VOL: 03 I ISSUE NO: 86 I REG NO: ANDENG/2011/38184 I 18 APRIL 2014 I FRIDAY I Rs. 2.00 I DAILY I PORT BLAIR I www.andamansheekha.com

Port Blair, Apr 17:Andaman’s pride and touristfavourite Sea Plane Service ofAndaman and NicobarIslands will remainsuspended for nearly amonth after April 30 2014.

Talking to AndamanSheekha recently theCommissioner cum Secretaryof Civil Aviation, Mr.Mohanjeet Singh said thatthe present contract ofsupplying Sea Plane toAndaman and NicobarAdministration will end onApril 2014. “Instead ofextending the lease we haveasked the Pawan Hans toprovide us a Sea Plane,which the Pawan Hans will

Andaman totemporarily suspendSea Plane Service

Mohammed SajidSheekha News Service

Meet World’s Youngest IndianGirl Qualified & Certified as Scuba DiverTamanna Balachandran

creates history in sea diving

Port Blair, Apr 17: TamannaBalachandran, age 10 years(as on 16th April, 2014) hasbecome World’s YoungestIndian Girl Qualified &Certified as Scuba Diver bycompleting the Junior OpenWater Diver Course at the ageof 10 years and one day, duly

Mohammed SajidSheekha News Service

certified & licensed by PADI(Professional Association ofDiving Instructors – USA).

Tamanna, a fourthstandard student of VibgyorHigh International School atGoregaon in Mumbai wentunder rigorous training inHavelock Island (Andaman &Nicobar Islands) under thesupervision of her Instructor

(See page 2)

take on wet lease. PawanHans is already providing ushelicopters for inter-islandconnectivity,” Singh added.

He said that theprocess of acquiring a sea

plane by Pawan Hans maytake some time, which willcause the temporarysuspension of Sea PlaneService. “During the

(See page 8)

Mohanlal inAndaman for hismovie ‘Koothara’

Port Blair, Apr 17:Malayalam superstarMohanlal is currentlyfilming for his movieKoothara. Today the actorposted on his official page:“At Andaman NicobarIslands for Kootharashoot...”.

Koothara, isexpected to be released inMay this year, is produced byMr. Shahul Hameed Marikar

under the banner Marikarfilms.

BJP expresses anguish overlethargic attitude of shipping department

Port Blair, Apr 17: Expressinganguish over lethargicattitude of Shippingdepartment the BharatiyaJanta Party today demandedintroduction of CharteredAircraft for people, who wantto visit Mainland in summervacation.

In a letter addressedto Secretary (ShippingServices) the State President,BJP, Mr. Vishal Jolly todaysaid that M.V. Akbar is

stranded in Port Blair due tomajor repair. It is learned thatmany of its documentsneeded for sailing out of Porthas expired.

“As per availableinformation M.V.Harshavardhan has gone forAnnual Periodical Survey,and it will take more than twomonths to complete the APS,”the BJP president added.

He said M.V.Nancowry is missing from

action for the last few months.“Presently M.V.

Swarajdeep, M.V. CampbellBay and M.V. Nicobar areonly in the service of Islandersin mainland-island sector. Previous experiencesuggests that passengertraffic will be much more andin the absence of other bigvessels. This seems to be adeliberate attempt to harassthe local residents of theseIslands,” Jolly added.

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Andaman’s Jarawa tribals: Atraining centre holds out new hope

Port Blair, Apr 17: A newly-launched training centre hereis expected to play a signifi-cant role in enabling the en-dangered Jarawa tribe, one ofthe oldest inhabitants of theAndaman and Nicobar Is-lands whose number hasshrunk to a mere 400, to de-cide their own future, an of-ficial said.

“The ANTRI(Andaman and NicobarTribal Research and TrainingInstitute) has been set up withthe purpose of finding solu-tions to questions that emergefrom the field. It is aimed atproviding a scientific analysison issues like what will be theeffect of a particular policyor programme on theJarawas (and other tribes),”Tribal Welfare Secretary G.T.Neethi Dhas told a visitingIANS correspondent.

“It will formulate anew policy for the integrationof tribals with the developedsociety, but in their own wayand own environment withoutdisturbing their distinct iden-tity and unique culture. Forour main aim is to enable theJarawas to decide their futurefor themselves and not im-pose our decisions on them,”

Dhas added.The ANTRI will

work in synergy with theAndaman Adim Janjati VikasSamiti (AAJVS), the apexwelfare body of the Jarawas,one of the six indigenoustribes in the archipelago of 572islands – of which only 36 areinhabited – islets and rocks inthe southeastern part of theBay of Bengal that is spreadover nearly 800 km. While itsambit covers all the tribe, itsfocus will be on the Jarawas.

The task is dauntingbecause despite the 1,028 sqkm Jarawa Tribal Reservebeing out of bounds for out-siders, reports of regular in-filtration by poachers and thealleged exploiting of thetribals, including women, havebeen trickling in every nowand then.While a 2012 videoshowing Jarawa womendancing to entertain tourists inreturn for food is still vivid, theyear started off with the ab-duction of eight tribal girls inJanuary, who later were res-cued by the police.Recentmedia reports claiming thereare audio clips of a Jarawaman alleging poachers en-croach on the reserve and“chase and hurt the girls and

sleep with them” hasprompted the administrationto order a probe.

“Welfare of theJarawas is our prime commit-ment. Whenever there havebeen violations, we haveacted swiftly. We will takeaction in this case as well, ifanybody is found guilty,” theislands’ Lieutenant Governor,Lt. Gen. (retd) Ajay KumarSingh, said.

“Our main concern isto ensure their welfare, toensure their livelihood is notencroached upon. As regardstheir assimilation into themainstream, we are not work-ing at that now. It’s a gradualprocess warranting a verycautious approach,” headded.

Even though hehailed the government andother stakeholders’ effortsenabling the Nicobarese –also tribal inhabitants – to as-similate into the mainstream,Lt. Gen Ajay Singh said theadministration was working tomake the Jarawas decidethemselves about their future.

Inhabiting the islandfor thousands of years, thenomadic Jarawa tribe livesmostly in small groups with

hunting, fishing and collectingplant produce being their mainsource of living.

Talking about thecautious approach, Anthropo-logical Survey of India re-gional head (Andaman) M.Sasi Kumar said the adminis-tration did not want to indulgein any kind of “misadven-ture”.

“Polarised opinionsdo exist, some feel who arewe to decide that the Jarawachildren should roam aroundnaked and grow up withoutaccess to education? But atthe same time can we affordto attempt anything whichmay jeopardise their exist-ence?” Sasi Kumarwondered.While the probereport on the alleged sexualexploitation of the Jarawawomen is still awaited, Dhassaid the administration wasworking in coordination withall the stakeholders, includingNGOs, to prevent infiltrationinto the Jarawa Reserve.

NGOs working in theisland for tribal welfare alsoadvocate that the Jarawas’ in-dependence should not be in-fringed upon.“They are theoldest inhabitants of the is-lands and they should be lefton their own. Their populationhas declined rapidly, and weare not aware about how theywill react to attempts at as-similation. Keeping in mindtheir thin population, it is bestthat their independence is pro-tected at all costs,” N.M.

Bashir of ARPAN, an NGO,said.

With the AndamanTrunk Road (ATR) whichcuts through the heart of theJarawa reserve is facing a lotof flak and was even brieflyclosed after the SupremeCourt orders in 2002, theAndaman administration isworking on to develop an al-ternate sea route.

“There have beenmisinformed campaigns bysome quarters who want stopthe traffic. The ATR is theonly lifeline for about 150,000villagers living along the road.We cannot deprive such alarge population,” the lieuten-ant govvernor said.

“Traffic on the ATRis strictly regulated through aconvoy system. No individualvehicle is permitted. No inter-action with the indigenousgroup by outsiders is allowed.To reduce traffic, we haveplans to develop an alternatesea route, but this will takesome time. A person facesthree to seven years of im-prisonment if he is found guiltyof doing anything illegal insidethe belt.

“We don’t have anypredetermined notions and itis for the tribes themselves todecide. They have come along way, but I can’t predictwhat the Jarawas will want.I think slowly but surely theywill decide for themselves,”he added. ( Courtesy, AnuragDey, Free Press Journal)

& Mentor Mr. Prafful Chughfrom Pool To Sea ScubaExplorers throughout thecourse.

After completing theswimming performancerequirements and gettingnecessary training in‘Confined Water’, Tamannacompleted her Open WaterDives in the Sea at HavelockIsland (A&N Islands) tofulfill the requisites bymeeting all the performancestandards as laid down byPADI.

In past, whileTamanna already did her‘Bubble Maker’ program inScuba Diving (permitted forchildren below 10 years ofage) at the age of 8, she hasalso been winning medals inswimming and athletics forher school.

With this, Tamannais said to have broke therecord of Egypt’s NatashaTurner, who had become theyoungest diver at the age of10 years and three days. Withthis record, Tamanna hassurpassed the record of Ella-

Meet World’s Youngest...

Maria Lopez, who is also oneof the youngest QualifiedScuba Divers in the world atthe age of 10.    “Tamanna got thecertificate at the age of 10years and one day, which istwo days shorter thanTurner,” Tamanna’sInstructor Prafful Chughinformed. Tamanna wastrained at Dive India atHavelock Island inAndamans.

Tamanna wasaccompanied by her familyfor this achievement as her

elder sister RashiBalachandran, also becamecertified as a Scuba Diverwith her. Thus making themOne of the Youngest girlsiblings in the country to beCertified & Qualified ScubaDivers.

Tamanna is nowlooking forward to continueher passion and love forScuba diving & dreams ofbecoming the youngestScuba Diving Instructor inthe years to come, acommunication receivedhere said.

(From page 1)

18.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 3

Port Blair, Apr 17: The threedays long Joint Coastal Secu-rity Exercise conducted in theAndaman Sea concluded on17 Apr 14.

The Central andState maritime stakeholdersi.e A&N Administration,A&N Police, Police MarinePolice (PMF), IRBN, CISF,Customs, Fisheries Depart-ment, Forest Department,Port Management Board(PMB), Directorate of Ship-ping Services (DSS), Direc-tor General Light House andLightships (DGLL) and all

Exercise ‘Tat Suraksha’ Concludes

intelligence agenciesalongwith assets from Army,Navy, Air Force and CoastGuard of Andaman andNicobar Command partici-pated in the exercise.

The exercise wascontrolled and coordinatedfrom Joint Operations Centre(Coastal Security) - JOC(CS), at HQANC and con-ducted from Regional CoastalSecurity Operation Centre(A&N) - RCSOC (A&N) atCGRHQ (A&N) Port Blair.

This exercise wasconducted in two phases. Inthe first phase officials fromall agencies participated in

simulated drills. The secondphase was the ‘TacticalPhase’ conducted from 15Apr 14. During the tacticalphase live situations weresimulated to assess the co-ordination among the variousstakeholders to the develop-ing situations.

This was the ninthsuch exercise conducted inthe Andaman and NicobarIslands. These exercises helpin revalidating the StandardOperating Procedures(SOPs) on coastal securityinvolving many agencies andsynergizing the efforts that isso essential to security.

23RD CYCLE INDIA-INDONESIACORPAT UNDERWAY

Port Blair, Apr 17 : The closedefence relations betweenIndia and Indonesia havebeen growing steadily withregular exercises and ex-changes of personnel be-tween the Armed Forces ofthe two countries. Under thebroad ambit of this strategicpartnership, the Navies of In-dia and Indonesiahave beencarrying out coordinated pa-trolling twice a year since2002 near the InternationalMaritime Boundary Line tokeep this vital part of the In-dian Ocean region safe andsecure for commercial ship-

ping and international trade.The 23rdCycle of In-

dia – Indonesia CoordinatedPatrol (CORPAT) is beingconducted from 14 Apr to 02May 14. The IndonesianNavy is being represented byKRI Imam Bonjol and Mari-time Patrol Aircraft CN 235,whilst INS Kumbhir and oneIN Dornier are participatingfrom the Indian Navy. Thehigh level Indonesian delega-tion for the 23rd CORPAT isheaded by Rear AdmiralAriefRudianto, Commander-in-Chief, Western Fleet Com-mand and includes Commo-

dore DidikWahyudin, Com-mander of Naval Base,Belawan and Captain ImamMusani who is the Command-ing Officer of Personal OpsCentre. The aim of the co-ordinated exercise is to en-hance mutual understandingand inter-operability betweenthe navies,

T h eOpeningCeremonywas heldat Port Blair from 14 to 16Apr14. INS Kumbhir and anINDornier will be visitingBelawan from 30 Apr to 02May 14 to participate in theclosing ceremony.

I Smti Sanjita Baroi, D/o Shri Narattam Baroi, aged 33years, R/o Kalipur village, under Diglipur Tehsil in NorthAndaman, do hereby solemnly and sincerely affirm anddeclare the following:-

That I have married with “ SHRI BISWAJITSAHA” on 18/11/2013. Being a Hindu marriage Actafter my marriage I have adopy my husband’s surname“SAHA” and left my father’s surname BAROI.

That , henceforth I shall use my surname‘SAHA” in all official and non-official documents fromthe date of executing this affidavit.

After executing this affidavit all mean of thislocality known to me as “SMTI SANJITA SAHA’ not‘SMTI SANJITA BAROI’ The above statement us trueand correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

DEPONENT

AFFIDAVIT

LOSTMy Family Identity card issued in tha name of RataneswarHalder S/o Manindra Halder R/o Aerial Bay lost at DiglipurBazar. Finder please call 9932493418.

WWW.ANDAMANSHEEKHA.COM

4 18.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

18.04.2014 Daily Issue::86

EDITORIAL.....The new LBD

Voting has become a fashionstatement, and the must-have forevery hip person is the newLBD, the Little Black Dot. Lastweek`s STOI ramped up itsstreet cred twice over: anoint-ing it the 'coolest tattoo to sport'and crowning it the unchal-lenged 'selfie op'. So who woulddare ignore the directions of theSPS, the Style Positioning Sys-tem, and wander off to the beachon polling day instead of mak-ing a beeline for the designatedbooth as if it were a SummerSale at the mall? As all thosebright and excited faces show,Gen Y is no longer drawling itsusual indifferent 'Why?', and isall charged up to 'be the changeit wants to see'. What a differ-ence from the bad old dayswhen we had no social media toprod us into the social, and ev-ery other responsibility, that thecasting of a vote implies.Thesame STOI piece by thetrendspotting Joeanna RebelloFernandes may have also warnedthat the Facebookies are flock-ing to the booth for braggingrights rather than out of demo-cratic duty, and that this couldwell be our first peer-pressureelection. But it's there for all tosee that this season's the obliga-tory object of attire and desireis the new LBD. Strangely, i hadfound a counterpoint to this notin a Commissar of the Maoistbrigades, but in a Yogi. The pre-vious Thursday, my yoga teacherused an electoral analogy to tellus not to get obsessed by sepa-rate body parts or even indi-vidual asanas, but to aim for theoneness of body, mind andbreath. Zubin Sir is an eclecticguy, and subpoenas all mannerof disciplines to draw hisparallels.This time he referredto the campaign material nowregularly shoved under ourdoors which addressed us as'Dear Voter'. He scoffed, "Theseself-serving politicians reduceus to a mono identity, when infact the human being — and an

evolved yoga practitioner — isan integrated whole of many as-pects."

But, Zubin Sir, i mustdeferentially differ. At electime,like a defiant John F Kennedyat the Berlin Wall in 1963, wemust declare, 'Ich bin ein Voter.'Not only is everyone a voter onpolling day, all our differentidentities merge into our singu-lar voter ID. (In much the sameway that the IDs of not only allBJP candidates but even thoseof its allied parties have beensubsumed into the ID of oneOmnipotent Being.)Let me ex-plain. By lining up in the sum-mer sun, voters propitiate thevarious aspects of their life.They fondly hope that the party/person they vote for will ben-efit them as a user of roads,consumer of carbs and cars,householder, carer of childrenand elderly, tax-payer, entrepre-neur, worker, farmer, investor,sky-diver, gym-goer, pub-crawler, eco-warrior... Sincemanifestoes have been obligedto state their stand on Sec 377,our electime ID draws even oursexual orientation into its oc-topus embrace.If the apparent isin fact the real, then we mustbelieve that the man who willpander to all our multiple IDsis a certain Mr M, who also ap-pears to be the certain Mr PM.With nothing accidental abouthim.The record-socking num-bers lining up to acquire the newLBD suggest that the elector-ate across the vast Indian swathewants a total makeover. Since'Only NaMo' has positionedhimself as the sole-sellingagent of change, we must alsobelieve that those enthusiasticqueues are showing the fingerto the 'hand', and pointing toSupermodi as the single-win-dow clearance of all the hopesof their many IDs.But here's thenagging fear that we simplycan't wish or push away: our Idcould become totally subservi-ent to his Ego.

Voters are not fools:Jaitley on Rahul's 'ullu' barb

AMRITSAR: In a counterattack onRahul Gandhi for asking NarendraModi to "stop fooling" the people, BJPleader Arun Jaitley on Thursday saidvoters are not "ullus" (fools) if theyexercise their vote against the Con-gress.

Jaitley, who is facing a toughcontest in Amritsar, said Rahul mustaccept that people are "angry" with theCongress.

"With 121 parliamentary con-stituencies going to poll today, almosthalf of India would have voted in 2014general elections. What are the trends?The Third Front or the Federal Frontis the non-starter. The Congress lagsfar behind," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi must acceptthat people are angry with the Con-gress. They are not 'ullus' when theyvote against the Congress. The pros-pects of defeat should not make aleader lose his graciousness. Thosewho vote against the Congress mayhave good reasons to do so. The an-gry voter is not a four letter word thatRahul Gandhi has chosen to describethem", Jailtey said.

At an election meeting in Biharon Wednesday, Rahul had said, "Modiji,Hindustan ko ullu banana band karo(Modiji, stop fooling the people ofHindustan)".

Jaitley claimed the NDA is theonly combination which has a realchance of forming the government.

Besides, the usual emphasison the anti-incumbency against theUPA, national mood is in favour of

Narendra Modi, he claimed."An issuethat concerns the average Indian iswho will provide a stable government,"he said, adding the answer to the ques-tion squarely helps the BJP and NDA.Jaitley welcomed Modi's comment thatthe next government at the Centre willfunction on a positive agenda and notbe vindictive.

"India is changing. The peopleare becoming restless. The aspirationalclass is expanding. People expect tolive in a system where the quality oftheir life is significantly enhanced. Thenew generation is looking for educa-tion, jobs, housing, health care andhygiene. They want politics to ensurethe delivery mechanism instead of be-ing just a slugfest between the parties",he said.

"Under these circumstances,governments will be remembered bytheir performance and achievementsand not by the political battles that theyfought against their rivals. This is notto suggest that law must not be fol-lowed," he said.

The BJP leader stressed thatagencies must be run by men of integ-rity, independent of political interfer-ence.

"If people have committedoffences, they must be objectively in-vestigated by independent agencies. In-stitutional independence and profes-sionalism has to be ensured. Agenciesmust be run by men of integrity, inde-pendent of political interference. If thefuture government can ensure this, itwould have done its bit," said Jaitley.

18.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 5

Kerala twins undergo successfulcranium surgery at AIIMS

Year-old twins from Kerala — Adhiand Adhri — were successfully op-erated by a team of doctors at theAll India Institute of Medical Sci-ences here to correct the shape oftheir skulls which were growing ver-tically.

The children, who werebrought to the Institute in Marchfrom Kerala by their parents, werediagnosed with a condition knownas craniosynostosis, where suturesor natural divisions in the skull bonesfuse in the womb leaving little spacefor the brain to grow.

“This causes the head togrow in an abnormal shape. In thiscase one twin had more prominentvertical growth when compared tothe other,” said Dr. Deepak Gupta,additional professor of neurosurgeryat AIIMS, who operated on the ba-bies.

Explaining the probablecause of vertical growth, Dr. Guptasaid: “We feel that the children hadrestricted space in the womb whichmay have caused the skull to fuse ata premature stage during pregnancy.After examining the children, ourteam of doctors opted to do the sur-gery to reduce any risk to brain de-velopment because of the shape ofthe skull.”

Speaking at the press con-ference, Dr. Gupta explained that thecondition was rare, with 1 in 5,000cases being reported in internationalliterature, and the AIIMS neurosur-gery department gets about 10 casesa year.

“But it is the first timethat monozygotic twins, who lookidentical otherwise, had this abnor-mal growth,” he said.

The children were oper-ated on March 27 and were dis-charged two weeks later.

“The surgery involvedremoving the bones, resizing andreshaping them by artificially break-ing them and inducing fractures. Butsince these were identical twins, wehad to resize the bones and shapethe heads, to make them look ex-actly the same,” said Dr. Gupta.

He added that the mid-lineof the skull that divides the left sideand the right side of the brain, were

missing in both the babies.“The pressure in the brain

was high in both the babies and thiscould cause headaches, abnormalbrain development and even resultin vision loss, ” he said.

Thanking the doctors,parents of the twins — Binu MonP.R., a businessman based inAlleppey and mother Sandhya —

said: “My children now look liketwo happy healthy twins. We hopethey continue to grow up well.”

“Doctors have explainedthat the children don’t require anyfurther surgeries which we are happyabout. We were worried when wefirst noticed the odd shape of theirheads, but things have worked wellafter we came to AIIMS,” said Binu.

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Soon, robots that form ‘swarms’ without using any memoryScientists have developed away of making thousands oftiny robots cluster to carryout tasks without using anymemory or processingpower.to help us personaliseyour reading experience.

Engineers at the Uni-versity of Sheffield, UK, pro-grammed extremely simplerobots that are able to forma dense cluster without theneed for complex computa-tion, in a similar way to howa swarm of bees or a flockof birds is able to carry outtasks collectively.

The work paves theway for robot ‘swarms’ to beused in, for example, the ag-ricultural industry where pre-cision farming methods couldbenefit from the use of large

numbers of very simple andcheap robots, researcherssaid.A group of 40 robotshas been programmed toperform the clustering taskand computer simulationsshow that this could be ex-panded to include thousandsof robots.Each robot usesone sensor that tells themwhether or not they can ‘see’another robot in front ofthem. Based on whether ornot they can see another ro-bot, they will either rotate onthe spot, or move around ina circle until they can see one.

In this way they areable to gradually form andmaintain a cluster formation.The system’s ingenuity lies inits simplicity. The robots haveno memory, do not need to

perform any calculations andrequire only very little infor-mation about theenvironment.With the pro-gramming developed by theSheffield team, however, itcould be possible to developextremely small – evennanoscale – machines.

The Sheffield systemalso shows that even if theinformation perceived by therobots gets partially cor-rupted, the majority of themwill still be able to work to-gether to complete the task.

“What we haveshown is that robots do notneed to compute to solveproblems like that of gather-ing into a single cluster, andthe same could be true forswarming behaviours that we

find in nature, such as in bac-teria, fish, or mammals,” saidRoderich Gross, from theSheffield Centre for Robot-ics (SCentRo), in theUniversity’s Faculty ofEngineering.This means weare able to ‘scale up’ theseswarms, to use thousands ofrobots that could then beprogrammed to performtasks.“In a real world sce-nario, this could involvemonitoring the levels of pol-lution in the environment; wecould also see them being

used to perform tasks in ar-eas where it would be haz-ardous for humans to go.

“Because they are sosimple, we could also imag-ine these robots being usedat the micron-scale, for ex-ample in healthcare technolo-gies, where they could travelthrough the human vascularnetwork to offer diagnosis ortreatment in a non-invasiveway,” Gross said.he researchwas published in the Interna-tional Journal of RoboticsResearch.

18.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 7

New evidence of suicide epidemicamong India’s ‘marginalized’ farmers

NEW DELHI: Latest statisticalresearch finds strong causal linksbetween areas with the mostsuicides and areas where impov-erished farmers are trying togrow crops that suffer fromwild price fluctuations due toIndia's relatively recent shift tofree market economics. A newstudy has found that India'sshocking rates of suicide arehighest in areas with the mostdebt-ridden farmers who areclinging to tiny smallholdings —less than one hectare — and try-ing to grow 'cash crops', suchas cotton and coffee, that arehighly susceptible to global pricefluctuations. The research sup-ports a range of previous casestudies that point to a crisis inkey areas of India's agriculturesector following the 'liberaliza-tion' of the nation's economyduring the 90s. Researchers saythat policy intervention to stabi-lize the price of cash crops andrelieve indebted farmers mayhelp stem the tide of suicide thathas swept the Indian country-side. This latest work followson from a recent Lancet studyby researchers from the LondonSchool of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine (LSHTM), whichshowed Indian suicide rates tobe among the highest in theworld — with suicide being thesecond leading cause of deathamong young adults in India.

In 2010, 187,000 In-dians killed themselves — one-fifth of all global suicides.

However, while theLancet study revealed suiciderates in rural areas to be almostdouble those of urban areas, andthe most common method ofsuicide to be deliberately ingest-ing pesticide — LSHTM authorsdid not believe they had enoughevidence to show that suiciderates are higher in farmers. Sui-cide rates vary sharply acrossthe different Indian states. Build-ing on the LSHTM study, re-searchers from Cambridge andUCL analyzed suicide figures of18 Indian states — as well asnational crime and census sta-tistics and surveying done by theministry of agriculture — to cre-ate data models that investigatedwhether case studies of "farmersuicide" that concentrate on afew suicide hotspots could be

generalized across India. Theteam from the CambridgeUniversity's department of so-ciology and University CollegeLondon's (UCL) department ofpolitical science say that theyhave found significant causallinks showing that the hugevariation in suicide rates be-tween Indian states can largelybe accounted for by suicidesamong farmers and agriculturalworkers. Farmers at highest riskhave three characteristics: thosethat grow cash crops such ascoffee and cotton; those with'marginal' farms of less than onehectare; and those with debts ofRs 300 or more. Indian states inwhich these characteristics aremost prevalent had the highestsuicide rates. In fact, these char-acteristics account for almost75% of the variability in state-level suicides.The researcherssay the results of their statisticalanalysis support many casestudies and reports from the fieldand suggest there is a suicide epi-demic in marginalized areas ofIndian agriculture that are at themercy of global economics. Thestudy is recently publishedonline in the journal "Globaliza-tion and Health".

"Many believe that theopening of markets and scalingback of state support followingthe liberalization of the Indianeconomy led to an 'agrarian cri-sis' in rural India — which hasresulted in these shocking num-bers of suicide among Indianagricultural workers," said leadauthor Jonathan Kennedy."Small-scale farmers who cul-tivate capital-intensive cashcrops — which are subject tomassive price fluctuations — areparticularly vulnerable to accru-ing debts they can't repay. Manymale farmers — who are tradi-tionally responsible for ahousehold's economic well-be-ing — resort to suicide becausethey can't support their families."The researchers found that sui-cide rates tend to be higher instates with greater economic dis-parity — the more unequal thestate, the more people kill them-selves — but inequality as a pre-dictor of suicide rates paled incomparison with cash crops andmarginalized, indebtedfarmers.The state of Kerala —

one of the most developed inIndia — has the highest malesuicide rate in India. If Keralawere a country, it would havethe highest suicide rate in theworld. Areas such as Gujarat,in which cash crops are mainlycultivated on large-scale farms,have low suicide rates. This isbecause wealthy cash cropfarmers have the resources toweather difficult economic pe-riods, says Kennedy, withoutfalling into debt and ruin. An-other outlier is West Bengal,which has high numbers ofsmallholders but an average sui-cide rate: but this is an area inwhich the Communist Party ofIndia (Marxist) — who have an"unrivalled commitment" to im-proving the lot of poor farmers— have had a strong politicalinfluence over the past four de-cades. The researchers say theirstudy points to a vicious cycleof Indian smallholders forcedinto debt due to market fluctua-tions. While Rs 300- the debtfigure analyzed in the study —only amounts to $5, the govern-ment defines a mere Rs 25 asan adequate daily income in ru-ral India. The shame and stressof no longer being able to pro-vide for their families has resultedin hundreds of thousands ofmale farmers, and in many casestheir wives too, taking their ownlives by drinking the modern pes-ticides designed to provide themwith bountiful harvests — a trulyhorrific end as the chemicalscause swift muscle and breath-ing paralysis. Added Kennedy:"The liberalization of the Indianeconomy is most often associ-ated with near-double digitgrowth, the rise of India as aneconomic powerhouse, and theemergence of wealthy urbanmiddle classes.

But it is often forgot-ten that over 833 million people— almost 70% of the Indianpopulation — still live in rural ar-eas. A large proportion of theserural inhabitants have not ben-efited from the economicgrowth of the past twenty years.In fact, liberalization has broughtabout a crisis in the agriculturalsector that has pushed manysmall-scale cash crops farmersinto debt and in some cases tosuicide."

SAI’s Selectiontrial at N&M Andaman

Port Blair, Apr 17: TheSports Authority of India isgoing to organize the selec-tion trial in the discipline offootball, cycling, rowing,kayaking & canoeing togroom the selectedsportspersons through se-lection trial conducted by itsexperts and coaches for ex-posing them in the betterarena of sports.

With this view, thisyear also the selection trialwill be conducted in North& Middle Andaman fromApril 21 to 26, 2014. The agegroup of selection trial hasbeen fixed from 13 to 16 yrs.For more details the inter-ested sportsperson (student/non-student) can contact theZonal Officer/Assistant Di-rector (PE/Sports) of theirrespective areas. They willhave to submit their ageproof/birth certificate issuedby the Municipality,Panchayat etc. and also thesports participation certifi-cate if any. The candidatesthus qualify for age verifi-cation test should undergo

medical test to be taken bythe doctors.

The sportspersonwho clear the medical testwill be undergoing a generalphysical test followed byspecific test. The final se-lection of the candidate willbe done by a committeeconstituted by SAI.

The Sports Author-ity of India will provide vari-ous facilities to the selectedsportspersons during theirstay for long term training inSAI hostel. The facilities tobe provided includes freeboard and lodging @Rs.57,750/- per annum (for330 days), sports kits @Rs.4000/- per annum, freeeducation medical facilitiesand insurance @ Rs.2100/-per session, competition ex-posure on as and when re-quire basis @ Rs.3000/-,free sports equipments re-quired for training and cashaward by the A&N Admin-istration/Govt. of India forwinning medals in Nationaland International competi-tions, a communication said.

Admission in progress at MES SchoolPort Blair, Apr 17: Admis-sion to pre-primary classesin MES Sr. Sec. School isin progress. The parentsdesirous of taking admission

have been requested to col-lect the form and completethe admission by April 25,2014, a communicat ionsaid.

WANTEDSecond hand Handy-Cam DV or HDD format. Con-tact 9476051010.

NaMo Boat Rally: BJP candidate inChennai South ventures into sea to campaign

CHENNAI: Electioneering inthe Chennai South Lok Sabhaconstituency went offshore onThursday with BJP candidateL Ganesan leading a 'NaMoBoat Rally' to seek votes atvarious coastal fishing ham-lets.

At Nainakuppam, atiny coastal village off the EastCoast Road, a huge bannerfeaturing life size images of

BJP prime ministerial candi-date Narendra Modi andGanesan holding fish, wel-comed voters.

Ganesan, who is inhis late sixties, posed for pic-tures and delivered a speechpromising a better deal forfisherfolk if a new governmentheaded by Modi came topower at the Centre. When hefinished his speech, Ganesan

donned a life jacket and cad-res lifted him aboard a motorboat.

A few cadres of BJPalliance partners --he DMDK,the PMK and the MDMK --cheered as the boat eased for-ward into the waves propelledby a motor and was pulled intothe sea by receding waves. Afew seconds later, the cadres

(See page 8)

8 18.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

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.

ALANKAR CARZSPAPlot No : 12, Garacharma Industrial Estate, Port Blair-744105

Ph : 03192-252242 Mob : 9933219606

HAVE YOUR CAR HEADLIGHTLENSES FADED OUT

DON’T WORRY!! GET THEMRESTORED FOR 900.00 ONWARDS.

Advisory for Haj pilgrimsPort Blair, Apr 17: The Cen-tral Haj Committee of India,Mumbai has communicatedthat all the intending pilgrimsfrom A&N Islands who hadapplied for Haj 1435 (H) –2014, has been selected forundergoing Haj – 2014.

All the pilgrims fromA&N Islands who had ap-

plied for Haj – 2014 havebeen requested to keep intouch with the office of theState Haj Committee atGoalghar for further instruc-tions with regard to deposit-ing the international passportand balance amount towardsforeign exchange etc, acommunication said.

Badminton championship postponedPort Blair, Apr 17: Due tosome administrative rea-sons, the 11th Open StateBadminton Championship-cum-Selection trial for SubJunior (under 13 & under15) and Junior (under 17 &under 19) which wasscheduled to be held fromApril 18-20, 2014 hasbeen postponed and thesame will be held from

April 26-29 from 9 am to5 pm at Multipurpose hall,Netaji Stadium.

The int erestedplayers may register theirnames with the State Olym-pic Office, Netaji Stadiumwith an entry fee of Rs.300/- for single and Rs.500/-for doubles on or beforeApril 24, a communicationsaid.

Campbell Bay to sail for KolkataPort Blair, Apr 17: MVCampbell Bay will sail forKolkata at 1000 hrs on April 21,

2014 from Haddo Wharf. Ex-cess baggage, medical exami-nation and embarkation of pas-

sengers will commence from0700 hrs to 0945 hrs on April21, a communication said.      

ANDAMAN SHEEKHA WEATHER

DATE - 18-04-2014

Power interruptionPort Blair, Apr 17: Therewill be interruption ofpower supply from RangatBay to Mayabunder in

Nimbutala andMayabunder feeder onApril 19 from 7 am to 1 pmfor carrying out urgent line

maintenance work, treecutting and pole replace-ment, a communicationsaid.

Suspension period, wewould provide services ofHelicopters to the Islands,which were connected withSea Plane Service,” Singh

added. Sea Plane Servicewas formally launched inAndaman and NicobarIslands on 31 December2010. The present sea plane

Andaman to... (From page 1)

with their multi-coloured flagswere also seaborne on otherboats.

However, due to thechoppy sea conditions, half adozen boats which had ven-tured into the waters, returnedafter 15 minutes. "Modi waveis too much for the rally,"quipped a BJP cadre.

Return ing ashore,Ganesan delivered anotherspeech, this time promising toestablish a supermarket forfisherwoman in his constitu-ency.

He reminded fisher-men that after the 2004 tsu-nami, Gujarat chief ministerNarendra Modi sent a specialtrain with relief materials toChennai. He said Modi asPrime Minister would initiatesevera l m ea sur es forfi sh er folk ' s welfar e,including doubling the com-pensation for fishermen killedand injured in mishaps andenhancing the pension for re-tired fishermen.

NaMo Boat... (From page 7)

is a Cessna Caravan 208Amphibian and has aseating capacity of ninepassengers and can land onwater.

Read

ANDAMANSHEEKHA