Modi`s heady visit to Talaimannar, Jaffna

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VOL. XXXIII NO. 97
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H CHENNAI H SATURDAY 14.3.2015 (EVENING) H OTHER STATIONS SUNDAY 15.3.2015 (MORNING) H 8 PAGES Rs. 4.00 H
Chaos at TNCC meet
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
The bickering within the Tamilnadu
Congress Committee (TNCC) is
nothing new. However, things went
out of hand today at a memorial
meet at the State Congress headquarters -- Sathyamurthy Bhavan
this morning which eventually
ended up in blows being exchanged
between supporters of TNCC chief
EVKS Elangovan and senior party
leader P Chidambaram. Police
were deployed in large numbers to
restore order.
A meeting was organised at the
Sathyamurthy Bhavan to pay tributes
to senior Congress leader T S Killivalavan, who passed away yesterday.
No sooner the meeting was over,
a Chidambaram sympathiser and
party’s backward classes wing chief
Sathyaseelan raised an issue with
Elangovan. He wondered why they
were not invited for the meeting.
When Elangovan tried to pacify him,
a wordy duel broke between the those
who gathered at the venue.
They pushed each other and even
dealt blows on one another.
WAR OF WORDS
Regd. No., TN/CC(S) DN/223/15-17, RNI No: 33810 / 82
On the job
rime Minister Narendra Modi today paid a visit to
Sri Lanka’s ancient capital Anuradhapura and offered prayers at the sacred Mahabodhi tree in a move
aimed at projecting India’s Buddhist links in the region.
Accompanied by Sri Lankan President Maithripala
Sirisena, Modi, attired in a spotless white kurta-pyjama,
spent about 30 minutes at the Mahabodhi tree temple
in Lanka’s north central holy town and perform rituals.
Legend has it that the southern branch of the holy
Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya in India under which Buddha
was said to have attained enlightenment was brought
to Sri Lanka in 288 BC by Princess Sanghamitta (Sanghamitra in Sanskrit), the daughter of Emperor Ashoka.
Modi has said global confidence in India has been
restored and the world’s engagement with the country
is at a ‘new level’ even as he assured Sri Lanka that
steps would be taken to address its concerns over the
huge bilateral trade imbalance.
Stating that Sri Lanka has the potential to be India’s
‘strongest economic partner’ in the region, Modi said it
should not worry about India’s economic size.
Meanwhile in Auckland, Brendan Taylor played the
innings of his life in his final ODI for Zimbabwe as his
138 helped the team manage 287 all out in 48.5 overs
against defending champions India in the final pool B
league encounter of the cricket World Cup today.
Modi’s heady visit to
Talaimannar, Jaffna
q Lankan Tamils hopeful q SL top leaders accompany PM
Congress activists involved in a
heated argument.
Immediately police rushed to the
place and tried to pacify the agitating
Congressmen.
Addressing mediapersons, Sathyaseelan, said ‘there is no respect for
senior leaders in the party. We are
being sidelined. When we asked why
we were not invited for the meet, they
attacked us. We will raise the issue
with the party high command’.
NT Bureau / Agencies
Colombo / Chennai, Mar 14:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who is in Sri Lanka, was set to visit
the country’s war-ravaged northern
region today. He is visiting Talaimannar, Anuradhapura and Jaffna, amid
hopes from Tamils that their lives
would improve as Modi would take
up with his Lankan counterparts the
issues faced by them.
‘Leaving for Anuradhapura. Will
also travel to Talaimannar and Jaffna
today. Looking forward to a wonderful
day,’ Modi posted on his microblogging page today.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala
Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe will accompany
Modi during his historic visit to the
TEMPLE TREE
Plan for the day
l Handing over of homes
constructed by India
l Flagging off railway line
l Foundation stone for cultural
centre
Prime Minister Modi offering
prayers at Sri Maha Bodhi tree in
Anuradhapura.
country’s war-ravaged northern region. Sirisena and Wickremesinghe
will travel with the Indian leader today
to the sacred city of Anuradhapura,
the capital of North Central Province,
government sources said.
Later, Wickremesinghe will ac-
company with Modi to the Tamildominated Jaffna in the Northern
province, they added. Modi is the
second prime minister to visit Jaffna
after Britain’s David.
Modi will hand over today homes the
Indian government built for internally
displaced persons. The first visit by
an Indian head of the government
to Sri Lanka’s northern province has
generated a huge buzz among Sri
Lanka’s 2.2 million Tamil minority,
who have, for the past three decades
formed the centerpiece of South
Block’s attention.
‘There are huge expectations from
Modi’s visit. Just like we had when the
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)
arrived here in 1987’, former Dean of
the medical faculty in Jaffna university, Professor S V Parameswaran,
was quoted as saying.
Most of an estimated $700 million Indian aid after the end of the
2009 civil war has been directed
towards reconstruction efforts
in the northern province. Modi
will flag off a railway line linking
Medawachchiya with Talai Mannar
and lay the foundation stone for a
cultural centre in Jaffna, the capital
of the northern province.
A stitch in time for Taylor
WATER WAITERS
q Stand-in Zimbabwe skipper slams ton in final ODI
Birds, apparently waiting to catch fish at Chitlapakkam lake, present a pleasant sight in the backdrop of
water hyacinth.
Photo: C SANTHOSH
Techie-rapist still on run
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
With rumours rife that Dinesh Kannappan who is accused of murdering
his female friend on 9 March would
have ended his life, the city police is
still on the lookout for the 25-year-old.
According to police sources, Dinesh who
works with a BPO in Ambattur, is alleged to
have killed Aruna Srinivasan (21), by hitting
her with a flower vase at his apartment
on Baraka Road. He then wrapped her
body in bed sheets, dumped it in his car
and fled on a motorcycle.
Five days post the incident, it is
reported that the police is yet to get
any leads on the missing accused.
Even the motive behind the murder
is yet to be established.
‘The police has formed special teams
to search for Dinesh with four SubInspectors in Bengaluru and another
four in Vellore. We are also hunting for
him with our personnel in Coimbatore.
They are meeting his relatives and
friends, and checking if he has been
to any of their houses’, said a police
source. The investigations so far reveal that Dinesh has not visited any of
them, neither has he tried contacting
his relatives, friends or his sister over
the phone, said the source.
On the day Dinesh had vanished, he
left his phone at home, the source added.
Meanwhile, Dinesh is also suspected
to have taken the extreme step of ending
his life, to which the source responded
that they have checked all government
hospitals in the city for any such case,
but have not come across any.
It may be noted that, Dinesh had
been in a relationship with Aruna for
more than four years and that she
was a usual visitor to his place.
On 9 March, Aruna visited him
while his father Kannappan, a retired
ONGC employee, was in hospital for
heart surgery. Other family members,
including his mother and two sisters,
were at the hospital, when the murder
took place.
Auckland, Mar 14:
Brendan Taylor played the innings
of his life in his final ODI for Zimbabwe
as his 138 helped the team manage
287 all out in 48.5 overs against defending champions India in the final
pool B league encounter of the cricket
World Cup, here today.
Chasing 288 for its sixth straight
win in the round-robin phase, India
slipped to 158 for 4 after 35 overs,
losing wickets at regular intervals.
Skipper M S Dhoni and Suresh Raina,
so often involved in rescue acts,
were at the forefront as the defending champions attempted to mount
a fightback. Virat Kohli was looking
good before falling to Sikander Raza
for 38 while Shikhar Dhawan endured
a rare failure, succumbing to Tanashe
Panyangara for 4. Rohit Sharma and
Ajinkya Rahane were the other batsmen to be dismissed.
Zimbabwe’s total was highest by
any country against India in the current edition surpassing Ireland’s 259
in the previous game.
Taking the Indian bowlers by the
sword after being put into bat, Taylor
smashed the white ball around the
small Eden Park ground, cracking
15 boundaries and five sixes in his
110-ball stay.
Having scored his first 50 off 64
deliveries, Taylor scored his next
88 runs in only 46 balls as the
three-figure mark was reached in 99
deliveries.
Brendan Taylor
l Brendan Taylor’s 138 off
110 balls is the first instance a Zimbabwean
has scored back-toback hundreds in a
World Cup
l It is the first century
India conceded in
this tournament, and
set up the biggest total against them in this
World Cup.
It was his eighth ODI century and
highest by any Zimbabwean and also
the first against India in this edition of
the mega event.
He got a standing ovation from
the Indian supporters as the likes of
Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Shikhar
Dhawan congratulated the 29-yearold, who is migrating permanently
to England after this match due to
financial constraints.
This was also one of the matches
where Indian spinners Ravichandran
Ashwin (1 for 75 in 10 overs) and
Ravindra Jadeja (0 for 71 in 10 overs)
bore the brunt of the mayhem created
by Taylor.
The pace trio held their own once
again, as young Mohit Sharma (3
for 48 in 10 overs), Mohammed
Shami (3 for 48 in 9 overs) and
Umesh Yadav (3 for 43 in 9.5
overs) did well as the final five
wickets went for 47 runs after
Zimbabwe were 241 for five at
one stage.
Taylor was well-supported by Sean Williams
(50) as they added 93 for
the fourth wicket while
another 109 for the fifth
wicket was added in
company of Craig Ervine
(27) after Zimbabwe were
reduced to 33 for three in 11
overs.
At the start Hamilton Masakadza (2),
Chamu Chibhabha (7) and Solomon
Mire (9) were sent back by the three
seamers as Zimbabwe were reduced
to 33 for three in 11 overs.
It was time when Taylor was joined
by Sean Williams as the two initiated
a recovery process.
Chennai gets ready for Melbourne
M BHARAT KUMAR
Chennai, Mar 14:
Come 19 March (Thursday), Team
India will lock horns with Bangladesh
in the quarterfinal of the ongoing
World Cup. In terms of popularity,
nothing comes close to cricket in this
part of the country. And if you think
that cricket is just a passion for men,
think again. The city girls are no less
passionate and they have their own
plans in place.
Joining in to celebrate the cricket
season, a few hotels in the city
have promised big discounts and
have set up big screens to catch
the live action.
Says, a Food and Beverages manager at a hotel in T Nagar, ‘We are
offering beverage promotions during
World Cup matches especially when
Team India plays. Big screens will
be installed to telecast matches and
guests can enjoy discounts on all
beverages’.
At a hotel in Vadapalani the matches will be shown live on a big screen
and during match hours discount will
be offered. ‘Also we are planning to
make blue as theme for the day, said
a hotel staff.
Some restaurants have introduced sea food like tandoori vanjaram, tiger prawns, lobsters, crab
and korameenu for the season and
named it after cricketing terms like
square drive, long leg and deep
midwicket.
Various food outlets in the city have
already been shooting messages
through mobile phones announcing
discounts on door delivery of food
on match day.
Meanwhile, avid cricket fans in the
The matches will be shown live
on a big screen at some hotels
and during match hours
discount will be offered
Tamil film industry too have their
plans ready to catch action live from
Melbourne on the day.
Known for his love of the game,
actor Vishal, a former Kollywood
cricket team skipper, says that he
would be busy shooting for director
Suseenthiran’s film on the day. ‘It is
difficult to catch the action live on
television in the middle of work. But
I would keep a tab on the scores
through my friends’.
Actor Shaam, who played cricket
before making a career in cinema,
says, ‘I will be dubbing for my movie. But will keep myself updated
with score through my phone. I
feel we will make it to the final this
time. And plans are on to watch
the action on giant screen with my
friends on 29 March’.
Meanwhile a few die-hard cricket
fans, who are working in private
firms in the city, have chosen to take
leave on the day. For Shakeel, a HR
personnel in an IT firm in OMR, ‘We
have made arrangements for our
staff to watch the match live during
the break. A few of our employees
have preferred to work the next
Saturday and wanted to take leave
on Thursday’.
The girls too have their own plans
in place. ‘I am a big fan of Virat Kohli
and M S Dhoni and I am not going
to miss the chance to watch them in
action. I want to see Dhoni lifting the
cup’, says Monicka, an engineering
student.
Mallika, a student appearing for her
12th standard CBSE board exams,
said she planned to study in advance
and keep herself free on the match
day to catch the action.
2 SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
City
Centre
All is not well here The case of missing light
CHENNAI
Chrompet GH lacks facilities
A view of government hospital at Chrompet.
I
nnumerable visits to the governevery day.
ment hospital at Chrompet to
Social activist V Santhanam said
treat her chronic skin allergy left R
that the location of the hospital on the
Kavitha, resident of Krishna
busy GST Road is the
Nagar in Pammal, a
prime reason. ‘Comdistraught woman, as
pared to many hosskin specialists were
pitals in Tambaram
MPET
O
R
H
C
not available there.
Taluk, treatment here
The hospital, which
is better and thus people prefer
has a reputation of being
it. Also, the hospital has maternity
better than any other
hospiwards which functions 24X7.’
tal in Kanchipuram district sees more
However, things aren’t hunky-dory
than 1500 patients
at the facility now, Santhanam men-
tioned.
‘There are almost 170 in-patients and there are not enough
doctors to
treat them. As equipment like
CT Scan are absent, accident
cases are often referred to
hospitals in the city, risking the
life of the patient.’
With accidents on GST Road
rising each day, people feel it
is high time
the facilities at the hospital are
upgraded. ‘Forget skin specialist, there is no general surgeon
to perform minor surgeries like
hernia and appendix,’ complained Bheema Rao of Nehru
Nagar, Chrompet.
Woes of the patients increased due to shortage of the
medicines in the past week.
Many residents who come to
get medicines for hypertension and
diabetes are sent back due to absence of stock.
When this reporter took up the issue
with the hospital staff, they said the
budget allocation for the current year
has already been exhausted. How
can the poor afford to get treated in
private hospitals, wondered
Santhanam.
- NT Bureau
Darkness rules at service lane in Kodambakkam
The entire
service lane
near Arcot
Road from
Station Border
Road to United
India Colony
First Lane has
no lamps
Street lights are the need of the hour at the lane.
T
PHOTO:
R THIYAGARAJAN
Construction work is on for the new footpath at Ajiz Nagar in Kodambakkam.
IN THEATRES
he service lane of Arcot Road
has no street lights and this has
caused a lot of trouble to residents
and people passing by the lane.
‘There are street lights on the other
side but the entire service lane from
Station Border Road to United India
Colony first lane has no lamps’, says
vice-president, Kodambakkam Residents Civic and Welfare Association,
Balaji.
He further says, ‘we have written
our grievances to the Mayor and he
has signed it and forwarded to the
officials. When we approached the
local authorities concerned, they told
that the appeal has been sent to get
IN HOME
SONY PIX
IVANUKKU THANILA GANDAM
IV
03:58 PM Bad Boys II
06:58 PM Salt
Kamala Theatre, Udhayam Theatre, PVR Cinemas,
09:00 PM The Amazing Spider-Man
AGS Cinemas, INOX National, Abirami Mega Mall,
Woodlands Multiplex, Mayajaal Cinema, Sangam
HBO
Multiplex, Sri Ganga Cinema, Raj Theatre, Maharani
Theatre
the work started and that street
lights would be fixed as soon as
possible.’
‘Yet, no action has been taken
regarding this issue and several
minor mishaps have taken place in
the lane due to the delay’, adds
Balaji.
‘With no street lights it becomes
risky and difficult for women, children
and senior citizen to walk through the
lane during the night and once cannot
expect the police to be always there
for helping everyone who pass by the
lane’, another resident says.
‘Sometime back, a woman’s gold
chain and purse were snatched away
06:56 PM Enter the Dragon
S
U
D
O
K
U
6
4
8
M
AKKA
while she
AMB
KOD
was on her
way home through this
lane. So, the officials should take
up this as a serious issue and ensure
that the street lights are placed at the
earliest.’
‘My watch and mobile phone were
snatched by two men while I was on
my way home, it was so dark and
I couldn’t see their faces properly.
They just took the phone and watch,
pushed me and ran away. After that
day I never opted that lane to reach
my home’, says Lakshmi, a resident
from United India Colony.
- NT Bureau
3
6
2
6
5
3
8
6
Mayajaal, Escape Cinema, Devi Cineplex, Kamala Theatre,
MOVIES NOW
PVR Cinemas, Sangam, AGS, INOX National, Hall, Rakki
05:45 PM The Dark Knight Rises
Multiplex, Abirami Theatres,
09:00 PM The Mask
11:00 PM American Reunion
STAR MOVIES
06:56 PM Rise of the Planet of the
Apes
09:00 PM The Fast and the Furious
Theatres,
JAYA TV
04:00 PM Doctor Doctor
10:30 PM Arasatachi
05:00 PM Samayal Samayal
POLIMER TV
06:00 PM K.J.Yesudas’s 50
04:30 PM Movie Munnottam
07:00 PM Athu Ithu Yethu
05:00 PM Nenjam Pesuthey
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08:00 PM Kitchen Super Star
06:00 PM Moondru Muduchi
07:30 PM News
09:00 PM Jodi No.1
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08:00 PM Jaya Super Singer South
India
09:00 PM Nadandhadhu Enna
09:30 PM Kavidhaiyae Theriyuma
10:30 PM English News
10:45 PM Tamil News
11:00 PM Hits
SUN TV
03:30 PM Movie
06:00 PM Mundhanai Mudichu
06:30 PM Pasamalar
07:00 PM News
07:30 PM Nadhaswaram
08:00 PM Deiva Magal
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11:00 PM Koffee with DD
10:00 PM Thirai Kadhambam
09:00 PM Priyamanaval
RAJ TV
10:30 PM Polimer News
09:30 PM Vani Rani
05:00 PM S K Shoppe
11:00 PM Cinema Cinema
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11:00 PM Movie
MEGA TV
06:30 PM Thirai Vaanil
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05:00 PM Movie
08:00 PM Karuthamma
06:00 PM Movie
08:30 PM Chinnathirai Cinema
08:30 PM Alaipayuthey
10:30 PM Nenju Porukkudhillayae
11:30 PM Movie
KALAIGNAR TV
VIJAY TV
03:30 PM Siricha Pochu
The object is
to insert the
numbers in
the boxes to
satisfy only
one condition:
each row,
column and
3x3 box must
contain the
digits
1 through 9
exactly once:
Easy nah?
ANSWER TO
SUDOKU 3016
(13.3.2015)
11:06 PM 2 Fast 2 Furious
TV TODAY
4
3
1
2
3
3017
KATHAM KATHAM
PVR Cinemas, Sangam, AGS, INOX National, Abirami
1
4
7
10:55 PM Gravity
Mayajaal, Escape Cinema, Devi Cineplex, Kamala Theatre,
5
1
2
09:00 PM 300: Rise of an Empire
MAHABALIPURAM
9
3
8
9
3
6
7
2
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1
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3
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1
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3
9
STAR SPORTS 1
03:30 PM ICC Cricket World Cup
2015 H/ls : India vs. Zimbabwe
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2015 H/ls : Bangladesh vs.
New Zealand
(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2015 All rights reserved
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Tshwane Open 2015 Day 3
CRICKET
Around Town
CHENNAI
SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
3
FREED FROM
DEATH GUTTER
q No manual scavenging in TN from tomorrow
ANURADHA C
Chennai, Mar 14:
The State government will officially ban manual scavenging
from tomorrow as a notification regarding the same was
released by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply
Department recently.
This move is to relieve the
State from its status as a high
open defecation place in the
country.
According to the provisions
of a Central Act, 15 March
has been declared as the
end day, after which people
who get involved in manual
scavenging will be subjected
to imprisonment.
The notification that was
issued from the government
on 5 March states that, ‘The
Governor of Tamilnadu hereby
According to Tamilnadu government
notification no person, local authority or
any agency shall, engage or employ, either directly or indirectly, any person for
hazardous cleaning of a
sewer or a septic tank
notifies the 15th day of March,
2015 as the date from which
no person, local authority or
any agency shall, engage or
employ, either directly or indirectly, any person for hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a
septic tank’.
Reacting to the notification,
Habitat for Humanity managing director
Rajan Samuel said, ‘India
stands first in the world in
terms of poor sanitation. The
practice of open defecation
is the highest in our nation. If
we take Tamilnadu, Namakkal
and Villupuram has 90 percentage of open defecation.
So this move from the State
government is a welcome
one. We too are trying to help
by building proper toilets in
areas like schools, community
centres and individual houses.
We hope to make those places
open defecation free ones
soon’.
People like Change India
director Paadam A Narayanan
has been constantly fighting for
this law to be put to practice.
Students discuss
women equality
AIADMK chief
condoles death
of Killivalavan
British Council South India director Me-kwei Barker giving away a
prize to a participant who took part in the debate organised as part
of International Women’s Day in Chennai recently.
NT Bureau
national Women’s Day’, ‘This day is
symbolic only for the elite and for
Chennai, Mar 14:
commercial aspects’. On the other
British Council celebrated Women’s
Day by conducting a debate on ‘Inter- hand inferences like, ‘Little drops make
a big ocean, small celebrations like
national Women’s Day: Does it make
this is sure to take us further down
a real difference to women’s lives?’.
women’s equality; ‘Days like this help
According to a press release, about
raise awareness in the minds of men
60 audience which included British
and women’ were also made.
Council English Language Centre
British Council South India direcstudents and customers took part.
tor Me-kwei Barker in her address
Twenty participants came forward
stressed on the importance of equaland spoke for a minute on the topic
ity and how the British Council con‘Women and Society’ out of which 10
were selected. They were further di- tinuously aims in mainstreaming this
across our work in India.
vided into five teams debating for and
AVTAR group of enterprises founder
against the topic.
The debators quoted powerful state- Saundarya Rajesh moderated the session. She adjudged the best speaker
ments on women equality by way of
poems and real life examples. Some - Swetha Pinheiro, runner up Dhanan
and the winning team - Vikram and
points that stood out from the debate
were, ‘Nothing happens after Inter- Kalpana.
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on
Friday condoled the death of political
veteran T S Killivalavan (90), who was
close to DMK founder C N Annadurai
as well as Congress stalwart K Kamaraj. He passed away in city due to
age-related illness.
In her condolence message, she
recalled the services rendered by Killivalavan to the Tamil society and to
Dravidian movement. The AIADMK
chief said after learning that the veteran Congress leader was living alone
and in poverty without any help, on
Tuesday, she sanctioned Rs 5 lakh
financial assistance to him.
Jayalalithaa said she was shocked to
know about the demise of the leader
as she expected that he would recover
his illness.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the AIADMK
supremo, State Backward Classes and
Minorities Welfare Minister S Abdul
Rahim and Ward Councillors Nungai
Maran and Santhi Baskar paid floral
tributes to the Congress leader at his
house at Kulakari Street, Nungambakkam today.
TMC president G K Vasan also expressed his deep condolence to the
family members of Killivalavan. His
demise is loss to country, especially
Tamilnadu, he said.
‘Cheerful nature, an
asset for women’
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
For a woman, self-dignity is
more important and every woman
should concentrate on studies
and during the period of study,
they should not get tempted to be
carried away by fleeting emotions,
said writer and public speaker
Sumathi Sri.
Participating at the International
Women’s Day celebrations organised by St Peter’s Group of Institutions here recently, she said a
cheerful nature and a brave heart
are assets for women and they
should bring glory to themselves,
institutions, society and nation.
Over 300 students took part and
Dignitaries at the International Women’s Day celebrations organised
by St Peter’s group of institutions in Chennai recently.
prizes were given to winners of
various competitions held as part
of Women’s Day.
St Peter’s University Chancellor
Dr T Banumathi, architect Roopmathi Anand and Doyen Systems
Pvt Ltd head (HR) Srividya Srini-
vasan shared their experiences
and urged the students to improve
self-confidence.
St Peter’s University director L
Mahesh Kumar, St Peter’s College
of Engineering adn Technology principal S Selvan were present.
Ending manual scavenging is
the starting point in eliminating
open defaction in this place by
ensuring sanitary latrines, he
has said.
It is said that the number
of manual scavengers in
urban areas are alarming
and if this continues then
all the development that
the State aims towards
sanitation will become
ineffective. If urban areas have a large rate
then there is the frightening question of how many
people might be involved in
manual scavenging activities in
the rural areas. Proper awareness is a necessity along with
a proper order so that people
realise the importance of sanitation and will not get involved
in unclean activities.
Why AIADMK
backed Land Bill?
q Jaya says Centre accepted party’s amendment
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Stoutly defending its vote in support
of the land bill in Lok Sabha and rubbishing DMK’s accusations, AIADMK
chief J Jayalalithaa on Friday said it
did so for public good as the amendments were brought by the Modi
regime to give States their rights
and make both Centre and States
partners in the nation’s growth.
‘I feel that the amendments to Land Bill
have been brought about by the Modiled government on the basis of giving
State governments their rights and to
make both Centre and States’ partners
in the nation’s growth,’ she was quoted
as saying in a statement here.
Rubbishing Karunanidhi’s charge of
having an ‘ulterior
motive’ in supporting
the bill, she said her
party supported it as it was for public
good and benefit of Tamilnadu.
‘Karunanidhi has deliberately faulted
AIADMK and has attempted to unnecessarily blame my party,’ she said and
referred to a DMK piloted 1999 State
Act on land acquisition for industries.
‘It is comical that Karunanidhi is talking on this issue whose regime brought
a legislation enabling land acquisition
Special children
celebrate annual day
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Arvind Foundation, a charitable
organisation working for children with
special needs celebrated annual day Saaransh 15’ at Mahodaya Hall, Ashok
Nagar recently.
The celebration showcased the
talents of special children with Autism,
Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy,
ADHD, MR etc. Students enacted a
drama on the theme Ainthinaigal - the
five types of land forms and the lifestyle
of people who lived there - Kurinji, Mullai, Marudham, Neidhal and Paalai.
Arvind Foundation co-founder Sudha
Athmaraj said that the highlight of this
year’s programme was independency
with which the children portrayed the
characters and their complete understanding of the essence of knowledge
gained through this experience. Right
from the welcome address down to
the vote of thanks, the students had
taken over the speeches completely,
even to the extent of bringing in the
connection between the Ainthinaigal
from time to time.
She said that around 110 special
needs students from five centres of
Arvind Foundation had performed
on the stage and it was a visual treat
to see the special children enjoying
their act.
Students of Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Chetpet with ‘Young Learners
English’ test certificates provided by Cambridge English language
Assessment representatives in Chennai recently.
City children get
Cambridge certificates
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Cambridge English Language Assessment, a part of University of Cambridge awarded students of Maharishi
Vidya Mandir, Chetpet, Chennai with
certificates of excellence.
According to a press release, students who had taken the Young
Learners English Tests (YLE) were
bestowed with certificates during the
ceremony that took place here recently.
Cambridge English Language Assessment regional manager (South
Asia), T K Arunachalam gave away
certificates to 389 students.
YLE is a sequence of fun, motivating English language tests specially
When charity doesn’t begin at home
q Incident of cop beating up daughter causes a stir in city
NAOMI N
Chennai, Mar 14:
In a startling incident, a 25-year-old
woman was beaten black and blue at
Ulsoor Street in Bengaluru a couple
of days ago by her father.
The news gained momentum when
it was found that the man was a special sub-inspector with the Madurai
police, who had been placed under
suspension two months ago.
The man took to hitting his daughter, when he came to know that
she was allegedly seeing someone,
which was denied by her.
According to news reports and
visuals, the woman was brought
out of her hostel and physically assaulted on the street with over 30
people, including her mother, watching helplessly.
The parents reportedly wanted to
want to take the girl back to Madurai
as they did not want her bring shame
to the family by having an affair.
The ugly picture of a father, being a policeman, brutally hitting her
daughter in full public view has sent a
message about cops being violent at
home. Deepak Raj, a social worker,
‘Everyday children
are hit by parents on
matters like love affair,
this news has got a
lot of attention and is
condemned because the
man happened to be a
police official’
said that while people look up to
the police for protection with trust
and hope, it is sad to see them treat
family members in a violent manner.
‘We approach them for solving our
for industries. He does not have any
locus standi to comment on the issue,’
she said.
The amendment proposed by her
party objecting to exemptions to
private educational institutions and
hospitals was accepted by the government and after that the party voted
in the Bill’s favour, she noted.
Referring to features of the Amendment Bill like incorporation of Schedule
III-A and vesting the power to provide exemptions for five types of projects like infrastructure projects with the concerned
government, she said the bill conferred
more rights on States and did not dilute
the principal 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
problems and such display of anger
is unacceptable.’
An police inspector noted that the
man is a father too. Such acts must
not be related to the Police department, he said adding that the act is
punishable if he was serving in the
force at the time of the incident.
The issue may be treated as personal, he said, policemen work for
16 hours a day and are under a lot
of work pressure. They barely have
time for the family and at times tend
to overreact.
‘Everyday children are hit by par-
ents on matters like love affair, this
news has got a lot of attention and is
condemned because the man happened to be a police official’ he said.
Sharon, a M.Phil scholar said,
while there is no doubt that the man
is a father first and then a police
personnel, the situation could have
been better handled if he had clarified the allegations before turning
violent against his 25-year-old
daughter.
‘We turn to the police for safety and
security, and such situations make
us think twice.’
designed for children in primary and
lower-secondary schools. There are
three activity-based tests - Starters
(YLE Starters), Movers (YLE Movers)
and Flyers (YLE Flyers). This gives
students a clear path to improve in
English.
Cambridge English Language Assessment has built strong relationships with educational organisations,
especially schools in India. They have
been providing English language
assessments and qualifications for
different education levels at schools,
the release said.
The shool principal G Vijayalakshmi,
head master C Ramalingam and coordinator Premila Jayashankar took part.
Essay
competition
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Nandini Voice For The Deprived,
a Besant Nagar based NGO, is
organising an essay competition on
‘Why increase in violence amongst
students in Tamilnadu?’ for school
and college students.
All students studying in Tamilnadu
can participate in the competition.
The essay should be maximum
of 1500 words and can be written
either in English or Tamil. Last day
for submission is 30 March.
The essay can be sent by email to
[email protected] or to
Nandini Voice For The Deprived, at
M 60/1, Fourth Cross Street, Besant
Nagar by post.
For further details, call 24916037.
Blend
4 SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
WHAT
WH
AT NEWS
NEW
NEW
EWS
S TODAY
TODA
TO
DAY
DA
Y PRINTS
PRIN
PR
INTS
IN
TS IS
IS NEWS
NEWS THAT
TTHA
HAT
HA
T COUNTS
COUN
CO
UNTS
UN
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AAP in turmoil
In the real world, there is no such thing as immaculate conception,
especially if it is a political party that you are trying to conceive.
That is the knowledge that perhaps kept Anna away from Kejriwal’s
AAP. Just three-elections old, the newest party on the block is already
beginning to look weathered. Deceit, ambition, jealousy, ego, greed
--- the bread and butter of politics - all have visited upon a party that
was dreamed up as the ideal alternative not just by its founders but
also the legions of its supporters. As the party’s name suggested,
many did not see it just as Kejriwal’s party but their own. That alone
could explain the 67-seat mandate in Delhi.
From that also flow the extraordinary high standards that the
party’s supporters have come to expect of it. While it may be hard to
accuse the party leadership of any criminality, a string of revelations
regarding them and their recent conduct have left many of their voters
squirming. Personality clashes and difference of opinion within the
party are understandable --- given the surprise electoral windfall
it had ---- revelations that Arvind Kejriwal had anything but the
most pious of thoughts regarding power violates the fundamental
idea of the party, honesty. How bad is trying to engineer defection
in a rival party’s MLAs (without paying any money) is a debatable
point, but the standards AAP has to be judged against are those set
by the party itself.
After the sting operation claimed that AAP convenor Arvind
Kejriwal had talked of poaching Congress MLAs to form the
government in Delhi, a new tape emerged in which he allegedly said
that the Muslims have to vote for them to stop the Narendra Modi
wave. In the conversation-- allegedly recorded before Delhi assembly
polls--Kejriwal is reportedly heard saying that Muslims won’t expect
AAP to field many candidates from their community beacause they
were looking to the party to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Coming after two recordings that claim the AAP was trying to woo
the Congress MLAs to switch sides in order to avoid elections, the
new tape accused the AAP chief of not heeding the voice of the
minorities in his party. For a party that had hoped to capitalise on its
dramatic success in the Assembly elections this year, none of the tapes
that are being aired in public augur well for its national convenor, who
is also its best recognised face. He may have managed to hold on to
the post by ousting dissidents like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra
Yadav, but as we’ve pointed out earlier the stings and the manner in
which the party has been treating internal dissent may have weakened
the party just at the moment when it seemed invincible. Kejriwal has
been far too busy scrambling to deal with the internal war to make
any meaningful headway on his actual job, ie governing Delhi. And
it remains to be seen how long the public will be patient with a party
that seems perpetually on the verge of chaos.
Also, the underlying factor in all these embarrassments is the
inability of the party to settle how the massive power it has acquired
will flow. While AAP is the result of a widespread movement and
circumstances, there is no doubting the fact that it is nothing without
IIT-Kharagpur’s most famous graduate. But he must realise his
loyalists are currently doing no good to the party by the way they
are suppressing dissent.
Shah Rukh Khan
@iamsrk
And God save me from people
who tell me how films are made.
I kinda know it cos I have done a
few myself. Idiots!!!
Recent happenings in pol
life+leakage of docus from
sensitive offices,it appears we
have no national character?Need
to start from scratch..?
Kiran Bedi @thekiranbedi
‘Yoga could lessen
prenatal depression’
WASHINGTON:
Yoga could help pregnant women
with significant depression
reduce the severity of the
mood disorder, a new study
has claimed. Prior research
has shown that depressed
pregnant women are often
reluctant to use medications
and some also have difficulty engaging in individual psychotherapy,
researchers said.
‘This is really about trying to de-
velop a wider range of options that
suit women who are experiencing
these kind of symptoms during
pregnancy,’ said lead author
Cynthia Battle, from Brown
University.
A few small studies
have also suggested
that yoga and
mindfulness-based
approaches could
help prevent or treat depression
during pregnancy.
HEALTH
Today
VOICE MAIL
Some relief?
Sir,
Many electrical experts predict that the wide use of CFL and LED lamps
will close the gap between electricity supply and demand in the State. In
reality, it is not so, it is an ‘illusion’ only. No doubt, LEDs and CFLs will
bring adequate relief to TANGEDCO because of their high lumen efficacy,
but the adverse effects like low power factor, higher harmonics, and UV
radiation pollution that come in their wings will bring down this advantage
and cause appreciable drop in the energy savings brought by them. In
addition, their operating characteristics will bring problems like higher VAR
demand accompanied with low voltage, poor power quality and voltage
instability in the grid.
Only the supplemental, measures brought by the consumers like provisions
of adequate VAR compensation equipment (power factor capacitors).
Finally let the consumers to decide in what way they can extend their
helping hands to TANGEDO in meeting the present day problems - not
by others.
V SANKARA NARAYANAN,
Chrompet
ADDRESS YOUR LETTERS TO :
The Editor, News Today, 85, Mount Road, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032.
or e-mail to : [email protected] / [email protected]
I
CHENNAI
A march to the past
am shocked. In fact, I am outraged. Actually, ‘devastated’
would be apt. Summons to Manmohan? Mr Clean, corrupt? No way. If
I was in New Delhi I would have hit
the streets for the Cong road show,
even if it entailed the unseemly idea
of walking with Sonia Maino. I am sure
Rahul too would have taken a stroll
wherever he is holed up, in support of
the former PM just as he lent ‘voice’
for Kalavathy.
Why not? The honest Sardar who
stood solid still as cronies walked
away with lakhs of crores under his
watch deserves more than a walk of
solidarity. Because, he was not just
standing with his ‘do nothing’ credo but
‘did’ many other things: He kept a stiff
upper lip rather than speaking up on
the open improprieties; snapped his
eyes shut as mounds of dirt crossed
his line of sight; sat and sulked instead
of standing up and sorting out; slept
despite being woken up to the wrong
doings as they happened; His sound
snores even buried the relentless din
against sleaze that rendered the rest
of the nation deaf. A short walk falls
way short of what’s owed to him.
It is natural for Cong netas who all
ripped the treasury and reaped millions thanks to the Sardar’s sick standup joke on the nation to trot along. But
Maldives former
President
sentenced to jail
MALE/COLOMBO:
Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13
years in prison on Friday after being
found guilty of terrorism for ordering
the arrest of a judge when he was in
power in 2012.
The verdict is
the latest chapter in three turbulent years in
which Nasheed, the Indian
Ocean archipelago’s first demoMohamed Nasheed cratically elected
leader, was ousted in disputed
circumstances, then narrowly defeated in a controversial election,
and then, last month, cleared over
the incident for which he has now
been convicted.
‘The prosecution’s evidence
proved beyond reasonable doubt
that Nasheed ordered the chief
judge’s arrest or forceful abduction
and detention on Girifushi island,’
Judge Abdulla Didi said in the court
in the capital, Male.
The three-judge bench’s verdict
was unanimous, and the office of
President Abdulla Yameen, who
had denied that the prosecution
was political, confirmed the 13year sentence.
Nasheed’s election in 2008 ended the autocratic 30-year rule of
Yameen’s half-brother, Maumoon
Abdul Gayoom.
I was touched by Sonia’s gesture,
condescending to climb down from her
perch, amble across in a parade and
saunter up the porch of her pet puppet’s home ostensibly to console but
obviously to pre-empt him from singing
like Jayanthi. After all, Sonia and family are the most beholden to MSingh.
Thanks to him, Sonia became a Saint
without exactly sacrificing anything,
exercised authority without being accountable, enjoyed pleasures of power
with nary a fingerprint
anywhere and above
all, was able to keep
the PM seat warm for
her son with a reliable
regent in place. Bofors went up in
smoke, foreign funds remained foreign, Vadra entered Guinness as the
quickest landlord ... the list is endless.
Now, has MSingh become a fall
guy for standing in for Sonia & Sons
... Son-in-law? Yes and No. Yes, because, when push comes to shove,
the walks will end abruptly, with the
leader of the pack scurrying back into
her opaque lair, secured by a veil of
‘Omerta’ - silence. Sonia will not even
blink before making a Sitaram Kesari
or PVN of MSingh. Indeed, there are
legions of high-profile royal ‘loyalists’
in that party who were rendered low by
the sleight of Hand of the High Com-
mand. The rest of the present solidarity pack would also vanish leaving the
former PM to fend for himself.
So, is MSingh to be pitied? We say
‘no’ because he knew pretty well what
he was getting into and who he was
fronting for. His honesty mask came
off the day he accepted the order
couched as an offer from Sonia in
May ‘04 when the lady ‘renounced’
after being rejected by Prez Abdul
Kalam. The smoking Bofors gun was
still hot and also the
Family’s ways were
well known. He was
a willing puppet ready
to dance to the pulls
of the hidden Hand. He surrendered
all lawful prerogatives and converted
the PM post, dubbed the ‘Cornerstone
of the arch of the Cabinet’, into a
tombstone for democracy. Here was
a PM who ‘held office at the pleasure
of the President’: Yes, but the Congress President, not the Constitutional
President! Are these hallmarks of an
honourable man?
But worse. The ten-year tenure of
the United Plunderers’ Association
under Honest Singh redefined corruption. Thanks to the scams that he
supervised, the nation came to know
its richness ... after much was lost.
Giving and taking is bribe and hence
UN disaster meet
opens in Japan
Aims to tackle natural disasters & climate change
TOKYO:
Policymakers gathered for a tenyearly meeting on disaster risk reduction Saturday, with hopes high that
the conference in tsunami-hit Japan
might provide a springboard for real
efforts to tackle natural disasters and
costly climate change.
The meeting comes as a huge tropical cyclone smashed into Vanuatu in
the South Pacific, terrifying residents
and causing fears Saturday that dozens of people may have died.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
said he had met the president of
Vanuatu that morning and conveyed
‘our deepest condolences’ as well
as solidarity with the people of the
archipelago.
‘What we are discussing here today
is very real for millions of people in the
world,’ he said in a speech.
Ban, who has highlighted the rise
in extreme weather as global warming has accelerated over the past 10
years, also said: ‘Disaster risk reduction is a front-line defence against the
impacts of climate change.’
‘It is a smart investment for business and a wise investment in saving lives,’ he said.
A report by the UN Office for Dis-
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
(UNISDR) said global economic losses
from disasters cost an average of $250
billion to $300 billion annually
aster Risk Reduction
(UNISDR) said global
economic losses from
disasters cost an average of $250 billion to
$300 billion annually.
‘Two thirds of natural disasters come
from climate change,’
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told
AFP ahead of his speech Saturday.
Fabius is president of the COP 21
conference on the climate, which will
be held in Paris in December.
‘A success in Sendai may prefigure
that of Paris,’ he said, adding that
he wants to draw up a scheme in
which all territories and vulnerable
populations will have a disaster early
warning system.
The conference is being held in the
northeastern city of Sendai, days after
Japan marked the fourth anniversary of
Putin to make a comeback
Set to meet Kyrgyzstan President
MOSCOW:
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
rare disappearance from the public
eye this week has stirred a flurry
of speculation online, but signs
emerged Friday that the leader may
be making a comeback soon.
The Kremlin said that Putin will
meet with the president of Kyrgyzstan on Monday, and Russian
state television broadcast footage which it said was of Putin
meeting supreme court chairman
Vyacheslav Lebedev Friday at his
residence near Moscow.
In the footage, Putin was shown in
his office at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence, where he conducts many of
his meetings, sitting across a table
FIRED UP
corruption. Money stolen from the
public kitty is also corruption. But the
concept of loss to the exchequer due
to dubious and deliberate decisions
is a nasty novelty. Spectrum money
that vanished into thin air and deals
blacker than coal are mindboggling.
Forget laymen, even lawmen are unable to fit these scandals into the legal
system or grapple with the complexities. The criminal commissions and
omissions are unparalleled.
So, is MSingh corrupt? If he took
money, it is up to the law of the land
to handle it. But looking beyond the
realms of ‘traditional’ corruption, may
we ask: Is an enabler corrupt? Is a
duty-bound but negligent watchman
corrupt? Is a pliable PM corrupt?
Above all, is a renowned economist
and a much celebrated Finance
Minister who knows the nuances and
nitty-gritties of the flow of every penny,
but who winked at huge public fund
being whisked away, that even a clerk
cannot miss, corrupt?
The Cong can make this March
memorable with as many marches as
it wants. But Come April Fools day, the
nation must walk up to MSingh, summon him and say: We trusted you, Sir!
e-mail the writer at
[email protected]
(Courtesy: Talk Media)
from Supreme Court
online that he may be ill,
head Vyacheslav Lebsidelined by internal conflict
edev and talking about
or perhaps planning a major
plans to reform the
domestic political move.
judicial system.
But his spokesman Dmitry
Dressed in grey suit
Peskov shrugged off specuand a blue patterned
lation Thursday, telling The
tie, he looked in no
Associated Press that the
way different from usu62-year-old Putin’s ‘health is
al. In the brief footage,
really perfect.’
he was shown nodThe planned meeting on
Vladimir Putin Monday in St. Petersburg
ding and smiling as
Lebedev spoke and could be heard with Almazbek Atambaev is to
saying a few words about the court discuss Kyrgyzstan’s joining the
system.
Eurasian Economic Union, a nasSince a Kremlin announcement cent Moscow-led trade bloc that
earlier this week that Putin would be also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan
postponing an upcoming trip to Ka- and Armenia, the Kremlin said in a
zakhstan, rumours have appeared Friday statement.
C
a 9.0-magnitude earthquake. The undersea
quake on 11 March
2011 triggered a tsunami that killed around
19,000 people, and a
nuclear disaster.
With hundreds of
NGOs and interest
groups also involved,
organisers are expecting around 40,000 people in Sendai,
offering a potential $200 million
windfall to the region, including from
associated tourism.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe in his opening address called
for participants to enjoy ‘rich nature,
history, culture, food and people`s
way of lives’ in the Tohoku region in
northern Japan.
‘If you visit various parts of Tohoku,
that would make us feel encouraged
in reconstruction efforts,’ Abe said.
Silk can be new
material for
gen-next batteries
BEIJING:
A ‘green’ material derived from
natural silk can boost the performance of lithium-ion batteries used in
portable gadgets and electric cars,
scientists say.
Carbon is a key component in
commercial lithium-ion energy storage devices including batteries and
supercapacitors.
Most commonly, graphite fills that
role, but it has a limited energy capacity, researchers said. T o i m prove the energy storage, manufacturers are looking for an alternative
material to replace graphite.
Chuanbao Cao and colleagues at
the Beijing Institute of Technology
wanted to see if they could develop
such a material using a sustainable
source.
L ICK
PIC
A member of an Iraqi Shiite militant group launches rockets against Islamic State extremist positions in Tikrit, 80 miles north of
Baghdad, Iraq. In the other photograph, riot police fire tear gas canisters toward Bahraini anti-government protesters during clashes
in Daih, Bahrain.
Enterprise
CHENNAI
q To release plan for auto industry in September
Chennai, Mar 14 (PTI):
The government will come out by
September this year with the draft
Mission Plan II for the automotive
industry for the 2016-2026 period, a
senior government official has said.
Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Ambuj Sharma, said that
the first version of Mission Plan was
released in 2006 for the period up
to 2016.
‘That time in 2006 it (automotive)
was $35 billion big industry and by
2016 it should reach $145 billion.
In terms of employment from the
present 11 million both direct and
indirect, we hope to reach 35 million
by 2016’, he added.
‘We are hoping to maintain the
The Finance
Ministry has
sanctioned about
Rs 795 crore for two
years which include
Rs 500 crore for
incentives
current momentum and hoping to
release the Mission Plan II, that is for
the next 10 years 2016-26 which may
be released sometime in September
2015’, he said on the sidelines of a
conference on Automotive, Research
and Development Trends, organised
by CII.
‘Currently, we are standing almost
midway. If we take the turnover (of
the automotive industry), we have
reached $78 billion today that almost
doubled. On the job creation, we have
reached 28-29 million jobs’, he said.
According to him, the number of
passenger cars was expected to
reach nine million by 2022 from the
present three million. The total twowheelers size should reach 33 million
from the present 15 million.
‘For the electric vehicle, we have an
idea of six to seven million by 2020
from almost nil today’ he said.
On the setting up of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure
Project (NATRiP), promoted by the
Centre, he said the labs at the Oragadam centre situated near Chennai,
was expected to be ready by end of this
year and test tracks to be operational
by middle of next year.
‘There investments will be around
Rs 700 crore. For the total scheme,
the sanctioned amount is Rs 2,288
Food security, a
reality soon?
q BRICS resolves to find solution by Dec
LIC Chennai DO-1’s marketing manager Soosai Manikkam, South
Zone’s RM(CC) S Johnson, Zonal Manager T Sitharthan and
RM(Marketing) M Ravichandran at the launch of a new insurance plan
in Chennai Thursday.
LIC launches
new policy
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
The Life Insurance Corporation of
India (LIC) on Thursday launched a
new plan ‘Jeevan Lakshya’ for the
benefit of public.
According to a press release, prospects between the ages of 18 years
(completed) and 50 years (nearer
birthday) can be insured.
The maximum maturity age is 65
years and premium paying term is
less than policy term by three years.
The minimum policy term is 13
years and maximum policy term is
25 years.
The death benefit is ten per cent of
the basic sum assured payable on
every policy anniversary following
the date of death of the life assured
till the policy anniversary prior to
date of maturity.
New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI):
BRICS members, including India
and China, on Friday resolved to
ensure conclusion of negotiations for
a permanent solution for public stockholding of foodgrains under the WTO
by December, 2015.
‘We reaffirmed our commitment to
work together to negotiate and make
all concerted efforts to agree and adopt
a permanent solution to the issue of
public stock-holding for food security
purposes by 31 December, 2015 in
line with the decision adopted by the
WTO General Council on 27 November
2014’, said a joint declaration after the
three-day meeting of BRICS’ agriculture ministers that concluded in Brazil
on Friday.
India was represented by Agriculture
Minister Radha Mohan Singh . Agriculture Ministers of Brazil, Russia, China
and South Africa were also present in
the meeting.
‘In this joint declaration, public policies for food and nutrition security and
the strengthening of family farming
are highlighted in detail, the results
of which are going to form a key part
of the general strategy for ensuring
access to food for the most vulnerable populations of BRICS and other
developing countries’, Singh said at
the meeting.
The joint declaration would certainly
play a key role in taking forward our
agricultural cooperation, he added.
Following an agreement between
India and the US, negotiations at the
WTO made a headway after it was
resolved that the ‘peace clause’ would
continue till a permanent solution to the
public stock-holding is found. Under
the peace clause, a WTO member gets
Propaganda
India changes
operations director
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Bangalore-headquartered Propaganda India has roped in Gowrishankar as its director- operations.
According to a press release, in
the past, he has worked on brands
such as Cricinfo, Citibank across
India, Australia, Singapore and
EMEA, Airtel and IBM.
Gowrishankar has built and led
an in-house team of techies, creative, social media and media with a
focus on innovation, collaboration
and engaged with cross-functional
and cross-cultural teams to develop
new experiences.
Propaganda India’s co-founder
Priya Jayaraman said, ‘Gowri is a
passionate digital marketer with a
portfolio of online marketing programs across sectors from early
start-ups to established enterprises
mostly on the agency side. We are
confident that our growing set of
clients will benefit from Gowri’s
expertise in digital strategy, digital
asset monetization, ecommerce
and ecommerce marketing’.
Propaganda India’s service offerings include branding, advertising, social media and research for
brands looking to take their business into new media.
bers when it was formally set up last
year by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
South Korea, Japan and Australia
stayed away reportedly on the advice
of the US.
About US criticism that the new
bank could be a rival to Japan-led
Asia Development Bank (ADB) and
the World Bank, Hong said the bank
will follow the principles of openness,
transparency, inclusiveness and
fairness to design its governance
structure and operational policies.
‘It will learn from good practices of
multilateral development banks and
take detour from their path so as to reduce the cost and increase costs and
operational efficiency’, he said.
The AIIB will complement existing multilateral development banks,
Hong said adding that it would better
serve the member states and support the infrastructure building and
economic development in Asia.
About Washington’s reported efforts to persuade its allies not to
join the bank, Hong said the international community is responding
well to AIIB.
immunity against penalty for breaching
the food subsidy cap. As per the WTO
norms, a developing nation can provide
food subsidy of up to 10 per cent of the
total farm output.
Expressing concerns over grave
distortion caused by agricultural export subsidies on international trade,
BRICS nations also resolved to support WTO talks for eliminating the use
of this policy instrument by countries
as stated in the 2013 WTO ministerial
conference declaration adopted in Bali.
‘...Multilateral negotiations should
prioritise efforts to create a level playing field by substantially improving
market access, eliminating export
subsidies and significantly reducing
the level of trade distorting domestic
support’, said BRICS nations in the
joint declaration.
crore which will end up to Rs 3,500
crore for all the seven centres.Some
are coming up in Rae Barelli, Manesar’, he said.
Responding to a query about allocation of funds for developing Hybrid
cars, he said the Finance Ministry has
sanctioned about Rs 795 crore for
two years which include Rs 500 crore
for incentives, Rs 200 crore for technology and remaining for infrastructure and pilot projects.
Referring
to provision of infrastructure facilities
for charging the electric cars, he said,
‘even by 2020 we will have about 1.50
million pure electric cars. That will
take only 700MW of power. Today,
the total production capacity is 2.50
lakh MW, which will reach four lakh
MW by 2020’, he said.
Union Bank gets
new Executive
Director
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Kishor P Kharat assumed charge
as Executive Director of of India
on 10 March.
A press release here
said, he has
a vast experience of 37
years in various facets of
banking with
Bank of Baroda.
Kishor P Kharat
He has worked extensively in
the Credit Department. As a
General Manager, he headed the
CFH Financial Inclusion and Jan
Dhan Yojana. Kharat has worked
at different centres in India including Goa, Pune and Mumbai. Over
and above his domestic banking
experience, Kharat has had two
foreign postings to his credit at
Sharjah, UAE and at Port of Spain,
Trinidad & Tobago.
China sells Apple
watch lookalikes
US fumes as UK to
join Asian bank
Beijing, Mar 14 (PTI):
Unfazed by US protest, Britain has
decided to join the proposed Chinabacked Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB), becoming the first Western
country to seek membership of the bank
in which India and 26 other nations are
founding members.
While US officials reportedly complained over the British move saying it
has taken a unilateral decision, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei
welcomed UK’s move saying China
will follow principles of openness and
transparency.
The AIIB has an authorised capital of
$100 billion and the initial subscribed
capital of $50 billion.
India along with 26 other countries
joined the bank as its founding mem-
5
Govt on a mission
‘Maintain CAD
within
1-1.5% range’
New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI):
India should maintain its current
account deficit (CAD) within the
range of 1-1.5 per cent of the GDP,
while export competitiveness must
be improved by keeping inflation
under control, Former RBI Governor
C Rangarajan said on Friday.
‘We must be able to maintain the
CAD in the range of 1-1.5 per cent of
the GDP. Oil prices have helped India
keep CAD under control however
sluggish exports is a worrying factor’, Rangarajan said while delivering
Raja Chelliah memorial lecture here.
The former PMEAC chairman also
said India should increase its exports
competitiveness by keeping inflation
under control.
He said fiscal consolidation should
be pursued vigorously and there
should be an appropriate price policy
in place.
SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
Dubai Indians
seek apartment
lifestyle: Survey
Dubai, Mar 14 (PTI):
Nearly half of Indians living here
prefer apartment lifestyle with
around 60 per cent of them searching to buy a house, according to a
survey
Real estate web portal Bayut.
com has found in its survey that
around 60.80 per cent Indians living
here have been searching to buy
a house in the past three months,
out of which 82.86 per cent were
interested in buying apartments.
Beijing, Mar 14 (PTI):
A month before the launch of
Apple’s smartwatch in China, its
imitations are already on sale in
the country’s southern Shenzhen
City which is a hub for copycat
manufacturing.
Smartwatches named
‘U Watch’ or ‘D Watch’
boasting similar look and
function to Apple watches
are being sold at around 200
yuan ($32.5) each, less than onetenth of the price of the cheapest
Apple Watch.
There is no Apple logo on the products. The Chinese version resembles
the American one in appearance,
but most have crude workmanship,
State-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
The Apple smartwatch would be
launched in Australia, Canada, Chi-
na, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
Japan, the UK and the US next
month. The Apple’s smartwatches
would be sold at about 400 yuan
each.
The Chinese version can receive calls,
use text messaging and has
a music player. However,
features such as popular
messaging apps Wechat
and QQ are absent.
Some sellers say the
products resemble Apple Watch more
in its appearance than performance.
Such products have been sold online
since January.
Some sellers at Huaqiangbei area
of Shenzhen City said an improved
iOS-friendly version is being produced.
Huangqiangbei has been a grey
market known for selling copycat
electronics.
5 Indian firms receive global tech awards
NT Bureau
Chennai, March 14:
Five Indian companies
emerged as winners in the
‘Great Tech Rocketships Initiative 2015’ organised by the UK
Trade and Investment (UKTI)
in partnership with Techhub
(supported by Ispirit) and
UKIBC.
Congruent Solutions Pvt
Ltd (Chennai), FRILP.com
(Chennai), Tone Tag (Banga-
lore), Talview (Bangalore) and
Agrima Infotech Pvt Ltd (Kochi) received the award from
the UKTI team here yesterday.
Speaking to the media,
secretary of Head of Inward Investment India Gita
Krishnankutty, said, ‘This
is the first time we have
organised this initiative here
and we launched this on 20
January. Around 298 starters
and entrepreneurs partici-
pated in this event. And, the
best of five were declared as
winners.’
She added, ‘Winners were
invited to visit UK and present
their products at TechHub
demo nights and also tour
media city in Manchester as
part of the UK programme.
They were allocated with office spaces in London, Boston and Bangalore branches
of the Techhub. UKTI will
also give them the support
and guidelines in any matters
pertaining to their business.
All these provisions are available for the next one year.’
It is noted that the entrepreneurs were tested on their
skills, ideas and innovative
ideas, who were judged by
a panel.
The venture aided the
participants to meet entrepreneurs around the globe,
IndiaProperty.com offers
home insurance
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
IndiaProperty.com announced that its customers
shall now have an access
to buying Home Insurance
solutions on its site offered by
Cholamandalam MS General
Insurance Company.
A statement here said, the
product to be offered is ‘Home
Protect’ (property insurance)
which is an exclusive property insurance solution that
provides protection to the
house during the course of
construction and also covers
the house for up to 10
years post completion.
Major perils covered under this policy are fire, flood,
earthquake, storm,
cyclone, accidental
damages, terrorism
and structural This solution has been built to protect
buyers against financial loss
in case of destruction of their
property due to natural disasters and structural defects.
IndiaProperty.com CEO
Ganesh Vasudevan said,
‘HomeProtect mitigates most risks a
buyer faces right
from the pre-construction to up to 10
years post completion of the property and secures the financial investment
that has gone in the property’.
Chola MS managing director S S Gopalarathnam
said, ‘Chola MS is happy
to offer Property Protection
solutions to IndiaProperty
customers. We believe that
this will help improve the
penetration of Home Insurance in the country. This
is an important initiative to
provide seamless experience to new age customers
and also improve our online
presence’.
identify funding options and
other aspects to carry their
business forward.
FRILP.com’s founder and
COO Senthil said, ‘It gave us
a deeper understanding of UK
market, and the organisation
provided us with the facility,
infrastructure and other major
aspects that were required for
developing our projects’.
For more details, visit www.
GREATtechrocketships.com.
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6 SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
Sports
CHENNAI
B’desh eyes ‘competitive future’
Team hopes to build on ‘remarkable’ progress at WC
Auckland, Mar
14:
B a n g l a desh hope
their ‘reable’
Mahmudullah
Mahmudullah has been
one of the finds of the
World Cup.
markprogress
into the World
Cup
quarter-finals
will help the passionate cricketing
nation build for the
future and compete
on a regular basis with
stronger rivals.
Ranked number nine in the
one-day standings, Bangladesh defeated number six
England to qualify for the
knockout round for the first
time.
High on confidence after their
tough fight against Pool A tabletoppers New Zealand on Friday, a
match won by the co-hosts by just
three wickets, Bangladesh now
face defending champions India
in the quarter-finals in Melbourne
on 19 March.
Bangladesh’s performances have impressed New Zealand
captain Brendon McCullum, who said ‘the development of
their skills in general has improved a lot over the last few
years. They’ve always been tough at home’
Bangladesh Cricket Board
(BCB) chief executive Nizam
Uddin Chowdhury described
Bangladesh’s progress as remarkable. ‘This has been a remarkable success and validates our faith
in the team,’ Chowdhury told AFP.
‘It is also important to look at the
bigger picture. Achievements like
this go a long way in further popularising the game, unearthing talent,
drumming up support and attracting opportunities and investment
in cricket.’ Chowdhury believed the
performance will help in building for
the future. ‘There are always challenges in the path of development
and progress but we have been
patient with our system. We have
seen a steady improvement across
all formats of the game in recent
years,’ he said.
‘I am confident that Bangladesh cricket is ready to
take the next step forward.’
A cricket-mad country of
156 million people, Bangladesh inherited their passion for the game from
Pakistan, of which they
were part until independence in 1971.They were
granted Test status in 2000
but have shown little progress in the
five-day format, losing all but seven
of their 88 Tests.
Five wins were against Zimbabwe
and two against a depleted West
Indies. But in the last few years
Bangladesh have shown improvement in one-day internationals and
Twenty20 by beating top nations like
England, India and
Sri Lanka.
Their recent progress has
impressed New Zealand
captain Brendon McCullum.
‘I think the development of their skills in
general has improved
a lot over the last few years.
They’ve always been tough
at home,’ said McCullum.
‘But their ability to now travel, I
think you’re seeing their skills-set
develop as well. ‘I think what we
saw the other night with a couple of
the guys there (against England in
Adelaide), the threat that they pose
with ball in hand for their quick bowlers is a lot more dangerous than a
few years ago.
Serena makes emotional
Sports
y
t
i
C
return to Indian Wells
It is Income Tax
Indian Wells, Mar 14:
An error-prone Serena Williams
beat Monica Niculescu 7-5, 7-5 in
her first match at Indian Wells in 14
years Friday night, receiving a warm
welcome from the fans in sharp
contrast to the booing that drove her
away as a teenager.
Serena rallied from a 5-3 deficit in
the first set and recovered after
blowing three leads in the second
set, winning on her fourth match
point in her first tournament since
earning her 19th Grand Slam title
at the Australian Open in January.
Serena had 48 unforced errors
and 12 aces in a wildly inconsistent performance. She closed out
the two-hour match when Niculescu netted a backhand volley.
After a quick handshake, she
waved to the crowd, but there
was none of the jumping
and pirouetting that often
marks her victories. ‘It feels
great; it’s overwhelming
walking out here. The
cheering was really a
wonderful feeling,’ Serena said in an oncourt interview afterward. ‘It’s been
wonderful coming
back
and stepping out
on the
court and creating new
memories.’
T h e
world’s top-ranked women’s player
had stayed away from the BNP Paribas Open since winning the 2001
title
as a 19-year-old, getting
booed by the fans for
what happened a day
earlier, when she
was to play older
sister Venus
in a
s i g n
‘Straight
the Los
where the
ters first
from faSerena
c o u r t
semifinal and
Venus withdrew
because of
injury 20
minutes
before the
start.
A young
black girl
waved a
reading
Outta Compton,’
Angeles suburb
Williams sislearned tennis
ther Richard.
walked onto the
wearing headphones, then
slipped them
Serena Williams
Woods to skip
Palmer Invitational
Los Angeles, Mar 14 (AFP):
‘I’ve put in a lot of time and work on
Tiger Woods said Friday he won’t my game and I’m making strides, but
play in next week’s Arnold Palmer like I’ve said, I won’t return to the PGA
Invitational as he continues to work on Tour until my game is tournament
his game in the hope of being ready for ready and I can compete at the highest level.’
the Masters.
Woods, who last won
The 14-time major champion, chasing Jack
the event at Bay Hill
Nicklaus’s record
in 2013, has not
of 18 major titles,
played since
has plummeted
withdrawto 79th in the
ing from the
world rankings
Farmers
after sufferInsurance
ing a series of
Open in earinjuries and a
ly February
severe slump in
with stiffness
form.
in his back that
On 11 February
he said came on
Tiger Woods
he used his website
during a lengthy fog
to announce he was takdelay.
ing a break from tournament
At the time Woods said the
golf in a bid to get his faltering game
problem had nothing to do with the
in shape, and on Friday he said he’s
back surgery he had early last year
not there yet.
‘I spoke to Arnold today and told him to ease a pinched nerve, after which
that I will not play in his tournament he missed the Masters and US Open.
He made his return in June of 2014,
this year,’ Woods wrote on his website.
‘I’m sorry I won’t be in Orlando next missing the cut in the US PGA Tour’s
week, but I know it will be a really National at Congressional and finishing
successful event,’ added Woods, an equal 69th at the British Open -- the
eight-time winner of Palmer’s tourna- worst 72-hole major finish of his pro
ment at Bay Hill.
career.
off and raised her right arm to acknowledge the sustained applause
as she was introduced.
‘We love you, Serena!’ a male fan
bellowed during the coin toss at the
net. Billionaire Larry Ellison, who
owns the tournament, was on his feet
applauding Williams as she jogged
to the baseline near his seat for the
warmup. He was later joined by John
McEnroe and billionaire Bill Gates.
Serena had played just one Fed
Cup match since winning in Australia
and her rustiness showed. On her
third match point, she netted a backhand return of Niculescu’s 79-mph
serve. She had two match points on
Niculescu’s serve in the 10th game,
committing unforced errors both
times, including a backhand that
she had plenty of time to make.
Serena’s mother Oracene,
sister Isha, her coach and agent
watched as she fell behind 2-0 in the
opening set of the second-round
match.
Niculescu used her wicked
topspin to blunt Serena’s power
game, taking a 5-3 lead. Serena held
at love before winning the last two
games to take the first set, in which
there were five service breaks. Serena double-faulted away one game
before serving out another at love.
‘I’ve never played anyone like her
before. She’s obviously an unbelievable fighter,’ Serena said. ‘She really
made me work really hard. It was
good to have a really, really tough
match.’
vs Vijaya Bank
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
Indian Income Tax will clash with
Vijaya Bank in the men’s final of the
5th All-India Invitation Basketball
Tournament for Jeppiaar Trophy
being held at Jeppiaar Institute of
Technology courts at Sriperumbudur near here.
In the semifinals, Income Tax
beat Air Force 95-82 with substitute
Kasirajan scoring 18 points to the
hopes of the Airmen.
Earlier, Vijaya Bank pipped host
Jeppiaar Institute of Technology
by two points in a thriller. With 14
seconds for the final whistle, the
score read 74-73 in favour of JIT
and Rajesh scored three points
to turn the match in Vijaya Bank’s
favour. Karthikeyan of Vijaya Bank
won the man of the match award.
In the women’s round robin
league, Southern Railway registered their second win to beat
South Easten Railway with pivot
R Priyadharshini scoring 28 points.
They will meet Jeppiaar Institute
of Technology in the last league
encounter.
Results -- Men’s semifinal:
Vijaya Bank 76 (Aravind 19,
Karthikeyan 18, Shanjay Raj
13) beat JIT (Ajinkya Mane 25,
Shashakrai 16, Vijay 11); IIT 95
(Bishant Shah 22, Kasirajan 18)
beat Air Force 82 (Praveen Tahiya
32, Narendar 21).
Women League: Southern Railway 74 (Raja Priyadharshini 28,
Soniya Joy 21) beat Eastern Railway 60 (Suru Mam 21, Madhu Kumar 13, Libina 12); South Central
Railway 60 (Suganya 24, Gayathiri
19) beat JIT 49 (Ramya 33).
Hindustan varsity basketball
tourney
Hindustan University’s School
of Physical Education & Sports
is organizing Dr K C G Verghese
Memorial 24th State-level intercollegiate basketball tournament
for men and women at its Padur
campus.
A press note said more than 30
colleges and universities in and
around Chennai are taking part in
the tournament.
Hindustan University Director
Ashok Verghese and Vice-Chancellor S Ramachandran were
present at the inaugural. Chancellor Dr Elizabeth Verghese presided.
‘So I guess that is the sheer
weight of numbers as well that
Bangladesh possesses, and the
passion for the game is starting to
flow through so you’re starting to
see talent rise to the top, and they`ll
become a very tough proposition
over the next few years.’
Bangladesh’s chief selector Faruque Ahmed predicted the team will
continue to improve after the World
Cup.
‘This World Cup showing means a
lot to us,’ Ahmed told <I>AFP<P>.
‘We have great passion for the
game which is evident in all corners
of the country and by watching the
Bangladesh team do well will inspire
a whole generation.’ Journalist Azad
Majumdar said recent performances
will boost Bangladesh’s status at
international level as well as their
coffers.
‘A quarter-final berth will give them
a financial boost. Bangladesh badly
needed to perform at some level to
keep the other countries interested
in playing against them.
Aamer back
in action
Karachi, Mar 14 (PTI):
Pakistan’s left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Aamer made an impressive
return to competitive cricket today
after serving a five-year ban for spotfixing, coming agonisingly close to
claiming a hat trick.
Aamer bowled with fire to return
figures of 3 for 23 as his team Omar
Associates bowled out Capital Development Authority for 268 runs on
the first day of a three-day match of
the Pakistan
Cricket Board’s
Patrons
Trophy in
Rawalpindi.
Aamer,
22, was
left frustrated
when his
first round
match of the
tournament
was washed
out due to
heavy rains at the Army cricket
ground last week.
‘It is great to finally get back on the
cricket field and play a competitive
match. Taking the wickets is a boost
but I know lot of hard work remains
to be done,’ Aamer told reporters.
His coach at Omar Associates,
Nasir Shah was surprised to see
Aamer perform so well despite playing in a competitive match after such
a long gap. ‘It is a credit to him that
he bowled with some rhythm despite
playing a proper match after such a
long time. ‘He showed today he is
a natural and the sooner he can be
considered for national team selection the better.’
Aamer was banned from all cricket
after pleading guilty in 2010 to charges of bowling deliberate no-balls at
pre-arranged times, while playing for
Pakistan in a Test against England
at Lord’s.
It will be Mercedes vs the rest
Melbourne, Mar 14:
Two of Formula One’s top drivers
have made lucrative moves to new
teams in 2015, so fans might think
there will be a shake-up to last season’s established order.
They would be wrong.
The evidence of pre-season testing
strongly suggests the fight for this
year’s championship will again be a
case of Mercedes vs. the rest.
‘We want to be better this year. We
want to try and dominate even more,’
reigning champion Lewis Hamilton
said ahead of the season-opening
Australian Grand Prix here tomorrow.
The switch of four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull
to Ferrari, and Fernando Alonso from
Ferrari back to McLaren, will provide
interesting subplots, but the main
narrative again looms as Hamilton vs.
Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton got the upper hand last
season, winning six of the last seven
races to hold off the stern challenge
from Rosberg and secure his second
championship. When his confidence
is up and his car performing, Hamilton
is tough to beat, but Rosberg is taking
encouragement and motivation from
the close margins that separated
them in 2014.
‘All the difficult times have made
me stronger,’ Rosberg said. ‘I need
to find small steps to beat him. And I
Sauber to start
Dutch Formula One driver Giedo
van der Garde has dropped his
legal action against Sauber, allowing the team to race in this weekend’s season-opening Australian
Grand Prix without him.
van de Garde released a statement on Saturday saying that
while the issue was still not resolved and talks would resume
next week, he had agreed to forgo
his right to race this weekend.
The announcement means
Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson and
Brazilian Felipe Nasr will drive for
Sauber at Albert Park.
‘With respect to the interest of
motorsport, and F1 in particular, I
have decided to give up my legal
rights to race this weekend at the
Melbourne Grand Prix,’ van der
Garde said.
am going for it.’
Mercedes became the dominant
force last year as F1 introduced
V6 hybrid engines. As one of
only two teams to design
both the engine and the
accompanying chassis
and aerodynamics Ferrari is the other
- Mercedes enjoyed
a significant advantage.
With this year’s regula-
Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg
tions being only incrementally different to last year, have the other teams
been able to catch up? Ferrari and
Renault-powered Red Bull are the
top candidates given their spending
power, but the evidence from testing
was not convincing.
Honda returns to F1 as engine
supplier to McLaren - a combination
that saw the team dominate the sport
from the late 1980s in the era of
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
It is Honda’s third entry into F1.
It will be a game of catchup for Honda against established engine suppliers
Mercedes, Renault and
Ferrari. McLaren’s predictable teething problems were
evident in a succession of technical issues through testing. Unless
those glitches are rapidly resolved,
it looks like a season that will test
the patience of experienced drivers
Alonso and Jenson Button. Alonso
returns to McLaren in very different
circumstances to his unhappy season
with the team in 2007. Back then, he
was coming off two successive drivers’ championships and felt entitled
to the undivided backing of the team.
Instead, Alonso had to battle thenrookie teammate Hamilton throughout the season and at year’s end he
returned to Renault. Alonso will miss
the opening race after suffering a
concussion in pre-season tests, but
is expected to be fit for the second
Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Mixed Bag
CHENNAI
‘Dusky South Indian
Women’ sparks outrage
q Sharad Yadav’s remarks set social media on fire
Politician Sharad Yadav came
under strong criticism in Parliament
and on social media for his com-
ments on ‘dark-skinned south Indian
women’ during a debate.
— NT Bureau
What happened?
JDU leader Sharad Yadav was speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday on the government’s bill for insurance reforms when he inexplicably
launched into a rant on what he called the Indian obsession with fair skin.
He described the proposal to raise foreign investment from 26 to 49
per cent as a symptom of this obsession. ‘Here people are awed by fair
skin. Matrimonial ads also ask for fair skinned brides,’ he said.
Rahul controversy:
MHA seeks report
New Delhi, Mar 14:
In a bid to douse controversy erupted after an assistant sub-inspector
last week visited the office of Rahul
Gandhi, a Delhi Police team on Saturday visited the residence of the
Congress vice president.
According to reports, the assistant
sub-inspector had enquired about
Gandhi’s physical features - like colour of his eyes and his hair, leaving
the Congress furious.
Meanwhile, Congress leader PC
Chacko said intruding into Gandhi’s
privacy by police is highly objectionable. The Congress is now planning
to lodge a complaint in this regard.
Talking to <I>Zee Media<P>, police,
however, denied asking for details
about Gandhi’s appearance. Calling
it a routine enquiry, police said it was
just a security survey.
As the reports came in, the Ministry of Home Affairs asked for a
report from the Delhi Police in this
regard. Notably, Gandhi is on ‘leave
of introspection’, which he extended
this week.
As per some party functionaries, the
Congress vice-president was likely
to return near the end of first half of
Budget Session that concludes 20
March.
Congress spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala had said at the start of
Budget Session on 23 February that
‘Gandhi has gone on two weeks’
leave, leading to speculation that he
will return around 10 March.
A party functionary said that some
appointments of party chiefs in states
could be made in the next few days
and Gandhi will return after that.
The party had said that Gandhi had
requested for ‘some time to reflect on
recent events and the future course
for the party’.
Since the party’s drubbing in the
Lok Sabha elections last year and its
defeat in subsequent Assembly polls,
Gandhi has held wide interactions
with party leaders.
On the wrong foot
In the entire country there are more
saanvle (dark skinned) men. The
women of south are beautiful, their
bodies...their skin ...We don’t see
it here. They know dance, Sharad
Yadav said.
Referred film maker Leslee Udwin, whose documentary on the 16
December gang-rape has sparked
a huge debate. ‘She must have got
permissions easily. All doors open for
fair-skinned women,’ he commented.
TWEETS
Stones pelted on TN
bus carrying students
q LDF-led bandh at Kerala against violence in Assembly
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 14 (PTI):
Stray incidents of stone throwing on
some state transport corporation buses
have been reported from some parts
of Kerala as the dawn to dusk hartal
called by Left Democratic Front in protest against violence in the Assembly
against the opposition MLAs began
this morning.
KSRTC buses have stopped operating services after stone throwing
incidents were reported at Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, police said.
A driver of KSRTC bus suffered injuries in the eye in the stone throwing
incident following which services have
been stopped. The busy central bus
depot at Thampanoor in the state capital wore a deserted look this morning.
Breaking his silence ever since the turmoil broke
out with ugly public spat among its leaders, Kejriwal said ‘...now we have to move forward from
here and if we present Delhi as a model then I feel
that it will give rise to a new kind of politics in
this country and in this world
cure treatment for his persistent
chronic cough problem and uncontrolled sugar level.
‘We have to change the system, so
we will have to give a good government and a good system in Delhi and
if Delhi changes I have a belief that
whole country will change.’
‘We want you guys to give us your
ideas and all of you to participate in
this,’ he told the gathering as he also
joined them in singing a song as part
of ‘Antakshari’ programme.
Kejriwal’s remarks are seen as a
clear message to the party to focus
on providing good governance in
Delhi, as AAP, gripped by infighting,
is struggling to battle internal crisis
and stave off the damaging fall-out
to its public image. The simmering
Make-or-break time
for Pak, Ireland
Adelaide, Mar 14 (PTI):
An unpredictable Pakistan will take on
giant-killers Ireland in a must-win pool
B encounter of the ICC cricket World
Cup here tomorrow.
The winner of the final league match
of the group stage will move into the
quarter-finals while the loser will have
to engage in a run-rate battle with
West Indies.
A likely win for West Indies against
the UAE, in the first game tomorrow,
will bring them level with Pakistan and
Ireland on six points to set up a close
finish for the last-eight spots.
With defending champions India and
South Africa already taking up the
first two spots in the table, co-hosts
Australia and New Zealand have also
qualified from pool A along with Sri
Lanka and Bangladesh.
Memories of the 2007 World Cup exit
will certainly resurface in the Pakistan
dressing room as they take on the Irish
side nearly eight years after they lost
to the minnows at Kingston’s Sabina
Park in Jamaica on 17 March.
The match not only marked the end
of the road for the Inzamam-ul-Haq-led
side in the 50-over showpiece event
but also for coach Bob Woolmer, who
was tragically found dead in his hotel
room a day after the loss.
Since then the two sides have
played four ODIs against each other
with Pakistan winning three and the
fourth game ending in a tie.
Even in this edition, the two sides
have had a rather patchy run in the
league stage winning three each of
their respective five matches
and are locked on six points.
Pakistan started on the wrong
foot by losing to India and then
West Indies, but the Misbahul-Haq-led side bounced back
with three comeback wins against
Zimbabwe, UAE and South Africa the last being the most impressive.
Ireland, on the other hand, started
off smoothly against West Indies
when they chased down their 305-run
target with ease and also got past
UAE and Zimbabwe.
7
@anchan_shaila
#Sexist remarks by Sharad
Yadav. ‘South Indian women
are dark, can dance’ shouldn’t
he be sacked from the Parliament? Parliament at its Low.
@RushdieExplains
Sharad Yadav’s remark about
South Indian women’s bodies reveals more about North
Indian men’s minds. Discuss.
Mohandas Pai
Bihar politician Sharad Yadav refuses to apologise for
his sexist remark, A feudal,
bigoted,casteist politician
whose views are condemnable.
@ggiittiikkaa
No idea what idiot Sharad
Yadav meant by his misogynist racial comment
on South Indian women.
Maybe all he wanted was
to trend on Twitter.
AAP to focus on Delhi
as of now, says Kejriwal
Bengaluru, Mar 14:
As he battles turbulence within his
party, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam
Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
on Friday sent out a message to
his party that it has to give a good
government in Delhi and change
the system.
Breaking his silence ever since the
turmoil broke out with ugly public
spat among its leaders, Kejriwal
said ‘...now we have to move forward from here and if we present
Delhi as a model then I feel that it
will give rise to a new kind of politics
in this country and in this world.’
‘I strongly fight on this issue within
the party. Everyone says now that
we have won Delhi we will win others as well. Are we a Napoleon who
are on the victory march?’, the AAP
leader, who is undergoing nature
cure treatment at a naturopathy
institute on city outskirts, said.
Kejriwal’s remarks came at an
informal cultural event at Jindal
Nature Cure Institute where the 46year old AAP leader was admitted
on March five for a 10-day nature
SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
rift flared up with AAP’s founding
members Yogendra Yadav and
Prashant Bhushan being ousted from
the party’s Political Affairs Committee.
Ever since then, the wranglings
have taken murkier turns with sting
operations by detractors of Kejriwal
with allegations of attempts to poach
six Congress MLAs to form the government last year, following which its
prominent Mumbai face Anjali Damania quit the party. Making matters
worse, Kejriwal has come under fire
in public from Yadav and Bhushan
who have openly questioned his
style of functioning and ‘unilateral’
decisions taken by him.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal’s sugar level
and cough are under control, a senior
doctor treating him said.
KSRTC buses have stopped operating services
after stone throwing incidents were reported at
Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam. A driver of
government bus suffered injuries in the eye
Patients coming to the State capital
for treatments were taken to hospitals
by police.
Private buses kept off the roads
in Kochi, while in Kozhikode though
autorickshaws operated services, they
were charging higher fares, passengers alleged.
Utter chaos prevailed in the Assembly
yesterday with the Speaker’s podium
being vandalised and members of the
opposition and ruling benches coming
to blows besides engaging in a scuffle
Man escapes
after killing
co-worker
NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 14:
The city police are on the lookout
for a man, who escaped after killing
his friend in a scuffle at a hotel in
Kolathur here.
According to police sources, Sheeva (27) from Mizoram was killed
while he tried to intervene in a fight
between Sheeman and Henry from
Manipur.
Police said,
last night,
while Sheeman and
Henry were
fighting over
money, Henry took an
iron road and hit Sheeman. Sheeva
who tried to intervene was badly
injured. Although he was reportedly
rushed to a hospital nearby, he succumbed to injuries.
Kolathur police has registered a
case and is on the lookout for Henry
who escaped after the assault.
The body has been shifted to
Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
The three are reported to be employees of the Kolathur hotel.
with the watch and ward staff leading
to injuries to several persons, as Kerala
Finance Minister K M Mani, facing allegations in bar bribery issue, managed
to present his record 13th budget.
The opposition members were
against the ‘tainted’ Minister presenting the budget.
Reports from Kozhikode said in
Chevayoor, a Tamilnadu registered
lorry carrying cargo was stoned and
a tourist bus with students was also
pelted with stones.
Meanwhile, opposition Left Democratic Front activists took out a protest march to the secretariate in
Thiruvananthapuram raising slogans
against the government and seeking
action against those who allegedly
manhandled women MLAs in the Assembly.
The protestors also wanted action
against police personnel who ordered
lathi charge against their activists outside the Assembly.
CPI(M) district secretary Kadakanpally Surendran and former Minister
V Surendran Pillai were among those
who led the march.
The hartal was total in the State with
only stray incidents of stone pelting
being reported from some parts.
India’s GDP growth
will be 7.5 %: Jaitley
per cent GDP growth and next year
London, Mar 14 (PTI):
hopefully higher’.
Noting that India is emerging as
‘Fiscal deficits are on the downside.
one of the fastest growing economies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley There is a flurry of activities, we are
correcting aberrations in taxation
has said that this year the GDP
structure, we are concentrating on
growth rate will be 7.5 per cent and
infrastructure and trying
next year hopefully it
to bring about fairness in
would be higher.
our system. The success
Launching the Union
of the auction of SpecBank of India (UK), a
trum and Coal mines
subsidiary of the Union
have shown how corrupBank of India, Jaitley last
tion could be avoided and
night said that since the
bring higher values. We
new government came
seem to be
to power the economy
favourably placed.’
has regained. ‘During
the last few years we
At the same time, he
had fallen off the radar,
Arun Jaitley
noted that elimination
our growth had slowed down, our
of poverty is a major challenge and
priorities were blurred and the world
government is working hard to tackle
was accusing us of policy paralysis. this great challenge.
Finally people
Arun Tiwari, Global Chairman and
of India decided to bring about a
Managing Direction of Union Bank of
change,’ he said.
India, earlier told newsmen that the
UK subsidiary has planned to have
Without naming UPA, he said ‘the
I (India) was falling off the BRIC. $150 million turnover in the first year
and nearly $1 billion annual turnoBut today most of others are facing
ver in the next four to five years. He
challenge while India is emerging
as one of the fastest growth na- said the bank would launch its debit
card in six to nine months time.
tions - This year we will close at 7.5
Windies’ dreams at
mercy of weather gods
Napier, Mar 14 (AFP):
The West Indies will have one eye on
the skies and the other on the scoreboard as they seek to keep their World
Cup campaign alive in a must-win
clash with the United Arab Emirates
tomorrow.
The two-time champions’ hopes of a
quarter-final berth hinge on a convincing victory in Napier after a series of
unconvincing performances in
Pool B, including a shock loss to
Ireland.
They currently lie fifth in the
group and to advance must
snatch fourth place off Pakistan
or Ireland, who play each other on
Sunday in Adelaide.
But a cyclone thousands of kilometres away in the South Pacific could
blow away their chances if it brings
heavy rainfall to New Zealand’s
North Island by Sunday.
A washout would send Jason Hold-
er’s men tumbling out of the tournament -- they need two points from a
victory, the solitary point awarded for
a no-result will not be enough.
Forecasters say a cyclone-related
downpour is due on Monday, although
the New Zealand weather is notoriously fickle and they warn rain is still
possible on Sunday.
Team manager Richie Richardson was
confident the weather gods would smile
on the West Indies.
‘It’ll be fine on Sunday,’ the former
batting great told the local Hawkes
Bay Today newspaper.
‘We have to play the game to give
ourselves a chance so we want sunshine. We need two points badly and
we need it big.’
Further complicating matters, the
West Indies must soundly beat the
UAE by 70 runs or more to ensure they
have a better run rate than Pakistan
and Ireland.
Holder is also sweating on the fi tness of key batsman Chris Gayle, who
missed training on Wednesday as he
struggled with a back injury.
Hamilton
on pole
Melbourne, Mar 14:
Mercedes’ reigning world
champion Lewis Hamilton
will start from pole position
in the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was fastest in Saturday’s qualifying at Albert Park
in Melbourne and local hope
Daniel Ricciardo qualified in
seventh.
CERTIFICATES MISSING
I Mr. S. Satheeshkumar A/24, S/o. S.
Subramanian,
residing
at
41,
Venkatasalam Street, Back of TMB,
Aruppukottai - 626101. Lost of my original
certificates 10th Std (No.2108197) & 12th
Std (0637283) Marksheet, Madurai
Kamaraj University BCA Consolidated
(SSG 0036929) in the Year 2007-2010 &
Deg.
Completion
Certificate
No.SR2812000,
Anna
University
Semester Marksheet (Sem. I - GA
1463213, Sem. II - GA 1449114, Sem. III GA 1431012, Sem. IV - GA 1435467,
Sem. V - WGA 125364, Sem. VI - WGA
125771), Consolidated Mark Statement
(S113001046446S),
Provisional
Certificate (Folio No. MDU100499),
Degree Completion Certificate, Course
Completion Certificate, Passport (No.
L6878215), Transfer Certificate - 202,
Pan Card - DMXPS0241B, Voter ID UBU0383497, all this certificates were
missed from house at 11/285 M.G.R.
Street, Medavakkam, Chennai on
19.1.2015. Any one find please contact
9952319543
8SATURDAY
14 MARCH 2015
, CHENNAI
Licensed to post without prepayment under WPP. No. TN / PMG / (CCR) / WPP-470 / 15-17
DHONI is
my hero: MORE
MUMBAI:
India might have sailed
into the cricket World Cup
quarterfinals but former chief
selector Kiran More today
said the team’s middle-order
batting is an area that still
requires improvement while
stating skipper M S Dhoni
was his hero for leading the
side from the front. More felt
the side needed to iron out
weak links in the middle-order batting before the mega
event’s knock-out stage
kicks off.
‘I feel the middle-order has
to bat well. Get more partnerships. We have been
getting partnerships from
the top three, so the middle
order also has to get partnerships. They just can’t
throw away the wickets
because a lot of pressure
comes on the lower order
batsmen. That is what we
saw against West Indies in
a couple of matches ago.
That is the concern area,’
More said.
The former India stumper felt
associate members should
get more opportunities to
play against the top sides to
improve their game and make
the sport more global.
‘A lot of the top teams
NAPIER:
The United Arab Emirates
have sensed an inconsistent West Indies side could
be ripe for the taking in
their final World Cup Pool
B match in Napier, UAE
captain Mohammad Tauqir
has said.
West Indies need a big
win at McLean Park on
Sunday to ensure they
qualify for the quarter-finals
and offload the pressure to
Ireland and Pakistan, who
clash in the final match of
the pool phase in Adelaide
later that day.
Jason Holder’s team have
four points from two wins,
while Pakistan and Ireland have each won three,
though the Irish have an
inferior run rate to the other
two sides.
‘West Indies will be un-
don’t play the
minnows. I feel
India should
travel to Ireland
or the other top
teams like South
Africa should
play against
them, that is how
we will develop
cricket,’ More said at the
book launch of ‘World Cup
Heroes’ written by journalist
Chandresh Narayanan.
He added, ‘Otherwise 12
der the pressure of getting
qualified for the knockout,’
Tauqir told reporters in Napier on Saturday. ‘They’re
not playing as consistent
cricket as they should be
(and) ...
I think
they’ll
be und e r
pressure of
chasing
the run rate.
‘I think it
gives us an
countries play and we say
we are playing a World Cup.
That is why I rate Saina Nehwal’s performance greater
than any of the cricketer’s
performance. 160 countries
opportunity to play freely
and express ourselves either batting or bowling.’
UAE have lost all five of
their pool matches so far and
while they have
occasionally
play Badminton and to be
in the top two of the world is
a great achievement.
‘We should help these
minnows. Ireland Scotland, UAE they should get
more matches.’
The former India stumper
hoped Ireland would get
Test status for their impressive performances over
the years. ‘I think Ireland will
get it. They have been doing
very well,’ he said.
More said India captain
shown they can compete at
international level, they do
not have the skills required
to put sides under consistent pressure.
They were hammered
by India by nine wickets in
Perth on 28 February and
appeared to change focus
for their last two games
against Pakistan and South
Africa, playing not to be
embarrassed rather than
playing to win.
Tauqir said his
side were more
interested in
how they
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has
been his hero for leading
the side from the front.
‘I feel the captain is playing a bigger role. He is the
main hero for us and the
way he has carried our
team (after the tri-series
debacle). Of course Virat
Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan
have been outstanding.
‘One surprise package
who has come through is
Shami. He has been a solid
hero for us. He has played
a bigger role because he is
getting early wickets. Dhoni
has been leading from the
front and for me he is the
number one hero,’ he said.
‘A lot of people were talking about Shikhar Dhawan
should not be part of the
Indian team in World Cup.
I think that is why my hero
is Dhoni. He trusted him.
That is what is the bast part
of Dhoni. He trusts players
and he believes in them
that these guys are going to
deliver it,’ he added.
More lauded Dhawan’s
performance in the World
Cup after having gone
through a rough patch.
‘Shikhar has been outstanding. He had done well
in ODIs previously and Test
matches also. Every cricketer goes through a phase
where you don’t do well but
the way he has come back
has shows the greatness
about the player and he
showed that character. I
hope he scores more runs
in the upcoming matches
and wins the World Cup for
India,’ he said.
played the game. ‘Of course
a win is important, but it’s not
everything,’ Tauqir said. ‘I think
playing good cricket is equally
important, and we have been
playing good cricket. ‘We
started the tournament well,
the two games against Zimbabwe and Ireland.
‘I think we had one bad
game against India, but I
would say even two games
against Pakistan and South
Africa was a decent performance from our side.
‘Although we wanted to
win one or two games, we
came very close but it didn’t
happen.
Mohammad Tauqir
WI has a lot to lose, says UAE captain
SHORT
CUT
TO SUCCESS
Karthi Subbaraj
EXCERPTS FROM
HIS INTERVIEW
Q: Can one generate income with short films?
A: In today’s technologydriven world, the avenues
are plenty. But in Tamilnadu,
there is very little chance.
However, there is more awareness among people these
days about short films. Our
company was floated only to
provide platform to shortfilm
makers. Story is important.
All it needs is somewhere be-
TOMORROW’S MATCHES
UAE vs West Indies at Napier (3.30 a.m)
Pakistan vs Ireland at Adelaide (9 a.m
Vaughan wants
to see more of
Afghanistan
NEW DELHI:
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan on
Friday said he was hoping
it was not the last time Afghanistan participated at a
World Cup.
Vaughan took to social
micro-blogging site Twitter to express his sentiments.
‘Really hope it’s not the
last time we see Afghanistan at a World Cup...
We need to expand the
game not reduce it @ICC
...#CWC15,’ the former
England captain wrote.
Vaughan’s comments
came after the Asian team
ended its World Cup 2015
with a defeat at the hands
of England.
After completing their six
Pool A games, the minnows
registered five defeats,
managing to win one game.
ICC has been contemplating reducing the number
of teams at the World Cup
2019 to 10 from 14.
Witnessing heart-warming
performances from the likes
of Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland and Scotland, several
players have voiced their
support these associate
nations.
Former cricketers have
called for greater participation of associate teams
throughout the international
cricket calender.
Whether Afghanistan
will be part of the next
World Cup is something
fans will have to wait for
ICC to announce. However, they have done
themselves proud with a
great show at this edition
of cricket’s show-piece
event.
POINTS TABLE
POOL A
Team
P
W
L
NR
Pts
NZ (Q)
SL (Q)
AUS (Q)
BAN (Q)
ENG
AFG
SCOT
6
6
5
6
6
6
5
6
4
3
3
2
1
0
0
2
1
2
4
5
5
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
12
8
7
7
4
2
0
POOL B
INDIA (Q)
SA (Q)
PAK
IRE
WI
ZIM
UAE
5
5
0
0
6
4
2
0
5
3
2
0
5
3
2
0
5
2
3
0
5
1
4
0
5
0
5
0
(Updated upto 13 March)
(Q denotes qualified for Quarterfinal)
10
8
6
6
4
2
0
Morgan keen to
keep the reins
SYDNEY:
England skipper Eoin Morgan insists that he is still keen
to continue at the helm of the team despite leading the side
to arguably its worst ever World Cup campaign.
England finished the tournament with a nine-wicket
consolation win over Afghanistan here on Friday, but the
outcome failed to shift
the spotlight from the
side’s dismal show.
While coach
Peter Moores
seems highly
unlikely to
hold onto his
current role,
Morgan’s time
as captain
could well continue into the
future, especially as he
took over from
Alastair Cook
only late last
year.
‘Looking forward, potentially doing it down
the line it’s out of
my hands but again
I’ve enjoyed the
experience, it is (something I’d like to keep doing). The
hunger is still there and the recognition of me looking at
the best of us as a side I think is a good side,’ Morgan was
quoted as saying by news.com.au.
Morgan was honest in his appraisal of his side’s performance in the quadrennial event, saying they have not
fared well enough and a lot of thinking needs to be put in
to make England a force to reckon with in the near future.
H
aving started his career with short films, filmmaker
Karthik Subbaraj doesn’t want to forget his roots. Hence
he floated Stone Bench Creations which aims at providing platform for shortfilm makers. He came out with a collection
of six short films which were screened at popular multiplexes.
Speaking to News Today, Karthik Subbatraj, said, ‘Even
during my short film days, I approached theatres with the
idea of playing them during the interval. They thought it
was problematic to screen an offbeat short film in between
a commercial film’.
A short film is not a shortened feature film. It has a soul of its
own, he said
tween three days to one week
to do one short film.
Q: Do you think you need
censor for short films?
A: One has to go by the law.
If one wants to screen his work
in a theatre, he has to get it
censored.
Q: Do you think shortfilm
makers can achieve success
in big screen?
A: Cinema is different. One
has to learn a lot before making a feature film. Working in
short films will give him the
knowledge. But one has to
gaining practical knowledge
by working as assistant or
associate with filmmakers.
Q: what is your next film?
A: My next film is titled
Iraivi, feminen gender of the
God. It is being produced by
Thirukumaramn Entertainment. Vijay Sethupathi, S J
Suryah and Bobby Simha
play lead roles. It is a romantic entertainer. Search
is on for heroine.
— M BHARAT KUMAR
Iravum Pagalum Varum
from 20 March
A
fter a city court in Chennai vacated the stay on
release of Iravum Pagalum Varum (IPV), directed
by Balu Sriram, it is releasing on 20 March.
IPV is a love story directed by A Venkatesh’s former
assistant Balu Sriram. It is produced by RSSS Films
Thanigaivelu.
Angadi Theru Mahesh and Ananya play lead roles.
Filmmaker A Venkatesh is also in the cast. Both Ananya
and Mahesh play prominent roles. They have given their
best. The story is gripping and has come good, says the
producer. On his part, Mahesh, says, ‘Balu Sriram is a
bundle of talent. He knows what the audience wants’.
— NT Bureau
Published by K. Balakumar on behalf of News Today Media (P) Ltd., from 85, Mount Road (GST Road), Guindy, Chennai 600 032 and printed by him at Frontline Printers Private Ltd., M-7, Thiru-Vi-Ka Industrial Estate, Guindy,
Chennai 600 032. Ph: 4202 1111. Editor: K. Balakumar. Phone: Editorial / Admn / Advt / Circulation 2250 4000, Fax: 2250 0303 (Editorial) / 2250 0101 / 2250 1200 (Advt/Admn/Cir). E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.newstodaynet.com