We

Vol-01. Issue-42. Bhopal. Monday Page-12. Price-`5/www.wethestate.com

he State

JULY 15 TO JULY 21, 2013

MP/BHOPAL/4-323/2013-15 RNI NO. MPENG\2012\46415

Received birth report of SRK and Gauri Khan's baby

RR skipper Dravid becomes witness in IPL spot-fixing case

Ex- FMs ouster may not help BJP much

Cong getting ready to use Rajkumar in ensuing polls

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

he obscene CD showing former finance minister Raghavji in an immoral act with his domestic help Rajkumar Dangi has put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the soup. Though the BJP has expelled Raghavji, it might not be possible for the party that he was associated with for about 55 year to get away with him so easily . According to sources, the Congress is bracing up itself to earn some points from the Rajkumar episode in the runup for ensuing assembly polls. Dangi had lodged a complaint against Raghavji for committing immoral act. In 2003 assembly elections, former chief minister Uma Bharati had, in her public meetings, projected a tribal woman who was badly treated by some upper caste people. Similarly, the Congress is gearing up to follow suit and planning to make use of Dangi in the coming assembly elections. However, the followers of Raghavji maintained that he has been falsely implicated and he has been expelled from the party as part of a conspiracy and the BJP has to bear the brunt for it.

Raghavji, an MLA from Vidisha assembly seat, has quite a strong hold in areas like Kurwai, Shamshabad and Ganjbasoda. The people associated with Raghavji maintain that it is a political conspiracy. A big chunk of BJP loyalists, who have sympathy for Raghavji, might go against the party . Raghavji was very popular in Vidisha even when chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was an MP from there. In this backdrop, the episode might cost BJP dear. With the ouster of former minister Vijay Shah, tribal voters of MalwaNeemad area are not happy with the party. So, Raghavji episode might damage the party further.

How WE look it !

. . . C a r to on by K G O J H A

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Capital

WE THE STATE

12 BRIDGES TO BE CONSTRUCTED AT COST OF RS 46.29 CRORE

s many as 12 major bridges will be constructed in the State at the cost of Rs. 46 crore 29 lakh 36 thousand. In Bhopal district, Rs. 6 crore will be spent on construction of a bridge over Bahm river on Berasia-Garha Kalan road and Rs. 10 crore on another bridge on the same river on Jamusar Kalan-Kadhaiyya Shah road.

In Sehore district, Rs. 2 crore 58 lakh will be spent on construction of a high level culvert near existing stop-dam over a nullah between villages Itawa Kalan and Itarasi, Rs. 2 crore 19 lakh on bridge over Nedi river on Chorsa Kheri-Dhaulpur road, Rs. 5 crore 28 lakh on construction of rapta over Seep river in village Satdev, Rs. 2 crore 80 lakh on bridge at Rafiqganj Lodri and Rs. 4 crore 70 lakh will

be spent on the construction of a culvert over Ajnal river between Dongal Pani and Piplani. In Tikamgarh district, Rs. 2 crore 3 lakh 13 thousand will be spent on construction of a bridge over Bargi river (Peepri Ghat) on Khakron-Luharguaon road and Rs. 2 crore 55 lakh 39 thousand on bridge over Bargi river between village Mamora to Hatheri. Rs. 5 crore 57 lakh will be spent on construction of

a bridge over Ganjal river for linking village Gadarpur in Harda district with village Naharkola in Hoshangabad district, Rs. 11 crore 10 lakh 69 thousand on bridge over Pahooj river on Singhpura-Taidot road in Datia district and Rs. 1 crore 53 lakh 15 thousand will be spent on construction of a bridge over Barchha river at village Tisua near Karrapur in Sagar district.

Case filed against woman for allegedly seizing 6.5 acres land
T Nagar police registered a case of fraud against four individuals including a woman for allegedly seizing a 6.5 acres of land by impersonating an 80year-old woman. Police said that the accused by producing duplicate owner at the Deputy Registrar office got the power of attorney and property in their names. After obtaining the power of attorney they started construction on the land. The victim came to know about the incident when she went to the Deputy Registrar Office few days ago where she found that her property has been transferred to some individuals and the officials confirmed that the victim Radha Rani had visited the office and after her consent the documents were prepared. The victim was shocked that without her consent the deal was done with the help of duplicate owner of the land plot. A complaint in this regard was lodged with the TT Nagar police on Thursday . In the complaint, the woman mentioned the names of the accused - Yashwant Patil, PC Goswami, Shree Nath Swami, Yogendra Archarya, Ramesh Chandra Malviya and Aleem Khan. The victim owns a plot land at Badwai village but it was not used for agriculture or residential purpose and the victim claimed that the accused were informed by some of her relatives. The police have registered a case under Section 420, 419, 467,468,471 and 120 B of the IPC. The accused are absconding after the matter came to light.The police have started searching for the criminal records of the miscreants and have collected details of the phone calls made by the miscreants.

HAJ AIRFARE FIXED, BALANCE AMOUNT TO BE PAID BY EXCHANGE RATE

he Haj Committee of India (HCI) has fixed the airfare and the balance pilgrimage amount to be paid by the selected Haj pilgrims by adopting the exchange rate of one Saudi Riyal @ Rs 16.0729 towards expenditure in foreign exchange in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during Haj -1434 (H) 2013. As regards disbursement of Saudi Riyal 2,100 to the pilgrims before departure at the embarkation points, the exchange rate fixed is, one Saudi Riyal @ Rs 14.98. Selected pilgrims are advised to deposit the balance Haj amount in accordance with the accommoda-

tion category opted by them, after deducting the advance amount of Rs 76,000 (already paid) as per their embarkation point. Madhya Pradesh State Haj Committee (MPSHC) informed that the pilgrims proceeding on Haj from Indore and Bhopal embarkation points of the state and have opted for Green category need to deposit balance Rs 1,01,700/ and those who have opted for Aziziya category need to deposit Rs 71,650/. The pilgrims are advised to deposit balance Haj amount through core banking system only, across any branch of the State Bank of

India, to the Haj Committee of Indias bank account number FEE TYPE 25 indicating their cover number, bank reference number, branch name and code on the pay in slip. The amount needs to be deposited compulsorily by July 27. The pilgrims need to keep the deposit slip with them at this stage and need not deposit it with the MPSHC. The pilgrims need to produce this deposit slip at the time of departure for getting their air ticket and other related documents. The HCI has made it clear that no bank draft, cash or cheque will be accepted.

Pre-medical Test racket kingpin held in Mumbai

he alleged ringleader of an interstate gang running an impersonation racket related to Madhya Pradesh Pre-medical Test (PMT) has been arrested in Mumbai, police said Monday . Dr Jagdish Singh Sagar was nabbed from a hotel in Mumbai last night with the help of Maharashtra Police, Inspector General (IG) V K Maheshwari told reporters here. At the time of arrest, Sagar (42), a resident of the city, was found wearing gold ornaments weighing around half a kg, he said. As many as 20 members of the gang had been arrested earlier by the police. These members, all youths, used to write the en-

trance exam for admission to medical colleges in MP on behalf of other candidates, police sources said. According to Maheshwari, the kingpin of the racket, who once taught in a private medical college here, used to charge Rs. 50,000 to Rs. one lakh each from candidates. The gang, which was active for the last three years, mostly targeted medical aspirants from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, he said. Sagar was produced before a local court, which remanded him in seven-day police custody . His interrogation may lead to more arrests, the IG added.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Editorial

WE THE STATE

ASTROLOGY
17-7-2013- Wednesday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Navami Positive direction - West and South Bad time - 12:30 pm to 2:10 pm Good time - 5:52 am to 9:11 am and 3:50 pm to 7:08 pm 18-7-2013-Thursday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Dashami Positive direction - West and North Bad time - 2:10 pm to 3:50 pm Good time - 5:52 am to 7:31 am and 10:50 am to 2:09 pm and 5:30 pm to 7:08 pm 19-7-2013- Friday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Ekadashi Positive direction - North and East Bad time - 10:50 am to 12:30 pm Good time - 5:52 am to 10:49 am and 12:31 pm to 2:10 pm and 5:30 pm to 7:08 pm 20-7-2013- Saturday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Dwadashi (Pradosh) Positive direction - North and West Bad time - 9:11 am to 10:50 am Good time - 7:31 am to 9:10 am and 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm 21-7-2013- Sunday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Trayodashi (Chaturdashi Tithi Kshay) Positive direction- East and North Bad time - 5:30 pm to 7:08 pm Good time - 7:31 am to 12:30 pm and 2:10 pm to 3:50 pm 22-7-2013- Monday - Aashad Mah Shuklapaksh-Purnima Positive direction- South and East Bad time - 7:31 am to 9:10 am Good time - 5:52 am to 7:30 am and 9:11 am to 10:50 am and 2:10 pm to 7:08 pm 23-7-2013- Tuesday - Shrawan Mah Krishnapaksh-Ekam Positive direction- South and West Bad time - 3:50 pm to 5:30 pm Good time - 9:11 am to 2:10 pm By AACHARYA SARVESH E-Mail: acharya.sarvesh@yahoo.com Mobile: 9826609192

enior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha believes that secularismcommunalism shouldn't be the priority and the focus should be more on real issues like economic downturn. Whenever Modi raises an issue Congress divert the public attention to Modi and relate his statements to religion , instead of the real issue raised by him. Modi uttered the 'burqa of secularism' thing only after his secular opponents, including a section in the media, made a mountain out of a mole hill over an interview. His main opponent party's strategy is simple. Carry on with the hate campaign against Modi and create more controversy . The party has made a plan of deploying its leaders to target the Gujarat chief minister and they are taking him on in a calculated manner. Be it Manish Tewari, Digvijay Singh, Shashi Tharoor, Ajay Maken or anybody else, the Congress brigade is playing to a point. They are meeting fire with fire over any issues and questions on facts raised by Modi. This is quite unprecedented. This is also helping the Congress to divert the focus from key areas of governance to make the liability of anti-incumbency lighter. Senior leader Singh has rightly cautioned that it is urgent to bring the debate back on more substantive issues on which the

Modi uttered the 'burqa of secularism'

BIPIN SASI

health of the country depends. The leader said the Congress should not be allowed to force a debate on its own and the real issues must be debated upon. No alarm is raised when Dalits are targetted in northern Indian states, Muslims in West Bengal or Christians in southern India. The entire secular

brigade is after one man, but is secular/communal debate only related to the status of the Muslims of the nation? Why don't we stop discussing riots at this very point or do we need another riot in a BJP-ruled state to shift our focus from Modi? Modi has little option but to retaliate if the Cong constantly attacks him.

Populist schemes play havoc with countrys economy

Populist schemes have played havoc with nations economy and have caused spiralling prices, even as the pressing needs of the poor and malunourished remain unmet It is incredible how the obsession with power leads political parties to hold out baits to voters before every election and to bend over backwards to woo specific vote-banks. Before the last Lok Sabha election in 2009, the Congress pulled out of the closet the MGNREGA scheme, which provided for guaranteed rural jobs to the unemployed youth. Somewhere along the way after the elections were done with, the ruling UPAs interest in the scheme began to wane, as it invariably happens. As elections approach again, the scheme has lost its vote-pulling power and the UPA is consequently now looking for a new scheme to bait the voters in 2014. Therein lies the motivation for the food ordinance, which is being seen as a Congress trump card to make an impression on the minds of the voters of 2014. Being pushed hard by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who evidently sees in it the potential to neutralise public anger and disgust with governmental corruption, mismanagement and spiralling prices, it would hardly have taken off by the time the elections come by, yet there is hope that it will bring dividends to the ruling coalition. Its not the Centre alone that holds out baits to prospective voters. In various states, the ruling party or parties, be it the Congress or the BJP or any regional party, dole out goodies without a thought to the effect the depletion of public funds will have on the state. Populist schemes across the country have played havoc with the economies of states and are the principal cause of spiralling prices. There is little genuineness in so-called welfare measures. In a ruling last week, the Supreme Court said there was need to regulate the conduct of political parties, conceding that distribution of freebies influences voters, shakes the foundations of democracy and hampers the level playing field. The court asked the Election Commission to formulate guidelines for political parties to regulate the content of their election manifestos, so that rash promises are not made. The food security bill, which has been cleared through an ordinance and is to be ratified by Parliament, will offer food subsidies to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of those in the urban areas. While this sounds hunky dory, the hard reality is that it will raise Indias food bill by a whopping 45 per cent. The effect of this on the countrys fiscal deficit and consequently, the economy at large, would be disastrous. The distribution of foodgrains under the scheme would be handled by the corrupt and inefficient official machinery, which has been handling the public distribution system so far. That hardly inspires hope of a refreshing break with the corrupt past. Monthly per capita consumption of foodgrains has been declining since the early 1990s. The per capita calorie consumption has also been declining and this accelerated even in the high-growth first decade of the 2000s. About 63 per cent of Indias population gets inadequate nutritional intake in terms of calories and protein. More and more, development and investment are taking a backseat as populism in the garb of welfare takes over. In a country in which malnutrition and lack of basic needs for the poor are serious issues, there is little effort to increase the share of the pie. The whole obsession is with window dressing and merely with seeming to do something, while the real needs of the poor are given the go-by .

VASTU TIPS
Students should study facing the North or East direction. Do not keep or hang paintings depicting war, crime, violence, unrest, agony or distress. Construct the front door in such a manner as to avoid the fall of a shadow on it. Grow a tulsi or basil plant in front of the house. Do not have any cactus in the house. Having it outside the boundary is good.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Politics

WE THE STATE

Rakesh Singh enacted a script penned long back

Rakesh was nursing old wounds, wanted to be nominated Leader of Opposition
akesh Chaudhary was unhappy with Congress leadership ever since he was not nominated as the leader of opposition a position he believed he deserved eminently . The fact that Congress did not come to his aid when he was expelled from the House in the last monsoon session on the charge of insulting the Chair only added to his disenchantment. And by ditching the party at a crucial moment which Ajay Singh described as back-stabbing Rakesh has more than taken his revenge. It was pressure and finally an offer of suitable political adjustment by BJP, besides the consistent indifference of Congress, which are said to have goaded Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi to switch loyalty on Thursday . Chaturvedi had become ambitious after he briefly held the charge of leader of the Opposition following the death of Jamuna Devi in 2010. He was sure to continue in the office and was sourly disappointed when the high command decided on nominating Ajay Singh for the job, Congress sources said. The man, say Congress sources, could never reconcile to what he considered was a deliberate humiliation and the relationship between Singh and him remained far from cordial till the last. Things worsened further in July 2012 when he along with Kalpana Parulekar lost his seat in the assembly following the disciplinary action by speaker Ishwardas Rohani. He wanted Ajay Singh to intervene and maneuver a respectable comeback while a section of senior leadership in the Congress, including Singh himself thought the unceremonious ouster will only make his position among public much stronger. He refused to be made a sacrificial goat, struck a deal with the BJP camp and got back, but the script of his subsequent betrayal was written during that period, a senior leader said. As per the deal, he would have waited a month longer. Congress alleged that some of his "deals" when he was minister for housing and environment also haunted him once the BJP came to power. Sources pointed out that the BJP used the bogey of EOW inquiry to force him into submission. In fact his arch enemy from Bhind Satyadev Katare had hinted about Chaturvedi's growing affinity to the saffron camp three months ago, but the complaint was taken as yet another manifestation of rivalry between the Pachouri and Scindia faction, sources said.

BHOPAL
he bombshell that Congress Chaudhary Rakesh Singh dropped in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday, before ending his 23- year- old association with his party and jumping on the BJP bandwagon, might have come as a stunner for the media persons and the Congress leadership, as also for most of the ruling party MLAs but the fact is that Rakesh Singh was only enacting a script penned long back as much as a month back, some say . The state legislative affairs Minister Narottam Mishra has emerged as the hero of the entire episode as it was his ground work that helped BJP turn the tables on the opposition. To be fair to the Congress, the partys top brass did have inkling that Rakesh Singh might desert them but no one in the party had an idea of what the BJP had up its sleeve.

Narottam Mishra, it is believed, had started cultivating Rakesh Singh almost a month back. Both hail from the Gwalior- Chambal region. Narottam diligently worked on the grievances Rakesh was nursing against the state Congress leadership, especially Ajay Singh. Rakesh was also game because he was not very confident of his victory from Bhind constituency on Congress ticket in the elections. The deal was almost finalised at a dinner hosted by Mishra at his residence about a week back, in which BJP organisational general secretary Arvind Menon and Rakesh Singh were guests. And it was sealed at the CM House, when Narottam took Rakesh Singh to meet the CM. Credible sources say that every move that Rakesh Singh made in the House and every word he uttered, was decided at the meeting. Narottam, incidentally, had called up some Ministers on Wednesday and discussed with

them the implications of a Congress member opposing the no- trust motion, though, of course, no names were taken. That the entire event was well- rehearsed is evident by the fact that even as the drama was unfolding inside the House, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prabhat Jha and Arvind Dave had reached the BJP office and ensured that bouquets and garlands were in ample supply to welcome their prize catch into the BJP. Narottam, incidentally, had called up some ministers and discussed with them the implications of a Congress member opposing the no- trust motion, though, of course, no names were taken. That the entire event was well-rehearsed is evident by the fact that even as the drama was unfolding inside the House, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prabhat Jha and Arvind Dave had reached the BJP office and ensured that bouquets and garlands were in ample supply to welcome their prize catch into the BJP.

Political drama in Assembly came as a surprise to Babus Rakesh turns demi-God for BJP
he fate of Congress sponsored no-confidence motion in the House has come as an eye opener to the bureaucrats in the state, who were under the impression that they are the guiding force behind the government. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, after Congress presenting charge-sheet on July 8, had assigned the responsibility to prepare its reply to the officials of chief minister secretariat. These officials were busy in preparing the reply to the charge- sheet. Chauhan did not allow these officials to even know that he, along with parliamentary affairs minister and some BJP leaders, was busy in dealing with the matter in a different way. Chauhan had a discussion with the officials of CM secretariat in connection with the reply to the charge-sheet. The political drama taking place in the House came as a big surprise to these officials. Chauhan has always displayed his administrative and political abilities on every occasion and has also proved that he is not dependent on bureaucracy to run the government. Chauhan comes closer to the party organization leaders when elections come near. The way he has dealt with the reply to the chargesheet shows that he has made it clear that the bureaucrats should take care of administration and they have nothing to do with politics.

Ministers in the dock jump with joy

The drama that took place in the House came as a bolt from the blue for the Congress but it has come as a big relief to those ministers against whom, there were allegations in no-confidence motion. Congress had leveled allegations against ministers namely Paras Jain, Rajendra Shukla, Archana Chitnis, Nagendra Singh and Gaurishankar Bisen and had also submitted evidence. When no debate was held, it made these ministers feel overjoyed.

The BJP state unit has welcomed Congs former senior leader Rakesh Chauhdhary joining the BJP. BJP state president Narendra Singh Tomar, welcoming Chaudhary at partys state office Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Parisar, said Chaudhary is dedicated to upholding principles and ideology in politics. Tomar said Rakesh Chaudhary gave a brilliant example of his truthfulness, uprightness and principles, without bothering as to what would become of his political career. Tomar said there are rare leaders who are ready to put their future at stake for the sake of political values and principles. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said it was first time in parliamentary history when noconfidence motion tabled by leader of opposition itself went short of confidence. Appreciating Rakesh Chaudhary, he said he did not care about anything to uphold his political principles. He congratulated Chaudhary of joining the BJP. Rakesh Chaudhary, expressing happiness over joining the BJP said his life is dedicated to upholding principles, values and promotion of public welfare. He said chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has a deep empathy towards the poor. He said after serving Congress for 23 years and being elected MLA three times, he expressed his disagreement with the no- confidence motion. Tomar, Chauhan described him as upholder of high traditions.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Must Read

WE THE STATE

Supreme Court: dance bars can be reopened in Mumbai

he Bombay High Court had lifted the controversial ban on dance bars that was implemented by the state government on August 15, 2005, saying it was an act of discrimination on the part of the state as it violated Article 14 of the Constitution of India that guarantees the right to equality . After seven years, the Supreme Court concluded the hearing in State of Maharashtra vs Indian Hotel and Restaurants Association and Anr, Civil Appeal No. 2705 of 2006. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar heard arguments on behalf of the State of Maharashtra, bar owners, dancers, feminist groups and other social organizations. The State of Maharashtra sought to justify the ban in public interest, alleging that bar dancing is obscene and vulgar and depraves morals, fuels trafficking and prostitution and causes exploitation of women who dance in the

bars. The bar dancers had contended that besides being discriminative the police order impinged on their right to livelihood. They had also contended that besides dancing at the bar they knew no other trade to earn their living. The Supreme Court also vacated its six-year old interim stay on running of dance bars in the state while upholding the high courts verdict. Lawyer for an organisation representing dance bar girls, Anand Grover, said that the litigation had taken seven years but the women affected by the ban had waited patiently for the verdict. In its plea, the state government had contended that prostitution rackets were being run under the garb of beer bars and indecent and vulgar performances, derogatory to society were taking place. The government had also contended that while there were only 345 licenced dance bars, about 2500 unlicenced bars

were doing business in the state. On the other hand, various organisations representing dance bars, restaurants and bar girls had argued that the preamble of the Bombay Police (Amendment) Act, 2005, which had been struck down by the high court as unconstitutional, holds that dance performances for public amusement were permissible. These organisations had also submitted that there were over 70,000 women engaged in dance bars and several of them had already committed suicide due to unemployment and financial crunch. They had said that with as many as 72 per cent of the bar girls being married and 68 per cent being sole bread earners of their family, the state governments order has rendered them jobless and had been rightly struck down as arbitrary and unconstitutional by the high court. They had also contended that the impugned section of the Act was arbitrary and discriminatory as it permit-

ted dance performances at places visited by the rich and well-to-do sections of the society while performances in small dance bars had been banned. A three judge bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, S S Nijjar and Gyan Sudha Mishra had earlier asked the Maharashtra state government to consider banning only obscene forms of dance in hotels and bars through the Bombay Police Act, the same law that was used to ban all dance bars. The Maharashtra state government had argued against the opening of the dance bars on the grounds that the ban was imposed to prevent trafficking of women and had even offered to take part in talks with stake holders to arrive at an amicable solution. However, an organisation representing the dancers had argued that the law should be struck down since the dancers were only emulating moves from Bollywood films and popular culture. The group had also claimed that the lives of 70,000 dancers was at stake.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Region

WE THE STATE

Warrant against MPCC chief

A local court today issued a bailable warrant against Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Kantilal Bhuria for failing to depose. On August 6, 2011, producer-director Ashok Pandit was Chief Guest at a programme here. Other invitees were Bhuria, state Industry Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Rajya Sabha Member Vijaylakshmi Sadho. Pandit made an adverse comment against former premier Rajiv Gandhi. Following the remark, pandemonium erupted at the venue. Pandit was led away from the scene by Mr Vijayvargiya. City Congress President Pramod Tandon submitted a petition in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Narsingh Baghel urging that a case be registered against Pandit. Bhuria ignored three summons. He has been directed to appear by October 4.

CBI raids LIC officials, agents in Indore

INDORE he Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out raids on 10 residential premises of officers and agents of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India here on Wednesday in connection with complaints about irregularities in issue of in-

PARTIES TO PROTEST AGAINST PROPOSED CHUTKA NUCLEAR PLANT

Political parties and several organizations that had earlier raised voice against the proposed 1400MW nuclear power plant at Chutka in Mandla district have declared to launch another round of agitation against the project alleging that the Union and State government have joined hands to proceed with the project ignoring its dangerous consequences. Interacting with the media persons , representatives of several organisations including Communist Party of India - MarxistLeninist (CPI-ML), Communist Party of India (CPI), Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JSM), Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), Madhya Pradesh Mahila Manch and others said that the proposed nuclear plant at Chutka is located in earthquakeprone area of the state and therefore it posed danger to the people. They also alleged that ruling establishment in India was acting as an agent of global nuclear corporate lobby whose dangerous technology is being push forward despite public opposition to it. They also said that Government was not seriously contemplating development of nonpolluting sources of energy under the pressure of corporate houses that have large stakes in the conventional energy sector. They also criticised the Government for holding public-hearing on July 31 in Chutka village on environmental aspect of the project based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report that is in English and therefore incomprehensible for the illiterate tribal population in the area.

surance policies. The officials including a branch manager and three assistant administrative officers of the corporation are alleged to be involved in a criminal conspiracy with seven agents of LIC to cheat the corporation. They cheated LIC by issuing 281 life policies, valued at Rs 1.21 crore, by obtaining third party cheques from agents and remitting back an amount of Rs 2.45 lakh to the agents towards commission against these policies, said SP, CBI (Bhopal), Yatindra Koel.

These third party cheques were dishonoured later and premium amounts were not realised in LIC account. Post dishonour of third party cheques, the accused LIC officials did not take necessary action for cheque dishonour against the agents. As such the accused officials and agents cheated the corporation and caused wrongful loss to it, said Koel. CBI Bhopal branch registered two cases against branch manager in-charge at satellite office, LIC, Sanwer on June 29. Apart from it, CBI also registered cases against an assistant branch manager, three assistant administrative officers and seven LIC agents u/s 120-B r/w 420 of IPC and Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of IPC Act, 1988, added he. In this case, after obtaining search warrant from the court of special judge, CBI, Indore, searches were conducted on Wednesday at office and residential premises of the officials at 10 places at Indore and Gwalior and incriminating documents were seized. When contacted, the senior divisional manager, LIC of India, Indore Ratnakar Patnaik, said, "The case pertains to the 2008-10 period that too related to a particular satellite branch of the corporation in Indore. We have a total of 50 such satellite and normal

branches in our region. Once we came to know of it, we immediately closed the cheque collection from the policyholders of the branch." The then branch manager of the satellite branch, A Pandey, is currently posted at Gwalior. Tripti Agrawal, an LIC agent, says, "Often we ask our policyholders to give us blank cheques against their due premium. If some of our agents don't deposit the cheque with the corporation and rather encash it in their own bank account then policyholders can easily be cheated."

MP borrows provisions of Modi govts Anti-conversion Act

BHOPAL The state government borrowed provisions of Modi governments Anti- conversion Act to amend the existing law to make it stronger for action against forceful religious conversation. The amendment bill Madhya Pradesh Dharma- Swanatraya ( Sanshodhan) Vidheyak- 2013 was passed by the legislative assembly despite objection from opposition members. The bill contains provision of three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 for forceful religious conversion in MP. Earlier, the punishment was one- year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 for forceful conversion. The BJP government amended the act borrowing from the Anti- conversion Act of the Modi government. We have taken the provisions of the Act from Gujarat government to amend the Act in MP because it was approved by the Centre, home minister Umashankar Gupta told media persons outside the House. The minister said, An amendment bill was passed by the assembly in 2006 but the then President did not approve it and sent it back to the Union home ministry which suggested to do away with some provisions. In the previous amendment bill, it was stated that before changing his or her religion a person will inform the district collector but it in the current it has been proposed that he or she will inform later. Also, it was added to the new bill that the priest or religious guru concerned who will conduct conversion process will inform the district collector before doing so, the minister said. If the district administration is not informed, the conversion will be termed forceful. The bill will now be sent to the governor and the president for their nod. The opposition MLAs said there were enough provisions in the existing law to prevent forceful religious conversion but the government brought the amendment only to appease its RSS bosses. Why an amendment is needed when there is no major religious conversation in Madhya Pradesh, said Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat. Other Congress MLAs also objected to it.

Varun Gandhi eyes Vidisha again, meets party workers in BJP stronghold
Vidisha: Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) general secretary and one of the youngest faces in Indian politics Varun Gandhi visited the Madhya Pradesh town of Vidisha on Saturday. Even though the 33year had come to attend a personal function in the city which is considered a stronghold of the saffron party, he nevertheless took out time to address district workers. Interestingly, Varun's visit has sparked speculations that he is again eyeing to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the seat, seven years after he was denied a ticket for Lok Sabha by-poll from the Madhya Pradesh town back in 2006. Considered one of the safest seats for BJP, Vidisha elected former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Lok Sabha. Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is the incumbent MP from the seat. Varun refused to speak to the media on his visit, but that didnt stop us from clicking the Pilibhit MP..

Will Jaishankar be Indian Ambassador to US ?

Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar who could not make it as Foreign Secretary may now move as Indian Ambassador to United States. He is 1977 batch IFS officer.

fused to accept the resignation of 1992 batch IPS officer Samiullah Ansari.

IPS reshuffle in Odisha

There is major IPS reshuffle in Odisha. New postings are :- Vipin

Anup Wadhawan is new Joint Secretary, Banking

Anup Wadhawan has taken over as Joint Secretary, Banking, Ministry of Finance. Wadhawan, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre was earlier Joint Secretary, DEA. (We said this on June 17,2013)

BEAURAUCRACY

NEWS
Saxena PS Home, S K Mishra PS Pensions, Rajesh Verma PS Agriculture, P C Venugopal PS Rural Development, D N Gupta Commissioner Consolidation, Gudy Srinivas Secretary Steel and Mines, Surendra Kumar Secretary Sci-

Resignation of IPS officer rejected in Gujarat

The Gujarat Government has re-

ence and Technology, Salini Pandit labour commissioner, Hemant Sharma CMD GRIDCO and Optecl,Pramod Kumar Mehrda RDC Northern Division, Vishnu Prasad Panda Secretary Board of Revenue, P K Patnaik AS GAD, P K Pradhan Registrar Cooperative Societies, Roopa Mishra project director, NRHM and MD of Odisha Medical Corporation, Jharsuguda collector Niranjan Sahoo would replace her, Guha Poonam Kumar Collector Jharsuguda, Roopa Roshan Sahoo Dhenkanal collector, V Jaya Kumar Nuapada collector, B S Poonia Sundargarh collector, B Parameswaran Balasore collector,Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya Kalahandi collector, N Thirumala Nayak Kandhamal collector, D Prasanth K Reddy Balangir collector, Shyam Sundar Nayak Deogarh collector.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Glamour

WE THE STATE

Family, fans bid adieu to Pran

F
amily, fans and close friends came together to give a final farewell to acting legend Pran, who passed away on Friday, the last rites were performed by his sons on Saturday . The Dadasaheb Phalke awardee died after prolonged illness at Lilavati Hospital last night. He was 93. The legendary actor is survived by his wife Shukla, daughter Pinky, and sons Arvind and Sunil. The last rites of Pran Krishan Sikand, known to his fans only as Pran, were performed by his sons at Shivaji park crematorium in Dadar at noon. "It is indeed a very sad day for us. The last rites were performed by both the sons," daughter Pinky said. Bollywood personalities including Karan Johar, Shatrugan Sinha, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa, Gulzar, Raza Murad, Tinu Anand, Kiran Kumar were spotted at the crematorium but present-day celebrities of the tinsel town were conspicuous by their absence. A host of Bollywood celebrities, both old and young, had taken to Twitter to express their grief following the thespian's demise. Born into a wealthy family in Delhi, Pran lived and was educated in Lahore. He pursued a course in photography in Lahore before a chance meeting with writer Wali Mohammad Wali got him a role in a 1940 Punjabi film 'Yamla Jat' in which he played the hero opposite Noorjehan. After partition, Pran moved to Mumbai, then Bombay, in 1945, initially without much success. He tasted success with Dev AnandKamini Kaushal starrer 'Ziddi', a role which he had landed with the help of Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam. There was no looking back for him after that. Pran appeared in over 400 films since the 1940s, essaying both negative and character roles, with equal ease. Pran played villain to all top heroes of his time--from Dilip Kumar to Dev Anand to Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. In his private life though, Pran was a gentleman, far removed from the dark characters he played on screen.

Received birth report of

SRK and Gauri Khan's baby
The veil of secrecy over actor Shah Rukh Khan's third baby, born with the help of a surrogate mother, has been lifted with civic authority confirming the development. "Yes, we have received the birth report of Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan's baby boy," said BMC additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar. As per details in the birth report, the baby boy was born on May 27 to parents listed as Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Shah Rukh Khan at the Masrani Hospital for Women in suburban Andheri. The couple already has son Aryan and daughter Suhana. The child was born at 34 weeks of pregnancy and weighed 1.5 kg at birth, BMC sources said quoting report received from Masrani Nursing Home. It is mandatory for nursing homes and hospitals to register every birth in the city . The civic body issues birth certificates to parents on the basis of that report. Speculation was that Gauri's sister-in-law Namita Chibber may have been the surrogate mother, but there has been no confirmation so far. Earlier, following a complaint based on media reports that a pre-natal sex determination test had been conducted, the BMC had sent a team to Khan's residence last month to ascertain the facts. The team, however, was turned away. Gender testing is banned in the country under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT)

Act. Advocate Varsha Deshpande had filed a complaint with the State government and the BMC against the 47-year-old actor for allegedly selecting and revealing the sex of the foetus. The superstar has, however, chosen to keep silent on the issue. Efforts to contact Shah Rukh failed even on Wednesday .

akistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday proposed an "adjustable withholding tax" to be levied on all Indian films and television serials. The incoming of the tax could hit the import of films and television serials produced in India and increase the prices of tickets at cinema halls across the country . While unveiling the budget for 2013-14 in parliament, Dar stated, the tax on a foreign-produced film will be Rs 1 million while the tax for a foreign-produced television drama serial will be Rs 100,000 per episode. In the case of foreign-produced television plays too, the tax will be Rs 100,000. He said, "The new adjustable withholding tax is being proposed for foreign-based films and dramas to make them competitive with the local film industry ." Pakistan imports dozens of Bollywood and Hollywood films every year. A ban imposed on the import of Indian films after the 1965 war was partially eased during former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's regime. The restrictions were further eased under the previous Pakistan Peoples Party-led government. Film distributors have credited the import of Bollywood films, which are popular with people across Pakistan, for the revival of cinema-going culture in the country . Several multiplexes in cities like Karachi and Rawalpindi screen only Bollywood productions. The new tax is adjustable, meaning importers or cinema hall owners can claim refunds while filing annual returns. Officials said the tax was proposed to keep track of imported films and serials and discourage the reckless import of movies. However, the new tax could lead to an increase in prices of tickets at cinema halls and multiplexes. Analysts said the new tax could also hit the import of foreign serials aired on Pakistani channels and cable networks.

Screening of Indian films will be taxable in Pak

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Feature

WE THE STATE

Is it a good idea for India to cede 10,000 acres to Bangladesh?

P
arliaments upcoming monsoon session (5-30 August) is likely to consider a Constitution Amendment Bill for ratification of the 2011 India-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement, aimed at resolving the complex nature of border demarcation between the two countries. It is an important legislative business considering the fact that India shares its longest border with Bangladesh (4096 kilometers) and also a geographical fact that Indias northeast is locked by Bangladesh. During his visit to Bangladesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on 6 September, 2011 signed with Bangladesh a Protocol on the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), which has since been ratified by Bangladesh and awaiting a similar nod from India. The sum and substance of the LBA is that it would amount to India ceding 10,000-acres of territory to Bangladesh and the projections about the perceived population displacement arising out of this proposed legislation are that not more than 3500 Bangladeshis would be legally arriving in India, should they choose to do so in the first place. The LBA agreement has deep foreign policy and strategic connotations for both neighbours, particularly India, and impinges on major Indian national security parameters. There are pros and cons with regard to the LBA agreement that the Indian parliamentarians would have to consider before they eventually determine whether the UPA governments Constitution Amendment Bill is passed. The parliamentarians would also have to see, before they vote for or against the proposed legislation, whether the move is in the best national interests of India. The Ayes would have the following arguments: 1. It should be supported because it will resolve the decades-old festering boundary dispute between India and Bangladesh that has been causing immense difficulties to the affected populations. 2. We should support it because the ten thousand acreage of territory set to be ceded to Bangladesh, if this legislation were to be passed, is actually territory which India does not control or administer anyway . Therefore, even if we are to sacrifice that big a piece of land (which we are in any case not controlling) for the sake of streamlining the border issues, it is worth a go. 3. No large-scale displacement of human population on either side of the Indo-Bangladesh border is expected if this legislation were to be approved. At the most 3500 Bangladeshis would be entitled t o Indian citizenship, should they choose to do so in the first place considering the uncertainties involved in such human population transfers. If we can do this at such a small cost for the sake of a structured boundary agreement, it is worth it considering that tens of millions of Bangladeshis are living in India anyway . 4. If you dont do it now, you wont be able to do ever because of three factors: (i) the rivers keep changing their courses, (ii) the human population in the said areas keeps shifting, and (iii) the current political will which is there between the two governments may not be there for long. The last point needs elaboration. Bangladesh has to elect a new government within six months or before 24 January, 2014 when the current five-year tenure of the India-friendly Sheikh Hasina government expires. No one can rule out the return of Begum Khaleda

The Nays of the LBA may have the following arguments:

1. It will be a loss of face and a serious foreign policy disaster for India to cede any territory to anyone in a peacetime situation when wars are waged for gaining territories. Why should India yield a single inch of its territory? 2. Will it not tantamount to look the other way on the serious issue of Bangladeshi infiltration? The UPA road is heavily mined as far as this proposed constitution amendment bill goes. That is because the main opposition party, the BJP, has already said that it will oppose the move. The BJP has maintained that the UPA government is flawed and has warned that the Bangladeshi infiltrators would be all over the country and the Indian northeast will be in flames. The Trinamool Congress, the ruling party of West Bengal which shares the longest border with Bangladesh, has also given indications of its opposition to the LBA move. In such a situation, it will be a stiff challenge for the UPA government to navigate the LBA constitution amendment bill to the shores. The question is: is it a good idea to cede 10000 acres of Indian territory to Bangladesh for long-term strategic, security and foreign policy objectives? The ball would shortly be in the peoples court or more precisely in the court of the peoples representatives.

Zia, who is known to be close to Islamabad and averse to New Delhi. Hasina has to be armed with tangible things if she hopes to win the forthcoming parliamentary polls. India has a moral duty to bail out its friend rather than leaving her in the lurch. For doing this, she needs two things from India: the LBA and the Teesta River Water Sharing formula. Both are problematic for India and have their downsides for the Indian domestic politics. The LBA has virtually come to fruition and India has to just pick this ripe fruit and deliver it to Hasina. Once this happens, New Delhi and Dhaka can work on Teesta, evidently a more tricky bilateral issue. That is the importance of the LBA and the upcoming Constitution Amendment Bill in Indian parliament.

Congress's 5-rupee embarrassment

E
arlier this week, news came in that the Bharatiya Janata Party was going to charge a token fee of Rs 5 from each individual who registers for the public address by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi scheduled on August 11, 2013 at LB Stadium in Hyderabad. G Kishan Reddy, BJP MLA of Amberpet constituency and State president, tweeted that the proceeds collected would go to the relief of recent Uttarakhand tragedy victims. He also clarified that this charge of Rs 5 was not ticket money, but meant for flood relief. Despite these clarifications, media distorted the story . On July 16, the Times of India reported that this funding mechanism was a corporate style of organising meetings which would cover the ex-

Requesting people to donate for a good cause is the Gandhian way

penses of organising it without any reference to the purpose for which token money would be collected. Congress politicians reacted in a rather absurd manner. So rattled have they been of late by Modi, that good sense has disappeared from their utterances. Manish Tiwari, the I&B Minister, reacted in the most ludicrous manner saying that while tickets for even flop films sold for Rs 200-250, the Rs 5-fee for a ticket for Modis speech showed the latters true value. He then said that since BJP is imposing a tax on listening without being in power, the country should start preparing for taxes on speaking, adding that this act was monetising democracy and pure fascism. Tiwaris statements are useful to the limited extent of realising how facetious and absurd Congress politicians and its Union Ministers get when rattled by Modis maneuvering. The more important takeaway from this, though, is the fact that the BJP has the courage to use the immense popularity of its chief poll campaigner to collect funds

from attendees in an era where Congress politicians are suspected of paying people to attend their rallies or buying Likes to increase their popularity on social media. The other aspect which political descendants of Mahatma Gandhi did not realise, and this is something that would pain his departed soul, is that Gandhi had a Harijan Fund in which a fee, coincidentally Rs 5, was paid by those visitors wanting Gandhis autograph. RC Mody, a former employee of the Reserve Bank of India and perhaps the recipient of Gandhis last autograph which he managed to get on January 28, 1948, two days before Gandhi was assassinated, wrote a firsthand account of that.

BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Commerce

WE THE STATE

RBI fines 22 banks Rs.49.5 cr over money laundering, KYC norms

he Reserve Bank of Indiaimposed penalties on 22 banks for violating rules for customer identification and anti-money laundering, ranging from Rs 50 lakh to around Rs 3 crore, it said on Monday . RBI has imposed a total fine of Rs 49.5 crore, including SBI,PNB, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Canara Bank and Bank of India, while it has issued cautionary letters to Citibank, Stanchart, RBS, BNP Paribas, Tokyo Mitsubishi, Barclays and State Bank of Patiala. SBI was fined Rs 3 crore by the central bank, according to an RBI release. Among private sector lenders, RBI found violations of regulatory instructions (in terms of KYC and ALM) in Yes Bank (fined Rs 2 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 1.5 crore), ING Vysya Bank (Rs 1.50), Federal Bank (Rs 3 crore), Development Credit Bank or DCB (Rs 1 crore), Dhanlaxmi Bank (Rs 2 crore), Lakshmi Vilas Bank (Rs 2.50 crore) and Jammu & Kashmir Bank (Rs 2.5.) South-based public sector lenders including Canara Bank , Andhra Bank and Vijaya Bankwill have to shell out to the tune Rs 3 crore, Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively . North-based Punjab National Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank have to pay a fine of Rs 2.50 crore each. Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) will pay a sum of 2 crore. KolkatabasedUnited Bank of India UBI is also to pay Rs 2.50 crore. Deutsche Bank AG is the only foreign lender to have appeared in the list of 22 banks. It will have to share Rs 1 crore with the central bank as fine. The RBI had carried out a study of books of

A penalty of Rs.3 crore each for SBI, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, among others

accounts and compliance systems of banks in April 2013 which revealed many didnt adhere to know-your-customer rules, including those related to cash transactions, sale of gold coins and import of gold coins on consignment basis. The RBI also issued cautionary letters to seven other banks without imposing any monetary penalty after it was satisfied with their written or oral submissions. The penalties have been imposed in exercise of powers vested in the Reserve Bank un-

der the provisions of Section 47(A)(1)( c ) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. In respect of seven other banks, where such scrutinies have been conducted and banks explanation called for, the banks written or oral submissions were found to be satisfactory or no violation of serious nature has been established. It has, therefore, been decided not to impose any monetary penalty but to issue only suitable cautionary letters, RBI said in a release.

Following probe into charges levelled by an online portal Cobrapost, RBI has earlier imposed fines totalling Rs 10.5 crore on top three private lenders Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Although the investigation did not reveal any prima facie evidence of money laundering, RBI said that any conclusive inference in this regard can be drawn only by an endto-end investigation of the transactions by tax and enforcement agencies. Agencies

BlackBerry Q5
BlackBerry users who wanted to move to BlackBerry 10, but at an affordable price, with no options. The BlackBerry Q5 may be a mid-range phone that feels solid though it is made primarily of plastic, unlike the metal-heavy Q10, but it shares many of its innards, especially the critical parts, with its premium sibling, the Q10. The display on both the BlackBerry QWERTY siblings are 3.1-inch screens with 720 x 720 resolution at 329 pixels per inch (PPI), though the Q5 being cheaper sports a LCD TFT panel as opposed to the Q10s gorgeous Super AMOLED. The siblings also share the same processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with 1.5 GHz dualcore CPUs. 2 megapixel front shooter. Although the Q10 has a better camera with more features, the cool Time Shift feature which should be a hit with youth is on the Q5 too. And another thing young people will love is the Q5 in red and white and also a pink colour which is slated to come later this year. And for mid-level corporate types, theres always the standard BlackBerry black. The 3G smartphone is also being touted as 4G LTE ready, but it wont work with Reliances awaited 4G LTE launch which is expected in this financial year, as the 2300 MHz LTE band that will be used in India is not supported. However, when you roam in the West, you should get blazing fast data speeds. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a proximity sensor, a gyroscope and an ambient light sensor, besides a built-in digital compass. Also expect BlackBerry to provide goodies like the complete MapMyIndia suite for free like they did with the Z10 to make up for the lack of BlackBerry Maps in India and the lack of an official Google Maps app. Though to be honest, Google Maps works well on the great BlackBerry 10 browser and users can also side load the Android app quite easily, as also other popular Android apps (Instagram, Flipboard, etc) that are not yet available for the BlackBerry 10 platform. Incidentally, BlackBerry 10 today features over 120000 apps on offer officially through BlackBerry World. For corporate security re-

Rs 25,000
quirements, the Q5 will also feature the security enhancements available on BlackBerry 10, including BlackBerry Balance with secure work profiles, separated right at the OS layer. And on the office suite side, the full-featured Docs to Go, which works great with the latest versions of Microsoft Office should also be available for free. The big question though would be whether the expected price tag of around Rs 25000 would be seen as too expensive for a very price-sensitive market like India where Android smartphones with far better specs on paper retail for lesser. Will BlackBerry be able to convince buyers about the holistic BlackBerry 10 solution that includes best-in-breed security and great productivity and Office tools, albeit with far, far lesser apps than Google Play boasts of ? Plus, at a time when QWERTY keyboards have gone out of fashion in developed markets and slowly seem to be going out of fashion in India as well as rich media consumption increases, would BlackBerry have been better off with launching a Z5 a cheaper version of the alltouch Z10, rather than the Q5? Whichever way it goes, and even if a Z5 is waiting in the wings, the Q5 will be key for BlackBerrys fortunes in India. BlackBerrys built-for-developing-markets BlackBerry 10 smartphone has to do well in India among the largest developing markets in the world, if BlackBerry has to gets its mojo back.

ccording to market sources, the much awaited, mid-range, built-for-developing-markets BlackBerry Q5 will launch

To ensure that BlackBerry 10.1 runs smoothly, both also share the same 2 GB RAM, while internal Flash memory on the Q5 is only 8 GB, as opposed to 16 GB on the Q10. One important aspect of the Q5 is that the 2180 mAH battery is non-removable in order to keep manufacturing costs low, but a hot-swappable microSD slot is included to expand memory by up to 64 GB. Incidentally, that means the Q5 has a better capacity battery on paper than the Q10, and should deliver better battery life than the Q10, which in our tests lasted over a day on 3G networks with WiFi usage . The Q5 weighs in at 120 gms, and sports a 5 megapixel camera at the back with flash, and a

in India on 16 July and should come with a price tag of around Rs 25000, in line with pricing in markets like Malaysia where the smartphone will be available in stores from 15 July . The Q5, which sports a physical QWERTY keyboard, has been eagerly awaited by BlackBerry fans in India since the premium full-touch BlackBerry Z10, and the recently launched premium QWERTY Q10, whose chassis is carved out of a block of cold-forged steel and where premium materials are used, were both priced at the highest end of the market in India. This left

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BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

World

WE THE STATE

Snowden has blueprints of how NSA conducts snooping operations

dward Snowden has very sensitive blueprints detailing how the National Security Agency operates that would allow someone who read them to evade or even duplicate NSA surveillance, a journalist close to the intelligence leaker said Sunday . Glenn Greenwald, a columnist with The Guardian newspaper who closely communicates with Snowden and first reported on his intelligence leaks, told The Associated Press that the former NSA systems analyst has literally thousands of documents that constitute basically the instruction manual for how the NSA is built. In order to take documents with him that proved that what he was saying was true he had to take ones that included very sensitive, detailed blueprints of how the NSA does what they do, Greenwald said in Brazil, adding that the interview was taking place about four hours after his last interaction with Snowden. Snowden emerged from weeks of hiding in a Moscow airport Friday, and said he was willing to meet President Vladimir Putins condition that he stop leaking U.S. secrets if it means Russia would give him asylum until he can move on to Latin America. Greenwald told The AP that Snowden has insisted the information from those documents not be made public. The journalist said it would allow somebody who read them to know exactly how the NSA does what it does, which would in turn allow them to evade that surveillance or replicate it. euters Despite their sensitivity, Greenwald said he didnt think that disclosure of the documents would prove harmful to Americans or their national security . I think it would be harmful to the U.S. government, as they perceive their own interests, if the details of those programs were revealed, said the 46-year-old former constitutional and civil rights lawyer who has written three books contending the government has violated personal rights in the name of protecting national security . He has previously said the documents have been encrypted to help ensure their safekeeping. Greenwald, who has also co-authored a series of articles in Rio de Janeiros O Globo newspaper focusing on NSA actions in Latin America, said he expected to continue publishing further stories based on other Snowden documents over the next four

months. Upcoming stories would likely include details on other domestic spying programs that have yet to be revealed, but which are similar in scope to those he has been reporting on. He did not provide further details on the nature of those programs. Greenwald said he deliberately avoids talking to Snowden about issues related to where the former analyst might seek asylum in order to avoid possible legal problems for himself. Snowden is believed to be stuck in the transit area of Moscows main international airport, where he arrived from Hong Kong on June 23. Hes had offers of asylum from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, but because his U.S. passport has been revoked, the logistics of reaching whichever country he chooses are complicated. Still, Greenwald said that Snowden remains calm and tranquil, despite his predicament. I havent sensed an iota of remorse or regret or anxiety over the situation that hes in, said Greenwald, speaking at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where hes lived for the past eight years. Hes of course tense and focused on his security and his short-term well-being to the best extent that he can, but hes very resigned to the fact that things

might go terribly wrong and hes at peace with that. Greenwald said he worried that interest in Snowdens personal saga had detracted from the impact of his revelations, adding that Snowden deliberately turned down nearly all requests for interviews to avoid the media spotlight. Asked whether Snowden seemed worried about his personal safety, Greenwald responded, hes concerned. He said the U.S. has shown its willing to take even the most extreme steps if they think doing so is necessary to neutralize a national security threat, Greenwald said. Hes aware of all those things, hes concerned about them but hes not going to be in any way paralyzed or constrained in what he thinks he can do as a result of that. Asked about a so-called dead mans pact, which Greenwald has said would allow several people to access Snowdens trove of documents were anything to happen to him, Greenwald replied that media descriptions of it have been overly simplistic. Its not just a matter of, if he dies, things get released, its more nuanced than that, he said. Its really just a way to protect himself against extremely rogue behavior on the part of the United States, by which I mean violent actions toward him, designed to end

his life, and its just a way to ensure that nobody feels incentivized to do that. He declined to provide any more details about the pact or how it would work. Greenwald said he himself has beefed up his own security, particularly since a laptop went missing from his Rio home. I dont really feel comfortable discussing the specific measures, but one would be really irrational and foolish to have thousands of top-secret documents from the most secretive agency of the worlds most powerful government and not be thoughtful about added security, he said. It was not immediately clear whether Russia would take Snowden up on his latest request for asylum, which could further test U.S.-Russia relations. Following Fridays meeting between Snowden and human rights activists, U.S. officials criticized Russia for allowing a propaganda platform for the NSA leader. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Russia should instead send Snowden back to the U.S. to face the felony charges that are pending against him. Carney said Snowden is not a human rights activist or a dissident. He is accused of leaking classified information, has been charged with three felony counts and should be returned to the United States, the spokesman said.

Indian Catholic priest faces sex charge in US

n Indian Catholic priest, who was arrested in the US on charges of engaging in sexual contact with a child under 13 years of age, has been released on a bail of $75,000. Father Leo Koppala, from Andhra Pradesh, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $35,000 fine or both as he was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The 47-year-old priest, as per the court order, is not allowed to leave the state of Minnesota, must surrender his passport and must remain law-abiding. The incident happened on June 7 when Koppala was invited over for supper at the loca-

tion where the child was staying. According to the complainant, Koppala kissed the girl on the cheeks and lips. Koppala also touched her private parts. Koppala told the victim that he loved her, according to the complainant. The adult in the house corroborated the incident. Before being released on the bail, Father Koppala was kept in the Faribault County Jail in Minnesota for about a month. Besides his service to the church in Blue Earth in Minnesota, he was known for his fund raising activities to help the poor and orphan children in Andhra Pradesh. (With inputs from agencies)

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BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Sports
tional coach Pullela Gopi Chands All England triumph in 2001 and though there was a bunch of good shuttlers in Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar and Aravind Bhat, they would only get noticed when they managed a upset win over some top ranked players and then again go into oblivion. But while the women stars were grabbing the headlines with title triumphs, the men were slowly but surely carving a place for themselves on the international stage with as many as six players cementing their place in the top-50 in the world ranking and P Kashyap becoming the first shuttler since Gopi Chand to break into the top-10. Apart from Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram and Anand Pawar, most of these players are in their early 20s and have already started showing their mettle with some exceptional performances on the international stage. While Srikanth shot into sudden limelight with the win in the Thailand Grand Prix Gold title, we provide you with a sneak peak at the group of Indian mens shuttlers you need to watch out for in the next couple of years. RMV Guru Sai Dutt (current world ranking 23): Raja Menuri Venkata Guru Sai Dutts first tryst with publicity came through an unwarranted allegation of doping by a senior player who was very upset at losing the match from a player who was just 16 at that time. Nothing was proved and Guru went on to become the first boys singles player to win a junior world champion bronze in 2008 along with the Commonwealth Youth Games gold and the singles title in the Dutch Junior. Gurus biggest disadvantage has been his height but the 23-year-old counters it with his speed of movement on the court and his retrieving. He announced his arrival on the senior international stage with the Baharain Open title in 2008 and then went on to reach the final of the 2010 India Open Grand Prix gold. A spate of injuries have hampered Gurus career but the youngster, who took up badminton after Gopi Chands 2001 All England triumph, has been one of the most consistent Indian shuttler on the circuit and that shows

WE THE STATE

Badminton: Not just Kashyap, Indias other men are also set for a quantum leap

hen K Srikanth became the first Indian mens singles player to win a major tournament outside the country since chief national coach Pullela Gopi Chands All England triumph in 2001, the question on the lips of many sports fan was Srikanth who? While the public profile of badminton has grown by leaps and bounce in the past few years with the success of world number two

Saina Nehwal and a consistent performance by the Indian squad in major events, the focus mostly remained on the womens side with Saina winning titles are regular interval and the likes of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnapa adding the glamour quotient to go with their own court success. It didnt help that no mens singles player had managed to win any major title since na-

in his world ranking. B Sai Praneeth (current world ranking 61): The former junior national champion is considered to be the most talented among the group of players playing on the international circuit. The 21-year-old, who stunned world number 4 Yun Hu of Hong Kong in the opening round of the ongoing Singapore Open Super Series after going through the qualifying round, is a complete player and that showed in the kind of success he achieved in singles and doubles in the junior circuit. The 2010 World junior championship bronze medallist has a lazy elegance in the way he plays broke into the top 50 in February this year but had been struggling a bit in the last few months. However, the victory against Hu will definitely spur him up to raise the bar further. Sourabh Verma (current world ranking 42): The boy from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh makes up for the lack of strokes with his grit and determination and his ability to retrieve opponents shots from extreme positions. A workhorse on the court, Verma holds the record of winning the longest recorded match at one hour 59 minutes in the new scoring system. The 2011 national champion has already accounted for the likes of former world number one Peter Gade of Denmark along with Yun Hu and current world number six Kenichi Tago in the past with his best performance being the final appearance in the India Open GP gold in 2011, where he lost to former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Prannoy HS (current world ranking 53): The lanky Kerala shuttler was found wanting for worlds when he stunned former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat at the India Open Super Series earlier this year. The 2010 Youth Olympics silver medallist, who boasts of a backhand smash just like the Indonesian, even stretched world number one Lee Chong Wei into the decider in the next round and followed it up with a quarterfinal appearance in the Thailand Open two weeks ago. Prannoy is a very aggressive player but would have to ensure that he stays away from injuries to maintain his consistency at the international level.

RR skipper Dravid becomes witness in IPL spot-fixing case

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has reportedly recorded a statement regarding the IPLspot-fixing scandal which will make him a formal prosecution witness in the case. According to DNA, sources in the Delhi Police say that Dravids statement was recorded under section 161 of the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC). ipl-spot-fixing-case> Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested on 16 May for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing and while Sreesanth and Chavan have received bail, Chandila is still in custody . The report quotes an investigating officer as saying that the it is a single-page statement which will make the prosecution case stronger. It then quotes Dravid as saying: I never had a doubt about these players. I used to select players on a match-tomatch basis. Dravid has given full support in the case so

far. Late in May, he said: I believe truth sets you free. I sincerely hope that we get to the bottom of this mess and reveal whatever the truth is, no matter how painful it is.

The police may also record Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Uptons statement. Upton is in South Africa now but the source said that he will be made a witness when he returns to India. These are the latest major developments in the spot-fixing case after Royals player Harmeet Singh told the cops that bookies had tried to approach Shane Watson before the start of IPL-6. Rajasthan Royals player Ajit Chandila, bookies Jitender and Manan had planned to approach Watson for the spot-fixing in February this year, a Delhi Police officer had revealed on the basis of a statement given by a team member of Rajasthan Royals, Harmeet Singh. A charge sheet in the case is expected to be filed soon and media reports say that the names of some D-Company dons may also feature in it along with the three Royals players

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BHOPAL July 15 to July 21, 2013

Nation

WE THE STATE

I don't want to be Kerala CM: Mani

ispelling media speculation, Kerala Finance Minister K.M. Mani declared Tuesday that he was not interested in becoming the chief minister. "No such thoughts are there in me or my party, and please leave me alone," Mani told reporters.

The 80-year-old Mani has been a legislator since 1967 without a break and has presented 11 state budgets. He is considered a seasoned politician. Critics say he is an opportunist. Mani heads the Kerala Congress (Mani), the third biggest constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front. His party has nine legislators. In the 140-member assembly, the UDF has 73 legislators and the Left 67. Speculation about Mani started after two members in Chandy's office were booted out and another arrested for their links with a couple who have been arrested on charges of cheating numerous investors in Kerala. Since the arrests, the Left has organised street protests demanding the resignation of Chandy.

Rahul worried about Narendra Modi's media skills

Training camp on media management for the newly inducted spokespersons.The camp will be held on July 21, 22 and 23 at the party headquarters on Akbar Road in the national capital. Perception is key to formation of opinions and the Congress party has come to realise this. As it gets ready for the General elections, the Congress, worried by BJP leader Narendra Modi's media skills, is holding a three-day training camp on media management for its media managers. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who has tried to bring in some changes and seriousness in the way the party's media unit operates, will inaugurate the training camp for the newly inducted spokespersons. The camp will be held on July 21, 22 and 23 at the party headquarters on Akbar Road in the national capital. The Congress had asked its state unit to select 15 articulate, aggressive, knowledgeable and media savvy people for the training.The spokespersons will also be given additional coaching in their state capitals next month. The training is also being designed in a more organised manner. Five persons will be trained for social media, ten will receive training in print and electronic media management. Haryana's young MP Deepender Hooda will be in-charge of coordination with different media centres of the party. To focus on social media engagement with voters and party workers every state will have a communication centre. Lastly, to equip the party spokespersons with proper and indepth information on various subjects of public discussion, a research team has been set up in Delhi and it is headed by East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit.

Politics on Terror: When will it stop?

P
oliticians in India can stoop to any level when it comes to settling scores with their rivals or gaining political mileage from sensitive national security issues like the blasts at Mahabodhi Temple - the Holy Buddhist shrine - in Bihars Bodh Gaya. Even before investigators could achieve any breakthrough and identify those behind the blasts, the political fraternity jumped to their own conclusions. The slugfest between the two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP , which was later joined by some others of their ilk, led to deviation in focus from the most important issue in the discourse - national security . It is unfortunate that at this crucial juncture the political parties, instead of showing a united front against terrorism, are wasting their energy and intellect in targeting each other with their own political interpretation of the serial blasts at the revered religious site. Clearly , vote bank politics and fast approaching elections are the main reasons why the political parties appear keen to take advantage of a serious situation like a terror attack. And its not only the terror-related incidents over which we have seen the political parties playing pity politics, some of our publicity-seeking politicians resorted to cheap politics over rescue operations in Uttarakhand after torrential rains and landslides resulting in massive destruction and loss of lives. At a time when the international community has stressed on the need for giving a tough response to terrorism of all kinds, the Indian politicians continue to ignore the longterm consequences of their actions. Inarguably , all political parties in India have played politics over terrorism for vested interest. Be it the execution of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been convicted by the court for assassinating former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh or the sentencing of Rajiv Gandhis assassins, vote bank and politics of appeasement have created obstacles in the judicial process. We have repeatedly ignored the dangers of vote bank and appeasement politics, which has led to slow weakening of our political system and our resolve to tackle grave situations such as terror attacks. In the aftermath of the 26/11 terror attacks, the government of India felt the need to create a National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) - a proposed federal anti-terror agency modelled on the lines of National Counterterrorism Center of the USA. The intelligence and operational failures that led to the mayhem in Mumbai necessitated the need for a federal agency with real time actionable intelligence inputs to foil terror attacks in India. However, the proposal has met with much criticism from the Chief Ministers of various states who see this as a ploy by the UPA government to weaken the federal structure. The appeasement of a particular caste or a community for political gains is not a new phenomenon in India, but what is appalling is the fact that political parties have seriously weakened the secular fabric of the nation while doing so. In the name of safeguarding the interests of a minority community or championing the concerns of the majority or vice versa, our politicians have ended up ignoring everyone. It is high time our political fraternity understands that vote bank and appeasement politics will do no good to the nation in the long run and will only weaken our secular and democratic set up. Why cant we look up to America, which despite political differences makes no compromises on the issue of national security?

Owned Printed and Published by M.M.Baig. Printed at lucky, 267, Pragati Nagar, Shahanshah Garden, Bhopal (MP) and published from H.No.101, A-SECTOR INDRAPURI BHEL, WARD NO.63 DIST BHOPAL-462021, M.P. Tele/FAX 0755-4292545,Mob.09425029901 email-editor@wethestate.com RNI No. MPENG\2012\46415 Editor: M.M. BAIG -Responsible for selection of News & Articles under PRB Act, Subject to Bhopal jurisdiction