Bring backBSY, say 17

BJP MPs in a letter

Bangalore: B S Yeddyurappa has proved that despite being forced to quit as Karnatakachief minister, he enjoys huge support within the BJP.

17 BJP MPs have met senior party leader LKAdvani this morning; in a letter, they have re-quested that Yeddyurappa be reinstated asChief Minister.

After a report on illegal mining indictedhim, the BJP forced a reluctant Mr Yeddyurap-pa to resign in July. He famously told his sup-porters at that time, "I'll be back."

As part of his rehabilitation package, hewas allowed to choose the man who would re-place him.

That politician, Sadananda Gowda, has re-peatedly pledged his support and gratitude tohis predecessor.

Yeddyurappa recently spent 25 days in jail inconnection with cases where he is charged withcorruption. He was granted bail in November.

A series of cases accuse him of using his termas Chief Minister to allocate prime property atthrowaway prices to firms owned by his childrenand their spouses.

HC relief to HDK in

mining caseBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The Karnataka High Court today ordered a four-week stay for proceedings against former chief minister H D Kumaraswamyin illegal mining case, which is being heard be-fore the Lokayukta special court.

The stay will be in force till January 4, whenthe high court will take up the case again. Ku-maraswamy has appealed before the highcourt that the case against him should be dis-missed.

A private complaint filed before the Lokayuk-ta court had alleged that Kumaraswamy hadgranted permits to SaiVenkateshwara mines tocarry out mining activities in violation of forestrules.

The Lokayukta police have already filed anFIR in the case and started the investigation asper the orders of special court judge N K Sud-heendra.

The complaint also named other former chief ministers S M Krishna and Dharam Singh, among the 14 who have beennamed accused.

At the time of this update, the high court wasalso hearing the petition from Krishna, seekinga stay on the special court proceedings.

Congressintact, no

split: SidduBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The Congress is united 100 percentand is intact. Reports of some discontented Con-gressmen joining the National Congress Party,headed by Union agriculture minister Sharad-Pawar, are mere rumours, said oppositionleader in the assembly Siddaramaiah here thismorning.

Coming out of an MLAs’ meeting at Vid-hanaSoudha today, he said, “The reports of Con-gressmen joining the NCP are baseless. Thereare no differences within the party.”

It was reported yesterday that more than 10 legislators from the Congress, including MLAs MalikaiahGuttedar, B C Patil, Dr M C Sudhakar, PrakashHukkeri and Ra-jashekarPatilHumnabad, MLC Dayananda Red-dy and others from northern parts of the state,were planning to join the NCP and float its statewing soon.

Reacting to it, Siddaramaiah said, “We havespoken to all those legislators (who have metNCP leaders).

Most of them arrived for today’s meeting.Some of them could not as they might have gotcaught in traffic and other problems.”

“The Congress party will remain united till itlasts. There is no reason for our legislators to bedisappointed,” he said.

Evening dailyJerome bail hearing today P 3

BangaloreBeatVol. 1, Issue 363 n Thursday n December 15, 2011 No. of pages: 4 n Price: ` 2

Internet biggies meet Sibal P 4

C T Ravi in land

case nowBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: More politicians aregetting dragged into illegal landallocation scandal.Today, it was the turn of BJP

spokesman and ChikmagalurMLA C T Ravi to be named ac-cused in an illegal land case.

BojeGowda has filed a privatecomplaint before the Lokayuktaspecial court, alleging that Ravihas allotted a civic amenitiessite to Anjaneya Education Soci-ety illegally.

The complainant also namesseveral Ravi’s relatives as ac-cused in the case.

The prime accused is Ravil,while the fourth accused is hisbrother.

He follows former chief min-ister B S Yeddyurappa, formerministers KattaSubramanyaNaidu and KrishnaiahShetty,home minister R Ashok, housingminister V Somanna and otherswho have been facing cases ofland grabbing before theLokayukta court.

Of these, Yeddyurappa, Kr-ishnaiahShetty and KattaSubra-manya Naidu have served jailterms extending from severaldays to months.

The alleged illegal land deno-tification cases have been dog-ging many in the ruling party,and there have been indicationsthat more would follow soon.

In the absence of a Lokayukta,the complaints are being filed be-fore the Lokayukta special court.

Hoochtragedytoll 107

Canning (West Bengal): Spuri-ous liquor claimed 50 more livesthis morning in South 24 Par-ganas district, taking the deathtoll in one of the worst hoochtragedies in West Bengal to 107.

Another 50 people are bat-tling for their lives in severalhospitals including some inKolkata after drinking the toxicbrew, official sources said.

The deaths were reported fromvarious hospitals since earlymorning, they said.

Most of the dead were poorlabourers, rickshaw-pullers andhawkers, who fell ill after con-suming spurious liquor from sev-eral illegal joints on Wednesday.

Postmortem of all the 107 bod-ies has been done and the bodieswere handed over to the familiesof the victims.

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The government today reportedlyapproved an order superseding the Bel-gaum City Corporation for its anti-Karnata-ka activities and openly expressing desire tomerge with Maharashtra.

Sources told Bangalore Beat that law andparliamentary affairs and urban developmentminister S Suresh Kumar today signed the or-der approving the supersession of the city cor-poration on the border of Karnataka and Ma-harashtra.

The minister consulted a series of legal experts before giving approval to the order.

The sources said the government has tak-en care not to get into any legal tangle as thereis a possibility of the city corporation repre-sentatives, majority of whom are from the Ma-

harashtra EkikaranaSamiti, approachingcourts once the order is passed.

The state government had sought clarifi-cation on 20 points from the city corporationciting mis-rule, non-utilisation of grantsand funds released by the state govern-ment.

The contentious issues were also protestwithin the corporation against the KannadaRajyotsava celebrations and moving a reso-lution against felicitation to Kannada litter-ateur ChandrashekarKambar after he wonthe Jnanapith award.

It is learnt that 18 MES corporators arrivedin the city today to convince the governmentagainst passing the order.

But the government is said to be firm onits order and has taken a serious note of in-fractions by the city corporation.

Mayor Manda Sunil Balekundri had

replied to the letter, but most of her replieswere general and not specific, it is learnt.

She had sent a letter in Kannada to the gov-ernment, while issuing an English transla-tion to the media.

MAYOR, DY MAYOR SUSPENDED FROM MESBelgaum: MaharasthraEkikaranaSamiti to-day expelled Belgaum mayor Manda SunilBalekundri and her deputy RenuKillekar forreplying to the state government letter in Kan-nada.

MES spokesman T K Patil said today that the party, which stands for merging of the border city with Maharashtra, has considered the letter as a serious violation of its principles and expelled the two leaders.

Food inflation fallssharply to 4.35%

Hits lowest level since February 2008New Delhi: Food inflation fell sharply to 4.35 percent for week ended December 3 - its lowest read-ing since late February 2008, from 6.60 per cent inthe previous week.

Last week, food inflation dropped to almost athree-and-a-half-year-low of 6.6% for the week toNovember 26 as a good harvest drove down veg-etable prices further, raising hopes that the stub-born inflation will finally ease. Chief economic ad-viser KaushikBasu said that he expected food in-flation to drop to 3 per cent within a month.

On Wednesday, government announced that theheadline inflation slowed to a 12-month low in No-vember, with analysts attributing its retardedpace of decline to a continued weakness in the ru-pee.

Inflation, as measured by the wholesale priceindex (WPI), rose to 9.11% in November from a yearearlier, against 9.73% in October and an upward-ly revised 10% in September, according to gov-ernment data released on Wednesday.

The decline in inflation was mainly due to asharp fall in food inflation, although that of fueland manufacturing increased.

A falling rupee, stubbornly high 9%-plus in-flation and a slowdown in economic activity is mak-ing it tough for the Reserve Bank of India to starteasing policy rates. Government data released onMonday showed industrial output had fallen over5% in October, prompting calls for rate cuts.

RBI's monetary policy review is due tomorrow. Economists expect inflation to drop to below 8%

in December on strong base effects and a slowingeconomy. However, the exchange rate remains anunknown component in the equation, with expertssaying it could depreciate further on global cues."There is a possibility of the rupee declining fur-ther in the near term, but if Europe stabilises, weexpect to see some appreciation," said Samiran-Chakraborty, head of research at Standard Char-tered Bank.

The inflation for manufacturing came in high-er at 7.7%, against 7.76% in the previous monthwhile fuel inflation increased to 15.48% from14.79% in October, reflecting deregulation ofsome fuel prices and weakening rupee.

Continued on page 3

Parliamentwill passBill: Anna

New Delhi: As consensus eluded politi-cal parties on Lokpal issue, Anna Hazaretoday said he has confidence in Parlia-ment that it will pass the bill as everybodyin government has given his team the as-surance.

However, he said if there is not enoughtime for deliberations on the legislation,the Winter Session of Parliament shouldbe extended for passing Lokpal Bill.

“(There will be a consensus) in Parlia-ment if not at all-party meeting. All MPsare there, it will be passed there...yester-day people put forward right points,some pointed out the deficiencies.

“Everybody in the government is givingus assurances that we will get a LokpalBill. So we should have faith in them. Butif they don’t bring it, then we will have toagitate,” he said ahead of the second dayof Team Anna’s Core Committee meeting.

Mr. Hazare was responding to questionson consensus eluding the all-party meet-ing on Lokpal Bill and apprehensions thatthe bill will not be passed in the ongoingwinter session.

He also repeated his demand for ex-tending the winter session of Parliamentfor passing Lokpal Bill if there is notenough time for deliberations on the leg-islation.

“It is important for the country. Earli-er also, you have occasions when the Ses-sion was extended,” he said, adding thevenue of his proposed protest could beshifted to Mumbai depending on theweather conditions in Delhi. “If the cli-mate is good, then it will be in Delhi,” headded.

Replying to questions on the all-partymeeting, Team Anna member Kiran Bedisaid almost all the parties were unani-mous on CBI getting autonomy.

“The key issue is the autonomy of CBI.You have the SP, BSP, Left, BJP asking forautonomy. I think the Congress view now

needs to be known,” she told reporters.When pointed out that some leaders

have cautioned government against rush-ing through the Bill, Bedi said, “Who arethese parties? Not the BJP surely as Sush-ma Swaraj tweeted that they want it in thissession. Are they managed voices, isolatedvoices?”

She said the day people start trustingCBI, governance will come in.

“The parties are asking for autonomyand admitting that CBI has been abused,this is why we need Lokpal. CBI is agraveyard of corruption, it is waiting to beexhumed. That’s why there is a desperateeffort to keep it protected as long as pos-sible,” she said.

Kejriwal said it was wrong to say thatthere was no consensus at the all-partymeeting.

“There was consensus on many things.There could be some points,” he said.

Govt supersedesBelgaum corp?

Govt withdraws orderon housing panels

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The state government today with-drew a notification making assistant commis-sioners chairmen of committees that selectedbeneficiaries for housing schemes in the state.

Housing minister V Somanna, replying to ques-tions raised by opposition leader in the assemblySiddaramaiah, said, “The order will be with-drawn today itself, once the question hour isover. The MLAs will be made chairpersons of thesecommittees as it was earlier.

But elected representatives should draw up the list of beneficiaries judiciously, including only the right candidates. The houses and plots should not go to their party supporters and there should not be any such con-siderations.”

He said that the central housing schemes, likeIndira AwaasYojana, cannot be brought under thejurisdiction of these committees as they are alreadybeing decided by respective gram panchayats, asper the central rule.

Earlier raising the issue, Siddaramaiah said,“Making officers chairmen of these committeeswent against the grain of democracy. Elected rep-resentatives are better at deciding who the bene-ficiaries are. The order undermines the powers ofMLAs, while providing super powers to assistantcommissoners.”

Council serves noticeon Ramanagar DC

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The legislative council todayissued a show-cause notice to Ramanagardeputy commissioner Puttaswamy formisbehaving with its member VimalaGowda.

Vimala Gowda had moved a privilegemotion in the council against the DC formaking disparaging remarks while speak-ing to her over the phone. It is imperativenow for the DC to answer the show-causenotice. The council is also likely to take updiscussion over the issue.

CITY 2Thursday, December 15, 2011

Contact: M : 9900948514

9742918562

Bangalore Beat

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638 ERS SBC SPL Ernakulam Jn 0430 000637 SBC ERS SPL Bangalore City 000 17156228 BANGALORE EXP Shimoga Town 0430 0006227 SHIMOGA EXP Bangalore City 000 23306222 MYSORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 0500 05306221 CHENNAI EXPRESS Mysore Jn 2300 23456517 BANGALORE MAIL Chennai Central 0525 0002657 BANGALORE MAIL Chennai Central 0535 0002658 CHENNAI MAIL Bangalore City 000 22452607 LALBAGH EXPRESS Chennai Central 2125 0002608 LALBAGH EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 06306021 BANGALORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 0735 (Sunday) 0006022 CHENNAI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2130 (Sunday)101S RMAS SBC PASSENGER Chennai Central 1900 000102SR SBC MAS PASSENGER Bangalore City 000 09152008 SHATABDI EXPRESS Chennai Central 1050 and2230 0002008 SHATABDI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1615 and 06002639 BRINDAVAN EXPRESS Chennai Central 1320 0002640 BRINDAVAN EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 14306523 BANGALORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 2005 0006524 CHENNAI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 08005626 GUWAHATI-BANGALORE Chennai Central 1840 (Tue, Thu) 0005625 BANGALORE - GUWAHATI Bangalore City 000 2330 (Wed, Fri)2429 RAJDHANI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1835 (Sun, Mon, Wed, Thu)2430 RAJDHANI EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 0725(Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat) 0002627 KARNATAKA EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 18302628 KARNATAKA EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 1340 0006217 SWARNA JAYANTHI EXP Bangalore City 000 1925 (Fri)6218 SWARNA JAYANTHI EXP Hazrat Nizamuddin 0830(Wed) 0002647 KONGU EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2315 (Sun)2648 KONGU EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 0200 (Fri) 0001013 COIMBATORE EXPRESS Mumbai 2215 23001014 LOKMANYA TILAK EXP Coimbatore 1225 12456529 UDYAN EXPRESS Mumbai Central 0905 0006530 UDYAN EXPRESS Bangalore City 00000 20006507 JU BANGALORE EXPRESS Jodhpur Jn 0400(Sat, Mon) 0006508 JODHPUR EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2125 (Mon, Wed)1017 CHALUKYA EXPRESS Dadar Mumbai 2225(Except Wed) 0001018 CHALUKYA EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 0620 (Except Thu)6509 AII SBC EXPRESS Ajmer Jn 0400 (Sun, Tue) 0006510 AJMER EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2125 (Tue, Thu)6501 AHMEDABAD EXPRESS Ahmedabad 0800 (Thu) 000

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Train No. Train Name Station Arrival B’lore Departure B’lore Train No. Train Name Station Arrival B’lore Departure B’lore

TRAIN SCHEDULE

JOGAYYA (U/A)Shivaraj Kumar, Pooja GandhiBanashankari (Hongasandra) (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Eshwari(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) FunCinemas (10.15 am, 1.15, 4, 6.45,9.25 pm) HMT Cinemas ( 10.45 am,1.30, 4.15 pm) Kapali (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Keshava (11am, 2.15, 5.30, 8.30 pm) Lakshmi(Tavarekere) (10.15 am, 1.15 pm)Lakshmi (Gottigere) (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm) Lakshmi (Rammor-thinagar) (11.15 am, 2.15, 6.15, 9.15pm) Manasa (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) PVR Cinemas (12.10 pm)Santhosh (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Srinvasa (Gowdanapalya)(11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Tirumala (10 am, 1.45, 5.30, 8.45pm) Vaishnavi (11.15 am, 2.15, 6.15,9.15 pm) Veerabhadreshwara (10.30am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Venkatesh(Avalahalli) (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Venkateshwara (Konap-pana Agrahara) (11 am, 2.15, 6.15,9.15 pm)

BADHRA (U)

Prajwal Devaraj, Daisy ShahBharathi (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15 pm)Govardhan (11.30 am, 2.30, 6, 9pm) Krishna (KR Puram) (10.30 am,2, 8 pm) Maruthi (11.30 am, 2.30pm, 6.30 pm, 9.30 pm) Menaka(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm)Nalanda (11,2.30,6,9.15pm) Rajer-ajeshwari (Mallathahalli) (10.30am, 1.30, 4.30,7 .15, 9.30 pm) Sid-dheshwara (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Veeresh (10.30 am, 1.30pm) Vajreshwari (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30pm) Rajarajeshwari (10.30am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.15, 9.30 pm) PVRCinemas (1, 3.30, 6.10 pm)

PANCHAMRUTHA (U) Raghu Mukherjee, Srinagara Kit-ty, RavishankerPVR Cinemas (7.10 pm)

MR DUPLICATE (U) Prajwal Devaraj, Diganth, SheetalNartaki (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Prasanna (10.15 am, 1.15, 4.15,7.15 pm) Uma (10.15 am, 1, 4, 7pm) Vijayalakshmi (Garu-dacharpalya) (11 am, 2.30 pm)

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (A)Jason Momoa, Leo Howard‘3D’ Cinemax (10.15 am, 3.30, 7.45,10 pm) Cinepolis (10 am, 12.15,2.30, 4.45, 7, 9.15 pm) Fame (Lido)(11 am, 4.30, 7, 9.30 pm) Fame(Shankarnag) (10.25 am, 3.45, 9.30pm) Fun Cinemas (5.10 pm, 9.45pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Bannerghat-ta Road) (10.30 am, 3.30, 9.30 pm)

Gopalan Cinemas (RajarajeshwariNagar) (1.15 pm, 7.30, 9.45 pm) In-novative Multiplex (11.30 am, 1.30,5.45, 10 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(10.05 am, 2.20, 7.30, 9.50 pm)Inox (Malleswaram) (10.30 am, 2.45,9.50 pm) Inox (J.P.Nagar) (10.10 am,2.35, 9.45 pm) Lakshmi (Tavarekere)(10.30 am, 1.30, 5.30, 8.30 pm)Mukunda (11 am, 2, 5, 8.30 pm)PVR Cinemas (11 am, 4.20, 9.40pm) Rex (12.15 pm, 6.05 pm) Uvashi(11.30 am, 6.30 pm) Vision Cinemas(10.30 am, 4.30, 9.30 pm) ‘2D’Fame (Value Mall) (10 am, 2.45, 5,9.45 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (MysoreRoad) (11.45 am, 2.15, 8 pm) HMTCinemas (9.45 pm) Inox (Jayanagar)(10.10 am, 3.55, 9.40 pm)

THE DEVIL DOUBLE (A)Fame (Lido) (10.20 am, 3.55 pm,7.25, 9 pm) Fame (Value Mall) (10am, 2 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10 am, 7.50 pm)

Movie ListingsKANNADA

ENGLISH

YEH DOORIYAN (U/A)Achint Kaur, Ayub KhanApsara (11 am, 2.30 pm) Abhinay(4.30 pm, 7.30 pm) Everest (11.15am, 2.15, 6.15, 9.30 pm) GopalanCinemas (Bannerghatta Road) (5.15pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Rajarajesh-wari Nagar) (1.45 pm) Vaibhavi (4.30pm, 7.30 pm)

CHITKABREY-SHADES OF GREY (A)Akshay Singh, Akshharaa GowdaCinepolis (2.40 pm, 9.20 pm) Fame(Value Mall) (9.20 pm) Inox (JP Nagar)(9.55 pm) Inox (Magrath Road) (11.20am) Inox (Malleswaram) (2.05 pm,7.15 pm)

NOT A LOVE STORY (A) Ajay Gehi, Mahie Gill, DeepakDobriyal, Urmila MatondkarFame (Value Mall) (10.05 am) FunCinemas (10.45 am, 4.15 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (Bannerghatta

Road) (10.15 am, 3.30, 10 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (Mysore Road)(5 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Rajara-jeshwari Nagar) (4.45 pm, 7.35 pm)Innovative Multiplex (10 pm) Inox(Magrath Road) (9.40 pm) PVR Cin-emas (10 am, 1.05, 4.10, 9.50 pm)Urvashi (9.30 pm) Vaibhav (6 pm,9.30 pm)

SAHI DHANDHE GALAT BANDE (U)Anupam Kher , Ashish NayyarGopalan Cinemas (RajarajeshwariNagar) (3.30 pm)

CHATUR SINGH TWO STAR (U/A)Sanjay , Ameesha Patel, KherAbhinay (4.30 pm, 7.30 pm) GopalanCinemas (Bannerghatta Road) (12.30pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Mysore Road)(2.45 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ra-jarajeshwari Nagar) (7 pm) PVR Cin-emas (12.05 pm, 5.35 pm) Vaibhav(6.15 pm, 9 pm)

HINDI

TELUGU

KERATAM (U/A)Siddharth Raj Kumar, AishwaryaCauvery (6.00 pm, 9.30 pm) Cinepo-lis (3.45 pm, 9.10 pm) Inox (Jayana-gar) (7.20 pm) Inox (JP Nagar) (10.45am, 4.20 pm) Inox (Malleswaram)(2.10 pm) Murali (Gokula) (6.15 pm,

9.30 pm) Pallavi (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm) Renukaprasanna(10.30am,1.30pm)

DAGGARAGA DURANGASumanth, Vedika, Sindhu TolaniAnjan (10.30 am, 1.30pm) Bhumika(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Rad-hakrishna (11.30 am, 2.45 pm) Renu-ka Prasanna ( 5.30, 8.30 pm) Srini-vasa (SG Palya) (11.15 am, 2.30 pm)Vinayaka (Maathahalli) (11.30 am,2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Venkateshwara(KRPuram) (6.15 pm, 9.30 pm

MONEY MONEY MORE MONEY J D Chakravarthy, Bramanandam,Anjan (4.30, 7.30 pm) Chandrodaya(11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Cinepolis (10 am, 12.20, 4.50, 7.10,9.30 pm) HMT Cinemas (4.15 pm,7.30 pm).

STAND BY (U)Adinath Kothare, Siddharth Kher

Abhinay (10.30 am, 1.30 pm) Ap-sara (5.30 pm, 8.30 pm) Fame(Lido) (1.40 pm)Fame (Value Mall)(12.15 pm, 7.15 pm) Gopalan Cin-emas (Bannerghatta Road) (2.30pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Rajara-jeshwari Nagar) (12.30 pm) Inno-vative Multiplex (2.30 pm) Inox(Magrath Road) (12.10 pm, 7.15

pm) Inox (Malleswaram) (11.30am, 9.35 pm) Inox (J.P.Nagar) (10.10am) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (12.30 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (Mysore Road)(2.45 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (RajarajeshwariNagar) (7 pm) Vaibhav (11.30 am,2.30 pm)

Housing minister V Somanna receives the Prime Minister’s award for programmes takenup for rehabilitation of slum-dwellers in New Delhi from Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh. Union ministers Kumari Shelja and Kamal Nath were present at the event.

State gets award

Pharma meetfrom tomorrowBangalore: The Indian Pharma-ceutical Association has organ-ised the 63 Indian Pharmaceuti-cal Congress in the city from to-morrow till Sunday. The congresswill discuss Pharma Vision 2020.

The congress that will be heldat the Bangalore InternationalExhibition Centre on Tumkurroad is expected to be attendedby over 7,000 delegates.

Chief minister D V SadanandaGowda is inaugurating the con-gress tomorrow. Experts fromacross the world and countryare taking part in the conference.The congress that is being heldat different places in the countyis coming back to the city after agap of 18 years.

Bangalore: SKF yesterday inaugurated its global technicalcentre in India in the city. GTCI is part of SKF’s global strat-egy to open such centres nearits customers for all five SKFplatforms – bearings, seals,mechatronics, lubrication sys-tems and services.

SKF has invested aroundRs50crorein GTCI. It will employaround 400 engineers workingin product engineering, devel-opment and testing, as well as aglobal laboratory for metallurgy,chemistry and bearing perform-ance analysis. GTCI will have astrong focus on serving cus-tomers in India and South EastAsia, as well as global projectsfor SKF.

"India is an important marketfor SKF and we are committedto support the unique needs ofcustomers in growing economies.At the same time, we are focusedon world leading research andinnovation both in India and in-ternationally,” said Tom John-

stone, SKF president and CEO.“One of our driving forces is

to deliver significant energy andcarbon savings to our customerswith our solutions”.

The new Global Technical Cen-ter is the second developmentphase of the company and willincorporate the existing GlobalTesting Centre, opened in 2009,and the Automotive DevelopmentCentre, opened in 2004, both lo-cated in the city.

“With the launch of GTCI, ourcustomers in India will benefitfrom “closer to home” availabilityof SKF’s global knowledge andexpertise to address the growingneed in India for newer technol-ogy development at a fasterpace,” says ShishirJoshipura,country head, SKF in India.

“Additionally, over the lasttwo years, SKF opened three fac-tories in Ahmedabad, Mysoreand Hardwar to meet the growingdemand of customers and theexpanding product base in theregion.”

SKF opens globaltechnical centre

No reply to RTI yet:Slut Walk organisers

Bangalore: Organisers of SlutWalk in the city, for which thepolice denied permission on De-cember 3, have complained thatthey have not received any re-sponse to their RTI applicationseeking to know the reason be-hind the cancellation.

They said that the Right to In-formation Act states that an ap-plication seeking informationrelating to life and liberty of per-sons under Article 19 of the Con-stitution must be replied to within48 hours.

“We did not receive any replyon December 11 or 12. On De-cember 13, we went to the policecommissioner’s office to inquireabout the status of the applica-

tion.The public relations officer

was rude and said the RTI ap-plication had been forwarded tothe Sadashivnagarpolice station.

When we said that some ques-tions had to be responded to by

ACP Kumar, who cancelled thepermit, he disagreed and toldus to go to Cubbon Park policestation and check at Sadashiv-nagarpolice station.

When the orders came fromthe police commissioner’s office,how would Cubbon Park officersbe able to answer our questions?We were yet to receive the answeras of yesterday,” they added.

They said that they tried tomeet city police commissionerJyothiprakashMirji but no avail.

They have also sought toknow why nine of their activistswere arrested on December 4.

They said the organisers weretrying to disperse peacefullywhen they were arrested.

Fire dept wants to acquire chopper

Bangalore: The city fire services depart-ment is thinking of purchasing a helicopterto for rescue operations in case of fires athigh-rise buildings, said fire and emergencyservices DGP A R Infant.

The fire department has acquired modernequipment and vehicles. There is a proposalto buy a helicopter too. It will be sent to thegovernment, he added.

“A major fire accident has occurred at aKolkata Hospital, claiming the lives of nearly90 people. In the city too, it is mandatoryfor hospitals and other buildings to obtainno objection certificates. Companies shouldget the fire safety certificate before issuingthem residence certificate. Residence cer-tificates should not be issued to buildingsthat have not obtained the fire safety cer-tificate.

“There have been fire accidents at factories.Respective departments have to take actionagainst these units. Hospitals too shouldgear up to handle any fire and other emer-gencies. We are ready to advise them if theyseek help,” he said.

Asked why hundreds of buildings in thecity have not obtained no-objection certifi-cates from the fire department, he said thatBBMP, BMRDI and urban development de-partments should take action against thosebuildings violating the norms.

He agreed that the department has beenfacing a severe staff crunch. Of the approvedstaff strength of 6,448, the department hasonly 3,913 now. This includes the staff ap-proved for under-construction fire stations,he added. The department is making efforts

to fill the gap.Under K-SAFE programme, the department

is constructing fire stations at all taluks inthe state. Already, 147 fire stations havebeen started, while the construction is onfor 37 more, he said.

As per the Karnataka High Court order,

the department has started inspection ofall high-rise buildings. But staff and facilitiesare not available to inspect thousands ofbuildings in the city. The government hasbeen informed about the shortage. The in-spection has now begun with the availablestaff, he said.

Tom Johnstone, SKF president and CEO, inaugurates globaltechnical centre in India in the city yesterday.

Kriya yogaclass fromtomorrow

Bangalore: Spiritual head of theKriya Yoga foundationParama-hansaPrajnanananda is visitingthe city and will hold initiationprogrammes tomorrow and Sat-urday.

Prajnananandais delivering afree lecture on ‘kriya Yoga andits positive effects’ and initiatethe people into “the science ofbreath consciousness”.

The lecture and the initiationprogrammes will be held at theIndian Institute of World Culture.

Kriya Yoga, the science ofbreath consciousness is not onlyintended for physical or mentalfitness but also for spiritual at-tainment.

It provides the right platformto understand yoga and medi-tation to bring relief, promotehealing of the physical body, theemotions and the mind, stateda press note.

The programme will be heldat 6 pm tomorrow and at 8 pmon Saturday.

For details, call: 9945131841.

Bʼlore Onegets

Asia awardBangalore: Bangalore One cen-tres that provide a convenientoption for Bangaloreans to paytheir utility bills at one placehas been recognised for itsground breaking services.

Bangalore One, which is aninitiative under the e-governanceprogramme, has now been recog-nised by Manthan awards, givenaway to revolutionary conceptsin South Asia.

The service has also beenrecognised with Sustenanceaward, presented by CSI Nihi-lent.

Nilgiris cycle ridefrom tomorrow

Bangalore: RideACycle Foun-dation (RAC-F), a not-for-profitadvocacy organisationpioneeringinitiatives to popularise cyclingfor commuting, leisure and asan agent of social change, hasorganised its annual “Tour ofNilgiris (TFN)”.

This is the fourth edition ofthe event. It will witness 70 riderscovering a distance of around860 km across the state, Keralaand Tamil Nadu and touching amaximum height of 2240 metre.Starting from Bangalore, cyclistswill pedal through Mysore, Has-san, Madikeri, Kannur, SultanBathery, Ooty and finish the tourat Kodanad View point.

It will be flagged off tomorrowat 6.45 am from Field MarshalManekshaw Parade Groundby

MajGenAKPradhan, general of-ficer commanding of Karnataka& Kerala Sub Area, in the pres-ence of tribal activist DrH Su-darshan and IGP (internal secu-rity division)BhaskarRao. Min-ister for urban developmentSuresh Kumarwill be the guestof honour.

Xmas exhibitionBangalore: “Smilez 4 Free”, aChristmas carnival, has kickedoff at Pratima’s Art Gallery on MG Road.

The eight-day exhibition offersgifts, paintings Christmas deco-rations, variety of cakes and or-ganic snacks. Apart of the pro-ceeds will go towards Christmascelebrations for children fromseveral orphanages and trusts.

Organic food products are onsale by the Jaipur-based MorarkaOrganic Foods Pvt Ltd.

Smilez 4 Free is an initativeof Christel Home, situated atMarathalli, andJeevaJyothi Trust,Mysore. The exhibitionwill beon till December 22.

Several prominent Bangalore-ans have come forward to dotheir bit.

CITY EVENTSGeneralGeological Society of India:Monthly lecture on ‘Gas Hy-drates in India: Potential andDevelopment’ by Dr KalachandSain, Gas Hydrate Group, Na-tional Geophysical ResearchInstitute, Hyderabad, at No,63, Kavita Apartments, Bas-appa Layout, 12th Cross,Gavipuram, 4 pm.

CulturalSwastik: Staging of play‘Badaku Jataka Bandi’ by Ra-jguru Hosakote, Ran-gashankara, JP Nagar, 7:30 pm

Carmel Pre-University Col-lege: Rendezvous 2011, inter-collegiate festival of talents,No. 14, 4th Cross, II Block, IIStage, West of Chord Road,Basaveshwarnagar, 5 pm

MusicAnnie and Michael DevineLive: Tuesday, August 30th,2011. 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Take5, No 54 MSK Plaza, DefenceColony, 2nd Stage, 100 FeetRoad, Indiranagar A night ofjazz, blues and easy listeningwith Annie and MichaelDevine performing classictunes from years gone by.

Eating OutPower Lunch: Tuesday, August30th, 2011. 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.City Bar Karaoke + Grill, UBCity, No 24, Vittal Mallya Road,Now be connected even duringthe quick business lunch. Freewi-fi access while you fill upin the middle of the day. De-lectable starters with a varietyof veg/ non veg main courseoptions along with draughtbeer.

Weekday Lunch Buffet @ManU: Tuesday, August 30th,2011. noon to 3 p.m. Man-chester United Restaurant Bar,The Manchester United Restau-rant and Bar launches a week-day lunch buffet priced at Rs350 plus taxes right fromstarters to desserts.

‘The Kari Culture’ at Blue Gin-ger: Tuesday, August 30th,2011. 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.Blue Ginger, The Taj West End,23 Race Cource Road , BlueGinger creates an interestingway to learn about Vietnameseingredients and how to createsome of the popular culinaryinnovations. ‘The Kari Kulture’is for all the ladies who wantto learn the finer aspects ofVietnamese cuisine, super-vised by Chef Rishi. This isfollowed by a meal at therestaurant, where the gueststaste what they cook.

The Grand Indian Lunch Buf-fet @ Turquoise: uesday, Au-gust 30th, 2011. noon to 3p.m. Turquoise, No 9, 2nd &3rd Floors, 17th A Main, Kora-mangala Experience the GrandIndian Lunch buffet consistingof over 35 dishes every week-day with around 5 starters, 4vegetarian gravies, 2 non veg-etarian gravies , 7 desserts andlots more.

NightlifeHip Hop night: Tuesday, Au-gust 30th, 2011. 8 p.m. Hypnos,Gem Plaza, Infantry Road, DJSid plays the latest hip hoptracks from around the world.

Open Mic Night @ Kyra: Tues-day, August 30th, 2011. 7 p.m.to 11 p.m. Kyra Theatre, No2001 Kattima Center, 100 FeetRoad, Indiranagar The OpenMic Night aims to bring outnew talent - whether it’s music,stand up comedy, poetry ordance.

Funky Tuesdays with DJsPrashant and Darsh: Tuesday,August 30th, 2011. 8 p.m. to11:30 p.m. Coco Bongo, 4thFloor, Commercial Complex,National Games Village, 80Feet Road, Koramangala DJsPrashant and Darsh spinninghip hop & RnB this Tuesdayat Coco Bongo. There’s a 1+1offer on drinks all night.

Karaoke Night with KJ Val:Tuesday, August 30th, 2011. 8p.m. to 11:30 p.m. XtremeSports Bar, 4th Floor, 100 FeetRoad, Indiranagar Test thosevocal chords at karaoke nightwith KJ Val.

Happy Tuesdays with DJsPallemoni and Akso: Tuesday,August 30th, 2011. 8 p.m. to11:30 p.m. The Beach, No 1211,100 Feet Road, IndiranagarDJs Pallemoni and Akso spin-ning deep house, disco andelectronica this Tue @ The

Beach.

ShoppingRio by Titan Eye+: Tuesday,August 30th, 2011. 10 a.m. to11:30 a.m. Titan Eye+, SafinaPlaza, Infantry Road, A trendy,fashionable collection for theyoung and young at heart.The frames are available in ahost of bright colours.

Puma Faas Collection: Tues-day, August 30th, 2011. 11 a.m.to 8 p.m. Puma, A fun, tech-nologically advanced range ofrunning shoes by Puma.

Fall Winter 2011 Collection:Tuesday, August 30th, 2011. 11a.m. to 8 p.m. Esprit, No 10Ananda Bhavan, Vittal MallyaRoad, Stripes, florals, wool,tweed, retro and preppy cometogether in Esprit’s new FallWinter 2011 Collection.

OWW Sale: Tuesday, August30th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.One Wit Wonders, No 32 ACRTowers, Residency Road, Flat50% off on selected productsat One Wit Wonders.

Lustrous Moon Collection:Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Collage, No21/1, Wood Street, AshoknagarThe Lustrous Moon Collectionby Bharathi Raviprakash payshomage to the glow of themoon. The collection includesgold jewellery with pearls incolours of golden, black andchocolate, and diamonds aswell.

Special EventsTuesdays with the Bard: Tues-day, August 30th, 2011. 7 p.m.Urban Solace - Cafe for theSoul, No 32, Annaswamy Mu-daliar Road, Ulsoor Lake Tues-days with the Bard is an ini-tiative to create opportunitiesfor poets and poetry lovers toget together. It features poetsreading their creations in anew experience every Tuesday.Members of the audience areencouraged to come forwardand share poems as well.

ExhibitionsCreative Perspectives: Tues-day, August 30th, 2011. noonto 11:30 p.m. Caperberry, No48/1 Ground Floor, The Estate,Dickenson Road, Artwork byGopal Dey, Shan Re, KishoreChand, Ashok Kumar G, Hire-math, Parmesh D Jolad, Ran-jan Paul, Ram Onkar, MiniArora and more.

Colours & Hues: Tuesday, Au-gust 30th, 2011. 10 a.m. to 6p.m. Gallerie Third Eye, No A-1 Epsilon Office Block, YemalurMain Road, Yemalur A groupshow by artists Kanthraj N,Rima Ray & Rakesh Mandalat Gallerie Third Eye.

Synesthesia: Tuesday, August30th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.Galleryske, No 2, Berlie Street,Langford Town A group showfeaturing works by AndreaAnastasio, Luigi Anastasio andAvinash Veeraraghavan. Theworks are displayed in thehouse-like space of the gallery,so that they are approachedwithout demarcations and dis-tinctions thus making the view-er experience the works in onecontinuous alternation of me-dia from video and painting,to photography and sculpture.

Solo show @ Apparao: Tues-day, August 30th, 2011. 11 a.m.to 7 p.m. Apparao Galleries,No 82 The Presidency, St MarksRoad, Apparao Galleries pres-ents an exhibition of paintingsby T. Vaikuntam.

The Eye of Graciela Iturbide:Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tasveer, No26/1, Kasturba Cross Road, Acollection of black and whitepictures shot by Mexican pho-tographer Graciela Iturbide,in locales across the world.

Now and Tomorrow : Tuesday,August 30th, 2011. 10 a.m. to7 p.m. Kynkyny Art, No 148Embassy Square, InfantryRoad, An exhibition by elevenemerging artists, which travelsinto contemporary territoryand throws up a commentaryon the rapidly changing, con-tinually shifting here and nowof modern India.

Group Show @ Renaissance:Tuesday, August 30th, 2011. 11a.m. to 7 p.m. RenaissanceGallerie, No 13 Westminster,Cunningham Road, An exhi-bition of paintings by Shrad-dha DD, Deepa Vedpathak,Shama Rane and Shivaji Cha-van.

Neeraj Grover case: Bailhearing of Jerome todayMumbai: The Bombay High Court is likely to pronounceits order on the bail applicationof naval officer Emile Jerome in the Neeraj Grover murder case.

Yesterday, observing that therewas circumstantial evidenceagainst Emile Jerome, convictedin the Neeraj Grover murder case,the Bombay High Court said itwas not inclined to grant himbail.

"We are not inclined to grantbail. There is circumstantial ev-idence. But we can expedite the

hearing of the appeal filed byJerome against the conviction,"a division bench of Justices VMKanade and ML Tahalayani saidwhile hearing the bail plea ofJerome.

Jerome, who was sentencedto ten years imprisonment by asessions court for culpable homi-cide, has sought to be releasedon bail pending hearing of hisappeal against conviction.

The state government's ap-peals challenging the trial courtorder convicting him of culpablehomicide not amountingto mur-

der and his fiancee Maria Su-sairaj, a small-time Kannada ac-tress, of destruction of evidence,are also pending with the court.The prosecution wants them bothconvicted of murder.

The trial court had on July 1acquitted the duo of the chargeof murder but convicted the navalofficer of culpablehomicide andSusairaj on charges of destructionof evidence and sentenced herto three years in jail.

Since she had spent more timein jail as an undertrial, she wasfreed a few days after the ver-

dict.The judges also observed that

the trial court had strongly reliedon the retracted confession ofSusairaj while convicting Jerome.

"The trial court went on awrong footing in the beginningitself.

There is enough circumstantialevidence.

We might ask the trial courtto reconsider the verdict," JusticeKanade said buthastened to addthat the court was just thinkingaloud looking at the evidenceprima facie.

Debut novel tobe released

CITYThursday, December 15, 2011 3

Following Centreʼs norms on BPL cards: Shobha

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The state governmentis following the norms set bythe central government on se-lecting the beneficiaries of belowpoverty line cards, said energyand PDS minister ShobhaKarand-laje today.

Replying to a question on thefloor of the assembly, she said,“The central government has setRs 12,000 for rural families andRs 17,000 for urban families asthe annual income limit for is-suing the BPL cards.

The state government is merelyfollowing it and has not set outto fix our own standards at thestate level.”

She said that there have beenonline registrations coming forthese BPL cards and the govern-ment has been issuing cards tothese beneficiaries too.

Women and child welfare min-ister C CPatil said the governmenthas issued 3,06,707Bhagyalak-

shmi bonds to families for thebenefit of girl children.

Replying to a question by AnitaKumaraswamy, posed by JD(S)MLA Suresh Babu, he said thatthe government has identified13,60,284 beneficiaries for various

schemes, which have benefitedDevadasis, widows and otherunderprivileged women.

He said that the state govern-ment has made BPL cards com-pulsory for potential beneficiariessince April of this year.

Re hits record low,breaches 54 to $

Mumbai: The rupee continued its freefall today, breaching the 54 mark againstthe dollar for the first time ever.

It opened at 54.20 against the dollar,which is an all-time low. Early morning, itwas trading at 54.26 against the dollar,falling 56 paise, or over 1 per cent.

This is the fourth straight day of declinesfor the currency. The rupee had closed at53.71 to the dollar yesterday, a record lowfor the currency.

Most global currencies have weakenedagainst the dollar over the past few daysbecause the dollar is seen as a safe havenin times of distress. Overnight, the euroshed about a penny against the dollar to$1.29 and has now lost 3 percent in threedays.

"The situation is serious. When the dollar

is strengthening, there is not a whole lotReserve Bank can do in terms of interven-tion... But, the RBI should prevent banksfrom holding long positions that will reduce

the demand for dollars," Jamal Mecklai,CEO, Mecklai Financials said.

The rupee is weakening much faster thanthe Euro overseas. What that means is thereis something else going on. That is whatthe RBI needs to try to arrest," he added.

Weakness in equity markets also con-tributed to the weakness today. The Sensexand Nifty traded with 1 per cent losses to-day.

Some traders expect the central bank tostep into the market. The RBI governor andfinance minister had met PM ManmohanSingh yesterday and discussed the causesof rupee weakness and possible policy meas-ures.

The central bank is slated to come outwith a note on rupee, when it meets for itsmid-quarterly review tomorrow.

Assembly in turmoilover mining reportBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The assembly wasin turmoil today when oppositionleader in the assembly Siddara-maiah questioned the govern-ment for its inaction over the il-legal mining report submittedby former Lokayukta Justice San-toshHegde.

Siddramaiah said on the floorof the assembly that the govern-ment should recover five timesthe money lost due to illegal

mining from all those involved.He said the state exchequer

has lost over Rs 13,000 crore dueto illegal mining with the in-volvement of former chief min-ister B S Yeddyurappa, formerminister and mining baron Gal-iJanardhana Reddy and others.“There are also several otherministers and officers involvedin the scandal.

They should be made to payfor the losses caused to the state,”he added.

Ruling party benches rose inunison and shouted down Sid-dramaiah. Ministers Shob-haKarandlaje, JagadishShettar,BasavarajBommai and otherswere seen shouting at Siddara-maiah. Opposition parties de-manded a discussion be heldunder Rule 60, but Speaker K GBopaiah allowed it under Rule69 and said the debate could beheld after the question and an-swer session.

Bangalore: Aesthetics of Love,adebut novel by C S Shashidhar,will be released in the city onSaturday at Reliance Timeouton Cunningham road.

The book will be released inthe presence of KarnatakaSahitya AcademypresidentMHKrishniah, renowned art histo-rianK V Subramanyam andrenowned artist- art historianNMarishamachar.

The book narrates the storyof a beautiful girl, who visits areticent artist at his studio tolearn painting. A poet herself –who converses eloquently aboutart, music and literature – in-volves the artist in her dialogue,

breaking his silence. As the artistis inspired to open up, he talksat a relaxed poise. He also writesabout his nostalgic past in hisdiary which he shares with theinquisitive whimsy. In this debutnovel, Aesthetics of Love, C SShashidhar narrates an artist'squest for genre, love and life.Author Shashidhar, born in 1967in Bangalore, began his careeras a medical representative, try-ing his hand at oil on canvas inhis leisure. Recently, he trans-lated from Kannada to Englishthe biographies ofSri Siddhalin-gaSwamy, a famous sculptor oftwentieth century; and BK Hire-math, a painter and litterateur.

Continued from page 1Nine out of the 12 indices un-

der the manufacturing indexrose, displaying a mix of pricingpower by corporates and ex-change rate effects. The manu-

factured products index com-prises of 64.97% of the overallWPI. Core inflation, the gaugefor inflationary momentum,moved up to 7.9% in Novemberfrom 7.6% in October.

Jaya resolutionon dam accepted

unanimouslyNew Delhi: Signalling a hard-ening of stand on the Mullaperi-yar Dam dispute, the Tamil NaduAssembly today unanimouslypassed a resolution saying thatthe state would "under no cir-cumstances give up on its rights"over the structure.

The resolution, which wasmoved by Chief Minister J Jay-alalithaa earlier in the day, alsowarns the Kerala governmentagainst disrupting the dam main-tenance work that is taken upby Tamil Nadu periodically. Itasks Kerala to increase the waterlevel at the dam, which TamilNadu uses to irrigate areas in itssouthern region, to 142 feet fromthe current 136 feet. She hopesthat the unanimous resolutionwill send out a strong messageof solidarity on the issue.

Last week, the Kerala Assem-bly passed a resolution askingfor a new dam to replace the ex-isting 116-year-old structurewhich the state governmentclaims is unsafe. Jayalalithaa ex-pressed disappointment at Ker-ala's stand and accused it of"false propaganda" that had ledto tension among the peoplenear the states' border. She alsocondemned the Centre for its si-lence on her request to deploythe Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) at the dam site.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is lo-cated in Kerala's Idukki district

but is controlled by Tamil Naduunder a decades-old agreement.Citing safety concerns since thestructure is located in a quake-prone region, Kerala has beenasking for a reduction in the wa-ter level to 120 feet.

What has Tamil Nadu moreworried, however, is Kerala's de-mand for a new dam. It is ap-prehensive that this is a ploy byKerala to take control of the dam.Kerala Chief Minister OomenChandy has, on the other hand,promised to ensure that TamilNadu gets the same amount ofwater that it does now even aftera new dam is constructed.

The assembly session cameon a day when the SupremeCourt is expected to decide onthe Tamil Nadu government'splea demanding the deploymentof CISF at Mullaperiyar Dam.The apex court has asked theCentre to spell out its stand onthe issue. It has also warnedboth the state governments torefrain from inflaming the pas-sions of people on the issue.

The Central government hasalready indicated that withouta request from the Kerala gov-ernment, paramilitary forces can-not be deployed at the site.

The court had pulled up theTamil Nadu government for usingits oral observations reported innewspapers in an advertisementfor political gains.

Food inflation down

Over 1,200flats for

poor in cityBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Over 1,200 flats are being constructed in differentplaces of the city for the benefit of the slum-dwellers and other underprivileged sec-tions, housing minister V So-manna said.

Replying to question by N A Harris, he said that the government has constructed 140 flats in a multi-storeyed housing complex at Yelahanka.

At KengerBande Math Block1, 168 houses and at Block 2 128flats for the low-income grouphave been constructed but notyet distributed.

At Kengeri, the constructionof 808 flats is yet to be taken up,he said.

The Karnataka Slum Clear-ance Board is planning to build18,180 flats under Nurm andBSUP schemes.

4 held afterrobbing

Rs 30 lakhMangalore: In a swift action,the police here nabbed four crim-inals who had robbed bank offi-cials who were carrying cash forATMs this morning.

Staff of State Bank of Indiawere carrying Rs 30 lakh at Mi-lagres area of the city when fourcriminals came in an autorick-shaw, threatened the employeesand made away with the money.But soon, the police alerted thestaff all around the city and ar-rested them in a swift action.

4 die in accident

Tumkur: Four persons died onthe spot when their van crashedinto a stationary lorry on NationalHighway No. 4 near Kunigal earlythis morning.

Of the dead, two are women.Two of the deceased have beenidentified as Sangavva and herson Darshan. The Tumkur policesaid the van driver might nothave seen the lorry and crashedinto it. The bodies have beenshifted to the Tumkur govern-ment hospital for post-mortem.

House burgledBangalore: A house was brokeninto and valuables worth overRs 3 lakh were stolen at HBRLayout second stage yesterday.

Varadan and his wife had goneto a relative’s house around 8am. When they came back at6.45 pm, they found the frontdoor lock broken open and valu-ables stolen from the bureau.They have lost jewellery, DVDplayer and Rs 30,000 cash.

Oppn stalls Parliament,demands PC resignation New Delhi: Proceedings in bothHouses of Parliament were todaydisrupted in the wake of mediareports alleging that Home Min-ister P Chidambaram had helpeda Delhi hotelier with slogan-shouting Opposition membersdemanding his sacking.

The Lok Sabha was adjournedfor almost two hours as BJP andAIADMK members trooped intothe Well, while the Rajya Sabhawitnessed an adjournment forover 50 minutes soon after it as-sembled for the day.

Chidambaram was not presentin either of the Houses when theOpposition raised the issue.

As soon as the Upper Housemet, BJP members showed copiesof an English daily which pub-lished a report on Chi-dambaram's alleged interest in

a legal dis-pute involv-ing a Delhi-based hoteland its own-ers whomhe had rep-resented asa lawyer pri-or to becom-ing a minis-ter.

T h e r e p o r t

also alleged that the Home Min-istry under Chidambaram hadearlier this year directed with-drawal of FIRs against the hotelowner accused of cheating andforgery.

Chandan Mitra (BJP), whoraised the issue of Chi-dambaram's alleged conflict of

interest in the matter, was sup-ported by other party memberswho then trooped into the Well,refusing to heed to ChairmanHamid Ansari's appeals not todo so.

To counter them, ruling Con-gress members stood up and dis-played copies of another dailywhich had a report that a trust,with Anna Hazare as a member,had allegedly grabbed land inPune.

As vociferous protests contin-ued, Ansari adjourned the Housetill noon.

The Lok Sabha also witnesseduproar during Zero Hour withBJP and AIADMK members rush-ing into the Well demanding thatChidambaram be sacked. In thedin, the House was adjournedtill 2 pm.

P Chidambaram

Printed and published by B M Arun Kumar vide RNI Registration No. KARENG/2010/33126. Published by SAM Global Media, # 37, 1 Floor, 2nd Main, N. R. Colony, Bangalore - 560 019. Editor: B M Arun Kumar Printed at Lavanya Mudrana, #19, 15th Cross, Thyaarajanagar, Bangalore – 560 028. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation in any language in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material or for material lost or damaged in transit. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Bangalore only.

NEWSThursday, December 15, 2011 4

Time to side with Indiato cut off ISI: US Sen

Washington: Contending that US re-lationship with Pakistan had reacheda dead end, an American lawmakerhas said there was a sense among Con-gressmen that time had come to “side”with India to “cut off the ISI”.

Senator Mark Kirk said at a discussionforum by prestigious Washington-basedthink tank, Foreign Policy Initiative, that a US-India tie-up wasISI’s “horror story” but time had comefor it to evolve.

“You know, Yogi Bear said when youreach a fork in the road, take it. I thinkwe hit the fork in the road in Augustand September between the UnitedStates and Pakistan. We saw a largetruck bomb assembled, lit off next to aUS base, 77 US casualties,” Kirk said.

In recent times US’ ties with Pakistan,a key ally in the region, have plungedto an all-time low following a series ofincidents over the year, including thekilling of two people by a CIA contractor,the Abbottabad raid, and finally theNATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani

soldiers.“My sense of the Senate and probably

the House is we’re ready to take thatfork in the road. We’re ready to sidewith India, to cut off the ISI,” the IllinoisSenator said.

“It appears to me the Pakistani horrorstory of us siding with India shouldnow evolve. Pakistan has decided we’releaving.

Pakistan has decided that they cancripple the civilian government,” hesaid.

The United States, he said, needs astable party in the region who has astatus quo pro-civilian anti-terror in-terest, which is India.

“And in many ways, this is the ISIhorror story, but I would say they pickedthis, and we should now arrange thatfate for them,” he said in response to aquestion. Kirk urged General MartinDempsey, chairman of the joint chiefsof staff, to play what he called “hardball” with Pakistan.

“Get in with the Indian Intelligence

Service, the Indian Chief of Staff, bringIndian, not just economic but militaryassistance on line, and build some longrelationships so that in the mid-presi-dential term next time, the 2014 timeframe, you have a steady partner with

new money coming on the table thatcan send an important signal toAfghanistan,” Kirk said.

Appearing on the same discussionforum, Congressman Adam Kinzinger,noted that in many cases, actors react

more favourably when you are willingto use the stick as a way to get your willdone.

“I think as a nation, we have to beginexploring more of those options. Howto be a little more difficult, how to be alittle harder, how to hold the Pakistanisa little more accountable,” he said.

Kirk said he saw the war on terror inthe Af-Pak region as a Vietnamese sce-nario for the US, which should notallow this to happen.

“At the same time, I see this as kindof a North Vietnam scenario, we arefighting in South Vietnam while theNorth Vietnamese are fighting againstus, and we simply allow it to happen,”the Congressman said.

“At the same time, there should beno doubt that going into the stick ap-proach talking about reducing aid, talk-ing about allying with some of theirstrong enemies, is going to create a bigheartburn in the area. It is going tomake it worse. It is going to make it dif-ficult,” he said.

Sensex tumbles by223 pts to 3‑week

intra‑day lowMumbai: The 30-share Sensexresumed lower at 15,739.05 andhovered in a range between15,795.84 and 15,655.64 beforequoting at 15,658.16 at 1015 hours,a net loss of 222.98 points, or1.40 per cent, from its previousclose.

The NSE's 50-share Nifty indexwas also down by 62.65 points,or 1.32 per cent, to 4,700.60 at1015 hours.

Metal stocks declined afterdata showed that Chinese man-ufacturing activity continued tocontract in December, 2011, withSterlite Industries, HindustanCopper, Steel Authority of India(Sail) and JSW Steel hitting 52-week lows.

The major losers in early tradewere BhartiAirtel (down 3.97 percent), Hindalco Industries (3.69

per cent), Maruti (3.47 per cent),Larsen (3.06 per cent), BHEL(2.94 per cent) and Sterlite In-dustries (2.88 per cent). Foreigninstitutional investors (FIIs) soldshares worth Rs 140.13 crore yes-terday, as per provisional datafrom the stock exchanges.

Asian stocks fell for a thirdday today as the latest data onmanufacturing activity in Chinaand Japan highlighted weak con-ditions in Asia's two largesteconomies even as growing fund-ing stress in Italy stoked concernsthat Europe is losing its fight tocontain the debt crisis.

The key benchmark indicesin China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Japan, Singapore, South Koreaand Taiwan were down by be-tween 1.03 per cent and 1.84 percent.

Govt taking Kudankulamprotests seriously: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh today said that thegovernment was taking seriouslythe concern among people aboutthe safety of nuclear energy asreflected in the protests in TamilNadu over the Kudankulam Nu-clear Power Plant.

“The protests in Kudankulamreflect the concern among peopleabout the safety of nuclear en-ergy. People are also worriedthat such plants should not affecttheir livelihood and environ-ment,” Manmohan Singh told agroup of Russian journalists inNew Delhi, ahead of his Moscowtrip.

“The government takes theseconcerns seriously. We have setup an independent group of ex-perts to respond to all the legiti-mate and genuine concerns andfears of the local people,” hesaid.

Manmohan Singh will be inMoscow till Saturday for a sum-mit meet with Russian PresidentDmitry Medvedev.

The two nations are expectedto sign key agreements in thedefence, health and science andtechnology fields, apart from dis-cussions on key deals in nuclear

energy and hydrocarbons sec-tors.

The prime minister will discusswith Medvedev a deal on settingup units III and IV of the Ku-

dankulam nuclear plant in TamilNadu, where villagers are protest-ing for the last 10 months againstthe first two units following theJapanese Fukushima nuclearplant disaster early 2011.

Manmohan Singh said peo-ples’ support was ‘essential’ ifIndia developed nuclear energyin the country.

“I know that the Russian lead-ership also has the same priorityand has taken several initiatives,including in the internationalarena, which we welcome.”

He expressed hope that In-dia-Russia cooperation in thenuclear field would continueand promised that India wouldfulfill its commitments.

“India has always regarded Russia as partner whowas with us in times of difficultyand even when there were re-strictions on nuclear commercewith India. I wish to thank allthe Russian experts who areworking with us in the Kudanku-lam project.”

Obama trails in swing statesWashington: In a dozen key swing statesacross the United States, Democratic Presi-dent Barack Obama is trailing his two leadingRepublican rivals hoping to challenge himin 2012 presidential election, according to anewopinion poll.

While former Massachusetts governorMitt Romney led Obama by 5 percentagepoints, former House speaker Newt Gingrichled by 3 percentage points, according toGallup/USA Today poll released on Tuesday.

The survey, which included Colorado,Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hamp-shire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio,Pennsylvania,Virginia and Wisconsin, foundthat Obama is running behind Romney, 43-48 per cent, while he is losing to Gingrich,45-48 per cent.

The results from the dozen swing statesare worse for Obama than his performancenationwide, where he leads Gingrich by 6percentage points and Romney by a singlepoint, the poll says.

Meanwhile, the survey also showed thenumber of Democrats declined in the swingstates while the number of Republicans rosesince 2008, painting a drastically differentelectoral landscape for the president's 2012

re-election efforts. In the dozen key states, the number of

self-identified Democrats in these key statesfell from 35 per cent to 30 percent since2008.

During the same period, the number ofRepublicans rose 5 percentage points, whilethe number of independents increased by awhopping 7 points - from 35 per cent in2008 to 42 per cent. In the 12 swing states,44 per cent of those surveyed are conserva-tives and 21 percent are liberal.

"In 2008, when Obama carried the swingstates by 8 percentage points, Democratsthere swamped Republicans in party iden-tification by 11 points. Now, that partisanedge has tightened to a statistically insignif-icant 2 points," the analysis of the poll says.

Obama's other challenge as he tries to se-cure another four years at the White Houseis the 61 to 47 per cent enthusiasm gap be-tween Republicans and Democrats over thepresidential election.

Internet giantsmeet Sibal,

object to curbsNew Delhi: Union telecom min-ister KapilSibal met officials ofInternet giants like Google andFacebook in Delhi today to for-mulate content guidelines forsocial networking sites.

Minister of state for commu-nication and IT Sachin Pilot aswell as department of telecomsecretary K Chandrashekhar werealso present at the meeting.

The private players have ob-jected to the government's cen-sorship of web content.

They have suggested that in-stead of government censorship,there should be an independentcommittee comprising of privateplayers who can take a call onwhether content is offensive and

harmful to national interest ornot.

"The meeting was to discusshow through social media thegovernment can be empowered.

Social media platforms are ahuge space. It will help the gov-ernment to be empoweredthrough citizens," Sibal said.

Sibal's comment on screeningcontent had sparked outrageacross the online community.The government is asking leadingInternet companies such asGoogle, Microsoft, Yahoo andFacebook to screen allegedderogatory, defamatory and in-flammatory content about reli-gious figures and Indian lead-ers.

Lokpal bill maycreate a Gaddafi,says Thackeray

Mumbai: After targeting socialactivist Anna Hazare, the ShivSena today came out stronglyagainst the proposed Jan Lokpalbill, stating it could create a'Gaddafi' in the country.

"There is no need to create animpression among people thatthe Jan Lokpal bill will lead to'Ram Rajya' in the country. Thereis a need to strengthen the ex-isting anti-graft laws to end cor-ruption in India," party presidentBal Thackeray said.

Toeing his father's line inThursday's edition of the partymouthpiece, 'Saamna', executivepresident Uddhav Thackeray saidthat though his party supportedHazare's anti-corruption move-ment, it was strongly opposedto the Jan Lokpal bill.

"It is being intensely debatedover who and which offices willcome under the jurisdiction ofthe Lokpal. But nobody is dis-cussing who will have jurisdic-tion over the Lokpal. Lokpalcould deal a serious blow todemocracy," Uddhav asserted.

"It should not create a situa-

tion whereby we leap from thevalley into the well. Until all ourdoubts in this regard are clarified,we shall oppose the bill," Uddhavdeclared.

Reiterating the party's stancethat parliament was "supreme"and that status should not becompromised in any manner,Uddhav said: "No institution canbe above the Constitution."

Nuke co‑opwith Russia

to go on,says PM

Moscow:Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh today assured Rus-sia that India would fulfil all itscommitments on bilateral nu-clear cooperation while accord-ing top priority to safety issuesand concerns raised by peoplein Kundankulam.

Before embarking on a visitto Moscow that comes amid anti-nuclear protests at the site ofthe Russia-assisted project inTamil Nadu, Singh said his gov-ernment takes people's concerns"seriously" but the Indo-Russianatomic cooperation "would con-tinue". During Singh's three-dayvisit for the 12th annual Indo-Russian Summit, the two coun-tries are expected to sign sevento nine agreements to expandcooperation in the fields of trade,defence and energy.

However, the contract for con-struction of two more reactorsof Russian design at Kudankulamis unlikely to be signed eventhough negotiations are at an"advanced" stage.

In an interview to Russian me-dia before his visit, Singh alsosaid that trade and commercialcooperation needs to become"more contemporary and reflec-tive of our capacities".

"The protests in Kudankulamreflect the concern among peopleabout the safety of nuclear en-ergy," Singh said pointing outthat the facility had elicited en-vironment and livelihood con-cerns among local people.

He said the government hasset up an independent group ofexperts to respond to all "legiti-mate and genuine concerns andfears of the local people".

However, he said Russia hadbeen a partner to India in timesof difficulty, even when therewere restrictions on nuclear com-merce with India, and New Delhiwas committed to its pledges inthe field with Moscow.

"As far as India-Russia coop-eration in the nuclear field isconcerned, this will continueand we will fulfil our commit-ments," he said.

Manmohan Singh

US to certifyNGOs

Washington: Amid concern oversome NGOs misusing foreignaid, the US is preparing an onlinesearchable database containinga vetted list of transparent andaccountable Indian non-govern-ment bodies so that philanthro-pists can safely donate funds tothem.

"And by matching a list of cer-tified Indian NGOs with potentialAmerican donors, we aim to cre-ate an online philanthropy mar-ket place," said Robert Blake,the US Assistant Secretary ofState for South and Central Asia.

The database would facilitatetax deductible donations to or-ganisations in India, Blake saidwhile delivering keynote addressto the Washington DC annualgala of the American India Foun-dation.

The State Department is work-ing with a non-profit group calledGuideStar India to create the on-line tool, he said. Last month,India had ordered an inquiryagainst at least 10 NGOs followingreports that they were providingfunds received from abroad forfanning political unrest in thecountry.

Government officials said theinquiry has been ordered afterthe Home Ministry received in-formation that funds to the tuneof crores of rupees received bythese NGOs have been given tosocial activists to stage protestsand resort to other agitationalprogrammes against governmentpolicies thus creating unrest.

The inquiry had been orderedamidst media reports which sug-gested that Denmark plans toprovide funds to outfits that rallyagainst Indian government poli-cies.

GuideStar India provides information of over 1000 NGOsin India in an easy to searchfashion to help users connectquickly with organisation(s)working in the area of theirchoice, the organisation said onits website.

Bal Thackeray

US House passes bill to freeze aid to Pak

Washington: The US House ofRepresentatives approved a bil-lion dollar defence bill, which,among other things, freezes theUSD 700 million in aid to Pak-istan untill the country offersgreater assurances to Washingtonto contain the spread of Impro-vised Explosive Devices.

The National Defence Author-ization Act (NDAA) 2012, aspassed by the House, freezesnearly USD 700 million in aid toPakistan pending assurancesthat it has taken steps to thwartmilitants who use IEDs againstUS-led forces.

The Republican-led House ofRepresentatives voted 283-136yesterday to approve the $670billion Defence AuthorisationBill that also slaps harsher sanc-tions on Iran and endorses in-definite imprisonment of sus-pected terrorists.

"This freeze includes the ma-jority of the USD 1.1 billion inPakistan CounterinsurgencyFund," the House Armed ServicesCommittee had said in a state-ment early this week, after mem-bers of the House and the Senatereached an agreement on thebill.

The House vote came after the

White House said that President Barack Obama will not veto the bill as it was satisfied with the changes madein it.

"As a result of these changes,we have concluded that the lan-guage does not challenge or con-strain the President's ability tocollect intelligence, incapacitatedangerous terrorists, and protectthe American people, and thePresident's senior advisors will

not recommend a veto," WhiteHouse Press Secretary Jay Carneysaid.

"However, if in the process ofimplementing this law we de-termine that it will negativelyimpact our counter-terrorismprofessionals and undercut ourcommitment to the rule of law,we expect that the authors ofthese provisions will work quick-ly and tirelessly to correct theseproblems," Carney said.

Need new remedies tofight slowdown: PranabNew Delhi: With policymakers running out offiscal and monetary tools to deal with the economicslowdown and high inflation, finance ministerPranab Mukherjee on Thursday called for "inno-vative remedies" to deal with these challenges si-multaneously.

"Options today are much more limited. Theoptions for fiscal steps as well as monetary meas-ures are increasingly becoming limited. However,there is potential for policymaking in other areas,"he said at the Delhi Economics Conclave.

"Innovative remedies would be required to ad-dress these challenges simultaneously," he sug-gested.

Admitting that the fight against inflation andtight monetary policy regime were hurting growthand investment, the minister said the "slowdownin industrial growth is of a particular concern, asit impacts employment".

In addition, inflation is at an unacceptablelevel and "there are also immediate concerns re-lating to fiscal deficit and current account deficit",he said.

India is likely to clock economic, or GDP, growthof around 7.5% this fiscal, as against 8.5% in theprevious year.

India Inc has been complaining that the tightmonetary stance of the Reserve Bank is impactinginvestment and industrial growth.

All eyes are now on the RBI's scheduled reviewof the monetary policy tomorrow. It has hiked in-terest rates 13 times since March, 2010, in its bidto tame inflation.

Mukherjee said, "Slowdown in industrial growthis of a particular concern as it impacts employment.Inflation is at an unacceptable level, there are

also immediate concerns relating to fiscal deficitand current account deficit."

In 2008, the government had provided a fiscalstimulus worth Rs 1.86 lakh crore, or 3 per cent ofthe GDP, to cushion industry against the adverseimpact of the global slowdown.

With the fiscal deficit widening amid a slowdownof the economy in the current year, the governmentwould find it very difficult to come out withanother stimulus package to deal with the slow-down in economic activity.

Asking for Opposition support in the imple-mentation of key economic reforms, the financeminister said the government has sought tounblock economic bottlenecks in recent monthsthrough various initiatives such as the NationalManufacturing Policy, increased FDI in retail andother financial sector legislations. "We do hopegreater consensus on these issues would helpspeed up their implementation," he said.

India won't boycottLondon Olympics

New Delhi: The Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) will not the2012 London Olympics, but willlodge a strong protest over the1984 Bhopal gas tragedy taintedDow Chemicals sponsoring thesporting event.

The decision to not boycottthe Olympic Games was takenat the IOA Executive Board meet-ing on Thursday in New Delhi.The victims of the Bhopal gastragedy have been demandingthat India boycott the 2012Olympic Games if Dow stays onas a sponsor.

The IOA's Executive Board willwrite a strong protest letter tothe International Olympic Com-mittee, seeking the removal ofthe company as a sponsor of theGames next year.

"We will write a strong letterto IOC about the Dow Chemicalsassociation with the OlympicGames. It will convey the strongsentiments of the Indian peoplein this regard. The executive hasalso decided to discuss the issueand leave it to the IOA GeneralBody," a source said after themeeting.

"The members are not infavour of a boycott of the Gamesas it would be unfair on the ath-letes and go against the spirit of

the Olympic movement. “The Executive also discussed

the Sports Ministry's letter asking it to disassociate itself from Dow Chemicals," thesource said.

The IOA's Annula GeneralMeeting will start later in theday and will continue on Friday.An official press conference isscheduled for Friday.

The Executive also discussedthe Sports Ministry's letter which had told the IOA to covey the Indian resentment tothe IOC over a company linkedwith Union Carbide, which wasresponsible for the death of thou-sands in the 1984 Bhopal gastragedy.

Earlier, IOA Acting PresidentVK Malhotra had demandedDow's removal as an Olympicsponsor.

"Olympics are about love,brotherhood and transparencyand this company (Dow) is linkedwith another which was respon-sible for killing thousands of In-dian people.

“It's unacceptable that sucha company is a sponsor in theOlympics. So we will ask theLondon organisers to remove thecompany from being a sponsor,"Malhotra had said.