NEW DELHI, FEB 27Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Friday said his government,which followed the religion of"India first", was working keep-ing in mind the thought of"development of all" with partic-ular emphasis on the northeasternpart of the country.

Replying to the discussion inthe Lok Sabha on the motion ofthanks to President PranabMukherjee`s address, he also saidhis government "corrected" theland acquisition act for the sakeof farmers, and if there is any-thing anti-farmer in the law theyare ready to change it.

He also stressed the govern-ment had "compelled" the nationto talk about black money.

He said his government wasworking for all states without dif-ferentiating which party was inpower there.

"We don`t look at colour of theparty`s flag in a state but look atthe tricolour," he said, addingthat his government was not dis-criminating among the states onthe basis of their governments.

He also claimed that it was thefirst time after Independence,

that the budgets of the states havemore money than that of the cen-tre, adding this has been done toempower states.

"We strongly believe that statesare to be empowered and takenforward," he said, adding he had

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

CHANDIGARH, FEB 27The Haryana govern-

ment on Friday said it hasdecided to raise the cashreward under the inter-caste marriage schemefrom Rs 50,000 to Rs 1lakh.

This decision was takenat a meeting of the statelevel Vigilance andMonitoring Committeeheld here under the chair-manship of the ChiefMinister Manohar LalKhattar, an official releasesaid.

It was constituted underRule 16 of the ScheduledCastes and ScheduledTribes (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act.

The Chief Minister said

with the hike in the rewardmoney, the number ofinter-caste marriageswould go up and help inremoving caste discrimi-nation.

He said that such assis-tance should be providedthrough bank accountsunder the PradhanmantriJan-Dhan Yojana.

The department shouldwork on how to make theprocess the shortest so thatfinancial assistance can beprovided to the beneficiar-ies without any delay, hesaid.

Reviewing the imple-mentation of provisions ofScheduled Castes andScheduled Tribe (POA)

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, FEB 27The pre-Budget

Economic Survey, tabledin Parliament on Friday byFinance Minister ArunJaitley called for improv-ing business environmentby making regulation andtaxes less onerous to helppush growth to 8.1-8.5 per-cent next fiscal, and todouble digits in the comingyears.

"India has reached asweet spot and there isscope for Big Bangreforms now," said theSurvey on the eve of thenew government's firstfull-year Budget, to be pre-sented by Finance MinisterArun Jaitley.

A clear political mandatefor reforms and a benign

external environment, itsaid, "is now expected topropel India to double digitgrowth trajectory". TheBJP-led NDA governmentcame to power in May lastyear wining a clear man-date.

Other areas highlightedby the Survey includereforming labour laws,building infrastructure andenabling connectivity toreduce cost of doing busi-ness in the country.

"In the short run, growthwill receive a boost fromlower oil prices, from like-ly monetary policy easingfacilitated by lower infla-tion and lower inflationaryexpectations, and forecastof a normal monsoon," theSurvey said.

It also indicated that thegrowth during 2014-15may touch 8 percent onbetter farm output. TheCSO had projected growthat 7.4 percent for currentfiscal.

India must adhere to themedium term fiscal deficittarget of 3 per cent of theGDP, it said, adding "thiswill provide fiscal space toinsure against futureshocks and also to movecloser to the fiscal per-formance of its emergingpeers.Highlights of EconomicSurvey 2015

INFLATION, GROWTH* Evidence shows India

recovering, but not yet CONTD. ON PAGE 3

MUMBAITemperature: 330CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 51%Wind: 21Km/hr

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTSaturday, February 28, 2015

Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Dialogue Commissionformed to implement poll promises

Micromax Canvas Selfie With 13-Megapixel Front andRear Cameras Launched at Rs. 15,999

Akshay Kumar: I feel that actors fake it when theysay that they got depressed after doing a role

My government's religion is''India first'': PM Narendra Modi

P8

NEW DELHI, FEB 27In all 13,73,853 students

would be appearing for theclass 10 CBSE board exami-nation this year, a 3.37 percent hike than last year. Boththe class 10 and class 12

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Over 13 lakh stu-dents to take CBSEclass 10 exams

FARIDABAD, FEB 27An 11-year-old girl was

allegedly raped by a man inMewla Maharajpur villagehere, police said on Friday.The incident took place yes-terday when the victimreached the gate of her school,they said. The accused, identi-fied as Sharda Soni, had come

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

11-year-old girlraped in Haryana

GUWAHATI, FEB 27Assam government has dis-

tributed free bicycles to2,93,413 girl students toencourage girl students toattend schools.

These girl students belongto BPL families and have

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Assam govt distrib-ute 2,93,413 bicyclesto girl students

MUMBAI, FEB 27BJP ally and NDA member

Shiv Sena on Friday allegedthat the new land bill was"only about forcibly takingaway lands" in the name ofdevelopment, and said hisparty would continue tooppose it.

"We have been constantly CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Land Acquisition Ordinance is only about rob-bing farmers of their land: Uddhav Thackeray

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Expressing optimism over

the state of the economy ashighlighted in the EconomicSurvey, BJP President AmitShah said that if the countrygrows with high rate it willprovide an opportunity to wipethe tears from the eyes of thedeprived and the poor. He saidNDA government under Narendra Modi's leadership

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

High economic growth will wipetears of the poor: Amit Shah

BARMER, FEB 27Amidst ongoing debates on

Rahul Gandhi's elevation asthe Congress president,Rajasthan PCC chief SachinPilot on Friday said theground-level workers of theparty still want Sonia Gandhito lead the party.

"Ground-level workers ofthe party want Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Ground-level workers want Sonia toremain Congress president: Sachin Pilot

FARIDABAD, FEB 27The Haryana government

will transfer pensions undervarious social securityschemes directly to the bankaccounts of beneficiaries.

State Chief Secretary SunilGulati informed all Deputy

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Haryana to transfer socialsecurity benefits to benefi-ciaries' bank accounts

GHAZIABAD, FEB 27The Ghaziabad

Development Authority onFriday said the project cost of9.41 km Dilshad Garden-NewBus Stand Ghaziabad Metroextension line would not esca-late due to delay on account ofcourt litigation.

The litigation has been filed CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Ghaziabad Metro line'scost won't increase

NEW DELHI, FEB 27A total of 233 foreign boats

were seized and 1,686 foreigncrew were apprehended byIndian Coast Guard during theperiod 2011-15, the LokSabha was informed onFriday. In a written reply,

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

233 foreign boatsseized, 1686 crew heldduring 2011-15: Govt

P6P2

Economic Survey 2015 (Overview andHighlights): India to grow over 8% in FY16

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Setting the stage for the installa-

tion of PDP-BJP government inJammu and Kashmir on Sunday,Prime Minister Narendra Modi andPDP patron Mufti MohammedSayeed today shook hands andhugged each other noting that thecoalition was like "bringing togeth-er of North Pole and South Pole".

79-year-old Sayeed will take oathas the state's Chief Minister alongwith 12 members each from PDPand BJP at Jammu at a ceremony tobe attended by Modi. BJP's NirmalSingh is expected to be the DeputyChief Minister. The two parties,bitter rivals in the past, have heldintense negotiations sinceDecember when the election ver-dict resulted in a hung Assembly, toput together the coalition on the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to be sworn inas CM on Sunday, PM Modi to attend

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 290CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 63%Wind: `13Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 330CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:53% Wind: 16Km/hr

CHENNAITemperature: 320CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:55%Wind: 14Km/hr

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal will head a newagency - The DelhiDialogue Commission -that will implement theAAP`s 70-point agenda forthe capital`s growth, offi-cials said Friday.

A meeting of the Delhicabinet chaired byKejriwal approved the set-

ting up of a nine-memberadvisory body to ensurethe execution of the AamAadmi Party government`svision for governance.

The commission willhave Kejriwal as its chair-person and party colleagueAshish Khetan as vicechairperson.

Its members will include CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Arvind Kejriwal tohead body to deliver

70-point agenda

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Taking suo motu note

of a letter on posting oftwo rape videos onWhatsApp, the SupremeCourt on Friday askedCBI to launch a probe"forthwith" to nab theculprits and soughtresponses from theCentre and governmentsof Uttar Pradesh, WestBengal, Odisha, Delhiand Telangana.

"The fact of the matteris that it is a very seriousissue and somethingneeds to be done," thesocial justice bench ofjustices Madan B Lokurand UU Lalit said aftergoing through the con-

tents of the letter writtenby Hyderabad-basedNGO Prajwala to ChiefJustice of India HLDattu.

"Since the first sugges-tion (of NGO) is for CBIinvestigation, notice be

issued to the DirectorCBI to register the crimeand start investigationwith immediate effect,"the bench said.

The NGO, which pro-vided the videos in a pen

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Rape videos on WhatsApp; SC ordersCBI probe, issues notice to Centre

Cash reward for inter-castemarriage raised in Haryana

NEW DELHI, FEB 27The government said

Friday that the enforce-ment directorate (ED)has not pitched for anodal coordinatingagency to deal withblack money casesstashed illegally aboardand at home. Ministerof State (MoS) FinanceJayant Sinha informedthe Lok Sabha that theED which is mandatedwith enforcing the

Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act(PMLA), 2002, has notcalled for a nodalagency to deal withbalck money.

The minister furthersaid that the initiationof any action by the EDunder PMLA is subjectto registration of a caseof commission of apredicate offencewhich is included in the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

ED has not asked for anodal agency to deal with

black money: Minister

Vol. 1 Issue: 168 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

PM's statement positivebut intention a suspect:Congress on LandAcquisition OrdinanceNEW DELHI, FEB 27

Congress on Friday reactedcautiously to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's efforts toreach out to the opposition andoffer to make changes, if neces-sary, in the Land AcquisitionOrdinance in farmers' interest.

"It is a very positive and wel-come statement but the inten-tion is a suspect as the govern-ment had often talked aboutholding joint session," partyMP Bhalchandra Mungekarsaid at the AICC briefing.

Mungekar, a former member CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Harpreet Kaur Sondhi

(Vice Chairman)Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

SRINAGAR, FEB 27As BJP and PDP reached an

alliance, former chief ministerOmar Abdullah on Friday said itwas a tie-up between North and

South Poles and questioned "whereare the celebrations on the streetsof Jammu and Kashmir".

The NC leader also claimed that CONTD. ON PAGE 3

With Mufti, Modi hug capital of J&Kshifted to Nagpur: Omar Abdullah

NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, FEB 27The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

government on Friday announcedthe formation of Delhi DialogueCommission under the leadershipof Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal.

Informing of the move, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodiatold ANI, "The Delhi DialogueCommission will be headed by theDelhi CM. It will work to imple-ment plans and fulfill the promis-es that we made."

"Ashish Khetan will be the ViceChairman of Delhi DialogueCommission," added Sisodia.

The Commission will beresponsible for effective imple-mentation of the 70-point planmanifesto of AAP government.

The Commission will be a legal-ly notified body, which will makesure the manifesto promises arerightly yielded.

Kejriwal and his cabinet minis-

ters were sworn-in on February 14at Ramlila Maidan. Kejriwal tookthe oath of office from LtGovernor Najeeb Jung -- followedby six ministers -- and then spokein Hindi. Besides Sisodia, the

deputy chief minister, the otherministers are Satyendra Jain,Sandeep Kumar, Gopal Rai, AsimAhmed Khan and Jitendra SinghTomar. The AAP registered a his-toric win in the Delhi Assembly

Elections by winning 67 seats inthe 70-member Delhi Assembly.While the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) managed to grab just threeseats, the Congress failed to openits account.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Dialogue Commissionformed to implement poll promises

NEW DELHI, FEB 27The Home Ministry has

initiated the process ofappointing the next ChiefSecretary of Delhi bysending a panel of threesenior IAS officers to thecity government after find-ing that the only namegiven by Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal was toojunior to hold the top posi-tion.

Official sources saidKejriwal had on Thursdayrequested Home MinisterRajnath Singh to do theneedful for appointing

1984-batch IAS officer RSNegi as the ChiefSecretary of Delhi to suc-ceed incumbent DMSpolia, who retires tomor-row.

However, Negi wasfound to be too junior tohold the top bureaucraticpost in Delhi as there arenearly a dozen officerssenior to him still servingin different capacities.

The Home Ministry iswaiting for a response ofthe Delhi government onthe issue, sourcessaid.

The Home Minister issaid to be ready to accom-modate the request ofKejriwal but service rulesare coming in the way,forcing his Ministry tosend the panel of three IASofficers, sources said.

"We will see how to findthe way out as we knowthat it is the ChiefMinister's prerogative toselect the Chief Secretary.But the rules are para-mount," they said.

Negi is currently servingas the Chief Secretary ofArunachal Pradesh.

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Delhi Police has regis-

tered an FIR against AllIndia Majlis IttehadulMuslimin (AIMIM) leaderand MP Asaduddin Owaisifor waging war and promot-ing enmity among religiousgroups among other sec-tions in connection with analleged hate speech he haddelivered last year.

The FIR was registeredyesterday at the Farsh BazarPolice Station in East Delhiafter a local court here haddirected the Delhi Police onFebruary 18 to lodge acriminal case againstOwaisi under relevant pro-visions of the IPC on a pri-vate complaint.

"We have registered anFIR under IPC sections of120 B (criminal conspira-cy), 121 (waging waragainst India), 153(A) (pro-moting enmity between dif-ferent groups), 504

(Intentional insult withintent to provoke breach ofthe peace) in addition withsection 66A, 66F and 67 ofthe Information andTechnology Act following acourt order," said a seniorpolice official.

Further investigations areunderway, he added.

The court had passed theorder on the complaint ofAjay Gautam, social workerand a priest, seeking lodg-ing of an FIR against

Owaisi for his alleged hatespeech in June last year.

The complainant said thaton June 5, 2014, he had readan article in the online edi-tion of a newspaper inwhich Owaisi had allegedlydelivered a speech againstPrime Minister NarendraModi. He said he had foundit was not the first time thatthe leader had delivered"hate speech and createdterror and fear" in the mindsof one community.

Delhi Police registers FIR againstAsaduddin Owaisi for hate speech

MHA offers three namesto Arvind Kejriwal for

picking new CS of Delhi

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Around 15,000 resident doc-

tors at government hospitals inDelhi went off work in protestagainst the assault on one oftheir colleagues, causing incon-venience to hundreds of patients.

Around 15,000 resident doc-tors from Ram Manohar LohiaHospital, GTB, Safdarjung,Lady Hardinge, Hindu Rao,Ambedkar, DDU, MahrishiBalmiki, ESI and others boy-cotted work. They were protest-ing the assault on a doctor atGuru Tegh Bahadur Hospital byrelatives of a patient late onMonday night.

Later in the day, Delhi HealthMinister Satyendra Jain claimedthat the government has accept-ed all demands of the doctorsand security has been beefed upin all hospitals.

"The numbers of securityguards and Delhi Police person-nel have been increased outside

ICU and emergency wards sothat such incident could not hap-pen again," Jain said at a pressconference here.

Jain also said that doctorsexcept those of GTB Hospitalhave called off their strike.

Meanwhile, the city todayreported 83 fresh cases of swineflu as the total number of casesrose to 2,791.

The health department ofDelhi government carried out315 tests, of which 83 were test-ed positive.

A five-year-old girl hasbecome the 10th victim of swineflu, taking to 10 the total numberof deaths due to the H1N1 virusin the national capital.

According to a governmentofficial, the girl died at HinduRao Hospital. "Alisha was suf-fering from H1N1 influenzavirus and died at Hindu RaoHospital on February 13," theofficial said.

Doctors go off dutyprotesting against

attack on colleague

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Uber cab driver Shiv Kumar

Yadav, facing trial for allegedlyraping a woman executive whohe was ferrying in his taxi,Friday told the court that theDelhi Police has not conductedfair investigation in the matter.

Delivering his final argu-ments, Yadav`s counsel D. K.Mishra told AdditionalSessions Judge Kaveri Bawejathat the Delhi Police, instead offinding and verifying facts inthe case, has gone to prosecutehis client and did not conductfair investigation in the matter.

He also alleged that policehas deliberately planted a falsecase against Yadav citing vari-ous loopholes in investigationincluding victim`s differentversion in her statement to thepolice control room (PCR),first information report (FIR)and others.

He also raised question overdropping of victim`s fiance asan witness in the case and andnot verifying call detailsrecord, SMS and Whatsappconverstation of woman, herfiance and her friend, who hasbooked cab by using the Uberapplication.

According to the chargesheet, the woman had sent an

SMS to her fiance telling himabout the incident which bymistake went to the accused`snumber.

Mishra further added thatpolice have relied over variousdocuments in the case but hadnot filed them with the chargesheet. Over a media report thatvictim`s father is gettingthreats, he orally requested

court to issue direction forlodging FIR over it.

The final arguments will becontinued Saturday.

The prosecution had Jan 31completed recording of evi-dence in just 17 days.

According to police, thewoman executive was alleged-ly raped by 32-year-old Yadavon the night of Dec 5, 2014 inthe cab she hired to head backhome in north Delhi`s Inderlokarea. The accused took thewoman in an isolated placewith the motive to commit theheinous crime.

The court had Jan 13 framedcharges of rape, causing griev-ous bodily harm and endanger-ing the life of a woman, kid-napping a woman, criminalintimidation and voluntarilycausing hurt against Yadavunder various sections of theIndian Penal Code.

Uber cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadavalleges police probe not fair

NEW DELHI, FEB 27The Railway Budget

presented on Thursdayevoked mixed reactionsfrom passengers at variousDelhi stations with someeven demanding a rethinkon measures perceived aspopulist.

For instance, no freshhikes were announced inthe latest budget, but therewere many who said thatif paying a little extrameant that the facilitieswere improved, they didnot mind shelling outmore.

“I would happily giveaway more money if thepathetic standards ofcleanliness at stations andwagons were improved.But it wouldn’t beachieved by pumpingmoney alone.Enforcement of anti-litter-ing rules have to be madestricter, something Delhi

Metro has shown us,” saidRitesh Agrawal, a schoolteacher waiting for anAgra-bound train at theHazrat Nizamuddin rail-way station.

Cleanliness, earmarkedby Mr. Agrawal as the arearequiring the most atten-tion, was a word that res-onated in almost everyresponse of passengers atthe New Delhi and HazratNizamuddin stations.People were quick to high-

light the littering on thetracks and even insidecompartments.

Announcement of nonew trains also left manydisappointed, especiallythe frequent travellers ingeneral compartments forwhom an extended facilitybarely meant a little morespace. Even those travel-ling in reserved compart-ments such as NishantSingh were of the viewthat on most routes,

including his Punjab-Delhi one, more trainswere required because ofthe rush.

Elderly Pradip Dey fromChhattisgarh or youngPratichi from Jabalpur,both waiting for CentralIndia-bound trains, had adifferent take on the lackof new trains as they saidit was more important toimprove the already avail-able infrastructure beforeintroducing new ones.

New Delhi: TheAAP on Fridaydemanded an inde-pendent and courtmonitored probeafter media reportsclaimed that a cor-porate house influ-enced top politi-cians, governmentofficials and media.

The party saidsuch cases by thepublic servants,MPs and ministersare violation of thePrevention of theCorruption Act.

"These mediareports have once

again exposed avery strong corpo-r a t e - p o l i t i c i a n -bureaucrat-medianexus."

"We believea thatbribing public ser-vants like bureau-crats, ministers,MPs and police offi-cials is a clear viola-tion of thePrevention ofCorruption Act. Athorough probe intothe entire matter canonly bring out thetruth and expose theculprits."

"We demand that

an independentcourt monitoredinquiry should beset up to bring outthe truth and punishthe culprits.

The investigationteam should becompletely insulat-ed from any kind ofpolitical influence,because names ofsome senior politi-cian have figured inmedia reports andthey might try toinfluence theprobe," theparty said in a state-ment.

FRIDAY, FEB 27The city reported the death of

a five-year-old girl due to com-plications arising out of swineflu, taking the total number ofdeaths to 10.

Six hundred and sixty fivepersons were tested for the fluon Thursday and 137 caseswere found to be positive. Thecity currently has 2,708 cases ofswine flu, according to a seniorhealth official. Maintaining thatthere is no need to panic, healthofficials have said that there is

adequate manpower and medi-cines available. “Awareness andearly detection is the key,’’ theysaid.

The World HealthOrganisation has noted that it is“carefully watching” the swineflu situation in India.

Last week, three persons,including a 23-year-old preg-nant woman, died of swine flu .“The woman, a resident of EastDelhi’s Krishna Nagar wasadmitted to Lok Nayak JayaPrakash Hospital on February 5

and succumbed to the diseaseon February12. We have includ-ed her name in the list ofpatients succumbing to compli-cations arising out of swine fluon Wednesday ,” said a seniorhealth official. He said that thewoman’s samples were sent fortest on February 6 to theNational Centre for DiseaseControl and on February 9, thereports confirmed that she wassuffering from swine flu. Shehad been on ventilator supportfrom February 6 to 12.

Don’t mind paying more for betterfacilities, say passengers

AAP demands probe intocorporate house bribes

5-year-old girl dies of swine flu

Delhi Metro to run onsingle line betweenSarita Vihar, BadarpurNEW DELHI, FEB 27

The Delhi Metro on Friday said train servicesbetween Sarita Vihar and Badarpur stations willrun on single line for a few hours over theweekend due to construction work

Train services between the two stations,which fall on Line 6, operating from MandiHouse to Badarpur, would run on single lineFeb 28 and March 1, a statement said.

On Feb 28, trains would run on single linefrom 11 p.m. till the last revenue service, whileon March 1, the trains would run on single linefrom 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., it said.

The frequency during this period would beapproximately 16 minutes "which is more orless similar to a normal day schedule, with nomajor impact on passenger movement from oneend to another end of the line", the statementsaid.

"This is necessitated due to OHE (Over HeadElectricity) interlinking work planned by theDMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) onthese days between Badarpur end of Line 6with upcoming extension of Line 6 towardsFaridabad side," it said.

Two stations - Mohan Estate andTughlakabad - fall between the Sarita Vihar andBadarpur stations.

NEW DELHI, FEB 27Resident doctors working in gov-

ernment hospitals on Friday stageda protest following the delay inimproving security conditions inhospitals here.

As a part of the protest, they havealso decided to refrain from anykind of clinical work in the hospitalsthey work in.

"We are no more going to wait forthe government`s reply. It has beenproved that they consider our prob-lem too tiny to be taken seriously.This is shameful," said BalwinderSingh, president, Federation OfResident Doctors Association(FORDA).

The FORDA in a letter dated

February 12 had urged union HealthMinister JP Nadda to improve thesecurity conditions, availability oflife saving drugs, surgical equip-ment and surgical consumables ingovernment hospitals.

Doctors said if the governmentdoesn`t pay heed to the letter, theywill call for an indefinite strike.

In the letter, the association statedthat the lack of security in the hos-pitals has left the doctors open toassaults from patients` attendants.

"The situation in the governmenthospitals has turned so bad that evenpickpockets and thieves are roamingin the hospitals stealing patients`belongings and cash," Balwindertold a news agency.

Delhi: Resident doctorsprotest over security issues

Continuation 3NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015SAADDA HAQ

My government's...a chance to roam around the country for

over 40 years and knew it well.Mentioning the northeastern region, he

asked rhetorically why he would visit suchplaces from where only one or two MPscome.

Answering himself, he said it had "nothingto do with politics". "I am not after politicalgains. I go there to see how those areas couldbe developed... they have tremendous poten-tial to be developed... be prosperous areas,"he said.

Modi also cautioned communal forces,asserting the country`s diversity was its realstrength and nobody would be allowed to dis-turb it. He said the constitution has every-thing that the country stands for and thenation was being run on its basis only.

"Nobody is allowed to take the law in hishands. My government`s religion is `Indiafirst`...my government`s religion is `constitu-tion first`, he said amid loud cheers frommembers of the BJP and its allies.

Touching upon the contentious issue ofland acquisition, Modi said despite knowingwell why the previous UPA government wastrying to get the land acquisition bill passed,his party stood behind it and helped itbecome an act.

"We knew that they were doing it for polit-ical gains in their last months in the govern-ment but we still supported it and it becamean act," he said, adding that when the BJPcame to power, the states started pointingtowards problems it had, "so we are trying tomake required changes in it and that`s it".

"My government is doing corrections andif you still feel there`s something wrong, Iam ready to make changes," he said.

"This is a small solution to correct the mis-takes. We don`t reject your attempt, we arejust adding something," Modi said.

"If there is anything anti-farmer there, weare ready to change it. Take political mileageout of it I have no problem. I will still givethe credit to those who made the law pub-licly," he said hinting at the Congress-ledUPA which passed The Right to FairCompensation and Transparency in LandAcquisition, Rehabilitation and ResettlementBill in 2013.

The Congress, which led the governmentthat passed the bill, must not be "arrogant",he said.

On black money, he said: "We have com-pelled the nation to talk about black money.This is a big thing. Our first decision in ourfirst cabinet meeting was the decision on(forming) SIT on black money."

Modi, while emphasising his government`scleanliness drive, said his government is inthe process of building toilets across thecountry and a large number have alreadybeen built.

"Cleanliness directly affects tourism.Tourism has increased after we have startedthis drive," he said.

PM's statement ...of the Planning Commission, said the bill

was brought by the UPA government aftercareful consideration and intense discus-sions.

He also dwelt at length on the EconomicSurvey released by the government today. Healleged that the government pressurised theRBI to reduce repo rate.

In a spirited reply to the debate on theMotion of Thanks to the President's addressin Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister expressedwillingness to make changes in the land billas he reached out to opposition for support,saying they should shed politics and ego andnot make it a prestige issue.

Again he taunted Congress saying it cannotbe "arrogant" that the land law passed by itwas the best.

Arvind Kejriwal...Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia

along with the chief secretary of Delhi, theprincipal secretary of finance, the secretaryto the chief minister and a member secretaryto be appointed by the chairperson.

The chairperson will also nominate twoother members to the body.

"The vested interests of successive govern-ments and their remoteness from their con-stituents ensured that the most fundamentalneeds of the people of Delhi have remainedunaddressed," an official statement said.

Mufti Mohammed ...basis of Common Minimum Programme

(CMP) which will be released on Sunday.The CMP will cover all controversial issueslike Article 370, Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act and resettlement of WestPakistan Refugees.

Reflecting the difficulties they faced,Sayeed said after an hour-long meeting withthe Prime Minister that the coalition was like"bringing together North Pole and SouthPole". He made it clear that the coalition wasfirst a political alliance and then an alliancefor governance.

With Mufti...with the sealing of the alliance the capital

of the state has shifted to Nagpur, an obliquereference to the RSS headquarter.

"With this hug (between PDP chief Sayeedand Prime Minister Modi) the South Pole andthe North Pole met and the capital of J-Kshifted to Nagpur," Omar wrote on Twitter.

Omar, the National Conference (NC)working president, questioned where are thecelebrations on the streets of the state?

"As all the expert J&K commentators willnot tire telling us that this Modi-Mufti accordis the best thing since sliced bread I must askwhere are the celebrations on the streets ofJ&K? There should have been a spontaneouseruption of joy on both sides of the moun-tains," he said.

He claimed the reaction of the people ofKashmir to the alliance was "generallymuted".

"I am sure a few crackers will be organisedbetween now and Sunday (when Sayeedtakes oath) but the general reaction is decid-edly muted. #modimuftiaccord," he said.

Referring to the speech of Prime MinisterModi in Lok Sabha, Omar said, "Strongwords from @PMOIndia in Parliamenttoday. Now to see them translated into actionbecause as is often said - talk is cheap," hesaid.

Economic Survey ...surging* Upside risk to inflation from monsoon,

crude price* Inflation showed declining trend during

April-December* Inflation not seen up significantly from

current level* Monetary framework to show commit-

ment to low inflation* Inflation likely to remain in 5.0-5.5%

range* Jan Dhan plan, Aadhaar to help target

subsidies* Outlook for macro economy generally

optimistic* FY15 price subsidy pegged at 4.24% of

GDP* GDP growth points to industrial recovery* GST, direct benefit transfer to be game

changers* Recommend retail FDI reform to better

farm supply chain* India must adhere to medium term fiscal

gap target of 3%* GST, direct benefit transfers to be game

changers* Labour, capital, land market distortions

limit economic growth* FY15 GDP growth largely driven by

domestic demand* Fall in crude prices has compressed

import bill* Budget aim of gross tax revenue growth

over estimated* Economy appears to have gone past

slowdown* Double digit economic growth trajectory

now a possibility* Growth to get boost from likely monetary

policy easing* Muted export growth source of concern* Private investment must be engine of

long-term growth* India in a sweet spot for big bang reforms

now* Subsidy doesn't seem best weapon to

fight poverty* May have to cut some spending FY15 to

meet fiscal gap aim* Need to cut expenditure if revenue not

picking up* Macro-economic fundamentals have dra-

matically improved* Falling inflation likely to persist going

forward

FISCAL HEALTH* Govt remains committed to fiscal consol-

idation* Need medium to long-term fiscal policy

framework* Govt borrow should fund invest, not for

current spend* Fiscal consolidation quality key to make

it sustainable* Urge govt to aim to bring dn fiscal gap to

3.0% of GDP* Higher tax share to states won't impact

fiscal discipline* Must start expenditure control process to

cut fiscal gap* India forex reserves 2nd largest among

economies with CAD

INDUSTRY, INFRASTRUCTURE* Divest mop-up so far Rs 240 billion this

FY* Coal price reform must factor in impact

on power price* Banking hobbled by policy that impedes

competition* Potential for further gains from coal pric-

ing reforms* Public invest in railways to be key to

growth revival* High rail freight rates hinder industry

competitiveness* Private investment must remain primary

engine of longrun growth* Railway freight rates among the highest

in the world

REFORMS* Scope for big-bang reforms now* Link post office with Aadhaar-based ben-

efit transfers* Potential for large gains from coal pricing

reforms

AGRICULTURE* Need national common market for farm

goods* Need law amendment for trading in some

agri commodities* Market distortion key problem in farm

growth

* FCI rejig panel report ideas useful forfood policy

* Rs 107.82 billion food subsidy given asof January 9, up 20%

* Agricultural strategy must focus on rais-ing yield, productivity

* Food grain output 2014-15 seen 257.07million tonnes

* All states urged to drop fruits, vegetablesfrom APMC

* Structural shifts in inflationary processunderway

* Favour constitutional clause for commonfarm goods market

* Asked states for policy help to farm mar-kets in private sector

FINANCIAL SECTOR, MARKETS* Must remove market access barriers to

boost services sector* Must boost capital market, bond financ-

ing going forward* Capital, labour, land market distortions

hurting manufacturing* SLR need, priority lending creating fincl

repression* Commercial banks saw increase in gross

NPAs* Foreign portfolio flows have stabilised

the rupee* Trade performance signals good time to

scrap gold curbs* Must create extra fiscal space to ensure

economic stability* Undertaken major reform steps for banks,

insurance* India ranks well above the mean for BBB

invest grade* See some stress on asset quality of com-

mercial banks* Rising non-oil, non-gold imports source

of concern* Liquidity conditions remained broadly

balanced* Low inflation makes space for easing

monetary condition* Ensure borrow over the cycle only for

capital formation* Steps taken by RBI played key role in liq-

uidity management* Need to conclude monetary policy frame-

work agreement* Oil prices expected to stay benign in

coming months

SUBSIDY* Also need to rationalise subsidies to free

resources* Need to target beneficiaries better to free

resources* Ending, phasing out subsidy not feasible,

nor desirable* Subsidy on power can only benefit rela-

tively rich* Current study shows rich benefiting more

from subsidy* Price subsidy often regressive* Subsidy reform to rationalise expenditure* Subsidies via direct benefit transfers

laudable goal* Rationalisation of food subsidies needs

more effort

INVESTMENT* India ranks among most attractive invest

destinations* Invest activity seems grounded on

stronger footing* PPP model should be revitalised* Favour greater public invest in railways* Investment stuck in stalled projects at

about 7% of GDP* Public invest can revive growth engine in

short run* PSUs, especially railways, must lead

public investment* Expenditure switch from consumption to

invest to be key

FY15 ESTIMATES* FY15 weak import largely on sharp fall

in crude prices* FY15 saw hardly any external support to

growth* FY15 growth largely domestic demand

driven* FY15 fiscal deficit of 4.1% of GDP will

be met* FY15 CAD estimated at 1.3% of GDP* States showed fall in share of mfg in their

GDP FY15* April-December major subsidies up

12.5% on year* Services sector clocked double-digit

growth in FY15* Equity markets continued to do well in

FY15* FY15 price subsidy pegged at 4.24% of

GDP

FY16 OUTLOOK* 8.5% GDP growth in FY16 in realm of

possibility* 8% economic growth on assumption of

favourable monsoon* FY16 econ growth seen 8.1-8.5%* External sector outlook most favourable

since 2008* Liquidity conditions seen comfortable in

FY16* Economy to over perform on inflation,

make way for rate cut* FY16 GDP deflator seen 2.8-3.0%* Outlook for domestic macro economic

parameters optimistic* CAD seen less than 1.0% of GDP in

FY16* Outlook favourable for CAD, its financ-

ing* Inflation to be 0.5-1.0% lower than RBI's

target* FY16 CPI inflation to be in 5.0-5.5%

range

MISCELLANEOUS* Enhanced revenue generation remains

govt priority* Must scrap some norm to realise poten-

tial of services sector* Stalling of projects seems to have

plateaued* Enhanced revenue generation is a priori-

ty going forward* Skill development, employment major

challenges* Hyper-growth in tech start-ups, service

sector* Can balance higher public invest with fis-

cal discipline* Rural penetration of IT services to drive

'Make in India'* India is at threshold of an urban flare-up* Will soon scale up renewable energy

capacity to 170 GW* Insurance penetration up to 3.9% 2013

from 2.3% in 2000* Portfolio flows pressurising long-term

interest rates

Rape videos...drive along with the letter to the CJI, said

that one video, which is 4.5 minutes long,shows a man raping a girl while another manis filming the heinous act.

The other video, spanning 8.5 minutes,relates to gang-rape of a girl by five culpritswho have been shown smiling, crackingjokes, making a video and taking photoswhile they went about sexually assaulting thevictim, it said.

The court issued notices to central min-istries of Home Affairs and InformationTechnology and asked the MHA Secretary to"forward the pen drive/DVD" to the CBIDirector "forthwith" for the investigation.

The bench said that it has taken "cogni-sance" of the letter referred to it by the CJIand ordered that a proper petition be filed onMarch 9. It has now fixed the case for hear-ing on March 13.

It issued notice to the states like UttarPradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Delhiafter referring to the contents of the rapevideos and took note the facts that some ofthe culprits talk in Bengali accent.

The bench also issued notice to Telanganaafter it was told that no significant progresshas been made in a case relating to the attackon the car of one of the office bearers of theNGO who had launched the 'Shame theRapist' campaign on social networking sites.Stressing the need for "corrective" measures,the bench wanted to know as to whether anyculprit has been arrested so far.

The counsel appearing for the NGO repliedin negative.

The NGO, in its letter, had given severalsuggestions including initiation of a CBIprobe into the incident.

It also suggested that a taskforce be set upfor looking into the sexual offences and amechanism be evolved to ensure that citizensreport such crimes a "fearless" manner andtheir identity be protected.

It mooted the idea of maintaining aNational Sex Offenders Register whichshould contain details of persons convictedfor offences like eve-teasing, stalking,molestation and other sexual assaults.

The NGO has also suggested that the MHAshould have a tie up with 'YouTube' and'WhatsApp' to ensure that such offensivevideos are not uploaded and culprits are pun-ished as well.

Cash reward...Act, the Chief Minister said the meetings

of district level vigilance and monitoringcommittees should be held on schedule, anddirections in this regard should be issued toDeputy Commissioners.

In case of any type of atrocity, compensa-tion should be given to the victim at firststage without any delay, and prompt actionshould be taken after case is registered.

The Chief Minister also directed officers ofthe Police Department to ensure wide public-ity of 'HARSAMAY', a citizen portal of theHaryana Police, where anyone can register acomplaint any time.

Land Acquisition...accused of opposing the bill, whereas I

have no intention of stalling the developmentof the country. But this bill is against theinterests of farmers. Therefore, we opposeit," Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said hereon Friday.

Ground-level...president," Pilot told reporters after attend-

ing a divisional meeting of the PCC here.After Indira Gandhi, it was Sonia Gandhi

under whose leadership the Congress hadgovernment at the Centre twice in whichManmohan Singh was Prime Minister, Pilotsaid, adding that "Sonia Gandhi is undisput-ed leader of the party".

When reminded of former Union ministerKamalnath's statement related to RahulGandhi as party president, Pilot expressedthat he was not concerned who had givenwhat statement.

High economic...has attempted to implement pending eco-

nomic reforms to encourage domestic andforeign investment and exuded confidencethat the government is in the process of

implementing many more reforms."The Economic Survey shows that the

dream of 'One India, Great India' will berealised by going along the path of 'Sabkasaath, Sabka vikas'," he said.

Shah said it is a proof of the improvementin the economy that are visible due to stepstaken by NDA government.

ED has...schedule of PMLA by any other law

enforcement agency."Overseas investigations are also required

to be conducted in certain cases which isagain a time consuming process. Upon inves-tigation, the assets involved in money laun-dering is attached by the ED and persecutioncomplaint is filed in designated specialcourts," the minister said in a written reply tothe Lok Sabha.

The minister added that there are otherlegal forums such as adjudicating authority,appellate tribunal under PMLA, specialcourts and high courts which are involved inthe scheme of PMLA 2002.

"However, ED makes all sincere efforts tobring the PMLA cases to logical conclusionin a time bound manner," the minister added.

Over 13 lakh ...examinations would start from March 2.While 8,17,941 boys will be appearing for

the exam, 5,55,912 girls will be sitting for theexam, said CBSE in a statement issued onFriday.

Last year 13,28,970 students had appearedfor the examination.

In case of class 12, 10,40,368 studentswould be appearing for the exam, 6,07,383 ofwhom are boys.

The percentage increase of total studentsappearing is 1.01 as compared to last year,the statement said.

Value Based Questions in all major sub-jects for classes 10 and 12 up to 3-5 markswill be included this year. The questions willbe based on content and analysed on the basisof values they reflect.

11-year-old ...there to drop his children at the school.

After sending his children inside, he grabbedthe girl's hand, covered her mouth anddragged her to his room where he raped her,police said.

The even threatened to kill her if sherevealed the incident to anyone, they said,adding, he raped her twice again after that.

The girl later narrated her ordeal to herteacher who then informed her parents,police said.

A case has been registered in this connec-tion, police said, adding, the matter is beinginvestigated.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a minorgirl was abducted allegedly by unidentifiedpersons from here, police said today.

A case has been registered based on a com-plaint filed by the girl's uncle, police said,adding, the matter is being investigated.

Assam govt...greatly benefited from this free distribution

during the present government's tenure, anofficial release said here today.

It has also encouraged the girl students toattend schools and has helped in the processof acquiring skills and education.

Apart from this, the government has alsodistributed free school uniform to1,63,68,581 students.

This is part of the state government's initia-tive to improve the education scenario ofAssam, the release added.

Haryana to...Commissioners, sub-divisional magis-

trates, bank managers and district social wel-fare officers of the decision during a meetingthrough video-conferencing.

Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad AmitKumar Agrawal said the Chief Secretary hasinstructed to transfer pension under all theschemes prevailing at the time directly to thebank accounts of the beneficiaries.

This procedure, the Deputy Commissionersaid, would come into effects from March2015.

For this, said Agrawal, all the pensionerswould be required to open their accounts inbanks. If pensioners already have bankaccounts, they have to add their pensionaccount number in their bank accounts.

Ghaziabad Metro...by one of the bidders in the project, said

Santosh Kumar Yadav, vice chairman of theGhaziabad Development Authority.

Earlier, Gammon India Limited, one of thebidders for the project, filed a writ petition inthe Supreme Court for which the apex courtasked the Delhi High Court to hear the peti-tion. Gammon India Limited claimed that ithad been unfairly barred from the project andits financial bid, in the tender process, wasnot considered despite being the lowest.

233 foreign...Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said

vessels and aircraft of Indian Coast Guardand Indian Navy are deployed on 24x7 basisfor surveillance in the Indian maritime zonesto protect national interests including for pre-venting infiltration and poaching by foreignfishing boats.

BY DINESH TRIVEDI

For the first time in Indian par-liamentary history, to my mind,no Railway budget was pre-

sented. It was only a budget speechby the Railway Minister with a state-ment of intended, pipe dreams. Innormal circumstances, a budget musthave a vision, a policy, destinations,and achievable targets with timelines.Unfortunately, none of this foundmention in Mr. Suresh Prabhu’sspeech. And, Mr. Prabhu has left theroad map and achievability to“Prabhu”, God, Ishwar, call it by anyname or faith!

A Railway budget is essentially ahuge opportunity for any governmentto push forward GDP growth by atleast 2.5 per cent. So, this govern-ment, in its second budget, has lostthe opportunity again. There washuge expectation not only in India,but also across the world for a com-pletely new orientation and a path-breaking budget from this govern-ment and Mr. Prabhu in particular.For a government which has come topower with such a thumping majorityand promises of “Achhe Din”, theseexpectations were not unfounded. It’sbeen a big disappointment, to say theleast.

Funding plan

The Minister proposes to investRs.8.56 lakh crore over the period of5 years, from 2015-2019, but doesnot provide a plan of how the projectsare going to be funded. First, thefinancial condition of the Railways ispitiable. With an operating ratio of 92per cent in 2014-15 (which impliesless availability of capital for invest-ments in infrastructure), it is difficultto finance any projects from its ownrevenues. The budget places highimportance on institutional financeand long-term debt instruments asextra budgetary resource, but thissupposition falls apart on a simplepremise: how does one expect these“multilateral and bilateral institu-tions” to invest, solely based on rhet-oric, in an organisation which ismired in a financial crisis, therebyundermining its financial credibilityin terms of non-availability of a rev-enue model? There is nothing called

a free lunch.

His four goals for the transforma-tion of the Indian Railways, viz.,improvement in customer experi-ence, safety, expansion of capacityand making the Railways self-sus-tainable in terms of finances, are eachlacking in a definitive road map andare thereby unrealistic and just soundlike good intentions.

Let’s start with the first: customerexperience. Mr. Prabhu has very suc-cinctly detailed his ideas of cleanli-ness, entertainment, catering, etc, butwhat he is forgetting is that suchmeasures, while important in them-selves, require massive efforts notonly in maintenance, but also in cre-ating state-of-the-art infrastructure.Mr. Prabhu forgets that the majorityof the poor struggle to get into a com-partment. They queue up sometimesa day in advance just to get into acompartment. Compartments areovercrowded by twice their capacity.In other words, poor people still trav-el in unreserved compartments ininhumane conditions. Customerexperience cannot be limited to theShatabdi and the Rajdhani trainsalone. Customers on these trainswould be more vocal perhaps, but thereal help should be for the poorest ofthe poor.

Talking about safety

Second, nothing exceptional hasbeen announced with regard to safe-ty. The Kakodkar Committee whichwas commissioned during my tenureand whose recommendations theMinistry plans to examine in April2015 gave its final report back inFebruary 2012. Why was this reportgathering dust all these years? Theprecious loss of time and consequent-ly the huge cost overrun, has meant

that safety standards (or the lack ofthem) have remained in an “as-is”state.

Third, with regards to enhancingcapacity of Railways: the Ministerhas by his own admission, stated that492 sections of the Railways are run-ning at a capacity of more than 100per cent. And 228 are runningbetween 80-100 per cent. Further,The Golden Quadrilateral and thediagonals connecting the four majormetros constitute less than 16 percent of the route, but account formore than 50 per cent of the passen-ger and freight traffic. These routeshave reached over saturation levels ofcapacity utilisation and are strainedto breaking point at present. What isthe remedy provided by the Minister?Fast tracking of sanctioned projectsof doubling, tripling lines, and prior-ity to last mile connectivity projects,without any timeline. In theRailways, “fast-track” can be a

deceptive word: there are currently360-odd pending projects in theRailways’ kitty, some ranging from30 years to 2 years.

Finally, the fourth goal to makeBhartiya Rail financially self-sustain-able is stated as follows: “Generatelarge surpluses from operations notonly to service the debt needed tofund our capacity expansion, but alsoto invest on an ongoing basis to

replace our depreciating assets.”With an operating ratio, even if Mr.Prabhu achieves 88.5 per cent nextyear, the Railways is left with lessthan 12 per cent of revenues and inorder to replace the depreciatingassets, which itself will cost theRailways Rs.12,000-15,000 crore.What kind of large surplus is he talk-ing about, and how on earth is hegoing to service the debt if he gen-uinely finds some generous but unre-alistic businessmen to fund a loss-making project?

Lost opportunities

Looking at the budget announce-ments, there is an intent of 77 newprojects (doubling/tripling lines, etc)worth Rs.96,000 crore, but does hereally have the Railway Board withhim? Where is the sanctioned andfunded plan to break the cycle of“underinvestment”? Instead, thereshould have been a focus to improve

the operating ratio to get cash gener-ation going. Yes, there is stated goalto get it down to 88.5 per cent butthere are no defined plans forimproving asset utilisation, reducingturnaround times of wagons (whichhas taken a turn for the worse),improving system velocity byupgrading signalling, powering-upunderpowered freight trains, convert-ing all local trains to MEMU orDEMU, and implementing moderntechnology such as distributed power,all of which is needed to get the oper-ations in order and get cash genera-tion going. There is no plucking ofsuch low-hanging fruit. Instead, thefocus is on expensive high speedtrains and train-sets which they can-not afford or justify economically.Such white elephant projects willsuck out all the investment oxygenfrom the smaller projects that willactually improve the performance.For instance, train sets would costalmost double those of conventionaltrains. The train sets cannot run onthe given infrastructure as you wouldhave to have total fencing of theentire route and ensure not a singleanimal, leave alone people, wouldhave access to the track. So, the factis, even Delhi-Agra, on a high speedtrack, in present conditions, will Ithink take another 2 years at least.

Freight

Looking at the freight business ofthe Railways: freight has grown at anabysmal 3 per cent over the last year,and coupled with an increase infreight rates, there are possibilities offreight revenue migrating to road.Already, competition from roadwayshas resulted in the share in total trans-port output for road at 50 per cent,while rail stands below it at 36 percent. Passenger traffic volume has infact gone down by 3 per cent fromlast year. The turnaround time ofwagons has increased over the past 3years, while it should have decreased.There have been no steps initiated toimprove this parameter, and acceler-ating the growth rate of freight whichis the bread and butter of theRailways.

Budget estimates for 2015-16 –Gross traffic receipt is expected to

grow by 15.3 per cent to Rs.1,83,578crore, passenger earnings will growby 17 per cent and incrementalfreight traffic is 85 million tons, i.e. agrowth of nearly 8 per cent. All theselofty dreams are extremely difficult,if not impossible to achieve unlessthere is a quantum jump in the pro-ductivity of the existing assets andoverall operational efficiency.Appropriation of pension fund hasgone up by Rs.6,000 crore but provi-sion for depreciation continues tolanguish at Rs.7,900 crore only asagainst Rs.6,800 crore in 2014-15.Similarly, appropriation to develop-ment fund is Rs.5,750 crore asagainst Rs.7,800 crore in 2012-13. Inbrief, the budget estimates for 2015-16 present a grim picture of the finan-cial health of the Railways.

One of the most important inputswhich Mr. Prabhu cannot avoid is the7th Pay Commission, knocking at thedoor, and which could go as high asdouble that of the 6th PayCommission: anywhere to the tune ofRs.25,000-Rs.30,000 crore perannum, crippling the finances of theRailways even further. The total Planoutlay is stated as Rs.1,00,011 crore,out of which institutional financing istargeted Rs.17,136 crore, which isdoubtful.

It seems the much hyped dream runof the bullet train has ended as reali-ty has finally sunk in, as theAhmedabad-Mumbai track is still inthe final stage of surveys of aboutRs.300 crore per kilometre, andwould take at least 7-8 years in com-pletion (being highly optimistic),after 2-3 years of the process of landacquisition.

It is quite evident from the budgetproposals that inputs that use theexperience of the Railway Boardhave not been reflected. In the offi-cial box where the Railway Boardmembers were seated, it was no sur-prise to see the disinterest and lack ofconcern for the Railways reflected allover their faces.

(Dinesh Trivedi is a former UnionRailway Minister.)

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY SRIRAM BALASUBRAMANIAN

It is an important point now inIndian politics with the stu-pendous emergence of the

Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi: theruling party and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi are now forcedto introspect within months oftheir unprecedented victory inthe Lok Sabha election. While alot of the credit for the AAP’svictory has been given to partyleader and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, there is a sub-tle, yet decisive, global trendthat has given rise to theparty.

Globalisation has engulfed theworld over the past 25 years,especially after the fall of theUSSR. It has been projected asthe pillar of capitalism, andthere has been a lot of focus onurbanisation — an offshoot ofglobalisation — which hascaused enormous socio-eco-nomic changes. While theendeavour for high growth hasprovided opportunities to manypeople and lifted several out ofpoverty, it has also had its ownset of challenges. As ThomasPiketty wrote in his book“Capital in the Twenty-FirstCentury,” inequality is presentin most of the major cities in theworld. This has created a situa-tion where there are largechunks of people in cities whoare unemployed or impover-ished; people who have beenpromised opportunities but havebeen neglected since income isconcentrated in the hands of afew. These people are nowbecoming a vocal majority, ask-ing questions about how eco-nomics is fundamentally func-tioning in the world. We haveseen this in New York, SaoPaulo, Hong Kong, London andParis, and New Delhi is noexception.

Movements across the world

An example of political move-ments riding on this sentiment isthe rise of the Workers’ Party in

Brazil. The emergence of LuizInácio “Lula” da Silva (Lula)was synonymous with a left-of-centre “bottom-up” kind of par-ticipatory politics which brokethe conventional stereotype ofdemocracy in South America.Brazilian President DilmaRousseff is a protégé of Mr. Lula

who was President in 2002 andhas been an integral part of hisparty since its early days. TheWorkers’ Party emerged whileaddressing the negative effectsof urbanisation which plaguedthe city of Sao Paulo.

Besides Brazil, countries inEurope have faced similarmovements that have addressedinequality. The rise of Syriza,the leftist anti-austerity party inGreece, has been another exam-ple of the growing frustrationwith crony capitalism thatthrives in most countries.According to records, in 2013,Greece had 62 per cent of itspopulation in its cities. Its leaderAlexis Tsaparis moved beyondthe core left ideology andfocussed on the impact of thedebt crisis and inequality inGreece, to win a landmark elec-tion a month ago.

Another example is theprotests in Hong Kong. The

emergence of these protests wasnot just about universal suffrage;it was about a larger issue ofurban inequality and lack ofopportunities for the country’scitizens. Almost 1.3 million peo-ple (19 per cent) of Hong Konglive below the poverty line andthe income distribution Gino

coefficient was at 5.4 in 2011.Even in the United States, therehave been growing concerns incities such as New York and LosAngeles over the increasing lev-els of urban inequality. One inevery three children lives inpoverty according to U.S.Census Bureau, and accordingto the Census’ AmericanCommunity Survey, the top 5per cent of households earned 88per cent as much as the bottom20 per cent. The Occupy WallStreet movement, even though itfizzled out, was an indicator thatinequality triggered by basicissues is at the centre of socialissues concerning major metro-politan cities across the world.

Urbanisation in India

Most of these movementshave resulted from city-basedurban issues. The after-effects ofurbanisation have resulted insmall movements which havetransformed into national move-

ments over time. Issues such asinequality and unemploymenthave been rampant in Indianurban places also. India has beenurbanising at a rapid pace:according to the 2011 Census,31.6 per cent of the populationhas been urbanised — this is anincrease from the 11.1 per cent

of almost a century ago.According to a report by the UNState of the World Populationreport, over 40.76 per cent of thepopulation will be urban by2030. In addition, according tothe United Nation’s WorldUrbanisation Report 2014, Indiais projected to add an astounding404 million urban people whichis almost one third of its overallpopulation today. With rapidurbanisation comes rapid migra-tion to and between cities, andissues such as inequality, emerg-ing from these conditions, couldtransform into a national move-ment.

It is in this context that theModi-led government needs tounderstand the AAP’s potentialto be the BJP’s most potentthreat in the medium and longterm. With the Congress beingdirectionless, it is the AAP thatcan set the agenda after its winin Delhi. The AAP offers a con-trast which bears striking simi-

larities to the movements incountries such as Brazil; it isleft-of-centre leaning, caters tothe needs of the workers, theunemployed and the commonman, speaks the language ofdaily needs, and is led by acharismatic, yet shrewd, leader.In contrast is the centre-rightpolitics of the BJP.

Hence the consolidation of theminority vote is also a matter ofconcern for the BJP. The enmasse consolidation of this votein Delhi, which belonged to theCongress earlier, could becomea pan Indian phenomenon if leftunchecked. The issues that con-cern Delhi are apparent every-where in India. Even the successof the Anna Hazare movementwas not because of corruptionalone but because of the inequal-ity between the political andelite class and the rest of India.India has not witnessed the neg-ative after-effects of globalisa-tion on the streets as much asother countries; the AAP is inprime position to capitalise on it.It is imperative that Mr. Modilooks at this undercurrent andaddresses the issues of rapidurbanisation. His excessivefocus on foreign policy can woothe elites but has little impact onthe aam aadmi. Besides macrovision goals, there has to be amechanism to address the aamaadmi’s daily needs, and therehas to be greater propagation ofthe successes of the governmentrather than the persona of Mr.Modi himself. Also, Mr. Modi’s“vikas” has to be inclusive, notaddress only certain sections ofsociety.

In retrospect, the rise of theAAP is not surprising in India. Itis part of a global phenomenonwhich is bound to spread acrossthe world unless governmentsadopt a more inclusive develop-ment agenda.

(Sriram Balasubramanian isa freelance journalist. E-mail:

sriram2424@yahoo.com)

Towards a modest goalSaturday | February 28, 2015

SAADDA HAQ

Dreams without a vision

Our team will publish yourthoughts send us your articlesat news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

The rise of the liberal-right intellectual

No laundry list of new trains to be started. Noannouncement of new lines to be laid with ambi-tious targets. No pet projects to be set up in core

constituencies of the ruling party. Make no mistake,Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s maiden budget is nota typical politician’s budget; it shows the deft touches ofa professional who knows what it takes to turn around aleviathan’s fortunes that have been on a downhill ride inthe last few years. Whether it is the focus on existinghigh-density corridors where increasing capacity ischeaper and quicker or the new talk of improving “cus-tomer experience” or for that matter, the realisation thatRailway finances have to be made self-sustainable, Mr.Prabhu has ticked all the right checkboxes. The budgetspeech reads more like a vision statement than a reporton the Railways’ financial and operational performance.The only connection with past budgets is the decision tonot increase passenger fares but tinker with freight rates.Mr. Prabhu’s challenge, though, will be in implementinghis ambitious agenda, specifically in finding resources,financial and technical, to achieve targets. For example,the Rs.8.56 lakh crore investment plan for the next fiveyears sounds impressive no doubt, but how is theRailways going to fund such a mammoth sum? Withoperating expenses consuming nine out of every 10rupees earned by the Railways, there just isn’t enoughsurplus to plough back into investment. This is wherethe Railways needs to think out-of-the-box. Mr. Prabhuhas acknowledged the problem and has listed out sever-al options to raise finances, including borrowing frommultilateral institutions such as the World Bank and pen-sion funds whose investment horizon would match thelong-term plans of the Railways. Clearly, Mr. Prabhuwill have to draw heavily on his finance background andexpertise to make these work. The Railway Minister’sambitious agenda comes through in his plans for thecoming fiscal too. For instance, electrification of 6,608route kilometres in 2015-16 compared to 462 km sanc-tioned in 2014-15, or for that matter, the plan to spendRs.96,182 crore in doubling/tripling/quadrupling andelectrifying 9,400 km of tracks, sound impressive — butexecution will be the key. We have seen such ambitiousplans in the past falter at the execution stage. The pro-jected improvement in operating ratio, a measure of effi-ciency, from 91.8 per cent this year to 88.5 per cent inthe coming one sounds impressive, but the fine print onexpenditure needs to be watched because this ratio iseasy to massage. Overall, Mr. Prabhu’s budget is a breakfrom the past in taking a long-term view of the Railways’future by making it financially independent and opera-tionally efficient. He has five years to reach this destina-tion.

One of the most important inputs which Mr. Prabhucannot avoid is the 7th Pay Commission, knocking atthe door, and which could go as high as double thatof the 6th Pay Commission: anywhere to the tune ofRs.25,000-Rs.30,000 crore per annum, crippling thefinances of the Railways even further. The total Planoutlay is stated as Rs.1,00,011 crore, out of whichinstitutional financing is targeted Rs.17,136 crore,which is doubtful.

Most of these movements have resulted from city-based urban issues. The after-effects of urbanisa-

tion have resulted in small movements which havetransformed into national movements over time.Issues such as inequality and unemployment havebeen rampant in Indian urban places also. India

has been urbanising at a rapid pace: according tothe 2011 Census, 31.6 per cent of the population has

been urbanised — this is an increase from the 11.1per cent of almost a century ago.

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015SAADDA HAQ

JAMMU, FEB 27Equitable development of all the

three regions of Jammu and Kashmirwould be the priority of PDP-BJPgovernment that is set to be sworn in,Union Minister Jitendra Singh saidon Friday.

Speaking to reporters outsideParliament, Singh, who is MP fromUdhampur, said the governmentwould focus on issues like develop-ment which rise above all areas ofdisagreement and both the partieswill have "equal participation andmutual respect".

"I think the emphasis would be onissues which rise above all the areasof disagreement. For examplenotably the issue of development.Therefore the priority of both sideswill be development and that tooequitable development of all the threeregions of the state," Singh said.

He added that given the kind ofmandate that had emerged in this

election for the J&K Assembly, aPDP-BJP alliance was the best optionavailable. "This is a historic opportu-nity. This is the best decision thatcould have happened, given the kindof mandate that has been given by thestate of Jammu and Kashmir," saidSingh. He said the government wouldbe formed on a great degree of mutu-

al respect."We would have an equal participa-

tion in government and I think this isa government which is going to beformed with great degree of mutualrespect on issues on which the twosides agree and also on issues onwhich the two sides disagree," headded.

Equitable development will be priorityof BJP-PDP govt: Jitendra Singh

CHANDIGARH, FEB 27National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development(NABARD) on Friday sanctionedRs 93.20 crore, the part of whichwill be used for setting up 18 drugrehabilitation centres in the state.

The funds will be releasedunder Rural InfrastructureDevelopment Fund (RIDF).

"Rs 73.20 crore is for construc-tion of 18 number of 50 beddedprimary rural rehabilitation cen-tres for rehabilitating drug detoxi-fied persons in 17 districts ofPunjab," said Naresh Gupta,CGM Punjab in a release here.

He said these centres will caterto all the rural areas in the dis-tricts.

These centres will have residen-tial facilities and will be function-ally integrated with district hospi-

tal/de-addiction centres for seam-less share of facilities of districthospital/de-addiction centres. Itwould benefit a large populationin 17 districts of the state, he said.

Further, RIDF loan of Rs 20crore has been sanctioned for con-struction of 459 AnganwadiCentres in 22 districts,he said.

Under it, 16-22 centres per dis-trict would be constructed therebybenefiting 459 villages in 123blocks of 22 districts acrossPunjab.

It will benefit 6,776 number ofpregnant/lactating women and26,057 children in the rural areasof Punjab.

With the present sanction of Rs93.20 crore, the total sanctions toPunjab by NABARD during thecurrent financial year stands at Rs681 crore.

NABARD assistance for drugrehab centres in Punjab

AHMEDABAD, FEB 27The Gujarat High Court

Friday granted bail to oneof the 31 convicts ofNaroda Patiya riot case of2002. As many as 97 peo-ple were killed at NarodaPatiya here during a post-Godhra riots. The divisionbench of Justices R RTripathi and R D Kotharigranted bail to KirpalsinghChhabda who was the per-sonal assistant to formerGujarat minister MayaKodnani (convicted in thesame case) on the groundof `parity'. Chhabda's peti-tion said he should bereleased as Kodnani hadalready been granted baillast July. There were onlytwo witnesses who deposedagainst him while 11 wit-

nesses deposed againstKodnani, Chabda's petitionpointed out. Further, noneof the witnesses had allud-ed to his overt role in theriot, it said. The SupremeCourt-appointed specialinvestigation team hadopposed his plea. Specialprosecutor Prashant Desaiargued that Kodnani wasgranted bail only on theground of deterioratinghealth, which was not thecase here. Chhabda hasbeen awarded life sentenceby the trial court. Kodnaniwas the MLA from Narodaat the time of riots. She waslater made minister of statefor Women and ChildDevelopment in 2007 buthad to resign after the arrestin the case in March.

HISAR, FEB 27Rail traffic on Hisar-

Bhiwani section of theW e s t e r n - N o r t h e r nRailway and Hisar-Ludhiana section was dis-rupted for several hourson Friday followingderailment of three bogiesof the Haryana Expresstrain.

The bogies were run-ning between Bathindaand Delhi via Hisar,Bhiwani and Rohtak.

Station Superintendentof Hisar Railway stationNihal Singh said some ofthe trains were divertedafter the derailment whichoccurred around 6 am.

However, noone washurt in the incident.

The derailment occurreddue to some technical

fault in the bogies. Severaltrains running betweenHisar-Delhi, Hisar-Rewariand Hisar-Ludhiana wereaffected due to this, hesaid.

After about three hours,the Haryana Express leftfor Delhi.

A m r i t s a r - S a d u l p u rExpress train stopped onRaipur railway stationwhile other passengertrains were also stopped atvarious railway stations,he said.

Several railway officialsfrom Bikaner andBathinda reached the acci-dent site to take stock ofthe situation.

A high level committeehas been constituted toprobe the reasons behindthe incident.

Gujarat HC grants bail to 2002Naroda Patiya riot convict

Haryana Expresstrain derails in Hisar

Andhra Pradesh: Studentattacked after argument

over Facebook post; 3 heldHYDERABAD, FEB 27

A 17-year-old student here was injured after hisfriends allegedly attacked him with a knife followingan argument over a post on a social networking site,police said on Friday.

Three youths have been arrested in this connection,they said.

One of the accused, identified as Obaibuddin, hadallegedly posted some abusive comments on Facebookagainst his friend Irfan, police said.

Irfan and his brother Muqeeth came to GM colonyhere to resolve the matter on the night of February 24,sub-inspector K Laxmaiah said, adding, Obaiduddinand his friends Abdul Sheikh B and Khalid B had heat-ed arguments with them.

During the argument, Sheikh suddenly attackedIrfan with a knife on his head. Muqeeth also sufferedminor injuries when he tried to rescue his brother, hesaid.

Following a complaint by Irfan, Chandrayanguttapolice arrested Obaiduddin and his two friends lastnight and registered a case against them under Section307 (attempt to murder), he said.

Irfan was taken to a hospital where his condition wasstated to be stable, police added.

HIMMATNAGAR, FEB 27A special trial court here on Friday

acquitted all six accused in the 2002 post-Godhra riots case in which three Britishnationals and their Indian driver werekilled at Prantij town in Gujarat'sSabarkantha district, for want of evidenceagainst them.

Notably, the UK government had thentaken a policy decision not have an activeengagement with Gujarat government afterthe three British nationals of Indian originwere killed. UK decided to resume engage-ment with Gujarat in October 2012.

Pronouncing the order in the case inves-tigated by Supreme Court-appointedSpecial Investigation Team, HimmatnagarPrincipal District Judge IC Shah stated thatthe prosecution failed to prove the chargeslevelled against all the accused under IPCSections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt tomurder).

"I have no option but to order that theaccused are acquitted from the charges,"the judge observed.

On February 28, 2002, a day after the

Godhra train burning incident, ImranDawood and his UK-based uncles SaeedDawood, Shakeel Dawood andMohammad Aswat were attacked by a mobat Prantij in Sabarkantha.

Saeed, Shakeel, Mohammad Aswat andtheir car driver Yusuf Piraghar, a local,were burnt alive by the mob on NationalHighway No. 8, while Imran managed tosave himself with the help of police.

Those acquitted in the case are -Mithanbhai Patel, Chandu alias PrahladPatel, Ramesh Patel, Manoj Patel, RajeshPatel and Kalubhai Patel, all residents ofPrantij. In its 182-page order, the specialtrial court observed that the SIT had madeseveral emotional arguments.

It also noted that the witnesses had failedto identify the accused persons.

In such circumstances, when there is lackof sufficient evidence against the accused,they are acquitted, the court said.

The apex court-appointed SIT hadcharged the six accused with the killing offour persons, including the three Britishnationals.

Gujarat: All 6 accused acquitted inBritish nationals' killing case

CHANDIGARH, FEB 27The SAD-BJP alliance may have

swept the civic polls, but it is theIndependents who performed excep-tionally well in these elections, corner-ing about 20 and 30 per cent of totalseats in six municipal corporationsand 122 municipal councils and nagarpanchayats respectively.

Independents, among whom weresome of the rebels of SAD, BJP andCongress parties, won whopping 624wards out of 2,037 wards in 122municipal councils and nagar pan-chayats which went to polls onFebruary 26, as per election results.

Out of 2,037 wards, SAD won in813 wards while its ally BJP won 348wards and Congress managed to regis-ter victory in just 235 wards.

In Municipal Corporation (MC)polls, Independents also fared well asthey wrested control over 64 wardsout of the total 301 wards in the con-test.

SAD in MC polls won 82 wardswhile BJP emerged victorious in 85wards. However, the Congress party

which was looking to strengthen itsposition in these polls, won 68 wards.

The polling to six MCs - Pathankot,Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Moga, Mohaliand Bathinda and by-election to twowards of Patiala and one ward ofJalandhar was held on February 22.

The victory of Independents was soconvincing in some the MunicipalCouncils and Nagar Panchayats thattheir number of wards were far aheadthan by either SAD-BJP combine orCongress.

The wards in which Independentsmarked their strong presence includeNurmehal, Phillaur, Alwarpur,Garshankar, Rahon, Raikot, Morinda,Dhanula among others, as per results.

Though Independents gave toughfight to major political parties at mostof the wards in six municipal corpora-tion polls, but it was in Mohali MCpolls where Independents, mostlyAkali rebels, cast a shadow on thecomprehensive victory of SAD-BJPcombine.

Out of 13 Independents who won inMohali MC, eleven winners owe alle-

giance to former SAD leader and real-ty baron Kulwant Singh.

After SAD did not give ticket toSingh, he broke away from the partyand formed a group of Independents.Singh had unsuccessfully contestedLok Sabha polls 2014 from FatehgarhSahib on SAD ticket last year.

SAD-BJP would now require sup-port of four other members to gaincontrol over 50 wards of Mohali MC.SAD-BJP and Congress won 22 and14 wards respectively from MohaliMC. The "rise" of Independents in thelocal body polls has even set the alarmbell ringing among politicalparties.

Reacting to Independents register-ing victory in civic polls, Congressleader Amarinder Singh yesterdaysaid, "the way a large number of inde-pendent candidates won in these elec-tions is a clear signal that the Congresscannot afford any complacency in thehope that it can ride to power merelyon anti-incumbency against the rulingalliance, but needs to work much hard-er from right now only."

Independents spring surprise in Punjab Civic polls

IED recovered fromrailway track inAssam's GoalparaGOALPARA, FEB 27

A powerful ImprovisedExplosive Device wasdetected at a railway trackin Assam's Goalpara dis-trict Friday, police said.

The IED was foundamidst the stones betweenthe tracks by patrollingrailway police at Barigaonthis morning.

The bomb disposalsquad of the Army hasbeen informed and theIED was expected to bedefused by this evening.

All trains in theJogighopa-Guwahati linehave been suspended since9 AM and were expectedto resume by this evening,railway officials said.

The weight of the IEDwas yet to be ascertained,the police added.

HYDERABAD, FEB 27A Congress member on

Friday urged the govern-ment to implement theprovisions of AndhraPradesh ReorganisationAct and sought specialcategory status to thestate to speed up itsdevelopment.

Raising the issue inRajya Sabha during ZeroHour, Jesudas Seelam(Cong) said theannouncements for devel-opment of the state werenot being implementeddespite assurances byPrime Minister NarendraModi and ParliamentaryAffairs Minister MVenkaiah Naidu.

Seeking special catego-ry status to AndhraPradesh, he demandedspecial package for itsseven districts and cre-ation of better infrastruc-ture like airports, damsand industrial corridor.

Observing that muchpublicity was given to theCentre's programmes inAndhra Pradesh butimplementation was zero,he said "governmentshould implement the Actin letter and spirit".

Tarun Vijay (BJP)demanded better rail,road, internet and othermodes of connectivity toAndaman & Nicobar say-ing it was of strategicimportance for India.

Noting that the islandswere 520 nautical milesfrom India and were clos-er to nations likeThailand, he said it com-prised 500 islands ofwhich only 37 wereinhabitated which werenot linked.

Vijay said the 3.5 lakhpopulation of Andaman &Nicobar including 65,000government employees,were facing serious diffi-culties due to lack of

transportation means.While the Britishers

had declared it"Kalapani" for freedomfighter, the governmenthas declared it "Kalapani"for the inhabitants andemployees as even in caseof medical urgency theyhave to spend hugeamounts on airfares tobring the patients to themainland as ship serviceswere inadequate.

He demanded subsidyto inhabitants besides bet-ter banking and otherfacilities besides creatinga memorial for Sher Aliwho killed the thenViceroy and due respectto freedom fighers likeVeer Savarkar.

Congress memberSanjay Singh soughtGovernment's interven-tion to ensure holding ofelections to the students'union in Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU), with

HRD Minister SmritiIrani saying ViceChancellor was empow-ered to do so.

Calling it unfortunatethat students unions elec-tions was not held inAsia's biggest University,the BHU, he said UttarPradesh has given manyPrime Ministers includingthe present PM NarendraModi, and urged Irani toensure that students bodypolls be held.

He pointed to the long-drawn agitation there todemand student polls andpolice lathi charge on theprotesting students.

Irani, who was presentin the House, said no stu-dent had died in the batoncharge and added thatBHU was an autonomousbody and "its ViceChancellor is empoweredto take administrativedesicisions in relation tothe University."

When Naresh Agarwal(SP) intervened saying,"it's a world class univer-sity and you should directits VC," to which DeputyChairman P J Kurien,who was in the Chairsaid, "the University isautonomous and the VCis the final authority...Should we challengethe autonomy?"

Raising another issue,Vivek Gupta (TrinamoolCongress) demandedmore steps to encourageconservation of forestsand environment in WestBengal.

Expressing dissatisfac-tion that despite betterperformance in forestconservation, gross injus-tice was being meted outto the state, he said "the( C o m p e n s a t o r yAfforestation FundManagement andPlanning) CAMPA fund-ing is nil in the state".

HYDERABAD, FEB 27US Ambassador to India

Richard Verma discussedseveral issues of mutualinterest with TelanganaChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao during ameeting here on Tuesday asboth leaders sought to deep-en bilateral ties.

The two leaders reviewedthe progress of constructionof new the US Consulatebuilding here, a releasefrom Chief Minister's Officesaid.

Responding to Rao'sobservations that many stu-dents from Telangana arestudying in AmericanUniversities and manyTelangana natives areemployed in the US, therelease quoted theAmbassador as saying thatAmerica and Telangana hasgood relations in severalareas.

Verma said the spare partsfor American President'shelicopter are made inHyderabad.

Verma appreciated thedevelopment initiatives of

the Telangana government,it said.

Rao, who explained abouthis government's develop-ment efforts, saidHyderabad is home to sev-eral industries, includingdefence products, mainlybecause of its convenientclimatic conditions through-out the year. The state gov-ernment has brought out anew industrial policy aimedat attracting investors, Raosaid.

Many American compa-nies are investing in thestate and the policies of theTelangana government arebeing looked at, Verma said.

He enquired about theavailability of power inTelangana and was told thatthe state had some deficit asof now, but it would becomea surplus state in 2-3 years.

The US Ambassador alsoasked about the Centre-State relations in India andwhether states had involve-ment in the issue of plans,the release said.

In his response, the chiefminister said Telanganaenjoyed amicable relationswith the Centre and the stategovernment welcomed set-ting up of the 'NITI Ayog'which promoted state's par-ticipation.

US Ambassador meets Telangana CM Implement AP Reorg Act, speed updevelopment of state: Congress

Himachal Pradesh's admin-istrative tribunal chiefassumes chargeSHIMLA, FEB 27

Justice VK Sharma, a former judge ofthe Himachal Pradesh High Court, onFriday took charge as the chairman of thestate administrative tribunal that the gov-ernment has revived.

Chief Secretary P Mitra read out theappointment order issued by the President.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh toldreporters that the government has beensuccessful in setting up the administrativetribunal, which would enable the employ-ees to get their grievances redressed.

He said the state government had pur-sued the matter for setting up the adminis-trative tribunal with the central govern-ment.

"Since there are many service casespending in the high court, the tribunalwould not only provide much relief to thecourt but will also act as an alternativesource for grievance redressal," he added.

FARIDABAD, FEB 27Several trade unions

today held a protest hereagainst the government'splan to amend the existinglabour laws alleging that itwould lead to the infringe-ment of rights of workers.

Subhash Lamba,General Secretary of oneof the trade unions, said ifthe acts are adopted, thebasic rights of the work-force, including minimumwages, permanency of job,retirement benefits wouldbe infringed.

Terming the 'jail bharo'protest held yesterday asuccess, Lamba said 1800protestors were arrested inthe city. However,Inspector Bharat Bhushandebunked the claim and

said 119 arrests were madeand those arrested werereleased on bail later.

The march started fromB K Chowk and ended atthe office of the DeputyCommissioner Faridabadin Sector-12.

Demands raised by theprotestors also includeddiscontinuance of contrac-tor system, fixing mini-mum wages equivalent toPunjab, stopping theprocess of privatisation inInsurance, Railways,Defence andTelecom.

Vipul Goel, MLA fromFaridabad said the appre-hension of governmenttaking decisions againstthe interest of the workerwas totally misleading.

Trade unions holdprotest in Faridabad

Tired of smartphone'sintrusion in yourpersonal space? A

new device may be yournew hope to stay connect-ed without much hassle.

Monohm Inc. hasannounced the creation ofRuncible - a personaldevice modelled on thepocket watch.

Flaunting a high resolu-tion, round screen, thedevice includes a high-per-formance phone and cam-era which is meant to"refocus users' attention onreal people and the realworld".

"People need somethingto let them control theirdigital lives in clean, quiet,simple ways," said AubreyAnderson, CEO and co-founder, Monohm Inc in astatement.

"Runcible is the alterna-tive to the increasinglyinvasive and commodifiedsmartphone whose app-centric approach distractsus from our lives instead ofhelping us live them,"Anderson added.

Runcible is built on topof Mozilla's Open SourceFirefox OS, and KDDICorporation is Monohm'sfirst carrier partnership.

Runcible's operating sys-tem is based on Open Webstandards.

Unlike other systemswhich rely upon compli-cated middleware and can-not integrate across plat-forms, applications anddevices, Runcible userscan simply access thepower of the web to com-

mand and control thegrowing number of IoTdevices and connectedthings around us.

What's heartening is thatunlike smartphones whichbecome obsolete withintwo or three years,Runcible's parts can beremoved, repaired andupgraded, enabling the

device to be kept fordecades.

Runcible will neverbeep, alert or otherwiseinterrupt us, enabling us tokeep our attention where itwas always meant to be.

The device would beavailable by the end of thisyear.

NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. The moon orbits the earth at a mean distanceapproximatelyA. 0.384 million km B. 149.6 million kmC. 579 million km D. 227.9 million km

2. The mean radius of the earth is approximatelyA. 32,000 km B. 6,400 kmC. 9,600 km D. 12,800 km

3. Which of the following is a warm current?A. Benguela current B. Labrador currentC. Kurosiwo current D. South Pacific current

4. The major countries of central America areA. Belize, Costa Rica, PanamaB. China, Taiwan, JapanC. Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, KuwaitD. All of the above

5. The main producers of free gas areA. the south Bassein and Tapti fields in the westernoffshoreB. the gas fields in Tripura and Andhra Pradesh (KGBasin)C. both (a) and (b)D. None of the above

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(A), 2 (B), 3(C), 4(A), 5(C)

12:00AM Nisha AurUske Cousins12:30AM MasterChefIndia01:00AM Ye Hai

Mohabbatein01:30AM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir : Kahani AbTak

02:00AM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai02:30AM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas03:00AM Tu Mera Hero03:30AM Suhani Si Ek Ladki04:00AM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya04:30AM Everest05:00AM Diya Aur Baati Hum05:30AM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins06:00AM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir : Kahani AbTak

06:30AM Ye Hai Mohabbatein07:00AM Tu Mera Hero07:30AM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas08:00AM Suhani Si Ek Ladki08:30AM Everest09:00AM Diya Aur Baati Hum09:30AM Ye Hai Mohabbatein10:00AM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya10:30AM Tu Mera Hero11:00AM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas11:30AM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir : Kahani AbTak

12:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum12:30PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai01:00PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein01:30PM Tu Mera Hero02:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum02:30PM MasterChef India03:00PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai03:30PM Suhani Si Ek Ladki04:00PM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya04:30PM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins05:00PM Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas05:30PM Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon...Ek Baar Phir : Kahani AbTak

06:00PM MasterChef India06:30PM Suhani Si Ek Ladki07:00PM Saath Nibhaana Saathiya07:30PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein08:00PM Tu Mera Hero08:30PM Nisha Aur Uske Cousins09:00PM Diya Aur Baati Hum09:30PM Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai10:00PM Everest10:30PM MasterChef India11:00PM Ye Hai Mohabbatein11:30PM Tu Mera Hero _________________________

1 2 : 0 0 A MTeleshopping02:00AM HelloPratibha

03:00AM Neeli Chatri Waale04:00AM Baba Ramdev Ka Yog05:00AM Narayan Seva06:00AM Creflo Dollar and Taffi

Dollar06:30AM Glory to God07:00AM Teleshopping09:00AM Kahani Ab Tak09:30AM Exposure Jhalak10:00AM Kumkum Bhagya

10:30AM Service Wali Bahu01:00PM Kahani Ab Tak05:30PM Holi Bemisaal 201506:30PM Service Wali Bahu07:00PM Bandhan....Sari Umar

Hume Sang Rehna Hai07:30PM Hello Pratibha08:00PM Neeli Chatri Waale09:00PM SaReGaMaPa L’il Champs10:05PM Satrangi Sasural10:40PM Doli Armaano Ki11:20PM SaReGaMaPa L’il Champs __________________________

1 2 : 0 0 A MC h a k r a v a r t i nAshoka Samrat0 1 : 0 0 A M

Teleshopping02:00AM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi02:30AM Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar

Ke Pakke Rishte03:00AM Sasural Simar Ka03:30AM Shastri Sisters04:00AM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi04:30AM Udann05:00AM Iskcon Aarti05:30AM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi06:00AM Teleshopping07:00AM Narayan Sewa Sansthan

Trust07:30AM Home Shop 1808:00AM Udann09:30AM Comedy Nights with Kapil11:00AM Farah Ki Dawat12:00PM Fear Factor Khatron Ke

Khiladi Darr Ka BlockbusterReturns

01:00PM Comedy Nights with Kapil06:30PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi07:00PM Shastri Sisters07:30PM Sasural Simar Ka08:00PM Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar

Ke Pakke Rishte08:30PM Udann09:00PM Fear Factor Khatron Ke

Khiladi Darr Ka BlockbusterReturns

10:00PM Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi10:30PM Code Red11:30PM Comedy Nights with Kapil ___________________________

12:00AM Best ofSavdhaan India: IndiaFights Back01:00AM Comedy

Classes01:30AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki02:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back03:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki03:30AM Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye04:00AM Comedy Classes04:30AM Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali05:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki05:30AM Comedy Classes06:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back07:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back08:00AM Supercops vs

Supervillains... Shapath : Ghosts09:00AM Supercops vs

Supervillains... Shapath : Ghosts10:00AM Mahakumbh - Ek Rahasaya

Ek Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki11:00AM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back12:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back01:00PM Best Of Savdhaan India:

Delhi Fights Back02:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back03:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back04:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back05:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back06:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back07:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:

India Fights Back08:00PM Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back : Punjab Fight BackNow

09:00PM Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath : Ghosts

10:00PM Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back : UP Fight Back Now

11:00PM Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : Punjab FightBack Now

____________________________0 1 : 0 0 A MTeleshopping02:00AM Humsafars02:30AM CrimePatrol: Dastak

05:00AM Bhakti06:00AM Teleshopping06:30AM Bhakti07:00AM Teleshopping08:00AM C.I.D08:00PM Adaalat09:00PM Bhanwar10:00PM C.I.D11:00PM Crime Patrol - Satark ________________________

12:00AM SoundShuffle0 1 : 0 0 A M

Teleshopping06:30AM Morning Music Mocha07:00AM Morning Music Mocha08:00AM Jump Starter09:00AM Morning Music Mania10:30AM Tweet Your Beat11:00AM Bindass Juke Box12:00PM Halla Bol (2)01:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui02:00PM Halla Bol (2)03:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui04:00PM Halla Bol (2)05:00PM Fb Jukebox06:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui07:00PM Love By Chance08:00PM Halla Bol (2)09:00PM Love By Chance10:00PM Halla Bol (2)11:00PM Yeh Hai Aashiqui _________________________

12:00AM V SuperstarPreview12:30AM V

Distractions01:00AM Gumrah02:00AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice03:00AM Gumrah04:00AM V Distractions04:30AM Million Dollar Girl05:00AM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice06:00AM ICC Cricket World Cup

201503:00PM Million Dollar Girl03:30PM V Superstar Preview04:00PM Gumrah05:00PM Paanch 5 Wrongs Make A

Right05:30PM V Distractions06:00PM Million Dollar Girl06:30PM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice07:00PM Gumrah08:00PM Saturday Special09:00PM Million Dollar Girl09:30PM V Superstar Preview10:00PM Sadda Haq My Life My

Choice10:30PM V Dare 2 Date11:00PM V Distractions11:30PM Million Dollar Girl ________________________

12:00AM WhatHappened Next?1 2 : 3 0 A M

Destroyed in Seconds01:00AM Telebrand02:00AM What Happened Next?02:30AM Destroyed in Seconds03:00AM Gold Rush04:00AM You Have Been Warned05:00AM Telebrand06:00AM Food Factory07:00AM How Do They Do it?07:30AM How Do They Do it?08:00AM Yudh Abhyas : Gurkhas

and Arcitic Wolves08:30AM India: Living Traditions09:00AM What Happened Next?09:30AM Destroyed in Seconds10:00AM Running Wild with Bear

Grylls : Deion Sanders11:00AM Gold Rush12:00PM First Time Film Makers12:30PM Factory Made01:00PM Man Vs. Wild02:00PM Food Factory03:00PM Rampage! : Weather

Rampage 204:00PM How Do They Do it?04:30PM How Do They Do it?05:00PM What Happened Next ?05:30PM Destroyed in Seconds06:00PM Dual Survival07:00PM I Shouldn’t Be Alive :

Trapped Under The Ice08:00PM Man Vs. Wild : Big Sky

Country09:00PM Running Wild with Bear

Grylls : Deion Sanders10:00PM You Have Been Warned11:00PM A Haunting

TV Channels Schedule TODAY’S STARARIES Today, Aries, your ability to stand up for your decisions and not let

others sway you may be enhanced. This will be especially true ifyou've arrived at a resolution that solves a problem. Others mayoften try to change your decisions. Maybe this is because they suc-ceed, but not today. The planetary aspects are working in your favor,and you will feel a new strength. Follow your own heart.

TAURUS You may feel a real need to get moving today, Taurus. Almosteveryone prefers quiet activities, books, art, and even just sittingaround to physical activity at times. But your health can suffer ifyou aren't active, Fresh air, exercise, and sunshine are vital toyour well-being. Today don't resist any urge to get up and dosomething active. Chances are you will really enjoy yourself.

GEMINI Today, Gemini, you will probably have a ton of energy at your dis-posal for getting into all kinds of activities. Finish any work thatstill needs to be completed. Do some cleaning and organizing orsee about getting out for a little warm weather fun. Whatever youchoose, try to make sure it's active. You will need a place for allthat energy to go. Quiet sedentary pursuits won't do it for you.

CANCER This is an excellent day to express your natural creativity, Cancer.The arts will likely be very important to you. You may find thatnothing brings you more pleasure on days like this. Consider put-ting this to good use by painting, sculpting, doing crafts, or what-ever you like. You will find that engaging in creative activities witha focus on giving may be the perfect thing for you.

LEO If you're feeling tired, Leo, you may need to lie back, close youreyes, and listen to some soothing music. You work hard most ofthe time, so it can do your body and mind good to just relax andlisten to your favorite music. Why not do this today? Even a fewminutes will make a difference. You can always use the quiet timeto plan if you have to feel you've accomplished something.

VIRGO Today may bring up strong feelings, Virgo. This may not be new,as you have a tendency to feel things deeply. But it may be a bittough to find a way to express this. While you're creative, findingthe right activity to get you going isn't always easy. Why not visita bookstore and look for some appealing craft books or art mate-rials? This might spark ideas for new ways to express yourself.

LIBRA Today, Libra, consider that artistic expression can happen inmany ways. It isn't always about drawing a picture, singing asong, playing music, or acting. The way that you arrange yourhome or workspace is an artistic expression. So are how youdress and do your hair. Each thing you do is an expression of youand your choice of style. Being uniquely artistic is innate for you.

SCORPIO You may find that today brings great physical strength and energy toyou, Scorpio. Given this, you may really want to do some tough,challenging physical work. This is certainly the day for it, so why notgo for it? Do some yard work or clean out closets, cupboards, draw-ers, and filing cabinets. Consider donating items that you don't useanymore or plan a garage sale to make some bucks.

SAGITTARIUSSagittarius, it's prime time to get busy. Activities that requirefocus or creativity will be supported. Physical strength andenergy will encourage you to do something active. If you'vefelt sluggish, tired, or a little under the weather, today's plane-tary aspect can put an end to that. Consider artistic projectsthat take strength, such as building something out of wood.

CAPRICORN Your active side may show through today, Capricorn. While you canbe extremely focused on brainwork, you also love to keep active anddo physical work. When you have a project like cleaning your home,you can be very fast and efficient when you want to. This is a goodday to get a lot accomplished. Run around doing this and that. Youwill probably enjoy it very much and feel very satisfied afterward.

AQUARIUS If you've been feeling tired or sick lately, this will probably turnaround for you, Aquarius. You may often experience moodiness,and this can be a real drain. Your emotional state can affect howyour body feels. Be sure to take care of your feelings as well asyour body. If there are things that need to be worked out, takecare of them today. The two really do go together.

PISCES You will probably be very busy today, Pisces, which may suit youjust fine. This can work in your favor if you have some work tocatch up on. Being active and getting things done will be naturalfor you. In fact, when you have to sit for too long, you probablyfeel restless or anxious. You fidget and squirm. If you find your-self doing this, go do something more active!

Micromax has finallyrevealed the pricing ofthe Canvas Selfie

smartphone, which will be avail-able at Rs. 15,999 in India.Initially announced inDecember, the MicromaxCanvas Selfie is expect-ed to go on sale soon.

The companyat the launchstressed thatthe Canvas-series smart-phone has beendesigned forimage-consciouswomen. It features afaux leather rear finish.

The highlight of theMicromax Canvas Selfie isits 13-megapixel front andrear cameras that are bothaccompanied by LED flashmodules and Sony sensors. Thesmartphone's features fewinbuilt camera tools such as eyeenhancement; face slimming;skin smoothening; teeth whiten-ing; remove oil; fade dark cir-cles, and make-up.

micromax_canvas_selfie_homescreen_official.jpg

The Canvas Selfie is poweredby 1.7GHz octa-core (unspeci-

fied chipset) processor coupledwith 2GB

o f

RAM.T h es m a r t -phone runsA n d r o i d4.4.2 KitKat

out-of-the-box andsupportsd u a l -

S I M

(GSM+GSM).

It features a 4.7-inch HD(720x1280 pixels) IPS displaywith Corning Gorilla Glass 3protection. Micromax CanvasSelfie includes 16GB of inbuiltstorage which is further expand-able via microSD card (up to32GB).

It includes a 2300mAh batterywith no word on talk time andstandby time. Connectivityoptions on the Canvas Selfieinclude Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi,Micro-USB, GPRS/ EDGE,and 3G. It will be availablein Mystic Blue andAngelic White colours.

An establishedM u m b a i - b a s e dretailer onThursday claimedthat Micromax'snew Bolt Q324

s m a r t p h o n ehas launchedat Rs. 3,990.So farMicromax is

yet to officiallyannounce or list the

device. The retailertipped that the Micromax

Bolt Q324 will be available forRs. 3,990 against an MRP of Rs.4,699.

Micromax Canvas Selfie With 13-Megapixel Frontand Rear Cameras Launched at Rs. 15,999

Expert Panel on Cyber-Security to SubmitReport in 3 Months Chief Election Commissioner

H S Brahma on Friday saidvoting by Internet could be a

possibility in the future and the firststep in this direction is the EC's planto make electoral rolls "totally errorfree". "Voting by Internet is the nextstage. The first step in the directionwas the Election Commission'sambitious plan to make the electoralrolls totally error free," the CEC said.

He, however, did not give a time-frame for it.

"We need funds, infrastructure andsome training. India can do it...,"

Brahma said, adding, young votersthink that Internet voting can save alot of time, resources, and energy.

"When I was standing in queue tocast vote in the Delhi Assemblypolls, five young voters standing infront of me said casting vote takes afew seconds but standing in queuefor two hours is a difficult task...," hetold a press conference in New Delhi

However, only yesterday, LawMinister D V Sadananda Gowda hadinformed the Lok Sabha in a writtenreply that there are no plans to intro-duce Internet voting.

The Election Commission (EC)will launch National Electoral RollPurification and AuthenticationProgramme (NERPAP) betweenMarch 3 and August 15. As part ofthe programme, EC will link elec-toral photo I card with UIDAI num-ber to ensure there is no duplication.

He said that 10 to 12 percententries in electoral roll are duplicate.There are 85 crore electors in thecountry as per the latest EC data. Acity in one southern state has 42 per-cent duplicate entries, Brahmaadded.

Internet Voting a Possibility in Future: Chief Election Commissioner

Panasonic has silentlylaunched the successorof the Eluga U, the

Eluga U2, inTaiwan atTWD 7,990( a p p r o x i -mately Rs.15,700). Asyet, there isno informa-tion of itsg l o b a lrelease.

T h esmartphonecan beg r a b b e dfrom Yahooonline storein Taiwan.T h ePanason icEluga U2 isa single-SIMdevice unlike the dual-SIMEluga U. The smartphoneruns Android 5.0 Lollipopwith the company's Fit HomeUI out-of-the-box, making itthe first device to run Lollipopby Panasonic.

Upfront, the PanasonicEluga U2 features a 5-inchfull-HD (720x1280 pixels)

IPS display and is powered bya 64-bit quad-core 1.2GHzQ u a l c o m m

Snapdragon410 proces-sor coupledwith 2GB ofRAM.

The PanasonicEluga U2 sports a13-megapixel rear

camera with LEDflash, and a 5-megapixel frontfacing camera. Inbuilt storageon the Eluga U2 is 16GB,which is further expandablevia microSD card (up to32GB).

Connectivity options on theEluga U2 include 4G LTE,Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS/A-GPS. The handset meas-

ures 141.5x71x7.95mm,weighs 131 grams, and comeswith a 2500mAh battery.

Last year in July,Panasonic had launched

the Eluga U smart-phone in India,

priced at Rs.18,990. The dual-

SIM (Micro-S I M )

P a n a s o n i cEluga U

features a5 - i n c h

(720x1280pixels) IPS OGS

display, and is powered by a1.2GHz quad-core QualcommSnapdragon 400 processorcoupled with 2GB of RAM.Other specifications include, a13-megapixel autofocus rearcamera; a 2-megapixel front-facing camera; 16GB of built-in storage expandable viamicroSD card (up to 32GB),and a 2500mAh battery.

Panasonic Eluga U2 With 4GLTE, 64-Bit SoC and Android

5.0 Lollipop Launched

SPORTSSPORTS 7SAADDA HAQNEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015

SYDNEY, FEB 27Skipper A B de Villiers

hammered the fastest 150in ODI history as he ledSouth Africa to a record-equalling 257-run win overthe West Indies in a Pool Bcricket World Cup match,here on Friday.

Thanks to a sensational66-ball 162 from deVilliers, South Africa post-ed World Cup's second-highest total of 408 for fiveand then inflicted furtherhumiliation on theCaribbean side by skittlingthem out for a measly 151in 33.1 overs.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahirreturned career-best figuresof five for 45 to add insultto the West Indies injury.

Now India and SouthAfrica jointly hold therecord for victory withhighest margin in theWorld Cup history as thedefending champions hadhumbled Bermuda by 257runs in the 2007 edition.

South Africa have nowjumped to second spot inthe points table while theWest Indies are now fourth.

Electing to bat, SouthAfrica made a cautious butsolid start with HashimAmla (65) and Faf duPlessis (62) scoring sedatehalf centuries beforeswashbuckling de Villierstook over to treat thecapacity Sydney Cricket

Ground crowd with anunbelievable show of

boundary hitting for acareer-best knock.

He punished theCaribbean bowlers with 17

fours and eight sixes in hissensational unbeateninnings after coming at thefall of Amla's wicket in the30th over. The team total atthat time was 146 for three.

South Africa scored 150runs from the final 10overs to score the secondhighest total in any WorldCup match behind India's413 for five againstBermuda in Port-of-Spainin 2007.

West Indies needed ChrisGayle to fire chasing such amammoth total but the big-hitting left-hander man-aged only 3 and theCaribbean side buckledunder pressure.

Skipper Jason Holdertop scored for them with a56-run knock batting atnumber nine while openerDwayne Smith managed31 as only four Caribbeanbatsmen managed double-digit scores.

The 31-year-old deVilliers, who holds therecord of fastest ODI hun-dred from just 31 balls,notched up the secondquickest century in anyWorld Cup with his 52-ball ton, missing therecord by just two balls.

Kevin O'Brien had hitthe fastest century from50 balls against Englandin the 2011 edition.

De Villiers was particu-larly harsh on Holder

whom he hit for 34 runs -- four boundaries and twosixes -- in the 48th overwhich had two no-ballfree hits. This was the sec-ond most runs scored inan over in a World Cup,behind Herschelle Gibbs'36 against theNetherlands in the 2007edition.

The rampaging SouthAfrican captain alsosmashed Holder for 30runs in the final over withthe help of a boundary andfour sixes. His strokemak-ing prowess was such thathe took just 12 balls toreach 150 from100.

25-year-old World Cupdebutant Rilee Rossouwalso made a strokeful 39-ball 61, studded with sixfours and a six, and hecompeted in boundary hit-ting with his captain for awhile before being thefourth man out. He shared134 runs with de Villiersfor the fourth wicket fromjust 12.3 overs.

The hapless West Indianbowlers were thrashed allover the park with Holderconceding 104 runs forone wicket from his 10overs while left-arm spin-ner Sulieman Benn bled79 runs without any suc-cess. Andre Russell andChris Gayle took wicketsapiece.

Cricket World Cup: AB de Villiers' sensational batting sinks West Indies

SYDENY, FEB 27West Indies bats-

man Darren Bravowas ruled out of therest of the World Cupon Friday after failingto recover from ahamstring injury, thesquad`s players` asso-ciation said.

"Darren Bravo hasbeen ruled out of theWorld Cup and willbe replaced in theWest Indies squad.Get well soon@DMBravo46#cwc15," tweeted the WestIndies PlayersAssociation (WIPA).

Bravo suffered aleft hamstring injuryin the 150-run winover Pakistan inChristchurch lastweekend and missedFriday`s 257-rundefeat by South

Africa at the SydneyCricket Ground.

The 26-year-oldTrinidadian made 49against Pakistanbefore he was forcedto retire hurt.

He had also beenleft dazed when apowerful throw from

Younis Khan hit himon the side of the hel-met as he scrambledthrough for a single.

To complete hismiserable day, he waslater reprimanded bythe InternationalCricket Council forswearing.

West Indies batsman DarrenBravo out of World Cup

BENGALURU, FEB 27Defending champion Karnataka

need just four wickets to book theirsecond consecutive berth in the finalof the Ranji Trophy cricket tournamentas Mumbai are struggling at 277 forsix in their second innings at stumpson the third day, here today.

Chasing a target of 445, Mumbaistill need 168 runs with just four wick-ets in hand and two full days playremaining. Siddhesh Lad (41) andAbhishek Nayar (2) were at the creasewhen stumps were drawn. Karnatakabowlers made good use of the two-paced wicket as they did not let thevisitors to go on the offensive.

Mumbai batsmen were kept on atight leash by Karnataka captain RVinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithunwith good support from pacer AravindSreenath and leggie Shreyas Gopal.

Mithun was outstanding today as hebnow and then troubled the Mumbaitop-order including skipper AdityaTare, who was the top-scorer for thevisitors with 98 off 207 balls, andinform Shreyas Iyer (50 off 66).

Mithun ran in hard and bowled hisheart out, finishing with figures ofthree for 49 in 27 overs. Vinay, Gopaland Sreenath picked up one wicketeach. Mumbai batsmen, though, hadtwo sessions in their name but couldnot turn the heat against the hosts as

they found scoring runs difficult on thetwo-paced wicket. Tare played a cap-tain's knock, pacing his innings to per-forction but unfortunately missed thecentury by just two runs.

Iyer was very lucky to have survivedas he was dropped by wicketkepeerRobin Uthappa in very same over afterMithun sent back overnight batsmanAkhil Herwadkar trapped leg beforefor 31 runs. Iyer grabbed the lifelinewith both hands and made a brisk 50studded with seven boundaries.

But Iyer gave away his wicket insearch of two many big shots. Hedeparted while trying to pull a Mithundelivery only to give a simple catch toJ Suchith.

Apart from Tare and Iyer, no otherMumbai batsmen showed the intent tokeep the scoreboard ticking, whichwas reflected in Surya Kumar Yadavand Lad's innings, who scored 36 runsoff 119 balls and 41 not out off 99balls.

The match is heading for an excitingfinish on the fourth day as it can goeither side. Mumbai will be hopingthat they do not lose any wicket in thefirst session and Karnataka would loveto run through the remaining of thevisitors innings as quickly as possible."Mumbai is a good side, and we knowit. They were bowled out for 44 in thefirst innings and yet we did not take it

easy. We have to take at least twoquick wickets to make inroads tomor-row morning. Mumbai will keep com-ing hard on us, we know," Gopal toldreporters.

Resuming at 61 for no loss, Mumbaiwent about chasing the target cautious-ly, wanting to see off Vinay andMithun.

The first session belonged wholly toTare, who dropped anchor and playeda sedate innings, and remained 79 notout at lunch with the team total reading166 for two.

The post lunch session belonged toKarnataka when they picked up threewickets, giving jitters to Mumbai. Thesecond new ball did the trick asMithun and Vinay removed Yadav (36)and Nikhil Patil (0) in quick succes-sion.

While Yadav offered a catch toUthappa behind the stumps, Patil wascaught by Kunal Kapoor respectively.Arvind Sreenath tasted his first bloodwhen he removed Tare, who unfortu-nately fell two runs short from regis-tering his second century of the tour-nament. In his 98-run knock, Tare belt-ed 15 boundaries At tea, taken were ina spot of bother at 234 for five.

In the post-tea session, Mumbaicould score only 43 runs by losing thewicket of Wilkin Mota (9) when hebecame the victim of Gopal.

Ranji Trophy: Karnataka eye fourwickets, Mumbai need 168 runs

PERTH, FEB 27Two worlds collide on

Saturday when mighty Indiatackle the United ArabEmirates` team of shippingclerks and airline staff, with atleast two of the Gulf amateursrelishing the World Cupshowdown at the WACA.

All-rounder KrishnaChandran and wicket-keeperSwapnil Patil were both bornin India but, frustrated by thepedestrian pace of their play-ing careers in the country`sover-crowded talent market,they decamped to the UAEwhere they could pursue bothjobs and cricket.

Chandran hails from Keralaand once featured for aBangalore college club along-side Stuart Binny, who is amember of the India squad atthe World Cup.

"It`s going to be a bigmoment for people backhome," 30-year-old Chandran,who moved to the Gulf in2010, told wisdenindia.com.

"For people who saw meplaying in my shorts, with atennis ball, on the streets ofmy home village ofKollengode, it`s going to be abig thing to watch me on TV,playing against India, in aWorld Cup match, at a groundlike the WACA."

Chandran, who has becomesomething of a curiosity at theWorld Cup due to his surname

of Karate which adorns someof his playing gear, made asolid 34 runs in the openingloss to Zimbabwe beforebeing dismissed for nought inthe heart-breaking two-wicketdefeat by Ireland.

Patil is another Indian expatand he is looking forward tomeeting up with star batsmanAjinkya Rahane who smashed79 against South Africa.

Patil and Rahane played in avariety of youth teams inMumbai before the keeperdecamped to Dubai.

But the 29-year-old Patil,one of seven players in theUAE squad who only madetheir debuts last year aftercompleting residency qualifi-cations, has fond memories ofhis time spent with Rahane.

"As juniors we have spent

much time together. Becauseof distances in Mumbai, wecouldn`t hang out togetherafter games but Ajinkya islike a brother," Patil told theIndian Express.

"Once I moved from India,we lost contact. But one dayat the Dubai airport, he wasreturning from India`s A tourto South Africa, it was likeold times again."

Reigning championsIndia`s much-vaunted battingline-up has impressed so farat the World Cup, but captainMahendra Singh Dhoni saidhis fielders deserved creditfor restricting oppositiontotals."If we score 280, forexample, we know with ourfielding we can actually addanother 15 runs. I think wehave got some excellent field-ers, and apart from that wehave got fast bowlers who areabove average fielders," saidthe skipper, whose team werelivewires against SouthAfrica.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, preview: India vs UAE

AUCKLAND, FEB 27New Zealand captain

Brendon McCullumvowed Friday his side willstick with their aggressiveapproach as they look tomaintain their perfectrecord at this World Cupwhen they face arch-rivalsAustralia.

The Black Caps are topof Pool A with three winsout of three, including aneight-wicket thrashing ofEngland, heading intotheir showdown with fel-low co-hosts Australia inAuckland in front of whatis set to be a capacity40,000 crowd at EdenPark on Saturday.

New Zealand are set tofield an unchanged sidewith swing bowler TimSouthee, who took a stun-ning seven for 33 againstEngland -- the third-bestWorld Cup return -- fitfollowing a minor shoul-der injury.

"It`s an aggressive con-fident style where we areas positive as we can be,trying to endear ourselvesto a public with the man-ner in which we play,"

said McCullum, who didexactly that with thefastest World Cup fifty,off 18 balls, againstEngland.

Australia`s formerWorld Cup-winning cap-tain Steve Waugh hastipped New Zealand asthe favourites forSaturday`s match butMcCullum wasn`t inter-ested in such talk.

"Look, I have said allalong, favourites orunderdogs, it`s irrelevantonce the game gets underway," McCullum insisted.

"Our focus is very much

on how we try and exe-cute the game that hasserved us so well over thelast little while. If we dothat, we will be hard tobeat.

"It doesn`t mean we aregoing to win but we aregoing to be hard to beat ifwe perform to the stan-dards we know how.

"Both teams are desper-ate to win tomorrow."

McCullum added histeam, bidding to giveNew Zealand their firstWorld Cup title, were inconfident mood becauseof their recent record.

"The fanfare and antici-pation is big but the guysare in a good spacebecause of what we`vedone previously."

Big crowds for NewZealand home matchesare rare but McCullumsaid the Black Cpaswould not be over-awedby the magnitude ofS a t u r d a y ` smatch.

"There`s no real nerves,we`ve been playing somegood cricket of late, livingthe dream really and get-ting the opportunity toplay for your country in aWorld Cup at home andtomorrow is going to be agreat event, 40,000 peopleand playing againstAustralia.

"It doesn`t really getbetter than that, so theguys aree x c i t e d . " D y n a m i cAustralia opener DavidWarner, never shy of toss-ing in a verbal barb beforeor even during a match,suggested the visitorswould try to makeMcCullum have a "brainexplosion" with the bat.

World Cup 2015: Brendon McCullumpromises no let-up against Australia

WENTWORTH, FEB 27A n i r b a n

Lahiri hasbeen namedThe EuropeanTour Race toDubai Golferof the monthfor Februaryfollowing theincredible runof form thatsaw the 27-y e a r - o l dIndian winthe MaybankM a l a y s i a nOpen and theHero IndianOpen in thespace of threeweeks.

Three months ago Lahiri was battling to win a place onThe European Tour at the Qualifying School Final Stage,but his extraordinary February exploits have catapultedhim to 34th place on the Official World Golf Ranking andguaranteed him a place at The Masters Tournament.

Nine shots behind leaders Lee Westwood and AlejandroCa?izares at the halfway stage of the Maybank MalaysianOpen, Lahiri rampaged to victory with weekend rounds of62-68 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club toburst into the top 50 of the World Ranking.

After a tie for 21st in the True Thailand Classic, Lahirireturned home for the Hero Indian Open and the venue ofthree of his previous Asian Tour career victories, DelhiGolf Club, where he started the final round seven shotsbehind countryman SSP Chawrasia.

However, he, found himself in a six-man battle for thetitle on the back nine, as the swirling, gusting wind com-bined with the devilish layout of the Delhi Golf Club towreak havoc on the field. In the end, after respective finalround scores of 69 and 76, Lahiri and Chawrasia returnedto the 18th hole for a sudden-death play-off to determinethe winner.

Lahiri's birdie could not be matched and the man fromBangalore completed a career-changing three-week run tojoin the golfing elite.

Anirban Lahiri isEuropean Tour

golfer of the Month

Akshay on why he won’tchase festival releasedates, but will continue tochase people poopingoutside his house…

I have known AkshayKumar for two decadesnow. And I have neverheard him complain once.About anything. His rivals,the weather, busy schedulebackache, headache, or lifein general. Worse, he won’tlet you complain aboutanything or gossip aboutanyone. He makes light ofmost things and laughs offeverything from rumoursto speculation. He is themost disciplined man Ihave ever met. A star whoworks four times as hard ashis contemporaries, andstill finds time for every-thing he wants. From hisfitness regime, to hisendorsements and socialcommitments. From liveperformances to annualmonth-long family holiday.I often marvel at how hemakes time for everythingbut then he does wake up at4 am! And is notorious forhaving 6 am meetings.Luckily, my appointment isat his office, one floorabove his home, at 3.30 inthe afternoon. But on myway there, I am directed tohis home, where he is hav-ing his lunch. He informsme that it is his dinner. Hiswife Twinkle is sitting byhis side in a pink kaftan,with son Aarav walking inand out of the room, sec-onds later his mother-in-law Dimple Kapadia walksin. I begin to feel like anintruder in this familyscene and we soon head toanother room (his kids’play room, where heproudly points to a beauti-ful wall painted by his 11-year-old) and we settledown to chat about his lat-est release Baby, how he isnow veering towardsmeaningful films and whyhe thinks actors are fakingwith method acting.

You are the man of themoment. Baby is holdingsteady even in the secondweek. How does it feel?

It feels good. First of all,it was a honour to workwith Neeraj Panday again.He makes very goodmovies. He extracts storiesfrom reality and puts themtogether. He is not the kindof director who watchesHollywood DVDs andmakes films. He is one ofthe very few original writ-

ers who pens a script fromhis mind and makes thefilm. He doesn’t believe intaking inspiration fromother films. His filmsalways have a message. Heis a very honest directorand I feel lucky that I got achance to work with him.

As Ajay Singh Rathore,you didn’t step out of thecharacter even once.Knowing that you love toimprovise on the sets, wasthis tough? Did you haveto work hard on that ordid you just followNeeraj’s vision?

I just followed him.There are some movieswhich need improvisationlike a Housefull. Even aHera Pheri, it needsimprovisation. There aresome films like thesewhere it happens… Or likewhen I played a cop’s rolein Rowdy Rathore, then Iget to improvise. But not ina film like Baby, whichrevolves around a sensitiveand a real incident. Youcannot go out of your char-acter. I am lucky enough towork with different kindsof directors.

You have suddenly start-ed being part of what isconsidered good cinema.Apart from still beingpart of hardcore com-mercial films. What’s thethought behind that?

That’s what I have doneall my life. I did Special26, 8X10 Tasveer, OMG!Oh My God…What hap-pens is with my career, Ialways try to do differentkinds of subjects. I don’twant to be having just oneimage, like after this I amdoing Housefull.

I think it started withSangharsh. I used to docommercial films beforebecause I didn’t have themindset to do any otherkind of cinema. I couldn’trelate to that, plus at thattime, I just wanted to earnmoney and that wouldcome only with commer-cial cinema. But now I amin a position where I cantake risks. I can cut myprice into half and do asmall film with the subjectof my liking, which willgive me critical acclaimbecause it all depends onme. I am doing a filmcalled Airlift. It’s a veryserious film and I can do itnow. To me nothing elsematters if I like a script, I

just do it. I experiment a lotwith myself.

You have never had aDiwali or a Eid release.Deliberate?

I have three to fourreleases in a year. I am not

going to wait for a Diwalirelease, have those bigreleases… I want to releasemy films whenever theyare ready. It does matterwith those kind of dates.There are too many peopleaiming for those festivaldates, so I don’t hankerafter them.

But big festival holidaysensure big bucks. Whywould you not want yourfilms to release then?

They should. But it alldepends on my producers,when my films are readyand what date they want torelease it. Fortunately, orunfortunately, I finish myfilms very fast and it does-

n’t make sense for my pro-ducers to wait till the festi-val season at the end of theyear to release their films.Like, I just started Brothersand it’s almost done. I amexactly 10 days away tofinishing it. I finishedGabbar in August, 2014.

Finshed means there is noshooting left. We decidedto make Brothers some-where around Septemberlast year and we arethrough with it.

Was Baby the most phys-ically exhausting film youhave done?

No, Baby was notexhausting. Brothers isexhausting. It has been themost physically exhaustingfilm I have ever workedon. The action was toughand I reharsed a lot becauseit was a different kind ofaction. Also, I had to lose alot of weight for this role.It’s a very physical part,not emotionally draining.

Which role left you emo-tionally drained?

No, I am not that kind ofan actor who gets into thecharacter so much. I justdon’t get too deep into arole to affect me once I

leave the set. I personallyfeel that actors fake it whenthey say that they gotdepressed after doing arole. I don’t know whatactors mean when they say‘Arey yaar, main characterke andar itna ghoos gayahoon that I cannot comeout. It’s taken me threemonths to come out of thecharacter.’ I can understandif they say they wereaffected for a day or twoperhaps…

I remember readingabout this scene betweenRobert De Niro and AlPacino. They had a scenetogether where Pacino hadto pant as if he had comerunning and deliver his

lines to De Niro. So,Pacino went a long dis-tance, ran and came run-ning but when he reachedhis spot, he forgot his lines.Again he went back andran a kilometre and hemessed up his line. So thenhe was about to go behindand De Niro caught hishand, and said “Listen nowcan you try acting?’’ Myapproach is the same. Actlike you have run andcome. You don’t have toactually run. So don’t getinto the part to the point itspills into your life. It’scalled acting. So justact!

So you are saying no rolehas ever affected you thatmuch?

I have played many dis-turbing characters whetherit’s Sangharsh orJanwaar… and nothingaffected me more than aday. If you see MarlonBrando, all these bigactors, the so-called kingsof acting, you will neverhear them talking like this.It’s okay I can understandif you say that I am stillfeeling that character for aday… but after that, chalna, abhi khatam ho gaya.

You’ve spent over 20years and done over 130films — does the releaseof a new film still bringthe butterflies?

Yes it does. And if itdoesn’t work, then I am sadbut only till Monday night.After that I have to carryon. I remember talking toMr. Bachchan about thislong back, I don’t knowwhether he would remem-

ber it. But I said to him,‘Sir, kabhi kabhi films nahichalti, how does one dealwith that?’ He said‘Akshay, no problem, lookstraight, carry on ahead,work for your next film.Don’t take it too seriously.”When an actor of that cal-iber says: Don’t take it toyour heart, otherwise youwon’t be able to work foryour next movie. You’lldestroy the next person’sfilm and points out thatthere is nothing you cando. It didn’t work, it didn’twork; you have to goahead.

You’re the only actorfrom your generation tosport a salt-and-pepperlook on and offscreen.

Why should I hide it? Ihave been working for thelast 25 years. I am in my40s. I have salt and pepperhair and stubble. Whyshould I hide it? I am evenready to age on screen.People should stop askingactors these questions.Why is this thinking onlyhere? Why is it a problem?Everyone follows the west,so why not when it comesto this? Tom Cruise plays aold man in Tropic Thunder,he plays a old, fat, baldJewish guy. I loved that.Why can’t we have thathere?

Also, while most otheractors of your generationshy away from workingwith younger heroes,you’re the first one to takethe plunge with Brothers,where you share screenwith Sidharth Malhotra.

Again, look in

Hollywood, no one ques-tions this aspect. You seethe biggest of actors doesone-minute roles in films.If a guy is making a filmand if there is a smallthree-minute role also, thebiggest of actors do it. Iwant to change thatthought. And I can try andchange it with my actions.So I am doing Brothers andam open to doing moresuch films. The role has tobe good. Who else is in thefilm, how big is his roleshould not matter.

Over the last few years,you’ve had three-fourreleases a year. Are youplanning to continuedoing that?

I will continue to do allkinds of films. So I willbalance serious films witha Housefull 3. Because ifall I do are serious films, Iwill become a verydepressed person. I can’tdo that. I need my Sajid-Farhad and I need to laugh,I need my RiteishDeshmukh… But yes, toanswer your question, Iwill continue makingthree-four releases a year. Ihave been doing that fromthe beginning of my career.It’s not a new thing.

Even SRK, Aamir andSalman did that at thebeginning of their careers,but not once they becamesuperstars.

Yes, that’s changing now.And it will change more.

You think they’ll do morefilms every year now?

Let’s not get into that.

Stretch marks are dif-ficult to removeexcept via surgery,

dermabrasion or laser.Here are some ways tolighten them.

Stretch marks are thosespidery vein-like lines onyour skin that are lighterthan your skin tone andso, are very visible, evenfrom a distance. Usually,rapid weight loss, physi-cal changes or pregnancycan cause these marks onyour stomach, thighs, calfarea and arms to appear.Experts say that the onlypermanent way to get ridof them is surgery.Dermabrasion or lasertreatment also help, buthere are some ways youmight be able to lightenthem....

Intense mosturisers:Massage a mix of castoroil and cocoa butter onthe area. This will provideintense hydration.

Aloe vera: Aloe verahas healing and soothingproperties. You can take a

stem of aloe vera andscoop out the fresh pulp.Rub this gently on themarks for around 10 min-utes. Leave it on foranother five minutes, thenrinse off.

Vitamin application:Break open a few VitaminE and A capsules. Now,mix both and apply on themarks till it gets absorbedtotally.

Oil massage: Sweet

almond oil, mixed withwheatgerm and argan oilcan help. When this ismassaged twice every dayon the stomach, from thefirst trimester of pregnan-cy, stretch marks are notformed.

TIP: Easy makeup trickTo hide your stretchmarks, use a good qualitybody foundation, bronzeror a concealer on theareas that havemarks

SAADDA HAQ NEWSPAPERAdvertisement Tariff (Rate Card)

DISPLAYBlack & White Rs.80 p.sq.cmColour Rs.160 p.sq.cm

EXTRA PREMIUMFront page solus (size min : 15×8, Max : 50×33)Back page (size Min : 5×8,Max : 50×33)3rd & Other pages (size Min : 3×4,Max : 50×33)

EAR PANELFour Colour Rs.4000/- per panelSize : 5cmx4cm(*min.30 insertion)Note : All the Classified Ads will be published on 2ndpage and will cost Rs 500 per insertion

Bollywood/FashionBollywood/Fashion8 NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | FEB 28, 2015SAADDA HAQ

Printer, Publisher, Owner & Editor: S. Harpreet Singh Khalsa, C-35, Hanuman Road, New Delhi-110001, Website:- www.saaddahaq.in, Contact Number :- +91- 9697645357, E-mail: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com, Printed by:- Purraj Print & Puckaging Pvt. Ltd., E-19, Sec-6, Nodia-201301All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi High Court.

For Advertisment Contact:-+91-9958791398

Rajesh Mishra (Advt. Manager)

Here's how to lighten your stretch marks

AIB Knockout hasnot gone well withmany celebrities

and adding to the list whoopenly boycott the show isthe ace filmmaker SanjayLeela Bhansali. Bhansalislammed the show for itsvulgar content. Notimpressed with the contentof the controversial show,Bhansali is also unhappywith Ranveer Singh andArjun Kapoor.

Bhansali scolded Arjunand Ranveer asked themnot to behave like a cheappeople. “You guys are

idiots. Stars don’t behavelike this. Learn from SRKand Salman. Don’t be achichora. Being a publicfigure, you should knowhow to conduct yourself.”

It was not too long whenAamir Khan slammed theshow for its violent andabusive content. Followinghis tweet, he had to facethe fire of the some sec-tion, who slammed thesuperstar for boycottingthe show who himself pro-duced movies like ‘DellhiBelly’, which is high onabusive content.

Shahrukh Khan playedsafe on expressing his viewon the show. He said beinga public figure one has tobe careful in passing anycomments. ”When you area popular actor like I am,people listen to you… So,you need to relook at it andI am only speaking aboutmyself here. There willalways be issues and ques-tions”, King Khan said.

Well, it is to be noted thatBhansali did not pass anyremark against his work-mate filmmaker KaranJohar!

AIB Roast: Sanjay Leela Bhansalicalls Ranveer, Arjun ‘Idiots’

Akshay Kumar: I feel that actors fake it when theysay that they got depressed after doing a role