JAMMU, MARCH 03The registration of pil-

grims for the annualAmarnath Yatra via theBaltal and Chandanwariroutes, has commenced at430 designated bankbranches across the coun-try. The registration forAmarnath pilgrims hascommenced on March 2,for both the Baltal andChandanwari routes,through 430 designatedbranches of PunjabNational Bank, Jammu andKashmir Bank and YesBank all over the country,Rakesh Kumar Gupta,Chief Executive Officer ofShri Amarnathji ShrineBoard, said.

This year's 59-day yatrashall commence simulta-neously on both the routesfrom July 2 and culminateon Raksha Bandhan, theAugust 29.

Gupta said the step-by-step procedure which thepilgrims need to follow toregister for the yatra hasbeen put up on the Board'sw e b s i t e ,www.Shriamarnathjishrine.Com. The website alsocontains the applicationform and state-wise list ofthe bank branches withcomplete addresses. TheCEO said that the pilgrimshall have to furnish acompulsory health

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

MUMBAITemperature: 280CPrecipitation:0%Humidity: 53%Wind: 21Km/hr

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTWednesday, March 04, 2015

'Difficult to go to Delhi, have manymeetings fixed': Prashant Bhushan

HTC One M8s With Snapdragon 615 to ReplaceOne (M8) in Some Regions: Report

Shraddha Kapoor turns26 today! P8

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Acknowledging that nation-

al climate change missionshave not achieved "expected"progress, Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar onTuesday said the government

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Climate change missionsdid not see 'expected'progress: Govt

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Nearly 21 per cent of under-

trial prisoners in the countryare from the Muslim commu-nity while 21.30 per centbelong to the Schedule Castes,Lok Sabha was informed onTuesday. Minister of State forHome, Haribhai Parthibhai

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Nearly 21% of under-trials from Muslimcommunity: Govt

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Naxals are extorting money

from traders, industrialists andothers in different areas in thecountry, Lok Sabha wasinformed on Tuesday.

"There are reports thatmoney is extorted by anti-

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Naxals extortingmoney from traders,industrialists: Govt

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Delhi Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal will leave forBengaluru later this week toundergo naturopathy treatmentfor 10 days as he continues tosuffer from high sugar leveland chronic cough.

He will leave for Bengaluruon March 5 and undergo naturopathy treatment there

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Delhi CM Kejriwal to undergonaturopathy treatment in Bengaluru

RAMPUR, MARCH 03UP Minister Azam Khan on

Tuesday posed a question toRSS as to why it had compro-mised with Jammu andKashmir Chief Minister MuftiMohd Sayeed on the issue ofArticle 370, which the outfithad kept alive since independ-ence. "Why and how has RSScompromised with PDP chief Mufti Mohd Sayeed on

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Azam Khan asks why RSScompromised on Article 370

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03In an unambiguous disap-

proval of controversial remarksmade by the new ChiefMinister of Jammu andKashmir Mufti MohammadSayeed, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi made it clearon Tuesday that the BJP-PDP

government in the state would run only on the basis of CONTD. ON PAGE 3

PM disapproves of Mufti Sayeed'scomments on Pakistan, Hurriyat

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03CPI(M) and Trinamool

Congress on Tuesday joinedhands in the Rajya Sabha toslam the NDA governmentover "privatisation" of air-ports, asking how this "loot"of public money was being

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

CPI(M), TMCattack govt on air-ports privatisation

DHANBAD, MARCH 03RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

on Monday said that all tem-ples and religious places in thecountry have to be renovated.

"All temples and religiousplaces in the country wouldhave to be renovated and

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Temples, religiousplaces have to berenovated: Bhagwat

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03A court here on Tuesday

sent three accused arrested inthe document leak case tojudicial custody till March 17.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Satish KumarArora remanded the three tojudicial custody after their

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Document leak:Three accused sentto judicial custody

P6P2

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 240CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 57%Wind: 16Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 310CPrecipitation: 20%Humidity:52% Wind: 14Km/hr

CHENNAITemperature: 330CPrecipitation: 80%Humidity:66%Wind: 21Km/hr

MUMBAI, MARCH 03The benchmark Sensex

on Tuesday surged about135 points to end at overone-month closing highof 29,593.73 while theNSE Nifty index topped9,000 mark for the firsttime on continued opti-mism over economicreforms and solid foreignfund buying in RIL, TCSand Sun Pharma shares.

The NSE Nifty, afterhitting all-time high of of9,008.40 in the fag-end,ended at new closingpeak of 8,996.25 -- a riseof 39.50 points or 0.44percent. The Nifty hassurpassed its previouslife high of 8,996.60 hiton January 30. It also

beat its previous closingpeak of 8,956.75 yester-day.

Markets have gained inthe last 4 days withbenchmark indices spurt-ing over 3.5 percent.Growth-oriented Budgetproposals have also

boosted investor opti-mism, brokers said.

The sustained rally hasbeen possible as partici-pants shrugged off datashowing slower growthin eight core industries inJanuary and fiscal deficit

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Nifty tops 9,000-mark for 1st time,Sensex up 135 points as stocks rally

59-day Amarnath yatraregistration begins

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Defence cooperation

is one of the pillars ofthe India-US partnershipthat "greatly benefits thesecurity and prosperityof both countries", a USofficial said Tuesday.

Admiral Harry Harris,junior commander of theUS Pacific Fleet, in astatement issued by theUS embassy here saidthat he was enthusiasticabout a "shared future"based on the strategic

view of US PresidentBarack Obama that therelationship betweenIndia and the US can beone of the "definingpartnerships of this cen-tury".

"While some say thevastness of the Indianand Pacific oceans iswhat separates us, Ibelieve these waters arewhat bring us together.Both oceans provide aliteral and metaphoricsea lane to enhanced

bilateral and multilateralcooperation," Harris,who is is set to meetIndian officials here thisweek, said in the state-ment. Talking about thecommonalities betweenthe two forces, he saidthe two navies enjoy ashared heritage andcommon focus: a safeand secure maritimedomain is critical to oureconomies.

That we face common CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03More than 400 types of

defence equipment werefound to have rectifiabledefects during the last threeyears, Rajya Sabha wastold on Tuesday.

In the past three years,during the course of regu-lar quality assurancechecks by DGQA duringproduction, 429 types ofdefence equipment werefound to have rectifiabledefects, Minister of Statefor Defence Ministry RaoInderjit Singh said in a

written reply.He said these were not

cleared for issue to theusers but returned to theordnance factories for rec-tification during manufac-turing stages only.

Some deviations do takeplace at various stages dur-ing any manufacturingprocess due to unavoidablereasons which need rectifi-cation/rejection, the replysaid.

The total cost of suchrectification/rejection is Rs

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

'Defence cooperation impor-tant pillar of India-US ties'

429 types of defence items foundwith rectifiable defects in last 3 yrs

Vol. 1 Issue: 172 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03The number of suicide

cases by farmers due toagrarian reasons haveincreased by 26 per cent to1,109 in 2014, with major-ity of deaths reported fromMaharashtra, Parliamentwas informed on Tuesday.

Out of 1,109 cases, 986were reported fromMaharashtra, 84 fromTelangana and 29 fromJharkhand.

In 2013, 879 farmers hadcommitted suicide, and in

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Farmers' suicide casesrise 26% to 1,109 in 2014

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Prime Minister Narendra

Modi on Tuesday eveningreplied in the Rajya Sabha tothe Motion of Thanks toPresident's speech inParliament.

Here are the highlights:

* PM showed the mirror tothe Opposition, his speechwas exceptionally good:Sambit Patra, BJP.

* Was all their (BJP) prom-ises a 'jumla'? They say theywant to take everyone alongbut don't acknowledge theOpposition: Congress' AnandSharma.

* Reacting to Modi'sspeech, Congress' ShakeelAhmad says, "It is funny thatPM says there is no place forthreats in democracy and hisown party people use that lan-guage."

* Our faith is in the peopleof Jammu and Kashmir.

* We don't support somecomments made recently byleaders from Kashmir. But itis not possible to keep defend-ing or clarifying each and

every remark in Parliament.* The government in Jammu

and Kashmir will work as perthe Common MinimumProgramme. Zero tolerance onterror is our policy.

* We will neither get bul-lied, nor bully anyone. Wewill work with other countrieswith out head held high.

* The world has nowchanged. I have said again andagain that we will worktowards improving relations

with other countries.* We have increased alloca-

tion to states from central taxrevenue.

* The law will stay; we willremove the shortcomings. Iurge you to help us andtogether we can take India'sdevelopment ahead.

* We need to protect farm-ers' interests together.

* Please don't spread lies oncompensation. Compensation

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03A British film maker's inter-

view of one of the December 16gang-rape convicts for a docu-mentary in which he showed noremorse kicked up a storm onTuesday with Government takinga serious view of the matter andseeking an explanation fromTihar jail authorities.

The parents of the December16, 2012 gang-rape victim react-ed angrily to the remarks madeby Mukesh Singh in the inter-view where he seeks to blametheir daughter for the horrific

incident, calling it shameful anddemanded he be hanged.

The filmmaker Leslee Udwinon her part said the film is herattempt to examine the attitude ofmen towards women and thatthere was nothing sensational init. Udwin also claimed she tookpermission from the thenDirector General of Tijar jailVimla Mehra before interviewingMukesh in the prison for BBC.

Taking the incident of the con-vict being interviewed in custodyvery "seriously", Home Minister

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Storm over interview of Dec16 gang-rape convict in jail,Govt takes a serious view

PM Modi takes on Opposition in RS, saysgovt not working for rich but poorest

Modi breakedsilence onMother TeresaKOLKATA, MARCH 03

Questioning the silence ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, a forum of minoritieson Tuesday demanded anapology from RSS chiefMohan Bhagwat for hiscomments on Mother Teresa.

The State Forum ofMinorities Organisationsheld a demonstration herecondemning the "mischie-vous intention and aims ofBhagwat behind his mali-cious allegation againstMother Teresa".

"Bhagwat must substanti-ate his allegation or begapology unconditionally.

"The people who haveassembled here also questionthe silence of our prime min-ister and demand a statementfrom him," Forum convenerHeor Mulick said.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak CONTD. ON PAGE 3

World's largest Indiantricolour unfurled inFaridabadFARIDABAD, MARCH 03

The world's largest and tallestIndian tricolour was unfurled atTown Park in Faridabad onTuesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)president Amit Shah, HaryanaChief Minister ML Khattar andBollywood actor Ranbir Kapoorwere present on the occasion.Ministers of the state cabinet werealso in attendance.

The flag weighs 48 kilogramsand has a 96 feet by 64 feetdimension. It was hoisted at aheight of 250 feet (75 meters),

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

AMRITSAR, MARCH 03Sikhs in Amritsar and New Delhi

on Tuesday condemned the racialattack on a Sikh boy in the US stateof Georgia.

A video of a Sikh boy beingcalled a "terrorist" by a group ofschool children has gone viral onthe internet.

In the video, the bespectacledSikh boy is seen sitting in whatappears to be a school bus and issurrounded by students.

Slamming the attack, chief Sikhpriest, Gurbachan Singh, said thatthey were being targeted in theUnited States because of mistakenidentity.

"We have warned the Sikh com-munity living in US to beware ofthe continuous attacks. Sikhs are adifferent community. They are nei-ther the offshoot of Muslims orHindu. Their attire and beard aredifferent from other religiousgroups but they are being subject tocontinuous attacks by mistakenlytaking them as Muslims," saidSingh.

The attack is just one in a seriesof such incidents on the Indiancommunity in the U.S. A man ofIndian origin was shot dead in hisliquor store in New Jersey. Lastmonth, an Indian man was left

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Sikh community condemns racialattack on America Sikh boy

NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

PALAMPUR, MARCH 03Senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan

on Tuesday said it would be hard forhim to return to Delhi, a day before theparty's crucial national executive meet-ing.

"Right now it's not clear. It is hard forme to go there ( Delhi), as I have toomany meetings fixed here," Bhushan,who is currently in Palampur, said.

The AAP has called a national exec-utive meeting on March 4 to decide onvarious issues including the latest con-troversy over rift in the party.

The national executive meeting maydecide the future of senior leadersYogendra Yadav and PrashantBhushan.

Various sections of the media havereported a rift within the AAP after itsinternal Lokpal Admiral (Retd.) LRamdas wrote a letter to party chiefArvind Kejriwal as well as party mem-bers, Yogendra Yadav and PrashantBhushan, expressing concern over thegrowing divide within the party.

Ramdas, in his letter, reportedly

sought to draw the attention of thefounding members to the importance of' internal unity' and appealed for aquick resolution.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh had earliersaid that attempts were being made tochange Kejriwal as AAP's nationalconvener.

The rift within the AAP came out inthe open with Yogendra Yadav andPrashant Bhushan voicing dissentagainst the manner in which the partyis being run by Kejriwal.

The two leaders also reportedlyoffered to opt out of the PoliticalAffairs Committee of the party.

'Difficult to go to Delhi, have manymeetings fixed': Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader

Shazia Ilmi on Tuesday described seniorAam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders PrashantBhushan and Yogendra Yadav as the spineof the party, adding that the duo hadworked for the AAP with utmost sincerity.

"Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadavare strength of the AAP, they are the spineof the party. AAP's spirit and soul are thevolunteers who work for the party. I amvery disappointed and I do not agree withmy former colleagues when they accusePrashant Bhushan of being greedy. He isway above these things," Ilmisaid.

"It is sad that AAP leaders are talkingabout Prashant Bhushan like this.Whatever revelations Arvind Kejriwal

made were actually by Prashant Bhushan.Both Yogendara Yadav and PrashantBhushan have worked for the party withutmost sincerity," she added.

The AAP has called a national executivemeeting on March 4 to decide on variousissues including the latest controversy overrift in the party.

The rift within the AAP came out in theopen when Yogendra Yadav and PrashantBhushan voiced their dissent against themanner in which the party is being run byKejriwal.

The national executive meeting maydecide the future of senior leadersYogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

The two leaders also reportedly offeredto opt out of the Political AffairsCommittee of the party.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03The growing rift within the

Aam Aadmi Party took anoth-er twist on Tuesday with sen-ior advocate and party mem-ber HS Phoolka scathinglyattacking senior party leaderYogendra Yadav, and main-tained that the party's cam-paign committee membershad ensured his loss in theelections.

"Yogendra Yadav constitut-ed a campaign committee forPunjab. They ensured that I donot win. These were the kindof things that were going on.But in party's interest I keptquiet...and maintained work-ing relations with YogendraYadav throughout," Phoolkasaid.

"What I am surprised aboutis that I always had good rela-tions with Yogendra Yadav...Iwas shocked that why is itbeing done to me. I want the

national executive to ask Mr.Yogendra Yadav to explainwhy that one month was wast-ed? Why was I directed not togo to Punjab...Yadav needs toexplain how my going toPunjab would have adverselyaffected the party," he added.

Phoolka added that hadwanted to quit the party dur-ing the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-tions but Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal persuadedhim me to continue.

"So, almost for one month Iwas totally gagged, neither Iwas allowed to go Punjab norI was allowed to go to media.Ultimately, I said that at leaston '84 issue I should be per-mitted. I was so disillusionedthat around mid February Isent SMS to Kejriwal that ifthe party do not need me thenthere is no point of me contin-uing in the party," headded.

Prashant Bhushan, YogendraYadav 'spine' of AAP: Shazia Ilmi

KANPUR, MARCH 03Amid the ongoing rumbling

within AAP, senior party leaderSanjay Singh on Tuesday saidthat internal issues should be dis-cussed at party's forum.

"Issues related to party's inter-nal affairs should be discussed atappropriate forum in the partyrather than in public or in media.The issues will be discussed inNational executive meetingtomorrow and media will beinformed accordingly," he saidhere.

These issues have not onlyaffected Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal but also the pub-lic, he added.

When asked about the issueswhich will be discussed in themeeting he refused to commentsaying he was not authorised totalk on them.

He refused to comment onparty member Prashant Bhushan

and said it's right to talk about iton party forum.

Sharp differences have come tothe fore within AAP with allega-tions that senior AAP leadersBhushan and Yogendra Yadavwere trying to "remove" Kejriwalfrom the post of party convener.

AAP has convened a meetingof its National Executive tomor-row to decide on all issues,including the latest controversyover differences in the party.

According to the sources,Kejriwal will not be attending themeet.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Three men, who were held

guilty of trying to kill a per-son by stabbing him 11times, have been sentencedto five years rigorous jailterm by a Delhi court whichsaid adequate punishmentneeds to be inflicted, elsewrong signal will be sent inthe society.

Additional Sessions JudgeDig Vinay Singh handeddown the jail term to con-victs -- Satish, Sonu andSanjay -- for the offences ofattempt to murder with com-mon intention punishableunder sections 307 and 34 ofthe IPC.

"In the present case, asmany as 11 injuries wereinflicted upon the injuredwith knives. Adequate pun-ishment needs to be inflict-

ed, else it will send wrongsignals in the society.

"The three convicts aresentenced to rigorousimprisonment for five yearsand a fine of Rs 25,000each," the judge said.

Apart from them, theretwo more accused in the caseout of whom one wasdeclared a proclaimedoffender during pendency oftrial while the other was ajuvenile being tried at aJuvenile Justice Board.

The court, while convict-ing the three, said, "Thenumber of injuries inflictedupon the victim's body andthe kind of deadly weaponselected to inflict injuriesupon him... injuries threat-ening his life, clearly indi-cates that they had gone withprior preparation intendingto kill him.

"They inflicted repeatedblows after immobilisinghim (victim), when he wascaught by two of them andassaulted by the other three.These facts do indicate thatthey intended to kill the vic-tim and thereby offence forwhich they are guilty is sec-tion 307/34 of IPC."

According to the prosecu-tion, on April 12, 2007, vic-tim Lakhan Singh was tak-ing a walk near house inRaghuvir Nagar here, whenSonu and his associate,whom Singh knew, came andcaught hold of him, afterwhich three more persons --Satish, Ishwar and Sanjay --came and started stabbinghim with a knife on his head,hands, leg and abdomen.

All them were arrested afew days later but Ishwarwas declared a proclaimed

offender on September 11,2014.

The court noted that Singhhad supported prosecution inexamination-in-chief butturned hostile in cross-examination.

It, however, relied on theexamination-in-chief, sayinghis changing the statement"appears to be a result ofinfluence" and "nothingelse".

"In his examination-in-chief, he named all them(convicts) specifically andidentified them clearly sincethey were residing nearbyhis house...Thus, it is theexamination-in- chief whichhas to be preferred," it said.

During the trial, all theconvicts had pleaded inno-cence and claimed they werefalsely implicated in thecase.

Delhi: Three persons get 5 yrs injail for stabbing man 11 times

Internal issues should be discussed atparty forum: AAP leader Sanjay Singh

BHIWANI, MARCH 03Amid the growing

internal battle withinthe Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), senior partyleader YogendraYadav on Tuesdaysaid he was hopefulthat everything wouldbe sorted out in thenational executivemeeting tomorrow.

"The party whichhas set new standardsin Indian politics isbound to have extraexpectations. It iscommon to have dif-ference of opinion inpolitics but it should-

n't translate to differ-ence in hearts. I amhopeful that we'll beable to sort out every-thing in nationalexecutive meetingtomorrow," saidYadav.

Earlier in the day,Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal stat-ed that he was deeplyhurt and pained bywhat was going on inAAP, and added itwas a betrayal of thetrust that the peopleof Delhi had reposedin the party.

"I refuse to be

drawn in this uglybattle. Will concen-trate only on Delhi'sgovernance. I won'tlet the people's trustbreak at all," headded.

The AAP has calleda national executivemeeting tomorrow todecide on issuesincluding the latestcontroversy over dif-ferences in the party.The meeting is alsoexpected to decidethe future ofYogendra Yadav andPrashant Bhushan.

AAP leader Sanjay

Singh had earlier saidthat attempts werebeing made toremove Kejriwal asAAP national con-vener.

The rift within theAAP came out in theopen with YogendraYadav and PrashantBhushan voicing dis-sent against the man-ner in which the partyis being run byKejriwal. The twoleaders also reported-ly offered to opt outof the Political AffairsCommittee of theparty.

Celebratory firing of arms duringweddings a killer: Delhi CourtNEW DELHI, MARCH 03

Celebratory firing of arms during marriageprocessions is proving to be a killer for inno-cent people and there is a need to tighten theprocedure for grant of arms licence and alsoensure that it is not misused, a Delhi court hasobserved.

Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain madethe observation while handing down a 25-month jail term to 35-year-old Jasbir Chauhan,who fired in the air at his friend's wedding inBurari area here, killing the groom's uncle.

"Firing with guns and pistols during marriageprocessions has become a sort of fashion. If thisis happening in the capital city, it will be cer-tainly in a larger proportion in rural or remoteareas. "This is proving to be a killer for inno-cent fellow- baraatis and even on-lookers. It'shigh time that government tightens the proce-dure for grant of arms-licence and also evolvesa robust mechanism to ensure that theselicences are not misused," the judge said.

Besides the jail term, the court also imposeda fine of Rs three lakh on the convict, directingthat it be paid to the victim's wife.

"Such an act of firing was not evidently inten-tional but he certainly had knowledge that hewas holding a dangerous weapon. It was aloaded one. He was not firing in any desertedplace. It was rather a marriage procession..." itsaid.

Police had hired 605CCTV cameras forObama's visit, R-DayNEW DELHI, MARCH 03

Delhi Police had hired 605 CCTVcameras in January this year for securi-ty purposes during the visit of USPresident Barack Obama and theRepublic day parade all of which havebeen removed, Lok Sabha wasinformed today.

An amount over Rs 1.36 crore wasspent on hiring, installation andremoval of these CCTV cameras.

Minister of State for Home, HaribhaiParthibhai Chaudhary said that DelhiPolice has informed that 605 CCTVcameras were hired in connection withthe visit of the US President as well asfor the Republic Day arrangements,

"All the CCTV cameras have beenremoved after the function. An amountof Rs 1,36,58,149 has been spent onhiring, installation and removal of theseCCTV cameras," he said in a writtenreply.

The national capital was broughtunder a multi-layered security appara-tus during Obama's visit who was thefirst US President to be the Chief Guestat the Republic Day parade.

Yogendra Yadav hopeful of breakthroughin AAP national executive meeting

Rift in AAP: Now, Phoolkademands explanationfrom Yogendra YadavNEW DELHI, MARCH 03

A Bill seeking to pave the way forplying of e-rickshaws on Delhi roadswas passed by the Lok Sabha onTuesday.

It is the third ordinance to bereplaced by a bill passed by the LowerHouse since yesterday, the othersbeing the Citizenship (Amendment)Bill and the Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation)Amendment Bill.

Replying to the debate on the MotorVehicles (Amendment) Bill, RoadTransport Minister Nitin Gadkari saidwhile ensuring that the livelihood ofone lakh e-rickshaw drivers is protect-ed, the government would not com-promise on the issue of safety.

He said since all e-rickshaws werebeing manufactured in India, his min-istry has asked the association of e-rickshaw owners to ensure stringentquality control of parts used to manu-facture the vehicles and 17 standardshave been set for the purpose.

Rejecting the contention that theordinance was aimed at garneringvotes for BJP ahead of Delhi assembly

polls, Gadkari said as the Rajya Sabhadid not pass the bill, government hadto promulgate the ordinance to helpthe e-rickshaw owners.

In an effort to check cartelisation,the driver of the vehicle will be ownerand no one else will get the licence, hesaid. E-rickshaws, or battery operatedthree-wheeler vehicles, had gone offthe roads after the Delhi High Courtbanned their plying in July last ongrounds of safety and insuranceissues.

An earlier Bill to regularise e-rick-shaws was passed by the Lok Sabha inthe Winter Session but as it was stuckin the Rajya Sabha, the governmentissued the ordinance. The earlier billhas since been withdrawn.

The government had in October lastnotified the rules for plying of e-rick-shaws and made driver's licencemandatory for operating them andlimiting their speed to 25 kmph.

The new rules provide that e-rick-shaws will be allowed to carry fourpassengers and 40 kg luggage while e-carts would transport goods up to310 kg.

Bill to allow e-rickshaws inDelhi passed in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Even as the rift within

the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) is becoming evi-dent with each passingday, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal took toTwitter on Tuesday andsaid that he refuses to bedrawn into “this ugly bat-tle”.

The AAP chief said thathe is deeply “hurt” and“pained” by the recentdevelopments in the partyand that it “is betrayal oftrust that Delhi posed inus”.

Kejriwal further saidthat he will concentrateonly on Delhi's gover-nance.

“I am deeply hurt andpained by what is goingon in the party. This isbetrayal of trust thatDelhi posed in us(1/2),”he tweeted.

“I refuse to be drawn in

this ugly battle.Will con-centrate only on Delhi'sgovernance.”, he tweeted.

Kejriwal's tweet comesafter his close aidesreleased a recorded con-versation with a journalistwho wrote about party'saffairs and even held ameeting with the AAPleader Yogendra Yadav.

The differences withinthe party surfaced aftersenior AAP leadersYogendra Yadav andPrashant Bhushan wrote aletter on Feb 26 againstthe manner in which theparty is being run byKejriwal.

He tweeted, “The deci-sive churning in AAP. It's

clash of ideas betweenultra left who demandreferendum in Kashmirand pragmatic politics ofwelfarism.”

“Churning in AAP isnot a clash of personali-ties but of ideas. This willmake way for future poli-tics of AAP. This is mypersonal view.”

Deeply hurt; refuse to be drawn in thisugly battle: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Continuation 3NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015SAADDA HAQ

PM Modi...has not been reduced in the amended Bill.* We need to carry on with economic activ-

ity, to set up industries etc. Under currentlaw, it is difficult to acquire law.

* We are committed to bringing back blackmoney.

* If SIT on black money was set up duringUPA regime, illegal transactions would havestopped by now. The SIT was not set up thenin order to protect some people.

* We are giving importance to a DigitalIndia and mobile governance

* Sitaram Yechury had expressed concernon the closure of Nokia plant in Tamil Naduand 25000 people had lost jobs. It was notbecause of us but because of policies of theprevious government. We are trying to revivethat facility.

* If we have to create jobs, we will have topromote the idea of Make in India. We willhave to focus on infrastructure development.

* Agricultural production in Bengal hasfallen drastically. NSSO has found starvationto be worst in Bengal.

* Those with an imported ideology got toserve in West Bengal for 30 years. What hap-pened there. I don't blame you (pointing atLeft members) for the current situation inWest Bengal. Bengal once used to be indus-trial capital of the country, says PM teasing-ly.

* Whatever we are doing, let us take it tothe ground and take it to the people. Ourefforts are in that direction.

* We should work towards changing livesof the downtrodden.

* During UPA rule, only 6.5% people got100 days' of work.

* Development can happen through 'Neeti'and 'Reeti'.

* When you stay connected to the ground,you realise what is happening on the ground.

* Power is an addiction. Hope God helps usin not getting addicted.

* Railways and Highways, they are bothunder the government but one did notapprove project of the other. We changedthat.

* So far 660 villages have been adoptedunder the Adarsh Gram Yojna.

* We have so far cleared 350 projects. Anynew project proposal will be cleared within60 days.

* We have ushered in good governance.* UPA should first look into the mirror

before accusing us – PM Modi* In 2004, UPA had removed Cabinet

Secretary soon after taking over. They hadalso removed Foreign Secretary and DefenceSecretary.

* We have not insulted bureaucrats andofficers like you did. You even removed andhumiliated Governors when you came topower – PM Modi to opposition

* The nation will benefit from gold circula-tion.

* Government is working for all sections ofthe society.

* I am new in this House. Please protectme, PM tells Chairman Hamid Ansari. Housebursts into laughter.

* BSP chief Mayawati intervenes and says,“We are looking after the poor but in the pri-vate sector there is no reservations for peoplefrom the SC/ST. I want to ask the PM, areyou going to ensure reservations for theSC/ST in the private sector to improve theircause?”

* These schemes belong neither to thisgovernment not to that government. Thesebelong to the poor people.

* Housing for all? Who are the people whodo not have houses? Are these corporate peo-ple?

* When we build toilets in schools, is thisfor corporates?

* Is Clean Ganga campaign for the corpo-rates or the people living on the banks of theriver.

* Cola mines are auctioned in states wherepopulations continue to suffer from poverty.The money from coal auction will be used fortheir welfare.

* Soil Health card programme is for thefarmers, for the poor.

* Is Jhan Dhan Yojna for the corporates?No, banks accounts of poor have beenopened.

* Isn't Clean India campaign for the poor?Can we not provide basic cleanliness facili-ties to people? Is it for the corporates?

* Uproar in Rajya Sabha as PM lists namesof schemes earlier renamed and relaunchedby Congress governments.

* Congress followed NDA policies, onlyrenamed policies formulated duringVajpayee ji's tenure

* I had said from Red Fort that every gov-ernment, every PM, every state has helped intaking in India forward.

* We do not feel that just because we are inthe treasury benches we know it all.Everyone has to work together.

* It is said that old schemes are beingreworked. The issue is not about schemes butof problems which are old.

* Please don't put words into someoneelse's mouth.

* When I was in Gujarat, I was threateneddaily that I would be sent to jail.

* In democracy, nobody's threats have everworked nor will they ever do. This nation didnot bend during the Emergency also.

* More than the party we belong to, it isabout the state that we represent in thisHouse: PM Narendra Modi in the RajyaSabha.

* In the debate many members participatedin great detail and I am thankful to them.

Modi breaked ...Sangh chief Bhagwat has been receiving

flak after saying that the Nobel laureate'sservice to the poor was aimed at convertingthem to Christianity.

Storm over...Rajnath Singh spoke to Tihar jail Director

General Alok Kumar Verma and sought adetailed report on it urgently, official sourcessaid.

During the telephonic conversation, theDG briefed the Home Minister about theincident and the action taken so far, thesources said.

In the interview, Mukesh, who was award-ed death sentence for the brutal rape andmurder of the 23-year-old girl, said thewomen who went out at night had only them-selves to blame if they attracted the attentionof gangs of male molesters.

"A girl is far more responsible for rape thana boy," he had said.

Mukesh also said that had the girl and herfriend not tried to fight back, the gang wouldnot have inflicted the savage beating, whichled to her death later.

Describing the killing as an "accident", hehad said, "When being raped, she shouldn'tfight back. She should just be silent andallow the rape. Then they'd have dropped heroff after 'doing her', and only hit the boy."

'India's Daughter' tells the story of theDelhi gang-rape incident from the perspec-tive of the convicts and victim's parents,Udwin claimed.

The filmmaker asked people not to havepre-conceived notion about the movie, whichwill premiere in India on March 8 on anEnglish news chanel.

"The film ends with global statistics aroundthe world, country by country. Rape is not anIndian problem. It's a global problem," shetold reporters.

As a controversy arose over permissiongiven to interview Mukesh in Tihar jail, shesaid, "I wrote a letter to DG of Tihar. The DGof Tihar had to consult with MHA. The letterbasically stated that it was a campaigningfilm. I had applied permission in May 2013and I got the answer 'yes' in two weeks.Official permission of MHA also came.Permission from the prison was also signed."

World's largest ...making it the largest and the highest hoist-

ed Indian flag in the world.Another such flag is located at the Central

Park in the heart of New Delhi. This flag is60 feet in width and 90 feet in length and ishoisted on the top of a 207 feet high mast.

Sikh community...paralysed after being brutally beaten by

cops in Alabama.Politicians cutting across party lines have

condemned the incident."There were many sporadic incidents of

attacks and murders in America of Sikhs formistaken identity. We are doing our best andwe also appeal to government of India thatthey must talk to the American governmentand awareness about the Sikh communitymust be made to the American masses," saidDelhi unit president of India`s regional partyShiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Manjeet Singh.

"Such incidents are happening too often inthe U.S and I can only appeal to the UnitedStates government and their leaders that theyshould make an arrangement that everyIndian living there should be safe andsecure," added a leader of India`s AamAadmi or Common Man Party (AAP),Ashutosh, in New Delhi.

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

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

Farmers' suicide...2012 the cases of farmer suicides were

1,046, according to a data shared by theMinister of State for Agriculture MohanbhaiKundaria in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"Reasons of suicide by farmers as reportedby state governments, are manifold whichinter-alia, include crop failure, indebtedness,drought, socio-economic and personal rea-sons," Kundaria said.

The minister also added that agriculture isa state subject, and therefore the state gov-ernments take appropriate measures fordevelopment of the agriculture sector andwelfare of farmers.

In an another reply, the minister informedParliament that the total number of agricul-tural workers in the country have increasedby 12.38 per cent to 263.1 million in 2011.

"...The total number of agricultural work-ers in the country, comprising of cultivatorsand agricultural labourers, have increasedfrom 234.1 million in 2001 to 263.1 millionin 2011," Kundaria said.

The Minister also added that to promoteagriculture sector, Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) has strength-ened, re-structured and prioritised researchand development programmes in rice, wheat,maize, millets, fodder crops, oilseeds, pulses,

sugarcane, cotton, fiber and horticulturalcrops through research institutes.

Nifty tops...in April-January period breaching the

budget estimate, they added.Overcoming the initial choppiness and

volatility, the key indices witnessed a strongrebound in late afternoon trade led by indexheavyweight Reliance Industries followingexpectations of solid earnings show as crudeprice rebounded.

IT giant TCS also spurted about 4 percent,followed by 2 percent gains in HDFC andSun Pharma. The drug major will buy GSK'sOpiates business in Australia.

The BSE Sensex opened a tad higher at29,500.19 and swung between a high of29,636.86 and a low of 29,364.87 before end-ing at 29,593.73 -- a gain of 134.59, or 0.46percent.

Sentiment also remained upbeat on expec-tations that the government will try to pushits big reform measures including the muchawaited Insurance Bill and Coal Mines Billin the ongoing Parliament session.

Among the sectoral indices, strong buyingwas seen in oil&gas and refineries followedby IT, Tech and Healthcare. Realty, Auto,Metal and Banking succumbed to sellingpressure.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) boughtshares worth a net Rs 424.79 crore yesterday,as per provisional data from stock exchanges.

Barring South Korea's Kospi index whichsettled at a new five-month high, elsewherein Asia most equity indices ended sharplylower.

Profit-taking was witnessed as a surpriseinterest rate cut by the Chinese central bankfailed to maintain its momentum in the mar-ket, say analysts.

European markets, however, were tradingfirm reacting to slew of earnings.

Back home, as many as 19 scrips among 30Sensex shares ended in the green while theremaining 11 were in the red.

The total market breadth continued to rulefirm as 1,677 stocks ended in positive terrain,1,176 ended in negative while 143 ruled sta-ble.

Major Sensex gainers included RIL 4.39percent, TCS 3.92 percent, Bajaj Auto 2.18percent, Cipla 2.14 percent, Sun Pharma 2.01percent, HDFC 1.94 percent, Sesa Sterlite1.63 percent, Tata Power 1.34 percent, Wipro1.27 percent and Hindalco 1.15 percent.

Notable losers were M&M down 3.26 per-cent, Axis Bank 2.34 percent, Tata Motors1.63 percent and NTPC 0.72 percent.

Coal India shares went ex-dividend.Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices,

Oil&gas jumped by 2.21 percent, followedby Healthcare 1.33 percent, IT 1.45 percent,TECK 1.27 percent and Consumer Durable0.59 percent. However, Realty tumbled by1.19 percent, Auto by 0.86 percent and Metalby 0.65 percent.

The total turnover on the BSE dropped toRs 4,224.06 crore today compared to4,647.93 crore yesterday.

59-day Amarnath...certificate and the format of the certificate

and a state-wise list of doctors/institutesauthorised to issue such certificates has beenput up on the Board's website.

He stressed that only certificates issued bydoctors or medical institutes authorised bythe concerned state government/UT adminis-trations shall be accepted at the registeringbank branches.

For the Yatra 2015, only those health cer-tificates which have been issued afterFebruary 10 this year shall be valid.

The CEO further informed that personsunder the age of 13 years or above 75 yearsand ladies who are more than six weeks preg-nant, would not be registered for the yatra.

429 types...449.4 crore for three years -- 2011-12,

2012-13 and 2013-14 -- which include all therectification/rejection during manufacturingprocess as well as at final stage before issueto users.

Singh said that it constitutes only 1.27 percent of total value of production of Rs 35,309crore for the past three years.

Items being manufactured in ordnance fac-tories are inspected by quality control wingof factory during manufacturing followed byDGQA inspection.

"If any deviation is noticed during theseinspections, same are rectified by the factory.Only stores conforming to the specificationsare issued to the users," Singh said.

'Defence cooperation...threats and count on open sea lanes for our

collective prosperity underscores the benefitof a strong navy-to-navy relationship, headded.

"An enhanced India-US partnership helpsus ensure that other nations respect interna-tional law and drives our mutual commit-ment to open access by all nations to theshared global commons of sea, air, space andcyberspace," he said.

"Your chief of Navy, Admiral R.K.Dhowan, has said that the relationshipbetween our two navies is deep, multi-faceted, and includes interactions both at theinstitutional and individual levels. I could notagree more," Harris said.

Delhi CM ...

for 10 days. Incidentally, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had also asked Kejriwal toconsult a yoga therapist in Bengaluru for hispersistent cough during the Delhi Police's 'AtHome' function here a couple of weeks ago.

Sources in the government said thatDeputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia willtake care of day-to-day affairs of the DelhiGovernment in his absence.

"Arvind's sugar level has remained above300 for the past 10 days. Doctors increasedthe insulin dose three-fold and intake of othermedicines by up to two fold but despite that,cough has worsened and sugar levels contin-ued to remain on the higher side," sourcesclose to Kejriwal said.

"The cough worsened during the hecticDelhi election campaign. He suffers fromchronic allergic cough. The dust and pollu-tants he inhaled while addressing over 110jan sabhas in the city made things worse,"they added.

PM disapproves...the CMP worked out by the two parties and

there would be "zero tolerance" of terrorism.Modi also said in the Rajya Sabha that the

credit for the successful elections in J and Kgoes to the people of the state who "removeddoubts" in the international community byturning up in large numbers with "over-whelming courage and pride" and "put theirstamp of approval on what India had beensaying all along".

After he was sworn in as Chief Minister onSunday, Sayeed gave credit to Pakistan,Hurriyat and militants for the smooth con-duct of elections in the state, kicking up ahuge controversy.

"If somebody makes such a statement, wecan never support it," Modi said referring tothe controversial remarks made by Sayeedwho is heading a PDP-BJP coalition govern-ment in the state.

Members in the House have been demand-ing Modi's response to the remarks made bySayeed.

"If somebody makes a statement some-where and we are forced to respond here,things will not work," the Prime Ministersaid.

He asserted that his government "willmove ahead with the policy of 'zero toler-ance' towards terrorism" and "all resolutionspassed here (in Parliament) will be imple-mented in letter and spirit."

Modi underlined the faith in people of Jand K while asserting his government's com-mitment to unity and integrity.

On questions by some members whetherBJP will pull out of the coalition governmentover the issue, Modi said the governmentwill run only on the basis of CommonMinimum Programme (CMP).

"I want to assure this House and 125 crorepeople of the country that the governmentformed in Jammu and Kashmir is based onthe Common Minimum Programme and thegovernment will run on its basis," he saidwhile replying to the Motion of Thanks to thePresident's Address.

Azam Khan...the issue of prevalence of Article 370 in

Jammu and Kasmir?" Khan asked, addingthat it was this contentious topic which "RSShad kept alive since attainment of independ-ence".

Article 370 of the Constitution grants spe-cial autonomous status to Jammu andKashmir. RSS and BJP have for long raisedvoices against the provision, seeking abroga-tion of the Article. However, with the forma-tion of Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government inthe state, it was agreed to maintain status quoon the issue.

Azam Khan who was interacting withreporters at Mohd Ali Jauhar University hereyesterday evening, lashed out at leaders ofsaffron outfits for vitiating peaceful atmos-phere by raising the issue of conversion.

"Hindus were never converted to Islam atthe point of sword," he claimed, adding thatthose who talk of "conversions through thesaid mode (at the point of sword) are hurlinginsults on the Hindus," and called for a checkon such persons.

Khan also hit out at leaders who wereallegedly causing disrepute to the "piousrelationship" of a couple by terming it "LoveJihad".

"They do not know the definition of love.In the name of 'Love Jihad', they are trying tobring bad name to the pious relationshipbetween a man and a woman," he said.

Taking a dig at BJP leader Sadhvi Prachifor her appeal to youth to not idolise theKhan triumvirate (Shah Rukh Khan, AamirKhan and Salman Khan), the Minister, nam-ing himself, said there was another Khan inthe list.

"They (saffron outfit leaders) have beencriticising the triumvirate of Khans. But nowthey have added one more Khan, AzamKhan, for various purposes," he said.

Earlier, he inaugurated city bus servicefrom Rampur to tehsil centres.

Climate change...is taking steps to speed up implementation

of these programmes.Towards the eight national climate mis-

sions, little over Rs 4,406 crore has beenspent since 2011-12 till end of December2014, Javadekar told the Lok Sabha.

In the last four years, the progress "expect-ed" in regard to implementation of nationalclimate change missions "has not happened",he said during Question Hour.

However, Javadekar, who is the Minister ofState for Environment, Forests and ClimateChange, said in the past nine months effortshave been made to speed up the activities.

"Climate change is a reality. Everyonemust take action. ... We are doing it (efforts)on our own commitment," the Minister saidwhile responding to queries on whethermandatory targets were yet to be achieved.

There are eight missions under theNational Action Plan on Climate Change(NAPCC) pertaining to the areas of solar,enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habi-tat, water, sustainable agriculture, sustainingHimalayan ecosystem, green India andstrategic knowledge for climate change.

The total approved costs for these missionswas Rs 36,625 crore. In the current fiscal tillDecember 2014, about Rs 2,157.8 crore wasspent, higher than the expenditure of Rs802.13 crore seen in 2013-14, he said.

The expenses touched Rs 701.78 crore in2012-13 while the same stood at Rs 744.76crore in 2011-12.

Three out of the eight missions, includingthose on solar, energy efficiency and greenIndia, relate to mitigation of carbon emis-sions.

"The carbon dioxide emission intensity ofGross Domestic Product has been reduced byapproximately 14 per cent in 2010 as com-pared to 2015 as base year at constantprices," Javadekar said.

Nearly 21% ...Chaudhary, said that as per the data com-

piled by the National Crime Records Bureau,at the end of 2013, out of a total of 2,78,503undertrials, 57,936 (20.80 per cent) werefrom the Muslim community.

"The number of undertrials belonging tothe SC community was 59,326 (21.3 percent)," he said replying a written question.

Naxals extorting ...social elements, left wing extremists etc,

from traders and industrialists in select pock-ets," Minister of State for Home HaribhaiParathibhai Chaudhary said in reply to a writ-ten question.

The Minister said the data on extortion ofmoney from traders and industrialists byanti-social elements, mafia and Naxalities instates are not maintained centrally, he said.

CPI(M), TMC ...allowed. Raising the issue during Zero

Hour, Tapan Sen (CPI-M) said private agen-cies were being roped in for operation andmaintenance of airports in Kolkata, Chennai,Jaipur and Ahmedabad even as AirportAuthority of India (AAI) had carried outmodernisation work at these airports withpublic money.

An effort was on to involve private sectorin all airports after modernisation, he said.

Noting that 20 airports in the country weremodernised with public money worth overRs 27,000 crore, Sen rued that the AAI,which carried out this work, was now virtual-ly being converted into a body only rentingits properties out.

"How is this loot of public money beingallowed. Government must come out with aclear explanation," he said alleging that pri-vate players were being allowed to "mintmoney" even in non-aeronautical commer-cial ventures which should go to the AAI.

"Already all the AAI unions are agitatingagainst it. They are also going to agitate onMarch 12," he said.

Supporting him, senior CPI(M) leaderSitaram Yechury said the government had tenyears ago decided that AAI would moderniseall airports after Mumbai and Delhi weregiven away to private-led consortia. "Underwhat authority is this policy now beingreversed," he asked.

SP member Naresh Agrawal interjectedsaying that even Lucknow airport was beinggiven to a private party. "It is a big scam," healleged. In a separate Zero Hour mention,Trinamool Congress' Sukhendu Sekhar Royquestioned the proposed construction of ashopping mall at Kolkata airport.

Temples, religious ...which one should be taken up first was a

matter of discussion," Bhagwat said at theinaugural session of the three-day conventionof 'Akal Abhiyan Parinam Kumbh' here.

He said that we should accept the country'scultural tradition and it is our basic policy toadopt all ways of life.

"We should accept the country's culturaltradition and it is our basic policy to adopt allways of life...Following all customs of tradi-tional quality and we would not impose ourthoughts on others," Bhagwat said.

Document leak...police custody expired and Delhi Police

did not seek their custodial interrogation.The three accused -- Lokesh Sharma, an

employee of the Noida-based energy consul-tancy Infraline Energy, Jitender Nagpal, per-sonal assistant to a joint secretary in the envi-ronment ministry and Vipan Kumar, personalassistant to a member of the UPSC -- wereproduced in court when their police custodyexpired on Tuesday.

During the brief hearing, the police told thecourt that during the custodial interrogationof the three accused the names of seven morepersons came up but nothing concrete couldbe found against them and the investigationis still on.

BY ANIL D. AMBANI

When I once met PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Iwas struck by a telling

comment he made during our conver-sation. He said, “Anil, do you knowthat even the tears we shed in thiscountry are not our own? Every teargas shell used by our security agen-cies is actually imported!”

The Prime Minister’s anguish wasentirely genuine and for me, an eye-opener, literally.

It left me in no doubt about thePrime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ ini-tiative and what a remarkable changeof mindset it represented when com-pared to earlier governments, particu-larly in relation to the defence sector.For me, it was an extraordinary andpersonal glimpse into the PrimeMinister’s thinking, his larger strate-gic vision, and his determination tomake India a leading global player indefence manufacturing. This wasreinforced by his choice of DefenceMinister, Manohar Parrikar.

“ For far too long, indecisiveness indefence procurements, based on aplay safe approach, has resulted inthe armed forces suffering with sub-optimal hardware. This is truly a trav-esty.””

Mr. Parrikar is among the most tal-ented, intelligent, hardworking andethical leaders India has seen. Hisbrief, from what I have seen so far, isto push the ‘Make in India’ agenda,and provide our armed forces withthe best possible, cutting-edge equip-ment and armaments. His reputationfor being a man of principle and pro-bity and one who is ready to changeexisting norms and systems forgreater efficiency and transparency— are the two elements that willtransform our defence sector into onethat is modern and world class.

Troubled neighbourhoodWe live in a troubled neighbour-

hood and defending our borders has

become a huge challenge. There arefrequent exchanges of fire withPakistani troops along the Line ofControl (LoC), infiltration attempts,and frequent face-offs with China onthe Line of Actual Control (LAC).Growing military and political rela-tions between China and Pakistancontinue to define our strategic visionto counter this joint threat. One of themost illustrative examples of how ourdefence preparedness has suffered isthe fact that for 25 years, the IndianArmy has not been able to replace theBofors 155 howitzer gun, a vitalforce multiplier in our artillery arse-nal. This was because no Indian firmmade similar weapons. Thus, the newpolicy of opening up the defence sec-tor to private players will go a longway in ending such self-imposedhandicaps imposed on our defenceforces.

Therefore, defence preparednessholds the key to our future as anation. I recently had the honour ofmeeting each of our three servicechiefs — Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag,Air Marshal Arup Raha and AdmiralRobin Dhowan; three officers ofexceptional integrity, dedication andcommitment. I came away reassuredthat the defence of our realm is invery capable hands. Our greatestblessing is that we have the finestofficers and bravest men and womenin uniform anywhere in the world.

Importance of qualityUnfortunately, borders in today’s

world cannot be defended by strengthof character nor wars won by dedica-tion, training, discipline and braveryalone. Without technological superi-ority, our country remains vulnerable,entailing disproportionate levels ofsacrifice on the part of our valiantarmed forces. The Kargil war exem-plified this harsh reality. For far toolong, indecisiveness in defence pro-curements, based on a play safeapproach, has resulted in the armedforces suffering with suboptimalhardware. This is truly a travesty.

The outcome of war is never cer-tain. However, success in warfare inour age is greatly aided by technolog-ical superiority, information systemsand the quality and precision ofweaponry. We owe it to our men andwomen in uniform to give them thebest-of-class military hardware.

Most submarines currently operat-ed by the Indian Navy are past theiroperational life, while the Indian AirForce is still saddled with MiG-21aircraft of 1970s vintage. India hasgreat power ambitions, and with jus-tification. We are seeking a perma-nent seat in the UN Security Counciland India is projected to be theworld’s third largest economy by2024. Yet, unlike all other majorpowers in the world, India remainsthe largest importer of defence hard-ware in the world. Nearly three-quar-ters of all our critical defence equip-ment is sourced from abroad.

Our record in developing our aero-space industry, quite unlike theremarkable strides we have made inother high-technology areas such asspace, communications and missileprogrammes, is a sorry one, hobbledby missed opportunities, short-termthinking, a lack of controls ondomestic manufacturers, and a blink-ered strategic vision.

Recent industry surveys assess thematurity of India’s aerospace on ascale of 5 at 2.7, the lowest among alldefence sectors, lagging far behindnaval and land systems.

Studies also peg India’s defencehardware purchases at over $250 bil-lion or nearly Rs.16 lakh crore.Sadly, based on our current record,nearly most of this equipment willhave to be imported.

Our goal of minimum dependencein aerospace is nowhere in sight. It isclear that if we wish to peg ourdefence expenditure at the current oreven higher levels of GDP, then wewill have to manufacture a major pro-

portion of our requirements indige-nously and, in time, begin to exportso as to rollback the net deficit in thedefence sector.

Engaging the private sector

So, what’s the way forward? ThePrime Minister has outlined a boldnew vision for India’s defence resur-gence. Underlying the many policychanges that his government hasannounced — starting with the raisein the foreign direct investment (FDI)cap in defence from 26 to 49 per centand, with cabinet approval, even to100 per cent in identified areas ofcritical technologies — is the recog-nition that what we need most of allis a total change of mindset andapproach to boosting this vital sector.I have listed some urgent points thatneed to be addressed to make thischange work for India.

There is need to acknowledge atevery level of government that theprivate sector in India can be trustedto play as important a role in themodernisation of India’s defencecapabilities as the public sector.

We need a common framework fordefence procurement across researchestablishments, ordinance factories,defence Public Sector Units (PSU)and the private sector. Decision mak-ing needs to be simpler, faster andtransparent.

There’s an urgent need to addressand improve the ease-of-doing-busi-ness. The Ministry of Defence is thesole customer for the defence indus-try in the country. Without long-termcontracts, certainty of volumes, aquick selection process, transparencyand fair payment terms, there will belittle incentive for private players toinvest the huge resources required fordefence production.

There is a compelling case for cre-ating a single window for defencelicensing and FDI approvals. Forexample, the Department of

Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) and the Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB), which arecurrently under different depart-ments/ministries, ought to be broughtunder one umbrella.

Any large-scale involvement of theprivate sector in defence wouldrequire a clear road map for engage-ment, with clearly identified thrustareas. We need to think of newmodalities of public-private partner-ship (PPP). One answer is a jointworking group, comprising leadingrepresentatives of the private sectorand key decision makers in the gov-ernment, who will work togetherfrom the planning stage so that pri-vate companies have a clear idea ofthe areas in which they need toinvest. This will help the develop-ment of human skill sets and capitalinfrastructure.

We need to set up a sovereigndefence fund, on a PPP model, inwhich the government holds 49 percent while private defence sectorplayers make up the balance, with noplayer contributing more than 5 percent of the total. Professionally man-aged, such a fund can help invest inlong-gestation research and develop-ment projects and facilitate strategicglobal acquisitions in key technologyareas of defence and national securi-ty. This will also be a big support forthe Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs), which form acritical part of any developed defenceindustrial base.

We need to accord infrastructureindustry status to the defence sector,thereby paving the way for easiercredit and a greater role and opportu-nity for the private sector.

For policy shiftThe long shadow of the 3Cs — the

CBI, the CVC and the CAG — havehamstrung decision-making inIndia’s defence sector with the fear ofregulatory censure and investigativeoverreach. We need to move forward

with courage and conviction andhave necessary safeguards to protectthe decision makers just as in the coalblock allocation sector where thebureaucracy has been provided pro-tection. The new model for India’sdefence sector should be built on acornerstone of the new 3Cs, namelyCooperation, Competition, andCollaboration.

There are also some obvious truthsto be considered. Modern govern-ments need to function with the needfor discretion in policy formulationand implementation in a sector assensitive as defence. However, themodernisation of India’s armedforces cannot be held hostage to inde-cisiveness or vacillation. It is nosecret that procedural delays anddepartmental red tape have oftencaused a greater loss to the exchequerin defence procurement than anyalleged improprieties.

The road ahead is long. But withthe current leadership, I believe wehave our best chance of success inevolving a world class defence man-ufacturing sector. With commitment,cooperation and a clear vision, wecan turn the Prime Minister’s ‘Makein India’ slogan into a reality. It offersus the best chance to repay the bravemen and women of our armed forcesfor their dedication, discipline, andsacrifice.

I’d like to conclude by recalling thewords of the father of our nation —Manasa, Vacha, Karmana —“Happiness is when what you think,what you say, and what you do are inharmony.” We have thought long andhard and said a lot; it is now time foraction.

(Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is theChairman of the Reliance Group. He

was an independent member of theRajya Sabha.)

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY GURU RAMAKRISHNAN

The budget announced bythe Narendra Modi-ledgovernment may well

clinch the top spot for India asthe “Emerging Market” destina-tion of choice in the eyes ofglobal investors. This budgethas lots of “vision” but moreimportant, it is balanced with“veracity”.

In a country used to hand-outsand freebies, it’s always a bal-ancing act for an incomingadministration to walk the fineline between “screaming left-ists” that want everything givenfor free and the “extreme con-servatives” that want the totalelimination of subsidies. Thisbudget threads this proverbialneedle.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley’s Budget aims at expand-ing the productive capacity ofthe economy — a vital undertak-ing, if India wishes to attain itsgoal of non-inflationary and all-inclusive growth. A smart wayto build this growth is by con-stantly focussing on the factorsthat improve potential GDP.Giving consumers and business-es the essential tools such ascritical road networks, uninter-rupted electricity, sensible trans-portation and storage logisticswhich connect the country willbe crucial to acceleratingprogress. The 2015 Budgetclearly delivers on this count.An incremental $12bn in target-ed infrastructure spending pro-posed in this Budget is just whatthe doctor ordered.

Laudable decisions

Indian corporations constantlycompete with the rest of theworld for market share and mindshare. Having a corporate taxrate in India which is higher thanthe tax rates for businesses in therest of the world is tying onehand behind the back of Indiancompanies and asking them to

go to battle. Ergo, the decisionto cut the corporate tax ratesfrom 30 per cent to 25 per cent,which is more reflective of theglobal rate, should be applaud-ed.

More important, corporationsin India operate on the elasticand backward bending portion

of the famous “Laffer” curve,which represents the relation-ship between rates of taxationand the hypothetical resultinglevels oAf government revenue.At the backward bending pointon the curve, a reduction in cor-porate tax rates (given the pickup in overall economic activity)will actually help improve taxcollections for the governmentfrom the corporate segment. Sothis bold decision to level theplaying field for the corpora-tions by the government demon-strates strategic vision andinherent confidence.

Equally important in thisBudget is the government’sdecision to build up the powercapacity in India with five ultramega power plants, each ofwhich will have 5000 MW of

capacity. This build-up is beingdone against the back drop ofdiscouraging coal-based energygeneration through a doubling ofthe coal tax. Stepping up “clean”energy projects and dissuadingcoal consumption will help Indiaclean up its international imageof being one of the largest pol-luters of the world.

Against the global backdropof terrorism and territorial ambi-tions that many nations nowseem to have, spending moneyon shoring up the internal andborder defenses is vital forIndia. Sharing its borders withtough neighbours, this increasein defence spending is indispen-sable for its national security.Their decision to direct $15 bnof the military budget towardsmodernisation of equipment isthe biggest service the countrycan do for the brave men andwomen who protect its borders.

The long-term success of anynation depends intricately on thedepth of its capital markets andthe regulatory framework sur-rounding them. India has a wellentrenched equity culture.

However, its debt markets areruefully inadequate. ThisBudget takes concrete steps todeepen the bond markets, estab-lish a debt management agencyand consolidate the regulatoryregime for commodities underthe Securities and ExchangeBoard of India. This is truly athoughtful step in the country's

evolution of capital-markets.The ways in which the savingspool of a nation are channeled tothe right investment areas even-tually dictate the quality of lifethat is enjoyed by the savers andretirees in that country. A robustand well functioning bond mar-ket is a crucial ingredient.

Need for fiscal restraint

The evidence from the rest ofthe world at this point is veryclear. Societies that have veeredsignificantly left, engaged inmassive handouts and indulgedin excessive spending by rack-ing up budget deficits havealmost walked off the precipice-Europe and Latin Americaincluded. So it’s time Indiashowed fiscal restraint. ThisBudget which targets the fiscal

deficit as percentage of GDP to3.9 per cent is a great first step.

“ Whilst the transition forIndia from a subsidy culturemay be painful, Modi’s budgettakes another important step towean the state-dependent citi-zens off it by keeping the rupeevalue of the subsidies flat. ”

A welfare state built on freehandouts for all, without holdingtheir citizens accountable is sel-dom a path to prosperity. A gov-ernment's fiscal strength at theend of the day is only as strongas its tax base. So having non-state dependent citizens who areproductive and stand on theirown feet is the only sustainablesolution. States in India whichespouse the free handout modelfor its citizens will most certain-ly fail in the next 10 years. So,criticising the Modi governmentfor not granting more freebies inthis Budget is an irresponsibleposition for the opposition par-ties to take.

It’s better for the governmentto get its citizens to learn how tofish rather than handing out afish each day for them to con-sume. Whilst this transition forIndia may be painful, the Budgettakes another important step towean the state-dependent citi-zens off the subsidy culture bykeeping the rupee value of thesubsidies flat. By doing this,subsidies as percentage of GDPgo down because of the forwardlooking growth rates of GDP.This is why this Budget demon-strates veracity which is mostneeded in India.

This turn back to the centre isan essential step for India to takein its long walk towards trueeconomic prosperity. This longroad may have just gotten short-er, thanks to the Budget.

(Guru Ramakrishnan is theChief Executive Officer of Meru

Capital Group.)

Curb the fringe elementsWednesday | March 04, 2015

SAADDA HAQ

Private sector in defence resurgence

Our team will publish yourthoughts send us your articles at

news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

Where vision meets veracity

When he spoke of ‘India first’ as his government’sreligion and the Indian Constitution as its onlyreligious book, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

was moving beyond platitudes on religious freedom, andcorrectly re-emphasising the constitutional guarantees ofIndia as a secular, democratic republic. Within the space often days, Mr. Modi went from offering mere reassurancesto religious minorities to actually committing his govern-ment to the constitutionally conferred rights of all citizensto freely practise a religion of their choice. In a welcomecontrast to the typical stance of Hindutva groups, heupheld the Constitution as the expression of the ethos thecountry had followed for thousands of years, and chidedthose making irresponsible statements in the name of reli-gion. If his speech at an event organised by a Christiangroup was meant as an assurance to religious minorities,this response in Parliament, in which he insisted that thecountry could only be run in accordance with theConstitution, seemed directed against Hindutva hardlinerswho were making the functioning of his government diffi-cult. Clearly, Mr. Modi was trying to distance his govern-ment from the vituperative hate-mongering of theHindutva groups, including the RSS. Evidently discon-certed by the criticism of his failure to rein in the extrem-ist elements within the broader Hindutva fold, Mr. Modiseemed to be hoping he would be judged on the basis ofhis own words and deeds, and not of those claiming to bethe ideological affiliates of the BJP. True, the statements ofRSS leaders and Hindutva extremists are amplified manytimes over during the periods the BJP is in power. But ifMr. Modi does not want to be answerable for the behav-iour of the Hindutva fringe, many of whom are also mid-dle-rung leaders of his own party, he should not then hes-itate to reprimand them more often and more openly fortheir provocative speeches. Otherwise, the governmentwould be seen as cynically exploiting the work of thefringe for the political ends of the ruling party wheneverpossible, and tactically retreating where the fringe’s poli-tics become inconvenient. The views of the RSS and theVishwa Hindu Parishad would continue to make headlinesas long as the ruling party leaders and functionaries treatthese organisations as part of their extended family. Whatis troubling about the public agenda of the Hindutvagroups is the impression that the implied aggressionagainst non-Hindus has the tacit sanction of the rulingparty. Mr. Modi will have to continuously speak up cate-gorically against religious extremists of the saffron huetoo, if the Hindutva fringe is not to cast a long shadow onhis government and undermine its credibility.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget aims atexpanding the productive capacity of the economy— a vital undertaking, if India wishes to attain itsgoal of non-inflationary and all-inclusive growth. Asmart way to build this growth is by constantlyfocussing on the factors that improve potential GDP.Giving consumers and businesses the essential toolssuch as critical road networks, uninterrupted elec-tricity, sensible transportation and storage logisticswhich connect the country will be crucial to acceler-ating progress. The 2015 Budget clearly delivers onthis count. An incremental $12bn in targeted infra-structure spending proposed in this Budget is justwhat the doctor ordered.

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Janata Dal (United) chief

Sharad Yadav on Tuesdaysaid leaders holdingConstitutional posts shouldascertain that no inconven-ience is caused to the pub-lic because of their move-ment.

Yadav was reacting tothe incident in which avehicle belonging toHaryana Chief MinisterML Khattar's convoy ran

over a pedestrian nearKarnal yesterday evening.

"They will give compen-sation. A life of a commonman is being equated tocompensation these days.People holding constitu-tional posts should takecare of people. Theyshould ascertain that noinconvenience is caused tocommon people because oftheir movement," Yadavsaid.

VIPs should ensure no inconvenienceis caused because of them: JD (U)

SRINAGAR, MARCH 03Kashmir Valley remained cut off from

rest of the country for the second con-secutive day Tuesday, due to continuedrainfall in plains and snowfall in upperreaches.

The snowfall, which was going onintermittently since yesterday, disruptedair traffic and road traffic on the nation-al highway, thereby cutting the Valley'sconnection with the rest of the country.

"There has been no air traffic to andfro Srinagar even today but we hope theflights will resume in the afternoon," anofficial at the Srinagar InternationalAirport said.

The 294-km Srinagar-JammuNational Highway, which was closed forthe traffic due to fresh snowfall andlandslides yesterday, remains shut eventoday as few places along the routereceived intermittent rain and snow.

"The highway is closed for traffic.The road is being cleared off the debrisof landslides and a decision on resump-tion of traffic will be taken after assess-ing the safety of the road," a TrafficControl Room spokesperson said here.

Following snowfall yesterday, theauthorities postponed the annual exams

for two days, while yesterday's schoolboard examination paper was alsoscheduled for a later date.

Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded rainequivalent to 10.2 mm till 8:30 AM, aspokesperson of the MeT departmentsaid.

A traffic police official said there havebeen landslides at several places alongthe highway due to which a large stretchof the road has been washed away.

He said a large number of men andheavy machinery have been deployed tothrow the road open for vehicular traffic.

"Bad weather is hampering the roadopening work, we will resume the roadclearance work once the weather condi-tion improves," he said.

He said a large number of passengervehicles were also stranded at severalplaces along the highway, "Though wehave stopped the movement of freshvehicles on the highway, but still thereare a large number of vehicles that con-tinue to remain stranded on the high-way," he said. He said the Batote, DodaKistwar and Kathua Bani Highway alsocontinues to remain closed for the sec-ond day. Meanwhile, a police officerfrom Reasi district said due to landslides

at Raskeen Morha Bani nearly 200 cat-tle, including three horses, were buriedalive.

A traffic police official said there havebeen landslides at several places alongthe highway due to which a large stretchof the road has been washed away.

He said a large number of men andheavy machinery have been deployed tothrow the road open for vehicular traffic.

"Bad weather is hampering the roadopening work, we will resume the roadclearance work once the weather condi-tion improves," he said.

He said a large number of passengervehicles were also stranded at severalplaces along the highway, "Though wehave stopped the movement of freshvehicles on the highway, but still thereare a large number of vehicles that con-tinue to remain stranded on the high-way," he said.

He said the Batote, Doda Kistwar andKathua Bani Highway also continues toremain closed for the second day.

Meanwhile, a police officer fromReasi district said due to landslides atRaskeen Morha Bani nearly 200 cattle,including three horses, were buriedalive.

Heavy snowfall in Kashmir Valleycontinues for second consecutive day

FARIDABAD, MARCH 03Haryana Chief Minister

ML Khattar on Tuesdayasked for an FIR to belodged against the driverin the case where a policevehicle belonging to hisconvoy ran over a pedes-trian near Karnal.

"It is very unfortunate,we have asked for an FIRto be lodged against thedriver in this case. Thedriver and a policemanhave also got injured. Theexact cause of the accidentwill be known only afteran investigation. We havegiven Rs five lakhs to thefamily of the deceased. Wewill take care that suchincidents do not happen inthe future," said

Khattar.Two policemen includ-

ing the driver of the vehi-cle were injured in theincident where policevehicle belonging to hisconvoy ran over a pedes-trian near Karnal lastnight.

After the incident, all thethree injured were taken toa trauma centre in Karnalwhere the pedestrian suc-cumbed to the injuries.

The Chief Minister'sconvoy was going to thenational capital fromChandigarh.

Haryana CM Khattar asks for FIRin pedestrian run-over case

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 03The special CBI court here on

Tuesday granted bail to a police offi-cer in the Sadiq Jamal fakeencounter killing case of 2003.

Judge M M Gandhi granted bail tothe suspended police inspector G HGohil on a surety bond of Rs twolakh.

The court observed that primafacie there was no evidence nor anyovert role was attributed to theaccused person by CBI.

Advocate Mitesh Amin, Gohil'slawyer, pointed out that constablesChhatrapalsinh Chudasma,Ajaypalsinh Yadav and policeinspector K M Waghela were grant-ed bail earlier, and like them, Gohiltoo was only present during thealleged encounter but did not fireany shots.

Special prosecutor L D Tiwari ofCBI said the bail should not begranted as Gohil was present during

the crime.Jamal, a resident of Bhavnagar,

was killed in an encounter byGujarat police near Galaxy Cinemain Naroda area here on January 13,2003.

The genuineness of the encounterbecame an issue after a Mumbai-based former scribe, Ketan Tirodkar,filed an affidavit before a court inMumbai that he was a witness toJamal's hand-over to Gujarat policeby the `encounter specialist' officerDaya Nayak of Mumbai police a fewdays before the alleged encounter.

The High Court ordered a CBIprobe upon a petition of Sabir Jamal,Sadiq's brother. CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2012.

The charge sheet also names DSPTarun Barot, inspectors JaysinhParmar, Irshad Ali Saiyad and K MVaghela, sub inspector RamjiMavani and constables AjaypalsinhYadav and Chhatrasinh Chudasma.

Another Gujarat cop gets bailin Sadiq Jamal encounter case

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Rajya Sabha on Tuesday wit-

nessed uproar for the secondstraight day with members fromAndhra Pradesh and Telangana,supported by various oppositionparties, accusing the governmentof not fulfilling promises despitethe assurances by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Congress members JD Seelamand Subbirami Reddy (fromAndhra Pradesh) and VHanumantha Rao (Congressmember from Telangana) troppedinto the well prompting DeputyChairman P J Kurien to remarkthat it was "indiscipline".

They were supported by sever-al opposition parties, includingCongress, SP, BSP, JD(U) andCPI(M).

Raising the issue, Reddy said

both Andhra Pradesh andTelangana are in a "financial cri-sis" as even after passage of ninemonths since the NDA govern-ment came to power, it has notfulfilled the promises made bythe previous government fordevelopment of the regionsincuding financial assistance forthem. He recalled that in his elec-tion speeches, Modi used topromise to "do much more". Healso recalled that BJP leadersArun Jaitley and M VenkaiahNaidu had favoured a 10-yearfinancial package for the state.

"Either God or GoI (govern-ment of India) should helpAndhra Pradesh," he quipped.

Seelam said both the regionsare suffering.

Sympathising with theirdemands, Leader of Opposition

Ghulam Nabi Azad said themembers from Andhra Pradeshand Telangana have every reasonto agitate on this issue.

He said no less than the PrimeMinister of India had said duringhis election campaign that what-ever amount was committed bythe government of India, will begiven and measures passed byParliament will be honoured.

"But nine months have passedand there is no mention of it inthe President's address," hesaid.

Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said not asingle day passes when membersfrom the two regions do notexpresss their agony on the issueas the government did not find away to solve these problems afterdividing the state.

Minister of State for

Parliamentary Affairs MukhtarAbbas Naqvi tried to calm the sit-uation by assuring members thatthe NDA government is commit-ted to do everything for develop-ing and strengthening the twostates and that the FinanceMinister has categorically saidthis in his Budget speech.However, this did not satisfy themembers.

As tempers ran high in theHouse over the issue, BJP's TarunVijay said that "only anger andchaos are now the way to expressone's views in the House."

He went on to say more, whichcould not be heard because of dincreated by the opposition whichstrongly objected to his remarks.

Opposition members allegedthat Vijay had used the word"nuisance" and took strong

objection to it. Kurien said if hehad used the word, he shouldwithdraw it. He added that theword will be expunged also. "Ifthe word nuisance is used, it iscertainly improper. To refer tomembers as nuisance is not onlyunparliamentary but also improp-er. If you have used it, withdrawit," he said.

The BJP member then with-drew it after which normalcyreturned in the House. This wasthe second day of protest on thisissue. Yesterday, the Congressmembers from Andhra Pradeshhad also created uproar in RajyaSabha alleging that "injustice"was done to his state in the UnionBudget and that government had"gone back" on its promisesmade in the Anhdra PradeshReorganization Act.

Members allege non-fulfillment ofpromises to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

NDFB(S) leader'shouse raided inAssam, armsrecoveredGUWAHATI, MARCH 03

The police raided thehouse of a senior NDFB(S)leader, recovered huge sev-eral arms and ammunitionand arrested a linkman ofthe outfit in Assam'sChirang district, the policesaid on Tuesday.

The police raided thehouse of Mendala inLaizaguri village along theborder with Kokrajhar dis-trict last night, BodolandTerritorial AutonomousDistrict (BTAD) InspectorGeneral of Police LRBishnoi said.

Three country made AK-type rifles along withammunitions and 50 roundsof ammunition and gun-powder were seized fromthe house of Mendala whois absconding.

The police, however,arrested a linkman identi-fied as Markas, headded.

KATHMANDU, MARCH 03The Haryana government has

declared that it will provide Rs300,000 (Nepali Rs 480,000) ascompensation to the family of a 28-year-old mentally challenged womanfrom Rajapur in Bardiya who wasraped and murdered in Rohtak lastmonth.

The victim`s relatives saidHaryana`s Agriculture Minister OmPrakash Dhankar made theannouncement after the policecharged eight men, including aNepali national, for the crime.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendentof Police Shashank Anand of Rohtakpolice has informed Superintendentof Police Govinda Ram Pariyar inBardiya that the perpetrators havebeen remanded in police custody forfurther investigation.

The accused are Nepali nationalSantosh B.K. of Pyuthan, MandirSingh, Pramod Jat, Sunil Jat,Sarowar Singh, Rajesh Jat, SunilSingh and Pawan of Rohtak.

According to the victim`s relatives,one of the perpetrators, Sombir Jat,committed suicide after the incident.

A group of nine men had gan-graped and subsequently murderedthe woman on February 1.

Police found her body four dayslater in a field by a highway at BahuAhkbarpur near Rohtak.

"We haven`t yet received the DNAtest results and are yet to find anadvocate to fight the case on ourbehalf," the victim`s sister Janakisaid, adding that they were trying tofind a lawyer on their own thoughthe state government will appointone for them.

Legal practitioners, however, areunwilling to fight the case fearinglocal goons.

Janaki, meanwhile, said the author-ities have provided security to herfamily as they were under constantthreats from criminal gangs. She andher husband earn a living operating asmall mobile food stall in the Indiancity. The victim had gone to Rohtakin order to seek treatment for hermental ailment.

Janaki said various organisationsrepresenting Nepalis living in Indiahave been helping them with thecase.

Haryana to compensateNepali rape victim's kin

AAP to formshadow cabinetin BJP-led GoaPANAJI, MARCH 03

With the Congress proving unable tocreate enough space as opposition, theAAP has resolved to form a shadow cabi-net to keep track of ministerial functioningin the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP)coalition government in Goa. The shadowcabinet will be operated by the youth wingmembers of AAP. It will track and evalu-ate the delivery of the BJP-led state gov-ernment on its poll promises as made in itselection manifesto in 2012, said SuhaniShah, an AAP spokesperson.

"It will also track the progress of thecurrent BJP government vis-a-vis thepromises made to the youth in their 2012manifesto," she added.

After contesting the Lok Sabha elec-tions in the state, the AAP, has been inpolitical hibernation for long and revivedonly recently, following the huge victoryof the party in the Delhi state assemblypolls.

J&K: Man, wife arrestedon their return fromPakistan after 24 yearsJAMMU, MARCH 03

A man who returned to Kashmir after spending24 years in Pakistan has been arrested along withhis Pakistani wife in Poonch district, police said.

The man identified as Mohammed SashirBhat, a resident of Saujian in the Mandi tehsil,and his Pakistani wife were arrested yesterdayafter they returned here, with their four children,through the Nepal route, a senior police officersaid.

"Bhat returned to his village along with hisPakistani wife Nousheen Bhat and four children,including a son and three daughters," the officersaid, adding, they were arrested for not havingvalid papers.

Bhat had crossed to the other side of the bor-der (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) in 1991.

"Initial questioning revealed that he had some-how got a Pakistani passport and then he reachedNepal, from where he crossed the Nepal borderand reached India," police said.

A case has been registered in this regard and aninvestigation has been initiated, they added.

VADODARA, MARCH 03A local court has granted

bail to city-based DiamondPower Cable Company'sManaging Director AmitBhatnagar in an excise-relatedcase, his lawyer Kaushik Bhattsaid here today.

Talking to reporters heretonight, Bhatt said that theexcise department had arrestedhis client Bhatnagar underSection 9 (1)(a) today and pro-duced him in the court ofChief Judicial First ClassMagistrate J J Prajapati.

The case is related toBhatnagar availing excise dutybenefits amounting to Rs 40crore for purchasing "rawmaterials" which wereallegedly never purchased.

After hearing arguments ofboth the sides including theprosecution, Magistrate

Prajapati granted bail toBhatnagar, the lawyer said.

Bhatnagar came under thelimelight after he played a rolein organising 'VADFEST' inJanuary, for which the Gujarattourism department had set upa special purpose vehicle com-pany.

However, three BJP MLAsYogesh Patel, JitendraSukhdiya and RajendraTrivedi elected fromManjalpur, Sayajigunj andRaopura respectively, hadopposed Bhatnagar's involve-ment for organising theGujarat government sponsoredprogramme without involvingelected representatives.

The programme was intend-ed to promote "art and culture"in the city and make Vadodarathe "cultural hub ofGujarat".

Diamond Power Cable's AmitBhatnagar gets bail, says lawyer

Alert sounded in Haryanavillages along Yamuna

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 03The authorities in Haryana on Tuesday

sounded an alert to residents of villages alongthe Yamuna river following heavy rainfall inthe hills of neighbouring Uttarakhand andHimachal Pradesh.

The alert has been sounded in view of therising level of water in the Yamuna river.People have asked not to go near the river orlet their animals venture near it.

In Yamunanagar district, deputy commis-sioner J Ganeshan said that officials of vari-ous departments have sounded the heads ofall villages along the river about the rise inwater level in the river.

Irrigation department executive engineerAtul Narang said that the water level at theHathnikund barrage along the Haryana-Uttarakhand border had risen from 56,000cusecs on Monday morning to 87,000 cusecsin the evening. He said that the water levelhad started receding again on Tuesday.

The Yamuna river passes throughYamunanagar, Karnal and Panipat districts inHaryana.

BENGALURU, MARCH 03A young techie was arrested on Monday for

murdering his friend's wife, a homemaker, inBengaluru's upscale eastern suburb, policesaid. "The suspect, 32-year-old Basudev Jenawent to his friend Debashish's house to borrowRs.25,000 from his wife Prachi, who was aloneat home. When she said she did not have somuch money to lend, he tried to snatch hergold chain. Panicked by his attempt, shescreamed, that led him to slit her throat with akitchen knife to silence her and rush out toescape," Deputy Superintendent of Police(East) N. Sathish Kumar said.

The woman's loud screams forced her landla-dy Saraswati, who lives on the ground floor, torush upstairs to the flat on the second floor ofthe three-storey building to check what washappening. "As the landlady went up, theaccused ran down the stairs with blood stainson his hands and shirt. As he attempted to runaway from the place, passers-by pounced onhim and nabbed him, after hearing the landla-

dy shouting to catch him. They handed him toa police patrolling team," Kumar said.

Police registered a murder case under section302 of the Indian Penal Code against Jena, whohails from Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

His long-time friend Debashish is 35 yearsold, while Prachi was in her mid-30s. "Jenaadmitted to have slit the woman's throat inpanic and to silence her as she was screamingin the kitchen. He said he was working as asoftware engineer," Kumar said.

Incidentally, Jena borrowed Rs.25,000recently from Debashish, who works as a sen-ior manager at software major Wipro in thistech hub.

"Both the friends were living in the same flattill a year ago. Jena shifted from the flat afterDebashish got married to Prachi 8-10 monthsago," the police officer said.

Jena is said to have accumulated debts to thetune of Rs.1 crore after he returned from theUS where he was working on IT projects forseven years.

Techie arrested for killingfriend's wife in Bengaluru

US video streamingservice Netflix onTuesday said it

will launch in Australiaand New Zealand thismonth, with access toseason three of hit politi-cal drama House ofCards a key drawcard.

The move comes amidan increasing shift toInternet-based on-demand television glob-ally, with the California-based company leadingthe field.

Netflix co-founder andchief executive ReedHastings said streamingin Australia and NewZealand would begin onMarch 24.

"Many Aussies andKiwis have heard a lotabout Netflix over theyears," he said in a state-ment.

"We're excited they'llget to experience ourunique blend of Netflixoriginal content, localseries and films, andpopular movies and TVshows from around theworld."

The video-on-demandservice will be availableon all major Australianbroadband operators andaccessible on a myriad ofdevices, including smartTVs, gaming consoleXbox, smartphones andtablets.

Netflix in Januaryannounced it has boostedmembership to more than57 million users at theend of 2014, a gain of 13million. Profits jumpedto $266 million (roughlyRs. 1,646 crores) for theyear on $5.5 billion(roughly Rs. 34,048crores) in revenue.

NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. The central banking functions in India are performedby theI. Central Bank of IndiaII.Reserve Bank of IndiaIII. State Bank of IndiaIV. Punjab National Bank

A. I, II B. II C. I D. II, III

2. Development expenditure of the Central governmentdoes not includeA. defence expenditureB. expenditure on economic servicesC. expenditure on social and community servicesD. grant to states

3. ICICI is the name of aA. chemical industry B. bureauC. corporation D. financial institution

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(B), 2 (A), 3(D)

TODAY’S STARARIES Some great news about a friend's good fortune could be exciting,

Aries, and you might spend a lot of time on the phone not onlycongratulating that friend but also discussing it with other people.This is good for you, as you're apt to find it inspiring and use it asmotivation to continue pushing ahead yourself. In fact, this newscould change your life profoundly in the long run.

TAURUS When it comes to managing money today, Taurus, you should gowith your gut, whether it involves personal finances, job-related con-cerns, or the funds of a group you're affiliated with. Be less con-cerned about logic and more with how you feel about sources ofincome, specific investments, or ways of planning expenses. Dosome research to verify your insights and then follow them!

GEMINI A new fascination with history or an exotic culture could driveyou to learn more about it, Gemini. It could become an obses-sion, for today at least. You might spend a lot of time online orin the library or talking to people who specialize in this field. Byday's end, your mind could be spinning like a top. Take a walkand clear your head or you might not be able to sleep.

CANCER You may find that your instincts are right, Cancer, particularly whereother people are concerned. You and a friend could come up with thesame words at the same time, which might be a little disconcertingfor both of you. Still, this increased intuition is likely to help yourunderstanding of those close to you more than you ever expected.Make the most of it, and remember what you learn.

LEO Social events and group activities could bring new interests yourway that provide a rich field of knowledge for you to delve into,Leo. Someone could recommend books on the subject. Thiscould be very exciting, especially since a lot of new people whoshare this interest could come into your life. Be sure to keep trackof names and phone numbers. You won't want to lose touch.

VIRGO A number of people involved in the healing professions couldcross your path today, Virgo. You might hear news aboutrecent discoveries in those fields that sparks your interest.What you learn could affect your life in a profoundly positiveway, so you need to write down not only the contact informa-tion for the people you meet but also the resources they use.

LIBRA A potential new love partner could show up, Libra, perhaps someonefrom a distant state or foreign country or in a field like law or educa-tion. You could have a lot of interests in common with this person.Some intriguing discussions could result. Whether you choose topursue this attraction depends on your situation, but you can enjoythis person's company today anyway. Tomorrow - who knows?

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

SAGITTARIUS Invitations to some exciting social events in your neighborhood couldcome today, Sagittarius. You might hear from some friends who areplanning to attend, so you could be enthusiastically looking forwardto these events. You will enjoy getting together with your friends.Bear in mind that you could also meet new people who prove to bevaluable business contacts. Make sure you look your best!

CAPRICORN Good news involving a small, extra sum of money couldcome today, Capricorn. You might receive a check in themail. Take a friend out to lunch. You will both have fun.Afterward, you may want to blow the rest of the money onsomething frivolous, but don't go that far. Think about oneor more items you want and concentrate on those.

AQUARIUS Bonding is today's keyword, Aquarius. Relations with close friendsshould be enhanced by increased communication, perhaps some fasci-nating conversations about new ideas and exciting world events. Thisnew intellectual rapport could bring you closer than you were before.Romantic relationships, in particular, intensify through newly discoveredmutual interests, perhaps involving foreign cultures.

PISCES A lot of unfinished tasks may need doing around the home today,Pisces. You might decide to ignore some of the work that desper-ately needs to be handled in favor of a project that you think youwill enjoy more. Don't stick family members with the boring stuff!If you pull together to get the worst out of the way, then you canall have fun with the more interesting tasks.

HTC is reportedly all set to launch a vari-ant of last year's flagship smartphone,the One (M8). Called the HTC One

M8s, it is said to be identical except forthe mid-range 64-bit Snapdragon 615SoC instead of the Snapdragon 801 SoConboard, as per a report citing HTCBenelux Director, Mark Moons.

Moons in an interview told Dutchblog Tweakers that the company wantsto ensure the availability of the existingHTC One (M8) in some form, thereforeit is going for the 64-bit QualcommSnapdragon 615 SoC. Because of this,the One M8s is expected to be pricedEUR 250 lower than the new flagshipOne M9, which is priced at EUR 749.

"We want it to sell [for] a time. Thenew processor is 64-bit and a newermodel than those from the M8," said(translated) Moons.

At present there is no information inwhich regions the HTC One M8s willreplace the existing One (M8), butspeculation extends to Belgium, theNetherlands, and Luxembourg markets.We would also wish that the smart-phone comes to India, considering thelower price point combined with thelooks of One (M8) making it a attrac-tive proposition for consumers in thecountry.

Meanwhile, HTC at MWC 2015 onSunday launched its new flagshipsmartphone, the HTC One M9 (First

Impressions). The smartphone sports an all-metal unibody design and will be available dual

t o n e

Silver and Rose Gold, single-tone GunmetalGrey, single tone Gold, and dual tone Gold and

Pink colours. HTC alongsidehad also announceda number of acces-sories including thesecond-generationHTC Dot View IIcase for the OneM9.

HTC One M8s With Snapdragon 615 toReplace One (M8) in Some Regions: Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12:00AM SoundShuffle0 1 : 0 0 A M

Teleshopping

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

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12:00AM ComedyClasses12:30AM ComedyClasses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

India Fights Back : Mumbai FightsBack

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

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

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

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07:30PM Mere Rang Mein RangneWali

08:00PM Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani !

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Fights Back11:30PM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

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

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

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

TV Channels Schedule

After Europe pricing details were reportedly tipped by Samsung officials at MWC,Samsung Netherlands has officially revealed the pricing of the two smartphonesand has started taking pre-orders as well. Both smartphones are listed to ship on

April 10.The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge come in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB vari-

ants. At present, the Samsung Netherlands website only lists the 32GB variant of GalaxyS6 for EUR 699 (approximately Rs. 48,300) and the Galaxy S6 Edge at EUR 849(approximately Rs. 58,600). There is no official pricing information of the other storagevariants of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

Th 32GB pricing for both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge by Samsung Netherlandsmatches with the previously mentioned report citing Samsung officials, which alsorevealed pricing for the 64GB and 128GB variants. For the Galaxy S6, it tipped EUR799 (approximately Rs. 55,200) for the 64GB variant, EUR 899 (approximately Rs.62,100) for the 128GB variant.

The Galaxy S6 Edge curved screen variant's 64GB model is said to cost EUR 949(approximately Rs. 65,600), and the 128GB model EUR 1,049 (approximately Rs.72,500).

The US carriers pricing is said to be starting at $199 (approximately Rs. 12,300) forGalaxy S6 and $299 (approximately Rs. 18,400) for Galaxy S6 Edge. Additionally, thereport had claimed that the global launch details will be detailed by Samsung aroundApril 10.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge andSamsung Galaxy S6 Price Official

BlackBerry at MWC2015 on Tuesdayannounced a new

full-touchscreen mid-range 4G LTE smartphonedubbed the BlackBerryLeap at $275 (approxi-mately Rs. 17,000). Thephone, targeted at youngmobile professionals, willlaunch in April in the US.Its release in other mar-kets has not yet beendetailed.

The single-SIM

BlackBerry Leap runs oncompany's native BB10(version 10.3.1) operatingsystem. Upfront, thedevice features a 5-inchHD (720x1280 pixels)Touch display with294ppi pixel density.

The BlackBerry Leap ispowered by a 1.5GHzdual-core QualcommMSM 8960 SoC coupledwith 2GB of RAM. Thecamera options on themid-range BlackBerry

smartphone include an 8-megapixel autofocus rearshooter with LED flashand a 2-megapixel frontfacing camera. The 16GBof inbuilt storage on thedevice is expandable viamicroSD card (up to128GB).

Connectivity options onthe BlackBerry Leapinclude 4G, Wi-Fi, Wi-FiDirect, Bluetooth 4.0 LowEnergy (LE) and EDR,GPS/ A-GPS, and FM

radio. It packs a non-removable 2800mAh bat-tery, measures144x72.8x9.5mm, andweighs 170 grams. Otherspecifics of the Leapinclude dual-microphonefor noise cancellation,accelerometer, proximityand ambient lightsensors.

To remind you, the samesmartphone was earliertipped in December as theBlackBerry Rio a.k.a

BlackBerry Z20, alongwith press render imagesand specifications. Thenthe report had also sug-gested a price under $300(approximately Rs.18,500).

Ron Louks, President,Devices and EmergingSolutions, said of thelaunch, "In today's mobileworld - influenced bytrends like BYOD - wherepersonal and corporatedata are frequently under

attack from hackers, com-panies and everyday con-sumers are finding out thehard way that mobilesecurity is paramount.BlackBerry Leap wasbuilt specifically formobile professionals whosee their smartphonedevice as a powerful anddurable productivity toolthat also safeguards sensi-tive communications at alltimes."

Meanwhile, it seems

that the Canadian firmwants to fight back formarket, and may launch adual-curved touchscreensmartphone with a sliderkeyboard in future. Thecompany teased a proto-type of the device atMWC and on Twitter.

BlackBerry's officialTwitter account posted animage of Louks holdingup a phone, noting "Whata Surprise! Ron justpulled out a dual-curved,

all-touch display with aKeyboard - yes a sliderdevice! #MWC15."

There's no name for thedevice just yet, but thecompany describes it as a"dual-curved, all-touchdisplay with a keyboard,"with that latter componentsituated on an old-fash-ioned slider beneath thedisplay. By far, there isnothing else known aboutthe device not even anexpected name.

BlackBerry Leap With 5-Inch Display Launched; Curved Display Phone Teased

Netflix to Launch inAustralia, New

Zealand This Month

SPORTSSPORTS 7SAADDA HAQNEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 04, 2015

SYDNEY, MARCH 03Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis hit

centuries, while Dale Steyn shone inhis 100th one-day international, asSouth Africa showcased theirprowess with a 201-run rout ofIreland in the World Cup on Tuesday.

Amla scored 159 off 128 balls tobecome the fastest man to reach 20ODI centuries and du Plessis made109 as the Proteas piled up a massive411 for four after taking first strike atCanberra`s Manuka Oval.

Steyn put aside worries of moun-tain fires near his home in Cape Townas he bowled a hostile opening spellto wreck Ireland with two wickets inhis first three overs.

The fast bowler, who had grabbedjust three wickets in South Africa`sfirst three pool matches, finished withtwo for 39 and Kyle Abbott grabbedfour for 21 as Ireland were bundledout for 210 in 45 overs.

The Irish were reduced to 21 forthree by the fifth over and slipped to48 for five by the 11th before AndyBalbirnie (58) and Kevin O`Brien(48) led a late revival by adding 81for the sixth wicket.

South Africa`s third win in fourmatches brought them level on sixpoints with defending championsIndia, who have played one lessmatch, in Pool B.

Ireland have four points from threegames.

Amla and du Plessis put on 247 off

217 balls for the second wicket to liftSouth Africa to the second highesttotal in World Cup history, just tworuns behind India`s record 413 forfive against Bermuda in 2007.

It was the second successive 400-

plus total for the Proteas in the cur-rent tournament, following their 408for five against the West Indies inSydney last week in which skipperAB de Villiers hammered 162 off 66balls.

With victory almost assured, deVilliers used eight bowlers -- includ-ing himself -- ahead of toughergames.

Amla smashed 16 boundaries andfour sixes, while du Plessis con-

tributed 10 fours and a six in a scin-tillating display of attacking battingon a dry, run-laden pitch.

Both batsmen were dismissed inthe space of three overs, but RileeRossouw hit an unbeaten 61 off 30

balls and David Miller chipped inwith 46 not out as South Africa ham-mered 131 runs in the last 10 overs.

Prior to Amla and du Plessis`sstand, Ireland were initially in thegame when seamer John Mooney,whose first two overs were maidens,had Quinton de Kock caught behindfor one.

South Africa would have been infurther trouble when Kevin O`Brien,who became Ireland`s most-cappedplayer on Tuesday with 87 ODIappearances, came on in the sixthover and nearly claimed a wicketwith his first ball.

Amla, then on 10, flicked uppishlyto short mid-wicket where Ed Joyce,normally a safe catcher, dropped theball after getting both hands to it.

Ireland paid dearly for the lapse asseamer Max Sorensen conceded 24runs in one over, with Amla smashinghim for two sixes and a four and duPlessis lofting him for six.

In the second powerplay, Amlatook 26 runs off one Mooney overwith a sequence of two, four, four,six, four, six. An additional run cameoff a no-ball.

Amla`s career-best century, in his108th innings, was a new record, withIndia`s Virat Kohli being the nextfastest to reach 20 ODI hundreds in133 innings. South Africa next playPakistan in Auckland on March 7,while Ireland take on Zimbabwe inHobart the same day.

ICC Cricket World Cup: Power-packedSouth Africa flatten Ireland by 201 runs

NAPIER, MARCH 03Pakistan will target a

huge improvement in bat-ting to boost their net run-rate in the World Cup PoolB match against minnowsUnited Arab Emirates inNapier on Wednesday.

Pakistan`s long standingbatting woes have contin-ued in the tournament asthey lost their openinggame against arch-rivalsIndia by 76 runs and wentdown by a big 150-runmargin in their second tothe West Indies.

The 1992 championsfinally opened their WorldCup account with a scrap-py 20-run win overZimbabwe in Brisbane onSunday and skipperMisbah-ul-Haq warned histeam cannot afford anymore slip-ups.

"From now on we haveto play every game as it isa knock out match," saidMisbah whose team alsoface a tough game againstin-form South Africa inAuckland (March 8) and adangerous Ireland in

Adelaide on March 15."I think the top order is

always the key, and if wereally want to go further inthis World Cup, we have toimprove that," said Misbahof the openers who in thelast 10 one-dayers have sixsingle-digit stands, five ofthem one run or less.

Pakistan tried veteranYounis Khan as opener inthe first match but thatbackfired.

Pakistan were 1-4against the West Indies at

Christchurch in the worst-ever start in all one-dayinternationals, while theywere 4-2 againstZimbabwe with NasirJamshed and AhmedShehzad failing on bothoccasions.

Pakistan struggled toscore 235-7 againstZimbabwe, a total Misbahbelieved will not helpagainst South Africa.

"If we really want to winagainst South Africa andwe really want progress in

this World Cup, we have tocome up with some per-formances, if we keepscoring 200 to 230, 235runs, it could be really dif-ficult for us to win."

Pakistan with two pointsin three games are likely tofight the West Indies (twowins in four matches) andIreland (two wins in twoand who face South Africaon Tuesday) for a place inthe quarter-finals.

The top four from eachof the two pools of seven

teams will reach the quar-ter-finals.

Pakistan will also look toimprove their net run-ratewhich stands at a poor -1.37.

Considering UAE`sweakness against spin,highlighted byRavichandaran Ashwin`s4-25 in India`s nine-wicketwin on Saturday, Pakistancan bring in leggie YasirShah and also SarfrazAhmed as opener forJamshed.

Pakistan have won theirtwo one-day internationalsagainst UAE -- both bynine wickets -- the first inSharjah in 1994 and thesecond at Gujranwala inthe 1996 World Cup.

UAE have Pakistan-bornmiddle-order batsmanShaiman Anwar as the onlybright spot who has scoresof 67, 106 and 35 in histeam`s threedefeats.

But skipper MohammadTauqir said the whole tour-nament is a learning expe-rience for his team.

ICC World Cup: Pakistan eye battingimprovement against UAE

World Cup 2015:Sri Lanka summon

Seekkuge Prasannaas Rangana

Herath coverSYDNEY, MARCH 03

Sri Lanka have called-up SeekkugePrasanna as World Cup cover forinjured spinner Rangana Herath, thecountry`s cricket board announcedTuesday.

"Seekkuge Prasanna will go toAustralia as a stand by for injuredRangana Herath who split his fingerduring the ENGvSL match#LionsRoar#lka," tweeted Cricket SriLanka.

The 29-year-old Prasanna has played22 ODIs since his 2011 debut. He wasa member of the squad which facedNew Zealand in a seven-game series onthe eve of the World Cup but was notselected for the showpiece tournament.

The 36-year-old Herath needed fourstitches in the spinning finger of his lefthand after he tried to stop a full-blood-ed drive from England`s Jos Buttler inWellington on Sunday.

Sri Lanka won the match by ninewickets and the 1996 champions arealmost assured of a quarter-final spotwith just two Pool A games left to play,against Australia in Sydney on Sundayand Scotland in Hobart three days later.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 03Olympic medallist

pugilist M C Mary Kom onMonday said she hasdecided to quit boxingafter the 2016 Rio OlympicGames as her body wouldnot be able to cope with therigours of the sport anyfurther.

The 32-year-old has beengiving hints for some timethat she may hang up herboxing gloves but todayshe made it clear that theRio Games next year willbe her last competitiveevent.

"I have decided that Iwill quit after 2016Olympics. Rio Games willbe my last competitiveevent and I will not contin-ue after that," Mary Komsaid at the launch of asocial media campaignhere.

"My third child is twoyears old and I think it'senough for me. Who wouldhave faced the rigours ofcompetitive boxing afterhaving three children? Iwant to bring happiness tothe people of this countryby winning a gold in Rio. I

want to win a gold thereand so I thought of contin-uing till 2016 Games," saidMay Kom who won abronze medal in 2012London Olympics.

Mary Kom said after theRio Games she will con-centrate on her boxingacademy set up in Imphalwhich is expected to beinaugurated shortly byPrime Minister NarendraModi. "I have planned outwhat to do after RioOlympics. I will give myfull time to my academy. I

want to produce moreMary Koms, more worldchampions. I will also beavailable to support anysocial cause," she said atthe launch of 'Boxout', adigital campaign againstsocial evils initiated byDida Sportswear at IITDelhi. "Prime Minister toldme to inform him beforethe inauguration of myacademy. The academy isin the final phase of com-pletion and I am expectingthe PM to inaugurate it,"Mary Kom said.

Olympic medallist Mary Kom decidesto quit boxing after Rio 2016

BUENOS AIRES, MARCH 03Former world number

four Juan Martin Del Potro,having drawn confidencefrom his brief Sydneyreturn in January, said onMonday he was confidentof a full comeback “verysoon”.

The Argentine giant, whohas endured a stop-startcareer since winning theU.S. Open in 2009, isrecovering from a secondcorrective operation on hisleft wrist following surgerya year ago.

“I’m not going drop myarms or surrender becauseof an injury. If my handresponds well, I’ll comeback as soon as possible butthat depends exclusively onmy hand, it will decide myreturn,” Del Potro told apacked news conference.

“I’m in full recovery, I’mgoing faster than the timeframe the doctor set for meas a goal and that has meenthused and that’s why Ibelieve my return will bevery soon,” he said at asponsorship presentation inBuenos Aires.

The 26-year-old, whomissed most of the 2010season after surgery on his

right wrist, also confirmedan improved relationshipwith the Argentine TennisAssociation (AAT) and areturn to his country’sDavis Cup team.

Del Potro said he and hisfriend, U.S. Open championMarin Cilic who is nursingan arm injury, had enteredtheir names as a doublesteam for Indian Wells nextweek essentially to complywith the formality in casethey feel fit enough.

He added, however, that itwas more realistic to thinkof a return in Miami from

March 25.The 1.98-metre known as

the Tower of Tandil, hishome town in Buenos Airesprovince, said he had beenpracticing with the DavisCup team who face Brazilin a world group first roundtie at home this weekend.

"It’s very hard to live withinjuries, I would have trou-ble getting up some days.For a year now the firstthing I’ve been doing afterwaking up is move my fin-gers.”

Del Potro said his ulti-mately premature come-

back in Sydney in January,when he still felt pain withhis two-handed backhand,had helped his confidenceimmensely.

“The reception I got inSydney made me feel fanshad not forgotten me,” delPotro said.

"It charged me with theenergy to take the decisionto go and see the doctoragain losing no more timebecause I felt that if I recov-ered my physical conditionI would rediscover mygame and I don’t care howlong it takes."

Del Potro sees comeback by late March

LONDON, MARCH 03Sunderland suspended England

winger Adam Johnson onMonday after he was arrested onsuspicion of having sex with anunder-age girl.

Johnson was held in custodyafter his arrest and, with policesaying he was helping them withtheir enquiries, the 27-year-oldwas suspended by the PremierLeague club pending the outcomeof the investigation.

"A 27-year-old man was arrest-ed earlier today on suspicion ofsexual activity with a girl under16," a Durham police statementsaid.

According to several newspa-pers, Johnson had sex with a 15-year-old and was arrested at hismansion on Monday morning.

Three unmarked cars, a policevan, plain clothes officers andcrime scene investigators werereported to have been at the play-er`s home.

Johnson was due to travel withthe rest of the Sunderland squadto Hull for Tuesday`s league

match.But the club`s statement read:

"Sunderland AFC has confirmedthat Adam Johnson has been sus-pended from the club, pendingthe outcome of a police investiga-tion.

"No further comment will bemade at the present time."

Later on Monday, reporterswere told that Johnson had beenbailed and was no longer atPeterlee police station.

Johnson, who has won 12 capsfor England, started his career atMiddlesbrough before joiningManchester City. He moved toSunderland for £10 million ($15million, 13 million euros) in2012. Johnson has struggled toreproduce his best form on a sus-tained basis with the Black Cats.

However, he has endeared him-self to Sunderland fans with goalsin each of the club`s three victo-ries at hated local rivalsNewcastle in as many seasons,including a late winner at StJames` Park on December 21 lastyear.

Sunderland suspend AdamJohnson after arrestover sex allegation

Bollywood actressShraddha Kapoorturns 26 today.

Daughter of notedBollywood villain ShaktiKapoor and ShivangiKapoor, Shraddhadebuted into Bollywoodwith Amitabh Bachchanstarrer, ‘Teen Patti’ buttasted success with‘Aashiqui 2’. She is theniece of popular yester-years actress Padmini

Kolapure. Hailed fromfilmy background,Shraddha is not new toBollywood. Acting runsin her blood and in shorttime she has created aniche in Bollywood.

Passion for acting didnot let Shraddha Kapoorto complete her educa-tion. She studied tillclass VIII in JamnabaiNarsee School in Juhu,

Mumbai and thenshe went to anAmerican school,and then Boston.Post ‘Aashiqui 2’,there has been nolooking back for theactress, she starred inblockbuster ‘EkVillain’ and then‘Haider’.

Apart from a goodactor, Shraddha is

also a very good singer.She has lend her voice tothe chartbuster‘Galliyan’ from ‘EkVillain’.

Speaking about herpersonal life, Shraddhais rumoured to be datingher ‘Aashiqui 2’ co-star

Aditya Roy Kapoor. Shewill be next seen inRemo D'Souza's 'ABCD2' opposite VarunDhawan.

Here’s wishing theactress a very happybirthday and eventfulyear ahead!

Short duration dermal treat-ments are a boon to workingwomen, who are opting for

quick fixes to take years off theirface.

These treatments do not impingeon their working hours, nor do theyhave to take a day off for it. Here's alowdown.

Ultherapy Courteney Cox and KimKardashian went through this newestnon-surgical process in the marketcalled Ultherapy that uses tiny elec-tric shocks to tighten the skin on theeyebrows, face and neck. Fairly newin India, it uses ultrasonic therapy forcollagen renewal of the skin. "Thisminimally invasive technique heatsup the subcutaneous tissue at differ-ent levels, thus shrinking the skinand making it look younger," sayssenior cosmetic surgeon Dr. MohanThomas. Cosmetic dermatologistand laser surgeon Dr. Apratim Goeladds, "Ultherapy uses HIFU (HighIntensity Focused Ultrasound) tocontour the face. Rather than tinyelectric shocks, it feels like deep der-mal heating." The treatment is suit-able on all skin types. Time taken: Ittakes an hour to an hour-and-a-half,

so it can even be done duringlunchtime. Drawback: This methodcould lead to hyper pigmentation orcause burns sometimes.

Micro-needling In this process, a

derma roller with multiple fine nee-dles induces collagen and treats acneand scars, thus resulting in smoothskin. Cosmetic dermatologist andlaser specialist Dr. Abhijit Desaisays, "Post giving topical anaesthesia

on the face, the roller is rolled on thedesired area till the condition of pin-point bleeding. The micro injury onthe skin surface leads to collagenstimulation, followed by improvedskin texture. This provides long-term

results and needs approximatelythree-four sessions." Time taken:The entire procedure lasts for 15-20minutes, depending on the area beingtreated. Drawbacks: It can cause red-ness and soreness of skin.

Microdermabrasion It is basicallyan exfoliation and skin rejuvenationprocedure that leaves the skin look-ing softer and brighter.Dermatologist and skin specialist Dr.Sushil Tahiliani says, "Dead cells areremoved from the skin surface usinga suction device or by spraying dia-mond crystals or zinc powder ontothe skin. It gives temporary resultsfor one or two weeks, but is safe."This is a less aggressive technique.Time taken: It takes 30-45 minutes or45-60 minutes, depending on thedepth of the treatment. Drawbacks:"The procedure used here is a littleharsh," says Dr Goel, adding,"Sensitive skins can experience rashor even scratch marks. It can alsocause acne."

Mesotherapy An old technique, thebasic idea behind Mesotherapy is toinject medication for lipolysis. It canbe done on both the skin and thescalp. Aesthetic physician Dr.

Jamuna Pai explains, "Fine littleopenings are made using a needle orderma roller or a meso-gun. This, inthe end, leads to a uniform glowingskin and tighter contours. Cocktailsare used on the hair. Mesotherapy isalso done to dissolve the subcuta-neous fat or lipoma." This processdoes not have many benefits, exceptthe hydration of the intradermis, saysPai. Time taken: Each session is con-venient and quick, lasting forapproximately 20-30 minutes.Drawback: There are short-term sideeffects.

Notox A non-invasive beauty treat-ment, the effects of Notox are oftensaid to be more long-lasting thanBotox. "It is a minimally invasivesurgical procedure, wherein thenerves supplying the facial muscleson the forehead are damaged usingradio waves. Consequently, it causessmoothening of face, wrinkle reduc-tion and Botox-like effects withoutinjecting toxin. Almost painless,there are no side effects," explainsDr. Goel. Time taken: It takes about20-30 minutes. Drawback: Dr. Goelsays that if the wrong muscle isparalysed, the effects can be damag-ing and long term.

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5 lunchtime beaut y treatments for busy women

Popular televisionactress DivyankaTripati and her

boyfriend of seven yearsSsharad Malhotraa called ita quit. Divyanka Tripathiaka Ishita Raman Bhalla of‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’and Ssharad Malhotraa akaMaharana Pratap, ofBharat Ka Veer Putra –Maharana Pratap broke upmutually.

Divyanka and Ssharadissued a joint statementwhich read, "The decisionof calling off the relation-ship is mutual. We had abeautiful journey and the

most lovely memories arehelping us part ways cor-dially. Yet, it's a painfulprocess and speculationsonly increase the pain. Werequest the media to beconsiderate. This is thefinal word on this subjectand we won't be talkingabout what went wrong inour relationship. Webelieve it wasn't destinedto last,"

Though the actual reasonof their break-up is notknown, the couple partedways on compatibilityissues and Ssharad's non-committal attitude towards

their relationship.

"Divyanka wanted mar-riage but Ssharad wasn'tready for it. Also, theyfailed to spend quality timewith each other because oftheir work commitments."a friend of the couple wasquoted by Bombay Times.

The couple met on thesets of Zee Cine Stars KiKhoj back in 2004 and fellin love on the set of theirdebut television soap'Banoo Main Teri Dulhann'in 2006. The couple onlyadmitted their relationshiplast year.

Divyanka Tripati split with boyfriendSsharad after seven years

Bollywood is not theonly one to beblessed with the tal-

ents of Priyanka Chopra. Itis well known that theactress has carried hermagic up to Hollywood.Once again, she had madeIndia proud by flauntingher acting skills in thewestern world. This time,the former Miss World hasappeared on a televisionseries ‘Quantico’. It was inFebruary this year that shewas cast in this TV series.The show is aired ABCStudios- the famousAmerican TV channel.

‘Quantico’ features abunch of trainees atQuantico base that is locat-ed in Virginia. All of theseFederal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) recruitshave a special purpose foropting for this profession.Priyanka plays one of theFBI trainees called AlexWeaver. She is troubled byher past as soon as shejoins the group at the base.

Priyanka signed a dealwith ABC Studios sometime ago. Keli Lee isABC’s executive vice pres-ident of casting. He hadpersonally visited theactress in Mumbai formaking the deal with her.

Priyanka is on cloud num-ber nine with such a greatproject in hand, “I’m hon-oured to have inked thisdeal. The fact that they will

be developing content,specifically with me inmind, is a great opportuni-ty for me. I've been a fan oftheir shows and an admirer

of how the network haschanged the landscape ofTV through the diversity oftheir lead characters. Thisdeal is another avenue for

me to challenge my cre-ativity and be at the cuttingedge of entertainment. Tobe able to work with suchan amazing team to createnew concepts for Americantelevision and the world istremendously exciting.”

The actress has a specialplace in the western world.In 2012, Priyanka was thevery first Bollywood starto be signed by CreativeArtists Agency – LosAngeles based entertain-ment and sports agency.She then collaborated withthe international fameartists Sam Watters and JaySean. ‘In My City’ was herfirst single and it was fea-tured on NFL Network -the American sports net-work. It ended up being thenumber one song onTwitter, just minutes afterit was released. Priyankathen worked with thefamous artists Pitbull andThe Chainsmokers too.

Coming to Bollywood,Priyanka would be seen in‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ in Juneand ‘Bajirao Mastani’ inlate December. She is alsogoing to make her produc-tion debut with the MadhurBhandarkar film‘Madamji’. Another filmshe been signed for if‘Gangaajal 2’.

Priyanka Chopra playsFBI agent in ‘Quantico’

Shraddha Kapoor turns 26 today!

Asession court todayexempted Bollywoodactor Salman Khan

from producing his drivinglicense in the infamous 2002hit-and-run case. Session courtruled out the application filedby the prosecution saying thatan accused cannot be forced toproduce any document at thefag end of the trial.

“The application is notmaintainable under the provi-sions of Indian Evidence Actas the court cannot force theaccused to produce the drivinglicence,” pronounced JudgeDW Deshpande orally in theoperative part of the order.

Special public prosecutorPradeep Gharat argued thatKhan did not possess a drivinglicense when he committed thecrime and that he onlyobtained a driving licence in2004, as per the record avail-able with Regional TransportOffice, the prosecution said.

On September 28, 2002

Khan had rammed his BMWinto a bakery in suburbanBandra and ran over peoplesleeping on the pavement out-side, killing one and injuringfour.

The 48-year-old actor wascharged with culpable homi-

cide not amounting to murder.If convicted, Salman Khanmight face a jail term of 10years. He was previouslycharged with lesser charge ofrash and negligent driving buton fresh trial ordered in lastDecember he was chargedwith more serious offense.

Salman Khan exempted fromproducing driving license