e-paper (Hyderabad, Saturday, September 6, 2014)
Transcription
e-paper (Hyderabad, Saturday, September 6, 2014)
Indian [email protected] RNI No: APENG/2010/35309 www.indianhorizon.org Volume Issue No: 177 No: 6 Horizon English Daily [email protected] In memory of Dr Asima Kemal and Prof. Dr. Salim W Kemal Published from Hyderabad & New Delhi Hyderabad, Tuesday, June 30, 2015 P-2 Defence Ministry charges Rs 500 crore for flood assistance to Jammu and Kashmir TS Govt releases Rs. 5 Cr for Ramzan arrangements Hyderabad, June 29 (INN) The Telangana Government on Monday released Rs. 5 crore for the repair of mosques and Idgahs across the State in view of holy month of Ramzan. As per usual practice, a review meeting was convened by Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, along with all public representatives on 28th May to review the preparedness and steps to be taken in view of the ensuing month of Ramzan. In the meeting all the public representatives have represented for sanction of funds for taking up Minor Repairs, Renovation, Leakages to Roof, Whitewash, Toilets, Wazukhana, Electrical Repairs and Replacements of Items etc., to those Mosques and Idgahs, which are not having any income. While considering the proposal, the State Government ordered for sanction and release of Rs. 50 Lakhs to each district for taking up the works as mentioned above in Mosques and Edgahs. Over 300 people died and more than 12 lakh people were affected in the floods that devastated large parts of Kashmir, including Srinagar. PTI Congress-BJP war rages on -- over Raje New Delhi/Jaipur, June 29 (IANS) Stepping up the demand for Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s resignation, the Congress on Monday alleged that she had “direct financial dealings” with former IPL chief Lalit Modi. The BJP vehemently refuted the charge as “baseless”. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who has been at the forefront of making serious allegations against Raje, claimed that the chief minister had helped convert a state-owned palace in Dholpur, about 260 km from Jaipur, into private property. He alleged that Niyant Heritage Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by Raje, her son Dushyant Singh, daughter-in-law Niharika Singh and Lalit Modi had taken over a Rajasthan government property, converted it into a private highend luxury hotel and invested over Rs.100 crore. “A joint venture company is running Niyant Heritage which is running Dholpur palace,” he said. Ramesh showed Rajasthan govern- ment documents to claim that Dholpur palace -- built in the late 19th century and which has eight royal palace rooms and 18 luxury villas -- was never a private property of the erstwhile Dholpur royal family. In Jaipur, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajasthan unit rubbished the allegations, saying that the palace’s ownership was very Price: 3.00 Russia vows continued support for Syria P-8 P-5 Srinagar, June 29 (IANS) The Defence Ministry has raised a bill of Rs 500 crore for its assistance to Jammu and Kashmir government for carrying out relief and rescue operations during the floods that battered the valley last year. The Defence Ministry was paid Rs 500 crore by the Union government as the amount was adjusted from the Rs 1602.56 crore assistance given to the state government from its share in the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) for dealing with the floods last September. The state government was informed about the Rs 500 crore bill by the Union Home Ministry through a letter dated February 6. “The high level committee in its meeting held on 30.01.2015 Ramdan Timings Sahar - 4:10 Iftar - 6:58 Pages 12 + 4 pull out (P16) UP govt’s schemes unparallelled, better than Centre: Akhilesh Telangana CM KCR suppressing employees unions Briefs Postal Registration Order No HD/1188/2014-16 approved the following assistance, Rs 1602.56 crore from NDRF subject to adjustment of 90 per cent balance available in SDRF account of the state. This includes payment of air bills for airdropping of essential supplies and rescue (tentatively Rs 500 crore) as per actual, based on the bills raised by the Ministry of Defence,” the letter reads. Over 300 people died and more than 12 lakh people were affected in the floods that devastated large parts of Kashmir, including Srinagar. More than two lakh people, including tourists and non- Kashmiri labourers, were rescued and essential supplies like food, water and medicine were air-dropped in what the armed forces called “Operation Megh Rahat”. much with Dushyant Singh. “All the allegations are baseless. We have papers to prove that the Dholpur palace belongs to Dushyant Singh. There is no illegal occupation on the palace. Moreover, everyone knows that Vasundhara Raje ji is known as the Maharani (queen) of Dholpur city,” BJP state president Ashok Parnami said. “Even the records with the municipality show that the palace belongs to Dushyant Singh,” he added. Parnami challenged Jairam Ramesh to a debate on the issue. “Either he should prove the charges or quit politics.” Parnami accused the Congress of running a smear campaign to tarnish Raje’s image. “The party, which has a history of corruption, is levelling allegations against us.” After Maggi, Top Ramen withdrawn from Indian market New Delhi, June 29 (PTI) After Maggi controversy, Indo Nissin on Monday announced withdrawal of its instant noodles brand ‘Top Ramen’ from the Indian market on orders from central food safety regulator FSSAI. Earlier this month, Nestle had to recall Maggi noodles, while Hindustan Unilever also withdrew its Knorr instant noodles brand over safety and regulatory issues. On June 8, FSSAI had come out with the advisory on product safety testing of all instant noodle products in India after lead beyond permissible limits in Maggi noodles along with taste enhancer Monosodium glutamate (MSG). “At that time we had sought clarification from FSSAI since Top Ramen product approval is pending with the regulator. They have requested us to withdraw the product until they give the product approval,” Indo Nissin Foods Pvt Ltd Managing Director Gautam Sharma said in a statement. He further said Top Ramen was extensively tested in the last few weeks after product safety concerns arose in the category. “We have tested at two FSSAI accredited independent laboratories and shared the results with FSSAI a few weeks ago. While many Top Ramen samples have been tested by various state FDAs across India, only in two cases — slightly higher lead level has been found in the tastemaker,” he added. HYDERABAD WEATHER FORECAST Max Min 34 24 FAJAR ZOHAR ASAR MAGRIB ISHA 4:24 12:20 3:44 6:54 8:16 GOLD 22 CT 26,950 SILVER 1 KG 36,700 Sensex BSE 27,645.15 NSE 8318.40 Forex Rates Indian Rupees US Dollar British Pound Euro Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal UAE Dirham 63.84 92.96 68.47 17.15 16.75 16.97 HC refuses to restrain Meena from Delhi ACB office, work New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday declined the Delhi government’s request to restrain Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief Mukesh Kumar Meena from dealing with the anticorruption department or even entering the office. Justice V.P. Vaish refused to pass an interim order on the Delhi gov- ernment’s plea seeking to restrain Meena from entering the premises of the ACB and “interfering” in its activities, but asked him to “act in accordance with law”. The court also issued notice to the central government, seeking its response by August 11, on the ACB’s appointment as also on the main petition that challenged the Centre’s CBI must probe mysterious deaths in Vyapam scam: Whistleblower New Delhi, June 29 (PTI) Prashant Pandey said he fears for his own life after becoming the whistleblower. The CBI must probe the deaths of accused and witnesses under mysterious circumstances in Madhya Pradesh’s Vyapam scam, says the man who exposed the massive admission and recruitment scandal. “There must be a CBI probe. It is not a coincident that all the accused are dying of one ailment or another. There is something more to it,” Prashant Pandey, a forensic expert, who blew the whistle on the scam, told PTI. Mr. Pandey said he fears for his own life after becoming the whistleblower. A total of 25 accused and witnesses, including the son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, Shailesh, have died so far in the high-profile Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam, also known as Vyapam scam. “There is a coverup by the high and mighty in the state government. There has to be a probe by a third party which is in- notification holding that Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung has discretionary powers on appointments and transfers to key bureaucratic posts in the Delhi government. Meena was appointed the ACB chief by Jung on June 8, superseding ACB chief S.S. Yadav, despite objections from the Aam Aadmi Party government. dependent of state’s interference,” the whistleblower said. Mr. Pandey, a digital forensics expert from Indore has been provided a guard by the state police in view of threat to his life. A Madhya Pradesh High Courtappointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) is supervising the probe by the state’s Special Task Force (STF) into the scam, in which the role of some senior state government officials and politicians has come under the scanner. Chief of the SIT Justice (Retd) Chandresh Bhushan refused to speak about the action being taken in the case. “I cannot say anything on the phone,” Mr. Bhushan told PTI when asked whether the SIT would take cognizance of the deaths. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with BJP Leader L K Advani during the Memorial meeting of former bureaucrat M N Buch in New Delhi on Monday.PTI Manipur ambush: NIA arrests top NSCN(K) commander New Delhi, June 29 (PTI) National Investigation Agency has arrested a key member of Naga insurgent group NSCN-K for allegedly being a part of conspiracy to carry out the June 4 ambush that killed 18 army men in Manipur, in the first breakthrough in the probe into the incident. Khumlo Abi Anal, 40, the selfstyled ‘Regional Commander’ of NSCN-K, is alleged to be a part of the conspiracy that was hatched to carry out the attack on army men at Chandel area of Manipur on June four, NIA said. The accused has been produced before Special Judge, NIA, who remanded him to the agency’s custody till July seven. This is the first breakthrough achieved by NIA, which was handed over the probe in the case within a couple of days of the attack. The investigating agency had deputed a team of experts, led by a Deputy Inspector General, to the spot. About Anal, the officials said that after the attack, he got himself arrested in a different case to evade his role in the June four killings. 2 Indian Horizon, Hyderabad City SCSC launches ‘She Shuttles’ in Cyberabad News Brief Hyderabad HC rejects petition on Section 8 Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Hyderabad High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking implementation of Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in Hyderabad. Responding to the petition filed by Andhra Association of Telangana President K Veera Raghava Reddy, the High Court refused to intervene on the issue. The petitioner had urged the court to direct the Central Government to ask the Governor to implement Section 8 of the APRA on Law and Order in Hyderabad and claimed that people hailing from Seemandhra regions and living in Hyderabad were not feeling safe ever since the formation of Telangana on June 2 last year. However, the court said it could not intervene on the issue as the Act does not say that Governor would not implement Section 8 on the directions of the Centre. The High Court also rejected a similar petition filed by an advocate. Revanth Reddy’s judicial remand extended till July 13 Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Special Court for ACB Cases on Monday extended till July 13 the judicial custody of TDP MLA A. Revanth Reddy and two other accused - Sebastian Harry and Uday Simha - in the Cash for Vote scam. Following end of their judicial custody, all three accused were produced before the ACB Court on Monday. They were brought to the court at Nampally amid tight security. The ACB sought extension of their remand on the grounds that the investigations in the case are at a crucial stage. Revanth Reddy was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on May 31 when he allegedly tried to bribe nominated legislator Elvis Stephenson to get his vote his party’s candidate in MLC elections. The High Court will pronounce the verdict on Revanth Reddy’s bail petition on Tuesday. ‘Cash for Vote’ case: HC quashes Elvis’ petition against Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Hyderabad High Court on Monday quashed the petition moved by nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson seeking the judge to rescue himself from hearing a petition filed by J Muthaiah, an accused in the ‘Cash for Vote’ case. Muthaiah had earlier filed a petition requesting the court to quash the FIR filed by Telangana AntiCorruption Bureau against him in the ‘Cash for Vote’ case. Since the same court had stayed Muthaiah’s arrest by the ACB, Elvis filed a petition asking Justice Shiv Shankar Rao to rescue himself from the case as he alleged that he may not get justice in as the court “seemed to be pre-determined”. While dismissing the petition Justice Shiv Shankar Rao said he was impartial and nobody can doubt his integrity. Stating that the allegations leveled by Elvis against the High Court amounted to contempt of court, the judge directed the High Court registry to file a criminal contempt of court case against the MLA. KCR suppressing employees unions Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Congress senior leader and former MP Ponnam Prabhakar has accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of suppressing the employees unions by luring their leaders with big posts. Speaking to media persons in Assembly premises here on Mon- Tuesday, June 30, 2015 day, Ponnam said that the State Government did not resolve the problems of employees during the last one year. He said that the bifurcation of employees was yet to be completed and the entire division process has been turned into a puzzle. He said that the government also failed to resolve issues concerning the retired employees. Ponnam said that the State Government was not allowing the employees to even agitate. He said KCR has taken complete control of employees unions by giving top posts to their leaders like Swamy Goud, Srinivas Goud and Devi Prasad. He demanded that the State Government resolve the issues of employees on priority basis. Gandra asks TRS Govt to waive off cross loans Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Congress senior leader Gandra Venkataramana Reddy on Monday demanded that the Telangana Government waive off remaining dues of crop loan waiver scheme. Speaking to media persons here, Gandra criticised the State Government for delaying the clearing of crop loan. He said instead of clearing the crop loan dues of nearly Rs. 17,000 crore, the State Government has splitted them into many installments. He said the government did not clear dues of even 40% so far. He said that the TRS Government should emulate the previous Congress Government in taking up welfare measures for farmers. He said that the Congress Government not only waived off crop loans, but also provided free power, input subsidy and other benefits. TDP stages dharna at GHMC Headquarters Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Hundreds of TDP activists held a massive protest at the GHMC headquarters on Monday demanding better civic amenities. Led by MLAs, Maganti Gopinath and G Sainna, TDP activists alleged that development has come to a halt in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and their peripheries. Speaking to media persons, Maganti said that Rs. 50 lakh sanctioned for each area under ‘Swachh Hyderabad’ campaign were yet to be released. He said that the condition of city roads, nalas, street lights, drainages and other amenities were in highly deplorable condition. Accusing GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar of acting like a TRS agent, he said that the corporation and State Government was paying attention only to publicity stunts. The TDP leaders threatened that they would launch massive agitation if the GHMC fails to perform its duties. AAP activists demand dismissal of tainted ministers Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Several workers of Aam Admi Party held a dharna at Ambedkar Statue at Tank Bund on Monday demanding dismissal of tainted Union Ministers. Speaking ot media persons, AAP Telangana unit president Prof. P.L.Visveshwar Rao demanded that Union HRD Minister Smrithi Irani should be removed from cabinet as she lied about educational qualification. He said that the AAP Government in Delhi has sacked its Law Minister after he was accused of possessing a fake degree. Similarly, he said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should be removed from their posts for having links with ex-IPL chief Lalit Modi. Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) on Monday rolled out ‘She Shuttles’, an exclusive women only transport system for the transit safety of women employees in the Cyberabad IT Corridor. She-Shuttles is an integrated transport solution which leverages cutting edge technologies and infrastructure to provide a safe and smart ride for its commuters especially for last mile transport. It has a full time lady security guard, 24 Hour Monitoring from Central Control Room at Cyberabad Police Commissionerate, Smart App for every passenger with Panic Mode Travellers can see the dynamic location of the bus in the Smart App at any given time and save time spent in waiting for the shuttle. It also has the ability to integrate with Company Security, Whatsapp Control Room and Citizen Marshalls from the IT Corridor. The service is free for all women employees of SCSC member companies and it operates from Shuttle Services from 8 AM to 10 PM. The She Shuttles have been procured with the funds released by the TSIIC and shall be run with the funds sponsored by DLF IT Park and Ascendas IT Park. The bus also packs with it “Reach Safe’ Women safety App which has been developed and deployed by Votary Tech, a leading technology company from Hyderabad specialising in solutions for SMART cities Two SHE shuttles have been launched during the event by Information Technology Minister K Tarakarama Rama Rao and Transport Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy at the Raheja Mind Space here on Monday. Speaking on the event, SCSC Secretary Bharani Kumar Aroll said that, “The SHE Shuttle is yet another trendsetting initiative being launched by SCSC, a first of President arrives in Hyd for southern sojourn Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Telangana Government has extended a warm welcome to President of India Pranab Mukherji, who arrived here on 10-day Southern Sojourn, at Air Force Station at Hakimpet on Monday. The President was received at the Air Force Station by Governor ESL Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and other dignitaries. In a rare fete of sorts, KCR touched the feet of Pranab Mukherjee after welcoming him with a bouquet. Legislative Council Chairman K Swamy Goud, Assembly Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary, Deputy Chief Ministers Kadiyam Srihari and Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Ministers including Nayani Narasimha Reddy, T Padma Rao, T Harish Rao, K Tarakarama Rao, MPs K Kavitha, K. Visheswar Reddy and B. Suman, Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma, DGP Anurag Sharma and other senior officials were present at the reception. Top officials of the Armed Forces were also present on the occasion. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had abstained from receiving the President for the first time after bifurcation of the State. The President of India will stay in the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad during the 10-day Southern Sojourn lasting till July 8. During his Southern sojourn, the President will also visit Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on July 1. On July 3, the President will receive first copy of the book ‘Uniki’ written by Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC). He will also inaugurate a ‘Nakshatra Vatika’ at Rashtrapati Nilayam, Bolarum on July 6. Digital Telangana programme to be launched from 1st July Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): After ‘Make in India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat’, the Government of India is launching its 3rd major campaign, called Digital India with the objectives of enabling digital empowerment of citizens, facilitating digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen and providing governance and services on demand. Digital India will be launched through a weeklong programme starting 1st July. Under the leadership of Information Technology Minister K Tarakarama Rao, the ITE&C Department has simultaneously planned for a very ambitious Digital Telangana programme. The State Government has claimed that some of its goals under Digital Telangana far exceed Digital India’s goals. “Digital Telangana stands on two pivots; each of them representing the supply and the demand side. On the supply side, the main aim is to ensure that digital facilities become available to each and every person in the state. This is being made possible through laying OFC to each household using the water grid trenches, Providing 4G services in the entire state, Wifi in major cities and towns and e-Panchayat scheme under which a One Stop Shop kiosk will be available in each Panchayat,” said a press release on Monday. Similarly, on the demand side, the intention is to make each and every person digitally empowered so that he/ she can make best use of the digital facilities that are being made available right at his/her doorstep. The strategies for this include Digital literacy programme, under which one member of each Marri seeks Talasani’s dismissal as Minister Children play on floating electric cables in a water logged area after heavy rains in Mirzapur on Monday. (PTI Photo) Regularise outsourcing staff: CPI tells CM Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to regularize on humanitarian grounds the services of outsourcing employees and Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): CPI Telan- other workers based on their eligibility. gana State Secretary and former MLA, As the government did not come to their Chada Venkat Reddy today urged Chief succor, with no other go the outsourcing CREDAI Hyderabad elects a New Executive Committee Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Hyderabad announced its newly elected office bearers and members of the Executive Committee, who will be responsible for spearheading and strengthening the CREDAI initiatives for the development of the real estate sector in Hyderabad. The newly elected team of CREDAI Hyderabad will be led by its President S. Ram Reddy and the General Secretary P. Rama Krishna Rao from Mon- day. The team includes Vice Presidents G Aditya, G. Anand Reddy, Dr. M.S. Ananda Rao and D. Murali Krishna Reddy other EC members who will all work together for the betterment of the real estate sector of Hyderabad. The team stated its key objectives for the year are to lay increased focus on consumer satisfaction and emphasis on adherence to ethical and building standards. Outlining the agenda of the new Executive Committee, Ram Reddy said, “We are taking charge at a very crucial phase of the real estate sector in Telangana State. The Real Estate sector in the state is on a threshold KTR expressed his satisfaction on the yeomen work undertaken by the SCSC and the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate for the promotion of the safety and security of the Women Employees of the IT Sector. He stated that the Non-AC Buses were launched on a pilot basis and announced that 4 more Air Conditioned buses would be sanctioned for the She-Shuttle buses. He expressed satisfaction that SCSC has been initiating projects which have been hither fore to unheard of in India. Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Anand congratulated the SCSC for the new initiative. its kind in the entire country. SCSC, in its pursuit for promoting safety and security to the Cyberabad IT Corridor, is planning on unleashing many such progressive initiatives particularly towards the women safety.” The App can downloaded from reachsafe. co.in/she-shuttle. The Transport Minister stated that the safety and security of women was of high priority for the Government of Telangana. He mentioned that transport solutions like She-Shuttle which integrates cutting edge technology with transport will be explored for extension to the other parts of the state. Addressing the gathering, Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Congress senior leader and former minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy on Monday demanded the dismissal of Talasani Srinivas Yadav as the minister from State Cabinet. Speaking to media persons here, Marri said that the Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court, in its judgment delivered on 14-2-2007 in workers are on strike for 15 days and resorted to hunger strike for four days for their just demands. In a letter addressed to the chief minister, he said that MGNR EGS scheme is not proving handy for them. If the Government failed to resolve of rapid growth as the policies of the government under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao are pro-industry and pro-growth that would give fillip to real estate sector. We, at CREDAI Hyderabad, pledge our whole hearted support to the Chief Minister, in realizing his avowed policy to raise the Brand Image of Hyderabad, and make Hyderabad a slum-free GLOBAL CITY and an Economic Engine of the State and hope that the government rapidly implements the plans for single window approval for the real estate projects and other reforms to facilitate rapid growth of the housing sector.” household will be taught to become digitally literate, School computer literacy programme: To teach every child from Class 6 onwards the basics of computers, Expansion of mee-seva services, Converting as many mee-seva services as possible on mobile platform and make mobile governance a reality in Digital Telangana and Identifying technology solutions for all government agencies to provide better services to the citizens. The Government of Telangana, in the last six months, has been working on making the vision of Digital Telangana a reality by providing 4G services in major cities; enabling WiFi facilities at Tank Bund, Necklace Road, Charminar, Public Gardens, Railway Station, etc; expanding mee-seva services and working towards the goal of One Stop Shop (OSS) kiosks at each Gram Panchayat. the Rajendra Singh Rana Vs Swami Prasad Maurya case, observed that the indecision by the Speaker on the applications seeking disqualification cannot be merely in the realm of procedure. He said that the judgment and observations of the Constitutional Bench will be binding on all the courts. “Srinivas Yadav is guilty of defection under the provisions in Paragraph 2 (1) of the Tenth Schedule. He will stand disqualified from 2910-2014, when he was admitted to the TRS - whereby he has voluntarily given up his membership of TDP. their issues, works related to Harithaharm program may be hampered, he said. Though KCR hiked the salaries of the staff and regularized the contract staff services these workers are awaiting some succor from the government. Kemal Publications Excellent modern multi colour offset press. Services for quality printing Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, Books, Text Books, Company Annual Reports etc. Please Contact: Ph: 9885183853: 040-66616611 E-Mail: [email protected]. [email protected] Indian Horizon, Hyderabad Tuesday, June 30, 2015 All medical colleges in AP to have Wifi soon News Brief Four teenagers drown in water tank nagar districts. In the present phase, Sharmila will tour Ranga Reddy district for four days starting from Visakhapatnam, Jun 29 (PTI): Monday. She will visit 15 families in Four teenagers including two broth- seven constituencies. ers drowned in a water tank at Narsapuram village here, police said Andhras in today. Hyderabad have The incident took place last eveproblem at all: JP ning under Padbanabham mandal when they entered the tank Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): Loksatfor swimming and were suddenly ta founder-president Dr Jayaprakash caught in the heavy currents. Narayana today administered shock The deceased were identified as to TDP by uttering that there was no K Kalyan (14, his brother K Mohan problem for Andhra people living in (12), S Vinay (14) and J Simhachalam Hyderabad for the last 13 months. (14),Inspector S Kanta Rao said. Jayaprakash’s comment came Locals spotted a cricket bat and against TDP claim that there was clothes lying at the spot around 7.30 no security to people belonging to PM yesterday and alerted police fol- Andhra Pradesh, who are living in lowing which the bodies were fished Hyderabad. He lamented that leadout and taken to government K G ers are playing with the lives of comhospital for postmortem. mon people for their vested interests and the State was divided in a hurry AP CS discusses due to elections. “Political leaders Protocol Services in all are raising some issues for political gain after bifurcation of one year districts of Andhra which is unwarranted”, he said. Jayaprakash Narayan demanded Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao held a handing over of investigation of meeting on Monday to discuss on cash-for-vote case to CBI. organizing Protocol Services in all Jupudi sees conspiracy the districts in Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Secretary has directed behind Revanth episode the officers concerned to take an immediate action to establish a Special Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): TDP Wing particularly for Protocol with- leader Jupudi Prabhakar today alout involving the Revenue Depart- leged that a political conspiracy was ment. Structure the Protocol wing hatched against his party MLA Requickly with the co-operation of vanth Reddy, who was arrested in District Collectors to design the staff the infamous “cash-for-vote” scam pattern particularly for protocol by case. allocating separate head of account, Speaking to mediapersons at the he said. NTR trust bhavan, Jupudi also said “We may also adopt the Proto- nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson col System being maintained in was used as a pawn in the conspirStates viz., Madhya Pradesh, Uttar acy hatched by the TRS government. Pradesh, West Bengal etc.,. Pressure Stephenson’s meeting with KCR in on revenue officials may avoid by his farmhouse amounts to conspircreating full-fledged protocol wing acy, he said. in all the Districts in the State,” the Stating that TDP has full confiChief Secretary opined. dence in the judiciary, Jupudi said General Administration Depart- development in the residuary State ment Secretary M.K. Meena, Fi- has been scuttled due to the nexus nance Secretary M. Ravichandra and conspiracy between the TRS and Special Secretary to Govt. N.V. and YSR Congress Party. Ramana Reddy participated in the Six district judges meeting. Telangana CM congratulates Jwala, Ashwini Hyderabad, Jun 29 (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today congratulated Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa for winning the Canada Open title. The victory of the shuttlers would be a motivation for sportspersons, he said in a release here. Jwala and Ashwini won the Canada Open women’s doubles title after upstaging the top-seeded Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in the summit clash at Calgary in Canada last night. The third-seeded Indian pair triumphed 21-19 21-16 in the contest which lasted 35 minutes. Sharmila arrives for Paramarsa Yatra in RR dist Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): YSR Congress Party leader YS Sharmila, on her latest phase of “Paramarsha Yatra”, landed at Shamshabad airport to a warm and rousing welcome. Party workers and leaders turned up in big numbers to welcome her. From Shamshabad airport, Sharmila will reach Saroornagar of Maheswaram constituency. She would launch her Yatra after garlanding the statue of late YSR in Jellellaguda. During the four-day Yatra, Sharmila will be accompanied by party’s Telangana working president Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, general secretaries, secretaries and other leaders. She will console 15 families as part of the yatra. Her tour will cover 590 km stretching into seven constituencies. The Yatra has been completed in Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahbub- 3 State transferred Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): The Hyderabad High Court of Telangana Government here on Monday issued orders transferring six district judges. According to the order, M. Venkataramana has been appointed as special judge for CBI Court. Similarly, Vijaya Sarathi Acharyulu was posted as chief judge of Warangal district; Aravainda Reddy as chief judge of Nizamahad district; Balayogi as chief judge of City Civil Court; Sambasiva Rao Naidu as fourth additional metropolitan judge, Nampally; Tirumala Rao as second additional metropolitan judge, Nampally. Pawan to air his views on TS-AP wordy duel soon Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): Popular Tollywood actor and Janasena president Pawan Kalyan today announced that he would disclose his opinion on the latest political developments in the two Telugu States i.e. cash-for-vote, phone-tapping and other issues by the end of this week or in early next week. In a twitter, Pawan Kalyan stated: “Elders say, everything depends on the wisdom of the Ruler and let’s see how our leaders’ wisdom takes us forward in the near future. If needed, I might call for a press meet by the end of this week or in the beginning of next week to express my views on cash-for-vote case, phone-tapping and on Section 8 in the next two days. He further observed that “irreparable inter-State wars will be inevitable for the future generations (Bhavi Tharala Madhya Thirigi Kolukonantha Antharyuddhalu Sambhavistayi). Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): The Government of Andhra Pradesh has directed all medical colleges in the state to make Wifi facility available to students immediately. This decision was taken by the Chief Minister during the second meeting of the State Medical Advisory Board at Secretariat on Monday. With healthcare systems in the state in shambles in the last 10 years due to lack of proper direction and focus on public healthcare, human development indices have worsened, leading to high maternal mortality and infant mortality rates. To set direction and making considerable investments in public health, the state government had formed State Medical Advisory Board to work on revamping public health systems in Andhra Pradesh. The Board first met in January 2015. In the meeting today, the Chief Minister was briefed about how digitisation of exams, course modules, journals, text books and library in Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) has made things easy for students and has saved time. The Chief Minister directed Dr. Ravi Raju Tatipudi, Vice-chancellor of the University to also upload results of all examinations taken by students previously. “That will make it easy for them if they want to check their scores and improve their performance,” he added. Special Chief Secretary (Health) L.V. Subramanyam informed the Chief Minister that specialised cardio care facility has began in Guntur General Hospital while it will soon be started in Visakhapatnam’s King George Hospital, Ria Hospital in Tirupati and Kurnool Medical College. Meanwhile, Dr. Somaraju of Care Hospital suggested that medical colleges/universities should be housed in the same campus as the hospital in order to create an entire ecosystem while Dr. Arun Singh, a neonatologist, suggested that nursing colleges too should be part of the ecosystem to give hands-on experiences to nurses/paramedical staff instead of being isolated. Dr. Singh also highlighted the need for fundamental research in universities where professors have to carry out the research. Dr. P. Jagannath, Chairman, Department of Surgical Oncology, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, suggested that paramedical courses with diploma or certificate-course be introduced in order to allow rural students to complete the course in a short time and acquire on-ground practical experience. The Chief Minister has asked the Advisory Board to come up with a strategic AP to form 6 sub-committees including bankers to drive growth Hyderabad, June 29 (INN): In order to give a thrust to economic activity in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suggested forming six sub-committees for agriculture, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, MSME and affordable housing. These sub-committees, the Chief Minister said, will identify growth drivers in each sector and monitor how/why an entity (to which credit has been lent) is non-performing and give hand-holding until it begins performing to generate revenue. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also launched the state credit plan for 201516 at the State Level Bankers’ Committee meeting at Secretariat today. Cong questions PM’s silence on ‘Lalitgate’ Hyderabad, Jun 29 (PTI): Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on ‘Lalitgate’ issue during his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme and on allegations against foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. “He (Modi) talked about yoga, environment, women and all in his ‘Mann ki Baat’. That is good. But, he did not remember Lalitgate,” Rao said. During the UPA govern- The proposed credit plan for 2015-16 is Rs.1,25,748 crore where agriculture has been given Rs.65,272 crore, MSMEs Rs.16,960 crore and other priority sectors at Rs14,688. The total credit for priority sector is Rs96,920 crore while non-priority sector is Rs.28,828 crore. During the meeting, the Chief Minister directed all banks in the state to adapt interoperability which allows business correspondents of one bank to offer payment services to other lenders for better efficiency and optimisation. “This can enable us to disburse pensions in an efficient way to people. Eventually, this will help us become a cashless economy by achieving our goal of financial inclusion,” the Chief Minister added. Stating that the government has successfully implemented two phases under the debt redemption scheme, the Chief Minister sought banks’ cooperation to ready themselves for the third phase of the roll-out. “We’ve linked most of bank accounts to Aadhar. This should be carried out immediately and efficiently. We have to relieve farmers from debt-burden and make farming profitable,” he said. The Chief Minister also said that failure in proper communication to farmers from banks has led to some confusion. “By now, all the loans should have been renewed. I want banks to work on solving this confusion,” he added. ment, Congress leaders like Pawan Bansal, Ashwini Kumar and Shashi Tharoor had quit as Union ministers soon after allegations were made against them, he recalled. Swaraj and Raje are under opposition fire to quit their respective posts over their links with former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is facing probe by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged Forex violations. On a separate issue, Rao urged Telangana Government to help the family of Hyderabad-based Ghazal singer Vithal Rao who passed away recently. KTR offers Rs 1 lakh to ‘Vedam’ Nagaiah Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): The Santoshnagar sleuths have busted a notorious interstate snatching gang of three persons and seized stolen property 13 tolas of gold and two motor bikes from their possession. The criminals were arrested on Sunday evening during vehicle checking at Rakshapuram ‘T’ Junction. M. Appalanaidu, DI, Santoshnagar PS, arrested the trio under the guidance of. V. Satyanarayana, IPS. The accused were identi- fied as Syed Afroz Ali, 24, of Indiragandhipuram Colony, Sanathnagar, Syed Azeem Ahmeduddin, 22, of Murgi Chowk, near Stayfit Gym, Khilwath and Mohd Pasha, 24, of Sai Nagar, Kukutpally Housing Board, Hyderabad. Police said the gang used to commit theft of high speed two wheelers by using false keys parked in front of houses. These vehicles were being used for committing Snatching Offences. The modus operandi of the gang is the rider drove the vehicle just beside the selected old women going alone; pillion rider would snatch the chain Take up Harithaharam, Srihari tell education officials Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): Ahead of the launch of the flagship program of Harithaharam on July 3, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari today directed vice chancellors of various universities and officials of education department to conduct massive plantation of saplings program in their campuses and premises. During a high level review meeting with them at Secretariat here, the deputy chief minister asked them to take up on war-footing the project to expand green cover in the state. The flagship Harithaharam – a “brainchild” of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is being considered as the noted to extend green cover in and outside of the forests in Telangana State, Srihari said. This project will help increase green cover to about 33 per cent from 25.16 per cent in the state, according to information. With a plan to plant 230 crore saplings across the state in four years the government aims to distribute 40 lakhs of saplings to every Assembly constituency including 10 lakhs of saplings to every mandal and adequate number to the educational institutions he said. Taking this opportunity, the vice chancellors and top officials should focus on the greenery project, the deputy chief minister said. The State Government will offer complete cooperation for the greenery project to attract more rains and check the menace of pollution he added. Vehicles move through a water logged road after heavy rains in Jammu on Monday. (PTI Photo) Rao’s shoes to lend a helping hand to the poor and deprived, IT Minister KT Rama Rao today offered Hyderabad, June 29 (NSS): Prob- Rs 1 lakh to Nagaiah who acted in ably stepping into his father and Vedam film and begging at Film Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Nagar. Moved at the penury of Three-man snatching gang busted action plan which will identify the low-hanging fruits to bring in immediate results and also suggest methods to revamp the entire healthcare system which will bring in long-term results, keeping the changing dynamics of healthcare across the world. “We have to shift from curative system to preventive healthcare system,” the Chief Minister said. The strategic plan will include integrating various departments within the medical sector to enhance the response systems and services. “We need to shift from a institutionalised-centric healthcare to people-centric healthcare system,” the Chief Minister added. Nagaiah, who is begging in Film Nagar to make both ends meet, KTR invited him to his residence and offered Rs 1 lakh cheque. Besides, offering to provide Rs 1500 old age pension the Minister prom- from the neck of the women. One of these persons would watch the surroundings while committing offences. They normally select isolated places like colonies and commit the offences targeting lonely moving ladies near temples, lanes, by lanes and secluded areas. In this fashion, the gang committed seven offences in the limits of Hyderabad and Mahbobnagar. Out of seven offences, five are snatchings and two are two-wheeler thefts. Police said three months back they were released on bail from the Cherlapally Jail and Bidar Jail. ised to sanction a house to to Vedam Nagaiah in future irrespective of his region. Telangana Government will extend a helping hand to the old artists who should not remain in penury the IT Minister asserted. ADVERTISEMENTS INVITED To Advertise in INDIAN HORIZON English Daily at concessional rates. Pleasing display, Wider reach Please contact: 040-66616611, 66839818, or Email: [email protected], [email protected], 4 Indian Horizon, Hyderabad South Jaya flags off first phase of Chennai metro News Brief DMK welcomes Metro Rail launch, takes credit for bringing it Chennai, Jun 29 (PTI): The DMK today welcomed the launch of Metro Rail services in the city and claimed credit for bringing the transport system to this metropolis. DMK Treasurer M K Stalin said that the inauguration of the Metro Rail done by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, brought ‘great joy’ to him. “This project was initiated by the DMK government to provide the city with a world-class mass rapid transport system. The sanction of Rs 14,600 crore for the Metro project was approved by the DMK cabinet on November 7, 2007,” he said in a statement here. As then Minister for Local Administration, he had visited Japan to seek a loan for the project and the construction work which began in 2009 was unfortunately delayed, the statement said. “At last, the long wait is over for the residents of Chennai,” he said, adding, the benefits of such a Mass Rapid Transport System included decreased commuting time and reduced vehicular congestion, among others. With the inauguration of the Metro, Chennai was one step closer to the definition of ‘an advanced city,’ he said while urging that metro services should be expanded to all parts of the city and the state. Jayalalithaa had flagged off the first of the Metro Rail services today with the government launching trains on the Alandur-Koyambedu sector. LGBT community conducts parade, conference Chennai, Jun 29 (PTI): Seeking to showcase their unity and strength, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community organised a host of programmes including parades, conferences and cultural events in south Indian city Chennai on Sunday. Around 500 members holding placards and flags began their “Pride Parade” from Raja Rathinam Stadium, Egmore to Mahatma Gandhi Road Nungambakkam, here. Representatives of Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition, the organisers of the event, said, it was an attempt by community members to assert their space in the society. “The month of June is very special for us. This is the time we meet our members who come here from various places. This time the number of people participated crossed 500. I consider it as one of the proudest moments for us”, Jaya, one of the members, told PTI. “All we seek is a recognition in the society. Some feel we are adopting western culture. It is not. We do have the right and this parade allows us to assert our space in the society,” she said. A conference on “Society and LGBT Community-building bridges” was also held as part of the programme. Decomposed bodies of man and woman retrieved from well Coimbatore, Jun 29 (PTI): The decomposed bodies of a man and woman were found in a well in Kinathukadavu, about 20 KMs from here, today. Balakrishnan, a driver by profession and Sumitra, a worker in banyan factory, of different castes, were in love for the last few months, police said. Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Learning about the affair, the parents of Sumitra, arranged her marriage with another person, they said. Meanwhile, Sumitra was reported missing from June 22 and the parents lodged a complaint with local police, who carried out search for her, police said. Later the bodies were found in a well in farm. Couple electrocuted Salem, June 29 (PTI): A couple was found dead in their shop here today, police said. The postmortum of the bodies revelaled that they were electrocuted, police said. Minor girl killed as tree falls on two wheeler Kozhikode, June 29 (PTI): A 16-year-old girl was killed when a roadside treee fell on the motorbike she was riding on with her male relative at Narath near Kannur today, police said. Nahata and her relative Faisal (25) were on their way to Valapattinam for her higher secondary course admission when the mishap occurred around 3.30 PM near a Public Health Centre. She was rushed to a private hospital in Kannur where she succumbed to injuries. Faisal was discharged after treatment, they said. Keralite Neurology professor awarded British Fellowship Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 29 (PTI): Dr Abraham Kuruvilla, professor of Neurology at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, here has been awarded the fellowship of Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The fellowship, FRCP, was awarded by Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh at an award ceremony held on June 26 at the Queen Mother Conference Centre in the Royal College of Edinburgh, UK, a press release here said. Kuruvilla is an American Board certified Academic Neurologist in India holding sub-speciality certification in Clinical Neurophysiology, Neuromuscular Medicine and Vascular Neurology (Stroke). He is a WHO International Consultant in stroke and had successfully set-up state-of-the art Stroke Program and Acute Stroke Unit (ASU) at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the release said. Man fatally knocked down by bus; tension in Annur Coimbatore, Jun 29 (PTI): Tension prevailed for some time at Annur in the district today when some people blocked vehicular traffic after a private bus fatally knocked down a motorcylist, police said The man, an electrician in a local mill, was on his way to work at around 6.30 AM at the town, some 35 km from here when the mishap occurred, police said. The bus was proceeding to Sathyamangalam from here when it hit the motorcyclist, killing him on the spot. On coming to know of her husband’s death, his wife, a local body member, rushed to the spot with relatives and other members of the public, squatted on the road with the body and demanded the immediate arrest of the bus driver, who fled from the spot, police said. They dispersed after police assured them that the guilty would be booked and action taken against them. Chennai, Jun 29 (PTI): The first phase of the much anticipated multi-crore Metro Rail chugged into the city today, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flagging off the inaugural service steered by a woman driver. Jayalalithaa launched the services on the Alandur-Koyambedu sector by flagging it off from the state secretariat through live video, throwing open to the public a mass rapid transport system. The route dedicated to the public is an elevated structure covering a distance of 10.15 km, consisting of Alandur, Ekkathuthangal, Ashok Nagar, Vadapalani, Arumbakkam and Koyambedu Railway stations besides the yard at the last stop, a state government release here said. The route of the train has been mainly on the busy 100 ft road and would cater to lakhs of commuters when fully completed. The first train having four coaches, which left at 12.15 PM from Alandur to Koyambedu was driven by A Preethi, a 28- year-old diploma holder in engineering from Government Dharmambal Polytechnic College here. The flower decked sprawling and swanky Alandur metro station, the biggest in Chennai, was brimming with activity, with enthusiastic passengers eager to board the first train. “I wanted to board the first metro train, I hope metro makes travel easier and a pleasure,” said K Ramesh a young executive. The 45 km Metro Rail project is estimated to cost Rs 14,600 crore and would cover two routes-- the 23.085 km Wannarapet to Airport section-- and the 21.961 km stretch from Chennai Central to St.Thomas Mount. Of the total expenditure, Centre’s contribution is 15 percent as share capital and five percent as loans, while People on board a metro train after Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa flagged off the Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s passenger services between Alandur and Koyambedu through video conference, in Chennai on Monday. (PTI Photo) that of the Tamil Nadu government is at 15 percent in share capital and 5.78 percent as loans, the release said, adding the state has released its entire share of funds. The rest 59.22 percent has LDF walkout over Vigilance move to close case against Mani Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 29 (PTI): Opposition LDF today staged a walkout in Kerala Assembly in protest against denial of permission for adjournment motion seeking discussion over state Vigilance department’s decision not to prosecute Finance Minister K M Mani in the bar bribery scam. Replying to the notice for the motion, sought to be moved by the the CPI(M)-led LDF, state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said Vigilance was yet to submit the probe report in court and the Opposition was seeking a debate on a matter based on media reports. “The government cannot carry on the investigation based on rumours and media reports,” he said. Stating that the state government had never intervened at any time during the investigation, Chennithala said the probe was progressing in a free and fair manner. Justifying the Vigilance’s action seeking legal opinion in the bar scam from former Solicitor General L Nageswara Rao, Chennithala said earlier also the anti-corruption department has sought legal opinion in several cases. The Kerala Home Minister also rejected Opposition allegation that the Vigilance chief altered the “factual report” prepared by the investigating officer and sought a new one. Seeking notice for the adjournment motion, S Sharma (CPI-M) alleged that government had interfered in the probe and the investigating officers were denied chances to submit a free and fair probe report. He also said it would not be “sub-judice” to discuss the matter in the House as the charge sheet in the case was not filed in the court. servation and Ecological restoration of Lakes under the jurisdiction of Lake Development Authority and Urban Local Bodies’ was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the initiatives taken by various agencies involved in conservation and rejuvenation of lakes in urban and semi-urban areas. The performance audit for the period 200914 covered the activities relating to conservation and restoration of lakes in the Revenue Department, Forest Department, Urban Development Department and Fisheries Department. The audit also covers the role of various implement- Repolling held in one booth in R K Nagar constituency Belagavi (Kar), Jun 29 (PTI): The Opposition today turned the heat on the Siddaramaiah government on recurring farmers’ suicides in Karnataka, accusing it of being “irresponsible” and “careless” in addressing the issues concerning peasants. Giving a stormy start to the monsoon session, the opening day was marred by protests by a united opposition over government’s alleged failure, which BJP leader Jagadish Shettar charged had left the farmers with no other option but to commit suicide. Soon after obituary references were made by Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa to members who died recently, Shettar raised the issue of farmer’s suicide and Chennai, Jun 29 (PTI): Repolling was today held at one of the booths in Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency here, being contested by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, where by-election was held on Saturday. Repolling in Booth No 181 was announced by the Election Commission yesterday after it was found that the Presiding Officer allowed some voters ‘not duly enrolled in the ing agencies namely Lake Development Authority, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority, Belgavi and Hubballi-Dharwad city corporations, Pollution Control Board and Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board. It covered 56 lakes, including 13 under BBMP, Bengaluru civic body and 19 lakes under BDA. The report also said that Revenue Department had failed to carry out its responsibilities related to conducting surveys and removing encroachments in lakes, despite having the mandate for the same. electoral roll’. Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena yesterday said that “the Election Commission has stated that its observer deputed in the constituency reported that the presiding officer of polling Station No 181 in the constituency allowed some of the voters who were not duly enrolled in the electoral roll.” “The Election Commission directed that the poll taken on June 27 at the polling station 181 has been ‘vitiated’ within the meaning of section 58(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” he and 2010-11 and an additional Rs 9608.63 crore from that year till date, it said adding a total sum of Rs 10,751.94 crore was the expenditure since work commenced on the Metro rail activity. Farmers’ suicide issue rocks Karna Assembly CAG finds loopholes in lake conservation, devpt efforts Belagavi, Jun 29 (PTI): The Comptroller and Auditor General has said the Lake Development Authority and urban local bodies have taken up conservation and development of lakes in an “ad hoc manner” without proper coordination with each other. The results of performance audit showed that implementing agencies had taken up conservation and development work in lakes in an ad-hoc manner without adequate prioritisation and coordination amongst each other, CAG said in a report tabled in the Assembly here today. The performance audit on ‘Con- been sourced as loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the release said. A sum of Rs 1143.31 crore had been spent on the scheme between 2007-08 non-payment of dues by mills to cane farmers, a major issue in Belagavi district, considered the sugar bowl of Karnataka. Charging the government with being “irresponsible” and “careless” in addressing the issues faced by farmers, he said, “this attitude has left farmers with no option other than committing suicide.” BJP and JDS demanded that the government immediately take steps to pay dues to cane farmers to the tune of Rs 960 crore. Intervening, the Speaker requested that the opposition should allow Question Hour and he will give them an opportunity for a detailed discussion on the issue later. Not relenting, the Oppo- sition said they are ready for any kind of discussion only after government pays cane farmers their dues. “Give money first and let’s discuss after that,” Deputy Leader of opposition R Ashoka said. Shettar said there have been only discussions on the issue in the last three years but nothing that was promised by the government has happened on the ground. Ministers R V Deshpande and Jayachandra as also several ruling Congress MLAs defended the government, leading to verbal exchange between both the sides. Intervening, Siddaramaiah said government is ready for discussion and added, “our government is pro-poor and farmer friendly.” Karnataka govt’s ‘Suvarna Gramodaya Yojana’ a failure: CAG Belagavi (Karna), Jun 29 (PTI): Karnataka government’s ‘Suvarna Gramodaya Yojana’ was a “failure” as the overall development of each village was not achieved, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has stated. Suvarna Gramodaya Yojana was launched by the state government in February 2007 with an intention to develop village communities by adopting an intensive and integrated approach to rural development. The objective of the scheme was development of 1,000 villages every year through the concentrated efforts of government, non-government organizations, partners from private sector and village communities. PM should sack Sushma Swaraj, says Narayanasamy Puducherry, Jun 29 (PTI): AICC General Secretary and former Union Minister V Narayanasamy today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping scam-tainted former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel docu- The government today tabled the CAG report on local bodies for the year ended March 2014 in the Assembly, which is holding its monsoon session here. The report contains results of the performance audit and compliance audit of Panchayat Raj institutions and urban local bodies. Stating that the performance audit of the scheme for the period 2009-14 showed that Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department allocated funds in pre-determined percentage for 10 different components, the report said there were no parameters and benchmarks of desirable levels to determine when a village would be regarded as a developed village. ments in the UK. “If she does not step down on her own, the Prime Minister should sack her from the cabinet” he told reporters here today. He said Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje “were safeguarding the former the former IPL chief”. He also demanded resignation of Maharashtra Minister for Women and Child Development Pankaja Munde for awarding contracts without inviting tenders. He also also wanted the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani to quit office for allegedly giving false information about her educational qualifications in the affidavit filed with the Election Commission. He took strong exception to the exclusion by the Centre of Union Territory of Puducherry from the list of smart cities released recently. Indian Horizon Hyderabad Justice Katju moves SC against parliament’s resolution New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) Justice Markendey Katju, former apex court judge, today moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of resolutions passed against him by both Houses of Parliament for calling Mahatama Gandhi and Subhash C Bose as British and Japanese “agents” respectively. The former judge, in his Facebook post, alleged that both Houses of Parliament condemned him for his statements “calling Gandhi a British agent, and Subhas Chandra Bose a Japanese agent” without even giving him a hearing. A former chairperson of the Press Council of India, Justice Katju, who also annexed the copy of his petition with his facebook post, has sought quashing of resolutions passed against him by Lok Sabha on March 12 and Rajya Sabha on March 11. Alternatively, he has sought a direction to Lok Sabha Speaker and Chairman of Upper House that he be heard personally or through his duly designated lawyer(s).Katju’s post on the social site also said that senior lawyer Gopal Subramaniam would represent him. Trinamool suspends two Bengal legislators Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday suspended two of its legislators - Seuli Saha and Silbhadra Dutta - for antiparty activities. “They have been suspended from the party for indulging in anti-party activities. They have not been listening to the party and provoking others to quit our party,” Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee told IANS. The suspension comes a day after Saha, who represents Haldia constituency, and Dutta, from Barrackpore constituency, attended an iftar party hosted by sidelined Trinamool leader Mukul Roy. Perceived to be close to Roy, Dutta was earlier removed from the post of parliamentary secretary. Both Dutta and Saha said they will comment on the issue only after getting a formal intimation about their suspension.Speculations have been rife of Roy, a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP floating a new political party after Eid. During Sunday’s iftar party where both Saha and Dutta were present, Roy’s aide and expelled Trinamool leader Dipak Ghosh had claimed the formalities of floating the new party will begin after Eid. “The draft is ready, we will file the documents for floating the new party with the Election Commission after Eid. Once the formalities are completed we will make the announcement,” Ghosh had said Sunday. Roy remained noncommittal, terming Ghosh’s comments as personal.Critical of the Banerjee government for “not fulfilling aspirations of minorities”, Roy in the last couple of months, held talks with several leaders from the Muslim community. Besides holding talks with Pirzada Toha Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif, an influential spiritual leader, Roy met All Bengal Minority Youth Federation general secretary Mohammad Quamruzzaman, and former Left Front minister and expelled CPI-M leader Abdur Rezzak Mollah. Once the second in command of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and credited as the architect of the party electoral success, Roy was stripped of all party posts. His relation with the party fell out following his quizzing by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the multicrore rupee Saradha scam. Going against the party stand that the CBI was targeting Trinamool leaders, Roy insisted he would cooperate with the probe agency even if it called it a hundred times. AMU to set up intermediate colleges across UP Aligarh, June 29 (IANS) The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will set up English medium Intermediate Colleges across Uttar Pradesh as a tribute to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of the university, on his bicentennial birth anniversary in 2017. Last week, AMU’s vice chancellor Lt. Gen.(retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah, signed a Memorandum of Under- standing with the All India Muslim Educational Conference, a 129-year-old organisation, to make the dream of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan become a reality. He said the first college would start operating at Jaula village in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district from this August and the “process to appoint teachers has already begun”.Shah said these intermediate colleges would tion, in Aligarh. An organising committee has also been constituted under the chairmanship of Shah. Stating that they would be based on the pattern of Christian missionary schools, Shah said “We have to empower our students and equip them with good schooling so that they qualify for institutions of higher learning like IITs, IIMs, NDA (National Defence Academy). be recognised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Stating that these institutions would be secular education centres where students of all faiths would be able to study, he said: “But there will be some reservation for Muslims.”Shah said Sir Syed Education Foundation already runs Aligarh Public School, a CBSE recognised institu- Lalu Prasad Acts Like ‘Duryodhan’ and ‘Kansh’, Says Pappu Yadav PATNA June 29 (PTI): Expelled RJD leader Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav today hit back at Lalu Prasad for calling him “Mir Jafar and Jai Chand” and said his former mentor acted like “Duryodhan” and “Kansh” for the Yadav caste. “Lalu Prasad acted as ‘Duryodhan’ and ‘Kansh’ for his own caste Yadav and also minority Muslims who made him a powerful leader,” Pappu Yadav who founded the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) after his expulsion from RJD told reporters reacting to Lalu Prasad’s remarks against him. ” Being a descendant of Lord Krishna, I would fight against the Duryodhan and Kansh,” Mr Yadav, Lok Sabha member from Madhepura, who has launched a scathing attack at his former mentor after being expelled from RJD, said.The RJD Presi- Dog’s photo in student’s admit card, police action ordered Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Sniffing a conspiracy, the West Bengal government on Monday ordered police action against a candidate who claimed he downloaded an admit card for the ITI entrance exam from the official website with a dog’s photo on it. Soumyadip Mahata from Jhargram in West Midnapore district on Saturday claimed he downloaded the admit card for the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) entrance test with a dog’s photo. The test scheduled on Sunday was cancelled after a question paper leak. State Minister for Technical Education and Training Ujjal Biswas on Monday said he has directed police in West Midnapore to take action against Mahata, saying the candidate had himself uploaded the canine’s picture in his application form. “It’s a candidate who pastes a picture on the application form and not the department. Mahata had uploaded the application form with the dog’s photo and is now making false claims to malign the department and the state government,” said Biswas. “We suspect he acted in pursuance of a conspiracy. We have directed district police to initiate action against him and, if required, arrest him to unravel the entire matter,” the minister said.Biswas claimed the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was involved in the leak of the question papers that eventually led to rescheduling of the exam to July 5.The technical education department on Sunday cancelled the test after media reports said question papers were being sold openly. 5 Nation Tuesday, June 30, 2015 dent while attacking Pappu Yadav who has formed Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), as well as, leaders of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) had compared them with “Mir Jafar and Jai Chand” who have crossed over to destructive forces. The Madhepura MP sought to correct Lalu Prasad saying “since he was thrown away from the RJD by Prasad, he could be Mir Kasim and not Mir Jafar or BJP using silence to blunt Congress onslaught against Raje New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) Amid the stepped-up attack by the Congress on beleaguered Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the BJP central leadership has asked its national leaders not to speak on the charges made against her by the opposition party. The BJP thinking is that the allegations will die down if the media hype over Raje is not fed further with comments from senior party leaders. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has issued a gag order to the party spokespersons and central leaders while allowing only the state leadership to respond on this particular matter, party sources told IANS on the condition of anonymity.“Since it is a matter purely linked to the Rajasthan BJP, there is no point for senior New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) CPI top brass would hold parleys on its role in the upcoming Bihar elections and is likely to adopt an agitational programme with other Left parties and mass organisations in the coming days to protest the government’s economic and other policies.The party’s three-day National Council meeting, beginning in Chandigarh from tomorrow, would also discuss the recent national and international developments including BJP’s one-year rule at the Centre. Will push policies to strengthen cyber security: NITI Aayog Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat on Monday said the think-tank of the central government will push policies for the indigenous manufacture of electronics and hardware to strengthen India’s cyber security. Saraswat, a former Defence Research and Development Organisation chief, stressed on the creation of indigenous technologies through ‘Make in India’ in electronics and hardware sector to prevent the country’s vulnerability to cyber threats.“Cyber defence or cyber security is very important. If cyber space is weak in today’s scenario, the country’s economy is going to be affected. So it is very important for us to develop tools for cyber defence,” the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog member told media persons here.“We have to cre- Jai Chand.”The JAP founder accused Lalu Prasad of working against his own castemen to promote the interest of his family.“For the sake of family interest he threw out not only me, but also Ramkripal Yadav, Ranjan Yadav, Nawal Kishore Yadav and Awadh Bihari Chaudhary among others from the party,” he said.Using strong word against Lalu Prasad, Pappu Yadav called him “politically illiterate”, but hailed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as “political visionary” and expressed surprise over their coming together. Drinking is a fundamental right: MP minister Babulal Gaur says BHOPAL June 29 (PTI): Madhya Pradesh home minister Babulal Gaur fuelled another controversy with his remarks that drinking liquor is a “fundamental right” and that it is a status symbol too.The 85-year-old Gaur made the remarks while asserting that crime rate doesn’t go up by consuming alcohol. “Alcohol does not increase crime. People lose their consciousness after consuming alcohol and that’s how it causes crime. The person who drinks within control does not cause crime,” he said, adding,” one should not overdrink. It is one’s fundamental right. Drinking is a social status symbol these BJP leaders to get involved in this verbal duel,” said a BJP source. Stepping up the demand for Raje’s resignation, the Congress on Monday alleged that she had “direct financial dealings” with former IPL chief Lalit Modi. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, at the forefront of making these allegations against Raje, alleged that Niyant Heritage Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by Raje, her son Dushyant Singh, daughter-in-law Niharika Singh and Lalit Modi had taken over a Rajasthan government property, converted it into a private high-end luxury hotel and invested over Rs.100 crore. Most BJP national spokespersons contacted by IANS refrained from commenting on the issue. CPI to discuss Bihar polls at National Council meet days”.The controversy-prone minister was asked by reporters here yesterday for his reaction to extending the timing for sale of alcohol in Bhopal from 10 pm to 11.30 pm. Gaur had previously said that sexual crime in Chennai is low as women wear “full clothes”.“Women in Tamil Nadu wear full clothes and hence the crime rate is lower there as compared to other states,” he said after a visit to Chennai. He was also at the centre of a controversy when he recalled at an event on how he had once told the wife of a Russian leader that he can teach her how to untie a dhoti. Congress activists burning an effigy of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal on Monday, demanding for a CBI investigation into the death of at least 42 people allegedly linked with Vyapam or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam. PTI ate a hardware without vulnerability; we have to produce things in-house because most of our network infrastructure is imported. It comes from either China or other countries and because it is imported, it is vulnerable (to malwares etc.),” he said. Saraswat was speaking on the sidelines of his address on the scope of statistics in cyber security at the Indian Statistical Institute’s 2015 Workers’ Day celebration in commemoration of the 122nd birth anniversary of its founder P.C. Mahalanobis. The day is also celebrated as National Statistics Day.Elaborating on NITI Aayog’s role in pushing policies, the think tank’s permanent member said India’s electronic and software policy has to cater to indigenous production to protect the nation’s economy.“Our electronic policy has to cater to the indigenous production of computers and com- munication systems and the entire gamut of things which go into the network,” Saraswat said.“If we are not able to protect it, our whole economy will be in trouble since the banking, defence and railway systems will be affected. We have to lay down our very own policy for the indigenous manufacturing of electronics and development of software,” he said.In addition, India needs “dependable collaborations” to accelerate pace in these sectors, he said.“Obviously, it requires monetary and human resource investments. That is, it requires a policy push. NITI Aayog will go for a policy push in all these areas. The government of India has already announced major programmes like ‘Make in India’, which cater for this kind of production and development of systems to make our country’s cyber security more potent,” Saraswat added. Facing backlash, Kolkata college goes soft on dress code Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Facing a backlash over its decision to impose a dress code on its students, the city’s Scottish Church College has now urged its pupils to attire themselves considering the country’s “rich culture” and the institution’s “glorious heritage”. Recommending students to come in “unostentatious dress”, the college authorities on Saturday issued a notice proscribing roundneck t-shirts, short and slit skirts and called for ‘properly wearing’ salwar-kameez and sarees.However, in a notice issued late Sunday night, the institution has invoked its eminent alumnus - the likes of Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Manna Dey - in asking the students to dress according to the country’s heritage. “The College recommends that students come to college in simple and unostentatious clothes suitable to an academic environment, taking into account India’s rich culture, and the glorious heritage of this college, whose alumni include Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Manna Dey, to name only a few,” reads the new notice.While the old notice threatened disciplinary action Paswan makes ‘jungle raj’ barb at Nitish over Nalanda Patna, Jun 29 (PTI) Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan today hit out at Nitish Kumar government over the Nalanda incident in which a school’s director was lynched by a mob and said it was a reflection of the return of “jungle raj” in the state.“School’s director was beaten to death with lathis by people and the administration could do nothing...does this not reflect jungle raj has returned in Bihar?” Paswan told PTI. Making a scathing attack at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Paswan said if this could happen in the CM’s native district for not complying with the dress code, there is no such mention in the new order. Besides banning captions/writings on t-shirts or tops, the previous order said only full length trousers and “skirts well below knee length without slits” should be worn to the college. The words “salwar-kameez and sarees should be worn properly” also don’t find a mention in the new notice. Claiming that the dress code was an infringement on the students’ personal liberty, educationists and activists had slammed the decision. one could imagine the law and order situation in other parts of the state. “Does ‘Sushashan Babu’ (Nitish Kumar) have any answer to what happened in Nalanda?” the union food minister and LJP chief asked.He said had the administration been alert it could have properly investigated the case of death of two students and prevented people from taking law into their own hands. UP govt’s schemes unparallelled, better than Centre: Akhilesh Lucknow, Jun 29 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said that the schemes launched by his government were “unparallelled” as against those launched by the NDA-led Centre. “Samajwadi Pension yojna is an unparallelled scheme.. we give benefit to the living people whereas the one brought by the Centre extends help only in the case of death,” he said while addressing workers on the 68th birthday celebrations of national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav here.The Chief Minister pointed out that the scheme is aimed at helping 50 lakh families. “As many as 45 lakh women are getting the benefit of the pension scheme in their life time .. the money goes straight into bank accounts of the beneficiaries and they get financially stronger,” he said. Yadav maintained that the work done by his government has “no comparison with anyone”.Citing other schemes, the Samajwadi leader said that efforts were on to increase employment opportunities in the state.The socialist ideology is the most relevant one in the present times, he said.Stressing that danger of communalism was rising, Yadav said that it was a challenge before the Samajwadi Party and youth will have to come forward to deal with it. Meanwhile, holding a review meeting with district magistrates of six districts at his official residence later, Yadav asked them to implement the schemes launched for the welfare of poor and farmers with sincerity.“Villages, farmers, poor are among the priority of the state government and their neglect will not be tolerated at any cost”, he told the meeting. 6 Indian Horizon Hyderabad EDIT Indian Horizon ‘Pakistan is facing fundamental challenges to its capacity’ BY SAHANA GHOSH Tuesday June 30, 2015 Balance in supply of three elements for development are basic to it and must be monitored and controlled delightedly Economic development is the main source for the prosperity of a nation and development requires three basic elements: land, labour and capital. If a nation has these resources available within the country, it can have a balanced development, which improves the productivity of a nation and with it standard of life also improves. If we try to create an equitable balance, then we have to attain balance among the three elements. If the balance required is lacking, then the health of an economy becomes problematic. Now we turn to imbalances, which affect the quality of development. If a country faces imbalance, which means the application of these elements have been mismatched the economic growth and the standard of life of the people are adversely affected, we then must wish to correct the balance and see that the flow is allowed to grow freely. The productive elements in harmony will help to produce good results. If some ele- Tuesday June 30, 2015 W ith Sunni militants advancing on Iraqi capital Baghdad and the twin attacks on Karachi airport, an Indo-Canadian author and expert on South Asian politics says Pakistan’s fight against insurgent groups is getting harder while the country is “not that effective” in confronting them, given the complexities and contradictions of its policies. Author T.V. Paul described the airport attacks as a “tit-for-tat” strategy and said the country must confront both arms of the Taliban - the Pakistani Taliban as well as the Afghan Taliban - to tackle the long-standing issue. “Pakistan is facing a fundamental challenge to its capacity to control the Pakistani Taliban. The state tried to appease them and bargain, negotiate with them but didn’t succeed, then they use force...so its basically tit for tat attacks,” Paul told IANS at the Oxford Bookstore here on the sidelines of a discussion on his book, “The Warrior State - Pakistan in the Contemporary World.” In the country to promote his book, the academic, originally from Kerala and who has penned 15 books, advocated the need for Pakistan to formulate a coherent counter-terrorism policy. “The (Pakistan) civilian authority has great difficulty in developing a coherent policy...a coherent-counter terrorism policy is needed. There is the big problem of Afghanistan with the Afghan Taliban there; so Pakistan has to confront this menace ...they have to go all out against both Taliban,” he said. Earlier this month a brazen terror attack was mounted at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, in which 23 people, including 10 militants, were killed. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), the militant group, along with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. A second strike followed when the Airport Security Force (ASF) Academy’s camp near the airport came under attack from heavily-armed Taliban gunmen. The attackers managed to escape. Paul elaborated: “They (Pakistan) are still keeping the Afghan Taliban as a bargaining chip for a greater influence in the post-Karzai regime. This is the challenge...how do you maintain on the one side support for Afghan Taliban and on the other hand oppose the mystic Taliban or other forces? “And do the civilians and the military really collaborate or co-ordinate...so far they are doing it but it’s not very clear they have a coherent policy.” Meanwhile, in Iraq, a violent campaign is being waged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in north and northwest Iraq. “So now, with the Iraq situation developing, the fight against these insurgent groups will be getting harder. They are getting more emboldened and the state of Pakistan is not that effective in confronting them, given the complexities and contradictions of their policies,” he said. In the face of such crisis, India, with its investments in Afghanistan and its newly-opened dialogue with Pakistan, Paul believes, should deal with more tact. This means the Narendra Modi government should involve Afghanistan in its dealings with Pakistan. “India has to be a bit more pragmatic diplomatically be- cause it’s investing in Afghanistan and if Taliban again becomes a real menace, then that investment will be affected in a real way. So, India has to use as much diplomacy with Pakistan...what negotiations India is doing with Pakistan should include Afghanistan ... what do you really want? “If you want peaceful Afghanistan then let’s talk about developing a regional approach to reconstruction and individual countries,” he said. Lauding Modi’s decision to invite South Asian leaders, including the muchanticipated meeting with Pakistani Prime Minisiter Nawaz Sharif, for his swearingin ceremony, the author underlined the importance of policy-making as the logical follow-up of these diplomatic steps. “It was a very good step. Inviting all South Asian leaders is good PR plus atmospherics for a government because all these countries have issues with India...to show he is willing to listen to their issues...he is doing the right thing. But what sort of policy initiatives follows this...will the dialogue with Pakistan continue, for instance? “A big problem is that even if they start (talks), spoilers of peace can come either from India or from Pakistan,” he said, citing the example of Pakistan military’s peace spoiler in the 1999 Kargil operations after then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore by bus. “So we don’t know what will be the reaction of those who don’t want the kind of peace that these political leaders are talking about,” said Paul. Though India’s current diplomatic stance with Pakistan is “good”, Paul cautioned against making any provocative move. “India has to be careful not to do anything provocative even in Afghanistan...the current policy is good I think...supporting the infrastructure building...civilian support...all the help that India is giving. IANS ment is missing or not in balance, we could apply resources brought Is India globally competitive? from other countries or substituted with some other resources kept under preservation to make up the shortages but, this action has got to be taken as soon as the imbalance is felt and given no chance to exhilarate towards terminal failure. The economists have to address the reason why neglected that growth has become imbalanced and must be rectified and the process of readjustment must be allowed to work carefully, so that growth leads to equitable welfare. Infact, if the resources of development are lacking and the proper element is not present, then we must take the first step to correct the imbalance at the earliest and watch productivity and monitor whether it is helping the country in achieving the desired results. Any factor which goes out of balance must be brought into balance, the farmers and manager of factories must feel and assess, which factor is missing in order to maintain the balance. Any shortages that arise but the labour or capital must be dealt with economists and the manager must search and identify the factors missing. In a country as large as India, it is not very easy to keep with the right balance working, therefore management is responsible to identify the lacking element and give its stimulant to make all the factors employed constantly are kept under review to ensure a steady flow . This is a watchful activity and should never be neglected to ensure progress, either internal or outside to create a productive balance. BY AMIT KAPOOR I ndia’s position, since the Narendra Modi government completed one year in office, has been a matter of wide-ranging discussion and speculation. Numerous articles have been written about the economy and other aspects of India’s prospects for the future. A pertinent question to ask in the economic sphere is how does India fare in its overall competitiveness in comparison with other countries? One approach to answering this question could be in looking at composite indices like the Global Competitiveness Index in which India fares a poor 71st of the 144 countries considered in 201415. However, the problem, with this approach is that it is static in time for one year during which many significant things happen in an economy. The approach here for assessing India’s competitiveness would be to use a conceptual model and look at some recent data and key developments that have taken place in the past year. It helps in making a dynamic reflection of India’s competitiveness at present. For making an assessment of India’s competitiveness, it is pertinent to look at a four-part matrix that consists of external and internal conditions along one dimension of the matrix while hard facts and policy are put along the other dimension of the axis. Along the four quadrants of this performance matrix, it is easy to look at the overall efforts and outcomes of the government/s and the private sector in making India competitive. Along the internal conditions hard facts quadrant, Nature also has shortages. For example, the monsson can be timely, late or be lacking which could famine or scarcity for certain goods. Under these circumstances, the planned resources with appropriate techniques must be used, so that the shortage of any product is kept in balance, either through stored water or even by changing the timing of cultivation. Items like raw material as a factor has to be kept in view and in the case of shortages, we must know from where and how soon without much lost time it can be supplemented. Of course, the third element depends on atmosphere of international relations, which becomes an important element in this bargain. This year have had erratic rains, we must then have adequate water storage to compensate for this shortage of rain water, in sufficient quantity stored is always of a great help. Development in a country with enlightened management will keep all these balances in view and ensure that the productivity of a country will not suffer. This is only a brief description, how and when shortages occur, economic growth must not suffer and immediate remedies can be taken, if there has been forethought and planning to remedy an imbalance. one witnesses an improvement in the inflation data as well as the old GDP data. India’s consumer price inflation (CPI) subdued to 5.01 percent (provisional) in May 2015 against 8.33 percent in May 2014. The RBI has taken cognizance of this development and has adjusted key rates accordingly. An improvement of roughly one percentage point is also observed if one looks at the GDP data from the old series. Also, employment has bettered from May to December 2014 (2.75 lakh jobs) if one compares it to May to December 2013 (1.26 lakh jobs). Sector-specific data on power also shows that a capacity addition of roughly 22,000 MW in a year the largest in a year in India’s history. Data on Index of Industrial Production (IIP) shows that for April 2014 to March 2015 there was growth of 2.8 percent over a contraction of -0.1 percent for the same period in the previous year. Thus, quite a lot has been achieved in this sphere. Along the internal conditions policy quadrant, there are three distinct things one observes. First, there is a growing recognition of making states as partners in the development process. Similarly, there is a growing recognition of understanding that states need to cooperate as well as compete to make India more competitive. The power to attract investments for states also depends on competitive tax rates that are a bit higher at present at the union level. Second, the urban programme (Smart Cities, AMRUT, housing for all) will hopefully empower city leadership to become more autono- mous and independent in deciding the destinies of cities and their residents. Hopefully, it will also lead to better environmentally and economically viable cities of the future. Third, within the railways sector that connects India, the recently released Bibek Debroy committee report is a step in the right direction for modernization. Along the external conditions hard facts quadrant, four points are worth mentioning. First, trade growth has seen a precipitous decline. Particularly shocking is the way in which both exports and imports have contracted over the past six months from December 2014 onwards. Experts believe this is due to the falling demand in the international region, particularly Europe, the US and China. Imports have fallen in value terms particularly due to a commodity price collapse of crude oil. Second, despite the export performance, FDI inflows in India remain robust. According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2015, India is 9th overall in attracting FDI inflows. India’s FDI inflows jumped 22 percent to reach $34 billion in 2014. China remains the top destination with approximately four times our inflows at $129 billion. India also regained the top slot in remittances with overseas Indians sending back a staggering $70 billion in 2014, according to World Bank estimates. Third, there has been a surge in the capital markets since Modi took over and the BSE Sensex has increased from roughly 24,700 points in May 2014 to near the 27,500 points mark at present. IANS Blame game in Left over poor show in Kerala BY SANU GEORGE T he Left parties have done well in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala compared to other states, but a blame game has begun within the two Communist parties in the state over the poll results and analysis. Kerala accounted for more than half of the Lok Sabha seats won by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in the country. Five CPI-M candidates were elected from the state, while two each were elected from West Bengal and Tripura. Besides this, two Independent candidates - supported by the Left - film actor Innocent and advocate Joice George - also won. The CPI managed to win only the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, where C.N. Jayadevan defeated K.P. Dhanapalan of the Congress. In the polls, the CPI-M secured 21.59 percent votes, the CPI got 7.59 percent while 31.1 percent of the votes went to the Congress. Since the announcement of the election results, it has been an uneasy calm between the two Left parties in the state. The first salvo came from CPIM politburo member M.A. Baby, who lost from the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency and informed his party that he wished to resign as a legislator from the Kundara assembly constituency as well. His stand gave sleepless nights to the CPI-M leaders. After discussing the issue at all levels, the state secretariat meeting held here with CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat in the chair Saturday dismissed Baby's request, saying it would lead to bad precedence. While the CPI-M meeting was going on, some party leaders attended a CPI national executive meeting in Delhi. Leaders from Kerala blamed senior leader A.B. Bardhan and the party leadership for selecting the candidates. They especially targetted the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where a political greenhorn and doctor Bennet Abraham with practically no political experience was fielded and lost the poll. CPI state assistant secretary C.N. Chandran and former CPI parliamentarian K.E. Ismail Saturday went hammer and tongs in the meeting against Bardhan, forcing the veteran to walk out of it. The Kerala unit of the CPI has also turned highly critical over the party's de- cision to align with the Congress in the newly-formed Telengana in the assembly polls, as the alliance was politically used by the Congress to belittle the CPI during the Lok Sabha elections. At the end of the meeting Saturday, CPI general secretary Sudhakara Reddy offered his apologies for the party's poor show in the national election. Even though the two Left parties put up a good show in the state, they rue that with a strong anti-Congress wave that swept the country, the Oommen Chandy-led Congress and its allies managed to get 12 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala. The Congress won eight seats, one less than the highest in Karnataka but the party got a total of only 44 seats, its lwoest tally in the Lok Sabha since Independence. A look-back into the polls reveals that the Left parties started losing to the Congress from the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, followed by the 2010 local bodies polls, the 2011 assembly elections and the recent Lok Sabha polls. The Left parties have to set their house in order. If not, things do not augur well for them. IANS www. indianhorizon.in,Readers Response and contribution Welcome 7 OP-ED Indian Horizon Hyderabad Tuesday June 30, 2015 No one should Minorities in Sri Lanka face growing terror meddle in Iraq’s affairs Buddhist Sinhalese terrorists have been instigating attacks against the island’s minorities, particularly the Muslims The way forward is for a new national government to be formed, which represents all the people BY PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN NAWAF AL SAUD T here are three things that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strives for above all others: Peace, stability and security, for the international community, for our region and for our country and our people, whether they are old or young, men or women, Sunni or Shiite. These are the cornerstones of our government and they lie at the foundation of our thinking. The escalating and alarming situation in Iraq is of serious concern. These are our neighbours, our friends, and we watch with distress as this terrible situation escalates next to us. As our Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al Faisal, told the Islamic Conference of regional leaders in Jeddah last week: “This grave situation carries with it signs of civil war that has implications for the region we cannot fathom.” The number of the dead is mounting into hundreds, maybe thousands, with many thousands of ordinary Iraqi citizens being displaced. These are people who have suffered enough — too much, indeed. Their families have withstood a long war with Iran as well as a violent and repressive regime under Saddam Hussain and the ensuing civil war, before an uneasy peace was brokered less than a decade ago. As neighbours and fellow Muslims, we despair for them and pray for them all — innocent families, men, women and children — in this critical situation. We wish to see the protection of all civilians and the alleviation of their current sufferings. So where do we stand? Despite the false allegations of the Iraqi cabinet, whose exclusionary policies have fomented this current crisis, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports the preservation of Iraq’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. We also absolutely oppose all foreign intervention and interference. So the call by the Iraqi foreign minister for US President Barack Obama and the US government to launch air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) rebels is beyond our comprehension. An air strike will not just eliminate extremists — whom we do not support — but will effectively sign the death warrant of many Iraqi citizens, innocent families trapped and terrified by this crisis. This request to Obama is madness: It reveals a government that no longer sees clearly and no longer cares about the people it has been appointed to care for. The people of Iraq, of all and any faith and denomination, like all people in all countries of the world, look to their government to provide them with the peace and security they need and deserve. The current Iraqi government is dramatically failing in meeting that objective. In our view, there must be no meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs: Not by us, by the US, the United Kingdom or by any other government. This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves. Any government that meddles in Iraq’s affairs runs the risk of escalating the situation, creating greater mistrust between the people of Iraq — both Sunnis and Shiites. Instead, we urge all the people of Iraq, whatever their religious denominations, to unite to overcome the current threats and challenges facing the country. As the United Nations envoy to Baghdad, Nickolay Mladenov, has said, the current situation is “life-threatening for Iraq, but it poses a serious danger to the region”. This is our region; we are their neighbours. So what can we do? We have to look at the cause behind this civil unrest. This situation did not happen overnight, but has been developing over years, under the sectarian and exclusionary policies of Nouri Al Maliki’s government, which has angered large swathes of Iraq’s very mixed population. We can and do urge the present Iraqi leadership to cease forthwith these aggressive policies, which have clearly fuelled the current violent chaos. This unashamedly sectarian agenda — which has included violent and fatal action against Sunni protest groups in the past — has alienated Iraq’s Sunni population, many of whom have “disappeared” under this regime. Our view, and that of many international observers, is that the way forward is for a new national government to be formed, which represents all the people of Iraq — Sunni as well as Shiite. We have been alarmed by suggestions made by Al Maliki, and by some western commentators, that in some ways we in Saudi Arabia support Isil. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to see the defeat and destruction of all Al Qaida networks — and of Isil. Saudi Arabia does not provide either moral or financial support to Isil or any terrorist network. Any suggestion to the contrary is a malicious falsehood. We do not and we will not support violence or extremism in any form, anywhere by anyone. At all times, we seek and strive for a peaceful coexistence between all people — within our country, within our region and in the wider global community. Whether they gather under the banner of Al Qaida or Isil, extremists — jihadists — have become the scourge of the 21st Century. Their influence and power over people is fuelled by disappointment and disaffection of the sort created by the Iraqi leadership’s exclusionary policies. Only last month, the security forces in Saudi Arabia foiled a plot to assassinate Saudi officials and religious figures by a group linked to Isil. We are asked what can be done. At the moment we wait, we watch and we pray. COURTESY : AL-JAZEERA BY TARIQ A. AL MAEENA T he region is deeply engrossed in events around Iraq and the implication of a wider scale sectarian conflict that may spill across several borders. Lost in the quagmire of such a troubling issue is the conflict against minorities, and particularly Muslim minorities, in several countries. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) a body of 45 Muslim member countries was formed some 45 years ago to deal with such issues. Although its founding members agreed on the charter that principally ‘aims to preserve Islamic social and economic values; promote solidarity amongst member states; increase cooperation in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political areas; etc,’ there have been several revisions and the recent scope of OIC activities has gone beyond the boundaries of just Muslim states. In the recently convened 41st Session of OIC Foreign Ministers in Jeddah, the current secretary general of the organisation stated in his opening speech that ‘One of the primary concerns of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is to address the phenomenon of terrorism, religious and sectarian extremism, the rights of Muslim minorities outside the Muslim world, and concepts of human rights, and rights of women and children and religious practice as all of these concepts have been codified in major international conventions and declarations on whose basis countries are judged, condemned, classified and sanctioned.’ He went on to highlight the organisation’s efforts and concern in countries such as Palestine, Syria, Mali, Myanmar and areas such as Kashmir. What I failed to read in his speech before the foreign ministers from the member states was a condemnation against the Sri Lankan government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for allowing Buddhist Sinhalese clergy ter- rorists operating under the banner of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) to intensify their ethnic-cleansing motivated hate crimes against the island’s minorities and particularly the Muslims living on that island who have been part of the population since the 7th century. A recent such act prompted a reader to write to me for the services of my pen saying that, ‘Sri Lanka Muslims are being massacred by Sinhalese mobs led by Bodu Bala Sena clergy members. Muslims properties are being looted and destroyed. Mahinda Rajapakse’s government has failed to protect Muslims. Muslim ministers and MPs are not in a position to press the government. Situation is deteriorating fast. Please give this message to Muslim world… A desperate Sri Lankan.’ In the past week alone, a mob of some 7,000 Sinhalese spurred on by their bloodthirsty Buddhist clergy stormed Aluthgama, a town less than 75 kms south of the capital of Colombo. One of the mob’s leaders said that there would be no more Dharga Town once they finished with their attack on Muslims and Muslimowned businesses and property. They razed a number of Muslim-owned homes and businesses in the popular tourist town. “Three deaths have occurred,” Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem told reporters in Aluthgama, blaming hard-line Buddhist mobs for the violence. With his eyes filling with tears, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader said “I am ashamed. I am ashamed that I could not protect my people”, his voice breaking with emotion as he surveyed the site of death and destruction. Many others blamed the government for allowing the Buddhist mob to rally in a Muslim-dominated district considering recent events elsewhere which had seen similar scenes of death and destruction against the Muslim minorities, and all at the hands of the Bodu Bala Sena. The government’s lack of forceful action in recent times against this band has encouraged these wild Buddhist thugs to perpetuate their acts of terrorism against the island’s minorities. Their declared aim is simple. Get rid of all other races on the island. Mainstream Sri Lankan media muzzled the events as they unfolded, claiming a series of excuses for their failure to live up to the journalistic code. A popular website claimed that ‘during the violence, there was radio silence across all mainstream media,’ and most of the island’s leading publications did not carry a single report on the escalating violence. One Sinhalese editor said that there was a desire to ‘not spread tension’ in the country by reporting on the events; all this while lives were lost and mob savagery was in full force less than an hour’s drive from the capital. While we sit in the safety and comfort of our homes, others are not so fortunate, and particularly the minorities on the island. So what should the OIC session with the foreign ministers in attendance have included in their agenda? There should have been a clear warning to President Mahinda Rajapaksa that such terrorist activity will not be tolerated and that all Muslim member states will act within their capacity to ensure justice to the island’s minorities. One way would be a blanket ban on all Sri Lankan imports including non-Muslim workforce. Another would be to apply premiums on oil exports to the island to get the message to the Sri Lankan government that enough is enough! Tourism to the conflict-ravaged country should be banned altogether. The majority of Sinhalese Sri Lankans are generally peace-loving and have long established good communal relations with the island’s minorities. However, their solidarity with their neighbours is in danger of being swept away by the ugly face of Buddhist terrorism. COURTESY : AL-JAZEERA What the US can do to stop ISIL advance It has to chart out a comprehensive Iraq counterinsurgency plan, with military and political lines of operation BY MAX BOOT T here are no good options in Iraq right now. But some are worse than others. Three of the worst, unfortunately, are also the most popularly debated in Washington today: launch US air strikes without US boots on the ground; work with Iran to fight Isil, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant; and/or break up Iraq into separate Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish states. All three options are alluring, but their appeal is fool’s gold. Start with the idea of hitting Isil with US drones, sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and, possibly, manned bombers. This is the easiest policy, but it is also the least likely to succeed. It recalls nothing so much as Operation Desert Fox, four days of bombing of Saddam Hussain’s Iraq in 1998 that accomplished pretty much nothing. The effective employment of air power, especially against non-state targets such as Isil that don’t have tanks, uniformed troop formations or infrastructure to hit, requires reliable eyes on the ground to direct air strikes and an army capable of exploiting the air strikes. Both conditions were met in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, which is why a few hundred special operations soldiers and CIA officers were able to work with the Northern Alliance to overthrow the Taliban. But President Barack Obama has already ruled out sending US ground troops to Iraq. Aerial surveillance is sel- dom effective enough, on its own, to accurately identify terrorist targets, and relying on the Iraqi government for help is a bad idea because Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki seems to think that all Sunnis are terrorists. Employing US air power under those circumstances would lead to the US being perceived as the enabler of a Shiite agenda that is tearing Iraq apart. It would, in effect, turn the US into an adjunct of Iranian plans to exert hegemony across the region. But don’t the US and Iran have a common enemy in the Sunni extremists of Isil? To a limited extent, but the differences that remain between Washington and Tehran preclude joint action in Iraq. The Iranian agenda is simple: Install a Shiite sectarian government in Iraq that is beholden to Tehran. The US agenda — to install a moderate, multisectarian, pro-western government — is diametrically opposed. Sure, the Iranians don’t want Isil in control of significant chunks of Iraq, but they would prefer that Shiite extremists —who from the American viewpoint are just as bad — be in control. In the short run the Isil threat even serves Iranian interests by mobilising Iraqi Shiites around radical, Iranian-backed militias such as the Asaib Ahl Al Haq and Khattaib Hezbollah for protection. The more Shiites feel embattled, the more Iran’s influence as their protector grows. The last thing Iran wants is a ne- gotiated compromise in Iraq that gives Sunnis significant sway in the government, but that’s the only thing that can pry the Sunnis away from Isil now. The last option is to accept the division of Iraq into three parts, the very idea VicePresident Joe Biden embraced when he was still in the Senate. It won’t work because Sunnis and Shiites are mixed together in Baghdad, Iraq’s largest city. Neither side would give up the capital and both would battle it out indefinitely for control. The result would be ugly ethnic cleansing verging on genocide. Realpolitikers might be willing to accept that as the price of separation, but the further problem is who would be in control of the successor states of Iraq. The Kurdish region would be in moderate, pro-American hands, but the Sunni Arab region, which would extend deep into Syria, would be under the control of Isil and its radical ilk, while the Shiite area would be under the effective control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Creating two terrorist states in the heart of the Middle East is hardly in America’s interests. So what should America do? To stop the advance of Isil, Obama should immediately offer to send into Iraq a limited number of special operations forces and military trainers who can call in air strikes and buttress the battered Iraqi security forces. At the same time, the president must get personally involved — this isn’t a job that can be delegated — in pressing the Iraqi government for serious political reforms that include embracing Sunni tribes, ending the persecution of Sunni leaders, curbing the prime minister’s authority and weeding out political hacks and sectarian actors from the security services. It is unlikely that Al Maliki would agree to such reforms, so the US needs to work behind the scenes to ensure that he doesn’t win a third term in office. His State of Law party was the top vote-getter in the April 30 elections, but it needs support from other factions to form a government. The US should take advantage of Isil’ attacks to press the other political parties to dump Al Maliki and find a more inclusive figure. This is, admittedly, an ambitious agenda. But there are no quick or easy fixes. What appears to be a simple solution can actually make the situation worse. But if the US puts in place a comprehensive counterinsurgency plan, with military and political lines of operation, the situation can reverse more quickly than anyone imagined. That’s what happened during the “surge” of 2007-08, when in a matter of months Al Qaida went from looking triumphant in Anbar province to being all but beaten. It’s possible to re-create that success, and without nearly as many US troops, but Obama must act fast and he must disregard the bad ideas now floating around Washington. COURTESY : GULF NEWS Indian leftists frittered away opportunities The Modi juggernaut suddenly and unexpectedly crushed quite a few political parties, but communists had been losing their relevance for quite some time BY S.N.M. ABDI A n Italian thread runs through the Congress party’s rout and the downfall of communists in Indian parliamentary elections. No prizes for guessing the Congress’s Italian connection. In the case of the communists, it is Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist theoretician that armchair leftists in India swear by, even as they grapple with an existential crisis after a catastrophic electoral performance. Let me clarify rightaway that Indian communism is a sham because it is parliamentary and not revolutionary, which is utter negation of Marxism. Phoney as a vegetarian gorging on beef steaks and chicken tikka masala. India’s most famous communist, Jyoti Basu, who nearly became prime minister, once admitted that “We are communists only in name”, but many still foolishly equate India’s home-grown leftists with the comrades in China, Cuba or erstwhile USSR — which is not the case at all. Talk of cheese and chalk! Voters have this time put the so-called communists in their place. The flagship Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), won only nine seats, while the older but smaller Communist Party of India (CPI), won just one in the 545-strong Lok Sabha, or Lower House of the parliament. Taking into account two CPI(M)-supported independents who got elected, the CPI(M)’s tally is 11, but not enough to retain its national party status as per Election Commission rules. Smaller constituents of the Left Front, like Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc, have been wiped out. Remarkably, Left Fron’t Lok Sabha strength has been halved this time — it was 24, including 15 CPI(M) MPs, in 2009. In 2004, there were a record number of CPI(M) MPs — 45 — among the left’s 61. It was an all-time high. In 1999, left’s strength was 43, including 32 CPI(M) MPs. And in 1991, 51 left MPs were elected. How come the left’s tally in 2014 is down to just a dozen from three states, from a record high of 61 MPs from six states ten years ago? What went wrong? It would be over-simplification to lay the entire blame at the door of Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), who is being accused of succeeding what the Indian bourgeoisie had failed to achieve in decades — evicting communists from mainstream Indian politics. But what a fall it has been is best understood by recalling that Basu almost became the prime minister in 1996. He was the unanimous choice of squabbling national leaders who pleaded with Basu to run the country. Eight years later, Left Front emerged as the third-largest group in Lok Sabha after the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, eclipsing a wide array of centrist regional outfits like Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. Despite losing ground in 2009, it was still a force to reckon with. But no longer. Post debacle, Ashok Mitra, an old and ailing communist stalwart who wears his Marxism on his sleeve, lamented in a newspaper that “the country’s under-privileged, persecuted millions would, at least for a while, have none to defend them against the aggression of immensely reinvigorated economic liberalisation policies jointly sponsored by the country’s two principal political parties”. Mitra’s rant notwithstanding, Indian communists are nothing more than social democrats claiming to fight for the have-nots within the parameters of India’s multi-party parliamentary democracy. Their broadly left-wing politics attracted the poor, religious minorities and educated elite disillusioned with rightist parties. And they did win a reputation for good governance wherever they ruled — West Bengal, Tripura or Kerala — since Independence. But they squandered most of that goodwill. At present, CPI(M) is in power only in tiny Tripura. In 2011, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front narrowly lost the Kerala assembly elections, but the CPI(M)-led Left Front (LF) in West Bengal was routed from power after 34 years. In 2006, LF had won 229 seats out of 294 in the Bengal assembly. In 2011, the LF tally had come down to a meagre 69. That shattering defeat in the communist stronghold was a precursor to the national rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP-Narendra Modi juggernaut suddenly and unexpectedly crushed quite a few political parties. But communists had been losing their relevance for quite some time. The BJP offensive simply hammered a few more nails into that coffin. I think communists have been done-in essentially by fence-sitting and double standards and to some extent by arrogance and corruption. How can any political party be relevant if it cannot make up its mind? Indian communists chose the path of parliamentary democracy. They formed the first communist government in Kerala in 1957. Later they came to power in Bengal and Tripura also. But they mysteriously shunned federal power or power at the Centre. Basu, who was the chief minister of Bengal from 1977 to 2000 — a national record — was keen to accept the 1996 offer for prime ministership, but the CPI(M) politburo turned it down. Basu, who many believe was the best PM India never had, later branded the politburo’s decision as a “historic blunder”. In 2004, despite having 61 MPs, communists refused to join the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. They felt they had the moral high ground by refusing ministerial posts in the UPA regime, which they were propping from the outside. The then prime minister Manmohan Singh flattered the red brigade, calling it his “conscience”. COURTESY : GULF NEWS The views expressed in these columns are the writers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Indian Horizon or its management.-Editor 8 Indian Horizon Hyderabad International Russia vows continued support for Syria Damascus, June 29 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised continued military, political and economic support for Syria, a Syrian minister said on Monday. “I have obtained a promise from President Putin on a Russian military, economic and political support to Syria,” Xinhua quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem as saying in Moscow at a joint press confer- ence with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.Al-Moallem said the Russian leader stressed the need to found a regional alliance to fight terrorism. Lavrov stressed that Moscow would keep supporting Syria by all means to enable it to put an end to terrorism, calling on countries in the region to put aside their differences and work together to battle rampant terrorism. The Russian minister highlighted the risk of some countries in the region using extremist groups as tools to achieve temporary gains.Al-Moallem said his visit to Moscow was aimed at finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Iraqi forces repel IS attacks on oilfields Baghdad, June 29 (IANS) Iraqi security forces and allied militias on Monday regained ground near Iraq’s largest oil refinery of Baiji and repelled attacks by Islamic State militants on two other oilfields in Salahudin province, security sources said. The troops and allied militias known as Hashd Shaabi, advanced in Albu Jwari area just east of the vast oil refinery of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, a security source from the north- Egypt’s state prosecutor killed in bomb attack in Cairo Cairo, Jun 29 (PTI) Egypt’s Prosecutor General, who has referred thousands of Islamists to trial in recent months, was today killed after militants targeted his convoy in a car bomb attack.Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat, 65, has died following the bomb attack on his vehicle, officials said. Earlier it was reported that he had sustained minor injuries in the attack the bomb targeted his convoy near his house in Misr el-Gedida district in Cairo. But later it emerged WORLD SNIPPETS Great Wall of China disappearing: Reports Beijing, June 29 (IANS) A considerably long stretch of the Great Wall of China has disappeared due to natural erosion and unchecked human activity in the absence of preservation measures, says a report in Beijing Times. Research conducted by the China Great Wall Society showed that only around eight percent of the Great Wall built in Ming dynasty -- the most visible section of the Great Wall today -- are well-preserved. The report on Sunday, citing a survey last year by the Great Wall of China Society, said nearly one-third of the Wall has given way as rains led to the erosion of ramparts and the wall. Trees and grass growing in the cracks of the wall have also increased the risks of collapse. Somalia repels Al-Shabaab attack on military base Mogadishu, June 29 (IANS) Islamist extremist group Al Shabaab fighters raided a military base in the southern Somali state of Jubaland but were repulsed after fierce fighting, a senior military official confirmed on Monday. The heavy fighting took place on Sunday night near the military base in Kismayo, the capital city of Jubaland, but denied there were casualties on their side, Xinhua quoted an official as saying. “The heavy exchange of fire broke out after Al Shabaab attempted to capture the base, but our forces managed to push them back,” the official said, adding that it caused casualties among the extremists. In the latest series of attacks, Al Shabaab on Friday stormed an African Union (AU) peacekeepers’ base in southern Somalia’s Leego town, claiming to have killed “more than 50 soldiers”. Burundi holds crucial legislative, polls Bujumbura, June 29 (IANS) More than 3.8 million Burundian citizens on Monday went to polls to elect lawmakers and community councillors amid a tense climate after two months of protests sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term. Polls were expected to open at 6.00 a.m. and close at 04.00 p.m., but in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, polls opened late due to insecurity that prevailed on Sunday night, Xinhua reported. “I came here to exercise my right as a citizen. That’s why I have voted because I need new faces in the parliament and in the local administration,” said Jean Pierre Bizoza, a voter met in Kinama neighbourhood.The voting operation took place throughout the east African nation without major incidents.A grenade was, however, blasted near a polling station by an unidentified person at Kibago in the Burundian southern province of Makamba, disrupting the voting operation. Woman sentenced to death for UAE murder Dubai, June 29 (IANS) A woman who killed an American teacher in December last year was on Monday sentenced to death by the Federal Supreme Court of Abu Dhabi. Alaa Bader Abdullah Al Hashemi, 29, was held guilty of stabbing to death Ibolya Ryan, 47, in a shopping mall toilet on Al Reem Island and “creating a handmade bomb” that she placed in front of an Egyptian-American doctor’s home, the Khaleej Times reported. She was also held guilty of sending money to Al Qaeda in Yemen, knowing the funds would be used in terrorist acts.Hashemi asked the court to provide her with psychological help, saying she had “unreal visions” and would see “ghost-like people” due to a chronic mental illness. Tuesday, June 30, 2015 ern central province of Salahudin told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The troops, backed by government air power, also regained control of a strategic road adjacent to Tigris River east of the refinery and another road in Tal Abu Jrad area south of the oil refinery, the source said, without giving further details about casualties.The troops’ advance came amid continued heavy fighting in the past few days to drive IS militants that he had succumbed to his wounds in a hospital after undergoing a critical surgery. At least three other people apart from Barakat were injured in the incident, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health Hossam Abdel Ghafar said. The injured include two from the security forces and one civilian, Ghafar said.The security forces out of Baiji and its oil refinery, the source added. Separately, security forces and Hashd Shaabi militias repelled attacks by dozens of IS militants on two other oilfields, Allas and Ajil, in Himreen area in the eastern part of the province, the source added.The battles, which started after midnight and lasted to the early morning hours, resulted in the killing of 11 IS militants and five security members and the wounding of five soldiers, the source said. cordoned the area and were on the lookout for the attackers.Barakat has referred thousands of Islamists to trial since the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. He has received death threats in the past. The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group recently called for attacks on the judiciary, after the hanging of six militants. Tunisia makes fresh arrests in beach attack Tunis June 29 (PTI): Tunisia’s interior minister says multiple arrests have been made in the attack that killed 38 people at a beach resort. Without giving numbers, Interior Minister Mohamed Najem Gharsalli said Monday that everyone arrested is Tunisian and the investigation remained in its early stages. The 24-year-old attacker, who used a Kalashnikov assault rifle and grenades, was killed by police after Friday’s carnage in Sousse. Tunisian authorities say he was the lone attacker, but he had accomplices who provided him with weapons and logistical support. Many of those killed were British tourists. The top security officials of Britain, France, Germany and Belgium are paying homage to the 38 people killed in Tunisia’s deadliest British Home Secretary Theresa May centre right, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve 2nd left, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere 3rd left joined their Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Najem Gharsalli centre, on the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse for a tribute in Sousse, Tunisa, Monday, June 29, 2015. The top security officials of Britain, France, Germany and Belgium are paying homage to the people killed in the terrorist attack on Friday. AP/PTI attack, a massacre at a beach and Belgian Interior Minisresort claimed by Islamic ex- ter Jan Jambon joined their tremists. British Home Sec- Tunisian counterpart on the retary Theresa May, French beach in front of the Imperial Interior Minister Bernard Marhaba hotel in the MediCazeneuve, German Interior terranean resort of Sousse for Minister Thomas de Maiziere the tribute Monday. France hopes Greece resumes last-minute debt talks Paris, June 29 (IANS) French President Francois Hollande on Monday expressed hope that Greece would resume debt negotiations for lastminute breakthrough in the few hours before the talks would be definitely closed. “There are a few hours before the negotiation is definitively closed, in particular for the prolongation of the Greek aid programme. I wish, if the Greeks, if their government, so decide, that talks resume,” Hollande was quoted by Xinhua as saying. “France is available, is always available for the dialogue to resume today or tomorrow. Today a deal is still possible, tomorrow that will depend on the Greeks’ response to the referendum,” he added.After an emer- gency meeting on Greece, the French president reiterated Paris’ willingness to keep Athens as a member of the single-currency bloc but “it is up to Greece to decide or take the risk to leave it”. On Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced a surprise proposal for a referendum on the terms of bailout deal, the decision came after the last round of talks with lenders in Brussels failed as eurozone finance ministers rejected Greece’s request to extend its bailout into July. Greece has to pay back $1.77 billion on Tuesday, and with a deal with its international lenders, it risks bankruptcy and a possible exit form the eurozone. As for possible impact of the Greek crisis on French economy ‘Tanned. Rested. Ready’ Jindal’s 2016 campaign slogan Washington, Jun 29 (PTI) “Tanned. Rested. Ready.” That is Indian-American Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s new 2016 presidential campaign slogan and the “tanned” part is supposed to be a reference to his skin tone.“The liberal media that developed this week was disgusting: Apparently Bobby isn’t brown enough for them,” wrote Timmy Teepell, Jindal’s campaign manager, in an email to supporters.“Well, this will make the left even more upset. We are now selling the first limited edition t-shirt of the cam- paign, and I want you to know about it,” Teepell was quoted as saying by The Times-Picayune. Jindal, 44, used a similar line about being “tanned” in his official presidential campaign launched on June 24.National media has seized on Jindal’s relationship with the Indian community, even as he himself has tried to distance himself from his Indian roots.Jindal, a Republican, has time and again reiterated his remarks about dehyphenating Indians and other ethnic groups from Americans.“I am done Stop using Islamic State name, Cameron tells BBC with all this talk about hyphenated Americans.We are not Indian-Americans, African-Americans, Irish Americans, rich Americans or poor Americans. We are all Americans,” he had said while announcing his 2016 presidential bid.In February, several news outlets questioned whether a portrait that hangs in Louisiana’s Capitol makes Jindal appear to be a white man. Though against categorisation of Indian-American, Jindal does not shy away from his parents’ immigration story in political speeches. London, June 29 (IANS) British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday called on the BBC not to use the phrase “Islamic State” when referring to the terror group operating in Iraq and Syria. The prime minister, who calls and financial market, Hollande said, has nothing to fear for what might “French economy is more robust and happen”. Bin Laden died natural death, claims ex-ISI chief Islamabad, June 29 (IANS) Al Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden died a “natural death” in 2005 and not in the US Navy Seals raid in the Abbottabad mansion, claims former Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lt. Gen. (retd) Hameed Gul.“In my opinion Osama was not there (Abbottabad). He died a natural death in 2005,” Hameed Gul told Geo News programme “Jirga” on Monday.The former ISI chief added that the truth would come out about the May 2, 2011 Abbottabad raid.The statement came fours years after the US reported that its Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. the group “ISIL”, said Muslims would “recoil” at the phrase being used to justify the “perversion of a great religion”. Cameron insisted that the battle against extremists targeting Britons around the world can be won but would Strict hand baggage rules in UAE for AI passengers Dubai, Jun 29 (PTI) India’s national carrier Air India and its budget airline will restrict the weight of hand luggage carried by passengers from the UAE from July 1. The free allowance for hand luggage will be strictly restricted to 8kg for Air India and 7kg for its budget airline Air India Express inclusive of duty free items.Also, the carry-on bags will be weighed at the gates before passengers board the flights, a senior airline official was quoted as saying by The Khaleej Times.“If the baggage weighs more than the free allowance, a fee of 60 Dirhams (USD 16) per excess kilo would be charged at the gate,” said Prem Sagar, manager of Air India and Air India Express People line up at an ATM outside a National bank branch, in central Athens, on Monday, June 29, 2015. Anxious Greeks lined up at ATMs as they gradually began dispensing cash again on the first day of capital controls imposed in a dramatic twist in Greece’s five-year financial saga. Banks will remain shut until next Monday, and a daily limit of 60 euros ($67) has been placed on cash withdrawals from ATMs. AP/PTI in Dubai and Sharjah.This is introduced at the peak time of summer travel from the UAE, Sagar said most other airlines flying to India have already been charging excess carry-on baggage at the gates.“The baggage weighing at the gates policy will begin with flights from Sharjah on July 1. There could be a delay of a few more days to start it in Dubai,” he said.“Passenger hand baggage is usually assumed as 7 or 8 kgs whereas there are people who sometimes carry 10-15kgs extra.That’s not something good for the aircraft’s safety.“It is basically to dissuade people from carrying too much of excess weight and ensure that the weight is properly recorded for the safety of the aircraft.” require “extraordinary resolve and patience”.He criticised BBC presenter John Humphrys for referring to the group as Islamic State.The extremist group was variously known as Islamic State, and DAESH, based on the Arabic acronym. 4 PIOs jailed for staging robbery in Singapore Singapore, Jun 29 (PTI) Four Indian-origin persons who staged a fake police raid to rob three Indian nationals of more than SGD 1.3 million in a major gang robbery incident here in 2012, were today jailed for up to 10-and-a-half years. Music teacher Magesan Ramasamy, 36, Mohamed Faizal Ajmalhan, 32, who works in finance, Arunachalam Lakshmanan, 37, and Chinnaya Antony Samy, 38, will also be given the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, The Straits Times reported. The four convicted were each jailed between 10 years and 10 years and six months after a 29-day trial of gang robbery at a lodging house at Dunlop Street in the Little India shopping precinct on September 10, 2012. Magesan and Faizal had also faced three charges of posing as police officers. They forced their way into the rooms of three businessmen and demanded their passports that day. Pretending to be cops, they restrained their victims with flexi-cuffs and ordered them to sit or kneel, before taking about SGD 1.27 million from them. ‘French terror suspect took selfie with severed London, June 29 (IANS) Call it selfie craze or a “standard procedure”, the French lorry driver who allegedly beheaded his boss before ramming his vehicle into a chemical plant near Lyon, reportedly took a selfie with the victim. The Guardian reported an official as saying that the selfie was forwarded via WhatsApp to a phone number in Canada. French investigators have been working to determine the recipient’s identity.JeanChristophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for Canada’s public safety minister, was reported as saying that Canadian authorities were involved in the case.“While I cannot comment on operational matters of national security, we are assisting the French authorities with their investigation,” he said. Yassin Salhi, who allegedly decapitated his boss Herve Cornara, has reportedly confessed to the murder, but his motives remain unclear.He told detectives he had killed Cornara in a parking area before arriving at the plant in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, 30 km south of Lyon, where he attempted to cause an explosion on June 26.According to latest media reports, Salhi told police that he wanted to kill himself and stage a media coup by dressing it up as a terrorist act. Salhi told the investigators that he had acted alone.No terror group immediately claimed responsibility. The severed head appeared to mimic IS’s practice of beheading prisoners and displaying their heads. Tuesday, June 30, 2015 RIL to defer gas field development if price outlook uncertain New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): Reliance Industries may defer development of R-Series and other satellite gas fields in the eastern offshore KGD6 block if the gas price outlook was uncertain, its junior partner Niko Resources of Canada said. RIL has made 19 oil and gas discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/3 block in the Bay of Bengal and so far only three - Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas and MA oil and gas fields, have been brought to production. Multi-billion dollar development plans for five other finds including the significant R-Series have been approved. In its Annual Information Form for 2014-15 fiscal filed with Canadian regulatory authorities, Niko, which holds 10 percent interest in KG-D6 block, said the development of these discoveries was “dependent on the future economic viability of the required investments.” Bringing the finds to production, called development, was “dependent on the future longterm price outlook for gas sales from these projects and the significant uncertainty in this outlook could mean that the development of these reserves could be deferred,” it said. Additionally, it may result in reductions in the company’s reported reserves or future net revenues, it said. RIL is the operator Krishna Godavari basin KG-D6 block with 60 percent interest while Niko has 10 percent. BP plc of UK has the remaining 30 percent stake. Niko said on expectations of natural gas prices doubling to USD 8.4 per million British thermal unit from April 1, 2014, the focus in the 2013-14 fiscal shifted to developing and appraising the assets in the KG-D6 Block. However, after three deferrals, in Oc- tober 2014, the Government of India approved a new domestic gas pricing policy that provided for a price of USD 5.05 per mmBtu on Gross Calorific Value (GCV) basis or USD 5.61 per mmBtu on Net Calorific Value (NCV) for the period of November 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. This compared to gas price of USD 4.2 on NCV basis in the prior period. While the price for November to March was “significantly lower than anticipated,” the rate for April 1, 2015 to September 30, 2015 was lower at USD 4.66 (GCV) or USD 5.18 (NCV). Greece crisis may trigger outflows from India: Fin Secy New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): The economic crisis in Greece may trigger capital outflows from India and the government is consulting the RBI to deal with the situation, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Monday. Stating that the Greece situation has no direct impact on India, he said there may be some indirect effect via Europe on capital inflows and outflows here. “Greece criss does not have any effect directly on India. (But) interest rate may firm up in Europe. In case of firming up of interest rate in Europe, there can be outflow of capital from India,” Mehrishi told reporters here. Terming the situation as dynamic and evolving, he said, the crisis may have an indirect impact on India by way of its outcome on the European currency euro. “To the extent it affects the euro, there might be some indirect impact on India. If yields on euro bonds go up, then it might impact inflows and outflows from India,” he said. He said nobody can predict how the situation evolves. “Obviously we are in touch with the RBI but they will do what they have to do,” he said. Asked if any Indian company has an exposure in Greece, he said, “I don’t know.” “If yields on G-Sec go on in the US, then it might impact inflows and outflows in India. he economic crisis in Greece may trigger capital outflows from India and the government is consulting the RBI to deal with the situation, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Monday. “To the extent it affects the euro, there might be some indirect impact on India. If yields on euro bonds go up, then it might impact inflows and outflows from India,” he said. He said nobody can predict how the situation evolves. “Obviously we are in touch with the RBI but they will do what they have to do,” he said. Stating that the Greece situation has no direct impact on India, he said there may be some indirect effect via Europe on capital inflows and outflows here. We really don’t know how they (foreign investors) will relocate their portfolio,” he added. Greece early today imposed capital controls and closed banks until at least July 6 after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to call a July 5 referendum on a proposed bailout package. ‘Talks on India-EU free trade pact to start from August’ New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): After a gap of two years, India and the European Union will resume negotiations in August on the proposed free trade agreement for boosting two-way commerce and investment. “Both the sides have agreed that negotiators must meet. We have conveyed that. Sometimes in August, the EU chief negotiator will be available for negotiations. They have also conveyed that in August they are available for talks,” Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher told reporters here. No negotiations were held after both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues in May 2013 here. Kher said this is the right time to move on the proposed agreement as exports and imports with the EU are shrinking. “Textiles and leather sectors are facing the beating (in the EU markets). So, by reducing tariffs, you can get greater market access. The benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) has also gone,” he said. India’s textiles exports to that market are around USD 2.5-3 billion annually. Kher, however, said: “We need to bring in craftsmanship and strategy in our negotiations rather than generic talks”. The India-EU trade talks, E-filing: I-T dept to send 24-hr valid password to taxpayers New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): In order to end the trouble of sending paper-based acknowledgement of e-filed Income Tax Returns (ITRs), the CBDT is planning to send a onetime password (OTP) on taxpayers’ mobile phones which will be valid for 24-hours after getting verified from the Aadhaar database. The department, a senior official said, has decided to usher these new protocols very soon as the new ITRs for the assessment year 2015-16 have recently been notified, heralding the onset of the tax filing season. The deadline for filing ITRs is August 31. A senior official involved in the processes told PTI that the new ITRs will capture the Aadhaar number of an individual and after doing a “back end” matching of the Aadhaar number with the mobile number and other vital personal data of the individual, an OTP will be generated and sent for validating and final submission of the return. “The department will do the matching with the Aadhaar database where the biometrics and particulars of an individual are hosted. If the Aadhaar number and relevant details like PAN number and mobile number get kind of matched, then an OTP will be sent on the mobile which will be valid for 24 hours. So, once you have uploaded your return (ITR), there will be an icon showing validate your return and with that OTP you can do that,” the official explained. The official said the department was currently thinking of having an OTP that will be “alive or valid” for 24 hours so that a filer has time at hand to process the return at his or her end. “There could be an option to generate a second OTP too but that is being worked out. After putting the OTP, you then don’t need to send the ITR-V (paper acknowledgement). The problem of ITR-V will get resolved,” the official said. Greece in shock as banks shut after creditor talks break down Athens Jun 29 (PTI): Greeks woke up to shuttered banks, closed cash machines and a climate of rumours and conspiracy theories on Monday as a breakdown in talks between Athens and its creditors plunged the country deep into crisis. After receiving no extra emergency funding for Greek lenders from the European Central Bank, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sombrely announced capital controls in a televised address on Sunday night to prevent banks from collapsing under the weight of mass withdrawals. Greece has less than 48 hours to pay back 1.6 billion euros (USD 1.77 billion) of International Monetary Fund loans, and a default would set in train events that could lead to the country`s exit from the euro currency bloc. But after Tsipras angered Greece`s international lenders by announcing a snap referendum next Sunday on the terms of a cash-for-reforms deal, hopes of a last-minute breakthrough are fading fast. Greeks reacted with a mixture of disbelief and fear. “I can`t believe it,” said Athens resident Evgenia Gekou, 50, on her way to work. “I keep thinking we will wake up tomorrow and everything will be OK. I`m trying hard not to worry.” European officials sent confusing signals about their next move. A spokesman for the European Commission told French radio that Brussels would not make any new proposals on Monday, appearing to contradict comments by EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici. He said a new offer was forthcoming and that the two sides were “only a few centimetres” away from a deal. European bank shares fell sharply on Monday. Top banks in Spain, France and Germany were down more than 6 percent as the risk of a spillover to banks in other peripheral euro zone countries spooked investors. The Greek government will keep banks shut at least until after July 5, the date of the referendum, and withdrawals from 9 Business Indian Horizon Hyderabad automated teller machines -- which are shut on Monday -- will be limited to 60 euros a day when they reopen on Tuesday. The stock exchange will also stay shut. After months of wrangling, Greece`s exasperated European partners have put the blame for the crisis squarely on Tsipras`s shoulders. The creditors wanted Greece to cut pensions and raise taxes in ways that Tsipras has long argued would deepen one of the worst economic crises of modern times in a country where a quarter of the workforce is already unemployed. As Tsipras announced the emergency measures late on Sunday, there were long queues outside ATMs and petrol stations as people raced to take out cash before it was too late. “I`ve got five euros in my pocket, I thought I would try my luck here for some money. The queues in my neighbourhood were too long yesterday,” said plumber Yannis Kalaizakis, 58, outside an empty cash machine in central Athens on Mon- day. “I don`t know what else to say. It`s a mess.” Newspapers splashed pictures of long lines outside cash machines on their front page. The Nafetemporiki daily headlined Monday`s edition “Dramatic hours” while the Ta Nea daily simply said: “When will the banks open”. The conservative-leaning Eleftheros Typos newspaper accused Tsipras of announcing the referendum as a ruse to tip the country into early elections in the hopes of winning them. “Mr Tsipras`s decision to call a referendum and a possible euro exit constitutes a premeditated crime,” it said in an editorial. “It is clear that Mr Tsipras has lost the trust of citizens. That`s obvious from the queues at ATMs and petrol stations, and it will become obvious at next Sunday`s ballot.” As rumours flew about, dozens of pensioners queued outside at least two offices of the National Bank of Greece on Monday after hearing. formally known as the Broad- based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), remain stuck as the EU is not satisfied with India’s offers in areas such as government purchases and market access for automobiles and wines and spirits. The talks launched in June 2007 and it has missed several deadlines. “Textiles and leather sectors are facing the beating (in the EU markets). So, by reducing tariffs, you can get greater market access. The benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) has also gone,” he said. The 28-nation bloc had also asked to include labour and environment related aspects besides liberalisation in multi-brand retail and legal services. India is reluctant to make commitments on these issues. On the other hand, India is insisting for data secure nation status and immigration quota from the EU. The status is crucial as it will have a bearing on Indian IT companies wanting market access in the 28-nation bloc. Another official said that India has extreme sensitivities in sectors such as automobiles. Indian auto industry has already expressed concerns that any concessions in the sector would have far-reaching consequences for it and have an impact on the Modi- government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. The 28-nation bloc had also asked to include labour and environment related aspects besides liberalisation in multi-brand retail and legal services. India is reluctant to make commitments on these issues. On the other hand, India is insisting for data secure nation status and immigration quota from the EU. Sometimes in August, the EU chief negotiator will be available for negotiations. They have also conveyed that in August they are available for talks,” Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher told reporters here. The status is crucial as it will have a bearing on Indian IT companies wanting market access in the 28-nation bloc. Talking about other free trade pacts, he said the next round of talks with Australia is expected next month. “Now we have to discuss the specifics. In services, Australia gave us an offer which we found is not complete and we have to give them our request. We will do it by tomorrow. By July 31, both the sides would exchange offers in services sector,” he said. Adani suspends Australian project’s engineering work over delay in approvals New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): Adani Enterprises on Monday said it has suspended engineering work at USD 16.5-billion Carmichael mine in Australia on account of delay in approvals. In a BSE filing, the firm said that for the past 6-12 months, Adani has maintained a level of investments, jobs and sub-contractor engagement for its mine, rail and port projects in Australia in anticipation of finalising approvals and decisions. The project budget was based, understandably, on the anticipated approval timelines and milestones, it added. “As a result of changes to a range of approvals over that time, it’s necessary to synchronise our budget, project timelines and spending to meet those changes. Accordingly, we have suspended detail engineering work. However, the re- maining activities related to the projects are still continuing,” the filing said. The Carmichael coal, railway and port project includes building Australia’s largest thermal coal mine in the north Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, linked by a new rail line to a new terminal at Abbot Point Port. Covering 280 sq km, the Carmichael mine would use a new 380-km rail line to transfer up to 60 million tonnes of coal a year to overseas markets, including India. The combined mine, rail and port operations will provide over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and supply opportunities for local businesses, the company’s website showed. The project is facing legal challenges from indigenous landholders and conservation groups. After Maggi, Top Ramen withdrawn from Indian market New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): After Maggi controversy, Indo Nissin on Monday announced withdrawal of its instant noodles brand ‘Top Ramen’ from the Indian market on orders from central food safety regulator FSSAI. Earlier this month, Nestle had to recall Maggi noodles, while Hindustan Unilever also withdrew its Knorr instant noodles brand over safety and regulatory issues. On June 8, FSSAI had come out with the advisory on product safety testing of all instant noodle products in India after lead beyond permissible limits in Maggi noodles along with taste enhancer Monosodium glutamate (MSG). “At that time we had sought clarification from FSSAI since Top Ramen product approval is pending with the regulator. They have requested us to withdraw the product until they give the product approval,” Indo Nissin Foods Pvt Ltd Managing Director Gautam Sharma said in a statement. He further said Top Ramen was extensively tested in the last few weeks after product safety concerns arose in the category. We have tested at two FSSAI accredited independent laboratories and shared the results with FSSAI a few weeks ago. While many Top Ramen samples have been tested by various state FDAs across India, only in two cases ? slightly higher lead level has been found in the tastemaker,” he added. Sharma said the company was meeting state FDAs and sharing test results with them as well as seeking a re-test. Instant noodles have attracted attention of regulators after FSSAI banned Nestle India’s Maggi noodles. Earlier this month, the regulator ordered testing of noodles, pastas and macaroni brands such as Top Ramen, Foodles and Wai Wai sold and manufactured by seven companies to check compliance of norms. These include Nestle India, ITC, Indo Nissin Food Ltd, GSK Consumer Healthcare, CG Foods India, Ruchi International and AA Nutrition Ltd. Nestle had destroyed Maggi noodles worth Rs 320 crore after the withdrawal. “At that time we had sought clarification from FSSAI since Top Ramen product approval is pending with the regulator. They have requested us to withdraw the product until they give the product approval,” Indo Nissin Foods Pvt Ltd Managing Director Gautam Sharma said in a statement. He further said Top Ramen was extensively tested in the last few weeks after product safety concerns arose in the category. HUL also recalled its Chinese range of ‘Knorr’ instant noodles from the market pending product approval from FSSAI. Further, global cafe chain Starbucks had to stop use of ingredients not approved by the regulator in certain products served at its India outlets. 10 Business Commodity takes Oil slides on Greek default fears Singapore, Jun 29 (AFP) Oil prices fell in Asia today tracking the sell-off in global equity markets on fears of a Greek debt default, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 82 cents to USD 58.81 while Brent crude for August eased 70 cents to USD 62.56 in latemorning trade. Asian equity markets and the euro were facing sell-offs at the start of the week after cash-strapped Greece broke off deadlocked talks with creditors over the weekend, despite a June 30 due date of a massive repayment to the International Monetary Fund. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a surprise July 5 referendum on the creditors’ latest bailout proposal, and yesterday shut banks until July 6 and imposed capital controls throughout the country to avoid flight of cash. The EU and IMF responded by rejecting a request to extend Greece’s bailout beyond the June 30 deadline, meaning it will default on a key payment and possibly crash out of the eurozone. “With the Greek government’s decision to pursue a referendum set for July 5, risk aversion has returned and is likely to persist this week,” Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said in a commentary. Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said the weakening euro “could see crude prices continue to drop, similar to what we have seen at market open”. Oil prices fell in Asia today tracking the sell-off in global equity markets on fears of a Greek debt default, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 82 cents to USD 58.81 while Brent crude for August eased 70 cents to USD 62.56 in late-morning trade. Dealers are also waiting to see if Iran and major world powers can reach a deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme by the end of the month that would allow Western powers to remove sanctions, paving the way for more Iranian crude to hit the already oversupplied international market. (AFP) Gold glitters, silver recovers on global cues New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) Gold regained its sheen to trade Rs 240 higher at Rs 26,950 per ten grams at the bullion market today, tracking a firm global trend amid fresh buying by jewellers. Silver also recovered by Rs 300 to Rs 36,700 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. The recovery in gold prices was mostly in tandem with a firming trend in global market as Greece shut banks and imposed capital controls, boosting demand for haven assets amid concern of the country?s likely exit from the euro zone, traders said. Besides, fresh buying by domestic jewellers too influenced gold prices, they said. Silver coins were well maintained at previous level of Rs 54,000 for buying and Rs 55,000 for selling of 100 pieces Gold in London, which normally determines price trend on the domestic front, rallied 1.1 per cent to USD 1,188.23 an ounce and silver climbed 1.7 per cent to USD 16.07 an ounce. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity surged by Rs 240 each to Rs 26,950 and Rs 26,800 per ten grams respectively. Sovereign, however, continued to be asked at previous level of Rs 23,300 per piece of eight grams in scattered deals. Silver ready also advanced by Rs 300 to Rs 36,700 per kg and weekly-based by Rs 415 to Rs 36,380 per kg. Silver coins were well maintained at previous level of Rs 54,000 for buying and Rs 55,000 for selling of 100 pieces Select copra extends fall on subdued demand Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Copra office Alapuzha and copra office Kozhikode prices extended its fall at the spices market here today due to subdued demand from stockist and retailers amidst ample arrivals from producing regions. While, rest all other spices maintained a stable trend owing to lack of buying support. Copra office Alapuzha and copra office Kozhikode fell by Rs 100 per quintal each to Rs 8,400 and Rs 8,300 from last Saturday’s closing level of Rs 8,500 and Rs 8,400. Following are today’s closing rates (in Rs with previous rates in brackets): Black pepper (per kg) 645/730 (645/730), ginger bleached (per kg) 235 (235), ginger unbleached (per kg) 255 (255), copra office Alapuzha (per quintal) 8,400 (8,500), copra office Kozhikode (per quintal) 8,300 (8,400), copra Rajapur Mumbai (per quintal) 15,500 (15,500), copra edible Mumbai (per quintal) 10,500 (10,500). Small sugar declines on subdued demand Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Small sugar prices declined at the Vashi wholesale market here today due to subdued demand from stockists and bulk consumer on the back of adequate stock positions. While, medium sugar variety ruled stable in the absence of any necessary buying support. Small sugar (S-30) dipped by Rs 10/65 per quintal to Rs 2,182/2,345 from last Saturday’s closing level of Rs 2,192/2,410. Medium sugar (M-30) was quoted at Rs 2,300/2,602 per quintal. Following are today’s closing rates for sugar (per quintal) with the previous rates given in brackets: Small sugar (S-30) quality: Rs 2,182/2,345 (Rs 2,192/2,410). Medium sugar (M-30) quality: Rs 2,300/2,602 (Rs 2,300/2,602). Refined palmolein eases on lower demand Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Refined palmolein prices eased further at the Vashi oils and oilseeds wholesale market here today due to lower demand from retailers. While, groundnutoil ruled stable in the absence of any large-scale buying activity. Among the non-edibles, castorseeds bold and castor oil commercial rose further on sustained offtake from shippers and soap industries. Linseeds oil slipped on subdued demand from paints and allied industries. In the edible segment, refined palmolein moved down by Rs 2 per 10kg to Rs 503 from last Saturday’s closing level of Rs 505. Groundnutoil closed unchanged at Rs 970 per 10kg. Castorseeds bold gained by Rs 25 per 100kg to Rs 4,000 from Rs 3,975 and castoroil commercial also went up by Rs 5 per 10kg to Rs 830 as against Rs 825 previously. Linseedoil fell by Rs 5 per 10kg to Rs 785 compared to last weekend level of Rs 790. Copper, tin rise on industrial demand Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Copper and tin prices rose at the non-ferrous metal market here today on stockist buying amid good demand from industrial users. While, nickel, brass, zinc and lead prices slipped on lower offtake from alloy industries. Globally, copper rose in early trade at the London Metal Exchange after top user China unleashed fresh easing measures to kick-start its economy, but gains were not expected to last with broader markets bracing for the possibility that Greece could exit the euro zone. Tin climbed by Rs 5 per kg to Rs 1,180 from last Saturday’s closing level of Rs 1,175. Copper utensils scrap and copper sheet cutting added by Rs 3 per kg each to Rs 400 and Rs 421 from Rs 397 and Rs 418, respectively. Copper cable scrap, copper armiture and copper wire bar moved up by Rs 2 per kg each to Rs 441, Rs 426 and Rs 461 from Rs 439, Rs 424 and Rs 459. Copper scrap heavy edged up by a Re per kg to Rs 435. However, nickel dropped by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 955 as against Rs 965 last weekend. Brass sheet cutting fell by Rs 5 per kg to Rs 317 from Rs 322. Zinc moved down by Rs 3 per kg to Rs 175 from Rs 178. Brass utensils scrap eased by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 305 from Rs 307. Lead softened by a Re per kg to Rs 129. Indian Horizon Hyderabad Tuesday, June 30, 2015 IPDS to strengthen power transmission, distribution network Varanasi Jun 29 (PTI): Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the Inergated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) is aimed at strengthening the power sub-transmission and distribution network in urban areas in states and Union Territories. IPDS was scheduled to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today but the programme was cancelled due to heavy rains. The Power Ministry will soon finalise a new date for the launch. Talking to reporters, Goyal said IPDS will also ensure 100 percent metering at feeders, distribution, transformer and consumers and for IT enablement of distribution sec- tor. Goyal added the Centre was extending a total budgetary support of Rs 45,800 crore for implementation of the scheme. He said that projects worth Rs 3,268 crore, covering 247 towns, have been sanctioned so far under IPDS, of which projects worth Rs 1,067 crore for 23 circles covering 91 towns have been sanctioned for Uttar Pradesh. The minister said that it included Rs 432 crore for Kashi area and Rs 140 crore for remaining Varanasi town. He further said in these projects the share of the Centre would be 60 percent, 10 percent of the state, whereas loan by PSUs of the ministry would be 30 percent. “If the states comply with certain norms fixed by the central government then the Centre’s shares will rise up to 75 percent,” he said. IPDS was scheduled to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today but the programme was cancelled due to heavy rains. The Power Ministry will soon finalise a new date for the launch. Talking to reporters, Goyal said IPDS will also ensure 100 percent metering at feeders, distribution, transformer and consumers and for IT enablement of distribution sector. Goyal added the Centre was extending a total budgetary support of Rs 45,800 crore for implementation of the scheme. Rupee ends 20 paise lower at 63.84 against USD on Greek crisis Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) In line with equities, the rupee recovered from initial losses, but still ended lower against the US dollar by tumbling 20 paise at 63.84 due to the looming debt default crisis in Greece amidst month-end demand for the greenback from importers. Gaining some ground, the rupee recovered against the euro at 70.97 from 71.25 previously but fell against the pound sterling to 100.29 from 100.09 earlier. The domestic unit opened lower at 63.80 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) and dropped sharply to 63.94 on heavy demand for the American currency before ending down by 20 paise, or 0.31 per cent, at 63.84. The rupee has lost 32 paise, or 0.50 per cent, in five trading days. It moved in a range of 63.80 and 63.94 per dollar during the day. The dollar index was trading lower by 0.60 per cent against its major global rivals on Monday. In New York market, the US dollar ended higher against the basket currencies, after Greece failed to strike a deal with its lenders, taking it a step closer to a debt default and exit from the Eurozone. Meanwhile, oil prices in Asia fell on Monday, tracking the sell-off in global equity markets on fears of a Greek debt default, analysts said. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 82 cents to USD 58.81 while Brent crude for August eased 70 cents to USD 62.56 in latemorning trade. The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered from initial sharp losses but ended lower by 167 points, or 0.60 per cent, on allround selling pressure from operators as stocks fell across the globe on worsening economic crisis in Greece and odds of a default increasing after the country announced plans for a referendum on its bailout conditions.. . In the forward market, the premium ended lower on receivings from exporters. The benchmark six-month premium payable in November eased further to 189-191 paise from last weekend’s level of 191-193 paise and those maturing in May, 2016 contract fell to 415-417 paise from 454456 paise. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 63.9170 and for the euro at 70.4110. The domestic currency dropped further against the Japanese unit to 51.95 per 100 yen from 51.53 previously. Goyal said that in spacial case of Jammu and Kashmir and NorthEastern states, the Centre share would be 90 percent and that of the local government would be five percent, whereas the loan by the PSUs would be five percent. Highlighting the government’s Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) and LED-Based Smart Street Light programme, Goyal said for promoting energy efficiency in Varanasi nearly 36,000 street lights would be replaced with efficient and smart LED lights that would save around Rs 31 crore annually to municipal corporation here. Sebi slaps market ban on two companies for illegally raising money New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): Sebi on Monday barred Life Care Infrastructures and Angel Allied as well as some of their executives from the capital market after finding that they had unauthorisedly raised over Rs 5.5 crore from investors. They have also been banned from raising funds from the public till further directions. The market regulator found that Life Care Infrastructures India Ltd mobilised Rs 4.5 crore while Angel Allied India Ltd mopped up little over Rs 1 crore illegally through issuance of non-convertible redeemable secured debentures (NCRSDs). Life Care along with its past and present directors -- Pralay Kumar Saw, Sanjoy Kumar Maiti, Sujit Mitra, Partha Pratim Ghosh and Ramprasad Sarkar have been restrained from the capital market. They have been barred from soliciting money from the public, Sebi said in an interim order. The market regulator found that Life Care Infrastructures India Ltd mobilised Rs 4.5 crore while Angel Allied India Ltd mopped up little over Rs 1 crore illegally through issuance of non-convertible redeemable secured debentures (NCRSDs).The company is prima facie engaged in fund mobilising activity from the public, through the offer of NCRSDs and as a result of the aforesaid activity has violated the provisions of the Companies Act, the order noted. In a separate interim order, Sebi banned Angel Allied and its executives from the securities market as well as from raising money from the public. The individuals barred are Sekh Nazibulla, Santosh Kumar Mishra, Devid Haslaf and Sandip Pal. Angel Allied allotted these securities to “at least 334 investors... And mobilised Rs 1,03,15,700 from them,” it added. All the entities have been barred from “accessing the securities market and further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in the securities market, either directly or indirectly, till further directions”. Sensex recovers from initial sharp losses, still dn 167 pts Mumbai, Jne 29 (PTI) The S&P BSE benchmark sensex recovered from initial sharp losses but still ending lower by 167 points on all-round selling pressure from operators as stocks fell across the globe as the Greek financial crisis worsened, with odds of a default increasing after the country announced plans for a referendum on its bailout conditions. Greece shut down its banking system, ordering lenders to stay closed for six days starting today to avoid a run on the country’s banks and its central bank moved to impose controls to prevent money from flooding out of the country. The steps, a fateful climax to five years of debt crisis, puts Greece closer than it ever has been to an exit from the euro. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 203.74 crore during the previous trading session on last Friday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. The sensex resumed lower and dropped further by 602.65 points or 2.17 pct to 27,209.19, but recovered afterwards to 27,695.32 before ending at 27,645.15, still showing a loss of 166.69 points or 0.60 per cent. The CNX 50-share Nifty also tumbled by 62.70 points or 0.75 per cent to finish at 8,318.40 after moving in wide range of 8,329.45 and 8,195.65. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its daily monsoon update issued yesterday the cumulative rainfall during this year’s monsoon season was 23 pct above the Long Period Average (LPA) until June 27. In overseas markets, European stocks were trding sharply lower as the Greek crisis entered a new phase following the imposition of capital controls to prevent a run on the country’s banks. Key indices in Germany, UK and France were off 1.68 pct to 3.31 pct. Asian stocks finshed lower as investors brace for an increasingly likely Greek exit from the eurozone. Key indices China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by 1.42 pct 3.34 pct. Indication of sharp fall in US index futures also the another factor behind fall in share values. Mr. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO said,” As expected today we saw sell off in the global markets, taking cues from the other markets Indian equities also opened on a weak note & lost over two percent during the day as Greek debt crisis intensified more, mainly after failing to reach an agreement with the creditors. Now nation is under a threat of defaulting which will have a negative impact on the global economy”. Towards the end local indices tried to recover but still closed on a negative note. In the domestic market, 23 scrips out of the 30-share sensex pack ended lower while only 7 finished higher. Major losers were Hindalco (3.55 pct), SBI (2.08 pct), Sun Pharma (2.03 pct), Maruti (1.93 pct), Tata Motors (1.76 pct), Infosys (1.58 pct), Bharti Airtel (1.45 pct), ONGC (1.42 pct), BHEL (1.38 pct), Wipro (1.23 pct), VEDL (1.20 pct), Cipla (1.15 pct) and M&M (1.12 pct). However, HUL rose by 2.10 pct, NTPC 0.80 pct and ITC 0.53 pct. Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Realty tumbled by 2.23 pct followed by IT 1.70 pct, Teck 1.40 pct, CD 1.37 pct, Auto 1.37 pct, Metal 1.33 pct, Power 1.06 pct and HC 1.23 pct. Smallcap and Mid-cap indices also fell by 1.49 pct and 1.37 pct respectively on heavy selling from retail investors. 11 Sports Indian Horizon Hyderabad Tuesday, June 30, 2015 India vs Zimbabwe: Manish Pandey feels his maiden ODI call-up was long overdue New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): Manish Pandey says his maiden ODI call-up was long overdue and he now hopes to make his much awaited India debut during the short tour of Zimbabwe next month. Though it is not the first time he finds his name in the Indian team. Pandey was picked for the oneoff T20 against the West Indies but the Caribbean?s side dramatic pull-out midway out of the tour last year left him helpless and dejected. “It was sad indeed. I was hoping to be part of the team but the West Indies team pulled out and there was nothing you could do about it. Considering I am picked for ODIs and T20s, there is a good chance I get a game. The goal is to make every opportunity count,” Pandey told PTI today. Did he expect to be in the ODI team even though it is very much a second string squad in the absence of senior players? “I was hoping to be a part of it. It is a great feeling obviously, something that was pending for long I feel. It is one of those times you feel all the years of hard work has paid off. I won?t be thinking about that too much about whether I get a game or not. If I do, I am just going to be thinking about how I am going to play,” said the Karnataka batsman, who made his First Class-debut in 2008. The 25-year-old rose to prominence with his exploits in the IPL and is best known for being the first Indian to hit a century in the cash-rich league. The stylish righthander did not have a prolific IPL this season but it seems he has been rewarded for being the highest-run getter in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Pandey at his age has already played 70 matches at both First Class and List A level besides a 100 plus T20s. “I think all these years, in first class, the IPL, overall domestic scene you face so many different types of bowlers and that prepares you for the highest level. I feel I am in good space right now. I have got a much needed month off after the IPL. I spent some time at home and worked more on fitness. Now the business starts and I just want to keep doing the basic stuff right,” he said. Pandey is also happy for his six Karnataka teammates who were US athletics championships: Justin Gatlin wins 200 m in 19.57sec Controversial sprinter Justin Gatlin fired a World Championships warning shot Sunday, winning the 200m title at the US athletics championships in a blistering 19.57sec. “I wanted to come out and make a statement, and that`s what I did,” Gatlin said after a career-best that improved on the season-leading 19.68 he set on the same Hayward Field track at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in May. The 33-year-old, who completed a four-year doping ban in 2010, is now the fifth-fastest man of all time in the event, behind Usain Bolt -- who holds the world record of 19.19 -- Yohan Blake, Michael Johnson and Walter Dix. With his dominance this season -- he also owns the fastest 100m time of the year of 9.74sec -- he has set the stage for a scintillating showdown with Bolt in both the 100m and 200m at the August 22-30 World Championships in Beijing. “I`d say the 100, just because it comes first,” Gatlin said of his best world title hope. “But I`m going to put all my effort into both of them. “A lot of people try to peak for the World Championships. I just want to maintain,” added Gatlin, who came off the turn well in front and powered home. “I know I had a great start, attacked coming off the turn and ran a great 150,” said Gatlin, who called it “the most complete technically 200 meter I ever ran.” His training partner Isiah Young was a distant second in 19.93 with veteran Wallace Spearmon third in 20.10. Even as he has dominated the sprint world this season, Gatlin has found his past doping transgressions in the spotlight, as has US team-mate Tyson Gay -- who booked his Beijing berth with a 100m victory on Saturday. Current allegations also cast a cloud over these championships, after Alberto Salazar, coach of US distance runner Galen Rupp, was accused in a BBC/ ProPublica documentary this month of infractions. Kara Goucher, one of the athletes who has leveled allegations against Salazar, fanned the flames on Sunday, hitting back at the coach for branding her a liar. named in India and India A teams today. He will be in the familiar company of Robin Uthappa and Stuart Binny in Zimbabwe while his other state mates Abhimanyu Mithun, Shreyas Gopal, K L Rahul and Karun Nair find themselves in the A team. “It is nice to see Karnataka players slowly coming into national reckoning. We have been the dominating for the past couple of seasons,” he summed up. Rafael Nadal leads Spanish players’ criticism of federation Barcelona Jun 29 (PTI): Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer along with other high-profile figures in Spanish tennis have signed an open letter criticising their federation over the poor running of the sport in the latest development of an ongoing feud. A total of 44 people put their name on Sunday to a sevenpoint statement that hit out at general poor organisation along with a lack of transparency by the Spanish federation (RFET). It emphasised the “chaotic” and “belligerent” way that the federation is led by president Jose Luis Escanuela and asks that the “necessary authorities” take swift action to remedy the situation. The letter comes on the back of claims in local media that the nation`s first female Davis Cup captain Gala Leon offered her resignation following continued disapproval of her appointment last September, but it was not accepted by the federation. Nadal was among those who reacted with disbelief at the RFET`s naming of Leon, who had a career-high ranking of 27 as a player, to replace Carlos Moya. It has led to accusations of sexism and Nadal himself admitted over the weekend that the controversy is tarnishing the image of Spanish tennis. “The situation is terrible,” Nadal told a news conference ahead of the Wimbledon. “All these things that are happening cause damage to tennis, to the desire sponsors might have to invest in our sport, to the excitement that kids might have in continuing to play,” added the 14-times grand slam champion. It emphasised the “chaotic” and “belligerent” way that the federation is led by president Jose Luis Escanuela and asks that the “necessary authorities” take swift action to remedy the situation. There has also been a standoff between the government sports council (CSD), which has questioned Leon`s appointment, and Escanuela. Spain`s disciplinary committee for sports (TAD) last week suspended Escanuela for one month for failing to collaborate in a probe into the federation`s finances. The CSD says it is attempting to track down what happened to at least 700,000 euros ($775,140) the RFET paid out in transactions linked to the Spanish Tennis Foundation and the Spanish Tennis Observatory. Wimbledon 2015: Djokovic, Serena, Sharapova star on first day Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova take centre stage as Wimbledon gets underway on Monday while Lleyton Hewitt hopes for a long goodbye on his 17th and final appearance at the All England Club. World number one, top seed and defending champion Djokovic plays his first tournament since Stan Wawrinka ended his latest bid to win a French Open and complete a career Grand Slam in Paris three weeks ago. The Serb, who was also Wimbledon champion in 2011, has never lost in the first round at the tournament but he faces a tough opener against world number 33 Philipp Kohlschreiber who made the quarter-finals in 2012. Djokovic holds a 6-1 career advantage over the 31-year-old German. Kohlschreiber`s only victory against Djokovic came at the 2009 French Open and the Serb has won the last five on the spin, including a straight sets victory in the US Open fourth round last BCCI announces team for Zimbabwe tour; Rahane named captain, Kohli, Dhoni rested New The national selectors have picked the Indian team in Delhi on Monday ahead of their tour to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and two T20I. As expected senior players MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin were rested. The likes of regulars Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma have been rested too. Ajinkya Rahane has been selected to captain India in Zimbabwe. Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has been recalled back to the limited over format. The likes of Murali Vijay, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa and Kedar Jadhav has made a return to the side. Youngster Sandeep Sharma too is selected for the first time and he will look to impress in his debut series. Ravindra Jadeja has been dropped from the side after a string of poor performances. Umesh Yadav too has been dropped and he will be part of the India A squad which was selected alongside. Cheteshwar Pujara will be leading the side and the team has several youngsters alongside some experienced players. year. But the champion is wary of the potential pitfalls as he opens play on Centre Court at 1200GMT. “When you see Kohlschreiber in the first round, you don`t look any further in the draw,” said eighttime major winner Djokovic. A victory for the Serb could give him a second round match-up against 2002 champion Hewitt, the last man outside of the big four of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to win the Wimbledon title. Hewitt, 34, will be playing the All England Club for the final time before retirement after next year`s Australian Open. The former world number one, who made his All England Club debut back in 1998, starts against 33-year-old Finn Jarkko Nieminen, a quarter-finalist nine years ago. Women`s top seed Serena Williams, the five time champion and bidding for a calendar Grand Slam, gets her 16th Wimbledon started on Court One against Russia`s Magarita Gasparyan. Vijender Singh brings down curtains on India career, turns professional New Delhi Jun 29 (PTI): Ending all the speculations, India’s 2008 Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh took a big step going forward on Monday as he turned professional. The renowned pugilist will join the stable of British promoter Francis Warren with whom he has already signed a six-year deal. Vijender has signed a multi-year deal with Queensberry Promotions and will fight at least six times in the first year in middleweight category. represent India at next year’s Rio Olympics. Vikas Krishan will represent India in middleweight category. As per the rules, once a boxer turns professional, he cannot compete at an amateur level. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) allows only those boxers who are a part of its pro boxing competition, AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), to compete in the Olympics. No evidence against 3 cricketers: ICC sources Dubai Jun 29 (PTI): The ICC had found no evidence against the three international cricketers who have been accused of accepting bribes by former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi and had closed the matter after a thorough investigation. The game’s governing body had yesterday hinted that it had found no evidence against the three cricketers, when in a statement it said, “...The ACSU handled that information in accordance with its standard operating procedures, which included sharing it with the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit.” Reliable sources said had there been any wrongdoing, the world body ‘s AntiCorruption and Security Unit would have opened an inquiry. “If the ACSU had found any evidence against the three players, then it would have charged them for breaching the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code. If this has not happened in two years and the players are still playing international and domestic cricket, this clearly means that there is no evidence that warrants a charge,” the sources told PTI. “The matter can be reopened as and when new supporting evidence is provided but, but as of now, there is no charge against the cricketers. It is now up to the three cricketers to file damages against Lalit Modi, who has questioned their integrity by shooting an email to the International Cricket Council, demanding investigation.” Sources said the cricketers need to decide their next course of action after damage was caused to their reputations due to Modi’s allegations. “This is an extremely serious allegation and the cricketers need to act to get their names cleared once and for ever,” sources said. The sources further said the ICC had investigated the matter in 2013 because the email didn’t refer the allegations to IPL or international cricket. “Because the email didn’t specify the level of cricket, the ICC took it as international cricket and investigated the matter as diligently as it does with any other probe,” sources said. “The four pillars of the ICC ACSU are: education, prevention, investigation and prosecution. After the education bit, the ICC ACSU updated the BCCI that it had investigated its cricketers. This has has confirmed in by the ICC its response. “The reality of the situation is the email had raised ‘concerns’. Unfortunately, on the basis of ‘concerns’ or ‘suspicions’, charges cannot be laid. We are dealing with cricketers of international repute and I am sure that ICC will want to have rock-solid evidence before taking the extreme route.” Earlier, the BCCI gave a clean chit to the three cricketers. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said “there is nothing in it” when asked about the ICC acknowledging a letter from Modi in June 2013, claiming that two cricketers from India and a West Indian were paid in cash and kind to the tune of Rs 20 crore each. “Lalit Modi had written a letter to ICC, so they informed BCCI about the letter. “This is an extremely serious allegation and the cricketers need to act to get their names cleared once and for ever,” sources said. The sources further said the ICC had investigated the matter in 2013 because the email didn’t refer the allegations to IPL or international cricket. “Because the email didn’t specify the level of cricket, the ICC took it as international cricket and investigated the matter as diligently as it does with any other probe,” sources said. “The four pillars of the ICC ACSU are: education, prevention, investigation and prosecution. After the education bit, the ICC ACSU updated the BCCI that it had investigated its cricketers. This has has confirmed in by the ICC its response. The three players are international players and fall under the international jurisdiction. There is no information on these players from ICC so far, so it is in a way a clean chit for them to play. 12 Entertainment Indian Horizon Hyderabad Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Indian Horizon Genelia all set for a come back Actress Genelia D'Souza, who has been away from the big screen post her marriage to actor Riteish Deshmukh in 2012, says she is now ready to make a comeback in Bollywood and will focus on her acting career. Genelia, who has starred in movies like "Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na" and "Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya", was present at a promotional event here Tuesday when she was asked about her comeback to the film industry. To that, she said: "I don't think I ever left it, but yes I am on a break, I would love to be back, I would love to do something that makes me happy, that makes people happy and I am ready now for comeback." Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh became proud parents to a son Nov 25, 2014. Courtesy:SantaBanta.com Amy Jackson enjoying being in the spotlight again Amy Jackson was recently spotted walking the red carpet at a screening of the Will Smith-starrer 'Focus' in London. The youngster recently took off for a short break back home in England. After seeing her performance in the South film, 'I', Bollywood is looking at the 'Ekk Deewana Tha' (2012) actress in a new light. She has Prabhu Dheva's upcoming film 'Singh Is Bling' with Akshay Kumar in her kitty. There is buzz that she will be seen opposite Abhishek Bachchan in 'Housefull 3'. The girl is enjoying being in the spotlight again. Courtesy:SB.com Ranbir's Bombay Velvet out of danger now? Censor Board decides to 'allow' Anurag Kashyap to retain 'Bombay' in the title of his upcoming period film 'Bombay Velvet' starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma Even as the controversy over Censor Board's decision to ban 'Bombay' from film titles, dialogues and lyrics has not died down, a relief comes in as Bombay Velvet gets to retain its original title. As per an internal decision taken by the Censor Board on Monday, Kashyap has been allowed to retain the title as it is a period film. Says a source, "Apart from cuss words and other issues, the controversy over usage of 'Bombay' in films and songs was discussed. A board member pointed out that a film should be allowed to use the colonial name if it is set in a period before the The Maharashtra Restoration of Name 'Mumbai' for 'Bombay Act, 1996, came into effect." The source adds that the member also read out the guidelines for certification which spell that the Censor Board must ensure that a film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and examined in the light of the period depicted in the movie. In the past, there have been several instances of filmmakers having to change the title or replace 'Bombay' in their films. Karan Johar had to insert a disclaimer in 'Wake Up Sid' for mentioning Bombay following threats from local political parties to ban the film. Recently, makers of Bombay Central had to make changes to the title. Joy Mukherji's 'Love in Bombay', which released 42 years after it was made, was renamed 'Love in Mumbai'. However, Ashi Dua's 'Bombay Talkies' (2013), a tribute to 100 years of Hindi cinema, didn't face any problem. Courtesy:SantaBanta.com Verdict in Salman case deferred A court here Wednesday deferred its verdict in a case relating to illegal possession and use of arms by Bollywood actor Salman Khan and posted the matter for March 3. The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Anupama Bijlani in Jodhpur deferred its verdict and started the hearing of four old applications which were moved by the prosecution in 2006. Salman was not present in the court. In fact he is not even in Jodhpur presently. The court was scheduled to deliver its final verdict in the case Feb 25, but in a subsequent development after the last hearing, these applications came to the notice of the court. The court heard all the four applications for summoning the witnesses and taking some documents on record at length and deferred its decision on these applications till March 3. "We were ordered to present our arguments and the court would deliver its judgment thereafter," public prosecutor N.K. Sankhla and Salman's advocate Hastimal Sarswat jointly said. Salman and a few other Bollywood stars were accused of poaching blackbucks on the midnight of Oct 1-2, 1998 during the shooting of Hindi movie 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'. Two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur. Salman is also alleged to have been carrying arms with expired license. A police complaint was filed against him for being involved in hunting protected blackbucks. Courtesy:Bollylife.com Aamir Khan demands Rs 2 crore for an hour-long ad shoot? Yes, that’s the moolah the Dhoom: 3 baddie might be paid. Are other Bollywood biggies listening? Such is the might of Aamir Khan that the actor can command the price he wants and walk away with it too, without any fuss or negotiation. We all know how Aamir chooses his projects very carefully – be it film or commercials, and succeeds in all his endeavours. That’s the reason why when the actor asked for a whopping price of Rs 2 crore for an hour-long shoot of a commercial for a household product, the brand makers agreed to the Perfectionist Khan’s unbelievable demand. It is learnt that his wifey Kiran Rao might also feature alongside him. For those of you who don’t know, ad shoots usually take two to three days. But the ad in question will be shot just within an hour and Aamir has demanded Rs 2 crore for it. Well, if the report is indeed true then Aamir has joined other Bollywood couples like Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan, Abhishek and Aish- warya Rai Bachchan, and Saif Ali and Kareena Kapoor Khan, who have been seen together in ads. All said and done, this deal is certainly a path-breaking one as far as the money is concerned. It wouldn’t come as a surprise at all if the other two Khans (Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan) too up their fees or even surpass Aamir’s benchmark. Courtesy:Bollylife.com Revealed: Plot of Alia Bhatt, Sushant Rajput starrer Raabta! Finding Fanny director, Homi Adjania is all set to start shooting for his upcoming film 'Raabta' by July - August, this year. The director has yet again opted for a new and fresh pair, just like his previous film. Homi has casted Alia Bhatt and Sushant Rajput, to play the lead characters in the film. Also, Dinesh Vijan would be co-directing the film with Homi Adajania. Dinesh informed the media stating that the film is a love story from two different eras. The protagonist in the film is being played by Alia and Sushant. It is a film based on reincarnation. Dinesh stated, that he had been having the script for more than a year now and when he shared the love story with Homi Adajania, he instantly fell in love with with the story and as a result the duo is all set to direct the film. Well we hope the film worked out for the duo and also it would be a delight to watch the two magnificent stars share the screen. Courtesy:SantaBanta.com Printed, published & Owned by Dr.Rahimuddin Kemal, Printed at Kemal Publication's, H.No-8-2-618/3, Road No. 11, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. 500034, TS. Editor Mr.Fahim Kemal. Published from Dil-a-Veez, H.No.8-2-618/3, Road No. 11, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034.TS. India. Phone Nos: 040 66839818: Fax No: 040 23373717. Email: [email protected] [email protected]
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