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8 Pages Rs: 1.00 Jammu Edition

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STUdent aGE
MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

JKENG/2012/41612 Vol. 2 No: 142

RTI reveals Manmohan spent Rs 642 crore on air travel

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Behind the arson across the street

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Karzai leaves for Qatar to attend 10th annual US-Islamic World Forum
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BJP CHANTS NMO NMO IN ONE VOICE

MODI MOVES CLOSER FOR BECOMING BJP'S CHOICE FOR PM APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF BJP 2014 LOK SABHA ELECTION CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
BJP JAMMU CELEBRATES MODI'S ELEVATION
Reacting to the comments regarding Modi being the Polarising factor Munish Sharma State secretary BJP said "Modi is not a polarising factor but for sure an energizing factor. Modi is not new to politics of neither the country nor a new administrator. He understands the cultural diversity of the country where the interest of the minorities is taken care first. Those who call him a polarizing factor are themselves trying to make it so to create confusion among the masses. It's not BJP but congress who has always laid the foundation for communalism to flourish be it in Punjab, Assam or Naxa hit areas. It's not good governance, decision making or great vision which divides people on communal lines but poverty, illiteracy, the unbalanced financial growth and unemployment which are all the congress sown seeds in the country. Congress is now scared of the man who has crossed all its hurdles and come out of all the controversies." Ravinder Raina BJYM chief J&K when contacted said , Nation which is suffering from the policy paralysis is sailing like a rudderless ship. UPA government has failed at all quarters in framing an effective youth policy for the youth of this country.UPA has failed to generate trust among the youth and provide security to the common man in this country. It's MODI JI who talks about young INDIA and can bring sustainable policy reforms.

Digvijay's heart goes out to Advani. Cong takes potshots at BJP

PANAJI, JUNE 09: PANAJI: Putting an end to the anxiety that had built up within the BJP over the last two days following LK Advani's absence from the Goa meet, party chief Rajnath Singh finally handed over the reins of the party's election campaign for 2014 to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday afternoon here. Soon after the party's national executive meeting got over at 2pm, Singh publicly declared that he was appointing Modi as chairman of BJP's national campaign committee. "I have an impor-

tant information to share. All political parties take elections as their biggest challenge and so do we. We will move ahead with the resolve of victory. Today, I have appointed Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as chairman of the national election committee. This decision has been on the basis of unanimity," Singh declared while addressing reporters. After making the declaration, Singh along with top leaders including Modi himself, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, chief ministers

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Manohar Parrikar stood in a row to finally make for the picture of solidarity and party unity that BJP desperately needed to convey after an exhaustive weekend of warring over whether or not to put the Gujarat CM at the helm of its election affairs for 2014. Singh had announced his decision to the executive members while wrapping up his valedictory speech. The leaders dispersed in a hurry after the five minute show, as the executive venue burst out with celebrations by Modi supporters Contd. on page 2

JAMMU, JUNE 09: Soon after RAJNATH announced Narendra Modi as the Chairman of 2014 Poll committee several BJP leaders and party workers gathered outside the party office and started their celebrations. Fireworks could be seen and sweets distributed. Party workers congratulated eath other and a new energy could be seen among the youth. Responding to the Student Age correspondents Party President Jugal Kishore Sharma said, "Narendra Modi is not only the demand of BJP but is the demand of the entire nation. Country is lacking a visionary and decision making leadership. There is a vacuum of policy making structures in the country and the country's growth has been put on stake by the UPA government. All investigative agencies and even the Prime Minister's office have become the puppets in the hands of few influential people in the government. The whole country has been looted and country has witnessed the biggest scams. GDP, RUPEE VALUE, CORPORATE GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL GROWTH

all stay at decade lowest and on the other side petrol prices, inflation are on the highest side. The crisis will be over in 2014 when the people will choose NArendra Modi as their first choice. And Its always congress who talks about minority and majority but we talk always talk about Akhand Bharat and its honorable citizens.

NEW DELHI, JUNE 09: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on said his heart goes out to LK Advani, who had to skip the BJP national executive meet in Goa citing illhealth, as the saffron stalwart was the butt of jibes from the Congress. The AICC general secretary also called the BJP "ungrateful" against the backdrop of a sulking 85year-old Advani staying away from the executive meet for the first time in his entire political career. "My heart goes out to Advani ji. He brought BJP from 2 to 182 in Lok Sabha. But then the ungrateful BJP is a Party with differences," tweeted Singh. Asked whether Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi could be projected as a BJP's prime ministerial candidate after his anointment as chief of Contd. on page 2

India working to develop robotic soldiers to replace humans

'Jammu University flouts Chancellor's order'

Blue-eyed Faculty members occupying more than one post
JAMMU, JUNE 09: The Jammu Students Morcha (JSM) has condemned the University authorities for disobeying the University Chancellor's order for not assigning more than one posts to one person in the university administration. Addressing the media person, Vijay Kumar State President JSM, along with Neha Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Ajit Sharma and others, said that senior professors were calling the shots as they had been holding more than one prized position since long, notwithstanding it was poorly upsetting the normal functioning of the varsity. "As per norms, one man should hold one post only. And what is happening on the campus is contrary to the rules. A group of professors occupies more than three or

Lawrence Chandigarh School students set Mount Everest record

CHANDIGARH, JUNE 09: A team of teenage boys from Lawrence School Sanawar has set a new record as six of its member's summitted the world's highest peak Mount Everest recently. The team's youngest member, 15-yearold Raghav Joneja, became the youngest Indian to summit the highest peak, chief coordinator of the expedition Col. P.S. Grewal said on Sunday. The team became the first school team in the world to scale the peak. It also became the youngest team to scale the peak in Nepal. Raghav is the second youngest person in the world to have scaled the 8,848 metre (29,029 feet) Mount Everest. Ajay Sohal, 16, from Himachal Pradesh, became the second youngest person in the country and the third youngest in the world to scale Mount Everest. Sohal was also part of the Lawrence School expedition. The team comprised Juneja, Sohal, Guribadat Singh, Prithvi Singh, Shubham and Fateh Singh. Another member, Hakikat Singh, had to return from 27,000 feet due to problems with his oxygen cylinder. All team members are between 15-17 years of age. Flanked by their fathers and expedition leaders at a media interaction here Sunday, the young summitteers said they were thrilled to have accomplished the feat on the tough mountain. "Each member created a record being in the list of top 10 youngest people in the world to climb Mt. Everest," team leader Col. Neeraj Rana said

Delhi: AAP leader Kejriwal to join auto drivers' protest on Monday

NEW DELHI, JUNE 09: With futuristic warfare in mind, India is working to develop robotic soldiers as part of efforts to boost unmanned fighting capabilities, joining a select group of countries in this endeavour. DRDO chief Avinash Chander told Reporters in New Delhi that under the

project robots would be developed with very high level of intelligence to enable them to differentiate between a threat and a friend.These can then be deployed in difficult warfare zones, like the Line of Control , a step that would help avert the loss of human lives.

more key posts which eventually affect the students as well as administrative functioning of the varsity," Vijay said. "Instead of adhocism and giving additional charge to some favorites, the ViceChancellor should go for a viable solution by filling these posts on permanent basis," he said. Prof Kesav Sharma, a Professor in the Business School is presently holding the charge of Controller of Examination. At the same time he is also Rector Udhampur Campus, Chief

Coordinator to all campuses, Convener Board of Studies in Management and Co-ordinater SET Jammu. He also said that Dr Manoj K Dhar has been occupying five key positions in the University. Dr Manoj K Dhar has been portion as Register. Dhar is also holding the charge of Director, School of Biotechnology, which comprises three wings, bio-chemistry, microbiology and biotechnology, Co-ordinator DST Special Science Package, and advisor to Health Contd. on page 2

NEW DELHI, JUNE 09: Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday will join auto drivers in their protest against the Delhi government's plan to ban advertisements on three-wheelers. The protest will be held at Jantar Mantar. An AAP spokesperson said Kejriwal would join the protest of the auto drivers as their demands were "genuine". Last week, Arvind Kejriwal had announced his decision to take on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the Delhi Assembly Elections.

Karan Singh, Kashmir, Lakes and more!

ROHIT SINGH RANA It is heartwarming to notice that the former Sadri-Riyasat and son of the last ruler of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh is unhappy over the state of world famous Dal Lake. These days, the Scholar politician is camping in Srinagar and the virtual concrete jungle that has cropped up around the lake is grim reminder that when it comes to conservation of nature's bounties we are yet in Stone Age mindset. Go to any western country and see how they have beautified even a small, ordinary hillock into a tourist place. There, a discreet water body is conserved as if it were a dew drop from heaven itself. Karan Singh is witness to the decline of Dal Lake as he has virtually grown up in its lap. His palace situated on the serene banks of the world famous lake with a touching backdrop of Zabarvan hills has seen him grow into a scholar and a politician. Royalty was in his blood, so serene setting of his residence was not for asking. Perhaps he might still remember that it was at the Lake banks, he studied under redoubtable masters like Parmanand Darend, the Accountant General of Jammu and Kashmir, Prof Satya Bhushan and read the classics of Kashmir Shaiv Darshan and philosophy under Swami Lakshman joo. His sensitivities nurtured by music and arts make his heart bleed for kashmir's pristine jewel the Dal Lake. There should be no doubt about that. Notwithstanding his concern, there is some where a hunch in many well meaning people in the State that had he virtually not taken flight from his State, he would have proved a boon and a much needed ferment to stem in the rot that Kashmir's beauties have witnessed. A large portion of land around Dal Lake and Nagin Lake belonged to Karan Singh. There were vast almond and fruit orchards that his illustrious ancestors had planted on the Dal banks. Even a winery was also started by them on the lake banks. But post independence it was Dr. Karan Singh himself who sold off most this prime land. Unfortunately many unwieldy constructions have cropped up on this land too. These vast beautiful tracts could have been turned into a heritage forest as his father in early forties of last century strained to afforest Shankarachraya Hill. It is welcome to shed tears for Dal Lake because it is the collective heritage of whole mankind. We hold him in great respect for his scholarship and other qualities but at the same time it is also true that he has sold off most of their prime assets in Kashmir. He, given his clout, could have attached a strong rider that the land will be used for beautification and not used in any manner that would despoil Dal Lake. The people of this State expected that he would set up a world class university on the land he sold off so that real and secular scholarship could get a boost in the State. Nothing of this sort came from him. To the contrary he calls himself a global citizen who ought not to be restricted to Jammu and Kashmir. Historians will have a tough time explaining why the erstwhile Maharaja and his family is today part of the same politics which came into being to banish the comparatively just and efficient rule of his illustrious father. Dal Lake will never get back its pristine glory. His words will be welcomed but not heeded because unfortunately he is not now seen as a guiding force as he could have proved a couple of decades ago. Karan Singh is unfortunately not in touch with the reality of Kashmir. To him some temples run by Dharmarth Trust are all left of the 5000 years old legacy of Kashmir. The time is opportune for the Scholar Politician to raise pitch for preserving natural settings of all lakes of the State especially Mansar and Mountain tarns of Poonch. It is time for him to make some meaningful contributions to Jammu and Kashmir, which he can eminently undertake. The people of the state look to his moral leadership and inspiration as he is still our Maharaja.

Kashmir Freedom struggle: Tale of money?

Those who promoted and propagated the so called freedom struggle in Kashmir as a just aspiration of the suppressed people should note that the struggle now has shown its true colours. Had a person not associated with the separatist movement in Kashmir said so, he would have been dubbed as an Indian agent or someone who is not the friend of poor Kashmiri people. But when the statements come from two prominent separatist camps, it becomes not only a truth that cannot be ignored but a tacit proof that the separatist struggle was not meant to free Kashmiris from the yoke of Indian slavery but to fill the coffers of the leaders who promoted the struggle. Unfortunately, in between the credulous kashmiri was taken in for a ride. Today thousands of young Kashmiris are sleeping in the graveyards of Kashmir demanding answers from Maliks, Geelanis and Umars. Unfortunately some people in Kashmir are still taking the word of these dubious separatists as gospel truth. Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooqs Hurriyat are out in the open trading charges and counter charges. Each blames the other for indulging in anti struggle activities and amassing huge wealth. As this contest of slander and perfidy goes on, Kashmiris either continue to get killed or live in a long exile for no fault of theirs. RANASAHIB

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

ings. Honoured and extremely grateful for his blessings." The crucial decision was finalized after hectic parleys till late on Saturday night and only after Rajnath Singh spoke to Advani in Delhi over phone to ensure that the party veteran is on board when the announcement is made. Modi and Singh will be meeting Advani at his Prithviraj Road residence in Delhi, soon after they leave Goa.

CONTD
Development Council as included more than 100 private colleges. He is also a Dean Business Studies apart from being member of University Syndicate. He is also selection committee member in Kashmir University and Shri Mata Vashino Devi University. He is always busy in selection committees. He added that Professor Kuldeep Sharma has been holding three key positions in the university as HOD Zoology Deptt, Director Human Genetic and member of University Syndicate. Vijay further said Professor Rajnikant has been positioned as Director Ramnagar Campus. He is also holding the charge Coordinator, UGC NET Examination. Prof. Vivek Gupta has been given the charge of Chief Central Library and Nodal officer, University of Jammu. Guneet Sudan has been given the charge of Asstt. Director, Centre for IT ES&M, University of Jammu and Nodal officer, Poonch Campus. He added that another Professor, Jasbir Singh has been given the charge of Provost Boys Hostel, Chairman NSS, besides Head FM Centre in campus. He said that Prof Archana Kesar has been given the charge of Director, ASC and HOD Punjabi Deptt. He also said that Prof Abha Chowan has been given the charge HOD Sociology Deptt and Convener Publication Cell. Prof Dipankar Sen has been given charge HOD Economic Deptt and OSD to Examination Wing. Dr Daud Iqbal Baba, who was simply appointed as Coordinator is at present holding the position of Director Reasi Campus and Coordinator all campuses. He demanded that "The need of the hour is to decentralize powers. It is highly condemnable that some professors have been given prized positions at the cost of normal functioning of the University. They appeal the Chancellor of University to take cognizance of it and initiate measures to streamline the functioning." party's election campaign committee. Singh said, "it was for BJP to decide." "My heartiest congratulations to Modi," Singh said when asked about Modi's appointment. Taking potshots at the internal difference within BJP, union minister and Congress leader Rajiv Shukla wondered when BJP cannot keep its ten leaders together, how will they keep ministers to function together in a government. In a dig at Advani, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said the BJP veteran was "reaping what he had sown." "Advani is getting a taste of his pills. It was he who had started communal politics in India after 1985-86. Now

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Modi has projected himself as a more communal person than Advani, and this is the simple reason that the senior most BJP leader has now been sidelined," he told PTI. "As you sow, so you reap. He had sowed the seeds of communalism in Indian politics. He was replaced by a more communal person," Ahmed claimed. On microblogging site Twitter, the Congress spokesperson commented, "Advani hints in his blog that you will have to pay for your sins in your lifetime itself. Is he repenting his role to save Modi in 2002?" Advani is believed to have backed Modi's continuance as Gujarat chief minister after the post-Godhra riots.

BJP CHANTS ...

who were waiting for the moment. Interestingly, Venkaiah Naidu clarified the role of the national campaign committee while speaking to the media soon after the announcement. He said, "This (committee) is supplementary to the party, which will gear up the party, mobilize workers, finalize the nitty-gritty of elections alongside the central election committee that decides on the contestants and the parliamentary board for larger decisions in the party." This seemed to be conveying the message that Modi will not be the only one to decide

on everything about the elections for 2014 in BJP, in the context of the fact that his elevation to the central post is being viewed as the precursor to him being projected as the party's prime ministerial candidate for 2014. Within half an hour of is being named chairman of the campaign panel, a careful Modi got into damage control and tweeted saying he had the blessings of Advani for his new role. Modi tweeted: "Senior leaders have reposed faith in me. We will leave no stone unturned for Congress Mukt Bharat Nirman. Thanks for support and blessings ... Spoke to Advaniji on the phone. He gave me his bless-

'Jammu University ...

Centre. He also said that Professor Desh Bandhu Gupta has been occupying four key positions in the university. "He has been given the important charge of Director, Colleges

Digvijay's heart goes ...

Legendary singer Manna Dey's condition remains critical

day to be with the family," the friend pointed out. Dey's wife Sulochana Kumaran passed away in January 2012 due to cancer. Since Contd. on page 2 the news of Mannada's worsening health condition broke out and spread on news channels and in print media, his family members, relatives and friends have been receiving calls throughout the day from Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and abroad. Mannada, whose original name was Prabodh Chandra Dey, has to his credit over a record 3,500 songs in an illustrious career spanning seven decades since 1943. His oeuvre boasts of a range of songs -- from romantic numbers to classical to fun songs, he went behind the mike to sing all kind of songs and proved his versatility. Dey was also honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country's highest award in the film world, in 2007. The music genius's all-time hits include "Sur na saje kya gaun main", "Na to karanwa ki talash hai na to humsafar ki talash hain", "Puchho na kaise maine rain bitayee", "Laga chunari main daag", "Aaja sanam madhur chandani mein hum", "Dil ka haal sune dilwala", "Ye raat bhigi bhigi, ye mast fizayen", "Jhanak jhanak tori baaje payaliya", "Tu pyar ka saagar hai", "Chunari sambhal gori udi chali jaye re" and "Ay meri Zohara".

Pak uses different methods to push Saroori flays government militants into JK: Gen Parnaik over Power and Water crisis
KISHTWAR, MAY 09: Former Minister and Congress MLA from Inderwal G M Saroori while addressing large gathering at Thakrie area of District Kishtwar on Sunday said he would not remain a mute spectator to the apathetic attitude of the government towards the plight of the people in Jammu region. "In the scorching heat when the temperature is hovering between 44 and 45 degree celsius, people are struggling to get power and drinking water. He would not remain a mute spectator to the apathetic attitude of the government," Saroori asserted. Saroori said there is acute shortage of the electricity in whole Jammu region. People are on roads because erratic power supply, for one reason or the other, also fails the water supply. The situation is very very grim in Jammu relates the torture of power failure in the searing heat of 47 degrees Celsius plus and Kashmir during sub zero temperatures in the Kashmir Valley. Stating that the only way a viable solution to the power crisis in Jammu and Kashmir having a comprehensive policy to address the electricity crisis affecting day-to-day life in the state, the administration would always sought to put onus of the power crisis over the hapless consumers blaming them for non-payments of bills without realizing shortage of power and huge trans-

BANGALORE, JUNE 09: The condition of 94-year-old legendary singer Manna Dey continued to remain critical at a private hospital on the city's outskirts, a close family friend said late Sunday. "There is not much change in Mannada's condition, which remains critical due to multiple organ failure. He has been put on life-support system to stabilise his other vital parameters," the friend said while requesting anonymity. The nonagenarian multilingual playback singer has been ailing for over a month because of old age-related complications. Though Dey was rushed to super-specialty Narayana Health hospital late Saturday after he complained of breathlessness due to chest infection, duty doctors and hospital management declined to share details with media on the advice of his family members. "Family members and relatives are wary of large media presence at the hospital as they do not want to disturb other patients and be quoted or shown on news channels

for privacy reasons and are also worried about Mannada's longevity," the friend who lives in the neighbourhood of the classical singer, said. A week after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee honoured Dey on his 94th birthday May 1 with the state's Vishesh Maha Sangeet Samman award, the doyen was admitted to the same hospital when he felt uneasy and weak. "When Mannada's health improved and stabilized after being in the hospital for about three weeks, he was brought home and was being attended by two nurses round the clock with a doctor doing rounds daily to check his vital health parameters," the friend recalled. Since Dey shifted to Bangalore from Mumbai a couple of years ago, he has been staying with one of his daughters at Kalyan Nagar in northeast suburb of the city. "Dey's other daughter lives in the US with family. On hearing about his deteriorating health, his two nephews flew from Kolkata earlier in the

SRINAGAR, JUNE 09: Pakistani troops were using different methods, including firing on Indian forward posts, to help militants to infiltrate into J&K, a senior Army officer said. A large number of trained militants are waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistani occupied Kashmir, waiting an opportunity to sneak into this side, GOC Northern Command Lt General K T Parnaik said on the sideline of a function here.

However, he said, troops are already on high alert to foil sany infiltration bid from PoK. He said troops have intensified foot and night patrolling all along the LoC, keeping a close vigil with the help of sophisticated gadgets. Lt General Parnaik said recently Pakistani troops fired upon Indian position in Poonch sector, only to help militants to sneak into this side. But, alert troops foiled the Pak designs, he said. ECC

Wani for strict action against non-performing officers

Reviews ongoing, proposed dev works
opmental projects in Bhalessa region which included 4.55 Km JakyasGandoh PMGSY road, 3 Km Bhatyas- Tender PMGSY road, 4 Km Chang - Dudwar road. He also inspected the construction work on Govt. Degree College Kilhotran which is going to be constructed by JKPCC at an estimated cost of Rs. 13.35 crore. He was apprised that the land acquisition, soil testing and project designing for the complex is in process and the construction work will be started soon. He directed the concerned officers to expedite the necessary work and ensure their time bound and qualitative completion. The Minister also reviewed the status on various roads in the region including 4.3 km Seeru- Jugassar PMGSY road besides discussing construction of 10 km Changa Soti - Alni Gangota proposed PMGSY road.

mission losses is beyond the control of general public. Saroori urged state government to implement a comprehensive plan, funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) to minimize the scarcity of water in Jammu during the summer as it was earlier implemented in PDP-Congress regime, state government should immediately formulated and implement the plan to cope with this problem and said this is a time to take major step to mitigate the woes of the people," he said. He said according to his information Jammu faces a shortage of over 11 Million Gallons against the normal per day requirement which goes further up with the increase in mercury. "Many times the supply remains disrupted for days together which compel the residents to come on roads and protest against the

department. It is a routine problem and every year during peak summers the problem grips entire city and its adjoining areas". Congress leader said government must chalk out a comprehensive plan to plug the loopholes within the existing power sector by introducing reforms and a work culture. The problem of huge transmission losses should be addressed immediately besides the state government must impress upon the central government for a better power sharing deal. The state government must replace rotten poles with cement poles. As rotten wooden poles and trees are used in place of cement poles causing risk of life and cattle in whole of Erstwhile district Doda and recently in Inderwal constituency one "Noor Mohd S/o Abdul Rashi died at Malanoo Khara area of district Doda due to rotten wooden poles,"

US denies unilateral secret data collection

WASHINGTON, JUNE 09: The Obama Administration has denied allegations of unilaterally collecting information from internet companies, as being reported in the media, which has resulted in outrage in the country. The Director of National Intelligence (DNI), James Clapper, has declassified a portion of its information related to the secretive PRISM in this regard, and strongly denied that it unilaterally obtains information from the servers of US Internet companies. said internet companies provide user data to the NSA only after receiving an order approved by a secret FISA court. PRISM is not an undisclosed collection. It is an internal government computer system used to facilitate the governments statutorily authorised collection of foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers under court supervision, a DNI fact sheet said.

DODA, JUNE 09Minister for PWD (R&B) and Mechanical Engineering, Abdul Majid Wani, on Sunday inspected various developmental works in Gandoh, Bhalessa. The Minister inspected construction work on 60m span Kaljugassar Motorable Bridge on Changa - Kaljugassar road, which is being constructed by JKPCC at an estimated cost of Rs. 240 lakh. He expressed concern over slow pace of

construction work being done by JKPCC and directed MD JKPCC to speed up the pace of work on Kaljugassar and other works being executed by them and ensure their time bound completion. He cautioned the non-performing engineers of strict action if they don't perform their work upto the mark. Regarding complaint of payments made to the PMGSY contractors whose contracts have been terminated, the Minister

directed Chief Engineer PWD (R&B) to conduct inquiry into the matter so that strict action will be taken against the responsible officer. He directed the DDC to convene on spot camps at block level to settle the pending land acquisition and land compensation cases so that the developmental works don't get delayed due to such issues. The Minister also inspected construction work on 64 m Span Shopan Motorable Bridge on 9

Km ChangaTantli PMGSY roads which is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.5 crore. He directed the PMGSY engineers to expedite the pace of work on the 9 Km ChangaTantli PMGSY roads which is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 604.02 lakh, so that road connectivity reaches to far flung area of the region. Later, Wani inspected various other ongoing road and infrastructure devel-

information related to the secretive PRISM in this regard, and strongly denied that it unilaterally obtains information from the servers of US Internet companies.

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

STATE

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Govt. would continue to support weaker sections, backward communities: Taj
BUDGAM, JUNE 09: Minister for Medical Education, Youth Services and Sports, Mr. Taj Mohi ud din today said the Government is taking many steps for the betterment and welfare of weaker sections and backward communities of the society in Jammu & Kashmir. He said Government would continue to support weaker sections till they are brought at par with other sections of the society. Addressing a day long convention organized All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations here today, the Minister said things have improved considerably since independence and asked members of these communities to take full advantage of the welfare schemes launched by the Government from time to time. On the needs of Gujjar community, Mr. Taj said decades of struggle ultimately led to granting the community the status of a Scheduled Tribe. He said now there are avenues available to youth belonging to the community and even under Tribal Sub Plan their social and developmental needs are taken care of. He said stress is laid on covering

RURAL POCKETS TO BE DEVELOPED ON MODERN LINES: DY CM

new cases besides ensuring clearance of old pendency, adding that people at large should be made aware about the camp so that all those who are unable to make it to the office of the department can get their cases resolved on the spot. The PDD authorities were directed to ensure metering in the area so that people pay as per consumption and power demand can be met by ensuring revenue collection. While listening to problems projected by people at Kharah for construction of medical officer quarter, dental chair and potable water, Mr. Tara Chand passed immediate directions to the accompanying engineers for early redressal of the demands. Responding to the demand of a veterinary hospital for the area, the Deputy Chief Minister said that mobile veterinary centre would be made functional in the area which would cater to the requirement of specialized care for animals. At upper Kalahn, the people projected for construction of protection works, staff shortage and school infrastructure requirements, heavy mortar shelling and black topping of link roads. Giving a patient hearing to the demands projected at various places, Mr. Tara Chand directed for redressal of the genuine demands and passed instructions for preparing the projects for approval of higher authorities where ever the same is required.

JAMMU, JUNE 09: Reiterating resolve of the government to equip far-off rural pockets of the state with all required modern infrastructure, Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Tara Chand said that exemplary development initiatives have been taken to upgrade rural infrastructure and focused attention is being paid to core areas of health, road, power, water supply and education. He said the government is leaving no stone unturned to take the development revolution to every nook and corner of the state. "Pahari and Kandi areas need special attention and officers have to make frequent field visits to these areas for on spot assessment of the problems as well as time bound redressal of the issues," he directed.

To take stock of the problems being faced by people and ensure on spot redressal, Mr. Tara Chand along with senior civil officers and engineers held a day long tour of the kandi and far-flung areas of Khour block on Saturday. During the tour which started early in the morning and lasted till late evening, series of public rallies and gatherings were held at Kharah, upper Kalahan, Kalla, Kalakas, Barore, Nathal, Nathan and Seoni. Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Akhnoor Mr. N.S.Jamwal, Superintendent of Police along with other senior officers and engineers of different departments accompanied during the tour. Underlining measures taken to ensure timely delivery of government

services, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the government is committed to make administration more accountable and PSGA is a landmark initiative for the purpose, adding that time bound delivery of public services would go a long way in ensuring that administration is made people friendly and an accountable delivery mechanism is put in place. He said panchayati raj bodies have been empowered by the government and functions of over fourteen departments have been entrusted to them so as to involve people in planning as well as execution. He said a mega pension camp would soon be held at Khour for the benefit of people living in the area and senior officers would be present in the camp for on spot registration of

Gujjar areas under the ambit of schemes in drinking water distribution, road connectivity, power distribution, health, PDS etc. He asked the members of the community to stand united and support Government in its endavour to bring and sustain social justice in the society in the state. On the demands put for by the community leaders, Mr. Taj said the disparity in the amount of scholarships granted to Gujjar students and their counterparts from other communities would be ended. He said time has come when the members of the community can demand these facilities not as concessions but rights duly guaran-

teed by law. He said he himself went though a struggle of 14 years to grant the community the ST status. This, he said, was a milestone in getting the potential and merit of the community recognized at state and national level. Terming education as a tool for socio economic transformation, the Minister asked the members of the community to educate their wards so that they in future would chart out their paths themselves. The convention was also addressed by Mr. Arif Irfan, Manzoor Khatana, Noor ud Din Noorani and others who put forth the problems of Gujjar community and sought their redressal.

Bhalla dedicates Rs 2 cr tube well to Chatha people Un-electrified villages to be covered under RGGVY Phase-II: Vikar
Inaugurates Boria Bridari community hall
Old Satwari Chatha with a cost of Rs. 2 crore. The facility will provide drinking water supply to about 10000 souls of osld Satwari panchayat. Bhalla directed the PHE engineers to lay water supply pipes in the uncovered especially tail end areas of the panchayat so that the inhabitants do not face any inconvenience in this regard. He said during the last four and half years of present regime, Rs. 250 crore have been expended on digging of 25 tube wells including laying of water supply pipes in 52 kilometer area of Gandhi Nagar constituency under PHE and ERA sectors. The Minister asked the PHE officers to collect water charges from the people of old Satwari panchayat as per rates applicable for rural areas as this panchayat also comes under rural area. Bhalla further informed that central Government headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has launched various welfare schemes to upgrade the living standards of the economically weaker sections of the society. He said Government has provided Rs. 2.75 lakh under Basic Services to Urban Poor for construction of pacca houses and Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers.
SRINAGAR, JUNE 09: Minister of State for Power, Technical Education and Rural Development, Mr. Vikar Rasool today said that every un-electrified village would be provided with electricity under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Viduti Karan Yojana (RGGVY) Phase-II. The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a Receiving Station at Lassipora, Sogam in Kupwara district today. District Development Commissioner, Kupwara, Mr. Itrat Hussain, senior officers of district administration and other departments were present on the occasion. The Receiving Station constructed with an estimated cost of Rs. 3 crore under RGGVY will cater to 27 panchayat halqas in the area and augment the electric facilities to about 25,000 souls. rural and far-flung areas, the Minister appealed the people to come forward and avail maximum benefit from the various flagship schemes. He said by doing so they would be actively involving themselves in their implementation besides giving the necessary feedback about the same. "In order to ensure transparency and accountability in the day-today governance and curb the menace of corruption, we have introduced several landmark acts like Public Services Guarantee Act, Right to Information Act which have ensured that the people get the requisite services and information within the stipulated time frame which forms the basis of democratic set up ensuring involvement of people at every level", the Minister maintained.

JAMMU, JUNE 09: Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture, Raman Bhalla, on Sunday dedicated deep drill tube having 15000 gallon per hour discharge capacity and 50000 gallon Ground Service Reservoir (GSR) to the people

of Shomali Mohalla, Peer Baba Basti, Reyan Mohalla, Chatha in old Satwari and its adjoining areas. Addressing a large gathering on the occasion, the Minister said the deep drill tube well has been completed under Water Supply Scheme

The Minister said that under RGGVY 33 villages of the area would be electrified soon which would go a long way in providing electricity and other related facilities to them. He said that the government has prioritized electricity as one of the major sectors and every necessary care would be taken to ensure its augmentation, so that the people living in rural and farflung areas get benefitted from the same.

Mr. Vikar said that in consonance with the instructions of the Chief Minister, the barbed wires and electric lines passing through trees and outdated poles would be removed soon. He said that every care would be taken to ensure that the people can get this much needed facility without facing any inconvenience. Referring to the various initiatives under taken by the government for ensuring the sustained development of

Saifullah highlights parents-teacher role in shaping future of students

'Announces Rs.2 lakh for compound wall, inaugurates computer lab'
other fora organized the Teachers-Parents Conferences through proclamations, activities, and educational efforts in furtherance of recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of both for nurturing the children. Mir Saifullah announced Rs. 2 Lakh for construction of boundary wall of the school and Rs. 20,000 as token money for the students of Kralpora Middle School. He said that a multi-purpose hall would also be constructed in the school. He said that the appointments would be made on Rehbar-i-Taleem pattern for dealing with the deficiency of teaching staff in the district. Mir Saifullah lauded the role of teachers for imparting education in the district. He enjoined upon the teachers and parents and said that they have to work together for imparting quality and moral education among students. The Minister directed the district President of teacher forum for preparation and submission of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the establishment of School for Physically Challenged for further action.

IRCS distributes relief, cash among fire victims

SRINAGAR, JUNE 09: Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), J&K State Branch Srinagar today distributed relief material among 15 families whose houses devastated into fire incident at Karpora, Cheshmashahi, Kralsangri Srinagar. The relief material that was distributed included 3 blankets per family along with kitchen sets, ladies and gents suits, torches, bed sheets, towels, mats, soaps and slippers. Prior to the distribution of relief material, each family was provided Rs.5, 000out of Red Cross fund through the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar.

Gul pays obeisance at Ziarat Sharief Ashmuqam

SRINAGAR, JUNE 09: Speaker, Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly Mr. Mubarak Gul on Sunday said that the government is making all out efforts for restoration of pristine glory of the religious places in the State. The Speaker, who was on a day long tour to the area, said this while interacting with the devotees at Ziarat Sharief, Ashmuqam. Mr. Gul said, that a number of steps have already been taken by the present Government for restoration, beautification and face-lifting of the Shrines of the State including this Ziarat Sharief to enhance its beauty and providing better facilities to the devotees coming from across the State to pay obeisance. He said the link road leads to Ziarat Sharief would be upgraded so that the pilgrims do not face any inconvenience. The Speaker paid obeisance at the Ziarat Sharief and prayed for the peace and prosperity of the State. Responding to the demands projected by the locals regarding provision of uninterrupted water and power supply and regularization of daily wagers engaged in different departments, the Speaker assured that their genuine demands would be taken into account with remedial measures. Later, Mr. Gul visited Pahalgam. En-route various individuals and delegations met him and apprised him about the problems confronting them. He heard them patiently and said that appropriate steps would be taken for the redressal of their grievances.

SRINAGAR, JUNE 09: Highlighting the role of teachers and parents in shaping the future of students, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mir Saifullah said that these are concomitant for the development of the children.

The Minister, who was chief guest on the occasion, was speaking at one day Teachers-Parents Conference organized at Middle School Kralpora by Teachers Forum, Kupwara today. The Minister said that the educational institutions and

Omar led Govt. committed to develop infrastructure in far flung areas: Sakina
Lays foundation stone of 3kms Sirmarg-Sirbadri road near DH Pora
Information Act (RTI) has been promulgated for the same purpose. In addition a grievance cell has been established in CM's office for prompt redressal of the grievances of the aggrieved people, she maintained. While enumerating various developmental works already executed and undertaken in Noorabad Constituency, Ms. Sakina Itoo said that more projects would be formulated for improving road connectivity, augmenting water supply and health care facilities in the Constituency. The Minster said that the Government has opened more than two dozen new Degree Colleges in various uncovered areas of the state for providing better and higher education to the aspirants of far flung and remote areas, who due to poor and weak economic conditions cannot afford to go districts or tehsil headquarters, besides various Primary, Middle and high schools have been upgraded under RAMSA. Earlier, Ms. Sakina laid foundation stone of the construction of 3kms Sirmarg-Sirbadri road coming up at an estimated cost of Rs.21lakh. She said that Rs. 15 lakh have already been expended on earth cutting of the road so far. She directed the executing agency for early completion of leveling, earth work and mettling of road so that the locals do not face any inconvenience during the rainy season. She congratulated the people and said that after the completion of the road project, the 50 years dream of the locals would be realized into reality. She said that the present Government under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is focusing on the infrastructural development particularly in the remote and far flung areas of the State. Responding to the demands regarding bringing of Pachan Pathri, a beautiful tourist resort covered with snow and green dense forests, on the tourist map, upgradation Hume Patheri Middle School, installation of Water Supply Scheme, establishment of health centre, extension of Sirmarg- Sirbadri road to Pachan Pathri, development of play fields and cricket kits to players, the Minister assured the locals that due consideration would be given on their genuine demands and also on spot issued directions to the accompanied officers to redress the problems of the people of the concerned areas. On the occasion, the Minister announced Rs.2 lakh for the development of Play field subject to provision of land by the locals. She also directed the CA&PD officials to provide ration to the people of Sirbadriat the local place.

KULGAM, JUNE 09: In order to reach out to the people of far flung and remote areas of the State, the Minister for Social Welfare, Ms. Sakina Ittoo today conducted a whirlwind tour of various areas of Noorabad Constituency to asses and redresses the problems of people living in these areas. During the tour, the Minister visited the areas including Humepatheri, Sarbadri, Humbadri and D K Marg.

Among others, the Minister was accompanied by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kulgam Mr. Gulzar Ahmed Shabnam, Chief Medical Officer, Assistant Executive Engineers of PWD, PHE, Block Development Officer, District Social Welfare officer and other Sectoral officers. Addressing a largely attended gathering at Hume Pathri, near Damhal Hanjipora, the Minister said the people

are the real judge to evaluate the performance done on the ground by the present dispensation. They need not to get misled by false propaganda of the opposition for the vested interests, she cautioned. Ms. Sakina said that present Government is committed to provide good governance to the people and added that enactment of Public Service Guarantee Act (PSGA) and Right to

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

EDUCATION AGE

Career in Information Technology

FIELD DESCRIPTION Software engineering is the development, operation, and maintenance of software. For many years now Software engineering continues to be a prestigious profession and an excellent field of study dedicated to creating software that is of higher quality, cheaper, maintainable, and quicker to build. Since the field is relatively young compared to its sister fields of engineering, there is still much work and debate around what software engineering actually is. It is not viewed as just programming anymore. EDUCATION GUIDE EDUCATION DETAILS & ELIGIBILITY: To become a software engineer one should have a graduate degree (B.E. B.Tech.) or at least a diploma in computer science engineering. The degree and postgraduate degree courses are offered by various private and government engineering colleges. Various options available are: 1. B.Sc. Software Engineering 2. M.Sc. Software Engineering (Integrated & Non-Integrated) 3. B.E. Computer Science and Engineering 4. M.E. / M.Tech. / M.S. (Software Engineering) BASIC ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Higher Secondary students (+2) with 1st or 2nd group as their major or Diploma holders in Computer Science engineering/ Information technology can choose to do any one of the following: A Bachelor degree in Computer Science and then do M.E/ M.S(Software Engineering) or A 5-year integrated Certifications (MCP, MCSA, and MCSE) and CompTIA Certifications (A+, Network+) are also worth doing. HIGHER EDUCATION OPTIONS: After successful completion of the Bachelor's degree, the options for higher education are plenty. A person with the above degree can opt for Master of Engineering (M.E) or do M.B.A. INSTITUTIONS THAT OFFER THIS EDUCATION: Almost all the deemed and general university offer both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Software Engineering. JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB ROLES: Software Engineering graduates are the pillars in the current and emerging information era. Opportunities include pursuing Master of Science programs in reputed Universities in the U.S.A and taking up research assignments in System Software, Computer Engineering, Multimedia, and Net Working and Communications areas. Job opportunities are ever increasing, and are varied in nature. System Study, Analysis, Design and Programming are the inherent phases in application development, and each one of them provides enormous potential to the Computer Science and Engineering graduates to shape themselves in their career. Hi-end profiles include Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Graphic Solutions and Simulations. APPROXIMATE SALARY RANGE: The salary can be from Rs.7, 000 to Rs.30, 000 for freshers and increases with the person's experience and knowledge

Quotas shrink FYJC seats for aspirants in open category

MUMBAI: Even as a sizeable number of Class X students have begun applying to minority institutes, those who are waiting to approach colleges in the open category through the online admission process have little to fall back on, sayeducationists. Most top city colleges are minority institutes; 50% of the total seats in these institutes are reserved for the minority quota. Non-minority colleges are entitled to keep aside 52% of their seats for students applying under constitutional reservations (SC/ST/OBC). These and various other quotas leave around 30% seats for students in the open category during online admissions. "We not only have to keep aside seats for the minority quota, but also for management quota, freedom fighters, sports and cultural quota, physically handicapped etcetera. This leaves us with only 32% seats that are then left for the online admission process for students under the open category," said Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College, Churchgate. He added that most of the chaos takes place in the open category admission as students are left with very few seats that they compete for along with thousands of others. Colleges attached to schools also have to keep aside another 20% seats for the in-house quota. This is especially meant for students who study in the schools to which the college is attached. "After minority and other reservation category quota admissions are done. We have

Software Engineering course ( M.Sc.). COURSE DURATION: Degrees in software engineering are offered at various universities globally. In India, software engineering programs typically take anywhere between five to six years and result in an B.E (Software Engineering) or M.Sc. (Software Engineering) . Diploma Course in software engineering is offered in some foreign Universities as a one-year Program. APPROXIMATE EDUCATION EXPENSES: The Total expense for doing a course in Software Engineering is as follows: B.E.

(Computer Science) - Rs.50, 000/ per year (4 years) M.E. (Software Engineering) Rs.50, 000/ per year - (2 years) Bank loans and private loans can easily be arranged by directly contacting the banks through the college administration. ADDITIONAL COURSES: Career courses include Financial Accounting, Hardware & Networking, Web Technologies, Multimedia & DTP and Software Development. The duration of these courses varies between 1-1 years. International certifications such as RedHat Certifications (RHCE, RHCT), Cisco Certifications (CCNA, CCNP), Microsoft

Logical thinking must to beat physics: Hindu College principal

NEW DELHI: Even maths doesn't strike the kind of terror that physics does in some students. Hindu College principal and physics teacher, Pradyumn Kumar says physics requires you to bring a host of formidable qualities to class - "a good mathematical background", the capacity to "think analytically and logically", ability to "handle practicals and experiments and connect those with the theory" and, finally, "profound thinking power". Yet, he argues, "nobody should fear physics". The first cutoff scores range from the mid-80's to mid-90's across Delhi University colleges. The highest in 2012 was Hindu College's 97% and the lowest, Kalindi College's 77%. Admissions closed after the first list in nine colleges. Eligibility Only candidates who have done science till Class XII are eligible to apply and the aggregate of marks scored in physics, chemistry and maths (PCM) is considered. By 2012 count, 22 colleges taught physics. Under four-year undergraduate degree The name, BSc (honours), is no longer used for the sciences but it's Bachelor with Honours in the respective subject. If you leave in three years, it's a Bachelor with a major. The number of seats for physics has increased this year due to the abolishing of the BSc programmes (physical and applied physical sciences). Launching a new honours course in a science subject, however, is more complicated than launching humanities ones. Sciences include lab work and, therefore, requires infrastructure expansion. Also, now physics will be taught as discipline I (major/honours course), discipline II (minor to be studying with the major from the second year) and as an applied course. Course content Discipline I: Students of physics will have to study a total of 20 papers including one on research methods and another that will consist of a dissertation. Students of physics will study mathematical physics-I, mechanics, physics lab-I, thermal physics, electricity and magnetism, digital systems and applications, waves and optics, elements of modern physics, quantum mechanics and applications, and analog systems and applications. Discipline II: There are six papers covering thermal physics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, digital, analog circuits and instrumentation, optics and modern physics. Applied Courses: Two papers on computational physics, Embedded System: Introduction to microcontroller, applied optics.

DU form sales go down on Day 4, mobile app flops too

NEW DELHI: The rush for forms at Delhi University has mellowed down with only 8,033 forms being sold to general/OBC category on Saturday. For the first time since the process began on Wednesday, the forms sold in a day to this category were less than 10,000. However, the total number of forms sold to the category has reached 1,00,372. DU sold 1,927 forms to the SC/ST and Persons With Disability (PWD) category on Saturday and 6,612 forms were submitted. There were 82,000 online registrations till 5pm on Saturday; of these 33,000 were paid ones. DU's official website changed again and the additional eligibility criteria were reposted. Meanwhile, gathering information is still proving to be a task for most applicants. The university launched a mobile application, which is not proving to be of much help. Sukhmeen Cheema, counsellor at The Indian School, says, "The site should guide one about the admissions. I don't see the point of downloading an app, which uses so much of phone memory and yet is of no help. It just gives you the entire content of the website." The conversion of psychology honours course into B Tech has confused students and psychologists alike. On a social media page for psychology graduates, professional psychologists and counsellors, members ask how "a subject of human behaviour (can) be studied under technical courses". Even as more students sign up for it, the protest against the fouryear undergraduate programme continues. Prem Singh, a Hindi teacher at DU ended his three-day fast at Raj Ghat with an appeal to the vicechancellor to "defer" FYUP. Vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh, however, dismissed all questions related to FYUP assuring the audience that the university officials responsible for planning and implementing the course know what they are doing.

only 12% seats left in the open category. Every year we receive over 1,500 to 1,800 application forms for these seats," said Sunil Mantri, principal of Narsee Monjee College in Vile Parle (West). He added that this problem arises every year during admission and it becomes difficult for the college authorities to give reasons to thousands of students who don't make it to the college in the open category. Non-minority colleges have constitutional reservation for 52% seats in the Mumbai division. "While 52% seats have to be kept aside for students who apply to our college under the constitutional quota, we also need to leave 20% seats for the in-house quota and 5% seats for management quota. This leaves 23% of our seats for the open category which is a mere 60 seats," said Madhavi Pethe, principal of Dahanukar College in Vile Parle (East). Students have, time and again, raised objections over the various quotas but the education department cannot change the process. "We hear complaints every year but these are rights given as per our Constitution. Students need to understand that not all the seats in all colleges are filled up by the reserved category. Most colleges end up surrendering vacant seats for online admissions, giving more opportunities for students in the open category," said NB Chavan, deputy director of school education.

Syllabi changes for 3 subjects get approval

NEW DELHI: A special meeting of the Executive Council of Delhi University approved changes in the syllabi and scheme of examinations for history, home science and sociology for the four-year undergraduate programme. The EC approved the recommendations made by the Academic Council in a meeting. "The recommendation of the AC to replace the existing semester-based syllabi and schemes of examinations for home science, history and sociology has been complied with," DU registrar Alka Sharma said. "The EC has also made the two-year post-graduate diploma in Hindi Patrakarita a oneyear diploma, and approved the changes to be brought in calculating the total number of lectures required in various colleges," Sharma added.

NEW DELHI: Social sciences, business management and animation are some of the many new courses that have been introduced or modified by Indian universities - both private and state-run for the academic session beginning July keeping in mind evolving trends and emerging disciplines in the job market. First and foremost is the prestigious Delhi University (DU), which for the first ever is set to introduce a completely new undergraduate programme with a duration of four years as against the existing three years. Under this, 26 new subjects will be introduced, taking the total number of courses to 54. Among them Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) - which will be offered by 13 colleges has become quite popular among students. Officials said the BMS course, alongwith the existing B. Com (Hons) course that too is quite popular, will greatly benefit commerce students. "Courses like BMS are being introduced

Uiversities offering new, modified courses for evolving job market Nagpur University stops admissions to 338 colleges sans full-time teachers
due to market conditions and to make students more employable," Poonam Verma, principal of Saheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS), told. Apart from DU, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), one of India's oldest universities, has also restructured two of its courses Master's in Development Communication and Master's in Visual Effects and Animation. They were earlier being offered as diplomas and have now been upgraded. "Most universities abroad offer a one-year LLM programme. We have shortened the duration so that students can get more exposure by learning on the job," said Sridhar Patnaik, director of the Center for Post-graduate Legal Studies, JGLS. Catering to humanities' students, the Shiv Nadar University (SNU) at Gautam Budh Nagar adjoining Delhi, has launched two bachelors' programme in history and sociology and the response has been overwhelming. "The response to these programs has been very encouraging. We have had many prospective students reaching out to us enquiring about our new courses," Kapil Gaba, head of admissions at SNU, told. The country's largest distance education provider, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, has launched multiple new programmes in tourism, computers, retail management and fashion merchandising, et al. In addition, diploma courses in food science, technology and plantation management and agriculture are also on offer. Explaining the rationale behind introducing new courses, IGNOU Vice Chancellor M. Aslam told, "We introduce our courses based on the need assessment which do every now and then. We also take into consideration various factors, including the attractiveness of the courses and their impact on society." "Flexibility and innovativeness are key pointers for us when it comes to fulfilling the demands of modern-day society," he added. NAGPUR: The Nagpur University on Friday stopped admissions to 338 affiliated colleges working without even a single full-time teacher. NU also recommended disaffiliation of 161 courses in various colleges where the number of students was less than 50% of the sanctioned capacity. The move would have little impact on the admissions as over one lakh seats remained vacant last year across all faculties. Although there was mad rush for BBA and BCA courses, there was poor response to other courses. Thousands of seats remained vacant last year even in the professional courses like engineering and pharmacy. A notice published in various newspapers by NU Board of College and University Development director Arvind Chaudhary warned students and parents not to take admissions to these colleges for the 2013-14 academic year and if they do so, the university will not be responsible for their fate. NU also warned the college managements not to admit students till they comply with the stipulated norms and face consequences if they go ahead. Though NU notice mentioned having uploaded details of these 338 colleges on its website , the same did not reflect on the website till late evening. "We have acted as per the high court orders and unless these colleges make amends, we will not allow them to admit students". Citing list of 338 colleges without full-time teachers submitted by NU to the court, Justice Arun Chaudhari had observed on May 3 that if the position holds good even today, admissions of students in those colleges shall be subject to the further orders of this court and also at the risk and cost of VC, pro-VC and registrar. The list includes colleges being run by some of the renowned education groups of the city and region such as Meghe, Raisoni, Pandav, Agnihotri, Priyadarshini, Joshi, Mulak and Waghaye Patil among others. These colleges are controlled by MP Datta Meghe, MLA Sevak Waghaye, former MLC Jainuddin Zaveri, and NCP's Uday Tekade. In fact, many engineering, architecture and management colleges are also included in the list where admissions have been stopped. Many colleges also belonged to NU's statutory members like Purushottam Thote, who is on the university's Senate. NU has 827 affiliated colleges - the highest among all universities in state - and a majority of them are working without principals, lecturers and without adequate infrastructure and facilities. Recently, NU cleared proposals of 51 new colleges.

Students in a bind as dollar climbs

CHENNAI: Subash Padmanabhan, who will be heading to the US in a month for his master's in biomedical engineering, has been nervously watching the rupee depreciating against the dollar. It's worrying, says Padmanabhan, but admits he was warned by his seniors already in the US to brace himself for a spike. "They went a couple of years ago when it was 44 or 45 to a US dollarand they had warned me about saving up more for my graduate studies," says Padmanabhan. As on June 8, Padmanabhan was looking at an exchange rate of a little over 57 to a US dollar. Education consultants in the city say Chennai is a very cost-sensitive market when it comes to studying overseas. Sabesan Manickavasagam, general secretary of the Association of Accredited Advisors on Overseas Education says while some countries like the US and Canada stick to the Forex rates, there are others like Australia and New Zealand, which fix official "rates" for student visas. "For instance, the government has currently fixed the rate for student visas at Rs 52 to an Australian dollar even though the Forex rates are hovering at 54," says Manickavasagam. He adds that students need to show the government that they have the funds "required" for study in Australia. Funds required will be calculated at the rate of 52, and not at 54, which helps students on paper at least. "It's not that much of a difference but it still is something," says Manickavasagam. "But where the Indian government really needs to make a change is in terms of the cap on education loans." The highest amount a student can get via a bank loan is 20 lakh, a limit that was fixed years ago. "The government must take inflation and escalation of tuition fee into account. We are planning to petition the government about this," says Manickavasagam. As per data from UNESCO's Institute of Statistics, in 2010 there were more than 2,00,000 Indian students studying overseas with the US accounting for about 1,04,000, followed by the UK (40,000), and Australia (20,000).

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

EDITORIAL

5
match. They are still making sure there are no bodies inside, in case someone stayed over at night." After a pause, the man asks me, "Quiet neighbourhood, this?" "Well yes, mostly. Except do you remember the Litvinenko murder, where they used radiation poisoning to kill that Russian ex-spy?" The man's eyes widen in a yes. "Well that was just one street over." Like the three days in 2006 when the baby-grow costumes scanned the Litvinenkos' house for radioactive material, today, too, there are police helicopters hovering overhead. Everything is cordoned off and there is no press to be seen. One of the several phone videos shot in Woolwich on May 22 looked as if it was from a helicopter, though it was actually from a high balcony. In it, you saw two men drive a car into a man walking on a sidewalk. Then, out of the camera frame, they get out and slaughter the man they have knocked down, hacking at him with cleavers and machetes. If, today, the perpetrators of arson are defined by their anonymity and absence, the two murderers were very present in Woolwich, filmed by several bystanders, one or two even face to face, the Londoner of Nigerian descent, covered with blood, apologizing that women had to witness this, but what could he do, him with his 24-carat South London accent, he had to retaliate for what the British army was doing to 'his' women in 'his' country, by which he presumably meant Afghanistan where Rigby had served. While many, many Muslim groups immediately expressed their shock and regret, salafi-jihadi preachers like Anjem Chowdary and others still remained free to spew their hate speech Chowdary saying Rigby, being a non-believer (in Islam) would burn in hell and deserved no sympathy from himself or any other Muslim, while describing one of the murderers, Michael 'Muhajid' Adebolajo as 'a nice man', and one who he prayed Allah would take into heaven. "Can I have a word, sir?" The woman is white, in her fifties, large and slow-moving. She smiles nicely. "From the anti-terrorist unit, sir. Wanted to ask you a few questions." I ask to see her ID card and she promptly shows it to me before asking if I'd seen anything. I don't have much to offer her so I ask her a few questions myself. Detective Constable 'S' has been working in the police for 24 years now, a lot of of it in anti-terrorism, she's seen a lot of ugliness and is now looking forward to retiring. Yes, she was among the officers who went in to Woolwich to get witness statements right after Rigby's murder and the subsequent shooting of the two men who carried it out. She'd begun in Luton, in the 1980s, when that was a hotbed of IRA activity. Would it be alright if I took some pictures? She would ask someone for me. After five minutes and some consultation, "I'm afraid the answer is no. There's lots of us here from the ATU and I imagine we'd make quite good targets, sir. I'm retiring in November and I'd like to leave in one piece if you don't mind." By now I'm thinking of DC 'S' as my didi and I put away all thoughts of bringing out my camera. If I thought I'd already seen the full plumage of London's police I'm wrong: just before noon a troop of baseball-capped men and women arrive, wearing blue gloves, and proceed to sift through all the garbage and recycling bins outside our houses. They use sticks to push up bushes, they go deep into the large garbage trolleys. There are also men in shiny, light blue jump-suits, with black garbage bags tied around their boots and they oscillate slowly between the crime scene and an unmarked van. At first it's not clear to which tentacle of service they belong but later I see a couple of them carrying away sealed brown bags and I guess they are from a different forensics department from the white ones earlier. Two portaloos, portable toilets, are brought in by truck and deposited at the side of the road, looking for all the world as if they are the leading wedge of one of Britain's great open-air music festivals. Suddenly our electricity goes off. I go out and ask the man next to the electricity van what's going on. He tells me it will take a few hours to find the line going under the destroyed building and cut it off. Lovely. Luckily, it's an early summer's day with the temperature pitched so perfectly that neither heating nor a super-cold fridge are indispensable. As the sun climbs, butterflies interrogate the flowers. A seagull wheels white above the charred, smouldering grey mess of wood and metal. Above the bird, the police choppers have been replaced by news helicopters. Higher up, airliners make their way in and out of London's five airports. Above them still, jet fighters draw white trails, creating a game of snakes and ladders in the clear dark blue ceiling of the summer sky, the pilots waiting, perhaps, for the orders to fly to Syria.

FUTURE ANSWERS
TOO CROWDED AT THE TOP
ixty years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached Mount Everest and made history, the journey to the world's highest peak has now become a veritable tourist activity that may be enjoyed by almost anyone with a few thousand dollars to spare. As many as 4,000 people have made it to the top in recent years, and many of them have done so more than once. Guided tours that cost anything between $30,000 and $1,20,000 have become the new norm. As much as 90 per cent of the traffic on Everest now consists primarily of non-professional climbers, some of whom do not even have basic skills. And so it is that like any other popular tourist spot across the world, be it the Taj Mahal or Times Square, on Mount Everest too, it is now commonplace to see hundreds jostling for space. Plastic bottles, discarded tools and human waste litter the top of the world, bearing an uncanny resemblance to much of the planet below. And that is not all. Since Everest, like many other natural tourist attractions, is not open through the year, climbers must make the most of the small windows of good weather that come their way during the already short climbing season. Such is the situation now that it is not uncommon to see climber-tourists waiting in line for hours at what is known as Hillary's Step, before they can complete the last stretch - scaling the treacherous 40 feet wall of ice and rock - to the summit. Naturally, tempers flare even as bodies and minds tire and the limits of both physical and mental endurance are put to a gruelling test. It comes as little surprise, therefore, that this year's climbing season (which concluded in end-May) effectively began with an all-out brawl on the mountain top. A three-member professional European team got into a violent confrontation with about 100 sherpas as it refused to be bogged down by the latter's amateur clients and wait in line to get to the summit. And if that wasn't enough to violate the sanctity of Mount Everest, its pristine environs were further bloodied when four climbers died on their way to the summit later this year ostensibly because of the traffic snarl there. Sure, climbers have died before as well, but that was rarely because they fell prey to hubris. Since then, the issue of overcrowding on Everest has been a much discussed topic in mountaineering circles. The Government of Nepal, which benefits tremendously from the revenue that Everest tourism generates, is reportedly even considering putting in a permanent ladder at Hillary's Step - the last hurdle one must overcome before one can stake a claim on Everest - so as to hurry tourists along. Professionals remain divided on the efficacy of such a measure, and they prefer instead to push for regulating the number of tourists. But while immediate steps must be taken to disentangle the knot at Everest, the solution to this problem lies in first acknowledging the fact that Mount Everest is not a rich man's trophy.

Behind the arson across the street

RUCHIR JOSHI
he ones who were awakened in our row of houses wondered why the garbage collectors were making so much noise and at 3 am in morning. Some people got up to look while others turned over and went back to sleep. I slept soundly, having heard nothing. At about 7 am, my younger son awoke and began his final revision for the religious studies board exam that morning. What are the different theories of Intelligent Design, the proofs offered in different religions that god exists? The smell of coffee bubbling, the sound of the blinds being lifted on the window facing the road, Ultimate Punishment for Religious Believers: Hell and Bad Karma - the voltage of a genuine scream: Oh my god, someone's burnt down the madrassa. I find myself up, dressed and on the street in under a minute. The small road in front of the house is packed with fire-engines and police vehicles. Just beyond these, the old wood-fronted box of a building that faces the house is half gone, the roof collapsed, the long side-wall almost disappeared. There is smoke spewing out of the wreckage. The large letters in front of the building spelling out 'Bravanese Centre' are twisted and burnt. There is graffiti spray-painted on the front wall next to the door, three capital letters in black that were not there the previous afternoon: EDL, standing for the fascist group English Defence League. I join the group of neighbours looking on. One of them, who did wake up, describes flames shooting up and fire engines working for over two hours to kill the flames that nearly spread to the row of houses adjoining the burning building. The Bravanese are an ethnic minority group from around Barawa, a port town in Somalia. As Wikipedia tells us, after the outbreak of the Somali civil war in 1991 the group spread, to Kenya, and clearly also to the UK. In this quiet part of north London, we would see these Barawa Somalis arriving at the Centre every Friday. The parents would escort the children, the boys dressed in the normal fashion, t-shirts, gangsta track pants, shorts in the summer, bouncing their footballs, and the girls, from as young as four or five, garbed in head-covered, floor-brushing hijab, regardless of whether it was winter or sweltering summer. Many of these Somalis would come by bus but there would also be a cluster of cars parked along the narrow road and around the gates of the Centre. Except for Id and other special occasions everyone would be gone in a few hours. Occasionally, this old Scouts hall was also used by other groups for bake-sales and some sports events. Today, a couple of weeks after the brutal murder in Woolwich of the British soldier, Lee Rigby, by two salafi-jihadis, someone has used the Bravanese Centre to make a bonfire. Or, rather, they've tried to add to the atmosphere already vitiated by other attacks on mosques and Muslim community centres post Rigby's murder. Across the morning, there is a parade of different kinds of police. The bobbies stand around, having blocked off our stretch of the road. Around them arrive a stream of coppers, clearly from the higher echelons of the Met. There are busy young men in sharply tapering suits and smart, pointy shoes, clearly Yard 'management' here to choreograph the spin, two mobiles going simultaneously. Then come some more senior penguins, the girth, the peaked caps, and the grim looks of command setting them well apart. Then there are the older, plainclothes 'suits', lined, impassive leathery veterans of the kind you see in the policier serials on British TV. Behind and around them the forensics people move in and out of the destroyed building, helmets and white babygrow costumes making them look like extras in some dark sci-fi film. The sniffer-dog teams have already come smelling, in case somebody from our row of houses has strolled over and dropped a firebomb. Marinaded as I am in Calcutta's governmental inefficiency and apathy, watching the different London services go into postincident overdrive makes for a hypnotizing, fascinating theatre. I start chatting to a fireman who's resting in one of the support vehicles. "Oh, there's no doubt, someone broke in and set fire to the place," he says. "That graffiti is pretty fresh too. Probably petrol. You know douse the place, move out, chuck in a

CAST A SPELLING
ho can spell 'bureaucracy'? Apparently the British education secretary, Michael Gove cannot. Worse, his mistake is recorded in the white paper on the 162 words that he feels 11-yearolds in Britain must learn to spell. He is, possibly like Prince Charles earlier, alarmed at the poor standards of spelling in his country. His discomfort almost coincides with the recent spelling bee contest across the pond, which an Indian-American youngster has won. English spelling appears to be taking a battering among its young native speakers, for on both sides of the Atlantic Asian and European children are doing much better in it. Yet spelling bee winners cannot rest on their laurels. Apparently, the winning word 'knaidel' can also be spelt 'kneydl'. The fundamental question, loved by poor spellers, has burst into the light: does spelling matter? That is also the title of a recent book by the Oxford professor, Simon Horobin. Predictably, this has awoken a range of feelings - outrage, delight, introspection, pompousness, cordial welcome. The professor's Pandora's box has released a variety of spellings for common words in medieval times, such as 'drowgh', 'yhurght', 'trghug' and 'trowffe' for 'through'. Why should everyone spell in the same way? This is a question even Mark Twain or H.G. Wells would have asked, for to them sameness in spelling meant a lack of originality. More to the point, Mr Horobin feels 'thru' for 'through' is far more innocent than, say, 'yhurght'. It is a waste of time in the classroom to concentrate on spelling, says the Horobin school of thought, since it has been proven that bad spelling does not mean less intelligence. The social attitude that looks down on a poor speller as badly educated is simply prejudice. Such a student can go yhurght all other subjects perfectly well. Yhurgh. Standardization is recent, as Mr Horobin has said. But the process did not come out of someone's whim; it had pressing causes. Those causes have not disappeared, even in the age of the 'spell-check'. Scholarship, or even curiosity, would trip when looking into the use of a word by an author if the latter spells it in five different ways. Dictionaries and databases would fall apart. For the vast number of nonnative speakers who use English in their daily lives, many-splendoured spellings would render communication unintelligible. Standardization, not rigidity, has its own context. It is part of the history of the language, that flows, changes, mingles and spreads. The best example of that is the way spellings change in emails, text messages and tweets. Such originality has its own logic, its own evolving rules of intelligibility. Neither laxity nor strictness can undermine the dynamism of language in its various contexts. And people will continue to be brilliant or slow, irrespective of how they spell.

NITISH KUMAR WILL PAY FOR OBSTINACY

RAJESH SINGH
Nitish Kumar and his supporters have been going around consoling themselves that there is no need to read much into the loss of one Lok Sabha seat, and that defeat in one constituency does not reflect the mood of the people of the State. In ordinary circumstances, that would have indeed been true. But these are not ordinary circumstances. Nitish Kumar is poised to break away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and face the electorate on his own. Besides the RJD and the Congress, he will have to contend with the BJP, which has a strong base in Bihar.
n upbeat Lalu Prasad is certain to push his advantage further by launching an aggressive campaign against the Chief Minister in the run-up to the general election. JD(U) leaders annoyed over Nitish Kumar's allegedly high-handed functioning are waiting to seize an opportunity and strike just when it will hurt him the most. Also, given that the Maharajganj setback is the first major hit that his party has taken in eight years, the signifi cance cannot be downplayed. The JD(U) has offered one other laughable explanation for its defeat. It said that RJD candidate Prabhunath Singh won because he is an extremely popular leader (who has been winning for long) and not because the people wanted the RJD to triumph over the ruling party. There is no doubt that Singh is very popular in Maharajganj, but that alone cannot be the reason for the victory. After all, leaders of larger stature have bit the dust in Indian politics in their backyards. Indira Gandhi lost from Rae Bareilly. Stalwarts of the BJP and other parties, who too were (and some still are) hugely popular, have faced electoral defeats in their careers. Also, it must be remembered that the JD(U) had not fielded a light-weight in Maharajganj. PK Shahi is an important member of the powerful Bhumihar community, the State's Human Resources Development Minister and a close friend of the Chief Minister. His defeat is, therefore, a personal embarrassment for Nitish Kumar. Add to this the fact that Prabhunath Singh's margin of victory was far bigger than his earlier wins (when he was with Nitish Kumar), and the conclusion is but one: That the Chief Minister has done something seriously wrong to have invited the defeat. In the rough and tumble of Indian politics, stature alone is not the deciding factor; there are others. If Nitish Kumar does not want to openly confront those factors, it's because he will stand exposed. One of those uncomfortable factors is that the JD(U) is more dependent on the BJP in Bihar than it would like to admit, and that without the latter's whole-hearted backing, its poll calculations will go for a toss. There is no reason to disbelieve reports that, angered by Nitish Kumar's continuing barbs directed at Narendra Modi, the BJP's State cadre only nominally campaigned for the JD(U) candidate in the byelection - and thus worked for his defeat. Perhaps the State unit of the party wanted to teach Nitish Kumar a lesson. But it may be too late for the Chief Minister to learn that lesson, because he has been so vocal and adamant in his illogical opposition to Modi that it is impossible for him to back out even with a face-saver. Nitish Kumar has taken the public stand that his ally (the BJP) had worked unitedly with the JD(U) in the election. His remark is understandable because, if he accepts the sabotage-byBJP theory, he will have to credit the BJP for influence which he believes only he holds over the electorate. Yet, the fact remains that it is he and his party and not the BJP that have been humiliated. In this context, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley's comment that the Maharajganj defeat should provide an 'indication' of things to come, can be read in two ways. The first is that he is emphasising on the need for the JD(U)-BJP coalition to remain intact, because only then can the challenges in Bihar be met. The second interpretation is that Jaitley is obliquely referring to the disasters the JD(U) will encounter once it breaks off with the BJP-led coalition on the Modi issue. Given that even BJP leaders who favour the continuation of alliance with Nitish Kumar have run out of patience with the Bihar Chief Minister's tirade against Modi, the second interpretation may be more accurate. The other factor which the Bihar Chief Minister refuses to acknowledge is that his politics of appeasement has upset powerful castes and communities that have been given short shrift during his regime. Nitish Kumar has gone overboard in stitching the Mahadalit-Muslim -Econom ica lly Backward Classes alliance, by systematically ignoring the aspirations of upper castes such as the Rajputs. The Yadav community, a large section of which had switched sides from Lalu Prasad to Nitish Kumar, too is far from happy. The disgruntlement that has set in provides a ripe occasion for the polarisation of votes of the disenchanted sections of voters. Whether that happens - and happens to what extent will depend on the sort of leadership the BJP throws up at the national level. Meanwhile, the first challenge that Nitish Kumar will face once he quits the NDA is not in the Lok Sabha but at the State level. The incumbent coalition regime will collapse once the BJP pulls out, leaving the Chief Minister at the mercy of Independents. Even if he gets the required number from the Independents, Nitish Kumar will not be able to govern with the cohesiveness and sense of purpose that marked the heyday of the BJP-JD(U) alliance. Moreover, there is also the real possibility of a flight of leaders from his party once it becomes clear that the Chief Minister is on a sticky wicket. Of course, the JD(U) could also engage in weaning away the 'anti-Modi' faction within the State BJP. But that may prove easier said than done, because the Bihar unit of the BJP has more or less closed ranks in favour of the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Animals too need our care

Dear Editor, The heat wave has tightened its grip over several parts of the country with the maximum temperature hovering around 46 degrees C at many places. We humans make every effort to beat the heat, but what about draught animals toiling on the roads in a sizzling summer. Unfeeling carts men are guilty of perpetrating cruelty to draught animals by forcing them to carry weight exceeding the permissible limits in the scorching sun and making them vulnerable to sunstroke and exhaustion. The Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, mandate that in any area where the temperature exceeds 37 degrees Celsius during the period between 12:00 Noon and 3:00 PM, no person will use any animal drawing a vehicle or carrying any load. It is a pity that these rules are never followed. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is unable to check cruelty to animals as they get little support from the police as well as public. Since SPCAs are defunct, casual checking by policemen between 12:00 Noon and 3:00 PM during their

duty on roads can hardly deter the infringement of the rules. It is our moral duty that the silent cry of agony of creatures must not remain unheard. Yours etc, Shalini Thakur Jammu

Wastage of food
Dear Editor, Wastage of food is a huge challenge to society. Although our technology enables a lot of food to be produced in a small area of land, food shortage will remain if we continue to squander our food resources. We must do our best to reduce food wastage. This can start from our homes. Frugal and sufficient consumption will ensure that the theme is followed in letter and in spirit. Yours Etc, Sumit Gupta Gangyal, Jammu

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Manmohan spent Rs 642 crore on air travel reveals RTI

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: A sum of over Rs. 642 crore has been incurred on Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs air travels abroad in the last nine years. This information has been made public by the PMO as part of obligations under the mandatory proactive disclosure clause of the Right to Information Act. The information reveals that Dr. Singh undertook 67 travels since 2004 when he took over as PM, of which bills of five have not been received. The bills received from the rest 62 visits show that Rs. 642.45 crore was spent on air travel. The Central Information Commission, in a recent order, had directed the Cabinet Secretariat to make public expenses incurred on the travel of ministers and VVIPs because of large public interest in the matter. We have been noticing a lot of public interest in the visit of such high dignitaries as the President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister of India. Quite often, one comes across RTI applications seeking similar information about these visits, Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra had said. The list of Dr. Singhs visits shows maximum expenditure of Rs. 26.94 crore was incurred on his seven-day long visit to Mexico and Brazil in 2012 to attend G20 Summit and Rio+20 Summit

STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

NATIONAL

Amendment to IT Act better than RTI for transparency: Tewari

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: Dismissing the CIC order on bringing parties under the RTI Act, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has said an amendment to the Income Tax Act would work better towards bringing transparency. Congress has already rejected the CIC order, terming it as an adventurist approach that would harm democratic institutions, Asked what was the party scared of if it is subjected to RTI, MR. Tewari told Karan Thapar on Devils Advocate programme on CNN-IBN, I think you need to make a distinction out here. All donations which are above Rs 20,000, the donors are revealed to the Income Tax authorities. On claims that most of their donations come under Rs 20,000, so they are hidden, he said, Look at it in a broader perspective. Look at a party which has a presence across 6, 30,000 villages in this country...So, you have a lot of small donors who contribute out of political conviction. Asked why the donations cannot be revealed to the country, the Minister said, For that you dont need the RTI. All that you need to do is make an amendment to the Income Tax Act. On June 3, the Central Information Commission had held that political parties are answerable under the Right to Information Act. A full bench of the Commission comprising Chief Information

respectively. This was followed by Rs. 22.70 crore spent on air travel to Washington DC, and

Brazil in 2010, where he had gone to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, BRIC Summit and IBSA Summit.

Commissioner Satyananda Mishra and Information Commissioners M L Sharma and Annapurna Dixit had stated that six parties -Congress, BJP, CPI(M), CPI,

NCP and BSP -- to whom RTI queries were directed, fulfilled the criteria of being public authorities under the Right to Information Act.

Police for ED probe into hawala transactions in Spot-fixing case

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: The Delhi Police has written to the Enforcement Directorate for a probe into alleged hawala transactions in the IPL spotfixing case, including by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. A senior police official said that details have been provided to ED about 27 people arrested in connection with the scandal as well as that about Dawood and Chota Shakeel. We have written to ED. There has been hawala transactions not alone in India but abroad also like in Karachi and Dubai in connection with the case. They (ED) have the expertise in investigating this angle, he said, referring to the letter. He said establishing the money trail in the case is very important. The official also said they were questioning Ramesh Vyas, arrested by the Mumbai Police recently in a

BJP sees a ray of hope in Sharif's conciliatory approach

PANAJI, JUNE 9: Taking note of the conciliatory approach of the newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif towards India, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the new civilian regime in Islamabad deserves the benefit of doubt. A resolution adopted on the opening day of the National Executive of the party here on `Suraksha and Swabhiman (National Security and Self-Pride) said, With a newly elected government in Pakistan there is reason for cautious optimism for bettering ties, without losing our national self-respect. The position is a slight deviation from its earlier stand that it is opposed to normalcy in relationship with Pakistan unless the neighbouring country takes decisive action against terrorist elements operating from its soil against India. At the National Council of the party in New Delhi in March the party charged the Manmohan Singh government of frittering away the gains made by New Delhi after an 2004 agreement between then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then President Gen. Musharraf in which a commitment was made that the soil of Pakistan would not be allowed to be used to target India. Barring the one paragraph benefit of doubt to Pakistan, the rest of the resolution is a diatribe on the alleged provocative actions of the military establishment directed at India and inactive approach of New Delhi. Interestingly, unlike at the National Council, the resolution does not make any reference to Bangladesh. In March the party had flagged in a big way the alleged unchecked `Bangladeshi infiltration fraught with serious consequences to the security situation and communal harmony in the northeast. Party president Rajnath Singh had also reiterated opposition of his party to the 2011 India-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement on the ground it is flawed and said that the government cannot bank on its support when the Constitutional Amendment Bill to facilitate the implementation of the pact comes up in Parliament during the current session. However, subsequently the government prevailed upon the party not to oppose the Constitutional Amendment saying that the boundary pact would not compromise Indian interests. GOODWILL WITH MALDIVES AFFECTED On foreign policy, the resolution said that due to a lack of political direction it was on a `drift rendering India ineffective in meeting the challenges faced by the country. The relations with the SAARC countries had never been as low as it is now. The goodwill that we had in Maldives is all but lost. Nepal may have not drafted a Constitution yet for itself, but it seems to want nothing from India. Sri Lanka has not fulfilled its promise of devolution of power as yet. There were more than 400 incursions by China into our territory. The recent incursion in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector in Ladakh was brazen. Dams on the Brahmaputra, building roads and communication towers in areas in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), extraordinary claims in South China Sea affecting Indian commercial operations in Vietnam are but a few threats from China not adequately addressed by our External Affairs Ministry.

betting case. The Delhi Police have been allowed by a court here to question him till June 18. He was in touch with bookies arrested by us. He was the one of the main men in the racket. He had direct links with the underworld, the official said. He had communication with people outside and inside the country, he said.

Sources said they were questioning Vyas to ascertain the the identity of Master and Doctor Saab, who figured in intercepted telephone calls between bookies. We want to know the identity of these pseudonyms. Both Master and Doctor Saab stay abroad, the official said, adding the Mumbai Police had told them that Vyas used 92 mobiles to

communicate with bookies and those connected to the underworld. He also said they are yet to nab 67 bookies in the case. Twentyseven people, including three players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan, have been arrested since May 16 from various parts of the country after the IPL spotfixing scandal came to light.

Dept of Posts to move cabinet note to apply for bank licence

MUMBAI, JUNE 9: The Department of Posts will move a Cabinet note in order to apply for a banking license by the stipulated deadline of July 1, a senior official has said, even as a top Finance Ministry went public with doubts over the efficacy of the post office being converted into a bank. We are moving a cabinet note now and after that we will be applying for the licence. After the cabinet note, we will go ahead with setting up the bank, Postal Services Boards member, planning, Suneeta Trivedi, told PTI. Ms. Trivedi asserted that the Department will be making the application by July 1, which is the last date set by the Reserve Bank for receiving applications. The department of Posts has engaged consultancy firm Ernst & Young for helping it at the application stage by creating the whole concept of the bank and has already gathered all the know-how to enter the fray. However, Department of Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru seemed to be not so much interested at the prospect of India Posts entering the banking fray. There is a lot more to banking than merely having the reach and opening savings accounts, he told reporters, adding that it also involves very complex things at the back end and seemed to suggest that a Japan-like case, where the postal department has a bank, may not work in the country. When asked about the same, Ms. Trivedi said, We have worked out all on the know how, about everything. There is nothing like that and added that there is no rethink on the part of the Postal department. Sector watchers suggest that if financial inclusion is the ultimate aim in granting new licences in this round, the entry of the department will be highly beneficial to the agenda being pursued by the

No law, no further movement in setting up NCTC: Home Minister

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: The much talked-about NCTC may be a non-starter but the government has rejected the demand of non-Congress Chief Ministers for a law to set up the anti-terror body. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said his Ministry was not exploring the option of bringing a bill in Parliament for the purpose. No, we have no such proposal, Mr. Shinde told PTI when asked about the possibility of bringing a law for setting up National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). Asked whether the government was planning to issue an executive order for NCTC, the Home Minister said, We are not doing anything now. We brought a proposal before the Chief Ministers. But some of them opposed it. So, there is no further movement now. Those who are opposing a watereddown proposal for NCTC include Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Even Congress Chief Ministers Prithviraj Chavan (Maharashtra), Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) and Tarun Gogoi (Assam) have expressed reservations to the revised proposal of NCTC. Holding that the revised draft order on NCTC suffers from several serious flaws and arbitrary provisions, the Bihar Chief Minister had asked the Centre to seek Parliaments nod through a wider debate for creating the anti-terror hub. Sources said that in his concluding

Reserve Bank and the Government. According to available data, the department had 154,822 branches as of March 31, 2013 with 139,086 or 90 per cent of them, in rural areas, which is four times the total number of rural branches of the entire banking system.

remarks at Wednesdays Chief Ministers conference on internal security, the Home Minister had said a decision on setting up NCTC will be taken only after a full consensus. A political consensus even on a watereddown proposal for NCTC is unlikely any time soon and the anti-terror hub proposal seems to have gone into deep freeze.

PM to hold all-party meet on Maoists

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold an all-party meet Monday to fine tune the government's strategy to deal with Maoists, official sources said Sunday. The meeting comes in the wake of last month's attack by Maoists on a Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh which wiped out the party's leadership in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state. Addressing the chief ministers' meet on internal security Friday, the prime minister had said the government's two-pronged anti-Maoist strategy of sustained operations and addressing development issues needed to be strengthened. After a meeting of the UPA coordination committee June 5, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had said the Chhattisgarh incident was "an attack on the democratic system" and that there was a need to "engage all parties".

Time to make odd one out from cricket: commissioner

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: The times has came in the cricket era when some "bad" players from the game has to go out , says Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar whose team is aiming to file the charge sheet in the IPL spot-fixing scandal before he hangs his boots end of next month.59-year-old Kumar, who has been engaged in several high profile cases in his career spanning over three decades, feels that the spot-fixing scandal was a murder of faith of millions of cricket lovers. After this case surfaced I actually started getting into the history of this game and came across what Australian captain Bill Woodfull told English Team Manager Pelham Warner in 1932 when bodyline attack was the order of the day between the two arch rivals. "This game is too good to be spoilt. It's time some people got out of it," Kumar quoted Woodfull and added, "similarly, I echo the same view that the game is too good to be spoilt and it is actually time to weed out some bad players from the game."The Police commissioner said that cricket was known as "gentleman's game" but it is no longer the same. "The spot- fixing scandal will remain fresh in the memory of people as they will not be able to get over the cheating they had to face at the hands of some of the cricketers," he said."I am afraid that love associated with the game may go forever as the sweet gestures of players may now be viewed with suspicion by people," he said.And when asked about the criticism about application of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act(MCOCA) in the case, Kumar feels that it was a decision taken rightly after consulting legal experts. What is the fuss all about? I am not here for any media trial. My case will be judged by the courts where we will present our entire evidence.Here, bookies are negotiating rates with underworld people sitting in Dubai and Pakistan... Is this not an organised crime?" he asked. To a question whether some more cricketers are on the radar of the Delhi Police in connection with the spot-fixing in the IPL, Kumar said, "there are some names and we are waiting for more evidence before we nab them."He, however, refused to indicate whether the players under scanner were fancied ones or unknown ones."If anyone is on the wrong side of the law, he has to face the music," the Delhi Police chief said. Known for his no-nonsense professional approach, Kumar, who unearthed the UTI scam leading to arrest of its Chairman P S Subramanyam, said, "even mighty people have to bow before the law of the land.""So no matter how high and mighty are involved in the case, Delhi Police will ensure that every crook is brought before law and every evidence is placed before the court."The Police Commissioner, who solved the 2002 American Center shooting incident at Kolkata within three weeks and secured deportation from the Gulf of main accused in the case Aftab Ansari, said, "Before I demit my office, we will try and charge sheet all the accused in the case..." Kumar is due to retire on July 31 after serving in

Free, fair panchayat poll will bring victory to Left: Buddhadeb

BONGAON (WB), JUNE 9: Accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress and state administration of unleashing a reign of terror, CPI(M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday claimed that a free and fair panchayat poll would see a political victory for the Left in rural West Bengal. The TMC and the state administration have launched a reign of terror before the panchayat polls so that opposition parties cant file nomination. The police is doing nothing to ensure a free poll, Mr. Bhattacharjee told a rally at Bongaon in North 24Parganas district. The former chief minister accused the government of deliberately entering into a spat with the State Election Commission over the holding of panchayat poll. We had organised seven panchayat polls, but never such a situation had arisen. This government from the very beginning wants to dismantle the panchayat system, he claimed. Hailing the increase in the vote share of the Left Front in the just-concluded Howrah Lok Sabha by-election, he said that despite violence by TMC activists the people of Howrah had shown the guts to fight the terror. They had tried to create a lot of problems, but we had given them a good fight. If we had been able to stop TMCs terror fully we would have done much better. If free and fair Panchayat polls are held then no one can stop the victory of the Left Front, he said. Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Sunday accused goons allegedly associated with the Trinamool Congress for the killing of a CPI(M) leader in Burdwan district.

various capacities in Delhi Police and CBI for 37 years.And about any role of Rajasthan Royals' owner Raj Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty in the spot-fixing scam, the Delhi Police chief said, "there is evidence that they used to bet and they needed to be questioned. We have done that with Raj and if required, we will call his wife too."Kumar also said that the Special Cell of Delhi Police has done a wonderful job, but many a times his team had to face unnecessary criticism in media.sMedia is the fourth pillar of our democracy and we, in Delhi Police, respect it. But at the same time, it should refrain from printing or airing reports which are nothing more than the figment of imagination of the reporter."

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

INTERNATIONAL & ECONOMY

North and South Korea hold first talks in two years

SEOUL: North and South Korea held their first official talks for more than two years on Sunday, seeking to set up a high-level meeting in Seoul after months of tensions and threats of nuclear war. The working-level discussions - weighed down, as always, by decades of mutual distrust - were held in the border truce village of Panmunjom where the armistice ending the 1950-53 Korean War was signed. "The overall atmosphere was ... calm and the discussion proceeded with no major debate," the South's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said after the morning session between the two delegations, each comprising three representatives. The talks moved into a fourth session in the evening as the two sides sought to agree a framework for what would be their first ministerial-level meeting since 2007 - tentatively scheduled in Seoul on Wednesday. The agenda will focus on restoring suspended commercial links, including the Kaesong joint industrial complex that the North effectively shut down in April as tensions between the historic rivals peaked. North countered with a request for lower-level talks first and - after some relatively benign to-and-fro about the best venue - Sunday's meet in Panmunjom was agreed. In a further signal of intent, North Korea on Friday restored its official hotline with the South, which it had severed in March. The move towards dialogue has been broadly welcomed - given the threats of nuclear war that were being flung around in April and May - but there is sizeable scepticism about Pyongyang's intentions. "The North Korean offer has all of the hallmarks of Pyongyang's diplomacy," said Stephan Haggard, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "Pyongyang is 'sincerely' and 'magnanimously' inviting the South to fix, and pay for, problems of the North's own creation," Haggard said. It was the North's decision to withdraw its 53,000 workers in early April that closed Kaesong. The North also wants to discuss resuming tours by South Koreans to its Mount Kumgang resort. These were suspended after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist there in July 2008. Kaesong and Mount Kumgang were both significant sources of scarce foreign currency for North Korea, which is squeezed by UN sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons programme. There are also suggestions that Pyongyang was playing to a specific audience by proposing talks just before US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down for their crucial summit in California. China, the North's sole major ally and economic benefactor, has been under US pressure to restrain its neighbour and has pushed Pyongyang to drop its destabilising strategy of confrontation. On Saturday, Obama and Xi closely consulted on North Korea's recent nuclear brinkmanship, and agreed to work together on the "denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said. Analysts say South Korea will approach talks with Pyongyang with a caution born of long experience.

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35 militants killed by security forces in Pakistan
PAKISTAN: In Pakistan, 35 militants were killed in a major operation to flush out rebels in the restive northwest Khyber tribal region of the country. A brief statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations said, one soldier was also killed and five injured in the clashes over the past two days. The statement claimed that security forces had made significant gains and cleared key areas of the Maidan region of Khyber Agency. Troops have also taken full

"Today's talks were purely preparatory, so there was little room for dispute," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "We'll get a better sense of where things really stand on Wednesday," Yang told. Sunday's talks came about after an unexpected reversal on Thursday from North Korea, which suddenly dropped its default tone of high-decibel belligerence and proposed opening a dialogue. South Korea responded swiftly with its offer of a ministerial meeting in Seoul, the

control of the strategic Derastani Ridge that overlooks Maidan and Kuki Khel Valley, the statement added. The military offensive in Khyber Agency was launched some weeks ago after dozens of Pakistani Taliban fighters entered the tribal district and occupied key areas.

Suicide car bomb kills 7 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials say a suicide car bomb in a Shiite neighbourhood in northern Baghdad has killed seven people and wounded 18. Two police officers say the attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint today morning in the busy Kazimiyah neighbourhood, killing five soldiers and two civilian bystanders. They said 18 other people, including six civilians, were wounded. A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figure. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information. Two revered Shiite saints are buried in Kazimiyah, making it one of the country's main pilgrimage destinations for Shiites and an important commercial hub in the capital. Violence has spiked in Iraq in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to widespread sectarian bloodshed.

14 Sri Lankan fishermen killed in storm

COLOMBO: At least 14 fishermen were killed while 36 others went missing after a storm lashed several parts of Sri Lankafor two days, a minister said Sunday. More than 20 fishermen were also injured when their boats were caught in rough waters Friday night and early Saturday, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Sarath Kumara Gunaratne told. He said the navy and air force were involved in a search and rescue operation but there were fears many more have been killed at sea. The department of meteorology had Saturday issued a weather alert telling fishermen not to go out to sea. The winds uprooted trees in the capital Colombo while transport along some railway lines was hampered as a result of bad weather.

Karzai leaves for Qatar to attend 10th annual US-Islamic World Forum
Afghan President Hamid Karzai left for Qatar to attend the 10th annual US-Islamic World Forum beginning in capital Doha today. The theme of this year's forum is "A Decade of Dialogue" and it is likely to focus on the changing landscape in Afghanistan and Pakistan, assessing how it will affect internal and regional security. A press release issued by the Afghan President's Office in Kabul this afternoon said the meeting represents the Forum's ongoing commitment to fostering improved relations between the US and Muslim societies around the world. Afghan President is accompanied by a high level delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Dr. Zalmai Rasoul, National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta and the Head of High Peace Council Salahudin Rabbani. During this visit President Karzai will meet with senior Qatari officials to discuss Afghanistan's vision on regional and international cooperation.

Iran launches space monitoring centre

TEHRAN: Iran Sunday opened a new space centre to monitor and observe space objects and satellites passing through the country's upper atmosphere. The space centre named "Imam Ja'far Sadeq (PBUH)" in Arak city in the central province of Markazi was inaugurated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to report. The project aims to provide security for Iran's space systems as well as monitor moving objects in space, Defence Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said. "This centre has been inaugurated to maintain the security of Iran's space and spatial systems since we should constantly monitor spatial objects and satellites passing through the country's atmosphere," Vahidi was quoted by Fars news agency as saying. The centre will use three different methods of radar, electro-optic and radio detection to track and detect space objects, Vahidi said. The system can also be used by other countries to control their space objects in orbit, he said. Iran can also exchange data with other countries through this centre, Vahidi added. In January, Iran sent a live monkey onboard a indigenous rocket named Pishgam (Pioneer) into space. Officials said Iran is also planning to send a man into space. Iran, a founding member of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, launched its first domestically-made data-processing satellite, the Omid (Hope), in 2009.

ECONOMY

RBI to come out with paper on banking structure: Subbarao

MUMBAI: RBI will come out with a paper on the banking structure in the country discussing issues like consolidation even as it prepares to issue new bank licences after a decade. RBI will also involve enforcement agencies and tax authorities before it issues new bank licences to corporate entities for which applications can be made till July 1. "My take on that will be told very clearly when the RBI comes out with the paper. It's a paper about the banking structure for India. We are going to bring it out in the next one month where we will address these issues or at least define the issues for discussion," RBI Governor D Subbarao told. He was replying to a question about Finance Minister P Chidambaramtalking about consolidation of banks at a time when new bank licences are on the anvil. Subbarao said the Narasimham Committee on banking sector, which went into this issue, had said that India must have some large banks at the global level, competitive and comparable with global banks. The panel also said the country must have some mid-sized banks and some small-sized banks which can penetrate more. "We have discussed this issue and as So we got to strike the right balance...Both unwilling and unable to comment a number now." To a question whether there could be an extension of last date for receiving applications, he said, "No, no". The guidelines have been there for the last two months and the clarifications have come. "I don't think any serious potential applicant is sitting idle now. And you know people will wait till last date to apply. I think they will keep their application ready. We are expecting that most people will apply in the last week because there is nothing to be gained by applying early and we are not giving any additional mark for date of application", he said. On how RBI will judge who among the applicants are 'fit and proper', he said, there were no hard criteria laid down for fit and proper. "We will of course get reports from the enforcement agencies and tax authorities etc. And we got to make the judgement on whether any comment or adverse report is material to the applications", Governor said. Subbarao said the RBI will apply its mind to these issues depending on the response it gets from enforcement agencies and tax authorities. "Our effort will be to make that judgement as transparent as objective as contestable as possible. Realising fully however that there is inevitably a subject of element in evaluating a fit and proper criteria. "Also I want to say that not everybody who is fit and proper will be given a licence because we expect the number of eligible applicants will be much larger than what is a meaningful number of licences we can give", he said. To a question he said, the new licences were unlikely to be issued before he demits office in September. The RBI had issued guidelines for licensing of new banks in the private sector on February 22, 2013 and subsequently came out with clarifications on the issues raised by potential applicants. Many large business groups such as Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, L&T, Mahindras, Birlas, Religare and Videocon have already made public their intentions to apply for the licences, while many NBFCs including Shriram Group, Indiabulls, India Infoline, IFCI and PFC have also shown interest.

Ranbaxy issue a wake up call for Indian pharma industry:

NEW DELHI: The $500 million fine on RanbaxyBSE 0.38 % by US authorities after it pleaded guilty to "felony charges" for violating drug manufacturing norms is "a wake up call" for Indian pharmaceutical industry, according to Biocon BSE -1.13 %Chairman and Manging Director Kiran MazumdarShaw. While stating that the issue must be utilised for making regulatory environment "more robust" in India, Shaw, however, said there should not be a "knee jerk reaction" to the episode as the drug maker has taken corrective action. "I think this (Ranbaxy issue) is something which I believe is a wake up call. We can use this as a very good inflection point to make a very robust environment where we build a quality pharmaceutical industry," Shaw told. The issue should also propel Indian regulators to be more pro-active and vigilant to build Indian pharmaceutical market, she added. Shaw, however, said the drug maker has taken corrective action and its products have since been cleared by various regulatory agencies worldwide, including USFDA. "We should not have knee jerk reaction to Ranbaxy, today I totally don't agree with hospitals saying we will not sell Ranbaxy products, this is ridiculuous...Ranbaxy has taken corrective action and they have got approvals from USFDA, they have got approvals from other regulatory agencies," she said. When asked if the issue would impact Indian drug industry's reputation globally, Shaw said: "Our reputation is still very good, it is about building now on that reputation and making sure that the Ranbaxy backlash is only temporary, that's the main thing. "One bad incident should not tarnish our image (abroad), we should have the strength to be

we licence more banks we believe that it will add to the competitiveness of a number of banks," he said. The discussion paper, sources said, would also cover issues like need for investment banks, policy on presence of foreign banks, conversion of urban cooperative banks into commercial banks, and periodicity of licensing new banks, whether in blocks or on tap. Asked if the RBI has any number in mind for issuing new licences, the RBI Governor said: "There is no number in mind. "I cannot commit on the number at this time. But to believe that if you have 86 banks in the country today, we would give another 86 licences, is too far fetched. "And after all, running this process, if we end up giving 2 or 3 licences, it will be a vacuous process.

able to bear that and we should also have strength internally to bear it." Questions have been raised over drugs supplied by Ranbaxy after the company last month pleaded guilty to "felony charges" in the US and agreed to pay $ 500 million penalty for violation of approved drug manufacturing standards at its two plants in India. It was the largest settlement by a generic medicine maker with US authorities till date. In 2008, the USFDA had banned 30 generic drugs produced by Ranbaxy at its Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) and Paonta Sahib and Batamandi units in Himachal Pradesh, citing gross violation of approved manufacturing norms.

Direct benefit transfer for cooking gas touches Rs.10 crore mark
NEW DELHI: Within a week of its launch, the ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) programme for cooking gas (LPG) has hit a quarter million transactions with Rs. 10 cr of subsidy given to consumers directly. "In the first seven days, 250,000 households in 18 districts have been disbursed a subsidy of Rs. 435 each," an Oil Ministry official said. In all, Rs. 10 cr has been given to consumers by way of subsidy when they booking a LPG refill. The 18 districts where the DBT on LPG has been initially launched, have some 73 lakh cooking gas users. Under the scheme launched on June 1, LPG consumers get Rs. 435 in their bank accounts when they book an LPG cylinder. They are then expected to use this cash subsidy to buy a LPG refill at market price which is roughly the double of Rs. 410 per 14.2-kg subsidised rate in Delhi. The scheme was to be rolled out in 20 districts initially but the launch in Mysore in Karnataka and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh has been put off by a month due to assembly and Parliamentary by-polls there, the official said.The govt. intends to extend the scheme to rest of the country before the end of the year but wants to see results in the 20 districts first. The districts selected have high Aadhaar or unique identification number penetration. While as many as 89% of the LPG consuming population in these districts have Aadhaar number, govt. will give a three-month grace period to them to procure the UID number and seed it with their bank accounts where cash subsidy has to be transferred. After three months, that is from Sept 1, only those consumers who have Aadhaar and bank accounts linked to them will get cash subsidy and the rest will have to buy LPG at market price, the official said. The govt. anticipates a saving of Rs. 8,000-10,000 cr in LPG subsidy annually after the scheme is rolled out all over the country. Currently, consumers are entitled to nine 14.2-kg LPG cylinders at subsidised rates in a year from the dealers. Many of these are black-marketed to unintended users like commercial establishments who otherwise have to buy the fuel at market price. The 18 districts where the DBT for LPG was launched from June 1 are: Anantpur, Chittoor, East Godavari, Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy in Andhra Pradesh; Diu in Daman and Diu; North Goa; Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Una in Himachal Pradesh; Tumkur in Karnataka; Pathanamthitta and Wayand in Kerala; Wardha in Maharasthra; Pondicherry; SBS Nagar/Nawanshahar in Punjab and East Nimar (Khandwa) and Harda in Madhya Pradesh

Jet Airways hikes pilots' salaries

MUMBAI: Private carrier Jet Airways has hiked the salaries of its pilots, acceding to their long pending demand, even as its 24% stake sale deal with Etihad Airways awaits regulatory approvals. "The airline has hiked its pilots' wages by up to 18 per cent in staggered manner with retrospective effect from 2010-11," sources close to the development told. The maximum hike stands at 6% per year based on the pay scales of the pilots. Jet Airways has about 13,000 employees on its roll, of which about 1,100 are pilots. Earlier in January, the carrier had announced a wage hike of up to Rs 18,000 for its around 7,500 ground staff. Jet had signed a wage revision with employees for three years - FY'11-13 in 2010. However, it failed to honour the agreement citing recession. The airline, which reported higher quarterly losses at Rs 495.53 cr in the Jan-Mar quarter of last fiscal, has signed a 24% stake sale deal with Gulf carrier Etihad for Rs 2,058 cr. Jet's proposal for the stake sale is expected to come up for approval before Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Tuesday. But it has embroiled into a controversy with the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture as well as Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi and Janata Party President Subramaniam Swamy opposing it. Incidentally, within weeks of the Naresh Goyal-promoted carrier writing to the Aviation Ministry to enhance the bilateral traffic rights between India and UAE, the Govt. signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi, increasing the number of weekly seats capacity on the sector to 50,000 from the current level of 13,200 seats.

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STUDENT AGE MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

Jugal Kishore
MLA (Nagrota)

Shamsher Singh Manhas

National Executive Member

Ashok Khajuria
MLA (Jammu East)

MODI JI AAGE BHADO HUM TUMHARE SAATH HAIN...!

Andhera chatega, suraj ugega, kamal khilega

Aao Karen Congress Mukt Bharat Nirman...!

From:

Munish Sharma
BJP State Secretary

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