of 24
7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013
1/24
Vol. 2 Issue 27 10.00 24 Pages
RNI Reg. No.: PUNMUL/2012/45041
Postal Reg. No. PB/JL-047/2013-15
www.facebook.com/uconnectt
Your World Connected
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
2/24
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 [email protected] ,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
3/24
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.
7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013
5/24
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
6/24
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
7/28/2019 Epaper 07 July 2013
7/24
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
8/24
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