VOL: 03 I ISSUE NO: 53 I REG NO: ANDENG/2011/38184 I 07 MARCH 2014 I FRIDAY I Rs. 2.00 I DAILY I PORT BLAIR I ww.andamansheekha.com

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Four eminent women to be felicitatedduring International Women’s Day function

Port Blair, Mar 06: The A&NState Social Welfare Board, PortBlair will be celebrating theInternational Women’s Day onMar 8, 2014 at 10.30 am in theauditorium of Govt. TagoreB.Ed. College, Middle Point. Alarge number of women fromMahila Mandals/VoluntaryOrganisations will participate.

The Secretary (SW),A&N Administration, Mr. K.K.Jindal will be the chief guest onthe occasion. Prominent

speakers from institutions,college, police department,lawyers and social activistswill speak on women’sempowerment. T h eChairperson, A&N SocialWelfare Board, Smt. RatnaKannan will preside overthe function. Four eminentwomen will be felicitated fortheir dedicated services/meritorious performance tothe Islands by the chiefguest.

Communication during election season at the mercy of God

BSNL Service at Diglipur goesto the Dogs; SDO and TT go on leave

Diglipur, Mar 06: Poorbroadband and landlineconnectivity of BSNL hasvirtually disconnectedDiglipur Island with rest ofthe world. Due to this poorconnectivity, offices likeBanks, Post Office, ShippingTicketing Counter, RailwaysTicketing Counter are facinglots of difficulties at DiglipurSub-Division.

Making things worsethe SDO and the TelephoneTechnicians have also goneon leave. Worst hit are thosewho are solely dependent of

internet for their dailyincome. Not only this,during elections theAssistant Commissioner’soffice of Diglipur is alsofinding it difficult to sendimportant information to theChief Election Officer, A & NAdministration.“Most of the time, thetelephone services of BSNLremains disrupted and it isnot possible even tocommunicate urgentmessages related to Electionto the Head Quarters overtelephone. The Internetservices are also very poorusually it gives a speed of 5-7 kbps when working and at

least 2-3 days in a week theservices are not available inthis sub-division for whichseveral correspondence havebeen done with BSNL thoughthe services remainsunimproved,” the AssistantCommissioner wrote in aletter addressed to the ChiefElection Officer of A & NAdministration on 5th March2014.

The AssistantCommissioner added that inthis situation it is very muchdifficult to communicate withthe BLOs and other officialsdeployed for electionpurposes and also it is notpossible to communicate with

Port Blair Election Office, everyday many data regardingelections has to bedownloaded from internet butdue to very much disrupted

services of BSNL all thethings are not possible.“Considering all the aboveconditions along with the

DJ VenkateshSheekha News Service

Special camps by ElectionCommission of India

Port Blair, Mar 06: The Elec-tion Commission of India hasannounced a detailed schedulefor the Parliamentary Elections2014. As per the schedule,election to the A&N IslandsParliamentary constituency isto be held on 10th April 2014.

As per directions ofthe Election Commission ofIndia, special camps will be heldin all the polling stations on 09-03-2014 (Sunday) from 08.00am till 5.00 pm throughout theAndaman and Nicobar Islands.The respective Booth LevelOfficer shall be available withcopies of the relevant part ofthe electoral roll and Forms No-6. This will give one more op-

portunity to the left overelectorate, if any, to get theirname included by fillingForm No-6.

All electorates areonce more requested toavail this opportunity andcheck whether their namesare included in the electoralroll or not.

The voters can alsocheck their names by thefollowing two options- Byvisiting the websitewww.and.nic.in and thenclicking under Parliamentaryelection 2014 and avail thesearch option by name or byEPIC number and by avail-

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Fire Guts Semi RCC House at Tylerabad village

Port Blair, Mar 06: Amassive fire today guttedthe wooden portion of asemi RCC building atTylerabad village of SouthAndaman however theRCC structure was savedby the FireFighters.According toreports the fire wasreported at around 11.00am from the semi RCCbuilding, which wasclosed as the house ownerand his family members

Staff ReporterSheekha News Service

were out to attend anengagement party.

Surprisingly no one from (See page 8)

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UP civil society angry over seditioncharges against Kashmiri students

LUCKNOW: Slapping ofsedition charges on 67Kashmiri students at SubhartiUniversity in Meerut for rais-ing slogans in support of Pa-kistan during the India vsPakistan Asia Cup cricketmatch has triggered angryreactions not only in Kash-mir but Uttar Pradesh aswell."How can seditioncharges be slapped againststudents for sloganeering. Idon't approve of what theydid but such criminal pro-ceedings against them willruin their future," says AliaKhatoon, the head teacher ofa minority institution inBareily.

Maulana KhalidRasheed Firangi Maheli, thenaib Imam of Lucknow'smain Idgah, too finds the po-lice action uncalled for. "Suchstrong action will only alien-ate the 67 Kashmiri studentsfurther," he said. "What theydid was unacceptable. Butafter all they are young boys

- students who have left ter-ror-ridden Kashmir and theirfamilies for the sake of a bet-ter future. Such knee jerk re-actions will only send themback to Kashmir where thereal anti-nationals may exploittheir sentiments," MaulanaKhalid Rasheed said.

The student commu-nity in Lucknow too does notapprove of the police action."Sedition charges can be jus-tified for the terror accusedbut not the students. Therewere other ways to handle thesituation," said Sanjay Singh,a student of Lucknow Univer-sity. Similar views were airedby a host of other youngstersthat the TOI spoke to inLucknow.

The police action hasalready led to protests inKashmir after three of thesuspended students reachedhome on Wednesday night.The Swami VivekanandSubharti University adminis-tration has suspended 67

Kashmiri students after theyallegedly shouted pro-Paki-stan slogans on the campussoon after the match wasover on Sunday.

The expelledKashmiri students have de-scribed the action againstthem as 'unfair ' on thegrounds that they were notgiven a chance to explain thesituation and the sequence ofevents. "We were not onlycompelled to vacate the hos-tel rooms but also driven awayto Delhi and Noida to leavefor Kashmir," said a youth whoclaims to be one of the 67 stu-dents against whom action hasbeen initiated.

The Meerut Policeregistered a case of seditionagainst the students underSection 124 (a) of the IndianPenal Code. A senior policeofficer in Meerut said thatthe FIR was lodged on thebasis of the text of the com-plaint that the university ad-ministration has filed.

Jagdish Tytler’s role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots: CBI‘tracing’ three witnesses, two others ‘ready to depose’

JALANDHAR: Congressleader Jagdish Tytler is inthe race for a ticket for theLok Sabha elections fromDelhi's northeast constitu-ency and has been citingCBI's clean chit to him toclaim that there is no caseagainst him. However,now, it is coming out thatCBI is in the process of"tracing" at least threemore witnesses againstTytler, even as two otherwitnesses, now living inUS, have a lready ex-pressed their willingness totestify against him.

CBI, in an email toUS based r ights groupSikhs for Justice (SFJ) onMarch 3 reads, "We are inthe process of tracing therema ining 3 per sonsnamely Chanchal Singh,Alam Singh and SantokhSingh, who are reportedlyresiding in US. As soon aswe get their pr esentwhereabouts, the examina-tion of all the includingResham Singh and JasbirSingh would be undertakenon priority."

SFJ has claimedthat CBI is still trying toshield Tytler and ignoringthe pleas of California-based witnesses ReshamSingh and Jasbir Singh who

are available and ready totestify about the Congressleader's role in leading deathsquads after the assassina-tion of Indira Gandhi.

Tytler is being in-vestigated by CBI for hisrole in leading squads thatat tacked gurdwaraPulbangash on November 1,1984, in which three Sikhswere burned alive.

On April 10, 2013Judge Anuradha Bhardwaj,while rejecting the closurereport of CBI, ordered it toconduct further investiga-tion and to record the state-ments of US-based wit-nesses.

Referr ing to thecommunication with CBI, at-torney Gurpatwant SinghPannun, legal advisor toSFJ, held that the claim ofthe investigating agencyabout tracing other wit-nesses failed to justify whythey were not recording thestatements of those US-based witnesses who wereavailable and ready to tes-tify against Tytler?

CBI has proved it-self to be partisan and hasacted like Tytler's defenceteam because since theNanavati Commission's re-port in 2005 finding credibleevidence of his involvement

in the November 1984 kill-ings, the agency has twiceattempted to give clean chitto Tytler despite the factthat multiple witnesses areavailable, added attorneyPannun.

"In September 2007,CBI had claimed that JasbirSingh was not traceable andsubmitted this claim even tothe court after which webrought him out in publicwithin a day and his addresswas also provided to courtwhich then ordered the CBIto record his statement inUS," Pannun recalled.

Function on 10th March2014 at the Chatham Memorial

Port Blair, Mar 06: A solemnfunction will be organized topay tribute to the pioneerFreedom Fighters on 10 th

March 2014 at 9 a.m at theChatham Memorial to com-memorate the arrival of firstbatch of Freedom Fighters ofFirst War of Independence in

these islands in the year1858.

Chief Secretary,A&N Administration will paytribute to the heroes of FirstWar of Independence byplacing wreath at theChatham Memorial followedby others.

Chetana Hosts KaviSammelan at Tagore Auditorium

Port Blair, Mar 06: The socio-cultural organisation Chetanahosts a Kavi Sammelan andMushaira at Port Blair on 7th

March. The Deputy ChiefEngineer, ALHW, T NKrishna Murthy will be thechief guest on the occasion,while I A Khan, President,Daira-e-Urdu adab will pre-side over. Eminent poets andliterary scholars from the is-lands will participate in theprogramme. Eminent Jour-nalist and Associate Editor ofMalayalam Manorama Hindi

Edition, Pradeep Kumar willbe the special guest, while A Dhanasekaran,  Asst Direc-tor , Press Information Bu-reau and V Aboobaqer, so-cial worker will be the guestsof honour on the occasion.

This literaryprogramme will now be heldat Tagore Auditor ium,Middle Point at Port Blair by5.00 p.m. instead of JNRMcollege auditor ium. Thevenue has been changeddue to administrativereasons.

I, T. UMAPATHI, S/o. T.Chinnaiah, R/o. Dairy Farmward No. 8 under Port Blair Tehsil, South Andaman Dis-trict, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as follows:1. That, my actual name is “T. UMAPATHI” and myname has been erroneously entered in my Islander Cardas a “T. UMAPATHY” instead of “T.UMAPATHI”,which is actual and correct one.2. That, I have documentary proof in support of my ac-tual name, as per my Pan Card.3. That the above statements are true to the best of myknowledge and belief.

DEPONENT

AFFIDAVIT

WWW.ANDAMANSHEEKHA.COM

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Port Blair, Mar 06: The oldand current students ofJNRM are hereby informedthat if they have any griev-ances relating to the anoma-lies in the statement ofmarksheets, non reflection ofinternal marks in the marksheets, non-receipt of Provi-sional Certificate, Consoli-dated Statement of Marks,Degree Certificate etc may

inform the Admission & Ex-amination Wing of JNRMfor onward submission toPondicherry University inwriting alongwith necessarydocuments on or before 14thMarch 2014. Mr. KVenkatesan, HOD, HomeScience, Nodal / Liaison Of-ficer for Pondicherry Univer-sity is likely to visit universityto resolve the pending cases.

Students advisedto submit Grievances

Port Blair, Mar 06: TheAndaman And Nicobar StateCo-Operative Bank Ltd. willbe celebrating InternationalWomen’s day on 8th March,2014 at Annarkali MunicipalGround, Port Blair at 10 am.

Mr. Bhagat Singh,

Celebration of InternationalWomen’s Day 2014

the Chairman of State Coop-erative Bank, A & N Islandswill be the chief Guest on theoccasion.

A large gathering ofSelf Help Group, NGO’s andWomen beneficiary peoplewill be attending the function.

Port Blair, Mar 06: The An- nual General Meeting ofAndaman Chamber of Com-merce & Industry will be heldon Sunday the 23rd march2014 at 10.30 am in the up-per auditorium of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar institute of tech-nology, Pahargoan, Dollygunj.Registration of members willstart from 10.00 am. Agendawill include adoption/passingof annual report, audited re-port & budget and other is-sues if any. Members are re-quested to attend the meet-ing in time.

Annual GeneralMeeting of ACCI

Port Blair, Mar 06: A NationalConference on InformationCommunication Technology –Opportunities and Challenges,organised by the Departmentof Commerce and Sponsoredby UGC and NABARD washeld in JNRM today. Deliv-ering the keynote address theChief Guest Prof. K.V. Rao,Vice-Chancellor, AcharyaNagarjuna University, Gunturdescribed how InformationCommunication Technologyhas touched every aspect ofour life. He described in de-tail the Sweep of ICT, TheConcept of Inclusive Growth,Areas of Interface betweenICT and Inclusive Growth inareas like Education, Employ-ment, Health, Social Justiceand Empowerment and Gov-ernance.

The Guest of HonourShri D.N. Singh, Secretary,Education, A&N Administra-tion in his address laid empha-sis on e-Governance and ITServices in A&N Islands. In

National Conference on InformationCommunication Technology – Opportunities

and Challenges Held in JNRM

his welcome address Dr. IqbalAhmad, Principal, JNRMthanked the Vice-Chancellorand other resource personsfrom the mainland for spar-ing their valuable time tocome and take part in theConference. He also brieflydescribed the history of theCollege and the CommerceDepartment. Dr. KVRamana Murthy, AssociateProfessor, Department ofCommerce and Convener of

the Conference describedthe aims and objectives ofthe two-day National Con-ference and the topics thatwill be discussed in the tech-nical sessions. Mrs AjithaNarendran, Assistant Pro-fessor, Department of Com-merce proposed the vote ofthanks. The programmewas compeered by Smt.Kusum Kumari, AssistantProfessor, Department ofEnglish.

Former AndhraCM Kiran Reddy to

form new party

HYDERABAD: FormerAndhra Pradesh chief minis-ter N Kiran Kumar Reddy onThursday announced his de-cision to float a new politicalparty to uphold the "dignityand prestige of Telugupeople."

He told reportersthat the name of the party, itspolicies and other details willbe announced at a publicmeeting on March 12 atRajahmundry.

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07.03.2014 Daily Issue::53

EDITORIAL.....Muddy waters, navy blues

As the initial shock of Admiral D KJoshi's sudden resignation wearsoff, the armed forces, and the na-tion, must applaud a rarity: a manwho has held loyalty to service be-fore himself and walked away fromhigh office, following the dictatesof conscience. Concerns about theputative 'line of succession' existonly in public imagination becausethere are clear-cut guidelines avail-able to the government for ensur-ing a smooth and early successionto the navy's top job.

The dramatic changes inthe navy's upper ranks are boundto unsettle its junior officers andsailors. The new chief's first majorchallenge, therefore, will be to re-store the confidence of his serviceand the nation that the Indian Navyremains an efficient and combat-ready regional maritime force. Hewould be well advised to obtain aswift and authentic evaluation ofhow operations, maintenance andtraining are being conducted in theservice and to ensure that short-comings are speedily remedied.

From the freewheeling me-dia speculation underway, we needto pick out three crucial issues forcloser scrutiny and separate factsfrom fiction. The first relates to thesuccession of accidents that havebadly dented the navy's shiningimage. Secondly, a widespread im-pression has taken root that ournavy is operating 'old ships' and'leaky submarines' that hazard theircrews. Last, and most important, isthe media commentary about thestrained civil-military relationshipthat underpins the present crisis.

Of the 10 accidents cited,two, involving loss of life on boardsubmarines, are indeed grave andwarrant a thorough probe. The re-maining eight were of a trivial na-ture — collisions, groundings andminor fires — that happen fre-quently in all active seagoing navies.With no common thread runningthrough them, it was just an unfor-tunate happenstance that they oc-curred in rapid succession.

In any other country theymay have rated passing mention,but India's intrusive visual mediatook it upon itself to project eachincident as a disaster of Titanic pro-portions, subjecting it to shrill andill-informed discussions. There canbe little doubt that this sustainedmedia focus panicked the MoD intopressuring the navy, withSindhuratna's fire becoming the laststraw that led to a despondent chief'sresignation. The indecent hastewith which the resignation was ac-cepted clearly spoke of relief onRaisina Hill that a sacrificial lambhad presented itself.Navies nurturetheir warships so they can squeezethe maximum life out of them. TheUSS Enterprise retired in 2012 after52 years of service and our own INSViraat will be 57 years old when sheis decommissioned. By internationalstandards, the Indian Navy isyoung. It has a large proportion of

modern and newly constructed ships,with some approaching middle age andothers nearing their stipulated retire-ment age. Aging ships are, however,'modernised' and given a fresh lease oflife. Moreover, 45 newly cons-tructedwarships will join the fleet in the com-ing decade.

New or old, no Indian Navywarship sails out unless it meets strin-gent safety and seaworthiness require-ments, but accidents will happen at sea.Navies that have zero accidents are theones that stay put in harbour. However,our Soviet-era vessels are quite old, andthe accidents on two kilo-class subma-rines call into question, not only Rus-sian workmanship, but also our own op-erating and maintenance procedures.

Since 2008, the navy's opera-tional tempo has mounted steadily onaccount of overseas deployments, anti-piracy patrols, tactical exercises andcoastal security commitments. If thishas brought excessive strain on person-nel as well as ships and machinery,something is bound to give. It is theresponsi-bility of naval commanders toensure that commitments remain com-mensurate with resources and unwar-ranted pressures are not imposed onmen and machines, nor are any safetynorms violated.

That brings us to the crucialissue of civil-military relations at theheart of which lies the deeply flawedpolicy of subordinating the armedforces, not to political control, but tothe tyranny of a lethargic and unin-formed bureaucracy. Under currentrules, the chiefs carry the full burden ofresponsibility for their service, opera-tional and administrative, but lack stand-ing and authority within MoD.

On the other hand, the de-fence secretary is vested with author-ity for 'defence of India and for the threearmed forces HQs', but has zero ac-countability — especially when thingsgo wrong. In practical terms, everysingle decision regarding weapons,equipment, infrastructure and person-nel impinging on the navy's opera-tional efficiency needs the approval ofa bureaucrat.

With ministers engrossed inelectoral politics and bureaucrats lack-ing comprehension of complex militaryissues, critical cases are frequently castinto limbo for 5-10 years. It is the indif-ference of the politician, bureaucraticinefficiency and the civil-military dividethat are stalling armed forces'modernisation and undermining na-tional security, a $40-billion defencebudget notwithstanding.

Like every other major democ-racy, India must integrate its serviceHQs with the MoD, and create a chiefof defence staff for providing militaryadvice to the government. This wouldrequire political sagacity as well as de-termination so that neither bureaucraticobduracy nor irrational suspicion of themilitary comes in the way of this long-overdue measure. In a truly integratedMoD the civil and military would ac-cept joint responsi-bility for national se-curity instead of engaging in futileblame games.The writer is a former chiefof the Indian Navy.

NCP Bihar chief Nagmaniresigns, praises Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI:Nagmani, a known-party hopper, onThursday resignedfrom the NCP prais-ing Narendra Modi,a first fall-out ofC o ng r es s -R J D -NCP alliance inBihar, where hecould not be accom-modated as a candi-date for Lok Sabhapolls.

Nagmani,who was headingthe Bihar unit of NCP and was look-ing after Jharkhand affairs of theparty as well, said he was in touchwith the BJP for more than two-and-a-half months. He said that he haddecided to work for Modi even whenthere was a talk that NCP could begiven two seats under the "secular al-liance" with Congress and RJD.

NCP wanted the second seatfor Nagmani but it could get only onefrom where Union minister TariqueAnwar will contest.

Nagmani, son of JagdevPrasad, a legendary firebrand leaderof backward castes in Bihar, hadserved in almost all parties includingCongress, BJP, JD(U), RJD and LJPand is now all set to re-join the BJP.

"I have met all senior lead-ers of BJP except Narendra Modi. I

have met BJP president RajnathSingh, its former president NitinGadkari, organisational secretaryRamlal and senior BJP leaders fromBihar. I was never in favour of join-ing hands with Congress.

"Even when there was a talkthat NCP will be given two seats, Ihad told BJP leaders that I wanted tocontest from their party. Today it isthe nation's dream to see some back-ward or Dalit leader as Prime Minis-ter. Modi fulfils the criteria. I willleave no stone unturned to ensure thathe becomes Prime Minister,"Nagmani said. NCP general secre-tary Tarique Anwar, said party chiefSharad Pawar has dissolved theBihar unit and has asked national sec-retary Mohal Lal Agrawal to lookafter its affairs.

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Calcium and vitamin D up 'good'cholesterol in postmenopausal women

Washington, March 6 (ANI):Researchers have claimed thatcalcium and vitamin D supple-ments after menopause canimprove women's cholesterolprofiles and much of that ef-fect is tied to raising vitaminD levels.

The study led byNAMS Board of Trusteesmember Peter F. Schnatz, DO,NCMP, is helping to settlethose questions because itlooked both at how a calciumand vitamin D supplementchanged cholesterol levels andhow it affected blood levels ofvitamin D in postmenopausalwomen.

Daily, the women inthe WHI CaD trial took eithera supplement containing 1,000mg of calcium and 400 IU ofvitamin D3 or a placebo.Thisanalysis looked at the relation-ship between taking supple-ments and levels of vitamin Dand cholesterol in some 600 ofthe women who had both theircholesterol levels and their vi-

tamin D levels measured.The women who took

the supplement were more thantwice as likely to have vitaminD levels of at least 30 ng/mL(normal according to the In-stitute of Medicine) as werethe women who took the pla-cebo. Supplement users alsohad low-density lipoprotein(LDL-the "bad" cholesterol)levels that were between 4 and5 points lower.

The investigators dis-covered, in addition, thatamong supplement users,those with higher blood lev-els of vitamin D had higherlevels of high-density lipopro-tein (HDL-the "good" choles-terol) and lower levels of trig-lycerides (although for triglyc-erides to be lower, blood lev-els of vitamin D had to reacha threshold of about 15 ng/mL).

Wristbands Can Monitor Environmental HealthFrom “Livestrong” to “PurplePaws,” trendy wristbands havecome to represent causesfrom cancer to ending crueltyto animals. A new wristbandhas a cause of a different sort:one that could close the loopon determining the potentialdisease risks of exposure tosubstances like pesticides. Sci-entists reported the develop-ment in the ACS journal Envi-ronmental Science & Technol-ogy.

Kim Anderson andcolleagues note that peoplebreathe, touch and ingest a mixof many substances at low lev-els every day. But figuring outif natural and synthetic com-

pounds can lead to disease isdifficult. Thousands of thesecompounds are in commonconsumer products and indus-trial processes, but not all ofthem have been tested for tox-icity. Research suggests thatthere’s a link between some ofthese substances and humanhealth problems. However, es-tablishing cause and effect de-finitively requires long-termmeasurements. Currently,people monitor exposure withheavy backpack samplers,questionnaires or with station-ary devices, which all have dis-advantages. Anderson’s teamlooked for a better way tomore accurately assess an in-

dividual person’s exposure topossible toxins.“Currently,PAHs, pesticides, flame retar-dants, PCBs, industrial chemi-cals and consumer and phar-maceutical products have beenquantified in wristbands.”They conclude that the bandscould be a valuable tool for fi-nally determining individualexposures and what com-pounds are safe and whichones come with risk.

The authors acknowl-edge funding from the Na-tional Institute of Environmen-tal Health Sciences and theOregon State Univ. FoodSafety and EnvironmentalStewardship Program.

How passive smokeaffects kids’ arteries

London - Exposure to second-hand smoke in childhood causesirreversible damage to children'sarteries - increasing their risk ofheart attacks or strokes whenthey grow up, according to alarge international study pub-lished on Wednesday.The re-search, which lends weight tocampaigns for smoking to bebanned in private cars andhomes, found passive smokingleads to a thickening of children'sartery walls, adding about 3.3years to the age of blood ves-sels by adulthood.

“Exposure to passivesmoke in childhood causes di-rect and irreversible damage tothe structure of the arteries,” saidSeana Gall, a researcher in car-diovascular epidemiology wholed the study at the Universityof Tasmania.She said parents, oreven those thinking about be-coming parents, should quitsmoking - both to aid their ownhealth and protect the futurehealth of their children.

Smoking causes lungcancer, which is often fatal, andis the world's biggest cause ofpremature death from chronicconditions like heart disease,stroke and high bloodpressure.On top of the 6 millionpeople a year killed by their ownsmoking, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) says an-other 600 000 die a year as aresult of exposure to otherpeoples' smoke - so-called sec-ond-hand or passive smoking.Ofthe more than 4 000 chemicalsin tobacco smoke, at least 250are known to be harmful andmore than 50 are known tocause cancer, the WHO says -and creating 100 percentsmoke-free environments is theonly way to protect people fully.

About 40 percent of allchildren are regularly exposed tosecond-hand smoke at home,

and almost a third of the deathsattributable to second-handsmoke are in children.This lat-est study, published in the Eu-ropean Heart Journal, was thefirst to follow children throughto adulthood to look at links be-tween exposure to parents'smoking and thickness of the in-nermost two layers of the arte-rial wall, known as carotid in-tima-media thickness(IMT).Researchers from Fin-land and Australia looked at datafrom 2 401 people in Finland 1375 people in Australia who wereasked about their parents' smok-ing habits. The scientists usedultrasound to measure the thick-ness of the children's arterywalls once they had reachedadulthood.

The results showedthat carotid IMT in adulthoodwas 0.015 millimetres thicker inthose exposed to both parentssmoking than in those whoseparents did not smoke.Gall saidthat while this was a “modest”increase, it was nonetheless animportant extra and irreversiblerisk for suffering heart attacksor strokes later in life.

Since children of par-ents who smoke are also morelikely to grow up to be smokersthemselves, and more likely tobe overweight, their heart healthrisks are often already raised, shesaid, and the second-handsmoke adds yet more risk.

The researchers saidthe findings showed reducingchildren's exposure to smoke isa public healthpriority.“Legislation can reducepassive smoke exposure, withrestriction of smoking in publicplaces reducing hospitalisationsfor cardiovascular and respira-tory disease,” they wrote, add-ing that banning smoking in carswith children in them would alsohave a significant positive effect.

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LOSTI, Basudeb Bain S/o. LateNishi Kanta Bain R/o.Kamalapur has lost myIsland identity card bear-ing No. 10212301200901on 18/02/2014 atNimbudera Bazar. Finderis requested to contact atCell No. 9476090621.

LOSTI, Niranjan Hawlader S/o.Brojindra nath HawladerR/o.Kamalapur has lostmy Island identity cardbearing No.10212301203401 on 18/02/2014 at Nimbudera Bazar.Finder is requested to con-tact at Cell No.9476090621.

LOSTI, Sukumar Das S/o. LateAnanda Ch. Das R/o.Paresh Nagar has lostmy Island identity cardbearing No.10212201199301 on 18/02/2014 at Nimbudera Bazar.Finder is requested to con-tact at Cell No.9476090621.

LOSTI, Ajit Lall S/o. Late.LouvR/o.Paresh Nagar has lostmy Island identity cardbearing No.10212201197605 on 18/02/2014 at Nimbudera Bazar.Finder is requested to con-tact at Cell No.9474265040.

NASA tests spacerobots to refuel satellites

WASHINGTON: NASA has successfullyconcluded a remotely controlled test of newtechnologies to empower future space ro-bots to repair and refuel future satellites inspace. NASA is incorporating results fromthis test and the Robotic Refuelling Missionon the International Space Station ( ISS) toprepare for an upcoming ground-based testof a full-sized robotic servicer system thatwill perform tasks on a mock satellite client.

These efforts are part of an ongo-ing and aggressive technology developmentcampaign to equip robots and humans withthe tools and capabilities needed for space-craft maintenance and repair, the assemblyof large space telescopes, and extended hu-man exploration. The Satellite Servicing Ca-pabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,checked another critical milestone off theirlist with the completion of their Remote Ro-botic Oxidiser Transfer Test (RROxiTT) inFebruary, NASA said. "This is the first timethat anyone has tested this type of technol-ogy, and we've proven that it works. It's readyfor the next step to flight," said FrankCepollina, veteran leader of the five servic-ing missions to the Hubble Space Telescopeand the associate director of SSCO.

"RROxiTT gives NASA, and thesatellite community at large, confidence thatadvanced satellite refuelling and maintenancetechnologies aren't a wild dream of the fu-ture," said Cepollina. Taking lessons learnedfrom the successful Robotic Refuelling Mis-sion, the SSCO team devised the ground-based RROxiTT to test how robots cantransfer hazardous oxidiser, at flight-like pres-sures and flow rates, through the propellant

valve and into the mock tank of a satellite.While this capability could be applied tospacecraft in multiple orbits, SSCO focusedRROxiTT specifically on technologies thatcould help satellites travelling the busy spacehighway of geosynchronous Earth orbit, orGEO. Located about 35,406km aboveEarth, this orbital path is home to more than400 satellites, many of which beam commu-nications, television and weather data to cus-tomers worldwide. By developing roboticcapabilities to repair and refuel GEO satel-lites, NASA hopes to add precious years offunctional life to satellites and expand op-tions for operators who face unexpectedemergencies, tougher economic demandsand ageing fleets. NASA also hopes that thesenew technologies will help boost the com-mercial satellite-servicing industry that is rap-idly gaining momentum. Besides aiding theGEO satellite community, a capability to fixand relocate "ailing" satellites also could helpmitigate the growing orbital debris problemthat threatens continued space operations, ul-timately making space greener and more sus-tainable.

07.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 7

reality that more than 300Km OFC through forest areaand some places throughunderwater, it is not possibleto maintain the services ofBSNL properly throughoutthe year.

So it is requestedthat a V-Set may be given tothis establishment so that atleast important informationcould be conveyed anddownloaded,” the Assistant

Commissioner mentioned inhis letter. The internetservices as well as telephoneconnectivity of BSNL was outof order since 15 days inDiglipur region last month.

It was then informedby BSNL that the OFC wasbroken under seawater fromsomewhere near Baratangand it will take near about 3-4 days to restore. But aftertwo long weeks only the

internet services of BSNLwas restored that too only fora few hours and again itstarted giving nightmares topublic.

“This time the SDODiglipur is informing thatnow the OFC is broken overland at somewhere nearBaratang so internet serviceswill not be available for somemore days,” the AssistantCommissioner added.

BSNL Service... (From page 1)

ing the SMS facility bytyping AN(Space) EPICNO(type all digits of EPICNO)and SMS to 51969.A toll freenumber 1950 has also been

setup in the election controlroom to inform the generalpublic about their BoothLevel Officer. All eligibleelectorates of the A&N Is-

lands are once againrequested to avail thisopportunity before the listsof electoral rolls arefinalized.

Special camps... (From page 1)

MOVING EYES...

Safety First: Tourists seated inside private ferry for Ross, wearing life Jackets.

Nine fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan navyRAMESWARAM: Nine fish-ermen were arrested by theSri Lankan navy on Thursdayfor allegedly crossing the in-ternational maritime boundaryline.

They were latertaken to Talaimanar Navycamp, fisheries department

sources said.The fishermen had

put out to sea in two boats onWednesday night.

15 fishermen hadalso been arrested onWednesday by the SriLankan navy on the samecharges and their three boats seized.

Address: Roy Villa, INS Utkrosh Road, New Pahargaon, Garacharma Post Office- 744105, South Andaman. Ph: 09932082892. andaman.shikha@gmail.com, editor@andamansheekha.com

City Office: Andaman Sheekha, D & K City Building, Ground Floor, RGT Road, Port Blair. A & N Islands.

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

8 07.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

Arrival & departure of Swaraj DweepPort Blair, Mar 6: MVSwaraj Dweep is expected toarrive here from Chennai at0700 hrs on Mar 8, 2014. Onarrival, the ship will beberthed at Haddo Wharf.

Meanwhile, MVSwaraj Dweep will sail for

Chennai via Nancowry &Campbell Bay on Mar 10,2014 at 1000 hrs from HaddoWharf. Excess baggage,medical examination and em-barkation of passengers willcommence from 0700 hrs to0945 hrs on Mar 10.

Akbar to sail for Kolkata on Mar 11Port Blair, Mar 6: MV Akbarwill sail for Kolkata at 1000hrs on Mar 11, 2014 fromHaddo Wharf. Excess bag-

gage, medical examinationand embarkation of passen-gers will commence from 0700hrs to 0945 hrs on Mar 11.

Photo exhibition by DAVPPort Blair, Mar 6: TheField Exhibition Office,DAVP here is organizing aphoto exhibit ion on thetheme ‘SwamiVivekananda’ at commu-nity hall, Linedera, SouthAndaman. The five day ex-

hibition was inaugurated byShri Shyam Sankar Das,Pradhan, Guptapa raPanchayat.  The photo  ex-hibition has on display pho-tographs pertaining to thelife of Swami Vivekananda,a communication said.

Fun and Adventure Sports by Ocean Blue

Unique Water Park with Chinese inflated equipments, set up by Ocean Blue is makingwaves in Islands. The Park offers facilities like Ice Bergs, Orbit-Rutler, Bumper boats;Water slide and Zorbing etc. The park is open for public from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm.

RSC Cricket tournament resultsPort Blair, Mar 06: In thefirst match played for theongoing RSC Cup Crickettournament, NCP XI de-feated Wheel Power by 53runs. In the second match,M.K Brothers defeated

Shadipur XI by 8 wickets.Tomorrow (Mar 7),

PBMC will meet NavjeevanSporting Club at 6.30 am andDiljeet XI will lock hornswith Crazy Cricketers at12.15 

Delhi Assembly not dissolvedin public interest: Centre to SC

NEW DELHI: The Centreon Thursday justified be-fore the Supreme Courtthat its decision not to dis-solve the Delhi Assemblyaf ter the resignat ion ofArvind Kejriwal as chiefminis t er was taken in"public interest" as therewas a possibility of BJPstaking claim to form agovernment.

In an affidavit filedin the S upreme Cou r twhich had sought its re-sponse on not dissolvingthe house, the Centre con-tended that holding elec-tions in such a short timeis not in public interest asrecommended by the lieu-tenant governor.

"There were tworeasons given (by LG) thatis election had been con-cluded in the first week ofDecember and the gov-ernment was formed onlyon December 28, 2013 andtherefore in the circum-

stances it was not expe-dient or in the interest ofthe public to hold the nextelections in such a shorttime," the affidavit said.

"The governor fur-ther stated that in the cir-cumstances the option ofany other political party oralliance to stake a claimin the near future shouldnot be closed," the gov-ernment said.

T he Cent re sub-mitted that reasons givenby LG are correct , rel-evant and deserved ac-ceptance particular ly inthe context of the fluidsituation in the legislativeassembly.

I t fur ther sa idthere is still possibility ofBJP staking claim to formgovernment in Delhi andin that context it would nothave been right to dissolvethe assembly.

"In this scenario,as pointed out by the LG,

the possibility of the BJPstaking a claim to form thegovernment could not beruled out," the affidavitsaid.

It was filed in re-sponse to apex court is-suing notice to it on Feb-ruary 24 on a petition filedb y Aa m Aa dmi P a r t y(AAP) challenging impo-sition of President's rulein Delhi.

T he cour t , how-ever, had refrained fromissuing notice to BJP andC ongr ess which wer emade party in the petition,saying it only wants todea l with the const i tu-tional issue and does notwant to have a politicalcontest.

AAP approachedthe court seeking a direc-t ion t o t he L ieu t enantGover nor to d is s o lveDelhi Assembly and holdfresh polls along with LokSabha elections.

the neighborhood of thehouse reported about thisaccident to Fire Brigade. Itwas an auto driver who tookpain to call fire brigade ataround 11.20 am. Hencebefore arrival of Fire Service

Fire Guts... (From page 1)

Jawans the wooden portionof the house was gutted.According to report a bikeand a moped was alsoreduced to ash. The fire alsoresulted in bursting of oneLPG Cylinder.