CMYK

ND-ND

DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

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

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 3 No. 233 City Edition 30 Pages Rs. 8.00 www.thehindu.in

INSIDEDELHI

A fair dose of past affairsand mind games

2 CINEMAREVIEW

Gandhi caps, broomsticksall the way at AAP rally

3 CAMPAIGNTRAIL

SHORT TAKES

NEW DELHI: With the UnionHealth and Family WelfareMinistry notifying amend-ments to the Drugs and Cos-metics Act, 1940, antibiotics

and anti-tuberculosis drugswill not be sold over the coun-ter from March 1, 2014.

The governments move isexpected to check the indis-criminate use of antibiotics,anti-TB and some other drugs

in the country. The packagingof these drugs will have amandatory warning printedwith a red border on the label.

No prescription, no antibioticsAarti Dhar

ASHOK KHEMKA TO BE CHARGE-SHEETED

NATIONAL PAGE

Building collapse inMumbai kills 13

MUMBAI: Thirteen people,including three of a family,were killed and 29 injured aftera five-storey residentialbuilding in Mazgaon areacollapsed early Friday morning.Back page

PATNA: In a full-throated at-tack on Indias big businessesand the media, Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar hassaid that corporates, whichwere apolitical till now, haveentered the political discourse.There is a politicization ofcorporates. For its interests, itis speaking in favour of an indi-vidual. This, he argued, was aneffort to reverse the democrat-ic achievements of power reac-hing the poorest and weakestsections of societies, but itwould not succeed.

In an exclusive conversationwith The Hindu at his officialresidence, Mr Kumar also saidthat the effort to impose a

Presidential-style contest in aParliamentary set-up like In-dia would fail. He pointed outthat this may have worked in atwo-party system, but withmultiplicity of parties, it wasnot compatible. While theChief Minister did not nameany individual, his commentswere quite clearly directed atthe campaign of BJPs PrimeMinisterial-candidate, Naren-dra Modi. Mr Kumar said thatwhile religion and caste wouldcontinue to be factors, he hadsought to create a separateidentity of Bihari sub-na-tionalism to weaken othercategories.

Big biz influencingpolitics, says Nitish Prashant Jha

JPC blames Raja,clears PM on 2G

NEW DELHI: The draft report ofthe JPC on 2G spectrumallocation on Fridayexonerated Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and FinanceMinister P. Chidambaram ofany wrongdoing and blamedthen CommunicationsMinister A. Raja. Mr. Raja wasaccused of misleading thePrime Minister. The reportwas adopted by the 30-member committee.Page 15

NEW DELHI: With a view tobringing about purity in elec-tions, the Supreme Court onFriday held that a voter couldexercise the option of nega-tive voting and reject all can-didates as unworthy of beingelected. The voter could pressthe None of the Above (NO-TA) button in the electronicvoting machine.

The court directed theElection Commission to pro-vide the NOTA button in theEVM.

For democracy to survive,it is essential that the bestavailable men should be cho-sen for proper governanceof the country. This can bebest achieved through men ofhigh moral and ethical valueswho win the elections on apositive vote. Thus the NO-TA option would indeed com-pel political parties tonominate sound candidates,said a Bench of Chief JusticeP. Sathasivam and JusticesRanjana Desai and RanjanGogoi, while allowing a pet-ition filed by the PeoplesUnion for Civil Liberties.

Writing the judgment, theCJI said: Giving right to avoter not to vote for any can-didate while protecting hisright of secrecy is extremelyimportant in a democracy.Such an option gives the voterthe right to express his disap-proval of the kind of candi-dates being put up by theparties. Gradually, there willbe a systemic change and theparties will be forced to ac-cept the will of the people andfield candidates who areknown for their integrity.

The Bench said the NOTAoption will accelerate effec-tive political participation inthe present state of the demo-cratic system and the voterswill in fact be empowered.

The right to cast a negativevote, at a time when electio-neering is in full swing, willfoster the purity of the electo-ral process and also fulfil oneof its objectives, namely, wideparticipation of people.

Not allowing a person tocast a negative vote would de-feat the very freedom of ex-pression and the right toliberty, it said.

The Bench held that Elec-tion Conduct Rules 41(2) and(3) and 49-O of the Rules wereultra vires Section 128 of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct and Article 19(1)(a) of theConstitution to the extentthey violate secrecy of voting.

SC gives voters the right tonegative votingJ. Venkatesan

SRINIVASAN CAN'T TAKECHARGE EVEN IF HE WINS

NATIONAL PAGE

NOTA WILL CURBIMPERSONATION, SAYSCOURT; IT WILL MAKEPARTIES MORERESPONSIBLE, SAYSMODI: PAGE 15; EDITORIAL: YES TONO-VOTE OPTION

PAK. MAY INKFTA WITH INDIA NATIONAL PAGE

WASHINGTON: Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and U.S.President Barack Obama ap-peared to finally be convergingon their countries views onSyria and Iran when Dr. Singhsaid that he had compliment-ed Mr. Obama for giving di-plomacy a chance, especiallyconsidering that six millionIndians lived in West Asia.

Dr. Singh spoke softly dur-ing a joint press briefing fol-lowing delegation-level talksand along with the U.S. Presi-dent touched upon a range ofareas of cooperation includingdefence, clean energy, the ci-vilian nuclear agreement,counter-terrorism and the Af-

Pak region.While Dr. Singh said that he

looked forward to his meetingwith Pakistani Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif in New Yorkover the weekend on the side-lines of the United NationsGeneral Assembly, he cau-tioned that expectations haveto be toned down as long asterror stalked the subconti-nent and its epicentre re-mained focused in Pakistan.

Mr. Obama echoed Dr.Singhs sentiments on Pakis-tan, thanking him for Indiasconsistent interest in im-proving cooperation acrossthe border......

PM: Glad US tryingdiplomacy in SyriaNarayan Lakshman

DETAILS ON PAGE 9

NEW DELHI: Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhis in-temperate criticism of thegovernment on Friday effec-tively put the controversialordinance on convicted legis-lators on hold: Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh, awayin the United States on a bi-lateral visit, was forced to is-sue a statement fromWashington.

But with the clumsiness ofthe attack sending confusedsignals through the Congress

on the position of the PrimeMinister, party president So-nia Gandhi, governmentsources said, reassured thePrime Minister on the tele-phone, saying there was no in-tention to undermine hisposition.

Earlier in the day, the Con-gress and the UPA govern-ment were caught completelyoff-guard when Mr. Gandhidropped in at a Meet-the-Press programme addressedby party general secretaryAjay Maken, only to de-nounce the ordinance clearedby the Union cabinet on Tues-day and on which PresidentPranab Mukherjee hadsought a government briefingon Thursday evening.

With this outburst coming

in the wake of Mr. Mukherjeehaving made his discomfortwith the ordinance known toLaw Minister Kapil Sibal andHome Minister Sushil KumarShinde when they met himfor well over an hour at Rash-trapati Bhawan on Thursday Congress sources said thefate of the ordinance now ap-pears to be sealed.

For both the party and thegovernment, nothing couldhave been more embarrass-ing than the Congress vicepresidents bombshell min-utes after Mr. Maken had de-fended the ordinance. Worse,virtually at the same moment,at another venue, unaware ofthe drama unfolding at thePress Club of India (PCI),Minister of State for Informa-tion and Broadcasting Man-ish Tewari and Minister ofState in the Prime MinistersOffice V. Narayanswamy, too,were explaining the need forthe ordinance.

Earlier, minutes after Mr.Maken began to speak, he re-ceived a phone call from Mr.Gandhi, who asked whetherhe could join him at the PCI.

In the less than 10 minutesMr. Gandhi was there, he pro-ceeded to give what he repeat-

edly described as hispersonal opinion. The ordi-nance, he said, was completenonsense and it should betorn up and thrown away. Hesaid the arguments made inhis own party in favour of theordinance were that therewere political considera-tions, arguments that he saidwere being made in all otherparties. It is time to stop thisnonsense, political parties,

mine and all others, Mr.Gandhi said as he rolled up hissleeves, if we want to fightcorruption, we cant continuemaking these small compro-mises. Because if we makethese small compromises,then we compromiseeverywhere.

Rahul blitz makes party see new lightSonia tells PM his position is not being undermined but ordinance may be put on hold

Smita Gupta

CONGRESSFLIP-FLOP

WASHINGTON: With ill winds from Indias domesticpolitical drama threatening to overshadow his meetingwith U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh issued a statement from here onFriday morning seeking to play down the significance ofRahul Gandhis dramatic outburst against thecontroversial Ordinance granting a reprieve to convictedlawmakers.

The Ordinance cleared by the Cabinet pertaining tothe Representation of the People Act has been a matterof much public debate, the Prime Ministers statementsaid. The Congress Vice-President has also written tome on the issue and also made a statement. Thegovernment is seized of all these developments. Theissues raised will be considered on my return to Indiaafter due deliberations in the Cabinet.

The Ordinance had run into trouble on Thursday withPresident Pranab Mukherjee asking the governmentwhy the move was considered necessary.

It is not immediately known if the Prime Minister hadan inkling of what Mr. Gandhi was going to do; certainly,the initial reaction of his advisers was to duck thecontroversy by telling reporters off the record that Dr.Singh would not comment on domestic matters whileabroad. But in the face of the growing perception backhome that the Prime Minister had been left holding a canthat had become too politically hot for the Congressparty and its leadership to handle, his statement is anattempt to treat Mr. Gandhis remarks as just anotherinput to be considered in due course.

The reality is that those remarks are anything butthat. They have set a new line to which the PrimeMinister and his government will have to conform,regardless of the intellectual gymnastics that arerequired to accomplish a U-turn.

On his way back from the G-20 summit in Moscowearlier this month, Dr. Singh had said he would be happyto work for the Congress under the leadership of RahulGandhiji when the 2014 elections are over. Aftertodays developments, it is apparent the future is now.

The future is nowSiddharth Varadarajan

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14EDITORIAL: PICKINGUP AFTER RAHUL

METRO PLUS-8 pages

INTERVIEW ONOP-ED PAGE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

NEW DELHI: In a bid tominimise the damagecaused by his outburstagainst the UPAgovernment for itsdecision to clear anordinance on convicted

legislators, a contriteCongress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi sent aconciliatory e-mail toPrime Minister ManmohanSingh, who is in the UnitedStates on a bilateral visit.

Rahuls conciliatory e-mail Smita Gupta

DETAILS ON PAGE 14

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

CITY

2 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

WARNING

Agroup of friends go for areunion in Fiji. One of them is

in the yacht business and he takesthem out in the sea. After a bit ofcustomary bonding and bickering,with the camera unabashedlycaressing the female forms as theyget down to embrace the waves,they find there is no way they cango back to the yacht. The reason isanything but convincing, but eventhen we wait for some action tounfold. However, what we get is apostcard from Fiji in 3D.After putting his protagonists intothe Pacific Ocean, we find directorGurmmeet Singh all at sea as hischaracters come up with someabsurd ideas to salvage their lives.The most ludicrous is to make arope out of swimwear! WithManjari Phadnis and VarunSharma leading the pack of non-actors, the acting is reduced tomaking faces and faux posturing.Actually, it is not the fault of theactors for the writer has giventhem very few options to keep usinterested for two hours. Yes, thesame old story. One has tocontend with the fear of water; theother sees it as an opportunity todive into the past. OnlyMadhurima Tuli manages tomerge with the atmosphere withsome flair.After a point the screenplaycomes to a standstill. There is nourgency, little sense of purpose.

Even the shark seems to havebeen told to wait till the climax. Itis neither a compelling take on thedangers of nature nor does it bringout the emotional turmoil of thecharacters. If the idea was to bringout the deeper human secrets inan emergency, it remains floatingon the surface. Even thepredictable dose of past affairsfails to perk up the proceedingsand the plight of the lonely babyon board doesnt manage to stirup the melodrama. Hope this isenough to warn you against thismisadventure!

PRAGUE

It is one of those arty festivalfilms which hides more than it

reveals. Touted as a psychologicalthriller, here the mind games losetheir potency much before thedirector decides to take the lid offthe mind of his crazy protagonistChandan (played with panache byChandan Roy Sanyal).Chandan is an architect whosemental architecture is flawedwhen it comes to relationships.He says he comes across onlytroubled women but perhaps theproblem lies with him. He ditcheshis classmate Subhangi (SoniaBindra) because he believes thatshe is using him for his talent inacademics and is in fact infatuatedwith his rakish classmate Gulshan(Kumar Mayank). Gulshan is oneof the two alter egos that strugglesfor space in Chandansschizophrenic mind. The otherone is of a possessive, scepticalboyfriend represented by Arfi. Tomake the screenplay full of twistsand turns, director Ashish Shuklaand writer Sumeet Saxena have

created these charactersrepresenting Chandans ever-altering state of mind.In the beginning you dont knowwhich one of them is for real andwhich one is a creation of hismind but as the film progresses weget to know that Shukla is goingabstract because he doesnt havetoo much to say and wants to lendan art house feel to his work.When the scene shifts to Prague,we hope the city will add a newflavour to the screenplay but asthe bond between Chandan andthe gypsy girl Elena (Elena Kazan)evolves, a sense of sameness setsin. Like the joints his charactersroll, the quirky theme works inspurts but the hallucinationdoesnt last the distance. All thetalk of a memorial for the victimsof violence in World War II

sounds hollow as Prague fails tolend a distinct character to thestory. It could have been anyother city and we would not havecomplained. It is like that paintingwhich demands interpretation butwhen you find one it begins tolook shallow.

MAAZII

In a week of small films with bigdesigns, debutant Gaurav

Chopras Maazii surprises with itsintent and craft. Set in WesternUttar Pradesh, it is our ownWestern and impresses with itshonest approach and powerfulperformances. Unlike manypolished versions fromBollywood, backed by stars, thereis no fakery in accent and thesense of pride that the cowboys ofthe region hold dearer than their

lives permeates through thecelluloid seamlessly. To top it thelayered screenplay keeps youriveted. It is the story of a youngman called Tarun Singh (SumeetNijhavan), who is trying to buryhis violent past (Maazii meanspast) but it keeps lurking aroundhis peaceful life with his wife(Mona Vasu) and daughter in thehills of Mussoorie. A flower seller,Tarun doesnt know that a bed ofthorns is awaiting him when hesaves a female customer from theattack of notorious criminalsRathi and Bhati. The act ofheroism takes the lid off hisconcealed identity and the trail ofmuck takes us to the hotbed ofcrime in Meerut.The violence is nothing new but itis rare to find a mainstream Hindifilm where every bullet isaccounted for and when theaction looks more persuasive thanstylish. And the way it is written,you cant guess what lies in storefor Tarun. Making good use oflimited budget, Chopra doesnt tryto show every act of violence.Instead he uses razor sharpdialogues dipped in acerbic wit,which is true to the region, todrive home the point. It becomes

a docile art curator, who works fora bullying media tycoon LionelShabandar (Alan Rickman).Seeking revenge for years ofexploitation, Deane and his friendThe Major (Tom Courtenay) joinhands and rope in Texan rodeoqueen PJ Puznowski (CameronDiaz is off-key) to mount anelaborate fraud againstShabandar. They convince her topose as the owner of a rare canvasby the Impressionist masterClaude Monet. If the con works,Shabandar will lose millions andDeane will get richer both interms of money and self-esteem.It starts with how Deane expectsthe con to unfold. It is aninteresting episode that ticklesyou in the right places but soonthe reality dawns on both Deaneand us as in the real worldShabandar is not as stupid asDeane thinks him to be. Hedoubts everything until the charmof Puznowski makes him blind.After a crackling start, Coenbrothers lose direction and we areleft with Firth without pants inSavoy hotel. The episode goes onand on. Firth wants to make itrealistic while the writing wantshim to loosen up. It is where thenarrative starts bursting at theseams and we can see through thecharade. Riddled with clichs, thebrothers use age-old tricks likemaking fun of Japanesecharacters to bring smile. Thebrothers seem to be desperate tobring the pants down and onlyRickman seems to know how to doit without making a fool ofhimself. At the end of the day it isPuznowskis initials that definethis con job!

all the more compelling becausethe narrative is inhabited by sometremendous actors. PankajTripathi as Rathi has masteredthe diction as the remorselesskiller. So has Manav Kaushik ashis accomplice Bhati. Their blood-soaked revelry in the openingsequence is a hoot. SimilarlyManish Chaudhari has come upwith stellar performance as thepoliceman, we usually find at thechowkis in the cow belt. Heindulges in corruption but all thetime he will make you believe thathe has your interest in his heart.Then Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub givesvendetta a fresh meaning in asmall but impactful role. Sumeetas the central force comes acrossas a limited actor but has just theright kind of wooden face tojustify Taruns artificial calm.Of course, there are signs ofrawness at the edges and there aresome trademark Bollywoodishexaggerations while dealing withTaruns past but overall it is a filmthat wont disappoint you if youkeep your expectations in check.

GAMBIT

When the ploy is to blendmasters of broad humour

with champions of subtlety, it isbound to misfire. This is the storyof Gambit, a remake of 1960s hitof the same name. Here Coen(Ethan and Joel) brothers bring intheir trademark low brow humourand broad characterisations in afilm helmed by Michael Hoffmanand led by Colin Firth. Both areknown for their ability tounderplay but here they arecaught justifying forced humourand gags. Firth plays Harry Deane,

Afair dose of past affairs and mind games this week

Anuj Kumar

A scene from Maazii (above) and Prague.

CINEMA

NOTICE TO KANDA ON

BAIL CANCELLATION PLEA

PAGE 4

SINGLA GETS BAIL IN

RAILWAY BRIBERY CASE

PAGE 4

SIDHU TO FAST FOR

AMRITSAR PROJECTS

PAGE 7

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

CITYTHE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 3

Published by S. Padmanabhan at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Limited, B-2, Sector 63, Noida, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P., on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Siddharth Varadarajan (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Woman killed in

accident

NEW DELHI: A 60-year-old womanwas killed while her brother wasseriously injured when theirscooter was hit by a truck nearAkshardham Temple in East Delhi.Shakuntala Devi, a resident ofGautam Buddh Nagar, was goingto his brother Mahendras (50)home in Sarai Kale Khan with himon a scooter on Thursday night,the police said. When the duoreached near AkshardhamTemple their two-wheeler was hitby a truck from behind. Theinjured were rushed to LalBahadur Shastri Hospital wherethe woman was declared broughtdead. The truck driver fled thespot, said a police officer.PTI

SHORT TAKES

NEW DELHI: On the face of itparts of Bijwasan village re-semble the numerous pov-erty-stricken, beset withflies, dusty villages of thecountry. But on Friday af-ternoon, one part of it camealive to the sound of musicand political speeches at anAam Aadmi Party meeting.As around 500 men andwomen, squeezed into atent, listened intently to thesound blaring out of loudspeakers bent on convinc-ing them of the evil timesthey lived in and how theycould only be savedthrough our vote, therewere some in the gatheringwho were busy looking atthe response.

Look at the crowd, somany people and the bestpart is they have come vol-untarily, we did not paythem and neither did we ar-range transport for them tocome here, said GajendraSharma, a Human Resourceofficer in an MNC on week-days and AAP volunteerwhenever duty calls.

I work for the ideology,the vision of Bhagat Singhand I do whatever I have todo to help us change the

country; sweep the floors ifnecessary, he said, per-forming his latest duty ofhelping an old woman wearher Aam Aadmi PartysGandhi cap. The otherwomen cloistered togetheron one side of the tent, allwearing their caps, on top oftheir already covered heads.

Gandhi caps and broom-sticks were aplenty in therally which even had a dona-tion stand. We run ourelections out of the moneyyou donate, the 10 rupees,the 20 rupees or the 500 ru-pees. We dont take moneyfrom any Tata or Birla like

the Congress and the BJP,came the announcement af-ter the song and dance per-formance. To catch theattention of the electorateand media alike, the partyhad organised a show of thevanishing folk songs of ru-ral Delhi.

Then it was the turn ofAAPs Bijwasan candidateColonel Devender Sehrawatto tell the audience when hewould speak. I will bespeaking soon, we are wait-ing for Arvind Kejriwal, hepromised. As party candi-date, it was his chance towin over the people. Please

meet Commando Surinder;he was one of those bravemen who saved peopleslives when terrorists landedin Mumbai, he began.

As he spoke, Geeta, whohad managed a front seatand who along with her fam-ily makes it a point to visitevery political rally thatcomes to town, said: I lis-ten to the speech properly, Inote down what they say, Idont come here just to beentertained.

We listen to all theirspeeches but I like what theAAP is doing, she added,pointing to the entrance of

the tent. A big crowd of flag-waving men then gave wayto a waving Arvind Kejriwal,who arrived, albeit half anhour late but was greetedenthusiastically with shoutsof Bharat mata ki jai.

He held a broom and obe-diently posed for photo-graphs before taking to thestage. Repeat after me,Bharat mata ki jai, inquilabzindabad, vande mataram,he screamed into the mike,before some old men of thevillage came onto the stageand tied a turban on himand the colonel. In this vil-lage, tying the pagdi is a wayof honouring a person, ac-cepting him. This means,they all want to vote for us,added Gajendra. There aremany local leaders and sup-porters who have to get aword in before Mr. Kejriwalis finally allowed to speakabout the corruption inParliament and what thecountry needs at the mo-ment. On the way out, onecannot help but notice thesprawling farmhouses thatrun alongside the commonhut. But did the AAP seetheir support base swellingand were there any newsupporters. I cannot say ifany of them came today, wedont treat anyone likeVIPs, people have to sitwherever they find place, sothere is no way of knowing,said a Gandhi-capped vol-unteer.

Gandhi caps, broomsticks all the way at Bijwasan AAP rally So many people have come voluntarily, we did not pay them, neither did we arrange transport

Vijetha S.N.

A huge turnout at an AAP rally at Bijwasan in Delhi on Friday on the eve of ShaheedBhagat Singhs birth anniversary celebrations. - PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

BROOM BOOM

NEW DELHI: As an industryBollywood resists movieswhich will break stereo-types of Muslims as terror-ists, argued filmmakerSubhas Kapoor while speak-ing at a function organisedto mark 25 years of the Saf-dar Hashmi MemorialTrust.

While talking about theTrajectory of the Secular/Communal Impulse in Indi-an Cinema, the Jolly LLBdirector pointed out therewere very few films whichgo against the establishedMuslim stereotypes.

Who is a Muslim charac-ter in Bollywood today? Heis a terrorist and if the film-maker is progressive thenthe terrorist is shown dyingwhile trying to save theflag, the filmmaker said.

While mentioning casesof innocent Muslim youthsbeing framed in terror casesin which later they get ac-quitted, Mr. Kapoor sharedhis future plans to makemovies which challenge theperception of Muslims asterrorists.

He talked about his desireto make Pandit Saleem Mo-hammad Chaturvedi, a mo-vie where a Brahman youthgets killed in a fake encoun-ter.

There is a lot of resist-ance if one wanted tochange that perception.When I discussed my plan

for the movie, senior pro-ducers frankly told me thatit was not possible to makesuch a movie and it may leadto communal riots, he said.

But at the same time, thefilmmaker said, Bollywoodremains one of the mostsecular spaces to work with-out any strong biases. Andthere is competition be-tween Kapoors and Khansto get the Eid slot for therelease of their films.

Posing a rhetorical ques-tion as to when will the sit-uation change, thefilmmaker said the answerlies in the society, the do-main outside the film indus-try.

While adding to the film-makers argument, one ofthe trustees of SAHMAT So-hail Hashmi said the Mus-lim character in Hindicinema has to pay for notgoing to Pakistan.

Muslim characters aredrunks, poets or terrorists.Where do we have a herowho is Muslim? Normally aMuslim character has to diesaving a Hindu hero. Theopposite is quite rare, hesaid.

While talking about howreality was distorted to suitstereotyping of Muslims,Mr. Hashmi mentioned Sar-farosh, a movie which talksabout Pakistan-sponsoredterrorism. The origins of themovie lies in the attack byShiv Sena on a ghazal con-cert of Ghulam Ali.

Very few films goagainst MuslimstereotypesMohammad Ali

NEW DELHI: A man from SouthAfrica who quit his job; anoth-er from Madhya Pradesh whoquit his business; an auto-rick-shaw driver of Delhi and sev-eral housewives. They mayhave very little in common butthe Aam Aadmi Party hasbrought them together as vol-unteers. And on Friday all ofthem were present at an AAPmeeting in Bijwasan, settingthe stage for party leader Ar-vind Kejriwal to speak.

A party leader said thesevolunteers are the strength ofAAP. Some of them just helpwith the organisation workwhile others engage in door-

to-door campaigning. Theywere all hooked on to socialreformer Anna Hazare whenhe came to the Capital almostthree years ago.

I can get a job and makemoney anytime, but the onething I dont want to regretwhen I am old with no energyleft is the fact that I had theopportunity to serve the coun-try and I didnt take it, saidSubash Tawar, who resignedas CEO in a South Africancompany back in April.

I really do not care aboutmy business right now, Isomehow could not leave andpretend nothing ever hap-pened after Anna Hazaresmovement in which I took

part, said R.P. Mishra, whohasnt visited his home Statefor awhile.

I drive autos and I haveenough money to manage mylife enough to volunteer here,said Raju Barod.

For Anu Mishra too therehas been no turning back afterAnna. I have been campaign-ing door-to-door for quitesome time now, the home-maker said, adding that therehas to be at least two womenaccompanying one man whilethey do their rounds. Other-wise, the women, especiallywhen they are without theirmen in the afternoons refuseto even open their doors, shesaid, pointing to the insecurity

among the population ingeneral.

Parveen Devi and PushpaDevi have had some nasty en-counters, from householdsstrongly supporting some oth-er political parties. We havenever lost our temper: if we areshouted at, we speak calmly.We know the situation willwork in our favour, said aconfident looking Pushpa.

Parveen added that theyhave also become wiser by theday. Sometimes, people fromother parties want to wasteour time so they call us in andkeep chatting, so that we losecampaigning time. We aremuch better in avoiding thisnow.

Volunteers are strength of the partyVijetha S.N.

NEW DELHI: A 23-year-oldman who was allegedlykidnapped by unidenti-fied persons from JamiaNagar on September 23returned home on Fri-day but the mystery sur-rounding the entireepisode is yet to be un-ravelled, sources in thepolice said.

In the three days dur-ing which the drama un-folded, the victimsfamily received calls de-manding an initial ran-som of Rs.1 crore, anamount which was ne-

gotiated and broughtdown to Rs.35 lakh. Thepolice, however, havenot confirmed whetherany amount was actuallypaid to secure the re-lease of the victim.

On Monday, while onhis way to an institute inhis car, the man was kid-napped following whichhis family members re-ceived ransom calls andreported the matter tothe police who formedseveral teams to rescuehim. The car was foundabandoned at AshramChowk the followingday. The victim is learnt

to have told the policethat his limbs were tiedwith a rope and he wasblindfolded by the kid-nappers. He also pur-portedly told them thathe was drugged and thatthe kidnappers dumpedhim at ISBT Sarai KaleKhan from where hehired an auto-rickshawand returned home.

This leaves otherquestions such as whokidnapped him, wherewas he taken to and un-der what circumstanceshe was let off andwhether he was kid-napped at all.

Mystery shrouds returnof kidnapped Jamia man Staff Reporter

Ex-Serviceman

arrested

NEW DELHI: A 49-year-old ex-Serviceman allegedly attemptedto murder his nephew by shootinghim over a property dispute inRanhola two days ago. Accordingto the police, Bhagte, the father ofvictim Pawan Kumar (24), hadmade a call to the Police ControlRoom on Wednesday stating thatPawan had been shot in Baprolavillage.Pawan himself was hospitalisedand hence was unfit for statement.Bhagte told us that he along withPawan had gone to his cousinChanders house in Baprola villageto sort out a property dispute. Asthey reached the house, Chanderand other family member tookthem to the roof. It is alleged thatBhagat and Pawan were abusedand then Chander fired at Pawan,said an officer. Based on Bhagtes statement, acase of attempt to murder underIndian Penal Code and Arms Actwas filed with Ranhola policestation and Chander was arrestedthe following day. A 12 bore gunalong with eight cartridges wasalso recovered at his instance.Chander, a former Indian Armyman, is presently engaged inagricultural work.

DELHI TODAYSep RISE 06 13 Sep RISE 06 13 Sep RISE 06 14

28SET 18 11

29SET 18 10

30SET 18 09

RISE 00 02 RISE 00 53 RISE 01 46SAT SET 13 47 SUN SET 14 27 MON SET 15 06

NEW DELHI: A text message claiming thatcrowded places in the Capital would soonbe targeted by terrorists was sent to themobile phone of District Magistrate(North) Ashish More this past Sunday,prompting the police to launch investiga-tions to establish the identity of the anon-ymous sender.

In a complaint addressed to the DeputyCommissioner of Police (North Delhi),Mr. More said he received the messagearound 2-15 p.m. on September 22 stat-ing: Delhi kay three crowd palace mainaatankwadi hamla hone wala hai (Therewould be terror strikes at three crowdedplaces in Delhi).

Case registration

Soon after Mr. More received the mess-age, he contacted the DCP. Taking up thematter seriously, the police officer or-dered registration of a case at the CivilLines police station .

It is learnt that the police have zeroedin on a person suspecting his involvementand are conducting furtherinvestigations.

Senior official getsterror messageson mobile phone Staff Reporter

SAHMAT: Seminar on Secularism andthe Arts, Sahitya Akademi conference hall,Rabindra Bhavan, 35 Ferozeshah Road, 10a.m. to 6 p.m.

National Gallery of Modern Art:Exhibition by Ketaki Sheth titled A CertainGrace The Sidi: Indians of African Descent,10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Exhibition titled Througha Lens, by a Mirror, The Parsis (1977-2013) by Sooni Taraporevala, JaipurHouse, India Gate, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photoink : Exhibition on, Raghu RaiTrees, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m; MGF Hyundai Build-ing, Ground Floor, 1 Jhandewalan, FaizRoad.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Meeting:Aakarshan Group:Paschim Vihar, DelhiGovernment dispensary,G A2, Block, oppo-site Radha Krishna Temple; Primary Pur-pose Group: Church of the Resurrection,near Mother Dairy Booth, DDA Market, Ro-hini; Jeevandhara Group: Khyber Pass, CivilLines St. Thomas Baptist Church; Pro-gramme of Recovery Group: DwarkaHealth Centre, Sector-12; Prashanti Group:Lord Mahavir School Sector-29, adjacentto Bhramaputra Shopping Complex; Chet-na Group: Delhi Govt. dispensary,B-1 Block,Yamuna Vihar, near Mother Dairy; A.A. Uja-la Group: Masihgarh Church, Sukhdev Vi-har, near Escorts Heart Institute; Group: StColumbas School, Bhai Vir Singh, near GoleDak Khana; and Morning Attitude Mod-ification Group: Basti Vikas Kendra, Jawa-har Camp, Kirti Nagar, Sector-6, 7 p.m.

NEW DELHI: Hardship faced byKashmiri Pandits after their ex-odus from the Valley was dis-cussed at a panel discussion onthe first day of the KashmirBefore Our Eyes -- A festival offilms, discussions, photographsand readings at JawaharlalNehru University here on Fri-day.

The three-day festival was in-augurated by JNU Rector Sudha

Pai and the opening film Be-fore My Eyes of late Kashmirifilmmaker Mani Kaul wasscreened.

On the first day, there was apanel discussion on Exile andDisplacement which saw heat-ed exchange between the panel-lists and those in the audience.

Speakers including authorSiddhartha Gigoo, Rahul Pandi-ta and Chandrakanta, who allgrew up in the Valley, took theaudience to the environment of

fear prevailing in the Valleywhich forced the exodus of Pan-dits.After being dislocatedfrom their land of birth, Panditshad to undergo a lot of hardshipand suffering. People who havebeen an integral part of theState for the past 5,000 yearswere forced to abandon theirancestral homes and live in pa-

thetic conditions. Pandits werekidnapped and killed. But todaythey are a forgotten chapter inKashmir, said Mr. Gigoo,whose film The Lost Day wasscreened.

Two other films, Aatish-e-Chinar and Dairy of an Ag-gression, were screened on thefirst day.

Focus on hardship faced by Kashmiri Pandits Staff Reporter

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

CITY4 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

SHORT TAKES

Spread awarenessabout diabetes: Sheila

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister SheilaDikshit on Friday underlined theneed for disseminating publicawareness about diabetes and itscomplication, terming it a silentkiller. Inaugurating the Centre forDiabetes Endocrinology andMetabolism and an Advanced CTScan and Radiology Unit at GuruTegh Bahadur Hospital, she saidthe government was committed todeveloping the GTB Complex as aholistic centre of health care.Health Minister A.K. Walia saidDelhi has witnessed anunprecedented expansion in thehealth sector in the past fewyears. The number of hospitals hasgone up from 18 to 38. PTI

Japanese honour for JNU professor

NEW DELHI: Lalima Verma,professor of Japanese Studies atJawharlal Nehru University, will beawarded the Japan ForeignMinisters Commendation forpromoting mutual understandingbetween Japan and India.Japan Foreign Affairs MinisterFumio Kishida will felicitate Prof.Verma at a function at theJapanese Embassy here onOctober 31, a statement from theEmbassy said. Prof. Verma hasstudied and researched India-Japan relations, Japanesediplomacy and history for the past30 years, it said. The ForeignMinisters Commendations areawarded to individuals and groupsto acknowledge their contributionto the promotion of friendshipbetween Japan and othercountries. PTI

NEW DELHI: With the Bharati-ya Janata Party prime minis-terial candidate NarendraModi due to address a rally atRohini here on Sunday, manyparty leaders and workers areeagerly waiting to hear if hewould drop a hint on whowould be the partys chiefministerial candidate forDelhi.

While Delhi Assemblyelection in-charge Nitin Gad-kari had earlier made it clearthat the party would prefergoing into the elections with-out announcing any candi-date, many in the partybelieve this is proving to becounter productive. Themain plank of the ruling Con-gress now is that it has thebest face in Sheila Dikshitand the Aam Aadmi Party hasbeen claiming that it has themost honest face in ArvindKejriwal, while the BJP doesnot have a face to go into thepolls with.

In fact, both the main war-ring factions in the BJP areopposed to the idea of notannouncing a name for thepost of chief minister. It is afact that in 1998, when theCongress came to power, ithad not projected a chiefministerial candidate and

Sheila Dikshit had emergedon the scene later on. Butsince then, both the partieshave been clear on who theirchief ministerial candidateswould be and so why notnow? asked a party leader.

Another leader, who waspreviously associated withthe residents welfare associ-ation movement, said by notnaming Delhi BJP presidentVijay Goel as the chief minis-terial candidate, the partywas actually sending out amessage that Mr. Goel wouldbe the first choice for the postof Chief Minister should theparty gain a majority. Sever-al senior leaders in the party,including V.K. Malhotra, Arti

Mehra, Jagdish Mukhi andHarsh Vardhan, have beenopposing Mr. Goels candida-ture from the beginning. Butinstead of announcing a newname, the party decided tocontinue with the presentdispensation and even madehim in-charge of the CoreGroup and the Election Com-mittee. So what is the mess-age that is going out?

The name of former DelhiBJP president Harsh Vard-han was suggested by somefor the post. But as a partyleader said: The situation issuch that the moment youannounce a name, otherswould start pulling him orher down. The semblance ofunity among all those op-posed to Mr. Goel would frit-ter away.

It is precisely for this rea-son that the party is doingwell by not getting into thechief ministerial candidateissue as of now. In the pastcouple of months, our cam-paigning has picked up andwe have been doing well,said another former DelhiBJP president adding that itwas in the partys best inter-est to postpone the decisionfor now. As such, the partyleaders insist they would bewatching the body languageof Mr. Modi very closely tosee who he would be warmingup to the most. After all, heis the prime ministerial can-didate now and his choice ofthe chief ministerial wouldcarry a lot of weight.

Will Modi hint at CM candidate at rally? Party leaders say the prime ministerial candidates choice would carry a lot of weight

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Hoardings being transported for the upcoming Modi rally at the Japanese Park in Rohini onSunday. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

TIME RIPE

NEW DELHI: Making a last ditcheffort to secure Muslim pres-ence at Sundays historicrally that will be addressedby prime ministerial candi-date Narendra Modi, the Del-hi BJP on Friday distributedleaflets outside 100 mosquesin the Capital urging thecommunity to join the rally.Meanwhile, convenor of therally committee and formerDelhi BJP chief VijenderGupta said he was going topersonally invite the ShahiImam of the Fatehpuri Mas-jid to the rally that will beheld at the Japanese Park inRohini.

The Delhi BJP tweetedthat pamphlets are beingdistributed outside 100mosques in Delhi for theSept. 29 Modijis rally. AtifRasheed, president of DelhiBJPs minority cell, said: Wedistributed over 1,000 leaf-lets outside 100 mosques inthe city including Mustafa-bad, Nangloi, Basai Darapurand Fatehpuri Masjid.

Mr. Rasheed said at theback of each leaflet was a listof all the communal riotsthat have taken place be-tween 1947 and 2013 thatshowed that the BJP was notto blame. The messageurged Muslims to take theriots as a benchmark to rejectthe Congress, he said. Themessage further asked the

Muslim community to makethe decision between devel-opment and betrayal.

The BJP is expecting near-ly 25,000 Muslims to turn upat the rally. Mr. Rasheed saidthe party was not insistingthat Muslims wear skull capson the day of the rally. Whilewe got a good response fromthe Muslim community, weare not forcing anyone towear skull caps when they at-tend Sundays rally, he said.

Reacting to the distribu-tion of pamphlets outsidemosques, Parliamentary Sec-retary to Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit and CongressLegislative Party spokesper-son Mukesh Sharma saidThe BJP is not a secular par-ty but a communal one andthe party has never doneany work for minorities. Hesaid: This is but a gimmickby the party in Delhi and thepeople will not be impressedby this.

Meanwhile, a statementissued by the Delhi BJP saidthat an exclusive meetingwas held with Muslim clericsin which participants ex-pressed their full supportand took an oath to educateall about misusing of minor-ities by the Congress.

BJP distributes leafletsoutside mosques, urgesMuslims to join rallySowmiya Ashok BJP expecting nearly

25,000 Muslims toturn up at the rally

NEW DELHI: The United States Embassy is among themany foreign missions in Delhi that have been extendedinvitations by the Delhi BJP to attend Narendra Modirally this Sunday. This is despite the U.S. havingpreviously denied a visa to Mr. Modi.

Convenor of the rally committee and former Delhi BJPchief Vijender Gupta said formal invitations have beenextended to almost 100 embassies of which 30embassies have confirmed their participation. We willissue a list of embassies that have confirmed to attendthe rally on Saturday. Meanwhile, invitations have alsobeen extended to sportspersons, corporate houses,media houses, cultural and theatre personalities andreligious heads, said Mr. Gupta.

Invitation to US Embassy Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt on Friday granted bailto former Minister for Rail-ways Pawan Kumar Bansalsnephew Vijay Singla in thecash-for-post case. Singla ischarged with demanding abribe of Rs. 10 crore from thethen member (staff) in theRailway Board Mahesh Ku-mar for getting him shifted tothe post of member (electri-cal) there.

The three other accusedwho were granted bail alongwith Singla are Mahesh Ku-mar; his associate and manag-ing director ofBangalore-based G.G. TronicsIndia Private Limited Na-rayan Rao Manjunath; and al-leged middleman SandeepGoyal. While granting bail tothem, Justice Hima Kohli also

allowed their plea to furnishtheir personal bail bonds ofRs. 5 lakh each with one suretyof a like amount, as directedby the Court, before the Dis-trict Judge or the concernedAdditional Sessions Judge.

The investigating agencyhad charge-sheeted them inJuly alleging, among otherthings, that Singla had de-manded Rs.10 crore from Ku-mar for getting him shifted tothe post of member (electri-cal) laterally from the post ofmember (staff). The moneywas to be delivered to Singla ininstalments; Rs. 2 crore was tobe paid immediately as thefirst instalment, Rs. 3 crore af-ter the appointment and Rs. 5crore after five or six months.

The four accused hadmoved the High Court afterthe trial court on July 12 re-jected their bail applications.

Singla, others get bail inRailway bribery caseStaff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt on Friday issued no-tices to former Haryana Min-ister Gopal Goyal Kanda andhis former employee ArunaChadha on a petition seekingcancellation of their interimbail granted by the trial courtin the airhostess suicide caseof 2012.

Issuing the notices, Jus-tice J.R. Midha asked the ac-cused to file their replies byOctober 1, the next date ofhearing.

The trial court had on Sep-tember 5, granted interimbail to Kanda till October 4 to

attend the Haryana Assemb-ly session. While grantingthe relief, the court hadasked him to produce his at-tendance in the House.

Additional Sessions JudgeM.C. Gupta had granted re-lief to Kanda consideringspecial circumstances thathe had to attend the Assemb-ly session and look after thedevelopment of his Sirsa As-sembly constituency. He isan MLA from thatconstituency.

Kandas co-accused in thecase Aruna Chadha is also oninterim bail till October 15 toattend religious and familyfunctions.

Notice to Kanda on pleaseeking bail cancellation Staff Reporter

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan at the World Tourism Daycelebrations at Dilli Haat in New Delhi on Friday. PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

A HELPING HAND

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 5

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

6 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

NATIONALTHE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 7

SHIMLA: Twenty passengers 17 men and three women were killed when a pri-vate bus veered off the roadand went down a 500-foot-deep gorge in the remoteSangrah area of HimachalPradeshs Sirmaur districtin the early hours of Friday.A 12-year-old boy is the on-ly survivor but his condi-tion is said to be serious.The victims, from nearbyHaripurdhar and UnchaTikker villages, were goingfrom Uncha Tikker to Re-nukaji, the police said. Staff Reporter

Despite various govern-ment claims of improve-ment, road accidents haveincreased manifold in thepast few years in the State.

20 die in Himachal mishap Staff Reporter

People gather near the accident site after a bus went downa gorge in Sirmaur district on Friday. PHOTO: PTI

ALLAHABAD: A woman con-stable in Lucknow has al-leged that she was sexuallyharassed by a senior inspec-tor while she held the posi-tion of a clerk under him atthe Reserve Police Line inthe city. Even after a week ofher complaint, no FIR hasbeen registered.

A resident of Rampur, the1997 batch constable, whowas recently transferred to amahila thana, told The Hin-du that Lucknow Police Re-

serve Lines RI KulbushanOjha harassed her sexuallyand molested her. When sheobjected he slapped her.

Even after this incident,Mr. Ojha continued to harassand threaten her. She wasdenied medical leave andtransferred last week, shesaid. On September 20, Mr.Ojha again made sexual ad-vances, the woman alleged.

The following day, theconstable submitted a com-plaint to the Lucknow SSP,who asked a Circle Officer toinvestigate. The constable

then sent a complaint to theLucknow DIG. However, noaction has been taken yet.She was made to sit in theMahanagar police station forup to four hours on Thurs-day, yet police did not lodgean FIR. The constable al-leged that the inspector hada reputation of harassmentand several other femaleconstables had been victi-mised.

Mr. Ojha has dismissedthe allegations and ques-tioned the timing of thecomplaint.

Cop alleges sexual harassment Omar Rashid

Navjot Singh Sidhu.

CHANDIGARH: Cricketer-turned-politician and television per-sonality Navjot Singh Sidhu onFriday said he will go on a fastunto death in protest againstthe Punjab Government hold-ing up projects for his constitu-ency.

Mr. Sidhu, the Bharatiya Ja-nata Party MP from Amritsar,will start his fast on Saturday.An unsigned statement from hisstaff said that Mr. Sidhu had de-cided to keep quiet and that hisprotest was borne out of his loy-alty and accountability towardshis people. Mr. Sidhu, however,did not make any commentssince returning to the city earli-er in the day.

He has alleged that on direc-tions from Chandigarh, a part ofthe Rs.160 crore with the Am-ritsar Improvement Trust wasdiverted to other cities. He al-leged that this was done to en-sure that the projects he hadbrought to the city were not im-plemented.

Sidhu to fast forprojects in Amritsar Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD: Uneasy calmprevails in the higher eche-lons of the Gujarat govern-ment with the CentralBureau of Investigationquestioning two Ministersand a former minister, be-sides two officials in theChief Ministers Office, inthe case of alleged fake en-counter killing of IshratJahan.

During the last 48 hours,even as the States attentionwas drawn to flood fury in allmajor cities and regions, theCBI grilled for hours Educa-tion Minister Bhupendra-sinh Chudasama, Ministerof State for Law PradeepsinhJadeja and former Ministerof State for Home Praful Pa-tel in Gandhinagar.

This amid the buzz in theCBI about possible ques-tioning in the near future ofthe former Minister of Statefor Home Amit Shah, nowthe BJP national generalsecretary in charge of Uttar

Pradesh and close aide ofChief Minister NarendraModi. He is an accused in theSohrabuddin Sheikh fakeencounter case, along withseveral police officials, and isout on bail.

The agency also interro-gated Principal Secretary inthe CMO G.C. Murmu andAdditional Principal Secre-tary A.K. Sharma.

The interrogation followsthe recording of a November2011 meeting, held in the an-techamber of Advocate-General Kamal Trivedis of-fice, allegedly to discuss howto derail investigations inthe Ishrat case.

The proceedings weretaped by the former IPS offi-cer G.L. Singhal, who too hadparticipated in the meetingand is an accused among sev-en officials in this case. Hewas arrested in Februarythis year but he obtained bailas the CBI failed to file acharge sheet against himwithin the stipulated 90-day

period.It was after this that Mr.

Singhal handed over to theCBI the taped 10-page con-versation, in two pen-drives,which is now part of thecharge sheet.

It is speculated that Mr.Singhals alleged disclosureis an indication that he likeseveral police officials, whoare languishing in jail in dif-ferent fake encounter cases,is restless about his contin-ued suffering while the po-litical masters are out.Therecent resignation by the po-litical establishments mosttrusted lieutenant, suspend-ed Deputy Inspector Gener-al D.G. Vanzara, who blamedMr. Amit Shah for theplight of police officials injails, is a case in point.

Meanwhile, the CBI alsoquestioned Mr. Vanzara inSabarmati Jail in Ahmeda-bad last week. Sourcesclaimed he was asked to de-pose before a magistrate buthe refused to do so.

Darshan Desai

Buzz in agency is Amit Shah may be questioned soon

Unease in Gujaratover CBI grilling

ISHRATJAHAN CASE

Interrogation follows recording of a meetingthat allegedly discussed how to derail probe

Police officers languishing in jail are restless

SHORT TAKES

Asaram ashram sealed

SHIMLA: The Himachal PradeshGovernment on Friday sealed thePonta Sahib ashram of AsaramBapu in Sirmaur district. It wasdone on the State Governmentdirections for dealing strictly withthe encroachments even byreligious and spiritualorganisations. The ashram hadbeen functioning from quite sometime and constructed on about 15bighas of land. The incumbent Government herehad already cancelled the lease ofYoga guru Ramdevs ashram inSolan that was allotted by theprevious government.

Durga Nagpal shifted

LUCKNOW: Less than a week afterrevocation of her suspension,Uttar Pradesh IAS officer DurgaShakti Nagpal, who had taken onsand mining mafia in Gautam BudhNagar district, was on Friday nightposted as Joint Magistrate ofKanpur (Rural). PTI

Missing MLA

KOTDWAR (UTTARAKHAND):

People in Pauri have put upposters in the town looking fortheir missing MLA. in protestof his prolonged absence fromthe area. The posters say that Pauri MLASundarlal Mandarawal hasbeen missing from hisconstituency for the past sixmonths and offer a Rs.5,000reward for any clue of hiswhereabouts. PTI

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

8 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

NATIONALTHE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 9

Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify &make appropriate enquiries to satisfythemselves about the veracity of an adver-tisement before responding to any published inthis newspaper. Kasturi & Sons Limited, thePublisher & Owner of this newspaper, does notvouch for the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertisers pro-ducts and/or services. In no event can theOwner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,Employees of this newspaper/company be heldresponsible/liable in any manner whatsoever forany claims and/or damages for advertisementsin this newspaper.

Max Min R TRNew Delhi (Plm) 34 26 0 582New Delhi (Sfd) 34 24 0 847Chandigarh 33 25 0 837Hissar 34 24 0 602Bhuntar 33 19 0 416Shimla 24 15 0 876Jammu 33 21 67 1319Srinagar 31 14 0 249Amritsar 34 25 0 761Patiala 34 25 0 738Jaipur 34 25 0 693Udaipur 27 22 0 725Allahabad 34 27 0 996Lucknow 33 23 0 742Varanasi 34 26 0 809Dehradun 30 24 7 2845Agartala 34 26 0 864Ahmedabad 29 25 2 937Bangalore 30 20 0 693Bhubaneshwar 34 25 0 914Bhopal 32 22 0 1152Chennai 34 25 2 637Guwahati 34 23 24 782Hyderabad 32 24 0 680Kolkata 34 26 0 1606Mumbai 29 25 9 2312Nagpur 34 23 0 1442Patna 34 26 tr 609Pune 30 20 1 754Thiruvananthapuram 33 24 0 1066Imphal 31 22 tr 1043Shillong 24 17 2 984The columns show maximum andminimum temperature in Celsius,rainfall during last 24 hours (tr-trace) and total rainfall in mm since1st June.

Mainly dry weatherNEW DELHI: The withdrawal line ofSouth-west monsoon continues topass through Kalpa, Hissar,Jodhpur and Nalia.Rainfall: Rain/thundershowershave occurred at isolated placesover the region. The chief amountsof rainfall in cm. are: HARYANA:Jatusana 4, Sohana 3, Palwal 2and Pataudi 1, Himachal PradeshHIMACHAL PRADESH: NainaDevi 1, JAMMU AND KASHMIR:Jammu 7, Jammu Airport 5 andSamba 2, PUNJAB: Phangota 1,EAST RAJASTHAN: Khetri andMalsisar 4 each, Mount Abu 3 and

Reodar 2, WEST RAJASTHAN:Rawatsar 3 and Raniwara 1,EAST-UTTAR PRADESH: Safipur1, WEST UTTAR PRADESH:Khair 1 and UTTARAKHAND:Munsiyari 2 and Kotdwara 1.FORECAST FOR REGION VALIDUNTIL THE MORNING OF 29thSEPTEMBER 2013: Rain/thundershowers may occur atmany places over south-westRajasthan during next 48 hoursand decrease thereafter. Rain/thundershowers may occur at oneor two places over south-eastRajasthan and east Uttar Pradeshduring next 24 hours and increasethereafter. Rain/thundershowers

may occur at one or two placesover west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,Punjab, north Rajasthan andJammu and Kashmir. HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING:Heavy rainfall may occur at one ortwo places over south-westRajasthan during next 48 hoursand over southeast Rajasthan on28th and 29th September.FORECAST FOR DELHI ANDNEIGHBOURHOOD VALIDUNTIL THE MORNING OF 29thSEPTEMBER 2013: Partly cloudysky. Very light rain/thundershowers could occur insome areas.

INSAT PICTURE AT 14.00 hrs. Observations recorded at 8.30 a.m.on September 27th.

WEATHER

NEW DELHI: With the UnionHealth and Family WelfareMinistry notifying amend-ments to the Drugs and Cos-metics Act, 1940, antibioticsand anti-Tuberculosis drugswill not be sold over thecounter from March 1, 2014.

The government had in-cluded a new provision,Schedule H1 to the Drugs andCosmetics Act to check theindiscriminate use of anti-biotics, anti-TB and someother drugs in the country. Asmany as 46 drugs have beenplaced under this restrictedcategory which mainly com-prises third and fourth gener-ation antibiotics, anti-TB andsome other drugs.

The packaging of thesedrugs will have mandatorywarning printed on them in abox with a red border on thelabel and will be sold bychemists on production of a

prescription. The chemist willretain a copy of the prescrip-tion and maintain a separateregister for these 46 drugswhere the name of the patientand the details of the doctorwho prescribed the drugs willbe noted. This register willhave to be kept for three yearsbefore being destroyed.

The Central Drugs Stan-dard Control Organisation(CDSCO) has the responsib-ility to enforce the order. Vio-lation of this provision canresult in prosecution. State

Drug Inspectors can conductsurprise inspections at thepharmacies and chemistshops to check the registersand sale of these 46 drugs un-der Schedule H1.

Restricted sale of antibiot-ics was one of the main rec-ommendations of theChennai Declaration to checkdrug resistance which isemerging as a serious healthissue in the country. Resist-ance to antibiotics and an in-crease in drug resistant TBcases are cited as a result of

improper prescription andconsumption of antibioticswhich are easily available.

The Chennai Declaration,adopted last year, recom-mends urgent measure to for-mulate an effective nationalpolicy to control the risingtrend of antimicrobial resist-ance, including a ban on over-the-counter sale of antibiot-ics, and changes in themedical education curricu-lum to include training on an-tibiotic usage and infectioncontrol.

Aarti Dhar

No prescription, no antibiotics

NEW DELHI: Continuing withits spree of raising fares togenerate more revenue, theRailways have decided to in-troduce Tatkal tickets forpassenger trains also, in-crease rates for parcel and fortransportation of birds andanimals.

Tatkal would be in placefor those passenger trainsthat had recorded an averageutilisation of 60 per cent ca-pacity during the previous fi-nancial year. The zonalrailways have been vestedwith the responsibility ofidentifying such trains.

The Tatkal charges forthese trains will be the sameas for the superfast trains andthe same principle will be ap-plicable for earmarking seats.

Now, Tatkal forpassengertrains tooSpecial Correspondent

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

CHENNAI: When the Lord takes anincarnation, He conforms to allthe constraints that this de-mands and does not seek con-cession on the grounds of Hissupremacy.

This is exemplified in Ramaavatar with Rama declaring thatHe considers Himself as a merehuman being and displays thegamut of emotions and actions,albeit on an evolved plane, asbrought out by Sri Sankara Ra-ma Dikshitar in a discourse.

When Sita is taken away, Ra-ma gives vent to the pangs ofseparation of a loving and devot-ed husband. Advised by Kaband-ha, a celestial being cursed byIndra to become a monstrousrakshasa for his misdeeds, Ramaand Lakshmana reach the Pam-pa lake in their search.

Kabandha suggests the be-friending of Sugriva, the princeof monkeys who lives in Rishya-muka hill in fear of his brotherVali. Sugriva perceives the rov-ing visitors in hermit garb andfears that this might be a ploy ofVali to identify and kill him. Hedirects Hanuman to assume theform of a brahmachari and meetthe newcomers and find outtheir intent.

With perfect courtesy and

reverence, Hanuman tries toelicit information on the pair ra-diating a certain divinity. He al-so projects the plight of Sugrivawhom he serves as a minister.Sugriva leads the life of a fugi-tive, always fearing for his lifeagainst the persecution of an an-tagonistic Vali, says Hanuman,adding that friendship with Ra-ma will certainly be gainful forall. Impressed with his honestyand adorable manner of mar-shalling and presenting facts,Rama bids Lakshmana to extendtheir hands of friendship.

The Lord indeed is deter-mined to keep His supremacyunder wraps.

But Lakshmana is unable toreconcile to the fact that Rama,who is the true refuge for all be-ings, should now seek refuge inSugriva. With tears in his eyes,he recounts the story of Ramaand how their fortunes nowfaced a low due to quirk of cir-cumstances. They were now fac-ing exile and sorrow, bereft ofSita. Truly human emotions.The devout Hanuman recognis-es Ramas paratva and like a truemessenger briefs Sugriva of theinherent greatness of the vis-itors. His assessment is appre-ciated by Sugriva.

Greatness of an avatar

RELIGION

Across1 Crude ramshackle slum in Cyprus (6)4 Rock music: primarily awful blare (6)9 Object used chiefly in hold-ups! (4)

10 Heavy, metal band employed asinstrument of torture (4,6)

11 Queer-looking? Stifle it reflexively (6)12 Well-rounded, wed gone out and

about to get displayed (8)13 Found vigorous enjoyment took the

edge off hidden wound (9)15 Vessel, seaworthy even after a

century (4)16 Revolutionary fruitcakes take your

breath away (4)17 See trivia as a hodgepodge of sorts

(9)21 After children migrated, West

European got doubly largeimprovement on knocker (8)

22 happens to belong to us, admitsCuban counter-espionage chief (6)

24 Quirky musical acquires strangeimage (10)

25 Finished a number of deliveries (4)26 Stared openmouthed with surprise at

first, then caught ones breath (6)27 Design vain venture boasts (6)Down1 Career actress regularly produces

new work (7)2 Adjusting nut that is loose (5)3 Wicked king imbibed enough booze to

make one drunk (7)5 Wonder at a heartless, stupid fury (6)6 Sick in the brain, twisted, extremely

deviant, but magnificent (9)7 Drunken melee at noontime leads to

fire, perhaps (7)

8 Regularly goes rambling wherecriminals hang (6,7)

14 Blue-coloured rings you discoveredinside marine complexes (9)

16 Silence due to performance (7)18 Superhero who might become rusty?

(4,3)19 Grave veterans leaving the front

broken (7)20 Bounder thrown into lake for some

time (6)

23 Not far away, in the outskirts ofCologne, the sun rises (5)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8

9 10

11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18 19

20

21 22 23

24 25

26 27

R H N A U S BG E N E E U C A L Y P T U S

F I L E U Y CC L A R K S H E L S I N K I

E L O A NS C H O O N E R T A G O R E

T O E E EF I R M R E A R S J U M P

O E L A EI N T E R N M A C H I S M O

X M A L BF A R T H I N G T A B L E S

C E N O C I RP H O N E B O O T H R E E D

E T I N Y D D

Skulldugger

Solution to puzzle 10889

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 10890

Oil refinery in Cochin

Mr. O.V. Alagesan, Union Min-ister for Mines and Fuel, formallyinaugurated on September 27 thefourth oil refinery being set up inCochin in the public sector by theCochin Refineries Limited.Speaking at the reception got upby the Board of Directors of theCompany, the Union Ministersaid that public sector shouldplay an increasing role to providethe country with its require-ments of oil and oil products. Hesaid the Government expectedthe private sector to lend a help-ing hand in making their oil pol-icy a success by becoming jointpartners. Mr. K.A. DamodaraMenon, State Minister for Indus-try, presided. The function wasattended, among others, by 22members of Parliament, who arenow on a visit to Kerala, besidesState and Central Governmentofficials and representatives ofthe business and industrial life ofthe region.

Crisis in P.S.P.A major crisis has developed in

the Praja Socialist Party as top

members were in disagreementwhile deciding the propriety ofthe action of Mr. Asoka Mehta inaccepting the Deputy Chairman-ship of the Planning Commissionand membership of the Indiandelegation to the U.N. The ap-pointment of Mr. Mehta to thePlanning Commission was offi-cially announced on September26. The National Executive of theParty, after two days of discus-sion, passed a resolution in NewDelhi stating that Mr. Mehtas ac-tions did not fall in line with thePartys policies. Mr. ChandraSekhar, M.P., opposing the reso-lution, has resigned from the Ex-ecutive and all the Committeeswith which he is associated. TheExecutives decision was an-nounced in a 130-word commu-niqu.

Medical college admissionThe Medical College proposed

for Sholapur in Maharashtrawould charge students seekingadmission a capitation fee,which may extend up to Rs.7,000each. The Maharashtra Govern-ment have granted tentative per-mission to enable the collegeauthorities to charge the capita-tion fee, so that they may havesufficient funds to run the insti-tution with the approval of theShivaji University and the StateEducation Department.

(dated September 28, 1963)

THIS DAY THAT AGE

PERISCOPE

VARIETY

10 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

From the barter system andHundies predating 18th centu-ry India to the crisp banknotes and smartcards of to-day, the banking system hascome a long way.

The currency note for itspart has undergone severaltransformations to evolve as areliable financial instrument.

The motifs and designs oncurrency notes are chosencarefully to reflect a certainphilosophy of the era. Overtime, the image of MahatmaGandhi has become a fixtureon one side of the note whileon the other side the imageskeep changing from that ofthe Parliament, the Hima-layas, a farm tractor or a col-lage of animals - a tiger,hippopotamus and elephant.

A section of civil society hasquestioned this and is de-manding that the image of Ba-basaheb Ambedkar, whodrafted the Constitution ofIndia, should also be em-bossed on currency notes.

One of the earliest imagesto be used on a currency notewas that of a vignette of a fe-male figure reclining on abench on the quayside. Re-public and British India im-printed images of Lords,statues of Mountstuart El-phinstone and John Malcolmand images of governors suchas Sir Thomas Munroe, theGovernor of Madras.

When the colonisers leftthe country, symbols for anindependent India had to bechosen. At the outset it wasfelt that the King's portrait bereplaced. The Lion Capital atSarnath was chosen throughconsensus and in 1953 Hindiwas displayed prominently onthe new notes. In 1969 a com-memorative design series inhonour of the birth centenarycelebrations of Gandhi was is-sued depicting a seated Gand-hi with the Sevagram Ashramas the backdrop. The 1980ssaw a completely new set ofnotes issued. The motifs onthese notes marked a depar-ture from the earlier motifs.Emphasis was laid on symbolsof science and technology(Aryabhatta on the Rs 2 note),progress (the oil rig on Re 1and farm mechanisation onRs 5) and a change in orien-tation to Indian art forms onthe Rs 20 and the Rs 10 notes(Konark wheel, peacock). Fora nation obsessed with per-sonalities, it might have beenwiser to continue with this se-ries of notes but it was notdone so. In 1987, the Rs 500note was introduced with theportrait of Gandhi while thewater mark continued to bethe Lion Capital, Ashoka Pil-lar.

It was only in meetings heldin 1993 and 1994, that the rec-ommendations to print theportraits of Gandhi in the wa-ter-mark area and on the rightside of the banknote were

made in terms of resolutionspassed by RBIs Board of Di-rectors. This was then ap-proved by the FinanceMinistry and in 1996 a Gandhiseries was launched that con-tinues to this day.

The Reserve Bank of India,the only authority to printcurrency notes in the country,states on its website that itsnotes reflect the changing so-cio-cultural ethos and theworld-view of the times, buc-caneering mercantilism, colo-nial consolidation,domineering imperialism, thegrandeur of empire, to thesymbols of National Inde-pendence followed up by alle-gories of progress and finallyin the latest series, reminis-cing Gandhian values.

On September 24, this year-- Poona Pact Day -- a round-table conference was held inthe Capital demanding thatAmbedkars image also be im-printed on currency notes.

Throughout the country,statues of Ambedkar are be-ing vandalised. Somewherethey break the hand, some-times the nose and sometimesthe head. But if we print Am-bedkars face on Rs 1000 note,then nobody will tear it. Likethis, we can maintain our dig-nity, said Dalit Pandiyan, Na-tional Convenor, DalitLiberation Movement whohas been spearheading themovement since few yearsnow.

Leila Passah, General Sec-retary of YWCA India saidthat Ambedkar would havegone beyond putting his im-age on currency notes buttalking of dignity and rights ofDalits, she said the need of thehour was to agitate in which-ever way possible.

People are no longer lis-tening to our dharnas or ral-lies in Jantar Mantar. The billor the note is not the mainissue here. We are fighting forthe values instilled by Ambed-kar. He fought for social jus-tice for all regardless of wherethey come from. The consti-tution provides safety anddignity to all, said Leila. Cit-ing the recent cases of vio-lence against Dalit women inthe hinterland especially Ha-ryana, she said that Ambedkarhad challenged the legal sys-tem and turned the wheel oflaw as far as women were con-cerned.

A Right to Informationquery has revealed that thereare close to 50 individuals andorganisations that have re-quested that images of othernational leaders on currencynotes.

Divya Trivedi

Tracing thedesigns oncurrency notes,even as thedemand toimprint B.R.Ambedkarsimage on it picks up

Note issued by Bank of Bombay around 1840.

Face of the nation

Green Underprint introduced in 1867.

Rupee One was introduced in 1917.

First note issued by Reserve Bank of India.

High denomination notes reintroduced in 1954.

A Rupees Fifty note introduced in 1975.

MAHATMA GANDHI SERIES: Launched in 1996 andcontinues till date. PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL/ ALL OTHER IMAGESCOURTESY THE WEBSITE OF RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

RUPEEWATCH

eaving tap water orhydrants running is acommon sight at publicplaces and railway stationsin our country, resulting inlarge amount of preciouswater going down the drain.There is also the problem ofmisuse of water by peopleliving illegally near railwaystations.

The Moradabad Junctionrailway station, too, facedthis issue until a year-and-a-half ago. Nearly 10,000litres of water was beingwasted every hour becauseof leakages or unauthoriseduse from hydrants installedat the station. Moradabad

Junction is a major stationwhere more than 160 trainspass every day. Eighthundred and forty sixhydrants are in place in theseven platforms.

It was not just the loss ofwater but pumping hours

were also being wasted tofill the water tanks in thecoaches. Consequently,there was also an increasein the consumption ofelectricity. It wascalculated that apart fromthe wastage of 6,660,000litres of water, 333pumping hours for whichover 8690 KW units ofelectricity was also beingwasted every month.

Although severalexperiments were carriedout by way of fitting variouswooden or metal devices toprevent leakages andpilferages, these did notyield the desired results.

To overcome thisproblem, the Carriage andWagon (C&W) wing of theMoradabad Division cameout with an innovativemodel and used it as anexperiment on Platform 1of the Moradabad railwaystation. A railway team led

saved annually. The devicealso leads to an increase inwater pressure

The railway authoritiesare now in the process ofinstalling these innovativehydrant control valves atHaridwar, Bareilly andDehradun railway stationsas well.

Passengers passingthrough MoradabadJunction are now theunseemly sight of peoplebathing and washing usingthe leaking hydrant water.

India has the secondlargest railway network inthe world with 12,000trains passing through7,500 stations across thecountry daily. If this smallcontrol valve is fitted in allwater outlets at all thestations, it is not difficult toimagine how much water,electricity and the hugecosts involved will besaved.

by Manish Pandey, SeniorDivisional MechanicalEngineer of the C&W wing,developed and designed ahydrant control valve withdetachable handles. Thesevalves could only beopened or closed byauthorised C&W staff.Another advantage wasthat this device could notbe stolen. After theexperiment provedsuccessful, the new devicewas commissioned at allthe seven platforms ofMoradabad Junction inDecember 2012.

It is estimated that withthis small mechanicalinnovation in place,21,142,857 gallons of water,3,996 pumping hours and104,335 KW of electricitywill be saved at theMoradabad Junction aloneevery year. Apart fromsaving the precious water,Rs 9.81 lakh will also be

SEALING THE LEAKAGE

A small valvedesigned bythe railwayshas helped incheckingwaterwastage andtheft fromhydrantsinstalled inMoradabadJunctionstation

L

SAVING WATER: Platform No.1 of Moradabad Junction railway station.

INNOVATION

Sarita Brara

Feeding birds is a commonsight in Delhi and other ci-ties. Informal though itmaybe, bird-feeding venueshave got established in cer-tain prominent spots. Comerain or shine, people areseen overturning sacks fullof grains and pulses for thebirds. In Delhi, pigeons arethe largest beneficiaries ofthis practice. Often cars stopat roundabouts or trafficjunctions to carry out thisactivity, creating serioustraffic hazards for other mo-torists. The photograph cap-tures a man at the DefenceColony flyover feeding hisfeathered friends.

PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR

PUSHPAKAR

Feedingspaces

THROUGH THE LENS

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

CMYK

ND-ND

NATIONALTHE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 11

MUMBAI: The former teamprincipal of Chennai SuperKings, Gurunath Meiyap-pan, and actor Vindu DaraSingh were charge-sheetedlast week for betting duringIPL 6. The Mumbai Policecharge sheet revealed howMr. Meiyappan BCCIpresident N. Srinivasansson-in-law used to placebets through Mr. Singh andpass on condential infor-mation to him. The policeevidence is largely based onphone conversations be-tween the two.

The Hindu has accessedthe call transcripts of May12, the day Chennai SuperKings played RajasthanRoyals. These reveal Mr.Meiyappans involvementin betting and his depend-ence on Mr. Singh. In thismatch, the former CSK of-cial placed bets worthRs.1.23 crore on CSK andRs. 66 lakh on RajasthanRoyals.

The following are ex-cerpts from the transcripts:

May 12, 8 p.m. onwards(30 minutes into thematch)

Meiyappan: What is thecurrent rate?

Singh: Rajasthan Royalsat 79 paisa and CSK at 81paisa. Though today CSKdo not look like the favou-rites but they will surelywin.

Meiyappan: Place Rs. 20lakh on Rajasthan Royals, Ithink they will win.

(One hour into thematch)

Meiyappan: I think CSKwill put up a score of 130-140 runs only. RajasthanRoyals has a better chance.

Singh: Yeah, but CSKwill win, you have to trustme. You just see what is go-ing to happen. I will tell youCSK will make race runs(sic) and RR is going to lose.

(At 8.55 p.m.) Meiyap-

pan: Can I exit, what can wedo now?

Singh: Place bets onCSK.

Meiyappan: Are yousure CSK will win?

Singh: Yes.Meiyappan: Whats the

rate?Singh: RR at 83 paisa.Meiyappan: Ok, so place

30 lakhs on CSK.(At 9.10 p.m., Vindu calls

bookie Pawan Jaipur)Singh: Kya rate hai?

(What is the rate?)Pawan: 80-83 (CSK 80

paisa and RR at 83 paisa)Singh: 30 peti uske liye

lagalo (Place Rs. 30 lakh onbehalf of Meiyappan)

Pawan: Maine 80 pe 30khai (code language usedbetween bookies and punt-ers which means: I have ac-cepted a Rs. 30 lakh bet onthe team, riding at 80 paisa.CSK was riding at 80 paisa.)

(At 9.15 p.m.) Meiyap-pan: How are we tradingnow?

Singh: You are losing Rs.64.20 [lakh] currently.

Meiyappan: Ok tell mewhat the current rates?

Singh: RR is at 43 paisa.Meiyappan: Ok, place

Rs. 30 lakhs on RRSingh to Pawan: Ye ma-

rega aaj; 30 lakh at 44 paisaRajasthan pe lagao. (Itlooks like he will do badly.Place Rs. 30 lakh on RR)

Meiyappan: How are we

doing now?Singh: I am shivering.

Forget about winning; letsnow just try to balance it.

Meiyappan: How are wetrading now?

Singh: 1.24 crore on CSKand 55 lakhs on RR.

(In the end, RR won thematch. Once the bets weresquared, Mr. Meiyappanended up losing Rs. 68.77lakh.

The transcript also re-veals how Vindu DaraSingh made a one paisacommission on every bethe placed on behalf of Mr.Meiyappan. Vindhu usedto take the rate from thebookie Pawan. But whilequoting the odds, he used toeither add or subtract onepaisa depending on wheth-er Meiyappan was bettingin favour of or against ateam. Vindu used to pocketthe difference, said asource in Mumbai Police. )

Singh: How are we trad-ing now?

Pawan: You are losingRs. 1.23 crore on CSK andyou are winning Rs. 66.49lakh on Rajasthan (Mr.Singh then calls Mr. Mei-yappan but while quotingthe gures adds his com-mission according to theodds placed )

Singh: Ok, so we are los-ing 1.24 crore on CSK andwe are winning Rs. 55.43lakh on RR.

Rashmi Rajput

Vindu Dara Singh Gurunath Meiyappan

Meiyappan used tobet through Vindu

KOLKATA: The Gorkha Jan-mukti Morcha (GJM) sabhamembers elected on Fridayan arrested member as chiefexecutive of the GorkhalandTerritorial Administration(GTA) in a move that indi-cates that the party has nointention of giving up con-trol over the regional auton-omous body even though ithad boycotted a meetingearlier this month.

At a meeting called by theGTA principal secretary R. DMeena in Darjeeling, 34elected GTA sabha memberselected Benoy Tamang, whohas been under arrest sinceAugust 22, as the new chiefexecutive of the body.

Mr. Tamang, who is alsothe assistant secretary of theGJM, held the portfolio ofinformation and cultural af-fairs in the GTA.

All the members presentvoted in favour of Benoy Ta-mang who is still inside pris-on. While nine of the GTAsabha members are behindbars, our president BimalGurung who is also a GTASabha member, did not par-ticipate in the meeting,GJM general secretaryRoshan Giri, told The Hinduover telephone from Dar-jeeling. Another member,too, did not attend themeeting.

GJM elects

arrested leader

as new GTA

chief executiveStaff Reporter

The Hindu newspapers daily here:- thehinduforfree.blogspot.in

Rahulspeak

One wonders what Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhi who said at a press conference thatthe ordinance seeking to overturnthe Supreme Court verdictdisqualifying MPs and MLAs upontheir conviction should be torn topieces and thrown out was doingall these days. Surely, he must havebeen aware of the UPAgovernments frantic efforts to get abill passed in the monsoon sessionof Parliament. When they did notsucceed, the government drafted anordinance, cleared it and sent it tothe President. Was Rahul not in theknow of things?

The great tamasha will start now.I pity all those Congressspokespersons who defended theordinance in front of televisioncameras and tried to convince thepublic. God help them! Or, shouldhe?A. Jaikrishna,

Secunderabad

What a dramatic change in theCongress approach to theordinance! I am sure the Cabinetcleared the ordinance after a lot ofdeliberations. The BJP protestedand presented a memorandum tothe President asking him to rejectthe ordinance. The Presidentraised a query on the need topromulgate the ordinance. TheCongress seems to have changedits stance after that. As such,Rahuls stand should have nobearing on the ordinance becausehe is not part of the UnionCabinet. But his view is bound toprevail. Will that not behumiliating to the Cabinet?Danendra Jain,

Dehra Dun

One really wonders if RahulGandhis belated butblistering attack on the ordinancewas a well orchestrated politicalstunt, as alleged by the Opposition,to salvage the party and thegovernments image. Does Rahulexpect the nation to believe thatneither he nor his mother SoniaGandhi was kept in the loop whenthe decision to go for theordinance was taken? Why such apublic condemnation of theordinance by him after thePresident sought certainclarifications and the stiffopposition by the BJP and theLeft? Did not Rahuls ill-advisedaction undermine the authority ofthe Prime Minister who was inWashington all set to meet the U.S

President? Who will take the PMseriously hereafter? S.K. Choudhury,

Bangalore

None can disagree with whatRahul said about theordinance. But the timing, whenPrime Minister Manmohan Singhis out of the country, and the harshlanguage are in bad taste. Mysympathies are with Dr. Singh whois not a politician but an obedientbureaucrat. V. Tilak Subramanian,

Chennai

It was refreshing to see Rahuldenouncing the ordinancemeant to shield convictedpoliticians. It is ironic that theseniors in the Congress did nothave the wisdom to appreciate thedangers of the ordinance. Thatsaid, one does wish Rahul haddone this a bit earlier.N. Nagesh,

Chennai

Rahuls politics has left theCongress in a state ofembarrassment. If he wasgenuinely against the ordinance,he could have done a far better jobthan storming into a pressconference and blazing all guns atthe government. His recklessnessshows he is immature and not yetready to be the Prime Minister.Nitheen Sivadas,

Palakkad

Reject all option

The Supreme Court has covereditself in shining glory bydirecting the ElectionCommission to provide a buttonon electronic voting machines forvoters to reject all the candidatescontesting an election from aconstituency recognising thatthe right to elect includes the rightto reject. Often, a voter findshimself pitted between the deviland the deep sea. Of course he canabstain but that would be seen asindifference, not passive protest. K.X.M. John,

Kochi

Political parties will henceforthfield candidates carefully andnot take the voter for granted. K. V. Rao,

Bangalore

The reject all option in theEVMs is indeed a welcomestep. But the percentage of voterturnout will be important toensure that the provision iseffective. Casting the vote shouldbe made an unavoidable duty ofevery citizen. In the event of thevotes polled in favour of reject allbeing the maximum in aconstituency, all the candidatesshould be banned from contestingelections for at least six years. A.P. Govindankutty,

Cheruthuruthy

India-Pakistantalks

By deciding to go ahead with hismeeting with Nawaz Sharif inNew York, even after the dastardlyterror strikes in Jammu, Dr. Singhhas demonstrated bothpragmatism and courage. Non-engagement with a democraticallyelected Prime Minister ofPakistan, who has professed hisintention to pursue peace withIndia, is not an option for ourcountry. In fact, forces inimical toIndia both within and outside want to see the breakdown of thepeace process. Pakistan is as mucha victim of terror as India is, and itis in the interest of both thecountries to fight the commonenemy together. Raj Kishore Mishra,

Gurgaon

The Jammu attacks wereundoubtedly meant to derailthe peace process. Dr. Singhsdecision to continue with thepeace talks deserves to beappreciated. Hopes of improvingIndia-Pakistan relations that havebeen revived with the election ofMr. Sharif must not die down. Aneesh M. Makker,

Malout

The Hindu has done well totabulate the pattern andtimings of terror attacks,coinciding with meetings betweenthe two nations. Had Dr. Singhcancelled his meeting with Mr.Sharif, the terrorists would havesucceeded in their design.Stephen Heynes,

Bangalore

What is abundantly clear ismany forces in Pakistan areagainst negotiations and want toensure that instability prolongs inKashmir. In this dismal scenario,talks with Pakistan will be anexercise in futility. Surely,enduring peace continues to be amirage in the subcontinent.P.K. Varadarajan,

Chennai

For us to believe that terroristsinfiltrate without theknowledge or backing of thePakistani troops is absurd. Whatour diplomats and the Prime

Minister must understand is thatpeace is a two-way street and cannever be achieved if there is nodesire for it from across theborder. Till then, we will keeplosing brave army men andpolicemen and continue condolingtheir deaths. Archit Gupta,

Manipal

Condoling lost lives is not asolution to terrorism. Wehave seen a series of attacks fromacross the border. It is difficultto understand why India cannotretaliate. Every life is important.Our security personnel cannotbe left to die in attack afterattack.Narendra Reddy Singampalli,

Guntur

The army has ruled Pakistan formost part of its existence. Ithas consolidated its hold on thecountry and the civiliangovernment is at best asmokescreen. Although at timesone wonders whether retaliationcould be an option, one shuddersat the prospect of a war betweenthe two nuclear states. It is hopedthat the talks between Dr. Singhand Mr. Sharif will not end withthe usual handshakes and bearhugs.A. Michael Dhanaraj,

Coimbatore

Lettersto the

EDITOR

Letters emailed toletters@thehindu.co.in must carrythe full postal address and the fullname or the name with initials.

CMYK

ND-ND

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

12 THE HINDU I NOIDA/DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013EDITORIAL

Rahul Gandhi has made a habit of dropping in

on unsuspecting journalists. And each time

he has done that, he has exploded a bomb-

shell. In March this year, he told a gathering

of hacks in Parliaments Central Hall that he was not

interested in becoming Prime Minister. This was

months after he had become Congress vice-president, a

presumed precursor to his running for Prime Minister.

On an unannounced visit to the Press Club of India in

New Delhi on Friday, he roasted his own party and

government for their decision to promulgate an ordi-

nance aimed at preventing the disqualification of con-

victed lawmakers. He called the Representation of the

People (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2013,

which has been cleared by the Union Cabinet, com-

plete nonsense and a piece of paper to be torn up and

thrown away. The potshots did not stop here. Rahul

said he had got the party line from the Congresss

communication chief Ajay Maken, which was that no

political party was above making small compromises.

But he, Rahul Gandhi, did not buy the line, and indeed,

it was his personal opinion that corruption could not be

fought through small compromises. Rahul said politi-

cal parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata

Party included, needed to stop citing one anothers

example to justify wrongdoings.

Unexceptionable as this was, it came not from an

Opposition rabble-rouser, but from the son of Sonia

Gandhi. If Rahuls intention in lambasting his own

government which he said had wrongly cleared the

ordinance was to play the outsider, he has done it

once too often. He cannot be both Congress vice-presi-

dent and a rebel with unlimited licence to attack. If he

thought the ordinance was nonsense, he should have

spoken his mind at the outset, while it was still in the

form of a bill in the Rajya Sabha. And the most effective

forum for him to air his dissent would have been a party

meeting and not a media conference. Intervention at

that stage would have likely stopped the ordinance,

whose objective has been questioned by the President,

much to the governments discomfiture. The true mark

of a leader is his capacity to speak his mind at the right