THE HINDU Imp. News Jan.

31th 2012 Page-1 Top IAS officer held in Emaar scam: Andhra Pradesh Home Secretary B.P. Acharya was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation here on Monday for his role in the fast-snowballing scandal relating to irregularities in the allotment of high-priced plots for villas in the township project of Dubai-based real estate developer Emaar. He is the fourth person to be arrested in the case after Trimex group chairman Koneru Prasad; Sunil Reddy, an aide of Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy; and G. Venkat Vijay Raghav, a top executive of Emaar MGF. The senior IAS officer, who is now Principal Secretary, Home, was vice-chairman and managing director of the public sector A.P. Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in 2005-10 when the alleged irregularities were committed. The APIIC is a joint-venture partner in the project with Emaar Properties, with a 26 per cent stake. First round goes to IPS in U.P.The IPS officers of Uttar Pradesh cadre registered a moral victory over the babus when the State Government on Monday agreed to minimise the role of the District Magistrates in the appointment of station in-charge at the police stations. The station officers and the station house officers will now be appointed as per the conditions laid down in the Police Manual. Approval of the DMs will be required in the appointment of the SOs and SHOs, but it will not be in writing, and in case of a difference of opinion between the District Magistrates and the Superintendents of Police, the Range DIG will be authorised to take the final decision. The breakthrough was achieved at a meeting between the Chief Secretary, Anup Mishra, and office-bearers of the UP IPS Association. The meeting was held against the backdrop of the crisis situation that was a fall-out of the dispute
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between the former Commissioner of Basti Division, Anurag Srivastava, and the Siddhartnagar SP, Mohit Gupta. About two dozen IPS officers of the 2004 and 2006 batches, posted mostly in the districts, gave their resignation letters to the Association secretary, Arun Kumar, on Sunday in protest against the SP's transfer and no action taken against the Commissioner. Tata to brew Starbucks in India: Starbucks the iconic American coffee house brand that helped make the beverage cool' worldwide, spurring imitators but also critics will soon set up shops across India in association with the Tata Group. Adnan murder accused acquitted: A sessions court on Monday acquitted four men accused of murdering Mumbai teenager Adnan Patrawala in August 2007. It found police evidence insufficient to prove without a doubt' that Sujit Nair, Ayush Bhatt, Rajeev Dharaiya and Amit Kaushal had kidnapped or killed Adnan, 16. The fifth accused, a minor at the time of the murder, is being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board. Adnan was found dead at Navi Mumbai. His father's car was found on Palm Beach Road at Vashi. The boy had left home to meet friends he had interacted with through the social networking site, Orkut. His family claimed that it had received calls demanding a ransom of Rs 2 crore. Page 2 Difficult to implement Food Bill, says Pawar: Concerned over poor Budget allocation for the farm sector, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that it may be difficult to implement the proposed Food Security Bill without adequate funds to boost agricultural output, a must for increased foodgrain requirement. My grievance is only one the total budgeted provision for the entire Agriculture Ministry is Rs. 20,000 crore. And subsidy is, as of today, Rs. 65,000 crore. It might go to Rs 1 lakh crore in the current year, he said. Under this significant legislation, eligible people in the priority category would be entitled to seven kg of foodgrains comprising rice, wheat and coarse grains per person per month. Implementation of the Food Bill scheme is expected to cost Rs. 3.5
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lakh crore per annum and the subsidy bill is expected to be to the tune of Rs. 95,000 crore. Film directors should take a cue from literary novels : Since Indian cinema is celebrating its centenary this year, the National Book Trust has decided to have literature and cinema as the theme of the New Delhi World Book Fair that opens here in the Capital next month. NBT Director M. A. Sikandar feels the theme is appropriate for the biennial event as the two fields are closely interconnected. Page 3 High Court asks Union Home Ministry for Uphaar case file: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Union Home Ministry to place on record the original file regarding grant of sanction for prosecution of former Delhi Police Special Commissioner Amod Kanth in the Uphaar fire tragedy case for allegedly allowing the addition of extra seats in the balcony of the cinema hall in violation of rules. TERI's Sustainable Development summit begins on Thursday: To fulfil its vision of working towards global sustainable development, creating innovative solutions for a better tomorrow , The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on Monday announced that its flagship event, the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), will begin here this Thursday. Globally threatened Bustard to be surveyed: The critically-endangered grassland species, the Great Indian Bustard, will be counted in the desert terrain of Rajasthan in the second week of February. Rajasthan, specially its desert region, accounts for maximum population of the bird which is globally threatened and listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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EDITORIAL Watch this space: The saga of the scandalous deal that would have given a private company, Devas Multimedia Private Limited, control over a large chunk of valuable S-band spectrum has not ended. If the agreement signed with Antrix Corporation in 2005, the marketing wing of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), had been allowed to stand, Devas could have made a killing. However, doubts over the deal began to surface and, in December 2009, after K. Radhakrishnan took over the Department of Space, the parent body for both ISRO and Antrix, an internal committee was set up to review the deal under B.N. Suresh. The government constituted a high-powered committee made up of B.K. Chaturvedi and Roddam Narasimha to review the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the agreement. This committee submitted its report to the Prime Minister in March 2011. In May, a five-member high-level team headed by a former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Pratyush Sinha, was set up to examine the deal and identify acts of omission and commission by government officials. Four former officials, including G. Madhavan Nair who was ISRO chairman when the deal was signed, were barred from holding any government position. Mr. Nair has said the Space Commission was told about the agreement with Devas. He has also indicated that there were government officials, including some in the PMO, who were well aware of the Devas contract. The state of our museums: Despite budget cuts and financial difficulties, museums across the world have done well to attract more visitors in the year that has just ended, but what lies ahead? The International Council of Museums, an organisation of museums and museum professionals from 137 countries, has cautioned that the current year would be critical, with no sign of improvement in the global economic situation. More than ever, museums have to urgently innovate ways of remaining relevant to society. This advice and urging, for an entirely different set of reasons, applies unequivocally to India's museums, particularly the government-administered ones. Of the nearly 1,000 museums in the country, over 90 per cent are state-run. The recommendations by the B.N. Goswamy Committee (2010) on improving museum infrastructure and administration ought to be implemented without
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delay. Museums across the world are looking at imaginative ways such as virtual displays to make their collections more publicly available' and show a wider volume of material'. Indian museums will do well to adopt these innovations. An action plan for Sri Lanka: By A.P.J.Abdual Kalam How do we define a nation's nobility? It is not merely in terms of economic indicators, human development indicators, or any other form of numerical indicators. It is more of a qualitative than a quantitative measure. Naturally, a noble nation has to be populated by people who are noble not just at the individual level but in a collective sense as well. And nobility has to begin from the top, from the leader, and percolate to various levels of society, down to the artisans and peasants. Having addressed this subtle principle and ideal, let us focus on some practical aspects of life which provide ground for nobility to arise in society and people. These are the removal of poverty, hunger and pain from diseases. This will need a development agenda based on the core competence of the nation and its entire people. Let me present one such sustainable development system: the mission of Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) through the creation of three connectivities, namely, physical, electronic, knowledge leading to economic connectivity, for 15,000 villages of Sri Lanka. PURA means that the villages must be connected within themselves and with main towns and metros by good roads, waterways and, wherever needed, by railway lines. They must have other infrastructure such as schools, colleges, hospitals and amenities for the local population and visitors. This is physical connectivity. Secondly, in the emerging knowledge era, native knowledge has to be preserved and enhanced with the latest tools of technology, training and research. Villages should have access to good education from the best teachers, wherever they are. They must have the benefit of good medical treatment, and latest information on their pursuits such as agriculture, fishery, horticulture and food processing. That means they need to have electronic connectivity.
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Thirdly, once physical and electronic connectivity are enabled, knowledge connectivity is enabled. That can facilitate the ability to increase productivity, utilisation of spare time, awareness of health welfare, ensuring markets for products, increasing quality consciousness, interacting with partners, getting the best equipment, increasing transparency. This, in general, will ensure knowledge connectivity. OP ED Delhi, we have a problem: Quite apart from the fashion in which valuable S-band spectrum was allocated to a single private company for an extended period of time, the Antrix-Devas agreement and the way in which it was sought to be implemented were highly questionable in other ways too. The agreement was signed on January 28, 2005 between Antrix Corporation Ltd., the marketing wing of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. based in Bangalore. The agreement laid down that Antrix would provide satellite capacity to enable Devas to launch satellite digital multimedia broadcast' (S-DMB) services that would be delivered to fixed, portable and mobile receivers, including mobile phones and vehicle-borne devices. As a result of this deal, ISRO was committed to build, launch and operate two custom-built communication satellites, which came to be called GSAT-6 (also known as Insat 4E) and GSAT-6A. The agreement specified that 90 per cent of the capacity on these two satellites would be leased to Devas on a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week basis for 12 years, with a provision to extend the lease by another 12 years. The Devas contract has stringent penalty clauses for when the satellites must become operational, the quality of service to be provided and tough norms for declaring a Total Satellite Failure. In the latter event, a replacement satellite has to be provided within a specified time span at no extra cost to Devas. CAG estimate A preliminary estimate prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General last year had suggested that the spectrum allotted to Devas could have been worth as much as Rs.2 lakh crore. According to ISRO, the amount payable by Devas over a 12-year period was just $300 million (about Rs.1,500 crore at the current
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exchange rate). While Rs.766 crore of public money would be spent on building and launching the two satellites, Antrix's revenues from Devas would come to only Rs.1,350 crore over a 12-year period. The note to the Cabinet Committee on Security admitted that this would have not been sufficient compensation for all the costs incurred by ISRO. Considering that Devas is headed by a person who once held a senior position in the space programme, the onus on the Department of Space, ISRO and Antrix to make sure the deal was in public interest and not tainted by any whiff of cronyism was all the greater. G. Madhavan Nair, who was chairman of ISRO and Antrix when the deal was signed and approval for the two satellites taken, has said that several people in the government, including from the Prime Minister's Office, were aware of the details of the deal at every stage. Page 8 Ramesh seeks tribal cooperation to combat Naxalism: The political endeavour under the Saranda Action Plan (SAP) not just to bring the government closer to the local tribal population but also to give them a stake in the democratic set-up and unfetter the control of the Naxalites who infest the dense forests seems to have made some progress. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh and Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda had launched the Rs.250-crore scheme about two months ago to benefit about a population of about 35,000 at Digha Panchayat, about 40 km from Chotanagra panchayat of Manoharpur block. RS members take oath: Veteran Congress leader Karan Singh, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and Pervez Hashmi, who were re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from the National Capital Territory of Delhi, took oath on Monday as members of the House. The three MPs were administered oath of office by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in his chamber. Their tenure ended on January 27 and they were re-elected unopposed. This will be the second term for Mr. Dwivedi and Mr. Hashmi.

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We will revisit and rethink seminar content: Symbiosis: Symbiosis University, which has postponed its seminar, Voices of Kashmir,' indefinitely, said it will revisit and rethink on the content and make it more balanced. Earlier, Symbiosis has agreed to cancel the screening of Sanjay Kak's film on Kashmir, Jashn-e-Azadi , as right-wing student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad objected to it. Sunil Dhar, a member of Panun Kashmir, told The Hindu : The film Jashn-e-Azadi shows the atrocities by the Indian Army. This is completely anti-national. We had a doubt that even the seminar would have the same tone. We were told that the organisers themselves hadn't watched the film. So we met Symbiosis FounderDirector S.B. Mujumdar, and he said the seminar would be postponed, and that he would look into the content himself. INTERNATIONAL U.S. diplomatic drones' rankle Iraqis: A month after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones here to help protect its embassy and consulates, as well as U.S. personnel. Senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the programme, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty. The drones are the latest example of the State Department's efforts to take over functions in Iraq that the military used to perform. Some 5,000 private security contractors now protect the embassy's 11,000-person staff, for example, and typically drive around in heavily armoured military vehicles. Iran: IAEA can extend visit: An IAEA delegation visiting Iran could choose to extend its stay beyond the three days originally planned if it wished, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday. Mr. Salehi also urged the European Union and the United States to replace their policy of sanctions with interaction with the Islamic republic. A sixperson team of senior inspectors and officials from the U.N. nuclear watchdog began their visit to Iran on Sunday.

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Tension mounts in Bangladesh: The political situation in Bangladesh has taken a violent turn with the killing of five anti-government activists over two days on Sunday and Monday, allegedly in police firing. As the killings became public, opposition leader Khaleda Zia led a massive rally in Dhaka on Monday demanding elections under the now-defunct caretaker government system. She said her party would not participate in the next general election without the caretaker system being restored. She, however, rejected allegations of her party being linked to the recent foiled coup bid. Thousands of anti-government activists thronged the party's central office in Dhaka. The BNP held the government responsible for the killings. BUSINESS Centre to inject funds in SBI, PNB: In a step to increase the capital adequacy and improve the asset quality, the government has decided to subscribe to preferential equity shares issued by State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB). State Bank of India (SBI), India's premier public sector bank, said that it would receive around Rs.7,900 crore from the government through a preferential allotment of equity shares, including premium. Punjab National Bank (PNB) would receive around Rs.1,285 crore from the government against issue of preferential equity shares of Rs.10 at a premium. Take back arbitration notice, RIL told: Stating that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has no ground or cause for initiating arbitrary proceedings against it, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has asked RIL to withdraw its arbitration notice against the move to curtail costrecovery at its KG-D6 gas fields. In a letter to RIL Executive Director, P. M. S. Prasad, Director in Exploration Division of the Ministry, Partha Sarthi Das, has stated that As on date, no dispute has arisen to warrant arbitration and the company should withdraw the notice invoking arbitration forthwith. It is ironical that the development plan, the
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initial development plan (IDP) and additional initial development plan (AIDP) prepared and submitted by you, taking into account your own projects, is not being adhered to by you, a note by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) to RIL states. DGH for disallowing $1.23 billion in costs: The Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) has strongly recommended that Reliance Industries should not be allowed to recover expenses on underutilised infrastructure of KGD-6 and government should limit costs recovery only for infrastructure used by RIL for present gas production. The notice/letter, prepared by the DGH and sent by the Petroleum Ministry, has the backing of the Law Ministry and the Solicitor General of India. It charges RIL with failure to fulfil obligations under the terms of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and having deliberately and wilfully caused breaches, which have led to immense loss and prejudice to the Government and people of India. You have over a period of time, failed to adhere to the terms of the PSC and have repeatedly failed to meet your targets under the PSC,'' it states. The DGH has further stated that RIL had failed to adhere to the additional initial field development plan (AIDP) and hence was a clear violation of the PSC. In these circumstances, the Government has no other option but to restrict the recovery of costs incurred by you to the extent of the infrastructure used by you for the production of gas. In view of the aforesaid where you have persistently, time and again failed to adhere to the PSC, the Government hence shall disallow the following cumulative cost for the respective years. For 2010-11, $457 million have been disallowed and for 2011-12, $778 million, taking the total to $1.235 billion. The aforesaid figures are provisional subject to revisions by the Government,'' it states. NexGen Pulsar from Bajaj: This latest Pulsar takes motorcycle technology to a new level with a SOHC 4-valve Triple Spark engine controlled by an advanced electronic control unit. The Triple Spark engine comes with liquid cooling and a six-speed gear box.

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SPORT Djokovic, Nadal and the six-hour epic: Novak Djokovic tore off his shirt, flexed his sinewy muscles and roared in celebration, but for once the machismo was not misplaced. After nearly six hours of the most gruelling final in Grand Slam history, the strutting Serb had shown he was not only supremely fit and talented, but as tough as they come. The lanky World No. 1 with the soft-spike hair came on court early on Sunday evening, played into the night and finished in the small hours of Monday. The 24-year-old said his Wimbledon triumph last year had been special, but the Melbourne win was even better. This one I think comes out on the top just because the fact that we played almost six hours is incredible , he said. Page 18 History of horse domestication traced: A study published today suggests that the common female ancestor of all modern horses lived between 1,30,000 and 1,60,000 years ago. It appears that at least 17 female horse lines were domesticated from this ancestor. Domestication occurred in many locations across Eurasia. DNA analyses of sheep, cattle and goat indicate that domestication started from a handful of animals in a few places and took place around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Hence, these animals show very limited genetic variation.

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