In Raj, babus ready to strike; await AkhileshDNA Correspondent JAipur

The Samta Andolan Samiti, which has been protesting against reservation in pro-motions, has called upon all general category employees to boycott work in govern-ment offices across state on December 17. With BJP and Congress failing to help its cause, the Samta is now threatening to align with Samajwadi Party.

Meanwhile, terming the proposed legislation on SC/ST quota in promotion as anti-national, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party would review its stand on the support to UPA, if the Bill is passed. “If voting is done on the Bill in the House, I will reconsider my party’s support to the gov-ernment.... ,” he told report-ers in Mainpuri.

Related RepoRt, p3

Chidu comes to state, checks out aadhaar of UPA poll moveAlwar: Expressing satisfaction over progress in implementation of Aadhaar card-based cash transfer scheme, finance minister P Chidambaram on Sat-urday said it would help elimi-nate middlemen and ensure that government aid directly reaches the intended beneficiaries.

Chidambaram was in Alwar to monitor the scheme’s pilot proj-ect in Kotkasim village even though there were reports of difficulty in cash subsidy transfer for Kerosene beneficiaries. The cash transfer scheme is scheduled for rollout in 43 districts

from January 1.While addressing a gathering of gov-

ernment officials and representatives from various banks in Alwar, he stressed upon the crucial role Aadhaar cards, which contain the unique ID of holders, were going to play in the successful imple-mentation of the scheme. He also asked banks to open as many new accounts as were needed to make

the scheme far-reaching in its impact.The finance minister, who was accom-

panied by Alwar MP and minister of state for defence, tuRn to p15

Chidambaram

irregulAr Manjul

Looks like an American flag to me

uS MourNS for itS ChiLDreN, the viCtiMS of oNe of itS DeADLieSt ShootiNgS

Newtown, Connecticut: The massacre of 28 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the US state of Connecticut elicited horror around the world even as it raised questions about why the gunman, a 20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, would have been driven to such a crime. Investigators were trying to learn more about the gunman, Adam Lanza, who shot himself at the massacre site.

On Friday morning, Lanza

shot his mother, Nancy and drove to the school in her car. Nancy is believed to have been a substitute teacher there.

The school has a security system on its doors and visitors cannot enter with-out a card. But reports say the principal Dawn Hoch-

sprung buzzed Lanza in be-cause she recognized him. Lanza went on to shoot up two classrooms at around 9.30am. When gunshots broke out, Hochsprung went to investigate and was shot dead.

A custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gun-man, and someone switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear the chaos in the school office, a teacher said. Teachers locked their doors and ordered tuRn to p15

Our hearts are broken: Obama

(l) uS prez Barack Obama cries during a press briefing; (r) People comfort each other after the shooting at school

—reuters

Cong leader blasts govtLodha accuses CM of ordering cops to fire in GopalgarhDNA Correspondent JAipur

Former Congress MLA Sanyam Lodha, at a meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee in Jaipur on Saturday, hurled several charges at the government stunning the listeners, among them chief minister Ashok Gehlot and party general secretary Mukul Wasnik.

Lodha, who was till recently part of Gehlot’s core team, silenced the gathering with a string of serious allegations and even accused Gehlot of ordering the police to open fire in Gopalgarh last year. Police firing had led to the death of 10 residents in area. Lodha even ex-horted Wasnik to inform party president So-nia Gandhi of the state of affairs in Rajasthan. He also alleged that the government is spend-ing tax-payers’ money on defending those who were illegally given the Jal Mahal project.

Even Mayor Jyoti Khandelwal accused the Gandhian government of ordering her arrest for protesting at Gandhi circle. Jaipur MP Ma-hesh Joshi confronted Lodha and asked him to get off the stage. PCC chief Chandrabhan later dismissed the allegations levelled by Lodha. He said that Gehlot wasn’t informed on firing in Gopalgarh. Full RepoRt, p3

Police opened fire on gopalgarh

victims after getting approval from the chief minister...govt did not quash raje’s decision to hand over Jal Mahal to a private party —Sanyam Lodha, former Congress MLA

The chief minister was not informed

on the firing episode in gopalgarh and did not order police to open fire. The allegations levelled by the former legislator are baseless —Chandrabhan, pCC chief

Islamabad: Pakistan batting con-sultant Inzamam-ul-Haq advised his batsmen to play positively when the limited-overs series against arch-rivals India starts later this month and predicts the team that handles the pressure better will emerge the winner.

The former Pakistan captain will spend a week with the players at the training camp in Lahore before the team leaves for India on December 22. “Whosoever plays aggressive cricket against India will perform better,” Inzamam said.

Pakistan are scheduled to play two Twenty20s and three one-day internationals when the series begins at Bangalore on December 25.

The PCB has appointed Inza-mam on a series to series basis to share his vast knowledge with the team. “My effort is to pass on my playing experience to the players and I hope it will be helpful for them when they play against India,” he said. “Our players have played a lot against India and it’s only about how to handle the pres-sure. Whosoever handles it well, he will play better. I will

be discussing with the players how to chase, how to set the target and what’s required from the batsmen.”

Inzamam agreed Pakistan bats-men lacked in temperament — espe-cially while chasing during interna-tional matches. But he blamed the proliferation of Twenty20 interna-tionals for Pakistan batsmen’s inabil-ity to stay longer at the wicket. “In Twenty20, you need to score. There’s not much involvement of technique in it; you have to score on good balls, too,” he said. “If we start playing 10-12 Test matches every year, you will see improvement in our batting.” —AP

Inzy’s gyaan for Pakistan: Just be aggressive against India

End of...According to the belief, the Mayan calendar, which moves in cycles would be completing its cycle 5,125-year cycle known as the Long Count on December 21, 2012.

This has triggered theories of an apocalypse that would end the world as we know it. Theories about how the world would meet its end have ranged from the ap-pearance of a rogue planet called Nibiru that would sideswipe Earth to a European physics experiment spawning a world-gobbling black hole.

According to one theory, a ‘polar shift’, which means a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles, would bring the world’s end. Scientists believe that the Earth is overdue for a geomagnetic rever-sal. However this can take up to 5,000 years to complete and does not start on any particular date.

Indigenous experts scoff at the faulty and sensational misread-ings of the Mayan calendars.

“The Mayans had a cyclical con-cept of time, not one that ever fo-cused on the end of the world,” Mexican archaeologist Jose Rome-ro told AFP.

Even NASA scientists, who have been analysing the possibility of Earth ending in 2012, conclude that 21st December 2012 it will be nothing more than a normal “De-cember Solstice”. The NASA has even come out with a one-hour video on YouTube junking the doomsday theory and urging peo-ple not to fall for it.

In spite of these claims, frenzied people are booking one-way flights to destinations they believe are devastation-safe.

In the Russian city of Tomsk, for

example, a company is selling an “Apocalypse kit” that includes food and medicine with a bottle of vodka -- or tequila if the customer prefers.

In the French Pyrenees, author-ities have temporarily closed ac-cess to a mountain in the south-west of the country to avoid peo-ple from mobbing the site hoping to board an alien spaceship to flee from apocalypse.

Indigenous leaders in Mexico, critical of the way the date is being commercialized, have convened a Mayan Peoples Council to focus more on the cultural significance of the new era.

“Like native cultures through-out the world, we want to main-tain our cultural identity and pre-serve our ways of speaking, think-ing and seeing the cosmos,” said Mary Coba, a tribal council repre-sentative.

“Above all, we want to realize the possibility that, wherever we live, we are respected, and live free of discrimination, violence and poverty,” he said. —Agencies

Quota row...

The UPA has just over 250 MPs in the Lok Sabha after the TMC with-drew support from the govern-ment. The UPA is provided crucial support from outside by 21 MPs of the Samajwadi Party and 22 MPs of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party, which is batting for the quota bill. –PTI

In Raj...

president Samta Andolan Samiti said.

With BJP and Congress failing to help its cause, the Samta is now

threatening to align with Sama-jwadi Party. “Our support for the party will be visible in UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s rally in state,” Sharma said.

Chidu comes...

Jitendra Singh, was shown black handkerchiefs as mark of protest by ABVP members. The incidence took place some 30 km away from Alwar district.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the FICCI meet in New Delhi today that the drive is to transfer government benefits directly to the bank ac-counts of individual beneficiaries through Direct Cash Transfers scheme.

“The government is rolling out Aadhaar based services rapidly so that benefits like scholarships for students, pensions for the aged, health benefits, MNREGA wages and many other benefits are trans-ferred directly into bank accounts using Aadhaar as a bridge,” Singh said.

“This will reduce leakages, cut down corruption, eliminate mid-dlemen, target beneficiaries better and speed up transfer of benefits to eligible individuals. It will, at one go, bring in crores of people into our banking system and mainstream them into our econo-

my,” Singh added. —PTI

‘Our hearts...

children to huddle in a corner or hide in closets as shots echoed through the building.

US president Barack Obama’s comments on the tragedy were one of the most outwardly emo-tional moments of his presidency. “Our hearts are broken... The ma-jority of those who died were chil-dren — beautiful little kids be-tween the ages of five and ten years old,” Obama said Friday at a White House news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure and wiped a tear. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.

Reports say the gunman was armed with a Sig Sauer and a Glock, both handguns, and that police also found at the scene a Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine rifle. Lanza’s brother, Ryan, was initially suspected to be the gunman but has since been cleared. However, he is still being questioned. The mass shooting is one of the deadli-est in US history and is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 peo-ple dead. Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disor-der and lived with his mother, said an official. —Agencies

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JAIPur | SundAy, december 16, 2012www.dnaindia.com | epaper.dnaindia.com15

Inzamam-ul-Haq giving throwdowns at a net session in Lahore on Saturday —AFP

Tare, sharma drIve mumbaIrajkot: Riding on an unbeaten century by Aditya Tare and a couple of half-century knocks, Mumbai reached a massive 306 for two against Saurashtra at the end of the first day’s play of their Ranji Trophy Group A match on Saturday.

At stumps, Tare was not out on 122 and giving him company at the other end was Rohit Sharma on 72.

Electing to bat, Mumbai got off to a fabulous start with opening partnership between Wasim Jaffer and Tare yielding 135 runs. Jaffer was the first one to depart when Saurya Sanandiya provided

Saurashtra the breakthrough. He scored a fine 79 off 116 balls, stud-ded with 11 fours and a six.

After his departure, Tare contin-ued in the company of Ajinkya Rahane (24) before the latter’s stay at the crease was cut short by Kamlesh Makvana. Thereafter, Saurashtra bowlers toiled hard but the visitors held fort to deny them any more wickets on the day.

When stumps were drawn, Tare had already spent 369 minutes in the middle, facing 262 balls, and hit 18 boundaries and a six. Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 72 off

110 balls, laced with seven fours and three sixes. —PTI

ScorecardMumbai 1st innings: W Jaffer c & b S Sanandiya 79, A Tare batting 122, A rahane c S Jogiyani b K makvana 24, r Sharma batting 72Extras: (b3, Lb6) 9 Total: (2 wickets; 90 overs) 306 (3.40 runs per over) Fall of wickets: 1-135 (W Jaffer, 39.5 ov), 2-198 (A rahane, 58.1 ov)Bowling: J unadkat 17-3-55-0, S Sanandiya 15.4-3-56-1, S Trivedi 12-4-31-0, n doshi 28-3-86-0, K makvana 15-2-68-1, S Kotak 2.2-1-1-0

Wk-batsman hits 122 (n.o.) to help visitors post 306/2 against Saurashtra on Day 1