Evening dailyBangaloreBeat

Man stabs grandpa for money P3

Vol. 1, Issue 299 n Monday n June 20, 2011 No. of pages: 8 n Price: Rs 2

Alicia’s inspiration is her mom P8

MIRJIPROMISES

FIR AT YOURDOORSTEP

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: It is a common grouse against thepolice that they do notregister the complaintsfiled by the people. Butin an initiative that isaimed at helping theforce get rid of this im-age, city police com-missioner JyothiPrakash Mirji has saidcopies of the first in-formation report, orFIR, would be deliv-ered at the doorsteps ofthe complainant with-in an hour of filing the complaint.

Among the initiatives planned by Mirji isthe police force trying to help the BBMP con-tain the menace of electronic waste in the city.The Palike has told the police that CDs havebeen the biggest problem while managingwaste. This has led to the police crackingdown on roadside CD sellers across the city.Mirji told Bangalore Beat that he has givenstrict instructions to his men to stop theseroadside makeshift CD selling points.

Full report on page 3

SC seeks Ramdevtrustʼs say on police swoop

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issuednotice to Ramdev-runBharat SwabhimanTrust, saying it wants tohear its version overthe eviction of the yogaguru and his support-ers from Ramlila Maid-an.

A vacation benchcomprising justices PSathasivam and A KPatnaik issued noticeto Acharya VirendraVikram, the president of the Delhi chapter ofBharat Swabhiman Trust. The apex court saidit wants to hear the other side as a chanceshould be given to them to represent theirstand. Full report on page 4

Sensex tumbles by

over 550 pts Mumbai: The BSE benchmark sensexplunged by over 556 points in intra-day tradetoday on widespread panic selling by fundsas well as retail investors, triggered by spec-ulation over the revision of a tax treaty withMauritius. The 30-share Bombay Stock Ex-change barometer, which has lost over 438points in the past three trading sessions,plunged by 556.15, or nearly 3 per cent, totrade at 17,314.38 points at 1115 hours, withtechnology, realty and metal stocks recordingsteep falls. The broad-based National StockExchange index Nifty index dipped by 170.50points to 5,195.90 at the same time. P 4

Forests provide 60%resources in cities

Urban patches have been enjoying the fruitsof forests. The central government’s initia-tive at afforestation has been commended bythe United Nations Environment Programme,says L Raghunanda Page 5

Beyond Beat

DPAR Dy SECY VIOLATES RULESJoyce Surendra owns 2 housing societyplots; principal secy serves two notices

Manjunath SharmaBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: There is a saying in Kan-nada: “Like asking thieves to standguard to the treasury”, which holdsgood for this particular incident.

An officer, who is responsiblefor checking and inquiring intothe assets and liabilities of gov-ernment employees, has tried tofool the rules and has bagged tworesidential plots allotted in hername.

Joyce Surendra, who is thedeputy secretary in the depart-ment of personnel administrativereforms, has been a member ofthe Secretariat House Building Co-operative Society.

While filling up the form, she hasmentioned in column 9 that shewill not join any other housingand cooperative society, which is

mandatory for all applicants.Through the society, she has got a60x40 site allotted at Srigandhada Kaval, near Kamak-shipalya on Magadi Road, in 2006.

But she was already a member ofthe Ministry of TelecommunicationEmployees Cooperative Society.She again got herself a site at Shiv-arama Karantha Nagara in Yesh-wanthpur Hobli in the city.

The 60x40 dimension site bearing the number 1352 was registered in her name on July 12,2004.

In a circular issued in 1999, thegovernment secretariat had saidthat it had come to the notice of thegovernment that a lot of officers had owned more than one site in vi-olation of the society and otherrules.

Continued on page 3

CET rank holders after their felicitation by medical education miniter S A Ramadass in the city thismorning.

CET rank holders felicitiatedGangadhar Pujar

The documents proving DPAR deputy secretary Joyce Surendra’smembership with the secretariat cooperative society.

Lehar Singhshould come outwith truth: HDK

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: “Now, only half truthagainst chief minister B S Yed-dyurappa and his governmenthas come out. On June 27, muchmore will be revealed,” said JD(S)state president H D Ku-maraswamy, who has acceptedthe challenge thrown at him bythe chief minister to make apromise before Lord Man-juatheshwara at Dharmasthala.

Reacting to the media aboutCM’s man Friday Lehar Singhmeeting him in New Delhi andhis phone calls, Kumaraswamysaid, “Singh had earlier said thathe had not met me. But again yes-terday, he has said he had metme as an MLA. He has to clarifywhether he had met me or notand for what purpose.”

“I have accepted Yeddyurap-pa’s challenge and am going toDharmasthala to make a promise.I will reveal the truth before thelord. The truth is that Yeddyu-rappa tried to establish contactwith me through his trusted lieu-tenant and MLC Lehar Singh,” hesaid.

“The issue is between I and thechief minister. I don’t under-

stand why I should get my fam-ily dragged into this. I am goingto Dharmasthala alone and willnot be accompanied by others,”he said.

“Panditharadhya swamiji ofSonehalli Math should under-stand that the JD(S) has alwaysworked for the people, whetherwe are in power or not. I have be-lief in the people and work forthem. The “politics of promise”is being pursued by Yeddyurap-pa and Shobha Karandlaje (en-ergy minister). I pray that theswamiji should not mistake mystatements, because the chiefminister himself has invited mefor the meeting. I have only ac-cepted the challenge that is all,”Kumaraswamy said.

SC REJECTSKaniʼs bail plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Courttoday rejected the bail pleas ofDMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaig-nar TV managing directorSharad Kumar, who are in jail inconnection with the 2G spec-trum case.However, an apexcourt bench of Justice G.S.Singhvi and Justice B.S. Chauhansaid that Kanimozhi can movefor bail after the framing ofcharges by the trial court that ishearing the 2G case.

The court said that Kanimozhican invoke Section 437 of the

Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC),which provides for a considera-tion in grant of bail to a womanaccused under the age of 60.

The court said that the trialcourt will consider her petitionwithout being influenced by therejection of her earlier bail plea.

The trial court of CBI SpecialJudge O.P. Saini is in recess tillJuly 4, after which it will re-sume hearing on the chargesheetfiled by the Central Bureau of In-vestigation (CBI) in the 2G case.IANS

WHO ISLEHARSINGH:

HDKBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Who is LeharSingh? The political circles areraising questions about hisproximity to chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and whetherhe is a prominent worker of the RSS, BJP or the SanghParivar.

Lehar Singh has come tothe limelight after JD(S) statepresident H D Kumaraswamyalleged that Yeddyurappa triedto contact him through Singh,who is also an MLC.

The former chief ministersays Yeddyurappa wanted toconvince him to stop exposingscams against him and theBJP government.

Lehar Singh has grown closeto Yeddyurappa after the latterbecame the chief minister. Thepowerful behind- the-screenperson has contacts with someof the top leaders of the BJP atthe Centre too.

He has been the front forsome of the business negotia-tions, BJP sources said.

Basically a businessmanfrom the Marwari community,he moves around with the topindustrialists across the coun-try. His association with thechief minister raises doubtsabout the relationship betweenthe two, some politicians said.Families of the two also havesome business dealings, thesources added.

“Everybody in the BJPknows about Lehar Singh, hisdealings and proximity to thechief minister. But they have allkept quiet,” Kumaraswamysaid.

“Why should the chief minister be so close to thisperson? What are Lehar Singh’sservices to the chief minister?Is he doing public service as anMLC or whether he has beennominated for the position forsome other purpose?” heasked.

Joint draftingcommittee on Lokpal meets

New Delhi: The joint draftingcommittee on Lokpal Bill methere today amid hardening ofstand by the government and civ-il society on the contentious issueof bringing under its ambit thePrime Minister, judiciary andthe conduct of MPs inside Par-liament.

Except for civil society memberJustice Santosh Hegde, all mem-bers of the ten member commit-tee attended the meeting at Fi-nance Minister Pranab Mukher-jee’s office in North Block.

The meeting comes in thebackdrop of a shrill exchange ofwords between both sides oncontentious issues and govern-ment making it clear that it wasopposed to bringing the PrimeMinister under the ambit of theLokpal. The government is alsoopposed to bringing judiciaryand the conduct of MPs insideParliament. The civil society sideled by Anna Hazare, however,wants these under the anti- cor-ruption ombudsman.

“We will try to settle the issuesas much as possible. There are sixissues on which we have differ-ences of opinion,” Hegde, whodid not attend today’s meeting,said. During the last meeting onJune 15, government nominees

had asked the civil society mem-bers to present their draft whilethey will present theirs as therewas no forward movement. Itwas also decided that a draftbill will go to the Cabinet alongwith points of divergence.

In an indication that the Congresshad hardened its stand, party chiefSonia Gandhi sent a terse letter toHazare indicating her unhappinesswith him for making his letter pub-lic and said she has already madeher views “clear” on issues raisedhim. Today’s deliberations could bethe last meeting of the joint com-mittee and another round will beheld tomorrow only if the discus-sions for an anti-corruption watch-dog are not concluded. .

Senior ministers held discus-sions last evening to fine-tune thegovernment’s strategy.

Denying any split in civil so-ciety, Hegde said he was not at-tending today’s meeting becauseof prior commitments but wouldattend tomorrow’s meeting.

After his comments on Haz-are’s fast and inability to take partin the meeting in Delhi fuelledspeculation of differences amongcivil society representatives,Hegde said he will be present onJune 21 to show there is ‘no rift’.

Continued on page 3

ANOTHER WOMAN RAPED, BURNT TO DEATH IN UP

Etah (UP): A 35-year-old woman wasallegedly gangraped and later set afireby three youths in Nidhauli area of the district, the third case of rape in UttarPradesh in the last two days.

The woman, a widow, was allegedlyraped and set on fire by three youthsbelonging to an influential family inSabhapur village when she was alonein her house along with her two minorchildren, police said.

Though no FIR had been lodged yet,Senior superintendent of police Lax-mi Narain said a written complaint has

been lodged by the victim’s brother-in-law Anil in this connection.

However, station house officer ofNidhauli Narendra Pal Singh ruled outrape and murder and said the womanhad committed suicide.

The victim’s brother Virseh said,“Five persons first tried to strangulatemy sister and then raped her. Since mysister recognised them, they dousedher with kerosene and set her ablaze.When she was nearly dead, they leftthe spot.”

Continued on page 3

Dalit girl killedby two youthsGonda (UP): A 16-year-old Dalit girlwas killed allegedly by three personsin Karnilganj area, police said here to-day.

Body of Asha, who went missing onJune 17, was recovered from a field inKaitholi village late last evening, Su-perintendent of Police Durga CharanMishra said.

CITY 2Monday, June 20, 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

Air Force medicalassistants pass out

Bangalore: A batch of 53 med-ical assistants passed out in animpressive passing out paradeheld at the Medical TrainingCentre, Air Force. The paradewas reviewed by Air CommodoreK K Tripathy, deputy principalmedical officer, HeadquartersTraining Command, IAF Banga-lore.

Group Captain K K Pooniwala,chief instructor of the centre,rendered the course report.

Medical Training Centre, lo-cated at Cambridge Road nearCommand Hospital, Air ForceBangalore, conducts ab-initioand in-service courses for med-ical assistants of the IAF. Thecentre also conducts para med-ical diploma courses in eightspecialities in conjunction withCommand Hospital, Air Force,under Para Medical Board, Kar-nataka.

The training imparted at this

Centre prepares the Medical As-sistants to render emergency androutine healthcare to personneland families of armed forces andto provide life-saving medicareto civilians in natural calamitiesand mass disasters.

The reviewing officer calledupon the passing out air warriorsthat the compassion, empathyand caring nature plays a veryimportant role in their profession.“Patients come to you with a lotof expectations and you shouldnot do anything to belie theirtrust and confidence. Servicewith smile should be your mottodespite your personal discom-fort,” he said.

Leading aircraftman GopalJadhav won the trophies for thebest all rounder and best in trade,while the best in ground servicetraining trophy was bagged byleading aircraftman C H Sridha-ran Naidu.

Packaged food for anganwadichildren has high zinc level: NGO

L RaghunandaBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Pre-packaged foods suppliedin anganwadis as part of the mid-daymeal programme is found to be sub-stan-dard and could contain high levels ofzinc and its derivatives, hampering thegrowth and health of children, says GNagasimha Rao, coordinator, Child RightsTrust.

The findings came out during a survey of the quality of food and thefunctioning of the mid-day programmesin the state.

“It was shocking that factory-producedpackaged food had harmful zinc quantitiesof 6.25 and 9.54 mg per 100 gm, as againstthe permissible limit of 5 mg per 100 gmprescribed by the Food Adulteration Act,1955. It is intolerable that packaged foodis being supplied to school-going chil-dren,” he said.

Though he did not have figures, Raosaid, “A number of children who con-sumed packaged food have fallen ill.Many children were down with com-plaints of stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea

and headache.” But the schools in Bangalore, Ramana-

gara, Dharwad, Bellary, Chikmagalur,Bagalkote, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada,

Uttar Kannada, Tumkur, Udupi, Hassan,Gulbarga and Shimoga have rejected thedemand for supplying pre-packaged foodruing mid-day meals.

The schools have vowed to supplyfreshly-cooked foods for children, hesaid. In the entire episode, the governmenthas not made an effort to see what kindof packaged foods are being supplied toanganwadi children, most of whom aretoddlers.

Various organisations like the Con-cerned for Working Children, South IndianCell for Human Rights Education andMonitoring (SIC-HREM) and Child RightsTrust have sent a report on these excessesto the Lokayukta.

They have also sent a request to chiefminister B S Yeddyurappa to ask theministry concerned to look into the issue.“The women and child welfare depart-ment ministry was slow to act. We haveraised this issue at several forums.

Children should get right quality food.We want an answer from the ministrywhat went wrong. Those who don’t wantto work for the welfare of the childrenshould resign and go,” he said.

1 AM SORRY MATTHE BANNI PRITHSONA (U)Premkumar, Karishma Inox (Malleswaram) (11 am, 6.50pm) PVR Cinemas (1.10 pm, 6.40pm)

OSCAR (A)Ashok Kumar, Priyanka Balaji(Tavarekre) (11 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30pm) Gurusiddheshwara (Thippasan-dra (11 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Siddheshwara (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Tribhuvan (10.30 am,1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm PVR Cinemas (5.40pm) Vaishnavi (11.30 am, 12.30,6.30, 9.30 pm)Venkateshwara(Avalahalli (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30pm) Vishal (11,2.30,6,91.5pm)

BETTADA JEEVA (U)Suchendra Prasad, Lakshmi Hegde Inox (Malleswaram) (1.45 pm) PVRCinemas (7 pm)

JOHNY MERA NAAM PREETHIMERA KAAM (U)Duniya Vijay, RamyaGanesh (11 am, 2, 6, 9 pm) Inox (JPNagar) (1.20 pm) Inox (Malleswaram)(1 pm, 6.40 pm) Krishna (KR Puram)(11 am, 2, 6, 9 pm) Maruthi (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Nalanda(11 am, 2, 5.30, 8.30 pm) Nandini

(11 am, 2, 5, 8 pm) PVR Cinemas(10.15 am, 1.15, 6.30 pm) Rajara-jeshwari (11 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30pm) Siddhalingeshwara (11 am,2.30, 6, 9.15 pm) Srinvasa (Gow-danapalya) (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Triveni (10.30am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm) Vijayalakshmi (Garu-dacharpalya) (11 am, 2.30 pm)Veeresh (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm)

RAAJADAANI (A) Yash, Sathya, Raviteja, Sandeep Anupama (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Gopal (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm) Gopalan Cinemas(Mysore Road) (11.50 am) Kamakya(10.45 am, 1.45, 5.45, 8.45 pm) Mo-han (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15 pm)Navrang (10.30 am, 10 pm) Parimala(11 am, 2, 5.45, 8.45 pm)

DUSHTA (U/A)Pankaj, Surabhi, Shivaraj, KS RavikumarKapali (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Ullas (10.45 am, 1.45, 5.45,8.45 pm) Uma (10.15 am) Veeresh(10.30 am,1.30 pm)

KOOL (U) Ganesh, Aamna ShariffNartaki (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm)

GREEN LANTERN (U/A)Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Pe-ter Sarsgaard“3D” Fame Lido (10 am, 1.55, 5.50,9.55 pm) Fun Cinemas (10.30 am,5.20, 10 pm) Rex (1.05, 5.30, 9.55pm)“2D” Fame Forum Value Mall (2.45,7.35, 9.45 pm)

THE RESIDENT (A)

Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Mor-gan, Lee PaceInox (Magrath Road) (5.20 pm) PVRCinemas (10 am, 12.25, 5.50, 10pm)

X-MEN FIRST CLASS (U/A)James McAvoy, Michael Fassben-der, Bill Milner.Cinemax (Belandur Junction) (10am, 12.30, 3, 7.30, 10 pm) FameForum Value Mall (11 am, 1.40, 4.20,7, 9.40 pm) Fame Lido (6.55 pm,9.35 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (11.40 am, 2, 5.40,7.20, 10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas(Mysore Road) (12.15 pm, 5.15, 9.45pm) Innovative Multiplex (11.30 am,1.45, 5.45, 10 pm) Inox (Jayanagar)(12.10 pm, 4.25, 9.40 pm) Inox (JPNagar (12 pm, 7.15 pm) Inox (MagrathRoad) (10.50 am, 1, 4.20, 6.55, 9.30pm) Inox (Malleswaram) (10 am,2.45, 4.45, 9.40 pm) Fame ForumValue Mall (12 am, 2, 4.40, 7, 9.40pm) Fame Lido (10 am, 2.35, 7.20,9.45 pm) Fun Cinemas (10.15 am,1.30, 6.45, 9.40 pm).

Movie ListingsKANNADA

ENGLISH

BHEJA FRY 2 (U/A)Vinay Pathak, Minissha Lamba,Amole GupteApsara (6.30 pm, 9.30pm) Anand(3.30,6.30,9.30pm) Cauvery (6,9.30-pm) Fame Forum Value Mall (12.50pm, 2.40, 5, 9.30 pm) Fame Lido(10.55 am, 4.20, 6.55, 9.30 pm)HMT Cinemas (Jalahalli) (1.30 pm,7.15 pm) Inox (Jayanagar) (10 am,2.40, 5.10, 9.30 pm) Inox (JP Nagar)(10 am, 2, 7, 9.35 pm) Inox (MagrathRoad) (10 am, 2.50, 7, 9.40 pm)Inox (Malleswaram) (10.25 am,12.20, 7, 9.30 pm) PVR Cinemas(7.30 pm) Parimala (5.30 pm, 8.30pm) Vaibhav (6.30 pm, 9.30 pm)

BHINDI BAAZAAR INC (A)Kay Kay Menon, Prashant Nara-yanan, Piyush MishraFame Forum Value Mall (4.50 pm)Fame Lido (2.45 pm) Inox (Jayanagar)(12.40 pm) Inox (JP Nagar) (4.45

pm) Inox (Magrath Road) (12.30pm) PVR Cinemas (12.45 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (5.10 pm) Vinayaka(DJ Halli) (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15 pm)

BIN BULAYE BARAATHI (U/A)Aftab Shivdasani, Priyanka Kot-hari, Om PuriPVR Cinemas (12 pm)

CYCLE KICK (U)K. P. Nishan Nanaiah, Sunny Hin-dujaInox (JP Nagar) (12.30 pm)

SHAITAN (A)Kalki Koechlin, Arshad WarsiCinemax (Belandur Junction) (10.15am, 2.45, 5.30, 9.45 pm) Fame Lido(5 pm) Fun Cinemas (10.40 am,4.10, 10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10 am, 5 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (Mysore Road)(10 am, 2.45, 10 pm) Inox (JP Nagar)(7.20 pm).

HINDI

TELUGU

BADRINATH (A) Allu Arjun, Tamanaah BhatiaAnjan (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Chandrodaya (11.30 am, 2.30,6.30, 9.30 pm) Pallavi (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Manasa (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Murali(Gokula) (11 am, 2.30, 6,30, 9.30pm) Mukunda (11 am, 2, 5.30,8.30 pm) PVR Cinemas (1 pm,3.45, 6.30, 9.15 pm) Renuka-

prasanna (2.30 pm, 6,9.15 pm)Radha krishna (11.30 am, 2.45,6.15, 9.30 pm) Tirumala (10 am,1.45, 5.30, 8.45 pm) Vinayaka(Marathahalli) (6.30, 9.30 pm)Vaishnavi (11.30 am, 12.30, 6.30,9.30 pm)

MAARO Nitin, Meera Chopra, AbbasTulasi (Marathahalli) (11.30 am,2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)

ALWAYS KABHI KABHI (U/A)Ali Fazal, Giselle Monteiro, Zoa Morani

Fame Forum Value Mall (3.15 pm,7.20, 9.40 pm) Fame Lido (10 am,12.15, 5, 9.45 pm ) Fun Cinemas(1.10 , 9 pm) HMT Cinemas (Jala-halli) (10.45 am, 4.15 pm) Inox(Jayanagar) (2.55 pm, 9.45 pm)

Inox (JP Nagar) (12.20 pm, 5, 9.45pm) Inox (Magrath Road) (10 am,2.45, 7.35 pm) Inox (Malleswaram)(10 am, 2.25, 7.25, 9.45 pm) PVRCinemas (10.30 am, 2.35, 5, 9.35pm) Rex (10.45 am, 3.10 pm)

HCG opens first sicklecell clinic in state

Bangalore: HealthCare GlobalEnterprises Ltd. (HCG), SouthAsia?s largest cancer care net-work, has opened the first sicklecell clinic in Karnataka.

HCG chairman Dr B S AjaiKu-mar said in a statement, “Thissickle cell clinic is the first inKarnataka. It will offer patientcare, education, screening andcounselling for afflicted patientsand families. This initiative will

help in the early detection of thedisease & treatment.”

HCG’s consultant paediatricHematologist Intezar Mehdi said,“Sickle Cell is the first moleculardisease known to the mankindfor over 100 years now. 50% ofthe world sickle cell populationresides in India. In India, thedisease is especially present inGujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Ma-harashtra, Chattisgarh, Orissa,

Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnata-ka. Approximately 3.2 millionpeople belong to these high-riskcommunities.”

Stressing on the awareness,he said, “Awareness is the key,because it is a genetic disorder.Genetic counselling, premaritalscreening, antenatal diagnosis,newborn screening would be thekey for effective management ofthe sickle cell disease.” PTI

RBIʼs policy

worriesFKCCI

Bangalore: The 25 basis pointrise in repo and reverse reporates by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI), bringing these to7.50 per cent and 6.50 per cent,respectively, is harsh and willintensify the cash crunch facedby the industry, says FKCCI pres-ident N S Srinivasa Murthy.

In a press release, he says thatwith this hike, home and autoloans could become costlieragain. This tenth rate increasewill further slow car and homesales, faltering industrial growthand rising borrowing costs.

Controlling inflation in a moresustainable manner also requiresgreater supply side measures.Inflation is no doubt very high,but when it is partly being drivenby structural supply-side con-straints, as well as the globalprice increase, fiscal policy isjust as important to check infla-tion, he felt.

FKCCI is worried that withgrowth slowing down, as admit-ted by the RBI and as is estimatedby IMF, World Bank and OECD,employment targets will not beachieved and this could generategreater social pressure.

Murthy finally hoped thatthere will be no more increasesin the interest rates by the RBI.

Employmentpolicy on

anvil: KhargeBangalore: The union govern-ment is in the process of formu-lating a national employmentpolicy, labour and employmentminister M Mallikarjun Khargehas said.

The policy is being preparedby the Department of Planningand cabinet approval would besought once it is ready, the min-ister said.

Kharge also said the RashtriyaSwasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)scheme is proposed to be ex-tended in a phased manner toworkers in hazardous mines suchas slate and mica, as well asbeedi workers, autorickshaw andtaxi drivers, ragpickers, domesticworkers and rickshaw pullers.

As of the last month-end, RSBYcards have been issued to 2.35crore families under below-pover-ty-line (BPL), he said.

The scheme offers cashlesshealth insurance cover of Rs30,000 to a BPL family of five tomeet hospital expenses in treat-ment from any public or privatehospital empanelled under thescheme throughout the country,officials said.

The International Labour Or-ganisation (ILO) has picked upthe scheme as one of the socialsecurity scheme of the world forpublication, they said.

Kharge was speaking at a newsconference just after flying backfrom Geneva, where he attendedthe 100th International LabourConference, Meeting of Ministersof Labour of the Non-AlignedMovement (NAM), IBSA (IndiaBrazil South Africa) meeting andG-20 meeting of Labour and Em-ployment Ministers.

He also said the MahatmaGandhi National Rural Employ-ment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)came in for praise at the Genevaconference and meetings.

Meanwhile, Kharge said if theKarnataka government providedup to five acres land in Bangalore,his ministry is ready to invest Rs100 crore to Rs 150 crore to es-tablish buildings for housing re-gional and zonal offices of Prov-ident Fund and Employees StateInsurance Corporation. PTI

SME hublaunched

Bangalore: UCO Bank haslaunched its new initiative, Smalland Medium Enterprises (SME)Hub for providing credit to thesector. The bank has decided toset up the hub at major centresto cater to the credit requirementof Rs 25 lakh to Rs 25 crore toentrepreneurs, its CMD ArunKaul said.

Forest minister C H Vi-jayashankar inaugurated the huband distributed sanction lettersto a number of small and medi-um entrepreneurs. PTI

Sucker for biryani?Head to this festival

L RaghunandaBangalore Beat Bureau

Are you thinking of savour-ing different types ofbiryani in the city? Then

head to the first HyderabadBiryani Festival that is on tillJune 29 at Jayanagar.

The festival has been organ-ised by Little India Restauranton 9th Main Road in Jayanagarfourth block.“This is the firsttime that a biryani festival ofthis magnitude been organised.We wanted to host such a festivalas Bangalore is a cosmopolitancity,” said Little Restaurant man-aging director Vamshi Sandeep.

“Different varieties of veg-etable, fish, egg, mutton andchicken biriyanis are on offer.There are 10 types of biryanis,including machhi, HyderabadiMurgh Dum, Nizam ghosht, mut-tai, subz, jhinaga, Ulavacharuchicken, Ulavacharu mutton andprawn biryani,” he said.

“We are following the samerecipe that was perfected by theHyderabad nizams. We havehired cooks from Hyderabad,”he claimed. “This is the first timethat one gets to taste so manydifferent types of biryanis at oneplace,” he said. The vegetablebiryanis start from Rs 99, whilenon-veg ones from Rs 189. Thereis also a family pack that can beconsumed by a group of five andcosts Rs 279, he said.

There is a huge rush duringthe weekends, he said.

Customers enjoying the fare at the Biryani Festival.

Actor Dhanush inaugurates the Biryani Festival.

HCG chairman B S Ajaikumar and consultant pediatrichematologist Dr Intezar Mehdi inaugurate the sickle cell

clinic.

Leading aircraftman Gopal Jadhav receives best all roundertrophy from Air Commodore K K Tripathy at Medical Train-

ing Centre, Bangalore.

CITYMonday, June 20, 2011 3

Mirji promises FIR at your doorstep in 1 hour

Manjunath SharmaBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: It is a common grouseagainst the police that they do not reg-ister the complaints filed by the people.But in an initiative that is aimed athelping the force get rid of this image,city police commissioner Jyothi PrakashMirji has said copies of the first infor-mation report, or FIR, would be deliveredat the doorsteps of the complainantwithin an hour of filing the complaint.

Among the initiatives planned byMirji is the police force trying to helpthe BBMP contain the menace of elec-tronic waste in the city. The Palike hastold the police that CDs have been thebiggest problem while managing waste.This has led to the police cracking downon roadside CD sellers across the city.

Mirji told Bangalore Beat that he hasgiven strict instructions to his men tostop these roadside makeshift CD sellingpoints.

He said the deputy commissionersof police have been given instructionsto hold neighbourhood meetings oncea month. Assistant commissioners ofpolice have been asked to ensure thatall officers are available to the publicbetween 3 pm and 5 pm to hear publicgrievances. The status of the complainthas to be given to the complainantevery week, he said.

Each assistant commissioner of policedivision would have a sub-inspectorlevel officer has to take care of theelderly, children, women and down-trodden.

He will reach out to NGOs and coor-dinate on calls received through various

helplines. He will be responsible forplanning, arranging discussions withsocial activists, retired officers, eldersand other persons concerned aboutsafe saving, safe transport, secure living,ensuring peaceful neighbourhood etc.

The police force from now on willalso arrange lectures from moulvis,swamijis and other religious leaders indifferent areas, especially sensitive ones,to maintain peace and harmony.

Lectures will be held in educationalinstitutions for students on respectingthe elders, maintaining discipline, fight-ing drug menace, proper use of internetand identifying criminal behavior, thepolice commissioner said.

“I am also thinking of holding griev-ances and review meetings once inthree months at the offices of deputycommissioners of police,” Mirji said.

CITY EVENTSGeneralKarnataka Sanskrit Univer-sity: Releaseof Research Jour-nal of the University by Gov-ernor H R Bhardwaj, BanquetHall, Raj Bhavan, 5.30 pm.

Rotary Club: Talk on Banga-lore by Chandra Mouli, RotaryHouse of Friendship, No 20,Lavelle Road, 7 pm.

M S Ramaiah Hospital: ‘Freeartificial limb camp’, M S Ra-maiah Rotary Artificial LimbCentre, M S Ramaiah HospitalCampus, MSR Nagar, 2 pm.

CulturalNatya Niketan: 34th anniver-sary programme, Bharata-natyam, ADA Ranga Mandira,JC Road, 6:30 pm.

Sankula Theatre Institute:‘Ranga Jagruthi’ theatreawareness programme, KVSubbanna Aptha Ranga-mandira Teachers’ Colony, Ku-maraswamy Layout, 6:30 pm.

ReligiousSri Shankara Seva Trust: Lec-ture on Bhagvathpada Stho-tras by G Shivaram Agnihotri.At Srirrama Ashrama, Girina-gar, near Vivekananda Gar-dens, 6.15 pm.

ExhibitionsBreakdown of Shorter Con-cerns: Monday, June 20th,2011. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.Galleryske, No 2, Berlie Street,Langford Town In her solo'Breakdown of Shorter Con-cerns', Mariam Suhail putsforward her current preoccu-pation with drawing and therepercussions of this preoc-cupation in other media. With-in the medium of drawing,she explores a stream of non-linear concerns employing theinterplay of text and image.

Contemporary Collections @Gallerie Third Eye: Monday,June 20th, 2011. 10 a.m. to 6p.m. Gallerie Third Eye, No A-1 Epsilon Office Block, YemalurMain Road, Yemalur An exhi-bition of contemporary Indianpaintings by Ram Onkar, Arpi-ta Kar, Bhaskar Chowdhuryand Mini Arora, curated byJasmine Khanna.

Negotiated Positions @Gallery Blue Spade: Monday,June 20th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 7p.m. Gallery Blue Spade, TheChancery, 10/6 Lavelle Road,An exhibition of contemporaryart by Babu Eshwar Prasad,V G Venugopal, Sunoj D,Suchender P, Gurusidappa GE, Murali Cheeroth, ChandraBhattacharjee, Prasanta Sahu,Farhad Hussain and RajibaLochan Pani.

Holy Cow! @ Galerie De'Arts:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 11a.m. to 7 p.m. Galerie De'Arts,Barton Centre, 11th Floor, MGRoad, P.Gnana, well knownfor creating and sculpting con-ceptual installations, is ex-hibiting his series titled 'HolyCow!', portraying the sacredcow through his aestheticviewpoint.

Group Show @ Sumukha:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 10:30a.m. to 6 p.m. Gallery Sum-ukha, No 24/10, BTS DepotRoad, Wilson Garden An ex-hibition of sculptures, paint-ings and photographs by tentalented artists.

Basuki 2011 @ Kynkyny: Mon-day, June 20th, 2011. 10 a.m.to 7 p.m. Kynkyny Art, No148 Embassy Square, InfantryRoad, Basuki Dasgupta’smixed media murals presenta contemporary folk tableauthat blurs the lines betweenpastoral and modern, abstractand rustic. Her works are ondisplya at Kynkyny.

Group Show @ Renaissance:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 11a.m. to 7 p.m. RenaissanceGallerie, No 13 Westminster,Cunningham Road, Paintingsby Anantha Kumar, KomalParmar, Shyamala Ramanandand Asha Shenoy.

Eating OutPower Lunch: Monday, June20th, 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.

Lunch Buffet: Monday, June20th, 2011. noon to 3 p.m.Chamomile, 100 Feet Road,Above Bombay Store, Indi-ranagar Enjoy a wholesomelunch with salads, spreads,rolls, flavoured lavache, livepasta station, main course,desserts, unlimited mocktailsor a drink/ beer/ house wineof your choice. All at Rs.449+ taxes.

Executive Lunch: Monday,June 20th, 2011. 1 p.m. to 3

p.m. Touché, 100 feet Road,Indiranagar, Take your pickfrom a variety of cuisines fora quick executive lunch.Choose from American, Ital-ian, Pan Asian and Continen-tal. Enjoy the five course mealat just Rs. 349

Themed Dinner Buffets: Mon-day, June 20th, 2011. noon 24@ 43, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 43Hosur Road, Electronic CityAdd some variety to the week.Try a new cuisine everyday.Woks and more on Mondays,Mediterranean Paradise onTuesdays, Barbeque Nights onWednesdays and Taste of Indiaon Thursdays.

Weekday Lunch Buffet @ManU: Monday, June 20th,2011. noon to 3 p.m. Man-chester United Restaurant Bar,No 1 KIRA Layout, Hosur MainRoad, Koramangala The Man-chester United Restaurant andBar launches a weekday lunchbuffet priced at Rs 350 plustaxes right from starters todesserts.

'The Kari Culture' at BlueGinger: Monday, June 20th,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 Spice Trail: Monday, June20th, 2011. 8 p.m. to 11:30p.m. Le Jardin, The Oberoi,No 37/39, MG Road, A culinaryjourney with the indigenousspices of India. The creationsare inspired by the flavoursand aromas of the spices.

City Bar's Coffee Combo:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 4p.m. to 7 p.m. City Bar Karaoke+ Grill, UB City, No 24, VittalMallya Road, City Bar intro-duces a new combo that in-cludes coffee along with arange of sandwiches. The com-bo is priced at Rs. 125.

Awadhi Food Festival @ CafeMozaic: Monday, June 20th,2011. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. CafeMozaic, Vivanta by Taj - MGRoad, No 41/3, MG Road, Theglory of the Nawabs in thecity of Bangalore. An array ofgourmet delicacies like KakoriKebab, Galawati Kebab, GostBurrah, Murg Tikka Mirza Has-nu, Bong Zafrani Nehari, DumKi Machli, Gosht Biryani, andPaya Potli Shorba feature atthe buffet dinner.

Monsoon Menu @ Shiro:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 12:30p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Shiro, UBCity, No 24, Vittal Mallya Road,Shiro introduces 'Flavour ofthe Month – An ExtraordinaryCulinary Journey'. On the spe-cial monsoon menu are deli-cacies from Malay, Thai, Chi-nese and Korean cuisines.

Crab Indulgence @ RimNaam: Monday, June 20th,2011. 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. RimNaam, The Oberoi, No 37/39,MG Road, Rim Naam cele-brates the crab season withspecial Thai-style dishes likeChilli Crab, Crab Karpaw,Prawn and Crab Cakes, CrabKaeng Phed and more.

Kebab and Wine Festival:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 12:30p.m. to 11 p.m. Masala Klub,The Taj West End, 23 RaceCource Road , A kebab andwine festival that consists offive or seven sumptuous kebabtasting courses paired withcarefully selected internationalwines.

From Napa to Naples: Mon-day, June 20th, 2011. 12:30 p.m.to 11:30 p.m. Latitude, Vivantaby Taj - Whitefield, ITPB, NearBig Bazaar, Whitefield Dinerscan travel around Italy viahand-rolled pizzas topped withflavours from across the land,accompanied by a glass ofwine.

Burger-Binging MonsoonMenu @ Mocha: Monday,June 20th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 11p.m. Mocha, Lavelle Road,Mocha introduces a specialmenu for the monsoons. Onit are special burgers like theMexican Burger, the AnimalBurger and the Cold Cut andCheese Burger.

NightlifeMonday Nights with DJ Im-dad: Monday, June 20th, 2011.7 p.m. Pebble, No 3 PalaceGround, Ramana MahashiRoad, Sadashivanagar Kickstart your week with DJ Im-dad's sets of uplifting houseand more.

Thai & Mongolian Night:Monday, June 20th, 2011. 8p.m. Fusion Lounge, No 185Deena Plaza, Brigade Road,DJ Paresh plays a set of Thaiand Mongolian tunes.

Home and transport minister R Ashok and Adichunchanagir Math Vijayanagar branch swamiji Sowmyanatha declarethe Kempegowda celebrations open at Chandra Layout this morning.

Kempegowda celebrations

New police commissioner on a major drive to improve police forceʼs image

ACPs havebeen asked toensure that all

officers areavailable to thepublic between3 pm and 5 pm

to hear publicgrievances.

Status of thecomplaint hasto be given to

the complainant

every week

Man stabs grandpa in fight over moneyManjunath Sharma

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: An elderly man was stabbed byhis grandson at Thavarekere last night.

Veera Narasimhaiah (76) is from Dasacommunity and his main profession is beg-ging, which the tradition of the community.He lives along with his wife Dhanalakshmiand their third son Narayana.

One of his grandsons, Venkatesh, is atenth standard dropout and had joined aprivate company for a while. He had quithis job few months ago and was living fromthe doles given by his father, who is theeldest son of Narasimhaiah.

The two families live in different houses,but in the same compound. His father askedVenkatesh to at least pursue the professionof asking alms as it was the family tradition,but he refused. He got into a series of badhabits and was depending on his parentsfor money. On Sunday night, he asked forsome pocket money from Dhanalakshmi,but she said Narasimhaiah had opened acooperative bank account and all the moneyhad been deposited into the account. Sheexplained to him that they had not keptany cash in the house.

An argument ensued and Narasimihaiahtoo got involved. In a fit of rage, Venkateshrushed to the kitchen, brought a knife andstabbed the elderly man five times in thestomach.

Dhanalakshmi, who was watching the

whole scene in horror, started screamingfor help. An alarmed Venkatesh ran awayfrom home. But the police arrested himlater from Herohalli village off Magadi road.Narasimhaiah has been admitted to VictoriaHospital, where his condition is critical.

DPAR dy secy violates rulesContinued from page 1

It states that according to Rule17(1)(d) of the Karnataka StateCooperative Societies Act, if aperson is a member of one hous-ing cooperative society, he maynot be eligible to become a mem-ber of another housing cooper-ative society for the same pur-pose. Secondly, to become amember of a housing cooperativesociety, the person should testifythat he nor his family membersown a site/house in the juris-diction of the said society. Themodel by-laws of all housing co-operative societies contain thisprovision, it stated.

Asked what action has beentaken against the deputy secre-tary, DPAR principal secretarySanaulla said a second noticehad been served on her on May22 of this year. “I have notchecked yet whether she hasreplied to the notice. We will

take action once I go throughthe reply she has filed,” headded. Secretariat employeeshave complained about the mis-deeds of the officer to the high-er-ups. The employees, who didnot wish to be named for thefear of reprisal, said no actionhad yet been taken against theguilty senior officer. “In the city,majority of the people have beenstruggling to get even a 20x30square feet plot. But here is anofficer, who is sitting on a goldmine. She has managed to dothat only by violating the rules,”they added. “We cannot openlycome out and make the allega-tion. Since she is a senior officer,she could transfer us,” theyadded. Also, four legislators ledby, Prakash, have filed a com-plaint with chief minister B SYeddyurappa and home ministerR Ashok regarding the misdeedscommitted by Joyce Surendra.

Veera Narasimhaiah being treated at Victoria Hospital.

Manjunath Shrma

Another womanraped in UP

Continued from page 1This is the third rape case re-ported in the state in the lasttwo days. A dalit girl was stabbedin the eyes allegedly by twoyouths when she resisted a rapeattempt in Kannauj on Saturday.

In another incident, an 18-year-old dalit girl was allegedlyraped by a youth in Ranipur Be-ladi village in Basti.

Satti Singh allegedly rapedthe girl at gun point on Saturdaynight. The rising number of rapecases has triggered protests byopposition parties in the state.

The Congress has slammed

the Mayawati government overthe law and order situation inthe state saying it had lost itsmoral right to continue aftersuch incidents. “Mayawatishould be ashamed. People ex-pected more from a woman chiefminister but she doesn’t have aword of sympathy,” state Con-gress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshihad said. But an unfazedMayawati government said thereis no breakdown of law and orderin the state and stern and promptaction was being taken againstthe culprits. PTI

Joint draft panel onLokpal bill meets

Continued from page 1While the government has vir-tually ruled out bringing the postof the prime minister under theambit of the anti-corruptionwatchdog, the Congress coregroup has favoured conveningan all-party meeting on the issueof inclusion of the PM. Govern-

ment sources indicated that themeeting is expected to be con-vened soon after June 30 bywhich time the work of the JointCommittee to draft the bill willbe over. Senior ministers havebeen maintaining there was di-vergence of views on the primeminister’s inclusion. PTI

Sale deed copy. Registration certificate. Acknowledgement for stamp duty paid.

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.

NEWSMonday, June 20, 2011 4

Kuruhinashetty Math swamiji Neelakanta Pattadarya inaugurates the KuruhinashettyCredit Cooperative on KR Road this morning.

Co‑op society inaugurated

Corporator Geetha Srinivasa Reddy distributes free uniforms to schoolchildren of theGovernment Primary School at Dhoopanahalli this morning.

Free uniforms distributed

Justic Arvind takes charge on the Karnataka High Court premises in the presence of chiefjustice J S Khehar Singh this morning.

Justice takes charge S Radhakrishna

S Radhakrishna ISRO prepares first nationalinventory of wetlands

Ahmedabad: A detailed na-tional inventory of wetlands hasbeen prepared on the basis ofsatellite imagery by ISRO, high-lighting areas of critical ecolog-ical significance and those whichare facing extreme threat due todevelopmental activities.

This is for the first time inIndia that the city-based SpaceApplication Centre (SAC), a partof ISRO, has prepared such aninventory and atlas of all thewetlands that are existing in thecountry.

“Wetlands are the most pro-ductive ecosystems which playcrucial role in hydrological cyclelike helping in storm and floodcontrol, water supply, providingfood, fibre and raw materialsand in recreational benefits,”said SAC director Dr Ranganth

R Navalgund.They also support lakhs of

migratory birds coming fromcolder regions of the world insummers, apart from diverse lo-cal flora and fauna.

“However, the very existenceof these unique resources is un-der threat due to developmentalactivities and population pres-sure.

This calls for long-term plan-ning for preservation and con-servation of these resources,”Navalgund said.

“Creating an updated and ac-curate database that supportsresearch and decision makingis the first step towards this. SACtook up this challenging taskunder the project National Wet-land Inventory and Assessment(NWIA) sponsored by Ministry

of Environment and Forests,”he said.

“Satellite data acquired duringpre and post-monsoon seasonsare used for inventory of wetand dry season hydrology ofwetlands. They have been cate-gorised in 19 classes and mappedfollowing standard map projec-tion. The map outputs includestatus of water spread, aquaticvegetation and turbidity,” Naval-gund said. .

As per the finding of SACstudy, excluding rivers, wetlandscover some 10 million hectares,or a little over three percent ofthe country’s geographical area.Of this 10 million hectares, reser-voirs account for about 2.5 mil-lion hectares, inter-tidal mudflats for 2.4 million hectares,tanks for 1.3 million hectares,

lakes/ponds for 0.70 millionhectares, mangroves for some0.47 million hectares and coralsfor about 0.14 million hectares.

The main objective of the proj-ect were wetland mapping andinventory at 1:50,000 scale res-olution by analysis of digitalsatellite data of post and pre-monsoon seasons, creation ofdigital database in GIS environ-ment and preparation of state-wise wetland atlases.

State wise distribution of wet-lands showed that Lakshadweephas 96.12 per cent of geographicarea under wetlands followedby Andamand and Nicobar Is-lands (18.52 per cent), Damandand Diu (18.46 per cent) and Gu-jarat (17.56 per cent) have highestextent of wetlands.

Puducherry (12.88 per cent),

West Bengal (12.48 per cent),Assam (9.74 per cent) are wetlandrich states.

States like Mizoram, Haryana,Delhi Sikkim, Nagaland andMeghalaya the extents of wetlandis less than 1.5 per cent.

The inventory said, India haslong coast line and large areaunder coastal wetlands like in-ter-tidal, mudflat, lagoon andcreek.

The inventory has alsomapped high altitude lakes lyingabove 3,000 meter elevation.The Indian Himalayas cover al-most 18 per cent of India?s landsurface and is spread over sixstates, which have 4703 lakesabove 3,000 meter elevation.

This includes 1996 small lakes.The total area of these lakes is1.26 lakh hectares. PTI

India to take up Headley revelations with Pak

New Delhi: India will raise theissue of Lashkar-e-Taiba opera-tive David Coleman Headley’srevelations about the terror linksof Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) whenthe foreign secretaries of the twocountries meet in IslamabadThursday, external affairs min-ister S M Krishna said today.

“Whatever Headley has re-vealed under oath in a court oflaw in Chicago, would be relevantfor the government of India totake up with Pakistan and thentry to get Pakistan’s response tothat. Well, that certainly will betaken up with Pakistan,” Krishnatold reporters here before leavingfor Myanmar on a three-day vis-it.

Headley, who has pleadedguilty to his role in the Mumbaiterror attack, claimed that theISI and LeT separately gave himidentical instructions to scoutMumbai locations to be attacked.

Foreign secretary NirupamaRao will be in Islamabad June23-25 for talks with her Pakistanicounterpart Salman Bashir.

They are expected to discussmany issues, including the drag-ging dispute over Kashmir.

Krishna also expressed frus-tration at the pace of trial againstsome masterminds of 26/11 Mum-bai terror attacks in Pakistan.

“Our trial (against sole sur-viving terrorist Ajmal Kasab) hasconcluded and appeal is pendingbefore the Supreme Court. And

virtually, their trial has not evenstarted. I think examination ofwitness has begun yet. It is asad commentary on what is hap-pening there,” he said.

He added that India has beenconstantly raising this point withPakistan. “Whatever occasionwe get, we always convey that itis necessary that the trial shouldbe hastened. The process shouldbecome quicker and the peoplewho are involved in the heinouscrime against Mumbai and Indiashould be brought to justice,”the foreign minister said. Krishnaadded that India will also keep“pursuing” the extradition of In-dian nationals taking refuge inPakistan, including don DawoodIbrahim.

MV Suezʼs crew expectedto reach Karachi in 3 days

Islamabad/Karachi: The MVSuez’s 22-member crew, includ-ing six Indians, who were freedby Somali pirates after the pay-ment of ransom, are expectedto reach Karachi in a naval vesselby Wednesday or Thursday, aPakistan Navy official said today.“The crew members have beentransferred to the PNS Babar andthey are expected to reach Pak-istan either late on June 22 orearly on June 23,” the navy offi-cial, who did not want to benamed, told PTI.

The crew, including the Indi-ans, four Pakistanis, 11 Egyptiansand a Sri Lankan, was taken onboard the Pakistani warship yes-terday after the MV Suez ran outof fuel and started sinking.

The crew will be transferredfrom PNS Babar to another war-ship, PNS Zulfiqar, for the voyageto Pakistan.

This is being done as PNSBabar is currently deployed fora counter-piracy operation in theGulf of Aden and cannot sail toPakistan.

The Pakistan Navy launchedthe Operation Umeed-e-Nuh(New Hope) to rescue the crewafter MV Suez captain WasiHasan requested the evacuationof his crew to save their lives.

It could not immediately beascertained what arrangementswere being made by Pakistaniauthorities to repatriate the for-eign members of the Suez’s crewafter their arrival in Karachi.

It is also not known if the for-eign crew members possess theirpassports and valid travel doc-uments or if these had beenstolen by the pirates.

Officials of the Indian HighCommission in Islamabad saidthey had not yet been contacted

by Pakistani authorities aboutmaking any arrangements forthe Indian crew members.

However, Pakistani humanrights activist Ansar Burney hassaid that when the sailors willreach Karachi, they will be sendback to their respective coun-tries.

“I hope this will be a goodgift to India from my side. I loveyou all Indians, I love you allPakistanis,” said Burney, whohas played a pivotal role in se-curing the release of the crew.

The crew of the MV Suez wasreleased last week after Burneycollected USD 2.1 million thatwas paid as ransom to the pi-rates.

The Egyptian-owned merchantvessel was in a “considerablydeteriorated operational and ma-terial state” after being held bythe pirates for about 10 months,

the Pakistan Navy said.The crew “was weak and suf-

fering from various ailments”,the Pakistan Navy said.

On June 17, the ship’s fuel wasexhausted while it was 100 nau-tical miles short of the Omaniport of Salalah.

Though a tug was arrangedfor towing the vessel to Salalah,the tug too developed a defectand the towing plan was aban-doned.

India and Pakistan have trad-ed angry charges over an incidentinvolving their warships thatwere sent to help the MV Suez.

Pakistan alleged that the In-dian warship INS Godavaribrushed against the PNS Babar.

India denied the allegationand said the PNS Babar was re-sponsible for the incident as itcarried out dangerous manoeu-vres. PTI

Maneka:Half of black

money is Congʼs

Bareilly: BJP MP Maneka Gandhihas alleged that half of India’sblack money stashed in Swissbanks belonged to ministers,leaders and supporters of theCongress party.

The BJP leader, while talkingto reporters last night, also al-leged that the Congress had keptCBI in its locker and used theagency as and when it required.

She also slammed the Con-gress party’s attitude towardsBaba Ramdev and social activistAnna Hazare, calling it “undig-nified.”

“As money of Congress leadersis stashed in Swiss banks, there-fore the party wants to curb everyvoice being raised against it,”Maneka alleged.

Terming Anna Hazare’s pro-posed agitation from August 16as a “struggle for economic free-dom,” she said that whateverher party decided at the all-partymeet on Lokpal bill, likely to beheld next month, would be ac-ceptable. PTI

Death toll inmystery disease

mounts to 26Muzaffarpur (Bihar): With re-ports of four fresh deaths, thedeath toll in the recent spell of amystery disease today mountedto 26 in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur dis-trict, officials said.

While three children died atKejriwal hospital, another diedat Sri Krishna Medical Collegeand Hospital in Muzaffarpur dur-ing the past 24 hours, they said.

Around 30 others were stillbeing treated at the two hospitals,sources said.

At least 22 children below theage of six years have died and35 others hospitalised due to thedisease during the past one weekin Bihar’s Muzaffarpur districttill yesterday, officials said.

The state health departmenthas sent a team of experts fromRegional Malaria Research In-stitute (RMRI) in Patna to thedistrict.

The team had already collect-ed the blood samples and re-turned to the state capital, Prin-cipal secretary (health), AmarjeetSinha said.

The blood samples were sentto a specialised laboratory inPune for examination, he said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Nitish Kumar has urged UnionHealth Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to dispatch a centralteam of medical experts to di-agnose the disease and work outthe prevention immediately. PTI

Indian‑American doc couple killed in crashWashington: An Indian-Ameri-can doctor couple from New Jer-sey were killed when their sin-gle-engine plane crashed intoan Ohio cornfield and burst intoflames shortly after takeoff Sun-day.

Viswanathan Rajaraman, the54-year-old pilot, and Mary J.Sundaram, his 50-year-old wifeand the only passenger, wereattempting to take off from Rick-enbacker International Airportin Columbus when the incidenthappened just before 9 a.m.,n.j.com reported citing Ohio StateHighway Patrol.

Rajaraman, a leading New Jer-sey neurosurgeon, and his wifewere returning to Essex CountyAirport in Fairfield, which theyflew out of on Friday afternoon,according to the aviation website

F l i g h tAware. Itwas notclear whythey were inOhio for theweekend.

T h ecause of Sunday’s plane crashis still under investigation. TheFederal Aviation Administrationsent investigators to the scene,but the National TransportationSafety Board will be heading upthe probe, nj.com said citingsaid Tony Molinaro, an FAAspokesman.

Rajaraman, one of the topdoctors in New Jersey, special-ising in brain and spine cancer,was co-chief of neuro-oncologyat Hackensack University Med-ical Centre’s cancer centre. Sun-

daram was reportedly also aphysician, but stopped practicingto raise the couple’s daughter,Kaavya Viswanathan, now 24.

Originally from Chennai, thefamily moved around the world.They spent some time in theUnited Kingdom before movingto the United States in the mid-1990s.

Kaavya Viswanathan madenews in 2006 as a Harvard un-dergraduate when she publishedthe novel “How Opal Mehta GotKissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,”a story she wrote in high school.The book made the New YorkTimes bestsellers list.

But she was accused of pla-giarism shortly after publicationand copies of her book werepulled from stores and destroyedby her publisher. IANS

Sailors willfly backhome

Karachi: The 22 crew membersof Egyptian merchant vessel MVSuez, including six Indians, willreach here before being sentback to their respective countries,Pakistani human rights activistAnsar Burney said yesterday.

Burney, who has played a piv-otal role in securing the releaseof the crew hoped the return ofthe Indian sailors would a “gift”to India.

Besides the 6 Indians, thereare 5 Pakistanis and a Sri Lankanamong the crew, which was thisafternoon transferred to Pakistaniwarship PNS Babar after the ves-sel started sinking. “I hope thiswill be a good gift to India frommy side. I love you all Indians, Ilove you all Pakistanis,” Burneysaid. “When they will reach here,from the next flight I will sendthem back to their respectivecountries,” he told CNN IBN.

MV Suez was on its way tothe Omani port of Salalah whenit ran out of fuel and begantaking on water in stormy weath-er. On getting a call for assistance,Pakistan Navy chief Admiral No-man Bashir ordered the vessel’screw to be shifted to the frigatePNS Babar, which was escortingit.

Burney played a crucial rolein arranging for ransom and ne-gotiating with the Somali pirateswho held the ship for 10 months.PTI

SC seeks Ramdev trustʼssay on police swoop

New Delhi: The Supreme Courttoday issued notice to Ramdev-run Bharat Swabhiman Trust,saying it wants to hear its versionover the eviction of the yogaguru and his supporters fromRamlila Maidan.

A vacation bench comprisingjustices P Sathasivam and A KPatnaik issued notice to AcharyaVirendra Vikram, the presidentof the Delhi chapter of BharatSwabhiman Trust.

The apex court said it wantsto hear the other side as a chanceshould be given to them to rep-resent their stand.

The court told senior advocate

U U Lalit, who appeared for DelhiPolice, that police had made sev-eral allegations against Ramdevand his followers and the otherside should also be heard.

The Supreme Court posted thematter for July 11 for next hear-ing.

In an affidavit, the city policehad told the court that no forcewas used against the protestersbut only eight teargas shells hadbeen lobbed to disperseRamdev’s supporters after theyturned violent and started peltingstones.

Justifying its action, policehad said the authorities had

given permission to Ramdev touse the ground only to hold ayoga camp.

It had said that instead ofholding a yoga camp, Ramdevwas “instigating” the crowd dur-ing his fast on the issue of cor-ruption and black money at theground where more than 20,000people had gathered.

Delhi Police had filed the af-fidavit following a direction ofthe apex court which had takensuo motu note of the police crack-down and had directed it to ex-plain why it resorted to such ac-tion against Ramdev and hissupporters. PTI

Panic selling at Indian equities markets

Mumbai: Indian equities marketstoday started the trading weekon a very negative note as reportsof India resuming talks on a taxtreaty with Mauritius triggereda panic selling.

Over the weekend, a seniorCentral Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) official was quoted ashaving said that India and Mau-ritius officials are expected tomeet soon to work out the detailsof the new Double TaxationAvoidance Agreement.

India receives over 40 percentof its foreign direct investmentthrough companies and fundsregistered in Mauritius.

The tax department is seeking

to tax gains made by companiesregistered in Mauritius and op-erating in India.

The 30-scrip sensitive index(Sensex) of the Bombay StockExchange (BSE), which openedat 18,060.17 points and slippedto an intra-day low of 17,341.38points, crept up to rule at17,546.04 points -- down 324.49points or 1.82 percent from itsprevious close at 17,870.53 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Niftyof the National Stock Exchangewas also trading lower at 5,281.7points, down 1.56 percent.

Broader markets were in thered as well, with the BSE midcapindex down 2.99 percent and the

BSE smallcap index down 3.11percent.

The market breadth was neg-ative, with 394 stocks advancing,2,067 on the decline and 81 re-maining unchanged.

There was only one gainer onthe Sensex: Hero Honda. Losersincluded Reliance Infra, RelianceCommunications, Cipla andNTPC.

Asian markets too were rulinglower.

The Nikkei of the Japanesestock exchange was flat at9,348.78 points, while the HangSeng of the Hong Kong stock ex-change was trading 0.42 percentlower at 21,604.32 points. IANS

Chavan puts the onus on thenCM for allotment of Adarsh landMumbai: Ashok Chavan, who

was the Revenue Minister from1999-2003 when land was allottedto the Adarsh Housing Society,today said that the plot was sanc-tioned by then Chief Ministerand he had no role to play in it.

Without naming VilasraoDeshmukh, Chavan, whostepped down as Chief Ministerlast year following controversyover Adarsh, told the Commis-

sion probing alleged irregularitiesinto the scam that for allotmentof plot for value exceeding Rs 25lakh and plots situated in Pune,Mumbai and suburbs, the deci-sion for allotment is of the CM.

Deshmukh, who filed an affi-davit before Adarsh Commissionon June 17, had put the onus onthe Revenue department and theMumbai Collector saying thatwhile allotting land to Adarsh

Society he had acted on the pro-posal sent by them.

Chavan has been namedamong the 14 accused by CBI inits probe into the scam. He isaccused of recommending 40per cent allotment of flats inAdarsh Society, originally meantfor Kargil war widows, to civil-ians. Chavan is also facing alle-gation that his relatives got flatsin the society.

Countering the allegations,Chavan said, “There was noquestion of my suggestion thatcivilian members be included inthe Society and any suggestionthat this was discussed with meor that I had suggested or directedor decided on the same is falseand denied.”

“I have asked the departmentonly to look into the issue relatingto the allotment of the land.”

Beyond BeatMonday, June 20, 2011

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Whatever the ecosystem serv-ice the cities are benefiting,be it water, rain or clean air,60 percent of it is provided byforests and trees that are

spread out in cities.Millions of people depend on forests for

their livelihood, especially in countrieslike India.“But whatthe countryhas done fore n v i r o n -ment pro-tection, likeafforesta-tion, is com-mendable.This year,especially ithas beenput in theagenda foryear longp r o -grammes.

The United Nations Environmental Pro-gramme (UNEP) appreciates these eco-friendly programmes taken up by thecountry,” said Satinder Bindra, director, di-vision of communications and public in-formation, UNEP.

He commended the steps proposed byUnion environment minister JairamRamesh for improving the areas underforests. “This is a good move. With the in-creased forest area, the carbon footprint ofthe country comes down. There is no oth-er way, but to plant more trees. Treeshave the potential to increase the amountof oxygen in the atmosphere and reducingthe harmful greenhouse gas carbon diox-ide.

Expressing concerns over rapid indus-trialisation of India and China, which arepoised to become economic superpowersin the coming decades, he said, the twomost-populated countries in the worldshould think about environmental concernswhile pursuing their economic growthtargets and industrialisations. Both coun-tries are large emitters of carbon dioxideand the UNEP is monitoring how the twocountries have been addressing these is-sues, he added.

“Any growth in the developing or de-veloped world should not be at the cost ofenvironment. The international communityhas been watching how India and Chinawill be the role model for other countries.Nobody will oppose development, if itcomes within purview of sustainable de-velopment,” he said.

This year, the UNEP held several pro-grammes in association with the Indiangovernment on the occasion of Environ-ment Day on June 5. In the city, they helda programme for disabled children, bytaking them close to the nature. It also heldscreening of ecology-related movies inNew Delhi and an exhibition of environ-mentally friendly tribal products at Megha-laya capital Aizwal.

He said the UNEP would extend any sup-port to the Indian government to promoteenvironment-friendly programmes.

ʻMen professtheir love first,

but womendonʼt trustʼ

London: It’s now official. Men are the first to say“I love you” in a relationship, while women loathto trust those who bring up the subject too early,a new study has found.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technologystudy found that over 60 per cent men profess theirlove early in a relationship, but women actuallyprefer it when males wait to get serious.

It was earlier believed that women were the firstto broach the topic.

But, when the researchers quizzed a largenumber of people about their past and present re-lationships, it revealed the opposite to be true –with the man saying the phrase first 61.5 per centof the time, the Daily Mail reported.

The researchers also found that men beganthinking about professing their love 97.3 days intoa relationship, six weeks earlier than women.

Other experiments revealed that time is the key– men are happiest to hear the three words earlyin a relationship.

But not because they are soppy sorts. Instead,they see the declaration as a sign a woman wantsto go to bed with them. Said later on, they may fearcommitment and head for the hills, the re-searchers found.

Women, however, are loath to trust men whobring up the subject too early, perhaps as they havemore to lose from pregnancy.

But said after they are in a sexual relationship,it brings with it the promise of commitment anda potential father to any child, the researchers said.

Detailing their findings in the Journal of Per-sonality and Social Psychology, the researcherswrote: “If we were to rely on the traditionalstereotype that men are from Mars and women arefrom Venus, we would expect that this act typicallyfalls on the shoulders of women.”

“Indeed, people’s beliefs about the associationbetween women and love support this idea. Yetthese beliefs may not reflect the romantic reality,”they said. “When examining what actually hap-pened in their past and current relationships, it wasmen who were more likely to confess love first.

“This was not simply a function of women wait-ing for their partners to make the first move ? menfirst considered expressing their feelings sixweeks before women did.

“One important reason men may confess loveearlier than women do is because men have astronger desire to motivate early sexual activity inrelationships.” PTI

A cup of tea daily ʻcan stave

off cancerʼLondon: Drinking tea has many health benefits.Now, add one more to the list — taking a cup of the beverage daily can help slash the risk of developing cancer by shrinking tumours, say researchers.

Previous researches have already linked tea’shealthy antioxidant properties and high flavonoidcontent to cutting the risk of some cancers as wellas heart disease.

Now, a new study has shown that black teacould help prevent cancer.

In the study, US researchers analysed the com-pound theaflavin-2 (TF-2), found only in black teaand oolong Chinese tea, which has been shownto kill cancer cells.

The study explored how TF-2 induced cancer celldeath and found that it caused such cells toshrink within three hours. When the researcherslooked at a specific set of genes that kill cancercells, TF-2 was found to activate the genes.

The study also showed that TF-2 can suppressthe activity of a gene that sparks an inflammato-ry enzyme known as COX2 while also reducing theactivity of other inflammatory molecules, the‘Daily Express’ reported.

Tim Bond of the Tea Advisory Panel in the UKsaid: “(The study) has demonstrated that com-ponents of black tea can help shrink and kill can-cer cells and/or result in helping to reduce the num-ber of tumours.

“These findings suggest the need for clinical tri-als to evaluate the effect of black tea and its com-ponents on the risk of cancer in humans. New stud-ies are needed to shed further light on clinical ap-plications of black tea ingredients.” PTI

Urban patches have been enjoying the fruits of forests. The central governmentʼs initiative at afforestation has been commended by the United Nations

Environment Programme, says L Raghunanda

FORESTS PROVIDE 60% RESOURCES IN CITIES

Climate change may slow after 2020London: There could be sharp decline inglobal warming by 2022, as scientists claimto have unearthed evidence that the Sun ispoised to enter its first period of “hiberna-tion” since the Little Ice Age of the early1700s

The Sun goes through a regular cycle ofactivity that peaks every 11 years. During itsmost frenzied periods, huge magneticstorms erupt from the sun while vastsunspots appear on its surface, but duringthe quiet part of the cycle – called the so-lar minimum – eruptions and sunspots arerarer.

If they the new claims are right, globalwarming caused by greenhouse gasescould be less severe over the next fewdecades than predicted, the Daily Mail re-ported. Astronomers believe the Sun shouldnow be building up to its next maximumand that sunspots should be appearing onits surface. But, three separate studies, pre-sented at an astronomy conference inAmerica this week, have found clues thatthe sun is not waking up on schedule.

Dr Frank Hill of America’s National So-lar Observatory showed that a regular jet-stream current within the sun, which wasdue in 2008 and 2009, has failed to start upagain.

Meanwhile, Dr Richard Altrock, of Sacra-mento Peak Observatory, who has beenstudying the sun’s “atmosphere” (the co-rona) for 40 years, found that a tell-talemarch of magnetic activity towards thepoles that heralds the start of the solar max-imum has failed to materialise.

And Matthew Penn, also from the Na-tional Solar Observatory, has shown thatthe strength of the magnetic field insidesunspots has been much weaker than ex-pected and is in steady decline.

If this continues, the Sun will have lostits spots completely by 2022.

The last time the Sun went quiet was dur-ing the “Maunder Minimum” from 1645 to1715, when Europe and America suffered asuccession of bitterly cold winters called the

Little Ice Age.The Thames, which was wider and slow-

er in those days, regularly froze over,while sea ice choked the coasts of England.

Mike Lockwood, professor of space en-vironment physics at the University ofReading, said: “Our research shows thereis an eight per cent chance that we will re-turn to Maunder Minimum conditions overthe next 40 years.

“But, given the observed and predictedrise in greenhouse gases, we find it would do no more than slow global warm-

ing a little.”However, Joanna Haigh, professor of

atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: “In a future grand minimum, the sun might again cool the planet by up to one degree. Greenhouse gases, on the other hand, are expected to raise global temperaturesby between 1.5 degrees Celsius and 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.

“So even if the predictions are correct,global warming will outstrip the Sun’sability to cool.” PTI

Huge mirrors inthe sky to tackleclimate change?

London: Putting huge mirrors in the sky isone of the many measures being consideredby the United Nations to tackle climatechange, a British newspaper said.

Other measures being considered for“geo-engineering” the Earth’s climate in-clude producing lighter coloured cropsand using iron filings in the world’s oceans,‘The Guardian’ reported, citing leaked pa-pers from the UN science body.

The papers, leaked from inside the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, ahead of an expert group meetingin Peru next week, show that 60 scientistswill propose a range of measures like spraying sea water into clouds as reflection measure as well as painting streets and roofs white.

Other proposals likely to be suggested in-

clude burying charcoal, adding lime tooceans and finding different ways to suckgreenhouse gases out of the air and depositheat deep in to oceans, the newspaper said.

However there is worry among these sci-entists that even if their plans do work theycould cause irreparable damage due to un-certainty surrounding the technology. Andthe report also details how both the UN anddeveloped nations are “despairing” overtrying to reach a consensus ahead of talks.

The meeting is expected to provide gov-ernments with a scientific assessment ofgeo-engineering technologies, but is wide-ly expected to be in favour of more researchand possibly largescale experimentationdespite an international moratorium adopt-ed by the UN last year in Japan, the reportsaid. PTI

freeimages.co.uk

European men fight with

Afghan TalibanLondon: European fighters arejoining the Taliban inAfghanistan to avenge the deathof former al-Qaida chief Osamabin Laden, a media report saidyesterday.

According to The Sun, anhour-long video shows pale-skinned groups of non-Afghanfighters defiantly raising theirweapons at a secret base in Hel-mand province.

It boasts of “Muslim youthfrom different races and lan-guages background” who havehad Jihadi training.

The video was the first to bereleased by the so-called CulturalCommission of the Islamic Emi-rate of Afghanistan since thedeath of Osama, the report said.

It is thought the militants in-clude British radicals, supportingreports of increasing English-language communication on theTaliban network.

The video accuses Britishtroops of war crimes and pledgesrevenge. It is thought to representa division between those whowant to continue fighting, andtribal leaders in talks with NATO,according to the report.

There are fears the recruitscould be sent back to their owncountries on terror campaigns.

The report said the film shows10 masked trainees on a pick-up truck. Their bare arms revealpale skins and they all wearwatches. They brandish AK-47assault rifles, machine guns, and

rocket-propelled grenade launch-ers.

Commenting on the imagesSaturday night, Colonel RichardKemp, former head of Britishforces in ¬Afghanistan, said:“The soldiers are all pale skinned,suggesting perhaps that theyhave not been in-country forlong.”

“Most Afghan Taliban don’twear watches. They can’t affordthem. It is certainly credible thatthere are European, perhapseven British, fighters among Tal-iban ranks,” Sun quoted Kempas saying.

British MP Patrick Mercer saidnew Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had always pledged torecruit more Europeans.

“It seems to be happening.This is extremely serious,” thereport said, quoting Mercer. IANS

NEWS & FEATURESMonday, June 20, 2011 6

A model wears a creation by RonaldoFraga during the Sao Paulo FashionWeek Summer 2012 collection in Sao

Paulo, Brazil.

AP-PTI

world briefs

Syrian dissidentsset up ʻnational

councilʼTurkish-Syrian Border: Syrian oppositionactivists have set up a “National Council”to spearhead the battle to oust PresidentBashar al-Assad’s regime, a group of dissi-dents, including their spokesman JamilSaib, announced yesterday.

“We announce the creation of a NationalCouncil to lead the Syrian revolution, com-prising all communities and representativesof national political forces inside and outsideSyria,” they told reporters a near the Turk-ish-Syrian border. The activists urged op-position forces “to cooperate in all citiesand provinces of Syria to achieve the legit-imate goal of overthrowing the regime andbringing it to justice.” Saib said councilmembers included notably Abdallah Tradel Moulahim, one of the organisers of aSyrian opposition gathering in Turkey thismonth, Haitham el-Maleh, Souhair al-Atassiand Aref Dalila, all three based in Syria, aswell as Sheikh Khaled al-Khalaf andMamoun el-Homsi.

“The purpose of this council is to bringtogether opposition forces to support therevolution” and ensure that they are heardby the international community, Saib toldAFP. The council was created “in the nameof Syria’s free revolutionary youth in viewof the crimes the regime perpetrated againstthe oppressed civilian population, whichwas holding peaceful protests,” the groupsaid. AFP

2,000 El Salvador inmates suffer from

food poisoningSan Salvador: At least 2,000 inmates atfive prisons in Central America’s El Salvadorfell ill after having food during the weekend,police said. Most of the inmates at prisonsin La Union, Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel,Usulutan and Jucuapa suffered from vom-iting and diarrhoea, but no one was hospi-talised, prison service spokeswoman IsabelEstrada said. The sick inmates were beingtreated for a bacterial infection. Food sam-ples have been tested to determine whatcaused the poisoning, she said.

El Salvador’s prisons hold 24,631 inmates,representing an overcrowding rate of 300percent, according to figures from thebureau of prisons.

The Central American country’s 21 prisonshave the capacity to hold just 8,300 inmates.IANS

3,700 held in six days in

MexicoMexico City: A total of 3,705 people havebeen arrested in the past six days in a mas-sive anti-crime operation launched in Mex-ico’s 31 states, officials said.

The operation – that deployed 310,000police officers – also resulted in the recoveryof 1,258 stolen vehicles.

It was launched by the National Confer-ence of Governors in support of the gov-ernment’s strategy for fighting drug traf-fickers and other criminal organisations.

“The fundamental purpose was to preventand fight crime, such as vehicle theft, rob-beries of passengers during transport, kid-nappings, recovery of arms and dismantlingof criminal gangs, as well as actions intendedto ensure compliance with judicial orders,”the government said in a statement.

Federal security spokesman AlejandroPoire said: “The fight for the security ofMexicans cannot and should not be a policyof just one of the levels of government. Itseffectiveness in closing off the ability ofcriminals to operate is based on its being apermanent effort within the framework ofa common front.”

A total of 15,270 people died in drug-re-lated violence in Mexico last year. Nearly40,000 have died since President FelipeCalderon took over in December 2006. IANS

500 kg drugsburnt in BeijingBeijing: Nearly 500 kg of drugs were burntby police in the Chinese capital ahead ofthe International Day against Drug Abuseand Illicit Trafficking June 26.

The drugs – weighing 489 kg – wereseized by police in 2008 and 2009, MaGuoyun, deputy director of the narcoticscontrol office was quoted as saying by Xin-hua. IANS

Memory implant may tackle dementiaNew York: Scientists have developed a newbrain implant that can boost memory func-tion in laboratory rats, a breakthroughwhich they say could lead to the develop-ment of neuroprosthetic devices that canhelp tackle dementia, stroke and repairbrain injuries in humans.

Though it’s yet to be tested in humans,the scientists at Wake Forest Universityand the University of Southern Californiasaid their implant demonstrated for thefirst time that a cognitive function can beimproved with a device that mimics thefiring patterns of neurons.

In recent years scientists have devisedimplants that allow paralysed people tomove prosthetic limbs or a computer cursor,using their thoughts to activate the ma-chines.

But in the latest work, the researchersused some of the same techniques to readneural activity, but translated those signals

internally to improve brain function ratherthan to activate outside appendages, theNew York Times reported.

In a series of experiments, the scientiststrained the rats to remember which of twoidentical levers to press to receive water.

The animals first saw one of the twolevers appear and then (after being dis-tracted) had to remember to press the otherlever to be rewarded.

Repeated training on this task teachesrats the general rule, but in each trial theanimal has to remember which lever ap-peared first, to inform the later choice.(More) PTI SKP AKJ

The rats were implanted with a tinyarray of electrodes, which threaded fromthe top of the head down into two neigh-bouring pieces of the hippocampus, astructure that is crucial for forming thesenew memories, in rats as in humans.

The two slivers of tissue, called CA1 and

CA3, communicate with each other as thebrain learns and stores new information.The device transmits the exchanges to acomputer.

To test the effect of the implant, theteam used a drug to shut down the activityof CA1. Without CA1, the rats could not re-member which lever to push to get water.

They remembered the rule – push theopposite lever of the one that first appeared– but not which they had seen first.

The researchers, having recorded theappropriate signal from CA1, simply re-played it, like a melody on a player piano– and the animals remembered. The im-plant acted as if it were CA1, at least forthis one task.

“Turn the switch on, the animal has thememory; turn it off and they don’t: that?sexactly how it worked,” said TheodoreBerger, who led the study, which is pub-lished in The Journal of Neuroengineering

and Rehabilitation.In rats that did not receive the drug,

new memories faded by about 40 per centafter a long distraction period.

But if the researchers amplified the cor-responding CA1 signals using the implant,the memories eroded only about 10 percent in that time.

The authors said that with wireless tech-nology and computer chips, the systemcould be easily fitted for human use, butthere are a number of technical and theo-retical obstacles.

For one, the implant must first record amemory trace before playing it back oramplifying it; in patients with significantmemory problems, those signals may betoo weak.

In addition, human memory is a rich,diverse neural process that involves manyother brain areas, not just CA3 and CA1;implants in this area will be limited. PTI

Olive oil cuts riskof stroke by 41%

London: People who cook witholive oil are 41 percent less likelyto suffer a stroke than those whonever eat it, say experts.

Older people will live longerif they eat lots of it, researcherssay. In countries like France,Greece, Spain and Italy, olive oilis regarded as the classic eatinghabit, Daily Mail said.

However, Britons eat higherlevels of animal or saturated fats,and annually about 120,000 suf-fer strokes, it said. Up to 30 per-cent die within a month.

Olive oil contains omega-6 fatswhich block the body’s responseto inflammation in chronic con-ditions like heart disease andarthritis and also reduces bloodpressure.

A total of 7,625 people aged

65 or more who never had astroke were observed as part ofa study, which took into accountdiet, physical activity, weightand other risk factors.

Olive oil use was classified as‘none’, ‘moderate’ in cooking oras dressing or with bread, and‘intensive’ when used for both,according to the Mail.

“Stroke is so common in olderpeople and olive oil would bean inexpensive and easy way tohelp prevent it,” said CeciliaSamieri, of the National Instituteof Health and Medical Researchin Bordeaux, where the surveywas done.

“A new set of dietary recom-mendations should be issued toprevent stroke in people aged65 and older,” she added. IANS

Teenage obesityraises cancer risk

London: Men who were over-weight or obese as teenagers aremore likely to die from cancerin later life, says a study.

Even losing weight duringmiddle age did not appear tocut the extra risk of developinglung, skin, kidney and prostatecancers, the Daily Mail reportedThursday, citing the study.

It said men who were over-weight as teenagers were 35 per-cent more likely to die from can-cer compared to those who hada healthier weight. The studylooked only at men, but womenare likely to run a similar risk,the Mail said.

British experts studied about20,000 men in the study. Con-ducted by Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) researchers incollaboration with UniversityCollege London and HarvardSchool of Public Health, Boston,the study analysed medicalrecords of 19,593 male graduateswho attended Harvard between1916 and 1950.

Higher body mass index (BMI)- the scoring system of weightrelated to height – had beenlinked to several cancers, butalways in later life, said re-searcher Linsay Gray of MRC.

“It is very interesting that high-er BMI at age 18 actually leadsto a greater risk for cancer thanhigher BMI in middle age,” theMail quoted Gray as saying.

The link between teenagerswho were overweight and latercancer was particularly strongfor lung, skin, oesophageal, kid-ney, bladder, prostate and tes-ticular cancers, the study said.

The amount of smoking by menat 18 or physical activity did notaffect later cancer risk, it said.

However, Gray said it was un-clear how early obesity couldtrigger cancer decades later.

As people with higher BMIshave a larger body size, thereare more cells to potentially un-dergo the cancerous process,she said. IANS

Male fish ʻshun greedy

femalesʼLondon: Telling your partner to watch her weight isnot at all recommended – unless you are a malecleaner fish, who shun greedy females, say researchers.A new study has found that cleaner male fish areaware of their female partner’s size and they oftenpunish those who overeat, the ‘Proceedings of theRoyal Society B’ journal reported in its latest edition.The researchers from the University of Queensland,the Zoological Society of London and University ofNeuchatel have now shown that male fish lose morethan just a meal from their partner’s big appetite –they also risk the female becoming so large that shewill turn into a rival male.Dr Lexa Grutter, the study’s co-author, said that thegroups’ research shows that male cleaner fish areaware of their female partner’s size. “One reasonmales punish cheating females may be to stop herfrom eating too much and then challenging his positionas the dominant male on the reef.” Cleaner fish feed in male-female pairs by removingparasites from larger “client” fish. While providingthis cleaning service, cleaners may get greedy andbite clients rather than sticking to parasites.This cheating by cleaners causes mealtimes to cometo an abrupt end as the disgruntled client fish swimsoff. Females that bite clients receive aggressive pun-ishment from their male partners for such greedy be-haviour. Cleaner fish live in groups led by onedominant male with a harem of up to 16 females. Allcleaner fish are born female and turn into maleswhen they become the biggest fish in their group. Amale cleaner fish usually partners with the biggestfemale fish in the harem for cleaning duties.The research also shows that the male cleaner fishcan distinguish between high and low value mealsand will punish the female severely if she drives off ahigh-value client. Dr Grutter said the female fish willrespond to this punishment by providing better serviceto high value clients in the future. “This is the firstnon-human example of where punishment fits thecrime and results in the offender adjusting their be-haviour according to potential penalties.” PTI

No to export‑orientedpower projects: MaoistsDecision to hugely impact Indian companies

Kathmandu: Nepal’s Maoists havedecided not to allow any hydropow-er project that intends to exportthe generated power, a decisionthat immediately impacts Indiangroup GMR as well as nearly adozen more potential Indian in-vestors.

The announcement was madeby Dharmendra Bastola, Maoistpolitburo member as well as chiefof the Seti-Mahakali Bureau, theregion where GMR’s office and sitecamp for developing the 900MWUpper Karnali hydropower projectwas burnt down last month.TheMaoist leader said the central com-mittee of his party decided at ameeting nearly two months agothat the licence given to GMR toconduct a survey – which is likely to befollowed by a power generation licence– should be scrapped and a fresh con-tract should be renegotiated.

A consortium of GMR Energy Limited,GMR Infrastructure Limited and Ital-ian-Thai Develop-ment Project receivedthe licence in 2008 to developing theUpper Karnali, in which Nepal ElectricityAuthority gets 27 percent free equityand Nepal 12 percent free power. Asper the understanding, the power gen-erated would be sold to India.

However, in a move that ups the ante,the Maoists are now seeking to havethe country’s best hydropower projectsdeveloped domestically with Nepal hold-ing over 51 percent share to ensure the“sovereign right of Nepalis to their nat-ural resources”.

The Maoists are saying the Upper

Karnali contract is against Nepal’s na-tional interests. According to Bastola,it is the cheapest hydropower projectin Nepal and can generate 4100 MW.

“It will cost about NRS 2 to produceper unit of power while we are currentlybuying power from India at NRS 10.72per unit,” he said. “We need NRS 300billion to generate 4100 MW, which canbe easily raised through army funds,the Employees’ Provident Fund or theannual remittance sent by Nepalis eachyear.”

The Maoists say that while almost60 percent homes in Nepal haven’t seenelectricty, it is an act of “selling out” toexport power. Also, with Nepal to berestructured into federal states, the al-location of hydropowers should be putoff till the states have been formed andtheir governments consented.

With Nepal’s cabinet this weekdeciding that the army would bedeployed at the GMR work site inremote Dailekh district to ensuresecurity for the Indian investor,Bastola said the army would notbe able to protect the project asthe people of the area would riseup against it. “We are asking thegovernment to develop it on itsown or if needed, on a public-private-cooperative partnershipin which GMR or other big in-vestors could also participate,”Bastola said. “However, the powergenerated has to be for Nepal.”

When then happens, the Maoistleader said his party would guar-antee the security and profit ofthe foreign investor.

However, now, he said Maoist minis-ters would ask the government to scrapGMR’s licence and the campaign wouldbe taken up by Maoist MPs in parliament.“If this fails, people will get ready fromthe streets to build Upper Karnali,” Bas-tola said.

The Upper Karnali project could de-velop into a bone of contention betweenthe Maoists, who are now the largestparty in the ruling alliance, and PrimeMinister Jhala Nath Khanal’s communistparty.The current Energy Minister, Gokar-na Bista, is from the PM’s party andhas assured GMR of security.

The Upper Karnali issue was alsostrongly raised by Indian external affairsminister S M Krishna during his visit toNepal in April, when GMR’s public hear-ing was attacked and disrupted by theMaoists. IANS

Migraine gene discoveredLos Angeles: US scientistshave discovered threegene variants linked tomigraine, a move thatcould help understandthe cause of severeheadaches.Inheriting any one of thethree gene variants raisesrisk of severe headachesby 10 to 15 percent, theresearchers said in a studypublished online by thejournal Nature Genetics.The three genes are TRPM8, LRP1and PRDM16. The first plays arole in sensitivity to cold andpain, while the second is in-volved in the transmission ofsignals between neurons, Xinhuareported quoting the study Sun-day.“While migraine remains incom-

pletely understood and its un-derlying causes difficult to pindown, identifying these threegenetic variants helps shed lighton the biological roots for thiscommon and debilitating con-dition,” said lead author of thestudy, Daniel Chasman, assistantprofessor in the preventive med-

icine division at Brighamand Women’s Hospital andHarvard Medical School.The researchers based theirfindings on analysis of ge-netic data from more than23,000 women, includingover 5,000 migraine suf-ferers.Although the researcherssaid the findings are en-couraging, they noted thatmore research is needed tobetter understand exactly

how each of these genes is as-sociated with migraine.Migraine headache, an abnor-mality in the response of nervecells to stimuli, is characterizedby recurring severe headaches,which often result in nausea aswell as sensitivity to light andsound. IANS

EU allowsdrug tests

on petsLondon: Concerns have beenraised in Britain over a EuropeanUnion directive allowing drugtests on pets.

The plan could trigger a dra-matic rise in the number of petsused in laboratory experiments,The Sun reported yesterday.British law allows tests only onanimals bred for research.

“Dropping UK standards tomeet the EU lowest common de-nominator is wrong and will beseen by the British public as ahuge betrayal,” the report quoteda spokesman for the People forthe Ethical Treatment of Animalsas saying.

The Euro-pean Com-mission, theexe c u t ivebody of theEU, has giv-en the gov-ernment till2013 toadopt thelegislation.

The directive will allow puppyfarms and cat breeders in Britainto supply animals to laboratoriesabroad.

Ministers are concerned thedirective would weaken Britain’stough animal welfare laws. HomeMinister Lynne Featherstone haslaunched a three-month consul-tation exercise, the report said.

The British Union for the Abo-lition of Vivisection (BUAV) saysthat dogs, such as beagles, canhave substances dripped intotheir eyes or be force-fed chem-icals and drugs. IANS

Hoax bomb threatat US airport

Washington: A bomb threat yes-terday briefly forced a closureat the Ronald Reagan NationalAirport near Washington DC.But authorities later said nothingwas found.

The airport was briefly shutdown for up to 20 minutes whileUS Airways flight 2596 from Day-ton, Ohio, landed and was di-verted to an isolated area, Court-ney Mickalonis, spokeswomanfor the Metropolitan WashingtonAirports Authority was quotedas saying by Xinhua.

Investigators interviewed the44 passengers on board, andbomb experts checked the plane,but nothing was found.

A person who had made a

bomb threat involving the planeat the ticket counter in Dayton,while the plane was in the airnear Washington, was taken intocustody, FBI officials said. IANS

LIFESTYLE 7Monday, June 20, 2011

Actress Zoe Saldana is intalks to join the cast ofmarital drama “Infinite-

ly Polar Bear”.To be produced by J.J.

Abrams and directed by screen-writer Maya Forbes, it will seeSaldana and Mark Ruffalopaired opposite each other.

Described as a darker dra-matic version of the 80s com-edy “Mr. Mom”, the film willseee Ruffalo as a bipolar familyman who loses his job for forc-ing his wife to go back to work.

The film is being co-pro-duced by heiress Megan Elli-son, reports collider.com.

The shooting for “InfinitelyPolar Bear” will start this Sep-tember, before Saldana moveson to “Star Trek 2”.

Toronto to honourRaj Kapoor

The legendary Raj Kapooris looming large overToronto in the Year of In-

dia in Canada.As the Indian International

Film Academy (IIFA) Weekendand Awards come here nextweek, the Toronto InternationalFilm Festival (TIFF) has joinedhands with IIFA to commemo-rate the first superstar of Indiancinema. The main members ofthe Kapoor clan – KarismaKapoor, Randhir Kapoor, RishiKapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, NeetuKapoor and Ranbir Kapoor –will be present as special guestsat the June 26 event to pay trib-utes to Raj Kapoor, TIFF saidFriday. Other Bollywood starsattending the IIFA Awards willalso attend the tribute to the‘Charlie Chaplin of Indian cin-ema’, TIFF said.

Beginning next month, TIFF

will also present ‘Raj Kapoorand The Golden Age of IndianCinema Retrospective’ runninghere from July 1 to August 7.

In a statement Friday, TIFFsaid, “One of the giants of Indiancinema, actor, director, moguland legend Raj Kapoor is syn-onymous with the rise of Bolly-wood.

“The highly influentialKapoor is revered throughoutIndia, the former Soviet world,the Middle East and beyond forthe films he made during theGolden Age of Indian cinema.Running from July 1 to August7, TIFF presents the first majorKapoor retrospective in NorthAmerica in nearly three decades– featuring a number of newlystruck 35mm prints – and anexciting new installation fromacclaimed filmmaker SrinivasKrishna.’’

S inger-actress Selena Gomeznever wants to be a rolemodel because she consid-

ers herself imperfect and describesher job as “superficial”.

“I never really said I want tobe a role model. But then when ithappened I was so down for it,”femalefirst.co.uk quoted Gomezas saying.

“I’m human, I’m not perfect. Imake mistakes all the time, but Iguess my job is to keep those mis-takes to myself, which I’m alreadyfine doing and just try to be thebest I can be for those kids,” sheadded.

The 18-year-old, who is recov-ering from a spell in hospital for“malnourishment” and exhaus-tion, also said: “This is a very su-perficial job. I sit in a chair fortwo hours and get hair and make-up done and talk about myself ininterviews. That’s a very vainthing to do. And I do get caughtup in it sometimes.”

Iʼm not perfect: Selena Gomez

Scottish actor JamesMcAvoy feels 3D moviesare a “waste of money”

and merely a way of makingmore cash out of cinema en-thusiasts.

McAvoy admits he was ec-static when producers of his“X-Men: First Class” project de-cided against a 3D release, be-cause he is convinced the tech-nology is simply a tool to in-crease ticket prices, reports dai-lystar.co.uk.

“Thank god this movie (‘X-Men: First Class’) is not in 3D,which is just an excuse to chargean extra 10 bucks (dollars) atthe theatre. Then in the end,they’re not 3D at all. It’s a wasteof money. The idea of thingscoming out of the screen andmaking you jump out of yourseat are done very well but Ithink it’s a waste of time andmoney and I wouldn’t pay fora ticket to go to one of thosefilms,” said the actor.

He even feels that the movie“Clash of the Titans” was a 3Dfailure as its producers addedthe effects after the film had al-ready been shot.

“I maintain you can’t do agood conversion of a two-hourmovie with high quality in afew weeks like they tried to dowith ‘Clash of the Titans’. I don’tmean to throw that movie underthe bus because my buddy Sam(Worthington) is in it, but Ithink everybody realised thatthis was a point at which peoplehad gone too far,” he added.

3D movies waste ofmoney: James McAvoy

Courtney Love found newlove in Jack Donoghue

Rocker Courtney Lovewent public with hernew boyfriend, Jack

Donoghue, at a charity galain New York.

The Hole star, who hasbeen open about her searchfor love in recent months,arrived at the amfAR NewYork Inspiration Gala Tues-day night with Donoghue,a member of Michigan-based rock group Salem,reports contactmusic.com.

The couple were seen giv-ing poses to the shutterbugswith their arms around eachother.

Zoe Saldana tojoin cast of ʻInfinitely

Polar Bearʼ

LEONARDOʼS EX breaks her arm

Supermodel Bar Refaeli, for-mer girlfriend of actorLeonardo DiCaprio, is nurs-

ing a broken arm.“I broke my arm. And I’m annoyed!Booooooo.(sic),” the model postedon her Twitter page, reports fe-malefirst.co.uk.No further details about her injuryare known yet.However, her followers on the so-cial networking site were quick tosend her their best wishes.Refaeli and Leonardo separatedin May after being in a relationshipon and off for over five years. Theydecided to call time on the romancebecause they had “grown apart”and were both focussed on theircareers.The 26-year-old has not been ro-mantically linked with anyonesince the relationship ended.

BRETT LEE TO WALK THE ramp for Indian designer

Australian fast bowler Brett Leeis set to walk the ramp for de-signer Rajesh Pratap Singh at

the International Indian Film Acad-emy (IIFA) weekend to be held June23-25 in Toronto, Canada.

The organisers announced thatdesigners Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Ra-jesh Pratap Singh and Vikram Phad-nis will showcase their respectivecollections at the IIFA Rocks, a fashionextravaganza high on style and mu-sic.

“While Bipasha Basu will walkthe ramp for Sabyasachi, KunalKapoor, Rahul Khanna and Brett Leewill be the showstoppers for RajeshPratap Singh. However, the show-stoppers for Vikram’s show are a sur-prise,” Sabas Joseph, director, Wiz-craft International Entertainment,the IIFA organiser, said at a pressconference here.

Musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loywill play live music during the fashionevent.

IIFA Rocks raises funds for theIIFA Foundation, which has been setup by IIFA to support families of thefilm industry workers who have beenadversely affected during the pro-duction of films.

Monday, June 20, 2011 8LIFESTYLE

Playboy model Crystal Harrishas opened up about callingoff her marriage with mag-

azine owner Hugh Hefner andsays she had little freedom at themansion.

“The mansion schedule is sostrict – home by 6 every Fridaynight, Saturday and Sunday formovie nights,” she told newsshow Entertainment Tonight.

“I couldn’t do certain things.The first year I was there, I wenton a vacation with my friendsand then the second year I askedif I could go with my friends andsee my family, I was told no. Isaw my world just closing in onme. It’s Hef’s way or no way,”she added.

Harris admits that after movingout of the Playboy Mansion, ithas been “scary” at times, reportstorontosun.com.

Arepresentative of actress Emma Wat-son has rubbbished reports that sheis dating Johnny Simmons, her co-

star in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”.“This is complete fiction,” dailymail.co.uk

quoted the representative as saying.Rumours of Watson dating Simmons start-

ed off after they were photographed togetherin Pennsylvania.

The actress, who rose to fame throughthe “Harry Potter” series, has been singlesince dating One Night Only rocker GeorgeCraig last year.

EMMA WATSON NOTdating Johnny Simmons

ITALIAN HOLIDAY FOR Heidi Klum and her family

IItt wwaass HHeeff ʼ̓ss wwaayy oorrno way: Crystal Harris

COX, ARQUETTE TOproduce game show

Actress Courteney Cox andher estranged husbandDavid Arquette are re-

uniting for a new game show.The former couple will be co-producing a TV game showcalled “Identity Crisis” in whichcontestants are required to

identify celebrities based on anumber of clues, reports con-tactmusic.com.

The game show is the thirdTV project that Cox and Ar-quette are working together onafter “Dirt” and “Cougar Town”.

Supermodel Heidi Klum isplanning a family holidayin Italy where she wants to

feed her children with sea urchins.Klum, who raises daughters

Leni, 7, and 20-month-old Lou;sons Henry, 5, and Johan, 4, withhusband Seal, is excited aboutan unusual adventure.

“What’s next? To go on a greatholiday with my family. We’re go-ing on a boat to Italy. I love whenthe kids can go and eat sea urchinand the sea urchin is literally go-ing like this (waves hands). Youcut the bottom off and then youeat it,” femalefirst.co.uk quotedthe 38-year-old as saying.

“That’s what they do whenyou go to (restaurant) Nobu orwhatever - it’s the same seaurchin, so you might as well eatit when it first comes out of thesea,” she added.

ALICIA KEYS DERIVESinspiration from mom

Singer Alicia Keys says shelearnt to balance parentingand work from her mother,

who raised her alone.“My mother was a single mother

and she balanced it and worked atit and raised me so well. There’salways a way if you have the will,”bangshowbiz.com quoted Keys assaying.

The singer, who has an eight-month-old son, Egypt, with SwizzBeatz, a record producer, also saysthat becoming a mother has madeher more aware of the thousandsof parentless children in the world.

“Being a mother myself has mademe think about all the children inthe world who are motherless orparentless. It breaks my heart be-cause I’m like, ‘What do they dowith nobody there to support themand be with them?” said the 30-year-old.

“I’m a singer, an activist and amother. I love all three very muchand all three of them feed eachother. Now becoming a mothermakes me understand more aboutactivism and being a mother makesme understand how dreadful it canbe to never have a voice to speakto people,” she added.

This comeback will be a whammy for KarismaKapoor. For Vikram Bhatt’s “DangerousIshq”, the actress is going to play five roles

in five different lifetimes spanning a whole gamutof India’s mythological and historical events.

Karisma will start by playing Mirabai, a devoteeof Lord Krishna, and then move forward in time,that includes the partition era, Indira Gandhi’sassassination and the present day politics.

Reluctant to reveal the details, Vikram Bhatt,who is busy researching the women charactersof ancient medieval and modern India, says: “Yes,Karisma’s character will go back into four differenteras and lifetimes, plus there’s a role in presenttimes. So, it’s actually a total of five roles. Thestory opens in 1498 and then moves throughvarious eras to contemporary times.”

Karisma’s part in “Dangerous Ishq” crosses allthe historical and cinematic boundaries evercrossed by female actors. Apparently, Karismawas told she would require intense research andpreparation for the parts and she was game.

Says Vikram: “Karisma has always been a veryhard-working and capable actress. But in termsof challenges posed to her performing abilities, Ifeel there have been not too many golden oppor-tunities. I feel this is the right time for Karisma todo ‘Dangerous Ishq’. It takes her to a new level asan actor.”

There’s also the added challenge of doingheavy-duty action sequences for the first time.Though Vikram doesn’t talk about it, it is under-stood that she would be doing major action se-quences requiring training in the martial arts.Karisma has taken on the challenge quite happi-ly.

The film, written by Amin Haji, would haveKarisma sharing screen space with five leadingmen. And this time, it is believed the guys beingconsidered are not the Vikram Bhatt regulars likeAftab Shivdasani and Dino Morea.

Karisma to play 5 charactersspanning 500 years

There’s Father’s Day,Mother’s Day, FriendshipDay... and now, there’s

a Lady Gaga Day!Government officials in Tai-

wan have declared July 3 asLady Gaga Day in honour ofthe star’s highly-anticipatedperformance in Taichung, re-ports dailystar.co.uk.

Gaga, best known for herbizarre dressing, will be hand-ed the keys to the city to markher first visit to the island na-tion.

The streets of Taichung willbe decorated with flags fea-turing the pop star’s photo-graph, and a creativity contestwill be held for fans to showoff designs inspired by her.

The “Poker face” singer willplay to 4,000 fans in Taichungas part of a five-day promo-tional tour of Taiwan.

NOW, ALady Gaga Day!