AAAASSHHIIMMAA DDOOGGRRAALONDON, OCT. 27

On Monday, October 31,there will be seven billionhumans on the planet. Theworld celebrated the birthof the sixth billionth babyin 1999; it took us just 12years to add a billion more.

Our numbers make us themost successful speciesever, colonising all parts of

the globe, controlling itsresources, making ourpresence felt in outer spaceand even managing to delaydeath.

Resisting temptation toconstruct this dizzyingmental imagery, social sci-entists and demographershave been surveying thechallenges we now face,while attempting to shinelight on an uncertain

future, in a new UN report“State of World Population2011”.

The entire landscape ofthis steep growth curve isconfounded by paradoxes.Rich countries are gettingolder, thanks to droppingfertility rates and worryabout staying rich, whilepoorer developing nationshave high fertility that hin-ders economic growth.

The one thing that is cer-tain is there will be moremouths to feed, especiallyin countries with littleresources. Key energysources are unevenly dis-tributed, with little accessfor the poor. China reignsas the most populous coun-try, but India will surpass itin 2025 with 1.46 billion peo-ple. “India will continue togrow to about 1.7 billion by

2060 before beginning todecline,” the report pre-dicts. A large chunk of theworld’s population is basedin these two nations.India’s registrar generaland census commissionerC. Chandramouli has said:“Now the question is: howthe ‘youth bulge’ is han-dled. What kind of skills doyou give them? How do youmake them into assets?”

7 billion people in the world by MondayBOTTOMLINE

ASTROGUIDE:KKhhaarraa:: Uttarayana

TTiitthhii:: Kartika Sukla Vidiya till6.14 pm

SSttaarr:: Visakha till 3.59 pm

VVaarrjjyyaamm:: 7.37 pm to 9.03 pm

DDuurrmmuuhhuurrttaamm:: 8.30 am to 9.17am & 12.24 pm to 1.11 pm

RRaahhuukkaallaamm:: 10.30 am to 12pm

SUNSET Today 55..4411 ppmm

SUNRISE Tomorrow 66..3300 aamm

MOONRISE Today 99..0099 aamm

MOONSET Tomorrow 66..5522 ppmm

FORECAST: Mainly clear sky

WWiinnddoowwss

WWEEAATTHHEERRMMaaxx:: 30OC MMiinn:: 16OC RRHH:: 40% RRaaiinnffaallll:: Nil

MMuummbbaaii:: Film and tele-vision star Ronit Roywas arrested on chargesof rash and negligentdriving after hisMercedes hit a WagonRcarrying four membersof a family, injuring awoman seriously, insuburban Amboli, thepolice said. Ronit wasgranted bail on a suretyof `12,000. — PTI

! FFuullll rreeppoorrtt oonn PPaaggee 44

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Food infla-tion saw a sharp jump to11.43 per cent for theweek ended October 15led by a steep increasein the prices of vegeta-bles. This is the highestfood inflation figure inthe last six months. Theprices of vegetables areup by 25 per cent ascompared to last year.

! FFuullll rreeppoorrtt oonn PPaaggee 1166

FOOD INFLATIONRISES TO 11.43%

A Nihang performs a stunton the occasion of “FatehDivas” in Amritsar onThursday. — AFP

TV STAR’S MERC HITSCAR, HELD, GETS BAIL

BBrruusssseellss:: Eurozone lead-ers struck a deal withprivate banks and insur-ers on Thursday forthem to accept a 50 percent loss on their Greekgovernment bondsunder a plan to lowerGreece’s debt burdenand try to contain thetwo-year-old euro zonecrisis. — Reuters

! FFuullll rreeppoorrtt oonn PPaaggee 1177

E.U. OKAYS DEAL TOCHECK GREEK DEBT

SSAANNJJAAYY BBAASSAAKKaanndd PPAAWWAANN BBAALLIINEW DELHI, OCT. 27

Finance minister PranabMukherjee indicatedThursday that the ambi-tious Goods and ServicesTax (GST) has become“hostage of contemporaryOpposition politics” in thecountry. While somestates, including TamilNadu, had raised the issueof autonomy at the recentNational DevelopmentCouncil meeting, the fact isthat even the Centre willlose its exclusive right totax services in the pro-posed GST.

In an exclusive interviewto this newspaper, thefinance minister pointed

out that major politicalparties have made a com-mitment to support GST.“The BJP has made a com-mitment to introduce GST.The Left parties have ten-dered support. Now theymust redeem their word,we require their support,”he said. On issues rangingfrom corruption to legisla-tion, the finance minister,tackling all contentiousissues troubling the UPA-2,said: “Well-established andtime-tested institutionsshould not be dismantled,institutions should ratherbe strengthened... Youcan’t create anarchy bydestroying systems andinstitutions.”

On the economy, hepointed out that if one

talked of “autonomy in thecontext of the existing con-stitutional framework,then these aspects shouldbe clearly understood andshould not become a

hostage of contemporaryOpposition politics.Because here it is decidedthat the Centre that hasnow exclusive jurisdictionto impose taxes on ser-vices, will relinquish itsauthority. Similarly, stateswill also have to giveauthority to the Centre toimpose taxes on sales.” Onthe perception of somestates that they might loserevenue, the finance min-ister noted that such fearswere also expressed duringthe introduction of VAT.“But VAT has increasedthe revenue of states anddidn’t cause any loss,” MrMukherjee said.

The GST has alreadymissed two deadlines: 2010-11 and 2011-12. The govern-

ment is now trying to beenforce it from the begin-ning of the next financialyear: April 1, 2012. TheGST is meant to replaceexisting levies such thestate VAT, besides theCentre-imposed exciseduty as well as service tax.

Mr Mukherjee pointedout that all major politicalparties had committedthemselves to supportingGST in their election man-ifestos. “The BJP had madea commitment to introduceGST. The Left parties hadtendered support. But nowthey must redeem theirword, we require their sup-port,” said the financeminister.

Mr Mukherjee noted thatthe government had intro-

duced a ConstitutionAmendment Bill inParliament. It will nowfirst have to come to theLok Sabha, after beingscrutinised by the stand-ing committee.“Thereafter we willrequire the support ofpolitical parties other thanthe ruling party because itrequires a two-thirdsmajority. This is anamendment that willrequire ratification by 50per cent of states.Therefore the players aremany, not merely the rul-ing party,” he said.

! ‘‘AAnnaarrcchhyy iiff iinnssttiittuuttiioonnss,,ssyysstteemmss ddeessttrrooyyeedd’’:: PPaaggee 22

! TTeexxtt ooff iinntteerrvviieeww oonn SSuunnddaayy

Pranab: Opp. holding GST hostage

McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button of Britain drives an autorickshaw on Thursday, ahead ofSunday’s Formula One Grand Prix of India at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida. — AP! RReeppoorrttss oonn PPaaggee 1188 && 2200

F1 METERIS TICKING

AAGGEE CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTNEW DELHI, OCT. 27

AICC general secretaryDigvijay Singh onThursday claimed theactivities of the anti-graftcrusaders were part of alarger RSS-BJP design todivert attention fromSangh’s “terror links”. Healso warned spiritual guruSri Sri Ravishankar thathe too could be manipulat-ed by them, as was the casewith Anna Hazare andyoga guru Ramdev.

Mr Singh said that whileRamdev and Mr Hazarewere Plans A and B of theSangh/BJP, Sri SriRavishankar is Plan C andasked the spiritual guru tobe “wary” of the two organ-isations. The commentappeared on Twitter wherehe said, “Plan A, B and Care of Sangh/BJP to divertthe minds of the peoplefrom their involvement interror activities to corrup-tion.” Later, Mr Singhexplained his “twittedremarks”, saying, “Plan Aof this overall scheme hasbeen Baba Ramdev, B isAnna and C is Sri SriRavishankar.”

However, in another poston Twitter, he said: “I holdSri Ravi Shankarji in highesteem and have done acourse in the Art of Livingas CM MP in 2001. Heshould be wary of Sangh/BJP.” Reacting, Sri SriRavishankar said, “Peoplewrite so many things. I donot react to every com-ment. Everybody is enti-tled to his views.”

The BJP claimed MrSingh was attempting to“demonise” all those fight-ing corruption. “I compli-ment Digvijay Singh forhis important plan ofalmost shameless way (sic)of demonising all thosewho are fighting againstcorruption. Good luck tohim,” the BJP’s RaviShankar Prasad said.

DIGGY CAUTIONSSRI SRI ONSANGH’S PLAN C

EXCLUSIVE

YYOOSSHHIITTAA SSIINNGGHHNEW YORK, OCT. 27

Rajat Gupta, an iconicfigure in the Americancorporate sector whowas arrested oncharges of passinginsider information tohis friend RajRajaratnam, wasreleased Thursday onbail on a $10 millionbond after he pleadednot guilty to offencesthat could keep him injail for life.

The 62-year-oldIndian-American, whohas sat on the board oftop US companies likeGoldman Sachs andProcter and Gamble,was indicted in themassive insider trad-ing scandal that hasrocked Wall Street. Thenot-guilty plea wasfiled at his arraign-ment at a US federaldistrict court here.

He is charged withone count of conspira-cy to commit securitiesfraud and five counts ofsecurities fraud. Hefaces a maximumpenalty of five years inprison on the conspira-

cy charge and 20 yearsin prison on each of thesecurities fraudcharges. If foundguilty, he faces a cumu-lative jail term of 105years.

Gupta surrenderedbefore the FBIWednesday. He wasaccused of sharing con-fidential informationabout investments atGoldman Sachs withbillionaire hedge fundmanager RajRajaratnam, the SriLankan-born founderof the Galleon Group,already in jail for 11years in America’sbiggest insider tradingscam.

US prosecutor PreetBharara said Guptabroke the trust of someof America’s top com-panies and “becamethe illegal eyes andears in the boardroomfor his friend and busi-ness associate RajRajaratnam, whoreaped enormous prof-its from Mr Gupta’sbreach of duty.” — PTI

! AA ssttuunnnniinngg ffaallll ffoorr aa ssttaarr eexxeeccuuttiivvee:: PPaaggee 1166

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, OOcctt.. 2277::India’s richest are los-ing wealth due to infla-tion and corruptionscandals, according toForbes magazine,which says that thecombined wealth of thecountry’s 100 wealthi-est is down 20 per centfrom a year ago.

According to Forbes’annual India Rich List,the total wealth of thecountry’s 100 richesthas fallen to $241 bil-lion, down by 20 percent or an estimated$60 billion. The num-

ber of billionaires hasalso fallen by a dozen to57 currently, Forbessaid, adding thatfalling stock and cur-rency prices also led todiminishing of theirwealth. MukeshAmbani, RelianceIndustries Group head,has retained his posi-tion as the richestIndian with a net worthof $22.6 billion, thoughhis wealth declined by$4.4 billion in the pastone year. — PTI

! MMoorree oonn PPaaggee 1166

Inflation & graftcost India’s richest

Rajat pleadsnot guilty, outon $10m bail

AAGGEE CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTKOLKATA, OCT. 27

With one more child dyingThursday, the number ofcrib deaths at Kolkata’s DrB.C. Roy MemorialHospital for Children in thepast 48 hours rose to 13. Thehospital authorities, how-ever, claimed the deaths ofso many babies in such ashort span of time was notabnormal.

“After criticallyanalysing the cases, wefound they were under-weight and most were suf-fering from infection andcongenital heart diseases.To you the number (ofdeaths) might seem abnor-mal, but for the hospital(these) were not unexpect-ed,” Dr Dilip Kumar Pal,the hospital superinten-dent, said.

Rattled by the furore overthe deaths, the West Bengalhealth department set up afour-member inquiry panelwhich was directed to sub-mit its report by Thursday

evening.This report gave the hos-

pital a clean chit, sayingthere was no negligence bydoctors and other hospitalstaff. The committee foundthat most babies who haddied were brought there inan extremely critical condi-tion.

Echoing the superinten-dent’s views, the reportalso said the babies wereunderweight and were suf-fering from septicaemiaand heart diseases. Thelong journey from differentdistricts to this Kolkatahospital had also taken itstoll on the babies’ delicatehealth, the report suggest-ed. The hospital superin-tendent said he would lookinto complaints of misbe-haviour by some hospitalstaffers.

In late July, nearly 20babies had died in the samehospital within 48 hours,triggering angry protests.Then too an inquiry hadeventually absolved thehospital of blame.

13 infants die inKolkata hospital

PPrraannaabb MMuukkhheerrjjeeee

http://www.asianage.com Vol. 18 No. 253 || 36 PAGES || `5.00

Will HarbhajanSingh make the cutfor Test berth?

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WWEESSTT AASSIIAA YYeemmeenn

NEW DELHI FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 2011

Kejriwal seeks moretime to pay over `9 lakhs in dues

NNAATTIIOONN || II--TT nnoottiiccee

20 killedas Salehsays he isready toresign

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