NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The government on

Wednesday told theSupreme Court that Indianarmy's response duringKargil war was sluggish asit sought and obtained astay of the Armed ForcesTribunal's order quashingthe 2009 policy to have acombat unit commandedby a colonel at the age of37 years.

As a bench of JusticeT.S.Thakur, Justice R.Banumathi and JusticeAmitava Roy stayed thetribunal's March 2, 2015order quashing the 2009policy under which newly-created 750 posts ofcolonels were not dis-

bursed across the army onpro rata basis, AttorneyGeneral Mukul Rohatgitold the court that theresponse in Kargil war was"sluggish".

Telling the court that thepolicy of giving the com-mand of a combat unit to acolonel at the age of 37followed an examinationof why the army's responsein the conflict was "slug-gish", he said it was foundthat while an indian armycombat unit was beingcommanded by a colonelaged 41, his counterpartsin the Pakistani andChinese army were aged37 years. The AFT order

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

MUMBAITemperature: 300CPrecipitation:0%Humidity:45%Wind: 19Km/hr

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTThursday, March 26, 2015

Arvind Kejriwal to request DJB to cutwater supply of VIPs during scarcity

PlayStation 4 v2.50 System Update'Yukimura' to Release Thursday

Shahid Kapoor to marry or not?P8

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The Tata-owned Indian

Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL)has got a three-month exten-sion for operating the TajMansingh hotel with the NewDelhi Municipal Council(NDMC) gearing up to

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NDMC to auctionTaj Mansingh withinthree months

SRINAGAR, MARCH 25Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief

Aasiya Andrabi was todaybooked under UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act forallegedly hoisting Pakistaniflag on the neighbouringcountry's national day on

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Separatist leader AasiaAndrabi booked under UAPAfor allegedly hoisting Pak flag

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The Delhi Catholic

Archdiocese on Wednesdayappealed to the governmentand civil society to protectminorities and ensure properlaw and order in every part of

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Delhi CatholicArchdiocese appeals forprotection of minorities

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The proposal to confer

Bharat Ratna to former primeminister Atal Bihari Vajpayeehas been widely welcomed inthe country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) thanked the governmentfor this move.

"It is an absolute good news for crores of Indians CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Proposal to award Bharat Ratna toformer PM Vajpayee widely welcomed

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 25The government is likely to

make another effort for a con-sensus on the land bill withopposition parties and mayissue a "re-ordinance", UnionMinister Birender Singh onWednesday said.

"We are thinking to makeone more attempt and talk toother political parties so that we may have a consensus.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Govt may issue 're-ordinance'on land bill: Birender Singh

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Minister of State

(Independent Charge) for SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship Rajiv PratapRudy has announced that India'sfirst National SkillDevelopment University willopen in Raipur.

“The government is in theprocess of formulating a skill development policy

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

India's first National Skill DevelopmentUniversity to open in Chhattisgarh

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25A passenger who lost a bag

containing goods worth Rs70,000 at a metro station insouth Delhi was restored hisbelongings by alert securitypersonnel.

The incident occurred last CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Man loses bag con-taining valuables inmetro; gets it back

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25It was a warm and sunny

day for Delhiites today withthe mercury settling at 35degrees Celsius in the nation-al capital.

While the maximum record-ed at 35 degrees Celsius wasfive notches above the sea-son's average, the minimum

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Sunny day in Delhi;cloudy skies tomorrow

P6P2

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 370CPrecipitation:0%Humidity: 45%Wind: 19Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 380CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:52% Wind: 14Km/hr

CHENNAITemperature: 360CPrecipitation:0%Humidity:72%Wind: 14Km/hr

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 25The CAG has blamed

Haryana's previousCongress governmentled by then ChiefMinister BhupinderSingh Hooda for show-ing undue favours toRobert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi, in hismulti-million rupee con-troversial land deal withrealty giant DLF.

Vadra's company,Skylight Hospitality,sold a prime 3.5 acrepiece of land in Manesarin Gurgaon district toDLF in 2008 for Rs.58crore. The land had,however, only cost his

company around Rs.15crore and was sold toDLF after obtainingchange of land use(CLU) and other permis-sions from the Hoodagovernment.

The Comptroller andAuditor General report,

tabled in the Haryanaassembly on Tuesday,said that the "possibilityof extending undue bene-fit to particular applicant(Vadra's company) can-not be ruled out". It hasalso questioned the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Hooda government favoured RobertVadra in land deals with DLF: CAG

Army's response in Kargilwas 'sluggish', govt tells SC

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25All elected BJP mem-

bers of the three munic-ipal corporations willstage a dharna onWednesday at the DelhiSecretariat over theAAP government's"denial" of financial aidto the cash-strappedcivic bodies.

All three corporations-- North DelhiMunicipal Corporation(NDMC), South DelhiMunicipal Corporation

(SDMC), and EastDelhi MunicipalCorporation (EDMC) --are led by the BJP andhave been seeking helpfrom all avenues afterfacing financial crunch.

"The elected BJPmembers of all threemunicipal corporationswould stage a dharna infront of Delhi govern-ment Secretariat tomor-row from 11 am to seekrelease of funds for the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

BJP members of 3 corporations to stagedharna at Delhi Secretariat today

Vol. 1 Issue: 194 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25In an important step

towards making governancemore efficient and respon-sive by making public griev-ances redressal process moreeffective, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Wednesday,launched a new multi-pur-pose and multi-modal plat-form ‘PRAGATI’.

A unique integrating andinteractive platform, PRA-GATI (Pro-ActiveGovernance and TimelyImplementation) is aimed ataddressing common man’sgrievances, and simultane-ously monitoring andreviewing important pro-grammes and projects of thegovernment of India as wellas projects flagged by stategovernments.

Pragati can be a gamechanger in the government’sefforts to bring e-transparen-cy and e-accountability withreal-time presence andexchange among the keystakeholders.

Speaking on the occasion,the Prime Minister said thewhole world is now observ-

ing India keenly. It is imper-ative that governance inIndia becomes more efficientand responsive. He said thePRAGATI platform was astep in this direction.

During the first PRAGATIinteraction today, the PrimeMinister discussed issuesrelating to unseasonal rainand relief to farmers, publicgrievances, project imple-mentation, Swachh Bharatand ‘ease of doing business.’The interaction lasted fortwo hours.

Among the issues dis-cussed were issues like clear-ance for Navi Mumbai air-port, progress of school toiletprogramme, and SwachhBharat Abhiyan.

PM Modi gave suitabledirections for redressal ofgrievances and complianceon the projects and pro-grammes and motivated allofficers to work in coordinat-ed manner for outcome;.

A built-in feature of PRA-GATI is that these directionswill remain in the system for

further follow up and reviewtill the finality of the matter.

PRAGATI is a three tier(PMO, union governmentsecretaries and chief secre-taries of states) application.The Prime Minister willinteract with bureaucrats ona monthly basis - it will beheld once in every month onfourth Wednesday at 3.30PM-to be known as PRA-GATI Day.

PRAGATI will also takeinto consideration various

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

PM Modi launches new public griev-ances redressal portal ‘PRAGATI’

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The suspense over fate

of the Ordinance thatamended the LandAcquisition Act continuedtoday, with FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley say-ing the Cabinet will take acall on it.

"You will have to waitfor the Cabinet to take adecision," he said at 'TheGrowth Net' event here.

The Cabinet, he said,"will take a call" on theentire issue.

The government inDecember last year hadissued an Ordinance to

ease rules for acquisition CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Cabinet to decide fate of landOrdinance: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25For the third time in a row, the

CBI has filed closure report in acase against senior Congress leaderJagdish Tytler in connection with1984 anti-Sikh riots in a Delhicourt, which issued notice to thevictim.

The filing of the closure report bythe investigating agency wasprotested by the victim's counsel,who asked why was this done"secretly".

CBI said it has conducted furtherprobe in the case, as directed by asessions court, and filed a closurereport in the matter. In April 2013,CBI was directed by a sessionscourt to further investigate the caseas it set aside its earlier closurereport.

Tytler had earlier got clean-chittwice from the CBI which hadclosed the case.

The latest closure report wasfiled before Chief MetropolitanMagistrate who marked it toAdditional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate (ACMM) SaurabhPratap Singh Laler.

ACMM Laler issued notice forMarch 27 to the victim and com-plainant, Lakhvinder Kaur, whosehusband Badal Singh was killedduring the 1984 riots.

The court said "perusal of recordrevealed that the cancellationreport was also filed earlier asregards accused Jagdish Tytler".

"Accordingly, court notice beissued to Lakhvinder Kaur regard-ing present closure report in viewof judgment of the SupremeCourt.... For March 27," theACMM said.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka,representing the riot victims,expressed displeasure over theCBI's move of filing the closurereport.

"Why is it being done so secret-ly? Even the complainant has notbeen informed about it. It has beenfiled secretly. This shows anattempt has been made to get theclosure report accepted by the courtin hush-hush manner," Phoolkasaid.

He said the closure report wasfiled on December 24, 2014 and hehad come to know about it todayitself and that too, unofficiallythrough another lawyer, while thevictim has not been informed tillnow. The sessions court on April10, 2013 had set aside CBI's clo-sure report giving clean chit toTytler and ordered reopening ofinvestigation into the killing of

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

1984 riots: CBI files closure reportin case against Jagdish Tytler

Railways to lowerberth quota forpregnant women,elderly to be raisedNEW DELHI, MARCH 25

Railways has decided toenhance the quota of lowerberths for senior citizensand pregnant women insleeper class coaches of itstrains.

The quota which is auto-matically alloted to themthrough the passengerreservation system, will beraised from a combinedquota of two lower berths

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

JAMMU, MARCH 25The Jammu and Kashmir

government on Wednesdaysaid 30 towns, including Leh,were covered under the cen-trally-sponsored RestructuredAccelerated PowerDevelopment ReformsProgramme (RAPDRP) which

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

30 J&K towns cov-ered under RAP-DRP: Nirmal Singh

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 25Punjab Vidhan Sabha on

Wednesday passed a reso-lution recommending thestate government toapproach the Centre forimplementing the recom-mendations ofSwaminathan Commissionreport, which suggested 50per cent profit over andabove the input cost tofarmers.

On the last day of theBudget session, the resolu-tion was moved by PunjabParliamentary Affairs

Minister Madan MohanMittal, saying, "ThisHouse strongly recom-mends to the state govern-ment to approach theCentral Government toimplement the recommen-dations of DrSwaminathan Committeeconcerning the farmers."

After the resolution wasmoved, CongressLegislature Party leaderSunil Jakhar pressed forimplementing the report ofSwaminathan Commissionwhile describing farming

as "unviable" because oflack of non-remunerativeprices.

"Farming is now nomore viable and farmersare not finding it prof-itable," Jakhar said whileaccusing BJP-led Centreof not implementing theSwaminathan Commissionreport despite havingpromised the same to vot-ers before the elections.

Citing example of cot-ton, basmati, guar pricesdropping by almost 25-30

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Punjab passes resolution to ask Centre for imple-mentation of Swaminathan Commission report

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Former Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh onWednesday moved theSupreme Court seekingquashing of the summonsagainst him and stay ofcriminal proceedings in aCBI court in the coalblock allocation case inwhich he has been beennamed as an accused.

A battery of seniorlawyers including KapilSibal and K T S Tulsi set-tled a petition challeng-ing the special court

order summoning him asaccused in the case ofallocation of Talabira-IIcoal block in Odisha in

2005 to Aditya Birlagroup companyHindalco.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Manmohan Singh moves SC againstsummons issued in coalgate

NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Addressing the Delhi Assembly

session on Wednesday, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal lambastedat the BJP, accusing the latter of notrunning MCD effectively.

Demanding resignation from theBJP, Kejriwal said that if it cannotrun MCD properly then the partyshould leave the department for AAPto handle.

“If MCD is not working then BJPshould resign. AAP will turn MCDinto a profit within a year,” he wasquoted as saying by ANI.

Further speaking on water issues ofDelhi, Kejriwal said that if there isscarcity of water in near future thenpublic should not bear the brunt of italone.

“I will request DJB that if there willbe scarcity of water then supply ofVVIPs and central ministries shouldalso be affected,” ANI quotedKejriwal.

The Aam Aadmi Party governmenton Tuesday presented a vote-on-

account in the Delhi assembly for thenext three months and announcedplan to spend a total of Rs 37,750crore in 2015-16.

Presenting the vote-on-account,Manish Sisodia said the government

will come out with a full budget in amonth after holding consultationswith the people to identify prioritiesfor various sectors.

He said government has planned toallocate Rs 21,500 crore for non-plan

expenditure while the plan outlaywill be around Rs 16,250 crore.

The proposed non-plan expenditureis around Rs 3,000 crore more thanlast year's allocation while plan out-lay would be Rs 100 crore less thanlast year's outlay.

The AAP government has focusedon transport, education and healthservices.

"Government is bringing vote onaccount because this new govern-ment wants people's suggestions toprepare its budget. Till now, budgetwould be prepared in a closed room,but we will not follow this. Insteadwe will go among the people andseek their suggestions to prepare thebudget of this government," Sisoidasaid.

Sisodia also put a proposal toamend Value Added Tax (VAT) actwhich was passed by the majority inthe House. The amendment willallow traders to carry forward theircredit for the successive financialyears.

Arvind Kejriwal to request DJB to cutwater supply of VIPs during scarcity

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The Centre on Wednesday

told the Delhi High Court thatit has decided to have a com-mon counselling for admis-sions in technical institutes,Indian Institutes of Technology(IIT) and National Institutes ofTechnology (NITs).

The Ministry of HumanResource Development(MHRD) in its oral submissionbefore a bench of Chief JusticeG Rohini and Justice R SEndlaw said that "necessaryinfrastructuare to facilitate thecommon counselling will beensured well within time" forthe academic year 2015-2016.

"To facilitate joint seat allo-cation process between IITsand NITs for the academic year2015-2016 and to ensure thatthe process can be taken

smoothly and suitably moni-tored, MHRD held coordina-tion meetings.

"As outcome of the meet-ings, it has been decided tohave commoncounselling/joint seat alloca-tion of IITs, NITs, IITs andsome other GFTIS(govern-ment funded technical institu-tions) with effect from aca-demic year 2015-2016,"Additional Solicitor GeneralSanjay Jain, appearing forMHRD, said.

Taking note of the Centre'ssubmission, the court listed thePIL on April 8, for final dis-posal. The Centre's responsecame in pursuance to thecourt's direction, which hadasked it to take instruction onthe issue common counsellingafter it came to it through a PIL

by Rajiv Kumar, an IIT-Kharagpur professor.

Earlier, the court on March18 had observed that it is iron-ical that IITs are not able tomake a software for commoncounselling for admission forthe institutes and NITs.

The bench had made theremark after counsel for IIThad said that they are in theprocess of making a softwarewhich, after being thoroughlytested, will be used for com-mon counselling for admis-sion. IIT had said that the soft-ware was not ready as NationalInformatics Centre can't pre-pare it and the governmentagency was not that effective.

Earlier, IITs had submittedthat it would not be able tohold common counselling forthe year 2015-2016.

Common counselling for admissionsin IITs, NITs: Centre to Delhi HCNEW DELHI, MARCH 25

Delhi High Court onWednesday directed the Centreto expeditiously approve theproposal by city police forinduction of over 16,000 addi-tional personnel, including adedicated force for crimeinvestigation.

A bench of Justices BDAhmed and Sanjeev Sachdevaexpressed happiness over bifur-cation of crime investigationfrom law and order duties, say-ing "this will go a long way inproviding better investigationof crime, resulting in the actualperpetrators being convictedfinally by courts of law".

It also hoped that the dedicat-ed force will comprise of peo-ple "having requisite investiga-tive skills" and suggested thatthey be trained in "specialinvestigative techniques" by

keeping in mind the moderninvestigation methods and thedifferent kinds of crimes beingcommitted.

It also directed the centralgovernment to expedite theother 14 priority proposals sentby Delhi police for 11,962more posts, saying the entireexercise be preferably complet-ed by May 20, the next date ofhearing.

On installation of CCTVcameras, the court directed thatonce the vulnerable areas areidentified by Delhi police, thecameras should be installedwithin two months.

It said that while installingthe cameras "special regard begiven to maintaining privacy ofindividuals" and that CCTV beinstalled in public areas "with-out encroaching upon privacyof people".

The court, however, was nothappy over method of procur-ing equipment for RegionalForensic Science Laboratories(RFSL), saying it was a "majorproblem" which requires some"thinking" by the government.

The bench made the observa-tion after Delhi governmentinformed it that it needs to pro-cure equipments with regard toaudio-video, computer foren-sics and DNA testing, for itsRFSL at Yashwant Place here,and sanctions for these have tobe sought afresh as the onesgranted earlier have lapsed.

The government said theywill have to see whether priceshave fallen prior to seekingfresh sanction.

To this the court responded,"This is a major problem withthis country. An expensiveequipment may be better, but

we are stuck with a third classequipment as it was the cheap-est (during procurement)."

The court, thereafter, directedthe city government's financedepartment to "expedite thenecessary sanctions for pro-curement" for equipment forYashwant Place RFSL andhoped that it "shall be complet-ed in two months".

With regard to RFSL atRohini, the court directed theFire department and the citygovernment's finance depart-ment to expedite grant of noobjection certificate andapprovals, respectively.

Regarding RFSL at Sayurpurhere, the court directed DDA toconclude verification of titlewith respect to handing overadditional 5000 square metersof land within sixweeks.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Senior Aam Aadmi

Party leader (AAP)Shanti Bhushan onWednesday deniedreports of calling ameeting of certainmembers of the party'snational council on theeve of the politicalorganisation's officialmeet.

"My attention isdrawn to news reportsthat I called a meetingof some members ofAAP's national councila day before the offi-cial meet. This is com-pletely false, andappears to be mischie-vous," said Bhushan.

"I have neithercalled any such meet-ing nor would I attendit if it was called bysomeone. I shall only

attend the officialmeeting on March 28as a member of thenational council andexpress my viewsthere," he added.

Earlier in the day,AAP leader AshokTalwar alleged thatattempts are beingmade to harm the partyahead of its national

council meeting onMarch 28.

Talwar had earlierwritten a letter to partychief Arvind Kejriwal,hinting at a 'conspira-cy' against the politicalorganisation. He hadalso urged Kejriwal totake action againstwhat he termed 'anti-party' activity.

AAP rift: Shanti Bhushan deniesholding meet with party members

Expedite proposals for inductingmore police personnel: Delhi HC

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Four Jamia Milia Islamia stu-

dents have been served with ashow-cause notice by the varsi-ty's administration for putting upsanitary napkins with writtenmessages across the campuswithout seeking prior permis-sion for their campaign.

"We have received variouscomplaints from students andteachers about the campaign. Wehave nothing against the mes-sage being conveyed by thesestudents, but the method used isnot appropriate," said Jamiaspokesperson, Mukesh Ranjan.

Inspired by a German activist,Elon, who had initiated a similardrive against sexism that isrecognisable on social media bythe hashtag #padsagainstsexism,a group of Jamia students had afew days back pasted across

their campus sanitary napkinsbearing feminist messages.

Some of the messages read,"Rapists rape people, not out-fits"; "My name is not baby" and"Menstruation is natural, rape isnot".

"We as a university advocatewomen's empowerment, butevery institution has its normsand protocols. The students didnot follow them and, hence,have been asked to explain theiraction.

For any activity on campus,students are required to seek per-mission from the authorities,which they ignored, " Ranjansaid.

The four students, includingtwo girls, have been asked torespond to the notice served bythe varsity's Chief Proctor byMarch 31, he added.

Sanitary pads bearing messages:Jamia showcauses 4 students

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25Delhi Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal will be holding his publichearings at his official civil lines res-idence from next week, his aidessaid on Wednesday.

Kejriwal, who has been holdingsuch interactions with the public onWednesday, Thursday and Fridayeach week since February 18 at hisKaushambi residence, had to skiptoday's hearing owing to preoccupa-tion with the ongoing Assembly ses-sion.

"However, he would be availabletomorrow and the day after alongwith the officers," a party workersaid at AAP's Kaushambi office.

In the Chief Minister's absence, anumber of party volunteers and offi-cers tasked with handling the com-plaints took upon the job of sortingout "woes of the people".

Kejriwal is slated to shift into a

four-bedroom residence at 6Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines duringthe ongoing auspicious week ofNavratri. The house has two lawns, adrawing and dining area and two ser-vant quarters.

Meanwhile, party volunteersclaimed that in a total of 16 publichearings till date, almost 10,000petitioners had managed to commu-nicate their grievances, either direct-ly to the Chief Minister or to hisassociates.

"Number of visitors would riseonce Kejriwal shifts to his officialresidence, because many find it diffi-cult to turn up at the current loca-tion," a volunteer said.

Describing the redressal pattern ofthe complainants, a party volunteerAbhishek said, "Our office receivesthe complaints and hands over areceiving letter to the complainants.Then applications are sorted and

Arvind Kejriwal to hold public hearingat new Civil Lines residence

Depressed man killsself at Delhi metroNEW DELHI, MARCH 25

A 28-year-old man suffering from men-tal depression, today allegedly committedsuicide by jumping in front of anapproaching train at the Chhatarpur MetroStation here, police said.

The incident, which took place in theafternoon, briefly hit train services on theYellow Line (Line No 2).

The victim, identified as Ajay Kashyap,a resident of Sangam Vihar in southDelhi, died on the spot after being hit bythe train, entering the station from theGurgaon side at around 2.25 PM, policesaid.

"The man married 5-6 years ago but gotseparated couple of years ago. He wasundergoing medication for depression,"DCP Railways Sanjay Bhatia said.

The officer added that Kashyap leftbehind a "suicide note" saying that he was"depressed" over his ailment.

"Train operations were stopped foraround 10 minutes while bringing out thebody and cleaning the tracks but therewere no major disruptions," a metrospokesman said.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25The Delhi High Court on Wednesday

sought response from city's Law MinisterJitender Singh Tomar on a BJP leader'splea seeking setting aside of his electionfrom Tri Nagar Assembly constituencyover alleged wrong declaration of educa-tional qualification in the nominationpapers. Justice Manmohan issued notice tothe Minister directing him to file counter-affidavit before May 17 on the plea of BJPleader Nand Kishore Garg, who hadfought the Assembly polls earlier this yearagainst Tomar.

The court, meanwhile, has asked theauthorities concerned to preserve all thedocuments filed during Assembly polls byTomar, who contested from Aam AadmiParty's ticket, after Garg, the then candi-date from BJP, contended that the LawMinister is presently an influential personand may destroy the documents from thecustody of the poll panel.

The court notice was issued on Garg'spetition alleging Tomar's election had

been "materially affected by deliberateconcealment, misrepresentation, wrongdeclaration and wilful suppression of theeducational qualification in the affidavitfiled along with the nomination form".

"The respondent No 1 (Tomar), at thetime of filing the nomination, and there-after, has continued to misrepresent him-self to be a law graduate and advocate andhas thus been successful in exercisingundue influence over the voters, whichamounts to corrupt practice within themeaning of the Representation of thePeoples Act," the plea, filed through advo-cates Laliet Kumar and Deepak Vohra,alleged.

The court of Justice Hima Kohli hadrecused from hearing the plea yesterday.

The issue of the validity of Tomar's lawdegree is being scrutinised by the highcourt on a separate petition, filed inFebruary, alleging he had taken admissioninto the LLB course at the BishwanathSingh Institute of Legal Study College inBihar on the basis of a "fake" degree.

Row over degree: Delhi Law Ministerto reply on BJP leader's plea

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25In a face-off with the Centre,

Delhi Assembly, which has anoverwhelming majority ofAam Aadmi Party MLAs,today passed a resolutionagainst Ministry of HomeAffairs' notification to "cur-tail" the powers of state AntiCorruption Branch (ACB).

The resolution, tabled byDeputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia, was passed by voicevote while all three BJP MLAswalked out of the House at thetime of voting. The resolutionsought restoration of the 1993orginal powers of Delhi ACB.

Sisodia said that as perMHA's notification issued onJuly 23, 2014, ACB can regis-ter or probe corruption-relatedcases which only involve theofficials of Delhi government,saying that "it is against theConstitution".

"When President Rule wasin Delhi, a notification wasissued by MHA which seeks tocurtail the powers of DelhiACB. According to theCentre's notification, ACB cannot register or probe corrup-tion cases against any officialsof DDA, municipal corpora-tions, Delhi Police," Sisodiasaid in the House.

Sisodia said that in the last22 years, no government atCentre had done such athing.

The Deputy CM said that inthe past, when someone usedto raise his voice against cor-ruption, people would say thatcorruption cannot stop com-pletely. But during the 49-dayrule of last AAP government,people then felt that corruptionin the works of DDA, munici-pal corporations, police, gov-ernment can be stopped com-

pletely"."In every state, ACB can

register or probe corruptioncases against any person livingin particular state's territory,but in Delhi, ACB can notprobe the case against officialsof DDA, corporations andpolice except officials of Delhigovernment," Sisodiasaid.

Most AAP MLAs supportedthe resolution and came downheavily on the BJP-led Centralgovernment, saying that it isan attempt to curtail the pow-ers of Delhi government.

"It is an unconstitutional stepas the powers of Delhi govern-ment is being curtailed. Wecompletely criticise it. Itseems that through this notifi-cation, famous industrialistsare being spared," former lawminister and AAP MLASomnath Bharti said.

Delhi Assembly passes resolutionagainst MHA notification

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25In a first of its kind,

Delhi government is set tointroduce "paperless regis-tration" of all types ofvehicles in the nationalcapital.

In the first phase of itspilot project, transportdepartment, as an experi-ment, has started an onlineregistration process for allprivate cars in the city,while in the second phaseto begin next month, alltwo wheeler-vehicles willbe registered online.

According to a seniorofficial, with the launch ofonline registration process,government will also haveexact numbers of vehiclesbeing sold every day. Atpresent, the departmentmaintains such records

through documentationprocess.

The official said thatunder this project, automo-bile dealers would be ableto register sold vehiclewith the transport depart-ment online and they don'tneed to visit regionaldepartment's offices.

"With the start of onlineregistration process,Delhiites will now be ableto get registeration certifi-cate (RC) at the earliest asall process from registeringvehicles to depositing taxby the dealers will goonline completely," said asenior government official.

The official said that asan experiment, onlineprocess has been startedfor registering all new pri-vate cars by the department

in the first phase."We are studying the first

phase of this project and ifwe get good response, wewill then start registeringall two-wheelers online.We have plans to launchsecond phase next month,"official said.

Sources said that govern-ment is also planning toregister all commercialvehicles online, addingthat it would benefit lakhsof people.

"Drivers of commercialvehicles currently have tovisit department's officesto pay tax of their vehicleswhich consumes theirmore time, but with thisproject, they would not berequired to do so as theycan deposit their taxonline," official added.

Delhi govt all set for paperlessregistration of all vehicles

Continuation 3NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015SAADDA HAQ

PM Modi...correspondences to PM’s office by the

common people or from high dignitaries ofStates and/or developers of public projects;

The system has been designed in-houseby the PMO team with the help of NationalInformatics Center (NIC).

1984 riots...three persons.CBI had earlier opposed the plea for fur-

ther probe as the court found fault with theinvestigation by the agency which had notexamined the available witnesses.

Railways to...per coach to four, said a statement issued

by Railways.There will, however, be no change in this

quota being earmarked in 3A and 2A class-es, it added.

Railways has also decided that the exist-ing reservation quota of six berths forfemale passengers being earmarked in longdistance Mail/Express trains should madeavailable in the middle of the coach.

To the extent feasible, the facility will bemade available to the senior citizen andtheir quota would be earmarked in the mid-dle of the coach, the statement said.

Currently, there is a provision in the com-puterised passenger reservation system toallot lower berth automatically to male pas-sengers above 60 years and female passen-gers above 45 years subject to availabilityof the same at the time of booking of tick-et.

As per the statement, instructions havealso been issued to ticket checking staff toassist senior citizens and physically handi-capped persons, who have been allottedmiddle/upper berths, by allotting themvacant lower berths available in the train onfirst come first serve basis.

Manmohan Singh...Hindalco Chairman Kumar Mangalam

Birla and former Coal Secretary P CParakh, who were also summoned asaccused in the case, have also filed peti-tions challenging the trial court order. Theymay make a mention of their appeals in aday or two.

Singh has sought quashing of the sum-mons issued to him to appear as an accusedon April 8 by Special CBI Judge BharatParashar on the ground that the order waspassed without application of mind.

"There is complete non-application ofmind," the petition said about the March 11order.

The former Prime Minister has alsosought a stay on the criminal proceedingsCBI court contending that there was no ele-ment of criminality in his decisions taken inthe capacity of Coal Minister.

One of the advocates, associated with thefiling of the Special Leave Petition, saidthere are several other grounds to show thatthe summoning order was "bad in law".

The plea also said that there was nothingon record to point out that Singh has doneany acts which may constitute any offence.

The former Prime Minister had onlytaken a decision as a competent authorityon allocation of Talabira-II coal block toHindalco on the representation of Odishagovernment, it said.

The advocate said there may be a fault indecision making but there is no evidence toshow that there was an abuse of power andmoreover, taking a decision in governmentis not an offence.

Cabinet to...of land for industries and other projects.

This Ordinance, as per rules, has to be con-verted into an Act within 6 weeks of con-vening of next Parliament session.

The Budget session of Parliament beganon February 23 and accordingly the landOrdinance has to be converted into an Actbefore April 5, failing which it will lapse.

The option of repromulgating theOrdinance cannot be exercised asParliament is still in session and it has onlybroken for a recess for reconvening onApril 20. When the House is in session, theOrdinance cannot be reissued and to do soParliament has to first be prorogued.

Asked if the Cabinet is going to take upthe issue today, Jaitley said: "You will haveto wait after the Cabinet meeting."

Talking about benefits of amendments tothe 2013 law, Jaitley said it will help therural India as industrial corridors will be setup across the country.

"...Here there is an opportunity for us, atleast for those states which wants to imple-ment these provisions. And they cannot bestopped by those who do not want to imple-ment these provisions.

"You cannot have a situation where onestate says I will not grow and I will notallow others to grow. That is not an accept-able economic proposition," the FinanceMinister said, while highlighting advan-tages proposed by the NDA government.

Jaitley said the original land Act of 2013had 13 exempted areas.

"Instead of 13 it has become 18 (in theOrdinance). Please do not forget that thisOrdinance in those 13 exempted areas hasalso provided for enhanced compensation.And therefore the enhanced compensationto those 13 areas exists as as long as the

Ordinance exists," he said.The Opposition has termed the amend-

ments as anti-farmer and blocked the pas-sage of the law in Rajya Sabha, where theruling NDA is in minority.

It is being speculated that the governmentmay allow the Ordinance to lapse and bringa fresh bill addressing some of the concernsbeing raised now.

The Right to Fair Compensation andTransparency in Land Acquisition,Rehabilitation and Resettlement(Amendment) Bill 2015 was passed by theLok Sabha on March 10. The Rajya Sabhais yet to take it up.

Hooda government..."distinction" made by the Hooda govern-

ment for Vadra's company in giving permis-sions.

The Hooda government, on its part, hadobliged Vadra with quick sanction of thepermissions required.

Senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka hadordered the scrapping of the land deal, say-ing that it was illegal.

The controversy became a national issuewith opposition parties alleging that thethen Congress government was doingeverything to help Vadra in his controver-sial land deals in the National CapitalRegion (NCR)and areas around Delhi.

Vadra had bought land in four districts ofGurgaon, Palwal, Faridabad and Mewat inHaryana adjoining Delhi.

Alleging that Vadra's land deals causedloss of crores of rupees to the state excheq-uer, Khemka marked a probe into all landdeals of Vadra and his companies since2005. But the Hooda government gaveVadra a clean chit and instead charge sheet-ed Khemka for his actions.

Army's response ...was coming in the way of promotion pol-

icy in the army reducing the age of acolonel to 37 years, he said.

The tribunal quashed the January 21,2009 policy which weighed in favour ofinfantry, mechanised infantry and armouredcorps insofar the 750 newly-created postsof colonels were concerned, saying that itwas violative of the constitution's article 14(equality before law).

The government move had followed therecommendations of Ajay Vikram SinghCommittee, which besides other things, hadinvestigated the army's "sluggish"response.

The government had created 1,500 addi-tional posts of colonel - 750 in 2004 andanother 750 in 2009 - a larger chunk ofwhich was to go to these three arms for abetter age profile of the command structure.

Rohatgi said that the 750 posts created in2004 for improving the age profile of com-bat units had been mistakenly disbursedacross the army on a pro rata basis, butsince this did not achieve the desired objec-tive, a pro rata distribution of another 750posts was not followed in 2009.

Besides improving the age profile, theadditional posts of colonel were needed toaccommodate these officers after they exit-ed combat command as in the army hierar-chy's pyramid, not everyone could be bepromoted to brigadier.

Having some reservations on Rohatgi'sstand, the court wondered how could prorata disbursal of the posts would not favourcombat units as it would be on the basis oftheir respective strengths and these were ina much larger number.

"You can't affords to have disgruntled,dissatisfied and frustrated officers in otherwings of army," it said.

Rohatgi however said that if the tribunal'sorder was to be implemented then the entirepolicy will have to be unscrambled.

Appearing for the officers who hadapproached the tribunal, counselMeenakshi Lekhi contested Rohatgi's asser-tions, saying that A.V. Singh Committeereport did not only talk about the combatunits but of a larger age profile at brigadelevel.

Senior counsel Shekhar Naphade, appear-ing for another set of aggrieved officers,said that 12 Lt.Generals have opposed thepolicy, but Rohatgi countered that theywere out of 84 but had acknowledged poli-cy decisions rested with the government.

The tribunal order said that governmentwould create supernumerary posts toaccommodate Lt. Col. P.K.Choudhary andother officers denied promotion on thebasis of quashed policy subject to merit.

BJP members...civic bodies," North Delhi Mayor

Yogender Chandolia said on Tuesday.He said after the agitation, all the senior

functionaries including mayors, deputymayors, chairmen of standing committeesand leaders of the houses will meetLieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to briefhim on the problems faced by the corpora-tions and the "non-cooperative attitude" ofthe Delhi government on releasing of thefunds.

A delegation of mayors of the municipalcorporations had recently met ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal to seek release offunds but the government denied them anyfinancial aid and instead directed them toapproach the Centre for help.

"The NDMC is under a loan of Rs 1,400crore so we demanded Rs 302 which is partof our global share for the year 2014-15

from the Delhi government. They denied itand claimed that they have adjusted themoney in our loan," Chandolia had saidafter the meet.

The delegation had claimed that thefinancial situation of three civic agencieshas deteriorated after the trifurcation of theerstwhile unified Municipal Corporation ofDelhi (MCD) in 2012.

Kejriwal had told the mayors to carry outmunicipal reforms to generate more moneyto overcome the financial crisis.

The three corporations have also beenasking to increase their global shares fromthe Delhi government.

With the debt-ridden EDMC running intolosses worth Rs 500 crores, East DelhiMayor Meenakshi has said that "At the timeof trifurcation, the Delhi government hadpromised an aid to compensate the financiallosses but released Rs 335 crore only as aloan".

Punjab passes...per cent this season as compared to last

season, he pointed out that farmers havebeen suffering because of "lesser" pricesbeing fetched for their crops which hasadded to their woes.

"Maize crop which was promoted by thestate government could fetch only Rs 850-900 per quintal as against MSP of Rs 1,350per quintal," he said.

Pitching for making farming "sustain-able" and providing

remunerative prices to farmers, the CLPleader suggested that the state governmentconsidered introducing a viability gap fund-ing for farmers to compensate the differ-ence between MSP and actual crop prices.

"We should think over what can we do forfarmers. Can we consider launching viabil-ity gap funding to mitigate the woes offarmers," he asked the treasury benches.

Jakhar also asked deputy chief ministerSukhbir Singh Badal to invite noted farmscientist Dr Swaminthan to Punjab forseeking his suggestions to help out the statefarmers.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Tota Singhalso expressed concern over "pitiable" con-dition of farmers and suggested that theCentre should devise a "system" for miti-gating the woes of farming community.

The state minister said farming communi-ty not only in Punjab but across the countryare facing problems.

"Unless the Swaminathan Commissionreport is implemented, the distressed farm-ers could not be saved," he asserted.

On power subsidy, Singh ruled out thepossibility of withdrawing it from farmers,claiming that growers in Punjab are"unable" to pay electricity bills in the state.

"Had we not supported our farmers withfree power, the debt burden of our farmerswould have swelled to Rs 70,000-72,000crore from Rs 30,000 crore," he said.

BJP MLA Manoranjan Kalia accused theprevious UPA led Centre of failing in takingcare of the interest of farming communityduring their regime.

"Why did not they implementSwaminathan Commission report duringtheir regime," he asked while pointing outopposition benches.

He praised the Narendra Modi-led gov-ernment for not ratifying the trade facilita-tion agreement with WTO which couldhave restricted India from giving subsidy tofarmers.

Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh askedthe treasury benches to ensure Rs 300-400per quintal to farmers till the SwaminathanCommission report is implemented.

Proposal to ...today that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who has

contributed hugely to Indian politics will beconferred with the prestigious Bharat Ratnaaward. We are thankful to the governmentand the people are rejoicing today," BJPspokesperson Sambit Patra said.

"It is not just for the BJP, but the entirecountry is happy. When he will get theBharat Ratna then the entire nation will cel-ebrate," added BJP leader Siddharth NathSingh.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on hispart showered praise on the former primeminister and called him a statesman.

"Atal ji is a man held in great respect bylarge number of Indians. He is a statesman.We once again congratulate Atal ji and hisentire family," he said.

According to sources, President PranabMukherjee will be conferring the honour tothe former prime minister on March 27.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan had, via a presscommunique, earlier in December statedthat President Mukherjee will be conferringthe Bharat Ratna to Pandit Madan MohanMalviya (posthumously) and to Vajpayee.

The Bharat Ratna is the country`s highestcivilian award.

India's first...under the initiative of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, which would be finalizedin the next three months," said Rudy.

Rudy asserted that the government'sfocus is more on skill development so as togenerate more employable manpower.

Govt may...As everyone is aware Land Acquisition

Ordinance will expire on April 5, may bewe will have to issue re-ordinance," the

Union Rural Development Minister saidaddressing a news conference here.

"We will get in touch with the oppositionparties so that a consensus is arrived at,which is in country's interests and farmers'interests. We are hopeful that we will besuccessful and the Act with new amend-ments will take the shape of a law," theminister said.

Singh blamed the Congress for starting a"misinformation campaign" on the land billto "mislead the farmers and the people".

He asked media not to be misled by the"lies" being spread that the bill was anti-farmer.

He said that the government was trying toaddress few concerns of the farmers.

Regarding the provision of going foracquisition of more land for future expan-sion of a particular project, Singh said "Wewill talk to opposition parties in this regard.We are trying to ensure that farmers' inter-ests remain protected and excess land is nottaken from them unnecessarily under theplea of future expansion".

He said they were also mulling to have aCommittee headed by MLA and MP of aconcerned area where the land is to beacquired since they can raise the farmers'concerns.

NDMC to...complete its auction of the property by

then.The matter was placed before the NDMC

council today at a special meeting ahead ofthe presentation of its budget for the nextfinancial year.

"Home Ministry had issued a directive tous that the hotel ought to be auctioned. Ihad placed the matter before the Council,which has instructed me to complete theauction proceedings within three monthsand Taj Mansingh has been given an exten-sion to continue its operations till then,"said NDMC chairperson Jalaj Srivastava.

The property, owned by NDMC, wasgiven to IHCL on lease for 33 years. Thelease ended in 2011 and the company hasbeen given six temporary extensions sincethen on various grounds.

The last extension was given on January31 as NDMC could not hold an auction dueto the Model Code of Conduct in place forDelhi Assembly elections. The current leaseagreement, which expires on March 31, hasnow been extended till June 30.

"This is the final extension given to Tata'sand we will have to rush the proceedings. Iwill also be presenting a weekly report tothe Council on the progress made in thiscontext," he said.

NDMC has also planned to invite bidprocess managers to assist it in the auction-ing process after the consultant for the proj-ect, Ernst and Young, pulled out inNovember last year.

"We do not have experience withinNDMC to go for an auction process of thislevel and complexity, so we will be invitingproposals for Transaction Advisors, whoseselection is likely to be completed within amonth's time," added Srivastava.

Two years ago, when NDMC decided toauction the property, IHCL had approachedDelhi High Court seeking a stay on theprocess. However, the company did not geta stay order for restraining NDMC fromauctioning the hotel.

NDMC works under the administrativecontrol of the Union Home Ministry. Aftergetting the go-ahead for the auction, itsCouncil was scheduled to have taken a callon the matter on March 20, but that deci-sion was deferred to today.

Separatist leader...Monday. "A case has been registered

against Andrabi at Nowhatta Police stationunder Section 13 of Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act," a police officer said.

He said investigations have started intothe alleged hoisting of Pakistani flag by theseparatist leader on Monday.

"Further action in the case will be takenas per rules," the officer said when asked ifthe firebrand separatist leader will be

arrested.A controversy erupted following media

reports claiming that Andrabi had hoistedflag of Pakistan and sung its nationalanthem on March 23.

Delhi Catholic ...the country."We appeal to the civil society and to the

government, the minorities may be protect-ed and proper law and order be maintainedin every part of this country. There is a feel-ing of doubt but we also have full faith inthe country and the government of everystate. We just hope that such incidents arenot repeated," said Father Savarimuthu,spokesperson, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese's appeals come after aChristian missionary school in West Bengalreceived threat letters demanding its shutdown.

The police have registered a complaint inthe case and pickets have been deployedinside the premises of St Capitonia Girl'sHigh School under in Champaguri area ofJalpaiguri district.

The school authority had filed a com-plaint at a local police station on the basisof letters.

This incident is the latest in a series ofattacks against Christian institutions acrossthe country.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mumbai Policearrested four people for hurling stonesinside the St. George Catholic Church com-pound in New Panvel of Navi Mumbai. Theattackers had damaged the glass enclosureof the statue of Saint George before speed-ing away on a motorcycle.

Man loses...evening at the Malviya Nagar Metro

Station when Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) Sub-Inspector Mohar Singhspotted an "unattended bag" at the X-raybaggage scanner.

"The bag was brought for security check-ing and after it was found that it has beenforgotten by a passenger, it was handedover intact to the station controller office,"a senior officer said.

He said after about two hours, a residentof Saket in south Delhi came back to claimthe bag and after due verification it washanded over to him.

"The person said the bag contained stuffworth Rs 70,000," the officer said.

Sunny day...temperature rose to settle down at 18.5

degrees Celsius, two notches above the nor-mal, a MeT Department official said.

The humidity oscillated between 39 percent and 98 per cent.

The weatherman has predicted partlycloudy skies for tomorrow.

"The skies will be partly cloudy. Therewill be mist in the morning. The maximumand the minimum temperatures are expect-ed to hover at 35 degrees Celsius and 19degrees Celsius respectively," the officialsaid.

30 J&K...aims to strengthen the power distribution

system."Thirty towns in J&K, including the town

of Leh, are covered under RestructuredAccelerated Power Development ReformsProgramme (RAPDRP) scheme," DeputyChief Minister Nirmal Singh said in a writ-ten reply to the question of Congress MLANawang Rigzin Jora in the LegislativeAssembly.

He also said that the GeographicInformation System (GIS) mapping of eightfeeders of Leh stood 100 per cent complet-ed. Hardware items, namely 10 desktopcomputers with printers, have been deliv-ered to Leh Circle for IT implementationand integration of Leh town with DataCentre, Srinagar, the Deputy CM added.

So far Rs 6.68 lakh has been spent fordeveloping power infrastructure in Lehtown, he said.

DUBAI, MARCH 25Any deal over Iran`s

nuclear programme mustinvolve the immediate liftingof all sanctions, Iran`s for-eign minister said onWednesday, showing no signof compromise on a majorhurdle in world power nego-tiations.

"This is the position thatthe government has insistedon from the start,"Mohammad Javad Zarif wasquoted by the official IRNAnews agency as saying.

Iran wants all the sanctionsimposed by the UnitedNations, European Unionand United States on its ener-gy and financial sectorsremoved at once if there is adeal, while Western powerswant them dismantled gradu-ally.

The speed of lifting sanc-

tions is one of the elementsbeing discussed by Iran andthe six major powers -- theUnited States, Britain,France, Germany, Russiaand China. Their talks overIran`s disputed nuclearambitions are due to resumethis week.

Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei, who has thelast word on all matters ofstate in the Islamic Republic,said last week that the imme-diate lifting of sanctionsmust be a part of any nuclearaccord.

Western officials have con-sistently rejected thatdemand, with a seniorEuropean negotiator lastweek reiterating that this was"out of the question".

This week`s negotiationsare expected to kick off witha meeting between Zarif and

U.S. Secretary of State JohnKerry on Thursday.

The major powers arepushing for a political frame-work agreement by March31 that would pave the wayfor a comprehensive dealwith Iran by June 30 underwhich it would curb sensi-tive nuclear activities for atleast a decade in exchangefor an end to sanctions thathave crippled its economy.

A senior Iranian nuclearnegotiator, HamidBaidinejad, said the remain-ing sticking points were"inter-related".

"It’s not going to be a situ-ation where the sanctions arefirst stopped and then wetalk about other issues," thesemi-official Fars newsagency quoted Baidinejad assaying. "Everything must beresolved together."

'Iran insists on lifting all sanc-tions in any nuclear deal'

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY TRILOCHAN SASTRY

Six national parties in India, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP),the Indian National Congress

(INC), the Nationalist CongressParty (NCP), the Communist Partyof India (CPI), the Communist Partyof India (Marxist) CPM and theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP), haverefused to comply with the CentralInformation Commission (CIC)order of 2013 declaring them asPublic Authorities. On March 16,2015, the CIC passed another orderwhich in effect said that it was help-less in the matter and would notimpose penalty or enforce compli-ance of its 2013 order. Earlier, it hadissued summons on three occasionsto the parties concerned to presenttheir arguments, all of which wereignored. The new order says thatpenalty can only be imposed on thePublic Information Officer (PIO)and since the political parties havenot appointed them, no action can betaken.

The contention and reality

For two years, these national par-ties have defied a law which theythemselves passed. Nor have theysought legal remedy by appealing incourt against the earlier CIC Orderdeclaring them to be PublicAuthorities. If such a situation isallowed to continue, it raises ques-tions. For instance if a non-govern-mental organisation (NGO), compa-ny or individual defies the law, thereare legal consequences. But if law-makers and political parties defy thelaw, what are the consequences? Letus recall that political parties cometo power based on the people’s man-date and then run governments. Theyin turn control people’s money, col-lected in the form of taxes and natu-ral resources. Parties are a vital partof democracy and are trustees ofpeople’s resources. Therefore, theyshould be more responsible and

accountable if they break the law,not less.

Before we go into the legal techni-calities, we need to look at the spiritbehind these issues. Political partiescontend that they are not under theambit of the Right to Information(RTI) and hence do not need to com-ply with the CIC order. They have aright to that opinion. However, there

are some laws that citizens may feelare unjust. For instance, the cyberlaw [a section of which has sincebeen struck down by the SupremeCourt] that is usually used againstany citizen who puts out materialthat someone powerful considers tobe offensive. Or the anti-seditionlaw. Can a citizen defy such a lawand get away with it? He or shecould be arrested immediately. Theonly remedy for him or her is to goto court. So, are we about to create asituation where political parties candefy the law and get away with it,without even bothering to challengethe CIC order in court? Democracycannot thrive when lawmakers breakthe law. Public respect for political

parties is already at an all-time lowand such actions by them will onlystrengthen this further. Faith in lawand order, and where the weak andthe powerful are supposed to betreated equal is also very low. Thisfurther undermines democracy.Meanwhile, the new government hasnot yet appointed a CIC nearly a yearafter coming to power. This is aneffective way of scuttling the RTI

Act.

Remedies

Coming to the specific issue, thereare at least two opposing views. Onesays that the CIC is indeed helplessto enforce compliance of its order asthere is a lacuna in the law. The otherpoint of view is that the CIC canimpose penalties on party office-bearers in the absence of a PIO.Earlier Supreme Court judgmentshave said that when legal powers aregiven, it is implied that the power toenforce it is also given. Else, the Actitself ends up becoming meaning-less. The matter is very likely goingto end up in court and with a judg-

ment that will have far-reaching con-sequences.

There are a few possible remedies.One is for political parties to be moreresponsible and follow the CIC orderor have the courage to challenge it incourt. No individual party is willingto challenge the order since it wouldgo against public opinion. Anotherremedy is to amend the Act to clari-

fy the consequences of defying aCIC order and arm the CIC withexplicit powers. A third is for thecourt to give a judgment. It will bevery difficult for Parliament to passan amendment to exempt only polit-ical parties from the RTI whileretaining other organisations underit. It would be struck down as beingunconstitutional as an earlier judg-ment in fact did to an amendment tothe Representation of the People Act(RP) Act which exempt candidatesfrom disclosing their assets.

Why scrutiny?

If the CIC cannot enforce its ordersit means that the RTI Act is effec-

tively null and void. But the realissue is not only about whether theCIC can or cannot enforce its orders.It is also about whether political par-ties should be under the RTI. Peoplealso ask whether companies andNGOs should come under the RTI.The spirit behind the Act is thatorganisations that use or control pub-lic resources need to be accountableto the public and open to scrutiny.

The tortuous, legal red herrings thatparties use — which includes thefundamental right of freedom ofassociation — do not in anyway alterthe fact that they control crores oftax money when in power. No othercategory of organisations has thatpower. Applying this, the politicalparties definitely need to be underthe RTI. Companies and NGOs donot have the power that parties haveand often enough do not even usetaxpayer money. But they shouldalso accept being under the RTI inkeeping with the spirit of a modern,open, democratic society.

About transparency

If we dig deeper, the real questionis this: what are parties afraid of?Their apparent objection that min-utes of internal meetings of a politi-cal party — that discuss party strate-gy or suitability of candidates forticket distribution for example —cannot be made public, are excuses.It can easily be dealt with by suitableexemptions which are in any caseavailable under the existing RTI Act.The real fear is exposure of theirfinances, as some admit in private.Their declared income does not dis-close the source of about 75 per centof their donations. Their undisclosedsources of income is anybody’sguess. Parties are fighting to keepthis a secret, fighting for their verysurvival as they see it. This is ashort-sighted view as the recentDelhi elections have shown.Perhaps, voters are changing andappreciate transparency more thanbig money campaigns. If party elec-tion strategists can understand this orif entrenched, vested interests withinparties can be removed, change ispossible. This can only do good tothe party in the long run.

We are at a critical point in ourdemocracy. Today, money plays animportant role in winning elections.If that changes, then people becomemore important than money. Let usmake no mistake about what is atstake here: real democracy wherepolitical parties are not mere votegathering machines, but are vibrant,democratic organisations that aretruly representative of the people, bythe people and, most importantly, forthe people.

(Trilochan Sastry is professor atIIM Bangalore and Founder,Association for Democratic

Reforms.)

BY RUCHI GUPTA

Administrative controlover the Delhi Police hasbeen a repeated source of

conflict between the Central andDelhi governments. Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal, in hismeetings with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Rajnath Singh lastmonth, reportedly raised twodemands: full statehood forDelhi and control over DelhiPolice. Mr. Kejriwal, in his pre-vious stint as Chief Minister,had sat on a dharna todemand the suspension ofthree Delhi police offi-cers who refused toarrest someUgandan andNigerian nation-als on the ordersof the then LawM i n i s t e r ,Somnath Bharati.

Since the publicuproar in the after-math of the 2012Nirbhaya rape inDelhi, women’s safetyhas acquired politicalsalience and the politicalclass is hard-pressed to showstrong action on the issue.However, women’s safety andother issues of policing resistquick-fix solutions. This makesthe public tussle over adminis-trative control of the DelhiPolice all the more politicallyattractive for incumbent ChiefMinisters who, often unfairly,have to face flak for the real andperceived inaction of the policeforce. The issue, however, isunlikely to be resolved anytimesoon. There is a via media,though, that the Delhi govern-ment should explore.

Alternative solution

By the order of the Lt.Governor of Delhi, there existThana Level Committees (TLC)for each police station in Delhi,chaired by the area MLA whorepresents major parts of the

jurisdiction of the police station.Members of the Committeeinclude other MLAs, Membersof the Municipal Corporation ofDelhi, the New Delhi MunicipalCouncil, and the CantonmentBoard, with jurisdiction over theconcerned police station, thearea Sub-Divisional Magistrate,Assistant Commissioner ofPolice, StationH o u s e

Officer andcivil society repre-sentatives. The TLC, which ismeant to meet every twomonths, has a wide ambit,including advising the SHO onways to check crime in the area;attending to public grievancesagainst the police, and on mat-ters affecting communal harmo-ny and encroachment on publicland.

Such committees becomedefunct because of a lack ofintent and transparency, and endup populated by henchmen ofthe elected representatives.Committee meetings are thusperfunctory or often not con-vened at all.

The Committee’s recommen-

dations are advisory but anastute politician will recognisethe immense political value ofthe platform.

In the ongoing tussle for con-trol over Delhi Police, the Stategovernment can at least push forempowerment of TLCs so that

the Central government manda-torily responds to its recommen-dations in a time-bound manner.

Enabling accountability

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)has swept into power on theback of strong public interestand an anti-corruption cam-paign. Restoring the oversightrole of these Committees is oneopportunity to make good on itsassurances. The role of an elect-ed representative — in additionto legislation — is to oversee thefunctioning of the government.

By converting TLC meetingsinto public hearings, an MLA

can virtually transform the func-tioning of the police stationsunder his/ her jurisdiction byraising all instances of allegedcorruption, excessive use offorce, non-registration of FIRs,undue detention and so on. TheAAP has 67 of 70 MLAs in theAssembly and if each MLA wereto hold public hearings on the

functioning of the localthanas under his/

her juris-d i c -

t i o n ,the political

mobilisation will bepowerful, not just to enforceaction against errant officers butto initiate institutional reform.Minutes of meetings and actiontaken reports will create a pow-erful trail of documentary evi-dence of corruption and ineffi-ciency, impossible to ignore bythe Police Commissioner or theHome Ministry. Further, thepeople’s participation will lendthe recommendations legitimacythat dharnas are unlikely to give.The public hearing format, ifused, has the additional benefitof bringing to public notice anyinterference by political func-tionaries and of institutionalis-ing the collective strength of thecitizenry. At the same time,working through institutional

measures will provide a checkon the worrying tendency to vig-ilantism that some AAP repre-sentatives display as evident inthe Somnath Bharti’s midnightraid incident and more recentlywhen two AAP MLAs clashedwith police in Burari.

More importantly, this canhelp institutionalise the consid-erable informal power exercisedby MLAs and provide a modelfor how elected representativesand political parties should trulyfunction. An elected representa-tive is constitutionally bound to

represent the interests of theentire constituency but this

is possible only if he cansupervise affairs at the

level of process ratherthan individual peti-tions, which are sus-ceptible to arbitraryselection.

Empowering theMLAsThe AAP’s electoral

promises are derivedfrom centralised state

power and revolve aroundtop-down anti-corruption

measures. These are legitimateareas for state action and onedoes not doubt the intent.However, political accountabili-ty will have to locate its centre inthe individual elected represen-tative and not the political party.In the absence of this, the elec-torate is reduced to recyclingpower between two or threepolitical parties. Voting in thiselection was strongly for theparty than for individual candi-dates, with the AAP winning 96per cent of the seats. With theOpposition thus decimated, it iseven more important for theAAP to devolve power internal-ly by strengthening the institu-tional role of its elected repre-sentatives. That would herald anew kind of politics.

(Ruchi Gupta works in the AllIndia Congress Committee

Scheduled Castes Department. )

The operative word in ‘freedom of religion’ is ‘free-dom’, and not ‘religion’. Religious conversion isthus a matter of individual choice guaranteed as a

fundamental right under the Constitution, and not a col-lective right of any religious community to proselytise.What matters is not whether such conversions are neces-sary but whether the individual is allowed the freedom ofconscience and free profession, practice and propagationof a religion of his or her choice provided under Article25. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in calling for adebate on religious conversion, framed his argumentpoorly: “Is conversion necessary? Can social service notbe performed in India without resorting to conversion?”Conversion may not be necessary for anyone but the per-son converting, but that is no reasoning at all against reli-gious conversion. And, of course, social service can beperformed without resorting to conversion. Christian mis-sionaries have combined propagation of religion withsocial service but unless cases of force or fraud areproven, there can be no objection to such a combination ofreligious and social work. True, as Mr. Singh said, itshould be possible for members of all religions to prosperin India without promoting conversions. But this is not tosay that promotion of religious conversions is in itselfwrong. That there is no socio-economic need for religiousconversion cannot be used to push through any restrictiveanti-conversion laws. Existing laws are more than ade-quate to prevent forcible or fraudulent conversions.Curiously, Mr. Singh used the possible changes in demo-graphic profile and character of India that religious con-versions would entail as an argument against religiousconversion. Any restriction on religious conversion,whether on ground of social tension or changing demo-graphics or national character, will amount to a seriousviolation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion.What is important is that India survives as a secularnation, and not that it remains a country with anunchanged religious mix. As a senior Minister in the gov-ernment, Mr. Singh should not have called upon the reli-gious minorities to debate anti-conversion laws in thecontext he set out. Anti-conversion laws cannot be ameans to protect religious communities, whether they area minority or they constitute the majority. It is people whoneed legal protection and not religions. The threat to theidea of India is less from changes in demographic profilethan from attempts to impose a rigid, unifying ‘national’culture.

Debating religious conversionsThursday | March 26, 2015

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Our team will publish your thoughtssend us your artices at

news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

Defying RTI, undermining democracy

If the CIC cannot enforce its orders it means that the RTI Act is effectively nulland void. But the real issue is not only about whether the CIC can or cannot

enforce its orders. It is also about whether political parties should be under theRTI. People also ask whether companies and NGOs should come under the RTI.

The spirit behind the Act is that organisations that use or control publicresources need to be accountable to the public and open to scrutiny. The tortu-

ous, legal red herrings that parties use — which includes the fundamental right offreedom of association — do not in anyway alter the fact that they control croresof tax money when in power. No other category of organisations has that power.

Applying this, the political parties definitely need to be under the RTI.Companies and NGOs do not have the power that parties have and often

enough do not even use taxpayer money.

Since the public uproarin the aftermath of the 2012

Nirbhaya rape in Delhi, women’ssafety has acquired political salience

and the political class is hard-pressed toshow strong action on the issue.However, women’s safety and

other issues of policing resistquick-fix solutions.

“”

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015SAADDA HAQ

PANAJI, MARCH 25Opposition in the Goa

Legislative Assembly onWednesday took on ChiefMinister LaxmikantParsekar over the transferof licence to an offshorecasino, contradictory tothe state government's pol-icy.

Independent MLARohan Khaunte, whileraising the issue during theQuestion Hour, said thelicence given for M VCaravela vessel was can-celled, but, was laterrenewed and transferred inthe name of M V RoyaleFloatel.

"How can the licence betransferred when it wascancelled? All licencesthat expire after 2014 werenot supposed to berenewed. The licence forFloatel was renewedthrough corrigendum,"Khaunte said.

Parsekar, who got up toreply stuck clueless sever-al times, and said no morecasinos would be allowed

in the state even as hemaintained that thelicences were not givenduring the BJP govern-ment in Goa.

"Captain of Ports(department) has givenlicence to M V RoyaleFloatel to operate Mandoviriver. We have not giventhem the licence. We stickto our stand that additionallicences would not begiven," the chief ministersaid. The House witnessednoisy scenes during theQuestion Hour whenParsekar questioned thelogic behind Khaunte rais-ing the issue when thereare no casinos in his con-stituency.

The Opposition mem-bers, including independ-ent MLA Naresh Sawal,Congress legislator AleixoReginaldo Lourenco andothers joined Khaunte inprotest against Parsekar'sstatement.

Responding to a supple-mentary question,Parsekar said currently

there are four offshorecasinos operating in Goaand all four of them have

given a written assuranceto move out of Mandoviriver and that the govern-

ment is looking for alter-native space to relocatethem.

Goa Oppn takes on governmentover offshore casino issue PATNA, MARCH 25

RJD President LaluPrasad's claim that no gov-ernment can run withouthis party's support hastouched off diverse politi-cal reaction in the state.

Addressing a publicmeeting at EastChamparan district yester-day, Prasad had said thatno government could runeither at the Centre or inBihar without RJD's sup-port.

He had further said thathis party was "pushing"the Nitish Kumar govern-ment to run, to stop BJP.

The RJD supremo saidKumar and others hadgone here and there andwhen they saw that thepath chosen by them wasfraught with "danger",they returned to the oldfold of Janata Parivar.

He said the next govern-ment in the state wouldfunction "only with thesupport of RJD".

Prasad's assertion leftallies looking for words toreact, but the BJP launchedan attack against Prasad

with Union Minister forState for RuralDevelopment RamkripalYadav claiming atBegusarai that Prasad hadbeen "finished politically".

"In order to keep himselfalive in media, he givessuch statements and peo-ple remember him,"Yadav, once a protege ofthe RJD chief, whorebelled against him ondenial of ticket fromPataliputra seat in favourof his daughter MisaBharti, said.

State ParliamentaryAffairs Minister ShrawanKumar pointed out that theRJD had extended uncon-ditional support to JD(U)government in Bihar.

RJD Chief Whip inAssembly Bhai Birendrabacked Prasad's assertion,saying it was a fact that theJD(U) government wasrunning in the state withthe help of RJD andCongress.

"So what wrong he(Prasad) has said this?" hetold reporters.

No government can runwithout RJD support: Lalu

HYDERABAD, MARCH 25HRD Minister Smriti Irani will lay the

foundation stone for three premier educa-tional institutions - Indian Institute ofScience Education and Research, IndianInstitute of Technology and IndianInstitute of Information Technology - inAndhra Pradesh on March 28.

The function will be held in the pres-ence of Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu.

IISER Tirupati would be mentored byIISER Pune, which was the first to beestablished in 2006. The institution willinitially function from a temporary cam-pus until the permanent one comes intoexistence, a state government statementsaid.

It said IIT, Tirupati would be estab-lished in an area of 590 acres atMeralapaka Village in Yerpedu Mandalnear Tirupati in Chittoor district.

IIT Madras will mentor the Tirupaticampus along with the new institution inPalakkad, Kerala, the release said.

IIIT is being set up at Sri city,Satyavedu mandal in Chittoor district.

"The presence of world's leading com-panies in Sri city will provide greatopportunities to the students and facultyof IIIT for research and internships," itadded.

This IIIT would also focus on researchin the areas of ESDM (Electronic SystemDesign & Manufacturing), automotiveelectronics, cloud computing, data ana-lytics, technologies for smart cities, sup-ply chain & logistics, clean energy andaerospace, the statement said.

Smriti Irani to lay foundation stone forIISER, IIT, IIIT in Arunchal Pradesh

SHIMLA, MARCH 25Himachal Pradesh

Governor KalyanSingh's decision todecline sanction forthe prosecution offormer chief ministerand BJP leader PremKumar Dhumal is allset to snowball into amajor legal contro-versy.

Responding to thedevelopments, ChiefMinister VirbhadraSingh on Tuesdaymade it categoricallyclear that it's now forthe courts to decidethe issue.

Acting on a plea byDhumal, the governorasserted that enoughevidence was notthere to prosecute theBJP leader.

The Rajasthan gov-ernor, who holdsadditional charge ofthe hill state, calledfor the documentsrelating to the caseand made his obser-vations in a commu-nication to the state,official sources said.

The state Vigilanceand Anti-CorruptionBureau filed a chargesheet against Dhumal

and three top govern-ment officials, whoare now retired, onMarch 13 for allegedmisuse of positionwhen Dhumal was thechief minister in2007.

Official sourcessaid that in a knee-jerk reaction to sum-moning of therecords, the govern-ment on the same dayfiled the charge sheet.

The BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP)leader was bookedunder the Preventionof Corruption Act for

favouring IndianPolice Service (IPS)officer AN Sharma.

Clarifying his gov-ernment's stand,Virbhadra Singh saidthe governmentdecided to file chargesheet in the court afterprevious governorUrmila Singh, whoseterm ended onJanuary 24, advisedthe government thatthere was no need forher intervention togrant prosecutionsanction againstDhumal.

The chief minister

told reporters herethat Urmila Singhtook the call after tak-ing legal opinion andtaking into considera-tion Supreme Courtrulings.

Refusing to com-ment on GovernorKalyan Singh's deci-sion, Virbhadra Singhsaid: "He (the gover-nor) might be advisedto write this way."

The Vigilance andA n t i - C o r r u p t i o nBureau last June reg-istered a case againstDhumal for allegedmisuse of position.

Himachal Governor declines ex-CM Dhumal's prosecutionRAJAHMUNDHRY, MARCH 25

Apparently fed up oftheir lonely life and pro-longed illness, a coupleallegedly committed sui-cide by hanging them-selves from the ceiling attheir residence in EastGodavari district, policesaid on Wednesday.

The incident took placelast night near AndhraPradesh Paper Mill limitshere when the two identi-fied as Venkataswara Rao(53) and wifeSuryaprabhavati (47)hanged themselves fromthe ceiling, Rajahmundry

Three Town Inspector PRamakoteswara Rao said.

A suicide note recoveredfrom Rao's pocket saidthat they had two daugh-ters, who are married nowand hence, they were feel-ing all alone.

Also, they were suffer-ing from ill-health anddepression for a long timefollowing which theydecided to end their lives,it said.

Rao was working at thePaper Mill in the technicaldepartment and hadrecently joined work aftera leave of six months.

HYDERABAD, MARCH 25State-owned NTPC has invit-

ed tenders for sourcing equip-ment for its proposed Rs 20,000crore thermal power project inAndhra Pradesh.

NTPC is establishing 4x1,000MW imported coal-based ther-mal power plant inVisakhapatnam district inAndhra Pradesh, which willcome up at an investment of Rs20,000 crore. Approximately Rs5 crore outlay is needed for gen-eration of one megawatt thermalpower.

"The Environmental ImpactAssessment studies are inprogress and expected to com-plete by May. The project workis likely to commence fromSeptember," a senior NTPC offi-cial official said.

In a statement, the country'slargest thermal power producersaid, "Tenders are already invit-ed for the main plant equipmentand NTPC is taking up this proj-ect on fast track mode."

NTPC is executing 1,000 MWcoal based units with supercriti-cal technology, thereby the effi-ciency will be at the maximumand emissions are reduced dras-tically.

The power plant requires 13.7million tonnes coal per annumto achieve 90 per cent plant loadfactor, NTPC said.

The Expert AppraisalCommittee under the Ministryof Environment and Forests hasalready issued terms of refer-ence for conducting EIA studyin respect of this project, itadded.

Fed of lonely life, couplecommits suicide

PANAJI, MARCH 25Taking a dig at Goa's

Art and CultureDepartment's orderasking its employeesnot to wear sleevelessclothes, jeans and T-shirts during officehours, Congress leaderAlexio Reginaldo onWednesday said peo-ple should be allowedto wear what theywant.

He said the BJP gov-ernment in the statewas coming up withthese sort of ordersonly to divert publicattention to cover upits failure to run theadministration proper-ly.

"People should beallowed to wear what

they want whileattending offices.Even in bikini theyshould be allowed,"Lourenco toldreporters outside thestate Assembly prem-ises.

The Goa govern-ment's Art and Culturedepartment recentlyinstructed its employ-ees to wear only 'for-mal dress' and skipjeans, corduroy, T-shirts, trousers withmultiple pockets andsleeveless dresses dur-ing the office hoursand official functionsof the Directorate to"maintain decorum."

Culture MinisterDayanand Mandrekarevaded a firm reply

when asked if theorder will be imple-mented strictly.

"We will see thatlater," he said.

Legislator AtanasioMonserratte, who wasexpelled from theCongress, said thatchoosing one's dress isan individualdecision.

"One should be per-fectly dressed. Peopleworking in the govern-ment offices should beasked to decide on thecode," he said.

State Cabinet minis-ter RamakrishnaDhavalikar had lastyear created a contro-versy by demanding aban on bikinis on thebeaches.

Congress leader takes a digat Goa's dress code order

PANAJI, MARCH 25Goa legislators get their salaries

because of revenues earned by the statefrom the casino industry, ruling BJP leg-islator Kiran Kandolkar said onWednesday, triggering an uproar in theassembly.

The legislator from Thivim con-stituency defended the Bharatiya JanataParty-led coalition government's deci-sion not to ban casinos as promised bythe party during the 2012 state assemblypolls.

"All salaries of the MLAs come fromthat (casino revenue). Are you sayingwe do not get revenue? Where do youget your salary from?" he asked.

Kandolkar's comment triggered anoutrage in the Opposition benches, withthe Congress and Independent legisla-tors accusing the BJP of tarnishing thesanctity of the legislature.

"How can you say this? This is not

right," Congress legislator ReginaldoLourenco said.

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekarsaid in the assembly on Wednesday thatthe revenue earned from the casinoindustry is Rs. 80 crore annually.

The salary and allowances of a first-time legislator is around Rs. 1 lakh permonth, while that of senior legislator isaround 1.25 lakh per month.

Goa has four operational offshorecasinos parked in the Mandovi river offPanaji, which attract hundreds of thou-sands of gamblers to the state annually.Most of the offshore casinos were set upduring the Congress' tenure in power inthe state 2007-2012.

Ahead of the 2012 state assemblypolls, the BJP, which had led a sustainedcampaign against the casino industry forseveral years, promised that if voted topower, its government would rid theriver of the casinos.

PATNA, MARCH 25Ruling JD(U) and

Opposition BJP onWednesday tradedcharges over poorupkeep of MahatamaGandhi Setu over riverGanga considered asgateway to North Biharfrom state capital whichis witnessing heavy traf-fic flow. After BJPmember Arun ShankarPrasad raised the matterduring zero hour, Leaderof Opposition NandKishore Yadav chargedthe state governmentwith "indulging in poli-tics" over the issue bynot cooperating with theCentre. This despiteCentre's having volun-teered to help it rehabil-

itate the 6-km longbridge over the riverconnecting Patna withHajipur in Vaishali dis-trict, Yadav said.

He said that differentsurvey reports includingone by JICA of Japanhave established thatthere was no fault in pil-lars of the bridge but the

entire superstructure hasto be changed.

He said though earlierthe state governmenthad chalked out a pro-posal to built a bridgebetween Tazpur toVidhupur and makeRoad-cum-Ra i lwaybridge at Digha opera-tional by building

approach road, the statehas so far failed toacquire land for thesame. RoadC o n s t r u c t i o nDepartment ministerRajiv Ranjan SinghLallan alleged negli-gence by the Centre andaccused BJP of trying toderive political mileageover the subject.

He alleged that theCentre was not provid-ing required money forrepair work. The statehas decided to put updividers along the roadto stop overtaking byvehicles identified as themain reason for jam.

Mahatama Gandhisetu was made opera-tional in 1982.

JD(U), BJP trade charges over MahatamaGandhi Setu in Bihar Assembly

MULTA operativearrested in Army-Police joint operationGUWAHATI, MARCH 25

A Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam mil-itant was apprehended during a joint operation bythe Army and the police today from Modati villagein lower Assam's Kokrajhar district, a defencespokesman said. Based on intelligence inputs on thepresence of the MULTA extremist at Modati, theteam launched an operation and nabbed him with apistol and live ammunition, the spokesman said.

Activity of MULTA and similar groups haveincreased in view of the upcoming BodolandTerritorial Council (BTC) elections to create lawand order problems then, he said.

The apprehended insurgent was involved in manyextortion and kidnapping activities in the area, thespokesman added.

NTPC invites tenders for 4,000MW power plants in Vizag

RAIPUR, MARCH 25The Chhattisgarh

Assembly witnessed pande-monium on Wednesdaywith the OppositionCongress slamming the BJPGovernment over its deci-sion allowing the state serv-ice employees to attendRSS camps, alleging it waspart of "saffronisation"process. While theCongress members walkedout of the House shouting"saffronisation will not beallowed" and "stop saffroni-sation", the BJP memberscountered them by shouting'Jai Sri Ram'.

Raising the issue duringZero Hour, Amit Jogi andSatyanarayan Sharma(Congress) sought a discus-sion on the issue.

"The State Governmenthas allowed its employeesto join the RSS. It is a ques-tion of faith in theConstitution. How can theState Government call theRSS a non-political outfit?"Jogi asked.

Supporting Jogi, Sharmaand other Congress mem-bers said it was a very seri-ous matter and 'saffronisa-tion' of the administrationwould not be allowed.

As they kept on demand-ing a discussion on theissue, SpeakerGaurishankar Agrawal saidhe had received their pro-posal for discussion and hewill consider it.

Unhappy with the ruling,Congress members soughtan immediate discussion

but the Speaker turneddown their demand, follow-ing which they walked outfrom the House shoutingslogans.

Countering the Congresslegislators, BJP MLAMahesh Gagda and othersthen started shouting 'Jai SriRam'.

The Raman SinghGovernment had last monthrevoked the ban, imposedbefore Chhattisgarh wasformed by bifurcatingMadhya Pradesh in 2000,on Government employeesparticipating in the activi-ties of RSS, the ideologicalmentor of BJP.

However, the ban onemployees participating inpolitical activities is still inforce.

Din in Chhattisgarh Houseover "saffronisation" process

'Goa legislators get salariesbecause of casinos'

Amazon announcedTuesday its FireTV media stick for

streaming video is beingsold in Britain andGermany, as part of a pushto expand its onlinetelevision

services.

The US online and retailgiant also said its mediastick - a rival to GoogleChromecast - would alsoget an update to allowmany people to use thedevice away from home,such as at hotels and uni-versity campuses requiringWeb authentication.

Amazon already sells astreaming media box withadditional features andgaming in Britain andGermany, and will seek toexpand its base with theless expensive stick.

The device will sell for35 pounds in Britain and39 euros in Germany.

"Customer response toAmazon Fire TV and FireTV Stick has been over-whelming -- we've beenworking hard to build moreof both as quickly as possi-ble, and we're excited to beadding new features we

think customers will love,"said Peter Larsen,Amazon's vicepresident

for devices.

"In the UK andGermany, Fire TV isalready the best-sellingstreaming media box onAmazon , and we'rethrilled to be bringing ourfastest-selling Amazondevice ever -- Fire TVStick -- to the UK andGermany."

Amazon introduced theplug-in stick, a device thesize of a pack of gum, lastOctober in the UnitedStates.

It provides access toAmazon Instant Video aswell as other servicesincluding Netflix, HuluPlus, WatchESPN andNBA Game Time. It canalso "mirror" content fromtablet computers andsmartphones.

Amazon claims itsdevice has more process-ing power and memorythan Chromecast's andsimilar dongles such as onefrom Roku.

Earlier this month it wasknown that Sony is planninga major update for the

PlayStation 4 (PS4) console. Thev2.50 system software update,codenamed Yukimura, will finallyhit the console on Thursday.

The PS4 System Software 2.50'Yukimara' update sports a colossallist of upgrades, as per the list ofchanges on Sony's blog.

These include backing up yourgame data to an external harddrive, and the much-await-ed suspend/ resume fea-ture which lets you con-tinue your game instan-taneously, similar to theXbox One, will bepresent.

Other changesinclude new friendfeatures (from theaddition of a'Facebook friend finder', improvedfriend requests, a morestreamlined Partyprocess, new'Friends

WhoPlay This' section, to thejoining friends in-game

directly from the news feed), newTrophy features (automatic Trophyscreenshots, posting of Trophyinformation via the Share button,new Trophy filters), improved andexpanded accessibility options(including DualShock 4 but-ton remapping, zoomfor displayedp i c t u r e s ,

i n v e r t e dcolours for all system

functions, text-to-speech andenlarged text for all GUI, and

more).Finally, the PS4 v2.5 system

software update also brings 60fpssupport for Remote Play and SharePlay, automatic installation optionfor system software updates, sub-

account upgrades, new

v e r i f i e daccounts for developers and com-munity managers, andDailymotion integration for shar-ing.

But this isn't all, the PS Vita andthe PS App for smartphones andtablets is receiving an update aswell to play nice with your PS4.

"PlayStation Vita andPlayStation App for smartphonesand tablets will also receive system

software updates tonight, addingcomplementary features to thoseadded to PS4. PS Vita update ver-sion 3.50 and PlayStation Appupdate version 2.50 will add newaccessibility options, includingenlarged text, increased contrastand more. This update also enables

PS Vita

t os u p -

p o r t6 0 f p s

streaming forRemote Play," said

John Koller VP ofPlatforms Marketing, Sony

Computer EntertainmentAmerica.

While most PS4 updates hadfocused on adding "stability", thisis a welcome change of pace.However like most firmwareupdates, we would suggest waitinga day or two before downloading itas you may run the risk of brickingyour PS4.

PlayStation 4 v2.50 System Update'Yukimura' to Release Thursday

India's biggest telecom spectrum auc-tion ended Wednesday after 19 daysof fierce bidding that fetched about

Rs. 1,10,000 crores to the government."The auction has concluded," an officialsource said.

The auction for airwaves in four bandsended after 115 rounds of bidding, asource said.

The total value of bids stood at Rs.1,09,874 crores.

The DoT will disclose details of theresult and names of successful biddersafter the Supreme Court's permission as acase is pending before the apex court.

The spectrum auction included air-waves held by nine licences of IdeaCellular, seven each of Reliance Telecomand Vodafone and six permits of BhartiAirtel that were expiring in 2015-16.

These airwaves mostly included fre-quencies in 900MHz band and 1800MHzband.

Government also auctioned airwaves in1800MHz band that remained unsold in2014, and 800MHz or CDMA band fre-quencies that were left after sale in 2013.

A total of 380.75MHz of spectrum wasput on sale in the premium 900MHzband, 1800MHz and 800MHz, while5MHz was up for bidding in the2100MHz band, used for 3G mobile serv-ices, across 17 out of 22 telecom.

As per auction document, in case ofdeferred payment option, telecom opera-tors are required to pay an upfront pay-ment of 33 percent in case of 2100MHz,1800MHz bands and 25 percent for900MHz and 800MHz bands within 10calendar days of the close of auction.

The winners will pay the rest of theamount over a period of 12 years -- 2years moratorium and then 10 yearlyinstalments.

While Idea, Airtel, Vodafone andReliance Communications participated inthe auction mainly to defend their exist-ing spectrum holding, Reliance Jio, TataTeleservices, Telewings (Uninor) andAircel participated to buy additionalspectrum.

At the minimum or auction start price,the total value of spectrum in 2100MHzband stood at about Rs. 17,555 crores andthat of in 800MHz, 900MHz and1800MHz bands was about Rs. 64,840crores. The price of airwaves in 800MHzand 900MHz has seen significant riseover the value fixed by government.

The price of 800MHz spectrum, cur-rently being used for CDMA, saw abouttwo-fold rise over the base price acrossvarious telecom service areas in the cur-rent auction. There was no taker for thisspectrum in 2012 auctions and only onebidder in auctions held in March 2013.

Spectrum AuctionEnds, Government to

Get Rs. 1,09,874 Crores

NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. The number of waves in n x 10th Bohr's orbit areA.n2 B.n C.n-2 D.n3

2. The mass of one Avogadro number of helium atomisA.1.00 gram B.4.00 gramC.8.00 gram D.4 x 6.02 x 1023 gram

3. The items amenable to detection by soft x-rays areA.contrabands B.lead in bulletsC.narcotics D.genuine coins from counterfeit coins

4. The material which can be deformed permanently byheat and pressure is called aA. thermoplastic B. thermosetC. chemical compound D.polymer

5. The mass number of a nucleus isA. always less than its atomic numberB. the sum of the number of protons and neutronspresent in the nucleusC. always more than the atomic weightD. a fraction

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(B), 2(B), 3(D), 4(B), 5(B)

TODAY’S STARARIES You're apt to feel stronger within, helping you to connect the inner

and outer sides of your personality, Aries. You may feel like youhave all your troops united on a common front and are makingtremendous progress toward reaching your goals. Don't stop.Your momentum is strong. Things you set in motion now will havea tremendous effect that will continue to increase over time.

TAURUS There's an explosive quality about the day. You may walkalong, minding your own business, when someone acciden-tally bumps into you. Your first reaction may be to push thatperson back. Carelessness on the part of others may causeyou to get worked up into fits of rage. Do your best to keepthese tendencies under control, especially when driving.

GEMINI You have a tremendous amount of drive and enthusiasm to helpyou move forward in your projects, Gemini. Be careful that youdon't act hastily or impulsively. Be careful of starting out on a newpath without having a good idea about where it's going. Rashdecisions may lead to dangerous situations, so know what direc-tion to go in before you start the car. Be safe.

CANCER A relationship with a close partner may get a bit confused,Cancer. You could react quickly to a situation without reallythinking before speaking. There may be some confusion inyour mind about whether to stay silent or take a moreaggressive route and blurt out everything you feel. It'simportant that you find an equal balance of both.

LEO You may run into a great deal of opposition from just about everyquarter, Leo. The most frustrating part about this is that even thepeople you turn to for help will transform the situation into an evenbigger mess. Instead of finding relief, you may find more compli-cations and misunderstandings. Perhaps you need to take the sit-uation into your own hands and deal with it yourself.

VIRGO You're becoming much more perceptive, Virgo. At the same time,your psyche and unconscious knowing are also more acute. You mayfind that you know more about the way someone feels than that per-son does. More than likely, this sort of perspective is causing you towant to take aggressive action in order to shake people up and helpthem open their own eyes to the situation at hand.

LIBRA You're likely to act with great immediacy, Libra. You will instantlyknow what to do in a situation, especially a crisis. You're likely to bethinking at top speed and moving with efficiency and courage. Youshould feel strong knowing that there's a terrific support system sur-rounding you in case things go awry. Go out on a limb and take achance that you might not have considered before.

SCORPIO If someone tries to criticize you, Scorpio, don't be afraid to defendyourself. Other people aren't going to be afraid to speak theirminds, and you shouldn't either. You may feel like someone isprodding you with a stick. They probably just want to get somesort of reaction out of you. Be honest about how you feel andexplain your statements instead of just being curt.

SAGITTARIUSBe a friend to someone new and lend a hand to a greater cause thanjust your own advancement, Sagittarius. Ally with people by offeringyour support instead of asking for it. Give more of yourself and youwill find that in the long run you will receive a great deal more thanyou ever would have asked for. Be generous to the people aroundyou and form collective goals that will benefit everyone.

CAPRICORN The gas is on, Capricorn. One spark can cause an explosive fire-ball. There's a tremendous amount of potential energy to the dayjust waiting to be unleashed. Know what you're getting intobefore you light that match. The effects of your actions will ripplefor some time. That said, go ahead and set the situation on fire.Perhaps there's an issue brewing that can no longer be ignored.

AQUARIUS This is truly a day of new beginnings, Aquarius. You can start a freshcycle of emotions and understanding that can help you develop thequality and depth of your relationships. Note that all levels of yourrelationships will be affected in some way. Take time to consider thefact that you're at the starting line. Focus and align yourself with yourgoals and the people who can help you meet them.

PISCES Stop dwelling on old projects and routines based on situations thathave long since expired, Pisces. Note the changes that haveoccurred around you and adjust your plans. This is a good time tohonestly examine your situation. Being aggressive in your approachtoward improvement and change means letting go of what no longerserves you. Move forward with courage instead of hesitation.

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SPORTSSPORTS 7SAADDA HAQNEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015

SYDNEY, MARCH 25Defending champions India will

hope the law of averages does notcatch up with them when theyclash with hosts Australia in awidely-anticipated World Cupsemi-final in Sydney on Thursday.

India have beaten Australia justonce in 35 years in a one-day inter-national at the Sydney CricketGround when a Sachin Tendulkarcentury helped them win the firstof the three-match tri-series finalin 2008.

But Mahendra Singh Dhoni`smen have confounded critics byrecovering from a winless bilateraltour of Australia before the WorldCup to brush aside all-comers inthe tournament.

Starting with two wins againstPakistan and South Africa, Indiawon all six group matches to topPool B and then downed spiritedBangladesh by 109 runs in thequarter-finals.

Amazingly, India have piled up300-plus scores every time theyhave batted first and dismissed theopposition in all seven matches sofar.

India now confront a side thathas won seven of their 10 WorldCup meetings against them,although Dhoni`s men secured afive-wicket win in the quarter-finalat home in Ahmedabad four yearsago.

Four-time champions Australiahave won all six semi-finals theyhave appeared in since the inaugu-ral event in 1975, but India willconsider the SCG as the best venueto halt that record.

Groundsman Tom Parker haskept both teams guessing on thenature of the pitch he will unveilfor the semi-final, but the wear andtear at the end of a long seasonindicates spin-friendly conditions.

South African spinners ImranTahir and JP Duminy shared sevenwickets to bowl out Sri Lanka for133 in the quarter-final at the SCGlast week, setting up a nine-wicketwin for the Proteas.

But the bat dominated the ball inprevious World Cup games at thevenue, with Australia piling up 376for nine against Sri Lanka andSouth Africa smashing 408 for fiveoff the West Indies`attack.

Australian coach DarrenLehmann expected a wicket simi-lar to the one his team got for thematch against Sri Lanka and pre-dicted a high-scoring encounter.

"I think the pitch will be verysimilar to the one we used in thegame against Sri Lanka whenalmost 700 runs were scored, so Ithink this will be another high-scoring affair," Lehmann wrote onthe official Cricket Australia web-site www.cricketcom.au.

"But finals seem to have a wayof working out differently some-times. So even if the pitch is a bel-ter, you have to do the basics wellenough to produce a high score.And then bowl well enough todefend it."

Lehmann felt that constant meet-ings with India over the summerwould "add an extra element towhat already looms as anenthralling contest."

"India are really starting to gainsome confidence on the back ofsome good performances since thetournament began, but we knowthem inside out -- just as they dous.

"Everyone in the Australia squadis excited that we`ve reached thefinal week of the World Cup andare now within striking distance ofa goal that we set ourselves morethan a year ago."

With organisers estimating that70 percent of the tickets have beenpicked up by Indian fans, Australiawould feel as if they were playingan away game on their ownsoil.

India will once again bank on asound start from openers ShikharDhawan, who has 367 runs in thetournament with two centuries,

and Rohit Sharma, who hit 137against Bangladesh.

But it will be Virat Kohli theAustralians will be wary of afterthe elegant right-hander hit fourcenturies in the preceding four-Test series, including 147 and 46 atthe SCG.

Kohli`s form dipped after amatch-winning century againstPakistan, but Dhoni was confidentof his star batsman coming goodwhen it mattered.

"A big one is just around the cor-ner because big players alwaysscore in big games," Dhoni said ofKohli.

India`s pace trio of MohammadShami, Umesh Yadav and MohitSharma have claimed 42 wicketsbetween them, but it will be theoff-spin of Ravichandran Ashwinthat Dhoni will turn to if the pitchtakes turn.

The winner of Thursday`s matchwill face New Zealand in the finalin Melbourne on Sunday.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, 2nd semi-final: India vs Australia - Preview SYDNEY, MARCH 25

In the second semi-final of the ICC WorldCup 2015, an unbeaten Indian team willmeet Australia at the Sydney CricketGround (SCG). Though on paper Australiaare a robust unit, the world champions canstill beat them to book a berth in the final.

Here are a few reasons why India have anupper hand over the Aussies.

Bowlers are on fire: Indian pacers,Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav andMohit Sharma have bowled well thus far inICC's flagship event. If Yadav is extractinggood bounce and pace from the wickets inAustralia and New Zealand and is lookingintimidating, then, Shami’s line and lengthhas been impeccable. The latter has alsobeen among the leading wicket takers inthis World Cup with 17 scalps under hisbelt. Mohit's entry in the tournament hasproved to be a blessing in disguise for TeamIndia as he has performed on every occa-sion. The pace trio has used the bouncer togood effect and are now set to give theAustralians a taste of their own medicine.

Confident Indian openers: Both Indianopeners Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharmahave repaid the trust shown by the skipperMS Dhoni. Dhawan has been among theruns and played a special knock againstSouth Africa, which was the toughest Poolmatch for India. On the other end, Sharmastood tall and delivered at a time when theteam needed him the most, in the quarter-final clash against Bangladesh. Both arelooking confident before the big clashagainst the Aussies. And if they both click,we know carnage would be on the cards.

No home advantage for Oz: India havebeen in Australia for around four months.After playing all forms of cricket here, theyare well accustomed to the conditions.Apart from that, Indian supporters arethronging to the stadiums in outstandingnumbers to support their team. OnThursday, it would be no different at theSydney Cricket Ground, when India lockhorns with the home team.

Big knock from Kohli due: Bedrock ofIndian batting line up, Virat Kohli scoredthree outstanding tons during the Test seriesagainst the Aussies before the World Cup.In fact, he has a good track record againstthem. He is a big match player with a knackof rising to the occasion. Though he haslooked in good nick throughout the tourna-ment, a big knock is still due from his wil-low. And same is the case with AjinkyaRahane, another solid top-order batsman in

the team. So one can expect either Kohli orRahane, or both, to give their knockoutpunch in the semis.

Fully fit squad: The biggest worry for theIndian team before the marquee event start-ed was that of injuries. But Indian players,especially, speedsters have responded wellso far and are looking fully fit. Indianbowlers have managed to bowl out theiropponents in every match thus far in thetournament. And against Australia, MSDhoni and the Indian think tank wouldpreferably stick with the tried and testedeleven. In case of any exigency, the teamcan rely on the strength of the squad.

Mitchell Johnson not at his best: One ofthe most menacing bowlers in world crick-et, Johnson, hasn’t looked at his intimidat-ing best. In fact on occasions he has lookedout of sorts. It’s certainly good news for theIndian batting line up. However, Indiawould still have to be wary of other speed-sters like Mitchell Starc and JoshHazlewood.

Spin might haunt Oz at SCG: SydneyCricket Ground is traditionally a spin-friendly track as compared to other wicketsin the country. If we look at the AustralianWorld Cup squad, it doesn't have a qualityspin bowler. The absence of a leading spin-ner could go against the Aussies, especiallyconsidering India's proficiency against theturning ball. South African leggie ImranTahir purchased a lot of spin from the SCGwicket in the tournament. India have spin-ners in R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja,awho could give the Aussies a tough time inthe middle.

After South Africa, now it’s Australia: Inthe group stages, India crushed one of thepre-tournament favorites South Africa.They simply outplayed the Proteas in alldepartments. And now they have to faceprobably the strongest World Cup team, atleast on paper, Australia. Considering thered-hot form the defending champions arein, there is no reason why they could notupset the home team to reach the finals forthe 2nd time in a row.

Team India’s winning streak: En route thesemis, India have won seven matches onthe trot. While, Australia have suffered adefeat at the hands of co-hosts NewZealand. In fact, in the last match, theirbatsmen struggled while chasing a modesttotal of 213 and looked vulnerable againstthe Pakistan pace attack. In the tournament,India has looked a complete side and are atpar with the Aussies, if not stronger.

SYDNEY, MARCH 25India's batting mainstay

Rohit Sharma said onWednesday that Australiancricketers might use sledg-ing as a weapon duringtheir high-voltage cricketWorld Cup semi-finalmatch on Thursday buthoped they wouldn't crossthe line of tolerance.

"It's part of the game, Iguess. I just hope theydon't cross the line. We allknow as professionalcricketers there are bound-aries which we don't needto cross. Yeah, as long asit's within those bound-aries, we're fine," Rohitsaid at a press conference.

There have beeninstances in the Test seriesDown Under where theIndians and Australianswere involved in repeatedon-field verbal confronta-tions.

Rohit Sharma was him-self involved in an alterca-tion with left-handed bats-man David Warner during

the series."It's good. We must have

noticed this throughout theseries when we played theTest matches againstAustralia. No team backeddown. Both the teams wereright in each other's face,"he said. Among India's cur-rent playing 11, eight wereinvolved in the ChampionsTrophy triumph in 2013and three were present inthe 2011 World Cup victo-ry. Rohit said the experi-ence will help as theyknow how to win biggames.

"We know how to playbig games. We've been partof it even in ChampionsTrophy and also in 2011.We bring the best out ofeveryone during those bigmatches, so, yes, we lookforward to this and hope-fully it will be an excitingcontest," the right-handedbatsman said.

The 27-year-old addedthat, looking at the earliermatches, the wicket at

Sydney Cricket Ground(SCG) will surely aid spinwhich might help theirspinners. "Of course, if youlook at the history of SCGit gives a lot of turn to thespin bowlers and spinnershave actually come out andbowled really well. If yousee the Test matches alsowe've played againstAustralia, spinners playeda huge part. So I feel if itdoes, we've got the spin-ners to do it," he said.

India had a disappointingsummer in Australia whenthey lost the four-matchTest series 0-2, followedby an even more disastrousOne-Day-International(ODI) tri-series, wherethey failed to win even asingle match.

When asked whetherAustralia enjoyed an edgeover them considering thesuccessful summer, Rohitsaid their poor perform-ance is something of thepast and the Indian team iscurrently playing some

excellent cricket."No, I don't think it mat-

ters because we're playingsome different cricket now.So, what has happened hashappened, we have leftright there. We never wantit to carry into the WorldCup. We always spokeabout this," the right-hand-ed batsman said.

"We know how impor-tant the World Cup is, andwe have actually come outand played really well andplayed some good cricket.So we just want to contin-ue just a matter of twomore errands."

The Mumbai batsmanwas excellent againstBangladesh in the quarter-finals scoring 137 runs.

Speaking about his bat-ting, he said: "I try to keepit very simple. I just bat. Idon't think about balls. Idon't think about runs.Because the only thing thatgoes into my mind at thatpoint in time is one batterto stay till the end."

Hope Australia don't cross the linewhile sledging: Rohit Sharma SYDNEY, MARCH 25

At the end of four quar-ter-finals in the ICC WorldCup 2015, cricket worldmoved a step closer tocrowning the kings of ODIcricket.

After 46 matches, 430sixes, 2031 fours and 674wickets, players from 10nations have made theirlong journeys back home.As cricket's quadrennialcoronation nears, fourteams – New Zealand,South Africa, Australia andIndia are now only twosteps away from the prom-ised land.

With ICC's tournamentstructure, heavily loaded infavor of the big guns,Australia, New Zealandand South Africa making itto the final four was hardlya surprise. Consideringtheir team strength, formcoming in to the tourna-ment and nature of pitcheslaid out for the World Cup,odds were loaded heavilyon the side of this trio.

Going in to the WorldCup, the Indian team wasin a shambles. Pundits inair-conditioned studiospassed a unanimous ver-dict that the defendingchampions would find ithard to compete purelybecause of their ineffectivebowling attack.

India completing thequartet of semi-finalistswas not as obvious as itappears now. The onlything more remarkablethan India making it thisfar is the manner in whichthey got here. This is thebest an Indian team hasplayed in a World Cup.

However, the road toMelbourne traversesthrough Sydney. In order toget there, the defendingchampions will have to getpast their quarter-finalopponents from the 2011edition.

India's winning streak atthe World Cup faces itstoughest test yet againstAustralia, widely thoughtof as the best team in thetournament. Though MSDhoni's men have domi-nated all their seven oppo-nents so far, there are areasof concern going in to ahigh-voltage semi-final atthe Sydney CricketGround.

Misfiring lower-middleorder

India's top five batsmenhave scored five centuriesbetween them, whichbodes well for the team.Barring Ajinkya Rahane,all the other batsmen havegot to the three-figuremark.

In most games, the toporder has provided a solidfoundation for the likes ofMS Dhoni and RavindraJadeja to go big as theinnings tails off. Yet, theteam has ended up with 20-25 runs short in the gameswhere they have battedfirst. Despite having wick-ets in hand to throw the bataround, batsmen have beenstifled by the oppositiondeath bowlers of Pakistan,

South Africa andBangladesh.

Mitchell Starc has beenthe best exponent of theyorker in tournament,while James Faulker'sclever mixing up of deliv-eries if often hard to pick.India's lower middle ordercould struggle to get themaway for runs in the deathovers. Considering thequality of the Aussieattack, the Men in Bluewill have to address thisissue in the quarter-final.

Batting second against aquality bowling attack

Despite blips early on orin the middle of theirinnings, Indians haverecorded comfortable winswhile chasing targets in alltheir Pool games. Teamsthat the Men in Blue beatbatting second includeUAE, West Indies, Irelandand Zimbabwe.

Taking nothing awayfrom the bowlers, MSDhoni's men did not haveany substantial targets toachieve against UAE andWest Indies. AgainstIreland, India knocked offthe runs with relative easeagainst a below par bowl-

ing attack. Hence, the teamhas not had to the chase atough total against a quali-ty bowling attack. India'sbatting depth could be test-ed against the home teamon Thursday.

Barring a quality spinner,Australia have the perfectbowling attack - left andright-arm quicks in Starc,Josh Hazlewood andMitchell Johnson as wellas medium pacers withgood variation in ShaneWatson and Faulkner.India's batting could comeunder severe pressure bat-ting second against them.

Untested bowling indeath overs

Indian bowlers havebeen the team's trump cardso far in the tournament.Led by MohammedShami's 17 wickets, thebowling unit has picked up70 wickets in 7 matches – afeat that has never beenachieved by any team atthe World Cup.

Shami, Umesh Yadavand Mohit Sharma haveput on an exhibition ofquick and accurate bowl-ing that most batsmen havefound hard to counter.Ravichandran Ashwin hasbeen among the top spin-ners in the tournament andhis ten overs could be golddust to MS Dhoni inSydney against Australia.Consistent good bowlingperformances have meantthat Indian bowlers havenot encountered a pressuresituation so far.

Also, they haven't had todefend a below par total aswell. If the batsmen fail todeliver in the quarter-final,the bowlers will find them-selves in a position theyhave not been before in thisWorld Cup. At such a time,someone like RavindraJadeja could be at thereceiving end of an Aussieonslaught.

World Cup 2015, 2nd semi-final: Why Indiahave an upper hand against mighty Aussies

ICC World Cup, 2nd semi-final:Team India's three areas of concern

Wi t ht h echo

ice of the daybeing theorganic way,

people are busymaking their own

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While women havetreated their scalps toeggs, curd, beer, lime

and more, not manyhave ventured beyond

hair-care remedies. And,though stars such asShilpa Shetty, AishwaryaRai Bachhan and Bipasha

Basu among others havesworn by their homeremedies, many acrossthe country are makingtheir own beauty prod-ucts, now. People areindulging in preparinga whole range ofbeauty products for

personal use. While somelook back at historically-treasured concoctions, oth-ers experiment with theassistance of the trustedinternet and make productsranging from lip balms,kajal, soaps, body buttersand more..

How effective are beautyproducts made at home?Swathi, director of a beautysalon says, "Ingredientsused at home today are notpure either. And, sincethere is a rise in womensuffering from hormonalissues and drastic weatherchanges, people are gettingallergic to several things.Therefore, it's a little diffi-cult to indulge in homeremedies for every prob-lem."

Hair expert Sangita Raj,though, is of the opinionthat home remedy is not a

solution to every problem,she believes homemadeproducts are effective onlywhen made with fullknowledge of one's skinand hair. If one knows whatworks for them, it is effec-tive to resort to home reme-dies but results are alwaysbetter if there is a balancedcombination of homeremedies and commerciallysold products."

Sandalwood actressSharmila Mandre who pre-pares a honey and limepaste as a remedy for hertan and an apple skin mix-ture for a face pack, says, "Itruly believe natural reme-dies work best for skin andhair. Even while I was inBangkok for a shoot recent-ly, I used the honey andlime paste for my tan and itreally worked."

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Most individuals todayare conscious of the beautyproducts they use and arepractical about their pur-chases. They refuse chemi-calbased products and optonly for organic brands inorder to keep their skinhealthy. MalavikaSrinivasan, a bio-tech pro-fessional from Bangaloresays, "I started makingkajal myself because nobrand seemed to suit me.Some would dry my eyesand some others wouldmake them burn. So, Idecided to go the tradition-al way and use Nandabatluflowers (which we grow athome) and ghee to makemy own kajal.

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Bollywood/FashionBollywood/Fashion8 NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 26, 2015SAADDA HAQ

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The ‘Vivah’ actor isready to get married.After being the cen-

ter of affairs and break ups,Shahid Kapoor would befinally taking the vows. Itwas in January that he gotengaged to Mira Rajputwho is a Delhi based girl.The engagement tookplace on 14 January, MakarSankranti. The two wouldbe getting married inDecember. It has beenreported that Shahid andMira got to know eachother through RadhaSoami Satsang Beas.

Mira Rajput is presentlypursuing English (Hons) atLady Sri Ram College forWomen and is in her thirdyear. There are rumors thatShahid had been toChhatarpur along with hisfather to meet the bride’sparents. After the engage-ment, Shahid and Mirahave been trying to avoidthe shutterbugs or let themedia make any news outof it.

Now that the actor hasdecided to settle down,controversies are not leav-ing him even at this point.

If fresh reports are to bebelieved, no such marriageis taking place! Here iswhat Mira Rajput’s class-mate has revealed, “Mirahas clearly said that sheisn't dating or getting mar-ried to Shahid Kapoor,who is elder to her by 13years. She did say, though,that Shahid is a family

friend. Mira is a very pri-vate person, who prefers tohang out with a very fewfriends. She is a ratherfocused and intelligent girl,who is quite vocal abouther opinions.”

Though a source mighthave denied claims aboutthe marriage, the actor’slatest statement imply that

something might actuallybe going on. Some timeago, Shahid had expressedhis desire about what kindof girl he wanted to marry.He said that he “wanted toget married to someonewho doesn’t belong to thefilm industry” so it willhelp him in seeing lifefrom a different perspec-

tive. Shahid had even saidto the media, “I am avail-able and koi bhi achi ladkichahe toh.. I am available.I don’t have any reserva-tions for marriage.”

Since the news of mar-riage is out, one can verywell guess that it would bethe hot topic on whichsocial media site.

Shahid Kapoor to marry or not?Fans are eagerly wait-

ing for theAishwarya Rai

Bachchan starrer ‘Jazbaa’.While the actress is busyshooting to make sure thatshe gives her best, heradmirers are speculatingthe date for the release of‘Jazbaa’. Now directorSanjay Gupta has endedthis wait by announcing onTwitter, “Let the count-down begin! J A Z B A Areleases October 9th,2015” The filmmakers areplanning to show the pre-view of the film at CannesFilm Festival this May.

Looking at the rest of thecast, one could definitelyexpect this upcomingaction-drama to be a greatone. Irrfan Khan plays asuspended cop. The actorhad undergone a minorsurgery, due to which thefilming had been delayed.The shooting finally beganearly this year and SanjayGupta was the one toannounce- “And the jour-ney begins... Left home forfirst script reading ofJazbaa. God Bless my castand crew”, he tweeted.

The former Miss Worldwould be seen in the roleof a lawyer. This is the firsttime in her career that shewould be playing a lawyer.Moreover, this would beher first full-fledged action

film. The director verywell knows how eager peo-ple are to have a glimpse ofMrs. Bachchan on the setsof ‘Jazbaa’. When the film-ing began, he shared somephotos of the actress onTwitter. She was seen withher hair neatly tied andsporting a black leatherjacket. Gupta shared howhe felt working withAishwarya, “I’m suresome of you wanna knowwhat it was like to shootwith ARB today. Putting itmildly, it was FAB. We’reon a roll & it’s a goodone.” The director furtherexpressed his happinessfor working with theactress, “It is like any otheractor for the first time. Inever work with any actor

for the baggage that theybring. Aishwarya is a fan-tastic actress and she willdo justice to my film andthe role.”

Yet another star is JohnAbraham, who has acameo in the film. ThoughJohn would be seen for ashort while, he is happy tohave this opportunity, “Ithink Aishwarya and I willmake a good couple. It’s agreat script, Sriram is agood director and I amextremely excited aboutit.”

But John’s role hasn’tbeen revealed as yet anddirector Sanjay Gupta toois mum about this, “Yes wehave roped in John for thefilm. However, I cannotcomment on it right now.”

‘Jazbaa’ to be an October release

Emraan Hashmi has raised the tem-peratures along with severalactresses. Now the serial kisser is to

enact bold scenes with the new actressAmyra Dastur in the duo’s upcoming ‘Mr.X’. The hot couple has already unveiledtheir amazing romance in the song ‘YouCan Call Me X’. Other than Emraanromancing a new lady this time, anotherthing special about this song are thevocals. This track has been sung by thefilm’s producer Mahesh Bhatt. With this,Mr. Bhatt is making his singing debut andAlia is happy with her daddy’s newaccomplishment. The ‘Highway’ actresstweeted- “it runs in the family”

Already having a very pretty face, allthat Amyra Dastur needs to impress heraudience is her sexy moves. Amyra surelygrabs eyes as she poses in a tub with herhair let down and making her look all themore lovely.

The film tells the story of a man who is

left to die in a chemical factory. This man,called Raghuram Rathod, is played byEmraan. He plays a cop who changesdrastically after the incident. Instead ofgetting killed, the chemicals make himinvisible.

While Amyra’s character is called MilliArora. Interestingly, Emraan continues hispassionate kissing even after he becomesinvisible. As the trailer reveals, lead starAmyra Dastur is carried by an invisibleman. She then dives into the pool and kiss-es an invisible Emraan.

Last year, Emraan had expressed hiswish to do challenging roles. He told themedia, “I understand that mainstream cin-ema is very important for me. It’s mybread and butter but once a year, I want todo a film like ‘Tigers’ which excites meand scares me as an actor. Risks are bigchaos but if you go down the beaten pathit means the death of your art and creativ-ity as an actor.”

Emraan-Amyra sizzling chemistry in ‘Mr. X’Alot has been going

on regarding free-dom of speech in

Bollywood. Severalcelebrities came out tosupport ‘AIB’, while somelike Aamir Khan opposedthe same. Following this,the censor board chiefPahlaj Nahalani was in themidst of protests as he putrestrictions on words to beused in films. Now thismatter has taken a turn andthis time, it is the SupremeCourt supporting freedomof expression.Tuesday sawthe Supreme Court bringdown Section 66A ofInformation TechnologyAct. This section has beenmisused widely by thepolice in several states, forarresting people who post-ed comments on politicaland social issues and polit-ical leaders on social net-working sites.

Several Bollywood per-sonalities are elated withthis decision of the court.They expressed their hap-piness through Twitter. GulPanag tweeted, “Wohoo. Ashot in the arm forFreedom of Expression.Thank you to all those whoraised the case, and theSupreme Court for this.#Sec66A.” While

Konkona Sensharmatweeted, “Hurray! Victoryfor free speech as SCstrikes down Section 66Aof IT Act@firstpostin.”AyushmannKhurrana too was happywith the decision- “Netfreedom establishes thefaith not just in our systembut also faith in the youthof our country. Well doneShreya Singhal.#Section66A.” Here iswhat Punit Malhotra had totweet “66a gone... Greatnews! The Supreme Courtseems to be the onlyhope.”

Madhur Bhandarkar alsotook to Twitter, “Landmarkjudgement by HonSupreme Court as it strikesdown Sec 66A of IT Act.Freedom of thought &expression rightly upheldin a democracy.” SanjayGupta is another one to beexcited, “Sec66A S C R AP P E D. Now this is goodnews.”

Yet another filmmakerwho welcomes this deci-sion is Pritish Nandy,“Section 66A of the IT Act,the noxious, draconian lawhas been struck down bythe Supreme Court.Restores our faith indemocracy.”

66A IT Act gone,Bollywood hails