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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Buckingham Palace, London, on the second day of hisvisit to the UK.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao attended his driver Balaiah’s daughter Ramyakrishna marriage in city on Friday.

Hyderabad, Nov 13: Ac-tor Mukesh Khanna, chair-man of Children's Film Soci-ety India (CFSI), has saidthat India can progress onlyunder the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andthat no other leader in anypolitical party has the vision.The veteran actor of"Shaktimaan" fame saidhere on Friday that there isno intolerance in the coun-try. Returning of awards bysome artistes and writers isall politics by the oppositionto pull down Modi, he says.

"The country canprogress only under the lead-ership of Narendra Modi. Ifyou remove him, there is no

India can develop only under Modi'sleadership, says Mukesh Khanna

leader in all the parties puttogether, with a new vision,"he said. Khanna was talkingto reporters on the eve of the19th International Children'sFilm Festival of India, begin-ning here on Saturday.Theactor said Modi was the firstprime minister who spokeabout the need for buildingtoilets in all schools, duringhis Independence Day ad-dress from ramparts of RedFort."If Pakistan attacks us,we will give a befitting reply.This was the regular speechwe had been hearing everyAugust 15, but for the firsttime, a prime minister spokeabout the need for everyschool to have separate toi-

lets for boys and girls," hesaid. Claiming that Modi hastremendous ideas, Khannasaid no leader before himthought of 'Make in India'. Tar-geting the opposition parties,the actor said they were op-posing Modi just for the sakeof it.

"They want to pull himdown to get power. They arenot bothered about India," hesaid. The CFSI chairman saidthe results of the Bihar as-sembly elections were not apoint to prove that there is in-tolerance. He attributed theresult to too many peoplegetting together for votesthrough a false propagandathat Modi is not secular.

Hyderabad, Nov 13:Sameera Aziz, a media per-sonality and writer, has be-come the first woman fromSaudi Arabia to berecognised for her work forthe promotion of Urdu lan-guage. She has been be-stowed with the MaulanaAbul Kalam Azad specialaward by the Telangana gov-ernment in recognition of herwork to promote the lan-guage in Saudi Arabia. The35-year-old received theaward on November 11, thebirth anniversary of India'sfirst education ministerMaulana Abul Kalam Azad,which is celebrated as Mi-norities' Welfare Day by thestate.

Sameera, who is also anovelist, poetess, filmmakerand radio presenter, is ex-

Saudi woman receives award for promotion of Urducited. "I am humbled by thisexceptional honour and rec-ognition," she said. Workingin Urdu literature since herchi ldhood, she is alsosaid to be the first Saudinovelist of Urdu. A writer ofmany works of f ict ion,short stories and poetry,she is also active in Urduand English journalism forthe last 15 years.

Coming from amulticultural background,Sameera is aiming to do aca-demic research into the prac-tice of Urdu language bySaudi nationals in SaudiArabia. She believes the re-search will be a milestone forthe promotion of Urdu lan-guage in an internationalarena and a bridge betweenSaudi Arabia and the rest ofthe world. "Many Saudi fami-

lies speak Urdu. I want to doresearch on them as to howthe language came to themand why they love it," shetold.

"Since Hyderabad is astronghold of Urdu, I believethis is the perfect place to doPh. D. on this subject." TheJeddah-based media person-ality is currently in Mumbaiworking on her maidenBollywood movie 'Reem'. Shealso claims to be first Saudidirector, producer and writerin Bollywood. The film is be-ing produced by her own pro-duction house 'Sana SolkarProduction' and it is basedon a story written by her.

India is not new for her. "Ihave been coming here forlast 22 years. It was on Juhubeach that I wrote my firstUrdu novel." The novel

'Rishtay badal bhe jatay hain'was based on the true storyof an Indian couple. Sameerais also a radio presenter ofher weekly show 'Marhabawith Sameera Aziz' in AsianRadio Live, based in Britain.She was associated withEnglish daily Saudi Gazetteas senior international editorand is currently the presidentof Asian Information Agency(AIA), a worldwide news ser-vice.

She also worked for vari-ous Urdu and English news-papers in Pakistan. Born toPakistani expatriate parentsin Saudi Arabia in 1979,Sameera is also an activist,working against the evil ofchild marriage. Working forthe rights of women, she isalso the supporter of womendriving in Saudi Arabia.

Bengaluru, Nov 13: AVishwa Hindu Parishad cam-paign failed to shut downKarnataka on Friday with thegroup trying to pressurise theCongress-led state govern-ment to cancel the birth an-niversary celebrations of 18thcentury Mysuru ruler TipuSultan amid swirling commu-nal tensions. The VHP hadcalled for a boycott of gov-ernment offices across thestate and a complete shut-down in seven districts whileprotesting the festivities anddemanding a judicial probeinto the death of one of itsactivists killed in riots thisweek and Rs 25 lakh for hisfamily.

The BJP and associatedgroups such as the VHP,RSS and Bajrang Dal havebeen opposing the celebra-

Tipu row: VHP protest fails togather support in Karnataka

tions, saying Tipu was a “re-ligious bigot” who persecutedHindus and raided temples,Including the VHP’s DSKuttappa, four people havedied since November 10 inviolence that was triggeredwhen Hindu hardliners triedto obstruct the government’sefforts to celebrate the Mus-lim king’s 266th birth anniver-sary.

The flare-up comes in themiddle of a swirling debateover growing intolerance andthe muzzling of dissent in thecountry. The administrationin Dakshina Kannada districtthwarted the shutdown cam-paign by imposing curfewuntil Sunday while the othersix districts saw only minordisruptions when protesterssymbolically blocked majorthoroughfares and highways

for an hour on Friday morn-ing. The largest demonstra-tion was held in state capitalBengaluru where Hindu ac-tivists threw traffic out of gearby blocking the road leadingto Mysuru as the leadersmade fiery speeches andworkers shouted slogans.“The time for protests likethis is past. We must teachthe Muslims a lesson,” saidBajrang Dal state presidentSuryanarayana even as po-lice looked on. While an edgypeace has returned to vio-lence-hit areas, tensionsshow no signs of abating withhome minister GParameshwara saying “thereis no question of reconsider-ing the state festival” whileprotesters have vowed to con-tinue the movement until thegovernment gives in.

Rajnath the only 'sane'BJP leader: Congress

New Delhi, Nov 13: Backing Home minister RajnathSingh's alleged view that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)should not crush dissent and heed the views of party veter-ans, the Congress on Friday lauded him saying he was theonly sensible leader in the ruling party. "Completely agreewith what Rajnath said and I feel that he is the only sensibleleader at present in the BJP. Advani and MM Joshi are thosepeople who made the BJP what it is today. And the BJP istalking about taking action on those who are trying to showthem the way and make them realise that they are mis-taken," Congress leader Rashid Alvi told.

According to reports, Singh expressed his support forLK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and ShantaKumar, and backed their dissent saying they have contrib-uted immensely to BJP's growth. Earlier, however, Unionminister Nitin Gadkari had defended the criticism againstPrime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shahand had demanded action against those making 'irrespon-sible' statements that were hurting the party's image.

BJP veterans LK Advani, M.M. Joshi, Shanta Kumar andYashwant Sinha had issued a statement rebuking the partyleadership saying they had clearly leant nothing from theirloss in the Delhi Assembly elections.

"The results of the Bihar elections show that no lessonhas been learnt, from the fiasco in Delhi. To say that every-one is responsible for the defeat in Bihar is to ensure thatno one is held responsible," the veterans said in statement.

The party top brass was quick in issuing a counter state-ment to appease their furious party veterans, saying theyhave been 'fortunate' to be led by LK Advani for decades and'welcome' any guidance and suggestion by the senior lead-ers.

However, it was quick to remind the veterans that theBJP won the Lok Sabha elections last year under the lead-ership Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thereafter, the partyhad success in the Assembly Elections of Jharkhand,Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Andamans, Kerala and Assam.

Raipur, Nov 13: Four Maoists, includingthe intelligence chief of Bhairamgarh unit ofoutlawed CPI (Maoist), were killed in an en-counter with the security forces near the for-ested terrain of Hallur in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapurdistrict, about 380 kms south of Raipur onFriday.“Acting on a specific tip-off from theIntelligence Bureau (IB) about the possiblemajor attack planned by Maoists in the re-gion, a joint team of Bijapur district police forceand specially trained District Reserve Guards(DRG) launched the search operation. Closeto Hallur, the rebels opened fire on the forces.In the ensuing gun-battle, four Maoists, in-cluding the head of intelligence wing ofBhairamgarh unit, identified as Rainu, were

4 Maoists killed in encounter with police in Chhattisgarhkilled,” the additional superintendent of po-lice of Bijapur, Indira Kalyan Elesela toldHindustan Times.There were around 55 person-nel who embarked upon the operation. There isno report of any injury sustained by the forces.Following an hour-long gunfight, the bodies of fourrebels were recovered from the encounter sitealong with their weapons. “The police found a pis-tol, two rifles and a 12 bore gun from the spot,”Elesela, who planned the operation, further said.The reinforcements were sent to the area to as-sist the police. Maoists are present in at least16 out of 27 districts of Chhattisgarh, but arethe most active in south Chhattisgarh’s Bastar.Bijapur is among the seven districts of Bastarzone worst affected by Maoist violence.

London, Nov 13: PrimeMinister Narendra Modi metQueen Elizabeth II over lunchon Friday, the second day ofhis visit to Britain that hasseen the two sides finalisebusiness deals worth 9 bil-lion pounds. Modi, clad in awhite kurta-pyjama and amaroon Nehru jacket, droveto Buckingham Palace in aJaguar – built by Jaguar LandRover, a subsidiary of India’sTata Motors. The 89-year-oldQueen greeted Modi at thegrand entrance of her Londonpalace. After lunch, theyviewed artefacts from theRoyal Collection which werebrought out especially forModi’s visit.Photos tweetedby India’s external affairsministry showed Modi shak-ing hands with the Queen andexchanging pleasantries.“Building on the bonds of his-tory. PM @narendra Modicalls on Her Majesty QueenElizabeth II,” the external af-fairs ministry spokespersontweeted. A ceremonial ride ina gilded carriage with theQueen, associated with anofficial state visit, was miss-ing though officials said the

Queen hosts Modi for lunchat Buckingham Palace,

Wembley up nextintimate setting of a lunchwith her was an indication ofthe closeness of ties be-tween India and Britain.

The Prime Minister’s offi-cial Twitter handle tweetedthat Modi presented to theQueen several photographsduring her first visit to Indiain January-February 1961,when she was the chiefguest at the Republic Dayparade. One of the photosshowed the Queen cutting acake in Chennai on February19, 1961 to celebrate the firstbirthday of Prince Andrew,while another showed herriding an elephant during aprocession in Varanasi.

Modi also presented theQueen Darjeeling tea fromWest Bengal, organic honeyfrom Jammu and Kashmir andTanchoi stoles from Varanasi.After the lunch, the Prime Min-ister will head to the iconicWembley Stadium to addressa 60,000-strong audience dur-ing the “UK Welcomes Modi”event. Earlier in the day, Modiand his British counterpart DavidCameron attended a meeting ofthe UK-India CEO Forum atLancaster House.

Support grows forBJP veterans’ polldefeat review call

after calmNew Delhi, Nov 13: A

clutch of BJP veterans re-ceived support on Friday af-ter appearing isolated overtheir attacks on the top lead-ership this week following acrushing defeat in the Biharpolls that has opened up thefault lines in the party. FormerHimachal Pradesh chief min-ister Shanta Kumar, one offour senior leaders who cameout with a biting joint state-ment on Diwali, said he wascontent that a debate hadstarted within the party overthe issues they had raised.

“Arun Jaitley met LKAdvani and Murli ManoharJoshi. A debate has startedwithin the party. It is satisfy-ing for us,” he told HT overthe phone. “The only purposebehind our statement was toensure that leaders respon-sible for the Bihar debacledon’t go unquestioned.”Prime Minister NarendraModi, BJP President AmitShah, Rajnath Singh, ArunJaitley, Venkaiah Naidu,Ananth Kumar, ThaawarChand Gehlot and ShivrajSingh Chauhan at the party'sparliamentary board meetingin New Delhi on Monday.(PTI)

Advani, Kumar, Joshi andYashwant Sinha –sidelinedsince Narendra Modi cameto power last year— had saidin their statement that theorganisation had been“emasculated” in the pastyear and was being “forcedto kowtow to a handful”, seenas an oblique reference to thePrime Minister and BJPpresident Amit Shah. A mem-ber of the Lok Sabha, Kumarsaid he and the others wouldwait for the party to respondto their demand for a reviewbefore deciding their futurecourse of action.

The veterans flexed theirmuscles again on Friday withformer finance minister Sinhaholding separate meetingswith Joshi and Advani in theevening to determine theirnext step. Lal Krishna Advaniaddresses his supportersduring an election campaignin front of his portrait alongwith the portrait of NarendraModi (C), in Ahmedabad April20, 2014. Amid the brewingdissension, union ministerNitin Gadkari clarified a pre-vious statement.

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How Lord Ram is punishing the BJP in GujaratIn 1990, as a student of Class 12, I was traveling with

a friend to Andheri, northwest Mumbai, to inquire aboutscience classes so as to be able to choose a major anddecide what to do in the future.

We were very worried about what jobs we would get ifwe were less qualified than others. After inquiring aboutthe classes, we were walking back to the railway stationwhen an incident occurred that changed my life forever.

As we arrived at the station we discovered thousandsof Bharatiya Janata Party workers assembled there, allof them eagerly awaiting the party's then mascot L KAdvani to arrive.

Advani was touring India in his rath, appealing to Hin-dus to join the movement to build a Ram temple at thesite where the Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya, where de-vout Hindus believe Lord Ram was born aeons ago.

My friend and I waited to hear Advani speak. I was 18and had very little idea about politics.

Before Advani began his speech, some speakers un-leashed venom against Muslims, blaming the commu-nity for not giving up its claim to the land where the BabriMasjid stood. One speaker termed all Muslims 'Babar kiaulad' (children of Babar, the first Mughal emperor in whosename, as I pointed out in an earlier column, that the BabriMasjid was built).

What hurt me most was not that they were abusingMuslims, but that they were doing so with a huge posterof Lord Ram in the background.

My connection to Lord Ram was through RamanandSagar's enormously popular television serial Ramayan andoccasional visits to temples with Hindu friends. I alwaysbelieved Lord Ram to be a loving person and actor ArunGovil superbly essayed the part in the television serial. Idid not miss a single episode of Ramayan.

But here, in 1990, I was being shown Lord Ram assomeone whom I could not associate with. And it wasonly because of the BJP and Advani's campaign in LordRam's name.

As I left Advani's rally after about an hour I took awayan important lesson. Indian Muslims would have to livewith the unfortunate tag 'Babar ki aulad.' Even if theywanted to forget it and move on, BJP leaders like SakshiMahraj and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti would keep remindingthem about it, even in 2015.

On Tuesday, August 25, when I saw the Patel com-munity agitating for reservations in huge numbers, I couldnot believe they were taking on the mighty BJP in Gujarat.

Intrigued, I met a Patel I knew to find out more aboutthe issue. With great confidence he declared that withoutthe support of the Patels, the BJP is finished in Gujarat.

I asked why the Patels, who are known to be an afflu-ent community, are keen on reservations. Reservationswere important for the Patels, he said, because many,including him, had suffered because of the policy.

Every government in Gujarat, he added, had taken Patelvotes for granted. He said he had to move to another cityto join an engineering college because he missed themerit list in the college in his home town by a few marks.

"If there was reservation for Patels, I would have gotadmission in the college near my home. Other communi-ties took advantage of reservations whereas we Patelswere left behind," he pointed out.

It was a myth that all Patels are affluent, he insisted,because there are many poor Patels, several of them farm-ers. Some Patels do odd jobs.

Then he stunned me. The Patels, he said, are de-scendants of Lord Ram.

There are, he said, two types of Patels: Leuva Patelsand Kadava Patels. While Leuva Patels are descendantsof Luv, Kadava Patels are descendants of Kush -- LordRam's twin sons.

How could the BJP treat the children of Lord Ram sobadly, he wanted to know.

My mind went back to that rally 25 years ago whenthe BJP misused Lord Ram's name for political gain.

Today, Lord Ram's descendants (the Patel commu-nity) are teaching the BJP a lesson it will not forget inGujarat.

When I was asked to cover the 2012 Gujarat assem-bly election, I turned down my editors' request, sayingthe BJP and its then chief minister Narendra Modi wouldwin and there was nothing new to report.

I had covered the 2002 Gujarat assembly election af-ter the post-Godhra riots and the 2007 elections. In bothelections, the BJP and Modi's strategy was to spreadfear among the state's Hindus about the 'Miyans' -- Mus-lims -- and win.

In the 2002 election, held after the Akshardham templeterror attack, the election was fought between MusharrafMiyan (then Pakistan army chief and president PervezMusharraf) and the BJP. Everywhere you went, you heardspeeches full of 'Musharraf Miyan' or just 'Miyan'.

In 2007, there was the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encountercase. Neither jobs nor development nor any other eco-nomic issue featured in the BJP's election campaign --just the fear of Miyans.

In 2012 I felt the Miyan issue would be highlighted yetagain.

When Modi desisted from using the 'M' word at at anelection rally I watched on television, I was startled for abit, but Modi returned to type, with his 'Ahmed Miyan'taunts aimed at Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

The lesson the BJP needs to learn from the Patelcommunity's agitation and the subsequent violence is thatonce you practise the politics of hate against any com-munity -- dubbing them with epithets like 'Babar ki aulad'or taunting them with 'Miyan' -- it will surely get back toyou some day.

I am sure Lord Ram will agree. After all, Lord Ram isall about love, not hate.

NITI Aayog has objectedto increasing investmentsand focusing on the publichealth sector as well as pro-viding free drugs and diag-nostics, as suggested in theupdated draft National HealthPolicy of the National Demo-cratic Alliance government,according a report by Busi-ness Standard.

The Aayog’s proposal hasrecommended that the pri-vate sector and insurance-based models be given agreater role in a public healthsystem that would requirepeople to pay for health ser-vices. While advocatingagainst free health servicesto the people, it has askedthat a contributory sicknessfund be created. Peoplewould contribute to this fundand through it be able to pur-chase health services fromprivate and public sectors,according to their choice.

It further added that pro-viding free treatment, diag-nostics and medicines wouldbe anachronistic at a timewhen the government wastrying to rationalise and tar-get the subsidy regime.

India’s healthcare indica-tors are some of the worst inthe world -- 21 per cent of theglobal disease burden, hometo the greatest burden ofmaternal, newborn and childdeaths in the world, losingmore than six per cent of itsGDP annually due to prema-ture deaths and preventableillnesses, and more than 90per cent of treatments forchildhood diarrhoea andpneumonia are incorrect, tomention a few.

Furthermore, 86 per centof the rural population is stillnot covered under anyscheme of health expendi-

Niti Aayog's wrong prescriptionture support, according to theKey Indicators of Social Con-sumption 2014: Health sur-vey by National Sample Sur-vey Office.

Such gloomy statisticswould ideally call for an in-creased spending inhealthcare -- India spends theleast on health amongBRICS countries, but as Iargued in an earlier column,just increasing allocationdoesn’t make sense -- effec-tive utilisation of already al-located money is importanttoo.

But taking away freehealthcare facilities wouldplace a huge burden on thepeople, especially in ruralareas. Here are three rea-sons why:

Deplorable incomes ofrural households: 75 per centof rural households in Indiahave a monthly income ofless than Rs 5,000, and nomore than eight per cent ofrural households earn morethan Rs 10,000, according tothe recently released Socio-Economic Caste Survey,which indicates that theyhardly have savings for extraexpenditures. Taking awayfree healthcare serviceswould be disastrous as theywould have to spend and bor-row more for medical treat-ment. Furthermore, it willspell doom for tribals, whosehealth indicators are muchworse off than the generalpopulation, and for whomcommunity health centresand primary health centresare the only resort, irrespec-tive of their awful state ofaffairs.Increasing private influ-ence: Currently, whenhealthcare services are sup-posed to be free, still morethan 50 per cent of rural

households resort to privatehealthcare, which costs thepoorest 20 per cent morethan 15 times their averagemonthly expenditure, ac-cording to the NSSO survey.The survey further revealedthat in rural India, 58 per centof hospitalised treatmentwas carried out in privatehospitals while in urban In-dia the figure was 68 percent, and for non-hospitalisedtreatment, more than 70 percent (72 per cent in the ruralareas and 79 per cent in theurban areas) spells of ail-ment were treated in the pri-vate sector (consisting of pri-vate doctors, nursing homesand private hospitals, chari-table institutions, etc).

If NITI Aayog’s recom-mendation is implemented, itwill lead to further mushroom-ing of private hospitals andinstitutes and encouragemore quackery, which is im-mensely worrying. The pri-vate hospitals will also get aleeway to raise their chargesexorbitantly as they wouldtake advantage of the factthat patients have nowhere togo as opposed to earlierwhere they could have cho-sen the government route.

Rampant corruption ingovernment schemes: NITIAayog says the governmentshould focus on the recentlylaunched insurance schemeto rework the health schemebut globally (external link),such schemes haven’tworked well as they are muchmore expensive than single-payer systems and quitecomplex to regulate andmonitor. Most public welfareschemes in India are marredby excessive levels ofcorruption.Out of every Rs100 spent on the PDS, the

poor received 12 per cent,while for NREGA the samefigure stood at Rs 20 out ofevery Rs 100, Rs 8 higherthan the PDS, as this column(external link) by notedeconomist Surjit Bhalla men-tions. Such rampant levels ofcorruption would make it ex-tremely difficult for poor pa-tients to demand their duecoverage from insurers. PSainath, Magsaysay award-winner and who reported ex-tensively on rural India, wrotein one of his essays that evendoctors at PHCs chargemoney for doing check-upsand tests, which they aresupposed to do for free.Therefore, if free healthcareis done away with, one can-not even begin to imagine thesituation.

Though NITI Aayog’s pro-posal is only a suggestion,it will definitely run into road-blocks in Parliament, shouldthe government decide to goahead with it.

However, the more worry-ing aspect is the anti-poorsentiment of India’s eco-nomic and policy advisors atthe cost of economicdevelopment.In 2014, ArvindSubramanian, India’s currentchief economic advisor, hadurged the US (while he wasin that country) to initiate dis-putes against India at theWorld Trade Organizationand sought changes in pro-visions within Indian patentlaw aimed at preventing frivo-lous patenting and prevent-ing pharmaceutical compa-nies from getting extensionson patents by tweaking ex-isting drugs and passingthem off as innovations,which is a lifeline for millions ofpatients worldwide who cannot af-ford super expensive drugs.

I am no fan of WinstonChurchill, but there is no de-nying that he had a verysharp political brain. Whathe said long ago -- that aweek is a long time in poli-tics -- is still relevant andprobably the most quotedstatement currently.

Last year this time Indiawas going gaga overNarendra Modi while RahulGandhi was nowhere in thepicture. The gossip in politi-cal corridors was that onlyPriyanka Gandhi could savethe Congress from extinc-tion. Even within the Con-gress there was a clamourfor a change of leadership.Replacing Rahul withPriyanka was the war cryamong Congressmen andwomen.

A year down the line, howthe scenario has changed!

Priyanka is not at all vis-ible while Rahul is in fullbattle mode. He is no longerthe 'Pappu' he was paintedto be by Modi bhakts on so-cial media and by a sectionof the media.Speculation isrife about where Rahul wentduring his sabbatical andwhat he did there that todayhas made him a changedperson. I leave it to investi-gative journalists to discoverthat answer. What is moreobvious is both dishearteningand disappointing.

The past year and threemonths should be remem-bered not for the change inRahul Gandhi's image but forthe serious loss of image suf-fered by the Grand Hope, asprojected by the media andbelieved by the people whichin a way was the reason forthe resurgence of theBharatiya Janata Party as apolitical force in the 2014 par-liamentary elections.

No longer Pappu, he has NaMo to thank!The Grand Hope known

as Narendra Modi.The people of India, the

elite, industrialists and cor-porate honchos, the vastmiddle class, all thought ofhim as a messiah who wouldchange the fate of the coun-try which would once againpower ahead. Alas, that didnot translate into reality.Presently, the murmur is:Have 'We the people' madea mistake? One time ardentModi fan Rahul Bajaj's recentinterview is a pointer to thatdisenchantment.

And this disenchantmentis fast turning intodisillusionment.The larger-than-life Modi persona con-structed by his brand man-agers is now open for scru-tiny. Whether his hyped per-sona, a mix of deliberatemyth-making and the over-excitement of aspirational In-dians, was a farce is a topicof discussion everywhere.

India is at the cusp of anunmitigated institutional di-saster presided over by theprime minister. The Cabinetsystem is crumbling. No min-ister has the power to decideanything, they are just titu-lar heads, complain seniorministers privately.

Prime MinisterManmohan Singh wasblamed for administrative pa-ralysis, but today, if you geta chance to speak to anysenior bureaucrat, they arevery bitter and say that filesdo not move. I am told thatmore than a thousand filesare awaiting clearance.

In the Cabinet system thePM is the first among equals.He is no doubt the leader ofthe team and ministers workat her/his pleasure and deci-sions are taken collectively.The very existence of a coun-

cil of ministers is indicationof collective decision-mak-ing, but under Prime Minis-ter Modi, this system hascollapsed and India is pay-ing the price.

In a parliamentary de-mocracy, the Opposition isequally important for thehealthy functioning of the willof the people. But the con-tempt for the Opposition andlack of regard for its role haveled to a total breakdown be-tween the two pillars ofdemocracy.Modi talks aboutcooperative federalism, butthe way his government istrying to smother the AamAadmi Party government inDelhi is proof that Modi, inhis true avatar, is not an ad-vocate of the Oppositionalspace in democracy. Gover-nors are appointed withoutconsulting Opposition chiefministers in states, the lat-est instance being in Biharand Himachal Pradesh.

The disregard for institu-tions has also affected thejudiciary. The collegium sys-tem was killed in great hurry,but the new National JudicialAppointments Commissionsystem could not become areality due to the tussle be-tween the Judiciary and theExecutive. The non-exist-ence of a system for the ap-pointment of judges has cre-ated a vacuum and there arenow a large number of vacan-cies in the higher judiciary.

Personal dislike shouldnot be allowed to become adislike for institutions is thespirit of a Constitutional de-mocracy. Unfortunately, theModi government can in noway be absolved of being re-sponsible on this count.

For business and indus-try, Modi, as the prime min-isterial candidate, had prom-

ised the moon, but till nownothing seems to havemoved except the 'fudging' ofgrowth data which has in-vited global reactions.

Three major reform mea-sures, which were expectedof his government, have beenlost in the crossfire betweenhim and the Opposition.

The Modi governmenttried to implement the LandAcquisition Bill through anordinance, but it could notenthuse the market and in-vestors. Now his market-friendly LAB is lost forever.

The BJP and he have tosuffer the stigma of beinganti-farmer.Hopes of theimplementation of the Goodsand Services Tax too havebeen dashed due to the log-jam in Parliament and hisgovernment's non-consen-sual approach.Labour re-forms have not even startedand the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh-affili-ated organisations are al-ready up in arms.

There is no sign of the Rs15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million) fromrecovered black money to bedeposited in each family'sbank account promised byModi. The Sensex has notshown any sign of growth/improvement in the economyand the major sectors aredown in the dumps. The cor-porate sector, which wasModi's core constituency, isvery bitter. The debate todayis if India has missed thebus.Modi launched Clean In-dia and Make in India cam-paigns with great fanfare, butIndia is as unclean as everand the manufacturing sec-tor has not shown any growthtill date. People are now be-ginning to say that Modi is agreat event manager, but de-livery is not his forte.

Here`s why obese peoplecrave more for food

Have you ever wondered why obese people crave morefor food? A new study reveals that food craving activatesdifferent brain networks between obese patients, indicat-ing that the tendency to want food may be hard-wiredinto their brain.

Researchers from the European College ofNeuropsychopharmacology have suggested that the brainmechanisms underlying obesity might be similar to thosein substance addiction, and that treatment methodolo-gies may be approached in the same way as other sub-stance addictions such as alcohol or drug addiction.

After the study, the researchers found out that in obeseindividuals the stimulus from food craving is associatedwith a greater connectivity between the dorsal caudateand the somatosensory cortex, implicated in reward-based habits and the coding of the energetic value offoods, respectively.

However, with normal weight individuals, food cravingwas associated with a greater connectivity between dif-ferent parts of the brain.

Lead researcher Oren Contreras-Rodriguez said thatthere is an ongoing controversy over whether obesity canbe called a food addiction, but in fact there is very littleresearch which shows whether or not this might be true.

He added that the findings of their study support theidea that the reward processing following food stimuli inobesity is associated with neural changes similar to thosefound in substance addiction.

Knee replacement maybe bad for your heart

Knee or hip joint replacement surgery, known as ar-throplasty, may put people at increased risk of heart at-tack immediately following the operation, warns a newstudy.However, the research indicates that long-term riskof heart attack does not persist, while the risk of bloodclot in veins and lungs may remain for years after theprocedure.

"Our findings provide the first general population-basedevidence that osteoarthritis patients who have total kneeor total hip replacement surgery are at increased risk ofheart attack in the immediate post-operative period," saidlead study author Yuqing Zhang, professor at BostonUniversity School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts,US.Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis,and as the joint cartilage and bone deteriorates, knee orhip replacement surgery may be the only option to re-lieve pain and stiffness, and restore mobility.

Previous studies estimate that 1.8 million arthroplastyprocedures are performed each year worldwide, and thatnumber may increase as the population ages.The presentstudy included 13,849 patients who underwent total kneereplacement surgery and 13,849 matched controls whodid not have surgery.

Patients were 50 years of age or older and diagnosedwith knee or hip osteoarthritis between January 2000 andDecember 2012.Findings indicated that 306 patients inthe arthroplasty group and 286 in the non-surgical groupdeveloped heart attack during the follow-up period.Riskof heart attack was significantly higher during the firstpost-operative month in those who had knee replacementsurgery compared to those in the non-surgical group,and gradually declined over time."The long-term risk ofheart attack was insignificant, but risk of blood clots inthe lung remained for years after surgery to replace a hipor knee damaged by osteoarthritis," Zhang said.

Probiotics don't preventsuperbug attack in ill people

Probiotics may not protect critically ill people fromsuperbugs or drug-resistant microbes, new research hasfound.

Probiotics are live microorganisms believed to helprestore the balance of intestinal bacteria and increaseresistance to harmful germs."Probiotic use is an intrigu-ing topic, said lead author of the study Jennie Kwon,clinical researcher at Washington University School ofMedicine in St. Louis.

"With fewer therapies available to treat multidrug-re-sistant organisms, innovative methods to prevent or elimi-nate gastrointestinal colonisation are necessary, Kwonnoted.

However, the researchers found that compared withroutine medical care, probiotics administered to criticallyill patients in intensive care units showed no benefit inpreventing the colonisation of drug-resistant microbes inthe intestinal tract,

The pilot study followed 70 patients admitted to inten-sive care units (ICUs) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital? in St.Louis.Researchers studied whether the probiotic Lacto-bacillus rhamnosus GG could prevent the intestinal colo-nization of superbugs.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive probioticsand routine care or routine care alone.The research-ers then monitored whether the microbes tookup residence in the intestinal tract ? a first stepto developing a ful l-blown infection.The datas h o w e d t h a t t h e d r u g - r e s i s t a n t m i c r o b e scolonised the intestinal tracts of 10 percent ofpatients in the probiotic group and 15 percent inthe standard-care group ? a difference that wasnot statistically significant.

"Although our findings suggest that probiotics do nothelp prevent gastrointestinal colonization with drug-re-sistant organisms in critically ill patients, further study isnecessary in this field, Kwon said.

3, MARK INDIA, Hyderabad Saturday, November 14, 2015

President Dilma Rousseff Accompanied by Minas Gerais state Gov. Fernando Pimentel, looksoutover the area of Dam bursts at an Iron Ore Mine, in the Southeastern Brazilian state ofMines Gerais on Friday.

Daniel Radcliffe attends a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk ofFame, in Los Angeles.

Yangon, Nov 13:Myanmar democracy cham-pion Aung San Suu Kyi'sopposition party on Fridayclinched enough seats inparliament to elect a presi-dent and form a governmentwhen incoming lawmakersconvene next year. Resultsfrom the country's electioncommission confirmed thethumping victory that SuuKyi's National League forDemocracy (NLD) hadclaimed after the first freenationwide election in 25years on Sunday.

The confirmation camefive years to the day sincethe junta released Suu Kyifrom house arrest. She hadbeen confined for the bestpart of two decades. The tri-umph of the charismaticNobel peace prize laureatesweeps out the old guard offormer generals that has runMyanmar, also known asBurma, since PresidentThein Sein ushered in a raftof democratic and economicreforms four years ago.

Despite the landslide,Suu Kyi cannot becomepresident herself under a con-stitution drafted by the mili-tary before the end of nearly50 years of rule. She hassaid she will run the countryanyway, through a proxy cho-

World leaders laud Myanmar electionas Suu Kyi secures majority

sen by her party. Resultshave trickled in since theweekend, and on Friday theelection commission an-nounced the latest batch ofseats that pushed the NLDover the threshold to securean absolute majority in par-liament.

United Nations Secre-tary-General Ban Ki-moonand U.S. President BarackObama had already con-gratulated her on the victory.In a call with Suu Kyi, Obama"commended her for hertireless efforts and sacri-fice over so many years topromote a more inclusive,peaceful and democraticBurma", the White Housesaid. Obama and Ban alsopraised Thein Sein for suc-cessfully staging the his-toric poll, with the UN chiefacknowledging his "cour-age and vision" to organizean election in which the rul-ing camp was trounced.

Obama has visitedMyanmar twice over the pastthree years, hoping to makeits transition to democracy aforeign policy legacy of hispresidency. He will meet withThein Sein, among other re-gional leaders, during a tripto Asia this month. TheinSein, whose semi-civiliangovernment took power when

the junta stepped aside in2011, and powerful army chiefMin Aung Hlaing, have saidthey would respect the resultand hold reconciliation talkswith Suu Kyi soon.

Such unambiguous en-dorsements of Suu Kyi's vic-tory could smooth thelengthy post-election transi-tion ahead of the last sessionof the old parliament, whichreconvenes on Monday. "Weneed to prepare to hand overduties systematically andcleanly to the governmentthat will emerge in accordwith the desire of the people,"Information Minister Ye Htutsaid in a Facebook post onFriday, a day after a cabinetmeeting. The NLD will makenational reconciliation its pri-ority, as well as putting anend to decades of conflictbetween the army and rebelethnic groups in the country,said Win Htein, a senior NLDleader.

While the election andtwo months of campaigningin the run-up were largelypeaceful, global leadersstressed that a large numberof people, estimated bysome rights activists ataround 4 million, were unableto cast their ballots. "He isregretfully aware that a largenumber of voters from minor-

ity communities, in particu-lar the Rohingya, were de-nied the right to vote andsome were disqualified ascandidates," Ban Ki-moon'sspokesman, StephaneDujarric, said in a statement.

"There is much hard workthat remains ahead onMyanmar's democratic jour-ney and towards making fu-ture elections truly inclusive."Myanmar's government hasdenied Rohingya Muslimscitizenship, and hundredsdied in clashes with ethnicRakhine Buddhists in 2012.Some 140,000 Rohingya livein squalid camps, while thou-sands more have fled byboat, leading to a regionalmigration crisis.

Suu Kyi has been criti-cized for not speaking outagainst abuses faced bythe Muslim minority. TheRohingya situation is oneof the most contentious is-sues the new governmentwill face. With Suu Kyi'svictory confirmed, the fo-cus is shifting to the NLD'spresidential candidate andits plans for government.Myanmar's president runsthe executive, with the excep-tion of the powerful ministriesof interior, defense and bor-der security, which are con-trolled by the military.

Beirut, Nov 13: TheUnited States targeted Brit-ish Islamic State leader"Jihadi John" in an air attackin northern Syria which Brit-ain said would "strike at theheart of Islamic State" if themilitant's death is confirmed.British Prime Minister DavidCameron said the death ofMohammed Emwazi, whowas known as Jihadi Johnafter appearing in videosshowing the killings of U.S.and British hostages, couldnot yet be confirmed and thePentagon said it was stillassessing the effectivenessof the strike.

But a U.S. official saidThursday's attack in the townof Raqqa, Islamic State's defacto capital, probably killedEmwazi and the Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights,a monitoring group, quotedsources in Raqqa as sayinghe had been blown topieces. "A car carrying fourforeign Islamic State leaders,including one British Jihadiwas hit by U.S. air strikesright after the governoratebuilding in Raqqa city," RamiAbdulrahman, Director of theUK-based Observatory toldReuters.He initially quoted

British IS leader Jihadi John'probably' killed in air strike

sources in Raqqi as sayingthe body of "an importantBritish Jihadi" was in thetown's hospital but laterquoted them as sayingEmwazi's body, and those ofhis three militant comrades,had been left in charredpieces.

E?mwazi took part in vid-eos showing the murders ofU.S. journalists StevenSotloff and James Foley,U.S. aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aidworkers David Haines andAlan Henning, Japanese jour-nalist Kenji Goto, and otherhostages. Shown in the vid-eos dressed entirely in black,a balaclava covering all buthis eyes and the bridge of hisnose, Jihadi John became amenacing symbol of IslamicState brutality and one of theworld's most wanted men.He was born in Kuwait butbrought up in Britain. TheBritish government said it had"been working hand in glovewith the Americans" to defeatIslamic State "and to huntdown those murdering West-ern hostages."

Speaking outside hisDowning Street residence,Cameron described Emwazi

as "a barbaric murderer" who"posed an ongoing and seri-ous threat to innocent civil-ians, not only in Syria butaround the world and in theUnited Kingdom too". "It willdemonstrate to those whowould do Britain, our peopleand our allies harm, we havea long reach, we have unwa-vering determination and wenever forget about our citi-zens."

He said the U.S. airstrike resulted from a com-bined effort between Britainand the United States andwas an act of self-defense:"It was the right thing to do".U.S. President BarackObama has promised justiceafter the deaths of Ameri-can hos tages and theUnited States is seekingto increase pressure onIs lamic State f ighters,who have seized parts ofSyria and Iraq, and whoObama has vowed to de-feat . The pressure in-cludes U.S. plans to de-ploy dozens of special op-erations forces to Syria,deliver more weaponry toU.S.-backed Syrian fightersand to thicken U.S. air strikesagainst the militant group.

Worshippers killedas bomb hits

Yemen mosque inHouthi-dominated

regionDubai, Nov 13: A bomb

exploded on Friday duringmidday prayers at a mosquefrequented by Houthi sup-porters in Yemen's north-western Mahwit region, kill-ing several worshippers andwounding others, residentssaid. The blast took place inShibam, a city about 40 km(25 miles) outside the capi-tal Sanaa which has been anarea of relative calm in theconflict-stricken country.

At least 5,600 Yemenishave been killed in sevenmonths of war, in which Iran-allied Houthis and forcesloyal to former president AliAbdullah Saleh have beenbattling armed supporters ofan exiled governmentbacked by a Saudi-led Arabcoalition. That fighting con-tinued on Friday in the south-ern al-Dalea region, as Houthiand Saleh fighters shelled amilitary base with Katyusharockets while pressing towardthe provincial capital. Support-ers of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi respondedby ambushing the rebels intheir cars, killing 14 people,said medical sources.

Syrian armycaptures village

in Aleppoprovince

Beirut, Nov 13: Syriangovernment forces capturedthe village of Tel Hadya in thenorthern province of Aleppoon Friday, a monitoring groupand state media said, in thelatest territorial gains re-ported against insurgents inthe area. The reported ad-vance brought pro-govern-ment forces closer to themain highway that linksSyria's major cities, buildingon other gains made in thearea with support from Rus-sian air strikes.

There was no immediatecomment from rebels, in-cluding al Qaeda's NusraFront, who have been in con-trol of the area. Fighting hasintensified even as world andregional powers prepare tomeet in Vienna in a bid tostep up diplomatic efforts tothe end the four-year-old con-flict. Syrian state TV reportedthe takeover of Tel Hadya andthe Britain-based Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights,which monitors the conflictusing sources on the ground,confirmed it.

The advance came a dayafter the Syrian army backedby Lebanese Hezbollah fight-ers, Iranian troops and Rus-sia air raids took the nearbytown of Al Hader, effectivelybringing government forces incontrol of most of the south-ern Aleppo countryside. "Thesouthern Aleppo countrysideis falling hill after hill... thearmy is advancing quickly,"the Observatory's RamiAbdulrahman told Reuters.

The advances could pro-vide a launching pad to pushfurther against insurgentstrongholds in mainly rebel-held northwestern Syria. TheKremlin believes the Syrianarmy's offensive is effective andthat, with the help of Russianair strikes, the Syrians are mak-ing good progress, Russian RIANovosti news agency said onFriday. Russia launched its aircampaign in support of Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad on Sept.30, ostensibly to fight IslamicState militants. But raids havemainly targeted other insurgentgroups, some foreign-backed,in the west of the country, theUnited States says.

EU gives greenlight to German,

Swedish temporaryborder checks

Brussels, Nov 13: TheEuropean Commission hasformally authorized the tem-porary reimposition of bordercontrols by Sweden andGermany's extension of fron-tier checks to help get a gripon a large influx of asylumseekers, the EU executivesaid on Friday. With refugeesflooding into European Unionterritory in the worst migrantcrisis since World War Two,the viability of the EU'sSchengen system of openborders is under strain asnever before as EU membersreintroduce controls at theirfrontiers.Sweden, long a ha-ven for people fleeing war andpersecution, was the latestEU state to re-establishchecks at its borders to stema tide of migrants comingfrom Denmark. Germany re-imposed border controls onSept. 13 and decided to ex-tend them beyond an initiallimit of two months foreseenby Schengen rules, using aclause that permits stretchingchecks to a maximum of sixmonths."The temporary reintro-duction of border controls be-tween member states is anexceptional possibility explicitlyforeseen in and regulated by theSchengen Borders Code, in caseof a serious threat to public policyor internal security," the EuropeanCommission said in a state-ment. The Swedish decision"prima facie appears to be a situ-ation covered by the rules", itsaid. The decision replicatedsimilar provisional authoriza-tions granted by the EU execu-tive to Austria, Hungary andSlovenia when they imposedtemporary border controls inrecent weeks."We have no ob-jections to measures thatshould remain proportionate," aCommission spokeswomantold a regular news briefing."(But) the situation serves to fur-ther underscore the pressingneed to quickly implement themeasures proposed in order tomanage the refugee crisis," thestatement said, including a planto relocate refugees from thefirst countries of arrival to otherEU states, thus reducing un-controlled flows.

Vienna, Nov 13: Austriawill build a 3.7-km (2.5-mile)fence either side of its busi-est border crossing withSlovenia to help manage theflow of thousands of migrantsa day onto its territory, se-nior officials said on Friday.It was the latest move by acountry on Europe's mainmigratory corridor, stretchingfrom Greece to Germany, tomanage or curb the influxsince hundreds of thousandsstarted streaming into Aus-tria and Germany twomonths ago, putting severestrain on the EuropeanUnion's prized system ofopen borders.

Slovenia began erectingits own razor-wire fence alongparts of its frontier withCroatia on Wednesday, say-ing it aimed to assert bettercontrol over the migrant flowonto its soil that beganshortly after Hungary builtfences on its southern bor-der to keep the marchingcrowds out. Austria, the laststop on the way to Germanyfor migrants crossing thecontinent in numbers notseen since World War Two,has worried for weeks that itslarger neighbor's frontier re-strictions will create a back-log it cannot manage.

At a news conferencewith other cabinet members

Austria plans border fence tomanage migrant flow

and senior officials, AustrianInterior Minister JohannaMikl-Leitner announced aseries of measures thatwould be put in place nearthe Spielfeld border crossingin coordination with Slovenia.Those included a fenced "se-curity corridor" on Slovenianterritory and enhanced pa-trols outside that area by theSlovenian security forces,she said.

Austria will also makepreparations that will enableit to build a fence along a 25-km stretch of the border at48 hours' notice if needed,she said. A senior official saidthis would involve containerswith razor wire ready to bedeployed. "This Phase 2 willcome into force if theSlovenian measures do notwork and it comes to illegalborder crossings," she said,adding that Austria would im-mediately strengthen its ownpatrols along the same 25-km stretch of frontier.

The Alpine republic's gen-eral director of public secu-rity, Konrad Kogler, told re-porters that a 3.7-km fencewould be built either side ofthe Spielfeld crossing in thecoming weeks. "That is whatwe have agreed," he said.Josef Ostermayer, a minis-ter involved in policy on themigration crisis, said the

fence would be around 2meters (6.6 feet) high. EUleaders agreed on Thursdayto invite Turkey's president toa summit soon to enlist hishelp in stemming the river ofmigrants into the EU from hiscountry.Austria said lastmonth it would build barriersincluding a fence at Spielfeldto slow and discourage mi-grants. The announcementset off a political storm, muchof it over whether there wouldindeed be a fence - Chancel-lor Werner Faymann washighly critical of Prime Min-ister Viktor Orban's decisionto seal off Hungary's south-ern border. Faymann soonrowed back from the an-nouncement, saying the planhad yet to be finalised andcould involve somethingcloser to a "gate with sideparts".

After discussions be-tween Faymann's SocialDemocratic Party and itscoalition partner, Mikl-Leitner's conservativePeople's Party, ministersfrom both camps announcedthe plan on Friday. "AnOrbanisation of Austria is nottaking place," Defence Min-ister Gerald Klug, a SocialDemocrat, said, and themeasures being introducedwere necessary for "orderly,reasonable and humanelydecent" crowd management.

New York/Caracas, Nov13: Two of Venezuelan Presi-dent Nicolas Maduro's rela-tives have been indicted inthe United States for cocainesmuggling, according tocourt papers on Thursday,following an internationalsting that Venezuela cast asan "imperialist" attack. Thecharge against the nephewsof Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores,follows announcements ear-lier this year of other U.S.investigations into allegeddrugs and money-launderingcrimes linked to Venezuelanofficials and state institu-tions.

The suspects, FranquiFrancisco Flores de Freitas,30, and Efrain AntonioCampo Flores, 29, werecharged in a one-count in-dictment filed in federal courtin Manhattan. Both men ap-peared in court late on Thurs-day and a federal magistratejudge ordered them held with-out bail. They were arrestedin Haiti on Tuesday andbrought to New York laterthat night, Brendan Quigley,a prosecutor, said in court.

Neither man entered aplea, although their lawyersafterwards said they plannedto plead not guilty at theirnext court appearance onNov. 18. Relations betweenthe United States and Ven-ezuela have long beenfraught. However, a U.S. offi-cial said in Washington thata senior U.S official had con-

Venezuela president's relativesindicted in U.S. over cocaine

tacted the Venezuelan gov-ernment on Wednesday toinform it of the arrests and toconvey that this was an in-dependent move by U.S. lawenforcement rather than apoliticized effort to attackMaduro.

Three U.S. officials saidthe arrests were not an effortto go after Maduro's govern-ment but a case of U.S. lawenforcement seeking to pros-ecute suspected wrongdo-ing. The charge against thetwo men alleged that fromOctober, the pair partici-pated in meetings in Ven-ezuela regarding a ship-ment of cocaine that wasto be sent to the UnitedStates via Honduras. Theaccusations are an embar-rassment for Maduro, the52-year-old successor toHugo Chavez, as his rul-ing party heads towards atough-looking parliamen-tary election in December.

Maduro 's Socia l is tParty faces the possibilityof losing the National As-sembly for the first time inthe "Chavismo"movement's 16-year ruledue to voter anger over thecountry's economic crisis.A major oil exporter, Ven-ezuela has been hit hardby fa l l ing o i l pr ices.Maduro and other seniorofficials have long saidaccusations of collusionwith t raf f ickers by theUnited States are part of

an international campaign todiscredit socialism in Ven-ezuela.

Flores, who was inGeneva on Thursday withMaduro as he addressed theUnited Nations human rightsbody, declined to speak toreporters seeking commenton her nephews. In hisspeech, Maduro did not re-fer to the arrests. He de-fended his government's poli-cies and blasted the UnitedStates for what he called "on-going harassment." Venezu-elan government officialspoint to scores of local ar-rests as evidence of their ef-forts to clamp down on thedrug trade, but U.S. investi-gators appear to be chasinga plethora of cases that al-legedly involve Venezuelanofficials.

"Neither attacks nor im-perialist ambushes can harmthe people of the liberators,"tweeted Maduro, soon afternews that the two Venezu-elans had been whisked outof Haiti to New York. "Thefatherland will follow itscourse," he added. The twowere arrested at a hotel in theHaitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday by anti-narcotics police at the re-quest of U.S. authorities,according to a senior Haitianofficial, who said they wereflown out of the country ac-companied by agents fromthe U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration.

Edited, Printed, Published and Owned by L. Aseervadam, Printed at Krashak Printer, Vidyanagar, O.U. Campus Road, Hyderabad. Published from Flat No: 106, Block - A, Archana Apartments,East Marredpally, Secunderabad 500 026. Phone : 040 40160906, 27712775, Fax : 040 -27712774, E-mail : markindiadaily@gmail.com, Editor-in-chief : L. Aseervadam, RNI. No : APENG/2012/47447

4, MARK INDIA, Hyderabad Saturday, November 14, 2015

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar addressing the media after the Induction of P8i Aircraftinto Indian Navy at INS Rajali, Arakkonam near Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Friday.

Hindu Shiv Sena protest holding placards of Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah, against TipuSultan issue, in New Delhi.

Chennai, Nov 13: Heavyrain brought life to a grindinghalt across Tamil Nadu onFriday and a day’s holidaywas announced for schoolsand colleges in Tirunelveli,Chennai, Tiruvallur,K a n c h i p u r a m ,Tiruvannamalai and Velloredistricts and holiday for onlyschools in Kanyakumari dis-trict. Anna University andUniversity of Madras affiliatedcolleges have postponed theirexaminations.

“The examinationsscheduled for Anna Universityaffiliated colleges on Novem-ber 12, 13 and 14 are re-scheduled to December 21,22 and 24 respectively,” saidS. Ganesan, Registrar, AnnaUniversity. “All examinationsscheduled today in MadrasUniversity have been can-celled due to rain. New dateswill be announced later,” saidR.Thandavan, Vice-Chancel-lor, University of Madras.

Seven more persons lost theirlives in rain-related incidentsin Tamil Nadu, taking thedeath toll to 55 as the NorthEast Monsoon continued topound several parts of theState.

The government had onThursday put the toll in rain-related incidents at 48, in-cluding 27 from Cuddaloredistrict. According to an offi-cial release on Thursday, thetoll stood at 55, as sevenmore persons lost their livesin incidents in various partsof the State since on Thurs-day night. Many parts ofChennai were marooned af-ter a torrential downpour onThursday night. Puzhal re-corded the highest volume of21 cm of rainfall on Friday.The weather stations inNungambakkam andMeenambakkam recoded 15cm and 12 cm respectivelyfollowing a thunderstorm.

Several other weather sta-

Rain lashes Tamil Nadu; schools, colleges closedtions, including the ones inTaramani and Kolapakkamreceived up to 13 cm of rain-fall. The city reservoirs, whichreceived between 8 cm and21 cm of rain, are rapidlygetting filled up with copiousinflows from the catchmentareas.Chembarambakkamalready has a storage of one-third of its capacity. The re-lentless rain since Thursdaynight affected normal life inthe city, with people negoti-ating flooded roads. Resi-dents of several areas, includ-ing Ambattur, Avadi,Thirumullaivoyal andMudichur, were confined totheir homes in knee-deepwater.

Chennai may continue toreceive moderate to heavyrainfall under the influence oftwo weather systems. Ac-cording to an IMD bulletin,the trough of low at mean seaover the South Andaman Seaand neighbourhood now lies

over the South Andaman Seaand adjoining southeast Bayof Bengal. It is likely to de-velop into a low pressurearea over southeast Bay ofBengal and neighbourhood inthe next two days. Parts ofSouth Chennai including StThomas Mount andVelacherry witnessed heavywater logging which even re-sulted in railway under-bridges being flooded.

Due to the heavy rain,Southern Railways has an-nounced fully/partial cancel-lation of several trains whilediverting or rescheduling sev-eral others. According to aSouthern Railways press re-lease the Chennai Central–Vijayawada Jan Shadabdiexpress (Train No. 12077),Vijayawada-Chennai CentralJan Shadabdi express (TrainNo.12078) and the Bangalore–Chennai Central Brindavan ex-press (Train No.12640) havebeen fully cancelled.

Vellore, Nov 13: Despitethe growing protest by de-fence veterans that the gov-ernment has failed to deliverthe One Rank One Pension(OROP), Defence MinisterManohar Parrikar on Fridayreiterated that the promiseon the scheme was fulfilled."OROP was an electionpromise of the BJP and I feelthe promise has been ful-filled. The notification wasissued after consultationswith 300 various ESAs. Para6.4 of Koshiary Committeesays the pay review in fiveyears is an acceptable pro-posal," Parrikar told the me-dia here.He added that if the

OROP promise has been fulfilled:Parrikar on defence veterans' agitation

protesting veterans had anypending issues regarding theOROP notification, theycould go to the Judicial Com-mission. The Defence Minis-ter also slammed the 'medalburning' by the war veteranssaying it was a disrespectfulact. "Burning of medals orshowing disrespect to theservice medals is neithergood for the nation nor to theDefence service. The medalsare given in the ArmedForces for gallantry, perfor-mance or service to the na-tion and it is not a service con-dition," Parrikar added.

However, Major General(Retd.) Satbir Singh, who is

leading the OROP protestagainst the government, de-nied the rumour of ex-ser-vicemen burning their gal-lantry medals. "We haveno knowledge and we haveno plans for that at theJantar Mantar.

We do not want to burnit. Why should we burn it?If there is anything, we willsee at that par t icu lartime," Singh told. He alsolashed out at Parrikar for fail-ing to deliver his promises onthe OROP scheme andwarned him to stop mislead-ing the nation while daringhim to meet with their delega-tion for an open discussion.

Varanasi, Nov 13: A 23-year-old Russian womansustained burns and severeinjuries on her face, eyes,hands and body after a manwhose marriage proposal sheallegedly spurned attackedher with acid early Fridaymorning in Varanasi. Policesaid the tourist, DaryaYurieva, arrived in the citythree days ago and was stay-ing as a paying guest atHriday Lal Srivastava’shouse, located in NandNagar colony in the heart ofVaranasi. She had stayed atthe same house for threemonths during a previousvisit.

She told the police thatHriday’s grandson,Siddhartha Srivastava, at-tacked her and hurled acidat her around 4am, when shewas sleeping in the balconyof her third-floor room, rais-ing concerns about the con-tinuing easy availability ofacid despite orders restrict-ing their sale. “She sustainedserious eye injuries. The

Russian woman severely injuredin acid attack in Varanasi

next 72 hours will be verycritical. A plastic surgeonhas also examined her. Weare giving her the best pos-sible treatment,” said Dr KKGupta, the chief medical su-perintendent of Sir SunderlalHospital at Banaras HinduUniversity where the victimwas admitted.Yurieva saidshe wanted to go back toRussia as her visa had ex-pired and this allegedly an-gered Siddhartha, whosemarriage proposal she turneddown weeks ago. In herstatement, the tourist saidwhile she saw Siddhartha asonly a friend, he was in lovewith her. Sources said shetold the magistrate that shebelonged to Moscow but po-lice said two passports wererecovered from her room --one Russian and the otherBulgarian.“A Russian na-tional has been admitted tohospital in a critical conditionas she sustained injuries af-ter acid was thrown on herby a youth. A case has beenregistered following a com-

plaint by her,” said sub-in-spector Sanjiv Kant Mishra,station officer of Lanka policestation. Siddhartha fled soonafter the incident but policequestioned his father, brotherand grandfather. Two otherswere also detained but re-leased later. Siddhartha wasbeing treated by a psychia-trist at BHU, his grandfatherHriday Lal said.

Officials said the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO)asked Varanasi district mag-istrate Rajmani Yadav to pro-vide her with the best pos-sible treatment, whose costthe district administrationwould bear. The Russianembassy in New Delhi hasbeen informed about the in-cident, sources said. A fewofficials are expected toreach Varanasi from NewDelhi. “Teams have been de-ployed to arrest the mainsuspect. Prima facie it ap-peared to be a case of spurnedlove. We are investigating fur-ther,” senior superintendent ofpolice Akash Kulhari said.

Congress leaderpraises KCR ruleHyderabad, Nov 13: In a

statement which is bound toraise many a eyebrow,seniorCongress leader and formerPCC PresidentM.Satyanarayana Rao wasall praise for the TelanganaRashtra Samiti administra-tion in the state headed byChief MinisterK.Chandrasekhar Rao.Speaking at a function in con-nection with 125th birth an-niversary of the country's firstPrime minister PanditJawrahar Lal Nehru in GandhiBhavan,the headquarters ofthe state unit of theparty,today, he saidschemes like MissionKakatiya and grama jyotiwere bound to benefit thepeople. He said the stategovernment's power policywas also good. It was for thepeople of Warangal LokSabha constituency where aby-poll is slated for Novem-ber 21 to decide on whom toextend their support,headdedThe Congress,the rul-ing TRS and the BJP-TDPcombine are the main aspir-ants for the LS seat whichfell vacant following the res-ignation of Kadiyam Sriharion his elevation as deputyChief minister.

Chhota Rajan's sistersallowed to meet him

on Bhai DoojNew Delhi, Nov 13: Two

sisters of underworld donChhota Rajan have been al-lowed to meet him at theCentral Bureau of Investiga-tion headquarters on the oc-casion of “Bhai Dooj” on Fri-day. Acting on the observa-tions made by a Delhi court,asking the agency to con-sider their plea on compas-sionate grounds, the case in-vestigation officer allowed thetwo sisters a brief meetingwith Rajan.

The sisters, MaliniSakpal and Sunita Chavan,had on Thursday moved anapplication seeking permis-sion to meet Rajan, statingthat they had not met him forthe past 27 years and wantedto bless him on “Bhai Dooj”festival.

They requested that theirson-in-law Anil Menon be al-lowed to accompany them,as they were medically notfit. During the hearing at theresidence of Special CBIJudge Vinod Kumar, the courton Friday asked the sisters tosubmit their application to thecase investigating officer.

Sedition caseslapped on

Sarbat Khalsaorganisers

Amritsar, Nov 13: Policeregistered a case of seditionon Friday against theorganisers of Sarbat Khalsa,or congregation of the Sikhfaithful, in Punjab’s Chabhavillage on November 10where controversial resolu-tions were adopted to replacethe religious chain of com-mand. The new Takhtjathedars appointed at theevent were also bookedalong with the key speakersunder charges of sedition,promoting enmity betweendifferent groups, and sendingoffensive messages throughcommunication services. Thetough police action could fuelfurther unrest in the state.

“A case has been regis-tered as various anti-nationaland anti-social speecheswere made during the func-tion,” a senior official told HT,confirming that an FIR wasregistered at the Chattiwindpolice station. Sikhhardliners SAD (Amritsar)chief Simranjit Singh Mannand United Akali Dal chiefMohkam Singh were the keyorganisers of the event whereGiani Dhiyan Singh Mand,Bhai Amrik Singh Ajnala andBhai Baljit Singh Daduwalwere announced as interimjathedars of the Akal Takht,Takht Kesgarh Sahib andTakht Damdama Sahib, re-spectively.

All of them, except Mann,are already behind bars asthey were picked up bypolice for preventive de-tent ion soon af ter theevent . Mann was alsotaken in to p reven t i vec u s t o d y b u t w a s r e -leased later. Police aregoing through the con-tents of the speechesmade at the event for fur-ther action, officials said.

Mumbai, Nov 13: After taking a day’sbreather in special trading session onWednesday, the benchmark BSE Sensexon Friday slipped by 256.42 points to a two-month low of 25,610.53 on bearish macro-economic data even as muted global cuescontinued to rile domestic investors. Thiswas the sixth fall in last seven sessions.There were fresh worries over global growthafter commodity prices tumbled to multi-yearlows, triggering heavy selling in Asian andEuropean markets.

The biggest spoiler for the domestic mar-ket, however, was macroeconomic data,which showed that Indian economy is stillnot out of the woods. Industrial productionslackened to a four-month low of 3.6 per centwhile retail inflation inched up to 5 per cent,government data showed on Thursday. Con-sequently, the BSE Sensex stayed in thenegative zone through out the day andtouched a low of 25,540.73 before windingup 256.42 points or 0.99 percent down at25,610.53, its weakest closing since Sep-tember 11.From the 30-share Sensex pack,

Sensex sinks to lowest level intwo months, plunges 256 points

22 ended lower. On Wednesday, the indexhad risen by 123.69 points in a brief specialMuhurat trading session on the opening dayof the Hindu year Samvat 2072. The 50-is-sue NSE Nifty cracked below the 7,800-markby plunging 62.75 points or 0.80 percent toclose at 7,762.25. Intra-day, it hovered be-tween 7,730.90 and 7,775.10. Stock ex-changes were closed on Thursday on ac-count of “Diwali Balipratipada”.

For the week, the Sensex lost 654.71points or 2.49 percent and the NSE Niftydropped 192.05 points or 2.41 percent —their third weekly fall in a row. In individualstocks, Vedanta suffered the most on Sensexby falling 4.23 per cent followed by Cipla at3.76 per cent. Other major losers includedHindalco, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, TCS, L&T,Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, ITC, BHEL, HeroMotoCorp, HUL, Lupin, SBI, M&M, Wiproand ICICI Bank.

On the other side of spectrum, shares ofCoal India emerged top gainers amongSensex constituents by climbing 2.60 per-cent, followed by Bharti Airtel 0.89 percent.

London, Nov 13: Indian ITbellwether Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS) will train atleast 1,000 British universitygraduates at its innovationlabs and software develop-ment centres across thecountry to bridge digitalskills gap. “In partnershipwith the British Council Gen-eration Britain-Indiaprogramme, we will createopportunities for British stu-dents through training andworking at our labs and cen-tres in the country,” the soft-ware major said in a state-ment here on Friday.

The company made theannouncement in Londonduring Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s three-dayofficial visit to Britain sinceThursday. With employmentopportunities in the British ITsector set to grow twice thecountry’s average job ratebetween 2015 and 2020, theSocial Market Foundationhas predicted that Britainwould face a shortfall ofabout 40,000 graduates inscience, technology, engi-neering and mathematics peryear.“The partnership aims toaddress the challenge byhelping the next generationof digital talent in Britain andprovide its employers withgraduates they will need tosucceed in the future,” TCSchief executive N.Chandrasekaran said. Notingthat the new partnershipmarked a new phase in therelations between the two

TCS to train 1,000 Britishgraduates in India

countries, British Councilchief executive CiaranDevane said the TCS initia-tive would benefit at least1,000 graduates and gainexperience working at its fa-cilities.

“India is emerging as aglobal superpower and initia-tives such as this will enablethe next generations in bothcountries to engage, learnand grow with each other,”Devane said on the occasion.As a partner to many largeBritish businesses, the IToutsourcing major wantsthem to tap new opportuni-ties in digital technologies.“As our customers are un-able to do this faster due tolack of training in new tech-nologies, the British talentpool needs knowledge andtraining in them. Our initia-tive will help address theskills shortage and give em-ployers access to expertiseto compete in the digitaleconomy,” Chandrasekharanasserted.The 1,000 intern-ships will take place from2016 and 2020 and will bejointly managed daily by TCSand British Council. Each intern-ship will give the graduates anopportunity to work in India andlearn skills for career in softwaredevelopment, global consulting,business process managementor human resources. As one ofthe biggest employers in Brit-ain with 11,000 British techiesin 30 locations across thecountry, TCS is a big digitalplayer.

U.S. retail sales barelyrise as auto purchases fall

Washington, Nov 13: U.S. retail sales rose less thanexpected in October amid a surprise decline in automobilepurchases, suggesting a slowdown in consumer spendingthat could temper expectations of a strong pickup in fourth-quarter economic growth.

The Commerce Department said on Friday retail salesedged up 0.1 percent last month after being unchanged inSeptember. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast re-tail sales increasing 0.3 percent in October after a previ-ously reported 0.1 percent increase in September. Sales atauto dealerships fell 0.5 percent last month after rising 1.4percent in September. The decline is surprising given thatmotor vehicle manufacturers reported strong sales for Octo-ber.

Retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, buildingmaterials and food services rose 0.2 percent after an up-wardly revised 0.1 percent gain in September. These so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with theconsumer spending component of gross domestic product.Core retail sales previously were reported to have dipped 0.1percent in September. Economists had forecast core retailsales rising 0.4 percent last month.

The lackluster report suggests that savings fromcheaper gasoline are being used to pay rents, whichhave increased substantially over the past year. Still,the weak spending tone is unlikely to significantly shiftexpectations that the Federal Reserve will raise inter-est rates next month in the wake of October's robustemployment report. The U.S. central bank has kept itsbenchmark overnight interest rate near zero since De-cember 2008.

Economic growth slowed to a 1.5 percent annualpace in the third quarter as businesses worked throughan inventory glut and energy companies continued tocut back spending in response to lower oil prices. Re-tail sales also were held back by a 0.9 percent drop inthe value of sales at service stations, which reflectedlower gasoline prices. Service station receipts fell 4.0percent in September. Clothing store sales were flatlast month. Receipts at building materials and garden equip-ment stores rose 0.9 percent, while sales at furniture storesincreased 0.4 percent.

Receipts at sporting goods and hobby stores gained 0.4percent and sales at restaurants and bars rose 0.5 percent.Sales at electronics and appliance stores fell 0.4 percent.Sales at online stores increased 1.4 percent.