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My son is my son tillwe have got him a wife,But my daughter’s my

daughter all the days ofher life.

— Thomas Fuller

IN BRIEF

It’s simple, to operate this fire hy-drant, first call fire fighters thencall PWD for its water pressurethen the Electricity Departmentfor current.... then

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Shashi Tharoor tonight resignedas Minister of State for ExternalAffairs after the high-level Con-gress Core Group decided thathe should quit in the wake ofcontroversy over the IPL Kochifranchise, capping a week-longdrama that threatened to suckthe government and the partyinto it.

54-year old Tharoor, a new-comer to politics from interna-t iona l d ip lomacy, wassummoned by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh to his resi-dence late tonight and asked totender his resignation.

“Shashi Tharoor, Minister ofState for External Affairs hassubmitted his resignation fromthe Council of Ministers to thePrime Minister today. The PrimeMinister has forwarded his res-ignation letter to the Presidentwith a recommendation that itbe accepted,” PMO spokesmansaid tonight.

Tharoor, a writer and a formerUnder Secretary General in theUnited Nations, earns the dubi-ous distinction of becoming thefirst minister in the UPA-II to gounder the cloud of corruptioncharges.

The continuance of Tharoor,a first time MP from Thiruvanan-thapuram who courted contro-versies throughout his 11-monthstint, became untenable in thegovernment ever since the IPL

controversy exploded.He got into serious problems

after IPL Commissioner LalitModi revealed that Tharoor’sfriend Sunanda Pushkar had eq-uity stakes in Rendezvous SportsWorld (RSW), heading the con-sortium that owns the Kochiteam.

It was later disclosed thatPushkar got sweat equity of thevalue of Rs 70 crore RSW fol-lowing which the opposition hasbeen gunning for his removalon the ground that it was misuseof office for pecuniary gain.

That Pushkar today offeredto surrender the sweat equityand to quit RSW failed to con-vince the Congress top brasswhich met at the residence ofthe Prime Minister in theevening to finalise its strategybefore Parliament resumes to-morrow after the week-end.

Singh, who met Gandhi one-on-one before the Core Groupdiscussions, consulted her againbefore recommending the res-ignation to the President.

Tharoor’s meeting with thePrime Minister in the night wasthe second during the day. Hemet him at noon to explain hisside of the story.

Indications that he was onhis way out came when Tharoorwent to the Prime Minister’sresidence at night in a privatecar without the beacon light.Throughout the day, he avoidedthe media.

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

CBI has told the Supreme Courtthat it has evidence to prosecuteUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterMayawati in a disproportionateassets case as there is proof thatshe had amassed illegal wealth.

In an affidavit filed on Friday,the investigating agency saidthere is evidence to prove thatthe BSP chief and her familymembers acquired assets far ex-ceeding their legal source of in-come.

The CBI said it has statementof witnesses to show that theUP Chief Minister forcibly ac-quired gifts from people.

Earlier, Mayawati had placedbefore the Supreme Court therecords from a debate in Parlia-ment to counter the allegationsof CBI that there was ample ev-idence to prosecute her in thecase.

CBI, in its affidavit filed in July2009, said the competent au-thority has already taken a de-cision to file the final reportunder section 173 of the crimi-nal procedure code in the des-ignated trial court.

The agency had pointed out

that her declared assets of Rsone crore in 2003 went up toRs 50 crore in 2007 and saidthere was “ample evidence” toshow she had amassed wealthdisproportionate to her knownsources of income.

Mayawati has claimed she hadreceived the money through do-nations from party workers,which included meagre sums ofRs five and Rs ten which theycontributed on her birthday.

The UP CM filed a petition inMay 2008, seeking quashing ofthe criminal proceedings againsther in the case alleging it wasregistered due to “political rea-sons”.

The investigating agency hadin July 2008, responded to theapex court notice saying therewas sufficient evidence to showthat Mayawati amassed wealthdisproportionate to her knownsources of income.

CBI alleged the assets shownby her in Akbarpur Parliamen-tary constituency were worthover Rs 1 crore whereas the as-sets increased to over Rs 50crore in her declaration paperssubmitted during the 2007 as-sembly polls.

Can prove DA case against Maya: CBI

Indian Embassy’swebsite hacked The website of the Indian Em-bassy here has been attackedtwice by Chinese hackers,prompting the mission toboost its cyber security.Sources in the Indian Embassysaid at least two cyber attackswere traced to Chineseservers, but denied leakage ofany confidential information,which is processed by “stand-alone” computers. – (PTI)

Pope vows to stopabuse of young Pope Benedict XVI met with agroup of clerical abuse victimsSunday and promised themthe Catholic Church would im-plement “effective measures”to protect young people inthe future. The Vatican saidBenedict expressed his“shame and sorrow” at thepain the men and their fami-lies suffered. – (Agencies)

THAROOR BOWLED OUT

Sun to show no mercy!PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

There will be no respite fromsearing heatwave conditions forthe next couple of months as astrong anti-cyclonic system issitting over central and north-west India and showing littlesigns of moving away.

However, the weatherman hassaid the heatwave conditionscould augur well for the mon-soon as heating of central Indiais one of the parameters thatindicate a good rainy season.

“In the near future, we don’tsee any major change to takeplace. The hot conditions willcontinue. Both the day and nighttemperature is going to stay onthe higher side,” Ajit Tyagi, Di-rector General of India Meteor-ological Department (IMD), toldPTI in an interview.

A strong anti-cyclone systemis active over central and north-

west India and only a strongerextra tropical weather systemor cyclonic activity in the Bayof Bengal could dislodge it re-sulting in some relief from theheat, he said.

“Any major change can becaused only by a change in airmass associated with active dis-turbance. That is not takingplace this season and it is con-tinuing. It is likely to continuealso,” Tyagi said.

An anti-cyclone is a large at-mospheric circulation system

associated with relatively highpressure at the surface and inthe lower troposphere.

Anticyclones usually formwhen an airmass is cooled overa cool ocean surface, or overland during winter when littlesunlight is available.

This heat spell may be aboon in d isguise for thefarmers as absence of rainor hailstorm would enablethem to have a smooth har-vest of the rabi crop andgood rains would certainlybe of help for the kharif sea-son.

“There is no hailstorm or rainsin March or April so far. Thewheat crop is not affected. Manya time in March, a good spell ofrain and hailstorm affects thecrops. Heating is positively caus-ing discomfort putting stress onwater, power but it is good for(weather) system,” he said.

Hot spell may be a boon in disguise for farmers

No flights over Europe for 4th day

PTI

LONDON/MOSCOW, APRIL 18

European skies were a virtualno-fly zone for a fourth daytoday, with volcanic ash driftingfrom Iceland reaching as far asRussia, stranding millions ofpeople as over 17,000 flightswere cancelled.

About 30 countries have nowclosed or restricted their air-space, with the volcanic ash cre-ating chaos over the vast swatheof the European continent, rightfrom the Arctic circle in thenorth to the French Mediter-ranean coast in the south andfrom Spain into Russia.

Over 40,000 flights have beencancelled since the volcanoerupted throwing ash and fineparticles across the Europeanskies.

The grounding of major air-liners was costing the industryat least USD 200 million a day,according to International AirTransport Association (IATA).

The flight cancellations alsoaffected attendance of worldleaders at the funeral of late Pol-ish President Kaczynski.

US President Barack Obamawas unable to fly to Krakow cityfor the funeral. Prince Charlesand British foreign SecretaryDavid Miliband also cancelledtheir journey to Poland to attendthe last rites of Kaczynski, whodied in a plane crash in Russialast week.

In Britain, flight restrictionswere extended until at least

0100 BST (530 IST) tomorrowand forecasters say the ash cloudcould remain over the UK formany more days.

In a bid to ease the travelchaos, Netherlands and a fewother countries have started testflights to see if jets could flysafely, either below or over theash clouds.

Dutch airline KLM and Ger-man airline Lufthansa carriedout test flights in their countries’airspace to see if it is safe forplanes to fly.

KLM said its aircraft had beenable to fly its normal operatingaltitude of 13km over Dutchskies and no problems had beenreported.

MeghalayaCM offers

to quitPTI

SHILLONG, APRIL 18

Meghalaya is heading towardsformation of the fourth govern-ment in two years in the sameassembly with Chief Minister DD Lapang today offering to quitconceding loss of majority inthe CLP.

The beleaguered chief minis-ter met Congress PresidentSonia Gandhi who is understoodto have advised convening of aCLP meeting to elect its newleader.

“Lapang met Gandhi thisevening and apprised her of thedevelopments. The CLP meetingis likely to be held in Shillongtomorrow evening to elect thenew leader,” a senior Congresslegislator said over phone fromNew Delhi.

A meeting of the alliance part-ners of the Congress in the gov-ernment is also expected to beheld later, he said.

Before meeting Gandhi, La-pang had admitted that he haslost majority in the CongressLegislature Party and said thathe was ready to quit makingway for his deputy MukulSangma to take over.

The Minister of State for External Affairs was asked to quit by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of controversy surrounding the

IPL Kochi franchise. The minister handed over his resignation on

Sunday evening which has been forwarded to the President

Shashi Tharoor in talks with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Sunanda Pushkar today quit Ren-dezvous Sports World which isa stakeholder in IPL Kochi aftershe decided to return her freeequity worth Rs 70 crore to thefranchise in a last ditch attemptto save her friend, Union Min-ister Shashi Tharoor.

The 48-year-old business ex-ecutive, based in Dubai, decidedto disassociate from the fran-chise in the wake of allegationsthat Tharoor had misused hisoffice to secure the bonanza forSunanda.

Rendezvous is understood to

have accepted her resignation.Sunanda’s decision to quit

came after her dramatic an-nouncement that she was vol-untarily surrendering her equityto IPL Kochi.

This came shortly after Tha-roor had met Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh and explainedhis controversial role in “men-toring” the Kochi franchise.

In a statement from Dubai,Sunanda said she was shockedto find “certain vested interests”questioning her credentials andbecause of the “unpleasant pub-licity” she was opting out.

Sunanda said, “as a womanprofessional, I am shocked tofind how easily certain partieswith vested interests, ques-tioned my credentials mainlybecause I am a woman. I, there-fore, voluntarily offer to returnto Rendezvous the sweat equitythey had offered me.

Sunanda surrenders stake

Sashi Tharoor’s career beganwith a controversy when hestayed in a luxury hotel in-stead of the official accom-modation embarrassing thegovt that swears by austerity.

When govt asked its officialsto fly economy class, he calledit as “cattle class” on Twitter.

Tharoor said people shouldbe working on Gandhi Jayantirather than staying at home.

He criticised new visa guide-lines adopted in the wake ofthe gaps exposed by the arresto f Dav id Head l ey andTahawwur Rana.

Tharoor was also criticised forhis views on Nehru for his vi-sion on Indian foreign policy.

TUMULTUOUSROAD...

GOA, MONDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

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Agitated Benaulimmembers recallfile for approval

Camurlim gram sabha rejects new project construction file

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, APRIL 18

The Camurlim gram sabha on Sunday has rejected the constructionfile submitted by an Institute of Management Studies after membersraised serious objections to the setting up of the project in thevillage.

At the gram sabha held on Sunday, gram sabha members de-manded to know about the Centre and whether the proposedproject would take care of the waste and other issues includingthe existing roads.

Sarpanch Basil Fernandes informed after the meeting that thegram sabha members were opposed to the issuance of constructionlicense to the ground-plus-one storey building in the village ongrounds of garbage and waste disposal, lack of approach roadsand the destruction of tree cover.

Meanwhile, the Sarpanch has assured the gram sabha membersthat he would invite the PWD Minister and other officials for a discussionon the Margao-Borim highway passing through Camurlim village.

At today’s gram sabha, members pointed out that that the high-way is being taken into paddy fields even when there is adequatespace for the project along the existing highway.

The Sarpanch said that the members felt that the highwayshould go as per the existing highway and can be aligned to avoiddestruction of houses and other structures. “I have assured thegram sabha members to invite the PWD Minister and official fora discussion on the highway”, he added.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, APRIL 18

Agitated gram sabha membersof Benaulim village on Sundaydemanded the recall of a megahousing construction file for-warded to the Town and Coun-try Planning department fortechnical approval.

At the gram sabha meeting, themembers pointed out that thePanchayat did not place the revi-sion plan submitted by the builderbefore the gram sabha meetingfor discussion and approval as pera gram sabha resolution and de-manded its immediate recall fromthe TCP office.

Members further pointed outthat the existing road to theproject is hardly three metersand wondered how the projectcan be cleared with the pro-posed road of 10 meters.

The meeting witnessed an up-roar over the absence of theSarpanch Carmelina Fernnadeson medical grounds and the fail-ure by the deputy Sarpanch Stan-ley Fernandes to answers queriesraised by the members on a hostof issues. Members demandedto know from Stanley over thepresence of the Sarpanch in thepanchayat office a day ago whenshe was on sick leave. They con-

tended that the absence of thesarpanch on medical grounds isjust a ploy to avoid the gramsabha and answer queries raisedby the members.

The gram sabha meeting hadto be adjourned without trans-acting major business as thedeputy Sarpanch expressed hisinability to reply to the ques-tions raised by the members.

The gram sabha memberswere sore over the fact thattoday’s meeting was an ad-journed meeting of the monthof January and wondered whenthe Sarpanch would convenethe gram sabha meeting of themonth of April.

The members also pulled upthe panchayat secretary for notproperly recording the proceed-ings of the last gram sabha meet-ing and demanded that thesecretary take serious note of thesentiments of the gram sabha.

The issue over the issuanceof construction license for Karleproperties came up for discus-sion at today’s meeting. The fil-ing of the complaint by thedeputy sarpanch against somevillagers was also discussed,with members demanding thewithdrawal of the complaintlodged with the police.

Mini Ravindra Bhavanat Carmona: Alemao

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, APRIL 18

PWD Minister Churchill Alemaohas vowed to build a mini Ravin-dra Bhavan in the village of Car-mona to benefit the inhabitantsresiding in the coastal villagesof Cavelossim, Carmona, Orlimand Varca.

Alemao made the announce-ment after laying the foundationstone for the Panchayat ghar ofthe Carmona village Panchayaton Sunday morning.

Soliciting support from thevillagers to build hall cum miniRavindra Bhavan in Carmona,the PWD Minister said peoplefrom the coastal belt areforced to either go to Margaoand other places for want ofa spacious and modern hallalong the belt. “The land re-quired for the purpose will be

acquired by the government.I only want your support andcooperat ion to make theRavindra Bhavan a reality”, hesaid.

Asserting that he has ush-ered in all round developmentof the Navelim constituency

in his three years stint at MLA,Alemao offered to developand upgrade the Carmonacemetery with additionalgraves. He also offered to de-velop the Parochial house ofCarmona Church with the per-mission of the Church author-ities.

Reminding the people aboutthe election promises made byhim to build the three bridgesacross River Sal, Alemao saidwork on the bridges is going onin full swing and would becomea reality soon.

Making an appeal to the peo-ple not to put spokes in the de-ve lopment on po l i t i c a lconsiderations, Alemao said thebridges once completed wouldusher in development andwould help the future genera-tions.

Mini replica of Mangesh

templeHERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Marcou Ar t i f a c t s , a un i tunder A l con Group , w i l loffer its first mini replica ofShree Mangesh Temple withd e e p s t a m b h a t S h r e eM a n g e s h Te m p l e ,Mangueshi, on April 19, at5.30 pm.

The replica of Shree MangeshTemple is being made in threetypes, Gold, Silver and Bronzeplated.

Marcou Artifacts, whichwas recently established atCorlim Industrial Estate, in-tends to cerate artistic minireplicas of important temples,churches and famous monu-ments from the State as ‘Sou-v e n i r s o f G o a ’ f o rinternational and nationaltourists visiting Goa.

Uncollected waste continues tolitter around Curti-Khandepar

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, APRIL 18

Even as Curti-Khandepar pan-chayat has appointed a contrac-tor to collect and disposegarbage, uncollected waste, es-pecially plastic, is seen at variousgarbage collection points in thepanchayat area.

Prominent among them isthe Haveli and Naga Masjidwards. Residents here have ac-cused the panchayat of not tak-ing the matter seriously andclaimed that only after mediahighlights the issue, garbage iscleared.

Even as the panchayat claimsthat the garbage is collected ontime, but one can notice heapsof plastic waste scattered at thegarbage collection points, es-pecially in Haveli and NagaMasjid areas.

“It is only after media reportsabout the issue, garbage dis-appear. It does not matterwhether we complaint to thepanchayat or not, the scatteredgarbage often greets visitorshere,” said Vaishnoi Sajan,shopkeeper at Naga Masjidarea.

The nullah at Naga Masjid hasalso become another dumpingground for waste. Littered withplastic and other waste material,the nullah is abundant with

sewage water.Residents claimed that on var-

ious occasions they requestedthe panchyat to act, but nothinghas been done.

“I have taken up this issue ofnullah which is in a patheticstate. The panchayat had as-

sured us that they will clear andthe tendering process to rebuildthe nullah was in process. Butmonsoon is fast approachingand I don’t feel that anything isgoing to happen,” said a vil-lager.

However, Curti-Khandepar

panchayat refused the charge.Newly appointed Sarpanch SNaik said the panchayat doesnot have sufficient funds toundertake the nullah worksand the contractor is as -signed the task to clear thegarbage.

Plastic along the Haveli-road in Curti-Khandepar panchayat.. Photo by Amresh Parab

Fr Agnelo memorial

inaugurationCURCHOREM (HC): Archbishop-Emeritus Raul Gonsalves will in-augurate and bless the memorialof Ven Fr Agnelo De Souza inthe premises of Guardian AngelChurch, Curchorem, on April 19,at 4.30 pm.

The inauguration and blessingwill be held in the presence ofSFX Provincial of Goa ProvinceSociety of Pilar Fr Kyriel D’Souza.The inauguration and blessingwill be followed by Eucharisticcelebration.

This memorial is built to com-memorate the appointment ofVen Fr Agnelo De Souza in San-vordem Parish as Capella Curaon April 19, 1917.

‘More youth pursuing agricultural activities’

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, APRIL 18

Goa Bagayatdar Sahakar iKharedi Vikri Saustha MaryaditChairman Narendra Savoikar hasclaimed that a growing numberof youth have been pursuingagricultural activities since thelast few years.

“We thought that agricultureactivities were on the decline,but now it seems that youth arecoming forward. Agriculturalproduce from farmers in theState has also increased and thisis indeed is a good trend,” saidSavoikar, while addressing apress conference to highlightvarious schemes of the GoaBagyatdar to farmers.

“There is a need for moreyouth to venture into this ac-

tivity. We have different schemesfor farmers and they can contactour branches spread across theState.”

Even as audit report is still inits final stage, Savoikar is con-fident that the Goa Bagaytdar’sturnover this year will cross Rs118 crore.

“In fact, we hope to touch Rs150 crore in the next financialyear,” he added.

The Goa bagayatdar, whichinitially started with agriculturalproduce, has now expanded toa variety of products in its 28branches all over the State.

“The focus still remains onagricultural produce, with a spe-cial emphasis on organic fruitsand vegetables” said Savoikar.

He admitted that farming is

an exercise that pays dividendsonly at a later stage. “Being afarmer requires a lot of hardwork that pays later. Peoplemust change the attitude to-wards farming and the false be-lief that nothing is left infarming. Without farming, ourstate will lose its identity,” saidSavoikar.

He informed that the Stategovernment has introduced ac o c o n u t p a l m i n s u r a n c escheme. “Farmers can contactour Goa Bagayatdar branchesfor information and applicationforms regarding the scheme.The Goa Bagayatdar is also giv-ing crop loans to its membersup to Rs 50,000 at an interestof 7 per cent rate,” Savoikaradded.

Car falls intoculvert, 6

escape withinjuries

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, APRIL 18

Six people from Gujarat escapedwith minor injuries, after the carin which they were traveling fellinto a culvert at Dumane-Canaconaon Friday night.

According to sources, Tata In-digo car (GJ6BA 9998) havingthe word ‘Army’ went over theculvert at Dumane, before turn-ing turtle, injuring all the six oc-cupants.

It is learnt that the Gujaratimen were reportedly travellingafter having a bash at Palolemand were proceeding towardsAgonda, when the mishap oc-curred.

Free medicalcamp

VALPOI (HC): Valpoi Senior Cit-izens Forum will conduct a freemedical camp for senior citizensof Sattari taluka at Church hall,Valpoi, on April 22 from 9.30am to 5 pm. The camp is beingconducted under the co-ordi-nation of Central Committee ofForum for Senior Citizens ofIndia, Margao. A team of doctorsincluding orthopaedic, generalphysicians and dentist will checkthe senior citizens. Interestedcitizens from Sattari taluka maycontact Forum Secretary VincyGonsalves at Valpoi.

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GOA, MONDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

GOAHERALD

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A 3 feet purple heron makes a landing at Carambolim lake. Photo by Rozario Estibeiro

Agitated Power Dept employeesdemand action against assailants

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, APRIL 18

Agitated Power Department em-ployees called on the PowerMinister, Aleixo Sequeira de-manding action against the cul-prits involved in the assault onemployees at the Camurlim substation on Saturday evening.

The employees met Sequeiraat his residence at Manora-Raiaon Sunday morning and de-manded the immediate arrestof the guilty involved in the as-sault.

The Power Minister gave theemployees a patient hearing andtold them that he has been incontact with the Margao SubDivisional Police Officer, DySPUmesh Gaonkar and Maina Cur-torim PI Sidhant Shirodkar tonab the assailants.

Sequeira later told Herald thatthe police officers have prom-ised to act immediately and saidthe employees will go to thepolice station for identificationof the miscreants. “By tomorrow,I expect the police to nab allthe culprits and put them behindbars. I have requested the staffto cooperate with the policeand provide all details to thepolice to nab the culprits”, headded.

The Power Minister, how-ever, made it quite clear to thestaff that work in the PowerDepartment should not behampered because of the un-fortunate incident, but at thesame time asserted that no ef-forts would be spared to pun-ish the guilty.

The incident happened onSaturday evening when thepower linesmen were engaged

in restoring lines damaged dueto an accident. An altercation isbelieved to have ensued be-tween a car owner and the lines-men over a petty matter.

One of the linesmen claimedthat the car driver returned backmoments later in the office with

8-10 persons in a car and van,and mercilessly beat up thepower employees in the office.

When contacted, Maina Cur-torim PI Sidhant Shirodkar in-

formed that the police have ar-rested three persons RohidasBorkar, Christie D’Souza andJohnson Dias for the assault onthe power employees WilliamColaco, Seby Colaco and AndrewFernandes.

PI Shirodkar said the policeare on the look out for the re-maining persons involved in theattack.

Further investigations are on.

CAMURLIM ASSAULT

Electricity employees at the residence of Power Minister, Aleixo Sequeira demanding police actionagainst the assailants involved in the assault of employees at the Camurlim sub station.

Photo by Sidharth Mehta

PWD staff transferred, but yetto be relieved of old posting

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, APRIL 18

It appears strange but it’s true.Public Works Departmenttransfers of employees fromBardez, who were transferredfollowing allegations of cor-ruption and indiscipline madeby the Leader of the OppositionManohar Parrikar in the Assem-bly, are in fact, yet to be re-lieved to take over their newposting.

The Public Works Departmenthad issued order of transfer of35 employees from the Porvorimand Mapusa Water Supply Divi-sion XVII last month and theywere supposed to join their newposting with effect from April1, 2010.

The 35 employees includedone Junior Engineer, five tankerdrivers, 10 plumbers, five pumpoperators and 14 labours.

While the five drivers havejoined duty at their new post-ings in South Goa, sources saiddue to political interference, theothers have not been relievedyet from Division XVII.

When contacted the PWD of-ficials simply tried to pass thebuck on one another.

The Executive Engineer Kam-ladinni said that he has alreadyissued order and the AssistantEngineer Surlakar has to imple-ment and relieve the employ-ees.

“I have issued order it is nowupto the Assistant engineer toimplement the order,” Kam-ladinni told Herald.

Efforts to contact the Assis-tant Engineer turned futile.

However, Chief Engineer J NChimulkar said “it is upto theExecutive Engineer to get theorder implemented.”

Herald has learnt that thethree legislators from the sur-rounding constituencies havebeen been pressurising the ex-ecutive engineer not to transfertheir men.

This is despite the leader ofOpposition assuring the assem-bly that no MLAs would interfereif action is initiated against some“erring” employees.

PWD Minister Chruchill Ale-mao, who had assured the As-sembly to take action, refusedto offer his comment on theissue when contacted by Her-ald.

“I will look into the matter,”was all what he said.

Parrikar had said in the As-sembly that the water supplyfor Bardez was sufficient but thedistribution management wasvery bad due to corrupt prac-tices of the employees.

Bicholim

clashes: 11

held releasedHERALD CORRESPONDENT

BICHOLIM, APRIL 18

Eleven persons, who were ar-rested in connection withclashes between two neighbour-ing families on Friday eveningover construction of a tempo-rary shed in front of a house atBicholim, were released on bailon Sunday.

It may be recalled that twopersons were injured in theclashes when preparations forthe famous Shirgao Zatra at Bi-cholim were in progress.

Bicholim police had arrestedVishwadeep Chari, ShivramChari, Swamitra Chari, DeepakChari, Prabhavati Chari, MayurChari, Bhimavati Chari, PrakashChari, Uday Chari, SuhasininChari and Somakant Chari.

Meanwhile, Ramakant Chariand Lalita Chari, who were in-jured and were shifted to AsiloHospital at Mapusa, were dis-charged.

Biometric attendance for Secretariat staffHERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, APRIL 18

The Government will soonlaunch biometric system for at-tendance of employees in theSecretariat.

There are around 700 employ-ees including ten IAS officers,18 Joint Secretaries and UnderSecretaries.

“The work order will be is-sued soon,” Secretary GAD (Gen-eral Administration department)S K Jha told this paper indicatingthat the tender would be allot-ted this month.

He said two companies arevying for the tender and thatpresentations are going on inthe last few days.

Biometric attendance trackeruses fingerprints and attendancegets marked instantly.

With this system, late comingin and early leaving will betracked down discouraging em-ployees from leaving early.

The proposal is to install 2-3biometric time tracking ma-chines in the Secretariat.

A biometric time attendancesystem has many advantagesover conventional time track-ing used at organizations. Typ-ica l ly such organizat ionsmaintain a register book,where people enter their name,time-in, time-out and other re-quired details.

Man commitssuicide

at PissurlemHERALD CORRESPONDENT

VALPOI, APRIL18

A 65-year-old man from Pis-surlem-Sattari committed sui-cide by hanging himself at hisresidence on Saturday.

According to Valpoi police,the incident occurred at about2.30 pm when Vithal KeshavChari’s wife and son had goneout for work in the fields. Theexact cause of the suicide is notknown. PSI N D Parwar is inves-tigating the case under the su-pe r v i s ion o f P I Sh i v r amVaigankar.

This is the second suicide casereported at Valpoi in the lastfew days. On April 15, oneSugandha Patil (20) of Bhuinpal-Sattari committed suicide byconsuming poison.

Dept working on plan for changing rooms at Colva beach: Mickky

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, APRIL 18

Tour i sm Min is ter Mickk yPacheco has said his departmentis working on a plan to see howbest to erect changing roomson the beach stretch frequentedby tourists and locals alike.

Speaking to Herald, Pachecosaid the question of erectingchanging rooms needs to beaddressed taking into accountthe CRZ regulations, given thepermanent nature of the struc-tures, but hastened to add thatthe Tourism department is cer-tainly aware of the need forchanging rooms atleast every300 meter stretch of thebeach.

Reacting to the news item,Gaping holes in the changingroom at Colva, Pacheco main-tained that the so-called struc-ture at Colva has not beenerected by the Tourism depart-ment as a changing room. “The

structure being used as achanging room was once apedestal of the life guardtower. The Tourism depart-ment has not converted thestructure into a changing roomnor has authorised anyone tochange clothes inside the roomor has designated the structureas a changing room”, Pachecosaid.

But, when his attentionwas drawn to the fact thatvisitors, especially women,are put to embarrassment forwant of a changing room atColva and other beachesalong Salcete’s coastline, theTourism Minister said the de-partment is working out aplan to put changing roomsin place for the benefit of thevisitors.

A local NGO, Colva Civic andConsumer Forum headed byconvenor Judith Almeida hadon Saturday cried foul over thestate of affairs of the changing

room with gaping holes. Shehad maintained that womenvisitors to the beach are beingleft embarrassed with thestructure being used as achanging room has gapingholes.

Sources in the know informedthat the tourists, especiallywomen, use the structure as achanging room in the absenceof any such facility near thebeach.

Aussie woman complaints of rapeHERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, APRIL 18

A 25-year-old Australian woman complained ofallegedly being raped at Palolem on Saturdaynight, while Canacona police rounded up a Niger-ian national in this connection.

According to sources, the Australian womanapproached Canacona police on Sunday morningalleging rape by a Nigerian national with whomshe had allegedly partied earlier in a starred hotel.

The woman further told police that she haddrinks in another restaurant till wee hours ofSunday, before accompanying the accused andpassed rest of the night at his place of stay, abeach hut, at Palolem beach.

Acting on the complaint, Canacona police re-portedly rounded a Nigerian youth staying atPalolem, who is accused of rape and sent thecomplainant and accused to GMC Hospital formedical tests. The reports are reportedly awaited.

However, several phone calls to Canacona policewere not attended till late Sunday night.

Sources informed that Canacona PI Raju RautDessai, who is personally handling the rape com-plaint, was held at GMC Hospital in Bambolimwith the complainant and accused, as the testreports were still awaited.

Sources also informed that police earlier inthe evening conducted panchanama and also

video filmed the alleged place of offence atPalolem. Police have also recorded the statementsof the complainant and accused.

Later in the evening, sources informed thatanother Nigerian, a friend of the accused, wasalso questioned by the police.

It is learnt that the woman, who was staying atsome beach huts within municipal coast, got be-friended with the Nigerian friends, who were earlierstaying in a starred hotel, only a day ago, afterwhich the duo shifted to a beach hut at Palolem.

Sources further informed that on Saturdaynight, the three attended a party at a star hotel,and later had drinks in a restaurant at Palolembeach, after which, in the wee hours, the womanand Nigerian (accused of rape) came to spendthe remaining night at the hut, while his friendstayed back, where the Nigerians had earlier inthe night checked-in.

The woman then after reportedly spendingthe remaining night left the hut early Sundaymorning, while at about noon police came search-ing for the Nigerian saying that the woman haslodged a complaint alleging rape.

However, sources informed that police inves-tigation is still underway in the incident, as noother information from the police could be as-certained, as calls were unattended till filing thereport.

Bicholim parallelbridge hits roadblock

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, APRIL 18

The Bicholkars dreams of thecompletion of the parallelbridge, which is under con-struction, may not realise inthe near future as the govern-ment has failed to clear thefile to revised estimate for theproject.

Tenders for the project wasfloated in 2008 but no contrac-tors were ready to bid as theestimated cost of the project ofRs 2.2 crore, which was done in1997, were well below the pres-ent cost.

On a single tender contract,Aditya Contractors took up thecontract at a revised estimatedcost of Rs 6.16 crore in 2009and began construction inMarch itself.

The contractors have com-pleted the piers of the 63 meter

bridge and ready to undertakethe slab.

However, sources said, thework has gone very slow asthe file of the revised esti-mates is pending with the fi-nance department for last oneyear.

“If the slab work is not com-pleted before monsoon thework will suffer and so will theBicholim citizens,” sourcesclaimed adding “the contrac-tors has done mud filling forlaying the slab which if not onebefore monsoons wil l bewashed away causing heavylosses.”

Also, sources added, once thecontractor removes the machin-ery and the manpower it willbe tough to get it back and assuch will only add to costs.

Sources also said that theSpeaker Pratapsing Rane has per-sonally taken up the matter withthe chief minister DigambarKamat but to no avail.

Sources also informed thatthe new bridge is immediatelyrequired as the old bridge isfrom Portuguese regime and itscondition is deteriorating assuch it cannot take the load ofmining trucks.

Also, they said traffic has in-creased 10 times in Bicholim inlast one decade.

PWD Chief Engineer J NChimulkar, when contacted,however, tried to play down theissue.

“The file will be clearedsoon, the budget has been pre-sented by the chief ministerand the secretariat will clearthe revised estimate file,” hetold Herald.

However, the sources saidthe top officials had said thesame thing last year too afterbudget but noth ing hap-pened.

7 injured in mishap at Vasco

VASCO (HR): Six labourers anda car driver were injured, whena vehicle hit the labourers at aconstruction site along the high-way near Jetty, Mormugao, onSunday evening.

According to Mormugao po-lice, the accident occurred atabout 3.15 pm when the car(GA-06-A-6015) was proceedingfrom Vasco towards Sada. Onreaching a sharp curve near jetty,car driver Premanand Parab lostcontrol over the vehicle and hitthe labourers, who were con-structing the retaining wall.

The injured labourers wererushed to Cottage Hospital inChicalim, from where seriouslyinjured Nilamma, Kamala andMalkanna were shifted to GMCHospital in Bambolim, whileMalkappa, Hanumanta andMalava were discharged afteradministering the first aid.

The car which hit the labourers at a construction site near Jetty, Mormugao. Photo by M Prabhav

pg3:Layout 1 4/19/2010 12:05 AM Page 1

IAC chief visits GMC

Dr Alain Verhest, Dr Arun Chitale, and Dr R G Wiseman Pinto atthe scientific meeting held at GMC.

PANJIM(HND): Dr Alain Verhest, President of IAC (Interna-tional Academy of Cytology ) and Professor of Pathology JulesBordet Cancer Hospital Brussels Belgium visited Goa MedicalCollege and interacted with the doctors. He spoke on ClinicalGenetics and FISH ( Fluoroscent in Situ Hybridisation).

Dr Arun Chitale, Professor of Pathology Bombay HospitalInstitute of Medical Sciences, Mumbai, Surgical Pathologist,Joslok Hospital, Sur HN Hospital Mumbai also spoke on Renaland Gastro Intestinal biopsies.

Dr R G Wiseman Pinto, Professor and Head Department ofPathology and Incharge Medical Education Cell of Goa MedicalCollege and Hospital Chaired the Scientific Session. The GoaMedical Council gave CME accrediation to the programmewhich was well attended, says a press release.

GOAGOA, MONDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

HERALD

Pg 4

Prakash is Merces Sarpanch

Former Merces sarpanch Venita Colaco congratulates PrakashNaik on his election as sarpanch. Photo by Kanzil Rodrigues

OLD GOA(HC): Prakash Naik was elected sarpanch of Mercespanchayat at a special meeting in the panchayat office.

It may be recalled Venita Colaco had resigned as sarpanchon March 20 following a mutual understanding and the posthad been vacant for three weeks.

At a special meeting, Naik was elected unopposed as noneof the other members filed their nominations to the post.

Only one panch, Sandhya Hoble, in the 11-member panchayatdid not attend the meeting, which was presided over by SaileshPhaldesai.

Naik has been elected for the second time as sarpanch ofMerces panchayat in the present term, while Yogita Kavlekarcontinues to be the deputy sarpanch.

Later speaking to reports, Naik said his main aim would beto work for the development of Merces village by taking allmembers into confidence under the leadership of St Cruz MLAVictoria Fernandes and her son Rudolf Fernandes.

Portuguese, French classes PANJIM(HNB): The Detroit Institute will conduct Portuguese andFrench classes for children from April 19 to April 24 and fromMay 3 to May 8 at its institute in Panjim.

The course will have an audio-visual and interactive sessions.The children will also get a chance to experiment with Portugueseand French cuisine as part of the course. The course will be con-ducted at Detroit Institute, Jose Falcao Road, Near Mary ImmaculateConception Church, Opposite Progress High School, Panjim.

For further details, contact on 9822131835.

Sancoale gram sabhaPANJIM(HND): Sancoale panchayat will hold its ordinary

gram sabha on April 25 in the panchayat hall at 9 am. It willread and confirm the proceeding of the last gram sabha, placebudget for 2010-2011, place annual account for 2009-2010and also read the proposals received form the public for thedevelopment works. Ant gram sabha member who desires toplace any proposal before the gram sabha may send it to thesarpanch in writing at four days in advance ie by April 21 upto12 noon.

upcOMinG EvEnTS

SHORT TAKES

POWER SHUTDOWN

Felicitation functionVASCO(HR): Murgao Patrakar Lekhak Sangh (MPLS), Vasco,

will felicitate senior journalist Clerencio Furtado (Kelly) fromVasco on his 60th birthday at Hotel La-Paz Gardens, Vasco, onApril 26.

The felicitation committee is headed by Shyam Kaskar, asenior journalist, and other members from the media andsocial field.

Furtado started his journalistic activities in 1970 being therepresentative of Konkani daily Uzvadd run by Gomantak Pub-lication.

Thereafter, he was a correspondent of Navhind Times in1976. Later he joined as a reporter of the West Coast Times,English daily published from Margao.

Presently, Furtado is a freelancer in sports news and astringer for Navhind Times.

Blood donation camp heldPANJIM(HND): Goa State AIDS Control Society organized

recently a blood donation camp in collaboration with theBlood Bank, Goa Medical College, Bambolim at ITI., Altinho,Panjim in which 43 donors participated and donated blood.

Camp was conducted under the supervision and guidanceof Dr Clare D'Mello, Medical Officer(Blood Bank, GMC) andSuresh Laad, Consultant (Voluntary Blood Donation, Goa -SACS).

Director Craftsmen Training Centre spoke on the importanceof blood donation, says a press release.

Speed breakers notified at Varca

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

The District Magistrate, South Goa Margao has notified erection ofspeed breakers in front of Church at Varca;- (Sketch-I) on the road leadingtowards Margao in front of Julies Hair and Beauty Shop at Varca, on theroad leading towards Cavelossim in front of Captain Bar, Varoa and atCawona Carmona (Sketch-2) on the road leading towards Varca, in frontof Gate of Villa Carvalho and on the road leading towards Cavelossimat a distance of 20 meters from the junction near Electricity Pole. Also at Tamder-Carmona (Sketch-III) at a distance of 15 meters

from the junction in front of Tito Provision Wine Stores on the roadleading towards Church at Carmona at a distance of 10 meters nearCompound wall on the road leading towards Gawona, Carmonaand has also directed to install cautionary sign boards demarcatingthe location of the ‘Speed Breakers’.

Distribution of computers

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Computers under the StudentsCyberage Scheme have been re-ceived and will be distributedto the XII std students of 2009-10 batch on April 26 from 9 amonwards at Fr Agnel Higher Sec-ondary School, Pilar.

Patto residents thank Parrikar PANJIM(HND): The residents of Government colony, Patto

have thanked the Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar fortaking up issue of dumping hot-mix, laterite stones and othermaterial at the Patto colony which had put the residents togreat hardships.

The heaps of hot-mix results in emanation of unbearablestink and the residents were compelled to close the doors oftheir balcony.

On complaints from some of the residents, Parrikar promptlyvisited the site and took up the issue to the PWD MinisterChurchill Alemao who instructed the PWD Division –II (Roads)to look for alternate dumping site and stop dumping at thePatto colony giving relief to the residents of Patto.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Riding over the increased col-lection of mining cess, the Statetransport department has wit-nessed 31 per cent hike in itsrevenue for the last financialyear.

Director of Transport Venen-cio Furtado told Herald that thecollection of mining cess, whichalso increased from Rs 10 croreto Rs 20 crore in 2009-10, hasprepped up its revenues for lastfiscal.

The transport departmentsucceeded in collecting cess ofRs 26.76 crore from mining com-panies. As such, the State earnedalmost Rs 54.57 crore throughmining cess in last four years.

The statistics available fromthe transport department re-veals that in 2006-07 the statedepartment collected Rs 4.38crore, in 2007-08 Rs 3.41 croreand in 2008-09 Rs 10.2 crore

Transport dept sees 31% hikein collection of mining cess

were collected as mining cess,which accounts to Rs 17.81crore for the three financialyears.

However, once again the statefelt short off its expected targetof iron ore cess, which was setat Rs 90 crore.

The transport department forthe year 2009-10 has earned atotal revenue of Rs 136.23 crore,which is 31 per cent more thenlast fiscal year where depart-ment earned Rs 104.10 crore.

As per the data, the transportdepartment revenue has shownan increasing trend in last fouryears. In 2006-07 it collected Rs82.53 crore while in 2007-08 itwent upto Rs 92.70 crore.

Apart from mining cess, in-creasing revenue is attributedto increase in collections oftaxes on passenger and goodsvehicles, receipts from sale offorms, receipts under the IndianMotor vehicle (MV) Act, StateMV Act, commodities and serv-ices and other taxes and du-ties.

However, as per the data, thestate did not earned a singlerupee through the impositionof taxes on goods carriers in lastfour years.

wThe transportdepartmentsucceeded incollecting cess ofRs 26.76 crorefrom miningcompanies. Assuch, the Stateearned almost Rs54.57 crorethrough miningcess in last fouryears.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, APRIL 18

Prof Pradeep Masurker said per-sonality development is nothingbut grooming one’s inner andouter self to bring about positivechange in one’s life.

He was speaking as the chiefguest at the concluding day ofthe Personality Developmentcamp organized by Ganesh Gu-rukul at Mapusa on Friday.

“This process includes boost-ing one’s confidence, improvingcommunication skills, wideningone’s scope of knowledge andlearning fine etiquettes andmanners,” said Prof Massurker.

“Each individual has a distinctpersona that can be developedand polished. The personalitydevelopment camp provides anopportunity to the students toshowcase their talents. Hencesuch camps should be organizedin vacations for the students,”opined Masurker.

He further said apart fromteachers, the parents play a vitalrole in moulding the characterof their children. The parentsshould allow their children towatch informative programmesand serials on television, whichwill help them to increase theirknowledge and skills.

Guest of honour formerschool headmistress AnuradhaKarpe complimented the GaneshGurukul for organizing the per-sonality development camp and

‘Personality development brings positive change in one’s life’

also the parents for sendingtheir children to this camp.

“Students should bear inmind that health is wealth andhence they should take care oftheir health, dress well, be neatand organized,” said Karpe.

In her welcome speech,Ganesh Gurukul Di rectorShushma Narvekar said the ob-jective of organizing the Per-sonality Development camp wasto provide an opportunity tothe students to upgrade theirknowledge and skills and stim-ulate that hidden talent.

“During the 5-day camp, theywere taught to be creative, prac-tice meditation and yoga, dis-

cover their capabilities andstrengths and make best use ofthem,” she said.

“Ramesh Sapre, Sangeeta Jad-hav, Sangam Chodanker, MansiPrabhu and Anuradha Karpehave imparted the knowledgeto the participants on varioussubjects like communication,science, crafts, animation, paint-ing, drawing, etc. In all, 50 stu-dents participated in the camp,”added Narvekar.

On the occasion, prizes tothe students, who emerged vic-torious in various competitions,were distributed by the guests.Aarti Kulkarni compered the pro-gramme.

Prof Pradeep Masurker addresses the gathering at Mapusa. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker

APRIL 19

BICHOLIM: Between 8.30 am to 2 pm. Areas affected areHappy Home area, Karapur Tisk, Kodal area in V.P. Sarvan in Bi-cholim Taluka.

DONA PAULA: Between 9 am to 4 pm. Areas affected are Ra-jbhavan, Marvel colony, Marvel village and surrounding Dona-Paula areas at 11 KV Models Feeder

CORLIM: Between 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Kunkolkarsaw mill, Se Cathedral Church, ASI Museum, Navelkar OrnateEstate of Old Goa and surrounding areas.

APRIL 20

DONA PAULA: Between 9 am to 4 pm. Areas affected areModels Millenuim, Models Meridian, Caranzalem area, Swinsea Hotel, Kamat Kinara, State Bank, Tonca and surroundingCaranzalem area.

CORLIM: Between 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Dauji,House of Bom Jesus, Market and vicinity of Old Goa.

VEREM: Between 9 am to 4.30 pm. Areas affected are Veremmarket area, Betim and surrounding areas.

APRIL 21

DONA PAULA: Between 9 am to 4 pm. Areas affected are Lacitadel Colony, Alto Nagalli, Chowgule Bungalow and surroundingareas.

CORLIM: Between 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Dotorbhat,ICAR, SFX residency and vicinity of Old Goa.

TALEIGAO: Between 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected areKevenem, Noble Shelter complex and surrounding areas.

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

‘Mango Mania – Return of theKing’, with the best varieties ofmangoes, will be held at Cidadede Goa, from April 20 to June 10.

Alphonso, Musarad and Man-curado which are by far, the bestavailable varieties, form an in-tegral part of this mango mania- return of the king festival. Per-fect for gifting, customizedboxes of 12 Alphonso mangoeswill be available at Docaria.

Cidade’s team of expert chefshave rustled up a varied fare toentice the taste buds of gour-mand connoisseurs of the State.The special menu will be madeavailable at Laranja, Café Azuland Alfama.

Celebrate with mango maniacocktail and mocktails beforemoving on to crab meat andmango salad or smoked chickenwith sweet mango chutney andmany more.

The chefs have an extensiverepertoire of soups and maincourse dishes, letting one dis-cover prawn and mango chow-der or mango and coconut

Mango mania at Cidadecream soup, before one partakeof pan fried basa fish fillet withmango hollandaise or rawmango fish curry with rice orgrilled chicken with mango andcayenne pepper salsa or achariaam gosht (Jaipur mutton cubespickled with raw mango andserved with naan or paratha),vegetable shashlik with spicymango salsa (skewered vegeta-bles grilled and served withmango coulis) or aam aur subzpasanda (vegetables gently sim-mered in sweet mango curryand served with naan or paratha)and many more.

Assorted beverages on offerare conventional fresh mangojuice, to unique beverages likemango citrus delight and mangopower punch, Aam ka Panna andMango lassi are some of the de-lectable items that form a partof this special offering.

Choose from desserts suchas mango cheese cake, mangocrepes suzette, mango raft sun-dae and many more.

For more information, contact2454545 or visit www.cidadede-goa.com.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, APRIL 18

With the day finally dawning,the famous Lairai Jatra at Shir-gao, the village is abuzz withtraditional festivities as a largenumber of Dhonds, the specialdevotees of Goddess Larai, havebeen thronging Shirgao villageto participate in the Jatra.

The local Dhonds have beenfasting since Thursday, whileoutsiders have also been prepar-ing themselves since the lastone month, as they will take

Shirgao gets ready for Lairai Jatra

part in the famous Homkund.The festivities, which will take

place for five days, begin withthe villagers worshipping thepious Kalash of Goddess Lairai.The Dhonds will then bathe inthe famous Dhondachi Tali andwill visit Mudder, the originalplace of Goddess Lairai.

Rituals in the temple beginearly morning and continuethroughout the day. The Dhondsgather near the Homkund atmidnight and walk on the em-bers barefeet.

Dhonds encircle the Homkund at the Shirgao zatra. Photo by Vishant Vaze

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, APRIL 18

After God has appeared to hu-mankind in almost every formand on most of the objects,‘mount hill’ is the latest entitywhere idols resembling LordGanesh and God Shankar haveappeared and are worshippedin Barcem-Padi.

The two ‘mount hills’ existingin close proximity of each othernearby to the highway at thefoot of Karmalghat on Margaoside are claimed as having sim-ilarity to the idols of LordGanesh and God Shankar.

The mount hills cropped upover a concrete retaining wall,constructed a few years ago toavoid landslides on a Kuctcharoad nearby to ‘Pola code’ busstop on Padi side of the Karmal-ghat foot.

Sources informed that somefarmers using the road report-edly first noticed the appear-ance, reflecting similarity to

‘Mount hills’ resembling Ganesh,Shankar appear in Barcem

idols of Ganapathi and Cobracarrying God Shankar, some daysago and accordingly the newsspread like wildfire.

Soon residents of Barcem andother nearby localities gar-landed the Ganapathi resem-bling mount hill and began to

worship it.A resident even informed that

the smaller mount hill with theone resembling God Shankarcould be of Goddess Parvati andhave appeared just behind toprotect Lord Ganesh existing onthe lower tract of retaining wall.

Lord Ganesh and God Shankar resemble ‘Mount hills’ worshipped atBarcem-Padi village, which is at the foot of Karmalghat.

Photos by Kathy Pereira

Rotary Clubconstructs toiletblocks at Sada

schoolHERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Rotary Club of Dabolim com-pleted the construction of newtoilet blocks at Yuvak SanghSchool in Sada. The toilets havebeen provided under matchinggrants programme of the rotaryfoundation of Rotary Internationalin partnership with Rotary Clubof Vasco da Gama, and 3 RotaryClubs from USA - Rotary Club ofWest Hampton, Southold andEasthampton, and numerous localdonors. The project was inaugu-rated by the Shankar Kirlaparkaron behalf of the district governorGurudatta D Bhakta in the pres-ence of the school managementand Rotarians from Vasco da Gamaand Dabolim clubs.

By providing the toilet blocks,the children including girls willhave the privacy and the hygieneof proper toilets.

Part of the school project ofRotary Club of Dabolim, the clubplans to improve the infrastruc-ture of schools. Other focus areasof the school project include im-proving the quality of teachersand purchase of teaching aids.

Restricted watersupply

PANJIM(HND): There will berestricted water supply to theentire Pernem taluka on April19, says a press release.

Sant GoraKumbhar death

anniversarycommemorated

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, APRIL 18

The death anniversary of SantGora Kumbhar was recently cel-ebrated at Bicholim.

The programme began withthe worship of Sant Gora Kumb-har by Shankar Harmalkar.

Later, Arjun Gosavi andSavlaram Malgaonkar were fe-licitated by Bicholim MLA RajeshPatnekar in recognition of theirservices to the society.

Mayem MLA Anant Shet,Bhagwan Harmalkar, Ladu Ku-daskar, Satyawan Harmalkar, Ra-makant Shetkar, Vilas Kunkalkar,Satish Kunkalkar and VishnuChowgule were present on theoccasion.

The function was comperedby Vilas Kunkalkar, Puja Utturkarand Bhushan Harmalkar while,Mukund Harmalkar proposedvote of thanks. The programmecontinued till late night with acultural programme.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, APRIL 18

Goa Public Service CommissionChairman Prakash Dessai inau-gurated the two-day nationalconference on ‘Electronic Tech-nologies’ organized by the De-partment of Electronics andTelecommunication Engineer-ing, Goa Engineering College,Farmagudi.

“Through all such confer-ences, we have fresh ideas com-ing in. Such conferences shouldnot go waste and it should berecorded and studied. You haveto make sure something goodcomes out of it for the benefitof the society,” said Dessai.

Urging the students to workon e-waste, he said: “Apply yourmind on how to deal with elec-

Conference on electronic technologies organised

tronic waste, which has becomea concern world over. Deviseways so that the e-waste can berecycled or reused.”

According to the organisers,the conference is being heldwith an objective to bring to-gether and provide a commonplatform to researchers in thefield of electronics to put forththeir ideas and work.

“The response was over-whelming with as many as 108papers received from 200 authorsincluding members of the aca-demia, research organisations,students and other professionalsfrom various parts of the countryand also from foreign universi-ties,” said Head of the Electronicsand Telecommunication Depart-ment Prof Rajesh Lohani.

“Out of this, 72 short listed pa-pers were selected for presentationand publication in the conferenceproceedings,” said Lohani.

Goa Engineering College Prin-cipal Vivek Kamat and ScientistDr Y P Costa were also presentduring the inaugural ceremony.

Lions convention at Margao on

May 8, 9HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

The Lions District 324-D2 willbe hosting the first multiple con-vention in Margao on May 8 and9. The Mega convention is goingto be inaugurated by the ChiefMinister Digambar Kamat withPast International PresidentAshok Mehta as the chief guest.More than 1500 delegates fromSouth India and other places areexpected to witness this eventwhich will be held at RavindraBhavan, Margao. This event isgoing to be a curtain raiser formore and more social and com-munity service activities in theState.

The particulars of the eventwere finalized at the meetingof the organizing committeeheld at Margao recently underthe Chairmanship of Past DistrictGove rnor, L ion VasudevValawalker, Lion Dr U MadhavShetty, District Governor and1st Vice District Governor LionNitin Maganlal, organizing sec-retary of the convention. Imme-diate Past district governor, AdvLion Ravi Hegde, PDG LionGanesh Daivajna, 2nd VDG LionKrishna Punaji were also presentat the meeting.

Chairmen and co-chairmen ofvarious committees of the eventparticipated in this meeting.They submitted the reports oftheir respective sub-committeesat the meeting.

The members of various LionClubs in the District 324-D2were appealed to register them-selves as the delegates of thisconvention being held in Goafor the first time. Further infor-mation about the conventioncan be obtained from Lion Ma-habaleshwar Borkar, Public Re-lations Committee Chairman orLion Gangaram Morajkar, Co-Chairman Public Relations Com-mittee (Mobile 9422440247),says a press release.

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REGIONGOA, TUESDAY,19 APRIL, 2010

HE

RA

LD

Pg 5Railways praises Hubli

staff for achieving targetsHERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

Divisional Railway Manager ofHubli division of the South West-ern Railway (SWR) has congrat-ulated all officers and staff ofthe division for achieving thetargets of Hubli Division during2009-10.

He was speaking as the chiefguest at a function at Hubli tocommemorate the 55th RailwayWeek on Tuesday.

Vasco-da-Gama railway sta-tion has won the GM’s efficiencyshields as the best maintainedmajor station, while the shieldfor the best maintained minorstation was bagged by Almattistation of Hubli division.

Indian Railways celebratesthis week every year to com-memorate the starting of firsttrain in India which ran betweenBoribundar and Thane, a stretchof 34-km route on April 16,1853.

Railway men and women arehonoured during this week withcash awards, medals and meritcertificates. Additional DivisionalRailway Manager, Hubli DivisionPrem Chand presided over thefunction that was held atChalukya Railway Institute atHubli.

“Hubli Division which hasearned the honour of being oneof the top five earning divisionsof Indian Railways has alsobagged the General Manager’sefficiency shield for Inter Divi-sional Rajbhasha Rolling Shield,

Adesh Sharma with the awardees of Accounts Department of HubliDivision.

apart from sharing efficiencyshield for engineering and ac-counts departments with Ban-galore Division,” said Sharma.

“The success has endorsedthe good work done by everyemployee of Hubli Division,”added Sharma.

“Hubli Division remained atNo1 position among three divi-sions of SWR in loading as wellas earnings. It has also main-tained best track record and onthe safety and improvement inthe passenger amenities,” hesaid adding that during 2009-10, Hubli Division has achievedexcellence in many aspects ofrailway working, scaled newpeaks and created new recordswith best ever performances.

Sharma highlighted somemajor achievements of the di-vision like best ever clearanceof 6.8 trains per day on Castle-rock -Ku lem ghat sec t ionachieved during December2009, best ever wagon turnout

of 1.5 days achieved during June2009, best ever Train Unit re-lease in January 2010 was 1,234wagons, best ever repeat over-hauling of 185 wagons achievedat Hospet, best ever track re-newal of 62 Ultimate Tensilestrength (UTS) was completedduring December 2009.

Hubli Division has also com-missioned 22 Unreserved Tick-eting System (UTS) at differentlocations and commissioned 14UTS including 14 UTS-cum-passenger reservation system(PRS) and seven PRS centres atpost offices.

Network Touch screen hasbeen commissioned at 10 sta-tions, while a large number oftraffic facility works have beencompleted at Sankval, Rayadurg,Hospet, Munirabad in 2009-10,besides a remarkable improve-ment in the passenger amenities.

Sharma also said the safetyrecord of the Hubli Division hasbeen satisfactory.

Hubli divisionamong top five

earnersHERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

The Hubli Division of SouthWestern Railway has achievedthe freight loading target of 33.6million tonnes and surpassedthe passenger traffic target of29.7 million passengers for fi-nancial year 2009-10.

Thus Hubli Division is amongthe top five earning divisions ofIndian Railways and during 2009-10, a loading target of 31 milliontonnes was fixed and subse-quently the target was furtherincreased to 33.6 million tonnes.

The target was successfullyachieved by Hubli Division inspite of constraints like closureof several mines in Hospet-Bel-lary area and slack period be-tween April-June 2009 due tono demand of iron ore in theinternational market.

According to a press releasefrom the South Western Railways(SWR), Hubli division has loaded84% of the entire loading targetof South Western Railway. MysoreDivision remained at the 2nd po-sition with a loading of 5.46 milliontonnes and Bangalore Divisionstood at the 3rd position by load-ing 1 million tonne only. The grossearnings of Hubli division were atRs 2,968 crore for 2009-10.

Thus there was a substantialincrease in the number of pas-sengers carried by Hubli Division.

Hubli Division carried 36.25million passengers during 2009-10, as against 30 million passen-gers last year. The Hubli Divisionhas surpassed the target by 22%.The passenger earnings have alsoincreased by 13% over last year.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

Residents of Mahalaxminagararea near Laxmi Tek, Belgaum,have been experiencing theworst blackout ever due to thelack of proper supply of elec-tricity.

Thanks to the lethargy ob-served by the HESCOM author-ities, this layout next to thejurisdiction of Belgaum City Cor-poration and Cantonment areaaccording to HESCOM is a vil-lage. This is because, even today,it is connected to the ruralpower grid. Today, the area isgetting less then 12 hours ofpower affecting their normallife. This is one of the rarest ex-amples in modern times, whereurban area is being treated atpar with rural areas.

Actually this layout along withsome other layouts in the areais the part of Benkanhalli grampanchayat. All the other areasunder this gram panchayat like

Ganeshpur, Hindalga, Jyotinagar,Laxminagar and Saraswatinagarare connected to the urban gridof HESCOM and are enjoyingpower supply at par with Bel-gaum.

An engineer ing col legeowned by the local MP whichcomes under the Savagaon areahas been connected to the urbangrid. But residents of Maha-laxminagar have been left to suf-fer with the rural power grid ofHESCOM.

The residents had submittedmemorandums in this regard toDeputy Commissioner Dr J Rav-ishankar and ZP CEO Dr EkroopCaur, but nothing has worked.

It is understood that theBenkanhalli gram panchayat hasalready completed necessaryformalities and submitted re-lated papers for the action fromHESCOM authorities. It is a mat-ter of a distance of about 200mtrs that would connect the lay-out to the urban grid.

However, despite several re-minders, HESCOM authoritiesseem to have turned blind eyeto this layout leaving the resi-dents to suffer.

“We hardly get only 12 hoursof power supply that is affectingour daily life,” said Irappa Jinaga,an ex-serviceman residing in thisarea since last couple of years.

Irappa’s son is pursuing de-gree engineering and his daugh-ter is in Std 12. Like Irappa, allthe other families who haveconstructed to this layout aresuffering very badly as a largenumber of school students inthis area while many others arepursuing their medical, man-agement and engineering de-grees.

“Though ours is an approvedlayout, we are suffering whereassome of the illegal layouts inthe vicinity are enjoying the reg-ular power supply and otheramenities,” an irate senior citi-zen said.

‘Mahalaxminagar residentsdeprived of power supply’

Seasonaldiseases on rise

in Belgaumdistrict

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

With the temperature rising, thenumber of patients in the citytoo also seems to be soaring.

Sudden change in temperatureis causing several seasonal dis-eases and infections which callsfor proper attention. The mostcommon ailment found duringthe summer season is dehydrationwhich if ignored may lead to bodyache, headache, weakness andhigh fever. Doctors in the cityhave advised people to take nec-essary precautions as the scorchsummer season brings lots ofdiseases during the summer.

“People should include limejuice and salads in their dailydiet,” said Dr Raji Tejasvi, a sen-ior gynecologist and physician.

“Water borne-diseases likethroat and viral infections arecommon during the season,”she added calling for proper pre-cautionary measures.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike(KRV), which is engaged in pro-tection of Kannada language andculture in the state and espe-cially in border areas, is nowbeing accused of harassing peo-ple and institutions in Belgaum.

The KRV was seen carryingout the act of moral policing bystopping trucks transportingsugar. The incident that tookplace recently near Nandgad hasirked the management of Mala-prabha Co-operative Sugar Fac-tory near Belgaum.

Speaking at a press conference,the factory Vice Chairman Rajen-dra Ankalagi said the factory wastransporting sugar in three lorrieswith valid documents.

“The KRV had no right to check

the documents, as it is the job of thepolice. The police also approved ofKRV’s illegal act and detained the trucksfor a day at Nandgad police station.We will not spare anyone in this regardand have decided to lodge a complaintto the authorities,” Ankalagi said.

“We will be also filing a defama-tion suit against the KRV as theirillegal act has brought shame tothe factory and to the memberfarmers,” added Ankalagi.

The KRV had on Thursday heldthree trucks transporting sugarand handed over to the Nandgadpolice station. The KRV had alsodemanded for the supersedingthe present board of directorswho under the chairmanship offormer minister D B Inamdar hadregained the power in the factorydefeating the panel formed by thelocal BJP MP and four MLA’s.

KRV accused ofindulging in

moral policing

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, APRIL 18

To attract rural students to-wards basic science courses,the Karnataka governmenthas proposed to start 500 sci-ence colleges mostly in ruralareas from the next academicyear.

After inaugurating the newcollege building of GovernmentPU college at Pashchapur villagein Hukkeri taluka, Minister forPrimary and Secondary Educa-tion Vishveshwar Hegde Kagerisaid the vi l lage would begranted a PU Science Collegenext year.

“The government has alsoproposed to start 300 Com-

merce colleges in the state fromthe coming academic year,” heinformed.

Following poor results in IIndPU examinations in the recentyears, Kageri warned the lectur-ers of government PU Collegesto impart better education toavoid disciplinary action.

He advised the governmentPU colleges to adopt the meth-ods used by private schools forachieving better results.

Minister for Horticulture andPrisons Umesh Katti after brief-ing the history of PU College atPaschapur said the governmenthas also started high schools atIslampur, Basapur and Mavanurvillages of the taluka.

K’taka to start 500 science

colleges in rural areas

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PTI

AHMEDABAD, APRIL 18

The Supreme Court appointedSpecial Investigation Team(SIT) has summoned VishwaHindu Parishad (VHP) interna-tional general secretaryPraveen Togadia to appear be-fore it on April 19, for ques-tioning in connection with the2002 post-Godhra riot cases.

"Our international generalsecretary Togadia has beensummoned by the SIT on April19," VHP sources told PTI.

Sources in the SIT said Toga-dia has been summoned withregard to the complaint ofZakia Jaffery, wife of slain ex-MP Ehsan Jaffery, who wasamong the 69 killed in the Gul-burg society riots on February28, 2002.

Zakia in her complaint hasalleged that Gujarat Chief Min-ister Narendra Modi and 62others, including his cabinetcolleagues, police officials andsenior bureaucrats, aided andabetted post-Godhra riots inthe state.

According to Zakia's com-plaint, Togadia "collaboratedwith the other accused in per-

petration of violence in pur-suance of the conspiracy."

SIT has also questionedNarendra Modi with regards toZakia's complaint for over ninehours on March 27.

The Supreme Court onApril 27, 2009, had asked theSIT to inquire into Zakia'scomplaint. She had ap-proached the apex court afterthe Gujarat High Court re-fused on November 3, 2007to give any direction andasked her to seek redressalbefore the Magistrate's Court.

She had alleged that be-tween February and May 2002there was a "deliberate and in-tentional failure" of the stategovernment to protect the lifeand property of innocent.

SIT has already recordedstatements of many peoplenamed in her complaint whichinclude former minister ofstate for Home GordhanZadafia, BJP leader I K Jadeja,former BJP MLA from Lu-nawada Kalu Malivad, sittingMLA from Mehsana Anil Patel,ex-IPS officer R B Sreekumar,social activist Teesta Setalvad,and IG Shivanand Jha.

SIT summons Togadiafor questioning in 2002 riots

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

The Supreme Court has heldthat those availing conces-sional facilities in transportfrom government or private or-ganisations cannot challengethe conditions imposed forproviding the benefits.

In other words, if personslike senior citizens, physically-challenged and students areextended concessional facili-ties, then the beneficiarieshave to abide by the conditionsimposed for availing them.

"It cannot for a moment bedoubted that a concessiongranted by a carrier, be it theRailways or the Airlines or theRoad Transport Corporation isa concession only and no per-son is entitled to insist that theconcession should be with con-ditions determined by that per-son," a bench of Justices H SBedi and J M Panchal said in ajudgement.

The apex court passed thejudgement while setting asidea Rajasthan High Court orderwhich had directed the Indian

Airlines and certain private car-riers to do away with the con-ditions imposed by them forextending concessional airtickets to senior citizens.

In the case, the airlines hadstipulated that a senior citizenapplying for a concessionalticket will have to do so at leastseven days in advance and thatthe beneficiary will be requiredto stay a minimum of two daysat the outgoing destination inorder to be eligible for the re-turn ticket.

The High Court struck downthe conditions as arbitrary andillegal on the petitions filed bycertain senior citizens.

Aggrieved by the High Courtjudgement, the Centre ap-pealed to the apex court con-tending that it was not forcourts to interfere and decideon such policy matters, unlessit was irrational and arbitrary.

Concurring with the Centre'sview, the apex court said theHigh Court had taken an erro-neous view as it did not giveany reason as to why the con-ditions were unjustified.

Beneficiaries can’t challenge concession conditions: SC

PTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

After serving as a conductorwith Maharashtra State RoadTransport Corporation (MSRTC)for seven years, Manoj Thakurmay lose his job, as BombayHigh Court said that rules can-not be bent to allow for his ex-cess height.

Thakur is 179 cm tall,whereas rules say that maxi-mum height of a bus conductorcan be 178 cm.

His height has not posed anyproblem for him so far, hislawyers contended before Nag-pur bench of High Court, butthe High Court put finger onthe rule.

Thakur applied to MSRTC in1999 for a job on the compas-sionate grounds after his fa-ther, an employee with thecorporation, died.

He sought conductor's post.However, the corporation saidthat he was not eligible, be-cause his height was in excessof the prescribed height.

He was offered a cleaner'spost instead. But Thakur de-cided to move the court, say-ing that MSRTC's decisionamounted to "unfair labourpractice" as defined in Maha-rashtra Recognition of TradeUnions and Unfair Labour Prac-tices Act.

The Industrial court rejectedhis plea, so he moved HighCourt. In 2003, High Courtpassed an interim order that hebe appointed as a conductor,temporarily, while the case waspending.

When the case came up forfinal hearing before the HighCourt, his lawyer argued thatwhile working as a conductorsince 2003, Thakur had notfaced any problem on accountof his height.

However, the High Courtheld that if the courts were torelax the rule, that would "ren-der it meaningless", becausethen somebody who is 180 cmtall may make the same argu-ment.

HC refuses to ‘condone’ excess height of conductor

PTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

Actress Kajol will be felicitatedwith the Master DinanathVishesh Puraskar for her contri-bution to cinema.

The award will be givenaway by legendary playbacksinger Lata Mangeshkar onApril 24 at the Shanmukhanandauditorium in central Mumbai.

The award would consist ofMomento and cash prize of Rs50,000.

The other awardess includesinger Hariharan, Pandit Shiv-anand Patil in the field ofmusic, Prashant Damle for thebest drama of the year "Bahu-rupi", Naseema Hurzukfounder of helpers of thehandicapped with the Anand-mayee Puraskar, actor Mohan

Joshi for his contribution totheatre and Madhu MangeshKarnik (literature).

Shanta Sheke Saraswatiaward would be given to ProfVasant Abaji Dahake for hisdedicated services in poetry.

Kajol to be conferred Dinanath Puraskar

Find peace in spiritualityPaulo Mascarenhas, Panjim

We are all human beings, whether lay orreligious. It is amazing to see so many ofgood lay as well as religious people amongstus belonging to all types of race and creed.Much print has been used to write aboutthe weak nature of our Catholic priests inrecent times. The father of the prodigalson did not dig his past rot, but rather heembraced him and prepared a great banquetto celebrate his home-coming. Any person,whether lay or religious, should not rollfor years in the dung of sin, but rather usethe Sacrament of Confession instituted byJesus himself to release himself or herselffrom bondage of sin.For any person of any creed, the spiritualityis the only weapon to spend his or herearthly days in peace and joy.

Ban the cheerleadersAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco

Cheerleaders have indeed become the newface of sports in India. Goa is no exception.Goan cheerleaders were seen in action atthe 1st National cheerleading championshipat Ravindra Bhavan at Fatorda recently. In all four states participated in the cham-pionship and probably the number of States

participating in the championship will in-crease in the years to come. Cheerleadershave become all too prominent after thefirst edition of the IPL held in India. The pretty, slim, scantily clad damsels gy-rating to ear-blasting music have becomea common feature in every edition of theleague. Music and dancing girls are a headycombination. In this fiasco it appears thesports that is being played in the middle isall but forgotten. It was noticed on the live telecast thatmany of the spectators were in fact cheeringthe cheerleaders as they danced to themusic. Having dance and music at the open-ing ceremony and the closing ceremony isunderstandable. But why have these ex-travagant entertainment on the sidelinesduring the matches? Children below the age of 15 years form asubstantial chunk of the spectators on thefield as well as the TV viewers across thecountry. Having to watch girls gyrating aftera boundary or a six is scored or wicket fallsdoes not augur well for the young impres-sionable minds. This can have a far-fetchedeffect on little minds in latter life as theycould seek undesirable gratification forthemselves after every success they comeacross as they progress in life and in theprocess ruin their lives.

It is understood that being a cheerleaderis a status symbol in the US with a reportedestimated 1.5 millions participants. Is danc-ing by scantily clad women in tune withthe Indian ethos? The answer is big ‘No’.It is high time the Sports Ministry at thecentre brings a total ban on having cheer-leaders performing on the side-lines of aninternational match in any sports.

Enforce civic senseMichael Vaz, Merces

After earning a dubious distinction a coupleof months ago that 60 per cent of Indiansare used to answering the nature’s call inthe open, we are now reminded that thereare more cell phones in our country thantoilets. Once again we are in the limelightfor the wrong reason. It only goes to provewhat scant respect we have for basic civicamenities! And that is disgusting, despicableand disgraceful.Let’s not forget that we boast of being oneof the leading countries in the developingworld. We also claim to be one of the richestcountries in Asia. We have taken long strideseven in space technology. Of late, we havebeen in the forefront for giving aid to some

of the backward countries. Our businessmagnates have competed in the interna-tional arena and have bought several ventures.Yet we are so poor and so backward as notto have toilets, a basic amenity!The tragedy is many of the people in thevillages are reluctant to give up their age-old delight of relieving themselves in theopen air. Even in a developed place likeGoa, which recently received a pat fromthe Planning Commission boss, these thingsare not uncommon. People who go for earlymorning walk have complained of the nau-seating smell emanating around, spoilingtheir morning exercise. We need stringentlaws to change people’s attitudes.

I-T dept’s IPL fiascoEr Jayesh Shrikant Rane, Mumbai

Recently, the Income Tax department raidedIPL’s head office in Mumbai, which couldhave happened early since this is the thirdyear that the IPL is being organised. It clearly shows that I-T department has avery poor approach in this case. It is aknown fact that team franchisees have in-vested big amount of money in the IPL. Insuch a situation, there was a need to keep

close look at the business of IPL, whichhowever did not happen. Now I-T will probe from where the moneyis coming to IPL, whether in the form ofblack money or foreign money.However the question that arises is:Why did the I-T department take sucha long time to wake up from its slum-ber? It only shows how alert the I-T of-ficials are.The need of the hour for the I-T depart-ment is to remain alert all the time ascorruption has become deeply rooted inthe country. It now remains to be seenwhat would be the outcome of this IPL fi-asco, whether the I-T officials are able tonab some culprits or allow them to go scot-free. It also remains to be seen whetherthe finances of the IPL franchises are madepublic.

Sorrowing lies our land Lisa Dias-Noronha, Chorao

Everyday, when I cross the Mandovi riveron the Chorão-Ribandar ferry, I see six toeight iron ore laden barges making theirway to the harbour and at least 4 emptybarges returning. Irrespective of the timeof day, these barges are taking our mudaway in the name of 'development'. Theore is on its way to China, even after theChinese have recently said our quality ispoor.In the name of development our villagesstill do not have water supply on a dailybasis; electricity is supplied with such highand frequent fluctuations damaging ourhousehold equipment; there is no frequentpublic transport service; food prices keeprising; the menace of garbage and straydogs is a nightmare.Our ministers, mining magnates and smalltime illegal miners have taken our trust forgranted. Yes, take our mud away, and in ashort time, we will have to observe that'sorrowing lies our land'.

Media sensationalism and trivialisation!

OPINIONwww.oheraldo.in

Pg8Vol No CX No: 102

Goa, Monday 19 April, 2010

Letters to the EditorLetter of the Day

A fish(y) adviceProf Robert Castellino, Calangute

PETA has urged Goans to turn vegetarians and give up eating fish as it contains a lotof mercury and is bad for the health. Most Goans will find this morsel of advice veryunpalatable. Asking a Goan to live without fish is like asking a fish to live withoutwater! Fish and feni are central to Goan culture. There are, however, some Goans whoare vegetarians, but the majority who are not, must have their plate of fish-curry riceeveryday.Assuming that Goans give up fish, what are the alternatives? It is an established factthat red meat is a health hazard. Besides, it is also a wealth hazard, as meat, anymeat, is expensive. The poor and middle-class Goans manage to survive on small fishthat is relatively cheaper.Vegetables too are equally expensive and injurious to health. They are usually grownusing contaminated water and contain a lot of pesticides. Fruits, likewise, are artificiallyripened using deadly chemicals and as such are a health hazard. Fish, therefore stillremains the hot and safe favourite of Goans.We must however take PETA’s warning about over-fishing very seriously as accordingto it there will be no fish left by the year 2048. The ‘ban period’ when no fishing ispermitted must be strictly enforced so that stocks may be sufficiently replenished.

Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna, Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa - 403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin Tombat(Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial); 2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao: 2737689. Mumbai Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400001 (Tel: 22840702/22844908). RNI No: 43667/83. HOW TO CONTACT US: mail@herald-goa.com — For press notes, general queries. junioryouth@herald-goa.com — Junior Herald & Careers. heraldmirror@herald-goa.com — Sunday Mirror. reporters@herald-goa.com — For Reporters. business@herald-goa.com — For Business news. editor@herald-goa.com — ForLetters to the Editor. sports@herald-goa.com — For Sports news. advt@herald-goa.com — For Advertisements. 2day@herald-goa.com — For Herald 2day. tiatr@herald-goa.com — For Tiatr Reviews and Reports. Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concernedauthors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

Remember the Small ThingsBy Mother Teresa

Some of my sisters work in Australia.On a reservation, among the Aborigines,there was an elderly man. I can assureyou that you have never seen a situationas difficult as that poor old man's.He was completely ignored by every-one. His home was disordered and dirty.I told him, "Please, let me clean yourhouse, wash your clothes, and makeyour bed." He answered, "I'm okay likethis. Let it be."I said again, "You will be still better ifyou allow me to do it."He finally agreed. So I was able to cleanhis house and wash his clothes. I dis-covered a beautiful lamp, covered withdust. Only God knows how many yearshad passed since he last lit it.I said to him, "Don't you light your lamp?Don't you ever use it?"He answered, "No. No one comes to seeme. I have no need to light it. Whowould I light it for?"I asked, "Would you light it every nightif the sisters came?"He replied, "Of course."From that day on the sisters committedthemselves to visiting him every evening.We cleaned the lamp, and the sisterswould light it every evening.Two years passed. I had completely for-gotten that man. He sent this message:"Tell my friend that the light she lit inmy life continues to shine still."I thought it was a very small thing. Weoften neglect small things.

Paths of Wisdom

From the dawn of humankind, Man has feltthe need to be in control. Nevertheless, theontological and metaphysical entities con-

tinue to mystify us. However, foolishly we try toentertain pseudo hope to control what is beyondour reach, and what belongs to a different domain.It would be far better to bow our heads in humilityand faith, than pursue false ambitions to governthe universe. Nevertheless, the empirical realitiescomfort us, for we are familiar with the objectsbelonging to this realm. Even so, at the veryoutset, we must realize that the empirical sub-stance exists because it comes to us from theOne who is beyond our realm. For this reason,authority (which doesn’t exist naturally, but isbestowed from above) over something and some-body, should always be viewed with humility andin the true spirit of service.

Man is a social animal. He lives in fellowshipwith other humans beings, to grow into fullstatus. Human societies are often organized ac-cording to their primary means of subsistence.Society is not a vague entity, but real, which isontologically independent, and utterly irreducibleto, the qualities of constituent individuals. It’s astructure, which gives the individuals a space togrow, and responsibilities towards others, in orderto achieve desired goals for an individual and thecommunity at large. The flipside of such a structureis that it can and often turns out to be more op-pressive and then liberating. Human history isan evolution of our continuous struggle to remedythe wrong in the society; to seek truth, to growin wisdom, so as to develop a better organizationwhich will provide true freedom for all withresponsibility towards one another. This processis ongoing, and will continue till the end oftime.

It shouldn’t dishearten us, but this is so, be-cause we are human and on our own cannot ar-rive at a perfect place here. However, in time,varied forms of authority have been applied torule the community. One such form was democ-racy. It has elevated the human race to a newlevel of interaction, and thus created an egalitariansociety. However, for some known, and unknownreasons, this democracy did not flourish, untillate in the seventeen century. On paper, thissystem of governance designates the satisfactionof the human quest for ideal authority to rule

the people with integrity and honesty. Unfortu-nately, the ideal persists to be a distant reality,even in the most advance countries of moderntimes. For that reason, we have to ask a milliondollar question. Where should we look for aremedy to redress the wrong in a democraticcountry? Could it be in the system or in thevery soul of human kind?

Mankind has witnessed tremendous advance-ment in every field of knowledge, especially inscience and technology. It is ironic that humanitycontinues to suffer despite enormous develop-ment under somewhat a just system, but withunjust minds who exercise the power over thepeople. The progression of knowledge haschanged the objects we employ, but it did nothelp to purify our heart and soul that we mightbecome a better humanity. Power corrupts, andit corrupts absolutely! This evil has ruled thehuman heart from the every dawn of creation.Once in power, it draws the individual to its lowestebb of honest and sincerity, and blinds the personin such a way that he is unable see clearly andjustly all that is around him. At the outset, it is

evident that there is a general misconceptionamong the elected representatives regardingpower. In a democracy, it is really the people whohave the power, and those who have been givenpositions in government, are public servants,meant to serve the community who elected them.Unfortunately and realistically, it’s just the oppo-site. Once elected, representatives grow hardenedhearts - the effect of power, and they handcuffthe people, whereby they amass wealth throughunjust means.

One of the main lacunas in democracy is cor-ruption, which kills the very spirit of the system,leading to anarchy. This system was intended toaddress and redress the needs of all and steadythe development of the community, as well asbe the protector and saviour of the commonman.

The tragedy is that the rich and the powerfulenjoy the benefits and the simple people selltheir power for a mere 500 rupees at the votingboots. What a shame! The Democracy of Goa isnot of the people, by the people and for the peo-ple. It belongs to major lobbies, (read especially

the mining). Subsequently, democracy in Goa ispseudo democracy, which is of the lobbies, bythe lobbies and for the lobbies. Goans shouldnot be surprised to hear this. During it’s longrule, the Portuguese were much more benevolenttowards their subjects. Now, we lived under thepowerful lobbies, who don’t care for the peopleor State of Goa, but only for their own profit andwellbeing. All this is destroying the culture andthe sublime environment of Goa . The governmentfor the “aam admi” is a whitewash which deceivesthe common populace, because no governmenthas worked for the people, keeping them in mindas a priority, but “big-brother.”

The G-7 is preventing the “aam aadmi ” gov-ernment from carrying out its duties. This is theflip side of democracy, which gives leverage tothe elected representatives to stymie the growthand the governance of the State. The G-7,whose agenda is greed and distrust, with itscrime connections has been branded as eviland selfish by the people of Goa. They are ab-solutely right.

However, there is a greater malady, which needsto be delved into, to unearth the truth. Perhaps,the leader of the “aam admi” government hashad the bigger piece of the “mining” pie, and theG-7 is left with little to chew on. In the advent ofsuch impediments to the democratic form of gov-ernment, we ask, which has corrupted the systemto its very core? What is our answer? Should wecontinue to live in a pseudo democracy, or refineourselves with knowledge and wisdom to over-come these hindrances, which are detriment toour progress? Therefore, we need power to trans-form us. This power comes from above, and iswithin us. Only from the All-powerful, Almightyone will we receive the hope that one day theseinjustices to our State will be declared as such.Let us begin again to trust ourselves. The Almightywill keep us strong in faith and humility so thatwe will do what we know as right. Only by Hispower can we begin to move forward. Look tothe future with hope, for we will not resign our-selves to live in a pseudo democracy, but con-stantly work to regain trustworthy politicians,police, and government leaders. Have heart!In the words of Shakespeare, "Heaven isabove all yet; there sits a judge that no kingcan corrupt.

It is ironic that humanity continues to suffer despite enormous development writes PETER FERNANDES

Pseudo Democracy!OHERALDOOHERALDO

On trial: ourattitudes

Like a very well-written plot, the still-unconcluded ScarlettKeeling episode has a lot of drama entangled in it. Ashfrom a volcano in Iceland has now kept the dead girl’s

mother, Fiona MacKeown, from flying to Goa to depose in aPanjim court.

Given the sensational nature of this case, it is not too sur-prising to find a lot of media hype generated over it. TheBritish press, in particular, has blown this into probably thesingle most important story that readers back home haveheard from Goa since the Commonwealth Retreat in 1983.

But besides the drama, and the multiple tragedies involved,this case involves a clash of attitudes and assumptions. It justgoes to show how in our globalised world, we see things verydifferently, based on our cultural assumptions and biases. Inthe bargain, almost every side emerges the loser.

Did the outrage—not wholly unjustified—over a single casein Goa get a lot of attention because of the clout of the Britishtabloids? Did MacKeown pay a high penalty in the court ofpublic opinion because of her untraditional lifestyle, and part-Gipsy roots? Does television reduce serious issues to a mediacircus by targetting sound-bytes (by the beach, in this case)?Was cheque-book journalism partly at fault for ensuring the‘story’ emerged in a certain manner, probably unfair to manyinvolved?

To begin with, it must be conceded that it is wholly unac-ceptable for the police to keep the lid of a unexplained deathcase for four to five days. What was surprising that the storyof Scarlett’s death emerged first in the UK, and not in Goaitself. It is in nobody’s interest—definite not that of Goa’stourism industry—to try to avoid adverse publicity by sweepingthe truth under the carpet. A far more productive approachwould be to frankly access the risks to tourist visitors, bothforeign and Indian, and make this known to those visitingGoa. But doing this presumes that the State is open, transparentand honest in the way it works; we cannot hazard such as-sumptions, given past experience.

But once the story emerged, the manner it was treated wasbizarre, to say the least. Police and government authoritieshave already received the flak they deserve, for first trying tomake light of the case. But lesser attention has been paid forthe authorities later bowing to the pressure of the (mainly)foreign media.

From the response that emerged in the West, it seemed al-most like a return to age-old stereotypes. The “lustful Indianmale” is a colonial perception of the West, going back to 1857.India’s First War of Independence as it has been called (the“Sepoy Mutiny” to South Asia’s then rulers) saw allegations ofwar rape used as British propaganda to justify the colonisationof India. Today it is accepted what rape incidents by Indianrebels against English women and girls were uncommon duringthe revolt.

Others subsequently built on the stereotype of Goa beinga terribly wild place, the culmination of which saw Goa dismissedas the “rape capital”. But if politicians had their own reasonsfor fuelling such talk, there were other attitudes that emergedfrom a case which depicted a severe clash of perceptions.

Middle-class morality found disfavour with MacKeown’slifestyle choices, which she was hard-pressed to defend. Ideally,a crime should be a crime, regardless of who is involved. Backhome in the UK, the mother of the dead teenager is facingcharges of 19,000 pounds benefit fraud.

For the overseas media, this is a campaign against corruptionand crime in a Third World destination. But the involvementof both along the seamier side of Goa’s tourism industry isnot new, nor is it going to be fought with screaming headlinesalone. As media reports continue to rake up emotions andgarner sympathy for diverse parties involved, few seem to beconcerned about a Goa that often feels it is at the centre ofchange rapid enough to lose complete control of.

Letters should be 150 words or less inlength, and should have the writer’s name,address and telephone number. The editorreserves the right to edit letters for sizeand readability, and to delete any personalattacks or libellous /objectionable matter.

Values Devalued

Goa”s Heartbeat: Preity and Ness together again? Carmen Electraregrets getting fake breasts! Sunanda Pushkar: the minister’s“external affair” I don’t feel the need to marry john! : Bipasha

Am I the only one who feels strange after reading such newsitems? Or is there a fraternity, like me, who wonder what Preityand Ness being apart or together, has to do with me?

If Bipasha does not want to marry John, am I supposed to rejoiceor lament?

First Carmen Electra gets fake breasts—God alone knows whyI should be interested in that!! But worse she regrets it-should Iorganise a penance ceremony for it?

For days together the media carried the story of Sania andShoaib and one poor fat deserted wife or not a wife! A one linerwould have sufficed to know about the actions of India’s tennissensation. Why then is the press and our esteemed TV channelswith seemingly great commitment to NEWS doing this? Who arethey catering to? The people who live on celebrity gossip? Aretheir own lives so mundane that ‘real fun’ is to be derived vicariouslyfrom others’ escapades and miseries?

Does this tell anything to you about the society we are living in?

Or am I one of the very few, who, when they see such items, feela distinct sense of the bizarre and the absurd? Media, especially,newspapers, magazines and TV channels, are very powerful entities.They have the power to formulate public opinion and thus, a re-sponsibility towards that public.

That sense of responsibility is lost to some extent, in the raceto gain higher ratings and debating on non issues. How much dowe really know about Shashi Tharoor and his ‘lady love’, to commenton their relationship and who are we to conduct a mass courtroomdrama to ascertain whether Shoaib is a rogue or victim? More im-portantly, how do their personal lives impact ours in anyway?Will their story change the quality of our lives? Will learning thedetails about their sex lives bring a great revolution in society?

Seventy six men were butchered by the Maoists but the TV chan-nels divided their time equally between the Sania- Shohaib messand the massacre! This country has 60 percent of its people livingbelow poverty line. There is the Maoist and Naxal threat. There isthe never ebbing terrorist threat. There is no safety or respect forwomen, made obvious in the number of infanticides, feticides,witch hunts, rapes and honour killings.

There is not much credibility in the working of the government;there is very little accountability too. We live in an unsafe worldwhere thousands are homeless and live on the streets of the met-ropolitan cities, and endure extreme climate like in the extremecold of 2 degrees C, in Delhi, where newborns lie uncovered andunattended to on a concrete footpath, while the elite classes,boil and sanitize the bottles of their children or have maidsto do so. Yet the media almost never tackles these issues.If they do, it is often to sensationalize it and then neverfollow it up.

I want to see this country develop as a whole, the farmers, thedaily wager, the labourer. Media depicts the lavish lives of the richand the famous and thus a poor man feels more starkly, thedifference between the classes.

The media is one such powerful estate, which can bring aboutsocial awakening and change. Often, they do so, with great results.But very often they focus on non issues while this great big countryis caught in such toils and travails and real survival issues. It istime the media reassess its role in society and works towards de-velopment, rather than get caught up in trivia.

Press NotesBy Sajla Chawla

Smile with SmithaSmitha Bhandare Kamat

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Goa is not going. It has gone

BY AIRES RODRIGUES

We all talk about saving Goa. The moot question is, ‘Is thereanything at all that remains to be saved?’ It’s good to be op-timistic but the ground reality is that Goa’s decay has beenexpedited during the last five years in particular. The politicalvampires have sucked Goa’s blood. The political vultures havenot shied away from feasting and even stripping the bonesclean.

We have seen Goa’s environment and ecology damagedone in broad daylight. Despite so many NGOs and so manyactivists, Goa has reached this current critical state. ‘Why’, isan issue every Goan should ponder on .

The last five years has witnessed a record number of peo-ple’s protests and public meetings on various issues. Therehave been several hunger strikes. Some have even composedpoems, others have written songs highlighting various issues.Films and documentaries have been released on issues con-cerning Goa. Many have voiced their outrage by writing arti-cles and letters to Editor in various newspapers. Has all thisbeen a waste of time and energy? The deaf, dumb and blindgovernment continues presiding over the merciless and insen-sitive slaughter of Goa.

Goa, being a small state, could have led by example. Whilewe could have managed the state with five Ministers, we havea Jumbo cabinet. With every Goan Minister has his ownagenda, we virtually have 12 Chief Ministers misgoverning thisState and at times holding Goa and Goans to ransom.

Politics was meant to be a dedicated mission. Unfortu-nately, it has become a very lucrative business. Today corrup-tion has been institutionalised. Politics should not be thescoundrel’s last resort. Unless the political and electoral pro-cedures are totally revamped and overhauled, this current sadstate of affairs will become a vicious spiral which will only getworse.

Goa’s basic infrastructure is in doldrums. It just cannotcope with the growing needs of the ever expanding popula-tion. It is painful to see our hills and fields being convertedinto concrete jungles. When will all this stop? Given thechoice, our politicians will not even spare the rivers andrivulets.

India belongs to us all and nobody is against migrants.What has to be ensured is, controlled migration into Goa.Every migrant should be entitled to the same rights and priv-ileges that a Goan would receive if he had to settle in Kashmir,Kerala or Karnataka.

Law and order is a key to the prosperity and well being ofany society. A small state like Goa could have maintained itspeace and tranquility but the ground realities are a matter ofgreat concern. With no corrective steps being taken we havereached a point of no return.

Today murders and rapes are on the increase. At times thePolice lack the will to investigate because of political pressure.The Government should study the causes of crime so that ap-propriate measures taken rather than taking action after thehorse has bolted. Today the Goa Police force lacks any inde-pendence. It is most unprofessional and unbecoming of thepoliticians in power who have over the years systematicallyeroded the authority of Goa's Director General of Police (DGP)and Inspector General of Police (IGP) in the matter of the post-ing of police personnel. Politicians speak about the independ-ence of the police and of the law taking its own course. Thereality is very different as they interfere in the day to dayworking of the police.

It is time to make the Police force function as a profession-ally-competent body and not as mere agents of the politicalparty in power. Superficial steps would be merely cosmeticand would not provide long-term benefits. There has to be aconsensus to ensure that the police get their independenceand identity. It is a shame that over the years officers havebeen manipulated and emasculated by politicians in powerand in fact the officers have no role to play except to danceto the tunes of those in power. In effect they have been boundand gagged. The frequent transfer and victimization of policeofficers at the instance of politicians has to stop. It affects themorale and credibility of the entire police force.

In Goa, where unfortunately money and muscle powerrules the roost, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) can go a longway to protect us from being trampled upon by the rich, themighty and the well connected. A PIL is a way to accommo-date and enable the poor, downtrodden and weaker sectionsof the society to ventilate their grievances and to seek thenecessary redressal with the aid and assistance of NGOs andpublic spirited individuals.

The Right to Information Act (RTI) is another tool that canbe used by every individual to make an impact and bringabout change. We all have to be ardent supporters of the RTIAct. A lot of information was earlier suppressed by the Gov-ernment. Now the RTI should give people a feeling of partic-ipation.

Sadly there is no will and desire on the part of the author-ities to attend to Goa’s pressing problems. It is for this reasonthat there is a decline in the number of quality tourists visitingthe State. Our beaches and other tourists’ spots are coveredwith garbage and filth. With a government unable to removethe grounded River Princess for almost a decade we can onlydream of a sea link connecting Panaji to Vasco.

The onus for Goa’s current state of affairs is on us. WeGoans are very laid back. There has been some awakening andawareness in a few villages. But all this has come very late.With the cancer of corruption and destruction of Goa havingspread at a galloping rate what now only remains to be doneis writing the obituary of what was once a beautiful Goa. Arewe paying the price for being too ‘Sussegad’? The Late PanditJawaharlal Nehru had once said “ Ajeeb hai Goa ke log”. Astrange lot aren’t we?

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

With political consensus miss-ing and the government facinghard times on some fronts, theWomen's Reservation Bill is un-likely to be brought in the LokSabha this session, which con-cludes on May 7.

"Are we short of problemsthat we add one more to it,"said a senior Congress leaderand Union Minister when askedwhether the government wasgoing ahead with the bill in theLok Sabha in this session.

He said there were no plansto bring the bill in the remain-ing part of this session, under-lining the fact that thegovernment's priority was toget the financial businesspassed and desist from anyfresh controversy.

The government had so farbeen saying that the bill wouldbe introduced in the Lok Sabhathis session.

It has changed its opinion in

view of differences amongleaders at an all-party meetingheld earlier this month tobreak the logjam over the billand the Yadav trio declaring avirtual war on the issue.

Mulayam Singh (SP), LaluPrasad (RJD) and Sharad Yadav(JD-U), staunch opponents tothe Bill, are sticking to their de-mand for quota within quotaand UPA ally Trinamool Con-gress has also joined the cho-rus.

The 21-member SP and four-member RJD are outside sup-porters of the government andhave threatened to withdrawsupport if it went ahead withthe bill.

Not only did consensuselude the meeting, RJD and SPutilised the meeting of 13 par-ties to discuss price rise to gar-ner support for their cause.

The bill has taken a backseat in the government'sscheme of things in view of theBJP and the 13-party grouping

brought together by the Leftparties planning to corner thegovernment on the price riseissue.

Left parties were on the sideof the Congress as also the BJPin the passage of the Constitu-tional amendment bill in theRajya Sabha.

The bill envisages 33 percent quota for women in theLok Sabha and state assem-blies.

Now, a section in the BJP isalso singing a different tune onthe issue with senior leaderGopinath Munde saying thatthere should be quota for OBCwomen in assemblies and theLok Sabha and he would presshis party to take this view.

Though he described this ashis "personal opinion", Mundehad said "I will persevere tohave my party take this view."

Opposition has also drawnup plans to give the Congress-led government a tough timewith the BJP-led NDA making it

clear that it would coordinatewith other parties in bringinga cut motion to force rollbackof the hike in prices of petro-leum products and fertilisers.

BJP has 116 members whileits allies JD(U) has 20, Shiv Sena11 and Akali Dal four.

The 13 non-NDA and non-UPA parties, which have beenbrought together by the Leftparties and account for 87MPs, have also decided tobring a cut motion.

Congress-led UPA has astrength of around 265 mem-bers, including some inde-pendents and BSP's action ofnot attending the meeting of13-party grouping has raisedits comfort level in the event ofa crisis in the 543-memberHouse.

A cut motion puts to test thestrength of the government inthe Lok Sabha. If the motion isadopted, it amounts to defeatof the government on a moneymatter.

Govt unlikely to bring women’s quota bill in LS this session

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

With the Opposition partiesfrequently disrupting QuestionHour over various issues, LokSabha Speaker Meira Kumar isseriously contemplating meas-ures to prevent this includingchanging its time.

After the first two days ofthe second phase of theBudget session were wastedover the Dantewada issue andShashi Tharoor row, a worriedMeira Kumar told PTI Bhasha,"not allowing the QuestionHour to continue is a matter ofconcern. I am thinking of meas-ures which can help in prevent-ing the Question Hour to bedisrupted."

She added, "Question Houris being targeted but this iswhat makes the Parliament apublic institution in truesenses, where legislature's re-sponsibility towards people isestablished."

The Lok Sabha Speaker saidshe had still not decided overthe measures but "whatever isthe right measure, will betaken."

Sources in Lok Sabha Secre-tariat, however, said theSpeaker was possibly lookingat the possibilities of changingthe time of Question Hour andthe officials were looking atthe feasibility of holding it in

the evening.Asked if all political parties

would be consulted on thisissue, Kumar said, "We will talkto all the parties but this is onlyat the level of discussions."

In the first Budget Session of14th Lok Sabha, 19 hours and21 minutes were spent in dis-cussing the general budget,five hours for Question Hour,whereas, 47 hours werewasted in disruptions.

In the 15th Lok Sabha's firstbudget, 50 hours were spentdiscussing the Budget, 20hours on questions, whereas,23 hours and 45 minutes werewasted.

In both the Houses of Parlia-ment, the day's proceedingsbegin with the Question Hourand senior officials of variousMinistries and departmentswork as per its timing and lateron take up other non-Parlia-mentary work.

The proposition of holdingthe Question Hour in theevening is likely to affect thework of Ministries and Bureau-crats.

A few Parliamentarians said,to add weight to the issuesraised by them, some politicalparties demand cancellation ofthe Question Hour to discussthe matters raised by themwithout waiting for the ZeroHour.

Speaker mullingchange of time

of Question Hour

A white tiger in a pond tries to keep himself cool in a Lucknow zoo on Sunday.

PTI

CHENNAI, APRIL 18

After wooing global automobilegiants and becoming a leadingsoftware exporter, Tamil Nadu isall set to pioneer an e-wastepolicy to encourage green infor-mation technologies.

"A comprehensive e-waste(electronic-wastes) policy hasbeen finalised and will soon besigned by Chief Minister MKarunanidhi and other minis-ters concerned. It will be readyin two or three weeks", State ITMinister Dr Poongothai toldPTI.

The policy, she said, wouldaddress issues pertaining topublic health and environmentdue to the impact of the 'inef-fective and continuous dis-posal' of e-waste.

"It will educate the publicand officials concerned on howto avoid recycling electronicequipment more often", shesaid, adding that it would alsorecommend changing only thecomponent in an electronicitem.

Poongothai said the policywould have a single window fa-cility to guide investors.

She said Tamil Nadu has reg-istered an impressive jump insoftware exports even duringthe economic slowdown in2008-09 at Rs 36,680.40 crore,a 29 per cent increase over lastyear.

Non-Governmental Organi-sation Toxics Link said a studycarried out by them revealedthat e-waste was a problem ofstaggering proportions in thestate, which produced morethan 21,810 tons in 2009.

Arun Senthil Ram, a top offi-cial who led the survey, said itwas based on "market supplymethod", in which five compo-

nents like televisions, mobilephones, computers, washingmachines and refrigerator weretaken into account.

Prabhu Srinivasan, propri-etor of Trishyiraya RecyclingIndia, a company providing E-waste management consul-tancy, electronic and electricalwaste recycling in the country,said other e-wastes like lead-acid automotive batteries, alka-line and button batteries,nickel cadmium rechargeablebatteries, printers, heat pumpsand air conditioners also poseenvironmental problems.

He also said electronic wasteis increasing every day, as com-puters, mobile phones and tel-evisions get quickly outdatedin the market and are thrownaway for newer versions.

“In the past, when pots werebroken, they were not thrownaway. The broken pots werecrushed into fine clay powder.That improved clay was usedto make striking and fine-look-ing new pots. Today, we usemany materials once and thenconsider them as waste. Ourtask now is to develop the age-old art of recycling exercises byour forefathers,” he said.

The Central Pollution Con-trol Board (CPCB) recent surveyreport said the top 10 citiesgenerating e-waste are Mum-bai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata,Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyder-abad, Pune, Surat and Nagpur.”

“There are 36,165 hazardouswaste generating industries inthe country, which generates6.2 million tonnes of haz-ardous waste every year, ofwhich landfillable waste is 2.7million tons, incinerable 0.41million tons and recyclablehazardous waste 3.08 milliontons,” the survey said.

TN all set to pioneer e-waste policy

PTI

BETUL (MP), APRIL 18

One person drowned in a wellwhile running away for safetyand three others injured aftera Christian prayer meeting un-derway in a field was attackedby unidentified persons whohad covered their faces withsaffron cloth at village Saliyanear here last night, policesaid.

Around 8 - 10 persons armedwith lathis and tube lightsstormed into the Christianprayer meeting and attackedthe congregation followingwhich a person ran for safetyand fell in a nearby well whichhad no boundary walls, policesaid.

Three others, including awoman, were injured in the in-cident, they added.

The deceased has been iden-tified as Amit Gilbert (25), aChristian who had come to at-tend a meeting from Raipurdistrict of neighbouring Chhat-tisgarh state, Superintendentof Police R L Prajapati said.

The attackers also damagedchairs and other stuff at thevenue of the meeting, the SPsaid.

The unidentified personshave been booked under rele-vant sections, the Sarni policestation area Sub Divisional ofPolice (SDOP) Abhishek Rajasaid.

Prima facie, it appears thatGilbert ran for safety followingthe attack and fell in the well,he said adding that investiga-tion were on. He said the bodyof the deceased has been sentfor post-mortem.

1 drowned, 3 hurt after

Christian meet attacked in MP

PTI

BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 18

The indefinite cease-workcalled by Orissa Medical Serv-ice Association (OMSA) ap-peared to have evokedlukewarm response today withthe authorities claiming nearnormal attendance of doctorsand smooth functioning in var-ious hospitals.

"Around 70 doctors have re-ported for duty today. Except3-4 doctors, almost all ofthem are working," Gangad-har Rath, Chief Medical Offi-cer of the Capital Hospital,said adding that the strikecalled by OMSA had ab-solutely no impact on thefunctioning of the hospital.

However, he said a closewatch was being maintainedon the situation and adequatemeasures have been taken todeal with any eventuality.

Health services at govern-ment hospitals in most parts ofthe state were also reported to

be normal with most doctorsreporting for work, sourcessaid.

All 27 doctors at RourkelaGovernment Hospital (RGH)joined duty and its functioningwas not affected due to thestrike call, CMO of RGH Rajen-dra Patnaik said.

Similarly, there was little im-pact in other hospitals in Sun-dargarh including the districtheadquarter hospital withemergency and casualty func-tioning normally.

Though some doctorsstayed away from duty, workremained unaffected, ChiefDistrict Medical Officer of Sun-dargarh, Bikram Kindo said.

OMSA members began theircease work demanding im-proved promotion avenuesunder Dynamic Assured CareerProgression (DACP).

Leaders of agitating OMSA,in the meantime, have goneunderground fearing arrest asthe state government warned

of tough measures under pro-visions of the Essential Serv-ices Maintenance Act (ESMA)to deal with the indefinitestrike.

Health Minister PrasannaAcharya said action would betaken against those doctorsstaying away from work.

As the OMSA refused to jointalks on the demand, the gov-ernment was also planningsteps to de-register doctors totackle the cease-work, officialsources said.

The OMSA President Mad-husudan Mishra, who had beentransferred to a hospital inSundargarh district, was yet tojoin there.

Doctors had refrained froma proposed strike last yearafter Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik assured them that a de-cision on DACP would be takensoon. "However, no progresshas been made on this so far,forcing us to resort to strike,"Mishra said.

Orissa doctors’ cease-work evokes lukewarm response

Court comes to aid of

minor loversPTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

An affair involving minorsended on a happy note with aDelhi court intervening to helpthem marry each other thoughthe father of the girl had regis-tered an FIR against theteenaged boy, who wascharged with rape.

The girl, who was just above16 years, appeared before thecourt and expressed her desireto marry the accused, whichprompted the court to acquitthe boy of the serious charge ofrape.

Ravi, who was in jail sinceJune last year after his arrest,heaved a sigh of relief as Addi-tional Sessions Judge KaminiLau sentenced him to the pe-riod which he had alreadyserved during judicial custody,for the offence of kidnapping.

The girl's family was hesitantdue to caste differences butwere suitably advised andcounselled by the court.

PTI

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Airline pilots are known to behigh fliers, professionally andsocially, but the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) is not amused thatmany pilots have recently beenfound "high" on duty.

"During last one year, totalnumber of 42 alcohol positivecases were detected," theDGCA said.

This information has beenprovided by the DGCA in re-sponse to an RTI query by Ab-hishek Shukla who soughtdetails of pilots found drunkon duty.

The DGCA did not give anydetails of the pilots or thenames of the airlines involved,except to say that action "istaken against the crew mem-bers as per regulatory provi-sos."

The DGCA is the regulatorybody for civil aviation in India

and is responsible for ensuringsafety of operations.

Drunkenness among pilotsdirectly impacts flight safetyand aviation authoritiesaround the world, includingthe International Civil AviationOrganisation, mandate a zerotolerance to alcohol where pi-lots and cabin crew are con-cerned, experts say.

In response to the RTIquestions, the DGCA did notspecify whether the pilotswere detected before theyboarded the aircraft andwhether they were preventedfrom operating a flight afteralcohol was detected in theirblood sample.

The nature of the actiontaken against the pilots wasalso not revealed.

Alcohol in the blood of pilotas well as cabin crew is a seri-ous flight safety issue, expertssay.

"The rules prescribe that

there shall be no trace of thealcohol in the blood of thepilot and the cabin crew. Al-cohol in the blood numbs thesenses and dulls the reflexesand increases response time.The effect of alcohol is muchmore at high altitudes," for-mer Director General CivilAviation Kanu Gohain toldPTI.

Rule 24 of Aircraft Rules pro-hibits crew members from tak-ing any alcoholic drink 12hours prior to the commence-ment of a flight.

Any crew member who testspositive in the pre-flight med-ical check or refuses to take abreath analyser test is requiredto be taken off flying duty forat least four weeks and the air-line is required to initiate dis-ciplinary proceedings.

In case of any accident or anear-miss, it is mandatory totest the pilot and co-pilot fortraces of alcohol.

42 pilots found tipsy last year; experts raise safety concerns

Dead baby found alive

PTI

NASHIK, APRIL 18

A new born premature baby,who was declared dead by agovernment-run hospital, wasfound alive after she startedcrying on the burial ground,hospital sources said today.

The incident occurred afterthe baby's mother SavitaPawar gave birth to the child.However, seeing no move-ments in the baby after thebirth, the doctors declared itdead.

"While taking the baby forburial, the bay started crying,forcing relatives to stop fur-ther process and returnedfrom the spot," Savita told re-porters here.

Meanwhile, Congressleader Naresh Patil has de-manded action against thedoctor. Nashik Municipal Cor-poration (NMC) Commis-sioner will take furtheraction, sources added.

AGENCIES

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Actress Raima Sen, known forexperimental and offbeat rolesin ‘Chokher Bali’ and ‘AntarMahal’, says she now wants toshow her glamorous avatar onthe big screen.

“Yes, why not. I’m all forglamour and I would love toportray a glamorous character,”Raima, who showcased her tal-ents in both Hindi as well as re-gional movies, told IANS in aninterview.

She made her debut with“Godmother” in 1999, fol-lowed by Rituparno Ghosh’s“Chokher Bali” and PrdeepSarkar’s “Parineeta”. She alsofeatured in “Antar Mahal” inBengali and “The Bong Con-nection”. But the 30-year-olddenies on being typecast to aspecific genre.

“No it’s not a conscious de-cision at all. Like I said, I endup choosing the best of what Iget. So if a great commercial

movie comes my way, I’ll grabit. I want to work with differentdirectors and experiment withdifferent, interesting roles -ranging from out and out com-mercial to offbeat.”

Raima thinks she has beenfortunate enough with her line-up of film when she looks backand feels lucky at her achieve-ments.

“I’ve learnt a lot, experiencesthat cannot be measured inwords and sentences and feel-ings that cannot be captured ina gist. But overall it’s been afun experience. I cherish all themovies I’ve done so far and I’vebeen lucky to have many op-portunities to work with greatco-stars and directors.”

Talking about the challengesshe faced while playing amother of an eight-year-oldchild, she said: “It was defi-nitely the most challengingtask because I had to get underthe skin of a mother and be-have like one.”

I’m all for glamorousroles: Raima Sen

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PTI

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 18

Pakistan's ruling PPP hasvowed to take "appropriate legalactions" against ex-military rulerPervez Musharraf and othersnamed in a UN panel's report asbeing responsible for the assas-sination of former premier Be-nazir Bhutto.

The PPP's core group or topleadership, including PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and Prime Min-ister Yousuf Raza Gilani, decidedon this course of action duringa meeting held late last night.

Zardari, who became head ofthe PPP after his wife BenazirBhutto's death in 2007, chairedthe meeting.

The meeting accepted the UNcommission's report on the factsand circumstances of Bhutto'skilling and "recommended tothe Prime Minister to take ap-propriate legal actions in thelight of the" report, said a state-ment issued by the PPP.

The PPP expressed its "resolveto expose and bring to justiceall those, including Gen (retired)Pervez Musharraf, who planned,abetted and indulged in thecriminal act, screened off theoffenders and destroyed the ev-idence," party spokesmanFarhatullah Babar.

The UN commission's report,which indicted the previousregime led by Musharraf for fail-ing to provide effective securityto Bhutto despite numerousthreats to her life, calls on Pak-istani authorities to make a de-termination of the criminalresponsibility for planning andcarrying out the assassination.

The PPP's core group recom-mended that the Prime Ministershould take appropriate legalactions against government of-ficials mentioned in the UNpanel's report.

PPP spokesman Babar said themeeting was of the view thatthe UN panel's report had en-dorsed the party's position thatMusharraf was responsible forBhutto's assassination.

The meeting recalled thatBhutto too be l ieved thatMusharraf wanted to eliminateher and she had mentioned this

in a letter and in numerous pressand public statements, he said.

The News daily quoted un-named sources as saying thatthe PPP’s core group recom-mended that the names of allofficials accused of negligencein providing security to Bhuttoshould be put on the Exit Con-trol List, a document listing thenames of people barred fromtravelling out of Pakistan.

The core group recom-mended that all suspects whowere currently outside Pakistanshould be brought back to the

country.It also recommended that the

government should monitor theactivities of officials named inthe UN panel's report, thesources said.

Another PPP spokespersonFauzia Wahab, a close aide ofZardari, told the Dawn newspa-per that the party had decidedto constitute a committee toidentify people within the PPPwho were responsible for pro-viding security to Bhutto.

She said the UN panel's reporthad categorically held theMusharraf government, the for-mer government of Punjabprovince and the administrationof Rawalpindi responsible forBhutto's murder.

Wahab said cases had alreadybeen registered but these couldbe altered in the light of legalexperts' opinion after examiningthe UN commission's report.

Shortly after Bhutto's assas-sination in December 2007, thePPP's central executive commit-tee called for the setting up ofa UN inquiry commission toprobe her killing.

Subsequently, Parliamentadopted a unanimous resolutioncalling on the government toapproach the UN for setting upof an inquiry commission.

The PPP's core group thankedthe UN commission for its ef-forts.

The core group's meeting wasalso attended by Interior Min-ister Rehman Malik, InformationMinister Qamar Zaman Kaira,Law Minister Babar Awan andsenior PPP leaders JahangirBadar and Rukhsana Bangash.

PPP vows action on UN Bhutto killing report

Musharraf may sue UN panel: Aide

PTI

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 18

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf may sue mem-bers of the UN commission that probed the assassination ofex-premier Benazir Bhutto for holding him responsible for herkilling, one of his aides has said.

"In the report, Musharraf has not been accused personallybut it has been mentioned that his government failed to protectBenazir Bhutto," Chaudhry Fawad, a lawyer for Musharraf, told'The News' daily.

During a news conference, a member of the UN commissionmentioned Musharraf's name while responding to a question.

Fawad said Musharraf's legal team will seek an explanationfrom the UN commission whether its member intentionallynamed the former President or uttered his name unintention-ally.

"If the UN commission member unintentionally mentionedthe name of the former President, no action would be takenbut if he did so intentionally the former President would movethe International Court of Justice against the UN commission,"Fawad said.

Musharraf -- who has been living abroad since April last year-- had received the UN panel's report and studied it, he said,adding the former President was consulting his lawyers in Pak-istan and abroad in this regard.

Womandetained

for Moscowblasts

PTI

MOSCOW, APRIL 18

A 20-year - o ld L i thuanianwoman, suspected to be linkedto twin suicide blasts in Moscowmetro last month in which 40people were killed, has been de-tained, a media report saidtoday.

A re s i d e n t o f w e s t e r nLithuanian city of Klaipeda, thewoman with Chechen links wasdetained at the Vilnius interna-tional airport while trying toget on a flight to Moscowshortly before metro bombstrikes, RIA Novosti reportedfrom quoting the Lietuvos RytasLithuanian daily.

The woman attracted atten-tion of Lithuanian special serv-ices as she persistently tried toobtain a Russian visa and herluggage contained literatureabout explosives and detailedMoscow metro map.

Subsequent investigation re-vealed that she had a Chechenfriend, who perished after re-turning to his homeland in 2007.

The girl soon ran from homeand was found six months laterin a small German town whereshe lived in a Chechen family.

She used to say that shewanted to convert to Islam andafter returning to Klaipeda main-tained contacts with otherChechens living there.

Prosecutor General's officesin Lithuania and Russia, as wellas Lithuanian State Security De-partment did not comment onthe report.

On Friday, Russia said it hasarrested main plotters of theMoscow bombings.

The Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajokull continues to erupt early 18 April 2010 causing widespread air traffic disruption withclouds of volcanic ash. The volcano erupted on April 14. Experts say there is no end in sight to the ash which is a se-vere danger to aircraft engines.

PTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

With the Iceland volcano 'KatlaStrato' disrupting human activ-ities and hiting economy of theglobal airline industry since fourdays, a volcanologist here hassaid that in the present humanmemory, the eruption of MountPinatubo volcano in Philippineshas been the largest.

Pinatubo eruption in 1991produced a large cloud of ashthat went up to a height of 45km and cooled the earth's tem-perature by 0.5 degree centi-grade. On the 1 to 8 VolcanicExplosivity Index (VEI), this erup-tion measued 6.

South East Asia experiencedseveral such volcanic episodeslike the Toba eruption about75,000 years ago followed bythe explosive activity of Kraka-toa volcano in 1883. The VEI ofToba is 8.

"Compared to Pinatubo andToba, the VEI of the Katla stratovolcano, located east of Eyjaf-jallajokull (also known as Ey-jafjoll) is small. But due to thecircuiting pattern of windsaround north Europe, and the

proximity of countries like UK,France, Germany, the ash plumefrom Iceland volcano is able tospread to this short distances,"Dr D Chandrasekharam, Chair-man,Geosyndicate Power andan earth scientist with IIT heretold PTI today.

The VEI denotes the magni-tude of an eruption based on acombination of erupted ash vol-ume and eruption plume height.Volcanic ash besides carbondix-ide, hydrogen sulphide and hy-drochloric acid, also containstiny particles of glass and pul-verised rock that can damagethe engines of aircraft flyinghigh.

In a volcanic eruption, theminimum time taken for a 4 mi-cron size particle to settle downon the surface of earth is about54 hours. If there is a wind tur-bulence, this may take moretime. Smaller particle will settleat much slower rate.

Talking about the climatechange, Chandrasekharam saidthe amount of carbon dioxide,hydrogen sulphide and hy-drochloric emissions from theeruption of Katla Strato volcano

are yet to be determined. Theeruption appears to be small tocause major climate change, cli-mate, he said.

However, Canadian scientistsare expecting the climate to getwarmer and the region to getabove normal rainfall, Chan-drasekharam said adding a con-stant review of the data isrequired for further understand-ing and prediction.

"If Eyjafjoll continues to eruptwith more intensity, then, theash plume may loom over Eu-rope for longer period affectingnormal life. However, the goodnews is that since Volcanic erup-tions can be predicted well inadvance, life is safeguarded," hesaid.

Unlike earthquakes, predict-ing volcanic eruptions is possi-ble with fair amount of accuracy.

On April 13, 2010 at about2300 hours (Local time), seismicswarm was detected below Ey-jafjoll and people living aroundthat area were evacuated.

This seismic swarm culmi-nated into two km long N-Strending fissure and initiationof ash fall.

Can Iceland volcano be a disaster in the making?

PTI

BEIJING, APRIL 18

"There will be new schools!There will be new homes!",wrote Chinese President Hu Jin-tao on the blackboard of amakeshift classroom in Qinghai,as he visitedthe quake-devastated regionwhere the death toll in lastweek's 7.1 temblor mounted to1,706 today.

As the death toll neared 2,000in the Tibetan-dominatedprovince, as many as 256 per-sons still remained missing onthe fifth day after the quake thatrazed many buildings to the

ground."There will be new schools!

There will be new homes!", HuJintao wrote on the blackboardwhile visiting a makeshift class-room being run from a tent fororphaned students in the quakehit town Yushu.

Hu then led the students toread aloud the words he wroteon the blackboard.

The President, also GeneralSecretary of the CommunistParty of China, who cut shorthis tour to the BRIC summit atBrasilia in the wake of the na-tional tragedy, was seen on thestate television surrounded by

heavy security personnel.Whi le promising to re-

b u i l d t h e s c h o o l s a n dhomes, Hu also asked res-cuers to continue search-ing for sur vivors .

"Rescuing those people whoare trapped is still the main task.We must treasure each life," Husaid after meeting survivors ina village.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabaohad visited the region on Thurs-day and Friday goading the reliefteams to step up rescue effortsto save people buried under therubble before '72-hour goldenperiod' ended.

Rescue headquarters an-nounced that an estimated17,000 people have been savedfrom the rubble.

The quake has left 12,128 per-sons injured, of which 1,424 arein severe condition, MiaoChonggang, deputy head of theChina Earthquake Administra-tion's quake relief and emer-gency response department,told media here today.

Miao said currently more than15,000 rescuers, including over11,000 from the People's Liber-ation Army and armed policewere conducting the relief op-erations.

Considering that the quakehit province which is locatedadjacent to Tibet, officials prom-ised to take into considerationreligious as well the food habitsdealing with the quake affectedpeople.

As mass funerals were con-ducted for hundreds of bod-ies yesterday with the helpof Buddhist monks, officialssa id the government hastaken into consideration thediet habi ts and needs inpracticing religious serviceamong people from minorityethnic groups in relief workin the quake zone.

China quake toll crosses 1700

REUTERS

KOHAT, (Pakistan), APRIL 18

A suicide car-bomber killedseven people and wounded 26in an attack on a police stationin Pakistan's northwest today,police said.

It was the second attack inthe Kohat region in as manydays. Yesterday, two suicidebombers attacked people dis-placed by fighting between thearmy and militants, killing 41 ofthem and wounding 65.

Today, the bomber drovea van into a roadblock out-side a police station in Kohattown.

“Seven people including achild were killed and 26 peoplewounded, five of them police-men,” a top police official, Ab-dullah Khan, told Reuters.

Another police official saidfive policemen were among thedead.

The military has carried outa series of successful crack-

downs against homegrown alQaeda-backed Taliban fightersin the country's northwest. Mil-itants have responded with awave of bomb attacks killinghundreds of civilian and securityofficials.

A group affiliated with Pak-istan's Taliban claimed respon-sibility for yesterday's attack ona centre where displaced peoplewere registering for aid, about40 km (25 miles) away from thesite of today's attack.

Suicide bomber kills 7 in Pak

A resident walks with his bike past a boys school which was destroyed by a suicide bomb blast in Kohat, located NorthWest Frontier Province, Sunday.

Reuters

WASHINGTON, APRIL 18

US Defense Secretary RobertGates has warned the WhiteHouse the United States lacksan effective strategy to curbIran's steady progress towardnuclear capability, The New YorkTimes reported citing US offi-cials familiar with the document.

Gates' secret memorandumwas sent in January to PresidentBarack Obama's national securityadviser, General James Jones,and it touched off an intenseeffort inside the Pentagon, theWhite House and the US intel-ligence agencies to develop newoptions for the president.

Those options included a re-vised set of military alternatives,still under development, to beconsidered should diplomacyand sanctions fail to force Iranto change course.

In that case, Iran could remaina signatory of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty while be-coming what strategists call a''virtual'' nuclear weapons state,the newspaper said yesterday,citing US officials familiar withthe document.

Among his concerns, Gatesincluded the lack of a responseshould Iran choose the coursethat many officials and analystsconsider likely -- assembling allthe major parts needed for anuclear weapon, such as fuel,designs and detonators, butstopping just short of assem-bling a fully operational weapon.

Officials familiar with thememo's contents described onlyportions dealing with strategyand policy and not sections thatapparently dealt with secret op-erations against Iran, or how todeal with Persian Gulf allies, TheTimes said.

One senior official described

the document as “a wake-upcall,” the newspaper said,adding that White House offi-cials disputed that view and in-sisted that for 15 months theyhad been conducting detailedplanning for many possible out-comes regarding Iran's nuclearprogram.

T h e T i m e s s a i d G a t e sspokesman Geoff Morrell de-clined comment on specificsin the document but issueda statement on Saturday say-ing, “The secretary believesthe president and his na-tional security team haves p e n t a n e x t r a o r d i n a r yamount of time and effortconsidering and preparingfor the full range of contin-g e n c i e s w i t h re s p e c t t oIran.”

A senior administration offi-cial told The Times there was aline Iran would not be permittedto cross.

The official said the UnitedStates would ensure that Iranwould not “acquire a nuclearcapability,” a step Tehran couldget to well before it developeda sophisticated weapon.

US lacks plan to curb Iran’s nuke drive: Gates

REUTERS

KRAKOW, (Poland), APRIL 18

Poland prepared today tobury President Lech Kaczynskiand his wife Maria, killed in aplane crash last weekend, but avolcanic ash cloud over Europeprevented many world leadersfrom attending.

US President Barack Obamacancelled his plan to travel tothe funeral in Krakow, Poland'sancient capital, citing the ashcloud. A number of other dig-nitaries including German Chan-cel lor Angela Merkel andBritain's Prince Charles alsopulled out.

The funeral at Krakow'sWawel cathedral crowns a weekof unprecedented national

mourning for the Kaczynskisand 94 other, mostly senior, po-litical and military officials whoperished in the crash in westernRussia on April 10.

Up to 100,000 mournerspacked into Warsaw's PilsudskiSquare on Saturday for a com-memoration of the dead thatincluded a Roman Catholic re-quiem mass and tributes fromPrime Minister Donald Tusk andinterim President Bronislaw Ko-morowski.

Officials said 180,000 peoplehad paid their respects beforethe Kaczynskis' coffins since theywent on public display in thepresidential palace yesterday.The coffins were moved to War-saw cathedral late on Saturday

where many more people werefiling past them through thenight into today.

Kaczynski's twin brotherJaroslaw, a former prime minis-ter, and other family membersinsisted the funeral go aheadon Sunday as planned, eventhough the volcanic cloud hasshut down airports across north-ern and central Europe, includ-ing Poland.

Obama said he regretted notbeing able to go to Krakow.“President Kaczynski was a pa-triot and close friend and allyof the United States, as werethose who died alongside him,and the American people willnever forget the lives they led,”he said in a statement shortly

before he had been due to fly.Poland, part of the Soviet bloc

during the Cold War, is now amember of NATO and a closeUS ally. Merkel of Germany,Poland's western neighbour andbiggest trade partner, also ex-pressed regret at being unableto attend. Poland's meteorologyinstitute said it expected theash cloud to partly disperse fromover Polish territory today.

The Kaczynskis, due to betransported to Krakow on Sun-day morning aboard a militaryplane flying at an altitude of lessthan 5,000 metres because ofthe ash cloud, will be buried inthe Wawel crypt with Poland'skings, national heroes andpoets.

Wawel is a large complex ofbuildings on the Vistula Riverthat includes a castle, cathedraland fortifications. The cathedralwas the coronation site of vir-tually all of Poland's monarchs.Wawel Castle was the centre ofgovernment for five centuriesuntil the end of the 16th century.Some Poles have staged protestrallies and joined petitions onsocial media site Facebookagainst the decision to buryKaczynski in such a hallowedspot.

Kaczynski, president since2005, was a polarising figurewhose support levels had fallento about 20 percent before hisdeath. He had been expectedto lose a presidential election

due in the autumn and nowlikely to be held on June 20.

To his conservative admirers,Kaczynski was a patriot and manof deep moral and religious con-victions. To his foes, he was anarrow-minded reactionary outof step with an increasingly lib-eral, outward-looking and Eu-ropean Poland.

The protests were the firstcracks in an otherwise remark-able display of national unitysince the crash. Warsaw's quaintOld Town, rebuilt brick by brickafter its near-total destructionby the Nazis in 1944, has be-come a shrine to the 96 dead,bedecked with flowers, candles,crucifixes and red and white na-tional flags threaded with black

Poland to bury president, ash cloud deters Obama, MerkelQuakestrikes

New Guinea REUTERS

PORT MORESBY, APRIL 18

An earthquake struck the eastcoast of Papua New Guineatoday but there were no imme-diate reports of casualties, offi-cials said.

The US Geological Survey saidthe 6.3 magnitude quake occurredat about 9:15 a.m. (0445 IST) in thePacific island nation and that theepicentre was 18 miles (29 km) eastof the city of Lae.

Officials at the National Dis-aster Centre in Lae said thequake had been felt in the citybut there were no reports ofbuildings collapsing.

TurkishCypriots

go to polls REUTERS

NICOSIA, APRIL 18

Turkish Cypriots vote in a pres-idential election today whichcould shape the future ofCyprus's fragile reunificationprocess and Turkey's bid to jointhe European Union.

Some 164,000 Turkish Cypri-ots are choosing between in-cumbent Mehmet Ali Talat andchallenger Dervis Eroglu. Opin-ion polls put Eroglu, a staunchsupporter of Turkish Cypriot in-dependence, in the lead.

Polling stations open at 0500GMT and voting ends at 1500GMT. The final result of the vote,which has to be ratified by anelection council, is expected by2330 IST.

The winner will have to negotiatea settlement on the divided islandwith rival Greek Cypriots now livingin the south and who representCyprus in the European Union. With-out a deal, the Greek Cypriots willblock Ankara's bid to join the bloc.

“A lot of people see it's (adeal) within reach, and if youcan't do it now it's very hard tosee when the next opportunitywill come along,'' a diplomatclose to the peace process toldReuters.

Democrats lead in UK

opinion pollREUTERS

LONDON, APRIL 18

Britain's Liberal Democratsovertook their rivals for thefirst time to lead an opinionpoll on Saturday, increasingthe prospect of a hung par-liament where no party hasoutright control.The survey from BPIX for theMail today said support for theLiberal Democrats, usually thethird force in British politics, hadsoared 12 points to 32 per cent,with the main opposition Con-servatives down 7 points on 31per cent and ruling Labour Partydown 3 points on 28 per cent.Britain has not had a hungparliament since 1974 andthe pound weakened on Fri-day over fears a coalition orminority government wouldstruggle to tackle Britain'shuge budget deficit ap-proaching 12 percent ofgross domestic product.If the latest poll results wererepeated nationally, thequirks of Britain's electoralsystem mean Labour wouldemerge as the largest partyin parliament, according toa Sky News seat predictor,and could remain in powerif the Liberal Democrats of-fered their support.The poll boost followed Lib-eral Democrat leader NickClegg's well-received appear-ance in a live television de-bate on Thursday. Viewersand commentators judgedthe 43-year-old to have per-formed better than PrimeMinister Gordon Brown andConservative leader DavidCameron.

The BPIX poll is the mostfavourable yet for the LibDems among surveys con-ducted since the debate.

Polls by YouGov on Fridayand ComRes on Saturdayboth gave the Liberal De-mocrats an 8 point surge,putting the party second be-hind the Conservatives butahead of Labour.

pg11:Layout 1 4/18/2010 8:35 PM Page 1

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AAIGIndia Equity Fund - Regular Plan (D) 12.24India Equity Fund - Regular Plan (G) 12.24Infrastructure and Economic Reform - Regular (D) 9.15Infrastructure and Economic Reform - Regular (G) 9.15AxisEquity Fund (D) 10.47Equity Fund (G) 10.47Tax Saver Fund (D) 10.90Tax Saver Fund (G) 10.91

BBaroda PioneerELSS 96 24.32Growth Fund (D) 28.06Growth Fund (G) 49.81Bharti AXAEquity Fund - Eco Plan (Bonus) 18.29Equity Fund - Eco Plan (D) 13.86Equity Fund - Eco Plan (G) 18.29Equity Fund - Eco Plan (QD) 15.04Equity Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 18.22Equity Fund - Retail Plan (D) 13.83Equity Fund - Retail Plan (G) 18.22Equity Fund - Retail Plan (QD) 15.00Focused Infrastructure Fund (D) 10.79Focused Infrastructure Fund (G) 10.79Focused Infrastructure Fund (QD) 10.79Tax Advantage Fund - Eco Plan (D) 12.99Tax Advantage Fund - Eco Plan (G) 23.87Tax Advantage Fund - Retail Plan (D) 12.98Tax Advantage Fund - Retail Plan (G) 23.81Birla Sun LifeAdvantage Fund (D) 89.24Advantage Fund (G) 152.48Basic Industries Fund (D) 30.42Basic Industries Fund (G) 101.35Basic Industries Fund - Trigger Plan (D) 10.94Buy India Fund (D) 22.78Buy India Fund (G) 37.52Commodity Equities - Global Agri - Retail Plan (D) 14.84Commodity Equities - Global Agri - Retail Plan (G) 14.84Commodity Equities - Global Commodity - RP (D) 12.78Commodity Equities - Global Commodity - RP (G) 12.78Commodity Equities - Global Metals Plan -RP (D) 12.15Commodity Equities - Global Metals Plan -RP (G) 12.15Dividend Yield Plus (D) 13.88Dividend Yield Plus (G) 73.96Equity Fund (D) 72.35Equity Fund (G) 257.30Frontline Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 21.94Frontline Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 81.37Frontline Equity Fund - Plan B (D) 12.30Frontline Equity Fund - Plan B (G) 12.30India GenNext Fund (D) 13.86India GenNext Fund (G) 21.32India Opportunities Fund - Plan A (D) 19.58India Opportunities Fund - Plan B (G) 53.76Infrastructure Fund - Plan A (D) 13.27Infrastructure Fund - Plan A (G) 17.08Infrastructure Fund - Plan B (D) 12.25Infrastructure Fund - Plan B (G) 12.77International Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 8.76International Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 8.76International Equity Fund - Plan B (D) 9.02International Equity Fund - Plan B (G) 9.02Long Term Advantage Fund (D) 13.36Long Term Advantage Fund (G) 13.36Long Term Advantage Fund - Series 1(D) 12.02Long Term Advantage Fund - Series 1(G) 12.02Midcap Fund - Plan A (D) 25.46Midcap Fund - Plan A (G) 108.54Midcap Fund - Plan B (D) 13.70Midcap Fund - Plan B (G) 13.70Tax Plan (D) 45.90Tax Plan (G) 13.08Tax Relief 96 (D) 82.53Tax Relief 96 (G) 11.14Top 100 Fund (D) 14.30Top 100 Fund (G) 20.60

CCanara RobecoEmerging Equities (Bonus) 16.95Emerging Equities (D) 14.00Emerging Equities (G) 20.25Equity Diversified (Bonus) 23.01Equity Diversified (D) 22.98Equity Diversified (G) 50.54Equity Tax Saver (D) 19.58Equity Tax Saver (G) 23.78F.O.R.C.E Fund - Retail Plan (D) 11.79F.O.R.C.E Fund - Retail Plan (G) 11.78Infrastructure (D) 17.29Infrastructure (G) 21.71Multicap (D) 13.39Multicap (G) 14.43

DDWSAlpha Equity Fund - Regular Plan (D) 16.16Alpha Equity Fund - Regular Plan (G) 74.27Alpha Equity Fund - Wealth Plan (D) 12.93Alpha Equity Fund - Wealth Plan (G) 15.47Investment Opportunity Fund - Regular Plan (D) 26.02Investment Opportunity Fund - Regular Plan (G) 37.55Investment Opportunity Fund - Wealth Plan (D) 13.00Investment Opportunity Fund - Wealth Plan (G) 17.00Tax Saving Fund (D) 12.84Tax Saving Fund (G) 13.74DSP BlackRockEquity Fund - Regular Plan (D) 47.36Equity Fund - Regular Plan (G) 14.98India T.I.G.E.R. Fund - Regular Plan (D) 18.50India T.I.G.E.R. Fund - Regular Plan (G) 45.37Natural Resources and New Energy - Regular (D) 13.03Natural Resources and New Energy - Regular (G) 13.03Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan (D) 26.90Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan (G) 77.15Small and Mid Cap Fund (D) 14.49Small and Mid Cap Fund (G) 15.81Tax Saver Fund (D) 11.90Tax Saver Fund (G) 15.98Technology.Com - Regular Plan (D) 24.04Technology.Com - Regular Plan (G) 32.91Top 100 Equity Fund - Regular Plan (D) 20.53Top 100 Equity Fund - Regular Plan (G) 91.34Treasury Bill Fund (D) 11.18

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FFidelityEquity Fund (D) 19.85Equity Fund (G) 31.37India Growth Fund (D) 10.94India Growth Fund (G) 10.94India Special Situations Fund (D) 15.37India Special Situations Fund (G) 16.95India Value Fund (D) 10.53India Value Fund (G) 10.53International Opportunities Fund (D) 12.25International Opportunities Fund (G) 12.25Tax Advantage Fund (D) 17.35Tax Advantage Fund (G) 19.33FortisChina-India Fund (D) 8.43China-India Fund (G) 8.43Dividend Yield Fund (D) 11.01Dividend Yield Fund (G) 15.83Equity Fund (D) 10.59Equity Fund (G) 31.32Tax Advantage Plan (ELSS) (D) 10.51Tax Advantage Plan (ELSS) (G) 13.19FranklinAsian Equity Fund (D) 10.24Asian Equity Fund (G) 10.24Build India Fund (D) 11.73Build India Fund (G) 11.73FMCG Fund (D) 34.01FMCG Fund (G) 54.19India Bluechip Fund (D) 38.99India Bluechip Fund (G) 194.77India Flexi Cap Fund (D) 14.94India Flexi Cap Fund (G) 29.51India High Growth Companies Fund (D) 12.30India High Growth Companies Fund (G) 12.30India Opportunities Fund (D) 14.20

India Opportunities Fund (G) 29.55India Tax Shield (D) 30.94India Tax Shield (G) 188.20Infotech Fund (D) 19.67Infotech Fund (G) 57.81Pharma Fund (D) 29.07Pharma Fund (G) 54.94Templeton India Equity Income Fund (D) 14.43Templeton India Equity Income Fund (G) 18.58Templeton India Growth Fund (D) 53.72Templeton India Growth Fund (G) 114.20

HHDFCCapital Builder Fund (D) 23.77Capital Builder Fund (G) 98.11Core & Satellite Fund (D) 20.91Core & Satellite Fund (G) 36.77Equity Fund (D) 44.10Equity Fund (G) 239.95Growth Fund (D) 29.58Growth Fund (G) 75.52Infrastructure Fund (D) 11.24Infrastructure Fund (G) 11.24Long Term Advantage Fund (D) 35.36Long Term Advantage Fund (G) 120.79Long Term Equity Fund (D) 11.79Long Term Equity Fund (G) 14.25Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund (D) 13.58Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund (G) 13.58Premier Multi-Cap Fund (D) 14.98Premier Multi-Cap Fund (G) 26.41Tax Saver (D) 58.36Tax Saver (G) 207.75Top 200 Fund (D) 43.57Top 200 Fund (G) 184.31HSBCDynamic Fund (D) 9.54Dynamic Fund (G) 9.54Equity Fund (D) 27.35Equity Fund (G) 95.61India Opportunities Fund (D) 15.93India Opportunities Fund (G) 31.95Midcap Equity Fund (D) 13.72Midcap Equity Fund (G) 22.35Progressive Themes Fund (D) 11.15Progressive Themes Fund (G) 13.11Tax Saver Equity Fund (D) 12.93Tax Saver Equity Fund (G) 14.01Unique Opportunities Fund (D) 10.28Unique Opportunities Fund (G) 10.28

IICICI PruBanking & Financial Services Fund - Retail (D) 15.25Banking & Financial Services Fund - Retail (G) 15.25Discovery Fund (D) 20.07Discovery Fund (G) 44.07Dynamic Plan (D) 18.12Dynamic Plan (G) 96.12Emerging S.T.A.R. Fund (D) 16.52Emerging S.T.A.R. Fund (G) 33.18FMCG Fund (D) 30.41FMCG Fund (G) 53.17Focused Equity Fund (D) 14.19Focused Equity Fund (G) 14.19Fusion Fund (D) 12.90Fusion Fund (G) 13.68Fusion Fund Series - II (D) 11.92Fusion Fund Series - II (G) 12.78Fusion Fund Series - III Retail Plan (D) 11.94Fusion Fund Series - III Retail Plan (G) 11.94Growth Plan (D) 18.88Growth Plan (G) 124.97Indo Asia Equity Fund - Retail Plan (D) 9.77Indo Asia Equity Fund - Retail Plan (G) 9.77Infrastructure Fund - Retail Plan (D) 12.32Infrastructure Fund - Retail Plan (G) 29.38Power (D) 16.46Power (G) 105.10Services Industries Fund (D) 12.60Services Industries Fund (G) 16.76Target Returns Fund - Retail Plan (D) 12.77Target Returns Fund - Retail Plan (G) 12.77Tax Plan (D) 19.23Tax Plan (G) 128.96Technology Fund (D) 15.36Technology Fund (G) 15.36R.I.G.H.T. Fund (D) 10.92R.I.G.H.T. Fund (G) 10.92IDFCClassic Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 14.60Classic Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 20.18Enterprise Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 12.22Enterprise Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 14.90Enterprise Equity Fund - Plan B (D) 10.28Enterprise Equity Fund - Plan B (G) 12.24Imperial Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 15.08Imperial Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 18.24India GDP Growth Fund (D) 15.24India GDP Growth Fund (G) 15.24Premier Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 23.45Premier Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 28.94Small & Midcap Equity Fund (D) 15.40Small & Midcap Equity Fund (G) 16.75

Strategic Sector (50-50) Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 12.99Strategic Sector (50-50) Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 13.13Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund (D) 14.75Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund (G) 18.41Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund (D) 13.80Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund (G) 13.80INGC.U.B. Fund (Bonus) 16.19C.U.B. Fund (D) 11.82C.U.B. Fund (G) 16.19Contra Fund (B) 15.65Contra Fund (D) 13.35Contra Fund (G) 15.64Core Equity Fund (D) 18.52Core Equity Fund (G) 35.00Dividend Yield Fund (D) 18.69Dividend Yield Fund (G) 20.56Domestic Opportunities Fund (D) 12.94Domestic Opportunities Fund (G) 34.27Midcap Fund (D) 15.69Midcap Fund (G) 19.76OptiMix Multi Manager Equity Fund - Plan A (D) 10.49OptiMix Multi Manager Equity Fund - Plan A (G) 10.48OptiMix Multi Manager Equity Fund - Plan B (G) 10.70OptiMix Retireinvest Fund - Series I (D) 11.98OptiMix Retireinvest Fund - Series I (G) 11.97Tax Saving Fund (Bonus) 26.66Tax Saving Fund (D) 13.13Tax Saving Fund (G) 26.62

JJMAgri & Infra Fund (D) 3.07Agri & Infra Fund (G) 3.07Basic Fund (D) 12.97Basic Fund (G) 18.57Contra Fund (D) 5.73Contra Fund (G) 5.73Emerging Leaders Fund (D) 8.09Emerging Leaders Fund (G) 8.07Equity Fund (D) 14.36Equity Fund (G) 35.26Financial Services Sector Fund (D) 8.96Financial Services Sector Fund (G) 8.96HI FI Fund (D) 5.63HI FI Fund (G) 5.63Large Cap Fund (D) 12.69Large Cap Fund (G) 17.26Mid Cap Fund (D) 17.72Mid Cap Fund (G) 25.87Multi Strategy Fund (D) 14.73Multi Strategy Fund (G) 13.70Small & Mid-Cap Fund - Regular Plan (D) 5.83Small & Mid-Cap Fund - Regular Plan (G) 5.83Tax Gain Fund (D) 7.24Tax Gain Fund (G) 7.24Telecom Sector Fund (D) 7.84Telecom Sector Fund (G) 7.84JP MorganIndia Tax Advantage Fund (D) 13.48India Tax Advantage Fund (G) 16.65India Equity Fund (D) 11.16India Equity Fund (G) 12.02India Smaller Companies Fund (D) 7.02India Smaller Companies Fund (G) 7.02

KKotak30 (D) 29.9630 (G) 94.99Contra (D) 17.99Contra (G) 20.56Emerging Equity Scheme (D) 11.25Emerging Equity Scheme (G) 11.25Global Emerging Market Fund (D) 9.08Global Emerging Market Fund (G) 9.08Indo World Infrastructure Fund (D) 7.26Indo World Infrastructure Fund (G) 7.26Lifestyle Fund (D) 10.25Lifestyle Fund (G) 11.83Midcap Fund (D) 16.07Midcap Fund (G) 23.10Opportunities Fund (D) 15.00Opportunities Fund (G) 43.20Select Focus Fund (D) 10.73Select Focus Fund (G) 10.73Tax Saver (D) 10.59Tax Saver (G) 17.29

LL&TContra Fund (D) 9.90Contra Fund (G) 9.90Global Advantage Fund (D) 7.08Global Advantage Fund (G) 10.22Growth Fund (D) 16.84Growth Fund (G) 35.65Hedged Equity Fund (D) 9.11Hedged Equity Fund (G) 12.84Infrastructure Fund (D) 7.60Infrastructure Fund (G) 7.60Midcap Fund (D) 22.02Midcap Fund (G) 38.16Multi-Cap Fund (D) 14.42Multi-Cap Fund (G) 18.09

Opportunities Fund (D) 18.50Opportunities Fund (G) 42.24Small Cap Fund (D) 6.07Small Cap Fund (G) 6.07Tax Advantage Fund - Series I (D) 14.50Tax Advantage Fund - Series I (G) 19.73Tax Saver Fund (D) 14.11Tax Saver Fund (G) 15.19LICInfrastructure Fund Series 1 (D) 9.43Infrastructure Fund Series 1 (G) 9.43MF Equity Fund (D) 9.83MF Equity Fund (G) 24.95MF Growth Fund (D) 10.76MF Growth Fund (G) 12.14MF India Vision Fund (D) 8.55MF India Vision Fund (G) 8.55MF Opportunities Fund (D) 10.05MF Opportunities Fund (G) 17.66MF Tax Plan (D) 9.83MF Tax Plan (G) 27.45MF Top 100 Fund (D) 8.12MF Top 100 Fund (G) 8.12

MMirae AssetGlobal Commodity Stock Fund - Regular Plan (D) 12.14Global Commodity Stock Fund - Regular Plan (G) 12.14India Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan (D) 13.62India Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan (G) 14.71Morgan StanleyA.C.E. Fund (Across Capitalisations Equity) (D) 13.91A.C.E. Fund (Across Capitalisations Equity) (G) 13.91Growth Fund (D) 19.41Growth Fund (G) 59.57

PPrincipalDividend Yield Fund (D) 15.39Dividend Yield Fund (G) 20.86Emerging Bluechip Fund (D) 23.61Emerging Bluechip Fund (G) 29.83Global Opportunities Fund (D) 16.29Global Opportunities Fund (G) 16.29Growth Fund (D) 23.04Growth Fund (G) 50.84Large Cap Fund (D) 19.38Large Cap Fund (G) 26.17Personal Tax Saver Fund 91.04PNB Long Term Equity Fund - 3 Yrs - Series 1 (D) 11.25PNB Long Term Equity Fund - 3 Yrs- Series 1 (G) 11.25PNB Long Term Equity Fund - 3 Yrs - Series II (D) 11.33PNB Long Term Equity Fund - 3 Yrs - Series II (G) 11.33Resurgent India Equity Fund (D) 12.33Resurgent India Equity Fund (G) 86.78Services Industries Fund (D) 12.37Services Industries Fund (G) 13.95Tax Savings Fund 73.70

QQuantumLong-Term Equity Fund (D) 19.53Long-Term Equity Fund (G) 19.37Tax Saving Fund (D) 19.41Tax Saving Fund (G) 19.41

RRelianceBanking Fund (Bonus) 79.88Banking Fund (D) 31.87Banking Fund (G) 79.88Diversified Power Sector Fund - Retail (Bonus) 80.02Diversified Power Sector Fund - Retail Plan (D) 47.23Diversified Power Sector Fund - Retail Plan (G) 80.02Equity Advantage Fund - Retail Plan (B) 11.70Equity Advantage Fund - Retail Plan (D) 11.70Equity Advantage Fund - Retail Plan (G) 11.70Equity Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 14.85Equity Fund - Retail Plan (D) 14.85Equity Fund - Retail Plan (G) 14.85Equity Linked Saving Fund - Series I (D) 13.13Equity Linked Saving Fund - Series I (G) 13.13Equity Opportunities Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 31.78Equity Opportunities Fund - Retail Plan (D) 22.45Equity Opportunities Fund - Retail Plan (G) 31.78Growth Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 74.43Growth Fund - Retail Plan (D) 55.00Growth Fund - Retail Plan (G) 448.68Infrastructure Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 11.44Infrastructure Fund - Retail Plan (D) 11.44Infrastructure Fund - Retail Plan (G) 11.44Long Term Equity Fund (D) 14.46Long Term Equity Fund (G) 14.46Media & Entertainment Fund (Bonus) 28.07Media & Entertainment Fund (D) 20.18Media & Entertainment Fund (G) 28.07Natural Resources Fund (Bonus) 10.15Natural Resources Fund (D) 10.15Natural Resources Fund (G) 10.15NRI Equity Fund (Bonus) 35.26NRI Equity Fund (D) 20.98NRI Equity Fund (G) 35.26Pharma Fund (Bonus) 49.07Pharma Fund (D) 36.60

Pharma Fund (G) 49.07Quant Plus Fund - Retail Plan (B) 11.85Quant Plus Fund - Retail Plan (D) 11.85Quant Plus Fund - Retail Plan (G) 11.85Regular Savings Fund - Equity Option (D) 22.67Regular Savings Fund - Equity Option (G) 29.08Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund (D) 14.94Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund (G) 19.17Vision Fund - Retail Plan (Bonus) 42.71Vision Fund - Retail Plan (D) 41.48Vision Fund - Retail Plan (G) 254.29ReligareAGILE Fund (D) 6.26AGILE Fund (G) 6.25AGILE Tax Fund (D) 7.15AGILE Tax Fund (G) 7.15Banking Fund - Regular Plan (D) 13.17Banking Fund - Regular Plan (G) 16.99Business Leaders Fund (D) 11.53Business Leaders Fund (G) 11.53Contra Fund (D) 11.82Contra Fund (G) 15.29Equity Fund (D) 11.88Equity Fund (G) 11.88Growth Fund (D) 11.49Growth Fund (G) 11.50Infrastructure Fund (D) 8.18Infrastructure Fund (G) 8.18Mid Cap Fund (D) 13.05Mid Cap Fund (G) 13.05Mid N Small Cap Fund (D) 12.70Mid N Small Cap Fund (G) 12.71PSU Equity Fund (D) 10.08PSU Equity Fund (G) 10.08Tax Plan (D) 13.16Tax Plan (G) 15.89

SSaharaBanking and Financial Services Fund (D) 15.94Banking and Financial Services Fund (G) 25.26Growth Fund (D) 28.70Growth Fund (G) 76.55Infrastructure - Fixed Pricing Option (D) 12.20Infrastructure - Fixed Pricing Option (G) 16.68Infrastructure -Variable Pricing Option (D) 12.61Infrastructure -Variable Pricing Option (G) 17.17Midcap Fund (Bonus) 28.73Midcap Fund (D) 19.51Midcap Fund (G) 28.73Midcap Fund (Growth Auto Payout) 28.73Power & Natural Resources Fund (D) 13.01Power & Natural Resources Fund (G) 13.01Star Value Fund (D) 11.65Star Value Fund (G) 11.65Super 20 Fund (D) 10.89Super 20 Fund (G) 10.89Tax Gain (D) 14.98Tax Gain (G) 33.61Wealth Plus - Variable Pricing Option (D) 19.21Wealth Plus - Variable Pricing Option (G) 19.21Wealth Plus Fund - Fixed Pricing Option (D) 18.61Wealth Plus Fund - Fixed Pricing Option (G) 18.61SBIBlue Chip Fund (D) 12.27Blue Chip Fund (G) 14.09Infrastructure Fund - Series I (D) 10.48Infrastructure Fund - Series I (G) 10.48Magnum Comma Fund (D) 16.34Magnum Comma Fund (G) 24.19Magnum Contra Fund (D) 25.63Magnum Contra Fund (G) 55.85Magnum Emerging Businesses Fund (D) 16.33Magnum Emerging Businesses Fund (G) 36.83Magnum Equity Fund (D) 30.25Magnum Equity Fund (G) 40.10Magnum Global Fund (D) 28.78Magnum Global Fund (G) 51.49Magnum NRI - Flexiasset Plan (D) 27.86Magnum NRI - Flexiasset Plan (G) 27.75Magnum Pharma Fund (D) 31.33Magnum Pharma Fund (G) 37.91Magnum Tax Gain Scheme (D) 39.51Magnum Tax Gain Scheme (G) 57.96One India Fund (D) 10.80One India Fund (G) 10.80ShinseiIndustry Leaders Fund (D) 10.54Industry Leaders Fund (G) 10.54Sundaram BNP ParibasCapex Opportunities Fund (D) 13.42Capex Opportunities Fund (G) 25.42Equity Multiplier Fund (D) 10.99Equity Multiplier Fund (G) 13.47Financial Services Opportunities - Retail Plan (D) 13.03Financial Services Opportunities - Retail Plan (G) 16.39Growth Fund - Regular Plan (D) 11.29Growth Fund - Regular Plan (G) 84.44India Leadership Fund - Regular Plan (D) 11.61India Leadership Fund - Regular Plan (G) 37.98Media & Entertainment Opportunities - Retail (D) 12.43Media & Entertainment Opportunities - Retail (G) 15.75PSU Opportunities Fund (D) 9.82PSU Opportunities Fund (G) 9.82Rural India Fund (D) 12.19Rural India Fund (G) 13.38

S.M.I.L.E Fund - Regular Plan (D) 12.30S.M.I.L.E Fund - Regular Plan (G) 31.65Select Focus - Retail Plan (D) 10.96Select Focus - Retail Plan (G) 84.57Select Midcap - Regular Plan (D) 16.90Select Midcap - Regular Plan (G) 135.26Select Small Cap Fund (D) 12.41Select Small Cap Fund (G) 12.41Select Thematic Energy Opportunities Funds (D) 8.43Select Thematic Energy Opportunities Funds (G) 8.43Tax Saver (OE) (D) 11.12Tax Saver (OE) (G) 41.49

TTataCapital Builder Fund (D) 13.75Capital Builder Fund (G) 14.72Contra Fund (D) 15.24Contra Fund (G) 16.17Dividend Yield Fund (D) 20.66Dividend Yield Fund (G) 29.03Equity Management Fund (D) 12.69Equity Management Fund (G) 13.68Equity Opportunities Fund - Plan A (D) 22.45Equity Opportunities Fund - Plan B (G) 80.29Equity P/E Fund (G) 44.36Equity P/E Fund - Trigger Option A 5% (D) 38.88Equity P/E Fund - Trigger Option B 10% (D) 39.31Growing Economies Infrastructure - Plan A (D) 11.44Growing Economies Infrastructure - Plan A (G) 11.44Growing Economies Infrastructure - Plan B (D) 12.04Growing Economies Infrastructure - Plan B (G) 12.04Select Equity Fund (D) 44.08Select Equity Fund (G) 61.45Service Industries Fund (D) 19.38Service Industries Fund (G) 24.15Tax Advantage Fund - 1 (D) 14.69Tax Advantage Fund - 1 (G) 14.69Tax Saving Fund 42.86TaurusBonanza Fund (D) 39.41Bonanza Fund (G) 39.16Discovery Fund (D) 14.86Discovery Fund (G) 14.85Ethical Fund (Bonus) 21.70Ethical Fund (D) 16.27Ethical Fund (G) 21.72Infrastructure Fund (D) 14.26Infrastructure Fund (G) 14.21Star Share (D) 35.51Star Share (G) 50.44Tax Shield (D) 18.99Tax Shield (G) 32.04

UUTIBanking Sector Fund (D) 21.51Banking Sector Fund (G) 35.40Contra Fund (D) 12.72Contra Fund (G) 13.78Dividend Yield Fund (D) 14.09Dividend Yield Fund (G) 28.44Energy Fund (D) 12.62Energy Fund (G) 11.13Equity Fund (D) 43.04Equity Fund (G) 48.70Equity Tax Savings Plan (D) 16.01Equity Tax Savings Plan (G) 37.64India Lifestyle Fund(D) 10.19India Lifestyle Fund(G) 10.19Infrastructure Advantage Fund - Series I (D) 9.17Infrastructure Advantage Fund - Series I (G) 9.17Infrastructure Fund (D) 20.27Infrastructure Fund (G) 35.58Leadership Equity Fund (D) 13.59Leadership Equity Fund (G) 14.66Long Term Advantage Fund (D) 12.29Long Term Advantage Fund (G) 12.29Master Equity Plan Unit Scheme 45.46Master Plus Unit Scheme (D) 54.37Master Plus Unit Scheme (G) 75.42Master Value Fund (D) 23.61Master Value Fund (G) 46.63Mastershare (D) 28.93Mastershare (G) 49.00Mid Cap Fund (D) 22.06Mid Cap Fund (G) 29.62MNC Fund (D) 34.18MNC Fund (G) 50.85Opportunities Fund (D) 12.88Opportunities Fund (G) 24.11Pharma & Healthcare Fund (D) 28.25Pharma & Healthcare Fund (G) 34.61Services Industries Fund (D) 24.05Services Industries Fund (G) 55.94Top 100 Fund (D) 22.02Top 100 Fund (G) 26.82Wealth Builder Fund (D) 14.57Wealth Builder Fund (G) 15.55Wealth Builder Fund - Series II - Retail Plan (D) 15.08Wealth Builder Fund - Series II - Retail Plan (G) 17.26Long Term Advantage Fund - Series II (D) 13.24Long Term Advantage Fund - Series II (G) 13.24Transportation and Logistics Fund (D) 14.94Transportation and Logistics Fund (G) 24.47

GOA, TUESDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

BIZ Pg12Hero Honda

Shree Digvijay

Cera Sanitary

Channel Guide

Midas Pharma

Modern Steel

Money Matters

ETC Networks

Sesa Goa

TCS Source: Indiainfoline.com

BOARD@ MEETINGSO

HERA

LDO

RELIANCE MUTUAL FUND has approved April 21, 2010 as therecord date for declaration of dividend in the Reliance Fixed Hori-zon Fund-X-Series 7- Retail Plan, Institutional Plan and Super In-stitutional Plan. The face value per unit is Rs 10.

The fund house has decided to distribute upto 100% of distrib-utable surplus available as on the record date, as dividend.

IDFC MUTUAL FUND has approved April 21, 2010 as the recorddate for declaration of dividend under the dividend option of IDFCFixed Maturity Plan - Thirteen Months Series-1 (IDEc-FMP-TMS-1). The fund house has decided to distribute entire appreciationin net asset value of dividend option, since inception until April21, 2010, as dividend.

KOTAK MAHINDRA MUTUAL FUND has approved April 21, 2010as the record date for declaration of dividend under the dividendoption of Kotak Quarterly Interval Plan (QIP) Series 5. The facevalue per unit is Rs 10.

The fund house has decided to distribute upto 100% of distrib-utable surplus available as on the record date, as dividend.

MF FUNDA

PTINEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Indian capital markets cangrow three-fold by 2020 if re-forms to increase retail partici-pation, reduce cost of tradeand enhance investment bypension funds are initiated,says a study by FIccI-Mckinsey& company.

"In order to enable Indiancapital market to triple in sizeby 2020, reforms are needed,"it said identifying low depth inequity markets, less retail par-ticipation, high costs of tradeand insignificant participationby pension funds as major chal-lenges for the markets. Marketcapitalisation of prime boursesin India was about Rs 8.63 lakhcrore as on April 16 while theshare trade quantity on NSEwas 1.37 crore and on BSE 1.17crore.

Although engulfed with chal-lenges, equity capitalisation inIndia has grown over six fold,and trading value over 3.5% in

the last 10 years as the countrytook a number of regulatoryreforms and witnessed many fi-nancial products. To further in-crease these numbers, India isrequired to embark on majorreforms to expand the retailcustomer base, spread theproducts beyond equities andmake markets competitive toreduce costs, it said.

Indian primary as well assecondary markets are depend-ent on FIIs, who contributemore than 70% of the tradingvolume. There is a need tostrengthen domestic institu-tional investors (DII) as well asretail participation, it said.

"Moving the Indian pensionfund market closer to interna-tional levels could potentiallycreate equity inflows of up toRs 2,500 billion at current lev-els, giving a much neededboost to DII participation," itsaid. The report further saidthe current retail equity share,excluding promoters'' holdings,

Fin reforms can triplemkt size by 2020: FICCI

is low in India.It suggested cut in complex-

ity and cost of opening demataccounts, increased educationand indirect investor participa-tion through MFs to bring inmore retail participation.

MUTUAL FUNDKey to abbreviations: R Price: Repurchase Price;

S Price: Sale price; D: (Dividend; (G): Growth

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GOA, TUESDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

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LAUNCH PADPanasonic 50” full HD 3D Plasma TV

PANJIM (HBD) -- Ranbir Kapoor launched Panasonic's 50-inchFull HD 3D compatible plasma display panel (PDF) and high-precision active shutter glasses that enable the viewing of the-atre-quality, true-to-life 3D images in living rooms.

Aiming to bring Full HD 3D TVs to the market in 2010, thecompany steps up its efforts in developing the related technol-ogy, Ranbir Kapoor has been associated with Panasonic fromlast more than a year now and feels proud to be a part of theteam as he himself is a complete tech savvy person.

The new PDF and glasses evolved from Panasonic's world-first Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theatre Systeml that was devel-oped in 2008 and comprised of a 103-inch POP and a Blu-rayDisc player, theatres.

The 50-inch PDP uses Panasonic's newly-developed high-speed, 3D drive technology that enables rapid illumination ofpixels while maintaining brightness. The panel also incorpo-rates across talk reduction technology allowing for minimizingdouble-image (ghosting) that occurs when left- and right-eyeimages are alternately displayed. PDPs have excellent video re-sponse with full moving picture resolution2. The new panel of-fers even improved performance, achieving clear, high-qualityand high-resolution images in 3D. The high-precision activeshutter glasses incorporate Panasonic's technology that pre-cisely controls the active shutters with the left- and right-eyeimages shown on the PDP. All these technologies work in tan-dem with each other to create Full HD 3D images that deliver-ing immersive, movie-theatre-like experience in which theviewers can feel as if they were part of the scene.

To describe further about the technologies involved with thenew panel, Panasonic newly developed the high-speed 3D driveand crosstalk reduction technologies to improve plasma'sunique properties to deliver crisp and clear Full HD 3D images.

Panasonic also developed the crosstalk reduction technologyusing newly-developed phosphors with short luminescencedecay time and illumination control technology to reduce dou-ble-images that occur when left- and right-eye image are alter-nated on the panel.

Samsung’s Corby TV,Metro TV

PANJIM (HBD) -- Sam-sung Electronics CoLtd, a global leader indigital media and digi-tal convergence tech-nologies, announcedthe launch of India’sfirst mobile phone duowith integrated broad-band Mobile TV on theCDMA platform –Corby TV and MetroTV.

The integrated cus-tomized TV solution

for Corby TV has been developed by Samsung in associationwith Apalya Technologies Pvt Ltd. Corby TV has a large 2.8”QVGA vibrant TFT display and a highly optimized content bitrate which enables easy streaming and a seamless TV viewingexperience.

For users of Corby Speed, Samsung is also offering free soft-ware upgrades to Corby TV. The Corby TV is priced at Rs 9699.

In addition to Corby TV, Samsung has also launched MetroTV in the CDMA market with superior content streaming capa-bilities. The Metro TV boasts of mobile broadband capabilitiesupto 2.4 Mbps and multimedia downloads direct to the MicroSD card. The Metro TV is priced at Rs 6999.

Tata Photon Plus Offer: Free Mobile TV Subscription for 3months from the date of activation plus 15GB data usage freeper month, up to 2 months for Postpaid and 10GB data usagefree for 2 months on Prepaid.

Thus Prepaid consumer can watch approximately 100 hoursof TV Free on Tata Photon Plus service for 2 months from thedate of activation and Postpaid Subscriber on Tata Photon Plusservice can watch approximately 150 hours of TV free permonth for 2 months from the date of activation.

Reliance Mobile Offer: Free Mobile TV Subscription for 2months from the date of activation plus Up to 15GB data usagefree per month, up to 2 months for Postpaid and Up to 10GBdata usage free for 1 month on Prepaid.

Thus Prepaid consumer can watch up to approximately 100hours of TV Free on Reliance Mobile service from the date ofactivation for 1 month and Postpaid Subscriber on Reliance Mo-bile can watch up to 150 hours of TV free per month for 2months from the date of activation.Both the offers are valid tillJune 30, 2010.

‘Selling carabove actualprice unfair’

PTINEW DELHI, APRIL 18

The National Consumer Com-mission has upheld an order ofa state forum directing an au-thorized car dealer to pay Rs30,000 to a person for sellingthe vehicle above the pricementioned in the bill.

"We have no reason to take adifferent view of the matter asthe petitioner had misrepre-sented that ex-showroom priceof the vehicle was Rs 3.63 lakhwhereas it was only Rs 3.33lakh which is clear from thebill," the Commission, compris-ing Members Justice K S Guptaand Justice R K Batta, said.

It passed the order on a pleaof Kota-based Kamal AutoHyundai, seeking to set aside aRajasthan State ConsumerCommission order which haddirected the agency to pay Rs30,000 to buyer Pavan Chandwith interest but set aside thecompensation of Rs 10,000,awarded by the District Forum.

The Commission agreedwith the view of the lower con-sumer fora that there was a de-ficiency in service and unfairtrade practice in misrepresent-ing the facts to the customer asthere was a reasonable differ-ence between the price de-manded and the actual one.

The complainant moved theDistrict Forum for refund ofextra money alleging deficiencyin service and unfair trade prac-tice which gave its decision inhis favour.

PTIMUMBAI, APRIL 18

The domestic stock market islikely to remain under pressureon concerns of a possible ratehike by the apex bank on Tues-day and the lawsuit by the USmarkets regulator against Gold-man Sachs for securities-re-lated fraud, say analysts. Themarket is likely to open on aweek note reflecting the steepfall on the Wall Street lastweekend after US Securitiesand Exchange Commissioncharged Goldman Sachs withfraud on sub-prime mortgages,they point out.

"There will be a weak open-ing for the markets on Monday.It will then look at global cuesfor direction and is expected tomove sideways from thereon,"CNI Research MD Kishor POstwal said.

Interest rate-sensitive sec-

tors like banking, realty andauto would be watched duringthe week as any interest ratehike would bring down theshares of the companies inthese sectors. "The RBI policyannouncement on Tuesday willfurther tighten the liquidity orinterest rates, which willdampen markets," HDFC Secu-rities head for private brokingand wealth management VinodSharma said.

Marketmen, however, ex-pects that the decline will beshort-lived and later on buyingwill emerge at lower levels. Thecourse of the market will be de-cided by the earnings and guid-ance by TCS and RIL.

"The market will take cuesfrom the result performancesof TCS and RIL which is due tocome in the next week and es-pecially the outlook of thesecompanies for the current fis-

cal," SMC Capital vice-presidentRajesh Jain said. This week theBSE Sensex dropped nearly 2per cent to close at 17,591.18points.

The barometer indexsnapped nine consecutiveweeks of gains, during which itgained 11 per cent. On Fridaylast, the US market regulatorhad charged investmentbanking major GoldmanSachs with fraud and causingan loss of over USD 1 billionto investors by misrepresent-ing facts about a financialproduct tied to sub-primemortgages.

Following this, the DowJones declined 132 points or1.13% to close at 11,018.66 andS&P 500 ended down by 1.61%to 1,192.13. During the weekforeign funds put in over Rs10,881.5 crore in the domesticmarket.

Mkts to remain edgy onGoldman, RBI policy

PTITAIPEI, APRIL 18

Wireless technologies likeWiMax will lead the Indianbroadband growth story, help-ing achieve the goal of having100 million broadband users by2014, world''s largest chip-maker Intel said here today.The government has set a tar-get of achieving 100 millionbroadband subscribers by 2014

WiMax to drive broadband growth in India: Intelas against 8.59 million users bythe end of February 2010.

"India has over 8.5 millionbroadband customers as ofnow and the copper line infra-structure is limited. So goingwireless is the only option forIndia and the growth will comefrom wireless technologies likeWiMax," Intel managing direc-tor (WiMax programme office--APAC and META businessdevelopment) Lil Mohan toldPTI, adding over the next three-four years, majority of broad-

band connections would be onthe wireless platform.

WiMax (worldwide interop-erability for microwave access)is designed to provide high-speed access to the Internetwith much faster data down-loads. Intel, which makes chipsfor the WiMax platform, workswith partners like equipmentvendors for deployment of thetechnology.

Mohan expects the biddingprocess for WiMax to be overby May and that players would

commence operations by year-end. "The next few years arebig for WiMax and one wouldsee huge growth in numbers.

High-speed data access is ex-pected to bridge the urban-rural digital divide and helpaddress concerns of deliveringessential services like educa-tion, finance and healthcare,"he said. Asked about end-con-sumer pricing, he said, "pricingis going to be important as ithas been for the telecom indus-try.

It will provide people accessto high-speed broadband,which will further bring ingrowth for the economy." Astudy by McKinsey projectsthat a country''s GDP expandsby 0.6 per cent for every 10 percent increase in broadbandpenetration.

The auction of spectrum formobile broadband is slatedlater this month in the countryand the government has re-ceived applications from 11companies, including Bharti

Airtel, Idea Cellular and Aircel.This is expected to make thebidding process highly compet-itive.

The government has keptthe reserve price at Rs 1,750crore for pan-India spectrum li-cence. Two blocks of 2.3 MHzspectrum in each circle will beput up for auction.

Successful bidders are alsoexpected to immediatelylaunch services, providing themuch needed thrust to in-crease broadband penetration.

PTIMUMBAI, APRIL 18

Small-ticket home-loans lender,Gruh Finance, plans to raisearound Rs 100 crore of Tier IIcapital through an issue of non-convertible debentures, mostlikely in the second-quarter ofthis fiscal, a top company offi-cial said.

"We might consider a privateplacement of non-convertibledebentures in Q2 this fiscal toraise funds of around Rs 100crore in our Tier II structure,"Gruh Finance's Managing Direc-tor, Sudhin Choksey said.

Gruh Finance is a subsidiaryof HDFC with the latter holdinga slightly over 60 per cent stakein the company.

The company will decide onthe timing depending uponprevailing market conditions,

he said."We don't want to borrow at

high rates. We will wait for theright time, most probably tillQ2 this fiscal," Choksey said.

The company is strong onthe capital front with its capitaladequacy ratio at 16.5 per centand hence, there is no urgencyto raise funds, he said.

The company clocked a netprofit after tax at Rs 68.96crore in FY 10, up from the Rs50.28 crore in the year-ago pe-riod.

Gruh Finance expects a 20per cent growth in its disbur-sals this fiscal.

"There is a good demand andwe expect a 20 per cent growthin disbursals this fiscal, Chok-sey said.

Gruh Finance, whichpresently services around

50,000 customers, is a leadingplayer in small-ticket homeloans of up to Rs five lakh andin locations with a populationof less than 50,000.

"The strategy this fiscal willbe to consolidate our opera-tions in the seven stateswhere we are operating inpresently. We are very strongin Gujarat, Maharashtra andnorth Karnataka," Chokseysaid.

The company now plans toexpand its footprint into southKarnataka as well, besidesstrengthening its operations inRajasthan, Chhattisgarh andTamil Nadu, he said.

"We want to consolidate andemerge strong in our presentmarkets. We will look at furtherexpansion after that," Chokseysaid.

Gruh Fin looking to raiseRs 100 cr Tier II capital

PTIAHMEDABAD, APRIL 18

Videocon Mobile Services(VMS) has set a mammoth tar-get of achieving 10 crore cus-tomers in three years andwould invest Rs 15,000 crore inthe sector.

V N Dhoot, chairman ofVideocon group, while launch-ing its services in Gujarat saidthat telecommunication is oneof the focused areas of thegroup and it will invest Rs15000 crore to develop neces-sary infrastructure in the coun-

try."Today, Videocon is starting

its services in Gujarat wherethe company has earmarked aninvestment of Rs 1000 crore forits GSM venture," Dhoot said.

"In coming months, we willtarget to cover 100 per cent ofthe urban population and 50per cent of rural population inthe state. Our services will beoffered from around 20,000 re-tail outlets at the beginningand plan to cover 45,000 out-lets in next two months," hesaid, elaborating on the com-

pany's aggressive plans for GSMventure in the state.

Talking about 3G services, hesaid that it would bring revolu-tion in the telecommunicationsector. Videocon has appliedfor 3G services and has aggres-sive plans for the same, headded.

According to Dhoot, whatwill differentiate Videocon mo-bile from other serviceproviders is its innovative tariffplans and value added services(VAS) which will be rolled outvery shortly.

PTIMUMBAI, APRIL 18

Essar group-promoted The Mo-bile Store (TMS), plans to adoptboth the organic and inorganicroutes for growth and also rejigits operations, a senior com-pany official said.

The Consumer Durables andIT (CDIT) products-chain plansto enter Tier III towns and add300 more stores this fiscal,TMS' CEO, Srikant Gokhalesaid.

Presently, it has 1,300 storesin 200 cities.

The company would stronglyfocus on smaller towns in a bidto tap the high-potential exist-ing there, he said.

"We will be adding 300 morestores this year with our ourmain focus on the high poten-

tial and catchment areas inrural India. The opportunity isimmense in the small towns.We are looking at organicgrowth as well as acquisitions,"Gokhale said.

Gokhale did not, however,divulge details of any plannedacquisitions or capex plans ofthe company for this year.

TMS, had early this year, ac-quired a CDIT player, Xcite, afranchise of Alghanim Indus-tries, one of the largest retail-ers in the Middle-East andwhich had seven stores inIndia. TMS also plans to re-vamp its stores with a view tomake it a more touch, feel andinteractive one.

"We want to change thewhole experience of shoppingat TMS. The stores will now be

more interactive as customerscan touch and feel the handsetsor other gizmos and under-stand its usage. This way wewill be able to engage our cus-tomers completely," Gokhaleadded.

The company also plans tointroduce more brands ofsmartphones, IT goods and ac-cessories in the comingmonths, he said.

TMS enjoys a 45 per centshare in the Rs 8,000 croreCDIT market and is growing atpar with the industry level of10-12 per cent year-on-year.

Gokhale, who earlier used tohead Xcite, said that the com-pany would also be investingheavily on adding more work-force and on training its salesforce.

Mobile Store to adoptorganic, inorganic routes

PTIMUMBAI, APRIL 18

Country's second largest pri-vate sector lender, HDFC Bankhas seen a growth of 25 percent in its retail loan book inthe last fiscal on the back ofhealthy demand from home,auto and personal loan seg-ments.

In March alone, the lenderdisbursed around Rs 4,000-crore retail advances, out ofwhich auto loans comprised Rs1,300-crore, home loans Rs1,200-crore and personal loansaround Rs 600 crore, HDFCBank's Country Head, RetailAsset's & Credit Cards, PralayMondal said.

"Overall there is a pick upin demand for retail loans.Clearly, the consumer confi-dence has come back and weexpect to sustain the growthmomentum in FY 11 as well,"Mondal said.

During FY 10, HDFC Bank isunderstood to have clocked agrowth of 30-35 per cent in itstotal loan book, which is way

above the average growthachieved by the industry duringthe period.

On Friday, private sectorlender, Indusind Bank an-nounced a 30 per cent loangrowth in FY 10 and said thatthe growth in FY 11 is likely tobe 25-30 per cent.

The credit growth in thebanking industry in last yearstood at 16.7 per cent justabove the 16 per cent creditgrowth target set by the Re-serve Bank of India.

Promoted by mortgagelender Housing DevelopmentFinance Corporation, HDFCBank has total gross advancesof Rs 1,21,051 crores and totaldeposits stood at Rs 1,54,789crores as on December31,2009.

As of now, nearly 55 percent of the loan book ofHDFC Bank comprises retailassets and the rest corpo-rate advances. Movingahead, the lender wouldfocus equally on both portfo-lios, Mondal said.

HDFC retailloans grow 25%

Videocon to invest Rs 15,000 cr in mobile biz

DCB eyeingRs 150 cr

through QIPPTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

Development Credit Bank(DCB) plans to raise Rs 150crore through a QIP after six-months by which time it ex-pects to return to profitability,a top bank official said.

"We have obtained our Boardapproval to raise Rs 150 crorethrough a QIP. This will, how-ever, be done only in the next6-12 months depending uponmarket conditions. Our firstaim is to return to profitability,"DCB's MD and CEO, Murali Na-trajan said.

The bank posted a loss of Rs78 crore in FY 10, reducing itfrom Rs 88 crore in the year-ago period. In Q4 FY 10, its lossstood at Rs eight crore, sub-stantially down from the Rs 91crore in the year-ago period.

"We aim to return to profitafter the first two quarters ofthis fiscal. We are well-capi-talised with our capital ade-quacy ratio at 14.9 per cent(Basel II) and hence there is nourgency to raise funds," Natra-jan said.

Credit growth is expected topick-up going forward and thebank would consider this as-pect, as well as prevailing mar-ket conditions before going-infor fund-raising, he said.

Board approval has also beenobtained to raise up to Rs 200crore through a rights issue butthis might not be resorted to,he said.

PTIMUMBAI, APRIL 18

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) iseyeing a double-digit growth inits two-wheeler business in thenext two-years and will also ex-plore the inorganic growthroute for expansion, a seniorcompany official said.

"We are growing and willcontinue to grow to makeM&M a strong brand in thetwo-wheeler segment. We aretargeting a double-digit growthin the next two-years by grab-

bing opportunities which willenable us to grow faster,"Mahindra & Mahindra (two-wheeler sector), President,Anoop Mathur said.

M&M which took over thetwo-wheeler business of Ki-netic Motor in 2008, has al-ready launched three 125-ccscooters—two power scooters,Mahindra Rodeo and Duro--andthe Mahindra Flyte.

The company is targetingthe adult stylish male for theRodeo, while the Duro is tar-

geted at the entire family. TheFlyte is for the women com-muter. The company has sold70,008 units in FY 10.

"We have already achieved amilestone in the two-wheelersegment after selling 10,000units within four-months oflaunch. We are very optimisticabout the future," Mathur said.

The company presently hasan eight per cent marketshare in the scooter segmentand is looking to increase itthis year.

M&M eyes double-digitgrowth in 2-wheelers

Fruity waterfrom Bisleri

soonPTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

Bottled water major, Bisleri In-ternational, plans to launchwater with fruity flavors thissummer or in the coming fes-tive season, a top company of-ficial said.

"We plan to launch flavoredwater and the research forthe same is on. We are wait-ing for the right time tolaunch it. We want to hit onthe right flavour like peach orgreen apple or anythingwhich is different and appeal-ing to our consumers. We arealso looking at value-addedflavoured water like naturalayurvedic additive. It willcater to consumers who aretired of plain water or sweet-ened carbonated drinks," Bis-leri's Director, Anjana Ghoshsaid.

Today's consumer has be-come very health-consciousand is very keen on havingsomething different like havinga fruity taste added to water,Ghosh said.

Pg13:Layout 1 4/18/2010 7:14 PM Page 1

CAREERS & EDUCATIONGOA, Monday, 19 April, 2010

Pg14OHE

RALD

O

The world economy isslowly but surely movingtowards the knowledge

economy, innovations and newinventions are increasingly in-tangible in nature. This makesit difficult for the innovator orthe inventor to apply for patentsfor these new kinds of innova-tions. This changed scenario ledto the development of the con-cept of IP.

As more intellectual advance-ment takes place in a developedcountry, the perils of intellectualtheft are frequently faced bythem. The situation is worse ofin a matured economy than agrowing one. A still not-much-publicised career is that of aPatent Attorney OR Manager.

Mind businessIntellectual property, also IP,

is all about allowing people toown their creativity and inno-vation like they hold any physicalproperty. IP protects innovationand ideas, thus paves way forintellectual work to flourishwithout any hindrance. What-ever comes under creations ofthe mind is called IP.

IP Management Dividing IPR Management

across industries would be asfollows:

IT and Telecom Technology.Pharmaceutical and Biotech-

nologyEnergy, Oil

and Gas Tech-nology

Of thesethree options,currently themost businessis focused on IT, Telecom, Phar-maceutical and Biotechnology.However industry players be-lieve that the next 20 years willbelong to IPR Management tothe Energy field. There are manyother forms of patents basedon industry.

Within each of these paths,it can further be divided intothe following roles.

* Commercialization analy-sis

* Identifying useless IPR

* Determining the royal-ties

* Market dynamics of tech-nology sub-segment

Work The role of an IPR specialist

is to help the inventor gainpatents on his invention. Theinventor can be a large corpo-ration, a small business a team

of scientists and even a lone in-ventor that's working out of hisgarage. The first step taken bythe IPR specialist is to under-stand the invention itself. hethen researcher whether suchtechnology already exists insome form. After this he goesabout understanding how bestthe invention can be patentedso that maximum monetizationis achieved. The final step is tofile the patent with the PatentOffice.

The IPR Specialist in India

does about 80 percent of hispeer in the US. This is becausein India the specialist does notpursue litigation. Once Indiancourts see more action in theIPR space, we can expert moreIPR specialists that can applytheir skills in court.

The thrill is picking up an un-structured problem and thenfixing it. The work culture is ex-

tremely young and thereforethey energy is enormous. Theyinteract with people dealingin R&D for over 20 years, CFOsand CTOs, and so the level ofinteraction is at another level

all together," he says. illustratingthe high points of job.

Eligibility Anyone who is at least a grad-

uate in science, technology orengineering can become an IPRattorney. There is no need toalready have a law degree to be-come an IPR attorney. Studentshave to pass an exam to be reg-istered as a patent attorney. Theexam would be held every yearin November, comprises two pa-pers (100 marks each) followedby a viva voce (100 marks). If

the candidate does not have adegree in law, a qualifying examis conducted at the patents of-fice in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennaiand Delhi.

Skill SetsAn IPR specialist needs to de-

gree in science or engineeringand then supplement this with adegree in law. Considering thatIPR Management covers a num-ber of industries, specialistsfro/for each industry is required.If the professional is moving lat-erally from, being a telecom en-gineer and into IPR Managementof telecom technologies, then hecomes with a certain amount ofskill sets already. From here hewould have to gain the legal acu-men to understand how to applyhis skills in IPR Management.

Training of a fresher usuallytakes two to three years.

The brand of your graduateor PG college helps only initially.After about two years this dis-parity disappears and growth isbased purely on performance.A thorough knowledge of a tech-nology field will always be pre-ferred to high scores in tests.Experience gained on the firstjobs in specific domains, canbe applied in the respectivefields within IP management.

To be a successful IP Attorney,a grasp of the law with a goodknowledge of IT and technolo-gies is essential. The internalsand workings of technology,products and processes wouldcome handy while doing re-search. Knowledge of technol-ogy is more important than thelaw itself, since the IP attorneyis dealing only in the CopyrightAct and nothing else, unless ofcourse he or she is practicingin other forms of law.

Sensing intellectual theft andtrying to curb the situation isvery important for an IP Attorney.If the situation goes out of handan IPR attorney should have asound knowledge of law to bringthe responsible persons to books.

A good writing, presentationskill and research oriented arefew of the soft skills which arelooked for in an IPR Attorney.

Managing And Protecting Intellectual Property- I

By Maria de Lima Pereira

Sometimes there is a lot aperson would like to do inlife. However circum-

stances force us to make sometough decisions. The joys ofsuccess are sweet though, whenone achieves despite all odds.

In 1984, the shacks alongthe coastline did brisk busi-ness. Miguel Rodrigues wasthen a young man with a lotof drive within him. His inten-tion was to study further. But,due to circumstance in thosedays, he had to take a decisionbetween continuing with hiseducation or helping his fatherrun their shack at Colva. Even-tually, he opted to help his fa-ther. “The competition inthose days was very stiff andthis did not allow us to ex-pand,” he recalls.

As time went by like anyyoungster would dream, Miguelalso had a dream. It wouldsurely tend towards some kindof expansion. “I dreamt that Iwould start a restaurant in myvillage,” he says. He tookhis dream to a next level be-fore becoming reality whenhe bought a plot of land inhis village, Benaulim in 1997.Miguel has gone throughsetbacks, and another mis-judgement did put himthrough some hard times.But then the enterprisingentrepreneur went on tostart a small restaurant inthe plot he purchased. Thushis dream came true in everyway. “I named it ‘Joecons’after my parents Jose andConçeição,” he reveals withpride.

Incidentally, in the sameyear he ventured into thefishing business. “From amodest start with one fish-ing trawler, I went on to buyfive trawlers in six to sevenyears,” he says with somesatisfaction. Eventually an-other God sent opportunitycame by and Miguel joinedas a partner in a firm called‘Quality Goods and Exports’that was the initiative ofIbrahim Maulana. The firm

has three partners and is dedi-cated to fish exports business.Today the company reports ofa great success rate with a greatteam at the helm.

‘Joecons’ has now celebrated25 years of its existence as abusiness enterprise. On the oc-casion, the newventure ‘JoeconsBeach Resort’ wasinaugurated. “Thisis another steppingstone that was setoff by that initialventure called ‘Joe-cons ’ , ” a ve r sMiguel. But Miguelhastens to add, “Ihave many moredreams, but I look up to God’sblessings to make them all re-ality one day.” He dedicates hissuccess to, “Hard work and thegrace of God that has been withme along this journey to suc-cess.”

Miguel cannot stop his heartfrom spilling out some of his in-

timate thoughts about Goa.“Goans today don’t seem totrust the potential that existsin Goa. Yet at every step I take,I can see a business opportu-nity,” he muses. The depths ofhis heart pour out when he says,“I request the people of Goa in

general andthe youth ofmy village inparticular, totrust their po-ten t i a l andstar t some-thing. Thereare a lo t o funutilized op-por tun i t i e slying within

our reach!” He feels this hap-pens because there is no properguidance given to youngsterstoday. All want to make a quickbuck. But Miguel has some wisewords to say on this, “You mustnot run after money, moneymust run after you!”

We must strive to develop

our villages instead of fightingeach other,” he adds . Miguelgives an example of his own vil-lage, “Earlier Benaulim was de-pendent on fishing. Now it ismore dependent on tourism. Irequest our politicians to comeforward and make changes forthe good of our villages,” hepleads.

Miguel has some strong opin-ions about what needs to bedone, especially to improve thetourism industry in Goa, “In Be-naulim, for instance, the prawnhatchery that is now abandoned,could be converted into a seaaquarium of international stan-dards. Also garbage treatmentplants must come up at anycost.”

Miguel is confident and com-pletely trusts the potential Goahas. He says, “So many thingscan be generated in unexpectedways, thus generating a decentlivelihood. But this can happenonly if we trust the potentialthat exists.”

Trust Potential That Exists In Goa

Today’s economic times de-mand pragmatic spending.Businesses need to find

innovative as well as practicalsolutions that help them con-tinue attracting customers andmaintaining awareness amongtheir target audiences in themarket place.

Your company Web site pro-vides such a practical solution.With the tight budgets and lim-ited resources in today’s busi-ness environment, organizationsare forced to closely evaluatespending especially when itcomes to marketing. AWeb site, however, is atool that all businessescan leverage to help in-crease brand exposure,expand their target mar-ket and help grow theirbusiness.

Today, India has over81 mi l l i on In te rne tusers1. According to in-dustry forecasts, the num-ber of Internet users isexpected to nearly doubleto 1.8 billion worldwidethrough 20102. Being apart of this ever-expandingdigital world starts withyour Web site.

Your Web site can be acost-effective way to helppromote your business tovarious target audiences andcommunicate your businessstrengths. Think of your Website as a calling card or an ele-vator pitch. It can quickly andeasily convey your company’sofferings, its strengths and allowinterested visitors to buy yourproducts or services. It helpsposition your business as effi-cient to consumers, competitiveto potential investors, and it canserve as the first introductionto people you want to hire.

Like most things, buildingyour Web site into an effectivemarketing tool starts with thebasics. The site needs to be easyto use, branded to suit yourcompany image and have cus-tomer service response systemsin place.

The right domain nameA domain name represents

your company’s brand and iden-tity on the Internet. To helpboost your recognizability onthe Web, your domain nameshould be simple, easy to re-member and something thatpeople can associate with your

company. Selecting the right domain

name helps increase your visi-bility on the net. A .com domainname is a good choice, since itis one of the most popular do-main names on the Internettoday3. It is by far the mostlikely extension most people trywhen searching for a Web site,and today’s Internet search en-gines are geared to recognize.com.

If the domain name you wantfor your company is already

taken, you cansearch for similar words ornames, an interesting tag line,a product or service name, orconsider a ”Hinglish” option.You can

also

u s ea doma in

name suggestion tool freelyavailable on most .com regis-tration sites.

You may also want to considerregistering multiple domainnames at this stage in order toincrease the chances of your po-tential customers finding youonline. These similar name do-mains can be possible mis-spelling and variations of your

main domain name. These otherdomain names can be used toredirect your visitors to yourmain Web site.

Content is KingA key factor to a successful

Web site is good content. Thisrequires effective planning andpresentation of informationbased on an understanding yourcustomers’ requirements. It istherefore prudent to determineyour target audience and thenbuild content

that re-spondsto theirspecificr e -quire-mentsvis-à-v i sy o u rbusi-ness.

Clear Web sitenavigation

Good nav-igat iona ldesign is

an e s -sen t i a lingredi-ent forany goodW e bs i t e ;

nav-

iga-tion is

t h eroadmapof your

W e bs i t e .V i s i -

to r s toyour Web site needto know three essential things:where they are, where they can

go, and how they can get backto where they came from.

Helping your customers findyou

Helping people find your Website on the Internet is also im-portant. You should promoteyour domain name at every op-portunity, from the business cardto office supplies. This helpsintroduce your company to busi-nesses who may not be familiarwith what you do but have aneed for your services and prod-ucts.

In addition, you can registeryour domain name on one ormore search engine Web sites,since many Internet users utilizethese Web sites to search forcompanies and services. Besidesregistering the Web site, sometechnical adjustments are alsoimportant in your Web site de-velopment (“search engine op-timization”), so that it respondsbetter to the searches.

Listing your Web site for vis-ibility

You can also agree with an-other website owner of a similaror related interest to list eachother’s Web site links. To do so,locate Web sites that make agood match to your own andcontact the owner to ask if theywill link to your Web site in ex-change for you linking to theirs.If you sell accessories on yourWeb site, for example, you canset up a link exchange with an-other Web site that sells apparelor shoes.

Having a .com domain namealso helps to increase your vis-ibility on the net. A .com domainis one of the most popular do-main names on the Internettoday3 and is by far the mostlikely extension most people trywhen searching for a Web site.For more information, SMS COMto 53030.

In today’s economic environ-ment, businesses will be well-s e r ved to look a t the i rcompany’s Web site as an effec-tive marketing tool that helpsto maintain consistent brand ex-posure, especially with limitedresources.

During the first quarter of2009, the overall base of .comand .net domain names grewto 92.4 million domain names,according to the VeriSign Do-main Name Industry Brief (June2009)

Help Make Your Company’s WebsiteAn Effective Marketing Tool

The Hospitality industry plays a major role in the overall economicgrowth of the country. Along with the rapid industrial growth andpromotion of tourism, the catering and hotel sector is boomingand offering huge job prospects to Indians.

'Hotels in India' have supply of 110,000 rooms. According tothe tourism ministry, 4.4 million tourists visited India last yearand at current trend, demand will soar to 10 million in 2010 - toaccommodate 350 million domestic travellers. With this era ofglobalization and growth in the Hospitality industry, the demandfor qualified and experienced professionals in India and overseasis increasing.

RIMS School of Hotel Management is registered under societyact of Govt. West Bengal. The college is affiliated to London Centreof Management. London UK, Wing of Cavendish College, UnderBritish Accreditation Council for Independent and Higher Education.Certificates are also awarded from NAAC-A grade University, rec-ognized by UGC, Min. of H.R. Govt. of India

The institute is dedicated to provide "Quality Education &training" of International Standard. The aim is to produce graduateswho can function effectively as managers by applying his/her de-veloped skill & knowledge in Hotel and other service industries.

Courses offered at RIMS are:Diploma in Food & Beverage Service-1year Certificate in Food & Beverage Service- 6 months Diploma in Food Production - 1 year Certificate in Food Production- 6 months Diploma in Front Office – 1 year

Why RIMSSophisticated

and innovativetraining meth-ods.

100% guaran-teed placement-achieved in Indiaand Abroad fromlast three consecutive years.

Internationally Accepted Curriculum. Exams conducted directly by LCM & UNIVERSITY. Corporate etiquette - Interface ( Students vs. Corporate leaders) Over 22hours of on job Training every week. Over 30hours of Classroom interactions every week. Over 12hours of In-House practical every week. Teacher student ratio 1:20 RIMS Support Centre facilitates theoretical inputs, practicals,

on-the-job training, designed guest contact exposure, compilationof feasibility reports for new ventures, educational tours, Seminars,Workshops, Personality development opportunities.

For further details contact:Branch office: PHONE:-0832-6484946/3293983House No.337, Near Dolphin Fountain FAX: -033-2710726 Before B M Services, Borda, Margao, Goa E-mail: info@rim-

skolkata.comWebsite: -www.rimskolkata.com

REGENCY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

SCHOOL OF HOTEL MANAGEMENTPress Release Plus+

ARENA ANIMATIONS,Panaji is the Animation & Mul-timedia education brand ofAptech in Goa. Students whogo through the ANIMATION ca-reer courses offered by ArenaAnimations can find placementsin a wide spectrum of Industries

This summer, this Academyis promoting a Creativity Con-test on Graphic Designs on thesubject A NEW WORLD – VISION2050, open to amateurs in theage group of 12 – 30. The con-test will be held in the Premisesbetween 22 and 30 of May, andthe prize distribution will be on18 June. And on offer are prizesworth Rs 50000/-

Participants can choose toenter in any one of the followingmodules.

Sketching , Digital Graphicsor Matte Painting.

The event is sponsored byWhite Cloud, Gera Develop-ments Pvt Ltd & Mustafas.

The judges, Greg Acunha,Assis D’Souza, Roque Fernandes,Muthukumar, Koush ikChakraborty and Floyd Sequeira,are highly experienced anddrawn from the Trade.

Registrations are open till 30April on approved entry formswith one photograph.

Also, for aspiring animators,this year, the Academy offers aunique Animation Summer

Camp for students between theage group of 10 years to 16years so that they understandfundamental concepts of Ani-mation, and can take informeddecisions about careers in thisfield.

In this camp students will beinvolved in learning the funda-mentals of computers, Multime-dia, Basic Art, Drawing, Scanningand Coloring, Working with An-imation, Creating a Character,Animating a Character, ApplyingSound and Motion and finallya Project and will get to knowall the different ways to expressArt.

The Teachers are great Artistswho love teaching. Do not miss

the opportunity to enroll in thisunique activity to enhance yourchildren’s creativity and artisticskills. The sessions are con-ducted in a safe and artisticallyrich environment.

For further informationplease contact 9423885224,9823013484, 9823611824,2225153 o rmgmanimations@gmail.com orvisit our website www.mgm-goa.com or our centre at

Arena Animations Academy(franchisee Panaji Goa MGM An-imations Academy), MidasTouch, 3rd Floor, Panaji MarketSquare, Opp. Hotel Navtara,Above HDFC Bank, Panjim –Goa

Although ragging is a pun-ishable offence, we stillsee youngsters hanging

themselves to the ceiling. A bullywill always do what he is goodat, but what is topping you fromdefending yourself? If not any-thing, you should at least learnto defend yourself against anypotential danger of any magni-tude. The world will always sup-press the weak, but you havethe choice to be weak or wellbuilt.

One man with courage makesa majority. If you want to protectyourself you should first changethe way you think. If you thinkyou are too feeble you will al-ways be dominated and bullied.

You have to tell yourself thatthere is nothing more importantthen yourself respect. If youcan’t defend yourself you loseall rightsto be re-spectable.It is alwaysbetter tojump in thebattlefieldand then dief i g h t i n grather thendieing with-out even try-ing.

It is true that no one makesyou feel inferior without yourconsent. Nobody will rag you

unless you allow them to. Don’tallow anybody to scare you, be-lieve that you are

m i g h t ye n o u g hto scarethem all.O n c eyou letit hap-pen toy o u ,y o uw i l lnever

have the courage to fightit. If you are unable to do it your-self you can always resort tohelp. If you are alone and no-body is in sight when you are

being ragged raise an alarm andshout for help. You can be surethat you’ll be heard. A drowningman will clutch at a straw.

Most of the time, the onesragging, are the ones who putup a strong face but are uncour-ageous, actually. Like we say,empty vessels make the mostnoise. Because ragging usuallytakes place when you are afresher, being extra alert thencan be of help. Learn a few basicself defence mechanisms. Keepthings handy that can help youprotect yourself like pepperspray or if needed, a Swiss knife.

Remember that facing yourfears is the best way to fightthem. Might is right!

How To Deal With Ragging?

careers & education:Layout 1 4/15/2010 3:55 PM Page 1

MONGINIS TWO BEST CREATIVE ME ENTRIES

OHE

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Pg15Goa Monday 19 April 2010 www.oheraldo.in

Craig Wilfred D’Mello (10), Std IV,Chubby Cheeks Primary School,Pilerne wins a gift voucher of Monginis worth

Rs. 75/-

Denon Fernandes (9), Std IV, StJoseph’s School, Sao Jose de Arealwins a gift voucher of Monginis worth Rs. 125/-

NATURE’S BEAUTY Craig Wilfred D’Mello (10), Std IV,Chubby Cheeks Primary School, Pilerne

A FAIRY Jade da Silva(6), Std I, Sharada Mandir, Miramar

A BOAT Benedict Ribeiro Jr. KG, Don Bosco’s HS., Panjim

AN AEROPLANE Sharvari T Gaunekar (7), Std II, GVM’s KG &Primary School, Ponda PARROT PERCHED ON BRANCH

Elron Antao (9), Std IV, St Joseph’sSchool, Sao Jose de Areal

A VILLAGEDenon Fernandes (9), Std IV, St Joseph’s School,Sao Jose de Areal

A COTTAGEJonas Asslen Vaz, Std VI, St Pius X ConventHS., Orlim

ENTRY FORM MONGINIS Creative Me

NAME:

AGE: STD: Phone:

SCHOOL:

HOME ADDRESS:

BEAT THE HEATGavin Gomes (15), Std IX, Our Lady of Snows,Raia

Colour Me

In the drawing room, his

father sat, reading the

newspaper. Sahir asked

him if he could take the puz-

zle to school. “Why not,

beta”, his father replied with

a knowing smile, folding the

paper as he continued “You

can show it to your Geogra-

phy teacher and your friends

can learn the map easily too,

nah?” Sahir nodded happily.

Today he would get a good

remark from his teacher and

a lot of attention from his

friends. Oh, how he loved his

Dad!

“Thanks, Dad, I was sad that

you did not get me the toy I

wanted but this is far better.

I will take good care of it at

school, don’t you worry.”

Sahir assured his father with

a tight hug. “I know you will.

And this vacation we can go

on a tour to some of these

places. Maybe a North

India tour first, then a

tour to the Himalayas next

year and another to see the

places in South India the

year after that. What do you

say? Would you like that?”

“Yes, Dad, yes.” exclaimed

Sahir, excitedly, “But can we

afford it?” “Don’t you worry

your little head, beta”, said

his mother. “Dad has his LTA

facility and the Government

firm he works for has housing

quarters in every state. We

won’t need to spend much

and can still have a good

time.”

Sahir walked out of the house

on a cloud, with stars in his

eyes and bells on his feet. “I

have the best Dad in the

whole wide world” he

thought to himself as he trot-

ted off to the bus-stop, his

puzzle box tucked under his

arm.

When Sahir reached the

class, he placed the box on

his desk. His friend, Atul

looked curiously and asked,

“Kya hai, buddy?” Sahir high-

lighted all that had happened

that morning. Atul immedi-

ately wanted to see the puz-

zle so Sahir opened the box.

The other students eager to

watch, looked on, as Sahir

pointed out the various

states to them. “Aiyo,

this is my state.”

cried MS,

Munnaswamy for short.

“And this is mine.”

said chinky-eyed

Bijoy. The boys all

began to search for their re-

spective states, so no one no-

ticed the arrival of their

teacher, Mrs. Braganza.

“Ahem, Good Morning,

boys.” All the boys scurried

to their places. Approaching

Sahir’s desk, she adjusted her

spectacles and peered out of

them. “What have you

brought us today?” she

sternly asked the frightened

boy. “N—o—thing, miss, just

a puzzle. My Dad gave it to

me as my bir---th--thday gift.”

Mrs. Braganza picked up the

box and looked at the cover.

Suddenly, she smiled. “Good

choice, son. Can I hold on to

it for now?” Saying this, she

picked up the pieces and

carefully put them into the

box. Then she kept the puz-

zle in the cupboard and

began the class.

Sahir was worried. Would the

teacher give him his present

back or would

she take him

to the princi-

pal? He

could not

concentrate on

the lesson.

T h e

teacher, realizing his

predicament, called him up

to her table and asked for his

calendar. Right there in front

of the whole class, she patted

him on the head and gave

him a positive remark. Sahir

walked on a cloud for the

second time that day as he

went back to his desk.

In the recess, the boys usually

played in the corridor. Sahir

had seen Mrs. Braganza take

the box away with her. He ap-

proached the staffroom, but

there was a big crowd of

teachers near his teacher’s

chair. He peeked through a

small gap and gasped. His Ge-

ography teacher was solving

the jigsaw puzzle and the

other teachers were helping

and encouraging her. He was

overjoyed and ran back to tell

his friends. They all ran to the

staffroom to watch the fun.

When the teachers heard the

commotion, they came out

and one of them asked, “Who

brought this to school?”

Sahir came shyly forward.

The teachers surrounded

him, congratu-

lating him and

his History

teacher said, “I

always thought

Sahir was not in-

terested in stud-

ies, but today

he has proved

us wrong. Keep

it up!”

S a h i r

walked on a

cloud for the third time

that day, a happy grin on

his face. (His parents

loved him, his friends loved

him, his teachers loved him

and all was well with the

world again. )

All because of a simple jigsaw

puzzle of the map of India.

Oh, how he loved his Dad,

and his puzzle and his beau-

tiful country India. He vowed

there and then that he would

not pester his parents for silly

presents again. He would in-

stead ask them to keep their

promise and take him on

tours to see all the wonderful

places of India. He could click

photographs with the camera

that Mohit Chacha had given

them when he came from

USA. What fun! He couldn’t

wait to pack his bags.

Moral: Love your country

India for she is your ‘Mother-

land and look after her

well.(concluded)

Ni hao (hello), my name

is Goashuang. I'm a

10-year old girl living

in Beijing, the capital of a

beautiful Asian country,

China. I speak Mandarin and

like most of the people in my

country, I belong to the Han

ethnic tribe. Did you know

that China has more people

than any other country in the

world? In fact, one fifth of

the world's population lives

in China. We have tall moun-

tains, farmland, lowlands,

plains, and dry deserts.

I just got back from playing

a game of ping pong with my

friends. Ping pong is my

favourite game. Some other

games my friends and I like

to play are volleyball, basket-

ball, and badminton.

Boy is it cold. It gets pretty

cold in the winter, but in the

summer it's warmer. Unfor-

tunately it's not summer right

now; it's the cold winter. I

have school tomorrow and I

can usually count on it being

extra cold there. I have to

wake up at seven o'clock, in

the morning so that I can be

at school at eight o’clock

. I have ten minutes be-

tween classes and a

two-hour lunch

break. I am

in the

f i f t h

grade. I

will start junior high school

in the seventh grade. There

are three years of junior high

school. After that I will start

senior high. There are three

years of that too. I go to

school six days a week and

have a holiday on Sunday. At

school I learn to write using

the Chinese writing system.

We use characters instead of

an alphabet. Each character is

a symbol that stands for a

complete word. I usually ride

my bike to school. A lot of

people ride bikes in China.

On Sunday my family goes to

the park. We do not go to

any type of church since our

government discourages reli-

gion. We watch

people practice

T'ai Chi Ch'uan

i n

the

e a r l y

m o r n -

ing.

It is

a

form of martial

arts. Later my

friends and I play basketball.

It's almost supper time. For

supper, each member of my

family starts with a bowl of

rice. Then we can help our-

selves to the nearest dish

which might include soup,

pork, and fish. For breakfast

we have noodles and leftover

rice. The only utensils we

use are chopsticks and soup

spoons. Tea is the favorite

Chinese drink.

We eat different food on hol-

idays. My favorite holiday is

National's Day, because of the

fireworks and parades.

If you come to visit China, be

sure to see the Great Wall of

China. Did you know the

Great Wall is the longest

structure ever built? It's

about 4,000 miles (6,400

kilometers) long. It was built

entirely by hand. The wall

crosses northern China be-

tween the east coast and

north-central China.

My sister is getting married.

We had a fortune teller come

to our house. She decided

on the wedding date for my

sister based on her birth date

and by consulting the Chi-

nese almanac.

I'd like to tell some interest-

ing things about my country.

Did you know there are over

one billion people living in

China? The cities are very

crowded. The two largest

cities in China are Shanghai

and Beijing (also spelled

Peking), which is also China's

capital city. Even though we

have many big cities, most of

the people in my country live

in rural villages and small

towns. Many of them herd

sheep and goats or grow

crops.

Chinese people are very cre-

ative. Did you know that the

Chinese were the first people

to invent the compass, paper,

porcelain, and silk cloth?

Well I got to go. Bye.

DID YOU KNOW?

A Kid's Life In...China

In China frogs' legs

fried in ginger and scal-

lions are said to

strengthen one's legs.

In China people work

and go to school six

days a week.

There are almost 250

times more bikes than

cars in China.

In the winter it could

be 4 degrees F. in north-

ern China and 68 de-

grees F. in southern

China.

China has more

horses than any other

country in the world.

The Pieces Of The Puzzle- IIBy Auriel Ribeiro Sa

junior herald :Layout 1 4/15/2010 4:00 PM Page 1

SPORTSGOA, Monday, 19 April, 2010

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GFA Taca Goa U-20 leaguesoccer: Dempo Sports Club(Juniors) v. Sesa Football Acad-emy (Juniors), Duler stadium,Mapusa; Vasco Sports Club v.Sporting Clube de Goa, Tilakstadium, Vasco. Kick-off: 4p.m.

Cayman Cup soccer: Enfer-mos Sports Club, Navelim v.Young Strikers, Benaulim, Cur-torim ground, 4.30 p.m.

Eslinda Alemao memorialsoccer: St Anthony’s SportingClub, Colva v. AA de Majorda,Davorlim ground, 4.30 p.m.

3rd Alvernaz and LalushAlemao soccer: St SavioSports Club, Calangute v. Cun-colim Union, Varca ground,4.45 p.m.

3rd Colormax ImperialRolling Trophy soccer: Can-dolim Sports Club v. SaligaoUnited, Dr. Gustavo Monteirostadium, Candolim, 4.45 p.m.

Sodiem Siolim soccer:Nagoa Sports Club v. PeddemBomm, Anjuna, St. Anthony’schurch ground, Siolim, 4.30p.m.

South Goa volleyball :Maina VI v. St Anthony’s,Colva; Veling, Ponda v. PietySports Club, Navelim; Upas-nagar v. Xeldem, Butica vol-leyball court, Navelim, from7 p.m.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CALANGUTE, APRIL 18

United Club of Nerul prevailedover Navelim Sporting Club 4-3via the tie-breaker to lift theCalangute Panchayat Cup in thefinals of the inter-village soccertournament organised byCalangute Association at Poriatground, Calangute on Sunday.There was no score at the endof the regulation period.

Navelim had a good oppor-tunity to forge ahead in the 6thminute but Nerul goalkeeperSiddu brought off a superlativesave.

Nerul fought tooth and nailand created a scoring opportu-nity the very next minute, butPankaj shot wide.

Navelim had two more goodscoring opportunities but strikerAlvito failed to find the net onboth occasions.

Changing over, the teamsfailed to score on a couple ofoccasions. The deadlock was re-solved via the tie-breaker. JohnVaz, Xavier Clemente, NewtonPereira and Charles Pereira wereon target for Nerul while RichardCosta, Sanford Cardozo and Syd-ney Colaco converted for Nave-lim.

Neru l won the covetedCalangute Panchayat Cup andRs 20,000 while Navelim had tobe content with Rs 15,000 anda trophy.

Fo l low ing p r i zes wereawarded: Upcoming goalkeeper- Agnelo D'Souza, Friends XI.Best goalkeeper of finals –Siddu. UC Nerul. First scorer ofthe finals - Richard Costa. Nave-lim SC. Best defender - BenedictD'Souza, UC Nerul.

The prizes were given awayby the guest of honour, LaxmanPorob Palyekar, Alex Fernandespresident, Calangute Associa-

UC Nerul lift Calangute Cup

UC Nerul players receiving the Calangute Panchayat Cup from Calangute Sarpanch Laxman Palyekar in the presence of Alex Fernandes, president, Calangute As-sociation and Panchayat members at Poriat ground, Calangute on Sunday.

tion, Sneha Salgaonkar and Al-bert Fernandes, membersCalangute VP and other club of-ficials. The guest of honour andCalangute VP members were

earlier introduced to the playersby Alex, Jerry D’Souza, vice-pres-ident and Luis Gonsalves, sportssecretary.

Earlier a minute’s silence was

observed in memory of JerryXavier Dias, a member ofCalangute Association’s First Di-vision team, who died in a tragicroad accident. A purse of Rs 1

lakh was later handed over toMarieta Dias, sister of Jerry byCalangute Association as a tokenof love and appreciation. Luisproposed the vote of thanks.

Goa girls Nat throwball champs

The Goa girls throwball team which won the Sub-Junior National Throwball Championship alongwith Health Minister Vish-wajeet Rane, Pratap Gawas, MLA, T Ramanna, Ashok Parob and others at Valpoi on Sunday. Photo: Ashraf Khan

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

VALPOI, APRIL 18

The Goa g i r l s ’ throwba l lteam emerged champion de-feating Haryana 25-27, 25-19, 25-23 in the finals of19th Sub- Junior Nat ionalThrowball Championship atF o r e s t Tr a i n i n g S c h o o l

ground, Valpoi, on Sunday.Haryana lifted the boys crown

defeating Karnataka 25-21, 25-19 in the finals.

Health Minister, VishwajeetRane was the chief guest andgave away the prizes. PratapGawas, MLA, was the guest ofhonour. Also present were T

Ramanna, general secretaryThrowball Federation of India,Ashok Parob ex-MLA, VMCchairperson Gulzar Khan andSanquelim Municipal chairper-son Sunita Verekar. HanifShaikh proposed the vote ofthanks. Fehmida Khan andReshma Khan compered.

Areal enterlast four

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARGAO, APRIL 18

Sao Jose de Areal Sports Clubprevailed over Chandor Club 6-5via the sudden-death to moveinto the semi-finals of 12th All-Goa Immaculate ConceptionFootball Festival organised by Im-maculate Conception Sports Clubat Avedem panchayat ground,Paroda on Sunday. The teamswere locked goalless at the endof the normal period of play.

Chandor enjoyed a slight edgeover Areal in the opening sessionbut missed a couple of chances astheir forwards ran out of ideas onreaching the rival danger zone. DjonFernandes muffed a sitter with onlythe rival goalkeeper at his mercy.

Changing over, Areal nearlyfound the match-winner butFredrick Endro blasted widefrom hand-shaking distance.

In the ensuing tie-breaker,Fredrick Endro, Mariano Rebello,Franky Valladares, Avron Travassoand Mario Barretto were on targetfor Areal while Glimson Rodrigues,Djon Fernandes, Danny Peixoto,Sammy Dias and Suraj Zambodkarconverted for Chandor. In the sud-den-death Luis Barretto nettedfor Areal while Moura failed toscore for Chandor.

cayman cup

AGENCIES

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

“We had planned and preparedfor the game against ChurchillBros. Everything went accordingto it. We believe we had achance to win against Churchillby just playing the ball along

the ground,” said Sporting Clubede Goa coach, Vishwas Gaonkar.

The Flaming Oranje areplaced at the bottom of the tableand have another five games togo before their fate will be de-cided. And the going wouldn’tbe easier given that they facethe league leaders, Dempo SCin the next game.

“The boys are showing a greatspirit. Everyone now believesin us. I told the boys that weare not playing any big teams.It’s just 11 against 11 and youhave to show that you are bet-ter.” “The same trend will con-tinue against Dempo too.”

But victories for Shillong La-jong and JCT on the same daywasn’t good news for the Goanclub but Gaonkar chooses tolook on the bright side.

“We are not concerned about

others. We have to focus on ourvictory. Each one has the powerof ‘I can.’ If everyone in the teambelieves in that power then itbecomes ‘We can.’ “For us, it’sa knock-out tournament. Withthe help of God, everything ispossible,” said an optimistGaonkar.

The former Sesa FootballAcademy coach wasn’t pleasedwith the refereeing as he madehis displeasure known.

“I was a little annoyed withsome of the refereeing deci-sions. It was not a penalty andSamanada shouldn’t have gotthe card (red),” he added.(Goal.Com)

STANDINGS: Dempo 41points (21 matches), Mahindra37 points (21 matches), ChurchillBros 32 points (20 matches),Chirag 31 points (21 matches),

We can beat Dempo too: VishwasMohun Bagan 29 points (20matches), Pune 28 points (20matches), JCT 25 points (21matches), Viva Kerala 25 points(21 matches), East Bengal 24points (20 matches),Air India 24points (21 matches), Lajong 24points (21 matches), Salgaocar 23points ( 21 matches ) , Mum-b a i F C 2 1 p o i n t s ( 2 1matches) , Sport ing Clubed e G o a 2 0 p o i n t s ( 2 1matches ) .

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARGAO, APRIL 18

Powered by a brace from strikerDenzil Rogtao, Betalbatim Sport-ing Club outclassed AmbelimSports Club 3-1 to storm intothe quarter-finals of All-Goa Cay-man Cup inter- village footballtournament organized by Cur-torim Gymkhana at Curtorimground, on Sunday. Betalbatimled 1-0 at the breather.

Betalbatim set a fast pace

from the outset and repeatedlyraided the Ambelim goal. Betal-batim were rewarded in the 5thminute when striker Denzil un-leashed a snap shot which beatthe Ambelim goalkeeper afterreceiving a through pass fromDesmond Fernandes.

Stung by the setback, Ambe-lim tried their best to level thescore but their attacks werethwarted by the Ambelim de-fenders.

Changing over, Denzil dou-bled the lead for Betalbatim in

the 43rd minute with a blisteringright footer off a cross fromBradley Rogtao.

Ambelim fought back and re-duced the margin in the 57thminute when Samson Fernandesunleashed a 25-yard volley whichcrashed into the net. RosarioFernandes o f Be ta lba t imrounded off the tally in the dyingminutes of the game.

Conceissao Dias, panch, Cur-torim VP, was the chief guestand was introduced to theteams.

Betalbatim move into quarters

Goa Velha upHERALD SPORTS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Goa Velha Sports Club trouncedChinchinim Villagers Union 5-0to move into the quarter-finalsof 3rd All-Goa Alvernaz andLalush Alemao memorial foot-ball tournament organised byChurchill Brothers Sports Clubat Varca ground on Sunday. GoaVelha led 2-0 at the breather.

Goa Velha scored through Vis-hant Pednekar 2, Adoly Caiado 2and Joy Fernandes. Vishant wasgiven the man-of-the match prize.

HERALD SPORTS DESK

PANJIM, APRIL 18

Adarsh Yuvak Sangh scored afluent 3-0 win over Friends XI,Vaddem in Sodiem Siolim soccertournament organised bySodiem Siolim Sports and Cul-tural Association, at St Anthony’s

church ground, Siolim, on Sun-day. Adarsh took the leadthrough Rohidas Mahloji in the29th minute. However, in the30th minute, Chalton D’Souzawasted a penalty shooting wide.In the 32nd minute, Mervin Brittodoubled the lead for Adarsh.

Changing over, Rohidasrounded off the tally in the 15thminute.

Adarsh trounceFriends XI

sodiem siolimsoccer

Football development centre in PunePUNE: In what promises to be a new chapter in Indian foot- ball, Civil Aviation Minister Praful

Patel inaugurated the BV & KW’sAbhijit Kadam Football Devel-opment Centre (AKFDC) in as-sociation with FA, AIFF andLiverpool. AKFDC endeavoursto be the India’s first centreaimed at creating football in-dustry professionals by provid-ing courses in coaching andrefereeing apart from buildinga talented football talent base.

GOA, Monday, 19 April, 2010H

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Ben Watson of Wigan Athletic scores at the DW Stadium in Wigan, England on Sunday.

Wigan 3 Arsenal 2Portsmouth 1 Aston Villa 2

AGENCIES

LONDON, APRIL 18

Three goals in the final 11 min-utes gave Wigan Athletic ar-guably the most stunning victoryin their Premier League historyand slammed the door shut onArsenal's faint title hopes.

The Gunners appeared to becoasting to victory on the backof goals either side of half-timefrom Theo Walcott and MikaelSilvestre, and with it haulingthemselves to within threepoints of leaders Chelsea.

But after a run of eight de-feats and a draw in the leagueagainst Arsenal, Wigan addedto their maiden wins overChelsea and Liverpool this sea-son as Ben Watson, Titus Bram-ble and Char les N 'Zogbiaconjured an astonishing come-back.

The remarkable result leavesWigan seven points clear of thedrop zone and seemingly safe,whereas Arsenal can now kissgoodbye to any hope they hadof the title after back-to-backdefeats in the space of five days.

Tottenham Hotspur's victoryover leaders Chelsea on Satur-day had given the visitors a glim-mer of hope on the title front,but that has now evaporated,

and they have only themselvesto blame for a late collapse.

For 40 minutes here theyfound themselves frustrated bya Wigan side desperate forpoints in their battle to stay inthe top flight for a sixth succes-sive season.

After being booed off thepitch on Wednesday followinga goalless draw against an al-ready-relegated and under-strength Portsmouth side,Wigan were determined to re-store the faith of their fans.

There was certainly an ur-gency about Roberto Martinez'sside, but for 80 minutes theylacked a cutting edge.

Instead it was Arsenal whowere in the ascendancy, initiallyin the 41st minute as NicklasBendtner split covering defend-ers Maynor Figueroa and Bram-ble with a through ball of paceand precision.

After riding Bramble's chal-lenge and pulling away fromFigueroa, Walcott then slid theball underneath the advancingChris Kirkland for his seventhgoal of the season.

It was deserved as Walcottshould have scored minutesprior to that after Abou Diabyhad released him in behindWigan's defence.

Although left with a one-on-one opportunity with Kirkland

just outside the six-yard box, heopted to try and find Bendtnerwith a square ball, only to pullit behind him, allowing Wiganto clear.

Walcott could, and perhapsshould have given Arsenal a two-goal cushion on the stroke ofhalf time, only to narrowly clearthe bar with a rising drive fromjust inside the area.

Prior to Walcott's openerWigan were lively, but barelytroubled Lukasz Fabianski, play-ing in his first league match sincethe end of last season withManuel Almunia out with a wristinjury.

N'Zogbia, rumoured to be atarget for Wenger in the sum-mer, was narrowly wide withone curled effort, whilst a low,powerful 20-yard drive wasstraight at the Pole.

As a contest, it seemed toturn inside the opening threeminutes of the second half, ini-tially after just 40 seconds asWigan were denied a penalty.

Referee Lee Mason, turneddown appeals after Samir Nasriappeared to pull on the arm ofWatson.

Moments later, and from Ar-senal's first attack of the half,Kirkland superbly denied Diabyat close range, with the balleventually running for a corner.

Nasri proceeded to deliver an

outswinger to which Wigan'sdefence were guilty of fallingasleep, allowing Silvestre an un-marked header from the penaltyspot beyond Kirkland's out-stretched grasp.

Starting for Thomas Vermae-len, who misses the end to theseason with a calf strain, it wasSilvestre's first goal for a yearsince a 4-1 win on this ground.

In another match, NathanDelfouneso climbed off thebench to score his first Pre-mier League goal and keepAston Villa's faint hopes of at o p - f o u r f i n i s h a l i v e a tPortsmouth.

It was no more than Villa de-served, the young striker prod-ding home on 82 minutes fromEmile Heskey's flick-on.

But it was still a little harshon the hosts after anotherbrave display, kick-started byMichael Brown's curler.

John Carew followed thatwith a drilled leveller andmissed penalty among a glutof chances, but V il la wonthrough.

And it could prove a crucialintervention from 19-year-oldDelfouneso, his winner pushingVilla up to sixth spot, twopoints ahead of Liverpool, fourbehind Manchester City andsix off fourth-placed Totten-ham.

Wigan ends Arsenal’s title hopes with 3-2 win

AGENCIES

MADRID, APRIL 17

Espanyol's battling 0-0 draw at home to LaLiga leaders Barcelona will have made in-teresting watching for Inter Milan coachJose Mourinho.

The Italians host the European Cup hold-ers in a Champions League semi-final firstleg on Tuesday, volcanic ash permitting,and were able to witness a rare sight asBarca found themselves harried, hurriedand ultimately held by their super-motivatedcity rivals.

The visitors lost defender Daniel Alvesto a red card after 62 minutes and Espanyol,who hit the woodwork in the first half, wereperhaps unlucky not to come away withmore from a game in which Barca were un-characteristically defensive in outlook.

The champions moved on to 84 points

from 33 games, but chasing Real Madridcould close to within one point if they canbeat third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeutoday.

Roared on by their own, Espanyol gaveBarca very little space, while a succession offouls disrupted the rhythm of the game, play-ers rapidly crowding round the referee toexert maximum pressure at every stoppage.

Barca did not have one decent shot ontarget and were lucky to go in at the breaklevel after a quick Espanyol counter-attackended with Pablo Osvaldo's effort beingpushed on to a post by Victor Valdes.

Matters got worse for Pep Guardiola whenAlves picked up his second yellow card buthe still opted for attack throwing on ThierryHenry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to join LionelMessi in the second half.

Espanyol have not conceded a goal athome in 2010 and looked secure at theback despite Barca continuing to dominateproceedings, and they were a constantworry for their neighbours on the counter.

Earlier, Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabianowere on target to help Sevilla beat SportingGijon 3-0 at home, moving them up tofourth with 54 points.

Mali striker Kanoute scored following afree kick in the eighth minute and Sporting'schances of getting back into the game werehindered when forward Mate Bilic pickedup his second yellow card in the 32nd.

Brazil striker Luis Fabiano guided a majesticheader past Juan Pablo in the 53rd, and Sport-ing picked up a second red card when de-fender Jose Angel walked in the 83rd.

Juan Cala wrapped up the points with aclose-range header to keep up Sevilla's pushfor a return to Champions League actionnext season.

In the late game, Europa League semi-fi-nalists Atletico Madrid, set to host Liverpoolnext week, suffered their third successivedefeat, going down 2-1 at Villarreal.

Diego Godin and Giuseppe Rossi scoredto put Villarreal sixth with 49 points. SergioAguero pulled one back for the visitors.

Barca draw gives Real title hope

AGENCIES

MONACO, APRIL 18

Rafael Nadal defeated FernandoVerdasco 6-0, 6-1 in Sunday’sall-Spanish final to win theMonte Carlo Masters for thesixth straight year and end histitle drought.

The second-seeded Nadalclinched his first title since theRome Masters in May 2009 byoverpowering the sixth-seededVerdasco with a stunning dis-play of attacking clay-court ten-nis.

Nadal is the only player towin six consecutive titles in thesame tournament since tennisturned professional in 1968, andthe 23-year-old has tied top-ranked Roger Federer with 16Masters titles, one behind AndreAgassi’s record.

Nadal sealed the win on hisfirst match point with a forehandpass and fell to the ground,rolling on his back as he savoredhis victory.

“It was emotional for metoday, it was my best week fora long time,” Nadal said. “It’sunbelievable, Monte Carlo is myfavorite tournament.”

It was Nadal’s 32nd straightwin at Monte Carlo since histhird-round loss to GuillermoCoria in 2003, and the relief atclinching his 37th career titlewas evident as he sobbed intoa towel when he sat down.

Although Federer was notplaying at Monte Carlo, Nadal’swin and early form on clay willmake him a favorite to reclaimhis French Open title from theSwiss player at Roland Garroswhen the tournament starts latenext month.

Verdasco had no answers inlosing his 10th straight matchto Nadal, who covered everypart of the court and showedthe agility, strength and powerthat were his hallmarks on clay

before his sudden dip last year.“Sorry for today,” Nadal said

to a smiling Verdasco as the twoplayers gave their speeches.

“I hope one day Rafa getstired of winning here,” said Ver-dasco, who has four career titlesbut was seeking his first Masterstrophy.

Nadal’s victory tied him withBritain’s Reggie Doherty, whowon the Monte Carlo event sixtimes overall, between 1897-99and 1902-04.

Just like in 2007 and ’08,Nadal did not drop a set duringthe tournament.

After the first-set whitewash,

Verdasco started the second ag-gressively and got a huge roarwhen he finally held his serve.

The cheers turned to jeerswhen Verdasco hit a lazy shotinto the net to lose his serveand trail 4-1, but some spectac-ular rallying in the sixth gamegot the crowd back on his sideand he forced Nadal to save fivebreak points.

After winning one long rally,Verdasco dropped to his kneesand threw his hands up to thesky after winning a point, andeven Prince Albert of Monacorose out of his seat to join inthe applause.

Nadal wins 6th straight Monte Carlo Masters title

Sevilla 3 Sporting Gijon 0Espanyol 0 Barcelona 0

Villarreal 2 Atletico Madrid 1

REUTERS

SHANGHAI, APRIL 18

World champion Jenson Buttoncalmly steered his way throughthe chaos of a wet ChineseGrand Prix for his second winof the season today, leadingLewis Hamilton to a McLarenone-two.

The 30-year-old Briton, whotook the lead in the overallstandings after celebrating hissecond win of the season andninth of his career, yelled ''Wereally earned that one!'' on histeam radio as he crossed theline.

''For me it's my best victory,''said the grinning Button, whohad started fifth on the grid. ''Itwas very tough conditions andthe great thing is our pace wasgood. It wasn't just the luck ofcalling the weather.''

Hamilton, who carved his waythrough the field from 12th onlap four to finish 1.530 secondsbehind his compatriot in the firstBritish one-two since 1999, mayyet pay the penalty for his ag-gressive drive after a post-raceprobe into a pit lane clash withRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

German Nico Rosberg got hissecond successive third place forMercedes with Spain's FernandoAlonso, who earned a drive-through penalty for a jump start,finishing fourth for Ferrari.

Button now has 60 pointsoverall, 10 clear of Rosberg withHamilton and Alonso third anda point further back.

McLaren lead the construc-tor's standings with 109 pointsto Ferrari's 90.

Pole-sitter Vettel, who wonthe last race in Malaysia andhere last year, could only man-age sixth behind Robert Kubica'sRenault, leaving the Shanghairace still without a repeat winnerafter seven years.

''Today was very chaotic and

Button leads McLaren one-two in China

in the end to take sixth can bequite important,'' said Vettel. ''Ob-viously, our main competitors fin-ished ahead, so that's not nice.It was a very difficult race for us.''

Renault's Vitaly Petrov passedboth Michael Schumacher ofMercedes and the Red Bull ofMark Webber on the last fewlaps to take an impressive sev-enth place in the Russian's firstcompleted Formula One race.

Alonso's premature start, asafety car for a three-car pile up

on the first corner, heavy rainand another safety car later inthe race contributed to an en-tertaining but chaotic race.

Rosberg emerged in the leadafter the first few laps followedby Button and Kubica with therace favourite Red Bulls andHamilton scrambling to changetyres to match the conditions.

Hamilton showed through hisuncompromising clash with Vet-tel at both the entrance and exitto the pit lane that he was by

no means cowed by criticism ofhis driving in Malaysia.

The Briton's drive included anaudacious move to pass both Vetteland Adrian Sutil at one corner anda thrilling battle with seven-timesworld champion Schumacher.

Button overtook Rosberg onthe hairpin before the start-finishstraight and made his first pitstop immediately afterward, stillgetting back out in front just be-fore the second safety car on lap20 bunched up the field again.

Force India's point-scoringstreak came to an abrupt endin a chaotic Chinese Grand Prixon Sunday with Adrian Sutil fin-ishing 11th while his team-mateVitantonio Liuzzi retired afteran opening lap brake problem.

On a day when changeablerainy conditions created a lot-tery for tyres and position, only17 drivers brought home thecar, the last being Hispania'sKarun Chandhok.

"It is disappointing to see ourrun of points end and not to havebeen able to make more of theseconditions, but that's sometimes

what happens in this type of con-ditions," Force India chairmanVijay Mallya said after the race.

"We've got some work to donow that Renault has openedup a sizeable advantage but wehave some developments in thepipeline and the season has along way to run. We'll regroupand come back strongly in SpainI'm sure," said Mallya, also theteam principal.

Sutil reckoned strategy wascrucial today and felt things couldhave been slightly different butfor the last pit stop which costhim a couple of extra seconds.

"It was a real strategy race thistime. At times it was difficult toknow which was the best tyre tobe on, as it would rain and thendry and then rain again," Sutilsaid.

"I lost a couple of positionsin this final stop and that waswhat dropped me back to 13th.Although we could close towithin a second of Michael(Schumacher) I just ran out oflaps to get past. But that's howit is, sometimes you win in thistype of race and sometimes itjust doesn't go your way," hesaid, rather philosophically.

Force India returns empty-handed

Barca mayface bus

trip to Milan REUTERS

MADRID, APRIL 18

Barcelona have been forced tobring forward their ChampionsLeague trip to Inter Milan amidworries about the cloud of vol-canic ash disrupting flightsacross Europe, the Europeanchampions said.

Barca are due to play Inter intheir semi-final first leg on Tuesdayand will attempt to fly to Milantoday, instead of Monday as orig-inally planned, they said on theirwebsite (www.fcbarcelona.com).

At a meeting held after a 0-0draw against city rivals Espanyolin La Liga yesterday, the clubhave decided to leave after train-ing today.

If it is not possible to fly intoMilan they will attempt to fly tosomewhere nearby in Italy, butif all the airports are closed theirlast alternative is to travel by bus.

Kodagu willget sportspackagesoon: Gill

PTI

MADIKERI, APRIL 18

Kodagu district in Karnataka willsoon a get sports packages fromthe Centre according to UnionSports and Youth service min-ister Dr M S Gill.

He was speaking after inau-gurating 'Ashwin Pratishtana' inKals school started by nationalrunning champion AshwiniNachappa and her husbandDatha Karumbaiah in Gonikop-pal.

He said it would make com-pulsory to build suitable playground for the children in allthe schools.

Gill said he had already dis-cussed the matter with UnionHuman resourses Developmentminister Kapil Sibal.

He the the department wasplanning to award sports schol-arships and give additional fivemarks to talented sports per-sons seeking jobs.

Rs 678 core will be spent forthe Common Wealth games tobe held in New Delhi to be heldduring October and Rs 300 crorewill be spent for extra securitymeasure, he said

Special adventurous sportswould introduced in the hillyareas of Kodagu and Ooty, hesaid.

Govt had planned to arrangenational level inter state sportsmeet in Bangalore and Hyder-abad and the talented youthswill selected for Olympics, hesaid.

UNI

LAHORE, APRIL 18

Medium-pacer Mohammad Asifhas asserted that Pakistan willgo all out to defend the WorldTwenty20 crown in the West In-dies, later this month.

The national team playershave been undergoing a trainingcamp here ahead of the megaevent and Asif revealed that allthe cricketers have been bene-fited immensely.

''We will win the World Cup. ''Ionly know that Pakistan arefavourites and we will win the WorldCup,'' Asif told PakPassion.net.

''The training camp has beenvery good preparation for all ofthe boys. Yes it's been hardwork, but I believe it will defi-nitely help ahead of the WorldCup in the West Indies. Thepreparation for such an impor-tant tournament has to be spoton,'' he added.

Asif has been going throughthe paces under the watchful eyes

of national bowling coach WaqarYounis and he was all praise forthe legendary fast bowler.

''Waqar has been very helpfulwith his thoughts on my bowling.He analyses the art of bowlingvery well and has constantly pro-vided me with feedback, adviceand support. We have workedtogether on some new things, afew variations here and there andthey have worked out very well.

''The camp has provided me

with an opportunity to onceagain work with one of Pakistan'sgreatest ever cricketers. We hadalready worked together on thetours of New Zealand and Aus-tralia and we have continued inLahore the work that we put in,on those tours. Waqar hasn'tspotted any major technicalflaws in my bowling, but as Isaid, we have worked on someminor adjustments and newideas here and there,'' Asif stated.

Pak will win T20 WC: Asif

Jenson Button celbrates victory with Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.

SPORTS

REUTERS

ROME, APRIL 18

AC Milan's Serie A title hopeswere hanging by the shortestof short threads today after Gi-ampaolo Pazzini's injury-timeheader sealed a 2-1 home winfor Champions League hopefulsSampdoria.

The defeat comes at the endof a difficult week for Milan,with rumours swirling thatrookie coach Leonardo is on theverge of leaving after just oneseason despite repeated denials.

Third-placed Milan have fourgames left and lie six points be-hind Inter Milan and four adriftof AS Roma, who can retake topspot with victory over derby ri-vals Lazio later (2200 IST).

Milan beganb r i g h t l yenough andwere rewardedwhen strikerMarco Bor -riello, lookingto force him-self in Italy'sWor ld Cupsquad, nodded in a corner togive the visitors a 20th minutelead.

Antonio Cassano equalisedwith a penalty early in the sec-ond half after Milan's DanieleBonera was dismissed but theRossoneri, who have not wonthe scudetto since 2004, thenwasted a host of good chancesdespite being down to 10 men.

B a b y - f a c e dforward Pazzinipunished themdeep into stop-page time whenhe produced thetype of trade-mark headerwhich could alsorocket him into

Italy coach Marcello Lippi'splans.

Sampdoria stand two pointsclear in the fourth and finalChampions League qualifyingspot after leapfrogging Palermo,who were held to a 2-2 draw atCagliari.

Sixth-placed Napoli, five be-hind Samp, made sure they stillhad a shot at fourth thanks to

Ezequiel Lavezzi's double in a2-1 victory at Bari.

The result was a further dag-ger to the hearts of Juventusfans, whose famous club havesunk to seventh, six points be-hind the Champions Leaguespots, after Friday's 2-0 defeatat Inter.

Bottom side Livorno, who lost2-0 at Chievo yesterday, will haveto wait at least another weekto be put out of their miseryand relegated after Bolognacould only draw 1-1 at Udinesefollowing Antonio Di Natale'slate leveller.

Resurgent Atalanta movedjust two points behind fourth-from-bottom Bologna after a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.

AC Milan title hopes crushedBari 1 Napoli 2

Catania 2 Siena 2Udinese 1 Bologna 1Parma 2 Genoa 3

Atalanta 2 Fiorentina 1Cagliari 2 Palermo 2

Sampdoria 2 AC Milan 1

SPORTSwww.oherald.in

Pg 18GOA, MONDAY, 19 APRIL, 2010

UC Nerul lift Calangute CupPg. 16

Wigan end Arsenal’s title hopes with 3-2 winPg. 17

Kings XI Punjab: M Jayawardene c Tyagi b A Morkel 21,S Marshnot out 88, K Sangakkara b Ashwin 33,Yuvraj Singh lbw b Raina1,I Pathan not out 44. Extras:5. Total: 192-3. Fall of wickets:34-1,90-2, 93-3. Bowling: S Tyagi 2-0-24-0,D Bollinger 4-0-39-0,AMorkel 4-0-48-1,R Ashwin 4-0-20-1,S Raina 4-0-33-1,J Kemp 1-0-12-0,S Jakati 1-0-14-0.Chennai Super Kings: M Vijay st Sangakkara b Powar 13,M Haydenc Sangakkara b Powar 5,S Raina c Goel b Theron 46,S Badrinath

st Sangakkara b Chawla 53,MS Dhoni not out 54,A Morkel not out 14. Extras: 10.Total: 195-4. Fall of wickets: 13-1, 27-2, 89-3, 148-4. Bowling: R Powar 4-0-28-2,IPathan 3.4-0-44-0,VRV Singh 3-0-40-0,P Chawla 4-0-28-1,J Theron 4-0-43-1,YuvrajSingh 1-0-7-0.Man-of-the-Match: M S Dhoni.

Murali Vijay of Chennai Super Kings is stumped by Kumar Sangakkara.

PTIDHARAMSALA, APRIL 18

Chennai Super Kings todayblazed into the IPL semi-finalswith a sensational late blitzkriegby captain Mahendra SinghDhoni taking them to a six-wicket victory over Kings XI Pun-jab here.

Chasing a huge 193 for a win,Dhoni cracked a 29-ball un-beaten 54 with a late flourishof fours and sixes to take hisside to victory with two ballsto spare in a high scoring thrillerat the HPCA Stadium here.

Needing 16 runs from the lastover, the Chennai captain hit ahapless Irfan Pathan for 18 runswith the help of two sixes anda four to take his side's score to195 for four in 19.4 overs.

Dhoni, who ended the matchin style with a six, was droppedin the previous over bowled byJuan Theron when on 32, Pathanbeing the culprit.

Dhoni struck five fours andtwo sixes in his blistering inningssharing 47 runs from three oversin their unfinished fifth wicketwith Albie Morkel (eight-ball 14).

S Badrinath (53 in 36 balls) andSuresh Raina (46 in 27 balls)were the other main contribu-tors for Chennai.

With today's win, Chennaiended their league engagementswith 14 points from as manymatches with a net run rate ofplus 0.274. They have assureda semifinal spot in the tourna-ment.

Earlier, put into bat, Punjabpiled up a big 192 for three,thanks to a breezy 99-run un-beaten fourth wicket partner-ship between Shaun Marsh (88)

Dhoni ensures CSK semis berth

and Pathan (44).Chennai suffered two quick

losses in the beginning of theirrun chase when off-spinner

Ramesh Powar removed MuraliVijay (13) and his opening part-n e r M a t t h e w H a y d e n ( 5 )cheaply.

PTI

MUMBAI/BANGALORE APRIL 18

Unwilling to take any chances,the Indian Premier League au-thorities today shifted both theIPL semi-finals to Navi Mumbaifollowing yesterday's twin blastsin Bangalore which was the orig-inal venue.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modisaid in a statement that eventhough the IPL security agencyfound the blasts of low intensity,the authorities had no other waybut to shift the matches to theDY Patil Stadium, which wouldalso host the April 25 final.

"While reluctant to relocatethe semifinals at such short no-tice, yesterday's incidents havemade it clear that the currentenvironment in Bangalore pre-vents us from continuing withour original plans," Modi said.

He said the incidents wereassessed by local police and theIPL's security agency as beingof a minor nature but they haveforced our hand.

"This decision is naturally dis-appointing for the people ofBangalore but has been takenwith the tournament's best in-terests, and the interests of itsmany varied stakeholders, inmind," Modi said.

Accordingly, the DY Patil Sta-dium will host the semi-finalson April 21 and 22, the thirdplace playoff match on April 24and the final on April 25.

"Despite this setback, we'reconfident the semifinals and fi-

nals of DLF IPL 2010 will be suc-cessfully contested and providea fitting finale to a remarkabletournament," Modi added.

There were around 40,000spectators inside the Chin-naswamy Stadium at the timeof the blasts and security wasbeefed up before the gamestarted.

Apart from the two blasts thatdelayed the start of the matchby about 45 minutes, and inwhich 15 people sustained in-juries, another bomb was foundand defused at a another

place outside the stadium.Another unexploded device

was found near the stadiumtoday and some explosive ma-terial was also recovered.

Earlier, the Police Commis-sioner Shankar Bidari had saidin Bangalore that they wouldgive the go ahead to hold otherIPL matches in the city only afterresolving various security issues.

"Permission to hold the restof the matches will be givenafter carrying out thoroughsearches and making necessaryarrangements," Bidari told re-porters in Bangalore.

Bidari said search operationsthis morning had led to recoveryof some explosive materialstuffed in a flex column and anunexploded bomb about 150metres away from the stadium.

Meanwhile, some cricket fanswent to the stadium and de-manded refund of tickets forother matches.

B’lore blasts shift IPL semis to Navi Mumbai

IT issues

summons

to BCCI PTI

MUMBAI, APRIL 18

The Income Tax department hasissued summons to the BCCIseeking complete details of theeight original Indian PremierLeague franchises.

"Day before yesterday theyhad asked for details only aboutthe two new franchises – theirshareholding patterns, ad-dresses, player auction and bid-ding process etc. Now they

want us to furnish all the de-tails about the eight other fran-chises too," Prof. RatnakarShetty, Chief Administrative Of-ficer of the BCCI, said today.

Apparently the IT authoritiesare investigating the entire IPLstructure, which has become ahuge revenue-earning entity forthe BCCI, since its inception in2008.

Shetty said IPL chairman LalitModi or CEO Sundar Ramanwould be representing the Boardduring the summons on April23.

KSEB winWilred

Leisure CupHERALD SPORTS REPORTER

PANJIM, APRIL 18

KSEB defeated ICF 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 in the finals of 2ndAll-India volleyball tourna-ment organised by WilredLeisure Sports Club at St Alexchurch court, Curtorim, onSunday night.

Chief Minister DigambarKamat was the chief guestand gave away the prizes.

The final was witnessed byrecord nearly 5,000 crowd.

UNINEW DELHI, APRIL 18

World Champion Lin Dan ofChina won his maiden AsianBadminton Championship titlewith a clinical demolition ofZhenming Wang in the men'ssingles final at the Siri Fort sta-dium here today.

Dan, the Olympic and three-time World Champion, who alsohas four All England Badmintontitles demolished his young Chi-nese opponent 21-17, 21-15 in39 minutes.

In the women's singles final,it was again an all Chinese clashwith Li Xuerui, who knockedout top seed Indian Saina Ne-hwal yesterday, emerged winnerafter a hard-fought 21-13, 18-21, 21-19 win over Xin Li.Malaysian pair of Chan PengSoon and Goh Liu Ying overcamestiff ressistance from Korean pairof Yoo Yeon Seong-Kim Min Jungto beat them 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 in an hour and six minutesto win the gold in mixed dou-

bles.Korean Cho Gun Woo and Yoo

Yeon Seong upset top seedHung Ling Chen and Yu Lang Linof Chinese Taipei 21-19, 12-21,21-17 in an adrenaline rushinglast encounter of the day to winthe men's doubles.

Although, most of the finalstoday were close, Lin Dan's ex-ploits were what a good crowdhad come to see and they werenot left disappointed as the Chi-nese enthralled them with agreat exhibition of his skills.

''It's great to win my first AsianBadminton title and the last twotournaments that I played - theAll England and the Swiss Open- I wasn't playing well, so it's animportant win here,'' said the26-year-old Dan after his win.

There was more joy in theChinese camp as their women'sdoubles pair of sixth seed PanPan and Qing Tian humbled Vi-vian Kah Mun Hoo and Khe WeiWoon of Malaysia 21-10, 21-6to win the summit clash.

‘Super’ Dan lifts Asian B’ton title

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist c Gambhir b Nehra 10, Monish Mishra run out25, Tirumalsetti Suman b Yadav 5, Rohit Sharma c Karthik b Yadav 11, AndrewSymonds c Manhas b Mishra 54, Mitchell Marsh c Manhas b Nehra 13, BodapatiSumanth not out 7, Chaminda Vaas c Nehra b Collingwood 3, Rahul Sharma notout 14. Extras: 3. Total: 145 for 7. Fall of wickets: 1-11, 3-47, 4-66, 5-116, 6-121,7-128. Bowling: D P Nannes 4-0-22-0, A Nehra 4-0-32-2, U Yadav 4-0-24-2, AMishra 4-0-28-1, PD Collingwood 3-0 23-1, TM Dilshan 1-0-14-0.Delhi Daredevils: D Warner c Rohit b Marsh 5,V Sehwag c Rohit b Vaas 8,T Dilshan

lbw b Harmeet 11,G Gambhir c Rohit b Ojha 4,M Manhas run out (Marsh) 23,P Collingwood not out 51,DKarthik b Ojha 1, A Mishra b Harmeet 4, A Nehra not out 22.Extras:5.Total: 134-7. Fall of wickets: 9-1,19-2, 25-3, 39-4, 68-5, 72-6, 86-7. Bowling:C Vaas 4-0-19-1, M Marsh 2-0-19-1, Harmeet Singh 4-0-41-2, A Symonds 2-0-8-0, P Ojha 4-0-16-2, Rahul Sharma 4-0-29-0. Man-of-the-Match: A Symonds.

Deccan

make it

to last fourAGENCIES

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

Half-century from AndrewSymonds and a superb spellfrom Pragyan Ojha saw DeccanChargers outclass Delhi Dare-devils by 11 runs and storm intothe semi-finals of IPL in here ,on Sunday.

Paul Collingwood scored anunbeaten 51 from 42 balls butDelhi's top order failed yet againas they finished on 134 for sevenin their 20 overs in reply to Dec-can's 145 for seven.

Defending champions Deccanwon five matches in-a-row tojoin Mumbai Indians, ChennaiSuper Kings and Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore in the last four.

Tournament's top wicket-taker Ojha with 20 wickets onceagain rose to the occasion ashe claimed two for 16 in his fourovers. Harmeet's change of pacegot him two wickets for 41 runsin four overs, while ChamindaVaas' excelled on his comebackfor one for 19 in four overs.

Delhi's top order woes con-tinued as their top four batsmenperished cheaply with RohitSharma taking three brilliantcatches to play a hand in threeof those dismissals.

David Warner was the firstwicket to fall, caught at first slipby Rohit Sharma off MitchellMarsh for five. Virender Sehwag,dropped on 0, didn't make mostof the lifeline before he was bril-liantly caught by Rohit divingfull length to his right at firstslip off Vaas for eight.

Tillakaratne Dilshan tried toplay the paddle sweep againstHarmeet Singh, but missed theball and was trapped leg beforewicket for 11. Gautam Gambhir(4) tried to chip Pragyan Ojhathrough midwicket but was onceagain done in by Rohit, who cameup with another good diving catch.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils pac-ers Ashish Nehra and UmeshYadav claimed two wickets eachto restrict Deccan Chargers to145 for seven in their 20 overs.

PTIDUBAI, APRIL 18

A solution to the simmering rowover Kochi franchise's ownershipappears possible following ameeting today between theteam's new chairman HarshadMehta and IPL CommissionerLalit Modi who exuded confi-dence of an early resolution.

An aide of the Dubai-basedMehta, who also had a briefcourtesy meeting with ICC's Prin-cipal Advisor I S Bindra, said "he(Mehta) is not willing to com-ment anything until the IPL’sGoverning Council meeting".

Asked to comment on Mehta'smeeting with Modi, the aidesaid "he would not like to com-ment on either".

The meeting comes in the wakeof reports that Sunanda Pushkar,a close friend Union Minister ofState for External Affair ShashiTharoor, offered to surreder hersweat equity as she was distressedby the entire controversy.

"Kochi issue would be re-solved. I am confident the Kochiteam will continue and con-tribute to the success of IPL," aconfident Modi told PTI.

Both Modi and Bindra, alongwith former BCCI presidentSharad Pawar, are here for anICC meeting.

Modi said he had no personalissue either with the team owners

or Tharoor, who is in the eye ofa political storm after it was foundthat her friend Sunanda is oneof the Rendezvous stakeholders.

"It is not Modi Vs Tharoor. Itis not BJP Vs Congress or anyother political party or politicalleader. My priority is cricket andwe would resolve the entireissue at the earliest," Modi said.

Sunanda, on her part, has of-fered to give up her 'sweat eq-uity' of nearly 19 per cent of the25 per cent free equity of Ren-dezvous in the Kochi franchise.

Although no details wereavailable about the meeting be-tween the two, Modi said thathis sole interest was to promoteIPL which was created jointly byeverybody including all teamsand BCCI and for whose successeverybody is working together.

Modi also refused to commenton Pushkar's sweat equity, sayingthat everything would be set right.

The raging controversy hasled to speculation that Modi'swings would soon be clippedwith a section within BCCImiffed with his way of function-ing. Modi, however, claimed hehad no difference with BCCIPresident Shashank Manohar.

"I have no difference withShashank Manohar and I havebeen asked to attend the ICCmeeting (on his behalf)," Modisaid.

Solution in sight, Kochichief meets Modi in Dubai