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Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08RNI No. 1001/57

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ISSN 0971 - 751XVol. 134 No. 78

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SELF-REGULATIONBETTER: MOILYREPORT ON 13; SEE EDITORIAL

CHAMINDA VAASRECALLED MAIN SPORTS PAGE

BRIEFLY

FRIDAY REVIEW— 4 PagesSUDOKU— Sports Page

Charge sheet againstAseemanandJAIPUR: The RajasthanAnti-Terrorism Squad willfile a charge sheet in theAjmer Dargah blast caseon April 8 against right-wing activist SwamiAseemanand, who hasmoved a court to withdrawhis application to turn awitness. Aseemanand,who has made aconfessional statement onhis role in blasts, had filedan application in the courtof CJM, Ajmer, onTuesday.

LIBYA MINISTER DEFECTS PAGE 15

‘VINDICTIVE POLITICS’PAGE 5

CHENNAI: The Dow ChemicalCompany, an American mul-tinational that bought the in-famous Union Carbide,appointed a public relationsmanager recommended by aShiv Sena parliamentarian ata generous monthly salary of$20,000. This was done in thehope that it would put an endto the protests the politicianwas spearheading against itsproposed research facility inPune.

Over in Gujarat, the com-pany had to put on hold a pro-posed investment by itsEuropean arm in a state-own-ed unit because a Union Min-ister allegedly “demanded alarge sum of money” to clearthe project, which Dow re-fused to pay.

These allegations are con-tained in a confidential Mum-bai Consulate cable sent tothe U.S. State Department inlate-2008 and accessed byThe Hindu throughWikiLeaks.

Asked by The Hindu to re-spond, the two politicians,Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Ad-halrao Patil and Ram VilasPaswan, at the time the UnionChemicals and FertilisersMinister, denied the allega-tions as totally baseless. At-

tacking Dow and UnionCarbide as “criminals in mymind,” Mr. Paswan assertedthat they were trying to tar-nish his image because he andhis Ministry “strongly op-posed their plans to establisha presence” in Gujarat evenwhile “the case of remedia-tion costs for the Bhopal di-saster” remained unresolved.

The cable was sent underthe name of Consul-GeneralPaul A. Folmsbee (173725:confidential, October 15,2008) after Consulate offi-cials reported they had hearddetailed separate versions ofDow’s troubles from compa-ny representatives and theShiv Sena MP, Shivajirao Ad-halrao Patil.

The cable drew an outline

of politicians seeking to ex-ploit Dow’s handicap in India– arising from its associationwith Union Carbide and thelegacy of the 1984 Bhopal gasleak disaster – for direct orindirect personal benefit. Buteven where politicians andgovernment functionarieswere reassuring or sympa-thetic, when crunch-timecame, they were of no help.

As for Dow, the MumbaiConsulate concluded it didnot have the nous to grasp thepolitical implications of beingassociated with Union Car-bide and the legacy of theBhopal gas disaster, especial-ly with the 2009 parliamen-tary elections just monthsaway.

Dow’s Pune facility was tocome up on 100 acres of graz-ing land in Chakan, Shindevillage. Just a day before theMaharashtra government or-dered a temporary halt to theconstruction at the site onSeptember 26, 2008, and ap-pointed a commission to in-quire into the complaintsagainst it, the Consul Generalhad met Mr. Patil, the ShivSena MP from Shirur in Punedistrict, to talk about the pro-tests against Dow.

Sops for chemicals?The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai reports on the manoeuvres ofthe Dow Chemical Company to get its plants cleared, and thecontradictory responses of powerful politicians Sarah Hiddleston andNirupama Subramanian

Continued in Op-Ed Page; Cables at www.thehindu.com

NEW DELHI: Payments throughcheques may become costlierfrom Friday as the RBI hasallowed banks to levy morefor clearing.

As per a RBI circular,banks will be free to fix ser-vice charges on speed clear-ing of cheques of value aboveRs 1 lakh. At present, RBIdoes not allow banks tocharge more than Rs 150 percheque for speed clearing ofcheques worth over Rs 1 lakh,while there are no chargesfor value up to Rs 1 lakh.

Chequepayments to get costlier

NEW DELHI: India’s populationhas jumped to 1.21 billion, anincrease of more than 181 mil-lion during 2001-11, accord-ing to provisional data ofCensus 2011 released onThursday.

Though the population isalmost equal to the combinedpopulation of the U.S., Indo-nesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Ban-gladesh and Japan (1,214.3million), the silver lining isthat after 1911-21 the pastdecade (2001-11) witnessedthe addition of smaller pop-ulation than the previousdecade’s growth.

Of the total provisionalpopulation of 1,210.2 million,the number of males stood at623.7 million and females at586.5 million. The percentagegrowth in 2001-11 was 17.64 —males 17.19 and females 18.12.India’s population accountsfor 17.5 per cent of theworld’s.

Registrar-General andCensus Commissioner of In-dia C. Chandramouli releasedthe provisional data here, inthe presence of Union HomeSecretary G.K. Pillai. “Provi-sional population is arrived atby adding the population asreported by each enumerator,and the final population datais likely to be released nextyear,” Dr. Chandramouli toldjournalists.

Among the States and theUnion Territories, Uttar Pra-desh is the most populousState with 199 million people,followed by Maharashtrawith 112 million people.Lakshadweep is the least pop-ulated at 64,429 people.

The percentage decadalgrowth rates of the six mostpopulous States have de-clined during 2001-11 com-pared with 1991-2001. Thepopulation growth in UttarPradesh has declined from25.85 per cent to 20.09 percent, in Maharashtra from22.73 per cent to 15.99 per

cent, Bihar from 28.62 percent to 25.07 per cent, WestBengal from 17.77 per cent to13.93 per cent, Andhra Pra-desh from 14.59 per cent to11.10 per cent and MadhyaPradesh from 24.26 per centto 20.30 per cent. “This showsthat we have added popula-tion, but the growth [rate] hasbeen less,” Dr. Chandramoulisaid.

The overall sex ratio na-tionwide has increased byseven percentage points to940 against 933 in Census2001. Sex ratio is defined asthe number of females per1,000 males. An increase insex ratio was observed in 29States/Union Territories.Kerala with 1,084 has thehighest sex ratio followed byPuducherry with 1,038. With618, Daman and Diu has thelowest ratio.

“This is the highest sex ra-tio at the national level sinceCensus 1971 and a shade low-er than 1961. Three majorStates — Jammu and Kash-mir, Bihar and Gujarat — haveshown a decline in sex ratio ascompared to Census 2001,”Dr. Chandramouli said. In-dia’s skewed sex ratio due tofemale foeticide and selectivesex determination has been acause for concern.

However, the area of graveconcern, Dr. Chandramoulisaid, remained the lowest ev-er child sex ratio of 914. Theprovisional data showed thatthe child sex ratio [0 to 6years] came down to 914 fe-males per 1,000 males against927 in Census 2001. Itshowed a continuing prefer-ence for male children in thelast decade.

An increasing trend in the

child sex ratio was seen inPunjab, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Na-du, Mizoram and the Anda-man and Nicobar Islands, butin the remaining States/UTs,the ratio showed a decline.While the overall sex ratio hasimproved since 1991, the de-cline in child sex ratio hasbeen unabated since the1961Census. The total num-ber of children in the agegroup of 0-6 is now 158.8 mil-lion, less by five million since2001.

Literacy rate upThe literacy rate has gone

up from 64.83 per cent in2001 to 74.04 per cent, an in-crease of 9.21 percentagepoints.

Census 2011 puts India’spopulation at 1.21 billion Rise of 181 million in 10 years; decline in child sex ratio Vinay Kumar

More reports on Page 12

Judicial custody ofRaja extendedNEW DELHI: The judicialcustody of the formerTelecom Minister, A. Raja,and three others, arrestedfor their alleged role in the2G spectrum scam, wasextended by a Delhi courton Thursday till April 2.The CBI plans to file itsfirst charge sheet that day. Page 9

MUMBAI: A 5,000-strong forceof the Maharashtra police andofficers of specialised securi-ty agencies will be stationedat Mumbai’s Wankhede Sta-dium for the ICC cricketWorld Cup final on Saturday.

Already the area aroundthe stadium, with the sea onone side, has turned into afortress, bolstered with strin-gent measures for the coastand air space.

“Preparations of the policeare complete. Senior policeofficers from Maharashtrahave been deployed on a largescale. Around 3,000 policepersonnel will be stationedhere as part of the securityarrangements. The policehave done comprehensiveplanning for a strict bando-bast. The Police Commission-er himself has taken theinitiative to keep the specta-tors safe during the game,”Home Minister R.R. Patil toldjournalists after reviewingthe arrangements at the sta-

dium on Thursday. Mumbai Police Commis-

sioner Arup Patnaik also tookstock of the measures.

In addition to the Maha-rashtra police, battalions of

the National Security Guard,the Rapid Action Force andthe Central Industrial Securi-ty Force have been pressedinto service.

The State has declared a lo-

cal holiday for Mumbai andits suburbs.

However, exams will beheld on schedule. Mr. Patilappealed to the people tocooperate with the security

agencies. “Security measures may

cause a certain amount of in-convenience. All tickets havebeen sold. Those who do nothave tickets should not crowdaround unnecessarily. Thepolice are likely to prohibitpeople from standing outsidethe stadium premises,” Mr.Patil said.

No-fly zoneHe said the State govern-

ment’s request to the Centreto declare south Mumbai a no-fly zone had been%granted.

“The Navy in conjunctionwith the Coast Guard, marinepolice and other players ofthe coastal security networkhas heightened its state ofalert and its ships and aircraftare on continuous patrol offthe coasts of Gujarat andMaharashtra,” a defencepress released said.

Since early March, securityalong the west coast had beenstepped up in the run-up tothe final.

5,000 policemen deployed for World Cup final Staff Reporter

READY FOR BATTLE: Security forces wait for their special passes at theWankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. PHOTO: PAUL NORONHA