Sabarimalapilgrimage

beginsSabarimala: The Sabarimala pilgrimage inKerala, during which over 100 pilgrims werekilled in a stampede early this year, began ear-ly on Thursday morning as the sanctum sanc-torum of the famed temple here was opened.

At 3 a.m. sharp on the first day of Malay-alammonth Vrishickam, temple melshanthiN. Balamurali opened the doors for the two-month-long pilgrimage season amid shouts of'Swamiye Sharanamayappa'.

The Sabarimala temple, situated on a hilltop,has been crowded since Wednesday eveningand pilgrims mostly from neighbouring TamilNadu and Andhra Pradesh stood in five queues– each extending to over a kilometre – waitingfor the temple to open.

With tragedy striking last season, this time thenumber of security personnel has been in-creased. A new footpath, a new bridge and aslew of other measures have been taken to de-congest the route.

Kerala director general of police Jacob Pun-noose said that for a smoother and less crowd-ed atmosphere, they have set up blocks en routeto the Sabarimala temple to avoid any stampedein case of an excessive rush of devotees.

State Devasom (the organisation that looksafter the temple administration) Minister V.S.Sivakumar said this time there has been achange in the time at which the temple wouldopen.

It will open at 3 a.m. till 1 p.m. and then openagain at 3 p.m. till 11.45 p.m.

Heavy rush was witnessed at the Kottayamrailway station since Wednesday evening whenpilgrims arrived in large numbers from TamilNadu and Andhra Pradesh. With the adminis-tration still organising steps for a smooth pil-grimage, the scene was chaotic.

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporationhas special counters for the pilgrims and theyoperate numerous special pilgrim trips to thetemple town, around 100 km from Kottayam.

Situated on the mountain ranges of theWestern Ghats at an altitude of 914 metres abovesea level, Sabarimala temple is four km uphillfrom Pamba in Pathanamthitta district.

It is one of the most famous Hindu pilgrimcentres in India and has earned itself the tag ofthe 'Mecca for Hindus'.

The temple, which bars the entry of womenwho have attained puberty, is accessible onlyon foot from Pamba.

Even though the Sabarimala temple is nowopen throughout the year, the peak pilgrimageseason begins on the first day of the Malayalammonth in November and closes on the first dayof the Malayalam month in January.

As many as 100 people were killed in thestampede in January this year when pilgrimswere returning after watching the celestialMakara Jyothi light, the most important eventof the pilgrimage, from a hillock some 30 kmfrom the Sabarimala temple.

Shop writerkilled

for moneyBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: A writer at a private shop wasstabbed to death and the money bag he was car-rying stolen near the APMC yard last night.

The victim, Lakshmaiah (41), was carrying themoney from his to another shop on his scoot-er when he was accosted by three miscreantsaround 8.15 pm near Kadalekai Mandi at theAPMC yard.

They asked for the bag containing the mon-ey, but Lakshmaiah refused. One of the gangmembers then flipped out a knife and stabbedLakshmaiah to death. They fled with the scoot-er, stated a complaint filed by shop owner SatishKumar.

5 kg IED recov‑ered in J&K

Srinagar: A major tragedy was today avertedwhen security forces detected and defused apowerful five kg IED planted by militants in Jam-mu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officialssaid. A patrol party detected the pressure cook-er IEDplanted by the ultras at Lassipora on Kup-wara-Sogam road, 105 km from here, they said.

The device was destroyed in the nearbyfields by a bomb disposal squad, the officialssaid, adding that the explosive was planted ap-parently to target the security forces convoys,which pass through the are a every morning.

Related photo on page 3

Evening dailyCommitted to strong Lokpal: Soni P 4

BangaloreBeatVol. 1, Issue 363 n Thusday n November 17, 2011 No. of pages: 4 n Price: ` 2

Jndia beat WI, win series P4

Nirani, Karajolfight at cabinet

Non‑attendance of BSY, followers during by‑election campaigning reason for tussle

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Kannada and cul-ture minister Govind M Karajoland major and medium indus-tries minister Murugesh Niranifought at the cabinet meeting to-day over the non-attendance offormer chief minister B S Yed-dyurappa and his followers in thecampaigning for Bellary Ruralby-election.

Karajol, who is district in-charge minister of Bagalkote,was upset that BJP ministersand leaders who have identi-fied with Yeddyurappa have notbeen taking an active part inthe election and not supportingthe party official candidate, Gaa-di Lingappa.

Karajol raised the issue afterall the officials went out of themeeting room at Vidhana Soud-

ha after the official part of themeeting was over. Nirani, who isknown to be close to Yeddyu-rappa, took objection to Karajoland protested.

The by-election has become aprestige issue for the BJP as it isfacing former minister B Srira-mulu, who has quit the party tocontest as an independent from

the constituency which he heldtill he resigned recently. The BJPis now desperate to win the seatand teach Sriramulu a lesson.

Karajol also raised the issue ofminimum support price for sug-arcane. Nirani runs a sugar fac-tory in Bagalkote district andwork at his plant has been af-fected for the last few weekswith farmers demanding betterprices.

The two ministers had to beconsoled by chief minister D VSadananda Gowda and othersenior ministers present at themeeting.

Later, higher education min-ister V S Acharya, who was tobrief the media on the cabinetmeeting proceedings, could beseen visually upset. He sat downfor a while, before proceedingwith the press meet.

Cancellations rise airfares, warns DGCA

New Delhi: With airfares mounting in the lastcouple of weeks primarily due to cancellation ofKingfisher flights, aviation regulator DGCA onThursday warned airlines not to raise air ticketprices beyond a given range.

"There are price bands. Probably, the air-lines are operating on the highest bands. ... Someupward movement due to large scale cancella-tions by a big airline (Kingfisher). We are close-ly monitoring the fares. We keep nudging them(airlines) if they go beyond the price band," DGCAchief E K Bharat Bhushan told reporters here.

Expressing hope that the fares would "level offsoon," he said the airlines should have "trans-parency" in fixing airfares and follow the rulesmade by the DGCA in this regard.

Crisis-hit Kingfisher has cancelled over 200flights since last week.

To questions on the show-cause notices issuedby the Directorate General of Civil Aviation toKingfisher, SpiceJet and IndiGo for non-utilisa-tion of slots alloted to them and not flying as pertheir approved schedules, Bhushan said he hadreceived replies from these airlines on the issue.

Indicating that unused flight slots could betransferred to other airlines, he said, "We haveasked airport operators to give details of slots notbeing utilised by any airline. We will take deci-sions under the Route Dispersal Guidelines(RDG).

"Airports will give me more information aboutunutilised slots. Its important that we should notmake any knee-jerk reaction on the slot policy".

Airlines are allotted slots as per their flightschedules approved by the DGCA. They have toinform the regulator in advance if they plan notto use these slots in accordance with the laiddown rules. The three airlines were issued show-cause notices under these rules.

Asked about ailing Kingfisher Airlines want-ing to directly import jet fuel, Bhushan said theFinance Ministry would take a final call on thematter.

Kingfisher promoter Vijay Mallya on Tuedaysaid that the company has applied to DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for direct importof jet fuel, which would reduce fuel costs dras-tically. Jet fuel costs are almost 50 per cent of thetotal operating costs of the airline.

Expect relief from inflation soon: Pranab

New Delhi: With food inflation easing byover a percentage point during the weekended November 5, Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee on Thursday said thatif the trend continues, 'some relief' can beexpected on the price front.

"At least on the food front, we may ex-pect to have some relief if this trend con-tinues," Mukherjee told reporters here.

His comments came after food inflationeased to 10.63 per cent for the week end-ed November 5 from 11.81 per cent in theprevious week.

"It (food inflation) is still in double dig-its, but on percentage points, it has comedown," Mukherjee said.

As per data released by the governmenttoday, onions grew cheaper by 22.89 percent year-on-year, while wheat priceswere down by 3.63 per cent during theweek ended November 5.

However, all other items became moreexpensive on an annual basis during theweek under review.

While vegetables became 27.26 percent costlier, pulses grew dearer by 14.44per cent, milk by 10.74 per cent and eggs,meat and fish by 11.73 per cent.

Inflation in the overall primary articlescategory stood at 10.39 per cent during theweek ended November 5, as against 11.43

per cent in the previous week.Inflation in non-food articles, includ-

ing fibres, oilseeds and minerals, wasrecorded at 5.33 per cent during the weekunder review, as against 6.41 per cent inthe week ended October 29.

Fuel and power inflation stood at 15.49per cent during the week ended Novem-ber 5, as against 14.50 per cent in the pre-vious week.

Govind Karajol Murugesh Nirani

Aviationministry

firm on 24%FDI cap

New Delhi: There is a tussle between the Civil Aviation Ministry and Industries Ministry over the extent of allowingforeign airlines to invest in domesticcarriers.

Civil Aviation Ministry sourceshave said that they are firm on a 24per cent cap on the extent of FDI byforeign carriers while the IndustryMinistry has batted for a minimumof 26 per cent.

A note by the Department of In-dustrial Policy and Promotion haslisted various options including 26per cent, 49 per cent and 51 percent.

However, sources in the AviationMinistry denied that they had re-ceived the note.

Sources also said that the Union Cabinet might soon discussthe issue.

Current rules allow FDI in Indianaviation companies, but do not allowforeign airlines to own stake in In-dia's carriers.

Include citizen'scharter in Lokpal,says Team Anna

New Delhi: Team Anna on Thursday de-manded that the Citizen's Charter, spec-ifying a time limit on government de-partments for providing services, shouldbe included in the Lokpal Bill as it willhelp the common people to get theirwork done.

"The Citizen's Charter in the Lokpal Billis a must. It will help people get their workdone in a time-bound manner," promi-nent Team Anna member Arvind Kejriw-al said. He said the charter was needed asgovernment employees "deliberately" siton files to cause delays and extract bribes.

"The Citizen's Charter will effectivelycheck this," he said. Inclusion of such acharter was one of the three key de-mands put forward by Team Anna forAnna Hazare to call off his hunger strikeat Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi in August.

Continued on page 3

Pranab Mukherjee

Hundreds of lorry drivers, cleaners and those associated with sand mining march towards the Freedom Park in the citytoday. They were protesting against the ban on sand mining ban. They later threatened to lay siege to the chief minister’s

residence if the issue is not resolved immediately.

Protest against sand mining banGangadhar Pujar

Anna Hazare

CITY 2Thursday,, November 17, 2011

Contact: M : 9900948514

9742918562

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

TRAIN SCHEDULE

MADHUVE MANE (U)Ganesh, Avinash, Shraddha AryaAdarsha (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Balaji (Tavarekere) (10 am, 1,5, 8 pm) Eshwari (11.15 am, 2.30,6.15, 9.15 pm) Cinepolis (3.55 pm,5.40, 7.20, 9.20 pm) Fame (Lido)(10.25 am, 3.35 pm) Fame (White-field) (3.45 pm) Gopalan (Ban-nerghatta Road) (12 pm, 7.15 pm)Gopalan (Mysore Road) (10.15 am,1.15, 3.50 pm) Gopalan (Rajarajesh-wari Nagar) (1 pm, 3.45 pm) Goverd-han (11.30 am, 2.30, 6, 9 pm) HMTCinemas (10.30 am, 1.30 pm) Inox(Jayanagar) (7.10 pm) Inox (JP Nagar)(1.30 pm, 4 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(12.50 pm, 6.20 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (10.45 am, 7, 9.35pm) Kapali (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Maruthi (11 am, 2.30, 6,9.30 pm) Navrang (10.15 am, 1.15,4.15, 7.15 pm) Prasanna (10.15 am)

BODYGUARD (U)Daisy Shah, Jaggesh, Spoorthi Cinepolis (1.10 pm, 6.35 pm)Gopalan (Rajarajeshwari Nagar)

(12.15 pm, 7 pm) Inox (Jayanagar)(1.15 pm) Inox (JP Nagar) (10.10 am,6.45 pm) Inox (Malleswaram) (10.10am, 3.45, 6.25 pm) Nandini (11 am,2, 5, 8 pm) PVR Cinemas (10 am,2.40, 7.20 pm) Rajarajeshwari (Mal-lathahalli) (1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.15, 9.30pm) Srinivasa (Gowdanapalya) (11am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Siddhesh-wara (11.00 am,2.30 pm) Triveni(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm)Veeresh (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Venkateshwara (Avalahalli)(11.15 am, 2.30, 6, 9 pm)

KAANCHAANA (U) Ragini Dwivedi, Diganth Anupama (10.30, 1.30, 4.30, 7.10pm) Siddhalingeshwara (11, 2.30,6.30, 9.30 pm) Vinayaka (MysoreRoad) (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm)

NAANALLA (U/A)Tarun, Shubha Poonja, AnanthNag, Rangayana Raghu, RameshBhat Savitha (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm)

IN TIME (U/A) Justin Timberlake, AmandaSeyfriedCinemax (2.15 pm, 7.30 pm) Cinepo-lis (10 am, 2, 7.10, 10 pm) Fame(Lido) (3.20 pm, 7.45 pm) Gopalan(Bannerghatta Road) (12 pm, 6, 8pm) Gopalan (Rajarajeshwari Nagar)(5, 10 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(2.40 pm, 9.30 pm) Inox

(Malleswaram) (2.55 pm, 10 pm)PVR Cinemas (10.30 am, 3, 7.35pm)

TOWER HEIST (A) Cinemax (1.15 pm, 10 pm) Cinepolis(12.10 pm, 5.15 pm) Fame (Lido)(1.10 pm, 5.35, 10 pm) Fame (White-field) (10.15 am, 3.30, 5.40, 7.50,10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10 am, 2 pm) Inox(Jayanagar) (10.30 am, 6.50 pm)Inox (JP Nagar) (4.25 pm, 9.45 pm)Inox (Magrath Road) (10.05 am,4.55 pm) Inox (Malleswaram) (12.55pm, 7.55 pm)

THE RUM DIARY (U/A) Johnny Depp, Aaron EckhartInox (Magrath Road) (10.15 am,1.30, 4.45, 8 pm) Inox (Malleswaram)(10 am, 9.45 pm)

DOLPHIN TALE (U)Cinemax (10 am, 8 pm) PVR Cinemas(10.20 am, 2.55, 7.25 pm)

Movie ListingsKANNADA

ENGLISH

MILEY NAA MILEY HUM (U/A)Kangna Ranaut, Kabir BediApsara (11.30 am, 2.30 pm) Bhu-mika (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Cinemax (3.30 pm) Cinepolis(1 pm, 10 pm) Gopalan (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10 am, 5.15 pm)Gopalan (Rajarajeshwari Nagar)(10 am, 3 pm) PVR Cinemas (12.40pm)

RA.ONE (U/A) Shah Rukh Khan, KareenaKapoor ‘3D’ Abhinay (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Anand (10am, 1, 4, 7 pm) Cinepolis (10 am,11, 1, 4, 7, 10 pm) Cinemax (10 am,1, 4, 7, 10 pm) Everest (11.30 am,2.30, 6.15, 9.30 pm) Fame (Lido)(11.15 am, 2.30, 5.45, 9 pm) Fame(Shankarnag) (11.15 am, 2.30, 5.45,9 pm) Gopalan (BannerghattaRoad) (10 am, 1, 10 pm) Gopalan(Rajarajeshwari Nagar) (10 am,9.40 pm) HMT Cinemas (4 pm, 7,

9.30 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(11.15 am, 2.30, 5.45, 9 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (11.15 am, 2.30,5.45, 9 pm) Lakshmi (BTM Layout)(10 am, 11.15, 5.15, 8.30 pm) Lak-shmi (Gottigere) (10 am, 1, 5, 8pm) Lakshmi (Taverekere) (10 am,1, 5, 8 pm) PVR Cinemas (10.20am, 3.40, 9 pm) Rex (10.15 am,1.10, 4.05, 7, 9.50 pm) Vaibhav(Sanjay Nagar) (11.30 am, 2.30, 6,9.30 pm) Veeresh (10.30 am) VisionCinemas (10 am, 1, 7, 9.45 pm) Ur-vasi (10.45 am, 2.30, 6, 9.30 pm)Fame (Lido) (10.05 am) Fame(Whitefield) (10.15 am, 10.55, 12.25,1.30, 2.25, 4.45, 5.40, 8, 8.55 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (Mysore Road)(10 am, 7, 9.45 pm) Inox (Jayanagar)(10.25 am, 12.40, 3.45, 9 pm) Inox(JP Nagar) (10.15 am, 12.55, 2.30,5.45, 9 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(10.15 am, 1.30, 4.45, 8 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (12.55 pm, 5, 6.40pm) PVR Cinemas (1.20 pm, 2,3.25, 4.40, 5.20, 8. 8.40, 8.50 pm)

HINDI

TAMIL

7AUM ARIVU (U/A) Suriya, Shruthi HassanAjantha (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Amruth (10.30 am, 2, 5, 8 pm)Cinemax (12 pm, 3.15, 6.30, 9.45pm) Cinepolis (10.10 am, 1.10, 2.15,4.10, 7.10, 10 pm) Fame (Lido) (10.45am, 2.05, 5.25, 8.45 pm) Fame(Whitefield) (10.15 am, 1.40, 5.05,8.30 pm) Gopalan (BannerghattaRoad) (4 pm, 7, 10 pm) Gopalan(Mysore Road) (1 pm, 4, 6.45, 10pm) Gopalan (Rajarajeshwari Nagar)(10.10 am, 6.30, 10 pm) Inox (Jayana-gar) (1.40 pm, 5.05, 8.30 pm) Inox(JP Nagar) (10.15 am, 1.40, 5.05,8.30 pm) Inox (Magrath Road) (10.45am, 2.05, 5.25, 8.45 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (10.30 am, 1.55, 5.20,8.45 pm) Maheshwari (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Pushpanjali(BN Pura) (6, 9pm) Pallavi (10 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) PVR Cinemas(10.40 am, 10.45, 2, 5.20, 5.30,

8.40, 8.45 pm) Sampige (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Vinayaka (SultanPalya) (11.15 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30pm)

VELAYUDHAM (U/A)Vijay, Genelia, HansikaCinepolis (10 am, 4.10, 9.40 pm)Fame (Lido) (6.20 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (3.30 pm) Lavanya(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Ma-hadeshwara (11.15 am, 2.15, 6.15,9.15 pm) Natraj (10.30 am, 1.30,4.45, 7.45 pm) Prithvi (11 am, 2.30,6.30, 9.30 pm) Poornima (10.30am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Pushpanjali(BN Pura) (11 am, 2.30 pm) Push-panjali (Sultanpalya) (10.45 am,2.15, 6, 9.15 pm) PVR Cinemas (2pm, 3.40, 9 pm) Srinivasa (SG Palya)(10 am, 1, 5, 8 pm) Vaibhavi (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Vijay (11.15am, 2.30, 6.15, 9.15 pm) Vision Cin-emas (10 am, 1, 4, 7 pm)

LOOT (U/A)Hansika Motwani, Govinda, Mahaakashay Chakroborty

Cinemax (11 am, 5.45 pm) Cinepolis(11 am, 3.20, 7.10 pm) Fame (Lido)(1.10 pm, 9.30 pm) Fame (White-field) (10 am, 9.50 pm) Gopalan(Bannerghatta Road) (4 pm) Inox

(Jayanagar) (9.50 pm) Inox (JP Na-gar) (9.50 pm) Inox (Magrath Road)(10.15 am, 3.45, 9.15 pm) PVR Cin-emas (10.15 am, 1.20, 6.45 pm)Vision Cinemas (4 pm, 9.45 pm)

Meet to moderniseIAF training held

Bangalore: A two-day stationcommanders' conference startedat the Bangalore Air Force Train-ing Command yesterday. AirChief Marshal N A K Browne,Chief of Air Staff participated inthe conference today.

In his opening address, AirMarshal Dhiraj Kukreja, air officercommanding-in-chief, TrainingCommand, urged the involve-ment of station commanders tomaintain focus on standard pro-cedures of training and intentionof raising its benchmark.

He highlighted the significanceof cyber security and base secu-rity. He also urged commanders

to arouse the security conscious-ness among the personnel andimprove the hygiene and sani-tation conditions to a higher lev-el.

Training in IAF and informa-tion security, processing of works,fiscal prudence and broad guide-lines of defence procurementmanual presentations were madeby the experts.

Issues of human resourcemanagement, emphasising menand machine working in tandemtowards modernisation of IndianAir Force training with a highsense of satisfaction was alsodiscussed.

State holds roadshow forfood processing meet

Mumbai: In a run-up to the GlobalAgribusiness and Food Processing Sum-mit 2011, the state government, in asso-ciation with FICCI, held a road show inMumbai yesterday.

Chief minister D V Sadananda Gowdapresided over the road show and spokeon the strengths of the state as a suitabledestination for agribusiness.

He mentioned that special emphasishas been given by his government forthe development of the agribusinesssector in the state such as coming outwith a separate budget for agricultureand an integrated agribusiness develop-ment policy, both being first of their kindinitiatives in India.

He stated that the government con-siders high growth of agriculture and al-lied sectors as a means to accelerate thestate’s GDP and enable farmers to earnhigher incomes and ensure food security.He stressed on the need for inclusivegrowth and emphasised upon a strongpartnership between all stakeholders.He invited the delegates to attend theGlobal Agribusiness and Food ProcessingSummit in Bangalore on December 1 and2 this year.

Earlier this year, the state governmentlaunched the ‘Bounteous Karnataka – aSustainable Agribusiness Initiative’, underwhich 300 projects have been identified,especially in agri-infrastructure, hi-techagriculture, post-harvest technologies,agri-logistics etc.

Subir Hari Singh, additional chief sec-retary and development commissioner,

spoke about the state being an ideal in-vestment destination for agribusiness.Sandeep Dave, secretary, agriculture de-partment, spoke on various initiativesplanned under Bounteous Karnataka,especially in the agri-infrastructure sector.

Knowledge partner and transactionadviser to the state government B Suresh,

president and CEO, Mahindra ConsultingEngineers, made a detailed presentationon projects covering an agri-corridor,Agribusiness Investment Regions (ABIRs),Agribusiness Investment Areas (ABIAs),Knowledge Hubs (KHs) and special agro-tourism zones among others.

The delegation also included K V Raju,

economic advisor to the chief minister, IS N Prasad, principal secretary to thechief minister, besides several top-rankingstate officials.

The road show was well attended andmany leading industrial house showedkeen interest in undertaking agribusinessprojects in the state.

Bangalore Book Fairfrom tomorrow

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The Bangalore BookFair is back. Organised by theBangalore Book Sellers’ and Pub-lishers’ Association, the fair willbe held from tomorrow till No-vember 27 in the city.

Touted as the biggest bookfair in South India, more thanten lakh books will be on offer,said association president BalramSadwani. More than 330 sellersand publishers from across the

country and world will take part,he added. The fair will be heldat Gayatri Vihar at the PalaceGrounds. The fair will be openfrom 11 am till 8 pm on all daysof the fair. The entry fee is Rs 20,while it is free for those holdingstudent identity cards.

Apart from Kannada and Eng-lish, books in Malayalam, Telugu,Tamil and Hindi too will be onoffer.

The Kannada Books Authorityis bearing 35 percent cost of set-

ting up stalls for those exhibitorswho will offer only Kannadabooks.

Every evening, cultural pro-grammes are held at 6 pm. Thestage has been named after thefamous author R K Narayan.

Painting competitions forschoolchildren and free healthcheck-up camps have been or-ganised at the venue.

Association secretary DevaruBhat too was present at the pressconference.

Chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda addresses a roadshow in the run-up to the Global Agribusiness and Food Processing Summit 2011, being held in the city on December 1 and 2. The roadshow was held

in association with FICCI.

Peanut sellers wait for customers on the premises of Dodda Basavanna temple in Basavanagudi as the countdown for the Kadalekai Parishe, or peanut fair, begins. The

fair is opening on November 20.

Time for peanuts S Radhakrishna

Air Marshal D Kukreja, AOC-in-C, Training Command, addresses the station commanders’ conference in the city

yesterday.

100 Queenʼsvarsity

scholarshipson offerBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Queen’s Universityof London is offering 100 schol-arships to Indian students pur-suing higher education in engi-neering and science. The schol-arships, worth over $400,000,has been named after formerPresident A P J Abdul Kalam.

University vice-chancellor SirPeter Gregson, after visiting theInfosys campus in the city, saidthe scholarships will be availableto those students who want topursue their higher studies athis university.

The scholarships have beennamed after Kalam to recognisehis contribution to science andcommemorate his visit to theuniversity campus in 2009 thatstrengthened the education bondbetween India and the UnitedKingdom, he said.

The university is in the fore-front of skillsets training and toresearch. It is one of the top tenuniversities in England, headded.

1 cm bookcreatesrecord

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Cartoonist B V Pan-duranga Rao’s flip book anima-tion has entered the WorldRecords India for being the small-est such book. It has also foundmention in Amazing Records.

The book is 1.5x1 cm in di-mension and contains 65 pages.When the book is flipped, youcan see a stick figure playingcriket.

Another book, created by Rao,has 1x1.7 cm dimension with 75pages. Here the figure plays foot-ball. The books have already en-tered Limca and India Book ofRecords.

Indian Enggcongress on Dec 15‑18

Bangalore: The VisvesvarayaTechnological University has isgearing to host the 26th IndianEngineering Congress at the Ban-galore Palace grounds from De-cember 15 to 18.

The Indian Institute of Engi-neering has organised the eventand thousands of students frommore than 200 engineering col-leges coming under the jurisdic-tion of VTU will take part in thecongress.

Expert engineers, thinkers andplanning experts will take partin the prestigious congress. Aero-nautics, space research, trans-port, information technology willbe discussed at the meet thatwill also have seminars and tech-nical exhibitions. Visvesvarayamemorial lectures too will bepart of the meet.

For more information, contact:080-22261144, 22261188,88992223344 and 9880288083.

Karatemeet

Bangalore: Ashok Martial Artshas organised the 10th state-level karate championship at theH N Auditorium on Jnanabharaticampus on January 21 and 22next year.

All karate organisations fromacross the state, trainers andstudents can take part in thechampionship. For information,contact: Sensei P Ashok Raj, 4thdon black belt, on 9900724912or 9341251514.

Eye hospitalbranch opensBangalore: Dr Agarwal’s EyeHospital opened its seventhbranch at Cole’s road recently.

The hospital was inauguratedby area MLA B Prasanna Kumar.People in the area had to travellong distances for their eye careneeds. This branch would solvethe problem, he said.

Hospital managing directorAmar Agarwal said that in thecoming days, branches wouldbe opened at Frazer Town, CoxTown, Lingarajapuram, Kam-manahalli and Banasawadi.

CITYThursday, November 17, 2011 3CITY EVENTS

GeneralSahitya Suggi: Release of an-thology of poems penned byDoddarangegowda, Justice AJ Sadashiva to take part, Voiceof the Age, Kannada SahityaParishat, Chamarajpet, 5 pm.

Karnataka Janashakthi: Dis-cussion on closure of govern-ment schools, Kuvempu Au-ditorium, Kannada SahityaParishat, 4 pm.

South India Cell for HumanRights Education and Moni-toring: Free human rightscounselling and legal advicefor victims of human rightsviolation, I/F Anjanappa Com-plex, 35, Hennur Main Road,Lingarajapuram, St ThomasTown, 3.30 pm.

All India Veerashaiva Ma-hasabha: Felicitation of top-pers in SSLC and PU exams,Minister for Co-operation Lak-shman Savadi to take part,Hangal Sri Kumaraswamy Au-ditorium (ground floor),“Veerashaiva-Lingayat” Bha-van, No 17/4, Bellary Road,Sadashivanagar, 4 pm.

CulturalThe Indian Institute of WorldCulture: Talk on “Mind –House and Book” by Dr S MShivappa, No 6, B P WadiaRoad, Basavanagudi, 6 pm.

BuJazzO Live: Chowdiah Me-morial Hall. BuJazzO (Bun-desjazzorchester), Germany’sYouth Jazz Orchestra, performslive. The band is accompaniedby legendary Indian percus-sionist T A S Mani, and vocalistR A Ramamani. 7 p.m. to 8:30p.m.

An Arrangement of Shoes:Ranga Shankara. The playchronicles the lives of a familyagainst the backdrop of thehistory of modern India, andthe Gulf War. The play is struc-tured as a non-linear narrative,weaving together flashbacks,intercuts and close-ups. Thesame performer portrays allthe roles in the play. 7:30 p.m.to 9:30 p.m.

Kala Nadam: ADA Ranga-mandira. A festival of classicaldance and music, featuringperformances by K Murali Mo-han, Priyadarshini Smita Srini-vasan, Tandava, Arif and manymore. 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Eating outThe Grand Indian Lunch Buf-fet: at Turquoise. Experiencethe grand Indian lunch buffetconsisting of over 35 disheswith around 5 starters, 4 veg-etarian gravies, 2 non vege-tarian gravies , 7 desserts andlots more.

Lunch Buffet: At Applewood,Koramangala. A global andIndian lunch buffet, which in-cludes soups, starters, maincourse and desserts, priced atRs. 299 plus taxes per head.

Strawberry Promotion: Sugar& Spice, Vivanta by Taj — MG

Road. A new menu to celebratethe strawberry season. Goodieson offer include strawberrytuxedoes, artisan chocolateswith strawberry fillings andmascarpone and strawberrycakes.

The Grand Trunk Road:  Lido,Ista Hotel. A trip down theGrand Trunk Road, throughits kitchens. The chefs rustleup specialities from Kabul toKolkata.

Mediterranean Set Lunch:Fireflies, Lavelle Road. A setlunch consisting of soups, sal-ads, appetisers, main courseand dessert. The two coursemeal is priced at Rs 299, andthe three course meal is pricedat Rs 399.

Rajasthani Thaat at Raj Pavil-lion: The Raj Pavilion, ITCWindsor. A festival featuringregional delicacies from Ra-jasthan. The dinner buffet ispriced at Rs 1350 plus taxes.7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

New Soups and Starters atTasty Tangles: The Tasty Tan-gles, UB City. The Tasty Tanglesintroduces new soups and veg-etarian starters on its menu.Guests can expect picks likeWonton Noodle Soup, Spinachand Sweet Corn Soup, andSeafood Cilantro Broth, as wellas Sweet and Sour Crispy Veg-etables and Spicy LemongrassPaneer Cakes.

Kebab and Wine Pairings:Jashn , Le Meridien, No 28,Sankey Road, High GroundsExotic kebabs paired with FourSeasons wine. What's on offerincludes Salmon Tikka pairedwith Four seasons CheninBlanc, and mushrooms andbroccoli for the vegetarians.7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

NightlifeDubstep & Drum 'n' BassNites: Bacchus, F&B Excel-lency, . DJ Vachan treats thecrowd to dubstep and D'n'B.8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Live night with David James:Banana Beach Bar, CanaraBank Road, Koramangala.David James performs reggaeand retro at Banana BeachBar. 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Ladies Night with DJ Deepak:The Beach, Indiranagar 100Ft Road. DJ Deepak playshouse. Unlimited drinks forgirls till 10:30 pm.

Karoake with Martin Dsouza:Love Shack, Koramangala In-termediate Ring Road. Karaokewith Martin Dsouza at LoveShack. Girls get two drinksfree while guys pay Rs. 1000.8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Retro Night at Retro Price: i-Bar, The Park. DJ Vicky spinsretro hits. Drinks at 50% off.8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Ladies Night: Cirrus, 100 FeetRoad, Indiranagar. House withDJ Rohit. Ladies drink for freetill 10:00 pm. 8 p.m. to 11:30p.m.

Wow Diva's Night: F Bar &Kitchen, Ali Askar Road, Cun-ningham Road. A night dedi-cated to women, who get freecocktails, while DJ Ivan spinsthe best tracks from aroundthe world. 7:30 p.m. to 11:30p.m.

Ladies Rock: Hard Rock Cafe.Customised cocktails, musicand tons of games for thewomen at Hard Rock Cafe. 8p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

LOL@Urban Solace: UrbanSolace, Annaswamy Mudaliarroad, Ulsoor Lake. A stand upcomedy and open mic nightthat features guest comediansand a platform for the audi-ence to show off their enter-taining skills. 8 p.m. to 10p.m.

ShoppingHigh on Heels by Mochi: AtMochi, Commercial Street. Acollection of stilettos, wedgesand pumps in the colours of

the season.

ExhibitionThe Keyboard of SmallThings: Gallery Sumukha,Wilson Garden. An exhibitionof paintings by Mukesh Shar-ma at Gallery Sumukha. 10:30a.m. to 6 p.m.

Recollections Reconnections:Kynkyny Art, Infantry Rd. ‘Rec-ollections Reconnections’, anexhibition of copper reliefs bySG Vasudev. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Harmony with Art: GalleryThird Eye, Yemalur Main Road,Yemalur. An exhibition ofworks by artists RD Roy andSatish Biradhar. 10 a.m. to 6p.m.

Depths of Field: Apparao Gal-leries, The Presidency, StMarks Road. 'Depths of Field',an exhibition of glass sculptureand installation works by An-jali Srinivasan. 12:30 p.m. to7 p.m.

BMTC launches 2 hospital services

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: The BMTC today launchedtwo special services, Arogya Seve, tohelp patients visiting different hospitalsin the city.

The service being run by two mini-buses was inaugurated by home andtransport minister R Ashok in front ofNimhans this morning.

These buses will go through Jayadeva,Kidwai Memorial, Indira Gandhi Chil-dren’s, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhiand Jayanagar General hospital beforereaching Victoria hospital. The twobuses will ply 24 services per day.

The Bangalore Metropolitan TransportCorporation already runs two specialservices to help patients and their rela-tives visiting the Satya Sai and Wock-hardt hospitals at Whitefield and onBannerghatta road.

A BMTC conductor, who was issuingduplicate tickets, was caught nearPeenya yesterday.

The BMTC vigilance squad checkedthe bus, route No. 273C with the regis-tration number KA-01, FA-1916 that wasplying between Kempegowda Bus Standand Peenya second stage recently. Itwas found that two persons sitting nextto each other had the same ticket num-

ber.When the squad checked the con-

ductor, G H Dileep Kumar, they foundthat he had already issued 28 tickets ofRs 11, 12 tickets of Rs 12, four tickets ofRs 7 and 19 tickets of Rs 9. He also hadduplicate tickets, not issued by the cor-poration, worth over Rs 2,200 with him.

The squad found out that the con-ductor had colour photocopied the orig-inal tickets and was issuing the duplicateones. The squad handed over the con-ductor to the Seshadripuram police sta-tion and booked several cases againsthim, stated a press release from theBMTC.

Lorry owners threaten to lay siege to CMʼs house

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Lorry owners and agents whohave been protesting for over 20 days nowtoday threatened to lay siege to the chiefminister’s residence. They said they wouldmarch from the Freedom Park till CM’s res-idence if the sand mining ban is not liftedin the state.

More than a thousand members of theFederation of Lorry Drivers and Agents As-sociations coming from all parts of the state

today held a massive protest at FreedomPark today.

They urged chief minister D V SadanandaGowda to take an immediate decision andresolve the impasse.

Federation general secretary B VNarayanappa asked, “When there is no lawto define what is illegal sand quarrying,how can it be banned? For the past over 20days, lorries have stopped plying all overthe state. Over 60,000 lorries have stoppedoperating, shooting up the prices of con-

struction materials.” Lakhs of people who are dependent on

the business have been affected by the ban.Many are migrating to other states or takingup other jobs to earn their livelihoods, hesaid.

The government should find a solutionto the impasse immediately. If not, we willsurround the chief minister’s house andprotest. We cannot just bear to see so manypeople, who were dependent on our business,suffering,” he said.

MLA P G R Sindhia, rural development and panchayat raj minister and Jagadish Shettar take part in a one-day conference on powers of local bodies at the Legislators’

Home this morning.

Lorry owners, cleaners and those associated with sand mining business protest at the Freedom Park today, demanding a lifton the sand mining ban. They came from all over the state.

Shettar: Central fundsmust be utilised properly

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: One source of fundsreleased by the central govern-ment is used for multiple pro-grammes. This practice has tochange, said rural developmentand panchayat raj minister Ja-gadish Shettar here this morning.

He was speaking at a one-dayinteraction session conductedby the Gram Panchayat Hakkot-taya Andolana (GPHA), a volun-tary organisation which has in-volved presidents and secretariesof gram sabhas, gram panchay-ats, taluk panchayats and zillparishads.

The session discussed powersvested with these local bodiesunder the 73rd and 74th amend-ments of the Constitution.

Shettar said, “Since its begin-ning in 1999, GPHA has broughtto the notice of the rural devel-opment and panchayat raj min-istry different roles these localbodies are playing. Though theroles of these bodies have beendefined by the constitutionalamendments, power has notbeen decentralised in its truesense. The funds released by theCentre have not been clearly de-marcated.”

He said the issues raised dur-ing today’s conference would betaken up for discussion in thelegislatures

Ganapthi of the GPHA said,“The discussion and the outcomehere will have a bearing on thelegislators, many of whom don’tknow how the local bodies func-

tion.” He said, “A bigger meeting

has been convened at Udupifrom December 9 to 11. Chiefminister D V Sadananda Gowdaand former Union rural devel-opment minister Mani ShankarAiyar will take part. That meetingwill discuss the way forward tomake panchayats more effectiveand vibrant in the state.”

25 prominent legislators andpresidents and secretaries oflocal bodies were present at to-day’s conference. Most of themembers present were those rep-resenting north Karnataka dis-tricts.

MLAs Mahima Patel, D R Pateland PGR Scindia and MLC CNarayanaswamy were amongthose present.

India laysN‑liability

rulesNew Delhi: Ahead of Prime Min-ister Manmohan Singh's meetingwith US President Barack Obamain Bali, the government onWednesday notified the imple-mentation rules for the civil nu-clear liability law, setting thestage for the meeting betweenthe two leaders.

The rules relating to Civil Lia-bility for Nuclear Damage Actprovides the nuclear plant op-erator the right to recourse forthe period for which the supplierof equipment has taken liabilityfor patent or latent defects orsub-standard services under acontract.

According to the rules, an op-erator's claim will in no case ex-ceed the actual amount of com-pensation paid by him up to thedate of filing such claim.

The US has made it clear thatIndia's civil nuclear liability lawwill have to be harmonised withinternational conventions andthe current regime imposed aheavy burden on the operatorsof nuclear plants in India.

On his way back from the Mal-dives, Manmohan Singh lastweek said that the governmentwill place rules and proceduresrelating to the civil nuclear lia-bility regime in the forthcomingwinter session of parliament thatbegins Nov 22.

Manmohan Singh and Obamawill meet on the margins of the18-nation East Asia Summit inBali on Friday. They are expectedto give a push to the their nucleardeal that has languished due toWashington's apprehensionsabout India's civil nuclear liabilityregime which American nuclearcompanies find onerous.

They will also discuss a widespectrum of regional and inter-national issues.

Gangadhar Pujar

Gangadhar Pujar

Mulayam seeksclear majorityfor SP in UP

Etah (Uttar Pradesh): Makingwhat could perhaps be his lastchief ministerial bid, MulayamSingh Yadav sought a farewellgift from his supporters: a clearmajority for the Samajwadi Partyin the coming UP polls.

Kicking off his campaign fromthe SP stronghold, Yadav said,"For the first time, I am askingyou to vote for SP so that wecan come to power. If there willbe a government, it will be ours".

His senior colleague AzamKhan urged the voters to supportSP by invoking Mulayam's age."He is not just our leader, he iselderly too."

The formidable leader, whohas influenced politics in coun-try's biggest state since the '80s,Mulayam appears to be gettingready to cede space to his son,Akhilesh Singh Yadav. Besetwith health problems, he has sofar remained in the background,letting his son lead the cam-paign.

Yesterday, the 72 year-oldleader, however, appeared to bein complete charge as he ad-dressed a 20,000-strong crowdas he tried to woo his old con-stituency of peasants by prom-ising the abolition of irrigationcess, and supply of free tube-wells.

The veteran's aggressive sec-ularism had earned him the tagof Maulana Mulayam from hiscritics even though the appealamong the Muslims has wanedover the years. Yesterday, theparty reached out to the membersof the minority community.

Mulayam attacked UP CMMaywati for her decision to carveup the state into four and for in-creasing crime against women,while he targeted Congress forcorruption.

In a direct appeal to his sup-porters and taking a dig atMayawati, he said, "There isrampant increase in crimeagainst women all over the stateand there is corruption every-where. Do you want such a gov-ernment?"

Lashing out at Mayawati with-out naming her, he pointed outthat many of the welfare schemeslaunched during his rule weredisbanded during the BSPregime. "The situation in thestate has worsened so much thatnothing happens until you paybribe. The employment of Mus-lims in police and security forceshas reduced," he alleged.

However, he did not leaveCongress either, which is posinga major challenge to SP as far asits Muslim vote bank is con-cerned. Mulayam charged theCentre for not taking actionagainst Mayawati even when itwas aware of her misdeeds andcorruptions. "They are aware ofeverything and also have theagencies like CBI. But they don'twant to take any action," Mu-layam said.

Khan launched a scathing at-tack on Congress and particularlythe party's heir apparent RahulGandhi and Mayawati on issueslike dividing UP into four smallstates.

Team Anna wants citizensʼ charter

Continued from page 1

Parliament had urged theStanding Committee to considerthis demand. However, the draftbill does not provide for a Citi-zen's Charter and, instead, theGovernment has prepared a draftPublic Greivances Bill.

Another activist Kiran Bedisaid government's stand was notclear yet on the issue of bringinganti-corruption wing of CBI underLokpal.

"Anti-corruption wing of CBImust come under an independ-ent Lokpal. (Government's standis) not clear yet," she said.

Transport minister R Ashok and urbain affairms minister S SureshKumar flag off hospital service by BMTC, in front of Nimhans, today.

S Radhakrishna

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

NEWSThursday,, November 17, 2011 4

The police inspect the spot where Lakshmaiah, a writer at ashop, was found murdered at APMC yard in Bangalore.

Three criminals stabbed him to death before fleeing with amoney bag Lakshmaiah was carrying and his scooter last

night.

Killer spot

Govt committed tostrong Lokpal: Soni

New Delhi: The government is committedto presenting strong and effective LokpalBill in the Parliament, Information &Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni saidon Thursday.

"The bill will be presented in Parliamentonce the bill is ready. Our Prime Ministerand UPA Chairperson have reiterated thecommitment for a strong and effectiveLokpal Bill. I do not want to commenton rumours," she said.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs MinisterPawan Kumar Bansal also said that theGovernment will have an 'open mind'and will give a 'very serious thought' tothe report of the Standing Committee go-ing into the bill.

It is a priority bill for the government.

We are determined to pass it," he saidwhen asked whether the Lokpal Bill willbe passed in the Winter Session beginningNovember 22.

Addressing a press conference aheadof the session, the minister on Wednesdaysaid that he expected that the StandingCommittee headed by Abhishek Singhvito submit its report by month-end eventhough the time limit was till December7.

"Government stands totally committedto root out corruption. But it cannot bedone through one instrument or one lawand it requires a slew of measures,"Bansal told reporters.

The forthcoming session concludes onDecember 21 and Anna Hazare and his

team, who have been agitating on theLokpal issue, are demanding that thebill be passed in this session.

Bansal insisted that if corruption hasto be combated, then delivery of servicesby government departments needed tobe on time.

"All this cannot be done through acomprehensive bill as it will not serveany purpose and will only create hugebureaucracies," he said.

Bansal said that if the Committeeagreed, there could be a separate bill forgiving constitutional status to the Lokpal,a demand made by Congress leader RahulGandhi. He said that the Committee hasan 'even' balance as regards representa-tives of the ruling side and the opposition.

India win by innings despite Bravo tonKolkata: Darren Bravo's resolute century, whichleft him with statistics to Brian Lara's at theend of 12 Tests, wasn't enough to deny Indiaan innings win.

Bravo, Marlon Samuels and ShivnarineChanderpaul made India work hard on thefourth day, and took West Indies to theirhighest score following on.

India preferred to wait for mistakes, whichsaid a lot about the huge lead they had andthe state of the pitch: a slow turner.

When West Indies did make the mistake,Rahul Dravid was superb at slip to kickstart acollapse of four for 20.

Given their recent form, not many were expecting a big fightback from West Indies, and according to unconfirmed reports Kolkata's Jadhavpur University Complex,where Sourav Ganguly is playing a RanjiTrophy match, attracted a bigger crowd thanEden Gardens.

They missed an attractive century fromBravo. Resuming on 38 he kept batting like he

did yesterday. With the fields spread he kept picking the

singles, and whenever MS Dhoni looked to at-tack he sent the fields back with calculatedrisks.

He added 15 fours and a six to his boundarycount on the fourth day. India began the daytrying to keep things quiet until the new ballbecame due. The pitch had become slow, andallowed the batsmen enough time to recovereven if they were beaten in the flight.

There was only one hiccup, potentially abig one, in the 18 overs before the new ballwas taken. Bravo pushed towards mid-off andset off immediately, Chanderpaul never moved.With the batsmen now capable of whisperingto each other at the non-striker, Gambhir threwon the run.

A weak and wide throw ensued, allowingBravo to get back. The new ball immediatelyproduced more excitement. Bravo hit the firstover for two fours, but also edged one. Softhands and the slowness of the pitch, though,

made sure it didn't carry to slip. In the fourthover with the new ball, against the run ofplay, Chanderpaul got a bottom edge when helooked to push Umesh Yadav. A sterner exam-ination followed for Marlon Samuels. IshantSharma hit him on the forearm with a shortone, and was nearly played on soon. At theother end Bravo went strong. With the newball likely to travel faster, his strike-rate im-proved too.

Against the new ball, he went from 67 to100 in 35 balls. For the rare few who might nothave noticed the resemblance, upon reachingthe century he leapt in the air just like Laraused to. By now Samuels had become surer,and despite India's defensive fields, the twokept scoring swiftly.

With the deficit in two figures, and onceagain against the run of play, Bravo openedthe face to one from Ojha. The ball didn't turnas much as expected, and went low to Dravid'sright at first slip. Pouched.

Bravo and Lara after 12 Tests: 941 runs at

47.05. India were back now. Six overs laterOjha produced an edge from Carlton Baugh.Dravid dived full length to his right and com-pleted the low catch.

Perhaps his batting has rubbed off onto hiscatching form in the slips, which hasn't quitebeen up to his usual standards over the lasttwo years.

Next it was Samuels' turn to make the fatalmistake. He stayed back to a quick offbreakfrom R Ashwin, and was hit in front, deep inthe crease, 16 short of what would have beenanother attractive century.

An unorthodox offspinner, Ashwin pro-ceeded to produce the classical offie's dismissal,when he got one to drift away from KemarRoach, and then sneak through the gap pro-duced.

Darren Sammy swung a few hits, but heonly delayed the inevitable. Minutes beforetea, Umesh Yadav finished the game and gaveIndia the series by rattling the stumps withsuccessive balls.

First Kudankulam reactormight miss March date

Chennai: With protests bringingwork to a standstill, atomic powerplant operator Nuclear PowerCorporation of India Ltd's hopesof commissioning the first 1,000MW unit at theKudankulam Nu-clear Power Project (KNPP) inTamil Nadu by the extendeddeadline of March 2012 may notfructify, an official said.

Nor is it possible to acceleratethe completion of the secondunit so that it can be commis-sioned first, they say.

"Only basic maintenance workis going on at the first reactor.Once the agitation against theplant ends we have to mobilisethe workforce who have left Ku-dankulam. The systems have tobe inspected and we have to besatisfied that everything is ingood condition," an NPCIL offi-cial said. The first reactor wasto have been commissioned inDecember.

For the past month, KNPP of-ficials have not gone to their of-fice on the advice of the districtadministration, fearing violenceby the agitators.

According to NPCIL, 99.2 per-cent work has been completedat the first unit and 94.6 percentin the second unit.

"It is not possible to acceleratework on second reactor so thatit could be commissioned earlierthan the first reactor as con-struction work has come to astandstill," he added.

Officials said the stagnantcoolant water in the reactor ves-sel and the pipelines have to bedrained and inspected for anydamage.

NPCIL is building two 1,000MW nuclear power reactors withRussian technology and equip-ment in Kudankulam, around650 km from here.

Villagers fear for their livesand safety in case of any nuclear

accident and the long-term im-pact it would have on the popu-lation.

Their agitation has put a stopto the project work, thereby de-laying the commissioning of thefirst unit by several months.

In order to allay the fears ofthe public, the central and thestate government have formedtwo separate committees. Thestate panel includes represen-tatives of the People's MovementAgainst Nuclear Energy (PMANE)that is spearheading the protestagainst KNPP and other agitators.

The central committee is hold-ing its deliberations at Kudanku-lam for the second day today. Ameeting with the state committeeis slated on Friday.

"The members are experts intheir own fields and some haveheaded or are heading organi-sations and naturally they ask

probing questions. It is not achallenge for us to provide an-swers to the technical questions,"a NPCIL official said.

The central committee has tosatisfy the state panel memberswho in turn have to spread themessage to the public at largein Idinthakarai village, the epi-centre of the anti-KNPP protest.

NPCIL officials hope thingswould normalise in 15 days andthey would be able to attend of-fice but that depends on the sup-port they receive from the stategovernment.

At Idinthakarai near Kudanku-lam, the relay protest fast hasentered its 31st day.

"Around 300 people from Vi-ayapathi village are participatingin the fast," M. Pushparayan,convener of the Coastal People'sFederation and member of thestate committee said.

Pak Ambassador to USHaqqani offers to quit

Islamabad: Pakistan's Ambas-sador to the US Husain Haqqanihas reportedly written a letter toPresident Asif Ali Zardari andhas offered to resign from hispost.

"According to sources, Am-bassador Husain Haqqani is be-lieved to have sent a letter toPresident Asif Ali Zardari, offeringto resign if he is found guilty ofwriting a letter which hasstrained relations between thepresident and the military es-tablishment," leading Pakistaninews website Dawn.com has re-ported.

In his letter, he has reportedlysaid, "I serve at the pleasure ofthe president of Pakistan andthe Prime Minster of Pakistan.And I have communicated mywillingness to resign or partici-pate in any inquiry that brings

to an end the vilification againstPakistan currently being under-taken by some elements in thecountry...Since I was appointedambassador in 2008, some peo-ple have consistently vilified meas having been involved in un-dermining the Pakistani armedforces, which I have never done."

Reports of his offer to resigncome a day after Pakistan's po-litical circles were abuzz withspeculation about his recall inthe wake of media reports onsecret communications betweenPresident Asif Ali Zardari andthe American administration toavert a possible military takeover.

Haqqani has been at the centreof a controversy following Pak-istani-American businessmanMansoor Ijaz's revelations aboutZardari's purported efforts toreach out to the Obama admin-

istration to prevent army chiefGen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani fromstaging a coup in the wake ofthe US raid that killed al-Qaedachief Osama bin Laden.

Ijaz has claimed that he wasasked to contact the US admin-istration by a senior Pakistaniofficial. Though Ijaz did not iden-tify this official, the media andanalysts have speculated thatHaqqani was involved in thematter without providing anyproof to back up their claims.

Following a meeting of theruling Pakistan People's Party'stop leaders chaired by Zardarion Monday, an official statementsaid a decision had been madeto call Haqqani to Islamabad to"brief the country's leadershipon a host of issues impactingon Pakistan-US relations and therecent developments".

Team India todonate cricket

kits to CAB Kolkata: With India eyeing

their 75th Test victory on homesoil in the second Test againstWest Indies, Mahendra SinghDhoni's men have plans to do-nate their kits to the upcomingmuseum of the Cricket Associa-tion of Bengal (CAB).

"The Indians are in line oftheir 75th Test win at home. Itwill mark a significant occasion.The team members have agreedto give their kits to be displayedat the museum coming up nextyear," a CAB official said.

During the ongoing secondTest, the CAB had put out a col-lection of 22 photographs at theentrance of the stadium to depictthe story of the stadium since

1926, when an MCC team hadtoured Kolkata.

The photographs will also beput up in the upcoming cricketmuseum at the historic EdenGardens.

Among the notable photo-graph is that of former Indiacaptain Nari Contractor. Thereare a few photos whose memoriesare still fresh - the 1987 WorldCup final that Allan Border'sAustralia won, the 1993 HeroCup final in which Anil Kumblebowled his magical spell.

And not to forget, the 2001Australia Test made memorableby VVS Laxman and RahulDravid's super human knocks,also finds a place.

Gilani says MFNdecision on India

not yet taken

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Min-ister Yousuf Raza Gilani onWednesday said a decision is"yet to be taken" on the issue ofgranting Most Favoured Nation-status to India and that the cab-inet had authorised the Com-merce Ministry to conduct ne-gotiations in this regard.

Responding to points raisedby lawmakers in the NationalAssembly or lower house of par-liament, Gilani said the peopleand parliament would be takeninto confidence on the issue ofgiving MFN-status to India.

"The cabinet unanimouslygave permission to the CommerceMinistry that they should go andnegotiate with India (on normal-ising trade relations)," he said.

Noting that the Commerce Sec-retaries of the two countries had

met in New Delhi, he added thata decision is yet to be made onthe MFN issue.

"Let the results come and we'llapprise the whole country andtake the parliament into confi-dence. How can we take theminto confidence prior to any de-cision? This decision is yet to betaken," he said.

Information Minister FirdousAwan had recently announcedat a news conference that thecabinet had unanimously ap-proved the granting of MFN-sta-tus to India. Gilani and otherleaders subsequently clarifiedthat the cabinet had approvedthe normalisation of trade rela-tions with India, and this processwould eventually lead to thegranting of MFN-status.

Gangadhar Pujar

Mumbai: The Keenan andReuben murder case has led toa nation-wide demand for strin-gent punishment to the guilty.But in jail, the four accused haveshown no remorse or guilt whenconfronted by the victims' closefriends. "After identifying him,he told me: 'Phir milenge. Weshall meet again.' I told him Iwould," said Solanki, still unableto come to terms with the brushhe had with Rana.

The police had called in eye-witnesses at the Arthur Road jailfor an identification parade. OnWednesday, 11 eyewitnesses in-dividually identified the fourmen accused of murder.

Priyanka Fernandes, anothereyewitness and Keenan's girl-friend, said, "When I went insideto identify them, there was noguilt at all on the four of them.They looked at us without anyregret. In their eyes, there wasno guilt or remorse at all."

"They were looking and star-ing at us..standing upright as ifthey have done something good,"she said.

Solanki said they had to iden-tify the four accused from a line-up of 28 people. They looked abit different as one of them nowhad a beard and another waswearing a cap but he managedto identify all of them since hehad seen them commit the crime,he said.

Keenan Santos and ReubenFernandez were killed in Mumbaiwhile fighting eve-teasers. 17men have been arrested includ-ing four who were booked oncharges of murder and eve-teas-ing.

Keenan was 24; Reuben was29. On the night of October 20,they had dinner with a group offriends at an Andheri restaurant.When they stepped out, Ranabegan harassing the girls withthem, including Priyanka.

Keenan and Reuben got into anargument with them. Insulted,Rana vowed to avenge the hu-miliation and returned with agroup of 20 supporters. Keenanand Reuben were then stabbedrepeatedly with sickles andknives. Keenan died that night;Reuben passed away in hospitala few days later. The deaths ofKeenan and Reuben shocked In-dia partly because witnesses likePriyanka have pointed out thatbystanders did not try to helpthem.

Keenan's family and friendshave been demanding quick jus-tice and zero tolerance to sexualharassment. The case has beensent to a fast-track court. UjjwalNikam has been appointed asthe public prosecutor. Even thepolitical class has supported themove to make sexual harassmentoffences non-bailable. However,it will take a lot more to changethe attitude of the first respon-ders, the public who hopefullydon't just stand and stare butact and speak up.

Mumbai murder:Accused laughedwhen identified

Attack onAdvanifoiled

New Delhi: The security forceson Thursday foiled an attack onBJP veteran LK Advani, who iscurrently touring Chandigarh aspart of his Jan Chetna Yatra tohighlight the issue of corruption.

As per reports, the unidentifiedattacker has been held by thesecurity forces on guard to protectAdvani and is being taken forfurther questioning.

The BJP leader is safe and isexpected to leave shortly for Am-bala.

Ahead of commencing his JanChetna Yatra from October 11,the intelligence agencies haveissued a warning of a possibleterror threat to BJP leader LKAdvani.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB)warned of major lapses in thesecurity cover provided to Ad-vani.

The IB report said that therewere major departures from theset norms in the liaison betweenthe organisers and the securityestablishments and expressedits concerns over the way peoplewere being allowed to meet Ad-vani without proper checks andfrisking.

The former deputy prime min-ister is on a 38-day-long nation-wide yatra to highlight the issueof corruption.

UP cannotbe divided

in haste:Advani

Chandigarh: Bharatiya JanataP a r t y( B J P )l e a d e rLal Kr-i s h n aAdvanihas giv-en a par-t i a lthumbsup to theproposalof UttarPradeshC h i e f

Minister Mayawati to split UttarPradesh into four new states. Hesaid a state reorganisation exer-cise could not be done in hastebased on just a Chief Minister'sassessment. Advani, however,promised that the BJP wouldlook into the matter if it came topower.

"Breaking up states and cre-ating new states should not bedone in haste, but if we are everin power again, we will definitelytake steps in this direction," saidAdvani. Advani made the state-ment while addressing a publicrally in Chandigarh. Meanwhile,members of the group ShiromaniAkali Dal Mann protested andwaved black flags during hisrally. It is the 36th day of his JanChetna Yatra against corruptionand he is slated to head to Am-bala from Chandigarh.

India wantsIranʼs energy,but cautious,says report

Washington: India's reluctanceto go ahead with multi-billionIPI gas pipeline and some othersteps being taken by it recentlyindicate that New Delhi is nowcautious about any expansionof energy relations with Tehran,a Congressional report has said.

Noting that India has generallybeen considered friendly towardIran and unlikely to impose anynational sanctions on Tehran,the Congressional Research Serv-ice (CRS) in its latest report onIran informed US lawmakers thatmany experts were surprisedwhen India's central bank, inlate December 2010, announcedthat it would no longer use a re-gional body, the Asian ClearingUnion, to handle transactionswith Iran.

The Asian Clearing Union,based in Tehran, was set up inthe 1970s by the United Nationsto ease commerce among Asiannations. There have been alle-gations in recent years that Iranmight be using the ClearingUnion to handle transactions soas to avoid limitations imposedby European and other banks.

The Indian move, CRS said,complicated India's purchasesof about 350,000-400,000 barrelsper day of Iranian oil, and Indianofficials subsequently undertooknegotiations with Iran to findan alternate mechanism to clearIndian payments for that oil andother Iranian goods. "Still, theIndian move - and the reporteddifficulty in agreeing to a re-placement payments mechanism- appeared to signal that Indiawas taking steps to join US/Eu-ropean-led efforts to shut Iranout of the international financialsystem,” it said.

Ambika Soni

Indian captain M S Dhoni

Keenan

Reuben