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The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, friday, march 11, 2011 postal reg. no. Goa 101 pricE rs. 3.00
Goa’s Heartbeat: Megan Fox not Anorexic, says trainer Pg 4 IN BRIEF Million march turns violent The ‘million march to Hyderabad’ called by Telangana supporters today turned violent with two ruling Congress MPs and mediapersons coming under attack and several statues of Telugu legends being vandalised. Defying prohibitory orders and removing barricades and barbed wire, thousands of Telangana supporters marched to the Tank Bund road here, on the banks of picturesque Hussain Sagar lake, during the massive protest called by the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC). (PTI)
Idea, Etisalat issued notices The government today issued notices to Aditya Birla group company Idea cellular for Punjab circle and new operator Etisalat DB for Delhi and Mumbai for cancelling their 2G licences for missing rollout obligations. “Yes, a notice has been issued to Idea Cellular for Punjab circle,” DoT Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI.
Business: Food inflation at 9.52% after gap of 3 months Pg 12
7 observers named for CCP elections HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MARCH 10
The State government today appointed seven observers for election to Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) to be held on March 13. Vinesh Arlekar, Director of Provedoria has been given charge of wards I-V, Levison Martins, deputy Collector and Sub Divisional Officer, Mormugao will oversee wards VI-X, Director of Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) Salim Veljee will look after wards XI-XV. G Pilarnkar, Director of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs will oversee election in wards XVI-XX, Sidhivinayak Naik, Director Animal Husbandry has been entrusted charge of wards XXI-XXV whereas Prasanna Acharya, Additional Collector (South-I) will be observer for
wards XVI-XXX. W h e re a s R D M o r a j ka r, deputy Collector and SDO, Pernem and Vinayak Volvoikar, Land Acquisition Officer, Public Works Department will remain
Cops urge SEC to postpone counting HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, March 10
Goa Police has urged the State Election Commission to postpone counting of votes in the Corporation of City of Panjim (CCP) election to March 14. In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Dr M M o d a s s i r o n T h u r s d a y, (Continued on page 2)
Dalai Lama to step down
PTI BEIJING, MARCH 10
The Dalai L ama today announced he would step down as political head of Tibetan government-in-exile but will remain as spiritual leader and continue to advocate “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet. The Dalai Lama who has been at the forefront of a six-decadelong struggle for freedom of Tibetans, also said he would hand over his “formal authority” to a
“freely-elected” leader. The Dalai, who will retain the more significant role of Tibet’s spiritual leader, made it clear that he was committed to playing his part for the “just cause” of Tibet. Making the announcement in his speech on the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day here, he said he will formally propose to the Tibetan parliament in-exile on Monday to make necessary amendments to the Charter for Tibetans–in-Exile reflecting his decision to devolve his “formal authority” to an elected leader. “As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power. Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect,” the Dalai, who had escaped to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, told exiled Tibetans at the Main Temple in this hill resort.
posted in head quarters at Junta House. Meanwhile, the State Election Commission (SEC) declared counting of votes will be done on the same day. Dr M Modassir, State Election Commissioner told this paper that special arrangements have been to undertake counting and the results will be displayed on a screen at INOX. This will be the first time elections to CCP will be conducted through EVM (electronic voting machine). The SEC believes due to use of EVMs they are in a position to declare results at the earliest. “Results would be out by 8.30 pm,” Dr Modassir informed. When asked Dr Modassir said there have been no explicit complaints of violation of the Election Code Of Conduct.
Girl commits suicide after being called by police HERALD DREPORTER MARGAO, MARCH 10
A young girl — working as a housemaid — committed suicide at migrant-inhabited Moti Dongor locality on Thursday evening, barely a couple of hours after she was called to the Margao police station for verification in a theft case. The 20-year old girl ended her life by hanging to a rafter inside her house this evening. Her father Fakrudin Shaikh said his daughter was working as a maid in a residential house near the military camp for quite some time. “The house owner came to our place yesterday as my daughter did not report for work. They stated that two gold chains and a bracelet are missing from the house”, he said. Shaikh said he along with wife and daughter went to the owner’s house this morning, after which they all went to the police station for an inquiry. “My (Continued on page 2)
PAC may summon PM’s principal, cabinet secys PTI NEW DELHI, MARCH 10
Fast-tracking its probe into the 2G scam, the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee is likely to call Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director A P Singh as also corporate lobbyist Niira Radia over the next few weeks. The committee, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi, will also call senior journalists whose names figured in the infamous tapes involving politicians, industrialists and journalists besides Editors of ‘Outlook’ and ‘Open’magazines which had published those tapes.
The CBI chief, who had appeared before the PAC on Februar y 15, today met Joshi. Sources said it was a prelude to his possible appearance before the Committee prior to March 31, by when the agency has to
2G SCAM file a charge sheet against A Raja. Both the magazine editors have been called on March 14, sources said here today. The two magazines had recently published transcripts of the taped conversations which purportedly pertained to influencing some persons to ensure that A Raja was made the telecom minister during formation of the UPA-II government in 2009. The committee is likely to
scrutinise the role of the Prime minister’s Office (PMO) in the controversial allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008, which the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said had cost the national exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore in terms of presumptive losses. In this regard, Nair and Chandrasekhar are likely to be called to seek clarifications on the communications between the Finance Ministry, the Department of Telecom and the PMO on the allocation of 2G spectrum. “After listening to the views of the then finance secretary (and now RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao), it is necessary to get the views of the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the PM,” a source said.
Forbes ranks Hu as most powerful PTI NEW YORK, MARCH 10
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who rules over one-fifth of the world’s population, has topped the list of world’s most powerful person while United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been ranked ninth by Forbes magazine. Jintao has been described by the United States magazine as a person who “unlike Western counterparts, can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts.” US President Barack Obama, who last year topped the list, has been placed behind Hu at
second while Saudi King Abdullah stands as third most powerful man in the world. Sonia Gandhi, at ninth place, has been described as a person who wields unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians and “after being elected as Congress president for the record fourth term she has cemented her status as true heiress to the NehruGandhi political dynasty.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been ranked 18th among the world’s top 20 powerful people. Forbes has described Singh as ‘a soft-spoken Oxford-trained economist credited with transforming India’s quasi-socialist economy into the world’s second-fastest growing’.
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Sports: Dilshan powers Lanka into quarters Pg 16
Libyan jets pummel town held by rebels PTI CAIRO, MARCH 10
Libyan jets today pummeled rebel-held Ras Lanuf and took control of oil town of Zawiyah, amid growing global pressure on Muammar Gaddafi to quit as France became the first country to recognise the opposition National Council. A steady volley of mortar and rocket fire rocked Ras Lanuf. “Pro-Gaddafi forces unleashed a savage counter- offensive against the town of Ras Lanuf,” the AlJazeera said. Fresh air strikes and shelling were also reported behind rebel lines in the port city. The fighting raged as rebels piled up pressure on the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. Forces loyal to Gaddafi were locked in fierce battles in several Libyan cities amid reports that the strategic oil town of Zawiyah had been recaptured by government troops.
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat with Congress MP Francisco Sardinha at Parliament House in New Delhi on Thursday during the ongoing Budget session.
Thomas was not cleared in graft case: Kerala govt PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 10
The blame game over the central vigilance commissioner’s appointment fiasco refused to die down today with the Kerala government asserting that it had not cleared P J Thomas in the graft case and wanted to proceed against him. The State government came up with a letter to the Centre written in 2006 that it wanted to go ahead with the graft case against Thomas. The letter, a copy of which was made available to the media, surfaced a day after Chief Minister V S Achuthandan hit back at his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan, who was then incharge of Department of Personnel and Training, for blaming Kerala government for the CVC muddle. In New Delhi, Chavan said his statement was “misquoted and twisted” by the Kerala CM. “All I had stated in my press
conference in Pune was that Thomas was appointed chief secretary by the government of Kerala,” he said. In Pune, Chavan had sought to pass the buck to the Kerala government. He had said DoPT had suggested three names— two retired officers and one serving— for the post of CVC. One of them was chief secretary in a state to be brought to Delhi. “Vigilance clearance is done by the State.” In the October 10, 2006 letter to the secretary to the Union
Department of Personnel and Training, Kerala’s Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Lizzy Jacob had wanted to be treated as withdrawn the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s decision to close the palm oil import corruption case. “I am directed to request the government of India to treat the (State) government letter with the request to withdraw the proposal seeking sanction to prosecute P J Thomas and Jiji Thomson under Prevention of Corruption Act as withdrawn and to accord sanction to prosecute Thomas and Jiji Thomson as requested on December 31, 1999,” the letter said. Achuthanandan had yesterday accused Chavan of “lying” on the issue to “hide” his fault. The case refers to alleged corruption in import of palmolein from Malaysia by the UDF government headed by late K Karunakaran in 1991.
22 killed in China quake At least 22 were killed and hundreds injured when a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck southwest China’s Yunnan province near the border with Myanmar. The earthquake toppled 583 houses at Yingjiang county in the province around noon and left 201 people injured, 33 seriously, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Details on pg 11
That's how our government works! By the time your ransom is being approved, sanctioned, and dispatched it will take years.