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O HERALD O The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, thursday, july 29, 2010

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Goa’s Heartbeat: Jennifer holds on to ‘Friends’ memories Pg 14

priCE rs. 3.00 (air surcharge rs. 1.50) pages 18

Sports: Maradona dropped Goa: Names of foreigners will Pg 18 be deleted from rolls -- CM Pg 3 as coach

155 passengers killed as National Games Pak jet crashes into hills 2011 may not Five children, 29 women, honeymoon couple among passengers

kick off in Goa HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.

– George Bernard Shaw

IN BRIEF

Huneidy Ramos from Venezuela posing for a photograph after being crowned as Miss World next Top Model 2010 contest, in Casino du Liban northern Beirut, Lebanon.

Acquisition halted Orissa government today halted the land acquisition process overnight for Posco’s Rs 51,000 crore mega steel project near here after facing stiff opposition from villagers.

“The land acquisition and verification work, which began yesterday, was halted today due to opposition from people. We will start it soon after holding talks with villagers,” Jagatsinghpur District Collector N C Jena told reporters. -(PTI)

Demand rejected The demands for a debate with voting on price rise were today rejected by Lok Sabha SpeakerMeira Kumar, lending a setback to the Opposition which vowed to continue the fight even though chinks appeared in their unity.

After the pandemonium yesterday, Kumar today allowed members to state why they wanted a debate under the Adjournment Motion and later turned down their motions for it, saying it was inappropriate to the situation.(PTI).

Tracking system at IGI crashes PTI NEW DELHI,JULY 28

The sophisticated air traffic management system at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was operationalised in March, crashed on Wednesday evening disrupting flight movements for almost 30 minutes.

Incoming and outgoing flights were disrupted between 1750 hours and 1820 hours as the Autotrac-III system crashed, resulting in the air traffic control (ATC) screens going blank, airport sources said.

However, the ATC officials quickly switched over to the earlier system — Autotrac-II — to restore air traffic, the sources said.

This is the third time this year that the air traffic management system at the airport has collapsed. The system had crashed twice in January when US company Raytheon’s Autotrac-III system was being tested for installation.

The sources said no incoming flight was diverted to any other airport but they were made to hover over the Delhi airspace till the Autotrac-II system was made operational.

A rescue worker searches the wreckage of the Airblue passenger plane which crashed on the outskirts of Islamabad on Wednesday.

PTI ISLAMABAD, JULY 28

All 155 people aboard a Pakistani passenger plane were killed today when the ill-fated aircraft crashed into the Margalla Hills overlooking Islamabad in heavy rain amid poor visibility and turned into a ball of flames in the country’s worst air disaster in recent times.

The Airbus A321 operated by private airline Airblue — which had 147 passengers and

eight crew aboard — hit the Margalla Hills near Daman-eKoh viewpoint at about 10 am local time and exploded into pieces.

“It saddens me to announce that (while) some intact bodies were showing signs of life, nobody has survived,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Bodies were mostly mutilated and in pieces, he said, adding they could not be identified immediately.

Ruckus in house over rising prices House adjourned after opposition mounts pressure HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Under continuous fire from opposition benches in the legislative assembly over rising prices of essential commodities, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday said he was willing to take suggestions from all members to modify the price control intervention scheme and pump in more money to bring relief to the common man.

However, the reply didn’t find favour with the opposition leader Manohar Parrikar and Fatorda legislator Damu Naik, who proposed a debate on the subject. Both of them continuously interrupted the proceedings by referring to statistics to indicate corruption and other malpractices in the departments concerned.

Noisy scenes were witnessed at regular intervals during the more than half-an-hour discussion on the subject with opposition members maintaining corruption had resulted in the common man buying essential commodities at exorbitant prices.

When the CM said he was

IN THE LINE OF FIRE: Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar takes on the government on rising prices even as Chief Minister Digambar Kamat makes his point.

Photos by Rozario Estibeiro.

willing to pump in more money into the scheme, Parrikar asserted the government has to specify the amount in figures or else there was no substance in Kamat’s statement . He rubbished the chief minister’s claim that the price control scheme in Goa was unique in the country.

The CM said money was not an issue and maintained his government had withstood the financial implications of the implementation of the VIth Pay Commission recommendations

last year.

Not finding favour with the assurances given by Kamat and refusing to pay heed to Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho, Damu started walking to the well of the house shouting “Shame shame…” after which Godinho latter adjourned the proceedings for tomorrow and walked away. Subsequently, Parrikar and some others also walked to the well of the house.

Parrikar criticised the Civil Supplies Department’s decision (Continued on page 11)

Malik said he had asked the Federal Investigation Agency to ascertain the details of all passengers and to look into the possibility whether the crash may have been caused by an act of sabotage or terrorism.

Earlier, Malik and Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had said that rescuers had found some survivors.

Two Americans, five members of the same family and a newly married couple coming to Is-

The Supreme Court has ruled that a person cannot take the plea of consensual sex and he can be convicted for rape if the victim had consented to the act out of fear.

Moreover, the apex court said that seldom does a victim or the family falsely implicate a person as the stigma would only ruin their reputation and rejected the plea that the complaint was lodged after four months.

“It can be held that a woman has given consent only if she has freely agreed to submit herself, while in free and unconstrained possession of her physical and moral power to act in a manner she wanted.

Consent implies the exercise of a free and untrammelled right to forbid or withhold what is being consented to, it always is a voluntary

and conscious acceptance of what is proposed to be done by another and concurred to by the former.

“An act of helplessness in the face of inevitable compulsions is not consent in law. More so, it is not necessary that there should be actual use of force. A threat of use of force is sufficient,” a bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan said in a judgement.

The apex court delivered the verdict while dismissing the appeal filed by the convict Satpal Singh

(Continued on page 11)

Hello doctor!! His right hand is absolutely not functioning...

Arrest Ravi’s son for drug nexus: Mickky HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

The recently bailed out former minister Mickky Pacheco demanded arrest of the Home Minister’s (Ravi Naik) son in the drug nexus.

Pacheco made his first appearance in the monsoon session of the legislative assembly, today, since his arrest on July 8.

Booked for culpable homicide in the death of Nadia Torrado case, he was granted conditional bail on July 19.

The legislator questioned the government as to why the police were not arresting the son (Roy) of the home minister even as his alleged role was exposed lately.

“Why is the minister’s son not yet arrested? The international media has revealed his involvement in the drug nexus.

Let him come clean, if he is found guilty,” Pacheco said demanding a thorough probe.

Reacting vehemently on actions against him, he dared the home minister to prove his guilt in the Nadia death probe. He cited reasons why he resigned as tourism minister.

Moreover, he reeled out

Consensual sex under fear is rape: SC PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

lamabad for their honeymoon were among passengers of the aircraft, which took off from Karachi at 7.50 am.

Five children and 29 women were also on the aircraft.

The plane was about to land at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport when it lost radio contact with the control tower and later crashed into the thickly-forested hills overlooking the capital city, officials said.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday stated on the floor of the House that the National Games 2011 allotted to the State may not be held next year.

While clarifying on the issue during “Question Hour” he said, two States (Jharkhand and Kerala) which were allotted the National Games in 2007 and 2009 respectively, are yet to conduct national games and therefore, games in Goa will be held only after they are held in these two States, he said in reply to a question tabled by Mandrem MLA, Laxmikant Parsekar.

The opposition legislators also questioned the government over why public private partnership (PPPs) linked to tourism could help build part of the infrastructure for the forthcoming games.

Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar asked Sports Minister Babu Azgaonkar what alternate arrangements have been made if it fails to get private partners to invest in any of the eight PPP projects.

The opposition also raised concern about viability of the PPP projects, when the sports minister failed to give a specific answer in the house. The opposition declined to accept the minister’s long explanation of how the project was initiated.

In no mood to endure Azgaonkar’s usual talks, Parrikar objected to the latter’s replies

saying the minister should give a correct answer or they will stop asking him any further questions.

The minister , however, continued to blame the opposition at which point the chief minister intervened.. Kamat later said said points raised by the opposition would be examined.

A total of eight projects — convention cum exhibition centre, multipurpose stadium, shopping mall and multiplex, service hotel, amusement park, budget hotel, bowling alley and gaming arcade and training academies for various sports are planned to be built as PPP projects for the national games.

The government has proposed to acquire 9,19,789 square metres of land in Dhargalim to build a sports city for the national games.

As regards apprehensions ex-

claiming that the victim had consented to the act and falsely implicated him. A Sessions Court had sentenced Singh to seven years imprisonment, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court had reduced the sentence to five years.

The apex court bench said that the delay in lodging the FIR (first information report ) was on account of various reasons as the local panchayat and other elders had tried their best to dissuade the family from lodging a complaint as it would only affect her marriage prospects.

“In a rape case, the victim remains worried about her future. She remains in a traumatic state of mind.

The family of the victim generally shows reluctance to go to the police station because of society’s attitude.

It casts doubts and shame upon her rather than comfort and sympathise with her.”

names of the ministers who apparently also faced harassment from the home minister earlier.

“The home minister is harassing minority community leaders. He is using the police to arrest minority community members.

Leaders including Churchill Alemao, Babush Monserratte were similarly arrested under the same home minister,” he alleged.

He said other cabinet colleagues were targeted for demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the police-drug cartel nexus and the multi-crore excise scam, which involved the chief minister.

“I will resign as the MLA if there is any evidence against me besides my involvement to save Nadia’s life,” he said.

Clarifying on his hiding, pending his anticipatory bail pleas, the former minister said he was not a fugitive. “As a citizen I did my duty as I knocked the door of the judiciary. There are several other cases right from the Central Government… But in my case, a red-corner notice was issued,” he said.

Pacheco also rued that the (Continued on page 11)

‘Kamat misled my party chief’ HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

MICKKY STEPS IN: The former tourism minister joins in the monsoon session.

Photo by Rozario Estibeiro.

NCP legislator Mickky Pacheco alleged that the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat misled his party chief Sharad Pawar about ‘clinching evidence’ against him in the Nadia Toraddo death probe.

“I was pressurized to resign or I was told I would be dismissed. The chief minister told my party chief that the police had clinching evidence against me in the case…Kamat should now make a statement or take action against the police,” he said on the floor of the house.

Kamat flatly denied charges made by Pacheco.

“I have not pressurized the political leadership (NCP) in Delhi for Pacheco’s arrest…

I make a statement that during this period I neither called Sharad Pawar nor Praful Patel,” Kamat stated.

GOA

OHERALDO

Pg 2

GOA, THURSDAY, 29 JULY, 2010

Oppn casts doubt on UID cards HERALD REORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

The Opposition on Wednesday drew attention of the government to certain aspects of the Unique Identification Project (UIP) which is being implemented in the State needing greater attention.

Responding to queries raised by the Opposition, the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said he will take up the issue with Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is responsible for implementing multipurpose national identity card

project in India.

He was responding to a question tabled by Mapusa MLA, Francis D’Souza during “Question Hour” when Leader of the Opposition, Manohar Parrikar enquired whether UID card will be given to the residents of the State. “If this is the criteria then it is very dangerous,” he said.

‘Even foreigners including drug dealers such as Dudu and Atala will be able to obtain UID cards without much difficulty,” he pointed out seeking explanation from the government.

The UIDAI is yet to prescribe standards, procedures and

processes which will be adhered to by the registrars appointed by the government. The UIDAI will duplicate the database of the residents on basis of demographic and biometric data (face, finger prints) and issue UID numbers to only those whose uniqueness of identity have been established and after ensuring that the person has not enrolled in the UID database before, informed the chief minister in his written reply.

The UIDAI plans to issue UID card in the smaller States first after its pilot project in Karnataka goes through, informed Kamat.

Asilo once lifeline of people in North Goa, now in ruin!

Valpoi, Pernem trial courts non-functional: Mapusa MLA HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza voiced strong concern over the non-functioning of each trial Courts at Valpoi and Pernem.

He was speaking during the discussion session in the ongoing monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. “There are no judges for any case trial at each of these two courts. This vacancy should be filled for regular functioning of the courts,” he said.

Whilst, he suggested, that judges should reside in the same vicinity where they are posted.

He said the construction of a new building complex in the 20,000 sq mtrs land at Merces, was nearly perfect. The construction will house around 20 courts and accommodate its respective judges, prosecutors, lawyers, administrative staff and others.

Mickky’s brother gets bail in forgery case HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

(Left) A cat seen sitting on a bed while the dilapidated state of the roof at Asilo Hospital in Mapusa.

Photos by Anil Shankhwalker ANIL SHANKHWALKAR PORVORIM, JULY 28

Once the lifeline of the people in North Goa, the Asilo Hospital at Mapusa has now turned into a ruin that can barely support itself, let alone provide facilities to the public.

Asilo Hospital claims to have all basic facilities like casualty, out-patient department, pathology laboratory, sonography, X-Ray machine, intensive coronary care unit, operation theatres and pharmacy. About 30 specialist doctors and 22 medical officers are employed in the hospital.

But when it comes to discharge of medical services and hygiene at the hospital, the list of complaints are endless.

When this scribe visited the ladies ward on the first floor of the hospital, a dog was seen seated in the corridor of the ward, while a cat was resting on the patient’s bed.

The appearance of the bed sheets gives the impression that they are as old as the hospital.

Plaster of the roofs and walls of OPD Block has peeled off at many places and water is seeping in the building through the roof. Besides, walls are soaked and mangled electricity wires are seen hanging, thereby posing threat to the lives of people.

Sources further informed that the condition of the toilets is also deplorable. The morgue

has been closed and it has been converted into store room.

The Out Patient Department of the Hospital was built in the seventies and the first floor of the OPD block was built in 1981.

In the course of last 30 years, the population of North Goa has increased manifold and is unable to cope with the rush of patients, as thousands of people visit the OPD every day.

The people have to stand for long hours since there are no sufficient sitting facilities in the hospital.

Speaking to Herald, Pundalik Chodankar of Revora said he had come to the hospital at about 9.30 am with his wife and daughter, who is sick.

“There is a long queue at the medicine ward on the first floor and as there is no place to sit there, I was sitting on the ground floor along with my daughter, while my wife was standing in the queue,” complained Chodankar.

“It is now 11 am and there are still 40 more patients to be examined. One doctor arrived at 9.30 am, while the second doctor reported for duties at 10 am. Considering the big rush, I don’t think I will be able return home before 1 pm,” said Chodankar disgustingly.

The general complaint of the people, who visit the hospital, is that doctors do not report for duties on time, which affects the functioning of the hospital.

Sources informed that some of the doctors in the hospital are allegedly engaged in private practices.

Explained a specialist doctor from the hospital, who engages in private practice: “If people come to my residence what should I do? I am not inviting them at my residence. As a doctor, it is my duty to examine the patients when they approach us, whether in hospital or at my dispensary.”

“People are forcing us to do private practice. When doctors in Asilo hospital do something good, nobody praises them but if something goes wrong with the patient, then the doctors are cursed and this is not fair,” said the doctor.

One senior staff employee in the Administrative department in Asilo Hospital, under the condition of anonymity informed that maintenance of the hospital is the responsibility of PWD. “But the PWD engineers are hardly bothered about the maintenance, but nobody blames them. The Medical Superintendent has got limited financial powers and major repair work has to be carried out

by PWD,” said the staff.

Though there is a pharmacy at the hospital, it does not operate for 24 hours. It closes at 4.30 pm. The patients who get admitted in the hospital in the evening have to procure medicines from private pharmacies.

Health Dept has no control over hospital: Mapusa MLA HERALD CORRESPONDENT PORVORIM, JULY 28

Claiming that the condition of Asilo Hospital in Mapusa is pathetic, Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza has claimed that the Directorate of Health Services has no control over the hospital.

“The building of the hospital is on the verge of collapse and hence it requires major repairs,” said D’Souza.

“In view of this, I had requested Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane to atleast shift the Asilo Hospital with the existing infrastructure to the new hospital building from hygienic point of view and start the morgue section of the District Hospital for the convenience of the people of North Goa, but in vain,” added D’Souza.

“Warranty on new equipments/machinery, which have been installed in the District Hospital must have been over by now. The government has to bear the maintenance expenses of the District Hospital unnecessary. It is nothing, but waste of public money,” said D’Souza.

Mapusa Citizens Forum President Ratnapal Salker said: “In the first place, the existing Medical Superintendent of Mapusa cannot handle hospital

affairs properly. Hence he should be replaced with active medical officer immediately.”

“Nobody cares for the patients in the hospital. I remember an incident which occurred in this OPD few months ago, the patients who had come to take out ECG at 9 am were told at about 12 am that the ECG machine was not working and were directed to come the next day,” said Salkar.

“When one of my relatives informed me about it to me over the phone, I rushed to the hospital. I called up the health minister and brought the fact to his notice,” added Salkar.

“This hospital must have atleast two or three ECG machines, as patients come to the hospital with

great hope. The Intensive Coronary Care unit was set up in 1987, but it has not been upgraded thereafter,” he said.

“Most of the doctors working in the hospital are working either in private hospitals after office hours or practicing at home,” claimed Salkar.

“The government should set up a grievance cell to enable the patients to air their grievances and the visiting committee should not have politicians as committee members,” suggested Salkar.

Social worker Madhukar Bhonsale said he has been visiting the hospital since 1979.

OPD Block was constructed to cater to the need of population prevailing then.

“During the course of last 30 years, there has been substantial increase in population and hence the existing structure needs to be upgraded,” added Bhonsale.

“Since the new District Hospital building is ready in all respects, the government should shift the hospital immediately to the new building. This hospital has already earned bad reputation and hence to avoid further damage, the government should take immediate action in this regard,” opined Bhonsale.

The South Goa Sessions court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to the brother of former Tourism Minister, Mickky Pacheco, Simplicio in the Quepem forger y case, even as the anticipatory bail p l e a o f N a d i a To r r a d o ’ s brother Konrad will come up for hearing before the court on Thursday.

Additional Sessions Judge, B P Deshpande ordered the release of Simplicio on a bail of Rs 5000 if arrested by the investigating agency.

Simplicio had moved the Sessions court fearing arrest in the case. The court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to the former Tourism Minister in the same case, which was registered by the Quepem police upon a complaint lodged by Mickky’s estranged wife, Sara.

Meanwhile, the anticipatory bail application filed by Nadia Torrado’s brother, Konrad will come up for hearing in the South Goa Sessions court on Thursday.

Konrad had filed the bail application fearing arrest in connection with Nadia’s death case.

Govt pulled up for GSIDC’s delay in projects’ execution HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

The Opposition on Wednesday pulled up the State Government over the inordinate delay caused in execution of projects by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC).

Shiroda MLA Mahadev Naik raising the issue during Question Hour on Wednesday, said a total of 36 projects are delayed with a case in point, he said, Ravindra Bhavan in Sanquelim which was initiated in 2007 and to be completed in 27 months has not been completed till date.

Leader of the Opposition, Manohar Parrikar also sought to know why GSIDC has not been able to complete its projects on time. “Was it inadequate provision of funds,” asked Parrikar pointing out at the Collectorate building in Margao, another project that has been delayed.

While Chief Minister Digambar Kamat admitted that fund provision was inadequate and that additional provision would be made available.

35 cases of Chikungunya reported in Mayem HERALD CORRESPONDENT BICHOLIM, JULY 28

About 35 cases of Chikungunya have been reported in Mayem, prompting the sarpanch to seek the immediate intervention of the health department.

According to Panch Anand Naik, at least 35 Chikungunya cases are detected in the panchayat area.

“We have asked the health department to look into the matter and avoid spreading of the disease,” said Naik.

According to reports, several cases were found at Kelbaiwada, Tirthabag, Jambhulbaht and other areas of Mayem.

Church cannot come under RTI: ad hoc panel HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

The Church cannot come under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, chairman of the ad hoc legislative committee on law, Francis D’Souza said.

One Antonia Michelle Abel had suggested that while the State department of law and the judiciary were covered under the RTI Act, the office of the Archbishop should also be treated in a similar manner.

The D'Souza-led committee in its report to the Assembly had recommended that the State law

department to "make a comprehensive study" and "forward a detailed report to the committee within 15 days".

Referring to report in the Herald, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator said: “That to bring the Church under RTI purview has to be decided by the government”.

D’Souza also said that his committee is supposed to forward whatever suggestion and observation comes from the general public.

“It is not supposed to pass any judgment,” D’Souza said.

‘BJP not interested in bringing Bishop’s office under RTI’ HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday clarified that it was not Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that was interested to bring Archbishop's Palace under Right to Information (RTI).

Raising issue on the floor of the House, Parrikar said that the ad-hoc committee led by BJP

legislator Francis D'Souza has sought legal opinion. "It has been published in couple of newspapers as if BJP is interested in bringing the Archbishop's Palace under RTI. We agree with the Government that it should not come under RTI," Parrikar said.

D'Souza also clarified that he sought legal opinion for he had

no time to refer to the issue, earlier. "Why am I supposed to be targeted...I had no time and hence I referred it to the legal department," he said.

Parrikar brought to the notice of the Assembly that the woman applicant, in this matter, is a catholic. So also, the chairman and the members belong from the same religion.

Legislators need staff: Narvekar HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Dayanand Narvekar on Wednesday said that legislators need staff as they do various roles besides just public representatives.

The former minister also said that the legislative department is neglected.

“Considering the educational qualities (qualifications) of MLAs, they do require secretarial services. It is a must for their functioning as at times, these legislators chair PACs and head various responsible positions,” said the former minister on the floor of the House.

He raised the requirement of hostel facilities for MLAs and suggested that the land across the Legislative Assembly at Porvorim could be utilised for the construction.

The Aldona MLA also said the Assembly would celebrate golden jubilee year in 2011, therefore no case of neglect should be reported. The speaker also echoed his concern for the hostel.

‘Protest against paintings, a cultural tragedy’ HERALD CORRESPONDENT PORVORIM, JULY 28

Denouncing protests against the exhibition of paintings by Dr Jose Pereira at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim, the curator of the exhibition has argued that the paintings have been backed by multiple references with Sanskrit scriptures.

“Each painting in the exhibition is based directly on descriptive passages in the Original Sanskrit texts and each figure is derived from existing temple carving, sculptures and paintings,” said Vivek Menezes, curator of the exhibition.

It may be recalled that the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim, had temporarily called off the exhibition of paintings by Dr Jose Pereira, after Hindu Jangruti Samiti (HJS) lodged a complaint against three paintings displayed at the exhibition.

The painting exhibition ‘Epiphanies of the Hindus Gods’

by Dr Pereira was opened at Xavier Centre of Historical Research on July 24. The HJS had raised objections against three paintings, which allegedly depicted Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva with unclothed women.

The HJS filed a complaint with Porvorim Police station in this regard. Police Inspector Devendra Gad visited Xavier Centre of Historical Research and conveyed to XCHR incharge Fr Delio Mendonsa about the objections raised by HJS. Fr Mendonsa temporarily withdrew the paintings immediately from the exhibition to avoid further controversies and later closed down the exhibition.

Speaking to Herald, PI Gaad said he has forwarded the complaint from HJS to the Director of Prosecution for his opinion.

“The High Court in one of its

judgments has stated that such paintings cannot be termed as an ‘offence’, as such types of paintings are seen in some of the ancient temples in India,” said PI Gad. Curator of the Exhibition, Vivek Menezes said the exhibition of paintings by Dr Pereira was recently held at the International Centre at New Delhi and paintings were appreciated by the people.

“The founder and former Academic Director of Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, New Delhi, Dr Kapila Vatsayan was associated with this exhibition,” said Menezes. “‘Epiphanies of the Hindus Gods’ is a unique suite of pastel paintings conceived by the artist as tribute to his Hindu ancestry and to the Indian classical tradition to which he has devoted a lifetime of prodigious scholarship,” added Menezes.

“Each of the painting has

backed by multiple references with Sanskrit scriptures as well as visual references from Ancient Indian Culture like Thanjavur temples, Chola Bronzes and Ellora caves,” said Menezes.

“Each painting in the exhibition is based directly on descriptive passages in the Original Sanskrit texts and each figure is derived from existing temple carving, sculptures and paintings,” he added.

“It is a unique body of work made even more impressive by the fact the artist has executed them at the summation of a magnificent scholarly career despite setback of Parkinson’s disease,” added Menezes.

“Dr Jose Pereira is a Sanskrit scholar and has been teaching Sanskrit in USA for over 40 years. It is unfortunate that some people have protested against these painting baselessly.

He considers it a cultural tragedy,” said Menezes.

Xavier Centre condemns threats by HJS HERALD CORRESPONDENT PORVORIM, JULY 28

Categorically rejecting claims that there is something offensive about Dr Pereira's paintings, the Xavier Centre of Historical Research (XCHR) at Porvorim has strongly condemned threats and intimidatory tactics by the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) and its activists.

The XCHR has also extended a public apology to Dr Pereira and has regretted the systemic failure to honour, appreciate and protect artists and intellectuals.

In a press note, the XCHR stated that it had temporary closed its latest art exhibition, ‘Epiphanies of the Hindu Gods’ by eminent Sanskrit scholar and wide-ranging intellectual giant, Dr Jose Pereira.

“For the last 24 hours, the Centre has come under sustained pressure from the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) and its activists,

who have filed a police complaint against Dr Pereira's paintings, and indulged in a non-stop campaign of telephone threats and warnings to the point of disrupting normal communications with the XCHR.” “The anonymous telephone calls have included many threats of violence, including a threat of decapitation of the 80-yr-old artist, who incidentally suffers from Parkinson's disease,” the press note adds.

The XCHR claimed that Dr Pereira's ‘Epiphanies of the Hindu Gods’ are based entirely on original Sanskrit scriptures, and added that their imagery is derived entirely from the most characteristic iconography of ancient India.

“These paintings are based on a lifetime of selfless scholarship of classical India, and have been painted in the same artistic spirit that Dr Pereira has painted several nude im-

ages of Christ, also on display at the XCHR.” “We categorically reject the claim that there is something offensive about Dr Pereira's paintings, and strongly condemn the threats and intimidatory tactics he has been facing.”

However, in response to a direct personal appeal by authorities, the XCHR said Dr Pereira had agreed to temporarily close his exhibition, and reopen soon after withdrawing three allegedly controversial pastel paintings.

“We regret the inconvenience caused to the art and culture lovers of our state. The XCHR also extends a public apology to Dr Pereira on behalf of the people and society of Goa, which has once again demonstrated a systemic failure in its capacity to honour, appreciate and protect its greatest artists and intellectuals,” the press note added.

Katarwada locals demand enquiry in pollution caused by chemical factory HERALD CORRESPONDENT BICHOLIM, JULY 28

Residents of Katarwada, Bicholim Industrial Estate and surrounding areas have demanded enquiry in the pollution caused in the area by a chemical factory.

The residents have once again complained of pollution caused by a chemical factory in the area, as earlier, wells were polluted, but in the recent case reported in the area, a cow was seriously burnt due to chemical contact.

Speaking to Herald, Aashish Govekar claimed that the chemical factory is in operation without following any environmental rules.

“Since last one decade, there has been pollution in the area and our wells have been already polluted due to the chemical mixture and now it is slowly spreading to other areas,” informed Govekar.

It may be recalled that in 2001, about 10 wells in the area started giving white water with some foul smell and it was proved that the cause was a

chemical factory in the area. Political leaders and government officials, including the then deputy collector, had inspected the site and had assured that the hazardous industry would be stopped, but in vain.

“If we voice against the factory, then police and council threatens us. We demand that the government should initiate action against this factory, which is causing pollution,” claimed a resident.

When this scribe visited the site, it was noticed that the grass, which is used as a grazing ground by some cows in the area, was burnt because of chemicals.

“A cow belonging to Suresh Goverkar, who usually sits in the same field, suffered severe burns due to the chemical reaction.

The pollution is of serious nature and the government should look into the matter,” said a local.

When contacted, Govekar said some of his cows have got some burns due to chemical reaction and the area is swollen.

“It happened last week and we have now treated them. The

doctor gave us some medicine and now it is improving,” said Govekar.

“It happened after one of the tanks from the chemical factory busted and all the chemical flowed in the area behind the factory,” he added.

“Some years ago, about 14 of my cows died, but nothing happened. The officials came and inspected, even the company denied of any such spillage and I had to suffer the loss,” said Govekar.

Govekar, who was earlier rewarded for highest dairy farming in the city, told Herald that there was no compensation up from the government even when some newspapers had highlighted the issue.

“I am yet to inform the BMC chairman about the matter, but I have communicated about the incident to Councilor Ajit Birje.

The government on one side tells everyone to go in for dairy farming and if someone is really into it, they hardly bother to listen to him,” he said.

‘Media spreading misconception about salaries of MLAs’ HERALD REPORTER PANAJI, JULY 28

Canacona MLA Vijay Pai Khot said that the media is spreading misconception about salaries paid to MLAs. He said that the whopping sum is being shown as a salary to elected representatives while the reality is different.

“The entire amount entitled for the legislators is spent on various expenses related to public work. There are times when we have to invest from the pocket to manage the social work which we do,” he said.

Khot said that media was spreading wrong notion that MLAs’ salaries were increased manifold making them rich.

Apart from this, the legislator raised concern over the delay in filing case chargesheets. “There are cases wherein chargesheets have still not been filed and the accused is behind bars. If the person is acquitted then his tenure in the prison is wasted, besides, it’s a mental trauma to him and his family,” he said.

GCWT to build school for differently-abled kids HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

The Goa Citizens Welfare Trust has decided to build a school for differently-abled children.

C h a i r m a n o f t h e Tr u s t Michael Ferns said the Trust will approach the government to allot a plot of land to construct the school, adding that the Trust will build the school by raising required funds.

In this respect, Ferns said the Trust will organise a pro gramme Rafi Ki Yadein on July

31 at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao at 8 pm and the proceeds from the show will be dedicated to the cause of the underprivileged children. “The Trust will work for the betterment of the underprivileged children. We have decided to take up the cause of these children”, he said.

Ferns said that the Trust Secretary and columnist Colin Savio Coelho has pledged his first book “Goa in Concert” towards the cause of the building fund

for the school.

The DVD “Rafi Ki Yadein” by Goa’s Voice of Rafi, Shakil Ahmed will be used exclusively towards the cause of special children and their care.

“Music has the power of healing. In many medico schools of thought, music has been prescribed as one of the therapies for healing and helps in the process of recuperation. With the program, “Rafi Ki Yadein”and the book “Goa in concert” and the DVD “Rafi Ki

Yadein”, we hope that music will form part of the initiative of our Trust to give a healing touch to the cause of special children”, Ferns added.

Outlining the objectives of the Trust, Colin Savio Coelho will be part of the efforts to provide relief to the poor, aged and destitute, run shelters with permanent facilities for the poor, aged and destitute either independently or jointly with other organizations.

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CM vows action against gas dealers HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday committed in the House he would call both district collectors on Wednesday itself and ask him to call a meeting of gas dealers tomorrow to warn them of action if they indulged in malpractices and corruption.

Kamat, referring to a case pointed out by Siolim ML A Chief Minister Dayanand Mandrekar, said he was Digambar Kamat assuring the House gas dealers said gas dealers found playing the fool with the found playing the people will see their licenses terfool with the people minated. He also warned of action against mamlatdars failing to act will see their lion complaints against the gas censes terminated dealers. and also warned of Mandrekar brought to the noaction against mamtice of the House he had received latdars failing to act a complaint against a gas dealer on complaints after which he brought it to the notice of the mamlatdar who put against the gas dealup his hands saying he couldn’t ers. do anything.

Aldona ML A Dayanand Narvekar too supported Mandrekar on the issue and charged that gas dealers were working in a very high-handed manner in his constituency.

‘Foreigners’ names will be deleted from voter roll’ HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday assured the House names of foreigners that have dubiously appeared on the State electoral rolls would be deleted as early as possible.

Speaking during the discussion on the subject during the Monsoon Session of the Assembly, Kamat, replying to Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza, said he would ask the Chef Electoral Officer to delete all the names of foreigners from the electoral roll.

The Mapusa MLA said names of foreigners appearing on electoral rolls was a very serious issue of security threat to the State and can’t be taken lightly.

He informed there were 10-lakh voters and 4.5-lakh errors and 30 foreigners were included by

mistake and deleted later.

Kamat also assured members who raised the issue of errorridden electoral roll that the same will be taken care of as the Election Commission of India is planning to introduce a new software. This software will take care of errors pertaining to double registration, he mentioned.

He informed the software has a provision to automatically delete double entries in the rolls. The registration process should be made simple for the people and towards this the online registration will soon become a reality, he mentioned.

The CM said he shared the fears of the members who raised the issue because at one point of time even his voter’s card too had errors.

Sub-registrar’s offices will be computerised, says Kamat HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday assured the House sub-registrar’s offices in Goa would be taken up for computerisation after seeing the benefits of the same at Margao, Panjim and Mapusa.

Replying to a debate, Kamat said the benefits of computerisation were seen at the sub-registrar’s offices at Margao, Panjim and Mapusa. The common man can now avail any document within no time, he stated and added, “We will see to it that the remaining offices too see this kind of facility.”

Government’s efficiency is gauged on the functioning of these offices, he noted.

Kamat mentioned the appointment of a full-fledged law secretary would help in sorting out various difficulties in the Law Department. The same wasn’t possible earlier because the law secretary was given additional responsibilities. In the next two months he will put things in order, the CM added.

He also promised appointment of separate joint secretaries for each department for efficient functioning. The CM was referring to complaints of referrals to the Law Department that were neglected.

Talking on the matter of branch office of Administrative Tribunal in South Goa, Kamat maintained there was a requirement of minimum 400 square metre near the Margao

Bus Stand. We will see this will come up at the earliest, he assured.

HOSTEL FOR MLAs: Replying to the debate on demands pertaining to Legislature Secretariat, Kamat assured the Government will move a proposal to construct a hostel for MLAs after locating a place fort the same.

The CM said the facility of the hostel was very much a necessity for legislators because some of the other States had it. He reminded that legislators used to avail the facility of the Tourist Hostel in the capital city a few steps away from the Old Secretariat.

He also felt there must be separate residential provisions for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

Denied regularisation, MMC worker goes on hunger strike

Organisers of exhibition move court against MMC order HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

MMC worker Wenceslan Silva on an indefinite hunger strike along with his relatives and CWC president.

Photo by Santosh Mirajkar HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

The Margao Municipal Council worker who was denied regularisation by the Civic body on Wednesday went on an indefinite hunger strike at the entrance to the Municipal building.

The hunger strike coincided with the celebration of the 41st birthday of the Margao Municipal Council Savio Coutinho.

Accompanied by his close relatives and CWC President Sriram Raiturkar, Wenceslan Silva went on the hunger strike in protest against the Municipal decision to ignore his candidature de-

spite working in the civic body for the last 14 years.

The worker said he had put in various odd jobs in the Civic body during his long years of services, but lamented that only non-Goan candidates were considered by the Municipality for regularisation. “My name was there in the list of workers eligible for regularisation, but the Civic body considered the names of the Zamunis for regularisation”, he added.

Silva has put in around 14 years of services in the Civic body, having done works in the electricity and plumbing sec-

Scarlett and family were threatened by foreigner, says Julio HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

In a new twist to British teenager Scarlett Eden Keeling death, her boyfriend Julio Lobo told the court that she and her family were threatened by a foreigner.

In the deposition before Goa Children’s court earlier this month, Lobo has said that a foreigner by name ‘Shanti’ from Anjuna was threatening Scarlett and her family, which forced them to shift their room to Arambol.

“To my knowledge Scarlett and her family left the house at Anjuna because of the said reason and shifted to Arambol,” Lobo said.

“Shanti had a grudge against him because he had friendship with Scarlett. On account of the said relationship, he had also once damaged my motorcycle,” he added.

Scarlett was found dead on Anjuna shore on February 18, 2008, when she was in Goa with her mother, Fiona Mackeown, her siblings and mother’s partner.

The court, last week had

recorded the statement of the key witness, Murli Sagar, who recognised both the accused Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho.

Both the accused are arrested by police for drugging, raping and leaving Scarlett to die on the beach.

Fiona’s arrival HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Fiona Mackeown, mother of the late Scarlett Keeling Eden will arrive Goa early Thursday morning. Her legal representative Advocate Vikram Varma confirmed that the London flight to Goa, in which Fiona is traveling, will land at Dabolim Airport at about 3:30 am Thursday.

Fiona, who rescheduled her trip due to non-availability of air-tickets, will depose before the Children’s Court on Friday in connection with the death of her teenage daughter. The British mother had earlier planned to reach Goa on July 27.

tions. “During all these years, I have also worked to clear the city gutters, but when the question came for regularisation of workers, the Civic body ignored me completely”, he added.

Incidentally, the CWC President Sriram Raiturkar said that Silva, being a ST candidate, was not considered for regularisation, while the Municipality has even recruited some workers from Cuncolim constituency represented by the Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao.

When contacted, MMC Chairperson Savio Coutinho sympathised with the cause of the worker, having worked in the Civic body for over a long period of time. “I am of the opinion that Silva’s case needs to be considered positively. The matter is presently in the court”, Coutinho added.

The organisers of the exhibition cum sale at the BPS grounds here have moved the court challenging the order of the Margao Municipal Council stopping their business activities.

The matter came up for hearing before Civil Judge, Margao and the Judge has posted the suit for further hearing on Thursday morning.

Adv Anacleto Viegas, who is appearing for the organisers, has said the organisers of the exhibition cum sale have filed a suit against the Margao Municipal Council decision to stop the activity since Tuesday evening.

Adv V iegas said he has served a notice on the MMC Chief Officer Y B Tawde on the matter.

The MMC had on Tuesday served a notice on the organisers to stop the exhibition cum sale at the venue by 4 pm, failing which the Civic body threatened to initiate further action.

The Civic body had initiated the action following protests by the traders of the Margao New Market Association, which complained t h a t t h e o rg a n i s e r s h a v e held the exhibition two days prior to July 27, the day when they were permitted to hold the activity for five days.

Russian woman rape victim fails to appear in court HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

Where is the Russian woman rape victim? This question did the rounds in the corridors of the South Goa Sessions court on Wednesday as the rape victim was conspicuous by her absence in the court on Wednesday despite summons issued by the court.

And, if the Crime branch is to be believed, the agency has submitted to the court that summons are being served on the victim through Interpol, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. The investigating agency has submitted that summons would be served on the victim by observing the guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi for service of summons abroad.

Incidentally, the Crime branch has maintained that it would take around 120 days for the in-

vestigating agency to secure the presence of the victim in the court. The agency has sought time to produce the victim complainant given the formalities involved in serving summons to the foreign national.

The Crime branch application assumes significance as the court had issued summons to the victim to appear in the court on Wednesday. The Russian rape victim, however, was conspicuous by her absence in the court room. Inquiries with the prosecution revealed that the summons have not yet returned back to the court.

Arguments on the prosecution request seeking time of 120 days is expected to come before the court on Thursday. The accused in the case, John Fernandes, who has been languishing in jail without trial for the last seven months and half, has filed

SEZs will burden State infrastructure, govt tells court HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

The State government on Wednesday told Bombay High Court at Goa that the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are held back as they would burden the State infrastructure.

The Division bench comprising of Justice A S Oka and F M Reis were hearing final arguments over petitions and public interest litigations (PIL) related to SEZ, which began on Tuesday.

Refusing that public outcry is not the only criteria for rolling back SEZ policy, Advocate General Subodh Kantak told the court that creation of infrastructure involved to facilitate SEZs, shortage of land in Goa and the supply of power were the other main criteria taken into consideration by the State government while scrapping the policy.

Earlier, the advocates appearing on behalf of the SEZ promoters stated that State government cannot scrap the policy as it is a nation wide policy and there are several States in the country, which has allowed SEZs.

“Just for public interest government cannot roll back the policy,” they said.

The court adjourned the argument for tomorrow.

The six SEZ promoters include Meditab Specialities Pvt Ltd, Peninsular Pharma Research Centre Pvt Ltd, Paradigm Logistic & Distribution Private Ltd, Planetview Mercantile Company Pvt Ltd, Inox Mercantile Company Pvt Ltd and Maxgrow Finlease Pvt Ltd. T h e p ro m o t e r s h a d a p proached the court after Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) served them show cause notices for withdrawal of land allotted to them after the State government withdrew the SEZ policy.

Apart from this, the villagers of Keri, Sancoale and Verna, had filed PIL questioning the GIDC’s decision for fraudulently allotting land in their respective villages on lease agreements to the SEZ promoters.

a bail application before Additional sessions Judge B P Deshpande.

The Crime branch has vehemently opposed granting of bail for John on grounds that the accused will tamper with evidence, will threaten the witnesses and will be also emboldened to display his political clout. “The offense committed by the accused is serious in nature and is against

a foreign national. The accused is having a political linkage and is enjoying support of political parties. Being a known figure in the political circle, there is every possibility that the accused could exercise undue pressure on the witnesses specially the foreign nationals by threatening them using his political clout”, the Crime branch said in reply to bail application.

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shOrt tAkes Restricted water supply

PANJIM (HND): Due to high voltage and maintenance problem at Chandel 15 MLD water treatment plant, there will be restricted water supply to entire Pernem taluka on July 28 and 29. Public is requested to bear the inconvenience caused.

PTA meet held

Sanjay Srivastava addresses the PTA of Sharada Mandir school.

PANJIM (HND): The annual general body meeting of Sharada Mandir School parent-teacher association was held recently in the school hall.

The keynote speaker was Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava.

He highlighted several vital aspects on how parents should model their behaviour so that their children look up to them.

The meeting was presided over by the president of the parent teacher association Oscar Gonsalves and was attended by the staff and a large number of parents.

Welcoming the members, Gonsalves stressed on the importance of parents and teachers working harmoniously, for the welfare of children. The Executive committee for the current year was formed.

Principal of the secondary school Mrs Nirmala Rebello proposed the vote of thanks.

Rohidas elected president

MAYEM (HC): Rohidas Pal was elected president of Bharat Swabhiman Bordem Chawatha Nagrik Samiti.

Other office bearers elected are Namdev Gosavi (vice president), Sunil Patkar (secretary), Prabhakar Gosavi (joint secretary), Ravi Shetkar (treasurer), Shivanand Pal (joint treasurer) and Chandreshekhar Bordekar, Babi Pal, Sunil Pal, Jagdish Malik, Amar Tirodkar and Sangam Pal (executive members).

Other committees, including advisory, parents council and women have about 32 members.

Essay contest for schools

PANJIM (HND): The organisers of CMM centenary celebration have informed that the date of submission of essays for the essay competition for school students of Std IX and X have been extended to July 31.

Any further queries from schools/students in this matter may be directed to Leticia Belchior, D-4, Skylark Apts, Altinho, Mapusa, Tel: 2250680, email: leticiabelchior@yahoo.com.

Rakesh elected president

MAYEM (HC): Rakesh Fulari was unanimously elected president of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal Sanquelim.

Other office bearers elected are Sunil Shirodkar (vice president), Ranjit Mangaonkar (secretary), Dattaram Chimulkar and Sachin Karpe (joint secretaries), Sharadchandra Naik (treasurer) and Ramdas Pokle (joint treasurer).

Executive members elected for the next three years include Shantaram Kanekar (president), Damodar Naik (vice president), Ganpat Pawaskar (secretary), Santosh Bhagat (joint secretary), Sharadchandra Naik (treasurer), Ramdas Pokle (joint treasurer) and Digambar Usapkar, Anand Kanekar, Shashikant Naik, Vinay Pangam and Pandurang Nagvekar (members).

Different committees like Funds, Programme, Decoration, Stage, Publicity, Religious Rituals, Mahaprasad, Donation, Printing and Immersion were formed.

Guru Pournima celebrated

MAYEM (HC): Swar Bahar Sangeet Mandal, Bordem-Bicholim, recently celebrated Guru Pournima Utsav with a variety of spiritual and cultural programme at Siddhivinayak Temple, Bordem.

Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar, Mandal President Ramchandra Pal, Bicholim Journalist Association President Durgadas Garde and founder of Swabahar Mandal Krishna Mashelkar were present on the occasion.

On the occasion, students and teachers of this music school worshipped their founder preacher Krishna Mashelkar, followed by classical programme by the students.

Tree plantation undertaken

Priest voices concern over Dhangar leader condemns govt for neglecting community garbage menace in Old Goa HERALD CORRESPONDENT MAYEM, JULY 28

HERALD CORRESPONDENT OLD GOA, JULY 28

Director of St Xavier’s Academy Fr Valerian Vaz has raised concern over increasing garbage in and around Old Goa even though signboards of free plastic zone have been erected at various places in Old Goa. It may be noted that the heritage site of Old Goa is considered as one of the most important sacred and tourist destinations of the world, where thousands of tourists visit the Basilica Church of St Francis Xavier.

Though signboards of free plastic zones have been erected at a number of places in and around Old Goa, the local authorities are least bothered to erect dustbins, due to which plastic is thrown everywhere, thereby creating a nuisance.

When asked about the plastic problem creating nuisance at the heritage site of Old Goa, Fr Vaz said: “I am happy that you are raising a good issue about the cleanliness at one of the sacred places, which is an important historical and tourist destination in the world, but it is sad to see plastics in most of the areas around Old Goa churches and around the historical monuments.”

Major cleanliness drive in Cortalim HERALD CORRESPONDENT CORTALIM, JULY 28

Continuing with his drive to make Cortalim and Dabolim constituencies garbage free, Cortalim MLA and Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho will flag off a major plastic cleanliness drive on July 31.

The drive will be flagged off at the Dabolim airport and will be joined by personnel from the Airline, Indian Navy, school students, taxi drivers, panchayat staff and workers from industries in the constituencies.

Dust bins will also be placed at all important points in the constituencies and thereafter panchayats will be given the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness in their respective villages.

The hotels and industries in the constituencies will have to share the financial burden along with the panchayats in this endeavour.

Meanwhile, two open spaces near MES College in Dabolim will be inaugurated on July 30.

Dustbins for the constituencies will also be distributed on the occasion. Eight open spaces were earlier inaugurated in Chicalim.

Godinho is also pursuing with the government for allocation of 50,000 sq mtrs of land at Verna Industrial Estate for garbage treatment plant. Verna Industrial Estate also consists of lakhs of square meters of land acquired in the villages of Quelossim and Cortalim.

A signboard of free plastic zone displayed at the entrance of Old Goa. Photo by Kanzil Rodrigues

“If one goes around, one can see signboards, which states that Old Goa is a plastic-free zone, but the reality is completely different, as plastic is seen flowing at each and every nook and corner without any care for cleanliness and hygiene,” said Fr Vaz. “I think it is a high time that people and Old Goa local authorities realize the importance of cleanliness and plastic-free zone and keep the area free and hygienically safe for the people who come to Old Goa,” added Fr Vaz. When asked about the

measure that could be taken to see that plastic is not seen at the historical and sacred place of Old Goa, he said: “The first measure is that the people should be aware of the need to keep the area clean. Wherever dustbins are kept, people should make it a point to throw the plastic in those dustbins.”

“The local authorities should also see that dustbins are kept at various places in and around the area so that locals and tourists visiting Old Goa could keep the area clean,” said Fr Vaz.

Bhago Warak, leader of the Dhangar Community from Dhangar wada-Kudchirem, Bicholim, has strongly condemned the attitude of the government for turning a blind eye to the development of the Dhangar Community.

Warak, while narrating the attitude of the government officers working in Bicholim government offices, claimed that most of the panchayat secretaries, BDO, mamlatdar and people representatives are always neglecting him whenever he approaches them regarding any development of the Dhangar Community.

“I have decided to visit the Governor to bring to his notice the injustice faced by the people from my community,” stated Warak.

He further said officials from Bicholim mamlatdar’s office refused to put the names of the people from his community under BPL. Warak alleged that the Bicholim BDO failed to explain him the different schemes regarding cattle feeding.

Irked over water shortage, Agonda locals demand PWD staff’s transfer HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, JULY 28

Unhappy about the acute shortage of potable water, residents of Agonda confronted the PWD (water supply) assistant engineer and demanded the immediate transfer of the erring staff, besides resumption of the water supply.

Irked by non-supply of water to the Val-ward residential areas of Agonda, a group led by Agonda Sarpanch Milagrinha Fernandes gheroead Assistant Engineer (PWD water supply) Velingkar on Tuesday.

Locals have accused the PWD valve operating and other maintenance staff posted at the Khola pump set (from where the supply is met at Valward) of deliberately keeping the pipelines blocked.

The delegation demanded that two such staff members should be shifted from the responsibility so that residents are not left at their mercy in future.

The residents also demanded that PWD officers should inspect the pump set at Vagon-Khola, which is on purpose is badly managed by the staff, prompting frequent breakdowns, which again in turn done to irritate the consumers in coastal Agonda.

“Instead of attending to faults or problems in pipelines, most of your staff is simply seen gambling with playing cards. When approached, they hardly care the irate residents,” the delegation told the PWD officer at Chaudi office, before forcing the officer and other staff to accompany them to the pump set site at Khola.

Patanjali Yog Samiti, Bharat Swabhiman Trust (BST) Mandal Chief Namdev Chopdecar along with BST members plant a sapling to mark Guru Purnima celebration at Sancoale.

VASCO (HR): Patanjali Yog Samiti, Bharat Swabhiman Trust (BST), in association with Sancoale Youth Recreation Centre organised a tree plantation drive at Housing Board Colony, Upasnanagar-Sancoale, to mark the Guru Purnima celebration.

About 100 saplings were distributed to the public by the BST. Plants like Kadu Limbu, Amla, Doomp, Sarpnisk, Kariipatta, Chinch, Bel, etc, were distributed to the people.

“Ensure that plants are grown properly and we will regularly monitor it,” assured BST officer bearers.

Mandal Chief Namdev Chopdecar highlighted the importance of the Guru and said nature is the true and greatest guru to the mankind and each one of us learns something or the other from the nature every minute.

“Hence, there is an urgent need to protect and take care of the nature and preserve it,” said Chopdecar.

Later, students and teachers visited most of the residential houses in Housing Board Colony to explain the people about segregation of kitchen waste, plastic and metal scrap, collection of garbage and plastic and importance of Yoga and pranayama in our day-to-day life.

Earlier, the Yog students along with the Yog teachers sang Guru Vandana, offered prayer to the guru.

The Goa Bachao Abhiyan and the villagers of Cansaulim will hold a meeting with those who are concerned about the type of development being carried out across the State while the State government drags its feet and the Panchayats do not address the concerns of the village residents who form their constituency.

The meeting will be held on July 30 at the Panchayat Hall, Cansaulim at 6 pm.

Dr Marconi Correia and Sheila Gracias from Cansaulim and representatives of GBA including convenor Sabina Martins, Aravind Bhatikar and Fr Maverick Fernandes of CSJP will address the meeting. The meeting will seek to find solutions and evolve a concept of development for the village.

The Cansaulim villagers are outraged over the fact that the elected Panch members of the Panchayat have passed a resolution declaring a perfectly legal resolution adopted by the Gram Sabha as null and void.

The villagers have opted to voluntarily restrict constructions in the village at VP3 level of 50

FAR, but the Panchayat continues to issue construction licences to buildings at 80 FAR of VP1, contrary to the demand and resolutions of the Gram Sabha available on its own records.

The GBA will also release for South Goa its booklet on ‘Village Development Plan 2010’ prepared by the villagers in association with the village level committee, elected Panchayat body, the Zilla Panchayat member and facilitated by GBA in association with Maithri of Kottayam District-Kerala.

The booklet contains the village development plan proposed by the Directorate of Panchayats as per the Goa Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, to be completed by every village panchayat by November 1 each year.

The meeting will take note of the Opposition benches taking up, in the Legislative Assembly, the issue of the delay in the finalisation of Regional Plan 2021 during the monsoon session and will seek an explanation from the government, specially the TCP Minister, about the inordinate delays that are fostering the destruction of Goa in the interim period.

uPCOMInG eVents St Anna feast

PANJIM (HND): The annual feast of St Anna (Santan Saibinn) will be celebrated on August 8 at St Anna’s chapel, Cabesa, Santa Cruz.

Novenas will be held from July 30, at 6.45 pm starting with Rosary, followed by mass. The concelebrated feast mass will be held on August 8 at 10 am.

Legal camp at Mapusa

PANJIM (HND): Duler Free Legal Aid Cell of V M Salgaocar College of Law in collaboration with North Goa District Legal Services Authority and Bardez Taluka Legal Services Committee will conduct a legal literacy camp on ‘Woman’s Property Rights’ which will be held at Hotel Mayura Hall, Mapusa on July 31, at 10 am.

The purpose of this camp is to create awareness regarding various legislations which affect women in their day to day life and help to fight for their rights. It will also enlighten people on rules for entitlement of free legal aid.

This camp will be coordinated by Dr M Pinheiro, Prof Ranjana Ferrao, Mrs Silveira and Prakash Parab. For registration at the camp, contact student cell in-charge Wenzil Rebello and Swapna Samant.

Legal camp at Marcela

PWD officers and other staff examine the allegedly badly managed pump set at Khola escorted by police personnel.

Photo by Kathy Pereira

Later taking police escort, PWD officers and some other staff inspected the pump set at Vagon-Khola. The officers reportedly agreed to shift to two staff managing the supply line to restore normalcy in water supply.

When contacted, Canacona AE Velingkar informed that there was some problem with the pipeline supplying water to the Val-ward areas in Agonda, which came to their attention only on Monday.

“The problem was solved on Tuesday, restoring the water supply to the affected arrears,” said Velingkar.

Velingkar sought to downplay the hue and cry saying the problem was not there since 15 days as claimed by some people. “It cannot be true, as we

have learnt about the incident on Monday, after which persons were on the job,” he said.

It may be recalled that Khola residents in the past had objected to the water supply extended to Agonda coastal areas and had even taken resolutions in gram sabhas to stop the practice, which the people feels at times water is supplied to Agonda areas at the cost of local consumers.

Another source informed that delay in restoring the stalled water supply was due to a construction which appeared over the main supply pipeline burying under it, which in turn created difficulty for the PWD workers to attend to the faults, sometimes delaying restoration.

GBA, Cansaulim Bicholim locals try villagers to evolve to stop construction concept on development work by landlord HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JULY 28

Bhago Warak

“There is no bus for the people of Dhangarwada, due to which they are compelled to walk a distance of six kms everyday when they have to go for any work.

Moreover, the children are compelled to walk 6 kms everyday to go to school,” said Warak.

“There are about 50 youth from the area, who are unemployed, despite possessing qualifications,” he added.

Warak has requested Chief Minister Digambat Kamat and Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar to look into the matter.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT BICHOLIM, JULY 28

About 100 villagers from VanMaulinguem, Bicholim, on Tuesday tried to stop construction work in the village carried out by a landlord, claiming that they are the mundkars of the land.

According to reports, since the last few days, the landlord had started to build a compound wall in the land at Van Maulinguem. The 2,000-sq mtrs land consists of several cashew and other trees and the people stated that for all these years, they were drawing their income from these trees.

Some days ago, the landlord started building a compound wall and decided to sell the land to a company.

“He did not have any NOC from the panchayat for construction and we have learnt that he got the required NOC directly from the Directorate of Panchayat,” Sarpanch Shiva Gaonkar told media.

In view of this, about 100 people reportedly armed with choppers and lathis stopped the work of the compound wall.

n He did not have any NOC from the panchayat for construction and we have learnt that he got the required NOC directly from the Directorate of Panchayat --- Sarpanch Shiva Gaonkar “The landlord has already cut down several trees from the land and it is learnt that he is about to sell the property to a company,” said Aapa Gaonkar.

“We demand that since we are the mundkars of the land, the landlord should sell the land to us,” added Gaonkar.

As the mob got violent, Bicholim Police rushed to the site. PSI T P Walke told the agitators not to take law into their hands and that they may approach the court and get stay order on the project.

“We have called the people with the required documents and urged them not to create law and order problem in the area,” added PSI Walke.

PANJIM (HND): The Marcela Free Legal Aid Cell will conduct a micro level legal literacy camp on August 1 on government welfare schemes and property rights at Gajantlaxmi Sabhagruha, Marcela at 4 pm.

The basic purpose of the camp is to create awareness regarding various laws, which affect the ordinary people in their day-to-day life. It will enable people to derive benefits of the legal systems in our country and also help them understand the entitlement of free legal aid.

The legal literacy camp will be addressed by advocates and is open to the public.

It will be coordinated by Dr M Pinheiro, Prof Ranjana Ferrao and Prakash Parab.

For further details and registration, contact Student Cell incharge Sangeeta Chandrasekhar or deputy cell in-charge Purva Chodankar.

Forum in retail sector

PANJIM (HND): The retail committee of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Yes Bank will organise an open forum keeping in mind Goa’s infancy in retail sector. This forum will be held on August 2, from 5 pm to 7.30 pm at Surendrababu Timblo Hall.

The forum will cover various topics like ‘Trends and Future of Retail - Globally and Nationally’, ‘Key challenges impeding the growth of organised retail sector in India’, ‘Role of the Consumer in Retail’, ‘Role of Future Group – Innovations/ Formats, etc’, ‘Why have multi format retail chains not opened in Goa – your opinion?’, ‘FDI Policy in retail sector and retail and recession’.

Future Group president Sadashiv Nayak will be the keynote speaker, Goa Builder’s Association president Datta Naik will speak on ‘Importance of Real Estate in Retail’ and Regional Business Leader and Senior vice-President of Yes Bank Vaibhav Chinchankar will also address the forum.

Prior registration is required. Those interested may register their names with GCCI on 2424252.

Independence Day races

PANJIM (HND): Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs will organise the annual Independence Day road races in collaboration with Goa Amateur Athletic Association on August 15, from Old Secretariat, Panjim to Miramar and back.

The road races will be organized in 3 categories i.e. below 19 years and above 16 years (boys and girls), below 16 years and above 14 years (boys and girls) and open for men and women. Cut-off date for age categories is August 15.

Educational institutions which are interested in participating in these races may submit their entries with date of birth and signed by the head of the institutions in the office of Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, Campal, Panjim latest by August 5 upto 5 pm in person or by special messenger.

Participants taking part in the race should be in proper sports kit.

Rhythmic breathing science

PANJIM (HND): Knowledge about correct breathing can help in controlling diseases. These priceless secrets from Rishi Patanjali, called Rhythmic Breathing Science, will be revealed at the following venues.

On August 1, at 2nd floor, Rotary Community Centre, entrance opp ICICI Bank, Tilak Maidan complex, Vasco, from 11 am to 1 pm and at room No. 2, 1st floor, Vidyadhiraj Hall, Mahalakshmi Temple, Panjim, from 6 pm to 8 pm.

On August 6, at Basement, Radhakrishna temple, near Mahalakshmi temple, Panjim, between 6 pm to 6.45 pm; on August 13, at basement, Radhakrishna Temple, near Mahalakshmi temple, Panjim, from 6 pm to 6.45 pm.

For registration, contact Venkatesh Betigiri on 9422443421 or veebee200303@yahoo.co.in.

POWer shutDOWn JULY 30 CORLIM: From 10 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Dotorbhat, Edmarg, SFX Residency, ICAR, Old Goa market complex, Gomes petrol pump and surrounding areas.

JULY 31 MAPUSA: From 9 am to 5 pm. Areas affected are Mapusa Industrial Estate, Alto Duler and nearby surrounding areas.

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Sancoale school accused of refusing admission HERALD CORRESPONDENT CORTALIM, JULY 28

At a time when the government is implementing various legislations to boost education in the country including the landmark Bill on the Right to Education, a higher secondary school is reportedly to have again started refusing admission to students.

In a complaint to the Education Director and Cortalim MLA Mauvin Godinho, one Leela K Bagewadi of New Vaddem, Vasco alleged that her daughter Pooja Naik was refused admission to XIth Arts by the Shantaduraga Higher Secondary School Principal.

She alleged that after being denied admissions, she approached the Assistant Director of Education, Sylvia D’Souza, who is deputy education officer to the school.

“However the principal had already gone out before we could reach the school,” Bagewadi said in her complaint and added that she was told bluntly by the principal on the next day that he would not give her admission in his school but would get her enrolled in St Andrews School, Vasco.

Stating that her daughter has still not got enrolled in any school, Bagewadi now fears that her daughter may lose the academic year.

NEST to organise lecture today HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, JULY 28

Nature Environment Society and Transformations (NEST) will organise a public lecture on ‘Goa: From trading post to tourism destination’ by Dr Raghu Trichur, Faculty at California State University, USA, on July 29 at 3.30 pm at Bal Bharati High School, Ribandar.

The lecture is organised as part of ongoing Dr Bikram Dasgupta memorial public lecture series. This is a third in the series. Further details are available on 2492014.

Director of Education Dr Celsa Pinto however could not be contacted since she was busy in meeting. School Principal Subash Naik also could not be contacted on the phone.

It may be recalled that some time back, a delegation of parents with the students led by Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho had called on Education Minister Babush Monseratte over the refusal of the school to admit students for Std XI Arts.

The school management

thereafter began enrolling students only to abruptly stop thereafter.

Cortalim MLA Mauvin Godinho when told about the latest development said he would take up in the ongoing assembly session and demand that the school be taken over by the government.

Godinho was instrumental in granting government financial aid to the tune of Rs 35 lakh for a new school building which is under construction.

Colva p’yat slams secretary for renewing licence of mega project HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

The Colva Panchayat was hit by a row of sorts after the Secretary renewed the license of a mega housing project without placing the inspection report before the elected body for approval.

Sarpanch Angela Borges slammed the secretary for renewing the license without taking the panchayat body into confidence. On the other hand, the secretary Alaudin maintained that he has given the license renewal in good faith and as per the report submitted by the Architect.

The Colva Panchayat had on July 21 adopted a resolution call-

ing for an inspection of the mega housing project at Grande Vanelim before the construction license is renewed by the body.

Sarpanch Angela said the resolution was adopted by the body to address all points raised by the residents.

A local resident Agnelo Fernandes said all the members had opposed the license renewal at the body meeting held on July 21, but added hat the secretary within no time issued the license without the knowledge of the panchayat body. “The Panchayat meeting took place on July 21 and the license was renewed the very next day. How this can be possible when peo-

ple make to wait for a license for days together”, Agnelo asked.

Secretary Alaudin, however, said that he has acted as per the

resolution passed by the body.

“The resolutions are passed by the body and the same are required to be executed by the secretary”, he said, adding that

the license was renewed based on the report from the architect.

“All Panchayat resolutions have to be implemented by the secretary”, Alaudin said, adding that he would have no problem to revoke the license if the Panchayat body feels that the construction license should be revoked.

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Without tower, lifeguards brave rain at Agonda beach HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, JULY 28

The lifeguards posted to protect visitors entering Agonda beach waters are left to brave the rains without any cover over their heads, as the proposed lifeguard tower is yet to see the light of the day.

According to sources, originally, two lifeguard towers were planned at Agonda shore considering the lengthy beach of over 3.5 kms, but later authorities reportedly settled for only one tower along with one each at Palolem, Patnem, Rajbhag and Galgibaga beaches.

Despite the village panchayat issuing a clear-cut No-Objection Certificate demarking a suitable place on Agonda beach to erect the lifeguard tower, sources informed that personnel from Dhristi Special Response Services began to explore for some alternate places, which lead to objections by some people.

Except for Agonda, towers have already been erected at all other marked beaches with little or no oppositions, but if sources in Dhristi Services are to be believed, they have been finding it extremely difficult to erect lifeguard tower at Agonda.

“We are taking up several ways and means to come up with the tower at Agonda, but

it seems some people are determined to object to our every move, denying a decent lifeguard tower at Agonda,” informed a source from Dhristhi.

“From the original larger planned lifeguard tower, similar to the one installed at Palolem, a smaller sized tower with no resting room, but just a watch tower is planned at Agonda, but even that is not allowed by some locals,” added sources.

“When the lifeguard tower installation team arrives to carry out works in a government land as proposed by the panchayat, some people come and object to the works.”

“We had even approached police for help, who assured us necessary protection, but when the working team actually proceeds to carry out the work, some more people come and stop the work,” said sources.

“This has virtually left us with no option, but all the lifeguards posted at Agonda shore are without any protection over their heads and they are forced to erect temporary structures to take shelter from the heavy rains,” informed sources.

Non-availability of towers also hampers the guards’ task of keeping a proper watch on people entering the sea.

Locals opposing tower, claims Drishti HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, JULY 28

With the Drishti Special Response Services (DSRS) claiming its inability to erect a lifeguard tower at Agonda beach reportedly due to opposition from locals, the tourism department has threatened the Agonda panchayat of withdrawing lifeguards and holding the local body responsible for any untoward incident on the beach.

In a letter addressed to the sarpanch, Director of Tourism Swapnil M Naik stated that the government has appointed M/s Drishti to undertake the work of development, deployment, management and operation of a water safety patrol in the coastal waters of Goa, which requires the agency to erect a lifeguard tower as an essential part of the project.

In view of the inadequacy in beach safety measures without a lifeguard tower, the panchayat is asked to provide assistance to M/s Drishti in granting the required NOC’s on priority basis considering the project is undertaken by the State government for the management of Agonda beach.

“Failure to co-operate with the agency, the lifeguard services will be withdrawn from the beach and Agonda panchayat will be responsible for any untoward incident occurred on the beach that may include deaths due to drowning,” added the letter.

Agonda Sarpanch Milagrinha Fernandes has described the letter as a high-handed approach of a government body against a local body.

“The interesting factor is that the same letter from the director of tourism threatening our panchayat surprisingly refers to an NOC granted by my predecessor and ex-sarpanch Jovi Fernandes on February 22, granting permission to erect a tower. The director is requesting now for the same NOC, failure to which threatening to withdraw lifeguards from our beach.”

She expressed surprise over the receipt of the letter, which also threatens to hold the local body responsible incase of drowning deaths or untoward incidents.

“How can the local body be held responsible when the government, as part of its obligation, has an agency appointed to manage safety along the beach,” she asked.

“If the agency or the government finds difficulty in erecting the required lifeguard tower, they can always take police help or invoke other legal procedures against the unlawfully restraining people,” said sarpanch.

When contacted, Jovi Fernandes retorted saying: “It is sheer high-handedness on the part of tourism department for trying to implicate others for its inability to erect the tower, which they should have done long back.”

“If a government agency cannot exercise the rights over its own property, why blame the local body when it has done its obligation,” he asked.

“In fact, the tourism department may need to explain for such a delay in erecting a lifeguard tower since February end, due to which tourists venturing in Arabian Sea are not given proper attention by the lifeguards,” he added.

CWC to fight for justice to MMC worker HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JULY 28

The Citizens Working Centre has threatened to resort to an indefinite hunger strike if the Margao Municipal Council fails to mete out justice by regularization the services of a worker Wenceslan Silva.

A delegation of the CWC called on the Chairperson Savio Coutinho and Chief Officer Y B Tawde and pointed out that Silva had been working as a worker in the Civic body since the year 1996.

They demanded to know why Silva was not regularized by the Civic body along with other workers, and charged the Council for regularizing the services of some workers of non-Goan origin. “Silva, who belongs to the ST Community, was deprived of the regularization due to the dictates of politicians”, the CWC said.

The CWC alleged that injustice was further meted out t Silva after the Council surprisingly signed another settlement before the Labour Commissioner on March 19, 2008 regularizing the ser vices of

another four workers, all from Cuncolim constituency represented by the Union Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao.

“These four workers had completed just three years of service were granted regularization, whereas was denied regularization even after completing 12 years of services”, the CWC added.

The NGO served a three-day ultimatum on the Civic body to either regularize Silva’s services or threatened to go on a hunger strike anytime after three days.

Lavino elected Anjuna Sarpanch HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, JULY 28

Lavino Rebello was on Wednesday elected sarpanch of the 11member Anjuna-Caisua Panchayat.

At the election for the post of sarpanch, which had fallen vacant with the resignation of Sandip Chimulkar, Rebello’s was the only nomination received for the post.

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O HERALD O

Congress on the Mat

Vol No CX No: 193 Goa, Thursday 29 July, 2010

U

Who is the real Hindu?

nder a cloud following the arrest and charge sheeting of its ‘sadhaks’ for acts of terrorism, the Sanatan Sanstha and its associate organisation the Hindu Jan Jagriti Samiti have been very quiet since the diabolical attempt to plant bombs and kill innocent devotees in crowded ‘Narkasur’ parades and to trigger communal violence on the eve of last Diwali.

Now, they are trying to bounce back by resorting to their usual tactic of making police complaints against what they perceive as ‘insults’ to the Hindu religion.

Their latest target is an exhibition of paintings by renowned Indologist and Sanskrit scholar Dr Jose Pereira, whose exhibition of paintings – Epiphanies of the Hindu Gods – is on display at the Xavier Historical Research Centre (XHRC) in Porvorim. The 79-year-old scholar, who has written dozens of books on theology, history, architecture, language and music, has based each painting in this series on verses by ancient Hindu saintpoets and writers like Somadeva, Visakhadatta and Vedantadesika, as well as on Chola sculptures and descriptions in great works of Hindu mythology like the ‘Ramayana’, the ‘Bhagwat Purana’ and the ‘Gita Govinda’.

The Jan Jagriti Samiti has objected to three of the paintings, which it complains are “extremely blasphemous”, and “hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus”, with “nude and derogatory pictures” of Hindu deities like Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna. It has filed a complaint about these at the Porvorim Police Station.

One Capt (Retd) Dattaram Sawant has filed a personal police complaint against Dr Jose Pereira.

The great Goa Police, whose fine officers send people who come to report that their daughter has been kidnapped back home to bring her birth certificate instead of going out to look for her, acted with uncharacteristic urgency in this case, hurrying to the XHRC to ‘investigate’. Not wanting the incident to take a communal turn, the exhibition’s organisers meekly withdrew the paintings the Samiti had objected to.

It is a pity that those who want to abrogate to themselves the right to represent the Hindu religion have so little understanding of it themselves. It is a religion with a very broad and liberal sweep. Hinduism was fabled to have 33 crore Gods when India did not even have a population of 33 crore. This shows that each Hindu can have their own form of religion.

One can be a vegetarian or a meat-eater, and still be a Hindu.

There are Hindus who eat pork and Hindus who eat beef. The Aghori babas actually eat human flesh plucked from corpses as they are being cremated. Tantriks practice worship through sexual union. Naga sadhus smoke marijuana as a part of worship.

Even an atheist can be a Hindu. That is the wonder called Hindusim; it has survived for thousands of years without resorting to conversions, only because it co-opts and integrates all societal and ecclesiastical trends into the mainstream of the religion. Nudity – whether of Gods or mortals – is certainly not blasphemous in Hinduism, as ancient temple sculptures and Kangra miniature paintings so emphatically show.

But this is not the Hinduism of the Jan Jagriti Samiti and the Sanatan Sanstha. They want to bind and fetter Hindusim with narrow concepts and rigid rules of their own making; to make Hinduism more like Islam or Christianity. This is antithetical to the very concept of Hinduism; it will only hurt the religion, not help it. That is why their version of Hinduism has been comprehensively rejected by the vast majority of Hindus. It is seen, for example, in the Sanatan Sanstha’s failed campaign against the unique ‘Narkasur’ festival observed by all Goans for Diwali.

Why does the government allow this kind of mob censorship?

The Hindu Jan Jagriti Samiti does not represent the Hindu religion. It cannot be allowed to dictate what is and what is not an ‘insult’ to the religion.

Not a Govt office Praxy Fernandes, St Cruz Only Antonia Michelle Abel can tell us why she suggested that the Bishop’s office should come under the RTI Act, which applies to government offices, departments, corporations, etc, where bureaucrats, ministers and politicians make merry at the public’s cost.

Does Antonia think the Bishop’s House is a government office?

Muslims a vote bank?

Zemir Shaikh, Margao On Tuesday in the Assembly, the government announced its decision to reserve 19.5 per cent of seats for OBC, 12 per cent to ST and 2 per cent to SC in the coming Municipal elections. I would like to ask Chief Minister Digambar Kamat: What about reservation for the minority Muslim community?

He only knows to use them as a vote bank, giving them voting cards, electricity connections, water taps, ration cards and

100 Years Ago

The government has been stuttering at every turn and cuts a sorry figure in the Assembly, says erVeLL e MeneZeS

T

he current monsoon session of the Goa Assembly is proving to be a torrid time for the ruling Congress, thanks to a concerted effort by the Opposition to take them to task for their countless acts of omission and commission.

They were not helped one bit by the absence of Home Minister Ravi Naik, who was said to be admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.

It is a ‘sickness’ he contracted when things got hot, especially the police-drug mafia issue, where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is yet to be called in. He is, as a wag quipped, “in hospital for an overdose of cocaine”.

So, the rest of the Congress, led by a dithering, bumbling Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had to make the best of a bad situation. The Opposition walked out twice before going down to the Well of the House demanding a CBI inquiry. Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar had marshalled his facts well, and took on Kamat blow for blow. He said that many Congress MLAs, too, were in favour of a CBI probe, mentioning Victoria ‘Mummy’ Fernandes, Angelo Fernandes and Dayanand Narvekar by name. What is most interesting is that not one of the three refuted Parrikar’s claim.

Farming also came to the fore, and Narvekar asked Kamat what was being done for the small farmer with less than two hectares of land. The Chief Minister had announced a financial assistance of Rs50,000 for farmers with two hectares of land, but till date no material benefit has accrued. It’s the same case with the horticultural policy announced a year ago. Narvekar also attacked the weak attempts to control price rise.

Mining is another perennial problem, and it probably got more attention after the goings-on in adjoining Karnataka. The Monitoring Committee, constituted in October to look into ‘illegal mining’, is said to be an eyewash. Activist Seby Rodrigues says that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) easily manipulates clearances by allowing mining companies to choose private outfits to carry out the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study. The Chief Minister’s proximity to the mining lobby is an open secret.

Then, there is the issue of the 4/6 laning of National Highway 17, and the Opposition demanded a House Committee be set up for it, claiming that Central Authority officers coming to Goa were probably misguiding locals about the width of the road. Actually, the government was found

29 July 1910 Individuals Nabbed

At the Village of Saligao, in the Hindu Cemetery some individuals engaged while playing the games of Chance, were nabbed.

Churchill’s Portfolio

It was officially announced that Mr. Winston Churchill is to hold the Portfolio of Internal Affairs.

Gun Coffins

It is rumored that in the ruins of the Macau cemetery, were found coffins containing guns with no bodies inside the coffins

French Reprisals

France warned that it will take severe reprisals against Mullah Hafid if he does not ratify the treaty on debt.

stuttering at almost every turn, and the ruling party cut a sorry figure, as not fit enough to be in power.

Even so, it does not give the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) leader Adv Anacleto Viegas the right to say: “We will not join the corrupt Congress.” Is the UGDP without sin, to cast the first stone? Corruption is common to all Goan political parties. Some call the UGDP a trading establishment that survives by selling its MLAs at the time of government formation. Its stalwarts, Viegas and his ‘saddu’ Adv Radharao Gracias (both lawyers, they are married to two sisters), are its two-man army.

It is a shame that they still have the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol that marked the Opinion Poll victory of the anti-mergerists, way back in 1967. The current party is not even a shadow of the original United Goans Party (UGP), which along with the Maha-

D

uring the monsoon, I seize the chance to write about the countryside. Goa has to be seen through its villages, where religious fervour, singing and dancing, the yelling of children, even dogs barking their acclaim, some flirtation, also frustration and depression fuse into the pleasant alchemy of harmony, peace and serenity. Perhaps, the slowing down of peace and the people knowing to take it easy and enjoy God given day, we are taken as sossegado.

These days, the greenery is a treat to the eyes, the palm and other tall trees clap their hands and make music of their own.

What about the tumbling brooks and wee waterfalls? Their music is better than any orchestra! Everything shouts how splendid it is out in the village. Insects and grasshoppers scramble about. There is the constant buzz and ring of insects. Between cloudbursts, you even hear the barking of jackals, the howling of hyenas and the croaking of frogs. Nature gets clothed in pristine beauty. Truly, every season has a reason.

If you keep your eyes and ears open, there is so much to see

things that enable them to vote for him.

He shows his ‘real’ concern by denying them basic amenities like a burial place that are enjoyed by all other communities.

Joaquim Alemao is another person who uses the Muslims of Cuncolim as his vote bank, doing nothing for their benefit. This is the state of affairs in our tiny Goa, which prides itself on being a ‘communually harmonious’ state. Digamber Kamat must think about giving reservations to Muslims along with ST, SC and OBC for the forthcoming Municipal elections.

Constantine’s legacy Paul Rodricks, Caranzalem Ibonio D’Souza article, ‘A whole Human Being’ (Herald, 28 July) is a thought-provoking one, except for the slight blur that the “words and actions of Jesus” surmounted the might of the Roman Empire. Rather, the opposite happened.

Only Emperor Constantine’s staunch patronage, making Christianity the state religion, was the real driving force behind the spread of Christianity; and never the teachings or actions of Jesus.

Stephen Dias, Dona Paula Adelmo Fernandes (‘Half and Half ’, Herald, 28 July) has made an impractical suggestion.

Underwater work, cutting hull plates on a shipwreck, is not advisable to be tendered to two companies, because they will blame each other when things go wrong, making it impossible to pinpoint the culprit.

Never in the history of shipping has a single shipwreck been given to two contractors.

Funny Mani Irineu Gonsalves, Verna It is unbelievable that former Sports Minister – Mani Shankar Aiyar – says: “I will be very unhappy if the [Commonwealth] Games are successful, because then they will start bringing Asian Games, Olympics…” No one can deny that these Games help remove barriers and promote good relations among nations.

Aiyar’s says instead of spending huge amounts on the Commonwealth Games,

rashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) dominated Goa’s politics after Liberation.

But after the Congress established itself in Goa, and years later the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the other parties became also-rans. Off and on, new parties were floated, trying to project a regional angle. So we had the Goa Congress in 1982, courtesy Dr Wilfred de Souza, then the Rajiv Congress in 1998 and, finally, the National Congress Party (NCP), before bowing out; a good doctor who became a bad politician. Parrikar seems to have taken him as his mentor.

But coming back to the UGDP and its claim to transparency, it all started in the 1994 election, when Churchill Alemao used the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol to cash in on the anti-Congress sentiment prevailing in South Goa. The UGDP won three seats in what was perceived to be a Congress stronghold. In 1996, Churchill became the UGDP

Living close to nature

Those were the days

Half measures PRIMEIRO DIARIO NAS COLONIAS PORTUGEZAS

Minding Our BuSineSS

South Goa MP, defeating Eduardo Faleiro. But in the next election, in 1998, he lost to Francisco Sardinha and, soon after, abandoned the UGDP to rejoin the Congress. In the 2007 election, he launched a Save Goa Front but won only two seats. This outfit was then ‘merged’ into the Congress, so he could get the coveted PWD portfolio, which he still holds. But he seems all at sea over the 4/6 laning of the highway.

In 1998, Dr Willy pulled the rug from under Pratapsingh Rane’s feet to become Chief Minister, for a few fateful months. When his government fell in turn, the UGDP members en masse joined the Congress in the now famous or notorious (depending on which side you are) ‘Midnight Meet’ (Whatever happened to integrity, Mr Viegas?). This knocked the wind out of the sails of the UGDP, and all that was left was their glorious symbol, Two Leaves, to remind them of their salad days.

That was when they resorted to recruiting men with money, who could not get into any party.

So in 2002 it was men with aliases like Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, Francisco ‘Mickky’ Pacheco and, later on, hang-dog activist-turned-politician Mathany Saldanha, who soon became a Parrikar ‘chamcha’. Of course Monserrate and Pacheco were known upstarts/goons and soon proved it.

But Saldanha, once accustomed to being power, was loath to relinquish it. What a fall for the onetime Ramponkar leader!

The UGDP, however, became a party that would wake up only at the time of elections. It is so mercenary that it is believed to have hawked the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol to a group of defectors in Jharkhand that were looking for a recognised party; any party, to get an identity.

No wonder, today we have a Goa without any political will or credibility, which makes a mockery of democracy in a small state. It’s only money power that works, and the current Congress with all its cracks, manages to chug on.

Oh yes, I missed an important point. Among the plethora of revelations that came up during the Monsoon session, perhaps the most astounding one is that 1,423 committees have been set up by the government since July 2007, and 774 of them did not met even once! This fact could make it to the Guinness Book of Records. And it would probably please Digambar Kamat; he has a fetish for firsts.

and do. Everyone has to figure out what is restful and relaxing. For some, it is anywhere there is a good combination of water to fish and land to explore, ponder over the woods of life which oxidize this otherwise smelly and rusty earth. Where the rising sun can be seen in all its glory; the sun rises smilingly, signalling the start of another day, serenaded by the singing of birds. There is no cause for fear, but there is ample cause for awe.

The scent of freshly turned earth infuses your body with joy.

Men ploughing new earth, and women with their bottoms up transplanting the paddy seedlings as the slanting rain lashes against the back of their wicker hoods. Here nobody is in a hurry, and they all know an old secret that we lost - the secret of how to be happy with little.

My memory takes me years back, when I was sent for two nights to guard a pumpkin patch when I must have been 14. At dawn, I arose from my rickety bed held up by four strong wooden poles in the field. In the east, the morning star was shining brightly. A cool breeze was blowing. Being amid all this natural beauty, I felt

Bishop has nothing to hide

Averthanus L D’Souza, Dona Paula

In ‘Bishop’s Office under RTI?’ (Herald, 28 July), we are informed that a panel of legislators has requested the Goa Law Department to examine whether the Archbishop of Goa and Daman comes under the purview of the Right to Information Act; a very sensible action.

But why did the Panel of Legislators take cognisance of a suggestion by one Antonia Michelle Abel that the Archbishop Patriarch of Goa and Daman “ought to open a public information office for the Church laws (Canons)”? This person seems crassly ignorant of the fact that the Code of Canon Law is easily available in any Catholic bookshop.

The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman has a Commission for Social Communications Media which responds to matters of public interest concerning the Archdiocese. Individuals – whether Catholics or not – can seek information about the Archdiocese, a public entity duly registered under the law. All Catholic Dioceses all over the world are required by Canon Law to function in conformity with the laws of their respective countries.

Ms Abel’s most outlandish suggestion is that “The Archbishop Patriarch of Goa and Daman was bound to repeal the Portuguese constitution, laws, customs, culture and traditions and report to His Holiness the Pope to come under the Constitution of India…” It is preposterous to think that a Bishop can “repeal” the Constitution of a sovereign country and request the Pope to “come under the Constitution of India”.

Decomposed Fish Jerome Goes, London During my latest visit to Goa, when I visited the wholesale fish market, I felt that we Goans do not belong to the 21st century.

There was rotten and decomposed fish strewn all over the place. This is a ‘new’ wholesale market, but has no facilities for disposing of stale fish.

This can invite disease for fish sellers, fish buyers and residents of the area, from flies. Can’t some entrepreneur start a fish

God was hauntingly calling me into His presence.

What artificial lives we have to live in cities. Because real estate prices have skyrocketed, owning even a modest flat has become an impossible dream for many. They must settle for pigeon holes in an apartment block. Contact with nature is restricted to a bulbul or a parrot in a cage and a few plants putting up a brave fight against pollution on the balcony, while changing seasons are marked only by the sales at shopping centres.

To think of it deeper, after Creation’s first moment, the universe was simpler. In fact, a mere dot comprising perhaps only one kind of force and one kind of particle. Now it has many kinds of forces, scores of different particles and contains everything from stars and galaxies to fishes, elephants, trees and lilies.

I strongly feel there is something that is beyond human beings, an indescribable feeling or something that we pursue, knowingly or unknowingly, throughout our lives. In every epoch, humanity has had its specific way of seeking it. That is probably how it will always be.

Letters to the Editor

Letter of the Day

India should spend on children. Bit it is an escapist view. Economists say that Indians have over $1,500 billion in Swiss Banks. If the money can be confiscated, India’s poverty can be wiped out in a day. Why doesn’t Aiyar raise these points in Parliament?

A successful nation is one that can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that people like Aiyar throw at it. Is it not an honour to see our tricolour proudly flutter as the national anthem heralds our victorious athletes? Jai Hind!

By Marc de Souza

drying plant and turn this stale fish into manure?

Are you listening Mr Chief Minister? This is in your constituency.

New Law Secretary Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar The Goa Government’s decision to appoint Additional Sessions Judge Pramod Kamat as the new Law Secretary is a step in the right direction to clear the mess in the Law Department.

Now there should be a concerted effort to put the Law Department in good order.

To achieve this, it is crucial and imperative that Goa gets, at the earliest, a competent and honest Advocate General.

Corporal punishment R Ramamurthy, Margao It is shocking that a school principal, a teacher and a non-teaching staffer were constantly hitting an 8-year-old child in Std III on the face and back, beating him with a scale, forcing him to kneel for long hours

and not allowing him to go to the toilet.

Parents should be grateful to the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) for ordering the Directorate of Education to ensure that the principal does not continue in the school. All three should get exemplary punishment.

Corporal punishment can even cause the death of a child. Stringent action should be taken against teachers and institutions that give such punishments.

Something fishy…

Antonio Diniz, Fatorda St Cruz MLA Victoria Fernandes’ statement in the Assembly about the quality of fish sold in Goa’s fish markets is correct. Fish vendors take advantage that no one checks the fish being sold, and take customers for a ride. Fish is an ‘essential commodity’ for Goans, and they buy whatever fish is sold, at any price.

Our fish markets are filthy and badly maintained. Fish vendors are indisciplined, arrogant and irresponsible. Their methods of preserving unsold fish in ice are crude and unhygienic, and can seriously endanger the health of consumers. The Health Ministry and FDA should step in, not only to ensure that stale fish is not sold, but also to give fish vendors the facilities and training to preserve fish properly.

Crypto-Goans Venan B Dias, St Estevam The recent happenings in Belgaum should be an eye opener to all Goans. The argument that just because the majority of the people are Marathi speaking it should be given to Maharashtra, is baseless. In that case, should Mumbai still be a part of Maharashtra when the majority of Mumbaikars do not speak Marathi?

First, Maharashtra tried to annex Goa using crypto-Goans – whose first loyalty was to Marathi and Maharashtra rather than Goa – as tools. Now it is trying to interfere with Karnataka. Mumbai’s suburb Vasai has seven hours power cut per day; Maharashtra cannot take care of its own people. Why does it want to acquire hundreds of extra villages?

Paths of Wisdom

Riches are a Deadly Temptation The desire to raise the standard of life is a thirst that can never be quenched.

It leads to endless pursuit of sensory pleasures, multiplication of wants, deeper and deeper involvement in worry. Riches are a deadly temptation.

No whip can suppress the itch to gain money.Once, Lakshmî (the goddess of fortune; also the name used for money engaged in devotional service) and Nârâyana (Her Lord) had a quarrel over who was supreme in the hearts of mankind. They decided to settle it by means of an experiment.

Lakshmî came down among mankind as a spiritual teacher; when people washed her feet and worshiped her, the plate and vessels used by the devotees turned into gold! So, she was welcomed everywhere and there was a terrible rush of devotees and a huge pile of brass, copper and aluminum vessels in evidence everywhere!

Meanwhile, Nârâyana too was upon the earth as an exponent of the sacred scriptures, expounding to the huge gatherings the paths to happiness and joy, marked out by the sages. When the people heard of Lakshmî converting metal into gold, they preferred her visits to those of Nârâyana and cared little for what He taught.

Nârâyana was actually sent out of cities and villages when Lakshmî entered them, for His discourses distracted them from the profitable sessions of Lakshmî puja. Indeed, riches are a deadly temptation.

(Source : Chinna Katha)

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opinionated Policing The Goa Police Bill

By RuI da Gama

Most of the International Reports on Human Rights violations account that the Police around the world, especially in the Third World Countries which include India, has the highest number of Human Rights Abuses which need to be addressed and stopped immediately, if we have to live in a civilized society.

In the first place, it was difficult to get a copy of the proposed draft of the Goa Police Bill which is to be introduced as a legislation in Goa. We wonder why there is so much secrecy in making this draft of the proposed Goa Police bill open to the public, when it concerns the life of the people in Goa. Unless, they have some hidden agenda to bring in such dictatorial Clauses which would allow them Powers to misuse the Police, to settle personal scores, blackmail the people, etc., and indulge in Human Rights violations. If the Government of Goa is of the people, by the people and for the people, then it is their duty to make public the draft of the proposed Goa Police Bill which concerns the safety, security and life of people in Goa for a generation or more to come.

In 2008, the Government of Goa considered bringing in a legislation to improve Policing and regulate the Police Services in Goa, which was a good move. In August 2008, the proposed draft of the new Police Bill was sent to the Select Committee, Chaired by the Home Minister. This draft of the proposed Goa Police Bill has to follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court Judgment in the Case of Prakash Singh & Others versus the Union of India, which recommends important measures to safeguard and secure the Human Rights of every Citizen in India. However, we find that many of the clauses and recommendation made by the Honourable Judges of the Supreme Court, are omitted in the proposed draft of Goa Police Bill. Whereas some of the clauses give such dictatorial Powers to the Police who could use the same to violate the Human Rights of the people living in Goa. Such anti-people clauses in the draft Goa Police Bill need to be questioned now before it is late.

For example, the proposed State Security Commission, its composition and its mandate without binding powers, makes it ineffective or toothless. Besides, it dilutes the object and powers of the State Complainant Authority, giving decisive power to the Government to dissolve the State Complaint Authority or not to set up one in the State. The proposed draft of the Goa Police Bill is also not clear on appointments of Police Officers where merit is essential for good Policing. Why does Goa require Special Security Zones and what is the purpose of it ? Why do we need to give Powers to the Police or the Home Minister to appoint Special Police Officers when we know that there is a nexus between some of the Politicians, Police Officers and Criminals. It is a fact that the Government of Goa and the Police Authorities have already allowed some Private Security Agencies to be managed by people having a criminal background. What will the justice for the people in Goa be if such persons with a criminal background are appointed as Special Security Officers.

The proposed Goa Police Bill has also to clearly define the relationship between the Government and the Police; whether the Police Chief and his deputies will have independent charge without political interference , and at the same time the Elected Executive have an overall Supervisory Role to account for Responsible Policing. I have mentioned only a few such anti–people clauses of the draft Goa Police Bill and there are more changes required to be made after taking legal opinion from all our lawyer friends, Human Rights and Social Activist in Goa. Some more welfare benefits could also be included in the proposed Bill as an incentive for the Police to work with honesty. In other words, we need to publicly debate the proposed draft of the Goa Police Bill with transparency and openness.

We need Police to be professionals, most effective in Policing, and who will be accountable for their actions. We need responsible Police who can be trusted. The law abiding Citizen in Goa, are eager to have Police serve them in the most honest way, for the safety and security of their lives. Police are the most wanted Social Workers. And my heartfelt appreciation to all the Police who have honestly served the people in Goa. But we have no sympathy for the Police who have abused Human Rights of people and continue doing so. It is important to adhere to the above mentioned Supreme Court Judgment Recommendation, to do away Colonial mindset of the 150-year-old Indian Police Act of 1861.

It is in each one’s personal interest to request and demand that the Home Minister and Chairman of the Select Committee immediately hold well announced Public Hearings in North Goa and in South Goa or even in each Taluka, to invite public opinion on the proposed Goa Police Bill. Remember, it concerns each and every one of us in Goa. It concerns the safety and security of our lives, the lives of our family and our future generations. The Right of Protection is our Human Right. In the interest of the public, I have handed over a letter dated July 15th, 2010 and a copy of this Report, to the Chairman of the Select Committee, Government of Goa, requesting to immediately hold Public Hearing on the proposed Goa Police Bill and invite suggestion from the people in Goa.. Rather than repenting later, I trust that all of us will also rise up to the occasion to guide our elected Representatives to be accountable to the people of Goa. The writer is the Convenor of Asha Family Responsibilities & Rights Association, Mapusa.

Student fires at schoolmate PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

In a shocking incident, a Class IX student today allegedly fired at his schoolmate with an airpistol leaving him injured during a clash between two groups in a south Delhi school.

The incident took place in Veer Chandra Garwhal Public School in Saket at around 9 am and the injured has been identified as Gaurav Yadav, a Class VIII student.

The Class IX student opened fire using the 0.22 bore air-pistol when two groups of students clashed in the playground over some issue, a senior police official said.

"The Class IX student had brought the air-pistol to the school. During the fight, he allegedly opened fire in which Gaurav suffered minor injuries on his shoulder," the official said.

Gaurav was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre from where he was discharged after treat-

ment, he said.

The student who allegedly opened fire has been taken into police custody. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act. A student said, "We were playing cricket. He (the accused) threw stones at us and there was an argument. There was a fist fight between us and then suddenly he pulled out the gun from his bag and opened fire."

Another student said many students bring arms to the school. "There is a shortage of teachers. When it is prayertime, many students are there in the playground. Many students bring things like knives and surgical blades to the school."

An air pistol fires projectiles by means of compressed air in contrast to a firearm which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition.

Britain backs India’s bid for seat in UN Security Council PTI BANGALORE, JULY 28

On his maiden visit to India since taking over as the British Prime Minister, David Cameron today backed New Delhi's bid for a seat in the UN Security Council.

"India matters to the world because it is not only a rising power, it is a responsible global power," he said.

Cameron said Britain welcomes India's significant support to Afghanistan and 'vital' efforts in Nepal and Bhutan.

India is also a leading provider of peacekeeping troops to the UN, he said.

"And as I saw for myself at the G20, your Prime Minister has personally provided great intellectual leadership in economic matters," he said during his visit to the Infosys campus here.

"That is why the time has come for India to take the seat it deserves in the UN Security Council," Cameron said.

Cameron is accompanied by a delegation comprising his cabinet colleagues, CEOs of leading business houses, ViceChancellors of reputed universities, other dignitaries and senior officials.

Cameron said it made sense for both Britain and India to elevate their relationship to new heights.

"But this is not just about Britain and India. This is a relationship that can benefit the world," he said.

He said there were three major global challenges "that we have a duty to meet together – challenges that should shape our relationship"---economic, security and climate change.

"By forging business links together, by tackling threats to our security together and by taking on the challenge of climate change together … …we can raise our relationship to new heights," he added.

Wants closer security ties PTI BANGALORE, JULY 28

British Prime Minister David Cameron today pitched for closer security relationship between India and Britain, saying the two countries must meet the challenge of ensuring global security.

He said Britain, like India, was determined that groups like the Taliban, the Haqqani network or Lakshar-e-Taiba should not be allowed to launch attacks on Indian and British citizens in India or in Britain. "...Nor against our people, whether soldiers or civilians, from both our countries who are working for peace in Afghanistan," the British Premier said at a gathering at

Infosys campus on the city outskirts.

"Our interests are your interests -– so let's work together to realise them," he said referring to the terror strikes in London on July 7, 2005 in which 52 people were killed on a tube and on a bus and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, which left scores of Indians and three British nationals dead.

Asserting that Britain worked with Indian government in investigations, he said, "We remain determined that those responsible must be brought to justice...And I am here today to propose an even closer security relationship between India and Britain."

Sohrabuddin case: CBI in Sabarmati jail to question Shah PTI AHMEDABAD, JULY 28

CBI officials today questioned former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, arrested in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in the Sabarmati jail here following a court order.

The court on a CBI application had given permission to the investigating agency to question Shah inside the jail from July 28 to 30.

CBI officer Amitabh Thakur and other officials along with their lawyer are part of the team constituted to quiz the former Minister of State for Home, who resigned from the Narendra Modi government on Saturday.

On a request from Shah, the court had ordered audio-video recording of interrogation by CBI. The agency has also taken videographers with them inside the Sabarmati jail.

Shah is lodged in Tilak bar-

rack of the jail after he was arrested by the CBI in the fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and killing of his wife Kausarbi in 2005 on Sunday.

As per the chargesheet filed by the CBI in the court, Shah is accused of murder, kidnapping and extortion along with other charges like destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.

According to the chargesheet, Shah had allegedly entrusted the job of eliminating Sheikh to three senior IPS officers.

"Elimination of Sohrabuddin was being used for extortion by the accused persons to establish an element of fear in the minds of the businessmen and others," it said.

The accused persons from Rajasthan Police allegedly participated in the conspiracy because Sohrabuddin was terrorising the marble lobby in the neighbouring state, the CBI has said.

Govt considering reservation for Muslims through OBC route PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Government is actively considering reservation for Muslims through the Other Backward Castes (OBC) route, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.

"We are actively looking at the reservation issue. We have a commitment in our (Congress) manifesto. I am pushing for it all the time ....Congress leadership is committed to the issue and there is no shred of doubt about it," he told PTI in an interview here.

Khurshid was replying to questions on whether the government is ready to implement the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission for reservation to Minorities.

The Commission, whose report was tabled in Parliament in December last year, had recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs.

The Commission had also suggested an alternative route for reservation to minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in implementing the recommendation for 15 per cent reservation.

According to the Mandal Commission report, minorities constitute 8.4 per cent of the total OBC population. So in the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub quota should be earmarked for minorities of which 6 per cent should be for Muslims.

"They (Mishra Commission) are saying either do it as 15 per cent or as share of 27 per cent. We are moving on the second option," Khurshid said, adding that this option was also recommended by the Sachar Committee, which looked into the issue of the backwardness of Muslims.

Asked whether the UPA is

Amarnath yatra suspended from Jammu PTI JAMMU, JULY 28

The Amarnath yatra was today suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather prevailing in the state.

A fresh batch of pilgrims was not allowed to proceed from the base camp of Bhagwati Nagar here for onward journey to Kashmir Valley as rains have been lashing the state, including on the Baltal and Pahalgam routes, official sources said here.

The yatra has already been suspended from camps at Nunwan in Pahalgam and Baltal yesterday due to heavy downpour resulting in slippery tracks, they said, adding the yatra was also stopped at the transit camps along the route due to the same reason.

Authorities did not allow pilgrims to proceed in order to avoid overcrowding at base camps, they said, noting that pilgrims usually reach these camps in the evening and after a night stay undertake the journey to the shrine.

n According to the Mandal Commission report, minorities constitute 8.4 per cent of the total OBC population. So in the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub quota should be earmarked for minorities of which 6 per cent should be for Muslims. ruling out the first option of giving 15 per cent reservation to minorities as a while, Khurshid said, "Not ruling out the first option, we are moving on the second option."

The Minority Affairs Minister said that though his ministry is not the one to decide over the issue, he was in constant touch with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as they are the ones who have to do it.

"I am obviously involved in the conceptualisation of this," he said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi had reportedly assured a delegation of Muslim leaders in May this year that modalities for providing reservation to Muslims would be worked out in six months.

The party is learnt to be in favour of providing reservations to minorities on the lines of the quota structure that is already in place in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu has 3.5 per cent reservation for Muslims within 27 per cent quota for backward castes, while Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh has given 4 per cent reservation to Muslims, which was also upheld by the Supreme Court.

Children sit in front of their house on the banks of the flooded river Tawi after heavy rains on the outskirts of Jammu on Wednesday.

Stay for three weeks on verdict setting aside MP election

HC issues notice to Varun Gandhi

tradictory caste certificates issued by Tehsildars of Kottarakara and Nedumangad.

In his petition, Suresh had submitted that Parliament was in session from July 26 to August 27 and being a member of its SC-ST Welfare committee, had a 'vital role' to play in welfare of members of the SC-ST community.

He had stated that if operation of the judgement was not stayed, he would not be able to take part in the committee proceedings and it would also be a 'great prejudice' against the public interest and to him as MP. Claiming that he was a victim of a "political conspiracy" against him, Suresh told reporters here that some party workers in the state, who were unhappy with his rise, were behind those who had filed the case against him.

The same people are now waiting in the wings to become

PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

PTI KOCHI, JULY 28

The Kerala High Court today ordered a three-week conditional stay on its verdict declaring as void Congress Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh's election from Mavelikara (Reserved) constituency.

The order was issued by Justice M Sasidharan Nambiar on a petition by Suresh seeking a month's stay to enable him file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The court, however, imposed conditions that he shall not vote in Parliament, accept any salary or allowance as MP and take part in Parliamentary Committee meetings.

Suresh, a five-time MP, was disqualified by the court on Monday holding that he was not entitled to claim the benefits and privileges available to members of the Scheduled Caste.

The court had also found that Suresh had produced con-

Theatre should not be shown for free, says Nadira Babbar PTI CHANDIGARH, JULY 28

To help theatre grow and spread its roots, the shows should be ticketed and not shown for free, noted theatre actress, Nadira Babbar said.

"I think the culture of having free passes has to be done away with. The Government should make the tickets available at reasonable prices, like Rs 25 or Rs 50 per show. Often we see that when free passes are distributed, many seats reserved for the VIPs keep lying vacant, who on occasions do not bother to come," Nadira said here.

"Theatre must not limit itself only to the elitist audience and spread out and break the barriers as one of the main aim of theatre is to act as a catalyst of change," she said.

Nadira was here as part of the second edition of four-day

Chandigarh Theatre festival, organised by the Chandigarh Administration, which concluded here yesterday. Shabana Azmi and Tom Alter also mesmerised the audiences with their performances earlier on.

Last night, the play "Sakubai", the story based on of survival instincts and the spirit of housemaids, written and directed by Nadira and performed by veteran theatre artist, Sarita Joshi was shown at the festival.

"Theatre is growing with many youngsters being attracted to it. There is a huge audience for theatre, especially in smaller cities," said Nadira, who also makes a mention of being raised under Marxist influence, which has inspired her writings, as she grew up in an environment where "we were told to question injustice and made sensitive to the needs of others".

ministers, MLAs and MPs, he said, but refused to name those behind the "conspiracy".

After the Lok Sabha elections, he had given a complaint against those who had worked against him to the KPCC president, Suresh said.

Suresh said he would leave for New Delhi today and would meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and other leaders and apprise them about the developments and take a decision on filing an appeal in the Supreme court.

Asked about the two different caste certificates produced by him in court -- one by the tahsildhar of Nedumangad and another by the tahsildhar of Kottarakara which showed that he belonged to Cheramar and Pulaya communities respectively, he said both sections are the same and are known by different names in different parts of the state.

Salem hurt himself and framed me, says Dossa PTI MUMBAI, JULY 28

Mustafa Dossa, suspected to be an aide of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, was today arrested in a case of assault on gangster Abu Salem but he claimed injuries sustained by Salem were self-inflicted and he was framed.

Dossa, undergoing trial in the 1993 bomb blast case, is facing allegations of attacking Salem on Saturday in Arthur Road jail where both were lodged.

Police arrested Dossa and his associate Abdul Qayyum Sheikh on charges of attacking Salem and produced them before Metropolitan Magistrate P Bhambarde who remanded the duo in police custody till August 7.

Police sought their custody saying they have to probe various angles -- whether the attack on Salem was carried out at the behest of any other person, sequence of events lead-

ing to attack and record statements of eyewitnesses in the jail.

Dossa claimed before the magistrate that he had not attacked Salem and the injuries sustained by the latter were 'self inflicted'.

Salem has plans to purchase a property at Lonawala and he was in need of money following which he "tried to extort Rs 30 crore from me", Dossa said.

Since he refused to give money, Salem, with the help of his aides Manish Thakur and Usman Mehndi, caused injuries to himself and framed him, Dossa alleged.

42-year-old Salem, a key accused in the 1993 serial blasts case and facing trial, was allegedly attacked inside high security Arthur Road jail by Dossa and Qayyum with a sharp spoon on Saturday last outside their barrack following a heated argument.

The Delhi High Court today issued notice to BJP MP Varun Gandhi on a petition filed by his uncle and Congress candidate from Pilibhit constituency V M Singh for allegedly making defamatory remarks against him during the last Lok Sabha elections.

Justice Aruna Suresh sought a response from Gandhi by July 30 in the matter.

In a petition filed by Singh through his counsel Arjun Harkauli, he alleged that Gandhi made remarks linking him to Pakistan's ISI and working for a separate state of Khalistan.

He also accused the politician of insulting farmers and Muslims during the election campaign.

The elections in Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh had witnesses a controversy following Gandhi's hate speeches.

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From page 1 Games

pressed by the opposition leader about availability of funds for building infrastructure for national games, Kamat said for the first time the Union government has decided to give grants for conducting national games.

The central government will give Rs 326 crore ; Rs 244 crore (75 per cent) in the form of grants while 25 per cent will be in the form of loan, he said.

In his written reply the sports minister submitted that exact cost of the sports city projects will be worked out by the technical consultants to be appointed shortly. However, the Central team has worked out the sports city infrastructure and allied facilities as Rs 138. 5 crore and PPP projects as Rs 483.

28 crore at Dhargal alone.

Ruckus to provide 10 kg rice per family per month when the need of one individual is around five to six kgs in a month.

CM said the price rise was a global phenomenon and even during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA regime) prices of essential commodities had gone up.

Parrikar also alleged massive corruption involving crores of rupees in the horticulture department and also accused it of giving more privilege to produce from neighbouring States.

Aldona legislator Dayanand Narvekar said the government had made no efforts to increase the rice quota for BPL (below poverty line).

“While the APL (above poverty line) people can buy wheat, the BPL families have been denied the same.

Why this discrimination?” he questioned.

Narvekar said in his constituency applications for fair price shops are kept pending for the last six months.

Also, 5,000 ration cards of BPL (below poverty line) families are ready but they are not distributed with the sole intention of denying them their rice quota, he charged.

Civil Supplies Minister Jose Philip D’Souza, who felt the heat from the opposition, suggested a committee under the chairmanship of the CM to look into the matter.

Arrest Ravi’s son for drug nexus: Mickky government sealed his finances though he claimed he did not commit any offense. “My bank accounts have been frozen… my family was brought on the street,” he said.

Military aid to Pak not a threat to India: US PTI WASHINGTON, JULY 28

Days after India voiced concern over misuse of the massive US military aid by Pakistan, the Obama Administration has said that the security assistance to Islamabad, including supply of sophisticated F-16 jets, should not be seen as a "threat" to New Delhi.

"In giving military assistance to Pakistan, we have systems of

accountability to be sure that it is being employed in accordance with the agreements that we have with Pakistan," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said at his daily news briefing last evening.

"Where we have questions about the nature of Pakistani employment of US assistance, we raise those questions directly with the Pakistani Government.

We have in the past and we will

continue to do that," he said.

So, building up the capability of Pakistan to deal with the threat within its own borders "should not

be seen as a threat to India," Crowley said.

He argued that a stable Pakistan is not a threat to India and

a stable India does not need to be a threat to Pakistan.

His remarks came five days after India expressed concern over the misuse of US military aid by Pakistan and asked America to set up a "monitoring mechanism" as a remedial measure.

During the visit of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen to New Delhi on July 23, Defence Minister A K Antony told him about India's worries that Pakistan was diverting the American military assistance to building capacities against India.

Antony said arms aid to Pakistan, worth billions of dollars annually, was "disproportionate to the war on terror" for which it was intended and the US should ensure it was used only for the purpose meant for.

Pakistan has also recently acquired sophisticated air-to-air missiles from the US for its newly inducted F-16 fighter jets.

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SEZ exports zoomed 121%

Massive opportunities in India-Latin America ties AGENCY WASHINGTON, JULY 28

AGENCY NEW DELHI, JULY 28

In sharp contrast to the slowdown in India's external trade last fiscal, exports from special economic zones (SEZs) grew by a whopping 121.4 percent, the commerce ministry said Wednesday.

Exports from SEZs during 2009-10 stood at Rs.2,20,711.39 crore ($49 billion). India's total exports during the same period was down 4.7 percent at $176.5 billion.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal, SEZ exports have touched Rs.58,685.46 crore, an over 68 percent growth compared to corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

'As on June 30, an investment of Rs. 1,66,526 crore has been made in SEZs and direct employment for 5,50,323 persons have been generated,' Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Before formation of SEZs was formalised and incentivised, the central government ran seven SEZs and state governments and the private sector set up 12 such zones.

'Since the SEZ Act 2005, formal approval has been accorded to 576 proposals out of which 358 SEZs have been notified. A total of 114 SEZs are already exporting,' Scindia added.

BlackBerry should comply or perish: Govt PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Spelling trouble for over a million users of Blackberry in India, Government has warned the Canadian service provider that if it does not allow facility to monitor emails and SMSes to address security concerns, it will have to close down operations in the country.

The government has said that the makers of BlackBerry Research in Motion (RIM) have to address its security concerns by offering the monitoring facility.

"If they don't follow our

Sun Pharma Q1 net zooms 244% PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries reported a 244.43% jump in net profit at Rs 564.32 crore for the quarter ended June, as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal. This has come on the back of a one-time sale of generic cancer drug oxaliplatin in the US. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 163.84 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Total income during the quarter stood at Rs 1,399.7 crore, against Rs 787.59 crore in the comparable period a year ago, up by 77.71%. Commenting on the results, Sun Pharma CMD Dilip Shanghvi said that business has been positive.

"While the high margin achieved this quarter is resulting from a one-time sale achieved in the US and, hence, will not repeat, the core strategy of building a consistent and sustainable business remains unchanged," he said.

guidelines, we will have no option but to ask them to stop their operations in India," a senior official said. The smartphone is used by over a million customers in India.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Department of Telecommunication to tell the popular smartphone company in no uncertain terms that its emails and other data services must comply with formats that can be monitored by security and intelligence agencies.

The MHA made it clear that RIM has been addressing security concerns of several other

countries, including the United States, where it operates and therefore, there is no justification to not comply the same in India.

Govt also wants a blackberry server in India but the company has been resisting the move. Once the server is in India, it will be easy to track the messages.

BlackBerry says the messages are encrypted. The smartphone's server is based in Canada where the encryption level is very high and extremely difficult to crack. And any message going through a

Canada server is encrypted and therefore cannot be accessed by intelligence agencies in India.

There are reports that China has got a similar server in the country.

Senior officials of key security agencies at a recent meeting argued that the continuation of BlackBerry services in the present format poses danger to the country.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the MHA, DoT, intelligence agencies and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).

ArcelorMittal may start India projects in 2011 PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Pinning hopes on developing economies for its future growth, ArcelorMittal today said it expects to start work on one of its Rs 1.3 lakh crore India projects in early 2011.

"We believe that in 2011 in one of the projects we will break the ground, we don't know which one...it is our hope that it should be in the first quarter or the second quarter," ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO Lakshmi N Mittal said over phone, after the company announced second quarter results.

Incidentally, ArceloreMittal announced lower than expected net profit of USD 1.7 billion for the second quarter, while admitting this was the effect of the slowdown in Europe and a demand dip in China.

"The impact would be more in third quarter (ending September)... we expect India to grow may be at 10 per cent...we are pegging our hopes on the developing

Sensex down 120 pts PTI MUMBAI, JULY 28

A steep fall in Reliance Industries today shaved 120 points off BSE benchmark Sensex, pushing it below the psychological 18,000 level for the first time in the last five days.

The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty index lost 0.67 per cent to finish at 5,394.35 points.

Notwithstanding, positive Asian trends and European sentiments, the 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed down 120.24 points, or 0.67 points, at 17,957.37 points. Indian markets were the only losers among the major bourses in the Asian region.

economies for business growth," he said.

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker accounting for six per cent of the global production, announced plans to set up projects in Jharkhand in 2005 and in Orissa a year later. In June this year, it signed an MoU with Karnataka government for a Rs 30,000 crore steel project.

"We believe that in 2011 in one of the projects we will break the ground, we don't know which one...it is our hope that it should be in the first quarter or the second quarter," Mittal said.

He was optimistic about the Karnataka project, for which he signed an MoU with the state govt last month saying, "We are very satisfied with the progress we are making in Karnataka."

"Before we start ground breaking we have to have the resources and infrastructure in place. In fact, we have made progress in acquiring land near Bellary... we have paid the money required this time for

Aban Offshor, 826.9, 903, 815, 897.95 Abb Ltd., 809, 884.5, 804, 838.05 Abg Shipyard, 244.85, 245.45, 241.65, 243.05 Acc Limited, 845, 848.45, 838, 840.65 Adani Enterp, 587.8, 607.4, 585.55, 591.4 Aditya Birla, 792.75, 793, 780.5, 783.4 Allahabad Ba, 186.35, 191, 185.15, 190 Alstom Proje, 696.6, 704.9, 683, 684.95 Ambuja Cemen, 118.9, 120.2, 117, 117.6 Andhra Bank, 142.1, 142.5, 135.55, 137.4 Ashok Leylan, 73.5, 73.5, 71.55, 72.5 Asian Paints, 2460, 2609, 2460, 2586.15 Axis Bank Li, 1384, 1384, 1341, 1349.95 Bajaj Hindus, 115, 116, 113.6, 113.85 Bank Of Baro, 711.6, 733.4, 711.6, 716.3 Bank Of Indi, 396.8, 405, 395.15, 403.2 Beml Limited, 1015.1, 1019, 1008.9, 1014.1 Bharat Elect, 1836.25, 1836.25, 1785, 1792.6 Bharat Forge, 327, 328.45, 320.3, 321.85 Bharat Petro, 634, 647.8, 633, 643.6 Bharti Airte, 323.5, 323.5, 319.1, 322 Bhel, 2452.15, 2469.7, 2430.5, 2461.35 Bhushan Stee, 1546.3, 1569.25, 1546.3,

land acquisition... I don't know whether it is Rs 600 crore or what, but whatever was needed we have paid," he said.

Last month, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who had invited Mittal as the chief guest during a global investors meet at Bangalore, had said that the company has already paid the initial Rs 600 crore for land acquisition. The company is said to require a total of 4,000 hectares land.

On the progress made on Jharkhand project, he said that efforts were being made to put all resources in place for construction of the 12-MTPA steel plant.

The company has already been allocated iron ore mines in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand where it is awaiting clearances over more such deposits.

Faced with regulatory hurdles and protests in land acquisition, the company has moved to a new site near Bokaro from Khunti-Gumla area, proposed earlier.

1558.15 Biocon Limit, 320.5, 323.35, 315, 316.25 Bombay Dyein, 534.8, 544.65, 529.5, 537.1 Bosch Limite, 5690, 5700, 5600, 5645.4 Brigade Ente, 138, 138, 135, 135.15 Cairn India, 336, 336, 321.65, 328.5 Canara Bank, 471, 483, 470, 478.7 Central Bank, 154.45, 156, 151.85, 152.5 Century Text, 455.1, 462, 454, 456.35 Cesc Ltd, 392.7, 392.7, 386.9, 387.85 Chambal Fert, 67.95, 68.95, 67.95, 68.2 Chennai Petr, 258, 258.45, 251, 254.45 Cipla Ltd, 326, 332.4, 326, 330.45 Colgate Palm, 845, 851.7, 845, 848.7 Container Co, 1396.6, 1396.6, 1372.35, 1379.85 Crompton Gre, 277.4, 280, 274, 276.3 Cummins Indi, 591.15, 623.55, 590.6, 615.25 Dabur India, 203, 203, 198.5, 199.85 Deccan Chron, 133.6, 133.85, 131.25, 131.75 Dish Tv Indi, 44.3, 44.7, 44.3, 44.4 Divi’s Labor, 765.05, 774.8, 765.05, 769.25

The latest development indicates that security agencies are again finding it difficult to intercept or decipher messages sent through these phones, which use codes with an encryption of 256 bits.

This encryption code first scrambles the emails sent from a BlackBerry device and unscrambles it when the message reaches its target.

Leading telecom companies in India such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, BSNL and MTNL offer BlackBerry services.

Disney India to distribute UTV titles AGENCY MUMBAI, JULY 28

The Walt Disney Company India and UTV Motion Pictures announced an agreement Tuesday where by the former will handle home entertainment distribution for key titles like 'Raajneeti' and 'I Hate Luv Storys' from the latter's stable.

'We are delighted to be working with UTV through our home entertainment business distributing and marketing key titles from their slate on Blu-ray discs, DVDs and VCDs to audiences throughout India,' Mahesh Samat, MD, Disney India, said in a statement.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, chief executive officer of UTV, said: 'The Walt Disney Company India has established a strong foothold in the home entertainment space within a short span of time and we at UTV are thrilled to partner with them for some of our key titles.'

Other movies included in the deal are 'Udaan', 'Harishchandrachi Factory', 'What's Your Raashee?' and 'Aagey Se Right'.

Dlf Limited, 320, 324.7, 310.4, 311.95 Dr. reddy’s, 1331, 1348.95, 1320, 1333.75 Edelweiss Ca, 504.8, 504.8, 498.1, 502.1 Educomp Solu, 619, 630.5, 616.35, 618.9 Eih Limited, 126, 127, 124.3, 126.1 Engineers In, 295, 326.4, 295, 322.9 Essar Oil Lt, 128.5, 131.15, 127.85, 128.4 Essar Shippi, 81.6, 83.4, 80.7, 80.9 Exide Indust, 136.75, 142.15, 136, 140.35 Federal Bank, 347.3, 348.35, 342, 343.15 Financial Te, 1287, 1290.9, 1230, 1233.7 Gail (india), 450, 454, 439.75, 445.2 Gammon India, 215, 218.45, 212.25, 213.8 Glaxosmithkl, 2060, 2103, 2055.15, 2064.55 Glenmark Pha, 287, 287.2, 260.6, 270.1 Gmr Infrastr, 59.35, 59.45, 58.15, 58.4 Godrej Indus, 187.1, 192.2, 186.4, 189.75 Grasim Indus, 1835, 1848, 1825, 1829.7 Great Offsho, 419.6, 427.9, 418.2, 421.35 Gtl Infra.Lt, 46.8, 47.5, 46.55, 47.1 Gujarat Mine, 121.5, 121.7, 119.25, 120 Gujarat N R, 63.7, 64.5, 62.8, 63.25 Gujarat Stat, 103.45, 103.6, 101.9, 102.25 Gvk Pow. & I, 44.25, 44.25, 43.65, 43.75

Hcl Technolo, 382.5, 384, 370.35, 372.55 Hdfc Bank Lt, 2072, 2090, 2059.95, 2086.1 Hdfc Ltd, 2945, 2962.25, 2880, 2895.55 Hero Honda M, 1870, 1883.9, 1827.45, 1855.05 Hindalco in, 157.2, 159.2, 157, 158.3 Hindustan Co, 134, 134, 129.35, 131.3 Hindustan Ma, 71.05, 71.9, 70.25, 70.75 Hindustan Pe, 438, 445, 434.4, 439.7 Hindustan Un, 260.75, 262, 251.1, 252.35 Hindustan Zi, 998.7, 1019.8, 992, 1004.85 Housing Dev, 262.6, 264.45, 255.5, 258.05 Icici Bank L, 925, 925.5, 902.5, 908.85 Idea Cellula, 68.75, 70.2, 68, 69.45 Ifci Ltd, 61.1, 61.7, 60.2, 60.55 India Cement, 105, 105.4, 104.85, 105 India Infoli, 95.5, 95.6, 93.5, 94 Indiabulls F, 160.4, 161, 155.2, 157.1 Indiabulls R, 162.75, 166.9, 159.7, 166.1 Indian Bank, 222.5, 225, 220.4, 222.15 Indian Hotel, 103, 103, 100.45, 100.8 Indian Oil C, 366.9, 368, 361.15, 361.55 Indian Overs, 116.5, 116.5, 113.3, 113.7 Indus Dev Ba, 120.8, 121, 116.65, 117.2

Stressing the great integration potential between India and Latin America, a new study calls for closer economic ties between the two distant partners to tap into 'massive' trade and investment opportunities.

The study 'India: Latin America's Next Big Thing?' released Tuesday by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) looks into recent development and economic trends in India and their possible impact for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The study argues that India has the potential to mirror the recent economic performance of China, which has become a major market for Latin American and Caribbean exports but also poses a challenge for the region's manufacturing sector.

'Potential exchange of goods and services between Latin America is nothing short of extraordinary,'' said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

With 1.1 billion people and

a scarcity of natural resources, relative to other continent-size nations, India has the potential to be a large buyer of agricultural and mineral goods, Latin America's main exports, according to the study.

Currently, India represents just 0.8 percent of this region's overall trade, compared with China's 7.7 percent share.

Recent economic and political changes in both India and Latin America are creating greater opportunities for more integration, Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar said.

In the case of India, the country's growing liberalisation and strong domestic demand has helped fuel economic growth in recent years and she expects that tariffs and other trade barriers, particularly in the agricultural sector, could gradually be reduced, she said.

'India's trade profile is going to change and that will provide great trade opportunities for

Aviva for hiking stake in India JV REUTERS MUMBAI, JULY 28

Aviva Plc, Britain's second largest insurer, wants to boost its stake in its joint venture with Dabur to 49 percent as soon as regulations allow, its chief executive said.

Speaking in Mumbai, as part of the biggest UK trade delegation in modern times, Aviva CEO Andrew Moss said he hoped the UK government would persuade India to relax its cap on FDI in the insurance market.

Aviva has a 26 percent stake -- the maximum permitted -- in a joint venture in the fast-growing Indian market with Dabur called Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited.

"The key issue for us is that we are only allowed 26 percent of that business and the foreign direct investment cap prohibits us from holding more," Moss said, adding Aviva's had the joint venture for eight years.

"We would like to see that change and move up to 49 percent as soon as we can," he said, adding he would like to see progress within a year.

British Finance Minister George Osborne is expected to push the case for opening up the insurance and other financial services markets in a speech later in Mumbai.

Osborne, Moss and other CEOs then travel to Delhi to meet up with Prime Minister David Cameron and a host of other ministers and business leaders as Britain's coalition government works to create a new special trading relationship with India.

Indusind Ban, 206.9, 206.9, 204.15, 204.5 Infosys Tech, 2829, 2838.5, 2812, 2832.1 Infra. dev., 190.3, 191, 184.1, 184.75 Ispat Indust, 18, 18.1, 17.8, 17.85 Itc Ltd, 305.5, 308.25, 303.2, 307.35 Ivrcl Infras, 175.9, 178.2, 170.25, 174.05 Jai Corp Lim, 244.5, 247.75, 241.7, 242.75 Jaiprakash A, 120.05, 121.9, 118.4, 119.5 Jet Airways, 649.8, 710.7, 647, 667.8 Jindal Saw L, 202.4, 203.75, 201.15, 201.85 Jindal Steel, 642.3, 642.3, 628, 630.4 Jsw Steel Li, 1165, 1172.6, 1150, 1156.85 Kotak Mahind, 770.8, 773.75, 760.15, 765.6 Lakshmi Mach, 2135.25, 2155.5, 2070, 2099.8 Lanco Infrat, 66.3, 66.45, 64.5, 64.95 Larsen & Tou, 1860, 1880, 1818.9, 1823.65 Lic Housing, 1088.1, 1141, 1085, 1128.55 Lupin Limite, 1955.1, 1984.9, 1914.35, 1925.9 Mahanagar Te, 67.4, 73.8, 66.35, 69.45 Mahindra & M, 641.25, 658, 639, 648.05 Maruti Suzuk, 1210, 1223.7, 1200, 1202.6 Max India Lt, 155.5, 155.85, 153.1, 153.5

Moss said India is important to Aviva's Asian franchise.

"We are doing well in that market (India), but the business does require more capital invested in it and this change will facilitate that," he said.

"There are a number of domestic and foreign players in the Indian market which, of course, is natural when you have a young market, it is a long-term play -- the Indian life insurance market -- but there is a great deal of foreign interest in it."

The CEO also wants to see greater clarity on regulation.

"I think the other short-term issue we face is that regulation in the Indian market has been unpredictable and this has made it difficult ... to plan properly."

Latin America,'' she said. India's gross domestic product is expected to grow 8.5 percent this year, up from 6.9 percent during the global financial crisis, Shankar added.

For Arvind Panagarya, professor of economics at Columbia University and one of the panelists of the seminar, India's trade potential with Latin America depends on how fast it will grow in coming years.

The country, which is now the world's 11th biggest economy, could become the world's third or fourth largest if its GDP grows 10 percent in real dollar terms over the next 15 years.

BOARD MEETINGS Aban Offshore Hella India Provogue India Hero Honda Puravankara Proj Hexaware Tech Alok Inds Amara Raja Ind Bank Housing Apollo Tyres Infomedia 18 IPCA Lab Bafna Pharma SAIL Bajaj Steel Shoppers Stop Bank of Maharashtra Bata India Berger Paints Siemens Lloyds Finance Birla Capital Lloyds Steel BoB Central Bank DCM Fin Serv Tata Invest Nagarjuna Fert Tata Teleservices Elgi Equipments Elgi Finance National Fert National Plyw Everest Inds Thinksoft Fame India NHPC Federal Bank Novartis India Odyssey Tech ONGC TVS Electronics Orient Paper Graphite India Petronet LNG Hawkins Cook HCL Tech Zuari Inds HDIL Source: Indiainfoline.com

MF FUNDA RELIANCE MUTUAL FUND has approved August 2, 2010 as the record date for declaration of dividend under dividend option in retail & institutional plan of Reliance Fixed Horizon Fund- IX - Series 10.

The face value of per unit is Rs 10. The quantum of dividend will be Rs 1.40 per unit for retail plan and Rs 1.50 per unit for institutional plan as on the record date.

Maytas Infr., 205, 208.4, 203.1, 204.35 Moser-baer (, 66.5, 66.85, 64.9, 65.2 Mrpl, 79, 79, 75.6, 76.65 Nagarjuna Co, 178.5, 181.5, 176.05, 178.2 Nagarjuna Fe, 31.25, 31.65, 30.8, 30.9 National Alu, 439, 439, 430.1, 431.8 Neyveli Lign, 157.1, 157.45, 155.6, 156.15 Ntpc Ltd, 201.35, 201.95, 198.7, 199.25 Oil And Natu, 1260, 1279.7, 1255, 1259.55 Omaxe Limite, 107.9, 111.45, 106.25, 110.25 Oriental Ban, 369.9, 373.8, 355.8, 357.95 Pantaloon Re, 448.1, 453.9, 446.8, 452 Parsvnath De, 128.7, 129.5, 126.35, 126.95 Petronet Lng, 82.3, 85.9, 82.1, 85.5 Power Fin Co, 320.5, 323.4, 315.05, 318 Power Grid C, 101.5, 102.6, 100.75, 101.25 Praj Industr, 78.6, 79.15, 77.65, 78.4 Punj Lloyd L, 130.5, 132.7, 127.8, 128.75 Punjab Natio, 1056, 1067, 1047, 1064.2 Rajesh Expor, 90.1, 95, 86.75, 87.2 Ranbaxy Labs, 446, 448.9, 444.25, 445.95 Rashtriya Ch, 86.8, 86.8, 84.5, 85.1 Rel. nat. re, 43.3, 43.6, 42.85, 42.95 Reliance Cap, 792.55, 795.4, 785.2, 789.6

Reliance Com, 188, 189, 184.85, 186.25 Reliance Ene, 960, 969.1, 951, 962.17 Reliance Ind, 884.45, 895, 865.05, 869.95 Reliance Ind, 1063, 1073.65, 1018, 1021.25 Reliance Pow, 173, 173.95, 171.5, 171.9 Rolta India, 175.8, 175.8, 171.1, 171.5 Satyam Compu, 91, 92.8, 88.6, 89 Sesa Goa Ltd, 369, 374.4, 365.35, 372.45 Shipping Cor, 158.95, 159.8, 156.55, 157.15 Siemens Ltd, 720, 728.5, 719.05, 725.2 Sintex Indus, 369, 376.2, 365.15, 372.8 Sobha Develo, 348.85, 348.85, 335, 338.6 State Bank O, 2434.65, 2478, 2423.15, 2471.3 Steel Author, 207.5, 209.25, 206.55, 208.55 Sterlite Ind, 176.8, 177.45, 174.7, 176.25 Sun Pharmace, 1779.95, 1813.6, 1777, 1807.4 Sun Tv Netwo, 447, 463, 441.55, 460.1 Suzlon Energ, 59.3, 59.55, 58.2, 58.5 Tata Communi, 288, 291.5, 284, 284.6 Tata Consult, 851, 857.95, 847, 854.45 Tata Motors, 842, 858.5, 842, 854.8 Tata Power C, 1326, 1347.95, 1322.5,

1337.95 Tata Steel L, 530.1, 539.4, 529.25, 532.6 Tata Teleser, 21.6, 21.6, 21.25, 21.35 Tech Mahindr, 710, 729.7, 706.25, 716.65 The Ge Shpg., 284, 287.7, 282, 282.4 The Phoenix, 218.15, 224.95, 218.15, 223.6 Thermax Ltd, 762.5, 769.3, 752.5, 756.3 Titan Indust, 2870, 2888, 2825.55, 2842.8 Torrent Powe, 343, 346.85, 336, 340.7 Triveni Engg, 101.5, 102.75, 100.15, 101.35 Tv18 India L, 78.05, 79.4, 77.6, 77.95 Uco Bank, 91.2, 91.7, 89.75, 90.05 Ultratech Ce, 848.95, 864.75, 841.5, 856.75 Union Bank O, 321.25, 325.6, 318.85, 319.75 Unitech Ltd, 85, 85.35, 82.1, 82.3 United Phosp, 187.8, 187.85, 181, 181.85 Videocon Ind, 214.9, 215.9, 211.55, 212.2 Vijaya Bank, 69.7, 70.15, 68.5, 68.95 Voltas Ltd, 206.25, 208.7, 204.15, 206.85 Wipro Ltd, 419, 420.9, 412.9, 414.8 Yes Bank Lim, 301.5, 301.5, 290.1, 291.75 Zee Entertai, 299.35, 301.4, 293.4, 294.35

OHERALDO

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Telecom licences amended PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

The government today amended telecom licences making it mandatory for equipment suppliers to share the "source code" and the "design details" to address the security concerns.

It also said that a penalty, equivalent to 100 per cent of the contract value, shall be imposed on telecom equipment suppliers in case of detection of any security breach. Operators also face a fine of Rs 50 crore for every purchase of

Bajaj fixes IPO price at Rs 630-660 PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Hair oil producer Bajaj Corp today fixed a price range of Rs 630-660 per share for its IPO, which opens on August 2. Bajaj Corp is coming out with initial public offer of 45 lakh shares of Rs 5 and at the upper end of the price band the company would be able to mop-up up to Rs 297 crore.

The issue closes on August 4 for QIBs and on August 5 for retail and non-institutional bidders, the company said in a statement. Out of the net proceeds of the issue, the company intends to use Rs 220 crore for promotion of future products in the personal care segment and rest money for acquisitions and other strategic initiatives.

The offering, which will be through a 100 per cent book building process.

equipment.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) officials said that the information like "source code" (password) and "design details" would be kept in the escrow account in encrypted form and would be used only in case of security emergency.

Most of the telecom vendors, including Ericsson, had opposed to share the "source code" saying it is a proprietary information and cannot be kept in an escrow account.

DoT asserted that this has been done for all vendors and is not

limited to vendors from China.

Two telecom operators' association COAI and AUSPI did not offer any immediate comments and said they will react only after studying the amendments in detail.

Main telecom vendors are Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens, Alcatel Lucent and Chinese players like Huawei and ZTE among others.

The DoT has sent the amended licence agreement to all the operators for their consent. The DoT is also understood to have included a clause

which mandates that Indian engineers operate and maintain the networks of telecom service providers.

The amendment comes in the wake of concerns being raised by the security agencies regarding the core telecom equipment imported from China.

Now, telecom operators would be able to import equipment, which were on hault for last more than six months as the players were not able to procure security clearance from the government.

Osborne for improved Indo-UK trade ties PTI MUMBAI, JULY 28

British Finance Minister, George Osborne, today called for better trade relations between India and the UK and wanted more efforts at the leadership level to complete a free trade agreement between the EU and India by early next year.

Osborne said the ambitious agreement will generate jobs and growth by 'tackling the unnecessary barriers to trade and investment' between both regions.

"Negotiations are now entering their fourth year. We need to provide the leadership to complete the free trade agreement by early next year," UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said delivering a speech here.

"By 2020, it could deliver

benefits worth a combined Euro 4.5-billion per annum shared between India and the EU," Osborne said.

Osborne, who is visiting the country with a trade delegation ten weeks after assuming office, called for enhanced AngloIndian trade and investment partnership and strong collaboration in the financial services.

The Chancellor met Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao and discussed experiences in macro-prudential regulation, announced that the UK Financial Services Authority has given a license to India's Exim Bank to set up a bank in the UK, thereby taking the number of Indian banks there to ten.

Reiterating Britain's commitment on reciprocity in the banking sector, Osborne said he would like to see "Indian

banks establishing themselves even more prominently as big players in the UK." Noting that India's 'attention' on macro-prudential risks enabled it to weather the storm better than the UK and other economies, Osborne said it is important to create financial systems 'that support growth rather than put it at risk."

Later, Osborne also participated in the signing of a Letter of Intent between the National Stock Exchange Group and London Stock Exchange, under which both exchanges would evaluate joint strategic business opportunities.

LSEG's chief executive, Xavier Rolet and NSE's joint managing director, Chitra Ramakrishna, signed the agreement.

India-Japan FTA likely by year-end

Bajaj lowest bidder for Rs 115 cr deal

PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

REUTERS MUMBIA, JULY 28

The govt expects to conclude the negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement to enhance its USD 11-billion bilateral trade with Japan by the end of this year. "We are now in the process of finalising a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan and hope to conclude it by year end," Minister of State for External Affairs Praneet Kaur said at an ADB seminar.

Once the free trade agreement, officially dubbed as CEPA, is signed and operationalised, as many 9,000 products -- ranging from steel and apparel to drugs and machinery -- are expected to be traded either without duty or at substantially reduced tariffs. In April, officials from the two countries resolved the differences over opening up sectors like pharma and services - areas of great interest to India.

The trade pact would keep a number of items, sensitive to agriculture and other employment-oriented sectors, out of the purview and each side will have its own negative list of items.

Bajaj Electricals is the lowest bidder in orders worth Rs 115 crore, a senior official said.

The Mumbai-based electrical appliances maker and electrification and lighting project contractor has a current order book of Rs 810 crore and was able to convert about 22 percent of the bids placed last fiscal, Anant Bajaj, executive director, said.

The firm has projects worth Rs 2000 crore for which it has bid yet to be finalised and expects some of them to be converted into orders, Bajaj said.

There has been just an inkling in recent weeks that financial markets might start to take their lead from the 'real' economy again after three years of being tossed about by their own panics and periodic exuberance.

Since the finance industry flailed into its crisis of confidence, doubting its own practitioners and the governments who became over-dependent on them, it has been almost impossible for households and companies to work out what markets are trying to predict about production, employment and consumption.

The net result has been the tail wagging the dog.

Guess the ephemeral mood of global markets six months hence -- voracious risk appetite or bunker-seeking safety -- and you might just stand a chance of predicting where businesses, consumers and policymakers would be forced to follow.

And while PIMCO asset managers predict a post-crisis 'new normal' of years of sluggish growth and policy angst, many yearn for an 'old normal' where finance reflects, rather than dictates, what is happening in the real economy where people

REUTERS MUMBAI, JULY 28

Reliance Industries extended losses to 3% on day as brokerages such as Edelweiss, Motilal Oswal and IIFL downgraded the largest listed firm saying the company would take longer to increase gas production at the KG-D6 block. Energy giant Reliance, which has the heaviest weight on the main index dropped as investors ignored a 32% rise in net profit and focussed on gas production concerns and lower-than-expected gross refining margins.

"We believe that D-6 gas production will not be able to ramp up for the next two quarters owing to bottleneck in the pipeline infrastructure that could restrict earnings growth in the E&P division," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Deposit rates set to inch up from Aug: O P Bhatt PTI MUMBAI, JULY 28

A day after the Reserve Bank hiked its policy rates to control inflation, country's largest lender, State Bank today said deposit rates in the industry are likely to climb up as early as next month.

"There is an upward bias on the deposit rates. (Rates should move up) by AugustSeptember by atleast 0.25 per cent," State Bank Chairman, O P Bhatt told reporters, here, on the sidelines of an event.

Yesterday, the RBI hiked its reverse repo rate, at which it absorbs excess liquidity from the system, by a larger-than-expected 0.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent and repo rate, at which it lends to banks, by 0.25 per

AGENCY NEW DELHI, JULY 28

produce and consume goods and services.

A VERY FINANCIAL COUP For some, the credit crisis and aftermath had been fomented for decades by a more than a doubling of financial services to some 7.5 percent of the U.S. economy in the 40 years to 2007.

"The 3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) that was made up of financial services in 1965 was clearly sufficient to the task, the proof being that the decade was a strong candidate for the greatest economic decade of the 20th century," Jeremy Grantham, Chairman of Boston-based asset manager GMO, told clients this month.

Lauding this month's US financial regulation bill, he added: "The extra 4.5 percent would seem to be without material value except to the recipients. Yet it is a form of tax on the remaining real economy and should reduce by 4.5 percent a year its ability to save and invest, both of which did slow down."

Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson's 2009 Atlantic magazine essay, "The Quiet Coup", took a more conspiratorial view of the same phenomenon in sketching the lobbying

power of the financial industry over that period.

Johnson estimated U.S. financial sector profits, which had never topped 16 percent of overall corporate profits in the decade to 1985, soared to 41 percent by the noughties. Average financial sector compensation as a share of the average in other industries almost doubled to 181 percent.

There was a similar development in Britain, where financial services had reached 8.5 percent of total output just before the crisis.

Deregulation, privatisation, trade globalisation and demographic trends were all catalysts for this growth in finance and the current regulatory backlash against the banks is unlikely to return the sector to its 1960s size.

CHANGE A FOOT? Is there any sign of that happening right now? Well, just an inkling.

In the past three years, financial and investment flows have been violently herded in and out of "safe-haven" cash and liquid assets, correlations zoomed between all asset classes and geographic regions, and risk gauges -- largely volatility measures -- careened from historic lows to highs and back again.

India will collaborate with international organizations to develop a single weather forecast system in a bid to provide accurate monsoon predictions, officials announced Tuesday.

'We will be working with international organizations like World Meteorological Organisation and others to develop a forecast system where all

HDFC Bank ups FD rates PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

HDFC Bank today became the first lender to increase its fixed deposit rates by up to 75 basis points after RBI raised key short-term rates. With deposit rates going up, the bank may also raise lending rates in the next few weeks, a bank official said.

The revised fixed deposit rates would be effective from July 30. When contacted, HDFC Bank Executive Director Paresh Sukthankar said, "We have decided to raise deposit rates across various tenor between 25-75 basis points.

"The rate hike was logical as the banking system is expected to remain in marginally deficit situation coupled with expected strong credit growth in the coming days, he told PTI. The economy is expected to grow at 8.5 per cent in 201011 as per the RBI projection and going forward loan growth would pick up, he added. Giving details of increase in deposit rates, Sukthankar said that term deposit rate with maturity in between 91 days and 6 months would be raised by 75 basis points to 5.25 per cent from the existing 4.5 per cent.

cent to 5.75 per cent.

Bhatt, however, ruled out any impact on SBI's margins owing to the likely jump in the deposit rates, as loan growth is also likely to pick up in the days ahead on the back of recovery in the economy, which would help the lender maintain its margins.

SBI has seen an increase in its non-performing assets especially from loans given to farmers, Bhatt said.

Yesterday, talking to reporters after the credit policy announcement, Bhatt had said that 'by and large' interest rates are unlikely to go up in the second quarter.

Asked about the efforts to bail out the debt-ridden aviation industry, Bhatt said the bank is considering ways to

A-I Express to start Ops in domestic routes PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

After much delay, Air India would soon have its low-cost arm, Air India Express, serving the domestic routes in line with its competitors JetKonnect, JetLite and Kingfisher Red. "Air India Express would soon start operations on domestic routes as the low cost arm of Air India," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry.

He also informed the committee members about the turnaround in Air India, which has now started showing "a great deal of improvement, especially in the last quarter and promise of further improvement near future".

Soon after taking over in May 2009, CMD Arvind Jadhav had said that Air India Express would soon start flying domestic routes. The national carrier's fully-owned subsidiary already flies on Gulf and Southeast Asia routes. Air India is the only airline that does not have a domestic low-cost arm though its competitors, Jet Airways and Kingfisher, have been running no-frill carriers for over two years now.

Addressing the committee, Patel said Delhi would have another plush terminal at the IGI Airport like Terminal-3 by 2016 to handle the rapidly growing

air traffic. The new Terminal-3 became operational today.

While the passenger traffic in Delhi currently was 26 million a year, the integrated Terminal-3 (T3) has a capacity to handle 35 million per annum.

However, this excess capacity is likely to be exhausted in a few years time and capacity augmentation would be required soon enough, Patel said.

Keeping this in mind, the Master Plan of the airport has been drawn up envisaging extension of the present terminal to accommodate additional traffic. "Along these lines, the next terminal T4 would come up around 2016," he said.

The Committee members, who were taken on a tour of the T3 last evening, appreciated the world class infrastructure, created in a record time of 37 months establishing a new global benchmark, an official spokesperson said.

While the MPs of various parties congratulated the Delhi International Airport Limited and the Airports Authority of India, the minister pointed out that the challenge now would be to keep it functional and well-maintained.

Patel said India was progressing towards becoming one of the top five civil aviation sectors in the world and the aviation infrastructure was being geared up along those lines.

He expressed regret and

India to join global groups for monsoon forecast

Economy struggles to wag its financial tail REUTERS NEW DELHI, JULY 28

RIL down 3% on broker downgrades

the organisations assess the weather situation and based on their output a single forecast for monsoon is made,' said Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Shailesh Nayak.

The ministry Tuesday celebrated its foundation day and speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan said a lot of work has been done in the field

of weather prediction.

'The monsoon rainfall is directly related to agriculture in the country. Lot of money has been spent on modernisation of India Meteorological Department,' said Chavan.

The minister also gave away the First National Award for Ocean Sciences and Technology to renowned scientist S Krishnaswami.

M&M earmarks Rs 8,600 cr Capex PTI MUMBAI, JULY 28

Buoyed by a robust 40.30 per cent jump in its net profit for the last quarter, auto major Mahindra & Mahindra said it will invest about Rs 8,600 crore in the next five years for various purposes. The company today reported a net profit of Rs 562.39 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared to Rs 400.85 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

The total income during the first quarter also increased by 21.63% to Rs 5,160.10 crore from Rs 4,242.59 crore in the year-ago period. "We have earmarked around Rs 8,600 crore for the next five years.

Out this, Rs 5,600 crore will be for the Chakan plant," M&M President (Automotive and Farm Equipment) Pawan Goenka told reporters here.

When asked if the company would raise funds for the capex, Goenka said: "We do not have any plan to raise funds.

Currently, we have surplus funds of about Rs 2,500 crore."

On plans for the Chakan facility, M&M Executive Director and Group CFO Bharat Doshi said:

"We are setting up a new plant in the next five years at Chakan and the investment will be done in phased manner.

"The company''s current total debt is about Rs 3,000 crore, including foreign currency. In May, M&M had announced a capex of Rs 4,500 crore for the next three years.

The majority of this was earmarked for its Chakan plant, while the rest for products developments. Earlier, the company had inaugurated the new manufacturing plant in Chakan, which will produce the entire range of M&M products under one roof.

The 700-acre facility will have an initial annual installed capacity of three lakh units and will manufacture products ranging from the 0.75-tonne Maxximo to the 49-tonne Mahindra Navistar truck and the SUV range that it plans to launch in the US. Commenting on the company''s performance during April-June period of this year, M&M President (Finance, Legal and Financial Services) Uday Phadke said: "Good volumes played a significant role in our results.

grief over the Mangalore accident and said such an incident should have never happened.

"There are lessons to be learnt by every stakeholder in the civil aviation sector, including the Ministry, the DGCA, the airlines and the AAI," he said, adding that all stakeholders should endeavour to make course corrections to avoid recurrence of such accidents.

However on the positive side, Patel said India has once again been ranked Category-I or the topmost category by safety audit conducted by the US Federal Aviation Administration, implying that Indian safety standards were amongst the best in the world.

give assistance to the airlines.

"Banks have been helping troubled industries from time to time," Bhatt said, without detailing further.

Earlier, speaking at the event, Bhatt said that SBI plans to open five more branches in UK over the next five months, as part of its efforts to make UK as the hub for European operations.

Last week, amid market turbulence and volatility, State Bank had raised USD 1 billion (about Rs 4,700 crore) through bonds from the US market, paving way for others to tap the market.

Bhatt said the bank would use this amount to lend to its corporate clients abroad, who are seeking foreign currency loans.

Bombay Dyeing denies

plant sale REUTERS MUMBAI, JULY 28

Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co Ltd said on Wednesday there was no proposal at present to sell its polyester plant to Reliance Industries Ltd , denying a report by the Economic Times.

"At present there is no such proposal with the board of the company for consideration," Bombay Dyeing said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Economic Times newspaper had said Reliance had bought out the loss-making polyester plant for just under 3 billion rupees. The paper also said a formal announcement was likely early next week.

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Pg14 GOA’S HEARTBEAT To Touch with a Glance mog na “ Vollokh na thoim - Anonymous

“

soulmate is the one who makes “ Our life come to life - Richard Bach

email us at: goasheartbeat@herald-goa.com

“

Thursday, 29 July, 2010

BY CHRISTINA VIEGAS HERALD FEATURES aisi hai yeh doori, Kaisi majboori maine nazaron se tujhe choo liya” Beautiful soulful lyrics from a song from the Hindi hit film, ‘Rab Ne Bana De Jodi’. Imagine lovingly touching someone with just a glance!

Have you ever met someone for the first time and felt an instant attraction?

No, no! Not the ‘Mills & Boon’ theory of love at first sight where there is this flitter and flutter within you, or the ‘wham- bham thank you ma’am’ kind of chemistry. But rather a deep, soul stirring, magnetic pull, where there is this unexplained attraction where you were just drawn towards each other for reasons you cannot identify?

The ones who have felt this magic, surely know what is being penned down here. And according to psychologists, if you are still questioning, then you haven’t met your soul stirrer as yet.

Get chatting with the residents of the state from a cross section of professions and age groups and it comes as no surprise that physicality is rated at an all time high in relationships. Is this why relationships are not sublime anymore? One elderly doctor laments, “Vaasana, yes lust! This is what everyone is looking for today. No wonder, we have relationships breaking up even before they start.” He continues, “These days, people are only physically attracted to each other, so they get into a physical relationship sans any emotional attachment and obviously the novelty wears out and then the relationship is terminated.”

So, what is this special soul stirring connection?

Counsellor Ms Maria Shaw enlightens, “This happens with one particular person whom you instantly get comfortable with and feel you have known all your life.”

Most people believe their soul mates to be their spouses. “Not true,” says Ms Shaw continuing with, “they do not have to necessarily be spouses. A soul mate can be your best friend, your child, a co-worker or for animal lovers, even man’s best friend.” She expounds further, “A soul mate connection is two souls walking the same spiritual path, working together and helping each other to achieve a higher purpose or to learn an important lesson.”

According to the counsellor, in such emotional connections, there is an unspoken agreement and understanding between two souls to perhaps right a wrong, to complete or finish something, to bond at a time of great tragedy, and many more reasons.

It is an unspoken strong commitment.

Today, it is a norm to believe that any relationship must lead to the couch. But, though the majority of people today are into frivolous physical relationships and very often, air out soiled linen in public after the inevitable breakup, it is inspiring to learn of a handful of people into soul mate relationships. Some vouch, that the love they feel in such relationships is so strong, it definitely suffices to keep them going for a lifetime. They feel constant energy buildups; never a depletion. It helps them to deal with the many painful situations they encounter in life. In such relationships, you are loved for what you are; you do not have to change a thing about yourself.

“K

GHOST ENCOUNTERS Apart from the fictitious world of literature and films, there are many tales of ghosts, evil spirits and demonic possessions that have been passed forward from generation to generation, staying immortal in the form of folklore. Could there be a grain of truth to these age-old stories? Or is it all smoke and no fire?

W

BY SUSHMITA N NEUREKAR hen a ghost story is narrated to you, it would probably be dismissed as fiction or a figment of someone’s over-creative imagination. The revelations below are stories that have surrounded my ancestral village of Mashem in South Goa, that I have grown up listening to.

In the year 1961, in the month of March, the village of Mashem was filled with the hustle and bustle of a local wedding. As was the custom, the entire wedding expenses were borne by the bride’s family, in this case, the bride’s father. Since the groom’s folks were from Karwar, Karnataka, his kin were being put up in a neighbouring house and the bride’s family had provided them with all that they would require for a comfortable stay. Wilma, a girl from the village stole a copper bucket from the bride’s house, which was sent for the groom’s family’s use. This went unnoticed through the entire course of the wedding preparations. Fifteen years passed by. In between, the bride's father passed away and her elder brother Vasu took over the running of their house hold. Wilma too got married and had a daughter, Annie who was now nine years old.

One particular day Annie was late on her way to school and decided to take a shortcut through the nearby woods. As she was passing through the thickest part of the woods, she thought she heard a scraping, whispering noise coming from the bushes. She got scared and turned around, but could not see anyone there.

Viewing the outline of her school in the distance, she stepped forward only to feel someone grab hold of her shoulders and forcibly turn her around. She let out a scream as there was no one visible, except for the sound of a menacing chuckle.

Thankfully, here scream drew attention and people found the unconscious girl and rushed her home.

As the priest, who was called by Annie’s father was about to sprinkle holy water on her, she got up and walked out of her house, heading straight for Vasu’s home. She approached the gates of his house and started calling out his name in a hoarse, manly tone.

Vasu could not believe his ears. He could hear his dead father's voice calling out to him.

As she saw him approaching her, she said, “Vasu, Wilma has stolen our copper bucket and hidden it in her attic, go and get it."

This statement had everybody present there

stunned. A shocked and ashamed Wilma returned the bucket to Vasu. After leaving she walked towards the village church and there gave a violent scream and fainted, only to wake up as herself, with no memory of what happened after the woods incident.

Another incident involves my uncle, Anand who lived in the village of Mashem, used to work at a temple dedicated to Lord Rama in the village of Partagali. A particular day saw him heading home late, through a shortcut through the woods. As Anand proceeded, he thought he saw someone sitting under a coconut tree and smoking a cigarette. He called out, “Who is there?” “It’s me Damu,” came the reply. Minutes later Anand got the start of his life.

Upon realising that Anand hadn’t reached home yet, a search team was sent out to look for him. Quite near the temple lies another small temple dedicated to the devil called ‘Narayan Bhoot’. It is believed that all the evil in the world cannot cross this boundary. This devil is considered as the protector of the temple. All evil is afraid of him. As Anand’s colleagues approached this small temple, they saw Anand seated near the boundary. They questioned him about it and tried to get him inside the temple. He did not move from his place and did not utter a word. The high priest of the temple was called and he began chanting mantras. This agitated Anand and he got violent.

The priest began beating him with the branch of a bitter lemon tree and questioned him, “Who are you? Why have you possessed Anand?” He got an angry reply, “It's me Damu. My brother Vishnu killed me, so I have come to avenge my death.”

Damu used to come to the temple to help fell coconuts from the nearby trees. Damu’s death was believed to result from a fall from a coconut tree. Following which, his brother Vishnu married his wife Kashi. But on hearing Anand, everyone realised what had really happened. Vishnu was secretly having an affair with Kashi and they both planned Damu’s murder.

The high priest then told Damu to leave Anand’s soul and go away. Damu was stubborn but finally agreed to leave, stating that he would leave in the form of a dog. As everyone watched, Anand screamed loudly and lost consciousness, while in a distance, they saw a dog howling and running towards the woods.

Believe it on not, many such stories stay alive through time; what you make of it is entirely up to you.

­H­O­R­O­S­C­O­P­E The answers may be unclear right now, but they'll emerge over the next few days. Today's prob(21 Mar – 19 Apr) lems may feel somewhat unreal to you, or at least unfamiliar.

It's a good time to take them seriously -- you need to make sure that you're fully committed to taking care of business!

People are saying one thing and doing another -- but hold your judgment on them. You're a little (23 Sep – 22 Oct) frazzled today, thanks to all the widely diverging activities on your plate. Try to take them one at a time, or better still say no to a few of them that feel like they're reaching too far.

One of your friends is going through some changes. Be patient while they struggle. Though (20 Apr – 20 May) you often prefer to play it safe, you're not against taking uncalculated risks when they feel right.

Today, your gut is prodding you to take a nutty course of action -- go for it!

Feed your imagination by exposing yourself to fresh perspectives and new cultures. Try to work (23 Oct – 21 Nov) in a creative realm today -- making art, dreaming up new ideas or shaking up your life in some new, dramatic way. Your energy is just right for trying new things and having fun!

Things beyond your control will affect your reputation and how others see you today. You're (21 May – 21 Jun) not averse to change -in fact, your threshold for boredom is notoriously low. But today you're not sure what you want next. You've got vague ideas, but you need to flesh them out.

Thinking through every decision could result in paralysis. Take strong action today. You're seeing (22 Nov – 21 Dec) almost everything as a symbol today, so take a second look and figure out what kind of story the universe is telling about you. It may be possible for you to shift things a bit in your favor.

Be prepared for your mind to wander today as upcoming plans grow tantalizingly real. It's (22 Jun – 22 Jul) harder than usual for you to concentrate on boring tasks -not that it's ever easy, of course!

You may need to lay them aside for a few days until your mental energy can find its focus.

Use creativity to your advantage today. Sharp wit can turn heads and change minds. Your en(22 Dec – 19 Jan) ergy is much more stable than most people's today, and that leads to you making good impressions all over the place. You may find that you're a little disdainful of someone close, but it doesn't last.

Stash your wallet. Today will go well if you have no financial dealings with others. Art holds a (23 Jul – 22 Aug) special appeal to you right now, and you may find that a trip to a museum (even online) breaks up a mental or spiritual logjam that has been interfering with your flow lately.

Watch spending today -you may be mislead by your bank account. Debt is paralyzing. You need (20 Jan – 18 Feb) to use today's contemplative energy to delve deeply into your own psyche and belief systems.

You may need to reorganize -- or clear out everything and start all over again.

Everything in your life can change. Today, figure out which things are going to. Try not to be (23 Aug – 22 Sep) too critical today -though you may have some solid advice to offer, you can count on people taking it the wrong way! Reserve it for a few days and see if it's still needed then.

You don't have to change a hair to rediscover yourself. You're perfect as is!

Treat yourself as well as (19 Feb – 20 Mar) you'd treat anyone else you love -- you deserve the best, too! It's a great day to make an example of yourself by showing the world how they could be living if they wanted to.

Spiritual friends or soul mates, there is a certain divinity in such r e l a t i o n s h i p s . Yo u make an unspoken commitment; it doesn’t need words or documents. It is called the soul connection

There are those that enlighten, “It is not always blissful. Some things about your soul mate do drive you crazy, but it is just momentary. You just tide over it as you just cannot do without each other. This is a relationship that is truly close and connected; there is a certain spiritual quality to it. It just feels like destiny and divine intervention.” Quiz these folks with stars in their eyes as to what is that soul mate spark? And the reply is, “A spark of desire to draw closer and connect with a love and passion that keeps growing throughout the years. You make an unspoken commitment; it doesn’t need words or documents.

And to nurture this relationship, you connect strongly even if it means just 10 minutes a day of true bonding.

There are certain words you utter and actions you indulge in that keep drawing you closer to one another.”

Ms Shaw enlightens, “Your soul mate is one who touches your heart and is there for you through thick and thin. You can discuss just about anything with the person. You can even share your wildest secrets and fantasies, the ones you wouldn’t dare tell your husband or wife.” According to the expert on human bonding, “Soul mates experience strong and deep soul stirring emotions; they’ve been in love before, but nothing like this.”

Ms Shaw concludes on a beautiful note, “They can pull each other’s leg on just about anything. They feel no jealousy, no fear and no threats to the relationship. They feel at peace and complete; like they’ve come home and are never going to part.”

So, when the majority of people in meaningless and self-serving relationships guffaw mockingly to see a Shahrukh Khan singing, “Aur kuch na janu main, Bas itna hi janu, Tujh mein rab dikhta hai, Yaara main kya karoon,” it is a blessing that there are those that can smile knowing the aching beauty of that love.

ARE YOU SOULMATES? TAKE THIS QUIZ! • When you first met, did you both feel drawn to each other for reasons you both cannot really identify? Did you become very close very quickly, like within a matter of days, despite no crisis situation to bond you?

• Do you share unusual traits, eg saying the alphabet backwards, using metaphorical speech, generally unusual things that you had in common before you even met?

• Even if you have know each other for just six months or perhaps two years, do you feel you have known each other for more than half your life?

• Do other people often comment on how close you seem to be? When something significant happens, do you feel the burning need to share this promptly with this person before anyone else?

• When you discuss your lives, does conversation usually become deep and long that you forget the time?

• When you fight, do you make up easily, quickly and often without words?

• When one of you is hurt or upset, does the other sense it instinctively?

• Do you both have feelings that you have shared experiences that you have not really had?

• Is there something in this person’s eyes that just seems familiar to you?

• Do you have a seemingly irrational fear of losing this person?

• Do you both believe that you are soul mates?

(If you have answered ‘yes’ to even five questions, your relationship is written in the stars. Whether it is a love connection, a friendship, or some combination of the two, one thing is certain, you are lucky to have found each other)

Jennifer Aniston still holds on to ‘Friends’ Memories

H

ollywood actress Jennifer Aniston still holds on to the time she spend on popular sitcom ‘Friends’, which shot her to fame. The American beauty starred as Rachel Green for a decade on the NBC series, which ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004.

“Friends. Ten years of a show that was really loved by so many people. Even now I can’t believe how many people still say they watch it every day, however many times a day. I’m like, “What do you do all day?

Where do you watch it?” I can never find it,” Aniston said.

Speaking about her most memorable and hilarious moment on the show and she draws a list, “An episode guest-starring Ben Stiller and the chick and the duck, me exploding with anger when I was pregnant and waiting to give birth and everyone else was going before me. There really are so many funny moments and so many amazing memories of that show. I’m very lucky,” she added.

On a personal note, the 41-year-old star includes “Absolutely Famous” and “Seinfeld” as her all-time favourite comedies. “Absolutely Fabulous was one of my all-time favourites.

Seinfeld is another. I was watching something called Oops TV (a bloopers show hosted by Justin Lee Collins) this morning and I was laughing so much I almost fell off my treadmill. It's really funny,” Aniston said.

Dev Anand gets ready to remake ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’

R

aring to go even at 86, Bollywood’s evergreen actor Dev Anand said that he was going to remake his 1971 hit ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ very soon. “I will make another version of ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ in Nepal very soon. The script is ready.

People want another ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ I know that,” the ebullient Dev Anand said at the first look of his directorial venture 'Chargesheet' at the JW Marriott hotel.

“If people can make remakes, make biopics, why can’t there be a remake of this film...

The film will be made keeping in perspective the present generation,” the actor said, adding that his film was about drugs and hippies and the former was still a factor.

Dev Anand’s last few directorial ventures ‘Censor’ (2001), ‘Love at Times Square’ (2003) and ‘Mr Prime Minister’ (2005) sank without a trace. But the legendary filmmaker is not disheartened.

Produced by Navketan films, ‘Chargsheet’ is a suspense thriller where the 86-year-old star plays a pivotal role. He has also cast expelled Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh as a home minister in the film. “He looks like a member of parliament. You can see the dream in his eyes that he can be home minister any day. Anything can happen in politics,” said Dev Anand. Amar Singh had given his home in Delhi for the shooting of his film.

Dev Anand also spoke of his classic ‘Hum Dono’, which is being released in a colour version. “The film ‘Hum Dono’ has been coloured and it will be out very soon. It looks fantastic, as if it has been shot in colour,” the actor was quoted saying.

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GOA’S HEARTBEAT Thursday, 29 July, 2010

WHAT’S UP IN GOA??

‘Work Vision: Developing Employability Skills’, a 1-day state level inter-collegiate workshop, organised by the Department of Economics and Psychology of the Government College, Khandola will be held on August 6 from 9am to 4pm at the college premises. Call 9822124032 or 9822121176.

Feast of St Cajetan will be celebrated on August 7 at Our Lady of the Divine Providence, Old Goa. ‘Swaranjali’, a musical programme in memory of Dr Gangubai Hangal, organised by Geet Shakun and the Kala Academy will be held on July 30 at 4:30pm at the Kala Academy, Panjim. A lecture on ‘Guru Shishya Tradition’ will be given by Pandurang Phaldesai. Call 2420452.

‘Songs of Goa’, a book by Dr Jose Pereira will be released on July 30 at 4:30pm at Hotel Mandovi, Panjim.

A quiz by the Sunday Evening Quiz Club will be held on August 1 at 5pm at the CCP Hall, Panjim. Visit www.seqc.blogspot.com.

Lokmanya Tilak Punyatithi will be held on August 1 at 10:50am in the open space of the new Secretariat, Porvorim.

A free screening of international short films, organised by Shamiana – the short film club, will be held on July 31 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Maquinez Palace, Panjim. Call 9822112392.

Free Sanskrit Sambhashan classes, organised by Samskritabharati Goa will take place for 10 days from 6pm to 7:30pm at the hall of Shri Shantadurga Mandir, Candolim. Call 9423181475 or 9890309583.

A conversation course in Portuguese (Level I and Level II), organised by the Heritage Cell of the Rosary College of Commerce of Arts, Navelim will take place from

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Function Adjective Meaning 1: seeking and enjoying the company of others 2: tending to form a group with others of the same kind Example Sentence The first-graders are a gregarious bunch of fun-loving kids.

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Pg15

Shab-e-Barat: Religious Night of Liberation

BY NOMRATHA FERNANDES HERALD FEATURES he Jama Masjid in Panjim resounded with auspiciousness as Muslims the city over gathered in observance of Shab-e-Barat. Shab-e-Barat is the second night in the series of three auspicious nights, fifteen days prior to Ramadhan.

In Arabic, the day is known as Lailatul Bara’at, which translates to the night of emancipation, freedom or liberation. These nights are very important to Muslims and a preparation for the onset of Ramadhan. They are nights of pray, forgiveness, offering and pardon to Allah, when forgiveness for one’s and one’s family’s sins is sought upon.

As the insides of the ‘masjid’ filled with devotees, the outside saw huge ‘hundis’ on large gas stoves where cooks were busy getting together a meal. A bearded Muslim man sat outside the ‘masjid’, surrounded by ‘rummals’, religious caps, ‘namaz’ mats, stands for the Quran and a collection of other religious items. Before entering the ‘masjid’ he handed over to the devotees, a ball of cotton, dipped it in a sweet smelling mixture, which they inserted into their ears. This, said the man was done for one to smell sweet before the divine.

A fast is maintained on all three days and Muslim families gather together in prayer. The second night of Shab-e-Barat, ‘baddi raath’ is especially auspicious as Muslims believe that on this night Allah writes the destiny of men based on their past deeds. “Baadi raath or the big night which took place two days ago saw my phone buzzing with messages from family, relatives and friends, all requesting for my prayers – ‘dua mein yaad rakhna’ - and forgiveness,” says a young Muslim student from Margao. On this night the wrongs of the dead are also pleaded for. Muslims visit ‘kabrastans’ and pray over the graves.

Awhile later, when the ‘masjid’ was at its peak of devotees, a certain intriguing calm flowed in the air. It was a very religious moment as a hundred or so pairs of hands rose in unison and heads bowed down in ‘sajda’. Following tradition, the devotees later headed to the ‘kabrastan’ situated in St Inez, where some spent hours praying over gravestones.

Photos by Herald Features

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Most Eastern faiths have interesting tales that lie behind the subsequent tradition. The three auspicious nights have one too.

Mohammud Paigambai, a Muslim prophet bowed down in ‘sajda’ for an entire hour. Being in this position for so long is not customary. Seeing him in this position, his concerned wife lightly touched him on his shoulder to which he looked at her and smiled. He then explained to her that he had spent that entire hour asking Allah for forgiveness, for all the wrongs of humanity. Makes one wonder at the nobleness of it all!

Folk Drama of Yesteryears

Photos by Chiquitita D’Sousa

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Funny Quote

Pronunciation gri-gare-e-ous

Entertainment

INGS

LAFFS

WORD OF THE DAY

SUDOKU 617

August 9 to September 29 every Monday and Wednesday at the college premises. Call 2701564 or 2736864.

Ballroom classes, organised by Dance Illusions will be held from August 16, 17 and 18 in Margao, Vasco and Panjim, respectively. Call 9823014397.

Rangoli competition for the Mormogao taluka, organised by the All Goa Bhausaheb Bandodkar Janmashatabdi Samaroha Samiti (Mormagao taluka) will take place on August 1 from 10am to 12pm at the Shri Maharudra Hnuman Saunstha Sabhagruha, New Vaddem, Vasco.

Call 9822347838 or 9764385055.

Workshop on public speaking, organised by the Detroit Institute, Panjim will be held from August 5. Call 9822131835.

‘Osteoporosis: Breaking the Myth’ with Dr Deep Bhandare, the 4th interactive session on the series on health, organised by the International Centre Goa will take place on July 31 from 3pm to 5pm at the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula. Call 9765404391.

‘C Alvares - Patxea Duetancho’, a musical show by Mil–Mel–Nel will take place on August 1 at 10:30am at GVN, Margao. It is held to commemorate the birth anniversary of the popular Konkani Tiatrist, C Alvares. It will also be staged on August 7 at 7pm at Saligao Panchayat Hall, Saligao, the birth place of the late C Alvares and on August 8 at 6:30 pm at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Vasco.

Documentary films on artists (Matisse, Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Rothco, Goya, Cezanne, Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Vermeer, Dali, etc) will be screened at the Sunaparanta - Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, Panjim. Call 2421311.

Education

r Jose Pereira, along with his art exhibition, had a discussion on ‘Folk Plays of Salcete’ at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim.

The talk was held on July 28 at the centre, where folk drama was discussed focussing on the life and plays of Joaquim Santana (Jak Santan) Menezes, a Mando composer. Known in Konkani as ‘Fell’, these folk dramas can be traced back to at least the 17th century. They are performed by wandering actors who, for the most part, are anonymous, however some names have survived.

Now 89 years old, Dr José Pereira studied painting at Sir JJ School of Art. He studied Sanskrit at Siddharth and St Xavier's College, where he was awarded a PhD degree in Ancient Indian History and Culture. Dr Pereira taught at the Instituto Superior de Estudos Ultramarinos in Lisbon, the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, the Institute of Archaeology, also in London, and Fordham University in New York – where he was Professor of Theology, and lectured on History of Religions.

“As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes...hmmm...I can't remember the other two...”

– Norman Wisdom DAILY GROOK CREAM DREAM

by Francis Rodrigues Milkmen onexpiration, favor often Creamation!

Instructions for Sudoku SUDOKU SOL 616 9 x 9 letter: To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in each of the nine vertical columns, in each of the nine horizontal rows and in each of the nine boxes

GARFIELD

DKA Meeting of Konkani Writers proves Fruitful HERALD FEATURES he Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) recently held a meeting of writers of Konkani in the Romi script at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, which was largely attended by senior as well as upcoming writers of Konkani in the Romi script.

DKA presented its schemes for the promotion of Konkani literature, such as ‘Kombri’ (for first time authors), ‘Pikavoll’, transliterations, translations, travel grants to writers, etc which are especially designed for the writers of Konkani in Romi script and urged them to take advantage of the same. Many writers congratulated DKA for coming out with such schemes to encourage writers in Romi script.

“Only those people who have the enthusiasm to work for the development of Konkani can come out with such schemes for writers,” remarked renowned Konkani poet Yusuf A Shaikh while expressing his opinion at the meeting.

“Till today, the writers of Konkani in Romi script have not expected any monetary gains for their articles, stories or poems when they are published on the magazines and newspapers. Keeping in mind the selfless love for Konkani by senior Konkani writers in Romi script, DKA should forward a proposal to the government asking pension for these writers,” suggested Konkani and English writer Daniel F de Souza. He also said that, as marketing is the essential component of writing, DKA should try to have a book exhibition-cum-sale with the help of writers on the occasion of novena and feast of St Francis Xavier, Old Goa and likewise other grand feasts in Goa. Vincy Quadros, vice-president of Goa Konkani Akademi suggested that DKA should try to have a residential workshop on novel writing, so that there are more

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SOUTH POLE

10:00 Tere Liye 10:30 Saath Nibhana Saathiya 11:00 Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 11:30 Behenein 12:00 Sapna Babul Ka ...Bidaai 12:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 13:00 Tere Mere Sapne 13:30 Hamari Devrani 14:00 Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat 14:30 Behenein 15:00 Chaand Chupa Badal Mein 15:30 Sapna Babul Ka ...Bidaai 16:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 16:30 Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 17:00 Sasural Genda Phool 17:30 Saath Nibhana Saathiya 18:00 Tere Liye 18:30 Sabki Laadli Bebo 19:00 Saath Nibhana Saathiya 19:30 Sasural Genda Phool 20:00 Chaand Chupa Badal Mein 20:30 Behenein 21:00 Sapna Babul Ka ...Bidaai 21:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 22:00 Tere Liye 22:30 Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya

10:30 Aahat 11:00 Baat Hamari Pakki Hai 11:30 Indian Idol 13:00 Baat Hamari Pakki Hai 13:30 Maan Rahe Tera Pitaah 14:00 Baat Hamari Pakki Hai 14:30 Aahat 15:00 C.I.D 18:30 Indian Idol 19:30 Godh Bharaai 20:00 Maan Rahe Tera Pitaah 20:30 Baat Hamari Pakki Hai 21:00 Boogie Woogie Kids 22:00 Indian Idol: Extra 22:30 Aahat

11:00 Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi 11:30 Pavitra Rishta 12:00 Mera Naam Karegi Roshan 12:30 Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli 13:00 Jhansi Ki Rani 13:30 Pavitra Rishta 14:00 Choti Bahu 14:30 Mera Naam Karegi Roshan 15:00 Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi 15:30 12/24 Karol Bagh 16:00 Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli 16:30 Choti Bahu 17:00 Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi 17:30 Jhansi Ki Rani 18:00 Pavitra Rishta 18:30 Mera Naam Karegi Roshan 19:00 Ghar Ghar Mein 19:30 Choti Bahu 20:00 Jhansi Ki Rani 20:30 Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli 21:00 Pavitra Rishta 21:30 Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi 22:00 12/24 Karol Bagh 22:30 Mera Naam Karegi Roshan

10:15 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta…

11:15 Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo 12:00 Mrs. & Mr. Sharma Allahabadwale 12:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta …

13:00 Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo 13:30 Papad Pol 14:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta …

14:30 Mrs. & Mr. Sharma Allahabadwale 15:00 Lapataganj 16:30 Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai 16:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta …

16:30 Papad Pol 17:00 Mrs. & Mr. Sharma Allahabadwale

09:55 Scream 12:15 The World Is Not Enough 14:50 The Pink Panther 2 16:45 Penelope 18:50 Tom Yum Goong 21:00 Fanboys 22:55 Octopussy

08:00 Hydra 10:00 Sugar & Spice 11:45 Monsters vs. Aliens 13:45 Get Smart 16:00 The Core 18:45 TMZ 19:15 Beethoven 21:00 Wanted 23:00 Obsessed

08:30 Maseeha 11:10 Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai 15:30 Benaam Badsha 20:00 Spider-Man 2 23:15 Ishq Vishk

09:30 Dragon in Fury 12:30 Chhoti Bahoo 16:00 Chocolate 20:00 Dayanayak

09:50 Jakob The Liar 12:15 Into the Sun 14:25 Next

16:30 Laws of Attraction 18:30 Enigma 21:00 Kill Bill Vol. 1 23:20 A Few Good Men

08:30 Sadak 12:00 Lage Raho Munna Bhai 16:00 Jai Vikraanta 20:00 Munnabhai M.B.B.S. 23:40 Tango Charlie

08:00 Police Police 12:00 Vaastav: The Reality 16:00 Phool Bane Angaarey 20:00 Gadar

E N T E R TA I N M E N T 17:30 Gutar Gu 18:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta 18:30 Papad Pol 19:00 Lapataganj 19:30 Mrs. & Mr. Sharma Allahabadwale 20:00 Papad Pol 20:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta…

21:00 Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo 21:30 Mrs. & Mr. Sharma Allahabadwale 22:00 Lapataganj 22:30 Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai

10:30 Geet

11:00 Star One Horror Nights 12:00 Laughter Ke Phatke 12:30 Dill Mill Gayye 13:00 Mile Jab Hum Tum 13:30 Geet 14:00 Rang Badalti Odhni 14:30 Jaane Pehchaane Se Yeh 15:00 Pyaar Ke Side Effects 17:30 Roomies 18:30 Star One Horror Nights 19:00 Geet 19:30 Rang Badalti Odhni 20:00 Dill Mill Gayye 20:30 Jaane Pehchaane Se Yeh 21:00 Mile Jab Hum Tum 21:30 Geet 22:00 Rang Badalti Odhni 23:30 Dill Mill Gayye

14:00 Wipeout 15:00 Whacked Out Sports 15:30 Slamball 17:00 The Amazing Race 18:00 Fear Factor 19:00 Wipeout 20:00 Scare Tactics 21:00 Sports Crash 22:00 Destination Truth

10:00 How I Met Your Mother 10:30 The Simpsons

11:00 America's Got Talent 12:30 White Collar 13:30 Glee 14:30 Whose Line Is It Anyway?

15:00 Desperate Housewives 16:00 The Simpsons 16:30 Friends 17:00 White Collar 18:00 Glee 19:00 Castle : Hell Hath No Fury 20:00 The Simpsons 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 Friends 21:30 Whose Line Is It Anyway?

22:00 White Collar 23:00 How I Met Your Mother

09:30 Thailand Vs Challenger Series 11:30 Glitch 12:00 MotoGP World Championship 2010 : Main Race 15:00 TNA Sikander 16:00 International German Open 20:00 Inside Grand Prix 21:30 Ace 2010 21:00 Score Tonight 21:30 TNA Ppv : Final Resolution

09:00 2010 FIFA World Cup Matchday H/ls 10:00 Red Bull X Fighters World Tour 2010 : Round 3 11:00 Open Championship 2010 14:00 PGA Europro Tour 16:00 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Germany 2010 : Group Stage: Colombia vs. France 18:00 KIA X Games Asia 2010 19:00 Global Football 19:30 Fina Aquatics World 20:00 Sportscenter India 20:30 Senior Open Championship 2010 : Day 1 23:30 Sportscenter Asia

novels in Konkani in Romi script.

Konkani Youth Festival, Poets Sammelan, critical appreciation of books, a book sale counter at all Ravindra Bhavans in Goa are some of the suggestions put forth by some of the writers.

HERALD CROSSWORD - 617 09:00 2010 India tour to Sri Lanka : Preview : 1st Test 17:30 2010 Australia vs. Pakistan : 2nd Test Day 2 22:00 Homes of Cricket 22:30 WWE: Raw

11:00 The Eternal Arms Race 12:00 Best of True Stories 13:00 India : Girl With Two Faces 14:00 Best of True Stories 15:00 Big : Ferrari 16:00 Big Bang 16:30 Croc Chronicles 17:00 Most Amazing Moments 18:00 Big : Corvette 19:00 Best of True Stories 20:00 Nat Geo Wild : Siberia 21:00 Big : Airbus A380

08:00 English News 09:00 Konkani News 10:00 Marathi News 11:00 Konkani Songs 11:30 Face-2-Face 12:00 Rafi Ki Yadein 12:30 Flavors 13:00 English News 14:00 Noman Tuka Goa 14:30 HCN Smash Hits 15:00 Konkani Songs 15:30 Face-2-Face 16:00 Tribute to Freedom Fighter 16:30 Flavors 17:00 Kids Club 17:30 Rafi Ki Yadein 18:00 Konkani News 19:00 Marathi News 20:00 English News 21:00 Straight Talk 22:00 English News 23:00 In conversation with 23:30 Tribute to Freedom Fighter Note: Subject to change

Across 1- Aromatic plant; 5- Roman goddess of the hearth; 10- Highpitched tone; 14- A dish with many ingredients; 15- Music hall; 16- Conductor Klemperer; 17- Bread spread; 18- Woody vine; 19- Hindu princess; 20Salmon that has spawned; 21Republic in N South America; 23- Flightless bird; 25- Brillo rival; 26- Bronchiol; 31- Sound of a horse; 35- Also; 36- Exaggeratedly masculine; 38- Sorrow; 40Budget rival; 42- Turkish palace; 44- Bright star; 45- Coffee choice; 47- Roman general; 49___ Lingus; 50- Strikes out; 52Disparage; 54- According to; 56Actress Thurman; 57- Foods of the gods; 62- Mariners can sail on seven of these; 66- Zeno's home; 67- Pong maker; 68Spouse; 69- Leg or arm; 70- Israeli desert; 71- Arguing; 72Siouan speaker; 73- Uneven; 74- Sleeps briefly; Down 1- Captain ___; 2- Fashion mag; 3Monetary unit of Cambodia; 4Baby's sock; 5- Twisting of the intestine; 6- Actress McClurg; 7- Actor Penn; 8- Melodies; 9- River in N South America; 10- Drill a hole; 11Bibliography abbr.; 12- Gas burner or Sicilian volcano; 13- Hawaiian food; 22- Not new; 24- Crowd; 26Not much; 27- Adored; 28- Communication medium; 29- Salt Lake City hoopsters; 30- Rub vigorously; 32Electrically charged atom; 33- Brag;

34- Wretched hut; 37- Patriot SOLUTION - 616 Nathan; 39- Describes a gently cooked steak; 41- Gal of song; 43- Illusory; 46- Extreme reverence; 48- Direct a gun; 51- Everett of "Citizen Kane"; 53- Dutch navigator; 55- Fall bloomer; 57- Came down to earth; 58- Office note; 59- Small child; 60- Othello villain; 61- Ancient Athens's Temple of ___; 63- I could ___ horse!; 64- Take ___ from me; 65- Goes down; 66- "Hold On Tight" band;

pg16:Layout 1 7/28/2010 11:52 PM Page 1

SPORTS GOA, Thursday, 29 July, 2010

Pg16 Goa Velha nursery for North Goa football HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, JULY 28

Goa Velha Sports Club will continue their run in the Goa Professional League but with key players missing as they prepare for the new season.

Freddy Oliveira is out due to a k n e e i n j u r y. J a y g a n e s h Goltekar and Valinton D’Silva have left to join Sesa FA. Joyner Lourenco, Joston Pereira, Pedro Gonsalves, Siddesh Morje and Mario Mascarenhas have moved to Sporting Clube de Goa and Joshua Rebello has signed for Churchill Brothers.

Caculo, Kare, Damodar, DMC advance HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JULY 28

St. Xavier’s and Padre Conceissao College of Engineering, Verna entered the semi-finals of Goa University inter-college badminton championship for women at indoor stadium, Campal on Wednesday.

In men’s section, Shree Damodar, Caculo G R Kare and Dempo entered the quarter-finals.

Results (men): Shree Damodar beat Don Bosco 3-0, Caculo beat RIEIT 3-2, G R Kare Law beat PES 3-1, DMC beat Art 3-1.

Round II: G R Kare Law beat DMC 3-1, Shree Damodar beat Architecture 3-1, Caculo beat CES 3-0, Dempo beat Govt. College Khandola 3-0.

Women: Rosary won 2-1, St. Xavier’s beat DMC 2-0. Round II Post Graduate Students beat Rosary 2-0, St. Xavier’s beat Fr. Agnel 2-1, Govt. College, Quepem beat V M Salgaocar 21, PCCE beat MES 2-0. Quarterfinals - PCCE beat Govt. College Quepem 2-0, St. Xavier’s beat Post Graduate Students 2-1.

Yesterday, Post Graduate Students of Goa University, St. Xavier’s, Shree Mallikarjun and Goa Engineering entered the quarter-finals for men.

25th Fraxier soccer: Don Bosco Orator y, Fatorda v.

Raitura Sports Club, St John Baptist ground, Dando, Benaulim, 4.30 p.m.

Gaura Vaddo Cup Soccer semis: Cobra Vaddo v. Umtta Vaddo, Calangute Association ground, 4.30 p.m.

Goa Velha over the years has produced players who represented the State at different levels like Domnic Cabral, Richard Nunes, Francisco Rodrigues, Vishant Pednekar, Reagan Fernandes, Sidroy Afonso, Lector Caiado and Tyson Caiado.

Goa Velha manager Welvin Menezes is hap p y to see many of his players picked up by professional teams and hopes his club becomes the nursery for football in the north.

The club was formed under

Welvin Menezes

the presidency of late Dr. Maximo Menezes in 1969. Forty

years later his grandson, Welvin had the privilege of seeing the team become the first village club from the north to be promoted to the Goa Professional League in 2008.

“The main aim for the club this season is to improve on its position in the Goa Pro League and also qualify for the second round stage of the Fe d e r a t i o n C u p ” , We l v i n stated.

The coaching staff includes Lino Pereira, Seby Noronha, A g n e l o Fe r n a n d e s w h i l e Welvin continues as the man-

ager.

The players: Agnelo Noronha, Rowan Colaco (gk). Stanley D'Silva, Savio Fernandes, Nelson Fernandes, Ramesh Martins, Gaurish Naik, Stanley Lopes (defenders), Zico Costa, Augusto Monteiro, Cruz Gomes, Trevor Dias, Agnelo Quadros, Joy Gonsalves, Alber Gonsalves (midfielders), Donald Rocha, Elvis Lopes, Blake Haldankar (forwards).

Goa Velha hopes to sign a few more players before the end of the transfer window to strengthen their squad.

Goa kick off Santosh campaign today

Naika Vaddo in semis

ously scrape past Maharashtra, scoring a solitary goal in extra time.

The Goa team arrived on Tuesday afternoon by flight from Dabolim sponsored by Kingfisher and were happy with the arrangements and accommodation.

The team was put through their paces by the coach on Wednesday morning during a light training session. “ there is a good team spirit in the camp and the players are relaxed,” stated Mariano."

Although the team is without its prominent strikers and may have to start with a midfielder in a centre forward position, Mariano does not feel it is nec-

A fine brace by Cliff Fernandes helped Naikka Vaddo trounce Agar Vaddo 3-0 and book their place in the semi-finals of Gaura Vaddo inter-ward football tournament at Calangute Association ground, here on Wednesday.

The teams began the match on a promising note and missed a couple of scoring opportunities in the first session.

Changing over, Naikka shot into lead in the 5th minute through Allwyn off a Filipe Fernandes corner.

Agar Vaddo tried to bounce back but failed to restore parity. They were finally undone by a fine brace

by Cliff Fernandes off solo runs in the 15th and 25th minutes.

HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, JULY 28

Goa coach Mariano Dias is confident his players will give 100 percent when they kick of their campaign against Karnataka in their opening quarter-final group stage encounter on Thursday, as they look to retain the much coveted Santosh Trophy crown.

The kick off time is scheduled for 3.30 p.m. and will be played on the astro-turf surface at Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata.

Karnataka are already warmed up in this tournament having defeated Meghalaya 1-0 and Jharkhand 6-1 at the group stage. At the pre-quarter final stage they managed to nerv-

3 Goan girls for India U-19 football camp HERALD SPORTS REPORTER PANJIM, JULY 28

Goa’s Michille Nargaret, Angel Smile De Braganza and Malvita have been selected for the under-19 women’s team football camp to be held at SAI Centre, Lucknow from August 1 to September 17.

The India U-19 team for AFC U-19 Women’s qualification round to be held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) from September 20-24, will be selected after the camp.

Joaquim elected Salcete FC chairman HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARGAO, JULY 28

Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao (GFA president and AIFF vice-president) was unanimously re-elected chairman of Salcete Football Club at the general body meeting.

Alberto Colaco, AIFF general secretary was elected unopposed as president of the First Division Club.

The others members also elected unopposed: Vice-presidents Brahamanad Shankvalkar (Sesa FA), Schubert Furtado, Agnelo L Fernandes and Joseph Anthony Dias.

General secretary Simplicio Dias. Assistant secretary Angelo Almeida. Treasurer Tony Cabral.

Assistant treasurer Jacinto Fernandes.

Executive members Peter Rodrigues, Peter Coutinho, Mauricio Afonso (Dempo), Francisco Bruto da Costa, Bento Andrew and Anthony Pango (GFA executive member).Auditor Sunil Naik.

essary to divert from the 4-4-2 formation he is accustomed to. " My players are very talented and versatile and will adapt to any given situation," remarked Mariano.

Our Margao Correspondent adds: Skipper Felix D’Souza will be tending the goal, while Rowilson Rodrigues, John Dias, Denz i l Fr a n c o a n d Fu l g e n c i o Cardozo will form the back four. Godwin Franco will spearhead the midfield along with Adil Khan, Joseph Pereira and Nicolau Borges. The goal scoring responsibilities will rest on Peter Carvalho, Cavin Lobo or Branco Cardozo.

Thursday’s matches: Goa v.

Karnataka; Services v. Punjab.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, JULY 28

Ambelim in Fraxier quarters HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARGAO, JULY 28

Ambelim Sports Club blanked Sporting Club of Davorlim 2-0 to enter the quarter-finals of 25th Fraxier inter-village football tournament organised by Young Strikers, Benaulim at St John Baptist ground, Dando, Benaulim on Wednesday. Ambelim were leading 1-0 at half time.

Maxwin Fernandes gave Ambelim the perfect start when he unleashed a stiff grounder after he received a through pass from

Primson Fernandes.

Relying on their compact defence, marshaled by Joseph Fernandes and Mauricio Fernandes, Ambelim did not allow their opponents to manoeuvre inside the territory.

At the other end, Davorlim came close to scoring midway in the opening session but Agnelo Colaco’s free kick, outside the rival penalty box, was taken care of by Ambelim goalkeeper Danny D’Silva.

Ambelim kept up the offensive but could not increase their

tally due inept shooting by their forwards.

After the change ends, Ambelim called the shots and were rewarded when striker Samson Fernandes unleashed a snap shot after picking up a pass from Romeo Fernandes. The try was fisted away by Davorlim goalkeeper Joaquim Figueiredo and Samson pounced on the deflection to keep the goalkeeper dazed.

Davorlim tried their best to score but failed to get past the rival rearguard.

Climax, Samir recovering from injuries AGENCIES MUMBAI, JULY 28

The Indian national team will play two friendlies this week but three of the 28 players in the camp shall not participate due to injury concerns.

With Bhaichung Bhutia returning to the country with thyroid problems and Sunil Chhetri on duty with Kansas City Wizards, the 30-member squad was already reduced to 28.

Climax Lawrence and Samir Naik haven’t been training due to their injuries and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is awaiting reports from Portugal

to arrive on the Dempo duo.

Baljit Sahni, who is attending the national camp for the first time under Bob Houghton, has injured his shin bone during practice and hasn’t practiced for the last four days.

The Punjab lad, who scored several goals for JCT last season was one of the brightest talents in the I-League, got injured during one of the practice sessions.

“The doctor has advised me a week’s rest and possibly start training from August 1,” informed Sahni.

Come August, India shall play

at least 10 practice games with Portuguese Second Division teams while training at the Sporting Lisbon Academy or Academia de Alcochete, which is known to have had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo amongst their students.

In September, the team will travel to Bangkok for a friendly fixture with Thailand on the 4th, following which the same sides will face each other again at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium.

India are ranked 132 in the latest list of FIFA rankings which were released after the 2010 World Cup.

Rupchandra set for double crown major ranking badminton HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JULY 28

Rupchandra Humrasker stormed into the finals of both Veterans 40 plus and 45 plus categories at All Goa Major Ranking Badminton Tournament organised

by Shuttler's Club at Indoor stadium, Campal, here on Wednesday.

In the 40 plus semis, Rupchandra beat Noel Noronha 21-15, 21-12. He will clash with Pradosh Silimkhan who beat Oscar Silveira 21-19, 21-10.

In the 45 plus categor y, Rupchandra Humrasker knocked out the top seed Cancio Mascarenas 21-15, 21-12. In the finals, he will meet Tanaji Sawant who beat Hanumant Naik 2111, 21-17.

Other results: Men singles quarter-finals: Govind Navelkar beat Chinmay Fallary 21-11, 216; Sunny Sawant beat Ankush Patil 21-17, 21-13; Floyd Araujo beat Gitesh Dangui 21-11, 218; Navneet Nasnodkar w.o.

Vishal Vernekar Men doubles quarter-finals:

Floyd Araujo and Navneet Nasnodkar beat Kalidas Govekar and Surya Chari 21-12, 21-14; Govind Navelkar and Pankaj Naik beat Wilfred Jacques and Kunal Sanvordekar 21-15, 21-17; Chinmay Fallary and Mohammed beat Sunny Sawant and Aniket Shenai 21-18, 21-16; Parag Chauhan and Darwin Barretto beat Gitesh Dangui and Samir

Sangodkar 21-11, 21-16.

Veterans 45 + doubles semifinals: P.K.Gupta and Tanaji Sawant beat Rupchandra Humrasker and Cancio Mascarenas 17-21, 24-22, 21-19; R Borkar and Santosh Prabhudesai beat Sudin Kuvelkar and V.G. Prabhu 21-18, 21-14.

The finals matches will be held on Thursday from 6.p.m.

GOA DIARY Refresher seminar for refs

PANJIM (HSD) - The Goa Football Association will conduct a refresher seminar for referees and match commissioners on August 8. It will include practical and theory sessions. The practical session will be held at GFA Duler Stadium, Mapusa and the theory part at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa.

Active referees and match commissioners may report at 6.45 a.m. at Duler Stadium with kit.

7-a-side soccer at Nachinola

PANJIM (HSD) -- Bom Jesus Nachinola will organize a 7-a-side one-day football tournament in memory of Felicia Fernandes on August 8 from 9 a.m. at Nachinola ground. The qWinners will be richer by Rs 20000 and the losers Rs 15000. The third place winners will get Rs 5555 plus trophies. There will be prizes for best goalkeeper, best disciplined team, most promising player also. Details may be obtained from Rocky on 9850461771. The last dates for submitting entries is August 2and the draw will be held on August 6. Only16 entries will be accepted and only one team from a village can participate.

Merces beat Santa Cruz 2-1 in a football match organised by Mixed Friends of Santa Cruz at Santa Cruz ground on Monday. The players before the kick off with Agnelo Fernandes, MLA (chief guest), Maria Fernandes, Rodolfo Fernandes, Prakash Naik.

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Pg17

SPORTS GOA, Thursday, 29 July, 2010

Muralitharan hurls ‘doosra’ on Bedi Maradona l Calls him a controversy monger, ordinary bowler PTI COLOMBO, JULY 28

Retired spin great Muttiah Muralitharan today lashed out at his long-time detractor Bishen Singh Bedi, calling the former Indian captain a controversy m o n g e r a n d o rd i n a r y bowler who would have been hammered by any batsman if was he playing now.

Bedi has been an untiring critic of Muralitharan by repeatedly calling the Sri Lankan a "chucker" and asking the ICC to ban the Sri Lankan's "doosra" as it was illegal.

Muralitharan, who retired last week after completing 8 0 0 Te s t wickets at G a l l e against India, made an unchar-

acteristic attack on Bedi, saying that he was just an ordinary bowler.

Asked about the lack of world-class spinners in India, except for Harbhajan Singh, Muralitharan said Bedi was not in the league B S Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna.

"Bedi, I don't think he does not even come to a contest on that. I saw some (of his) bowling of his playing days. In modern era, if he plays he will get hammered every ball, that is what will happen. So no comparison," the world's most successful spinner told PTI in an interview.

"Prasanna is a good bowler. I have seen his bowling.

Venkataraghavan is good. But Bedi does not come under it," he said.

Though without mentioning the constant criticism he got from Bedi, the affable Sri Lankan

advised the former Indian captain to refrain from whipping up controversies.

"He (Bedi) is also a controversial person. He has lot of controversies everywhere in the world. And he should think about himself first rather than talking about other people," Muralitharan said.

Asked about Bedi's comments to ban the ‘doosra’ from international cricket, Muralitharan lampooned the Indian by saying that he has no variations in his bowling and was therefore critical of others.

"He (Bedi) did not have any variation. He just bowled left arm spin and pitch did the variation for him. That is what he bowled," he said.

Muralitharan said Anil Kumble was the best spinner India has produced and records speak for themselves.

"You forget the best spinner

is Anil Kumble. Not Bedi or Venkataraghavan or any other.

I think the best ever spinner produced (in India) is Kumble.

No doubt about it and nobody can doubt it. Statistics-wise and on the basis of other things, he is far ahead than other guys", he said.

Muralitharan refused to compare between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara but said on the basis of statistics, the Indian maestro was far ahead of any batsman.

"Sachin and Lara have been the most consistent batsmen in the world (to face my bowling).

I admire them. I have most regards for those two guys and now place Ricky Ponting also in that list.

"I don't know who plays me the better. They are different individuals. Statistics-wise Sachin is heading the pack. You can say Sachin is the best on that basis.

Murali is indeed a chucker: Bedi PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

At the receiving end of a scathing attack from Muttiah Muralitharan, his long-time detractor Bishen Singh Bedi today hit back at the retired Sri Lankan spin great by maintaining that he was indeed a ‘chucker’.

Bedi, an untiring critic of Muralitharan by repeatedly calling him a ‘chucker’, found support from two other Indian spinners Erapalli Prasanna and Maninder Singh who said the Sri Lankan was given the licence by the ICC to bend his arm.

In an uncharacteristic attack, Muralitharan described Bedi a controversy monger and an ordinary bowler who would have been thrashed by any batsman had he been playing in the modern era.

Asked for his reaction to Murali's verbal volley, Bedi said, "I don't want to react.

Don't want to comment. I don't want to

In BrIef

Afridi hopes to lead Pakistan

Pakistan's flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi is confident of recovering from a side strain before the OneDay and T20 series against England.

"I still have that side strain so when I get back to Karachi I will start rehabilitation and resume training to be prepared for the limited overs matches in England in September," he said.

Asif to act in Malayalam film

Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif is all set to make his acting debut by starring in a Malayalam film.

Asif will play the lead character in the motion picture 'Mazhavillinattamvare' which translates to ‘Till The Tip of The Rainbow’. The film is directed by Malayalam lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.

AFC prez backs Qatari 2022 WC bid

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam has thrown his weight behind Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup. The support of Qatari Bin Hammam, also a FIFA Executive Committee member, is a huge boost to the Gulf emirate, who are bidding to bring the world's biggest soccer tournament to the Middle East for the first time.

CWG stadiums have no fault: Gill

Sports Minister M S Gill today rubbished media reports that claimed that some of the Commonwealth Games venues were incomplete and faulty.

Gill said that all the venues are architectural and engineering marvels and no leakage or fault has been found at any of the Games venues.

"The fact remains that all these stadiums have no fault.

There is no leakage, nothing anywhere and the architecture and engineering marvel is the first time to be seen in India," Gill told reporters outside parliament.

Sharapova, Bartoli advance

Maria Sharapova would have preferred to forget about the last time she played China’s Zheng Jie. At least she can move forward after settling a score.

say anything to be honest. You know my views. I don't want to stoop to his level.

I don't call Murali a chucker. He is a chucker."

Former Indian spinner Prasanna threw his weight behind his former teammate, saying Murali's attack was "totally uncalled for".

"He (Murali) should have avoided it. Murali should have been little more mature. He just can't make such loose comments that anybody could have achieved Bishen's feat. We all admire him for his achievements. He should have avoided making such comments", Prasanna said.

"The fact of the matter is that ICC bent its rules for Murali. With that, flexibility

Shevchenko on target in Dynamo win REUTERS BERNE, JULY 28

Andriy Shevchenko was on target as Dynamo Kiev pulled off a convincing 3-0 win over Ghent in their Champions League qualifier.

Striker Lomano LuaLua converted a late penalty to give Omonia Nicosia a 1-1 draw at home to Salzburg and Anderlecht won 3-1 at The New Saints in other third qualifying round, first leg matches.

Fo r D y n a m o A n d r i y Yarmolenko, Chelsea striker Shevchenko and Roman Zozulya scored one each.

Gonzalo Zarate scored for Salzburg.

Romania's Unirea Urziceni held on for a 0-0 draw to Zenit St Petersburg.

Sacha Kljestan, Jonathan Legear and Matias Suarez shared the goals as Anderlecht made no mistakes in Wrexham against Welsh champions TNS, who replied through Craig Jones.

Murray parts company with coach AGENCIES LOS ANGELES, JULY 28

British world number four Andy Murray sacked his coach Miles Maclagan a little more than a month before the final grand slam event of the year.

Australian Darren Cahill is widely believed to be Maclagan's likely successor but Murray said he would review the situation only after the August 30-September 12 US Open.

According to Murray's management team, the Scot made the decision ''following a review of his coaching needs'' and he was now focused on the US hardcourt season.

was allowed to him and most of the bowlers," he said.

"He doesn't fit into the slot of conventional bowler but fact of the matter is ICC bent the rules and permitted him. Therefore it's ok", he said.

Prasanna said the ICC had modified the rules and it allowed the bowlers to take advantage of those rules in releasing the ball.

"Bedi is one of the best left-arm spinner India has ever got," he added.

Another former Indian left-arm spinner Maninder Singh said Bedi could have also taken a lot of wickets if he was allowed to bend his arm.

"If he (Bedi) was allowed to bend his arm by ICC, he would have taken 5 wick-

ets in every of the 67 matches that he played in his career. Murali should keep his mouth shut really," he said.

"Whole world knows that he has the licence from the ICC to keep chucking and that's why he started his 'doosra'.

Nobody stopped him. Wickets started increasing for him. It's best time for Murali to keep shut.

"He should understand he is talking about such a great bowler Bedi. I don't think he is doing justice to himself. I have lost respect for him after this verbal attack", Maninder said.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh felt Muralitharan had been very patient about the constant criticism of Bedi and must have finally vented it out today.

"Bishen has been very strong in his criticism about Murali. I don't necessarily agree to what he said but I think Murali must have held his tongue for 15 years and just gave it back today," Waugh said.

India doesn’t look like a No 1 team: Waugh PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

India is currently struggling against Sri Lanka and does not look like they are the number one Test team in the world, reckons former Australian skipper Steve Waugh.

"India are predominantly a batting side but their bowling is not strong enough. Of course they have a few injuries with Zaheer out of the team. But they are struggling against Sri Lanka and doesn't look like a number one side," Waugh said on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

Asked about the upcoming Australia's tour of India, Waugh said it would be tough series and can go either way.

"India always is a difficult team to beat at home. But they have a few bowling issues. Even Harbhajan Singh had a mixed year and has not been consistent.

Well, of course he always gets pumped up against Australia. It would be a tough series," he said.

The former skipper also felt the retirement of so many quality players have stripped Australia off its' invincible aura and they no more have the same intimidating factor.

"They probably have lost their aura. Australia dominated world cricket from 1995 to 2005 but

now they no more have the intimidating factor. They are not feared anymore," said Waugh.

"It happens when you lose so many good players in short time.

It happened to West Indies, they dominated in the 70s and 80s.

Now there are five teams like Australia, South Africa, England, India and Sri Lanka who are at even," Waugh added.

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan retired recently and Waugh feels even though it would be difficult to emulate him, there is probably some talent waiting to emerge.

"It is difficult to have bowlers like Murali, Shane (Warne) and (Anil) Kumble, all in the same era. They took like 2000 wickets among them. But the game is always bigger than individuals and I believe there is some talent out their ready to pop up anytime," Waugh said.

Farah breaks Spanish hearts Chandhok to miss REUTERS BARCELONA, JULY 28

Britain's Mo Farah broke Spanish hearts as he sped away from home favourite Ayad Lamdassem on the final lap for a comprehensive victory in the men's 10,000 metres final at the European championships.

On a balmy evening at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium, Chris Thompson made it a British one-two as he held off Italian Daniele Meucci, although they were both given the same time.

Britain was not the only nation to enjoy a one-two on the opening day of the championships.

Belarus took the top two places in the women's shot put final through Nadezhda Ostapchuk and Natallia Mikhnevich.

Russia had the honour of taking the first gold thanks to teenager Stanislav Yemelyanov's victory in the men's 20-km walk in his first season competing as a senior.

Yemelyanov, 19, finished in a time of one hour, 20 minutes and 10 seconds with Italy's 50km walk Olympic champion Alex Schwazer 28 seconds behind.

Portugal's Joao Vieira finished third to repeat his bronze medal of four years ago.

At the other end of the distance scale, Europe's two fastest athletes remained on track for a head-to-head in Wednesday's 100 metres final after safely coming through their heats.

France's Christophe Lemaitre barely broke sweat as he clocked the quickest time of the heats with 10.19.

Hungarian GP AGENCIES NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Indian driver Karun Chandhok will miss Sunday's Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix after also being dropped by Hispania for last weekend's race in Germany.

The Spanish-based team listed Japan's Sakon Yamamoto and Brazilian Bruno Senna as their drivers in a preview for the race issued on Tuesday.

"I can't wait to go back to the Hungaroring as I know the circuit already very well from my Formula One races with Super Aguri, Spyker F1 and with ART in GP2 series," said Yamamoto, who brings important funding to the cash-strapped team.

BCCI meet on Modi ends in stalemate AGENCIES NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Lalit Modi's lawyers on Tuesday pressed for the inclusion of a retired Supreme Court judge and recusal of Chirayu Amin and Arun Jaitely from the BCCI's disciplinary panel, probing into the alleged financial irregularities of the suspended IPL Chairman.

At the second hearing of the disciplinary committee here on Tuesday night, Modi's lawyers again debated the on the recusal issue.

"The core issue of recusal of two members from the panel was debated. Our lawyers argued the case. The BCCI will be allowed to come out with a rejoinder," Modi's counsel Mehmood Abdi told reporters after the

hearing which lasted close to three-and-ahalf hours.

Abdi said that next meeting of the committee will be held on August 1 in New Delhi at 7:00pm.

"The meeting has been scheduled for a Sunday considering that the Parliament session is going on and taking into account the convenience of thelawyers," Abdi said.

At the meeting the Modi lawyers sought a number of documents from the BCCI related to the IPL and the Board's meetings.

Abdi said the issue of recusal will hopefully be sorted out at the next meeting.

"A retired Supreme Court judge must be there in the committee. We have grave con-

cern about the BCCI's stance. If they have already decided then what's the point in all their meetings? Whosoever is doing this is hurting BCCI's cause more," Abdi had said before going into the meeting.

Modi again skipped the disciplinary panel meeting but Abdi was also of the view that his client's absence would not affect the proceedings.

But you see the other two players are great players, they are also legends. I think you cannot make comparisons. They play in different conditions and situation," he said.

Muralitharan said he has no regrets in his cricketing career though it was haunted by controversies over his bowling action.

"It (controversy) did not haunt me at all. I went through it and I have done what I wanted to do in my cricketing life. So no regrets. Nothing. I am very happy to retire (from Test cricket)," he said.

He does not agree that players are getting injured due to more volume of cricket now that Twenty20 has become big.

"I don't think so. If a player is fit to play he should play every format. The players careers are very short, they enjoy all form of the games. So the three forms of cricket will continue though Test is the ultimate," he said.

Somdev edges past Johnson AGENCIES LOS ANGELES, JULY 28

Somdev Devvarman advanced to the second round of the Farmers Classic singles event with a straight set victory over Steve Johnson.

Somdev, who made it to the main draw through a qualifier, beat his American opponent 64 6-4 in the first round match which lasted one and half hours.

The Indian, currently ranked 103rd in the world, was clearly the dominating player but had to dig deep into his reserves to win long rallies against his opponent, ranked outside the 1000 bracket.

He faces sixth seed and world number 45 Serbian Janko Tipsaveric in the second round.

Raul joins Schalke 04 REUTERS BERLIN, JULY 28

Real Madrid's talismanic striker Raul, forced out of the Bernabeu after 16 record-breaking seasons, has signed for Schalke at the age of 33, the Bundesliga club said today.

Raul, who scored 323 times in 741 games for Real, notched 66 Champions League goals and is Spain's alltime leading scorer with 44 goals, will try to revive his career in the industrial city of Gelsenkirchen after falling out of favour at the club where he made his name ''This is a great piece of news for Schalke 04,'' coach Felix Magath told the club's website. ''I'm happy that we've succeeded in inspiring such an outstanding footballer and world class player into changing to the Bundesliga and to Schalke.''

Schalke finished as runnersup to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga last season, qualifying directly for this year's Champions League group stage.

Nadal slams UEFA over Real Mallorca exclusion AGENCIES REAL MALLORCA, JULY 28

Tennis World No 1 and Real Mallorca shareholder Rafa Nadal has hit out at governing body UEFA for excluding the financiallytroubled La Liga club from European competition this season.

Mallorca finished fifth in the league last campaign and qualified for the Europa League but UEFA ruled last week the Balearic Islands club, who are in administration, had not fulfilled the admission criteria.

UEFA did not publish the reasons behind the decision, which Mallorca have appealed.

"I am like all Mallorca fans," Nadal, who was born on the island, told IB3 TV. "It's a hell of a blow because playing in Europe fills you with excitement and the players have earned it," the Wimbledon and French Open champion added.

"I don't know the reasons behind the exclusion but if it is for economic reasons there would not be any European competition at all because everyone is in the same situation."

Mallorca said in May they had applied to go into voluntary administration in an effort to sort out their finances.

dropped as coach

REUTERS BUENOS AIRES, JULY 28

Diego Maradona's stormy spell as Argentina coach came to an end when the Argentine Football Association (AFA) voted unanimously not to renew his contract.

Maradona's future had been in doubt since Argentina's 4-0 thrashing by Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa this month, less than two years since his headline-grabbing appointment. ''There needed to be some changes among Diego's staff ... and we couldn't come to an agreement,'' AFA chief Julio Grondona told reporters yesterday. ''No one's being kicked out, a contract hasn't been renewed because we didn't have the conditions to do so.''

An AFA spokesman cited ''unbridgeable differences'' with the f l a m b o y a n t Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup victory as captain in 1986 and is adored by many Argentines.

The team's earlier-than-expected exit from the tournament followed a shaky qualifying campaign, but the former player was still given a hero's welcome when the squad returned home and President Cristina Fernandez urged him to stay on.

Several dozen fans, some banging drums and chanting, gath-

ered outside the AFA's headquarters after Tuesday's announcement.

Speculation had mounted ahead of the meeting that Maradona would not stay on as coach -- a position he had held since November 2008 -- because of the disagreement over his coaching staff.

Maradona, 49, said Sunday he wanted to stay on, but only if he could keep control over the choice of his assistants.

Another term for Dalmiya in CAB certain AGENCIES KOLKATA, JULY 28

Jagmohan Dalmiya is all set for yet another term at the Cricket Association of Bengal with no election at its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.

With nobody to challenge the Dalmiya panel, the AGM, which had seen some close battle a few years ago, will be reduced to a routine affair.

In fact, last year too there was nobody to challenge Dalmiya even as there was talks of former India captain Sourav Ganguly set to contest the veteran cricket administrator.

Ganguly will however be part of the AGM through the same club, Mohammadan Sporting, which he had represented last year too.

This will be his third consecutive

year at CAB helm after returning to the post with a convincing win over incumbent Prasun Mukherjee in 2008 elections.

There will be some political colours this time around with two Trinamool Congress leaders, Sultan Ahmed and Mukul Roy, both being Union Ministers, participating in CAB working committee and the AGM. Roy will represent Greer Club, while Ahmed will represent Mohammadan Sporting in the working committee.

For the first time since 2004, CAB's AGM will not have elections on its agenda with former CAB joint secretary Amitava Banerjee, who had filed his nomination for the post of vice-president, withdrawing his candidature earlier.

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SPORTS

Goa kick off Santosh campaign today Pg 16

GOA, THURSDAY, 29 JULY, 2010 www.oheraldo.in

Sachin Tendulkar acknowledges the crowd after scoring his 48th Test century.

We have sorted out Mendis: Tendulkar PTI COLOMBO, JULY 28

Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar today said India have sorted Ajanatha Mendis and they are no easy prey for the Sri Lankan spinner now.

Mendis, who tormented India in their last tour and also in the only practice game ahead of current series, today took two of the four wickets but gave away 83 runs in 25 overs.

"He is a difficult bower. But our batsmen have sorted him out. We have figured out his strengths and so we try not to bat to his strengths. He has done well against us but now it is an even contest," Tendulkar, said.

Te n d u ka r p r a i s e d b o t h Mendis and Randiv for their efforts but said it will be difficult for them to fill in the vacuum created by retirement of Muttiah

Muralitharan.

"Both the bowlers, did very well. Of course, it is always difficult to emulate Murali and it is not going to be easy for Mendis and Randiv. It would be a big responsibility for them to fill up his place," Tendulkar said.

Even at the age of 36, Tendulkar spent around 15 hours on the field today while fielding and batting and the senior batsman said he works a lot to keep his fitness intact.

"Recovery is always a very important issue, specially in conditions like this which are very tough. One needs plenty of rest and so it would be an early night for me tonight so that I get up and start fresh tomorrow.

"Tomorrow in the morning, I would probably face some throw downs so that the eyes gets going and body keeps moving before the start of play," he said.

India fight back bravely PTI COLOMBO, JULY 28

Sachin Tendulkar cracked his 48th Test century to lead a spirited fightback as India recovered from three quick jolts to keep themselves afloat in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka here today.

Tendulkar (108 not out) showed great character and temperament to score his first century on Sri Lankan soil in 11 years as he anchored the innings brilliantly to steer the visitors to 382 for four at close on the third day, still needing 61 runs to avoid the follow on.

Virender Sehwag missed his century by just one run while debutant Suresh Raina was the other notable performer with a sparkling unbeaten 66.

It was a much-improved display by the Indians who made sure that there was no repeat of Galle where the famed batting order had succumbed rather tamely.

Raina was giving Tendulkar company at stumps on a day which saw 287 runs being scored and four wickets falling at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.

India's first objective will be to avoid the follow and then come as close as possible to Sri Lanka's mammoth first innings

lSachin

slams 48 ton

total of 642 for four declared.

If India carry on in the same way tomorrow, a draw appears to be the only result possible as the track has shown no signs of breaking up.

After Sehwag provided the early fireworks, it was champion batsman Tendulkar who stole the spotlight with a fine exhibition of strokeplay and application to save the blushes for India who were in a spot of bother at one stage.

Tendulkar made the most of a dropped chance when he was on 29, wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene spilling a simple catch off Dilhara Fernando. But that was the only blemish from the star batsman as he gradually opened up to unleash a flurry of strokes.

The champion batsmen had last scored a century in Sri Lanka in 1999 at the same venue.

Resuming at the overnight score of 95 for no loss in re-

th

sponse to Sri Lanka's mammoth 642 for four declared, the Indians got off to a solid start with Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay putting on a 165-run opening partnership.

But the scrip changed dramatically just half an hour before the lunch break with the visitors losing Sehwag (99) Vijay (58) and Rahul Dravid (3) in quick succession with debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv striking twice.

Sehwag, who resumed at overnight 64, looked set for a big innings but missed out on his 21st Test century by attempting a reckless shot.

Ajantha Mendis gave the second shock to the visitors by trapping the well-set Vijay and Dravid got out in the same fashion off Randiv just two overs before lunch.

Everything was going on well for India until half an hour before the close of morning ses-

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 642-4 dec (T Paranavitana 100, K Sangakkara 219, M Jayawardene 174).

India 1st innings: (Overnight 95/0) M Vijay lbw b Mendis 58, V Sehwag st P Jayawardene b Randiv 99, R Dravid lbw b Randiv 3, Sachin Tendulkar batting 108, VVS Laxman lbw b Mendis 29, S Raina batting 66. Extras: 19. Total: 382 for 4. Fall of wickets: 1-165, 2-169, 3-173, 4-241. Bowling: D Prasad 10-0-53-0, D Fernando 21-0-83-0, A Mathews 9-124-0, S Randiv 35-11-108-2, A Mendis 26-2-92-2, T Dilshan 7-1-16-0.

sion with Sehwag and Vijay negotiating the Sri Lankan bowlers with a mix of caution and aggression.

Sehwag went for a big shot dancing down the track off Randiv, who was introduced in the session for the first time, but failed to contact the ball and Prasanna Jayawardene carried out a simple stumping.

Sehwag, who was dropped on 89, made his 99 from 101 balls with the help of 15 fours and along with Vijay raised 165 runs for the opening wicket.

Vijay, who was also looking solid, fell Leg before to a Mendis googly which jabbed back in and the batsman was dead plumb while trying to go on the backfoot.

Dravid, who has not contributed much in this series, was the next batsman to return to the pavilion off a superb Randiv delivery which spun from outside off and skidded to the batsman's pads.

From a comfortable 165 for no loss, the Indians suddenly slumped to 173 for three, raising fears of another batting collapse.

The seasoned duo of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman then shored up the the innings by batting cautiously against the lankan bowlers on the placid Sinhalese Sports Club ground.

HI to move SC against stay orders PTI NEW DELHI, JULY 28

Forced to put off its polls for the fourth time, Hockey India today decided to move the Supreme Court against the stay order of the Bombay High Court even as the world body (FIH) threatened to impose sanctions on India if elections were not held at the earliest.

On a day of rapid developments, the Bombay High Court first stayed HI elections, which was scheduled to be held here today, for three weeks on a petition filed by the Mumbai Hockey Association.

If that was not enough, in the afternoon the Delhi High Court also stayed the poll process fol-

lFIH

threatens sanction

lowing the government’s failure to clarify the legal position regarding HI and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), which forced the HI to postpone its elections.

With the HI likely to miss FIH's July 31 deadline for the elections, its lawyer Hitesh Jain said they were left with no other option but to move the Supreme Court to sort out the court cases in various states.

"We are moving the Supreme Court within two days time against the Bombay High Court's stay order. There are court cases in almost every state, so we will ask the Honourable Supreme

Pg 18

Muralitharan hurls ‘doosra’ on Bedi Pg 17

Court to take all the cases and solve them at the earliest in the best interest of our national game," Jain said.

As expected, the election postponement did not go down well with FIH, which warned India of dire consequences after the national body failed to conduct its polls.

FIH vice-president Antonio von Ondarza, who was also the international body's observer for HI polls, said they cannot afford to give any further provisional acceptance to HI and it was time to act or face sanction.

"This time I expected to have

a drink with my newly elected HI office bearers rather than facing this situation. We are deeply hurt because we have put all our effort," a disappointed Ondarza told reporters.

"At this point of time I can't say what will happen because I need to consult my other board members. But HI is still not in compliance with our guideliness. We had given provisional acceptance to HI but come July 31, these provisions won't exist.

"It is now the duty of all the parties concerned in India, including the government to set the ball rolling. We don't want to take any drastic steps but please don't force us to do it," he said.

I got out on bad shot: Viru PTI COLOMBO, JULY 28

Explosive batsman Virender Sehwag today rued his selection of shot while batting at 99 and said had he not committed the mistake, India would have been in a better position in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka.

The Delhi marauder though said he is not disappointed on missing a hundred.

"I think we played bad shots, If you look at my shot. And that VVS Laxman decision was perhaps doubtful. When we were bowling, the Sri Lankan batsmen were not making any mistake.”

"That is why they score 640 runs in the first innings. It is not the spinner's (quality) but it is the batsmen's mistake. So hopefully we will not make the same mistakes in the coming innings," he said after day's play.

"I was disappointed today not

because I got out on 99 but it would have been good for us if we had remained one or two (wickets) down," he added.

On being asked, if he had read the ball before going for the shot, Sehwag replied," Yes, I knew the ball to which I got out was a doosra. But I went for the shot."

Sehwag said even after his dismissal he was sure someone would get a big score for the side's cause.

"I was not really worried. The wicket is so good to bat on. So I knew someone will make a big one. I was expecting centuries from Sachin and Laxman. But unfortunately Laxman got out.”

"And full praise to Suresh Raina. He batted really well for his 50 and I am hoping he will complete his century tomorrow.

If we play well we can avoid the follow on and can bat the whole day," he said.