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BANGALORE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014

Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubli, Mohali, Allahabad, Malappuram, Lucknow, Anantapur and Nellore• •

RNI No. TNENG/1970/49945 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 45 ● No. 72 ● CITY EDITION ● 28 Pages ● Rs. 4.00 ● www.thehindu.in

ASHOK CHAVANGETS TICKETPAGE 12

Another report on Page 14

WASHINGTON: The G8group of top economicpowers has suspendedRussia for annexing Cri-mea, and has threatenedto impose far-reachingsanctions if Moscowcontinued its incursioninto Ukraine.

The U.S. and six othereconomic powers alsoscrapped the G8 summitto be hosted by Russia inSochi in June to buildpressure on RussianPresident VladimirPutin.

At an emergency sum-mit in the Hague onMonday, the leaders ofthe U.S., Britain, Canada,Germany, France, Italyand Japan also decidedto convene in Brusselswithout Russia. — PTI

Russiasuspendedfrom G8 overUkraine crisis

NEW DELHI: Shocked at the rev-elations in the report submit-ted by the Justice MukulMudgal panel in a ‘sealed cov-er’, the Supreme Court onTuesday asked Board of Con-trol for Cricket in India(BCCI) president N. Sriniva-san to step down on his ownto ensure a fair inquiry intoallegations of betting in theIndian Premier League.

A Bench of Justices A.K.Patnaik and Ibrahim Kaliful-latold senior counsel AryamaSundaram, appearing for theBCCI: “You ask Mr. Sriniva-san to step down, otherwisewe will give our verdict ask-ing him to step down.”

Justice Patnaik said “un-less the BCCI president stepsdown, there won’t be a fairinquiry. The man at the topmust go. Why are you [Mr.Srinivasan] sticking to thepost? It is nauseating. You[Mr. Sundaram] should behonest as a counsel and not asa lawyer for Mr. Srinivasan.”

Justice Kalifulla said: “If

there has to be a far and dis-passionate inquiry, Mr. Srini-vasan must step down.”

Mr. Sundaram told thecourt he had not seen thecontents of the report in thesealed cover. Justice Patnaikthen asked the counsel tocome near the judges’ podi-um and showed him the con-clusions in the report.

Justice Patnaik said:

“Though there is no definitefinding in the report in thesealed cover, the allegationsare so serious they requirefurther investigation, whichthe BCCI cannot do on itsown and it has to be done byan outside agency.”

To ensure fair inquiry into IPL betting scandalJ. Venkatesan

SC asks Srinivasan tostep down as BCCI chief

More reports on Page 21

NEW DELHI: In yet anotherbreakthrough, the Delhi Po-lice Special Cell on Tuesdayarrested Tehsin Akhtar aliasMonu, the de facto chief ofthe Indian Mujahideen.

Monu is accused ofrecruiting members for theoutfit’s modules through hisclose links with the bannedStudents’ Islamic Movementof India (SIMI).

His arrest comes threedays after Zia-ur-Rehman

alias Waqas, an alleged Pa-kistani member of the outfit,was nabbed from Ajmer inRajasthan along with threeother suspects.

Monu, 23, was heading theterror outfit’s operations af-ter the arrest of the previousIM-India chief, Yasin Bhat-kal, last August. He is consid-ered a confidant ofPakistan-based IM founderRiyaz Bhatkal. The NationalInvestigation Agency hadannounced a reward of Rs. 10lakh on Monu’s head.

Special Commissioner of

Police, Special Cell, S.N.Shrivastava said: “Sustainedinterrogation of Waqas andthe other arrested membersof the IM’s Rajasthan mod-ule led us to Monu. We re-ceived a tip-off that Monuhad moved out from hishideout to a neighbouringcountry [Nepal] and was ex-pected to come to India tocross over to another coun-try. Acting on the informa-tion, a team was sent to theIndo-Nepal border in Dar-jeeling and Monu was arrest-ed,” Mr. Shrivastava said.

Devesh Pandey & Kritika Sharma

IM de facto chief arrested

CHENNAI/MADURAI/NEW DELHI:The Dravida Munnetra Kaz-hagam on Tuesday expelledits south zone organisationalsecretary and former UnionMinister, M.K. Alagiri, forhis persistant slanderous at-tacks on party seniors andanti-party activities, takingthe sibling rivalry in the

DMK’s first family to a pointof no return ahead of the LokSabha elections.

“Despite having been al-

ready suspended from theparty, [Mr.] Alagiri contin-ued to violate party disci-pline, and is hence dismissedfrom the DMK,” party gener-al secretary K Anbazhagandeclared in a statement inChennai, after consultingparty president M. Karuna-

nidhi. The decision was theculmination of Lok Sabhaaspirants like MDMK chiefVaiko and those from otherparties, including the BJPand the Congress, troopingto Mr. Alagiri’s residence inMadurai, seeking his sup-port, in a bid to cash in on the

rebel leader’s clout in thesouth.

Even as this jolted theDMK’s campaign, led by hisyounger brother M.K. Stalin,an unfazed Alagiri in Mad-urai refused to be coweddown by “such threats bysome self-appointed leadersin the party.” He accused Mr.Karunanidhi of being “par-tial” to Mr. Stalin, reiteratedhe was a “DMK man” andadded that he would “ap-proach court and seekjustice.”

In Delhi, the BJP declinedto comment on Mr. Alagiri’sexpulsion, but appearedopen to exploring possibil-ities thrown up by the turnof events. The move showsthe DMK’s “intolerance,” asenior BJP leader said, al-luding to Mr. Alagiri ex-pressing support to its primeministerial candidate, Na-rendra Modi.

Alagiri expelled from DMKRebel vows tomove court forjustice B. Kolappan, L. Srikrishna& Varghese K George

VARANASI: Aam AadmiParty chief ArvindKejriwal on Tuesdaychallenged Narendra Modito a face-to-face debate onthe latter’s claimsregarding development inGujarat, while announcingthat he would contestagainst the BJP’s primeministerial candidate fromthe Varanasi Lok Sabhaconstituency.

Keeping the pressure onMr. Modi, the Congressraised the stakes inVadodara in Gujarat — thesecond constituency fromwhere the BJP leader iscontesting — by fieldingparty general secretaryMadhusudhan Mistry, aclose aide of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.The party replaced

Narendra Ravat, who hadearlier been named as thecandidate from Vadodara.

During a road show theAAP leader took out, Mr.Kejriwal’s face and shirtwere splattered with inkby unidentified protesters,who he said were “paidworkers of Modi.”

Mr. Kejriwal’s camapignin Varanasi was marked byshowmanship. He startedthe day by taking a dip inthe Ganga before offeringprayers at the Kal Bhairovtemple, followed by a visitto the Kashi VishwanathTemple.

At the rally, he sported askull cap presented by theImam of Varanasi andeven paused for a fewminutes to showreverence to the ‘azaan’(Muslim call to prayer).More details on Page 12

Kejriwal to test the waters in Varanasi

Arvind Kejriwal takes a dip in the Ganga inVaranasi on Tuesday. — PHOTO: PTI

Omar RashidRajat Guptaconviction upheldWASHINGTON: A U.S. courthas upheld the 2012conviction of formerGoldman Sachs directorRajat Gupta on insidertrading charges, making itlikely that he will serve histwo-year jail term. Page 12

BIG WIN FORWEST INDIES PAGE 21

BRIEFLYGas price hike put onhold, Centre tells SCNEW DELHI: The Centre onTuesday informed theSupreme Court that in thelight of the ElectionCommission’s directive todefer the hike in gas pricefor Reliance, it would notnotify the proposedincrease from $4.2 to $8.4per mmBtu from April 1.Page 15

Sahara makesrepayment proposalNEW DELHI: The SaharaGroup on Tuesdaysubmitted a fresh proposalin the Supreme Courtseeking to repay Rs.20,000 crore in fiveinstalments spread over ayear. Page 12

MH370: familiesdemand answersBEIJING: As searchoperations for debris onTuesday remainedhampered by adverseweather, several dozenrelatives of the passengerson board MH370demanded answers fromthe Malaysian government. Page 12; Article on Comment Page

OUTCRY OVEREGYPT VERDICT PAGE 14

‘I AM NOT ANOUTSIDER’PAGE 4

BANGALORE: The former PrimeMinister and Janata Dal (Sec-ular) national president H.D.Deve Gowda was among the122 candidates who filed theirnomination papers in LokSabha constituencies in theState on Tuesday.

With this, the number ofcandidates filing nominationpapers in various constituen-cies has gone up to 318.

These candidates have filed

444 sets of nomination pa-pers, in all.

Speaking to presspersons,Officer on Special Duty in theChief Electoral Officer’s sec-retariat V. Ponnuraj said thatthe 122 candidates who filedtheir nomination papers onTuesday included 12 from theBahujan Samaj Party, fivefrom the Bharatiya JanataParty, six from the Congress,seven from the Janata Dal(Secular), eight from the AamAadmi Party and three each

from the Communist Party ofIndia and Communist Partyof India (Marxist).

The other prominent Jana-ta Dal(S) leaders who filedtheir nomination papers arethe former Minister Bandep-pa Kashempur from Bidar,the former MLA Mahima Pa-tel from Davangere and theformer MLC Abdul Azeemfrom Bangalore North.

P.C. Gaddigoudar of theBJP filed his papers in Ba-galkot, while Bhagavant Ray

of the Congress submitted hisin Raichur.

Cash seizedHe said that a team com-

prising officers implementingthe Model Code of Conductand a flying squad seized Rs.20 lakh in cash from a four-wheeler driver at Padubidricheck-post in Udupi-Chik-magalur on Monday.

He said that Rs. 9.5 lakh incash was seized from a personat Hoskote, Rs. 2 lakh and Rs.

1.5 lakh in cash from two vehi-cles from Kerala and Rs.75,000 in cash from anothervehicle, all these in Manga-lore, were seized.

In Honnali of Davangereconstituency, Rs. 1.5 lakh incash was seized. He said that100 litres of liquor in 300 mlbottles were confiscated inHonnali and saris worth Rs.2.9 lakh were recovered inChickballapur. Those carry-ing the cash and the materialwere arrested.

Deve Gowda, 121 others file nomination papersSpecial Correspondent

BANGALORE: As part of a driveagainst drunken driving, thepolice have, in associationwith Transport Departmentofficials, decided to suspendDriving Licences (DLs) ofeven first-time traffic offend-ers in Bangalore.

Hitherto, first-time offend-ers in such cases had theirDLs impounded, with theirvehicles and documents,which they had to reclaim af-ter paying penalty in a courtof law. With the number ofdrunken driving cases in-creasing in the wake of exten-sion of deadline for closure ofbars, the traffic police haveinvoked the provision for sus-pending DLs of first-time of-fenders under the StateMotor Vehicles Act 1988 andalso the Central Motor Vehi-cles Act of 1989.

“These rules are applicablewith immediate effect and

police officials have been in-structed to follow the orders,”according to Additional Com-missioner of Police (Traffic)B. Dayanand.

As per the rules, traffic of-fenders would not only beasked to pay fine but also havetheir licences impounded.Their licences would be sentto the Transport Departmentwith a recommendation thatthey (licences) be suspendedfor three to six months.

“It is left to the discretionof the Transport Department

officials to fix the duration ofthe suspension, dependingupon the type of violations,”Mr. Dayanand said and addedthat the licences of those whorepeat the offence will becancelled.

After the deadline for clo-sure of bars was extended, thenumber of drunken drivingcases has gone up from an av-erage 800 to 1,500 a day dur-ing the weekends, he said.

The rules, Mr. Dayanandsaid, are applicable not onlyto drunken driving cases but

also to the use of mobilephones while driving, hit-and-run cases, autorickshawsand taxis refusing to go onhire and those demanding ex-cess fare. Drivers of goods ve-hicles carrying passengerswill also be booked under thenew rules, he said.

Though the rules to sus-pend Driving Licences offirst-time offenders are appli-cable to also those using mo-bile phones while driving, aTransport Department offi-cial said that there is no suchprovision to include the latterunder this law.

However, Mr. Dayanandsaid that drivers using mobilephones were included underthe law to ensure disciplineamong motorists and reducethe number of road accidents.

A police official said thatthe Transport Departmentshould also make it mandato-ry for motorists to carry origi-nal DLs while driving.

Drunken driving: licences of evenfirst-time offenders to be suspendedRules are applicable with immediate effect: Additional Commissioner of Police

Special Correspondent

EMPOWER- on Pages 17 & 18

METROPLUS- 4 Pages

TH Bangalore/ CITY Front_Pg User: bggrs 03-26-2014 00:42 Color: CMYK