VOL: 03 I ISSUE NO: 150 I REG NO: ANDENG/2011/38184 I 02 JULY 2014 I WEDNESDAY I Rs.2.00 I DAILY I PORT BLAIR I www.andamansheekha.com

ANTA takes up the issue of the teachersof the Nicobar District Urges Secretaryto consider the Journey Period on duty

Port Blair, July 01: TheAndaman Nicobar Teachers’Association has taken up theissues of the teachers ofNicobar district, at the higherlevel of the Administration.The General Secretary of theassociation Mr. SureshNarayan today met with theSecretary Education andurged him to consider thejourney period of the teachers,who are returning to theirplace of posting after summervacation, on duty, so that mayclaim their LTC and get thebenefit of the increment.

Mr. Suresh Narayansaid that the last boat for thesouthern group was on 28thJune, for which the teachersbought the tickets. But unfor-tunately, the sailing of thesaid boat M.V. Kalighat gotcancelled. So the teachers ofCar Nicobar had no optionleft than to avail the sailing ofM.V. Chowra on 1st July.Mean while the teachers ofKamorta, Katchal, Campbellbay availed the sailing of M.VSamsun on 30th June andthey reached today late

evening, missing the oppor-tunity of attending their du-ties at their respective Schoolstoday.

It is noteworthy thatthe Deputy Director (Person-nel) asked all the teachers ofthe Nicobar group, yesterdayevening, to avail the first avail-able ship and apply for casualleave or earned leave for thejourney period. Dejected by theDD(Personnel), Mr. SureshNarayan today approachedSecretary, and requested himto consider the journey periodon duty, allowing the teachersto claim LTC and increment.

The Secretary as-sured him that the status re-port would be sought from theconcerned DDO’s and neces-sary relief would be given tothe teachers for the inability toreach respective stations ontime for the reasons which isnot under teachers’ control.He said that in future it wouldbe ensured to get the teachersspecial sailing of the boatsbefore the reopening of theSchools, to enable them toattend the duties on time.

School Trip Bus of STS with 70students skids off road; All safe

DJ VenkateshSheekha News Service

Diglipur, July 01: TheSchool Trip Bus of StateTransport Service today

skidded off the road atSitanagar village ofDiglipur Island. Luckilyno one was seriously in-jured in this accident. Ac-cording to reports around

70 students were travel-ling to Diglipur Bazaar af-ter closure of school at3.00 PM.

Only one studentreportedly got minor

bruises, who was releasedfrom Hospital after firstaid.

The Police staffsand officers of N & MAndaman District Ad-

ministration reached thespot as soon as the inci-dent occurred. As per ini-tial report the accident oc-curred due to some break-down in the bus.

BSNL customers allegenon-receipt of bills; CGMassures immediate action

Port Blair, July 01: Residentsof Nayagaon, Chakkargaon,Shadipur, Austinabad andBirchgunj have been facing apeculiar problem for morethan six months now. Manyresidents in the area are notgetting their landline tele-phone bills from BharatSanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL). Residents allege thateven after repeated com-plaints the BSNL is not ableto deliver telephone bills.

Mr. Sahil Singh aresident of Nayagaon sharedhis dilemma, he said, “Sincelast six months I have not re-ceived my phone bills, whichhas created a number of prob-lems for me. My phone hasbeen disconnected quite a fewtimes due to non-payment ofbills, which I could not paysince I did not receive any bill.Despite repeated complaints

Sarthak KanjilalSheekha News Service

to BSNL, it has failed to postme my landline bills. Aftercomplaining they ask my ad-dress and noted it, but eventhen I haven’t received bills.”

Andaman Sheekhagot a lot of similar complaints

from other major areas also.Residents told AndamanSheekha that most of them aresalaried class people whofind it difficult to adjust theirmonthly budget as they do

(See page 7)

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Kerala nurses nowlive in basement in Iraq

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The 46 Kerala nursesstranded in Iraq's Tikrit townare spending their time in abasement of a building withinthe hospital campus wherethey worked, according to asource.

One can easily makeout from sounds in the back-ground and around them thatthey live in a basement in con-stant fear. They do not knowwhether the rebels or the gov-ernment controls their city, aperson who did not wish tobe identified and in touch withthe nurses told IANS.

"The nurses saidthey were offered rice andpulses yesterday (Monday).

They cooked their foodthereafter. They said theyalso got water," said the per-son.

The nurses who usedto speak to a few reportersfrom here, now do not attendtheir calls.

The nurses havesome idea about who controlsTikrit, the hometown of de-posed Iraqi dictator SaddamHussein, as there were re-ports about bombings in theplace. On Sunday evening,one bomb landed just about150 metres away from wherethey were staying earlier, be-fore moving into the base-ment of another buildingMonday.

Parts of western India could facedrought due to poor monsoon, govt warns

NEW DELHI: The worstimpact of a sub-normal mon-soon is likely to be in westernIndia, with possible drought-like conditions in some areas,agriculture minister RadhaMohan Singh said on Tues-day.

"Monsoon is delayed.Western India is expected tobe worst affected anddrought-like situation mightprevail in some pockets,"Singh told reporters after adelegation from Maharashtramet him on this matter.

A separate contin-gency plan will be worked outalong with the state govern-ments for drought-prone re-gions, such as Vidharbha inMaharashtra, to ensure thereis no shortage of drinkingwater and fodder, he said.

"Vidharbha region isdrought-prone. We will think

of all possible measures tohelp farmers so that they arenot forced to commit suicidesdue to crop failure," he added.

As per the met of-fice, the monsoon is likely toimprove after July 6, the min-ister said, adding, "If it im-proves, the loss in sowing ofkharif crops will definitely becompensated."

He also said the ag-riculture ministry will soonmove a Cabinet note on pro-viding diesel and seed subsidyif states declare drought insome areas.

On vegetable pricesrising in anticipation of a poormonsoon, Singh said, "Wehave to improve the supplysystem, though there is noshortage in onion and potatoproduction in the country."

A delegation-led byMaharashtra BJP president

Devendra Fadanvis updatedthe minister about the mon-soon situation in theVidharbha region and soughtspecial measures to tacklethe possible drought this year.

The overall area un-der kharif crops last weekdecreased to 131.52 lakhhectares from 200.96 lakhhectares in the year-ago pe-riod. Sowing of kharif (sum-mer) crops including paddystarts with the onset of thesouthwest monsoon in June.

According to the In-dia Meteorological Depart-ment, the monsoon this yearis expected to be 93 per centof the long-term average. Forthe country as a whole, thecumulative rainfall up to June25 was 40 per cent below theaverage. Conditions are ex-pected to improve in July andAugust.

Kuldeep demand hike in pensionamount of physically challengedpeople, widows and senior citi-

zensPort Blair, June 01: Since thephysically challenged, wid-ows and senior citizen per-sons are leading miserable life due to various reasons andfeeling themselves neglectedelements of the society as theydo not have sufficient moneyto take care of themselves andtaking concern of their pa-thetic condition, the PCC chiefKuldeep Rai Sharma has senta letter of request to the LtGovernor wherein he haswritten that, the AN Admin-istration has been alwayskind enough to such personsand time to time has raisedtheir pension amount bygranting the requests submit-ted by the  Congress Party forthe same to the Administra-tion and these persons arenow somehow able to becomepartially independent.

But due to price hikeof all essential commodities,these persons have to sigh forsmall things even.  Kuldeephas also written that sincelong the Congress Party is re-

questing the Administrationto enhance the pensionamount for the above personsfrom Rs. 2000/- per month toRs 5000/- per month due tothe reason of inflation.

Since the prices of allessential commodities arenow becoming so high day byday that, even the middleclass people are unable toprocure their full monthly re-quirements from the marketand somehow maintain theirfamilies, and under such pre-

carious condition, the Ad-ministrator may himselffeels the sinking nerves of thehelpless physically handi-capped, widowed and se-nior citizens as to how theyare passing their days.

Hence Kuldeep hassubmitted earnest request toconsider enhancing the pen-sion amount from Rs 2000/-pm to Rs 5000/ pm so thatthese helpless people mayget some relief in these harddays.

02.07.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 3

The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anand Prakash, inaugurating a five-dayInduction Training Programme organised by the State Institute of Education (SIE) forthe newly recruited GTTs & PSTs in the auditorium of the Govt. Girls Senior SecondarySchool, Port Blair on 01.07.2014.

Port Blair, July 01: TheAndaman & Nicobar Admin-istration is Implementing anIncentive oriented Scheme/Program namely “Andaman& Nicobar Island Capital In-vestment Subsidy for Micro& Small Enterprises” throughthe Directorate of Industriesduring the 12th Five Year PlanPeriod 2012-2017. Under the Scheme Is-land Capital Investment Sub-sidy for Micro & Small onfixed capital investment shallbe granted to Micro & SmallEnterprises to the tune of 25%in South Andaman, MiddleAndaman & North AndamanDistrict, subject to a maxi-

Capital Investment Subsidy for MSEsmum of Rs.50.00 lakh and tothe tune of 50% subsidy onthe fixed capital investment inNicobar District, subject tomaximum of Rs.50.00 lakh. All the registered (ob-tained EM ll) Micro & SmallEnterprises are eligible forsubsidy under the program. The necessary detailsof the scheme can be ob-tained from the officials of theDirectorate of Industries,Port Blair as well as in theBranch offices at Diglipur,Bakultala, Little Andaman,Car Nicobar and CampbellBay on any working day be-tween 09.00 AM & 05.00PM or from the website of

the A&N Administration(www.and.nic.in). For fur-ther details, the Assistant Di-rector (Tech-l),Directorate ofIndustries, Port Blair(Ph:231517),Industries Pro-motion officer, Directorate ofIndustries, Port Blair, Indus-tries Promotion Officer, ITC,Diglipur (Ph:272287), Indus-tries Promotion Officer, ITC,Bakultala (Ph:277807), In-dustries Promotion Officer,ITC, Little Andaman(Ph:284087), Industries Pro-motion officer, ITC, CarNicobar and Industries Pro-motion officer, ITC, CampbellBay (Ph:264105) may becontacted.

WATCH OUT FOR TODAY1) Last date for submission of applications completedin all respects for the nominations of SPANDAN annualawards to the Directorate of Social Welfare during work-ing hours.2) Dr Omkar Singh, Medical specialist, will be theguest in live phone in programme broadcasted by All In-dia Radio ‘Hello Doctor’.

Port Blair, July 01: Enrollmentas Cadet in Naval NCC willbe held from 14-18 Jul 2014.Boys & Girls taking admis-sion in 1st year of Graduation

in JNRM College, Port Blairare eligible Enrollment formsare available at NCC Office,Junglighat (near Sahid Cap-tain Aslim Bhattacharya Park,

Prem Nagar) from Mondayto Friday between 0900 -1200 h. For further queriesplease contact 03192-232543.

Enrollment in NCC

4 02.07.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

02.07.2014 Daily Issue::150

EDITORIAL.....The 3 Gs To Fulfilment

Everyone is chasing fulfilment,happiness, and satisfaction. Someseek it in wealth, others in fitnessand health, still others in relation-ships and a few in intellectualpursuits. Yet nobody seems tohave found any of these. Themore you gain, the more unful-filled you seem to feel.

The world has been de-signed perfectly to fulfil you. Thebest foods are available yet youstuff yourself with the worst. Youare in the ideal environment to feelhappy but you choose to be mis-erable. You have the best peoplearound you yet you psyche your-self into unhappiness.

It is the mind that playstricks with you, misleads you and,in the end, destroys you. Consultyour intellect, strengthen it and beguided by it. Nourish your bodywith dedicated activity. Fill yourheart with love. Strengthen the in-tellect with knowledge. It is igno-rance that creates the imaginaryvoid. You do not need to seekfulfilment. You are already com-pletely, utterly, totally fulfilled.

People seek fulfillment inthree ways -- Goal, Glory andGod. They set up limited, selfish,self-seeking goals and work in-cessantly to achieve these ends.As the Bhagwad Gita says, youare engaged in vain hopes, mean-ingless activity, shallow knowl-edge, and lack discrimination(chapter 9).

Expand your mind to ac-commodate the interests of awider circle of people. Espousea cause. Get inspired by a higherideal. Then you will wake up ev-ery morning enthused to work.When you work for a larger pur-pose it unlocks your potential,makes you creative and ener-getic. Drudgery sets in with self-ishness. There are three types of

people. Tamasika or lethargic peopleare just drifting in life with no aim orideal. They function on whims andfancies of the mind. The rajasika orpassionate type are driven by desireand act for a selfish end. They arestressed out and agitated, incapableof enjoying the fruits of their ownlabour. Only the sattvika one whosacrifices to a higher altar enjoys theworld!

People also seek glory, rec-ognition and respect. This needemerges from a deep sense of in-adequacy. You perhaps feel inferiorto a sibling, spouse or colleague.Hence you depend on others to bol-ster you. This need is so intense thatmany glorify themselves! Othersseek laurels and accolades from theworld. Rare is the one who is so im-mersed in his own field of activitythat he doesn’t seek recognitionfrom others. He is self-containedand self-sufficient.

The highest motivator isGod. Everyone feels the need to fallback on That which is beyond theworld. There are four types of seek-ers described in the Gita – thewealth-seekers, the distressed, thecurious and the jnani, wise. Of theseonly the jnani is truly spiritual. Theothers are still extroverted, seekingGod only for physical, emotional orintellectual pleasures.

A jnani is acutely aware ofhis imprisonment in the body, mindand intellect and is struggling for lib-eration. His focus is on the goal ofEnlightenment. Nothing in the worlddistracts him from that ideal. All theheavenly wealth and enjoymentsoffered by Yama did not deterNachiketa from his goal ofrealisation.

The unintended side effectof spiritual pursuit is immense pros-perity and happiness, power andenjoyment. So aspire for Enlighten-ment. The world will be at your feet!

Kashmiri separatist groups callfor shut down on eve of Modi’s visit to valley

SRINAGAR: Almost all Kashmiriseparatist groups have called for acomplete shut down on July 4 whenPrime Minister Narendra Modi isscheduled to visit Srinagar where hewill hold a security review meetingwith the top brass of army, police andintelligence at the Army headquarters.

This will be Modi’s first visitto Kashmir valley after taking over asthe Prime Minister of the country. ThePM is likely to announce a packagefor the Kashmiri youth in the shape ofemployment in central governmentoffices.He is also scheduled to com-mission a power project in Uri and alsovisit the Hindu shrine at Katra in thewinter capital Jammu.

Opposing Modi’s visit,Hurriyat Conference led by Syed AliGeelani and Hurriyat ConferenceJammu and Kashmir have said inseparate statements that “Modi is com-

ing here as a prime minister of thatcountry which has usurped the rightof self-determination of the peopleof Jammu and Kashmir and subju-gated them.”

“Those who will welcomeNarendra Modi on his arrival are thepaid agents of India and the worstenemies of the ongoing freedommovement,” HCJK said in a state-ment on Tuesday. JKLF chief yasinMalik has also called for a completeshut in the valley on July 4.

Monsoon enters parts of PunjabCHANDIGARH: Pre-monsoonshowers on Tuesday lashed areas ofnorthwest region, including Haryana,with monsoon entering some parts ofPunjab, leading to fall in mercury inthe twin states.

Light to moderate rains lashedmany parts of Punjab and Haryanatoday bringing a drop in day tempera-tures considerably, the MeT officehere said.

Meanwhile, the humidity lev-els rose sharply in Punjab and Haryanaas at several places it was up to 100per cent, the MeT said.

Chandigarh MeT directorSurinder Pal said “monsoon had en-tered some parts of Punjab whereaspre-monsoon marked its arrival insome areas of Haryana.”

“In the next 48 hours the mon-soon will further advance in Punjaband Haryana as both the states arelikely to receive rainfall,” he said.

Meanwhile, rainfall in parts ofPunjab and Haryana “improved” thepower situation in the region, officialssaid.

Agriculture experts describe

these showers as highly beneficialfor the on-going paddy transplanta-tion going on in the two agrarianstates.

Karnal received 51.2mmranifall followed by 36.6mm inAmbala.

Among other places, Patialagot 16.2mm of rainfall, Chandigarh9.6mm, Ludhiana 3mm and Amritsar0.8mm, the MeT office said.

Rain waters inundated sev-eral low lying areas in Punjab andHaryana, reports here said.

02.07.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 5

How a wasteland is turned into a heavenfor migratory birds and home for trees and herbs

Hence, the ‘easy-looking’ job toeradicate baavlia and restore the eco-logical balance of the garden bygrowing ‘native’ lithophyte - plantsable to eke out a living in a rockyhabitat - was not an easy task forKrishen and his team.

“When we came here, thearea was thickly populated withbaavlia, which is notorious for itsinvasive nature. It isn’t easy to getrid of it because it penetrates itsroots deeper and spreads all around,and doesn’t allow any other plantwithin its vicinity to grow,” Krishentold IANS.

After many hits and tri-als, Krishen cracked the code for thisrestoration project and called it“rewilding”.

“The wild plant is like aweed that is of no use, but disruptsecology. So to restore this systemand make it bird-and-animalfriendly, we have followed a sys-tematic approach and it can be bestdescribed as rewilding,” he said.

The first challenge for theteam was to uproot the plant thathad made the arid land and fissuresin the volcanic rhyolite - a 750-mil-lion-year-old rock - its home.

“Even when we cut thefirst 18 inches of the plant, it wouldsprout again. Nothing seemed to beworking,” he recollected.

After all technologicaladvances failed to uproot the plant,they opted for an unconventional‘traditional’ route by having on

board ‘khandwaliyas’, people frommining communities of Marwarwhose expertise lies in cutting sand-stone.

“Rhyolites are not softlike sandstone, but we had no otheroption. So we gave this a shot,” hesaid.

“I still remem-ber, when Dhan Singh (head of thekhandwaliyas) first struck the rocka couple of times, and then avertedhis eyes. I thought something wentinside his eye, till he later told mehe was ‘listening’ to the sound therock made,” Krishen said with thesame fascination he must have feltwhen he witnessed the episode.

“It was incredible. I callit an experience of native wisdom,”he added.

What followed next wasan arduous task of literally going tree

by tree, slowly and patiently.“It was one man to one

bush ratio,” he said, “... a painstak-ing dig deep down into the groundas long as one could and plant plantslineally”.

After everything fell intoplace, the park was opened for visi-tors.

If visited between lateJuly and October, naturalists willbe able to spot ephemerals likerohido (maarwar teak), hingoto(desert date), kair(bare caper), kheerkheem (rambling milkweed) andspot migratory birds like GreyHeron, Marsh Harrier, Long LegBuzzard amongst many others.

“Come here now anddon’t forget to come back in 10years. There are quite a few big treeswe would like to show you,” heconcluded.

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Eating almonds reducesheart disease risk: Study

LONDON: Eating a handful ofalmonds every day can reducethe risk of heart disease bykeeping blood vessels healthy,a new study has claimed.

Researchers fromAston University in the UKfound that almonds signifi-cantly increase the amount ofantioxidants in the bloodstream, reduce blood pressureand improve blood flow.

These findings addweight to the theory that Medi-terranean diets with lots of nutshave big health benefits, re-searchers said.

The study was led byProfessor Helen Griffiths, Pro-fessor in Biomedical Sciencesand Executive Dean of theSchool of Life and Health Sci-ences at Aston University.

Researchers testedthe effects of a short-term al-mond-enriched diet on healthyyoung and middle-aged men aswell as on a group of youngmen with cardiovascular riskfactors including having highblood pressure or being over-weight.

A control group atewhat they normally would,while another group consumed

snacks of 50g of almonds aday for one month.

At the end of thestudy period, the group eatingan almond-enriched diet hadhigher levels of antioxidants(alpha-tocopherol) in theirblood stream, improved bloodflow and lower blood pressure,potentially reducing their riskof heart disease.

Almonds are knownto contain a range of benefi-cial substances such as vita-min E and healthy fats, fibrewhich increases the sense offullness, and flavonoids whichmay have antioxidant proper-

ties.The team believes it is

likely to be the combination ofall these nutrients working to-gether to create the overallhealth benefits rather than justone particular nutrient in iso-lation.

“Our study confirmsthat almonds are a superfood.Previous studies have shownthat they keep your hearthealthy, but our researchproves that it isn’t too late tointroduce them into your diet- adding even a handful (around50g) every day for a short pe-riod can help,” said Griffiths.

Malaria parasite ‘canmanipulate body odour of mice’

Researchers believe para-sites may change odours inorder to help them with a keystage in their reproduction.

And scientists foundthe altered scent persists at acritical time when mice haveno symptoms but remain in-fectious.

They are working onfurther trials to determinewhether parasites can affecthuman smell too.

Scientists from theSwiss Federal Institute ofTechnology and PennsylvaniaState University in the USstudied the odour of micewith and without malaria for45 days.They found the scentof infected mice was mark-edly different to non-infectedones. The parasite did notcompletely alter the smell ofthe individual - instead itchanged the level of com-pounds already present inmouse odour

And this was particu-larly noticeable in mice which

were still infectious but nolonger showed any symptomsof the disease - correspond-ing to a crucial time in the lifecycle of the parasite.

Prof Consuelo DeMoraes of PennsylvaniaState University and one ofthe lead authors of the re-search said: “There appearsto be an overall elevation ofseveral compounds that areattractive to mosquitoes.”

The study showedmosquitoes were most at-tracted to mice when theparasites in their bodies wereat a key point in their devel-opment - a stage when theyneeded to be passed back toa mosquito in order to repro-duce. Malaria parasites havea complex life-cycle with sev-eral stages. They need to de-velop and mature in both hu-mans and mosquitoes.

Scientists believeparasites may manipulate thehost’s smell in order to ensurecontinued survival.

India Has 381 MedicalColleges, Needs 240 More

India’s Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan (an ENT sur-geon himself) recently askeddoctors to introspect and cor-rect the ‘wrong’ public per-ception about the profession.

He also highlightedthe need for more doctorsacross the country. What isthe gap between doctorsavailable and what is desired?On Doctor’s Day (July 1),here are some quick facts:The 12th Plan document re-leased by the Planning Com-mission says 922,177 physi-cians are enrolled at the endof 2011-12 and 691,633 areavailable, giving a density(per lakh population) of 57.According to World Health

Organisation, India had 7 phy-sicians per 10,000 populationas against Brazil, which has18.9 physicians per 10,000population and the UnitedStates, which has 24 physi-cians for 10,000 population.

Expected availabilityis 848,616 doctors by 2017 togive a doctor density of 65.But 240 medical colleges willbe needed if India is to meetthe desired doctor density of85. According to Medi-cal Council of India, Indiacurrently has 381 medicalcolleges and 50,078 seats atthe graduate level. While Bra-zil has over 180 medical col-leges, the United States hasover 140 medical colleges.

02.07.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 7

Army chief BikramSingh to begin rare

China visit tomorrowOperationalisation of a newborder defence agreement todeal with recurring troop in-cursions along the LAC be-sides improving defence ties,is expected to top the agendaof General Bikram Singh ashe starts a rare visit by an In-dian Army chief to China fromtomorrow.

“Currently India andChina maintain exchangesand cooperation at variouslevels. This is very significantfor the two countries,” Chi-nese foreign ministry spokes-man Hong Lei said here to-day.

“The visit you men-tioned will be an importantevent in military to militaryexchanges between Chinaand India,” he said comment-ing on Singh’s visit at a mediabriefing.

“We wish full successof this visit so that the mutualtrust between the two armiescan be enhanced,” he said.

To deal with tensionsarising out of the incursions byboth sides, India and Chinasigned the Border Defence

Cooperation Agreement(BDCA) last year.

Singh’s visit wasaimed at implementing a num-ber of steps incorporated byBDCA on the ground, offi-cials said.

The Indian Armychief’s four-day visit is takingplace after a gap of nineyears.

Former Army chiefGen N C Vij visited China in2005 after which military tiesremained frozen until the lasttwo years when defence tiesgained momentum followingimprovement in political andeconomic relations.

Earlier commentingon Singh’s visit, the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) saidit is part of efforts by the twodefence establishments andthe two militaries to conducta number of important mili-tary exchanges.

Issues of commonconcern, such as the relationsbetween the two countriesand the two militaries, the re-gional security situation wasexpected to figure in the talks

besides arrangement for thefourth China-India JointCounter-terrorism Trainingexercises, a PLA spokesmansaid.

Indian officials saidSingh who is also the chair-man of joint chiefs of StaffCommittee of the armedforces would hold talks withtop echelons of the PLA in-cluding Gen Fan Changlong,the vice chairman of China’sMilitary Commission.

Muslim body flays Antony’sstatement on minority

ALIGARH: An Aligarh-based Muslim body has writ-ten a letter to Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi expressingdismay over AK Anotony’sremarks that some sectionsof society have an impressionthat the party is inclined tominority communities.

Millat Bedari MuhimCommittee (MBMC), whichhad supported the Congressduring Lok Sabha polls, saidthat Muslims can do without“pseudo appeasement andtokenism which the Congresshas been offering during thepast few years”.

The outfit passed aresolution yesterday describ-ing Antony’s statement as a“conspiracy to totally alienateMuslims from Congress anddestabilise Sonia’s leadershipwithin the party.”

“Antony’s statement

has come as a shock to theMuslims who are left behindsocially, economically andeducationally,” MBMC sec-retary Jasim Mohammadsaid.

The senior Congressleader said that some sectionsof the society have an im-pression that Congress is in-

clined towards minority com-munities. Jasim claimed thatsome “Congress-led stategovernments had in fact triedto ‘hoodwink Muslims’ bypromising to introduce jobquotas when they were fullyaware that these quotaswould be struck down by thecourts.”

not receive their bills on time. Most of the landline

phone owners also statedthat in the absence of the billcopy, they miss the last dateof payment and have to shellout late payment. “Bills keepsalaried people on their toesas it reminds them of timelypayments. In the absence ofbills, I miss the last date ofpayment and exact amount,ending up paying more thanthe actual amount. Despiterepeated requests, I have notreceived any SMS alert fromBSNL for bill payment,” saidMr Dinesh Moorty, a residentof Birchgunj. 

When AndamanSheekha contacted the Chief

General Manager, Mr V Raju,ITS, he assured immediate ac-tion and said that BSNL of-fice is also receiving a lot ofcomplaints from the custom-ers.

“We dispatch thebills to Post Office, we willtake up the case at the high-est level of the postal depart-ment, and in all possiblemeans let it be any data or inwritten, we will ask themwhy the bills are not deliv-ered to our customers, as weare paying to the postal de-partment. Things should im-prove after all our customersare suffering because serviceis provided by BSNL,” MrRaju added.

BSNL customers... (From page 1)

Not surprised by fuelhike: Nitish Kumar

Senior JD(U) leader andformer Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Tuesday saidhe was not surprised at risein prices of petrol and dieselbesides, soaring rates of fooditems under Narendra Modigovernment which could notdeliver on tall promises madeso far.“I am not surprised.The rise in petrol and dieselprices along with soaring foodprices have come as surpriseto those who harboured ex-pectations from the new gov-ernment which had made tallpromises of ‘Achhe din’ (gooddays) on election eve,” Kumartold reporters emerging fromthe Legislative Council.

Asked if the pet slo-gan of Narendra Modi“Achhe din” (good days)have come true or was it like“India Shinning” of previousNDA government, Kumarwith a caustic smile said op-position was giving somemore time to the new gov-

ernment before taking thegovernment to task for itsfailures.Kumar’s terse re-marks came as reaction tohike of petrol price by asteep Rs 1.69 per litre anddiesel by 50 paise a litre.

Kumar, who hadserved as Railway ministerin the NDA rule of AtalBihari Vajpayee, had earliertaken on the new govern-ment over rise of Railwaypassenger fare by 14.2 percent as well that in freightby 6.7 per cent and said theresults did not correspondwith Modi government’spromise of “Achhe din”(good days).

Senior RJD leaderand former Chief MinisterRabri Devi was also criticalof the government for rais-ing prices of petrol and die-sel and said now ‘Achhe din’(good days) are coming un-der Prime Minister NarendraModi.

8 02.07.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

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Edited, Published, Printed and Owned by Shri Sanjib Kumar Roy and Published from Roy Villa, INS Utkrosh Road, New Pahargaon,Garacharma Post Office- 744105,South Andaman, A & N Islands. Printed at Royal Printers, Bargat Line, South Andaman. Editor: Shri Sanjib Kumar Roy.

DATE - 01-07-2014

Modi's marital status case:Court says offence committed;

but no FIR now A local court in Ahmedabadtoday held that though PrimeMinister Narendra Modicommitted an offence underthe Representation of People(RP) Act by not disclosing hismarital status during 2012state Assembly elections, anFIR cannot be registeredagainst him in this regards asthe complaint against himwas not filed within the pre-scribed time limit of oneyear.The order was pro-nounced by Additional Judi-cial magistrate M M Sheikhwhile hearing a petition filedby Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)leader Nishant Verma.

Verma had in Aprilapproached the court afterRanip police station turneddown refused to register anFIR against Modi, the thenchief minister of Gujarat, for‘concealing’ facts about hismarital status in his affidavitfiled during state elections inDecember 2012. Verma inhis petition had also soughtaction against the then Re-turning Officer of ManinagarAssembly constituency P K

Jedeja for accepting Modi’saffidavit at that time.

Modi had disclosedhis marital status for the firsttime on April 9, when he filednomination papers for con-testing Lok Sabha electionsfrom Vadodara seat. He hadmentioned name of wifeJashodaben in the affidavitfiled with the nomination pa-pers.

Sheikh in his ordersaid, “The complainant(Verma) has alleged that onNovember 30, 2012, accusedno. 1 (Modi) had filed affi-davit in prescribed format but‘concealed’ name of his wifeby leaving the space formarital status blank. By leav-ing the space blank though anoffence was committed un-der section 125 (a) (3) of RP Act, cognisance of the of-fence cannot be taken underCriminal Procedure Code(CrPC) section 468 as thecomplaint (by Verma) wasfiled after time period of oneyear and four months.”

Section 125 (a) (3)of R P Act deals with pen-

alty for concealing informa-tion while filing affidavitwhile contesting elections andprovides for imprisonment fora term which may extend upto six months. However, cog-nizance of the offence can betaken only if complaint is filedwithin one year of filing theaffidavit.

The magistrate dis-missed Verma's petition ob-serving that since the com-plaint was filed after the timelimit prescribed in R P Act,cognizance of offence againstModi cannot be taken.

Verma's lawyers KR Koshti and SamshadPathan said that they wouldappeal against the order ofthe judicial magistrate.

BJP's allies in TamilNadu demand

rollback of hike inpetrol, diesel prices

CHENNAI: A day after theCentre effected a hike inpetrol and diesel prices, theruling BJP's allies in TamilNadu demanded its rollbackimmediately.

In a statement, PMKchief S Ramadoss said theNDA government had in-creased the prices of petroland diesel for the second timeafter it came to power in May.

"Though the Centrehas increased petrol pricesby Rs 1.69 and diesel by 50paise, the actual price theconsumer in Tamil Naduwill be paying will be aroundRs 2.17 per litre for petroland Rs 0.58 for diesel, in-cluding the state taxes.

Since January lastyear, the price of diesel hasincreased 17 times and byRs 11.57 per litre," he saidand demanded its rollbackimmediately.

The people of thecountry expected that theprices would come downafter Narendra Modi tookover as Prime Minister and

it was the responsibility ofthe government to keep theprices under control,Ramadoss said.

MDMK chief Vaikosaid the hike in petrol anddiesel prices would lead toinflation and thereby an in-crease in the prices of es-sential commodities. Thelatest hike in fuel comes afew days after the Centreincreased the railway pas-senger and freight rates by14.2%, he said.

"The common manis yet to recover from theshock of increase in railfares and the latest increasein petrol and diesel priceswill hit him even harder,"Vaiko said in a statement.

The UPAgovernment's policy of al-lowing oil companies to in-crease the fuel prices re-sulted in inflation. Withoutfollowing the UPA policy,the NDA governmentshould rollback the fuelpr ice hike immediately,Vaiko added.