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National 4 International 6 Campus 11 Celebrity 14 Leisure 16 Business 20 Sports 22

SUNDAY 07 JULY 2013Weekly Newspaper

DEALOR

NO DEAL?

Is he listening? Detailed Coverage on Page 12

Page 13

Jet-Etihad Deal Threatens To Crashland AtThe Doorstep Of The Prime Ministers Ofce

Achanging

worldandalostopportunit

yfor

India

President approves food ordinance,opposition cries foul

Morsideposedin a Coup

Survivor account from Uttarakhand

Page 3

From jaws of death, man, son return to

tell the horror tale

Page 5

Page 6

Egyptian army suspends

constitution, apex court

chief to head nation

Mirza, Bopanna,Paes lose atWimbledon

Page 23

Page 15

7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013

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2 CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 2013OPINION

EDITORIAL DESK Manu SharmaPolitics Encountered

Egyptian Spring Turns Winter

An agency with dubious distinction

of censure by the highest court of the

land cannot be the paragon of justice.

Therefore the CBI and its charge

sheet in the Ishrat Jahan case evoke a

cynical and banal response amongst

the populace. The timing of the case,

leakage of stories to the media and

counter allegations emanating from

political fold have already tainted the

investigation in a serious manner.

Encounters constitute a grey area for

law enforcement agencies in India.

In Punjab, Kashmir and the North

East, encounters have enjoyed some

Egypt erupted to replace a Mubarak

with Morsi in 2011. Morsi, a vet-

eran of Muslim Brotherhood

movement that sought to install ahardliner Islamic bent in Egyptian

national discourse, became a freely

elected democratic face of Islam in

Egypt. The momentous twist in re-

gions politics was heralded by an-

alysts as the advent of theological

rule in Egypt. Despite assumptions

to contrary the Muslim Brother-

hood managed to play by the rules

of democracy by and large. How-

ever the party or the movement

failed to grasp the expectations of

the population.

legal sanction as a counter insurgency

tool. Similarly in Uttar Pradesh and

Maharashtra they have formed the

backbone of ght against organized

crime. The usage of encounters as a

law enforcement technique is reec-

tive of weak judicial system and poor

evidence quality. Arguably enough

encounters do not deserve existence

in a democratic setup. However till

we are able to resolve that, we need

to develop guidelines about what can

be a legitimate policing exercise and

what constitutes excessive use of

force?

Egyptians voted for an ideological-

ly hardliner grouping not because

of their belief in extreme religious

practices, they voted them in fortheir perceived integrity and aver-

sion to hedonistic kleptocracy that

Egypt was slowly turning into.

Muslim Brotherhood ran into oppo-

sition from liberals and entrenched

elite on account of its haste to oc-

cupy the key institutions in the

government. To put it in context

Muslim Brotherhood has remained

a banned organization in Egypt for

better part of the century with its

leadership either jailed or exiled.

Hence winning an election by the

CBI claims the encounter to be a fake

or staged one. Curiously the govern-

ment at any level has not dened pa-

rameters of a fake encounter from a

real one. Also, the evidentiary value

of hearsay that CBI has relied upon

while framing the charge sheet leaves

many a loopholes for the defence at-

torneys. No individual whether ter-

rorist or not should be denied the due

process of the law but there must be

some leeway allowed for ofcers in

the line of re to be able to do their

jobs sans pressure from human rights

industry.

Muslim Brotherhood was con-

sidered a shot in the arm by those

campaigning for Pax Islamia in

the Middle East and North Africa.Egyptians and their army was how-

ever not beholden to the ideology.

They instead wanted a transparent

government under a leader who im-

proved lives of ordinary Egyptians

rather than instruct them in faith and

piety. The coup that toppled Morsi

has demolished all the romanticised

notions of democracy and freedom

in Egypt but it has also brought the

realization that democracy without

development is often rejected by

the people.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letters may be emailed to the editoruconnect@gmail.com ,with full

postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

Has Akhileshs free laptop

scheme run into rough weather?

An ambitious scheme to distribute

free laptops and tablets to students

who pass out of class 12 and class

10 pass in Uttar Pradesh may have

run into rough weather, ofcials say.

Against the target of more than 15

lakh laptops to be distributed among

students passing class 12, ofcials

say, so far only 79,491 have been

distributed under the scheme, which

is accredited with contributing sig-

nicantly to the victory of the Sama-

jwadi Party (SP) in the 2012 assem-

bly polls.

Ofcial sources cite frequent chang-

es in the state secondary education

department and the dwindling in-

terest of the states political leader-ship in the project as the two main

reasons behind the slow pace of the

project.

In the last three months, the second-

ary education department has seen

three secretaries - Parthasarthy Sen

Sharma, Kamran Rizvi and now De-

vesh Chaturvedi.

With the budget of the scheme be-

ing high, top ofcials are vary of

signing on the dotted line and are

simply not letting the les move, a

senior ofcial who did not wish to be

identied told IANS.

The Uttar Pradesh Electronics Cor-

poration Limited (UPLC), the pro-

curement agency for the laptops and

tablets, has done its bit. But the sec-ondary education department which

is the nodal department for oversee-

ing the distribution has been delay-

ing the process, the ofcial said.

According to ofcials, laptops have

been distributed in 13 districts - Luc-

know, Mainpuri, Hamirpur, Bareilly,

Ghaziabad, Noida, Etawah, Faruk-

khabad, Firozabad, Varanasi, Chitra-

koot, Mahoba and Banda.

However, they say that 3.15 lakh

laptops delivered for distribution

in 48 more districts are now lying

in godowns and stores for want of

nalisation of dates for distribution

and also because of tardy admin-

istrative processes. Such districts

include Jhansi, Kanpur city, Samb-hal, Amroha, Balrampur, Barabanki,

Gonda, Rampur, Agra and Kannauj.

Ofcial sources claim that the lap-

top distribution has suffered because

of tight schedules of political lead-

ers including that of Chief Minister

Akhilesh Yadav. After a lull of sever-

al months, the distribution resumed

in June with the last one made in

Firozabad June 24.

District ofcials alleged that the

chief ministers secretariat has been

sitting on the les for the last one

week. If we dont get clearance on

the availability of the chief minister

how are we expected to proceed fur-

ther, questions an ofcial.

The monsoon has also hit the scheme

hard. Many districts ofcials told us

that they were not in a position to re-

ceive more computers as there is no

place to store them, a UPLC ofcial

said.

He added that by next week 4.15

lakh more laptops would be handed

over to the state by Hewlett Packard

(HP), the company which won the

global tender.We are sending the UPLC all the

laptops for which orders have been

placed with us. As per our the agree-

ment, all laptops would be supplied

by September 15. We are on sched-

ule, said an HP representative,

adding that payment of more than

Rs.100 crore was kept pending and

it took lot of effort by the UPLC of-

cials to get it released.

The ofcials at HP are also worried

about the losses in view of the erod-

ing value of rupee in relation to the

US dollar. We are in for losses if the

whole thing is not expedited, con-

cedes an HP ofcial.

State government ofcials are also

silent over the eight lakh odd laptopsyet to be procured for free distribu-

tion in the state.

The state cabinet had approved the

free laptop distribution scheme on

Jan 23, 2013. More than 15 lakh lap-

tops were to be distributed among

class 12 pass outs throughout the

state including those clearing ex-

ams conducted by UP Board, Cen-

tral Board of Secondary Education

(CBSE) and Indian Certicate of

Secondary Education (ICSE).

Besides laptops, 26 lakh computer

tablets were also to be distributed

among class 10 pass outs under the

scheme.

Four rms -- HP, HCL, Lenovo and

Acer -- participated in the biddingprocess for supplying laptops to the

state government quoting their price

per laptop as Rs.19,058, Rs.21,983,

Rs.23,919 and Rs.25,199, respec-

tively.

The tender worth Rs.2,400 crore

oated by the UP government to buy

laptops was the worlds biggest such

tender.

One of the joys of living in Asia is

that life is delightfully unpredict-

able, which was the exact phrase

used when a few of us learned,

while enjoying lunch at an open

air caf, that 100 crocodiles had es-

caped from the local reptile farm.

Relax, said one of my dining

companions. If they get anywhere

near the downtown area, theyll be

snapped up by people who make

handbags.

His answer infuriated the vegetar-

ian in our party, who accused him of

speciesism. I rebutted this on his

behalf by pointing out that (a) there

was no such word, and (b) even ifthere was, it would be totally im-

possible to say after two glasses

of wine. (Try it.) She did a Google

search on her phone and provedme spectacularly wrong by nding

352,000 references to speciesism,

apparently a hot new trend in the

West.

Speciesism, a follow-up to sexism

and racism, is a new Western rule of

political correctness which requires

that all species must be considered

equal. Implying that one species is

lower than another would not be al-

lowable. So when Shakespeare says

thou foulest cur, the actor would

have to add Not that theres any-

thing wrong with being a cur.

If anti-speciesism policies become

law, making a crocodile into a hand-

bag will be a crime as bad as mak-

ing a politician into a handbag, de-

spite the fact that doing the second

would clearly be a public service.

But I had a question: If all species

are equal, what would we eat? The

vegetarian said that the anti-specie-sism movement had decided that

vegetables, although technically

living species, could be eaten as

they did not have feelings. This in-

teresting concession implies that we

could also feel free to chow down

on stockbrokers, pet shop owners,

direct mail gurus, etc.

A day later, a reader sent me a link

to a Times of India story about a

leopard which got stuck in a well

but was saved after a rescue cage

lled with live chickens was low-

ered into the hole. This incident,

which happened near Ooty at the

end of last month, read like a feel-

good story. But under the new anti-

speciesism rules, it now becomes a

vicious tale of deliberate multiple

chicken-murder.

The next item in the inbox, about alizard, reminded me about a phone

conversation I once reported be-

tween a Western expatriate lady and

a police ofcer. CALLER: Theres

a lizard in my house. COP: This is

normal in Asia, Madam. Ignore it.Ten minutes later she called again.

CALLER: Cant you please come

and get rid of it for me? COP: No!

Just ignore it. CALLER: Im try-

ing to, but it just knocked over the

coffee table. Police raced to the

house and discovered that some

kind of dinosaur-sized giant iguana

was terrorizing her.

Speciesism means we can no longer be rude to curs

Sightless and poor, but visionary in deed

Notwithstanding their daily grim

battle for survival, a group of visu-

ally challenged people - the majority

of them beggars - have come together

to contribute their lot in improving thelives of others.

Forty sightless people have formed

the Paschimbanga Agragami Andha

Samity (West Bengal Forward Asso-

ciation for the Visually Challenged) to

give shape to their dreams that include

training the needy to earn their daily

bread.

During the 1980s, we started orga-

nising the blind people of the Kadam-

bagachi area. We began an initiative to

educate the poor, blind people by rst

teaching them braille. Gradually, we

came in touch with a larger number of

blind people in our neighbourhood,

said PAAS secretary Kanai Sarkar,

who makes a living by singing along

with his sightless wife in trains.

Born in 2008 and based in Kareya

Kadambagachi of North 24 Parga-

nas district, 40 km from Kolkata, the

organisation has drawn its memberslocally as also from neighbouring dis-

tricts like South 24 Parganas and Na-

dia.

PAAS has reached out to visually chal-

lenged people from diverse sections

like beggars, singers and hawkers and

has now blossomed into a platform for

addressing the concerns of the sight-

less.

There were many smiles June 17 on

the weather-beaten faces of the mem-

bers when the organisation got an of-

ce of its own - a small room with roof

and walls of tin - beside platform num-

ber two at the Kareya Kadambagachi

railway station.

We will register our organisation

soon, a delighted Sarkar told IANS.

The members have been playing the

Good Samaritan over the past ve

years.

We contributed Rs.500 to the ChiefMinisters Relief Fund for victims of

Cyclone Aila (that struck the Sundar-

bans region in the states southern tip

causing immense damage in 2009),

said Sarkar.

Last year, they distributed blankets

among the poor and destitute people

of Kadambagachi.

Asked about PAAS programmes,

Sarkar said besides arranging proper

singing lessons for the blind by roping

in good teachers, they want to help the

distressed.

But how are they going to make that

possible when they themselves are ec-

onomically backward and a majority

of them earn their livelihood by beg-

ging in trains and on the streets?

We will raise funds according to our

ability. We will prove that we can

contribute to society, albeit in a small

way, Sarkar explained.PAAS also wants to present a charter

of demands to the government.

We want a disability allowance and

government identity cards for every

blind person, Sarkar said.

Sarkar is anguished at societys insen-

sitivity to the visually challenged.

The organisation is concerned over

many blind people not getting BPL

(below poverty line) cards despite ful-

lling all the criteria.

When BPL cards are made, blind

people are often neglected.

PAAS has also linked up with the Pas-

chimbanga Oikya Pratibondhi Mancha

(West Bengal United Platform for thePhysically Challenged, West Bengal)

umbrella organisation encompassing

all physically challenged people.

It provides us a stronger base to con-

vey our demands, Sarkar said.

Adam Ali, a singer who claims to have

been a regular artist for All India Ra-

dio till 2000, is the president of PAAS.

He is ready to teach the grammar of

music to talented blind people.

Ritwik Bagchi

Nury Vittachi

Mohit Dubey

7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 2013 3

President approves food ordinance,opposition cries foulNew Delhi

President Pranab Mukherjee Friday

promulgated the national food secu-rity ordinance, which gives around

67 percent of Indias 1.2 billion peo-

ple 5 kg grain per month at highly

subsidized rates.

The union cabinet Wednesday ap-

proved the ordinance, which gives

six months to the states to roll out

the right to food law and also to

identify the beneciaries.

The measure, the largest social wel-

fare intervention in the world, is ex-

pected to be a game-changer for the

ruling United Progressive Alliance

(UPA) government coming ahead of

the polls to ve state assemblies this

year-end, and the general elections

of 2014.

The Congress said the decisionshould not be linked to the polls.

The food bill, a pet project of UPA

chairperson Sonia Gandhi, is part of

its 2009 poll promise, the party said

while clarifying that it would bring

no nancial burden to the exchequer

and would not upset plans to rein

in scal decit at 4.8 percent of the

GDP.

The opposition, however, kept on its

attack and charged the government,

which is in minority in parliament

and is surviving on outside support,

of skipping a debate by passing the

ordinance and demeaning parlia-

ment.

Successive government have re-

peatedly failed in addressing the

problem of malnutrition, it is a

shame. Now they are bringing this

through ordinance, what were they

doing for four years? Communist

Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda

Karat told reporters.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi

Shankar Prasad said it is a political

step.

Why did they have to pass an ordi-

nance? When Sushmaji (Swaraj) hadsaid we were ready for a special ses-

sion, what was the urgency to bring

the ordinance? The only thing I can

infer is after a parliament debate, it

will become parliament bill of food

security, and now this is only Sonia

Gandhi ordinance of food security,

he said.

Even Samajwadi Party (SP) chief

Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose party

supports the UPA from outside, op-

posed the food security ordinance,

saying it was anti-farmer.

There is a great risk that the law can

prove dangerous for farmers. Wheat,

rice and sugar are the biggest agricul-

tural produce. If these are provided

at low cost by the government, who

will buy these from farmers? This is

a major issue, Mulayam Singh said

in Lucknow.

The ordinance will help the farmers,

countered the Congress, adding that

there was no other option as the op-

position did not allow the food bill

to be debated in the budget session.

The bill was introduced in Decem-

ber 2011, and we repeatedly appealed

to the opposition to discuss the billand pass it, Congress general secre-

tary Ajay Maken told reporters.

The entire budget session was

washed out. Prime Minister Man-

mohan Singh had sought to evolve a

wider consensus on the bill, but that

did not emerge. There was no other

way... when the opposition does not

want to discuss and pass it, he said.

But BJPs Yashwant Sinha blamed

the Congress for the disruptions. If

the parliament was adjourned, it was

because of government, he said.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas said the

government will have no difculty in

managing 61.2 million tonnes grain

needed for implementing the ordi-

nance. Issues like storage space and

digitisation of distribution system

were being improved, he said.

The ordinance has to be ratied by

parliament in the coming monsoon

session, likely to start early August.

We will be able to manage the num-

bers in both houses, Congress gen-

eral secretary Ajay Maken asserted.

Food ordinance will not causenancial burden: Congress

New Delhi

The Congress Friday said the ordi-

nance on food security, approved

by the union cabinet Wednesday,would not be a nancial burden on

the economy, and would help battle

malnutrition and hunger.

The food ordinance will help battle

malnutrition and hunger in the na-

tion. The food security ordinance

will not impact scal decit or af-

fect nancial management of the

country, Congress general secretary

Ajay Maken told reporters at a joint

press conference here with Food

Minister K.V. Thomas.

The ordinance, said Maken, has been

sent to President Pranab Mukherjee,

and the government awaits his con-

sent.

He said the ordinance would bring

an additional burden of Rs.23,800crore, which was negligible given

the plan size of Rs.5.55 lakh crore.

As per our calculations, Rs.23,800

crore would be the additional burden

on the exchequer after it (food securi-

ty ordinance) is implemented. Out of

the total plan budget of Rs.555,000

crore, an amount of Rs.23,800 crore

is negligible and wont have any ef-

fect on the exchequer, he said.

Maken also added that the expected

cost of Rs.1,24,723 crore in imple-

menting the ordinance would have

no adverse impact on the scal de-

cit target of 4.8 percent of the gross

domestic product (GDP) this nan-

cial year.

There are reports that it is not pos-sible to implement it technically and

nancially, but all things have been

well thought out, he said.

Stating that the Congress was merely

implementing its 2009 poll promise,

the party general secretary said the

legislation should not be linked to

the upcoming elections in ve states

and the 2014 general elections.

Terming it a dream of top leader-

ship, including Sonia Gandhi, prime

minister and Rahul Gandhi, Maken

said the ordinance, which is expected

to benet around 800 million people,

was the largest social welfare inter-

vention anywhere in the world.

The government opted for the or-

dinance route as there was no otheroption left, said Maken. He attacked

the opposition for not passing the bill

during the budget session.

It was promised by the Congress

party in its 2009 manifesto. The bill

was introduced in December 2011,

and we repeatedly appealed to the

opposition to discuss the bill and

pass it, he noted.

The entire budget session was

washed out. Prime Minister Man-

mohan Singh had sought to evolve a

wider consensus on the bill, but that

did not emerge. There was no other

way... when the opposition does not

want to discuss and pass it, he said.

According to Thomas, the bill was

rst introduced in parliament in De-cember 2011 and remained with the

standing committee for a year be-

fore it was taken to the Lok Sabha

for consideration and passing in the

budget session that ended May 8.

Maken said the ordinance gives six

months to the states to roll out the

right to food law and also to identify

the beneciaries.

Saying that the Congress-led United

Progressive Alliance (UPA) has the

required numbers in the Lok Sabha

to get the legislation through, he

hoped the government would be able

to pass the ordinance in parliament.

The food bill, already with parlia-

ment, will be taken up for discussion

along with the ordinance, Makensaid.

Fresh consultations with the opposi-

tion parties would be held to evolve

consensus on the ordinance when

it reaches parliament, the Congress

general secretary said.

On the implementation of the ordi-

nance, Food Minister Thomas said

the government has already procured

60.2 million tonnes of grain in the

past four years and would have no

difculty in managing the 61.2 mil-

lion tonnes needed for implementing

it.

Food ordinance: Opposition questionstiming, Congress defends moveNew Delhi

A day after the Manmohan Singh

cabinet approved an ordinance to give

effect to the food security bill, politics

hotted up over UPAs agship welfarelegislation with opposition parties

questioning its timing and the Con-

gress defending the pro-poor mea-

sure.

The proposed ordinance, which seeks

to give legal right to 67 percent of the

countrys 1.2 billion population to

subsidized food grain, comes a few

weeks before the monsoon session of

parliament, likely to commence early

August.

A pet project of United Progressive

Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia

Gandhi, the scheme aims to provide

subsidised food grain to around 800

million people at an initial cost of

around Rs.1.3 lakh crore to the gov-

ernment. It is expected to be a game-changer for the UPA ahead of the polls

to ve state assemblies this year-end

and the general elections in 2014.

The Communist Party of India-Marx-

ist slammed the government, contend-

ing the ordinance route for the food

security bill displayed its contempt

for parliament.

The ordinance route shows contempt

for parliament and is anti-democrat-

ic, the CPI-M politburo said in a

statement while pushing for a univer-

sal public distribution system.

In Guwahati, Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) chief Rajnath Singh questioned

the timing of the ordinance while clar-

ifying that his party was not opposed

to the food bill but wanted it to be de-

bated in parliament.

The government could not get the bill

passed in over four years of the UPA-

II being in power, he said, Why is it

in a hurry now?

We want to pass the bill with someamendments, he said.

The BJP did not allow the bill to be de-

bated in the budget session that ended

May 8 and instead harped on alleged

faulty allocation of coal blocks and

demanded Prime Minister Manmohan

Singhs resignation. The Congress on

the other hand accused the opposition

of playing politics over the issue.

It is amusing that the ones who are

shedding crocodile tears on parlia-

mentary propriety are also the ones

who have acquired a PhD in disrup-

tionitis (sic), Information and Broad-

casting Minister Manish Tewari told

reporters here.

He claimed that even though the op-

position was accusing the government

of demeaning parliament, it had not

respected the institution either and had

repeatedly forced adjournments and

disrupted proceedings in the past.

The opposition needs to reect as to

the manner in which they have treatedparliament, the scant respect they have

displayed for parliamentary institu-

tions, parliamentary traditions, and

the functioning of parliament. Dont

we all recall the November session

of 2010, which was wiped out, dont

we recall the monsoon session of last

year, he asked.

The Congress also said the ordinance

should not be linked to early polls.

It has nothing to do with elections.

The Congress does not think of the

polls, it thinks of the people. It was

our promise and we have done it,

Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal

told reporters.

Food bill a political move,says oppositionNew Delhi

The opposition Friday

slammed the government

again over the food security

ordinance that was approved

by the union cabinet Wednes-

day, calling it a political move

before elections.

Successive governments

failed repeatedly in address-

ing the problem of malnutri-

tion. It is a shame. Now they

are bringing this through ordi-

nance. What were they doing

for four years? Communist

Party of India-Marxist leader

Brinda Karat told reporters.

Were they sleeping all this

time? Why are they blaming

the opposition now? she said.

BJP leader Ravi ShankarPrasad said the National Food

Security Bill was a political

move.

Why did they have to pass an or-

dinance when Sushma (Swaraj) had

said we were ready for a special

session? What was the urgency to

bring the ordinance? After a parlia-

ment debate, it will become a bill

of food security. This is only (UPA

chairperson) Sonia Gandhis ordi-

nance of food security, Prasad said.

It is just a crude attempt to score

political brownie points, he toldTV channel Times Now.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha add-

ed that the government was to be

blamed for parliament disruptions.

If parliament was adjourned, it

was because of the UPA govern-

ment, he said.

7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013

4/24

CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 2013NATIONALNEWS4

Railway bribery scandal: Court takesnote of charge sheetNew Delhi

A Delhi court took cognizance of the

charge sheet led by the CBI against

Vijay Singla, nephew of former rail-way minister Pawan Kumar Bansal,

and nine others in the alleged Rs.10

crore cash-for-post bribery scandal.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Special Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma

took cognizance of the charge sheet

and posted the matter for proceedings

July 11.

Filing the formal charges July 2, the

probe agency named as the accused

Singla, suspended Railway Board

Member Mahesh Kumar, alleged

middlemen Sandeep Goyal, Samir

Sandhir, Sushil Daga, Ajay Garg,

Rahul Yadav and businessman Man-

junath and his aides P.V. Murali and

Venugopal.

Barring Murali and Venugopal, theCBI has arrested eight others named in

its charge sheet.

Bansal, a Congress leader who lost his

job in the cabinet after the scam sur-

faced, was questioned by the CBI but

was not named in the charge sheet as

the agency could not nd any evidence

of his direct involvement. However,

Bansal has been named as a prosecu-

tion witness.

The agency led a list of 90 prosecu-

tion witnesses along with the charge

sheet and named Bansal as the 39th

witness.

All the accused have been formally

charged for the offence of criminal

conspiracy under the Indian Penal

Code and relevant provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act.

Besides Bansal, the CBI has also

named Railway Boards former chair-

man Vinay Mittal, who retired July 1,

as a prosecu-

tion witness.

It also named

R a i l w a yBoards Joint

S e c r e t a r y

(Confidential)

P. Rajesh-

karan and

Joint Director

Vigilance R.

Vijayan Nair,

as witnesses.

Several of-

cials from

various banks

have been

named as wit-

nesses.

The CBI ar-

rested the

accused for their alleged roles in thebribe case, in which a deal of Rs.10

crore was nalised for arranging for

Mahesh Kumar one of the top posi-

tions in the Railway Board.

Manjunath and Goyal, managing di-

rector of GG Tronics India Pvt. Ltd.,

helped Mahesh Kumar in arranging

money to give bribe to Singla and

were to get favours from Mahesh Ku-

mar after his appointment as Railway

Board member (electrical).

Singla allegedly demanded Rs.10

crore and accepted a bribe of Rs.90

lakh from Mahesh Kumar for his (Ma-

hesh Kumars) future appointment

as member (electrical) of the power-

ful Railway Board. Singla accepted a

bribe of Rs.90 lakh May 3 in his ofce,the CBI said.

There is evidence that he accepted a

bribe of Rs 90.lakh on May 3 in his

ofce, which was the part-payment of

total bribe of Rs.10 crore for the al-leged appointment of (Mahesh) Kumar

as member (electrical), the charge

sheet said.

Singla was the main person whose

inuence was to be used for the ap-

pointment of Mahesh Kumar, the CBI

said.

Hit by Nitaqat, Indians inSaudi Arabia regularising stay

New Delhi

As 92,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia

have been given Emergency Cer-

ticates to enable them return home

over the kingdoms Nitaqat work

policy, very few of them are actually

leaving. Most are using an extended

grace period announced by Saudi

Arabia to regularize their stay and

switch jobs.

According to Indian Ambassador

Hamid Ali Rao, the new grace pe-

riod ends Nov 3 after which the

kingdom would become very strict

in implementing the Nitaqat. Those

overstaying or on invalid work per-

mits would face arrest, huge nes

and deportation with a ban on their

return.

Under Nitaqat or naturalization pro-

gramme, private sector companies in

Saudi Arabia are mandated to em-

ploy a certain percentage of locals.In

fact, said Rao, the number of Indians

has grown by 10,000 since March

this year - from 2.88 million to 2.89

million, as on June 30, making Saudi

Arabia among the countries with the

largest number of Indian, the pre-

ferred expatriate community in thecountry. .

The Indian embassy has tried to

reach out to thousands of Indians

through social media, 24X7 help

desks, volunteers, the vernacular

media and mobile units posted at exit

visa ofces to help Indians check

their status and rectify it if required.

Fanning across to cities, towns and

even remote villages in Saudi Ara-

bia, volunteers working with the

embassy managed to contact Indians

staying for long years in villages in

the kingdom, asking them to check

their work status and correct it ahead

of the deadline.

More than 200 companies had ap-

proached the embassy offering jobsfor Indians, and a job fair was also

organized in collaboration with the

Riyadh Chamber of Commerce.

Over 600 volunteers, including the

teaching and non-teaching staff of

Indian schools, chipped in to help

- for free, manning helpline desks,

translating into vernacular languages

embassy notices, and helping the af-

fected Indians by explaining to them

the circumstances, said the envoy.

It was unity in diversity in its tru-

est sense - we all worked as a team..

There were volunteers from Kerala

trying to explain in broken Hindi the

implications of the Nitaqat to affect-

ed workers, volunteers distributing

snacks and water, said Rao,

According to the envoy, the imple-

mentation of the Nitaqat will help

in streamlining the labour policy of

the Saudi government. Those who

work will not come through con-

tractors, they will get their salaries

through net transfers, which will

eliminate middlemen, he said.

Asked how many of the 92,000 In-

dians given Emergency Certicates

had returned to India, Rao said he did

not have the gures.

According to the Saudi labour min-

istry, 3.5 million workers have cor-

rected their status since May 10. Of

this, around 25-30 percent comprise

Indians, or 80,000.The Indian government had been in

touch with the Saudi authorities ever

since it announced implementation

of the work policy in March. Exter-

nal Affairs Minister Salman Khur-

shid had visited Riyadh in May, the

rst visit by an Indian foreign minis-

ter in the last ve years. Before that

a high level Indian delegation, led

by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister

Vayalar Ravi visited the kingdom to

discuss the issue with the Saudi la-

bour ministry.

Rao feels the Nitaqat programme

would in the long run prove bene-

cial by ushing out all illegal work-

ers and pave the way for additional

inow of Indian workers, who are byfar the preferred expatriate commu-

nity.

The remittances by Indians from

Saudi Arabia in 2012 was $8.8 bil-

lion.

Political parties shouldntpromise freebies: SCNew Delhi

The Supreme Court Friday asked

the poll panel to frame guidelines

to discourage political parties from

promising freebies in their election

manifestos as it shakes the root of

free and fair elections and disturbs

level playing eld for the candidates.

A bench of Justice P. Satsasivam and

Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that such

guidelines would be necessary for

holding free and fair elections and

maintaining a level playing eld.

The court said that the freebies can

inuence people and disturb the lev-

el playing eld.

Stating that it had limited powers to

issue directions to the legislature to

legislate on a particular issue, the

court favoured a separate law gov-

erning political parties in a demo-

cratic polity.

We also record the need for a sepa-

rate legislation to be passed by the

legislature in this regard for govern-

ing the political parties in our demo-

cratic society, the court said.Although, the law is obvious that

the promises in the election mani-

festo cannot be construed as cor-

rupt practice under Section 123 of

RP (Representation of People) Act,

the reality cannot be ruled out that

distribution of freebies of any kind,

undoubtedly, inuences all people. It

shakes the root of free and fair elec-

tions to a large degree, said Justice

Sathasivam, pronouncing the judg-

ment.

Referring to the Election Commis-

sions submission that the promise

of such freebies at government cost

disturbs the level playing eld and

vitiates the electoral process and

expressing willingness to imple-

ment any directions or decision of

the court, the court noted that there

was no enactment that directly gov-

erned the contents of the election

manifesto.

We hereby direct the Election Com-

mission to frame guidelines for the

same in consultation with all the rec-

ognized political parties as when it

had acted while framing guidelines

for general conduct of the candi-

dates, meetings, processions, polling

day, party in power etc.

In the similar way, the court said that

a separate head for guidelines for

election manifesto released by a po-

litical party can also be included in

the Model Code of Conduct for the

Guidance of Political Parties & Can-

didates.

The court also said that it was not

oblivious of the fact that generally

political parties release their election

manifesto before the announcement

of election date, in that scenario,strictly speaking, the Election Com-

mission will not have the authority to

regulate any act which is done before

the announcement of the date.

Nevertheless, an exception can be

made in this regard as the purpose

of election manifesto is directly as-

sociated with the election process,

it said, dismissing a petition by S.

Subramaniam Balaji who challenged

the DMKs 2006 election manifesto

promise to distribute free colour TVs

to those households that did not have

it if it came to power in the Tamil

Nadu assembly.

Lucknow

Ghaziabad and Allahabad have

emerged as the two most air polluted

cities in Uttar Pradesh in a recent

survey by a research and advocacy

organisation.

The survey conducted by Delhi-

based Centre for Science and Envi-

ronment (CSE) found pollutants of

the size of 10 micron in Ghaziabad,

Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly,

which was four times the acceptable

size of particulates in urban areas.

It also found air pollution levels

three times more than the prescribed

limits in Lucknow, Firozabad, Agra,

Mathura, Khurja, Saharanpur, Mora-dabad and Gajraula.

The status report on the pollution

levels in the states major cities was

released at a workshop here Tuesday.

The air quality in Unnao, however,

has come out as the cleanest despite

a heavy presence of tanneries in the

town. The presence of nitrogen-di-

oxide is found to be growing danger-

ously in Meerut, Gorakhpur, Ghazi-

abad and Kanpur. It is the highest in

Meerut and lowest in Rae Bareilly,

the survey said.

Sulphur-di-oxide has been found

mixed in the air at dangerous levels

in Khurja and Ghaziabad. The pres-

ence of multi-pollutants has been

found in cities like Mathura, Khurja

and Ghaziabad.

In the state capital Lucknow, Vikas-

nagar, Chowk, Amausi and Char-

bagh localities have been found to

be pollution hot spots. CSE said

that serious and sustained efforts are

needed to minimise the air pollution

in these areas of the city.

It added that the growing use of die-

sel was a major contributor to the

growing air pollution levels. CSE

said that emissions were leading to

serious ailments and diseases like

cancer. Poor trafc management and

growing number of vehicles is also

adding to the scourge, it said.

Ghaziabad,Allahabadmost pollutedin UP, says

survey

Solve hunger, diseases issues,president urges youth

Kanpur

President Pranab Mukherjee Friday

urged the youth to help solve prob-

lems of hunger, malnutrition and

disease.

Speaking at the 45th annual con-

vocation of IIT - Kanpur, Mukher-jee said the countrys development

model envisages higher, sustainable

and inclusive growth and science,

research and innovation will have to

play a leading role.

The decade 2010-20 has been de-

clared the decade of innovation in

our country, said the president,

adding that a science, technology

and innovation policy has been for-

mulated for an innovation-led devel-

opment.

According to Mukherjee, the pol-

icy underlines the need to adopt a

people-centric approach to make in-

novations relevant for the common

citizens.

Grassroots innovations, with a

little mentoring, can be developed

into useful, viable products, said

Mukherjee as he called upon the in-

stitutes of higher learning to take the

lead in driving such ideas.For India to become a knowledge

powerhouse, promotion of basic re-

search and innovation, and develop-

ment of cutting edge technologies

are essential, he added.

However, he reminded students

desiring to pursue higher studies

abroad to retain the link with their

country as they have a responsibility

towards their nation and its citizens.

On the occasion, the president

awarded Doctor of Science to N.R.

Narayana Murthy, founder and ex-

ecutive chairman of the board of In-

fosys Ltd., and to physicist Ashoke

Sen.

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NATIONALNEWSCHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 2013 5

Army saved them just like next to GodFrom jaws of death, man, son return to tell the horror tale

Dehradun

The man and his 25-year-old son

have seen death and destruction from

close range. Even when people were

dying all around them and structures

were falling like twigs, they had su-

preme faith in the powers of the al-

mighty, and today they are alive to

tell the horror story of June 17 that

wiped out the entire Kedarnath val-

ley and turned many areas into a

ghost town.

For 15 years Raj Kishore Trivedi

had been running a small shop sell-

ing photographs of gods, posters and

idols outside the revered Kedarnath

shrine. But on June 17 in just ve

minutes, his entire world collapsed.

But today, he is not worried about

how his family of seven will survive

as their only source of livelihood, the

shop, no longer exists.Trivedi is happy that he and his elder

son Sandeep are alive, and for that he

gives credit to only two - the army

and god.

Lying in the state-run Doon Hospital

emergency ward, Trivedi cant move

as he has fractured his left leg. His

son helps him wash his matted and

dirty hair.

His leg pains him immensely, but

ask him about the fateful day, and

he gathers enough courage to narrate

the sequence of event that changed

their lives - forever.

It was 7 a.m. on June 17 that we

heard a loud gurgling sound. I heard

people shouting run, run and save

yourself. Looking up at the com-motion, I saw mud, boulders, stones

coming at us with the torrent of wa-

ter. The force of the water was so

much that the roofs of many shops

were swept away. Both of us then

ran towards the temple. I had just

entered the temple, when its massive

gates were forced shut by the wind.

It looked like god was waiting for us

to enter.

Soon water lled the temple. Only

our neck was out of the water, while

our entire body was submerged. The

force of the water even shook the

temple, and many things fell, includ-

ing the donation box. The box wasnot so heavy, but as it fell with force,

two-three people got trampled un-

der it. They died. We were all very

scared.

In front of our eyes, we saw several

people falling off and dying as they

could not take standing submerged

in the water for hours. There were

around 600 people inside the temple

at that time, Trivedi told.

The deluge happened in ve min-

utes. But those ve minutes have

turned into an eternity.

His eyes take on a faraway look as

he recalls how he and some of the

people thought of stepping out of the

temple after the water began reced-

ing after several hours.But the sight that greeted them

stunned and shocked them.

There were just dead bodies, in

front of the temple and all along the

market, just bodies. No shop was

intact. The structures had fallen as

if some invisible hand had touched

it with great force. There was only

mud, boulders and huge stones. The

bustling market place had turned into

a cremation ground, he added.

The next nearly 40 hours wait for

help was agonising for them. They

got shelter at the only remaining

structure of a guest house.

Like them, there were a few hundred

who took shelter on the roof top ofthe guest house. As they had come

with food and water they survived

the wait for help.

The sight of a helicopter was like

manna from heaven. And all of them

cheered, he says, despite the fact that

all they saw was bodies and destruc-

tion around.

Asked whom he credits for his life.

God, He had something in mind for

me. If he had not showered his bless-

ings on my son and me, we would

not be here, talking to you and shar-

ing our story, Trivedi told.

Asked what he thinks of the hun-

dreds of rescue workers, including

the army, his eyes ll up.They are next to god. They were

like angels of mercy. There was no

state authorities, just them. Both of

us owe our lives to them. To god for

considering us as his special chil-

dren, and to the Indian Army who

took us in the helicopter and brought

us to safety. We are indebted forever

to them, Trivedi said.

His son Sandeep does not want to

talk about their brush with death.

He just talks about what he saw --

bodies and more bodies.

It was like a cremation ground.

I nd it difcult to sleep thinking

about those bodies and the damage.

I dont know whether I will ever

be alright or I will be able to live anormal life. I wonder whether I will

ever be able to smile. I dont know..

lets see, said Sandeep, as he turned

away when asked to talk more.

For both of them, the future looks

bleak. They have lost everything in

the ood, But the only hope is that

they are alive, and maybe one day

when Kedarnath opens again to pil-

grims they will be able to set up shop

once more and forget those horrible

ve minutes that altered their lives.

Antony left forChina ThursdayNew Delhi

Defence Minister A.K. Antony left

Thursday on a four-day ofcial visit

to China to discuss the Sino-Indian

border, interactions between the two

armed forces, as well as regional andglobal security.

An ofcial release said Antony has

beene accompanied by Defence

Secretary R.K. Mathur, General Of-

cer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern

Command Lt General Dalbir Singh,

Flag Ofcer Commanding-in-Chief

Southern Naval Command Vice Ad-

miral Satish Soni and others from the

defence ministry and armed forces.

Pranab Mukherjee was the last In-

dian defence minister to visit China

in 2006.

Antony will have delegation level

talks with his counterpart, State

Councillor and the Minister of Na-

tional Defence Chang Wanquan.

Both ministers are expected todiscuss a number of issues includ-

ing those related to maintenance of

peace and tranquillity on the border,

exchanges and interactions between

the armed forces of both sides and

matters relating to regional and glob-

al security, the release said.

Superindentendentof police sacricedlife for the sake ofcountryRanchi

Superintendent Amarjit Balihar, who

was ambushed and killed Tuesday inJharkhand, had desperately contacted

a police ofcer and sought help but

was promptly killed and the gunshots

were heard over his mobile phone,

police said.

Maoist guerrillas killed the Pakur

Superintendent of Police (SP) in an

ambush Tuesday.

According to DGP Rajiv Kumar, the

deputy inspector general of police of

Dumka range had called a meeting of

senior ofcers in Dumka, around 350

km from Ranchi.

Balihar was ambushed when he was

returning to his ofce, Kumar said.

The attack took place in a jungle

stretch between Kathikund and Gopi-

kanar when Balihars convoy was

passing through. Balihar was return-

ing in a private vehicle.

Around 40 to 50 guerrillas, who were

hiding, initially triggered a landmine

and later red at random at the police

convoy in classic Maoist style.

Police ofcers rushed to spot but it

was too late. According to police

sources, Maoist guerrillas asked the

SP to call police ofcers for help.

Balihar called and sought help, but he

was killed and gun shots were heard

by the police ofcers on his mobile.

Police sources that the Maoist had

concrete information of Balihars

movement. Jharkhand Governor

Syed Ahmad Wednesday paid hom-

age to Balihar. Balihars body was

brought by helicopter to RanchiWednesday morning.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)

chief Shibu Soren, Chief Secretary

R.S. Sharma, police chief Rajiv Ku-

mar as well as senior ofcials were

present at Jharkhand Armed Police

(JAP) ground when the nal tributes

were paid to Balihar.

Balihar had joined as deputy super-

intendent of police in 1986. He was

promoted to the IPS in 2003. This

was his rst posting as a district SP.

He is survived by his wife Suman

Lata Balihar, who is a teacher, two

daughters and a son.

1984 anti-Sikh riots: Notice issued to CBI

on Tytlers pleaNew DelhiThe Delhi High Court Wednesday

issued notice to the Central Bureau

of Investigation (CBI) on an appeal

of Congress leader Jagdish Tytler

against a trial court order reopening

a case against him related to the 1984

anti-Sikh riots.

Justice S.P. Garg, seeking response

from the agency, also issued notice

to the complainant, Lakhwinder

Kaur, and asked her to reply within

four weeks. The matter was posted

for Sep 18.

Justice Garg also declined to stay

the investigation ordered by the trial

court against Tytler, saying: Only

investigation was ordered and thiscourt will not stop the investigation.

On April 10, a trial court ordered that

the case be reopened against Tytler

and also set aside the CBI closure re-

port, which gave the Delhi Congress

leader a clean chit on the ground that

there was no evidence against him.

Tytler, his appeal, said: The trial

court order is contrary to the Crimi-

nal Procedure Code. The method and

mode of investigation by a probe

agency is the absolute prerogative of

the agency. It is not for the court to

direct the agency about which wit-

ness should be examined by it.

Seeking that the trial court order be

quashed in the 29-year-old case, the

plea said: The settled position of

law is that a direction for investiga-

tion can be given only if an offence

is prima facie found to have been

committed or a persons involve-

ment is prime facie established. But

direction to investigate whether any

person has committed an offence or

not cannot be legally given.

The trial courts order came on a

plea led by riot victim Lakhwinder

Kaur, who sought a further probe

into the killing of three people near

Gurdwara Pul Bangash in old Delhi.

Tytler is accused of instigating a mob

that led to the murder of three men

who had taken shelter at the gurd-wara Nov 1, 1984.

The mob attack was part of violence

against Sikhs after the assassination

of then prime minister Indira Gandhi

Oct 31 that year.

The trial court had also directed the

CBI to examine witnesses and peo-

ple who claimed to have information

about the riots.

The court, setting aside the magis-

terial court order that accepted the

CBIs closure report, had said: The

order of the trial court accepting the

closure report is set aside. The CBI is

directed to conduct further investiga-

tion in the light of aforesaid facts and

to record the statements of witnesses,

who, it had come to know during the

investigation itself, are claiming/

shown/named to be witnesses of the

incident.

The probe agency had sought the

dismissal of the victims plea, saying

it had established that Tytler was not

present at Gurudwara Pul Bangash

on Nov 1, 1984.

However, senior advocate H.S.

Phoolka, appearing for Lakhwinder

Kaur, had said that there was mate-

rial which the CBI had ignored.

Three men - Badal Singh, Thakur

Singh and Gurcharan Singh - were

killed near Gurudwara Pul Bangash,

allegedly on Tytlers instigation.Tytlers role in the killing of three

men was re-investigated by the CBI

after a court in December 2007 re-

fused to accept the closure report.

The CBI claimed that Tytler was at

Teen Murti House, the residence In-

dias rst prime minister, Jawaharlal

Nehru, where Indira Gandhis body

was kept, at the time of the Pul Ban-

gash incident.

It added that the agency had already

re-investigated the case on the order

of a trial court, but there was insuf-

cient evidence against Tytler.

Tytler was given a clean chit by the

CBI April 2, 2009.

New Delhi

Information and Broadcasting

Minister Manish Tewari Tuesday

cast doubts on the veracity of the

revelations of US cyber snooping

and said that the Indian govern-

ment should be allowed to study

the report and take a holistic

view on the issue.

I think we should allow govern-

ment to formulate a holistic view.

We will apply ourselves to what-

ever has been written in those com-

munications so that the government

can take a holistic view as to how

best to respond to it, he added.

Tewari said the matter does raisesome issues which not only pertain

to access of data in an authorized or

an unauthorized manner but also to

the larger questions of diplomatic

immunity of communications and

sanctity of the Geneva Convention

protocols which are involved.

A report published in the Guard-

ian quoted US National Security

Agency documents leaked by the

whistleblower Edward Snowden

revealing that the agencies were

using a wide range of spying meth-

ods, including bugging of 38 em-

bass

Revelations of USsnooping a

hearsay: Tewari

IANS

IANS IANS

7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 20136 INTERNATIONAL

Egyptian army suspends constitution, apexcourt chief to head nationCairo

The Egyptian army chief has an-

nounced the suspension of the

countrys constitution, which means

President Mohammed Morsi is no

longer in power and the head of the

Supreme Constitutional Court will

now be the temporary head of the

country, media reports said.

General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi,

anked by religious and military

leaders, made the announcement

Wednesday.

Adly Mansour, chief justice of the

Supreme Constitutional Court, will

take oath as temporary head of the

country.

Anti-Morsi protesters in Cairos Tah-

rir Square cheered in response to the

army chiefs speech.

The move followed four days of

mass street protests against Morsi,

and an ultimatum issued by the mili-tary which expired Wednesday.

TV stations belonging to Morsis

Muslim Brotherhood went off air at

the end of the army chiefs speech.

However, minutes later, a notice

went up on Morsis Facebook page

denouncing the army move as a

military coup.

BBC said Morsis current where-

abouts were unknown, but an unveri-

ed tweet urged civilians and mem-

bers of the military to uphold the law

and the constitution.

After Gen. Al-Sisis address, both

Pope Tawadros II - the head of the

Egyptian Coptic Church - and lead-

ing opposition gure Mohammed El-

Baradei made short statements.ElBaradei said the new roadmap

aimed for national reconciliation and

represented a fresh start to the Janu-

ary 2011 revolution.

Later, the army was involved in a

show of force, fanning out across

Cairo and taking control of the capi-

tal, BBC said.

Thousands of anti-Morsi protesters

on the streets of Cairo celebrated,

with reworks lighting up the night

sky.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar

al-Assad said what was happening

in Egypt was the falling of political

Islam.

Whoever uses religion for politi-

cal gains or in favour of one party

without the other will fall in every

place of the world, Assad said in an

interview with Syrian state-run al-

Thawra newspaper.

You cant fool everyone at the same

time, so what would you think about

the Egyptian people who carry the

civilization of thousands of years

along with clear pan-Arabism think-

ing, Assad said.

The president said that after an

entire year, the picture has become

clear and the performance of the

Brotherhood has helped in revealing

the lies that they have spelled at the

beginning of the popular revolution

in Egypt.

The US said it was very concerned

about the developments in Egypt.

The State Department blamed Mor-

si for not doing enough to steer his

country out of the current crisis.

We do, of course, remain very

concerned about what were seeing

on the ground, State Departmentspokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a

press brieng.

And we do realise, of course, that is

an extremely tense and fast-moving

situation in Egypt.

Psaki said Morsis speech Tuesday

night lacked signicant steps to

resolve Egypts worst crisis since

the 2011 revolution that overthrew

Hosni Mubarak.

We have said that he must do more

to be truly responsive and repre-

sentative to the justied concern

expressed by the Egyptian people,

Psaki said.

And unfortunately, that was not a

part of what he talked about in his

speech.

Earlier, in a phone call to Morsi, US

President Barack Obama encouraged

his Egyptian counterpart to respond

to concerns voiced by protesters

across the country.

Psaki said: We believe all sides

need to take steps to talk with each

other, to engage with each other, to

lower the level of violence and call

for an end to the violence.

Egypts interior ministry also ex-

pressed complete support to the mili-

tary that revealed a roadmap for run-

ning the country after the ouster of

Morsi, Xinhua cited the ministry as

saying in a statement.

The interior ministry supports the

roadmap with all the national, ear-

nest and sincere steps that seeks the

best interest of the nation and fulll

the will of the Egyptian people, the

ministrys s tatement said.

Police will support the brave armed

forces backed by people to achieve

the countrys stability and security,the statement said.

India will remain an importantstrategic partner: US

Washington

Expressing satisfaction at Secre-

tary of State John Kerrys rst visit

to New Delhi, the US has said its

keen to carry forward the positive

relationship with India which will

continue to be an important strate-

gic partner.

Kerry did enjoy every aspect of

his visit, State department spokes-

person Jen Psaki told reporters here

Tuesday noting he had some very

productive meetings as part of the

India Strategic Dialogue.

India has been and will continue to

be an important strategic partner,

she said adding, he is grateful he

was able to spend a couple of days

there and hes looking forward to

continuing the positive relation-

ship.

On his return from his foreign trip,

Kerry will be passing along to Presi-

dent Barack Obama and Vice Presi-

dent Joe Biden and the White House

all about his discussions in New

Delhi, Psaki said.

Kerry also met Special Adviser to

Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign

Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, on the sidelines

of the ASEAN Regional Forum

(ARF) in Brunei, Psaki said.

The two highlighted the importance

of the bilateral relationship and ex-

pressed the importance of continued

close cooperation with Pakistan to

facilitate an Afghan-led peace pro-

cess.

On the continued bombings in Paki-

stan, she said US stands with the

people of Pakistan in condemning

such senseless and inhumane acts.

We offer our deepest condolences

to the families of those killed and

wish those injured a speedy recov-

ery, Psaki said taking note of re-

ports of numerous bombings over

the weekend resulting the loss of

many Pakistani lives.

Brazil pushes for referendum on political reformsBrasilia

The administration of President Dil-

ma Rousseff Tuesday formally asked

Brazils Congress to convene a ref-

erendum on a wide-ranging political

overhaul.

Rousseff, who proposed the plebi-

scite in response to protests that have

rocked Brazil for nearly a month,

wants voters to have input on how

politics operates in the giant South

American nation.

The request for a referendum wasdelivered to Congress by Vice Presi-

dent Michel Temer and Justice Min-

ister Jose Eduardo Cardozo, who

stressed that lawmakers will have the

nal word on holding the plebiscite

and the content of proposals put be-

fore the voters.

Rousseffs government would like to

see the public consulted on whether

to keep the current campaign nance

system - involving both public and

private funding - or switch to a purely

private or purely public mechanism.

The president also proposes asking

voters about the proportional repre-

sentation regime, which distributes

seats in Congress based on the total

number votes received by the re-

spective parties. Another questionRousseff wants posed concerns the

practice of legislators casting secret

votes on bills before Congress.

The complaints of the hundreds of

thousands who have turned out for

protests in Brazils major cities in-

clude pervasive corruption and a lack

of transparency in politics.

Rousseff hopes to see a referendum

take place as soon as possible and for

new rules to be in place before the

October 2014 presidential and leg-

islative elections - a very ambitious

timetable.

The nationwide wave of protests

was spurred by an increase in pub-

lic transit fares in Sao Paulo and Rio

de Janeiro, but the list of grievances

quickly expanded to inadequate edu-cation and healthcare, politicians

malfeasance and the huge sums Bra-

zil is spending to host events such

as the just-ended Confederations

Cup soccer tournament and the 2014

World Cup.

Cuba sees bicycles as partialanswer to transport woes

Havana

The Cuban government plans to

reintroduce bicycles as a way to al-

leviate public transport problems,

Vice President Marino Murillo said

in comments cited Monday in the of-

cial media.

Murillo, the head of the committee to

implement the economic reforms put

in place by the government of Presi-

dent Raul Castro, said during last

Fridays Cabinet meeting that one

way to promote cycling would be to

provide bicycle replacement parts at

a discount.

Bicycles began appearing en masse

on Cuban streets in the 1990s, and

particularly in Havana it became an

alternative way to deal with the acute

transportation crisis caused by the

drastic reduction in energy supplies

from the old Soviet Union.

In 1991, 30,000 people were using

bicycles in the Cuban capital, but by

1999 more than 700,000 Havana res-

idents were moving around the cityon bikes.

Murillo discussed reintroducing bi-

cycles when he presented a plan to

restructure public transport in Ha-

vana, a situation he said had been

unstable, insufcient and of low

quality for years.

In his analysis of the sector, he ac-

knowledged the existence of fare-

dodging by passengers and stealing

the (fares) collected with impunity

by some transit employees.

The vice president said that the basic

bus and railroad transport services

will be maintained under the current

state-run system.

Snowden drops bid for asylum in RussiaLondon

Edward Snowden rescinded his ap-

plication for political asylum in Rus-

sia and appeared to be running out of

options as he remained stuck in the

transit area at Moscows Sherem-

etyevo International Airport.

The former CIA employee and gov-

ernment contractor who has pro-

vided documents exposing the US

National Security Agencys massive

surveillance of global telephonic and

Internet communications arrived in

Moscow June 23 from Hong Kong.

Washington, which is charging

Snowden under the 1917 Espionage

Act, revoked his US passport, leav-

ing him unable to board a commer-

cial ight unless some other gov-

ernment provides him with travel

documents.

Though authorities in Moscow de-

clined to speculate on why Snowden

withdrew his asylum request, it

seems likely he was deterred by Rus-

sian President Vladimir Putins state-

ment that approval would be condi-

tioned on the applicants willingness

to forgo making any further revela-

tions about the US government.

The 29-year-old American has

sought asylum from a score of coun-

tries.

Ecuador, the nation that was expect-

ed to welcome Snowden, said it can

only consider asylum requests frompeople who have reached Ecuador-

ian soil or one of the countrys dip-

lomatic missions.

It was at around this time last year

that Quito extended asylum to

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange,

who remains holed up at the Ecua-

dorean Embassy in London because

Britain refuses to grant him safe con-

duct to the airport.

But the leaders of two nations that

have yet to get an asylum request

from Snowden have indicated they

would be receptive to such a request.

Yes, why not?, Bolivian President

Evo Morales told a television inter-

viewer who asked if La Paz would

consider giving Snowden refuge.

Venezuelas president, Nicolas Mad-

uro, said last week that his govern-

ment would almost certainly ex-

tend asylum to Snowden.

He did not kill anyone and did not

plant a bomb, Maduro said in Mos-

cow, where both he and Morales were

attending a summit of gas-exporting

nations. What he did was tell a great

truth in an effort to prevent wars. He

deserves protection under interna-

tional and humanitarian law.

IANS

IANS

IANSIANS

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 2013 7INTERNATIONAL

UN humanitarian ofcial urges israel to liftcrippling restrictions on gazaA senior United Nations humanitar-

ian ofcial today urged the Israeli

Government to lift restrictions on the

free movement of people and goods

in the Gaza Strip, as he met with

Palestinian farmers and shermen

whose livelihoods have been ruined

by the measures.

James W. Rawley, the UN Humani-

tarian Coordinator for the occupied

Palestinian territory, learned rst-

hand the impact of the restrictions

on Palestinian livelihoods as he led

a visit of humanitarian agencies to

Gaza.The cumulative impact of Israels

restrictions, some of which have

been in place for more than a decade,

has devastated the livelihoods of

families in Gaza, such as the farmers

and shermen we met today, said

Mr. Rawley, who is also UN Deputy

Special Coordinator for the Middle

East Peace Process.

These restrictions affect the poorest

the most; they impede development

of a sustainable economy and in-

crease dependency on aid, he added

in a news release.

The visit to Gaza comes as the Ofce

for the Coordination of Humanitar-

ian Affairs (OCHA) released a new

update in which it pointed out thatthe longstanding restrictions on the

movement of people and goods to,

from and within Gaza have contin-

ued to undermine the living condi-

tions of 1.7 million people.

Many of the current restrictions,

which were originally imposed in

the early 1990s, were intensied

in June 2007, following the Hamas

takeover of Gaza and the imposition

of a blockade by Israel, it stated.

The update added that some of them

have been subsequently eased since

2010. These restrictions have re-

duced access to livelihoods, essential

services and housing, disrupted fam-

ily life, and undermined the peoples

hopes for a secure and prosperous

future.

Recent assessments have shown that

57 per cent of people in Gaza do not

have money to buy sufcient food

and 80 per cent of families receive

some form of international aid.

The economy is effectively kept

alive through public expenditure, in-

ternational aid and the illegal tunnel

trade, in which thousands of work-

ers, some of them children, continue

to risk their lives every day, stated

the news release.

It went on to note that long-term re-strictions on access to as much as 35

per cent of Gazas agricultural land

and currently more than two-thirds

of its shing areas have resulted in

estimated annual economic losses of

over $76 million.

Also, the continued ban on the trans-

fer of produce and other goods from

Gaza to its traditional markets in the

West Bank and Israel has effective-

ly prevented sustainable economic

growth; less than one truckload of

goods per day (on average) exited

Gaza in the rst half of 2013, com-

pared to 38 during the rst half of

2007 before the imposition of the

closure.

While there has been some im-

provement in access to land and sea

areas following the 21 November

2012 ceasere agreement, only a full

lifting of restrictions on access, as

well as on exports and transfers of

produce, will enable recovery of the

shing and agricultural sectors and

the livelihoods of those who depend

upon them, said Mr. Rawley.

He also voiced concern that mea-

sures undertaken to enforce access

restrictions on land and at sea con-

tinue to place Palestinian farmers,

shermen and other civilians at seri-ous physical risk.

The Humanitarian Coordinator said

that while Israel has legitimate se-

curity concerns, any response to

them, including limitations on the

free movement of people and goods,

must comply with international law.

They must be proportionate to a

specic threat and must not be puni-

tive in nature.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have

the capacity to develop their commu-

nities and to build a sustainable local

economy, he stated. Only the full

lifting of these long-term restrictions

will enable them to do so.

Credible 2014 elections vital to

progress on Afghan transition

It is vital for Afghanistan, and for its

partners, that the country consolidate

the important gains made over thepast decade and move ahead with

its democratic transition, the deputy

United Nations chief said today, em-

phasizing in particular the need for

free and fair elections next year.

Next year will see Afghanistan hold

a presidential election, as well as the

withdrawal of the majority of allied

international military forces, with

national forces assuming full respon-

sibility for security throughout the

country.

It is extremely important for the

people of Afghanistan, but also for

the United Nations and the many

nations that have contributed to this

transition, that the country does not

fall back into the nightmares of war,

the extreme poverty and violations

of human rights that we saw earlier,

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Elias-

son told a news conference at UN

Headquarters.

Brieng reporters on his ve-day

visit to Afghanistan, from which he

returned earlier today, Mr. Eliasson

said he conveyed to those that he

met that the intention of the UN is

to continue its partnership with Af-

ghanistan, provided that this is the

wish of the Government and the Af-

ghan people.

We will provide our support, where

and when needed, following modali-

ties that respect Afghan leadership

and sovereignty, he stated.

Mr. Eliasson said that next yearspresidential election, slated for 5

April, will be a make or break

event, stressing the need for the polls

to be free and fair, and enjoy wide

participation. In that regard, he noted

that it is vital that the Afghan parlia-

ment pass two pieces of legislation

related to the future elections before

the body concludes its current ses-

sion in mid-July.

The rst of the two laws denes

the structure and responsibilities of

the countrys Independent Election

Commission (IEC), while the second

concerns the main electoral law gov-

erning all future Afghan elections.

The Secretary-Generals Special

Representative for Afghanistan, Jn

Kubi, also emphasized the impor-

tance of the manner in which nextyears presidential elections, as well

as subsequent provincial council and

parliamentary polls, are held.

These elections the only legiti-

mate way of democratic transfer ofauthority as prescribed by the Con-

stitution will be the surest basis of

internal legitimacy and future stabil-

ity and are the necessary foundation

for continued extraordinary interna-

tional support to Afghanistans tran-

sition and transformation, he said

in remarks today to a meeting of se-

nior ofcials from Governments and

international organizations in the Af-

ghan capital, Kabul.

The international community, in-

cluding the UN, is resolved to con-

tinue supporting credible, inclusive

and transparent elections held under

Afghan leadership. We must remem-

ber, however, that the ultimate test

for the elections is that the Afghan

people and political forces accept

their result as credible, said Mr.

Kubi, who heads the UN Assistance

Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

He added that the polls should be

based on mutually agreed rules of

the game based on law, on sound

technical preparations, credible in-

stitutions and credible election pro-

cesses before and after the elections

under the close scrutiny of domestic

and international observers.

There are expectations from both

sides, noted Mr. Eliasson, who met

with a wide range of governmental

and non-governmental representa-

tives during his visit, which also

included a stop in the southern prov-

ince of Kandahar. There are expec-

tations from the Government that its

international partners live up to their

pledges of support and assistance, he

said.

But also, there are great expecta-

tions on the side of the international

community that in fact Afghanistan

lives up to its own obligations, pri-

marily to have the election take

place as planned in April next year,

and to pass the electoral laws, he

added.

Pakistan trying to improveties with IndiaIslamabad

Pakistan is trying to improve its rela-

tions with India and it is in this con-

text that the countrys strategic en-

gagement with China must evolve.

For a long time, the desire to contain

India provided a common denomina-

tor for robust relations between the

two countries. However, that reason

is now melting away as Chinese and

Indian leaderships have looked past

their differences to forge trade ties in

their quest for economic growth, an

editorial in the News Internationalsaid, a day ahead of Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharifs China visit.

Having suffered the damaging ef-

fects of a hostile neighbourhood,

Pakistan, too, is trying to improve its

relations with India. It is in this con-

text that the countrys strategic en-

gagement with China must evolve,

it added.

Nawaz Sharif will be in China July

4-8 - his rst foreign visit since as-

suming ofce.

Behind all the glitz and glamour of

public rhetoric afrming the long-

standing friendship, the two neigh-

bours will discuss serious business.

Pakistan has already expressed its

desire to expand economic coop-

eration and serve as a trade and en-

ergy corridor for western China and

the rest of the region. Nevertheless,

China will be extremely cautious in

making specic commitments. The

changing global scenario, regional

instability and the rise of China and

India as strong regional contenders

have had an impact on Pakistan-Chi-

na relations, it noted.

The daily went on to say that a di-

lapidated economy, an unwieldyenergy crisis and a fraught security

situation do not make us an attractive

destination for foreign capital.

Pakistan must sort out its internal

problems before it can even hope to

realise the true economic potential of

its relations with China. China is also

closely watching the situation in Af-

ghanistan and efforts for negotiating

with the Taliban.

Differing concerns notwithstand-

ing, Pakistan and China continue to

enjoy strong ties. There is, however,

always room for improvement, it

added.

Obama takes cautious stand on crisis in EgyptWashington

Striking a cautious balance, Presi-

dent Barack Obama called Wednes-

day for a quick restoration of democ-

racy in Egypt, but stopped short of

condemning Egyptian militarys re-

moval of President Mohamed Morsi.

Saying he is deeply concerned

about the removal of Morsi and

suspension of Egypts constitution,

Obama urged all parties to work to-

gether and called on the military to

avoid any arbitrary arrests of Presi-

dent Morsi and his supporters.

I now call on the Egyptian military

to move quickly and responsibly to

return full authority back to a demo-

cratically elected civilian govern-

ment as soon as possible through an

inclusive and transparent process,

he said in a statement.

The United States continues to

believe rmly that the best founda-

tion for lasting stability in Egypt is a

democratic political order with par-

ticipation from all sides and all po-

litical parties-secular and religious,

civilian and military, Obama said.

Obamas written statement followed

a meeting of national security of-

cials, including Defence Secretary

Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs Chair-

man Gen. Martin Dempsey and CIA

Director John Brennan at the White

House.

The situation in Cairo created an

uncomfortable policy scenario for a

US government and president that

champion democratic principles.

Obama had refused to choose sides

during the Arab Spring protests in

Cairo that toppled longtime leader

Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and his ad-

ministration adopted a similarly neu-

tral stance ahead of the militarys de-

cision Wednesday to remove Morsi,

the news channel noted.

But the inuential New York Times

editorially endorsed Obamas cau-

tious stand saying fewer countries

are more invested in Egypt than the

United States, which relies on Cairo

to uphold the 1979 peace treaty with

Israel.

Still, the Obama administration

has little leverage over either Morsi

or the opposition, which more often

than not held Washington at arms

length, it said noting, it has some-

what more inuence with the mili-

tary to whom it provides $1.3 billion

in annual aid.

Given this complex dynamic, Presi-

dent Obama has reacted with appro-

priate caution to Morsis ouster.

Frida Ghitis, a world affairs colum-

nist for The Miami Herald and World

Politics Review, disagreed saying,

the 2011 Arab uprisings presented

the United States with a historic op-

portunity to take a clear stand on the

side of freedom and democracy and

strengthen its own standing in the

process.

Incredibly, the Obama administra-

tion has blundered and stumbled,

with a response marked by timidity

and caution, she wrote. As a re-

sult, America appears weaker, less

inuential and less trusted, while

the Arab Middle East continues to

seethe with instability and violence.

Washingtons intelligence think

tank Stratfor felt the overthrow of

Egypts moderate Islamist govern-

ment undermines the international

efforts to bring radical Islamists into

the political mainstream in the wider

Arab and Muslim world.IANS

7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013

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CHANDIGARHSUNDAY 07 July 20138 POLITICS

Nirmala Sitharaman,

BJP

They are not interest-

ed in having a debate

because many facts or

many gaps in this bill

will be highlighted by

all political parties and

their own lack of clar-

ity, their own lack of

preparedness in pre-senting a comprehen-

sive well-drafted bill

will come out.

Kamal Farooqi,

Samajwadi Party

What is the hurry for

the Congress to bring in

a kind of notication?

Financially there would

be a burden of about Rs

1.35 lakh crore on the

government, from where

that money will come?

Even today they are notin a position to stream-

line the public distribu-

tion system (PDS).

D.Raja,

CPI

We want legislation,and the Food Security

Bill that is before the

Parliament in its pres-

ent form with its present

content is not acceptable

to us.

Sushma Swaraj,

BJP

Monsoon Session is

due in July itself and the

government has recom-

mended ordinance for

National Food Security

Bill. This is a deliber-

ate attempt to denigrate

Parliament. Why this

hurry? Are they (Con-gress) going for early

elections?

Ajay Maken,

Congress

The Oppositions fail-

ure to help passage of

the Food Security Bill

forced the government

to go in for an ordi-

nance.The Bill could

see the light of