Lokpal mustcome underLokpal, saysKiran Bedi

New Delhi: Indicating that inclusion of PrimeMinister under Lok-pal may not remaintheir priority, TeamAnna member Ki-ran Bedi today saidbringing CBI underthe ombudsmanwill make anti-cor-ruption efforts moreeffective than anyother measure.

Bedi said theanti- corruptionwatchdog withoutCBI is a “sabotagedLokpal” which will

defeat the very pur-pose of setting up such a mechanism.

“More than the Prime Minister, it is the CBIin Lokpal which will make it effective. Let’s notget distracted. A united Opposition can call thebluff,” she said.

She said CBI under Lokpal means all cor-ruption exposed and “many embarrassed, los-ing false images. Will they vote against them-selves?” She said Lokpal was supposed to be re-placing government control over CBI.

Her comments came against the backdrop ofParliamentary Standing Committee coming upwith three options on the issue of bringing PrimeMinister within the ambit of Lokpal and leav-ing it to the “good sense” of Parliament to de-cide on the final choice.

Team Anna has been insisting on the inclu-sion of lower bureaucracy, setting up of Lokayuk-tas by a central law and Citizen’s Charter in theLokpal Bill. The Hazare supporters had beenrubbishing demands for exclusion of Prime Min-ister saying, law does not provide any immunityto Prime Minister and the post should be cov-ered by Lokpal.

ʻJust One Slapʼremark was not

wrong: AnnaRalegan Siddhi: Firing a fresh salvo, Anna Haz-are on Tuesday ac-cused Sharad Pawarof persisting with his“old habit of pro-tecting corrupt peo-ple” even as he vir-tually justified therecent attack on theNCP chief, evoking asharp reaction fromthe party.

Hazare allegedthat Pawar turned ablind eye to a num-ber of corruptioncases. “If an inquiryis ordered, it will be-come clear who has been responsible. Thisshows that Sharad Pawar has an old habit ofprotecting corrupt people,” he said. Page 3

Sonia not tocelebrate bʼdayto avoid hassle

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi,who turns 66 onFriday, will notcelebrate herbirthday this timealso to “avoid in-convenience topeople”.

Like last year,keeping in viewthe inconven-ience caused topeople, Sonia ap-pealed to the par-ty workers not tocome to Delhi onher birthday, par-ty general secre-tary JanardanD-

wivedi said on Wednesday.According to Dwivedi, Sonia is concerned that

people take a lot of trouble and spend moneyto come to Delhi from far off places to greet her.

Despite the appeal, party workers had in 2010gathered at her 10 Janpath residence earlymorning beating drums and taking out pro-cessions to celebrate her birthday.

Kiran Bedi

Anna Hazare

Sonia Gandhi

Evening dailyTelcos’ concern will be addressed: PM P 3

BangaloreBeatVol. 1, Issue 363 n Wednesday n December 7, 2011 No. of pages: 4 n Price: ` 2

Zuckerberg’s pics leak P 4

Amoolya bids bye to filmsJust 15 yrs old, actress retires from Kannada movie industry

Sharadha SrinidhiBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: This actress who started off as achild artists came to limelight with Cheluvina-Chittara when she was just 15. But just fiveyears into her acting career, young Amoolyaisthinking of retiring from the industry.

The trigger for her drastic decision seemsto be a recent rumour on a website that sheis getting married to a small-time Tamil ac-tor Anthony. “I’m retiring from the Kannadacinema industry,” she said firmly, ruling outany possibility of getting back.

Trying to give a clarification to the rumour,she said, “First of all, I have not done anyTamil film. The report in the website that I amgetting married to Tamil actor Anthony hascreated a lot of tension in our family. In fact,that bit of news is not about me. But the web-site has put my name and picture. It is com-pletely fake. I can’t take it anymore,” she says.

Amoolya was just recovering from themental trauma when pictures of her kissingdirectorRathnaja spread like wild fire. Shenow wants to forget her acting past and fo-cus on her studies. “After my last film Man-asology, I did get offers from YograjBhat,ShailendraBabu and Shyloo opposite

Ganesh. If I wanted to, I could have taken upthese projects which would have brought meback to the limelight. But I felt this industrywas taking me for a ride.

I seemed to grab headlines more for gos-sip than my acting and films. These ru-mours have pulled me and my family downcompletely. So I thought it is better to call itquits,” she says.

Amoolya’s last film was Manasology, pro-duced and directed by her brotherDeepak.The film incurred a huge loss. Did that af-fecther career? “It is my decision to quit the

industry and I discussed about it with myfamily.

They have supported me throughout andwill be there for me. Basically I don’t have thecourage to take all the gossip and fight it eachtime. Rumours will never stop and I can’t begiving clarifications,” she says.

Amoolya feels that the cinema field is notpermanent. “If I complete my education, Ican do well for myself. I thank all the peoplewho supported me till today,” she says.

New Delhi: The deadlock in Parliamentover the United Progressive Alliance gov-ernment’s (UPA) decision to allow foreign di-rect investment in retail is finally over withfinance minister Pranab Mukherjee an-nouncing in the LokSabhatoday that the cab-inet decision has been suspended until con-sensus is reached. The Opposition acceptedthe Government’s offer to suspend 51 per centFDI in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent insingle brand retail.

Mukherjee said that Government wouldnow try to build a consensus all the stakeholders including the political parties, chiefministers of the states, retailers and farmersbefore implementing the decision.

“The decision on FDI in retail has beensuspended till a consensus is reachedthrough consultations with stakeholders. Thestakeholders include political parties andstates,” said Mukherjee amidst thunderousapplause from both the treasury and Oppo-sition benches.

Leader of Opposition in the LokSabha andBharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) MP Sush-maSwaraj, whose party had been vehe-mently opposing the decision, thankedMukherjee for suspending FDI in retail.

“The decision to suspend FDI in retail is

a victory of democratic process. The Gov-ernment has bowed before the wishes of themasses and this should not be seen as a de-feat of the Government. I congratulate theGovernment for listening to the voice of themasses. A decision will now be taken aftera dialogue with all the stakeholders. I thankPranab Mukherjee who handled the entirematter,” said Swaraj.

Several UPA constituents including the Tri-namool Congress and the DravidaMunnet-traKazhagam (DMK) also welcomed the de-cision and hoped that Parliament would nowfunction smoothly.

“We are happy that every political partyagreed to this quickly. This had alreadybeen discussed between Pranab and Ma-mata. The Government just reiterated that to-day,” said Trinamool Congress MP Sudip-Bandyopadhyay.

In fact Trinamool Congress chief andWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Baner-jee, who had made it clear that her partywould not support the Government’s deci-sion, had on Saturday claimed that Mukher-jee had telephoned her to tell that the deci-sion to allow FDI in retail will be suspend-ed.

“The Government has decided to put FDIin retail under suspension. The Govern-ment’s decision is good. Let us functionsmoothly we have lot of Bills pending,”said DMK MP Tiruchi Siva.

RashtriyaJanata Dal chiefLalu Prasad saidthat the Government should go ahead withallowing FDI in retail only after a consensusis build among various stakeholders.

Meanwhile, retailers in India’s commercialcapital of Mumbai celebrated the Govern-ment’s decision. Jubilant retailers burstcrackers after the UPA decided to put FDI inmulti-brand retail on hold till a consensuswith all stakeholders was achieved.

IndependentMLA Ramulu,

takes oath

Final decision on Lokpal final

draft likely todayNew Delhi: With Team Anna getting into top geardemanding the Lokpal Bill, the Standing Commit-tee is ready with the final draft that is expected tobe adopted on Wednesday.

Sources have confirmed to CNN IBN that the 57lakh odd central government employees will not beunder the Lokpal. They will instead be under theCVC. State government C and D employees will beunder their respective Lokayuktas.

The inclusion of the Prime Minister has been leftto Parliament as there is no consensus in the com-mittee.

Sources say the government is open to the optionof including the Prime Minister, but he cannot beheld responsible for any decision taken by a min-ister. The judiciary will be included not in the Lok-pal, but in the judicial accountability and standardsbill. The CBI too is not included in the Lokpal reportfor now. Even though six dissenting notes have beengiven in the 31 member committee, the Congress in-sists the report reflects the sense of the house.

Abhishek Singhvi said, “This is not a rubberstamp. Not one individual’s interest has to beseen. It’s for the national interest.”

GOVT GIVES IN;FDI ON HOLD Implementation only after consensus: Pranab

Dwarakish files caveat in HC

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Producers of Kannada movieVishnuvardhana have filed a caveat be-fore the Karnataka High Court to preventanyone filing cases to stop it from beingreleased.

Producer Dwarakish filed the caveatahead of the movie’s release on Friday. Hesaid, “The move is only aimed at ensur-ing the release of the movie.

We don’t want to disappoint the fansof Kannada movies and movie’s leadactor Sudheep.”

The film has attracted controversysince it went on the sets as veteran actorBharatiVishnuvardhan slammed the titlesaying it was attempt to cash in on thename of her husband and actor Vishnu-vardhan, who passed away two years ago.

But Dwarakish, who is one-time friendand co-actor of Vishnuvardhan, has de-nied the allegation and said that the

movie is not based on the life of the lateactor, but a feature film.

The movie promos have been releasedand its much-anticipated release is on Fri-day.

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Independent MLA B Srira-mulu, who humiliated the BJP in the re-cent by-election in the Bellary Rural as-sembly constituency, took oath at Vid-hanaSoudha.

Sriramulu, who had planned a grandpadayatra from Banappa Park to Vid-hanaSoudha, rushed to the assembly ashis astrologers advised him to take oathbefore 11 am.

The independent MLA was also deniedpermission by the police for the rally asSection 144 has been clamped around Vid-hanaSoudha for the ongoing legislaturesession.

More than 5,000 Sriramulu supportersfrom Bellary were to arrive in the city forthe rally. Sriramulu spoke to DG and IGPShankar Bidari for permission, but the lat-ter denied it. At VidhanaSoudha, Srira-mulu was accompanied by BJP MLAsSuresh Babu, Nagendra and SomashekaraReddy, who have been suspended by thesaffron party for supporting Sriramuluduring the by-election. After the oath, Sri-ramulu was seen shaking hands with hisformer colleagues from the ruling partybenches, including former chief ministerB S Yeddyurappa, medical educationminister S ARamadass and others.

He then sat in the benches set aside forindependents.

Somashekara Reddy said he has not yetreceived the show-cause notice from theBJP seeking explanation for his anti-par-ty activities. “I will go back to my con-stituency people and consult my well-wishers before taking the future course ofaction,” he added.

Zardari suffersheart attack,

may quit: ReportWashington: Pakistan President Asif AliZardari, who abruptly left the Pakistancapital for Dubai, has suffered a minorheart attack and some in the US govern-ment believe he may even resign on ac-count of ‘ill-health’, a media report said.

Zardari on Tuesday evening left forDubai to visit his children and also to un-dergo some medical tests, Pakistan’s of-ficial news agency Associated Press of Pak-istan had reported.

Though the president’s personal physi-cian Col Salman said the proposed med-ical tests are of routine nature and arelinked to a previously diagnosed cardio-vascular condition, the Foreign Policymagazine quoted a former US official assaying that parts of the US government

were informed that Zardari had a ‘minorheart attack’ on Monday night. He hadflown to Dubai via an air ambulance.

Zardari may have to undergo an an-gioplasty procedure Wednesday and mayalso resign on account of ‘ill health’, themedia report said.

The former US government officialtold the website that Zardari was ‘inco-herent’ when President Barack Obamaspoke with him regarding Nov 26 NATO’skilling of two dozen Pakistani soldiers.

Zardari had planned to address a jointsession of Pakistan’s parliament on acontroversy over a memo to Washingtonthat claimed he feared a military coup af-ter the May 2 commando operation to killAl Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

B Sriramulu

CITY 2Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Contact: M : 9900948514

9742918562

Bangalore Beat

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BoysUrgently

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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

6502 AHMEDABAD EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1330 (Sun)6831 MYSORE EXPRESS Thanjavur 0555 06306832 THANJAVUR EXPRESS Mysore 1845 19007086 SECUNDERABAD EXP Bangalore City 000 17007085 BANGALORE EXPRESS Secunderabad 0715 000790 KACHEGUDA EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1800 (Sat)789SC MYS Secunderabad 1030 (Sun) 1020 (Sun)9775 JAIPUR EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1100 (Thu, Sat)9776 JP BANGALORE EXPRESS Jaipur 1630 (Wed, Fri) 0007209 SESHADRI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 13157210 SESHADRI EXPRESS Kakinada Town 1235 0006525 KANYAKUMARI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2145 6526 BANGALORE EXPRESS Kanyakumari 0655 0008563 PRASHANTHI EXPRESS Vishakapatnam 1000 0008564 PRASHANTHI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 14006732 TUTICORIN EXPRESS Mysore City 2100 21156731 BANGALORE EXPRESS Tuticorin City 0635 06500621 SBC TVC EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2215 (Sun)6321 TRIVANDRUM EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1845 (Thu)6322 BANGALORE EXPRESS Trivandrum 0940 (Thu) 0002079 JAN SHATABDI EXP Bangalore City 000 0600 (Except Tue)2080 JAN SHATABDI EXP Hubli City 2030 (Except Tue) 0006591 HAMPI EXPRESS Hubli City 0630 0006592 HAMPI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 22056593 HAMPI LINK EXPRESS Nanded 0630 0006589 RANI CHENAMMA EXP Bangalore City 000 21006590 RANI CHENAMMA EXP Kolhapur 740 0002725 HUBLI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 14302726 INTERCITY EXPRESS Hubli City 1350 000213 TIPUPATI PASSENGER Mysore Jn 2015 2030214 SCMYSORE PASSENGER Tipupathi 0725 08106205 TIPPU EXPRESS Mysore Jn 1325 0006205 TIPPU EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 14156215 CHAMUNDI EXPRESS Mysore Jn 0950 0006216 CHAMUNDI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 18156519 JTJ SBC EXPRESS Jolarpettai 0815 0006520 SBC JOLARPET EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 17300235 BANGALORE PASSENGER Mysore Jn 0400 0000236 MYSORE PASSENGER Bangalore City 000 2355571SR SA SBC PASSENGER Salem Jn 1850 000572SR SBC SA PASSENGER Bangalore City 000 0730584SW SBC FAST PASSENGER Hospet Jn 0610 000

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)

1,000 studentstake part

in culture fest

Bangalore: Over a 1,000 gov-ernment and corporation school-children in the city showcasedtheir talent at Chiguru, an ex-tracurricular competition organ-ised by Youth For Seva (YFS) onSunday at Vijaya Junior CollegeAuditorium, Jayanagar.

The event saw children from29 schools from across the cityparticipating in 11 differentevents. The event was driven byschool coordinators who are vol-unteers with YFS. “This is thefirst time I am seeing such alarge number of children partic-ipating in an event like this. Iam thrilled to be part of Chiguru.This event not only provides aplatform for children to showtheir extracurricular activity, italso boosts their confidence lev-

el,” said Shruthi, a school coor-dinator with the BanashankariGovernment School.

The day began with childrencompeting in rangoli and otherdrawing competitions. In the af-ternoon, students took part inmany stage programmes. Creativewriting, quiz competition, sto-ry-telling, and pick-and-speaktoo were part of the event.

“We have won the first prizein dance competition. We wereall nervous before the dancecompetition, but our teacher andYFS volunteers encouraged us,”said an excited group of girlsfrom Yediyur GovernmentSchool.

YFS had organised Chigurulast year and it attracted over250 children from 12 schools.

Kayaking,canoeingtourney

flagged offBangalore: The 22nd nationalkayaking and canoeing cham-pionship was flagged off yester-day by MajGenAK Pradhan, gen-eral officer commanding of Kar-nataka and Kerala sub-area,atUlsoorlake.

The event includes a week ofspectacular water sports action,organised by the Karnataka Am-ateur Water Sports Associationand the Madras Engineer Groupand Centre with the IndianKayaking and Canoeing Associ-ation.

Around 900 paddlers, repre-senting over 25 teams from acrossthe country as well as 30 Inter-national participants, will matchtheir skills at the six-day cham-pionship. This is the secondtime that the National Champi-onship is being hosted in thecity. The technical support forthe championship is providedby the MEG & Centre.

SABIC sponsorseye care centreBangalore: Saudi Basic Indus-tries Corporation (SABIC) donat-ed equipment worth Rs 10 lakhto the new Dommasandra EyeCare Centre that was inauguratedrecently. The eye clinic, operatedby consultants from BangaloreWest Lions Super-speciality EyeHospital, aims to promote op-tometry wellness in villages inand around Dommasandra.SABIC partnered with BangaloreSouth Rotary Trust (Rotary Ban-galore South)in helping the LionsClub commission this facility.

The facility is located in Dom-masandra, close to SABIC’s tech-nology centre that is coming upat Sarjapuranext year. The eyecare centre will provide afford-able primary eye care servicesto treat common eye diseasesand injuries, and offer freecataract surgeries for the needy.At the same time, the clinic aimsto prevent the development ofserious eye diseases through ear-ly treatment and detection.

“The eye care centre will makeeye check-ups and treatmentmore accessible to families inDommasandra area,” said DrJalpavashi, lead optometrist atDommasandra Eye Care Centre.

Learning to drop the shellSome say the purpose of life is to

ensure that one doesn't comeback to this planet, because it is

bereft of love. When love is there, it ispainful. By taking a multilateral viewof life, one can see the purpose of lifein a different way and realise thatwhat we want is a love that doesn'tdie out, a love that doesn't cause pain,a love that grows and stands forever.

Suppose you are immensely suc-cessful and had all the riches at yourcommand but love is missing fromyour life, then life would not really beworthwhile. It would appear barren.Whatever angle you look from, all welong for in life is love; a divine love.The purpose in life is to blossom inthat ideal love.

Why then do we lead a loveless

life? It is our ego which is preventingus from achieving love. What is ego?Ego is like a dream. A dream existsuntil it doesn't exist. You can't call adream real but you cannot call it unrealeither because you have the experience.Ego is simply being unnatural. If theego is so unnatural why does everyhuman being have an ego? We havethe ego, because it is necessary insome way for our growth in life.

A seed has a covering or shell overit, and when you soak it in water, itsprouts and then the shell peels off.Similarly, the ego is a necessary un-naturalness that develops as you growup. When you were a child of two orthree years, there was no ego; you arein a state of total, innocent, blissfullove. Then the ego forms a cover. What

knowledge does is to uncover the shellmake you a child again; natural, simpleand innocent. When you are natural,simple and innocent, there is no ego.

The ego is not a substance; it is anon-substance, much like darkness.Darkness is only lack of light. There isnothing called an ego that has sub-stance. You could say it is just a lackof maturity or a lack of pure knowl-edge.

How can the ego be overcome?Through observing oneself and by go-ing deep into one's self in meditation.A sutra in the Narada Bhakti Sutrassays: "Knowledge is one of the aids todiscover the naturalness".

Half knowledge brings ego in thefirst place. When knowledge becomescomplete, the ego drops and simplicity

dawns. Ego is just a lack of total de-velopment, a lack of total understand-ing. That doesn't mean it should nothave been there from the very begin-ning. The ego has been necessary, butnow you can grow out of it.

We have been educated in manydisciplines. We may know how to op-erate complex gadgets, but we falterwhen faced with the forces that makeup life.

No one teaches us how to live life.We need to make that extra effort tolearn more about our own mind andego, and find out who we are andwhy we are here. And only love canhelp us widen our knowledge and un-derstanding of life and the worldaround us.

DIVINEQUEST

By Sri Sri Ravishankar

KSRTC wins excellence award

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Karnataka State RoadTransport Corporation has wonan award for excellence, insti-tuted by the central governmentfor transport corporations thatprovide stable facilities to medi-um and small cities and towns.

The KSRTC got the award forproviding services in Tumkurand Hassan.

In Hassan, the passenger traf-fic through KSRTC saw a jumpof 20 percent. Over 50,000 peopleare using the services from thetown.

Union urban developmentminister Kamal Nath presentedthe award to state transport andhome minister R Ashok at UrbanMobility conference in New Delhiyesterday. KSRTC managing di-rector Guarav Gupta too was

present.KSRTC has bagged the excel-

lence award fourth year in suc-cession.

Candor School celebrates sports dayBangalore: Candor InternationalSchool celebrated its first annualsports day at its campus over the lastweekend.

The sports meet started off with amarch past by four different housesled by the sports and house captains.This was followed by fun races forstudents from kindergarten to grade3 and track and field events for grade4-9.

School principal Pradip Das said,“Sports and games have a great im-portance in our school curriculum.Sports not only teach team spirit, butalso play an important role for physical

and mental development of the stu-dents. Students showed great enthu-siasm and were excited about theevent.”

Most of the awards were given awayby parents with the exception of therespective House awards and the bestathlete award, which were given awayby school chairman Suresh Reddy.There were also events for adults, likethe tug-of-war between women staffagainst mothers and men staff againstfathers.

Olympian Reeth Abraham, who wasthe chief guest, appreciated the waythe sports day was conducted.

Students from government and corporation schools takepart in Chiguru cultural competition.

Arjuna award winner Rith Abraham poses with students of Candor InternationalSchool, who won competitions.

The national award for the empowerment of persons with disabilities 2011 under the category of best service institution was awarded to the Karnataka Parents' AssociationforMentally Retarded Citizens (KPAMRC), Bangalore, by Union minister of social justice

and empowerment MukulWasnik. Union minister of state for the ministry of social justiceand empowerment D Nepoleon was also present.The award was received by association

president ProfK RVenkatesha at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Award for work with disabled

Whiff of coffee at international airport

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Travellers gettingdown and leaving from the Ban-galore International Airport willbe treated for some great coffeefor the next few days.

The Bangalore InternationalAirport Ltd, in association withCoffee Board and Karnataka statetourism department, has organ-ised Coffee Trail at the airport.Varieties of coffee from Kodagu,Baba Budangiri, Nilgir Hills,Chikmagalur and Araku Valleyof Andhra Pradesh are available.

BIAL project director Hari-Marar, while inaugurating theinitiative, said Coffee Trail hasbeen conceptualised on linessimilar to Wine Trail of Franceand Scotch Trail of Scotland.The initiative would help promotecoffee tourism in South Indiaand will attract international

tourists, he added.Coffee Board president

JavedAkhtar said, “South Indiagrows 95 percent of coffee in thecountry. Of that, the state con-tributes 70 percent. This makesBangalore the ideal city to haveCoffee Trail.”

State tourism department di-rector K Vishwanath Reddy, AnilBhandari of India Coffee werepresent on the occasion. Theprogramme will continue till De-cember 16.

CITYWednesday, December 7, 2011 3CITY 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.

Govt to look into telecomoperatorsʼ concerns: PM

New Delhi: Amid telecom operators seeking lower levies and early resolution of a dispute over 3G roaming, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government will look into their concerns and formulateforward-looking policies to sus-tain growth in the sector.

“I am aware of some concernsof the telecom industry regardinggovernment policy in the telecomsector. I wish to reassure the in-dustry of the government’s fullcommitment to sustainablegrowth, creativity and enterprisein this vitally important sector

of our economy,” he said, inau-gurating the India Telecom Sum-mit here.

Singh’s statement comes inthe backdrop of a recent meetingof the CEOs of top telecom firms,including BhartiAirtel, Vodafoneand Reliance Communications,seeking his intervention to sortout differences between themand the Telecom Ministry overissues ranging from one-timespectrum charges to 3G roamingand a uniform licence fee.

Noting that two National Tele-com Policies of 1994 and 1999were major initiatives to propelgrowth in the sector, the Prime

Minister said the government isworking on the NTP-2011 with aspecial emphasis on affordableand quality telecom services inrural and remote areas of thecountry.

At the same time, he askedthe industry to look ahead ingiving a new sense of momentumto the sector.

He also emphasised on theneed for promoting domestictelecom equipment manufactur-ing and R&D in the sector.

The India Telecom Summit isorganised jointly by the TelecomMinistry and industry chamberFICCI.

Grape growers seek better push for Bangalore Blues

Bangalore: The state government shouldpromote Bangalore Blues variety of grapeswhich has gained reputation throughoutthe country and is grown only in Karnataka,said the Karnataka State Grepe Growers As-sociation.

Though the state government has comeout with a wine policy, it favours only thosewith large land holdings. But BangaloreBlues is grown by farmers with half to oneacre holdings. The total area under cultivationis 4,500 acres, it said.

The special variety of grapes, which isused to make wine, is grown throughoutthe year. While the government has promotedhorticulture, it has ignored this importantcrop.

The Bangalore Blues has made its markin the grape cultivation and wine traditionof the country. For over 150 years, it is pre-dominantly grown in Bangalore Urban, Ban-galore Rural, Chikballapur, Kolar and otherdistrict of the state.

Wine made out of Bangalore Blues canreduce cholesterol, and invigorate and toneup the nervous system. It has plenty of vita-min C and antioxidant properties.

Maharashtra grants a subsidy of Rs 20 toRs 30 per kg for wine-making grapes throughNABARD. But in Karnataka only a subsidyof Rs 4 to 6 is given.

The association demanded that Permissionshould be granted to open exclusive winecounters in bars and restaurants. It shouldbe made mandatory to sell at least 10 percent wine in all retail wine shops. Subsidiesgranted to French variety of grapes in thecountry should also be granted to Bangalore

Blue grapes. Nabard and All-India GrapeProcessing Board should grant a subsidy ofat least Rs 4 per kg.

Wines made our Bangalore Blue grapesshould be permitted to be sold in all partsof the country.

The state government has come out withtwo exclusive wine policies. But both favorFrench variety of grapes. A Wine Board hasalso been formed. Wine policies and thewine board have meted out stepmotherlytreatment to small growers of BangaloreBlues. The wine policy has done injustice

to the growers of Bangalore Blues grapes.Although the state government encourages

the growing of French variety of grapes,many farmers have stopped it because ofthe lack of market. Wine production in thestate is targetted at middle and upper classconsumers. It does not reach the commonman. The affordable good quality wine madeout of Bangalore Blue grapes is targettedtowards the comman man.

The state government should make upits mind to encourage the small farmer whogrows the Bangalore Blue grapes, it said.

Dhonion terror

radar?Ranchi: According to an Intelli-gence Bureau alert, Indian skip-per MS Dhoni features in the listof celebrities who are suspectedto be on the radar of terror outfitslike Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

Based on an IB letter to allstate police chiefs warning ofpossible threats to celebrities,Jharkhand police have madeelaborate security arrangementsfor Team India skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni. He was escortedby one jeep full of armed po-licemen of Doranda police stationfrom the airport to his HarmuHousing Colony residence lastweek. Plainclothesmen have alsobeen deployed around Dhoni`sresidence and neighborhood.

'Just One Slap' remarkwas not wrong: Anna

Hyundai to up prices by1.5‑2%New Delhi: The country's second-largestcar-maker Hyundai Motor India will raisethe prices of its vehicles by 1.5 to 2 per centby January next year on account of high in-flation and the weak rupee.

"The price increase will come into effectin January, 2012. We are in the process ofworking out the specific increase on thevarious models. Broadly, the increase willbe 1.5 to 2 per cent across all models,"Hyundai Motor India Director Marketingand Sales ArvindSaxenasaid.

He said rising inflation, higher fuel costsand sharp rupee depreciation compelledthe company to look at a price increase.

"All these factors have now made it verydifficult for us to absorb the rising costs,"he added.

The company – which offers its Eon,Santro, i10, i20, Accent and Verna modelsin the country – reported a 28.15 per centyear-on-year jump in total sales in November,2011, to 57,080 units.

Another car-maker General Motors hasalso decided to raise prices of its cars by 1-2per cent by January next year for similarreasons. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) hasalso announced a price hike across allmodels manufactured in India by about 3per cent from January 1.

Rupee depreciation is putting pressure

on firms importing a substantial amount ofcomponents from overseas.

The rupee has depreciated by over 15 percent in the last three months. Other car-makers, including Maruti Suzuki India andFord India, are also mulling a hike in pricesof their products to offset the rising cost ofcomponent imports.

Ralegan Siddhi: Firing a fresh salvo, AnnaHazare on Tuesday accused Sharad Pawarof persisting with his "old habit of protectingcorrupt people" even as he virtually justifiedthe recent attack on the NCP chief, evokinga sharp reaction from the party.

Hazare alleged that Pawar turned a blindeye to a number of corruption cases. "If aninquiry is ordered, it will become clear whohas been responsible. This shows that SharadPawar has an old habit of protecting corruptpeople," he said.

Referring to the November 24 incident inDelhi when a youth slapped Pawar as hemerged from a function, Hazare acknowl-edged that he "committed violence" whenhe made the infamous remark "just oneslap" but said he did not consider this vio-lence as wrong.

"For the betterment of the society andthe country, I have used strong words manytimes in the past. "Just One Slap?" I admitthat I committed violence when I said that.

But for the betterment of society, I do notconsider this violence as wrong," Hazareposted on his blog.

"Many politicians felt very bad about theslapping incident. Many of them got veryangry also. But it is important to discuss asto why did that youth slap," he said.

"Sharad Pawar is the agriculture ministerat the centre and the power minister of thestate is from his own party (NCP). Todayafter 22 years, the electric pumps of thefarmers still get burnt due to low voltage,the crops get burnt, the transformers getburnt, but the politicians still don't getangry.

This is unfortunate," Hazare said.

"The farmers protested at Mawal nearPune. They were shot at. Three farmersdied. But the politicians still did not getangry about it," he said.

As Agriculture Minister, Pawar importedrotten wheat and since it was not edible,the wheat was buried in huge pits, he said,adding crores of public money was wastedbut none of the politicians got angry aboutit.

NCP leadership was quick to term Hazare'stirade as uncalled for and even irrelevant."There was no need for Hazare to commenton the issue despite the fact that his earliercomments on the (slapping) incident hadevoked sharp reaction. We do not knowwhy is he raking up the issue?," NCP MLAJitendra Avhad told in Mumbai.

"Padmasinh Patil, a relative of SharadPawarji, who was a minister in Pawar's cab-

inet, indulged in corruption while he wasminister. I demanded an enquiry. When en-quiry did not take place, I started a movementbecause of which the enquiry had to be or-dered. The minister was found guilty andhe had to be removed from the cabinet,"said Hazare.

Patil had been arrested by the CBI inJune, 2009 for allegedly hiring contractkillers to murder Congress leader PawanrajeNimbalkar, who was shot dead on Pune-Mumbai Expressway in 2006, and was sub-sequently suspended from the party.

Hazare had even filed a complaint againstPatil alleging that the leader had conspiredto murder him and even resorted to hungerstrike in Ralegaon Siddhi seeking actionagainst Patil for allegedly plotting to killhim.

The Bombay High Court on October 1,2009 granted anticipatory bail to Patil inconnection with the said complaint.

"Many people got angry due to one slap,but when the people who have dedicatedtheir entire life for the society and countryare victimised, then no one gets angry,"Hazare said.

"This is unfortunate. I have a request ifyou have anger against me and want toburn my effigies, then continue doing thatas you have been doing it till now.

Do whatever you want to insult me, butdo not damage national property becauseit belongs to all of us. Protect it," he said.Hazare alleged that Pawar's supportershurled "choicest abuses" against him.

"I have kept a CD of the same for myrecord. At an appropriate time, I will play itbefore the public," he said.

Members of the Karnataka Grape Growers Association submit a memorandum tohorticulture department director Hemalatha,demanding importance to Bangalore

Blues grape variety in the wine policy of the state.

DTC to come intoforce from nextfiscal: Pranab

New Delhi: Finance ministerPranab Mukherjee today ex-pressed the hope that the DirectTaxes Code ( DTC), which seeksto modernise tax laws in thecountry, will come into forcefrom April 1, 2012.

"The proposed Direct TaxesCode brings together the policyinitiatives on direct taxes. It isslated to come into force fromthe next financial year," he saidwhile addressing an internationalconference on 'Tax and Equali-ty'.

In a bid to modernise the taxsystem, the government has pro-posed to replace the Income TaxAct, 1961, with a new legisla-tion.

With regard to indirect tax re-forms, the minister said, "Weare moving toward an economy-wide, generalised value-addedtax system of Goods and ServiceTaxes (GST) at all levels in thecountry."

While giving details of the taxreforms being pursued by theIndian government, Mukherjeealso called for greater interna-tional cooperation to deal withthe menace of tax evasion andblack money.

"Tax evasion undermines theintended benefits of a progressivetax policy," the minister said,adding, "Resolution of these is-sues requires international co-operation and alignment of taxsystems for better cross-bordercompliance."

Quoting global financial in-tegrity report, Mukherjee saidannual illicit outflows fromemerging economies and devel-oping countries average betweenUSD 725 to USD 810 billion.

Mukherjee said, has adopteda four-pronged strategy to dealwith the issues of tax evasionand black money.

The strategy includes joiningthe global crusade against blackmoney and creation of a legisla-tive and institutional frameworkto deal with illicit money.

Although the strategy has start-ed showing results, Mukherjeesaid, "The complexity of cross-border transactions is on the riseand presents a serious challengeto tax administrators in practicingand bringing equality."

"The opacity of tax systemsin some of the jurisdictions isadding to the challenges. Therehas been some movement onthese issues in response to theinitiative by the G-20. We needto pursue this to its logical end,"he added.

Referring to tax reforms withinthe country, Mukherjee said Indiahas been pursuing them in agradual manner.

The tax reforms, he added,are aimed at rationalisation oftax rates, broadening of the taxbase, special focus on sunriseareas like transfer pricing andinternational taxation, andstrengthening of the tax infor-mation exchange network.

The government, he added,was also focusing on providingbetter taxpayer services, a re-duction in the cost of complianceand focused enforcement in thecase of high net worth individu-als.

The progressive personal in-come tax policy, Mukherjee said,has resulted in a ten-fold increasein revenue collections, whichwent up from USD 8.62 billionin 1996-97 to USD 87 billion in2010-11.

"More importantly, the com-position of our tax revenues hasaltered significantly in favour ofdirect taxes, which now accountfor nearly 60 per cent of our taxrevenues," he added.

Govt mulls QFIsentry into SEs

New Delhi: As part of efforts toencourage foreign investments,Finance Ministry officials, onTuesday, held discussions withrepresentatives of Sebi on theissue of allowing Qualified For-eign Investors (QFIs) to directlybuy stocks on the capital mar-ket.

The decision, sources said,would help in attracting equitycapital from abroad and alsoproject India as a global invest-ment destination.

A QFI is an individual, groupor association resident in a for-eign country which complieswith the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF) standards.

The government, in August,

had permitted QFIs to invest upto US$13 billion in equity anddebt schemes of mutual fundsin the infrastructure sector. QFIswere allowed to invest throughtwo routes — either holding mu-tual fund units in a demat ac-count through Sebi-registereddepository participants or byholding MF units via unit con-firmation receipts.

Currently, QFIs cannot investdirectly in stock markets.

In view of the declining FIIinvestment and volatility in stockmarkets, the government hasbeen contemplating giving QFIsdirect access to the securitiesmarket on the pattern of mutualfunds.

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.

NEWSWednesday, December 7, 2011 4

London Games budgetmay cross £9.3 billion

New Delhi: More trouble for the 2012 Olympics inLondon, UK’s spending watchdog, the NationalAudit Office, claims that the 9.3 billion poundbudget for the games may be exceeded. This isbecause the bill for venue security has almostdoubled and question marks still remain overthe city’s transport plans.

But the British government insists that theOlympics are on time and on budget, with morethan 500 million pounds of uncommitted contin-gency funds available.

Olympics minister Hugh Robertson earlier madeclear that security was not a negotiable item andthat the British government was obligated to makesure it took every precaution to make the July 27to August 12 event safe.

The British government said an additional 271million pounds ($424 million) has been allocatedto making venues and other sensitive sites, suchas hotels, more secure. That means the total costof securing the venues has climbed to over 553million pounds ($862 million).

The biggest security worry for the Olympics isterrorism. Security has been an intricate part ofthe games since a terror attack at the 1972 Olympics

in Munich killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.London has not been immune from terror attacks- four suicide bombers targeted the city’s transitnetwork in 2005, killing 52 commuters.

The British government is planning for the na-tional terror threat to be “severe” during theOlympics, meaning an attempted attack is highlylikely. About 12,000 police officers will also be onduty on the busiest days of the games.

Sidhu gets into scuffleover highway toll

Hyderabad: Former cricketerand MP Navjot Singh Sidhu hada tiff with security guards at ahighway toll gate near Nelloreafter his driver ignored theirwarning to stop the car.

Siddu was going from Chennaito Venkatachalam in Nellore dis-trict to participate in a functionorganised by senior BJP leaderM Venkaiah Naidu.

The security guards manningthe highway toll gate signalledSidhu`s car to stop for paymentof toll, Nellore rural Deputy Su-perintendent of Police (DSP) Bal-avenkateshwar Rao said.

When the driver did not stopthe car, a security guard hurleda stone at the car which prompt-ed the MP to get down from thecar and had verbal argumentwith them, the DSP said addingthe car did not have an MP stick-er, he said.

When asked whether the se-curity guards were booked, theDSP said that no complaint hadbeen received at the concerned

police station.When contacted, Sidhu said

that “I was on the back seat inthe car when one of the securityguards at the toll gate attackedwith a rod for no reason”.

He denied reports that his cardriver ignored the signal of se-curity guards manning the high-way toll gate as our car was onVIP line and his driver was show-

ing the card and informing themthat MP was travelling in it.

But, one of the security guardsarmed with a rod came frombackside and hit window paneof the car causing damage. Iluckily escaped unhurt, he said.“My car driver caught hold ofthe guard and made him sit infront seat. Later, he was takento Venkatachalam town in thesame car where he was handedover to police,” Sidhu said.

The MP, however, said he didnot lodge any police complaint.

Meanwhile, according to an-other report, Sidhu again reachedthe Venkatachalam toll plaza onhis way to Tirumala in theevening and immediately got ag-itated when he found two lorriescarrying a large number of cattle.He sat on a dharna on the high-way demanding police actionagainst those involved in thetransportation of the cattle.

Sidhu relented after SP Ra-mana Kumar promised of actionagainst the cattle transporters.

ʻCitigroup to axe 4,500jobs in coming monthsʼ

New York: Citigroup Chief Ex-ecutive Vikram Pandit has an-nounced 4,500 jobs cuts world-wide in the coming months asthe US financial major seeks totrim costs in a bleak global eco-nomic environment.

The job cuts will begin thisquarter and be completed “overthe next few quarters” across arange of businesses, Pandit saidat a Goldman Sachs FinancialServices conference.

The layoffs equal about 2 percent of Citi’s 267,000-strong work-force. The company will incur aUSD 400 million charge in thefourth quarter this year on sev-erance costs and other expensesrelated to the job cuts.

“Financial services face an ex-tremely challenging operatingenvironment with an unprece-dented combination of marketuncertainty, sustained economicweakness in the developedeconomies and the most sub-stantial regulatory changes wehave seen in our lifetimes,” Pan-dit said.

“These trends will likely sig-nificantly affect the competitivelandscape in the coming years.While most of the job losses willbe in Citi’s back-office and in-vestment banking operations,almost every segment of Citi’sbusiness will see a workforce re-duction.

Pandit said, “Our efficiency

goal is to eliminate 3-5 per centof our expenses each year,”equivalent to about USD 2 bil-lion.

“In fact, we generated USD

1.4 billion of cost reductions inthe first nine months of 2011,”he said.

Citigroup reported revenuesof USD 61.2 billion for the nine

months ended September, 2011.It’s revenues stood at USD 86

billion dollars last year.Net income for the first three

quarters this year stood at USD10.1 billion, as against USD 10.6billion for the whole of 2010.

Pandit said tightening creditspreads will likely result in ahedging loss of roughly USD 300million.

Citigroup joins a growing listof financial and banking com-panies that are pruning theirworkforce to manage expensesin a weak global economy thatsome fear could be headed foranother recession.

Bank of America had in Sep-tember announced plans to cut

its workforce by 30,000 and slashUSD 5 billion in annual expenses.Goldman Sachs, Bank of NewYork Mellon and some major Eu-ropean banks have also an-nounced job cuts.

Swiss lender UBS will down-size its investment bank work-force to 16,000 people by 2016,axing 2,000 jobs.

Pandit said going forward Cit-igroup will “de-risk” appropri-ately, “containing exposure toWestern Europe and managinglegacy US mortgage portfolio tomitigate risk.”

It would build on a diverseand high quality consumer loanportfolio with a focus on faster-growing economies, he said.

Facebook bugreveals Markʼsprivate pictures

Asecurity glitch in Facebookgave users access to MarkZuckerberg’s private pic-

tures, including a few with hisgirlfriend. The social networkingsite has repeatedly come under

attack for its constantly chang-ing privacy and security featuresthat at times made private in-formation, including photos andcomments, publicly available.

The security flaw, first exposedby a bodybuilding website, wasdiscovered yesterday by Face-book which went into damagecontrol mode after the glitchmade it possible to access itsfounder Zuckerberg’s privatephotos with his girlfriend andfriends.

Over two dozen photos ofZuckerberg were visible online,including those with his girl-friend Priscilla Chan at his Cali-fornia home, one with PresidentObama at the White House,

some showing him cookingmeals, hanging out with friends,playing with his puppy and dis-tributing Halloween candy tokids.

In a statement, Facebook saidit had discovered a “bug” thatallowed anyone to view a limitednumber of another user’s mostrecently uploaded photos irre-spective of the privacy

settings for these photos.“This was the result of one of

our recent code pushes and waslive for a limited period of time.

Upon discovering the bug, weimmediately disabled the system,and will only return functionalityonce we can confirm the bughas been fixed.”

The bug was in the site’s toolthrough which users can reportinappropriate and offensive con-tent. A user at the website ‘Body-building.com’ clicked on a per-son’s profile picture, then re-ported to Facebook that it con-tained nudity or was of inap-propriate nature.

Facebook, with more than 800million users worldwide, is ex-pected to go public next year, amove that will value the companythe college dropout founded inhis Harvard dorm at 100 billiondollars.

However, as Facebook’s popularity skyrocketed, it took some backlash for making users’ information ac-cessible to marketing companiesand advertisers.

Last month, Facebook reacheda settlement with the US FederalTrade Commission, which hadcharged that the company “de-ceived consumers by telling themthey could keep their

information on Facebook pri-vate, and then repeatedly allow-ing it to be shared and madepublic.”

The settlement states thatFacebook is required to establishand maintain a comprehensiveprivacy programme.

Apple loseslawsuit in

ChinaBeijing: Apple Inc suffered a set-back in the Chinese market todayas a court rejected its lawsuitagainst a local company for al-leged infringement of its ‘iPad’trademark, as a result of whichit may have to sell the productunder a new name in China orcough up $1.6 billion.

Apple may have to sell its pop-ular iPad tablet computers undera new name in the Chinese main-land in future if it does not firstpurchase the trademark from aChinese tech firm as a result ofthe verdict, official media herereported today.

The Municipal IntermediatePeople’s Court in Shenzhen, asouthern Chinese city neighbour-ing Hong Kong, earlier this weekrejected a lawsuit by Apple ac-cusing Proview Technology(Shenzhen) of infringing on its‘iPad’ trademark.

Proview Technology (Shen-zhen) is a subsidiary of HongKong-headquartered Proview In-ternational Holdings Limited,which also has a branch inTaipei. Proview Taipei registeredthe ‘iPad’ trademark in a numberof countries and regions as earlyas 2000 and Proview Shenzhenregistered the trademark on theChinese mainland in 2001, longbefore Apple launched its iPadtablet.

Apple bought the rights to usethe trademark from ProviewTaipei in 2009 with a paymentof 35,000 pounds (USD 54,616).However, Proview Shenzhen re-served the right to use the trade-mark on the Chinese mainland.

The two sides have been en-tangled in a legal battle eversince. Proview Shenzhen, oncea famous flat-panel display pro-ducer, is now on the brink ofbankruptcy due to debts owedto banks in the wake of the globalfinancial crisis.

Li Su, the President of Bei-jing-based Hejun VanguardGroup, a leading managementconsultancy firm, has been en-trusted by banks to assume thepost of “debt restructuring con-sultant” for Proview Shenzhen.

“Apple’s actions are strange.They had not obtained the rightsto use the ‘iPad’ trademark whenthey began to sell the iPad onthe Chinese mainland in Sep-tember last year,” Huang Yidingof the Hejun Vanguard Group’spublic relations department wasquoted by state-run Xinhua newsagency as saying.

“Their copyright infringementis very clear. The laws are stillthere and they sell their productsin defiance of laws. The moreproducts they sell, the more theyneed to compensate,” he said.

China, where a plethora ofApple products are assembled,is also a major market for iPhonesand iPads.

ʻPak lobbyistʼFai set to

plead guiltyMcLean, Virginia: A Virginiaman accused of secretly receivingmillions of dollars from Pakistan’s spy service while he lobbied Congress on the disputed Kashmir territory is ex-pected to plead guilty to federalcharges.

A hearing has been scheduledWednesday in U.S. District Courtin Alexandria for Syed GhulamNabi Fai. He was executive di-rector of the Kashmiri AmericanCouncil when he was arrestedin July. An FBI affidavit says Faireceived $500,000 to $700,000a year from Pakistani intelligence,but never disclosed those linkswhile serving as a supposedlyindependent lobbyist on Kash-mir.

A court paper indicates Fai islikely to enter a plea on a broadconspiracy charge and a secondcount of impeding the InternalRevenue Service.

Hunt on for NYʼs serial killerOak Beach: Police investigatingthe deaths of 10 people in a sus-pected serial murder case onLong Island unexpectedly de-ployed divers and K-9 units Tues-day to a marshland and adjoiningwaters near where a prostitutewent missing 18 months ago butsaid no human remains werefound.

A top police official declinedto comment at a late afternoonbriefing on whether any “sig-nificant items” linked to the dis-appearance of 24-year-old Shan-nan Gilbert of Jersey City, N.J.,had been uncovered. SuffolkCounty Police Inspector StuartCameron said teams would re-turn Wednesday with heavyequipment to chop down tallreeds and other obstacles alongthe shorefront to enhance thesearch effort.

Gilbert’s disappearance fromthe Oak Beach gated communityon May 1, 2010, prompted whathas become one of Long Island’slargest-ever police investigations.A police officer and cadaver dogwere searching for evidence inthe woman’s disappearance onDec. 11, when they uncoveredthe first of what would become

10 homicide victims. Their re-mains were strewn along severalmiles of thicket adjacent to theOcean Parkway that leads toJones Beach.

Officers searched 90 specificlocations in and around the high-way on Monday but declaredthe probe over at that time. Thoselocations were mapped after FBItook high-tech surveillance pho-tos of the area this year.

Cameron said temperaturesin the 60s on Tuesday and lowtide conditions in the area con-

tributed to the decision to resumesearching. Several media reportsindicated that some evidencelinked to Gilbert had been lo-cated, but Cameron refused tocomment on that. The remainsof 10 people - eight women, aman and a baby - were foundstrewn mostly along the remotebeach parkway, but some bodyparts from those victims alsowere found on eastern Long Is-land and nearly 50 miles awayon Fire Island. Police have iden-tified only five of the 10 victims.

Those five were all women work-ing as escorts. The oldest remainsare linked to a case 15 years ago.

Police commissioner RichardDormer has pulled back on ear-lier theories that multiple killersmight have left the bodies alongthe parkway, the first of whichwas a woman who went missingin 1996. Dormer said last weekhe believes that because nine ofthe 10 were involved in the sextrade, their killings are likely re-lated. The tenth victim, a toddlergirl, was linked by DNA to awoman believed to be her moth-er. The remains of the motherand child were found seven milesapart. The man’s remains haven’tyet been identified, but policehave previously said he wasfound wearing women’s cloth-ing, leading them to theorizethat he was a male prostitute.

Police said Monday that thesearch wasn’t limited to findingGilbert and that officers wereseeking evidence in the overallinvestigation. The last of the 10sets of remains were found inearly April. Since then, a $25,000reward has led to 1,200 tips inthe case, but no suspects havebeen identified.

Anti‑Putin protests: oppnleaders, activists held

Moscow: Russian riot police onTuesday arrested top oppositionleaders and hundreds of activistswho were seeking to stage aprotest rally against alleged ballotrigging in favour of Prime Min-ister Vladimir Putin’s ruling partyduring the parliament election.

The authorities have deployedthousands of riot police and in-terior troops in the capital in thewake of last night’s mass rallyand demonstration against PrimeMinister Putin, whose UnitedRussia won 238 seats in the 450-seat State Duma in Sunday’spolls, down sharply from the 315seats it won in the last polls in2007.

Ex-vice premier in Boris Yeltsincabinet, Boris Nemtsov and chiefof the local chapter of liberal‘Yabloko’ party Sergei Mitrokhinhave been arrested in down-town Moscow, while attemptingto stage protest rally against al-leged ballot rigging at Sunday’sDuma polls.

ITAR-TASS news agency saidNemtsov, Mitrokhin and otherswere arrested while trying to en-ter a ‘sanctioned’ rally of fivethousand pro-Kremlin ‘Young

Guard’ youth group. Opposition supporters shouted

“Shame on you fascists!” and“Russia without Putin” in a tensestand-off with hundreds of pro-Kremlin youth who descendedon the site in advance.

There is a total black out ofthe opposition rallies on thestate-controlled TV channels andthe liberal websites remain theonly source of information. How-ever, the government-run RIA

Novosti on its English wire portalshowed live webcast of eventson the Triumfalnaya Square (for-mer Mayakovsky Square), thefavourite place for

anti-Kremlin opposition. President Dmitry Medvedev

and the Russian Foreign Ministryhave reacted angrily at the USSecretary of State Hillary Clinton’scriticism of the Duma polls. Shesaid they were ‘neither free norfair’.

Car drives into a hotel in California

Miramar: Dramatic videoemerged on Tuesday of a carsmashing through the front win-dows of a southern Californianrestaurant on Friday, crashingthrough tables and chairs andscattering patrons.

The vehicle ploughed into theSurati Farsan Mart in Miramar,near San Diego.

The footage, taken from sur-veillance cameras inside andoutside the store, showed thesilver car mounting the curb infront of the restaurant and hittingan unfortunate individual whowas just leaving the eatery.

It then smashed through therestaurant’s glass front beforecoming to a halt inside.

Seconds later, the person hitby the car walked away withonly minor injuries.

Witness Amir Eslami recalledwhat he remembered of the in-cident.

“I was sitting at that restau-rant. I heard the noise of the

tyres, immediately broken glassesand a scream of the ladies,” hesaid.

Two other people sufferedslight injuries.

The restaurant’s CCTV footageshows the driver emerging fromthe motionless vehicle as shocked

staff look on and pick up tablesand chairs.

Police say the driver wasn’thurt, and apparently mistookthe accelerator pedal for thebrake.

It is not yet known if the driverwill be charged for the incident.

Charges to beframed againstMadhuri GuptaNew Delhi: Charges against dis-

g r a c e ddiplomatMadhuriG u p t awill bef r a m e dtoday. Ac h a r -gesheetf i l e dagainstMs Gup-ta in Julylast yearaccusedher of

passing on sensitive informationto the ISI.

She was arrested arrested inApril 2010.

Ms Gupta, 53, was a secretaryat the press information cell ofthe Indian embassy at Islamabad.A Special cell of the Delhi policehad said that Ms Gupta had re-ceived a bribe of Rs. one lakhfor leaking information.

The over 700-page chargesheetand annexures filed against MsGupta sought the prosecution of

the IFS Group B officer undervarious provisions of the OfficialSecrets Act and the Indian PenalCode.

Police has cited 30 witnessesto buttress the charges againstMs Gupta.

She had allegedly passed onthe information to the Pakistaniagents by using email throughher phone. Police recovered fromher SIM cards she had obtainedin Pakistan. The investigatorshad seized five computers fromher office and residence in Is-lamabad.

The chargesheet also spokeabout Gupta’s alleged affair withthe Pakistani handler Jamshedwhom she planned to marry. Sheused to communicate withJamshed who had a code name‘Jim’.

“The contents of an emailshowed that she was in love withJim (Jamshed). Both had plannedto get married. It is further veryclear from the content that Jimis a Pakistani. The motive is clearand established from the email,”the chargesheet said.

Navjot Singh Sidhu

Woman escapes

after bid tobury her

London: A Polish woman hastold a British jury how she usedher engagement ring to free her-self after her boyfriend tried tobury her alive.

Michelina Lewandowska ac-cuses her partner of attackingher with a Taser at their home,binding her with tape, and put-ting her in a cardboard box thathe buried in the woods. Her part-ner, 25-year-old Marcin Kasprzak,is on trial with another mancharged with attempted murder.

Lewandowska, 27, testifiedTuesday she used her ring to cutthe tape from her legs, then toreapart the box, which she saidwas buried in about 10 centime-ters (4 inches) of soil.

She said she managed to es-cape and flagged down a passingcar that took her home.

Madhuri Gupta

An activist, protesting against the re-election bid of President Vladimir Putin, being being arrested in Moscow.

Mark Zuckerberg’s private pictures with his girlfriend.