBhattacharya as chairperson of

State Bank of India Oct 7 signals

her acumen with numbers. That a

57-year-old career banker will

lead the 207-year-old bank, the

bigges t in the countr y, to serve the

customer is a natural expectation.

That winds of change - with her

employee-friendly approach and

transformative communication -

will be felt within days of the

change of guard was a surprise.

Change of leadership in organisa-

tions is not easy. And for State

Bank, India's only entry in the

Fortune 500 Global list, the task is

tough, to say it mildly. It boasts of

a network of 15,000 branches,

over 25,000 ATMs and the largest

balance sheet in the country, al ong

with machinery that badly needs

fine-tuning to keep up with the

changing times.

O.P. Bhatt, who headed SBI for

five years till 2011, literally

walked barefoot over a bed of

blaz ing c oals at o ne of the deput y

general manager conclaves. When

colleagues found him unscathed,

they too attempted and accom-

plished the feat, na rrat e Prof Rajiv

Lal and Rachana Tahilyani in a

Harvard Business School case

study "State Bank: Transforming

a State Owned Giant".

"It is all in the mind and the mind

can conquer anything. After that,

some of those people have told

me, when confronted with a prob-lem, I think if I can walk on fire,

why can't I do this?" recounts

Bhatt in the 2011 case study. It is

not going to be a walk on fire for

the newly-appointed chief but it is

also not going to an easy walk.

For the new chief, energizing the

workforce and growing collabora-

tion seem to be the top priority.

Since Bhattacharya has a collabo-

rative leadership style, it would

help spawn positive energy atworkplace. By choosing to focus

on employees in her very first

media interaction, a day after tak-

ing over, she instantaneously won

the trust of 3,00,000 colleagues by

prom isi ng three sab bati cal s (of

two years each) for women em-

ploye es to look aft er thei r young

ones, in helping them in their

Class 10 and 12 studies and

spending time with their aging

parents and in- law s. Cur ren tly

women employees at State Bank

can avail of a sabbatical of about

a year on childbirth without pay.

It is an exceptionally powerful

initiative aimed at empowering

employees - both women and

men. I see this as brilliant exam-

ple of peop le-cent ric leadership

that can create an escape velocity

for the bank to move to a new

orbit of growth.

Along with these positive moves,

Bhattacharya may need to align

the top team and those below

them with a new aspiration that

could help the bank get out of the

current challenges she so elo-

quently admitted.

By preventing mobility of women

work force to the world of edu-

cated, under-employed home-

makers, the people-sensitive SBI

chief will retain and nurture tal-

ent. At the same time, HR will not

face the issue of last-minute leave

of absence, and managers can as-

sign workforce in a better wayknowing that an employee is not

available for two years. She has

also made SBI an attractive career

option for the bright talent passing

out of our colleges.

Bhattacharya also made her mark

in communication. Without get-

ting stuck in the transactional

communication that many leaders

are prone to and that fails into in-

spire people, she quickly outlined

transformational themes to the en-tire organisation.

She did away with the bureau-

cratic rule that says not more than

two transfer requests on account

of spouses getting transferred.

It signals that with the changing

societal needs, outdated rules will

get updated, especially in nuclear

families where both partners

work. This benefit, when imple-

mented, will empower women

employees to give their best at

work place. As someone who has

led the technology function at

State Bank, Bhattacharya used its

intranet to connect with its

300,000 people. With this move

she was able to engage the em-

ployees in the b ank's visi on to de-

liver more value, rather than first

sharing it with a small subset of

peop le and then it cas cadi ng

down.

Communication experts point out

that she could not have articulated

her vision better when she chose 3

simple themes - risk, delivery and

collaboration - to help the bank

achieve its vision of retaining the

premier banki ng ins titu tion b adge

that others follow.

In her broadcast to employees, she

minced no words when she admit-

ted that the bank is under threat

from more nimble organisations.

Bhattacharya also placed the re-

sponsibility of undertaking any

activity in the bank, with each em-

ploy ee, of unde rst andi ng the in-herent risk, and of measuring,

monitoring and mitigating it. By

emphasizing the importance of

collaboration among different

pro duct gro ups and emp loye es

Bhattacharya has cooked a perfect

recipe for "problem solving" and

won the hearts of her people. The

success will really depend on how

much they collaborate and lever-

age each other's knowledge.

Santhosh Babu

The Patna High Court Oct 9 sus-

pended conviction of the 26 accused

in the Laxmanpur Bathe massacrefor want of evidence. The trial court

had convicted all 26 accused and

sentenced 10 to life imprisonment

and handed down capital punish-

ment to 16 in April 2010. The grue-

some massacre was committed Dec

1, 1997, in Laxmanpur Bathe village

in south Bihar where 58 Dalits, in-

cluding 27 women and 16 children,

(Paswans, Chamars, Mallahs and

Machuwara community) were killed

by the now-disbanded anti-Naxal

upper caste militia Ranvir Sena. The

division bench of justice V.N. Sinha

and justice A.K. Lal gave the benefit

of doubt to the accused on the

ground that there were discrepancies

in the statement of prosecution wit-

nesses and the prosecution had not

produced any evidence to guarantee

any punishment. This is the third in-

stance of acquittal by the Patna High

Court in 2013 in the cases of Dalit

massacre. In two cases earlier, the

Patna High Court division bench

(July 3) acquitted nine of 10 accused

in the Miyapur massacre where 32

Dalits were allegedly killed by Ran-

vir Sena in June 2000. Similarly, in

the Nagari Bazar carnage case, in-

volving the killing of 11 Dalits, the

high court released 11 convicts. The

majority of these massacres and vi-

olence under the umbrella of anti-

Naxal forces was during the second

phase of the Naxal movement in

Bihar. Undivided central Bihar saw

unprecedented level of violence dur-

ing the second phase of the Naxalitemovement. This was marked by al-

teration of power equation, which

was now tilted towards the labour

and the oppressed class as opposed

to the landlord or upper class seg-

ment of current southern Bihar. The

second phase also witnessed new

political alignments and rise of new

Naxalite groups. An excessive

growth of Naxalism and change of

power equation brought with itself

concomitant problems. There was

huge retaliation by the upper caste

landlords, creating their own mili-

tias. The most prominent among

them was Ranvir Sena, which was

formed in 1994. The available liter-

ature shows a ghastly phase of mas-

sacres and counter massacresfollowing the formation of Ranvir

Sena in order to counter the growing

influence of Naxal-backed peasant

resistance and violence. The rise of

upper class militia led to violence in

1990s. The Ranvir Sena was how-

ever marred by internecine feud.

The infighting became the stiffestchallenge, slowly leading to the

group's downfall. The change of po-

litical landscape during the last

decade created fissure among the

proxy holders, weakening the cen-

tral authority and sabotaging net-

works operations during the period.

The arrest of Ranvir Sena head

Brahmeshwar Singh, the master-

mind behind Dalit massacres, in

2002 destroyed the structural base of

Ranvir Sena.

On the other hand, infighting

amongst Naxal groups, mainly be-

tween People's War Group and

Maoist Communist Centre (MCC)

as well as Communist Party of

India-Marxist-Leninist (Liberation),

heightened during early 2000s, sub-

verting the ideological battle fought

with arms. The changing social and

economic condition of various Dalit

groups as well as upper caste groups

also led to a status of repair, and

subsequently led to a decline in vio-

lence and mass massacres. Overall

south Bihar, once the central turf in

the ongoing class conflict, saw the

decline of violence both by the

Naxal groups and anti-Naxal

groups.The series of acquittals of

convicts in different massacre cases

can have a multi-dimensional im-

pact, with the scope being measured

wholly at the political and security

levels. Currently, it is seen as a

major blow to the hopes of the nu-

merous victims and their family

members, who in all cases belong toa particular caste. All the same, the

acquittal can lead to polarization of

Dalits against the state machinery

and the upper castes who were

members of the Ranvir Sena.The an-

imosity between the Dalit supporters

and Ranvir Sena sympathisers has

been running high aft er Brahmesh-

war Singh was killed. The judgment

can add fuel to the fire.The question

of justice in terms of compensating

the victims of Dalit caste within

Bihar often seems contentious as the

series of acquittals has hampered the

faith of Dalits in the democratic sys-

tem. The government has decided to

appeal in the Supreme Court against

the high court verdict. The ensuing

social response to the judgment ishard to predict; but the fact remains

inviolable that the judgment has the

potential to provide fodder for future

agrarian wars fought in the name of

Naxal or anti-Naxal war.

Brunei beckons India'spharma, tourism industries

Acquittals in Dalit massacrecan shake faith in system

India's pharmaceutical and tourism in-

dustries should take a look at the Sul-

tanate of Brunei Darussalam, where the

two area hold immense potential for

partnership. The island nation of

400,000 people, located on the north

coast of the island of Borneo in South-

east Asia, is home to some of the world's

virgin rainforests with mega biodiver-

sity. It hosts thousands of species offlowering plants, palms, ferns, orchids,

mosses, lichens and liverworts. Bio-

prospectors have discovered a wide va-

riety of chemicals in the flora of these

tropical forests. The Borneo rainforests

are some of the oldest in the world and

are a reservoir of genetic diversity

which offers a rich source of medicinal

plants, high-yield foods, and other use-

ful forest products. Scientists from

around the world are coming to Brunei

to discover beneficial chemicals or

compounds that occur naturally and

which have huge scientific and medical

applications. China is eyeing Brunei to

partner in its pharma industry as Borneo

has for centuries supplied Chinese tra-

ditional medicine with important raw

materials. The Sultanate under the

"Wawasan Vision 2035" is seeking a

knowledge-based transformation of so-

ciety. It has adopted a strategy to diver-sify its economy, based currently on oil

and gas resources, and expand business

opportunities through promotion of in-

vestment, foreign and domestic, both in

downstream industries and in clusters

beyond the hydrocarbon sector. The

government has identified the sul-

tanate's rich biodiversity and educated

workforce as key factors in promoting

research and development (R&D) and

attracting overseas investors to partner

in projects. Saroj Mohanty

Manu Sharma


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Chandigarh

Sunday 27 October, 2013 7SCIENCE AND TECH

EADS to fund aerospace research in India

Facebook allows beheading videos,sparks outrage

India's Mars mission to blast off Nov 5

Google 'most attractive'

Internet brand in India

Nokia launches 3 Asha models,tablet at annual event

Sistema Shyam rolls out 3G-plus network across circlesNew Delhi

The European Aeronautic Defence

and Space Company N.V. (EADS)

will fund Indian universities and in-

stitutes for research projects in aero-

space, the global aerospace major

said Wednesday. "The research proj-

ects will be in areas of avionics, com-

posite materials, high-performance

computing, nanotechnology and ap-

plied mathematics," EADS' Indian

subsidiary said in a statement here

from New Delhi. The Netherlands-

based company will initiate the proj-

ects in partnership with the

Indo-French Centre for Promotion of

Advanced Research under the

'EADS-CEFIPRA Aerospace Pro-

gramme'. As part of the agreement

signed at the India-France Technol-

ogy Summit in New Delhi, the part-

ners will also unveil the "EADS

post-doctoral fellowship" for young

French scientists to do research work

in top Indian universities and re-search and development (R&D) insti-

tutions. "We will sponsor two-three

French scientists as post-doctoral fel-

lows annually to pursue research in

aerospace for five years from 2014,"

EADS vice-president for innovation

works (international operations) Ar-

naud Marfurt said in the statement.

Reiterating the company's commit-

ment to invest in promoting aero-

space research in India, Marfurt said

that with a huge talent pool and top

research institutes, India was an im-

portant innovation hub for EADS.

"The initiatives add value to our

global R&D and engineering efforts

and will enable us to get closer to ourcustomers here," Marfurt noted.

On March 1 this year the European

major set up a research chair in

"Mathematics of Complex Systems"

at the Tata Institute of Fundamental

Research (TIFR) in Bangalore, held

by Centre for Applicable Mathemat-

ics professor Mythily Ramaswamy

and International Centre for Theoret-

ical Sciences (ICTS) director Spenta

Wadia. "The chair's objective is to de-

velop innovative research involving

theoretical and computational work

in mathematics of complex systems,

including control theory and data as-

similation," the statement added.

The euro 57-billion ($78 billion)EADS has a research and technology

centre in Bangalore where aerospace

projects are executed with 460 em-

ployees. In addition, about 300 Indian

engineers work on its projects at re-

search and engineering centres across

the country.

The EADS group comprises Airbus,

Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter

with a combined workforce of about

140,000.

London

Social networking website Facebook

is now permitting extremely disturb-

ing videos of people being beheadedto be posted and shared on the site.

The US-based firm had earlier in

May put a temporary ban on films of

decapitation on its site after it re-

ceived complaints that it could cause

long-term psychological damage,

BBC reported Tuesday. However, the

company has now said its users

should be able to watch such videos

as long as they condemn and not cel-

ebrate these videos. The US firm con-

firmed it now believed its users

should be free to watch and condemn

such videos. It added that it was,

however, considering adding warn-

ings. The networking website is open

to anyone who is aged 13 or above.

The company, in a statement, said it

was allowing such content to beposted again. "Facebook has long

been a place where people turn to

share their experiences, particularly

when they're connected to controver-

sial events on the ground, such as

human rights abuses, acts of terrorism

and other violent events," BBC

quoted a company spokesperson as

saying. "People are sharing this video

on Facebook to condemn it. If the

video were being celebrated, or theactions in it encouraged, our ap-

proach would be different.

"However, since some people object

to graphic video of this nature, we are

working to give people additional

control over the content they see.

This may include warning them in

advance that the image they are about

to see contains graphic content," the

statement added. British Prime Min-

ister David Cameron condemned thecompany's decision, terming it as ir-

responsible. "It's irresponsible of

Facebook to post beheading videos,

especially without a warning. They

must explain their actions to worried

parents," the prime minister has

tweeted.

Chennai

India's ambitious Rs.450 crore space

mission to Mars has now been fixed

for blast-off Nov 5, said a top Indian

space agency official Tuesday. "The

Mars mission has been fixed for Nov

5. The heat shield of the rocket (Polar

Satellite Launch Vehicle-PSLV) has

been closed and the final electrical

checks will be carried out Wednes-day," K.Radhakrishnan, chairman, In-

dian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO), told. The ISRO will be firing

its landmark rocket soon after Diwali

from its spaceport in Sriharikota in

Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from

here. The rocket will blast off in the af-

ternoon of Nov 5, a Tuesday. In Tamil,

Mars planet is called Sevvai Graham

and Tuesday is also called Sevvai. In

Hindi, Mars is called Mangal and

Tuesday is Mangalwar. On Oct 19,

ISRO chairman K.Radhakrishnan told

IANS that the Mars Orbiter Mission

(MOM) will be delayed by a week as

of the two ships - Nalanda and Ya-

muna - carrying rocket tracking sys-

tems, only one has reached Fiji. From

Fiji, both the ships have to travel to

their respective locations to track the

rocket. The ships have terminals to

track the rocket, which has a coasting

period of around 20 minutes beyond

the visibility of existing ground sta-

tions. The Mangalayaan mission was

originally slated for Oct 28. According

to ISRO officials, there is no problem

as far as the mission is concerned.

New Delhi

Google is India's most attractive In-

ternet brand, says new research by

Trust Research Advisory (TRA).

With a growth of 31 percent over

last year, India has 74 million Inter-

net users. This has helped it surpass

Japan to become the world's third

largest Internet user base after China

and the US. Yahoo has emerged as

the second most attractive Internet

brand. Facebook occupied the third

position. "The surprise result in this

list is Yahoos 2nd rank among

Indias Most Attractive brands beat-

ing even Facebook. Yahoo's second

rank shows that the new strategies

being adopted by it are working, and

working well at that. If this brand

continues to move in the direction

that it has set in the recent past, it is

on a sure footing to regain its popu-

larity back soon," N. Chandramouli,

chief executive officer, TRA said.

The primary research was conducted

with 2,505 consumer across 16 cities

based on TRA's proprietary matr ix

of attractiveness quotient based on

36 Traits. TRA is an actionable in-

sights and brand intelligence com-

pany dedicated to understanding and

analyzing stakeholder behaviour

through two globally acclaimed,

proprietary matrices of Brand Trust

and Brand Attractiveness.

New Delhi

Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia

Tuesday unveiled three new Ashaphone models at the annual Nokia

World event at Abu Dhabi, a company

statement said here. The models are

Asha 500, Asha 502 and Asha 503.

Support for 3G is available on the Asha

503, which comes with a dual-SIM op-

tion and includes a 5 mega pixel cam-

era. The company plans to start

shipping the Asha 500, Asha 502 and

Asha 503 models in the fourth quarter

of 2013. Nokia altogether launched six

new devices alongside new accessories

at the annual event. It introduced its

Windows tablet - the Nokia Lumia2520 - and launched a portfolio of

large screen Lumia smartphones - the

Lumia 1520 and 1320. The quality

and value that Nokia products deliver

continues to grow as we partner with

developers to introduce app experi-

ences that are unique to Lumia and

Windows Phone, Stephen Elop, exec-

utive vice president, devices & services

at Nokia said.Recently Microsoft has

entered into an agreement to buy

Nokia for $7.2 billion.

New Delhi

After receiving its third spectrum car-

rier from the Department of Telecom-

munications (DoT), Sistema Shyam

TeleServices Limited that provides

telecom services under the MTS

brand announced Wednesday the roll-out of its 3G-plus telecom network

across all circles.

This network is used to provide high

speed data. The 3G-Plus telecom net-

work is based on Evolution-Data Op-

timized (EV-DO) Rev. B Phase-II

technology. The company has also

launched a high speed data card

priced at Rs.1,299.

MTS India is all set to become the

only telecom operator in the countryto provide ubiquitous 3G-plus net-

work coverage across all its circles of

operations, MTS India's chief exec-

utive officer Dmitry Shukov said

here.


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ChandigarhSunday 27 October, 20138

BJP far removed from concernsof poor: Rahul Gandhi

Tewari pulls up Ludhiana officialsover MGNREGA funds

Ensure peace in Darjeeling,allow development: Mamata

Did not discuss UT statusto Hyderabad: Digvijaya

Sagar

Congress vice president Rahul

Gandhi Thursday continued his ag-

gressive campaign against the BJP in

poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, saying

the ruling party in the state was far re-

moved from the concerns of the poor.

"The BJP's politics is the politics of

air-conditioners and industrialists,"

Gandhi said, while addressing a rally

in the backward Bundelkhand region

of Madhya Pradesh.

This is the second leg of his cam-

paign in the state.

Ludhiana

Information and Broadcasting Minis-

ter Manish Tewari Wednesday pulled

up Ludhiana district administration

officials for poor utilisation of central

funds made available under the Ma-

Kurseong (West Bengal)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata

Banerjee Wednesday urged people to

desist from organising shutdowns and

maintain peace in the hills so the devel-

opment process continued unhindered.

Banerjee said she wanted Darjeeling to

acquire a prime place in the interna-

tional tourism calendar.

"If there are only bandhs (shutdowns),

then how can development take place?

If Kanchenjunga (third highest peak of

the world in the eastern Himalayas)

smiles, I feel great. But if Kanchenjunga

cries, then I feel pain," Banerjee told a

gathering of the Lepcha community in

this sub-divisional town of the Darjee-

ling district. The chief minister said

many tourists are willing to come to the

hills if there is peace. "But if issues are

raised every three or six months and life

is brought to a standstill with shutdown

calls, then tourists get afraid," Banerjee

said at the rally after attending a meeting

of the Lepcha Development Council

(LDC). The LDC was created by the

Mamata Banerjee government earlierthis year to weaken the Gorkha Jan-

mukti Morcha (GJM) after it upped the

ante for a Gorkhaland state to be made

out of Darjeeling and parts of Jalpaiguri

districts. While expressing her indebt-

edness to the Lepchas for inviting her to

the hills in August when the GJM an-

nounced a shutdown, Banerjee exhorted

the people to maintain peace.

"I have only one request to you. Quarrel

as much as you want with me. But keep

peace in Darjeeling. Help us in making

hatma Gandhi National Rural Em-

ployment Guarantee Act (MGN-

REGA).

Presiding over a meeting of the dis-

trict vigilance and monitoring com-

New Delhi

Lalu Prasad and Jagdish Sharma were

Tuesday disqualified from the Lok

Sabha following their conviction in the

fodder scam, a Lok Sabha Secretariatofficial said. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)

chief Lalu Prasad, an MP from Bihar's

Saran district, and Janata Dal (United)

MP Jagdish Sharma from Jahanabad in

Bihar are the first Lok Sabha members

to be disqualified after the Supreme

Court order. The July 10 verdict of the

apex court mandated immediate dis-

qualification from parliament and state

legislatures of lawmakers convicted for

criminal offences punishable with a jail

term of more than two years.

Darjeeling beautiful." "Allow me to

usher in development. Do not think that

since there was no development in the

past, nothing will happen in the future,"

she said. Banerjee also sought support

of the media in the hills in developing

Darjeeling. "I urge the media to help mein making Darjeeling beautiful. Don't

support me. But support development

of Darjeeling," she said. Without nam-

ing the GJM during her speech, the

chief minister referred to the destruction

of public property allegedly by Gorkha

activists over the past few months.

"Whatever is built, don't destroy. We

don't have much money. We have a

huge outgo in repaying loans. My heart

is filled with love for the hills. Don't

break my heart... give me love so that

we can return your love," she said.

Banerjee asked why she should be un-

welcome in the hills when people of the

hills also go to other areas. "Don't you

have to go to Siliguri for work? If you

go to Siliguri, why can't I come to Dar-

jeeling? Don't you go to Delhi, Kolkata,Bihar?" she asked. Earlier, to cries of

"Mamata Banerjee zindabad", the chief

minister walked alongside top bureau-

crats and Hill Affairs Minister Gautam

Deb to the venue from the bungalow

where she was put up for the night.

She is scheduled to address the Tri-

namool Congress' first political confer-

ence in the hills Thursday at the famed

Darjeeling mall. Friday she will hold a

meeting with the state assembly's GJM

members.

mittee here Tewari, the Ludhiana

member of parliament, took strong

exception to the low expenditure of

central funds on various developmen-

tal schemes. He said only Rs.11 crore

was spent against a target of spending

Rs.150 crore in Ludhiana district. An

angry Tewari said state government

officials had come to the meeting

without any preparation. He asked

deputy commissioner Rajat Aggarwal

to enquire why so little money had

been spent. Tewari said a district in

Rajasthan, ruled by the Congress,

spent nearly Rs.2,000 crore underMGNREGA.

"There is no reason why Ludhiana

could not spend the targeted amount,

particularly when there were no

budgetary restrictions on expenditure

under the scheme as it was need-

based," Tewari said.

Highlighting the pro-poor Food Se-

curity Act and the Land Acquisition

and Rehabilitation Act, Gandhi said

the BJP opposed the right to food law,

asking how it would be funded.

"When it comes to giving food to the

poor, the BJP opposed the food bill,

saying where will the money for it

come from," Gandhi said.

"The farmer and the labourer should

also get the market rate for his land,

like the rich," he said, adding that

compensation for land has been hiked

four times under the land acquisition

legislation. Targeting the BJP govern-ment in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi

said: "While the poor people of the

state were having a difficult time, the

ministers were happy."

"Did 'India Shining' (BJP's national

campaign of 2004) bring develop-

ment to you?" he asked.

The Congress, he said, engages in the

politics of development and empow-

erment of people. Gandhi reminded

people that he had come to the back-

ward region in 2008 during a drought

and spent nights with people there,

getting bitten by mosquitoes and

drinking village well water. He said

he had taken ill, but was happy with

it all.

"It was good. Leaders should know

what village life is like," he said.

Claiming that the United Progressive

Alliance government had built more

roads in the country than were built

during the tenure of the National

Democratic Alliance, Gandhi said he

wanted "the poor of the region and

their next generation to drive cars".

Reminding people of the central fi-

nancial package worth thousands of

crores of rupees for the region in

2008, Gandhi said, "the centre will

provide more if needed, to make

Bundelkhand a prosperous region".

He told people that "there will be a

Congress government of the poor and

the youth in the state".

The assembly polls in Madhya

Pradesh are scheduled for Nov 25.

New Delhi/Hyderabad

Congress general secretary Digvijaya

Singh Tuesday said he did not discuss

union territory status to Hyderabad

with anybody. He told reporters in the

national capital that he did not say

anything beyond what is there in the

resolution of the Congress Working

Committee. He was responding to

queries about him discussing the

issue with a central minister from

Seemandhra (Raylaseema and coastal

Andhra) region. Terming Hyderabad

a sensitive issue, he said the group of

ministers was looking into it. Digvi-

jaya Singh, who is incharge of part af-

fairs in Andhra Pradesh, said this

after Union Minister of State for Fi-

nance J.D. Seelam said union terri-

tory status to Hyderabad could solve

the row over bifurcation.

A section of Congress leaders of See-

mandhra are demanding union terri-

tory status to Hyderabad to address

the concerns of Seemandhra peopleabout their future in the city. On send-

ing Telangana resolution to the state

assembly, Digvijaya Singh said

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde

had promised to send him the entire

schedule for formation of separate

Telangana state. On four Congress

MPs from Seemandhra again submit-

ting their resignations, he advised

Seemandhra leaders to understand the

ground realities and abide by the

commitment they made to the leader-

ship over Telangana issue. Asked to

comment on reports that Chief Min-

ister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was

planning to quit Congress and float a

new party, Digvijaya said Kiran

Reddy was a loyal Congress man and

would not leave the party. T. G.

Venkatesh, a state minister from See-

mandhra, Tuesday said if bifurcation

became inevitable the chief minister

would be under pressure to float a

new party. He also predicted that

many leaders would quit Congress if

the central government went ahead

with its decision to carve out separate

Telangana state. Another minister

from Seemandhra G. Srinivasa Rao

criticized Digvijaya Singh for creat-

ing confusion by making what hecalled contradictory statements. He

said the party leader had lost credibil-

ity by going back on his own state-

ments. He hoped that the state would

not be divided till 2014 elections. He

said the situation would change after

the assembly elections in five states.

Moti Lal Vora Chhattisgarh Congresscampaign panel head

Lalu Prasad,Jagdish Sharma

disqualifiedfrom Lok Sabha

New Delhi

Congress veteran Moti Lal Vora

has been named Chhattisgarh cam-

paig n pane l chie f for the Nov 11

and 19 assembly polls, a party

statement said Tuesday.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi

approved the name of party treas-

urer Vora. She has also appointed

senior leader Ajit Jogi as convenor

of the panel which also has leaders

like Mohsina Kidwai, state unitchief Charan Das Mahant and

Ravindra Choubey.

The list of 72 candidates an-

nounced so far clearly bears the

imprint of Ajit Jogi, a former chief

minister of the tribal state, with

wife Renu and son Amit getting

tickets. While Amit will contest

from Marwahi reserved seat, his

mother Renu will fight from Kota.

Results for the 90-member Chhat-

tisgarh house will be out Dec 8.


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Chandigarh


QUOTE FIRE

POLITICAL CAMP NEWS

Fear of violence grips Nepal ahead of elections

Current President of

Bharatiya Janata Party

Rajnath Singh said:

"The central parliamen-

tary board has unani-

mously decided to

project Harsh Vardhan as

the BJP's chief ministe-

rial candidate for the

Delhi elections."

Senior Leader of the

Bharatiya Janata Party

L. K. Advani said:

The decision to name

him as Delhi's chief min-

isterial candidate was

"unanimous".

Former President of

the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) Nitin Gad-

kari:

"Harsh Vardhan is best

amongst all and enjoys

the confidence of the

people of Delhi."

Member of National Exec-

utive Committee of Aam

Aadmi Party Manish Siso-

dia said:

Harsh Vardhan himself has

been praising Sheila Dikshit

and said Delhiites were very

fortunate to have her. Why is

he fighting against her now?

For 10 years, people of Indiasaw Manmohan Singh re-

maining quiet on corruption

while Congress kept show-

casing his clean image,"

Arvind Kejriwal said:

"Harsh Vardhan remained

quiet on most of the burn-

ing issues like rising elec-

tricity tariff, poor water

supply and women's

safety. As a legislator too,

he failed to raise the issue

in the Delhi assembly.

Incumbent chief minis-

ter of Delhi Sheila Dik-

shit said:

"I am not going to com-

ment on any political

party or its decision. Se-

lection and appointment

is a party's internal mat-

ter," she said when re-

porters asked her thequestion.

BJP's Prime Ministe-

rial candidate Naren-

dra Modi said:

"Congratulations to

Harsh Vardhan on being

named BJP's CM candi-

date for upcoming Delhi

elections. My best

wishes."

Rahul strikes emotional chord with voters, attacks BJP

BJP seeks CBI probe in Saradha scam

Setback for GJM: Gorkhaland panel functionary quits

Churu/Alwar (Rajasthan)

Congress vice president Rahul

Gandhi Wednesday launched a

direct attack on the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) while making

an emotional pitch among voters

in poll-bound Rajasthan. The

BJP hit back asking if he had

any solutions to India's currentproblems . Voting for the assem-

bly in the state is slated D ec 1

and counting Dec 8 in an elec-

tion where the Congress is try-

ing hard to retain power ahead

of the 2014 national polls.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi ac-

cused the BJP of sparking com-

munal tensions for political

benefits . " I am ag ainst the kind

of politics BJP does as they

spark fire of tension for politicalbenefit s . .. they hurt people for

political gains," said Gan dhi.

"They (BJP) will go to Muzaf-

farnagar and set fire. They will

go to Gujarat and set fire. They

will go to (Jammu and) Kashmir

and will do the same. We have

to run from pillar to post to

douse the fire."Deriding the

BJP's divisive politics, he said

he wanted the people of India to

be united. However, Gandhi sur-prised t he crowd with his praise

for former vice president and

BJP stalwart Bhairon Singh

Shekhawat. "Shekhawatji de-

serves respect as he was a Hin-

dustani leader first and then a

Rajput leader," he said.

In reaction, BJP leader Ravi

Shankar Prasad said: "Rahul

Gandhi has nothing to offer for

the current problems of India."

Prasad targeted the central gov-ernment over the high prices of

onions, saying, "The govern-

ment, it appears, has lost con-

trol."

Kolkata

Expressing concern at the "way

Trinamool Congress MP Kunal

Ghosh is facing police grilling",

the (BJP) Tuesday approached

West Bengal Governor M.K.

Narayanan seeking a CBI probe

into the multi-crore Saradha

Group chit fund scam. Seeking to

know why only the suspended

Rajya Sabha member was being

interrogated, Bharatiya Janata

Party state unit president Rahul

Sinha, in a letter to the governor,

wondered why other Trinamool

leaders who have been named by

scam kingpin Sudipta Sen, are

not being questioned. "Sen had

mailed to CBI a list of nine ruling

party leaders about their involve-

ment in the case. But to our as-

tonishment none of them have

been questioned by the police,

except for Kunal Ghosh and Srin-

joy Bose who is expected to be

questioned by the SFIO," Sinha

wrote in the letter. Sen, in an 18-

page let ter to Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI), had accused

22 people including several high-

profile Congress and Trinamoo l

leaders which included the names

of Ghosh and Bose. Ghosh who

has been suspended by the Tri-

namool for being "anti-party",

has been interrogated a number

of times by the state police as

well as the Serious Fraud Inves-

tigating Office (SFIO). In the let-

ter, Sinha also expressed concern

over Ghosh's meeting with Tri-

namool general secretary Mukul

Roy. "We are afraid that this is

probably a word between them

not to disclose the names of the

other accused whose disclosure

might cause such a turmoil that

the present government may be in

trouble," he alleged.

Darjeeling

Accusing the Gorkha Janmukti

Morcha (GJM) of misleading peo-

ple by claiming the central govern-

ment agreed to hold a tripartite on

the Darjeeling issue Wednesday,

GJAC chief advisor Enos Das

Pradhan has quit. Pradhan alleged

the GJM violated the main principle

on which the Gorkhaland Joint Ac-

tion Committee (GJAC) was

formed after it participated in a

meeting of the hill development

body, Gorkhaland Territorial Ad-

ministration (GTA). "A primary

resolution of the GJAC taken at its

first meeting in August was the

GTA should be dissolved as it had

outlived its utility with the GJAC

deciding to fight for the formation

of Gorkhaland. But now the GJM

has returned to the GTA. So, the

GJM-sponsored GJAC is now no

more viable," said Pradhan. The

members of the GTA Sabha from

the GJM took part in Monday's

meeting. "The GJM also claimed

the central government has agreed

to hold a tripartite meeting on the

Gorkhaland issue Oct 23. Why was

the meeting not held? It seems GJM

has misled the people. They tried to

divert people's attention," he said.

Pradhan alleged the GJM took ad-

vantage of the confusion among the

hill people to strike a deal with the

West Bengal government on re-

suming its participation in the GTA.

The GJM, however, claimed it had

been verbally informed by home

ministry officials about the meet-

ing. "The home ministry officials

called us and informed the tripartite

talks will be held today (Wednes-

day). But we never received any of-

ficial communication on that. But

the meeting will be held after some

time," GJM general secretary

Roshan Giri told IANS over phone.

Kathmandu

Fear of violence remains a serious

threat to free and fair Constituent As-

sembly (CA) elections in Nepal

scheduled for Nov 19, political parties

and security experts said here

Wednesday. More cases of election-

related violence have been reported

from different parts of the country,

creating a sense of terror and uncer-

tainly among voters. There are vari-

ous kinds of election-related violence

now taking place in the Himalayan

country, Xinhua said in a news analy-

sis. First, there is an increase in

clashes between the political parties

that have already launched their re-

spective election campaigns and those

who are against the election, princi-

pally the Communist Party of Nepal-

Maoist (CPN-M), a breakaway

faction of the Unified Communist

Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M).

The CPN-M, which opposes the up-

coming elections, has launched an

anti-election campaign and is engaged

in activities aimed at obstructing the

election. In some places, the party's

activists have even attacked cadres of

other parties. The party has also

warned people not to vote in the Nov

19 elections, threatening to harm them

if they go to vote. The second kind of

violence is among the parties who

have opted to join in the elections.

The cadres of big parties such as the

UCPN-M, Nepali Congress, and

Communist Party of Nepal-Unified

Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) are at-

tacking each other and obstructing

each other's election campaign.

Clashes among the participating par-

ties have escalated in the run-up to the

Nov 19 elections, a high-level police

official told Xinhua. The third kind of

violence, according to security agen-

cies, is the possible attacks on election

candidates by armed outfits in the

country's southern belt, the Terai,

which borders India. There are dozens

of armed groups in the southern belt

threatening the Nov 19 election polls.

CPN-UML election candidate Mo-

hammad Alam, who was seriously in-

jured when an unidentified gunman

shot him in the Terai, died Oct 11.

On Harsh Vardhan


7/27/2019 E-Paper 27 October 2013

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Chandigarh


Music can help reduce chronicpain: study

London

Listening to music helps in reliev-

ing persistent physical pain in four

out of ten people, a new study has

found. Out of the 1,500 people

surveyed, 66 percent of the 16 to

24-year-olds said music has

helped them to soothe pain, re-

ported the Dai ly Mail Tuesday cit-

ing a study conducted by

LloydsPharmacy. Among the vari-

ous types of music, pop music was

the most popular, helping 21 per-

cent of people, followed by classi-

cal music at 17 percent and rock or

indie music at 16 percent, the re-

port said.

Simon and Garfunkel's song

'Bridge Over Troubled Water'

helped most in reducing pain,

which was followed by Robbie

Williams' 'Angels', Fleetwood

Mac's 'Albatross', Elton John's

'Candle In The Wind' and 'Easy' by

The Commodores, it added.

"People in pain should tr

E-Paper 27 October 2013

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