NEW DELHI, JAN 21After almost 18 months

of deliberations, theSupreme Court will giveits final order on the 2013Indian Premier League bet-ting and match-fixingscandal on Thursday. Alleyes will be on Board ofControl for Cricket in Indiapresident-in-exile N.Srinivasan and his IPLteam Chennai SuperKings. Srinivasan, who isseeking another term asBoard president, is facingserious charges of conflictof interest as a cricketadministrator. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappanis in the eye of the stormfor betting.

On December 17, whenthe Supreme Court broke

for the winter break, theSpecial Bench comprisingJustice TS Thakur and FMKalifullah reserved itsorder on the corruptioncase after listening to finalround of arguments. Thecase dates back to June2013 when Aditya Verma,

secretary of the CricketAssociation of Bihar(CAB), raised charges of aconflict of interest in theBCCI's original two-mem-ber inquiry panel for theIPL corruption issue.

A Bombay High Court CONTD. ON PAGE 3

MUMBAITemperature: 270CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 66%Wind: 18 Km/hr

NEW DELHI, JAN 21When Sri Lanka

unexpectedly turfed outPresident MahindaRajapaksa in an electionthis month, it was thebiggest setback indecades for China'sexpansion into SouthAsia - and a remarkablediplomatic victory forIndia.

Despite New Delhi'sprotestations, diplomatsand politicians in theregion say India playeda role in organising the

opposition against pro-China Rajapaksa.

In September, CONTD. ON PAGE 3

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTThursday, January 22, 2015

Ajay Maken slams Bedi, Kejriwalas opportunists

Oppo U3 With 5.9-Inch Display and64-Bit Octa-Core SoC Launched

Salman, Kabir Khan at logger-heads on ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ set

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s chief

ministerial nominee forDelhi, on Wednesdaydescribed the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS)as “very nationalistic” thathas kept India united.

“They( RSS) are verynationalistic. I would thinkhere is an organisation, whichkept India together, which haskept India neat,” Ms. Bedisaid.

The former IPS officer, whowas a core member of TeamAnna till about two yearsback along with ArvindKejriwal before they partedways, said the AAP leader’sagitation at Rajpath within amonth of becoming ChiefMinister had “ticked” her offvery much.

It was after Mr. Kejriwal’sprotest at Rajpath that she

thought of joining politics tosave Delhi from “confronta-tional politics”, she said.

“The city of Delhi was thereason for my joining politics.Delhi has gone through a

huge upheaval ever since thisman’s (Kejriwal) entry (intopolitics). It stood still and it’sbeen only on an agitationmode, which left a very bad

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

RSS kept India united, Delhi stood stillunder Kejriwal rule says Kiran Bedi

P8

NEW DELHI, JAN 21In yet another setback for

the Congress, its former coun-cilor Sanjay Puri, who hadquit the party recently, closedtwo long-running websites ofDelhi Pradesh CongressCommittee (DPCC) onWednesday. Puri was the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Delhi Congress website closeafter administrator resigns

NEW DELHI, JAN 21The Aam Aadmi Party on

Wednesday replaced itsMehrauli and Mundka candi-dates for the Delhi Assemblypolls following an inquiry bythe party's "internal Lokpal",triggering protests outside

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

AAP replaces candi-dates in Mehrauli,Mundka; protests erupt

NEW DELHI, JAN 21A foggy morning in Delhi

Wednesday led to the delay ofover 40 trains, as the visibilityslumped to 800 metres, saidan official. According toNorthern Railway, due to fog,46 trains were running late,three were rescheduled andone was cancelled. "Delhi

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Foggy morning delaysover 40 trains in Delhi

Vol. 1 Issue: 126 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Amid simmering dissidence in

the party after Kiran Bedi was pro-jected chief ministerial candidate,BJP on Wednesday said there is "nocrisis" and its cadres stand united toface the coming Delhi Assemblypolls. "There is no crisis in the BJP.The party stands united to faceDelhi Assembly polls," senior BJPleader and Home Minister Rajnath

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

No crisis in BJP, will fightDelhi polls unitedly: Rajnath

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Union Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley said on Tuesday that theGuinness Book of World Recordshad recognised the achievementsmade under the Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana (PMJDY), the biggestfinancial inclusion initiative in theworld. The records book gave a cer-tificate on Tuesday stating that the“Most bank accounts opened in one

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

11.50 cr. bank accounts openedunder Jan Dhan Yojana

SRINAGAR, JAN 21Former Jammu and Kashmir

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah onWednesday made a fresh demandfor establishing a truth and recon-ciliation commission in the Statefor addressing the issues related toboth Kashmiri Pandits andMuslims affected by over two-

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Omar makes fresh demand for truth andreconciliation commission in J&K

JAMMU, JAN 21Pakistan Rangers resorted to

unprovoked firing at BSFposts on the international bor-der in Jammu and KashmirWednesday, police said."Pakistan Rangers started fir-ing at three BSF outposts inArnia area today (Wednesday)morning," a senior police

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Pakistan Rangers targetBSF posts in Jammu

NEW DELHI, JAN 21India on Wednesday asked

its nationals not to travel toYemen in view of the ongoingconflict and fragile securitysituation there.

In a travel advisory, theExternal Affairs Ministry alsosaid, “Our nationals in Yemenare advised to avoid conflict

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Govt asks Indians notto travel to Yemen

NEW DELHI, JAN 21A group of Pune-based

lawyers have moved an inter-vention application opposingthe suit for a ban on the con-troversial film DeshbhaktNathuram Godse, whichattempts to bestow a patriotic

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Godse film can’t dentGandhiji’s stature:Pune lawyers

P6P2

IPL Scam: N. Srinivasan, Chennai SuperKings to Know Fate on Thursday

AZIZPUR, JAN 21A Hindu woman who

saved lives of 10 Muslims inthis village in Bihar'sMuzaffarpur district duringthe recent clashes in whichfive people died is beinghailed as a hero, officialssaid.

Shail Devi, a frail widowin her early 50s, risking herown life, gave shelter to herMuslim neighbours when amob of more than 5,000people attacked AzizpurBahilwara village after a 20-year-old Hindu boy's body

was found Sunday.He was allegedly abducted

and killed over his loveaffair with a Muslim girl.

"I provided shelter to myMuslim neighbours to savetheir lives because the mobcould have killed them,"Shail said Wednesday morn-ing.

Shail, a poor woman fight-ing for her survival likemany others in this village,said that she along with hertwo daughters stood guardoutside her house when a

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Rising for the fifth day,

gold on Wednesday addedanother Rs 320 to trade at anover five-month high of Rs28,500 per 10 gm. Silverregained the Rs 40,000 perkg level after a gap of fourmonths at the bullion market,driven by wedding seasondemand amid firming globalcues.

Silver prices moved up byRs 950 to Rs 40,150 per kgon increased offtake byindustrial units and coin mak-ers. Bullion merchants saidapart from wedding-seasonbuying by jewellers, a firm-ing trend in global marketswhere gold exceeded $1,300an ounce for the first time

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

AGRA, JAN 21When President

Barack Obama visitsAgra to tour the TajMahal, he may stop atthe five-star hotel wherePervez Musharrafstayed when he travelledto the city as Pakistan'spresident in 2001 for thesummit with PrimeMinister Atal BehariVajpayee.

Officials in Agra saidthat the presidentialsuite at the Amar Vilashotel has been bookedfor the VVIP guest, andexamined and clearedby the Secret ServiceAgents who havearrived in Agra toinspect arrangements

ahead of PresidentObama's January 27visit.

On the 26th, the USleader will become thefirst US president toserve as Chief Guest atthe Republic Day cele-brations in Delhi which

are centred on a massivemilitary parade. On the27th, he will addressabout 1,500 people in atownhall in Delhi. Hewill then fly on AirForce One from Delhi toAgra. The plane will

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

The Beast in Agra. Obama'sLimousine Could Hit the City's Roads

Gold PricesRise by Over Rs1,000 in 5 Days

Hindu widow saved 10Muslims in Bihar riots

President Obama Visit to India Comesas it's Pushing Back Against China

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 180CPrecipitation: 80%Humidity:76%Wind: 13 Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 230CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity: 27% Wind: 06 Km/hr

CHENNAITemperature: 280CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:68%Wind: 21 Km/hr

CHENNAI, JAN 21“Are you a hawk or

a dove on India,Kasuri saheb?”Those were GeneralPervez Musharraffirst words to theman he was going toappoint as his foreignminister in 2002 afterthat year’s generalelection in Pakistancemented the mili-tary ruler’s 1999coup and a contro-versially won presi-dency.

Khurshid MahmudKasuri held the for-eign affairs portfolioto the end of theMusharraf govern-ment in 2008, play-ing a leading role inthe India-Pakistanpeace process thatformally began in2003 with the cease-fire along the Line of

Control (LoC).In a book to be

published nextmonth, the formerminister is set to pro-vide an insideraccount of thoseyears, one of themost secretive andfascinating periodsof India-Pakistan

diplomacy, and alsothe best time inrecent decades forbilateral relations.

As the title of thebook suggests,Neither Hawk NorDove was Mr.Kasuri’s response tothe military ruler’s

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

India, Pakistan had a solutionfor Kashmir in 2007: Kasuri

ALLAHABAD, JAN 21 It was a celestial event

that was happening after agap of 122 years, and near-ly a crore of devoteeschose not to pass up theopportunity for a holybath. Almost one crore

people took a dip in theRiver Ganga at Allahabadon Mauni Amavasya, aspart of the ongoing MaghMela.

Priests say this auspi-cious date has fallen after a

NEW DELHI, JAN 21The Central Bureau of

Investigation has ques-tioned Kumar MangalamBirla, the chairman ofthe Aditya Birla Group,in connection with coalblock allocation toHindalco, said.

TKA Nair, the princi-pal secretary of formerPrime MinisterManmohan Singh andhis private secretaryBVR Subramanyamhave also been ques-tioned.

Mr Birla was ques-tioned last month,sources in the agency

said. Earlier, only theofficials of his companyhad been questioned by

the agency.Officially, the agency,

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Coal Scam: Kumar Mangalam Birla and ManmohanSingh's Principal Secretary Questioned by CBI

Nearly One Crore Devotees Take HolyDip During Magh Mela in Allahabad

Kiran Bedipromises betteradmn, policing ifvoted to powerNEW DELHI, JAN 21

BJP's chief ministerial can-didate Kiran Bedi onWednesday said coming outwith a "white paper" forevery government depart-ment and initiating a "securi-ty index" to ensure betterpolicing will be her prioritiesif the party is voted to powerin the upcoming DelhiAssembly polls.

"Once we are in powerevery government depart-ment will give us a whitepaper enabling us to find out

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Congress leader Ajay Maken on

Wednesday dubbed AAP chiefArvind Kejriwal and BJP's chiefministerial candidate Kiran Bedias "opportunists" who "used"Anna Hazare to meet their ownpolitical ambitions.

"Both these leaders representthe same opportunistic forces.Both of them used Anna Hazareand the issue of corruption tocome to the fore. They were earli-er in the garb of an NGO and nowthey want to meet their own polit-ical ambitions," the CongressCampaign Committee chief said.

Questioning Bedi's politicalacumen, Maken said she was nota "good listener" in spite of herbeing a "good cop" in the past.

"Kiran Bedi was a good cop.But political administrationrequites totally different abilities.Requires patience... And youhave to be a good listener and ifyou have to be a good listener youcan't be Kiran Bedi," he said.

Maken made his commentsbefore setting out to inauguratehis election office at Shastri

Nagar following which he willfile his nomination papers fromthe Sadar Bazar constituency.

The senior Congress also leaderhit out at former Union MinisterKrishna Tirath, who recentlyjoined BJP, saying she is a "firstgrade opportunist".

"Well the less said about her thebetter. She is a first grade oppor-tunist. I don't know what has hap-pened to the BJP. Is there a dearthof capable leadership that a per-son who has lost her deposit as aCongress candidate has beentaken in and given a ticket,"Maken said.

Ajay Maken slams Bedi,Kejriwal as opportunists

NEW DELHI, JAN 21President Pranab Mukherjee's

daughter Sharmistha, who iscontesting the upcoming Delhiassembly elections on aCongress ticket, on Wednesdaystated that her father's goodwillwould help her win.

"The Congress will re-emergefar stronger, that's why I joinedthe party. I am sure my father'sgoodwill is going to help mesomewhere, fulfilling people'sneeds is a huge responsibility,"said Sharmishta, who is runningfrom the Greater Kailash con-stituency.

Sharmishta had filed her nomi-nation papers earlier in the day,along with other bigwigs likeBharatiya Janata Party's chiefministerial candidate Kiran Bedi,

Aam Aadmi Party chief ArvindKejriwal and BJP candidateKrishna Tirath.

The scrutiny of nominationswill take place on January 22,while the last date for withdraw-

al of nominations is January 24.The elections for the 70-mem-

ber Delhi Assembly will be heldin a single phase on February 7,with the counting of votes set totake place on February 10.

Delhi polls: Prez Mukherjee's daughterseeks 'father's goodwill' for victory

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Delhi High Court on

Wednesday asked the citygovernment why websitesof app-based cabs cannotbe blocked on a PIL alleg-ing that these taxi servic-es were operating despitethe government banningthem.

"Why can't it be done(blocking the sites)? Youcan block the sites. Thereis a wing of Delhi Policeworking on that. You getinstructions and file anaffidavit," a bench ofChief Justice G Rohiniand Justice RS Endlawsaid.

The court also issuednotice to the Centre,Delhi government and thecity police seeking theirresponses by February 25,the next date of hearing.

The petition by HarkeshGupta, filed throughadvocate Rajat Sehgal hascontended that theJanuary 1 order (banningapp-based cabs) of thegovernment is being vio-

lated by various app-based cab services whichcontinue to operate andoffer their servicesthrough their sites.

Delhi government, onthe other hand, argued itis taking action againstthose cabs which werefound operating despitethe ban bys e i z i n g / i m p o u n d i n gthem.

However, the petitionhas sought that apart fromseizing the cabs, the sitesof these companiesshould also be blocked.

The city governmenthad earlier told the courtthat the ban on app-basedtaxi services will continueand vehicles violating itwill be seized as per itsJanuary 1 order.

The government hadpassed its order on a rep-resentation by US-basedcab service providerUber, pursuant to highcourt's December 24order when it had askedthe cab company to

approach the transportdepartment.

Uber, which worksthrough a mobile app, hadchallenged the December8 order of the city govern-ment banning Uber and20 other such companies,including Ola Cabs, fromoperating in Delhi follow-ing the rape of a 27-year-old woman executive onDecember 5 night by adriver of Uber taxi.

The January 1 order hadalso said that since Uberoperates diesel/petrol runvehicles, it is violating theSupreme Court directionthat the All India TouristPermit cabs in Delhishould run on CNG.

The department, how-ever, had also said thatUber "may apply (foroperating) under the mod-ified Radio Taxi Scheme,2006".

Uber had, on January 6,withdrawn its plea chal-lenging the Decemberorder of the governmentbanning it.

Why can't sites of app-based cabservices be blocked? Delhi HC asks

NEW DELHI, JAN 21The Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) onWednesday defended itschief ministerial candi-date for the upcomingDelhi Assembly elec-tions, Kiran Bedi, statingthat her garlanding thestatue of freedom fighterLala Lajpat Rai was anact of respect and shouldnot be politicized.

"Such things should notbe politicized. At thattime, if something wasmost respectable withher, it was the BJP patka(scarf)," party spokesper-son Sambit Patra said.

"Out of respect KiranBedi ji presented the stat-ue with the scarf," he

added.Meanwhile, Congress

leader Arvinder SinghLovely urged Bedi toapologize for her action,terming it an 'insult to theentire nation'.

"Kiran Bedi shouldapologize to the nation...Lala Lajpat Rai ji wasagainst communalismand against the RSS ide-ology. It is not only aninsult to Lala Lajpat Raibut an insult to the entirenation," Lovely said.

Earlier in the day, Bedihad paid tribute to LalaLajpat Rai and cleanedhis statue in the KrishnaNagar area of the nation-al capital with a BJPscarf.

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Aam Aadmi Party (

AAP) chief ArvindKejriwal on Wednesdayrequested Bharatiya JanataParty's chief ministerialcandidate for Delhi andformer Indian PoliceService (IPS) officer KiranBedi to not saffronize thefreedom fighters, afterBedi put her party's scarfaround the statue of LalaLajpat Rai in KrishnaNagar.

"I thank the people ofDelhi for their tremendousresponse in our road showyesterday. Also, I wouldlike to requestKiran Bedito spare our freedom fight-

ers and not saffronizethem," said Kejriwal.

Earlier in the day, Bedipaid tribute to Lala LajpatRai and also cleaned hisstatue in Krishna Nagar

constituency and put a BJPscarf around the statue.

She also met tea andnewspaper sellers inKrishna Nagar andinquired about the kind of

issues they were facing.Bedi is scheduled to file

her nomination fromKrishna Nagar today. Thescrutiny of nominationswill take place tomorrow,while the last date for with-drawal of nominations isJanuary 24.

Polling will take place onFebruary 7 and the count-ing of votes will be takenup on February 10. Apartfrom Bedi, several seniorleaders will be filing theirnomination papers today,including Aam AadmiParty Convener ArvindKejriwal and Congresscampaign chief AjayMaken.

Request Kiran Bedi to not saffronize freedom fighters: Arvind

NEW DELHI, JAN 21A man has been sentenced to ten

years rigorous imprisonment forpossessing 500 grams of heroin bya Delhi court which said non-join-ing of public witnesses does notbecome a ground for acquittal.

Special NDPS judge AnuradhaShukla Bharadwaj held Zakir, aresident of Uttar Pradesh, guiltyunder the provisions of NarcoticDrugs and Psychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act and also imposed afine of Rs one lakh on him.

The court, while convictingZakir, noted that though there wereno public witnesses, the prosecu-tion had succeeded in proving thecharges against him.

"...Non-joining of public witness-es does not become a ground foracquittal of the accused since thecase of the prosecution is otherwiseproved on all material aspects," the

judge said while relying on thestatements of police witnesses andthe inquiry conducted by them.

"Keeping in view the facts andcircumstances of the case, since thecommercial quantity of heroin hasbeen recovered from the possessionof the convict, he can't be convict-ed for anything less than the mini-mum prescribed punishment for theoffence," the judge said.

It also noted that Zakir could notprove that he was falsely implicat-ed by police.

According to the prosecution, onSeptember 4, 2012, a raiding teamof Narcotics Cell apprehendedZakir from near Akshardham MetroStation here after receiving a tip-offfrom an informer.

On being searched, Zakir wasfound with 500 grams of heroinwhich he had hidden in polythenebags in his pocket, it said.

Delhi: Man found with 500 grams heroingets 10 yrs jail, to pay Rs 1L fine

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Delhi High Court on

Wednesday refused toentertain a PIL allegingfailure on the part of theCentre and city govern-ment to regularise the saleof acid in the national cap-ital, saying the SupremeCourt was monitoring thematter on a regular basis.

A bench of Chief JusticeG Rohini and Justice RSEndlaw said the policyregarding sale of acid,compensation to theattack victims and theirrehabilitation were sub-ject matters of theSupreme Court.

"So, we are not inclinedto entertain the PIL, asth]e matter is not closed inthe Supreme Court. They(apex court) are monitor-ing the issue regardingacid attacks on regularbasis," the bench said,adding "instead of cominghere you bring this issueto the notice of the apexcourt".

The PIL, filed by NGOChhanv Foundationthrough advocate GauravKumar Bansal, hasalleged that despiteSupreme Court directions,the government has failedto regularise the sale of

acid, which has led to sev-eral acid attacks here.

The petition which said"there is an urgent need tocurb the acid attack men-ace" had sought directionsto the Centre and Delhigovernment to not onlyregularise the sale of acidbut also "to issue a con-crete policy for the reha-bilitation and relief of theacid attack victims".

The PIL submitted thatthe apex court had issuedseveral directions to therespondents (Centre andcity govt) to curb the acidattack menace. "However,despite the said directions

the national capital hasnoticed several acidattacks recently shockingthe conscience of public atlarge," it said.

A slew of directionspassed by the apex courtin July 2013 include pro-hibition of over-the-counter sale of acid unlessthe seller maintains arecord containing detailsof purchasers, no sale ofacid to any person below18 years of age and sellerswould have to give it onlyafter the buyer has showna photo ID, address proofand had specified the rea-son for procuring acid.

Delhi HC refuses to hear PIL on govt failure to regulate acid sale

Man dies of suspectedebola in DelhiNEW DELHI, JAN 21

A 35-year old man from Jodhpur, who hadsymptoms similar to those of Ebola virus dis-ease, died Wednesday at the AIIMS hospital,officials said.

The final report will confirm the disease thepatient was suffering from, the officials said.

The man was referred to the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from aprivate hospital in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, andwas admitted to the department of medicine ina critical condition Tuesday evening.

"It`s too early to say that he was sufferingfrom Ebola. In fact, there is very less chancesof it. But he was definitely suffering fromsome viral haemorrhagic fever. He died ofexcessive internal bleeding Wednesday morn-ing," an AIIMS spokesperson said.

According to doctors, the man was very sickwhen he arrived and had symptoms such ashigh fever, vomiting, disorientation andsevere weight loss, which are also symptomsof Ebola.

Test samples of the patient have been sent tothe National Institute of Biology and theNational Institute for CommunicableDiseases. The reports will come by next week,the spokesperson said.

Kiran Bedi paying tributeto Lala Lajpat Rai should

not be politicised: BJP

NEW DELHI, JAN 21The Chief Ministers'

Conference on internal securi-ty, scheduled to be held onJanuary 31, has been deferred,apparently due to the upcom-ing Delhi Assembly polls andnon-availability of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

"The Chief Minister'sConference on internal securi-ty and left-wing extremismissues scheduled to be onJanuary 31 stands postponed.The next schedule of the con-ference will be intimated indue course," a Home Ministryspokesperson said.

No reason has been cited forpostponement of the meetingbut sources said logistical dif-ficulties to organise the confer-ence ahead of the February 7election to the Delhi Assemblyand the Prime Minister's non-availability on January 31could be the reason behind the

decision. The conference,which is to be convened for thefirst time after the NDA gov-ernment came to power in May2014, is now likely to be heldin the second half of February.

It would see participation ofChief Ministers of all statesand Lieutenant Governors ofUnion territories. It would dis-cuss all issues concerning thesecurity situation in the coun-try. Threat from Jehadi outfits,cross-border terrorism, radi-calisation of youth throughInternet and social networkingsites are some of the key issuesto be discussed in the day-longevent.

Left-wing extremism, con-sidered to be the biggest secu-rity challenge in the country,activities of militant groups inJammu and Kashmir, insur-gency in the Northeast andcommunal situation will alsobe discussed threadbare.

CMs' meet on security deferreddue to Delhi election

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Delhi Police has handed

over the laptop and mobilephones of Congress MPShashi Tharoor's deceasedwife Sunanda Pushkar toG a n d h i n a g a r - b a s e dDirectorate of ForensicScience (DFS), to retrievecrucial data which couldhelp the ongoing probe intoher death.

After Tharoor was ques-tioned on Monday by theSpecial Investigation Team(SIT) to probe the circum-stances leading to the myste-rious death of Sunanda ayear back, the Delhi Policeyesterday handed over herlaptop and four mobilephones to DFS for furtheranalysis.

"Officials of Delhi Policecame to DFS yesterday andhanded over one laptop and

four mobile phones, whichwere used by Pushkar beforeher death, in a sealed cover,"DFS Director J M Vyassaid.

"We have been given thetask to examine them andextract crucial informationto help the ongoing investi-gation by the police," Vyas

said."We are not given any

time frame to give our finalreport, but we will do it assoon as possible. DFS isequipped with technology toextract information fromsuch gadgets, even if it isdeleted," he said.

"We can find out with

whom she was in contactand what kind of communi-cation she had before herdeath. Such insight canprove crucial for police," hesaid.

On Monday, Tharoor wasquestioned for about fourhours by the SIT of DelhiPolice in connection withPushkar's mysterious death,nearly three weeks after acase of murder was regis-tered on the basis of a med-ical report that concludedthat she died of poisoning.

Sunanda, 52, was founddead in her suite at LeelaPalace hotel in Delhi onJanuary 17 last year, a dayafter she was involved in aspat with Pakistani journal-ist Mehr Tarar on micro-blogging website Twitterover the latter's allegedaffair with Tharoor.

Sunanda Pushkar's laptop, cellphonessent for forensic analysis

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Congress party campaign panel

chief Ajay Maken filed his nomina-tion papers from Sadar Bazar con-stituency for the Delhi assemblyelections. "I am the chair of thecampaign committee of theCongress party and the general sec-retary of the AICC (All IndiaCongress Committee). I am con-

testing election from Sadar (Bazarassembly constituency)," saidMaken. The AICC general secre-tary submitted his nominationpapers and declared his assets tothe returning officer at VikasBhawan near the busy ITO inter-section in central Delhi. Maken isup against incumbent Som DuttSharma of the Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP) and Praveen Jain of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in aconstituency that was a Congressbastion for three consecutive termsuntil Rajesh Jain lost it to the AAPin 2013 polls.

Although Maken would faceSharma and Jain in Sadar Bazaar,the largest wholesale market in thenational capital.

Ajay Maken files nomination from Sadar Bazar

Continuation 3

RSS kept..taste in the mouth of Indians.“Because whatever happens in Delhi hap-

pens in India. It affects India, it impactsIndia. It’s been all about confrontation, it’sall about Rajpath dharnas. What kind ofperson is he (Kejriwal) who says I am ananarchist? Three days Delhi was standstill(when Kejriwal was on dharna as ChiefMinister),” she said.

While she was severely critical of AAP,she was full of praise for RSS and said peo-ple do not know the “real” RSS.

“You do not know them. I have seen it all.I saw very disciplined people and beingvery strongly nationalistic.

Teaching discipline to youngsters,” shesaid.

Asked why she was not accepting Mr.Kejriwal’s debate challenge, as she herselftwo years back had asked Sonia Gandhi togo for a U.S. presidential campaign-likedebate with the then-BJP president NitinGadkari, Ms. Bedi said she did not want toparticipate in a “drama”.

“That is not a challenge. It was for dramaas I am in positive politics and not in bick-ering politics,” Ms. Bedi said.

“Politics is a vehicle for change, vehiclefor reform and vehicle for governance” andthat she joined BJP for a cause. “The AnnaHazare movement had come to an end. Itreached its logical conclusion. We shouldnot waste time anymore. People are waitingfor development and progress. They arewaiting for good governance, growth andinvestment. I have come for positive poli-tics,” she said.

On whether BJP brought her to shieldPrime Minister Narendra Modi from anyblame in case BJP is defeated at the polls,Ms. Bedi said,” The party leadership isbringing people like me to sow seeds ofnew kinds of politics.”

On growing resentment among the BJPleaders over her sudden entry as chief min-isterial candidate, she dismissed the issue,saying she has conveyed to all leaders thatthey have to “walk together” towards victo-ry.

Kiran Bedi....where we are and where are we beginning

from. To find out the pending issues, newerchallenges. The reports will be put on thewebsites of the departments. We will giveDelhi the government it deserves," shesaid.

Addressing a rally yesterday, Bedi, a for-mer IPS officer, had showed her willing-ness to keep the education department andhome guards with herself if she becomesthe chief minister.

Speaking to reporters during a roadshowon her way to file nomination today, Bedisaid that she will initiate a "perceptionalsecurity index" in order to identify theunsafe areas of the capital.

"Probably for the first time Delhi will seea perceptional security index. Through it,we will find in which areas we are moreunsafe, where we are more safe be it North,South, West, East and find out the commonreasons behind that," she said.

India, Pakistan...question. More exactly, the former for-

eign minister said in an interview fromLahore, he has been “a great believer” inpeaceful relations between the two coun-tries “for decades, from even before thetime I became a foreign minister.”

Declining to divulge any specifics fromthe book as that would violate his contractwith the publishers, Mr. Kasuri nonethelesssaid it would contain details that are “true”even if “it is going to make people angry.”

“I have given the exact details that havenever been revealed. I have given the back-ground in which the peace process tookplace, and the context in which it hap-pened,” said Mr. Kasuri. He is now aprominent member of Imran Khan’sPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. He is inIndia this week to speak at the JaipurLiterature Festival which begins onWednesday.

Earlier accounts have suggested thatrobust backchannel diplomacy had helpedthe two sides arrive at a non-paper, a secretdocument outlining the contours of a polit-ical settlement on Kashmir.

It was widely believed then that only fivepeople in Pakistan were privy to the peaceprocess. Mr. Kasuri, who is admittedly oneof them, said his book would lay bare thedetails of that non-paper beyond the gener-ally known ‘four-point formula.’

“It will go beyond the four points. Peoplewill be able to understand what we did onthe backchannel framework on Kashmir,”Mr. Kasuri said.

That framework, Mr. Kasuri said, “is stillthe only workable solution. It took threeyears, so many drafts were exchanged. Youcan’t reinvent the wheel.”

It was “pretty much finished, only one ortwo little things needed ironing out,” Mr.Kasuri said, and after that “we would havepresented it to the governments, to the pub-lic, to the media.”

There is a full chapter in the book on thePakistan Army based on Mr. Kasuri’s fiveyears of dealing with the country’s mostpowerful institution first hand. Dismissingsuggestions that the Pakistan Army was noton board regarding the Musharraf-

Vajpayee-initiated peace process, Mr.Kasuri said: “I have quoted secret cables toshow that all the others in the PakistanArmy were fully on board… It will helpunderstand the role played by the Army inthat process.”

The only way to break the impasse in theIndia-Pakistan relations, Mr. Kasuri said,was “to take forward the legacies of PervezMusharraf and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.”Both, he said, had “travelled a long dis-tance [in their thinking] to arrive at the wis-dom that the only option is peace.”

Gold Prices...since August, buoyed the sentiment.Gold in Singapore, which mostly set the

price trend on the domestic front, climbed0.6 per cent to $1,303.63 an ounce and sil-ver by 1.9 per cent to $18.33 an ounce, thehighest since September.

In New Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 percent purity surged by Rs 320 each to Rs28,500 and Rs 28,300 per ten gram respec-tively, a level last seen on August 20 lastyear.

The gold has now gained Rs 1,180 in fivestraight sessions.

The Beast ...land at the Indian Air Force base in Agra,

where the runway is large enough toaccommodate the world's most sophisticat-ed Jumbo Jet.

It's not clear yet if the President will thendrive to the Taj in his heavily-armored lim-ousine, nicknamed "the Beast", or use ahelicopter to land near the monument. If hedecides to use the Beast, all roads leadingto anywhere near the Taj will be sealed,said local officials.

The Beast, said sources, is unlikely to bedriven from Delhi to Agra; it could betransported in the special plane that ferriesit around.

The Taj Mahal will be made exclusivelyavailable to President Obama. The monu-ment will shut down for the public but tim-ings have yet to be shared by officials.

Over 5000 policemen will be on duty forsecurity during Obama's visit to Agra.Black cat commandos will be deployedalong the route from the airport to the TajMahal. In addition, there will be about 100members of the American security force.Agra Police Commissioner PradeepBhatnagar, said, "It is unprecedented secu-rity as President Obama is said to be theworld's most important person."

While President Obama is in Agra, it willbe a no-fly zone for commercial airlines.

He will fly out of Delhi on the 27th.

IPL Scam...ruling later termed the probe panel "ille-

gal". The BCCI and the CAB filed petitionsin the Supreme Court against this order,with the CAB contending that the BombayHigh Court could have suggested a freshmechanism to look into the corruption alle-gations.

The Supreme Court then appointed athree-member committee, headed by for-mer High Court judge Mukul Mudgal andcomprising additional solicitor general LNageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conductan independent inquiry into the allegationsof corruption against Meiyappan, IndiaCements, and Rajasthan Royals teamowner Raj Kundra, as well as with the larg-er mandate of allegations around bettingand spot-fixing in IPL matches and theinvolvement of players.

The panel indicted Meiyappan andKundra for betting and sharing team infor-mation. Srinivasan and IPL COO SundarRaman were also charged with "misde-meanor" that included cover-up reports ofbetting involving team owners and theiracquaintances.

The probe finally narrowed down to 13names, one of which was BCCI bossSrinivasan, who was suspended from run-ning Board affairs. The Supreme Court hasso far been critical of Srinivasan and theway he ran cricket in India with multipleinterest in mind. During his regime,Srinivasan rode the controversial 6.2.4clause in the BCCI constitution thatenabled administrators to have commer-cials interests in IPL and ChampionsLeague T20.

Justice Kallifullah observed the Boarddid not have a process to deal with conflictof interest but, "The conflict of interest isvery deep-rooted." Srinivasan, the judgesaid, "Had done so much for cricket, butultimately your image is tarnished." TheSupreme Court order could be a watershedin Indian cricket and the way the officialshave run it thus far.

Coal Scam...also refused to confirm the questioning of

Mr Birla. "It is a court monitored investiga-tion and whatever the CBI has to say, it willsubmit to the court in the next hearing," aspokesperson of the CBI said.

Dr Singh was also reportedly questionedon the directions of the Special Court. Theagency has not confirmed the matter and DrSingh's office has denied that he had beensummoned for questioning.

The case pertains to allocation of TalabiraII block to Hindalco when the former PrimeMinister was also holding the portfolio ofCoal.

Dr Singh was asked whether he was per-sonally involved in the decision to allocatethe block to Hindalco and whether he hadpersonally seen the file, reported news

agency Press Trust of India. He was alsoasked about the reasons behind changingthe decision.

Mr Nair, who was earlier examined bythe agency through a questionnaire, wasquestioned in the wake of special court'sDecember 16 order, in which the judge hadnoted that it would be "appropriate" if theCBI re-examines him.

Nearly One...gap of 122 years where different planets

have aligned to the Capricorn sign. Thismade it the most important of the five aus-picious baths of the Magh Mela, whichlasts for a month and a half. The other fourauspicious happen on Makar Sankranti,Basant Panchmi, Magh Poornima andShivratri.

According to the local administration,almost one crore people visited the ghatsfor the holy bath.

Over 3000 security personnel, drawnfrom the state police, including the RAFand PAC, along with 26 CCTV cameras toensure smooth functioning of the event.

No crisis...Singh told reporters here.He was replying to questions on apparent

unhappiness of some Delhi BJP leadersover the former IPS officer being declaredas chief ministerial candidate.

There were protests by some party cadresin front of the Delhi BJP office over distri-bution of tickets as well.

"If there is any complaint (of the partycadres) they talk to their leaders in theparty. There is no point in making it anissue. The entire party cadre will contributewholeheartedly in the Delhi polls," Singhsaid.

65-year-old Bedi, who had joined BJPlast week, was named its chief ministerialnominee on Monday.

Omar makes...decade-long violence.“Whether it’s the Kashmiri Pandit exodus

or incidents like Gawkadal, they R whyIndia & Pakistan owe J&K a truth & recon-ciliation commission,” Mr. Abdullah tweet-ed.

In March 2011, Mr. Abdullah as ChiefMinister, had suggested setting up of a truthand reconciliation commission (TRC) toprobe the deaths and destructions in mili-tancy-related violence in Jammu andKashmir, though his suggestion never sawthe light of the day.

On January 21, 1990, 52 civilians werekilled when security forces allegedlyopened fire on a procession at Gawkadal inSrinagar. The protesters were demonstrat-ing against the alleged high-handedness ofsecurity forces in the city.

After the eruption of militancy, KashmiriPandits left their homes in the Valley andmigrated to other places, including Jammu.The community observed 25 years of themass exodus on January 19, 2015.

Mr. Abdullah, apparently referring toPDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, whowas Union Home Minister at the time of theGawkadal incident, said, “The architect ofthe #Gawkadal massacre negotiates hiscoronation & conveniently remains silent,choosing not to acknowledge this darkday”.

Meanwhile, shops and business establish-ments in and around the business hub ofLal Chowk, including Gawkadal, remainedshut due to a strike called by separatistgroups.

11.50 cr. bank ...week as part of the Financial Inclusion

Campaign is 1,80,96,130 and was achievedby the Department of Financial Services,Government of India, from 23rd to 29thAugust, 2014.”

By January 17, 2015 banks had opened11.50 crore accounts, covering 99.74 percent of the households that were outside thebanking system against the original targetof 7.5 crore accounts that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had set for achieving byJanuary 26, 2015.

Addressing reporters, Mr. Jaitley said thatout of the accounts opened, cumulatively,the deposits across the accounts totalled toRs. 9,188 crore. The share of womenaccount holders was about 51 per cent and60 per cent of the accounts were in ruralareas. Mr. Jaitley said Rupay cards hadbeen issued to more than 10 crore benefici-aries who would get a benefit of personalaccidental insurance of Rs. 1 lakh under theYojana. In addition, a life insurance coverof Rs. 30,000 was also being provided toeligible beneficiaries.

Hindu widow ...mob was targeting Muslims in the vil-

lage. She told them that it was a house of a'Mallah' (fisherman).

"I lied to rioters that I had not given shel-ter to Muslims in my house. Though somepeople tried to enter my house but I stoppedthem and they returned," she said.

Shail, widow of late Jaglal Sahni, hasbecome a household name in the villageand neighbouring villages for her rareexample of communal harmony.

"She has proved again that humanity isstill alive, we are proud of her," ArvindKumar, a villager, said.

Ash Mohammad, a man in his 60s, whowas one of the ten Muslims whose liveswere saved by Shail, said that she is like'farishta' (angel) to them.

"Shail was like god-sent angel to us...,"Mohammad said.

Mohammad admitted that all of themcould have been killed if Shail had notgiven shelter to them.

A day after she saved lives of her Muslimneighbours, some Hindu villagers warnedher that she may be targeted by some peo-ple of the mob for doing it, Shail said.

"I was so frightened that I along with mytwo daughters and a son Monday took shel-ter in Mohammad's house but after districtadministration persuaded, I returned to myhome," she said.

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi,who visited the village Wednesday, metShail. He lauded her role and compared herwith legendary Rani Lakshmibai.

Manjhi also announced a cash reward ofRs 51,000 for her.

"She is an example of communal harmo-ny. People should take lesson from her andshe would inspire others to follow her,"Manjhi praised her.

Manjhi also announced assistance of Rs20,000 each to her two unmarried daugh-ters under a welfare scheme.

Earlier, Bihar Information TechnologyMinister Shahid Ali Khan also praisedShail for saving the lives of her Muslimneighbours.

"I promised her help by the state govern-ment, and a reward for her soon," saidKhan, who visited the village Tuesday.

A First Information Report (FIR) wasregistered Monday against 2,000 unidenti-fied people and 12 named accused whowere part of the mob that attacked the vil-lagers from a particular community, theofficial added.

Police have already arrested 14 people inthis connection.

Additional Director General of PoliceGupteshwar Pandey submitted an inquiryreport on the incident Tuesday to the stategovernment.

Soon after the incident, Manjhi askedPandey and state Home Secretary SudhirKumar to conduct a probe and report tohim.

The BJP Tuesday demanded a judicialprobe into the killing of four people andarson in a village that later turned into acommunal clash in Bihar.

President Obama ...President Rajapaksa allowed a Chinese

submarine to dock in Colombo, withoutinforming India, as it was bound to underan existing agreement.

His successor, President MaithripalaSirisena, has said India is the "first, mainconcern" of his foreign policy and that hewill review all projects awarded to Chinesefirms, including a sea reclamation develop-ment in Colombo that would give Beijing astrategic toehold on India's doorstep.

India has pushed back against China else-where in the region since Prime MinisterNarendra Modi took office in May, improv-ing ties with Japan and Vietnam, bothlocked in territorial disputes with Beijing,and contesting a port project in Bangladeshthat could otherwise have been a cakewalkfor China.

The new robust diplomacy, which Modicalls "Act East", has delighted Washington,which has been nudging India for years todovetail with the U.S. strategic pivottoward the region.

When President Barack Obama makes alandmark visit to India starting Sunday, hewill be the chief guest at New Delhi'sshowpiece Republic Day military parade,and rarely for a presidential trip, is notscheduled to visit any other country beforereturning to Washington.

"What is appealing to me and my col-leagues is the fact that Prime Minister Modihas undertaken to build from what has beena 'Look East' policy to an 'Act East' policy,"U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for EastAsia and the Pacific Daniel Russel said inWashington last month.

However, the bonhomie has limits.Tricky conflicts over trade and intellectualproperty hold back business.

But Mr Modi's policies mark a departurefrom India's traditional non-alignedapproach to foreign power blocs.

"Having the U.S. president at theRepublic Day celebration is a good thing,he is blessing Modi," said MohanGuruswamy, of the Centre for PolicyAlternatives, a think-tank.

"And that is a lesson to the Chinese thatyou have to mend your fences with us."

Delhi Congress...administrator of the two websites affiliat-

ed to the DPCC -www.congressandesh.com andwww.dpcc.co.in.

When one tried to access the websitewww.congressandesh.com andwww.dpcc.co.in they were greeted with amessage that the services of the websitehave been withdrawn by Puri after his res-ignation from the party.

Puri resigned from the primary member-ship of the party on January 19 after he wasdenied a ticket to contest the DelhiAssembly polls.

The message on the website states that hewas the administrator of the website since2001.

The message states, “Sorry for the incon-venience”.

He withdraws the services after the resig-nation from his primary membership ofIndian National Congress on 19th January,

2015.”

AAP replaces...Arvind Kejriwal's Kaushambi residence.Miffed supporters of the Mehrauli candi-

date, Govardhan Singh, and RajinderDabas, the Mundka candidate, shouted slo-gans against the party.

While Naresh Yadav has been named theparty's Mehrauli candidate, Sukhbir Dalalhas been fielded from Mundka.

"Following an inquiry by the party'sinternal Lokpal, the party has decided toreplace its Mehrauli and Mundka candi-dates," a party spokesperson said.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodiaaccused Govardhan's family members oftransporting people in buses to the PrimeMinister's rally held at Ramlila Maidanrecently.

"The Mehrauli candidate Govardhan'sfamily members had transported people inbuses to the Prime Minister's RamiliaMaidan rally. That is not proper," he said.

Denying the allegations, Govardhan saidthe AAP's decision to drop him is an"affront" to the Jat community of Delhi.

He also said that he was forced byKejriwal to contest the elections.

"I had been campaigning for the last 15days. But initially I did not want to contest.It was Kejriwal who forced me to contestsaying I will be the face of the party inaround 350 Jat villages in and aroundDelhi. This is an affront to the Jat commu-nity. This is a conspiracy," he said.

Last month AAP had replaced itsWazirpur candidate Suresh Bhardwaj bylocal leader Rajesh Gupta.

Foggy morning...would witness a partly overcast day

ahead with light rain in some parts of thecity," said an official of the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum temperature of the day islikely to hover around 17 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature of the day set-tled at 9.5 degrees Celsius, two notchesabove the season's average.

The humidity at 8.30 am was 90 percent.Tuesday's maximum temperature was 18

degrees Celsius, three notches below theseason's average and the minimum temper-ature settled at 9.8 degrees Celsius, threenotches above the season's average.

Pakistan Rangers...officer said here."Pakistan firing started at 6 a.m. They are

using small arms and automatic weapons.BSF has started effectively retaliating andfiring exchanges are going on in the area,"he added.

The officer said no casualty or damagehas taken place on the Indian side tillreports last came in.

Govt asks...areas and to remain in contact with our

embassy in Sana’a for necessary advice andupdated information on the evolving secu-rity situation.

“Indian nationals in Yemen may considerleaving the country on voluntary basis bycommercial means, if it is safe to do so.Those nationals who do not have traveldocuments or need other consular servicesare advised to seek assistance from ourembassy in Sana’a.”

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy inSana’a has set up helplines, which can beaccessed for information or assistance, itsaid.

Godse film ...halo around Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin.The group of lawyers, who have filed the

intervention application in a civil courthere, is headed by noted city-basedGandhian activist and human rights advo-cate, Asim Sarode.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sarode saidthat the lawyers filing the intervention wereof opinion that such a film was “utterlyincapable of denting the stature of someonelike Mahatma Gandhi.”

The intervention application is filedunder the provisions of order 1, rule 8A ofthe Civil Procedure Code, 1908. The appli-cation notes that while Godse was no patri-ot and was in fact a murderer, the filmought to be released in accordance withArticle 19 of the Indian Constitution pro-tecting a person’s right to freedom ofspeech and expression.

“It is true the film attempts to projectGodse as a patriot and Gandhi as an anti-Hindu. In doing so, the director is project-ing half-truths in an exaggerated manner.Even then, under Article 19, the State shallprovide a person following a different phi-losophy an environment to freely expresshis thoughts,” says the brief, noting thatsuch defamatory action (the film) wouldnot “hurt Gandhi’s image or immortalthoughts”.

The controversial film, slated for releaseon January 30, is directed by Munna KumarSharma, who is general secretary of theAkhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, India’soldest right-wing nationalist party now rel-egated to the fringes of the political spec-trum. A petition seeking the film’s ban wasfiled by activist Hemant Patil, who arguedthat the film had the potential to incite peo-ple on communal lines. It urged delayingrelease of the film until the court was satis-fied it would not spark communal tensions.

The next hearing in the case is scheduledon January 28.

From Page 1NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015SAADDA HAQ

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY BRUCE RIEDEL

U.S. President BarackObama’s visit to India,an unprecedented second

trip in one Presidency, comes asthe terrorist threat environmentin the subcontinent is in transi-tion and turmoil. Multiple mas-sacres in Pakistan and the transi-tion in Afghanistan are challeng-ing the counter terrorist infra-structures built over the last cou-ple of decades. It is a fluid situa-tion that Mr. Obama and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi need tocompare notes on and developstrategies.

Sponsor and victim

Pakistan has long been both asponsor of terrorism and a vic-tim of terrorism but the balanceseems to be shifting toward vic-timhood. Pakistan still sponsorsthe most dangerous terror groupin South Asia, Lashkar-e-Taiba,which last May tried to disruptMr. Modi’s inauguration byattacking the Indian consulate inHerat, Afghanistan, just hoursbefore his swearing-in ceremo-ny. The Pakistani intelligenceservice, the Inter ServicesIntelligence (ISI) Directorate,continues to provide support toLeT and its leader HafizMohammad Saeed lives freelyin Lahore, Pakistan, with theISI’s protection. The ISI alsoremains the primary patron ofthe Afghan Taliban in its warwith the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO).

But Pakistan has been shakenprofoundly by a series of masscasualty terror attacks on its owncitizens. On November 2, 2014,a suicide bomber killed sixtyPakistanis at the Wagah bordercrossing with India close to theborder ceremony site. ThePakistan Taliban claimedresponsibility and said it wasretaliation for the army’s Zarb-e-Azb counter terrorist operation.

On December 16, 2014, sevenmembers of the Pakistan Taliban

attacked an army-run school inPeshawar and killed 145 peopleincluding 132 schoolchildren.The attack prompted anunprecedented public outcry forthe government and army to takeconcerted action to defeat theTaliban and to stop all terrorattacks in the country. Not sincethe assassination of BenazirBhutto in December 2007 hasthere been so much public out-cry against terrorism. PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif andChief of Army Staff (COAS)General Raheel Sharif promisedcollective action to destroy theTaliban and the army said itwould no longer differentiategood Taliban from bad Taliban.

Even al-Qaeda’s new fran-chise in the Indian subcontinentdistanced itself from the schoolmassacre, saying “our hearts arebursting with pain,” and urgingits Taliban allies to target sol-diers in the future. Hafiz Saeedtook the tack of blaming Indiafor the attack, claiming it was aconspiracy orchestrated by Modiand vowing revenge on India.Former dictator PervezMusharraf also blamed Indiaand Afghanistan for supportingthe Pakistan Taliban.

It remains to be seen whetherthe Peshawar massacre andother atrocities will actuallychange the army’s behaviourtoward terrorism. It is more like-ly than not that the ISI andCOAS will remain patrons ofsome terror groups for the fore-seeable future even as they fightothers. The civilian politiciansmay be more determined to endPakistan’s double policy butthey have consistently failed todo so in the last decade.

The ISI is particularly deter-mined to see if its Afghan prox-ies, the Quetta Shura and theHaqqani network, can exploitthe end of NATO’s combat pres-ence in Afghanistan to gain con-trol of significant parts of thecountry. Mullah Omar, the

Taliban leader based in Karachi,has shown no interest in a polit-ical settlement and seems deter-mined to try to resurrect hisIslamic Emirate.

New players

Two new players in the terrorgame emerged in 2014. First isthe al-Qaeda franchise for theIndian subcontinent. Al-Qaeda’sleader Ayman al-Zawahiriannounced its formation whichwas immediately followed by anattempt to hijack a Pakistanifrigate with the intention ofusing it to attack U.S. Navyships in the Arabian Sea. Theplot included an unknown num-ber of Pakistani naval officersrecruited to help al-Qaeda.Zawahiri remains hidden some-where in Pakistan and continuesto give lengthy audio messagesto his followers. Al-Qaeda’sfranchise in Yemen claimsZawahiri ordered the attack onthe office of Charlie Hebdo thismonth, what it called the“blessed battle of Paris.”

The other newcomer is theIslamic State, the heir to al-Qaeda in Iraq that proclaimedthe creation of a caliphate thissummer. Led by Abu Bakr al-Quraishi al-Hashemi al-Baghdadi, also known as CaliphIbrahim, the Islamic State hasattracted fighters from across theIslamic world to come and joinit in Iraq and Syria. SeveralIndian Muslims have joined theIS and pro-IS propaganda hasbeen distributed in India andPakistan. Parts of the PakistanTaliban have voiced support forBaghdadi. An Islamic State cellhas been captured inBangladesh. Al-Qaeda hasdenounced the caliphate as ille-gitimate and renounced any con-nection to Baghdadi and hisgroup. Zawahiri and Baghdadiare rivals for leadership of theglobal jihad and competing forthe loyalty of jihadists aroundthe world including in southAsia.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Modishould reaffirm their commit-ment to close counter-terrorismand intelligence cooperation.Much has improved since 2008when the U.S. and the U.K. hadintelligence on the Mumbai plotbut failed to share it with Indiaand failed to analyse it properlythemselves. LeT is now a priori-ty for both Washington andLondon. Mr. Obama should sendhis Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) Director to New Delhi tofurther improve cooperation.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Modishould also upgrade efforts tostabilise Afghanistan after thewithdrawal of most NATOforces. India should considersending military field hospitalsand personnel to help theAfghan Army as it did in theKorean War in the 1950s to sup-port the United Nations forces. Itshould also help train and equipthe Afghan Air Force, an areathat NATO has been remiss inaddressing robustly. Mr. Obamashould rescind his decision towithdraw all U.S. forces by2017 and commit to long termadvisory role.

No tolerance policy

Pakistan remains the heart ofthe issue. Late last year the U.S.hosted a visit by Gen. RaheelSharif and Indians will be inter-ested in hearing Americanimpressions of him. Mr. Obamaand Mr. Modi should comparenotes on Pakistan’s support forterrorism. They should alsoaddress the blow back inPakistan to the Peshawar mas-sacre. They should encourage ano-tolerance policy by PrimeMinister Sharif while recognis-ing his limitations. They shouldlook for opportunity to encour-age Pakistan to take actionagainst all groups, especiallyLeT.

But they should also plan forthe worst. Another LeT attack on

India is probably only a matterof time. Washington and NewDelhi should have some idea ofwhat the potential consequencesof such an attack might be. Thisis not a matter of ganging up onPakistan or trying to pressure itin advance, rather it is prudentcrisis planning and coordination.It might be wise to involve oth-ers like the United Kingdom insuch discussions. If all thisseems too sensitive for publicofficials, then it can be put in thehands of think tanks and formerofficials to study with a mandateto report to their governments.

(Bruce Riedel is Director, TheIntelligence Project, The

Brookings Institution. This arti-cle is excerpted from a paperfor The Brookings report on:

The Second Modi-ObamaSummit: Building the India-U.S.

Partnership.)

The idea that the government should lead investmentrevival by spending from its purse seems to begaining ground quickly. The thought was first

expressed by Chief Economic Adviser ArvindSubramanian a month ago while releasing the govern-ment’s mid-year review of the economy. Mr. Subramanianwas of the opinion that public investment may have toplay a greater role to complement and “crowd-in” privateinvestment. Of course, this had to be done within the con-straints of the fiscal situation. In an interaction with indus-trialists in Chennai on Monday, Finance Minister ArunJaitley endorsed this view, saying that the governmentwould take some “special steps” to increase public invest-ment while pointing out that it would be a challenge to doso within the constraint of the fiscal deficit. Mr. Jaitleyexpressed the government’s predicament well. It is a factthat private investment in infrastructure is in a comatosestate thanks to over-leveraged balance sheets and excesscapacities that may take a long time to be absorbed. Thebanking system is groaning under the collective weight ofthe overdues of private borrowers, and banks are clearlyunwilling to lend for new projects. Of course, some com-panies have already started to repair their balance sheetsby shedding assets through mergers and acquisitions andusing the proceeds to settle their dues with banks. Clearly,though the de-leveraging process has begun, it will be awhile before the private sector cleans up its act and goesfor fresh investment. The onus to stimulate a revival is,therefore, clearly on the government now. The Centre hasbeen appropriating a part of the bounty from falling glob-al oil prices in the form of higher excise duties, and theFinance Minister is on record as saying that this moneywill go directly towards building new roads and highwaysand not into the Consolidated Fund of India. This will givean impetus to the highways expansion programme that hasbeen struggling for want of adequate interest from privatedevelopers. But then, the scale and quantum of publicinvestment required is much bigger, and this is where thegovernment will run into the fiscal wall. With 99 per centof the projected deficit for this year already accounted forin the first eight months, headroom for additional spend-ing is non-existent this fiscal, even if one were to accountfor bountiful proceeds from the spectrum auction that isdue next month. The focus is therefore on the coming fis-cal, and the Budget will provide an insight into the gov-ernment’s plans on this front. Clearly, some tightropewalking will be required as the Centre seeks to increasespending on infrastructure projects to compensate for pri-vate investment.

Focus on public investmentThursday | January 22, 2015

SAADDA HAQ

BY VASUNDHARA SIRNATE

The first two weeks of 2015have not helped moderateMuslims anywhere in the

world. Between the Islamic State inIraq and the Levant (Syria)[ISIS/ISIL and now IS], the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Boko Haram andthe renegade gunmen claiming alle-giance to the al-Qaeda in Yemen thatshot the cartoonists of CharlieHebdo, the world seems to haveexploded in a frenzy of Islamic ideol-ogy-fuelled killing. Reactions toIslamic radicals conducting acts ofterror have been varied. Between theMoroccan-born Mayor of Rotterdam,Ahmed Aboutaleb, rudely tellingMuslims to get out of his country, thethousands of people in Germanymarching in an anti-Islam demonstra-tion, anchor Jeanine Pirro on FoxNews saying “we need to kill them”and Rupert Murdoch tweeting aboutholding Muslims collectively respon-sible for terrorism, common Muslimseverywhere are being forced to apol-ogise and take responsibility for thedangerous actions of less than oneper cent of the world’s total Muslimpopulation.

Insurgents as global terrorists

People that believe such thingsseem to have missed some key piecesof information pertaining to the riseof some of these movements. In thispiece, I will attempt to historicise therise of some militant “Islamic” move-ments so that in our public debate wemay have balance and some context.This is important because the ratio-nalisations that are coming our wayuse Islam as the driving force behindall recent acts of terror. I believe thatwe need to shift this debate ontomore logical terrain, i.e., we need tounderstand the conditions whichbeget certain types of insurgent andterrorist organisations. I assert herethat Islamic ideology alone is not thedriving force behind these organisa-tions. Islamic ideology is merely thefabric in which an articulation ofinequality, marginalisation, andalienation is embedded or stitched.Islamic ideology is deployed to get

new recruits to particular terroristgroups. Think of such ideology as anadvertising strategy or a marketingcampaign to get people to adhere tothe political causes being champi-oned by these groups at the barrel ofa gun.

Let’s start with the usual suspect,the Taliban. Raised by the CentralIntelligence Agency (CIA) to fightthe Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in1979, the Taliban went on to capturepower in Afghanistan after its west-ern handlers left and the Cold Warended. What followed in Afghanistanwas brutal fighting between severalTaliban leaders; some of whom underMullah Omar were able to consoli-date a new Afghan state. CommonAfghans suffered during this periodof civil war and deal brokering.Osama bin Laden, initially a Talibanrecruit, floated al-Qaeda, which, after9/11, was forced into a partnershipwith the Taliban in a resistanceagainst the American invasion ofAfghanistan. The war with the U.S.destroyed whatever state the Talibanhad created and fragmented bothorganisations — the Taliban and al-Qaeda — leading to different splin-ters of the same groups in West Asiaand South Asia, each practising dead-lier violence to distinguish itself fromits competitors.

Similarly, IS was once known asAl-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) led by theJordanian terrorist Al Zarqawi, whowas killed in 2006 in a targeted attackby the U.S. Air Force. In 2003, AQIbegan fighting the American occupa-tion of Iraq. Later it merged withother small resistance groups andturned into the Mujahideen ShuraCouncil, before emerging as the ISISunder the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Again, IS also emerged asa reaction to western intervention inWest Asia and gradually broadenedits scope to Syria during the protestsagainst President Bashar al-Assad.

Boko Haram (western education isforbidden) arose in Nigeria in themid-1990s as a moderate Islamicgroup in the aftermath of the BiafranWar, which left two million people

dead between 1967-1970 followingthe brutal suppression of the peopleof Biafra by the Nigerian govern-ment, supported by prominent west-ern countries and oil companies.Boko Haram started as a movementthat criticised the corrupt, oil-wealthy

government of Nigeria and became aprovider for the poor undertakingstate-like welfare functions in north-east Nigeria. As Boko Haram recededinto the jungles of northeast Nigeria,successive governments repeatedlyignored the growing radical and mil-itant nature of the group.

The place of Islam

The Taliban, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and IS are organisations bornout of particular configurations ofgeopolitics and superpower interven-tions and invasions. They started asresistance movements that wereaimed at creating more ideal statesand opposed foreign invasions, badgovernance and despotic regimes.These groups are trying to create newstates. This is why their strategieshave been ideological and extremelyviolent with scant regard for human

rights; for state formation is a messy,bloody affair. Just think of Europebetween 900 and 1900 AD.

So what about Islam? I suggesthere that Islam is the only commonlyknown ideology and script in these

regions in which an articulation ofresistance can be embedded, whichcommon folk can understand, prac-tise and stand by. Islam gives thesemovements legitimacy. It gives thema discourse and it attracts money. It istheir USP. The movements are notinitially motivated by Islam but bybad and corrupt governments,unequal power relations betweencountries, invasions by foreign pow-ers and global income inequalitiesmade persistent by the current globaleconomic regime where themetaphorical one per cent has cap-tured half of the world’s wealth. Letus not for one moment forget thatmost Muslims live in democraticcountries like India, Malaysia andIndonesia and practise their religionspeacefully and within the bounds oflaw. Let us also not forget that thereare strong overlaps between Muslimcountries with terrorist groups aspir-

ing to statehood and where there hasbeen a prolonged war with at leastone great power. Similarly, theAlgerians who killed 12 people inFrance last week lived on the marginsof French society and were immi-grants from a country which had been

virtually socially, economically andpolitically destroyed by France,which many historians agree wasalways the worst country to getcolonised by. One million Algeriansdied to overthrow French colonial-ism. This was followed by a post-colonial regime (the FLN state) thatwillingly killed over 1,00,000 of itsown people in order to safeguard itsoil interests backed by western pow-ers.

Neo-mercantilism and terror

Let me be clear that historicisingthese groups does not mean that onecondones their actions. None of thesegroups can find ethical supportbecause indiscriminate violence usedby IS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, theTaliban and their hydra-headedbabies has snatched away the humanrights of thousands of people.

However, we absolutely must under-stand the current rise of religiousextremism as what it really is — theonly readily available response in ashrinking political discourse that canchallenge, or even attempts to chal-lenge, the current world system. Theleft is popularly discredited and does-n’t find purchase in societies withstrong ethnic and religious senti-ments, so the fallback ideology ofrebellion is mostly religion-based.

If we want to make sense of terror-ism we need to launch a strong chal-lenge to the current economic systemthat breeds and perpetuates globalinequality and encourages a neo-mer-cantilism of sorts where westernnations have encouraged and backeddespots to preserve economic inter-ests, and have undertaken militaryinvasions to cement control over eco-nomic and natural resources.

But we must not, under any cir-cumstance, demand that Muslims allover the world take collective respon-sibility for the actions of a fraction.In doing so terrorism unwittinglywins, because the whole point aboutterrorism is to fracture communities,destroy social capital and scare peo-ple into changing how they relate toeach other. The need of the hour is tothink carefully and hard about thefactors and variables that have led tothe formation of anti-state groups,treat each case as unique and notindulge in religion blaming.Terrorism and insurgency are busi-nesses motivated by greed and griev-ance as Collier and Hoeffler told usmany years ago. Islam, like any otherideology like Maoism (China andIndia), Marxism (USSR) orCatholicism (Northern Ireland) is theglue that holds the plot together.

(Vasundhara Sirnate is the ChiefCoordinator of Research at The

Hindu Centre for Politics and PublicPolicy.)

Ideology and the rise of terror

Our team will publish yourthoughts send us your articles at

news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

For prudent crisis planning on terrorPakistan remains the heart

of the issue. Late last yearthe U.S. hosted a visit by

Gen. Raheel Sharif andIndians will be interested

in hearing Americanimpressions of him. Mr.

Obama and Mr. Modishould compare notes on

Pakistan’s support for ter-rorism. They should also

address the blow back inPakistan to the Peshawar

massacre. They shouldencourage a no-tolerance

policy by Prime MinisterSharif while recognising

his limitations. Theyshould look for opportuni-

ty to encourage Pakistanto take action against all

groups, especially LeT.

Boko Haram (western education is forbidden) arose inNigeria in the mid-1990s as a moderate Islamic group inthe aftermath of the Biafran War, which left two million

people dead between 1967-1970 following the brutalsuppression of the people of Biafra by the Nigerian

government, supported by prominent western countriesand oil companies. Boko Haram started as a movement

that criticised the corrupt, oil-wealthy government ofNigeria and became a provider for the poor undertakingstate-like welfare functions in northeast Nigeria. As Boko

Haram receded into the jungles of northeast Nigeria,successive governments repeatedly ignored the growing

radical and militant nature of the group.

MADURAI, JAN 21Stunned at the disap-

pearance of a hillockmeasuring around one kmin length and 20 metres inheight at Keezhavalavu,Legal Commissioner U.Sagayam directed theofficials of Tamil NaduMinerals Limited(TAMIN) to produce theaccounts of mining.

“TAMIN should be oneof the richest public sec-tor units by now,” MrSagayam observed whena TAMIN official saidover 1.25 lakh cubicmetres of granite was cutout of Villoothu hillock.

The place, where thehuge hillock once stoodon over 15 acres, now hasa huge 20-metre-deep pit.

Mr Sagayam said mind-less mining activity hadbroken the link of watersupply to Poorankulamtank which was part of achain of tanks, includingChuttipanayankulam andPillayarkulam.

While lease was grantedto quarry granite in a pattaland in close proximity toa few tanks in the area,the waterbodies hadbecome defunct as partlytheir beds were also quar-ried. “There is no trace ofexistence of tanks here.Rock formations thatstood close to the tank arenow lying below the bedlevel,” he said. Similarly,ayacut of these tanks wasaffected and farmers hadto migrate from the vil-

lages, he added.Pillayarkulam was fully

filled up with waste andone of the quarry opera-tors had set up a work-shop for trucks andmachinery. “The mini-mum safety distance of 10metres from road was notprovided,” an officialsaid.

At Navinipatti, farmerscomplained that a cart-path-cum-channel supply-ing water to Oothankulamwas destroyed by a localquarry operator.Similarly, a large numberof boulders were stackedon the irrigation tank.“Over 50 acres of fertileland was left uncultivateddue to this,” one of themsaid.

Mr. Sayagam asked theofficials about the stepstaken to remove the gran-ite blocks from the tank.

In Rengasamypuram,M. Muthiah of theCommunist Party of Indiacomplained that 18 hous-es constructed at an AdiDravidar colony weredestroyed by dumping ofgranite waste.

The house of his fatherMurugan, a freedomfighter, too was notspared by the indiscrimi-nate blasting of rocks, hecomplained. The villagersalso complained that theofficial machinery, fromtop to bottom, was hand-in-glove with thoseinvolved in illegal granitequarrying.

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015SAADDA HAQ

MUZAFFARPUR, JAN 21Bihar Chief Minister

Jitan Ram ManjhiWednesday visited arson-hit Ajizpur village inMuzaffarpur district andasked people to "refrainfrom politics" over it.

He also requested every-body to maintain peace andcommunal harmony in thesociety. "I am asking peo-ple to refrain from politicsover the clash. It is a sadincident and my sympa-thies are with the familiesof the victims. I am pray-ing for peace and harmony.Everybody should main-tain peace and communalharmony in the society,"Manjhi said.

Manjhi's remarks arebeing seen as a dig at theBJP, which had raised sev-

eral questions regardingviolence and police inac-tion at Ajizpur. Its seniorleader and former DeputyChief Minister SushilKumar Modi had visitedthe village yesterday andmet the kin of the victimsthere.

The Chief Ministerreached the village via

road route around 11 amand spent around one hourthere. He met the familiesof the victims andannounced Rs 1 lakh toeach of them to repair theirdamaged houses and huts.He also distributed blan-kets and packets of flat-tened rice among the peo-ple.

Bihar CM asks people to refrainfrom politics over Ajizpur clash

One-km-long hillock vanished at Keezhavalavu

HYDERABAD, JAN 21Cyberabad Police

Commissioner CV Anandhas been conferred theElection Commission ofIndia's National SpecialCategory Award for theBest Electoral Practices-2014.

Anand has beenbestowed the NationalSpecial Award by ElectionCommission of India(ECI) for the "commend-able" election relatedmeasures taken by him inthe area of 'ExpenditureMonitoring and TacklingMoney Power' during theGeneral Elections of 2014.

The ECI has conferred

these national awards aftera country-wise scrutiny ofbest practices adopted byover 450 DistrictDEOs/SPs in India.

At the South ZoneSymposium held inPuducherry in August lastyear, 3 CEOs/SPs/CPsfrom each South Indianstate who were nominatedby the respective CEOs(Chief Electoral officer),gave their presentations tothe ECI Committeechaired by the ECI's thenCEC V S Sampath.

The top brass of the ECIfinalised two candidatesfrom all over India for theNational General

Category Award and theNational Special CategoryAward. The NationalSpecial Category awardwas conferred uponAnand.

The National SpecialAward carries a cashreward of Rs 50,000 alongwith a plaque andcitation.

Anand will receive theaward in Vigyan Bhavan,New Delhi on January 25on the occasion ofNational Voter's DayFunction.

Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate had thehighest cash seizures inthe country in the run up

to the election on April 30,2014 of Rs 21.97 croreand also the single largestcash seizure of Rs 8.33crore in the country in itsdrive to control electionexpenditure, a releasefrom Cyberabad Policesaid today.

The National BestPractices Awards wereinstituted in 2011 torecognise the efforts andinnovations of the officersand to commend andencourage individual andteam accomplishments indiverse fields of electionmanagement. This is thefirst General Election afterInstitution of the award.

Cyberabad CP awarded by ECI forBest Electoral Practices-2014

GUWAHATI, JAN 21S

Assam Chief MinisterTarun Gogoi onWednesday said his gov-ernment is drafting a newLand Acquisition Bill forthe state as he would notimplement the Central Actthat was recently amendedthrough an Ordinance.

"We are preparing a newLand Acquisition Bill. Isaid it earlier also andtoday I am again sayingthat we are not going toimplement the amendedAct by the Centre," AssamChief Minister TarunGogoi told reporters here.

When asked if the Billwill be introduced in theforthcoming Budget ses-sion of the state Assembly,Gogoi said "I do not knowif we will be ready with the

Bill by then or not as theBudget session is in next

month. But we'll definitelyintroduce it in Assam."

On January 9, Gogoi hadstrongly opposed the

Centre's decision to amendthe 'Right to FairCompensation andTransparency in LandAcquisition, Rehabilitationand Resettlement Act,2013' through anOrdinance and had said hisgovernment would notimplement it as it wasagainst the interests offarmers.

Gogoi said the NDAgovernment had diluted theclauses related to compen-sation and rehabilitation ofdisplaced people to thebenefit of the "big indus-tries".

"We also need industryin Assam. We are invitingpeople to invest in thestate. But it will not be atthe cost of farmers," headded.

Assam Govt preparing separate Land Acquisition Bill: Gogoi

CAF jawan injuredin bomb blast inChhattisgarhRAIPUR, JAN 21

A Chhattisgarh Armed Forcejawan was on Wednesday injuredin a pressure bomb blast triggeredby Naxals in Murdunda forest ofinsurgency-hit Bijapur district.

The blast took place underAwapalli police stationlimits?when a road opening partyof CAF was conducting its task,Bijapur Additional Superintendentof Police Indira Kalyan Eleselasaid.

While combing the forest, jawanGangesh Yadav of CAF's 13 battal-ion accidentally came in contactwith the pressure bomb planted bythe ultras. In the blast, he sufferedsevere injuries on his legs andhands, he said.

Later, the jawan was shifted to alocal hospital for treatment, hesaid.

A search operation has beenlaunched in the region to nab theattackers, he said.

A jawan of the same CAF unitwas injured yesterday in a land-mine blast triggered by Naxals inMurdunda region.

HYDERABAD, JAN 21CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat

on Tuesday made it clear that he would bereplaced at the party's 21st Congress atVisakhapatnam in April.

"The general secretary will changebecause our constitution provides for onlythree terms for a secretary at any level. Soalready in the state conferences many of ourstate secretaries who completed three termshave changed... when (new) central com-mittee is elected, there will be a new gener-al secretary...Who it will be is up to the newcentral committee and the party congress,"Karat said here.

He was here to attend the central commit-tee meeting to finalise the draft political tac-tical line and draft political resolutionwhich would be discussed at the Congress.

Asked about the CPI General Secretary SSudhakar Reddy favouring merger of all thecommunist parties, Karat said the matterwas not on the agenda of the ongoing meet-ing. He however, favoured a broad left unityon the people's issue.

Asked if the party had identified anydrawbacks following the electoral setbacks,he said report on the issue was being pre-pared.

On the second day of the meeting today,the committee adopted draft review report

on the political tactical line. Draft politicalresolution is expected to be adopted tomor-row.

The resolution says that with BJP comingto power at the Centre, the stage is set for a"right-wing offensive comprising anaggressive pursuit of neo-liberal policy anda full-scale attempt by the RSS-ledHindutva forces to advance communalagenda."

The committee also condemned the stepsto curtail the MNREGA, cuts in expendi-ture on the health and education, and four-fold increase in the excise duty which pre-vents the benefit of falling oil prices fromreaching the consumer.

It also asked all its party units to join theleft parties' call to protest on January 24against the visit of US President BarakObama.

SAMASTIPUR, JAN 21Suspected Maoists have

sought Rs 1 crore, firearmsand ammunition as levy fromthe Railways and have threat-ened to blow up railwaytracks between Motihari andPaniahwa railway stations inBihar if their demands are notmet.

Divisional SecurityCommandant (DSC) KumarNishant said the demandshave been made through a let-ter sent to Divisional RailwayManger's office through postand signed by one RamjiSahni, who claimed to be thearea commander of MaoistCommunity Centre(MCC).

"Apart from Rs 1 crorecash, Sahni has demanded 50rifles, 50 self loading Rifles,50 carbines and 3,000 bulletsand has threatened to blow

rail tracks between Motihariand Paniahwa stations,"Nishant said.

The DSC added that the let-ter contains three contactnumbers of which two areswitched off, while one isringing but nobody is receiv-ing the calls.

"We are investigating thematter and probing the mobilenumbers. We have alsoinformed the concernedSuperintendent of Policeabout the threat," Nishantadded.

The DSC also said the letterseems to be a "mischief" byanti-social elements and notwritten by Maoists as theirdemands include firearms,which are not in the posses-sion of the DRM.

Proper security measuresare being taken in view of theletter, he said.

Maoists seek Rs 1 crore, firearmsas levy from Railways

CHANDIGARH, JAN 21Cold wave conditions continued to

prevail at several places in Punjab andHaryana on Wednesday with poor visi-bility due to fog affecting transport serv-ices in both the states.

According to the MeT here, fogreduced visibility at a few places inPunjab and Haryana early today.

At least six flights of private carriers toDelhi and Mumbai stood delayed today,officials said.

Rail traffic also took a hit, with manytrains running late or delayed by hours.These included the LucknowChandigarh Sadbhavna Express, whichwas delayed by over four and a halfhours, Howrah-Kalka Mail by nearlytwelve hours and Sainagar Shirdi-Kalkaby nearly 90 minutes.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldestplace in the two states recording a mini-mum temperature of 4.5 degree Celsiuswhile Amritsar in Punjab registered alow of 5.5 degrees.

Patiala's low settled at 7.9 degree

Celsius while the minimum temperaturein Ludhiana was recorded at 7.8 degrees.

The minimum temperatures atAmbala, Karnal and Bhiwani in Haryanawere recorded at 7, 7.6 and 8 degreeCelsius respectively.

Hisar recorded an increase in its nighttemperature today, registering a mini-mum at 10.1 degree Celsius.

Chandigarh recorded a minimum tem-perature at 8.6 degree Celsius even asthe conditions remained cloudy heretoday.

The day temperatures in the regionhave fallen sharply since yesterday.

Yesterday's maximum temperature atmost places settled 5-7 notches belownormal.

The maximum temperature atChandigarh, Ambala, Karnal, Amritsaryesterday were recorded at 14.5, 15.2,13.6 and 13.5 degree Celsius respective-ly. The maximum temperature atLudhiana and Patiala yesterday wererecorded at 13.2 and 14.1 degreesrespectively.

Cold wave conditionspersists in Punjab, Haryana

CPM will get new general secretaryat 21st Congress in April: Karat

Conversionsviolate freedom ofreligion: FaleiroPANAJI, JAN 21

Senior Congress leader Eduardo Faleiro hassaid conversions should be stopped in the coun-try as such activities violate the freedom of reli-gion.

"Conversions and recoversions are not com-patible with the freedom of religion, conscienceand thought of others," Faleiro told reporters atCongress House here on Tuesday.

Such activities would only promote religiousintolerance and animosity, and are likely to bemisused by executive authorities, the formerUnion Minister of State for External Affairssaid.

He demanded that religious heads in thecountry should enter into an agreement and for-mulate a code of conduct to stop proselytism.

The government should pay specific attentionto the development of vulnerable groups suchas tribals, other weaker sections and those whosuffer discrimination on different grounds, hesaid. "It (government) should counter socialexclusion in particular, by providing adequateaccess to all citizens in education, health andemployment," Faleiro added.

PANAJI, JAN 21Right-wing outfit Sri

Ram Sene chief PramodMuthalik, who has beenbanned from entering Goa,has sought permission fromthe state administration tovisit the state for 10 days inFebruary.

Infamous for stokingcontroversies with hisremarks, state governmenthas been prohibitingMuthalik from enteringGoa fearing law and ordersituation.

The current ban imposedon him last week is for 60days.

"Our client intends tovisit Goa in February. Hisvisit would be less than 10days. He shall inform thelocal police station abouthis residential address dur-ing the stay," read the appli-cation moved by Muthalik'slawyer Rajesh Takbhate toNorth and South Goa dis-trict collectors.

The Sene chief had last

year announced to set up itsunit in Goa in February thisyear and had also said thatit will make people awareagainst 'pub culture' in thestate.

According to the applica-tion, Muthalik shall visittemples and ashrams inGoa for religious purposesand shall not address anypublic meeting or partici-pate in any public function.

Muthalik is ready toabide by any additionalconditions, Takbhate said,pointing out that denial ofthe right to visit Goa forspecific purpose which isnot in conflict with thepower of the state authori-ties, would be a breach offundamental rights.

The state government hadextended prohibitory ordersagainst Muthalik under sec-tion 141 of CrPC.

The outfit had created astir after its infamousMangalore pub attack in2009.

Sene chief Muthalik seekspermission to visit Goa in Feb

Gujarat policebegins probe intoextortion call madeto Kutch traderMUZAFFARNAGAR, JAN 21

A team of Gujarat police beganits search operations in the districtto nab the miscreants who hadallegedly made a call to a Kutch-based trader demanding extortionmoney of Rs 2 crore from him.

The team led by Inspector VPGoel reached Muzaffarnagar yes-terday and began their search oper-ations, police said. Satish Kumar,resident of Kutch district, receiveda call a few days ago from somepersons who demanded extortionmoney of Rs 2 crore from him,police said, adding, the call wastraced to Muzaffarnagar.

Police have raided several placesin the district in search of theaccused.

A case has been registeredagainst unidentified miscreants inthis connection and efforts are onto nab them, police said.

Cashing in on the selfie trend, Panasonic has goneahead and manufactured a mirrorless camera -Panasonic Lumix GF7 - with a 3-inch touchscreen

display that can flip 180-degrees to help capture selfies.The 16-megapxiel Lumix GF7 Micro Four-Thirds camerawith CMOS sensor will be available for $600 with a 12-

32mm/F3.5-5.6 lensin Februaryin the US.

The LumixGF7 MicroFour-Thirdscan also cap-ture selfiesautomaticallyusing someclever artifi-

cial intelli-gence.

The soft-ware inside

the camerad e t e c t swhen thescreen isf l i p p e d

and entersthe selfiemode. A FaceShutter cap-tures animage whenone waves ahand in front

of the camera.Similarly, a

Buddy Shutter mode acti-vates automatically when two people squeeze together.

Additionally, Panasonic adds another nifty trick whereit leverages the Wi-Fi and NFC features present in theLumix GF7. Once a smartphone is connected, the LumixGF7 can use the phone's accelerometer to calculate theapex of a jump and capture the image at the opportune

moment. This feature is quite aptly named - Jump Snap.

With autofocus enabled the Lumix GF7 can capture 6images per second and without it being enabled, the cam-era can capture 40 images per second - albeit at a lowerresolution.

The Lumix GF7 has dimensions of 107x65x33mm andweighs 266g including the batteries. It can captureuncompressed RAW images and has an ISO range of 100-25600. The Lumix GF7 can also shoot 1080p video at 60fps in MPEG4 or AVHCD formats.

TomTom has launched fournew GPS sport watches inIndia start-

ing at Rs. 12,999.The newTomTom sportwatches formen andwomen arenow avail-able exclu-sively onFlipkart.

The fournew GPSs p o r tw a t c h e sa r eT o m T o mR u n n e rDigital (Rs.1 2 , 9 9 9 ) ,Multi-Sport( R s .1 5 , 4 9 9 ) ,R u n n e rCardio (Rs.20,999), andM u l t i - S p o r tCardio (Rs.23,499).

TomTom, a company popular forits navigation devices, claims thatthe new Runner and Multi-SportGPS watches deliver real-timedetails about time, distance, heartrate, pace, speed and calories burntto runners, cyclists and swimmers.

The TomTom Runner Cardio packsa built-in heart rate monitor for track-ing runners' heart rate.

tomtom_cardio_watch.jpg

"An extra-large display, full-screengraphical training tools and the indus-try's first one-button control make iteasy for fitness enthusiasts to accessreal-time information to help themachieve their goals," the companysaid in a statement.

The new TomTom GPS sport

watches are compatible with other fit-ness platforms such as

M a p M y F i t n e s s ,R u n K e e p e r ,

TrainingPeaks,Strava, andTo m To m

MySportswebsite as

well.

The new watch-es feature TomTom's

Graphical Training Partner thatoffers full-screen graphics and are setin three modes - Race, which offersdetails about personal best or mostrecent run; Goal, for users to set a dis-tance, time or calorie goal, and Zone,which allows users to set a target forpace or heart-rate (with optionalheart-rate monitor) and trackprogress.

TomTom adds that the watches fea-ture scratch resistant displays and arewater-resistant (waterproof up to 165feet).

The company claims that theTomTom Runner Digital and Multi-Sport watches can offer up to 10hours of battery life in GPS mode,while Runner Cardio and Multi-SportCardio watches can offer up to 8hours of battery life in GPS and HeartRate mode.

Commenting on the launch,A n d r e wC o o p e r ,

S V PS a l e s

APAC,

To m To m ,said, "Our

research shows that 95 percent of run-ners consider their GPS watch to betheir perfect training partner.However, we see a gap between thenumber of runners and the penetra-tion of GPS sport watches primarilydue to lack of understanding on thebenefits of running with a GPS watch.By launching fitness products withindustry leading innovations, weexpect this segment to grow at a rapidpace globally, and in India."

Kavita Nath, Country Manager,TomTom India said on the launch,"Running is an important part of thechanging life-style of the young,upwardly mobile Indian. Our researchsuggests that access to real time infor-mation during a run is one of the eas-iest ways for a runner to improve theirperformance, making the GPS watchan essential part of any runner's kit."

NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1.Who fits with this description 'Indian Cotton mer-chant, Banker, Congressman, a close associate ofMahatma Gandhi'?A. M. R. Jayakar B. V. S. SastriC. G. D. Birla D. Jamanlal Bajaj

2. Pandit Jasraj has established his reputation in whichof the following fields?A. Music B. LiteratureC. Sanskrit D. Dance

3.Ustad Nisar hussain Khan earned distinction inwhich of the following fields?A. Vocal Music B. Instrumental musicC. Acting D. Classical dance

4. R. K. Laxman is a renownedA. Dance master B. WriterC. Cartoonist D. Journalist

5. Dr. Amiya Chakravarthy is known for hisA. work in the Chipko movementB. composing music for Ray's filmsC. being literary Secretary to R. N. TagoreD. patenting a living organism

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(C), 2 (A), 3(A), 4(C), 5(C)

12.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 12.30 am Diya aur Baati Hum 01.00 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 01.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 02.00 am Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 02.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 03.00 am Tu Mera Hero 03.30 am Suhani Si Ek Ladki 04.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 am Everest 05.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 05.30 am Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 06.00 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 07.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 08.00 am Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 08.30 am Suhani Si Ek Ladki 09.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 10.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 10.30 am Tu Mera Hero 11.00 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 12.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 12.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 01.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 01.30 pm Tu Mera Hero 02.00 pm Everest 02.30 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 03.00 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 03.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 04.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 05.00 pm Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 05.30 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 06.00 pm Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 07.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 08.00 pm Tu Mera Hero 08.30 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 09.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 10.00 pm Everest 10.30 pm Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 11.30 pm Tu Mera Hero ___________________________

12.00 am Teleshopping 02.00 am Jodha Akbar

02.30 am Kumkum Bhagya 03.00 am Aur…Pyaar Ho Gaya 03.30 am Doli Armaano Ki 04.00 am Baba Ramdev Ka Yog 05.00 am Narayan Seva 05.30 am Teleshopping 06.00 am Sant Nirankari Mandal

06.30 am The Faith Show 07.00 am Enjoying Every Day Life 07.30 am Creflo Dollar and Taffi

Dollar 08.00 am Teleshopping 09.00 am Kumkum Bhagya

09.30 am Bandhan....Sari UmarHume Sang Rehna Hai 10.00 am Qubool Hai 10.30 am Jodha Akbar 11.00 am Doli Armaano Ki 11.30 am Satrangi Sasural 12.00 pm Jamai Raja 12.30 pm Kumkum Bhagya 01.00 pm Jodha Akbar 01.30 pm Bandhan....Sari UmarHume Sang Rehna Hai 02.00 pm Satrangi Sasural 02.30 pm Doli Armaano Ki 03.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 03.30 pm Qubool Hai 04.00 pm SaReGaMaPa L'il Champs 04.30 pm Bandhan....Sari UmarHume Sang Rehna Hai 05.00 pm Doli Armaano Ki 05.30 pm Jamai Raja 06.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 06.30 pm Satrangi Sasural 07.00 pm Bandhan....Sari UmarHume Sang Rehna Hai 07.30 pm Sapne Suhane LadakpanKe 08.00 pm Jodha Akbar 08.30 pm Jamai Raja 09.00 pm Kumkum Bhagya 09.30 pm Qubool Hai 10.00 pm Satrangi Sasural 10.30 pm Doli Armaano Ki 11.00 pm Jodha Akbar 11.30 pm Jamai Raja ___________________________

01.00 am Telebrands 02.00 am Home Shop 18 05.00 am Iskcon Aarti 05.30 am Jesus Calls Ministry 06.00 am Telebrands

07.00 am Narayan Sewa SansthanTrust 07.30 am Home Shop 18 08.00 am Udann 08.30 am Shastri Sisters 09.00 am Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 09.30 am Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 10.00 am Bigg Boss : Halla Bol

11.00 am Sasural Simar Ka 11.30 am Udann 12.00 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 12.30 pm Shastri Sisters 01.00 pm Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 01.30 pm Sasural Simar Ka 02.00 pm Udann 02.30 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 03.00 pm Comedy Nights with Kapil 06.00 pm Udann 06.30 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 07.00 pm Shastri Sisters 07.30 pm Sasural Simar Ka

08.00 pm Balika Vadhu - KacchiUmar Ke Pakke Rishte 08.30 pm Udann 09.00 pm Bigg Boss : Halla Bol 10.00 pm Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi 10.30 pm Code Red 11.30 pm Udann

___________________________

12.00 am Comedy Classes 12.30 am Comedy Classes 01.00 am Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath : TimeMachine Special 02.00 am Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : Up Fights Back 03.00 am Pukaar 04.00 am Supercops vsSupervillains... Shapath : TimeMachine Special 05.00 am Best Of Savdhaan India :Mumbai Fights Back 06.00 am Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : Up Fights Back 07.00 am Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : @11 - Crime Alert 07.30 am Mere Rang Mein RangneWali 08.00 am Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani ! : KahaniRudra Ki 08.30 am Comedy Classes 09.00 am Mere Rang Mein RangneWali 09.30 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 10.00 am Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani ! : KahaniRudra Ki 10.30 am Mere Rang Mein RangneWali 11.00 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 11.30 am Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani ! : Kahani Rudra Ki 12.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back (2) : Up Fights Back 01.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back (2) : Up Fights Back 02.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back (2) : Up Fights Back 03.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back (2) : Up Fights Back 04.00 pm Best Of Savdhaan India:Delhi Fights Back 05.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back (2) : Up Fights Back 06.00 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back : @11 - Crime Alert 06.30 pm Best of Savdhaan India:India Fights Back 07.30 pm Mere Rang Mein RangneWali 08.00 pm Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani ! 08.30 pm Pukaar 09.30 pm Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 10.00 pm Comedy Classes 10.30 pm Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back (2) 11.30 pm Mahakumbh - Ek RahasayaEk Kahani !

12.00 am Crime Patrol - Satark 01.00 am Teleshopping 02.00 am C.I.D

05.00 am Bhakti 06.00 am Teleshopping 06.30 am Bhakti 07.00 am Teleshopping 08.30 am Box Cricket League 09.30 am C.I.D

07.00 pm Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar 07.30 pm Box Cricket League 08.30 pm Humsafars

09.00 pm Tum Aise Hi Rehna 09.30 pm Hum Hain Na 10.00 pm Bharat Ka Veer Putra:Maharana Pratap 10.30 pm Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar 11.00 pm x Cricket League ___________________________

12.00 am You Have Been Warned :Greatest Hits II 01.00 am Tutankhamen 02.00 am Dual Survival (3) 03.00 am Speed of Life : CentralAmerican Killers 04.00 am A Haunting 05.00 am You Have Been Warned :Greatest Hits II 06.00 am Man vs. Wild (2) : Zambia 07.00 am How Do They Do it? 07.30 am How Do They Do it? 08.00 am Factory Made (2) 08.30 am Factory Made (2) 09.00 am What Happened Next? 09.30 am Destroyed in Seconds 10.00 am Dual Survival (2) : BuriedAlive 12.00 pm You Have Been Warned :Freaks of Nature 01.00 pm Man vs. Wild (2) : Namibia 02.00 pm Factory Made (2) 02.30 pm Factory Made : CottonSwabs / Pinball Machines / Tiles /Bread Dough 03.00 pm Man Woman Wild (2) 04.00 pm How Do They Do it? 04.30 pm How Do They Do it? 05.00 pm Man vs. Wild (2) : Zambia 06.00 pm Nature's Greatest Events 07.00 pm What Happened Next? 07.30 pm American Digger :Moonshine Money 08.00 pm How Do They Do it?

08.30 pm How Do They Do it? 09.00 pm Revealed : RashtrapatiBhavan 10.00 pm Tethered : Pacific Islands,Panama 11.00 pm Destroyed in Seconds 11.30 pm Destroyed in Seconds

TV Channels Schedule TODAY’S STARARIES The health of a friend or family member who lives far away

may be a bit worrying today, Aries. A lack of contact with thisperson doesn't help matters. You're usually the type to phoneat the drop of a hat, but today you're less inclined to do this.You shouldn't make yourself crazy. If there's someone elseyou can ask, do so. Otherwise, take the initiative and call.

TAURUS Your intuitive abilities are flying high, Taurus. Normally you'resensitive, but today you might be picking up on the thoughts, feel-ings, needs, and desires of strangers who pass in the street. Ifyou turn this ability to those around you, you're likely to be ableto use it to increase your understanding of them, and thus bringyou closer together. Don't let this opportunity pass you by.

GEMINI Some problems with the structure of your house may needattention, Gemini. Perhaps the plumbing or electrical wiringisn't operating at maximum efficiency. It probably isn't agood idea to try to fix this yourself, but you might not beable to reach a professional today. You will want to get thisdone soon. Don't be tempted to forget about it.

CANCER A co-worker could call you today, Cancer, but you probablywon't be able to figure out what this person is trying to say.Your colleague's mind is a bit muddled now, and he or shemight not be able to explain the situation very well. Be patient.Sympathy and understanding are probably what's called for.You're the best person for that right now.

LEO Money matters may need your attention today, Leo, and you proba-bly aren't in the right space to think along those lines. Your mind ison different things, probably on your projects. Nonetheless, if youdon't at least make the attempt, you will worry about it all day. Giveit your best and ask for help if you have to. Once that's taken care of,you will have the rest of the day to enjoy yourself.

VIRGO Virgo, you tend to be a master psychologist. You don't need toknow people well in order to accurately size them up. But todaythis ability could be temporarily lacking. You don't sense muchfrom those you meet, and when you do intuit their thoughts andfeelings, what you pick up isn't likely to be very accurate. Don'tworry. Your mind should be back to normal tomorrow.

LIBRA You usually tend to be outgoing, Libra, and you love talking toothers. However, today you may feel far more reticent thanusual, more inclined to listen than speak. There may not seemto be any real reason for this. It isn't as if you're depressed orworried. Don't worry about it. View this as an opportunity tohear what others have to say. You will be yourself tomorrow.

SCORPIO Today you might wonder what's bothering a friend, Scorpio. Thisperson may seem depressed and worried but not inclined toshare the worries with you. All signs are that these are probablymoney problems, which he or she wants to keep private. Let yourfriend know you're there if needed, then concentrate on your ownconcerns. Your friend will share when the time is right.

SAGITTARIUSToday you might be temporarily catapulted into the public eye whenyou'd rather be alone, Sagittarius. Perhaps a premonition you onceexpressed has actually come to pass and others want to discuss it.Maybe you will be asked to repeat a story you once told. Your friendswill probably want you to entertain them. If you aren't in the mood forconversation, it's best to avoid social gatherings.

CAPRICORN Spiritual or metaphysical concepts you hear about today may seemconfusing and bothersome, Capricorn. You might go off alone to tryto make sense of them, but this isn't the day to do that. You will prob-ably only confuse yourself more. Think of this as a good day to col-lect information, not decide whether to accept any of it or not.Tomorrow your mind will be clearer and more logical.

AQUARIUS Today you might be constantly engaged in deep, intensethought, Aquarius. There probably isn't a specific matter thatyou're concerned about, but you may find that a number of dif-ferent fragments of information capture your attention and getyour mind going. Don't write this off as crazy behavior. Writedown your thoughts. They may prove useful later.

PISCES A friend or romantic partner may not be communicating with youthe way they should, Pisces. Something is bothering your sweet-ie, and he or she doesn't want to discuss it. Even if you ask, theanswers are likely to be evasive. Pushing won't be appreciated.Perhaps it's best to leave your friend alone to work it out. Yourhoney will tell you about it when the time is right.

Almost a week afterthe launch of theO p p o

Mirror 3 andOppo R1C,the Chineses m a r t p h o n emaker asexpected haslaunched theOppo U3 smart-phone. The smart-phone has beenannounced forChina without pric-ing information, andno global availabilitydetails have been pro-vided.

The dual-SIM OppoU3 runs Android 4.4.4KitKat with ColourOS2.0.1 UI on top. It fea-tures a 5.9-inch full-HD(1080x1920 pixels) reso-lution display and is pow-ered by a 64-bit 1.7GHzocta-core MediaTekMT6752 SoC and 2GB ofRAM.

The Oppo U3's rearcamera features a 13-megapixel Sony IMX124sensor.The smartphonealso sports a 5-megapixelfront-facing camera.

16GBo finbuilt storage comespacked in the handset

along with theoption toexpand stor-age viam i c r o S Dcard (up to128GB).

T h em i d -r a n g es m a r t -p h o n e

i s

backed by a3 0 0 0 m A hb a t t e r y ,

which thecompany claims can becharged up to 75 percent

in 30 minutes with thehelp of a bundled Oppo'sVOOC fast-chargingtechnology. The smart-phone will be available inBlack and White colourvariants. It measures156.8x81x8mm andweighs 195 grams.

The firm last weeklaunched the Oppo Mirror3 and Oppo R1C smart-phones in China. Whilethe Mirror 3 featuresslightly lower specifica-tions, the R1C sharesalmost the same featuresas the Oppo U3. Since thespecifications are nearlythe same, the U3's pricemight revolve aroundCNY 2,499 (roughly Rs.25,000) price tag of R1C.

Lately Oppo has madeits mark in the smart-phone market by launch-ing the Oppo R5, whichis currently the secondslimmest handset in theworld with a thickness

of 4.85mm after the VivoX5Max (4.75mm).

The smartphone waslaunched in India lastmonth at Rs. 29,990.

Oppo U3 With 5.9-Inch Display and64-Bit Octa-Core SoC Launched

TomTom Launches 4 GPS Sport WatchesWith Fitness Tracking in India

Panasonic Lumix GF7 Mirrorless CameraLaunched With Auto-Selfie Mode

Sports 7NEW DELHI | THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2015SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, JAN 21 After two successful seasons, the

Hero Hockey India League (HIL) isback with fresh vigour and anticipa-tion in its third edition starting with aclash between hosts Kalinga Lancersand debutant Ranchi Rays clash at theKalinga Stadium, in Bhubaneswar onThursday. Young talents of bothKalinga Lancers and Ranchi Rays areraring to face each in what promisesto be an exciting contest.

After finishing at the bottom of thetable in their debut season, KalingaLancers will be desperate to provetheir detractors wrong with a much-improved performance this year.

The Ranchi Rays, co-owned byIndian cricket team captainMahendra Singh Dhoni, on the otherhand, will be making its debut in HILthis year and will be focussed onmaintaining the good work of the pre-vious Ranchi franchise, RanchiRhinos, who won the inaugural HILin 2012.

The Lancers will definitely start asfavourites on their home turf as theystunned the previous Ranchi Team 4-1 at the same venue last season.

Led by Vikramkanth, the Lancershave a young team which has thepotential to spring a surprise.

The Lancers also have a new coachthis year in Jude Felix, who very wellunderstands the requirements of thegame having been a part of the Indiannational team’s coaching departmentfor quite sometime now.

In Gurjinder Singh and Argentine

Gonzalo Peillat, the Lancers boast ofa strong drag flick department, whileexperienced Australian goalieAndrew Charter and India’s HarjotSingh will man their citadel.

There isn’t much experience inLancers forward-line and midfield

but the likes of Lalit Upadhyay,Mandeep Antil, Australian RussellFord, Lucas Villa of Argentina,Roshan Minz and Mohammad AmirKhan has the potential to surpriseopposition defences.

The Rays, on the other hand, are a

new outfit which has tried to retainthe core base of players that used tobe a part of the Ranchi Rhinos team.

Coached by experienced and WileyHarendra Singh, the Rays have toughtask at hand, the task of living up tothe reputation of the previous Ranchifranchise.

On paper, the Rays have a far supe-rior team than the Lancers. In Spain’sFrancisco Cortes, the Rays have reli-able person in front of the goal, whilethe defence will be under the watch-ful eyes of Birendra Lakra and SouthAfrica’s Justin Reid Ross.

With the likes of EnglishmenAshley Jackson, Barry Middleton,Germany’s Moritz Furst and India’sManpreet Singh, the Rays boats of astrong midfield while AustralianTrent Mitton,Mandeep Singh andKiwi Nick Wilson will be in chargeof the forwardline.

Lancers coach Felix feels all the sixteams in the league are equallymatched and whoever plays well onthe given day will emerge winners.

“We are excited about the third sea-son of HIL. I don’t think any team isextra strong. All the teams have good

players nd equally balanced,” he said.

The newly-appointed captain ofRanchi Rays Ashley Jackson saidtheir main objective this year is towin the title and they have a strongteam to achieve the goal.

“We have a strong team filled withexperienced international players andfantastic Indian players. We are hereto win the title. Of course no teamcan will all their matches but our aimis to win as many games as possibleto enter the semifinals and then thefinal. It will be a step by stepprocess,” he said.

Meanwhile, title-holders DelhiWaveriders start as favourites todefend their crown. Led by Indianskipper Sardar Singh, the Waveriderswill start their campaign against UttarPradesh Wizards on Friday atLucknow.

Studded with celebrated playerssuch as Simon Child, Matt Gohdes,Pirmin Blaak along with India’s topplayers such as Rupinder Pal Singh,Gurbaj Singh and Danish Mujtaba,the Delhi-based team is the top con-tender for the title.

HIL 3 to kick start with Lancers-Rays clash

MELBOURNE, JAN 21Third seed Simona Halep

of Romania blitzed into thethird round of theAustralian Open onWednesday with a straightsets demolition ofAustralia's JarmilaGajdosova.

Halep downedGajdosova 6-2, 6-2 in a no-nonsense clash to set up ameeting with AmericanBethanie Mattek-Sands inthe third round.

After taking the courtjust before midnight fol-lowing a marathon men'smatch involving RafaelNadal, Halep was in nomood to hang around andbroke Gajdosova in theopening game.

The tenacious 23-year-old added another break on her way to taking the first set 6-2, wrapping it up with her fourth ace.

The second set followedthe same pattern, althoughHalep paid tribute to worldnumber 62 Gajdosova,who was playing in thesecond round of her homeGrand Slam for the firsttime after a decade offalling in her openingmatch.

"It was a tough match,the score didn't show thisbut she's a strong player,"Halep said.

"I was concentrating onevery point and reallywanted to win thismatch."

Halep, a quarter-finalistat Melbourne Park lastyear, is looking to build ona breakthrough 2014 whenshe reached the FrenchOpen final and the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

Third Seed Simona Halep BlitzesInto Australian Open Third Round

MELBOURNE, JAN 21Russian tennis ace Maria

Sharapova Wednesday saidshe was dwelling too muchon her mistakes instead ofplaying positively whichled to her being stretchedagainst Russian AlexandraPanova in the secondround of the AustralianOpen.

World No.2 Sharapovasurvived the scare to clinchthe encounter 6-1, 4-6, 7-5

at the Melbourne Parkhere.

“I think I was dwellingtoo much on my mistakes,what I was doing wrong,not really being in thepresent, something thatI’m really usually goodat,” Sharapova was quotedas saying by news.com.au.

Asked whether she feltrelieved after the let off,Sharapova said: “Well,certainly, after being a

point away from goingout.”

The 27-year-old alsoadded she felt nice afterovercoming such a toughchallenge and has takenpositives out of theencounter.

“At the end of the dayit’s always nice to comethrough a challenge likethat. That’s the biggestpositive out of thematch.”

Maria Sharapova Survives Scare, SaysShe Dwelt Too Much on Mistakes

KOLKATA, JAN 21Indian ace Pankaj

Advani kept himself in linefor a double as he toppedthe group A table to storminto the last 32 of the sen-ior National SnookerChampionship at theBengal Rowing Club onWednesday. Advani, whowon the senior Nationalbilliards on Saturday, car-ried his sublime form intohis pet snooker event as hethrashed Akshay Kumar,Sukumar Barman, AnkitKariwala and Assem Aroraby identical scoreline of 3-0 to top group A table.

Meanwhile, ArantxaSanchis of Maharashtra set

up final clash against herstate matre Meenal Thakur

in the women's billiardsevent.

Pankaj Advani Storms Ahead inNational Snooker Championship

CHENNAI, JAN 21A fighting century by

Deepak Hooda (142) liftedBaroda to 320 for eightagainst championsKarnataka, while left-armspinner Rahil Shah (sevenfor 34) helped Tamil Nadudismiss Mumbai for 141 inthe Ranji Trophy leaguematches Wednesday.

Winning the toss andelecting to bat at theSrikantadatta NarasimhaRaja Wadeyar Ground inMysuru, Baroda slid to 93for five, but Hooda heldthe innings together withthe help of the lower-orderbatsmen Ifan Pathan (34),Pinal Shah (30) andSwapnil Singh (28 notout). Karnataka sorelymissed their skipper andmain wicket-taker VinayKumar who pulled out ofthe game at the last minutedue to indisposition whileother seamers AbhimanyuMithun (three for 75) andRonit More (two for 52)faded after initial break-throughs. For Baroda, the87-run sixth wicket part-nership between Hoodaand Irfan proved to be crit-ical. Later, Hooda added58 runs for the seventhwicket with Pinal Shah andanother 72 for the eighthwith Swapnil Singh. TheKarnataka bowling flaggedin the final session of theday when Baroda scored134 runs in just 29 overs tofinish on a healthy 320 foreight.

At the MAChidambaram Stadium,Chepauk in Chennai,Mumbai completely strug-gled against Rahil on aturning track. The 29-year-old received good support

from another spinnerSuresh Kumar (two for 54)as the duo exploited theconditions to perfection.

For Mumbai, youngbatsman Shreyas Iyer (50)fought hard but got no sup-port from the other end. Inreply, Tamil Nadu reached136 for four at stumps.Brief scores:

At Mysuru, Karnataka vsBaroda, Baroda 1st innings320 for eight (DeepakHooda 142; AbhimanyuMithun 3/75, Ronit More2/52).

At Chennai Mumbai vsTamil Nadu, Mumbai 141all out (Shreyas Iyer 50;Rahil Shah 7/34) TamilNadu 1st innings 136 forfour (Vijay Shankar notout 47; Akhil Herwadkar2/5).

At Porvorim, Goa vsAssam, Goa 1st innings175 all out (Amogh SunilDesai 42; SwarupamPurkayastha 5/69) Assam1st innings 69 for one(Pallavkumar Das 42).

At Surat, Vidarbha vsGujarat, Vidarbha 1stinnings 236 all out(Shalabh Shrivastava 95;Ramesh Powar 5/87)Gujarat 1st innings 39 forno loss.

At Dharamsala,Himachal Pradesh vsAndhra, Andhra 1stinnings 123 for two (SrikarBharat 47; Rishi Dhawan2/40).

At Delhi, Railways vsJammu and Kashmir,Railways 1st innings 50for one (Rohan Bhosle 24).

At Ranchi, Jharkhand vsHyderabad, Jharkhand 1stinnings 295 for four(Saurabh Tiwary 100,Ishan Kishan 66).

Ranji: Deepak Hooda Lifts Baroda to320/8; Mumbai Out for 141

NEW DELHI, JAN 21The growth of Indian shooting

is a product not just of the initia-tives taken by the National RifleAssociation of India but also bythe likes of private academieslike Gun for Glory. In its fourthyear, the Gun for Glory ShootingChampionship has discovered100 shooters who will take partin national events in the future.The Championship is also nowthe shooting tournament with themaximum prize money in India.

Six days, a total prize purse ofRs 15 lakhs and an opportunity toshoot with James Bond's Walthergun has made the Gun for GloryShooting Championship thehottest destination for amateurand professional shooters in thecountry. Shriyanka Sadengi, whois a Junior international goldmedalist from the Gun for Gloryacademy, says, "GFG keeps com-ing up with new ideas to promoteshooting and to instill the spirit ofshooting amongst people. For the

first time in India, we have aChallenger Cup where the play-ers shoot one on one, againsteach other. You have the crowdsupport, too. People are allowedto cheer. It is a very good formatwhich helps shooters get used topressure situations." (Watch fullvideo here)

The GFG ShootingChampionship is an initiative ofOlympic bronze medalist, GaganNarang. The Championship hasbeen held every year since theacademy was set up 4 years ago.In that time, the Championshiphas helped more than 200 ama-teur shooters blossom into pro-fessionals. Says Gagan,"The guywho won the first dueling eventin the first edition of the GFGChampionship is now competingin the shooting nationals. That isjust one of our successstories."

In the last one year, shootersfrom the GFG Academy havewon 85 international medals

from different competitions. TheAcademy is now focusing ongrooming India's shooting talentby focusing on kids between theages of 11 and 14 years. Over

1000 children from 40 schools inPune participated in variousshooting events, hoping to win aGFG scholarship, which wouldassure them free training at the

Academy. Says Narang, " Thisyear we focused on a very uniquetalent hunt program, which iscalled the Shooting Star TalentHunt Program. Kids between 11and 14 are being looked atbecause we feel that it is the rightage to identify talent. They areshooting on a SCAT simulator,imported from Russia. That tellsyou about the technique and sta-bility of the kid. The ones withgood control will be given schol-arships. With the help of theSCAT simulator, it is very easy topin down the best talents."

But for Gagan, gathering fundshas been much tougher than win-ning medals in the last four years.Often he has had to put in hisown prize money to run theAcademy and events like this. AsIndian shooting goes fromstrength to strength, what fuelsGagan's passion is his determina-tion to hunt for raw talent thatcan be moulded into future cham-pions.

RANCHI RAYS TEAM MEMBERS DURING A PRACTICE SESSION IN RANCHI

Gun for Glory Shooting Championship Churns Out Professionals

NEW DELHI, JAN 21Spanish pro Miguel Angel Jimenez, one

of the most charismatic players in worldgolf, will headline a strong field compris-ing players from Europe and Asia as theHero Indian Open gets under way inDelhi next month. The 51st edition ofIndia's national Open will be held fromFebruary 19 to 22 at the historic DelhiGolf Club. The tournament, which carries

an enhanced prize purse of USD 1.5 mil-lion, will also be making its debut on theEuropean Tour from this year. The flam-boyant Jimenez has won 21 times on theRace to Dubai, as well as having repre-sented Europe in the Ryder Cup on fouroccasions. The 51-year-old was also theplaying captain of the European Team atthe inaugural EurAsia Cup in Malaysialast year.

Miguel Jimenez to Headline Indian Open Golf in February

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Pearly whites gone pale! Oneof the most common prob-lems that every dentist comes

across. Though we all wish to havepearly white smile, going for crazyexpensive treatments definitelyburns a hole in our pockets, thankgoodness there are some homeremedies which are not only easybut very reasonable.

Banana peels: Bananas are con-sidered to be a wholesome fruit thathouses loads of nutrients. But doyou know that banana peels are agreat source of teeth whitening aswell. So the next time preserve thatbanana peel to get a pearly whiteteeth. Rub the peel on your teeth forabout a minute or two twice daily.The minerals in bananas such aspotassium, manganese and magne-sium, are absorbed into your teeth,which keeps your pearly whites intheir best health. Orange peels arealso considered to be a great sourceof teeth whiteners.

Berry berry strawberry: Did youknow that those bright red straw-berries are a great source of teethwhiteners? Well, now that youknow it, start stocking up freshstrawberries. All you have to do istake one or two strawberries, mash

them up and apply them on yourteeth for 2 to 3 minutes. Rinse prop-erly after this procedure or you can

even brush your teeth. Strawberriesbeing a rich source of naturalenzyme known as malic acid, helps

i nwhiteningt e e t h ,w h i l ethe fiberfound ins t r a w -ber r i esact as an a t u r a l

c l e a n s e rthat helps in remoivng the bacteriaespecially, from the mouth andteeth.

Munch in the crunchy carrots:The next time you see thosecrunchy carrots, simply wash themwell and eat them raw. Raw carrotsare very beneficial in scrapping offplaque from your teeth and are alsoknown as natural cleaner. Also rub-bing raw carrot sticks on your teethwill brighten them up. They alsokill the bacteria while giving youhealthy gums and whiter teeth.Apart from carrots, apples and cel-ery are also considered equallyimportant sources of teeth whiten-ers. which prevents gum diseaseand gingivitis and kills odor-caus-ing bacteria.

Quit smoking: Surely it is easy tosay than actually doing it and stick-ing to it. But, all said and done,quitting smoking has more benefits.Smoking, yellows your teeth alongwith imparting you with other dead-ly diseases. So if you want to bringback the pearly white shines, quitsmoking.

Use a straw: Sipping anythingextremely hot or cold is not goodfor your teeth. So as far as possibletry sipping your tea or cold coffeethrough a straw as it cuts down thedirect contact of your teeth and hotbeverages.

Home remedies for bright white

The presentB o l l y w o o dh e a r t t h r o b

Ranbir Kapoor isthe latest celebrityto join the band-wagon of celebri-ties on the socialnetworking site,Twitter. Ranbir isquite popularamong the young-sters, basically thegirls and it isindeed a goodnews for hisfans. Hewill nowm a k eh i s

presence felt always in the Twitter worldand fans will be updated about his person-al and professional life.

A twitter handle - @RANBIRKA6000R– was launched Tuesday and soon afteropening the account over 20,000 followersalready followed him. However, there hasbeen no official confirmation as yet.Report is yet to be confirmed whether it istruly handling the account.

The account isn’t verified butreports suggest it is really RKaccount it is said that he hasopened to connect to his fans.On Wednesday, Ranbir will beactive on Twittter and othersocial networking platformsonly for 6 hours on Wednesdayfor his forthcoming film, ‘Roy’.

The Twitter world welcomesRanbir Kapoor. ‘Welcome Ranbir

Kapoor’ is trending on twitter.

RanbirKapoor.Net@RanbirKapoorFC# A reminder that Ranbir will be

online on these 6 platforms only for 6hours tomorrow - Jan 21st starting

around 2pm IST. Just for his fans!

R i d h i m a @ f i e s t a g i r l 1 6 T h eBollywood hunk received a warmwelcome on Twitter and has beentrending with the keyword

‘Welcome Ranbir Kapoor’

Shivangi RK.@iRKapoorGirl #Wonder atthis time tomorrow whatwould our Heart be goingthrough :') Welcome RanbirKapoor

Ranjana?@AngelicRanbir # Iwant Ranbir Kapoor fans asmuch active as today. Guys..

Please be online like this daily. Today is thebest day. Welcome Ranbir Kapoor

There are many celebrities who holdTwitter account. Megastar AmitabhBachchan is very active on Twitter and healways updates his fans about his feelingsrelated to movies and personal life.Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, AamirKhan, Anushka Sharma, DeepikaPadukone and the long list goes on whoholds Twitter account.

Ranbir Kapoor makes Twitter debut

Aclash between actor, Salman Khan anddirector, Kabir Khan has disturbed theentire crew at the set of ‘Bajrangi

Bhaijaan’. The film’s crew is currently inMandawa, Rajasthan shooting for a portion ofthe movie. Kareena Kapoor has been castopposite Salman in this upcoming movie.

The problem started when Salman, who didnot like the dialogues, improvised during theshoot without consulting the director. Thedirector offended by Salman’s behaviourdeleted a scene, without informing the actor.Salman stated, “I feel it is necessary for thedirector and actor to interact on a regularbasis.” He further added, “There should be adiscussion about the scenes and dialoguesbefore shooting the actual scene.”

This is not the first time that this actor-direc-tor duo has disagreed with each other’s opin-

ions. Previously during the shooting of ‘EkTha Tiger’, Salman and Kabir had an argu-ment. Following which, Kabir swore, “I willnever work with Salman again”. This dis-agreement was resolved due to the efforts ofSajid Nadiadwala, a mutual friend.

Initially, seeing this hit duo working togeth-er again, fans specu-lated that asequel of ‘EkTha Tiger’ wasbeing made. Lateron Kabir Khantweeted, “BajrangiBhaijaan is not a sequel of ‘EkTha Tiger’. It is not ‘Ek Tha Tiger2’,with a different name.”

It is now being reported that thetrailer of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ will beattached to Arbaaz Khan’s ‘Dolly KiDoli’. It has not been finalised yet asmost of the movie is yet to be shot.Kabir Khan stated, “It is not a goodmarketing technique as there arealmost six months for its release.”

The shooting of ‘BajrangiBhaijaan’ is not yet over andKabir Khan has already decidedhis next venture. It is a moviebased on the true incidents that

occurred during World War 2.

Salman who has been thehost of reality show ‘BiggBoss’ from the 4th season, quitduring the eighth edition. Hewas unable to manage thedates of both ‘BajrangiBhaijaan’ and ‘Bigg Boss’,

so he gave up the latter. Asa part of this movie

was to be shot inRajasthan, hecould not con-tinue both.

In spite oftheir misun-

ders tand ingsthis duo man-

aged to create ahit like ‘Ek ThaTiger’. Audiences,

especially Salman’sfans are eagerlyawaiting the releaseof ‘BajrangiBhaijaan’ to seewhat magic theycreate this time.This film is all setto release on 17thJuly, 2015.

Salman, Kabir Khan atloggerheads on‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ set

The box office performance of‘PK’ has written a success storyfor itself. However, now claims

are being made by an author that hepenned a novel, which was adaptedinto ‘PK’. ‘PK’ and controversies gohand in hand. First the movie and itsmakers were accused of hurting thesentiments of individuals who practiceHinduism. Now, an author namedKapil Isapuri claims that ‘Farishta’, hisnovel released in 2013 has been usedingeniously to form the basis of ‘PK’.

Kapil Isapuri is a Hindi novelist,who claims that he watched ‘PK’ onthe 1st of January and noticed the bla-tant similarities. He further elaborates,that “primary concepts such as criti-cism of god-men and professions ofreligions are common between‘Farishta’ and PK”. Whether or notthis is just an unfortunate coincidence,or if the movie has actually beenadapted from the novel will soonbecome clear. Since, Kapil Isapuri hasfiled a plea in Delhi High Court withthe assistance of an advocate namedJyotika Kalra. The author desires to be

compensated by the makers of thefilm, namely director Vidhu VinodChopra, producer Raj Kumar Hiraniand scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi. He hasdemanded Rs. 1 crore as compensa-

tion. He also voiced his desire torestrain the makers as they allegedlyplagiarized ‘PK’.

Earlier the initial poster of ‘PK’ hadsparked controversy. After which, a

few political parties targeted the filmand its makers, and wanted screeningto be banned. Ramdev Baba wanted asocial boycott, so that the controversycould be put to an end. Several FIRswere lodged against the makers, whichwere to no avail. The bench thatpassed the judgment admitted thatthere is nothing hurtful about this filmand it does not target any religion.‘PK’ was released and was showcasedthroughout the world. It even went onto break certain records and establishcompletely new ones. Regardless ofthe type of publicity, ‘PK’ continues tobe the center of attention. The claimsmade by this author will be provedright or wrong in due time, but for now‘PK’ has again received free andextensive publicity. Chances are thatits performance at the Box Office willsee more improvement over the nextfew days. Other movies have comeand gone but the grip of ‘PK’ on theaudience has remained steady. Hence,it will be interesting to see what thefuture holds for this Aamir Khan andAnushka Sharma starrer.

‘PK’ plagiarized from ‘Farishta’, claims author

Shahrukh toromance Kajol inRohit Shetty’s nextThe iconic couple of Bollywood,

Shahrukh Khan and Kajol are againcoming together to ablaze the silver

screen. The duo has been reportedly roped into play lead protagonists in 100 crore clubdirector Rohit Shetty. After the super-dupersuccess of ‘Chennai Express’, Shahrukh anRohit again teamed up for yet another block-buster.

The untitled film also stars Varun Dhawan ina parallel role. According to the latest gossip,Rohit is trying to convince Kajol to play thefemale lead. Kajol who was last seen in 'WeAre Family' (2010) was yet to give her nod.The director has apparently approached theactress with the script.

Says an industry insider, "Rohit wants Kajolto make her comeback with his film, whichwill go on the floors soon. He has had manyrounds of discussion with the actress and istrying his best to rope her in the project."

Kajol was supposed to star in RamMadhvani’s film but she opted out due to cre-ative differences. Then there were reports thatshe would star in husband Ajay Devgn's homeproduction but that too seemed to be uncer-tain. Kajol was last opposite Shahrukh Khanfive years back in Karan Johar’s 'My Name isKhan'.

Music maestro Ilaiyaraajawas felicitated at a func-tion here on Monday for

completing the music of his1,000th film. Megastar AmitabhBachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Gulzarunveiled the music of ‘Shamitabh’on the occasion. The event alsosaw a live performance byAmitabh Bachchan and Dhanush.On the occasion, Big B said thathe never dared to sing in front ofIlaiyaraaja.

"I have never dared to sing infront of him because I found itvery embarrassing. Every time I

used to sit in a studio separately torecord... I remember one occasionwhile doing 'Paa', where I had to

sing a song with Raja saab in frontof me. I can't say how frighteningit was," Amitabh Bachchan toldreporters during the music launchof "Shamitabh."

Big B described Ilaiyaraaja as "agenius". "It was amazing how hecorrected me. Thanks for theopportunity."

The 72-year-old also shared hisexperiences on working withIlaiyaraaja with Rajinikanth andKamal Haasan.

Kamal Haasan, who has workedwith Ilaiyaraaja in several films,said, "Raja has become a part of

my life. Today I got the opportuni-ty of hugging him. He is a bit shy.I knew that he would do his1000th film and I am glad that his786th film was with me."

Kamal said that once he hadfaced a problem with the music ofone of his films. "I had shot all thesongs but was not able to usethem. Then I went to Raja. He saidthat I did not need to re-shoot andthat he will dub the music for me."

"He saw the lip sync and mademusic which was totally differentfrom the one I had recorded, andhe made hit songs out of them."

I never dared to sing in front of Ilaiyaraaja, Amitabh Bachchan