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Sports: India must start well in T20 WC Pg 18
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Business: Govt eyes Rs 500 b from spectrum auctions Pg 12
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Goa’s Heartbeat: Shekhar’s next venture with Julia Roberts Pg 14
I have worked for 5 yrs, give IPL: Pawar, Patel on sticky wicket me 5 days: Modi to BCCI Oppn for JPC probe PM to decide l
PTI MUMBAI, APRIL 23
Facing the heat of intense probe and virtually isolated, embattled IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi today appears to have dropped plans to move court against the Monday meeting of the Governing Council and pleaded for time to answer questions. After contending that the Monday meeting of the IPL’s Governing Council was illegal and that only he had the power to convene it, Modi wrote to the top brass of BCCI pleading for five days time for such a meeting in which he will answer all questions. “I have worked for you for five years... Give me just five days to prepare answers to all the questions,” Modi communicated to BCCI, sources close to him said. At the same time, they said that Modi is not going to Courts to challenge the governing council meeting on April 26 and he is just requesting for more time. Modi is believed to have argued that the IPL final would be played on April 25 and hence he would not have time to pre-
ModI PIPInG down I am not going to courts to challenge the Governing Council meeting on April 26 and is just requesting for more time. l
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The IPL final would be played on April 25 and hence I will not have time to prepare fo r t h e G ov e r n i n g Council meeting the next day. I need to prepare documents to support my replies... consider my request inorder to furnish the documents.
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(According to sources quoting Modi’s communiqué to BCCI)
pare for the Governing Council meeting the next day. “I need to prepare the documents to support my replies to all the questions... I have worked for you (BCCI) for five long years
without taking any money... consider giving me just five days for the documents,” his communication said. The fact that he was increasingly getting isolated in the
Cricket Board was apparent when BCCI President Shashank Manohar, Secretary N Srinivasan and IPL Vice-Chairman Niranjan Shah chose to keep away from the Awards function being steered by Modi. Sunil Gavaskar was the only Governing Council member who was present at the Awards Night, to honour the best-performing players in the IPL. The BCCI had already made it clear that it would go ahead with the meeting and may even remove him from the Commissioner’s post. Another Governing Council member Rajiv Shukla gave enough hints that Modi should quit. “Wisdom should prevail upon him,” he said when asked whether Modi should quit. Shukla, who briefed Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier in the day, asserted that the Governing Council will meet on April 26 as scheduled. Modi’s fate hangs in balance as the Governing Council is expected to discuss the IPL controversy amid allegations that “betting and money-laundering” had taken place.
CRZ CHEER FOR GOA HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, APRIL 23
There’s good news for Goa’s traditional fishing community and also for the Greens who have been trying to protect sand dunes, khazan lands and turtle nesting sites in Goa. (Related report on page 2) In what can be considered as a major development, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has given special consideration to Goa along with Sunderbans, Kerala, Greater and Navi Mumbai and other ecologically sensitive areas, in the predraf t amendments to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 1990.This will be called as draft CRZ Amendment Notification of 2010. Jairam Ramesh-headed MoEF, in the pre-draft amendment, has suggested extraordinary protection to the structures of traditional fishermen. “Reconstruction, repair works of structures of local communities shall be permissible in coastal regulation zone,” the pre-draft, which has given special consideration to Goa, reads. Goa’s Environment Minister Aleixo Sequiera releasing the
Ore: No order on China ban, says CM HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, APRIL 23
Recent reports that China had banned import of low grade iron ore had the Goa mining industry worried. But it looks like it is not going to affect Goa and mining companies here will continue with their business. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat today said that the State Government has not received any order from anywhere on the ban of low grade iron ore into China. “I have not received any order from anywhere which talks of China banning low grade ore”, Kamat told reporters this evening. The chief minister’s statement came amidst apprehensions raised by the exporters that such a move would severely (Continued on page 10)
Pre-draft suggests… Extraordinary protection to structures of traditional fishermen No commercial activity on sand dunes Protection for Khazan land Morjim, Galgibag, Agonda beaches as turtle nesting sites notings in the pre-draft to the press today said that the document is likely to be a major relief to the fishing community, whose structures were under cloud due to high court order. However, he declined to say how many houses will be saved from being demolished. “At this stage I can’t say anything as this is just a pre draft”, Sequeira clar-
ified. The draft, which was released on the website www.moef.nic.in last night, reads that Government of Goa shall survey and map the fishing villages all along the Goa coast. Facilities required for the fishing and fishery allied activities such as traditional fish processing yards, boat building, repair yards, net mending yard,
ice plants, ice storage, auction hall, jetties would be provided in it. The Union ministry has also said that the eco sensitive low lying areas which are influenced by tidal action known as khazan lands shall be mapped. “The mangroves along such khazan land shall be protected and a management plan for the Khazan land be prepared”, it has said. Significantly, the ministry has banned any development in the khazan land. Incidentally, this comes in the wake of usage of khazan land, in connivance with the powers that be, for construction purpose. SAND DUNES: The minister informed that the sand dunes, beach stretches along the bays and creeks will be surveyed and mapped. “No commercial activities shall be permitted on such sand dune areas”, the draft reads. NESTING SITES: The draft also mentions that Morjim, Galgibag and Agonda beaches have been designated as turtle nesting sites and protected under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. (Continued on page 10)
PTI NEW DELHI, APRIL 23
Union Ministers Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel today came in the line of fire with Opposition making a strong demand for constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the financial wrong-doings in IPL, a decision on which has been left to Prime Minister. Parliament business was disrupted with the Opposition leaders demanding that only a JPC probe will have credibility as there were allegations of involvement of two ministers in the controversy. While leaders attacked the two Ministers without taking their names, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha demanded outside Parliament their resignation in the interest of impartial probe. But his own party leaders did not appear to share his enthusiasm on the resignation issue. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned after lunch without transacting any business with BJP members insisting on a JPC probe.
Pakistan may let surrogate Taliban use its nuclear weapons to do its “dirty work” against India in the event of escalation of tension between the two South Asian neighbours over Kashmir, a top US non-proliferation expert has suggested. Bob Graham, head of US Commission on the Prevention of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) proliferation and terrorism painted such a scenario at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on nuclear terrorism. “If something broke out in Kashmir that reignited the vitriol between India and Pakistan, that could be an incident that could cause someone to make the decision”, he warned. “(The Pakistanis may say) We don’t want to use these weapons, but we’re going to let
our surrogate Taliban have access to these weapons and they’ll do our dirty work”, he said. “I think one of our recommendations was to work with India and Pakistan to develop some fail-safe procedures”, Graham said responding to questions from lawmakers concerned
about the safety and security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan. Although during the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union were strong adversaries and had the capability of destroying each other, “we understood that we didn’t want to allow a mis-step or an accidental event to become the ignition for such a
Patel
Phone tapping row hits Govt PTI NEW DELHI, APRIL 23
The phones of some prominent political leaders including Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Digvijay Singh have been tapped, prominent English news weekly has claimed. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat have also been tapped by National Technical Research Organisation, an intelligence agency created in the aftermath of the Kargil war to cover all aspects of technical intelligence gathering, Outlook magazine said in its latest issue. While the phones of Singh and Kumar were tapped in 2007 and that of Karat in 2008 at the height of his opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal leading to the no -confidence motion against the Government, the telephone of Pawar was tapped and taped last fortnight in the wake of the scandal in the IPL. “Discussions between the minister and IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi were tapped and taped last fortnight in the wake of the scandal in the cricket league. “The recorded conversations allegedly threw up inside details
Pak may let Taliban nuke India: US panel AGENCIES WASHINGTON, APRIL 23
Pawar
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj raked up the issue saying it was getting “more serious by the day” and demanded a JPC probe to save the dignity of the House and to throw light on the issue. CPI leader in Lok Sabha described it as the “most serious fraud unparallelled in the history of independent India”. He held that “unpardonable violation of law has taken place for the last two years under the nose of the Government. The two ministers, who belong to NCP, an important ally of the Congress at the Centre and in Maharashtra, were targeted in both the Houses but their names were not taken. The Opposition members described the alleged financial wrongdoings in the IPL as a huge
scam and wanted to know “how many more Tharoors were there”. Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor was forced to resign on Sunday following allegations of misuse of power by him to get sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crore for his friend Sunanda Pushkar. Alleging that two Ministers were under cloud for “gross misuse of power”, Opposition members stalled proceedings. Re s p o n d i n g t o t h e d e mands, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Lok Sabha “it (a decision on JPC) is to be taken after due diligence and consideration. It cannot be like instant coffee or instant consideration”. Observing that the government will have to ponder over it, Mukherjee, who is also the Leader of the Lok Sabha, said, “I will communicate your sentiments to the Prime Minister. As and when the Government takes a decision, we will come to Parliament. Let us wait for some time”.
war”, Graham said. “So we set up the red phone in the Oval Office and a whole protocol”, he said referring to the report of the commission released early this year. Noting that “none of that exists between India and Pakistan”, he said: “I have felt that this may be an area in which the US and Russia together, since we developed these protocols for our own benefit and the world’s benefit, might work together with India and Pakistan to try to get them to develop”. Graham said he was encouraged that within the last month India and China have started to develop some of those fail-safe procedures. “But there’s almost nothing that has been done in a similar vein between the real adversaries, which are India and Pakistan”, he noted.
Discussions between Sharad Pawar and Lalit Modi were tapped and taped last fortnight in the wake of the IPL scandal. The recorded conversations allegedly threw up inside details of the deals that were stuck in the bidding process for the various teams.
— Outlook magazine of the deals that were stuck in the bidding process for the various teams”, the magazine said. The magazine’s Editor Vinod Mehta said while he appreciated concerns of national security he wondered why telephone tapping was being resorted to against leaders for “political opportunism”. He said tapping could now be done by modern gadgets within a radius of two km and there was no need for any authorisation for the purpose. It could be misused against common public, he added. Political parties criticised the Government for the alleged resort to snooping on leaders. BJP deputy leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said his party would raise the issue in Parliament on Monday. He contended this was in violation of
Art 21 of the Constitution which assures protection of life and liberty to every citizen.
Apologize for inconvenience sir!! IPL has just shifted the venue to some other state, will you guys please go there quickly and continue your innings??